Today's Attention Deficit

Today is one of those days when you have a million things going on, you feel like you should be doing a million different things, and you have no idea where you should start.

In front of me on my desk, I have a yellow legal pad. Innumerable pages of this legal pad are polluted with the barely-legible scribbles of meeting notes, to-do lists, and grandiose delusions. I love to-do lists. But today, I do not want to address a single item on my not-insubstantial list of things to do.

I want to be outside running a few laps around the reservoir.

I want to be at home sprawled out lazily on the couch watching Parks and Recreation.

I want to be climbing in the Gunks.

I want to be reading The Hunger Games.

Despite the many, many times I've seen/heard the following song covered, this one still gave me chills:

Today, I am having trouble focusing.

But that's OK. There's always tomorrow.

Modern Day Mother Box

What is a mother box, you ask? It's a complicated device that's been utilized many times in the rich and illustrious history of the DC Universe, summarized as such:

"Created by Apokoliptian scientist Himon using the mysterious Element X, they are generally thought to be sentient, miniaturized, portable supercomputers, although their true nature and origins are unknown. They possess wondrous powers and abilities not understood even by their users, the gods of New Genesis. These range from teleportation (they can summon Boom Tubes) to energy manipulation. Mother Boxes have been seen healing the injured, including Darkseid himself, after he was beaten by Doomsday. Metron stated that each Mother Box shares 'a mystical rapport with nature'. They provide their owner with unconditional love and self-destruct when their owner dies."

Yesterday, my own mother box arrived in the mail. Though I put it off for as long as I possibly could, I have finally joined the ranks of the many who possess and use smartphones.

There is still much to learn, and I feel like I will be content simply using it as just a phone for the time being. But eventually, I hope to take full advantage of its "wondrous powers and abilities not understood even by their users."

Life Before Rotten Tomatoes

It was a better time. Or, at least, a simpler time.

1. People would watch a movie because it looked interesting in a commercial or trailer. The anticipation would build, the excitement would mount, and ultimately, the satisfaction of having watched a good movie was infinitely greater - simply by virtue of being surprised by excellence. Nowadays, I find myself nodding in approval at the end of a movie; I casually remark, "That was really good." And I leave it at that. After all, why should I expect any less from a movie with a greater than 80% rating on the Tomato-meter? The last movie I can remember that blew away even these elevated expectations was Slumdog Millionaire (94%). That was three years ago.
2. If a film looked boring and uninteresting in said commercials or trailers, it would be passed up and never given a second thought. Rotten Tomatoes has the curious ability to guilt-trip me into watching movies I would never have considered watching. Many a Friday or Saturday evening has been whiled away in a dark theater, subject to the tediously droll machinations of dry British cinema (e.g. Gosford Park, 86%, An Education, 94%), when I could have spent my money on mindless but absolutely more entertaining fare (e.g. Snakes on a Plane, 68%). Though, to be perfectly honest, I would watch a healthy portion of both more often than not.
3. The opposite effect holds true as well. I can't help but wonder how many gems I've missed in the last 5-8 years I've been utilizing Rotten Tomatoes, simply because that cursed Tomato-meter advised me against watching certain films. There are broader classes of movies that I enjoy thoroughly, but are often characterized as "rotten" by the sometimes-elitist cadre of critics that contribute to Rotten Tomatoes: cheap comedies, superhero movies, chick flicks. Granted, a large majority of movies that fall under these designations are pretty bad. But my middle school self would never have forgiven me for passing up a Green Lantern movie, however low the rating (27%). My, uh, high school self would be incredulous that I haven't watched a legitimate chick flick in years.

I can't pinpoint exactly when Rotten Tomatoes became such a domineering force in my life, but I remember discovering it near the beginning of college. At the time, it was used more after the fact, as confirmation that a movie I had enjoyed was, in fact, well-received critically. Today, I rarely bother with movie trailers and commercials. Gone are the days when I could just walk into a theater, pick any movie that was playing, and enjoy the quintessential spontaneous "movie-going experience."

Whether motivated by skyrocketing ticket prices in the last ten years or simply a lowered threshold of tolerance for mediocrity, I find I am now tethered to the Tomato-meter, for better or worse. One might argue that Rotten Tomatoes allows the movie-goer to be more intentional in his selection of films; that it imbues the whole endeavor with greater purpose and gravitas, knowing you are seeking out only the best.

Still, I can't help but feel a little sad when I contrast the experience of being vastly underwhelmed by the drawn-out ending of a movie like Source Code (91%) - with walking into a movie like Love Actually (63%) having had zero expectations and leaving the theater unable to contain the smile on my face...