Alfred Molina

I just want to give props to Alfred Molina. That guy has been in everything. You've got to appreciate someone who never gets to be the head character but who has played a plethora of villains and pulled off all kinds of accents. I think one of my favorites is his role in The Man Who Knew Too Little. If you haven't seen it, do it.



Good work, dude.

Dan in Real Life

Have you seen Dan in Real Life? I really liked seeing Michael, from The Office, in a sweet role (though he could have talked less about himself and found out more about the girl).

And now I've got a new classic line: "You're a MURDERER of LOVE!!!" Man, that girl was good. Watch this:




Plus, I fell in love with Norwegian Sondre Lerche's music. Check out the soundtrack. Here's one song:

Helen

A few weeks ago, I saw Helen, a 2009 film with Ashley Judd. (I couldn't find a rating online, but we just fast forwarded the parts that looked questionable.) The main character is a woman haunted by Depression.



The movie left me feeling sad and very thoughtful. Why do all these stories of people with Depression have to be of people who at least have a partner or spouse or child? The one girl in the movie who doesn't have anyone seems to be the strongest, but in the end she is the one who doesn't survive.

Anyway, good for a view if you like serious movies.

February's Links to Love

Artsy:

This blog just brings out one of those sighs of loveliness admitted.

Cute garbage bags!?!

I think this is the most beautiful homepage I have ever seen. I want to frame it and put it on my wall (it's already set to be my computer background):



















Book-displaying ideas. (I like the side table idea. And the backwards books.)

I wonder if I asked people to draw pictures of my dad what they would come up with.

I am completely anti-styrofoam, but I like this styrofoam cup art.

What do famous artists "own" history poster.

Beautiful paper folding projects.

The Paper Place.

I want a grey striped wall in my living room some day.

Rachael Smith interiors.

Some people can pull off lots of white in their homes. Somehow I've never been able to do that.

Would you dare sand your counters and spray paint them? Yikes. But it looks great!

Justin Hackworth's "First Year of Marriage" project makes me wish I were getting married . . . hee.

Holy bajoly. The clothing at eShakti is beautiful and not too expensive, and guess what? You can have them change things! Like longer sleeves! Or not-so-scarily-deep neck lines.

And Makie clothing is even more beautiful, but 500 billion times more expensive ($625 for a dress? Ouch!).

Would you take pictures of everything you have? I swear there's gotta be more.

A curtain made of negatives.

One of my peers in my master's program came to school one day with the most beautiful tea canister I had ever seen. I and all the other girls remarked on it, upon which he said his girlfriend had gotten it somewhere. I randomly found it in a magazine that my health insurance sounds now and then and here it is online. Dude, if it weren't 23 honking Euros I'd buy it now just so I could look at it.

I love these sleek book shelves, but I'm all about red, black, white, and simplicity in interior design.

Literature:

I wish I had the time and funds to read the books on the POC's reading challenge list.

Great writers--did they write standing up or laying down or sitting?

I can't wait til I'm a published author so I can totally blow off interviewers and do whatever I want. (Or do I do that already? I guess I don't have to wait until then . . . )

Library wordles (oh no, more books for my reading list! Actually, endless joy!).

Mesmerizing Sappho poem tidbits.

Weird book room. This made me think of a book my dad found at the library's used book sale when I was 13 or so. It was so funny. I leant it to a friend and never saw it again. Now I can't remember exactly what it was called, but I remember learning it was out of print. Something about a Chinese laundry?

75 vampire novels and vampire morality.

Techy:

U.S. Facebook regions (and the Mormonia area especially interests me--I've often thought that Mormons are huge advocates of Facebook because of all that "Mormon connection" that is built through missionarywork. Do you think a similar map of Europe would have a Catholica?).

Google Buzz. What do you think? 5 Tips. 5 more tips. (Gmail mittens. Awesome!)

Creative 404 Error Pages.

GMail labs graduation and retirement.

