I watched Secret Window (possible spoilers ahead... turn away now!), which had an utterly thrilling and suspenseful build-up to an utterly ridiculous climax, one that was logical and yet undermined the very authority of its villain. The underlying theme of the danger lurking in one's own mind was poignant to me, however. As a society, we increasingly spend our time alone. Even when I am with people, I so rarely share their company anymore. As a society we are mastering interaction without risk, which is essentially no interaction. True interaction, I feel, in a connection between two people in which each leaves an impression on the other. Nowadays, I go through whole conversations and walk away without either party having made an impression on the other. It is this lack of basic danger that has made society so empty. It is why technology like AIM and text-messaging on cell phones is so popular when talking over the phone is so much easier. We avoid making lasting connections, and the result is that slowly but surely we are being left without any real human connections at all.

The feeling of hellish futility I got from my job reached a new, concentrated peak. One of my tasks was to sort admission tickets by number and report if any were missing. None were. Five minutes later, my task was to cut all the tickets into two and through them in the trash. Eyes bulging with exasperation.

Kept up with my Java reading, but didn't get much done due to the aforementioned futile tasks. Got really into encoding trailers and got a passable SVCD of that "This Land" parody that's been floating around the internet finished. Drifted in and out of sleep on the couch while This is Spinal Tap played on "Bravo." Two of our channels are blocked out, MSG and Fox Sports. I watch neither, and we get a buck rebate as a result, so I'm happy. In the mean time, I'm going to bed. I shall have another go at things tomorrow. Also: Matchstick Men