Before I start an analytical rant concerning the occurrences of Sunday and Monday, let me briefly describe my Saturday adventures. Saturday was a great day. The sun was shining and Emma, Jenny and I went to the Wallace Collection to have breakfast, or rather, brunch. It was a very regal building and the cafe was in a greenhouse looking type of building and it was so cute! I got an omelette and pear juice and it was delicious. After, we looked around at the art, and because it was Louis XV's 300th birthday, there were all sorts of little activities going on...one of them being 18th century music and dancing! We all got to learn a dance like the one you see in Pride and Prejudice and it was so much fun and I laughed my heart out. They even had live musicians dressed up in costume and it just made you feel like you were in a Jane Austen novel. I loved it! After, we went to Portabello Road and got cupcakes at Hummingbird bakery and then Emma and I ventured off to find a Mexican place called "Tortilla" and to meet up with Caitlin. It was a laid back type of place, so it wasnt a full on restaurant--more like Baja Fresh atmosphere, but it was absolutely delicious and I loved the chicken burrito I got! After dinner, Emma Caitlin and I tried to go see Legally Blonde the Musical, but Elle was being played by the understudy so we postponed seeing the show until the notably excellent main cast member would be acting. Instead, we got Frog and then came home, where I was able to get some homework done and get to bed at a reasonable hour. Like I said, great day.
While Saturday was a great day, these past few days have been days which have truly made me think.
Sunday we had a fireside by my Stake President, President Phillips. I was conducting the meeting and I was horrified when I got up to introduce President Phillips and totally blanked on his name. I'm usually pretty good with crowds and public speaking, but I absolutely forgot his last name! I was so embarrassed. Luckily, President Phillips message totally compensated for my failed introduction. He spoke about really coming to terms with knowing oneself, knowing Christ, and knowing God. It was really uplifting and I felt the spirit so strongly. Maybe it's because this past year I have gone through experiences which have caused me to really question who I am and what I believe in and where I have often at times tried to be someone that I'm not. However, through my ups and downs I feel like I am coming to not only know who I am, but to truly love the person that I am coming to be.
For example:
1. I have come to know and accept that I am not the traditional girl that people will ever refer to as "sweet." While I always try to be nice to everyone I come into contact with, I do not want to be remembered for being nice. I will stand up for what I believe in--no matter if its my religion or if its that Harry Potter is a valuable piece of literature or if its simply that cats are a thousand times better than dogs--I will speak my beliefs and stand behind them, even if it means potentially offending people or if it means completely going against the status quo. I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was nice--I want to be remembered as the one girl who defied convention and was passionate. I want to be remembered as the girl who was strong.
2. I like being alone. I need only a handful of people in my life at one time, because I enjoy simply being alone. Part of this comes from the realization I've had that the only person you can truly depend on is yourself, and that if you want happiness you can't wait for others to bring it to you--you have to go get it for yourself. The other half stems from the fact that I'm very independent and on the weekends there will more than often be days where I would much rather stay at home and work on a project or just get take out and watch a movie by myself than go hang out with a bunch of people or go to a party. Sometimes people find this sad or think it makes me sad, but the world should know it makes me incredibly happy and brings me peace. And I'm finally confident enough to admit that and accept it.
3. I believe that love exists. Despite all odds, I really do. And I am the type of person who picks a few individuals (the remaining population I'm very likely to always be irritated with) and loves them with all my heart. When I love--in any form of love, I put everything in it and expect the same in return.
In one of our English classes, Susan was telling us to truly figure out who we are, and then to find someone who will not try to change you, but who will accept you the way that you are and love you for that. I loved that because it's so true. There are certain things you should change about yourself (in terms of improving yourself) and then there are certain things you shouldn't. I love being so cut off from the world back home here because it's helping me to find my faults and to help me accept and embrace my strengths. As President Phillips said, as you come to know Christ and God, you will come to know yourself--this is something I'm trying never to forget.
Monday, Caitlin and I went back to Tortilla for lunch and then went to TopShop to do some shopping. It was very fun except for the whole part where Caitlin left me at the store because she couldnt find me and I stayed in the store looking for her for an hour before I figured she left me and then went back to the center. I got some very cute things though which I'm extremely excited about. That night, we went to go see the movie Valentine's Day and on the way there I may or may not have eaten two waffles for dinner. The movie was really funny, but it really made me think.
1. In the movie, there was a VERY forced gay relationship between two blatantly straight actors, and little comments were made everywhere about being gay, one of which was Jamie Foxx saying to the gay character, "I support you all the way." Totally a political statement, which I found funny. The movie was very liberal in stuff like that, and I was just thinking how interesting society is coming to be. If prop 8 had never gone down, there wouldn't have been as many gay relationships in the media as there now are. Liberals are totally trying to use the media--especially popular media aimed at teenagers like chick flicks and Grey's Anatomy--to send a message. A very strong one at that. Also, there was a little comment by Anne Hathaway about not being able to afford health care, which made me roll my eyes because the comment about health care was so forced. Basically, it was a very liberal movie.
2. I think as a whole, the movie presented marriage as very pessimistic. There are three marriages in the film. One is Patrick Dempsey and his wife and he is cheating on her with another woman. The second marriage is between an old couple, and its revealed later that at one point in the marriage, the wife had cheated on her husband. The third marriage is George Lopez's marriage, however, you never meet his wife or really see him interacting in his marriage like the other characters and their significant others. George Lopez's character is simply the main character's best friend who provides comic relief. His well working marriage is more like background information. I just found this portrayal of marriage to be interesting... I know that marriage must be difficult, but I think it would be nice of society to believe in the idea of a marriage and love where neither individual is cheating on the other. In a world where the divorce rate goes higher and higher, it would be nice to have a little optimism for a change.
3. Anne Hathaway is a "phone adult entertainer" and her and her boyfriend have a dispute about it where in the end he does the whole "I'll-love-you-no-matter-what-you-do-with-your-life" type of charade. Again, here was the movie blatantly endorsing an issue--namely, exchanging sex for money. According to Valentine's Day, we live in hard times and therefore any means to get money is OK, even if it means selling your morals and in certain cases--your body! Come on society, where are your values and what are you telling your inhabitants to believe?
Good part of the movie however: an abundance of attractive, attractive men.
While I did really enjoy the movie (it successfully made me laugh multiple times) I was just definitely noticing the subtle change in film that is occurring and where movies like Valentine's Day are taking the film industry. Slowly, as a society, we indeed are falling farther and farther downward. It's very upsetting at times, and I'm concerned for the future world that my youngest sister and that eventually my children will be growing up in. So many people I know are falling for the pranks of society and are drastically falling from the people they once were and abandoning what they once believed in. In modern times, strength has never been such an important quality to possess. As Arthur Weasley said in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, "Times like these, dark times, they do funny things to people. They can tear them apart. "
And people wonder why I'm obsessed with Harry Potter...
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