Reunited...

...and it sure does feel so good.

That's right, ladies and gents.  Mandy is jumping back on the blogging bandwagon.  And it shall be glorious.  Prepare yourselves for some exciting, thrilling, exhilarating posts detailing my soon-to-be a-little-bit-more-interesting life.

I'm in love with Jesse Pinkman.

And I really shouldn't be.

Every time I watch a new episode of Breaking Bad, my heart completely shatters for Jesse.  I have a ridiculous amount of sympathy and love for his character.  And, unintentionally, I have formed this tiny, little crush on him.  Alas, there are a few unfortunate reasons why, if he were a real person, I would never, ever even consider liking him.

1. He does drugs.  That is a definite no-no in my book.  And it's not even like he does "soft" stuff like weed--no, he does crystal meth, the same meth that he cooks, which leads me to number two. 
2. He sells drugs.  Maybe I'm just a little old-fashioned, but I always imagined my future husband's career as something meaningful and creative.  A writer or maybe an architect.  I don't really want to have to drive my significant other to the hospital when he comes home after being beaten up by either his crazy drug lord boss or one of his methhead clients.
3. He's a wannabe white-boy-gangster.  Ew, Jesse, come ON.  You're totally adorable; why are you wearing those heinous baggy pants, shirts three sizes too big and chains around your neck?  Mind you, this bullet point has gotten better throughout the seasons.  But I wouldn't even have looked twice if I saw him on the street during the first season. (Does that make me shallow?)
4. He'll never get over Jane.  For those who don't know, Jane is Jesse's ex-girlfriend who OD'd.  Actually, now that I think about it, she didn't OD.  She choked on her own puke.  And died.  (And Walt watched the whole thing.)  That seriously messed up Jesse, as it should, and he went to rehab right after.  But the point is that Jesse still loves her--he always will.  
5. He's breaking bad.  Walt isn't the only person on the show who is changing to the point of no return.  Jesse has changed just as much, and that's saying a lot, since he didn't start out with the best morals or intentions.

And yet.

And yet I can't deny that he still is a good person.  Jesse has this incredible caring heart, and frankly, it's just broken.  Walt used to be the person I cared about, the person I rooted for.  But now, Jesse's struggle is one that I'm entirely invested in.  I kind of, sort of love him.

To teach or not to teach?

(Sorry, I'm currently in a Shakespeare class, and we just devoured Hamlet.)
It's a fact commonly known that I've always wanted to be a high school teacher.  While I can't ever explain it very well, I have this strange obsession with high school.  Not that I'd ever want to go back as a student.  Ew.  But I believe there's a reason why there are so many shows/movies/books that involve high school students--those four years in a person's life are pivotal.  Because when you're in high school and you make a fool of yourself or you get dumped or you deal with lame girly drama, you really do feel like the world is ending all around you.  And although years later you recognize that few things were truly important in high school, the fact that, at the time, everything was everything does not change.
So, why have I always wanted to teach high school students?  The idea that I could be a part of those years for people who are going through exactly what I went through?  The idea that I could ingrain a love of words into my students?  Utterly priceless.  (Well, not actually. I would get paid to do it. But I digress.)
(Just writing those few paragraphs makes me all giddy and excited.)
But now, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I'm questioning the fate that I created for myself.  And I'm not sure what I should do.  I made my career choice so long ago that it's like I never actually made it.  Teaching was just written down in the books for me before I popped out of my mother's womb.  Or so it seems.  I'm finally looking around, though, and I'm seeing that a plethora of choices are still available to me, and I honestly don't know how to choose.  How does one go about making huge life decisions like this?!

I need to take a page out of Rory Gilmore's book and make a pro/con list.

alternate endings for my favorite movies

(I honestly have no recollection of writing this...apparently I did in 2010.)
Never Been Kissed

Josie has been waiting for five minutes on the baseball field for Sam Coulson to come and kiss her for the (not actual) first time. The scene cuts to Coulson inside his almost empty apartment. He is actually reading the article Josie wrote with a quizzical look about him. When he finishes, he sets the paper down and begins to stroke the tiny hairs on his perfectly manly chin. Meanwhile, Josie drops the microphone she has been holding in her left hand and tears start to flow down her cheeks. She's devastated. A small puddle of salty water starts to form around her feet. A close-up on her puffy face. Then, a close-up of Coulson. Josie. Coulson. Josie. Johnny Depp. Whoa...Depp? Where did he come from? The crowd is yelling and clapping and we see Johnny Depp strut gracefully down the stairs toward Josie. He is to her now and instead of kissing her, he bends down and slurps up the puddle. Credits.