Torino.

Have you ever watched a movie and it just seems like at that very second, that movie was exactly what you were looking for?

Years ago, I broke up with a boy and my heart was aching. Two girlfriends took me out to see “Serendipity“. At that exact moment it was exactly what I needed. Something about good things happening, even if you have to wait for it. As much as I now realize that it isn’t quite top caliber stuff, I still recognize that there was something in that film that I had been seeking.

One of my greatest hurdles, especially in academics, is my fear of public speaking. My face goes beet red, I sweat buckets and my mind goes blank. But when you don’t have a choice, you have to get over it. Last semester, I had to do a presentation in my Globalization class. The topic was totally up to us. We had to justify why it was relevant to globalization, we had to read a number of articles and monographs. We had to present a research plan and then we had to present our findings. I chose to do my presentation on the Hmong people living in the US, based on an article I had read about how, because of their traditional beliefs and cosmology, they were dying from their nightmares. I aced my presentation, did a little dance of joy at realizing that it wasn’t as hard as I thought to stand in front of my peers and talk. And then I kind of let it fall by the wayside.

Enter Clint Eastwood and his movie “Grand Torino“. A movie where he chose the Hmong feature to not only be the feature ethnic group and main characters, but also Hmong actors. At first, it was just really neat to see them talking about the things that I had researched. At one point when Eastwood’s character is being explained the history of the Hmong, Mr. Circus leaned over and said that I had pretty much told him their history word for word as it was described there.  Sure, I had a pre-existing interest, but I was hooked.

Without giving away any details, I will say that it is an amazing movie and the last time a movie got to me like that was when I watched a cheesy chick flick while my heart was aching.

I don’t think I was seeking anything out tonight, can’t feel that I was missing anything or was hoping for a specific emotional response. But this movie hit all my buttons. And I cried until there were no more tears.

Interview.

My lovely friend A over at Miel et Cannelle was interviewed over on her blog (oh, please do check it out, I promise you won’t regret it) and, as I feel I am lacking in things to ramble on about, I volunteered to be interviewed as well. Feel like jumping on the 5 Question train? Read on…

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, “Interview
me.” (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone
else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them
five questions

We begin:

1. How long have you been blogging for? What keeps you doing it? I think I’ve been blogging for about 5 or so years. More off than on until Dreams and Schemes. Part of the reason I like blogging is because I’m not always that quick on my feet. I’m surrounded by wonderfully funny people (all very much involved in the theater community) and find that in the normal day-to-day conversations, my brain just fires at a much slower speed than theirs. This often leaves me laughing at my own jokes hours, maybe even days later. Jokes which I feel are funny but seem to be pulled out of the blue because I’m suddenly finding something witty to say in response to last week’s conversation. Also, I’m better (more comfortable) with written word than spoken word. I like to take my time, edit it when/where needed and make sure I’m really putting down on paper (or screen) what it is that I really mean to say. In conversations, I find I sometimes get so wrapped up in listening to what is being said that I fail to have a response and just sit there, feeling at a loss. Blogging allows me to take that time. Also, there is the (however imagined) sense of anonymity, only divulging what you want to be seen/heard/read/known about yourself.

2. I know two things a)you’re planning a wedding and b) you’re a student! If you were given $100,000 for a wedding, what would you do? And what WOULDN’T you do? Wow, that would be a delightfully glorious amount of money! As we are currently trying to stick to our $7500 budget (which to me still seems like a lot of money), we’re putting a lot of thought into ‘alternatives’; alternative catering, dress alternatives, different ways of making it very much our wedding without totally blowing the bank. If the magic cheque fairy appeared with $100,000 I think the first thing I would do is make sure we could have everyone we wanted be able to attend. As Mr.Circus is from Ontario (but the Maritimes originally), his family is spread out. So I think we would get them all out here, for sure. I think I would then, maybe, forgo using my mother’s dress and buy or have something beautiful made for me. I love that I am using my mom’s dress, but I have also fallen in love with parts of other dresses I have tried on. Yes, I would have a dress made (one that keeps the tummy in, the boobs up and still allows me to dance and breath). I wouldn’t change the location though, because I think the hall we are using is a good setting for us. It’s casual, it’s funky, it’s big. I think the big thing I would do, to make my life easier would be to hire a wedding consultant/planner. So much of what has to be done is just so foreign to me, it would, from time to time, be nice to have someone a little more experienced at the helm. As there is so little we have done for the wedding, I’m not really sure what else would go into my ‘would do with big bucks’ list. But I will come back to this as the big day gets closer.

