I’ve been on a huge health kick lately. A health bender, if you will. The main components of the new and improved, much healthier, me are twofold – the physical component being the 10 pushups I do every day and chemically I am reaping the benefits of drinking a lot of water. Today I did my pushups and have drank quite a bit of water. Today was a really good day.
Actually, today was boring. It was, in almost every way, the opposite of inspirational. If a great day is like Rocky 4 today was like Rocky 5 when Stallone had to deal with that moron, Tommy Gunn. I didn’t feel particularly well and only left the house twice. Both of the times I vacated the warmth of the living space were to go get foodstuffs for lunch and dinner. The lunch that I reference consisted of macaroni and cheese, pepper, and fruit glaze (ketchup). I was talking to my friend Liz this morning and she was raving about how she could really go for some of the cheesy noodled wonderment that is Kraft mac and cheese. So, I went to the Wal-Mart and got not one, but three, boxes in hopes of beating the blue box blues and thus winning my battle against hunger. You probably thought that I just got the plain mac and cheese; however I got three different kinds. I had an inkling that today would be unproductive and I needed to find a way to occupy some of my time. Some of this time was spent studying my options for lunch as I had a difficult choice to make. I went with the three cheese shelled option. I love macaroni and cheese.
Unsatisfied with lunch being the zenith of my day, I started a mental debate about what to watch on the TV. It occurred to me that I hadn’t watched Felicity in six years, so I went and got the DVDs out of the basement. I love the wide eyed inspirational moments that Felicity Porter provides on cold January days. You never know what she’s going to do next. She always leaves the door open for something great to happen to her but also something tragic.
Season one provides the viewer with insight into the quandaries of Felicity Porter (Keri Russell). Her parents paved a path for her to follow and were absolutely bent on the fact that she would go to Stanford and become a Dr. just like her dad. Her dad even talks about how he pulled some strings for her on a few occasions to make sure she went down this road. Felicity was cool with that idea for a while, but decided to opt out of her parent’s life and live her own. So, the whole season focuses on her self exploration and growth as she moved to New York City for college. Her parents are nervous and just can’t figure out why she wanted to branch out so badly and move all the way across the country to go to school. In one of the more moving moments in season one, Felicity states that even if she makes mistakes, at least they’ll be her mistakes. Nobody delivers a poignant line like Keri Russell.
Felicity decided to deep six her fabricated life when she talked to a boy (Ben) on her high school graduation day. Ben’s ambition and adventurous nature was contagious and Felicity caught a case of it. Her affinity towards Ben is understandable – he is a bit of a wildcard, but I like him better than Noel (we’ll get to Noel in a little bit). You see, Ben has panache. He’s a spirited character, a swimmer. He has some baggage that we come to find out about. And throughout the series, he and Felicity struggle to consistently make their relationship work. It’s heartbreaking and tragic. Felicity came to New York because that’s where Ben was headed. She came to find out more about this arcane character and ended up finding a lot out about herself. Epic.
Then, there’s Noel. He’s Felicity’s R.A. and a pretty nice guy. He has much less flair than Ben and is definitely not as athletic. However, Noel is a less controversial character and much steadier in most regards. The guy has a good head on his shoulders and would certainly make a better husband. He’s a straight shooter and a good listener. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is the kind of guy (I suppose) a girl could tell her secrets to. I have no idea what that really means, but that’s just what I think about when I envision a faux relationship with Noel.
My friend Justin and I watched every episode of all four seasons over Christmas break six years ago when we lived together on State St. That was a good break. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a girl in a difficult situation. All those emotions must be overwhelming. I watch Felicity and wonder if all women are as goofy as she is. She walks around looking lost and seems to think and act irrationally all day long; she says things to people that are entirely out of place and puts her foot in her mouth every few hours. She has this annoying sense of wonderment that makes her awkward. But, she’s so cute and curious that it’s hard not to root for her. I may document all of our adorable curly headed protagonist’s problems and see how many of them are akin to those facing the female population at Viterbo. I could get really fancy and break down these controversies year to year and by semester. I think I just thought of a great thesis.
Viterbo University 