Oscars Tonight!

I'm pretty excited to watch the Oscars tonight, because

1. I'm going to watch them with a bunch of people who are pretty much as excited as I am
2. I've actually seen ALL the Best Picture nominees, for the first time in my life!

I agree with the #OscarsSoWhite campaign to get more diverse people involved in every aspect of movie production, but I also agree that the real issue starts outside the Oscars, with the choices of movie executives and casting directors. In most ways, the Oscars nominees are just reflecting what is being put out there. Even so, I am happy to hear that the Academy is going to push through some apparently aggressive changes in its membership to increase the number of women and people of color. Here's hoping Oscars 2017 has a noticeable increase in diversity, and that it keeps going up from then on.

And now, MY choices for the winners for 2016 Oscars.

Best Picture: 
#1 choice: Spotlight
2. Brooklyn
3. The Big Short
4. Bridge of Spies
5. The Martian
6. Room
7. Mad Max
8. The Revenant - The Revenant is favored to win. Obviously, I am not so supportive of that.

I haven't seen all the performances for the rest of these categories, so I'm just picking based on what I've seen.

Best Actor: Matt Damon?
I don't really have a strong favorite here. I think Leo DiCaprio is great, but doesn't NEED an Oscar the way everyone says he does. It's not like he's close to the end of his career. The guy is 41 for crying out loud! And I am thankful that it looks like Redmayne will not win for The Danish Girl. That performance was not great.

Best Actress: Any of them
Really, I have seen all of these performances, and they are all amazing. I'm happy for any of them.

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance
I REALLY liked him in Bridge of Spies. Apparently Stallone is favored to win from Creed, but I haven't seen that movie yet!

Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara
This is the one that I feel most strongly about in the acting awards, because Mara's performance in Carol basically convinced me that she is a good actress (I didn't really like her in previous movies like The Social Network or Side Effects). I don't think she's going to win though; the buzz is mainly for Alicia Vikander. I really like Vikander too! I just liked Mara's performance more.

Edited the day after the Oscars to add: YAY! Two of my top choices (Spotlight and Mark Rylance) won!!! Hooray for minor upsets!! 

image via

You know how when you finish reading a really good book

...you keep forgetting you finished it, because you were so deeply engrossed in it?

I'm going through that period of withdrawal after finishing Bring Up the Bodies. Take me back to 16th century England!!

On this, the day of (OK, a few days after) my birthday

I meant to write a post on my birthday (6 days ago) reflecting on the past year and making goals for the next year. I didn't do that, obviously. Mainly because eating pizza and gelato took priority after I got home from work on Friday.

I am now 31 and weirdly feel like I should be more of an adult than ever. I am officially out of my twenties. This is the year when there aren't really any more milestones coming up, right? Until...I get to join AARP?

Anyway, these are the things I want to focus on more in the next year of my life. They don't change that much from year to year, but it makes me feel more productive to write them down once in a while. These are listed in a rough order of importance to me.

1. Spend as much time as possible with people I love -- friends and family members.
2. Show the people I love that I love them (remember their birthdays, hug them, say "I love you" to them, etc.)
3. Be compassionate. Try to be nice to everyone. *
4. Try to keep listening to new music (apparently most people stop listening to new music at about age 32...I'm almost there).
5. Keep traveling, but don't feel obligated to make "big" trips. New cities, new states.

Those are the top five. I have a couple more, but I don't think they're quite interesting enough to post (e.g. do my taxes before April). Let's see how this year goes. I am optimistic.

------------------------

*I listened to the Death, Sex, & Money podcast on my birthday and heard the wonderfully frank Lucinda Williams talking about her father's poem, "Compassion."

Compassion

by Miller Williams

Have compassion for everyone you meet,
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit, 

bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign 

of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on

down there where the spirit meets the bone. 

Snow dump

As many people are probably aware, the east coast got a LOT of snow yesterday. Brooklyn was no exception. 

