Hmm, weekly update. Not much to say, and I hardly noticed that it's Friday and haven't written one yet. You remember when I was complaining about there not being any movies? Well, this week I read an article in the paper entitled "The Death of Independent Films" and it was saying how indie and different movies (aka everything not Hollywood) is suffering because a lot of the distributors for these films have gotten rid of the sub-divisions to save money which means less good movies making their way to theatres and having DVDs. Which is great, great news for me. -__-

Other than that, yeah... no plans for the weekend since the temperature has decided to plunge to unbearable levels. *sighs* I really need something good to happen to me...

Because I have a feeling I'll forget to write here yet again, I'm doing it a little earlier. Seriously, though, I really don't know where my mind is lately. My brain just feels so fried because of all this stupid work I need to do for school. This was supposed to be my easiest year!!! It's my last semester and instead of everything being easy on me, it's the opposite, and because of that, I don't even know what I'm writing or saying anymore. I tend to make more mistakes with the former, however; I've been reading a few of the replies I sent to several people and I don't even know what I was thinking when I was writing. It's embarrassing, and on top of that, I don't know what I'm writing here either. ;D

Hmm, weekend was pretty awful. For those who haven't received my panic-stricken warning emails or my complaints about it, some idiot hacked into my email (I don't know what they hoped to find, or if it was just some stupid, stupid prank) and send spam messages -- and hopefully nothing else -- to all my contacts. So, uh, thanks for that, whoever it was. -_- Then our internet died, but we discovered not too long afterwards that it was just the adapter... again. I went downtown on Saturday, but nothing really happened on the trip. We bought lettuce and blackberries. Yup, pretty pathetic, don't you think?

Aaaand, because I really should be working on something, I'll shut up for now (at least here, because I realize all too well that I've been completely neglecting my comm (sounds pretty weird to be saying that, I must admit XD) during these past few weeks. :(

I've been meaning to post something here for awhile now (and onto my comm as well), but it's been so hectic this week. It was the first week back at school and yeah, it never a pleasant thing. x__x I now have one class with *two* people (and yes, that includes me) and another with four, which sounds like //sarcasm alert, sarcasm alert!// bucketfuls of fun and excitement. I can't wait to be picked on and forced to speak several dozen times per class because there's no one else that can talk. *sighs*

On top of that, I started an independent study this semester in German. It's my first time doing something like this, and I'm not sure yet if I like it so much. On one hand, there's no classes to go to and not much to do, but I don't know about the one-on-one email correspondence thing I have set up with my teacher. It seems strange. I prefer just disappearing at the back of the class and having no one notice me. XD

Hmmm, what else? I haven't done anything special because the weather sucks. I hate winter... but I hate summer too. Gah! -_- But really, I can't stand it; I've complained about it before, but seriously, what's the weather like in the winter? Cold. What do you want to do when it's cold? Stay inside. And yet they don't release any movies I could go to (and we got free movie passes, because our newspaper didn't show up for a good three weeks, and I don't even have anything to choose to use them up *pouts*)

Erm, that's all from me today. I need to return to finishing the four stories I need to write for Italian. ;__; Toodle-oo, everyone~!

Hmm, not much to say. Due to uh, certain circumstances which I will not mention here, this week between Christmas and New Years always seems to be the worst week of the year. I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but at this rate, I can't wait to start up school and have everything back to normal again. Scratch that... I'll try to be a little more positive here. I actually managed to get the next part of my story looked over and ready for posting, so here it is.

Other than that, not a lot is going on with me, but *brings out the champagne* I did want to wish everyone out there a very, very Happy New Year! I hope everyone will have plenty of good luck, happiness, and health in the coming year and, for those that maybe didn't have such a great year this time around, I hope this next one will be a lot better for you. Happy 2010! ^___^ And seeing as that's pretty much it...

( The story is under the cut, like always )

**

** Merry Christmas. Joyeux Noël. Wesołych Świąt. Buon Natale. Frohe Weihnachten. God Jul. с Рождество.

Feliz Navidad. 圣诞节快乐. Feliz Natal. Gelukkig Kerstfeest. Glædelig Jul. Veselé Vánoce. Sretan Božić. Häid Jõule. Καλά Χριστούγεννα. Boldog Karácsonyt. Gleðileg Jól. 메리 크리스마스. Crăciun Fericit. З Різдвом Христовим. Vesel Božič. メリークリスマス. Linksmų Kalėdų. Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus. Etc, etc.... ^__^v

I'm just popping in to say the following:

