The 100 Percent, True Life Resume of the 25 Year Old Nerd

Allie (Waitforit) Mackerty

123 Panic Over My Future

Fluctuating Somewhere Between Mania and Bonecrushing Sadness, OH

EDUCATION 

The Ohio State University

Major: Waking Up Before 9am

Minor: Getting Lost on Campus/Learning to Like Natty Light

The Real World

Focus: Acting Like an Adult/Paying Bills Before the Late Notice

EXTRACURRICULARS

Nerd Raging

Debate (Focusing on Picard vs. Kirk, Star Trek vs. Star Wars, Book vs. Movie Adaptations)

Fighting with People on the Internet

Buzzfeed Videos

NASCAR in the Prius

Marathoning Netflix

SPECIAL SKILLS

Ability to Over Think and Obsess Over Every Social Situation I Have Ever Been In

Incredible Sharp Memory (Remember that time six years ago when you said “Hi!” in the hallway and I wasn’t sure you were talking to me and had a panic attack because I was afraid you thought I was ignoring you and that I hated you and that we would no longer be friends? I do.)

Extreme Loyalty and Dedication to Fictional Television Characters

Making Coffee that Actually Tastes Like Coffee

Can Quote and Weave Movie References into Business and Personal Conversations with Ease

Can Open a Can of Spaghettios with Nothing but a Spoon and Sheer Determination

Can Hide Under Multiple Viewings of The World’s End to Avoid Dealing with Real Life

I guess I can type, maybe?

NERD RAGING.

This Thing:

AREAS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT

Operating the “Traditional” Can Opener

Breakfast

Speaking at the Speed of A Normal Human

Fully Functioning Ankles

Training Before Intense Bouts of Physical Activity to Avoid Injury

Math

Movie Mania.

I like to drown myself in fiction.

On Facebook, I was tagged in one of those “post 15 movies that have changed your life” or “15 movies that were most influential on your life.” I posted my list, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I got lazy and threw some TV shows in there (partly because I think they are just as influential and partially because I was running out of time on my break), and thought I had a good list.

Of course, fifteen minutes later I realized I had forgotten three incredibly important movies. I also realized I included movies that weren’t necessarily the most influential or life changing, just favorites. Plus, I didn’t really get a chance to explain exactly why these films have branded themselves in my brain. That’s what you get for trying to do deep thinking at work. On a Thursday. During the last five minutes of your break.

So I am going to fix it. I’ve done some thinking (a whole two hours worth).

So, here you go. 

The World’s End.

I saw this movie ten times in theatres, if that tells you anything about how much I love it. I found it extremely funny (in that snarky, British way), I’m in love with Simon Pegg, and I absolutely love the storytelling and directing abilities of Edgar Wright (also Simon). The same goes for their work in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. But more than that, I found the character Simon plays (Gary King) to be painfully relatable. I don’t want to spoil any movies in this list, so I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that Gary is not what he appears to be on the surface. He hides a lot of what he deals with and tries to mask his pain when people call him out on it. After I saw it the first time, I had to watch it again and again to pick up on the signs that I missed (both in the story and from Gary). There are very few movies that I do that with….so the ones that strike me hard enough to spend $100 at the cinema aren’t ones I am likely to forget.

I felt so strongly about this movie that I got to write a blog about it for TWLOHA (To Write Love on Her Arms), a site advocating support for people suffering from depression and addiction. Check it out, if you like 🙂

The King’s Speech.

This is my runner up movie in terms of movie going excursions…..nine times. It is a wonderful story of a man overcoming his disability, even more extraordinary when you think that he had to do this in a high position of power during the outbreak of a World War. But again, it was the fact that Bertie was so relatable that burned this movie into my mind. 

Speaking is difficult for me. I slur some of my words, either from getting too excited or stuttering. It makes me nervous, which makes everything even worse…and I don’t even have to protect all of Britain. This guy wants nothing more than to go back to a life in the limelight and just find ways to avoid dealing with his problems…but he can’t, and so he doesn’t. It is one of the most inspirational stories I’ve ever heard, and still makes me cry when I watch it.

Star Wars.

A brief break from my compassion for angst ridden leading men….this one is a classic. Its a space odyssey, an epic adventure, a dazzling love story with an awesome soundtrack and a lot of awkward family reunions. This one speaks for itself.

