"Famous People are just more interesting"

This is a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, “Almost Famous”, Kate Hudson says this while defending herself for not having enough “normal” friends. I can relate with Kate on some level. I think that I have always had a love or fascination…some could say obsession with famous people. I think it runs in our family though. My Mammaw kept a scrapbook of pictures of her favorite movie stars when she was my age. My sister’s and I always love to get it out and talk to her about the time when her and my Pappaw were next to Elvis Presley at a stop light and he was on his motorcycle, or the time when she was at the drive-in and John Payne, her favorite movie star was next to them with his wife and they struck up a conversation and got his autograph. That doesn’t just happen to anyone. So as I said this star crazed thing might run in my genes... I can’t help it.

Growing up I have always loved the Academy Awards. I used to tape it and watch the speeches over and over. I can still remember watching Cuba Gooding Jr’s acceptance speech for winning Best Supporting Actor in the movie Jerry McGuire. I remember feeling the excitement of seeing his once in a lifetime experience take place and what would be one of the best Oscar moments ever. Going to the Oscars is on my list of things to do in my life, or just being in LA during the Oscars. So, this past weekend Anna and I went to visit Lauddi and decided it was time to cross this off the list!

The Kodak theatre is open to the public to walk through days before the oscars. The red carpet is covered with a tarp though to keep it in tact. It was so fun to walk up the same carpet and stairs that the celebs would walk up on the day of.

These are 3 of my favorite movies of all time. Forrest Gump, Titanic and Shakespeare in Love. All 3 best picture winners.

I often read the blog iamnotastalker.com for inspiration. Her posts are always fun and she loves a lot of the same people as I do. Her blog is the reason I stalked the “Scrubs” set and got a chance to be an extra on the show “Cougartown”. She gave a lot of tips on where to stalk during Oscar weekend, so I would like to give her credit for meeting and seeing all of these people!! We got to meet Lindsay this weekend and she was so nice, it was great to talk with her and get excited about all the celeb sitings together.

Throughout the weekend we went to different hotels and restaurants in Beverly Hills to try to spot some celebs…they were everywhere. We were very successful! We saw over 100 celebrities and got to have conversations/say hello to 5. We waved at many.yesssssss

The following list is who we saw pre Oscars. I highlighted our favorite sightings and interactions!!


The List

1. Elton John- He walked right past our table and then had dinner 2 tables away from us.

2. Ben Stiller

3. JJ Abrams- I wanted to scream LOST…or I love FELICITYYYY haha

4. Jake Gyllanhaal- HOT!

5. Taye Diggs

6. Neil Patrick Harris- I told him that I loved him and his show and that he was hilarious. He smiled and said thank you so much!! Anna goes, “Kendall!! You are crazy!” I said, “Hey I just talked to Neal Patrick Harris…did you?” hahahahah I guess I was crazy. No regrets.

7. Kate Beckinsale

8. Tim Robbins, I told him that I loved Shawshank…a little embarrassed for myself on that one.

9. David Denman- Roy from the Office- I yelled ROYYYYY at him. Unfortunate!

10. Adrian Brody

11 Jason Lewis (Smith from Sex and the City)-so I walked up to him and Topher Grace while waiting for the Valet and introduced myself. I conclude that they were flirting with me…

12 Topher Grace- He was taller than me, and I think he might have loved me! He thought we had met before, and I may or may not have went along with it. Our conversation was about 3 minutes which felt like 30. haha

13 Dane Cook- stood next to us waiting for valet…too nervous to say anything, he did not look approachable.

14 Ryan Seacrest- not as short as I thought

15Kristin Bell- she waved at us and said hi when walking by

16 Dax Shepard

17 Matthew Morrison (teacher from Glee) when walking by us he did a spin type dance move like he always does on the show and then pointed to us. Soooo cute.

18 Diana Agron (Quinn from Glee)

19 Mark Sailing (Puck from Glee)…Hottttttttttt and he waved at us.

20 Meg Ryan

21 Jamie fox

22. Ed Westick(chuck from gossip girl)

23 Jessica Schozr(Vanessa from Gossip Girl)

24 Leonardo Dicaprio- the ultimate celeb siting. He was wearing a baseball cap and did not look very friendly, but I was star struck. I heart LEO!!!

