A Little Bit Country

This is the time of year that I get nostalgic. Usually, as the nights get cooler, fall sports begin, and back-to-school sales hit the stores, I get nostalgic for Friday night football games, Saturday keg parties, and a house full of college roommates and respective friends. This year, though, instead of getting reminiscent about my high school or college years, I am thinking about my life as a whole.

For the past nine months, I have been living in the town where I grew up trying to figure out what I want out of life. I will admit that I have spent the better part of my time here looking down my nose at the town that raised me. I deigned to come back here, against my strongest desires, and viewed it as more of a punishment than for what it really was: a blessing. Now that a very significant move to Chicago is in my immediate future, I have allowed myself to really think about what the past year has been like, and I am shocked to find out that it really has been enlightening and that there's a strong possibility I could miss it.

When people ask me why I'm moving to Chicago, I honestly can't give them a reason. So, I stick with the vague, "Why not?" answers. I tell people that I don't have ties to any place in particular, and Chicago seems as good a place as any. Which is entirely untrue. I always assumed that "ties" were boyfriends, houses, children, and good jobs and without those things, you are a free bird. But the closer moving day comes, the more I feel my roots. My ties are here, in the town where I grew up. My family is here, both my genetic family and the family I've made out of family friends, classmates, and colleagues. And, up until recently, I forgot how much I love it here in the summertime. Summer here equals trips to the lake, endless weddings and other celebrations, afternoons on the deck, and evenings by the fire. It's so relaxing and truly beautiful. I wonder why I didn't notice this before.

It took a trip to a local country music festival to open my eyes. If you've never been to an outdoor country music festival in Wisconsin, I suggest, neh DEMAND that you do it at least once. It is an experience like no other. I refer to such events as the "Redneck Roundup" because, seriously, it is the world fair for flannel-wearing, pick-up truck-driving, gun-lovin', right-leaning, beer-chugging small town folk. (Yes, this is a gross generalization.) This is the kind of place where there are thousands of people and you somehow leave with new friends. Country boys take take no issue with grabbing their girlfriend/wife/random girl sitting next to them and dancing to a John Michael Montgomery ballad in front of a crowd. This is the place where drinking in excess is encouraged, but you will be judged if you become "that" girl or guy. This is the kind of place that becomes a traditional destination among girlfriends who scatter and want to come home to feel their roots at least once a year. It was here that I realized, I have ties to somewhere. Those ties won't keep me here forever, but they stretch far enough to let me live a little and yet make me want to come back home a few times a year. It was here that I discovered that, despite my greatest attempts and greatest desires, it turns out I am a little bit country. Shhh....don't tell anyone.

So as a salute to the Redneck Roundup and my roots, and as a comfort to me when I feel a little homesick, here is a playlist of country songs that make me smile:

"Give Into Me" - Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester
"We Weren't Crazy" - Josh Gracin
"Love a Little Stronger" - Diamond Rio
"Crazy Girl" - The Eli Young Band
"Take a Back Road"- Rodney Atkins
"Don't You Wanna Stay"- Jason Aldean featuring Kelly Clarkson
"Knee Deep" -Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett
"Honey Bee" - Blake Shelton
"You and Tequila" Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter
"Barefoot Blue Jean Night" - Jake Owen

Better Bridesmaids

I did myself a favor tonight and saw Bridesmaids. I knew it'd be funny, because everyone and their brother has been saying that for weeks. It was kind of one of those surprises, though, like The Hangover or Superbad or Get Him to the Greek. It was more than funny. It was good. Don't get me wrong. I like funny; it's just that drunken, raunchy humor sometimes focuses so much on the humor that it forgets the story. This movie (as well as the others mentioned) excelled on many levels, and this is why I loved it:

* SPOILER ALERT (If you haven't yet seen this movie, you may not want to read further)

1. It was set and filmed in Milwaukee. I always thought Milwaukee was underrepresented in movies. It has a lot of cultural appeal and visual interest and is no less exciting than any other biggish city. I also liked that I recognized most of the places in the background. They forgot the Midwest accents, though.

