10 Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts

Ten Bookish(And Not so Bookish) Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.

Ever since I started sophomore year I've had less and less time for reading/watching tv, etc. so there hasn't been much to review. I thought it would be a good time to do a couple memes and such just to keep myself actively blogging-- so here goes!

1.) Yes, I am STILL reading We The Drowned by Carsten Jensen. It's an amazing book, but also like five or six hundred pages, so it's a bit of a project. So far I'm really enjoying it! I feel like it's going to be one heck of a book review when I finally finish it.

2.) The new show on Fox, Sleepy Hollow, is actually pretty good?? I wasn't really expecting much from a drama about a colonial time-traveler and a sassy black cop and the apocalypse, but I've been enjoying it a lot. The characters are relatable and the story moves along well, although it has a bit of a villain-of-the-week feel right now. Sometimes the cinematography is a little reminiscent of someone who's just found new software that they're playing around with, but I can see it going places. Tom Mison and his mussy ponytail doesn't hurt either.

I sort of feel the need to watch the movie now?

3.) I've rediscovered my love for Mushi-shi. I watched it a year or two ago, and never even got through the full season, but I'm so glad I found it again because hands down it is the best anime I have ever watched. Every single frame is just pure art, and the story is poetic and contemplative. The show is sort of like a book of short stories-- each episode the characters, setting, and conflict are all different, but after you always come away with something to think about.... that sort of sad and yet content feeling you get from really great stories. It's so artful and creative and just plain out of the box, I need everyone to go watch it right now. 

4.) Battle of the Year is a strong contender for Worst Movie I've Ever Watched. I went to see it at a party, and literally I just couldn't even. It doesn't merit a proper review. Basically it was 50% cheesy inspirational speeches, 20% badly choreographed dances, and 30% zoom shots of Josh Peck gazing thoughtfully into the distance. The only good thing about it was Mah Boi D-Trix.

....and Chris Brown's intense stares.

5.) Agnes Obel's new album came out eeeep! It's called Aventine  and I have mixed feeling about it. I kind of half dread whenever and artist/filmmaker/author I like comes out with something new, because I feel like it will never be better than the original work... I think partly because I've already devoted myself to the original work, and it's been made better by my good memories of it. (Case in point- Hayao Miyazaki) So right now I don't think Aventine  is as good as Philharmonics, but I may come around. I like Dorian and The Curse, but I find that most of the songs have this sort of muddled sound as opposed to the clear piano riffs of Philharmonics-there's less to grasp onto. 

6.) People really need to start saying Autumn instead of fall- Autumn is far prettier and the word is more reminiscent of the season. To me, fall just sounds tacky. And yet I still find myself saying it. *sighs*

7.) Grades closed for progress reports today. That means I was up all last night making up the work I was too lazy to do when it was actually due : / But I've been getting good grades as I promised myself I would, so I'm not worried. I made a deal with my dad that he would get me a translation of the Tao te Ching if I got straight As, and I'm looking forward to a little more taoism in my life. It's weird that the school year is already and eighth of the way through, though. It feels like it's just begun.

8.) I've reached new levels of obsession with Wellesley College. I visited the campus this summer and it was love at first sight-- the stone architecture, the rolling hills and green every which way you looked. I was literally thinking how I felt like Juliet there when I saw a girl in a white dress sitting on a balcony. Just.. I'm completely and utterly enamored. I love that it's smaller, that it's all-girls, that it has such a supportive community. I need to go there and I need to to go there now. So I've been compulsively researching everything about it, and it's officially on my vision board.

9.) We've been doing a short story unit in English that I'm enjoying like crazy. Actually, I'm enjoying the class in general like crazy. I have a great teacher this year who's very prone to holding Socratic discussions, which is to my benefit since I literally can't keep my mouth shut about anything English related. But we've read Cathedral, The Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, A and P, The Cask of Amontillado, and most of Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies. I've been having so much fun interpreting and analyzing the stories-- maybe I'll do some posts about them if I feel like it. 

10.) I've made the resolution to get back into creative writing, which I'm really excited about. Hopefully I can get some work posted online and I think I'll try for a few competitions. 

Until next time!