The List: Numbers 45 and 93

 It's been, what at year? 

About a year ago since I took a whole lot of things off of my buckets list for an impromptu trip to Disney World last year. Now, I have another big thing to cross off. 

Last week I crossed off Number 45 off of my bucket list: Go on a Cruise!

One of my besties, Nikki, and I went on a 5 night cruise with her mom and grandma to the Bahamas! No only was this my first cruise, but it was my first time out of the country. I don't think that I could have picked a better time to go. 

Here in Tennessee it does get cold, but it's doesn't get super cold till around the start of the new year. We left and it was still in the 80s here. We left out of one of my favorite cites, Charleston, SC. It was great because Carnival Cruise will no longer be going out of there I think after the start of the new year. So, I am glad that I got to come out of here once. The first day was rough because of the waves but we had a good time. We did lots of activities on the ship and we got to chill and hang out too. 

We went to Bimini, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Bimini has got to be the prettiest beach that I have been to yet! The water was so clear, the sands was white and cool to walk in, and it was not a crazy hot day. It was the perfect beach day to say the least. Nassau we went to Swim and feed the pigs on the beach. It was fun just doing something that I never even thought of doing before. I loved it so much. I would totally go one one again! 

Number 93 was take a nap on a boat. Trust me there was a lot of napping time happening on the ocean during the week!

Tom Hanks Hustle: Here

 It's been a minute! 

Tom Hanks had he first movie release in a year, and I am "here" for it!

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite once again for another movie about life, love, and how lives moves in some spaces. 

I am always excited about a new Tom Hanks movie, but I will say I was more excited when I learn about how this movie was shot. I now of two movies that are show in one continuous motion, Birdman and Rope. I have never heard of a movie that is shot from one stationary camera angle. It never moves from the spot that it starts. 

When I first heard of this movie and started telling people about it I was saying that it's about a family and how their lives grow though the lens of one camera, and how live works around it. However, I found out quickly it's not about one family. It about how life revolves around one spot, one view, in one place, of this whole big world. It shows how the world has moved thought history of this one spot since the dawn of time. Now, before you think that it's done chronologically, it's not. They edit this movie so that all of the stories that are seen in this spot relate to each other. It's a nice way to show that we have all loved, lost, and move on in a number of different ways in the whole history of the world. Times, change, but there are always big landmarks in our lives that we all share. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this story or not, but it surprised me. I loved seeing how the world unfolded around this spot, and how full, crazy, sad, and wonderful everyone's lives are. Things change and things stay the same. No life can't all be lived in the same spot, but so much life happens in spots you don't seem to like of, like your living room. 

I would totally see this movie again, and recommend it to anyone who would like to see a new way of shooting a movie as well. 

Come Forward: October

So, for that last few years of doing these projects, I have made a list of movies that fit the them, and then use a random number generator to pic the next movie on the list. I was doing that up until I got to this month. 

I mean, how do you have a movie called October Sky and not watch the movie when it's also October? 

Homer Hickman is a young man from Coalwood, West Virginia. When Russia lunches the very first satellite in space, it inspires Homer to learn more about engineering. He tries to make a rocket on his own and finds out that he did everything wrong, when he blows up the back fence on accident. He soon learns that he is going to need help to learn more about what he is doing. He does what is consider social suicide and starts hanging out with the "geek" at school. Soon, Homer and his friends have a launching pad just outside of the city to test their rockets. He starts to enlist other people in town for help (even though they are supposed to) and soo they start to really understand rockets and how they work. Everyone in town is having a great time watching them except for Homer's dad. Homer's dad, and most of the rest of the town, know that once you are born in this town it's hard to get out. Maybe one kids every few years gets own on a football scholarship. The rest will live, word and die in the coal town. However, we see that while he dad doesn't want him to get his hopes up about this being a living for him, he dos help out in small ways here and there, but has never seen him actually launch a rocket. However, once he does he tries to support him. 

So, other than "hard work will help push you through" how does this relate to staying motivated? Well, Work on the hardest thing first. 

Look, I now hat it was a mistake for Homer to make a rocket and set it off in his back yard. However, at the time he thought that was going to be the hardest thing was to find that right about of gun powder to load and then he would have a rocket. He did it and it failed. They he did a little bit of research and tried again. Then when that didn't work, talking to the "geek" at school was the next hardest thing. In truth sometimes what we think might be the hardest thing is really just a an very overwhelming small step. It's doing the thing that's embarrassing, or insane, that really something we have built up in our heads that it's going to be. 

Sometimes the hardest thing to do its start, sometimes it walking away or taking a break, sometimes it's letting go. However, something doing the hardest thing first is the best next step to take.  

The Man Behind The Curtian: October

 This month we got a little bit old school with the movie that I chose. It's movie that I somehow missed when it first came out (and might be glad that I did). 

The movie stars Zac Efron, and the late, great Matthew Perry, 17 Again.

Mike had to grow up a little too fast when he was young. He was on his way to a basketball scholarship, graduation, and had the rest of his life ahead of him. Until he finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant and she give it all up at 17 to be a dad, husband, and had a different life than what he had planned. Now, in his late 30s, he is on his way to a divorce, his kids are not close to him, and he isn't very happy. That all changes when he is transformed back to the age of 17, and gets a chance to "redo his life". However, when he try to redo his life, he learns a lot about his wife, his kids, and himself that ultimately give his a chance to start over where he is now rather than when he thought he lost it all. 

This was not the best movie I have seen. Some of it didn't make sense, and really wasn't that great. It had a lot of great stars, but just missed the mark a little bit. 

However, I said last month that showing up was part of a bigger umbrella of a different topic that I wanted to talk about. That bigger topic is honoring your commitments.

Showing up is one way to honor your commitments, but there are lots of other ways to honor commitments. 

One of the things that Mike has a problem with in his adult life is that he start projects and doesn't finish them. He become complacent, and just blames everything on what he missed out on rather than make the best of where he is at right now. 

Honoring your commitments is one of the hardest things to do. It's hard because it's constantly pulling you to do things that might have sounded great in the moment, but you don't feel like doing it. Promising something, and just not doing anything to making it happen. It's doing the things that you say you are going to do weather or not anyone else is paying attention to the fact that you are doing them. 

When I was 17-18 years old, my Youth Pastor gave a sermon that included Horning your commitments, and its was something that I really wanted to be known for. I wanted to the someone who was reliable, and trustworthy, and was always going to be there when I said I was going to be there. I wanted to be someone who as known more for being selfless, and helpful. The older I get the more I see where other people do not do or honor what they comes out of their mouths. There are people in my life that I love dearly, but when they say that they are going to be where they said they would be, they don't come. They bail, or say they forgot. They will do and say anything so that they don't look like the bad guy for now showing up, or doing what they said that they were going to do. 

I have also found that being someone that honors their commitments that when things go wrong, or an emergency happens (because life) that things might be frustrating, but people know that I am telling the truth when I fail to make it where I said I was going to be. I have enough of good record from several people that they know if something happens I am truthful as to why I can't be there. 

