Well, I'm back. Even (Can we believe it???) a day earlier than expected as the weather reports forecasted, correctly, thunderstorms for the entire day. In fact, rain fell so furiously that the highway past White Plains was completely flooded. Traffic was stopped dead in the other direction. During rush hour, no less. Lucky them.

In any case, I had the dubious honor of meeting my godmother's new German Shepherd. The dog is the most dysfunctional that I have ever seen--she literally cringed every time my mother went past, creeped around the house like she wished she were a fifth the size she is, cowered in corners, and jumped at the sight of her own shadow. The dog is five years old and has never been socialized. A veritable basket case, a bottomless pit into which my godmother will undoubtedly throw endless amounts of time, money, and emotions. Though too frightened right now to be aggressive, my mother is concerned that she might one day become so, and I worry about that also. After all, all my godmother will do is encourage the dysfunction. See, it's one thing to have problem terriers, toy poodles, and pugs--it's another thing to have a big dog that is so unstable. *sighs* Of course, she'll never give the dog up now; the dog "needs" her too much, and she needs to be needed.

On Sunday, we went to see Tim Burton's remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I have five words: Oh. My. God. Michael. Jackson. That's right. Johnny Depp was channeling the voice and facial expressions (not to mention pasty complexion) of the pop singer...and I don't think I need to tell you how much of a sinister edge this gave the film. Otherwise, the movie is what the reviewers have been saying: Best for the first 30 minutes, ponderous for the reminder, and inconsistent in its addition of Wonka's backstory. Ah, yes. Updating the avid TV watcher to an avid videogame player didn't exactly work.

Otherwise, I spent my Internet-less weekend for the most part reading my from my backlog of novels. Two completely read, and I'm in the throes of a third. ^__^

All in all, a pretty uneventful vacation to Maine. Anything exciting happen in anyone else's life this past weekend? ^_^