Sometimes, when I'm on a first date, I feel this weird need to justify why I might be single. Like my date is judging me for not being in a relationship. And then I realize he's single, too.

Sometimes I just want to be in a relationship so that someone else will go get the Cafe Rio when it's raining.

Amount of time I spend picking out a necklace to wear on a first date: 10 minutes
Amount of time date spends looking at necklace: maybe 1 second

Sometimes when you're making out with a guy something might happen and you think 'ow' and then move on. But if it actually causes you say 'ow' out loud...it will probably leave a bruise. 

When it rains, it usually pours.

The non-committal guy will usually feel a lot more committal when he realizes you're going out on dates with other guys.

Sometimes on a date you have to sneak to the bathroom and call your friend to get you out of it. I love being the friend that gets the call. I am a master of fake break up phone calls/texts. My latest fake boyfriend's name is Trevor, truly an occurrence of life imitating art, as he's a character in my screenplay.

Sometimes you have to carry a camera so you have an excuse not to hold hands. A dog also works for this.

Yes, I'm offering you some of my milkshake, but I don't really want you to have any. I'm complicated. (PS I'm talking about a literal milkshake, not some sort of metaphor for tail.)

With the right guy, snuggling in front of a movie is the best date ever. With the wrong guy, you will be counting down the minutes until the credits start to roll.

Good dancer usually equals good kisser. I don't know why that is. Something about rhythm.

Sometimes 'when are you coming back?' is the closest you'll get to 'I miss you'

The 'right' guy isn't always the right guy. Sure, he may be perfect on paper, and he may be perfect in real life. But if there's no spark, you can't force it.

The guy who texts you every time he knows you're on a date with someone else? Probably a little bit into you.

To be honest, I've never written a film review. I've written thousands (hundreds of thousands, even?) of words about movies, but I've never just written a review. And I don't know that I want to start now.

But I have been watching some really great films late at night, and I thought I would at least share them. So, an abbreviated list of movies I saw this year (on Netflix, in theaters, rented, or in class) and what I sort of thought about them. Most of these reviews are not helpful, unless you and I have the same taste.

The scary thing? There are approximately 91 movies on this list (I got tired counting). It doesn't account for every movie I saw that I'd never seen (it's hard to remember every movie you watched), nor does it take into account movies I watched that I'd already seen (which is kind of a lot). Or multiple viewings (for example, I've somehow seen Source Code three times). Basically, I think I watch maybe 3 movies a week. There was a time (before film school) when I read that many books a week. I kind of miss those days. 

Movies I Watched and LOVED:
A Very Long Engagement - amazing. amazing. amazing.
I Capture the Castle - very sweet story
Limitless - I want those pills.
Dirty Harry - Just as awesome as I was told it was.
Like Water for Chocolate - My parents rented this when it came out and I didn't see it (b/c it's not appropriate for kids) and I'm so glad I finally watched it. Beautiful.
Buck - One of my favorite docs
The Iron Giant - So sweet. Perfect kids movie.
Mansfield Park
Kick Ass - very....interesting. Loved it though. Super violent.
Secretariat - who doesn't love an underdog? Even though I was never into horses I really loved it.
Timer - one of the most interesting concepts I've seen in a film and they pulled it off.
Hugo - Lovely! Enchanting! Charming! (Do I look like a movie poster yet?)
Winter's Bone - rough to watch but really good
To Live - Chinese film that we watched for class. Absolutely beautiful.
O Brother, Where Art Though?
A River Runs Through It
True Grit - I cannot say enough good things about this movie. 
Friends with Benefits - Laughed so hard throughout most of this.
The Hangover - Hilarious. Even though people had built it up a lot.
Flypaper - saw this at Sundance...loved it
X-Men: First Class - Funny nods to 60s Bond films and a lot of hotness in one film.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Crazy Stupid Love
The Descendants - if you cheat on George Clooney you will die a slow, ugly death.

Movies I watched and LIKED:
Wristcutters: A Love Story - interesting. held my attention. I don't like that chick though.
GI Joe: Rise of Cobra
Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton version) - liked it more than I thought I would
Hot Tub Time Machine - hilarious. Super vulgar. Watch only if you are OK with John Cusack no longer being the nice guy in your mind.
A Knight's Tale - I sort of missed parts of this as I was busy...but it was funny. See above re: that chick
Abduction - I was pretty much there for Taylor Lautner's abs, and they delivered.
The Hurt Locker - sort of built up but I enjoyed it.
The Social Network - took me two viewings to see the whole thing but that isn't a comment on the quality
Source Code - Jake Gyllenhaal being wonderful and brave. Enough said.
The Adjustment Bureau - Matt Damon and Emily Blunt? In New York? With John Slattery and fantastic suits and hats? Sign me up.
I Am Number Four
50/50
Water for Elephants - Gorgeous to look at.
The Help - the book is better
Something Borrowed - the book is worse
Life in a Day 

Movies I feel kind of 'meh' about:
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - this was a little too loose narratively
New York, I Love You - I like Paris, Je T'aime better
Cherry - an old friend's little brother is in this so I watched it
The Romantics - Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, Elijah Wood, Anna Paquin, Josh Duhamel, Candice Bergen...I'm not sure what went wrong
Muriel's Wedding - a lot of people love this movie, I guess I didn't get it
Once More with Feeling - to be honest I don't really remember what this was about
Breaking Upwards - this movie screams INDEPENDENT!! and also BROOKLYN!! I don't like to be screamed at.
Titan A.E. - Netflix recommended it, and it entertained me during my insomnia
Killers - I'll usually watch a Katherine Heigl rom-com and this was fine.
Hanna
Just Go with It
Beastly - This kind of thing is right up my alley, I expected to enjoy it more.
Contagion - Kind of disappointing. Also - if you cheat on Matt Damon you will die a horrible, ugly death.
The Ides of March
 

Movies I finished that I wish I hadn't:
Dare
Nearing Grace 
My Girlfriend's Boyfriend - Christopher Gorham what did they do to you?!
The Dilemma
Dolphin Tale - it was the first movie in a double feature drive in.

