mint nail polish! and 30 day challenge-18

 Last night, i dreamed that i painted my nails with mint green nail polish. Then, at the store today, i saw some! So i bought it and painted my nails haha. What is with mint green nail polish anyways? why is it a trend? i mean, its cute, but its still an awfully weird color to put on your nails.

anyways, today's challenge is:
Day 18 – Something that makes you laugh.

do you guys like how i've managed to stretch this 30 day challenge into like 45 days? haha.

there are lots of things that make me laugh... so here are just a few:

1. Eddie Izzard's Dressed to Kill performance. I love his british historical humor.
2. Nick Swardson. Any of it.
3. This picture of me trying to take a picture of the 2010 drawing on my ankle last year:

4. textsfromlastnight.com
5. a lot of the people that post on craigslist
6. natalie tran's community channel:

7. Viral Video Film School:

8. Family guy. Cliche, but it's so good.
9. the 211 video i made last year.
10. psych. probably one of the best shows ever, i'd say. also parks and recreation.

Movie Mondays: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 Hey everyone,
today's movie monday is going to be short and sweet because I'm really exhausted right now and I still have homework to do. I went back and forth about whether to use Eternal Sunshine for a movie monday, because I feel like a lot of people have already heard about it/seen it. It's one of my favorite movies though and I'm too tired to try to think of a different movie to do, so ESOTSM it is :)

 I love this movie so much. I can watch it over and over again and I literally never get bored with it. Kate Winslet is hands down one of my favorite actresses, and Jim Carey totally nails this dramatic role. It's so, so good.

The story centers around Joel (Jim Carey), who gets involved with Clementine (Kate Winslet). The two have a somewhat turbulant relationship which ends with a nasty breakup. The next time Joel sees Clem, she appears to have no recollection of who he is.

So, Joel finds out that Clem has gone to this doctor's office that specializes in altering people's memories. Basically, you go to their office, they map out your brain, you go home and throw out everything that reminds you of the person you want to forget, and then you take some sleeping pills and the technicians come to your house in the middle of the night and perform a procedure with lots of wires and computers to erase all your memories of a person from your mind. Crazy, eh?

Joel decides that he's going to get the procedure done too, but halfway through having his memory erased he changes his mind. The majority of the movie is a race through Joel's memories of Clem as he tries to wake up or hold onto a piece of her.

It's a fantastic movie, it really, really is. One of my very favorites. I know I say that every week but seriously, this is probably like top 3 :)

Here's the trailer:



I will say that that trailer doesn't really do the film justice though... For some reason I couldn't find a really good one :( anyways, watch this.

A quote

I'm doing homework right now (boatloads of it), and found a quote that I thought was particularly interesting in the midst of my philosophy reading. I like it because it reminds me of many people in the world today, who become attached to a belief and refuse to acknowledge that anything else might be true.

The passage I was reading is from an essay titled "The Ethics of Belief" by British philosopher and mathematician William K Clifford (1845-1879), originally published in Contemporary Review, 1877.  

"If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call into question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it- the life of that man is one long sin against mankind..."

just something to think about on this chilly saturday afternoon :)

30 Day Challenge- 17

 Day 17 - Your highs and lows of this past year.

This year has been a pretty crazy one! A lot has happened and changed since February 5th, 2010. I had my telethon job at LC, which was ok sometimes and a bummer at other times... My mom and my sis came to visit me (separately) in Portland, both occasions were really wonderful... The last few months of school and packing and being away from my friends and boyfriend in portland were kind of rough, but in retrospect I'm so glad I spent the year up there. I got into the media arts program at u of a which was pretty sweet, I got an awesome job at mama eddas and met some of the most wonderful people ever (ups!)... I had such an amazing summer full of friends and trips and fun... school has been pretty good so far this year, I'm happy to be where I am, although the super ridiculous hot weather was a downer for a bit (and now it's abnormally cold!!)...
September, October, and November seemed to fly by in a whirlwind of school and little trips and holidays here and there... in December I spent a whole month with my family which was so, so, nice. We went to mexico and I absolutely fell in love with the place we were staying. A big downer was that my grandmother fell ill during this time and passed away about a week after we got back, so that was really difficult. On the upside though it meant I got to see a lot of my family that I otherwise wouldn't have seen for quite a while. Now stewie and I are back in tucson living our simple daily lives, and I'm quite happy with where I am. I am so excited for the future, too- greece in june, head chef at the youth retreat in july, being a junior in the fall with only 2 years left till graduation (!!!!!!!!)... It's been a good year, and I think the next one will be just as wonderful :)

<3
Em

30 Day Challenge- 16

Day 16 - Your views on mainstream music.

