So, what does happen with the villains in the Hallmark movies?
Usually they were prioritizing work (evil!) over romance and living life in general.
But despite being taught by media from birth that people are what matter – aren’t we taught by society and helicopter parents to do exactly that?
now now Winston, no gluten free applesauce until you’ve completed your TPS reports. we need you to get into Harvard!
Reminder – this is the same society that is telling young people they don’t need to go to college while assuming they already have a college degree.
The villain arc (we do it for that silly Wicked movie you all seem to like) as actually the protagonist and a victim of the society around them would be interesting to pursue for a Hallmark movie.
What really is the story of the careless big city guy who struggles to remember his girlfriend’s birthday? Maybe he’s working hard to save enough to get them both health insurance!
Or what about the small town girl with a few kids who doesn’t always have time for her lumberjack boyfriend? Maybe she’s trying to balance another income while making sure her boyfriend has clean work pants for the next day!
bro is that Downy?
What if people are just complicated and busy?
I’ve spent the last year basically playing every character in a Hallmark movie, from the big city career gal to the small town dad of a dog, shuttling from Idaho to Irvine, DC to Dallas, and everywhere in between.
I decided this was the year I was going to say yes to everything.
Yes to wedding invites…
Yes to religious holidays…
Yes to inaugurations…
Yes to State Fairs…
Yes to concert festivals…
And yes to the longest bike rides of my life…
And let me tell you, the easiest part of all of this is flying.
There is nothing more relaxing than sitting down and letting someone else handle everything else.
I used to hate flying.
But with Precheck, and other than one instance in Austin airport where they accidentally used the same swab on everyone’s bags (and flagged everyone for screening) it’s not that bad.
You get to sit, you get a great excuse for people to not call you (so sorry, I’m just about to board a flight!) you get to listen to or watch just about any media made by man, you get a quiet space to work, or nap, and you get to gently wake up somewhere new.
and if it really gets bad you can just hang yourself
It’s marvelous.
The worst part about flying?
The logistics.
There’s a certain glamour to arriving somewhere, stepping off a plane, and going straight to dinner or a meeting.
The days of being able to rely on airport scheduling are long over.
see you next Tuesday I guess
I flew back into LA (Long Beach specifically) and timed it perfectly – I’d arrive with an hour to spare for a dinner scheduled at 5PM.
I showed up somewhere around 9PM, bedraggled, despite doing my best to slap on some skincare in the Long Beach Airport men’s room.
“Long Beach: just don’t leave the airport!”
Nothing is reliable anymore, so don’t expect to plan anything on the day of a flight, or the day before or after just to be safe.
The other logistics are hard too.
Rover is my sweet, energetic 7-year old husky who still acts like a puppy.
I wasn’t ready for a dog at this stage in my life, but once he became my responsibility, I promised I would do whatever it took to take care of him.
This now means a Rolodex of sitters wherever I am, or just bringing him with me in my truck as we “went on tour” through the West Coast this summer.
Rover loves new places and getting to see people, but he seems happiest in Idaho.
I do too.
New York is a place where I come alive. It’s energetic, frenetic, and relentless. I love the fact that I can catch up with 3 different people in one day, effortlessly move across the city and quickly change outfits to suit the occasion, and accomplish a great deal in a week.
Los Angeles is different. It’s a creative place, one where you commune with nature and silliness. You don’t have to worry about the weather. You can just ease into a lukewarm bath and let the days pass, and work at your own pace. It feels like dying slowly.
I have opinions about Austin and DC and Miami and other places, but this isn’t a travel guide.
Idaho is special though. It feels like a hometown. You’re insulated from the world around you, whether during summer fun on the lake or the quiet sounds of winter. People are friendly, and you don’t feel bad not leaving the house for awhile, which gives you time to catch up on things you’ve put off.
Like all the places above, they have their drawbacks. LA traffic would make a nun murderous, every step in NY feels like one step from danger, and once the sun sets in Idaho there’s little to do.
ok everyone, 3:30PM time for bed!
Combine all the drawbacks above and you have Fresno, CA – where I’m actually from.
When so many places feel like home, none of them truly are.
My lesson this year was that people feel like home.
Visiting the besties in Southern California feels like home.
Visiting dear friends on the East Coast feels like home.
Visiting high school buddies up North feels like home.
Visiting someone I love in Austin feels like home.
All of these feel like home, and I get that warm feeling whenever I get where I’m going.
It would be nice to find a place that someday *is* home, though.
A place where Rover can run around freely, a place with my books and a fireplace.
A place with (almost all) my clothes, separated by season of course.
A place where I’m greeted by a smile, a warm embrace, a comforting bowl of soup, a cuddle in bed.
Maybe there’s hope even for the Hallmark villains among us.
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