I've touched on the idea already, but here, I shall put my words to action: I am going to make lists of must-read books and have-to-see movies. I'm already off to a good start, seeing as I have finally finished Fruit, by Brian Francis, which was loaned to me by my father back around the Winter holidays. I am going to dub this "momentum", and try to seize it accordingly - giving certain leeway to midterms and class readings, of course.
Books:
_ The Last Enchantment, Mary Stewart (been slowly working through the series for two or so years, now)
_ Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
_ 1984, George Orwell
_ The Vocation Lectures, Max Weber
_ The Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant
_ Ethics, Baruch Spinoza
_ Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
_ The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
_ Life of Pi, Yann Martel
_ The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
_ The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
_ The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
_ The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
_ Dad, William Wharton
_ The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
_ The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac
_ Dracula, Bram Stoker
_ Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
_ The Andromeda Strain, Micheal Crichton
Movies:
_ Casablanca
_ more of anything from the mind of Woody Allen
_ The English Patient (I liked the book; I've been meaning to reread it, too)
_ Citizen Kane (well, durr, eh?)
_ Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
_ The Godfather
_ Scarface (I've seen the first half?)
_ more classic Bond
_ To Kill a Mockingbird (again, read the book, curious on the movie)
_ Young Frankenstein (only seen bits, and even then, mostly when I was too young to get the jokes)
_ Trainspotting
It's pretty incomplete so far, thanks to my faulty memory and all. It'll be updated as I go, and soon, I'll be putting the word out on Facebook for suggestions. I have faith in my friends' good taste, so Facebook and conversations in real life, or on the phone, should provide substantially. Notably, a good few of the books listed are ones that are waiting patiently on my shelf already, or from classes I have passed by skimming, as time constraints so often necessitate.
Also: http://www.listology.com/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die I consulted this list, as it was the first result to come up upon searching "must read books". I have read.... about 17, including Unless (Carol Shields) and Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood), both of which are stories that would have been better told by other authors, but good tales nonetheless.
O, but this is.... quite the list. Momentum may not be enough on its own. Luckily, this is not so much a "weekly" goal, as an overall endeavour, meant to accompany me for years to come.
23 February 2010
paracme - the point at which one’s prime is past
Dear World;
So, I went ahead and dropped off the map for a while there. Actually, I could point out on a map (approximately) where I was -Charlottetown, PE, give or take - but I wasn't online, and truly, that seems to have the greater impact, doesn't it?
So I guess I'll start with the exciting new stuff I did this past week: I went to Charlottetown, PE. That's... that's about it, really. But then, the blogosphere is meant for self-indulgence, so I daren't leave it at just that.
I went to Charlottetown to visit my boyfriend, James. We've been dating about 5 1/2 months now, and this visit makes for the second time I've seen him in that while. Needless to say, I was right psyched to go. Not to mention, I haven't been on a plane since I was about 11, and I haven't been to the Maritimes ever before. February isn't exactly the pique season, either, so I didn't need to fret over tourists, ripoffs, and extravagant travel fees. "Jack Frost" was going on, but that ended up being of little consequence. Best as I can tell, it's a watered down Winterlude anyway, especially as it lacks canal skating. Flying was fun, and a lot simpler than I expected. My piercings, yet again, managed to not set off the metal detectors (which is a relief for me, and a confusion as it pertains to security measures), and the seats all had little tv screens in the back of them. Technology amazes me. The one downside was that on the way out, the screen in front of me kept wavering and doing that screen rolling image thing. Luckily, I was reading anyhow, so I managed to not raise a fuss or suffer a seizure.
My arrival was as loving a greeting as I could have ever expected, though considering Nelly was there with James to pick me up, I really should have expected no less. Terminals, in general, tend to confuse me. I know they shouldn't, especially the Island one which James lovingly describes as a "parking lot" and Nelly discusses like a bus terminal, but somehow, their dimensions elude me. The way I understand the layout of terminals suggests they hold pocket dimensions, which is cool, but nonsensical (I highly doubt the companies involved could afford the services of a sufficiently skilled mage/witch/etc, after all). The Island terminal also features a mini-museum and a large map of the Island. This entertained me, as I came to realize how many town names I'm so familiar with - Georgetown, Milton and Toronto, for example - also have a place on the Island.
