I have two types of favorite movies: the best movies ever and the movies that i just want to watch over and over again. The second category are movies that just make me happy, or calm or whatever. They are the macaroni and cheese of movies.
Which isn't to say that they're not good. I have excellent taste in movies. It's just they are not the best movies ever.
Anyway, here we go with my
Five Favorite Comfort Movies
1. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - There's something very comforting about this sweet and simple love story. It's called Kat Dennings. She is the perfect mixture of sweet and sassy, like fries and a milk shake. Plus, it's really funny. In an awkward sort of way.
Favorite quote: "I am the squire in Caroline's quest for attention."
2. Serenity - You cannot beat cowboys in space, lots of explosions, sleeper assassins and Mr. Universe. I truly love Mr. Universe. This movie was really a love letter to fans of the series Firefly and as fan, I accept, Mr. Whedon.
Favorite quote: "To hell with this, I'm gonna live."
3. John Dies at the End - This movie. I don't even know what to say about this movie, except that it is my favorite thing ever. It makes me furiously happy. The book too. There is no way I could function on a daily basis without this movie being in existence.
Favorite quote: "That's what came next, that Soy Sauce feeling. I wanted to run, to duck, to act. But the body is a slow wet mechanism of muscle and bone that crept, even as my mind flew."
4. Rent - I laugh, I cry, I love Rosario Dawson.
Favorite Quote: "I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine."
5. Steel Magnolias - This is very specifically for the days I need to cry. Because I start crying and I almost never stop. I heave great big ugly sobs while all my make-up washes down my face. My hair goes limp in sympathy for the waterworks going on here.
Favorite Quote: "You know I love you more'n my luggage."
What about you, do you have a comfort movie?
Friday, April 18, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Conversations: Boys Edition
After lunch at church on Sunday, I went searching for Brynna to tell her it was almost time to go. After wandering around for a few minutes, I finally found her sitting on the steps in the back hallway with a boy.
Boy: It's not what you think!
Me: I don't think anything. Brynna, we're going in five.
Boy: Well, you think something, you have a brain.
Later that afternoon, as I was retelling this story to my mom:
Brynna: He said that to his dad, too.
Me: He did?
Brynna: Actually, he said that to every adult that walked by.
*So, how much trouble do you think I'm in, here? Nine. They are nine.
________________________________
In the car, during morning car line at Brynna's school:
Maren: There's the boy from church.
Me: Oh, yeah. That's Sam (name changed to protect the innocent).
Maren: Yeah, Saa-aaam. I like him.
Me: Me too. He's sweet.
Maren: Yeah, and he's a big ole cutie-pie.
________________________________
After finding out that I had a date:
Brynna: It's not that I mind, I just don't want to think about it.
Me: Okay. Well, you don't have to. It's just a date.
Brynna: I guess I think you should have snuck it up on me, like Daddy did.
Me: What do you mean, snuck it up on you?
Brynna: Well, you know, he borrowed her car and left her stuff around the house, so it wasn't a big surprise when he finally told us.
Me: Okay, well, in the future, I'll keep it a secret, but be really terrible at it.
Brynna: That's all I ask.
Boy: It's not what you think!
Me: I don't think anything. Brynna, we're going in five.
Boy: Well, you think something, you have a brain.
Later that afternoon, as I was retelling this story to my mom:
Brynna: He said that to his dad, too.
Me: He did?
Brynna: Actually, he said that to every adult that walked by.
*So, how much trouble do you think I'm in, here? Nine. They are nine.
________________________________
In the car, during morning car line at Brynna's school:
Maren: There's the boy from church.
Me: Oh, yeah. That's Sam (name changed to protect the innocent).
Maren: Yeah, Saa-aaam. I like him.
Me: Me too. He's sweet.
Maren: Yeah, and he's a big ole cutie-pie.
________________________________
After finding out that I had a date:
Brynna: It's not that I mind, I just don't want to think about it.
Me: Okay. Well, you don't have to. It's just a date.
Brynna: I guess I think you should have snuck it up on me, like Daddy did.
Me: What do you mean, snuck it up on you?
Brynna: Well, you know, he borrowed her car and left her stuff around the house, so it wasn't a big surprise when he finally told us.
Me: Okay, well, in the future, I'll keep it a secret, but be really terrible at it.
Brynna: That's all I ask.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
In Which I Babble for a While About Literary Merit
I'm a sucker for lists. Almost any kind of list. I am a list maker and lists bring some sort of order to the chaos around me. One of my favorite kind of lists is the "Books Everyone Should Read," lists. There are a million. Libraries have them, newspapers have them. The BBC has one, which is sort of confounding.
