Today I rode my bike to the Violet Crown theater to see Wild Rose. It's super easy to get to by bike from where I live, thanks to the Lance Armstrong Bikeway - a protected bike lane on 3rd Street right through downtown Austin! I literally live right off this bike route and it's pretty amazing.
As I was unlocking my bike after the movie, the guy standing close by smoking a cigarette said "Cool bike. I like the color." My bike IS cool, and the color is great. It made me super happy.
I jetted quickly over to the nearby Trader Joe's to pick up some lemon ricotta ravioli for dinner (it is to die for). I hadn't planned on stopping, and therefore didn't have a side bag with me; the paper bag would just have to hang off my handlebars. As I was unlocking my bike, a guy inside Trader Joe's looked at me and motioned handlebars and a bag. I nodded and he gave me a thumb's up.
I rode home with that Trader Joe's bag on the protected bike lane back to my apartment, where Biscuit and Chance were waiting for me and I felt at home in this city.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-man has been a tricky character for me. I have not read the comics, so my take on him is purely from the movies that have been released. And THE Spider-man for awhile was the Tobey Maguire version released the end of my freshman year of college. It somehow found a way to make a universally-agreed-upon killer sequel, giving us Doc Ock and the classic Dashboard Confessional song "Vindicated" on a truly great soundtrack album (I have very strong memories of buying this album at the Walmart I worked on, and listening to it on incessant repeat as I drove around SLC in my silver Honda Civic). Sony then found a way to make a universally-agreed-upon abysmal third outing which most everyone would like to just forget.
The Andrew Garfield-led first outing was good, but the second one was truly awful.
Which then gave the world Tom Holland as Spider-man - truly inspired casting. Not that Tobey Maguire wasn't great, but finally Spider-man was being played by an actual teenager who really nailed the funny aspect of Spider-man. Tobey's version, while great at the time, now seems so very pedestrian.
When Sony decided to finally loan out Spider-man to Marvel, we were also blessed with not having to see another film with Spider-man's origin story. Instead he gets plopped right into the middle of an Avengers movie.
I didn't love Spidey's first outing. I was bored with a lot of it and actually fell asleep for a brief couple seconds during the fight on the Staten Island Ferry. But, much like with my evolving love for Captain America, Spidey really shone in his small roles in the Avengers movies. When he tells Tony he doesn't want to go at the end of Infinity War I started crying.
So, ALL OF THIS TO SAY, I was mildly excited to catch Spider-man: Far From Home on the Fourth last week. Tom Holland is just such a joy to watch. But you know who else was a joy to watch - Jake frickin' Gyllenhaal! He was very briefly rumored to replace Tobey Maguire as Spider-man back in the day, and he's somehow never been in a superhero movie. He looked like he was having so much FUN playing Mysterio. The twist was also really neat because I thought he kind of had a point....
For me, I think it also helped that Spider-man is now linked to the larger Avenger stories. I definitely recommend, even if you didn't see the first one.
The Andrew Garfield-led first outing was good, but the second one was truly awful.
Which then gave the world Tom Holland as Spider-man - truly inspired casting. Not that Tobey Maguire wasn't great, but finally Spider-man was being played by an actual teenager who really nailed the funny aspect of Spider-man. Tobey's version, while great at the time, now seems so very pedestrian.
When Sony decided to finally loan out Spider-man to Marvel, we were also blessed with not having to see another film with Spider-man's origin story. Instead he gets plopped right into the middle of an Avengers movie.
I didn't love Spidey's first outing. I was bored with a lot of it and actually fell asleep for a brief couple seconds during the fight on the Staten Island Ferry. But, much like with my evolving love for Captain America, Spidey really shone in his small roles in the Avengers movies. When he tells Tony he doesn't want to go at the end of Infinity War I started crying.
So, ALL OF THIS TO SAY, I was mildly excited to catch Spider-man: Far From Home on the Fourth last week. Tom Holland is just such a joy to watch. But you know who else was a joy to watch - Jake frickin' Gyllenhaal! He was very briefly rumored to replace Tobey Maguire as Spider-man back in the day, and he's somehow never been in a superhero movie. He looked like he was having so much FUN playing Mysterio. The twist was also really neat because I thought he kind of had a point....
For me, I think it also helped that Spider-man is now linked to the larger Avenger stories. I definitely recommend, even if you didn't see the first one.
Labels:
movies,
reviews,
summertime
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
The Mindless and Endless
I went off Facebook two years. I did it in direct response to a mean-spirited attack against me from a family member over email. Tuning out of Facebook seemed like a good way to shut everything out for a little while. That little while turned into a year.
It was amazing.
But also somewhat of a hindrance when wanting to know about goings-on and being invited to things. Even hosting my annual Piesgiving became a bit more difficult because I didn't have email addresses for everyone I usually invited (through Facebook). Thankfully my friends were pretty good about telling me about movie nights on the Square and get togethers, so it wasn't as if I was completely removed from social gatherings and society in general.
