A Rant about How Times Have Changed and a Homage to a Great Cusack Flick

So I've been watching a lot of throw back 80's movies lately. Last night hubs and I watched April Fools' Day, a horror flick that I'm sure everyone remembers seeing in the video store as a kid and wishing you could rent it but your parents would never allow it...Tell me you remember walking past thi video cover over and over again, it was right near Sleepaway Camp and The Blob in the Horror Section of Blockbuster!

and tonight I watched the ultimate romantic 80s iconic classic, Say Anything. John Cusack's finest work IMHO. Just look at those tapered pants and that weird trench coat with the rolled up sleeves? I love it and hate it all at once.
   I was noticing some really similar traits in both movies that are so different from movies today. These are subtleties that you don't notice changing over time but then you throw in an old movie and it's like so glaringly obvious its weird.

Like for instance, the girls that play the lead roles in the movies are not gorgeous. They are kind of normal looking, like totally average with flaws and small chests and hair out of place and crooked teeth. Its weird to see, to be honest with you. I even found myself fixated on it a few times, like really noticing the Diane Court's teeth are kind of funny and you would NEVER see a movie today where a lead role was cast to a girl with funny teeth. And even in today's movies the characters are always impeccably dressed, as if the character in the story has a personal stylist. It is rare these days to find movies who show raw characters who depict realistic people, and when they do they get academy awards for their honest portrayal...isn't the point of acting to portray life or people realistically? But if you think about it, most movies now are so unrealistic we've come to believe that everyone just happens to have fake boobs and sparkly white veneers in this alternate movie world when really they are the oddities...does this make sense? It feels like a ramble. But let me show you how romantic it is when two imperfect people have a really perfect love scene:  It is way sexier than any contrived sex scene between a botoxed babe or chiseled stud of 2012. But maybe that just makes me sappy and nostalgic.

The other difference is the editing! 80's movies are full of totally irrelevant scenes that would never make the cut today. I think movies have progressed to a point where they want to cram as much action as they can into two hours so that the audience is totally mind blown and so they make every single scene count and add to the plot, there is never room for meandering. In an 80's movie there might be a scene thrown in just because it is weird or funny or a girl shows her boobs or something crazy like that. It's not until the end of the movie where you might stop and think--wait, what did that have to do with anything?

And the houses are like NORMAL PEOPLE houses. They have mismatched furniture and average doily looking place mats that you would never see in a house in a movie today. Now characters in movies live in lofts that people dream of and have interior designers picking out the perfect floral print pillow to match the pin stripe in the curtain.

To be honest, I think it's all kind of gross. Movies today compared with the 1980's is just another way of making all of us feel inadequate. Like, I bought my rug at Home Depot and I can't afford liposuction so I guess I'm never going to be as happy as Cameron Diaz... That's crapola. I'm sick of it. There's no reason why a girl with a little buck teeth can't score a guy like John Cusack. I hate that we all buy into it, too, we are the force that drives these crazy celebrities to become more and more barbie-like and then we turn around and criticize it. It's a weird, sick cycle. I miss the good old days when people  might have been measured by their inner chemistry rather than the amount of primping they've done that morning and wearing a smile was more important than wearing Chanel or Marc Jacobs or whatever...i don't even know, i shop at target for god's sake.

seriously, look at his grimy bathroom which he refers to as his "office" lol:


Also can I add--I've realized my true celebrity crushes are totally from the 80s and I can't get past them and still don't have any current celebrity crushes that match up. #1 Obvi is Patrick Swayze, #2 Michael J Fox, #3 John Cusack--um pre 1408 John Cusack, thank you very much, and #4 is Jason Patrick---remember him?? Yeah you do!

Two sides of the coin

I brought both of my boys to the polls with me today to vote. It was complicated, of course, bundling them up to face the cold, unloading the double stroller, making our way through sign holders and citizens to get our ballot....but at the same time it was cool, I felt proud that no matter what the circumstances, I was going out there to cast my vote.

Next to me at the polls was this really old man who had a magnifying glass to read the ballot and he ended up needing assistance from the poll workers and it struck me, watching him, how important it is to go out there and vote and care and carry on the tradition that our ancestors fought so hard to win for us. Being from mass I hear it all the time that my vote doesn't count but I don't care, I like at least adding to the masses. If my guy wins our state by 101 votes, I want to be that one voice that pushed it from 100 to 101, if my guy loses, well, maybe I could be a part of the group that shows everyone else hey, we might have lost, but look at all of these people who wanted the other guy. 

