Quote of the Week: January 30th

"If you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus one day, so that I never have to live a day without you."

A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)

Mask

The image of the leperous king of Jerusalem has stayed with me ever since I saw the film Kingdom of Heaven. The silver mask he wears to hide his face is so beautiful and strange, almost feminine. Anyway, for one of my classes we have to write a monologue in classical Greek format and make a mask to go with it. I immediately thought of this photo. I don't know what my monologue will be on, but I know what my mask will look like...

Pan's Labyrinth

This is the best movie I have seen since The Lord of the Rings. (And that's saying a lot, since I was one of those people that lived and breathed LOTR.) Director Guillermo Del Toro is the mastermind responsible for Pan's Labyrinth, a haunting, terrifying fairy tale set during the Spanish Civil War. A young girl, Ofelia, finds herself in a living nightmare when her mother marries one of the Fascist leaders, Captain Vidal. They move to a remote outpost, where Ofelia discovers an ancient labyrinth and finds out from a sinister-looking faun that she is the lost princess of the Underworld. To prove that "her essence" is still intact, Ofelia must complete three tasks before the full moon, which includes killing a giant toad, facing a cannibal whose eye balls are in his hands, and other such adventures. Del Toro has thought out every detail, from the lush cinematography to the seamless special effects. I came out of the theatre in total awe. This movie will leave you spellbound. It's as simple as that.

Cate Blanchett (2005 Golden Globes)

I know this is from last year, but since I was on a "Golden Globes" wavelength I had to feature it. Cate Blanchett is one of my favorite actresses. She, like Meryl Streep, can play anything, and her fashion sense is timeless, yet sleek and modern. I love this dress. It wouldn't look good on me, but with her coloring and slim figure, it's beautiful.

Smiles

We should all take a hint from children and smile only when we mean it. As adults we use smiles as a mask, a way to hide our fears, our worries, our insecurities. For many of us, smiles have lost their meaning. But a child's smile is so real. It's sad that one day those pure, innocent smiles will be replaced by "drop cloth" smiles, used only to cover up the dust and dirt of adult lives.

Sienna Miller (2007 Golden Globes)

Sienna Miller is always quick to try something new and set a trend. This dress is gorgeous...it flatters her very well and pulls off the Grecian look sans the not-always-flattering empire waist. This is my pick for best dress at the Golden Globes.

Creation

In Rent, Mark says "The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation." Children of Eden sings of "the spark of creation pulsing through my veins." My history teacher, Dr. George Grant, said today that "the very act of creation itself is a proclamation that God is there." The Ancient Greeks believed that we, humans, came from a place of perfection, and our "creation" of art here on earth is an attempt to recreate that perfection, that beauty which we lost.

No matter their religion, artists all seem to agree that through art, we experience something more, a closeness, a reflection, of something greater than ourselves. This might seem really corny, but all you have to do is look at world history and you'll see that it's true. That "spark of creation" seems to drive us all to some extent. But are we striving for perfection? I don't believe that's always the case. There is a definite comfort in seeing everyday, flawed things as being beautiful. But beauty is an elusive topic, and I won't go there right now.

Of lighting cubes and bounty hunter lamps...

Okay, one of my new favorite websites is www.uncrate.com. It's supposed to be a design website for guys, but most of the stuff is so cool that I thought I'd tell you about it. These lighting cubes can work as tables or even chairs (I like them a lot.) Make sure to see the egg chair and the bounty hunter lamp.

Quote of the Week: Thursday, January 11th

"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't."

-Henry Ward Beecher

Ironic Sheets

While researching a design project I found these sheets on www.urbanoutfitters.com. I love the irony of toille featuring polluted, suburban sprawl. Very retro-chic funny.

Elephants on Parade!

Why do I like elephants? Maybe it's because I have a fascination with India and Africa...or it could be my fascination with the world of the circus...I'm not quite sure. I found these pictures on the Internet when I was looking for a cover for a cd I made for a white elephant party. (I used the one on the top.)

