About
Find Me
Facebook
Flickr
GoodReads
Last.FM
Lawrence.com
LinkedIn
MySpace
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Following
I’ve already posted this photo once on here:
That’s from my grandma’s after funeral party (because she was big into parties). Anyway, Sandra Bullock was on Jay Leno last week and spent a large segment talking about MeeMaw (her Aunt Luddy) and White Trash. Here’s the clip.
I just got back from seeing the movie “Precious.”
Do not go see this movie if you are wanting to feel good. It is a depressing movie, and even though it ends on a semi-positive note, you have to wade through poverty, sexual abuse, incest, emotional abuse and the fucked-up system (wait, why are you going to kick someone out of school for being pregnant?) to get to that note.
All of the actors that you know (Sheri Shepard, Mariah Carey and a very, very attractive Lenny Kravitz) are dressed down and not glamorous at all. I have a lot of respect for big stars who are okay with not being the star; I can’t imagine Madonna being in a movie where she is a minor role and doesn’t wear any make-up. I know they’re doing it for the critical accolades, but still…I appreciate it. Paula Patton as the teacher Blu Rain is pretty outstanding and I look forward to her star rising.
Of course, there is Gabourey Sidibe as Precious, who does just an outstanding job. I’ve been sort of obsessed with her after reading this article. She says, “People look at me and don’t expect much. I expect a lot.” I just have a lot of respect for her and admire her confidence.
And Mo’Nique….wow. I have loved her since I first saw her on The Parkers and even enjoyed her in…ahem… Charm School on Vh1. I just wasn’t sure she had it in her to play such a serious role. But, wow. There is a scene where she is talking to Mariah Carey (a social worker) about the abuse in her home and it is just ridiculous. Her justifying the abuse and explaining it and you KNOW she believes every word she says. She’s just incredible. If she doesn’t win the Academy Award, it would be a travesty.
One more thing, the review from Slant was incredibly negative and had this to say:
“One for the Stuff White People Like canon, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is an impeccably acted piece of trash—an exploitation film that shamelessly strokes its audience’s sense of righteous indignation. “Your tongue hasn’t clucked this hard since Crash,” the tagline for the film may as well read, and the proof is in the pudding, or, rather, the hairy pigs feet Precious whips up for her sick-as-fuck mother… You watch this lurid pageantry of misery with mouth agape, mostly because Daniels solicits his audience’s guilt without rousing their consciousness.”
Another review I read called it a sociological horror show, saying that it reinforces every black stereotype imaginable.
First of all, this is Harlem in 1987. These people are real, and I think anyone who has been educated on this period of history (or maybe just educated in general) knows this. There’s a line where Mo’Nique is talking about AIDS and says that she knows she doesn’t have it because she and [another character with AIDS], “never did it up the ass, so I know.” That was just incredibly shocking, for even a subtle line, but you know so many people thought that way and had so many misconceptions about a very real health crisis. And even if you have the black mother who is obsessed with her man and a black father who is sexually abusive (I guess that’s stereotypical? That’s what a reviewer says), you also have a black woman who is a teacher and is making a difference in people’s lives and a black teenager who has chosen not to give up.
Secondly, I think Daniels does successfully rouse people’s consciousness and I still don’t think the Daniels’s focus is on soliciting white guilt. There are not any white people (well, not really) in the movie at all. There are no white villains, there are no white heroes. White people really don’t have anything to do with this story. Sure, you can argue that a white system put this family and other family’s like it in their situation but I don’t think that was the point. I think his focus was to tell this woman’s story, to raise awareness and also to give you a character to admire (someone who has gone through the worst of the worst, and still has some hope). I know that I even left wanting to be a teacher, I was so moved by Blu Rain and how much she cared for her students. I think the reviewers who keep focusing on white guilt are missing the point.
(and really, what is wrong with white liberal guilt? Should I not appreciate “black movies” or “black culture” as a white person? Would you rather me be a racist? I know that I’m being selfish in asking these things but I would actually like to know. How do you have concern and interest in a big part of America’s history and culture without it being written off as “stuff white people like” or something like that?)
Anyway, I suggest you see it if you want to see a pretty depressing movie. I know that there are a lot of people who see movies as entertainment and this is definitely not entertaining. It’s very uncomfortable to watch, but I think it’s worth it.
I swore back in August (or was it September?) that I wouldn’t make this blog about my dead grandmother.
