martha stewart marcy may marlene
December 7th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Recently I’ve been feeling shame whenever I get that welp of want for a material good. It’s a feeling compounded by (a) keeping a tight budget; (b) spending back-breaking amounts of time hunkered down with my laptop, writing and looking at the daily Internet, and at all the beautiful things Internet shops have on offer; and (b) CHRI$TMA$. I’m usually very good about budgeting xmas expenses, but early on this season I found myself looking at sought-after items for friends & family at (staggeringly!) good prices, and then I saw a few things I wouldn’t mind having for myself, and I then I started to really hardcore covet this pair of boots that wasn’t a good deal unless I let my thoughts somersault around until, dizzy, it could after all be a very, very good deal. Well, I watched a video yesterday–admittedly one of those liberal-y do-good white person cartoonist videos that sprout up on the Internet–and it annoyed me while also clarifying my stand on material things, which is that you don’t need many to feel OK about yourself.
In that vein, I decided that I would try my hand at making select gifts this year. I looked up a few of the less intimidating Martha Stewart crafts and went at it. I’m here to report that my success has been: middling! I can’t detail specifics so as not to give away any surprises, but let’s just say that I’m impatient and messy and have rather poor eyesight, and the gifts sort of reflect that. Let’s hope that the ultimate results are charming, and special, and not just cheap.*
In other news, I saw Martha Marcy May Marlene. I actually saw it more than a month ago, but I’ve been thinking about it recently because, as the “best of 2011″ lists roll out, I think that MMMM might be the best new movie I’ve seen this year. Of course, I maybe have seen eight new movies, which isn’t much to choose from, but MMMM is a solid one, totally haunting. Kind of reminded me of a sixties/early seventies Bergman movie, but maybe just because Elizabeth Olsen looks so Swedish? Last year my hands-down favorite new movie was Toy Story 3.
OH SPEAKING OF: Isn’t the college-age Andy from Toy Story 3 the spitting image of J.D. McCoy from Friday Night Lights?
*My memory of this is vague, but apparently when I was little I used to gift my family random objects unearthed from my room. Like: Merry Christmas. Here is a dusty paperweight! And you get an odd-shaped rock! I don’t think I’ll ever live this down.