I've joked that this election has brought out the worst in me. I don't usually get involved in political debates but I've felt fired up lately because I feel like this election has more to do with humanity than anything else and it seems to me that some people overlook that when the issue of money is in their face. The thing is, I don't exactly agree with the whole Obamacare thing and I definitely think that the welfare system needs to be totally revamped, although I'm still in favor of helping people out. In my opinion those rich people who don't want to pay more in taxes do not necessarily Work harder than the blue collar/no collar guy bringing in 35 grand a year and besides that, those rich guys make their money off of the bottom feeders anyway so in my opinion I don't think it's too big of a deal to spread the love a bit. I cant stand when people automatically think that poor people are lazy...i just don't think the two go hand in hand and i'm guessing that those people who say those things have never really known what it feels like to be poor and working your tail off every day just to pay the bills.

But when it comes to human rights I just can't imagine voting for Romney... I understand that he probably won't focus his four years on overturning birth control, abortion, or gay marriage laws, but just having him in office knowing what he would like to do is what scares me. How can a rich white man tell a poor woman from a minority what she should do with her body? He's never had to walk in her shoes, how could he claim to know what's best for her?  Don't even get me going on gay rights... I'm for them. How about I put it like that. 

But after talking with a woman that I have a lot of respect for who has totally opposite views than I do, it occurred to me that Obama might have a lot of things to work on too. I don't want to live in a socialist country and some people view his tactics as socialist.  Taking soda machines and snacks out of schools, for starters, isn't the right way to go about making America healthy. Providing cost efficient healthy choices is the American way, not demanding that kids only bring carrot sticks and yogurts to share with their class for their birthday.

Needless to say I definitely think our country needs a little shave and a haircut, but also, holy crap I'm so glad I live in America, where I even have the opportunity to call my friend sexist for not liking elizabeth warren, because in some countries I'd have my tongue cut out for talking like that.

Anyway, closing thoughts.... People have been so nasty on Facebook the last few weeks as they struggled to support their candidate and I'm looking forward to this being over with.  I had two people  who I don't even know insult me on a thread that I commented on....and I really am a nice person deep down.... Anyway, their harshness was undeserved by me and I feel a little better after saying so on here. ;)

Manifesting a Life via Facebook

Facebook is a funny thing. Its so thoroughly incorporated into my life since I got an Android phone and have the shortcut to the Facebook app right on my homescreen. Literally, I pick up my phone, click the icon and there's my news feed. There's no effort whatsoever, no signing in, no waiting for the page to load, etc. When I'm not working, I must check it every half hour or so, sometimes more if I'm not particularly busy, and that absolutely seems excessive, doesn't it? The thing is, I'm not like, facebook or social network obsessed at all. When I'm playing with my kids I don't need my phone on me at all times or anything like that. I enjoy many activities that have nothing to do with technology and often times think we'd be better off without all those gadgets sending electronic radio waves through our organs probably growing radioactive cells in our bodies. But the fact of the matter is, I glance at my news feed like one might check the time, just to see if anything new has happened.

I also make a habit to look at my own page now and then. I once posted a status about this and thought I would develop the idea further on here. When I look at my own page a few things pop out at me. One: I'm incredibly funny. Two: my kids are adorable. Three: I post too many statuses about TV shows that I'm into and that worries my husband.  :) 

No seriously. Sometimes looking back at my posts makes me laugh and think, wow, I can't believe I told the whole facebook world that random thought I was having. I think it is really important to be self reflective and to take a look at how you are portraying yourself to your facebook community. Really, if you believe in the power of thought and the laws of attraction, facebook is just a place to type out your daily affirmations. Whatever you put out there in the Internet space is what you are manifesting in your own life.  I suggest that everyone takes a look at their facebook page and scroll through your status updates from the last few months. As you know, facebook is not a private blog to vent all of your thoughts as you might a diary, it's a semi-public venue to interact with friends. Are you representing yourself the way you wish to be seen?

The other thing I noticed is that there is something to be said for the people who "like" my statuses. There is a core group of about twenty people or so who interact with and participate in my "facebook world", whether it is liking a picture, commenting on something I've posted or liking one of my crazy status updates just to let me know that they "get it". The people that I see this kind of action from are a motley crew of folks I've met along the way. Some are family, some are acquaintances, some are close friends, some coworkers. Its funny because when I post something really outlandish, it's the people that make the move to "like" it that I appreciate because it makes me think "Ahh! Kindred spirits!" and at times those people are surprising, but as time has gone on, there is a definite pattern and I sometimes feel like having a random get together with those people to see if they would get along in the real world or if it just this weird facebook kismet.

I think I've spent enough of my precious few free minutes of children nap time talking about something so mundane, but such are the workings of my brain.