I will say that this may not sound like it's ground shaking knowledge to have, but it really does change your life, and your perspective when you become someone who Honors Their Commitments. 

Come Forward: September

 So, getting closer and closer to the end here. It's getting a little harder to try and stay motivated when the end of the year, with all of it holidays, coming up.

However, let's talk about The Boys In The Boat.

This story follows the crazy journey of the Junior University of Washington Rowing team going to the 1936 Olympics. 

Now I know that it's a very short description, but it's a great move that you should go and see for yourself. 

So, the how does a rowing team have to teach me about motivation? Well, they learned a lot by working as a team, but they didn't learn that in one step. They learn it in smaller ways step that formed a whole unit. 

The Ten minute rule is good for this. This get overwhelming when you think of all the things you have to do, or want to accomplish. We can freeze and get nothing done because we can't fine a way to get everything done at once. 

Making yourself do one thing for ten minutes helps to get you started doing something, and then can help you go get a plan together to get all of the stuff you want to get done, done. 

The Man Behind The Curtain: September

 It's finally cooling off, well a little bit. It doesn't get super cold around here until like January. However, I am glad that we are going to start seeing the change that falls brings to us. It's been a long summer, but a short one too. 

Let's talk about one of the best movies that Disney has ever released, Encanto.

This movie is about Mirabel and her family. The members of the family have been granted a miracle over 50 years ago. It gave their family powers of all different abilities. They use these powers to help out the village. They are all working to keep the village safe and strong. However, the only grandchild that did not receive a gift was Mirabel. While she holds up a strong spirit to help out without her powers, she can't help but feel as if she is looked down on from her grandmother because the Miracle did not grant her a power. No matter how hard she tries to be helping and "special" she always seems to fall short. This difference has cause a small rift in the family. All of that changes when the Miracle starts to go out and she decides that she is going to safe it.

Now, this movie has been analyzed so many times over. From talking about generational trauma to inner strength, this movie gives you great music, a fun time, while also giving you classic, heart punching, message that Disney is known for. 

I am not going to get into all of that. 

I love this movie, and yes it touches on all of these things, we are going to let someone else analyze all of that. The one thing that I want to talk about is showing up.

Now, I will say that this topis will come back up again next month, but under an umbrella of that topic. However, I really wanted to highlight showing up. One thing the Mirabel is great at is showing up for her family. She will show up sometimes when her family doesn't want her around. Anything anyone asks her to do she will doe it. Even it it is hugging her older sister. 

The best example of her showing up is when she is at her little cousin's Gift ceremony. Antonio and Mirabel have shared the nursery since he was little. he will be getting his knew room during his ceremony. He is several years younger than she it, but has seen what her life it like without a gift, and is worried that the same thing will happen to him. Mirabel reassures him that he will get a gift, and everything is going to be ok. 

When he gets too nervous to walk to his door, he asks Mirabel to hold his hand and they walk together. Even thought doing this, reminds her of her ceremony where her whole life changed. She was afraid to walk down that same path again, but did it because her cousin needed her. He got courage from her being there, when she could have bailed and spared people talking about how she didn't get to get a gift. 

When you show up for people, it leave an impact. The people that show up in the good time and fun times are great, but the ones the show up when things get hard are better.

As much as I want to say that I have a perfect record of showing up, I don't. I have messed up, and failed at times, but I know that I have showed up when least expected and it's effected someone's day. I know the people that I can call in an emergency and they would do everything in their power to help. The people who show up in times of worry and trouble are rare.

Also, showing up even when you don't feel like showing up is powerful. There have been many times that I didn't feel like going somewhere, or doing something, but have seen how excited people are when I show up. 

Showing up is one of the most important small things you can do for someone. They might see it while you are there but when they look back they know who they can trust to help.

The Man Behind the Curtain: August

   So, I'm just gonna say this real quick. 

I HATED the movie that I watched for this month. Which was The Breakfast Club.

Long story short. Five kids are in for detention on a Saturday for various, and really not explained well, reasons. They get to know each other and that's it.... 

Oh and there is a moment where they dance. 

Look I know that I am not not of this era, and that lots it things seemed to be lost on me. However, I did not like this movie. While it wasn't slow, and was poorly explained as to why some of them were in detention at all. Those that did have reasons for being there, seemed like the teachers should have gotten them help instead of putting them in detention. They were left in a room together without supervision, and expected not to talked and break rules? It's like adults have never met teenagers before. 

Anyways, the one thing that I can say about this movie is that I like that the kids that were in detentions had like different cliques and friends groups. I like that there were able to find some common ground, weather is was music or other activities.

The one reflection that I wanted to reflect on is a recent love I rekindled, WWE.

Look I know that it doesn't make much sense that a girl who wears vintage clothing, watches old movie, loves Broadway, musicals, and everything Tennessee Theatre, also love WWE. I do. I used to watch it when I was a teenager, and then I had to stop, but I recently got back into it. I have had a few people tell me that they don't understand why, and I really don't either. 

I think that it's a way to live through drama, and the every once and a while feeling to punch someone in the face, without actually going through those things in real life. 

If movies is a fire in my soul, WWE is like lightning in my veins. I don't need it, but when I watch it it shocks me and riles me up. I think it's just really fun.

Plus, I love the double takes people give me when I tell them this fun fact about me. 

Come Forward: August

 This has got to the most insane month I have had so far this year. Which I odd know that the months coming up are going to be a mad house! However, I have been able to get ahead of schedule with watching the movie that I needed to for this month. I have also been doing really well on my big project for this month as well. So, I am happy to say that, while everything has been crazy, it's been the least stressful month so far this year. 

This time around we are going to talk about giving in. Of course, we need to start out with the movie first, Erin Brockovich.

Erin is a single mom that really needs some money to make end meets. She is hoping the a car accident she has will land her some money in a settlement, however, that doesn't go according to plan. When she goes to her lawyer angry about the outcome, she somehow lands herself a new job working in his office. While she is working there she comes across a complaint about health concerns in a county near by siting the they think the water is basically being poisoned and causing the whole county to be sick. Severely sick. After doing a lot of research, she come back to the office and bring the concerns up to the lawyer and convinces him to take on one case against the new plant that was built nearby. However, the complaint soon turns from one person, into dozens. Now she is rallying to get everyone compensation, and encouraging her boss to do what he can to help.

Now, this movie is one that you see so many clips about on Tictok and I was happy to finally watch it. Some of it seems like it might be a little far fetched, but over all the movie is great! It's a movie that you think might be slow in some parts, but it's entertaining all the way through and nothing feel like a drag to watch. I was really happy with how smooth, and easy the story telling was. 

You might think when I am saying to give in, that it might be about Erin here. However, it's not. The lawyer that she works for is on the verge of retiring, and he is at the end of his rope. He doesn't want to help. He just wants to finish out his last few years and retire. He finally gives in when Erin pushes enough. 