I arrived on a Saturday; Feb 13 to be more exact. The next few days were lazy not only by choice, but by duress. Most stores and the like on the Island are closed on Sundays, Monday was "Islander Day", and Wednesday involved a bit of a storm and, more notably, a storm warning, which led, again, to many closures. Instead, my time was filled with a series of television and movie delights. I'll try not to write overmuch on them, but here's an overview:
-Star Trek (the latest movie release)
I've been meaning to watch this ever since I heard about it. Conveniently, James owns it, and as such was able to show me one of the many movies he was aghast to find out I haven't watched (though believe you me, as the next post will betray, there are many one which I am missing out!). I was suitably impressed. I mean, I grew up on TNG and haven't watched much of TOS, so I'm not a fan who is able to be overly critical in the first place. However, I did get a strong sense of the characters, and a respect for the enterprise, both the S.S. variety and the business of Trekking in general. I am curious to see how it pans out.
-original Japanese Godzilla release
Despite losing some details to a sleepy haze inspired by alcohol and the late hour, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely an interesting approach to prevalent concerns of the time, and it was fun, while watching, to notice what methods were used in each scene. I also watched the behind the scenes clip on the costumes, and I tell you what, that is some messed up business. Talk about dedication.
-Japanese Spiderman
Srsly. Watch it. http://marvel.com/animation/japanese_spiderman
-Space Runaway Ideon
Any show that can get me trying to sing along with the theme song, despite it being in Japanese, deserves props (this fits for Japanese Spiderman as well, in which some of the words sound like "genie", so I was able to manage a line or two). Part of a balanced breakfast (that is, if you enjoy your breakfast lasting two hours and being served with aliens and mecha, and really, who doesn't?)
-Jacob's Ladder
Listed as an inspiration to Wraith and Silent Hill. Right creepy, and got the skin crawling, but in a matter that washed off relatively quickly. Highly recommended.
-Paranormal Activity
Yeah, this one freaked me right out. Apparently, it is described as being the sort of movie that only gets to you if you are a believer in any respect, and I am, so there you go. There were a few points where the low-lying persistent creep factor gave way to cinematics, but that's to be expected; it's meant as a horror flick, not necessarily a thriller, best I can tell. I jumped a few times (okay, more than a few), and the closing scene has still come to mind a few times lately as I'm getting to sleep (which, by now, is more irritating than actually creepy). Definitely denotes a sense of loss of control, which is what really got to me.
Beyond the cinematics, the week was spent mostly sleeping, eating, and making up for lost time by being overly sappy and clingy (which is a bit of a foreign habit to me, but it was nice, I admit). Wednesday was a definite highlight, as the evening was spent dressed up and "on the town" with James and Nelly. And I tell you what, James rocks a pinstripe suit like nobody's business (does that even make sense as a sentence? I doubt it, but it still imbues a definite sense, so it stays). We went to 42nd Street for drinks, and not just any drinks, but fancy drinks. I had three different kinds of martinis: this chocolate almond thing (served with chocolate shavings!), a purple freeze, and a vodkatini, just to round out the night. James had this New York Minute thing which had about five kinds of liquor in it, along with 7Up, cranberry juice, and orange juice. They both bemoaned not having enough "grown up" nights such as this, which I can relate to, and so we all reveled in the class and conversation. On leaving the bar to park somewhere out of the way of the snow plows, the car in front of us, stopped, and a passenger got out to hurl a snowball at us. I'm yet to come up with a justification for this; apparently, we looked prepared for battle, best I can tell. The rest of the night involved local personal histories, window shopping, China Garden (the place to be at that late an hour, apparently), and, eventually, Victoria Park. Vic Park is pretty; I spent my time there attempting to take pictures of the cannons despite the awkward light conditions (that is, "low spotlights and a conventional flash"), and enjoying the juvenile and predictable images people had drawn in the snow.
Another notable incident, which, if memory serves, also happened on Wednesday, was the mayhem involved in enjoying movies from the vantage point of James' bed. James has a nice new HD monitor, so watching movies etc in his room is a pleasure indeed. However, his mattress fits on top of four planks of rather negligible widths. That night, the mattress had apparently shifted so as to be at an awkward angle to the wall and edge of the bed (or so James was able to theorize), and as such, Nelly and I ended up spilling tea on ourselves as the mattress nigh caved in. James, with our help, was able to get things sorted again.... just to have it happen again. After that, we opted to perch precariously on the slanted mattress for the rest of the night, though later James managed to fiddle with things until they were more sturdy. Quite the unexpected mayhem, I tell you what.
