Everyone Loves a Boston Girl

I think that instead of getting a job in my profession, I will become a professional dog walker/dog play wither. I’m pretty damn good at it. It pays quite well. And it gives me exercise and a break from my otherwise monotonous day. My aunt and uncle got a new puppy and have enlisted my help. Whenever they travel, they ask me to stay at their house and dogsit, but now they’ve asked for some help during the day, especially when one of them is traveling for work. I basically walk to her house, play with the dogs, let them out in the yard, feed them treats, and leave.

I have a sneaking suspicion that they don’t really need my help, but they feel sorry for my pathetic little work from home self, and like excuses to give me money (they do already pay a professional dog walker to come twice a day). My mom says that’s not true and that they really need me; I’ve decided I don’t care. Money is money. Cute dogs are cute dogs. And if it’s helping out my pseudo aunt and uncle then I’ll do it anytime.

Of course, it’s not all fun and games and I’ve learned a few things the past few weeks, such as don’t wear shorts or dangly earrings when visiting a new puppy, and beware that you’ll probably have your face bitten, scratched, hair pulled out, and nice shirts ripped to shreds. God, please tell me they are going to train this puppy.

Cute puppy pics! Mitzi is the baby:

Cissy will always be my little baby though:

It was seriously difficult to get a pic of the two of them together. Trust me, I tried. Pretty much impossible when a puppy is lunging at your face and jumping on your head (literally) every 5 seconds. I love the fact that the puppy is almost as big as 12-year-old Cissy.

OK, now I’m being one of those crazy single people who talks about their dogs non-stop. And they’re not even my dogs. I’m posting pictures of them too. Wow, super pathetic on my part. Hey, it’s my job…I’m passionate about it, all right? Thank God I have class tonight and some actual human contact…sometimes it’s nice to get actual spoken responses.

While reading a non-Bostonian fellow blogger’s blog stating that everyone should see The Departed, I realized that it’s pretty pitiful I haven’t seen it. I was born and raised in Boston and call myself “Boston Girl,” and haven’t even attempted to check out the Boston movie of the year/decade/all time.

But this got me thinking about all of the other movies I haven’t seen that I probably should have. I am a horrible, awful movie watcher and openly admit it. I am not capable of just sitting down and watching a movie; I think it goes back to my always feeling like I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. If I’m going to be watching a movie, I HAVE to be doing something else at the same time. Multi-tasking. Plus I seem to have zero attention span when it comes to movies. My friends generally refuse to watch movies with me because I tend to talk throughout them. Apparently, this is not socially acceptable. Who knew.

Apparently, it’s some sort of mortal sin if you haven’t seen these movies…my bad:

I haven’t watched a single Star Wars movie- Some people are shocked by this but I’ve actually met a few who are in it with me. My best friend in college and I first bonded over our mutual “never seen a Star Wars movie,” until she met a guy and he brainwashed her. She actually went and stood in line with him to see one of the movies at midnight on opening night. Pure betrayal on her part, but I guess that’s what love does to you. My last bf had also never seen any of the movies, a definite plus in datability, in my opinion. Since I’ve made it 24 years without seeing a Star Wars movie, I think I might try to go the rest of my life without seeing one. I just don’t get the point of them and have zero interest.

The Shawshank Redemption- I get the most serious reactions from this one. I honestly have no clue what this movie is about or what’s so good about it, but people seem to be obsessed with it. Mention the name and people are bound to say, “THIS is my FAVORITE movie everrrr.” I’ll probably watch it sometime soon because, from what I hear, my life is not complete until I view it.

Dirty Dancing/Pretty Women- I group these two movies together because I get the same response from every girl I tell: “Whatttt is wrong with you?!?!” I mean, I’ve seen bits and parts of each, but have never seen either of the movies in their entirety. And honestly, I don’t really care. When movies are so hyped up, it makes me not care about them. I’m not a big fan of dancing movies either. I’ll probably watch Pretty Woman at some point, though; I guess it does feel kind of wrong that I haven’t.

The Sixth Sense- Someone told me the ending and I lost all interest in watching it.

It’s a Wonderful Life- I actually feel really bad about this one. Someday I’ll get around to it. Even my parents are shocked I’ve never seen it. I think we actually have it on VHS, but at the age of 7, when given the choice between the black and white It’s a Wonderful Life and The Grinch who Stole Christmas, The Grinch always won out.

Any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies- I am still thoroughly confused as to how anyone could think Johnny Depp is even remotely hot. He seriously creeps me out and as far as I’m concerned, most people watch the Pirate movies just because they’re obsessed with him. In my humble little opinion, he completely destroyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka, my ass.

I’m sure there are lots more movies I should have seen by now but haven’t. Sometimes I want to make a list (ha!) and take a couple of weeks to sit down and watch them all. But I probably never will. I need someone to force me to watch the important ones, though, so I don’t feel so culturally inept. It’s not like I never watch movies, just not a whole lot. I have, however, seen most movies starring Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConoughey, and the Muppets. You can call me sad if you want to. Are there any other movies I should have seen by now that I’m missing out on?

I’m real big on lists. If I’m having trouble doing something or putting something off a lot, I simply write it on my list of things to do, and I will do it. It’s kind of sad actually and makes me wonder if I’m sort of messed up in the head; I’m not quite sure why it takes writing it down for me to do it. But it seems to work, so I go with it. Anyway, tonight I made a list of all the things I want to accomplish in the next year. If I write them down, they will happen! Then I spent a good 10 minutes laughing at myself. It seems my plan is flawed. There’s no way I can accomplish everything I want to in a mere 12 months.

