30 August, 2009

post script--please listen

my favorites at the moment--

The A+ Student

School begins tomorrow.  My last year as an undergraduate student.  It's a strange feeling, really, having absolutely no idea what my next step will be.  The lists I make for myself are hilarious, ranging from studying in France to volunteering in Thailand to abandoning the social sciences and moving back into the arts (how the thought intrigues me!). 

We will see.  As for now, it's the beginning of the school year and there are endless possibilities ahead. 

27 August, 2009

I've resorted to blogging about television?

There was nothing on tv last night.  I had recorded a few episodes of "Monk," but when I started watching them (under a fleece blanket, frozen albaloo in tow, might I add) I realized I had watched them all in the last few days.  What?  How did this happen?  I never watch television...oh yeah, maybe because I've been stuck in the house for a couple of days with absolutely nothing to do.
Oh yeah. 
So.  No, "Monk," huh?  Too bad.  While Adrian Monk makes some people nervous, I'm calmed by his idiosyncratic behavior; his meticulous dealings and wheelings intrigue me and leave me asking why we all can't use that sort of precision in our lives--in every aspect, really.  Even if he takes it to a strange, abnormal, he soothes my mind. 
I started flipping through the channels.  Nothing.  We have almost 400 channels available, and yet, there was nothing that caught my eye.  Mom came back, we watched jeopardy.  We got one answer right.  Did we?  I think last night we missed all of them.  Too bad I erased it from our DVR, tonight we could have watched it over and pretended we knew all the answers...what? 
I went through the channels again and again.  Starting from 400 and working my way down.  I landed on the movie, "Chapter 27," and after protests from my mom and Salma were overruled by my resilience, we kept watching.  It was almost done anyways.  
Brief synopsis?  Sure, I think one is in order.  
Jared Leto plays John Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman, a schizophrenic fellow who becomes obsessed with "The Catcher in the Rye," and goes to New York City to kill Lennon, who he thinks is a "phony." 
The movie is creepy.  Apart from Lindsay Lohan having an arbitrary role in the film and different voices constantly telling him what to do, there's the unsettling foreshadowing--we all know what's going to happen at the end.  The question is, what drives him to that point?  What is actually going on through his head?  
Random encounters trigger different emotions.  In the end, Chapman has one goal.  Kill John Lennon.  

My mom asks me why I like these disturbing shows and movies.  I don't know.  My curiosity grabs me and I just have to know what happens.  Who done it? 

Also, when I hear schizophrenic, my ears perk up.  I start to pay attention.  
Pourquoi?  Parce que je suis étrange.  

I dont know.  It all started with, "A Beautiful Mind."  Man, that move played with my head.  I went through a period of time when I thought that everything I did or saw was an ILLLUUUSSIIOOONNN (not a magic trick).  Nothing was real. 
Sometimes I still have the yearning to ask Salma if people we see actually exist, or if my mind is making them up. 
Salma hates it that I make comments on the people we see running or waling down the street.  She always says, "Ranna, stop judging them," 
And then I say, "Whaat??  I'm only making observations.  Completely different." 
Deep within my mind, I'm so relieved that she saw the same thing that I saw. 

I talk to myself too much.  

14 August, 2009

Dave, the Big Eyed Fish

Last Saturday I went to the Dave Matthews Band concerto at Nissan Pavilion.  I've gone for the past three years, and I'd say that by this point, it's sort of a mid-summer tradition I've built up for myself.  I wasn't entirely too fond of the set list the band had chosen, but it was fun to see Tim Reynolds around with the gang, and also, Dave played some his not-so-popular older songs, think, "Grey Street," and my personal Dave favorite, "I'll Back You Up."  It's been rumored (uhh Mani) that this may be the last year Dave plays at Nissan.  In any case, its the last summer I plan on being around NoVa, so it was good to hear him play and to spend the night with some good friends. 

Here's a little recap of the night.  I went with three people: 


Mani, who has attended Dave's concerts for the past...what is it now?  12 years?  Nice, guy.  
Pulkit, who became BFFs with the guy standing next to him in the picture.  They talked the night away...
And Salma, who was pissed that we missed the song, "Funny the Way It is," and bored because Dave's definitely not her favorite.  
The people right in front of us were like this the entire time.  Well, you get the idea...


It made Salma feel like this.  




But, all in all, we had a pretty good time.  Salma and Mani are just best friends.