25 Hallie Berry

26 Kristin Davis

27 Tina Fey- walking around the lobby on her Blackberry, I wanted to scream Liz Lemon!!!!

28 Eric McCormick(Will from Will and Grace)-walked right by our table

29 Amy Adams

30 David Spade

31 Will I am (black-eyed peas) he waved at us!!

32 Christian Slater- very friendly waved at all of us!!

33 Sophia Vergara (Gloria on Modern Family)

34 Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell from Modern Family)- I told him while waiting for Valet that he was on the best show! He was very nice and obliged to my craziness and said “awwww thank you so much!!”

35 Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters- Kevin) I introduced myself again waiting for Valet. I told him that he was the best character on that show. I watched the first season but no longer watch it. He was very nice and had an Irish accent I think. Haha. He loved us!

36 Dave Annabelle ( Brother’s and Sister’s)

37 Jason Reitman (Director of Up in the Air) walked right past our face

38 Jermaine Clement- Flight of the Conchords. He was not very nice to me. I wish Brett would have been there instead.

39 Stanley Tucci

40 George Takai (I recognized him from Heroes, but apparently if I were a star trek nerd I would have died because he is a star from that and announcer on the Howard Stern Show.

41 Taylor Lautner- walked past my face 3 times. So young. Yet Hot.

42 Fred Savage- walked past us 3 times

43 Matt Damon

44 Jimmy Kimmel

45 Mariska Harkatay

46 Lenny Kravitz

47 Stephen Spielberg

48 Morgan Freeman

49 Sandra Bullock

50 Ryan Reynolds

51 Anna Kendrick

52 Colin Firth

53 Timmothy Olyphant- (Jennifer Garners lover from the movie Catch and Release)

54 Elizabeth banks

55 Rashida Jones

56 Katie Couric

57 BJ Novak

58 Kevin Connely

59 John Hamm- Mad Men

60 Jennifer Westfeldt

61 Ron Livingston


Vanity Fair Party!!

We went to the Sunset Tower Hotel and stood in the front and watched as all the Stars arrived after the Oscars in their dresses and Tux’s, Oscar’s in hand.

62 Jay leno

63 Shawn White- wearing his American flag pants. Neat.

64 Mickey Rooney

65Apollo Ono

66 Evan Lysick

67 Chris Pine

68 Natalie Portman

69 John Voigt- (Angelina Jolie’s father and Oscar winner) came across to shake all of our hands, very nice man

70 Anna Paquin- came across to shake hands and sign autographs

71 Stephen Moyer- “TrueBlood” Anna Paquin’s fiancé came across to shake hands and sign autographs as well

72 Sandra bullock- we saw her carrying her Oscar!! Love her!!

73 Chris Noth-Big from SATC

74 Selma Hayak

75 Ryan Phillipe- Hottttt

76 Chevy Chase

77 Steve Martin

78 Diddy

79 Jonas bros

80 Jessica Simpson

81 Bradley Cooper- very Hottttt

82 Venus and Serena Williams

83 Maggie Gyllynhaal

84 Peter Sarsgaard

85 Rachel McAdams

86 Charlize Theron- beautiful!!

87 Cameron Diaz- she looked way hot

88 Jennifer Lopez

89 Marc Anthony

90 Samuel L Jackson

91 Woody Allen

92 Robin Thicke

93 Meryl Streep- star struck

94 Tom Hanks- I texted Heather and now she will not be my friend since we saw him

95 Alec Baldwin

96 Gabourey Sidibe- Lead Actress in “Precious”

97 Zoe Saldana- Avatar

98 Gabrielle Union

99 Russell Simmons

100.Katy Perry

101.Russell brand

102.Jesse James

103.Kristin Stewart

104.Gerard Butler

105.Mccauly culkin

106.Robert Downy Jr and wife

117.The Wayans bros

108.Hilary Swank

109.Sean Penn

110.Tyler Perry

111.Christine Taylor-Ben Stiller’s wife

112.Marissa Tomai

113.George Lopez

114.Catherine Bigalo- Oscars in hand

115.Sigorney Weaver

116.Zach Efron

117. Vanessa Hudgens

118.Carey Mulligan- An Education

119.Jodie Foster

120.Barbara Streisand

121.Diane Kruger

122.Joshua Jackson- I screamed Pacey!!!!!

