How To Pick A Movie To Watch When You're Sick (It's Not As Easy As It Seems)

Well, I'm dashed. Last week, it was an almost-but-not-quite root canal.  After three prescriptions and more metal objects being stuck into my mouth than anyone should go through in 90 minutes (and if you know my oral history, that is saying something) I went home after the dentist appointment with the thought, Well, next week will be better.

Wrong.

1:00 AM, Yesterday, Monday morning. Bathroom, light on. Pepto bottle out. No further details offered - or hopefully, needed.

Yesterday afternoon - lying on the couch. Finished reading Oliver Twist. Thought: Need to watch one of the many movies I have! This is when something amazing happened, although at this point it needs to stop being amazing to me. I checked my phone to see if anyone had called (in between reading Dickens, were lots of naps) and there was a text message from my boyfriend. He asked how I was doing and...if I was watching any movies. Great minds...
Anyway, he suggested several, all of which sounded promising. After the text conversation, I lay on the couch thinking about all the options. I'm going to go a little James Joyce here, so bear with me.

Sense and Sensibility? Ah, good. Light, funny. Nothing too loud, since I'll probably fall asleep during it. (No jokes from Bud or Dad inserted here, please. I had a fever.) Hmmm...maybe not. There's that scene where Marianne is really sick, don't really need to watch THAT now. Plus, I've kind of overdosed on English lit/history, what with Oliver still fresh in the brain. Now there's a kid who had lots of problems..

LOTR?(Lord of the Rings trilogy, FYI) Hmmmm. Good, long films. No worries about a constant background on the menu screen if I fall asleep. But...I just finished The Silmarillion last week. (Tolkien's epic backstory of LOTR) Not really in the mood for Middle Earth right now.

2006 World Series? (I have the set of all five games, plus games 5 and 7 from the NLCS that year) Hmmm. Better. No lit or English history there. But if I put in a game, I'll want to actually watch it. Even though I'll probably fall asleep. But really, I'll just be wishing it was the 2011 WS. David Freese can't hit that home run too many times.

Seriously, you really do think too much. It's a MOVIE. How hard can it be?

Okay. Focus. You've got lots of them, surely there's one of them that fits your mood right now. (I was also really weak yesterday, and it took a lot of motivation to get off the couch. I was moving slower than my grandparents. God bless them.)

Pride and Prejudice - thinking length here, never mind the English theme. Eh, not really feeling it. Chariots of Fire? Not today. The Lion King? Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea? Shadowlands? The Queen? Crap. More sickness/death. Can't do that. Gack, a lot of the movies in here have that stuff in them. I'd watch The Sound of Music, but, I just watched it! Ditto with Back To The Future. Star Wars? Luke whines too much.

Notting Hill? Too vapid. Sleepless in Seattle? Same thing. Clue? Yeah....it's a comedy. With lots of dead bodies. Not the greatest thing to watch when you're feeling like death warmed over.

Now I was in the spare bedroom looking at them. And saw a DVD with a blank cover, smack in the middle of the shelf. I forgot I had that. It's been a long time. Yeah. What is it about being sick that makes you want to see those you love?

So the DVD of my sister's wedding played. There was comedy (part of the sermon) and sadness (there were people there who are no longer with us), but it was good. And yes, I slept though most of it. Peacefully, with a smile on my face.

I'm feeling much better today, but not totally over this. I hope all of you are well.

-BR

P.S. By the way, Sissy, do you have any idea how beautiful you were that day? You really were radiant. That's not to say you aren't now. You know what I mean. :)