Tienes un Amigo en Mi

Once again I find myself doing my movie ticket year-in-review far from the friends who began the tradition with me back in Philadelphia. This morning I pulled my ticket stubs out of my wallet and was shocked that I’d only seen five movies in 2010. While discussing that with a friend later in the day I realized I’d switched wallets midway through the year. A quick check of the old wallet yielded five more ticket stubs. So here are the 9 movies I saw in 2010.

January 1—Up in the Air. Ah, Clooney. Great film, definitely lived up to the hype and the Oscar buzz. And, again, Clooney. He never goes out of style. Up in the Air was the first movie I saw in my quest to see as many Oscar movies as I could.

February 14—Avatar. If it weren’t for the Oscar buzz, my deep love for Titanic, and the friend who got us in for free, I probably would’ve skipped this one. It was fathoms away from Titanic. My favorite critique of this movie called it Dances with Aliens.

February 20—Valentine’s Day. Gary Marshall directing lots of famous people, what’s not to like? Fluffy, forgettable, a fine way to pass a Saturday afternoon.

February 24—Crazy Heart. This is one of those movies that sent me right out to get the soundtrack. Jeff Bridges as a washed-up country star was absolutely deserving of his Oscar. My friend Katy had to point out Colin Farrell. Country music is the last place I look for smoldering Irishmen—and believe me, I do look for them.

May 28—Sex and the City 2. How could the creators of such a smart, funny, sharp series turn out such a rotten movie? My fingers are crossed that this was the “dark” film of the trilogy (like The Empire Strikes Back) and that there is a third installment that will restore Carrie and the girls to their usual class.

June 20—Toy Story 3. My family loved the Toy Story Mania ride in Disney World, so it seemed like a fitting way to celebrate Father’s Day, a trip to see Buzz and Woody on the big screen. There aren’t enough superlatives for this one. At one point, choking on my sobs, I turned to my brother and said, “This has to end!” It was that affecting and that darn good.

July 1—Eclipse. They tell me this is the best of the Twilight movies yet. I honestly couldn’t tell—all I could think about was how tired I was of seeing Rob and Kristen. Taylore Lautner’s abs never get old.

July 2—Toy Story 3. I accompanied my friend and her three-year-old this time. He had never been to a movie and we were very worried about how he’d do with the whole incinerator thing. Surprisingly, the things that upset him most were when Woody lost his hat, when Bullseye stayed behind in daycare and when it was over.

August 17—Inception. Did I understand it? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Have I missed Leo? Heck yeah (refer back to Titanic comments). I’m looking forward to a second look at this one on DVD. I also remember this as a sweet occasion—seeing a movie with my friend Anna the night before she left for college.

August 28—Eat Pray Love. My friend Michelle summed it up best: she went around the world to wind up back where she started—being defined by a relationship with a man. There were many things about Liz Gilbert’s story that resonated with me and Julia Roberts is such a movie star, so I did enjoy the movie. I’m just not ready to put Liz on a pedestal as so many other women have done.

Ten trips to the theater, nine movies—doesn’t seem anywhere near my usual total. I blame the Netflix.

Don't Leave Me This Way

Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing.

Yesterday, I bought my first "real" television--real, as in, it's the TV people watch when they come over to visit. I've managed to live into my mid-30's without buying a big TV, so I've never had to dispose of one. Once, I donated a TV to the church yard sale, but a good friend and a minivan took care of it pretty easily. Today I found myself stuck with a big TV.

First, I left it by the curb. Today is my neighborhood's bulk trash pick-up, so I figured my timing was excellent. As the trucks left and the TV remained, I realized I was in trouble.

I did what any smart girl would do--I Googled. Surely some charity would come pick up my television. Nope.

So I loaded the TV onto my passenger's seat and drove to Goodwill. There, an agreeable young man told me that Goodwill doesn't take TVs, but the Salvation Army does.

Onward to the Salvation Army, where another agreeable young man informed me they weren't taking wood-paneled TVs. (To clarify: this was not a console TV from the 70's, it was just old and happened to have a laminate coating.) When the gentleman at the Salvation Army told me he couldn't let me throw it in their dumpster, I asked if he knew where the city's bulk trash facility was.

Off I went. While in transit, I called my helpful friend Emily who Googled the city's trash facilities and found that none of them wanted my television.

So, donating was a bust. Trash was a bust. Riding around with it on my passenger's seat was not an option. So I did something I'm not proud of. I drove back uptown, less than a mile from my house, less than a mile from the Goodwill that rejected me, and went to my old apartment complex. There, I stopped in front of the dumpster and unloaded my unwanted TV. I don't feel great about it. I'm waiting for someone to run the license plate on my car so the city can send me a fine.

In the heat of the moment, I wasn't thinking about Freecycle. And I've since learned there is another city facility for hazardous trash that would've taken the TV. All I can hope is that it finds its way from the apartment dumpster to that facility and that the harm I did is outweighed by my attempts to do good.

Hail to the Chief

Last night I had the opportunity to hear former President Bill Clinton offer a lecture. Here are some of my reflections:
--instead of the charismatic, "swaggery" guy I remember from the '90s, he was a laid-back Southern gentleman
--he is really, REALLY smart. His ideas for how we could create jobs and get out of the recession made a lot of sense. Some of the other things he said were so far out of my league, I glazed over.
--he has long fingers
--people still love him. From the dude who yelled, "We love you, Bill!" in the crowd to a co-worker of mine who threatened to run off with him if the chance presented itself--he is still a favorite. I guess there's a statute of limitations on sleaze.

I don't think much about politics, and I especially don't think much about the recent political past. But I have always been fascinated by the presidency. Presidents can be such polarizing figures, but love them or hate them, their job is extremely hard. As I listened to Bill Clinton speaking, I was struck by how much he must love this country to sacrifice any sense of normalcy in exchange for being its Chief.

Listening to President Clinton speak was like a trip in a time machine back to the 90's. I remembered all the Lewinsky jokes (I even emailed a friend about wearing a Gap dress to the lecture). I remembered how much money I made at my first teaching job. I remembered a bizarre day in 1992 when my friend Nicole and I went door-to-door with Clinton/Gore campaign flyers--and were abandoned by the other campaign workers and had to take a bus back to the headquarters downtown.

Now I will remember a rainy night in North Carolina when I was in the same room as a US President. It was a large room, but still...