No Longer Ashamed

I watched Up In the Air tonight. Or early this morning. Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to.

And I noticed that Anna Kendrick (Natalie in the movie) and I share the same unusual and difficult hairline. Seriously people, it's like someone drew a squiggly line from ear to forehead and to other ear. I'm talking about you, God.

Sometimes I wonder what it is that makes me notice inane details like this, but then I get over it.

I see smooth hairlines like these, and feel bad about myself:

 

But now I have finally seen a woman who fearlessly wears her hair back, despite a hairline that defies any sort of normal line. And I don't feel so self-conscious anymore about wearing mine back. Because I'm telling you, mine looks exactly like hers. 

And wouldn't you know that I can't really find a picture of myself to compare?  Know why? Because I've always been so hyper-aware of my weird hairline that I don't allow it to be documented on the rare occasions that I pull the safety curtain of my bangs back. Here's the closest I got:

See? I keep the sides down most times because the widow's peak is more like peak(S). 

Anyway, this is an early morning post, and it's happening partly because I'm trying to stay awake as I watch Up In the Air with commentary so that I can get it in the mail by the time it goes out tomorrow morning. 

In any case, please forgive my vanity. We've all been there. Glad I could share it with you.

I want, want, want.

I have found a website made just for me. Thank the lord for Ashley Eckstein and her desire to cater to female Star Wars fans. It seriously is a market that's way too small.

The site is called Her Universe. And it has these T-shirts. Short sleeved shirts are $30 each and long-sleeved shirts are $40. I may have to space out my purchases, but someday I shall start my collection. And I will wear them proudly.

 

     Star Wars burnout tee, $30                                  Star Wars Padme Nouveau tee, $30

 

     Empire Strikes Back thermal hoodie, $40                     Luke Skywalker tee, $30

Check them out if you like Star Wars, sci-fi, or general nerdiness. And I call dibs on the Luke Skywalker tee. That's going to be my first purchase. Han, who? I was always, always a Luke girl. He's my Jedi Knight in shining armor. 

The Beautiful Bluffs

Lots and lots of pictures today. I took this fieldtrip for you, people, so the more you tell me it was worth it, the more I'll take! I love these pictures. Get ready for a LOT!

It was a good evening. It's things like this that make this place totally worth it.

I'll admit, I've tried to figure out how I can keep my house in Ashland and move to the Big Apple, but somehow the numbers just don't seem to add up.

Nightlife

As the Digital Shorts of SNL go, some are hits and some are definitely misses.

This one was probably a sort-of middle-ground one for most people, but I love it for some reason. Perhaps it's because it has zombies in it I can actually laugh at. Let's hope that I can continue to work on that fear.



Enjoy.

I went on another bike ride this evening. It is so weird to ride up and down the enormous Main Street and have it be completely deserted. I actually raced back and forth for a few minutes, doing some laps. I think I'll be taking these nightly rides quite often. I'm enjoying this form of exercise.

I've discovered that I enjoy being alone quite a bit. Community is important. I definitely understand that. I love my friends. Living out here before school starts has been like hermit heaven. When school starts I'll be with people again and thriving in a community, but this has been one of the best times in many years for me to just be alone, thinking, reflecting, and learning about myself and what God has for me.

I feel like it's a brief oasis before I start on a long journey.

Oh, the horror . . .

Tonight was a great night.

I rode my bike to every single corner of the town, and then some. Down main street, which was brightly lit and empty. Down to the city park which was deserted and dark. To the edge of the town, past the last street light, and into the blackness of the rolling hills.

Why is it that my mind automatically turns to horror and zombies when I venture out at night? I'm not kidding, first step out my door and it's zombies on the brain. I rode down Main Street tonight, which is about three times as wide as the  normal street--perfect for a shot of zombies stumbling toward the camera. The buildings are all at least 40 years old, the wood is grey and brittle, and the street lights cast a very weird orange glow over everything. Come on. What would YOU think about?

The city park also brought images of classic horror into my mind, though not necessarily zombies. Allow me to set the scene for you.

Cut to City Park, ext. Midnight. The park is located at the far East edge of town in a natural valley. The one road into the park slopes steeply down into a single, circular route around the park area. Various park equipment is scattered across the grass in no particular order or grouping. A flat tire swing. A merry-go-round. A spaceship. Digging shovels. Horseshoe pits. Picnic benches. Giant oaks overshadow the entire park, and the light from the street lamps barely filters through the trees. The locusts sing as the wind pushes the rusty and creaky equipment around. Dogs howl in the distance.

Come on.

That's straight up horror, yo.

