Filed under: gift guides | Tags: Anusha, Arizona Dream, barbecue, Barbossa, camera, Cameron, computer, Danny Boyle, Deep Roy, Geoffrey Rush, gift card, gifts, ipod screen, Johnny Depp, Mary-Sue, Mika, movie tickets, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pointy Chin Club, road trip, Sean Connery, Shakespearean troupe, Shel Silverstein, sunglasses, tripod
Since I take the time to construct a list of things I would get people if I weren’t lazy/broke, I thought I might as well returrrn the favor. Damn it, Barbossa. Get back where you came from.
Wait. Take me with you! I long to be a Mary-Sue.
Although most of my gift guides are in jest, this one is full of the things I really want. Okay, with a few jests. But since my birthday party has come and gone (more on that later), I’ve gotten all the presents I’m likely to get this year. A gift card and two movie tickets. How creative we are these days. Hush, it’s the thought that counts, right? Well maybe I should get richer friends. Just kidding. Although that is the spirit of these gift guides.
No pictures this time because I have a stone-age computer.
1. camera. A good one, that I can mess around with. Photography, not video.
2. tripod. So that my video camera can be propped up without the use of a mountain of books.
3. a new ipod screen, because I sat on mine and the internal screen broke. 
I see only static. I can’t even maneuver it to be visible anymore.
4. a road trip. If only we could all drop everything and cross the country in a hippie bus. Fine, even an ugly modern RV would be fine. Probably more comfortable too.
5. A Shakespearean troupe. What? Twelve actors, at my disposal and completely dedicated to my project? White actors to appeal to the masses? Because all I’ve ever worked with are Asian teenagers. Not appealing at all.
6. Arizona Dream. I bow to you, whoever gets me this.
7. My barbecue. This would be even greater than “Arizona Dream”. Oh, to have Johnny Depp, MIKA, Geoffrey Rush, Anusha, Danny Boyle, Deep Roy, Shel Silverstein, and Sean Connery, among others, gathered in my backyard gnawing on ribs. And to have the Pointy Chin Club watching from their glass display cases. Cameron, no using your chin to cut a hole into the glass. I don’t care if you can’t breath in there! Eat your chin!
8. A new computer. This one might actually come true. And I canst wait.
How great it is to finally have Johnny Depp sunglasses off this list.
The next gift guide that I am aware of is Amanda’s, in November. Hang in there. Although a back-to-school one sounds good too.
Filed under: Happiness is a Warm Gun, Uncategorized | Tags: Across the Universe, architecture, backyards, Baz Luhrmann, candles, Charlotte Gainsbourg, coral, directors, First Five California, French, Grace Kelly, happiness, hedges, History Detectives, Ils Se Marierent et Eurent Beaucoup d'Enfants, Jane Birkin, jingle, Johnny Depp, Laguna Beach, mattress, Mika, mini DV camera, Moulin Rouge, My Best Friend, Otis Taylor, PBS, Prete-moi Ta Main, Public Enemies, purple, romantic comedies, Russian eggs, Serge Gainsbourg, soda, Ten Million Slaves, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Valet, We Are Golden
This week has slowly slid into the mundane, but I refuse to let myself go back to eighth grade. Eighth grade competes with fifth grade for the worst years of my life. Here’s the happiness post, reliably on Monday even though they’re supposed to appear on Sundays.
1. French romantic comedies. Yesterday I watched “Prete-moi ta main”, which literally means lend me your hand, but they translated it to “I Do”, or “Faux Wedding”. It’s about a man who grows up in a family of all women, and eventually they grow tired of doing his laundry, etc, and try to get him married. He gets sick of their nagging, obviously, and hires his friend’s sister to pretend to be his fiance and then stand him up at the wedding. It gets a lot more complicated than that, of course. These light-hearted French movies always cheer me up. Others that I’ve seen and can remember the names are “The Valet” and “My Best Friend”. Darn, can’t remember the names of others.