A book I’m reading for class made me realize why I have so much trouble doing all of the things I want to do…there are too many things to do. In On Writing Well by Willim Zinsser, he talks about all of the forces competing for our attention, “At one time those forces were relatively few: newspapers, magazines, radio, spouse, children, pets. Today they also include a galaxy of electronic devices for receiving entertainment and information–television, VCRs, DVDs, CDs, video games, the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, Blackberries, ipods–as well as a fitness program, a pool, a lawn, and that most potent of competitors, sleep.” How true! I don’t get anything done because there is simply too much to do. And I don’t read nearly as much as I’d like to because there are too many things to read and too many other things to do besides reading. And let’s not even get into how much I sleep. Or don’t.

I miss the days where I could just sit down with a book and completely relax. But now, whenever I do, my mind is racing a mile a minute. This is a double edged sword though, because if it weren’t for all of this technology, I wouldn’t have nearly as much on my list of things to do. I love that I always have tons of reading material at my hands, whether it’s blogs, websites, or books; but it gets to the point where I have so many options, I freeze up and just stare into space.

I think I need to sit down again and break my list of goals into smaller parts and just start working on them. I think it’s really sad to have goals and then watch the years go by not accomplishing them. And I’d hate to look back on these days and realize that I was just sitting here so overwhelmed by how much I wanted to do that I didn’t do anything.

On another note, why is it so damn cold out? I absolutely hate wearing lots of clothing to bed, and now I’m sitting under layers of blankets wearing yoga pants, a long sleeve-tee, and a hooded sweatshirt. And I’m still cold. I love the fall, but I’m not so sure I’m ready for 40 degree weather. Though it’s allegedly going to be 80 degrees on Thursday. Ahhh New England.

Today Chels and I took a trip down to the new Natick Collection. Does anyone else have trouble actually saying that? “Where did you go today?” “Oh, I just went shopping at the Natick Collection.” I think I will probably still call it the mall. Or like I did today, “the Natick Collection…haha, you know, the new Natick Mall.” Anyway, it was a good time and the mall/collection is amazing. I cannot, however, afford just about anything there. So it was sort of ironic when Chelsee and I left the mall each carrying a bag from Express. Like we couldn’t go to an Express anywhere, right?

At least we had a fun shopping experience. We got to watch a shoe fashion show at Macy’s, where we also checked out Martha Stewart’s new housewares line. And yes, I want everything, thanks (my birthday is coming up). We also browsed Ruehl, which is supposedly the Abercrombie for the post-college crowd (I love when I told my mom this, she said “Ohh like Beth! [my 27-year-old sister]…or wait, YOU! You’re post-college..omg.” It’s only been 3 years, mom; don’t act so surprised). It was OK, but I honestly didn’t see how it was much different than Abercrombie…and I’m sure the middle schoolers will be wearing it in no time at all. We also went to Madewell, which is supposedly a more casual J. Crew. Again, I wasn’t so impressed. Cute, but not really me. I do, however, think it’s fabulous that there’s a Nordstrom, a whole Vera Bradley store, and a North Face store. Stores that I would love to buy everything out of but can’t afford a thing from=BCBG, Betsey Johnson, and Kate Spade. It’s also great there’s a Metropolitan Bar and Grill (only my fave restaurant ever).

Final verdict. Fun afternoon, but I probably wouldn’t make the 25 minute trip there too often when I already live in the beautiful shopping city that is Boston. And I’m a broke graduate student paying exorbitant amounts of money on my rent. Unless I hit it big-time rich. But then I can probably just go to Newbury St. or Copley…and eat at the Met bar on route 9. But then of course, the Christmas Tree Shop is right by the Natick Collection/Mall; and that could make the trip totally worth it.

Tonight was a big night in Boston sports. Such a close game for the Red Sox, it was painful. But whatever, we’re still up on the Yankees 4.5 games. And I have decided that I am officially the worst luck ever for the team. Not only do they lose every time I go to a game; now, whenever I even turn the TV on, they take a perfectly good lead and throw it away. The Patriots couldn’t care less whether I watch or not, so they will continue to win. Yay for them!

Sighh. There are many things I don’t understand in life. One is why some people would rather be in a relationship with someone who sucks at life than be alone. Maybe I’m really full of myself? But I think I actually really like myself a lot. To the point where I enjoy my own company wayyy over a sucky person’s. Sometimes I even enjoy my own company over a halfway decent person’s. Sometimes even over a perfectly amazing person’s. Since I’ve been working from home during the day the past 6 months, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time alone and I feel like I’ve really gotten to know and truly like myself. I feel really bad for people who don’t or can’t do this. People who can’t be alone scare me. If you can’t be alone with yourself, why would anyone want to be alone with you?

“You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with” -Wayne Dyer

People disappoint me a lot. I truly believe in seeing the good in everyone. But there are so many people I know who have amazingly good hearts and are such good people, but suck at having personalities or doing the right thing when it gets down to it. I’ve been in enough relationships to know what I can get and what I deserve. And I know some people who haven’t been in any relationships and still know what they deserve and what they won’t settle for. It’s not about pickiness, it’s about finding your happiness. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather be alone forever than be with someone I’m not totally into. Maybe I’m asking for too much…but I don’t think I am.

I guess I’ve just been discouraged by people lately and wonder if I’ll ever find someone who can make me as happy as I make myself. It’s only happened once before…and while he was an amazing person, he still wasn’t right for me. So, I guess it just makes me mad when I see people, especially friends, settle for less than they deserve. Because settling is something I’ll never do. I tried once, and it didn’t work out too well. Because no matter what, I know I deserve the best possible. And if I don’t believe that, who will?

“I’m proud of my life and the things that I have done. Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become.” -Say Anything