A huge, HUGE Happy Birthday to Freckles!!! ^___^v

(...that's her wrapped in her many favourite blankets right after her bath (hence the NOT so happy expression on her face :D) AND the other one is of her on her seat, while riding in the car (I just love the little smile on her face ^.^))

My little beagle is celebrating her big day today, and I wish her all the best: lots of health, hugs, rides in the van, and of course, FOOD! :)

Unfortunately, her tummy seems to hurt today (no doubt after the Chinese feast she had yesterday XD) and the supermarkets were too crazy today, so she'll get her big treat tomorrow, but I just thought I'd announce it here... for lack of anywhere else to do so. ;D *proceeds to huggle her puppy, although the latter just runs away and lies down somewhere else -__-;)

Well, here's my weekly update, and I must say that *gasps, screams, shrieks* I actually have a reason for posting this today, although at the same time I'm a little nervous. Okay, but I'll just get right into it: I've started up a community on LJ. It's a silly one, but, seeing as I did get some members after asking if someone would be interested on another comm, I thought I'd shamelessly advertise present here as well. ^^

Actually, this is more of a call for interested people. You see, I got this idea (though someone burst my bubble somewhat and informed me that it already existed -_-) of setting up a comm where people learning a language can practice writing it in the form of short posts (~150-200 words, or more) about random subjects they themselves choose, and then having people either a native of this language or someone more fluent to come in and correct it, or, for other learners, to comment and practice that language even further... there's a more clearer description when you actually click on the link below and read the info. ^^

SO, I guess the point of my saying this, is that I'm hoping to get some oh-so eager people both learning languages and whose native language is NOT English to join in on the fun. XD Right now, I'm the only poster (mainly because it started out as a personal blog), but I'd really like to change that, so I invite anyone and everyone who fits the above description. I have a whole bunch of samples and a total of... 6 languages, and it'd be amazing to have more, so come in? :) ---- HERE!

... And please, don't laugh at me for this, but what do you think?? :DDDD

Before I begin, *what* is up with LJ recently? I'm getting no message notifications either in my email inbox nor in my LJ one, or getting them one day late. Gee, thanks for that! XP

Eeps, I'm almost horrified that I haven't stuck on a story update here in more than a month, but unfortunately, I just haven't been in the mood for it, although this really has nothing to do with the story posts here, but my own feelings about this story in general.... Seriously, I want to finish this story SOOO badly, since I'm getting so tired of it and that feeling I've had ever since I put the thing on hiatus three years ago (ie. What the HELL was I thinking when I thought writing this sort of story would be a good idea? -_____-) is only getting stronger. Seriously, though, what WAS I thinking when I decided to start something like this, both in terms of subject content and style? I hate myself sometimes... and feel horrified and ashamed on top of that. Harumph!! I have so much ideas for future "projects" and yet I have to finish this first, because if I don't, I'll never get it done and that... that would be a waste of nearly two years and 700 pages of writing. *cries* Go, go Mimi, you can do it!! *not very convinced*

Anyways~ this past weekend went downtown for Christmas shopping mayhem, although it wasn't still so psychotically crazy yet. Maybe it was too cold and people ran to the malls instead... I don't know. Still, that's pretty much it. I really wish I had more to share, but nope, that will be all from me today. ;)

( And oh, yeah... here's one of these things again :/ )

Hmph. I'm not sure whether to do this before or after, but I'll start with the following: my Christmas vacation started on Friday (and although it came one week earlier than usual, I couldn't wait for the day to come!) and it took a matter of a few hours for me to get sick. -__- And I've been like that ever since, although I'm sure my excursion on Saturday made things worse, not better.

But anyways~ *grins like an idiot* I'm so excited that I managed to get to the Eh!U European Film Festival (that is so cheesy, although I'm sure the person who thought that up laughed at it for days on end :DDD), which is a FREE!!! film festival put on by the various EU embassies here, and yeah, the timing and location was horrible, but as a Scandinavian movie was playing on the weekend, I had to go, and go I did, although seriously, the organizers need to find a better theatre since it was such a pain to get here.

