wanted: change

Last night ended up being a movie night. Well. This isn't entirely true. I also took part in drinking a handful of Rolling Rock beers (in the can!!) for a dollar a piece. I would say that this Baja something or rather could be put into the "dive bar" category, mostly due to the bathroom cleanliness, or lack thereof. It's also definitely a local watering hole, the stank of Virginia Beach grom and lifers hung in the air. I'll have to remember my quarters next time so I can get trumped on the pool table.

On the way home, JC was kind enough to forward me a text message including a coupon code with which I redeemed a free rental of Wanted starring super star Angelina Jolie. I returned home to find a new home studio set up on my roommates computer. After I had investigated for a short time, I directed myself towards my room with the PS2 and enjoyed a good ginger ale while watching the film.

I was thoroughly entertained with this "all star" type cast despite my recent preoccupation with instant Netflix watches of TV series and independent films. The action scenes were ridiculous and unrealistic (what can you expect when these assassins have hearts racing at 400bpm?), but awesome. Of course, the "nude" shot of Ms. Jolie's back is everything I could have dreamed it to be. Her tattoos are quite fascinating and from what I could see, very well done.

So the point of this post is not to provide a spoiler or a synopsis (I don't think it is anyway), but to consider the coincidence I felt at the end of the film. The protagonist works a basically dead end job (for someone who desires more), getting chewed out by his boss everyday and wasting away in a cubicle while his best friend partakes in sexual intercourse with his girlfriend while at "dentist appointments". Essentially, this guy is a pawn to others and does nothing about it. Along comes hot, kick your ass babe Angelina who brings him into another world of danger and "super powers", at which point said guy is in control.

False. Pawn. Again. A twist in the story I won't reveal in all it's entirety.*

Not until the final, let's say 3 minutes of the movie, does our protagonist gain control of himself and his life. In a monologue just before the credits, he let's us know that yes indeed, he's in control, yadda yadda about I went from being a pussy, never standing up for myself to shooting people from a mile away and saying "fuck you" to my boss. Final quote: "What the fuck have you done lately?"

Well. What have I done? I am sort of that guy sitting in his cubicle, waiting for 5pm everyday just so I can leave. The best part? At the end of the day, it just starts all over again. When I heard that last line, I was just glad that I had woken up before work yesterday and worked out, albeit for a short 18 minute bike ride. Still better than nothing. I also felt better that even though it was 1:30am and I was still up drinking soda, watching a movie, that I was going to wake up at 7am and work out again. Which I did.

It's been 8 months since I decided I was going to exercise regularly and get back into some semblance of my later high school and early college self. That's a long time to not have gotten anywhere, and frankly, there's no excuse. So here I go. See you on the bike at 7am.


*If this does somehow ruin the movie for you, contact me via email or comment, I'll provide my address so you can send me the receipt from renting the movie after which you were disappointed that I ruined it, and I will reimburse you for the entire renting cost.