Dear friend, an email from me to you

Over the years, I’ve written for different purposes: to serve as a record of my youth and my adventures after leaving home for a life abroad, and to express myself. Writing emails is another activity I enjoy filling my time with. Other than short, nonsensical comments and likes on my friends’ Facebook posts, I’ve always believed that 1:1 emails is the best way for me to connect with those who are far away.

2004 : 12 of us from college drove to the East Coast of Malaysia

 

The biggest reward I have received in return is that, despite my distance from almost everyone I care for who are similarly scattered across the globe, I have been able to maintain relationships I hold dear, even if it’s just an email every few years. These correspondences help share our lives with one another, the challenges we face adapting to adulthood, the questions we continue to raise on whether or not we are on the right track, our fears, our insecurities. This authenticity is not found through Facebook posts of birthdays and weddings and vacations. There is nothing wrong with Facebook posts. I too, spend an embarrassing amount of time scrolling down the feed several times a day, taking pleasure in the joy of my friends’ lives that I physically am not a part of anymore.

But it is in these personal emails where precious time is taken from our everyday to-do-lists that allow us to be friends again. There are only so many “remember when we used to…” stories that are repeated so frequently until a point where everyone at the table stops short, and the uncomfortable silence seeps in — a stark reminder that we were friends 10 years ago, but we haven’t been friends since.

Georgia in the Rearview Mirror

We left Georgia on January 2nd and drove north on the Interstate. We felt the temperature drop whenever we stepped out of the car for some gas or for a little leg stretch. We were in a hurry: heavy snow was forecasted for the next few days.

Crossing the Tennessee River, January 2, 2015

 

As the snow descended, we stayed indoors and cleaned. Evan was done with his first quarter of grad school. I survived my first quarter of solely working on projects from home. We have a reliable grocery store across the street, we found a Costco, we are 15 minutes away from an Asian market, I am no longer fazed by the terrible customer service at the local USPS store, and we’ve already found restaurants in the neighborhood we whine about. We even know where to take our Land Cruiser when it needs to be fixed!

I guess that means that we’re settled, adjusted. All is good with our little lives here in Chicagoland.

2014 List of TV Shows

Alright, only the list this time, no commentary. Just for record-keeping.

1. House of Cards – Season 1

2. Game of Thrones – Season 4

3. Orange is the New Black – Season 1

4. Orange is the New Black – Season 2

5. Sherlock – Season 3

6. The Walking Dead – Season 4

7. Breaking Bad – Season 1

8. The Sopranos – Season 1

9. Breaking Bad – Season 2

 

2014 Movie List

While most are sharing their list of new year’s resolutions or reflections of the past year, I have always been more consistent in sharing my list of movies and books that I’ve consumed in the past year. Plus, I was too busy having a jolly good holiday in Georgia with my in-laws to spend time being pensive on my own. Also, I have an odd enthusiasm for keeping lists, and an even odd-er urge to share. Several on this list are guilty pleasures and might garner a few “I thought better of you,” but hey, who cares. Here goes.

