"My sign is vital, my hands are cold, and I'm on knees, looking for the answer: are we human, or are we dancer?" ~the killers

I absolutely loved The Killers' first three albums. Yes, I loved Sam's Town, even though it mostly got panned by the critics. I really think that was largely because Brandon Flowers' ego got the best of him and he claimed it was "one of the best albums in the past twenty years" and "the album that keeps rock 'n' roll afloat" before it was released. That pissed off some people. Anyway, their newest album, Day & Age, was released last week, and it seems to have garnered a much warmer reception than their sophomore effort. I'm glad. They really are a talented band. I saw them live a few years ago (touring Hot Fuss) and would love to see them again in concert to see how they've matured. Here's a photo I took of Mr. Flowers singing Mr. Brightside ("and my stomach is sick..."):

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I didn't want this weekend to end. There were only 31 of us at Thanksgiving dinner, fewer people than usual. I missed my grandparents.
Here we all are:
We only did one take, so I think it was pretty impressive that it actually worked (even though some people are hidden).
My aunt, uncle, and cousins from Maine (Katie, Hannah, and Sarah) stayed with us for a few days. It was good to spend time with them, especially because we don't get to see them very often. Sarah, the youngest, is in sixth grade; I wish my students were more like her. She's a sweetheart and she loves reading. Of course I do like my students, but they're not the easiest crowd to teach. I don't want to go back to school tomorrow.

"You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan and the next five years trying to be with your friends again. You're talking 45 turns just as fast as you can, yeah, I know it gets tired, but it's better when we pretend..." ~lcd soundsystem

I absolutely love that song and I listened to it today for the first time in a really long time. I listened to it 6 times in a row I was so happy to hear it again. I love rediscovering songs.

Last night I went to a screening of the movie Milk. It opens on Wednesday and I highly recommend seeing it. Sean Pean gave a great, touching performance. I cried. James Franco was appealing as always, and Alison Pill...I was too distracted by her curly hair to be able to judge her performance. :D No, she was good (I'm a big fan of hers, I saw her band last week).
This year's best actor race has some strong contenders. Now that I've seen Milk and Frost/Nixon (I saw that one a year ago, sitting very close to Ron Howard), I can say that I expect Sean Penn and Frank Langella to be nominated for the best actor Oscar. I haven't seen The Wrestler yet, but I believe Mickey Rourke will win for that. I've heard amazing things about it and will go the weekend it opens (I haven't seen any info about free screenings of it). The trailer alone blew me away. A song that Bruce Springsteen wrote for the film called "The Wrestler" plays in the background and is just heartbreaking.

I cannot wait for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. Every year, me and about 40 of my family members congregate in my aunt and uncle's apartment. Last year they moved into a spacious apartment in Chelsea that easily accommodates everyone (before, when they lived on the UES, it had been a little difficult for all of us to squeeze in comfortably). I get to see all of my cousins and aunts and uncles whom I love spending time with. There is bad news this year, though. My grandfather, who was so incredibly excited for Thanksgiving, broke his pelvis over the weekend; that means he and my grandmother will be stuck in South Carolina. He's very depressed that he's missing it and so am I. I love my grandparents so much and haven't seen them lately, so I'm upset that I won't get to spend this holiday with them. Hopefully they'll come up for Christmas. He had his leg amputated over the summer and I guess it's been a difficult recovery. This is just another setback that I hope he'll get over soon.

I'll leave you with the trailer for The Wrestler.

"She had four white stallions coming up around the bend, four strong angels at her command to send. Four more seasons, for all that's broken to mend. I got four good reasons why I can't go back there again." ~patrick winningham

Oh my goodness, do I have stuff to write about. Here are some random, recent happenings. There are lots of random, recent happenings, but I don't have time to write about all of them so I'll just select what's currently on my mind.

