10 Things January

Hey, y'all. I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing here regularly. Keeping current with social media seems to be pretty important to those people who hire for jobs. I should probably apply for another one of those things soon. Blerg. Anyway, now that it's the end of January, here are ten things that I'm all about from this month. 

"Anything Could Happen" by Ellie Goulding  
I became obsessed with this lead single from her second album Halcyon (which was released back in August). 

Gayby directed by Jonathan Lisecki 
This is such a fresh, funny, lighthearted and sweet film about two friends, Jenn and Matt, who decide to have a baby--the old fashioned way, even though Matt is gay. Jenn Harris is hilariously offbeat. SO good! Watch it, but DON'T watch the trailer--it shows too much plot and funny bits. 

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler killed it at the Golden Globes.  
The Globes were so great from the presenters to the winners to Jodie Foster and her awkwardly amazing speech. And Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell had one of the best bits. 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 
I'm 3/4 of the way through this amazing and very long book, and loving every minute of it. It's a historical fantasy novel set during the Napoleonic Era, when two magicians, Norrell and Strange, bring practical magic back to England. More on this when I finish. 

I joined a book club with some people I work with at the U, mostly former English majors. Yay! We just discussed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. Our next book is A Clergyman's Daughter by George Orwell. I've missed discussing books. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Round Three 
 Since moving home from Seattle, I've watched the entire series twice. Now I'm watching it again with my friend Kristen Marie. Yay Buffy! 

My former roommate Heidi created these oatmeal cookies and named them after me! Having a cookie named after me totally made my day. I just made a batch and they're delicious!  
Greg Cookies 

My iPod, Nigel, tragically flung himself to the ground earlier this month and is now mostly dead. So sad! I'm sure sooner or later I'll be buying a new one. But for the moment I have commandeered my missionary sister's iPod. I'm also creating a playlist of the 2012-13 music that she's missed including ubiquitous hits like "Call Me Maybe," "We Are Young," "Somebody That I Used to Know," "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," "What Makes You Beautiful," and indie hits like "It's Time," "Ho Hey," "Little Talks," and some other stuff I've been into lately. If you have any music from the last year that you've been really into, let me know! 

I haven't made it out the movies a whole lot this month, but I did see Zero Dark Thirty. And I was kind of underwhelmed. I thought The Hurt Locker was a much better movie. Please feel free to tell me why ZDT was so great. In the whole torture controversy, I think GQ said it very well: "Kathryn Bigelow's troubling, brilliant epic about the hunt for you-know-who did no such thing [glorifying torture]. She just refused to stick moral-advisory labels on the grim stuff, making audiences complicit with the dark deeds committed in our name on the long road to getting Bin Laden" (Feb. 2013). Fair enough. Torture may not be legal, moral, effective, and many have argued it did not actually lead to the intel on Bin Laden, but many people were interrogated in the name of "national security" on our watch. In lighter news, I am going to f i n a l l y see Anna Karenina tonight before it leaves the movie theater. 

 I've stuck with a New Year's Resolution to eat healthier and be more physically active for a whole month now. Amazing! I've also lost 10 lbs. Also amazing.