Amelie

I'm going to talk about my favorite movie ever now.

SIT DOWN AND LISTEN, CHILDREN.

So. Amelie. There are many reasons why I love this movie.

Let's make a list! By now I hope you've figured out that I quite enjoy making lists. So much easier to organize my thoughts.

READY? OKAYYYY HERE WE GO GO GO GO

REASONS WHY AMELIE IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE EVER

• Color. Amelie is full of colors. Simple colors that complement one another, and bring the setting together  to make a lovely image. Take this screencap for example: 

Notice how the walls, the couch, the pillows, even Amelie's clothing have a red and yellow theme going? Very warm colors that make the room feel all cozy and comfy. Then there's that splash of blue from the little lamp. Its perfect. Doesn't need anything more to complement the rest of the set, just a tiny touch of a cool blue color and it jumps out at you and somehow brings the room together. And you'll see this throughout the movie, where a color will stand out from the rest of the set, like the red circle of the record, playing down in the green-tinted subway, or the other blue lamp that sits next to Amelie as she composes the new letter for the concierge on the first floor. They're little things that stand out in the big picture, just like Amelie does little things for the people around her, and they become big and meaningful parts of her life. YAY FOR RELATING THINGS TO THE HEART OF THE MOVIE  +1O POINTS TO ME 8D 

Okay moving on with the list. 

• Simplicity. I love the overall simplicity of this movie's introduction of character. The narrator introduces a character with a name and a few likes and dislikes. You get a sense of that character's personality through it in a very simple way, and I found myself liking every character by finding a connection between what they like or dislike with my own likes and dislikes. For instance, Amandine's dislike of puckered fingers after being in the bath too long made me like her, simply because I shared this feeling with her. Same with Joseph. For the most part I disliked his grouchy, nosy character, but the fact that he liked bubble wrap made me dislike him a little less. I could also relate to the list of things that Amelie liked, as I too enjoy the little things in life. 
• Nino. Speaking of characters, I have a whole section just for Nino Quincampoix. Because I fall in love with him every time I watch this movie. There's just something about him that's sweet and funny and quirky and I love it all. I like his random collections of odd laughs, photos of footprints in wet cement, and discarded portraits from photobooths. Collections are like lists. Maybe that's why I like his character so much. And I like that he likes mysteries, because you need a little adventure in life. In short, Nino is my favorite. Also Mathieu Kassovitz is a cutie. 

look at his face, its adorable. LET ME PINCH YOUR CHEEKS

• Adventures. I love love love the way Amelie makes every step to meeting Nino a little adventure for him. It reminds me of puzzles. Each step, each clue Amelie leaves Nino brings them closer together, and seeing them finally meet face to face at the end gives me the same satisfaction I get when I've placed the last puzzle piece in its place. 

This is probably my favorite scene. She sends him on a little scavenger hunt for his photo album and then leaves him a question through photos. ADORABLE. 

• Soundtrack. Yann Tiersen, man. What a great soundtrack for a movie. Its delightful. That's it. 

Hmm, what else can I say? I love it all. I've watched this movie more times than I can count and I never tire of it. Its simply lovely. Watch it, if you haven't before. And if you already have, watch it again, cause its great. 

And I leave you with a sloth. 

-K

I've been sick for most of the week. No gouda. 

BUT

Christmas Eve is tomorrow! Yeah!

And I'm working. >: | should have burned it to the ground when i had the chance

That's fine though, its only till two and then I'm heading over to le boyfriend's to give him his present and spend some time with him. Then I'll head back home to be with the family for Christmas Day. All the presents are wrapped and ready to be put under the tree, but my brothers like to peek so I'm hiding them in my closet for now. 

Oh! I got to see Christian and Katherine this week! They're back home for Christmas break so le boyfriend and I stopped by to visit and exchange Christmas gifts. 

Katherine got me a scarf that reminds me of giraffes (giraffes are awesome) and Christian got me an Alice In Wonderland themed planner. I got Christian a little Woody doll (we are both big Disney & Pixar fans) and a pair of hipster gloves and a scarf (because I like to poke fun at the fact that he is attracted to "mildly hipster girls"). For Katherine I got her a super cool astronaut-themed T-shirt, because she is a super cool Space Ranger 8D   

Christian, Katherine, and le boyfriend, Joe. They are the best.

Though I was still coughing and sniffing like a total derp, I had a great time seeing my friends after all these months. Luckily I'll be able to see Christian more often now, at least before he leaves for Japan (lucky son-of-a bitch). And perhaps I can plan a visit to see Katherine in New York next semester! We'll see. 

