I have a reputation for liking sad foreign films, but...

... I may be overdoing it.  A very heavy Vietnamese film today coupled with the movie Omar set in the occupied West Bank I found on Netflix last night has left me kind of uneasy.

I went to a movie as part of the Silkscreen Film Festival, showcasing Asian-American films, that was abortion-themed.  Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere follows the unexpectedly pregnant teenage protagonist as she encounters social, economic, and internal emotional barriers in her attempt to end her pregnancy.  Not to be limited by one social issue, the main character's best friend is a transgender female and a prostitute, who of course encourages the main character to sell herself to raise money.  Spoiler alert: there is no happy ending.  Heavy, heavy, heavy, but a beautiful movie.  I'll look forward to maybe seeing another film or two this week since I have all the time in the world... but maybe I'll pick a comedy next time.

I was also supposed to have brunch with a bunch of strangers via Meetup.com.  I started thinking about alternatives to spontaneously meeting new friends after two weeks of little success at that, I remembered hearing about a couple of websites that could be solutions.  I joined a couple of "Meetups" that offer little events with like-minded people to try to make friends.  Apparently the organizer of Shadyside Young Professionals Meetup "wasn't feeling so well" this morning (ok Mark we all know that means you are hungover) so our brunchy brunch was cancelled.  The other website I remembered hearing about is called "How about we..." which is where someone pitches an activity and other people go do that with them.  Well it turns out that "How about we..." is a dating site, which I did not recall hearing, but I did linger over it for some time just for entertainment.  How about these gems:

And then I will kill you.

"How about we... have a bite to eat an get to no one other [sic]"  rayray40, I'm "no"ing you right now.  Grammar is a dealbreaker, unless you are foreign, and you are not.

"How about we... try and find out"  That's it.  What a mystery man.

"How about we... load up the bong and puff."   That's this guy-->

Accompaniment: Lera Lynn's "Bobby Baby,"  a beautiful song but tragic tale in the theme of the day.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMj25ANUpA4

Love,
J