I'm probably not as big of a movie buff as Amanda...in fact, I know I'm not. But I do love a good movie and especially those that make me feel. I usually classify the good ones in the following categories:
1) Moving
2) Non-thinking enjoyment
3) One-and-Done
For movies in categories one and two, I can watch them over and over, pick them up in the middle, wherever...I will watch it all the way through.
For the 'One-and-Done' movies, it's not that I didn't like them - it's just that seeing it once was really all I could handle and I don't feel the need to revisit.
Some examples of movies that move me - 'Steel Magnolias,' 'The Color Purple,' and 'A League of Their Own.' These movies are only a few but these movies, most certainly, always make me cry. Thinking about it, I laugh at the ridiculousness of it - but really when you think about it, you can't help but cry....
Steel Magnolias: When Sally Field goes on her rant at her daughter's funeral
The Color Purple: When Celie and Nettie are finally reunited at the end as grown up older women, after being separated as teenagers.
A League of Their Own: When Betty Spaghetti finds out that her husband was killed in the war; and when Dottie let's the ball slip out of her hand (ON PURPOSE) so that her bratty sister, Kit, can come out from Dottie's shadow and be her own person.
Movies that fall into the non-thinking enjoyment category are usually comedies that I can just watch over and over again. They include, but are not limited to, 'Dodgeball,' 'The Replacements,' 'Beer Fest,' 'Hot Fuzz,' and 'Legally Blonde.' These are just really enjoyable movies that always put me in a good mood...no matter how ridiculously stupid they might be.
The One-and-Dones are more difficult for me because I do enjoy these movies but I feel that having watched them once is enough. 'Titanic' is a perfect example. It was a good, long movie but having watched it on the big screen was pretty much all I could handle. When I see it playing on TBS, TNT or Lifetime, I always try to surf over to see what part it's at but always thank my lucky stars that it was at a commercial break so I didn't actually have to watch any of it. 'Devil Wears Prada' also falls in this category for me. I loved the book and the movie was well done....but after seeing it once, I thought it was good enough. I will catch a few glimpses of it, here and there, on HBO but never stick around to watch it all the way through.
All these movies are great and I do recommend watching them at least once...where else, but in 'The Color Purple' will you ever see a drunk black woman (Shug) tell another black woman (Celie), 'You sho is ugly...heh heh' and then end up becoming her best friend? Classic!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Come On, Get Happy
I confess that I have been a little moody lately. Okay, more than a little. The highlight of my day yesterday was when I set my mocha light frappuccino on the edge of the table at the Riverwalk Starbucks, and it landed perfectly upside down on the ground, like a stellar flip cup performance. Too bad I hadn't taken a single sip before this happened. I still managed to salvage about a third of it, and I did drink it, out of pure desperation.
When it comes to feeling down, I turn to music if I can. Sometimes there is a part of me that just wants to feel sorry for myself, and that's when I put in something syrupy sad like a little Josh Groban. Other times, however, it's just time to pick myself up and play something that makes me deliriously happy. And I look to three tunes to accomplish this.
1. The Girl From Ipanema. Who doesn't know this song? It seems like it's been around forever. But I was reintroduced to it when I guy I dated in D.C., Josh, pulled it out of his CD collection in his car one day. He told me that he and his friends always put that in the CD player when one of them was pissed off, and it instantly cheered everyone up. I could see exactly what he meant. Normally listening to a favorite song of a guy who dumped me would cause me to wallow in self pity. But "The Girl From Ipanema" puts a smile on my face every time.
2. Freedom! 90. If you know me well, you know that I have a mild (very mild) obsession with George Michael. There are so many great George Michael songs, including the now mostly forgotten "One More Try" (very big at the Van Hoosen after school dance when I was in the 8th grade, but I think I've only heard it on the radio about five times in the twenty years since). I may not be a supermodel, like the women in the famous Freedom! video, but whenever I hear this song, I just want to get up and dance. It makes me think of my friend Michelle's bachelorette party and good times at the Adams Mill when I first moved to D.C. It just makes me happy.