Stewie and I were just talking about this this other day, actually, when a mumford and sons song came on the radio.

We are both agree that mainstream music is typically mediocre- poor lyrics, crappy instrumentals, no creativity, and a very high chance that the artist neither wrote the song nor can sing it half as well live. so, we've grown to pretty much automatically dislike mainstream music, not only because of the above reasons but because it's just generally "uncool". It's much more hip to like indie underground stuff that has some soul to it.

Plus, these indie bands aren't "sell-outs", like so many mainstream artists- meaning, they didn't compromise the message they wanted to send or the style they were going for in order to appeal to the masses and get famous and make lots of money.

But then there's always the dilemma of some of our fave indie bands becoming mainstream. For a long time Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse and bands such as these were mostly unknown to the general public... but now you hear their songs on the radio very frequently. Do we stop liking them just because they're more mainstream? well, that would seem silly and shallow.... so as long as their music is still good, i keep listening.

So in summary- I don't like most mainstream artists and I do like a large number of indie artist. When an indie band gets "discovered" and becomes mainstream, it's ok but only if their music is still good and they haven't compromised their style.

The end :)

Monday Mondays: Memento

This week's movie monday is pretty awesome. It's [another] one of those wonderful little mind-bending classical-hollywood-cinema-twisting indie gems that really makes you think. It's got a great director/screenwriter (christopher nolan) and an equally great cast (Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano) that really make this movie one of a kind.

Memento is unique in that it goes backwards in time, kind of. Basically you watch ten minutes of the movie and then the scene changes to ten minutes before the previous ten minutes, and once it reaches the beginning of the 10 minutes you already saw it switches to ten minutes before that... I realize that probably makes no sense at all but trust me that it's awesome.

The reason for this strange time structure is that the main character, Leonard (Pearce) has suffered head trauma which has caused him to lose his short term memory. He basically can only remember ten minutes at a time, so by editing the film in this way nolan simulates the confusing and fractured sense of time that Leonard experiences.

This short term memory loss provides for some really interesting and awesome character traits in Leonard. For instance, he takes polaroids of everyone he meets and writes notes about them so that he can refer back to the pictures when he encounters someone he can't remember. He has also gotten tattoos all over his body with interesting reminders or facts that he would otherwise forget.

So what's the plot, then? Well, leonard is on a search for the man who broke into his house, raped and killed his wife, and knocked him out (causing his short term memory loss). Supposedly this is the last event Leonard can remember, and he has made it his life's purpose to find the intruder and kill him. As the mystery unravels, so do the intricacies of Leonard's character and his relationship with the other people in the film.

I'm one of those people that really enjoys (for lack of a better expression) mind-fuck movies that make you sit there and think and then want to watch the film over again- so if you are too, this is the film for you. Here's the trailer:

30 Day Challenge- 15

Today was the first day of me waking up at 5:30 am and heading to the gym in time for it to open at 6:00 am. Go me!! It wasn't that difficult waking up, despite the fact that I feel like I got zero hours of sleep last night. You know those nights where you just lie there almost sleeping but for some reason just can't nod off? It was one of those. So very frustrating. I'm sure tonight will be better though since I'll be exhausted :)

Anyways, after about an hour at the gym I came home and made some tea and breakfast for stew and I. We ate in bed and now he's getting ready for his 9:10 class which I'll drive him to in a few minutes. I don't have class until two so I have plenty of time to get tonight's homework out of the way^^

Listen to me- am I productive or what?! I have no idea what has happened to me lol, waking up at 5:30 for the gym and doing my homework in advance. It's a wild world.

I've got a movie monday lined up for later today, and i'll post stew's and my hiking date, but for now I'll take care of the 30 day challenge.


Day 15 - 5 people in your life right now who mean the most.

These are in no particular order of importance, of course.

