Fridays Featured Film: Just a Love Story

For today's featured film, I decided to ease the tension that you might have felt watching Apricot and go for a short film that I thought was quite ironic.

This film is produced by Ifu Chen from Toronto, Canada, and the story is of a man that "falls for a woman in an elevator, but lacks the courage to talk to her." There is a turn of events when "one rainy day, the two meet again in the elevator, and the man’s strain of lust is unleashed by the sight of her soaked body. He finally decides to take the initiative, which leads to a shocking truth."

I felt it was a very creative and original story with just the right amount of humor and entertainment. It was very well narrated and the casting was spot on. The ending was perfect. I loved how we're left without knowing what happens next...

To check out last week's featured film, click here.

First Birthday Brunch

A couple of days ago, I attended a first birthday brunch/lunch at the Hale Koa hotel down south in the tourist city of Hawaii. The celebration took place outside in an area that would have suited a luau rather than a first birthday party. The party came equipped with a moon-bounce, candy, balloon animals, and air brushed tattoos. All that you would expect at a first birthday party here in Hawaii.

The lunch was average, with the fixings that a hotel catering service could arrange. My plate was filled with fruits, a salad, and the fixings to make a delectable sub/sandwich as well as a few mediocre choices. I didn't finish it all, sadly. The fish that you see furthest to the right was smoked, that I didn't know, and that I didn't like. The fish at the top of my plate was a bit bland. The greek salad towards the left had a little bit too many herbs/spices. The bottom half of the plate was heartily eaten; as for the top half, I only really enjoyed the sandwich I made out of the cold cuts, cheese, and the bread.The meat with the gravy atop was about the 3rd best piece on my plate.

After lunch, we sat around and watched the little kids partake in a bunch of activities. My brother and I talked about the movie Inception that recently came out. He called it one of the best movies of the year, and I have yet to see it! I just haven't found time to go to the theater lately. When the party was near over, we decided to take some pictures out on the lawn. Everything looked so green and fresh.

My mom:

We got out at about 12:30 (the party started at 10) and the sun was pretty high up, and so were the temperatures and so explains the squinting.

My dad had to use the bathroom for the last picture, which explains why he wasn't there. We went home afterward; I relaxed for the rest of the day.

One Month's Rent, One Month's Security, AND a Broker Fee?!

Although I'm year's away from leaving this little island and moving away from my parents, I've always loved looking at real estate listings in hopes of getting an idea of the cost of a great apartment. I say apartment because I don't see myself at a permanent residence until late in my career. Also, the costs of home ownership are always changing; in the long run renting is a lot cheaper than buying a home - if you're living in an apartment for less than 5 years.

It's always good to get a head start in things, and I'd say it goes the same for this situation. Having been in college for about two years now, the thought of my future has been constantly nagging me. I've set up a plan for myself, which of course is subject to change seeing as I'm not psychic. It's a bit of a long term goal - looking at about 6-7 years. This plan consists of finishing up the remaining 3 years of college to get my BSN all while getting a license to become a CNA, as well as an LPN to add to my resume and work experience in the hospital. Afterward, hoping that I've saved enough money, I'll be off the island IF I find a promising job. My ideal location would be New York, Brooklyn to be exact. I really haven't thought about a Plan B, but I do have 3 years...

Other than searching for affordable real estate, I've also been looking for possible graduate schools. Most schools look for about 2 years of experience in a hospital setting after receiving your BSN which means we're looking at Year 5 of my 6/7 year plan, so this idea is still inconsistent.

Onto the subject of this post, New York real estate. There are the days when I have nothing else to do, and the first thing that comes to my mind is an apartment. I'm always looking at listings, mostly on the NYTimes website, trying to find the average price for a 1-2 bedroom apartment. Here are a few examples of places I've been looking at:

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These pre-war apartments go for about $1600 and are both located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, near Prospect Park and have 1 bedroom 1 bath. If I do find a roommate (I have a few in mind), then the search for a 2 bedroom will begin. But as I said, I have 3 years, and it's not like these apartments will be available for rent 3 years from now. These examples are just ideal - hardwood flooring, large windows, great location, etc. But, I do fancy the first apartment even though a month's rent, security, and broker's fee are due at signing. This might be the basics, but I don't know too much about these terms just yet.

Does anyone live in Brooklyn and care to share any experiences with the real estate there? Any type of input would be great. I have so much ahead of me, yet I'm here blogging... time for other tasks. I'll be a bit busy tomorrow, so I'll see everyone on Thursday.

Music Monday: Explosions in the Sky

And now for the first installment of Music Mondays -

Explosions in the Sky could be best described as the modern day symphony. With most songs never less than 5 minutes, you can easily get lost in the smooth instrumentals. I would have never known that the group uses just two electric guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum set rather than being a mini symphony of sorts. Chris Hrasky, one of their band members states that one of their goals is to "immediately [grab] your attention and [to get] to your emotions." I believe it does just that.

Currently, one of my favorite songs from the band is 'Your Hand In Mine' which has been on repeat for the past couple of days. The above video is just a snippet of it, as the song is around 8 minutes long. It's a very tender piece, and I picture myself walking down the aisle to it with each melody introducing the next flower girl, ring bearer, bridesmaids/maids of honor, bestmans, the groom, and finally the bride. Take a listen, and I'm sure you will see this group featured on another Music Monday to come.