Hares and hairs, March and grey...

Last night, when I looked in the mirror, I noticed something distressing. I have two grey hairs now.

It's not the first time I've found a grey hair, admittedly. I had my first one when I was 19 due to the incredibly stressful job I was working (and quit shortly thereafter - I figured getting a grey hair at 19 was a bad sign). I plucked it out and saved it, along with one of my regular hairs, just for comparison. However, this is the first time I've seen more than one (and the first time I've even seen that one again).

I'm not even sure why it's so distressing. Partially because I still think of myself as pretty young (I mean, heck, I'm not even 23 until this July), partially because it's a pretty undeniable sign that I will, in fact, get old someday...though I can still delude myself for a while into thinking that Time will make an exception for me and I'll be young forever - after all, isn't that what youth is all about?

I think mostly what's bothering me about it, however, is that it's a symbol of adulthood - which I know I've achieved for quite some time now, but still feels pretty new. After all, in addition to having a stable home and boyfriend and cats, I've got a new car now that I'm making payments on - that all sounds pretty adult to me.

Which isn't to say that I mind adulthood. Quite the opposite - the fears and restrictions of my teenage years are loosened or gone, I feel free to make my own choices and take responsibility for my own life, and I get nifty things like cats and new cars to play with (not to mention steady income sources). I'm not even sure why I have so much trouble thinking of myself as an adult. Maybe it's just that the majority of my life has been spent as a non-adult in one form or another.

In other news, it's looking like spring actually is here (miracle of miracles). The sun's out, it's at least a good forty degrees outside, the snow is all melting, and I was able to go outside without my coat (comfortably!) for the first time in a while. The weather forecast says tomorrow should be more of the same. I could certainly get used to this. Especially since today I got to drive with my new sunroof open for the very first time. =D

I'm going to visit my mother in Anchorage this weekend, and I'm starting to feel very glad that I am - this kind of weather invariably makes me want to go places, so having a recent memory of airport hassles and the like should help me feel content where I am this spring.

Hares and hairs, March and grey...

Last night, when I looked in the mirror, I noticed something distressing. I have two grey hairs now.

It's not the first time I've found a grey hair, admittedly. I had my first one when I was 19 due to the incredibly stressful job I was working (and quit shortly thereafter - I figured getting a grey hair at 19 was a bad sign). I plucked it out and saved it, along with one of my regular hairs, just for comparison. However, this is the first time I've seen more than one (and the first time I've even seen that one again).

I'm not even sure why it's so distressing. Partially because I still think of myself as pretty young (I mean, heck, I'm not even 23 until this July), partially because it's a pretty undeniable sign that I will, in fact, get old someday...though I can still delude myself for a while into thinking that Time will make an exception for me and I'll be young forever - after all, isn't that what youth is all about?

I think mostly what's bothering me about it, however, is that it's a symbol of adulthood - which I know I've achieved for quite some time now, but still feels pretty new. After all, in addition to having a stable home and boyfriend and cats, I've got a new car now that I'm making payments on - that all sounds pretty adult to me.

Which isn't to say that I mind adulthood. Quite the opposite - the fears and restrictions of my teenage years are loosened or gone, I feel free to make my own choices and take responsibility for my own life, and I get nifty things like cats and new cars to play with (not to mention steady income sources). I'm not even sure why I have so much trouble thinking of myself as an adult. Maybe it's just that the majority of my life has been spent as a non-adult in one form or another.

In other news, it's looking like spring actually is here (miracle of miracles). The sun's out, it's at least a good forty degrees outside, the snow is all melting, and I was able to go outside without my coat (comfortably!) for the first time in a while. The weather forecast says tomorrow should be more of the same. I could certainly get used to this. Especially since today I got to drive with my new sunroof open for the very first time. =D

I'm going to visit my mother in Anchorage this weekend, and I'm starting to feel very glad that I am - this kind of weather invariably makes me want to go places, so having a recent memory of airport hassles and the like should help me feel content where I am this spring.

30-Second Movie Review

Went to see V for Vendetta as a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing with Brian and Monica. I'd heard it was decent, but I've been incredibly disillusioned with the whole experience of "the movies" lately - which is probably directly related to both the fact that theatres have been charging more and more for less and less (in terms of quality of experience) and the fact that mainstream movies have, quite frankly, pretty much sucked lately. Ironically enough, it was this movie that made me realize how true this was - Monica made some comment about how this was the best movie she'd seen all year, and (a couple of blinks later) I realized that, while far from perfect, this probably *is* the best movie I've seen in quite some time.

