Day 24

Today I read J.D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," and have come to the conclusion that this short story is most likely not what J-Levitt was referring to, though it was a really amazing story. It circles around a woman, her troubled boyfriend, and a little girl. I don't know how well this story parallels or relates to 500 Days of Summer at all, which is why I don't think it is what the "bananafish" in the movie refers to, but it is a really wonderful account of a person not fitting in and becoming terribly disenchanted with the world. I don't think I will ever be as jaded as this guy, but I can definitely see where he's coming from. Sometimes it's hard when the only person who will talk about bananafish with you is a little girl who runs away from you.

Day 23

I just realized that yesterday was friday!! Oh no!! It's ok though, because I can still pointlessly talk about a song from 500 Days of Summer on a Saturday. I know, I know, it's not the same, but we'll just have to make due this once.

This week, I've been getting the very first song in the movie in my head a lot. You know, the one that starts with a whistle and plays behind the narrator's opening monologue? It's not super noticeable since you're probably paying attention to the narrator while it's playing, but after one's tenth viewing of 500 Days, the score begins to become subliminally embedded in one's brain and becomes the soundtrack to everything one does. I think the sweet, melancholic yet hopeful tone of this song has suited my life pretty well recently, so maybe that's why it keeps repaying in my head. For instance, I'll be getting ready to leave the house, and then the moment I step out the door, the whistle will come in to set the tone for the day. Or in another scenario, I'll be walking down the street and I'll pause for a second at a street corner, and in that moment of quiet, the song will make its way in. Is this movie driving me insane? Possibly. But I think I'm ok with it.

I also love the idea presented in the opening scene that everything is not ok but ok at the same time. Life! Hopefully after 477 more viewings, it'll all make sense.

Day 22

Day 21

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Day 20

Haven't been writing much lately, been feeling mostly like this:

Will hopefully be feeling like this soon:

and then will have much more interesting blog posts. Hope this energy shift happens soon, because I am down to only 480 more days, and there is just so so much more that needs to be said about 500 Days of Summer.

Day 19

Even though I know this movie is going to get super old, right now I still feel like this movie will never get old. Today I started getting the score of the movie in my head at various appropriate moments of the day. For instance, when I was walking down the street, feeling a little melancholy but still hopeful, I got the hopeful music in my head, and when I started feeling gloomy again, the droopier tunes took over. This movie is already ruling my brain. I don't know if this is the best thing for me right now... but it feels GREAT!

Day 18

Today, I feel like this:

Sometimes I wish I could just sit around in my nasty bathrobe and eat twinkies and watch 500 Days of Summer forever.

Day 17

Day 16

While scrolling through the IMDB page for 500 Days of Summer the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting little factoid: apparently the whole color scheme for all the design work for this movie was created to highlight the color of Zooey Deschanel eyes. Isn't that wild?? I thought it was just a cute color scheme that happened to flatter Zooey's saphire-blue irises, but no! It was all part of their plan to get you sucked in.

This same shade of bright summery blue is also used all throughout the movie...

 

... she is wearing some shade of this bright blue in almost every scene! 

They even chose bright blue bus seats to complement her eyes! Plus, every other color throughout the film was chosen to complement that blue and make it pop, so the people behind 500 Days basically created an entire world around an eye color. Super impressive. I could start getting super deep right now about how Summer's glance literally colors Tom's world, but I'm going to stop and just leave it at that.

Day 15

Ok so I'm not going to call it "Funkay Fridays" anymore because I realized that's super lame, but it is Friday again, so I'm going to talk about another faabulous song from 500 Days of Summer. This week, I'm going to focus on one of my least favorite songs: "Bad Kids" by Black Lips. Not only do I just not really like this song, but I don't think it works very well in the film. This rambunctious garage-pop song plays during an engagement party at Tom and Summer's office, which is totally unrealistic, because I seriously doubt that the bride-to-be or the office manager are big Black Lips fans. Not only does the vibe of the song not fit the scene, but the lyrics are totally disconnected to anything that happens at any point in the movie. Here's the chorus:

"Bad kids all my friends are bad kids
Product of no dad kids
Kids like you and me

Bad kids ain't no college grad kids
Livin out on the skids
Kids like you and me"

The rest of the song is pretty similar to this. I like Black Lips, and I think some of their other songs are great, and maybe it's just the placement of "Bad Kids" in this movie that ruined it for me, but I think it is possibly the worst part about this movie. Look at this:

while listening to this:

Maybe I am missing some witty, ironic moment that is supposedly being created through this juxtaposition, but I just don't get this song choice at all. I'm not even going to get into which song would be a better choice, because there are just way too many possibilities.

