And Other Such Things

 

Just a bunch of ramblings of things I had wanted to write about that were worth mentioning I think...

The Killing ended with such a bang I thought about it the whole week afterward.  Did not see that coming.  This was me the entire time (I think I got on my mom and sister's nerves)..."Oh. My. God. No. No. No.  What? No. No. How will Sarah be okay after this? Oh. My. God." It looks like we will never know though because the show is cancelled again :(

As to Pretty Little Liars can I just say...I knew it! Ezra you were slightly creepy! But does this mean he's not the real culprit? And why does someone have that much time and money to torture 4 teenage girls?

Come on Vampire Diaries. Last season was a little lacking. You better make up for it with more shots of Damon this season.

The Fault in Our Stars can be described by one word-"Wow." It's a fast-read and incredibly poignant. It speaks truths that I believe everyone can relate to. Augustus Waters is my new favorite literary hero. I am hoping the movie can live up to the book but Shailene Woodley is turning out to be a very good actress who makes acting look natural.



This is not new but everyone must see A Separation. It is one of the best movies of all time I think. I could go on and on about how it shows human universality and what ties and tears us apart but I it would suffice to just say see it.

Short Term 12 is excellent. It is a small indie about a halfway house for kids with troubled pasts. Worth seeing and remembering that sometimes smaller films still get it better than anything else.



Before Midnight, the ending of the trilogy Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, is a beautiful end. The fight scene, which everyone has talked about, is like watching real life. I think the names fit the stages of life. Before Sunrise is about the naivete and hopes we have when we are in our 20s and the world still seems bright and new. Before Sunset is when we have lived a little and have had more experience in our 30s as we decide where to go with major turning-points in our lives. Before Midnight is about our 40s and beyond as we are trying to find more stability and want to be able to reflect kindly on our past.

I am looking forward to fall movies, like Gravity, and shows like Betrayal (oh the melodrama yay).

I am off now but will be back soon!  I will just leave with The Silver Linings Playbook quote that has been stuck in my head lately thinking about my family and my good friends, "The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday. That's guaranteed. I can't begin to explain that. Or the craziness inside myself and everyone else. But guess what? Sunday's my favorite day again. I think of what everyone did for me, and I feel like a very lucky guy."

Pilgrim and me on my scooter (sigh not a cool Vespa sadly) wish he could come with me might have to sneak him into my luggage...

Girls Girls Girls

I am a little late to the party but I finished Girls seasons one and two on my iPhone like a madwoman a couple of months ago.  I had heard a lot about the show, about how it is controversial and some critics love or hate it.

I found myself caring for and about the characters.  Sure they are whiny, even neurotic and desperate, at times.  I guess all of us are at some point.  That loneliness and searching comes along with my generation.  It is a package deal as we seem to be even more lost than just usual young people.

I think the beauty that lies in the silences in Girls is extremely powerful.  This point is perhaps most illustrated in one of my favorite episodes (albeit one that seems out of place in tone), "One Man's Trash."  The most affecting and agonizing scene is when Hannah opens up to only to find that we are almost disposable to one another.  She admits that really she just wants to be happy even though everyone pretends they want more.  Two lonely people find each other and still one ends up hurting the other.

There are scenes in Girls that are cringe-worthy but the fact that Lena Dunham is willing to go there is both extremely courageous and smart.

Birthday Time

I feel like T. Swift lied to me; 22 was not "magical."  Here's to hoping 23 is...

I got new hair! :)

I'm back!

Hi readers, I've missed you.  I'm sorry for being away for so long.  I was dealing with summer classes both online and in person-although I'm convinced that online ones are more work than in person.  In person one can fudge the reading and can listen to lectures.  Basically we read the complete textbooks in 6 weeks.  I had one teacher who liked to use CAPITAL letters in her emails telling us to read the syllabus.  In my film class (which was in person and which I enjoyed) there was one student who couldn't understand why we would want to watch films from any other perspective but the American perspective.  I was about to say, "What do you think is the point of film?  We get to travel to places we will never see and meet people would probably never get to meet otherwise.  The point is for us to open our eyes."  I was just opening my mouth when another girl, albeit a little know-it-ally, said a little more bluntly, "What are you talking about?"  They proceeded to fight about Kubrick's position on war (anti-war obviously but not so obvious to our friend here who believed Kubrick loved war and that was the reason he focused on it so much).  It reminded me of when I had tutored this spring.  I was going over Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with one of my tutees.  I was giving some background on Shakespeare and how he explores human themes like love, loss, and betrayal.  My tutee then says, "Man, he had a lot of problems."

So, after surviving 3 summer classes, a home makeover (and unsuccessful garage sales-one man asked if I had any old firearms or Navajo rugs.  I hope you are not allowed to sell old firearms?), and lots and lots of swimming (oh do I have a story for you there...) I am now preparing to go back to Stanford in the fall-2 weeks away.  I will have a mobility scooter (not the cool Vespa kind, more like the elderly kind with a basket in the front).  My mom said, "You will be popular with your scooter," and I said, "I don't think that's how the whole popularity thing works.  Not that I would know."

Initially I was scared shitless (excuse my bad language here but sometimes it seems like other words don't fit) but now I guess I feel more nervous but kind of feel like, "Let's finish this up already."