Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

For one of the first times in a long, long time, I sat down on my couch, turned off the room lights, and watched a movie from beginning to end. Something about “the anxiety of impendingness” makes this kind of settling very difficult for me.

I had been wanting to see Stranger Than Fiction for a long while, but the reviews I had read and heard via word of mouth were only so-so. Shannon loaned it to me and said that it was “cute” and “not too heavy.” For me, this was so much more. I don’t know why, but it really spoke to me. I thought it was a beautiful story, the kind of magical realism I really love; plus, perfectly cast with a minute focus to detail that I found so lovely, in a sort of Amelie kind of way. The OCD/mathiness of the main character’s world is depicted in golden sections and formulas popping up whenever he brushed his teeth or took a step. As his fairly cardboard character becomes more human, these numerical graphics dropped out, paralleling his emotional metamorphosis. So many wonderful things I could talk about: the change in Emma Thompson’s character when she meets her main character face to face is so powerful; the scenes in the bakery; on the bus; at the university… So many wonderful things. I knew right away that the music was Britt Daniel from Spoon (a band I love and intend/expect to love even more). Perhaps this quirk was specifically the right quirk to interface with what I needed this night, at this time in my life.

Thanks, Shannon, for the loaner. And also thanks for the soft foods you brought over for my ouchy post-root canal jaw. Lately, you and Brian just win!

My mom keeps asking if anyone else took pictures of me in my tiara, and yes… I must admit, I’ve been carrying this thing around since I finished my test on Thursday. You know… just in case! This particular tiara moment was captured by Logiblue (aka Oliver, aka Robbo, aka Robb or Rob… take your pick!)

I highly recommend checking out all of his pictures though. He’s one of my favorites on Flickr and has a real knack for making images look cinematic, despite his recent insistence that he is “losing his cinematic mojo”.

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Everyone likes a tiara (Oliver, Josh, and Alice):

Reminder to self: Life is directed by forces and events I may not understand or even be aware of. Chance occurrences often manage to alter even the most structured of lives. While life can be unpredictable, the outcome is always change; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. My path through life is never a ride down a perfectly straight highway. Sometimes, I may even experience hairpin turns or complete reversals of direction. Despite my plans, “the Universe” has its own agenda from which I cannot escape participation.

Can you tell I added the Tarot application on Facebook?! I’m not a believer in the mystical magic of Tarot, but I do love the wisdom of the individual cards. When I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life (separation and divorce), I found it very centering to compare my current thinking and emotions to the symbolism found in the cards or card spreads. Even when it was wrong, it was helpful (“No, that’s not quite right. It’s more like this.”). This particular bit of wisdom has been brought to you by the letter F. No, that’s not it. It was actually brought to you by the Wheel of Fortune card.

Now that my test is over, I’m living the lush life.

Thanks, DefMo, for the technical skill and artistry.

Saw The Mountain Goats for the second time last night. And by “The Mountain Goats”, I mean John Darnielle and his guitar. Amusingly, though, he did walk out on stage alone and say, “Hi, we’re The Mountain Goats.” It was a great show. He played a lot of really old songs, many I didn’t know. So of course today, I’m going to have to look into his back catalog much more carefully! There were some real gems. I think he was kicking himself for some prior heavy-dabbling in alternate tunings. Without a guitar tech at the ready, it meant he had to recall and implement these on the spot. And some were ones he hadn’t done in a while, so recalling just how they went wasn’t exactly effortless.

The crowd didn’t mind, though. They love their John. Although, if you ask me, I’d say they were pretty darn demanding, yelling and screaming requests after every song. I guess that’s what you get with such a large repertoire, and a ton of renegade MP3’s of live performances all over the internets. He responded to one guy’s constant LOUD requests for some obscure number by explaining that he barely remembered the song at all. Some guy on some radio station played it for him, it sounded vaguely familiar… He acknowledged that it was, in fact, one of his children, but knew little more about it than that. This response did not dissuade his audience though. The yells continued all the way through to the end.

What a charismatic and genuine performer. His lyrics are honest and specific and always manage to evoke something so salient for me (and clearly the rest of his fans). He uses his voice in the most unique way to express what he’s saying. He’s a storyteller. If you have the chance, don’t you dare miss him.

There’s a relatively popular song of his that I woke up singing to myself this morning. It seems fitting, given that this is the morning after my big exam. I do feel that I “woke up new” today. It’s about a breakup, but you’ll see how it might (and in fact does) fit my current state of mind:

On the morning when I woke up without you for the first time
I felt free and I felt lonely and I felt scared
And I began to talk to myself almost immediately
Not being used to being the only person there

Wanna hear what I’m talking about? Listen to some tunes stream on Hype Machine. (Hope that works.)