Jump to content

methodwriter85

Editor
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    7,390

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by methodwriter85

  1. methodwriter85

    Italian.

    By methodwriter85,

    So I just got chewed out in Italian today. And it was my fault- I didn't do the work. And it hasn't exactly been the first time this semester that this has happened, and I think the professor finally just got fed up.
     
    I'm not really offering any excuses. I know it's all on me. And I know that I've got to turn it around. I also know that while there is still time to turn it around, that time ends soon. So. I give Mark Arbour and Adam Phillips full permission to slap the shit out of me if I don't do my homework from now on.
     
    Yeah.
  2. methodwriter85
    It's weird. He apparently died about three weeks ago.
     
    I wasn't that close to him- he was my lab partner sophomore year, and we
    hung out a few times, but when I spent a year away from UD and saw him again
    last semester, it wasn't some tight bond, you know?
     
    Still, this is the first time I've directly known a contemporary who has
    died, and it's weird. I mean, the dude was only 21. My friend Alex was much
    closer to him, and I'll definitely keep a look out for her and try talking to
    her when classes start tommorrow.
     
    He was a sweet guy, though- a total nerd who was completely comfortable with
    being himself, and never tried changing himself to fit in. There was a lot of
    genunity about him. I'll never forget his attempt to do a stand-up comedy
    rountine about proverbs. It was awful, but he was a real trouper about it.
     
    Nice reminder that we shouldn't take life for grantred- because you never
    know...
  3. methodwriter85
    3,700 Freshman Move to UD
     
    Freshmen are so goddamned adorable- so impossibly young, so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Last night I partied with some friends, and we enjoyed the spectacle of the hordes of freshmen looking for parties. We even helped one freshman who got just a little too drunk- the whole thing was kinda surreal- because it felt like just yesterday I WAS that guy, and now...it's four years later and I'm now the "cool upperclassmen", as the Freshman put it. It's weird being on the other side.
     
    Sloppy Drunk Freshman had a new buddy from his dorm that was Not-So-Sloppy Drunk Freshman, who kinda watched over him a little. Myself and my group of friends all basically said, "You guys will be best friends for the next four years." That's totally how college friendships tend to happen- they're forged through the patting of one's back while your new friend throws up because he's had too much to drink. And then you tease him about it the next day while eating Sunday brunch in the dining hall.
     
    Although I did have a bit of an epiphany- when myself and my fellow senior were exclaiming our pride at being seniors, Not-So-Sloppy Drunk Freshman said, "Why would you brag about that? That means you only have one year left!" He had a point, and I'll miss college (although the way things are looking I might end up taking another semester or a year), I have four interesting memories of college to contend with, that can't be taken away from me, and while I miss the excitement of freshman year and everything being new...I think I like myself a lot better now, at 23, than I did when I was 19 years old.
     
    Still, it's so weird. I mean, I'm technically not a 5th year senior, since I took 2008 off, but still- this fall marks 5th year of my college party experience. Now that I'm a grizzled veteran at this, it's nice to pass on my wisdom and experience...
     
    Finally. I WILL have a cute freshman boy. I will. I swear it. I'm going to be Mr. Robinson and enjoy the hell out of it. Although my friend Steve teased me for it- "You're 23, Jeremy. You are way too old to have sex with a freshman." He's prolly right, but whatever- I don't care if it would make me a male cougar- I'm going to do it!
     
    Adam and Mark, you got any seduction tips you can give me? I think the approach I'm going for is "the cool upperclassmen guy who buys beers and makes a nice party buddy, who just happens to be gay..." I think if I'm open about being gay, I'll be more likely to run accross guys who may be curious or questioning themselves- and because I'm a familiar, older, and more experienced guy- they just might come to me...
     
     
  4. methodwriter85
    From Myspace to Rape Charges
     
    Man. I know Nick. Nick is the boyfriend of my friend, who's a pretty sweet girl and absolutely doesn't deserve this. It's absolutely creepy to think that just after the weekend I hung out with him and his girlfriend, he got arrested for having sex with a 12-year old girl. I mean, I played beer pong with him two weeks ago! *shudders*
     
    It's crazy. Something about the guy always creeped me out, although I could never quite articulate it, and now I know why. Man. He's a perfect case of why you need to trust your own instincts when it comes to people, even when they seem like a cool party guy. I just don't get why he had to do this- he has a girlfriend his own age, and he seemed to be good at getting girls interested in him. I don't get why this happened.
     
    It's so strange that I now can say I've met and hung out with a pedophile. Ugh. Eww. And Uck.
     
     
  5. methodwriter85
    Okay. So I'm looking out over my senior year, and I came to a realization.
     
    If I want any chance of getting into grad school, I've GOT to get my grades up.
     
    My grades have been slowly going in the right direction- from an absolutely abbysmal 2.134 GPA for fall 2007(depression sucks), my accumulative GPA is now standing at a 2.42 after spring 2009 and summer 2009, thanks to a 2.867 and a 2.6something for those semesters. Still mediocre, but at least going in the right direction. My major GPA is better- standing at a 2.875, I'm almost at a 3. When I get my major GPA to a 3.0, I'll have a much better chance of getting into grad school. I won't be getting into William and Mary, but I'll live.
     
