Wow. What a long week at work. I thought I was through with the whole writing-design-documents-as-you-write-code thing when I left the consulting job. I guess it's just part of programming a lot of the time. Not so bad now, though — things are a little clearer now. Just a heck of a lot of stuff to get done rather soon

Tonight we watched Mansfield Park. I just about drove myself crazy trying to figure out where I'd seen the main actress before, until I could get to IMDB and realize that she was the mother in AI. As for the movie, I'm not entirely sure what I think about it. I definitely agree with the girls that it's a chick-flick. Some of the odd developments (like Fanny Price settling down happily to spend her days on the estate after being so obviously shocked by the horrors upon which its wealth was based) are apparently the result of placing themes into the story that were not there in the book (slavery), but which were evidently Jane Austen's viewpoints. Fanny's easy re-connection with her past and family seemed a bit too cute, and again, I believe that is not the case in the book. All in all, it looks like it might be a good read!

As a chick-flick, though, it seemed pretty standard fare. The plot (unrequited love with the perfect guy who doesn't get it until the end, when everything works out) was pretty predictable and, predictably, did a great job of having you thinking, "Come on Edmund!" — emotionally engaging if not particularly challenging. Overall, though, it was pretty decent. The characters were quite strong, and will stay with me for a while.

Now I just need to find some guy friends to hang out with!!