Movie Review

I'm trying to think of what the last movie I watched was and I'm pretty sure it was No Strings Attached. That's the type of movie that I think most guys and a lot of girls would be rolling their eyes at thinking it's really just a stupid typical love story chick-flick.....but it wasn't! I honestly love this movie. I really don't have a very long attention span, so the idea of watching the same movie twice, especially without like...a year in between for me to forget about it, sounds really boring. But I watched this movie twice within two days. I told all of my friends to watch it. Forced one to even watch it with me. It was great.

I'm secretly in love with Natalie Portman so I think that may have something to do with it. But I generally hate Ashton Kutcher. I just can't get over his whole "Punk'd" stage....he was such an idiot. But he was actually really good in it too. The movie made me laugh and cry! The plot is pretty unique, unlike most chick-flicks although the ending isn't very surprising. But I love the two together and I really would recommend it. It's both cute, realistic, and funny. It definitely makes my top ten list. Go watch it.

Art Review

So, yes I'll admit I did just google "modern art" to try and come up with something to write about. But then I remembered that not even 2 months ago, I was in London and went to the Tate Modern Museum (write across the awesome Millenium Bridge or what I like to call....the Harry Potter Bridge) and saw an exhibit that amazed me. So I did a little bit of research (I know...impressive) and found who it was by.

The name of the piece is Staircase iii and is by Do-Ho Suh. Here's a picture:

Isn't that amazing? So that may be a little confusing so I'll explain. The piece is hung from the ceiling to view it, you walk around underneath the staircase. This is exactly how the exhibit was when I saw it....just an empty white room and then this giant red staircase. I was just so impressed that by the little details. And also how simple the idea was, it's really just a thin staircase, but how intricate it is just looking at the material it's made out of. I think it's really cool that the fabric is see-through and that it stretches across the entire ceiling with just the banister and staircase in the center.

By far the coolest art museum I've ever been to.

We Have the Right

This could be applied to so much. The first thing that popped into my head was the abortion debate, just because that's basically what every pro-choicer says at some point or another while debating. I hate debating things like that, especially in school. Generally, when it comes to just day-to-day life, I like to think I'm pretty respectful of other people's opinions, especially when they differ from my own. But when it comes to things like the abortion debate or gay-marriage....I just really have a hard time respecting the opposite opinion.

If you couldn't tell from my tone, I am pro-choice and support gay marriage. For the abortion debate especially, I just really reallyyyy can't understand the other side, the "pro-life" side. There are just so many things I don't understand and I can't even argue against because I would just be rude. And then on the gay marriage debate, I just want to ask how on earth the marriage of two other people affect you in the least.

But, I also think that having debates over topic like this, is a little bit pointless. I know in school it's important to be able to learn how to debate, and how to form an argument, and support your opinions and all of that.....but no matter what I say I am never going to a)come up with some brilliant point that hasn't been already a bajillion times and b) change anyone's mind who thinks differently. This is just something that people are stuck on and nothing is changing anyone's opinions on it.

McCarthy's (Chicago's) Birthday Week

Happppppppppppyyyyyyy belated belated belated birthday McCarthy!

Chicago's birthday week? I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure it's no where as important as your birthday week, Mr. McCarthy.....

I wonder what you got for your birthday. Or what your kids got you. Buying my dad a present for his birthday is probably the hardest decision I have to make every year, so I'm always curious as to what other kids come up with. But they are younger, so they can probably still make you arts and crafts projects and they actually make cute presents. I, on the other hand, would be laughed at if I gave my dad a hand-painted mug for his birthday. Am I the only one who has this dilemma?

March 3rd...was that a school day? I hope not, I feel like being a teacher and being in school on your birthday would be the worst. Because unless you tell them, students are going to be just as rude as they normally are, and thats awful having to deal with rude people on your birthday. But......hope you had a good birthday Mr.McCarthy! And have another good one in.....10 months!

X is Known

Oh boy, I take that back, this one may not be much better. But I'll try my best. I mentioned in the last blog about how before reading the book, I didn't really know much about Malcolm X, way less than I probably should have. But I think that's not as uncommon as I make it out to be. I feel like a lot of kids my age don't know much about Malcolm X, and if they do know they just know the basics of him being an activist.

I feel like students should be taught about Malcolm X in school, way before their senior year like I was. I mean, yes I knew who Malcolm X was and I'm sure we mentioned him in classes throughout the years but the knowledge I had on him was no where near what I knew about say....Martin Luther King Jr. I don't want to go into comparing the two but I just think Malcolm X should be more well-known, especially among younger generations than he is. I hope I'm not just speaking out of my own ignorance before reading it. I like to think that there are other kids who knew basically nothing about him. Not that I LIKE that....it just makes me feel better that I wasn't the only one who knew so little about him.

X Marks the Spot

BOY did I miss blogging. This blog was supposed to be written back when we were reading Malcolm X. But, since it's been soooooo long since we read that book, I'm not sure I could right an accurate blog about what went on in the book. Especially because the next blog is titled "X is known" meaning this one is unknown so it's supposed to be written about the book before I finished it.

But hmmm, X Marks the Spot. Whenever I hear that I immediately think of treasure. So treasure and Malcolm X. Hidden treasure. I think this could be talking about maybe the lessons that can be learned from reading the book? The fact that I was supposed to have written this before I was finished leaves me just a little confused on what I would have been writing at that point.

If I didn't already know what all happens in the book, I would be writing about what I predicted would happen. But, since I read it....I can't do that. But I did learn a lot from that book. I knew probably an embarrassingly little about Malcolm X before this class so I actually did enjoy reading it. I know he is someone I should know about so yay that the book was assigned!

