Vivid dreams make for difficult writing sessions

I blame NetFlix. One night during the holiday break, I stayed up late to watch movies. The night started with "Frida" with my husband. Great film - I really like Julie Taymor's films. And the story of a brilliant artist who channeled the pain of a terrible accident that crippled her, and a troubling marriage to Diego Rivera, in a time when women were still subject to living in the shadow of their husbands..... The depiction of her painting on her bed, in full body cast, or aligning the biographic moments of her miscarriage to the works that expressed the mourning and loss of a child she so desperately wanted. Just thinking of the film makes me want to open a few modern art apps to examine her work, and find out where the originals are displayed. Now that I know more about the artist's life, I need to make a pilgrimage to see the pieces of her soul, left behind for me to connect.

The images in this movie haunted me for a few days. But it wasn't just this movie. There were two more.


"Precious" - the horrific story of an overweight illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child, and living with the most abusive parent. Some of the characters were repulsive, others redeemed a sense of humanity in the worst of circumstances. More haunting here, though were the performances by Mo'Nique and surprisingly, Mariah Carey.

I'm not sure why they stick with me. Maybe it was the surprise at seeing both actors playing "real" people, and not the Hollywood glam shell they usually represent.

No, the final movie that I was thinking about this morning, (or maybe I was awakened while dreaming about it?) was 2012, starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet. I wasn't thinking about the apocalypse. Honestly? OK, the truth. I'm about to share something that I know will give my friends some ammunition.

I was thinking about John Cusack. See, ever since the 1989 movie "Say Anything," I've had a huge crush on John Cusack. This movie even influenced me to take a more serious listen to Peter Gabriel's solo music. Cusack has made a few good movies, and a couple of real stinkers. But even in those, I can always forgive him.

He's active on Twitter, and also is engaged in American politics. The guy's no dummy, if but a tad extreme sometimes. But that's OK - I usually agree with him. I dream about having a spirited debate with him about global policy. I think that maybe, we'd become close enough friends that I'll be able to ask him if the dark eyes are enhanced with strategic use of black eye liner.

So yeah, that's what I was thinking about this morning. It took a while to shake.