    Right now, there is exactly one school that I know would take me- Millersville University in Pennsylvania. They require a 2.75 history gpa, so I could make it in now. There's another school that I can get into if I get my acculmulative GPA up to a 2.75- it's called Shippensburg University, also in P.A., and it actually seems like a program that could be good for me- applied history masters. It's a broader program, and would allow me a bit of flexibility in what I want to do.
     
    Getting my history GPA to a 3.0, I'd also be able to get into Salisbury University, which has a concentrated history program that I like, as well as Delaware State University, which has a museum program that I think I'd be interested in.
     
    So, the goal right now is to just keep bringing the grades up, especially when it comes to my history courses. I need to get at least an A or two in history. I'm planning on taking winter session. My goal is, by the end of winter semester, to have a 2.8 acculmulative GPA, and a 3.0+ GPA in history. If I get there, I'll be much more comfortable about beginning to apply to graduate schools. (Of course, there's also the GRE's, which I plan to take in Feburary.)
     
    But there's another option- take another semester and graduate in fall 2010 instead of spring 2010, so I could just work on getting the GPA up, as well as maybe do some independent study with one of the history professors. That's another option- but there's a bit of a caveat. I only have four more history classes I need to take- two more 300 level history classes, 1 400 level, and Western Civ 2. That's it. After that, I could take history classes, but they'd just be for show and wouldn't actually count for credit. So if I do that, I'd prolly have to get a minor.
     
    It's all pretty confusing. I'm thinking about sitting down with my history adivisor and see what he thinks. I mean, if I went to undergrad during the 2010-2011 school year, it'd be a sixth year in the chronological sense, but because of the fact that I took a year off in 2008, I would only be a 5th year senior, meaning I'd still be covered by finanicial aid. (It looks like they'll cover up to a 5th year of undergrad.)
     
    What do you guys think?
  6. methodwriter85
    I spent the 4th of July at my sister's house in the boondocks. She had a
    lot of friends over, as well as the in-laws-to-be, and we sat around and had
    lots of food, set off fireworks, and got to know the people that I'll be calling
    family soon enough.
     
    Seven years ago, my sister Chrissy was in this horrible relationship with a
    loser cokehead named John. She was engaged to be married to him, and luckily,
    that fizzled out and she met a much better guy named Mike. They're getting
    married in September at this nice country club on the outskirts of my college
    town.
     
    It was a happy day for me- watching how my sister at 28 has found a certain
    peace that you wouldn't expect with the kind of background we've had. She has a
    nursing career she loves, friends that adore her, and a wonderful fiancee that I
    will be proud to call my brother-in-law soon enough. I'm walking her down the
    aisle (since, you know, our dad is nowhere to be found), and I'm glad I'll be
    gving her away to this nice, sweet guy that loves her.
     
    Contrast that to the girl she was at 17- barely passing 11th grade, in a
    relationship with a guy that our family couldn't stand, working her ass off at a
    dead-end job in McDonald's to help keep the light on at our apartment- and I
    just think, "Wow, she's really come a long way, and she's matured into one hell
    of a woman".
     
    As a guy who's trying to navigate the road to adulthood, and sees the end
    of his college years looming, it's nice to have a sibling that can kinda "show"
    the way. I mean, not that I plan on taking the same sort of path- but it's nice
    to know that she, along with my oldest sister Jenny, found a way to a good,
    stable life despite all the hardship we all suffered as children .
  7. methodwriter85

    Weekend Fun

    By methodwriter85,

    My weekend was nice.
     
    Thursday night, I decided to hit up Skid Row to shoot the breeze
    with some of my buddies. One let me take a shot of Absolut vodka, which
    was nice. I walked over to my best buddy Steve's dorm, where he is an
    RA. Along with his residents, we sat around and talked about life and
    took shots of cheapo Smirnoff vodka. He gave me a Negro beer to chase,
    which made me think of Adam's advertisments for Negro Modelo in
    Cross-Currents and Brushfire. I had about four shots of vodka in total,
    along with two beers. If this had been spread out over a course of at
    least three hours, I would have been fine, but because I did this within
    an hour-and-a-half time frame, I was very, very, very drunk. Hanging out
    with my friend Steve and James in Jame's dorm, I apparently put on
    someone's hat that I called a "Castro hat", and went on a spiel about
    communism. LOL. Allegedly, I also fell asleep mid-sentence while talking
    to someone, and fell flat on my back while trying to walk in the
    hallway. Laughs were had all around. Later I went back to Steve's room,
    and passed out on his floor for about three hours.
     
    Friday, I went to an outdoor concert called Bennyfest, held at a
    house on- you guessed it- Benny Street. They had bands playing, with a
    pretty sound system considering it was just one house. The fest wasn't
    big, but it was nice and lively. The cops were tipped off, so they
    weren't allowed to sell jello shots as planned, so I didn't really drink
    there because I didn't feel like it while still nursing my hangover from
    Thursday. They had a slip-n-slide set up in the backyard. The object was
    to play a game called "slip cup", which was supposed to be a hybrid game
    combining a slip-n-slide and the game flip-cup. We played it a little,
    but in the end, the mud created by the constantly running garden hose
    was too tempting. Myself, along with what grew to be about 15 or so
    people, decided to roll around and play in the mud. We had mud fights,
    and mud wrestling, and generally got covered head to toe in mud. I
    mudwrestled three times with two different guys- losing once, winning
    twice. It was freeing experience- walking around covered in mud and not
    caring what people thought. And a cute shirtless college guy in mud? Can
    be damn nice to look at. Especially when you turn the hose on them to
    get the mud off. It was quite possibly one of the happiest moments in my
    life- slinging mud around and rolling in mud while on a beautiful late
    spring day, as sweet tunes drifted across the air in a celebration of
    our end-of-school-year.
     