We went there in the afternoon, hoping that we could get a ticket and then look around for some dinner, but tickets were only given out one hour before, so we wandered down the street, waiting for the time, and since there wasn't much to look at, we just walked around in the cold. 10 minutes before the hour time, we come back and there's a line for tickets. We stood, got our tickets and saw that there was already a line for ticket holders, so, wanting a good seat, we stood in the freezing cold (it was dark already) for 50 minutes, until they let us into the theatre. I'm actually amazed that I managed to breathe normally and not need to hack and blow my nose during the movie after this (obviously I'd get punished for it the day after -_-), but yeah, the movie finished just before 8... and I got back to the house at 10:40pm. Why? Because we needed someplace cheap to eat, but this being a not-cheap area, we were forced to get a nasty, triple-over-baked slice of cardboard, topping-less pizza, after which, not wanting to walk to the streetcar, we thought we'd take the one on the road and get driven up closer. Bad idea. We waited 30 minutes (other people waiting were grumbling on how this was unbelievable... no comment -__-), started walking in the direction only to have the streetcar finally come. We got off at the intersection... and waited another 15 minutes for the streetcar going north, and then another uncharacteristic 10 minutes for the subway. Yup. But in the end, for free Scandinavian movies, it was worth it. :)

---



Title: Ping-pongkingen (The King of Ping Pong)
Year: 2008
Country: Sweden
Director: Jens Jonsson
[IMDB Link]

And here's the mandatory review courtesy of me! I have to say I was not thrilled that this was Sweden's entry in the festival. A "comedic drama" about two kid brothers O.o ... in that alone there were two words I'm totally against: comedy and kids, but it was actually really good, in a quirky, cute, amusing sort of way. The story is about Rille, the older of two brothers (he's big, his brother's small; he's more deliberate, his brother more impulsive -- the quote came up a few times in the movie), who feels jealousy and resentment towards his younger "cooler" brother (he ends up running the brother over with his father's truck, but it's nothing serious XD).

Naturally, there's a little more than that, but overall, it was an enjoyable film, mainly because there was enough amusing moments for me without it being overbearingly funny (one of the best regarding Rille's love interest: a somewhat nerdy girl who draws hot guys in all their naked glory :D). Nice story with its more serious, poignant moments, although I *did* have a problem with the audience, who just laughed at everything, even though it was inappropriate and just... not funny. Example: Rille is a fat guy, but his mother even more so, and every single time she was on the screen, people literally burst into laughter, even at serious moments. Suffice to say, I wasn't amused, as with a few other instances. :/ But people aside, it was fun and shots of Swedish winter were just beautiful. ^__^ Three, maybe 3.5, stars out of four?

Thought I'd pop on here earlier than the usual Thursday post, mainly because I'm done my school assignments and can cruise easily into Christmas vacation starting next week... and I really have nothing else to do. :D

Still~ had an amazing weekend (at least, the Saturday), because the much-anticipated Swedish Christmas Festival was on, and naturally, what else could I do except go? This year, we went for the whole day, so we could have lunch there, which was a big mistake, because it was so crowded you couldn't even move around and see anything at the stands. :( The lineup to the food was also massive, but after some waiting, we got our open-faced sandwiches (mom and brother got the meatball and beet salad; I, naturally, got the cheese one XD), sweet buns, and, for dessert, almond tarts and GLÖGG (GLOG)! <3 <3 I don't know why, but it tasted so much better than the pre-fab, add a little wine bottles we buy, but regardless it was all very delicious. ^^; Also got some candies and *squeals* they had a stand of used books in Swedish and I got myself some kids books, so I can read them and help my Swedish progress a little more. I'm so excited! ^_^; Anyways, in conclusion, because uh, that's pretty much it, I bought this little guy to compliment the Lucia girl I got last year:

Isn't he just so adorable? :) They also had the same guy, but with a longer, slimmer body, but my heart was set on the chubby one. He's the best!! ^_______^v And so ends my little story; hopefully, they'll be something to talk about next week... if not, I better think something up. -__-;

Title: 한여학생의일기 (A Schoolgirl's Diary)
Year: 2007
Country: DPRK (North Korea)
Director: Jang In-hak
[IMDB Link]

Tsk, tsk, tsk it's Friday and I'm posting what I did last weekend. *sighs* It's pathetic and a tad bit embarrassing, but yeah, I can proudly say I've almost completed 2/3 of the projects I have for the next week, which *grins* is my last week of school before Christmas vacation. Yeah, a little hard to believe, but it's great! :D

Anyways, last weekend, there was an Asian film festival going on, and fortunately there was one movie with a good time for me and that sounded interesting, so I went to this movie, which yes, is indeed a North Korean movie (if the totally old-school movie poster didn't give it away enough XDD). This is actually the first North Korean movie to be released internationally, so I almost jumped at the chance, not because it sounded super great or intelligent, but because I can now say I've seen a North Korean movie. ^__^;;

The plot involves a girl who lives with her sister, mother, and grandmother in a house outside of Pyongyang, her father being so into his work that he lives by the factory, and she resents her father for not being there and discovers in the end that's he's such a good worker after all and wants to study science too. As the plot may somehow indicate, this movie was just soooo cheesy at times; it wasn't only the propaganda and communist aspect to it (my mom said the style is exactly the same as USSR films), but the whole family friendliness... actually, the people there were having this huge debate afterwards about it on how it wasn't so propagandist (some guy -- one of the few "Western" people that were there, so it was a little embarrassing for us -- was going crazy), but that it could very well resemble South Korean movies from the 80s. Seriously, wtf? This thing was 100% K-drama: the rural setting, the family living all together and facing common problems, obsession with marrying off your daughters, even the corny family moments!

