i haven't forgotten about you and the goals. i miss you actually while i've been busy with the food blog. i miss how i can type anything here...anything that comes to my mind...a type of freedom that i don't have in other spaces. no editing, no holding back (ok some of course) and straight out BLAH here.
so im just going to say...
1. i'm making peanut butter and nutella popsicles now. not now, like 5 minutes ago. breakfast of the champions!
2. i'm wondering what to do with the daylight...haha yes i'm listening to brooke fraser now too.
3. i'm fascinated with nature and how my skin heals so quickly and how my lips got swollen last night.
4. i seriously think im weird.
5. my heart is indescribably heavy...but im just gonna continue to smile and get through things by His grace.
6. i think phrases like 'killing time' shouldn't be used at all. time is precious...even seconds of our lives.
7. i wore this really nice white pant to work today. love summer white pants. i couldn't stop staring at my pants all day long. haha
8. i go strolling in the park at lunch and i see the cutest baby ducklings with their parents. they are always going around this tiny pond day after day. so i go see them everyday. i wonder if for them, is the pond and its surrounding (e.g. park), THE world? that's as big as they imagine the world to be? i know that's prob how God sees me too. the earth...the universe...bigger than my imagination. fascinating..
9. i was just talking to someone i haven't met on the phone. and i dont know whether its a she or a he. this person has a guy name but im sure it's a more feminine voice. im really confused...guess ill find out soon.
10. i saw a bald kid today so i'm guessing she has cancer. i know people feel extra terrible when they see sick kids...but i feel equal amount of sadness when i see sick old/senior people. they've lived a longer life...and they know more about things...wouldn't this sickness make it harder just because they've been in this world longer?
11. why are my points getting longer and longer. i like short.
12. lots of things happened since my last post. for example, i downed an espresso last week...took the hard stuff like a man! no sugar. whoa.
13. ok maybe time to do something more productive. but yeah, i just want to tell you blog, that i still remember you. are we okay then? forgive me? thanks!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
move with the food!
I've moved all my food related posts to my new blog:
http://greencilantro.blogspot.com/
This blog will now only feature my progress on those 101 goals ;)
http://greencilantro.blogspot.com/
This blog will now only feature my progress on those 101 goals ;)
Sunday, March 07, 2010
memories..
Sunday night again - not my favourite time of the week as I prepare for another week of work and uni ;)
I took my guitar to a music store to get it re-stringed finally so I can start drumming again soon - I'm excited! It's gonna have a beautiful now sound when I pick it up! The store person said my guitar is in great health - pretty much in a brand new condition and I told him that it's actually over 20 years old! Then that got me thinking that 'wow I am getting old!'. I don't think I have ever said something like 'That was 20 years ago' until recently...
Anyways, I'm off to bed!
I took my guitar to a music store to get it re-stringed finally so I can start drumming again soon - I'm excited! It's gonna have a beautiful now sound when I pick it up! The store person said my guitar is in great health - pretty much in a brand new condition and I told him that it's actually over 20 years old! Then that got me thinking that 'wow I am getting old!'. I don't think I have ever said something like 'That was 20 years ago' until recently...
Heard this quote today by C.S. Lewis:
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."
Just sorting through some pictures I took in Europe over 2 years ago tonight also.
I meant to put them up after my trip but never got to put aside some time to go through thousands of them. But now every once in a while, I would walk down the memory lane and take myself back to those pre-work days when I was brave and determined to backpack across Europe myself.
While I've taken albums of pics of beautiful monuments and landscape, I realised that I've pretty much forgotten where a lot of the pics were taken. I've lost the story associated each photo...it's sad!
Came across a bunch of meaningful ones tho. Thought I'd post 3 up.
This was at the south of Germany near Neuschwanstein (aka the Disney Castle) and Austria . I remember standing here in awe...thinking 'I am standing in Germany looking at the Austrian mountains'. Just then these geese in the pond came to view and I just thought it doesn't get any better than that.
This photo represents a typical 'service station break' for me in Europe. This was in Munich. Time to grab a snack and hot chocolate and scribble things in my journal. I've spent time in cafes planning my next country to visit and also people watching - observing how the locals interact with their family and friends and how they eat their food. I love cafe times.
