Version 2.0

Movin' On Up

2009-10-21T21:55:00.001-04:00

Speaking up updates, I just applied to graduate! And they said the day would never come...!

Of course, if for some reason my application is rejected, this will all be very anticlimactic.

2009-10-05T16:07:00.002-04:00

Hmm haven't updated this thing in awhile. I'll use this as a test--anyone out there who would read this if I updated it? Please someone respond so that I don't feel like I'm talking to myself. Thanks. :)

Different perspectives

2009-05-04T23:29:00.003-04:00

I was watching Monsoon Wedding for the second time the other day, and during one scene, there's a huge panoramic shot of Delhi, with the Red Mosque seeming to watch over it. The mosque has two towers, or minars, the left one being accessible by tourists (if you are accompanied by a man, of course). Almost exactly two years ago (it seems longer), I climbed up that tower with Betsy and I remember both of us looking across the horizon on the expanses of Delhi. In the movie, the tower seemed so tiny, almost like a speck, that I would've been simply microscopic. It was just so...unnerving? surreal? gratifying? breathtaking? to be physically and temporally dispossessed of that place and moment, but to have recollections of having once been there, of all places, once upon a time. Almost seems unbelievable.

2009-04-04T01:26:00.000-04:00

This commercial literally breaks my heart. Sigh...

Real classy...

2009-03-15T01:46:00.001-04:00

"Whatever diversion these afternoons bring, some acknowledged that the sight of the young well-to-do partying hard when many financial firms are being castigated for profligate spending could appear embarrassing....

A 29-year-old man who works for a large investment management firm and was at Bagatelle’s brunch one recent Saturday and at Merkato 55’s the next, put it another way: “If you’d asked me in October, I’d say it’d be a different situation, and I don’t think I’d be here. Then the government gave us $10 billion.”

You can read the rest of the article here

Amazing

2009-03-01T23:09:00.003-05:00

What an amazing live performance. Wish I could see something like this live.

Though nothing equivalent to Radiohead, Decemberists here I come!!!!!!!

June 6 - Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA

2009-02-23T00:36:00.002-05:00

These days, life is goooood. Besides my fave actress winning the Oscar (i will always <3 kate winslet), great things seem to be on the horizon. Let's see...presenting an essay I wrote on the alienation of the individual in "Midnight Cowboy" and "Do the Right Thing" at a film symposium next week, enjoying economics (huh? wha??), LOVING the gym I just joined (who knew I really did like to dance? Ok maybe I knew...but didn't know I'd be so comfortable doing it in a group), starting acting classes next week (!!!!!!), meeting new people and making new friends, reading GREAT literature (Revolutionary Road--I'm looking at you), finding the best mentor on film/screenplays/directing/"the biz" everrrrr, turning 23, seeing August: Osage County w/ 2 of my best buds who I can know say I've known a DECADE, ah...I could just keep going. Part I of 2009 has been great--here's looking forward to parts II-VI!

IRON CHEF!

2009-01-26T00:30:00.003-05:00

Highlight of my weekend? Surprisingly NOT going to Morimoto in NYC. No, no. The highlight was MEETING Mr. Iron Chef himself!!! He came to our table ESPECIALLY to wish my friend a happy birthday, and then we stalked him for the rest of the night, culminating in my friend buying his already autographed cookbook and coercing him to write "Happy Birthday Amy!" in it. And we all have pictures...many, many pictures. Yayay!

Who knew that celebrity chefs actually hang out in the restaurants they own? Mr. Bobby Flay--take that as a hint.

Man...now I'm thinking I should've bought an autographed book too....frugality (surprisingly) took the best of me. I was like, "Oh, this would be so much cheaper on amazon..."

2009-01-20T23:39:00.002-05:00

Former President Bush. FORMER President Bush. As someone who basically came of age in the Bush era, always feeling the need to apologize for our foreign policy when abroad, or acting especially respectful to leave a good impression of Americans, I'm still in disbelief that we have a new president. Bush has been president since a month before I turned 14 to today, a month before I turn 23. Former President Bush. I still can't believe it. Today is definitely a new era, both for the nation, and for myself.

Intense

2009-01-12T21:14:00.000-05:00

7:35 in the Morning, a short film by Nacho Vigalondo, nominated for an Oscar in 2003

Never thought I'd say this

2009-01-11T14:55:00.001-05:00

but good move Bush, good move.