3.This is your last semester of school – What advice would you give to somebody starting their first semester? If you are entering into your first semester, my only piece of advice would be (broken into smaller pieces) : Take a full course load, don’t take time off and get it done. If 4 or 5 courses is just too much, then yes, take 3, but don’t take less than 3. And don’t take a semester off here and there because the next thing you know, it’s 8 years later, you feel like a grandmother compared to your younger classmates and you’re still waiting to see what you’re going to do when you grow up. If you decide you’re in the wrong program or you change your mind part way through, that isn’t really something to stress over. But don’t take changing your mind as an excuse to quit or slack off (yes, totally speaking from experience). Just do it, and do it quickly. Also, do the readings, do the homework and go to class. Basics, and obvious, I know, but these are the things that I struggle with. Yes, those would be the incredibly basic aspects of being a student. Which is why I can’t wait to be done. Oh, also, get to know at least one librarian, find an advisor you’re comfortable with, know where the pub is and make a point of going in to see each prof at least once per semester (it makes them feel you’re committed even if you’re not and they will sometimes give you advice you didn’t even know you were seeking).

4. You’re a fabulously creative lady. Are there any design/style/craft trends that you’d like to see take hold in 2009? Any that
you’d like to see die off? I really like art that’s made with found objects, like incorporating old keys into the piece, or (as I’m in the process of doing) making something that revolves around a compass found on the street. When it’s a found object, you’re free to create a history or a future for that object, you can give it personality with more ease because you have no ties or memories linked to it. As someone who creates an emotional bond to most things I have (it’s sad really, and makes for a bit of pack-ratness), using something that I have found makes it easier to part with it but also gives me more freedom to be creative with it. I’m always a fan of mixed media work and steampunk. Steampunk is a little difficult to pull of in clothing styles if you’re not totally dedicated to it, but Jewels by Nature over at Etsy has got some amazing pieces of jewelery that I can’t stop ogling. I would love to see more people incorporating objects from the past into more modern styles – whether it be crafts/arts or clothing. Yes, it also plays into the DIY and refurbishing/reusing of clothing which is a trend that continues (and just might pick up steam if the economy totally goes into the crapper), but I also feel it’s a nod to those who have come before us. I have had so many older relatives over the years pass on their belongings to me and instead of leaving them to sit in a closet, I try to work them into my daily activities. I like to have reminders of the past around to be touched and enjoyed. I can never fully describe it, but I can actually feel my heart beat a bit faster when I know I’m holding something that has belonged to numerous people over the decades, I like to imagine who they were, what they did with the item, how they felt about it… I like to believe that if you give something a new purpose, you not only keep that something alive, you keep a bit of its previous owners alive too.
5.What was the best meal that you’ve ever eaten? Why? I hope the best meal I’ve ever had is yet to come, but for now, my faorite meals tend to have less to do with the food than they do the company it’s shared with and the memories that are made. I do have some favorite meals that didn’t include, well, myself or real food or actually being there…

- Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. This play opens with tough British feminist Marlene(quite different than a North American feminist, at least in the ’80’s) sitting in a restaurant with Isabella Bird, Pope Joan, Lady Nijo, Dull Gret and Patient Griselda. It is a dream sequence where the ladies from different points in history tell the stories of their undoings over many, many drinks.

-Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. In both the novel and the 1963 film adaptation, the dinner scene between Tom Jones and Sophie Western is hilarious. In the film, Thomas Finney is delightful as the young, lust driven Tom and the way they both tear into their food as though they were tearing into one another is laugh out loud funny.

-Stealing Beauty (1996). While I love, love this Liv Tyler flick, I’ve always enjoyed the scene where the household goes to the local pizzeria accompanied by the soldier stranded at the house with a broke down car. There is an older gentleman living with them who, for all accounts and purposes, is nuts and drifts in and out of awareness of reality. The family is trying to shield him from the soldier (and vice versa) to minimize the angry outbursts they know are coming. But then the soldier offers to walk him home and the old man accepts. It’s brief, but it’s great.

-When Harry Met Sally (1989). Who could forget the infamous orgasm scene in the diner. Meg Ryan (back when she was still Meg Ryan) faking an orgasm to prove that Billy Crystal isn’t as good in bed as he thinks? Truly memorable. And you have to love the lady at the end who orders whatever Sally is having.

-Everything is Illuminated (2005). Poor, poor vegetarian Jonathan (Elijah Wood) trying to order anything but sausage while exploring his family’s history in  Ukraine. When his potato (yes, singular) arrives then falls to the floor then ends up on the plate of the Grandfather. It’s sad and lovely all at the same time.

PS- still waiting for my camera battery to arrive in the mail… pictures, I miss the pictures!