May or may not be my favorite Christmas present...
December 27, 2009
Labels: typical
Ah, the lovely Boylan Sisters!
December 26, 2009
For so long I've been trying to introduce Rames to my beloved movie musicals but he always avoided the topic all together. He hated when people broke into song in movies, he said. He hated when people "sang in a choir." Above all, he didn't want to be watching a film where random actors started dancing in bizarre situations. I gave it up for a bad job and refrained from bringing the subject up. It's okay to differ in opinion, I told myself. Not everyone has to like the same things... I hated it, but everyone says this is what makes life interesting.
But how can anyone not like Annie? It's a classic! Then, after some discussion, I realized Rames had never actually seen the movie. It was surreal to me. I was constantly singing "Tomorrow" while cooking dinner or I'd burst into "Hard-Knock-Life" while in the shower... he always seemed to know the songs but had actively refused to watch the movie. I always assumed he was familiar with the plot. How should I have known Annie never really reached Europe?
Tonight, on a whim, I downloaded Annie (1982) and simply insisted he sit down and watch it with me. I snuck into the office and pouted... "If I clean the entire Christmas dinner dishes ON MY OWN, will you watch Annie with me?" Because he had missed me while I was away at the Essers and felt like indulging me a bit, he agreed.
At the beginning of movie, I warned him whenever a song was approaching: "Okay, so it starts with a song but it's a nice one... there's another shortly after but it's nothing annoying." And, 20 minutes into the film, he admitted that it wasn't annoying after all! That it wasn't as bad as he'd thought! He found it heart-warming, Annie grew on him, he enjoyed Oliver Warbucks... he finally understood who Bernadette Peters is!
He liked it.
Then, he admitted that all this time he thought "Annie" was about a 20-something year old woman who finds love after having a hard life.
He had no idea that it was about children.
This, I believe, is the core of Rames's confusion/dislike of musicals -- he really and truly has some bizarre misconception of them. Just like the time I made him watch "Mulan" and he enjoyed it... afterward he told me he had been under the impression the movie was about a dragon.
I have discovered something phenomenal. Now, I just have to decide which musical movie to show him next.
Labels: rames, review, typical
It was her best thing.
December 22, 2009
I'm off to visit the Essers this morning. My first order of business will be to tickle Ronja and Luca 'til they turn purple. I haven't seen them since mid-October!
This is where the day is headed:
And I'm pretty okay with that. :)
Labels: typical
A few more days 'til Christmas break!
December 16, 2009
Class is pretty much over now. I took a moderately important German test yesterday and I feel quite good about it. There's always the chance that I somehow managed to screw up everything on paper, but it seems unlikely. I find out on Friday!
That's the bad thing about German grammar. If you're being honest with yourself you just... never can be sure.
ESG Christmas party tomorrow... I'm supposed to bring some "typical food from my homeland" but I seriously don't want to be responsible for anyone having an early heart attack. I thought about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but I'm afraid they would clear the room. I think I'm just going to make chocolate cupcakes. Those are safe enough. Throw on some Harry Potter wrappers and M&Ms to decorate and that's as American as it gets.
Today I'm meeting up with some friends at the library to help them with their University English work. Last time it was a bit embarrassing as the most I could come up with was, "I've never seen that word before in my life." Thanks US Education system!
My favorite album at the moment: Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More. Click to you-know-what.
I knew it was going to happen.
December 13, 2009
I've stopped running. And blogging. Pretty much simultaneously. And now it's snowing outside which doesn't make putting my shoes on and going outside tomorrow very likely at all.
But I haven't ran in a month! It's so frustrating because I thought I had a plan. While other people were getting all bummed out about winter I was going to run right through it. Instead, I'm sitting inside with a mug of tea and my coziest pants on, slowly turning into a solid.
Not that I'm not busy... things to do, people to see, etc... but I really do require constant exercise to keep my mood up and mind healthy. Right now my "workouts" include catching the bus and climbing the stairs to class. Sigh.
I'm going to go meditate on how much I paid for my running shoes.
Labels: health, running, typical