It's funny how the commonly known phrase 'Be careful what you wish
for, you might just get it' materializes and takes you by surprise. I
honestly did not expect it to happen so soon and just like that, and
I did not know how to react.
But it was a pleasant surprise. Made me smile just as a long week
came to an end.
I guess I will start sorting out my stuff as I will need to move out
next Sunday. It's not going to be so much of a hassle since Field
Hall is less than a minute's walk from Chi Psi. It'll be good to get
it all sorted and ready for a few trips back and forth.
Wanted to catch Greg Araki's 'Mysterious Skin' but it has stopped
screening in the theaters near where I stay, I was kinda
disappointed. So we decided to go for 'Me, You and Everyone We Know'
but the timing was kinda off, as at that point in time, it seemed
food was the priority. Midtown Arts Theater seemed like a pretty neat
place, and I didn't realize it was right behind the Home Depot area
we frequent for whole foods. So there's two theaters we could
potentially go to from now on for quality films.
I guess I'm gonna pass on movies tonight, and then start tomorrow,
and try to finish up whatever that I have left in my PowerBook over
next week.
The company's 2 day long meeting with representatives from 4 major
tire companies is finally done.
I'm lucky to have had the privilege to sit in, even as an intern
(rather, a co-op, who's on his first work semester) and even allowed
to give a short presentation on a project I worked on over the last 8
weeks. It was pretty intense observing the detailed discussion of how
we wanted to steer our progress into more value added benefit of the
members and it was an experience. And of course, a business dinner, I
finally got to feel how that is like, and it was pretty fun. The
people present were model professionals, and I'm glad they were.
I left my room at 7:20am last night and returned at 11pm. I was
technically working from 8am to 10pm, which is something I haven't
done for a very long time. In fact, the last time I remember doing
something that lasted for so long was back in high school when I was
in the Student Council, where we had numerous projects. I was really
tired, and after coming back today, I just crashed straight to bed.
However, with my inability to stay asleep, I somehow woke up. And here I
am.
The meeting definitely threw me right into the heart of our supply
chain services that is essential to all members concerned and I think
it was extremely helpful that I was there, it instilled in me a sense
of importance and ability to put in work that will materialize in the
time to come. With my last work week coming up next week, it seems
like a fitting farewell to a life which I've so become used to, and
one that I have to let go with much regret (I'm forced to give up 2
additional weeks of work for Resident Advisor training - that means
an extra grand, and some more investment in my 401(k) plan - for
nothing. Well, there is some value in the long term, but still, it
would not compare)
It's exciting, because the company was formed only 4 years ago, but
it has evolved so fast in its process, and the next time that I come
back, it might be very different from what I saw over the summer. I
can't even envision how it would be like when I finish my work
semester (granted everything goes as planned academically) in the
summer of 2007. Considering how the summer passed so fast, I'm braced
for that time to come, before I know it.
The fatigue sets in once again, I'm off. Thank goodness its Friday
tomorrow.
Oh, did I mention how great Weekend Player's music is? A little different from Thievery Corporation or Zero 7, but still fantastic.
So I've turned 21.
Is it just me or does no one else see that this whole 'you-gotta-do-
something-it's-your-birthday' thing is out of proportions? Everyone
seems to react to 'No, I don't have any plans, I'm not really going
to do anything' like the world's turned upside down. I feel like
there's a social pressure to do something special on your birthday,
and I don't like doing things when its forced upon.
I'll tell you why. It's not particularly special because I don't
drink (for my Singaporean friends, the legal age to drink in the US
is 21), I don't really go to clubs or pubs (the major ones, I've been
to some others that is not 21 and over), and I don't think I need a
car at this point. (I'm just gonna wait until October or Novemeber
when I go to Illinois to renew my ID/licence)
I don't want to sound like a bitch, but seriously, its just another
day. Like any other day. I don't need a reason to be doing something
different on a particular day. If I feel like doing something, I'll
go do it.
It's just that it happens to be a Monday of a really long week, where
I have a pretty important meeting that is going to last for 2 days.
And I have things to prepare. Even if not, I still would not be
celebrating.