2. Kristen Wiig is my hero. And her character is someone I can relate to. If I were in my 30s right now, my life would be like Annie's. Except that I'd be way less funny and then I'd just be pathetic. Kristen Wiig's humor is so even and surprising that sometimes I don't realize something is funny until after the moment is over. Which just makes it funnier. I love love love this girl and hope to see her in more stuff.

3. It was nice to see Melissa McCarthy in a role other than the "chubby neurotic best friend" like in Gilmore Girls. She was hysterical if not a little disturbing, and her character was maybe just a little representative a certain type of Wisconsin woman.

4. A charming Irishman makes just about everything better. I have never seen or heard of the actor who played Officer Rhodes, but he was a treat. He was adorable and I wish his character was real.

5. This movie, while over the top, does strike some pretty authentic chords in woman who are in a bridal party. Most bridal parties are a tossed salad of unique personalities with different relationships to the bride, and when they all come together, chaos often ensues. It is also kind of hard to be the one person in a group of women who doesn't have their shit together. Woman (at least the women I know) are generally in search of three things: A good job, a husband/family, and a comfortable home-not necessarily in that order. When one struggling woman gets thrown into a mix with other woman who seem to have at least one of those things figured out, her failure becomes magnified...at least to herself. It's also kind of hard to watch your best friend get married. It's a strange mix of emotions, really- happiness, pride, envy, and just a twinge of sadness- because you know your relationship will inevitably change and there's a little part of you that is envious that she found what you hope to have.

All of these things combined produced an excellent movie that I think all woman should see for a good laugh and a good story and all men should see to get a little more insight into the female psyche. My only complaint is that I wish Kristen Wiig's happy ending would have been a little more tied up....mostly because I would have liked to see more Rhodes.  Maybe they're working on a sequel...

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Bad Bad Bachelorette

Ok, so I realize I haven't written in eons, and I have no excuses other than the typical: lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of inspiration, blah blah blah, but tonight I saw something so unsettling and vomit-inducing that I just had to get it out. It was an episode of The Bachelorette.

I have always kind of been a fair-weather fan of The Bachelor/Bachelorette (and most other reality TV shows for that matter). I mean, I used to watch it with my girlfriends in college, mostly as an excuse to take a break from homework and add a little fun to a mundane Monday. I got on board with the whole Trista/Ryan wedding way back in the day, and I liked the last bachelorette, Alli, and was respectively empathetic when she had to choose between two seemingly great guys. Other than that, I've never really been a dedicated watcher. But tonight it rained so I had to cancel my bike ride and I didn't have much else to keep me occupied, so, ya know, when in Rome...

Let me preface by saying that I have some serious moral objections to the whole concept of the show. For one, I don't think you can realistically meet, fall in love, and be engaged in a matter of three months. Secondly, I don't think that traveling the planet gives a realistic example of how a relationship can build and grow. Of course you're going to lust after someone when you're in some of the most romantic cities in the world. What happens when you head back to Ohio and your cell phone sales job? Third, it's ridiculously scripted and pre-planned by the producers to have a certain outcome with plenty of  audience-gripping drama which, ultimately, makes a sham out of the institutions of courtship, engagement, and marriage. Jumping off my soap box now...

With that, I have to say that I am not a fan of this bachelorette. I don't want to be a big cyber bully and berate her to pieces, but, man, for someone who talks a lot, she doesn't really say anything. In an hour and forty-five minutes (I didn't tune in til 7:15) the most I got from her was that she was insecure and constantly wondering if she was "enough" for any of her potential suitors. Oh, and she was all hung up on some guy who first made her cry and treated her like shit and then walked off the show of his own accord.  Well, here's a plan for you Ashley. How about you stop being such a masochist, grow a pair and, if some guy doesn't think you're "enough", tell him to peace out. I'm under the impression that this is kind of your show, after all.

