This girl made a meerkat doll. I don't remember the last time I saw an inanimate object this cute.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
As I re-submerge myself in film
Every time I come back to L.A., I get sucked into the Calendar section of the LA Times. And I mean I basically read every article in it. And I live for the Friday issue, because then I can read ALL the movie reviews. I have too much free time. But I suppose we all know this by now.On a somewhat related note....
On Sunday my mom and I drove out to Venice to visit my grandma and take her out to a movie. We pre-select a couple "safe" films we think she'd like to see, such as The Jane Austen Book Club, or possibly Blame it on Fidel. But what does she want to see? None of these romantic, cute films--of course not! No, she wants to see Into the Wild. Because she saw an interview with Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch on Oprah. And their story is very compelling.
I actually wanted to see the film as well--I just was a little surprised to hear that it was my grandma's first choice. And I wasn't sure if I was prepared to be bawling during the final scenes. Nevertheless, we did go to see all 2 hours and 40 minutes of the film at the Landmark.
And it was really good! (Do I ever post about bad movies on this blog? Except for Ghost? Never.) The ending wasn't nearly as heart-wrenching and depressing as I expected, and I really felt like the time went by fast. So the point of all this rambling is, go see this movie. If you are a little interested in nature, or the way human relationships affect our lives, or just to watch a really interesting true story, I recommend it.
Oh, I've also had a crush on Emile Hirsch since I saw him in Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. So I'm sliiightly biased. But not much.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Things is happening!
I really shouldn't use bad grammar--I need to start perfecting my sentence structure in the future, since I'm gonna (going!) to be helping my mum as an ESL assistant.
Actually, I've already been in the classroom! I've come in about three times, and today I had to teach (gasp!!) the class for two hours, while my mom took out groups for testing. I had to teach the sound "ch" as well as the idioms "at last," "as usual," and "to find out." It basically went OK--I think the students are afraid to ask me questions, since I'm not their regular teacher, and I think they also got a little bored, since I'm not nearly as talkative and mobile as my mom.
So far, my tactic seems to be to just kind of stand at the front of the class and wait for someone to ask me a question. Not the best tactic. But I think it'll become more natural to walk around and keep talking as I get more experience. And I have to teach again on Thursday!
Living at home. Amazingly, I'm not sick of my parents yet, which is wonderful. I even attempted a yoga class tonight with my mom, which wasn't too bad. I always feel a little guilty because I'm not such a fan of yoga (My mom's been doing it for over 20 years, but it sucks when you're impatient and not flexible!), but I decided I should give it another try, since the health benefits seem to be worth it. And every now and then it can be relaxing.
I've also gotten re-obsessed with movie reviews, as anyone who's seen me in the last few weeks may have noticed. Generally, I base all my movie choices on reviews (the ones in the newspaper, usually not friends' reviews, which I suppose can be insulting :/ ). I guess it's my somewhat subconscious attempt at being literary and discerning. Who knows. Does anyone want to see Across the Universe, Blame it on Fidel, or The King of California with me?
Oh yeah, I also need to stop spending so much money.
Alright, I think that's it for now! Anyone who reads this (I'm not sure if anyone actually does anymore), let me know if you're in Monrovia! I'll be here until the end of October.
Actually, I've already been in the classroom! I've come in about three times, and today I had to teach (gasp!!) the class for two hours, while my mom took out groups for testing. I had to teach the sound "ch" as well as the idioms "at last," "as usual," and "to find out." It basically went OK--I think the students are afraid to ask me questions, since I'm not their regular teacher, and I think they also got a little bored, since I'm not nearly as talkative and mobile as my mom.
So far, my tactic seems to be to just kind of stand at the front of the class and wait for someone to ask me a question. Not the best tactic. But I think it'll become more natural to walk around and keep talking as I get more experience. And I have to teach again on Thursday!
Living at home. Amazingly, I'm not sick of my parents yet, which is wonderful. I even attempted a yoga class tonight with my mom, which wasn't too bad. I always feel a little guilty because I'm not such a fan of yoga (My mom's been doing it for over 20 years, but it sucks when you're impatient and not flexible!), but I decided I should give it another try, since the health benefits seem to be worth it. And every now and then it can be relaxing.
I've also gotten re-obsessed with movie reviews, as anyone who's seen me in the last few weeks may have noticed. Generally, I base all my movie choices on reviews (the ones in the newspaper, usually not friends' reviews, which I suppose can be insulting :/ ). I guess it's my somewhat subconscious attempt at being literary and discerning. Who knows. Does anyone want to see Across the Universe, Blame it on Fidel, or The King of California with me?
Oh yeah, I also need to stop spending so much money.
Alright, I think that's it for now! Anyone who reads this (I'm not sure if anyone actually does anymore), let me know if you're in Monrovia! I'll be here until the end of October.
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