I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to work on my big project at all. However, one day I woke up and the desire was there, and I had the time but not a lot I didn't want to work on it because I didn't have the time that I thought I would need. Instead I gave in and worked on it. I worked on it some here and there and I got through to my next deadline. I was also happy that I did it a different pace than what I was normally doing it at. 

 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

We get to talk about a movie that I have come to love over the years Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

While most people would like to say that this movie is about a car, this movie is really about a family. The children are being raised by their father and grandfather, their mother had passed some time before. The father is an inventor who has his hand in everything. The kids are at a junk yard playing in a car, Chitty, when it gets sold. They plan to ask their dad for the money for the car in order to keep it. As they are on their way home they run into Truly. She finds that where they live is not all put together, not too much money coming in, but see that the kids are well taken care of and loved. When the kids as their dad for the money for the car he does everything that he can in order to make it happen. He buys the car and fixes it up. They, along with Truly, go on a beach picnic and have a wonderful afternoon, where stories are told of the legendary Chitty Chitty Bang Bang saving a fairytale world from a bad king

This is one of those movies that I did not grow up with. I feel like there are lots of people who haven't seen many musical but this is one that was seen many times over the years. I didn't rally watch this one until my mid-teens. I really do love watching this movie every time it comes one. I always love home much fun the movie is, and how sweet the characters are. I am constantly impressed by the Music Box doll number is. 

Come Forward: July

We finally get a a movie that I have been yelled at many times before because I have never seen it. 

Good Will Hunting

A troubled young man is gifted when it comes to math. Really he is gifted in learning in general. He can take any book or work of art and memorize everything he reads with east. He uses this to his advantage when he is on college campuses partying. He can talk about any subject with anyone. However, it's his troubled life that has him ended up as a janitor at a college. When the head of the math department at this school posts an equation he expects that no one in the class is going to be able to solve it. When if finds that it's solved he starts asking which one the students did it. No one claims to be the one who solved it. A few days, and another equation, later, it's discovered the the troubled young man is the one who solved the equation. 

This bring crazy change in his life. They professor wants to mold him and have everyone be marveled at his "discovery". However, the young man's temper is causing problems. The professor gets an old school friend of his, who is a therapist, to come and work with him. The young man wants nothing to do with the therapist, and tries to make it so he doesn't have to talk, change, and still do with the work with the professor.  However, the plans we make are not always the ones that work out in the end. 

Now this movie was so good! I have found that sometimes there are a lot of movies that people highly recommend I find aren't that good. This one was great! I really loved the story, and it made me cry! It was so good.

The one thing that this connect with me about working on something bigger is that you just have to rant. There were a few times where Robin Williams' character, and Matt Damon's, both just ranted at stuff that happened to them in life. The sometimes it was fair and most times it was not. I love that they both allowed each other the space to be able to speak their mind about each other and themselves. 

Working on this project I have done a lot of ranting to my friend Nikki. Sometimes I can't get something to work how I want it, and other times I am trying to get motivated to do something with it. It's always a balancing act. I know the effort will be well worth it in the end.  

The Man Behind The Curtain: July

 Let's talk about talking to God. 

Pray is something that is so important, and so vital to me and my faith. I thin everyone says at least one prayer once in their life. Whether there is any real faith behind it is up to God himself. 

I don't want to get more into it until we talk about this month's movie Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

 When Margret get's home from summer camp she learns that her family are movie from New York to New Jersey. This all happens right when she is becoming a teenager. The new chapter in her life is met with her being able to stay home, meeting a whole bunch of new girls, then dealing with new feelings, and the speech about her ever changing body. 

She starts praying to God asking her for things to move faster and for her to be able to fit in. However, this uncovers new questions on her beliefs. Her dad's side is Jewish, and her moms side is Christian. However, neither of her parents are practicing in their faith, and she finds it's these differences that led to her mother's parents to disown here. Her dad's mom is a practicing Jew that is very eager to take her to temple when she asks. She also goes to different places of worship with friends and leads to down this path of figuring out what she believes. 

So, I will say that this movie was pretty good. I also know that this movie is based off of a book. I have not read the book and I think that is what I am missing here. I can't help but think that there was some explanation of  some stuff that didn't come to the screen. Outside of that, the movie was sweet and wonderful, and surprisingly funny. 

Margaret spends a lot of time in the movie asking for God for mostly selfish and superficial things (don't we all). However, it really made me think about how important prayer is in my life. I will say that there are so many thing that I pray for in passing that I usually forget the prayer. However, when I am in a pray time everyday and talking with God it opens up so much more for me and my life than when I am just praying for something as a "quick fix". 

I think it's vital, and I know it's something that I can do more of.  

 

No Place Like Movies at Home: Girl Crazy

 We have reached the last of our Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movies... for now at least. I don't personally own every movie that they have been in together, but I think I have one more that will come up down the line. 

Dan is a man that is absolutely Girl Crazy and it gets him into trouble with his father. When he is sent to the middle of no where to an all boy college, he thinks that the world is over. Until he find that there is one girl who he falls in love with. Ginger is a mail carrier for the school, and her grandfather is the principle of the school that Dan is sent out. However, their relationship is put to the test when they find out that the college is going to be closed down.

I love these two on screen together. However, this has to be my least favorite movie with the two of them. I feel like that might be because I have seen this one the least. However, when you have Strike Up The  Band it's a little hard to beat for me. 

I am glad that I did watch it again it's been a very long time!

Best Picture Challenge: Oppenheimer

 So, I finally got my act together and rewatched the Best Picture winner of 2023. 

Let's get into in. 

Oppenheimer is about a a scientist, named J Robert Oppenheimer, and the creation of the Atomic Bomb. 

Ok, look the movie is fine. I get the story and the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer is interesting. The conclusion of World War II and what happened to him after the bombs went off, all good. However, I have seen it twice and I had a hard time following it. I get the his ties to the communist party is what got him called back to court and had his security clearance revoked, but I'm not sure how RDJ's character was effect, and why his testimony was relevant. 

I love Cillian Murphy so much, and I think he did a great job in the role. I just think the movie was long and didn't have enough as rick to keep me hooked. That's probably because I don't get the feuding aspect with RDJ. 

I'm sure if I read up on the history it would make more sense but I don't think I should have to do homework to understand the basis of a movie. 

I wanted the movie to win Best Picture, because I understand the beauty, heart and passion that went into the film, but it's not my favorite Best Picture winner. 

Come Forward: June

Cinderella Man is one of those movies that I have heard about since it came out, but never actually watched it. I finally got the chance to see it and now I get it. 

I really is a great movie. 

James J. Braddock is a mind who loves to box. However, in the year leading up to, what would be come, World War II his is down on his luck. He boxes, but doesn't have a steady job. The fights aren't paying him enough to keep his family together and keep a roof over their heads. Eventually, he license to box get revoked, and he is left without any choices to keep his family afloat. He also has to hide the fact that he has a broken hand from the dock managers, or they won't let him keep the job he has. 

When the kids get sent away, due to sickness, he begs the people he used to fight for for money to get the heat back on in his house, so his kids can come home. 