My opinion: seeing as this wasn't really film festival material, but was more there for its uniqueness, I wasn't so wowed by the TV-movie style, although it was interesting to see a portrayal of their life, though a lot of it seems laughably unbelievable (we learn English? O_o). The story was predictable, especially if you've been tuning into KBS a lot, so, given little voting sheets at the film, I gave it a 3/5. Asking my mom what she wanted to give it, she told me to put the same thing as I did... and then she got hurt that I gave it "too low". She liked it; she just doesn't want to admit it. (note: though I'm interested in them, my mom is ADDICTED to K-dramas :DDD)

//end for this week

Ah, it's taken me a few days to plug the camera in and add here the next installment of the Cake Chronicles (c), and of course, it was all the more delicious this time, because I picked it out myself. So, first, the picture:

He he he shameless as it sounds, I'd been waiting to get this cake (called Tutti Frutti), especially because every time we came, they didn't have it. I was thinking of pre-ordering it a week before, but with all the postponing and family issues, it slipped my mind, so yay! for it waiting for me. ^^ I so wish I took a pic of the inside, since it was worth it... except my mom gave me the last piece a few days ago, without telling it was the last slice. *pouts* But I really wanted to show this one off, because it was soooo delicious, although my fave is still the strawberry one. Still, this one had the characteristic soft meringue-y outside with layers of dough (with chocolate flowers and the leaf made of soft, fortune-cookie like dough), berry mousse and tons and tons of fruit consisting of blackberries, raspberries, and black and red currants. *swoons in ecstasy* Yeah, it tasted like the cake version of a berry Yogen Fruz (okay, maybe only for me because I just adore Yogen Fruz .___.;;)! //another Cake Chronicles comes to an end

Anyways, while verifying the date of the Swedish Christmas festival, I was directed to the Swedish embassy website, where they also mentioned that there's going to be an EU (as in European Union) Film Festival. I swear, I had to read that twice... Wow! And even more wow: it's free!!! Now, I just need to figure out how I can get there at night. :/ Plans for this weekend? I'm not saying, because I don't want to jinx anything. ^^;;

Yeah, I realize I haven't updated this last week, like I usually do... these past few weeks haven't been so super (the most impersonal -- meaning, the only thing I'm really willing to share here -- being that mere hours before Halloween, my brother broke his leg and a few days later needed to go into surgery, which is just splendid. That's life, I suppose. :/), so I just didn't quite know what to write, but I'm back and with the promise that I might just update this thing more often. *hears one huge, collective groan*

No, but anyways, it's just been *great*, in the most sarcastic way possible, of course. And you know what, I don't like birthdays, and this is starting to get more and more obvious as each one passes by. Is that a sign that you're growing up, or something, because right now, I can't even remember when I actually looked forward to these things, *sighs* but anyhow....

Okay, all bitterness is aside now and all is done and over with. Yay! There was a Russian film festival going on this past weekend, which I really wanted to go to, since I just want to go to the movies so badly... but no, I check the website Thursday evening and click on the one promising movie (the brand new Anna Karenina movie, which no, I didn't know it existed, but still, I want, HAVE TO see it!! *_____*), only to find the one screening was at 7:00pm. On Thursday. Wtf, whyyyyyyyyy? It was a sad, sad moment for me, and so that was the end of that plan. ;__;

And as an end note, a few of you may have noticed that my rotation hasn't been updated recently, and that's pretty much because I finally, unceremoniously came to the decision a few weeks ago that it's going on indefinite hiatus, pretty much entirely because I want it to. The request to remove a link scared me into realizing that I don't want anything forcefully deleted or anything, so I'm giving it a (much needed, desired) rest. Erm, yeah, the links will remain until they, if, they expire, but I might change the font colour to black, so it's hidden and only those who know of their existence will be able to access them, but I don't know yet... right now, I'm not in the mood to put so much effort into it. :P

And omg, can it be? Not a single real 'smiley' here... that has to be remedied asap. ^__^v

*sighs* I really have nothing to say. My week hasn't been great, and I'm sure will continue to do so, and really not wanting to get into it, I'll just stick up the story and uh, run away. :P

( So~ that's over here! )

Oopsies~ just remembered today (and that being the day I normally update this thing) that this week is a story week and I don't have anything editted at the moment. -_- Now, he he he, it's not as if anyone really cares, but I like sticking to my little schedule and this is really unnerving me now. :|

So, once I get through everything I'll get to it and hey! maybe I'll even do it tonight... okay, that is just not possible, but I'm sure it'll be here this week. And why am I telling everyone this? I really don't know...

