If you can't be as good as John Hughes, don't even bother

Last night, we watched “I Love You, Beth Cooper.” We were looking for a light comedy and that’s what we chose. However, it was not all that funny. I maybe laughed out loud twice. I was more amused that Alan “Cameron Frye” Ruck played the kid’s dad. Anyway, the whole premise of the movie was awkward and the main kid was probably the worst actor ever (or the best if he’s good enough to convince me that someone could be THAT much of a dork). It made me think of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and how I squirmed while sympathizing with the main character at the same time. However, I didn’t sympathize with the main character at all this time. I just squirmed! I liked his friend (who was supposedly gay). His knowledge of movie quotes was great and he was funnier than the movie itself. The kid who played his friend as a kid was even funnier. Anyway, I do NOT recommend this movie. I don’t know if it was on the Rotten Tomatoes 100 Worst Movies (of the last decade) List, but it should be! “Miss March” was on that list and even that movie was funnier than this one. I really hope other teen movies don’t go downhill like this one did. I think I only kept watching it in hopes that it would get better somehow. (Now I understand why my husband made us stay for the second half of “Uncle Broadway” even though the first half was awful!)

Public Property

I've been going back and forth over my decision to make this blog more public. I don't expect people to flock to it, but I have come to realize that it's a blog, not a diary. I'm not airing my private thoughts in it. I'm just sharing my opinions and observations in a forum outside of a networking site. So many people have blogs these days for so many reasons. I doubt any of them are keeping theirs a secret. If I want to say something to a tighter crowd, I'll go back to livejournal. I think blogging publicly will keep me on my toes as far as not being offensive or mean-spirited. I mainly want to blog about things I think about now or even from my past, as well as about pop culture. That's really all there is to it. If I think someone has the chance of reading this, I'm not going to say anything that could potentially be perceived as negative about them or someone they know. I think this will put me in a good frame of mind, for the most part. Yes, I'll probably vent, but it will be stuff that most people can relate to. It's almost like writing a column for a newspaper...just sharing my thoughts as I see fit. I said it earlier and will say it again: This is a blog, not a diary.

Flashmob central

I never knew what a flashmob was until the last week or so. I was at a performance of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" in DC and one of the plays was called "My Life Would Suck Without a Flashmob." During one of the plays, an actor tore down that number from the clothesline and yelled "KELLY CLARKSON!" Then a bunch of people in the middle rows started singing "My Life Would Suck Without You." It was pretty amusing, but I still didn't get the concept. Then my husband explained to me what a flashmob was this past weekend. Tonight, I found a video through "Glee's" Facebook page about a flashmob in Italy doing these dances to "Glee" songs. It would be fun to get a flashmob together for some crazy reason or another. Maybe one to spread the word about how awesome Adam Lambert's CD is. :) I'd be up for that! The flashmobs I've seen and heard about so far have been non-threatening. My husband told me that some could be done for political reasons too. At least that's what I think I heard.

All time favorite music era

I was on my way home and heard "I Know" by Dionne Farris. It took me back to a time when I liked almost all the songs that were played on the radio...1994-1995. It was at a time when I was graduating high school and starting college. I was discovering myself in college and was still somewhat innocent at the time. The music was just fun, trendy, easy to listen to and always gives off that feel of being in that time and place again, every time I hear it. I also like "As I Lay Me Down" by Sophie B. Hawkins, "Stay" by Lisa Loeb and 9 Stories, "Rain King" by Counting Crows, "Fall Down" and "Something's Always Wrong" both by Toad the Wet Sprocket, "In the House of Stone and Light" by Martin Page and "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree. It was when Blues Traveler, Hootie and the Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band and Alanis Morissette first became well known. I even liked the alternative groups that had songs out during those years. They also brought back some memories of college. I still have a tape I made during that era and I enjoy listening to it every so often. I enjoy listening to pop music nowadays, but haven't really come across a year (or cluster of years) where I liked almost every single song on the radio like I did back then.

Let's make a resolution

I haven’t made any new year’s resolutions in a while. I know I’m not going to keep them, so it’s not even worth the attempt. I tried 2 years ago with the simple resolution of flossing my teeth every night. I even had a reminder post-it note in the bathroom (with Dwight Schrute on it, no less). I was really good at keeping up with it, and then I had a baby. I still floss my teeth, but not as regularly as I should.
I could resolve to diet, exercise more, be better organized, stay in touch with friends more often (not like I don’t already, thanks to Facebook), give up bad habits, etc. I just don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.
I have decided to take some friends up on a challenge this year. I am going to learn how to knit. I don’t think it will become a major hobby, but I want to say I at least tried. I figure it’s something that could keep me busy during the boring parts of “American Idol.” I have a friend who owns a yarn store in town and told me a while ago that she could teach me how to knit. I’m going to take her up on that and see what happens. I’m only sticking to one item and that’s it. Another friend told me that she is learning and that it’s taking her forever just to start on a scarf.
Other things I’d like to be able to do this year: volunteer (and potentially teach my kids about mitzvot in the process), go on more dates with my husband, develop all the pictures of my sons and put them in albums, iron all the wrinkled clothes in the utility room closet, read all the books on my shelf before purchasing more (that’s a laugh!), sign my kids up for some type of lesson or sport, get a manicure and pedicure, catch up on “Cold Case” from the last season and this season (a girl can dream) and learn how to cook a brisket. I’ll have to see how many of those things I actually accomplish this year.