1. Failure to launch — well, I wouldn’t have chosen to watch this. But we were on a farm without cable, and this was on.
2. The lifeguard — for those hitting their 30s and wondering what the hell they are doing with their lives? This movie will resonate. But the part about having an affair with a teenager? Does not resonate.
3. Lost in translation — too slow for me. There were a few precious moments in the film though. But it was tough to bear the loneliness and boredom that Scarjo’s character had to live through. Sigh
4. Once upon a time in China — one of my favorite movies as a child with my all-time favorite Kungfu hero, Wong Fei Hoong, and my all-time favorite Kungfu actor, Jet Li. Jackie Chan? Pppffffffttt, step aside. But this turned out to be one of those movies from childhood where you should just relish in those sweet, innocent memories. Now that I am older and actually understand dialogue in a movie, this turned out to be one terrible movie. Unless you feel like watching while drunk and making fun of everything.
5. Charade — probably one of the lesser known Audrey Hepburn movies but it was a surprisingly entertaining film that is incredibly cheeky with a fun plot. The sexual innuendos were fun to notice, especially for an old film like this one.
6. 500 days of summer – A rewatch. Still a fun, easygoing film to go back to. Plus, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a cute one.
7. On the Waterfront – this is the only other movie I’ve seen Marlon Brando in, other than The Godfather. The young Brando was definitely engaging on screen. Don’t quite remember the plot anymore but remember a lot of tension in the movie.
8. Frozen –  one of the most successful Disney cartoons of “modern times” — as in, after I entered adulthood. Because nothing beats the Disney films that reign over my childhood. Think Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan. Watched it on a plane and had to resist intense sniggering. Though the whole obsession by 4 year olds (including my niece) scares me. Very cult like. When will these kids move on?
9. Captain America, Winter Soldier – Meh. Ok for quick, mindless entertainment.
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel – The best film I watched in 2014 and one of my favorite comedies of all time. After watching Moonrise Kingdom the previous year, I became a huge fan. I love how ridiculously quirky this whole thing is with exceptional cinematography, stellar performances and the catchiest songs to go with the chases! I found myself tapping my feet in excitement at many moments. And Ralph Fiennes has really shown the breadth of his acting abilities with his character in this movie.
11. Manhattan – Not a story that was incredibly compelling to me. Enjoyed some of the banter between characters but couldn’t quite engage with the characters.
12. August, Osage County – One of the most stressful films I have had to sit through. And it is the film that has solidified Julia Roberts as an actress in my mind. I’ve always been rather neutral about her even though I grew up with her being THE American sweetheart. Meryl Streep, as always, is phenomenal. This gripping, emotionally distressing family drama is definitely worth the watch, though you should have Toy Story on hand to bring some joy back to your life immediately after. The thing is, the trailer is completely misleading — it looks like a family comedy. So that’s what I told my father-in-law. For weeks after, he would shake his finger at me and told me I owed him a happy movie. He still claims it is a great movie. But yes, be warned, it is not a comedy, and not for the faint-hearted.
13. Bling ring – Emma Watson is most likely my favorite actress from the generation after mine. And I was interested to see what Sofia Coppola was doing with a topic like this. I only managed to survive 20 minutes of Marie Antoinette, and was not convinced by Lost in Translation. Though I have been fascinated with Coppola because of well, her father (I love The Godfather). Anyway, 3 out of 5. Watson was entertaining. The other young actors weren’t very good.
14. Like water for chocolate – Now, people are going to hate me for saying this, but this movie was weird…. Maybe, again, this was better when enjoyed when it first came out. But everything looked so outdated by this point. The music was confusing, the acting stiff, the cuts awkward. I never really got into magical realism so I felt out of touch with the essence of the story. Also, the male character was such a loser!
15. Saving Mr. Banks – A little disappointing, seeing that they had both Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as leads. Still rather enjoyable though.
16. Blue is the warmest color – A captivating exploration of youth, identity and love. I saw Lea Seydoux in Mission Impossible and just thought she was one of those European models who looked gorgeous and dangerous but was limited to three facial expressions. Not anymore. In this movie, she continues to impress scene after scene with the way she walked, the way she flipped her hair, the way she flirts, the way she fights… you get the idea.
17. 12 years a slave – Good film, great performances, heartbreaking story.
18. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — The Return of the King felt like an ending to the world of Tolkien for me. So it’s bizarre to watch The Hobbit. The Desolation of Smaug is much better than the first one though. I had trouble staying awake for that one. DoS got me excited for the final installment.
19. Catching Fire – A rewatch
20. The Monuments Men – A very gentle portrayal of WWII with lighthearted, catchy music, a top-notch cast, non-gruesome deaths, heroic anthems. Interesting to have learned about this aspect of the war but, it also didn’t look like war at all.
21. Gravity – GRIPPING! I was on edge the entire time. Enjoyed watching with French subtitles. Learned a bunch of random phrases.
22. The Godfather – A classic. Enough said. (I rewatch this every few years)
23. Don Jon  — Was curious to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s shift to directing a film. Interesting concept. Fun to watch him, Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. Just ok though. He has potential.
24. The Book Thief — Read the book before and was utterly heartbroken. Seeing it on the screen was equally heartbreaking. Beautiful yet tragic story.
25. X-Men: Days of Future Past — I’m a fan of the X-Men so I am quite forgiving of their movies. First Class was much better.
26. July Rhapsody – A Hong Kong film from 2002 that I’ve been wanting to watch, starring Anita Mui and Jacky Cheung. One of the better family dramas from Hong Kong though they delved a lot on Chinese classics and I was completely lost. Not impressed by Kar Yan Lam’s acting even though she won several breakthrough awards with that role.
27. Mockingjay, Part I – I was obsessed with the books and am glad to see the movies get better. They did such a fantastic job with The Hanging Tree.
28. The Fault in Our Stars – Makes me think of me reading A Walk to Remember when I was a teenager and thinking it was such a great love story. Now that I’m 30 and I’m watching these teenagers flirt and fall in love, all I can think about is “man, they’re so young.” The cancer theme didn’t quite get me either. A painful reality for most and I have been very fortunate to not have loved ones go through that at that age. But it just didn’t translate too well for me.
29. Maleficent  — Despite the bad reviews, I thought, how bad can it be? It’s Sleeping Beauty. Man, biggest waste of my time in 2014. Did they even hire a writer? The lines were awful. I was actually mad after watching it and was desperate to find a good movie the next day to re-orient myself.
30. The Godfather, Part II — Another rewatch. Not as good as the first one, for sure, but young Robert Deniro is so pleasant to watch.
31. Enough Said — One of the most surprisingly delightful films I’ve watched last year. The main word I can think of is subtle. A very subtle story, subtle humor, subtle tensions. I was fully engaged. And I cared. The fact that James Gandolfini is gone made it sad to watch as well. What a transformation it is to watch him in this role after The Sopranos. He’s such a gentle giant in this movie. They touched on very interesting themes in this movie: female independence, gender stereotypes, emotional attachments to children, family discord, growing up, loneliness etc. Highly recommended!
32. Guardians of the Galaxy — You want a fun movie after a stressful week? Watch this. Made me laugh, a lot.
33. Mean Girls — We rewatched this with the family over Christmas. Still a gem. I know, right?
34. The Grandmaster — A rewatch. They’ve edited this version on Netflix from what we saw in China, which is a lot more coherent and a little shorter, thereby enhancing the overall experience. One of the most beautifully-shot films I’ve seen. The sweeping starkness of the North, the opulent, delicate South, the philosophy behind martial arts that has to do with loyalty and self-cultivation, the politics and tragic wars in China at that time, the separation of families — a truly engaging story. Of course, a lot is lost in the translation but it’s still a remarkable film. Not to mention Zhang Ziyi remains my favorite female kungfu performer who happens to be a good actress as well. No female fights as stylishly as her. And Tony Leung has been a longtime favorite of mine since childhood.

This is the lowest number of films I’ve watched in a year. Oh well.

If you have recommendations for me to watch in 2015, do share!