"Lock the doors, lower the blinds, fire up the smoke machine and put on your heels!"

A good solo weekend is never a bad thing. Ed was out in San Antonio with his friend having a man's weekend away so, I decided I was going to eat all the food that Ed doesn't particularly enjoy and see the movies Ed isn't interesting in seeing. Of course I have a couple other Carly-activities I'm throwing in just for kicks, like doing my nails and taking a nice long bath and lighting a bunch of candles and incense, and reading anywhere and everywhere, but those things I can do pretty much any day of the week while I'm home alone. This is going to be a huge lists post so... prepare yourself!

Movies

1. W/E 

This was pretty terrible. Half of it was bad acting, half was a terrible script. One character's whole backstory was given by one of the supporting actresses, addressing a lead with something like, 'Hey Sotheby's most accomplished researcher on Wallace Simpson, how are you today?!' Such painfully forced exposition. I was weirded out by how every woman seemed to be doing some copycat of Madonna herself. The costumes and jewelry were astoundingly beautiful, but you really can't enjoy it because the whole thing looks like an extended music video from 1994. Think, her Truth or Dare mating with the "Take a Bow" video. 

2. Magic Mike

I can't even critique this. We all know why we watched this movie and why we choose to watch it again, and it has nothing to do with any words from a review.

3. Brave

Not entirely relevant: I'm a sucker for red hair (this may have been brought up before and will be brought up many times again). It's a daily battle to not color my hair. So, I already love this character and as I told Lizzy, I think this is the most beautiful Disney movie I've ever seen. And the whole mother-daughter story? Definitely made me tear up, missing my own Mom :)

4. Margaret

 I so disliked this movie. I don't think I understood the message... people are good? bad? complicated? forced to do things by the Gods? Whatever. Now this movie, I was mad I sat through.

5. Young Adult

I strangely loved this movie. I usually loathe movies that are awkward and uncomfortable for humor's sake (i.e. Meet the Parents) but this movie was awkward in a very human way. I wouldn't say this is a 'funny' movie. It's hard to watch, and kind of sad, but because she's so unable to comprehend life and other people, I found it really interesting.

6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Mom and Ken told me to watch this and I loved it. Made me laugh and tear up. It's generally nothing new, but it's refreshing to see a bunch of actors that have been playing a limited range of roles lately, get a chance to open up into other things. This movie just made me happy.

Books

I also squeezed in a huge amount of reading. Can we talk about my reading? It's been out of control lately. I can't go to the library without checking out at least 5 novels. I'm surrounded by piles of them right now. Let me list what I've got on tap:

1. Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum (non-fiction, memoir, paranormal)
2. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson (non-fiction, memoir, LGBT)
3. When It Happens To You by Molly Ringwald (yep, that Molly Ringwald!) (Short stories, fiction, contemporary)
4. Stay Awake by Dan Chaon (short stories, horror, thriller)
5. Wild by Cheryl Strayed (non-fiction, memoir, travel)
6. Eat the City by Robin Shulman (non-fiction, history, New York, food)
7. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (Writer's guide, non-fiction, memoir)
8. Stay Close by Harlan Coben (Suspense)
9. The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli (fiction, contemporary)
10. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt (non-fiction, politics, religion, philosophy,psychology, sociology)
11. The World Without You Joshua Henkin (fiction, contemporary, death, family)
12. A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer duBois (historical and contemporary fiction)
13. Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin (fantasy, epic, adventure) Side note: it seems I will never finish this series. Le sigh.
14. thru 22. A series of writer guides, handbooks and general inspiration for authors.

I recently finished reading This Is How You Lose Her, which was... worth reading but required Urban Dictionary and a Spanish translation aid to really get it. I don't know if I agree with the hype surrounding it, but I'm not sorry I read it. I also read the two books of short stories, When It Happens To You  and Stay Awake . The Chaon book started strong and FREAKED ME OUT. Check out this passage:

"He can remember the way the child would slip barefoot through rooms, slinking, sneaking, watching, Gene had thought, always watching him.

It is a memory he has almost succeeded in forgetting, a memory he hates and mistrusts. He was drinking heavily at the time, and he knows that alcohol grotesquely distorted his perceptions. But now that it has been dislodged, that old feeling moves through him like a breath of smoke. Back then, it had seemed to him that Mandy had turned DJ against him, that DJ had in some strange way almost physically transformed into something that wasn't Gene's real son. Gene can remember how, sometimes, he would be sitting on the couch, watching TV, and he'd get a funny feeling. He'd turn his head and DJ would be at the edge of the room, with his bony spine hunched and his long neck craned, staring with those strangely oversize eyes."

I turned around so fast to make sure that child was not behind me when I read that. I even did it just now after typing. In fact, I just went around the apartment and turned on all the lights. It is a terrible choice of book to read for a weekend when you're home alone, but I really cannot resist a good opportunity to scare myself.

I never did make it out to see Twilight sadly... the longer I wait the more I think I'll just see it through Redbox. I did take some time to write. Those of you who know me remember that I used to journal somewhat obsessively. I really dropped off with that habit as soon as I finished college. In the past year and a half, I've written only about 100 pages. I found a prompt-a-day plan for December that is meant for blogs generally (named Reverb12) but I started it in my journal. It felt really good to put actual pen to paper again. I'll take pen and paper or typewriter over laptops any day of the week. I plan on posting a couple of the entries on here on other days of the week when I find them appropriate, but still leaving my big recap post for Monday mornings. So check back for more regular (and SHORTER) updates! :)