I went to the library the other day and got the movie of the Scarlet Letter. The thing is about four hours long because I think they used every line of dialogue directly from the book, plus a lot of scenes with people wandering around on beaches and stuff. It was really well done except that I don’t remember nearly that much kissing in the book, and there definitely should not have been a shot of Dimmesdale and Hester sinking to the ground and the then camera tilting up to look at a tree instead. I mean, her six-year-old daughter was right across the brook! No way would they have been up to anything except deep conversation!

Apparently my aunt used to date the guy who played Dimmesdale. She’s the most interesting relative I have on Dad’s side of the family.

I expected it to be very starchy and longwinded, but I actually loved The Scarlet Letter. Part of the final exam for my literature class was two take-home essays, and I spent half of both essays talking about how awesome Hester was and how she and Dimmesdale are really just good people who were screwed over by society. The teacher is pretty tough when it comes to essays, but he liked both of them.

On Saturday I went to a friend’s birthday party, which was very amusing indeed. She lives near a lake and has two small boats, so the ten of us there decided to paddle to a nearby island. I was on the first shift of people to come over, and everything was going well until it came time for two of the boys to go back and fetch the other four people. We heard a splash and turned around to see Andy floundering about next to the overturned canoe twenty yards offshore, spitting and swearing. The lake was artificial and only came up to his chest, so there was no danger, but he sure wasn’t happy about having to tow the canoe back through the mucky lake. Kristen and I waded in to help him tip it out, and we kept expecting a brachiosaurus or something to emerge from that water. It was about seventy-five degrees and so thick with mud and goose poop that you couldn’t see through even a few inches of it.

Andy took his shirt and sandals off and laid out everything in his wallet on a bench to dry. After we had tipped the water out of the canoe, Danny and Andy paddled back to the house while the three of us girls stayed on the island and amused ourselves by catching frogs in a plastic cup. Eventually everyone got back to the house, where we shamelessly mocked Andy.

After dinner we had a game of “I’ve never”, which is some sort of drinking game I’d never heard of before. You go around the room and everyone says something they’ve never done, and anyone who has done that particular thing has to take a drink. In the alcoholic version the first one to, like, die of alcohol poisoning loses, but we were playing with soda and pink lemonade. In the end Danny lost by being the first one to have to get up and find the bathroom.

The game was quite amusing because the players ranged from one guy who had apparently done about everything to Amy and I, who hardly ever had to take a sip.
“I’ve never been on a roller coaster that goes upside down,” was one.
“Really?” Kristen said incredulously. “You communist!”
“Wait, how does that make me a communist?”
“My turn,” said someone else. “I’ve never randomly called someone a communist. Drink, Kristen!”
Eventually we got to shamelessly targeting each other by saying we’d never done things that we knew other people had. “I’ve never laughed so hard in Russian class that I hit my head on the desk.” “I’ve never tipped a canoe over.” “I’ve never dated a flaming queen named Eddie.” “I’ve never had English as my first language.” (Andy had to spit out his soda on this one because he remembered belatedly that his parents had tried to teach him Polish in his infancy.) “I’ve never locked my best friend in Hampton’s closet, forcing him to beat his way out with a golf club.”

I’m glad I had old jeans on. That lake was disgusting.

My Russian pen pal sent me a birthday card! She's a month and a half late, and I can't read her handwriting when she writes in Russian, but I think it was perfectly sweet of her. And she's told me when her birthday is, so in September I get to send her a card. I love sending people things. I can't wait until I'm grown up and actually know more than two people to send Christmas cards to.

July 13
August 23