the grass is always GREENer…
green: Being in an early period of growth or development. See youth. Lacking experience and the knowledge gained from it: inexperienced, inexpert, raw, uninitiate, uninitiated, unpracticed, unseasoned, unversed.A quote
“Oooo look at me, I’m Mr. Tom Cruise smile.“ – my father, mocking this guy on “The Vampire Diaries:“
My high-fives are like unicorns [Exhibit A]:
Rare and probably with healing powers.
I’ve had a pretty firm stance on avoiding high-fives since high school, when it was pointed out to me that they look really stupid. But there come moments when I’m confronted with the open and expectant palm of A) innocent people I don’t know that well or B) someone truly deserving of approval, no matter how pathetic the means of asking. Awk-ward. SOME of those times, I can’t deny the hand-slap. Most of the time I do, and then I feel like a tool, because let’s face it, I just made someone else feel like a bigger tool.
The above was tweeted by a friend who I chose to high-five congratulate for getting a real grown-up job with RKO. This discretionary system I’ve adopted more recently has people really working for my affection, so I’m okay with it. And you know if someone tweets something, it’s big news.
Landry Clarke looks like Matt Damon [Exhibit A:]
My mother brought this to my attention the other day, enlightening a possible reason for my love of the FNL character (played by Jesse Plemons) beyond his unwavering integrity. And awkward hilarity. And “Christian speed metal band” Crusifictorious.
Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke
Late 90s-ish Matt Damon
Granted, Landry looks like a younger, pastier, more ginger-y Matt Damon. But he’s got the teeth/lips/brow bone thing going on.
A Conversation
Upon leaving Greenblatt’s Deli with my friends Marcus and Nikki…
Marcus: Next time I’ll have to take you to MY deli.
Me: What’s your deli?
Marcus: Canter’s.
Me: Everyone’s deli is Canter’s. Geeze. Stop being so mainstream.
Marcus: Sorry, we can’t all go off the the beaten path. TO SUNSET BOULEVARD.
[...]*
Nikki: Oh, I know why there are so many black people. It’s Chocolate Sunday!
*Note: during the above pause, no mention of black people was made by anyone in this conversation. Nonetheless we were further enlightened.
Peter Jackson plays too much Mario Kart [Exhibit A]:
I have numerous issues with Peter Jackson’s latest work, The Lovely Bones, most of which I won’t go into. But I will say that I wanted to put a muting veil over almost every aspect of the film. Everything from the supersaturated cartoon-y costumes to the flashy parallel editing had a quality of vibrancy that was altogether unnecessary and ultimately harmful to this hokefest.
I get that they cut out some of the darker aspects of the story that was in the original book. But the subject matter is still intense enough that choppy edits and echoing voice-over serve only to distract from the emotional elements. I wanted it stripped down. I wanted quiet scenes with the family instead of 10-minute sequences of Susie gallivanting around the In Between–an afterlife of sorts that looks and moves exactly like a typical video game world. Marky Mark was actually good in it. Too bad I didn’t care that much about him, because details of his relationship were replaced with giant CGI ships in glass bottles. Sound stupid? Looks worse.
Side note: My trip to see this advance screening was totally worth it, if only for this mash-up my sister and I jammed to on the ride home:
I am easily bored [Exhibit A]:
I recently took a poll among friends whether I should go darker or lighter the next time I get my hair did. Poll was split evenly, leaving me to weigh it out for a bit longer while pretending I’m doing the whole semi-trashy grown-out ombre look on purpose. Not that I have a problem with roots (see below), but I do get a little impatient about trying new things (see below). As part of my decision-making process, I’m also taking a retrospective look at where I’ve been before. Because let’s face it, I seem to tire quickly.
Here is my hair, more or less in chronological order from left to right, in its various colored, highlighted, lowlighted, faded, and grown out stages:
*
Click to enlarge. Votes still welcome.
*All phases are included except for my first dye job ever (age 16), which consisted of fuchsia highlights, and of which very few pictures exist. I could not find one.
Gifted
Here are some of my favorite gifts of 2009:
Help with a plane ticket to Tokyo (given to me by my parents)
I’m going for a week February 2 to see my bestie, who happens to work as Cinderella, Arial, the Blue Fairy, and Cruella DeVille at Disneyland Tokyo. No big.
This Japanese tee (given to me by my best friend Alyson, my reason for visiting Japan)
I guess some things are lost in translation?
Aviators (given to me by my sister)
I’ve had a million cheap pairs of men’s aviators I’ve lost or broken. I got really excited when I tried them on and told Meg to get the for me because “Look, they’re actually women’s sunglasses so they’re smaller than the last pair and they fit my face!” I later saw the gift receipt. The product is listed as “GUY’S SUNGLASSES.”
The company of lovely ladies (given to me by Mac Bam, Jenelle, and Pear)
In lieu of gifts, we went out for dinner at Uncle Wu’s. Highlights were Jenelle’s presentation of Edward chocolates, the conversation about the Twilight books
with our server (who said he read ALL FOUR OF THEM because he “lost a bet to his wife”), and Perri loudly knocking over a chair on her way out.
Boots (given to me by my mom)
Chinese Laundry. Black leather. Over-the-knee.
Books (given to me in gift card and money form by several relatives)
My new library additions:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
It’s supposed to be this really thrilling page-turner, but so far the journalist is just having conversations about people and money and court cases and other conversations.
All the Pretty Horses
I was in the mood for a western. It seemed like it might be romantic and epic.
The ticket-worthy and regrets of 2009
Some movies that didn’t make my best list that I still enjoyed:
Whip It!
The Proposal
Sunshine Cleaning
Precious (Okay, so “enjoy” is not the right word here.)
(500) Days of Summer
Taken (except for the last scene)
I Love You, Man
The Girlfriend Experience
Adam
Paranormal Activity
Sherlock Holmes
MJ’s This Is It
Avatar (finally saw it)
And here are movies I wasted money and time on:
Julia & Julia
It’s Complicated (Yes, Marcus. I just put TWO Meryl Streep movies in a row)
Adventureland
The Invention of Lying
The Ugly Truth
Push
My sister is not so great with animals [Exhibit A]:
This is what happens when our neighbors’ Yorkie digs his way out of his backyard and runs about in the street until someone like my Dad spies him and takes him in. Not all are quite so welcoming…
How did I not know about this?
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (TV series)
Okay, so Chelsea Handler has told me to watch it about a million times, and I didn’t listen because I don’t have Direct TV or whatever network deal they finally resorted to in attempts to find an audience. It’s on NBC as well now, by the way. More importantly, the first 3 seasons are on Netflix instant viewing, a discovery that has made my holiday downtown rife with obsession.
I love this show. Which is a little weird, considering I generally dislike things like country music and politeness. I’ve never seen such emotional intensity worked into a show whose most common phrases are “Yes, sir,” “No, ma’am,” and “I appreciate that.” Despite all the melodrama, it still manages to feel realistic.
