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Monday, January 18, 2010

Wasted Youth




























Photo cred: Fashion Gone Rogue, Google Images, Mirage Magazine Issue No.2, The Company of People, Vintage Chloe Campaign S/S 05, Lookbook.nu

Morning at the Window
They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of the damp souls of house maids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.

The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
and tear from a passer by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the of the roofs.
-T.S. Eliot

An old favorite of mine. Eliot is probably my favorite writer and poet of all time. Ever since reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," back in Junior year of high school I became very connected to his anxiety ridden themes, beautifully metaphoric and rushed style, and his hidden desriptions and symbols burried under anxiety, fear, and helplessness. Eliot, like myself, suffered from anxiety disorders, so naturally, I really connect and relate to his work. 
He writes about such lonesome and tragic themes so beautifully, to me. 


The Golden, golden Globes
Last night, I watched the 2010 Golden Globe Awards almost the whole way through. The fashion was pretty consistantly well styled with lots of pastel and warm, peachy tones on the ladies and sexy nerdy bow ties and glasses on the men. However, this year's awards were also very touching to me. The acceptance speeches this year were very enjoyable and meaningful (except for a few: Chloe Sevigny, etc.) And all the awards recieved, for the most part, I thought, were pretty well earned.

Best Dressed
Plus, she seems so cool and down to earth.
Love this peachy tone on her porceline skin, clear blue eyes, and dark hair.
Her shoulders also looked incredible on this one shoulder top.
BEST BEST DRESSED
The stunningly beautiful, Christina Hendricks.


Oh my gosh. As soon as I saw her strutting down the red carpet in this silky peach gown, I was in utter shock. This is a real woman, if there ever was one. Her curves are simply flawless and her face is so feminine, sexy, and strong. I love that she embraces her curves and dresses to enhance them (seemlessly, I might add), something that can be quite challenging in a see of lolipop heads.
As I watched her interview, I increasingly fell more in love with her. She seemed so genuinly sweet, charming, and witty.


WORST


Sorry, Cameron Diaz. I know you tried, with your satin red dress and matching crimson lips but this just does not look good.
If you are going to wear something boring, at least make it a flattering cut, intersting color, or sexy shape.
But this has none of the above. The droopy, unsuccessfully draping neckline combined with the dull red color, bunchy satin material, looks as though she purchased it, sans stylist, from Charlotte Russe in the mall.
Unfortunately for her, her looks keep getting worse and worse each award season.
YIKES!


The Epitome of Class


Miss Meryl Streep.
I cannot name another actress who is elegant and eloquent than her. She is so refreshingly honest, well spoken, and humorous. She is, to me, the picture of wisdom, inteligence, and talent.
Not to mention, her obvious superb acting skills.
I just love the way she remains so true to herself, so honest, and so aware of the world around her.
Meryl reminds us that there is a difference between being an actress and a celebrity.
She won best actress for Julia and Juliet. I did not see this film, so I really cannot make any further comments on her role but, her accpetance speech alone was enough to make me respect her even more.
I love how she kept it short, sweet, and still touching, through speaking of her mother and adressing her own flaws as an actress and a person.
"I come to the Golden Globe weekend and I am conflicted how to have my happy movie self in the face of everything I am aware of in the real world, and that's when I have my mother's voice coming to me: Partners in health, shoot some money to Partners in Health, and be damn grateful you have the dollars to help. And I am grateful. I am really grateful."


James Cameron


Man, between Avatar and the legendary Titanic, Cameron must be one grateful, proud, and rich man!
I saw Avatar in 3D on Xmas with my fam and though I initially was not super hyped like the rest of the world to see it, I ultimately really enjoyed it and absorbed a lot of its political and enviormental parallels.
I am very excited that this movie won because this movie, aside from being very visually intriguing and action filled, was full of wonderful messages about all of humanity as well as cautionary images and themes involving modern issues like war, nuclear bombs, the destruction of natural resources and values, and human compassion, above all else.

