Floating Leaf

Just got back from seeing A Dangerous Method. It was... sublime. Such a perfect piece of period drama, so beautifully shot and exquisitely acted. Viggo was great, of course - but then, he always is, so no need to elaborate upon it.;) Even if I wasn't too crazy about his prosthetic nose... LOL. I know, I know - he was supposed to look like Sigmund Freud, not like himself; but I have to shamefully admit that I found the fact I could only recognize the bottom part of his face pretty disconcerting.:) Which is, of course, irrelevant to the overall impact of the film. Freud is pretty much a background character in it, anyway. A very significant background character, but still... this film is about Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein. Mostly, to me, about Sabina Spielrein. Wonderfully played by Keira Knightley. I know people have mixed opinions about Keira Knightley, and I suppose at some point I also used to think she was just a pretty face on a stick. Not anymore. She's done a bunch of really good, really interesting films in recent years, and this is possibly the best one of them all. And she totally pulls her weight (no pun intended... LOL). This woman has depth, I tell you, and I am very much in awe of her talent. And that is precisely what I have always found most attractive about actors. Physicality is secondary...

Anyway... the film is a true work of art, and I loved every minute of it. I will most likely go see it again when it hits the theaters at the end of November - not even so much for Viggo as for the entire experience. As for Viggo, I can't wait to see that film he just did in Argentina, where he plays twin brothers, one of whom assumes the identity of the other after his death. I just know that one will be another "Mortensen tour de force" - as someone once said about, I think, Eastern Promises. And, hopefully, there'll be no prosthetic noses involved...:D

The other two films I have seen so far were also interesting, but I think I'll write about them some other time. Now I feel really exhausted after all the running around I've done for the past few days. Just like I suspected, I'm going to take it easy tomorrow for a change.:)

I seem to have recovered from my minor bout of sniffy autumn blues.;) All it took was some nasal spray, medicinal herbal tea, Halls candy, homeopathic pills, hot milk with honey & garlic (grandma's recipe.;) and lots of sleep.:) Also, the sun came out, which definitely helped. It's still chilly outside, but not nearly as bad as it had been (I still sleep in my fleece pajamas, but the space heater is off for the time being). The weather forecast for the next few days looks bright and promising - let's hope it will stay that way through at least part of my vacation... *crosses fingers*

I checked the festival website last night, and guess what? A Dangerous Method has sold out already. I am SO glad I got my ticket in advance!!... *wibbles* It was definitely a wise decision. *nods sagely* ;)

I have tons of stuff I want to talk about, but as usual when that happens, can't make up my mind where to start. ( How about something funny then? )

To amend my previous post: A Dangerous Method will be a special presentation at the festival, after all. I'm not sure exactly what that means, other than a higher ticket price, LOL - but I shall see, I guess. I just ordered my ticket, btw. It's in two weeks... but better safe than sorry. That's definitely THE one festival event I don't want to miss.:) The Good Doctor is also a special presentation, as it turns out; but I am still hesitating about buying the ticket in advance, because I am supposed to get my period that weekend - and if I am not feeling well, then of course I will not go anywhere, and the ticket will be wasted.:/ On the other hand, if I do go without a ticket, it is rather likely that the film will be sold out. So I don't know. A regular ticket wouldn't be a big deal to waste, but special presentations are $20... *sigh*

Oh well. I guess I'll let fate decide.;) If I don't see it during the festival, I'll see it later. Same goes for a number of other films I'm interested in - I have something in mind for nearly every day of the festival, but I'll see how it goes and if I really feel like making that trip downtown every single day for over a week.:) I did schedule my vacation, though - so I am off from the 7th until the 18th, regardless. Which is longer than I've been off since... I can't really remember when, to be honest. *blinks*

Hopefully the weather won't be too bad; last year's October was gorgeous, but somehow I don't think this will happen again. It is already getting cold - I've been using my little electric space heater for the past few days. Mostly to warm up the bathroom before I take a shower - but still. By mid-October, it might be too cold/rainy/windy to spend much time outside... but we shall see, I guess. It's not like I can't occupy myself at home for a week and a half.:P As long as my internet works, that is. *knocks on wood* ;)

