Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulian

I first saw Amelie [edited, of course.] about a month ago at Erin and Maddie's home {see sidebar for bloggery-action} and it has quickly made it into my top 5 favorite movies of ALL TIME. It's about time I wrote a response to it. If you aren't in the mood for a hearty serving of rant-stew, you'd best not read this post ...

Not very often to you hear music that feels so familiar yet so new. It rings in your ears and reaches down into your soul, re-awakening emotions you perhaps had forgotten existed within you and making every minute occurrence in your life seem spectacular, even extraordinary. This self-awareness is not a supplement for lost childhood memories or a cure for the common cold, but rather an almost euphoric state of mind, filled with the bitterness and melancholy truth which we all must face eventually.

Life is never what one expects it to be, but we must appreciate the triumphs as well as the pitfalls, and reconnect with an almost child-like fascination of the world. A fascination that makes the fog on a windowpane a canvas and every being an artist in their own right .It never limits a person.

We must regain that awe in everything, including human betterment and relations with others. This film has made me appreciate things more, and the music combines pure joy with haunting reality. The world is exciting, mysterious, and an adventure! We are the only thing holding ourselves back. Timidly we approach everything, but what for?

Listen for yourself. Heck, listen to the whole soundtrack! It'll change your life!

"without you, today's emotion would be the scurf of yesterday's."

-Lex

{PS to Erin and Maddie. Sorry I've been borrowing it for so long. I'm trying to figure out how to burn it so I can watch it daily because that's what I've been doing anyways.}

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously

One of the speakers on my computer is broken, leaving me only hearing half of any double-tracked song {specifically Cloud Cult.}. It is quite humorous.

I've been people watching a lot lately at school. Have you ever noticed how incredibly interesting people are? It might sound stupid that it took me fifteen years to realize the importance of differentiability in human beings, but we are all so fascinating! Simple gestures, obscure mannerisms, but mostly what each of us notice.

One thing I've always been really inspired by is Rorschach's. I'm not saying THE SECRET IS OUT. MY GUILTY PLEASURE IS PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIEZZZ or anything like that, but the human mind is quite spectacular in that we all see things differently. That's why art is so wonderful. No one has a style that is quite the same.

For instance, I was hanging out during class with my new found art friend, and we were staring at this dead bush outside of a window. {For some reason, we thought it was the coolest thing ever or something.} Whenever we'd utter something about the decaying leaves or the dirt or the window, we always would focus on something different, and it was very fun. Her style is very realistic and extremely beautiful and her observations reflected that. As for my personal style {which I honestly don't know how to describe} my words reflected that also. We think the way we draw, and I love that.

In her words, she's Michelangelo and I'm Picasso. And I'm okay with that. I don't want to be someone I'm not when it comes to my art, and I like my style. I like her style too. We have a mutual understanding of this. We speak the same language.

Weekday update:

• I'm content. And I finished sewing my Pride and Prej. inspired dress today. My sister said it looked like a Moses dress. But did Moses really wear a dress? I think not. Robes maybe, but I don't think the neckline on my dress would be flattering on him.
• SOTD: This album came in the mail the other day and I've already listened to it too many times. {Think Paul McCartney soul + Andrew Bird Vibrato + Dirty Projectors quirkiness} You have to listen to the whole song though... SO GREAT.
  

xo- Lexi Vivienne

Rantypants.

I'm feeling in the mood to complain about the world right now. Do you know what I dislike more than a thousand burning suns? Senior pictures. Nothing makes me want to vomit more than girls with long curly hair standing in front of an old looking wall flashing their "serious" face.

But you know what's the worst? The "I'm cool and musical and artsy so I'm going to pose with my guitar!" pose. Those drive me up the wall. More than anything.

Do you like my crappily drawn guitar? I sure do.

-Lexi

I'm tired.

Today was a weird and somewhat crappy day.

All I wanted to do was go home and eat Reddi-whip.

My family never buys Reddi-whip.

Life is stupid.

Watercolors are stupid, when you don't want to do them.

And when you have to be realistic.

It doesn't make sense.

Nothing does.

{Especially math.}

-lexi

My eyes are burning lazers reflecting off of the screen and etching themselves deep into my skull.

I'm in a rut. This happens often, as you may have guessed, and I don't enjoy it one bit. I sit here, all sulky and gloomy and I don't know what to do with myself. I'm getting this vibe from the universe that in order to become something in the artistic world, I need to be able to draw things exactly as they look. So, this week I ventured into pictures cut out of magazines and secluded myself for a matter of hours to try and achieve this.

For some reason I have this odd genetic makeup that makes me tell myself that I can achieve absolutely anything I desire as long as I put my mind to it and spend time on it. I do not think of how long it might actually take me to get there and I expect myself to be perfect the first time around. This belief is a root of many Disney movies and episodes if Arthur {so I am not entirely to blame.} and is completely and utterly farse.

Now, because of this, I give up easily and immediately head to bummertown as a result. AND LET ME TELL YOU, I HATE BUMMERTOWN. I get this ego built up and my head can barely fit through my favorite Jared Gold tank top and I automatically think I can do anything and am so great and blah blah blah and then BAM. I'm in bummertown. And there I am. Sitting in my room, listening to Manchester Orchestra and wondering what the heck happened and why the collar of my favorite Jared Gold tank top is so stretched out.

Okay, I may not seem like an egotistical jerkwad, but I can get that way deep down and am very good at hiding it. It is like long toenails, easily hidden by close-toed shoes but when seen in a sandal, remains grotesque and lint-y.

