Thank You/Merci/Danke/Gracias/谢谢

Happy Thanksgiving, blogosphere! I am eternally thankful for my friends, family, and all those around me for putting up with the pandemonium of my life. I'm so grateful for their support and encouragement through all the moments, both good and bad, that define my mercurial existence, especially during this difficult time. Every writer must certainly acknowledge the power of words. Without words, the world could not go 'round, and we wouldn't have a means of defining all the things that make up our tumultuous lives. Speaking of life, I suppose I am thankful for life as well. Excuse the cliché, but life is fleeting and precious. Even when I'm feeling downtrodden, I should continually remind myself of all the things that I have and all the people that make my life enjoyable and happy to be alive. Or as our principal likes to say: "Hallelujah! It's great to be alive!!" That's the attitude I need. And, of course, thanks to you, readers, for sharing your inspiring words and pictures and for reading these scattered thoughts.
Gobble gobble! ;)

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The Talented Ms. Collette

One of my favorite contemporary thespians, Australian actress Toni Collette, turns 37 today. Over the last decade and a half, she has defined herself as the quintessential character actor, taking on roles both big and small, headlining both the mainstream and the obscure. She's never afraid to branch out, trying her hand in indie comedies, costume dramas, chick-flicks—you name it, she's done it. And if that wasn't enough, she recently won an Emmy for her current project, Showtime's United States of Tara, in which she plays Tara, a woman with multiple personality disorder. In essence, she plays four reincarnations of the same character. Quite the challenge for most, but not for this chameleon-like leading lady. I don't have Showtime, so I haven't seen any of the episodes. It must be pretty exceptional work because 1) It's Toni Collette, and 2) She beat out the clear favorite, Tina Fey (30 Rock), for her Emmy win.
Happy Birthday to Toni, and to all of you, please check out some of her eclectic filmography, including her hilarious breakout Muriel's Wedding (1994), her haunting portrayal of a tormented mother in The Sixth Sense (1999), crazy, manic-depressive in About a Boy (2002), career woman always having to tend to her sister's needs or bail her out in In Her Shoes (2005), and matriarch of a terribly dysfunctional family in Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

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Queen's Day

If you despise Meryl Streep, I greatly apologize for today's lengthy post. But, how could you? :)
Nathaniel over at The Film Experience has informally proclaimed June as Meryl Streep Month, and today, the celebrations culminate as the legendary Ms. Streep turns 60. Amid his "Streep at 60: A Retrospective" series and his blog buddy Nick's tribute piece, I've decided to offer my own rather elementary take and appreciation of sorts to one of the classiest and down to earth ladies in Hollywood and, first and foremost, one of our greatest silver screen giants. (I say elementary because between those two sources, you've already got enough Streep praise for a day!)

In a career spanning 30+ years, Meryl has graced character after character, ranging from her tragic Sophie Zawistowski, a Holocaust survivor haunted by the secrets of her past, to her icy Miranda Priestly, the omnipotent editor-in-chief of Runway magazine. Her never-ending list of accolades impresses even the most experienced moviegoers: 15 Oscar nominations and (only) 2 wins, 23 Golden Globe nods and 6 wins, 2 Emmys, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Film Institute and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and many more. Will anyone ever topple her records? I think not, but it's still debatable. (Fangirl moment: Can AMPAS hurry up and give her a third/fourth Oscar? You know she deserves it.)
But, enough about that. I know if she were reading this post (psh, I can wish), she probably wouldn't relish each reference to her gargantuan circle of awards. She wouldn't want to hear about how fantastic her performances are and how impressive her career is, but I can't help that. Every performance is meticulously crafted, technical, sometimes even polarizing. But even so, her best roles are often deeply affecting, transformative, and endearing. Regardless of the style or genre, her character creations are always a sight to behold. Although Meryl loves to think otherwise, she is the queen of characters, accents, and arguably of modern cinema. Watching any of her performances is watching a grand master in her state of Zen. There are not nearly enough words to describe them.
They call her the chameleon for a reason: Her versatility is beyond measure. Similarly, her humility is beyond inspiring. Despite her storied career, she never takes herself too seriously and always seems to have a refreshing sense of humor about everything. She doesn't forget her humble beginnings growing up in New Jersey, attending Vassar and Dartmouth College, and getting an MFA from Yale's prestigious School of Drama. Her dedication to her craft and the longevity of her career are what other actors can only dream of. And, she's successfully raised four talented children and stayed married to the same man her entire career. In today's Hollywood, that seems like a myth. At the end of the day, maybe that's why she's so extraordinary- there's no one quite like Meryl.
Below, in collage form, is a breakdown of some of her most iconic and memorable roles, what can be perceived as 10 Streep essentials. Keep in mind that I still have a lot to see, so this is just a sampling. I won't bore you with the details of each one, but you can read more about them at The Film Experience (Nathaniel is painstakingly reviewing the highlights) . In addition, here are 60 ways to celebrate.