The kids come home and his luck starts to slowly change. His old coach comes and says that he can have him come back and do one more fight. It wasn't going to be anything crazy, but it would be able to get him back on his feet, and give him one more chance in the ring. 

Well Braddock had other plans, but he didn't know that until he got back in the ring. Once he was there there was no getting him out.

Here is what I love about this story, that also helped me to get back on the big project. Is do the small things. 

I got so far off the project that I have been working on that I didn't know what to do. I thought that maybe I wouldn't be able to come back to it, or follow through in the way that I had been. However, I just started small and wrote what I know I wanted to write for that next part. I didn't plan on goin crazy, but I started with a small thing and before I knew it I was right back to where I was before. 

Sometime we get so overwhelmed b how big the project, or problem, is that we forget that we don't need to tackle everyone all at once. We can start small and work out way up. 

The Man Behind The Curtain: June

We are half way there! 

How is it already the the last day of the first half of the year? Time does fly when you are having fun!

Let's just jump right into this month's movie: Matilda.

Matilda was born into a family that really didn't want her. She was left alone and made to look after herself from a very young age. However, Matilda is special. She was able to write her name from a baby, could ready since she was three, and make her own food since she was five. She loved to learn, and love to read most of all. 

However, her parents didn't want her to go to school. See, her dad runs a car shop, and not an honorable one. He has been cheating people on the cars he sells, and he is getting stolen car parts. He doesn't want to be busted by the cops, so he has Matilda picking up all of the packages while her parents are out for the day. 

However, Matilda starts going to the library when she is waiting for the parts She is able to work her way through the whole children's section in a matter of years. She loves reading anything and  everything and she really wants to go to school.

When the principal buys a car from her father, her father agrees to let Matilda go to school. The only reason he agrees is because the Principal is a mean a bitter lady, who does not like children. 

However, Matilda's teacher, Ms. Honey, is a wonderful person who has had a hard life growing up. She love the children that she teaches and hope that one day everything will works itself out. 

Matilda learns that she has great powers of control. She can movie objects around her with her mind. She shows these powers to Ms. Honey. When Matilda learns that the Principal is actually Ms. Honey's aunt, and stole Ms. Honey's house and money from her, Matilda uses these powers to get everything back from her. 

Let talk about self esteem for a minute here. The thing about self esteem is that when you are young you have in droves. When you are a kid you really don't care what anyone thinks about you at all. As we get older we start to doubt ourselves, and then when other people who doubt themselves start making comments, we start to hid who we really are. 

I think there is who think we should act like and dress like, and then there is the person we deem to be acceptable to society. 

Over the last few years I have really stopped caring what others think. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not totally over caring. However, I have found that if I kept worry about what other have felt, I would have no done so much in my life. I would not have found passions I have, I would not love wearing the clothes that I wear, and I can honestly say, that I love it. 

I know there are a lot of things that I do are considered childish, or weird, but I have had so much fun doing them. I think that by doing the weird and childish thing it helps us to balance all the stuff we have to deal with as an adult. 

Be a little childish, it could make your day brighter. 

Come Forward: May

I really thought that I was caught up. However, it appears that I am not. That's totally ok! I am fighting every instinct in me that wants to bash myself over the head because I was doing so well. I know that this would be totally counter productive. 

I took a year off of projects last year, reluctantly. This time last year I was still trying to push myself to "make up" for the lost time. When I finally let go and said I can't do it, it was s relief. I hadn't realized that I wasn't having any fun with the projects anymore. that every single time I thought about doing them would send me into a panic. This year has been crazy, but I am loving the projects again. 

I may not be doing them how I thought that I would, but I am doing them in a more conductive way, that make life easier, and makes the projects more fun. 

The big project that I am working on this year, I felt bad because I put it down for a few months. I didn't mean to, but time just got away from me. When you stop working on something you sometimes start to think that you can't pick it back up, or that it will never be as good as you originally thought that it was going to be. That You ruined all chances of success by not working on it as much as you had been. Then I did two things, looked at my list of Motivation advice, and watched The Pursuit of Happyness.

 Chris Gardner's life is slowly turning to shambles. He invested all of his savings in a bad deal, that he is trying to make work. The money that he thought that he was going to make back quickly was dragging in. This slow income puts hot coals under Chris and his wife's relationship. They are trying their best, but nothing is working how they want it to. After seeing the work the stock brokers to, he tells his wife he is going to try his hand and becoming one. He is great and numbers and with people and figures that once he knows the ropes he will be able to make this new venture work. The problem is is that in order to get the job he has to work as an unpaid intern. 

   

His wife is having none of it and decides to leave him. She leaves him with no money, and penniless job, and their five year old son. The only income that Chris has for the next six weeks is to try and sell off the last of his bad deal while working an unpaying job. Every time he thinks that he can't get any worse, everything goes more down his. He gets robbed, he winds up homeless, the government takes his money for taxes, and he is dealing with no other choice but to bring his son with him on this ride. 

Yet, though everything is falling apart, Chris is determined to put everything back together. Everyday he picks himself up, and chooses to keep going. The weeks and weeks worth of work are relentless but they all pay off for him in the end. 

One of the things that Chris does though the whole movie is make a list. It's not written down, and repeated or anything like that. However, he keeps checked things off of this mental list, and keeps checking his progress. 

When I started this big project at the start of the year, I didn't think I was going to be anywhere near where I am now. I didn't think I would even make it as far as I have. Yet, I am so much further ahead that I ever dreamed possible that I realized that I could keep going. 

You have to sop every once in a while to see where you are at. You have to walk away and come back sometimes, and sometimes you walk away for longer than you think you will. Also, check to see how far you have come. The only way you will fail is if you totally stop. 

The Man Behind the Curtain: May

 Over the last several months I have talked about a lot of why I am the way I am or why I do things the way that I do. Thus far, we have talked about a lot of positives. I don't want to say that what I am bringing up today is negative, but I look at it negatively a lot. 

Have you ever felt like no matter what you do your running around in circles. That it's the same thing over and over and over again? 

I know lots of movie characters feel like this. They they are stuff in a loop in their life and they have no clue how to get out of it, or how to cope. Adaline, in Age of Adaline, is a great example of this. 

Adaline was a normal 20 something year old in the early 1930s. She feel in love, had a baby, and was living her beautiful, but simple, life. When her husband died in an accident, she felt the first of a long live of sorrows they she didn't know were to come. Her daughter and her were able to live with the lose and built a life. However, on her way to her parent's house, during a rare snow storm in California, Adaline lost control of her car, feel in the ivy pond on the side of the road, and died. Not that long after, lighting struck the car, which restarted her heart, and changed the parts of her DNA. She would not longer age. 

This bit of information would not be known to her until many years later, when it was very evident, that her age was not lining up with what her face looked like. Looking like you are in your late 20s/early 30s and your real age is in the 70s is rather hard to explain. When the government takes notice that she is not lying about who she is, and that she isn't aging, she has to go on the run. She spends the next several decades changing her name, and coming up with a new identity, so that no one is the wiser on who she is, or want to speak to her. 

