Before I moved, I finally got rid of all of those dreadful books (as seen here, here, here, and here). Small goal complete (#9).

I can check off one major goal, which makes me entirely too happy. I recently moved from Illinois to California, which means I have an apartment of my own (#82). I have an apartment that’s in a relatively safe area; I’m quite content, and I’m even closer to the love of my life. Everything is quite lovely. Now to just get over the slight feeling of anxiety when I leave, which generally occurs for the first month of being somewhere new.

Now I’m working on gaining employment, which might be the more difficult part. I’ll just have to see, but I plan to apply almost anywhere. I have to wait for a little help on one application, but I’ve submitted a few resumes and applications already. I even applied at the Apple Store, which would be all too fun. Despite having lost both of my Macs to abuse by others (sigh), I still adore them. That isn’t to say I’m a Mac enthusiast, because I’m not. I actually really like this computer, too. I just love the atmosphere of the Apple Store. Other jobs I’ve sent applications or resumes for were more receptionist or administrative assistant. Just have to do what I can, I guess.

I have, however, failed three goals. Of course, they were all related. I did not document my move through photographer (#36), and I did not capture my favourite parts of St. Louis in portraits (#37). This, of course, means that I cannot create a design based on the two projects (#38).

I probably, however, should add another goal. I’m not going to, but I’m going to hope I can do it. Mark bought me a beautiful calla lily, which is both good and bad. The good part is that he’s incredibly sweet, and they’re my favourite flower. The bad part is that I murder plants. I’m hoping I can keep it alive. Two more flowers have sprouted since I took that picture. I’m thinking it needs a new pot or to be split up, so I’ll probably go find one that I rather like so that it has more space for its roots, but not too much more.

Anyway, I’m moving in a week. One week. I was finally able to find an apartment, so I’m leaving. Next up is trying my hardest to get a job, since I know that’s going to be the most problematic part of anything. I definitely don’t want to come home… again. My life is where Mark is, so I’ll do everything in my power to stay near him. He’s coming out to retrieve me soon, which has me so excited that I can barely sit still or concentrate on anything. I’m looking forward to our road trip back. It’s about 1800 miles, but it should be entertaining. Life is always more fun when he’s around.

A few additions to the list of movies and music, but nothing else. I’ve finally had it with the books, so they’re going to go away as soon as I can find someone to help me (otherwise it’ll take me about two hours to unload my car, unless the library cares to help). There should be a few more updates included later, but I’d rather proclaim I’m not dead and that I haven’t given up.

Anyhow, I just recently received the lace that I ordered for my friend’s choker. Now I have to go out and attempt to find the organdy for the trim and the ribbon connectors. I’d really rather prefer to find them in gunmental, like I’ve said, but I’m starting to think it might be a lost cause; no one sells them here, so it’s a good thing I have until May to do this. I might be able to find some whenever I move, which will be far more useful. I still might try to find some here in silver, but that’s because I want to be able to make my own chokers for the time being.

I’ve only really watched two movies that I haven’t written about, actually.

1. Lola rennt (AKA Run Lola Run) is a German film that will probably be best known for the leading actress. Franka Potente was in Bourne Identity playing Marie. Anyhow, the movie basically starts off with Manni (her boyfriend) having a bit of a problem because he lost a bag of money, which was taken by a homeless man on a subway as he was running away. To remedy this, he tells Lola that he plans to rob a grocery store so that he can make the money that he needed to pay his boss. The premise is that no day is set in stone; all because of one moment in time, the events of that day can change. It was a very good film, though; I thorougly enjoyed it.

2. Amores perros (AKA Love’s A Bitch) is a film about three people whose stories are intertwined through a single car accident. Each story involves love and regret, but it’s all on a different level. Only two stories come to a peaceful conclusion, which doesn’t leave the viewer wondering. However, there is a story about Octavio and Susana; Octavio is the younger brother of Ramiro, who is Susana’s husband. The two have an affair and plan to run away together, which is disrupted when Octavio asks a favour of his “boss” to have Ramiro badly beaten. The end of their story seems farfetched, espceially for what Ramiro does with his life. I can’t honestly think that Susana would ever feel that kind of remorse for the sort of man Ramiro was. Overall, the movie wasn’t terrible. If you can’t handle watching dog fights (which I couldn’t, because I can’t handle anything that is harmful to animals), it might be difficult for you to watch. I had to keep covering my eyes.

