...In which our heroine provides a not-so-serious warning.

Kara called me verrrrry late last night in a her frantic-hilarious state which only she can pull off. She was relaying a message from Jessica, who neither of us had talked to since graduation and now lives in Arizona.

Apparently, Jessica's psychic aunt told her two months ago the world was going to end son and then last night said it was coming in two days--that terrorists were going to attack major cities with nuclear weapons. She also gave Jessica and her girlfriend money and sent them to Wal-Mart to stock up on armageddon supplies, which can apparently all be bought for $80. Jessica was pretty shaken up, was crying on the phone to Kara.

I'm not saying at all I believe the warning, but its a weird phone call to get in the middle of the night.

So if the apocalypse happens tomorrow, don't say I didn't warn you.

I'll be pissed if the stupid end of the world prevents me from watching the season premiere of Pushing Daisies...

...In which our heroine has a brief public service announcement.

One thought for today:

Why is it so hard to be "just friends" with the opposite sex?

Honestly, I would love to know. I still stand by my theory, that men and women cannot ever be truly platonic friends. Even if you think you are, on a long enough timeline something will happen--be it thought or action--that will make you, even if momentarily, think of your opposite sex friend in a romantic way.

I thought high school romances were complicated, but college is so much worse. I'm currently involved in a love hexagon, which is every bit as fun as it sounds, and required a diagram to be explained.

And I'll stand by this too: girls are CRAZY. We're bitchy and caddy and needy. We turn nothing into something and fixate on it. This is why I hang around with mostly guys, which works out pretty well except for, oh wait, they have a Y chromosome. They may be like my brothers, but I'll be damned if I can keep from incestuous thoughts sometimes.

Throughout high school, I thought it was possible to stay just friends with guys. Senior year in the midst of all the Paul drama, I had one of my two other best guy friends tell me we should get married, and hooked up with the other. Then there's the wonderful awkwardness of dealing with looking at said friend, trying to act normal, and being unable to think of anything except how they kiss, but being forced to be "just friends."

Truly platonic male/female relationships do not exist, I know this much is true.

...In which our heroine earns even more hillbilly merit points.

I skipped class for the first time yesterday. To go see a taping of Jerry Springer. It was a worthy choice in my opinion. I can learn about memoirs any day, but getting to see a transsexual fight his/her boyfriend and then get its weave ripped out? Now that's entertainment.

I wasn't planning on going but Meghan bailed and they needed another girl to go, so it was Lane, Emily, Ben and I. The process to get in was long--ID check, metal detector, holding area, another holding area. We were in the front row because they bring the young and supposedly pretty people in first, which is pretty terrible. There was a long instruction process on how to behave and then we were off.

We got all you could expect from a taping of Springer: boobs, fights, trannies, love triangle, baby mama drama, and rednecks, (which are completely different from hillbillies, ask me how sometime.) As much as the intellectual elitist in me wishes to think otherwise, I had a lot of fun and want to go back. I laughed until my stomach hurt and then some.

My mom is here this weekend! I'm really happy to see her and we don't have much of anything planned except to just be with each other. I won't be coming home until October 23rd, so I'm really glad to just have a familiar face. She's the coolest.

Film school = more homework than any other major. Even after IB, it's kicking my ass.

I'm back to watching ER since its the last season and I've watched every single episode except for the last two years. I've see the early seasons all an obscene amount of times. I do love it, as much as I don't want to admit it. And hey, they killed off a major character last night, so props for that.

Kathleen and I are faking as a lesbian couple to win tickets with this contest for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Oh the things we silly film majors do for movies...

Choke comes out today. Go see it.

...In which our heroine visits the trailer park.

The Oscar-tastic Doubt:


The NSFW Role Models:


The Cassie reccomended Let the Right One In:


The further Oscar-tastic Revolutionary Road:


The ensemble heavy Milk:


The puzzling Synedoche, New York:



Enjoy kids...

...In which our heroine is finally finished.

Last night sucked. It was the worst since I've been here, and it wasn't due to anything involving Columbia.