Day 14

Today I looked up what a Bananafish is. Expecting to find a yellow species of tropical fish, I was surprised to find that there are no fish called "Bananafish." Instead, I was led to believe that this "bananafish" refers to one of three things: (1) the short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J.D. Salinger, (2) the classic manga "Banana Fish" by Akimi Yoshida, or (3) the band Bananafish. There are actually a ton of bands called Bananafish, or some variation on that name, which I thought was super weird. I'm guessing the movie reference is to the Salinger story, because that seems like it fits Summer and Tom's personalities best, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they ended up both secretly being obsessed with vintage manga.

this is creepy and weird.

Day 13

My DVD of 500 Days of Summer has ALREADY gotten so warn that it won't play in my PS2!! What is up with that?? How many DVDs am I going to have to buy to get through 500 days?? I think I watched this DVD maybe 12 times before I started this project, so that's about 25 views before the disc became un-playable. That means I'll have to go through 20 DVDs before this journey is over. In conclusion, I am now taking 500 Days of Summer DVD donations. No scratched discs, please. Thanks for your support.

Day 12

Have you ever looked up the "Memorable Quotes" from 500 Days of Summer on IMDB? I don't know why you would, but if you have, then I bet you will agree with me when I say that they are some of the most boring quotes I've ever read. My favorite:

Tom: My name's Tom.
Girl at Interview: [shaking hands] Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn.

...how is this at all a "Memorable Quote?" Yes, it is memorable as far of scenes of this movie go that Tom meets a new girl named Autumn, but when I'm looking through "Memorable Quotes," I'm looking for truly profound material that sticks with me, even out of the context of the film. This list of quotes is basically just the screenplay for the movie. Another of my favorites:

Tom: [the girl at the job interview agrees to meet Tom for coffee afterward] We'll figure it out. My name's Tom.
Girl at Interview: [Last lines of the film] Nice to meet you.
[Shakes his hand]
Girl at Interview: I'm Autumn.
[Tom looks at the camera in amazement. Film cuts to a title card with a "1" indicating the first day of Tom's relationship with Autumn]

Somebody thought this quote was SO good that it needed to be re-transcribed to include even more significant details. Super necessary! I'm definitely going to need to update this quotes page though, because it doesn't even include the part where Tom says how he and Summer can talk about Bananafish for hours, which is super crucial. Updates to come.

Day 11

The "heart-shaped birthmark" on Summer's neck: is it real? How does one make a fake birthmark? Was there someone on set who had a weird birthmark and the director was all "You! There! We NEED to have that birthmark in this movie!" or what? One time I had a weird heart-shaped area of raised skin in this exact same spot. Isn't that weird? I thought it was pretty awesome and then one day it disappeared. Maybe it will come back now that I'm watching this movie so often. Maybe I will slowly just turn into Zooey. That would be pretty creepy, but at least then I'd be able to carry a tune. Do you think that mole is cancerous? It has a pretty irregular shape, which is one of the main signifiers of a cancerous mole. According to WebMD, the five ABCDE's of skin cancer screening are:

• Asymmetry: One half of the mole does not match the other half
• Border: The border or edges of the mole are ragged, blurred, or irregular
• Color: The mole has different colors or it has shades of tan, brown, black, blue, white, or red
• Diameter: The diameter of the mole is larger than the eraser of a pencil
• Evolving: The mole appears different from others and/or changing in size, color, shape

Although it is heart shaped, the mole is pretty symmetrical, so unless the shape or color are evolving I'd say it looks pretty safe. Blogger "Eris" of Essa Pamandanan also has an awesome heart-shaped mole:

Hers does look much smaller and more normal than the one in the movie though, so maybe Summer should get hers checked out.