Movies I Started but Didn't Finish (and don't want to):
The Good Guy
Happiness Runs
The Last Song
A Wrinkle in Time
Last Tango in Paris
Take Me Home Tonight
Time Bandits - a bunch of people in my department love this one...I couldn't make it through 15 minutes

Movies I Started but Didn't Finish (and do want to):
Eat Pray Love
The Basketball Diaries
Hannah and her Sisters
Before Sunrise
The Piano

Movies I had to watch for school that I wouldn't have watched otherwise:
Somewhere
Early Summer
Swept Away
Orlando - Tilda Swinton gives me nightmares
Christopher Strong - LOVE! Katherine Hepburn is amazing.
Working Girls (left after 20 minutes)
Dirty Pretty Things
21 Grams
8 1/2
The Searchers - John Wayne...so amazing.
The Kids are All Right
Floating Weeds


A few notes on TV:
Episodes of 30 Rock I watched - all of them
Breaking Bad - wonderful but super stressful
Parks and Rec - continues to bring it

Clearly, this is not possibly a list of every movie I saw this year, but it's late and I'm sleep deprived. And you probably didn't make it through the whole list anyway.

I'm done! On Friday I sent in my last paper, returned my library book, and sold back my textbooks.

Today I graded the last final paper and dropped them off. And then I spent the rest of the day at work...my last day until 2012!

So I'm officially done. I (theoretically) have no responsibilities for the next 2 weeks. It's glorious.

To celebrate: Queen. Because this is how I've been feeling lately, and it feels so good to be free. This might be my new anthem.

The video is weird but it's Queen so...what do you expect?

What else should I do when I'm home? Trader Joe's is obvious. And Panera. And REAL BAGELS. Oooh and H&M, which is at my local mall and not half an hour away like in Utah.

Is it next week yet?

Source: favim.com via Audra on Pinterest

Sometimes I get an idea in my head and it ends up in an email or on my phone in a list of things to write/think about. Often it ends up on a sticky on my laptop.

For the past few months there has been a note that says 'jumping ship'.

Whenever I'm asked in an interview what my greatest weakness is, I tell the interviewer (who surely doesn't actually care) that I tend to bail out a sinking ship for too long. You see, in the world of the Titanic, I would have been the captain who chose to honorably go down with his ship, despite the fact that it was DEFINITELY sinking. (In real life, I probably would have drowned in steerage because I'm Irish and most of them were stuck there. Not the point.)

So usually, even when I can tell something is failing I will dutifully bail out the ship until I sink with it. One of the things I've learned to do lately is to jump. Maybe I needed to let that prompt sit on my laptop for months, because this morning as I was getting ready to blow dry my hair it sort of hit me that I've gotten better at this.

If something isn't working, just jump. It's not giving up, it's making a decision based on what's best for me, based on what is rational and realistic.

Sure, I may freeze in the metaphorical icy waters of life. I may still drown. But at least I'll know I did everything I could to try to save myself.

There will be another ship. And I know how to swim.



You can unofficially think of this as Takeback Part 2.

Just saw this on Hue&Hum...I'd heard this from Ira Glass before, but it was just what I needed to be reminded of today.

I am still here. Sort of.

Yesterday I opened my fridge and found cereal there. I'm not sure how long it had been there without my noticing it.

I've also misplaced all my white socks. They are not in the hamper and not in the laundry and certainly not in the sock drawer. I wore black socks with my Chucks today. That happened.

In laziness/forgetfulness I drove my car with 1/8 of a tank of gas left. And then had to find a gas station open at 3:30am out of fear that I would run out of gas two blocks from home.

This sentence came out of my mouth yesterday: "If I'd known you were going to be here, I would have worn pants."

I've been watching a lot of 30 Rock while I grade/fall asleep doing work. There's this one episode where Jack is 'Reaganing' (a hilarious joke about doing everything right for 24 hours straight). If you watch the show you'll understand what I mean when I say that I've been 'Lemoning' this past week or so.

I'm shocked I have even been feeding myself. Although in all honesty, I'm not really sure what I've eaten besides half a pan of brownies I made at 11 the other night. And rootbeer floats from Hires (which will always be hi-res to me).

I haven't shaved my legs in ages. AGES.

I've been keeping a cold (sort of) at bay by pounding OJ and Emergen-C and eating a lot of clementines. I'm not sure how long I can count on citrus to take the place of my immune system. Which Jacob and I determined is like the Maginot Line.

Last week I decided to be irresponsible for a day and went to a movie in the afternoon. We talked into the wrong theater and spent ten minutes saying 'doesn't this feel like it's ending? No, maybe it's the beginning and we'll find out about this later....'

Suffice it to say, I am so ready for this semester to be over. Friday can't come soon enough.