Risk-taking...on the sofa

My husband thrives on chaos, lives for adventure, and dreams big. He's not averse to taking some risks.

So, he decided to be an accountant. Go figure.

He also decided to marry me. I thrive on organization, live for planned-out travels, and dream realistically and conservatively.

I admit that being married to John has actually taught me to be a little more laid-back and flexible. (I'm not certain my traits have rubbed off on him too much.)

Our differences will probably always be quite noticeable to the average onlooker.

Case in point: John dreams of traveling to Antarctica; the continent fascinates him as do the people that choose to live there. Antarctica is interesting to me as well...in theory, from a distance. John is well aware that should he choose to take a cruise to Antarctica, or fly to the icy continent from New Zealand, he will be traveling without me. It's just too much risk for me. And it's a bit too cold. And strange.

So, rather than watch a chic-flick last night, I picked out a documentary entitled "Encounters at the End of the World", a film about Antarctica by Werner Herzog. Let's just say my husband was overly enthusiastic. (Chalk up one point for me!)

As it turns out, the film is amazing, intriguing, and stunning. Herzog stated he wished to document the Antarctic without making "another movie about penguins". He succeeded.

The documentary offers gorgeous footage both above and below the surface of ice as well as interesting short interviews with various people who choose to live and work on the continent, all put to perfect music.

I have to say, I had no idea the underwater dialogue of seals was so musical. And the inhabitants? They are pretty much just as one would suspect those who travel to the end of the world would be - philosophers, linguists, humanitarians, specialized biologists, scientists who spend their entire lives studying glaciers and icebergs.

So, last night we traveled to the end of the world on our sofa. I highly recommend it.

(By the way, we checked out this DVD from the library - I'm not as sacrificial as I might appear since I made no monetary expenditure to watch a documentary about Antarctica. There's really no way I would ever be that generous when it comes to documentaries on movie night!)

(But I still think I get a point for this one!)