123. Adrian Brody!!

This weekend was ridiculous. We unfortunately did not get a George Clooney or Jennifer Aniston sighting…but there is always next year!

Now we can finally cross off our list, walk the Oscar Red Carpet!!

Your FACE won't DO IT

I was challenged and tagged by Summer!!

Eight things I look forward to:


1. SUMMERTIME!! 6 more daysssss

2. CONCERTS!!! No Doubt,Better than Ezra, Third Eye Blind (twice) and Beyonce!!

3. Traveling/ going to the Beach (Destin, visiting Abby, Puerto Rico and Malibu)

4. Puerto Ricoooo trip with 3 of my best friendssss. We are going on a Pirate tour of old San Juan on Seadoos. I am also going to stalk Johnny Depp who is filming a movie there.

5. Sand Volleyball

6. Staying up late and sleeping really late

7. YOUNGLIFE CAMP in Coloradoooooooo

8. Stalking Zach Braff in Californiaaaaaaaa


Eight things I did yesterday:


1. Listened to about 70 of my student's persuasive speeches.

2. Attended a pep rally.

3. 4 hour volleyball training.

4. Talked to Lauddi on the phone about her amazing job and about visiting her this summer in Caliiii

5. Watched a rerun of FRIENDS and laughed out loud by myself

6. Ate chips and salsa

7. Remembered how I am seeing Gwen Stefani in 3 days and freaked out!!

8. Engaged in stalker activities.

Eight things that I wish I could do:

1. Swim with Dolphins

2. Live by the Ocean

3. Meet Zach Braff

4. Run really fast

5. Go back to Greece

6. Surf

7. Play guitar

8. Teach with Ron Clark

Eight Shows I watch:

1. Scrubs

2. The Office

3. LOST

4. So You Think You Can Dance

5. FRIENDS reruns

6. 30 Rock

7.

8.

Now I tag Anna!!!!!!!!!!! and I know she will do it!!!

"What's amazing is when you can feel your life going somewhere, like your life just figured out how to get good, like that second"

During spring break I went to visit my friend Laura (Lauddi), who recently moved to Malibu, California. So basically, it was one of the craziest trips I have ever been on. I keep reliving all of it in my head, and can't believe that most of it actually happened. I am currently planning on when I can go back, which is not soon enough!!



This is a picture of Lauddi and her horse, Lucky Lady in front of the house they are staying at.







I am going to have to break the trip down into different posts because there is just so much to tell. Well first off I will start by how I prepared for this trip. I decided that my goal while I was in LA was that I would find Zach Braff and make him fall in love with me...or at least just get a glimpse of him. I am crazy I know, but he is the one person I wanted to see. I am obsessed with Scrubs, and think we are MFEO. Anyways, while googling, "places where Zach Braff hangs out" like a crazy person I came across a blog titled, "iamnotastalker.blogspot.com". I immediatly was drawn in. This girl basically finds all of the places where movies and tv shows were shot in LA and posts there addresses. She also posts where to find a celebrity. So while looking at her blog in amazement I stumbled upon a post titled "My So Called Life House". I immediately freaked out and emailed Summer with the news. This is one of our favorite shows of all time, so I knew she would be crazy and get excited with me.








So once I arrived in LA I decided that would rent a car for the week because Lauddi had to work during the day. I do not know what I would have done with out the rent car or my handy GPS system guiding me through my craziness. So the first place that I had on my agenda was the Chase house from "My so Called Life". It is located in South Pasadena and was pretty easy to find. It was crazy to be there in person. As I pulled up to the house I saw that the windows were wide open and I could tell that it was empty. So I thought to myself, "who cares what people think, I am going to get out of my car and walk up onto that porch and do a twirl like Angela Chase did after her first kiss with Jordan Catalano". So after calling Summer and getting a pep talk I did just that.