U.S. rejected Israeli plea to attack Iran

Disappointing

2009-01-08T00:46:00.002-05:00

Purple Heart Is Ruled Out for Traumatic Stress

2009-01-06T01:58:00.002-05:00

Americans United for Life has a new petition against the Freedom of Choice Act with the petition's tagline being "The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) Endangers Women and Silences the Voices of Everyday Americans." Does anyone else see the irony in this statement?

Why is is that individuals in this country can mobilize like crazy to defend unborn fetuses, when existent life as it is is barely given a concern? If only the expendable nature of human beings in our country's war zones, as well as much of the developing world, could generate as much fervor and widespread advocacy.

Flashbacks

2008-12-18T01:24:00.005-05:00

So...I'm backlogged on Italy pictures...more to come later.

But moving on, recently I've been having major flashbacks to some amazing experience I've had in my life, most specifically when I was traveling. They've been rather weird flashbacks too, rich in sensory detail, but almost like a dream at the time. More than once I've had to second-guess myself and ask, did i really do that?? Memory is an amazing thing. There's nothing linking me to those past experiences besides my memory. There is nothing physical left of that experience.

So, if only for myself, I'm listing out some of my most awe-inspiring moments that have been popping up in my mind lately:

-snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in a fierce storm that caused some of the biggest waves I've ever seen mid-ocean (probably not that big...but still kind of scary...and awesome!)
-swimming in the Mediterranean in Turkey and seeing two hammerhead sharks peacefully swim by about 10 ft away from me, unbeknownst to me until that moment
-every part of the Philippines, period. Oddly enough though, the ferry trip back from Bohol to Cebu at night, and then my stay in the sketchy Cebu airport hotel, stick out in my mind; plus, late-night San Miguel beer with Josh and Mike at this amazing bbq chicken place in Bohol our tricycle driver recommended to us; and the seafood place he recommended to us; and everything else.
-renting a scooter and riding it through the hills of Tuscany from Pisa to Lucca
-becoming addicted to the scooter and renting one again in Sorrento and driving from there to Positano on the Amalfi coast...(just lost my breath a little bit remembering that...)...with these hairpin turns and steep cliffs where you look down and it's nothing but the bluest water...
-seeing a pair of dolphins swimming along in the Bosphorus in Istanbul of all places while riding a ferry with my cousin this summer
-staying up all night with my closest family members and cousins in Turkey two days after the big earthquake in 1999, driving from one cay bahce (tea garden) to the next, having the most fun you could ever have running away from an earthquake. we were awake when all of Balikesir's bakeries opened. i've never had bread so warm and fresh soaking in the sweetest olive oil from the neighboring aegean olive farms
-a crazy bar in Krakow right before IC started...maybe it was just me, but that place was confusing as hell. it took me 10 minute to find a way out because each room just led to a new room and it was crowded...i think. i could have just made this up, but that's how i remember it.
-and for china? it has to be all those ktv nights. and the best tang bao i've ever had in this restaurant right outside of PKU; sure climbing the great wall was kind of cool too (did i seriously do that??)

i just can't believe some of the experiences i've had. perhaps this is about 20 days late at this point, but man am i thankful for all these experiences.

In the Mood for Love

2008-12-05T01:53:00.002-05:00

This has got to be my favorite sequence in a movie (In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-Wai). And the music...oh the music...what a beautiful beautiful scene, I can't get enough of it. Trust me, you have to see the movie--check out a description of it on www.imdb.com. I get chills every time I watch this.

At least we're safe up there...?

2008-11-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

"Among metro areas, Logan, Utah, north of Salt Lake City, had the lowest crime rate, followed by State College, Pennsylvania, and Ithaca, New York, the report said.."

Read more about it here.

My Favorites

2008-11-24T00:19:00.001-05:00

Since I have so many pictures from Italy (already 300 in the albums below from only a few days in Italy), here are a few of my favorites from these albums...

From Rome: Protestant Cemetary and Piazza Navona

From Rome: Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Navona

From Rome: Campidoglio and Pantheon

finalmente...

2008-11-24T00:14:00.000-05:00

It took awhile, but I have finally begun the long process of uploading my pictures from the summer online. Below are the albums I've uploaded so far, more to come!!

2008-11-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

P.S. Thanks Dody for setting up this new blog for me!

Fresh New Blog

2008-11-23T20:13:00.000-05:00

Same ol' Pinar here from @CN here, though with a new blog! I figured it was time for me to get rid of my blog that has my full name, considering I'm 99.99999% positive I'm the only one with that name...seriously. It's a great honor to have a completely unique name in this populous world, but not so good when any google search could bring up your personal blog! I'll be deleting my old blog shortly, so please check out this one instead!