I am still downloading music like a maniac, btw - getting sidetracked at every turn and switching artists/genres/styles on a whim. The $25 I recently added to my Soundike.com account is almost gone. I need to slow down, probably, but it's just way too much fun.:) I've also been spending a lot recently on clothes, shoes, jewellery and such. Nothing too crazy, mostly cheap and practical stuff; but sometimes I wonder if I'm not overstepping my limits again. I seem to go back and forth between pathological stinginess and careless spending - if there is a golden middle between the two extremes, I haven't found it so far, and it is not likely that I ever will. It is as though my parents' genes are battling each other fiercely inside my brain, and there is no telling who will prevail at any given time... LOL.

By the way... I've been meaning to post some pictures of my new jewellery for quite a while, I just never got around to it somehow. So here goes. ( a bunch of discounted treasures under the cut )

Still busy downloading. I seem to have fallen head down into a misty ocean labelled "new age".;) You know... Era, Enigma, Deep Forest, Delerium and the like. The thing is, I was only familiar with a bunch of catchy tracks by each of the abovementioned music groups - namely, the ones that had been played to death on the radio back in the 80's/90's/whenever. Predictably, however, those aren't really the best or most interesting tracks - just the ones more likely to apppeal to "mainstream" music tastes (read: watered down to bland pop, more often than not). The real gems are the ones I'd never heard before. And there's a SHITLOAD of them - dozens of albums filled with unexplored treasures. Of course, "new age" can mean almost anything - from Gregorian chants to tribal drums to synthesizers - but that's precisely what constitutes its appeal. It can be a delicious crossover between various music genres and traditions. And combining numerous influences almost always leads to interesting results. My favorite artists/bands tend to be ones that don't fit easily into one particular music label (unless it's "new age"... LOL). But speaking of labels - I am greatly annoyed with iTunes for not recognizing the existence of either "goth rock" or "symphonic metal". I know expecting them to have heard of "art rock" or "progressive rock" would have been too much - but goth rock is pretty mainstream, I dare say. Yes, they have "gothic", but that's too broad and confusing - just like "metal". I mean, come on - there are dozens of different kinds of metal. Some of them I love - others cause unspeakable agony to my eardrums. How can all this endless variety be squeezed into one label?...

Anyway... don't mind me, I'm just a little jittery due to the final stages of PMS, and fussing over irrelevant issues seems to be my favorite pastime at the moment.:P

I spoke to my mother today, and found out that my parents are going on a road trip to the Appalachians in October. For a week, from the 3rd to the 9th. I don't know where exactly, and mom couldn't tell me either, since dad is the one planning the itinerary - but the main thing is, they are offering to take me along. And I am torn, because I haven't travelled anywhere in forever, and I love mountains and forests and the rich colors of autumn foliage... but on the other hand, spending most of the time up close and personal with my mother for an entire week?... Gods no. *shudders in acute discomfort* If it were just my dad, I could handle it - or at least if my sister & brother-in-law were also there to deflect some of her attention - but with only my parents, the BOTH of them, it would get pretty stifling pretty soon. I would be the only witness to their petty squabbles and the many ways in which they like to ridicule and demean each other, and I would be expected to take sides and/or diffuse the conflict, which would totally take the fun out of this vacation for me. And I would never have a moment alone, because I would be sharing the car and any hotel rooms with them all the time. Plus, my mother would most likely be hanging on to my arm whenever possible. Which might be fine for a few hours every once in a while... but not for an entire week. My need for personal space would probably drive me nuts very quickly. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl a little. And yet... I am well aware that no one else might ever give me such a convenient opportunity for an almost free vacation, precisely because I don't socialize and don't keep in touch with local friends who go on trips like this. And I am hardly going to take a road trip to the Appalachians by myself - especially with no car. *sigh*

So, I said I would think about it. I told them about my plans to attend the film festival, so I can use that as a reason why I'm not going (I can hardly tell my mother the real reason, can I?). Btw, the festival starts on the 6th, and it is rather likely that A Dangerous Method will be shown during its first few days - so if I went on the trip, I might miss it. But the festival schedule isn't out yet, and probably won't be until the end of next week, so I don't really know. Plus, the film is going to have a wide release pretty soon afterwards anyway. And I haven't seen/heard any news about Viggo planning to attend the premiere. However, if it turns out suddenly that he does, and I miss it because I'm somewhere out in the wilds being driven crazy by my mother... I don't even want to think about that, LOL. So I guess that's a no. But damn it!... MOUNTAINS. *bites lip*

