Tag Archives: january

day 25. I have a secret that’s really no secret at all.

Posted in January, movies by

Here it is: I love awards season. I LOVE IT. If you think the first thing I did today when I woke up wasn’t immediately check the Oscar noms, you would be wrong.

Oscar parties are one of my favorite things in the world. I went to one last year thrown by my friends Brittany and Tiffany, and they had Oscar ballots for us, a red carpet to take pictures on, and all kinds of cute decorations and fancy snacks. So fun! I’m not 100% on what I’m doing this year, but I’m pretty sure, and I’m really looking forward to it. I love getting dressed up for awards parties, too – it’s kind of like you’re there, but you don’t have to worry about cameras always being on you. Also there are no famous people in my living room. I don’t know about you, but…I don’t run around with famous people. I wish I did, but, there you have it.

Here are my picks for this year:

  • Best Picture – The King’s Speech. This was a really tough call, mostly because I’ve only seen about half of the films on the list, but I saw this a few days ago and was blown away. I think Inception might be my favorite movie I’ve seen this year, but I think The King’s Speech is the best movie of the year. Other serious contenders: Inception, The Social Network, Black Swan, The Kids Are All Right.
  • Lead Actor – Colin Firth, The King’s Speech. I’ll be extremely disappointed if anyone else takes this.
  • Supporting Actor – Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech. Again, I’ll be very disappointed if this doesn’t happen. I think Christian Bale might win for The Fighter, though.
  • Lead Actress – Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right. Haven’t seen it, but I haven’t seen any of the movies in this category, so I choose Bening. She won the Golden Globe and apparently the film is phenom.
  • Supporting Actress – Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit. Haven’t seen it but heard she’s great. I didn’t pick HBC, mostly because while she is an incredible actress, I didn’t feel the role in The King’s Speech really gave her much to work with.
  • Animated Film – Toy Story 3. I’m not even going to explain this. It’s that obvious.
  • Art Direction – The King’s Speech. I really deliberated on this one, but when it came down to it, I really think the art direction of this film topped the rest. Other contenders: Inception, Deathly Hallows.
  • Cinematography – Black Swan. I still haven’t seen this, but from what I hear and from what I have seen, the camerawork is really good.
  • Costume Design – Alice in Wonderland. I almost picked The Tempest, but I think this demanded more originality and it was certainly delivered.
  • Directing – The Social Network. I just feel like TSN will take this one. I don’t know why. I just have a feeling.
  • Film Editing – Black Swan. Again, I just have a feeling.
  • Original Score – The Social Network. Incredible score that worked very well with the film. My second choice would be How to Train Your Dragon, but I really doubt that’s going to win, as unfortunate as that is.
  • Sound Editing – Toy Story 3. That or Inception.
  • Visual Effects – Alice in Wonderland. Other contenders: Deathly Hallows, Inception. I’ll be sick if Iron Man 2 wins this, or is critically recognized in any way.
  • Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network. Criticism aside, this was a well-written and very well-acted movie.
  • Original Screenplay – The Kids Are All Right. Other contenders: The King’s Speech, The Fighter.

I don’t know what it is about Inception, but I just don’t have a good feeling about it. It was truly an incredible film in almost every way, but honestly, it didn’t stand out in any of these categories. I’m very surprised LDC didn’t get nommed for Best Actor, but you get what you get, I suppose.

I don’t have a guess for makeup, mostly because I’m shocked that neither Alice in Wonderland nor Deathly Hallows made it into the category. Harry Potter films are always contenders for makeup – I was just very confused.

I left out the categories in which I have no opinion and not even a guess at what the winners would be, like short films. I like them, but I don’t see very many.

What are your picks?

day 24.

Posted in January by

The past few days have been a rollercoaster of emotions, as far as a few things go. Nothing really serious at all, but there have been a lot of highs and lows. And the situation finally came to a head last night, and today was a day of just figuring out next steps and the immediate future. No decisions have really been made yet, but…just know that change is a’comin’.

