Life is Not a Movie

Archive for the ‘Listen Up’ Category

I won’t say clique because I’ve never been in one and I never will, not in high school and not know. I did however realize that maybe, at times, even people that have children might feel left out by the childfree and how we tend to bond together.

Still, this just seems strange to me as I’ve always felt left out by the parents all over the interweb. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t hear someone talking about their kids or posting pictures of their kids or whatever. I get that this is how society is and I’m fine with it and if ever I’m annoyed by it I just ignore it.

I know that when I talk about my cats as my children there are eye rolls by parents all over the internet and that they think I’m an idiot. I’m ok with that too because it’s a given, most people don’t consider pets to be children. I don’t happen to agree but you know, that’s how the world works.

As I get older I realize I’m more and more secluded from the world of my friends, in another 5 years I assume I’ll have only a small handful of friends that don’t have kids. That’s one of the reasons I love being online, I have more people that get my situation and it makes me a happier person.

I’m not even a normal childfree, if that is even possible, because I consider myself “on the fence” until I make my final decision when I remove my IUD. Sometimes I think having a kid sounds kind of awesome but most of the time it just seems like the worst idea for me. There is more to my feelings than just not wanting to be a mother, there are outside factors, so many, that contribute to where I stand with this.

There will always be a line drawn between the childfree and the childfull (I just made that up) and there isn’t much we can do other than just learn from each other and maybe, when needed, just laugh off the differences. But in reality each side will never truly understand the other side, it’s impossible and it’s ok.

So I caught a little bit of the Duggars show on tv last night because I really am not annoyed by television enough most of the time. Every single time I watch this I can’t help but think, I know these kids are nicely brainwashed and all but one of them has to eventually start to think for themselves. I mean, it’s part of growing up, right?

I remember one time when I caught the show a while ago, sometimes there is nothing on and you get sucked into the insanity, and the daughter Jinger stood out to me. I remember that she didn’t seem to feel the need to have a truck load of kids like her parents and seemed to be kind of the black sheep of the family. I read online somewhere that when she admitted on screen not wanting to have kids for Jesus her family took her aside to talk to her and then when she was back on screen she was all about the family circus concept.

I don’t know how much of this is just online fodder, I mean there are so many sites called “Free Jinger” and I wonder how worried her family is about this or if with all their kids to tend to they really don’t notice. I always figure that with nearly 20 kids there is an even higher chance than most families that at least one child will break free of the heard and probably a good handful of them are gay, which I can only imagine wouldn’t work into the Duggar’s plan.

I was going to mention the Twitter account I found of hers until I really read it and I realized it was a fake. Damn fake twitters fool me everytime! Except Kevin Spacey, I knew all along he was real. Given that these kids are all sheltered from internet, tv and wearing jeans it isn’t surprising she doesn’t have a Twitter but that would be pretty awesome.

So now I will just sit back and wait for the shit to hit the Duggar family and Jinger gets either knocked up or starts her own reality show. It’s only a matter of time.

First off, I haven’t seen Avatar so I admit I am just speaking from what I’ve heard, and I’ve heard a lot.

I have no interest to see Avatar, at all. There are probably 10 movies in the theater I’d see before that movie and one of them is Alvin and The Chipmunks. Ok, that was a lie but they are pretty much in the same boat for me. I rarely do cartoons and this is, as far as I’m concerned, a cartoon.

It’s a well-known fact I don’t give a rats ass about special effects. Occasionally I’ll see a movie that has them but not because of the, usually for some other reason. Like The Day After Tomorrow, I saw that for Jake Gyllenhaal. Ok, so maybe that isn’t the world’s greatest reason to see a movie but it’s my money, shut up! Anyway I remember the scene with the tidal wave, that gave me chills.

I also saw Titanic, because I’m a sucker for a good romance and the story was interested, even if I knew how it ended. Plus, I might have seen it in the theater 4x but people kept dragging me back, it’s not my fault I was one of the first to see it on Christmas Eve. Anyway, my point was when the ship went down I could feel it down to my bones, it was amazing.

But Avatar, the plot is not enough to get me to see the movie and I need a plot or, you know, a cute guy at least. This movie plot has been done, SO MANY TIMES, and in so many fucking movies. I swear, if you listen closely while watching Avatar you can hear James Cameron snickering in the background.

You know what a great movie is to me?

Visually Beautiful: this does not mean CGI or whatever, I mean artistically beautiful. When I see a scene that could be made into a photograph, that’s beautiful. To me it’s about the right lighting, the right angles, the right editing, it’s not about computer generated images.

Strong Plot: I want something new or if you can’t do new at least give it to me in a way that it seems new, don’t just regurgitate all the other movies in existence.

I could go on, but I won’t, you get the point. Plus I didn’t have coffee this morning so I’ve now run out of steam.

If not, watch these. Also, go watch American Beauty or The Pianist or Once if you want to see a real film.

Cats and dogs (and other pets) are not just walking stuffed animals, they have real personalities, quirks and issues. When you take one on you are adding another being to your household that requires attention, love and to be taken care of. I’m not sure how many people really think about this when they adopt one.

The way I see it, it’s a big responsibility and when I adopt a cat I will do whatever I can to my home their home. After all these years with Aurora and Pilot I can’t imagine our family without them.

We talked a lot more about it on our show last night, so go listen and let me know your thoughts.

Quite a feet to take on but if anyone can do it, it’s me. Right? I could explain each one but I shant, because you know, just take my word for it. What movies do you think should or shouldn’t be on this list?

10. Before Sunset

9. The 40 Year-Old Virgin

8. Memento

7. Shaun of the Dead

6. The Departed

5. Donnie Darko

4. Fight Club

3. Brokeback Mountain

2. No Country For Old Men

1. American Beauty

We also discussed this very topic on Off Topic last sunday, in case you have yet to listen to it.

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