The End of 2011

Sorry it's been so long. Since school ended, I've just been working working working until I came home on December 22nd. It's been a great trip home. When I got to Morrissey, there were presents waiting for me. I missed them all so much, and it's going to be hard to go back to Phoenix and not be working there anymore. Going back to work there really felt like I never left, which was awesome. I've had so much fun there, but tomorrow is my last day at 10954. I don't know when I'll be back...maybe not until May. We'll see.

Other parts of my trip have been great as well. I was reunited with Tico, Erin came to visit, and I've actually had a car to drive thanks to Jordan. Plus I've had a movie night just like old times with Jay and Emily. We watched Perfume: A Story of a Murderer. Which was an extremely weird movie. But it was good. Christmas was good. I got new luggage, which was great.

Today is New Year's Eve. I've been thinking of a couple New Year's resolutions. Mostly I just want to be healthier. I want to start working out and eating better and drinking more water. Also I want to write more. I hope I can actually stick to these this year. I never do. haha.

I go back to Phoenix on Tuesday, school starts on Thursday. Kind of crazy that second semester is already starting again. I'm excited to get back into it though. Elizabeth goes out to Arizona like right after I get back. SO Exciting!!!

Semester is Officially Over!!

So... I was finally done with school on Thursday. I had to write 30 pages of my screenplay, then a six page paper, and I had two tests. But I got through it and I think I'm going to get all As except for Geology. Which I'm okay with. I think I did pretty well for my first real semester back at college, especially with rushing my sorority and stuff like that.

But mostly the point is that I have so. muCH. TIME. now. I can watch movies again. I can READ. and I can hang out with my friends. Very exciting.

With that, since school has been done, I have watched Unbreakable, Tootsie, Funny Girl, and The Descendants.  They were all just okay. In Unbreakable, Samuel L. Jackson made me extremely uncomfortable. And I couldn't figure out why he was so weird. Tootsie was so funny just because of how dated it is. Funny Girl was fun. After a while, I just skipped to the songs I knew...

The Descendants was quite disappointing. It was just really really long. And every time any real emotion was developing, they changed to a new scene. It was pretty funny at some parts, but mostly just boring. It was kind of impressive to see the Secret Life of the American Teenager girl not be so whiney and annoying. It will undoubtedly be nominated for oodles of Oscars. Not sure how I feel about that.

Thankful

So, things in my life have been completely awesome lately. Everything is just going really well, and I’ve never been happier in my whole life. It’s a great feeling. School, work, friends, and family… it’s all-fantastic. Since the other day was thanksgiving, I thought I would say why things are so awesome and how thankful I am that they are.

First, I am so happy that I got to see my parents this week. I haven’t seen my mom since the first week of August and my dad since September. It was so great to see them. I picked them up from the airport on Saturday night, and then we went out to eat and went up to Surprise for the night. Sunday we went shopping and saw In Time and then I had my GRL banquet. Tuesday and Wednesday we were out of town. We stopped in Sedona on the way to Monument Valley. It was fun. I forgot my camera, which I was really mad about. I am just really glad they came and I cant wait to see them again in December. J I wish that they didn’t have to leave.

Wednesday, Britton arrived in AZ. So exciting!! I am very happy he’s here and I can’t wait for Elizabeth to come also!

I am officially a sister of Gamma Rho Lambda. I love it so much! I have so much fun and I love all of my brothers and sisters. I am so excited that I actually did it and I can’t wait to really get going with stuff.

It’s hard to organize my thoughts, but really and truly, I am so happy. I am so grateful that I got the chance to come back out here and get my life back on track. And all the bullshit at the beginning of this move was totally worth it because now things could not be better.

AND in LESS THAN A MONTH I get to go home for Christmas. I cannot wait. I’m going to work at Morrissey a little bit and I can’t wait to see all of them J, and I am so excited to be able to just be home and relax. I can’t believe I haven’t been home since August. Yaaay!!

Busy Doesn't Even Begin to Cover it...

         The past month of my life has been absolutely crazy. It's hard to describe the amount of work that has gone in to my days. I feel like it's all I do, and now, of course, as soon as I finally have time to write about what's been going on with me, I can't remember it all. But basically, my "pledge" process is over!! and the last little bit of it was the WORST. But I've been getting to spend a lot of time with my sisters and brothers and have been loving that part of the whole thing. <3 BITCHES AND RHOS. These past two weeks have been racked with bullshit and me, as well as most of the others, wanting to quit. But, through all of the stress I was experiencing, I did really well and I feel a lot better about the whole thing now. I got all (well, most of) my stuff done and I was actually proud of the thing we had to turn in. But that was over last night, and then it's for REAL over on Saturday when I'm a real sister. Crazy how fast this semester has flown by.

In other way, way, way exciting news. ELIZABETH AND BRITTON ARE MOVING HERE!!! Britton applied for a job here in Tempe and he got it!! Congrats to him on the job but mostly I'm excited for him and Elizabeth to be moving here. He actually comes in a couple weeks right before Thanksgiving, and Elizabeth comes in the beginning of January. I can't wait to have roommates. Carl will really appreciate them, and I won't have to be so stressed out about how busy I am. We're all growing up so fast. Now, if a couple more people would move here, including all the people from Morrissey, I won't have anything in Illinois.

Umm... what else? I sprained my ankle on Monday walking down some stairs at my friends apartment. I don't really know what happened, except that me falling was so loud that people came out of their apartments to see what the hell was going on. I didn't really think it would be that big of a deal. That night my big came over and helped me take care of Carl and take him outside, but I figured it would be better overnight. WRONG. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, my ankle was in so much pain that I crawled to the bathroom and out to the living room. Carol came and took me to the doctor. He gave me crutches (which are incredibly painful. It's hard to decide which is worse sometimes-- walking or crutching). It's getting better and better, but I had to call off work today because it's just not plausible for me to stand and walk around for eight hours. First time I've called off since I started working at Starbucks. Anyways...

School has been going okay. I just had a rough couple weeks with like a million things being due. But one a positive note, I read my screenplay pages in class and everyone said that they were really good. :). It's been harder and harder to find the motivation to go to class. I missed class on Tuesday because of my ankle and most of them on Monday because I had to finish a paper. And one yesterday because of my ankle and getting things done for my sorority stuff. Boo. I'm going to really buckle down these last couple weeks of the semester. I really need to get Geology to count so I don't have to take a science again. I signed up for classes yesterday... I didn't get all the ones I wanted, but I'm taking a class on documentaries and an ethics class and also a multimedia writing class. Should be fun, I hope.

