Ohoh boy..

Subconscious Chaos

Okay, time to 'fess up. As a kid, I idolized Emma Watson.
Actually, no. I didn't know much about Watson, who I really idolized was Hermione. I admired so many things about her, from her looks (she was an alright-looking child, but suddenly became really pretty in the fourth movie) to the way she always seemed to be aware of everything. As I grew older and started receiving piles of homework, I was impressed by one more thing about Hermione - the way she handled her school work and actually learned instead of just going through the motions. In truth, I still idolize her in this aspect. But unlike me, she's got enough time for everything because of her damned Time-Turner. Cow.

New Obsession: Momiji Dolls

Big thanks to my kind aunt for this new love! Momiji were first launched in 2005 in England, and they are hand-painted message dolls, a contemporary form of traditional Japanese Kokeshi dolls. They're so cute, I just can't resist. As one article I read said, "(they're) quite surreal but once you've got one they're strangely addictive." I want my own collection now, from all over the world! Today I received the Thank You doll from the Heroes collection, as well as the Green Soul doll from the Vintage collection, along with a Momiji mug and a Kimmi Doll keychain. Hugs to my auntie!


"...feted Japanese big kids, Momiji...a family of friendship dolls, all with their own individual styles and stories…vibrant and oddly addictive…melting pots of Anime, Manga and Meiji cultures."
Dazed and Confused

Loved Nonsense

This made my day; I hope it will brighten yours too~

What am I listening to: I love you, I love you (f(x))
What am I thinking of: the Richmond Night Market
What I should be doing: making my way to the TV
What I want to do: watch a children's movie..

Love? Check.

London 2012

Olympic opening ceremonies begin in less than 20 minutes. Holy.

A Year in Quotations: 29/365

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The bridge. That bridge was where we left each other, never to meet again. The river roared, and the cold wind was like a slap in the face. Amid its vivid thundering, under the sky full of stars, we exchanged a short kiss, and thinking how much fun that winter vacation had been, we parted, smiling. The tinkle of the bell disappeared into the night. Hitoshi and I both cherished that sound.
We had horrible fights and we both had our little outside flings. We suffered from the changing balance between love and desire. Children that we were, we hurt each other many times over. So it isn't that we were always as happy as we were that day; our times together were often painful. Still, it was a good four years, and that day was an unusually perfect one for us, so much so as to make us fearful it would end. Of that day in which everything was just too beautiful in the transparent winter air, what I remember most is the sight, when I turned back to look, of Hitoshi's black jacket melting into the darkness.
That scene is one I cried about over and over again. Or rather, whenever I recalled it, the tears would flow. I would dream of myself crossing the bridge, chasing after him and calling out, "You mustn't go!" In the dream, Hitoshi would smile and say, "I didn't die after all, because you stopped me."

B. Yoshimoto, Kitchen

New Obsession: Russian Music

I spent the entire morning listening to currently popular Russian music. After going through numerous charts, award shows, websites, and channels, I found several artists that I liked. It was good to hear typical Russian music again, I missed it!
Moving on, my new favorite Russian artist became a Ukrainian singer, whose stage name is Ёлка (pronounced Yolka), meaning evergreen tree. My only guess to the meaning of her name is that she never burns out as a star (or something like that). The first time I saw her was while I was vacationing in Dominican Republic - our room had access to Russian television, so my mom and I spent a good amount of time catching up with events and new popular trends in the Motherland.

Ёлка (up above) is a little bit of a copy-cat of Lady Gaga, which is perfectly fine with me, because I like that style of music. Her voice is similar in tone to Gaga's, and she also has powerful vocals. Although her music videos are slightly over the line compared to other Russian singers, Ёлка's lyrics are levels more subtle than Lady Gaga's. I don't need to repeat a line over and over in my head to comprehend its meaning.

Other artists I found that stirred my attention:
 
Dima Bilan (Дима Билан) - one of the most popular Russian singers today thanks in large part to a sultry voice, wholesome good looks, charisma, and well-funded PR. He rose to fame by winning first place in 2008's Eurovision, a popular annual competition of European pop.

IOWA (Idiots Out Wandering About) - this group from Belarus is at the very start of their rise to popularity, as they are not yet widely known. They have a likable unique style that mixes jazz, pop, and R&B.

My favorites out of my Russian playlist are now yours! Enjoy.
Ёлка - Бросай
Дима Билан - Так не бывает
IOWA - Мама
IOWA - Простая Песня

A Year in Quotations: 28/365

"And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

Romans 5:2

Back to You

What the heck's this?.. I come back to a warm embrace and kind welcomes but to cold and ugly weather. Ah well, that's okay, it's nice to be back home in rainy Vancouver. I missed all my good friends and my lovely room, but I also long to be back in sunny Osoyoos.. I had a fantastic time  ^_^

When we drove to Penticton, we came across a huge bookshop which sold volumes of old and used books, manga, magazines and videos. My friend purchased Through the Looking Glass, and I bought a 1988 copy of Winnie the Pooh. I was so glad to find it, I've always wanted one!

