Why it is your womanly duty to go see The Women

I know we are all aflutter about this Friday's release of the Coen Brothers new sure-to-be-a-hit movie Burn After Reading. However, I'd like to give you another reason to go to the cinema this weekend–your feminist duty. Though the previews give you no hint of this, there is something very special about The Women. This movie boasts an all-female cast, literally. Not a single Y-chromosome appears on screen for the entire one hour and fifty-four minutes. As I'm sure you realize, this is quite a feat.

The Women is a remake of the 1939 film based on the 1936 play by Clare Booth Luce. An intimate examination of women's relationships, the original was penned with much disdain for the pampered lives of society women. I can only hope that this update truly is refreshed from a modern (or perhaps post-modern) perspective. I can definitely appreciate how an almost universal experience, like the two-timing husband, can serve as a pivotal moment to illuminate the many strengths and weaknesses of female friendships. If handled without sensitivity though, it could come across as an extended cat fight, a dramatized stereotype claiming that women's lives revolve around men.

Dianne English (writer/director/producer) has been trying to get this movie done for most of the nineties. The studio is probably thinking that now may be the perfect time for a release such as this. Coming off the great success of the Sex and the City full-length feature as well as Mamma Mia, movies for women don't seem as silly anymore, do they? However, The Women runs the risk of losing its impact, giving off the appearance that it is simply jumping on the bandwagon. And without a genuine, compelling campaign to support it, I'm worried The Women may get lost in the shuffle. The ads scream out to us, pleading "Get your friends together to celebrate...The Women." It almost comes across as desperate, which is why I am here now, pleading to you. Do get some friends together. Do go see The Women. You can even go with me if you're in the Chicago area. Then tell me what you think. After all, sexism is a hot topic right now. I believe it is our duty to remain a part of the conversation.

The Whirlwind Adventures of the Whimsical Trio

I'm a horrible blogger. It's been over 3 months. You could blame it on the weather. It's this deadening force that sucks you up into a cyclone of scarves and wool and throws you into hibernation. Friendships, grocery shopping, dating-- all become impossible. All that is possible is Netflix and delivery Thai food. The writers' strike certainly didn't help things. And all the shitty movies in February and March. Battlestar waits just until it is pleasant enough for me to want to go outside to start the final season. But, as far as I can tell, there is nothing more exhilarating than the hint of Spring on the horizon after 5 months of peeking out from under my toboggan. When the sun is out, the city feels like one big smile. The lonely crowd finds a common cause, a shared joy. Winter itself seems to be something you suffer alone, but Spring is a cause for celebration, an excuse for human contact.

I made it to Vegas in January again this year to spend a week with family and slot machines. I thought this would be enough of a winter escape. I was quite wrong and by March I found myself on Southwest and American Airlines everyday searching for someplace, anyplace that I could run off to. Just for a weekend. Get a quick dose of Vitamin D then back to the city. I was becoming obsessed. Finally the pressure cracked and I booked a flight to Fayetteville for Easter weekend, to see my ladies (and a few gentlemen I am fond of). I had a glorious time and celebrated the Sun (on the weekend of the Son) with games of frisbee and washers. Two days later my mother and brother came to Chicago for a visit, which was also great even if cold and windy.

Then circumstances grabbed hold and I found myself in need of an emergency visit to Savannah, Georgia. Lily and .beth. were both accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design (for M.F.A.s in Painting and Illustration respectively). And the decision had to be made before May 1st, when the deposits are due. So I spent M,T,W of last week in Savannah with the girls and Jonathan. Savannah is so Old South, dreamy and beautiful. We had a great time. But Lily was also accepted to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and she traveled to the great cold North immediately after Georgia. I went back to Chicago for 24 hours then took a night bus to Minneapolis to meet her and visit our good friend Adam. While we were there, we visited 2 museums, saw two plays, and one jazz concert. The people at the school were so helpful and I feel like we really have all the information we need now. I have a feeling Lily will wake in the middle of the nite soon with a decision she reached unconsciously. I trust her subconscious though. It knows what she needs.

Saturday nite I took another bus back to Chicago, caught a three hour nap, then made it to Doug's play Visions of Kerouac, in which he played Jack himself. I was really proud of him. It was the best thing he has ever done.