10 Streep Essentials: 1. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979); 2. Sophie's Choice (1982); 3. Silkwood (1983); 4. Out of Africa (1985); 5. Postcards from the Edge (1990); 6. One True Thing (1998); 7. The Hours (2002); 8. Adaptation. (2002); 9. Angels in America (2003); 10. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

In the meantime, the queen of modern cinema never stops! In August, she will be seen in Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, where she takes on the late chef Julia Child. It's her third summer movie in three years, making it hard to believe that she's gaining the most commercial appeal of her career at an age when most actresses are long gone from the mainstream. Later this year, she stars in an as of yet untitled Nancy Meyers comedy.
In closing, Meryl's contemporaries and descendants constantly thank and honor her. But today, we get to sing her praises too. I can honestly say that we are so lucky to live in the Streep era of cinema and to experience every moment of her screen life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the ultimate chameleon, goddess, living legend, and idol: the one and only Meryl Streep.
P.S.: She's hilarious! Her acceptance speeches are always a treat, and her interviews are never dull. Here's one with Ellen DeGeneres. Trust me, you will be dying laughing when you get to the dialects part (6:00).
That's all. (a Meryl cliché for those of you who love The Devil Wears Prada like I do!)

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You've Been Link'd

• Awards Daily: Positive Up reviews just as it opens up the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. Remember, Up hits US theatres May 29.
• For Dunderheads: things to watch for on tonight's Office season finale. Jennie Tan (Tanster), who runs the awesome fan site OfficeTally, was an extra in the episode!
• Reuters: Offbeat, but interesting. Doesn't she have any family to support her? Poor old lady. :(
• Politico: The extremely biased Chris Matthews of MSNBC (well, it's no secret anymore) is still Obama's #1 fan and finds yet another way to publicly defend him. In the meantime, Sarah Palin seems to be inching her way back into the spotlight. Could Palin 2012 be next?
• CNN: A captivating photo journal highlighting beauty amid the turmoil in Afghanistan.
• The Caucus (NYT): Another reason to turn your phone off.
• Film Experience: Nine trailer, much better than the Entertainment Tonight preview with that annoying lady talking over it like she always does. Like I mentioned before, musicals aren't always my thing, but I must say it looks intriguing, especially with all the talent involved.
Finally, shoutout time! The lovely & talented Cate Blanchett turns the big 4-0 today. My inner cinephile is slightly lamenting this milestone b/c it means that there's one less thespian in the under 40 age group. Nearly all of my favorite actors are over the age of 40, so it frequently begs the question: why is there such a big discrepancy in talent between these generations? I'm certainly not saying younger generations are less talented than older ones. It just seems like being young in Hollywood generally means you have to be the star du jour or splattered on the cover of a tabloid, not a serious, respected actor. Bottom line: I can't name a lot of good actors under 40, only a few. Can you? Rambling monologue aside, I hope Cate has a very happy birthday!

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Rainy Day Playlist

Here are some music selections I'm listening to on this chilly, drizzly day. Some of these are recent findings; others are taken from my MP3 player/vault of too many songs.
Milk score, Danny Elfman: Initially as I viewed the film, the score didn't really stand out as a redeeming facet (probably b/c of everything else that engaged me), but I've just now discovered its memorable qualities.
"Come On, Come Out", A Fine Frenzy: A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sodul) is a unique singer/songwriter who combines traces of alternative rock with genuine vocals, and this song reminds me of feeling carefree and lightweight.
"Gravity", John Mayer: Ah, John Mayer. I love his blues/acoustic style. He makes it a flawless combination, and it really shines through in this lovely, soulful song.
"Gymnopedie No. 1", Erik Satie: This understated piano work originates from the Impressionist period of French composers in the 19th and early 20th century. Flowing and wistful, it's not an easy piece to master.
"New Slang", The Shins: This song is all about exposing the insecurities of our "inverted world", from the wisdom and wit of these indie rock trailblazers.
"Only Human", Jason Mraz: 'Cause we are, but we're not the only ones on this swiftly tilting planet. We share everything with the other living, breathing creatures on this Earth, but sometimes, we can never change. "'Cause we're only human."
"The Story", Brandi Carlile: We all have a story to tell, whether we like it or not. It always makes for a deep topic to ponder on a rainy day, where our story begins and how we wish to continue it.
"Chasing Pavements", Adele: This British newcomer mixes old school vocals with her own talented skills. I love the results.

