At long last it looks like spring has arrived here in Illinois. Today the sun is shining and it's a toasty 58 degrees. Now that I've opened my big mouth, it'll probably start snowing again!

It'll be nice to get out of the house and do some hiking and other outdoors galavanting, assuming the weather stays nice. We were hoping to go for a walk yesterday, but it poured all day so we were stuck indoors. Let's hope next weekend brings better weather.

Over the weekend I managed to get the story tidied up for the crit group, and wrote a short flash piece as part of the group's new Weekly Word challenge. The idea is to write a couple of paragraphs, a flash fiction story, a short story, or a novella that includes the weekly word at least once. This is basically the same thing that Jay Lake does with his daily Story Words blog. I picked the word for this week, which was 'garbanzo'. Already group members have come up with some nice stories and I'm looking forward to seeing more as the week goes on.

Next up on the writing agenda, I've got a crit to do and I'd also like to work on my part of a collab story that has been on the backburner for well over a month now. I'll have to juggle this with the copywriting course - I really need to get stuck into this again.

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We went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at a small theatre on Saturday. It looked intriguing from the movie trailer and I'd heard good things about it. I wasn't disappointed.

Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) is stunned to learn that Clementine, his girlfriend (Kate Winslet), has had her memories of him erased after the failure of their relationship. Upon realizing that she truly does not remember him, Joel opts to undergo the procedure himself. What follows is a fascinating and poignant story, taking place mostly within Joel's mind as his memories are erased, one by one.

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are perfect for this piece, and really seemed to get into their characters. Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst deliver solid performances as two members of the team from Lacuna (the memory erasure company), and despite initial appearances, their characters are not just incidental to the plot - they have secrets of their own that are revealed as the movie progresses.

The cinematography is excellent, as are the effects used to convey the memory erasure process. The plot has occasional twists and turns that tie in with the theme of memory and can be confusing at times, although things become much clearer by the end. Once again Charlie Kaufman has done a brilliant job (as did the rest of the cast and crew). I'd even go as far as saying that this film surpasses Being John Malcovich as being my favourite Kaufman film.

If the comments and rating (currently 8.7/10) on IMDB are any indication, most people were as impressed as I was with Eternal Sunshine, although there were some who either didn't 'get' it or were turned off by the relatively sedate pace. I'm disappointed that this hasn't done that well at the box office, but then again, it is a rather unconventional story and is perhaps too different from the usual drivel that Hollywood churns out.

If you haven't already done so, get yourself to your nearest theatre pronto and give this film a chance. I'd be very surprised if this doesn't rank in my top 10 films of this year!

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Last night we watched A Mighty Wind on DVD. This is the latest mockumentary by Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap) and Eugene Levy (American Pie and sequels), this time following the reunion of three folk bands as they prepare for a show in honour of the late champion of folk music, Irving Steinbloom.

If you've seen This is Spinal Tap, or Best in Show, you'll know what to expect. Although I enjoyed A Mighty Wind, I didn't get as many laughs from it as the earlier movies, and felt a little underwhelmed by the whole thing. That said, the acting was quite good and the bands and flashbacks (with period costumes and film) were convincing. A Mighty Wind is worth a look if you're into mockumentaries - especially those I've just mentioned.

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2004 Stats:

2004 Word count:	7,872
Stories written:	2
Total submissions:	6
Total acceptances:	0
Total rejections:	5
Waiting for response:	3
Books read:	5
Fiction Mags/Chapbooks read:	7