My Brain Is Still Processing Interstellar

I saw Interstellar on Indiana's largest IMAX movie screen (it was huge) almost a week ago, and my mind is still processing it. [NOTE: Sort of spoiler alert if you haven't seen the movie, but not really. In fact, this could end of confusing you more....] The premise of the film really stuck with me. The Earth is destroyed and can no longer sustain long-term human life, the population is decimated, and our only hope is to find a new place to live. I remember watching Anne Hathaway on ellen where she said it was purposefully left out how the Earth fell into disrepair. Was it because of humans? Natural forces? At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The Earth can no longer support mankind and we must deal with the consequences. There's a focus on solutions and the future.

Stylistically, I really liked the movie. The film has many elements that conjure up images of 2001: A Space Odyssey that even for me--being a young 'un--were easy to recognize. The talking computer and the silent space scenes were probably most prominent. There's something powerfully emotive about a completely silent theater as we watch a spaceship float through space.

But anyway, back to the movie and why it hit me. Space is one of those things that scares me because it is so unknowable. Just trying to reconcile that there isn't an edge to the universe, but also that the universe isn't in something, completely baffles me. The universe is huge, so what else is out there? I don't buy that we're the only planet with "life" (whatever that may be) because of the millions of planets orbiting the thousands of suns, there has to be another one that's developed something, right? And I suppose that's one of the thoughts of the movie. There ARE other planets capable of having life...there have to be! We shouldn't wreck ours, but we're probably not alone either.

So I guess the movie made me realize just how tiny we are. Even the things we can see in the sky at night are very far away. Other planets can take years or more to reach. Other galaxies? Generations. Interstellar doesn't do alien life, but it made me think about it. Well, I guess it does other lifeforms in its own way, and the idea that I can be another lifeform, guiding myself along the way, is an awesome message. But this concept of free will--and whether free will exists if you are the one predetermining your future--is another philosophical conversation my brain is currently processing that may have to wait for another day. :-)

So go see Interstellar if you haven't already. It's worth it. On a MUCH lighter note, John Lewis--a British company--puts out amazingly well-crafted commercials every Christmas season. If you haven't seen them, they are most definitely worth your time. Here's a link to this year's video, with Monty the Penguin. Absolutely precious. Incredibly touching. OK, I'm done melting over this video.

Mixed Feelings on Social Media

Like most people my age, I'm fairly active on social media. As someone who had few people follow him from elementary school to middle school to high school to college, and then moved and stayed away post-graduation, I find social media a great way to keep up with people I knew in childhood. And I love seeing people's updates, even from people I haven't talked to in a long time.

I might not see them often, but I share in their successes in life and feel for their pains. I never know whether it's appropriate to "like" or "favorite" their posts, however. Will these people think I'm strange? Do I come across as a stalker? And that's the hate part of my love-hate relationship with social media. It allows me to connect with people from the past, but it also makes me feel weird when I do reconnect. I do it anyway--I like when people, especially those I may not have talked to in awhile, comment on my activities--but I am self-conscious about such interactions.

Anyway, this has been something I've been thinking about lately, especially because I read a post a former coworker put on her blog about Taylor Swift's new, absolutely amazing song, Blank Space. But she criticized the video, and rightly so. As she pointed out, Tay-Tay had gone Cray Cray. But I didn't know if it'd be weird to engage on the post.

And that's all for today. This song has been stuck in my head all day, and I think the general message is right on target. It can even be changed from talking about a girl to just life in general.

The Beauty of a Do-Nothing Vacation

I'm back on another vacation. In fact, I'm about two-thirds of the way through another jaunt in the US Virgin Islands (as beautiful as always) and I've done so little in my time here, it made me wonder if I do this whole "vacationing" thing wrong. I take two types of trips--exploratory ones and relaxing ones. Usually the former, but increasingly the latter. And this trip is very much the latter.

But on the exploratory ones...these are the trips I take to far-off lands and just see, do, and experience another culture. In 2011 I went to the Balkans and had an amazing adventure in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey. Two friends and I were constantly on the move, spending just a day or two in any one spot, and enjoying the variety of the terrain and the unique aspects of each of the cities we visited. Those vacations are the fun ones that require a relaxing vacation upon returning to home.
 

