101/1001 Craziness and Mass Update

It’s been quite some time since I made the rounds of updates on my 101/1001. Don’t fret, dear reader, I have not completely forgotten about the promises I made myself, I just neglected to track them or blog about them.

For those of you diligent and detail-oriented folk, you will have noticed I changed some of the goals to reflect the current situation my life has brought me to, as I have also updated figures with progress. For instance, since I moved back to VA, it was no longer necessary for me to obtain a CA license and registration (and ended up saving me a pretty penny to fit my car to the CA smog regulations and inspections). So instead of cheating and simply marking them off, I altered them to things like “meet the year mark for being a vegetarian,” “Get My Masters in Secondary Education,” and my most ridiculous goal yet: “Watch my way through my DVD collection, in alphabetical order.” For those who don’t know, I have over 300 DVD’s, so this is a daunting task. I started it maybe two months ago, and have only just made it through the A’s... I have a long way to go, and some doozies to get through (Tell me, why do I own Crossroads, Bride Wars, and The Island?)

Rather than write a lengthy review of all the books, movies, restaurants, etc I’ve added to my list, here’s a general update after the break, with comments in red

9. Read 50 Books
1. Girls in Trucks - Katie Crouch
2. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah
3. Prisoner of My Desire - Johanna Lindsey
4. Return to Sullivan’s Island - Dorothy Benton Frank
5. Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin
6. Something Blue - Emily Giffin
7. Baby Proof - Emily Giffin
8. Love The One You’re With - Emily Giffin
The Emily Giffin books were easy to read, but didn’t require much extra thought or intelligence. They were typical stories of late-20 to 30-somethings struggling with commitment, love, and life in this world.
9. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
I really enjoyed this one, which takes place in the Laplands and deals with the main character’s struggle with loss and anger in a beautifully written way. “When you believe anyone could be your mother, you begin to believe anyone could be your brother, your lover, your son.”
10. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace
My favorite sections in this book of short stories and vignettes are those of the title, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. They’re hilarious and though other sections of the book can be tough to get through (there were a few pages with footnotes longer than the actual writing), those sections are worth it. If nothing else, watch/listen to John Krasinksi reading passages (he wrote and directed the movie based off the book), here
11. Peter and the Starcatchers - Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry
I was introduced to this series this summer, by a colleague and fellow Peter Pan fan. I’m pretty wary about Peter Pan stories not written by JM Barry, as I tend to find them lacking, and this is one of my all-time favorite stories. But this series is a prequel of sorts, telling how Peter came to Neverland and attained his powers of flight and never-aging. It’s a fun read and fully supports my shopping in the Children’s section of your favorite book store.
12. The entire Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling ***
I really don’t feel like I need to explain this. I re-read these books every year or so, and there’s no love that surpasses this one (except maybe Hanson, but even that’s debatable)
12. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
Jonathan Tropper’s book was recommended to me by Hither, back when I lived in LA and it was only available in hardback, so I waited and forgot about it until months later, when she mentioned it again. It’s a great novel about a guy who loses so much, has to face his family, and struggles to rebuild himself. Put it on your list.
13. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee ***
If you went to high school, you read this book. Ever since that fateful reading in the 9th grade, I always included it in my favorite books lists, but never re-read it, until just recently. It deserves its place on everyone’s shelf and in the high school literary canon. Love.
14. Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine
My grandmother lent me this book around Thanksgiving, and I read it within a day. It’s a story told from the perspective of a fifth grade girl with Asperbergers, and so it’s interesting (especially since I work with children with Autism), but I didn’t like the school violence ties (they felt out of place) and there have been better written novels under the same premise (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, for one).
15. 1984 - George Orwell
Surprisingly, I’d never read this, though I’ve previously tried to on numerous occasions. I found myself really enjoying this negative utopia about the destruction of freedom, love, hope, and mankind, and found the alternative world (that we still fear the world is coming toward) incredibly fascinating.

