Quote of the Day

"I am going to make it through this year if it kills me."
  -- The Mountain Goats, This Year

What I Watched -- True Grit

I went to see True Grit with T a couple weeks ago, and I can't believe I forgot to write about it!  I so rarely go to the movies that I should have reported my outing immediately, but sometimes life gets in the way.

But, about the movie.  Awesome!  Jeff Bridges is fantastic, my boyfriend Matt Damon is chubby but great, and Hailee Steinfeld is hilariously sharp.  I thought her attitude would get old, but it didn't somehow.

True Grit is based on the 1968 book by Charles Portis, which was originally made into a movie a year later starring John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn.  It's the story of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Steinfeld), who sets out to avenge her father's murder.  She hires Rooster (Bridges), a perpetually drunk US marshal to help her in her search for the killer.  The pair are accompanied by LaBoeuf (Damon) - French for "the beef," appropriately (!) - a Texas ranger who is after the killer for other reasons.

The plot is simple, so if a movie like this is going to make it, the magic has to be in the characters - and this movie makes it.  Each actor inhabits his or her character so fully; it's genius.

Bottom line: see it.  You'll be entertained and impressed by how simply done a good movie can be.  No twists, no gimmicks, no special effects.  Just good acting and directing.  (Okay, so there are always some special effects.  But you get my point.)

What I Watched -- Savage Grace

Julianne Moore got rave reviews, which was why I decided to watch this movie.  I didn't know much about it; just that there was some socialite scandal in the Baekeland family (of Bakelite plastics fame).

And geez, was I weirded out by said scandal, even moreso when I reminded myself that it's a true story! Julianne Moore plays Barbara Baekland, wife of Brooks.  Barbara married into the family.  Because of her more humble beginnings, and despite her newfound wealth, she is incredibly insecure about her social standing.  She turns to none other than her own emotionally-underdeveloped son Tony (played by Eddie Redmayne) for comfort.  The creepy, a-little-too-graphically depicted relationship that results was a bit much for me.

Both Moore and Redmayne, the only two real characters in the movie, do a decent enough job with what they're asked to do by the director.  It's just that what they do is so horrifying.  Until the final moments when everything unwinds, it appears that they are both too introspectively incapable, or maybe just vacant, to notice the unnaturalness of it.

Bottom line: I'm a fan of the oddball indie, but this is a step beyond.

Beware the Kissing Bandit!

Other than to say it's not me, I have no comment.

100 Years of Winter

I went to sleep, and somehow when I woke up, I found myself on the other side of the wardrobe, in a land of perpetual winter.  Everyone keep your eyes open for a faun with an umbrella.

Climate Change

Two days ago, it was 70 degrees.  This morning, we rowed in the snow and sleet:

Totally Gleeked Out

I was honest with y'all when I said that M got me hooked on Glee.  And since I got home from Oakland four weeks ago, I have completed my viewing of all the old episodes of the show, and am happy to say that I am now about 10 minutes shy of being up to date.  That's a lot of glee club, and the second season does get a bit didactic, but it's still totally worth it.  Let me tell you why:

1. Music is awesome, and I mean that as a general statement.  Remember how yesterday I was loving all the songs?  I still am.  I've probably listened to Firework a dozen times in the last 12 hours or so.  I'm totally on a music kick these days, listening to lots of music on this here blog, watching lots of Glee, even listening to music rather than podcasts in my car and on my iPod sometimes, which is nearly unheard of!  So, what's so great about music?  Well, for starters, there is a perfect song for every emotion and occasion, even if they are sometimes Glee-fully cheesy.  And music is good for you!  It eases stress, enhances intelligence and your immune system, enhances pleasure and suppresses pain, and lots of other stuff.

2. The glee club kids are there for each other.  Sure, they're judgmental and petty in a high school kind of way - which is appropriate, since they're in high school - but when it comes down to it, they're accepting and supportive of each other.  Would that we could all find people like that.

3. Will Schuester.  Really, what's not to like?  He's a little lost, but hopeful.  He can sing, he can move his body, he's a good guy with just enough bad to be interesting, and he can rock the jeans-with-a-sweater-vest-or-blazer look and make it somehow adorably nerdy and kind of hot at the same time.

And if nerdy doesn't do it for you, how about Matthew Morrison as just plain hot at a Vogue photo shoot?  Yes, please.