Now, I'm over-cultured and over-traveled and ready to stay put in my city as the sun comes up. I might even buy groceries this week.

Archies 2007: Top o' the World

In an effort to perpetuate a new tradition cooked up by a respected former professor, I am compiling my list for the 2007 Archies, a list of the top things (however many) in your world for the year of 2007.
The Archies: The Top 45 Things In The World, 2007

45. Human Weapon
44. Boots
43. August: Osage County
42. Raspberry Lattes
41. The Quote Couch, and all those weekends I spent on it at Andi's while adjusting to being graduated
40. Friends who cook me Thanksgiving Dinner
39. Fluffy Snow
38. 500 Clown
37. Grey's Anatomy
36. Free admission at the MCA
35. Thai Food
34. Southwest Rapid Rewards
33. Olympic Sculpture Park
32. Tim Hawkinson
31. Dark Chocolate and Red Wine
30. Battlestar Gallactica
29. DVR
28. Visitors and Visiting
27. Lunch with my Ladies
26. Michael Cera
25. Arguing with Douglas
24. Online Shoe Shopping
23. Chicago Card
22. Las Vegas
21. Las Vegas (I went twice. Going again in a couple of weeks.)20. Denver Art Museum
19. Zipcar
18. Helvetica: The Movie17. Trade Gothic (The Font Family)
16. The Field Museum
15. Dance Parties
14. Packages
13. Google Maps
12. Sweeney Todd
11. Frozen Yogurt
10. Christmas Trees
9. Health Insurance
8. Gainful Employment
7. Fabulous New Albums (Tori Amos, Rilo Kiley, Kanye West)
6. The Sparrow
5. Ingrid Michaelson
4. Juno
3. Harry Potter
2. iPhone
1. The 10,000+ miles of Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Canada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Oklahoma that Lily and I (and sometimes Jacob) traveled on the famed Road Trip of 07. Look for a new exotic destination to top this list next year, as the threesome's travels are never over.

A Letter From the Offended

Dear Drunk Gay Men in Bars,

Yes. My breasts are fabulous. No. You may not come into contact with them in any way. I realize that you are homosexual and derive no pleasure from such activities. However, your sexuality does not win you a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, rather it merely absolves you from facing a harsher form of justice. So think twice before complimenting me dexterously again, or I may be forced to return the compliment to your face.

Sincerely,

Hottie in the Blue Top

Long as there are stars above you

While filling out one of those "Awards of 2007" surveys on Myspace, I surprised myself with a memory. The question asked for High Point of 2007. I scrolled through the past year in my mind. I automatically considered the moment I was offered my job, then discarded it as too easy. Though I was quite giddy. There had to be something else in there. I've had a pretty great year. There have been definite lows, but nothing compared to how fortunate I have been. I've been to Vegas twice, drove for 10,000 miles with Lily exploring the West, moved to a big city in a strange land, got a new roommate, got an internship, got a job, got an iPhone. First year as a college graduate, first year of complete financial independence. And then I found it. This moment that I experienced in March on The Road Trip. I hadn't thought about it in a while, but it was a real showstopper.

Lily and I spent the week of my birthday in Los Angeles. From there, we drove to San Francisco along Highway 1, a winding stretch that hugs the coastal cliffs like a sexy tattoo snaking up the side of a woman's torso. The drive took about 12 hours. It was simultaneously calming, invigorating, and frightening. We saw a herd of zebras, were nearly blown over by the winds of sea lions passing gas, and teased catastrophe when we thought we were going to be stuck in the mountains without any gas of our own. But there was one moment when we just had to pull over to the side of the road. It was so beautiful. We stood on the cliffs, overlooking the Pacific. The waves were crashing up hundreds of feet below and the sun was setting. The speakers from the car played The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." With that repeating chorus, and those swelling waves, it was a perfect moment. We stood there silent, taking it all in. You see, not only was The Road Trip another adventure, it was a prolonged goodbye. A slow transition for Lily and I to cushion the blow. The reason I waited 5 months after graduation to move to Chicago. The only way it could have really been properly done.