Also, this show makes me wonder if the world is running out of men. I understand that you'd have to be a certain type of person to even participate in such a charade, but was the main requirement for these people that their level of douchiness needed to be equivalent to their muscle mass? What an incredible venue for manly men to oil up, show off their rock hard abs, and participate in shameless competition at the expense of everyone else's feelings. Please. Apparently, these men are supposed to be hot, and, I'll admit, I'm only human and can find the physical appeal, but I just can't keep from thinking that these men were probably all captains of their high school football teams and have lived in states of female-centered delusion ever since.

This is a completely unwarranted rant, but sometimes I just get depressed by reality TV and the toll it takes on our society. Some of us who actually live in reality still want meaningful relationships with a genuine people who are not looking for 15 minutes of fame and you, Reality TV, are ruining it. With that, I don't think I need to watch The Bachelorette again anytime soon. It just makes me upset.

Tangled Up in Zachary Levi

Happy April, Everyone! Although, thanks to the weather, it feels more like January. Gross. The only upside of having such a blah Sunday was that it gave me an excuse to shamelessly watch movies for the majority of it. Since Disney's Tangled came out on video this past week, I thought I would add that into the movie line-up. Don't get me wrong. I definitely already saw it in the theater (thank goodness for having a six year old cousin to be my excuse!), but like any good Disney movie, it's easy to watch again and again.

I have to say that Tangled was a refreshing dose of Disney magic. It was very reminiscent of classic Disney from my youth. Not that I don't love the modern Disney flicks about monsters, robots. etc., but there's something about a good cartoon romance like Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin to get a girl all giddy. Plus, the original music is fantastic and, in my opinion, "I See the Light" has joined the ranks of the best Disney songs alongside "A Whole New World" and "You'll Be in My Heart".

And then, of course, there's Zachary Levi. Even as a cartoon he's adorable (is that creepy?) And he can sing. Watching him and Mandy Moore sing "I See the Light" at the Oscar's was amazing. Between his handsome-ness and the gorgeous custom-made sapphire blue Monique Lhuillier gown sported by Ms. Moore, it was a feast for the eyes and the ears.

Speaking of Mandy Moore, I liked her as the main girl voice. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for her even from back in the "Candy" days when she was still blond. She was the only pop princess that came out of that era that didn't turn into a total trainwreck, and I gotta respect that about her. So, even though she does that weird over exaggerated-mouth-when-she-talks thing like Drew Barrymore and tends to overact a bit, I think she found her niche in the cartoon business where you just get to hear her lovely voice and not see her weird mouth and weepy eyes.

All in all, Disney has once again pleased my soul while pricking pins into my feminist tendencies. It's a tough conundrum to be an independent, single gal who still a little bit wishes there was such a thing as a prince charming. Either way, if any guy wants to take me out in a boat to look at some floating lanterns, I'd call that a pretty good date.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Crazy Chelsea

Chelsea Handler has always made me slightly uncomfortable for roughly the same reason that the second Sex and the City movie makes me really uncomfortable. Both of them have little regard for social manners and always go a step too far. Chelsea, at least, is funny in her offensiveness, even though I'm fairly optimistic that her blunt personality stems from many years of parental neglect that she is trying to compensate for with an abundance of damaging behaviors (i.e. eating disorders, alcoholism, and a lot of random sex). But, I'm not a psychologist and she's managed to turn it into a lucrative career, so who am I to judge?

Anyways, despite my discomfort and in an attempt to get to know Chelsea a little better, I picked up her book, Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was pretty sure there would be moments that would make me cringe. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she really does have a pretty big ticking heart underneath all of that defensive body armor. It's a little unsettling that she refers to all people/animals she loves as "Chunk" and she has an unnatural affinity for obese people, miniature beings (people, horses, etc.), and Lean Pockets, but I guess we all have our "things".

