marywanderer

Here’s what happens, Carrie and Big decide to buy a bigger place together. Carrie, unable to contribute much to the real estate venture, is nervous about the possibility of getting kicked to the curb. She, like any rational 43 year old woman, suggests getting married. Once again Carrie becomes a real estate bride; you would think she would have learned her lesson. Big soon gets cold feet when the plans for the wedding start to spin out of control. Let us not forget that this is his third wedding. Of course tragedy strikes, when Big (SURPRISE) leaves Carrie at the altar. Carrie feels that her reputation was ruined, and she flees with her best gal pals on her pre-paid honeymoon. Once she comes back to NY, she needs to hire an assistant to get her life back, since she merged hers with Big pre-wedding. Here comes J-Hud, who is a great character, but she came to NY looking for love. Who goes anywhere looking for love? Her heart was broken down in St. Louis by an old boyfriend, so she comes to a big city to find The One. With J-Hud we also get the sense of the theme of the movie that is pounded into our thick skulls over and over again: FORGIVENESS. At this point, you know Carrie is going to forgive Big; you just don’t know how or when. Perhaps this is the minor detail that the stars and directors didn’t want to give away. The movie goes on, and winter changes to spring, and all the characters start to forgive. J-Hud becomes engaged with her ex who broke her heart. She leaves the big city to be with her man. Carrie forgives Miranda for telling Big the day before their wedding that the two of them are crazy for getting married. Miranda forgives Steve for having sex with someone else . . . only one time. Smith forgives Samantha for having to leave; she refused to have her life revolve around a man (this was the most believable storyline in the whole movie.) Finally, Carried sees Big, and runs into his arms and forgives him. After 10 years, she forgives him yet again. Oh yeah, they do get married, in front of a judge without any of her friends, because that is what he wanted.

Well, what are we supposed to take away from this? Forgiveness is the answer to everything? I am not so sure I can agree with that. I think Steve should have been forgiven; he has proven to be a good husband and father, and he deserved a second chance. I still can’t believe that after 10 years of his insecurities Carrie still could manage to be with him. I guess we should assume that their four years together were amazing, and his feelings for her didn’t fluctuate one iota. Given his history, I don’t think that is possible. Maybe there will be another movie in four more years. . .

The whole movie wasn’t terrible. We finally got to see a little male full frontal, and the kids were pretty cute. The friendship between all the girls was wonderful. When Carrie took the subway on New Years Eve to be with Miranda, I was crying. I loved the girls dropping everything to be with Carrie on her honeymoon. They are always there for each other, and that kind of friendship is something we all hope to have with our friends.

After 4 years away, I couldn’t help but wonder . . . can a full length feature capture the magic that was SATC?

My answer would be no. I went into the movie hoping to love it. I was there with on a Friday afternoon alone, with a bunch of other women, who I can only assume loved the show as much as I did and still do. I cannot speak for all the women who filled the Lake Street Cinemas that afternoon, but I walked out of the theater utterly disappointed. I thought it could have been just me. Maybe I felt this way, because I didn’t have my group of girlfriends surrounding me or a few Cosmos to quell my cynicism. So I called a friend who saw it that night with a group of friends. Her exact words, “I hated it.” Beware if you continue to read, you may be exposed to the plot (not that there is one), and certain spoilers (not that there were any.)

Here is what I knew going in; Charlotte was going to get pregnant, Steve was going to betray Miranda, Samantha was in Cali working for her man, and something terrible was going to happen at the end of the second act(I believe it was safe to assume that Big was going to leave Carrie at the altar). All the interviews and reviews I read told me this, but the stars also said that they weren’t going to give anything away. After I saw the movie, I realized that there was nothing to give away. What was leaked, was the high points of the movie.

I have also noticed all the beauty that is all around you when you walk instead of drive.
Oak Park has some amazing houses and of course architecture. You tend to miss a lot of it when you are driving. Nothing is better than feeling a warm breeze as you walk past the flowers and trees when they are in full bloom. It just makes you literally stop and smell the roses. Life moves around us so fast. It is a rare occasion when we can just slow down and appreciate all the simple things that occur around us. I hope my little rant inspired you to take a little walk. If only to see how many condoms you can find in your neighborhood.

This was a particularly hard winter. There was a lot of snow and a lot of ice. I should know; I fell three times on the ice. All I ask is that the kind people of
Oak Park shovel and salt the side walk. It isn’t just for me, but let’s think of the children. A lot of children walk to school the same way I walk to the train station.  I am not only thinking of my sore behind, but I am thinking about little Timmy and Sally. What are they going to do when they fall and break something on the mean streets of
Oak Park? Do they continue on to school, or do they go home crying to their mothers? I didn’t know what to do, but being a grown up, I sucked it up and called my mommy. She told me to go home, and being the rebel I am I went to work. Ha! That showed her. So please
Oak Park residents, can you please just throw some salt on the sidewalk next winter? Timmy, Sally and I want to thank you in advance.

      Walking in the rain can be nice. A lot of romantic movies have had a scene where a young couple walks hand in hand in a warm summer downpour. Walking in the rain is not nice when it is nearly 40 degrees outside and the rain is coming at you sideways, and your purse umbrella is rendered useless by the huge gusts of wind. I am not really complaining about the rain; I expect it to rain and I am almost always prepared for it. What I do not understand is people in their cars. They can see me, getting rained on, and yet they don’t let me cross the street. Why is that? They are warm and dry in their car, and most places there is a stop sign or traffic light ahead. Are they in that much of a hurry that the 10 seconds it takes me to cross in front of their car will make them inexcusably late? I believe it is a state law that pedestrians have the right of way, but whenever I choose to exercise that right I get a honk or an obscene gesture. WTF?

Since living in
Oak Park, I have become a very active pedestrian. I walk Dewey at least twice a day, and during the week I walk to and from the train station. While walking I have noticed a few things that I thought were odd, and I felt compelled to write about them. . . if only to get it off my chest.

     I tend to look down a lot when I am walking. It really isn’t a self-esteem issue; it is simply because I don’t like stepping in spit. I don’t know why, but it really grosses me out. I also am on the look out for dog poop. Not every owner is as respectful as I am, so I do my best to avoid stepping on a dog mine. Anyway, you would not believe the things you find along the street and on the sidewalk; egg cartons, McDonald cups, shoe laces, condoms. Yes, that is right, condoms. I have seen at least 3 condoms no where near a garbage can or dumpster. In a town that promotes promiscuity (a visitor is only allowed to call their car in 5 times a year, which means only five overnight dates) I am happy to see that many of these short term couples are practicing safe sex. However, I am disappointed that they can’t seem to dispose of their love gloves in the proper place.