Overall, though, I’d say it’s a good thing. Mostly because every time there’s a lot of drama in my life, I wind up spending time with some of my favorite people in the world: my work friends. I’d say by far the best things to come out of the job I have now are the people I have come to know and call my good friends. Some of them have come and gone, but we’ve stayed in touch, and tonight was the first time we could all actually get together and just spend a few hours together.

I didn’t manage to get any pictures – I don’t know why, I don’t really have any pictures of us together. Well, that’s not true – here’s a picture of most of us. Mix it up a little bit and you have the greatest people you will ever meet.

This is a picture of us from Courtney’s wedding in July. Of course she had a photobooth with mustaches. This is pretty much the quintessential description of all of us. Of course I picked a red mustache. It must have been foreshadowing.

The lady I miss the most is Carly, the girl with the green mustache. We really only worked together this summer, but we just clicked, and I really miss getting to see her all of the time. She lives in Stillwater teaching and grad schooling, and I really wish I got to see her more.

Anyway, it was a really fun night, and we all resolved to see each other more. I love getting to see friends I can’t see very often, just because of time and distance and busy schedules. It just always feels so enriching and refreshing.

day 23.

Posted in January by

I’m working on back-posts for the past few days. I have a few drafts started but nothing concrete. I know how sad that is. But I’m determined not to give up, and not to spend too much time on this.

Today was the day I started my New York Stuff box. I found a Target giftcard I got for Christmas that I completely forgot about, and I immediately sat down and started thinking about all of the things I could buy. At least one whole season of TV! New dishes! Most of a dremel!

And then my eyes came to rest on my New York sign sitting on top of my dresser, and I realized that a giftcard could buy me a new set of bedding. New dishes. Storage supplies, like shelving or cube storage. Part of a new desk. Part of a new bed.

Anything you can buy at Target, really. And I realized that I really want to save my money. If I just hang on to this card, don’t spend it for the next six to eight months, I could use it to get things I really need.

And instead of carrying it around in my wallet like I do with most of my things, like most people do, I decided to start a box of things like this. That way, they’ll all be there together, waiting for me when it comes time for me to move.

Yeah, yeah, it’s a Francesca’s shoebox. Maybe I’ll upgrade boxes once I get a more concrete idea of what I want to go in it, but right now, this is good enough.

I know that one little giftcard looks kind of sad in there by itself, but I’m going to try to add it to as much as I can. Anything that I get that I think would be useful to save will go in this box.

And that made me really happy today. I’m trying to take steps every day to make my dream a reality, and when I can look at something and call it a tangible step, something I can really see and sink my teeth into, it makes me that much more resolved to get things done.

The one thing that’s really holding me back is not being very good at managing my money. I’m trying to put away money in a savings account, but, somehow, I’m just not very good at keeping it there. Any tips?

Day 19. A lesson learned.

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It’s been an interesting day, for sure. A slow start, but this afternoon was jam-packed of things to do and things to think about, and it’s almost 9:00 and I’m finally catching a breather. I’m about to hop up and go somewhere again, but that’s only one last thing I have to do before I can go to bed. And wake up and do it all over again.

Unless the 70% chance of SNOWPOCALYPSE pulls through, in which case I may not be doing much of anything tomorrow. Probably still work, since we were open during the May flood (I worked, which was slow, but fun), but it’ll probably be a slow day because of SNOWPOCALYPSE.

Every time I check the weather tonight, tomorrow’s high drops a few degrees. I don’t think that’s a good sign, y’all.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to post about potential bad weather. Lame, right? I learned no lessons about weather today. Except the lesson I did learn last week is that when there’s a sudden drop in temperature, make sure you have plenty of gas, and also go check to make sure your car starts right when you wake up, so if you need to call your dad to come jump it, you don’t figure that out when you need to leave. And if you’re me, you don’t leave until YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, which makes the situation pleasant for no one.

Well. That was a really long story.

Today was the day that I was reminded of the really good things about small colleges. My university has about 2000 people, give or take a hundred each year. I really like it. Yes, there are things I dislike about it, but there are a lot of things I’ve liked about it. Sometimes I do wish I’d gone to a bigger or more prominent school, but in high school I didn’t know if I could have gotten in. Now, looking back, I know I could have, but that’s in the past. I chose my choice, and I’ve been as happy with it as I could have been.