4. Brittany.  She is stupid, quiet, hilarious.  Not to mention a great dancer.  In fact, the girl (Heather Morris) who plays Ms. Brittany S. Pierce (not to be confused with - and let's be very clear on this point - Brittany Spears) was originally hired to teach the actors the choreography to Beyonce's "Single Ladies," but the directors liked her so much they took her on as the third Cheerio in the glee club.  Her humor is deadpan though, so you have to have the volume up or you'll miss it.

5. April Rhodes.  Played by the ever-so-teeny Kristen Chenoweth, April Rhodes is a lost soul faking her way through life, and I think everyone feels that way at some point.  But really, I've just like KC ever since Pushing Daisies.

6. Teachers, for a couple of reasons.
  6a.  I remember a very poignant moment at my high school senior retreat: we were in small groups, and each group had a teacher in it as well.  The teacher in our group told us that the hardest thing about teaching high school was that the students didn't appreciate that he had a life outside of school - a wife, kids, normal problems, big and small.  Maybe this show will remind kids that teachers (and coaches!) are people too.
  6b.  Every now and then I have a moment with one of my kids that is sort of Glee-esqe.  There is not (usually) singing and dancing involved, but there is a real connection.  Maybe it's just something we have in common that we can talk about, or maybe it's one of them coming to me for advice about a problem they're having.  It doesn't really matter which, it just matters that we're eye to eye.  For Mr. Schue, he has that moment with just about every member of New Directions; for me, if that happens with a few kids a year, I'll just be happy to know I'm helping.

There you have them: half a dozen, or rather half a baker's dozen, reasons why I heart Glee.

I love all the songs today!

I've discovered something great and something frustrating about this blog.

Frustrating: the Google search bar is crap.  Why is that?  Isn't Google supposed to be the king of searches?  I type in "Rihanna" and it says "No results."  WTF Google?  I know I've written about Rihanna.  Why are you lying to me??

But the great thing, is that I can just click the music tag, and go back and listen to all the songs I love that I've posted about!  You should try it.  My songs are awesome (mostly.  And every now and then, awful.  But in an awesome way).

P.S. Why does the word awful not mean "full of awe," in the way that hopeful means "full of hope"?

P.P.S. Can I just emphasize again how much of a rock star Bruce Springsteen is?  I love him even though he's way too old for me, and also married.  I'm keeping my eye on his website, but for now he and the E Street Band are still on a touring hiatus.  Sad face.

The Song I'm Loving Today

Firework (Katy Perry)

Special thanks to K for sending me this link!  Good find.  Inspiring, uplifting, rockin'.

So, Katy Perry is really pretty and is actually a good singer.  Too bad that usually gets lost somewhere behind her sexy and usually crazy outfits, or maybe it's just behind her super wacky husband:

I'll get to the song in a minute.  But before I do, I should share my all-time favorite Katy Perry video.  I laugh every time I watch it:


Okay, now for today's song!


Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,

Drifting through the wind,
Wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin,
Like a house of cards,
One blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep,
Six feet under, scream
But no one seems to hear a thing?

Do you know that there's still a chance for you?
Cause there's a spark in you.

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine,
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July.

Cause baby you're a firework,
Come on show 'em what you're worth,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y.

Baby you're a firework,
Come on let your colors burst,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own.

You don't have to feel like a waste of space,
You're original, cannot be replaced.
If you only knew what the future holds;
After a hurricane comes a rainbow.

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed,
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road.
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow,
And when it's time, you'll know.

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine,
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July.

Cause baby you're a firework,
Come on show 'em what you're worth,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y.

Baby you're a firework,
Come on let your colors burst,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe.”
Boom, boom, boom,
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon,
It's always been inside of you, you, you,
And now it's time to let it through.

Cause baby you're a firework,
Come on show 'em what your worth,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y.

Baby you're a firework,
Come on slet your colors burst,
Make 'em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe.

Boom, boom, boom,
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon,
Boom, boom, boom,
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon.

Back to the grind

Far and away the worst part about travel - even worse that the TSA - is having to face your real life again once you return home.

Yesterday when I got back, I realized that my indoor plants were dying, and that outside the weeds were taking over the yard.  So rather than work on my sociology presentation like I was supposed to, I pulled weeds and got mud under my fingernails just when I need them to be looking pretty again.  Smart move.

Then I sorted out some other stuff around the house, wrote my blog post, and before I knew it, it was dark out.  So much for getting my presentation finished.  I should probably start on that soon.

And today I got to work to find a pile of paperwork to tend to, as well as dozens of e-mails and phone messages which required response.  Boo hiss.  But I suppose that's the price you pay, isn't it?