football, food, family, friends - the end to a great thanksgiving

so, hoping everyone had a happy thanksgiving, i'm here to close out the festivities of the past few nights. from thanksgiving eve - apparently as big as the holiday itself - or "amateur night" as a few friends like to call it, when all the college kids come home and the reunion takes place at the local bar with it's $15 cover and $7 beer "specials." you know, i was once dumbstruck by the amazement of the biggest party night of the year, save new year's eve; however, i've come to realize, nothing really changes. i go to the same bar i usually do and drink the same alcohol, yet for some reason my tab isn't taken care of at the end of the night, in fact, it's taxed and service charged after i paid $15 to get in the door. anywho, then there's thanksgiving, which is always a great holiday - football, food, family, friends - what more could there be? from the parade and the 4:15 kick off to the food and the official beginning of the christmas season, thanksgiving was a great idea. i hope everyone gave thanks for everything they take for granted as well as the blatantly obvious cliches - football, food, family, friends. enjoy black friday!

green light

$35.7 million opening day alone & a green light to the second installment of the series - new moon - would call for a successful twilight weekend, wouldn't you say. hopefully with new moon they will be able to invest more time into developing the characters on screen and the different relationships (even though edward is not a main character in the second book as jacob takes his place for a while). personally, i hope to see more special effects and wider camera angles. i guess we could call this one a hit. it was number three on fandango's top list of advance ticket sales - behind star wars episode 3 - revenge of the sith and the dark knight. looks like the twilight hype is only beginning.

twi-little lost.

so, for those twilight fans out there - last night i went to see this extremely hyped up movie after reading all of the books and falling in love with edward cullen and bella swan. i hate to say it, but i was a little disappointed. it's only my opinion, but i think too much emphasis was put on music at certain times to the point where it over-played the dialogue, and i love music so this is hard for me to admit. it just didn't fit at certain times. the acting was not always up to par either. it almost seemed like they were trying to make it an indie film on a big industry's label. i feel like the cullens were on screen for half hour at most, meanwhile they entire book is about their lives and mainstreaming and how important it is for them to keep a low profile but welcome bella into their home. i think esme spoke once - it was just depressing. i loved those books, but then again i guess it's hard to adapt a 500 page novel with so much potential onto the big screen. i left the movie theatre wanting more, which i was not expecting. the ending left it open to an obvious sequel, but was not at all the way i'd dream it would end. i feel like it was rushed to get everything in, but it was only two hours. the entire world sat through the dark knight this past summer for 3 hours at least - and with all the hype about this movie and the record numbers selling for the books, i feel like twilight could have been much longer and people would have enjoyed it more. i'd read somewhere that stephenie meyer's only request was to tone down the kissing scenes between edward and bella because there would be nothing left to work with for the next couple of movies, but they toned down the chemistry between the characters completely. the scenes with edward and bella were question-and-answer scenes not "wow, i'm completely in love with a vampire, what do i do with this" scenes. i just feel like it was extremely rushed. this also scares me for the next movies, if they do end up making them, because they are longer and SO much more detailed. all in all, i'm definitely a little upset. i got myself so excited over this, i was head over heels for edward cullen and the entire twilight saga. i'd give it a 6/10. i'd also reread the book to make up for the loss.

instant gratification?

is this the world we live in? this is what we've become? where we HAVE to have everything the second we want it. where do you draw the line between wants and needs? where did simplicity go? the ability to just be thankful for what little things you do have. i grew up in suburban long island where my zip code wasn't acceptable in the town i went to grade school in, where i guess you could say yuppie parents went to country clubs during the summer, moms didn't work - in fact, it was a sign of your husband's wealth if you could afford to stay home and hire a nanny - even though you were doing NOTHING. both my parents worked and got divorced. and i loved my house, i still do. i might have wanted a dad who worked a 9-5 and was home at dinner like those yuppies, but when i grew up i realized 1) that my dad's pretty cool, and he works really hard for me to have the things i have and 2) some of those yuppies weren't all that happy either. it's so much easier for kids to tease others based on the brand of clothing they wear, and for one kid to want to fit in so badly that they make their parents break the bank to give them the abercrombie and fitch jeans or the hollister polos. we all give into it, but once we grow up do we grow out of it? do we grow comfortable in our own skin? that's the important thing. i love being from outside the mainstream, having immigrant parents, knowing i work for the money i spend. my parents raised me with values more concerned with allowing myself to get what i need instead of always giving in to getting what i want. i hope i make them as proud as they make me.

the spending season

i love christmas & everything it involves, don't get me wrong. the month of december is fabulous with holiday spirit, christmas shopping and decorating, buying a big evergreen, seeing the lights on people's lawns, hearing the carols on the radio - everything is magical. but what is the deal with this christmas music on the radio TODAY? seriously, it's november 15. people freaked out a couple years ago when christmas music began playing at midnight after thanksgiving, but this is absurd. i mean hearing bruce singing "you better watch out" before halloween? it's ridiculous. the economy might be horrible right now - the worst its been in a long time - but that does not mean it's ok to try to incite people with the "spending season." is that what christmas has become? the spending season? it's pathetic. the toys r'us big toy book used to be what everyone looked forward to the first week in december. now it's sitting on living room tables collecting dust because children have already sent santa their christmas list. the holiday season - whether or not it's christmas you look forward to - is being ruined by money. money can't buy you happiness. yes, it might be a cliche, but it's true. getting the economy to bounce back is a priority right now, but it should not have to involve lessening the spirit of christmastime.

the beginning

crazy isn't being broken;
it's you or me
amplified.
ANGELINA JOLIE

i live for words. i'm a big quoter and this one sums up what i hope my blog will be - amplification, radicalization, the realization that life is seriously unbelievable. one day everything can be fine and the next everything upside down, but in the larger context, it's really all we have. and that's not even morbid, it's just honesty. we will all expire, so the time we have means everything. stand out & make a big scene. be noticed and be flattered. leave something behind.