2010: My Favorite Things

Yeah, so I totally stole this from Oprah, obviously, but it’s not exactly the same. I’m not giving away free stuff. So if that’s what you’re looking for you should stop reading right now. This is more of a list of things that you can read, and then save up the money to experience yourself, if you want.

Favorite Trip - Pacific Northwest Adventure

In May of this year, as a “congrats” gift to myself for finishing graduate school, I took a Great Pacific Northwest Adventure. It was a five day trip which started in Seattle, took me to Victoria, BC Canada, and culminated with a 2 night concert. I got to meet my favorite band of ALL time, Our Lady Peace. I made a bold move and took a solo vacation. It was one of the most incredible times I’ve ever had. When you travel alone, you really have to work to immerse yourself into a city’s culture and be more open to talking with and engaging strangers. That part was a bit scary at first, but along the way I met some pretty nice folks. Canadians are so nice it is ridiculous. It’s like they don’t know how awful people are in the countries underneath and beside them.

Sidenote: I have LOVED LOVED LOVED Our Lady Peace since I was in highschool. Meeting them was incredible, AND they were so nice, humble, and appreciative of their fans. Secretly I was worried that they might be jerk asses, but they were friggin fantastic! Can’t wait for their next album in 2011!

Honorable Mention - Boston

This trip was not a solo trip, I went with my brother, his GF, and their friend John. Boston is a fabulous city. We did WAY to much bar hopping. We also saw a real life Tea Party protest, which was unfortunate.

Favorite Movie - Black Swan

This year I went to the movies like it was my second job, kinda like I was somehow making money instead of spending money each time. I watch a lot of independent films and documentaries at the Angelika. I don’t always choose movies that will simply entertain and make me feel happy with a nicely buttoned up happy ending. There’s nothing wrong with happy endings per say, they are not just a requirement for me. (hahaha happy endings). Black Swan is such an incredibly acted movie; it’s elegant, dark, and visceral. The movie looks at perfection, stunted emotional growth and how an idea can completely consume a person, and force them to descend into madness. Greatness. Thank you Darren Aronofsky.

Honorable Mention (in no particular order, since I tried that and it was talking to too long to decide)

127 Hours

Inception

Inside Job

The Fighter

True Grit

The Social Network

Favorite CD - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

Just recently my Mom and I were cruising around town, listening to some tunes on my iPod, and she turned to me and said, “As professional as you are, you really listen to a lot of rap music.” I had no response, other than that maybe I am genetically predisposed to loving dope beats. I can’t explain it; I can’t defend it, but I STILL love hip hop. I also love cartoons (I watch Adult Swim on Cartoon network almost every evening) Maybe I will grow out of these things, at some point, but I doubt it. (I secretly hope I don’t though). I know that no one can love Kanye West more than Kanye West. However, I have been a Kanye fan since his first song “Through the Wire”. I was completely blown away by the creativity and risk he took on his his latest album. I think Mr. West has created his own genre of music.

Honorable Mention

How I Got Over – The Roots

The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe

Brothers – The Black Keys

So did you have any 2010 favorite things? Don’t all three of you jump in at once.

2010: In Review

This year had many highs and lows but if I had to give the year a grade it would get strong C. The last 365 days were just average, but not great. I had some personal achievements this year but still not where I would like to be. I turned 30 this year. Milestone birthdays lend themselves to self evaluation. As I started going through the arbitrary checklist I created I was less than pleased with the results. Since I was a student for part of the year I used a letter grading system.

Professional: C+

I completed graduate school in May of this year. I was actually extremely proud of myself, and honestly thought it would lead to more/better job opportunities. Okay I have an MBA, my life is about to….STAY EXACTLY THE SAME. However, the 2010 job market has been less than promising. Many people lost their jobs this year, so I know I am fortunate. None of my attempts to find new opportunities led to anything. I am attempting to remain positive, but I get very worried about my future, since at some point I want to enjoy my work. Throughout the year I would have these outlandish thoughts about starting my own business, or becoming a professional comedy writer. Then I realized all this overwhelming disappointment has stolen my funny right out of my brain. It’s gone. For real.

