2013 Recap + Big Announcement

2013 Goals Recap

You may remember this post from about a year ago.  Time to check in and see how I did! 

Open up an Etsy shop.  X  Didn't happen.  This is still something I want to do, but right now doesn't feel like the right time to start a small business (however small!).

Read more history and poli-sci books.  ✓-  Replace "history" with philosophy and this holds true.  I did read Thirteen Days and From the Ashes of Sobibor, though, which were both great historical memoirs.

Watch more operas, and become generally more opera-savvy.   ✓  This one passes by a smidgen.  I watched the entire Il Trovatore and Eugene Onegin, which were firsts.  I discovered new operas, in bits and pieces, added Kwiecien and Alvarez as favorite artists, and rediscovered Kaufmann through his magnificent interpretations of Wagner.  

Eat less and exercise more.  ✓-  I lost about ten pounds.  Exercised less, if anything.  :(

Be a happy, good person.  I don't know how to describe this part adequately.  For sure, 2013 has been a happy year; I'll remember it as one of my favorites.  It wasn't me - I can't brag about myself; I haven't acted the best this year.  (I also had unusually bad allergies and was sick for several weeks in the spring.)  But God has been merciful, has opened my eyes through disappointments, and answered prayers I'd been praying for so long.  2013, unforgettable.

A few of the unexpected goals accomplished:

Finished a multitude of sewing projects
Cooked salmon dinner by myself
Read a paper in front of students and history faculty
Went to "beautiful Hawaii" (which is as beautiful as everyone says!)

Announcement

1.  First of all, if you're this far through the post, you probably read my blog fairly regularly.  Thank you for that.  I'm 100% serious; regardless of whether you comment or not, it means a lot to me that you read the blog and get something out of it.   

2.  It's time to move!  That's right.  I'm moving to a new blog and url.  Brand new.

If you like what you've read here, please meet me at noonlight (url: noon-light) for blogging adventures in 2014 and beyond.  Think of it as a remix of this blog: some old and some new, all for the better.  I'll not be deleting all-that-is-gold - might even post here once in a blue moon - but good change is a domino effect.  I'm more than ready for it. 

Of course, I will still be on Tumblr, Pinterest, and all of those cool places.  The big change is that Blogger will be a priority again.  Blogger's still my fave.  ♥

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Merry Christmas Eve!

I haven't done a sort of "life update" post since September . . . how fast time flies!

Since my last final exam a week and a half ago, basically all I've been doing is watching cute movies and drinking large quantities of delicious tea.  No complaints there.  ^_^  Fall quarter was on the order of "almost bad," but I passed all the classes, praise God!  Most important to me was passing discrete math II, one of those jolly prerequisites for so much else.  (I got decent grades, too, which is still hard to believe.) 

My sister and I usually play a violin/cello duet before Christmas Eve service - this year we're playing Bach's Sinfonia from his Christmas Oratorio.  Our sheetmusic is pieced together from the cello part and a piano transcription; all the notes are original, but the instrumentation makes it sound a bit different.  (I hope we can record it eventually so you can hear it.)

Hope you have a beautiful Christmas week!  Stay safe and warm.  : )

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The Orange Orchard

   Any moment, I will fall asleep.
   The ground intrudes onward with parched grasses and muggy soil.  Bits of it bleed into my ankles as I limp slowly, tediously, downhill in the tropical arboretum.  It is actually a forest.  There is no one in earshot, and the sky, a little hazy, cannot white-out the reach of the trees.  It is a new sight for old eyes; it tires these conveyors of mountain vision.  Green, green—and the color of rejection.  Light smudges the outer edges of everything.
   If I sat down under that reddish trunk, I could lose myself in a long, guiltless nap.  Wrapped up in grass stains and a little dirt, no one would miss me, and it would make no difference to me.  The thought of throwing myself down where I stand and shutting my eyelids hard is also irresistible, almost.  'Almost' changes the world.  I dream without 'almost.'  Oh, a nap would be gorgeous.