I have just been going going going. I took today to just do nothing, but that also just stresses me out because my apartment is a mess because the dumpster is too far away to walk to on my ankle. And also I feel like every time I take a break, school just comes crashing on me. But things should calm down now since the "pledge" process is over. Yayy. And my parents come in a week from saturday. Super excited for that.

Also, I saw In Time since the last time I wrote. GO. SEE. IT.

Ahh, Real Monsters!

Went on kind of a scary movie binge this weekend. Yesterday I went to see Paranormal Activity 3, and before that I watched John Carpenter's The Thing on my computer. (NOT the one in theaters.) Both really good. I wouldn't say that The Thing was scary, but entertaining for sure. Paranormal Activity, however: terrifying. I have to say that I don't know if I have seen a more suspenseful movie in my whole life. In fact, the entire franchise is built on suspense, and I think they've cornered the market. I don't know if my muscles relaxed the entire last hour of the movie. Or if my hands came down from my face. They had this camera that was set up on an oscillating fan, so it went back in forth between two rooms. It was set at the exact speed to drive you CRAZY but not make it excessive. That was genius in my opinion. In fact, waiting for that camera to rotate to the other room was practically painful. It was so much fun to watch, I couldn't believe it was over when it was. I wanted to keep watching. I'd say the scariest part was the Bloody Mary scene. Ho. Ly. Crap. One of the best things about this one compared to the others is that it actually had some comic relief. I know the first one attempted it with the banter between the couple, but this really was funny. It made it so much better, in my opinion. I will say, that while the ending was mind-blowingly surprising, I was disappointed. I think it ended in a really weird spot (obviously setting up another one come next October, but hey, I ain't mad). And it ended so suddenly, I felt like this was the climax of the movie and it got cut short. I don't know, maybe I'm just complaining because I wanted the movie to be longer. Who knows. The funny thing about this entire franchise is that after the movie, after I thought about it... not much happened, but I was terrified the whole time. Crazy how a movie can do that.
The other movie I watched, The Thing, was pretty good, too. I first became interested in it when we watched a clip of it in my screenwriting class. Then a guy in another film class was talking about how awesome it was. He was right. It's pretty freaking awesome. When it came out, it got slammed by critics. Which I can understand, it's a stupid horror movie. Cheesy and funny in some ways, but I like those kind. I usually like either really scary horror movies, or ones that don't take themselves too seriously. That was The Thing. I feel like it was meant to have that cheese factor. I loved it. The best/ most impressive thing about the movie is that it was made before all of the CGI bullshit, and it has some pretty great effects. I'm not saying they're completely realistic like it would be in a computer, but it's damn impressive knowing that they didn't have really any computers to make the thing transform. I'm going to put a video up, but be forewarned, IT IS GRAPHIC. So, if you don't like that stuff, don't watch.

Next Semester

YAAAY! The class schedule for next semester posted today (TWO whole days earlier than it was supposed to). I don't know about anyone else, but I love making my schedule. I'm glad I went to my advisor on Monday. She helped me out a lot. I'm basically done with my core requirements for my major. yipee. So I had four classes that I could basically pick whatever I wanted. Two had to be in my major, but same thing. Anyways, these are the classes I picked:

• FMS 300- Television and Cultural Studies
• FMS 440- Los Angeles: Movies and Culture
• FMS 394- Hollywood Musicals
• WST 313- Women and Sexuality
• THP 482- Theater for Social Change

Suuuuper excited for all of them pretty much. The LA teacher really sucks, I have him right now for my Race and Gender class. It's not so much that he sucks, he is just a prick. And I've heard great things about Theater for Social Change. Very exciting. School is actually going okay. I'm not doing so hot in my Geology class, but I emailed the TA and he said that not all hope is lost. So that's good. If I pass, I will be DONE with science and all Gen Eds. And that is just the best news ever. I guess I don't feel as far behind as I probably am. So that's nice. I also started filling out my study abroad application the other day (Rome, here I come!!!). Just thought I'd share all of this with everyone while I'm waiting around for my next class to start. 

George Clooney for President?

I saw The Ides of March over the weekend. It's really good. I'm so excited. I think it's safe to say that this movie marks the beginning of Oscar Season....YAAAAAAAAY!! I love when the good movies come out, and when there is a movie you want to see coming out every weekend. I personally am very behind in the movies I want to see, as well as an ever-expanding Netflix Queue. Anyways, this movie was really fantastic. I'm not normally a fan of political thrillers (i.e Manchurian Candidate). A lot of them go over my head to begin with, and then they're just not really thrilling. Ides of March was truly suspenseful. It was interesting how suspenseful it was considering the fact that the stakes aren't really tangible. I was totally invested in the story the whole time. So much so that I was ready to bunch my ballot to make Mike Morris our next president. Seriously though, he had some great ideas...and George Clooney was a great face for the campaign. (Clooney/Gosling 2016?? Just a thought).
Okay, I don't know if I've ever given full credit to Ryan Gosling in the past, but this is me jumping on the bandwagon. He is AMAZING. And what's better: he's YOUNG. We are going to be experiencing his awesomeness for a long time coming. It's so weird that he was in The Notebook (A mediocre movie at best, in my opinion. Feel free to boo and hiss), and then he was in Lars and the Real Girl, and now he is in this mainstream, hollywood powerhouse of a movie. Not only that, he was awesome in it. Right in stride with all the veterans around him, outshining a few. He was nominated for an Oscar a few years ago, but had no chance. I seriously think he has a good chance. I know it's a little early to call it, but whatever. Rest of the cast was great. Let's face it, has George Clooney ever performed badly in a movie? I will say that the movie used just the right amount of Paul Giamatti. He's really talented and I like him, but I really can't stand to listen to him speak for very long.

50/50

Last week I saw 50/50, and I loved it!! It was way funnier than I was expecting and also not nearly as sad as I was expecting, both very good things. I loved how it wasn't some super depressing movie about cancer, as many movies featuring cancer are. One thing that bothered me throughout the movie was that he was SO unemotional about it. I am an emotion junkie of sorts, and I was kind of let down by his reaction. That being said, all of his lack of emotion made when he actually did break down even that much more heartbreaking. I thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt was perfect. His emotional range was great. Going from absolutely nothing to completely losing it-- which is what is expected of him. I also thought the movie was funny in all the right parts. It wasn't inappropriate and when the situation called for serious conversation, that's what there was. At the same time, it was extremely funny. 