Ps. I apologize that this blog sucks so much. It's been a little while....next one will be better I promise!

Album/Track Review- Matt & Kim

So I'm going to do a combination of the two, album/track, and instead do my favorite songs from the band Matt & Kim's three albums.

1. Lessons Learned: "Thinking about tomorrow won't change how I feel today"

This song has always been one of my favorites, ever since the first time I heard the band. In all of their songs the drum beat is really prominent (considering that is all Kim does and she's 50% of the band) and I really like the beat of this song in particular. But I think the thing that makes this song one of my favorites is the lyrics (which I know all of). Their songs tend to be really relatable but I can with this song even more than usual. Also, I just love when songs sound like they were written specifically about my life.

2. Turn This Boat Around: "lalala leave it all behind lalala see the fight lalala make the best of it lalala and goodnight"

The thing that sticks out from the moment the song starts is the keyboard in this song. I didn't know this song until I saw them perform at Lollapallooza and I went home and downloaded it because of how much I liked it. Matt, the other half of the band if you haven't caught on, sings and plays the keyboard and this song is basically all him. It's one of their only slowish songs but it still has the "matt & kim" feel to it.

3. Daylight: "cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home"

So this is definitely their most famous song, and for people who have no idea who Matt & Kim are, this is the song they would most likely recognize. I think its a good demonstration of what they are all about, simply Kim on drums and Matt on keyboard and singing. Seeing this live, I was surprised at how identical it sounded to the album version and I think that's just because they don't really alter much when recording albums.

4. Grand: I really didn't like this song when I first heard it because all I could think was "why arn't there any lyrics....where is Matt?!?" But this all changed when I saw them live. I fell in love, they were so good and so entertaining. First of, during this entire song (and during ANY song Kim plays) she had a giant smile plastered on her face that just made me laugh. The two just seem to have so much fun while playing (Matt crowd surfed, keyboard in hand) so this song makes me now think of that.

5.I'll Take Us Home: "hey New York, here's our wolf-like shadow, hey New York our old friend"

This, just like Lessons Learned, drew me to it because of the lyrics. I also love Matt's voice and how real it sounds, and this song shows that off pretty well. Oh and Kim is amazing on the drums of course and thats demonstrated yet again in the song.

Basically....Matt & Kim are great, live or recorded. They are really catchy and I think it's really cool that it's just two people in a band and they are still good...

Ps. Sorry this is more of an Artist review than track but...at least I suggested some good songs!

I Know This Means Something....

Well, I know this is a little overdue but I didn't really relate to the blog until just recently, so I guess better late than never! I've had a....situation going on for a month or so that just recently came to a head that makes me think of this blog title. The situation had been causing me problems for awhile and I chose to ignore the fact that I should probably just end it instead of causing myself stress. But finally (wooo relatively happy ending) this certain situation caused me a problem again and I sat down and thought "this really must mean something if it keeps happening." So yay no more problem.

But really, I think that phrase can apply to everyone. I normally tend to overlook things at first because I like to see the best in people/situations, which can be both good and bad. But I think it's important to look at things from multiple points of view so that you don't miss anything.

I don't really believe in like...karma or stuff like that but I do believe that everything happens for a reason and this blog title also made me think of that. Applying it to my personal situation, I could say that maybe it means something that I finally got rid of a major problem-causer in my life and that things are looking up? I'm not sure if this is the direction the blog was intended to head towards but it's off the top of my head.

Good Food Review

Finally, the perfect blog for me. I love good food. For my food review I had Thai food at this little place called Roong Petch on Montrose by my house. Thai food is probably one of my favorite types of food. This place is definitely the best Thai place in my neighborhood (there are a ton of new ones in Ravenswood) and probably the best I've had in general.

A lot of the times I get pad thai with tofu because their pad thai is better than anyone else's, I'm not really sure why even. But everything I get there is always good. They just recently remodeled and added a sushi bar too so the past few times I've gotten sushi which is always good. (I'm really going to have no complaints about this restaurant, just a warning)

For my actual review, I got Lad Nar, a yummy noodle dish with tofu and broccoli. Basically everything there can be made vegetarian, which is why I like going there so much cus I have lots to choose from. The noodle dish was really really good, my only complaint was that it was really hot and I burned my mouth, but that was my bad. Everything else I tried there that night was also amazing.

So basically, go to Roong Petch by the Montrose brown line if you want really yummy thai food.

King Still King?

Even though this is late and after Martin Luther King Jr. day, I can still talk about whether he's still "king". This is figuratively, of course considering he wasn't a real and royal king, but he was a leader of a progressive movement that shaped our country, just like a real king would do.

But, on the topic of whether he still is a king, I think that he still is, depending on how you're looking at the title we're giving him. In my opinion, he should be given that title because he was inspirational, progressive, peaceful, and someone who positively influenced changes in America that may have never occurred without him. So I think, just as with real kings when a new king is crowned the old king still exists, I think Martin Luther King will always be a "king" and will and should always be celebrated. Even if a new "king" comes about, Martin Luther King was inspirational and shouldn't be forgotten over time.

I'm a Shoe

Hmmm Mr. Mccarthy, you always confuse me with these extremely vague blog titles. I'm wondering whether it's asking what shoe you'd be if you were to be a shoe....? or what it'd be like to be a shoe...? I doubt thats what Mccarthy really was thinking of, but just to point out, I think I'd be a flip flop. That just was the first thing I thought of, but I just miss summer and want to not have to wear uggs every day.

And I guess you can say flip flops are easy, I'm an easy going person, there's another connection. I'm also a summer person for sure, and flip flops are worn in the summer. This blog still doesn't make that much sense to me, but I think I made some pretty good connections between me and a flip flop....