I need a car.

I've been looking for a car for the last three weeks. The kind folks down at the local Enterprise rent-a-car have gotten to know me by name, as I rent a car every weekend (as it's hard to find a car to purchase in my two-mile walking radius). Every time I return the rental, they ask me if I've had any luck. They also have now met my mother, and during our chit-chat sessions via their "door-to-door" pickup service, know where I am going to school and what I am planning to do after I graduate. In other words: if you can't get a hold of me some time, ring the folks down at Enterprise and I'm sure they'll fill you in on whatever update you might need on my life.

So I'm doing the used-car dance on craigslist. I find a car I want to look at, call the person and ask for the VIN, and then get a crappy ass excuse as to why they don't have it. WHY do you not have the single most important thing affiliated with your used car sale? Probably because you are a LIAR. None of the cars are any good, and the people selling them are insane. I've called so many people I've lost count.

There's something about a used car that turns a person into a lying sack of shit. An animal that would claw at your pockets for money if you were unconscious, like a wild bear searching a campsite for lunch meat or toddlers. Used car dealers are even worse. My favorites are the 'two-hundred and fifty pound russian that wears a baby tee', and the 'I think you are such a piece of crap that I'm going to talk to you with a pickle in my mouth' middle eastern variant. Seriously, the whole damn pickle was in his mouth, not a hand around to assist. It was like a freaking green bumpy cigar.

Why do people have to lie to make money on this stuff? Is the money really that important, that you'd be willing to rip-off a poor (soon to be graduated) college student? Wouldn't these people feel bad if they got ripped off too, and maybe NOT want to put that energy back out into the world?

I am seriously re-thinking my existence as a driver. I've bought several cars before, but it was NEVER this hard. Maybe because I'm looking for the long-haul kind of vehicle, or the fact that I'm not willing to buy cars from people that use terminology like "shaved" and "dubs" when referring to an automobile (no, I don't care if it has a freaking alpine if the damn thing stalls in 2nd gear). Seriously, how in the hell am I going to "bring my own rims cause the onez in the piture don't come wit it." When did wheels become a non-sale item?

Anybody know a good ranch where I could buy a reliable horse? Preferably potty trained. Thanks.

So, I've been waiting to see Children of Men since September/October, and finally went to go see it with Kristen this last weekend. The film is beautiful. Everything I hoped for. More. Fantastico. I'd buy anyone I know a pass to see the movie if I had the money. You get the picture.

I've been doing some reading online about the film, and different audience member's opinions of it. A lot of people trash the ending, the unresolved mysteries of the film. Well BOO-FREAKING-HOO people, they aren't all there.

"But why are the [spoiler]unable to [spoiler]?"
"This movie sucked, it didn't resolve anything about the [spoiler]."
"It was a depressing piece of shit that didn't really have to do anything with [spoiler]."

Goddammit people, you want someone to chew your popcorn for you too? Film - just like any other art - can make statements AND ask questions, all at the same time. Some films like the audience to answer the questions themselves. Some films apparently make the mistake of believing the audience members can think for themselves, and expect them to do so.

The sad thing is, most people paying their $10 for a film now days are expecting not to think. The even sadder truth, is that this is a learned behavior. A lot of Hollywood films don't provoke thought anymore - just mindless kabooms and sex. Most mainstream films haven't made us think for a long time, and when one does it has to masquerade under a genre to be a success (The Matrix, Memento, etc). Maybe we've been trained from childhood, with Aesop's fables and their close-ended morals... or maybe it's from our lovely little TV sets that give us complete story resolutions every half hour of the day. Either way, most people just don't seem to be up for the challenge anymore.

I always suggest that people keep in mind that there is a difference between the story and the setting - and that sometimes the movie isn't about the setting, but the character's journeys within it. Nobody bitches and moans because the war was still being fought at the end of Saving Private Ryan - that film was about the characters and their story, not the war and how it ends. Sometimes the setting (which can be a conflict itself) isn't the mystery that needs to be solved. It's the backdrop for the little people stories that - in the end - are infinitely more interesting and fulfilling.

Looks like I already failed on my "Post a Day for a Week" test. I'm pathetic - or wait... I did it on purpose. Yeah, that's it. I totally skipped yesterday on purpose. Cause it's artistic.

Anyway. It's raining outside, and I gotta say that I've gone a bit Christmas crazy. Aside from the fact that I've had a Christmas CD rotating nonstop in my car for the last month, I find myself wandering the holiday isles at the local Target just for the 'experience' (red green red green gold green red). I've also broken out all the Christmas movies, and have managed to bust open a box of twinkly lights. Not too sure why I've gone all nutty this year. I mean, it's just another year right? Maybe it's cause I like the communal feeling, or maybe it's Kristen... maybe it's just cause I like the twinkly lights.

Take it away Bing...