My beef with Jane Austen (yes, I went there)
Sometimes, you CAN judge a book by its cover.
I got all Oprah and ‘yay literacy!’ last week when I decided I would better myself by watching less tv and reading more. While perusing my shelves I realized the only books on there that I hadn’t read were a borrowed copy of ‘Sense & Sensability’ and a how-to guide on how to survive a zombie attack (keeping for future reference, because, obviously). Sidebar: Yes, Mary. I still have your copy of S & S but will return it this weekend because, well, it sucks.
For those unfamiliar with my Jane Austen history, here it is in a nutshell:
I was introduced to Jane Austen when I watched Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow back in the 90’s. Period time clothes, fun olden days society stuff… I liked it! So I kept on keeping on with the watching of Austen books turned movies…Mansfield Park, Pride & Prejudice (BBC and Keira Knightley versions), adaptations like Clueless (loosely based on Emma), Bride and Prejudice (based on P & P), and tv miniseries Lost in Austen. Eventually I decided to try reading the books, starting with ‘Emma’ because I am such a die-hard lover of Clueless and Cher Horowitz is and forever will be my hero.
I got through about 20 pages and couldn’t deal. Good plot, strong premise, but… run-on sentences much? And run on sentences + old English language = egad. I decided Jane Austen just wasn’t for me. But here’s the thing. There’s like this secret club of girls around the world who LOVE Austen. It’s kind of like Fight Club, where you just don’t talk about it, but you know it’s there. And then, if you’re not a Jane Austen lover, there are some knowing glances exchanged among the Austen-lovers (an actual sub-segment of society known as Jane Austen Elitists). This is an actual thing, and not something I’ve concocted in my head. Then I feel the need to justify myself saying things like ‘But I like Mr. Darcy! You know, he’s cool and all… not my type really, but I can see why Emma would like him. And sure I prefer Colin Farrell over Colin Firth, but you know, different strokes for different folks and that sort of thing…’
The JA Elitists are so adamant that these are the greatest books ever that I decided to give Sense & Sensability a shot. After all, Emma was a book within a book so it had really tiny font and was difficult to hold, so maybe that’s why I didn’t’ like it? I got through 12 pages of S & S, and just…couldn’t. I read a sentence (that was 7 lines long), to my husband and he looked visibly horrified. Look, I think the inner workings of society back then are interesting and story-worthy, and I like the movie characters, I just can’t deal with the books. Am I really the only one who finds run-on old English writing style irritating? Do the JA Elitists really love these books, or do they secretly find them annoying are and just f****** with me?
For the record, I’ve read all of Anne of Green Gables and loved it, and Wuthering Heights and put up with it, so it’s not like my reading is exclusively limited to light chick-lit (though, mainly). I guess sometimes you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole, so unless Cher Horowitz herself is willing to read Emma aloud to me on while we shop and get mani-pedi’s, I’m sticking the to tv/movie versions. Exception: This. Because zombies, obviously.
May 2, 2012 2 Comments
Trippin’ / Chicago + Detroit (or, that time I ate Chicago)
We decided to pack up over Easter long to visit Joe’s family in Detroit. Last time we were out there, we hit up NY for a couple days, and though I was very, very tempted to do the NY route again, I’d heard so many great things about Chicago that we opted to check it out instead. Chicago was so amazing that I left both my heart and digestive system there, but first, Detroit…
I’ll fully admit I feel cooler because of the street cred visiting Detroit gives me. Leading up to this trip, when people would ask me where I was headed for the long weekend, I’d nonchalantly shrug and say, oh just out east to Detroit for a few days. They’d raise their eyebrows and would obviously look impressed. Then they’d of course ask why, and I’d reply vaguely that I had family there. But I would say it in a way that sort of sounded like maybe I myself was from Detroit, and that’s where I originally hailed from. Needless to say, it earned me tons of respect and street cred.
We did the obligatory touristy things the first time we visited D-town (this is what us locals call it), hitting up downtown, the Ford museum, lovely Ann Arbor, etc… So this time we just chilled out and spent time with family, though we did make an outing to the zoo which seems to have become our thing to do on vacays. This time we had an excuse because we were with our niece and nephew, unlike the Madrid zoo where we were literally the only adults there because we just really, really wanted to see animals.
This is my go-to pose when visiting the flamingo's
If this doesn't mean anything to you, we can't be friends
Visiting Eastern market, a gigantic farmers market in downtown Detroit. You can find everything from this guy, to flowers, crafts, home-made honey and more. Similar to Granville Island but better and with more street cred.