But Star Wars has also been an awesome base for my friendship with my best friend in the entire universe. Our first conversations were about Star Wars. Our nicknames are our Jedi names. We can talk for hours about the characters, the awfulness of the prequels, the depth of the story….or we can drool over Ewan McGregor and bury pictures of him in the backyard in our Jedi training club house. There is no limit. (Love you, Elle-Day!)

Unbreakable.

Aaaaaand right back into my angsty fictional friends. I didn’t appreciate this movie when it came out, and it took repeat viewings for me to understand what kept me wanting more from the story. David Dunn is a hero who is not doing what he needs to be doing. Elijah Price calls him out on it, forces him to realize the sadness he feels every morning waking up and knowing that there is some greater calling out there for him that he is just not hearing. He does, at the end, and you can only hope that he keeps going with it.

“Do you know what the scariest thing is?,” Elijah asks him, “To not know your place in this world, to not know why you’re here.” I can’t stop thinking about this. It is incredibly true. I know that I have things that I am good at, and I know that there are things I enjoy doing. But is that why I’m here? Do I only exist to bug people for money at work and post witty Facebook statuses? I will be honest, that scares me sometimes…the idea that there is something out there I SHOULD be doing, something that will set my soul on fire and bring true joy to my life, but I don’t know what it is. I hope I find it. 

American History X.

This movie is pretty raw, emotionally. It is terrifying, at some parts. What killed me about this movie was the end, that the character could come so far and still not win in the end. That, and this quote by Danny Vinyard: “Hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it.”

I waste so much time hating on this, hating on that, worrying if someone hates me for this or that. I need to stop it. It is exhausting. To a point, I have, but not always for the right reasons. It takes away time from the beautiful things in my life, which are way more worth the effort. 

Thanks for Sharing.

This is a movie about sex addiction. (No, I’m not a sex addict, so don’t start) It is also a movie about a group of people struggling to overcome this addiction among others, and it struck a chord. I saw it last year when things were getting really rough on me, emotionally and mentally. I started doing things that I thought would make me feel better, but really only made things worse and worse. 

The people in this film struggle with their addiction in all sorts of ways, and have their own ways of coping. One buries himself in helping others, at the expense of dealing with his own problems. Another laughs and tries to make everything a joke to avoid admitting that he has a problem. A third avoids everything and everyone in a effort to maintain sobriety….only to realize that he never really made any progress by avoiding life and not dealing with it. Some of them seek therapy, some white knuckle it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Life goes on. Yay, relatable movies.

The Darjeeling Limited/The Royal Tenenbaums. 

Wes Anderson makes some awesome movies. I love the stories in these movies, the emotion that the characters try to hold back, the angst in their breakdowns. The look of his movies is just gorgeous, though I don’t know the film lingo to tell you why. 

But characters are what really do it for me. The relationships between the brothers in Darjeeling and the family in Royal Tenenbaums are strained, but hilarious and poignant. The scene with Richie in the bathroom (not going to spoil it) and the flashback to the father’s funeral in Darjeeling are emotionally raw…and I could only replay them over and over in my mind when I finished watching. 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Dork time.

Fantastic writing, fantastic villain, fantastic characters, epic ending. Without a doubt the best movie in the Star Trek series and a great show case for all the characters…plus, it was one of the first times I remember bawling my eyes out at the end of a movie. You don’t forget that.

Spock sacrifices himself for his friend, for his crew. He does whatever he has to do to make sure his friends are out of danger and can live full lives, without a thought of what it does to his own. That always gets me and will always get me. Kirk’s closing monologue with the Tale of Two Cities quote is haunting and beautiful, and made me want to start reading that book…which I now love.

I love Star Trek and I love A Tale of Two Cities, and this movie had both. Swoon.

The Green Mile.

This one belongs more appropriately on the book list…but I saw the movie first, so here we are.

This was another one of those movies that truly shocked me because the good guys don’t really win in the end. As with many of Stephen King’s books, the ending is bitter, although excellent and perfect for the story, but young and impressionable Allie was not ready for that. So she bought the book, and wrecked herself all over again. 

At the end, I always end up thinking about Paul Edgecombe. He outlives his family, his friends, and the miracle of the story. It is heartbreaking, and honest, and just so….depressing. He is left thinking of all his old friends, wishing he could be with them but knowing that he has a long way to go before he reaches the end of his Green Mile. 

 

There ended up being only 10 movies I could think deep thoughts about, which is fine with me. More might come up as the days go on, and I’m sure I will write about them in the future. But I would rather put 10 thoughtful ones out there than cram 15 without any substance.

 

Look out for the book list. Toodles.