Clueless Impulse

Every get and urge to buy something? Not because you need it. Not because it is practical. Merely because you have an urge to satiate your desire for change… instantly. Know the urge? That impulse buy? A pair of new shoes. A new DVD box set. A haircut at a real salon.

Sure my impulse purchases all sound girlie, but guys do it too. Maybe for them the urge is to buy a new computer or something. I dunno. All I am saying is that the impulse purchase serves no purpose other than to provide me with a sense of control; the feeling that I can change my negative outlook by acting impulsively.

Granted, I am not in a financial position to make any misc purchases outside of the $5 to $20 range. Yet, I still have that urge.

While pondering this odd behavior, I was reminded of the 90s film Clueless. Ah, a classic film about unnecessary spending sprees and overly self-centered habits. I am not going to lie. I liked this movie a lot. Not because it was cinematically thrilling, but because it was absolutely nothing like my teenage years. The film was so foreign to me that I was able to watch it without taking it very seriously.

In Clueless, the main characters shop and conduct makeovers to provide themselves with, and I quote, “a sense of control in a world full of chaos.” Ha ha. No wonder I thought of this movie. That is precisely what I was talking about earlier in the post. Oh jeeze. I don’t know if the comparison is good or bad.

Eh, oh well. The movie is still good in all the wrong ways. Purely airhead entertainment. By the way, here is a fun fact about Clueless: the story line is actually loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma.

Talk about flash back.

Holiday’s Cheery Chaos

Ho-ho-ho… dreidel, dreidel, dreidel… oh come all ye… fa-la-la-la-laaaaa.

From Thanksgiving to New Years families come together to celebrate the traditions that they hold dear. No matter what denomination, or what calendar, the ‘family time’ is a pervading theme of the season.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I enjoy the wonder that seeps into this time of year. However, family time can be…overwhelming. The larger the family, the louder the gatherings. Over the years, I have perfected the art of mentally ‘checking-out’ during times when the jumbled conversation and the hub-bub gets to be too much–being the youngest and the quietest offers quite a cloak of invisibility (*Mr. Harry Potter’s cloak has got nothing on me =D*).

When the winter holidays roll around, my family gathers into a single location and lets time creep to a standstill. Hours are packed with chatter, board games and outings. Packed onto a ski lift or around a dinning room table, grown-ups gab and little kids compete for attention. Ah, the holiday chaos.

Thinking about these occasions brings to mind a scene from a movie, of course. I am sure that there are a multitude of films that clearly delineate the family dynamic I am describing, but one film in particular creates the desultory gathering effortlessly: While You Were Sleeping. In this film, Sandra Bullock’s character spends time with another person’s family during the holidays. To see the scene I have in mind, hit minutes 4:35 through 5:51. I have to admit, this group is surprisingly tame. But now I think you understand what I mean when I say ‘cheery chaos.’ *Mmmm, these mashed potatoes are so creamy.*