A Question, Sir July 22, 2009

So, I was reading through some of my old blogs today (oops, did that just tag me as a narcissist?) and one thought was running through my mind: when did I get so effing boring?  In other words, when did I start to take myself so seriously?  Sheesh.  I started this blog with references to Zach Braff’s unfortunate profile and lists of words I love or hate.  Now it’s all heavy quotes from heavy books leading to heavy pondering about life.  Who am I?  Like, seriously, who writes about sun-warmed tomatoes?  I have to laugh at myself.  Okay, here are some justifications, though – 1) I’ve been going through re-entry (not just from Norway back to the States, but from one lifestyle to a totally different lifestyle) and so I’ve found writing to be a natural and helpful outlet for me.  And once I finish a piece, I think, why not throw that up on the ol’ blog?  2) I’m not working so much, and I have a crappy Internet connection at home, so I don’t really have oodles of time to piece together fluffy blogs filled with images and links to Amazon and Wikipedia.  3) I don’t know, I just feel like there needs to be a third.  Maybe I’ve become a bit of a snob?  Maybe I think my readers have come to expect more from me than valley-girl reviews of movies and TV shows?

So I just wanted you to know that I understand this blog has evolved into a bit of a literary review, philosophical/spiritual journal type of blog.  And that’s not all bad…but is there still room on here for current events and confessions of guilty pleasures and celebrity crushes?  Or is the only place for that now my status updates on Facebook?  Bah.

Okay, here are a few randoms running through my mind that I (generously) put pictures with:

- I read an interview with Jennifer Aniston in Marie Claire where she called Diet Coke her “brown monkey.”  Love it!  And if Jennifer Aniston, with her amazing yoga body and glowing skin and there-is-NO-WAY-she’s-40 looks, can still be semi-addicted to Diet Coke, I think it’s just fine that I drink it a few times a week.  Thanks, Jen!

- Do you think that wearing a hat is ALWAYS making a statement?  I read somwhere (poss. Esquire) that it is.  My sister gave me a freaking sweet straw fedora for my birthday and I’ve worn it a lot already, always with many compliments and girls being like, “No, seriously, where did you get that, and do you think they’ve already closed for the day?”  The hat had its big debut at a friend’s bbq/mini-concert/dance party (yeah, it was fun) on Saturday and was warmly received.  But I couldn’t help feeling like that girl the whole time…you know?  Plus, I might look cute in a hat but I NEVER look cute when photographed in a hat.  Sucko.

- Seriously, are they EVER going to make a Gilmore Girls movie?  Because I would totally watch it.  Logan, I didn’t forget about your proposal and the house in California with an avocado tree in the yard.  If Rory’s still following Obama around, I’ll come hang out.  (NERD ALERT)

- …and The Bachelorette.  So, SO good.  Could you believe the Men Tell All special?  Those guys were crazy!  Even Chris Harrison was later quoted to say that they came off as “knuckle dragging cavemen.”  I fully agree.  I also stand by my theory that men are worse gossips than women.  The only thing is, they don’t get as hurt when someone talks crap about them.  If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?  If a guy talks crap about his friend and said friend doesn’t care, is it still gossip?  Oops…I’m wandering too far into pondering mode.  Back to The Bachelorette.  Who will she choose?  I think my vote is for Kiptyn.  He’s totally cute and grew on me, but I’m scared that when the going gets tough, he’ll drop out and go back to having tacos at Wahoo’s in San Diego.  I love Reid for her, but I think she’ll never be satisfied because he seems to be too much “in her league.”  What do you guys think?  And would you still love me if I was the new Bachelorette?  It would be so fun and you would get so many cute clothes!

And…comment!

Ugly American…Movie? January 28, 2009

I know, right?  Another movie post?  Don’t worry, I won’t spend this one swooning over Tom Cruise *shudder* like I did over Robert Pattinson.  But last night Anne-Mai (my new movie buddy) and I went over to Potsdamer Platz to see Valkyrie.  I really wanted to see it while I was here in Berlin, for obvious reasons.  The theater at Potsdamer is sweet not only because they sell beer and wine at the concession stand or because it’s kinda fancy and has a big red curtain that opens and closes in between the trailers and the feature presentation.  Another plus is that they show most movies in their original language, meaning I don’t have to suffer through subtitles (I dare you to try NOT reading them) or worse, dubbing in German!  Anyway, the downside (or up, depending on who you talk to) is that the place is crawling with foreigners…like me.  I really wanted to watch Valkyrie while sitting amongst a sea of well-dressed, beer sipping, intellectual Germans who would loudly discuss the movie afterwards (and I would somehow magically understand them).  Instead, I had three American gay guys in front of me and an Asian girl who sounded SO Californian sitting behind me.  Another clue that she was from L.A. was that she was bragging about knowing some guy who had a bit part in the movie.  But there was a grumpy German guy next to me, so I guess that’s something.  (I was totally scared of him…before the movie started, he yelled at the guy behind him for kicking his seat.  So later, I was afraid he would yell at me for eating my apple too loudly – I waited for loud explosions in the movie to take small, furtive bites.)