Random:

Cupcakes are out, macaroons are in. Yum! (The only cupcakes I ever liked anyway were my mom's cream-filled chocolate cupcakes.) And there's a recipe in the article, too. Sica, I dare you!

Would you pay 25% of a third normal ticket to cuddle with your sweety in an airplane?

One hundred free classic online movies you should see (I've already watched The Count of Monte Cristo and Nineteen Eighty-Four). Very important note: Nosferatu is included!

Dangerous roads. I particularly like the road that doesn't permit any mistakes.

Thirty dumb inventions listed by LIFE.

Vancouver Olympic Village aerial image.

A great things-that-make-me-smile list (I especially laughed at the big dog one).

Feisty daughters of presidents.

Did you watch the Olympics? Pretty sure I watched a healthy four-minute dose of ski jumping at a friend's house. But I saw someone post this commercial and liked it:



Hilarious re-dos of pictures when younger.

Movie Day

When I told Mike that my parents loved the movie Up, being the movie buff that he is, he insisted we go see it. He knows that I hate going to see movies because I never know if there are bad parts and I think they are way too expensive, but with a suggestion from my parents about a children's movie, we couldn't go wrong. And we both loved it!













The marriage between the two characters at the start is so sweet, and there are some funny lines, like when the dog says, "Ich habe mich unter der Veranda versteckt, weil ich dich so lieb hab" (no idea what he says in English, sorry!). Or I laughed out loud when the old man smashes the frog that sounds like his alarm clock.

We both loved our 3D glasses so much that we took them with us and wore them in the city and in the tram, etc. I think I'm going to keep wearing them. They make me feel artsy. Do you like my new look?

As we were leaving the theater, Mike saw people setting up some kind of promotion (he loves that stuff) and found out we could see a movie later for nine cents. We ended up looking like this:
















But we got into a movie (which we left early because it was horrible), received free tins of sweets, mugs, and phone cards. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Of People, Books, Movies, Money, and Health

Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf yesterday.

Monday, we watched the new Emma movie. It seemed to be a tasteful film, especially for something coming out of low-budget production of Church members. However, I found that it jumped from subject to subject, from dialogue to dialogue. Now they're dancing, oh, now she broke the pitcher, oh, now she's writing another death in the Bible. I realize portraying a whole life is difficult--but there could have been better transitions between almost every line, and much of the dialogue was either cheesy itself or delivered cheesily. Also, the lady who portrayed the older Emma bugged me somehow. I think she's had Botox or something that makes her face hang funny, and her character was portrayed too cheerfully (again, this may be a problem of the writers). I specifically remember her grandchildren describing her as a woman who never smiled. Plus, if she was so good at encouraging her daughter to stay true to the gospel, why did she split from the Church? I'm not saying Emma is not oft-misunderstood and surely had a difficult life that may justify many of her actions, but her decisions were not accurately portrayed in the film.

I do, however, suggest the film Seven Pounds. Yes, there is one part where you should close your eyes/fast forward.

I've been reading all of Jane Austen's books--they're all on the GRE Literature reading list, so I may as well. I understand why Persuasion isn't the most famous, and I was ready to give up on Mansfield Park after a few chapters. However, I forged on and I was amazed at Austen's talent--she can make me feel very disappointed in the seemingly-sure future I predict for characters and then suddenly fix it all. The "suddenly" part and some feminist issues (implying that the girl whose character and mindset has been formed by a man goes to that man) are what got to me. But I can't deny her skill.

I've been dying for some changes recently. That usually means that I go and dye my hair until something bigger can change. This time, I'm cheaper and I've been curling ringlets into my hair. This is what it looks like in the evening:















The curl is completely gone. At least it gives it some volume. I need a trim. And I'd like to get some layers.

I fulfilled my lifelong dream of owning a peacoat, despite wool allergies and after hours of worrying about if it was the right color, size, cut. Friends helped me by looking at pictures I took in the dressing room, but I was still indecisive. I finally bought it for only 20 Euros.