The cast was absolutely amazing. Like I've already said, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fantastic, and a great choice by the casting director. I'm excited to see him be in more movies; he's really underrated and super talented. I hope that this movie helps him get even more parts. Everyone was really good. It was good to see Angelica Houston. I can't believe how good she looks! She's got to be at least, AT LEAST, 60. Bryce Dallas Howard was good, too. Who knew she was good at playing the bitch? I will say that I'm getting a little sick of Seth Rogen playing the same person over and over again. I mean, he is hilariously funny, but I would just like to see him do something different. 

Master Procrastinator

I'm putting off working on my 3-4 page paper thats due Monday. I haven't even started it. Bad News Bears. Anyways, since I last posted, I have been extremely busy. Which is both good and bad. On Sunday, I had a sorority class/meeting and they told us all the stuff we have to do for the new member process. There is tons to do...All while working and going to school and hanging with Carl. Needless to say, it's definitely overwhelming. And on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I was definitely feeling the pressure. Mini anxiety attack to the point of tears on Wednesday. I talked to my mom and my big, Ashley, about it, and as of right now I'm feeling better about the whole thing.

After my class on Sunday, I went to hang out with people from work. I had SUCH a great time. I can't wait to do it again. There's so much stuff I want to do and just not enough time in the day.

Lately, I've been thinking about the past couple years of my life. It might have a lot to do with my Screenwriting assignment, but whatever. I've been thinking about how sometimes, I would still like to go back to how things were. Even though it was over a year ago. And it bothers me that I still think that. I don't think about it very often, but just lately it's been creeping into my mind. Another thing that bothers me is that I. STILL. CARE. What the hell is wrong with me?? I need to stop it. Seriously. I don't know why I care because it's obviously not reciprocated. And I don't know why I care because right now, I am happier and more well adjusted than I ever have been. I am doing exactly what I want to be doing. I'm doing well in school, making my own friends and maintaining my old ones, and I got out of Bloomington. I am way better off. And I wish these feelings would just be gone for good. I'm done with them.  And I'm going to be dramatic on this one and sum this up with a lyric.

"You can take back your memories, they're no good to me"

I'm Never Touching Another Person Again

.... This is my residual feeling from watching Contagion. I finally got to see that movie last night, and it was awesome! It was completely terrifying. How much everyone panicked, how fast the disease spread, everything about it. What I think was the scariest thing about it is how real it felt. Like this was actually happening. The film brought up things that you don't normally think about; at least things I haven't ever thought about. For example, I never thought about how long it takes to actually make a vaccine, or how it is decided who gets said vaccine first. Or how drug companies make billions of dollars off of panics like that. I also never thought about the panic that would spread in a situation. But that would definitely happen.
There were a lot of shots of just people's hands touching various things. I would say that those parts were freaking me out the most. There was a part when they were trying to find the origin of the disease, and they just kept showing Gwyneth Paltrow touching things and people. *Shiver* It's weird to think of such a deadly disease spreading through things we touch. One thing that really bothered me about the whole movie was that there were these minute to two minute long overly soundtracked sections. There was no dialog, just very loud, intense music playing, and shots of people talking over a conference table. It just seemed like dead airtime to me. Not good. I would say that that is about my only complaint though. This movie was completely riveting and absolutely terrifying.

Photo-Heavy Post: The Makeover!

First view in the house

Dropped off my dad at the airport today. So that means....THE WORK IS DONE! I took pictures to show all that we did, plus my new place with all my stuff in it.  Cool. It's kind of hard to appreciate exactly how different the old place looks in these pictures, but trust me, this is leaps and bounds above how it used to be.

Old Place Before

Lots of Hard Work Paid Off

Kitchen (Floors are the biggest deal)

Living Room

New Place Before

Entrance Way (My portfolio pictures on the wall)

Desk Area

 

My Bedroom

I don't know how this can get harder.

Carl and I painting under the stairs

It's hard to convey how busy I've been and the amount of stress I've been under these past two weeks. That's why I haven't written. I picked my dad up from the airport last Monday, and we have been working nonstop ever since. My entire old place needed to be painted, re-carpeted, and deep, deep, cleaned. That is a big place, and every wall needed two coats of paint. So it's basically been painting all day every day. On top of that, plus school, work, and my sorority, I have moved into my new apartment. I am so overwhelmed it's unbelievable. I was naive enough to think that once I was out of that place, most, if not all, of my problems would be solved. NOPE. I don't quite exactly know where to start. I guess there's no need to bore you with talk of painting, so I guess I'll just get into my move.

Since my dad got here, we had been taking a few boxes over each night, so by Friday (when the movers came) all they would have to do is get the real furniture. I also had it set up so that the electricity would be turned on by the time we got there, and the cable people would come that day so I could have internet and have everything in order. Great plan, right? Well, I thought so. But we walked in Friday morning with the movers (85 degrees already, at 8:30 am) and the power was not on. No AC, no nothing. So I called, was on hold for an hour, and they told me it couldn't be turned on today because I had to pay a deposit. No one told me about any deposit when I ordered the service. It couldn't be turned on until Monday, the next business day, if I payed my deposit. So I payed my deposit on Saturday, figuring that any day over the weekend would have the next business day be on Monday. So I came here on Monday, power still not on. They can't turn it on until Tuesday because I didn't pay the deposit before 5pm on Friday. Once again, NO ONE told me that. So I was without power for 4 days so I couldn't stay here.

Then Carl had to go to the vet the other night, which cost me 200 dollars to find out he has allergies and the noise he was making was normal. Then I bombed my geology test. Then, this morning, my bike was gone. Now the cable guy is having a hard time getting my cable to work. Something is wrong with the utility line he says. It's just so great to be me right now. I swear I have the worst luck, and I don't even know why.

All of this is really starting to get to me. I've been really cry-y and irritable lately. I'm just so stressed. I don't want my dad to leave. I feel like him being here is going to make me more homesick after he leaves. But I guess I'll get over it. My dad being here has been pretty great. I have enjoyed having company. Like I said, I don't want him to leave. I will say that it has been a pretty great feeling to be able to unpack all of my stuff. At first, I was overwhelmed, but I've gotten through all of it all by myself. All that's left is to put things in the bathroom where they're supposed to be, and hang paintings and curtains. So not too much. Once everything is put together and clean, I'll put pictures up. Of the old place too so you can see what we got done. It looks a lot nicer.

A Real Update...

Things are going really well for me right now. Although I'm very stressed and super busy, things are finally starting to fall in to place.

Work is good. I have to close all the time, but I think I'm really getting the hang of things. Getting to know more and more of my coworkers. I'm finally starting to feel comfortable. It still feels so weird that I'm not at Morrissey. Like, when I'm at work, I'll say some of our inside jokes from home, and realize no one knows what I'm talking about. I always feel like I'm going to see everyone like tomorrow, and get sad when I realize that I am obviously not going to. The dynamic WHILE working is so different. I miss Morrissey a lot. I miss joking around the whole time. I try not to think about it. But I'm excited for when I go home and get to see them and hopefully pick up some shifts.

