taken in the lower east side on the way to see the extraordinary ordinary life of jose gonzalez. which, obviously, would be sold out. people were standing around waiting for scalped tickets outside the rooftop films venue. we ended up watching tree of life instead, which was too long. and i didn't enjoy it much knowing that i was missing out on the extraordinary ordinary life of jose gonzalez, which is probably pretty extraordinary.

on another note. it's august now. the best month to start loving summer again, because soon it will be over and fall begins. summer can be pretty exhausting with all the fun heat. i used to hate summer, but when i think of winter, i realize i'd rather have the heat.

snowed in

for the past so many winters, i find myself saying, "this is the winter of discontent." then the following year, "this is the winter of discontent." and the following year, "no, this is the winter of discontent." and finally this year, "this is definitely the winter of discontent."

i would really like this post not to be about venting and i will try very hard for it not to be. so bare with me.

so much has happened just in the month of january and i'd like for it to stay in january. it is now february.

these have been the most eventful and yet the least inspiring days.

most of which i will blame on the snow, how it has made my commuting life a living hell and used up all my sick days. now that i am really sick, i have to go to work.

i've also been quite ambivalent about nyc and have come to a conclusion that everyone here is miserable. and that the saying, "if you can make it in ny, you can make it anywhere" is true, because ny is probably the worse place to live in. which really sucks, because i really did fall in love with this city and i really want to stay in love with it. perhaps its another one of those relationships that i just can't commit to for the long haul. another love/hate relationship.

the overarching reasons that's causing me to dislike nyc:
1. commuting is rather difficult when you live on the other side of the hudson river and having to cross that river everyday just to get to manhattan. also, nj transit shuts down on certain inclement weather and prevents me from going to work. which is really a blessing in disguise.
2. i am unhappy at my job. certain events have occured that has made me even more uncomfortable there. let's just say i have put up with so much bullcrap already and things are only getting worse.
3. i have no social life
4. "new jerk city" = people here are rude. which is probably the reason for #3 and its probably because they are miserable.
5. maybe i am just too sensitive. ny is not for the faint of heart and i'm just not that kind of person who would argue with random strangers. though lately i find myself in certain situations that's put me on the brink of the the tipping point.

i think these are pretty legit reasons that are making me reconsider moving back to chicago. but then when i think about winter in general, i would much prefer to live in the west coast.

i've been really trying to love ny again, the ny i see in movies. i've been watching a lot of new york city movies/tv shows lately to try and make me fall in love again. mostly woody allen films, meg ryan movies, seinfeld and 3o rock.

if you know any other good ones that might help hold me over til spring, i would greatly appreciate it.

Manhattan

Chapter One:
‘He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion’ – er, no, make that: he – ‘He romanticized it all out of proportion.’ – Yes. – ‘To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.’ – Er, tsch, no, missed out something. –

Chapter One:
He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle bustle of the crowds and the traffic. To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys who seemed to know all the angles.’ – No, no, corny, too corny for a man of my taste. Can we … can we try and make it more profound? –

Chapter One:
He adored New York City. To him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. The same lack of individual integrity that caused so many people to take the easy way out was rapidly turning the town of his dreams into …’ – no, that’s a little bit too preachy. I mean, you know, let’s face it, I want to sell some books here.

Chapter One:
He adored New York City, although to him it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. How hard it was to exist in a society desensitized by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage’ – Too angry. I don’t want to be angry. –

Chapter One: He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat.’ – I love this. – ‘New York was his town, and it always would be…’

Before Sunset

Jesse: “What do you think were the chances of us ever meeting again?”

Céline: “After that December? I’d say almost zero. But we’re not real, anyway, right? We’re just, uh, characters in that old lady’s dream. She’s on her deathbed fantasizing about her youth… so of course… we had to meet again.”

i caught "the radiant child" streaming on netflix, which is, coincidentally, also currently showing at the film forum downstairs from where i work. anyhow its the documentary on jean-michel basquiat. i've never heard of him til now and i found his artistic life intriguing. he started out as a street artist in new york around the 80s. from there he became famous in the art scene and even had ties with warhol. he overdosed on drugs at 27.
this a pretty succinct biography.

this painting sold for $6 million.

cinema with the kiddo

We love watching films, but since Sofia was born it has been a bit difficult to sit through a whole movie. She'd get bored and start crying for attention so I usually just pause the movie or give up watching the rest of it. However, when we watched Paper Moon (3 weeks ago), Sofia paid attention and sat through the whole movie! This was a first. I recommend watching this on a Saturday afternoon because it adds to the feel of the movie. I am still over the moon about the precocious Addy (who became the youngest girl to win an Oscar because of her role) , the stunning cinematography, and mostly the relationship between Addy and Moze. The story begins with Addy's mom's funeral. She doesn't know who her dad is and a man (Moze) shows up and ends up having the task of driving Addy to her Aunt who lives in Missouri. As with all road trip movies, the journey is filled with adventures that changes both their lives and their relationship with one another. It is just absolutely funny and wonderful and it still makes me happy thinking about it.


Last night I decided to put on The Red Balloon, knowing how much Sofia loves balloons I knew she would love it. It has been a while (probably 20 years) since I saw this movie, so naturally my memory was fuzzy about what happens in the end. So we sat down to watch the movie and as soon as Sofia saw the balloon she stood up from the chair and was drawn in. I tried to sit her down, but she got up again and was completely focused on the film. Eventually she laid down and I gave her a bottle.

When we got to the part where to balloon gets deflated, Sofia had a sad look on her face. It didn't help that I said, "aww no more balloon. bye-bye balloon." After I said that she started crying. She was so sad and I tried to cheer her up when the boy flies away with all the balloons, but that only made her cry louder! I had to stop the movie to calm her down. I took her to the bedroom and played with her, but she still wouldn't stop crying. I realized that this may have triggered a memory of hers. I month ago, she found a balloon by the ice cream shop and she was playing with it and it popped. She cried a lot too and when we tried to give her a new one, she didn't want it and held on to the deflated balloon. She wouldn't let go of it until after we got home and gave her a bath. lol She was so cute. I couldn't believe how sentimental she is, but I'm not surprised. She's just like me.

movies seen in 2010

the exploding girl, bradley rust gray 2009
breaking upwards, daryl wein 2009
peter and vandy, jay dipietro 2008
moon, duncan jones 2009
cracks, jordan scott 2009
the city of lost children, jean-pierre junet 1995
kikujiro, takeshi "beat" takano 2000
good dick, marianna palka 2008
teeth, mitchell lichtenstein 2006
timer, jac shaeffer 2009
priceless, pierre salvadori, 2006
paper moon, peter bogdanovich 1973
ponyo, hayao miyazaki 2008
wendy and lucy, kelly reichardt 2008
long life, happiness & prosperity, mina shum 2004
the station agent, thomas mccarthy 2008
an education, lone scherfig 2008
do the right thing, spike lee 1989
man on the wire, james marsh 2008
toi et moi, julie lopes-curval 2006
the baxter, michael showalter 2005
cleo from 5 to 7, agnes varda 1961