Anyways, life: I had a long weekend, I hate long weekends, especially when I don't have classes on Monday, so all a long weekend means is having everyone home ALL the time. It's madness. :( Erm, on top of that, I didn't do anything else of interest. Especially not worth mentioning, but then again, isn't it always like that? But yeah, the story's coming shortly... run away when you have the chance. :DDDD

( And yay!! it's up, it's up! )

This is getting so embarrassing, considering just how old all of this, but I vow to you that this is it. Yes, this is the last bit of photos, and that just makes me want to weep... and I will too. ;___; Erm, anyways, I might keep the comments to a minimum, though taking a look at all those that preceded this one, you *know* that won't be happening. :D Still, I won't talk here anymore, so I can direct you over to:

( The last two days *sniffles*... and *grins* all the goodies I brought back ^.^! )

Weekly update from me, though there's nothing particularly wow that I can mention. Saturday was okay, though I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Sunday, it seemed, was the beginning of a bad week, since we had planned to go an amazing restaurant quite a ways away, but (personal) things came up, so it seemed like it was canceled, and then nope, we ended up going for dinner, and omg, it was SO good. I really thought all the frustration and wait worth it, since I can now say for sure this is probably my fave restaurant, at least Chinese. Anyways, why am I saying this? Because I seem to have the luck that any good that rarely comes along is followed immediately by bad. I woke up at 3 in the morning and pretty much spent my night and then morning puking up everything. x__x I don't even know what it was, since everyone else was fine and I ate the same thing. Must just be *the* curse. -________- And speaking of the curse: guess who has to write a 3 page commentary, in German, on all the cultural assets of German hip hop music? Just shoot me... NOW!!!! Why, what have I done wrong?!?! ;___; ... Anyways, yeah, more annoying complications, but I won't get into them, so uh,

( Just get over to the story, okay? ;D )

This is the biggest folder of pics (for one day), but I'm going to try and go through it as quickly as possible. I really can't believe that it's been a month since I've returned and I haven't finished this yet. -__- But yeah, this was a particularly thrilling day, so~

( Onto the pics of Mimi going to Estonia ^^! )

Title: Mother
Year: 2009
Country: South Korea
Director: Joon-ho Bong
[IMDb Link]

Well, this movie came directly after the first, so as soon as I got my autograph, we scrambled down the street to the next theatre and stood there in line (the line to the first was down the hall, down the stairway and out onto the street) for a good half an hour before being let in. This one was a unversity lecture hall, so it wasn't so comfy, but yeah... we were informed at the very beginning that the director (the amazing Bong Joon-ho, who also directed Korea's #1 grossing movie, The Host) had already flown back to Korea, which was SUPER disappointing, especially when I'd been secretly looking forward to meeting some people, maybe practicing my 'thank you' (which, *grins proudly* I can see almost perfectly*), but no signings this time. :(

Anyways, this was a murder mystery about a mother whose mentally handicapped son is charged with the horrific murder of a schoolgirl and convicted without any sort of investigation or trial. Convinced that he's innocent, she takes on the investigation herself and slowly gets obsessed with finding out the truth. Single, practicing acupuncture without a license, and in debt, she provides servies for information and bribes people with money she doesn't have until she finds out what really happened... and I'm SO not telling what that is, because this was every bit a thriller, with you not being able to wait to see what happens next.

I loved this movie! I definitely found this the better of the two, simply because it was so twisted and suspenseful that I was captivated from the very first shot. The actor playing the son, and of course the mother (who is, apparantly, a hugely popular actress in Korea) were amazing, especially the latter, who really deserves the praise she gets. *nods passionately* Yup, nothing came afterwards, so we went back, and that's it. *sighs* Now I have to wait a whole year for more film festival fun... :( It's depressing!

YAY! Going to break up the vacation post once again to say: Went to the Toronto International Fim Festival (TIFF) on Saturday and had an amazing time! ^__^ Once again, I'm all giddy and excited to share some reviews and *grins* signed tickets with all! Went to two movies in total, so I'll split it up nicely:



Title: Max Manus
Year: 2008
Country: Norway
Director: Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg
[IMDb Link]

( Review over here~! )