This was taken in Luxembourg. I was not meant to come here because I was sick in Belgium. But this was one of the moments where I thought to myself, "it's either now or never...no regrets!" So eventually I pulled myself out of the hostel bed and took a train here...and it rained and RAINED. I had no umbrella and there was sooo much walking involved in this city that even my socks were completely soaked. I remember the squish squish sound I hear with each step. Also because of the bad weather, there were hardly anyone on the streets or at the tourist sights. It was like a deserted city on a cold grey misty day. I was so lonely and sick. This was the first day that I felt homesick.
Just sorting through some pictures I took in Europe over 2 years ago tonight also.
I meant to put them up after my trip but never got to put aside some time to go through thousands of them. But now every once in a while, I would walk down the memory lane and take myself back to those pre-work days when I was brave and determined to backpack across Europe myself.
While I've taken albums of pics of beautiful monuments and landscape, I realised that I've pretty much forgotten where a lot of the pics were taken. I've lost the story associated each photo...it's sad!
Came across a bunch of meaningful ones tho. Thought I'd post 3 up.
This was at the south of Germany near Neuschwanstein (aka the Disney Castle) and Austria . I remember standing here in awe...thinking 'I am standing in Germany looking at the Austrian mountains'. Just then these geese in the pond came to view and I just thought it doesn't get any better than that. 
This photo represents a typical 'service station break' for me in Europe. This was in Munich. Time to grab a snack and hot chocolate and scribble things in my journal. I've spent time in cafes planning my next country to visit and also people watching - observing how the locals interact with their family and friends and how they eat their food. I love cafe times.
This was taken in Luxembourg. I was not meant to come here because I was sick in Belgium. But this was one of the moments where I thought to myself, "it's either now or never...no regrets!" So eventually I pulled myself out of the hostel bed and took a train here...and it rained and RAINED. I had no umbrella and there was sooo much walking involved in this city that even my socks were completely soaked. I remember the squish squish sound I hear with each step. Also because of the bad weather, there were hardly anyone on the streets or at the tourist sights. It was like a deserted city on a cold grey misty day. I was so lonely and sick. This was the first day that I felt homesick.Anyways, I'm off to bed!
Monday, March 01, 2010
and just when you think it couldn't get any worse...
Apparently today's the first day of Autumn! Sydney greeted this day appropriately I thought - grey, cloudy sky and showers throughout the day.
I woke up on this day with a sore throat and painful muscles all over and so decided it would be a good idea to work from home. Just after I sent out an email to my manager to say that I'd be working from home, I realised that I had forgotten to bring my battery/charger home so would only be able to work for a maximum of 2 hours....hehe ooops. Oh wells, I could just take the afternoon off and relax before I start the first day of uni later at night! ;)
Then I decided to bake a cake. I've been wanting to bake something called a 'crack pie' for a long time! No, it doesn't contain crack or any type of drugs, but it was so-called by David Chang and Christina Tosi (chefs of Momofuku in NYC) because it is highly addictive! In NYC, this cake sells at $44 a pie! I found the recipe on LA Times over the weekend and managed to buy all the ingredients required, so what better time to bake it than this Monday afternoon?!
There are 3 components to this cake and so it was definitely time consuming. I had to make some cookies first, then break those cookies into crumbs to make the pie base. Then there is the filling of the pie as well. It took me just over 2 hours to complete my pie in between watching Oprah (today was on failing marriages due to financial stress...as usual - communication is the key!).
My pie actually looked very pretty - prettier than the ones I see online ;) I went to my room to grab my camera and as I as about to take a picture of the beautiful gooey caramel-y cake, the battery died right then and there. So I got another camera and believe it or not, it died in the same fashion as the previous. And then I realised I left my charger in Taiwan over the December holiday too so re-charge is not an option... Although disappointed, the thought of eating the cake soon made up for it!