It is a great house, I met one of the neighbors outside who was extremely nice and took a picture of me in front of the house. He told me he has lived in his house for 30 years now, so I got excited and thought that maybe he remembered when the show was being filmed. He said that there had been several things filmed in front of that house so he didn't remember it exactly. However when I told him about the show and when it was filmed he then informed me that he remembered high school kids and a girl with red hair and a backpack...which would have been the one and only, CLAIRE DANES!! I know most will not think that this is a cool experience but to me it was!! Here are a few pictures of the Chase house.



Above is the how the house looked on the show, below you can see that it has been painted. I love this house!! I love the porch and the balcony, and the street that it is on.










I also stalked the Wonder Years Home which is in Burbank, the Father of the Bride house, which is in South Pasadena as well and finally the Sacred Heart Hospital, where they film scrubs. My next post will be all about my Scrubs experience, which lead to several fun events!! Here are a few pics.




FATHER OF THE BRIDE!!! This is one of my favorite houses. There are tulips lining the walkway, just like they planted them for the wedding in the movie. I tried to see the basketball goal in the driveway where they played one-on-one but could not see because it was in the back. That is my favorite part of the movie. Such a great house.

WONDER YEAR HOUSE!!! Can't you just see the Arnold's rolling around and wrestling in the grass, like they did during the opening credits?

SCRUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TO BE CONTINUED...

Top Ten Movies of All Time

(According to me)

The other day I was having a conversation with Tyler about great movies. As much as I love movies I thought it a shame that I could not actually pinpoint a favorite.

Here is my list of the top ten greatest movies from the last 25 years in the order that they came out.

10. Splash (1984)/Big (1988)

For me, these two tie for my favorite movie as a child. I used to wish that I were a mermaid so that Tom would fall in love with me and we could live together in the sea.

9. Forrest Gump (1994)

No big surprise that I loved this one, as well. It was so much more than just a story about a man from Alabama.

8. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Great.
7. Romeo and Juliet (1996)

DiCaprio and Danes are HOT in a modern take on the classic love story.

6. Titanic (1997)

Hate to love it. Fun to watch until the ship hits the iceberg. It breaks my heart every time.

5. Almost Famous (2000)

I didn’t even come to appreciate this movie until college when I used to watch it over and over again. It’s a classic to me.

4. The Pianist (2002)

The best WWII movie to date. Roman Polanski and Adrian Brody earned their Oscars.

3. Cinderella Man (2005)

Extremely entertaining true story about a boxer who never gave up. Always makes me cry.

2. No Country for Old Men (2007)

Unlike any movie I’ve ever seen. Beautiful, honest, and brutal.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Reminiscent of Forrest Gump, it is the life story of a man from New Orleans. I found myself wanting to warp into his world. At three hours long, I still wanted more.

The Top 30 after that!
(There are so many to love)

Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985), The Princess Bride (1987), Willow (1988), Dances with Wolves (1990), Thelma and Louise (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Braveheart (1995), Elizabeth (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Gladiator(2000), Cast Away (2000), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Love Actually (2003), The Notebook (2004), National Treasure (2004), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Munich (2005), Talladega Nights (2006), The Departed (2006), The Holiday (2006), Once (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Into the Wild (2007), Seven Pounds (2008), The Dark Knight (2008), Sex and the City (2008)

Fire Drill

On the evening of October 28, something very scary happened to me. I feel it is my duty to share this story with you.

It was a beautiful night, and I had just taken the dogs for a walk. Of course, I had actually taken three walks because the dogs are so bad on the leash that I literally have to take them one at a time. (I could just take one dog and not worry about the other two, but then I feel guilty because I don’t want anyone to feel left out.) Anyway, when I got home from walking the dogs I realized that Buddy, my cat, was indeed feeling left out and was standing by the back door. He wanted to go outside and roll in the grass, which by the way is one of the cutest things ever! So, Buddy, Princess, Dawson, Riley and I were all in the back yard enjoying the wonderful fall weather. About 10 minutes passed. Then I rallied everyone up and we all went inside…

Cut to me panicking!

Something was definitely burning and there was a ton of smoke coming out of the kitchen. There was no one there to consult with, and my immediate impulse was to gather all the animals and run out the front door. I seriously considered it for about 5 seconds when my phone rang. It was my mom. “Mom, oh my god, something is burning in the kitchen, there is smoke everywhere, I don’t know where it’s coming from, I don’t know what to do!,” I screamed into the phone.

