It's a Monday, and while it's not quite summer break, I'm still just waking up. Yeah...I'm pretty damn pathetic. But it's just one of those things, at least today. My kitchen is done, and we've been cleaning one part of the house (and cleaning isn't really getting rid of messes...well, it is, but it's just spreading it out)...but we've been spreading it back into the kitchen. I'd actually proudly take credit and say that I've done most of it. My mom has done a lot of time-murdering work, which is putting the little pads down in each drawer, cupboard, pantry, etc...which means she has to cut each little pad out, too. By pad, I mean...putting something down, so when I empty the dishwasher, the glasses and bowls and plates aren't going down on just a wood cupboard. They go on the things in the bottom of the cupboard.
Come over sometime, and I'll show you what I mean.
So it's the end of an amazing four-day weekend. It already feels like summer. It's so hot, that doing one job (such as putting cups in a cupboard) tires me right out. And that's why I just couldn't get up today. The upstairs is so hot, that going down to my basement just feels so good. It's so nice and cool down there.
The last two nights, I've gone to bonfires. The one at Emmaleigh's was a lot of fun, which started out as just fun and games around her yard. Frisbee with Zak. Soccer with Zach. Football with Justin. Backgammon (or whatever it's called...with rackets and a birdie) with Casey and Jillian (Jillian is RyMo's girlfriend...but he wasn't there).
And last time there was a bonfire, I promised Mary that I'd bring marshmallows. Well, I did. But Mary didn't bring herself. No Mary.
Later, Emily showed up with her Chicago friends. And while I'm sure they are some of the coolest people in the world (which Emily claims), I probably won't be having a chance to get to know them. They reminded me of my cousins, though. It's not that they looked like them or acted like them, but whenever my cousins come, they are the coolest people in the world, and I just love talking with them the entire night. Especially when we're on a cruise ship, and can't see or hear anything but ocean.
But then there was last night. I'm not usually one who is late to a movie, but I walked into "Poseidon" during the opening credits. I didn't take a long shower, but I needed a shower, and I shaved. And somehow I ended up having to find a group of four girls, three of whom I had only seen through a bonfire.
"Poseidon" was a little too fast pace for my liking, and I didn't care about the characters, and therefore, the acting felt all out of place. It tried to rely too much on acting and story, and not enough about the plot. I see now why the title wasn't like the original, "The Poseidon Adventure." There was no adventure. And I thought the special effects were pretty poor. I say, if you don�t have the money, don�t do it. Grade: C-.
Then I was invited to another bonfire, at McB's. Doug and Justin were there, and it felt so great to sit out under the stars and watch the roaring fire. We talked about Seven Gables, a house that was burned down by a man who lived there, after killing his family with a shotgun and hanging himself. Some of that is fact, some of that is...legend...but it�s all creepy, and apparently...it�s haunted now. That�ll be one of my goals this summer, to visit that place. Sitting around the bonfire was four seniors who have all been friends since freshman year, I think. And we all have three days of school left. At one point, Justin mentioned how it�s a time we�ve been waiting for our whole lives, but now that it�s here...what do we do now? Well, Justin, Doug, and McB are all going to Michigan State University. And I�m not worried about myself. I�ll be just fine. And this summer, at least, I plan to live it up...which will include many more bonfires.
That was a lot of fun while it lasted, but I was a loser, and had to leave in an hour or less (I left in an hour). I promised my parents that I would come home to watch a movie with them. While it is quite lame, I just couldn't make the guys understand that this is the one night that I have no sisters at home. The Fat One has been in Tennessee all weekend (so you can see why this weekend has been quite amazing), and Diana went to a friend's house.
~~
My Dad, Mom, and I, watched "Crash." One reason I love this movie is because it is so provocative, and launched a little discussion with my dad after the movie. While the movie is very realistic and some of the dialogue is true, it's not meant to be something that everybody can immediately relate to. It's a movie, and a work of fiction. Yes, there are a lot of good people out there, and a lot of good people do awful things, and there are a lot of bad people who do some nice things. But you can't thing you know someone based on a stereotype. Every person, you have to get to know based on who they are, and what they've done, themselves. You can't think you know a group of people (such as, maybe, the drama kids at your high school), and think they're all the same. Drama kids, each of them, are very different. There are the band kids, too, one of which is my good friend McB, and he's more like a jock than a band kid, but then nice enough to be either.
"Crash" is a movie that we can look at and laugh. While it's not a comedy, it is something that we can laugh at because it's true. It's not meant to show us what society is, it shows what society looks like. It doesn't mirror society, but it's meant to take a hammer to it. It shows us what is wrong, and it's up to your own interpretation to see what you think is right.
You think you know who you are? You have no idea. Putting yourself in some of these situations, you'll do some drastic things.
"Crash" remains my favorite movie, even though my Dad critiqued it as "not entertaining, but upsetting and thought provoking". Maybe my idea of entertainment has been changed throughout the years. Each scene is so awesomely written, each line of dialogue is so intelligent or funny, and the intensity is always high. It's a movie that can make you laugh, cry, and then talk about after it's finished.
Or maybe you can just watch it as entertainment, getting into the stories and lives of so many different characters. And if not, maybe you can learn from it, or at least get something out of it.
~~
Three more days of school left. Wednesday is the Impact awards. I'll be presenting mine for my 11th grade teacher, who is as good as it gets. I think Justin and I are presenting our award to the last person who really deserves one of these, I hate to say it. But the Impact Awards can't, and shouldn't go on another year. This year, especially giving the project to a class of drama kids, was pushing it.
It's been a good year, though. I've done a lot this year. I'll be happy to look back on my senior year of high school as a great year. There are so many people I'd like to thank. Too many people. Well, not too many, there's no such thing, but too many for an entry here. I wouldn't want to leave anybody out accidentally.
There are still many entries to come. I'm gonna have a graduation party, soon. I don't know what I'll be able to write about that. But over the past week, I've been writing wallet-sized messages on the backs of my senior pictures to my friends. And I've typed up all the ones that I have done, and that'll probably be my next entry, depending on when I finish handing those out.
Music of the Weekend: "Wicked," which has been cleaning music, wake-up-to music, and also sit down and relax music. It's pretty good, even though I just don't know if I'd like the story to it.
Quote of the Weekend: "You think you know who you are? You have no idea." - Matt Dillon's character, in "Crash." But it's true.
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