Thoughts...

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
  - William Hazlitt

But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest.
- Buddha

On Star Wars

 from here.

So, for the first time in the 25 years that I have roamed this earth for, I decided to watch Star Wars. I got the movies over a month ago, but never even attempted to watch them. Then, two or three days ago, I decided to go ahead and do it. My friend Fadz said that I should watch them in the order of their release, 4,5,6,1,2,3; so I decided to take his advice on the matter.

I got all comfy and relaxed, I popped in Star Wars eps VI, because that's how it should be, right? WRONG!

I was so confused throughout the WHOLE movie, I had to turn it off and back on several times. A 2-hour movie literally took me over 6 hours to watch, and why? you might ask. Well, It is because I did not get it. I did not get anything that was going on, and the ending! I was like, wtf? why are they killing off these characters NOW. So, I was bitching and whining to Fadz, only to be told- nicely- that I am watching the WRONG one. the Roman number for 4 is IV NOT VI. So yeah.... one line on the wrong side of the V and my Star Wars experience was ruined.....

.... or so I thought! I decided to go ahead and try to watch the REAL ep. IV, so I popped it into the player and what do you know? I actually enjoyed it. It was corny and cheesy and the acting wasn't all that great. Harrison Ford is yummy to look at though, and I give them points for all the effects and everything. This WAS made in the 70's, right? So, it is an accomplishment for them to do what they did with what they had.

And so, my Star Wars experience was not ruined as I previously thought, it was actually saved, thanks to number 4. =)

Tonight I'll watch 5, and we'll see if I'll still be entertained. I bore easily and usually sequels are a bore...

May the force be with me!

=)

My true love:

Is a book. I am convinced of that now. I have already blogged about Rabih Alameddine's The Hakawati, but I never really did it the justice it deserves.

This book is brilliant. It is magnificent, it is excellent and, most importantly, it is a work of art. It is so beautifully written, so exquisite, you will find it hard to put it down for one second. It is addictive. If there ever were an addictive book, this would be it!

One thing I will admit however, is that this book suffers greatly from ADD. It is hard to get into it if you aren't a book lover. If the first sentence of "Listen. Allow me to be your God. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story", then you truly are a lost cause. In this book, you will feel joy, sorrow, fear, guilt, dread and regret in every page. You will laugh and cry at the same time. You will be happy yet miserable. You will want the book to end, yet pray at the end of every page that it wouldn't. This book will torture you, make you suffer and leave you begging for more. It will show you worlds you never imagined, and some that you forgot you ever visited. Action, drama, suspense, comedy and tragedy all come together and conspire against you. You will be taken on a journey beyond imagining, one that you will hope would never come to an end.

If a book could be turned into a human, I would marry this one. Even if he would suffer from ADD, even if his emotions will be unstable and all over the place, I would be head over heels with him. This book, makes you feel alive. This book, makes you believe in fairy tales, this book, is so powerful that reality slips away quietly when it is open, just so as not to disturb one letter written in it. This book is WOW!

I highly and truly recommend it. Please, please PLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSEEEEE read it. I am reading it for the second time, and it is still as magical and as different as the first time.

On the reason behind dreams...

One of the questions that has been asked since the beginning of time is "why do we dream"? My theory? Well, it is as follows:

Our mind, and nervous system as a whole actually, retains so much information during our waking hours that it becomes congested. Some emotions reach our brain cells and we feel their effect quickly, while others, we are just numb and therefore unaware of. When we sleep, we relax. Our mind starts to go through the events of the day, it opens up all those files that we stored away without even realizing it, dusts them off and gets to work. Suddenly, and in our dreams, we feel. Our senses are heightened. The dreams themselves do not always make sense, but that is alright, because it is not what you see that is important. It is what you feel. How you feel before, during and after a specific dream.

Of course, some dreams are based on what we see. Sometimes we miss someone so much, that we meet them in our dream world. We walk with them, converse with them and just have a lovely time with them. Sometimes, dreams can seem more real than reality, sometimes, the hugs, kisses, fights and everything else that takes place in a dream seem more real than life, so that when we wake up, we can no longer distinguish which is which.

Aaaaah, dreams... I guess they are a mean to let out our anger and frustration, our hopes and dreams, our joys and sorrows. Some dreams make us laugh, others make us weep. Some make us lust, others show us that we are content. Bottom line is... dreams make us feel. For that, I am sometimes grateful.

