Monday, December 28, 2009

lady gaga covers




and from the lady herself

insomnia

So I couldn't fall asleep and so opened my laptop and found Joel Derfner's blog on the interwebz, which he has been keeping since 2002. I first read about him in the Harvard Voice's gayest issue ever, and thought, "cool, I'll get to read about the experiences he wrote about in Swish, but in real-time, so to speak." well, turns out this is the most hilarious thing I've seen all day, and it's a fascinatingly weird blog to read because I'm reading about all this casual sex done in the context of searching for love.

What? you say. Yeah, he has a great comedic voice. And a great sense of irony and his place in the world. Self-awareness. And he redacts identifying information and identifies people only by initials - I'm saying this because I started reading the most recent posts first, in which he mentions an E.S. as the boyfriend, and the first posts have an E.S. as well, but one with whom he broke up and about whom he constantly complained of being fat. Naturally, the question that follows: is this the same E.S.? I've only gotten about a year into the 7-year-old archives, so we'll see!

Well, anyway, the original point of this post was to complain about this smell in my room. It's been driving me crazy this last hour. My mom poured me some whiskey while we were watching The Lives of Others and I didn't finish it because she gave me a ton which is cool but not when I'm trying to watch a dialogue-heavy movie. so I finished it after the movie, but I carried the glass (yes, my mom gave me whiskey in a wine glass - what is wrong with my family?) up to my room and put it on the nightstand by my bed. And for all the people who have been to my house - I have my little brother's room now so the ventilation isn't as good, and this information probably plays a roll in this anecdote or maybe not, I'm just complaining here for a bit. Anyway, even though the glass the empty, I can still smell the whiskey, and it's driving me crazy. at least it isn't Jack. In that case, I may be reminded of a dashing Italian and burning popcorn and then my unfortunate night-before-Veteran's-Day.

[edit] an hour later, I'm still up and can't fall asleep, and I'm still smelling the whiskey. It's got to be in my mind at this point. In any case, I found out that E.S. is one and the same. Ha! I think my roving mind can let me sleep now. In any case, I have to be up in 7 hours, so I should get cracking on that zzzzzz.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Movie recap for this year

The only new release I'm likely to see before the new year is Emily Blunt's The Young Victoria. with that out of the way, here's a look at which movies I finally did get around to seeing this year, compared to the ones I wanted to see early in the summer...

Ones that I saw:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I adored this movie! Was suitably impressed by Tom Felton as a conflicted Draco Malfoy, and loved Alan Rickman and Helen McCrory as Snape and Narcissa, respectively. the bathroom fight scene was visually great as well.
The Hurt Locker
loved, loved, loved this movie. Emotions were really strong all throughout, and the level of tension in the action scenes was incredible.
Sherlock Holmes
Saw it last night - was entertained very much. however, I found the story to be extremely lacking, although the humor and character interactions hit a very special place in my heart. in addition, the movie, although obviously computer generated (especially after viewing Avatar), had some great atmosphere in the settings of 1800s London.
Moon
Was so amazing. Perhaps my favorite movie that I saw in theaters this year. the plot, music, and set were so incredible and clever. the plot, especially, I couldn't stop talking about with the friend who saw the movie with me. in addition, I've been listening to Clint Mansell's masterful score on and off since this summer.
Where the Wild Things Are
Didn't like this as much as others - this movie was scary! Plus I didn't like the kid.
Little Ashes
This was a piece of shit but I had to watch and laugh at Robert Pattinson's moustache.
Terminator Salvation
I actually liked and enjoyed this movie. it was entertaining! and had Anton Yelchin and Sam Worthington...
Up
wrote about my thoughts here.
Public Enemies
see here.

Movies that I didn't see but will at some point:
Bright Star
Missed this one in theaters in Boston, and now it's not playing in Columbia. will find it somehow! I just love the poetry of John Keats and the trailer was so well done. I've heard good things about Abbie Cornish's acting, also.
An Education
Same as above, just missed this in theaters, but I want to see it so very much still!
Precious
Looks like awards-recognition is fading, although I'd still like to see this movie sometime - perhaps not in theaters, though.
Agora
FINALLY has a release date! Hooray!
Dead Snow
Have not seen this in theaters anywhere, maybe not looking hard enough...
I Love You Phillip Morris
Its release has been pushed back AGAIN from Valentine's Day 2010 to March 26, 2010. ah, can't wait.
500 Days of Summer
Will see this at some point, especially since my roommates have recommended it so enthusiastically.

Movies that have fallen off my radar:
Amelia
Apparently was one boring movie.
Taking Woodstock
Same thing as above.
Bruno
Hasn't fallen off my radar as much as I was disgusted with it.

In addition, I'm really bugged by the awards-hoopla that Up in the Air is getting. wtf? why do people like to hear and watch an entire movie about upper middle class white people getting laid off and making fun of their misfortunes, besides?

blame aphrodite


Blame Aphrodite
Sappho

It's no use
Mother dear, I
can't finish my
weaving
            You may
blame Aphrodite

soft as she is

she has almost
killed me with
love for that boy

Saturday, December 26, 2009

everybody everybody wants to love/ everybody everybody wants to be loved

here's a memory of the old futon:


i like to feel the spine of your body and its bones

12-06-Casey

i like my body when it is with your
e. e. cummings

i like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite a new thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh . . . . And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you quite so new

Friday, December 25, 2009

merry christmas



May it be dandy!

And so there’s a change, in your emotions / And all these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind

Straight people are encouraged by culture and society to believe that their sexual impulses are the norm, and therefore when their affairs of the heart and loins go wrong (as they certainly will), when they are flummoxed, distraught and defeated by love, they are forced to believe that it must be their fault. We gay people at least have the advantage of being brought up to expect the world of love to be imponderably and unmanageably difficult, for we are perverted freaks and sick aberrations of nature.
- Stephen Fry's letter to himself: Dearest absurd child

Sunday, December 20, 2009

impending doom

11-30-EmilyArrow

Tomorrow is my last (and hardest) exam. then I'm free!! But in the meantime, I'm really struggling with the material. I really should have started studying earlier, but the amount I have to learn and review didn't really hit me until yesterday...

P.S. the snow has finally stopped. Everything looks so serene.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

ghost town?

Supposedly Triplett, Missouri is a ghost town, in the sense that many people used to live there and now very few do. A place for photography during my long winter break?

Saturday, November 28, 2009

If anything should happen, I guess I wish you well

Yay Black Friday!
This is what I came home to find on the kitchen counter:
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You could say my family heartily endorses recreational drinking.

I didn't plan on spending money, but did anyway. I even bought a skirt from Wal-mart, from their Miley Cyrus/Max Azria collaboration. the quality of the stuff is (surprisingly, to me) pretty good. I found the skirt that I'd been looking for. I don't discriminate when it comes to clothes!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

and now I kiss I kiss the earth

11-24-thegame
harvard vs yale 14-10
saturday was an awesome day, in many senses of the word

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

fifteen


So I admit it, I've been listening to Taylor Swift. This song reminded me of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood. I'm going to get Isherwood's A Single Man soon and read it before Dec. 11, when Tom Ford's adaptation comes out. (Tom Ford, another person with whom I have a love/hate relationship.)



via

Saturday, October 17, 2009

head of the charles regatta

it's Head of the Charles weekend at Harvard
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it's a cloudy day, but beautiful still

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this is the charles river

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alumni village

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spectators along the charles river. you can see the leverett towers in the background

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walking back. I think this is old quincy

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even the ivy leaves turn colors in the fall