do it like the italian job

Today was substantially more fun than the typical weekday. I got up early enough to have breakfast before walking out the door, which means that I didn't get lightheaded from not eating lunch and subsisting only on a cup of soup--I'm heartily sick of the food at the office, because it is all bathed in grease and full of spices. It's just never, ever appetizing. It's not quite as bad as some of the stuff we ate in Ukraine ('shit-in-a-pot' is a memorable example), but it's also served every single day, so the monotony adds an extra kick to the disgustingness. I don't think that I'm just being finicky, since all of the other expats, and most of the non-veg people in the office, feel exactly the same way.

Anyway, I went to the office, was productive, and then got to leave at 5pm to see 'Batman Begins' on the IMAX screen. I really loved the movie--I'm a sucker for movies that have dark, brooding heroes with cool toys and great fighting skillz. Some of the dialogue was cheesy, but other bits of dialogue was really funny, and so I had a good time with it. I would definitely watch it again (which I guess isn't saying much since I saw such gems as 'Matrix: Revolutions' twice on opening day).

After the movie, I came home and ate supper--Wednesday night is 'Mexican' food, which as I said doesn't taste exactly Mexican, but it's acceptably close and so v. satisfying. Then, I had some work to do, so I popped 'The Italian Job' into the DVD player while working.

That was a huge mistake. The best parts of the movie involve driving really fast in Mini Coopers, which just made me long for my car even more. I miss the thrust of acceleration as I speed onto the freeway, or the rush of adrenaline while taking the curves between Stanford and the ocean a few miles per hour above the recommended level. When something is really bothering me, I can get in my car, roll down the windows, open the sunroof, and drive up into the hills until the wind strips everything away. Here, that's not an option; I can't drive, you can't get above 25 miles per hour because of the insane traffic, and if you roll your windows down, the beggars start touching you. So, 'The Italian Job' made me nostalgic for when I saw it in the theatre during that halcyon summer right after graduation, when I was living in a closet of a room in Phi Sig and scrounging meals off of friends' trays at FloMo. After I saw the movie in the theatre, John and I raced each other all the way to the city, which was incredibly stupid, but it definitely satisfied a need for the open road that is not being met here. Considering the fact that the last time I saw the 'open road' was on the way back from Srisailam, past the bus that was blown up by the Naxalites, I think I'll have to suppress further urges until I get back to the States.