Adaline doesn't have many people in her life. She has one friends who is blind, so had no idea that she look way younger than she is, her daughter knows who she is, and her dog is always good a keeping secrets. Other than that, no one really knows her, and she prefers it that way. Though her daughter doesn't like that she is mostly alone. She wants her mother to find her own happiness, Adaline doesn't because she knows that there is no future with whoever it is she would meet. 

This all changes when she meets Ellis. 

While she doesn't want to fall for him, she does. She is faced with having to continue to live while he knows the truth, or to leave him and be alone again. 

Will she choose love till death does them part, or does fate have other ideas in mind. 

If you sit an think about it long enough, life really is the same things over and over and over again. You wake up and do similar things like eat, sleep, breath, blink, but that very over simplified isn't it? I feel "stuck" in my life is more ways than I care to admit. There isn't a whole lot that we can do to be "unstuck", right? To quote the movie Marry Me "If you want something different you have to do something different". Now, this is a great quote to learn from, but you can't live by it all of the time. If you do, you will cross a line of doing something different that you can't undo, or dramatically change your life and you could loose control over it.

However, this line is great for what Adaline does through the whole movie. She has a routine, she has her passions, and she is cautious about what she does do and what she doesn't do. Yes, sometimes you have to take big risks for things in your life, but really if you want something different in your life you don't have to change your whole life. Just a few small parts.

For me, I don't like my eating habits and my current walk with God. I'm struggling. I feel like my lack to talking with God is killing me spiritually (it is) and my unhealthy food and lack of exercise is killing me physically and slowly (it is). The problem with me is that I feel like in order to fix both of those things I have to over hall my whole life in order to fix them. In reality, if I commit to doing the things I know that I should be doing, and making small changes for more desired effects, it will help me. I don't have to turn over and be perfect in one swoop. I can't do things over time. 

The honest truth is, when I am feeling stuff, I know it's just my life telling me that I need to look around and make some small change in my life. That could mean getting out of town to a bit, or just not eat as many fries (though that it had). Being "stuck" has been a part of my life over the last few years, however, it's been a great guiding force to learn new things, and try new things, and reach out of my comfort zone just a little bit. 

It's a tool that I need to learn to wield, and fight against.    

Come Forward: April

So, let's talk about one of the secret projects that I am working on. I won't say that it is but I will say, I feel behind. Which I so odd because there is no deadline on this one project. Nothing, nadda, no pressure. The only person that even knows I am working on something, isn't hounding me to get anything done. So, why do I feel behind. 

Well, it's because I know what I am supposed to be doing and I'm not doing it. 

 

Coach Grant is the leader of the Eagles football team. He just ended this sixth year of coaching with another loosing season. He feels like he has done everything that he could, and it's not enough. On top of that, he house is falling apart, his car is breaking down, him and his wife are having trouble having a baby, and the world is falling down around him. 

He feels like he is going to throw in the towel when he decides that do the one thing that he hasn't done, give it all to God. 

Grant is a believer that hasn't be doing much of it for a little while now. The night he hits rock bottom, is the night he studies God's word and decides that he needs to get his priorities back on track. He has to put God in his life first, and then he has to have everything in his life fall in line after that. The moment that he commit to changing his life, God starts to show up. Not just in the areas of this life that he needs to be fixed but in other ways he never expected.  

Not only did his life turn around, but several members on his team's lives started to change. Several were saved, and turning their lives to God, their relationships turned toward the better, new members join and were successful in other way they never dreamed of, and the team ends up going to the the State Championships, and winning. 

I have always loved the movie! It's one that always fills me with hope, and reminds me who I belong to. Also, who isn't inspired by the death crawl scene? That scene is so good because if we have faith the voice that is telling us we can do something, and we blind our eyes to the goal we mentally set, we get farther than we ever thought was possible. I think that is how I feel now in the project. 

I took a break from my secret project, mainly because I have been very busy and not able to provide the attention that I want to give it. Also, because I needed to step back a bit and figure some things out. Listing to that voice is a good thing. God told me last year to take a break from these projects, and now I am doing so much better all around! I wasn't forcing myself to do something that I wasn't passionate about just because "it's what I have been doing the last few years". I listened the whole week when I was worried I was going to loose the moment on this project and God just said to slow down and wait. 

The reason that I was worried about the momentum? I am in a place I never thought I would be. I never thought I would get nearly as far as I have. I am in such scary and unfamiliar territory that I have no idea what to do with myself! 

I am very excited to get started again, but I know that I can't have it control my whole life and taking a step back is actually better for me in the long run. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Babe On Broadway

 See, like I said the last couple of days. I am better in the area than I have been in the last couple of years! It also helps that I finally out of a rut of movies that I wasn't too fond of. We have a very long line of musicals that are starting to take shape here!

We are continuing the rolls of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movies with Babes on Broadway!

Tommy and his trio are out for the big time on the Great White Way! However, they closest that they have gotten is the cellar of an small Italian place in New York City. They sometimes pass by Broadway on their way home. Things aren't perfect but they know they are working regularly and they hope to make it big one day. One day is sooner than they think when they meet a woman who works for a Broadway Producer! She tells them that they can't speak a work of the audition that she is going to work out for them because it will upset her boss if everyone shows up!

So, what do they do? Tell struggling actor that they know while bragging. The creates chaos during the audition because hundred of people show up! They don't get their shot, and have to come up with another idea. That is when Tommy meets Penny. 

Penny is a actress herself, but just messed up her big chance and wondering what to do next. The two start talking and Penny invites him over for dinner, and they get to talking to a neighbor about getting the kids to the country. 

Tommy later finds out that the comity falls through on their promise to the kids, and he helps to put of a show to raise the money. However, the show gets so popular that the producer gets mad that he is being shown up right down the street from where his show is going on. 

Now, I love this movie but it doesn't have the same charm for me as Babes in Arms and Strike Up the Band have. I am not sure why because the music and great, and the movie is funny. however, If I am choosing to watch one of their movies it's not likely going to be this one. However, it's one that I would still recommend for someone who loves Micky or Judy! 

The Man Behind The Curtain: April

 So, here we are again! How fast is your year going? Is it possibly as fast as mine? Faster? Well, let me tell you it has flown by so far! I have gotten to do many different things so fare this year, and so much that is still yet to come. I am not sure how I am going to do it all. However, I am feeling good on it because this time last year was not doing to hot. 

I was living a in place that I hated! I wasn't on top of anything. I became complacent in so much in my life that I still feel like I am trying to get back into gear now. What I soon found out last year is that everything can change in a matter of moths. I am now in a much better place, and much happier. Yes, I do get behind and feel like I am not a certain level that I was in years past. However, I know that sometimes that I just part of life. I am loving what I am doing, and even though I am a bit behind. I am doing way better that I was so. Life can change when you least expect it. 

I don't think there are too many characters that know this lesson better than these two, Vivian and Edward. 

If you don't know the movie Pretty Woman than you need to go and see if soon! 

