2010 New Years Resolutions.

     I usually don’t make New Years Resolutions, but at the start of this new year several things are on my mind, so here goes.

1.  Go out more/Become more social

2.  Creative Writing Discipline - I have ideas for  books, this year I want to spend some time actually working on at least one.  I don’t necessarily have to finish a book, just as long as I actually spend some quality time working on one.  Also, I have this blog but haven’t actually written in it on a regular schedule, that is something that i want to do.

3.  Get in shape/Bulk Up  – For anyone who actually knows me I think this is self-explanatory, I’m scrawny!

4.  Photography – I bought a nice camera a few months back, I want to get out there and use it.

5.  Save Money.

So there ya go, World here I come!

An unexpected day

Today was the 8th anniversary of the worst day of my life.  8 years ago my then fiance made a suicide attempt after we had a fight, and if it hadn’t been for me checking up on her to make sure that she was ok, she would have succeeded.  Her doctors told me that she would probably suffer from depression for the rest of her life.  I told her that I loved her, but couldn’t go the rest of my life wondering if every time we had a fight if she was going to try to kill herself.    That was the end of our relationship, and that incident haunts me still today.

Usually Sept 30 is a very depressing day, but today I awoke with the resolve that I was going to make it a great day! 

I left for work earlier than I usually do because I was going to walk some people into Disneyland with my cast member I.D.  So I get to where I am going to meet them and as I have had 2 bottles of water to drink recently I had to use the restroom really bad!  So I walked into the bathroom beside guest relations on the California Adventure side of Disneyland, I walk up to the urinal and start  to do my business when a Plaid cast member taps me on the shoulder and says, “You can’t use this restroom in costume because you are on-stage.”   Ok, sure maybe I made a small infraction of the rules, but it was an emergency, and I really didn’t appreciate him informing me of this while I was using the restroom.  I mean wouldn’t common decency have told him to wait until I was finished, and then called me aside?  So this disturbed me a little, but I was determined not to ruin my positive attitude.

So Today my work location was Jungle Cruise, and I had just got the boat back to the dock  from a trip around the jungle.  There was a family on the dock side of the boat; a mom, dad and two small boys. One of the boys was probably 3  or 4 and the older one was probably 6 or 7.  At the very end of my spiel the younger child handed me what I though at the time was a business card.  I took it and said with a curious smile, “What’s this?”   The mom said to the boy, “What do you say?”  to which the boy said, “Thank you.”  I looked at the card and the background was an Australian flag and the foreground said, “Thank you for bringing some extra sparkle to our holiday!”  On the bottom left corner it has their name and what city they are from and the date.  The bottom right corner has a drawing of a koala bear sitting in a tree.

This was such a small gesture, but it touched me none-the-less.  They had taken the time to make this card just for me, of course they didn’t know it at the time.  And for me to receive this card on the day that I need the most encouragement!

After I got off work I went to an Angels post-season game against the Texas Rangers.  It was a short game (2 hours and 19 minutes.)  but fun!  And the Angels won so that made it all the more better.  Over all a long day, but a good one!

Movie Review : (500)Days of Summer.

Movie Review : (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

 

Tag lines :      Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.

                      This is not a love story. It is a story about love.

 

     The story, told in a series of alternating flashbacks/forwards tells of how Tom Hansen a greeting card writer meets and falls in love with Summer Finn a new administrative assistant at his firm. As a few co-workers get together at a karoke bar it seems that Summer returns his affection. There’s only one problem, Summer doesn’t believe in love. Against his better judgement he starts a whirlwind romance with her, but on her insistence they just keep it casual.

     The movie starts with the writer’s disclaimer that the characters in this movie are not based on any real people, and when you see this you think, “ok that’s weird”! But they add a little twist to the disclaimer which is humourous, and sheds a minor light on the events toward the end of the movie. The movie is brilliantly told by the aforementioned alternating flashbacks/forwards ranging from the wonderful day 1 in which they meet and the depressing day around 350 or so I which she breaks up with him, and beyond that until we see day 500. The story also goes beyond the break up and shows him as he tries to move on from her or tries to win her back. One scene is a flashback to the beginning of the “relationship” in which Tom states some characteristics of Summer that he absolutely adores, then we have a flash forward that is a mirror image of the previous one in which he states that he hates those very same characteristics. Scenes like this and many more besides showcase Tom’s bleak depreciating humor and self-worth. Throughout the movie Tom gets advice from his friends, and also his mentor on all things love related, his 12 year old sister.

     Another reviewer wrote, “…Both crushing and hopeful, like life.” And never has that been more true than with this movie! I thought that on screen chemistry between Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer) was fabulous and had read in an interview with Joseph that to help him fall in love her everyday before taping would listen to Zooey’s album. He said, “with listening to a girl with her voice sing how can you not fall in love with her?” For him it seems to have worked, because you can really see the love he has for her and later the heart break that he feels. Zooey is as usual beautiful, and mesmerizing, often wearing blue outfits throughout the movie that highlight her magnificent blue eyes.

    I usually don’t notice a movie’s soundtrack, but the music in this movie really caught my attention, and was used well.

     The movie, while enjoyable, had two elements that I personally found distracting. The first one and I am sure that it was just me and very few other people noticed, was the fact that at certain times Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked a lot like Heath Ledger, mostly it was his smirk, or when he would arch an eyebrow. The other was a scene that takes place in the beginning of the relationship in which everyone walking down the street suddenly burst into song and dance, and a cartoon blue bird joins in as well. Yes, I know that often when you are in a new relationship everything is bright and well with the world and yes you feel like singing and dancing, but it took me out of the movie immediately, especially the cartoon bird interacting with a very real life Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Those were the only 2 things that I disliked about the movie, and yes, I know that I am probably nit-picking.

    Although it is a good movie, and I think that you should go see it, I don’t recommend it as a date movie. Especially if your in a new relationship or an old one that is on rocky ground. 

So in short, I recommend the movie, giving it 4 out of 5 stars.