Do you know what we live for?

We live for the delicious taste
of a medium-rare steak,
for the sweet tang of wine,
for the laughter we experience
when we hear a good joke,
for a touch,
for a look,
for a beautiful sunrise
after a long night,
for all those moments
that take our breath away.

We live our whole lives
in the hope of having a few magical minutes...

I find in dark times, we need some good music, infinite supply of coffee/beer/wine/etc and a friend who you can rely to bother him/her at the oddest hours of the day, calling frequently to share the immediately impulsive, stupidest things in your mind that are incredibly trivial to the person you are sharing them with, but insanely important to you at that moment. You also need a comfy bed since you will be spending quite a bit of time there, preferably a laptop to research sappy songs, stalk your ex, read love articles, blogs, writing atrocities on facebook, stalking your ex some more and enjoying some movies. This process does not have a defined time limit, it depends on the person on how long it will last and it also depends on the person on the order of how things will get done during the process.

At the end of this journey, the person needs to finish with a long shower to take away the grime of procrastination/self-deprecation/hibernation and end up with getting dressed nicely and going out for a drink with friends.

The process might be a recurred theme for some, but it will disappear once the hangover of failed relationship is gone or when new romance is in sight.

For those with different steps in the process of getting over someone, please notify me of some interesting/weird/funny/crazy ones. Am all ears for anything new....

Happy 2010!

Dear inexistent readers,

I want to wish all of you Happy New Year. May this be the beginning of new beautiful endeavors, challenges and journeys to achieving your dreams and your happiness.

May you all also be spared my new year's eve, a day of total ignoring from my bf who is now my ex-bf. May you all have someone to kiss at the moment the clock strikes 12, may you all be partying instead of working and may you all have wonderful friends to celebrate the bitterness of life and make it all better, just like I did.

I am heartbroken at the moment, but strangely comforted by the hope of new beginnings. I find that this was a very auspicious incident and that it is all for the best. I promise to write more frequently and you must forgive my absence lately, due to heavy partying.

I wish you all the best and may we all feel better this year than last...

Ane Brun

Oh, what a new musical discovery for me today! I found a female artist whose voice I adore and for some strange reason, seems to be the epitome of what I find truly wonderful in a female artist. She is artistic, very creative with her music, cool, not caring to look sexy, and most importantly has a melodious, soothing and yet rough voice that evokes images of streets of Paris, lounging in bed with a warm body, or early sunrise accompanied by kisses and hugs...
The first song is my favourite ever...

What do you guys think?

Offside

"Long Live Iran" were the constant chants I was hearing in the movie I just finished watching, titled "Offside". I feel light-hearted, happy and somewhat melancholic after watching it. The movie is so beautiful in its simplicity, the camera work is rough yet fluid, almost like a documentary and the plot is simple in appearance but with deep social meanings.

The movie revolves around a group of girls who get caught trying to sneak in to watch the game between Bahrain and Iran, an important game that determines if Iran will make it to the 2006 World Cup. During the story you see all of the stereotypes the world has of Iran and also some shattered ones, such as the kindness of men toward the women and their innocence in the love of the game. You will feel pity and anger towards the obvious discrimination and yet, be sweetly affected by the men's behaviour towards them. In amidst it all, there is humour, brilliant satire, love, respect and profound innocence and human spirit.

You can watch the movie here and enjoy its innocence, humour and raw beauty. It really is a gem....

Dorian Gray

I just finished watching the movie Dorian Gray, after watching it and ignoring it three times since last night. I have been a fan of Oscar Wilde since the time I first read one of his works, specifically, Lady Windermere's Fan. I fell in love with his wit, his language, his sarcastic remarks and his obvious cynic tone laced with joie de vivre. I have been wanting to read The Portrait of Dorian Gray for a while now but have not been able to yet, so when I discovered that there was a movie, I was excited.

The movie started interesting enough; it captured me with its dark colours, thriller music and beautiful set of late 19th century England. I got even more interested by the presence of Colin Firth in the movie who portrayed the amazing, flawed, deeply-sinful character of Lord Henry Wotton.

I thought the movie was well-done, but the story surprised me because I had no idea what the book was about. However, I think the choice of actor for Dorian Gray could have been better (his acting was not on the same level as the others), even though it seemed to me they had chosen an actor who had much physical similarities with Oscar Wilde himself. This means that the director was intending to portray Gray as a personification of Wilde in real life which is a pretty safe bet knowing how Wilde lived in real life.

The novel seems to me as if it is Wilde's reflections upon his own life, his own philosophies and world views and the musings of what would happen if he let his imagination run free. Wilde was the founder of Aesthetics and professed lover of beauty and anything related to it. He loved the arts, he loved life and he pursued beauty relentlessly and with such passion that he was well-known for his scandals. He was a bisexual and a scoundrel and you can find all of these in Dorian Gray.

Gray is Oscar Wilde and Lord Henry Wotton (Harry) is Oscar Wilde, but they symbolize two different parts of him or his character. The way Lord Harry talks is the way Wilde would talk which makes me think that this is the cynical side of Wilde, this is who he normally is in real life. Meanwhile, Gray is who he was as a young person and who he becomes later on, or who he thinks would he would be if he were to follow all of his wildest dreams. Lord Harry is the temptation and the devil behind Dorian's choices and his like of hedonism and aesthetic world view intrigue Dorian and lead him to make the mistakes he does. The movie is mostly about graphic beauty than character development and this is where it comes short from the book.

The story is a beautiful analysis of good versus evil inside oneself. The deterioration of the portrait as the human soul deteriorates with each sinful act is a pretty good account of reality, of the scars that each mistake leaves. It certainly brings the message home that be careful at how far you push your limits, for you will always have to pay for them in the end....

P.S. For those who want to see the movie online, you can view it here

Merry Christmas!

I was lying down, drifting off to sleep and feeling utterly exhausted from being upset when the screams of my mother calling me to go down to eat became too unbearable so I decided to get up and just go down to make her stop. I went down the stairs, reached the living room and was utterly mesmerized at the vision in front of me. The house looked beautiful, a warm glow from the candles on the table and the lights from the tree hugged every corner of the house and surrounded the dining table beautifully, where my mother along with my two brothers had already started eating the delicious food she had cooked. Oven-baked fish, fresh salad, butternut squash, fried peppers, vegetables and cake for dessert. I was still in no mood to eat or be surrounded by people but the sight of all this, warmed my heart and their smiles along with my conscience forced me to eat just a bit so I would not offend them and make them unhappy. I was given e glass of red Montepulciano, brought a glass of water as per my instructions and immediately after two bites, felt that I was actually hungry. As I continued eating and talking with my mom and brothers, I realized that the beauty of Christmas is truly family. The warmth and the happiness of the holiday season is not about how beautiful your house is, how expensive your gifts are or how extensive the choice of dishes on christmas dinner time. It is about just how loved and how much you enjoy each other's company. Our financial situation right now has us very limited in food or gift choices, but it has not stopped us from being happy by just being all of us together. I just hope that the rest of you are feeling the same magical feeling of family love....

With this, I give you my warmest wishes on this holiday season!