This time, you're not homecoming king

I was hoping that I could end the year with a survey! This was a great deal of fun to put together, so I hope you enjoy!
Happy New Year!
Have an adventure, visit with friends and stay healthy in 2007!
Best Wishes to all!

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie
7. Comment on the songs.
8. (My own addition): What kind of movie is it?

Opening Credits:
Delicate - Damien Rice
And why'd ya sing Hallelujah
If it means nothing to ya
Why'd you sing with me at all?

According to my Mum, I have always had a hyper-sensitive hypocrasy meter. Rice's Delicate begins quietly, justifying stolen kisses and secret romances, but his beautiful Irish tenor works up into a heartbreaking wail by the end of song, wondering what his beloved's true motives are. A fitting, if somewhat meloncholy, opening to my film.

Type of movie: Indie-drama


First Day of School:
Gravity - Embrace

And then I looked up at the sun and I could see
Oh the way that gravity turns on you and me
And then I looked up at the sun and saw the sky
And the way that gravity pulls on you and I
Can you hear my heart beating?
Can you hear that sound?
Cause I can't help thinking
And I don't look down

From Irish Tenor to Brit Indie-pop (which I absolutely adore - such great things came out of the Radiohead revolution... bands far better than Radio, for example). I don't know much about Embrace, but I do adore this song. I'm sure I could do some interpretation about how although my education grounds me (and everything I do), I refuse to look down/back. I'm always looking ahead, to the next bigger and better thing: personally, professionally, globally. Gravity be damned.

Type of movie: Still indie-drama


Falling in Love:
Maybe I'm Amazed - Beatles, covered here by Jem
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you
Maybe I'm a girl
And maybe I'm a lonely girl
Who's in the middle of something
That she doesn't really understand

Love's frightening... and amazing. And my iTumes seems semi-sentient.

Type of movie: Braff dramedy


Fight Song:
Lost on the Stoop - Daniel Powter

Okay, so I've never listened to this song before. I bought the album after that "Bad Day" song came out earlier this year. I've looked up lyrics for it and noone agrees on what he says... and none of them seem absolutely right.
It would seem that Mr. Powter's song is and offer to fight for his friends when they can't fight for themselves (in some hardened section of London, no doubt). Seems somewhat appropriate, no?

Type of movie: Braff Dramedy

Breaking Up:
Something's Missing - John Mayer
I'm not alone, I wish I was.
Cause then I'd know, I was down because
I couldn't find, a friend around
To love me like, they do right now.
Something's missing
And I don't know how to fix it
Something's missing
And I don't know what it is
At all

Most of my break ups (platonic or other) have been because one or both of us weren't exactly the same person we had been when entering into the relationship. Something's been missing. And while we might not know what it is, we know that we can't find it in one another anymore - no matter how much we might want to love each other.

Type of Movie: Holding fast at Braff dramedy

Prom:
Tear Your Love Apart - Gomez
This is a game I'm longing to play
but I stumble at the start I
f there's nothing, (tear our love apart)
if this is just a lie, (tear our love apart)
there's still nowhere I would rather be (tear our love apart)
Now hold on tight

More Brit indie-pop (la sigh). Gomez are a recent addition to the iTunes library, but they've made themselves at home.
My memories of my highschool proms and college formals (with the exception of one) is that they were wastes of energy (planning, primping, etc) that were, by in large, disappointing. However, I wouldn't trade the experiences in and I've never really regretted going.

Type of movie: Braff Dramedy


Life's Okay:
It's in Every One of Us - John Denver and the Muppets
It's in every one of us to be wise.
Find your heart,
open up both your eyes.
We can all know everything
Without ever knowing why.
It's in every one of us, by and by.

This is a song from childhood that pretty much sums up my personal philosophy: everyone has their own peice of the human story to tell. Truth somewhere in the middle of what we all believe - most often we see glimpses when we compromise our way to agreement.
I particularly like with Fozzi Bear starts to sing.

