Man Harem Inductee #5; Man Harem Must See #2

This week, I just needed out of my house.  I’ve been gym-faithful and good about studying for the GRE, but I really needed some me time.  When a friend texted me asking if I wanted to go see a movie, I couldn’t say no. 

I’d been dying to see a certain movie since I heard Bob Mondello’s NPR review of the movie the other day on the freeway.  A very loose adaptation of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, I perked my ears at a brief explanation of “Easy A.”

As Mondello puts it, “in most high-school comedies, the high jinks tend to be so lowbrow that even a nod in a literary direction deserves extra credit,” but this smart take on a classic has some serious merit.  Teen movies tend to either be preachy or cater to a low brow audience, but this one strikes the perfect balance (like Mean Girls but less humor-based). 

This movie gets at the issue of sex roles.  While main character Olive is seen as a slut for sleeping a guy (or rather saying she did), the guy is treated as a hero for doing such.  This is a brilliant internal and personal take on our cultural assignments. 

Of course, Olive has a love interest, Penn Badgley who makes the movie doubly-worth the price of admission: 

His eyes have this steely appeal I couldn’t help but notice (and since Chedner wasn’t there, I couldn’t feel too guilty about…).  He’s also been in Gossip Girl and John Tucker Must Die (which I apparently need to see now).

While I could go on about the hair, the biceps, the understatement in the smile, etc., I will just say he comes off as the prince charming that every boy needs—not worrying about what others say, letting you be your own person, being thoughtful and sincere at every turn.  I guess he made me appreciate what I have. 

Enjoy this adventure of a movie which is pleasingly full of allusions not only to literature but also romantic tropes and teen movies that you’ll come out with a thoughtful smile on your face. 

GRE Attempt #1

So, for those of you following the current drama of my life, I thought I’d share my scores and thoughts. “Attempt #1” above implies another attempt is not far away. Friday, I ended up with 540 Verbal 580 Math (thought it’s possible I swapped those in a moment of self-disgust). Unfortunately, I don’t see getting into the schools I shared without at least a 600 Verbal.

My strategy to conquer the test bank vocabulary didn’t prove as fruitful as I’d hoped. I felt comfortable with all of the words, but I’m pretty sure that the hours of conditioning myself to name synonyms as I practiced with my giant box-o-flashcards in combination with nerves resulted in a pair of serious mistakes on the antonym questions.

The good news is, I feel like I have the vocab down pretty solidly, so the best way to improve my score is to keep that vocab in my head and do a practice test a day for the next month as I try to boost that score. Thanks for the encouragement.

Now for something fun:

Tomorrow’s THE Big Day

As many of you have noted, the blogging has really slowed down for me. There’s plenty to write and the chapter I’m working on right now is one of the most difficult considering events of the present. That said, what’s really been slowing me down is this:

It’s sad that a few hours of my life will in a twisted fashion determine the rest of it. Where I will be, who I will date, where the story told on this blog will change forever (even if that’s years down the road).

So, I leave you with a coping mechanism as I attempt to incorporate words like ‘propinquity’ into my vocabulary. That’s right… grad student humor:

For the record, my initial set of schools receiving my scores will include: Rutgers, Columbia, UPenn, and Michigan. Feel free to attempt to persuade me elsewhere.

“I’ll miss you, too.”

I’ve been learning a lot of new words lately including a few pertaining to fate. Yesterday, this came up in my reader and I felt a little twinge in my heart thinking it might be a portend of sorts:

Chedner and I had discussed the difficulties of making things work as well as the further difficulties of successfully making things work for a year only to inevitably say goodbye, so these words weighed on my heart.

The omens kept piling up as I ran into a certain someone I’ve written about extensively and as it became evident that the feelings I had for him were immediately rekindled, and despite his circumstances (of which I’ll only say I completely expected him to turn and run at the sight of me after this long break), he still seems to be interested in me.

One can’t help but feel that some form of kismet was involved in the events of those twenty-four hours from discussion to anticipation and finally to endings and possible beginnings (esp. when you know all of the details).

Though the beauty of the last six months will be shared in due time on this blog, I will share the most important detail of all:

“I’ll miss you, too,” I said swallowing at the weight upon my chest between our final two kisses.