I’m still working on my goal of reading the books I own and haven’t. Last night, I was able to finish Utopia by Thomas More. I’ve been reading reviews that question whether or not this was a satire or his personal beliefs, but I can’t help saying that it’s a bit of both. It’s satirical in that all of the places have Latin/Greek names that are contradictory in meaning (Utopia – an island that doesn’t exist; Anyder – a phantom city; Amaurot – a river without water; Ademus – a ruler without people). However, when you read it, you can’t help but wish things were similar; I think that’s how he felt. In it, they talk about a person doing more to help the commonwealth than to him- or herself. He mentions, while writing as Hythloday, that the people who are rich are those who do very little (in the sixteenth century, he listed people like goldsmiths and moneylenders), while the people who actually do the work (teamsters, farmers, labourers, and so on) are paid meager wages. You can see a bit of the satire he writes, but you can also pull from it things that are obviously not fair or justified in this world. This is definitely a recommended book.

In small bits, I’ve gotten back more of what I’ve sent out for books. Valore sent me back $11.44 for what I gave them. Though it takes weeks to get payments, the systems aren’t too terribly bad. Every place I’ve used to sell books, I would definitely sell to again.

Also, I’ve written more articles on both Triond and Associated Content. The latter has yet to post them, but Triond has published two of my articles: Can the Newspaper Really Be Saved? and Hello Madness: Light and Life After Dusk.

For one, I’m working on a choker for a good friend of mine for a costume. He had something really specific design in mind, so now I’m trying to replicate that to what he wants. Instead of purple, he wants white. I’ve ordered the black insertion lace, and I’ve purchased the white satin ribbon to go within it along with the black satin ribbon to make the bow. My only issue is that now I can’t find any of the double-sided organdy ribbon; I can’t even find a single-sided version that I can sew together. On top of that, it’s almost laughable trying to find 16mm width ribbon connectors in gun metal (or, really, any finishing). I may have to settle for antique silver or silver plating, but I hope not. We’ll see, though! On top of that, I plan on making a few chokers for me as well; I’ve been wanting a couple, so it’s a good time to do it. I’ll have to take pictures, too.

Goal-wise for my 101, I’ve watched a few foreign films, and I’ve listened to one new band. I’ll probably spend tomorrow watching movies, since there isn’t much that I can do at the moment.

1. Sennen joyû (AKA Millennium Actress) is the stereotypical film one might think of when they think of Japan; it’s an anime. Incredibly wonderful, though. It’s about the life of an actress who was chasing a man she helped to keep safe when she was a teenager. Never knowing where he was, she kept pushing herself to find him with hopes that she would. It’s combines both her real life and her acting into one seamless flashback. Amazing, really.

2. Fucking Åmål (AKA Show Me Love) is an interesting Swedish film about two girls. One is unpopular and friendless, the other is looking for new thrills in life. Through some odd twists and turns, they find themselves together. Interesting, but I don’t think I’d watch it again.

3. El Labertinto del fauno (AKA Pan’s Labyrinth) is truly wonderful. It’s a movie that questions what happens when make believe believes that it’s real. A young girl, with an interest in fairy tales, finds herself in a labyrinth. She’s given quests to complete before a certain time in order to regain her throne as the princess. It’s incredibly touching.

And now music. The only new band (to me) that I’ve listened to recently has been TV on the Radio. Experimental indie and a variety of other gentres could probably fit their style. Probably like a lot of people, I heard of them through the Colbert Report. After hearing them play on the show, I had to explore their music further. Love it!

In shorter bits, I’ve sent out more books for a cheap payment. Few more payments here and there, which is nice. And I’m still randomly writing articles to submit to Associated Content. Yay for updates.

Since I love my music goals so much, I felt more inclined to make another blog specifically for them. I don’t want to clutter my 101 goals too much, but I definitely wanted to write more in regards to reviews and so on. It’ll at least give me something to do, and perhaps I can work on my reviewing skills.

Like I said, I love my music. Which means I’ve been working further towards the goal of listening to new bands or singers. I have now added four more to the list:

1. Inara George isn’t really that new to my list; she’s one half of The Bird and the Bee, but her solo work has a different feel to it. Her version of Fools In Love was simply amazing.

