Forever Walking

So, in place of a complete and angsty entry, I think I'm going to fill this post with a ton of little things that have been on my mind. Marvel at my ability to be compact!

What can I say? I can't help it. But I think I might keep this one for a while. Sure, I liked the templates with the pretty pictures and the professional layouts, but I think this simple-but-loud design captures the very essense of me.


This comes from Sassy Britches over at Well okay, Sassy Britches (love that title!). I'm extremely honored that someone's taken a liking to me and these words I water my potted plant with. I guess I'm likable; Sassy definitely is. :)



But I'm not sure I can accept this. :( I'm still pretty new to this official "blogging" thing, and don't know 15 blogs period, much less 15 newly-discovered blogs. I'll list the blogs I know. It's ok if I'm disqualified...I'll just hide the tears.

Wow...just two...I need to get out more...:( Well, I guess Sassy could make three, but I'm not sure I can nominate the person who nominated me...

Oh well, these two bloggers are very deserving. Katie's blog is so lovely (and she's so lovable), that I'm sure she's been nominated for this award multiple times. And Michael leaves me really nice comments (complete with hilariously accurate analogies). His blog goes over my head sports-wise but I still read it, which in itself is an accomplishment. He seems like one of those straight guy friends I just learned how to have.



Well, there you go. I watched Grey Gardens last night, and it made me cry. Hardcore. Then I watched it with my roommate Erin again this afternoon, and I cried again. That's just sad.

I don't usually like things that are engineered to make you cry. This is usually why I can't strand Extreme Home Makeover and avoid it like the plague. But when cheap emotional ploys are covered up with expert storytelling and superb acting performances, you can forgive it.

This is the case with Grey Gardens. I'm not about to summarize this film (Just hit up Wikipedia if you don't know the story of these two women and their once fabulous lives and East Hampton home), but to say it touched me is an understatement. Sure, the movie isn't perfect, and some would say there are a few holes in the plot (I would disagree), but the writing is top-notch, and the performances are even better. Drew Barrymore is especially amazing in this film. I mean, geez, I've always loved Drew; but this "serious" role is so unlike anything she's ever done that the fact that she's so amazingly convincing as Little Edie is just all the more spectacular. In Grey Gardens, Drew steps out of the romantic-comedy starlet label and proves herself as an actress to be reckoned with. Jessica Lange gives a great performance as well as Big Edie, but make no mistake: this movie belongs to Drew.

And there's just something so tragically inspiring about Little Edie. Little Edie may have been just a tiny bit nuts, and sure it was her own fear and sense of duty to her mother that kept her in that house and away from pursuing her dreams. Some would even say that Little Edie really wasn't all that talented (and they'd be right). But she had this dream, this sense of worth in herself. She had this thing to hold on to even as her own fear kept her sequestered, and even as her once fabulous life literally fell apart around her. When she gets her moment in the end, her tiny moment...and she seizes it and embraces it and wallows in its warmth, Drew Barrymore captures this moment so completely that you just can't help getting emotional and, at least in my case, bawling your eyes out.


Warning: this might not be safe for work:



(Wow, that wasn't very compact, was it?)