    Saturday, I wound up a frat party to hang out with my friends Ian
    and James. It was fun- I saw a lot of my freshmen friends there. I
    showed someone how to properly work a keg so as to minimalize foam- it
    felt great to impart some wisdom on the younger generation. And with
    this girl Juls, who was from Ian and Jame's dorm, I decided to throw
    down and work this stripper pole that had been set up in the basement.
    Dancing seductively around the pole with Juls, I felt very sexually
    freed. Afterwards, I watched as Ian and James lost their beer pong game.
    Knowing that there weren't anymore parties to go to, we walked over to
    Little Caesars to fufill our late-night alcohol-induced munchies. They
    wanted to stay outside and eat, but I decided to get back to Steve's
    dorm, because he was going to pay me back for a pizza that I bought for
    him. I wound up taking the bus, where hungry college kids tried to tempt
    me into giving up free pizza. I resisted, though one cute freshman boy
    bought a slice off of me for a dollar. I got back to Steve's residence
    hall, and hung out with him and a few of his residents until five a.m.
    in the morning. Nothing majorly significant happened, although we did
    tease James about this guy Eric- who we are POSITIVE is a closetcase,
    and we're also positive has a total crush on him.
     
    Sunday, I did some studying. Then took off to Deer Park for a
    nightcap of double vodka cranberry. You should try them, guys...they're
    good. Then hung out some more with my friends at their dorm. My little
    shitstirrer side came out, as Eric actually hung out with us that night,
    and I keep making these little innuendos about Eric and James that
    increasing pissed James off, LOL. We also made plans for the summer, as
    a few of the guys are going to be around here this summer. Should be
    fun.
     
    And then Monday, we had a casual barbeque at my sister's house
    in the boonies. It was fun- we celebrated my oldest sister's 32nd
    birthday, and all four of us siblings were able to catch up a little on
    our lives.
     
    And that was my weekend. I liked it, a lot.
     
     
    This week? Finals. Did my first, got another one on Thursday, and it's goodbye junior year!
  8. methodwriter85
    God, today I had an incredibly fun experience. I was at Bennyfest, which is this small outdoor house concert on Benny Street. As bands were playing, people could go towards the back where a slip n slide was set up. It got extremely muddy around the slip n slide, but none of us cared! We just keep sliding down, getting muddy, having fun. Mud wrestling occured as well...there's nothing more fun than mud wrestling with a college guy!
     
    We became the mud people for a few hours. It was fun. Absolute and complete fun. If you guys ever get the chance to play in the mud and do some mud wrestling, go for it. Trust me.
  9. methodwriter85
    Is upon me, and man...it sucks. However, I'm going to do my best to make sure it sucks as little as possible. Of course, the great thing is- most of my classes will be done, and I only have two final exams during finals week. I just have a couple of papers to turn in, and one exam, by the last day of class, which is the 20th. So between the 20th, I get a nice break to just catch my breath, rest for a few days, and then study like mad for my western civ and geology exam.
     
    I just want to thank god for ADD medication- best study aid ever.
  10. methodwriter85
    I thought in honor of the anniversary of Columbine, I'd post this. I wrote it when I was 13.
     
    ****
     
    Tuesay, April 20, 1999
     
    There has been another school shooting. Again! The 1998-1999 school year has gone by without a fatal shooting! Until now!
     
    This time the high school was Columbine High School The unfortunate town with a lowered population this time is Littletown, Colorado. The fatality is as much as 25 people.
     
    A school gang that had racist and anti-athlete views has at least 2 members that are suspects, and committed suicide.
     
    The Shooting spree began at about 11:30 A.M. Mountain Time, or about 1:30 P.M. our time. One center of the shooting was the library. One eyewitness said there were about 10 people dead. They used explosives.
     
    The shootings went on for hours. They say this may be the worst shooting in U.S. history.
     
    I can't believe this happened again. If this shooting, with double-digit deaths, is not a cold, hard wake-up call to parents, teachers, and students, than I don't know what will be. The accused made many death threats but people laughed it off! That pisses me off so much!!! They could have gotten help, but people write off their behavior as typical teen angst. What is wrong with this society!? Last school year had about 43 people injured and 15 people killed!!! Why the f**k couldn't people have taken the death threats seriously? What is their f**king problem? Serious denial?
     
    I turned on the TV ater 2:30 P.M. and before 3:00 P.M., and I see something on T.V. about some school shooting in Colorade. At that time I never dreamed it would turn so tragic. I thought maybe 10 kids and teachers wounded and 3 or 5 killed. Man, was I wrong.
     