Since we've been here, Emily and I haven't been talking to Paul that much--we hung out twice early on and have since gone our separtate ways. But last night he ended up at our dorm for whatever reason, which didn't seem so bad since we hadn't hung out with him in probably two weeks.

Once he was here though, he went into typical Paul mode, and the situation evolved into a big arguement, which he walked out after. I was absolutely seething after the fight--so angry I was shaking. Meghan asked me if I was okay, then I just lost it...

The Basics: Paul and I got to be very close junior year. We became each other's confidante, especially on his behalf, as he had a multitude of issues that needed solving. For whatever reason, I thought I could fix these issues, and developed romantic feelings toward Paul. He became increasingly angrier and less inclined to do much of anything, which seemed like it couldn't get any worse by Christmas of this past year. Then Matt got in a fight with Paul, so we stopped talking and I got over the crush, not talking to Paul until graduation time, which he barely made it to. We had a long talk about things between us, his state of mind, plans for the future, in mid-June, and for most of the summer he seemed to have turned a corner.

Since we've been here, Paul's been treating me like total shit. Introducing me and Emily to his friends, he said "These are the girls I went to high school with, they're bitches who are going to try and seem cooler than me." He called us both bitches last night, amidst all the yelling and insulted Meghan, who he's never met before. I was beyond pissed, and I just start crying, the first and last tears I'll ever shed for Paul.

Until Christmas of this past year, I was always Paul's advocate in our group of friends. I defended him to teachers and helped him get motivated, at least when he still listenened. I was the one he called at three in the morning when he was in the dark depths. I stayed up late talking to him when he couldn't sleep and was so angry. I thought all the while I could fix him and he'd finally look at me in a different light since I had helped him.

That's what made last night so horrible--the two of us were so close at one point. And then to be totally disrespected, made a fool of, yelled at, and insulted by him when I've ever done is try and make him better. I've said it before, but I mean it this time: I'm finished.

The situation is just so frustrating because I put so much into someone that I got absolutely nothing in return for. When I told Paul I loved him on my birthday last year, despite the good deal of liquid courage in me, I meant it. At one point, I would have done anything if I knew it would help him.

I realize I'm never going to fix him. He doesn't care about anyone but himself--not even the one who gave the most to him. He has twisted thoughts in his brain and has become so nihilistic that everyone eventually leaves him. He is unmotivated and unappreciative. I can't change these things, so I just have to stop trying, once and for all.

But then there's the other factor: If I shun Paul totally, I'm worried just how he'd react. Paul, as I've said, is an angry sort and has done violent things (only to himself) in the past. He takes antidepressants, and those make him particularly volatile. I do not want to be on his bad side and feel the wrath that I know he has inside. He scares all of us, most of all me, because I know the thoughts that go through his head.

It's a sticky situation, one that I've been stuck in for too long. He followed me here, and now I can't escape. I wish he could just be out of my life and I wouldn't have to deal with any of the bullshit anymore. Not even the bullshit, but the lack of stability and total unpredictability.

Crying last night actually made me feel better, and this morning I'm just resigned to not talking to him anymore.

The worst part is I don't know what happened, if anything specific, that made him turn from my best friend to the person that upsets me the most. I miss my friend.

...In which our heroine is a film snob.

Believe it or not, the most significant change I've
experienced since leaving home is the number of films of seen.

This week alone I've seen: Burn After Reading, 28 Weeks Later, In the Mood for Love, and Punch-Drunk Love. And there's guaranteed to be more by this weekend. I bet I've watched at least 25 films since I've been here.

This is what heaven must feel like, if it wasn't just a creation of humans.

I love film school. End of story. I'm not coming home. Well...I am, but not without a fight.

...In which our heroine burns after reading.

So we made our first official pilgrimage to a Chicago movie theatre yesterday, in the pouring rain and through the flooded CTA. But there was no way I wasn't going to see Burn After Reading this weekend.