Then I looked closer, through the smoke, at the stove/oven panels…both off. I quickly opened the microwave…nothing. Then, I literally said out loud, “What the frick?” I was thinking to myself, ‘where the hell is this smoke coming from?’ Upon closer inspection, I finally realized that it was coming from behind the refrigerator. My mom, still on the phone, instructed me to pull the fridge out from the wall and unplug it.

I always knew my brute strength would someday save the day.

With the plug pulled, the smoke finally ceased and I let out a breath of relief. The refrigerator had somehow caught on fire and the plethora of foul-smelling smoke was the result of burning plastic.

I sat there for a minute, contemplating what would have happened had I not been there, or had the fire caught onto the wall and started burning down the house. It suddenly dawned on me how necessary it is to have a simple fire extinguisher on hand in case of a small fire. It seriously hit me how EASILY a fire can start. I was so lucky to have been there when this happened. It was a very scary feeling.

After this reality check, I called the landlord and waited for him to come over and tell me what the heck went wrong. When he arrived, he commented on the smell and was shocked at the amount of smoke that had accumulated in the house. After inspecting the back of the fridge, he concluded that there had been a short in one of the wires and that it must have been due to a defective part. He has since ordered us a new refrigerator and it should be here this evening.

Even though there were no large flames, and I caught the fire before it did any damage to the house, this fact remains; I was unprepared.

I now feel strongly that every household should definitely have smoke detectors and overhead sprinklers, especially in the kitchen. And, every household should have a fire extinguisher.

These simple safety measures could prevent insurmountable loss.

-Heather

"We are totally MFEO"

You might be wondering to yourself... what in the world does the phrase "MFEO" stand for? Well, in order for you to fully understand I will need to give you a brief history of where I first heard this phrase

MFEO is something that I picked up off the movie "Sleepless in Seattle". If you have seen this movie a million times like I have you might recall the crazy girlfriend of Jonah’s that abbreviates everything and at one point describes Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s characters as:
"MFEO…Made for Each Other" or sometimes I like to say "Meant for Each Other"

It was not until my sophomore year of college that this phrase resurfaced while my roommates and I were over analyzing or obsessing about a particular boy. The object of my obsession was most likely the A&M bus driver who resembled Brad Pitt from his earlier days in movies such as, "A River Runs Through It". I totally thought Brad the bus driver would stare at me through the rear view mirror every day while driving me home from my morning class, if I close my eyes I can still see him twirling that toothpick in his mouth. There was also a certain swimmer who came in everyday that I "patrolled" but really just stared at as he swam laps for hours while lifeguarding at the Rec. Oh and I can’t forget the boy who sat across the aisle from me in History of Rock and Roll. Lindsey was in that class with me and got to witness the crazy first hand, good thing she thought that his friend and her were MFEO as well. This helped justify my craziness. The funny thing is I probably said less than 5 sentences to all 3 of them my entire life, but I was still convinced that each of these boys and I were a perfect match.

I couldn't decide which picture was more beautiful....

At first all of my roommates and friends had the same initial question, "who says things like that and what does MFEO stand for?" Once I began to explain it to them I could see the light go off, or what my fellow teachers would say, that "a ha!" moment. Ever since then it has been part of our group vocabulary.

The phrase has already come up in our group blog and there have been a few questions from others regarding it. So I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to explain our crazy lingo and also compile all of the couples that I think are "Meant For Each Other".

Thus I give you the crazies:

Top 15 MFEO

15) Ryan & Rachel

We first witnessed their love story unfold in the movie "The Notebook". From the ferris wheel to dancing on the street without music, we loved it all. Once we found out that these two had a real life romance going on all seemed right in the world. They split briefly and it hurt my heart a little. Luckily on my daily check of people.com (don’t judge me) I saw that they reconciled and I immediately emailed to make sure everyone had heard the news. Close call.

