The Queen Is Dead is my favorite Smiths album and it always feels autumnal to me - gorgeous, reflective, jangly poetry that serves as perfect accompaniment on a solitary walk. And if you see any gladiolus flowers, you can tuck them into your back pocket and sing to the trees ;-) Ahem, moving right along...
I think fall has become my favorite season. Not when it's dreary and rainy but when it caresses you with warm sunshine and sends yellow leaves floating gently down into your hair. It's the best time for getting a little introspective, writing productively, drinking chardonnay, skipping, biting into a crisp apple, saying hellos and goodbyes, and fetching an extra cup of milky tea.
I'm doing my best to savour the elegance, sweet fieriness, and coziness of this season. How lucky we are to be surrounded by such striking beauty.
So I've always had a bit of an obsession with ballet, even though I never actually took any kind of dance lessons myself. Oh wait, I took K-Pop dance classes for a couple of months last summer, but I'm guessing they're pretty different from classical ballet. Just a little.
Ballet is incredibly beautiful, graceful, inspiring, otherworldly, magical...and the dancers looks so light, like they're floating and flying...all of their hard work and effort is hidden from the audience. It's amazing to watch and I adore it.
Here are two ballet related tid bits of awesomeness that I have been enjoying lately.
First up, the TV show 'Bunheads' by the creator of 'Gilmore Girls'. Ballet isn't really as important as the witty dialogue and character development here but I still like to soak up every bit of dancing that comes up. It's interesting to see what the girls go through and Fanny, always artistically dressed, is a charismatic, eccentric, and sufficiently terrifying instructor.
Next, a book I just finished reading by the same name (that's 'Bunheads' in case you've forgotten) by Sophie Flack, who was a professional ballet dancer herself (for New York City Ballet) for nine years. In some ways the book is fluffy YA fiction (not that all YA fiction is fluffy!!), but mostly it provides a revealing look behind the scenes of professional ballet - and that is fascinating! It follows the story of a nineteen year old girl who dances in the Corps of the Manhattan Ballet and shows what it's like to devote your entire life to dance. Her whole world exists inside one windowless building, but this in no way limits the emotional ups and downs that she goes through while competing for roles and figuring out what kind of life she wants to live. There are lots of interesting details about what it's really like to be a professional dancer and that was definitely the highlight for me. That they start at 10.30am and finish at 11pm is just the beginning...eek! There are also multiple mentions of words such as 'yogurt', 'banana', 'bunion', and 'he rolled out his calf muscle on a tennis ball'.
Now that I've finished watching the show and reading the book, I'm not sure where to get my next ballet fix. A few years ago I bought the New York City Ballet exercise DVD so maybe I'll go back to doing that and pretend that I'm graceful and flexible as I waddle around the room and barely manage to touch my toes.
I'm so excited for Bat for Lashes' new album - The Haunted Man! This song, Marilyn, is my favourite one from the album so far. It's just gorgeous and dreamy and makes me want to stare at the stars. Listen and feel your heart swell.
So I still can't believe that summer's over. I've never before experienced an October when I could still wear shorts and tank tops and sandals and feel meltingly hot sitting by the ocean under a shining sun.
One thing that makes it feel more like fall is going back to school. My first week was actually super fun and it was great to finally make some friends my age since moving to California. The UCSD campus is huge, beautiful, and has a friendly, easygoing atmosphere. When I walk around I feel like I'm in a movie haha.
Ooh, the other thing about fall - there's pumpkin and Halloween stuff EVERYWHERE. It's so beyond the offerings available in Canada. Trader Joe's alone has multiple seasonal products that all look amazing and perfect for a cozy autumnal evening. Yesterday I bought some pumpkin pecan oatmeal. It's also gotten cool enough in the evenings that I can truly enjoy my cups of tea :-)
Yesterday I went on an official tour of the 3 main theatres on UCSD campus. La Jolla Playhouse is so cool! And Gregory Peck was one of its founding members! And their upcoming performance is Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots! It sounds like the best thing ever and I will definitely be attending. Lately I've been thinking about how much I miss theatre and acting and being involved in creative team work so I'm going to try to somehow get involved on campus. We'll see.
