nevertheless, i still had time to pursue some personal interests (none of them having to do with the outdoors; feels like forever since i've been outside, but it's probably cold anyway). last night i found an online cache of weird cult movies, from 1970's exploitations to 1980's low-budget thrillers. i went to bed watching baby (1973), an indescribably strange movie about an adult baby purposefully developmentally stunted by his possessive welfare mother and 2 sisters. a social worker takes out the cause and tries to save baby to disastrous effects.
today during brief breaks i finished watching rope (1948), an alfred hitchcock movie about 2 high society young men who decide to commit the perfect murder just to see if they can get away with it. reminds me murder by numbers (2002), a sandra bullock thriller about the perfect murder as well. on the surface rope seemed kind of boring, a lot of talking as the 2 men invite friends over for a dinner party all the while there's a dead body in the house. but a search online reveals just how complicated the movie is. first of all, there's a strong homosexual subtext. then there's the amazing set, with a fake manhattan backdrop that grows darker as the day wears on. finally, the film is shot in a series of continuous takes, which makes me really appreciate just how precisely choreographed it was.
while i was working inside, outside cleber and his assistant were cleaning out our gutters. all 4 neighbors went in together and we managed to snag a group rate of $80 per house. i felt kind of bad seeing them work all day in the freezing cold. but at the end of the season, it probably wasn't bad money for some simple ladder work (and since he's painted here before, he's familiar with the layout of the houses).
my roommate finally came home tonight; actually earlier than usual, before 6:00. i jokingly told him i almost called the police, but he remembered telling me he'd be spending the past few days at his girlfriend's place (yeah, he told me before thanksgiving, more than 3 weeks ago, how was i supposed to remember?). anyway, he came back because he girlfriend returned to germany today for the winter break. i finally got to ask him about his new york city trip, but last weekend was so long ago, it's lost some of its freshness. he said the next few days he needs to do some serious shopping before he returns home next week.
my roommate looked sort of run down. after he watched the big bang theory, he called it a night and went to bed early. i spent the rest of the evening coding, made another delivery after midnight.