What's up, doc? Cheap entertainment can be enlightening.

This was the first weekend in a long time that I had the chance to map my own course. A weekend with no work, no tracking down free stuff, no planning for the next thing, no agenda. It was a weekend of true Free Time.

Of course, there was the catch-up stuff to do.

There was socializing. There was grocery shopping. There was cleaning. There was laundry. There was a whole lot of lazy. There was the tapping into netflix. There was going to The King's Speech last night with Logan and my lovely friend Erin.

It's such an expensive, delicious, frustrating treat, going to a movie at a movie theater.

Such a crap shoot.

To be honest, it pisses me off to spend $10+ to see a movie at an actual theater, only to have the movie be wildly disappointing.

Then there's the people who talk to each other, as if they're watching this costly moment in the privacy of their own home.

There's the noticing of the loud munching of popcorn.

And if I get popcorn, it's my popcorn. No sharing.

And I have a 'thing' about not sitting in front or behind anyone. I'm sure it's a complete delight, going to a movie with the likes of me.

Then there's the disappointment that comes from spending a whole lot of money to see a movie that's worthy of the waiting until it's an offering on the netflix.

Let's review.

Lately, almost everything involving Meryl Streep has been a crapfest of disappointment.

To be fair, I did enjoy Julie and Julia. Amy Adams was gratingly annoying. Jane Lynch as Julia's sister was a wasted moment of necessary but frustrating backstory. But the movie, on the whole, was a lovely gift. For some crazy reason, I did a bit of boo-hoo-ing when I saw Julie and Julia.

In contrast (and I know I'm in the minority), I found It's Complicated completely embarrassing for everyone involved.

Ditto with Mamma Mia. Painful to watch.

That Prairie Home Companion movie was a flagrant waste of talent. What a terrible last entry to Robert Altman's filmography resume.

I do love myself some Meryl Streep. I'm just using her recent handful of choices as an example of ripe possibility gone bad, to the tune of out-of-pocket first-run-movie money completely wasted.

Good movies lately? The King's Speech was nice, despite the cartoonish Churchill characterization. Black Swan was stellar.

All of this high-priced first-run movie magic brings me to netflix.

I love myself some netflix.

I receive the netflix movies as fast as I can watch them, and then netflix sends me more. I can watch a panoply of netflix choices every month, either by mail or by watching whatever I want immediately via my interweb connection.

The cost?

A month of unlimited movie options costs less than going to see one first-run movie and a bucket of popcorn if I go to a theater.

And that first-run movie magic might actually be a crappy disappointment. It may very well have been worth the wait for that expensive, enticing movie to be available on netflix, due to its potential crappiness.

But there's so much good stuff.

Lars and the Real Girl. 500 Days of Summer. Me and You and Everyone We Know.

Dexter. Weeds. Californication. Nurse Jackie. United States of Tara.

Such fulfilling things to watch.

And lately, I've been all about the documentaries.

So many good ones. Such a hindsight-ish mirror, the docs; a thoughtful way of looking at ourselves.

There are the docs that are informative:
Chow Down.
Food, Inc.
Super Size Me.
There are a few others in addition to these offerings that are all about what we should be doing, just to make ourselves more healthy.

The observational docs:
Grey Gardens.
Man on Wire.
24 Hours on craigslist (recently relevant).
Cropsey.
Facing Ali.
The Parking Lot Movie.
Between the Folds (highly recommended).
Exit Through the Gift Shop (I'd vote for this one this year, if I were a member of the Academy).

The historical, relevant docs:
Why We Fight.
The Most Dangerous Man in America.

I'd love to get recommendations of other documentaries and movies that are worth watching.

I completely glom onto watching movies at my pace, in the comfort of my home, on my magical computer box.

And this weekend was all about relaxing free time, documentaries and the implicit goodness of easy netflixability. I did venture out into the Real World, and spent $12 to see The King's Speech. I'm glad I did, on so many levels.

But my most redemptive movie moments lately have been spent on the docs.

There's something very enlightening, watching a documentary. Someone chooses to shine a light onto a place that deserves a bit of clarity.

Seeing the world through someone else's lens can be cheap, and very enlightening.

Getting a glimpse into other peoples' worlds vis a vis the watching of documentaries was such a great way to spend this weekend's Free Time.

A wrap-up of the wrap-up. Taking time to notice.

Something keeps biting at me, ever since this whole Free Time experiment wrapped itself up into a delicious, colorful, comfortable, furnished place recently.

Has some fundamental change occurred in me because of the pursuit of my whimsical Free Time idea?

There have been some signs that have pointed me to a bit of a personal paradigm shift.

Prior to my Free Time time, I'd spun so fast.

Let's look at the facts, in a purely emperical way, without a shred of poor-soul pity.

Underemployed single mother of two teenaged boys. Too many interests, not enough time, never enough money. Constantly catching my tail of obligations, just in time for the next wag.

