Author’s note: This is from a series based on my journal. Unconventional and idiosyncratic punctuation and formatting are intentional.
At fitness class this morning we did eight exercises in a series of one-minute intervals. It has been a while since we have done this kind of workout. It would be fine with me if it is another while before we do it again. On the upside Susan had me start with the hardest exercises first. I was glad to get them out of the way. Mike was also too winded to sing. I didn’t mind that we ran out of time for me to do box jumps. I still have the scar on my leg from raking it over the edge of a plywood box a few years ago. Blood from the gash soaked my sock. It squished in my shoe. I finished the workout anyway, determined, pumped up on adrenalin.
This afternoon I went to see a movie called Hamnet. It’s about Shakespeare and his wife and the death of their son. I asked Laura to join me but she had plans to take her mom to the dentist. She may have enjoyed that more than the movie. It is portentous and weirdly deracinated, untethered from the time in which it takes place. A cultural renaissance, the Plague, imperial glory and ambition. In one scene Shakespeare scratches some parchment with a quill and clutches his hands around his head and yells, I have lost my way! But other than this nothing else suggests anything special about him or his situation. I also found it so dark and dirty, however realistic. I wanted to give everyone a bath and kept thinking, God, they must stink! How can they kiss? Someone digging into a bag of popcorn behind me also distracted me and so did a man who came in a few minutes late and sat right beside me. There were at least 80 empty seats. Why? But I loved the way my seat reclined, almost as comfortable as the couch. At home I shoveled snow and ice and holly berries from the deck. I am tired of tracking them inside and finding them mashed into the carpet, leaving smurky dark-red stains. William was in touch with some Christmas gift ideas for himself. Spatula snow windshield plow removal, he wrote. That all seems easy enough. Links? I asked. That makes it all even easier. Christmas for me is all about ease these days.
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Now I have to make sure to check out Hamnet when it's available on Amazon Video.
Someone told me I HAD to see Hamnet, that it was fabulous. After your description of the film, I am sure I could care less to spend my time on it. Thanks for your review!