11.24.2007

Where There Will Be Blood, There Will Be Me



I haven't been this excited about a new movie since, well, Dan In Real Life. But this is a different kind of movie - A Talented Mr. Ripley kind of movie. It is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia). Everything about it reminds me of old Hollywood - you know, the kind where they had a plot. In addition to that, the music is... I don't even know how to begin to describe it except to say that it has this haunting, abstract, orchestral quality. Considering that it's composed by Radiohead's guitarist Johnny Greenwood might have something to do with it. Now that I think about it, it has a similar feel to the song Life In A Glass House from Amnesiac (which has always been my favorite on the album).

Just about everything in this movie makes me eager to watch it. The visuals remind me of a John Steinbeck novel. And Daniel, oh sweet Daniel Day-Lewis - a candy bar should be named after him. He's got a wicked Texan accent (and I mean wicked in the true sense of the word - not the Bostonian sense). Paul Dano also stars in this movie. You probably remember him from Little Miss Sunshine (the cute little dark existential teenager). This is going to be the kind of movie that feels like reading a book - if that's possible to do. Considering it's an adaptation of a novel by Upton Sinclair's Oil!, I suppose that might have something to do with it. Oh, the psychological thrill it will be. View the trailer now, or else there will be blood...

How perfect was that last sentence as cheesy as it sounds? :o)

Note that I normally don't promote R-rated films. Also note that even though I mentioned three other R-rated films in this post, it's purely coincidental. I normally don't watch... I... Sara... but you... okay.

Labels: , , , , ,

Sara, My Memory Succeeds Me...

I know you can, but so can I.
:o)

Labels:

11.19.2007

If You Google: "I'm depressed because I see what's going on in the world"

My blog is the fourth link. I only know this because my site meter showed that someone was referred to my blog through typing in this query at google.com. I think it was Google's way of playing a joke on this person because the name of my blog is "The World As I See It: A happy land of bunnies and rainbows." Silly Google. Tricks are for kids - not advanced search engines. If you don't believe me see for yourself (note that the information on this link will change in the future so my blog may no longer appear on the page. Actually, it might appear twice now, since I have the exact phrase in this post. Hm, we'll see...).

Labels: , ,

11.14.2007

Pre Merry Christmas!!!


You guys, this little multimedia project (brought to you by Office Max) makes me laugh so much. I can't believe how much that elfin body moves like me?!? I could keep adding photos all night long.


Click to watch Steve Carell and me kickin' it elf style.

Labels: , , ,

11.09.2007

I'm Not the Only Thing that's Changed Over the Years



Scroll through the reminiscent jibber-jabber to see more before/after photos of the apartment.

I found these photos of my apartment and realized that it has dramatically transformed over the last four years. I remember looking at the apartment with a broker for the first time. She was supposed to show me "no fee" apartments only, but of course like any conniving broker, she slipped in this apartment like it was some form of GHB. Only, I noticed. And I wanted it. Actually, I debated on getting this apartment for a couple of days. I was nervous to take such an adult plunge. I had never had my own apartment before with a lease in my name. I didn't know if it would be difficult to find a roommate. It was a lot of money just for the broker's fee - I only had the money to pay for it because I still had some student loan money left from the previous semester. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to walk up six flights of stairs with laundry, groceries, or camera equipment (at the time I was studying video). I was scared, but had to make a decision quickly. I decided to do it despite my fears, knowing that it was too good of a deal to pass up. Are all good decisions prefaced with fear and concern? Or is that just the Snow way?

I'm so thankful that I made that difficult decision to get this apartment. It has been a light, warm, and mostly safe place to live. It has kept me in better shape because I use the stairs so frequently. Since it's located in the East Village of Manhattan, there's a lot of energy surrounding the apartment; however, it's located on the south side of the street so it's as quiet as a New York apartment can be. It's been my home - a place where I feel safe and totally comfortable. I can be myself around it, it doesn't judge me, it likes me for who I am. Heh, heh, it started to sound like I was in love with my apartment so I decided to play off the idea of being in love with it for humorous purposes.

Anyway, Since living here, I've had my fair share of roommates - namely eight. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (depending on how you look at it), I share a room due to New York's cost of living plus my added student loans. Even though it's rent stabilized, I still pay more for my apartment than my parent's do for their 4 bedroom, 3.5 baths, two story brick home on 1 acre in Georgia. Yes, that's the price you pay for a 450 square foot apartment (with no sink in the bathroom) in New York.

Is it worth it? I dunno. I share a room so my rent is cheaper than if I were to have my own room. But, I don't have my own room, so is it worth it? I dunno. I get to walk outside and immerse myself with all of the things that New York City has to offer. But is New York City the only place to be immersed and what is it offering? I dunno. At the moment, though, I get to work from home. But can't you work from home in any city? These are things I think about everyday whilst sitting in my East Village apartment debating whether or not I should stay in New York. While I love the city (and giving up this apartment would deeply sadden me - not to mention make it impossible for me to move back at the rate apartment costs are rising...unless I become a millionaire), I don't know if Manhattan feels like home anymore.

