Girl With a Plan

What a disappointing day today has been for me. It started off with such promise, then . . . nada. I picked up The Metro today to see these two headlines: "It's true. He's a Met" (referring to Pedro Martinez) and "Kirsten, Jake to wed?" So, Pedro Martinez is leaving the Red Sox and Jake Gyllenhaal was spotted looking at diamond engagement rings for Kirsten Dunst--the right, left combination. Yes, I realize I'm living in my own little crazy world but somehow can't let get of the hope that someday--someday--I might meet Jake and ba-da-bing, and that headline really made me feel like someone kicked me in the heart with a four-inch spike stiletto. At the same time, it made me sad to read that in case word somehow gets to Kirsten and the surprise is ruined. My mom recently admitted that she's afraid that I'm desperate to get married and that I'll settle down with the first person I meet. I set her straight, though: I'm not mature enough to get married right now and am still far too selfish. What I do really want, however, is a pretty dress, a party, and a sparkly piece of jewelry--not a marriage. I can definitely understand how the DeBeers diamond monopoly (warning: don't get me started on the atrocities that the DeBeers organization causes in Africa; I never shut up once started and I usually start to cry) was able to make a killing with this whole "right hand ring" phenomenon. (As a word to any of you who might consider hitting me with a engagement ring any time in the near future--cause there are clearly so many of you out there vying for my left ring finger--I don't want a diamond as an engagement ring. A good ol' cubic zarconia will make me a happy girl.) That's enough of that digression.

The other major disappointment today is that I had to give up tickets to The Karate Kid Musical when three separate attorneys asked me to stay tonight to do work. (Sorry, Catherine--I tried! I asked my friend, Ben, to pick up a cast album for you if they exist.) I'm doubly disappointed because I haven't seen Ben since I moved to New York, and I was looking forward to seeing him and to meeting his girlfriend.

A few good things have happened in the past few days, though: I finally got a wireless internet card for my laptop, meaning I have access to the internet in my apartment now! There will be no more looking out the window and thinking, "Hmmm . . . it looks kind of cold. Maybe I should bring a scarf . . ." Now I can know the exact temperature! Yay! Also, I got a volunteer position (okay, so it wasn't that difficult to get but I'm really looking forward to it) on an independent film set for Saturday night. The writer/director is a '93 Harvard alum (like that Neal guy I was dating a few years ago and one of the attorneys at work, and one year behind my old film professor--so maybe there'll be some connections there), and I'll be acting as his assistant, so I'm hoping he and the other people on set will be fun. We're filming in a diner on the Lower West Side (actually in Hell's Kitchen, I think--haven't gotten the exact details yet). I can't imagine anything more cinematically romantic than a New York City diner. :) Yay!

So, that's it from the Nell front for the time-being. Most of my Christmas shopping is complete. I'm not really buying for friends this year, as so much of my money has to go to bills, loans, credit cards for moving, etc., so the whole process was a lot easier than it was in earlier years.

I've been listening to a lot of really mellow-ish music recently. Some of the CDs in my player during the past few days have been: Moonlight Mile soundtrack (love it), Wonderboys soundtrack (also love it), and Jaime Cullum's Twentysomething (absolutely adore the title song; whole thing sounds like Cake (in that minor-key-singing-flat sot of way meets Frank Sinatra in a lounge).

Over the past few days I've rented some amazing movies as well: Maria Full of Grace and Man With a Plan.