2.17.2006

map


I just finished watching Elizabethtown again. I love that movie. I know, some of you probably didn't. But I did. It's slowly becoming one of my favorite movies for many reasons. And, as usual, it got me thinking...

As I've mentioned numerous times before, I absolutely adore road trips. Love them with everything there is within me. There's something so amazing about seeing a place you've never been before, a place people call home and yet, to me, feels so strange and unfamiliar. A place filled with history, with stories, with things just waiting to be discovered. And there's something about being on the open road - something so liberating, creating a sense that anything is possible.

Watching Elizabethtown tonight made me want to take a road trip again. But you know what it made me want to do even more? For those of you who have seen the movie, I want to make a map. Whether it be for me or for someone else, I love the map that "Claire" makes in the movie. I especially love how she makes it for "Drew." What an amazing thing to share with someone. I know it's a movie, and it's not real... But to make that sort of a "gift" for someone, or to receive that gift... THe thought of that makes my heart happy.

Another thing a lot of you may know about me is my deeply rooted love for music, and my disappointment that real life doesn't have a soundtrack. However, her "map" is about as close as it gets. In the past, I have made playlists based on the music I listened to on a road trip (mostly based upon either what was popular at the time, or popular music of the specific location), but I've never made an "intentional" road trip playlist, where each individual song had a very important reason for making the list. For example, my LA playlist has a lot of The Clash on it because one of the popular stations in LA plays a ton of The Clash, and I heard probably 3 different songs quite frequently on the radio. However, "London Calling," "Clampdown," and "Rock the Casbah," don't necessarily hold a particular meaning for me.

Anyway, I think her map idea is amazing. It includes pieces of her, pieces of US History, pieces of silliness, pieces of memory, and pieces of life. The pictures, the music, the drawings, the journaling - so great. I would love to make a "map" like that. Maybe someday, I will.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Come to Winnipeg... when I'm here, of course.

Also, because I'm, well, me, I think you should have on your international playlist (hey, I'm also international!) Brutal Planet by Alice Cooper. OR, Pretty Ballerina by the same. OR, Seek and Destroy by Metallica.