*** indicates books I have previously read

13. Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet (17/26)
Away We Go (4.4.10)
Battle Royale (12.10.09)
Charlie St. Cloud
I didn’t enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would. Sure, it has pretty Zefron, but there were far less shirtless scenes than the movie had me anticipated for, and the whole Sixth Sense vibe I was getting from it kind of turned me off. But then, at least he didn’t opt for a Nicholas Sparks movie like all the other Disney stars.
Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter and The (11.19.10)
A-mazing, and probably the best interpretation thus far. It stayed closer to the books than the other films have, was dark and creepy and haunting and beautiful, just like the book. These actors have come a long way since the sorting hat placed them in the series, and have grown tremendously. Part 2 is going to be one of the saddest days of my life.
Eclipse (7.5.10)
Oh, Jesus. I took my sister to this film over the summer, for her birthday (she’s obsessed... I guess that’s what living in Michigan with an over-indulgent care about celebrities does to you). While it’s better than the other two (and was my favorite of the books), it’s still bad. I tried re-watching it a few nights ago, out of sheer boredom, and couldn’t stomach it. WHY did I used to like this series again? I was proud Jay got more lines though, and a pretty cool fight sequence.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (1.7.09)
Going the Distance
My mom and I randomly decided to go to the movies, and decided on this one simply because of Drew Barrymore’s attached name. Despite it’s raunchiness, we both really liked it... It’d been awhile since I’d seen a good chick flick, with a decent amount of humor overshadowing the lovey-dovey romance. The bedroom scene with “It’s Always Sunny”’s Charlie Day playing Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” was just classic.
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2.1.10)
It's Complicated (4.27.10)
It’s been awhile since I watched this one, but I do remember how much I loved John Krasinski in this film, and Meryl Streep is always amazing.
J
K
Last Airbender, The
M. Night needs to have all his money taken away and his filmmaking credentials stripped from him. I don’t understand how this movie could be this bad, yet it was. I ranted about it for two weeks straight. There is just so much wrong with this film, and even the effects didn’t make up for it. The story was sloppy. The writing was sloppy. The art direction was sloppy. The cinematography was sloppy. The acting was horrendous. And it’s no one’s fault by M Night’s. He wrote, directed, and produced this mess. With such AMAZING source material, how is this epicness of a failure possible? Go curl up and die with visions of The Sixth Sense, M. Night, and never walk onto a film set again.
M
Never Let Me Go (12. 16.10)
An independent English film about a trio whose life purpose is to “donate”, it’s like The Island, but way better and without the Michael Bay action. Though enigmatic and ambiguious, it is a haunting film about the nature of humanity with the message to “live the life you’re given.” It stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield and is based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.
O
Prince of Persia
Think Pirates of the Caribbean meets sixth century Persia, with a British-accent spouting, long-haired Jake Gyllenhaal and you’ve got Prince of Persia. Don’t expect any Oscar nods (except maybe costumes, music, and the like), but see it for the pure entertainment of it. Who says going to the movies needs to be so dramatic all the damn time?
Q
R
Social Network, The
This one was perhaps one of the best movies I saw this year (along with Inception, which was brilliant). My only complaint was that Justin Timberlake needs to go back into the music studio and stop trying to be an actor (though he was actually decent in this role).
Toy Story 3
For all of us who’ve grown up with Woody, Buzz, and the gang, this was a heartbreaking farewell full of laughs, tears, and plenty of Pixar magic.
Up in the Air (1.2.10)
Valentine's Day
Eh. It was alright. It didn’t stand up to Love, Actually, but I didn’t hate it (my roommate did, though). It’s exactly what you’d expect it to be, nothing more or less. I could do with less of the Taylor’s though.
Wild One, The (12.7.09)
X
Y
Z


14. Uber-Marathon: Watch my way through my DVD collection, in alphabetical order*^.
1. (500) Days of Summer
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
3. 101 Dalmatians (1996 release)
4. 17 Again
5. 2 Fast 2 Furious
5. 27 Dresses
6. 3 Ninjas
7. 3 Ninjas Kick Back
8. 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
9. 400 Blows, The
10. 9 to 5
11. Across the Universe
12. Alice in Wonderland (2010 release)
13. All the Pretty Horses
14. Almost Famous
15. Alpha Dog
16. Amelie
17. American Beauty
18. American Graffiti
19. Amores Perros
20. Armageddon
21. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The
22. Atonement
23. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
24. Avatar
25. Awake
26. Away We Go

*does not include music dvds, documentaries, tv seasons, exercise dvds, director collections, or stand-up comedians
^Alphabetical Order may be overruled in the case of sequels/trilogies/sagas, in which case the films may be watched in release order (see: Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc)

20. Get a purple duvet cover.
27. Visit Hither at least once. 

45. Go to a Music Festival. 

Richmond Folk Festival 2010

55. Get TOMS shoes

65. Do 25 Random Acts of Kindness (2/25)
I bought and mailed my sister Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to read, simply because she never had, and I inscribed in the front: “I hope the magic finds you, as it has me”
68. Do one thing that truly scares me.
Easy. I gave up on my dreams and moved back home. Read HERE, HERE, and HERE