Along the lines of "new things" which, purportedly, this blog is all about, I met James' immediate family. Quite the lot of good people, and a pleasure to spend time with, to be sure. I even got a hug from his little sister when I departed, and a lucky dragon from his mom. This is fine enough on its own right, but additionally, the whole "meet the parents" thing is... rather new in its own right. Back in high school, it was of less import, as the relationships were less serious, and the parents tended to be met at the door before heading down to the basement to hang out. I've had about three previous relationships of note since coming to university: in one, I met the sister and he already knew my sister, in another, he met my whole family while I met none of his simply due to the distance involved, and in the third, I only met his mother, and that intimidated me well enough anyhow. With James, there was the added seriousness that he and his mother are exceptionally close, and that I have few other opportunities to meet her and the rest of them, so the impression I made was down to the way James had already talked me up, and that one meeting. I have also spoken to her and her husband on the phone before, but that was a different challenge in its own right (I'm not a phone person). Anyway, my point of that entire spiel is that I'm right happy with how the meeting went, and am looking forward to seeing them again, whenever that comes to pass.
So that was my week in Charlottetown, or at least, the main details I can call to memory at the moment. I'll end this post now, as it is already dragging, and I will move on to my upcoming goals in the next post in the next few minutes.
And yes, the subject title is a teasing dig at the Island, based on the way my friends there all seem to talk about it.
So, I went ahead and dropped off the map for a while there. Actually, I could point out on a map (approximately) where I was -Charlottetown, PE, give or take - but I wasn't online, and truly, that seems to have the greater impact, doesn't it?
So I guess I'll start with the exciting new stuff I did this past week: I went to Charlottetown, PE. That's... that's about it, really. But then, the blogosphere is meant for self-indulgence, so I daren't leave it at just that.
I went to Charlottetown to visit my boyfriend, James. We've been dating about 5 1/2 months now, and this visit makes for the second time I've seen him in that while. Needless to say, I was right psyched to go. Not to mention, I haven't been on a plane since I was about 11, and I haven't been to the Maritimes ever before. February isn't exactly the pique season, either, so I didn't need to fret over tourists, ripoffs, and extravagant travel fees. "Jack Frost" was going on, but that ended up being of little consequence. Best as I can tell, it's a watered down Winterlude anyway, especially as it lacks canal skating. Flying was fun, and a lot simpler than I expected. My piercings, yet again, managed to not set off the metal detectors (which is a relief for me, and a confusion as it pertains to security measures), and the seats all had little tv screens in the back of them. Technology amazes me. The one downside was that on the way out, the screen in front of me kept wavering and doing that screen rolling image thing. Luckily, I was reading anyhow, so I managed to not raise a fuss or suffer a seizure.
My arrival was as loving a greeting as I could have ever expected, though considering Nelly was there with James to pick me up, I really should have expected no less. Terminals, in general, tend to confuse me. I know they shouldn't, especially the Island one which James lovingly describes as a "parking lot" and Nelly discusses like a bus terminal, but somehow, their dimensions elude me. The way I understand the layout of terminals suggests they hold pocket dimensions, which is cool, but nonsensical (I highly doubt the companies involved could afford the services of a sufficiently skilled mage/witch/etc, after all). The Island terminal also features a mini-museum and a large map of the Island. This entertained me, as I came to realize how many town names I'm so familiar with - Georgetown, Milton and Toronto, for example - also have a place on the Island.
I arrived on a Saturday; Feb 13 to be more exact. The next few days were lazy not only by choice, but by duress. Most stores and the like on the Island are closed on Sundays, Monday was "Islander Day", and Wednesday involved a bit of a storm and, more notably, a storm warning, which led, again, to many closures. Instead, my time was filled with a series of television and movie delights. I'll try not to write overmuch on them, but here's an overview:
-Star Trek (the latest movie release)
I've been meaning to watch this ever since I heard about it. Conveniently, James owns it, and as such was able to show me one of the many movies he was aghast to find out I haven't watched (though believe you me, as the next post will betray, there are many one which I am missing out!). I was suitably impressed. I mean, I grew up on TNG and haven't watched much of TOS, so I'm not a fan who is able to be overly critical in the first place. However, I did get a strong sense of the characters, and a respect for the enterprise, both the S.S. variety and the business of Trekking in general. I am curious to see how it pans out.
-original Japanese Godzilla release
Despite losing some details to a sleepy haze inspired by alcohol and the late hour, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely an interesting approach to prevalent concerns of the time, and it was fun, while watching, to notice what methods were used in each scene. I also watched the behind the scenes clip on the costumes, and I tell you what, that is some messed up business. Talk about dedication.