The inevitable political points and comparisons to source material have already been made numerous times, and I don't have a whole lot to offer on the latter anyway, not having read the graphic novel (though I may well track it down when I have a chance). However, since a movie is, at its very core, always a story, it follows that any movie will only be as good as its storytelling - and this is where V for Vendetta really shines. Even though it's a decent chunk over two hours long, it rarely feels boring or forced - in fact, it's actually pretty enthralling. Given that it's a comic-book movie, I'd expected to be interested in some parts and bored for some or most of it, but I was rather pleasantly surprised at how intelligently written it was.

I'd argue that the major achievement, story-wise, was the way it balanced plot and character. The plot is interesting, true, but instead of being all-consuming to the story (as so often happens in action films) it serves to develop and explain the characters. You started out wondering what was going on, but ended up more interested in why it was happening; why the characters were acting the way they were - and the movie answers these questions without coming across as heavy-handed and only rarely falling into cliché. Given how oft-used much of this material has been in the past (lone rebel against totalitarian government, political conspiracy, beauty-and-the-beast dynamic, etc.), this is really quite an accomplishment. Granted, there are a couple of moments that gave me the shoe-shuffling feeling of "this has been done before", but these are pretty few and far between. Add in some really nifty camera work and some awesome explosions (and seriously, has anyone ever known me to describe movie explosions as "awesome"? But these are), and you've got a pretty good two hours' entertainment, that hopefully has enough to it to provoke some thought afterwards.

30-Second Movie Review

Went to see V for Vendetta as a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing with Brian and Monica. I'd heard it was decent, but I've been incredibly disillusioned with the whole experience of "the movies" lately - which is probably directly related to both the fact that theatres have been charging more and more for less and less (in terms of quality of experience) and the fact that mainstream movies have, quite frankly, pretty much sucked lately. Ironically enough, it was this movie that made me realize how true this was - Monica made some comment about how this was the best movie she'd seen all year, and (a couple of blinks later) I realized that, while far from perfect, this probably *is* the best movie I've seen in quite some time.

The inevitable political points and comparisons to source material have already been made numerous times, and I don't have a whole lot to offer on the latter anyway, not having read the graphic novel (though I may well track it down when I have a chance). However, since a movie is, at its very core, always a story, it follows that any movie will only be as good as its storytelling - and this is where V for Vendetta really shines. Even though it's a decent chunk over two hours long, it rarely feels boring or forced - in fact, it's actually pretty enthralling. Given that it's a comic-book movie, I'd expected to be interested in some parts and bored for some or most of it, but I was rather pleasantly surprised at how intelligently written it was.

I'd argue that the major achievement, story-wise, was the way it balanced plot and character. The plot is interesting, true, but instead of being all-consuming to the story (as so often happens in action films) it serves to develop and explain the characters. You started out wondering what was going on, but ended up more interested in why it was happening; why the characters were acting the way they were - and the movie answers these questions without coming across as heavy-handed and only rarely falling into cliché. Given how oft-used much of this material has been in the past (lone rebel against totalitarian government, political conspiracy, beauty-and-the-beast dynamic, etc.), this is really quite an accomplishment. Granted, there are a couple of moments that gave me the shoe-shuffling feeling of "this has been done before", but these are pretty few and far between. Add in some really nifty camera work and some awesome explosions (and seriously, has anyone ever known me to describe movie explosions as "awesome"? But these are), and you've got a pretty good two hours' entertainment, that hopefully has enough to it to provoke some thought afterwards.

Amusing thought inspired by a bowl of Top Ramen

Once upon a time, spices were used to disguise the taste of rotting meat to make it at least semi-eatable (if not actually edible).

Today, spices are used to disguise the fact that what we are eating has no real food value.

How very far we've come in the last couple of centuries, hm?

Amusing thought inspired by a bowl of Top Ramen

Once upon a time, spices were used to disguise the taste of rotting meat to make it at least semi-eatable (if not actually edible).

Today, spices are used to disguise the fact that what we are eating has no real food value.

How very far we've come in the last couple of centuries, hm?