14) Heather & Tom

Ever since I have known Heather Amman she has been in love with Tom Hanks. I used to go over to her house when we were in middle school and we would watch the movie "Splash". I would listen to her go on and on about how she should be Daryl Hannah, and how she was going to marry Tom one day. Heather may be engaged to someone else now, but I will always think that Tom and her are MFEO! Sorry Ty Ty.

Doesn't Heather kind of look like Daryl Hannah below?? yessss

13) Beyonce & Jay-Z

Like Bonnie & Clyde, Beyonce and Hov are meant to be. She is smokin' and needs a man or "Soldier" who will not compete with her hotness...just love her. This is why they make the perfect match.

12) Lindsey & George

Carrie Bradshaw said it best, "Clooney is like a Chanel Suit, he’ll always be in style.

I think Lindsey’s love for George escaladed our senior year of college. She still believes that if she meets him in the airport or at a pub that he would love her...and we totally agree! As you can see we like to encourage the crazy in our group.

George + Lindsey = MFEO!!!!

11) Felicity & Ben

I have to admit that these two were meant to be from the start. We all felt for her when she followed him to college and he didn’t remember her name. He called her crazy to her face and she kept coming back for more. At times I wished she would just get over Ben and go for Noel, but the force could not keep her away.

10) Audrey & Patrick

I think if Audrey had the choice to star in any movie it would be "Dirty Dancing", opposite Patrick Swayze of course! Audrey can quote every line of this movie, from "no one puts baby in the corner" to "I carried a watermelon?" She has also been found on occasion jamming out to "Time of my Life" by herself in her car. I think we all agree that she could pull off those moves and that she belongs with Patrick just as Baby belongs with Johnny.

9) Edward & Bella

"Can you still be a Christian and a Vampire?"~ Anonymous Crazy

These two originate from the popular vampire romance novels that have become the latest obsession among 14-16 yr olds… and a lot of adults around the world. I know this might sound weird but I have dreamt about this book (and know others who have as well…Hollie). Sadly as a 24 year old I am admitting that I am on "Team Edward", for now. I am still learning about Jacob. Also sometimes I secretly wish that vampires existed and that I would fall in love with one. I promise I’m not crazy.

8) Kendall & JC (yessssssssss)

Back in the day I was obsessed with a little known group called... N’SYNC!!!!!! Although I love me some Justin Timberlake, it was the dark haired, handsome other lead vocalist, JC Chasez that won my heart. I had his picture all over my room, his bobble head and I even made a wedding invitation in my high school French class for a project where he was my groom. Luckily one day my inner crazy was welcomed(thanks to my sister stalking their tour bus) and I actually had the opportunity to meet JC. As a result I have a paparazziesque picture that is one of my prized possessions.

7) Jordan Catalano & Angela Chase

"I just like how he is always leaning, like against stuff. He leans great"

Didn't everyone have a "Jordan Catalano" in high school ? It doesnt matter how old you are when you talk about him or remember him you regress to that 15 year old mentality.

6) Hollie & Matt

"Sweetness in Starlight" and "When Red Meets Blue" were written for Hollie. She is his future wife and is not afraid to let him know it.

5) JD & Turk

If you do not watch Scrubs or think that it is funny, well I can not be your friend. I will admit, I never watched this show until a couple of years ago when it began to play in syndication on late night. Now I know that I was missing out on so much, most of all the "bromance" between JD and Turk. I mean, what's not to love? They share a stuffed dog named "Rowdy", like drinking Appletinis, playing hide the saltine and are members of the mighty kites club.

Chocolate Bear and Vanilla Bear Foreva!

4) Anna & Enrique

"Do you know? Do you know?" Forget that Kournikova tennis chick already! Enrique and our Anna would look extra hot together. Our group all knows that Anna needs her a luscious Latino lover.

3) Justin & Britney

I had to include them even though they are ancient history. I still get nostalgic when I see an old pic of J and B. Brit should definitely pay dues to the LRC..."Life Ruiner's Club" because she is the one who ruined her life with the whole Justin Break up.

I do have to add that we are glad that Britney is back, we were always pulling for her.



MFEO = Wearing matching Denim outfits. yessssssss

2) Ross & Rachel

He’s her Lobster !

1) JAM ( Jim & Pam)

We love Jim. We like Pam. So we definitely are all for the JAM.

yessssss for gas station proposals. JAM! JAM! JAM!