Did I not notice all of this kindness, all of this interconnectedness, all of this conspicuous beauty, before this Free Time experiment?

As they say, whoever they are, hindsight is 20/20.

A few weeks ago, I spent an evening picking up and dropping off kids. It was rush hour. I turned right at the light, but the light at the intersection wasn't working. I said to the kids in the car, "let's visualize. By the time we pick up Joey, let's hope the light is working."

I had to drive a car full of kids downtown at rush hour, and I had to take a left onto a very busy, rush-hour-crowded intersection after picking up Joey. No easy feat.

After picking him up, we hit the intersection.

Just as we got there, the light started working again. Red, yellow, green. No flashing yellow.

I have witnesses, although I think most of us tossed it off as coincidence.

A few days ago, I texted my friend Miriam. Moments later, she called me. She hadn't received my text that I'd sent, just moments before.

We had a lovely chat.

Tonight, we went out for dinner. We were handed a box of magic that was programmed to light up when our table was ready. We were told our wait time was somewhere in the range of 60 to 90 minutes.

But we could sit in the bar, if we could find a table.

Within a few minutes, we were seated at a lovely booth, after just a moment of eye contact with someone who was getting up to leave.

I know how it sounds.

It can all be passed off as coincidence.

Right place, right time.

And if I were way deep into ego, I might think that all of these lovely moments could be attributed to my recent Free Time media overexposure. Oh, be nice to that gal who looks vaguely familiar, they might say.

But that would be crazy. I'm sure my face nicely blends. Some folks may have heard the story, but they're generally not tied into the visual recognition.

These and several other moments seem just a bit too magical to fit nicely into my daily predictable comfortable box. These moments have accumulated into something that seem too special to ignore.

But therein begs the question: have these magical moments been happening all along? Have I simply wrapped myself so tightly in my personal busy-busy crap prior to this point to render these moments as inconsequential prior to recently?

I think that's exactly what's happened, until lately.

Opening myself up (just a little teeny experimental bit) to the possible, seems to have colored up my world in a way I was completely not expecting.

The change seems to revolve somewhere in the noticing.

The taking a moment.

The recognition that we're all fragile, and we're all strong.

Again, I'm sure that, to some, I'm speaking to my hippie stereotype.

But I don't care.

It's been so nice to notice.

Free Time wrap up. A moving experience.

For the first time in over 20 days, I took yesterday off from the blogging.

But tonight I feel the need to do a bit of a recap on the wrap-up of my Free Time experiment that took place on Friday.

So.

I asked a few people to help, let some other people know they could help if they wanted to, and I went from there.

I'd figured we'd need a while to pack up all the stuff in Englewood and drive it over to our destination in Aurora. Chantrice had access to her apartment at 3 pm. It seemed logical to meet at the storage area at 1:30, load up, drive down and be in Aurora by 3.

Anyone who knows me understands that I'm chronically early to everything, and Friday was no exception.

My friend Cara came over a bit before 1. She, Mr. Fab and I left for the storage area, each in our respective vehicles, at 1:10. My kids met us there right on time, and Mr. Fab's friend Jeff was there by the time we got to the unit.

So far so good. The 1:30 part was perfect.

As you can see from the photo, Logan was enjoying himself. Everything went swimmingly well. Worthy of happy jazz hands.

It took approximately 15 minutes to load up all the stuff. Ahead of schedule isn't a bad thing.

So we headed to Aurora in a clumsy vehicular parade. We located our destination, and we were about 30 minutes early. Big surprise, the being early. It's a curse.

But Chuck was there, waiting to help. Chuck has a very low-key, very helpful, very what-can-I-do loving presence. Chuck is the husband of a friend of mine from work, who chose to help with this project during his free time.

Sue from work arrived as well. She's one of the most giving, participatory people I know. And she also assumed the role of photographer. I'm glad she brought her camera, because I completely forgot that mine was in my back pocket.

So.

At this point, we have Connor, Kirk, Jeff, me, Sue and Chuck, just waiting around. Logan and Cara took a trip during this unexpected free time to chase down some pastries at a Mexican bakery that was close by.

I'm so grateful for Cara. So is Logan. I don't think we tell her enough.

Anyway.

Eventually, Chantrice, Myasia and Michelle arrived. Eventually, we got access to Chantrice's new apartment.

Then, it became a moving experience.

Everyone unloaded with a beautiful symmetry. It was a barn-raising moment.

Then Corey from channel 9 arrived.

Game on. The filming began.

She was somewhat disappointed that we'd moved as much as we had, because she and Woody, her cameraman, wanted to capture it all on film. But some choice shots were taken of the freakishly heavy sofa sleeper being lugged up three flights of stairs. Woody got some tape of the mattress and box spring. The table assembly. The arrangement of stuff.

Corey interviewed Chantrice. Corey interviewed me.

I hope they got my good side.

Once the heavy lifting was over, some folks stayed. Most folks left, understandably, to their next thing. We'd created a generous, giving, loving flash mob of furniture movement.

