KristyWes to Netflix: You Don't Know Me at All!

For those of you who have not yet had the joy of cheery red envelopes bearing DVDs directly to your mailbox, let me 'splain something to you: Netflix provides movie recommendations to its customers, presumably based on each customer's preferred genres as well as their ratings (per a 5-star scale) given for previously-viewed movies. Occassionally their recomendations peak my interest and make some sense, given my taste in movies. Often, though, they're way off. What exactly made them think I would enjoy watching a documentary about a dirt bike competition? Sometimes I suspect Netflix has an algorithm loose or something.

Today I logged on to the site to see what movie was next in my queue (Eagle vs. Shark - hooray!) and quickly glanced at their latest recommendations for me. Apparently, based on the fact that I enjoyed Waiting for Guffman and The Office: Series 2, Netflix recommends that I check out the Royal Opera's production of Verdi's Rigoletta.

Hmmm. Ok....?

I am perplexed as to what similarities Netflix drew between Verdi's dramatic masterpiece and these mockumentaries. Can any opera buffs enlighten me?

Everything Old is New Again

When you love December as much as I do, January's arrival is often a big, mopey, sleety let-down. Holiday decorations that recently looked so festive now seem forlorn; winter starts to feels less cozy, more mean.

And when you are an INFP, in Myers-Briggs terminology, New Year's resolutions can be a disappointment as well. People: I do not finish projects! (Why don't you just ask me about the Pope's progress? Or better yet, don't. I can't stand the shame.) Whenever I make a resolution, it usually only takes me a couple of weeks to break it, and by March I've usually forgotten what it was that I resolved in the first place.

So what's a let-down procrastinator to do? Well, I think I may have found a way to cure the January blues and circumvent resolution failure, while at the same time playing on my love for list-making. (I really, really love lists.) I was initially going to put together a list of Ways I Loused Up 2007. But this may not be the most healthy/productive route. So in lieu of that - behold: the Mondo Beyondo list.

What is a Mondo Beyondo list, you ask? Well, I came across this website today (via the perennially cool Boho Girl), which defines a Mondo Beyondo list as one that contains "things that are outrageous, wild, and may not even happen for 5 or 10 years from now. This is the list of things that are SO JUICY and unlikely to happen that you are afraid to even write them down."

This Mondo Beyondo deal interests me, and not just because it rhymes. (Which do I love more, rhyming or making lists? Hmmm, not quite sure.) I think it may be a good exercise in shedding some cynicism that's set in lately, and encourage my heart to dream big again. Imagine up some big, outrageous possibilities and send those shrewish January blues a'packing. And because this list isn't supposed to contain finite 'to-do's or intended behavior modifications, this INFP girl can feel better that it's not going to swiftly slide into inevitable disappointment.

So soon and very soon I will spend some time with God & my pretty little journal, mapping out a Mondo Beyondo list. And if you're so inclined, I encourage you to do the same! I'm guessing that God already knows all those secret soul dreams we're harboring, so might as well put it down on paper in front of Him.

And if you're also inclined, I encourage you to come up with a motto for the new year, because I think mottos are fun and it is my personal motto that everything should have a motto. Some suggestions:

2008: It's new to me!
2008: Leap into it! (Get it? 'cause it's a Leap Year? Uh-huh.)

Your turn.