According to the recipe, I am supposed to chill the cake in the fridge for an hour before consuming. So into the fridge it went! Because we went grocery shopping yesterday, the fridge is as full as it can be. The only area with space is the top of the fridge with all the cans and bottles- probably not the most stable place anything. But I made sure that there were enough evenly spaced cans to support my pie. Yeah, you know where this is going right?! An hour later, I was rushing to prepare a quick dinner (because I had to leave home at 4pm in order to get to class on time) and when I opened my fridge door for the 2nd time, the whole pie came flying out (in what seems like slow motion)...it did graceful turn and then thump...face down! It took my brain a good 5 sec to register what had happened, and that the million little pieces of crumbs on the ground are what I had spent hours making in the morning. Why did I put the pie on the top shelf of the fridge?!?!?! Who is stupid enough to do that?! I couldn't believe something I had waited so long to taste is now a gooey mess on my kitchen floor. I took out a spoon, sat on the kitchen floor, and began to eat off the floor. I know, I AM disgusting but at that time I was too heartbroken to care (btw, just the top layer of course..hehe). I was saddened even more when I remembered that I couldn't even take a photo of the cake on the ground!
After I cleaned up, I was already running late for uni. On the way to the station, it started to pour heavily and I had forgotten my umbrella! I was almost completely drenched...Oh well, almost at the station anyways! Just then, I heard the train coming so I ran as fast as I could. At the ticket gate place, I looked into my bag frantically looking for my ticket - then it occured to me that I had left my weekly ticket in another bag at home. So I decided to buy a return ticket for today because I couldn't bother going home to get it. Waited for ages in line, and when it finally go to my turn, the station guy told me that they don't accept credit cards for ticket under $25...I had no money at all except a credit card because I had left my wallet at work since last Friday. I wasn't going to spend $25 on my ticket to uni, so I had no choice but to go home. Arghh. Already late - I was going to meeting Ying near Hyde Park to go to class together. After I grabbed my ticket and umbrella from home (it stopped raining as soon as I got my umbrella) I made my way to station again - heard the oncoming train and again ran towards the station. I missed my train by 2 seconds! Had to wait for another 10 minutes for the next train. At that moment, I think my flu worsened and I was starting to develop a fever!
Finally the train arrived. I sat down and felt jigging the first day of class already. At the next station, this guy with the worst ever B.O decided to sit next to me. It made my headache worse and I had to swallow a few panadols to calm myself down (not that panadol is a stabilizer or anything). He got off at the same station as me and I felt like he was following me because I could smell him long after I got off the train.
So I had to buy a bus pass to get to UNSW. I found a newsagent at Central station and thankfully they accept credit cards! However, after I swiped my credit card - the receipt sheet which I am supposed to sign didn't come out of the machine. The sales person banged that little black box on the top, from the side - thinking it'd fix the issue. I wasn't surprised by then because I knew whatever could go wrong...would go wrong! After what seems like a long time, they reversed the amount on my card and found another black machine which works to continue with the transaction. Yay...went smoothly this time!
I then successfully got on to a bus which took me to UNSW. By then it was way past 5pm (which is when the class starts) and was raining cats and dogs again. I had asked Ying to meet me in class instead and also asked her to send me the venue of the class. I got to the Red Centre (felt all nostalgic there because I had spent a lot of time in the Red Centre during my undergrad years). Found the room number that Ying sent me....the class has already started and the room was so dark that I could only see shadows of students. I saw an empty seat on the first row and sat there - the lecturer saw me coming in late and was so nice as she came and gave me a pile of course outline and papers etc. I looked at the words on the top of the pile.."Cardiovascular Diabetology"... Ummmmmmmm. I thought I had enrolled in Intro to Probability and Stochastic Processes. Maybe these postgrad courses are really advanced I thought. Or these are future projects/assignments.
I looked around and couldn't see Ying. But it was so dark anyways so I figured she must be behind me somewhere. As the lecture progressed, I was getting more and more confused. The lecturer talked of Clinical Trials and lots of biological terms. I flipped through the notes again and realised I was sitting in the wrong class. I didn't want to leave just like that because I was sitting right in front of the lecturer and she was so nice and all. How discouraging would it be for her if I just left in the middle of her talk?! I continued sitting there...until I gathered enough courage to make a run for the exit of the room!