While there are a lot of things I’m not sure I’m a fan of about small schools, a relationship with the faculty and staff is not one of those things. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that professors at small schools are there because they like the intimate classroom environment. They’re there not because they like teaching, but because they like students. They want the students to succeed.

And, for the most part, the staff is the same way. Maybe my situation is a little different because my mom works on campus. Maybe so. But I honestly believe that the vast majority of the men and women who work in offices on campus will do what they can to help you. Because at the end of the day, college is a business, but at the end of your day, if you’re doing everything you can to succeed, they will want to help you. Despite how it may seem sometimes, they aren’t there just to suck money out of you and kick you out on your behind. They want you to do well, to represent the university well once you’ve graduated, and they want you to be happy. Yes, I know there are exceptions and sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to, but in my experience, it has.

And honestly, I’ve made some serious mistakes. I’ve done some things I know I shouldn’t have done, school-wise. I’ve made some stupid mistakes. But there’s always been some way to work it out. If you’re willing to take the time to go talk to people and look at your options, there’s a way to find some sort of solution. So that’s my plug for small schools for today. This is my last semester, and I’m thrilled to be done.

If you’re in Oklahoma, stay safe tomorrow. Something tells me I might need to pull out my snowboots to wear to run errands in the morning.

day 18. future planning.

Posted in January by

When I first started writing this post, I started it with a complaint. Complaining about what I chose to wear today. And I looked at that sentence for a few seconds, realized exactly how whiny it sounded, and promptly backspaced over it.

Sometimes I get bogged down in being unhappy about where I am in life. It’s easier to complain than to change what I don’t like, and that’s one thing that I’m really working on right now. It became a lot easier for me to just be unhappy in general than to make changes to the few areas I was unhappy with, and that’s one of the traps that leads to depression and being miserable.

It’s been a really good day so far. I just met with my adviser and we worked out a plan for the next few months of my life. It was really good to have someone to just bounce ideas off of and with whom I can discuss what I really want to do. I think the biggest step is going to be the move, and once I get that on lock, I’ll be good to go. So I’m writing it everywhere, leaving myself reminders all over the place. Save your money, save your time, always keep thinking about what you really want to do.

But one thing that I really did need to splurge on this month was this:

I’ve also resolved to read more news. Most of the time I spend on the Internet I use educating myself. Sometimes the things I’m learning about are less…relevant…than others, but that doesn’t mean I’m not learning. I’ve fallen really out of touch with current events, though, so my goal for the rest of January is to start keeping better-informed about the world.

Now, to listen to Kanye and get some future planning done.

day 17: the first great closet smackdown of 2011.

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It’s that time again. Time to clean out my closet and get rid of the things I don’t wear anymore. Things I don’t even like, but I keep around because, I mean, someday I might get inspired and find a way to wear them. It’s time for those things to go. There are clothes that have been living permanently on the floor since I did laundry because there’s nowhere to put them, and that means there are some clothes that need to go.

This is the appropriate accompanying gif, I would say.

Aside from the laundry I need to do, I’ve cleaned out a lot of things. And I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them. The clothes that are good brands that I’ve barely worn? Maybe I’ll try to sell them on eBay. Not really sure. The ones that are still in good shape? I’ll probably donate them. Or if anyone wants them, you’re more than welcome to them. I just don’t know what to do with them.

I’m also considering starting an Etsy shop. I make a lot of little hair cutesy dealsies, like headbands, clips, that kind of thing. It would be really nice to have a small side hustle, don’t you think? We’ll see. I’ve got a few other things to settle down first, and then we’ll see where I am after that.

This is kind of a weird post, I think. But cleaning out my closet was something that I really, really needed to do. And now I have a big pile of clothes with which to do whatever I want. There were moments when I would pull out a skirt and say, “I just bought this a month ago and the tags are still on it. I don’t even remember buying it.” I like it much more than other things I have, and I’m horrified that I just forgot that I have things. How white-girl-problemz is that? So tonight was a good cleanse of the things that I’m tired of, or have just hung onto because I might want them someday.

