The life of The Miserable

Our little M spent New Years at her grandparents house so Dale and I were able to get some much missed shut eye for a night. It was grand. We slept in until 9:30 (which hasn't happened since M was born); but the beauty of it was the uninterruption. For the past 7 weeks we have had the crappiest sleep since she was a newborn, for different reasons obviously (teething, separation anxiety, etc). Every night she has woken up multiple times crying for us to sleep in her room with her, and every night she has not been able fall asleep unless we are in view. Thankfully, we have gone from lying on the floor beside her bed to sitting outside her bedroom. We had hoped the night "off" from us would break her streak of bad sleep. Nope. Nothing's changed. Dale is sitting outside her door as I type.

My anecdote has little to do with the title of my post (I am fortunate enough that my life has seen little to no misery thus far); only insofar as M's stay with my parents also allotted us a matinee showing of "Les Miserable." Firstly, if you haven't yet seen it, you should watch it. The acting is amazing and the melodies are awesome. Granted it's a musical and the players onscreen are foremost actors, but they do a pretty decent, if not superb, job at combining the two skillfully and convincingly. [Sidenote: Adam Lambert wouldn't have a chance!] But what I most appreciated was the storyline and dialogue (lyrics). If there's one thing to know about me, it's that I love stories that contain character depth; art that imitates the reality of life in the past or present and the inner conflicts that go along with life's struggle. I tried to imagine myself feeling the injustice and poverty felt by many of the characters, and the questioning of God's mercy amidst the pain and sorrow. Redemption and forgiveness, as well as war and revolution were well-developed themes that resonated with me throughout the film. Honestly, never have I appreciated the revolutionaries of the past who fought for a (seemingly at times, futile) cause that allows me today to experience freedom in the country I live in. November 11th has become more meaningful, thanks to this film. Anyhow, obviously the calibre of singing wasn't broadway, but for what it was it was impressive. Russell Crowe was a disappointing Javert, but otherwise I was blown away.

Again, if you haven't yet seen it make sure to put it on your list of films to watch.