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg. This ties in with the above, but indulge me. She plays the “fiance”. I’ve only seen her in this and a few clips of Johnny Depp’s cameo in “Ils Se Marierent et Eurent Beaucoup d’Enfants”. I do know though that she’s the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, and a singer as well as an actress. With my limited familiarity, everything I say here applies to her character in “Prete-moi Ta Main”. I have no idea if she’s like her. Anyway, she gave off this air of elegance and self-confidence, even if she peed with the door open, among other things. I liked how her real character was in the middle of the perfect and the fiance from hell. In one word, I’d describe her as a juxtaposition. It didn’t hurt that she was tall and thin. Definitely boosted her up in my mom’s opinion. I’ve just realized that this sounds like a girl crush. Whell.
2. My mom’s new mattress. It’s memory foam and it’s soft as a cloud. White as a cloud too. It just smells like chemicals, because she’s just bought it. But sensory adaptation kicks in (gahh psych 101) and you forget it’s even there. I always fall right asleep on her bed, except for last night because new developments had occurred with the stop-motion, and not good ones.
3. “We are Golden”. My, this is a very pop culture driven week, isn’t it? MIKA’s new single came out a few weeks ago, but his video premiered last Friday and I forgot about it until yesterday. So much for staying ahead of the crowd. You won’t find the correct version on Youtube, so if you want to see it look around www.mikasounds.com. If you’ve never seen MIKA before, I’d recommend first watching “Grace Kelly” on youtube to ease into his style. The “We Are Golden” video freaked even me out a little. But it’s all good. 
4. Backyards. I may be moving into an apartment for a few months because it turns out my little sister is severely allergic to dust mites, something supremely unlacking in this house. I’m really going to miss my own little patch of green. I lived in an apartment until I was almost seven, and yes, I can still remember it. But I’ve grown accustomed to having some semblance of privacy, maybe taking it for granted. I keep reminding myself that every experience is something to log into my memory for filmmaking/writing reference If I have a nice safe life well then there’d be nothing to write about, right?
5. Coral. It’s my new favorite color. Sorry, purple.
6. Russian eggs. They are so delicate and intricate. I got a necklace this week that had a “Russian egg” on it. Definitely won me over.
7. Mini DV cameras. It’s true, they’ve brought filmmaking to the living room. If it weren’t for my camera I’d have to wait until I was 20-something to start my career. Even if nothing comes of what I’m doing now I’m still learning something.
8. My soda from Taco Bell. It’s emanating coldness and freezing everything within a five inch radius. I’m not kidding.
9. PBS. I watched their celebration of the 50’s music and History Detectives. It didn’t hurt that they used a bit of what sounded like Otis Taylor’s “Ten Million Slaves” in the background. Which is the song they used in a lot of “Public Enemies”. What can I say, history enthralls me.
10. Hedges. I like how square they are and how they make you think of mazes.
11. The First Five jingle on the radio. It’s dorky but pleasing on the ears. “There’s so much I need to knooooowwww. The more I learn the more I groooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww. Teach me, show me, hold me, and give me loooovvvve.”
12. Inventive directors. I finally watched “Moulin Rouge”, and like “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Across the Universe” I like how Baz Luhrmann didn’t just tell the story but they incorporated symbolism, colors, and angles to make a beautiful-to-look-at film. Miya will be pleased to hear that I liked the movie. It’s her favorite. Speaking of favorites, a viewing of “Arizona Dream” is long overdue.
13. Laguna Beach. I love all the artsy galleries and stores. It’s the beach that never sleeps, I think. And then there are hidden little beaches next to beautiful coves and behind immaculate hotels. I love the juxtapositions of beach houses next to Tudor houses next to a Mr. Darcy-in-2005’s-”Pride and Prejudice”’s house. It’s a photographer’s dream. I see people with easels painting the ocean, and people with dogs, old ladies reading under a rotunda. I see old people having a picnic at these cute four-person tables and they’ve brought their own tablecloth, centerpiece, and candles. That’s paradise.
