So this is my 100th post. I've been trying (ever since my last post) to think of a topic I could share that I've learned a lot about since I started blogging. I wanted to be really deep and insightful. But, as the blog title would suggest, that pondering led me down many long and winding pathways and I would invariably get to wrapped up in them to blog about it. I still want to blog about that stuff, but it'll have to wait until I have time to further unravel and interpret my thoughts.
I do however, before I start tonight's blog, want to thank those of you who have been with me since the start. You all mean a lot to me and your insight, advice, and encouragement have been invaluable to me these past few years. I know I can get wordy at times and sometimes very confusing, so thanks for sticking with me. Alright, here goes the blog. . .
It's been a kind of rough month for me. Most of my friends have either moved off for good or just gone home for the summer. My roommate decided he should move out and get ready for marriage or something silly like that. On top of that, work hasn't been the greatest. I love AT&T and really enjoy the people that I work with, but it can be a downer at times. This month I've had terrible sales numbers due to a combination of terrible shifts, terrible traffic during said shifts, and just terrible customers. I've dealt with more rude, frustrating, and difficult people this month than probably the past 10 years put together. However, I'm an Achiever and so it really hurts me when I don't perform well. I take my low numbers as a personal failure on my part. Every Friday when I have to go over my figures with my manager I just get more and more down at how bad it is and all of my chances are slipping away as June approaches.
I'm also still new to the job and I'll be the first one to admit I'm weird. I have a lot of strange habits and quirks and I'm okay with that. It just makes me an easy target for people at work. I know they're just playing around and they don't really mean anything by it, but it really wears after a while and on Friday they just hit on some sensitive areas. When I was younger, I was always teased about the way I looked. I was a short, fat kid with no fashion sense. I didn't grow taller and lean up until my freshmen year of high school but by then it was too late, the damage had already been done. Ever since then, I've been very self conscious about the way I look. On Friday, I cut my hair pretty short and everyone was saying how goofy I looked and how they were pretty sure I was joining a gang. That on top of having to go over my low figures with my manager just made for an awful Friday. I left quite down and came home to an empty house where I had nothing to do but think back on it all. Of course a crying session ensued.
If you've been reading this blog for awhile (or you've been around me for longer than ten minutes) you'll know two of my favorite things are movies and music. All the better if they can be combined in to one. For the past month or so, Bethany had graciously loaned me Pitch Perfect. This film is easily one of my favorites of all time. The music and characters are so well done I just can't help but cheer up when I watch it. It may come as no surprise then that I watched it an increasing number of times up to last Friday. Truth be told, before I returned it tonight, I'd watched it 9 times this past week.
I've seen that movie nearly 100 times I'm sure and yet something new happened on Friday. As I was watching the movie in my highly emotional state (I really don't cry that often, contrary to my last few blog posts), I became so connected with the characters I cried for them. This happened on three separate occasions. (If you've not seen the movie A) Shame on you. and B) Spoiler Alert!!!!)
1. Beca throughout the entire movie grows more and more attached to the Bellas. Her ideas for song choices and arrangements, though out of sync with what the Bellas had done in the past, are truly for the betterment of the group, not because she wants to have her own way. This is contrary to Aubrey who shuts her down at every turn. During the semi-finals, Beca decides to improve by mixing up a song during Aubrey's solo. It sounds awesome, the crowd and judges love it, but Aubrey gets upset nonetheless. A shouting match ensues and Beca storms out. I cried here because Beca was just trying to look out for everyone else but no one had the decency to do the same for her when Aubrey challenged them.
2. During the finals, Beca is finally allowed to throw in her own set mix. In it she includes the song from the end of The Breakfast Club. It's a quite subtle reference directed solely at Jesse as an apology from Beca. I just was so connected to this scene because Beca picked such a specific and meaningful way of apologizing and did it in a public place without applying any pressure. When she went to Jesse's room to apologize, he shot her down and she let it go. I think a lot of times people (at least I) either have a tendency to write the relationship off or keep pushing until they drive the other person away. By singing, Beca shows that she still cares enough about the relationship to try, but does it in a way that does drive Jesse off.
3. Benji, Benji, Benji. Benji is quite plausibly my favorite character in the entire film. He's goofy, but he's very honest and considerate about it. In the room, Benji explains he's a Star Wars geek as well as a magician. He's honest about it, proud of it, but also thoughtful. He asks Jesse if he'd like for everything to be taken down. He refrains from doing magic tricks when asked. During auditions, Benji has one of the best performances. At the end, he shares that singing live is exciting to him which turns Bumper (who's a huge jerk anyway) off. When Beca storms off at the semi-finals, Benji is the only one who goes after her. All of these qualities endear him to me but the tears didn't come until he finally got his moment. With Bumper off to L.A, the Trebles needed a replacement. They not only let Benji in, but they gave him a solo. Benji walked on stage visibly nervous. With a look to Jesse, he begins a very meek and mild song. As the audience gets into it and Benji starts feeling it, he becomes more animated forceful with his singing. The moment the women in the crowd cheer and you see the confidence enter Benji's face is one of my favorite in the entire film. This is the real Benji in all his glory. He's still a little goofy, he gets to sing a song about magic, but he is completely in his element on the stage in front of hundreds of people.
I could probably write an entire book on the characters, songs, and story in Pitch Perfect, but I better stop for tonight. I'm just glad Bethany let me borrow it for so long. Silly as it may seem, that movie has helped me through a lot. If see me tapping a cup and singing to myself, there's a good chance I just want to cheered up.
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