Michigan's Missing Glove
My Two Cents on Away We Go.
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In this feel-good film, committed but unmarried couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) discover they’re expecting and that Burt’s close-by parents are moving to Europe for two years, starting just before the baby’s due date. Burt and Verona consequently set out on a transcontinental quest for the best place to raise their child: Among their friends? Near their families? In Canada? How about Arizona? Or should they settle down by themselves in the one place that feels most like home?
Two years ago, Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up tried to make unexpected pregnancy comedic. Diablo Cody’s Juno tried to make it quirky. Both had their positive attributes but tended to drop the ball in strategic spots – Knocked Up relied too much on drug-related humor, Juno on a hipster lingo that devolved into alphabet soup.
Away We Go succeeds in finding the right balance of comedic, offbeat, and heartfelt. The film is star studded, with such names as Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Daniels playing minor roles. No two characters are the same, but every single one breathes. You will have formed an opinion of every character you’ve met (or haven’t met) by the end of that hour and a half you spend in the theater. The film – itself new and inventive – plucks at the heartstrings, whether through a sentiment you identify with or a particularly great still (Away We Go is LOADED with beautiful cinematography). The only thing I can find to complain about is: why did Away We Go just open in “select theaters”? It’s truly a film everyone can enjoy.
But in the words of Reading Rainbow‘s LeVar Burton, don’t take my word for it! See what the critics at Rotten Tomatoes have to say. (Though I do highly recommend buying a ticket whether or not what they say over there is good. 
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Tags: Away We Go, Dave Eggers, Diablo Cody, Jeff Daniels, Jim Gaffigan, John Krasinski, Judd Apatow, Juno, Knocked Up, LeVar Burton, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maya Rudolph, movies about pregnancy, Reading Rainbow, Rotten Tomatoes, Sam Mendes, TOO MANY LINKS, Vendela Vida
EXCITEMENT!
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Hey, Beatles fans! To experience a feeling of unbounded euphoria, read this article.
That’s right! All 12 studio albums! Remastered! And put on CDs! The first time The Beatles have updated their entire catalog since the mid-80s!
(I’d be more stoked about Rock Band: The Beatles, but I don’t own the gaming equipment. *sadface*)
I don’t know about you, but I’m psyched. Mom has already told me she’ll look into pre-ordering it for my 20th birthday. 9 September 2009, bitches!! Goo goo gajoob!
Tags: I am the Walrus, reissue, remastered, Sgt. Pepper, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
All Time Low… literally.
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Well, maybe not literally. It was more of a Low Point of the Day, if you get my terrible pun. I didn’t get to see All Time Low in concert after all. Mom told me, after I bought the ticket – and was robbed blind by Ticketmaster’s exorbitant service fees – that she didn’t like the idea of me wandering into Downtown Richmond by myself. On Broad Street. The safe part of Broad Street. Where I’d be walking like one-half block from the parking garage to The National, one block roundtrip. When I want to live in Manhattan and/or Brooklyn after college.
Oh well, it’s okay though because I only got the idea to go concerting yesterday. In other words, this idea was less of a plan and more of a “pla-”. Also, Mom said she would refund the cost of my ticket, which is really good because after that concert ticket there are only three dollars and change in my checking account.
I don’t want this to happen again, though. I need a concert posse! Anyone in the Richmond, Virginia area – who has known me in person for more than, like, two weeks – who’s interested, speak up! Jessica out!
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Okay okay, one more pun. Today’s All Time High? Tush being completely chill with my Florida Thanksgiving plans. It didn’t even put stress on my “emotional intelligence”! Huzzah!
Tags: All Time Low, concert, Downtown Richmond, Richmond, terrible puns, The National, Ticketmaster, Virginia
Pierced Frenula, Six-Toed Cats, and Other Things Having to Do with Thanksgiving.
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I went back to the store today to set up direct deposit paychecks, since yesterday I didn’t have my checkbook with me to give them a voided check. Now I have direct deposit paychecks! Yay!
I also introduced my grandmother to one of the assistant managers. That was interesting, and kind of cute. I’m not sure what my grandmother expected, but she was pleasantly surprised to meet a nice, polite young lady, who just happened to have her hair dyed three different colors and multiple piercings, including one captive ring on her frenulum. Like I said, it was a cute little situation. 
Speaking of work, though, the week I planned to visit my brother, dad, and step-mom in Florida includes the two tax-free days in Virginia (August 1 & 2 this year, if you Virginians want to take advantage). If you don’t know what tax-free days are, like me up until this afternoon, it happens all across America before the school year starts, with all school supplies and, I think, apparel up to $100 is free of sales tax. It’s apparently the second busiest time other than Christmas for retail, so I can’t afford to risk my job to go on holiday then.
My dad is happy about this situation because he would only have those two tax-free days off, since he already used his sick days this year. If I visit Jacksonville during Thanksgiving instead, he will have the entire visit off instead of just a fraction of it. We plan to go down to Key West, see the crystal blue water (Dad’s excited) and see Hemingway’s six-toed cats (Pat and I are VERY excited). … I dunno what Daine will be excited about, but, y’know, that’s my brother.
The problem … cuz there’s always a problem … is: how do I tell my tradition-adherent grandmother that I won’t be at her house for Thanksgiving? I believe the answer is somewhere along the lines of “Verrrry carefully….” Maybe I’ll tell her tomorrow. Or maybe not. It’s all about working up the courage to tell her and keeping control of my “emotional intelligence.” (Don’t ask me, Dad made it up. Sounds an awful lot like an HR team-building term for “anger management issues.”)
Anyway. We’ll see.
I love my job.
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I had new hire training at Hot Topic this afternoon. Everyone, from my manager to my fellow new employee Christy, was so nice. I’m really going to enjoy working there.
I arrived early (All the lights on Courthouse Road were green. What a rare occurrence!), so I started with filling out my I-9 and W-4 forms. (Oh, snap! I’m an adult, you guys! I have tax forms!) Then, one of the assistant managers led Christy and me through customer service training, also known as the “Hot Topic Experience.” I’m really great with the making customers feel welcome part of this, but I really need to familiarize myself with the bands and licenses whose merchandise Hot Topic carries, which won’t be so hard… with a mix of Pandora, Wikipedia, and Shockhound (a band merch and social network site owned by HT – I’ll link this blog to my profile once it’s created), I should be up to speed soon. But this is the coolest required assignment I’ve ever had: “Jessica, sit back and listen to some new music.” “Okay! Gonna work on that!”
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I. LOVE. MY. JOB.
Tags: Hot Topic, job training, new job, Pandora, Shockhound, Summer 2009, summer jobs, Wikipedia
Not a Good Week for Hollywood
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In total, L.A. has lost three stars this week: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, and Ed McMahon. I find this more depressing than the whole Governor Sanford scandal down in South Carolina. I feel really bad, though, because I’m one of those people who is mourning because she feels she should. I have no connection to any of these people, and if you’d brought up the King of Pop yesterday, I would have cracked a pedophilia joke. Nevertheless, they were truly great entertainers, especially Michael Jackson, whom I consider the most talented of the trio. I’m sure I join a giant and universal fan base when I say, “You will all be missed.”
Tags: death, Ed McMahon, famous, Farrah Fawcett, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Michael Jackson