I recently went to Boston and when I came back, someone made the comment, "ahhh, it feels good to be home." In that moment, for the first time in the four and a half years I've lived in New York I thought, "this doesn't feel like home to me anymore." As the next few months unfold, hopefully I'll reach some kind of conclusion or perhaps something in my life will change, in a similar way to that of my apartment - for the better.



Lauren and I used to air out that rug by opening the window and shaking out the dust. That's now considered a violation in our building. It's a good thing we no longer have a rug.



I killed Fred about a month ago. Fred is the enormous cactus I owned. He got too big for his own britches (he outgrew his pot (meaning a ceramic container)).



We haven't done much to the kitchen. I'm renting, so there's only so much you can do there.



A half bathroom - only there's a tub and toilet, just no sink.



Reghan's been the longest renter thus far (apart from me) and this is her "cave" as we like to refer to it.



The door to Narnia (at least your room has a built-in closet).




My room. Perhaps my love of organizing, right angles, and color is best shown when looking at my closet.

Labels: , , ,

Confession #18


I don't think anyone should talk before 11:00AM - especially on the radio.

Labels: , ,

11.07.2007

Dan In Real Life - more like My Man In Real Life


I'm in love with Steve Carell. If only he weren't 45 years old, married, had two kids, famous, and were Mormon (I prefer my imaginary crushes to be of the same religion as me).

Just look at how cute his face is in that photo (that I did not take). The movie Dan In Real Life is almost as cute as his face. I don't want to give a review of the movie, but I do want to somehow force you to watch it. The soundtrack has made me happy for the last month, but I've only been listening to 1 minute clips of it from iTunes. Lauren, can't you email it to me for my birthday...puh-leeeeeeease? Break the law this one time. Kidding. Sort of. Does the FBI monitor blogs [insert nervous laugh here]?

Labels: , , ,

Question?

If a woman donated her eggs to a medical facility and in turn received $8,000, would she be subject to paying taxes on that money? Gift tax maybe?

Labels: ,

11.05.2007

Why Captain Morgan Harris is better for Anne of Green Gables than Gilbert Blythe

When Sara and I were younger, we loved to watch Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, a television series that was made in 1985. I remember us reenacting the scene where Anne and her bosom friend Diana Bary accidentally get drunk. We would drink cranberry or grape juice and pretend it was Raspberry Cordial. It's interesting that of all the scenes from the show, we both thought that that one was the funnest to play - considering that neither of us has had an alcoholic drink to this day.

Recently, Sara and I were discussing this movie and how I always wanted Anne to marry Captain Morgan Harris (even at the tender age of a single digit). Well, Sara said she was glad that Anne and Gilbert ended up together. We proceeded to argue and disagree and decided to present our arguments on our blogs. So this is why I wanted Anne to choose Captain Morgan Harris:

1. He's more handsome than Gilbert in my opinion.
2. He liked her and showed her he liked her (by asking her to marry him) whereas Gilbert danced around the idea of loving Anne for pretty much his whole existence. I mean, Gil had to face death in order to realize he loved Anne.
3. He has the title of Captain in his name! Who doesn't want to be in love with a captain?
4. She got along so well with his daughter, Emmeline (who needed a mother figure around like Anne).
5. His pad was fly, yo.
6. Gilbert had a constant bubble in his throat.
7. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is that Gil is a boy while the Captain is a man. Who wants an indecisive boy when you can have a man who knows what he wants and goes after it? Man, I was ahead of my time at the age of 5. Hey, I'm a child prodigy of love and romance, Sara - HA!

So everyone who remembers Anne with an "E" and her love interests, please write your thoughts about it in the comment section and be sure to visit Sara's Blog to view her opinion on why Gilbert is the better choice.

I apologize for there being no photo of the Cap'n, but I couldn't find one. Hmph.

Labels: , ,

A Joke I Made Up For You

Information on a bulletin board at a psychologist's office:

The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Recovery Program meets Monday at 6:00 PM.
The Work-A-Holics Anonymous Program meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00 PM.

Ha! Ha! Ha! I was going to spend the time to think of another one, but decided to let you guys do that.

Labels:

Confession #17


Are child prodigies the only prodigies that exist? 'Cause I want to be an adult prodigy.

Labels: ,

11.02.2007

Don't Ever Go To Trader Joe's On A Friday Evening

I had an eye doctor appointment today and decided on my way home I would pop in to Trader Joe's because they have this amazing frozen Tilapia dinner that's worth the 20 minute wait in line. I picked up my 11 items and stood at the back of the "Under 12 Items or Less" line. I couldn't believe how long the line was. It started (or should I say ended?) by the lettuce - a.k.a. front door. I thought, "oh, well, now I'll have this fish to eat when I get home and the people are always friendly along the way." Note, people are always friendly Sunday through Thursday and Saturday. Friday is reserved for crucifixion. Here's why.