14. Candles. I’m trying to get a candlelit dinner for my birthday in my backyard. I can’t wait!
I could go on but this post is already ridiculously long. When are my posts not?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1960's fashion, Almost Strangers, AMC, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Can't Let Go, Christian Northeast, dress up, Dyna Moe, fame, hair, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jimmy Kimmel, Judy Blume, Landon Pigg, Mad Men, Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Gambon, Michael Sheen, Mika, New Moon, period, Six Degrees, Sweeney Todd, Timothy Spall, Twilight, weather, Whip It, Will Arnett
July 29, 2009
Hey buddies,
The weather is cooler than usual today – perfect. For those of you who don’t live in Southern California, that means that it’s sunny not sweltering, and that I haven’t turned on the fan all day.
My Internet is also cooperating somewhat. My day has turned around just as I promised. Which means that I can share a few things that cheered me up today.
You remember when I fell in love with the show “Mad Men” a while back? Dyna Moe has been drawing the most prominent fanart of “Mad Men” and AMC asked her to create a game to promote Mad Men Season 3. You make a character, basically. Just like dressupgames.com. Oops. Did I just reveal one of my old pastimes? dressupgames.com is a good waste of time too, but many of the good games have died. It’s great because it’s 1960’s fashion, hair, etc.
I also discovered a really good artist today, Christian Northeast. I’ll let the work describe itself. I’ve been looking at his website all day and it’s not because my computer is slow. At first, yes. But that soon changed.
I’ll definitely be looking out for his work in magazines from now on.
This one I’ve been holding on to for a while, but check out Will Arnett’s reading of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. I don’t have a link so you’ll have to do a bit of treasure-hunting, but trust me it is rewarding, even if only for 41 seconds.
Let me make it clear that Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret is one of the most hilariously ridiculous books I have ever read. And no disrespect to Judy Blume, because I grew up reading her books, but Margaret is the personification of why I hated girliness.
She must increase her busts? Writing down cute boys’ names in a book? Ridiculous. Why doesn’t Margaret think about other things? Does she have interests besides breast exercises and males? I don’t recall. Most of all, desperate for her period? The book ended before Margaret experienced her first cramps, before worrying about whether she was leaking or not, before all her friends went swimming and SHE COULDN’T GO. Every little girl who read that had been led to believe that your period is a happy experience. LIEEEESSSSS.
There you have it, awesomeness to last you through tomorrow, granted you have a slow Internet connection and fragile computer. As for me, I’m off to procrastinate on psych homework by watching “Almost Strangers” starring many awesome British actors like Timothy Spall, Matthew MacFadyen, and Michael Gambon. Awesome here meaning they are closely six degreed to Johnny Depp. Huzzah.
Sayonara,
Grapes
P.S. Jamie Campbell Bower, Antony from “Sweeney Todd”, will be in “New Moon”. I don’t know what to say, because I’m disappointed but people have to do what they have to to continue their careers, right? I really doubt he’s in “New Moon” because he’s a “Twilight” fangirl. Boy.
What’s even more confusing is what Michael Sheen’s doing in “New Moon”. He’s an excellent actor, and this seems out-of-character. Not that I know what his character is, but again, somewhat disappointed.
P.P.S. I’m excited for Landon Pigg for being in “Whip It”. He plays a musician, not a far stretch but you’ve got to start somewhere. I was a fan when no one had heard of him and all he had was his EP “Can’t Let Go” (I was addicted to that song for a while) and it’s really cool when you can watch someone move forward in their career like this. It was exciting seeing MIKA get famous, even if it means that 30 years from now when Miya and I go to see his show during the Great California Earthquake it will be expensive.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: behemoth, body image, camera, dead mosquito, dresses, Dustin Hoffman, fashion, females, five words, gardeners, girl, insecurity, It's a Shame About Ray, Johnny Depp, Mika, orange, pink, prints, purple, radio, stop the wedding, stupid, sunday best, symbolism, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Graduate, the Lemonheads
Let’s try something new.
Dear reader,
I may pick up the habit of radio-listening again, what with each Youtube video taking two hours to load and my ipod almost dead. Also my dad took itunes with him on his computer, leaving me with this stone age behemoth.
Huh, there’s a word I haven’t heard in a while. Behemoth behemoth behemoth. I used to love this imposing and hilarious word. A behemoth should be furry, like a woolly mammoth. Woolly Bullies! Reference.
There’s something very nice about the thought of the whole family gathered around the wooden radio, and then going out for a Sunday afternoon drive.