Outside the class, I called Ying. WHERE ARE YOU!?!? She said she was in a faculty member's office trying to find the room as well (the room number she was given was wrong). I eventually met up with her and the girl who was helping her had to leave as it was way past her working hours. So we proceeded to find another office within the building to find a faculty member to help. We found this post grad girl in her office and she allowed us to use my computer to find the room. There were no information whatsoever on the faculty websites. So because there are 5 levels in the Red Centre building, we went level to level, searching through every single room. Most of them were empty. We then went through other surrounding buildings...Old Main Building, Robert Webster etc etc. By then I was wet - not sure if it was rain or me sweating, and feeling like I was running a marathon. We were at least 1 hr late for class already at that stage. Went back to Red Centre, found this nice postgrad person who said he's been working at the maths faculty for over 8 years and was pretty sure the room printed on the outline is the one that we've searched for (which is empty). He let us use his machine again and tried to help. We sat in his office for a while trying to figure out what to do. He then got more help from his colleagues and so we were all getting pretty confused at that stage. A
By then I had giving up going to class. But we thought we'd give it one last try. I saw this other office with someone inside and asked that dude for help. He pointed me to the office of the faculty head. Now, the faculty head was also very confused. Someone suggested to him that he call the lecturer of our course on her mobile phone. He was reluctant but eventually he had to. To my amazement, she picked up the phone and they chatted for a while. Then he hanged up and said "She decided to move the class to start next week! You would've known if you had checked the BlackBoard".
Long story short, BlackBoard is a new site used in UNSW for lecturers to post updates about their courses (I didn't know this site existed until today!). I had no access to that site because I wasn't enrolled properly (although when I emailed the course administrator last week, she assured me that I was properly enrolled).
So yeah, I had no idea that lecturers can just postpone week 1 to start on 'week 2'. Since when do things like that happen?! Also found out there is a midsession exam in 3 weeks time and also an assignment due by then as well...eeeek.
Made my way back home to Chatswood after what felt like a wasted journey to afar and went to dinner with Ying. A hot soup must be called for after a day like this. As I started to warm up at the restaurant and watched the rain splatter on the pavement, I began to chuckle at my 'misfortune' throughout the day...it feels surreal as if I am playing a role in a movie (probably because I was feverish too). It had been an eventful day to say the least...My patience was tested for sure - a roll in the eye when someone in front of me was talking so slowly, a groan when I missed my train, or a thought like "you don't know what I've been through today to be talking to me like this"... I may have gotten more ill than this morning and may have wasted some effort in my cake making and class finding - but I am sitting here, sheltered and warm at the end of the day (or on the first day of Autumn)- slurping on my hot soup while chatting with a friend. While I don't know whether tomorrow or the day after would be like today (I hope not!) I know that I am far more blessed than I deserve, that's what I know for sure.
I woke up on this day with a sore throat and painful muscles all over and so decided it would be a good idea to work from home. Just after I sent out an email to my manager to say that I'd be working from home, I realised that I had forgotten to bring my battery/charger home so would only be able to work for a maximum of 2 hours....hehe ooops. Oh wells, I could just take the afternoon off and relax before I start the first day of uni later at night! ;)
Then I decided to bake a cake. I've been wanting to bake something called a 'crack pie' for a long time! No, it doesn't contain crack or any type of drugs, but it was so-called by David Chang and Christina Tosi (chefs of Momofuku in NYC) because it is highly addictive! In NYC, this cake sells at $44 a pie! I found the recipe on LA Times over the weekend and managed to buy all the ingredients required, so what better time to bake it than this Monday afternoon?!
There are 3 components to this cake and so it was definitely time consuming. I had to make some cookies first, then break those cookies into crumbs to make the pie base. Then there is the filling of the pie as well. It took me just over 2 hours to complete my pie in between watching Oprah (today was on failing marriages due to financial stress...as usual - communication is the key!).
My pie actually looked very pretty - prettier than the ones I see online ;) I went to my room to grab my camera and as I as about to take a picture of the beautiful gooey caramel-y cake, the battery died right then and there. So I got another camera and believe it or not, it died in the same fashion as the previous. And then I realised I left my charger in Taiwan over the December holiday too so re-charge is not an option... Although disappointed, the thought of eating the cake soon made up for it!