God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows
God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows
God only knows what Id be without you
God only knows what Id be without you

One Laptop Per Child

Reverend Billy got you feeling down this holiday season for your consumerist ways? Put that guilt to work and make a real difference.

Please, check out One Laptop Per Child.

P.S. It's tax deductible.

Dreamweaver I believe you can get me through the nii-iight

Like Katie, I too enjoy making lists. Here's a simple one that ran through my head this morning as the coffee buzz set in and I fully defrosted from the commute.

Dream Careers (other than current pursuit, no particular order)

Rock Star.
I really love to sing, despite the fact that it slightly horrifies me to do so on stage. Senior year of high school, the Homecoming Queen asked me to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at the Homecoming assembly, in front of the entire population of McCrory. I obliged and did so with my eyes tightly shut the whole time, then hid backstage till it was safe to sneak back to where the band was sitting and vent my frustrations on a bass drum. There's a wholly different kind of soul bearing that goes along with singing compared to acting. I still dream though of somehow being discovered as the next Fiona or Blondie through no effort of my own. As a child I believed that the stereo speakers in the back window of the car were also microphones, which music industry execs installed. And I would sing towards the back of the car, believing they were listening and would someday swing by with a contract and a collaboration with Ace of Base.

Astronaut.
Though most girls haven't indulged in this fantasy, I imagine it is probably a common dream among youngsters. The unconquered, the undiscovered, the unimaginable. Astronauts are also the quintessential scientist rock stars. I missed out on Space Camp as a child and am still disappointed. For like fifteen seconds, I considered going to the Naval Academy to start my aeronautical career. When indulging in this fantasy, I leave out the fact that I have motion sickness.

Author.
Assigned to write a short story in 6th grade, I churned out a 35-page thriller handwritten on wide-ruled notebook paper. When we got our first computer, if I wasn't designing silly posters in Print Shop Deluxe, I was hammering out my story The Bellwitch, whose main character had black hair and purple eyes and wore a black miniskirt with a purple leotard. The climax of this story took place in a tornado.

Actress.
I've indulged in this one one too many times.

I know these seem like easy answers, but they're the absolute truth. Who really dreams of growing up to be an accountant anyway? Dreams shouldn't be practical. I'm sure you've got a few that you would like to share. I know we're all in creative fields, but one or two of my friends out there is bound to have dreamed of being a brain surgeon or something after mastering the game of Operation.

Make My Logo Bigger Cream

It just keeps getting better and better.

I'm far too intellectually vain to pass on this

Get a Cash Advance

Stole this from Tim, who himself stole from Donna.

Addendum: I feel the need to add to this after I have already posted it. Doesn't this just seem ridiculous? Genius, really? Seems like an exaggeration. Or some computer's automatic reaction to me often using words like "Addendum" for no good reason. The site says that it works on most facebook/myspace profiles as well as most websites. I checked it on a friend of mine's blog (who probably uses bigger words/more complex sentence structures than me) and it came back Elementary Level! NYTimes.com registered as junior high! But it's not like I'm gonna delete it. Remove my genius badge or something. That would be madness. Just a little full disclosure.

Going Green Goes Gastric

Sunshine - video powered by Metacafe

Tag. You're It.

My friend Sharon has tagged me. Here are the rules, which I edited for redundancy.

**People who get tagged write a blog containing 7 random facts/habits about themselves. At the end of your blog, you need to tag 7 people to do the same.**

RANDOM FACTS/HABITS

1. Being tagged, reminds me of the last memorable experience I had playing tag. I lived in Lake Village, AR from the ages of 5 to around 12. When I was finally moving away fo reals (there were some false alarms), my Aunt Vivian let me have a going away party at her dock house on the lake. The dock house was a real staple of my childhood, where most of my memories are situated. This party was boys allowed. (omg) The gender mixing wasn't too big of a deal for us. I often slept over at my best friend/boyfriend's house and we all generally just ran about barefoot and fancy free. However, that night it made for much shenanigans. We slept in the trailer, swam in the dark lake, and played on the dock. We also partook in games of truth or dare and Kiss Tag, a self-explanatory game of tag where you had to kiss the person that tagged you. Too bad this game isn't like that. My whole list of people to tag would have nothing to do with me wanting to hear what they had to say. Are there any games we play as adults that are so blatant in their intentions as truth or dare and kiss tag? Or are those sorts of games the adventures of deviants and swingers? Random parties where spin the bottle is vaguely enforced do not count.

