11-30-09
sometimes you gotta learn to love what’s good for you; or, my thoughts on New Moon
i saw new moon at midnight but didn’t feel like i could write about it until i saw it again, which i did on Thanksgiving.
seeing it at midnight was hilarious! not the movie, but the people. 95% of them (us?) were wearing twilight paraphernalia. they were discussing team edward vs. team jacob while sitting in line (yes, sitting).
women EVERYWHERE…i might have seen two dudes, total. supposedly there was someone even wearing a wolf costume. yes…a WOLF COSTUME.
we went to the Green Hills Regal, wherein 16 theatres were SOLD OUT. From what i heard, all of the theatres showing New Moon at Cool Springs and Opry Mills were sold out too. Insanity!
It was fun. I saw Twilight at midnight last year and it was a blast too, but not nearly as crazy as this year. I was embarrassed to be there so I wouldn’t let Rach take pictures, but I totally wish I had just gotten over myself and let her. (Sorry Rach! We can take pics in June! Even of my Edward shirt! Not that I was wearing one…and if i was, there is no proof!)
anyway, in case you were curious:
+ the giant painting was a great way to introduce the Volturi, and I thought it was well done.
+ Birthday party scene was lame and weird. And Jasper looks weird in the whole movie.
+Was it just me, or was the emotion between Edward and Bella just not there? Were we supposed to read it in their faces? Cause for me, the intensity was just not obvious. And, the kiss on her birthday? Was painful. And I don’t mean that as a compliment.
+ When Edward leaves her, he doesn’t take his CD. Why? BECAUSE HE NEVER GAVE HER ONE. His talent at the piano is part of what makes him who he is…I wish they hadn’t skipped that.
+ my VERY favorite part of New Moon (the book) is the pages which simply read OCTOBER…NOVEMBER…DECEMBER…JANUARY. It broke my heart in the book because of the obvious passage of time and how the months passed by blankly for Bella. And I was super impressed with how they did this in the movie. Beautiful. Broke my heart almost as much!
+ I cannot say this enough: I LOVE JACOB. I love him for Bella. I love him for me. I love him. i said this last year:
“i’m skeptical of jacob (taylor lautner). i want to love him the way i love jacob in the books. i don’t know if he can carry a whole movie.”
let me be the first to admit that i was WRONG. totally wrong. he was fantastic. dear taylor lautner, you carried the whole movie. thank you.
+ “it’s not a lifestyle choice, bella, i was born this way!” nothing else to say about that except it’s so funny.
+ “I’m not like a car you can fix up. I’m never gonna run right.” Heartbreaker.
+ The way Harry Clearwater’s heart attack was portrayed was pretty great.
+ the flashbacks to twilight were perfect.
+ Bella’s reaction to seeing Alice really killed me. KStew did a good job — she actually had tears in her eyes! Just knowing the emotion (from reading the book) behind her reaction made it hard for me to watch that part.
+ i really love the Volturi. The Italy scenes were fabulous. Even if some of them were written in just for the movie, I liked them anyway.
+ The part I liked the least in the book = human herding. GROSS. It wasn’t as scary in the movie as it seemed in the book, and I’m glad.
+ And this sums it up: (to Jacob) “Don’t make me choose. ‘Cause it’ll be him. It’s always been him.” Ahhhhhhh WHYYYYY??
can’t wait for eclipse. especially the sleeping bag scene. let the countdown begin!
11-26-09
all these places feel like home
grateful:
1. God…i know that seems trite, because everyone says they’re thankful for God, but it’s true. I’m so in love with Him!
2. my amazing, crazy, supportive, loving, helpful, wonderful family
3. my friends, both near and far…i don’t want to imagine where (or who) I’d be without you.
4. my job. i actually enjoy going to work daily – never thought i would say that!
5. school. i’m learning way more than i ever thought possible, and it’s so, SO good for me.
6. living in my hometown. never thought i would say that either, but there’s something comfortable about being here now and choosing to embrace it rather than resign myself.