So, after a good wash tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to make some final decisions about what to do with the things I’m not keeping.

Have you done a New Year Deep Clean yet? I guess what I did wasn’t exactly a deep clean. A deep getting-rid-of-things-I-don’t-need, but close enough. The deep clean will come later.

days 15 and 16. old friends, gold friends.

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Guys, I am really, really behind here. How embarrassing is that? I suppose this is my catch-up time, though.

I’m going to read Portia de Rossi’s book, Unbearable Lightness, tomorrow, as well as do some other things on my day off.

I’m really, really tired right now, though, so this is going to be the shortest post you’ve ever seen. If I feel like it, I may revisit it in tomorrow’s post, but right now I just really want to get it out there and posted so I’m not two days behind.

 

This is me and one of my best childhood friends Lauren at All About Cha on Saturday night. We grew up together in Colorado, and she happened to be in town for a thing at OC for all of the Christian colleges, so she gave me a ring and we went to coffee with my parents after a big concert on campus that night. She and her older sister were like the sisters I never had growing up, and while I don’t get to talk to them as often as I wish I did, it’s always great to see them.

Mostly, Lauren and I did a lot of ridiculous things together while Sarah (a few years older) did her own thing or laughed at us. One of our favorite pastimes was playing in the basements of our parents’ houses. At my parents’ house, they had an old exercise bike (the kind with the fan wheel that whirred while you pedaled?), and when we were probably five years old, we were too small to ride it alone. So we did what anyone would do, obvs: we each stood on a pedal (they were huuuuge and pretty wide, too), and pushed up and down with the handlebars to make it go around. It was kind of like a perpetual tiny rollercoaster of awesomeness.

Sunday night was the Golden Globes! I’ve become quite an awards show fanatic over the past few years, since I’ve gotten way into television and movies.

So, in other news, it was the night that The Social Network won everything, Christian Bale made some really weird faces, and Natalie Portman still has her nerd laugh.

First of all, pit stop for my current film darling crush, Andrew Garfield. Being picked up/tickled by Jesse Eisenberg. All things that I absolutely love. Well, that’s a lie, I hate being tickled. But this is great.

I made it all up. This is an Andrew Garfield appreciation blog. I just love that boy. Now, on to Crazy Bale.

I’m just going to leave that last one here.

And if you didn’t catch that laugh, here it is again. I love this girl to death and I know I have a weird laugh, but man. I think this was the night the world was very surprised.

Of course, I’m just waiting for the Oscar noms on the 25th and the actual Academy Awards on Feb 27th. Duh, it’s already on my calendar.

Goal for this week: Work on not being a mumbler. I’m trying to fix this.

day 14. dreams and childhood things.

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I’m going to be real with you, it’s been a weird day. And for a Friday night, I’ve been real boring. Like, real boring.

Last night was one of those nights where you wake up every hour or so. Well, not you, it was me. Obvs.

I had a few weird dreams, but I really only remember one. I dreamed that I was looking for a second job because I need to save for NYC, so I went back to my first job and asked them if I could have a job working a few days a week. They said yes, but only after we (my old managers and I) walked around the store for a while. I made it very clear that I only wanted to do floor work and not be a cashier like I was last time I worked there, and they agreed. Then I realized that I only had 10 minutes to get to the job I currently have and that I was wearing jeans (aka not dress code), so I went to my store and bought a dress and went to work.

You know life is really sad when you dream about being late to your job in retail.

It was a good day, though. It’s funny how hard it is to have a bad day when you’re determined to have a good one, even when things are aligned against you.

And now I’m going to go finish watching this movie, where Starlite is far too sassy for his own good. You know what I’m talking about.

I’m really not looking forward to the day when the days don’t line up with the post numbers. AKA when January is over. That’s the good thing about WordPress – it counts all your posts for you, sooooo NBD. It’s going to be weird to have more than thirty posts, though. Thirty-one. I don’t even know how many days are in January, apparently.

PS Still four more spots in my Pay it Forward giveaway! Click here to enter.