Dear people in charge of marketing Little Miss Sunshine,

I'm just going to come out and say it: I think you are doing a terrible job.

1. Why isn't this film in more theaters? I had to drive 45 minutes to see it (a MONTH after it was released!) and pay $7.75 for my ticket. Perhaps this is why you managed to be the 3rd-highest grossing film last weekend--you force us to go to expensive, exclusive theaters. I don't know, but I can tell you that if it were nearby and less expensive, I would probably see this movie multiple times.

2. "Where's Olive?" is the worst. tagline. ever. Sure, this does appear in the movie, and yes, it makes sense once you've seen it, but I'm not kidding when I say this: Because this movie poster




hung in my local theater (where, by the way, this film is NOT YET PLAYING) for the past nine months, I thought a new Popeye movie was going to be released, and in this movie Olive Oyl would be missing, sending Popeye on an adventure full of wacky hijinks and spinach cans. This, however, is not the case, and I blame your lack of advertising skills for my mistake.

3. I know you think you're all indie-fabulous and I dig that, but I think during your ad campaign I was bombarded with five internet ads for every trailer I saw on television. Most people don't know what your movie is about; even the friends I dragged to the theater with me were a little unsure what they were about to see. So: don't just be like, "yeah we're sooooo thankful for the internet buzz" because I don't think that's what's happening here. You paid for the buzz. So be indie or don't, but be honest with yourself.

4. I heart this movie. It was the best thing I saw in theaters all summer, and I even saw Snakes on a Plane. I will buy the dvd--just don't sell it for $35 and force me to watch pop-up ads in the weeks before its release.

Love,
Loren

My first pet, for about two days.

This is our cat, Jack.




He was found outside our apartment building during a party last week, and after being taken in by several different people, he ended up here. I'm not sure if we should keep him, but every single time I'm sure he should go, he does something so adorable that I can't help but agree that we can't get rid of him. Of course, this is crazy, especially since I've been taking unreal amounts of allergy medicine since he arrived, so this afternoon we're giving him to someone Christina knows.

Strangely, we're not the ones who are upset by this--it's all of our friends who have been visiting every night. "Aren't you mad at Christina for getting rid of him?" they ask. And then, just as I'm about to say no, he does something adorable again and I'm forced to reconsider.

Look at him! How can you not love that?

Ahem. So, today we say goodbye to little Jack, and really I'm sort of relieved, because for the 15 minutes we thought we'd be keeping him, I was worried about all the things we'd have to do to take care of him. And let's be honest: college undergrads are not the best candidates for pet owners.

And, really, I just told this story so I could share the cuteness with you.

Trying to get back into the habit of posting regularly and failing fabulously

A lot of conversation and new-people-meeting this week has led me to believe that I am already supposed to know what I'll be doing nine months from now ("You're a Senior? What do you want to do when you graduate?"). So I spent a couple of hours minutes searching grad school programs today. So, if I don't just go find a job in May, I'll hopefully be in one of these cities:

Atlanta
Buffalo
Denver
Seattle

earning a Master's Degree. The one in Seattle, at the University of Washington, offers a course which requires that I keep a blog. I was totally digging this course description, and then I reached the end where it said: No midterm or final exams. And then I knew: Seattle, it must truly be a wonderful place, what with the first Starbucks and this course. I'm a little bit in love. Now all I have to do is get accepted.

My iPod may be cute but it just isn't big enough anymore

One of the first things I did this summer was take a trip to the Rock Hall with two of my friends who have a much more extensive knowledge of rock music history than I do. I'd been there several times before, but having to read every sentence about every single thing was exhausting, and to be honest I just didn't really get it. When I went with these two, though, it was more about having a conversation about everything and less about reading about it. And it was probably the most I've ever learned at a museum.

So this summer, then, was really about building my music collection after learning what influenced the Beatles, and who Leadbelly is, and where Seattle grunge fits in to the rest of rock music. I spent a lot of time making big decisions in Best Buy aisles, listening to my friends' iTunes collections, and driving around in my car learning new song lyrics. So here is the soundtrack that has evolved throughout the last three months. I've even made it so you can download them (until I have to delete them and use the space for, oh, I don't know, school work probably).

1. Gimme Some Salt, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
2. Jackson, Johnny Cash
3. Jolene, Cake
4. Subterranean Homesick Blues, Bob Dylan
5. Oh Boy!, Buddy Holly
6. Anysound, The Vines
7. Save Ginny Weasley, Harry and the Potters (probably the best song ever, especially the part when he asks if you're "petrified of being petrified") (seriously, you should visit their myspace)
8. C'est Si Triste, Ann Savoy from The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood soundtrack
9. Holidays in the Sun, The Sex Pistols
10. Intimate Secretary, The Raconteurs
11. Age of Consent, New Order
12. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), The Arcade Fire

Things I did not accomplish in the last 48 hours that I thought I'd be able to

1. Complete embroidered pillowcases (NERD ALERT!)
2. Compose a blog about The Raconteurs concert where I caught a drumstick thrown by the drummer at the end of the concert, which was probably the best 120 minutes of my summer (How wrong I was in April. How very, very wrong.)
3. Finish reading The Bell Jar, To The Lighthouse, or one of the other billion books I started recently
4. Pack clothes neatly and space-efficiently
5. Update fraternity website
6. Change this site's banner*
7. Do laundry
8. Sew a skirt

Okay, so I accomplished one. However, I moved back to Oxford today so I'm pretty sure it's going to be a while before any of those other ones are finished.

Pointless! Also, I went to a lot of doctors!

I just got back from my final doctor's appointment of the summer. I visited the both the optometrist and dentist twice, the orthodontist once, the oral surgeon seven times (dry sockets are terrible), and the chiropractor somewhere around eight*. I am pretty sure that's the most work I've ever had done on myself in the shortest time span. And I feel pretty good, with the removed glued-to-my-teeth-for-eight-years retainer, new glasses, and realigned spine. I'm just glad all the appointment making is over. For a while I was carrying about ten of those little appointment cards around in my purse.

Sorry it's been such a sparse few months. I was at work, or in one of many waiting rooms, or helping plan a wedding, or many other things that require me to not be in front of a computer screen. I'm sure that when it's time to start writing papers again, I will be much more inclined to procrastinate with an entry or two.

I go back to Oxford in three days. Until then, I'll be packing, working, and trying to eek the last bit of fun out of my last summer at home.

*A lot of my friends have told me it's a bogus health field, but I don't care or believe them. But if they're right, it's totally worth getting my neck cracked the way he cracks it. TOTALLY.