    What's weird is that April 20 is Hilter's birthday. Also, 420 is another name for weed. The school shooting had to have been planned for months, if not a year or so. Maybe that's the reason why today was picked. Also, this is the last April 20th before the Y2K. Maybe that had some significance.
     
    It's so sad. The seniors are graduating at that high school in 3 weeks. That will be some sad and somber graduation ceremony. But I'm pretty sure they'll cancel it. April 20, 1999 is a date that town isn't likely to forget. Also, cigarette ads on billboards are being removed. Trivial.
     
    That's all for tonight.
     
    Wednesday, April 21, 1999
     
    The final death toll count is 15 dead. 2 of them were the gunners. 12 were students and 1 was a teacher. The 2 gunmen were members of a clique called the Trenchcoat Mafia. Is being shot in school the price we have to pay for growing up in the late 1990's? I love the the 1990's. But it's times like these that make me want to live in the 1950's. Or the 60's.
     
    ****
     
    So, there you have it. That was how I saw things when I was 13.
     
    I did a senior paper about this six years later, and my opinion basically got shaped by this book where a witness who knew the guys, talked about how they kept going to the police warning them about their behaviour, and the police did nothing. It's called No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death At Columbine. It's a pretty good book, and basically the impression I got is that Eric Harris was one crazy sumbitch with grandoise delusions, while Dylan Klebold was easily led around. And that on the surface is was about bullied kids vs. the popular jocks, but it was much, much more complicated than that.
     
    It's crazy reading my reaction to this as being the most incredible mass school shooting ever, when eight years later there'd be a massacre at Virginia Tech that'd kill over 30 people. It's amazing what hindsight can give a person.
  11. methodwriter85
    So on Monday, I get back to school. I'm facing down the last eight weeks of spring semester, and thus finally finish the junior year that I didn't finish before because I left school last year in the middle of junior year.
     
    Of course, if we're being techical, I'm not finishing junior year, because at the end of this semester, I should have about seventy-eight credits. To count as a senior, I need ninety credits. To reach graduation, I need 124 credits. This means I need forty-six credits between June 2009 and May 2010. This is where I get into what's been bugging me- to make up the credits and graduate in spring 2010, I need to take two classes during summer session, and two classes during winter session. This is on top of taking about 16 credts for fall 2009 semester and spring 2010 semester. So I'd be going full-throttle from now until I walk across that stage in about fourteen months.
     
    What I'm worried about is that I'm going to burn out. Considering that I do think about going to grad school, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to get to the point where I don't even want to look at another book by the time I finish undergrad. So this is where option two comes in- taking an extra semester and not doing the summer and winter sessions so I get a nice break. On one hand, I wouldn't have to take a heavy courseload each semester. On the other hand, aside from the financial strain of doing another semester, I'd also be unable to walk across the stage with my friends, and I'd miss out on the whole spring graduation experience. I've seen what they're like, and they're pretty amazing.
     
    And then there's option 3- do a 5th year, graduate in spring 2011 instead of spring 2010 or winter 2011. I'd be able to pick up a minor, have the spring graduation experience, have a much lighter courseload, and-this is pretty important- I'd have a lot more time put in between myself and the one-year suspension I had to serve starting in December 2007. The drawbacks would be financial, of course, and I don't think my family would be cool with me still being supported by Mom at the age of 25.
     
    So three options...all of them kinda suck, but I know that I have to choose one. I've gotta make the best out of a bad situation I placed myself in because of certain decisions I made- such as transferring to another school my sophomore year and getting suspended junior year.
     
    Now I just find myself staring at these last couple of weeks of my re-attempted junior year, and know that sometime very soon, I got to make a decision about my future. Kinda scary.
  13. methodwriter85
    University of Delaware has something we call Alumni Weekend, where hordes of former Blue Hens come back and visit campus to relive their past, including and up to staying in the dorms.
     
    I wound up spending a nice afternoon with a couple that I knew in passing at UD, Johanna and Chris. Johanna was an R.A. with my friend Stephen, and we wound up connecting at his memorial two years ago. Jo and Chris live in Queens, and had ridden the bus down here. This was their first time at Alumni Weekend. (They were class of 2009, a year ahead of me.)
     
    I met them at a gaming store. We hit Duck Donuts, then sampled beer at Growler's, and then made a trek over to the shuttered Dickinson Hall, where she and Steve were R.A.'s at. Along the way, we talked about our lives- where we've been, where we want to go, and all the angst in between. Jo also has the angst of getting a master's degree and realizing that she can't use it. (She's switched over to education- I believe she was originally trying to do media.) Chris is an urban planner, which is something I've been interested in. And we're all in a shitload of student loan debt, which Jo is about to add more to as she's going back to school for an education degree.
     
    I also talked to them about all the changes in Newark, which have been pretty numerous as building after building gets knocked down in order to create yet more student housing apartments with retail (that often goes unused) on the first floor
    is getting pretty different from the Newark of today. 
    When we got to Dickinson Hall, I told them about how I used to process my grieving process by standing outside this dorm, and just remembering. Then we all just talked about the memories we had of this place. Pretty crazy to think of all of the thousands and thousands of people that lived in that complex for over 40 years. All these stories that we'll never know took place within those walls, and the whole thing is going to be gone soon. Depressing, but that place gave me some great memories, even though I never lived there.
     
