Winter break was wonderful and jam-packed (evidence of this: lack of blog entries). And now it is over, alas. Nonetheless, I got to meet up with HarvardGirl, StOlafBoy (erstwhile Roxanne to my Cyrano), BrandeisGirl, CornellBoy, UPSGirl, HaverfordBoy, and others. As well as, drum roll please, SUBCONTINENT!!!! We were finally reunited after six months and the giggles flowed freely. And we actually saw and liked (to varying degrees) Twilight, which of course means that my guilty pleasure quotient for 2009 has been used up just like that. From here on out it's Oscar nominees and Booker Prizewinners ONLY.
Yeah. Let's see how long that lasts.
In general, I have a pretty good (albeit eclectic) taste in movies and books. I did not expect to enjoy Twilight, though, and I confess that I did. Two movies that I also got to see in theaters while home and liked without shame were Slumdog Millionaire and Doubt. I had both read Doubt before, and seen it in Chicago starring Cherry Jones, so I was really, really excited to see the movie, but I was also a little trepidatious. After all, how could my second best theatrical evening (after seeing The History Boys in London) translate well into a movie?
I'm still not sure that it did, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The average moviegoer may have found it slow-going at times, but it started on stage, and John Patrick Shanley, the playwright, both adapted it for the screen and directed it, so that was bound to happen.
As to the question of whether or not "he did it," I give you:
Three Things about Doubt:
1) I read the script in 2006: No, he didn't do it. Absolutely not.
2) I saw the play in 2007: YES. If he didn't do it, I'm a ninety year old African man.
3) I saw the movie in 2008: Yes, he did it, if, to allude to Bill Clinton, we are loose in our definition of "it." I e-mailed back and forth with Intern T about the movie, and he put it well when he said that it struck him that some line had been crossed, but whether or not it was physical molestation was unclear.
In short: Doubt. Read it, see it, whatever. But encounter it in some way.

The majority of my break was spent trying to convince myself to write two of my four papers (I ended up writing one), finishing The Wire (as you know), and starting Homicide. Homicide is like the nicotine gum you start chewing when trying to kick the cigarette habit that is The Wire.
And then you're addicted to gum.
At least in my case I know what's fueling my addiction. Detective Frank Pembleton.

He wants you to watch Homicide.
This is one of those characters I am IN LOVE WITH, and I can't decide whether I wish I were married to him or wish I had written him.
At any rate, intersession can't come too soon. We'll watch the next season then.

Until then, wish me luck on my three (remaining) papers, two RCA interviews, and two exams! À bientôt!