   The forest pathway drops downward for the next hundred feet.  I am wide awake now.  Down below is the orange orchard; I see it clearly, even without my glasses.  Traces of orange in masses of green, a small white house, an old Volkswagen.  You only have to make it down the hillside, and you are practically there.  My aunt lived there once; she left it to us.  I know every foothold and false step by heart.
   Eyes closed again.  As I return to the orange orchard, even the grass feels familiar through my shoe soles.  The scent used to disarm me with thoughts of all things sweet and self-assured.  I run through the orchard now, towards the little white house, and the sight of oranges dabbed here and there in the leaves is still thrilling.  It is about 3:00 in the afternoon.
   You don't need to explain, his eyes said.
   "I had to get away," I said anyway.  Inwardly.
   He and his parents were our company.  They were indoors.  It was 90-degree weather, and they couldn't be used to it yet.
   "I wondered when you'd come back," he said.
   I sat down on the ancient swing-set, and was up again in an instant. "Can I get you some ice water?"
   "No, thanks."
   It was hard not to look at him too hard, and I was miserably muggy.
   "You're used to all of—this.  Aren't you?" he began.
   I shrugged.
   "It's a beautiful place..."
   I nodded.
   He didn't see it, so he turned round, a little slowly, as if expecting a response.  He knew me too well, though, and gave me a somber expression instead.  The topic was changed.
   "I'll never be completely used to it," I looked down.
   We began to move away from the porch.  He walked like a silhouette, his black-brown hair juxtaposed upon the blaze of light in the orange trees, and at our footsteps.  His smile was wry and reluctant.
   "I can't help it—" was his reply.
   Nobody could help it.  The humidity of the weather was making it difficult to see clearly.  My hair was flat and growing wet; far off, there was a neighbor's lawnmower.
   "It's not as bad as you think," he assented, finally.
   Our faces met a second, and, for once, a look left his eyes that was more than sympathy.  A look, and he did not hide it.  It went straight to the back of my mind, to stay.
   The orange orchard overpowered him; he could give me nothing else.  Turning again, he led me on, at an unreachable meter's length away.  The smell of the oranges came back to replace the blink of feeling left and gone. 

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (reactions part 2)

(Part 1 here)

*** BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD ***

There is no doubt one of the most memorable scenes in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is Barrels Out of Bond.

The film is breathlessly action-packed all the way through, but this scene may be the capstone of fight sequences.  If you love choreographed martial arts in a whitewater river  rafting (barreling?) setting, this will be a highlight for sure.  I got a kick out of seeing elves racing/flying/dancing through the trees like it's nothing.  And, for all that, Bombur gets the award for most win fighting skills.  A great scene from the book, taken to a greater level.

I've gone on quite a bit already about the monsters and action - by no means does this take away from the cinematography and scenery, the Middle Earth we all know so well.  Every landscape was a work of art.



Mirkwood, and in particular Thranduil's fortress, was woodsy yet elegant and elven at the same time.  Erebor, Thorin's kingdom under the mountain, was reminiscent of Moria, yet more elaborate.  Emiko said it resembled a forest, over a floor of gold, and I can definitely see that!  Lake-town looked properly cosy and cold, with canals instead of roads, and just like a fairytale town (Baroque?  Elizabethan English?  Something like that...I don't have my history cap on today...)  Dol Goldur was hideous and depressing, as you might expect.

As an aside - one bit of imagery I want to point out.  It seems to me that Thranduil's crown, Smaug's head, and Sauron's helmet all have the same sort of shape and design.  Intentional, or coincidence??  (I feel a photo of Smaug would be too spoilery, so just take a good look at him when the time comes.)

Thorin's meeting with Thranduil was a really excellent scene.  Thorin is certainly too stubborn, and he's obviously shooting himself in the foot, but I can't help rooting for him in his confrontations with Thranduil.  It will only get more interesting if/when this comes back to haunt him in the last film.

On the subject of conversations, Bilbo meeting Smaug is #1 on my list of scenes to rewatch.  As a kid, I loved reading about mythical monsters, so finally seeing a convincing dragon and hearing him talk and watching him fly - well, it was nostalgic.  Bilbo is scared speechless, then starts talking nonsense.  Funny and scary at the same time, just like the book!

I should mention I didn't grow up reading The Hobbit.  It simply has all the right elements from fairytales you knew about before.  It takes you back to some of the best parts of your childhood, because we've all been Bilbo Baggins, at some point or other.  You just have to want to go on an adventure.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (reactions part 1)

Side effects may include exhaustion, increased arachnophobia, and random quotations.  Ask yourself if The Hobbit 2 is right for you.