{Possibly the worst comparison written by man?!}

ANYways, ruts are stupid. Stooooooopid, if you will. And as much as I dislike them, I need to have them. They help keep us grounded so we can sort out our priorities and such.

And now a meaningful life lesson.

This rant session is making its way back to the station, but before I leave you, I must tell you to never do things in order to impress others. Take your time, and enjoy the process. When you stop enjoying that thing that you are truly passionate about, it isn't worth anything anymore. Sometimes, people can take that passion out of you. Ruts can help us find it again in a whole new life, and help us see the worth that was lost. Be passionate about things to please yourself, not just to get the recognition of others.

How was that for life lessons? Eh? Eh?

Take it away, song of the day!

Hallows

This morning, I woke up and took my dog outside. It was nearly seven-thirty and I had been the only one awake in my house for quite some time. It was dark, yet day lit, and the sun struggled to be in view past the ombre clouds overhead. I wore no shoes, and the cold grass wrapped itself in between my toes.

The trees surrounding me were muted marvels of the brightest yellows and the deepest auburns, and cast the loveliest ochre hue over the entire yard. I just stood there, basking in the beauties of the earth that we live in. We are all very blessed.

Normally I find inspiration in materialistic things: A films, a song, a painting, a toaster, whatever. But have you ever noticed the mounds of insurmountable inspiration we find in the earth that surrounds us? Nothing generic. Just simple and raw. Nature is talented all on its own, it needs no help from the media or human society. No exploitation. It is just there. It thrives with no aids, and we take it for granted. Nature is the under appreciated step-sibling. The thing you always know is there, but you never truly miss it until it is gone.

This week my sister dared me to take part in a Facebook fast: no facebook for an entire week. I never thought I would become one of those people that thrives off of a comment, a like, or a message. But sadly, I have. I am a rather antisocial person and I enjoy being caught up in other people's interactions without having to actually interact with them. At first this fasting was difficult. I was many times tempted to get online and 'socialize' with others. I never realized how much I was actually addicted to social networking. Silly really, but it is almost as if I needed it to get through the day.

Now, it has only been a few days since I began fasting, but I have already noticed a difference in myself. I have found more productive things to do {i.e: drawing, reading, getting a head start on schoolwork.} and feel I am not as stressed when I am not facebooking. I rather enjoy living without it. And this morning is when it all came full-circle. I've been too consumed in my life and the virtual lives of others to even care about anything going on around me.

Sometimes we have to get away from all the drama in life to stay grounded. This morning I rediscovered that ground, whether it be metaphorically or literally. I rediscovered the beauty of the world around us, and I hope that we can all remember that from time to time.

Technology is constantly changing. There is always something bigger and better to come on the vast pixelated horizon. But the leaves always stay the same. They always grow green in the summer, and turns marvelous colors in the fall. We can't trust this vast cyber-sphere, but nature is always dependable. Sometimes, you just need to let go of the approval of others and become one with it.

-Lexi

The ballad of BB Dakota.

It all started a few weeks ago when The fall Urban Outfitters catalog came in the mail....

I flip through the pages, making fun of how angry and unkempt the models look, and then I see it. BAM. The most beautiful coat in the world. A BB Dakota wray coat. And it is screaming my name. I am sitting there, hyperventilating. I don't think I've ever wanted anything SO MUCH IN MY LIFE. {lie, but it produces great dramatic effect, so we're going to keep it that way.} I look at the price. $168. Hey! I could buy that, right? I've already done half of my Christmas shopping, so, yeah. Cool. Awesome. I'ma buy this coat. {Though in my subconscious mind I knew I'd NEVER spend that much for a coat. No matter if it is by BB Dakota.}

So, I get on the Urban Outfitters website, just so I can stare at the multiple angles of the coat longingly. But, hey! Guess what? They don't carry the coat on the website! Ha! Funny joke Urban Outfitters, funny. You think that just because you can not show the coat on your website, that a person who practically covets the picture from the catalog will simply give up? No, Urban Outfitters. I did not give up.

In fact, I went straight to the manufacturers' website to look for the coat, when indeed they did not carry it either.

This, dear children, left me furious. How could the direct manufacturer of the coat not carry THE COAT? In such rage, I looked the coat up on google only to find myself stuck in a tragic situation:

There was the coat.

Labeled in the BB Dakota Fall 2009 collection.

Of course BB Dakota did not have the coat on their website! It was from a year old and most likely sold out collection! But the fact that Urban Outfitters would include this in their catalog for this year puzzled me greatly.

Why put a picture of something you claim to own in a catalog so people will want to buy it, when you, in fact, do not own the thing in question.

So, due to my anger, I made an edited version of the photo in the catalog.

Weeks passed. I never truly forgot about the coat, I just became preoccupied with other things. School, recreational sports, pretending to be retired from blogging, and the like. Then today, while preparing to write a blog post about the coat, I decided to go to Urban Outfitters.com, just for funsies. I'm scrolling. I'm laughing. I'm having a good time, and there it is. The Coat of many Navajo-themed, earth-toned colors! There! One hundred and sixty-eight dollahz, foo!

I was shocked. How dare the corporate scum at UO sell me last fall's BB Dakota wray coat at this years' bank-crackin' price! I refuse to support these Lackey's of commercialistic horror! I REFUSE. * unless it is really cheap. **Or really cute. *** Or references my love for beards.

Join with me, comrades! We refuse to participate in such villainy!!

Also, in order to settle justice, I altered my first altering of the photo in the catalog. {It says: EXCEPT NOT! We are the corporate swine at UO, about to sell you last year's coat at this year's price!}

Meanwhile, I'll be sticking to the local thrift store.

{Thank-you-very-much.}

-Lexi