After the Fact- Loss, Confusion, Where to go from Here.

Hey all.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas season. I did, Santa was very kind to me. As I started writing this post, I was going to write about something personal to me, and then I realized that a tragedy had struck another person. Just now I realized that writing about it would ber incredible insensitive- so I will say only this, that to lose someone very close to you would and does hurt more than I can even fathom. I deflated a bit when I read the obituary, hoping it wasn't true. But I think it is, and my heart goes out to my friend. And now, that revelation will make my following seem shallow and self serving. but I don't know who to vent to- except the souless internet.

My problem is I have met a very nice person, and I don't know how to proceed. Two disclosures right now- I feel like an ass writing this after learning about death, and eagle-eyed readers will know who I am talking about. I met this person, adn we were so similar, it was almost eerie in a sixth sense way. But also eerie, good. Here was a person who I could confide in, knowing they had the same problems as me. It was great, how simpatico we were. Here's the thing- by current society standards of the teenage group, we are already an "item'. We should be going out, beign steady, hell, I should have kissed her by now. Is this a case of me being too nervous, and I should have just taken the plunge, trust my instincts? Or is it perfectly okay to be more than friends, but not in a romantic sense? Additonally, how does new technology play into this? I want to send her a request on facebook to make it 'facebook offish' but is that really necessary for a relationship? Oh, look, honey, this is the anniversary of our facebook notification of being together! Even as I type them, the words sound stupid to me. I have no clue, other than the fact that I hope I don't mess it up.

Christmasy Season? Why not all Year Round?

So, I am directly procrastinating under the eye of my cookie-making mom, and I dedcided to do a blog post about something OTHER than the latest action movie. I decided to write about something that was on my mind. I have always struggled with the idea of me being nice than everyone. I would rather talk with people adn understand them, which seems contrary to the idea of 'full steam ahead' mememe focus that is pervasice. Sure, people still help out and volunteer, but in day to day interactions people seem to be involved in fast fast fast, focus on my problems which are huge, not like others, no one understands me, I'm gonna solo it. But two incidents recently reinforced the need for me to nice, and made me realize that being nice is always worth it. Two people which I am involved with periphally recently highlighted this idea. Lets call them Mrs. A and Ms. B. Mrs. A was involved in something that she wasn't aware of. It caused laughter at my table and almost a sense of pity. But no one stepped up and helped her out. I stepped up, and helped remedy the situation. ( Not to toot my own horn). She ended up in tears. But here's the thing. The people who sat with me did nothing and laughted at the pain caused by the revelation, and then said that I was a good guy for doing that. But, whats so good about doing what I would want someone to do in my place, if I was in that situation? The fact that I did was was supposed to be done in the best way possible, and got lauded for it, leaves me baffled. The other situation, with Ms. B, is happier. She was really nervous about a performance she had to do, and I just did what was natural. Reassurance was needed, reassurance was given, and everything turned out ok. But she was so thankful, it hammered home the point that niceness can give.

I guess what I'm saying is, why do people go out of their way to be angry and bitter, when they can be uplifting and positive with the same amount of energy? I know, people have asked this question for ions, and results are varied.  But what possible reason do we have to spend more energy to be angry at everyone? Sure, the worlds a hard place, and it doesn't seem to be a nice place. But why do people have to spend even more energy to be angry and make it  a worse off place? Both Mrs. A and Ms. B were really happy that I was what I take for granted. What does that say abou the state of the world as a whole? As before, I have no solutions. I have no ideas. I jsut have my thoughts, sticking them to the wall, as before.

Muppetmania!

Okay, before you go any further, know that I am a Muppet fan. Raised on Sesame Street and later the Muppet Show, these icons have been my compainions since childhood. So when I say that this was the only movie I was looking forward too this season, I want you to know the full weight of my statement. I loved it so much, I went to see it twice. In the same weekend. This weekend. The first time, not to discourage the lovely Miss Jackie Jarnigan, was by far the best. The screening was perfect, the chairs were comfortable, I was with friends. The cool thing was that there was young people ( younger than me) and old people ( 50's and up) and they all found common ground in this movie. I heard more laughing during this than I have heard during the other comedies I have seen. And to all those nay-sayers who say that it will never be equal to the original Muppets, with all due respect to Jim Henson, this may even be BETTER than the original Muppets. The spirit was gleefully preserved, and there were so many celebrity cameos it was like Scene It: Famous People Addition. But you can tell everyone was having a blast. And the Muppets humor was skillfully preserved and withstood the test of time. In fact, a large part of how this movie plays is the idea that the world has moved on from our felt-y friends. It opens with Jason Segal playing Gary, and his brother Walter, a new Muppet. Gary is dating Amy Adams -playing Mary- and the trio decide to go to LA to see the sights, including, natch, Muppet Studios. When they discover that the studio is old and run down, along with oil beneath the land that a greedy Chris Cooper oil baron wants, they reunite the Muppets to put on , as Kermit so umbly puts it, "One Last Show." For students of the Muppet Show, comparisons galore and tounge in cheek tributes to themselves. I love the fact that they break the fourth wall just enough to be funny. We know they are aware of us as movie goers watching, and they know that we know they know that. ( Man, I have always wanted to write something like that). The result is a delightfully witty and funny vehicle to watch. I particualry like when Statler and Waldorf say the following.
Statler: " Well, it also says here that if the Muppets can raise  10 million dollars before this contract expires, they own the studio and the Muppet name."
Waldorf: " Did we just reveal a major plot point to the audience?"
Stalter: " I hope so, maybe half of them will get it!"
Waldorf: " That implies half of them are still awake!"
And the montage effect, when the characters are fully aware of it, is funny as all get out. My favorite moment in the montage was when my ( quite possibly) favorite Muppet, Sam The Eagle, is shown hosting a show called "Everything Sucks" and the crawl reads " Young people... the French...Every other national country." Its a strech, but it works for what we know of Sam the Eagle.
There are only three things I didn't like in this film, but they were of the minor plot points and of reallly no concern whatsoever.
The first is Kermit, but I could not tell that he was voiced by someone other than Jim Henson. It was that perfect. He just seemed a little more ready to give up in previous excursions. I counted three times when Kermit said something like " It can't be done" Kermit never gives up, but if he does, he keeps being cheerful in some way. This one seems just a little sad (der) than usual. But, it adds depth to the character, more than he had, and it is particuarly moving to see him ponder it, shrug, and put on a smile to do the Muppet Show Opening once again. I didn't like how the ending was structured. ( SPOLIER ALERT) For a time, it made it look like Evil had won. Being the Muppets, thats not the case, but still. The words The End flash before the actual end of the movie. To tie up threads, they go into the credits. That it works great is not the point, just a little tickle in the throat of an otherwise healthy and robust movie. I give this movie an A, my highest grade so far... screw it, this once, something can be perfect.

A+



As a Final note, to the enduring power of the Muppets, everyone was singing along in the theater to Rainbow Connection. You can't get that nowadays, and it makes me confident the Muppets will survive long after me.