I'm still awake. How can I still be awake?

Probably because I went to work and got a jumpstart on the week, went to a strategic planning meeting and got all discombobulated, went to college movie night (which they politely waited to start until after i arrived 45 minutes late), watched "love actually" and laughed hard and contemplated much. then watched all the deleted scenes with commentaries and then drove home at 1:15.

That's why I'm still awake.

There are some great lines in Love Actually that are running through my mind. And just for the record, there has been a debate among my students that this film is a chic flic. I disagree. Any movie that can depress you the first time you watch it, make you laugh the second time you watch it and make you think the third time you watch it cannot be labelled "chic flic." Granted, it's no Shawshank Redemption, but it's a quality movie about the complexity of relationships and the fragility and joy of love (if you're one of the characters that gets it).

"Self-preservation" is one character's to response to his best friend's new wife when she discovers that this cold, distant, unfriendly best friend of her husband's actually has been in love with her, but she never knew because of his callous attitude toward her. Self-preservation. How many times do we demonize other people to keep ourselves sane? Self-preservation. Interesting concept.

Anyway, I recommend the movie. A stellar cast: Leim Neilson, Collin Firth, Kierra Nightly, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, the guy from Harry Potter, and even a cameo by Mr. Bean. It's great. It might make you cry, it will make you laugh, and it will allow you the chance to re-evaluate your own morals and the fragile strings with which love ... actually .... happens.

I mean did you know there was a lobster at the birth of jesus?

Just try to watch it at a decent hour.