I rarely walk out of movies, and when I do, it's never because the movie is crap. Sure, I've seen crap movies, but I mostly just finish them for closure.

"The Island" is the dumbest excuse for a film I've ever seen.

And what makes me sadder than the elementary dialogue, and the unusually brief scenes, is the fact that they spent so much time and money on such a horrible piece of garbage and got Scarlett Johannson and Ewan McGregor to agree to it. Why? I walked out about 20 minutes into it.

Two thumbs (and my respect for those two actors) way down.

Donald Welborn died in a plane crash Wednesday.

(At first, my hands capitalized every word in that sentence.)

I don't think I've ever met a man that drew in a group of people like he did. Just with a few words. Everything (everything) he did was for the Lord. I remember when he visited Carrollwood for the first time and everyone seemed to flock to bible study afterwards to hear his words. Then we would meet every single day. And they weren't high school, feel-good studies (which have their place I think), they were amazingly deep, convicting messages during which no one blinked (or I didn't at least).

He was so energetic and always smiled. An amazing life and testimony. I feel like in some sense it's only appropriate that he didn't die of old age, having never seemed aged.

Eighty years of fervent striving. Well done.

Alexis's little monkeys. :)



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Ethan makes the funniest faces.



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And the cutest ones.



He looks just like you, Alexis.

Sure, I had had a few drinks at the time, but I was totally sober.

I went to Urban Outfitters on Mill Ave last night with Adam and saw an angel with brown hair and these blueblueblue eyes. She needed my phone number for the transaction, and the conversation went something (let's face it, I remembered the whole thing word for word) like this:

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Angel: May I have your phone number?

Matt: Absolutely!

Angel smiles. Oh my goodnessgracious, the smile...

Angel: Ok... What is it?

Matt: OH! Um... Uh... oh yeah. (Matt gives her the number.)

Angel laughs and begins wrapping up said sunglasses.

Matt (con't): Um, can I tell you how incredibly attractive you are? And I'll probably never see you again, so I just wanted to tell you that you have the prettiest face I've ever seen in my entire life.

Angel does a dorky, giddy move with a nervous laugh/smile and thanks Matt. Adam craps his pants.
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I think I made Angel's night. Or I hope I did. The dork move she made after that leads me to believe that not nearly enough people tell her that (definitely a good thing).

I bought a biography (a lengthy, credible one) on e.e. cummings today.

I read the preface to his part in WWI and his lonely stint in Paris after his arbitrary, three-month imprisonment at La-Ferte Mace. I saw the pictures that chronograph (however incompletely) his life in a psuedosummation that can't have scratched any surface. I read of the impossibly red sky which backlit the New York City of 1917 and the snow which was “carefully everywhere descending” on the Atlantic during his humble return.

I read of his search for the prostitute, Marie-Louise, who claimed his heart in Paris through platonic lunch-dates and meanderings, and why every woman fell short of this prototype he had perfected in illusions and delusions of benevolence (truth and fiction are equal sometimes) because they were not her.

Just before dying the same way my grandfather died, he penned:

n
OthI
n

g can

s
urPas
s

the m

y
SteR
y

of

ss
tiLnes
s

I feel utterly inadequate in adapting this into a screenplay, and I‘m determined to find out why he thought stillness was to be imbalanced. Why did he add the that first s? Was it a last joke? Was it his handle on something I haven’t gotten yet, that "renders death and forever in each breathing?" Is stillness a myth? Can I write this screenplay?

Is life really this short?

All or nothing. All or nothing. All or nothing.

Here are the directions: Type “(your name) is” into Google, and then post your ten (or however many) favorite results. (This was so fun.)

1. Matthew is derived from the Hebrew Mattija, being shortened to Mattai.

2. Matthew is a Denver wedding photographer and a Colorado wedding photographer.

3. Matthew is said to have died a martyr.

4. Matthew is of course a big fine two year old now, although
things were exciting for a while there.

5. (Possibly my favorite one ever.) Matthew is also a huge
fan of NASCAR and an even bigger one of legendary action star, Chuck Norris.

6. Matthew is second from left.

7. Matthew is without question a rising star.

8. (This one makes me laugh.) Matthew is the co-host of two PBS programs, "Ten Steps to College with the Greenes" and "Paying for College with the Greenes," and co-author of Paying for College: The Greenes’ Guide to Financing Higher Education.

9. Matthew is a qualified Tarot Reader and Teacher of Tarot.

10. Matthew is part drummer, part guitarist, part singer, part comedian, and always part downed electrical wire.

11. Matthew is always ready with fresh flowers, plants and thoughtful gifts.

I hope you don't mind me posting this, Meg, but it's one of my favorite pictures ever...

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
w.b.yeats

Jen, this is a place in Sedona... I can't wait until December... :)

I think Vanilla Sky is the best movie that almost no one has ever seen.