 

Welp, gotta get ready for work. Hopefully no one coughs on me while I'm there, I'd really like to get over this cold already. 

-K 

P.S. This is by far the greatest thing Blackhawks TV has ever made. I love it. 

Winter Break So Far: Gifts, Books, and Some Other Stuff

I've gotten a total of fifteen gifts so far. Somehow I still have a few more people I need to get gifts for. I'm starting to rethink this whole "getting new friends" thing. YOU PEOPLE COST MONIES.

Oh well, I'm happy I can actually buy people gifts this year, cause I actually have my own money to spend for once. I've always hated getting money from my parents. 

I got my mom these dishes she's been bugging me about and a knitted hat with a little bow on it. I got my dad a Grumpy T-shirt from the Disney Store cause he's a big ol' grumpy butt. 

I got everyone else other stuff but I can't write it on here cause I don't want to spoil the surprise. c: 

Hopefully they all like their gifts. 

I'm having a lovely winter break. All I've done so far is read my books--as I said I would--and spend some time with le boyfriend. We played chess (stalemate--would have taken another hour for me to get his king). And I watched him play Skyrim finally (its pretty cool). And I visited his school for the first and last time (its nicer-looking than mine) (last time because he's transferring). Its been good. 

Speaking of books, OH. MY. GOD. The Hunger Games series is good. Can't wait to see the first book on screen. SO EXCITE AHHHH *flails* I like Gale. I'm kinda upset I don't really fully know what happens with him at the end of Mockingjay. Le sad. AND THEY'RE GOING TO RUIN THE BEAUTIFUL COSTUMES CINNA MAKES IN THE MOVIES I JUST KNOW IT *angry squid flail* I really hope they dont try to target the movies towards kids. They're really not for young kids at all, even if the main characters are sixteen. You can't really tell what age group they're targeting with the trailer though. Maybe that's a good sign: 

UGHHHHH SO EXCITE MARCH COME QUICKLY 

Okay I'll stop now. 

I should take a break from reading for the rest of the week though. I just read three books in three days. I CANT HELP BEING A LOSER BOOKWORM ;-; 

At least the His Dark Materials series has a slower pace to it. Those should last me for a week or so. And I'll have to get around to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soon too. Have that sitting in my bookcase waiting to be read. Should read it soon since the movie for that is coming out in a bit, too. 

We've only had one day of snow in Chicago. And then it melted again. Today it just rained a lot. Um, okay. I fear that when the snow really does hit its going to make everything suck. Sigh. 

Anyway, I'm going to go make myself some food. I bought some cookbooks recently and I can't wait to try out some new recipes. Food, aww yiss.  

-K

O Social Life, Social Life, Wherefore Art Thou, Social Life?

Writing in my blog to avoid writing for my final papers. procrastinationforthewin

SHUT UP IT MAKES SENSE. 

So remember how I said I quit my job? LOL NEVERMIND 

how did this even happen? I don't know. WELP. MONIES.

On a side note, I took my camera out of my purse today (which I carry with me always) and just realized how few photos I had taken since the summer. 

Huh. 

Normally I'll take lots of pictures when I'm hanging out with friends. I used to take photos of everybody, like so:

Paige and Natalie getting ready for the homecoming game (high school-- we had the same colors as U of I)  They're both continuing their studies at U of I so I don't see them much anymore. 

Brandon and I doing a high school scavenger hunt project. We had good times in class together. 

This is Mannie. He likes coffee and Nujabes. (<---why we're friends 8D )  Haven't seen him since the summer because he's at school in Massachusetts.

this is Blake and Isabel at U of I. Mexican Night tradition was to get together with everyone and eat lots of tacos and make disgusting concoctions with whatever was left on our plates. Also we stole balloons. Haven't seen either of them since I left U of I.

I have friends that live here in Chicago too, but I guess I haven't been out much.
Thinking about it, I haven't spent much time with friends I saw regularly in high school or at U of I. I guess that's because I started working and really focused on doing good in school so my amount of free time shrunk. I haven't really made any new friends this year either, though. I don't like anybody at school enough to be friends with them outside of class, and I don't fit in with my co-workers at all. Of the few people I do see, its only every so often because its so difficult to get everyone's separate schedules lined up. 

So yeah, I kinda sorta have no social life at the moment and I kinda sorta get a little jealous when I see that my other friends do. -.- 

OH WELL. Maybe I'll have more time to see people over winter break. Maybe I'll learn how to make friends again, cause I feel like I've forgotten. Or maybe I'll just hibernate. 

-K