Chill chill chill its snowing outside! The semester ends tomorrow with a little French holiday party in my class. My brother just helped me prepare my dish. I don't have much domestic talent but I think the ratatouille came out pretty yummy.
I rented a few films to watch over the break.
1. Bottle Rocket (to celebrate their Criterion release!)
2. Planet Earth (because it would be enjoyable on HDTV)
3. 30 Rock Season 1 (it's tv-makeout-time)
4. It Happened One Night (for my mom to watch!)
There is so much to look forward to in 2009. Even if I end up off this premeditated map, I'd be okay with it. My resolution? To not cut my hair for a year (excluding trims). I've gotten my hair cut so many times during the past 2 months I'm actually regretting it, haha. Actually I just went to the salon yesterday. They had to buzz my back a bit. Whee!
Cheers to all the movies and music that I'm about to encounter! Cheers to the people I will meet. Cheers to future regrets and weight changes and friends I will gain and lose. Cheers to footprints and history makers, to the new President, to unemployment, to insurance, to happiness, to fulfillments, to alcohol and velvet moments. Cheers to 2009!
Today begins a new chapter in Barack Obama's life. Imagine how drastic the lives of his children will change once they move into the White House. As fortunate Malia Ann & Natasha are, they will also suffer the consequences of the privileged, especially being the daughters of the first (half) black President. Their lives are at risk.
I didn't mean to start off pessimistic. It's just what I'm thinking of now.
Off to the next paragraph!
Lately, I've been having trouble with the internet since I'm on wireless. The only steady spot I have is the kitchen, which is where I am right now. But that's not so bad at this time of the day. It's completely quiet. Hot water and teabags are within an arm's reach. The telephone is ringing... my mom just picked it up from the other room.
My sister is coming home for the weekend which means I have to clean up. Cleaning up doesn't bother me as much anymore. I actually just found my high school poetry book again. It costed $40 (equals a million dollars in my currency) when I first got it but we had the option of reselling it for $27. However, by the end of the semester, I couldn't give the book. It's golden! I love poetry! and music! and art! and films! and a hot cup of tea =)
A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through films and caught Yumeji in the Japan section. So of course, being a Wong Kar-Wai fan, I immediately connected it to the infamous song composed by Shigeru Umebayashi. Actually I've always wondered who Yumeji was, being that the score is titled Yumeji's Theme. The movie is the last of a trilogy directed by Seijun Suzuki, with the previous films being Zigeunerweisen and Kageroza. I saw the first one so far. It's weird but pretty interesting. So if you're into foreign independent films, make a date with Suzuki.
It's good to know where Yumeji's Theme is from now, especially since I owe so much credit to this song. It's mellifluous, smooth and beautiful. And sometimes when I'm zoning out, I start seeing things in purple and red, with images bouncing off each other and fooling my vision. I need a big white sheet and a projector in my room...
I recently attended a big dinner and found myself sitting between a plane pilot and a graduate student from Yale Law. In cases like this, I can only sit there and imagine the depths of knowledge embedded in their brains. Actually I always find myself in these situations, imagining away. With the 4 corners of a kindergarten classroom (house, blocks, painting and puzzle section) who knows which corner you'll choose and how much it would affect your entire life.
I remember watching this girl in my kindergarten class paint once. She was using her fingers and palms to paint an elephant, which was really just a green glob on cheap paper. I remember getting frustrated and thinking to myself how it's ALL WRONG. ELEPHANTS AREN'T GREEN! .. But she looked so happy dipping her fingers into the green container that I felt bad telling her. And now I'm glad I never told her what I thought. Because it's like "why not?" Why can't animals be however you see them? Your eyeballs belong to only you and nobody should take away your own vision. And nobody deserves the right to take away anybody's happiness also! Being happy is the strength of mind that no one should ever cheat or try to steal. The sort of person that look for and possess happiness will be forever searching. Possession of tangible things in the world will always fade and disintegrate. The only thing you will ever have control of in your life is your own mind and vision. I hope you'll seek it within your soul.
I don't think I'm calm enough to sit and work yet. My mind is blank and blind, I can't concentrate! I wasted this entire day thinking of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I want to finish reading but I hate ending a book I like. I'm actually not even halfway through but I can feel myself snowballing the rest of the 700 pages.
Earlier today, China's renown pianist Lang Lang gave a free concert at Town Hall. I missed it but it would've been nice to go. He is SO WEIRD. I feel you can already hear the music just by watching his body expressions. He'll be back playing with the New York Philharmonic in a few weeks. Rehearsal tickets are already sold out. Let's just hope Carnegie Hall gives out student rush tickets when he plays in February.
Look! Adidas.
Tomorrow I'll be catching an early screening of the much anticipated film Synechdoche, New York. It is a new film written AND directed by Charlie Kaufman. His stories are beautiful, brilliant, and mindf-cking. I'm also excited about the cast ensemble. Anyway, Spike Jonze was originally set to direct this film but then backed out to direct Where the Wild Things Are (which Catherine Keener also stars in). WTWTA, the adaptation of our favorite Maurice Sendak's classic, will be coming out in almost exactly a year from today.
A test footage.
Magically disturbing, no? Post-production is actually taking a bit longer than expected because of negative critiques given during test screenings. Children cried and parents complained of the film being too dark. They feel WTWTA should be fun, cute and light-hearted. Personally, I think Spike Jonze should be able to do whatever he wants because that's why we love him. Also the children of this generation are surrounded by such unhealthy materialism anyway, it'll be good to feed them something different! We should stuff their mouths with hairy monsters.
P.S.- I was scared sh-tless when I first saw Alice in Wonderland as a child. Look how great I'm doing now!
I came home from the Notwist concert last night and couldn't fall asleep. I guess the essence of excitement takes a while to evaporate. I had 2 good hours of sleep and woke up to run an errand in Jamaica this morning. I'm missing my silkscreen class right now. I don't think it's a major deal since 1) I'm not behind and 2) I'm not a big fan of my instructor.
A few weeks ago I caught the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. They performed Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins with special guest artists Ute Lemper & Hudson Shad. I have to say- it was quite strange but I liked it.
BTW- Last night my friend and I saw Dave Chapelle walking down the street. He was with his son. It was a cute moment. I snapped a picture of his butt.
I also saw April Wilkner on the train last Friday. I've seen her around Lower East Side. She's pretty.
I'm eager to watch the Project Runway finale this week. I'm glad they have a reality show on art & design. It's the story of our lives- being critiqued on our creativity and individuality. How healthy. Anyway- I'm rooting for Leanne. and I also want to staple Kenley's mouth.