2. Hello Madness is a new project by Alejandro Millán, the keyboardist from two of my favourite projects (Elfonía and Stream of Passion). Incredibly mellow tones for his debut, which is a stark contrast to the other work he’s performed. My Stranger was the first track that immediately touched me.

3. Naked Empire was a band I found entirely at random. The music is very moving, both in that a lot of it is lyrically and melodically gorgeous or you want to dance to it. Coma shows a lighter and more mellow side to the album, while Our Place exemplifies the dance beat they can utilize.

4. Nasdat is more of an alternative band. They’re pretty interesting with some good rhythm mechanics. The song I remember most vividly is 29, which is available in their playlist. The vocals were a little awkward, but they weren’t bad; I actually enjoyed the album overall.

Again, I’d minimize any music videos; they’re always atrocious.

Anyhow, I’m still getting book payments. I’ve listed all of the ones that I got recently in “Buchhandlung,” which includes a check that arrived from Bookbyte. All of the companies I’ve dealt with are entirely professional, so I’d definitely check them out if you’re in America and looking to sell your books for extra cash. Just know that anything you send them that doesn’t get accepted will generally be recycled or going to a charity to increase literacy.

On top of that, a little bit more of the money I’ve been expecting from the books I sent out has been received. I picked up another $12. They rejected a lot of books for bad condition, but that’s fine. They end up being recycled in some fashion, which works out to the original goal. The point is that they’re gone!

Also, I finally finished a book last night, which keeps my goal of reading all of the books I own and haven’t on track. I finished The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and it is truly far better than any visual conception of the story. Next up is going to be Thomas More’s Utopia. I figure after reading what was jokingly referred to as a “doorstop” that I should give myself a slight break and read something a tad bit slimmer.

Otherwise, I’ve been fairly lazy the past couple days. Downloaded a few more foreign films to watch, but I haven’t viewed them. I’ve been so sick, though, that it’s been hard to do much of anything, but I’m still trying.

Edit: Received one more payment, which was $5.81 from BlueRectangle.

1. Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (AKA The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain) is a brilliant movie about a girl who tends to live on the fringe. She tries her hardest to help people without really allowing them to know that it was her. In one instance, a man who was reminded of his daughter and grandson by her act of kindness referred to it as “his guardian angel.” Amélie, however, finds a man who seems (and is) incredibly similar to her; despite knowing very little about him, she instally falls in love with him. It’s a great film.

2. Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei (AKA The Edukators) is about two revolutionaries who break into the homes of rich people and rearrange their furniture. Their purpose is not to steal, but to remind the people that “their days of plenty are over” or that “they have too much money.” One of them goes on a trip to Spain, and his girlfriend gets herself involved during this time. Obviously, because the girlfriend is there to serve as a pest, things get screwed up and a decision must be made. This sort of film, though good, was incredibly hard for me to watch; I knew the scene would be incredibly uncomfortable, so I constantly kept covering up the window so I didn’t have to watch (but I did have to listen). The story is actually rather touching, especially to those of us who are finding it hard to make ends meet.

3. La Vita è bella (AKA Life is Beautiful) was a recommendation my friend gave me. It’s about a Jewish man who is capable of wooing the woman of his dreams using his sense of humour. However, when he and his family get sent to a Nazi concentration camp, he has to use whatever means possible to protect his son. Absolutely amazing.

Still watching foreign films when I get a chance. I keep downloading them so that I can decide which ones I want to purchase later. I’m still really, really getting into the German films, though. Here are the few that I watched.

1. Caché (AKA Hidden) is a movie about a family in France who is receiving seemingly threatening video tapes and drawings. Everything received is aimed towards the husband, reminding him of his actions when he was but a six-year old boy. Of the movies I have seen, this is the only one that I absolutely dislike. The ending was ridiculous, and it was so unclear and anticlimatic that watching it was tedious. The only reason that I honestly finished it was because I thought they’d explain what was happening; they never did.

2. Das Wunder von Bern (AKA The Miracle of Bern) is a movie about a young boy. His father comes back from a Russian POW camp and has a hard time readjusting to normal life. However, the one thing that reconnects the family is the boy’s love for football (or, if you prefer, soccer). I’m not one for sports movies, but this one was incredibly touching. I adored it.