So I'm standing in line. I finally make my way to the free food corner where they were offering cheesecake sprinkled with blueberries. It was alright, but I like that Trader Joe's gives out samples of their food, because sometimes they're really tasty. Once I even bought the ice cream with raspberries and blueberries they were giving out because I liked it so much. I finished my bite-sized cheesecake and turned into the isle with the weird organic toothpaste, etc. I finally got to the end of that isle and turned left where to my surprise, the line was going into another isle. I had never seen this before, usually we in the "under 12 items" line just cut that isle off; however, because I was in a line, I naturally followed the person in front of me down the isle. The funny thing is I pondered whether or not to stand there and not let the line go into another lane. In the end, I chose to continue to follow the people ahead of me. Wrong. Very, very wrong. If I had one moment today to take back, that would be it - I would have stayed put and waited for the last person ahead of me to catch up to where I was standing.

Well, sure enough, people started getting confused. A woman that was shopping in that lane decided to just enter in front of me, I saw that she had hardly anything in her cart and decided it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Then an employee came over and said "you all aren't in line" pointing to some people behind me who were cutting in this funky lane that was getting out of control. The employee said "just stay there but no one else can enter behind you." Some guy decided to pause the line at the same point I had thought about doing earlier. He also took the liberty of shewing people away who falsely entered the line. "Whatever," I thought, "I've waited in this line for so long and I can finally see the end 15 feet ahead of me. I'll just get my fish and get out of here. I'm almost done."

Well, the people behind the guy, started getting aggravated that so many people were still in front of them that they started getting antsy and angry. All of a sudden this woman steps out of line from the back and shouts, "that girl cut in line! She wasn't there earlier!" I thought, "Geez, poor girl this woman's going crazy on her." Next came this out of her mouth, "Right over there, that girl in the red coat cut in line! That girl in the red coat! The Red Coat!" I look down at my sleeve and sure enough, I'm wearing a red coat. She kept going on and on. I turned over to her and said I've been standing in line since the lettuce!" The guy in front of me didn't even stand up for me. He was there with me from the very beginning of the line; we walked passed the bread together and on through the cheese. Yet, he didn't say a peep.

The other guy who paused the line said, "it's okay, we'll just let these people go and that's it" - implying I cut, but had approval. I was so mad that these people assumed I cut in line because they didn't see me earlier. I hate it when people think if they don't see something then nothing happened. I had a roommate do that. I would clean the WHOLE apartment, but because she wasn't around when I was sweeping, mopping, and spending 3 hours cleaning the bathroom, it didn't happen because she didn't see me doing it.

I was just disgusted with these people for slapping a scarlet letter (ironically on my red jacket) for something I didn't even do. The dumbest thing, though, is that those people think they're right. They think I cut them off and I didn't. I was waiting in that line longer than they were and somewhere in the blog sphere someone is probably writing a post about a girl in a red coat who cut them off in line at Trader Joe's. Well I didn't!

Moral of the story, don't go to Trader Joe's on a Friday evening. And if you're name is Hester Prynne, I would avoid Trader Joe's like the plague.

Don't get me wrong, I like Trader Joe's. I'm not into that whole organic food fight, but their food does have a lot more flavor for the slightly higher price you pay than at the Associated (a New York chain grocery store where the lettuce looks like it's been through WWIII). I just have issues with that lady in line, or Mrs. Chillingsworth as I'll call her now. Hm, actually Hester is Mrs. Chillingsworth, in the story, huh? Maybe that lady cut in line once in her life a long time ago and is afraid she'll be outed.

So I ended up having a sandwich for dinner instead of Tilapia. I was exhausted.

Labels: , ,

11.01.2007

Halloween 2007 (or The Best Rubik's Cube Costume Ever!)


I didn't dress up for Halloween last year and felt awful about it - just awful. So this year I decided to make a great costume; perhaps the best Halloween costume I've ever made. I had thought about being a Robert Palmer girl, but didn't have a Robert Palmer boy by my side (not to mention 9 other girls), so I scratched that idea. After much brainstorming, I decided to be a Rubik's cube! It took me many hours to make this costume; so many, that I only made it for the last 10 minutes of the the church dance on Saturday. It was totally worth it though, because on the way there, many people shouted that they liked my costume. I heard this statement a lot, "Hey, Rubik's cube!" I also heard this from about 10 guys: "I can't ever figure you out," "I can never solve you," or "you're so complicated." How did so many strange boys know I'm such a complicated girl? :o)


Me in the church gymnasium


Reghan was dressed as James Taylor (not Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall). She was the spittin' image of him. I find it interesting that while most girls dress as something sexy and revealing for Halloween, Reghan wore a mustache. I think that says something about her character.


Reghan Taylor and me


Somebunny special


A walking Rubik's cube


This photo is just silly. Notice Mim (if you can), and Francesco's glare.


This is what being inside a 26" Rubik's cube looks like.


Reghan and an Apple walking in the West Village Halloween Parade.


Reghan and Nick walking behind a creepy zombie in the parade.


Frida - or Amber as most of us know her.


Me in the parade


More evidence of our being in a parade.


By the end of the night I was no longer a Rubik's cube; rather a Rubik's hexagon.

I think next year I'll be Gumby.

Labels: , , , ,