Chester keeps trying to swim under the rocks in his bowl
I live on the third floor in a tower in a castle, above a coffee shop.
My room is pie-shaped, with no real right angles as corners. View from the door/sink. Note: Timmy and Cornelius, the plants; Christmas lights on bed frame and lanterns on wall.
Notables: Chester the beta on the first desk shelf; the illegible sticker on the wall which says "Let faeries live" in Hebrew; the black square that is actually a photocopy of CathErine.
This is my roommate's side with the giant pirate flag I have mentioned.
When Souzana and I were discussing what to do last night, I tried to sell her on a movie about which I had my own doubts, however Junebug exceeded our expectations. By the trailers and shorts that preceded the film (some of which were in French without translations!), we knew that we were in the right place. Junebug takes a look into Southern life by juxtaposing it with a visiting city slicker. Madeline, who owns a Chicago art gallery has to make a trip to North Carolina to convince an artist to show with her, and while she is there, she and her newlywed husband stop in to meet his parents in the town next door. The first portion of the movie which focuses on the details of the husband's family's life, is (perhaps) unintentionally hilarious in how truthful it feels. The movie takes a quick turn from humorous to serious as Ashley, Madeline's bubbly, childlike sister-in-law, gives birth and Madeline is faced with the choice that will determine if she can truly integrate herself into this family. While Madeline's performance was strong, with an excellent balance of nerves and genuine concern for her in-laws, Ashley stole the show. Her character, who chatted constantly and only wanted to be loved, had the potential to come off as contrived, but instead you can see that Ashley really is just a sweet girl who needs a little love. For some, I could see how this movie would feel slow, as there was no fancy cinematography and many scenes transpired in complete silence, but the characters and their interactions were so strong that I didn't realize I'd been sitting still for two hours at the end of it. My only complaint is that often times, a character's back-story would be alluded to, but no details were given, so I want to know why they ended up as they did.
Junebug is an insightful portrayal of a variety of relationships: it compared new couples with old couples, friends with family, individuals with groups. One of the themes I took from the film was the duality of relationships, as they are both durable and fragile. Regardless of how little some of the couples seemed to have in common with each other or how little they knew about each other, the movie ended with the impression that they would stay together. I am desperately hoping that this holds true for my life this year, as in the face of my newly-found state of constant occupation, my social life has taken the most blows. From 9am to 5pm, I run from classes to brief homework breaks to work. In an attempt to actually do well and retain what I learn in my classes, I spend all evening with my books, sometimes even taking dinner back to my room to save myself time. I can't imagine how hectic life will become once belly dancing classes, quad council meetings and evening lectures begin. The past two weeks have been a blur of exhaustion, and while I'm happy, I wonder if I'll be able to maintain this level of activity.
I feel like I ought to be suffering from a lack of social contact with my close friends, but since I spend my entire day with other people, I don't feel lonely. The new employees and interns at the museum are chatty, and I'm participating more in class than I have in the past. Nic summed it up well the other day, however, by pointing out that I'm doing fine not because I dislike people and therefore appreciate being holed up in my room, it's just that I'm independent enough to not require somebody holding my hand while I eat a meal or walk somewhere. If this is independence, as opposed to introversion, than I am pleased.
Also, there is a new Goblet of Fire trailer!
Edit: For my own reference, since I'm having trouble remembering as it is, this week I: discovered that I do not want to be a photographer for The Justice, watched as The Rose's opening went smoothly despite Elton John not showing up, yelled at the computers at The Rose a lot because the programs keep crashing, switched Japanese to pass/fail, met with the study abroad office and became more confused, performed well on my multiple Japanese quizzes and environmental civics presentation and ate at least four cheese Quesadillas.