I bought a whole new set of MiniDV tapes . Playtime with the camera is a go!
That might have come out wrong. But what else do you call it? I’m going to go wander around with my camera zooming in on various objects in my backyard? Can’t today anyway – the gardeners are coming around. Tuesdays are the closest to air raids I’m ever going to get, I hope. The gardeners are already terrifying enough.
I’ve taken video of the dead mosquito on the windowsill, the inspiration for this morbid act being many movies I’ve seen recently. Namely “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”. I’m learning not to make a movie that is only the literal telling of a story. Symbolism rocks when you’re not analyzing it. It’s very stealthy. Now that the mosquito has been immortalized on tape, I suppose I should clean it out. Believe it or not I’d rather watch it decay.
The other day my mom and I watched “The Graduate”. Excellent movie. As a side note, Dustin Hoffman’s earlier works are never intimidating like other older movies are. There’s a compliment in there somewhere. I love how it’s a movie about an affair and yet there aren’t any sex scenes. Everything is implied.
My mom said, “It’s interesting how in Chinese culture, if the girl is getting married they let her go. But in America they always go to stop the wedding.” I’d grown so used to the concept of stopping the wedding, at least in movies, that I rarely remember that people often give up too.
In the past year I’ve become such a girl. I thought it would become a long and difficult struggle to be okay with it, but I barely even notice the changes anymore. It’s just who I am now. There’s something epic about the fact that this personality will be me for the majority of my life, and who I was will have only been a small percentage of my life. It’s weird because that was such a strong personality too.
Occasionally I’ll see it again, when my mom tells me not to wear that dress because my legs are the size of small tree trunks. Not in those terms, but with the same meaning. And I think, “Screw it,” and go to change into frumpy jeans and a t-shirt. Is this the root of the problem? Body-image? I believe so.
Only with the support of my friends and parents have I become brave enough to step out in shorts or a dress, to cry during movies, to label something as cute, and to hug without faking a cringe. Here’s how I visualize it. Before I was orange. Now I’m leaning towards pink. And in between there was purple.
As a side note, my favorite color is still purple, but pink is catching up in small doses.
This is all leading up to: I love love love love love love love love dresses.
Never have I loved dresses so much since before preschool. What have dresses represented to me but the petty concerns of females and the pressures of violin?
Explanation: I wore dresses mainly for church and violin recitals, and it was my mom who pushed me into wearing frilly dresses to church along with my sisters. I’ve always considered myself to be an adult (silly, yes). And to be bunched in with my sisters as the only people who really dressed up for church (wearing our “Sunday best” is not a priority at my church), that was mortifying. I did not want to be seen as a baby too.
This need to be seen as an adult goes along with the “petty concerns of females” thing. Girls have been portrayed as caring about what men think, about what we look like. I thought that was stupid, and to wear a dress was to lump me in with the girls who stared off into space twirling their hair, constantly reapplying their makeup, doing stupid things because a cute boy was in the room.
Whatever. Dresses are cute, they’re liberating, and they give you the feeling of being light in the air, without a care in the world. Skirts included. And bright bold flower prints don’t hurt.
It’s not logical to forever wear dresses, but if I could I would. What am I talking about, of course it’s possible. I’m just not ready to be “that girl” who always dresses up just yet. Because no matter how plainly you wear a dress, it’s still a dress and that’s being dressed up.
You have my word, I won’t be making faces in every picture anymore. Only some.
Let’s play a game. List five words that describe who you are or who you want to be. I’ll go first.
Playful, intelligent, elegant, beautiful, passionate.
Haha I feel more exposed with those five words than I have with all my blog posts. Your turn!
Love,
Grapes
P.S. I’m not into neon plaid and neon skinny jeans. Too many people walking around in it. Except on MIKA. It works for him.
P.P.S. Polka dot/Flower print > plaid.