I guess I've got a few items of the latest news. First, I joined a sorority. I started going to rush events the Friday before last, and got inducted Saturday night. Its called Gamma Rho Lambda and it's an all-inclusive lesbian sorority. I really like it so far. We went to Ihop after induction and it was a lot of fun. Everyone is really nice and I really look forward to getting to know everyone and make some new friends on campus.
Next is that I got my new place. We closed last wednesday. I got the keys Saturday, and I can move in any time now. It was tiled, but they had to put carpet down. I don't know how much I've talked about that. But I love the carpet. I think more so than the tile. So that worked out. I'm actually picking my dad up from the airport tonight, and he's here to help me move all my stuff, and also to get this place i'm in now ready to be rented. We're going to repaint, put new carpet down, and really clean it up. There is a lot to do, and a lot of people to call. I'm glad Gene will be here to help me out. He's going to be here until the 23rd. It will help with some of the chaos.

School is going well for the most part. My geology class is like all online, and as you may or may not know, I don't have the Internet right now. So it's been hard to keep up with that class. I have to get it together. All of my other classes are going really well though. I got a 96% on my first sexuality test last week. I should get my grade for my paper really soon. I think I did well on that, too.

Basically, I've been very very busy. That's good though, I think. It makes me appreciate the time I have to myself at home alone instead of being lonely. All my downtime is spent with Carl. We are going to go to the nice dog park in Gilbert tomorrow with my dad. I try to take him with me any time I can. We went to Barbara's on Friday. I also went to the ASU game on Friday. It was an AMAZING game. We won in overtime. I went with my cousin Lori and my uncle Timmy. I'm really glad they invited me. We had amazing seats! Right on the 40 yard line, only 17 rows up. They were awesome. The whole experience has actually made me a fan again, I think. I'm excited to watch them play U of I on Saturday.

Anyway, all good things right now. Yaay!

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

I want to apologize in advance for the amount of useless complaining that is about to take place. But I’ve been feeling pretty angry lately, so I want to vent.

First of all, I am literally physically sick and tired. All the time. I hate it. I’ve got this like head cold thing that is slowly working its way down my throat and in to my chest. It basically makes me miserable for the first half of the day. I am lucky that the more I move around, the less I feel it, but it’s the getting going part that is awful. Also, I just haven’t been able to catch up on sleep. I was doing so well for the first couple weeks with waking up and not taking a nap all day and feeling perfectly fine. Now it’s been like a serious struggle to get out of bed.

Mostly what has inspired this post is that I am sick of people feeling sorry for themselves and expecting people to jump on the sympathy train. I feel like I can comment on this because I have personal experience with the whole thing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t say anything. If you’re feeling depressed, DO something about it. I know that depression is a very real thing, but I also know it is very beatable and never permanent. You just have to put effort in to it. Stop blaming your mistakes and character flaws on being depressed… the excuse can only go so far. Mostly, instead of telling people about it and complaining about it in search of sympathy, change what is making you depressed. Or at least take steps that will move you in the right direction. I’m just tired of all this stuff on Facebook that I am reading.

I’m also tired of it being my responsibility to talk to people from home. I feel like if I don’t text or call, I just won’t talk to anyone. I would absolutely LOVE to get texts. And I would love someone to ask me how my day is going.

Lastly, I am SICK SICK SICK of these freaking roaches. I’ve killed five in the past four days. Three on one day. Finding new dead ones almost every day. And who knows how many I haven’t found. Can’t wait to be out of here and away from them.

Let's Talk About Sex...

That would get anyone's attention. For my Human Sexuality class this week, we watched Kinsey, and then had to write about it. So here is my reaction to the movie.

There were interesting choices in the way the movie was made, the dialog, and the casting. First of all, John Lithgow as Kinsey’s father was absolutely fantastic. He did a great job of being so mean and heartless. I loved when it was revealed that he had gone through a traumatic sexual experience. This brought a lot more depth to the character and made me even more impressed with Lithgow’s performance. It was refreshing to see him in a role like this because he always plays a nice guy. I did have a few problems with the casting, however. Having Tim Curry play the ultra-conservative teacher was way too weird. When I think of Tim Curry, I think Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was completely opposite from that. And unlike Lithgow, who excelled in his “out-of-the-norm” role, Curry just seemed way too awkward and didn’t play it as well. I also had a major issue with Liam Neeson. Normally, I think he’s great in basically anything he does. And when I found out that he was playing Kinsey, I thought it would be a very good fit. I was sorely mistaken. He was, in my opinion, way too rigid. He was supposed to be playing this man with a completely open sexual attitude, and even he just seemed uncomfortable the whole time. His speech also contributed to this feeling I think. It wasn’t just him, although his voice is strange, but the dialog was all wrong.

The dialog was all too candid for my taste. I know that the feeling was supposed to be openness about sex, but I think that this went way too far. There are people who are open about sex who don’t discuss it at the dinner table with their parents/children. I thought that was so strange and uncomfortable—also unrealistic. Another awkward moment, speaking-wise, was when Peter Sarsgaard and Liam Neeson were about to have sex. The whole conversation was very strange. I feel like no one would just basically say, “Do you want to have sex now?” and the other person be like, “Okay”, and then it happens. Also, I know that the questions were designed to put the interviewee at ease, but they were also too candid for my taste. I just think the dialog of the whole movie was not good. It was not a well-written screenplay.

All of the attitudes about sex were aggravating and interesting at the same time. Obviously, the ideas that adults were putting into young people’s heads about sex were infuriating. How could people have said that? And, more importantly, how could someone believe it? I guess since Dr. Galliano clarified that these people were pretty sheltered, that explains it kind of. Not all of them were, however, and not all of the people who thought these crazy things were even bible-thumpers. (At least it the movie didn’t make them seem like it).  One thing I found extremely interesting was Kinsey’s own personal sexual experiences. Not that I assumed that he was promiscuous, but I couldn’t believe that he didn’t have premarital sex. It seems to me, even if he WEREN’T Alfred Kinsey, sex research pioneer, that he would have just to get back at his father who he hated.  

My biggest personal problem with the movie was the casualness of it. I don’t consider myself to be conservative at all when it comes to sex and sexuality, but the way that sex was just treated as some unimportant biological necessity really bothered me. Like when Kinsey had sex with Martin, that didn’t bother me, but when Kinsey was telling Mac about it, and just expecting her to be okay with it, that really got to me. And then Martin flat out asked to have sex with Mac.  That was uncomfortable to me. I think that sex should be treated with more importance than what they were giving it.