Then I remembered my friend Will Bishop. Will was, and still is, old school in that he hasn't joined the smartphone ubiquity and still owns a simple flip phone. While I "celebrate" over ten years on Facebook, Will has also never joined the social media site. However, Will was ALWAYS invited to any and every event or get together that was being held. People just knew he wasn't on Facebook, so when an invite went out there was usually a last line to the effects of "And someone let Will Bishop know!".
In my sabbatical from Facebook I was still on Instagram, and I was running the Bike|Walk Denton Facebook page, so it wasn't as if I was completely off the grid. I reactivated my account purely for March Madness and the competition I run on an Anderson extended-family page (that I created and was admin for). It seemed selfish to not create the event since every one seemed to have lots of fun with it.
When I first came back on, I only checked it in the morning for the Memories. I am a very sentimental and nostalgic person, and I love seeing old posts of what I was doing on the same day but one, three or nine years ago. Then I was checking it at work. And at home. And all the time.
Facebook can be really great. But it can also be a huge time-suck. While I work to be better about not spending so much time mindlessly, endlessly scrolling through the same twenty people that the algorithms have deemed and countless ads, I'm going to attempt to blog more.
And get out and explore this new city of mine more.
It was amazing.
But also somewhat of a hindrance when wanting to know about goings-on and being invited to things. Even hosting my annual Piesgiving became a bit more difficult because I didn't have email addresses for everyone I usually invited (through Facebook). Thankfully my friends were pretty good about telling me about movie nights on the Square and get togethers, so it wasn't as if I was completely removed from social gatherings and society in general.
Then I remembered my friend Will Bishop. Will was, and still is, old school in that he hasn't joined the smartphone ubiquity and still owns a simple flip phone. While I "celebrate" over ten years on Facebook, Will has also never joined the social media site. However, Will was ALWAYS invited to any and every event or get together that was being held. People just knew he wasn't on Facebook, so when an invite went out there was usually a last line to the effects of "And someone let Will Bishop know!".
In my sabbatical from Facebook I was still on Instagram, and I was running the Bike|Walk Denton Facebook page, so it wasn't as if I was completely off the grid. I reactivated my account purely for March Madness and the competition I run on an Anderson extended-family page (that I created and was admin for). It seemed selfish to not create the event since every one seemed to have lots of fun with it.
When I first came back on, I only checked it in the morning for the Memories. I am a very sentimental and nostalgic person, and I love seeing old posts of what I was doing on the same day but one, three or nine years ago. Then I was checking it at work. And at home. And all the time.
Facebook can be really great. But it can also be a huge time-suck. While I work to be better about not spending so much time mindlessly, endlessly scrolling through the same twenty people that the algorithms have deemed and countless ads, I'm going to attempt to blog more.
And get out and explore this new city of mine more.
Labels:
Austin
Monday, July 1, 2019
Three Years and One Sold Home
Three years ago today I signed papers making the home at 2601 N Locust in Denton, TX MY home.
Two weeks ago I signed papers making the home at 2601 N Locust in Denton, TX NOT my home.
I had moved out two weeks before signing the papers, and was at my new job in Austin when a mobile-notary from the title office came to my office. It was a bit strange, but I was already removed from it as my home since it had been opened up to strangers for showings and an open house.
But now it was official.
When it officially became mine, my friend Stephanie was with me and we had tacos afterward. It was super hard to concentrate on work the rest of the day.
When it officially became not mine, I was at work with coworkers I don't really know yet. None of them know me or the joy I felt in buying that house. I went back to work to my desk, then made a quick trip to the bathroom to shed a couple of tears. I texted some friends back in Denton, to have a small and fleeting connection to something familiar.
The first month of this change to Austin has been tough. Just because change is tough in general. Many, many emotions were felt, including some very intense feelings about a haircut I had paid a lot of money for. Things have finally settled into a groove, though, and I am meeting people and getting to know my coworkers.
I will also love that home on Locust Street. I painted and hung shelves and weatherized my pipes and had friends over. It was full of love, from friends, family and my cats.
Two weeks ago I signed papers making the home at 2601 N Locust in Denton, TX NOT my home.
I had moved out two weeks before signing the papers, and was at my new job in Austin when a mobile-notary from the title office came to my office. It was a bit strange, but I was already removed from it as my home since it had been opened up to strangers for showings and an open house.
But now it was official.
When it officially became mine, my friend Stephanie was with me and we had tacos afterward. It was super hard to concentrate on work the rest of the day.
When it officially became not mine, I was at work with coworkers I don't really know yet. None of them know me or the joy I felt in buying that house. I went back to work to my desk, then made a quick trip to the bathroom to shed a couple of tears. I texted some friends back in Denton, to have a small and fleeting connection to something familiar.
The first month of this change to Austin has been tough. Just because change is tough in general. Many, many emotions were felt, including some very intense feelings about a haircut I had paid a lot of money for. Things have finally settled into a groove, though, and I am meeting people and getting to know my coworkers.
I will also love that home on Locust Street. I painted and hung shelves and weatherized my pipes and had friends over. It was full of love, from friends, family and my cats.
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