due to a load of final papers, final exams, and general procrastination. Actually I’ve been out of school for 2 weeks, so procrastination really is a biggie, here. Consequently I’ve also done absolutely nothing in the last 2 weeks that I can count as anywhere near consequential. My daily routine has basically become me waking up somewhere between 11 and 12, then going on tumblr for ages, playing an online game, watching tv with lunch, and going back on the computer for most of the day (more tv and movies with dinner), until I finally go to bed around 4am. It’s ridiculous.
In mounting frustration, I’ve tried to take control and do some dishes and laundry the past couple of days, but I still feel utterly unaccomplished. Every summer, without the structure of schoolwork and things that need to get done at certain times, I feel like I flail around hopelessly, getting nothing done, until August, when I realize I’ve frittered away most of the summer. At that point I make a few last attempts to cram in something worthwhile in the 2-3 weeks I have left before school starts up again. I don’t want that to happen again this year. So, I’ve had almost an entire month to wind down from school, and I’m ready to start living my summer.
The first thing I want to change is when I’m waking up (and consequently, when I’m going to bed, as well). It doesn’t matter that I have the same amount of time between 12pm and 4am as I would if I changed my sleeping time to 12am and my wake up time to 8am; every time I wake up at 12, I feel like I’ve already wasted most of the day. Then I feel like I’ve done nothing productive, and have no reason to do anything else productive, and my day goes from there…Not to mention that I’m usually the only person awake from about 12-4am, so I can’t accomplish anything that would be noisy. Naturally I turn to watching netflix on my laptop with the door closed, or I have another go on the internet. To be more productive, goal 12 is: I want to start going to bed by 2 am, and waking up by 10am. It might only be a 2 hour difference, but I know I won’t even bother trying if I make it too drastic.
Just waking up isn’t nearly enough, so this week’s other goal (goal 13) is to make sure I start up my weekly goal posts again. I should be able to accomplish writing once a week, and quite honestly, I’ve missed it.
-M.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
So, all this rapture business...
I don't believe in it. Of course, I consider myself agnostic, so I'm not really religious, but even if I were I still don't think I'd believe this. It's highly commercialized. Having enough money to put up billboards all over the place about the end of the world is ridiculous. While I appreciate and respect (and am fascinated by, in many cases) peoples' religions, I don't understand a religion that forces its beliefs on others or a religion that somehow manages to control large amounts of money. If the idea of rapture was simply spread through meetings between the people that believed in this, and people's personal communications--talking to people they know, making a post on their blog, group discussions among the believers--that'd be fine. I think the thing that's bothering me most isn't the idea of rapture and believing in it or not. The ludicrous thing is how commercial this is, and how many people are waiting to go to heaven or be forced to endure horribleness until they're consumed in fire, or whatnot. (Okay, I don't know all the specifics and technical words and such, sorry.)
On one hand, it's awesome for the people who finally spent money on big trips these past couple months, or took May 21st's death sentence as their chance to finally do something they've been meaning to do all their life. In fact, I applaud these people. So many people wait to do big things until they're retired, or they wait too long and never get the chance to do something that means a lot to them. So, if rapture means that people are living by the motto "live like you're going to die tomorrow", I can't find fault in that.
On the other hand, the people who are telling others that they're going to burn in hell for all eternity for not being "normal", are despicable. I don't understand people who say you can't be anything but heterosexual, white, a man (or a female who defers to men, constantly, and has no self-value), a virgin until marriage, and extremely religious. They dive into the bible and come up with abstract quotes condemning people for different things but, of course, find no quotes that would create fault in themselves.
So, if rapture happens later today, my deepest apologies for not believing sooner. Either way, I can't stand those people that condemn others for things they find fault with and can "support" with quotes from the bible, and I also can't stand how commercialized religion seems to have become. In the mean time, have a nice rapture-free day!
-M.
On one hand, it's awesome for the people who finally spent money on big trips these past couple months, or took May 21st's death sentence as their chance to finally do something they've been meaning to do all their life. In fact, I applaud these people. So many people wait to do big things until they're retired, or they wait too long and never get the chance to do something that means a lot to them. So, if rapture means that people are living by the motto "live like you're going to die tomorrow", I can't find fault in that.
On the other hand, the people who are telling others that they're going to burn in hell for all eternity for not being "normal", are despicable. I don't understand people who say you can't be anything but heterosexual, white, a man (or a female who defers to men, constantly, and has no self-value), a virgin until marriage, and extremely religious. They dive into the bible and come up with abstract quotes condemning people for different things but, of course, find no quotes that would create fault in themselves.