My favorite part about her books is that she writes about things that shouldn't even be remembered, much less funny, but somehow she turns them into a hilarious, slightly self-deprecating story. She talks about her family, her sexual awakening at the ripe old age of 8, and all sorts of shenanigans she gets into with her posse. In each of these scenarios, she becomes a little more human and you start to understand why she is the way she is. I have to say that her most human moment comes to light as she talks about laying in bed all day, crying over the first Sex and the City movie, and eating Lean Pockets. We've all been there...

I have to say that I'm glad I gave Chelsea a chance. I mean, I still have to quickly turn the channel during awkward instances of Chelsea Lately, but I also have a hard time with fictional awkward moments like the entire Amanda Bynes' movie, She's the Man, so maybe it's my own personal issue and not Chelsea's that I have to deal with. Either way, if you're in the mood for a laugh punctuated with a plethora of borderline offensive moments, Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang will not disappoint.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

New York State of Mind

I have been a failure at keeping up with blogging...mostly because I've been feeling very uninspired. Today, however, I looked through my pictures from New York and felt a spark of inspiration come back.

For years, I have heard people sing about New York, make movies in and about New York, and talk about New York as if it's a timeless celebrity that is to be regarded with the utmost esteem. I've heard people talk about it as if it held some magical power to all who enter it's atmosphere and that simply being in the city would change your life forever. With all of these illusions about the Big Apple, NYC became this sort of untouchable and unfathomable place. I mean, I've traveled my fair share, but there was something about New York that seemed light years out of my realm. So, naturally, I needed to see what all the fuss was about. To my utter amazement, I didn't need a time machine, mystery Volkswagen, or magic school bus to get there...just a $170 plane ticket and a few days off of work.

I was a bit nervous going to the big city. The city itself didn't scare me all that much; it was more a fear of my illusion being shattered. All I learned of New York was what I saw in movies (see previous post) or TV shows like Sex and the City, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, and Law & Order: SVU. I mean, I realize these shows are fictional, but New York plays a role so important it's almost as if it's the main character. So, New York became like an allusive man...something I was greatly looking forward to seeing, but secretly hoping that it wouldn't disappoint my expectations.

Upon first stepping foot into Times Square, I knew my illusion would be safe. It's quite shocking to see that many lights and gigantic billboards in one place. It's also amazing to see how many different people can collaborate in a five block radius.

The best thing about New York is that nobody is actually from there. They're either tourists or they came to the city from somewhere else. Walking down Broadway is a cultural experience akin to spending a day at Ellis Island in 1909, I would imagine (you know, without the health inspections, custom checkpoints, and everything you own attached to your person.) So many different languages, customs, places to be, things to do, dreams to live out. Sheer amazement. Where I grew up, it's so homogeneous. Unique traits are chastised and dreams are pushed aside for productivity. In New York, it seems to be just the opposite. It's a place where everyone goes to find something. It's also a place where you can be exactly who you want to be. It's not strange to see a woman in fur pushing a dog in a stroller through a store where nothing costs less than $300. It's not an oddity to see the teacher from Glee walk down 39th St. as if he's just another guy. Bartenders in an Irish pub are actually from Ireland and consider themselves blessed to have made it to this place. In this respect, New York does seem magical, because it offers opportunity, no matter what you're looking for.

One thing that was surprising to me was how much smaller everything seems to be. I mean, the buildings are huge and all, but there's a lot of stuff crammed into not a very spread out piece of land. I mean, I knew Manhattan wasn't all that big, which is why they keep building "up" and not "out", but walking from Times Square to Central Park is about 20 blocks and like a 35 minute walk. The Meat Packing district, SoHo, and the West Village all seemed to be within about 10 blocks of each other (don't take my word on this...I suck at navigating and guesstimating). My point is that everything seems so accessible and I didn't expect that. Embark on a 10 minute walk or $5 cab ride and you will inevitably end up in a neighborhood exactly opposite of the one you were just in. It's incredible.