The first question you should ask yourself is "Do I want to go on adventure?"  And then, "Do I believe in dragons???"

My family and I saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (a title I love writing out) earlier today, and still it is impossible to put my thoughts into coherent words. Basically I love Smaug, I love Thorin, and I love that Tolkien and Peter Jackson are utter geniuses.  All of them at once, I suppose.

We rejoin Thorin & Company after they have narrowly escaped Azog and his orc gang.  Their narrow escape was actually a fail.  A LOT of bad things happen.  For the plot, I really can't say more than the trailer does.  Even the trailer only shows you PART of the story.  If you thought the last film was a journey - well, this is the real deal.  So real I felt literally exhausted at the end.

Can we talk about characters for a bit, and then favorite scenes?



Beorn.  The bear shapeshifter dude.  My expectations were low, but Beorn was so well-written and emotively portrayed.  And very, very scary.

Hold on, let's go ahead and mention Beorn's house.  Beorn's beautiful house!  And the gigantic bumblebees.  I hope this scene has an extension.

Legolas.  It's as if PJ was thinking "Oh, purists hate Legolas's martial arts, do they?  Let's double it for the Hobbit!"  Confession: I love Lego's fighting stunts.  It's great seeing him as a hot-headed young prince.  With a bloody nose.

Tauriel.  I felt Tauriel was sadly non-descript, not nearly as compelling as Eowyn or Arwen.  On the other hand, her religious/spiritual convictions gave her character a little more depth in a couple of scenes.  Overall, not a bad addition, just not a great one.

Thranduil.  Lego's dad.  On the surface, he is calmer and more levelheaded; in reality, not much better than his son.  Thranduil oozes royalty and contempt, from the top of his artsy crown to the bottom of his regal gown robe. You kind of love to loathe him.

Bard.  I liked Bard.  I like the fact he has a family, and can read through Thorin's obsession and the Master of Lake Town's politics.  He's well-written, and though I once thought Richard Armitage had to play Bard, Luke Evans does a great job.

Gandalf.  Some great Gandalf moments, if rather few and far between!  I always miss him when he's off-screen.  There is a magnificent battle of wills between Gandalf and one of the antagonists - you definitely want to see that part.

Bilbo.  Once again, Martin Freeman puts life into a protagonist I used to think was a trifle flat.  I love how Bilbo's double life, if you will, is subtly and deftly portrayed.  On the one hand, he has gained real, substantive courage of his own.  On the other, he is becoming increasingly dependent on the Ring.  The scene where he momentarily loses the Ring is stunning, like a flash-forward to Fellowship.  (My sister and I both thought for a minute he looked like Ian Holm, too.)  Even though I know the story, I can't wait to see where this goes in the last film!

Thorin.  THORIN THOUGH.  I love this guy.  He's stubborn and way too self-assured (*cough* Boromir *cough*), and if you first saw Richard Armitage in North and South like I did, this casting makes perfect sense.  I like Thorin better than Thornton, though.  Thorin (and Boromir)'s downfall is half naivete and half willful blindness.  He believes good intentions are everything, and that ends could justify means.  The Hobbit 3 is going to break my heart.

Smaug.  The only character to possibly outshine Thorin.  Though I've seen Benedict Cumberbatch in several movies now, and though it was obviously his voice behind the dragon's head, it was also Smaug, 100%.  He's very book!Smaug, convincingly so.  He just might be my favoritest part - the cliffhanger was infuriating, if that's any indication.  If I had to pick one scene to rewatch right now, it would be his conversation with Bilbo.  You thought Thranduil, Thorin, Master of Laketown - hey, even Elrond - you thought those guys were regal?  They don't hold a candle to the King Under the Mountain.

And...it's almost 2 am here, so I will follow up with another post(s) tomorrow (er, later today)!

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Beware the Frozen Heart

My sister and I saw Frozen on Sunday.  I don't know what is harder to admit - that I finally wanted to see it, or that it's been haunting me ever since!

First what I didn't like, just to get it out of the way.

The movie, unfortunately, has a lot of cheesy scenes like what you see in the trailer.  I don't mean just Disney cheesy, but really, dreadfully idiotic scenes.  Usually it involved Anna acting exaggeratedly scatterbrained, or Olaf the Snowman.  A lot of people love Olaf, so maybe it's just me, but I cringed every time he came on screen.  He is so annoying, not in a cute and funny way like Tigger, just plain old cloyingly obnoxious.  I can't think of any other Disney comic sidekick or villain as aggravating as this guy.