Anyway, what’s my take on the movie, you ask?  Well, I actually thought it was really good.  Definitely suspenseful and action-packed and all, but I felt like it was a meaningful experience to watch it while living in Germany.  I’ve only been here for two weeks, but I’ve been preparing for this trip and praying for Germany for months now.  I feel like I’ve connected my heart to the people as I’ve prayed for their healing as a nation and for their future.  The movie was really eye-opening to me because I had no idea that this had even happened.  I knew that there were assassination attempts on Hitler during his reign, but I always assumed these were lone zealots on crazy suicide missions, not large groups of powerful politicians and military men creating an organized resistance.  Most of us know that many Germans disagreed with what was happening, but I think it is so good for the world to see many sacrificed their lives standing up to the atrocities of Hitler’s regime.  My main complaint about the movie (besides casting Tom Cruise as the lead) was that the cast did not use German accents.  First, it was just confusing.  Dude, this guy’s American, this guy’s British…what’s the deal?  Second, it was kind of a silver screen example of the Ugly American.  We can’t even be bothered to take on German accents for a movie set in Germany with all German characters?  Third, and most importantly, I think it was actually vital for the cast to use German accents because such an important part of the movie was that it was Germans rising up for Germany, not any outside sources (ahem, like Allies with American and British accents).  I had to keep reminding myself during the movie that the “good guys” were actually German.  Which I think was kind of an important theme in the film.  I wonder how Germans felt about it?

Anyway, there was one line in the movie that was so powerful, when they were referencing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how God would have spared Sodom if He had found just ten righteous men dwelling in it.  In the movie, they say that for Germany, it might have to come down to one righteous man.  Something inside me wanted to say, “Amen!” (I refrained for fear of the grouchy German on my left).  But seriously, I did want to say, “Look!  God DID spare Germany!”  He saw all of the righteous people here who loved Him and His ways.  He had grace on the country even after what happened to His people there.  He didn’t wipe them out, He wants to bind up their broken hearts and heal their wounds.

Like I said, it was powerful.  And at the end of the movie, everyone kind of just sat in stunned silence for a few minutes while the credits rolled.  It felt so heavy in the theater, and I wondered what the Germans were thinking.  Was that regret in the air?  Sorrow for what their fathers and grandfathers had done or not done?  Were they feeling hope for “sacred Germany” to return to her glorious state again, or were they scared to even hope it, content to settle for not making any waves.  I don’t know.  But I want to get to know more Germans during my time here and understand more of how they work and think and dream.

Sorry this is kind of my first real post about Germany…I plan on a “First Impressions of Berlin” post…someday soon.

Bitten January 17, 2009

We had a day off today and I went to the cinema here in Berlin with Anne-Mai.  (Fun fact: They sell wine and beer at the concession stand!)  I really wanted to see Valkyrie, cause how cool would that be to see in Berlin?  I could almost justify spending money on it, then, because it’s more of a cultural experience and not just a movie.  Right?

But Valkyrie hasn’t been released yet here in Germany, so we saw Twilight instead.

I am so embarrassed about how much I liked that movie.  I mean, I really liked it!  Despite the reservations I had while watching it, the biggest of which was why the heck would this girl be attracted to a vampire lifestyle?  You can never eat or sleep again.  Those are two of the greatest pleasures in life!  Also, when she’s all cuddled up to Edward?  I mean, wouldn’t that suck, considering it would be like snuggling with an ice sculpture?  I’m just saying.

Okay, but seriously, I’m not so embarrassed that I liked the movie.  But I AM embarrassed at how swoony I felt over Robert Pattinson’s character, Edward!  I feel like they made him in a factory by pushing the button “Teen Dream Heart Throb.”  If I was 14 I would totally be covering my walls with collages made from Tiger Beat magazine right now.

