What goes up must come down: personal challenges

   I want to share something with you that is difficult for me but I believe it will help you understand me better. I have bipolar disorder. For those who don't know what that is it means I have problems sometimes regulating my moods.I have been reluctant to talk about this because, contrary to what people may say, there is still stigma attached to this. I didn't want to lose friends or mess up my progress by letting people know this but I think it will help put together the puzzle pieces for you all when it comes to me and how I act, think and react. I decided that if people are going to judge me for having a disorder I never asked for and wish I didn't have then perhaps those people are ones I wouldn't want in my life anyway. 
   I was diagnosed in my early 20's. Both of my parents had mental illnesses so it was not surprising when I was told I had one too. I struggled with it for a long time and, to a degree, still do. I have worked very hard to overcome my obstacles and have a very successful life. I have friends, a great job and have done some amazing things like run marathons and progress in my career. I know, though, that if you are my friend you will have seen me in my ups and downs with my moods. Despite this I have confronted my illness and taken care of a lot of my symptoms. Thank you to all the good people in my life who love me and are there for me however I am feeling day to day. I owe you a debt of gratitude.

Procrastination: do it later

 
    I have SO MUCH TO DO! And you know what? I am not doing any of it....YET. Here is my checklist of stuff I am supposed to get done today:

1. write out trekking class, work on playlist
2. Finish pre-marathon prep: i.e. hydration/nutrition plan, clothes choices, taper strategy for this week.
3. Get ready for the new week
4. Make my lunch meal for the next few days
5. Call AFAA about my certificate

Yeah. That's all. And you know what I AM doing? Cruising facebook, looking at YouTube videos, blogging.
Basically I am writing a post about procrastination as a means of procrastination. Why do we do this? I am usually pretty good about tackling things but something happens to me on Sundays. Even though I have prep work to do sometimes it is hard to get to it. I always get it done but it might be a race to the finish to do it. And it's not like I don't LOVE my work. I DO! I have the greatest job in the world. And I am psyched about my marathon so that is not it either. Do I like having that "down-to-the-wire" thrill of adrenaline? Maybe. Anyway, I guess I better stop writing my blog and get back to what I am supposed to be doing.

Or maybe I will do it after a little bit. I hear YouTube calling my name................

"Idiocracy"...funny movie!

      I watched this movie today. It was so funny!    (SPOILER ALERT) It brought out some good points as well about American culture.It was a huge satirical leap of course. But some things were really kind of spot on. The people were really into stupid reality TV which, sorry, many Americans ARE. The TV had gotten so low class 500 years in the future, though, that the Oscar winning movie of the year was 90 minutes of someone showing their butt and farting. Wow.
    Commercialism had gotten rampant with everything sporting labels of various kinds: people's clothes looked like Nascar cars. The only thing to drink was a sports drink....no one drank plain water. They memorized the commercial and spouted like robots "But it has electrolytes!"
     People's IQ's are so low that the character played by Luke Wilson, an average guy, is now the smartest guy on the planet. He gets raised to a big government job, which in that day is mostly done in an MTV-Monday night smashdown--kind of format. He teaches them that sports drink won't work to grow crops and they need to give them, GASP!, water.

Anyway it was really funny! I am glad I caught it to watch it today!

My favorite movies

You know what my favorite all time movie is? Breakfast at Tiffany's. I love that movie! I can't even explain all the reasons for it. Probably because I think Audrey Hepburn was one of the most beautiful actresses of all time but also she is fragile. She is troubled. But despite this she learns and grows as a person, meets someone who also encourages her to grow......even grows to love Cat the cat. She shows this by running in the rain after Cat after she puts her out of the taxi. And then her love shows up also in the rain and they kiss and she doesn't go to the spanish guy's country and live on his ranch.

I like romantic comedies. I admit it. They are sweet, funny, entertaining and I like to believe in true love. Gotta believe in something right? I have watched all the biggies and love them all. Here are my top 20 romantic comedy movies:

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Pretty Woman
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. Annie Hall
5. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
6. Sleepless in Seattle
7. Big
8. You've Got Mail
9. Say Anything
10. Jerry McGuire
11. Bridget Jones' Diary
12. Notting Hill
13. 10 Things I Hate about You
14. 50 First Dates
15. The Wedding Singer
16. As Good As It Gets
17. Pretty in Pink
18. Chasing Amy
19. Ella Enchanted
20. She's All That

and 21: You may argue with me here but The Breakfast Club. Yeah it's all about teens coming to terms with their issues and stuff but at the end...everyone hooks up. So I consider that a romantic comedy/coming of age hybrid.So this is just me rambling on about the movies I like.

I also like action movies. I think it is great when stuff blows up and people do exciting stunts like jumping from one motorcycle to another or taking over flying a plane. My top 10 action movies:

1. Con Air
2. Air Force 1
3. Speed
4. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
5. Independence Day
6. Men in Black *could also be deemed a sci-fi comedy*
7. Face Off
8. ALL The James Bond movies!!
9. The Net
10.Armageddon

And last...for drama. Top 10:

1. Shawshank Redemption
2. The Green Mile
3. Rocky 1 and Rocky 4
4. Witness
5. The Sixth Sense
6. One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest
7. Girl Interrupted
8. 28 days
9. Titanic
10. The Day After


So that's all my big lists. Movies are fun to dissect if you ever have the chance. Get with some people and play movie critic. Big fun for everyone!