    Then we walked over to Elkton Rd. (or South Main Street), then went up Amstel, then cut through the Ewing Kirkbride Complex to get back to Main Street. We sat down on the brick borders surrounding Kirkbride to share our memories of the Kirkbride Jesus Guy, a c
    and how we're all going to hell. 
    I wound up having dinner at Homegrown with them and another couple...it was nice. Seriously nice. I love my buddies at work, but I really, really needed conversation with people my own age who understand my Millennial angst bullshit.
     
    We part ways after a second trip to Duck Donuts, and I felt really good.
     
    There's some really dumb shit going on in my life (the worry about bills, the worry about my future, my lack of a car of my own), but it was nice to remember that excited young college kid that I once was, and how much fun that period in my life brought me. Not to say that there wasn't plenty of angst to go around during my early 20's, but there was so much to experience then.
     
    It also just felt nice to talk to people that *get* what it's like to have gone through college and then ended up in a menial job, and struggling with the thought of going back to school to try and get a more marketable degree. Not to mention being able to talk about my grieving of Stephen, because as I've said, all of my mutual friends with him left the area, and I didn't really get to be around his memorial two years ago.
     
    Anyway, it was a nice day and made me happy.
  14. methodwriter85
    I found a documentary on the Bay City Rollers, a Scottish boy band that skyrocketed to fame during the mid-1970's, and then crashed spectacularly when the ride was over. Look them up- they were a total train-wreck. Anyway, here's a tune from them:
     

     
    Fluffy 70's stuff...so much fun. I used to party at a college house, and somehow there was a poster of the Bay City rollers there. In 2008. I have no clue how, but I thought was kind of neat. I wonder if it was a poster that people just kept up over the years, until it had become ironic. Didn't know they weren't actually a one-hit wonder, because it seems like Saturday Night is all that is remembered.
     
    Three of the former members have reunited, and it's kind of cool to see all these people in their 50's and 60's re-living their 70's youth. Time hasn't been the kindest to the guys, but you know what? More power to them. I hope they're having a ball with this.
     
    Do you remember the band? Did you ever try wearing tartan plaid to show your appreciation for them?
  15. methodwriter85
    Hey, did anyone get a chance to check out the movie trailer for Richard Linklater's newest film,
    ? It's set during the opening weekend of the 1980-1981 school year at a Texas college, and follows a freshmen pitcher as he adjusts to life as a member of college baseball. 
    I was able to catch a screening of the movie last Friday. (It's pretty limited release.) It was a pretty fun ride, and we get to see them go through all these different party scenes as the story goes on- disco, country western, punk, and New Wave alternative- really cool to watch. I thought they did a great job with depicting the year 1980- right between the mellowed, relaxed vibes of the Stagflation 1970's, and the bright, preppy Reagonomic 1980's.
     
    I really encourage people to catch this one. It's such a delightful little time machine.
  16. methodwriter85
    I thought with the start of baseball season going, the baseball fans here might get a kick out of an article that Detroit Tigers player Daniel Norris wrote, about what the sport means to him. He's best known as the guy who lives in his van during his off-season.
     
    "More Than Just the Man in the Van" by Daniel Norris
     
    I'm a sucker for free spirits who don't really go for the conventional life, and I really like this guy. I'm not a baseball fan, but he's a pretty cool guy. And so self-assured at 22! I hope he keeps marching to the beat of his own drum.
  17. methodwriter85
    The classic John Hughes film Pretty in Pink is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and I got to see a revival of it on the big screen last week. It's not as good as The Breakfast Club, but the soundtrack just can't be denied. Anyway, some of my favorite tunes from that film:
     

     

     
    "Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" by the Smiths
     
    As for my personal thoughts on the movie...it's weird, but I actually feel like I got more out of it when I re-watched it. I think the characters could have been much better written (Blaine and the school Mean Girl Benny were especially cardboard cut-outs), but I loved all the wonderful little nods to 1980's New Wave culture (which was going to fade out pretty soon after the mid-80's), and who can't help but root for Molly Ringwald's character? I feel like her character arc was about not staying complacent, either with letting the rich kids treat her like crap or with her father's refusal to move on with his life. It kind of felt like, at this point where she's almost at the finish line, there are things that Andie needs to confront about herself and the people around her before she can really move on to that next stage of her life. Now that 18/19 is pretty far behind me, I can appreciate that aspect of them movie more than I did when high school was a recent memory, I think.
     
    I also think I appreciate Iona more...I'm closer to her age now than I am to Andie's age, and I got her speech about prom and the envy you can sometimes have of someone that age. I feel like I "got" that character more than I did when I watched this movie as a teenager or a little kid. (TBS used to run it pretty consistently.)
     
    Of course, it's mainly about getting with the cute guy, but whatever. I do think it's funny that they basically had to reshoot the ending because nobody realized while they were filming the movie that Andie and Duckie had the chemistry of a brother and a sister, not a couple that doesn't realize they're a couple just yet. Apparently Molly had really, really wanted Robert Downey Jr. in the part of Duckie, and believed she could have had that chemistry with him, but just couldn't have mustered up that chemistry with Jon Cryer.
    The movie was basically remade a year later with the genders flipped and called Some Kind of Wonderful. I honestly can't stand that movie, except that Eric Stoltz had hit peak attractiveness at that point and he and Mary Stuart Masterson had really wonderful chemistry together.
     
