So...what's new with me? Not a whole lot. Like I said, October came and went. Halloween happened, I'm sure most of you got all dressed up and ran around and what not. This evening I just rolled and cut some homemade noodles that I'm really excited for. I think I'll talk more about noodles closer to Thanksgiving, it'll be more appropriate.
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| What I did right before writing this blog. In case you want context. |
Oooh something that happened in October: I went to the Reel Q Pittsburgh LGBT film festival. Well, okay, I went on the one night I wasn't working that week. But I had a fun time. It was held downtown at the Harris theater and I went on the "Men's short films" night. It showcased seven short films; some were funny, some poignant, and all entertaining. The good thing about short films is that if they're good, great. And if they're shitty well then luckily they'll be over soon. Even the films I didn't enjoy as much I didn't downright hate, so I'd say it was a successful night of shorts.
They give you a scorecard at the festival for the shorts and you get to rate each movie and give them feedback. Here's my list. I'll spare you me reviewing seven films at once and just say that the final two, Summer Vacation and Spooners were my favorites of the night.
Summer Vacation was an Israeli film about a young couple enjoying a beach vacation with their children that gets disrupted when the husband's former/secret lover happens to be staying on the same beach. It was the longest of the short films but was very well-paced. The characters were fully formed and developed as we watched the husband go through some heart-wrenching stuff. It was a very effective short drama.
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| The cast of Summer Vacation |
Spooners, which incidentally won "Best Male Short", was a hilarious story about a man trying to purchase a mattress for him and his husband. The man is uncomfortable about telling the world he is shopping for himself and another man, and unfortunately for him his fears are trudged out in front of everyone at the Ikea-ish furniture store. An overeager salesman shows the man a high-tech talking bed that picks a mattress based on your lifestyle. After learning the man is gay, disco music plays, an audience is drawn, and the computer proceeds to ask questions like "describe your body type as it is listed on you Manhunt profile." A very funny and tender film from beginning to end.
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| The crowd gathers to watch this gay pick a mattress. |
I was going to Morgantown to visit my sister, see a show West Virginia University was putting on, and have a fun weekend off. I took the Megabus down on Friday. It was packed full of college kids, naturally. I brought a book (The Telltale Lilac Bush... for all you WV ghost story fans) to read and some podcasts to listen to for the relatively short trip.
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| I was going to put the picture of my actual copy, but my computer is being way stupid at this late hour. |
But distracting me from my book was the chatter of a trio of college girls a few rows behind me. Now I don't want to shit on my school, because I'm sure all colleges are like this, but HOLY CRAP. College girls can be morons. One girl expressed surprise that there were deer in New Jersey. "Are there deer in South Carolina?" she asked her friend who lived there. "Wait, are there deer like throughout the country?" She eventually googled "Do deer live in all the US?". She read the answer aloud to her friends.
Another girl confessed she didn't know tuna was a fish, like an actual fish that swam in the ocean. I couldn't hear what she did think it was (I assume she thought it was like Spam?) but she was surprised to see how big tuna were. Because how could they fit in that little can? I wanted to scream.
These girls were also upset at how late the Megabus was in getting us there (fact; it was about 15 minutes late, which is acceptable to everyone). I'm not sure why these girls were in a rush to get there, they clearly didn't have a zoology course to get too where they learn that tuna are fish and that deer have legs. The girl next to me couldn't take her fingers out of her fake-black hair for one second. The boy across the aisle held a toothpick in his mouth the entire time. I was relieved to finally get off the bus.
That night we saw WVU's production of Cabaret. I saw a few of my professors there (I was a theater tech major) and it was nice to catch up with them. Judging by the beautiful set that folded in on itself, it seems the tech department still likes to keep its students busy. I won't go into a full-blown review, but Cabaret is one of my favorite shows so I had a good time.
The rest of the trip remains a blur. Overdid my drinking Friday night, like some 24-year old freshman. Shout out to my sister for taking care of me when I wanted to die. Next morning I did my hangover-cure routine before the rest of the house woke up and then we watched Cloud Atlas. It's 3 hours long and it's stupid. Then I hung out with my buddy Jack for a bit and later went to a costume party (I agreed to be the sober driver, it seemed fair). Saw a few kids from high school at said party, which was a nice thing even though I hate crowded house parties. The real highlight of this evening was watching Spock make out hard and heavy with Princess Leia. People took pictures of them and they didn't even notice. Good stuff.
I think that's it. That's the short/sweet version of my October. Ready for November. True West just opened at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. I have a lot of fun things ready to do this week that I'll probably yack about soon. Probably have some good stories too once Thanksgiving rolls around. So yeah, hello again internet. Let's keep in touch.
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