a well-needed laugh

I meet my friend J to see a screening.  Both of us are on tight budgets so we bring our own dinners and meet in the Sony atrium where there are chairs and tables.

Beforehand, I stop by Butterfields, a great little gourmet sandwich and bakery place that is near the subway.  It’s 6pm on a Friday and it turns out that every Friday night their sandwiches, made earlier that day, are half price at this hour.  I even get a half-priced carrot-cake cupcake that I later feel too guilty to eat.

J and I are both going through challenging times.  Our intimate conversation is not sugarcoated.  Right now, things are tough for both of us. 

We get to the screening early.  It’s an Argentinian film called Wild Tales; neither of us know what to expect. We are sitting in the theater and J turns to me and says, “By the way, I’ve been trying to get into your blog and I can’t.”  J is a pretty straightforward person, but her candor, so unexpected, surprises me.  Then she casually adds, “Really, I’ve tried a few times, but I just can’t seem to get into it.”  I say, “Well, that’s all right.  You know, it’s not for everyone.”  I imagine her reading my stories about a free Brita or a new coffee maker and think, I can see where anyone might find this really boring. 

Then J starts laughing.  “No, I mean literally, I can’t get into it.  I go the site and it locks me out.” 

The misunderstanding strikes us both as so funny, we start laughing uncontrollably.  The type of belly-laughter that doesn’t come along too often.  The kind where your eyes tear up and you can barely catch your breath.  It’s a great relief for the two of us, especially given our intense conversation at dinner.

And the movie?  It’s six unrelated short films all about revenge. It is wickedly funny, clever, and beautifully shot.  We both love it.