This is just a brief check-in post to notify anyone who might care that I had no internet access for the past two weeks. The ethernet port on my cable modem gave up the ghost, and it took me this long to figure out the problem and get it fixed. Needless to say, those two weeks have not been fun. ( Read more... )

Btw, I have only been back online for a few hours and haven't had a chance to look at much. I do plan to scroll back through those two weeks of flist and catch up with everyone - but, of course, that will take some time. So if anything momentous happened to any of my flisters since August 20th, I am blissfully unaware of it for the moment. Of course, I was able to check my private email at work - but LJ is simply one of those sites I never access from the office (just to be safe, since I have very little privacy due to my computer screen at work facing the open space between the cubicles, as well as the corridor). So I have been utterly deprived.:/ Same goes for all other fannish stuff. So if I'm quiet again for the next week or two, it probably means I'm busy catching up.:)

Not that I could keep from posting for too long - as this entry clearly proves (I barely got my connection back, I have TONS of stuff to read/look at/respond to, and what do I do first?... make an LJ post, of course :D). Yes, it's an addiction, and yes, I felt absolutely miserable without it. I don't even want to go into the amount of anxiety I experienced from not knowing how or when I was going to get my internet back. It would be ridiculous if it wasn't rather sad, really. But that's a topic for a whole another post. Now I have a huge pot of vegetable stew simmering on the stove, and my stomach is growling. So I'll be back later. *scurries off*

Apparently, my deep and thoughtful posts aren't any more interesting than the shallow, mundane ones.:| Oh well. I'm used to talking to myself, so yeah. *shrug*

In absence of any momentous news, here's the next installment of the A-Z meme. ( M is for Modern Life... )

Again, the weekend went way too fast for my liking... but at least it was kind of productive, as weekends go. Yesterday, I did a big load of laundry in addition to the grocery shopping, as well as watched a movie (on streaming!... yay!... I can watch movies directly online through the Netflix website again!... and the picture quality is perfectly smooth, with no stops and starts!... I LOVE my new PC!!!...:D). Today, I went on a quest for new shoes, because my favorite pair of black sandals - actually, make it my ONLY relatively comfortable pair of black sandals - has started coming apart at the seams. So it was an urgent mission, lol. I wear black a lot, especially to work - I have this gorgeous, flowing, Gypsy-style black skirt, bought a few months ago, that I wear at least twice a week. So I need stylish black sandals to go with it. And I have an old pair, which is still in very good condition, as well as very pretty - but, for the life of me, I cannot walk in them.:/ Not any more. I could, perhaps, wear them to a party, provided I was planning on sitting in a chair with my legs crossed, sipping a drink the entire time.;) For everyday walking to the bus stop, I need shoes that don't transform every step into a study of pain.:/ And I think I found some (I won't be 100% sure until after I've worn them for at least a few hours...). For a reasonable price, too. And while I was at it, I also found two nice tops (a lacy black one, perfect for work, and a very casual "faded" olive green one for the weekends), a cute cardigan (also in olive green - I love that color) and a pretty tribal-style necklace (a set of wooden and/or bone disks in shades of brown/beige - it will go perfectly well with a number of my summer outfits). All for about eighty bucks total. So definitely a successful venture.:)

And now, before I turn in for the night, here's another installment of the A-Z meme. ( L is for Looks... )

Finally. I have both the time AND the means to post something in here... lol. For the past week or so, this has not been the case.:D

First and foremost, my new PC is here. It's an HP Omni 200 all-in-one with a wireless keyboard and mouse... and it is a thing of beauty, let me tell you. When I first took it out of the box, I just kinda stared at it for a few minutes, before I even attempted to find the power cord etc. Because, you know, it's BIG. 21.5" across. Now, you have to understand I've spent the past 8 years glued to a laptop screen which was no more than half the size - and our monitors at work were only recently changed from old-style, square ones to more modern, rectangular ones. Which at first seemed overwhelmingly huge... but now, my computer screen at home is actually BIGGER than the one I have at work. O_O It's absolutely MASSIVE. It looks like a small plasma TV. Which was exactly what I wanted. ( Read more... )

