We celebrated The Return of Jesus with lots of movies.

And, this diet Pepsi tastes really syrupy. Is this only because I rarely drink soda?

Saw "Adventureland" on Friday, which I enjoyed and which was not what I expected. (The unmet expectations owe to my total unfamiliarity with the movie prior to viewing it.) Overall, I dug this movie: it made me nostalgic for amusement parks (which were a verboten aspect of my childhood), summer, semi-illicit drinking, and so forth. I was psyched that "Satellite of Love" was on the soundtrack: this was my song obsession the summer before I started grad school! And the casting was really good. I did feel James was unconvincingly immature for his age - that is, he was going to grad school and he'd never had a job, ever? AND he was still a virgin? Come on, people! These quandaries seem more appropriate to a college sophomore, methinks...but, plausibility issues aside, pretty solid.

Easter, we watched "Rachel Getting Married" and "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People," both Blockbuster impulse rents. Well, I'd wanted to see "Rachel" for a while. DRAMA! Family politics! What could have been more appropriate for a family holiday? The latter was amusing-ish, though I found myself getting reallytruly annoyed @ Sidney Young. Really? I thought. This guy would have gotten his ass kicked, like, 75 times by now. Also, he would have been fired after the "disappearance" of Sophie's dog. But whatevs. Whatevs. This is a movie.

Eric got me a giant chocolate rabbit called "The Professor." It stands about 1 foot tall, and is bespectacled. I have not yet broken into it, because I'm not sure how to approach the initial breaking.
I am going to make a collage using images from "The Professor's" box, because the box incorporates awesome 70s graphics of woodland creatures.

My thesis defense is Friday, and I am starting to get freaked out in my brain. As in, what if my committee decides to surprise me - SURPRISE! - by not passing me, or something? Not that I think I will not pass, but, you know: nervousness.

E. and I are still trying to decide on an apartment. This is OK, because the application his parents sent us hasn't arrived yet. It looks like I'll be staying in the Valley at least through the end of July, which fact saddens me. I know, based on some of my former posts, that it seems like I abhor this place, but I don't really - not reallytruly, anyway. I'm just excited about my up&coming place of residence, and I want to be there now! I want to get on with my life! Plans! Newness! There's still a chance that we'll move to Madison before August - i.e., in the case that one of us gets a superawesome job that requires us to move before then - but in all likelihood, August it shall be.
I will try not to be impatient. I will instead use my time productively, applying for jobs and looking for fun IKEA furniture and reading things I've always wanted to read (because I won't be in school anymore, yo! And I will have time for fun reading) and cycling. Yes. This is the direction my actions will take.

I am freaking out in my brain.

Though I did, several posts ago, poo-pooh NYResolutions, what I didn't realize is that I'd soon be fulfilling a sort of constant, un [or under-] stated resolution of mine: catching up on the last ten years' worth of movies. It is no secret that I am painfully, woefully - almost unbelievably - behind the times when it comes to movies. Case in point: Saturday, E and I went to Blockbuster, so anxious were we to begin season two of "How I Met Your Mother" that we could not wait for Netflix! Of course, season two was completely checked out, so we scooted to the comedy section. I casually remarked that I'd never seen "American Pie," and Eric stopped cold. A woman in the next aisle over stopped cold. I stopped cold.
"Are you serious?" He asked, though he knew I was.
"Well," I said, in a paltry gesture of self-defense, "I figured that I'd heard all the jokes from it, so why should I actually see it?" But, even I was not convinced by this lame explanation.
Mid-length story short, I finally watched "American Pie." And you know what? It wasn't bad. Yes, I'd heard the jokes before, integral to our pop-cultural fabric as they are, but the storyline was also kind of cute. AND, for the first time in a long, long time, I actually remembered high school: the gossip, the absolute horror at bodily malfunctions (of self, of others), my [admittedly brave] choice of asking a totally random dude to prom - and then going with him, and then not dancing the entire time. Prom: O.M.G. What an ordeal. I don't think I've ever seen so many girls crying in a public bathroom.

Also in fulfillment of this unstated yet critical resolution was my viewing of "Anchorman," which I also [surprisingly] enjoyed. What's going on, here? Why am I enjoying these movies which I would previously have sniffed at? There's been a major shift in my sense of humor. Scratch that: in my public sense of humor.

Right now, I am minorly freaking out in my brain. In approximately two hours, I'll be teaching my first winter creative writing course and I am terrified. What's new? you may think (those of you acquainted with my terror). And the answer is, not too much, except the intensity of said terror. Aaaaaaaaaah(!)

Tidbits

It's finally winter: the season of Netflix. This weekend, we had two huge snowstorms - school was actually canceled on Friday, the last day of finals. We stayed inside, ordered Chinese food, watched "The Dark Knight." Having seen it, I can't say I feel too bad about having waited this long...meh. Overhyped, in my opinion. BUT: back to Netflix: I need to update my queue because all that's on it at the moment is "How I Met Your Mother" (as many discs as allowed) and "Who Killed John Lennon?" And I might delete the latter. Movie suggestions, anyone?

Ali and I went skiing yesterday, despite the horrible road conditions and subsequently ueberdangerous drive(s) to & from the hill. It's strange: I love skiing, although I'm inexperienced [read: not too good] at it. This affinity for the snow sport defies my usual behavior pattern of hating & scorning things I'm not good at - for example, basketball, public speaking, singing, dancing, and so on. In most cases, I fervently avoid activities for which my skills are underdeveloped. Don't we all? But skiing: skiing is a horse of another color. I'd really like to be good at it, and the only way for me to get better is to practice, despite looking like an ass whilst practicing. But good news: I did not fall once while disembarking a chairlift yesterday. Jawesome.

Well, A. & I found out the hard way that our landlord is less than fastidious about having the parking lot/alley plowed. Last night and this morning, I got stuck trying to enter/exit the parking lot because there is so freaking much accumulation. True, Toyotas don't handle exceptionally well in the snow, but there are at least eight or nine inches of snow in the alleyway. And that is bullshit.