Serenity

After a week of cleaning my office and dealing with issues that should've been dealt with long ago, it was very good to spend time with friends and enjoy an evening out on Friday.

A week or two ago, SS and I were comparing notes on the tv series Firefly and talking about trying to catch Serenity--the movie based on the series--on opening night. She suggested making it a double-date--she and her husband, G, and JM and I. So we had started making plans when we realized that opening night--Sept 30--was the same night as the alumni-faculty reception that was being planned to coincide with PHC's first Homecoming--Oct. 1. As GS is a faculty member and I get included in most faculty events, that threw some complications into the plans.

After GS and JM had both agreed that SS and I had spent too much time planning, the evening still came off differently than planned, but still very enjoyable.

Since the reception was actually closer to my house than S&GS's home or the college, we all met at my place just before 7:00 to be at the reception when it started. GS had originally stated that we only needed to stay at the reception for a half-hour. That idea was reinforced by the fact that SS had a cold an the reception was outside. Despite that, we ended up staying for 1.5 hours. I got to visit with several different alumni and find out what they are doing now. Of course, everyone is telling stories of great jobs. Most of them who made it are still in this general area. Some were there with their spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend--in most cases another PHC alum. When they asked what I was doing, it was easy to talk about what's happening in the library--new staff this fall, booksale this weekend, more space when the student center is complete. But even with JM there and some people asking with their eyes, I never quite figured out how to casually say, "Oh yeah, and I'm dating JM."

[Begin ramble into stream of consciousness] I think somewhere along the line I picked up this odd idea that it's college students that date, marry, have drastic changes in their personal life. Staff or faculty are married or they are not married; have kids or not...and the facts are that. On top of that, I've never been overly fond of being the center of attention or sharing my personal life with just anybody and everybody. And maybe I have this idea that if I don't make a big deal out of what's happening in my life--library staff leaving or new relationship--it won't be such a big deal and it'll be easier to handle. And for whatever it's worth, I've seldom been accused of being overly dramatic! [End ramble]

The original plan had been to catch supper between the reception and the movie, but staying at the reception meant that we ended up going straight to the movie. Serenity was a good movie. If I had just watched it as a movie on its own, I'd say that it had more fighting than I generally enjoy in a movie. Taking it in the context of the series, I didn't mind the fight scenes as much--they were saying more about the characters. The movie did a good job of filling out the main stories that were left open by the show that was canceled before it had a full season. And while there were questions left unanswered and threads of the story that could be picked up and continued, there really isn't room for a sequel. Neither the series or the movie are packed with deep philosophical meanings, at least not as I've seen them. They do express the desire of people who want to live their own lives without being interfered with by the government.