The Move

I live in Salt Lake now. Technically it's South Salt Lake, but the mail I receive does not differentiate so neither will I.

The move was, well, awful. I have so much stuff I fear I should be on one of those hoarding shows that exposes what being a gluttonous American looks like. I like home decor! Sue me! But I finally have everything up here and my Provo apartment is full of new residents. 25% of my stuff is still in boxes, but that's a normal percentage and I'm very proud of my progress.

I have a new roommate who I found on craigslist. She hasn't killed me yet or stolen any of my belongings, so Im pretty sure she's cool. Also she went to MIT AND worked at NASA. So, by anyone's standards, she's cool.

I've started applying to grad schools. It's hard. I'm not smart enough for these applications let alone the schools themselves, but we'll see what happens in the next 6 months or so. Perhaps my dream of being a dolphin trainer will finally be realized! Oh wait, wrong dream. Perhaps my dream of being a college professor will finally be realized!

What I need is motivation. I need to start perfecting these writing samples and I can't very well do that if I keep wasting my time watching My Future Boyfriend and Spy Kids on Netflix. But then again, that could count as research. "What NOT to write to get into grad school"...

Eventually I'll be productive, I promise. But for now, there's an interesting episode of Psych that is calling my name and I need to dig through my box of DVDs to shut it up.

Home is Wherever I'm With You

On a whim I bought a plane ticket home. Turns out, they are non-refundable, expensive, and quickly taken from your bank account. Like, immediately. It ALSO turns out that my next paycheck was skipped in last week's rotation and now I have to wait a week for it. So, money issues. Yay adulthood! But I digress...

I'm going home. In September. For 18 days. Number one priority is to hang out with my mom and dad, recharge that family support thing, and remind them why I'm their favorite child. Second priority, though is graduate school. I have plans to visit at least five schools while I'm out there. VT, UVA, and ODU all have MFA programs in creative writing that I would love to be a part of (well, I dont know about loving ODU's program, but that is why I'm going to visit), and they are close to home which would be nice after five years of living in Utah.

What I'm really excited about, though, is the New England leg of the trip. I'm going to visit Boston University and Brown! Boston has one of the top MFA programs in screenwriting and Brown has this really interesting "electronic writing" emphasis to their creative writing MFA that sounds pretty enticing.

Schools that would be nice to hit but are not on the mandatory level are: Johns Hopkins, VCU, Hollins (I know what you're thinking, "A women's college, Amy? Really? That's ludicrous." Yes, but it has a screenwriting program. Also, if you'll notice, it is on the 'non-mandatory' level so quit your judging, you snobby reader, and let me be!)

While there I'd also love to visit some old friends. Namely Kelsey, Addie, Margot, Melanie, Jessica, and Ginny. So, call me!

And to be completely honest with you (although I don't know why I should because you're already judging me for looking at an all female school), I plan on making a trip in November to visit California schools. Specifically USC which has the top screenwriting program in the world. But, naturally, number one priority on that trip is Disneyland. I'm not dumb.

Where is the love?

I've been watching an awful lot of movies recently. I watched all 7 Harry Potters to gear up for the release next week. And I've been trying to watch every episode of "Hey, Arnold" because, why not? Desiree made me watch My Girl last night which was not my idea of a good time, and every now and then you just have to watch Maid in Manhattan because, you do. You just do.

Through my overload of media (not involving the study of camera movements, writing skill, or film theory, thankfully) I've been asking myself one question: Why didn't they hug?

There is a serious lack of human contact in today's movies. Oh there's sex of course (except in Harry Potter and "Hey, Arnold") which involves a lot of touching. Maybe a little too much touching. But the amount of innocent hugging is alarmingly low. I assume that directors think it's better to express thanks, love, or appreciation with a powerful look, a sweeping camera movement, or an orchestrated swell of violins. WRONG! In the real world, we hug.

Example: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
I'll set the scene for you: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are visiting Hagrid's hut. Ron is throwing up slugs after his faulty wand backfired while attempting to hex Draco for calling Hermione a "mudblood."
Incident: Hermione tells Hagrid what Draco called her. Hagrid is shocked and comforts her by insisting that she is the best witch in her year. The music is lovely, Hermione's tears stop, and everyone smiles. Really great time for a hug, yes? Yes. But did they hug? No. She doesn't even say "thank you!" Hagrid is a giant teddy bear!! If the director doesn't feel comfortable having characters hug him, I don't know what's wrong with the world.
What would fix this scene: A hug. duh.

I'm not going to put any more examples because that one was kind of long. Don't mistake my lack of examples with a lack of proof, though. The proof is there, all around, in every movie. Go watch one and you'll agree with me. Characters need to hug more.

Just another reason I need to be a screenwriter: I will fix the sad, sorry state of the classic embrace.

The start

School is back in a big way. Classes = mostly awesome. I'm taking horror which is, surprisingly, horrifying. I'm scared to get in my car every Wednesday night thinking there's a crazy witch in the back seat. Yes, that's right, we watched "Drag me to Hell." which leads me to an apology: I promised my own personal movie reviews and I have not given any in a super duper long time. To make amends I give you...

"Drag Me to Hell"
- scary. But I'm easily scared. The suspense was good, the gross stuff was really gross, and there were intentionally funny moments. I wouldn't recommend it, though. Mostly because I don't like scary movies. But the types of people who do like to be scared probably won't be by this one.

"Sherlock Holmes"
- Surprisingly entertaining. I went in with low expectations and a bit of a snobby attitude. "Holmes is not an action star, he's a boring old British man." thought I. How very wrong I was. The story was intriguing, the acting was well-done, and c'mon people: Jude Law is hot. It wasn't incredibly deep or thought-provoking but very entertaining. I suggest you see it. Whoever "you" are.

"Princess and the Frog"
- I am reminded of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" when I watch this which, in case you are wondering, is a very good thing. The story was so fun, the music was catchy and classic, the 2-D animation was very nostalgic for me. The characters were the best part, though. They threatened to be over-done, cheesy, etc. but they weren't. Every character was voiced well and the story made them likable. I saw it with my family and Hannah was the youngest one in the group (17). You do NOT have to have kids to go see it. In fact, I think its better without kids squirming and dropping their popcorn and having to go to the bathroom.

"The Blind Side"
- I love Sandra Bullock. Mostly because I love "While You Were Sleeping" but also because I think she's just cute. She was not the normal Sandy in this film, however. Enough of her came through the character so that it was still her, essentially, but I think she deserves the Golden Globe nod. The story was very inspiring. Nothing too new but I'm a sucker for underdog stories. Also for Southern accents. Also, Tim McGraw. All of these elements wrapped up in one package = a must see. I've heard it called "the feel good movie of the year" and that's so true. You can't help but feel better about life after seeing this film.

"Up In the Air"
- I saw this one for two reasons: it's nominated for like, a billion awards. And George Clooney. Don't see it because its nominated, see it for Georgie because you may like it more than I did. I went in thinking it would make me think and send my world into chaos which it tried to do, but ultimately didn't. It was well-made and a good story idea, I just didn't think it was executed in the best way. I came away from the theater angry which, I'm pretty sure, was not the emotion others felt. Even though I can see why others liked it so much, I wasn't a fan. If you see it, try explaining it to me. I'm afraid I just didn't get it.

Other than that, I'm debating what to see next. "Avatar"? "It's Complicated"? "Leap Year"? Let me know if you have any suggestions.