• On Life and Love

    Well, there were snakes.

    And it did take place on a plane. Other than that, Snakes on a Plane had didn’t have any redeeming qualities. Samuel L. Jackson is doing the same tired stuff he’s been doing for that past few years–playing in roles that make him out to be a badass because he can get away with it. He was too long in the tooth for the role and it showed–his movements were stiff and aged. The acting was terrible. The writing was awful. The delivery of those lines was flat. It was shocking and gross just to be shocking and gross. It wasn’t really funny. It tried to be campy in parts…

  • On Life and Love

    On U-Hauls and driving

    I had enough boxes and containers to form a single layer on the bottom of a 10 foot U-Haul truck. The furniture I took home (nightstands, a would-be coffee table, and a bookshelf) laid on top. Too much stuff. I need to throw away a lot more. Driving the U-Haul was amazing. I almost sideswiped two cars before I learned about the little mirrors that let me see right next to the truck. But the truck handled like a dream and had some umph. If that’s evidence of how GMC makes trucks, I’m impressed. The 12-ish miles per gallon was for the birds, though. Luckily, it only took one tank…

  • On Life and Love

    Moving out

    So it looks like when I leave Nashville (TN) today, I will have completely moved out from my parents’ living space. What I don’t take back is getting given away or thrown out. I just feel sorry for WO, though, because my stuff may dominate the apartment for a while…

  • On Life and Love

    Me, a counterculturist?

    While in Charlotte this past weekend, I revealed to the Gang that I don’t really watch television. I mean, there are four shows I watch irregularly (Doctor Who, Lost, The 4400, and The Pretender), but I don’t watch them with commercials. I don’t know what movies are out unless I hear via blog or word-of-mouth, and I’m not really interested in knowing. I don’t see the latest commercials. I’ve never watched an episode of CSI. I don’t even really know what televisions shows are out and popular, aside from… well, CSI. It was impressive how many times someone said, “Have you seen the latest [some product] commercial?” or asked if…

  • On Life and Love

    To an amazing woman: Jenny Zartman

    I’ve been musing for several days what to write about the death of Jenny Zartman. There are the details: that she died in a car accident heading down to Wilmington to be with her cousin early August 5, 2006. There’s the emotional impact: her parents’ immense grief; Michael’s heartrending sadness and infinite helpfulness and patience; my mother’s sad calls to my father, half a country away; Becca’s broken voice over the phone; my own unending shock and sadness and my eleven-hour drive to Charlotte to be with those I love and who love Jenny in their time of grief. I have not stopped thinking of her and Michael during the…