    Anyway, did anyone else get a chance to catch the revival?
  18. methodwriter85

    Diner: The Musical

    By methodwriter85,

    As a 30th birthday present to myself, I bought tickets to see the Delaware Theatre Company production of Diner, a new musical written by Sheryl Crow. It's based on a 1982 movie called Diner, which starred such young up-and-coming actors as Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, Daniel Stern, Paul Reiser, Ellen Barkin, Steve Gutenberg, and Mickey O'Rourke. Taking place at the end of 1959, the movie/musical follows a group of friends, all in their early 20's, as they navigate through the pitfalls and concerns of young adulthood.
     
    The musical has Broadway hopes for 2017, and it was pretty amazing to watch something like this in Delaware...I think the show's beginning needs to be tweaked, but it picks up the further you go in, and I found myself really immersed in their stories. The show is narrated by Boogie (Derek Klena), a pretty boy and tough youth who bit off more than he could chew with a bet about the Baltimore Colts. He tells us about his group of friends that meet at the local diner, and we learn about their various problems and concerns. Shrevie (Noah Weisberg) is a newlywed to Beth (Erika Henningsen), and their marriage is on rocky ground as they're finding that they have nothing to talk about. Eddie (Ari Brand), nervous about his impending wedding to Elyse (Tess Soltau), has demanded that she pass a football trivia test in order to marry her. Billy (Aaron C. Finley), the one who moved away for graduate school, learns that his one-night stand with a platonic friend Barbara (Brynn O'Malley) has resulted in a pregnancy. Modell (Ethan Slater) is the group's comic relief. Finally, Fenwick (Matthew James Thomas) is a rich boy and constant screw-up who can't seem to figure out what he wants to do in his life.
     
    The show is based around the idea that change is just around the corner- we're at the end of 1959, so the fifties are ending. These men are at the end of their childhood/beginning of their adulthood, wrestling with universal questions about whether to settle or not settle down, what they should do for a career, and whether or not their current life path is something they still want to be taking or if a change is needed. As for women, we see the hint of Women's Liberation that was to come in the 1960's. Beth struggles with her dissatisfaction over being a housewife, and wants to work outside of their home as a dance teacher. (She also contemplates having an affair with Boogie, who she once dated.) With Barbara, we see her conflict about her pregnancy with her desire to become a t.v. news anchor, as well as Bill pressuring her to marry him. It's the end of innocence, in more ways than one throughout this show.

    I think the beginning of the show lacked a little bit of energy, but it picked up, especially once the women were introduced to contrast their stories against the men. In one memorable scene, Beth watches in shocked wonder as her husband goes off on how to properly catalog her records. In a funnier scene, we watch as Elyse tries to pass her football test to get the marital green light. With Barbara, we see her try to gently but firmly explain to Bill why marriage isn't the simple solution to her being "in trouble." (To use the parlance of the time.)
     
    The group camaraderie between the guys feels authentic, which carries the show very well. I completely believed these guys were friends, and made me think about my own youth and some of the packs I ran around in, which guys that age tend to do. (Also, the diner that I used to hang out at when I was 21/22.) Sometimes, the best thing in the world is sit down and eat disco fries and talk to your friends late at night over anything and everything, and that's a feeling that show captured well. My favorite characters were probably Boogie and Beth. Both were characters that were in a rut, and needed to change something about their life. The scene where they contemplate having an affair was pretty well-done by both actors, and the reasoning for it (Beth wanting to feel wanted, Boogie getting a plan B for a bet he needs to win) were well-communicated by the actors.
     
    My biggest complaint of the show is that I think some of the songs need to be a bit more memorable. It's a retro pastiche of late 50's, quite a few of which are very good, but I found myself longing for at least one actual popular song from that era,
    . If Footloose can do it, why can't this? I thought Modell was a pretty underdeveloped character (I guess that was kind of the point, but it almost seems pointless to have the character), and I wish I could've seen more with Billy and Barbara's characters. Also, some of the choreography was a little clunky, but that's something that can always be fine-tuned.
    All in all, it was a pretty fun experience and I'm thinking about trying to see the show again. (If not this production, another one.) I really do hope this one can make its way to Broadway!
  19. methodwriter85
    So, as I say goodbye to this decade and say hello to a new one, I thought it'd be cool to take some time and reflect on the tunes that I loved in my 20's. Here we go:
     