3. Never Wanna F'n See You Again. This is the granddaddy of them all. It's a lesser known song, and probably only really recognized amongst those of us in college in the great state of Indiana in the 1990s. The chorus to this song would never make it on the radio because censoring it just doesn't have the same impact. I'll give you a half censored version anyway: "No, I never wanna f'n see you again. You've always been a bitch. Since I can't remember when. You irritate my brain. You're driving me insane. No, I never wanna f'n see you again. Why do you have to be such a bitch?" I can't explain what it is about this song, but the melody is so hoedown happy, and to have it go with these lyrics, where you know Rich Hardesty is smiling as he sings - it is everything that is right about swearing. Sometimes, it just makes you feel better. Proof of this, to me, was when I went on a Spring Break trip in law school to Vegas, Phoenix, and Mexico with eight of my classmates. And when we were all bickering in the van en route somewhere, singing along to this song was the only thing that could bring us all back together. In a word: awesome.
When it comes to feeling down, I turn to music if I can. Sometimes there is a part of me that just wants to feel sorry for myself, and that's when I put in something syrupy sad like a little Josh Groban. Other times, however, it's just time to pick myself up and play something that makes me deliriously happy. And I look to three tunes to accomplish this.
1. The Girl From Ipanema. Who doesn't know this song? It seems like it's been around forever. But I was reintroduced to it when I guy I dated in D.C., Josh, pulled it out of his CD collection in his car one day. He told me that he and his friends always put that in the CD player when one of them was pissed off, and it instantly cheered everyone up. I could see exactly what he meant. Normally listening to a favorite song of a guy who dumped me would cause me to wallow in self pity. But "The Girl From Ipanema" puts a smile on my face every time.
2. Freedom! 90. If you know me well, you know that I have a mild (very mild) obsession with George Michael. There are so many great George Michael songs, including the now mostly forgotten "One More Try" (very big at the Van Hoosen after school dance when I was in the 8th grade, but I think I've only heard it on the radio about five times in the twenty years since). I may not be a supermodel, like the women in the famous Freedom! video, but whenever I hear this song, I just want to get up and dance. It makes me think of my friend Michelle's bachelorette party and good times at the Adams Mill when I first moved to D.C. It just makes me happy.
3. Never Wanna F'n See You Again. This is the granddaddy of them all. It's a lesser known song, and probably only really recognized amongst those of us in college in the great state of Indiana in the 1990s. The chorus to this song would never make it on the radio because censoring it just doesn't have the same impact. I'll give you a half censored version anyway: "No, I never wanna f'n see you again. You've always been a bitch. Since I can't remember when. You irritate my brain. You're driving me insane. No, I never wanna f'n see you again. Why do you have to be such a bitch?" I can't explain what it is about this song, but the melody is so hoedown happy, and to have it go with these lyrics, where you know Rich Hardesty is smiling as he sings - it is everything that is right about swearing. Sometimes, it just makes you feel better. Proof of this, to me, was when I went on a Spring Break trip in law school to Vegas, Phoenix, and Mexico with eight of my classmates. And when we were all bickering in the van en route somewhere, singing along to this song was the only thing that could bring us all back together. In a word: awesome.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Best Of Sex
With the Sex and the City movie still fresh in my mind, I have been thinking back lately to the six seasons of the show on HBO. This was a great show for single women, and I have to say that it helped me through a lot of tough times, whether serious or shallow. I have Sex and the City to thank for my purchase of "He's Just Not That Into You," a book that, while largely tongue-and-cheek, could be the most liberating piece of self help I have ever read. This is where the mantra was born: "Don't Waste the Pretty" (i.e., don't waste one moment of your fabulous self on some guy who doesn't appreciate you). Here's a quick look at some of the best, most touching episodes.
