we felt like going to the movies today but not to see anything in particular. usually the movie selection is shitty so i don't bother going out to see them. today though there were several films i wouldn't mind seeing so instead of picking one, we decided to just show up and whatever film was playing next that we were interested in we would buy a ticket for. we arrived and the next screening of all films was for "ratatouille". fine, a pixar film, let's watch that. oh sorry, it's sold out. the next available screening was also "ratatouille" and we got tickets for that. now, even though this is a pixar film, the trailers haven't thrilled me so i wasn't really interested in it. plus, the last pixar release wasn't so great.

"ratatouille" was wonderful. perhaps my praise was partly due to my low expectations. no, that's not it. it was a well thought out story and script. it was insanely funny. even though the theater was packed full of families with children, i think the adults laughed the loudest. this one lady in particular was in hysterics. the film is about cooking but even if you don't care about cooking, i think you will enjoy the film because the film's about discovering the chef inside of you. plus there are the other classic elements. friendship, love, family, betrayal, etc. i just wondered though how the film would be subtitled or dubbed for the french audience. the film is supposed to take place in paris and the french characters speak english with a french accent and there is at least one joke that utilizes the stereotype americans have about the french. not to mention there is at least one joke that is a play on words in english and i don't know how that will translate into any language. (this is in the trailer so it's not a spoiler, how ratatouille sounds like "rat patootie", or childish slang for "rat butt").

burning shapes into the night

at night we watched fireworks at cerritos high school but from behind in the housing tract as it was extremely crowded and some streets were blocked off. it gave me a chance to practice taking pictures of fireworks, this time with my nice camera. it was my first time taking pictures of fireworks with it and i was happy but frustrated. i'm happy that it's a better camera but i can't help but feel limited by the lack of zoom. it looks like lenses are where my money's going to be going but i have to spend much more time mastering what i already have to work with.

p.s.
i wore my new dress today and my fancy scarf, if you want to call it that, all black of course. no dressing in red, white, and blue for me. you could say i was in mourning various facets of our country's loss. our country's loss of respect, intelligence, dignity, etc. but mostly a loss of the foundation of the country. that any poor bastard could immigrate and live the american dream. it doesn't matter what their background is. that they could come here to live a new life. and that we have rights given to us via the bill of rights in our constitution. our country is in serious need of changing its course. to top it off, i wore a pin on my lapel. well, dresses don't have lapels but it sounded nice. i wore a pin of comrad lenin. i thought this might spark dialogue between me and my countrymen as i went about town, to the movies, to the fireworks celebration, etc. i thought someone would come down like hell upon me but no one talked to me about it. did they not notice? did they not know who it was?