I am very much in the other type...the relaxing vacation. I've been on St Thomas since last Wednesday, and each day has been spent sleeping in, lying around, doing almost nothing. Could I do this at my house? Well, yes. except the weather here is much better than in Virginia, plus my parents are here so it's nice to see them in their place. I'm awful at staycations; I get antsy and find reasons I have to work or look up work things. Six days into this Virgin Islands vacation, however, I've read the news a few times, but I haven't thought about work or even felt a need to do so. And that's why I'm loving this vacation.
 

I know friends and others will be disappointed that I came to the Virgin Islands and didn't go to the beach or lay out in the sun. But I realized that that wasn't the reason I came here. I came here to clear my mind, to step away from the hubbub of the DC suburbs and just do nothing. And for that, this nothing was the most successful nothing I could've asked for. Successful nothing with breathtaking views :)

 For this post's happy video, I like Bruce Springsteen (the New Jerseyan in me coming out), and I love this acoustic version he does of No Surrender. Pure, raw emotion.

And A Crazy November Begins

Here's a short post, mostly just putting down a marker.

November is shaping up to be a crazy, crazy month. By my count, I will be spending more time outside the DC area than in it. It will make me appreciate my own place during December all that much more, I hope. And to top it all off, November got off with a bang. In my attempt to drive yesterday, I successfully blew out two tires last night, requiring a tow to the dealership to get it fixed first thing this morning. Not how I anticipated spending my Saturday evening and Sunday morning and afternoon. If two blown tires is the worst I encounter this month, however, I will be very, very happy. So here's to keeping my life straight over the next 28 days. I'll reevaluate come December 1!

And just because this is really, really cool. Love the song, love the impressions. :)

It's Been So Long Since Last We Met

This past weekend was Georgetown's homecoming, also known as Georgetown giving hundreds of students and alum a reason to day drink. Oh, and obviously to catch up with friends who I haven't seen in awhile. Very clearly, homecoming is not at ALL about football. To celebrate, a good friend came to town and stayed in my guest bedroom, so we had a full weekend full of fun activities.

Great Falls

We started on Friday with a hike through beautiful Great Falls National Park. It was an approximately 4 mile loop on the Virginia side of the Potomac, with stunning views of the river and rapids, and in general just lovely nature. It was definitely not a bad way to start a weekend. Friday continued with a game of Scattergories--I lost--and grilling baked potatoes and barbecue chicken. Deliciousness.

Perils of the Lost Jungle

Friday night evolved into epicness with the best 18 holes of mini golf I have ever played. There's a place near me that does "Perils of the Lost Jungle" that is basically an Indiana Jones-themed course. There's a sign at the start warning that players will get wet, but I did not take that seriously. The course was interactive--at one point we needed to put our hand on a mini pyramid to open a trap door--and the animatronics were well-done. There was a hiding gorilla, evil things in boxes, etc. So cool. Oh, and I got sprayed with water twice...once was a spritz by poisonous frogs, and the other was a volley of water from an alligator. And then there was the end. Unlike most mini golf courses where the final hole steals your ball, here when you reached to get your ball out of the hole, it used air to knock it out. It was completely unexpected. Ice cream obviously followed. :)

Hello, Georgetown!

Saturday was homecoming day. We started off by exploring all the new buildings on campus, and I was amazed by how nice campus is and all of the new study spaces. But then to the main event. Friends + Fun + Beer + 80s Cover Band = My Perfect Day. I did NOT stay for the football team and don't even know who won (at least I know they played Bucknell). It was an absolutely spectacular day, with temperatures getting into the 70s under a cloudless sky, so the next stop was obviously the grand lawns at the front of campus to take a nap under one of the big trees. It was college all over again, but the fun part, after spring finals, when there were no responsibilities and the weather was perfect. Eventually we decided to move on, walking along the C&O Canal towpath before catching a metro ride back out to the 'burbs.

Observation Tower, watching a plane land at Dulles

And then there was Sunday. I was already working on little sleep having had an action-packed Friday and Saturday, so we agreed to just wake up whenever and then went to the Udvar-Hazey Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. It has hangars of planes and is a nice complement to the museum stuck in downtown DC. Udvar-Hazey also hosts the space shuttle Discovery(!) and a Air France Concorde. I guess that's what you can do with unlimited space in the suburbs!

Before my friend departed DC on Sunday night, we played a couple rounds of Mario Party on Wii, a nice relaxing way to end the weekend.

And last week I saw this video and, well, I love every 80s slow dance song apparently. This video was better, in my opinion, than the 90s or the 00s version.