Punished Punctuality

It has been done. Evan and I signed up for Netflix. I would like to make clear that this was something I was initially firmly against, being that Netflix was a big reason Alphaville went out of business, personally a very sensitive topic. However, after exploring Netflix a bit more (seeing our options, lining up our queue, etc.) there are admittedly many added conveniences that come along with this membership.
But honestly, I still can't say I'm OK with it. It just feels... evil. Like when you go to Wal-Mart or McDonald's - it's that same feeling. I couldn't find any justification for this feeling, so I turned to Google: E-V-I-L N-E-T-F-L-I-X. Over a million results!
I found this article (which I highly recommend reading) on msnbc.com, explaining how if renters return their movies "too quickly" their accounts are "throttled", which delays movie shipments and re-queues your order! Apparently the "unlimited rentals" is a bunch of bull if you exhibit any sort of prompt character... Which I do!
We definitely watch a lot of movies in this house, considering we don't watch TV, we're students and don't have that much expendable income. So needless to say, this came as a great concern to me. We just got our first movies in the mail yesterday, so no harm has been done... yet.
I really hope this is worth it... I miss Alphaville.

I Got Inland in My Brain

Last night, I had an altogether unforgettable experience: I saw Inland Empire. (Here's the Wikipedia article and a trailer if you haven't heard of it.) I'd like to say I have a wide range of tastes when it comes to film genres, however, going from seeing Happy Feet the night before to this was perhaps too drastic of a jump. Either way, I don't think there was much that could have prepared me for this film.
Wow... I'm not really sure what I can say... Well, I would like to start off by saying I thought I actually did prepare myself for this viewing: I knew it was by David Lynch (i.e., emotional rollercoaster, optional plot, occasional disturbing images), I already considered it to be an epic film (I knew it was 3 hours long) and I accepted that I most likely wouldn't understand any of it. But I tried so hard! I wanted to understand something, just one thing. My brain was working so rigorously, trying to formulate connections, conclusions, even hypotheses but... nothing. Maybe that was the point.
This morning was dedicated to searching the internet, trying to find something that would bring me some resolve. But nothing helped. Either people were quick to call it a masterpiece (probably just because they didn't get it) or say that no plot existed, it was purely emotionally based. I'm not here to give you an in depth analysis, trust me I wouldn't know where to start, but I just wanted to say these few things:

• I can't call it a masterpiece - like I said, I couldn't find one plot line in the entire 3 hours! But, the acting was amazing, I thought it was a beautiful film, and it did seem genuinely random (a truly difficult task).
• I'm glad I saw it. I don't feel like I wasted 3 hours of my life, instead I got to see something original, different, definitely something that will stay on my mind for many moons.
  

I don't like my blog to be too serious so here are some happy trees to brighten your day.

My 10 Random Things - sick version

So I first posted this on my myspace blog, but thought I should share it here as well. I felt this was a good exercise to get writing. Just write a few sentences about any 10 random things that pop into your head. It's surprisingly fun!

1. Gum and carrots, the name of my blog, plus the two things that annoy the hell out of Evan when I chew them. I just can't resist! That crunch of a fresh carrot, or the smack of a good piece of gum!

2. short hair - so I heard this was supposed to be easier. As I recall, with long hair, I could get up in the morning, put a hair tie around it and go. But with short hair, I now understand the concept of "bed head". Not the most flattering look in the morning.

3. Oh Kristin! Of course, she has to be one of my random things. Whether it's getting coffee in the morning or going out for drinks, I have found a new best thing in life with this chica!

4. Another "best thing in life" would have to be all our plants. We have a ridiculous amount, over 30 I think. I just love taking care of them, watching them grow-- ok, I'll just stop right there.

5. So I'm sick right now, and it blows. I know exactly when I started getting sick - during that movie at Kristin's! Damn that movie! I don't know why it did this to me. I'm never watching it again.

6. My congested head is having a hard time with number six...

7. There' one thing in life I wish I was better at: drawing. I have spent much of my education doodling away during class, yet somehow it has not improved my skill at all. Maybe I need a new medium, perhaps colored pencils.

8. So we watched The Evil Dead last night, and I have to be honest, I wasn't that impressed. Ok, I did jump once, but mostly I found myself frustrated with how LONG some of those scenes were. I get it, she got stabbed and it hurt, I don't need to hear her scream about it for 5 minutes!

9. Getting up in the morning and making tea. It's just plain dandy. I'm definitely a morning person, and I feel that is the part of the day I am most happy. Evan is definitely NOT a morning person, but I think I make his morning a little bit better when I hand him his morning cup of tea.

10. Fluffy pillows and flannel blankets. That is where I'm headed now.