Also, happy 28th birthday to the ethereal vocalist and all-around cool guy Josh Groban!!! For me, any of his work could fit into a rainy day, but one of my all-time favorite songs is "February Song", with its melancholy melody and bittersweet lyrics.

"Where has that old friend gone, lost in a February song? Tell him it won't be long, 'til he opens his eyes, opens his eyes. Where is that simple day, before colors broke into shades? And how did I ever fade into this life, into this life?"

I'm proud to say that I've been a fan since the very beginning of his career and am constantly excited to see what other eclectic happenings he expands to in the future.

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Freedom of the Press

It's been another long, sleep-deprived week, and I feel like doing nothing productive today. But, I love my newspaper class for making me laugh and slightly ameliorating the stress of school, if that's even possible. We have a small staff that is chalk full of colorful personalities and heated debates. They always amuse me and make working on the paper all the more interesting.
I am the co-editor of the paper, or as my co-editor likes to say, "the hard-working, know-it-all co-editor", while he is "the slacker co-editor". I'm not bragging; it's true but to a point. We both split the duties pretty evenly, so he should give himself some more credit. My job mostly consists of advising, proofreading, motivating, and keeping people on track: easier said than done. I also contribute an article or two, but I mostly have to lead the group. We have a reasonable crew who gets the job done, albeit with roadblocks. Everyone's skills are at different levels; some of them are good writers, but some of them don't even have the basics mastered. They also lack the drive to get work done until the very last minute (don't we all?!!?). For this reason, we take an obscenely long time to get each issue out. I don't mind the casual attitude since our class is an elective, but I do wish people could use their time a bit more wisely. I also hope that everyone would consider revisions more carefully. The other co-editor and I spend a lot of time revising articles and editing pages, but sometimes, this effort isn't taken seriously by the rest of the staff. Oh well. It can't be perfect. In fact, it's far from perfect, but it's enough for now. The perfectionist in me always has problems with our paper, but I deal with them accordingly. I try not to become a dictator-like leader b/c one obvious part of being a leader is having the respect of your followers. That is very important, especially on our eccentric staff, where personalities frequently clash. Just the other day, I was discussing movies with the co-editor, who is a fellow film fanatic. One girl seemed irritated and yelled at us for being "film whores"! Lol. That's the kind of conundrum that ensues on a typical day in newspaper class. More tales of the paper after the jump.
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Time is always of the essence, especially with journalism. You learn early on as a high school journalist that time becomes an obstacle in more ways than on higher levels of journalism. Our paper takes weeks to develop, so we have to plan out which stories we want to write would still be relevant when we finally publish and distribute the issue. We end up wasting a lot of time in between finishing articles not dependent on time (usually editorials, pictures, and cartoons) and ones that have to be written closer to the time of publication (news and sports in particular). That's actually the point we are currently at, which is why we haven't done much in class this week. (Unless discussing the Super Bowl commercials and The Office counts as doing something!)
One occasional complication is that we don't have complete freedom to publish anything in the paper. Before we print and distribute an issue, we have to get it approved by the principal. This presents a problem b/c people always enjoy criticizing our school and would like to do so in an official manner. One guy wanted to write about the lack of organization with our school's new lockers: some people who were supposed to get new lockers didn't get them as planned, which caused quite the problematic uproar. Our teacher/advisor shot down this idea even though it would appeal the student body.
Speaking of which, student interest is another issue we as high school journalists face. Our staff is always pondering and discussing this when we plan issues. We're not always certain about what the student body wants to read about. In fact, the student body often doesn't even read the paper, which always peeves me. I've seen people fold it up into a paper airplane and then throw it someone. Blerg. As an editor, I'm desperately trying to change this. For our next issue, we're aiming for a more visual layout with more charts and graphics. I've noticed that teenagers hate reading a lot of text, and that certainly applies to our paper, as well as schoolwork. Hopefully, our new approach will encourage more people to read our publication that we all put so much effort into. (*sigh* No wonder writers in the real world are primarily jobless and dirt-poor. Please support writers!)
On another note, I haven't done a birthday shoutout in a while, but yesterday, IMDb informed me that one of my favorite actresses turned 45... Happy belated birthday to the lovely, refreshing, and ridiculously underrated Laura Linney! If you haven't caught any of her mesmerizing work, I would highly recommend You Can Count On Me, Love Actually, and The Savages for starters. She always brings a real and natural perspective to every film. Unfortunately, I feel she may never receive the proper recognition for her many great roles, namely an Oscar, but recently, she has been nabbing awards for her portrayal of Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries John Adams. Congratulations Laura! =D [/tangent]
Coming attractions:
-Grammys on Sunday!, which I will probably mention early next week since I am writing an article about it for the paper.
-Anatomy of a Performance-Part 2 also coming this weekend, featuring two more outstanding artists.
Well, that's it. Going to catch some zzzzz's before my early start tomorrow morning. Forensics tournaments destroy my Saturdays. :(