-Japanese Spiderman
Srsly. Watch it. http://marvel.com/animation/japanese_spiderman
-Space Runaway Ideon
Any show that can get me trying to sing along with the theme song, despite it being in Japanese, deserves props (this fits for Japanese Spiderman as well, in which some of the words sound like "genie", so I was able to manage a line or two). Part of a balanced breakfast (that is, if you enjoy your breakfast lasting two hours and being served with aliens and mecha, and really, who doesn't?)
-Jacob's Ladder
Listed as an inspiration to Wraith and Silent Hill. Right creepy, and got the skin crawling, but in a matter that washed off relatively quickly. Highly recommended.
-Paranormal Activity
Yeah, this one freaked me right out. Apparently, it is described as being the sort of movie that only gets to you if you are a believer in any respect, and I am, so there you go. There were a few points where the low-lying persistent creep factor gave way to cinematics, but that's to be expected; it's meant as a horror flick, not necessarily a thriller, best I can tell. I jumped a few times (okay, more than a few), and the closing scene has still come to mind a few times lately as I'm getting to sleep (which, by now, is more irritating than actually creepy). Definitely denotes a sense of loss of control, which is what really got to me.
Beyond the cinematics, the week was spent mostly sleeping, eating, and making up for lost time by being overly sappy and clingy (which is a bit of a foreign habit to me, but it was nice, I admit). Wednesday was a definite highlight, as the evening was spent dressed up and "on the town" with James and Nelly. And I tell you what, James rocks a pinstripe suit like nobody's business (does that even make sense as a sentence? I doubt it, but it still imbues a definite sense, so it stays). We went to 42nd Street for drinks, and not just any drinks, but fancy drinks. I had three different kinds of martinis: this chocolate almond thing (served with chocolate shavings!), a purple freeze, and a vodkatini, just to round out the night. James had this New York Minute thing which had about five kinds of liquor in it, along with 7Up, cranberry juice, and orange juice. They both bemoaned not having enough "grown up" nights such as this, which I can relate to, and so we all reveled in the class and conversation. On leaving the bar to park somewhere out of the way of the snow plows, the car in front of us, stopped, and a passenger got out to hurl a snowball at us. I'm yet to come up with a justification for this; apparently, we looked prepared for battle, best I can tell. The rest of the night involved local personal histories, window shopping, China Garden (the place to be at that late an hour, apparently), and, eventually, Victoria Park. Vic Park is pretty; I spent my time there attempting to take pictures of the cannons despite the awkward light conditions (that is, "low spotlights and a conventional flash"), and enjoying the juvenile and predictable images people had drawn in the snow.
Another notable incident, which, if memory serves, also happened on Wednesday, was the mayhem involved in enjoying movies from the vantage point of James' bed. James has a nice new HD monitor, so watching movies etc in his room is a pleasure indeed. However, his mattress fits on top of four planks of rather negligible widths. That night, the mattress had apparently shifted so as to be at an awkward angle to the wall and edge of the bed (or so James was able to theorize), and as such, Nelly and I ended up spilling tea on ourselves as the mattress nigh caved in. James, with our help, was able to get things sorted again.... just to have it happen again. After that, we opted to perch precariously on the slanted mattress for the rest of the night, though later James managed to fiddle with things until they were more sturdy. Quite the unexpected mayhem, I tell you what.
Along the lines of "new things" which, purportedly, this blog is all about, I met James' immediate family. Quite the lot of good people, and a pleasure to spend time with, to be sure. I even got a hug from his little sister when I departed, and a lucky dragon from his mom. This is fine enough on its own right, but additionally, the whole "meet the parents" thing is... rather new in its own right. Back in high school, it was of less import, as the relationships were less serious, and the parents tended to be met at the door before heading down to the basement to hang out. I've had about three previous relationships of note since coming to university: in one, I met the sister and he already knew my sister, in another, he met my whole family while I met none of his simply due to the distance involved, and in the third, I only met his mother, and that intimidated me well enough anyhow. With James, there was the added seriousness that he and his mother are exceptionally close, and that I have few other opportunities to meet her and the rest of them, so the impression I made was down to the way James had already talked me up, and that one meeting. I have also spoken to her and her husband on the phone before, but that was a different challenge in its own right (I'm not a phone person). Anyway, my point of that entire spiel is that I'm right happy with how the meeting went, and am looking forward to seeing them again, whenever that comes to pass.
So that was my week in Charlottetown, or at least, the main details I can call to memory at the moment. I'll end this post now, as it is already dragging, and I will move on to my upcoming goals in the next post in the next few minutes.
And yes, the subject title is a teasing dig at the Island, based on the way my friends there all seem to talk about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