1. Stewart- of course! We are always together and we always have so much fun. Of course we bicker from time to time but for the most part I think we keep each other calm, sane, and happy.

2 & 3. My Parents- I love them both so much. They are so compassionate, intelligent, understanding, and fun. I miss them every day and I feel so blessed that I wound up as their daughter.

4. My Sister- Jenny is my best friend! I love her with all my heart and I'm so happy we are so close. She's amazing!!

5. This spot is difficult to fill because it's not as obvious as my family or my boyfriend. So, I'm going to choose to let it represent the few close friends that I've kept over many months or years, who I still speak to and see as often as possible- This includes most of the people I worked with last summer, Natalie, Ruby, Sharney, Brian, Jaimie, Marby, and others :) You are all amazing and you are all immensely important in my life.

update and 30 Day Challenge- 14

Eek, so I suck at this a little bit. I really did try to stick to the 30 day challenge schedule, but i'm so darn busy! I seriously feel like I have zero free time... in fact, I feel like I need more hours in the day! I'm always at school, doing homework, cleaning, or cooking, and yet I still have chores that I don't get done and I'm hard-pressed to find a spare 20 minutes to get online to blog. What a pain! I hope it calms down soon. Even this weekend has been crazy busy... on friday stewie and I ran all around town doing errands- I went to staples to get copies of my passport made, we went to goodwill and bought a food processor and a cookie jar, we went to the running shop to buy me some new running shoes (which I love, love, love!), then we drove out to the mall so I could buy some forever 21 sports bras, and finally we drove out to an even FURTHER mall to buy some nike fitness pants. Which I also love. Remember how forever ago I was talking about how I really needed new workout clothes? I finally have them, hooray!! I'll put up a pick showing how astronomically better they are soon :)

Anyways, after all that shopping stew and I went to dinner at szechuan omei (a restaurant my parents- who lived in tucson for quite a while- recommended. it was really yummy!), and then came home and made a couple yummy pina coladas and watched white oleander and about 10 million episodes of xxxholic before going to bed. On saturday we went for a hike through pima canyon, planned two weeks of meals, and then went grocery shopping- which is no simple feat. When stew and I go grocery shopping we go to a minimum of three stores, sometimes four. We weren't finished until well after sundown. Afterward we came home and made some yummy mango salsa and watched the new Sherlock Holmes (I have to write a paper on it for a media arts class). I baked some awesome 3 layer grasshopper brownies and then we went to bed.

And today is homework day! I shouldve been doing homework all weekend but I've been so busy with other things. I have a LOT of reading to do, a film to watch, some reasearch to work on, and a french composition to write. It'll be ok though, I really like my classes and I don't mind the work so much.

Tomorrow I'm going to start my new schedule of waking up at 5:30 am and going to the gym!! I'll get back home at seven, just in time for stew and I to eat breakfast, drink a couple mugs of tea, and start getting ready for the day. I'm turning in my complete study abroad packet tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited to get things rolling.

Anyways, that's what I've been up to these past few days. I took some pics of stew's and my hike as one of our 100 dates, so that will be up soon!! I'm also going to start baking something to keep in my new cookie jar every couple weeks, and I'm also going to try a new, interesting, and moderately difficult recipe each week so I'll probably post a bunch of cool recipes for you guys.

Ok enough of that, onto the 30 day challenge. I'll just pick up where I left off..

Day 14 – A photo of a cherished memory.

 

This is a photo of the friday after thanksgiving, 2008. I was a senior, stewie and I were close but not dating yet, and the girl next to me, megan, was my best friend. The three of us hung out practically every day. We did awesome things like making a giant pot of stone soup, complete with a stone, building campfires in the driveway after school and roasting marshmallows, and dancing around on the futon to Gogol Bordello's "start wearing purple". 

On this day, Megan and I came over to the apartment pretty early, like 10 am. Stewie's roommate, Josh, was at work, so the three of us just sat around and watched a bunch of episodes of xxxholic. I had never seen it before and I absolutely loved it. We ate thanksgiving leftovers and in the afternoon bought some forties and played Drenga while listening to modest mouse. It was so, so, so much fun. Later in the evening more people came over of course, and in the  picture above I'm on the phone talking to our friend Marby and asking him to bring us half-off sushi (he worked at monsoon, a japanese restaurant in Prescott). 