P.P.P.S. KATHKAWERKEJWWJWKEJR!!!!! “It’s a Shame About Ray” by the Lemonheads is on the radio! I love you, Rewind Tuesday or whatever it’s called. Guess who was “Ray” in the ”It’s a Shame About Ray” music video? Johnny Depp, yes. I can still remember the haziness of the video and how he was being emo on a bed smoking and stuff.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: La Poo Poo, Ernest, Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp, Arizona Dream, Mika, movies, costume, references, summer, mom, directing, psychology, screenplay, SAT, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel, Before Night Falls, Lieutenant Victor, Bon Bon, creativity, Trader Joe's, dragon, dragon lady, We Are Golden
Oh what fun it is to scan SAT practice tests onto my computer and try to write a screenplay, hey! Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. That has always irritated me. Whatever, it’s what I’m doing right now – scanning SAT practice tests and working on my first feature-length screenplay. I read it today and realized how much I relied on dialogue. No! Not good! Stop! Not good! You’re burning all the food, the shade, the rum!
To expand on my praise for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” yesterday, I would just like to say this. Julian Schnabel, I must watch more of your movies. For many reasons not limited to because Johnny Depp dresses like a woman in “Before Night Falls” and also plays Lieutenant Victor. What a nasty man is Lieutenant Victor.
If I get any of this wrong, please don’t tar and feather me. It’s been a while since I maintained my library of Johnny Depp trivia and my computer is in no state for me to check it quickly. I can imagine the neurons devoted to Johnny Depp trivia in my brain (if there is such a thing – which would be kind of sad) dying one by one from lack of use. Ah psych 101. The things you teach me. Like endorphins, which made me do the Drew Barrymore Syndrome in class. I hope no one saw that.
“Gives one the feeling of being in love.” “You don’t say…”
It’s the little things in life that make us smile. Like Johnny Depp references. And eating a whole bag of kettle corn before you realize that you’ve eaten a whole bag and emptied the equivalent of a gallon of sugar into your system.
While in the bathroom, I thought back to the moment I realized that I wanted to be a director. 11-years-old, creating a tour of Mesopotamia video for school. We didn’t have the money or the means to create an actual ziggurat, so we printed a picture out and moved our camera toward it. To simulate a long journey, we filmed back and forth on the same seven-foot stretch of hedge, with my friend’s little brother panting behind the camera for sound effects. It was impulsive thinking, it was creative, because we didn’t have anything.
Watching the extra features on “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, they did the same thing – but more sophisticated. A good use of camera angles and colors excited me more than a good story. It felt like finally, this was art. As I’ve mentioned, “Arizona Dream” felt similar to this, as did “Across the Universe”.
The summer has taken a turn for the better. Tomorrow Miya and Nobu are coming over for an 80’s movie marathon, and by the looks of it Club Retrospect has been approved. Huzzah!
Sorry for the lack of Ernest & La Poo Poo updates. It’s been difficult for me to even find time for my own blog, I’ll really try to find time for theirs but I can’t promise anything.
My mom and I have been hanging out because really, there’s no other option. But it’s fun when there are only two of you because you’re more free to make your own plans. I could never have my friends over if my dad was home, and especially if the house had not stayed somewhat clean. Which it wouldn’t have if my sisters were home.
I can’t wait for tomorrow, and I can’t wait to go to Trader Joe’s today and find more awesome possible birthday foods. Mostly, I can’t wait to fail my first psych test and realize that maybe I should study.
I just realized that “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” has unseated PotC as my second-favorite movie. To be honest, PotC wasn’t my second-favorite, it was only there as an obligation to acknowledge how prevalent it’s been in my life. I could never bring myself to put something before it on a list besides “Arizona Dream”, though. Congrats. I think I’ll watch PotC now…while no one’s home.
I’m busy working on the dragon costume anyway. Oh yeah, I went to Halloween Club and asked for a dragon costume. They showed me a dragon lady costume. I know it’s nothing, they were just trying to help me out and showing me their only options, but it’s sort of funny. In a racial way…and yet…whatever. It’s just…funny. I can’t explain it.
Costume-making isn’t so bad. It’s nice to have something you’re working toward. A goal, I guess, but not necessarily. This stop-motion keeps me optimistic that this summer will not go to waste.
In other news, MIKA’s new single is called “We Are Golden”. Huzzah.