So, if rapture happens later today, my deepest apologies for not believing sooner. Either way, I can't stand those people that condemn others for things they find fault with and can "support" with quotes from the bible, and I also can't stand how commercialized religion seems to have become. In the mean time, have a nice rapture-free day!
-M.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
S. Darko; Grade: B
In my opinion, Donnie Darko was far stronger than this sequel. This movie still held the mysteriousness, thrill, and sense of confusion that Donnie Darko had captured, but the characters were shakier, the meaning behind the time travel less fulfilling, and the end fairly flat.
As is seen in most sequels, S. Darko tried to encapsulate its prequel in a new way, and didn't live up to the same quality. Starting 7 years after Donnie Darko ended, S. Darko picks up with Donnie's little sister, Sam, (Daveigh Chase) traveling across the country to escape the demons in her head and in her past. Her best friend, Corey, is the outgoing, partying girl, that basically encapsulates everything that Sam is not. Their car breaks down in a town that has a lot of experience with strange events, suitable to the plot of Donnie Darko. I was pleased with the choice of Ed Westwick as the party-boy/hero/friend, and the first connection Sam and Corey have to the town. Seemingly to make up for the things it lacks, the movie also tries to play a little darker than Donnie Darko in several cases. Another "Frank" mask makes an appearance, and more "what if...." time travel events happen.
While I still feel that Donnie Darko was better, S. Darko still awakened the same questions that its prequel had, along with some new thoughts. I was disappointed by the end, though. After several leaps backward, the final conclusion felt less meaningful and less final than that of Donnie Darko.
-M.
As is seen in most sequels, S. Darko tried to encapsulate its prequel in a new way, and didn't live up to the same quality. Starting 7 years after Donnie Darko ended, S. Darko picks up with Donnie's little sister, Sam, (Daveigh Chase) traveling across the country to escape the demons in her head and in her past. Her best friend, Corey, is the outgoing, partying girl, that basically encapsulates everything that Sam is not. Their car breaks down in a town that has a lot of experience with strange events, suitable to the plot of Donnie Darko. I was pleased with the choice of Ed Westwick as the party-boy/hero/friend, and the first connection Sam and Corey have to the town. Seemingly to make up for the things it lacks, the movie also tries to play a little darker than Donnie Darko in several cases. Another "Frank" mask makes an appearance, and more "what if...." time travel events happen.
While I still feel that Donnie Darko was better, S. Darko still awakened the same questions that its prequel had, along with some new thoughts. I was disappointed by the end, though. After several leaps backward, the final conclusion felt less meaningful and less final than that of Donnie Darko.
-M.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
On Smiling:
You know the concept that if you smile even when you don't feel like it, that you'll end up smiling for real, or just feel happier anyway? They may have scientific mumbo jumbo on it, but I don't all the way buy it. I've faked a smile too many times in the past to believe it. Smiles on the outside don't always mean smiles on the inside.
Real smiles begin with happiness and fond memories and people we care about or who care about us. So this week, my goal is to make a list or a computer folder of things that make me smile. The websites that post pictures of adorable kittens that make me squeal, the people who always make me happy,--that doesn't include people who you get upset with sometimes, this is a permanently happy list--pictures of my favorite animals, my favorite books, favorite episodes of my favorite tv shows, etc. So, Goal 10, Week 11 is to make an entire list of things specific to my happiness....and Goal 11, Week 11 is to smile for real after I've had a lousy day or I've gotten upset, with a little help from my new list.
-M.
Real smiles begin with happiness and fond memories and people we care about or who care about us. So this week, my goal is to make a list or a computer folder of things that make me smile. The websites that post pictures of adorable kittens that make me squeal, the people who always make me happy,--that doesn't include people who you get upset with sometimes, this is a permanently happy list--pictures of my favorite animals, my favorite books, favorite episodes of my favorite tv shows, etc. So, Goal 10, Week 11 is to make an entire list of things specific to my happiness....and Goal 11, Week 11 is to smile for real after I've had a lousy day or I've gotten upset, with a little help from my new list.
-M.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Cashback, a [Brief] Review/Critique
I've been seeing mention of the movie "Cashback" floating around on the web a few times, now--the first about a week ago. Someone mentioned they found it when browsing the instant movies on netflix, and sure enough it was easy to find.