I love to read these lists and tick off what I have read. 55 out of this 100, 16 out of this 100, 84 out of that 100. They all seem to have 100.
What I don't do is use them as a "to read" list. Why? Because I don't want to.
Here's the thing: I love good writing. I love literature. I love deep meaning and beautiful prose. I also love trash. And I don't read to make myself a better person or to measure up to some ideal constructed by a TV station or a newspaper. I read for two reasons: to become a better writer and to become a happier person.
Reading to become a better writer is, I think, a tricky proposition. It puts you in the corner of wanting to read things that will make you a better writer. I'm not talking about books about writing, although I do like those, but fiction. But I would posit that every word you read makes you a better writer.
The good stuff shows you how to be good and pushes you to be better, true. But sometimes it's the bad stuff that makes you really think. Think about how you could have done it better. Think about what it failed to do. Think about why it didn't work. The stuff that's similar to what you want to write can help you zero in on a voice or a character, show you what works with an audience and what doesn't. But reading something completely unlike what you write can inspire you to mix it up in a way that's never been done before, or show you a technique that would really improve what you're doing.
So, if you're trying to read to be a better writer, the best advice I* would have is to just read anything and everything. And if you are going to read anything and everything, with the understanding that even the fastest reader, reading full time wouldn't be able to keep up with current publication rates, let alone read everything that's already been written, then how do you narrow it down?
Point the second: read what makes you happy. Here is a list of what makes me happy in no particular order:
I love to read these lists and tick off what I have read. 55 out of this 100, 16 out of this 100, 84 out of that 100. They all seem to have 100.
What I don't do is use them as a "to read" list. Why? Because I don't want to.
Here's the thing: I love good writing. I love literature. I love deep meaning and beautiful prose. I also love trash. And I don't read to make myself a better person or to measure up to some ideal constructed by a TV station or a newspaper. I read for two reasons: to become a better writer and to become a happier person.
Reading to become a better writer is, I think, a tricky proposition. It puts you in the corner of wanting to read things that will make you a better writer. I'm not talking about books about writing, although I do like those, but fiction. But I would posit that every word you read makes you a better writer.
The good stuff shows you how to be good and pushes you to be better, true. But sometimes it's the bad stuff that makes you really think. Think about how you could have done it better. Think about what it failed to do. Think about why it didn't work. The stuff that's similar to what you want to write can help you zero in on a voice or a character, show you what works with an audience and what doesn't. But reading something completely unlike what you write can inspire you to mix it up in a way that's never been done before, or show you a technique that would really improve what you're doing.
So, if you're trying to read to be a better writer, the best advice I* would have is to just read anything and everything. And if you are going to read anything and everything, with the understanding that even the fastest reader, reading full time wouldn't be able to keep up with current publication rates, let alone read everything that's already been written, then how do you narrow it down?
Point the second: read what makes you happy. Here is a list of what makes me happy in no particular order:
- Magic
- Fairies - preferably kind of mean and tricksy ones
- Space
- Dystopian futures
- Plucky girl protagonists
- Cuss words
- Kisses - good, deep and passionate kisses
- Zombies
- Terrifying technological advances
- Questions of faith in the face of an alien world
- Characters to hate and characters to love
- Evil
- Totally real things that I've never heard of before and look up on Google
Now obviously, no story should have all of these things. Space fairies in the dystopian future fighting zombies while questioning their fairy-faith would be a terrible book. But these are the things that make me happy.
And I know what doesn't make me happy:
- A bunch of characters I don't care about at all
- Romance
- Sappy, whiny girl protagonists
- Too much sex
- A lack of sex where there should clearly be sex
- Futures that look pretty much just like the present
- Long explanations of things that most people already understand
And I'll admit that you can't take the top list and check off a couple of things and guarantee I'll like it. I have read some truly horrible zombie books. And I have read books that would fall into the bottom list that I actually kind of liked.
I guess what I want to get at, but am not doing a very good job of, is that a lot of people seem to look at books like food. And what you really want is a balanced diet. It's fine to read the literary equivalent of a Snickers bar once in a while, but most of your diet should come be literary brussell sprouts.
And what I think is that's a terrible analogy. Because books are like food. And you shouldn't eat steamed broccoli just because it's good for you if you hate it. There's a whole culinary world out there and you can find the same nutrients in a way that makes you happy. Maybe you'd even like broccoli under the right circumstances.
If you don't like a book, put it down and read something else. Read everything and anything. Read the bad, the good, the trash and the classics. Read silly things and things with great reviews. Read what's written for you and what's written for a completely different audience. Read whatever makes you tick. Because there's no sense in forcing down something you hate when there's so much out there to love.
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