Filed under: Happiness is a Warm Gun, Uncategorized | Tags: Anna-Sophia Robb, architecture, bicycles, Bob Dylan, classic, clothing, color, Continuum, elitist, Everywhere, happiness, John Mayer, Johnny Depp, Kool-Aid, Life in Cartoon Motion, Michelle Branch, Mika, mountains, Mr. Tambourine Man, old movie posters, old music, passion, pattern, people, poetry, Saorse Ronan, sleep, Tang, texture, the Beatles, The Horseman on the Roof, Vanity Fair July 09, wilderness
Things that happified me this week are as follows.
1. Poetry – A few well-written poems in English class and the Earl of Rochester’s “Satyr on Mankind” have kindled my newfound like for poetry. I will admit that I did read the “Satyr on Mankind” because of Johnny Depp – but only because I was on a fansite and it was on someone’s signature. It really intrigued me, so I read the whole thing. I doubt I could ever produce good poetry, though. Has anyone seen my poetry landfill? I always forgo meaning and symbolism for a cheap rhyme.
2. Vanity Fair July 09 – Yes, it was Johnny Depp on the cover, but that’s never really been enough to excite me about a magazine. It was the nature of this shoot and what it sort of showed that makes me so happy. The fact that Johnny Depp allowed Douglas Brinkley onto his private island shows that he’s finally really happy in life, and comfortable with his celebrity. Even though I hopped onto the bandwagon fifteen years into his career, I’ve seen a lot of changes. As weird as the following example sounds, it’s like watching my sisters as they grow up. And it’s like watching my parents as they grow old and bitter. Aside from that, the photos were some of the most playful and relaxed I’ve seen him in pictures. With this issue of Vanity Fair, Johnny Depp became even cooler than before. And I can really admire him now, because he’s gotten rid of a lot of the negativity that made me limit my admiration to his acting. It’s great when you can admire someone as opposed to knowing every detail of their lives, that is, obsessing.
3. People – Not the magazine, but almost everyone I’ve encountered. I’m still working on not being angered by a few people, but for the most part I’m not resentful toward anyone anymore. Even the “popular kids”, I see them as regular human beings. They’re flawed, but some of them are very intelligent, or diligent, or whatever it is. They all have some redeeming quality. In 7th grade, people would tell me that we would grow closer as a class, and I never saw that happening. But now I get it, everyone matures and realizes that we are all one group, and we face everything together. Can you tell I’m refraining from saying “we’re all in this together”? I don’t feel a barrier between me or anyone else in my class, because I’m just as cool as they are, if not more. This is where elitism The people at my church, they’re amazing too. They’re the coolest people on the planet, they’ve got their priorities straight, and yet they do all this without ever uttering a cuss word. And they don’t judge you. Yeah, I know they’re not as perfect as I’m describing them, but the best part is that we’re all striving toward these things. Still, they are the coolest. I also love my PE buddies, for being my idea dumping ground. Especially Miya – and I told her this was coming – but she is so open to everything I say. It’s nice to have that there so that my ideas don’t die before they leave the ground. Miya, I can’t wait for our picnic on Wednesday. I’m a little nervous, but excited nonetheless. Also, there’s no ham or turkey at my house. I may have to end up bringing chips.
4. Bicycles – This is not a double entendre regarding Sushi. I really wish Cerritos had one of those rent-a-bicycle machines. It would make getting around much easier. Again, not a double entendre. Sadly, though our city is rich, it is not a major metropolitan area and such an idea would most probably get shot down. Until then, I can only work with haste toward my driver’s license.
5. Old movie posters – They are so beautiful because of the rich colors and the fact that they are not photographs. I’d love to see a PotC poster in a classic style. Good god, I’d love to see all my favorite movies in that style.
6. Passion – You always read about how “men like a woman who is passionate about something else.” I always thought, “Whell then.” But now I really do have something I’m passionate about – film, and it practically reeks off of me, if you consider the fact that the one thing that everyone who meets me says is that they can see I really love the art of filmmaking. Being passionate about something feels good. It gives me something else to look forward to instead of boys and looking nice. I think being a teenager with passion really sets you apart from your peers – and that’s great. It makes you want to yell to everyone else to go after their dreams too, but then you realize that if they do and they fail, it will be all your fault. I have a friend who is clearly naturally artistic – but she doesn’t know what she wants to do. The careers she comes up with are beyond boring – stock broker, pediatrician, etc. I felt sleepy just thinking about doing that for the rest of my life. I want to knock on her skull and say, “Hello? Have you ever considered art?” But I don’t want her to be a starving artist either.