Cameron's heartfelt acceptance speech was very touching and meaningful, also.
"Avatar asked us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to eachother, and us to the earth...you know, if you have to 4 and a half  light years to another made planet to appreciate this miracle of the world that we have right here, well you know what that's the magic of cinema...that's the magic."
This quote kind of summarizes the message that I intercepted after viewing this film. A notion, that, is heavily ignored and under publicized in all many forms of public media. Really, aside all of the our planet's cultural, religious, social, economic, etc. diversities, we as humans, are all part of one equal whole. In the big picture, we are all just mere children in Nature's large world. Overall, we have so little control of our lives in the grand scheme of things. This is helpful for me to think about personally, because lack or loss of control is a huge source of anxiety and fear for me. When I think about this big picture, I realize life is truly so precious and our time here is inconcievably limited. I may be able to control small details and arrangements in my personal life but, I am just one soul out of like, 7 billion other souls living right now, and in all actuality, we will all live and die. We belong to and are a product of nature it/her/him self. Nature is what allows us to live, to breathe, to be okay, to eat, to love, to function, to see clearly. Sadly, with everyday distractions and greedy needs and excessive desires, it has become the norm to forget about how small each of us and how beautiful and plentiful nature is.
We have recieved so many precious gifts from her which we have haphazardly used, abused, and violently destroyed for our own materialistic earnings.
Anyway, without going overboard on my tree hugging rant, this movie reminded me, and I think many people, that despite each individual's own beliefs, views, goals, etc. we are all human beings with the same basic and necesary needs, feelings, and emotions. We all love, laugh, cry, feel, eat, sleep, believe certain things, and most vaulably, share this planet and its resources. At the end of the day, it does not matter what religion you are in comparison to mine or how nice of a car you drive, etc., because we are all capable of utilizing the magic of the world for either good or evil.
We are all the same and we are all one with another. Each of us as individual humans are each our own specie of the greater whole in which we are a part of with a different blessing to offer or give to the world.
War, violence, economic deception, greed, pride, etc. are all petty in the big picture and distractions to what is truly important and blatantly obvious everyday, if we can only open our eyes completely to undertsand this.
Avatar simply reminded me that we are all as Cameron said, truly connected and part of a bigger, more powerful whole: nature. Fighting and battling endlessly is not helping this planet and is not proving anything to anyone it is only further distracting us from the beauties and the blessing that the world has given us.
Next time you are judging someone or doing something out of spite, greed, or anger, try to think about all that Earth has given us for free. Air, water, food, oxygen, companions. Why do we hate someone because they are not the same color as us? Think about the basic and essential functions of human beings
to survive. We are all, though with varied means of it, trying our best to do so, in any part of the world. Same goes for universal, basic feelings and emotions. I think we all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved.
We have been nurtured by our Earth and now it is time to nurture her back and nurture one another back as well.
It reminds me of the basic principle of existentialism. According to this philosophic view, we are to make decisions based on the making the decision best for all of humanity. Each of our decisions, in theory, affect the world, the person next to us just as much as it does the stranger living on the other side of the Earth. We are all equal when it comes down to it, we are all just human beings.
Let's change the way we view the world, as the first step to changing the world.
Let's look out side of each of our own boxes, step inside someone else's shoes and make decisions with the intention of universal good. Because really, despite any specific religious or moral beliefs, good is, generally, universal. Love is universal, respect is universal regardless of what church we attend or maybe, do not attend.

The fact that a fictional movie like this can provoke these kind of ephipanies, inspire global changes, and help humans change their views and their goals, is beautiful and just further reminds me of the power of art. Art in general is powerful enough to inspire and create all of these feelings becuase it, whether clearly or unclearly is a representation of the truth, of beauty, of nature, of human spirit and love. 
It is incredible to me that film has the power to remind people of such concepts and to change or remember what is important even with so much meaningless distractions that we create .


Anyway, congratulations to James Cameron for making a beautiful, thought provoking, and spiritually awakening film.

I think that beauty is more pure than we think it is.
And, I think destruction is more silent than when we listen for it.
I think, we just need to listen more closely and look deeper.



P.S.
With everything I wrote about above about the beauty of nature, I feel like it is important to adress the natural tradgedy the occured last Tuesday in Haiti.


As human beings we have the power to help others in a variety of ways. Of course, volunteering physically would probably most benefitial and helpful in this desperate time, donating money to the cause is just as appreciated at this point.
Of course, those of us who are unable to help financially can help by praying, positive thinking, crossing fingers, spreading awareness, etc.
Everything helps.