Ari and I walked around Prospect Park during Peak Blizzard for about 15 minutes before deciding we'd had enough. Then we bought some necessities at the local grocery store (which was surprisingly crowded) and spent the rest of the day indoors, cooking comfort food (tomato soup, challah) and watching movies (Ex Machina and Parks and Rec). 

Snow selfie! (Snelfie)

Ari pretends to hitchhike in the park. 

This morning, Ari had to leave early to play church (a gig he has every Sunday), and had to call Uber to take him to the closest working subway station, since trains aren't running from our closest stop. 

I got to sleep in and wake up to the sound of melting snow dripping on our windowsill. Seymour also enjoyed the pretty view from my pillow. 

This afternoon, I went for another longer walk today in the park. It was so pretty! 

Another snelfie.

I guess we'll all be back to the grind tomorrow, but it's been a pretty magical weekend.

Back from Cuba!

And too tired to post about it right now. BUT in the meantime, while I wait till tomorrow to upload and edit down all of the many photos I took, I am excited about all the membership cards that came in the mail while I was gone (I was out of town from December 13 through January 9). Thanks to my ID NYC, I've gotten free memberships to all these places (and a couple more that don't have cards)! 

If anyone wants to visit me, 2016 would be a good year to do it, since I can probably get you in for free to a lot of stuff! 

Happy New Year!

We went to see Star Wars in IMAX 3D at Grauman's Chinese and it was TOTALLY worth it.

 

 Then we got a drink at a random  bar in the area (the only one without a cover or a line) and took this picture right before midnight. 

Here's to a great 2016! 

December on the Best Coast

Hey! I'm home for the holidays! Here are some pics to document my time here so far. (I'm here till January 3rd, when we leave for CUBA!) I feel it important to note that I have mainly spent my days:
1. jogging
2. going to yoga with my mom for FREE because the gym is free if you are a family member of someone who has a Foothill Gym membership
3. working out at the gym for FREE because of reason listed previously
4. eating lots and lots of food and chocolates

Part I: Local stuff

First morning in Monrovia. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

You're not living in LA unless you eat chia seed pudding for breakfast (courtesy of Leah). I thought they were pretty gross. It's oatmeal for me from now on. 

Special trip to Eggslut in downtown LA, the trendy eatery that bases every menu item on local, organic eggs. It was really good! But I felt kind of sick afterwards...

...perhaps because I had a sundae about 5 minutes after eating the cheesy egg sandwich? 

Chai in the afternoon light.

Part II: Weekend trip to the Bay Area, visiting Janelle, Erika (not pictured, sadly), Jessica, and Anja

View from Janelle's window in San Francisco.

Driving to get Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast.

Janelle's wacky dog, Margot.

Bonding with John Mayer (the scruffy guy in my lap) and Margot. They both barked at me for about the first hour of my visit (no kidding), and then warmed up to me, as you can see. 

Met up with Jessica for Ethiopian lunch at Enssaro in Oakland. 

Walked around beautiful Lake Merritt

Lots of egrets in the lake!

Awesome welcome sign at Anja's apartment. We've lived in all of those places at the same time. 

Beautiful sunset walk around Cesar Chavez Park.

The Golden Gate Bridge is in the distance there!

On the morning before I drove back to LA, we went for a nice walk around these redwood trees (not sure where this hike was, exactly).

 Part III: Home again 

This is my favorite photo from the last two days. Cosmo sitting under the Christmas tree like a he's a lil PRESENT. 

Stuck at the airport

Supposed to be in LA right about now, but our plane had electrical problems (?) and had to make an emergency landing in Chicago. A meal voucher compelled me to buy dinner at the only place in the terminal (other than Starbucks): McDonald's! 

Yaaay fish filet and a chicken salad that I will pick the chicken out of. 

Good mail day

Came home from a long day of work to find: a pin I ordered online from Black Friday (in the pink envelope), makeup samples, a Xmas card with beautiful lettering from dear Hannah, and an advertisement for Fun Home (a show I hope to see in 2016). Hooray!

P.S. Tomorrow's my last day of teaching for 2015!!