But come on, can you blame me?  With his sculpted features, creamy skin, and wild, modern-day-James-Dean hair…sigh.  In my defense, I did also love him as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter.  Take a look at him and try NOT to swoon:

Pop Christmas December 14, 2008

I don’t usually start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.  That’s fair, right?  I’m not the kind of person who’s super into it, but I definitely listen to it like 75% of the time for the month of December.  But my love for holiday music is not an unconditional love.  Far from it.  There’s certain Christmas songs that make me want to dance and kiss someone under the mistletoe and give rosy-cheeked children mugs of hot cocoa with candy cane straws.  But then there’s Christmas music that literally makes me turn off the radio and cringe.  I’m not talking about carols here…I definitely have my favorites of those (We Three Kings; Joy to the World, ahem, NOT because of my name, thank you) and the ones that I feel guilty for hating so much (Silent Night, What Child Is This?).  But for the sake of a simplified list, here are my best and worst of holiday pop music:

A Boyfriend Would Come in Handy Right About Now… November 25, 2008

I want to see this movie so much!  Here’s the trailer…if you can watch it in Hi-Def, do.  It’s starring these two beautiful people, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, and it’s by the same director as Moulin Rouge (Baz Luhrman).  Hello!  It’s going to be so good!  And Oprah loved it.  And I REALLY want to see it in the theater…or the cinema, I think that’s what they call it here.  The cinematography looks amazing, and I have a feeling it just won’t be as cool in a few months on my laptop or on the tiny screen in front of me on the airplane.  

Plus, you already know how much I loved going to the movies cinema (I’m sorry, cinema just sounds cooler).  So hey, if you’ve got a few extra days off this Christmas, come visit me in Norway and we can go see Australia together.  Not like I have a bunch of plans or anything *self-pitying sigh*.  Dammit, when is teleportation going to become a real form of travel?

What I’ve Always Wanted October 24, 2008

Sometimes I will want something for a really long time, and for some unknown reason, deprive myself of it.  Like, I don’t know how long I loved Jason Mraz’s cover of “Melt With You” before I finally got it…and, come to think of it, I didn’t buy it – my friend gave it to me on a mix CD.  

Viva La Cure May 31, 2008

So I’m loving two songs in particular right now.  Viva La Vida, by Coldplay.  I’m not really a diehard Coldplay fan…I mean, I only have one of their albums on my iTunes.  But for some reason, the other night I found myself clicking the “pre-order” button in the iTunes Store for their new album.

Quotable Friday, Vol. 24 May 30, 2008

“Nothing provokes speculation more than the sight of a woman enjoying herself.”

–Marmee,

Little Women

I want to be that woman.  I think, in rare shining moments, I have been.  Can I just say that I love the movie Little Women (I love the book even more), and I watched it last week when I was home alone and very emotional and ended up crying a little and coming away with a ton of profound quotes and a noble sense of worth as an intelligent woman of depth.  It’s like Marmee says, “If you feel your value lies only in being merely decorative, I fear that someday you might find yourself believing that’s all you really are. Time erodes all such beauty, but what it cannot diminish is the wonderful workings of your mind.”  She may have taken her wisdom from 1 Peter, where Peter writes, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  Such beautiful concepts, but so difficult to apply to one’s life in Los Angeles!

Iron Man? Yes, Please! May 19, 2008

So, I saw Iron Man last Friday night.  When I first heard it came out, I knew nothing about it.  Like, I hadn’t even seen a trailer.  Then after it came out everyone was raving about it, and then I heard that Robert Downey, Jr. plays Iron Man.  And then I wanted to see it.

I have loved Robert Downey Jr. since I was a kid and watched him in sentimental movies like Hearts and Souls and Only You.  Then, in high school, I went through a serious Ally McBeal obsession.  They were running that show on FX like 800 times a day (fun fact: that same year they filmed an episode for the last season at the ice rink I worked at, and I got to meet Ally McBeal/Calista Flockhart!).  Anyway, RDJ played Ally’s love interest during parts of season 4 and season 5, and I just loved him (despite the fact that his character’s name was Larry).  His incredible wit, his rough-around-the-edges good looks, and his confident, don’t give a damn attitude are irresistable.  In Hollywood, where tanned, blond-streaked (and yes, beautiful) Jude Law and Brad Pitt-types rule the world and the screen; RDJ is a welcome contrast.

We all know he’s been through some rough patches and taken a few wrong turns, but he’s got a couple of projects lined up for us to look forward to and I’m glad he’s back.

Say May 5, 2008

I seriously love the song “Say” by John Mayer.  I first heard it while I was in Mexico and the credits were rolling for the movie The Bucket List or Antes Partir in Spanish.  (Side Note: I can’t believe the only two movies I saw while I was out of the country for 6 months were National Treasure 2 and The Bucket List.  Sigh.)