How much do I enjoy watching M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 movie Signs? That’s easy—even though I’ve seen it four or five times, I’m watching again. It looks great letterboxed on DVD on my massive big-screen television in the living room. But I’m not down there. I’m upstairs watching it on TNT on our little ten-inch portable television.
To ease the pain in my cracked ribs, my doctor did a procedure on me yesterday at the surgery center, wherein he injected some medication into the nerves that run the length of the damaged ribs. He opted to do in the surgery center rather than in his office, because, to quote him directly, “I don’t want to accidentally poke a hole in your lung, Fred.” I agreed that was something that I didn’t want to have happen. The procedure hurt like hell and my side does feel a little better, but I still don’t know if it was worth the effort. He told me that I’d be in pain for three or four more weeks, and the best thing I could do, besides popping the bottle of pills he gave me, was to stay immobilized.
If I wiggle and squiggle enough I can find a position on my bed where the pain drops down to a manageable level. I can sit on the couch downstairs for limited periods of time, but for the most part I sprawl like a beached whale, immobilized, on the bed. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and watching basic cable (the upstairs television is so tiny and we use it so infrequently that getting a cable box for it would be a waste).
I’m home alone this weekend, which is just a well. Valarie and Dakota took a drive up to San Francisco to visit with Val’s friend Michelle. I haven’t been a happy person to be around, since I took my tumble. It’s tough not to get discouraged. This problem with my ribs came right on the tail end of my kidney stone problem, and it’s tough not to get the blues when you’re on the disabled list for so long.
Watching Signs is cheering me up. Before I started pecking on the laptop during commercials, I had been switching over to old episodes of Spike’s Amazing Videos and COPS.
I like M. Night’s movies a lot. The only one that I haven’t watched repeated times is The Village. I enjoyed it a great deal in the theater when it first came out, but it is sort of a one trick pony. The other day Val was headed over to the video store and I asked her to rent Unbreakable, which for some reason we don’t own. She tried to rent it but it turned out to be broken, or gummed up, or damaged in some manner that prevented the clerk from renting it to her. I’ll have to look for a cheap copy on eBay.
I know a lot of people were so bothered by the flaws and clichés in Signs, and I agree that there are plenty, but that doesn’t bother me from enjoying it all the same. The only thing that consistently bugs me about M. Night’s movies is his casting himself in them. He is very recognizable and seeing him always disrupts my viewing enjoyment.
What are you going to do? You take the good, you take the bad…
2 comments:
Fred!?
hey, I was all about watching "Signs", too. I have to catch up on your blog...What the hell happened to you ribs?
Tony,
I didn't post my rib cracking experience on my blog because I didn't want to sound like a basket case after crying about my kidney stone. The short version is that I was at the doctor's office and the place was more crowded that usual. There were even two people in wheelchairs parked in there. My name was called and while I was trying to avoid wheelchair A my foot got caught on wheelchair B. I fell like a sack of rocks onto the floor and cracked two or three ribs on the left side of my chest. Of all places for something like that to happen I guess the doctor's office is the best place.
I don't know if you've ever broken a rib but the pain is amazing. I'm amazed at how much it hurts even today. Of course I am a pillow-biting pussy when it comes to pain. The doctor sez that the only cure for it is to stay immobile for long periods and take lots of drugs. He claims it could take up to a couple of months to settle down.
Between waiting for the kidney stone to pass and now my ribs to heal I notice that I'm developing long claws and a thick furry coat. Before long I will have evolved into a sloth. I need to find a tree branch that will support me.
Hope you're doing well, my brutha. Your game design stuff is amazing and my local joke of a comic shop keeps selling out of Fables, so you must be doing something right.
Fred
P.S. Double check your to-do list to make sure my Rust tattoo design is somewhere on it. I've got a hunk of skin waiting for it.
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