10 Things I Want to Have Accomplished by This Time Next Year

1. Find a new job
2. Reconnect with an old friend
3. Watch The West Wing
4. Schedule a trip (DC?)
5. Finish the novel I'm working on
6. The journey stuff
7. Get Tivo or DVR
8. Pay off my credit card debt
9. Get a new cell phone
10. Update photo album

"What is a Friend?

A single soul dwelling in two bodies." ~ Aristotle

Many of the movies and books and TV shows that I truly treasure are focused on friendship. From Anne and Diana to Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte to Elinor and Marianne to the Ya-Yas to Bridget and Shaz and Jude to the movie I watched tonight--the Jane Austen Book Club, the focus on friendship between women is a central theme.

They say that women with strong female friendships are healthier and happier and that even their marriages benefit from it. Although I am really a homebody and not much of a social butterfly, I do agree that there's nothing more comforting than watching old movies while giggling with friends. I feel better and stronger after simply watching a movie that's heavy on the estrogen.

What is that line from Sex and the City about women being the only ones left in the end? The first time I watched Sex and the City, I was very into Mr. Big, and then Steve, and then Aidan, and then Harry, and, of course, Mr. Big again. I find that as I get older and rewatch the shows in syndication, I hold my breath for different moments--Carrie dedicating her book to Charlotte; Samantha giving up her hair appointment to give Miranda a break from the baby; the four women deciding to be each other's soul mates, and--to me, the most poignant of all the episodes--Carrie standing up with Miranda at her mother's funeral. These are the reasons I watch now.

The best part of each of these TV shows and movies and books is that the women recognize what they have--they meddle and they judge and they fight and they disapprove, but at the end of the day, they support and they cheer and they encourage and they stand alongside of and they show up, even if it's reluctantly.

George Santayana said it best when he said, "The loneliest woman in the world is a woman without a close woman friend."

Movies I Want to See:

1. Juno (Maybe I'll see it tonight if I can convince someone to go with me. I don't go see movies by myself in my hometown for fear of having someone awkward sit with me.) (saw 22 March)
2. Silk (Sounds a bit like The Painted Veil, no?)
3. Black Book (Love ALL things like this! Shining Through (esp. the book), Enigma, etc.)
4. Catch and Release (STILL!)
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (or whatever it's called. INDY!)
6. Leatherheads (George Clooney! John Krasinski! John Krasinski! George Clooney! Yea!)
7. Vantage Point (if I don't see it in the theatre, I have this feeling I will never see it...)
8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell! Jason Siegel! Jason Siegel! ...And did I mention KRISTEN BELL?!?)
9. Baby Mama (My two fave comediennes! Yea!!)
10. Made of Honor
11. Sex and the City Movie
12. The Jane Austen Book Club (saw 23 March)
13. Becoming Jane
14. The Dark Knight (Although I'm bummed that Rachel is now Maggie Gyllenhaal.)
15. Mamma Mia! (Watch the trailer! And the best part is, Sophie is LILLY!!)
16. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
17. Smart People

What am I forgetting? ...

Desert Island

Desert Island Game: If I was stuck on a desert island, what five ... would I bring?

Movies:
1. Star Wars
2. The Sound of Music
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Amelie
5. Notorious


Books:
1. One for the Money
2. Boy Meets Girl
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
4. Welcome to Temptation
5. Me Talk Pretty One Day


TV Shows:
(Comedies)
1. Friends season 2
2. The Office season 2
3. Psych season 1
4. Burn Notice
5. Arrested Development season 1

(Dramas)
1. Alias season 2
2. Lost season 1
3. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
4. Veronica Mars season 1
5. BBC's Robin Hood