dan and i went to harvard square on this rainy saturday to catch the matinee of capote. we were there early enough that they weren't selling tickets yet and the doors were still locked. we waited outside with the other bargain cinema goers, standing underneath umbrellas. finally with about 15 minutes before showtime, the box office opened. capote is naturally about truman capote, taking place during the time when he was writing "in cold blood", a nonfiction novel about 2 criminals who murder a family of 4 in a small farming town. capote befriends the two captured criminals (perhaps even falling in love with one of them), even hiring them a new lawyer to appeal their death sentence. his motives aren't based on altruism however; he's motivated by how this story will turn out to be a great book which he will write. despite his idiosyncratic personality, he charms his way into the lives of the people involved with the murder case. the film portrayal of capote is someone of a man who's morally ambiguous, chasing after the story regardless of who gets hurt in the process. it will come as no surprise that in the end the two men are executed, which becomes the perfect ending for the book. we know the outcome agonized capote because after "in cold blood" he never wrote another book again. capote is a thoughtful study of a man who blurred the line between reality and fiction, and by personally getting involved in the story, what price did he pay to finally get what he wanted. i was a little on-the-fence about the movie after i watched it, but the more i think about it, the more interesting it gets, it's definitely a deep movie, worthy of conversation. there is no way philip seymour hoffman will not get an oscar nomination for his performance (if not outright winning the award) - he IS truman capote.

dan grabbed the subway one stop back to porter while i decided to walk home in the rain after a quick stroll through harvard square trying to pick up photo ops. jawei wasn't home when i got back, out doing more shopping with my mother. i felt light-headed, having not had anything to eat except a large bag of movie popcorn. too lazy to make food, i heated up some water for some instant miso soup. still tired from nearly pulling an all-nighter thursday, i crashed on the couch and fell asleep. jawei returned in the evening along with my parents who brought back some dinner for me. with the 2-weeks worth of rainfall finally stopping, we planned our leaf peeping excursion tomorrow morning into the green mountains of vermont.

the weather was now good enough that i could go riding again; it's been weeks since i've been on the bike. i headed out to the charles river, to see the boston skyline with the full moon high in the clear night sky. all that beauty is wasted on me.