Dear Jennifer: Congratulations! I'm glad everything went so well and I'm sorry I couldn't be there physically. Though I attended in thought and prayer!

What am I listening to: Best Place (SHINee)
What am I thinking of: a whole bunch of things
What I should be doing: cleaning the house
What I want to do: not much, I think I'll get going with the cleaning

Faith in Humanity: Regained

An old man was walking across the beach when he came across a young boy throwing something into the breaking waves. Upon closer inspection, the old man saw that the boy was tossing stranded starfish from the sandy beach, back into the ocean.

"What are you doing, young man?" he asked.

"If the starfish are still on the beach when the sun rises, they will die," the boy answered.

"That is ridiculous. There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. It doesn't matter how many you throw in; you can't make a difference."

"It matters to this one," the boy said as he threw another starfish into the waves.

Faith in Humanity: Lost

In communist Russia...

Chapter 8 - Mother Russia Gone Red

Stalin took over the Soviet government and started the first Five Year Plan, which ran for ten years in accordance with the revised Russian calendar. The reason the Communists brought out a new out a new calendar was that anybody found using the old czarist calendar could do time.
To keep his fellow Russians on their toes Stalin also modernized the secret police, putting them into long rubber trench coats and repotting the palms in restaurants, hotels, etc. Instead of being shot down in the open square the average Russian now enjoyed the luxury of being shot down in the comfort of his own living room.
The soviet government kept control of the newspapers, but by raising the level of literacy it enabled millions of Russians to read what they were to think. This was a big improvement over the time when most Russians were so ignorant that they had to think for themselves.
The Communist program was sweeping. The men organized the program and the women did the sweeping. This kept the streets of Moscow clean of everything, especially people.
The peasants were organized into huge farms called collectives because whatever the farmers grew the state collected it. Some of the collectives were called kolkhozes and others sovkhozes, and if neither of these appealed to the peasant he had the option of going to one of the old-fashioned forced labor camps (bunkhozes).
Thanks to all this agrarian reform Russia had a famine. This famine differed from earlier, czarist famines in that formerly the poor starved whereas under the new regime everybody starved. The Communists therefore restored a bit of capitalism to the system by allowing the peasants to have a small vegetable plot for their own use. The next year these small plots accounted for 90 percent of total production. This annoyed the Soviet government, which decided to take out the bit of capitalism and try to get the peasants interested in free love instead. But free love never caught on like private beds of vegetables.
Stalin introduced a new electoral system which enabled every Russian to cast a secret ballot on which all the candidates belonged to the Communist party, thereby eliminating a great deal of confusion and making it much easier to determine which party had won the election.
The Communist party won 99.9 percent of the votes in every election, the remaking .1 percent being ballots spoiled by voters who mistook the ballot box for a spittoon. To be on the safe side, Stalin began his famous purges. He was responsible for so many purges that he became known as the Enema of the People.
One reason why Stalin's purges were so successful in getting rid of unsightly opponents to the regime was that the Russian judicial system combined the more efficient elements of British and Napoleonic law; that is, a person was judged to be guilty until he was proved to be guilty.

A Year in Quotations: 27/365

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."

Unknown

close, far, wherever you are

Taking advantage of the lovely weather, my best friend and I are going to be spending next week in Osoyoos. Baking in the sun, swimming in a lake, playing chess (I'm obviously going to be winning), picking flowers, and roasting marshmellows late into the night. But don't worry, people at home, I'm not abandoning you - my blog will still be updated automatically nearly every day. I leave you with that. HAHA! Suckers.

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Since the day I'd left Yoroido, I'd done nothing but worry that every turn of life's wheel would bring yet another obstacle into my path; and of course, it was the worrying and the struggle that had always made life so vividly real to me. When we fight upstream against a rocky undercurrent, every foothold takes on a kind of urgency.

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

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You can't pretend you have no influence at all. It's your duty to use what influence you have, unless you want to drift through life like a fish belly-up on the stream.

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Opinion: Memoirs of a Geisha (novel)