Rent

I'm not going to say that everyone should go out and see Rent. It's not for everyone. It deals with a lot of topics, not in a gratuitous way, but in a way that might come off as glamorous to people who don't know so much about AIDS, homosexuality, drugs, or what the "starving artist" life is really like (not glamorous.) But I am going to say that you should at least listen to some of the soundtrack. The music is incredible. It conveys a lot of power and really channels the passions of these young artists...the dancer, the musician, the film director, the teacher, the plastic-drum-player... Try out these tracks: One Song Glory (my favorite), No Day But Today, I Should Tell You, and, of course...RENT!

Beauty

In Genesis 1:27 it says "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." If we all are created in God's image, not just some of us, how come our society says some people are more beautiful than others? How come we are all expected to live up to an airbrushed, tanned, slender ideal, devoid of the characteristics that make us each unique? Why are women scared to age, to have wrinkles and grey hair, when those features let people know that they have spent many wonderful years on earth, and have much wisdom to share? Why do women feel compelled to make their breasts bigger or their noses smaller, allowing doctors to tear apart their bodies for the sake of vanity? Why do we, when we're girls, keep wanting to be older, and once we're older we want to be young? Isn't this like a slap to God's face, a rebuke for not making us good enough? We should embrace who we are, and revel in our imperfections. we're not meant to be goddesses, no matter what the media says! People all over the world have some standard of beauty. During the Renaissance, women with large, curving stomachs were considered beautiful, because their large stomachs showed the world that they had had many children. The 1800's had women wearing corsets to create an hourglass shape. In the 1960's, every girl wanted to be petite after the Beatles said in an interview that they preferred short girls. In Asia, pale skin is beautiful...many African countries think that large thighs and long necks are hot. Why should the word "beauty" be confined to a small group of people? Shouldn't beauty, like love, know no borders, no skin colors, no body shape? Shouldn't beauty, like love, make someone all the more special for who they are, not who they should be?

Please comment on this. I would love to know what others think. Also, go to http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/. (And tell someone you love how beautiful they are.)

Never Doubt An Artist's Intuition...

This summer at film school, it became really cool to buy knit booties, "mukluks," from the local hippie shop. After film school, when I wore my mukluks here, my friends laughed good naturedly, thinking it was just another of my random kicks. But, lo and behold, now Ugg boots and American Eagle are selling mukluks...not to mention many of the outdoor stores. The moral of the story: please don't mock artsy people. Chances are, in a year or two, you'll be buying something rather like their table cloth turned dress or leg warmers at the mall. (Note: I didn't intend to sound "smarty" in this post."

Favorites From the Past Year

Here is a list of the things I discovered this past year and totally fell in love with, plus a few things I didn't love so much. Not all of these things came out in 2006, but I found out about them in 2006, so don't get frustrated if I seem backwards.

Best Film 2006: Expiration Date. (Indie film...google it and buy it, or read all about it in my earlier blogs.)

Best Film I Had Never Watched Until 2006: Roman Holiday, Rebel Without A Cause, Rashamon, and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Films I Should Have Liked, But Didn't in 2006: A Room With A View, 2001: A Space Oddyssey

Film I Was Disapointed in: Pirates 2

Film That Grew On Me: Pride and Prejudice

Favorite Book I Discovered in 2006: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Book That Scarred Me: Gilgamesh

Favorite New Trend: Dark Fingernail Polish and Mukluks.

Trend I Wish Would Return From the Fiery Cavern From Whence It Came: Bubble Skirts and Tacky Prom Dresses with skirts comparable to a small mountain.

New Music That Rocked My World: KT Tunstall and the new Newsboys CD

Old Music I Fell In Love With: The Beatles

Music I Wish My Brother's Basketball Team Would Stop Singing: Justin Timberlake (Ahhhhh!)

Kid's Show I Can't Get Enough Of: Curious George and Charlie and Lola

Adult Show That Is So Addictive, It Should Be Illegal: Grey's Anatomy (Hooray!)

The Issue I Wish More People Would Work At To Stop: Domestic Violence

The People Who Have Changed My Life: (You Know Who You Are.)

Wonderland

These are pictures from the whimsical new comic book series "Wonderland." The series is based off of the books "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," both by Lewis Carroll. Comic books still hold such an appeal for me because they are a lot like films...mainly visual with minimal dialogue. If you've never seen a film storyboard, all you have to do is pick up a comic book. They are virtualy the same thing.