I really liked the film. The reviews I had only glanced at were very mixed, but I thought the film was very well put together. Kathleen asked me afterward if I thought the film would be up for any Oscars, and while I certainly don't think it will, if you like the Coen Brothers, it's definitely worth seeing. It reminded me of Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski in that the humor is pretty absurd, but still fits in the context of the film. It also seemed as if the actors in the film were just having fun with their roles. Brad Pitt is especially hilarious, Frances McDormand is as fantastic as always, and George Clooney does a great smarmy. The ending of the film is one of the funniest I've seen in a very long time.

Otherwise, I'm just staring down a mountain of homework. Our weekends have become pretty much routine at this point--with bible study and community service Thursday nights, which makes us pretty thirsty, going out Fridays, this week to Belmont, and Saturdays more subdued with usually just a movie.

Friday we ventured to Samah, the coolest hookah bar I've ever been to. For ten bucks a person, we got nine hookahs and a drink for everyone. The bar itself was incredibly cool, with private rooms for parties of ten and up (which we were). It feels like a 19th century opium den, with the wonderfully chosen music, elaborate decor, and generally relaxed feeling. The hookahs were also high quality and the pumpkin pie flavor proved to be beyond delicious, so much so that I got an intense hookah high that lasted the whole ride home.

Belmont is quickly becoming my favorite area of the city--it's got all the same stores as Wicker Park, but minus all the hipsters. Besides Samah, there's a bunch of vintage stores, tattoo parlors, head shops, and interesting, uh, boutiques.

Here's an interesting occurence: in my moving here, my parents are back to being best friends. Don't get me wrong, they've always been close and never really fought, for which I consider myself extremely lucky. But now they're doing crazy things like going out on weeknights, and talking on the phone when they're at work. I can tell when I talk to my mom that it's been a good thing, them being forced to depend on each other. For that, I am glad I could be the catalyst.

And for the most thrilling news of the week, I bought Neil Young tickets for December 9th. Mom and Dad are coming up to see the show, which I realized after the fact was during finals week but oh well, Neil's getting old and I need to hear "Cortez the Killer" live just one time. Or "Cowgirl in the Sand." Or "Like a Hurricane."

...In which our heroine plays DJ.

When we aren't going to class here at CCC, there's only three real activities that occur amongst the group: cooking together/eating, watching movies, or listening to music. Due to my ginormous and elitist iTunes library, I get the duty spinning the tunes every night.

What we listen to most often...

The Allman Brothers Band, here doing a kick-ass live version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"


Led Zeppelin. I can't stop listening to "The Battle of Evermore," and this video hits on a whole other geek level as well.


Daft Punk. Wes, Ben, and I are big fans of the French robots and their music makes for a pretty decent impromptu dance party, especially "ALIVE 2007."


Assorted Motown/hot wax/girl groups. But this song is the most played, especially on the weekend mornings:


The Decemberists, mostly because I have their songs in my head constantly:

...In which our heroine has the screenwriter's blues.

It's a cold and rainy day and I'm in a cold and rainy mood. I don't really know why--Friday was the bad day, when iTunes ate itself for the third fucking time and Emily knocked a casserole dish on my foot and cut it pretty significantly--but it's just one of those days when everyone is bugging me.

However, yesterday was awesome because I started the first strains of work on what will be a screenplay for Development and Pre-Production. All the characters, the lines of dialog, the settings, and the scenarios which have been germinating in my head ever since I realized that I had an imagination. Now they get to come out and play, to meet the world, and escape my brain.

The Residence Life Association also had a screening of No Country for Old Men yesterday, and beforehand they asked the most impossible trivia about the Coen Brothers, for prize packs with Burn After Reading stuff. I ended up winning and got a shirt, poster, flash drive, water bottle, wrist band, and pre-screening passes for Wednesday. But I don't think I can go due to class. Grr.

Think your day was boring? I got to watch three hours of silent film today in History of Cinema.

Bright Eyes are playing here on Halloween. So the dilemna is: Go to OU with Cassie as valkyrie Maude Lebowski, or go to Bright Eyes with Kris as valkyrie Maude Lebowski. Decisions, decisions

I feel like I'm getting too ramble-y on here. What do we think kids? Am I talking too much about my personal life and not enought about stuff other people want to read? Leave a comment and let me know. I don't want to bore all four of you that read this...

