the big what if's...

did you ever have one of those days when you just say, "if i didn't...?"

if i didn't make that wrong turn when i was driving to the store...?
if i didn't trust that stranger...?
if i didn't lose my nerve when i should have just asked that beautiful woman for her number...?

today was a big "if i didn't" day for me.

if i didn't love movies so much...
if i didn't push my slightly-sore throat to the back of my mind...
if i didn't forget to buy a train ticket to pleasantville...
if i didn't decide to skip watching the sixers on tv...
and, if i didn't choose to eventually ignore my coworker's fat joke that hurt my feelings to the point of making me want to just go home and sit around a big bowl of irony-flavored potato chips... i would not have been at the jacob burns film center tonite.

if i didn't LOVE movies as much as i love them... i would have only seen one film, the five o'clock showing of 'a serious man.'

if i didn't read a dozen or so articles about how amazing carey mulligan is, i might never have been interested in the second feature of the night, the 7:10 screening of 'an education.'

if i didn't have to pee in between movies...
if i didn't have to wait in line to wash my hands behind a gaggle of ridiculously slow men...
if i didn't overcome the embarrassment of talking to the same girl behind the concession stand, as i purchased my second small tub of popcorn in the same evening... i might have had the opportunity to select a seat that wasn't in the second row.

if the ladies with the thick brooklyn accents who originally sat in my row, didn't immediately see the seats behind me, and if they somehow didn't rationalize that their necks would be much better off sitting there, instead of just a few feet closer to the screen... a truly gorgeous woman might not have been able to sit one seat away from me.

if, in an attempt to give her more space, i didn't accidentally kick over half of my (second) tub of popcorn onto the floor... the truly gorgeous woman and i would not have shared a laugh, nor the engaging conversation that followed.

if another stranger didn't show up exactly when he did and ask the truly gorgeous woman if she and her friends could move over one more seat... our conversation might not have continued so smoothly.

and if this truly gorgeous woman had not been so quick with her smile, had not been so charming and witty. so delightful, and just so. damn. adorable... the spring in my step as i walked home from the train tonite would not have been so lively. and my heart wouldn't still be racing at a hundred miles an hour.


the five things i fell in love with today...

1) lol, look, i know. i JUST met this (truly gorgeous) woman a few short hours ago. i couldn't tell you twelve things about her. it's hardly love. but... wow. you know, when you meet someone and there's that spark? that instant click? that sudden indescribable something that makes you feel like you could tame a lion, and run through a building. and maybe even quit fast food forever? yep.
the ball's in her court, though. i gave her my number & email address. hope to hear from her soon!
2) the articles were right! carey mulligan is incredible. VERY, very good movie!
3) i also dug 'a serious man'. ...i think. honestly, i spent 9/10ths of this film wondering where it was going. but, man, the last few minutes just really got me.
4) they say good things happen in threes (or is it bad things? ...whatever) i got a free cup of hot chocolate at starbucks while i was waiting for my train. no reason for it whatsoever. i took out my credit card, and the dude behind the counter said, "eh, don't worry about it." i said, "what? ...what, did i win a prize or something?" he just smiled and said, "eh, maybe i'm too lazy to ring you up, i dunno."
weird.
but it does give credence to the old austrian proverb, "one man's laziness is another man's free hot chocolate."
5) the third good thing that happened...? well, lol, it's so inappropriate and wrong that i wouldn't feel right spilling the details in such an otherwise-sappy blog. but, when i got home, i exchanged a series of emails with my cousin "v-neck" that made me laugh so hard, i literally got dizzy.

song of the day...
"carry on, my wayward son" by kansas

movie of the day...
"kansas city"