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Posts Tagged ‘The Matrix’

Beau and Arrow – Random Facts of Blogness II

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Since my last Random Facts of Blogness was such a hit, I’ve decided to bring it back for a sequel. Sequels are difficult to pull off, but in the world of media and entertainment, people are more likely to back a project that’s already been out there in the global market. Sex and the City 2, Toy Story 3, Shrek 4, James Patterson 78. Unlike these blockbusters, my hit came less in the billion dollar franchise category, but rather it received a whopping 2 comments, and much verbal praise from my loyal readers (love you guys).

-A lot of people ask me to mention them in my blogs. You see, everyone wants to be famous. Sure, my connection list has dwindled, but this is about my 30th blog, and I feel that is an accomplishment in and of itself. But a promise is a promise (I hold nothing more trustworthy than the famed “pinky promise”), and so all suggestions via Blackberry Messenger and my new Twitter account will be addressed.
-My first shout-out goes to someone who is obsessed with middle names as much as me. He is a staunch fan of my blog, a fellow Brooklyn College cafeteria junkie, and my recently wed niece’s best friend. After months of trying to convince me that he’s my friend too, I think now is a good a time as any to admit he’s right.
-My second shout-out goes to one my favorite red-headed cousins, whose request to be mentioned on my blog reminded me about a book he loves, and that I will soon be purchasing: Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games. Although it is a YA (Young Adult) book, I have never heard so much general praise for a title in a while, and with the third installment coming out in the summer, this could be the beach read I’ve been looking for.
-My third shout-out goes to another friend who wishes for me to speak about his awesomeness. As an owner and driver of a brand new Vespa, and another blog fan, he is pretty awesome.

-Silly Bandz. These colorful rubberbands have taken over children’s wrists across America. Just yesterday my niece was toting the princess collection, referring to the shapes each band takes. Apparently, the makers of Silly Bandz have entered a fad gold mine they definitely never saw coming. The Silly Bandz have become so popular, that schools everywhere are beginning to place bans on them because they are causing such a distraction in the classroom. Ridiculous. Insane. Cool?

-The “love” factor has come into question again. I am thinking to trademark my tagline “It’s sick until it sucks”. But let’s discuss this for a moment. Life is difficult because getting what you want is difficult. When you get what you want, and then lose it, it makes it that much more complicated. When you get what you want, lose it, get it back, lose it, get it back, and then lose it again – go on vacation. If you are yet to get what you want, find something else to want. In all cheesy seriousness, everything will work out if you stay positive.

– Speaking of vacations, a couple of my friends are traveling Europe this week as one last hoorah before work takes over their lives. They are currently in Stockholm, Sweden, where sunset tonight is at…11 PM!! And here’s the kicker. SunRISE is at 3 AM!!!!!! I am flabbergasted by this notion. While I knew that small towns in Alaska have to deal with no nighttime hours at all, I never thought someone I knew could be living through measly moon hours. As a night hawk, and someone who has difficulty getting anything done while the sun is in the sky, I am truly in awe of the Swedish. Their circadian clocks must be ridiculously messed up. (I did my 9th grade biology paper on sleep).

-One of my Twitter friends suggested I speak about Twitter. Here’s my thing with Twitter. I don’t get it. There’s this whole language/vocabulary/etiquette and I have little patience to learn it. I also feel like I need to constantly be witty and that’s pressure. Who needs more pressure in life? I’m not giving up yet. My current celebrities I am following are Conan O’Brien and Dane Cook. Dane Cook tweets A LOT. Too much. I miss Coco but I feel he has a similar pressure to be constantly funny. But hey, that’s his job.

-Another one of my Twitter friends said to blog about how to spend a summer in NYC. As a Jersey Shore summer girl, I will admit ignorance on this subject. This month does feel like summer though, and I feel like I’m melting into the city streets. Keep hydrated people, it’s a global warming world out there!

As with most sequels, nothing can compare to the first. Like my favorite movie of all time, The Matrix, this blog cannot compare to its predecessor, and number 3, if it happens, will be a little worse than this one. Or not?

Adios,

Rachel Lily

Beau and Arrow – Labyrinths

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I go to a lot of book clubs because my thesis is on my book clubs so yes, you will be hearing a lot about them. I went to another one on Monday night, my “shoeless” book club (because shoes are not allowed). An eclectic bunch in socks and slippers, roaming around a gorgeous downtown apartment talking about the selected literature of the month. This time, the topic was Borges, a true giant in the literary world, a visionary thinker, and one of the smartest guys who ever lived. He’s basically a walking encyclopedia, and his works are dense and complicated, and make you do what all great literature should make you do – THINK. But more importantly, and we discussed this in our book club, Borges seems to really make you want to write. So my tip of the week: if you’re having writer’s block, pick up Library of Babel and in the words of The Matrix (whose themes are interspersed throughout Borges’ works and which just so happens to be my favorite movie) “Free your mind.”

My fiasco of the week occured just prior to the Shoeless Book Club. After picking up 12 copies of the next meeting’s book (Shakespeare’s The Tempest! Now featured in BAM), I got on the Q train and took it one stop over to Canal Street. Over the past few months I have used the train probably more times than my whole life combined, all thanks to HopStop.com. The problem is, in this case, HopStop wanted me to make a left on said “unnamed road.” I walked on, with my 20 lbs of books in on hand, pocketbook in the other, looking for a dark alley? A random cross street? Possibly a direction-giving angel?

I sought out the angels on every corner. I gave my look of desperation to many strangers on the street, hands turned over in confusion, and pleaded with them –  “Hudson Streeet?!” Two women on separate occasions attempted to show me where we were on their cell phone GPS, possibly more concerned with showing off that they actually had this technology and not that the map was reading off to me like an obscure dialect of Swahili. Admittedly, directions are my biggest weakness. The one thing I can rely on is that my instincts are almost always dead wrong. Oftentimes, if my insides say “Go right!”, I will make the L shape with my left hand and go left. Other strangers were equally unhelpful, pointing in directions where the road was ending, and/or not knowing we were in Manhattan. Two old ladies in matching puffy jackets who didn’t speak English to save their lives, tried to reason with me. “Hud-son Street,” I mouthed slowly. “Ah, Hudon swaygegda,” one said while making a vertical sweeping motion with her hand. I am pretty sure they were sending me to the Hudson River. And one guy was equally flustered, “I dunno maybe SOHO?!” His attitude and accent sounded strangely familiar, and upon his asking if I was from the Jewish Syrian community, I confirmed this recognition. It’s a small world after all?

I called my sister half in sobs, “I’m lostttt!”
“Where are you?” she asked. “Where am I?!” I shouted to the nearest New York stranger. Luckily, I was a block away from my destination, and my disaster was finally at a close. 40 minutes of agony later I was at the Shoeless Book Club ready to discuss Borges’ Labyrinths. Labyrinths. Haha very funny (=sarcasm).

Adios!

Rachel Lily