Really, at the end of the day, I was a tourist. I didn't see all of NYC. I don't think you could live there forever and see it all. Neighborhoods and culture changes so rapidly that it's impossible to keep up. I didn't experience what it was like to live there and I likely never will, but it didn't take me long to catch the essence of the city. It's so totally opposite from what I'm used to, so maybe that's what the appeal was for me. I have a feeling however, that New York didn't get its infamy from being a great place to see on vacation. It's quite possibly the most culturally diverse place on the planet, which in my world, makes it endlessly interesting. I hope now that New York and I have become acquainted with each other that we can maintain a semi-regular relationship. As much as I would love to live there and experience life as a New Yorker, my bravery only extends so far and I don't think I could do it on my own. So, I'll just have to settle for having a New York state of mind and visit my dreamland on occasion.

Rating of NYC: 5 out of 5 stars

The Concrete Jungle where Dreams are Made....Apparently

In three days I will be departing for the bright lights of New York City. Since freshman year of college, my two girlfriends and I have been talking about taking this trip and I am beyond excited to finally do it. Since I booked my flight, I have found myself drawn to books and movies that are NYC-focused. Perhaps it's preparation or anticipation, but, mostly, these three texts have made me think very poorly of the social elite and feel terrified of Wall Street.

1. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Admittedly, I have never seen the original 1987 Wall Street, so I wasn't really sure what to expect of the 2010 sequel except that it had to do with Wall Street, money, and Michael Douglas. Well, as it turns out, Gordon Gekko (Douglas) was sent to jail for insider trading for a decent amount of time in the 1987 version and, when he gets out in the 2010 movie, his daughter (Carey Mulligan) is all grown up and dating a young trader on Wall Street (Shia LaBeouf). Can we say Daddy issues? Anyway, LaBeouf's character is a pretty legit trader but he also has a conscience, which apparently is rare of people who are obsessed with money. Well, his mentor kills himself after some bad money stuff happens (something about a recession and banks losing lots of money...complete fiction) and LaBeouf somehow crosses paths with Gekko and makes some arrangements so that young Wall Street trader gets some financial advice and old Wall Street felon gets some daughter time with the estranged Mulligan. Through a series of complicated schemes that are too technical for my number and logic-challenged brain, Gekko ends up screwing over the Mulligan/LaBeouf duo and stealing all of her money, Mulligan ends up preggers with LaBeouf's spawn and then leaves him when she finds out he's been doing some behind-her-back business with Daddy. In the end, Gekko ends up abroad and I'm pretty sure the MulliBeouf end up together.

To be honest, I didn't bond with this movie enough to love it. But, I thought it was interesting. I'm more of a words than numbers person, so I didn't understand 98% of the Wall Street financial trading stuff. I don't think that it's entirely necessary to understand that part, but maybe it would have helped. Also, Michael Douglas irrationally freaks me out, so I'm sure that didn't help the cause at all. On the up side, I thought the former Lewis Stevens (aka Shia LaBeouf) was really good and I happen to think that Carey Mulligan is adorable, so bonus. The movie has a pretty good moral of people being more important than things or money, but it doesn't do anything groundbreaking or shocking. Overall, it's a decent movie and worth the time to watch. Hopefully you know more things about numbers and banks than I do.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

2. One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

Candace Bushnell is the author of Sex and the City (among other books and columns). She is a New Yorker and, while regarded as a "chick lit" author, she writes far above the mindless steamy beach reads of others in the genre. She has a keen sense of characters and their affection for their (and her) beloved New York. She is mindful of the social separation among the up-an-coming multi-millionaires and society tagalongs that make a career out of schmoozing with the money folk. A review on the back of this book regards Bushnell as a modern-day Edith Wharton who writes about the upper-society New York of today how Wharton wrote of a similar society of the 1870s in The Age of Innocence (review of this book to come later). That being said, I did not like One Fifth Avenue.

