I never knew much about Pete Seeger

until I watched the American Masters show about him. I was completely fascinated. He started out with just a love for singing and playing his banjo and turned into one of the most important people in the American folk music revival.

Every moment of his life he based his actions on what he believed in. He wrote songs for peace, criticized wars he thought were wrong, supported the civil rights movement, and was a fervent environmentalist. He was blacklisted during the red scare, but pushed on anyway.

I want to live my life like that - for what I believe in. Definitely check out Pete Seeger, his life AND his music.

Every once in awhile

I get a glimpse of someone else's life and think to myself

"I wish that could be my life."

But then it hits me. No one has that perfect life. In fact, my life isn't half bad. The only one who can stop me from having the life that I want for myself is me.


From PostSecret.

Now watching

Bonnie and Clyde.

Getting cozy with Gary Cooper.

It was a Gary Cooper weekend it seemed on TMC. My parents came to visit (which is funny, since I will be home for the holidays on Wednesday) and we ended up watching THREE Gary Cooper movies.

I'd never seen anything he was in (which, my dad, was shocked by), but I did really enjoy Meet John Doe and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (which is WAY better than Adam Sandler's Mr. Deeds). I would definitely recommend each!

Oops.

I've read only 40% of the books I own, which is 329 books, unless there are others floating around that people have borrowed and haven't returned.

COUGHRYANCOUGH!!!

I think that's okay though, since I've still read 132 of the books I own (again, not including those that are floating in space with those I've lent to).

It's a good thing I have a lot of free time now so I can read the other 197 of them. :)

"But I really loved him."

"Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don't you see what happened? This guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching. I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that's just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. That's just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. Heck, Groceries--you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. It's your destiny. Don't laugh."

"I'm not laughing." I was actually crying. "And please don't laugh at me now, but I think the reason it's so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate."

"He probably was. Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. It's over, Groceries. David's purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life...That was his job, and he did great, now it's over. You're like a dog at the dump, baby--you're just lickin' at an empty tin can, trying to get some more nutrition out of it. And if you're not careful, that can's gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it."

"But I love him."

"So love him."

"But I miss him."

"So miss him. Send him some love and light every time you think about him, then drop it. You're just afraid to let go of the last bits of David because then you'll really be alone, and Liz Gilbert is scared to death of what will happen if she's really alone. But here's what you gotta understand, Groceries. If you clear out all that space in your mind that you're using right now to obsess about this guy, you'll have a vacuum there, an open spot--a doorway. And guess what the universe will do with that doorway? It will rush in--God will rush in--and fill you with more love than you ever dreamed. So stop using David to block that door. Let it go."

--Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I just realized something.

I can't watch Good Morning, Vietnam. I think it's because I associate it with the beginning of a really horrible time in my life.

Huh.

I've decided

that I am going to leave out the films I'd already seen when I started my AFI endeavor (unless someone out there in cyberspace wants my take on them). For the record, I will give the name of the movie with the 2007 ranking first, and the 1997 ranking next in parentheses. So here is the list of those movies (which made me realize I'd only seen 25 when I started I guess):


#5(10) Singin' in the Rain


#6(4) Gone with the Wind


#10(6) The Wizard of Oz


#13(15) Star Wars


#17(7) The Graduate


#20(11) It's a Wonderful Life


#24(25) E.T The Extra Terrestrial


#34(49) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs


#39(26) Dr. Strangelove


#44(51) The Philadelphia Story


#50(-)The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring


#51(41) West Side Story


#66(60) Raiders of the Lost Ark


#71(-)Saving Private Ryan


#72(-)The Shawshank Redemption


#73(50) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid


#74(65) The Silence of the Lambs


#76(71) Forrest Gump


#83(-)Titanic


#89(-) The Sixth Sense


#99(-)Toy Story


#100(72) Ben Hur


#-(53) Amadeus


#-(58) Fantasia


#-(64)Close Encounters of the Third Kind

That. Was.

AWESOME.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Read it. Love it.

I was enthralled by this novel almost from the moment I picked it up. I am such a sucker for mystery novels though - it's probably because I love hearing gossip (though not necessarily passing it around), reading tabloids, etc. purely for the knowledge of whatever the information may be. It could pertain to something that I don't have a care in the world for (please see: anything to do with celebrities) but I just want to know, otherwise just knowing there's something within my grasp to know would drive me crazy.

I digress. (That all makes me sound like a crazy person.)

Although the book is a translation from Swedish (which can sometimes be hit or miss), I could barely tell the difference. That's what good editorial work should get as a result!! Ahem. I got so engrossed trying to figure out the mystery that I was scribbling notes on scrap paper and cross referencing different things mentioned earlier in the novel. I think I've lost more sleep over this book than any other I've read for a long time. I couldn't put it down last night so I resolved to get only 4 and a half hours of sleep before putting in a full work day. AND THEN I am up til 1am again to finish it! Without a doubt I am sleeping in tomorrow.

In short, it's great. I would very much recommend it be added to your list of things to read.

Up next? The Girl Who Played with Fire, of course!

AFI's two top 100 movies of all time lists

The American Film Institute (AFI) has been making 100's lists since 1998. The first one they put together was 100 Years, 100 Movies, which is pretty self explanatory.

My freshman year of college, I heard about this list and immediately wanted to see which movies I'd already seen, and then watch any of the movies I hadn't already. If I remember correctly, I'd only seen something like 34 or so of the movies, which kind of surprised me because my family is full of big movie watchers. So Brooke and I decided to start making our way through them.

Then the AFI put out other top 100s lists, and then in 2007 they did their 100 Years, 100 Movies 10th Anniversary Edition. There were quite a few changes to the 1998 list, so I decided to combine the two, which made the list total 123 movies.

Here I am 4 years later (FOUR YEARS?!) and I am still making my way through them. I only have 25 left!

I am going to go through all of the movies I've watched so far and post little reviews/comments of my thoughts. Get ready!!

It's too late now

but I kind of wish I had written a short review or something of all of the AFI movie's I've watched. Maybe I can go back and do this retroactively in my spare time?

Things to consider, things to consider.

Also: I am losing sleep over The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's just so good!!

It's been a

bed by 9:30 kind of week. Finishing the week out strong!!

...I just want to feel better.

It feels like

I have a billion cotton balls jammed up in my sinuses. That and a small child is sitting on my chest (thanks congestion).

In other news, I went to the dentist today and somehow I magically have two cavities. Maybe my old dentist was just a moron and didn't see them before, so somehow my teeth have gotten attacked in the last 6 months. Blurg. I hate hate HATE dental work (ESPECIALLY Novocaine) so this should be super fun. Something to look forward to next week...