Type of movie: Hallmark Christmas Movie with indie leanings


Mental Breakdown:
Don't Push - The Exit
Beginners luck, white lights
In and out of asleep
Behind the wheel, black ice
There's a scream, you do if you can feel
The glass breaks, glass shattering
Find your angel, lose your harpie
Don't push your love away

I have long loved this song, and I suppose it's appropriate for mental breakdown. The back beat is unique and haunting, and the lyrics narrate the regretable decision to visit a "lady of ill-reprute" with a friend while the singer's beloved waits at home. A car crash brings to light that the final memory the dying man has is of his whore and not of his love.
Mental anguish at the very least.

Type of movie: Braff Dramedy on acid on Hallmark

Driving :
In a Dream - Rockell
Can't believe that this is all in a dream
I'm gonna wait to be with you my love
I'll always love you
And want you more
I can't go on without your love
In a dream my love
You will find my heart

I often like to drive to songs that are reminicent of car commercials. This song, from the early 90's (probably something played in gym class and middle school dances) fits the bill.

Type of movie: Suddenly, a 1990's teen flick ala Clueless


Flashback:
Come Rejoice - Judy Collins

Judy Collins' voice is one I have found comfort in since childhood, and this song is perfect for flashback as it was written by Collins after one of her own family reunions.

Type of movie - Hallmark holiday dramedy

Getting Back Together:
Shiver - Coldplay
On and on from the moment I wake,
To the moment I sleep,
I'll be there by your side,
Just you try and stop me,
I'll be waiting in line,
Just to see if you care.
Did she want me to change?
But I changed for good.
And I want you to know.
But you always get your way,
I wanted to say,
Don't you Shiver?
I'll always be waiting for you.

Oh the pain of undying unreturned unrequited love. As we all know, people don't get together until the very end of the movie (thanks kid from Love Actually) so there is still hope for me and a very, very patient man.

Type of movie: Braff dramedy (to be run on Hallmark years later)


Wedding:
Down on the River By the Sugarplant - Mike Doughty
And I'll dream you up in this vast, dark bed
Believe I loved you for each hair upon the back of your neck

Hmmm... Mike Doughty. How do I love thee? Let me count the many, many ways.

Type of movie: Braff dramedy (no longer to be run on Hallmark)

Birth of a Child:
Stupid - Sarah McLachlan
Night lift up the shades
let in the brilliant light of morning
but steady there now
for I am weak and starving for mercy
sleep has left me alone
to carry the weight of unravelling where we went wrong
it's all I can do to hang on
to keep me from falling
into old familiar shoes
How stupid could I be
a simpleton could see
that you're no good for me
but you're the only one I see

I imagine this song as the reflection on yet another sleepless night four months after the arrival of the darling child.

Type of movie: Braff dramedy


Funeral Song:
Gold Digger - Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx
Oh she's a trifflin'
Friend indeed

I envision this being the song that plays as I exit a funeral with a righteous smirk on my face while the rest of the cast learns the truth about the antagonist to my heroine.

Type of move: Definately an indie-comedy - dark around the edges but good at heart

End Credits:
What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stafani
What an amazing time
What a family
How did the years go by
Now its only me
Tick-tock, tick-tock
Naturally, I'm worried if I do it alone
Who really cares, cause it's your life
You never know, it could be great
Take a chance cause you might grow

This song is the perfect end to my movie(particularly after the funeral scene). And so very much more fun to drive off into the sunset on.

Type of movie: The very best - a heartwarming dramedy that makes you laugh and think. Oscar worthy, no?

Where have all the good men gone?

