The 7 unexpected things grown-ups do at sleepovers

I have had more sleep-overs this year than I may have had the entirety of my time in high school. My dear friend Sima and I have some very good habits. Our riveting sleepovers include: Creative pillow distribution (this is the first priority for a good sleepover). Reading. Setting of alarms (sleepovers are a way to bond when weekends and work schedules aren't aligning well. Careful coordination of pajamas based on current inventory and how they complement the o other person's pajamas. Watching old VHS tapes of horribly wonderful movies such as Undercover Blues and Spaceballs. Eating strawberries and drinking cheap champagne. Falling asleep less than half an hour into a VHS of The Wizard of Oz. Eating as much candy as we damn well please and not brushing our teeth...until we realize how much money we have to spend on cavities where we get up promptly to do the right thing. Making whole wheat pancakes in the morning.

Chasing rainbows & Kevin Smith

BOB You're chasing Amy. (to Holden) So there's me an' Amy, and we're all inseparable, right? Just big time in love. And then about four months in, I ask about the ex-boyfriend. Dumb move, I know, but you know how it is - you don't really want to know, but you just have to... stupid guy bullshit. Anyway she starts telling me all about him - how they dated for years, lived together, her mother likes me better, blah, blah, blah - and I'm okay. But then she tells me that a couple times, he brought other people to bed with them - menage a tois, I believe it's called. Now this just blows my mind. I mean, I'm not used to that sort of thing, right? I was raised Catholic. So I get weirded out, and just start blasting her, right? This is the only way I can deal with it - by calling her a slut, and telling her that she was used - I mean, I'm out for blood I want to hurt her - because I don't know how to deal with what I'm feeling. And I'm like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and she's telling me that it was that time, in that place, and she didn't do anything wrong, so she's not gonna apologize. So I tell her it's over, and I walk. JAY Fucking a. BOB No, idiot. It was a mistake. I wasn't disgusted with her, I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small - like I'd lacked experience, like I'd never be on her level or never be enough for her or something. And what I didn't get was that she didn't care. She wasn't looking for that guy anymore. She was looking for me. But by the time I realized this, it was too late, you know. She'd moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away... [Everyone's silent Silent Bob lights a cigarette.] BOB So I've spent every day since then chasing Amy... (takes a drag from his smoke) So to speak. Kevin Smith, despite the dick and fart jokes, never ceases to amaze with his earnest Frank Capra-esque (thanks, Karen) dialogs which can really cut to the quick of the imperfect human experience. Things are messy, messed-up, complicated and represent the shades of gray that make decisions difficult to make. Silent Bob is the voice of the zen master, wise but never preachy. But, just because you realize the mistake, you think you have a solution, doesn't mean things are going to work out in a fairy-tale ending. People fall short, forget birthdays for business meetings, and can't make the decision that seems so obvious to someone else. Thanks Kevin, for keeping it real. For showing that people can grow and change, but some things will always be the same (like Jay and Bob leaning against the walls of buildings.) Thanks for having earnest characters in an era where sarcasm and irony reign. Oh, and your Smodcast kicks ass, too. (And I liked Jersey Girl.)

Movies.

I think this vacation has been the most movie-filled in a long time. I saw Juno, I Am Legend (on IMAX), Perseoplis, and then Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . And tomorrow, I'm going to go see a sneak preview of the romantic comedy 27 dresses. It's going to be lovely. Honestly, I am totally scared that it's almost the end of college (undergrad at least), and I want nothing more than to just skip to 6 months from now and just know that everything is going to be okay. I know it will be . I'm more focused and have more direction than most of the people I know and go to school with, and yet somehow I'm worried. Somehow, right? I just have to get into the studio and work and work on some of my applications. I was going to wait to apply for grad school, but I think I'm going to do an application for Shippensburg in PA. They pay you $18,000 a year to go to school part-time and be a Hall Director part-time. It seems right. But I still want to get outside and go on adventures and become a better climber and teacher before I'm too old to do so, till life gets in the way. So many decisions.

Landmark takes Baltimore!

There's a theatre I'm very fond of back in L.A., a single-screen old-fashioned theatre missing only double-features (but there's always the New Beverly for that). Midnight revival shows and Rocky Horror are a couple highlights of the Los Angeles Landmark Nuart Theatre. Baltimore is a city of three theatres. The Charles, which is a great independent theatre, and two adult cinemas. Tomorrow, Baltimore gets a Landmark theatre in the posh and gentrified Harbor East neighborhood. Seven state-of-the-art screens, gourmet concessions and bar, and stadium seating are just a few of the amenities. It looks like it will show a combination of wide-release and independent cinema titles, and I gotta say, it's about time I didn't have to leave the city to see a movie in this town. Thank you, Landmark. Now please, try not to suck too much.

Homesickness is funny.

Well, not really funny. Kind of agonizing. They tell you when you're a camp counselor to help girls identify that they are not physically sick from missing home, that they're just missing home. But what about when home is all these associations, intangibles, people far far away. I'm watching Catch & Release (oh Kevin Smith, you sassy scene-stealer) and seeing all these Colorado trappings, missing Angie and Blue and all my co-counselors, Songbird and Zig-Zag. I also had an existential crisis in the yogurt aisle at the grocery store and called mah momma, which brings up how I'm all grown up yet still need some guidance. Also, longest graveyard shift ever. And I love chubby clever boys like Kevin Smith, my sweetheart, and Jack Black.