I love the idea of movies, but I can rarely bring myself to watch them. I am so overly-interested in reading that when I actually contemplate watching a movie, I worry about how it will cut 2 hours or so out of my reading time. But, if I can make myself step away from the book, I do enjoy movies.

My non-watching of movies extends back to my teen years, even, so I play a game with other people my age called "Name a Movie I've Seen." If you name a movie I've seen, you get a point. And you can't name ones that you have seen with me, because that would be cheating. I haven't seen so many of the ones I should have seen given that I'm 38 (ex. Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller), that it gets hard (once we get past Star Wars and Amelie) to actually rack up points.

I'm a popular cultural ignoramous. It's really sad, and I'm not pround of it. A year or two ago, I was riding in a car with some friends and some music came on the radio. "Who is this?" I asked. "Uh. Led Zepplin." Oops.

I, myself, have seen a ton of movies. Growing up, we always had cable, so I saw every movie of the 80s about five hundred and ten times. It's nothing to be proud of either ... it doesn't really help me in any way.

I've become much choosier in the last 10 years. I can't stand losing 2 hours, either. That means I don't know anything about the movies my co-workers have seen, like the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter or most normal Hollywood stuff. And they generally think I'm crazy to watch movies I have to "read."

I find it difficult to find a writer that I can stand to read anymore. You were a trooper to read the 'single tear' book. I wouldn't have. I can read Chuck Palahniuk, David Goodis, Jim Thompson, and non-fiction. But books take so long (you probably read faster than me).

The wonderful thing about movies is that you don't need words. I love almost silent movies, subtle acting, and unspoken motivations. Those are things that the Thompsons of the world can mostly pull off in a book, but it's not easy.

The other wonderful thing about a movie is the immediacy of it. In two hours you've absorbed the movie. I also love that Andrew and I can watch them together and discuss them. That's not something you can do with a book as easily.

At work I was asked if I liked Van Morrison. "No, I don't like them," I said. I didn't know Van Morrison was the guy's name. Oh, well. :)