Once again?

Yesterday I finally got a chance to see the film that won The Dude an Oscar, Crazy Heart. I went to a theatre in Charlotte with my parents and my dear friend Ruxy. All four of us were pretty excited to see the film, and none of us were disappointed. Aside from some fairly clichéd themes that come along with a fallen musician that finds his crutch in substance abuse, the film was beautiful. The performances of Jeff Bridges (and the gorgeous Maggie Gyllenhaal) carry the film with an often comedic and touching ease despite the heaviness of the subject matter. Bridges' ability to get a laugh every time "Bad" Blake entered the frame with his belt undone and after each curse he yelled into a hotel phone at his agent was phenomenal. Not to mention the pain we felt each time he had the blank look of drunken oblivion on his face. But enough about how awesome Jeff was...

I realized last night as I went to bed that one of the reasons I liked the film so much was due to its similarity to one of my favorite films, Once. (I probably first realized it because I was looking at the Once poster that hangs across from my bed.) Anyway... think about it. You have the Guy in Once who meets the Girl because she's intrigued enough by his music to stop to talk to him (kind of like how Gyllenhaal's character Jean wants to interview Bad). Guy is way older than Girl and down on his luck because he can't get his music career off the ground (Bad is 57 and Jean's most likely 30 something). Girl helps guy get inspired to record some music, then chooses to lead a steadier life than the one Guy's going for in London (Bad writes a song about Jean, but drives her away when his alcoholism endangers her ADORABLE son). I'm not saying Crazy Heart ripped off Once or anything like that. There are certainly major differences in the stories of the Guy and Bad, but the similarities made Crazy Heart feel comfortable to me. Almost... almost like I was watching the Guy from Once 20 years after he'd made it big.

If you haven't seen both of these films, fix that. They're both simple and beautiful displays of what artistic passion can create between two people and the music it can produce as a result. You'll probably fall in love with both examples of a man and his muse...

33 Days.

In 33 days I graduate from college.

Right now I'm at home in Lancaster, South Carolina, trying to find something to do now that my parents have gone to bed. I've been meaning to get this blog started for a while, so now that I'm away from Furman University (my soon to be alma mater) for 24 hours or so it seems like a good chance.

A lot of things are going to happen in the next 33 days. I'm going to complete my senior thesis to be able to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. I'm going to perform the monologue "French Fries" as a part of a collection of monologues entitled Talking With by Jane Martin with the Furman University Theatre Arts department. I'm going to be in at least 2 more improv shows with Improv!able Cause, Furman's own improv comedy troupe. I'm going to try to spend every waking moment with some of the best people I've ever met in my entire life and will ever meet. I'm going to laugh. I'm going to cry. I'm going to savor every moment. Through all of this I've got to find time to eat, sleep, do homework (?!?), and maintain some sense of sanity. Daunting? You betchum, Red Ryder...

I wish I had a dollar for how many times in the last year I've been asked, "So what are you doing after you graduate?" I'd have many dollars. At some point last spring, I realized that some shifts in the nature of my passion and drive no longer made continuing my chemistry education a viable option. The months that followed that were really scary as I had been left with no way to answer that dreaded question when someone posed it to me. However, at some point last fall, I decided that the answer to the question was this: "I'm moving to Chicago."

To do what? You know... I'm not quite sure yet. Step numero uno is getting a job. Something that will pay for food and a roof over my head. Probably chemistry related because I'd like to think that's where I'll have the most luck. After that... anything goes. I want to do improv. I'd love to continue doing theatre, but I think I'll have more opportunities and better luck continuing with improv. I think I can do it. I think I've got the chutzpah to see what I can do in that city.

But, I could be wrong. That's what the next few years of my life are for, right? Taking risks. Falling on my face a couple (dozen) times. Experiencing and learning about 'life' outside of the realm of formal education in a new city with old friends (did I mention that 3 talented young men whom I have loved working with and playing with over the last 4 years will be there, too? Well... they will be). I'm ready. I think.

But first... the next 33 days.