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There is no coherence whatsoever to this post.

0 comments | 11.07.2007

Time's so strange. Yesterday was Gannon's favorite holiday: Advising Day, which basically means we have a meeting that lasts ten minutes and we're supposed to spend the rest of the day figuring our lives out. That translates to... no one getting much done at all. Except for me. That's right. I wrote, and finished papers, and cleaned my room. The day dragged, though.

My roommate came in at 2 p.m. to show me a shirt she'd tie-dyed, and last night at 10, she said she couldn't wait to rinse it out and see what it looked like. I replied, "It's been 24 hours, go rinse it now!" It had been eight, as most of us can see by simple subtraction. The eight hours that passed felt like a DAY to me. It was ridiculous. Nice though, because today feels like Monday, and tomorrow will feel like Tuesday, and Friday will feel like Wednesday, but guess what? It will be Friday. Hallejuah.

Can I just take a second to proclaim my supreme anger at CBS for not airing the Steelers game (for the SECOND time in 3 weeks) because Buffalo is playing -- oh man! -- 0-8 Miami! Whoo! Cause a division games between Pittsburgh and Cleveland will be a waste of time to watch, right? Right? I mean, it's obvious!

Now, I know, it's not their choice what games they show. It's contractual, blah blah blah, guess what? I DON'T GIVE A SHIT. Erie County is the ONLY friggin' county in the whole state that won't get the Steelers game. And I'm pretty sure there are more combined Steelers or Browns fans than Bills fans. I guess the bars are gonna be hoppin' on Sunday. Arggghhh.

If you're keeping track, I'm on word 11,400 for my NaNoWriMo novel. Which is right about on track. I'll probably crank out a few hundred more words today, just for the heck of it. I'm enjoying it so far. It's tough (obviously) but good for me. I've got it all online, if you want to read, IM me or something for the link.

This is really random, but I was thinking of it after reading up on some Lost news and ending up on a forum where some crazy 'Losties' post. I hate 'shipping'. If you don't know what this term means, I am jealous of you, because it is quite possibly the most annoying thing in the worlds of fandom. People seriously obsess over who is going to end up with who on TV shows, books, etc. One word of advice: Get your own love life; your 'ship' isn't effing real. The worst is 'slash'. I won't even say any more. Just watch this video for yourself. Oh, and it may seem like they're kidding, but people HONESTLY get off on this stuff... wow.




posted by Sara

at 7:20 PM Permalink

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"That's hot."

2 comments | 11.03.2007

It seems the theme of my week will be Write Til You Can Write No More. Besides the obvious NaNoWriMo writing that must go on (I should be up to 18,000 words by next weekend), I have to write a genre analysis for a final project, a first draft of a final project, annotations for my proposal, some Animal Farm paper which of course I have not even looked at yet, and a 3 to 5 minute speech. Oh, and, I have a philosophy paper due directly following Thanksgiving but I should probably have at least an inkling about what I'll be writing. Whew! Luckily, Tuesday is Advising Day, which means I go to a couple meetings and have the bulk of the day to catch up on work. Plus today and tomorrow will be writing-intensive too. So fun, and I'm positive you all were really keen on reading about how much shit I have to do! You're welcome!

For the past two weeks, I have been a grateful guest to Jon and Matt's apartment for Game Night. We have found our niche in the board game market: Loaded Questions. The girls from the Potter's House introduced us to this game, and it's freaking hilarious, to say the least. What's really amazing about it, and what makes it fun, is that it shows how similar our senses of humor are. I would give some examples, but they're horribly inappropriate and politically incorrect, as we tend to be. Play it for yourself, with good friends who won't be offended by your lack of good taste. Or at least not really offended.

In other news, I was Paris Motel6 for Halloween, and hardly anyone 'got it'. Please tell me that you do. This might help:



posted by Sara

at 1:36 PM Permalink

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Odds & Ends on a Tuesday Evening

2 comments | 10.30.2007

I come to complain, as most of us have at one time in our lives (exhibit A and exhibit B), about the ridiculousness that is Halloween costumes in college and beyond.

Rarely can one find a person at a Halloween party who is not dressed as if they were ready to stand on a street corner, if you know what I mean. We all know this. It sickens me. Seriously, does no one have any sense of humor anymore? Any creativity?

I am extending to myself an apology for going back on my passionate word, and wearing (but not buying!) a ridiculously conceived Halloween costume this weekend. However, I offer a rational explanation. Could you say no to this face? Because I couldn't. Oh, and, I didn't want to be the only person not in costume. So, yes, I gave in to peer pressure and I have a crappy, self-consciousness-ridden excuse. I mean, come on, they were going as Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion; they wouldn't have been recognizable without the tin-man(girl)! But I stand by my decision and honestly, it wasn't that bad. Although I'd never buy it for myself, I was not sluttified, only slightly embarrassed at following the silly crowd.