7. Old music – This can be old as in the early 1900’s or old as in from a couple years ago. I recently heard “Everywhere” by Michelle Branch, and forgive me if you are a music snob – but I certainly wasn’t when I was 11, which was when I first heard that song. If it thrilled me, I listened to it. Another old one I heard is even younger, “Heart of Life” from John Mayer’s Continuum album. It brought me back to middle school, when I had just gotten it from MSN for free onto Windows Media Player (along with MIKA’s Life in Cartoon Motion ) and I was up at four in the morning slaving over homework and reading bad fanfiction. Listening to Vanessa Paradis brings me back to the same time. Then again, I really love the Beatles right now, and I’m looking forward to finding some even older music. I also love “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan.
8. Sleep – It feels good. That is all.
9. People who think they’re in the loop – It caters to my inner elitist. What can I say? I love bringing up obscure movies in front of these people and watching them flounder. Nobody’s perfect. I’m gonna work it. See?
10. Deviled Eggs – Thanks, Miya, for reminding me how much I loved eating these things. They’re delicious, how could anyone ever say no to them?
11. Having ice cream in one’s house – It’s great being able to eat ice cream whenever you want. Especially during this schizophrenic weather.
12. Living right beneath the mountains – I went to the Santa Anita mall, and I looked up and the mountains were practically on top of me. It was really beautiful – they were dark and mysterious, and I was sure that they were miles away, and yet they were right there. I imagined myself in the past, when all of California, if not the entire world, was wilderness. And I was riding my horse toward the mountains. That’s when I realized how much I appreciated “The Horseman on the Roof”. We need more movies that take us back to the wilderness. In my utopia, everything would be as in the past – classic architecture, wilderness, but the current equality of people that we have now. I don’t find a beach as beautiful as the wilderness of the mountains and forests.
13. Clothing with texture – I used to think I loved bright colors, but like years before that was just a phase to try to be like my favorite celebrities. Not the case now, because I find myself drawn to patterns and embroidery. I’d still love to have many different colors in my clothing, but more than that I’d love different textures and patterns.
14. Saorse Ronan – She’s in a lot of stuff lately, and while I know that like Anna-Sophia Robb she will probably do something to annoy me in the future, I’m really happy for her success.
15. Tang and Kool-Aid – Didn’t we all grow up drinking this, begging our parents to buy us the plastic Kool-Aid bottles that you had to twist open?
Sho, those are 15 things that made my week. Methinks this will be back every Sunday now.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AP Human Geography, blog, Edward Scissorhands, encyclopedias, environment, happiness, Harry Potter, ideas, Las Vegas, life, Life in Cartoon Motion, Mika, personality, psychology, Raffa, Star Trek, The Terminal, Tom Hanks, trip, why
My mom is in Vegas with our church. Tomorrow I’m going to see “Star Trek”. Just a few random notes I’m jotting down for future reference, when I’m sixty-five and having my youngest literate grandchild read this to me in an unnecessarily loud voice whilst I lounge in a rocker, not listening.
Suddenly, I am once more in a blogging mood. I’d like to churn out seven posts per minute, but much like Edward Scissorhands, I can’t. This urge probably stems from an inability to write my APHG essay on political geography in “The Terminal”, a movie which redeemed Tom Hanks in my mind. Not because I spent a large part of the movie spewing Raffa’s speech from Life in Cartoon Motion. Check it out, it’s a great album – my favorite. Haha that was not meant for Miya.
I disagree more and more with my dad’s life policies. Funny phrase, “life policies”. Maybe it’s because I’m growing up in the US. Heck, it probably is that reason. And that the Internet (unlimited stream of information) plus my I-need-a-life-because-I-read-encyclopedias-from-the-60’s-for-fun-at-six-years-old personality, has given me a more open mind. That made no sense whatsoever, and I will probably regret ever typing this out, but schwerp. More sound effects.