7. good music that speaks to my soul (what i’ve been listening to lately, plus snow patrol and one republic on repeat!)
8. my church. we’re still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase, but so far, i like her.
9. i know i already said my family, but this year i am especially grateful that my mom is healthy.
10. New York City…I know, it’s weird that I can be grateful for being in Tennessee and for NYC at the same time, but I am. You can love in two places at once (roots and wings!)
11-25-09
it’s like we’re chasing all those stars
Well, I’ve failed again. Maybe next year I’ll actually be able to keep it up. Or MAYBE I’ll just pick another month and do NaBloPoMo. I mean, it doesn’t HAVE to be in November, right? How about “Every Day in May”? Hmmm, catchy. We’ll see if I remember.
Anyway, since I haven’t posted in a few days, I wanted to share some posts that have caught my attention this week:
Alison re-evaluates her perception of “home.”
Anne speaks beautifully about taking risks.
I pretty much love everything this guy writes. This is a good example.
(and, while we’re talking about it, you should free a child from poverty!)
I just like this blog in general.
Jamie left New York and moved back to the south…both of these posts pay tribute, complete with photo montages! And in true Jamie fashion, she puts it so well herself.
And, I’ll try to post the rest of the month. Key word: try.
Hope your [day before] Thanksgiving is fabulous!
(title song: from ‘secrets’ by onerepublic [their new album is fantastic])
11-20-09
everybody sing like it’s the last song you will ever sing
You knew it was coming…can’t! stop! listening! Volume VI. You can find Volumes 1-5 here:
Volume I – what matters most? everything that you feel while listening to every word i sing
Volume II – sing us a song and we’ll sing it back to you
Volume III – sing out, sing out, your voice is all you have
Volume IV – as i’m swimming through the stereo, i’m writing you a symphony of sound
Volume V – i was born to sing for you
And now, my Fall 2009 Playlist:
1. Noni’s Field, Anathallo
Still, I don’t know what goes on.
Will my thoughts burn in unseen patterns?
Form a dim glow in your mind,
Long after you remember who it was that I looked like?
2. Lost Year, Mutemath
Oh for a year we were strong and courageous
But we lost it somehow
Oh if there was something that could have saved us
We’d have found it by now
3. Let’s Go, Cartel
All we have is who we are
And all we know is pretending
You gotta think of something real
Save a life worth spending
4. Here With Me, Nevertheless
If I could sing out your name
Would you hear me, love?
And would you feel the same
If I said I need you here with me
5. Two Is Better Than One, Boys Like Girls ft Taylor Swift
You make it hard for breathing
‘Cause when I close my eyes and drift away
I think of you and everything’s okay
I’m finally now believing
6. Through Smoke, Needtobreathe
Who do you believe when you can’t get through
When everything you know seems so untrue
When I’m lost in a place that I thought I knew
Give me some way that I might find You
7. Misguided Ghosts, Paramore
Now I’m told that this is life
Pain is just a simple compromise
So we can we get what we want out of it
Someone care to classify
Broken hearts and twisted minds
So i can find someone to rely on
8. Brick By Boring Brick, Paramore (sorry, couldn’t pick just one! If you don’t have this album, get it asap!)
If it’s not real
You can’t hold it in your hand, you can’t feel it with your heart
And I won’t believe it
But if it’s true
You can see it with your eyes, oh even in the dark
And that’s where I want to be
9. Streamside, The Album Leaf
No lyrics. But it’s beautiful.
10. Vanilla Twilight, Owl City
The silence isn’t so bad
‘Til I look at my hands and feel sad
Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly
11. Resistance, Muse
Love is our resistance
They’ll keep us apart and they won’t to stop breaking us down
Hold me
Our lips must always be sealed
12. BONUS! Use Somebody, Paramore’s Kings of Leon cover:
(title song: from ‘born for this’ by paramore)
11-19-09
you’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town
I decided to do a fun blog feature where i feature a few of my favorite things. like oprah, minus the obvious differences (you know, she’s famous. i’m definitely not. she makes a lot of money. i work part time. she lives in chicago. i live in (near) nashville. obvious differences).
