I Noticed...

...that I traveled back in time one day this week. I got on an elevator to go to a meeting on the third floor of one of our office buildings. The clock outside read 3:01. When the doors opened a moment later, an identical clock on the third floor read 3:00. It was only one minute, but I still had to repress the urge to drop the mail bin I was carrying, throw my arms in the air, and shout ”YATTA!”

...that a sign near the beach I go to for lunch read “Please Drive Slowly; We Love our Children.” I'm certain I've heard a comedian make this observation before, but if they didn't love their children would anything go, a la the Autobahn?

...that children and the mentally challenged have infested my happy place. As one of the latter climbed out of a van, picked his nose, and held it up proudly to show his caregiver, the picnic tables on that shaded deck suddenly were less appealing. The kids were just loud, one raising his shrill voice to explain his version of the Star Wars® saga to everyone else at his table. I found a park bench in the shade of some trees, along the edge of the sand, so my stress-minimizing solitude was still in effect. Some of the voices carried though, and it was interesting to hear the same Star Wars® expert promise his classmates that if they voted for him, he'd “take out Cheney!!” Moments later, their lunch finished, these same children were climbing on the outside rail of the deck while their teachers mildly informed them that they “didn't want to do that,” probably anticipating “accidental” gunfire from a duck-hunting vice president.

...that there must be something seriously wrong with me, emotionally. The Family Stone had a great cast, but with a similar plot and less humor than Dan in Real Life, I decided early on that it wouldn't get more than three stars. Then the final scene choked me up, even though it was heavily telegraphed about fifteen minutes earlier and I saw exactly what I was expecting to see. I gave it four stars. A movie makes me cry and I add a star. Seriously wrong.

...that my car has two FM settings. I got nervous Friday morning when I hit the button too many times and my presets no longer worked. Then I read the digital display and realized it was like my dad's radio. Instead of five stations I could actually program ten if I wanted. Oh, I know everyone else on the planet is listening to satellite radio or MP3 players, but if you consider that up until two weeks ago I was driving a car with manual windows, a broken tape deck, and no air conditioning, you can see why I'd be impressed.

...Steve Carell is at his best when he's playing someone completely lost, alone and pathetic. As withThe 40 Year Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and the aforementioned Dan in Real Life, he's playing on this strength in The Office recently, moreso than usual. The first time he delivers this line, “It's not the horniness; it's the loneliness,” it's funny. Later in the episode, after spending a night clubbing with his friends, he repeats the line in a more somber tone, and while still funny, it's also very sad. There's some kind of genius in a guy who can make you laugh at and sympathize with his characters simultaneously.

...how (unintentionally?) hilarious it can be when Lost plays up the ”red shirt” cliché. Without being too specific lest I cross into spoiler territory, I cracked up this week when one of the main characters braved a barrage of gunfire to save another main character. “Get down!” he shouted as one extra walked out into a bullet. “Hey, what's going o--” began a second before she was told to duck a minute two late. Then a third extra wandered out into the gunfire to see where the other two red shirts had gone and what all the racket was. The main character was fine though because he has a credited part and found some propane tanks and picnic tables to safely block the bullets when he wasn't avoiding them just by crouching. Lost isn't afraid of killing main characters though and bumps a few off each season, so there always is reason for concern and adequate drama in such sequences. It was just funny the way the nameless kept wandering out and getting picked off like that. What? I said there was something wrong with me emotionally...