Here I am at the last post of this year, of this blog. I didn't doubt that I'd find myself here yet I couldn't really picture it until November melted into December and I found myself in the last month of this project.
Having this blog was, for me, like impulsively going to a shelter and picking up a dog that's not very cute or ugly or talented or feeble, just a plain ol' dog. I have to feed it every day and spend time with it, although the time varies depending on my mood and other obligations. Some days I couldn't wait to get to my computer and write about something that had been stewing in my head that day, or even that whole week. Some days I really dreaded writing here because I had nothing to write or no desire to put anything into writing. This has never been a habit but, as I suspected from the onset, an obligation or chore akin to doing laundry or the dishes.
That's not to say that I regret ever doing this. This "blog experiment" of a blog entry a day is probably the first resolution that I've ever fulfilled. I feel justified in patting myself on the back a bit for actually doing this, for choosing something that was challenging but doable--for me, at least. Write one post a day, psht that's easy, you might think. Eh, well I don't have 365 cohesive thoughts worth sharing over the course of a year, but I've put out 365 thoughts nonetheless. I hope that in months, years to come I will be proud and embarassed at what I've created here.
1. Spend less money on physical, tangible things and more on experiences and making memories. In other words, buy less stuff so that I can have more money to go places and see shows.
2. Write more, and often. Just...not in blog form. At least, not so publicly.
The three movies I saw this year in theaters by myself
Rango
I had been looking forward to this movie ever since the trailer came out but I didn't plan on seeing it in theaters. But one March day I found myself with a couple hours to spare before I had to be anywhere, and I was in walking distance of a AMC movie theater. I bought my ticket about ten minutes after the scheduled show time, so when I slunk into the theater I had missed the first few minutes. It was between two and four in the afternoon, and there was only one other patron seated, feet up on the row in front of him. I felt a little bad for him, that my presence made it so that he no longer had the theater entirely to himself, but then I heard him freely let out a big bellied Jabba laugh and I felt less bad.
I basked in the light and humor in this movie. This is really a movie for all ages, because kids can get a kick out of the talking animated animals and adults will snarf at the movie references and quirky script. My viewing experience would've been enhanced with an eager audience and full house but, as with all other times I've attended the theater solo, I got greedily giddy at having seen it by myself, as if I was in possession of a fantastic secret.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II
I saw this movie twice, and the second time I went with someone who, like me, had read all seven books and seen all seven previous movies. I never intended to see it more than once in theaters or see it by myself, but that's just the way it turned out with this film. I was determined to see it on opening day; I wanted to see a midnight screening but had no way of getting to and from the theater at that time, and I was firmly against seeing it during the evening when I would've had to wait for an hour or two to get seats that wouldn't cause eye or neck strain. I think I saw a noon screening of this movie, and showed up 45 minutes before showtime. The theater was about 1/10 full when I arrived. Yes, I did the obnoxious thing of taking the seat in the middle in the row just above the middle row, and I ate the burrito I smuggled in my cavernous handbag.
About five minutes til showtime I began to regret my decision, as I could see that the theater was filling up with people who weren't as passionate about the series as I am. I anticipated having people talk during key scenes and being distracted by texters and loud popcorn munchers. Although it did not directly affect me, I was annoyed when the trailers started to play and a group six teenagers trumped into view and made exasperated faces as they tried to figure out where to sit. Thankfully the audience didn't impede my viewing pleasure and I let myself get fully absorbed into watching the movie. And yes, I did tear up toward the end; I turned my head to either side a little at this time and I saw that the female sitting in my row was also by herself (empty seats on either side) and she, too, had watery eyes and a tissue in one hand. I'm not ashamed of crying in front of other people if I really feel like crying, but it felt good to let my eyes leak freely in that instance where I was in attendence by myself.
The Artist
There's a lot of well-deserved Oscar buzz around this film, which is entirely in black-and-white and practically a silent film (there are, like, six full lines of spoken dialogue; the rest of the lines appear on the screen between the action, as is customary of old silent films). But I didn't intended to see this movie in theaters. I had planned to go to a local, non-chain theater by myself to see Shame but got the time wrong and ended up seeing this movie instead-- this is one mistake I don't regret, a happy accident. Now that I think of it, there's something especially ____ about going to see an NC-17 movie entitled Shame by oneself. As with Rango, I left the theater feeling like I had just been shared a great secret. I wasn't jumping-up-and-down about it but I did feel warm and contented inside. I felt like sighing. Maybe, since practically the entire film has no sound other than the luscious orchestral music to accompany the moving images, I had been subconsciously holding my breath-- not literally, but mentally holding my breath, if that makes sense. Since almost the entire film is without sound, I had to be a bit more attentive and imaginative when it came to watching this film. It didn't feel like work, like ugh, I have to, like, read lips and figure out what that chick is saying, but it felt like a fun brain teaser challenge. When the movie ended I felt relieved, somewhat, but that makes it sound like I dreaded the entire experience. No, I enjoyed watching the film from start to finish. Seeing it by myself didn't really add or detract from the experience, but since I didn't have anyone around me I was a bit more aware of the other audience members, who were mostly middle aged couples, and I didn't have to worry about any shenanigans during the film.