...In which our heroine chokes.

Wednesday was a new record for Katydid. I saw not one, not two, but THREE films in one day, which was kind of ridiculous. First up was Burden of Dreams, about the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, which was a great intro to the film buisiness. The film was a hellish experience that almost killed people in the process, but Herzog had some wonderful quotes that really resonated with me as a burgeoning creative mind:

"If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams."

"Everyday life is an illusion behind which lies the reality of dreams."

In Development and Preproduction, we watched The Red Balloon (Le Balloon Rouge). In all honesty, I think it's kind of boring, having seen it 1.5 times now. Maybe I was just antsy for the evening's main event.

I got out of class at 6:20 and Choke started at 7:00. Kathleen had gone early to secure a spot for us, and even getting there forty minutes early, I was the third to last person let in. I had mixed feelings going in, since Choke really isn't a very good book.

However, the film was really, really entertaining. Sam Rockwell gives an outstanding, layered performance as Victor Mancini, and I was way more empathetic towards his character in the film than in the book. I didn't really like the guy who played Denny, but Kelly MacDonald and Anjelica Huston were very good in their roles as Paige Marshall and Ida.

The script was really smart and in addition to the editing, it made the sexual content very funny and non-titillating. I was amazed how much of the blatant sexuality they kept from the book, and in an ironic twist, the hottest scene in the movie *SPOILER* is the very end with just Victor and Paige making out over Radiohead's "Reckoner." I also like the way they handled the whole "Victor as the Second Coming" plot line a lot better as well.

I liked the film much more than the book and the mostly Columbia audience was very responsive. Then, in an especially cool twist, Capone from Ain't Cool News was sitting two rows in front of me and led the Q&A with Sam Rockwell:

The Q&A was hilarious, and Rockwell was very candid in discussing his work in the film. He seems like a very humble guy, and actor who makes the choices he wants to and isn't concerned at all with celebrity. Beforehand, I was kind of nonchalant about him, but now I want to seek out his films.

Sam Rockwell talks sex scenes:

In other news, I'm going to be a busy little worker bee with all of my classes. I already have a ton of homework, and found myself as one of two freshman in my Creative Non-Fiction: Memoir Writing class, the rest of the class being seniors.

Our immediate group of 12 friends have been getting along really well. We've just been hanging out, listening to lots of music and watching lots of films. As a group of seven guys and five girls, with only one of each in committed relationships, we've now reached the stage when everyone has decided they like someone else in the group. (Katydid has no comment at this time. :) Things are going to go really well if we all start dating each other and then end up miserably breaking up and hating each other. Oh, what a year it's going to be.

...In which our heroine is tired of coming up with clever headlines.

Here's the red-band, very NSFW trailer for Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I'm still not totally sure how I feel about the movie, but am hoping that it's kind of like Chasing Amy in that it's both totally obscene but sweet too. And my interest might have something to do with the fact that Seth Rogen looks more adorable than ever in the trailerIf he plays the romantic in this half as well as he did in Knocked Up, it'll be over for Katydid:


Last night we didn't have much to do before classes started, so someone said, "Fuck it, let's go bowling,"...well not really but we did watch The Big Lebowski. Rolling Stone actually produced a decent story not about the Jonas Brothers about the film, entitled "The Decade of the Dude." The continued coverage on the website is good as well.

Radiohead does Neil Young's "Tell Me Why":


I registered to vote today in the state of Illinois, although Ohio could use my vote more. I won't go into how I feel patronized and pandered to with the choice of Sarah Palin for McCain's VP as an independent young woman, or how he picked her 'cause he's old and she's a MILF. Or how I hate all her views, whether they be on the enviroment or issues of choice. However, they are all just more reasons I cannot wait to cast a ballot for Barack Obama on November 4th.

I had my first college class today, the freshman seminar, called New Millenium Studies. It seemed pretty easy and the professor was incredibly sweet. I have SIX WHOLE HOURS of film classes tomorrow--Development and Preproduction and Aesthetics of Cinema. Then it's the super-cool screening of Choke. I am quite excited.