Flipped

“Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss….” He turned to me. “But every once in a while, you find someone who’s iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

I absolutely love this book-turned-movie. In my humble opinion, the movie was way better than the book (no offense to the author who did a really wonderful job in writing such a simple but truly touching story, it's just a from good to better thing). I love that the movie was set in 1960's. I adored the soundtrack (although most of the songs were from the 1950's-early 60's). It reminded me of long drives with my father. I just loved, loved, loved singing along to Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace, Pretty Little Angel Eyes by Curtis Lee, Da Doo Ron Ron by The Drifters, The Chiffons' One Day and He's So Fine, Crying in the Rain by Nancy Sinatra and one of my favorite love songs, You've Really Got a Hold on Me by The Miracles. Of course, I have the musical sensibility of a grandmother. Does it bother me? Nope. Not one bit.

If you loved Little Manhattan as much as I did (still do, actually), you will love this film. Go watch it. Go read the book as well! :) Happy weekend!

“You have to look at the whole landscape”

“What does that mean?”

“A painting is more than the sum of its parts. A cow by itself is just a cow. A meadow just by itself is just grass, flowers. And the sun, peaking through the trees is just a beam of light. But you put them all together…and it can be magic.”

PS: How gorgeous is Bryce Loski?

I know, right? :D

I'm the boss! I'm the boss!

I like Bossypants. Somehow, in the middle of what is the most unenjoyable summer vacation I have had in years (and I promise, it's not me, it's my family), it was a good leisurely read. I tried my best to find something I do not like in this book (because I absolutely love Tina Fey for reasons that are not even concrete enough to write about, I just do) but I couldn't (except for the excerpts of scripts used in SNL but that's because I have zero background on TV or writing for TV). It's just so hard not to like this book because the writing is straightforward, unapologetic and hysterically funny. The honesty is especially hypnotic. In the world of increasing self-righteousness, I'm glad I was able to read a book that was just as raw and as honest on print as anybody else would should be in real life. (The audio book is even funnier, people say, because it was narrated by Tina Fey!)

Bossypants is a series of short story vignettes about Tina Fey's life. Some critics believe that most of the chapters in the book are just fiction and only a few of them are indeed true. I'm not really sure if I would buy that, actually I'm not really one to care. All I know is that this book was a fun read. It was hilarious. She is hilarious and if you have been in doubt of Ms. Fey being worth her mettle, pick-up a copy of this book and see for yourself. That woman deserves more distinction. On top of her seven Emmy's.

My favorite stories from the book: That's Don Fey, 30 Rock: An Experiment to Confuse Your Grandparents, Sarah, Oprah, and Captain Hook, or How to Succeed by Sort of Looking Like Someone and All Girls Must Be Everything.

But really, if you must buy this book, buy it for That's Don Fey. Women on top of their game were raised by great fathers. Badass, boss fathers.

Either way, everything will be fine. But if you have an opinion, please feel free to offer it to me through the gap in the door of a public restroom. Everyone else does.
-Tina Fey, Bossypants

Control yourself, take only what you need

These PS22 Chorus of 2011 kids are amazing. I love their cover of Kids by MGMT (which is a permanent fixture in all of my iPods' Top 25 Most Played). They also did a cover of Phoenix' Lisztomania and Viva La Vida by Coldplay. God, they're so talented. They all look so vibrant, youthful and happy. If you love them as much as I do, please vote for them at MTV's O Music Awards (Favorite fan cover!) by clicking here. :)

[edit] Keishia tweeted that they also covered our Queen, Adele. How could I have missed it? Two beautiful things in this cover: 1. Rolling in the Deep is such a powerful song that even if it's a kid who's singing, it still cuts right through the soul 2. The babies covered Adele. These beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girls and boys. <3 [/edit]

On to happier things

Books are my total mood boosters! The past few months have been a blur of hectic schedules, stress eating and quarter life crisis-ing (mostly because I want it ALL in one time and it irks me that the Universe is adamant on teaching me a little something about patience) but I get by through a lot of rallying, dreaming and purchasing. The last great book I read was The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich a few weeks ago (in the middle of tests and all, but I roll like that. I am a masterclass in prioritizing the most trivial things). I got hooked on Mark Zuckerberg and his information-privy empire. People like the Zuck are so inspiring and of course, stories like this (manifested in shows and books) make us forget about the boring daily grind.

This week, I have been dying to watch The Borgias, a new show from Showtime US about this prominent Spanish renaissance family who came to power in Rome. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's got a love for shows about deceit, sex, money, religion and power plays in old world affairs. Cesare Borgia inspired Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, Lucrezia Borgia had an incestuous reputation, Pope Alexander VI's ascent to papacy was as infamous as the corruption that happened while he was Pope. God, this show has so much material to work with! Anyway, the Secret seems to be at work today because as soon as I got home from work, I found a lovely surprise...

Lucrezia Borgia, on hearing that her father, Pope Alexander VI, was choosing her third husband, noted that her first two had been “very unlucky.” Luck had little to do with it, as Hibbert shows in this vivid chronicle of the notoriously corrupt Renaissance family. One husband was killed on the orders of her brother Cesare, whose ruthlessness made him the model for Machiavelli’s “The Prince”; the other was discarded after ceasing to be politically useful to the Pope. Hibbert ably traces the web of alliances through which the Spanish-born Alexander hoped to secure his hold on Italy and his family’s place in power. But his prose often demonstrates the costume-drama pitfalls of popular history: too little analysis and too many “almond pastries filled with honey and nougat,” which Lucrezia ate “in the steaming water of her bath or while playing idly with her countless pearls.” - from The New Yorker

It's kind of exciting that I happen to be in possession of a book on this show I have been so interested to watch. I will be the first one to admit that I don't know much about the Borgias (I have the bloody Tudors of England and their "religious" wars to blame!) so imagine my excitement when, upon checking my bookshelf, I find out one of the books my grandmother sent me from New York was about this family! Aaaah! It's the little things that make me extremely happy (that and the fact that with school ending in a week, I can finally have a break from juggling work and graduate studies!). :)

Hope you're also discovering small surprises this weekend. I love weekends!