Screen Problems Fixed and Moving Family Furniture

[davetheanalyzer]

The new screen works. After practicing taking the old screen off and on to mitigate its issues, I was able to put on the new 1 with the only problem being almost losing 3 screws. I had to really crawl on the carpet and use my phone light to track each of them down. I needed to shut off and restart my laptop but after turning off the touch-screen which I never use and some resizing since the screen was wider, I don’t have to deal with freezing or discoloration again. Other than text and icons being a bit bigger, the experience is not that different from my previous screen. I won’t move the screen if I can help it and if I do, I’ll move it with hands on both sides so I don’t get those issues again. I’ve had this laptop for over a decade and I hope I can make it last as long as I’m able to.

Speaking of new things, I got a new chair from a relative who passed away. I was comfortable with the old chair but it had holes and stains, so I was persuaded to switch it out. So far the new chair is comfortable and the only downside is the armrests being too wide to put my headphones on. This happened a few days after I was suddenly asked with helping bring and reorganize said relative’s items and furniture into a storage container. Dad seemed to indicate it would be quick but if I knew it was going to last a couple of hours, I would have been more hesitant. I also brought my coat because the weather was on the borderline between cool and warm but all the hard work made me sweat a lot by the time it was done. I did wonder if I’d have to skip writing that day but I managed to squeeze it in. On the bright side, I had my exercise. Dad had me help him with a few other things following that and fortunately they weren’t quite as long. If they interrupted my writing, I extended my writing block by the amount of time I was occupied by the other task. 

I saw the film Suzume on Netflix. After not being taken with Weathering with You, I kind of dreaded seeing this Makoto Shinkai entry. But to my relief, I enjoyed it a lot more. It’s about a 17 year old girl called Suzume who comes across a handsome stranger asking an odd question about doors in an abandoned aarea. She skips school to track him down only to end up seeing a purple sky through a door in the middle of a flooded bathhouse, a wooden cat that comes to life to escape, and a giant worm that no 1 else can see. I vaguely heard there was a living chair but I was quite surprised when the handsome stranger Souji became Suzumi’s childhood 3-legged chair after the cat Daijin commanded it. I was aware of rumors Shinkai had someone be a chair as payback for not being able to make a film about 2 probably romantic female leads. I just found the setup very funny. This film was in some ways lighter allowing for laughs and heartwarming moments. That Suzume and Souji can track Daijin via social media is very modern and it was amusing Daijin posed for these photos to have fun. Suzume meet people on the way who help them out and offer lodgings on their journey.

They’re quite lucky no 1 scammed or mistreated them on the way. Suzume and Souji’s growing bond and their shenanigans with his chair state were enjoyable and endearing. The chase scenes where Souji as a chair goes after Daijin are well-animated (albeit with CG). Each gate closed signaled development in Suzume and Souji’s characters. But the humor with Souji’s condition falls away when it seems like it’s taking longer and longer for him to wake up after sleeping. Daijin can be creepy and has no problem with a mass casualty event happening even in Tokyo. He transferred being a seal to Souji and Suzume is crushed, since she developed feelings for him. But she goes through with using Souji as a seal to save Tokyo. Only after she rejects and says she hates him does Daijin seem to wrap his mind around what he did. Suzume’s aunt and Souji’s friend Serizawa join Suzume in going on a road trip to free him. Daijin also joins him talking leads to funny reactions from Tamaki and Serizawa. Suzume’s aunt Tamaki is frustrated and has to pause her job to find her. Of course that would fray on anyone’s nerves.

We get a magically-induced blowup where Tamaki says some mean things to Suzume, which she clearly regretted later. The humor of the contrast between Tamaki and Serizawa plays out through the road trip. I liked that humorously, they realize something supernatural is going on when Sadaijin speaks too. I wish we got a bit more of Sadaijin and who he was in contrast with Daijin, to be clearer about their relationship and his personality. But I guess him being silent tells enough. I liked that Tamaki apologized and admitted though she felt negatively sometimes, she loves Suzume most of the time. It’s seems implied in flashbacks she was moved to really care after Suzume went missing looking for her mother. I already knew the hinted details but the sequence at Suzume’s old house makes it clearer she’s a survivor of the 2011 Tohaku earthquake and tsunami that claimed her mother’s life. I did like Suzume realized Daijin wasn’t causing the leaking doors but led her and Souji to them, which fills Daijin with joy again.

The action scene where Sadaijin battles the worm was great. So was Suzume making Souji free himself, not wanting to die and having more to live for. It was fitting Daijin sacrificed himself for Suzume since it was his selfishness that started a lot of the problems, even if it sucks to be stuck as a seal. It was shocking to realize the woman Suzume met as a child was her older self. She’s also looking forward to the future after telling her past self what she learned and is able to deal with the trauma of her loss. I did like the credits where they all traveled back home and met those who helped them on the journey. She’s 18 in the timeskip but I hope her and Souji’s rekindling relationship remains platonic, at least for a few years (and especially since I kind of ship them with other people lol). There’s the age gap romance, Suzume kissing and jokingly sitting on Souji’s face as a chair without his consent, some injuries including bleeding feet, and family conflict where ruthless things are said to a teenager. With that in mind, I do recommend this film if it sounds up your alley.

That’s all for now. I had a dentist cleaning and will need to go back again at the end of next month to have some of my fillings redone. I’ve done additional vacuuming yesterday to finish it today because Mom and I are going to a film someone she knows voiced a role in Sunday and I didn’t want to juggle too much tomorrow. Free Palestine and release hostages on all sides. May Trump fall and conservatism be seen as the threat to democracy it is and might have always been. Until the end of the June, see you!