Life is different
I’m starting to really like my new job. My boss is very cool and slightly hot. We got a Wii Fit and it’s AWESOME. We got to see Barack Obama in PERSON at the rally in Sunrise. My kid can say “Obama!” 
Yay.
I love Juno
I don’t care if I’m just like everyone else. There’s a reason why the movie is so beloved. Diablo Cody and Ellen Paige are amazing. So are all the other actors. It’s very rare to see a “teen movie” (ugh) that shows real relationships between teenagers: the ones that are not catty and bitchy, but supportive and sweet. The friendship between Juno and Leah was wonderful. I also really loved how great Juno’s parents were.
Sigh. love it.
The Kite Runner
The book was almost sacred for me. It was beautiful, heartbreaking and moved me to tears. It’s very hard for me to watch movies based on books that I loved as much as this one. You wonder if the film version will ruin what the book has come to mean to you. Not in this case. The film was a perfect rendering of the book. They could not have picked more talented actors. They brought those characters to life. Wonderful.
ESCAPING THE BEAST!
You heard it right, folks! I’m FINALLY getting outta retail! After seven looooooooong years, almost four of them spent toiling away for the worst boss I’ve ever had: the condescending, passive aggressive, domineering, fake and tyrannical Miriam.
Better than that, I got a WRITING job. Whooooo! It pays quite a bit more and the company is great.
I have compiled a list of the reasons why I’m SO elated to be leaving retail behind:
10. I don’t give a shit if you steal. Go ahead. I am not responsible for theft anymore and trying to keep an eye on your shifty ass.
9. I can actually ENJOY the holidays. Ya know, like Christmas? I don’t have to worry about…daaah-dah-dah-dahhhh…..BLACK FRIDAY!
8. I will not see a single spoiled brat child all day at my new job. Not one.
7. I will not have to have people throw money at me over the counter, leave their coffee cups all over my department, snap at me to get my attention, bring their fucking dogs into the store, yell “IS THERE ANYONE WORKING IN HERE?!!?” when I’m standing two feet from them, and on and on and on…
6. I do not have to answer the phone and deal with the general public.
5. I don’t have to stay in the store until all hours of the night because a certain bitch manager has to have a PERFECT recovery. BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES!!
4. No Miriam.
3. No Miriam.
2. No Miriam.
1. N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o MIRIAM! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Maybe my next boss will know how to treat people. Here’s hoping.
Van Halen, I really miss you…
I just finished Valerie Bertinelli’s autobiography. It was excellent. I can relate to her as an overweight woman, and she is funny and honest and I must say, a talented writer. An unforseen side effect of reading the book was a resurgence of my old die-hard love for Van Halen. Specifically, Eddie Van Halen. Man alive, I used to worship the ground that guy walked on. Van Halen reminds me of the very best parts of high school. I associate every song with a good memory. I got hooked on them after For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out. A guy I was crushing on LOVED VH and I started to take a listen. To be ultra cheesy, Love Walked In. I was smitten. I had always liked the song, “Jump,” but “Right Now” was my ultimate feel-good anthem. Great song, phenomenal video. When all the problems cropped up with Eddie and his drugs and alcohol, it made me so sad. The guy has this massive talent and he’s just throwing it all away to cater to his demons. Now, I am not an addict, so I don’t fully understand what that’s like. But I know a waste when I see one. Eddie used to be this slightly-snaggle-toothed-muscular-larger-than-life-sweet-smiling-rock-god. Now he’s small and wasted and grey and falling apart. All the hard living made my beautiful Eddie grow old before his time. sigh. I will always adore Van Halen, but I wish I would have seen them live with Sammy before Ed really fell apart. I missed my chance. I cried like an idiot when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. I cried because I miss the band. There will be other music, other bands, other guitarists, but there will only ever be one Eddie Van Halen. At the rate he’s going, I’m really scared that our one Eddie Van Halen won’t be around much longer. :-(
Dan In Real Life
Wow. I feel like I hit the pop culture jackpot in the last two weeks. First, I get one of the best albums I’ve purchased in a while, Vampire Weekend. THEN, I see one of the best, most genuine, funny, heart-wrenching, real films I’ve seen in AGES, Dan In Real Life. Lately it seems like it takes a lot to impress me. I don’t fall for movies like I used to. This one, I fell for. HARD. The plot is simple in the best way, but the acting was achingly perfect. Steve Carell…. What can I say? I knew he had it in him, but I didn’t know he had it in him. He gave such a moving performance. He was so real and so flawed. I must purchase.
Heath Ledger
Wow. It’s Kurt Cobain all over again. I was just a kid when Cobain died, but it deeply affected me. Back then, the sight of his feet on the floor of his Seattle home twisted my teenage brain inside out. Now it’s the sight of Ledger’s body being carried out in a black body bag. My heart hurts with the thought that inside that bag was such a young man with so much promise. Here we are, about fifteen years later, and I find myself in a funk all over again. Yeah, I didn’t know Heath Ledger. But the tragedy of it brings tears to my eyes and a sinking feeling in my chest. Just like Cobain, Ledger had so much potential. And so many demons, apparently. I don’t know why I feel so hurt, but I think it has everything to do with Matilda. I feel terrible for her. I feel such a huge sense of loss. I know how I feel about my little girl, and how close she is with my husband, and my heart is broken for Matilda. She’ll never get to really know her daddy. In this world where we grow up thinking we know celebrities, the flip side of that sense of familiarity is that when something like this happens, it really hurts. I’m really sorry, Matilda. :-( And to Heath, I hope you find peace.
I heart Louis XIV
Went to the Louis XIV show at the Culture Room last week. LOVE the boys. Hung out on the tour bus, brought them some homemade cookies. I’ve known the band for a very long time, and without exception, they have always been so sweet. Brian is one of my favorite people ever. It was a giddy thrill to hear him call out as he stepped out the back door at the club, “Where’s my friend Amy?!” They welcomed Matt and I with open arms and we got to spend some time with them. It wasn’t the first time we had hung out with them, but it was the first time on the tour bus and and the longest period of time we have ever shot the shit with Brian. Plus, OK, I have a Louis XIV tattoo, and it made me really happy to be able to show it to the guys for the first time. :-D Jason told me that another guy has an LXIV tat, but I was the original. I am promised free tickets for life. So far, that promise has been kept. Love the guys. Now, if I could only somehow match this awesome friendship I have with Brian with Trent Reznor, I would be all set. Someday.