I must say, this book was extraordinary. So good, in fact, that it earned a spot on my favorites list - which is the best praise I can offer. The movie did a fairly decent job following the novel, but the book added onto the film and made the storyline far richer. Instead of being an onlooker, the audience stood in the shoes of Sayuri, saw what she saw, thought what she thought, and felt what she felt. The memoirs were a woman's, while the novel was written by a man. However, Sayuri was as womanly as could be, and some scenes got me wondering whether the author is actually a woman.
The storyline did not always flow smoothly but had numerous surprises and twists. It was somewhat on the long side, but it did not linger or drag on, which highly impressed me. We all know those books where the characters sit in misery for months on end and the author painstakingly describes each day. Thankfully, Memoirs of a Geisha was not one of these.
The voice which read the story out to me remained a calm one, but changed throughout the book - from a young girl to a woman, and then, gradually, to an elder. I've never experienced anything like this from a novel, and it was really something. The pain she suffered was well-depicted to the point where I approved many of her indecent and sometimes cruel actions.
The descriptions were just vivid enough and the scenes easy to imagine. I recommend watching the movie beforehand, as I did, as it will give some ground as to what the author intends for you to imagine. Watching the film does not spoil the book, as it is a masterpiece on its own. There were many settings in the novel which were similar to each other, so the easier thing to do is to see the film for each individual one.
Now, we come to the part where I criticize the characters. Each was certainly well-developed and had a distinct personality that did not blend with anyone else's. The reader was emerged in the world of a geisha and lived Sayuri's entire life with her. Many secondary characters were developed as well, something not many authors bother to do. I got attached to some of them and was rather upset when they suffered. As expected, the central characters such as the main antagonist, Hatsumomo, were developed much deeper than in the movie, and the reader was given time to grow whatever emotion they wanted toward each.
I'm glad the story did not meet a Hollywood ending where everyone rides off into the sunset together holding hands. Instead, Golden created a provocative and bitter-sweet story of life and love.

A Year in Quotations: 26/365

"Happiness is like glass. It may be all around you, yet be invisible. But if you change your angle of viewing a little, then it will reflect light more beautifully than any other object around you."

Lelouch Lamperouge

Code Geass

Okay, I know what you're thinking.

"Julia watches anime??.."
No, Julia does not watch anime. Julia watched several series a couple of years ago. Now Julia thinks anime is silly and over-the-top; but she's not going to deny that she liked anime back when she watched it. Moving on to today's topic.
As you may have guessed already, this post will concern a Japanese anime called Code Geass. I could go on and on about how good it is, because it truly was the best. However, that would look something like this, "Oh my God, it's so good. Seriously, I love it more than anything. It's amazing. Suzaku is so.. ughh! Really, it's extraordinary. You should watch it. This is the link to the HD subbed version and here is your welcome bundle, including one large Code Geass poster, a talking Suzaku figurine, the entire manga series..."
Well, maybe not exactly like that. I don't want to force it down your throat. Also, damn, official merchandise is expensive..

A basic summary of Code Geass from an anime website:
"After the invasion of Japan by the Brittannian Empire, the once proud country is stripped of its name and renamed to Area 11. Its citizens, Elevens, are forced to scratch out a living while the Britannian aristocracy lives comfortably within their settlements. Pockets of resistance appear throughout Area 11, working towards independence for Japan. Ten years later, the young Lelouch, a Britannian student living in Japan, accidentally gets caught up in a local terrorist attack against Brittannia, reuniting with his childhood friend Suzaku as well as meeting the mysterious girl C.C. Cornered in a life and death situation, Lelouch accepts a power C.C. offers to him, the ability to order anyone to do anything. Harboring a thirst for revenge against the Brittanian Empire for their actions against his family, Lelouch wages war against the Empire."

Of course, that's only the beginning. It gets crazy complex, but that's what sets it apart from other series. Really, Code Geass has everything a viewer could possibly want - a refreshing storyline, tons of action, sex appeal, depth; developed characters, funny fillers, an incredible soundtrack, and countless cliff hangers.
Sigh. Just thinking about it makes me want to watch it again.

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I expect you to go through life with your eyes open! If you keep your destiny in mind, every moment in life becomes an opportunity for moving closer to it.

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

последний пончик

Last one. I promise.

Russian Girl Problems

Problem #16. If it's fried in olive oil then it's considered fat-free.

Problem #17. You can't wear your bra around the house. Anybody who sees you will demand you take it off because it is stunting your growth and suffocating you to death.

Problem #18. There is no right time to eat anything cold. You either are sick, were just sick, or will get sick.

Problem #19. If you ever step over someone, you have to make sure to step back over them again otherwise they will never grow taller.

Problem #20. At one point in your life, you had a carpet hanging on your wall.

Problem #21. If you were to move to a deserted island in the middle of an ocean, you would still hear someone speaking Russian behind you.

Problem #22. Forget Christmas. Red and green are the colours of borsh.

A Year in Quotations: 25/365

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Grief is a most peculiar thing; we’re so helpless in the face of it. It’s like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it.

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

New Obsession: Guitar Picks

A million apologies for being offline for so long! But since the weather is nice, I have no desire to ruin a single one of these lovely days by spending it on my laptop. So please excuse the infrequent postings, I tend to be quite detached from my computer in the summer.

I came across these beauties while cleaning up my files and I'm going to see if I can get my hands (fingers) on a couple. To practice guitar and have the encouragement of none other than Sungha Jung... Sigh.

After searching around a bit more, some more unique guitar picks caught my eye - and with that my new obsession was born. Gimmie.