Detroit is actually a very interesting city. Growing up in Vancouver, it’s always weird to go to bigger cities where the downtown core is eerily deserted. For example, Detroit has tons of buildings, but nobody really lives downtown, and it’s generally pretty quiet. Despite this there is tons of flavour and culture, and general Detroit pride. Also, my former celebrity boyfriend Eminem is from here (full disclosure, I had a giant Eminem poster on my wall when I was 19). And this just happens to be my favourite commercial of all time. And I don’t say that lightly, it really is my favourite and I’m fickle so that’s saying alot. This almost makes me want to trade in my wheels for a 300. It’s just that epically cool.
When planning this trip, it worked out that we’d be in Chicago for 5 days, which I thought was too much. Turns out Chicago is a huge city that has a lot more to it besides Oprah and windy weather, so 5 days turned out to be perfect. The city is defined by it’s larger than life, stunning architecture. Huge skyscrapers are everywhere, in interesting shapes and such attention to detail it’s unreal. We did two architectural tours led by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, one by foot, the other by boat to really take in the city. Truly every building is beautiful and a work of art, you don’t see cookie-cutter highrises in Chicago. If you’re a fan of design or pretty things in general, I’d highly recommend checking it out.
Maxin' and Chillaxin' at Millenium Park
Outdoor theatre designed by Frank Gehry in Millenium Park
The famous 'Bean' art installation in Mellenium Park
Everyone takes funky shots of themselves in the Bean, which is all mirrored
Trump tower in the background
Tiffany glass mosaic in the Marquette buliding
Chicago Theatre
Cityscapes - neverending stuff to look at
Art installation in Millenium Park that turns into a fountain in warmer months
The Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower
View from 103 storey's up in the Willis Tower
The architectural boat ride tour was a great way to see the city
Seriously... neverending buildings
Also, more buildings.
We opted out of visiting the acclaimed Art Institute (how much art can a girl look at, you know?), and checked out the Field museum instead. I’ve always wanted to see dinosaur stuff, and this was my chance! The weird part about this visit was it really brought to light how old the Earth is, and how many lifeforms and era’s it’s taken on. We can’t be naive enough to think we’re the last and final phase the Earth is going to go through, right? What comes after us, and when? Luckily we went straight from the dinosaurs and questioning humanity experience straight to the Cubs game at Wrigley Field which was far less meta and brought us back to being ignorantly blissful.
The biggest formation of T-rex bones found worldwide is here
Real-life stuffed elephants from Africa
Wearing 4 inch boots to a Cubs game is not a good idea. Luckily, their merchandise store sells everything, including flip flops!
The coolest part of the game for me was when the crowd started singing 'Take me Out to the Ball Game.' Also, the hot dogs.
Go Cubs!
And then… there was the food. Seriously, it would be difficult to get a bad meal in Chicago it was so great. My favourite was probably the first night at Mercat. Amazing tapas and great sangria.
Mercat in the decked out Renaissance hotel.
Deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's. I had a ball of dough and cheese in my belly for days. Worth it? Yep.
Celebrity hotspot Harry Carry's was probably my least fave, but had an amazing meat and cheese platter I still think about.
Joe's fave was Bombay Grill on our last day. The best Indian fusion I've had in my life.
I can’t believe I’m almost done this post without mentioning the shopping. Truth be told, there was so much to do, see, and eat, that shopping wasn’t a big priority for me. But the popular Magnificent Mile has literally every store you can think of –Barney’s, Neiman’s, Saks, Nordstrom, Top Shop, Forever 21, just to name a few. If you’ve been to New York and loved it, check out Chicago before going back to NY. Just be sure to pack a jacket because they’re not kidding about that whole wind thing.
April 20, 2012 2 Comments
Watching depressing movies on beautiful sunny days = epic fail (but in a good way!)
Saturday was a bit of a bitter day. It was insane out. Like, punch you in the face, amazingly sunny. The husband had a stag that day so I had all these plans of going out, shopping, having some quality ‘me’ time, which really just means spending money and not worrying about it. So I had a wrench thrown into my plans when I woke up feeling like ****. Sidebar: Do you ever wake up on a really beautiful day, and think, eff. I just want to do nothing but it’s sunny outside and if I do nothing that would just make me a terrible person, and everyone else is doing something, and….eh fuck it ima sit around in my pj’s all day. Just me?