Personal: D-

My stupid, stupid weight. I swear to God I have lost at least 250 pounds in my lifetime…..and then promptly gained it all back. Seriously, I lost 80 pounds a few years ago and gained back 40. However, this is to be expected since I have refused to deal with the emotional issues that cause me to eat so damn much. Wait, I don’t just really LOVE pizza and gummy bears?!? Mental note for 2011, try therapy.

Also dating. What’s that? Sometimes I get nervous that I will never find a husband and may not be able to move to the next step. In this sense I feel emotionally immature. There is a certain amount of “legitimate adult” that goes along with marriage and the whole bit. At this point, I might just marry the next dude that tries to holla at me when I am at Lowes (that seems to be the only place men approach me in public). I know that’s weird, but maybe there is just something super crazy sexy about a woman buying paint or air filters.

This year I did quite a bit or reading and researching about my personality type. Why? Mostly because I don’t feel normal. Research findings…I am an Introvert. An EXTERME introvert. That was not shocking, but it makes me understand why it is so difficult for me to make new friends. Everyone in my family and ALL of my friends (albeit a short list) are extroverts. It also makes me understand why I want to punch people in the face who tell me to “get out there more”. Stupid extroverts. Awww snap, was that you funny?!? It makes brief appearances every now and again. I am currently reading several books and will elaborate more on my personality more in a later post. Riveting, huh? I figure these little teasers could boost my blog hits up into double digits!

Okay that is all. Looking forward to better everything in 2011.

Abortion.

Today, I made a donation to an organization in my area that provides help for single pregnant women. I had a car that I wanted to donate to a worthwhile organization, and after careful consideration, I decided I would donate to a crisis pregnancy center. I live in the south, everyone here is “pro life”, yet the scarcity of such crisis pregnancy centers that provide a safe place and resources for a young single woman are oddly rare. I have been troubled by this all day.

Abortion is a very polarizing issue with both sides having very passionate arguments about their feelings on the issue. You know, God-less liberals want abortions for everyone and God-fearing conservatives value human life above everything. These are the only stances on abortion by the way, and you better pick one. As a Christian, I have always wondered why I didn’t fit neatly in the Christian column on the abortion issue. It seems easy enough; if you are a Christian you must be pro-life. I have always felt like I was more pro-choice, much to the shock and disappointment of some of my closest Christian friends. I definitely understand that abortion is murder and would prefer for women not to have abortions, but as a Christian I just never saw how this was a legal issue. Abortion is legal now, but guess what? You can choose not to have an abortion. I’m not trying to be hilarious or anything, but what if abortion were to become illegal?

Now what Christians? As Christians, what are WE the body of Christ prepared to do to help all women CHOOSE LIFE? What are we doing now to help women make the courageous choice to CHOOSE LIFE, in the face of insurmountable odds, and less than perfect living situations? Choosing life is easy if you are a woman who is married to a loving husband, who gets pregnant and immediately has throngs of family and friends who can’t wait to shower you with baby gifts and their approval. What about the married couple who has several kids already and do not have the resources to care for another child? What about the teenager whose parents are pressuring her to have an abortion, so a child doesn’t ruin her young life. What about the unmarried woman in her twenties or thirties, who knows if she chooses to have her baby the father will want nothing to do with the child? What about the woman in an abusive marriage, who does not want to bring another child into the chaotic situation she and her other children are living in? It is not always so easy to CHOOSE LIFE.

I always think it’s interesting that the majority Christians are so pro-life, but can never articulate to me what they are specifically are doing to help women CHOOSE LIFE when the choice is not easy, not pleasant, and not desirable. As I type this I am asking myself, what more should I be doing to help women CHOOSE LIFE? Where is the compassion and the love that we as Christians are supposed to have toward everyone. Instead, there is judgment, about lifestyles and choices that a pregnant woman has made.

Obviously there is no easy answer for this topic but I feel that a REAL dialogue needs to start among Christians that moves beyond, "I am pro-life". Somewhere between “abortions for all” and “abortions for none” is where we as Christians need to focus our energy, love and attention.