Movie Manners

Let’s talk about acceptable behavior for the movie theater.

First of all, people go to the movies so that they can see an actual movie. This means that they watch quietly and listen to the people on the screen so that when the movie is over they have a basic understanding of what happened throughout the story. That being said, going to the movies, and then talking to your friends for two hours while you are there completely defeats this purpose. As if that is not enough, talking during movies might be one of the most annoying things that any person can possibly do. This leads me to my point. I will state it very clearly for those of you who are guilty of this crime; subtlety doesn’t work with you, (like death stares and people yelling “Shut-up!”).

1) DO NOT TALK in the movie theater.

Moving right along, something has to be said about the “loud-eaters.” Now to be quite honest, loud-eaters are sick no matter where you are, but in the movies it’s enough to make you want to throw a bowling ball at someone’s head. The fact that pop-corn is a staple concession at movie theaters baffles me. Why would you want to sell a snack that makes that much noise at a place where people need to sit in silence to get the full affect? Not to mention the bag it comes in and all the noise those make. Then there are the plastic candy bags that people dig around in at five-second intervals throughout the duration of the movie…And just when you think they are finally done eating their stupid candy, they go in for the big finale (30 seconds of nothing but the crinkling of plastic wrapper as they search for the last skittle). When this happens you might find yourself unable to hear anything else as your ears focus in on this maddening sound. This is normal, as is the uncontrollable urge to scream.

2) Don’t be a “loud-eater.”

The next item on the list is something that really gets under my skin. People who sit directly in front of me when the entire room is otherwise pretty empty. Now, I think I speak for more than just myself when I say that arriving early to the movies is done to accomplish one main objective; to get a good seat. It is so very irritating to get there half an hour early, pick out the ideal location, (based on proximity to others, along with viewing distance from the screen) and as soon as you sit down a group comes and sits exactly where you have your feet propped up in front of you. Now, when the theater is crowded I will gladly put my feet down so that someone is welcome to sit in front of me. It’s a completely different situation when there are a hundred vacancies to choose from. Get a clue people!

3) ALWAYS choose a seat away from others when space permits.

On a similar note is the issue of seating when the theater is already crowded. If you are coming with several people you seriously might want to consider coming early. Like I said before, people arrive early on purpose so that they can get their seats and be done with it. These are the people who enjoy watching movies and they want to maximize the experience by sitting in a preferred location. Some people even know that they may have to use the rest room a couple of times, so they choose a seat on the isle. Whatever the reason, many people have motives behind their seat choices. Now, you movie-wreckers on the other hand, are completely different. You decide on a whim to go up to the movies because you have nothing better to do, and you bring all 7 of your best friends along, too. Of course, you aren’t early since you didn’t plan on movie night in the first place, and to your surprise there aren’t any empty rows left!?! The next thought that comes to your mind is something that you should ABSOLUTELY NEVER do.

4) NEVER ask someone to accommodate you by changing seats. (Anyone who gives up their seat to a movie-wrecker is an enabler)

This next concept also ties in with seating, as the previous two have. It is the simple concept of ‘realizing that the earth doesn’t revolve around you.’ I personally feel that if you show up after the movie has started then you don’t deserve a seat at all. Why should all the people who got there on time in anticipation of the show have to be disturbed, potentially missing important details, so you can find a seat? They shouldn’t! You are not entitled to a good seat if you show up late. People like you are the reason why theaters have the “broke-neck” seats. If you come in late the right thing to do is quietly slip in, sit in the front row, and endure your punishment. That way nobody gets upset at you and next time you’ll show up on time, if nothing else to avoid the physical pain and discomfort.

5) When late, you belong in the front row, period.

The last thing I want to talk about is very serious. It has been brought to my attention that many adults are scamming the theaters out of their money by sneaking child tickets at the electronic kiosks. This is stealing! Kind of. In fact, I have witnessed this on several occasions and even been peer pressured into doing it myself. I feel that I would never have behaved this way if it were not for the bad influence of my unlawful friends. Now that I have that off my chest I can give you the final rule.

6) Do not steal at the movies. And…do not pressure your innocent friends to steal at the movies.