This is one of my favorite memories, though, because it reminds me of the way the three of us were back then before stewie and I had started dating, before megan had started dating her ex, before I moved away, before everyone stopped hanging out at that apartment. The friendship the three of us had was really amazing and I miss it all the time. It was experiences like those that made my senior year so great :)

30 Day Challenge- 13

Day 13 - Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.

 I don't remember when exactly my obsession for Greece began... maybe around the same time the original Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants came out. That would have been when I was about 14, and ever since then I've desperately wanted to go to Greece. I love greek food, greed culture, greek history, greek architecture... and there's just something about those beautiful, white walls nestled into a mountain next to the crystal blue ocean that fills me up with longing and beauty and serenity. It's just so friggen gorgeous.

Since before I even was writing out college applications, I had made up my mind that I would study abroad in Greece at some point. And now, I'm actually going to!!!! I'm going on a summer trip during the month of June during which I'll  visit Athens, Peloponneseus, and some of the greek islands. It's going to be SO amazing!

Spring semester, Here we go....

 I haven't done a update lately so I thought I'd just stop in and tell you all what's been going on these days.
The spring semester of classes started about 1.5 weeks ago, and so far is going very well! I like all of my classes, although going to french four times a week is going to wear on me I'm sure. I've been keeping up with my homework (even doing assigned readings!!) and going to all the lectures. My professors all seem great and the work load isn't going to be too intense... And best of all I'll be done with school before my birthday, May 10th :)

Last weekend stewie and I drove up to Casa Grande for my grandmother's memorial service. It was very difficult and sad, but it was also so nice to see all of my family. My sister, her boyfriend, and stewie and I stayed in a hotel room together and stayed up late playing silly riddle games. The next morning My dad, stewie, and I drove up to prescott (my mom drove up later in the day) and stew and I went to lunch and coffee with our friend marby and then stopped by my darling friend natalie's apartment and surpirsed her. We then headed over a house that some of my old work friends live in and we basically hung out with them for the rest of the night, aside from going to Maya for dinner and stopping by to see my parents. It was a really, really fun night!

The next morning stewie and i stopped by goodwill and I bought a bunch of shoes and he bought a toaster oven. I guess buying shoes from goodwill is kind of gross but they always have a ton of cute ones and theyre so cheap! I'm not made of money, people :)

Anyways, we got back to tucson late sunday night. A friend from highschool has been staying with us for the last week and a half- it's fine having him here but I'm excited for when everything will be back to normal and the living room will be a living room, not an extra bedroom haha. I also can't wait for stewie and I to move out altogether and find a place of our own- I have had it with roommates!!!!!! I just want to have a fridge that is full of just OUR food, a kitchen that only WE use and ALWAYS clean up... ugh... i just can't wait.

On a more annoying note, I'm kind of frustrated right now because a friend of mine has just recently decided to blame me for something which I had nothing to do with, and then take that opportunity to blame me for all sorts of other things that don't pertain to the issue at hand. I'm being made a scapegoat without a doubt, but it's so frustrating to me to not be able to defend myself (because my defenses mean nothing since this person has already made up his/her mind) Not only is it aggravating, it's hurtful because I don't feel I have done anything wrong but I am having all this anger and blame projected onto me. Hell, I've been out of the town, out of the state, and out of the COUNTRY for the past month... and yet somehow things that happened while I was gone are still my fault >.< Even so, I've been apologetic and polite... and yet this person still feels the need to lash out and concentrate all of his/her anger onto me.

Ugh, that was just me venting for five minutes... sorry to project all that onto you guys. I wish that I was content just knowing that I have nothing to be blamed for, but I always wish that I could make the other person realize this too haha. typical stubborn taurus... we just want people understand our point of view! I know I should just drop it and that's probably what I'm going to do, but it's always a shame to lose a friend, especially this way. What do you guys do when someone turns you into a scapegoat?

Anyways, enough of that. I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love right now- as you can see from the pic above- and it always makes me feel calm, happy, and at peace with the world. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it right now and I'm sure I will enjoy reading the rest.

It's off to french class in 10 minutes, so i'd probably go get my stuff together. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week, and I'll be back later tonight with that 30 day challenge business!