Films for the Heart

My all-time favorite movie has to be Sleepless in Seattle. I've watched it countless times, wept fresh tears every time and be transported to seventh heaven during closing credits with Make Someone Happy (Jimmy Durante) playing in the background. Here is the final scene where Annie, Sam and Jonah finally meet. 

  

For films that pull at the heartstrings or simply give you the warm fuzzies, you may want to also check out:

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Flipped (2010)

I have to end this post with this unofficial music video of "Make Someone Happy" I found on YouTube :)

 

 

This All Too Familiar Arabesque

It's been a while since my last post. I'm back to my lazy, lackadaisical self again. I lost the fizz when my birthday month ended. Poof. So here goes nothing...

I was never girly growing up. Of course, I wanted to be! I missed out on those dreamy summer dresses, pretty froufrous and the chromatic world of cosmetics and lacquered nails. My closet housed gray/black shirts, high rise straight leg/boot leg jeans and a few odd bridesmaid pieces used only once. It wasn't entirely because I was devoid of any fashion sense. I could always refer/copy the stuff I read on Seventeen magazine. What kept me from trying a different look altogether was my bowleggedness. It's a condition affecting the legs marked by having an arch from the thigh or knee cap. In my case, the deformity starts below the knee cap. Deformity is such a dreadful term but yes, I am mildly bowlegged and it's the real reason why I never wore skirts, dresses or anything that exposed my legs. The rest of the 'ungirly' qualities simply followed suit one after another. It was this incident back in high school that made me cognizant of this flaw. It was one person's frivolous comment that started it all. If only my emotional quotient had been remarkably high at 14, maybe I would've cared less what anyone thought about me and not lose out on all that girly glory.

Today, I have this wonky gait from trying very hard to appear not so bowlegged. I call it the ballerina stance sans the arm positioning and poise of course :) I am still quite self conscious of my legs even if I am now in my thirties. I am grateful for what I have and I've stopped saying it's unfair a long time ago. We just deal with life the best way we know how. Plus, thank goodness, for stylish maxi dresses!

Sarah McLachlan et al.

If you ask me off the top of my head who my all-time favorite female singer is, I'd tell you Sarah McLachlan. You see I'm not the type who spontaneously comes up with answers to random Q&A's. It takes me a bit of time to arrive with something precise. Probably because I lack conviction in my supposed taste in music, literature or anything for that matter. Sarah McLachlan might just be the exception to this hackneyed theory of myself. 

I confirmed this recently, like an epiphany before me while watching the New Girl episode where Jess (Zooey Deschanel) broke up with Russell (Dermot Mulroney-the guy from My Best Friend's Wedding *squirms*) and was listening to the song River by SM on auto-repeat while sulking for days. Then I remembered, SM was also frequently being played in the 90s TV series, Felicity. Not only that, a big chunk of a scene in one episode had one character, Meghan (Felicity's goth roommate) babbling about SM in the excerpt below (Source: IMDb)

Meghan: This is how I know Felicity still likes you. You ready?
Ben Covington : Yeah. Wha... what is it?
Meghan : Sarah McLachlan.
Ben Covington : What?
Meghan : When Felicity showed up last year, head over heels for you, Sarah McLachlan was all she listened to. If "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" wasn't in the CD player, it was only so "Solace" could get a little airplay. I started calling it 'Ben music'... not to her face but behind her back. But then it went away, and I thought Sarah was gone for good. I almost started celebrating. And then you showed up again. You offered Felicity this cross-country trip of a lifetime, which means I got to memorize every lyric from "Surfacing"... all 10 songs! This year started off McLachlan-heavy, until the big break-up, and then all of Felicity's hair went away, and so did Sarah. Until you guys broke into the pool. Now maybe it was a coincidence, but guess who started to make a comeback? It was gradual, but constant, and now if you want me to, I can sing any song from "Mirrorball" which really annoys the hell out of me! So if you're ever curious about whether Felicity has the hots for you, just check her boom box.
Ben Covington : That's the dumbest theory I've ever heard. 

It just might be a coincidence that Sarah McLachlan's music happens to be ubiquitous in other stuff I'm into. These observations do not only confirm the obvious which is I am a big fan ever since but that I am without a doubt, a sucker for schmaltz.

If this convinced you to check her out, I suggest start with her Mirrorball album :)