2. If I could go back in time, I would like to be a suffragette. That is probably expected from me. I wave my feminist flag high. However, it is sincere. Human rights causes have always ignited me and I would have loved the opportunity to fight for an entire gender. I fight little battles now and then, but it would have been more empowering to wage that war. Plus, that would mean that David Bowie was singing about me. *swoon*

3. I have a secret tattoo. But is it really a secret if you have like 3 other ones and at least 7 people know about the secret one? After this blog, probably more like 10.

4. I suppose I should throw a habit or two in here. I habitually stop the microwave before the last second. It's like a game I play. I don't like to hear the bing. I let it count down to 1, then BAM! I pop that thing open.

5. Sometimes I think about some of the plays or musicals I have been in and cringe. I silently cringe to myself a lot when rehashing past embarrassments. However, I still have a secret desire to pursue some sort of a role in theatre. Seeing The Sparrow really brought that back in my head. I don't think that I am necessarily an actress, but I think that kind of creation would really satisfy a lot of different parts of me and is a logical step forward in some of the art that I have created before. This kind of potential makes me very excited to be young.

6. Unlike Sharon, quitting dance lessons was probably one of my best decisions. I do wish that karate would have worked out though. Douglas and I watch that Human Weapon show a lot on the History Channel. I like to think that I could have been a bad ass warrior. My trainer figured out that I like boxing, it tricks me into cardio. Stairmaster is just too obvious about it. Who really likes to climb imaginary stairs that go nowhere?

7. I hardly ever delete emails that are from real people. Gmail is so handy and searchable. But I also hate to have unread emails in my inbox. Last week though, I was very busy and I got behind. I had like over 60. (doesn't sound like much unless you consider that I keep my email up all day long and habitually check the screen. then add to that my work email) It kind of drove me nuts all day, all week. I still haven't gotten through them all. There are 9 left. And they've been pushed back a page or two in my inbox by now.

Was that random enough for you?

Now I have the power.

TAG: Katie (blog buddy omg), Philthy, .beth. (even though I know everything about you, you keep me wanting more), Lacy, Jacob, Val, Erin

BAM

I'm seriously disturbed.

Tell me this only airs in Europe.

No oil can needed.

I don't want to be a web designer, but things like this can still make me swoon.

Infinite Oz

Indeed

for DG

Balls, Paint, and Play-doh.

Oh, yes. I'm talking about Sony Bravia. Watch the three commercials here.

http://bravia.sony.eu

They're beautiful. Bethy, you should especially watch the play-doh one, even if it is possibly a rip-off of this painting.

Addendum: Michael is right. The website's nav system is reaching a little too far if even I can't catch on at once.

And something's gotta change, cause our love's the slowest moving train.

*I do not purport to offer the world any kind of unique insight with this blog. I just be a babbling. Here goes.

When I l o v e music, I listen to the album over and over and over again, usually as I sit at my computer working on something, or stewing on working on something. And singing. Always singing. It used to annoy Lily. Even if our bedrooms weren't adjacent, she would learn the whole album as I sang along nonstop for hours. "Michelle, you need some new music." I would get new, but then wear it out on repeat. I find that certain albums come to represent some sort of an emotional journey or period of time in my life. For example, 8th grade will always be associated with Fiona Apple's Tidal for me. I had just moved from Virginia to Arkansas, complete emotional turmoil, my first real boyfriend and I broke up, and I felt like an outcast at my tiny country school. Thank you, Fiona. She's helped me out a number of times. Her albums always seem to come out just when I need them. I got Extraordinary Machine in the Spring of my 4th year of college, right around the time when The Break Up happened. 6th grade- Alanis. Ooh puberty is so much easier when Alanis shares your angst. The summer of 2004 Lily, Beth, and I went on our Grand European Adventure. Our friendship was still young and I think we were all still very intoxicated with one another. The album I most associate with those memories is Rilo Kiley's The Execution of All Things. I have one gem of a memory-- we were riding a train across the continent. I don't remember where to. And Lily had brought along a discman. (no iPod? what?! We didn't even bring digital cameras. I had my dad's old manual Olympus from the 70s. It could have really been any decade on that trip) And we all sat together listening to Rilo Kiley while holding crappy foam headphones from her discman between our heads. We probably did that a million times on the trip. Now, though, it feels like a solitary memory or some kind of a really beautiful vignette. Three very young girls, blazing across the European countryside on a train. I would be in the middle, to give the composition balance, and Lily and Beth would sit on either side, their heads titled in towards mine. A triangle.