According to the recipe, I am supposed to chill the cake in the fridge for an hour before consuming. So into the fridge it went! Because we went grocery shopping yesterday, the fridge is as full as it can be. The only area with space is the top of the fridge with all the cans and bottles- probably not the most stable place anything. But I made sure that there were enough evenly spaced cans to support my pie. Yeah, you know where this is going right?! An hour later, I was rushing to prepare a quick dinner (because I had to leave home at 4pm in order to get to class on time) and when I opened my fridge door for the 2nd time, the whole pie came flying out (in what seems like slow motion)...it did graceful turn and then thump...face down! It took my brain a good 5 sec to register what had happened, and that the million little pieces of crumbs on the ground are what I had spent hours making in the morning. Why did I put the pie on the top shelf of the fridge?!?!?! Who is stupid enough to do that?! I couldn't believe something I had waited so long to taste is now a gooey mess on my kitchen floor. I took out a spoon, sat on the kitchen floor, and began to eat off the floor. I know, I AM disgusting but at that time I was too heartbroken to care (btw, just the top layer of course..hehe). I was saddened even more when I remembered that I couldn't even take a photo of the cake on the ground!
After I cleaned up, I was already running late for uni. On the way to the station, it started to pour heavily and I had forgotten my umbrella! I was almost completely drenched...Oh well, almost at the station anyways! Just then, I heard the train coming so I ran as fast as I could. At the ticket gate place, I looked into my bag frantically looking for my ticket - then it occured to me that I had left my weekly ticket in another bag at home. So I decided to buy a return ticket for today because I couldn't bother going home to get it. Waited for ages in line, and when it finally go to my turn, the station guy told me that they don't accept credit cards for ticket under $25...I had no money at all except a credit card because I had left my wallet at work since last Friday. I wasn't going to spend $25 on my ticket to uni, so I had no choice but to go home. Arghh. Already late - I was going to meeting Ying near Hyde Park to go to class together. After I grabbed my ticket and umbrella from home (it stopped raining as soon as I got my umbrella) I made my way to station again - heard the oncoming train and again ran towards the station. I missed my train by 2 seconds! Had to wait for another 10 minutes for the next train. At that moment, I think my flu worsened and I was starting to develop a fever!
Finally the train arrived. I sat down and felt jigging the first day of class already. At the next station, this guy with the worst ever B.O decided to sit next to me. It made my headache worse and I had to swallow a few panadols to calm myself down (not that panadol is a stabilizer or anything). He got off at the same station as me and I felt like he was following me because I could smell him long after I got off the train.
So I had to buy a bus pass to get to UNSW. I found a newsagent at Central station and thankfully they accept credit cards! However, after I swiped my credit card - the receipt sheet which I am supposed to sign didn't come out of the machine. The sales person banged that little black box on the top, from the side - thinking it'd fix the issue. I wasn't surprised by then because I knew whatever could go wrong...would go wrong! After what seems like a long time, they reversed the amount on my card and found another black machine which works to continue with the transaction. Yay...went smoothly this time!
I then successfully got on to a bus which took me to UNSW. By then it was way past 5pm (which is when the class starts) and was raining cats and dogs again. I had asked Ying to meet me in class instead and also asked her to send me the venue of the class. I got to the Red Centre (felt all nostalgic there because I had spent a lot of time in the Red Centre during my undergrad years). Found the room number that Ying sent me....the class has already started and the room was so dark that I could only see shadows of students. I saw an empty seat on the first row and sat there - the lecturer saw me coming in late and was so nice as she came and gave me a pile of course outline and papers etc. I looked at the words on the top of the pile.."Cardiovascular Diabetology"... Ummmmmmmm. I thought I had enrolled in Intro to Probability and Stochastic Processes. Maybe these postgrad courses are really advanced I thought. Or these are future projects/assignments.
I looked around and couldn't see Ying. But it was so dark anyways so I figured she must be behind me somewhere. As the lecture progressed, I was getting more and more confused. The lecturer talked of Clinical Trials and lots of biological terms. I flipped through the notes again and realised I was sitting in the wrong class. I didn't want to leave just like that because I was sitting right in front of the lecturer and she was so nice and all. How discouraging would it be for her if I just left in the middle of her talk?! I continued sitting there...until I gathered enough courage to make a run for the exit of the room!
