Stories that make me depressed and movies I'm drooling over

So I guess we will start with the depressing stuff. I've been reading a lot of things lately that make me sad for humanity. Some actually sad, some pathetic sad, some glad it's not my life sad. Here are the ones that really resonated with me:

Vanity Fair's Farrah Fawcett Article
Summary: Farrah Fawcett had great hair and everybody she knew has either been in rehab or incarcerated recently. Read this while eating pasta and I almost couldn't finish my food it was so sad.

Miley Cyrus on Twitter
Her awkward relationship-influenced tweets are probably not appropriate to share with 1.7 million followers, but that's just me. Example: "Remember that song I wrote? Psh. I am SO over you." This is just one example of why teenagers with raging hormones shouldn't be given access to tools that can broadcast their feelings to the internet masses.

Female Suicide Bombers
A profile in The New York Times Magazine that is both highly intriguing and frightening entitled "How Baida Wanted to Die." Understanding the place in society woman have in other cultures is something that always makes me thankful for where I am.

And on a more positive note, some movies that I'm totally stoked for in the fall. Gotta start saving up my hard earned pennies for the $12 that I always seem willing to shell out for a Manhattan movie.

An Education
I have been staring at pictures of Carey Mulligan incessantly as we work on a fall campaign for the recently released T Magazine and was doubtful of her being touted as the next great young actress. However, having seen the preview for this movie which also stars Peter Sarsgaard, I'm starting to get excited about the release.

Nine
My girl crush is Marion Cotillard and I've always wanted to know how Daniel Day-Lewis would fare in a musical number.

Shutter Island
I started watching the preview the day it came out. I pretty much have it memorized now. Until it comes out, I'm just going to have to keep watching The Departed over and over to get my Leo fix. I even stayed up for The Man in the Iron Mask the other night. As a side note: John Malkovich is completely unconvincing as a historical character.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Heath Ledger's last stand. It looks absolutely insane.

My favorite facial hair

Includes the highly distinguished Nobel-winning liberal beard, the slightly creepy troubled actor staging a comeback mustache and the adorable trying-to-look-older and more serious than my days as a teen movie dork peach fuzz. Go men.

Yet another fall-back career option

Tone deafness aside, I think that becoming a YouTube sensation by doing great covers of the most popular songs currently is definitely the way to go. All you need is a cheap video camera, a guitar and a computer, and you could be one step away from fame. Who knew millions of people wanted to watch an unknown person make weird faces and sing songs into the camera? These YouTube people keep me occupied all day at my desk when I'm tired of my Pandora mix; my favorites include:

Boyce Avenue - Disturbia
Slightly guido band with a bunch of nameless guys and a stellar voice from the lead singer covers a lot of hip hop and pop songs. I swear they have the best acoustic songs ever when they sing girl songs, but when it comes to classic alternative songs such as Wonderwall, it really doesn't quite sound right.

Ukelele Girl - That Green Gentleman
A true success story, I know she plays actual shows now, not inside her dorm room. She's very quirky and has some weird editing, but her covers are very fun and sure to put a smile on one's face. Also, she looks the least like a celebrity, which gives me hope that if I wake up with talent one day, I could be like her.

Random Guitar Girl - I'm Yours
A relatively new discovery, she has a decent voice, but usually spends the second half of her videos doing "shout outs" and other unnecessary nonsense. Also, some songs tend to get a little weird and techno. The Jason Mraz cover however, is completely safe and quite enjoyable.

Delightful

Just as I was starting to seriously think of permanently discrediting my 8 month old Blackberry as a pathetic ancient tool of yore, I discovered a new function: updating my blog with my mobile device. Though I am still lusting after the simple elegance of the 32 gig iPhone, I will take a few seconds of my day to appreciate the little things my Blackberry can do and happily click away on the noisy qwerty keys during a particularly nasty crowded and rain-soaked commute.

Am I delusional?

I wonder if Ruth Bader Ginsberg was the inspiration for Filbert on '90s cartoon Rocko's Modern Life. Am I the only one that sees the resemblance?

Concert night!

Totally stoked is putting it lightly...

There's nothing wrong with only having one look

The belted dress is what I consider a fashion band aid for fixing any situation. I wear it to work, around the city, at night, during the day, in rain, in sunshine and some times when I'm doing chores around the house. Basically, I've decided if there is one way to make yourself look good, this is it, and I'm sticking with it. The real challenge now is getting me to break out of black. That, however, just might be an impossible task.

My belted dress obsession of the week? Cameron Diaz

Awesome and lame

A summary of things impacting my life positively and negatively today:

Awesome:
- Found out opening act for U2's September show at the Meadowlands is Muse. Feel less guilty about splurging on ridiculously expensive tickets.
- Feeling adventurous as I wore a purple dress today instead of my usual black ensemble. Now I won't blend into my chair at work.
- Shaq, the bane of my basketball existence, is leaving the Phoenix Suns. Good riddance. Enjoy ruining Cleveland now!
- The emails that crazy South Carolinian governor wrote to his Argentinian mistress. Only in America can we make fun of our elected officials in such a scathing, yet hilarious manner.

Lame:
- Next year there will be 10 nominees for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Completely pointless change to the ceremony, not to mention probably extending the length of a show that is already 4 hours. Also, it will probably lower my prediction accuracy and deplete my bank account since I'll try and see them all.
- Guy on Craigslist who I am trying to buy a bike from won't reply to my emails. Grrrr.
- Haven't heard Little Joy on my Pandora in two days. SUPER lame.

Evidence that Russell is Asian

I am obsessed with Up. Aside from the fact that it is hilarious, the animation is amazing and the story is ridiculously heartwarming, my favorite part of the movie is the fact that the little boy in the movie, Russell, is Asian.

For those who claim that the adorable leading character does not in fact have Asian running through his animated veins, I'd like to present the following evidence that they are in fact completely ignorant.

1. Squinty eyes

2. Black hair

3. Chubby cheeks

4. Need to overachieve, tries very hard to please elders

5. Asian mother in the first row of the Wilderness Scout ceremony

6. Inability to climb rope
7. Character voiced by Japanese American boy Jordan Nagai

I rest my case.

Worthless knaves

To the people marketing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

Is it completely necessary for the posters of each new movie look exactly the same as the previous ones? I'm kind of over the whole Harry Potter menacingly brandishing wand in a harsh blue background thing.

I am ignoring your posters each time I walk by, giving my full attention to the Public Enemies ones, that I am completely obsessed with. Please marry me Johnny Depp, I will move to your remote island and live a vagabond life with you.