Drifting

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged and frankly there is no good reason. I mean I work a lot and I spend time with friends but that's about it. Anyways, I registered for winter semester about a week ago and it has gotten me thinking about some things. For the last couple of years I have felt like I have been drifting. My definition of drifting is where you aren't working towards anything i.e. school, raising children, furthering your career, etc. so instead you fill your free time with odd little errands and schedules so that you think you are busy and when you accomplish said things, you feel efficient. For example on my day off the other day I made this to do list: 

9:00 a.m. wake up/get ready/get ready/breakfast/etc.

10:30 a.m. start laundry/clean room/etc.

12:00 a.m. lunch with roommate

1:30 p.m. exchange books at library

2:30 p.m. pick up treats at local bakery

3:00 p.m. bike around Provo and end at park to read new books

4:30 p.m. buy groceries

5:00 p.m. make needlessly complex dinner for myself

6:30 p.m. eat needlessly complex dinner

7:00 p.m. go back to library to pick up old movie for movie night

7:30 p.m. get a big gulp at 7-11

8:00 p.m. watch old movie

etc. etc. etc.

now I know that sounds like a nice average day but I actually made this list before I did them so that when I got them done I would feel efficient, that same feeling I used to get from doing homework...I love to check things off lists. Not that I haven't been doing worthwhile things. I read a lot of excellent books, right now I am reading Salman Rushdie's new book  The Enchantress of Florence, and I work on my French everyday so that when I am back in school it will be perfect. But even these books aren't enough and when I registered I realized that these laid back days of trying to find fulfillment in silly things are drawing to a close which is both exciting and scary. This winter I am pursuing new and more challenging classes, truly committing to a major and career path. I am putting school first and nothing before it and I have to say it freaks me out. I have spent so much time trying to figure out my major and my classes and what I want to do, that now that I have one in my sights I am a little nervous to abandon my comfortable, fake-fulfillment, working at Macy's life. I know it will be better and I'll be happier but it feels like the end of something an era of some kind...anyways this is a true what is up with me blog post than a list of movies, books, and music I've liked lately...

Random

Actresses that aren't in a lot of movies anymore but I wish they were because they are better than the Jessica Biels I have to deal with now:

1- Elisabeth Shue

2- Robin Wright Penn

3- Rene Russo

4- Kim Basinger

5- Jennifer Jason Leigh

6- Sigourney Weaver

7- Anjelica Huston

8- Jodie Foster

9-Sharon Stone

10- Annette Bening

11- Juliette Binoche

12- Jessica Lange

That is all.

Uncle Jack

So as many of you know I am not the most enthusiastic about hanging out with kids under the age of, well to be frank of any age less then my own. I feel uncomfortable, under qualified, and terrified that if something gets damaged or someone ends up bleeding I will have failed as a responsible adult. As such my child care skills are very underdeveloped and I have avoided situations where I would be in charge of an infant. Naturally I couldn't really avoid these kind of situations after my nephews started being born, I loved them to death but the idea of being their caretaker for an extended amount of time scared me still. Slowly but surely I have tried to get over this fear of losing control and having something bad happen to my little nephews. Well this week changed everything. I took the first part of the week off to spend with my sister Kate, nephew Hamilton, Aunt Mary Ann, uncle Torsten, and cousins Fiona and Linnaea. All of whom live far away and I don't see them often. So with 4 kids under the age of 5 hanging around I got nervous,  though with all their parents, and grandparents around I figured I could do the fun stuff but turn them over to others if things got hairy. Naturally as things do, I was left basically in charge of my three nephews for a good long while. At first I panicked thinking (over dramatically) that their lives rested in my hands. But through fights, time outs, and twenty minutes of me holding one nephew in each arm while marching up and down, I learned that I am more then capable of being a hands on uncle through the good and the bad. I had a great time making sure Hamilton didn't pull any hair, while holding Miles who wanted to grab fragile objects, while Luke kept trying to get his precious Speed Racer car back from Hamilton without getting in trouble and causing him to have a tantrum. I imagine this is what all parents go through when they have kids and I got just a little taste of it, and I liked it. Now don't assume that this automatically volunteers me to babysit all the time but I am definitely inclined to say yes after such a fun, bonding time with my little buddies.

Public Enemy Number One

So I have a new movie to be obsessed with. Public Enemies, I think it is fantastic. Now I am sure that you have heard negative reviews about this movie the same as I have BUT do not let that deter you from writing off a really cool movie. First and foremost, understand that it is not a violent, action-filled, dramatic gangster movie like you may thin while watching the trailer. However, i would say that it lends itself more to the biopic genre like The Aviator, or the new movie coming out, Amelia. I think the reason people were disappointed was that they expected tommy guns and bank robberies galore...something between an Ocean's movie and Goodfellas. Well, there are robberies and there are deaths by tommy gun but the movie isn't driven by a plot to score the biggest heist or to outrun the law forever. It's about the life of Mr. John Dillinger and the radical changes in the American legal system that were made around that time partly due to criminals like Dillinger. Johnny Depp, of course, shines in the role of Dillinger and his co-stars, Marion Cotillard and Christian Bale do excellent jobs in their roles while taking a backseat to Depp. Now that I have explained why I love this movie from a critical view let me tell you the other (and biggest) reason. It's because I think I should have been born in 1900 so that I could be a depression era gangster like the ones in this movie. I know this is the total guy in me but the look and style of those guys, and the guts it took to go in and rob a bank, it's just so freaking cool. My friend Ronnie (who is my constant movie buddy) and I both felt this way after watching it 2 times each, we'll probably be going in for a third soon. I think my name would have been Jackie Red, pretty cool eh? Anyway I just had to talk about it. It's such a good movie, now to round off the evening I think i'll go knock over a Wells Fargo...or get an ice cream...i'll decide on the way.

