Friends With Benefits

I was very pleasantly surprised with the hilarity of this movie. Having already seen No String Attached, I expected this to be the same thing but with better acting (I would choose Justin Timberlake over Ashton Kutcher for anything), but it was so much better than that.

Starting with the beginning, with surprise appearances from Andy Samberg (whom I love) and Emma Stone (with whom I was very pleasantly surprised), I was laughing more than I have at a movie I have seen in theatres in a very, very long time. The whole movie ended up exceeding my expectations, from the acting to the storyline and even to the music choices. I am and have always been a Justin Timberlake fan (ever since his N'SYNC days!) so I had high hopes for him, that he undoubtedly lived up to. I usually find Mila Kunis annoying and too girly, but she showed a different side of her that was more real and easier for me to relate to.

As for the story, I was never squirming out of discomfort at the cheesy lines or awkward cliches. I laughed at every single one of the jokes, which was basically every time Justin opened his mouth. I even almost shed a tear (which means nothing, really, since I cry at almost anything) at the reality of Justin's character's father's Alzheimer's (which might also be because they played I Will Follow You Into the Dark, which is one of my all time favorite songs because it's so beautiful, and fit beautifully into the scene.)

Basically, to be cliche, I laughed, I cried, and I walked out of the theatre wishing I could sit down and watch it again right that second. I haven't been this impressed with a recent movie in a very long time!
p.s. Justin Timberlake is so sexy, I can't even handle it... (i apologize...)

Summer

It is already August and I haven't written a word on this blog all summer! I am so embarrassed at the amount of time I spend scrolling through pictures and posts on Tumblr, causing me to neglect my blog! I miss writing, I miss reading other blogs, and I miss being able to look back at all of my old posts! (I can still do that, of course, but a year or so from now, I'll find that I had basically fallen off the face of the earth for the past year due to my extreme lack of posting.)
As I've been brainstorming about my college essay, I've discovered that my creative writing juices have been clogged by an increased intake in pictures. As much as I love to look at pretty pictures, and as inspiring as they can be, it seems I've gotten into a lazy funk, scrolling through pictures rather than words because it's just, simply, easier.
I've decided, though, to vow to write more. I love staying up late on a random night, letting my fingers graze the keyboard, spilling out stupid stories and underdeveloped characters. I can spend hours scrolling through pictures that I will never remember, pressing one simple button to put them on my blog, and as convenient that is, I feel as if I am becoming increasingly lazy, finding it easier to reblog someone else's post rather than post something myself. I've started to find my own pictures from Flickr pages I've discovered myself, but even that has become somewhat routine.
In short, I've found myself in simple routine that, from the outside, seems creative and educational, due to the photographers, websites, and cultures I have learned about through constantly reblogging, but it is time I spend less time being inspired from hundreds of other people, and start inspiring myself. Of course, I might never stop using tumblr, because the website makes it so easy to learn about things that I find most interesting, but I need to devote more time to my own blog, where I can search for myself, and write, and ponder, and comment on life rather than just look at it for a second or two and never really go beyond the surface.
This is the last year that I will be living in my house, seeing all of my friends every single day, knowing every single person in my class and my school, and have comfort in knowing that people know who I am. I need to start reaching out and relying more on myself rather than other people and things, because I'm leaving for college soon and I have no other choice but to grow up.