I think that while genetics do contribute to our personalities, environment and events shape us even more. Isn’t this a fundamental part of psychology? I wouldn’t know because I have yet to study it, but I do think about why people are the way they are a lot. And what goes into someone’s actions. That could be why history is so interesting to me, even if I am one of the few.
He’s been spewing one phrase in particular, about how we must always move forward. That means lectures when we try to watch the same movie twice, or read a book more than once. Come to think of it, he’s been saying that forever, especially when I read each “Harry Potter” book nonstop multiple times over.
Those old encyclopedias? He encouraged me to throw them away because they were outdated. He’s not the bad guy in my life. I think we just grew up differently. My grandparents worked hard for a living, in an LDC – DORKY USE OF APHG TERM – where my grandma and aunts made clothes. It was six kids, they lived in utilitarian fashion. Again, dorky use of English vocabulary. So my dad thinks everything must have direct purpose.
I guess I’m glad he turned out that way, because it’s given me a balance. I’m not sentimental to the point of saving everything, although I once was, but I don’t think everything needs to be practical.
By the way, have you ever touched your eyelid when your finger was really warm? It’s an incredible feeling. Yes, I just did that.
Didn’t feel like continuing my “rant”, so I waited until I lost my train of thought. And so I have.
Hello, how are you? I’m having one of those life-affirming days. Not sure what “life-affirming” means exactly (meaning I don’t have a dictionary definition), but it sounds right. I’ve got some great ideas for summer, and they’re not screenplay ideas. It’s a let’s-make-life-more-fun idea, and twill be revealed in due time.
Whell. I’m off to write my essay and my first screenplay-related writing in days. Sayonara, Japanese goodbye. Imagine my father singing that, because that’s how it’s meant to be.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1950's, 3D, Alice in Wonderland, birthday, critics, eloquence, emo, Ernest, feature film, fun, grapes, insteant messaging, l33t, lipgloss stain, Mika, movies, one years old, paper bag, psycho, school, script, Simple Plan, Six Degrees, Songs For Sorrow EP, teen angst, Tim Burton, website
Today was Ernest’s first birthday and I’m so freaking proud of myself for preserving a paper bag for a year. The only injury he’s suffered was that lipgloss stain from Miya’s mouth, and she wasn’t trying to kiss him when that happened.
Bringing him to school today, I sure did run into a lot of critics, and I got those funny glances where one eyebrow goes up and they look at you with their head turned to one side. I do feel like a psycho, but it’s so much fun when you don’t care.
I suppose he’s in for a gift guide as well…I’ll bring it in tomorrow. Today I’m working on a feature-length script that will hopefully be the easiest to shoot, so that may be the first feature I’ll film. And for that one I’m planning to go all out.
I’ve been thinking about my own birthday. It’ll be in the style of a traditional children’s birthday party. Think 1950’s and the mother at the pink stove. But the theme will be six degrees of grapes. Egotistical, I know. Any ideas?
MIKA, your website and “Songs For Sorrow”, while brilliant, scare me with the thought that you have become an emo girl and will now only sing of the teen angst genre, comme Simple Plan.
I love how in movies characters always im each other in long thought-out sentences. With l33t and capitalization, of course. And the other person never sporadically im’s them while waiting for their slow responses.
I’ll leave you with an example of one of my own such elegant conversations. Note the eloquence of our speech. And yes, there is a shameless plug for Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” in there.
[20:02] violetcygne: are you typing?
[20:02] dustgoespoof: no
[20:02] dustgoespoof: oh vell
[20:02] violetcygne: bahhumbug
[20:02] dustgoespoof: OMG ALICE IN WONDERLAND
[20:03] violetcygne: WHATATAT
[20:03] violetcygne: AHWT ABOUT IOT??
[20:03] dustgoespoof: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-look-alice-in-wonderland-in-3d.html
[20:03] dustgoespoof: quick! grab your 3d glasses
[20:03] violetcygne: OOH
[20:04] violetcygne: let me pull them out of my ass
[20:04] dustgoespoof: lolllll
[20:04] dustgoespoof: your ass doesnt need help being 3d