1. I moved. And I plan on living here for the rest of my life because it was such an awful process. Nothing really major went wrong, but it was just so exhausting. I basically didn't eat for two days because I didn't have time. My mom and I went to Ikea last Tuesday and bought some stuff, and that day my aunt came over to my new apartment and helped us clean. On Saturday we moved in a bunch of stuff from my parent's house and then made a couple of trips from my old apartment. We spent about 14 hours total that day. On Sunday I unpacked stuff (which took a long time). I'm settled in now, though, and I love my new apartment. It's a studio a block away from Central Park. I just think that's fabulous. I love Central Park, and I especially can't wait for summer because it'll be so easy to hang out there and get to their concerts easily. And I'm excited about living alone. I've never really lived alone before. I've never had my own bathroom! It's the little things.
Here's a snapshot of my new apartment:

2. I went ice skating a while ago, and I don't think I wrote about it yet, but it was fun! I went with my friends Christin and Allison (who was visiting from Richmond). We went to Bryant Park. It was such a warm day that we didn't even wear coats; I was actually afraid that the ice would melt. We went at 8am, when it opened, so it wasn't that crowded. At Bryant Park you don't have to pay to use the ice, which is great. We did pay to rent skates. I had such a good time. We skated for over three hours, so I think we were all sore the next day, but it was so worth it. I haven't been ice skating since college, and now I want to go more often. I picked it up again pretty quickly.



3. My parents and I saw Billy Elliot on Broadway. I cannot say enough good things about it. It is absolutely fantastic. Really, go see it if you can. I see a loooot of shows and this is one of the best musicals I've seen in a while. Three actors rotate playing Billy and we got to see David Alvarez, whom I was hoping to see. I loved him. His dancing, singing, and acting were all superb. He made me cry (more than once). Here's the NYTimes review (Brantley reviewed David and called him "excellent"; the review is a very good read).

4. Last night Nic and I went to see a band called Erin Hill and her Psychadellic Harp with the Space Rats. It's quite an unusual name, for an unusual band. Erin Hill has a beautiful voice. She's a charming, quirky girl with a love of science fiction and space. Nic and I went because Alison Pill is in the band. I think she's one of the greatest stage actresses of our generation and I didn't know she could sing, so I was curious to hear her. She sang back-up and was pretty quiet most of the time, but she did have a nice voice. They played at a tiny bar in the East Village. There was no cover, so it was a great deal and I was glad we went.

5. I know there was something else, but my mind just blanked. Oh well. Maybe later I'll think of it. This week is insanely busy. Ugh. I can't wait until Thanksgiving.

"Sometimes I think sitting on trains, every stop I get to I'm clocking that game. Everyone's a winner now we're making that fame, bonafide hustler making my name." ~m.i.a.

This is a quick post to tell you all to go see the movie Slumdog Millionaire as soon as you possibly can. I saw a screening tonight and fell in love with it. It's probably my favorite movie of the year so far (and I see a lot of movies). It's about a teenager who is on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and it shows him reflecting on his life before the final night. It's at 100% on rottentomatoes right now, so obviously I'm not the only person completely impressed with it. Here are some highlights from reviews that they've posted (they're much more convincing than I am):

"The movie event of the season and strong Oscar contender, this is Danny Boyle's most exuberant and exciting work since Trainspotting, benefiting immensely from the unique physical and cultural milieu."

"Boyle's most ambitious film to date is also his greatest. Simply put, Slumdog Millionaire in one of the best -- if not the best -- films of 2008, as teeming with life as the slums it depicts."

"There's never been anything like this densely detailed phantasmagoria -- groundbreaking in substance, damned near earth-shaking in style."

"Brutal and beautiful, tragic and joyful, it's one of the year's best movies, a must-see!"

"A phantasmagorical movie directed by Danny Boyle filled with dazzling and varied sights of India, characters we can identify with and cheer for, and a jubilant message about destiny and love."

"Virtually the textbook definition of a crowd-pleaser..."

Seriously, go see it whenever it's released near you (limited release November 12th, hopefully expanding soon after that). You won't regret it. It's just such a beautiful, moving film; I cannot say enough good things about it.

Trailer: