To Observe and Report

Ah life! It will take you places. As I type, I'm coming to terms with the words that soon will be here for cyber eternity: As of today I am a Security Guard.

And what, you may ask yourself is a woman who graduated from one of the most prestigious Universities in Puerto Rico with -of all things- a B.A. in Literature, doing working this type of trade?

Simple, when things get tough, the tough will fall under Florida Statute 493.

There are lots of reasons, the most obvious my good for nothing B.A. does not qualify me to be a teacher and honestly, I've never been the greatest of communicators. It has always been my cross to bear that subjects that I love with a passion are solely mine to explore and contend with. Last time I tried to teach, my contract was sorta not renewed on the basis that I told off most of my conceited Junior High School students and refused to bestow Literature Medal on the non worthy. That is me, can't help it.

The choice was not difficult. It is guaranteed good money (Florida pays decent salaries for Security) the benefits are superior, which is good for any single person living with an autoimmune disease. Besides it will give me plenty of time to catch up with the Medical Management Training I've postponed for way too long.

The way I see it, there is always a Romantic side to it all. The frustrated poet in me cannot help but paint a picture of terrible times in which the weakest of peoples will lack the moral stamina to uphold the law. It will be my job to make sure they don't cross the line using my really neat citizen power of arrest in the event of a Felony.

There is not a stint of irony in my words I swear. I will raise to the occasion and comply with my duties as to excel, not only buying time, but making a mark. If the Fates decided that I will be a Security Officer, even if for a brief amount of time, I'll be the best damn one there is.

The quote:
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -John Lennon

The countdown is over

I am one of thousands- nah- millions making observations on this day. Still I am compelled to write my own little footnote in one of the most poignant events in recent US history.

There are few moments in time in which we can feel it beckoning- a sense of destiny. History brought us all here today and it was embraced, celebrated and witnessed through the world as an event that could only take place in our soil. I believed it before Barack Obama and I will die believing this country excels among nations- that is our heritage and the standard that we must carry. I just hope that the people who gathered in Washington DC today, as well as those watching will wake up to the need of restoring America.

To the eyes of many, we are not the best or most loved of countries, and it has nothing to do with our political affiliations. It will take more than a transition of power to gain back what we have lost. No matter what people might think, it didn't start with George Bush, nor will it magically end with Barack Obama. Tomorrow is the first day of many ahead. It is tomorrow when we must start acting out on all the emotions we displayed today. Tomorrow, with a combination of passion and level headed attitude, we all should do our best to see this man succeed.

I am still a Republican and unashamedly still believe that George Bush was a faithful servant, who met and rose up to a challenge the best way he knew how. However, first and foremost I am an American and I cannot help believing in the promise and the premise of this land.

Congratulations to the new Commander in Chief, a tip of the hat to one of those instances that make people smile and say "only in America."

The quote:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom"- Barack Obama

The State of my Union

Current level of stress: Intermediate

Job Status: Less

Hope level: Increasing :p

It's been a while since I posted and since I've made one of my New Years resolutions not to become a hermit, I've decided to type away.

So far 2009 has treated me kindly as I finally decided what to do with my life at a professional level. Kill me dead, I've shuffled with so many options I should have at least two PhD's, if I followed through. That is me though: the Queen of Procrastination, the Great Duchess of never putting my knowledge to good use and the Town Idiot of Salary Scales, it serves me right.

The poison of choice will be Health Care Management. In the meantime, I will entertain myself with some menial odd job, interesting enough to give me some insight of self.

On the other hand, I have been stuck to a pile of books, literally, as Ms. Lightshadow generously gave me the best Three King Day present ever: Charlaine Harris' SOOKIE STACKHOUSE CHRONICLES, the original source for HBO's TRUE BLOOD. I must confess I have not seen a single episode of TRUE BLOOD ( I tend to discover these HBO Gems on unexpected Thursday afternoons waaaaaaaaaaay after they have been enjoyed by the rest of the world)-if the series is anything like the book, I'm missing on something grand. I've never had this fun with dialogue in years, although something tells me I must brace for some kind of terrible out come.

In the meantime, I'll keep reading, getting engrossed in it all and absentmindedly burning things that should have looked golden brown instead of charred black and smoky... too long a story but you should catch my drift.

Let the Right One in- no spoilers

Mini rant Disclosure. I just came upon details concerning a remake of this movie intended for American audiences. It will be helmed by Matt Reeves of Cloverfield fame.

I am tired, completely fed up with this need to spoon feed the American people with custom made stories. One of the lamest excuses to "Americanize" this film is that the film is "too Swedish" is scope (duh). Go ahead, worry the American public will never get over the culture shock of people eating "smorgas" instead of burgers and playing "soccer" instead of football. In the mean time throw aside one of the most endearing- yes that is the word, tales about human nature concocted in this decade and turn it into horror spam for the masses. Please, pleeeease, people in Hollywood, allow us for once to discover, to marvel and enjoy a movie that surpasses the expectations of it's genre to convey a rare gift: a character study in loneliness, gut wrenching fear and the lifting power of love. What the hell is so inherently Swedish about that?

I am also tired that in their effort to sell an idea, studios and ignorant people in general conspire to make us believe that just because some stories have elements in common, they are exactly the same. You know where I'm going with this people. I will personally make a kebab of the next person that dismisses this movie as the "Norwegian Twilight." Off my chest, now to my review...

Do not make yourself believe otherwise, just because I used the word endearing in the beginning, it doesn't mean this is not a genre movie. It is as conventional and shocking as vampire movies are meant to be. There is gore, violence and buckets of blood. These are vampires from Eastern European Tradition. Undead with aversion to sunlight, relics, a knack for solving puzzles, even if it stops them in their tracks and a relentless need to sustain themselves on human blood at any cost. In fact, the title Let the Right One In plays with the notion of vampire folklore that prohibits the undead to enter places uninvited. However, it is the intelligent use of all these plot devices that makes this movie worthwhile.

Long before the EMO revolution, vampires were perceived as raw manifestations of the ID, insatiable in more ways than one. Selfish creatures spawned in the bowels of hell who lived for the kill. These monsters were a craze in the eighties, at the peak of the " greed is good" sentiment. Intelligent film makers saw beyond the obvious choice of declining European aristocrats and used the image of the vampire to embody a metaphor for the deepest, darkest, guiltiest pleasures a society on the verge of hedonism had to offer- The Hunger, anyone?

Just like metal gave way to boys in flannel shirts singing about life as it is, vampire lost their punch in the nineties, they became, if anything, beautiful, alluring creatures at odds with their immortality, and filmmakers portrayed them as such. As of late, it's even worse, they have been sugarcoated.

Let the Right One In, however, rescued vampires from the trappings of sentimentality, bringing them out into the open as the dark mirror they are meant to be. It is a genre story that dares, once again brush against the human psyche. Once again, horror is not there solely for shock value. There are things to learn about ourselves, if we wish to dare to.

It is a story aligned with the Universe of Guillermo del Toro, in fact, it was not difficult to think about The Devil's Backbone. Oskar, the protagonist keeps the story grounded onto a familiar and painful reality: the trials of growing up as an outcast. Eli, even as a preternatural being, superior to Oskar in wisdom and strenght is haunted by her youth and apparent frailty, condemmed to never reach physical adulthood. It is the tragic story of a boy who cannot wait to grow up and a girl who, a long time ago was forced to come to terms with the idea that she never will. In this case, the vampire is devoid of a soul, yet still human enough to yearn for contact and the human being is willing to do anything, even leave reason behind in order to achieve the same.

The cinematography is not complicated, nevertheless it is effective, the barren, never ending white wasteland the characters move about is but a shadow of their emotional isolation. Most sensitive people might find it shocking that the main characters were so young to begin with. Once again, in the hands of intelligent filmmakers the urgency of blood and the innocence of love is beautifully woven. Children, after all are willing to believe, undergo and accept circumstances that would be just bizarre to grown ups, Oskar's is a world in which wonder and terror can coexist naturally.

All in all it is an intelligent, well thought film that is both unapologetic of it's use of genre as it is uplifting... yes, this is a feel good vampire movie, even if you know that in time, everything that can go wrong, will be, for the moment, in the brief expanse of perhaps a human lifetime, love will conquer all.

The quote:

"Be me for a while, be me" - Eli