Ah-Choo!: Part 2

I'm still sick. I know, it's annoying. Really annoying. I'm all for lazing about the house in one's pajamas, but even that gets old after a few days. And let me tell you something--two seconds after Halloween is over all of the delicious horror movies disappear and are replaced by Christmas crap, so it's not even fun to watch TV.

By the way, don't even get me started on the ghastliness that is QVC and the Home Shopping Network, which you should never watch after loading up on Tylenol PM. What the hell am I going to do with three Advent calendars?

Anyway, I haven't gotten much done in the way of work. Or, really, in the way of anything. Mostly I've just been lying around complaining about how hot it is and sucking on Otter Pops, the last box of which Patrick found hidden at the back of the freezer at Safeway.

But I have managed a couple of things in the past few days, so here we go.

1. I voted.

I wasn't going to, but Patrick made me. He also made me a handy list of how to vote. I mostly followed it, although one of the propositions was worded oddly and it was difficult to read what with the Robitussin flowing through my veins and I might have inadvertently voted to allow Gavin Newsom to be declared King of San Francisco.

Our polling station is at a house a few blocks away. The woman has dogs, and they were barking because they were annoyed at being locked up for the day. In case you're interested, they're cattle dogs ( I asked). Oh, and on the way home we met two enormous bloodhounds, one of which is having surgery on her back this week to repair a ruptured disk. That's not something you run into every day.

By the way, I know I look like crap in this picture. Did I mention that I'm sick?

2. I listened to the new Tegan and Sara album

I downloaded Sainthood last week when it came out, but didn't listen to the whole thing until this weekend. I love it. My favorite tracks are "The Cure," "On Directing," "Hell," and "Paperback Head," but honestly there's not a bad song on here.

I want Tegan and Sara to be my best friends. We would sit around watching B-movies and eating SweeTarts and saying absolutely hysterical things. Also, when they're on the road we would call each other on the phone every Thursday and critique the Project Runway outfits. And of course they would let me sing backup on their next album.

3. I watched Sauna.

I've been waiting for this to come out on DVD ever since my friend Douglas Clegg told me about it earlier this year. And it was worth the wait.

Marketed as a horror movie, this beautiful film is much more than that. Set in 1585 at the end of the 25-year war between Russia and Sweden/Finland, the story centers on two brothers who are part of a delegation sent to map the new boundary lines between Finland and Russia. One brother has spent years as a soldier, while the other has been sheltered at university.

I won't reveal too much of the story except to say that the delegation stumbles upon a strange village and are forced to confront the decisions they've made and the deeds they've done during the war. Ultimately the film asks whether or not those choices are inevitable, what is right and wrong (particularly during war), and if there is really any way to atone for these choices. I found it a moving and visually stunning exploration of the way in which the effects of our decisions extend far beyond our own lives.

One word of caution: The subtitles suck. (My favorite line is along the lines of, "This food is not even good enough for a butt.") Thankfully, the acting is excellent and you'll figure out what's happening despite the obviously inadequate translation.

Okay, so I haven't done much in the past four days. I'm sure there was other stuff I just can't remember right now. Did I mention that I'm sick? And the day isn't over yet. I could still accomplish a thing or two.

But first I'm going to take a nap.