Being A Refugee

With the flooding and chaos and the sewer system collapsing in our "beloved" Valley City, North Dakota, my boyfriend and I decided to obstain from being a futher burden on the city and it's crews and retreat to our families homes. We spent a week in Washburn with Stephen's family and when he left for Anaheim, California for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) for the Delta Epsilon Chi competition on this past Tuesday, I headed to my hometown of good ole Portland, North Dakota. He joined me here today after I retrieved him from the Fargo airport and drove through the pouring rain back home. (Like rain is all we need to add to the already existing wonderful conditions right?! Nah, but the snow we got this evening and throughout the night is definitely not asked for.) We're going to hang out here for this week then it's one more trip to Washburn for Stephen's brothers' confirmation and then hopefully home to the wonderful apartment which we have not spent any time in for about a month now. Ok, maybe just 2 1/2 weeks but that's still a long time to be away from your home and the comfort of your own bed.

I love seeing our families and being able to spend time with the people I love, especially since we do not see them so oftern, but I also miss the comforts of my own house. I miss being able to just lounge around without being asked to do something or be in someones way, I miss sleeping in my own bed, and most of all, I miss my own bathroom (sharing a bathroom with my two teenage brothers (who are kind of slobs) is NOT my idea of a "vacation"). At least I do not have to use the porta potties that now occupy the streets of Valley City. I love camping and I love being outdoors but I draw the line at porta potties; they just give me the willies. I have enjoyed spending time with family and friends, but I cannot wait to return to my own home.

My Issue With Today's Society

Stephen and I went and saw "I Love You, Man" in theaters for a date yesterday and I have to say one thing...really?! I mean, is the movie industry seriously that hard up for ideas that they have to resort to such poor content quality? Don't get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious and I enjoy slap-stick comedy every now and then just as much as the next person but I don't think movies need to be that crude or distasteful. When you get embarrassed WATCHING the movie play out, you know it's bad. My dad discouraged us from going to see it, but there wasn't another film showing at that particular theater that Stephen wanted to see. I personally think Hollywood has to reevaluate their morals and the messages they are portraying to the youth and the general population of today's society. When every other word in a film is a cuss word or referring to sex of some sort, I think it's sending the wrong message.

People wonder why violence, sex, drugs and cussing are such major issues in today's society. They should take a gander at the films that the youth and general population are watching today. No matter what movie you choose to see you'll see smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, swearing, and violence. It's ridiculous the amount of exposure we get on a daily basis. Whether from the news or films or video games. We're exposed every second of everyday except in our sleep and it's really quite scary if you think about it. I believe our society and everything in it really needs to be reevaluated and we need to start over fresh.

Why Oh Why?

As I'm writing this blog my beau and I are watching Sweet Home Alabama. I'm sitting here on the couch and a question popped into my head. "Why are all chick-flick lead chick cliques the exact same?" There is always the female lead, who is the most gorgeous female in the film, then there are who two best friends, either a foreign or "abnormal" girl and a gay man. It never fails. There's always the weird, wacky, sometimes foreign, friend who keeps the female lead on her toes and inspires them to live their life to the fullest and the gay guy friend who dresses them, gives them relationship and fashion advice, and keeps their spirits up when the plot line threatens to crush their very existence. I cannot believe that I never realized that before. It's the most often commonality other than the plot lines! I mean the consistancies between in these movies with the character types, the plot lines, and the characters themselves...it is absurd.

I can think of quite a few examples right off the top of my head of films and even TV series that fit that 3 friend commonality.

Sweet Home Alabama
Because I Said So
Bride Wars
Under a Tuscan Sun
Clueless
Devil Wears Prada
Will and Grace
Sex and The City
Greek


Now some of these may deviate a little from the commonality buy adding a friend or two or switching the girl friend to a guy but the character types all remain true to line. I can't help but wonder why? Do you know?

I wish just once that someone would come up with something a little more origional. Something that deviates from the norm and that breaks the ice and opens up the door for films that don't have identical plot lines. I wouldn't care if it started a new trend and that films began following that plot line (for a while anyway) as long as we got to have some variety. Don't you?