1. Unoriginal Sin. This episode was a bright spot in an otherwise pretty much crap Fifth Season of the show (the one that was cut short because both Cynthia Nixon and SJP were pregnant - at least SJP was, which was obvious by the flowy, unflattering dresses they put her in (although nothing could explain the horrendous haircut)). This is the episode where Brady is baptized and Carrie is trying to decide what kind of message her book will have - whether it will be optimistic or pessimistic. Carrie also attends a daily affirmation seminar with Charlotte, who is discouraged about the way her marriage ended. In the end, after Charlotte suggests that "maybe it will work out" between Samantha and the cheating Richard, Carrie dedicates her book "To single women everywhere, and one in particular: My good friend Charlotte - who always believes in love." Whenever this episode comes on, I have to watch to the end because it is so sweet and makes me want to be a little more like Charlotte.
2. A Woman's Right To Shoes. How can any single woman not love this one about someone stealing Carrie's Manolos at a baby shower and the mother-to-be (a great cameo by Tatum O'Neal) criticizing "her choice" to buy such ridiculously expensive shoes? Even though the average age of brides has increased significantly over the last twenty years or so, I think there is still some pressure or expectation to want to get married and to want to have kids. But even if we don't do those things, our lives still matter. This episode really touched me because it made me think of all of the late nights at work at my old job and people talking about getting home to their spouses and kids while I, it appeared to be assumed, could work as late as needed because I only had a cat waiting for me at home. As women in the twenty-first century, we are lucky to be able to make many choices in life, and sometimes the non-traditional ones deserve to be celebrated too. I LOVED this episode.
3. Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This episode can be heartbreakingly hard to watch, but I think it just may be my absolute favorite. This is the one where Charlotte gets married to Trey and Carrie confesses the "Big Affair" to Aidan. There are so many parts that are sad, most notably Carrie pleading to Aidan, "maybe I can just be flawed" like the wood in the beautiful love seat he made as a wedding gift for Charlotte, and later Aidan coming to the church yard and telling her that he loves her but that it just isn't the kind of thing he can get over. But there are two gems in this episode that are unforgettable. The first is when Charlotte expresses some reservations to Carrie just before she walks down the aisle, and Carrie reassures her, "You don't have to do this. We can just catch a cab and get out of here, and everyone will just have to get over it." (her delivery of this line is perfect, and I can't do it justice in writing). And the second, the best, is at the very end, when she and the girls are taking pictures on the steps of the church and Carrie voices over, "It's hard to find people who love you no matter what. Lucky for me, I had three of them." I get a tear in my eye every time, and it is worth it EVERY TIME.
The episode where Carrie and Aidan break up a second time, however, I can't watch at all.
4. A Hop, Skip, and a Week. I very well could be the only person I know who liked Carrie with Jack Berger. Perhaps it is my obsession with Ron Livingston in Office Space - I'm not sure. But I was so happy to see him on Sex and the City. This episode, where Carrie and Berger take a "break" because he can't seem to get past his inferiority complex around her is another one of those sad ones. But at the same time, there is something strangely familiar about it. While Berger was certainly flawed, he was so in a very human way, and I felt bad for the guy. Sure, he shouldn't have dumped her on a post-it note, but he was a coward, especially because he knew he was wrong in his envy. The reason I love this episode, which is probably obvious to those who have seen it, is the reunion with Charlotte and Harry, when he asks her to marry him at the Jewish singles mixer. Her speech, "I don't care if you ever marry me. I just want to be with you" is her shining moment of the entire series. But I also love the end - Carrie knocking over the vase of carnations after receiving the post-it break up note - to the soundtrack of nothing but the water dripping from the vase onto the floor.