In other news, Ryan Gosling continues to fascinate and enthrall me, as he did once again in Lars and the Real Girl. Such a wonderful little movie. That Paul Schneider is talented, as well. Hopefully he continues doing good stuff.

Now I'm going to ask for YOUR wonderful opinions. I start writing on Thursday (eeks!) and I have stumbled across a perplexing plot problemo. Let me describe my initial idea and then you can give me your input. I mean, you have to give me your input, cause I'm stuck.

The year is somewhere around 2070. There has been a drastic drop in the US population due to a water-borne bacteria. Everyone has moved into cities, where the only *pure* water is. High-rise apartment complexes have been built, and everyone going in and out of the city is searched. There is a general attitude of paranoia and apathy spreading throughout the country at this point. Since the population is so concentrated in the cities (an estimated 75% of the American population dwells in these walled cities), consumerism is at an all-time high - ads everywhere; branding has become the staple of everything from politics to education to religion.

Charles is a teacher - but education has become totally virtual: students log on to a virtual school with a retinal scan. He's got a love for the subject, and for the ideals of education, but he's sick of the attitude of entitlement these kids are being raised with, he's sick of the lack of human connection. He's a perfectionist, wary of the government's increasing control but at the same time wanting to be the model citizen. He's got this inner conflict of wanting his life to mean something, but wanting to follow the rules. (Very bad at decision-making, this one.)

Anyway, to the point. Either his mother or a former flame and close female friend lives in one of the small communities that has developed outside of the cities. She lives with other survivors of the bacteria, who were immune to it. However, years later, some of these people developed psychic or telepathic powers, this woman included. She has cryptic, psychic dreams, and one night, has one involving Charles. She calls him, pleading him to leave the city or some harm will come to him. He struggles with his yearning for normalcy and deep desire for change before finally deciding to leave.

The rest of the story is about his journey to where this woman lives, and ultimately, about his search for happiness in the midst of tumultuous societal change. There's also probably going to be a bit about a new strain of bacteria in the city where Charles lived, so he'll eventually return there to save a certain person or people.

My question - who should it be? His mother? A girl from his past? No matter which I pick, I'll have the other in the story as well, I just don't know if the dynamic would change if the one 'saving him' was his mother compared to a 'love interest'. Thoughts?

posted by Sara

at 3:44 PM Permalink

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*Sigh of Relief*

2 comments | 10.26.2007

It's an incredible feeling to finally feel somewhat at ease about one's chosen career path. I think I'm getting there, slowly but surely. One of my English courses this semester is called Advanced Composition. At the beginning of the term, we had to choose a context in which to write several pieces. Obviously, I chose to write things a high school English teacher would write. I can honestly say it's been the most educationally lucrative experience I've had so far in college. We peer-revise our pieces as a group, and I've learned so much about my own writing, how to improve my sentences, and how to refine my voice in a number of genres.

Now that I'm learning all this and having my eyes opened to the real complexity of our language, I am in awe that I ended up here. I didn't know I could learn so much, that my writing could be so much better than it was. It's like I was blindfolded, spun around, and ended up pointing at a big sign with my major on it, and it just so happened that it was the right one for me. Elyse, Steph, and Tricia have helped me to see my writing from a detached point of view - seeing as it really is, instead of how I saw it while writing. It's inspiring and encouraging to know I have the tools for writing in this field; I've written a unit plan, a lesson plan, a syllabus, and a philosophy of education. And I can do it. That knowledge is like a safety net positioned beneath me, so if at any time I get apprehensive and start to question, I remember that I am capable. That's all I can do until I'm actually out there, experiencing it. At least now I have the faith in myself to go forward with it.

/end testimony for good teaching/peer revising

=D

posted by Sara

at 10:47 AM Permalink

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Am I Alone Here?

2 comments | 10.23.2007

As you may have read in over on Keep Cool, My Babies, Jesse James was incredible. And yes, I would go as far as to say it might be in my top ten of my favorite movie-watching experiences ever. As much as I'd like to go on and on about why it was so amazing, and how Casey Affleck blew me away, and how I fell that much more in love with Brad Pitt, and how Nick Cave's music was incredible, I won't. But I will go on a rant related to this film.

This movie showed in a little over 300 theaters last week. We were at one of only 6 or 7 showings in the entire Buffalo area last Friday, and there were only five people in the theater. We put two-hundred miles on my car solely to see this movie, and there were only five other people out of the almost 300,000 people in the greater Buffalo area.