The beginning pulled me in by the sheer artistic-ness of the movie, and the narration over a silent scene. A breakup at the beginning was faintly different, but the fact that our main character (Ben) was a blossoming artist in art school only added to the obviousness that this was going to be a "love story". Unfortunately, most of the movie intrigued me more because of the artistic-ness, than anything else. The love story part was long in the coming, as we watched Ben through his insomnia...to the point that I wondered if they were trying to make the audience understand how much time could drag out when boring things are occurring. Then the time-freezing started. When he first talked about it, Ben told us about the time freezing as though this were his way of coping with the insomnia and extra hours in his day. I'm a sucker for Fight Club, Running With Scissors, Shutter Island, etc. and I was hoping this was another movie that would dive into the mental side of things, but it didn't really, which I suppose was a bit of a disappointment. With only about 20 minutes of the movie left, I was wondering if there was actually a plot, and if the movie had hoped to accomplish anything other than showing off the artistic side of the female form (many, many female forms, might I add...). I won't give away the ending, but apparently the writers realized they needed to tie things up eventually, so they got the job done. Artistically, if nothing else.
Overall, I liked the movie. Despite the fact that it seemed to drag on at parts in the middle, there was something about it that kept me watching, almost as if I knew there had to be some good bits in there, somewhere. If you just want to see an indie film that really pulls out the artistic side of life, or you're a bit of an insomniac yourself, it's certainly worth a watch.
***Note: Something I wasn't quite expecting was the sheer amount of female nudity in the film. Artistically, it works. And I'm sure if you're into watching naked girls, it works for that, too...
The beginning pulled me in by the sheer artistic-ness of the movie, and the narration over a silent scene. A breakup at the beginning was faintly different, but the fact that our main character (Ben) was a blossoming artist in art school only added to the obviousness that this was going to be a "love story". Unfortunately, most of the movie intrigued me more because of the artistic-ness, than anything else. The love story part was long in the coming, as we watched Ben through his insomnia...to the point that I wondered if they were trying to make the audience understand how much time could drag out when boring things are occurring. Then the time-freezing started. When he first talked about it, Ben told us about the time freezing as though this were his way of coping with the insomnia and extra hours in his day. I'm a sucker for Fight Club, Running With Scissors, Shutter Island, etc. and I was hoping this was another movie that would dive into the mental side of things, but it didn't really, which I suppose was a bit of a disappointment. With only about 20 minutes of the movie left, I was wondering if there was actually a plot, and if the movie had hoped to accomplish anything other than showing off the artistic side of the female form (many, many female forms, might I add...). I won't give away the ending, but apparently the writers realized they needed to tie things up eventually, so they got the job done. Artistically, if nothing else.
Overall, I liked the movie. Despite the fact that it seemed to drag on at parts in the middle, there was something about it that kept me watching, almost as if I knew there had to be some good bits in there, somewhere. If you just want to see an indie film that really pulls out the artistic side of life, or you're a bit of an insomniac yourself, it's certainly worth a watch.
***Note: Something I wasn't quite expecting was the sheer amount of female nudity in the film. Artistically, it works. And I'm sure if you're into watching naked girls, it works for that, too...
Monday, April 11, 2011
Goal 9, Week 10
I’m writing this outside, sitting on a deck chair and enjoying the over-80 degree weather, cooled down a bit by a breeze that’s sprung up. It’s absolutely gorgeous out. The trees are still dead and leafless, but the grass has reached its peak greenness, and the daffodils are all blooming. Which leads me to this week’s goal: Make sure to go outside as often as you can this week. At least in PA, it’s been a long, miserably-cold winter, and the fact that it feels almost summery now is amazing. Today's the warmest day of the week in my area, but it doesn't get below 60° for the rest of the days, according to the forecast. Even just studying or doing homework outside is about a zillion times nicer than being locked in the house day after day, and it’s a nice change from what I’ve been doing the past few months. The sun’s enough to cheer me up over any little annoyances that I come across during the day, too. (Yay for vitamin D!)
So, Goal 9, Week 10: Get out of the house, and do whatever can be done outside as much as possible. I’ve already started—writing this outside, right now. And after this, I’ll be working on my Philosophy homework. With luck the rain that hit central PA earlier won’t hit where I am until later this evening. I’m looking forward to maybe getting rid of some of this paleness I have going on, too, but enjoying the weather, and enjoying myself outside are the biggest things. Living life is being happy, and being happy is enjoying the little things, like the plants growing back, the smell of summer, and the feel of the breeze on a hot, spring day…
-M.
So, Goal 9, Week 10: Get out of the house, and do whatever can be done outside as much as possible. I’ve already started—writing this outside, right now. And after this, I’ll be working on my Philosophy homework. With luck the rain that hit central PA earlier won’t hit where I am until later this evening. I’m looking forward to maybe getting rid of some of this paleness I have going on, too, but enjoying the weather, and enjoying myself outside are the biggest things. Living life is being happy, and being happy is enjoying the little things, like the plants growing back, the smell of summer, and the feel of the breeze on a hot, spring day…
-M.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
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