Book Review

The Trumpet-Major
by Thomas Hardy

This is one of Hardy's lesser novels. Set on the Wessex coast during the Napoleonic wars, it is about the affairs of Anne Garland and her three suitors. It's a charming, light read. Various twists and turns are resolved into a not-exactly-happily-ever-after, with no excesses of either joy or tragedy.

Weekend rundown, with extra excitement

I had a busy but great weekend. After being out of town for the better part of November, I really enjoyed being able to hang around town with friends.
On Saturday, Other Kenjari and I went to a holiday get together hosted by hca and her guy. davidsmom1, jila, aquafolius, epilimnion, and her guy D were there, too. We had lots of fun playing Cranium, which is like a combination of charades, pictionary, and name that tune, with some play-dough thrown in for good measure. And there were cookies, and cider, and tea, and good conversation. And cats.
On Sunday, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts for the sneak preview of "A Very Long Engagement". The sneak previews are officially for Friends of Film only, but being related to someone in the film department at the Museum has it privileges. It's a wonderful movie. The story is terrific - part mystery, part romance. There are lots of great characters. And the cinematography and direction are gorgeous. The French countryside and the city of Paris are shot with luminous, glowing light that gives the setting a sense of wonder and magic. When it comes out in the theaters, go see it. You won't be disappointed.
As epilimnion, D, D's parents, and I were leaving the museum to go get a bite to eat further up Huntington Ave, we noticed a red Toyota come tearing down the street in front of the MFA. Not only was the driver going fast, he was driving like a reckless maniac. As we walked in front of the museum, the car started doing laps around the block. At every turn, the car skidded and fishtailed, tires screeching on the pavement. We were pretty hesitant to cross the street when we reached the corner of the block. We even started backing up on the lawn of the museum, because it seemed like the car could go out of control at any moment and potentially plow across the grass right into us and the few other bystanders pausing at the corner. It was kind of frightening, because the car was so obviously a danger, not to mention unpredictable. I was even ducking back behind a sculpture on the lawn, just to have something solid between me and the car.
D said that the car was probably stolen, because no one drives their own car like that, even when drunk. He got the license plate and another bystander called the police to report the driver. Then the car pulled over on the east side of the museum, and the driver and his passenger got out. D was at that point rather closer to the car than the rest of us. He abruptly turned and started urgently ushering us down the street and away from the scene. As we were walking away, I heard one of the people from the car saying something about going to "shut them up" as they walked toward the corner, in the direction the guy with the cell phone had gone. D kept us moving, and said that he had seen that the two guys from the car had guns, and seemed drug-addled.
As we were walking away, we heard sirens and saw both Northeastern University and Boston police converging on the area. And we didn't hear any gunshots. There was nothing on the news or in the paper about it, either. So we can only assume that no one was shot or injured. I hope the police got the two people in the car, though.
I think that's about the scariest situation I've ever been in. And as epilimnion said, very confusing. It's hard to know what to do, where to go. Time seems to go agonizingly slow and horribly fast at the same time. And all you want is not to be there. I'm just glad that, depsite the scariness, I didn't panic or lose my head or freeze or anything. And I'm glad D kept his head and did the right thing, too.