I also use albums to reminisce. Today, I'm listening to Rilo Kiley.

Addendum: After reading this, Lily informs me that on the train there was a nun sitting in our compartment with us that became very uncomfortable as we sang along aloud to Rilo Kiley, or possibly because Lily is unforgiving with her leg room. And, also, I agree with her-- The Famed Road Trip of 2007 is set the music of Rolling Stone's Magazines 500 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time, which we listened to in its entirety as we drove up the West Coast-- Los Angeles to Seattle. With Wild Horses being a stand-out song for me.

Buy Me This for Christmas and I Will Marry You

But it would have been way cooler if I didn't have to tell you about it.

In response to Katie's post about the lingering summer

If seasons were tangible, you would see me scratching to hold on to Summer for dear life, while Winter stalks up from the corner and drags me away by my flip flops.

This is the first year in my life when I will have to face a real winter. I've lived in Arkansas most of my life. I've experienced ice storms, but never a need for scarves and gloves and a coat and a hat November through April. It seems like Fall may be skipped over entirely! I'm upset. Seriously. I've visited wintry places, but only for wintry fun. It's become sort of a running joke at work. They're waiting for me to freak out and migrate home with the birds.

I am excited about soup for lunch and cute scarves. And I had a pumpkin latte a week ago when a strange early chill hit. But I have no winter clothes or shoes. Or socks for that matter. The wind is fierce and commuting will be tough. City life takes a whole different kind of toll on your body any time of year. All I feel like doing is hibernating. Perhaps I will take a lover and hole up in my apartment for LotR marathons.

I don't think this makes me hungry, but it's cute.

Puttin' Fitty out of a job

Badamn.

I am loving this new Kanye album.

Courtney and Phil came to Chicago this week and they found an apartment on OUR street of all places! They are literally two blocks away from us. They're moving up the first week of October. I'm quite excited. When I cook dinner at nite, more people than me can eat it. Instead of heating it up for Douglas. And they're bringing Darwin up here, which I am quite excited about as this overly dog-friendly neighborhood has given me canine envy. Especially since I am so over cats at the moment. That is probably a phase though. Once I'm a little older, the spinster instinct will kick in I'm sure and I'll have like 4 cats named after Dada artists. The king cat will be Marcel and his favorite resting spot will be the toilet. ha.

It was great to have friends up this week, but I am exhausted. This has been the craziest week at work. So, instead of staying insanely late every nite, I worked till around 7pm every day then left to spend time with them (this gave time for a number of yummy meals--Ethiopian, Chicago pizza, lots of frozen yogurt). But then I woke up before 6:30 every morning and got to work around 7 am, meaning 12-13 hour work days anyway. It comes and goes though. I've left on time quite a bit relatively. Does make you wish you were getting paid hourly though. Salary is nice. So is health insurance. He-ey! I'm totally gonna get my teeth cleaned. Yummy.

I'm looking forward to my parents visit to Chicago (tentatively the second week of October). As well as the movie Across the Universe.

There are a couple of other individuals I'm looking forward to seeing as well. But that just seems to be a constant state of longing. Some kind of a soul division, solved only by geographic relativity. And occasionally a nice long Skype or an elaborate package. Those are only temporary solutions though. Right now, I'm in a constant state of un-balance. It kind of floats beneath. Unaffecting only in that it has completely affected me, leaving nothing the same. Ascribing some kind of a new standard of normalcy, completely unwelcome but self imposed. What ever's a girl to do.