Jack Redux

After talking to my friend/roommate Nathan today I decided to get back in the blogging saddle. You see he started a blog today and he said he looked at mine, after the momentary elation of someone reading and liking my blog wore off I realized how long it had been since I had posted and I immediately felt shame. SO, I decided it was time to begin again. As usual when I have been blog-negligent I will begin this new blogging era with an overview about the life of Jack. I'll do bullet-points if you don't mind. Otherwise this may get dense.

1- Living in Provo: Loving it, although it is hot as Hades and my car is warmer than my oven (and keeps a more consistent temperature) I am really enjoying my summer. My roommates are fantastic, the weather has been pleasant despite June's storms, and I even got a library card and go there regularly (which is easy given that it is less than two blocks away)

2- Work: Probably not the best day for me to extol my job's qualities since today was one of the more difficult days I have had, but things are just moving right along which is good despite the bumps along the road

3- Music: Still sticking with the classics, i.e. Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, James Taylor, Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. BUT I have finally come around to something startling. I actually am starting to like the band Sigur Ros and I never thought I would. For those who don't know Sigur Ros is a band and their lyrics are either in a very obscure foreign language or absolute gibberish which is one of the reasons i have had difficulty getting in to them but once i found my gateway song (Saeglopur) i have really began liking them.

4- Movies: Great summer for movies! There are actually 2 other blog posts I need to write that fit in with this category but I will go over other movies and leave the others to their most deserved individual posts. Harry Potter 6- LOVED it, the PG rating dampened it a little bit but it was honestly wonderful, they did a great job and I didn't feel like it glaringly deviated from the book. really well done. Transformers 2- Entertaining but crap. Bad story line, bad acting, cool special effects, and moronic jokes. See it on the big screen because without all the big bangs it really is a waste of 2.5 hours. The Proposal- Cute, see it or don't, either way it's fine. Star Trek- I cannot say enough good things about Star Trek, honestly I was so impressed with it. Actors were perfect and excellent in their parts (especially McCoy, i always liked him) great story line, emotional, action-packed, in a word: genius. Look for my next couple of posts for further film discussion.

5- Books: It's been a summer of reading, (surprise, surprise) as I said I got a library card and have purchased several new books. My summer reading list has included:

1. The Godfather by Mario Puzo

2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

3. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe

4. Several short stories by Dorothy Parker

5. Othello, Hamlet, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare

6. Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo (this one is a summer long work in progress as it is in         French and difficult to read quickly)

7. Some Greek Plays by Aeschylus and Euripides

Currently I taking a break from the scholarly literature to read some Dick Francis (in honor of my Dad and Clive Cussler, adventure/mystery novels that are good to break with.

6. I turned 22, weird I know. My friend Ray gave me a sweet army helmet that looks very WWII, I want to buy some army men and dig trenches in the yard, it makes me feel very Calvin of comic fame when I wear it.

Well, there it is. A sweet and condensed summer thus far. But don't worry...I'll be back soon, I promise.

F.Y.I.

Though it seems that the swine flu is more prevalent than blogging fever these days, I still feel the need to update my blog readers on the goings on of Jackson. Anyway, some of you know this and others may have heard from others but I have moved away from the family homestead in Salem and settled back in Provo. I love my house and all my roommates are good friends, it seems I am set up for a really fun summer in a great place. There will be pictures to follow in a day or two so that you may see the wonder.

Back to the Classics

It seems like everyone I have been talking to lately has been saying the same thing...everyone is tired of trying to find new music or tired of listening to new music or basically just exhausted from the whole music scene in general. I understand two things from this information. 1) It is not a great time to be a new up and coming band and 2) I wonder if it is because of the stresses of school or work, or that the holiday season beat the energy out of everyone and we won't return to normal until temperatures above 60 and sunshine replenish our spirits. (naturally this explanation doesn't work with my californian friends but i digress) After talking to all these people I looked at my iPod and saw what had been recently played and it was mostly bands I have liked for several years, i.e. Death Cab, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Postal Service, Depeche Mode, and The Smiths. I have noticed that I have stopped looking on music blogs and reading about new bands in Nylon, I haven't downloaded a new band's album in a while. Why is that? Why is everyone retreating to the comfort of the bands that are constants? My guess is that it isn't necessarily because of the weather, school, or fatigue in general. I think it is because we have been experiencing a huge influx of new bands and the music scene has expanded over other forms of media. After movies like Juno and Nick and Norah where the soundtrack is as much a main character as Ellen Page or Michael Cera, small indie bands have become cool and everyone has started one. Now I don't want to dismiss these movies or the music that is one their soundtracks. These movies are good and the soundtracks highlighted great bands that deserved the recognition (particularly Cat Power, everyone should listen to some Cat Power.) But I think that they sparked a trend that is getting tiresome. No one wants to have to search through all the crap that is coming out to find a genuine band, so instead of spending hours on pandora and seeqpod we just select Strangeways Here We Come, Adore, or Hail to the Thief and lie back for some music we know is quality. I am hoping that with the summer and, hopefully, the dying down of this new indie band trend we can all return to spending hours on the internet searching and listening for something real.