Making a comeback

A month after having had this tooth pulled I'm finally able to chew on both sides of my mouth without having to think about it. For a while there it took a lot of concentration to eat and brush my teeth, but now it's like riding a bicycle. Yet despite all this healing, recently my gums have been hurting near where my molar was pulled and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was infected? Or there could be some gingivitis going on all up in there? Today I felt around and discovered that what my dentist had told me was unlikely to happen is happening -my wisdom tooth is dropping down to take the place of my missing molar. Apparently I'm teething. Now I know what all those babies are always wailing about.

They put anti-freeze in the wine!

We've taken the plunge and signed up for Netflix. I'm thrilled about it. We own hundreds of movies but we've seen them all dozens of times and are bored with them. So far I've watched Auntie Mame and Empire Falls and there's more goodness on the way. Best of all we're getting Season 1 disc 3 of the Simpsons because it has the episode Crepes of Wrath where Bart goes to France.

I had to go through and rate some movies on the site to give them an idea of what our tastes are, and then they recommend films. One of the recommendations amused me -it was for the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, which I absolutely love -it's my favorite version and I've seen it countless times. And it was recommended because I favorably rated season two of Arrested Development, which if you've seen it you know that it really doesn't have much in common with P&P -nothing that is, except that they are both extremely witty.

I've tried for years to explain to people why I love Pride and Prejudice and why they should watch it, but I get nothing but protests that it's a girly film. What they don't seem to get is that I am not very girly myself and therefore have no more interest in watching a five hour long chick flick than they do. I don't watch Pride and Prejudice to ogle Colin Firth or swoon over the prospect of Jane and Bingley or Darcy and Elizabeth getting together. I watch P&P because it's funny -it has some of the funniest characters out of any film I've ever seen.

Mr. Bennet has great banter, Mr. Collins is obsequious and ridiculous without realizing it, and Mr. Bingley has absolutely no will of his own - his sisters decide his life out from under him. I know people just like them in real life. (I firmly believe that everyone has their own real-life Mr. Collins.)

Then there are moments like the conversation between Mrs. Bennet and her sister Mrs. Phillips where they abuse Mr. Wickham and declare that they always knew him to be no good. It's a great comedic moment, and if it doesn't make you laugh then you're probably dead inside. I find that a lot of the characters are very realistic and I never fail to find connections between the book and my own life, not in an unrealistic "I wish my Mr. Darcy would come" kind of way, but in simple moments. The other day I was sitting in my oppressively hot living room and had a lady Catherine de Bourgh moment as I thought to myself "this is a most inconvenient sitting room in the summer. Why, the windows are full west!"

In short, watch the movie. I have never known anyone to be sorry for taking the plunge and submitting to the hilarity that is Pride and Prejudice.