Walkouts and Window Washing

The Sox Took the Day Off to Hang With President Obama

The maelstrom of house preparation continued unabated yesterday as we prepare for the impending arrival tonight of the realtor assessment team.  This is really getting to resemble college when the entire campus crammed for final exams.  My head professor was issuing edicts throughout the day yesterday.

Apparently she didn’t get the memo where I adamantly refused to do windows.  I was issued a bucket and squeegee upon arrival home from work.  This was supposed to happen on Sunday but the constant rain mitigated against that, so Tuesday evening it was.  I decided to properly garb myself for the effort which resulted in my “Got Bacon?” lounge pants, white tank top, dark socks and sandals.  To say I was a fashion explosion would be a vast understatement, I was a vision.  I will spare you a photo of the ensemble; it’s not something you want burned into your memory.  Curiously my wife did not comment on my outfit, cleaning ability clearly out-prioritizes fashion sense in her world.

Should Have Gone With Something Like This

I managed to get every window in the house squeegeed in time for a frenzied departure for date night and the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel.  I did change clothes before departing though, my sense of adventure doesn’t extend that far.  My daughter had enthusiastically recommended this Wes Anderson film which I though made it a safe bet (despite her somewhat spotty history of cinematic recommendations as far as her mother goes).

We had to journey into Worcester to see it which provided an unfortunate out for my wife.  Anderson’s films are notorious for snappy, quirky dialogue which my wife had trouble keeping up with.  She fell asleep five minutes in and when she awoke a bit later declared she was leaving to re-acquaint herself with the nearby shopping opportunities which had been severely underappreciated during her Panamanian sojourn.

I was directed to stay and watch the movie – so win-win. I loved the movie.  I don’t always like Anderson’s flicks but this one was too outrageously funny to be denied.  Anderson had his usual merry band of actors that seem to appear in most of his work, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman but they were all relegated to minor roles and this movie works because of one guy – Ralph Fiennes.

It’s hard to imagine the actor who tortured so many poor schleps over the years as they were forced to sit through The English Patient could be so funny.  They say comedy acting is much tougher than drama and if so Fiennes is one hell of an actor.  Who knew Valdemort had a funny bone!  He plays the lead role as a wildly pretentious concierge in a mythical Eastern European country hotel right on the cusp of World War 2.  He mentors a young Arab lobby boy as they become embroiled in a murder, jail break, and shootout.  This movie was fun because each new character revealed was a well known actor – some in outrageous makeup.  My only problem was the ending which was kind of a downer after Anderson and Fiennes made you fall in love with all the characters; but well worth the watch – a great ride; one could almost say sublime.

These Are Only Some of the Stars