5. My Mother Board, My Self. This is yet another tearjerker, but it's such a goodie. While Carrie is a real jerk when she doesn't accept Aidan's help when her computer crashes, there are so many things to like about this episode. I love the scene with Miranda in the dressing room when the saleswoman is trying to help her pick out undergarments for the black dress she had to buy last minute for her mother's funeral - how Miranda resists the woman's efforts to help and finally breaks down and cries into her arms. I love when Carrie, seeing Miranda trying so hard to keep it together down the aisle after the service, jumps out of the Church pew and walks with her. And I love her voice over at the end when they spot Steve and Aidan at the back of the Church, "There's the kind of support you ask for, and the kind of support you don't ask for. And then there's the kind that just shows up . . ."
1. Unoriginal Sin. This episode was a bright spot in an otherwise pretty much crap Fifth Season of the show (the one that was cut short because both Cynthia Nixon and SJP were pregnant - at least SJP was, which was obvious by the flowy, unflattering dresses they put her in (although nothing could explain the horrendous haircut)). This is the episode where Brady is baptized and Carrie is trying to decide what kind of message her book will have - whether it will be optimistic or pessimistic. Carrie also attends a daily affirmation seminar with Charlotte, who is discouraged about the way her marriage ended. In the end, after Charlotte suggests that "maybe it will work out" between Samantha and the cheating Richard, Carrie dedicates her book "To single women everywhere, and one in particular: My good friend Charlotte - who always believes in love." Whenever this episode comes on, I have to watch to the end because it is so sweet and makes me want to be a little more like Charlotte.
2. A Woman's Right To Shoes. How can any single woman not love this one about someone stealing Carrie's Manolos at a baby shower and the mother-to-be (a great cameo by Tatum O'Neal) criticizing "her choice" to buy such ridiculously expensive shoes? Even though the average age of brides has increased significantly over the last twenty years or so, I think there is still some pressure or expectation to want to get married and to want to have kids. But even if we don't do those things, our lives still matter. This episode really touched me because it made me think of all of the late nights at work at my old job and people talking about getting home to their spouses and kids while I, it appeared to be assumed, could work as late as needed because I only had a cat waiting for me at home. As women in the twenty-first century, we are lucky to be able to make many choices in life, and sometimes the non-traditional ones deserve to be celebrated too. I LOVED this episode.
3. Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This episode can be heartbreakingly hard to watch, but I think it just may be my absolute favorite. This is the one where Charlotte gets married to Trey and Carrie confesses the "Big Affair" to Aidan. There are so many parts that are sad, most notably Carrie pleading to Aidan, "maybe I can just be flawed" like the wood in the beautiful love seat he made as a wedding gift for Charlotte, and later Aidan coming to the church yard and telling her that he loves her but that it just isn't the kind of thing he can get over. But there are two gems in this episode that are unforgettable. The first is when Charlotte expresses some reservations to Carrie just before she walks down the aisle, and Carrie reassures her, "You don't have to do this. We can just catch a cab and get out of here, and everyone will just have to get over it." (her delivery of this line is perfect, and I can't do it justice in writing). And the second, the best, is at the very end, when she and the girls are taking pictures on the steps of the church and Carrie voices over, "It's hard to find people who love you no matter what. Lucky for me, I had three of them." I get a tear in my eye every time, and it is worth it EVERY TIME.
The episode where Carrie and Aidan break up a second time, however, I can't watch at all.
4. A Hop, Skip, and a Week. I very well could be the only person I know who liked Carrie with Jack Berger. Perhaps it is my obsession with Ron Livingston in Office Space - I'm not sure. But I was so happy to see him on Sex and the City. This episode, where Carrie and Berger take a "break" because he can't seem to get past his inferiority complex around her is another one of those sad ones. But at the same time, there is something strangely familiar about it. While Berger was certainly flawed, he was so in a very human way, and I felt bad for the guy. Sure, he shouldn't have dumped her on a post-it note, but he was a coward, especially because he knew he was wrong in his envy. The reason I love this episode, which is probably obvious to those who have seen it, is the reunion with Charlotte and Harry, when he asks her to marry him at the Jewish singles mixer. Her speech, "I don't care if you ever marry me. I just want to be with you" is her shining moment of the entire series. But I also love the end - Carrie knocking over the vase of carnations after receiving the post-it break up note - to the soundtrack of nothing but the water dripping from the vase onto the floor.
