Dark Knight
I’ve never been one for the comic book movie. But after all the raves and all the friends who’d seen the latest Batman installment, when the chance to go this afternoon popped up, I decided, “why not?”
What I didn’t expect was to really be moved, and aside from being moved also see so many spiritual themes. The battle between good and evil is an obvious one, but this movie takes it to a deeper level, exploring the human condition, the state of our hearts, and rising to find the much-needed hope of a community of people.
It was hard for me at times to not stop and appreciate the genius I was seeing on screen. Heath Ledger as the Joker really is definitive. Horribly creepy and unsettling. He makes your skin crawl. The constant flicking tongue, the haunting eyes, that voice… had I not known it was Ledger I’m certain I wouldn’t have recognized him. Gone was the signature husky voice and the twinkle in his eyes… it was replaced with a slow, deliberate cadence-like speak and his eyes held the hollow-emptiness of the Joker’s sad life. I went in knowing of the Oscar talk and thinking “He’ll just win because he died.” I came out of the theater knowing that it would be a shame if he wasn’t nominated. His performance is brilliant.
I don’t want to spoil anyone, so I won’t write anymore. (Although it’s killing me… so many great questions to ponder. But I can’t without giving anything away!) It’s best to go into a movie like this completely spoiler-free, to be shocked at the turn of events… to relish in the unpredictability.
I highly recommend going to see it. I will be surprised if I attend a better movie this year.
Reason #3 Why I Love Nebraska
I get to openly mock this:
Because it rightfully deserves to be mocked. Mercilessly. Seriously, the crazy finger-pointing alone is worth 10 minutes of mocking.
Four Truths I Must Remember
You have control over only two things:
How you treat yourself and how you treat others.
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There are two things you cannot control:
How others treat you and how others treat themselves.
… passed on to me from my pastor. Good stuff.
Pop Culture Quote Monday
First of all, I must say Mamma Mia! was incredible. Really. Just as good as the stage show. Meryl Streep rocks my sauce… girl can belt it.
This is not an easy one, but anyone with a twisted sense of humor adores this movie:
Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let’s not bicker and argue over who killed who.
Reason #2 Why I Love Nebraska
This town: Kearney. It’s where I’ve lived for the last eight years, and the place I will say goodbye to in four short weeks. Many things about this town drive me crazy. But many things don’t. I choose to focus on the things that don’t.
1.) You can talk to a complete stranger for 5 minutes while waiting for pizza at Valentino’s, and it doesn’t feel weird. (Just did that tonight.)
2.) Everywhere you go takes 15 minutes.
3.) I love that I found a place to live within walking distance of where I work, walking distance of my grocery store, AND walking distance of a recycling center.
4.) Barista’s Daily Grind. Yum.
5.) Redmond’s, the best shoe store ever. So small and old school they don’t even have a website.
6.) When we have a tornado it’s all we talk about for the next 3 days. And 15 people call you to see if you are okay.
7.) I don’t know why I love this so much, but I love that my dumpster gets blown away every time it’s windy and storms, and my neighbor Tom always puts it back.
8.) I used to work at this company. There are so many people that work or have worked there that I now work with two of them at my current job. And I almost always see one other former colleague from said company each week, whether it’s at Target, a gas station or elsewhere.
10.) The best place to get a raspberry ale, whose raspberries where grown by a friend of mine.
Stephanie Nelson 