Please tell me I don't have to spell out what I think is gravely wrong with this picture.

Okay, I will.

A western starring one of the biggest movie stars and sought-after celebrities on the planet (Pitt) and a recognizable face (and last name) (Affleck), showing in only 300 theaters in the entire country, only grabbing up five people per showing makes me sick. Maybe it's the running time that scares potential audience members away - 160 minutes. Maybe it's the lack of studio backing: hardly any TV or internet promotion whatsoever. Today's is a world of consumers raised by huge, money-hungry corporations who make their buck by advertising like all get-out.

Why do I think no one wants to see this moody, deliberately-paced, thought-provoking artsy film?

Because people don't want to have to think. They want to go sit in front of a screen with a gallon of Diet Coke and five pounds of butter-slathered popcorn to watch "Dwayne Johnson" covort around with an 8-year-old - no thinking necessary. They want jokes handed to them on a silver platter, Friends-style. They want music they recognize, archetypal characters, the same movie cliches over and over and over. Because it's familiar, it's easy, it's entertaining, and at the end of the long week, it's a brain-drain.

Moral of this story/rant: I guess for the majority of people, there is nothing wrong with this. That's how Hollywood works. People crave mindless, funny, familiar crap... I mean, movies. I don't, you may not, but most people do. So where does that leave those of us who still appreciate the art of film: the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into a masterpiece screenplay, that finally makes it to the silver screen after two years of editing and perfect cinematograph-ing and music-composing?

I guess for Jon and I, it leaves us driving to the nearest big city to catch flicks we should be getting at Tinseltown. It leaves us wishing anyone we know had seen that great movie too, had looked forward to it and relished sitting there for two hours and forty minutes, dissecting every frame, every facial expression, every nuance of meaning in every perfectly pitched line.

I can live with that. I'm happy I have Jon, for so many reasons, only one of which is that he has helped me funnel my appreciation for movies into a true passion for a carefully crafted work of art like The Assassination of Jesse James. I only wish more people would go out on a limb and give movies like this the chance they deserve. Instead of settling for easy, I wish more people would step up to the challenge of actually mentally participating in their movie-going experience.

So... if you 'like that kind of thing', please go see Jesse James. Oh, and Gone Baby Gone ain't bad either. (In fact, it's really, really good.)

posted by Sara

at 10:27 PM Permalink

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B-Lo!

2 comments | 10.19.2007

Jon and I are headed for Buffalo around 2 this afternoon to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Granted, it'll probably hit Erie in a few months and we're spending $20 just to get up there and back, but HEY, have you freakin' SEEN the trailer?! It's going to be amazing. And Jon's been waiting for this since April of 2006 when he first saw a teaser, so, it's basically the best day of his entire year probably. I bet if I broke up with him today, he'd still be happy because the importance of this movie outweighs the emotional implications of our relationship. I mean, okay, probably not, but it's seriously close.

I love road trips! Albeit this is a small one, 100 miles, but all the same, it will be fun. Plus, we get to meet up with Domenic, one of Jon's co-contributors to Cinema Fusion, who attends UB. Jon doesn't have too many contemporaries in the area with his movie tendencies besides me, so I think this will do him some good. Some fanboy camaraderie, so to speak.

This weekend brings us Gannon's homecoming, which is far more exciting this time around than it was last year for us as freshmen. Now that the girls are in their sorority, I actually have a reason to attend the parade, and I actually know some football players so the game isn't so much of a detached experience either. But the pinnacle of homecoming will be the dance, which will take place at the brand-spankin' new Bayfront Convention Center. I still love to get dressed up and go to big dances with lots of people. It should be a good time, especially because Ashley is coming home to go with Katie and I! Don't worry, there will be pictures.

That is all. I just felt like talking about myself. You can leave now ;)

posted by Sara

at 9:40 AM Permalink

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He Says It Better

0 comments | 10.16.2007

Since I'm uninspired and lazy today:

"The best thing about writing fiction is that moment where the story catches fire and comes to life on the page, and suddenly it all makes sense and you know what it's about and why you're doing it and what these people are saying and doing, and you get to feel like both the creator and the audience. Everything is suddenly both obvious and surprising ("but of course that's why he was doing that, and that means that...") and it's magic and wonderful and strange.

You don't live there always when you write. Mostly it's a long hard walk. Sometimes it's a trudge through fog and you're scared you've lost your way and can't remember why you set out in the first place.

But sometimes you fly, and that pays for everything."

- Neil Gaiman

(Psst... he has a great blog which he updates quite often. Jonathan sent me there, and now, I send you --> Neil Gaiman's journal.)

posted by Sara

at 10:31 PM Permalink

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