Day 10

Remember this part where Jo-Go goes to check out his reflection in the window and his reflection is Harrison Ford? So amazing and genius!! I want to shake the hand of whoever came up with that one. That's all for today.

Day 9

So I've decided that from now on, Fridays are going to be "Funkayyyy Fridays!," where I'll focus on one song from 500 Days and tear it to shreds. Doesn't that sound like fun? I thought so. For today I've chosen a song from one of my favorite musical scenes, in which Tom strategically plays "Please, please, please let me get what I want" by The Smiths to try to get Summer to notice him.

classy pose, Jo-Go

I think all the disgustingly hopeless romantics in the audience can sympathize with this pathetic move. Everything about it, from Morrisey's tear-jerker lyrics to Jo-Go's eager body language, is just flooded with sappiness, yet if placed in the same position I feel like I would do exactly the same thing, so as painful as it is to watch, I really can't blame the guy. It is so crazy to want someone so bad and to be constantly thinking of ways to bring them closer to you, when meanwhile they aren't thinking of you in the slightest.

In this song, Morrisey's all "Wahh, please love me, no one ever loves me, my life is so saddd." So pathetic, right? But that is exactly what it's like when you're in that place! As ridiculous as I think his lyrics are sometimes, he does hit that point where you feel so lost and lonely and like things can't possibly get any more depressing head-on. I never knew my sappy feelings could sound so good until I heard them come out of Morrisey's mouth.

Day 8

Today I watched 500 Days with my buddies Junior and Meaghan. It's awesome how watching something with other people makes it seem different, no matter how many times in a row you've just watched it. I feel like I have a new favorite scene every time I watch, so I thought it'd be fun to see which parts other people love. Here are the results!:

Junior's Favorite Part: When Tom smashes plates in his kitchen immediately following the break-up, which seems SO fun but also SO inconvenient! Now you have to lug your depressed self back to IKEA to get more plates, which will surely stir up some painful memories. Way to go, Jo-Go

Meaghan's Favorite Part: When Tom and Summer are running around playing house in IKEA. I'm pretty sure the IKEA employees were way less than stoked to have a couple of crazies mackin' on all of their furniture, but I guess you don't think about that kind of thing when you're Zooey Deschanel or are semi-dating Zooey Deschanel.

It makes total sense that Junior, who is single and has had her heart broken not so long ago, loves the scenes where Tom is comically heartbroken, because she can relate to and find solace in that pain. Similarly, Meaghan likes the lighthearted scenes where Tom and Summer are totally happy and in love, because she is in love. I'm sure every person whose ever been in a relationship or has had their heart broken can relate to most of this movie, which is why it is so amazing. 500 Days unites us in our heartbreak. SO DEEP!
Today, my favorite part is when Tom starts working on his sketches again, probably because that's where I feel like I am, or at least that's where I want to be.

Actually, this is where I want to be. You go, Jo-Go.

Day 7

I've been doing a bit of forward thinking and wondering about how long I will actually be able to keep this grieving practice up, and though I do sometimes doubt myself, I've decided that I think it will be possible to finish. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Lawrence of The Lawrence/Julie & Julia Project, but he is my blog idol, and every time I start to get discouraged, I just think of how he has almost finished an entire year's worth of Julie & Julia viewing and still seems to be going strong. Congratulations, Lawrence! You do us repeat-romantic-comedy-viewers proud.

In other news, how about Zooey Deschanel's bangs? She has got some fabulously full fringe goin' on. The other day someone told me that guys hate girls with bangs because they cover their face too much, which is apparently super un-sexy. What about the mystery? I thought guys were into that? Like, "Ooh, look at those big bushy bangs... I wonder what kind of sexy forehead is hiding under there..." Right?