Well…tough. One more post. You can take it.
Today, I was scrolling down my cell’s phonebook to retrieve Mark’s number for a vendor when I came across this: “MeeMaw- 205-980-3493.”
Not the first time I’ve seen it since August 10th. It gives me chills every time I see it. And yet, I can’t bring myself to delete it.
That number hasn’t even worked for her since she moved into her “assisted living facility” well over a year ago (she was a popular woman, so I often wonder about the poor soul who has this number now and probably also has this line on his or her answering machine: “And if you’re looking for Luddy/Mary Lou, SHE’S NOT HERE!”). The other number I have for her is written down on a piece of paper with her name crossed out, BUS (my step-grandpa’s name) written in its place, and sits on my chest of drawers. I look at it every now and then and say, “DAMMIT I have to call him!” (I am a terrible person and haven’t called him since August. Thinking about it makes me cry.)
But I can’t delete this number. And so it will sit. Sit in my phonebook until I lose or destroy my SIM Card.
Or maybe when I realize that having her old number in my phonebook is not going to bring her back.
From Antichrist, which I wanted to see but probably won’t anytime soon…
On Sunday, I had hangover brunch (which included a Matilda or two and bacon and chocolate pancakes [WHAT?!]) at Chaise Lounge with some lady (and gentleman) friends. Between hangover brunch and Mad Men, I took a little nap.
Of course, during said nap, I kicked my laptop off of my bed and its adapter jack broke and slipped back into my computer.
Mreh.
And now I have to replace the motherboard to my Dell Inspiron whatever whatever and be without a computer for approximately two weeks. Fortunately (I guess) I’m paying less than $300 to get it fixed. But still, two weeks without a computer…help.
I’m on borrowed time (really, borrowed computer) so here are some quick updates:
I think that’s all. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have a brand new motherboard (that sounds like something Buster would like) and I’ll stop with the lazy updates.
I am currently in a long distance relationship from Chicago to Kansas City that has lasted close to seven months.
I guess I don’t talk about it very often on here because, well, I’d like for it to last and I just want to keep it private. As much as I enjoy this relationship and as much as I’ve learned and grown in the past seven months, it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I think it is completely worth it but it sucks a lot and there are a lot of days when he wants to drop out of school and move here or I want to quit my job and move there. The good news is there aren’t a lot of days that we want to give up on it.
The only reason that I mention it is because of the conversation I had yesterday:
Person: What’d you do for Halloween?
Self: [relay occurrences of the evening]
Person: Did you talk to any cute boys?
Self: Why would I talk to cute boys? I’m dating someone.
Person: Well….I guess? I mean, how long are you REEEEALLY expecting that to last?
Normally, I would brush this off but SERIOUSLY this “Person” is the sixth with whom I’ve had this conversation (or similar). I know that I’m an overly sensitive person but I am starting to get really frustrated. Thankfully, most of my friends and family have been extremely supportive and I really appreciate it. I just want everyone to know that we’re both in this for the long haul and being in an LDR (as a few of my friends know) is difficult enough without a snide remark like the one above.
Thank you for your support, whether loud or quiet.
I feel a little obnoxious now, so I’m going to hide. That’s all I will (hopefully) say on the matter. Thanks for tolerating my mini-rant.
Spoiler alert: Stay away from this review if you don’t want minor spoilers.
If you don’t know by now, I’m a big fan of scary movies. Everything from Halloween to Psycho to Session 9 to the Orphanage…I love it all. I was super excited to see Paranormal Activity when I heard about it. I am a big (and apparently only one of a few) fan of Blair Witch Project and was ready to see a movie made in a similar vein.
You meet Katie and Micah, a couple living in San Diego, California. First of all, I need to meet a sugar daddy day trader because their house is AWESOME! Anyway, Katie has had these unexplainable occurrences happen off and on since she was eight years old. She’ll hear people talking to her, feel a strange presence in the room and find her belongings moved around. After moving into a house with Micah, these occurrences become more regular and even worse.