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Weeds, Leaves, & Other Things

Today was slightly eventful, I suppose. I spent part of the afternoon cleaning up one of the courtyards at school. It was a rather disorganized effort: Too many people showed up, and most of them didn't e-mail our adviser to tell her they were coming, so she ended up having to send them home. That left about 20 of us to pull weeds and rake leaves; there really wasn't much else to do in the courtyard. Since winter is fast approaching, we won't get to work on beautifying the courtyard with new plants until spring. Weed pulling was actually challenging to some extent. A large part of the courtyard was covered in weeds, so I got rid of the larger, more evident areas first. Then, the hard part was having to go back and pick out the small, leftover roots and pieces of the weeds. The courtyard had a layer of pebbles on top of the topsoil, so in order to see where the roots were, I would kick the pebbles aside and return them after I found and removed the root of the weed. Sometimes, we had to be careful not to unintentionally remove the roots of another plant that wasn't a weed. For instance, some of the weeds were right beside a bush, and we weren't sure if the root belonged to the weed or the bush. During our cleanup, there were a few teachers that stood inside by the window and just watched us like we were entertainment. Hildy, my eccentric World Affairs teacher, even came out and randomly started talking to some of us. Then again, his room is directly facing the courtyard, so I guess he felt obligated to come and say hi in his "Hildyness". Also, some Yearbook people noticed us and took a group picture, which I hope turned out okay. Overall, it was a reasonable effort by all of us.
Happy Veterans Day (or Armistice/Remembrance Day, depending on where you live). Before I forget: today just so happens to be one of those peculiar days when I have multiple friends celebrating birthdays. So, happy birthday to Chels, Britt, and Mindy! =D (none of them will read this, but oh well.) Which reminds me of something...oddly enough, these marvelous girls share the same birthday with one of my favorite actors, the sublime Leonardo DiCaprio, who turns 34 today. :) So bloggers, in honor of this great thespian (& environmentalist/uber-cool person in general), what is your favorite DiCaprio performance? (As you can tell, I'm enjoying coming up with questions that you guys can answer!)
(Hmm...Leo looks very pensive here.)

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Happy Birthday J.K. Rowling!!!

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling turns 43 today! And since it's her birthday, it is also Harry's birthday, as any fan of the books would know.

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Earthquake Relief Fundraiser (& a shout-out to Tina Fey)

By now, I'm sure you've heard about the 7.9 earthquake that ravaged parts of central and western China this week, mainly in Sichuan Province. My friend Kyle Zhu has come up with a few ways we can do our part to help.
If you have Facebook, please join Kyle's cause helping the earthquake victims in China.
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/87196?recruiter_id=4545546
Also, if you are a NAI student, come to a meeting after school on Wednesday. We'll be discussing ways to raise money for this. One way we might do this is by selling tea and snacks in the cafeteria, but we will talk about it further at the meeting.
All are welcome! If you have any questions, see Kyle.
On another note, happy birthday to the great Tina Fey, who turns 38 today! If you are not familiar with her, Tina was the first female head writer on SNL and a cast member from 1997 until 2006, when she left to write and star in the NBC comedy series "30 Rock". She also wrote the screenplay of Mean Girls. Happy Birthday!

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