on the lives of others! It was one of the best movies I've watched recently and definitely deserved the Oscar for best foreign movie (and I am, like, in love with Pan's labyrinth, so this really means something)... It's a bit long, but is totally worth your time. No matter where you live, there are always good people around to help you.
I have been meaning to post the link to this website for a while now, but kept forgetting. Some of you might have already heard of we 4 change, an organization of women's right activists. They have a pretty good website in both Farsi and English. Their main undertaking right now is the "1 million signatures" campaign to change the discriminatory laws in Iran. I suggest you take a few minutes to take a look at their website and find out what they're doing. (You can also sign the petition, if you haven't already!)
- Picture of the organization logo was copied from http://we4change.com
it's their weaknesses more often than not, rather than your "inner poise" (as Bridget Jones would put it). Some people never cease to disappoint you, even after you figured you couldn't be any more disappointed in them.
You try and try to forget the way they talked to you, held you, looked into your eyes, lied into your face, called you by cute nick names, made plans with you, and then went on to break your hearth. Then they go and make this - otherwise negligible - mistake, and suddenly your eyes are open again. You stop checking your mailbox every 15 minutes to see if they emailed you, things stop reminding you of them, life gets back to normal... as in good! And that, my friends, is what they call "Closure"! (Ok, so I stole this line off "friends", big deal!)
So i got loads of books for my birthday, which is just awesome... and I'm reading a few of them together so I'm all confused. But one that is very interesting is "the curious incident of the dog at the night-time" by Mark Haddon. It tells the story of this young boy with "special needs" who decides to solve a murder mystery by himself. I'm half way through and am enjoying it very much. Here's a passage i liked in the book, so far:
"And father said,"Christopher, do you understand that I love you?"
And I said "yes", because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and Father looks after me when I get into trouble,[...],and he looks after me by cooking meals for me, and he always tells me the truth, which means that he loves me."
two birthday cakes, a few more books, and lots of movies later... here I am, sitting here, one year older. I am facing one of those "what- have- i- done- in- the- past- year"-kind of crises and so I should probably just stop writing right now. Don't you hate it when people only nag about their lives? I mean here I am, healthy, living a relatively purposeful life(!), surrounded by good friends, and still complaining. May I learn to appreciate the things I have more than before in the coming year, Amen.
enjoy the pink everywhere, buy gifts, make love, drink wine, and celebrate your relationships. May we all turn into characters out of a Hollywood romantic comedy...
and so I'm not in the best mood. Here you go with some more depressing folk music!
...this is the sexy Mazda3 we finally decided to get! pretty, isn't it? (the color does look a bit weird on the screen, it's much better up close)
Disclaimer:
Neither me, my parents, my past and future partners, and my friends, nor any other parties involved in creating, raising, accepting and/or rejecting me are liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages or loss whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with you believing the aforementioned statement; including (but not limited to) heartache, confusion, sadness, anger, or other similar feelings.
So with the Golden Globes behind us and the Oscars in only two months, i just couldn't resist the temptation to write about movies. Please keep in mind though, that my movie posts are basically just one paragraph saying how i felt about the movie, so don't expect anything too serious!
Well, let's start with my favorite movie, Pan's Labyrinth. It completely blew my mind... so amazingly imaginative... a great blend of fantasy and reality, in my opinion. And I absolutely loved the soundtrack. Have watched it twice so far, and am getting tempted to watch it again. Just read a few reviews on it and i'm sure you'll decide to watch it too.
Then, there's my least favorite movie of the season, Children of Men. I mean, you watch the trailer and you get all excited about it. Then you go watch the movie, and honestly, there's not much more to it than the trailer! Basically, just add a few running and chasing scenes and a good amount of blood in between and you'll have it. And except for Michael Caine i didn't find any of the actors too strong.
I also got tempted and went to watch the Dreamgirls. Now, it wasn't too bad, but definitely not the greatest movie. I agree that most of the actors were pretty good (there were a few exception, of course... like...hmmm, let's see...Byonce!!!) and the music was very good too. But honestly i can't see why it won the Golden Globes... anyway, if you're into musicals go watch it, it's kind of fun to watch it with a good sound system.
Oh yeah! and i watched the Holiday! (i know, i know, it's shameful!) ... i think it's pretty obvious what this movie is all about... a chick flick with beautiful people and a happy ending. I love Kate Winslet though and she looked gorgeous all through the movie, that's something to be happy about i guess!
a guy who's trying to impress you, but is so nervous that ends up spitting into your Chai latte from across the table! Poor guy, must have felt awful.
irrelevant: thanks to Pooya's tips and ideas, i finally made a few changes to my template, so now longer posts with lots of photos and stuff will have a summary and an expandable link. i know how slow Internet speed can drives you nuts, but honestly, most of the photos on this blog are not even 50kb! Hope this helps a little at least.
... but i changed my template photo! so hopefully I'll get back in the blogging mood pretty soon...
PS - by the way, my template now looks a bit awkward in IE! Anyone knows how I'm supposed to fix the top picture and the main body so they don't overlap?
So after three years of using the crappiest possible cell phone (provided by my even crappier service provider), i finally have a real phone to use, and it's seriously cool! I got it sent from Iran (naturally!) and am really happy with it, except that the ring tones are, how should i put it, a bit cheesy! but i can live with it i guess.
It's -6 C here tonight; my ears were literally falling off on the way home. Who says global warming is a myth?! If this is not the Universe messing with us, i don't know what is!
...Its the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the east
At least it settles in the final location
Its understood that hollywood
Sells californication...
and then look at the following!
She was not supposed to cry. She knew it. No matter what he said, no matter how close they think they were. Crying was a no-no. She was the cynical one. The pessimist. The one to resist the temptation of romance. She was only a human. She grew weak, let the temptation take over. She lost control. She cried. Everything turned into dust.The spell broke. The reality came shining through: People always act like the cliches that they are. No exceptions... never.
that's what you should be. Put your guard down and you'll see what happens.
Irrelevant - Pan's Labyrinth: AWESOME! The most violent fairy tale you've ever known. And the sweetest.
White wine and cheese, silence and an empty apartment.
Waiting for people, phone calls, and hang-out plans. Shopping. Iranian food. Cooking. Confused. Reading. Tired of excuses. Craving sushi. Running out of money. Happy to be here. Bored. Missing my bed. Healthy. Full. Lonely. Fool. Good friends. Grateful. Restless...
Help!
1. stomach flue (doesn't matter if it's you or your friends, it's disturbing and painful).
2. losing money in slot machines...
3. having to drive for 8 hours on a route that you know is only supposed to take 4 hours...what's up with all the cars anyway?
4. going through your ongoing personal issues, and not knowing when the hell they're supposed to go away.
5. watching a Bunuel movie and not understanding its significance, AT ALL!
and I'm sure there's a lot more that could be added here, so I'm happy that my list ends here.
