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| The movie of the year? Not so sure. Most beautifully crafted movie? Yeah... I think so.
Even with all of the hype and hysteria surrounding the movie Avatar, I was never all that interested in watching it. Based on the trailer, it seemed like any other movie, and I'm always more intrigued by the storyline than by anything else. I knew the technology was advanced, but I figure it'd be something I could pass.
Nonetheless, my boyfriend went to watch it with his friends; and when he got back from watching it, he insisted that I go watch it too. He saw it in 3D (which he said was distracting) and wanted to watch it again without the fashionable glasses. I trusted his judgment, so he took me with him on his second try of the movie.
It was beautiful. The artwork took my breath away. The creativity and the imagination involved was amazing. If anything, I was captivated by the scenery and the "go green" attitude... and I don't mean that in a cheesy way. They made the planet absolutely lively. The entire production just seemed so intricate. I knew it took over 10 years to make and that it required advanced technology. Even if I didn't know that walking into it, I would've been in awe.
I love animation; and I love wild, imaginative art. The artistry won me over.
Some of the dialogue was great too; not to mention, it was really interesting hearing a new language developed just for the movie. Aside from that, it really was a lot more intimate and relate-able than I expected. Action scenes were pretty spiffy too.
The storyline overall is not the winner in the movie. That's the honest truth. If you think of the 5 most epic movies that have been out, there's pretty much bits and pieces of all of them in Avatar. It's nothing you've never seen before.
Based on my friends' Facebook status updates, it's had mixed reviews. Ultimately, I think it's the type of movie you want to see in the theatre just to catch the amazing artistry at its best. I think that's what captivated most people; it was the artistry that sucked them into a story they already heard and made it seem like the first time they've heard it. I sure got lost in it. If you're not the type of person to ever appreciate wild imaginations, giant blue aliens, and RPG, you might be better off waiting for the DVD.
I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it though =)
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| I'm no relationship expert, but I read this on someone's else's Xanga and felt that I had to share it. It's a great list of things to read and absorb for any stage of a relationship that you're in... =)
- The sparkle of a new relationship is always temporary.
- The fires of infatuation have to cool before mature love can grow and develop.
- Growing up with happily married parents doesn't guarantee that your own marriage will be good. Likewise, growing up in a broken family doesn't necessarily mean you won't have a good marriage.
- A successful marriage has much more to do with how you handle your current life than what happened in your past.
- Just being happy is one of the greatest gifts you can give your spouse.
- Another of the best gifts you can give them is your focused attention.
- If you know what your spouse's dreams and desires are and help them to achieve those things, you will both be happier.
- Never keep feelings of gratitude to yourself.
- You can't avoid arguments, but you can avoid destructive ones.
- Resolved conflict strengthens and builds relationships, but resentment and unresolved conflict destroys them. Even if you have to take a break from the argument, make sure to resolve it as soon as you possibly can.
- The real issue is usually not the one you're arguing about.
- Expectations act as set-ups for resentment.
- If your spouse is acting defensive, you just might be giving them a reason to.
- Silence is deadly when used as a weapon.
- Don't complain about your spouse to your friends. Not only will you be acting disrespectfully, the feedback they give you will be unbalanced because it is based only on one side of the story.
- Don't say anything about your spouse that you wouldn't say directly to them.
- Privacy won't hurt your marriage; secrecy will.
- Love requires separateness as well as togetherness for it to fully thrive.
- If you can't be happy without your spouse, you won't be happy together.
- Jealousy and possessiveness do not come from love, but from fear.
- Your spouse cannot rescue you, but they can and should help you rescue yourself.
- No matter how much they love you, one person cannot satisfy every single one of your needs all the time.
- Being married doesn't make you a better person, but accepting and conquering the challenges of marriage does.
- The only hard and fast rules in a marriage are the ones you both agree on.
- A feeling of being attracted to someone else doesn't lessen the quality of your marriage; acting on that attraction does.
- Even the most perfect marriage goes through cycles, and there can be some extremely rough patches.
- If you give your best time and energy to your job/hobbies/personal interests, your marriage will suffer.
- Your opinion is not absolute truth and neither does it matter more than your spouse's.
- If your spouse thinks something is important, guess what? It is!
- Threats, guilt-tripping and ultimatums will not get you anywhere good in the long run.
