The Hunger Games

Until last week, I did not know why people were talking so much about The Hunger Games--now I know.  This happened with the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series, just to name a few. And for some reason, I wanted to join the crowd this time. I was never curious about Edward and Jacob; I still am not. But I was curious about Katniss, Gale and Peeta. Who is this Peeta that everyone is talking about? Honestly, I just wanted to understand all the Peeta memes.  There were SO many out there!

I read it in about 5 different sittings. I usually cannot read a lot in one sitting, but this book was hard to stop in the middle. The story was easy to follow but there was enough action and drama that kept me interested. The fact that it was told in present tense (except for some parts where Katniss reflected on the past) made the reading go fast as well.  Although there were times when I wished for more detail, this story was a good read as is probably because it captured how quickly the events were happening in the Hunger Games.

The setting is very interesting, and I found Katniss likable. An honest narrator and a confident character. She doesn't complain about participating in the game or her helpless situation. If I could, I would've sponsored her.

I purposefully waited until I finished the book to watch the movie. I'm glad I did. It is almost impossible for movies to capture all details presented in the book unless they are hours and hours long. "The Hunger Games (2012)" was not an exception. The movie couldn't develop the characters as much as the book did. For me, the movie was just a good visual after reading the book.  (Also, on a different but related note, I did not find Peeta or Gale in the movie as attractive as people have told me. Maybe I was too focused on the story and amazed by how brave Katniss can be?)

There are 2 more books to read in the series.  As soon as I was done with the first book, I got on the public library website to find the second book, Catching Fire. 87 people before me who are waiting for their turn to read the book. What a demand. I'll have to find a different way to read Catching Fire to avoid waiting months before getting to it. I'm looking forward to the next reading!

Happy Moments in Life

Falling in Love.    

Laughing so hard my face hurts.










A hot shower.

Getting mail.

Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends.

Hearing my favorite song on the radio.

Lying in bed listening to the rain.

Waking up and realizing I still have a few more hours of sleep.

Chocolate milkshake.
Chocolate.

A long distance phone call.

A bubble bath.

Sweet dreams.

Giggling.

A good conversation.

The beach.

Laughing at myself.

Running through sprinklers.

Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

Friends. Laughing at an inside joke.

Making new friends.

Spending time with old friends.

Song lyrics printed inside a new CD so I can sing along without feeling stupid.

Getting butterflies in my stomach every time I see that one person.

Making eye contact with a cute stranger.

Holding hands with someone you care about.

Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

Discovering that love is unconditional and stronger than time.

Hugging the person you love.

Watching someone's face as they open much-desired present from me.

Watching the sunrise.

Getting out of bed every morning and being thankful for another beautiful day.

Captain

"Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen. This is an American flight ### service to Columbus. I am Captain blah blah...."

This is the message that we hear from the captain as we wait for the airplane to depart.  I heard it again, as usual, on my flights from LA to Columbus as I was flying back from my spring break. I am very used to this announcement because I'm used to flying, but today, this familiar message from the captain didn't just pass through my ears. A new thought came into my head: Why haven't I ever heard from a female captain?

Every flight I've been on, the captain has been a man. I've seen plenty of female and a good number of male flight attendants. But never a female voice make the captain's announcement.

Then I started to ask myself some questions: Is this job not preferred by females? Is it because this job requires a lot of time away from home and women don't want to leave home, away from their family and kids? But there are many female flight attendants in the same position who probably leave home for days at a time. Why?

It might have a very simple answer to it, and I might have been over thinking it.  But I spent the whole time the captain was making this announcement thinking about it--why aren't there any female captains? A very random thought, but also pretty interesting to think about...

Like Crazy (2011)

I can't remember how exactly I found this movie, but saw it for the first time during this Spring break. I fell in love with it instantly! 

I've never been in a long distance relationship like Anna and Jacob have in the movie. But I do understand their love for each other. Most movies need dialogue in order for the audience to understand the story line. But in "Like Crazy," the conversations don't necessarily need to be said because the movie is more about emotions and feelings rather than understanding of the exposition-complication-climax-resolution sequence. There are many parts in the movie when Anna and Jacob don't talk but still have a form of conversation through their feelings by looking at each other or holding each other. These feelings and emotions almost can't be shared through words.

Also, this movie got me thinking about change over time. Things don't stay the same--especially human relationships, love. As time passes, as two people interact more and experience things together, things change. We call that "building a relationship."  Day after another, people interact with each other and build more to their existing relationship, which changes over time.  "Like Crazy" shows how that change might occur, what it might look like, and what it brings to people after a period of time. It tells an honest story of two people and their relationship over time, and that nothing stays forever.

"I thought I understood it, that I could grasp it, but I didn't, not really. Only the smudgeness of it; the pink-slippered, all-containered, semi-precious eagerness of it. I didn't realize it would sometimes be more than whole, that the wholeness was a rather luxurious idea. Because it's the halves that halve you in half. I didn't know, don't know, about the in-between bits; the gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me."

Changes by Seu Jorge

Had this on repeat while working in my office after kids left. It was one of the best ways to leave work after a long day.

Rainy Day

Sometimes, on a rainy day like today, I picture this to get through the day.

The fitful alternations of the rain,

When the chill wind, languid as with pain

Of its own heavy moisture, here and there

Drives through the gray and beamless atmosphere.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

How To Get Out of a Funk

1. Dress up. Not in the Saturday-night-going-out outfit, 

but something that requires a little more attention and effort to wear.

2. Karaoke in my car on the way to the mall.

Today's selection included Biebster's "Baby", 

Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and 

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

3. Get an iced drink from Starbucks. 

My top 2 choices: tall iced mocha, no whip or grande iced black tea. Classic.

4. Buy workout clothes.

5. Day dream.

Picture myself looking fierce and sharp in the new workout clothes for my new obsession, 

Mike Nicholson's Hiphop class!

6. Buy work clothes.

7. Day dream, part II.

Picture myself looking fashionable and charismatic in the new work clothes 

like Miranda Priestly from "Devil Wears Prada."

At the end of it, I don't even remember that I was in a funk!