500 Days of Summer

Add it to the list! This movie made the cut!
From the opening lines of the movie, I was hooked. "This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate.' This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story."
I laughed, I cried, and it was wonderful. A few more quotes like: "It's love, not Santa." and "What do you know about PMS?"-- "More than you, Tom." added to this wonderful film.
While some will say that I had an epiphany about the meaning of life and my life in general, I think that is romanticising it. While my thoughts about love do run deeper than most, I found this movie believable. We wake up, and live our lives. Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin and they end with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of our lives. But there are days that have great cosmic significance. Days that do change the course of our lives. If I've learned anything, it's that these life altering events are usually missed by our own sheer blindness. We don't see them because we aren't looking for them. Now I do understand that some days we receive huge bill-board-signs showing us the course of our lives, but usually these events happen upon us by simply not opening a college letter for a few (or three) weeks.
When I'm undecided about my mood, I usually put my iPod on shuffle. Not because I think it does an exceptional job of making playlists, but because it finds the first song for a list I will later make myself. At any rate, I came across the song 'This Is Your Life' by Switchfoot. I don't mean to go all 'A Walk To Remember' on you, but I was feeling rather emotional. It astounds me how some days I look in the mirror and have no idea who I am. It's like when I was a little kid and my parents told me to "be myself." I remember thinking, "Well, who else could I possibly be?!" The truth is that the pressure is everywhere. It creeps in on us when we forget to expect it. Then suddenly, we realize that the life we've been leading isn't anything that we want.
With the decisions of college coming up in my life, I'm shocked at the options I'm faced with! Some times I look at a college and my future becomes a white void (someone please explain this to me...). It's a scary thought that this single decision will alter the entire course of my life.
I'm sorry if this post holds only questions, and not many answers. Honestly it's the state my life is in right now.
I leave now to go back to an ice rink, and to continue living my life as the person I want to be.

Best of 2009

To all my friends that have been anxiously awaiting the release of my best of the year CD, I'm sorry that I have been so behind! Part of the reason behind delay is because I can't decide on a few songs. I have my monthly ones set, but at the end I like to add a few songs that went above and beyond just one month. 2009 was a great year for music, and being restricted to only a few songs is difficult. Thank you all for your understand. I promise that you will have them soon! :)

Eat, Pray, Love

While in France this summer, one of the four books I took was "Eat, Pray, Love." I know I have posted a review of the book in the past, and if you want to argue matters of whether it is politically correct or not I would rather you look up that post (it is my secret hope that it takes you too long to find it and you give up hope). I am Catholic, and I do believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. My support of this book does not change any of that.
But back to my main point, this post is not about the book, as much as it is about the upcoming movie. IMDB posted a wonderful article about the movie this past weekend, and I for one am thrilled. The director Ryan Murphy has chosen Julia Roberts, one of my absolute favorite actresses to play the role of Elizabeth Gilbert in this film. Gilbert says she was surprised to hear they wanted to turn her best selling memoir into a book, seeing as she didn't take a single photo in her year-long trip.
As much as I did enjoy the book, I'm not placing much weight into the success of this movie. I'm sure it will have record sales in it's opening week, but the story line is bound to be weak. Personally, I was able to draw a lot from the book. Gilbert's thoughts are well written, and I am happy for her success.
Filming is scheduled to begin in July and will take place in New York, Italy, India, and Bali.

Sherlock Holmes

I had the great pleasure of seeing this movie last Sunday. After some plans got cancelled last minute, a few of my friends decided to make a stop at the movie theater. This caused me to stumble upon a wonderful secret in Kansas City. The Plaza movie theater has movie tickets for $4 if you go to the early show! Since I am anxiously awaiting the release of a few movies this spring, I welcome this information!
I am a great believer of reading the book before the movie. Perhaps it is from my mother harping on me all these years, or perhaps it is because I've been let down so many times. However, if we simply discuss the movie itself, I was very impressed. The ending was closed off, characters were well chosen, the story line moved along, and overall it was an enjoyable experience.
I have ventured into reading a few Father Brown stories, but other than that, my literary tastes don't steer towards Mysteries. Hence I am not qualified to make a statement about how well the movie related to the books of Sherlock Holmes. If anyone has something to say on the subject, please feel free to leave a comment. On that note, I have nothing further to say.