Edward is a millionaire who you would think would have his life together. However, we soon learn that is had failed at yet another relationship. In a blur, he borrows his friend's car, and travels that streets of New York and meet Vivian. Vivian is a prostituted that who basically had to grow up in this life style because she didn't know of any other way to make money. She takes the "job" from Edward thinking it would be like every other normal night. However, when the hotel she is taken back to is the one for people is a tax bracket she could only dream of, she has a hard time being a professional. 

The next morning, Edward asks her to stay for the week and would pay her thousands of dollars, and lost of new clothes, for her to be his date for the week. In that time she befriends many different people to help her to pass as someone in this totally different world she has been thrown into. She handles it beautifully, all while still being true to herself. 

Vivian and Edward part ways, and see that so many people saw more protentional in her than she ever saw in herself, she takes a leap of faith and leaves her life of prostitution. She soon realized that she doesn't have to do it alone as Edward has fallen in love with her and is willing to help her in any way he can. 

This is one of those movies that I have seen many times before, but I always forget just how good it is, and how much fun it is to watch. It's witty, personable, and has great character development through the whole thing. The truth is there to that where you are now is not what we are always meant to stay. That we can be better, or worse, than where we started. That sometimes to be better you have to be worse than where you are not. The most important is, your past does not define you. 

I think we all struggle with that. We all think that we are not good enough for something, or that we aren't capable of it. That thinking that daring to think that we can be better one day is a sin. That we are only as good as our last mistake, or our last success. That's just now true. There is more to each of us in that first encounter that we have with the world. That you can only be at rock bottom, or on top of the world with no in between and that is not true. There are so many parts of use that change all though our lives that one thing can be true at one point and then be the opposite later on. 

Knowing ourselves means that we are never fully going understand ourselves. 

We are constantly learning and changing and we have to be ok with that. We are never going to look, act, feel, or the same our whole lives. Knowing that we are constantly growing and changing is how we know to be kind out ourselves and keep learning about us. Being stuck in one place for took long can become a danger to us.

I think that this is way I love doing these yearly project. Trust me when I started out they weren't meant to happen every year. It started with and idea that grew into this! 

I love that they push me forward, and give me something to think about. That I get to have something that I enjoy without anyone else interfering in them, or telling me how to do them. I can set the limits, and create the rules as I go or enforce them how I see fit. The projects help me to have something to do and look forward to, and then also makes me feel good when I push my own boundaries, and do things I never thought possible, or would ever dare try to do! 

I think it's a great way to get out of your comfort zone, without having to go nuts and go too far. It's a great way express yourself and try new things in a manageable way.

The Man Behind The Curtain: March

 So, we made it almost a fourth of the way through the year. So, time for a check in. How are you doing? Still feeling good? Think that you have gotten most of goals hit or continuing so far? I am much farther on some goals and far behind in others. I guess that is why they say success is not measured in a straight line. We have to be flexible.

That means in all areas of our lives, including our emotions. 

 Riley is a preteen living in Wisconsin having a ball in her life, or should I say puck? She loves her hockey team, family, friends, school, and everything really seems perfect. That is until her parents and her move to San Francisco due to her dad's job. 

Now, there is something everyone needs to know, our emotion have control of our mind and they are little being that are used to influence Riley and the world around her by how she feels. They are Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness. They work together to use the appropriate emotion for what is going on. 

The leader of this group, Joy, thinks that Riley needs to be happy all of the time. That whenever she is not happy that not only is she not doing her job right, but she will do everything in her life to make her happy. All of the core memories that Riley has, the stuff that makes her her, are all happy memories. However, everything that Joy knows changes when a sad core memory enters into system. Joy does everything she can to stop the memory becoming a core one, and ends up being forced out of the control room with sadness. They have to go on adventure, literally down memory lane, to get back to the control room before everything falls apart. 

So, in reality, we know that our emotions are not controlled by little beings in our head. However, I do know that our emotions are things that we can and can not choose. 

Sometimes and emotion comes so fast that you can't control it and we just have to feel it no matter what is happening. Other times the emotion slowly crawls on us over time and it engulfs us before we are aware that it's even happened. None of these are wrong, but we can make choices about our emotions, even if we don't want to admit it. 

Why am I always so happy? Why am I always full of joy? It because I choose to be. I not 100% happy all of the time, I have my bouts with anxiety, anger, fear, and every other emotion. However, I choose to be happy. I choose to no let every little thing in the world get me down. There are so many people in the world that choose to sit in their anger, fear, and they end up playing victim. People will say that happiness doesn't last and that it's pointless to be happy as often as I am. I am aware that happiness doesn't last. I am aware that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. That being happy is not permanent. Neither is sadness. Neither is fear. Neither is anger. 

No emotion lasts forever. 

You can't always choose how you feel about a moment or a person. You can't always choose how to react when unexpected things happen. You can choose to be victim to an emotion to the rest of your life. That also include happiness. If you are always trying to stay happy, if you are chasing happiness only, you will fail. That failure will hurt more than just letting the emotion that you are trying to hide.

Becoming a slave to one emotion is no way to live life. 

I choose to be happy whenever I can, and choose the other emotions to come when they do. They are all important and all need to be felt.  

Come Forward: March

Working on several projects, without saying what the projects are, is getting hard. It's much harder than I thought. The reason that I think it's harder is because I have nothing really to compare it to. The last "Secret" Project I didn't wasn't really a secret. It was something I didn't advertise the I was doing, and because I was actively doing it, people found it. I required me to physically be going somewhere. 

While, I feel like I am mostly alone in doing something like this, I know that I have God to help me. One of these projects is very much His doing. 

However, I will say that the movie that I watched this month has a very similar feeling about what I have felt like this month so far. 

The Life of Pi

Pi is a young man from India who is about to go on an adventure that is hared to believe. He was born into a loving family that supported him and his always advancing beliefs. He gets news one day that, due to the going unrest that is happening around them, they are leaving India go to go America. They pack up all of the zoo animals that have, and load them onto a Japanese boat. 

Not fitting in with the people around them, Pi finds his comfort being with the animals below deck. While he wishes that he could stay there, he has to go sleep with his family in his room. That night a massive storm haunts the boat in the middle of the ocean. Pi goes out to see the storm firsthand, and find the boat is starting to sink. Everyone is trying to get to the lifeboat, but his family is already stuck under the water in the bows of the ship. The crew tries to get Pi to get on the boat, but he is fighting them off because he wants someone to come and help him rescue his family. A good portion of the animals have escaped, and were causing problem for the rest of the humans, that were alive, to get on board. 

Due to the insanity of the animals and the boat slipping away too fast from the ship, the only being to make it out alive are: Pi, a zebra, an orangutang, a hyena, and one Bengal Tiger.

The hyena quickly takes out the orangutang and the zebra, and when he is about to take down Pi, the Tiger, whose name is Richard Parker, takes the life of the Hyena. 

Now you might be thinking, this must be a short movie because he tiger must kill Pi? Nope. Pi will be the next year or so of his life helping the tiger, and himself, survive what the sea brings them. He makes a raft for himself to be apart from the tiger, he starts to hunt the fish for the tiger to keep it from dying, and he tries to train the tiger. Although, the last bit does not work out too well for him. 