These are the four television series I fell in love with this year.
Misfits
In three words: Heroes meets Skins. This show features five miscreants who, while working off court-ordered community service hours acquire powers after a freak electrical storm. They're all misfits, all anti-heroes-- and it's hard not to root for them. Misfits explores so many of those classic superhero tropes with verisimilitude, with a wickedly cynical satirical edge. The five main characters are all incredibly flawed young adults and I adore them all. My favorite is Kelly, the girl with the power to read minds, who has the greatest chav accent that I can barely understand at times. She's tenacious, says what she means and isn't afraid to get physical. The actress who played her, Lauren Socha, won a BAFTA award-- the British Oscars/Emmys--for her portrayal of Kelly. But the other four actors' work is nothing to scoff at. This show reminds me of Community in that every episode has a different structure, focus, and approach to a topic that has been done before but with less finesse, hilarity, and profanity.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
I want to say that there's never been a show with so much heart and with kids who can manipulate water, fire, earth and air...and then it sounds like I'm a Captain Planet enthusiast. This show may have been a Nickelodeon animated series but it's a show that grown-ups can enjoy too. The main characters are all preteens and their personal growth is carefully, poignantly built up over the three seasons; like Misfits it deals with kids with special powers, but these kids feel the weight of their responsibilites much more acutely and within the context of learning to leave childhood behind. Plot aside, the animation is beautiful and expansive thanks to the ever-changing setting, be it in the isolated and pristine north pole, lush tanga, or imperial kingdom. And the music! I can't think of a single design element that I didn't enjoy. I'd more aptly perform an interpretive dance to express my passion for this show than to put it in words.
Circus
I love any behind-the-scenes look at the performing arts. PBS put out the six-part series on the happenings in the 2008-2009 season of the Big Apple Circus. Last year I saw the series The Fire Within that was on Bravo and featured about eight performers from the start of their training to their opening night Cirque du Soleil show Varekai, so I had some expectations of what I might encounter in this series. I liked this series a bit more in that it had no narrator and delved more into the performers' personal lives. For example, the man who plays the feature clown Grandma finds out that he has cancer, and the camera crew follows him to the hospital as he gets an MRI done. He is claustrophobic, despite having spent many years crammed into a car with like a bunch of other clowns. Also, unlike the other series, Circus also lets the audience in on the lives of the crew, the people who aren't performers but literally put the circus together.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
I don't watch SNL much but I've seen a fair amount of Jimmy Fallon's work there. I'd say his gig as the host of Late Night was the perfect transition, as it allows him to be funny and laugh at his own jokes. He's an earnest, enthusiastic goofball and does a good job at putting the guests at ease-- again, because he's not afraid to laugh at himself. Sure, his name is in the title, but it's clear that his house band The Roots and his writing staff really bring it all together for consistently entertaining shows.
2. Super Bowl Volkswagon commercial
Of course I have to include this adorable ad. So simple and effective even though there are no lines spoken and the commercial only highlights a single feature of the car, albeit a supercool feature. I was slightly crestfallen when I found out that the child actor inside the costume had never even seen Star Wars prior to filming the commercial (!), but I think that goes to show that this commercial still does a good job telling a story.
3. Kristen Schaal's commercials for the Sony Xperia PLAY
I already wrote a post on my favorite of the series because I didn't think I'd end up making a list of a bunch of my fav commercials. Again, I like these commercials because they're funny and do a good job selling both the actor and the product.
4. New Era Rivalry commercials featuring Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski
I think the first commercial is my favorite but they've all made me laugh. New Era made a smart move in casting these two actors and using them as representatives of their respective baseball teams. I wonder if the other 48 states are tired of hearing about the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry, but it still lives on and continues to be a source of frustration and satire. Here are my thoughts on the second, third, fourth, fifth, and last commercials from this series.
5. Promo for season 3 of the NBC's "Community"
I watched all of the episodes from season 3 at leats twice in preparation for the fall premiere and was not disappointed with any of the episodes. This show is so wildly creative and packed with pop culture references and bumps up against the fourth wall and pushes boundaries in unexpected ways, and seeing all those descriptors written out it's no wonder that this show hasn't been a ratings darling and has been cancelled postponed indefinitely. All shows come to an end (well, maybe not Doctor Who) but it's much too soon for Community to end. It's poignant to look back at this promo and see just the tip of what this third season has given. How many other shows feature multiple timelines, a man with an elephant ivory toupee, shadow puppets, an epic Japanimation foosball showdown, and a Doctor Who parody in the same season?
This year I made:
1. Mexican hot chocolate cookies (chocolate snickerdoodles, essentially)
2. Candied ginger
3. A pen pal
4. A nine-year-old cry, because I accidentally pushed him over so that he fell on his injured leg
5. A blister on one of my knuckles, from grazing the inside of an oven when making aforementioned cookies
6. A few hundred dollars for participating in various medical research studies, in which I my blood drawn, needles stuck in my throat, and an ultrasound conducted on my uterus
These are seven books I read for the first time this year and would like to reread in 2012:
1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
4. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
7. I, Q: Independence Hall by Roland Smith