Although this wasn’t one of those days, I decided I’d make the most of being sick and catch up on some movies. After scouring my handy Shaw-On-Demand (RIP: video stores), I settled on Melancholia. It sounded weird, and I was in a bit of a weird mood. The synopsis: Two sisters (played by Kirstin Dunst & Charlotte Gainsbourg), find their already strained relationship challenged as a new planet threatens to collide with the Earth. My feelings on the film went as follows:
First 15 minutes: omg what am I watching. Why did I rent this pretentiously artsy depressing film when everyone is outside having fun. Everything sucks! Oh, look, Kiefer Sutherland!
30 minutes in: I’m intrigued, though this is still terrible.
60 minutes in: Well I’m invested so might as well finish it.
End: Existentialism! I should blog about this.
Spoilers below.
The movie is cleverly split into two parts; Justine, focussing on Dunst’s character, and Claire, about Gainsbourg’s character. Cleverly because the movie is artsy and meta and weird, and it helps to break it up. Justine’s half starts on her wedding day, as she’s getting hitched to the delish Alexander Skarsgard (aka vampire Eric). Pretty quickly we learn that her shiny life is really, really crappy. For no reason in particular though. Her parents are crappy, but beyond that nothing more is explained. She has extreme depression, and leaves the wedding to go take a bath, is absent for long periods of time, is distant with her new husband, and randomly has sex with a stranger at her wedding, leading said hubby to leave her. It’s not dramatic though, he just says bye, she says bye, he leaves, she watches him leave… and it’s all very weird and methodic and slow and strange.
In the 2nd half, Claire, we learn that Justine has become even more depressed and withdrawn, so much so that she has to come live with Claire and her family. It’s revealed that a gigantic planet that’s been hiding behind the sun, Melancholia, is plummeting towards Earth. It’s not supposed to hit the Earth, though Claire is worried about what will happen if it does. Claire starts freaking out, anxious about the end of the world, meanwhile Justine is cool as a cucumber. A bunch of stuff happens (watch the movie), until ultimately the last scene shows Claire, Justine, and Claire’s young son together as Melancholia incinerates the Earth.
If you’re going to watch this movie and expect an Armageddon with maybe some Steven Tyler love songs thrown in, you’ll be disappointed. The plot doesn’t matter so much, things don’t necessarily make sense. For example, they’re not tuning into CNN for coverage of the planet, nobody outside of their world is shown, there are no goodbye phone calls, etc… The plot is pretty bare, but it works. The big takeaway is that Justine was extremely depressed and down on what should have been the happiest day of her life, yet the ending of the world didn’t phase her. Meanwhile, Claire has a breakdown similar to Justine’s in the first half. It’s been said that Melancholia writer/director Lars Von Trier wrote the film after observing that depressed people are calm in situations that non-depressed people have anxiety over. I think to enjoy this film you need to throw away any issues about plot and things making sense and really just focus on the story. The acting is excellent and the cinematography, particularly when the planets collide is stunning, so worth watching for that alone.
My 21 year old self who was a fan of anything and everything ‘trippy’ would have been heads over heels for this movie. The pretentiousness at the beginning is irritating, but if you can get past that and onto the 2nd half it’s worth the watch.
The trailer:
March 26, 2012 No Comments
Get creative at Creative Mornings – Vancouver
In the past month, I’ve had atleast 4-5 people ask me about getting into the marketing/advertising/general creative field if they’re just starting out. My feedback is usually a combo of work-your-ass-off-y-ness & make solid connections. I can’t stress the importance of networking and continuous learning enough in a field that’s extremely competitive, brimming with talent, and constantly evolving.
When I used to think of networking, I’d think….adklfjadlkfjafdk. I really didn’t want to circle a room full of randoms and handout business cards in the hopes of making meaningful connections (you can’t make me)! BUT networking is a great way to meet others in your field and exchange ideas, collaborate, and learn something new.
I’m a big fan of Creative Mornings, a global breakfast lecture series catered to those who work in the creative field (think advertising, design, film, etc…). Each event starts with a 20 minute lecture by a guest speaker, followed by 20 minutes of group discussion / chillaxing. I don’t know about you, but my attention span wanes after an hour (or, if like me, you think of time in tv terms– two episodes of Saved By the Bell), so the short & sweetness of it works for me.
The next seminar is Friday April 13th from 8:30am – 10 am at W2 Media Café in the Woodward’s building atrium. Click here for details. And for all you broke students who are living off $50 for the next 3 weeks (ahhhh…..memories), you’ll be happy to know these events are free.
Be there, or risk being square.
Sidebar: If you’re wondering, Creative Mornings is run by a dedicated group of 12+ volunteers, including my lil’ bro, Mahyar. So show some love April 13th and come out!
Source: Image found on Creative Mornings Vancouver facebook page here.
March 22, 2012 2 Comments