Overall, I liked this movie. Well, I guess it was very thought provoking. The film made me uncomfortable, mad, and happy, and this is exactly what a good film does.

Apollo 18

I am/was so excited that this finally came out. I first heard about it forever ago, and was very excited then, but the release date kept getting pushed back. I think it was originally supposed to have a summer release, but here we are in September, and it’s just now coming out. I wasn’t even sure it was coming out last Friday. I went to see the Guillermo Del Toro movie the week before last, and the preview for Apollo 18 said it was coming out in March. Very strange. But anyway, never mind. It came out…finally.

           

            Apollo 18 is a very Paranormal Activity-esque movie about the supposed mission to the moon after Apollo 17. All the footage is supposed to be discovered footage of the mission. I thought this was cool. It is a shame, though, that this has become sort of a genre in its own, because you know it’s not real. When I first saw Paranormal Activity, it was right after it came out, so everyone still thought it was real. Maybe it was naïve to think it was real, but it sure made it terrifying. Apollo 18, I’m sure, would have been just as scary if it were the first of its kind.

            All that being said, this movie was just okay. Maybe I built it up too much in my head, but the more I think about it, the less I like it. Which is never good. When I was watching it, it was really creepy, and I jumped a few times. But now looking back…not much happened. It seemed like the movie was like 90% suspense, but the payoff wasn’t nearly scary enough. Like, Paranormal Activity is probably just as much suspense, but when the action happens, it’s really scary. Also, maybe my scared-ness during the movie probably had a lot to do with my personal fear of creepy-crawly things. So the fact that the aliens were spider-like was actually scary to me. I will say that the aliens were very original, which was good. And who doesn’t love a good government conspiracy movie?

            I don’t want anyone to think that I’m completely knocking this movie. Because I’m not. It was entertaining, and at the end of the day, that’s what movies are about. 

Not Having Internet sure is a Pain.

Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. I don't have internet at my house, and that makes keeping up with a blog quite difficult. Also, there hasn't really been much to write about. I haven't been doing anything besides going to school and work. Trying to balance everything has been my biggest focus. For example, I would still like to have a social life on top of going to work, school, and taking care or Carl. I guess he's been my biggest struggle. I feel so guilty when I have to be gone all day. I even changed my availability at work because on Mondays I have class until like 9 at night, and I was working before then. So I'd be out of the house from like 6a til 9. Not okay for his little bladder. So I did that, and I've been thinking about having him go to day care on Mondays. I've been taking him on walks every morning. Playing with him when I can. Taking him to dog parks at least once a week. I try to take him with me in the car whenever I can. Right now he's here with me at Starbucks. He's doing good, but of course this experience has been ruined because this stupid woman and her dog have sat right next to us. Carl is going crazy. Now getting anything done seems impossible.

School is pretty much going the same. I still like most of my classes. I've been trying to keep up with the readings. The only major thing I've messed up so far is that I forgot about a geology quiz that was online. Never again. For my screenwriting class were finally getting in to our stories. Mine is very personal about my life. I hope I can do it justice. I know that it's a strong story, and I know I'd think that even if it didn't happen to me. Otherwise, nothing is really going on in the way of school.

My dad comes in a week! And I'll get to move, and unpack, and HAVE INTERNET. Woo.

More later.

Steadily Getting Better...

I’ve had a really good week! My stuff came on Monday, like I said. It’s good to have my things back. Like it’s the BEST THING EVER to be able to sleep in my own bed.  And now I can watch movies instead of sitting there in silence with no Internet. Haha. At the same time though, it feels kind of strange. Like this is actually real. And it’s weird because I can’t unpack and settle. It’s hard. I’m trying to keep in mind that Carl and I aren’t staying at that house, but it’s difficult to not get used to the way things are.  I can’t wait to be in this new place and be able to be organized. All of the boxes are seriously stressing me out. That being said, I would rather take that stress than the stress of not having my things. My dad is actually going to come out here in a couple weeks to help me move and get this house ready to be sold or rented out. I am excited for him to get here; it will help me feel less overwhelmed.

I took Carl to the dog park last night. It was one in Gilbert (a 40 minute drive), which you may think is insane to go that far, BUT it has a lake for the dogs to swim! I’ve wanted to get Carl to swim for a while now, and now that I’ve found this place, he’ll finally be able to learn. Yesterday he didn’t go past where he could touch, and since it was his first time in water, I let him do what he was comfortable with. Next time, I think I’m going to push him in. Just to at least show him that he CAN swim. Anyway, it was a lot of fun watching all the dogs play in the water. When I first got there, there were only two other dogs, and their owner wasn’t super nice. But then a whole lot of people started to come, and a majority of them were golden retrievers; it was cool. This park really was the coolest I’ve seen. It’s going to have to be a special thing, since it was so far away. Next time we’re going to go to one that is closer.

Today has been a really good day. I mean, I had to work at 4am (gag), but this open went a lot better than my last one. Today, at work, I really felt comfortable. The most comfortable I have since I came. I even got to be on bar for in-store. I think I did pretty well. The new machines aren’t that hard to get used to. I’m glad I finally got to be on bar. I got off at 10, which normally means a big long nap after work. But, a girl from work invited me to go to a movie. I was really excited. We went to go see Don’t be Afraid of the Dark, the new Guillermo Del Toro movie (a post about that later).  It was a lot of fun to go to the movies with her. J. Tomorrow is actually my first close ever. It’s going to be strange, but I like working at both times of the day. Hopefully it goes well and people don’t get too frustrated with me.

 After the movie, Carl and I came to Barbara’s. I need to clean up the evidence of us being here for when she gets back. I figured since I don’t work until 2:30 tomorrow that I could use this time to do that.

Last, but not least, tomorrow is my best friend, Elizabeth's, 21st birthday. I am so sad that I can't be there to celebrate, but I know she'll have a good time regardless. Happy Birthday Tico!! I love you and miss you! We'll celebrate hardcore when you come here.

