Scavenging for clues...

I had to celebrate the Fourth on the third this year, since I have to work the night shift tomorrow. So, my husband and I set off our measly excuses for fireworks (at least that's what he says, I thought they were pretty cool) and went to a movie, which I haven't done in ages. I'm not a big frequenter of the movies due to 1, the prices being ridiculously high; 2, the fact that most movies these days are either a) completely predictable or b) completely overdramatic (ie Nights in Rodanthe); and 3, the fact that they make me ill. Motion sickness. But I decided to throw caution to the wind and we went to see the movie, Away We Go, with Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski.

Let me start off by saying that it was by far the greatest movie I have seen in a long time, if not, ever. The main reason behind this huge accolade is that it played like a book on film. And, not your usual book-turned-to-screenplay scenario. There was no drama; there were no special effects; there wasn't even perfected timing. There weren't your expected facial expressions or reactions; there weren't even your expected relationships between the characters. It was all brutally realistic. I was amazed how the writers somehow managed to define a character in a matter of a short scene or two. Now, some characters were exaggerated for the sake of humor. But it was funny; it was true; it had a beginning, middle and end without tapping the typical emotional pressure points of the audience with its ups and downs. It was a movie that just happened, just like life happens.

It is a story that illustrated through beautiful cinematography the small challenge we all go through of wondering whether or not we are "fuck-ups", as Maya's character Verona calls it. (Verona, by the way, is what I wanted to name my daughter when I was in the eighth grade, in love with Romeo and Juliet!) It was interesting because it reflected how we look to others as guides on our journey to ourselves. Some people we may hold up as near perfect, but realize that 1, they never are, and 2, their life is never perfect for us. So the challenge then becomes to be comfortable with ourselves.

I can remember as a kid, wanting to be just like Debbie Gibson- she was talented, beautiful, perfect. Then, when I was 12, I wanted to be just like Vada Sultenfuss from My Girl, a tough tomboy who loved to get dirty and wore killer shoes. When I was in college, I wanted to be Kate (yes, just like the Ben Folds song), this girl who was so in love with Marine Biology that she would ALWAYS discuss sea worms and other appetizing ocean dwellers at dinner in the cafeteria. But, none of these fit- totally. But it was kind of fun to pick and choose little pieces of who I wanted to be- like a personality scavenger hunt. I guess it'll be one that continues until the day I die. I just hope I get to end up in as rad a house as they did in the movie (which was filmed not far from here in Leesburg, FL!). Go see it. And, happy Independence Day!




I actually got several great photos of our fireworks, which surprised me. I thought it would be hard, but it was a lot of fun. This is one of my favorites!!