5. My Mother Board, My Self. This is yet another tearjerker, but it's such a goodie. While Carrie is a real jerk when she doesn't accept Aidan's help when her computer crashes, there are so many things to like about this episode. I love the scene with Miranda in the dressing room when the saleswoman is trying to help her pick out undergarments for the black dress she had to buy last minute for her mother's funeral - how Miranda resists the woman's efforts to help and finally breaks down and cries into her arms. I love when Carrie, seeing Miranda trying so hard to keep it together down the aisle after the service, jumps out of the Church pew and walks with her. And I love her voice over at the end when they spot Steve and Aidan at the back of the Church, "There's the kind of support you ask for, and the kind of support you don't ask for. And then there's the kind that just shows up . . ."
The In-Betweener
I wonder why clothing companies can't seem to make perfect-fitting pants for people like me - an in-betweener. I am of average height (5'5 - although considered tall for my peoples), average weight (good luck getting the actual number out of me) and my build could probably be described as athletic. I'm not overly muscular but I do have some meat to me (which I'm working on toning this summer).
A good majority of my pants range in size from 8-10. I've been an 8/10 for as long as I can remember now....but it seems like more often than not, every time I go to purchase pants for work, I need to have the legs hemmed. I don't consider myself overly short but even when wearing heels, the pants seem to be long.
After a series of alterations I had to get done for pants I purchased, my dry cleaner/tailor finally asked me why I don't buy things that fit. Okay - like this is my fault. I'm just like 'I don't know - they don't make things that fit me correctly, obviously.' I'm too tall and regular-limbed to be considered petite and I'm not anywhere near a plus size. So why is it that so many of my items are getting hemmed?
I never seemed to have this problem before - I know long is in but sometimes I find myself tripping over my pant legs - and that's not safe...especially in heels. If I'm considered average, then why don't regular clothes fit me? Not all of us can have legs that go on for days, like a supermodel.
A good majority of my pants range in size from 8-10. I've been an 8/10 for as long as I can remember now....but it seems like more often than not, every time I go to purchase pants for work, I need to have the legs hemmed. I don't consider myself overly short but even when wearing heels, the pants seem to be long.
After a series of alterations I had to get done for pants I purchased, my dry cleaner/tailor finally asked me why I don't buy things that fit. Okay - like this is my fault. I'm just like 'I don't know - they don't make things that fit me correctly, obviously.' I'm too tall and regular-limbed to be considered petite and I'm not anywhere near a plus size. So why is it that so many of my items are getting hemmed?
I never seemed to have this problem before - I know long is in but sometimes I find myself tripping over my pant legs - and that's not safe...especially in heels. If I'm considered average, then why don't regular clothes fit me? Not all of us can have legs that go on for days, like a supermodel.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
What Are You...Five?
These past few days, in DC, have been absolutely sweltering. Temps have been in the upper 90s since Thursday of last week, with heat indexes of over 100. My husband and I *tried* to venture to the outlets on Saturday, late morning, but soon couldn't stand the heat because we felt like our feet were frying and there was absolutely no shade or wind for even the slightest relief. So after our run to Costco, the only thing we had left to do was grab a healthy lunch and then hibernate in our air-conditioned home for the rest of the weekend!
We went to lunch at this 'food court' type place - it's actually one store but with multiple stations of food choices - think upscale corporate cafeteria. My husband and I got on line for the 'make your own salad' station, behind some other folks that were waiting. There was really no defined line - it was kind of like standing in line at a deli - you know who was there ahead of you and when they ask whose next, you just know in what order you fall.