On top of my foreign films, I’ve watched a couple others. Dead Like Me: Life After Death is either a good conclusion or a nice restart of a wonderful series; there are quite a few obvious changes and bothersome nuances, but it’s still amusing overall and maintains the thought-provoking quality that the show had. And Passchendaele is a movie about the Canadian Stormtroopers in World War I. If you ignore the two silly sex scenes, which I really think detract from this movie, it’s actually very good.

Overall, I’ve flooded myself with movies this week to avoid boredom. Also, it helps to keep me from going crazy at my family for messing things up in other aspects. Thankfully, I’ll be able to finish getting things out of here in about four days.

1. La Science des rêves (AKA The Science of Sleep) is a story about Stéphane, a young man with great creativity, who is brought back to France from Mexico after his father passes away. At times, his imagination interferes with his ability to interact with reality, sometimes making him feel out of place. He meets a young woman named Stéphanie. He falls in love with her, feeling that he can show her the world inside his head.

2. Cidade de Deus (AKA City of God) is a story that is told intriguingly from the perspective of the main character, Rocket. To explain the end, he is forced to detail the lives of many other people. It takes place in a favella known as the City of God in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960s and 1970s. At this time, it was run by hoodlums/gangs. With constantly growing competition and thirst for power, along with people seeking vengeance, it became one of the bloodiest territories.

3. Good Bye Lenin! is an amazing story about a young man, Alex, who hides the reality of everything that happened after the Fall of the Berlin Wall from his mother after she comes out of a coma. Believing that this new world would harm her health from such a shock, he and his family and friends make up a new face for the German Democratic Republic.

4. Der Untergang (AKA Downfall) is the story of Hitler during the last days of both his life and the Third Reich. Partly told from the perspective of his final secretary, Traudl Junge. It presents scenes from documentaries which are rather shocking at both the beginning and the end.

Of all of the films that I watched, the German films tend to be my favourite. They tend to have a bittersweet ending for traumatic events. Rather than turn events that could never be happy or sad (especially times like World War II or the coming together of both Germanies), they leave you with a proper ending. I guess, coming from the American perspective where movies are always happy, I’m jaded. Someone always wins, someone always loses; there is almost never a bittersweet ending, and it frustrates me. I don’t like the idea of living in ignorant bliss that we’ve created for ourselves here. I like knowing that the reality can be a happy ending and that, while some people sacrifice so much, there is still hope for others to continue living or to teach from what they have experienced.

1. Au Revoir Simone, an indie band from New York, consists of three female vocalists who utilize a lot of synths. Rather cute. The one song that stuck out to me was one that seemed rather off, which is probably why I enjoyed it. Sad Song had an unmatching beat for the title, but it was still pretty cute.

2. The Bird and the Bee, an indie group from Los Angeles, is probably going to be recognized from a Mac-made music video for the song Again & Again. Again, female vocals with a synthesized sound (yay, electronica).

3. Reverie Sound Revue, an indie band from Canada, have pretty much a similar sound. Still, they’re rather fun to listen to. One of the more enjoyable tracks from their album, which was released in 2003, was One Marathon. Supposedly, according to their information-lacking website, a new album is announced for this year; I’m curious.

As a recommendation, because I loathe music videos, I’d minimize all of them and just listen to the songs.

On top of last night’s music binge, I decided to work on finishing Persona 3 FES. I got to the final boss, and I quit after dying on its final form after a ridiculous amount of Arcana Shifts (I stopped paying attention after the third one, but it felt like there were 8 forms before it switched to the final and more obnoxious one). I gave up last night, but I finished it this evening.

I remember saying this when I first started the game months ago, but there are a lot of faulty mechanics in the game. The first thing that drove me crazy was that I couldn’t control any characters, which is what made the final battle even more ridiculous. The boss would put up a defense called Moonless Gown, which reflected all attacks; instead of taking three seconds to realize it, the character AI would still attack it. Thankfully, they had a tendency to do this with with their element skills (which, because of their level, they were immune). On top of that, when I had their AI set to “Heal/Support,” they’d rarely do anything remotely logical. The game has a lovely story, which I actually enjoyed; it’s just a shame they didn’t utilise the mechanics very well.

Beyond that, I haven’t been able to do much of anything else. I should work on that, though.