On the power of goodbye

Everytime you say goodbye to someone, you feel like a part of you goes missing. This isn't a bad thing though, because you didn't really loose that part, you just left it with the other person, and in return, you gain a part of them that you get to keep for yourself. However, how many goodbyes do you have to put up with before you are left with nothing more to give? The tears, they come and they go. Sometimes they show up on the spot, others they wait till you turn your back, take a few footsteps and BAM! the waterworks start.

Everytime you say goodbye, it becomes harder, and yet, easier. It is a weird thing to explain, but I will try. It is always hard to say goodbye to people that mean a lot to you, but somehow, it is bearable thanks to technology and the knowledge that distance really doesnt matter as long as both sides try and work on the friendship.

Ahhh... Goodbyes. They are a fact of life, and we all go through them. Yet, they still suck.

Out.

The beauty of having girlfriends...

... is that they ALWAYS make you feel great:

Hahahahaha, we all mean well, of course, but we still ALL do it.

On some generalizations being SO true...

A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:

"Please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"

The survey was a huge failure, In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant, In India they didn't know what 'honest' meant, In Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant, In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant, In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant, In South America they didn't know what 'please' meant, And in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!

hahahahahahaahahaa


From here

On feeling blue...

I'm nostalgic, and that makes me sad. I hate it when the past plays back in your head over and over again. You can't stop it, you can't force yourself to think of anything else. There is only you, and that mind of yours. I mean, the past is in the past, whatever happened, happened already. No amount of shoulda's, woulda's or coulda's will change anything. Also, you shouldn't dwell on the past, that wont even change anything about the future or the present. Just learn what you can and move on.

Ahhh, songs do this to me. I have been going through old CD's for days now, trying to rip them to my itunes. You know how usually people associate a scent with a memory? Well, every song has a different memory attached to it. The memory is not even of a person, a place or a time. It is of my state of mind at any given point in time. I have so many songs associated with my moods and state of mind, it is depressing!

Now I'm rambling about God-knows-what, did I mention I was feeling sad and blue?

And lonely. I feel all alone. I guess being happy-go-lucky for a month is way too much for me to handle. Watch me slip back slowly, but surely.

Meh...

Advice that never gets old

This was a big hit in 1999, still makes sense and we should all listen to it every once in a while, just to remember...

Artist: Baz Luhrmann Album: Something For Everybody Title: Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The
long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas
the
rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering
experienceI will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust
me, in 20 years youll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a
way you
cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous
you
really looked.Youre not as fat as you imagine.
Dont worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective
as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real
troubles
in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried
mind; the
kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Dont be reckless with other peoples hearts, dont put up with people
who are
reckless with yours.
Floss
Dont waste your time on jealousy; sometimes youre ahead, sometimes
youre
behindthe race is long, and in the end, its only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in
doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Dont feel guilty if you dont know what you want to do with your
lifethe
most interesting people I know didnt know at 22 what they wanted to do
with
their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still
dont.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, youll miss them when theyre gone.
Maybe youll marry, maybe you wont, maybe youll have children, maybe
you
wont, maybe youll divorce at 40, maybe youll dance the funky chicken
on
your 75th wedding anniversarywhat ever you do, dont congratulate
yourself
too much or berate yourself either your choices are half chance, so
are
everybody elses. Enjoy your body, use it every way you candont be
afraid of
it, or what other people think of it, its the greatest instrument
youll ever
own..
Danceeven if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you dont follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when theyll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people
most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold
on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the
older
you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in
Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do youll fantasize that
when
you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and
children
respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Dont expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe
you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might
run out.
Dont mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply
it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the
past from
the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and
recycling it for more than
its worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen

On.... laundry?

It took a couple of weeks, but now, I can officially state that the scent of Montreal has been washed out of everything I own. Nothing bears its smell now. The bags have been long emptied and stored away. It is weird, but I am ok with it. It is so weird that the separation from Montreal no longer means depression for me. I do not know when that happened, why or how. Maybe it is the fact that I finally made it back to realize that I never really left it? It didn't really change and the people are still awesome and unchanged. It was a comforting trip. I miss you Mony, and I miss everyone that is there, but this time around, I can handle it. I am at peace with this whole thing, which to be honest is freaking me out.

Good bye to the smell of the winter, stale cigarettes, beer and tequila.