Did I not mention that I'm writing a final paper about baking cake? It's for my creative nonfiction class, and I'm pretty excited about it. I mean, if there's one thing I love to do, it's talk about food.
The problem is that I've felt so unmotivated lately — not about the paper, but in general. All I want to do is lie in bed watching hockey highlights (both the playoffs and the fact that I have no reputable site on which to watch the playoffs are killing me) or Avatar: The Last Airbender (I swear that this show is better written than a ton of supposedly higher-brow fare made for adults). Instead I have to fight to keep my mind on my work, or whatever else I happen to be doing at the moment.
Like right now, for instance. What's going on? What am I typing? Does my brain even have control of what my fingers are doing right now?
...Well, neurologically speaking, yes, it does. But in a metaphorical sense, my mind has retired. It's probably golfing right now.
Metaphors aside, though, it's probably time for a recap, right?
[Under the cut: A recap! Involving pre-reg, The Cabin in the Woods, and The Laramie Project.]
Man, I really need to start taking notes on what I've been doing over the week. You guys are going to start thinking I'm a massive flake or prone to blackouts or something. (The latter, for the record, is totally not true; the former is yet to be determined.)
One of the major things I had to deal with this week was the insanity of pre-reg and adjustment; the pre-reg computer system apparently saw fit to give me, and many of my friends, only two classes, which meant that I spent approximately 24 hours cursing the air blue in frustration and despair. (I just want to get into 'Modern Christian Thought', okay. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK, PRE-REG?)
However, I did end up getting into a POI (Intermediate Fiction, here I come!), and — wonder of wonders — I got asked to be the TA for 'Commodity Consumption and Consumer Cultures,' which I took last fall. I promptly freaked out for a while about whether or not I was actually responsible/intelligent enough to take on such a big commitment, but eventually decided that whether or not I'm worthy, I'm definitely masochistic enough to say yes despite my fears. And it was a great class, so maybe I'll even have fun? Who knows. TO BE CONTINUED IN THE FALL.
Other than that, I went to WesMTC and TypeClub meetings, as per usual. My Thursday night class got cancelled, which was a nice way to start the weekend early. I made ridiculously healthy zucchini-applesauce-oatmeal-blueberry muffins:
On Friday night, I somehow got coerced into going to see The Cabin In The Woods, the first Joss Whedon movie of the year. (The other two, for the record, are The Avengers and Much Ado About Nothing. My excitement cannot be contained by mere typed words on a screen, you guys.)
TCITW is both a horror movie and an incredibly clever and darkly funny commentary on the production, industry, and audience expectations of horror movies, which I suppose is only to be expected from Joss (and Drew Goddard, I guess, who wrote Cloverfield). I should probably also mention at this point that it scared the shit out of me. No, seriously. During the first 2/3 of the movie, I spent an absurd amount of time curled up in my seat, whimpering. I kid you not.
After all, to properly satirize horror movies, you need to play into their conventions, and... well, let's just say that there's a reason I stay away from horror films.
It's not that I have a problem with gore, really. I watch too many action movies for that. And in general, I don't have a huge problem with the "things jumping out at you!" type of scary stuff — sure, it'll make me flinch back, but Attack The Block was full of that and I adored that movie. The visceral response was part of the adrenaline rush of the entire film. Plus, I saw Shaun of the Dead, and I didn't have to curl up and cover my eyes for that one, so I'm not entirely sure why I had such a strong reaction to this, or to other more traditional horror movies. I have two theories: either A) I just have a really hard time with the particular type of villains which were featured in the first 2/3 of the film (can't tell you what because of spoilers!), B) I become incredibly distressed when I feel like I'm watching something where the characters seem to be sending themselves deeper and deeper into a completely hopeless situation that won't really be resolved by the end of the film, or C) all of the above.
Probably C. It was an incredibly well-done movie, and I appreciated all the meta, but... the things I do for Joss Whedon, man.
On Saturday, I went to see The Laramie Project at WestCo Café.
The Laramie Project is a play compiled from various interviews the members of the Tectonic Theater Project did with citizens of Laramie, Wyoming, after the murder of Matthew Shepard. It's a really intense show, obviously — tears may or may not have occurred at a few points in the second act — but everyone involved did an absolutely amazing job. You can really tell how versatile an actor is when they have to go between three different parts in the space of seven minutes, and they still manage to make each one completely distinct.
Two different kinds of turmoil in one weekend, though? Oh, yeah. That's the kind of crazy life I'm leading.
Sorry this post is all over the place, darlings. See you next week — same time, same place, etc. etc.
[Original tags for this post: awesome movies,baking, delicious food, even on days where my brain is not working I still somehow manage to write more than 1k,horror movies and I do not always get along, joss whedon is pretty great and he went to wesleyan!,movies, my brain is melting today like a popsicle left on a sidewalk in August,so many tough decisions, someone really needs to tell me to stop talking,theater, things that I do, totally self-indulgent]
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