Getting in the swing of things

       Since I last posted, things have definitely been winding down and (kind of, almost) getting normal. I worked all weekend, which is definitely back to normalcy, and had an even better time at work this weekend than I did my first day. The people I worked with were so welcoming. One girl told me we should go to the dog park sometime, and they all gave me their numbers. I just really felt totally comfortable. I think this also had to do with the fact that I was in drive thru. Comfort zone for sure. My friend Jillian from work lent me an air mattress. See? just super nice after just meeting her.
      The precursor to that is that I finally had to break down and stay at my place. It just isn't practical for me to keep driving back and forth every day. So, I got Barbara's roll-away bed out of the deep trenches of her garage. (Really, it was kind of a lot of work to get it out, and I left about a foot and a half scratch on Janice in the process). I knew it wasn't going to be like super comfortable, but man, I had no IDEA what I was getting myself into. When I finally got the thing flattened out, it was about 6 inches too short for me. Figures. There must have been no tall people (I'm not even that tall) back in the 60s because Barbara also has an old bed that I sleep on when my parents are here with me, and I have to lay diagonally to fit on that too. So I pushed my coffee table to the end of the bed to extend it kind of. THEN I layed down on it. No support whatsoever. The worst part of the whole thing though was me just picturing the cockroaches crawling all over the walls and floors every time I shut my eyes. But anyway, enough about a bed. Jillian's air mattress was like 23948305 times better. So, THANK YOU JILLIAN.

      Okay, so Thursday was the start of the new school year. It's hard to explain how weird it feels to be back in school. Especially here. Even though I took classes at Heartland, I basically feel like I took a whole year off of school. My first class was Human Sexuality. As you can imagine, it's going to be pretty interesting. The professor is this older, cooky lady, and she's pretty funny and very approachable. I think I'm going to like that class. Friday I had Geology, and science is science is science, so I don't like it. But the professor seems really cool. Screenwriting was cool yesterday. It was in a building I had never been in before, so that was cool. And it's a professor I've already taken a class from, and there is even a girl from all my film classes freshman year in there, and she remembered me! It was nice (and also weird) to see her. Race and Gender is going to be like every other film class. I'm not looking forward to most of the screenings, but we got to watch The Hangover last night. The only class that I am absolutely going to dread is my computer class. Not only is it eerily similar to a class that I was failing so I dropped it freshman year, but it also is just long and boring and he's monotone and I just surf the internet.

      That's all for right now. I'm exhausted and am frankly surprised I'm still awake. More tomorrow!

BUT GOOD NEWS: I GOT MY STUFF. HOORAY! Just had to share that.

Staying Positive is Key.

This is not my house, but you get the idea. OLD PIPES

      And I'm really trying very hard to stay positive. There just hasn't really been anything, and I mean ANYTHING going my (our) way. It's been almost ridiculous, actually. Like, how many bad things can happen to one family in the course of one move. I mean seriously. It's made me a little down in the dumps lately, too. The thing that really got to me was a whole plumber situation. Well, first of all, the plumber was supposed to come Monday after I was off work because I was already going to be in Phoenix. So I got off work, went to my place, and just sat. All by myself. No TV. No Internet. No Furniture. I just watched The first season of True Blood on my computer. I sat there for three hours. Finally my mom called me and said that they came early (like before I got off work) and no one was there, so they left. Well obviously no one was there! That's why we said to come after NOON. They even called a phone and no one answered and they STILL came. Idiots. So I just wasted my whole day there, and that made me need to make yet another trip to Phoenix, which is an hour away from Barbara's house. But anyway, I went back on Tuesday, and he came around 10:30, and I thought this was going to take maybe two hours tops. All he was doing was fixing a leak. Well, since the place is so old, all the pipes are galvanized or whatever, so they're all rusted. He fixed the leak with a copper replacement pipe, which took over two hours, and as soon as that was done, the next joint up started leaking. Great. He couldn't fix that one because it was going vertically, and he would have to like take out the tub upstairs. We're trying to sell this place, keep in mind. If I would have known about the ancient plumbing, I never would have bought it, and I don't know anyone in their right mind who would. So basically he put a temporary fix on it to stop the leak for now, but he said we're going to have to replace all those old pipes.   Six hours and $500 later, we're in worse shape than we were before he came. If just that cost 500, I can't even imagine how much replacing those pipes would be. Too much for us to afford, I can tell you that.

     So that sucked/sucks. I just can't believe all of this awful luck we're having. My stuff still isn't spoken for. They say that they're still going to be here at the end of the week, but I don't see how. Assholes. I did get that place that I posted pictures of, which is good news, but of course that couldn't go off without a hitch, either. I had all these papers to sign, and I have no idea how to work a fax machine. So I thought I'd scan them, since I know how to do that. Barbara's scanner is like the slowest thing I've ever seen. It took about a minute per page (at least 15 pages), and I had to do it twice because there was a type-o and I missed a place to initial. I kept telling the realtor guy that I was working on it, but he kept calling me every five minutes anyway, saying he doesn't have it yet. No shit, it's still going through my scanner. Once the scanner was finally done, the file was too big to email, so I had to fax it anyway. With help from the neighbors, I got it. They accepted our offer, but the HOA fee is going to go up from $140/mo to possibly as high as 250. There's the catch of this operation.

But school starts today so I'm trying to keep moving forward. It feels like everything is trying to stop this whole thing. But whatever. I am handling it better than I ever would have in the past, which I'm proud of myself for.

Back at the Buxx

Yesterday was my first day at my new Starbucks in Phoenix. It’s at the corner 7^th Ave and Missouri, and is only a few blocks away from where I am going to live. So that’s nice. I had been in there a couple times before to get my schedule, but only a couple of the people I met those times were there, so I got to meet new people. I can’t tell you how nervous I was. Not only was it a brand new store with brand new people, but I haven’t worked at all in 2 and a half weeks, and it’s definitely a job you get rusty at. So there was that.

My first shift was a short one, which I was thankful for. Easier to get back in the swing of things. I got there about 15 minutes early and talked to the ASM (assistant store manager, Shelby) for a little while. She told me I was going to be up front which was both relieving and nerve racking at the same time. I think in my 10+ months at Morrissey I worked up front less than 5 times. It was like, in theory I knew everything that had to be done, but I had never actually done it in practice. Their way of doing the coffee cadence is weird. They only use one brewer the whole morning, and the bold coffee is all the way on the other side of the store. I was extremely confused at first, but I finally got it.  And I was just completely lost at doing the pastry case.  Because not only did I RARELY even have to touch the pastry case at Morrissey, but they do that differently here, too.  Anyway, I was thankful to not have to be on bar on my first day. They have different espresso machines here, so someone is going to have to show me how to use them. There was me not even knowing how to work the machines, and like I said, super rusty. So even though I was not that familiar with running the front, I am thankful for the ease back into the routine.

The people are really nice so far. I wish I weren’t so shy when I first meet people, but I know I’ll get over it soon. I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully I can get along with these new partners even a fraction of how I fit in with my Morrissey family. In the meantime I’m trying to force myself to mix in with people faster, talking to customers more and things like that. Sean, my manager, took about 45 minutes to sit and talk with me and get to know me, and that was really nice.