Cat Quirks

Everyone who has lived with a pet knows how each one has its own unique quirks (It's part of what makes life so fun with a pet). Well, the cat we have now adopted -- Seymour -- has the quirk of basically acting like my conscience (or like a small whiny child) when I've been sleeping too long. In my experience, most cats will curl up in bed with me if I sleep in, on my stomach or by my head. Not Seymour. He literally just sits by the side of the bed and meows at me until you get up. And it's not because he wants to be fed (Ari has usually fed him earlier, since he works early on Saturdays). It seems he only wants me to get up because he's bored. Which, I guess, is a valid reason.  

Magical Prospect Park

Looking extra magical in the rainy fog this evening.

Hooray for T-Day!

Ari and I had a 6-day break for Thanksgiving this year! Wednesday - Monday. Here are a few pictures of how we spent it. (Not pictured: Intense shopping at DSW [I think the four of us bought 7 pairs of shoes?!])

First, we took an Amtrak train from NYC to Pittsburgh. It was cheaper than flying, and I managed to convince Ari it'd be easier, since we only had to take one train to get to the Amtrak station, and then his parents would pick us up in Pittsburgh. 

But then a freight train stalled in Lancaster, so we had to get off the train in Harrisburg and hang out for three hours while they organized buses to take us farther down the track to re-board a new train. Blerg. 

Once we finally got on the buses, they took us to the train and had us enter the train directly from the tracks. Exciting! And also pretty frustrating that the process took so long. It was supposed to be a 9-hour trip, but ended up taking 12 hours. In the end, though, we didn't get too upset about it. I mean, we had enough time to watch Kill Bill vol. 1 AND vol. 2 on my laptop! (I liked Vol. 2 significantly better than Vol. 1, but it's definitely not in my top 20 favorite movies or anything.)

Boarding the train from the tracks. 

We sent this text to Ari's parents to let them know we were back on the train, finally!

On Thanksgiving morning, we walked around Mill Creek Park (essentially Ari's parents' backyard) with some family and friends. 

We went to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Ari's uncle's house, and came back to the house to find the power shut off on the whole street. We enjoyed lighting all the candles and hanging out in the soft glow for about an hour before the power came back on. 

Friday, we went to downtown Youngstown to take the little kids to Oh Wow, a kids museum. It was actually pretty cool for adults too... 

Walking around downtown. Ari was very popular with the young'uns. 

On Saturday morning, the kids (and their parents) had to leave, but not without covering Ari with stickers and climbing all over him. 

We went out for Chinese food and I got annoyed at the poor grammar on the fortune cookie fortunes. 

We introduced Ellyanna's boyfriend, Adam (Far right) to the famous Handel's ice cream (a Youngstown institution).

On the last full day in town (Sunday), we drove to the botanical gardens, which were...not so botanical. They were mostly brown. But we got a pretty new of Glacier Lake.

And today we flew home (only a 1-hour flight) with no delays or problems. Back to work tomorrow. But only for two weeks before I fly to California for Christmas! 

Katniss 4-Ever

"The success of 'The Hunger Games' series has been itself, in its bottom-line fashion, a rejoinder to another intolerant regime, that of a movie industry that continues to treat women on and off the screen as a distraction, an afterthought and a problem. A few months into its run, the second installment, “Catching Fire,” became the first movie with a lone female lead to top the annual domestic box office in four decades. That’s astonishing because it reveals the historical depths of the industry’s inequities even while it speaks to the audience’s embrace of this series. There are all sorts of reasons that viewers have flocked to these movies, including the studio hard sell, but I like to think the numbers prove that, in rallying to Katniss’s side, they’re also backing the other liberation struggle she has come to represent." -- Manohla Dargis's review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 in The New York Times

I actually didn't fall in love with the Hunger Games books. The films are also flawed, but Jennifer Lawrence is truly great in them.  She elevates the material and makes me care about Katniss's character more than I expected I could. Here's hoping her role in these films pushes even more movie studios to cast strong female leads.

