We're Not in Westeros Anymore

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Out of Hibernation

Well, that was a longer hiatus than I anticipated!

Spring is finally here, the sun is shining, my favorite trees are bursting with flowers, and my front porch is now more perfect than ever before since I added the rocking chair that my dad made.

Everything is in transition, but my day to day life follows the same path and I'm still unsatisfied. 

I've been writing, but really just for me. I've been following pop culture, but just for fun. I've been reading the news, but just to have something interesting to say to my friends.

I was putting forth a lot of energy into attempting to find a new job, one that would be more stimulating and more lucrative. Like, a stupid amount of time and energy. And I fell on my face again. It's back to the drawing board while my current position gets increasingly more unpleasant for me. 

Believe me, I'm not giving up. But, I need to feed my soul and writing does that. So, I'm back! I'm hoping to update twice a week with a personal essay about my life and something about current events and pop culture. 

Stay tuned, folks. I've got jokes. And probably embarrassing stories. Everybody loves embarrassing stories, right?

Netflix Review of the Week

If you're anything like me, you've spent far too much time trapped in the red maze known as Netflix Instant Streaming.

I get all cozy, my beverage of choice next to me, Wii remote in my hand, ready to find the perfect story to amuse me during my limited free time.

Netflix recommends a few options that are somewhat appealing—although I have no desire to watch Archer no matter how many times it's suggested to me—but the problem really comes down to an abundance of choices.

When a genre is titled Witty Movies Featuring a Strong Female Lead how can I stop flipping through the options?

This will be a weekly column where I tell you about one awesome program I watch on Netflix and, when necessary, I will warn you of the bad eggs floating around out there. So next time you're struggling to decided what to watch, check me out here and I'll give you some pointers. I'm going to focus on the less popular choices. Everybody knows Louie is awesome. Or if you didn't and you're reading this, it is, check it out ASAP.

First up:

Did you know that there are THREE fantastic Audrey Hepburn movies currently available on Netflix Instant Streaming? Well there are.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Funny Face

Sabrina

Its funny that these three films feature Hepburn very differently. In Sabrina, she is the sweet, shy daughter of a chauffeur who goes to Paris to find herself and get over unrequited love. When she returns with a boatload of confidence and a fantastic haircut, she is irresistible to both old and new love. Its a charming story, romantic and sweet, filmed at gorgeous locations.

In Funny Face she plays a black-wearing, intellectually-conversing, beatnik.
Hepburn plays a young woman who get swept up into international modeling by Fred Astaire. The sing, they dance, they argue...you can probably guess the rest.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a classic for a reason. The film, while fun and thought provoking in its own right, is more than the sum of its parts. Holly Golightly represented a shift in the options for women in the 1960s. She was a young, single woman living in Manhattan, making a way for herself without being responsible to anyone. Her choice, a traditional lifestyle with a husband, children and security vs. instability, adventure, and a pinch of loneliness, was one that young women wanted to make for themselves. Every time I watch this movie, I want to read Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger and smoke out of long black cigarette holder.

Next week I'll be singing the praises of Lars and the Real Girl, starring Ryan Gosling with funny facial.

Good Morning

The verdict is in: Amy Poehler and Tina Fay remain awesome, and my hangover isn't as painful as it probably should be, thanks to a late night grilled cheese sandwich and liberal rehydrating.

They hosted with grace, humor, and just enough sassiness to keep things interesting. My only quibble is that we didn't get to see enough of them! Where did they go for the second half of the show?

I have to say that both ladies looked gorgeous, Fay's sparkly blue dress was awesome--flattering, sexy, and kind of like the dress I always wanted from the end of The Little Mermaid. Poehler was sexy too, but edgy in her structured red number.

Can we get more of this duo? I'd watch pretty much anything they're in. Even Baby Mama (which was funnier than anyone gave it credit for).

Golden Girls

Its the night we've all been waiting for!

Thats right, you guessed it, the Golden Globes are tonight, hosted by none other than two of my favorite people on the planet: Tina Fay and Amy Poehler.

I'm enjoying the festivities at home with a few pals, including my long distance BFF via Skype.

Usually I reserve drinking games for events that I'm pretty sure are going to be terrible (Liz and Dick, the Republican debates, The Room, etc) but I feel that this occasion calls for a beverage or two and when playing drinking games, everybody wins!

*Drink in moderation, hydrate, yada yada, its Sunday night and most of us have to work in the morning.

The Rules:

Take One Sip If:

Tina Fay rolls her eyes like Liz Lemon

Amy Poehler gets crazy manic like Leslie Knope

A presenter flubs their lines

Fay or Poehler mention their kids

Cheers Everyone and Guzzle If:

They sing and/or dance

They make a decidedly feminist statement

There is a wardrobe malfunction

Finish Your Drink If:

There is any improv.

I hope the show lives up to my (unreasonably high) expectations.

Cheers!