Alrighty.  The other disappointment was several of the songs.  It makes me wonder what they were thinking to include "Fixer Upper", "Love is an Open Door," and "In Summer."  Even the (very popular) "Let It Go" and its corresponding scene felt more like a pop music video than a Disney song.  The lyrics in general aren't all that bad, but the genres are so out of place in this Nordic-inspired movie.  You just can't insert country/rock/20s music into a 19th-century world and call it good.  It's embarrassingly bad, especially contrasted with classics like Beauty and the Beast. 

These two cons give Frozen a sort of "group project" vibe, as if the director's vision was overridden at times.  Not good for a final draft.  (It's finals week, so pardon the analogy!)

From the songs, I can transition into what I loved about Frozen.   There were three songs I liked: "Frozen Heart," "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?", and "For the First Time in Forever (Reprise/Duet)."  The second two are heartbreaking songs about Elsa and Anna, while "Frozen Heart" is the EPIC intro song that is sung by the ice workers.  Epic, as in, it sounds like the dwarves singing in The Hobbit.  It set my hopes very high; maybe they should have saved it for the end of the story...

What really gives Frozen 4 out of 5 stars from me is not the three good songs nor the graphics (truly stunning, though).  It's the story, and messages.  Plot-wise, this is the Disney movie for people who despise Disney movies.  Wait, what?

Elsa is a princess who was born with the golden touch - only, she turns things into snow and ice instead of gold.  This unpredictable ability can result in either works of extraordinary beauty, or accidental hurt.  Afraid of hurting someone, she hides herself from the world, including her younger sister Anna, who becomes lonely and frustrated by Elsa's secrecy.  When their kingdom of Arundelle is hit with a sudden snowstorm, Anna believes her sister, once found, can undo the magic.  With the help of a suave Prince Hans and rustic ice-seller Kristoff, Anna sets off through the snowy mountains, determined to break through to the person who was once closest to her.

"An act of True Love!"  As in every fairytale, it is going to take true love to break the wintry spell.  Without divulging spoilers, I can only say that I was seriously impressed, and moved, by the unique, multiple (!) ways it unfolds Frozen.  

"Please don't shut me out again."  The song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" is Anna begging Elsa to take the time to be a sister.  A good thing to see a story calling for oldest children to be best friends with their siblings, not avoid them.

"Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?"  Anna is so sure that her dreams of romance and independence are coming true, Cinderella style.  This appalls one of her friends, who speaks the words of sense long overdue from Disney...

Change of heart.  Anna wants to change Elsa, but no matter how far she goes, she can't.  She can only love her, and it is up to Elsa to find her own change of heart.  Pretty deep, and very true.

Despite its problems, Frozen was worth seeing (I give it a 10+ age rating), and I would watch it again on DVD.  It's great to watch/discuss with your sister(s) and would also be a good mother-daughter movie.

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Lights

Then birds flew up as if in showers, I followed them with my eyes and saw how high they soared in one breath, till I felt not that they were rising but that I was falling . . .

—Franz Kafka, "Children on a Country Road"

• Read comparatively few books this year.  It feels wrong.
• Current excitement in my life is planning a 2014 reading list.  (nothing pathetic about that)
• Can we not talk about school, ever, ever again? 
• Electronica.  Kafka.  See the connection.
• "Above all, don't lie to yourself." * 
• "Live not by lies." **
• Joseph Conrad's birthday today. 
• Razumov lingered in the well-lighted street. He was firmly decided. Indeed, it could hardly be called a decision. He had simply discovered what he had meant to do all along. And yet he felt the need of some other mind's sanction.
  With something resembling anguish he said to himself—
  "I want to be understood." The universal aspiration with all its profound and melancholy meaning assailed heavily Razumov, who, amongst eighty millions of his kith and kin, had no heart to which he could open himself.
• Do I understand him? - did he understand me?  (which comes first?)
• . . . and holding fast to the ropes began to swing a little out of sheer weakness. Soon I was swinging more strongly as the air blew colder and instead of soaring birds trembling stars appeared.

* Dostoyevsky
** Solzhenitsyn

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