Erin Writes

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

A couple of weeks ago, I read multiple posts about the theory that the mother on How I Met Your Mother is dead at the point when future Ted is telling his children the story. (If you are a fan and have somehow avoided this theory? Congratulations&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;)

I was not, and am not, okay with this.

Part of what&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s fueling these theories, apart from clues and odd moments in the show, are the tweets and posts and comments from cast members regarding the series finale. Cobie Smulders, apparently, said in an interview that she &http://eringoblog.net/#8220;immediately started weeping&http://eringoblog.net/#8221; after reading it. Alyson Hannigan tweeted a photo from the table read, consisting of her script surrounded by used tissues.

Today, I read an article on TV Guide.com titled &http://eringoblog.net/#8220;Does it Matter if the Mother is Dead?&http://eringoblog.net/#8221; The authors thesis is, of course, that it does not.

I am not okay with this.

I was okay with the finale of Six Feet Under being what it was, because this was a show about death and mortality. I was fine with the end of Breaking Bad, because really&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;how else would a show like that end? But How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom, and at its heart, a love story. A romantic comedy, if you will. I have certain expectations from a story like this. Yes, the show has had moments that were heartbreaking and poignant, but ultimately, I will feel betrayed by an ending that tears Ted&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s true love away from him&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;one that we have all waited SO LONG to meet. (and don&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t even get me started on how I&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;ll feel if that happens and it leads to him somehow ending up with Robin after all. No.)

In the aforementioned article, the author says, &http://eringoblog.net/#8220;&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;sitcoms tend to feel forced to wrap up with a neat bow and rainbows and kittens because God forbid what would&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;ve happened if Rachel never got off the plane&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;&http://eringoblog.net/#8221;

 She got off the plane.

Yeah? So what? I will fully admit with zero shame that I would have been upset and disappointed if Rachel hadn&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t gotten off the plane. As I said, these are romantic comedies. In a romantic comedy, Rachel gets off the plane. In a romantic comedy, the mother doesn&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t die.

I get that there&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s a place for tragedy. I do. I get that people don&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t always get to live happily ever after, and that in real life, loved ones die. But I respectfully disagree that all of our art needs to reflect reality. I know where to go for reality; I want stories that offer hope. I want Ted to get married and raise his children and grow old with the woman he loves. I want Ross and Rachel to find their way back to each other and finally make it work. I want Harry and Sally married and talking about their wedding cake at the end. I want Lloyd and Diane holding hands on the plane, heading off to England ready to defy the odds against them. I want Westley and Buttercup literally riding off into the sunset together.

Wuv. Twoo wuv.

And I just don&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t get what&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s so terrible about that.

I don&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t know if this has always been the case, but there seems to be this persistent idea that what makes for good writing is subverting expectations. (In this case, the expectation that the audience expects Ted and the Mother to have the happy ending I described above.) There&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s also a persistent idea that the best love stories are the most tragic ones. I&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;ll bet you aren&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t surprised by this, but most of the time, I kind of hate tragic love stories.* 

I&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;ll never let go, Jack&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;

(Side note&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;don&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;t you dare even try to bring up Romeo and Juliet. If you think &http://eringoblog.net/#8220;tragic love story&http://eringoblog.net/#8221; is the point of Romeo and Juliet, well&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;that&http://eringoblog.net/#8217;s a whole different rant.)

My bottom line is this: we have enough heartbreak and sadness. In this sea of portrayals of bleak desolation, of horror, of darkness, of anti-heroes, and of tragedy, this show has been one of my bright spots. Over the course of this season, I have fallen in love with Cristin Milioti and her beautiful portrayal of the mother, and I have forgiven Ted for his past douchebaggery. Over the course of the past nine seasons, I have laughed and cried and loved with these characters&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;

Is it really to much to ask for it to not break my heart at the end?

*I still harbor some resentment over the way the movie Once ended. Seriously, ask my husband. 

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Favorite movie quote

You can’t really expect me to pick just one, can you? Well, I decided to try and use ones that are things I actually frequently say. Here’s a bunch, in no particular order. I’ll do it interactive-style. Feel free to guess the movie!

“I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.”

“It’s sucking my will to live.”

“Strange things are afoot at the Circle K”

“Baby Talk? That’s not a saying.”
“Oh, but Baby Fish Mouth is sweeping the nation?”