Lastly, I've been watching Project Runway and a few nights ago Dmitry showed up in my dreams! So odd...he's just the kind of vampire ghost guy who would haunt people. I do like his designs though. My favourite to win is Christopher :-)
Ahem, enough about that and let's wrap things up shall we? There's work, homework, and pumpkin related activities to be done :-)
Yesterday as I was making a colourful salad for dinner, I heard the sounds of The Simpsons in the background. It was the one where Lisa falls for Nelson - a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Having just finished reading 'Sloppy Firsts' for the first time, inevitably I was reminded of Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie (swoon!)...and Rory and Jess...and countless other similar pairings.
So why do smart girls fall for mysterious rebel poet guys? Is it an attraction toward unconventional genius and unique ways of thinking? A quiet, orderly person's yearning for chaos and unpredictability? The coming together of people who don't otherwise easily fit in? Am I thinking too much about this???
This will remain one of the unanswerable questions in life. Mysterious and inexplicable for all time.
This song doesn't exactly fit the whole apple season theme but it feels cozy and appropriate on this cool morning. The only clue I have that summer is over is cooler mornings and nights. Days are still hot and sunny and summery. Will I ever stop talking about the weather here? Hopefully. Yes, hopefully so...
One of the best things about this season is the produce - like delicious crisp apples! And consequently, apple pie! I recently heard about a little town called Julian and now I really want to go there and check out all the apples. My spirit will ever remain cutting edgingly adventurous. Ahem.
So yes, it may not be windy or grey or cold and the leaves may not be changing colour, but it still feels like the time to bake has come. And by bake I do not mean take the Trader Joe's almond croissants out of the box to defrost and pop them in the oven...and then feel surrounded by the smell of pastry heaven, where pastries fly around languidly and you can catch one and take a bite and then catch another one and obviously none of them have any calories.
Now it's Wednesday so I should go and do some kind of vacation-y thing before school starts on Monday. Pencil sharpening is not on my list as of yet.
I have a new favourite movie. As I grow older and wiser, inevitably my taste grows ever more refined and impeccably sophisticated.
Hence - E.T. Haha, watching this movie is like being wrapped up in the softest of blankets while your imagination soars and dances. Really, can anyone be too old for this movie? Impossible. There's nothing better than childlike wonder and loyalty.
In other news, I've been spending loads of time at the beach and it is just unbelievably gorgeous and relaxing and inspiring. Can't get over it. Sometimes I read a YA book when I'm there. Yep, life is nice. Too bad I go back to school next week. Oh well, hopefully the smell of freshly sharpened pencils will also inspire (rather than terrify).
I can't even count how many times my life plans have changed in the past year. It makes me think that I can't really plan big things like that in the first place - everything unfolds in its own way and I have to not be scared to go with the flow. Be calm and composed like a fluffy ninja cat. Thankfully, the latest change is quite a lovely one and not something I would ever complain about. In fact, it's something I've been dreaming of for quite a while.
In February 2010 I visited San Diego, California for the very first time and fell completely in love with the paradise around me. My parents always say I am like a lizard or plant because I live on sunshine. The sun is my primary battery (chocolate being the secondary one). California is the land of sunshine and it made me feel deliriously happy, I could not stop smiling. Ever since that time I dreamed of actually living in that paradise, but never thought that it was actually possible.
So here I was, already thinking of what to pack for England and, to be honest, dreading the cold and the rain. And then my student visa was rejected because of a silly technicality. My whole plan for the year and for my education just dissolved after reading one little e-mail.
Finally, the results of the turmoil character-building excitement: I am now living in California! And I will take the exact same MA degree at the University of Nottingham, but through distance education. At the end of this month, I will start a certificate program at UCSD so that I will be certified to teach English here in California. And my boyfriend will come to visit around Christmastime. Ahhh. The relief. The joy. Embracing what's happening even though it's not exactly how you initially planned it at all.
My ninja cat instincts are still intact and the ocean beckons to provide soothing relaxation and hours of beachside reading. It feels like everything is just as it should be, whew!!