- The cheap thrill some people get from putting down their spouse gets to be very expensive when it's all tallied up.
- Forgiveness and commitment are ongoing processes, not one-time events.
- Forgiveness is its own reward and revenge is its own punishment.
- It's better to concentrate on what you can do to make things better than on what your spouse did to make things wrong.
- There's more to be gained by understanding your spouse's world than by trying to get them to understand yours.
- Marriage takes sacrifice, but what you gain in the end is far more than what you gave up.
- Good sex doesn't inherently make your marriage great, but it sure does help!
- Marriages never outgrow the need for romance.
- Vacations don't need to break the bank or be month-long affairs, but getting away from it all every now and then to focus solely on each other is a necessity, not a luxury.
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| I woke up and took my sister to school today. For me, that's all it was.
I got stopped at a red light with one other car in front of me. While I was waiting for the light to turn green, I couldn't help but notice some motions coming from the driver in front of me. I took a look at him (or the back of his head), and started to wonder...
Does he have an earpiece on and is arguing with someone?
Does he have someone on speakerphone?
He was shaking his fists in the air. He was upset. When I say "upset," I don't mean just a frown upset. It was more like I-want-to-scream-I-have-no-idea-what-to-do-to-fix-this-situation upset.
I felt really bad -- like it was suddenly my burden to figure out what it was that happened and to help fix it. It's the holidays. Why are you so upset?
Then, of course, being a woman, I started to overthink it.
Did his wife just find out he's been cheating on her?
Did his child get upset at him for something?
Did he find out he might be losing his job?
Did a girl just break his heart?
Did he find out he had to cut Christmas gifts from their expenses?
Is this dude even married?
I realize it wasn't my problem to begin with, but I couldn't help but wonder what could be consuming his morning thoughts.
The light turned green and he switched into the left turn lane at the next light while I continued to go straight. It's interesting to think we're all headed the same direction, but we lead such different lives. It's also interesting to think that your emotions won't affect the people around you, because they certainly do.
Make the choice to have a good day today and everyday. My family has taken a few hits from the economy, but as long as we all stick together, we'll be okay. Everything will work out eventually.
I hope that driver figures everything out
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| Interesting thing I heard today...
You don't have to teach a child to lie; you have teach a child how to tell the truth.
You don't have to teach a child to cheat; you have to teach a child how to be honest.
You don't have to teach a child to lust; you have to teach a child how to be pure.
We're born as "bad" people. Having self-control means doing what is right, and doing what is right tends to require a lot of selflessness. We do things that we know are wrong because we're selfish.
Sometimes I think being a great athlete, businessman, or some other career is easier than being a great human being. We're very selfish, and we kind of ignore our healthy habits. Sometimes actually putting all your energy into becoming some great something-or-other deters us from putting energy into being that great human being. Doing what's right takes more work than doing what's wrong... or at least I think so. It just feels a lot easier to pull someone down than to lift them up.
I will admit though, I believe there's an exception to every rule. I'm sure there are people who went into work with all the right reasons in their heart and have still become successful beyond reason. =)
Food for thought.
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| What is it with women and romance?
Or maybe I should say... what is it with me and romance?
One day, I think it's the cheesiest thing in the universe, and the next day, it's all I want. I want to dress up and go on a date. I want butterflies in my tummy when he walks through the door with flowers. I want to wake up to find a trail of rose petals leading me to a surprise. I want homemade feasts eaten by candlelight. I want to open presents underneath the stars.
Or do I?
Did I/we get all of these ideas from movies or do we really want these things? Do these things really measure the amount of love a man has for a woman? I doubt it, but it's still nice. Additionally, I think movies & books contributed to the idea that romance is equivalent to love. Only when a man truly loves a woman would he be so generous as to think of lavish things to do for her. Ha! The media -- I can't imagine where anyone else could think up these things. Love is just... love.
I don't find these things necessary. Sometimes I think movies and such can cloud a woman's mind when she's looking for something to fill her heart's desires. I think we (or maybe just I) need some twists and turns here and there, and by "twist and turns" I don't mean drama. I mean change -- a change in routine.
At the end of the day, I guess romance is really just thinking outside the box. You get into a routine -- fast food joints and dvd rentals -- for a while. Dressing up and going out for a dinner date seems... romantic. Even having fast food and rentals at the other partner's house for once seems romantic. It's thoughtful. It's different.
I blame movies.
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