8 films to make you cry.

Need a cry? Watch these (in no particular order):

1. The Iron Giant.

2. Marley and Me.

3. Dear Zachary -- if you don't know what this movie is about, I suggest watching it without looking up any info (not even reading the description on the DVD case) to achieve maximum emotional affect.

4. The Kite Runner -- based on the best-selling book by Khaled Hosseini.

5. Brokeback Mountain -- a modern queer twist on the classic Romeo & Juliet archetype.

6. C.R.A.Z.Y -- another great gay flick; in French.

7. 3:10 to Yuma -- an intense, pacy, intelligent modern-Western.

8. Raise the Red Lantern -- some beautiful cinematography in this Chinese film.


I bet that at least one of the above flicks will get those eyeballs leaking, and depending on your emotional fortitude they may all cause some tears. They all did for me.

So-long Summer.

Summer is over. The temperature is dropping and I'm sad to think that many months of cold weather is looming. Bostonians live by seasons and all in all, it was a pretty crappy summer weatherwise. I am super tanned though, as I tried to take advantage of every nice day by being outside, whether it be sitting along the Charles River watching sailboats, joggers and amazing eye-candy stroll by while catching up on the phone with dear Fariyal in Chicago, or by spending a very pleasant day canoeing with the lab in Ipswich.

I'm really going to miss Boston. There was a free concert by a Boston orchestra at the Hatchshell along the river the other evening. Sitting/lying down in the open air, with Sven and Sue for company, enjoying Mozart's Symphony No. 41 was so relaxing and fun.

It's the season for getting married it seems. Three friends of mine have tied the knot the past week, congratulations to them all, especially Aussie-mate Nick. I was sad to miss it, but from all accounts a great time was had by all.

My other news is that Emre and I visited Washington DC the other weekend. DC is a very nice city, lots to see and do (all the Smithsonian Museums, and monuments, White House etc.), it was super hot and gorgeously sunny throughout. Highlights were seeing the Lincoln memorial by night and the random stroll along the river to get there from the very pretty suburb of Georgetown, our very cheap but swanky hotel room at the Renaissance, and seeing the Apollo 11 return module and associated miscellaneous moon stuff -- the silver case that carried the moon rocks back for example. Also the giant squid on display in the Natural History Museum was funky.

Overall I'm in a good mood here.

G & T

I'm sipping a lovely Gin and Tonic after a rewarding day at work. The sun set four hours ago but it's still hot enough to make you sweat. I saw a ridiculous number of uber hot dudes on my way home earlier, so all in all, a good day :-). I'm definitely going to miss Boston.

Moisture

It's been raining on and off (mostly on) for the better part of four weeks. After 6 months of winter/cold, summer is the only saving grace for Boston weather, so having continuously rainy, overcast, dreary and generally depressing weather during our supposed summer months really sucks. Boston summers are usually very hot and humid, but with superb clear blue skies. Not this year though. This is the worst summer Boston has ever had according to a local Bostonian work colleague. In my three years here, I wholeheartedly agree. I'm currently generally grumpy, depressed and pissed off. This summer sucks.