Uppers and downers

Today has been kind of a downer for various reasons, but this makes me laugh:



"What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It's an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again. The tickets are now diamonds!" Ha!

Also, this isn't exactly something that will make you laugh out loud, but I sort of recently discovered these "Tales of Mere Existence" and I like their style. Actually, I particularly agree with that one. This month's topic at Theology at the Bottleworks was "God or No God?" and it was a very open, honest discussion about things like that. I understand the reasons why you might or might not believe in God, and in the end, I think it's a very personal decision that fits that person's needs. Why is there so much fighting over something that no one will be able to truly answer until they die, anyway? God or no God, I think you should be a good person because you want to be one, not because someone/something told you to and you hope you'll be rewarded after it's all over.

Oh yeah, this was supposed to alleviate this emotionally draining weekend/week. Well, I guess that will have to wait until later. For now, sleep will be the solution.

Woman's Last Stand

For the record, I was not a fan of the Super Bowl commercials, especially the ones sympathizing with men about how women run their lives. I'm pretty sure I am not one of those women, but why would marketers choose to alienate half of their audience? Most of those "over-bearing" women shop for those men, anyway, so maybe they should have at least considered not turning them away. Thankfully, someone made this "Woman's Last Stand:"

Young and old love

I saw a sneak preview of the movie "Valentine's Day" on Monday. It's not going to win any awards, but it wasn't bad, either. It weaves the lives of many different people together and represents many different...versions of love. I really could have done without Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner's sappy, hormonal high school romance, though. Taylor Swift's (lack of) acting abilities and the character itself annoyed me almost equally. As they say in the movie, "Young love--full of hope, full of promise, and ignorant of reality." I just don't get it, probably because I never let myself go to that extreme. I've always been an "old soul," really, and as far back as I can remember, I thought that kind of whirlwind romance was silly and just not my style. It always seemed like something that could start so strong so quickly was built on a weak foundation and was bound to collapse almost as quickly. That's a drop in the bucket to me, because I know love can be so much more than that. You can't truly love someone until you really know them, anyway, and personally, I think knowing someone really well takes longer than a few weeks or even a few months. Emotion tempered with reason can still be love--in fact, I don't trust anything else with the term.

Some people say that true love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. Many people learn this the hard way, I think, but for some reason it feels like I have always known that. "Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being 'in love' which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." -St. Augustine

Actually, I must have unconsciously learned this from my parents. They're having their 30th anniversary in a few months and I think they actually get along better now that my sister and I are out of the house. They never had the "banners and flashing lights," the extravagant displays of emotion, but they have always seemed to have an unspoken understanding and acceptance of each other. They don't really have much in common, either, but somehow they complement each other and make it work. They share a quiet companionship. I'm sure that sounds horribly boring and old-fashioned to some, but I actually think that kind of acceptance and devotion should be what we are all striving for. Sure, it's not always easy and exciting, but my impression is that it's worth it. I don't think I've ever stopped to appreciate all of this until just now. Wow.

Hmm, well...anything I might say after that would seem inconsequential, so I guess I will just leave it at that, for your consideration.

In my head

What is it about today? I've been in some kind of haze or something, just waiting for the day to be over. It's after 11, so after a shower, it will be over. I think I have to clear my head a little first, though. So here it goes:

• Boyz II Men have a concert here on Valentine's Day! How random and perfect is that? (Um, very.) I loved them back in 6th grade and I went to their outdoor concert in 2008, for old time's sake. I honestly wasn't expecting too much, but it was actually one of the best live shows I've ever seen! (My guy friend was also impressed.) They sang their classics, but they also threw in some old school Motown covers, a capella, and dancing. Plus, they still wore suits in 85 degree weather! It was a classy, professional show and it really showcased their abilities. I think Joel got us tickets today, which is awesome!! I think this makes up for last Valentine's Day already, but I am not going to get into that...

• Speaking of popular music from the mid-90's, Alanis Morissette has been popping up more than usual lately. I almost totally forgot about her, but I heard "You Oughta Know" twice in two days (first at karaoke, then Beyonce sang it at The Grammys!) and it reminded me that Jagged Little Pill was and still is a good cd. It was my first cd ever (Ace of Base was my first cassette tape) and I finally downloaded it to my itunes today. It's like angst set to pop rock, almost. I went through a phase were I really liked those songs and then a phase were I almost couldn't stand them because I didn't like her voice. Her voice still isn't the greatest, but I like the songs again.

• Hmm, Boyz II Men and Alanis Morissette? I guess that's a testament to my eclectic tastes. Maybe it's because I didn't really start getting into music until middle school, but I consider that kind of a golden age of my generation's music: Oasis, Nirvana, early Green Day and Weezer, Rage Against The Machine, Smashing Pumpkins, 311, Sublime, TLC, Usher, Blues Traveler...I can still appreciate all of that stuff. Most music after that is basically crap, musically, although I still like it. Something's missing, though....namely, talent, in more cases than anyone would like to admit.

• Did you know Pringles makes "stix" now? They are not as good as the similar snacks that they had all over Japan, but they're okay. Pringles has American flavors like "pizza" instead of Japanese flavors like...well, "salad." Seriously. I kind of missed them, and I still miss cold soba noodles and those rice pillow thingys (that have a name that I can never remember). Oh! And I especially miss banana chocolate-flavored everything. Japanese meals weren't really my thing, but I was all about the snacks. Basically, I miss Family Mart, the improved Japanese version of 7-Eleven.

• I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the point of "tweeting." If you want me to update my status that regularly, you need to get a life, and so do I. Just when I thought I couldn't care any less about your tweets, though, Mattel has introduced a way for me to care even less about your dog's tweets! Okay, now I officially don't get it.

• I'm going to an old coworker's house for Super Bowl and I'm pretty excited! She was the second person I ever met at Momentum. I haven't seen any of those people in a long time, so even though many of them no longer work there, I hope a bunch of them show up to the party.

• Of course, I have a million other things that I could put here, but it's finally Friday and I need to go to bed! Good night!