The rain swamped the Mets game tonight, but that didn't stop us from having fun for Lu's birthday. Had lunch at an organic & vegan restaurant, then experienced great success at the Apple store where our malfunctioning iPod was replaced for free even though it was out of warranty. Lu definitely used a Jedi-mind-trick. Birthday + pregnancy will do that I guess. We stopped in to say hi to Mom & Dad and then headed home to go lounge on the couch to watch Into the Wild. A Mets game in the Bronx with lots of friends would have been even better, but we did the best we could considering the crazy rain out there today.

I'm glad I saw Into the Wild, but I found McCandless to be ultimately unappealing. Although some of the heartache and anguish he caused was evident, I do think the supposed 'beauty' and 'wonderfulness' of what he did was the real focus of the film, and that troubled me. I understand that there was an inner need inside him to do what he did, but the way he abandoned his sister in that destructive household seemed incredibly selfish to me. I get what he was searching for, but his pride, his irresponsibility to his sister (and even to himself), and that in the end all he really did was run, well, it made me pity and dislike him. From what I see in the Metacritic comments, the book does a better job balancing his idealism and the reality of his situation. The movie would have benefited from similar attention. It was also waaaay too damn long.

Facing your fears and taking on adventures are important, though. And so is driving smart. On the way home tonight a guy in a Jeep was tailgating me on the highway entrance ramp, despite the horrible conditions. About 20 minutes later we drove by that same Jeep spun out on the highway, airbag deployed and 2 cop cars just arriving to the scene. The guy seemed okay and no other cars seemed to have been involved, so my guess is hydroplaning. Obviously due to excessive speed and douchebaggery.

Bad drivers are the most dangerous people I encounter every day. I'm glad we were no where near him when his luck ran out. He tailgated till I could move over, and then he sped away.