#teaforonesvp

HOLY MOLY that is one serious list of essentials. Thank you!

The problem with so many anthologies is that I almost never want all of the movies in a given series. Terminator? Just 1 and 2, please. Same with X-Men. They should make a Star Trek box where you get to pick your favorite five or something, like you're at a buffet.

Indiana Jones is my toughest choice. I really seriously have a strong reluctance to give them more of my money after Crystal Skull. I feel so used.

A handful of helpful folks chimed in on my earlier post here. Titles not mentioned above but suggested by others included:

Underworld(my response: fun movie, but not an essential for me)

Jurassic Park(a fine suggestion indeed)

Ocean's 11 (but only 11!)(good, but not essential for me. Out of Sight, maybe)

Casino Royale(tough call. I tested my new BD player with the Royale DVD. looked pretty spectacular already)

Titanic(I never got this on DVD! might be a good one to get.)

Firefly and, naturally,(like the show, but...)

Serenity(...LOVE the movie. Good suggestion.)

Back to the Future(good idea. I'd like to get this, but will watch my original DVDs in the new player first. haven't watched this with my boys yet; perhaps still too Oedipal.)

Dark Knight trilogy(this is a hard one because my DVDs are still pretty new. tough to justify spending more Bat-money so soon)

Alfred Hitchcock collection(essential for many; not for me) (and...commence True Tumblr Film Followers unfollowing en masse)

the Bournes(I'm hoping I can watch these if they ever play them on TNT.)

LOTR(don't have much of a connection to these. fun movies but I found them all kind of empty, character-wise. too many 1/0s.)

Jaws(yes. yes. yes. This will most likely come to pass.)

E.T.(good suggestion. I never owned it on DVD so this seems like a slam-dunk.)

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?February 21: Not only was it my first day at Razorfish, but it marked a real turning point where I felt that I actually had some direction in my life. 

August 11: Gentlemen of the Road, Bristol. Great company, great music, great memories.

November 14: After an exhausting and harrowing car ride in the mountains, we finally arrived to our hotel in Benzilan at nearly 10pm that night. I wanted nothing more than to go to bed and forget about the world, but when I got out of the car, I was immediately mesmerized by this stunning display of the cosmos. I've seen stars before, never like that: clustered, milky, and exploding. It was the first time seeing such beauty and a much needed reminder that we're barely blips in the grand scheme of time and space. 

Overall 2012 was a great year.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?Probably when I found out that one of the print campaigns I worked on won an award. I still haven't wrapped my head around it. Recently, one of my friends had to remind me that I was an "award-winning copywriter". It felt weird, like I was wearing a gorgeous Jenny Packham dress that wasn't tailored for me.

9. What was your biggest failure?Not giving my parents the time and patience they deserve. 

teaforonesvp replied to your quote: I urge you to please notice when you are happy,...

This isn’t ice, Grace!!!

You just can't help but fall in love with someone once you get to know them a little better. "Favorite Things with Friends" is about learning what other people love and how those things have shaped them into who they are now. 

The first part of this series is with the always charming Elaine, whose blog was the first one I followed when I started here. Her wonderful anecdotes, photos, and film knowledge cemented my fondness for her and for continuing to blog here. She is the stuff of novels, with incredible stories and a distinctive signature. There's even a story behind her use of a pseudonym, "Phoebe Schumard" for her email address:

It's a two part story.

You know those ads that people can take in high school yearbook congratulating a student for graduating? Well, my parents bought one for me my senior year, and my brother wrote in it, "You're my Phoebe Caulfield always". So I always loved that and used that for my email's fake name.

As for Schumard, I was in a cemetery with my parents visiting my Grandfather, and I had wandered off while my parents and some family members were talking. I tripped on a tree root and fell in front of a headstone that read "Our Darling Elaine".

Obviously I freaked out. I got up and read the headstone. She was 25 when she died. Her name was Elaine Hazel Shumard. So that memory stuck with me, and from then on I wanted to live my life for her, you know? Do things that maybe she might have wanted to do. I hope I'm making her proud.