Butter? I hardly know her! (Sorry)

Jennifer Garner as the small-time, butter-crazed version of Michele Bachmann
Ty Burrell as her terrified butter artist husband
Olivia Wilde as a pragmatic hooker
Hugh Jackman as a dim-witted used car salesman
Yara Shahidi as an adorable, well-spoken breath of fresh air
and Rob Corddry, who is hilarious and also adorable

Memory

Sometimes I get super paranoid about forgetting the important moments in my life.  I'll write a diary entry for the first time in two years or I'll promise myself I'll start scrapbooking.  When I'm on vacation, I'm in constant conflict about taking lots of pictures or just enjoying the moment.  Seeing the world through a camera lens, I don't experience it fully, but I know from previous trips that I often forget what I don't record.

But I don't necessarily have to record every detail in order to remember things well.  Sometimes one snapshot will remind me of an entire day.  Also, the point is not always to physical record, but the act of recording it.  When you take notes in class, you shouldn't try for a direct transcript, you should instead make your brain active in choosing what information to write, strengthening the encoding process. This blog is my note-taking: a short commentary that will remind me of how I felt from that work

When people ask me the "what's your favorite x" question, I use the availability heuristic.  I list off Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling because I've read a lot of books by them and I own their work.  And when it's movies, it's whatever I saw last that I remember liking (right now that would be Star Trek: the Voyage Home).   I genuinely can't remember all of the amazing books, movies, etc. that I've been exposed to, and this  really bothers me.  They've changed my perceptions and values, but it's difficult to pick out specific titles.  So this blog hopefully won't function [only] as a rambling journal of my opinions, but [also] as a record of what works of art impacted me and made me want to remember them forever.

Now Reading: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

I've been wanting to read Morrison for a while... I'm on page 30, and so far it's amazing. Her language is beautiful and unconventional. If you've ever read The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, you know the feeling of forced imagery. She describes normal things using words that you would never associate with that thing, just to sound cool. Morrison, on the other hand, bends the language to her will, and it feels natural while evoking striking and unusual imagery.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Deals with class issues and philosophy. Well-written and genuinely profound, with relatable yet unexpected characters.