NUMBERS

I've weathered yet another trip around the Sun reasonably unscathed. The numbers keep increasing, but that's what numbers do, they're just man-made things.

Speaking of numbers, thousands, millions, billions and trillions of US dollars are often in the news. At this link there's a nice graphic comparison of what those numbers look like translated into $100 bills.

I might be able to stretch the theme of numbers further still. Last week we rented a trio of videos, egged on by the offer of one free rental from our local store, because we'd been AWOL for so long.

We chose :


The Martian
Good one! We both enjoyed it. Astronaut stranded on Mars, left for dead during an horrific storm, around 140 million miles from home. It's non-fantasy sci-fi. It's not difficult to imagine events, such as depicted in the film's story, actually coming to pass in the not too distant future. The tale is not doom-laden, hope and determination spring all the way through it, in spite of incredibly high odds and great difficulties, and that's inspiring!


I'll See You in My Dreams.
I picked this one off the shelf just because I spotted Sam Elliott's name in the cast list. I can never pass over another chance to see, and hear, Sam! It turned out to be a rather nice romantic tale for those of mature years, who had been around the Sun quite a few times, like yours truly. Very well done, we thought, not overly sentimental. It's down to earth but sweet with it. A gentle examination of a few different kinds of friendships and relationships that can arise as time goes on. I have two complaints, but to tell them would be to spoil the movie. Oh well...I will tell one of them: the dog dies. Dang! In the very first scene we see a lovely labrador asleep on Blythe Danner's bed. I said, right away to husband, "I hope they don't kill the dog in this one! In every film we see with a lovely dog in it - the dog dies in some way!"


The Age of Adeline
We watched the three films in this order, and dang me, but a dog died in this one as well! You might be able to imagine my choice remarks! Apart from that, though, The Age of Adaline is a pleasant and engaging story. Suspending disbelief came easily for us, including the premise that a woman could remain at the age of 29 for almost a century.
From a review at Variety:

Blake Lively as a woman for whom eternal youth turns out to be a decidedly mixed blessing — one that plays out in ways both poignant and preposterous, sometimes simultaneously, over the course of her 100-plus years on Earth.

Three lucky picks - not a bad one among 'em!

Finally, a few more words on numbers, by Suzy Kassem from Rise Up and Salute the Sun

REMEMBER YOUR GREATNESS

Before you were born,
And were still too tiny for
The human eye to see,
You won the race for life
From among 250 million competitors.
And yet,
How fast you have forgotten
Your strength,
When your very existence
Is proof of your greatness.
You were born a winner,
A warrior,
One who defied the odds
By surviving the most gruesome
Battle of them all.
And now that you are a giant,
Why do you even doubt victory
Against smaller numbers,
And wider margins?
The only walls that exist,
Are those you have placed in your mind.
And whatever obstacles you conceive,
Exist only because you have forgotten
What you have already
Achieved.