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Not so bad really. Hurricane Irene has mostly passed, leaving residual winds -which seem gustier today than last night. No thunder or lightning last night that I heard.

I finally went to bed at 2am after reading a few chapters of Darkly Dreaming Dexter (carried away from a housecooling party a couple of weeks ago). I've been wanted to check out the first novel since getting hooked on the tv show. Currently watching season 5 on DVD and realize I don't need to read the novel-so far it's not giving me any more info than I've already gleaned from four seasons (but still plan to).

Drained the water from the tub having confidence (perhaps false) that there won't be a blackout after all. My sister in Connecticut (near Rhode Island) lost electricity and reports wires downed by a tree in her front yard but isn't sure that's the electricity or cable wire. Landlines still working there.

As mentioned previously I've been watching Bryan Fuller's Dead Like Me and enjoying it more with each episode. Ironic that I'm watching it alternately with Dexter. DLM is all about death and how the Reapers deal with their job of harvesting the souls of the newly dead--knowing they cannot prevent the deaths. Meanwhile, George's family--mom, dad, baby sister is cracking up and George can't do anything about that either.

Yup. I bought a new monitor for my computer Friday. I couldn't stand looking at the scratched one any more and decided to bite the bullet and just buy a new one--my neighbor's last email message said she was still talking to the claims person at the installation company.

I decided that I might as well buy a 23 inch one and Matt Kressel came with me to Best Buy to help pick one out. Bought a Dell, he lugged it home, set it up, turned it on and nothing. So...we hauled it back crosstown to Best Buy, told them it was defective and went to find a replacement. I swore I'd make them check this one out first to make sure it turned on before having him take it home again. No more of that model but the salesman this time was way more knowledgeable than the last one and persuade us that I should buy the LG instead. Which I did. And Matt set it up and behold, there was a huge screen that is so large that Matt had to reconfigure most of the type for me. It think it's going to take awhile to get used to.

Tonight I watched The MacKintosh Man,, a pretty terribly plotted movie by John Huston written by Walter Hill, based on a novel by Desmond Bagley. It's a cold war drama (which I hadn't realized till I began watching) with Paul Newman and Dominique Sanda (who I didn't recognize till I read the credits again at the end--I'm used to her with a chignon, I guess). I hope the novel made more sense than the movie because from the get-go the thing yelled "idiot plot" idiot plot" to me. A waste of time except for watching blue-eyed Paul.

Then I watched Sherlock: Series 1--the BBC updated Sherlock Holmes everyone's been talking about. Yes yes yes. I want more. I watched all three episodes and they ended wayyy to soon. I very much look forward to the second season.

It's updated to contemporary times and works remarkably well. Good show.

Caught up on DVD movies, some Angel, and movies in theaters.

Friday night Swimming Pool with Charlotte Rampling as a relatively successful yet insecure and tightly wound British mystery writer, whose long term publisher (and it is hinted, lover)lets her stay in his French vacation house in order to get inspiration for her next novel. After a few peaceful, idyllic days, the publisher's French, illegitimate daughter moves in, plays loud music, lays about the swimming pool, and brings home a string of men with whom she has loud unrestrained sex. The tension between the two woman increases and their relationship evolves into an emotional kind of playing chicken. The ending is intriguing. I don't want to say more but it sent me to imdb to see what other viewers thought of it.

Saturday a friend came to NYC from out of town and we saw the new Roman Polanski (which I forgot was by him till the credits), Ghost Writer with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan in a really well done political thriller. Good show. Saturday night (after Helen left town( I watched I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, totally synchronistically with Charlotte Rampling and from 2003 (as was Swimming Pool. She's not the main character in this one -directed by Mike Hodge). Clive Owen plays a gang leader who left London suddenly several years before the movie begins. He returns when his brother commits suicide and investigating his old haunts to try to find out why the brother would do that...disturbing the thugs he left behind (they think he may be trying to horn back into the biz). Another very mysterious ending that had be checking out responses on ibdb. Another very good movie.

Sunday I finally saw Avatar and yes, it's pretty gorgeous to look at, enjoyable, (too long), and has the plot of Dancing with Wolves. As Rick Bowes remarked, they could have easily used an African American or Asian American in the role of Jake and one accusation (the white man saving the day for the natives) would have been kiboshed in one fell swoop --not only that, but casting the character as anything other than white would have brought more depth to the whole movie.

Today I went to the dentist to have a filling that was not solidly on, replaced. I grew up with no fear of the dentist for my childhood and teenage years--because I never had cavities. I did have braces for years and years and years. It wasn't until my twenties that I discovered gum problems and the House of Pain.

My current dentist works across the street from Grand Central Station, which just happens to have a wonderful food market on the main floor--which also just happens to have a Murray's Cheese store. There I discovered something that might almost have made the visit to the dentist worth it: on sale was something called Harvest Song's Tea Rose Petal Preserve, made in Armenia. I tried some on fresh rye bread and it was ok. Then I tried it on Ritz crackers (once my numbness passed)and ohmigod. Ecstasy. The combo of sweet and salt is perfect. The preserves are brownish and the tea rose petals are in little bits and pieces. This stuff is gold.