Please do not make a big deal out of this, I'm not the kind that
celebrates birthdays anyway and haven't really done so in the past
few years. I've also stopped requesting for presents and such for my
birthdays, only did it when some people insisted. But if celebrating
makes you happy, then by all means, please go ahead.
But thanks to those who called me up, sent me e-mails, instant
messages and the likes among others. Your thoughts are very much
appreciated.
If it makes any of you feel any better, then I'll just do what I like
to do best: watch movies. If it makes any more difference at all,
then I'll watch what is regarded to be one of the best independent
film of all time, 'One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest.' I'm sure you'll be elated to know that I'm going to do that right this minute.
Okay, sorry, that was a little too sarcastic.
My movie watching has been progressing well, only 4 more left in my
PowerBook, and I'm pretty sure I can get all of them finished within
the 2 weeks that I have left for work.
So I caught 'Casino' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' 'Casino' was pretty
much exactly like 'Goodfellas,' but different only in the context of
the Las Vegas Casino scene. After watching this, though I admit, this
was pretty good, I am definitely not a Martin Scorsese fan. His films
are done well, he pays attention and focuses on a lot of detail and
does a real good job at story making, but sorry, his style doesn't
appeal to me. I've now seen 'Casino,' 'Goodfellas' and 'Gangs of New
York' and among them, I liked 'Casino' the best, however, it is
perceived as the third best one among the three, so I'm wondering if
it's just me. Last year's 'The Aviator' was also directed by him, but
I'm not too keen on catching it, even though it did well at the
Oscar's. His movies are long, slow, and sometimes it's just a pain to
be watching it. But that's just my taste.
'To Kill a Mockingbird,' well, what can I say, it was based on the
novel, and it hit the nail right. Most of the time, when it's based
on a book, it shouldn't go wrong. The pace, focus and the direction
was pretty good for a black and white movie.
So last night, Francesco, Dawar and I tried to catch a movie, since
we couldn't do so on Friday, as it was too late by the time we
decided. You'd think they'll be showing a lot of movies on the
weekend, its either you caught it around 10, or past midnight. I was
pretty tired, since there was a lot going on at work, so I decided to
get an early night. But last night, we made sure we caught something.
We finally decided to go to some obscure theaters that are located
somewhat near to Tech, and there were a number of films that were
being screened that I wanted to catch. The three we shortlisted was
'Heights,' a poster of which I remember seeing around Buckhead for
sometime, 'Me, You and Everyone We Know,' a film that I remember
reading about from my English Professor's blog (which he thought was
a welcoming contrast to the idea of community community in 'Crash,'
which got me interested in this film in the first place) and
'Mysterious Skin,' which kind of sounds like a 'Donnie Darko' type
film, which got great ratings on IMDb (and I trust IMDb 95% of the
time, so I didn't doubt its rating).
The last two was being shown in an Arts theater not too far from
where we where, but the description for 'Heights' got all of us, so
we ended up going to a weird place that was surrounded mainly by
adult entertainment joints or bars. But to our surprise, that theatre
was pretty nice, and I recalled that the place that my English
Professor mentioned was this place. The feel of the theater was as if
my kind of films were being screened night in and night out. There
was only about 10 of us watching the movie, so we got into the best
position and watched the film.
I must say, I liked how the camera captured the spirit of urban life
of New York City, with soft music in the background which totally
sucked me in, and I was just lost in the movie. It lasted for 90 or
so minutes, but it felt like a great 2 and a half hour journey, and
its very hard to do that kinda thing. Usually movies that last that
long makes it feel draggy and bad, but not this one. I think it
weaved the stories (oh, its one of those multiple scenarios coming
together in the end type which I just love) pretty well.
Though I wouldn't say that it was a spectacular film, I liked it.
More for some of the scenes where it was static for 5 seconds just
showing the sights of New York and the empty, silent theater
supplemented the effects very well. It was more visual and the
reality of these lives in New York City than anything else. And the
fact that I was going around areas showcased in the film not too long
ago in my brief stay in New York earlier this month helped out in
somewhat identifying myself with what was going on.
Many might not think its a film worth watching, but hey, everyone has
different tastes.
Hopefully, we'll get to catch 'Mysterious Skin' next week, coz that
seems like something I will truly enjoy.
