Straight No Chaser

Jake Gyllenhaal

high school visit, noodle restaurant, brokeback mountain.

the english teachers were glad to see us. we were always a package deal in high school, shannonandtina, and they were wholly unsurprised to see us side by side at the door to the english department this afternoon, asking after the department head. we walked around feeling tall and awkward but pretty sophisticated; one carrying a purse, the other in a college hoodie, neither of us subject to the school's id card policy. (which, boo, we were totally looking forward to getting carded by an administrator and coolly informing him that, actually, we were 2003 graduates and didn't even know what background color they'd used on the cards this year. a disappointment, that it never happened.)

we've done that before, though not since freshman year. a weird, speical feeling. everyone says the nicest things: "wow, you look great!" and "you're just so well-spoken these days!" which elicits mixed reactions because, like, i always thought i was a pretty articulate high school student, too. i guess it's all relative. i never thought i was cute in high school, though, so "you look great" just makes me blush.

the gay cowboys were entertaining, yes. but i'm noticing a trend, wherein filmmakers produce films that are exceedingly long, just because they can. of the last twenty movies i've seen, i can't think of a single one where at least one third of the total minute count wasn't, to my point of view, pretty expendable. but what do i know?

right, right. nothing.