heap o' cheaps

as i mentioned in the last post, we went to the cheapies tonight...Big Fish. have you all seen it? another Tim Burton movie that is quirky...even strange...but in a very mesmerizing way. i've always liked 'Beetlejuice', 'Edward Scissorhands', and 'Batman', which he all directed. i have yet to see 'Sleepy Hollow', 'Ed Wood' and 'Mars Attacks!' he's also directing a new version of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'; even though it's going to be titled 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and is already in post production. i'd be very interested in seeing that since many of us have memories of the 1972 original.

i really liked the movie. for those who haven't seen 'Big Fish', it's about a man who tries to reconcile with his father, a charismatic storyteller who is dying from cancer. all his life, the son has felt that he was some footnote in his father's outrageous stories, which he believed were all elaborate fabrications.

watching the movie made me think of my parents and mortality in general. now, i certainly don't view my father as the patriarch in the movie. my father is a simple man who worked hard, loves his children, and has a tremendous sense of humor.

actually, my mother came to mind when you hear the father's narrative. my mom tells the same stories almost ad nauseam to most strangers she meets. granted, these familial stories aren't outright lies nor delusional fantasies. however, they do stretch the imagination somewhat. and some of the details? somewhere, somehow, she decided to soup 'em up a bit.

there's a couple stories that she brings up on occasion with me that make me want to roll my eyes and just walk away. i don't know why i'm bothered with some of the 'creative' details because i know they don't hurt anyone. i guess i take empiricism too seriously. as a 'cerebral' nutjob, er, scientist (although i never really identified myself with that title), you always must approach and present your findings in the most factual and logical way. perhaps, for archaeology and most aspects of travel, that's probably true...

i guess i've learned over the years that it's sometimes better to just smile and let it go in one ear and out the other because one day, those stories will be gone with the best storytellers - our parents. sure, we'll have stories of our own to pass on, but they might not size up to the doozies that they had. kinda like their cooking... for those people who reminisce about comfort foods growing up, i know that no matter how well i cook, there are some things that i'll never be able to prepare like my parents. of course, this is for those parents who are/were good cooks. i pity those who grew up in families with lousy cooks ;)

i don't think i mentioned that the movie takes place in fictitious towns of Alabama, which holds a little irony for me. i have a friend who grew up in Montgomery, Alabama (i'll call her 'AK'). she's smitten with my parents...as are most people. anyway, she caught me fussing about my parents and their little oft-repeated stories that embarassed me some, and said, "You really should appreciate your parents now and share more (with them) because you'll really miss them when they're gone. I was estranged from my father when I moved away from Alabama. And now that my parents have passed, I miss 'em every day. I wish I had the opportunity to share life with them that you still have."

AK is so right...
And with that...g'nite.