    My 20's in Music
     
    1.)
    (2006, Age 20) 
    2.)
    (2006, Age 20) 
    3.)
    (2006, Age 20) 
    4.)
    (2006, Age 20) 
    5.)
    (2007, Age 21) 
    6.) "
    (2007, Age 21) 
    7)
    (2007, Age 21) 
    8.)
    (2007, Age 21) 
    9.)
    (2007, Age 21) 
    10.)
    (2007, Age 21) 
    11.) "
    (2008, Age 22) 
    12.)
    (2008, Age 22) 
    13,) "
    ( 2008, Age 22) 
    14.)
    (2008, Age 22) 
    15.)
    (2009, Age 23) 
    16.)
    (2009, Age 23) 
    17.)
    (2009, Age 23) 
    18.)
    (2009, Age 23) 
    19.)
    (2009, Age 23) 
    20.)
    (2010, Age 24) 
    21.) "
    (2010, Age 24) 
    22.)
    (2010, Age 24) 
    23.)
    (2010, Age 24) 
    24.)
    (2010, Age 24) 
    25.)
    (2010, Age 24) 
    26.)
    (2011, Age 25) 
    27.) "
    (2011, Age 25) 
    28.)
    (2011, Age 25) 
    29)
    (2011, Age 25) 
    30.)
    (2011, Age 25) 
    31.) "
    (2011, Age 25) 
    32.)
    (2012, Age 26) 

    (2012, Age 26) 
    34.)
    (2012, Age 26) 
    35.) "
    (2012, Age 26) 
    36.)
    (2012, Age 26) 
    37.)
    (2012, Age 26) 
    38.)
    (2012, Age 26) 
    39.)
    (2012, Age 26) 
    40.)
    (2013, Age 27) 
    41.)
    by The Alabama Shakes (2013, Age 27) 
    42.)
    l (2013, Age 27) 
    43.)
    (2013, Age 27) 
    44.)
    (2013, Age 27) 
    45.)
    (2013, Age 27) 
    46.)
    (2014, Age 28) 
    47.)
    (2014, Age 28) 
    48.
    (2014, Age 28) 
    49.)
    (2014, Age 28) 
    50.)
     
    51.)
    (2014, Age 28) 
    52.)
    (2014, Age 28) 
    53.)
     

    (2014, Age 28 ) 
    55.)
    (2015, Age 29) 
    56.)
    (2015, Age 29) 
    57.) "
    (2015, Age 29) 
    58.) "
    (2015, Age 29) 
    59.) "
    (2015, Age 29) 
    60.)
    (2015, Age 29) 
    61.)
     
    Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this look back with me! I feel like 2007 and 2012 (ages 21 and 26, respectively) have been my two favorite years of music.
     
    Can't wait to see what awesome music comes out in my 30's!
  20. methodwriter85
    I've been going through the 1995 Newark High School yearbook to find pictures that I can post to my museum's Facebook, and I found this wonderful photo from the class of 1995:

    I get such a kick out of going through the old yearbook photos...seeing how people looked, how they dressed, and getting a feel for the era and the area. Checking out all those baggy mid-90's clothes was pretty funny. (I tried going through an '03 yearbook to see if the clothes started to look funny to me yet, but they don't...probably will take another ten years before it does.) It's also got this amber effect, in a way- like this group of teenagers will always be 17/18 years old, looking towards the future...but their real-life counterparts are all about 37/38, likely with houses and families and all those grown-up concerns.
     
    Anyway, I think 1995 was a pretty cool time- the economy was booming, Clinton was in office, technology was about to leap forward in a big way with the rise of the internet, and it felt like America was emerging from it's early 90's Recession era funk. There was this bright air of optimism in the air during that time period, I think. And it was a GREAT period for music.
    So I thought I'd post some tunes from "their" time as a nod to the class of 1995, which is currently celebrating their 20-year!
     
    Pick 1- Rock
     

     
    I thought I'd go with something from another country for this slot. I know Silverchair better for their latter 90's tune, "Anthem for the Year 2000."
     
    Pick 2 - Dance
     

     
    Pick 3- British Pop
     

     
    You can pretty much see the blueprints for the Backstreet Boys being laid out in this video. LOL.
     
    Pick 4- Jam Band
     

     
    I love that this is basically a satire making fun of the fact that lyrics are effectively meaningless when it comes to popular music, because it relies on the hook. You can't get much more 90's than that.
     
    In any event, I still can't get over that 1995 was twenty years ago. It feels like yesterday, you know?
  21. methodwriter85
    Last night, I went on the Halloween Loop, which is something that Wilmington puts on every year as a way to entertain their residents and the people of the suburbs and making Wilmington a happening night spot, at least for that particular night.
    Anyway, dressed as a cowboy, I went to many different bars- Chelsea Tavern, Extreme Pizza, Shenaniganz, Firestone Roasting House, Kelly's Logan House, Satsuma Kitchen, Scratch Magoo's, and finally ended up at Rooney's/The Trolley Square Tap Room. It was so much- everybody milling about in their costumes, the bars that had live music going, and of course, running into old friends. I saw a couple of people I knew from my high school and college days, which really put a smile to my face.
     
    Lots of dancing, lots of drinking( although because I'm a lightweight I stopped myself around 7 drinks), and also catching up with a couple of people I hadn't seen in years. The best part though was just checking out the costumes and commenting on the ones that had costumes I thought were fun. I kept running into a couple of people at various times throughout the night.
     
    That becomes important, because after the bars left out, I was supposed to call up Uber (that's a ridesharing service in the US similar to Taxis, Nigel), but some girls thought it would be cool to let me ride with them in their Uber. (One of their male friends was dressed up as a cowboy as well and we kept making jokes about that.) However, some police started hassling their male friends who scattered, and one of those said dudes called his mother to pick him up in Trolley Square. So one girl cancelled their Uber, and I wound up riding with these random strangers to a home in Elsemere. I tried getting an Uber there, but the app never sent me an text. There was also this big fight that broke out between the girls and the guys- the girls felt pissed that the guys scattered and basically left them alone in the middle of Wilmington, DE at night, as we were standing out of the guy's house who's mother drove us there.
     