One of the things the Pi does that is remarkable is he starts to make a schedule for himself. He does everything he can to take care of them both, but to also to keep his mind entertained so he has something to do to keep him active and going. 

It is all of this that makes him successful. Pi, and the tiger, one day make it to land and are saved. However, Richard Parker goes into the nearby forest never to be seen again. 

I now understand what I have been missing. The movie has got to be one of the most beautiful movies that I have ever seen in my life. I don't even know how they were able to make the sky, the sea, the storm, the stars, and the endless amounts of water look as beautiful as a dream. It really makes me wonder if the the sky could ever look that beautiful in real life. 

None of that would be nearly as impressive if the one lone actor of the whole movie was not good. Suraj Sharma delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen. Granted, he is not the only actor but he rally is the only one for most of the movie since almost the whole thing is him being lost at sea with a tiger. To act against no one for the amount of time has got to be hard. 

Really, watching the move does tell you a lot about motivation. At any point, Pi could have just given up. He could have said that there is was no way out, no one was looking for him, and that he could just sink to the bottom of the ocean and be with the rest of his family. To spend nearly a year at sea surviving with a tiger, you have to keep motivated. He would literally die if he did not stay motivated. Like I also mentioned, he started make plans and having somewhat of a routine. In reality, a routine is really a lot of mini deadlines to meet. 

I have always had a deadline of a year for all of the projects that I have done. Usually I break everything up into a month, so there are several deadlines in a year to make sure I get everything I want done done. 

So, I made a deadline for a project and I completed it. Since I have never done anything like this before, I didn't think that having a deadline was going to be as helpful as it was. I know that if I give myself one then it might help me to get my butt in gear when I am falling behind. I am not saying that I a going to have a crazy deadline, but if I am not keeping up with stuff then it really might be helpful and not hurtful. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Strike Up The Band

 Ladies and Gentlemen!

It was a little bit soon than I thought it was going to be, however, we have made it to my favorite Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film: Strike Up The Band

Jimmy Connors has high hopes of making his school band into a dance band. With his would also be the once in a lifetime chance to perform in Chicago in front of Paul Whiteman, and winning his contest. His best friend, Mary, is in full support of this dream and is will to do anything and everything she can to help. When Jimmy gets smitten with the new girl, Barbara, Mary starts to largely be the one to make sure the dream comes to fruition. They have to raise $200 to get the whole band to Chicago and audition. They come up with a plan for the band to put on a show at their local theater and make some money that way. Jimmy missing the meeting to secure the location when he takes Barbra out on a date. Mary take the meeting herself and they put on a 1890's themed show for the community. They earn about $150 from the show and have to come up with another way to make more. The whole band is invited to Barbara's birthday with a surprise, Paul Whiteman and his band are performing. After securing a $50 loan from Whiteman, the band is on their way to Chicago! That is until one of the their friends finds out he is badly injured and needs emergency surgery. They need to charter a plane to get him to the right hospital in time. It costs about $200. They give the money, and all their hopes of competition, go with their friend. However, Barbara is a good friend to have. Her father heard what the kids did for their friend, and used his connection with the railroad to get the band to the competition just in time to Strike Up The Band. 

I love this movie! There are so many reason to love it but I will say just a few. 

When you are talking about some of the greatest comedic actresses of all time, Judy Garland is usually always left off that list. I learned a long time ago that Lucille Ball, hilarious actress in her own right, would say that Judy Garland was one of the funniest people that she had ever known. Watching this movie I have to agree with her. 

Ms. Garlands performance in the "Gay 90's" show is one of the funniest scenes in any movie. You can tell that she is adoring playing for fun on that stage. The one scene that comes to mind that could beat this scene is the one with Gene Kelley in The Pirate but we will get there soon enough! 

Watching this movie again, I reminds me how much I am in love with Mickey Rooney. He is an actor that most people know of without knowing they know him. He is the voice of Santa in all of the 70's cartoon tv movies, and the for the the fox in The Fox And The Hound. He is one of the most diverse and underrated actors. He was not considered this at the time, but for some reason some of the biggest, and best, stars fade over time. 

While I was hoping that I didn't have to watch the movie so soon, I am still glad to watch it. I really love reliving this movie as many times as my DVD let me. Which was a really true statement because it no longer works, and I had to buy it on streaming just to keep it in my roster. 

If you want the best the Judy and Micky have to offer, Strike Up The Band is the move you need to see next. 

Come Forward: February

So, the second month of the year. How is everyone doing with their resolutions? It's usually by the start of this month that most people feel like they have failed too much to continue with the promises they have made to themselves. Then, of course, the "season of love" is upon us and that mean hundreds of pieces of chocolate are thrown into our lives. Now, this could be because we have some who brings us chocolate, or the amount of healthy food that you have been eating feels like it's killing your soul. Chocolate fixes most of those things. Though, don't take my word for it because I am not a doctor. 

I think one of the biggest identifiers in if someone is going to stick to what they say they are going to do is if they talk about it. I know there are people out there that are all talk, but for the most part, if you discuss what you are doing to change your life with other people they normally help and support you. I am guilting of being mostly all talk this year thus far. I know that I have needed to get to the gym and really start to work out, not just go to say I went. I really need to make that a part of my lifestyle not just a box to tick off a list. While I have failed in that area, my eating out less and healthier has gotten surprisingly better. I have cut way down on the soda, and have made more meals at home. I have saved some money from this too. I know that this is because I started talking about the days I do well, and the days I don't, with friends of mine. I know that there were a few days I said "screw it" and had what I wanted when I wanted. In the past that would just give me a pass to not get back on eating better. However, I find that the next day I want the water and the healthy food back. 

Ok, so why am a talking so much about eating better, and what does this have to do with motivation?

Talking about, and getting excited about, the things you are doing in your life makes you want to continue to do them. 

Now, talking is very much one of my strong points, but when it came to Michael Oher, not was not so much the case.

 Michael Oher is a young man of very few words. With some help, he was granted admission into a private school to help him to get a better education, and a chance to get him out of the life he was in. Michael was hard to miss at his new school. Not only was he a larger young man, but it was easy to tell that he was homeless. He would do his best of keep the few clothes that he had clean, and feed himself with any food that he could find. He tried to stay under everyone's radar. That is until he met Leigh Tuohy and her family. 

Leigh had notices Michael around campus, her children also attended the same school, but never gave him much thought. Until one night after her daughters volleyball game, she noticed him walking around in the bitter cold with just a short sleeve shirt on. She prompted her husband, Sean, to stop the car and asked him where he was going. When he answered the gym, because it was warm, she knew that she could not leave him out in the cold. She put him in the car and took him home and he stayed there through the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Well, that was the original plan. 

It didn't take long for Leigh, Sean, and the rest of the family to love Michael like one of their own. They got him his own room, some more clothes, and lot of love. Leigh did everything she could to help Michael succeed in school. Once he found that he could play football very well, with the right motivation, she knew that his grades needed to improve so that he could be eligible for scholar ships for college. 