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job. Being at a store in a big city is intimidating coming from the slowest store in a city about a fifth of the size of this one (I don’t know if that’s accurate, but you get the point). I think my biggest problem was that I felt this unrealistic pressure to be knowledgeable and on top of the routine, which is an almost impossible expectation to have on myself. I know I didn’t feel like that when I first started; I guess I just wanted to be impressive. They do things a lot differently, and it’s just going to take some getting used to. I know that I learned quickly at Morrissey, so I hope this doesn’t take too much longer. Breaking habits is harder than creating them, though. I am just really excited to be back at work. It felt so weird not working for as long as I have; especially after 70 hour work weeks this summer. Staying positive, and being open to new things is what I’m focusing on.

I sure do miss everyone at Morrissey though…. A lot.

The Help

Well the first movie I saw on my own in my new life in Arizona was The Help. I loved it.  I haven’t read the book, but my mom did, and her reaction to it is what made me interested in this movie. The previews made it seem really cheeky, which I’m normally not in to, but the cheeky-ness really made this movie fun. It had a really good mix of comedic relief along with the heavy core of the story line. It wasn’t cheesy that much really, but it was very smart comedy. I think that civil rights movies are so interesting. Those southerners sure were CRAZY. The Help really was held up by really remarkable performances. All of the housewives were great. They weren’t just one dimensional, and Bryce Dallas Howard was fantastic as Hilly. Her superiority complex and openly racist performance really was brave. And she did a great job of being a stuck-up b*tch. What I was really happily surprised by was Emma Stone. I never really expected her to be in this type of movie. I love her, but I never really thought she could carry a movie with a serious message. You couldn't even recognize her scratchy voice, and she sounded very natural with a southern accent. Everyone did a great job in this movie; the cast was very well-selected. Viola Davis was very charming, and her and Octavia Spencer make you feel like you're their friend. They're completely relatable, and I truly felt for them.  This really was a great movie. I had a great time watching it, and kind of want to go see it again.  

There's Disaster Afoot!

        And even "disaster" is sort of an understatement. Where to begin? I guess I'll just go in order of how I found these things out.
      
        Moving is freaking expensive. Not only is there a lot of buying that has to be done if it's your first big move like it is for me, but finding someone to take your things cross-country is not cheap! U-haul was about $2000 to rent the truck for three days, and on top of that, the mover has to load it, unload it, drive it, and pay for gas (12mpg)! Then we thought maybe a POD, but that was $5000. To save money, my mom settled on a moving company called Colonial Van Lines. This ended up being a BIG mistake. First, they were supposed to pick my stuff up between 3pm and 5pm on Wednesday, and be delivered to my home in Phoenix between Monday and Wednesday (the 8th-10th). But, Wednesday at 5pm rolls on by, then six....they end up showing up at 7pm. That's not even the best part, at least they got my stuff. On Friday morning the movers called and said they would tell us when the truck left Chicago and then they could give me an estimated delivery date. DAYS pass, and still no call. Finally, on Wednesday (Doomsday), my mom called them, and they gave us an estimated delivery date.... wait for it... the 17th-19th! That's AFTER school starts, AFTER I start work, and everything I own is on that truck. I even need to buy new work clothes.  (If you have a few minutes, read the reviews for this company). So, that's that awfulness of this move, but that's definitely not the worst part.

       The worst part came to our attention on Wednesday, about a half hour before I had to take my mom to the airport. I took Carl out to go to the bathroom, and while I was on my way back in, a man called me over to talk to him. I knew that something was wrong as soon as he talked to me. Basically, he told me that I wasn't allowed to have Carl there. There is a 25 lb weight limit, obviously Carl is way more than 25 lbs. I just told him that I've seen other big dogs, and he replied with "those dogs are 'grandfathered' in." So I just told him I was babysitting Carl until Labor Day. This was absolutely devastating, as I'm sure you can imagine. And it was made all the more worse because my mom was leaving within two hours. While I cried, my mom started making phone calls to see what we could do. We did know about this rule a while ago, but our realtor told us that HOAs don't enforce those rules if you own, and then we saw a German Shepard there, so that just reinforced that idea. This was a huge mistake. But who else are you supposed to trust other than your realtor? It's their job to know these types of things. When he showed us the house, he knew very well how big Carl is and that he was coming with me. That is the most frustrating part of this: that we were so mislead by a realtor. And what really sucks is that I don't feel welcome or comfortable over there anymore, so I haven't spent any time there. I hate that this happened, because I really love it there, and we put so much work and money into it. It's a really huge hit. It kind of feels like this whole move has been f*cked since jump street. But I'm determined to stay positive. Since that first day, I've been doing a lot better. It feels like way longer ago than it was.

The not redone bathroom

Living room/Dining room area

         Basically, our only solution is to find another place to live. Today I went to look at one place. It was supposed to be two, but the second place didn't have a key to it, so I have to wait until they get a key. This place was so nice! It's like completely redone on the inside, with all tile floors. The only room in the house that wasn't redone was the master bathroom, which is kind of strange to me, but oh well. It's a lot smaller than my place now, and it's all on one level, but it's a lot newer on the inside than my place now. I'm going to look at a couple more places before I make any decisions, but I really do like this place. Here are a few pictures:

Awesome redone bathroom

The kitchen!

Here it goes...

        Last Friday, I left my hometown of Bloomington to start over again in Arizona. We started at 6am, stopped at my Starbucks for some coffee and for me to say my last goodbyes to everybody, then we were really on our way. The night before, I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes at midnight, so I was running on about two hours of sleep, BUT I could NOT fall asleep, as much as I tried. So that was rough. My mom and I had a good time on the drive though. Carl did pretty well, too. It took him about an hour to finally settle down for real, and he seemed pretty comfortable.....  Thennn we were in the car for 16 hours. In the first day we went all the way to Amarillo, Texas. I felt so bad for Carl. He basically looked like those dogs that are on the Sarah McLachlan commercials; like we have been neglecting him his whole life. I can't blame him though, it was blisteringly hot, he probably was bored out of his mind, and he just had no idea what was going on. Before this, he had only been in the car for a half hour at a time. I was definitely worried about him.