“Surely you can’t be serious?”
“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”

“That word. You keep using it. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Bonus (not movie quotes): two quotes from Mr. Show

“Because life is precious. And God. And the Bible.”

“You don’t know what words mean, do you?”

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

While I admittedly don’t watch the travel channel much, nor do I have a horse in the “Who has the best chicken wings in Buffalo” race, this is kind of cool.

The travel channel is launching a new show called Food Wars, and their first episode (airing at 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 9) features Buffalo! See details about the show and the episode below:

Food Wars Summary
There’s a debate brewing across the country with legions of loyal fans passionately defending the local eateries and the iconic dishes that make their towns famous. Travel Channel’s newest show, Food Wars, sets out to find the country’s most celebrated dishes – foods that define destinations and create local rivalries spanning generations – and settle the debate, “Who makes the Best Dish in Town?” once and for all. We’re featuring two cities, Buffalo and Chicago, for the premiere in back-to-back episodes of Food Wars on March 9 beginning at 10pm.

Rivalry Details – Buffalo
In Buffalo, NY there is a forty-year food war between Anchor Bar and Duff’s – each claiming to have the best chicken wings in town. The iconic dish was first invented by the people at Anchor Bar earning the restaurant the reputation as being “home to the original”. But first doesn’t necessarily mean “best” and many Buffalonians believe that Duff’s is where it’s at when it comes to Buffalo Chicken Wings. A few years after Anchor Bar, Duff’s began selling its own version of wings and people have been “flocking” to it ever since. But does Duff’s have what it takes to knock the original off its pedestal? It’s gonna take a star-studded blind taste taster panel and even a visit from the city Mayor to settle this city’s serious wing war – which side will you be on?

Check out the preview:

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Ok, so this is now officially yesterday’s news, but I’m still happy about it.

I *heart Chuck. In its odd little way, it helps me get that Alias fix I’ve been missing. It has a cute, nerdy lead! It has ass-kicking spy stuff! It has Adam Baldwin, whose awesomeness cannot be rivaled! It has Captain Awesome, and Gift Shop Girl from Scrubs. It has a theme song by Cake! And the finale? The finale was jaw-droppingly amazing.

Chuck is fun, clever, well-written, and genuinely emotional, and it’s definitely become one of my favorites. I look forward to its return…hopefully in a time slot where it’s not against everything the world loves (seriously…it was up against House, Dancing with the Stars, and the CBS Monday comedies. Gee, I wonder why the ratings suffered?).

So, um…get yourself some DVDs. Netflix them, whatever. Then watch Chuck when it comes back next year!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I can’t believe that I haven’t seen this on any of the blogs I frequent, so I have to share it myself…

Wondering who to vote for? Find out what Opie, Andy, Richie and the Fonz have to say.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Last night, I watched a random episode of Friends that TiVo kindly “suggested” for me. The episode was “The One with the List,” which (if I’m remembering correctly) was early in the second season.

Setup: Rachel and Ross have kissed. Ross has a girlfriend, but is in love with Rachel. Joey and Chandler suggest that Ross make a list of pros and cons to help him decide what to do.

Chandler has typed the list on his new laptop. Rachel sees the list (only that is something about her) and insists that they show it to her. What happened next had me laughing so hard, I was nearly crying. I took it back and watched it again, and then made Rand watch it. I don’t think he thought it was quite as funny as I did.

Rachel: Chandler wrote something about me on that paper and I want to see it!
Ross: Chandler isn’t that the short story you were writing?
Rachel: Short story? And I’m in it? I want to read it!
Ross, Joey, Chandler: NO!
Joey: Why don’t you read it to her?

(this is the part that had me in tears…)

Chandler: It was summer… and it was hot. Rachel was there… A lonely grey couch…”OH LOOK!” cried Ned, and then the kingdom was his forever. The End.

Is this as funny as I think it is? I’m still laughing. I think the next line was Joey saying Chandler was the worst writer EVER.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Mind you, I’m not complaining. For one, it seems that the weather is finally starting to cooperate, at least somewhat. For another, it means only 11 1/2 days more of *classes* to go (they still have exams after that, but my life will be much easier).

By the way, it turns out that I’m going to be at this job until the official end of the school year. As long as they’re paying me, I can’t complain.

