My Sister's Keeper

Monday, being a U.S. national holiday (MLK day), I had some free time in front of the TV.  My Sister's Keeper was playing on one of the movie channels and I got caught up in watching it.  I didn't get in on the beginning, but that was okay because I had seen the beginning a few months ago with Megan.  At that time, something came up and I had to go do something else so I missed the rest of the movie.  I asked Megan later if the movie was good and she said yes, but then when I asked if she liked it, she said no.  It wasn't until I started watching it again that I realized what she meant.  The movie was profoundly sad (and I am not sure if that description really accurately depicts how sad it was).  It is sad even if you have never lost a loved one to cancer and even moreso if you have.  I guess the hardest thing for me to understand is why I actually sat through the whole movie even though I knew, hope beyond hope, that the girl was going to die.  So, if you are ever feeling uncontrollably happy, I do recommend this movie... it should take the edge off of the glee.

In other news, it is still cold in Hanoi.  I think we have had more consecutive cold days in a row than I ever remember before.  The only up side is that it isn't as wet as it has been in the past.

The 11th Party Congress is still in full swing and a new General Party Secretary and President have been elected.  I will spare you, my reader, the names because they probably won't mean anything to you.  Good news is, there are still two southerners in the Secretary-President-Prime Minister triumverate.  That means I still have my excuse when someone notices I have a twinge of southern accent in my voice, and that is, "Two of your highest ranking national officials speak southern Vietnamese."