When the recruiters started coming in, they knew they need more help than what the school could provide alone. They brought in a private tutor, Ms. Sue, to help him learn how to learn, and show him that he was capable of more than what the world thought him to be. 

He made it to graduation with a 2.52 GPA and a scholarship to Old Miss. Proving that he could do anything. 

What I loved about this movie is that Michael didn't talk much. I know that sound very rude and unheard of, but give me a chance. Michael is a gentle giant. Just because he is kind and quiet doesn't mean that he can't find or defend the people that he loves. When he is pushed to the limits, he will do whatever it takes to take care of those people that he cares for most in the world. He can become scary, and unpredictable when he is pushed. However, when he does choose to ask for something, or say something, you know it's something that he has thought about for a long time. When he chooses to open up to Leigh about his childhood, you are compelled to lean in and learn about his past. When he talks about why he wants to go to Old Miss you want to hear him because it's what he truly feels about the school. Michael never talks just to say something. He speaks when he knows he needs to use his voice, and when he is excited about something he loves.

I have started on something in the last year that I have only told one person about. It's something that I still cannot believe that God has called me to do. While I don't want to go around and tell everyone I know about what I am doing, I am very thankful to the one friend that I have entrusted the secret with. She didn't judge me when I told her about it. She has asked me how the project was going, and she has encouraged me to tell her all of the steps I am taking as I am taking them. She has walked with me for a year already in the thing that I don't know when it will end. 

Talking about the things you are excited of accomplishing makes doing, whatever it is, easier and more fun. I just did a tour and few other things I needed to do to help me on this journey and my friend has been there with me this whole time. She has been just as excited, and sometime more excited, about this with me. I was planning on not telling anyone what I was working on. However, I have come to learn that if I didn't have my friend for me to talk to about everything concerning this project, I would have given up. I would have stopped because I would have no one to tell me that I could do what I was called to do, and I could do it well. 

Do I need to talk about it every single minute of every single day? No. Honestly, most of the time when she brings it up first I want to change the subject because imposter syndrome is real. However, having the space to talk about it has given me the push to do the steps that I have taken and it's gotten me this far. 

Talk about the things that you are passionate about. It could be just the motivation you need to continue with your dream. 

The Man Behind The Curtain: February

We are now in the third month of 2024 and time is flying much faster than is normally does for me. I think with how busy I have been in the last several months I thought that February would give me some sort of a break. Seeing that it's March 1st and I only just now got caught up on the movies that I wanted to watch for the month, I think time is already slipping away from me. I am thankful that this coming weekend I have no plans. I am very hopeful that I can get some stuff that I have been avoiding done, and also maybe get a head start on some stuff. 

So, I have found kind of a flaw in my Authentic themed project this year. Usually, I am very to the point on what I want to talk about and what I want to match with. I feel like both of my plans are somewhat half baked. The reason that neither one of them is super extensive this year is because I knew going in I was going to be overwhelmed. The problem with this one, in particular, is a huge part of it is a surprise for my friends at the end of the year. So I am kind of at a loss for what I want to go in depth with what make certain parts of me authentic. Why I love certain things. So, I think it's going to be a lot of last minute question here you guys. However, I have been thinking about one thing this month in particular. 

However, we need to talk about Jack Black and The School of Rock first. 

 

Dewey Finn and an aspiring Rock and Roller whose biggest dream is to win the Battle of the Bands. Winning the competition gives you a huge chance to be able to have any and all of you rock star dreams coming true. Dewey's ego, and inability to be able to work well with other gets him kicked out is his band before he has a chance to go after that dream. This, and the fact that he is falling way behind in rent, puts Dewey in a bind to have to get some sort of job. In a moment of desperation, and pure luck, he is home when a school principal calls looking for his roommate to sub a class long term. Dewey gets the idea that he can sub, without much work, and get a paycheck that will give him a chance to get a new band together and get back on track. 

Everything is going to plan until the kids that he wanted nothing to do with, show that they have some musical talent that he knows he can exploit to get back into the competition. With some more lying, and a bit of acting on the part of the kids, his plan works and they start working together to become the best band that they can be. However, Dewey realizes that not only does he love being with the kids and teaching them about music, that he loves being a with the other teachers as well. He starts to make friends with kids and teachers alike, while also helping these private school kids find that they are more than just a grade. Music really let them come out of their shells and is helping them to explore different kids of music, and other things that they are interested in. 

This is a movie that I have seen just a few times in my life, and never all the way through at once. It's way different than what I thought it was for some reason. However, this film is just the best way to show Jack Black just being Jack Black in a movie. I mean I really hope he is not that much of jerk in real life like he is at the beginning of the movie, but the rest of it seems like what you see of them on the red carpets. 

What I really loved about this film is that Jack Black really loves music in real life, and it very much shows in this movie. He loves playing, dancing, and teaching about it. He uses all different kinds of music to help the kids to connect with what their strengths are and how so many different type of people are in the music business. Also, all the ways you can be apart without having to sing or play an instrument. Jack Black talking about music like it's connected to his soul, and that a part of him would cease to exists if music was no longer a part of his life. 

That is how I feel about movies. That should not be a surprise if you are here reading this. I think just about every single blog I have written has mentioned a movie of some type on there. If you remember my post from last year that I went to see a movie in the theatre where my parents met, you know that movies seem to be part of my DNA. My first movie was Aladdin. I went to see that when I wasn't even on yet and my dad had to put the film together. Mom took me to the theater and I got to watch it before anyone else did walking around in my walker in the theater. 

My mom has even told me that I learned how to "read" when I was very small from the VHS tapes of Disney movie I had. I knew what tape when in what box. Really I think I just matched the patterns of the writing of the title to the same writing on the box. I have always had some sort of movie memorabilia up on my walls. However, it wasn't until I saw The Wizard of Oz when I was 16 that my loves of movies got to the level that is has. Half my lifetime ago I fell in love with movies in a significant way. 

Why? 

I think it's because movie are a way to speak to people without having to over complicate the world. I have been to many movies in my life and I don't always go when I am happy. I have been when I was in love, scared, heartbroken, mourning, angry, confused. The movies are designed to tell you a story and in doing so they have to be allowed to control you emotions to a degree. They are made to get you to think about more than yourself, and to consider and question you. They are a way to interact with the world and discuss things that don't normally happen to you. 

They tell real stories, fake stories, love stories, and even the most vile and heart wrenching things you can possibly imagine. They have to do this in a matter of hours and cover so much ground. Stores that you would have never heart of before are unfolded in front of your eyes. The past, present, and future all exist in 28 seconds per frame. I constant movie snapshot of life being played out before your life. Just like telling a story with your friends you can have the same story told but in a different way and perspective and have it be a totally different feeling story while still getting all of the fact right. 

I love movies because I love good stories. While there are a lot of the technical aspects of movies that I love too, I love that you can tell all different kids of stories to all different kids of people all over the world. No matter how real, or outrageous, that story can be.