Outside the class, I called Ying. WHERE ARE YOU!?!? She said she was in a faculty member's office trying to find the room as well (the room number she was given was wrong). I eventually met up with her and the girl who was helping her had to leave as it was way past her working hours. So we proceeded to find another office within the building to find a faculty member to help. We found this post grad girl in her office and she allowed us to use my computer to find the room. There were no information whatsoever on the faculty websites. So because there are 5 levels in the Red Centre building, we went level to level, searching through every single room. Most of them were empty. We then went through other surrounding buildings...Old Main Building, Robert Webster etc etc. By then I was wet - not sure if it was rain or me sweating, and feeling like I was running a marathon. We were at least 1 hr late for class already at that stage. Went back to Red Centre, found this nice postgrad person who said he's been working at the maths faculty for over 8 years and was pretty sure the room printed on the outline is the one that we've searched for (which is empty). He let us use his machine again and tried to help. We sat in his office for a while trying to figure out what to do. He then got more help from his colleagues and so we were all getting pretty confused at that stage. A
By then I had giving up going to class. But we thought we'd give it one last try. I saw this other office with someone inside and asked that dude for help. He pointed me to the office of the faculty head. Now, the faculty head was also very confused. Someone suggested to him that he call the lecturer of our course on her mobile phone. He was reluctant but eventually he had to. To my amazement, she picked up the phone and they chatted for a while. Then he hanged up and said "She decided to move the class to start next week! You would've known if you had checked the BlackBoard".
Long story short, BlackBoard is a new site used in UNSW for lecturers to post updates about their courses (I didn't know this site existed until today!). I had no access to that site because I wasn't enrolled properly (although when I emailed the course administrator last week, she assured me that I was properly enrolled).
So yeah, I had no idea that lecturers can just postpone week 1 to start on 'week 2'. Since when do things like that happen?! Also found out there is a midsession exam in 3 weeks time and also an assignment due by then as well...eeeek.
Made my way back home to Chatswood after what felt like a wasted journey to afar and went to dinner with Ying. A hot soup must be called for after a day like this. As I started to warm up at the restaurant and watched the rain splatter on the pavement, I began to chuckle at my 'misfortune' throughout the day...it feels surreal as if I am playing a role in a movie (probably because I was feverish too). It had been an eventful day to say the least...My patience was tested for sure - a roll in the eye when someone in front of me was talking so slowly, a groan when I missed my train, or a thought like "you don't know what I've been through today to be talking to me like this"... I may have gotten more ill than this morning and may have wasted some effort in my cake making and class finding - but I am sitting here, sheltered and warm at the end of the day (or on the first day of Autumn)- slurping on my hot soup while chatting with a friend. While I don't know whether tomorrow or the day after would be like today (I hope not!) I know that I am far more blessed than I deserve, that's what I know for sure.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
IMDB Top 50
| Rank | Rating | Title | Votes |
| 1. | 9.1 | The Shawshank Redemption (1994) | 474,111 |
| 2. | 9.1 | The Godfather (1972) | 382,871 |
| 3. | 9.0 | The Godfather: Part II (1974) | 225,789 |
| 4. | 8.9 | Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) | 143,645 |
| 5. | 8.9 | Pulp Fiction (1994) | 385,567 |
| 6. | 8.8 | Schindler's List (1993) | 255,335 |
| 7. | 8.8 | 12 Angry Men (1957) | 105,268 |
| 8. | 8.8 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) | 196,722 |
| 9. | 8.8 | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back(1980) | 259,486 |
| 10. | 8.8 | The Dark Knight (2008) | 422,452 |
| 11. | 8.8 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003) | 337,818 |
| 12. | 8.8 | Star Wars (1977) | 303,041 |
| 13. | 8.7 | Casablanca (1942) | 157,486 |
| 14. | 8.7 | Goodfellas (1990) | 211,355 |