Btw, there were some connection issues in my area over the past few days, and I hear LJ was down, too - not that I had much opportunity to notice, since my old laptop did a number on me last weekend and lost "display functionality" again. This time permanently, it seems. It might amuse some of you to know what caused this final crash. Namely, I was trying to watch the online trailer for A Dangerous Method. Yes, surreysmum - if you are reading this, know that it was all your fault.;P You posted that link to an article about Viggo's latest movie projects... and I went, OMG there's a trailer!!!, and clicked on it, even though I knew my old laptop couldn't really handle streaming video anymore. So of course it crashed, and even after several reboots the screen resolution remained ridiculously low. It took forever to load any webpage, even as simple as a plain text email - forget LJ or other fancy html stuff. Of course, it didn't really faze me much, since I knew the new computer was already on its way here via FedEx, and I can check private email at work. But still - I could have waited a few days to see that damned trailer, couldn't I?... *headshake*

Anyway... the old laptop had a severe case of death by Viggo, apparently.:P Or, you know... by Keira Knightley, if you prefer.:D It never fully recovered. So after I had set the new one up, I shut down the poor old thing, packed it up in its black laptop bag and tucked it away in a closet. Which seemed, strangely, like a funeral. Yes, I was emotionally attached to that ancient piece of junk - why do you ask? Do you know anyone else who uses the same computer for eight years?... But I am already deeply in love with the new one, so I think I'll be fine.:D (Yes, I have issues, no need to tell me as much, kthxbai.)

In other news... what other news? If there was any, I forgot. I am behind on emails, comments and such - but I will get there eventually. I'm not ignoring anyone on purpose.;) Just feeling a little preoccupied with my new toy.:P Btw, I just downloaded a few new icons, some of which were made specifically for me by roxicons. I love the one I'm using now - so calming and hopeful, isn't it?... Most of the stuff roxicons makes on request is shareable, so snag away if you like it.:)

Apparently, when I complained about the heat before, I had no idea what I was talking about. It is 94F/34C today, and it's supposed to actually get HOTTER around the middle of the week. O_O And yes, I live in a stuffy third floor apartment with a single, old, creaky A/C unit that has seen better days. I feel... half-cooked, for lack of a better expression. Ventured outside briefly yesterday (grocery shopping, ATM), felt on the verge of heatstroke by the time I got back home. So today I've just been lounging around, drinking glass after glass of iced water and going to the bathroom every hour or thereabouts.:/ I also made a salad, which was exhausting. A very light, quick salad - but you have to understand that there is NO air conditioning in my kitchen. There is only a window fan, and a big standing fan, which I had placed right against my back - and yet, I had to wipe the sweat off my stomach with a paper towel every once in a while...

In more exciting news, I finally did order my new PC. *yay!* I just realized that my antivirus software subscription is going to expire sometime in August - and it makes no sense to renew it for this computer, which is dying slowly and most likely wouldn't last another year anyway. In fact, I don't think I'm going to be renewing it at all, since I can download the full Norton Security Suite from Comcast (it is included in the price of my internet subscription). And, of course, it wouldn't make sense to download it now on this old computer either. I'll just get it for the new one. It's supposed to arrive sometime during the first week of August. I'm having it delivered to my sister's art studio, which is located a few blocks from here - because I'm not at home during the day, and I don't have a car, so picking it up from the post office might be a problem. For my sister & brother-in-law, it will be no big deal to drop it off at my place on their way home from the studio. *crosses fingers for everything to go according to plan*

Now, how about the next installment of the A-Z meme?... I am skipping over G, which was for Geography (no, I no longer live in the town where I was born, and I have written a lot here about my current location/neighborhood, so I didn't feel like doing that one), and H, which was for Hospital (luckily for me, I haven't had much experience with hospitals, so there isn't much to talk about). ( I, however, is for Internet.:D )