This will not be a lengthy tirade as I'm exhausted and busy mentally celebrating the end of a semester, the begining of the holiday season and the hopefulness of posibility.
But, seriously, where have all the good men gone? And where are all the guards? And the streetwise Hercules et.al.... Where are they?!?
I know many good men. Men who mean what they say, say what they do and hold close to those they love. They work hard, play harder, (generally) think before acting, use head and heart in accord. They are not foreign creatures. My relationships with them do not require me to purchase books that compare us to planets or learn how to decipher tongues I can't master (I struggled enough with Latin and have little time/interest to read some guru's guide to "Mantalian"- by the way: I hate that Dunkin Donuts commercial. As if ordering a Soy Venti Latte with an extra shot was difficult. Try finding a good man and get back to me America's-lowest-common-demoninator-donut-dealer). Many of the men I know are, in short, good.
But that does not change the fact that I have yet to meet a good man who is good enough. All of the good men I know were missing that special "something" that would have changed them from being a good man that I knew to being a man good enough to quit me thinking about the fact that I haven't met him.
Please don't misread me. I live in hope (see above). I'm not really worried about a "Mr.Right" scenario or getting myself tied to someone else... I think I've covered before that I don't have the time/interest (which seems to be a thing with me tonight) to get into something consuming. And that's not really the point anyway. It just has begun to strike me as odd that I haven't seen a whole lot of good men I don't know recently
I reread/watched Pride and Prejudice today (which consists of me reading along with one of the many versions of the movie and [A&E] leisurely enjoying both as I fall in love with Mr. Darcy all over again [Keira Knightly] Yelling at the TV "What the Hell!" as I try to figure out where what just happened in the book [Bride and Prejudice] Ignoring Austin's tale as I sing "No Life Without Wife" about the apartment). Doing so always sets the bar an inch or two higher. Mr. Darcy.... la sigh.
I once had a friend compare himself to Lizzie Bennet. When good men don't even try to compare themselves to Darcy I get a little worried. Okay, I get ALOT worried.
I'm holding out for a hero....

Everybody else is doing it...

The idealistic speechwriter is well-liked by just about everyone. He's known for his excellent writing, sense of humor, and tendency to be clutzy. Although being younger than the rest of the staff, he's often treated as so, much to his dismay.

:: Which West Wing character are you? ::

You spin me right round, Baby, right round...

It's done!!!



Which means that they're done (shown with matching turtlenecks)!!!


And that's my joy for today.

Every time I turn around I run into myself

One of the most striking moments of television over the past couple of years was the scene in a Christmastide Grey's Anatomy (surprise, surprise). Meredith, Izzie and George find themselves staring up from under their Christmas tree, hiding away from the craziness of young interns, haphazard lovers and complicated friendships. It is a moment where there is peace between three people who have choosen to face life in all of its unknown beauty and glory together. They are each other's chosen family.
It's a concept to which I easily relate. I, like so many modern families, have Aunts to whom I am not related and full-blooded cousins I never see. Following the model of my family, I have pulled those I love around me, keeping them close even when they are far away. I hold on tight knowing that my choosen family is just as important, just as reliable and just as fragile as the family I was given. But that they are all of my choosing and I of theirs.
My choosen family has become even more intriguing to me as I enter into my mid-twenties. I've been struck over the past months at how much more comfortable I am becoming in my own skin. I can't imagine that I had any inkling of my true self two years ago - a fact I would have, undoubtedly, vehemently denied if brought to my attention at the time.
Part of this has to do with living in a new place and meeting a boatload of new people. A mere six months ago, I was established - a known entity. Now, I am constantly redefining who I am and what I am about for everyone I meet- including myself. I'm learning what parts of my personality take people a little while to get used to, what parts I'm most proud and what parts could use a little polish. I'm seeing myself in a whole new light, as it were. And, as difficult and hard as that can be, I'm so very, very, very grateful for the oppurtunity to do so.
What strikes me, as I prepare to meet up with my chosen family (in all its various parts) over the next month or so, is that those who truly know me are not surprised by my "discoveries." They have always known the things about me that I am just learning - they saw them years before I could. Some of them have grown with me, but others have watched me grow up for years, waiting for the moment I would realize just what they saw.