There were a few people ahead of us. Apparently, the guy directly in front of us knew someone ahead of him so they just started chit chatting....they were having a good laugh over something but when the person behind the counter asked who was next, the guy in front of us just automatically started ordering his salad. As he was about to move down the line to make his selections, a dude off to the side started telling the guy in front of us that he basically 'cut' him. The guy in front of us apologized and said he didn't see him standing there...off to the side, not exactly in line with everyone else. I actually hadn't even seen the dude either until we got closer to the front - but I knew who was going to go next.
After apologizing to the dude (cause really, what else can you do), the dude kept harping on it. Finally the guy was like, 'What do you want me to do? Have him throw out my salad?' And dude just wouldn't let it go. The dude actually said, 'What are you - in kindergarten? Who cuts people?' And it's not like the guy did it on purpose - he even apologized for doing it. And it wasn't a smug or half-ass apology. My husband and I actually thought there was going to be a throwdown . So as the dude kept going on and on, the guy was like 'What do you want? Do you want to meet in the parking lot and settle this?'
I actually started thinking that the dude was acting more like he was in kindergarten - the way he kept going on and on about it. He cut you, by accident, get over it - you'll get fed....Jebus! I was also thinking that the heat must be getting to people because who would make SUCH a big deal over an accidental cut? When the next attendant was ready to make the next salad, he looked directly at me to start placing my order...instead, I swept my arm in a dramatic arc to signal to the attendant that this "five-year old" should go ahead of me..
Part of me wishes that I would've just went ahead of the dude and if he started yelling at me, I would've retorted with such classics as, 'Hey - you lost your place when he cut you' or 'You stepped out of line - but I'll give you a Chinese cut.' But I wasn't feeling so bold cause I don't think my husband would've had my back on that one!
We went to lunch at this 'food court' type place - it's actually one store but with multiple stations of food choices - think upscale corporate cafeteria. My husband and I got on line for the 'make your own salad' station, behind some other folks that were waiting. There was really no defined line - it was kind of like standing in line at a deli - you know who was there ahead of you and when they ask whose next, you just know in what order you fall.
There were a few people ahead of us. Apparently, the guy directly in front of us knew someone ahead of him so they just started chit chatting....they were having a good laugh over something but when the person behind the counter asked who was next, the guy in front of us just automatically started ordering his salad. As he was about to move down the line to make his selections, a dude off to the side started telling the guy in front of us that he basically 'cut' him. The guy in front of us apologized and said he didn't see him standing there...off to the side, not exactly in line with everyone else. I actually hadn't even seen the dude either until we got closer to the front - but I knew who was going to go next.
After apologizing to the dude (cause really, what else can you do), the dude kept harping on it. Finally the guy was like, 'What do you want me to do? Have him throw out my salad?' And dude just wouldn't let it go. The dude actually said, 'What are you - in kindergarten? Who cuts people?' And it's not like the guy did it on purpose - he even apologized for doing it. And it wasn't a smug or half-ass apology. My husband and I actually thought there was going to be a throwdown . So as the dude kept going on and on, the guy was like 'What do you want? Do you want to meet in the parking lot and settle this?'
I actually started thinking that the dude was acting more like he was in kindergarten - the way he kept going on and on about it. He cut you, by accident, get over it - you'll get fed....Jebus! I was also thinking that the heat must be getting to people because who would make SUCH a big deal over an accidental cut? When the next attendant was ready to make the next salad, he looked directly at me to start placing my order...instead, I swept my arm in a dramatic arc to signal to the attendant that this "five-year old" should go ahead of me..
Part of me wishes that I would've just went ahead of the dude and if he started yelling at me, I would've retorted with such classics as, 'Hey - you lost your place when he cut you' or 'You stepped out of line - but I'll give you a Chinese cut.' But I wasn't feeling so bold cause I don't think my husband would've had my back on that one!
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