I wonder. If my mind constantly goes to these things, does this mean that I should try my hand at writing horror, or things with elements of horror?

The fact that I'm a scaredy-cat means that I actually have a wellspring of material floating down in my brain. I mean, really, I don't have to dip the bucket very far to come up with some pretty scary stuff.

If a humor writer is supposed to write things that makes her laugh, does a horror writer need to write things that make her terrified?

Because I could totally do that.

Lazy Monday

Mondays are pretty good days. I actually woke up at a decent time.

Work was done on my forensics class. I feel much better about it than I did before.

Not much else to write to you.

Except to say that I was a very, very bad girl and watched a bootleg video of the "sizzle" reel from Paul that was shown at Comic Con this last weekend. The movie looks fun and exciting, full of typical Seth Rogan language and Pegg and Frost comedy. Outstanding.

So excited. Seriously.

Get Off Yer Keister!

I'm sitting out on my front porch listening to big, fat raindrops splatter on the ground as I write this.

It's nice.

You know, the pace of this town, the general feel of it, and the way I just sort of slow down here is nice. I've been enjoying my time here a lot because it almost feels like a retreat. Then again, a retreat is meant to be just that, a retreat, not life. I'm hoping that this slow feeling will disappear once school starts, and that I'll be busy.

One might well imagine that with all this slowness my ambition is slowly fading. And for those of who who imagine that, thank you for your thoughts, now please go soak your heads.

The truth is, my ambition is steady, but my drive is faltering. Does that make any sense? I'll completely understand if it doesn't.

I see all this time stretching out ahead of me. I feel the weight of age crawling into my drive and slowing me down. And heck no, I'm not old, but I look at the people who are currently doing the things that I want to be doing, and these people started going for their dreams at 18, 20, 22. I'm 25. And I won't get to start until at least 27. That means, minimum, 30 before I get any work (unless I'm insanely lucky)--more likely 35. So that's what I mean when I feel age weighing on my drive.

But I really need to get my rear in gear.

I'm like a big, fat, rock on a very gradually sloping downward hill (enough adverbs and adjectives, MB?). One push is not all it's going to take. I'll roll once, then the weight will stop me. I'll roll five times and the weight will still stop me. I need about a month to really get going.

I mean, look at this blog. Can you tell that it's taken a lot of work? That I've put a lot of time into it? And that I keep up with it really well?

It was discipline that made that happen. It was really fun at a few points, especially when I discovered how to do things, but most of the time it was work making myself post something every night.

Ugh, I'm boring myself. Ok, I'll go write now. And you can instead enjoy this very fun video from the production blog of the movie Paul. It stars some very funny people (including . . . I'll give you one guess), and I'm going to go see it when it comes out in March.

Also, they play some very funny improv games which I can't wait to do with my forensics students!

The Fruits of My Labor

The House In Order

My goodness. It's hard to believe that I've been here in Ashland for almost a week.

I've been feeling quite at home here. Yesterday marked the completion of my home organization and decoration. I never thought I would have enough things to fill a home, and while it's not packed, it's definitely not too bare.

Now, I'm going to post a lot of pictures. After the pictures you will find some more musings about the move and about living alone. If you have already seen the pictures, feel free to scroll past them and onto more musings. I promise, I'm going to try to make them entertaining. You might even find a shark attack.

Here's my home:

Let me tell you, people. You are welcome. You have no idea how long that took to upload.

Anyway.

It.

Is.

AWESOME . . .

to live alone. For reals. I adored being with roommates. Seriously. The ladies I've lived with have made my life so rich and so full, and they've become my best friends in the world. But I've discovered that I really love living alone.

I think it's the control freak in me. I can control every aspect of my house that a person can control. If the house is messy, I don't freak out. Why? Because it's my mess, I know how it started, and I know when it's going to be fixed. Fantastic.

This poses some major issues if I get married someday. And have kids. Oh man. It'll take an amazing man with tons of patience and sensitivity to work around my ridiculous controlling nature.

ALSO. You know what I've discovered?

I am definitely not meant to have a garden. In order to take care of the plants that currently reside in my yard I have to water them nightly. And I do this, but you want to know my favorite part of the process? Watering the fence and watching the wood change from dry to wet. Forget about the plants.

I think I'll just have to budget in order to have someone take care of my yard for me. Or just do it as a chore like some people do cleaning or take out trash.

Want to see something that made me laugh really hard? If you like politics, chances are you'll like this. If you like Obama or if you hate Obama, chances are you will like this. I think it's one of the best openings SNL had all year.



Ah, funny, funny.