A Brief History of my Celebrity Crushes

This is pure sillyness but the new year is making me nostalgic.

1990

Tony Danza

When I was about five years old, whenever Who's the Boss came on television, I would scream “The Tony show is on!” I liked his accent, his hair, and his sad-puppy face whenever he got in trouble. I probably liked that the lady on the show went to work and Tony did all the chores, too, now that I think about it.

1995

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa, The Hanson Brothers

I'm quite sure that most women my age went through the same Teen Beat crush list that I did. One summer, visiting my cousins, we all wrote letters to the love of our lives, aka JTT. My best childhood friend and I would watch Now and Then over and over, swooning over the youthful courtship of Devon Sawa and Christina Ricci. And I saved my pennies until I had enough to purchase a colorful, short book entitled: The Hanson Brothers, and Unauthorized Biography. The middle brother was just my cup of tea, all soulful-sensitive.

2000

Heath Ledger, Josh Hartnett

 

I fell head over heels for both these boys because of two very different but equally appealing films: Ten Things I Hate About You and The Faculty. Both of these men had more swagger than a 14-year-old could handle, and that was before swagger was super trendy. Heath's curls and Josh's smolder covered my high school pin board, the background for pictures of friends, movie stubs and concert tickets.

In some ways, I credit these actors with my interest in film and TV. I watched a short-lived series called Roar starring Ledger, and was fascinated by the movie The Virgin Suicides. It was the first time I thought about what made these actors “good,” and tried to figure out what it was that I was so taken with.

It was probably the hotness.

2003

Dean, Jess, and Luke from Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls remains one of my favorite TV shows. Its warm, funny, and populated by interesting characters that interact in believable ways. When Dean showed up to woo Rory, I was right there with her, flustered, flattered, and terrified of embarrassing myself. Then, Jess appears just in time to throw everything off kilter with his rebellious attitude and over confidence. The ever present Luke, grumpy in his baseball cap, but always there for the girls whether it was driving Lorelei to the hospital when her father was ill or making Rory a coffee cake and putting balloons on her chair for her 16^th birthday, still gives me the warm fuzzies when I bust out my DVDs. Yes, I have the whole series. Its ok to be jealous.

2006

Denny Duquette

Grey's Anatomy is one of the most emotionally manipulative shows I've ever watched regularly. I still DVR it and watch it when I have down time, but during the second half of season two, I was utterly hooked by Denny.

He was a handsome patient waiting for a new heart. He was funny, charming, disarming, handsome, strong-looking but gentle. I suppose I should put a ***spoiler alert *** but I don't think that many people are waiting to watch season two of Grey's Anatomy, even though it is available on Netflix. Anyway, Denny dies incredibly tragically. I watched the episode at a dear friend's house when I was in college. She lived a few blocks away from me, and when I walked home, I bawled like a baby.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the actor's name. He seems to be working, but I haven't swooned over him since Grey's.

2010 to Present

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling

These two gentlemen are absurdly charming.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's hotness was obscured in Ten Things I Hate about You by Heath Ledger. I found him sweet, but it wasn't until I saw Brick that I saw him clearly. I watched everything I could find with him in it, Manic, The Lookout, Mysterious Skin, 500 Days of summer, and then, in a fitted vest, he stole my heart even more completely in Inception. He picks interesting films, he sings, he dances, he encourages collaboration on his website, hitRECord.com. I wish we could hang out every day.

I don't even feel like an explanation is necessary to explain my attraction to Gosling. His face is awesome. He is super fit without seeming like a meathead. He stops fights, saves women from being hit by taxis, plays the ukalale, is dorky, sweet, and badass.

That about sums it up. Look forward to next week when I plan to unveil my most embarassing and unexplainable crushes on famous people. A sample? Snoop Dogg. I don't know, don't judge me.

Who was your first big crush?

Happy New Year!

I've got to be honest: 2012 wasn't exactly the best year of my life.

This year, though, is going to be awesome. I can feel it.

There were some things I couldn't control, tragedies that I will always remember and continue to break my heart, although a little bit less every day.

My brother was in a horrific accident involving him somehow getting shot in the head and surviving like a champion. Emergency brain surgery and a couple of titanium plates later, and he is strong enough to kayack and registered for classes in the fall. Seeing the scar that grazes his temple makes me want to cry every time he turns his head.

As for me, well, I'm in the same place I've been in for two years.

My whole life, I've been focused on the future. When I was a kid I couldn't wait to be a teenager. In high school, all I wanted was to get into college. In college I couldn't wait for my first real job.

It seems like now, everything has ground to a halt. I've been working the same job for almost three years, and it has nothing to do with my education. It doesn't challenge me (well, except when I have to keep my temper around particularily rude or aggressive customers).

I want to find something to look forwards to again. This sounds like a downer, but I swear its not! I'm excited to challenge myself this year.

I'd like a better job, to write more, and to do more yoga.

Those are my New Year's resolutions. What are yours?