Boredom and Remakes

Is it Monday yet? I can't believe it, but I actually find myself missing work. Last year at this time I wrote an aptly named entry titled ”Dull”, musing that I don't enjoy “nothing” days as much as I did when I was a kid. Today I have the same sense of disorientation, of being in a void and not having the “feel” of the day. Is today Sunday? Saturday? Only Friday? Every year I look forward to having a chunk of time away from the stress of work, and every year I realize that I like being busy; I NEED to be busy. I can play video games, watch DVDs, read, and surf the net, and get bored with it ALL. It's interesting that last year I was playing X-men Legends, and now I'm playing the sequel. Actually, I beat the sequel over a week ago and now I'm just going through it again with the characters I unlocked, and increased powers. I find I lose interest very quickly in a game I've already played, no matter how good it is.

There was no way I was venturing out anywhere near malls or shopping centers on the busiest day of the year. When I woke up, the sun looked promising, and I considered places to hike and take pictures. That was before I checked and noticed that it was only 26 degrees today. One glance at a planter full of frozen water near my driveway was enough to convince me that today was a day best spent indoors. I did some cleaning, and even some electrical work, installing a new outlet in my parent's bedroom. That task proved interesting, considering my dad cannot hear very well. He'd throw switches downstairs to cut the power, I'd call down that the light went out and he found the right one, and a second later the light would come back on because, not hearing me, he flipped the switch back on. I suggested turning everything off but he said we couldn't do that “because” and gave no further explanation since he figured it would be over my head. As it is, though the lights went out I plugged in my folks’ clock radio and discovered the outlets still had power, and ran on another line. Experience had taught me that electricity is not my friend, and my dad sometimes does things in a hurry. I'm glad I checked before I took a screwdriver to the outlet.

Mail delivery was a little late today on account of the holiday, but Netflix came through with two movies for me. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was really good, and Johnny Depp was wonderfully weird and creepy. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is still a classic and the better of the two movies, but the new one by no means disappoints and even fleshes out Wonka's backstory a bit more than the original. Some movies should never be remade, and I was apprehensive given the history of wrongful remakes. 2001's Planet of the Apes, also directed by Tim Burton, springs to mind. Burton doesn't deviate as much from the original story here, and gives a quality update. The latest King Kong remake also looks very promising. Still, I sometimes wonder about the necessity of remakes. Why not re-release digitally remastered originals to theaters? It worked for George Lucas...

After the first movie, I couldn't keep my eyes open. I rested them for what seemed like a moment, and then it was time for dinner. Looking back on the day, it feels long, wasted and nonexistent. I feel unmotivated, and as busy as my job can get, I miss having a list of tasks to accomplish. Earlier I anticipated Monday, but I've taken that day off so Tuesday will be my return to life. A few days ago, extending the weekend seemed like a great idea. After being cooped up in the house for two days straight now, the next three days seem like an eternity. Maybe that's part of the problem though. I haven't gone outside since coming home from work early on Wednesday. I woke up yesterday, had breakfast, and immediately started cooking. Tomorrow I'll get to go to a holiday parade which, checking my archives, I looked forward to last year as a welcome break from doing nothing. Subsequently, I froze, and was glad to get back home. I'm a little stir crazy right now, but history will probably repeat itself.

I think this is enough ramblings from my self-imposed prison for one evening. I'm going to return to the second movie I got today, The Siege, and finish up the day. I'll have to brainstorm ideas for places to go on Sunday and Monday though, because I definitely need to get OUT of here.