Let me be clear. Bushnell is a talented writer and explores a society in a way that is rare in books of this genre. The reason I did not particularly like One Fifth Avenue is because it scared the hell out of me. In OFA, Bushnell introduces the reader to several characters, all of whom inhabit a renowned apartment building on Fifth Avenue. One is a movie-turned TV star, a few are writers, one is an elderly socialite/gossip-columnist, and one dies. The deceased is the owner of a gorgeous three story apartment that is coveted by all and eventually sold to a hedge-fund manager and his wife. Along the way, we meet Lola Fabrikant, a hot spoiled rich kid from Atlanta who thinks that she deserves all of life's luxuries. She begins dating/sleeping with Phillip Oakland, a writer in One-Fifth, who is really in love with the TV star. Oy, the love triangles. Then there's the Gooch family who is under the supervision of mother Mindy, a pointy snot of a woman who is married to James, a mild-mannered suddenly successful writer and mother to Sam, a teenage computer genius. The character list is lengthy in this book, but oddly enough, easy to keep straight. OFA basically examines the society of all of these different people who live in one building in New York. Stuff goes awry and people die and go to jail.

The plot isn't as important as the societal aspects that are examined. Money is a recurring theme that eventually takes over the life of the hedge-fund manager who becomes obsessed with, not only earning an obscene amount of money, but the power that comes with it. Basically, money-whether having it, needing it, or owing it- takes over all of these lives and ruins most of them.

The reason this book scares me is because of the possibility that there are real people who are like these characters. I realize this book is fiction, but there has to be some real life inspiration. Basically, obsession with money and fame ruined these people, or at the very least their relationships. Society is a fickle friend, and this book tells the stories of dreams lost and enemies revealed, all in one apartment complex. The book has a mildly happy ending, but it's not happy enough to forget all the crap that comes beforehand. I shudder to think what real life NYC high society is like.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

3. The Good Guy
One thing I love about Family Video's $1 movie special is that I usually end up with a movie I've never heard of. That's how I came across The Good Guy starring Alexis Bledel and Bryan Greenberg. I really picked the movie up because, in my unemployment, I became obsessed with Gilmore Girls (starring Alexis Bledel) and I fell in love with Bryan Greenberg in the movie, Prime, which I really liked, but pretty much no one else did. Anyways, I thought I'd check it out. It ended up being a semi-indieish film produced by Lionsgate. It also ended up being kind of similar to Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Basically Bledel's character is a book-ish, obscurely employed young lady in NY who has a weekly book club. I forget how she meets her BF, but she ends up dating a guy who works, you guessed it, on Wall Street. A member of his team quits and he needs to fill the spot quick. He hires on the resident computer nerd, Greenberg's character, who is also quite book-ish. He's sweet and caring and not a whore, so the Wall Street dude makes it his mission to turn him into a money player. In their bonding, the book-ish guy and gal come across each other and there's instant attraction. And then Bledel's character finds out that the Wall Street ass is cheating on her and they break up and she ends up with her book-nerdy counterpart. The plot is not complicated, and honestly there's not a whole lot that happens throughout the movie. Nevertheless, I like it and I can't figure out why. I guess it was basically an examination of different personalities and such, but you'd think that there would be some element that one could pick out that makes it good. Much like the previously discussed texts, the whole prospect of tossing around millions of dollars like pocket change makes me nervous and the movie as a whole basically made me lose faith in any man that ever existed unless he's a gigantic fan of Pride and Prejudice and he can justify Lolita. But....I liked it. Watch it and help me figure out why.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


My apologies for this lengthy post and maybe someday I'll actually include some pictures. When I return from NYC, I will let you know if I come across any of these scenarios. I highly doubt it since I fully intend on steering clear of Wall Street.