Kira moved back to Ohio.

I bought a new laptop case on eBay last week since the zipper on my old one finally bit the dust. It arrived from China. And it can't zip closed. I'll just have to keep using the old case with a rubber band.

My knee is acting a little crazy. It was doing so much better but now, I kid you not, it can only be described as arthritic. It aches, it gets really stiff, and when I'm in the cold, it just doesn't work. Fun. Tanya says I should stretch it. But how?

I went to a Stewart O'Nan reading of his new book, Songs for the Missing, a book about a girl who goes missing from a gas station--a background theme in another of his books. (Last year, I did an essay on his book Wish You Were Here.) I've heard a lot about his ability to write in all sorts of genres and know what's going on in the literary world. He took a few questions after we heard several chapters read in English and German. Since his new book seemed similar to Lovely Bones, a book that was on the bestseller list for ages three or four years ago, I was glad he picked me to pose a question. I asked, "You said you started writing this book 10 years ago. Were you disappointed when Lovely Bones came out and became a bestseller because of the similarities in the plot?" In short, he gave an answer that made it obvious he hadn't actually read the book--the dead giveaway was him calling Lovely Bones a fantasy. Professor Koenen told me later that she had wanted to ask the same question, so that's a good sign. She also agreed that he hadn't read the book. However, I really liked his answers to other questions. Some authors just give very short, surface answers that aren't very pleasing. But he talked about writing about the every day and how it's nothing exciting but that's what fascinates him. He said he's really bad at coming up with titles. He described how he observes people and makes whole notebooks about one character he's going to create until they become real in his mind. He said that's a good thing unless they're insane, like in Speed Queen. For the new book, he got so close to the subject of a girl disappearing, that when his daughter didn't answer her phone or emails for ten days, he sent the police to her dorm room. She was mad because she was looking pretty crappy with the flu and the police officer was young and cute. Ha ha. But most impressive, he talked about how this new book tells the real story of missing people--the story of those left behind. He said that people tend to hide much of themselves from those they're close to. I wrote down these words of his:

I think finally, we need to grow closer to the people we think we're already close to . . . We need to find ways to directly address the people we're closest to."

And I leave you with those words.

Christmastime in Leipzig

We sang in the Mädlerpassage, a hall that leads between streets and has stores along the way. (Leipzig is famous for having these passages.)





























I thought you might like to see what Leipzig's Christmas Market looks like:

Mission Calls on YouTube

A friend in my ward told me about how she watched people opening their mission calls on YouTube, so I tried it out. It's more amusing than I thought it would be. Try it out.

Barfuss

Tough week. Yesterday to relax a little, Mike and I watched a German film called Barfuss or "Barefoot" (while scarfing down pizza, juice, strawberry candies, and pudding). It was wonderful. The music was especially impressive and I hope to get a copy. One of the characters is played by a famous German actor, Til Schweiger. If you can get hold of this movie, watch it. Just beware, there are a couple of short parts which you'll want to fast forward. (That kind of is expected in German movies, which is sad.)

This is the stack of things I must read/underline/correct/grade/analyze/write papers about for the next week of classes (next week is off for Pentecost). Don't ask me why I'm headed to Möhnesee (near Dortmund) for canoing and a football tournament this weekend. Notice the trusty Granite Credit Union pen used to show you how much there really is:











Here's a great article I read about the Catholic records thing.

And Tanya reminded me that I never posted a picture of the outside of my apartment building. Here it is, pretty exciting. You can at least see the . . . what is that called in English? The stuff they put on the outside of a building when they're doing construction. You can see that on the neighboring house, which I think will be eternal construction. I live in the third one up, which is considered the second floor here, not the third. (Ground floor, first, second, etc., instead of first, second, etc.) You can't see my window because it's on the other side of the building. Maybe I'll post that side some day.

Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

Did you know this book, which I loved, was made into this movie? I want to see it.