I changed purses the other day, and realized i had 6 tubes of…lipgloss/chapstick/youknowwhatimean that goes on my lips–and all 6 are essential.
1. Burt’s Bees [my very favorite. perfect for chapped lips or not chapped lips. just lips in general]
2. Burts Bees Passionfruit with SPF [Burt's Bees! With Sunscreen!]
3&4. MAC Plushglass in Posh it Up [shown here in russian red...i wish i could wear red. but posh it up will prob look good on anyone; it's very subtle. and shiny!] and MAC Plushglass in Viva Glam V [i like this one a lot, though i prefer posh it up]
5. Nivea Lip Care [smooth. light. smells good. love it.]
6. Aveda Lip Glaze in Rubisparks [i only wear this on special occasions, yet it lives in my purse]
Any other great lip things I’m missing??
(title song: from ‘you belong with me’ by taylor swift)
11-18-09
showing me a better way and all that my love can bring
Wow.
“If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across.”
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (11.5)
(title song: from ‘half of my heart’ by john mayer [with taylor swift])
11-17-09
breaking down and coming undone
And for today, a list of things I am looking forward to over the next couple of months:
(One has already happened, but we’ll pretend)
1. Thanksgiving celebration with friends:
2. New Moon on Thursday @ midnight (with Rachael and Bethany)!
3. Thanksgiving with my family
4. Christmas celebration with friends (Dirty Santa–As Seen on TV gifts!)
5. Christmas celebration with some more friends (the only instructions were to show up at a certain time and bring cash…uhhh are we going to a strip club?!?)
6. Actual Christmas with my actual family.
7. New Year’s! No real plans yet…but I want it to be fun. Suggestions??
8. My birthday. Beginning of January…super excited 
Things I’m decidedly NOT looking forward to:
1. The root canal I probably have to have this afternoon
2. Finals. Blech.
(title song: from ‘that’s the way i loved you’ by taylor swift)
11-16-09
i guess i’m dreaming again
my sister-in-law, sara, posted a few weeks ago about her celebrity crushes, so i thought i’d play along today.
Mine!
Adam Brody
Jim Sturgess
(I think I also have a thing for guys in suits)
And my girlcrush, Zooey Deschanel. Love her.
Yours??
(title song: from ‘crush crush crush’ by paramore)
11-15-09
and i can’t even think of a clever title!
i’ve been staring at this blank space for over an hour and i can’t get my thoughts together enough to write much of anything.
my weekend has been really weird.
i’m drained of all energy.
i’m really missing a lot of people right now.
my heart feels unsettled.
maybe i should get some sleep.
i leave you with this because it’s just pretty (and more interesting than my blog):
11-14-09
Wounds (Part 1)
I can’t explain why I am so fascinated with the healing process – except to say that I’ve experienced it in my own life and think it’s amazing that we can go from broken to fixed over time. Amazing how the pain lessens every day, if treated appropriately. Watching my mom go from a cancer scare to surgery to remove her benign tumor to now, the healing/scaring process, has really brought all of this to light for me.
We, as humans, are so much better at focusing on the visible rather than the invisible. If we see the wounds, we can treat them. A tumor can be removed. We can use meds to relieve the pain and use stitches (and a good plastic surgeon) to sew them up.
But what about the broken hearts? What about the wounds just below the surface – the ones that are only visible when we allow them to be? Or the ones that become visible because we can’t hide them anymore? What about people going through divorce, or those who have endured abuse? What happens to the people who refuse to deal with their emotional wounds until one day they realize they are falling apart?
I said this over a year ago:
We interact with people according to our wounds (past hurts we’ve not healed from yet)…we choose our friends and those we surround ourselves with according to where we’ve been and the different types of pain we’ve experienced and endured. we make our pasts our platforms – our jumping off points. we talk about our pasts as if they are still part of us.
Everyone is coming from somewhere you probably haven’t been. We are shaped by both our good and bad experiences and they leave marks on our souls. We need healing and we need a healer.