I just don’t know where the time has gone is all. Finally, the fact that it is June 2 means that THERE ARE ONLY 40 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE WEDDING.

40 DAYS!

I am excited beyond words. I am also mildly panicking about the things still left to do. I’ll post more about the to-do list over at the wedding blog…

I also need to do the TC newsletter, which I always, always without fail, put off until the last moment. Ah, procrastination.

We had a nice weekend, which those of you who follow me on Twitter already know included seeing Iron Man. I loved it! I also watched the Lost finale, which I thought was very good. (One scene in particular had me weeping tears of joy. Those of you who watched it know which one!)

Slowly but surely, we are ridding the new place of boxes and putting things away. It feels really good…

And that is all. One more class to go for me, and I’m outta here. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

So today was my first day at my new job. It went very well, but I’m beat. Not so much because the work was so exhausting, but because I didn’t sleep very well last night, and I got up way early so that I could get in and get settled. Other than some technical issues, which will hopefully be resolved tomorrow, all is well.

Over the weekend, we saw a couple of movies. Friday night, we went out to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which I found very funny. (there was that one moment when I cried, though…darn Kristen Bell…) Saturday, we finally watched Enchanted, which has been sitting here since it was released on DVD. Squee! Loved it.

We’ve also been (re)watching the third season of Arrested Development, which is always fun.

Traded in another box of CDs for store credit…we went to Record Theatre, then to FYE with the stuff they wouldn’t take. I got a copy of Duma Key out of the deal, which I hope to find some time to read, uh, sometime.

And since I’m barely focusing at this point (seriously, I keep getting distracted by shiny things. it’s taking me way too long to finish this lame update entry), I’m going to call it a night and go do something that involves, like, zero brain cells.

Later!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

The weekend was fun, mellow and relaxing. Here are some of the highlights…

Spend Friday afternoon with a couple of Rand’s friends up from Houghton. We ate lunch at the Village Grille (best. hummus. ever.) and went to see Be Kind Rewind. I liked the movie. It was very funny, and also very touching.

Later, Rand and I watched The Darjeeling Limited, which Rand had just bought. It was as quirky as you would expect, coming from Wes Anderson, but enjoyable. I don’t think it was as good as Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums, but I liked it.

Saturday…breakfast and discussion of weddingstuff. Then grocery shopping. We also watched Once, which we’ve had sitting around from Netflix, oh, forever. I liked it a lot. We immediately purchased the soundtrack. (One note, though…could not stop crying. Seriously. I cried for about ten minutes after the movie was over.)

Sunday, we went out and played at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, looking for items we want to include on our registry.

Other things we watched over the weekend…a couple of episodes of Freaks and Geeks, a couple of episodes of Sex and the City (in watching the early episodes, I remember that I was a Carrie-Big fan. It was later that I jumped ship.) I’m probably forgetting something, but oh well.

And as always, the weekend went by too quickly, and I am at work. Happy Monday!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

It was a pretty mellow one, so I don’t have a whole lot to report.

Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast at The Original Pancake House. I knew it was going to be a good morning, because not only did we get seated instantly, we got a booth. Score.

Afterwards, we stopped in at Rite-Aid to pick up a couple of necessities, and then poked our heads in at Sarah’s Vintage and Estate Jewelry. And bought my wedding band. Ooh!

Later, we headed out for dinner and a little bit of shopping at Borders. Rand had a coupon for 40% off any DVD set, so he bought the Freaks and Geeks set. I picked up John Green’s book Looking for Alaska, which I blogged about on Saturday.

Sunday, woke up to no heat. Gah. This has been an ongoing problem. Frequently, the problem is that the pilot is out, which is an easy fix. Other times, though…well, I don’t know exactly what the problem is, but it requires a call to the landlord and someone poking around the furnace. It was fixed, though. Joy.

Over the weekend, we watched some Freaks and Geeks, finished up Season 2 of Extras, watched Lost (very happy to have Lost back. concerned about how the strike will affect the season beyond the 8 episodes that were filmed.)

I also did some…I hesitate to say “cleaning,” so I’ll call it purging. Went through old papers and piles to sort, organize, and trash. Always an exciting time.

And now it’s Monday. No early-morning phone call for me today, so I’m going to try and accomplish a bunch of things. Wish me luck!