          I drove for 5 hours (which I know is not fair, but it was so hard driving that long!), and I think I had the worst part of the drive. I had to drive from somewhere between Ft. Leonardwood and Joplin, MO to Oklahoma City. OK City was so stressful. The signs for the highways were so misleading, plus it was rush hour. No fun. Anyways, we finally made it to Amarillo that night, and at the hotel Carl was finally starting to act normal (a huge relief, by the way). The next day, we started early again, and FINALLY made it to Arizona around 5pm, after about 12 hours of driving. The drive was looong, and frankly, not very interesting landscape-wise. I had pictures, but unfortunately deleted the majority of them on accident.

          Anyways, so I'm here in Arizona. Saturday, naturally, we were exhausted from the drive, and we just spent the night in. Carl got here and felt right at home; he was so happy, which made me happy. Sunday, we did a bunch of shopping. I got my new TV and some stuff from Target. I have to admit, shopping that day was a little overwhelming and quite rushed. So, I'm glad that on Monday, after taking Barbara to the airport (she'll be in Michigan/New York until Labor Day), we did even MORE shopping. Ikea was first, where we got these super cool bookcases and fantastic lamps. I love those lamps. Then to Target, again, and later we went to Office Max for school supplies, and PetSmart for a few things for Carl. Tuesday was building day. We took Carl to the house with us, and spent the entire day building and putting things together. My uncle and I worked on the entertainment center for FOUR hours! Ridiculous. Here's some pictures of things put together and in there (almost) rightful place. 

 <--This is my dining room area; the lamps on the sides are my awesome IKEA Rutbo lamps.
--> And these are my bookcases from IKEA also.

<-- My kitchen with some of my stuff in it.

 --> My living room (thats the entertainment center I slaved away over for 4 hours) Below is a closer look so you can really appreciate it. haha

That's basically what's been done so far! Sent my mom home yesterday, went to a movie, and then today I've just been hanging out all day. There is a LOT more to tell, but I'll save that for other posts!

Lauren

I'm baaack!

      So, over the summer, I definitely lost motivation to write about the movies I have seen. And, I haven't been watching that many movies anyway due to my two full-time jobs. I am determined, however, to keep up with this blog starting... two sentences ago. So I am going to keep people updated about my new experiences in Arizona as well as talk about some movies that I've seen.
    
    

The Name of this Movie is Salo....

OR 120 Days of Sodom. The title alone would deter normal people from watching it. Not me. I found it on a list of the most disturbing films ever made, and I was immediately intrigued by the plot. For some reason, the movies on that list really made me want to watch them. To see if they truly are disturbing. I have been disappointed by some of the films on that list, but NOT this one. This was really one of the most horrifying, disgusting, weird, and (fittingly) disturbing movies I've ever seen. It was definitely hard to watch, and I will admit that I couldn't watch the last ten minutes. It is about this group of Nazis who kidnap 18 teenagers and basically torture them (for, I guess, 120 days). The things that happen after that are extremely bizarre. I feel uncomfortable even describing what goes on. It was hard to understand exactly what was going on. Not only was it in Italian, but the characters were so far out of the realm of anything I have ever seen before. It was hard to believe it. They were are disturbing. There is really no other word for it.

It's Been a While...

I have not been able to eloquently articulate how I have felt about the movies I've seen in the past three weeks, so I just haven't been writing. I have been watching (mostly) really good movies lately, however. Since I last wrote, I've seen (for the first time):

• Outrage- A documentary showing the hypocrisy of closeted gay politicians. Extremely interesting, and I suggest that you watch it. They spotlighted specific politicians, which I liked, and they showed their voting records when it comes to gay rights. The numbers were disgusting. Gay people voting against gay marriage, or equal tax benefits, is absolutely insane. I also liked it because it had a very positive message encouraging people to come out. Be proud!! You can do much more good if you are yourself!
• Natural Born Killers- I've been interested in this movie for a long time. I'm not exactly sure why I never got around to watching it, but I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed it. It was so weird, dark, and also extremely funny. The editing of this movie was probably the most interesting part. It was like no other movie I've ever seen. Also, the writing and the acting were amazing as well. I recommend this one too, but not to the faint of heart. 
• Antichrist- I found this movie on a list of most disturbing films, and it definitely deserves place on that list. Parts of it were hard to watch, but it's one of those movies that I couldn't stop thinking about after I watched it. There are so many layers to it. Watch it so that we can talk about it together!
• Bridesmaids- So good and so funny. It was way more than just a stupid comedy or chick-flick, and that's why I think it was so good. I want to watch it again when I'm in a better mood than I was, but still, not even a bad mood could make this movie not funny. So many memorable moments. I love Judd Apatow movies!
• 25th Hour- This is another movie I got from that list of most disturbing movies, and I have to say, I was disappointed. Maybe it takes a lot for me to get disturbed, but mostly this movie was just boring. I love Edward Norton, too, so this was really sad. The highlight was one monologue that he did. I don't know how it could be perceived as disturbing. I don't get it.
• The Last King of Scotland- I enjoyed this movie a lot. Too bad I missed about 40 minutes altogether due to DVD skipping. (Damn you, Netflix). From what I saw though, it was very good. I was riveted, and Forest Whitaker was brilliant. The craziness of his character was both laughable and disturbing. I want to get it again so that I can watch the entire thing. 

They say 'Live in the Now'...

Well, quite frankly, the "now" is not all that exciting. Yes, I love my job and my friends, and school is going well. I'm really doing very well right now, and I'm proud of myself for coming this far in just 6 months. That being said, I just have all these exciting plans ahead of me. I like to think about how Arizona is going to be, and even things beyond that. I have started to think about things that will be great experiences for ME and that I really want to do. I'm not going to let outside influence guide me anymore. Going to Arizona is really what I need to do to achieve my goals.

I was watching the first season of Glee the other day, and they (mostly Rachel) were talking about making your dreams a reality and really pursuing your passion. That got me thinking... what are my goals? I haven't exactly figured out what I want to do in the film industry, but it is my biggest dream to be a part of an Oscar-winning movie someday. I don't really know how I will be involved, nor do I really care. Doing that would mean that I was really contributing to the film world. Thinking about it just makes me so excited. So, now that I have really thought about my goal, I am so excited to get out to AZ and get going. I've been thinking about what classes I want to take and what things I'm going to get involved in. Also, I'm thinking that next summer I'm going to do a Film in Rome study abroad program through ASU. It seems like a great opportunity and I'm really excited just thinking about it. Then after that, during the summers, I'm going to work on getting internships. I am very motivated right now to really put in the work to make this happen. The film industry is really hard to break in to, but I am more than willing to do what it takes.

So shoot me, I can't stop thinking about the future. Right now I just feel like I'm coasting-- not really being challenged enough, so I'm thinking of things that are bigger and better, and I can't wait until I get there.

I don't know exactly what made me want to do this post, but I just felt like it.