My "To-Do list" Life

My friend, Evan, noticed a habit of mine where I refer to everything that I do as a nagging obligation, even activities that I normally enjoy. I didn’t believe him at first, but then I looked at one of my infamous “To Do” lists and realized he was right:

TO DO:
1. Watch Netflix movies
2. Check facebook / catch up on webcomics
3. Drinks at Lucky Baldwins

And while I have now added “do not refer to fun activities as obligations” to my list of things to do, I had to argue that, in the hectic lifestyle of the modern-day twenty-something year-old, I kind of *need* to think of those things as obligations…..otherwise, I’ll dismiss them in lieu of other, more pressing things that I feel I need to do. 

But really – I need to devote as much time to the fun things in life as I do my responsibilities….and thinking of them as obligations is how I get it done.

I started this train of thought when I realized I don’t write as much as I used to anymore. In college I did a lot of writing; even produced a play or two. But I always viewed it as more of a ‘hobby’ than anything else….and work would always come first.

Later, as my work / responsibilities piled up, the less time I had to devote to writing and now….I don’t write. At least not the way I used to.

....and I kinda regret that.

Sorry this post is such a downer, but I've been meaning to write it for a while. 

Not so X-mas-y movies

I dunno if you can tell from reading the entries on my old blog, but I kinda like Christmas; people tend to make an effort to be a lot nicer (and closer) to each other around this time of year. Maybe it’s all those sappy “Christmas movies” I used to watch over and over as a kid…!

(24 hrs of “A Christmas Story” on TNT- FTW!)

But I have noticed that I’m a little de-sensitized to “Christmas-themed” movies after all these years. So I like to watch some of the “non Christmas-y” movies that pop up on cable around this time to get a break from all this “Holiday Cheer”

DIE HARD

That’s right – the original John McClain action movie was set during his wife’s Christmas party. It was kind of easy to forget with all the blood, explosions and crawling through vents that happened in this movie. 
 

GREMLINS

Remember that Gizmo was originally bought by Billy’s dad as a Christmas gift for his son! I think my favorite scene in this movie is when the mom is fighting off the Gremlins in the kitchen, brandishing a butcher’s knife. 

THE REF

This movie wasn't so much about Christmas as it was about marriage & family counseling.  Kevin Spacey & Judy Davis do a pretty good rendition of George and Martha from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in this movie, with Dennis Leary as a burglar-turned-hostage taker.   

IT’S A VERY MERRY, MUPPET CHRISTMAS MOVIE

Okay, so this is a pretty big “holiday-themed” movie, but the scene where Kermit finds out what happens to the Muppet Theatre if he was never born is worth the 2 hours it takes to watch this movie I couldn’t find a clip of it on youtube, but the Muppet Theatre turns into a Rave club - I'm not joking. 

Happy Holidays, everyone!