Going to see Hunger Games this weekend, because it's sometimes worth it to take part in these cultural touchstones as they are happening. (Paying a whole $17!)

That moment when...

...you sigh, because you realize (but are not surprised) that your wonderful students are evil conservative nincompoops. 

No, I don't really think that about my students. But it can sometimes be frustrating to find out their opinions when it comes to politics. 

We read an excerpt from a book by Jonathan Kozol about the de facto inequality that exists in public schools due to government funding. My students had to write a letter to Kozol saying whether they agree or disagree with his argument that schools in poor areas should receive more government funding than those in richer neighborhoods, in order to create true educational equality. Keep in mind, most of my students come from quite wealthy families; that's how they're able to afford tuition at NYU, a private university. 

Here are some troubling samples of what the majority (not all, thankfully!) of my students wrote: 

("Good" grammar, not good point of view!)

These students are intermediate level, so it's important for me to remember that their rationales are a bit crudely expressed. Still, it can be frustrating to have students write these kinds of things after I've done my best to explain how logical (from my point of view) Kozol's argument is. 

Maybe some of them will eventually change their mind a wee bit? 

5k in Prospect Park yesterday

Ran it with my coworkers, Megan, Natalie, and Michele.

Awkward action shot as we started the race. I love Megan's face here! 

Aaand action shot as we finished the race! (Natalie is behind us in this shot.)

271st, baby! Out of about 350! (We DID jog the whole time--just slowly.) Yay!

The Pirate (1948)

One of my favorite genres of film is the cheesy (feel-good, if you will) classic Hollywood musical, especially the type made in the 40s and 50s.

The latest one I just watched was called The Pirate, and featured Judy Garland and Gene Kelly -- two of my favorites!

But this one was delightfully ridiculous. I'm not even going to get into the story here. I will let these pictures I took during my viewing of the DVD speak (mostly) for themselves.

This is the opening scene. That is Judy Garland's hat. She is not supposed to be a chef. 

Garland looks better here, but look at Gene Kelly's rather large and curly bangs! And that 'stache! 

And my favorite part - Gene Kelly dancing in very short shorts! My 12-year-old self would have died. 

One more for good measure. There was fire involved! 

And that is all. I hope you feel about these pictures the same way that I felt about the movie (read: I found it entertaining but rather bizarre)!

Staten Island

I've officially been to all five boroughs -- we finally made a special trip to Staten Island last Friday to see what all the buzz was about (there was/is no buzz; I don't really know why I wanted to visit Staten Island).

First, we took the free ferry from downtown Manhattan to the Island, hopped on an SIR (Staten Island Railroad) train, and walked to the Alice Austen House, which was recommended by my friend Sarah because of its cool subject (Alice Austen was one of the first "prolific" female photographers) and the location of the house. Pretty great views of the Hudson and Manhattan. 

Then, we walked 20 minutes through not-so-amazing suburbs to a Sri Lankan neighborhood.

Most of the area we walked through looked like this.

We went to this restaurant Ari had read about the NY Times a couple of years ago, called Lakruwana. It was really good! But the decor was a little over the top (I don't think my photos quite capture it); it felt almost like I was eating lunch at a themed restaurant at Disneyland.

The house special: rice cooked with turmeric (?) eggplant, caramelized onions, a fried egg, tempeh (?) cubes, and cashews. And then a noodle dish with curry you could pour over it.

After eating lunch, we made the mistake of thinking that the 20-minute walk to Flagship Brewery would be enough time to make space in our stomachs for some beer. It wasn't enough time.

We ordered two tasting flights, which were really fun to sip, but we...just couldn't get close to finishing the beers. We were too stuffed. But it was a cool brewery!

After giving up on the beer, we waddled back to the Ferry Terminal and took the ferry home. And I took an obligatory picture of the Statue of Liberty. I couldn't resist! 

Thanks, Staten Island. You were...ok, I guess. I don't feel like we need to hang out together again anytime soon. No hard feelings!