Day 6

Today I was thinking a lot about Tom (Jo-Go)'s long, depressing mourning period, and have been wondering if mine will be as long and twinkie-filled. I've decided to calculate exactly how long this mourning period lasted for Tom by using the movie's adorable date-tracking system. Maybe this will give me some estimate as to how long it will be before I can stop subsisting entirely on sugar and corn syrup.

Day 31: Tom and Summer's first kiss by the copy machine. Though it is never clear whether they are officially together or not at any point in their relationship, this is the clearest point of a real beginning that I can see.
Day 290: Tom is smashing plates in his kitchen on the day of the break-up, wondering where it all went wrong. I should remind my housemates how lucky they are to live with someone for whom breaking dishes creates more stress than it relieves.
Day 314: Tom sits alone in a movie theater, moping.
Day 321: Tom's boss suggests he start writing mourning cards because he is so depressed and lame all the time. Tom is lucky he wasn't slacking at his job in this modern economy, because he for sure would have gotten the boot.
Day 322: Tom declares all the things he hates about Summer. Are her knees really knobby? I don't get it.
Day 345: Tom goes out on a blind date with a girl that looks like the little mermaid, the entirety of which he spends ranting about Summer.
Day 402: Tom sees Summer again for the first time after their break-up on the way to a wedding, and is clearly still hopeful of reuniting with her. At this point, Summer is already engaged. This means that she got over Tom and then met, dated, and got engaged to her future husband all within 112 days (3 1/2 months). Crazy!

Day 408: Tom is heartbroken all over again when he finds out that Summer is engaged at her party. Poor, poor Tom.
Day 440: First clip of Tom being a twinkie-eating whisky-drinking bag of depression. Does this mean he has been doing this for an entire month already?? Can one man subsist solely on Twinkies and whisky for that long?
Day 442: Tom finally heads to the office, only to quit in a moment of depression-induced clarity.
Day 450: Tom is at his sister's soccer game "doodling" for the first time in months. This is the first time in 160 days that we see the slightest sign of happiness or productivity in Tom. This is not a good sign for me.
Days 456-476: Tom is FINALLY back on his feet.
Day 488: Tom sees Summer again at his special spot and doesn't freak out.
Day 500: Tom meets Autumn. Apparently meeting a new girl is the only way for Tom to really get over Summer. Doesn't he need some positive alone time? I don't know if another girl is really what he needs at this point.

So there you have it. Basically, it took Tom 210 days (7 months) to get over a 259 day (8 1/2 month) relationship. My relationship, from the day of our first kiss to the day of our break-up, was appx 305 days (10 months) long. Does this mean I am doomed to spend the next 8 1/2 months in a miserable whisky-soaked haze? I hope not.

Days 1-5

So the other day I was laying in bed, watching 500 Days of Summer, moping about my recent break up, as I have done every day for the past four days, and I began to wonder: how many viewings of 500 Days of Summer is it going to take me to get over this break-up? Is watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt get his heart torn out actually helping me heal mine, or is it just a useless distraction and waste of my time? Rather than wean myself off of the movie, I've decided to do the opposite: I will watch 500 Days of Summer every day for 500 days, and if I'm not over my ex by then, then I suppose I will conclude that this method is flawed.

Now for a short re-cap of days 1-5:
Day 1: The day of the break-up. I came home, vented to my housemates for about an hour, and then settled in for a heart-wrenching viewing of one of my three favorite break-up movies of all time. I gained solace from the similarities between my situation and Jo-Go's and drifted off to sleep.

Day 2: Watched 500 Days in the background while I began an epic hunt to find a job that does not involve me working alongside my ex-boo. Considered looking into applying at a greeting card company.

Day 3: Woke up on the couch at 4am, realized that I had fallen asleep there while watching 500 Days, slumped off to my room, resumed watching.

Day 4: Watched 500 Days while attempting to clean my room/organize my life, but ended up getting hypnotized by Jo-Go's twinkly gaze and getting nothing done.

Day 5: Came home inebriated at 3am, immediately pressed play, passed out somewhere around the break-up scene.

I think that about brings us up to speed. I hope you all are as excited to hear about my journey as I am to see Zooey and Jo-Go's copy room make-out scene every day for the next year and a half! Wish me luck!