    So anyway, the girl who told me I could go with them wound up calling her mother. As it turned out, her brother was one of the guys who scattered, so he was left stranded in Trolley Square. The mother decided, since I was going south to Delaware Casino Park to meet up with my mother, to take me there first before going back around to pick up her son in Trolley Square.The whole time, I listened to these girls crying and being pissed off about what awful people their guy friends were.
     
    Anyway, I got back to Delaware Park, and then I got home, and now i'm safe and sound typing this up. Kind of cool to know that I still have crazy nights like this still left in me, no?
     
    The Halloween Loop was on my bucket list. I'm glad I can cross that off.
  22. methodwriter85
    The Unauthorized 90210 Story aired on Lifetime this weekend, and it made me feel all nostalgic for the show, and of course, the show's music. (Which unfortunately has been butchered on the DVD's.) So I thought I'd post my favorite tunes from the 90210 soundtrack:
    1.)

    When Dylan and Brenda break up, for the first time, after Brenda freaks out about her pregnancy scare. 
    2.) "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders
    When the gang watches at the train station as Steve leaves to search for his biological mother in Mexico. (Or was it a bus station?)
     
    3.)

    When Kelly and Dylan make out in the pool during the summer of '92, when they got together behind Brenda's back. 
    4.) "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House
    When Brenda finds out about Kelly and Dylan, and goes off on them before walking away in a huff.
     
    5.)

    When the gang discovers that Erica, Dylan's little sister, has become a teenaged prostitute. 
    6.)

    Steve's 21st birthday, 
    7.)

    Random Peach Pit After-Dark performance. 
    8.) "

    Peach Pit After-Dark. 
    9.)

    Noah apparently was childhood friends with Donna Lewis or something, leading to her doing a performance there. 
    10.)

    Kelly's College Graduation Party. 
    11.)

    From Brenda and Dylan's first date episode. Pretty much sets the tone for how angsty that whole relationship would be. 
    And of course, we can't forget the theme song:
     
    12,)


    Man, that was fun. The show ran an entire decade, and I pretty much remember watching it at 5 years old until I was 14 when it finally went off the air. I was so pissed at how bad the reboot was. Thank god that p.o.s. show is finally gone. 
    I'm still angry that the show's soundtrack is basically completely replaced on the show. Damn music rights.
  23. methodwriter85
    we were blessed with quite possibly one of the best Jane Austen adaptions ever, Clueless. An updated version of her book, Emma, Clueless follows the trials and tribulations of Cher, a pampered 15-year old Beverly Hills student, who can't help but try to play matchmakers to those in her world, often with hilarious results and misunderstandings. Twenty years later, the film has become a teen class and remains a fresh, funny take on the social mores of Jane Austen updated to a then-contemporary setting. Check out this great Throwback video of them on set twenty years ago: 



    To celebrate, I'm going to post some of favorite tunes from the movie: 

     
    It was kind of strange when I was a little bit older and I realized that this wasn't the original version of the song and it actually came out in the early 1980's as a new-wave tune. I can't really decide which one I like better, the original or this version.
     

     
    This video is just hilarious. I loved that it was a Carrie homage.
     
    "Alright" by Supergrass
     
    What a great feel-good for such a feel-good movie.
     
    And of course, the closing tune of the movie:
     

     
    I didn't know that this was actually a tune from the 1980's- I really thought this had been written for the movie. In any event, it's kind of funny that it sounds like such a happy tune...but then if you listen carefully to the lyrics, it's about a guy in a toxic relationship.
    Anyway, Clueless remains one of my favorite childhood friends, and it just holds up so well. I feel like it's kind of a time capsule in a way- really reflecting that mid-1990's time period between the grunge feeling of circa 1993/1994 and the pop boom of circa 1997.
  24. methodwriter85
    Just taking a moment to mention the 20th Anniversary of Clueless, which came out on July 19th, 1995. Truly one of my favorite movies from my childhood!
     


     
    Years later, as a teenager, I discovered it was an updated version of the Jane Austen book, Emma. I love Jane Austen so I guess this movie served as my entry into that world.
  25. methodwriter85
    Hey guys, this movie's currently on my radar right now...it's called Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and it won the Grand Prize at Sundance Film Festival. I'm always on the lookout for a good new indie film, and this is looking good. It's the story of a guy in his senior year of high school, who is forced by his parents to befriend a classmate that has cancer. Here's the trailer:
     

     
    I'm digging it. It's a well-done trailer- letting you know just enough to know what kind of movie this is, but also leaving out enough so that you're intrigued about seeing it.
     
    I also like that this doesn't seem to be a romance at all- don't get me wrong, I loved The Fault in Our Stars, but a straight guy and a straight girl CAN be friends, after all. And I like that it seems to be going with a sardonic indie humor to it.
    In any event, Olivia Cooke is great on Bates Motel and I'm looking forward to seeing her in this.
×
×
  • Create New...