Just as I was about to leave, Deanna from work arrived to give Chantrice a bit of her generosity.

I don't think Deanna knows how cool she is, how much she mattered on Friday. But I do.

And then it was time for me to go home.

It all started at 1:30 pm, and it was all done by 4:30 pm.

So much happened in three hours.

Regardless of what happens past this point, those three hours were so worth it. To see people react so selflessly, so enthusiastically - for someone they hadn't even met - made me feel so good about the essential nature of people. This entire project brought more to me than it took away.

To be honest, it took nothing away from me.

This Free Time project did nothing but provide warm additions to my already toasty world. I have an increased belief in the intrinsic good that exists in people. The selflessness. The willingness. Friday was beautiful. Not because of what I did or because of what other people lifted or because of what someone received.

It was beautiful because it was proven that it was possible.

All the graceful giving, all the mindful receiving.

All free, save for free time, gas and my storage space score.

I think this free time experiment was worth it.

Free Time. An overwhelming need to send a very long Thank You card.

Zay
Skip and Trish
Laura and Hugh
Anne
Lois
Angel
Suzie
Linda and Joe
Gil
Jillian
Cara and Patrick
Corey and her amazing cameramen
9 News
Jan
A'Tif
Marilyn
Ronda
Mike
Amber
Phyllis
Martha
Matt
Sue and James
Corki
Debbie
Deanna
Chuck and Ann
Jeff
Kathy and Sam
Kirk
Connor
Logan
Michelle
Chantrice
Myasia

Thank you. This experiment would never have happened without your joyous complicity.

Free Time: Who knew?

Look at how I have no time to find graphic interests that are relatable to this entry.

Look at the lack of measurable Free Time content today.

Look at how my entries have become abbreviated.

It's because of the busy.

Tomorrow is the culmination of my Free Time experiment.

I chose 1/1/11 to start this project not only because it seemed like such a great day to begin anything, but also because January is a long month. January has 31 days. And I thought it would take a long month to complete what I set out to do.

Obviously, I proved myself wrong.

Because tomorrow, we're loading it all up and bringing it all over to Chantrice's new digs.

I'm so excited!!

Channel 9 will meet us at Chantrice's apartment complex tomorrow, at 3:30 pm. They're doing a follow-up story.

And as for what I really did today:

I touched base with Corey from 9 News, just to confirm the deets for tomorrow.

I did get a third truck.

And there's a new thing.

Channel 9 contacted me last week. I've been working on a segment that will air a week from today, at 8:10 am. It's about January retail furniture clearance sales.

So today, I did my research, and I sent all of what I found to my producer.

Again, I had so much fun!

Who knew? Who could predict that this would come of that?

I have no idea what will come of this. But for now, I'm enjoying what I'm doing. It can all go away tomorrow, and it won't decrease the value of this initial project.

So as for now, right this minute, my research for next week is done. I'm completely focused on tomorrow, and I'm excited.

I understand that good things are often accomplished with the help of many. This simple thing has become a barn-raising fun-fest. And all it's cost any of us is $45 and change for the storage unit, some gasoline, and a tiny chunk of our Free Time.

Who knew it would be so easy?

Free Time: Planning Friday's moving party.

I'm now done with my real job until Saturday. And after untethering from my cozy work bunker this afternoon, I dotted a few Is and crossed a few Ts in preparation for Friday.

Because I'd hate for anything to fall through the cracks. Reference several of my past blogs (i.e., http://paradigmthrift.blogspot.com/2010/05/worst-weekend-ever.html, or maybe http://paradigmthrift.blogspot.com/2010/12/theres-got-to-be-before-and-after-my.html) and you'll understand that I may have a reason for this heightened need to prepare.

We're moving all the stuff from the storage area to Chantrice's new home on Friday afternoon. I currently have two trucks lined up, but we have a lot of bulky stuff. I think I need a third truck.

But I do think we have enough person-power.

I talked with Chantrice today, just to make sure everything's okay on her end.

I left a message with Corey from Channel 9. They're going to do a wrap-up story.

So, like making a grocery list before hosting a dinner party, I'm trying to make sure I'll have all the necessary ingredients for the final Free Time fete this Friday.

Today I am metaphorically preheating the oven.

Free Time: Keeping it short.

Not a whole bunch to report today, at least when it comes to my Free Time project. I do need to mention the completely cool generosity of my work cohorts, who have provided some great stuff for Myasia. But I'll go into that in more depth later.

Because when it comes to today, this moment is my first taste of free time.

I'm finally relaxing after a long day at work.

I made lists.*

I got a bit twisted when I tried to wrap my head around all the elements that need to be nicely bundled within the next week.

So I'm staying true to the writing every day part of this project. But there are no rules in this amorphous bloggy territory, so I can keep it short.

Which I'm going to do today.

*Please check back next week. I made lists today for a very cool reason!