The prize winner of Defiance, Ohio : how my mother raised 10 kids on 25 words or less / Terry Ryan ; foreword by Suze Orman. Where is it?

by Ryan, Terry.

Year of the Dog

Year of the Dog. Great film.

Gunga Lagunga

This is what I have going for me:

Michelle=Mulan

Three students and I got together last night to eat a Halloween cake. Lisa was nice enough to make the cake, but she told us how surprised she was to find out how much butter an American cake took. She had to go to the store twice. I just smiled and said, "I'm American." We had some nice herbal tea with the cake. Evva joked that they had all these tea sets because Lisa "is a grandma." I thought it was all fine and dandy until I pulled a Mulan. My tea cup and plate thingy were on the plate where the cake was supposed to go, and Lisa had already cut the piece and was bringing it in my direction. I went to make room for the cake and ended up clumsily clattering the tea cup and spilling tea everywhere. Wow. It was so dumb, and the first thing I thought of was Mulan when she's trying to impress the matchmaker. Sign me up for the next war.

Elizabethtown

I just finished watching Elizabethtown, a movie with Susan Serandon, Orlando Bloom, and Kirsten Dunst. I'd never heard of it until today when I saw it in the Francy's pile of movies. After checking its rating on the SLCLS website, I watched it and quite enjoyed it. It's one of those reflective movies with a great soundtrack. Even though I didn't understand all of it (since I forced myself to watch it in German), I think you'll like it.

Step Up, High School Musical, and Medium Hair

I watched Step Up and High School Musical 2 with Sica last night. I would definitely suggest Step Up to anyone who hasn't seen it. High School Musical 2 wasn't as good as the first (not that I liked the first enough to watch it more than once), but I still hold a grudge against both of them because they don't claim that the school is in Utah. Lame-o. What makes New Mexico any more exciting? I don't get it. Anyway, I also think it's a shame that Gabriella cut her hair, it was much cuter long, and I don't remember who I had this conversation with, it must have been Tanya, but it's that length that's the stupid in-between length that isn't short or long and it usually means you're growing it out, so when people cut it to that length, I wonder what they were thinking.

Kings Peak, I mean, Grandeur Peak

So Tanya and I thought that we would be hiking Kings Peak with the Young Women today. It turned out to be Grandeur Peak, which made more sense, since we weren't going to be backpacking in. What made me laugh the most was that one of the ladies I talked to earlier this week said that I should bring a lot of treats and water and take a lot of breaks so that the altitude sickness wouldn't get to me (which made sense when I thought it was Kings Peak). When we got to the top, I said, "Tanya, this altitude is just killin' me!" (Sarcastically, of course.) The truth was that the only problems I had involved my knees (they don't like steep things) and my shoes (which I've had for forever but just never seem to want to give me a break despite bandaids, thick socks, jogging, walking, and trekking for several years—who thinks I can break in a new pair in two days? Maybe I'll hike in Tevas.) The view of the Salt Lake Valley was amazing. We spotted several landmarks and enjoyed the nice breeze and sunshine.

Even though I doubted that all the tiny, cutesy girls could hack it, hack it they did, with only the slightest bit of complaining. We had a lot of good conversation on the trail, as we met lizards, a smashed but giant spider (the biggest I've ever seen, and the sight of which made Tanya jump back into my arms), and even a rattlesnake (the first I've ever seen, quite fascinating). Susan took us for tangerine lime slurpees afterwards, and to top it all off, Tanya finally got to see Emperor's New Groove, a classic in my opinion. Now I can quote to her and she'll know to what I'm referring!

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Thoroughly Modern Millie is quite an enjoyable show. Despite old stereotypes and laughable special effects, the movie wins over the play, hands down.

I just have to wonder how seriously this line, spoken by Julie Andrews, was meant to be taken at the time it was filmed in 1967: "Oh no, I don't want to be your equal anymore. I want to be a woman."

Movie to See!

Last night, two other polymaths and myself saw the movie The Namesake, based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel. You should see it!