Story Lover

This one was really only funny if you’d seen all the Twilight movies. It went so overboard. I kind of thought it was funny that all the other up and coming teen stars were in this one. Overall, not as good as I thought it’d be and way too much mention of sex. Especially since there were tons of 10 year olds with their moms. Thought that would be awkward. But I don’t think they got most of the innuendos anyway.

This movie was so cute. I loved seeing the way Bryce came around and was able to see Julie for the iridescent person she was.

It’s sad how much we judge each other based on appearance, behavior and our own insecurities. The Baker’s had an amazing family (perfect in its imperfection), while the Loski’s were just kind of miserable with their perfectly manicured front lawn.

Mr. Loski was so toxic. It makes you wonder where his life there might have been a turning point that made him such an ugly person. Would he be able to change, if he wanted to? Was he even aware of how horrible he was? At what prejudices and judgments he was passing? Or had he soured everything around him so much that no one was able to hold a mirror to his behavior. He kind of reminded me of K.

And I guess it’s kind of fitting with my own life. It’s not easy to do the right thing and I guess you may never be better off because of it. But no matter how hard you have to push through, it’s still the right thing to do. And that in itself is the blessing.

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments in this movie. Great one liners and really creative overlap between movies and comic books. But I felt like it was way too long. Somewhere around evil ex-4, I kind of lost interest in Scott and his epic epicness.

But I thought it was pretty amazing casting and I really enjoyed seeing bits and pieces of Toronto. And these places weren’t the stereotypical Toronto spots, like the CN Tower and shit. I feel like I might just becoming a Torontonian…

Better than I thought it’d be. Jason Bateman and the kid who played Sebastian were great. We all sometimes have to just set aside our fears and go for life. Very funny and maybe we’re all a little bit neurotic.

I loved how Sebastian gave Wally a replacement family. How the pictures that came with the picture frames were extensions of himself, people who from afar were loved ones. Sebastian seemed to have quite a bit of empathy for others, something that’s  hard to foster in kids.

I wonder if Jennifer Aniston will try and have a baby by herself. She once made a joke that her films had an eerie correlation with her life (Rumor Has It, The Break-Up…). She seems to have a pretty good sense of humor.

Good drive-in movie fun. I had a great time watching this one. It was pouring outside, which only really added to the good times!

Too much sex (especially from Jerry O’Connell), but great shots of everyone getting eaten alive. Must have been crazy in 3D.

by Carolyn Mackler

I liked this book. I liked how it unfolded the four characters at both the beginning and the end. No one is everything they seem to be. I like how Jena learned to trust herself and stop comparing herself to everyone else. I liked how Owen learned to take a chance. Dakota started realizing that there were consequences to his actions and Skye learned that it was okay not to be perfect, to be a little flawed.

It’s always nice when something comes along and can show you the big picture, show you how everyone is intertwined with one another. We’re so dependent on each other that we don’t always notice the strings that bind us. It kind of reminds me of the red thread that Chinese people believe bind each other. I remember seeing one of these at the art museum in San Fran. I kind of wonder sometimes if there’s a red string that binds me to my birth parents. I remember wondering sometimes if I had perhaps just passed my mother, my father, my cousin on the street. The possibilities seemed endless and I always wondered, would we ever even know?

I liked the movie a lot more than the book. I couldn’t get past India aka Pray. But in the movie, there were times that were so heartfelt and sad. And there were moments of intense joy, other people’s joy.

I think the part that really resonated with me though, was when Elizabeth is telling her friend of her decision to go to these 3 countries and her friend is saying that she has a support system here and friends who love her. And she replied something along the lines of, yes, but do you feel my support and love for you? She couldn’t give anything, because she had nothing to give. I guess I can relate to that level of loss, loss of oneself. I’m not sure what enabled me to get myself back, but I’m feeling much more myself. And I’ve regained some kind of balance, perfect in its imperfection.

And I really like this movie poster. I love how it’s off center and has a bit of the nun in it. Makes it a little more meaningful than Julia Roberts sitting on the bench by herself.

by Jay Asher

What a dark book. Kind of reminds me of Josh Green’s style, like Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. It’s a little frightening to think that Hannah’s mind was made up long before the final dominoes had fallen. She had decided that she’d kill herself and then make everyone regret everything. She had given up on herself and on everyone around her. Yet what got me was that she’d make these last final attempts for help, asking the adviser for help, giving away her bike, letting Clay in…almost wanting to be disappointed. As if it’d justify her decision to kill herself, make her regret it less, make it okay. I guess the only thing that could have saved her was someone making a grand gesture and asking her point blank not to kill herself.

This book made me think back on my high school days. And I can’t really remember that many rumors, that much gossip. I guess there was a lot, but I never really heard any of it until it was so old that it didn’t even really seem to matter. And I hope that whatever I did hear didn’t really change how I felt too much. That I was still able to befriend those who had some kind of cloud surrounding them. I can only really remember one time when I felt a little uncomfortable, I wish I hadn’t just stopped talking to her. But I felt too weird.