| 15. | 8.7 | Shichinin no samurai (1954) | 89,921 |
| 16. | 8.7 | Fight Club (1999) | 351,122 |
| 17. | 8.7 | Cidade de Deus (2002) | 151,911 |
| 18. | 8.7 | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | 228,774 |
| 19. | 8.7 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001) | 362,973 |
| 20. | 8.7 | Rear Window (1954) | 110,308 |
| 21. | 8.7 | The Usual Suspects (1995) | 249,807 |
| 22. | 8.7 | Psycho (1960) | 132,882 |
| 23. | 8.7 | C'era una volta il West (1968) | 67,252 |
| 24. | 8.6 | The Silence of the Lambs (1991) | 227,150 |
| 25. | 8.6 | The Matrix (1999) | 354,349 |
| 26. | 8.6 | Se7en (1995) | 255,986 |
| 27. | 8.6 | Memento (2000) | 250,373 |
| 28. | 8.6 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) | 305,096 |
| 29. | 8.6 | It's a Wonderful Life (1946) | 95,634 |
| 30. | 8.6 | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) | 147,251 |
| 31. | 8.6 | Sunset Blvd. (1950) | 50,102 |
| 32. | 8.6 | North by Northwest (1959) | 86,894 |
| 33. | 8.6 | Citizen Kane (1941) | 130,806 |
| 34. | 8.6 | Léon (1994) | 182,776 |
| 35. | 8.6 | Apocalypse Now (1979) | 162,263 |
| 36. | 8.5 | American Beauty (1999) | 273,872 |
| 37. | 8.5 | American History X (1998) | 206,242 |
| 38. | 8.5 | Forrest Gump (1994) | 275,412 |
| 39. | 8.5 | Taxi Driver (1976) | 143,249 |
| 40. | 8.5 | Vertigo (1958) | 85,103 |
| 41. | 8.5 | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) | 74,612 |
| 42. | 8.5 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) | 219,587 |
| 43. | 8.5 | Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) | 167,009 |
| 44. | 8.5 | WALL·E (2008) | 161,389 |
| 45. | 8.5 | Alien (1979) | 167,420 |
| 46. | 8.5 | Avatar (2009) | 178,680 |
| 47. | 8.5 | Saving Private Ryan (1998) | 252,203 |
| 48. | 8.5 | A Clockwork Orange (1971) | 179,952 |
| 49. | 8.5 | The Shining (1980) | 163,905 |
| 50. | 8.4 | Paths of Glory (1957) | 41,353 |
Goal #9: Watch all the movies on the IMBD top 50 [0/50]
I wish I hadn't made this goal without looking at what the top 50's were!
The moves highlighted in red above are the ones I've seen already. Which means I've only seen 15 out of 50. I was so sure I would've seen at least half of the top 50's so thought this goal should be fairly easy...
Can I say that I'm not really looking forward to those un-highlighted movies?! They seem like pretty heavy stuff...I don't mind the Godfathers (according to one of my favourite movies - You've Got Mail - the Godfather is 'the answer to any question') but movies like say #30 - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb? How did that make it to the top 30?!
Monday, January 18, 2010
up close
One of my goals in my earlier post was to 'love up close, not from a distance'. I think I should explain this because a few friends who knew about my goals seem to have misunderstood the meaning. ;)
I've been reminded about this goal from the recent news headlines of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, resulting in countless casualties. Whenever I see or hear similar events happening around the world, my heart would go out to victims such as the kids who were buried deep under next to their dead parents and all those starving Haitians fighting for food and water. In those moments in which I am uncovering the shocking details of the aftermath of the disasters, I would feel an overwhelming sense of compassion. But...as always, I leave it at that. I would feel as if my 'compassion' for the unfortunate is enough and then feel satisfied in the assurance that I am a compassionate and loving person who is not out of touch with the rest of the world. A moment later on, I would carry on my daily routines and become occupied with my list of to-do's again, with the news at the back of my mind...and eventually out of my mind, just like the newspaper headlines.
It is hard to love up close. Honestly I've always preferred to love from a distance in comfort. Getting too close means I would have to sacrifice something. Getting too close means it costs me something of value. Then it makes me wonder about what real love is. It is not about being comfortable and feeling warm and safe. Maybe it is about getting close enough with the willingness to sacrifice. It is definitely not comfortable.
I can think of a few opportunities for me to 'love up close' this year. Will definitely be a challenge as I'm sure it will be harder when I am confronted with it. Maybe I will write about it another day.
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