Am I getting old or what?!?

Today we were hanging out with some friends who were born in the early half of the 80's. I was telling one of them about "The Karate Kid" (from 1984) and then had to remark to her that she was probably a baby when it came out. Later, she was telling me that she first saw "Titanic" in 8th grade. I was a senior in college! Of course, I had to mention this out loud too. Despite the huge age gap, my husband and I feel connected to this couple, as well as another couple who is around the same age as them. We always have lots to talk about with them.

Is there a name for the generation that went to college in the early to middle half of this past decade? I know the one I am in is called Generation X. Is the next group Generation Y, or was that just a working title until something that sounded better came along? It's funny to talk about stuff from the 80's and realize that some people never got to experience them...or at least not in the same way we did. It's also weird to think that my children never experienced a century prior to this one. Where does the time go?

What I love about living in the DC area is seeing all the history everywhere. I've never been that much into history, but it was one of the first things that really struck me as profound about Washington DC overall. We went to the Newseum a few weeks ago and I was amazed at all the history that could be seen there, in comparison with any other museum. Newspapers really show it all. It was cool to see. It's interesting to think about stuff that happened even during the time my parents and grandparents were growing up. There's so much out there that is even beyond my grasp.

Finally I wanted to share that I was listening to a top 40 countdown on the radio this evening. One of the stations broadcasts old countdowns done by Casey Kasem. This one had to have been from the late 80's. I could tell from the feel of the music. Despite all I hated about my junior high years, the music was a lot of fun. Someone even pointed out today that "The Humpty Dance" came out 20 years ago. I was in 8th grade at this time 20 years ago. Unbelievable!

Won't you be my neighbor?

I've always had a thing about neighbors, in that you should have some good ones in your corner (of your street, building, etc.). When I was growing up, we lived on a fun cul-de-sac that threw block parties every summer until I turned 13. I found some of my neighbors from that street on Facebook in the last year or so. I even have lots of fun book discussions with one of them. :)

When I lived in the condo, it was mostly myself and a lot of old people. Most of them were cranky and complained about ridiculous things (when I should be able to use the washing machine, that I was walking too loud, etc.). I had one set of neighbors on my floor who were really nice. They even helped me out when I locked my keys in my car on a freezing cold February morning.

When my husband and I moved to a townhouse, we didn't really know our neighbors all that well for about a year or so. We had the Russian couple below us who would say hi and tell our friends "Police move car" when they were on their driveway instead of ours. (They meant to say "please", not "police.") After my first son was born, another neighbor came out of hiding with her baby and we became friends. She helped me get involved in a local mom's meetup group. We're still in touch even though we've both moved out of that townhouse complex. I even got to see her during one of my visits to Chicago.

When we lived in NJ, our first next door neighbor was the shul we were attending. It was convenient, but the house we were in wasn't worth the 2-second walk. It's now the kiddush hangout. Then we moved to a house about a 15 minute walk from shul. A little over half a year later, some friends of ours from shul moved next door. We hung out with them every so often when they lived in the opposite direction from us. After they moved next door, we became much closer with them and hung out all the time. Our kids became close too. It was a perfect next door neighbor arrangement. My wish for them is that whomever moves into that house next will appreciate having such awesome neighbors.

And here we are in our new home. We have some great families on our street. We've become friends with the other Jewish couples and their kids. Next door to us on one side is a Rabbi and his wife. They're nice, but I haven't seen them that much lately. I haven't been inside their house yet, but my husband said it's very nice. On the other side of our house, there was a house that had gang activity going on for a while and was a mess on the inside. Then a nice Jewish family bought it and now they are our new next door neighbors. We had them over for dinner last night and enjoyed talking to them. They have some kids close in age to our older son (one of them is a girl ;)). The husband came back over after the kids were in bed and we were all up playing Apples to Apples till after midnight. I got to walk with the wife and kids to shul this morning. I'm definitely going to enjoy this new next door neighbor arrangement. :)

There's still another house on our street for sale. The neighbors on both sides of it are really cool.... (Hint, hint...)