Now, this had the potential of being scary movie. The problem is, I didn’t care AT ALL about the characters. If I had been haunted for thirteen years of my life, I wouldn’t act as nonchalant about the hauntings or joke the way Katie does. This didn’t seem like a defense mechanism; instead, it seemed like the product of bad writing and acting. She never really convinced me that she was that scared; if anything, I felt that she was more irritated or just tired. After a while, she got on my nerves. I remember people complaining about Heather from Blair Witch Project being annoying and becoming a character that you almost hope to see dead. But Heather was at least a good actress! She seemed panicked. She was mildly annoying because she was anxious and confused and didn’t know what to do. Katie just seemed bratty and irritated. Her scenes with her friend visiting the house and her scenes with the psychic were not believable at all. Micah, while occasionally funny, didn’t convince me that he genuinely cared at all about what was happening until the last fifteen minutes of the movie.
The “hauntings” are predictable as the timestamp of the camera slows down when they are about to occur. I don’t really know how else the movie could work, but it really decreased the tension in the movie since you can expect something to happen. Only one occurrence is even moderately scary, but the rest didn’t disturb or creep me out at all. Several attempts to scare people were just things popping out at the camera which, to me, is more annoying than scary. There were also some holes in the plot (“Goodbye, Diane”) that were never explained.
Overall, I was bored and felt like the movie was way too long (even though it was only 90 minutes!) and had failed to capture my attention. By the end, I had drifted off to sleep (which never, ever happens) and only happened to catch the conclusion because screams in the theatre woke me up. The conclusion was completely expected and lazy, in my opinion, and actually made me giggle.
I appreciate that this movie had a small budget but I just felt like it was a huge letdown. I had heard great things about this movie and was very disappointed. Blair Witch Project was scary and tense and made you feel trapped, even though they were out in the open woods. Paranormal Activity was boring and predictable.
As many of you know, Halloween is my favorite holiday. And the best part of it, to me, is making/developing my own costume.
Last year I was the Log Lady. While I was satisfied with my costume, I had such a horrible night that I really felt that it was a letdown. I was planning to be Log Lady again this year, but Green City Market is having a Halloween Kids Party on Halloween and I didn’t feel like explaining the plot of Twin Peaks to a bunch of six-year-olds.
So this year I’m going to be…..A SHARK!
I have a grey hooded sweatshirt and I’m going to line the hood with white felt teeth. I’ll either sew buttons or HUGE ASS GOOGLY EYES to the hood and also somehow add a fin (thinking cardboard + grey felt + ribbon…haven’t quite decided). I’ll wear grey gloves and grey boots. I haven’t quite decided if I should do anything else or paint my face, so please let me know if you have any suggestions. I’ll, of course, post pictures when I finish.
What are you going to be for Halloween?
P.S.: Here are a few costumes I’ve had in the past:
(The peacock costume was a BITCH to make but it’s my favorite)
(yes, for those keeping count. Brooke has been Frida Kahlo for at least two years)
(coordinating this was a total, lazy accident)
(also lazy)
I started writing a post about another thing that I’m not very good at doing and then realized that that subject (I=FAIL) is a major trend on this blog. It made me feel really bad, so I erased it and decided to start over.
Instead of that business, I’m going to call forth step two of TGP— maintain a positive attitude about life— and only post five things that I like myself (I swear I saw this on someone else’s blog somewhere at some point and I wish I could cite it….). Yikes.
Here’s my little self-worth exercise:
(Six, I like how difficult this was for me to write and seven, I like how much better I feel after writing it)
As most of you know, I’m a horrible cook. Really, very terrible. I never had interest in cooking and then once I started to cook for myself, I couldn’t pay attention long enough to cook a decent…anything. I hesitate to spend the money to purchase ingredients “to waste” on a meal I’ve already resolved to destroy. What sucks about this the most is that I (sort of) work in the food industry and constantly hear about people making these amazing concoctions (today was Dave’s pasta with braised elk something-or-another) and knowing that I “can’t” make these items myself. Oh, the other thing that sucks is that I’m an adult and need to stop being such a baby.
One of the bloggers I follow recently instituted “The Grand Plan” and has been following her TGP to a tee. Inspired by her, I’ve developed my own TGP (which I guess I should discuss later) and one of the steps is actually, legitimately making an attempt to learn to cook. (This may have also been inspired by the movie Julie and Julia…)
So far I have:
If anyone has any tips or recipes, please send them my way. I suppose I should start with easy recipes for the cooking impaired, so keep that in mind. No Roast Duck for me!
![thedailywhat:
Literal Rick Roll, FTW.
[via.]](http://22.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr42d2cMf81qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Literal Rick Roll, FTW.
[via.]
