Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Does not make me cry, but stirs up similar emotions.

Day 15 — A fanfic

Have not read/written any fan fiction. Mauls the original in my opinion.

Day 14 — A non-fictional book

(via)

No doubt about the impact this book had on me. A book can make you cry and empathize as strongly and provocatively as a movie. This book is hard-cover proof of that.

Day 13 — A fictional book

(via)

Again? Lets go with something I read recently. The Stranger by Albert Camus. Translated from french. Short. Extremely straight-forward, its refreshing. Or maybe it's because of the translation. Nevertheless, I saw myself in it. And that's not a good thing. Read it to know why.

Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy

Talking to myself. I just hope that some day I do not become so obsessed with carrying on a conversation with myself that I realize I do not need others around me. It's scary I tell ya. Upside is, no one interrupts you!

Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently

What? That's me. Fo Sho.

Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago

Not quite 10 years yet, because if I did put up those photos the universe would collapse and the world as we know it would cease to exist. 2nd from left.

Day 09 — A photo you took

Last few days of Tai Shan at the National Zoo, DC. Apologies for the iPhone quality.

You know what annoys me?

 Ironically/ Irony/ Ironic being used incorrectly. Irony is simple. The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. It's not sarcasm. It's not coincidence.

That's it. It's a Thursday. Needed to get this out.

Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad

Click to enlarge. (via)

Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy

Click to enlarge. (via)

Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy

These days, I am all about sustainability. Seriously. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do, where I want to be and all such existential questions. What I do know is that I want to be involved in change.

I would like to thank the Academy..

Day 05 — Your favorite quote

"Things happen to you for a reason. A good reason."
I actually just made it up. It's how I live my life.

Day 04 — Your favorite book

I have a bad memory. Real bad. Right now, I can only remember the book I am reading and the one I finished. Which is a shame, because I have so many books that I have loved. The issue here is books can't be re-read as often as movies can be re-watched. Regardless, I am going to pick one that had an impact on me (and countless other readers too) - Portrait Of A Lady. Nah. Scrap that. I'll go with Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Ha. And here you thought I was being all intellectual and fancy.

Day 03 — Your favorite television program

I wrote a whole other post for this with Gilmore Girls and Seinfeld as my favorite show. But who am I kidding? It has to be Friends. My repeat viewings prove it.

Day 02 — Your favorite movie

Whoa. This keeps getting tougher and tougher. To pick one favorite movie is almost impossible. How do you decide on a favorite movie? Is it something that you can watch over and over again or is it something that impacts you in a way that you had not thought possible. The latter kind are generally intense dramas or movies dealing with issues you might not necessarily want to watch multiple times.

I am going to go with the simpler definition and choose Andaz Apna Apna. Its beyond entertaining, its memorable, its sprinkled so many of my conversations with humor I have lost count. Its made me judgmental in a mean way. I CANNOT have someone who dislikes this movie as my friend. No way.

Day 01 — Your favorite song

This is difficult. I don't listen to much music - and I enjoy instrumental more. Does an instrumental piece qualify as a song?

Anyway, qualifying or not, I'll say right now my favorite tune is the soundtrack of 25th Hour by Terence Blanchard. Not heard a lot of jazz, but if this is what it is - damn!

Open Title - Terence Blanchard

Edward Norton

 Image Credit: The Insider

This blog is slowly converting to a movie review blog. Which I have absolutely no problem with. And neither should you.

Up until last week, I had watched 2 movies of Edward Norton. Fight Club and more recently The Illusionist. I remember watching American History X when it came out, but then I was a stupid college student who probably slept through most of it (I blame my then crazy schedule for this and it should by no means be indicative of my love for cinema). Anyway, this entry warrants a little background about my movie watching habits and seasonal obsessions.

 As Monty Brogan in The 25th Hour

When I like a movie I watch, I go to it's Wikipedia and/or IMBD page and read up on the actors/directors/writers etc. I then go about watching every movie of the said director or actor. This method has served me well in finding hidden gems. For example, I watched Matilda, directed by Danny De Vito a while back, which made me watch Death To Smoochy (same director), which made me watch all movies of Ed Norton. Once I am done with him - I still have the Obama campaign documentary remaining, I'll move on to Throw Momma from the Train and the rest.

As Smoochy the Rhino

Image Credit: NYTimes

Now, most people agree on Ed Norton being a good actor. Sure, people sometimes relegate him to being predictable and repetitive (multiple-personality roles), but why change something that works as good as this (think Tom Cruise). Looking beyond these roles, he has done some amazing "normal" characters with aplomb too - Father Brian in Keeping the Faith and Smoochy the Rhino in Death to Smoochy.

Whatever people may label him as - controlling and difficult (he works on the scripts of all his movies), intelligent and articulate (Yale grad after all), I can confidently (by virtue of watching every single YouTube video of him in 2 days) say that he is a honestly genuine and level-headed person who knows exactly what he wants, in movies and otherwise.

Also, he is super involved with conservation, sustainability and the environment - all of which I am/try to be involved in. Maybe some day when he is testifying at the Congress again, I'll get a glimpse of him!

Seriously.

Research by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh has found that, on average, Oscar winners live nearly four years longer than nominees that don’t win.

One day...

When I buy a tiny piece of real estate with my name on it, I'll build a stone house and have the following in some form:

• Red Chandelier
• Fawn (the color! Geez..)
• A library
• Kitchen island
• Something unfinished
• White painted wood
• Dark stained wood
• Bay window
• Walk-in closet
• Patio/ backyard/ balcony/ terrace
• Big grandfather sofa chair, preferably rocking
• Yellow wall
• Milk glass
• Something refurbished/ salvaged
• Something handmade
• Everything perpendicular
• Double light-blocking curtains
• Canvas and/or corduroy
• Silk
• Textured wallpaper
• Tulips and/or sunflowers
• Sunlight
• No plastic