Well, it's been an interesting weekend.

I smiled yesterday, which is a good thing.

I've not been smiling lately. I didn't think it was noticeable, but Linda at work asked me, "Where is your old smile, James?" the other day.

So, I know it's not just me, as I had suspected.

I drive home, feeling the frown on my face, trying to remember if at one time in my life I would have been smiling.

Anyway, so I went to the movies with Shawn yesterday, and I noticed something. I was there sitting next to him, and I was smiling!

For no reason.

Just there, and on my face was a smile.

That felt good, you know?

*****

Queen of the Damned.

Next to "The Witching Hour" it is my favorite Anne Rice novel.

While I thought the movie was mostly good, except for the end, but I typically find the endings of things disappointing, I find it offers an opportunity to voice a concern, a pet peeve, a bone that I've not picked.

Why.

WHY. Why do directors feel the need to change and distort an author's vision until it resembles little of the once great book that it is, perhaps only really having the names of the characters in common with the original.

I mean for crying out loud, most directors at least leave character motivations alone, but NO. About the ONLY resemblance the book and the movie, �The Queen of the Damned' have in common is that Lestat launches a rock career and Akasha dies at the end.

Almost ALL of the other plot points *what little plot there was* were a fiction of the fiction of the book.

Like I said, I mostly enjoyed the movie, it just gave me an opportunity to pick, and I took it.

I think the weakest points were the lack of character developments for some key characters, mainly Maharet, and even the character of Jesse, which the movie almost exclusively focuses on, was really only shallowly explored.

I'll stop.