I was just thinking that with my little movie maker, I can easily share some Candid Phone! If you thought you were too old for prank calls to be funny, think again. Here are a couple of my favorites. If you like them, let me know and I'll post more. Good old Pat Gray :)
Last weekend I decided, somewhat impulsively, to buy myself a laptop. I've had a mediocre desktop, courtesy of my sister, since the summertime now. But I can't tell you how irritating it is to have to erase music files just so I can watch a movie on Netflix. It's like the computer was asking me to choose which one I loved best, my music or watching a good episode of The Office. Oooh, just for that twenty minutes I would have to erase...well, only something like, say, Savage Garden. So, it was worth it.
Anyway, this is no longer a problem now, thanks to the courtesy of a Mr. Pell Grant, who is even more charming than the infamous Carey Grant, I assure you. And now I can have every song I've ever collected over my lifetime on my computer, AND watch Netflix to my heart's content without interference. I was also able to give my desktop to my friend Heidi, whose computer met with a mysterious malfunction some time ago. I say "mysterious" because I don't know exactly what went wrong. Though, I wish it were something hilarious and beyond explanation. It was a gift I was quite happy to give, as I remember my own six years without a personal computer. I'm surprised that I pulled that off, especially with my tendency to work best at hours of the night when the computer labs on campus are closed. Or, perhaps working at those late hours is simply due to my procrastination habits.
I've got a class now where we submit comments and summaries about things we read over Blackboard for assignments, and I always submit mine within fifteen minutes of class. Last class, our teacher actually had our submission times posted on the projector screen for everyone to see. While I was ashamed (i.e. proud) that mine had been submitted at 2:27, only three minutes before class, there was a Johnny-come-lately with an impressive 2:30 submission. Ohhh....I'll show him!
Well, sorry, I like to ramble. I wanted to keep this nice and short. So, my new computer has a program to make movies, which sounds like a lot of fun. So, I thought I'd make one and post it for ya's. However, I don't have a video camera, or even a regular camera (though I do have a low-quality webcam now). So, you will have to settle with a simple slide show of pictures I took years ago from our family vacation to Mexico.
In case you wonder, I do have a thing about taking pictures of people, particularly when they are posing. I don't usually do it. I figure we go on vacation to see things other than our family. And a gringo with a lime green fanny pack just does not mesh well with the scenery. Yes, my mom does wear those. And, yes, as it turns out, not one of the pictures I took had her in it. That's actually kind of sad. But, I'm sure they were aware of my tendency when they handed me the camera and asked me to take pictures for the entire trip. Although, perhaps it was just because they didn't feel comfortable using a digital camera. My mom still isn't comfortable with it, as I've caught her using some older cameras of hers with loaded film. And while my dad claims he's fine with using it, he doesn't. Where is your sentimentality, man? Oh, but I guess it's funny in a way. Despite this tendency in my picture taking, I somehow felt inclined to include a cartoon version of myself with the lot. Uh, yeah. Um...enjoy.
Considering that it is Valentine's Day, I've decided to take some time out to watch one of my favorite romantic comedies ever, Harold and Maude. My sister introduced me to the movie, and thought at once that I would fall in love with the main character, Harold. She was right! I can't ever seem to watch it now without wanting to find my own Harold, and without wondering if I must therefore have some major psychological issues myself.
So, some quick background before I give you links to some great movie clips (I couldn't embed them for some reason). Harold has been obsessed with death ever since seeing his mother faint at the thought that he had died. Now he is performing numerous bogus suicides, somehow hoping to get that same kind of attention and emotional response. His mother evenutally gets worried about it, but what's even more distressing to her seems to be the fact that he is not dating. So, if you've ever been set up or constantly nagged by your mom about dating, you'll love this one.
Some of my favorite scenes in the movie depict Harold's morbid humor and boldness when it comes to defying convention. This first one shows what happens on all three dates that he was given through the dating service. The second one where he feigns a polite smile and than hacks off his hand with a cleaver is my favorite. 
The third date is pretty hilarious too, but mostly because his date doesn't turn out to be horrified that he just stabbed himself in the gut. She actually praises his acting abilities, and then she stabs herself after going off on how wonderful she was playing Juliet recently. And believe it or not, I think she comes off crazier than he does. This one also shows a bunch of Harold's suicides.
Not only is Harold serious about getting out of blind dates, but he also goes to great lengths to get out of serving in the army. With the help of Maude of course :)
This is a nice fan-made trailer to give you the entire feel for the movie I think. Harold and Maude really has a lot of variety, and it incorporates humor with a very brilliant and dramatic symbolic represention of independence and living a full life. Now I'm gonna go make myself a delicious caesar salad and watch it :)
I don't generally get very personal with these blogs, but I'm pretty sure that's just because I don't want to embarrass myself. The truth is, I am a very emotional person, and when I don't write about the things that I think really matter, I believe I do myself and everyone else a disservice (if you consider it a 'service' that I share my thoughts with you). And of course you do.
So, last time I wrote about nuclear power. I don't care a bit about that, really. I care about the circumstances that kept me from writing my blog at all last semester. I care about what happened to the hope and insight that my best friend told me had left the words of my letters. I care about how to get them back. I care about trying to deal with the fact that I should no longer be in love with someone who is about to be engaged. I care that my life has more dramatic irony than I want responsibility to handle, and wonder why I am proud of it at the same time. I care about the sad truth that I have still not called an old friend whose mother died of cancer several months ago. I care that I see myself in others, and yet find myself unwilling to be empathetic in spite of it. I care that my parents don't know a whit of this. And I don't care that this entry lacks details, eloquence, and optimism. Well, no, I do care about that too.
Some of this just needs to be said, like my worries that subconsciously spill out when I talk in my sleep. I wonder how often that really happens, it's hard to know. I regret that these important things usually only creep out in my sleep-talk in the night, in my single room for no one to hear, including me, and that they stay there.
