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And then everything changed

Dienstag, 27. Juni 2017

You get what you put out there

You know how people say that you should try to bring positive vibes into the universe and good things will happen to you? Well, maybe you don't hang around with so many spirtually obsessed people like I do, but I'm sure you've heard something similar before. Well, I recently found out that it's true.

I have this new job where I hand out flyers/vouchers in the streets for a local hairdresser. I was a bit nervous on the first day, because I was worried if I would manage to hand out as many as my boss wanted to or if noone would take them. Also, my Mum asked me if this was really the job for me as I had a job before where I had to talk with lots of people on the street in order to sell them something and (at least according to my Mum) I sucked at it.

But in this new job handing out flyers? I don't suck. Not at all. In fact I am handing them out twice as fast as expected and (even better) it's fun! Also I feel like through this job I have become more open and approachable. People notice me more and people talk to me on the street all the time, asking me if I want to participate in something, etc. Also people I don't know at all suddenly greet me and I can just assume that I've handed a flyer to them some time. Plus, the craziest thing happened to me today. A girl on the street working for the company I once worked for (you know, talking to people in order to sell them something) approached me and offered me my old job back.

Which leaves me with two thoughts: First, I must be a completely different person than I was seven years ago. Which is probably totally normal and healthy. Second, you truly get what you put out there. If you try to be open and confident and motivated and happy, oppurtunities will come your way. It might feel weird in the beginning but it's really the little things which make all the difference. So for the start here's another clichée that's true: A smile can go a long way.


Donnerstag, 22. Juni 2017

My 10 All Time Favourite Music Videos

There are millions of awesome music videos out there and I'm definitely forgetting some great ones in this list. But here are 10 music videos which I've saved in my You Tube Favourites (some of them for years) and which I enjoy so much that I rewatch them regularily.
Do you share some of my favourites?

1. Eminiem ft. Rhianna - Love the way you lie



I'm obsessed with this video. I don't know what it is about it but I watch it all the time and it just sucks me in and gives me all the feels. I don't even like the song so much just the video. I think it captures the obsessive sides of love extremely well and also the casting is perfect.

2. Britney Spears - Criminal



Britney Spears has so many great music videos, she's really the queen of music videos. Some of my older favourites are "Slave for you", "Overprotected", "Crazy" and "My Prerogative" but the one I love the most is a (somewhat) never one: "Criminal". I guess it's just the fantasy of running away with a criminal (with a good heart obviously) and living a Bonnie and Clyde lifestyle that's something I enjoy. There are some really hot scenes in this video, too.

3. Kesha - Dirty Love



This is a lesser known and quite untypical Kesha song which I love! She wanted to found a whole new music genre, some kind of sexy girl rock, but she never got it through so all that was left was this song and music video. The video is just so much fun with lots of glitter and dancing.

4. Green Day - Jesus of Surburbia




This is definitely the video on this list which I loved the longest. I watched it so many times as a teenager and I still think it's genius. It's really long and it has a whole story without any music at the beginning but it's just so well made. It's really like a movie.

5. Panic! at the Disco - I write since no tragedies



Panic! at the Disco are one of my favourite bands and I rarely skip a song by them when it comes up on my phone. While "I write since no tragedies" is not my favourite Panic! at the Disco song, it's my favourite video. Because come on, this is just the coolest group of wedding guests anyone has ever seen.

6. Taylor Swift - I knew you were trouble



I loved Taylor Swift back in the day, especially her "Speak Now" and "Red" albums (the new songs - not so much!). This music video goes in the same direction as "Love the way you lie" as it shows an unhealthy relationship though here the man is more clearly portrayed as the bad guy. It is a well written and filmed story and I always enjoy watching it.


7. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone



This is also a music video which I've loved for many many years. I mean, isn't it every ex girlfriend's fantasy to destroy all of your ex's belongings? This looks like so much fun!

8. Kesha - Tik Tok



I can't believe I have two Kesha videos in this list. I'm not a huge fan of her music in any way but I do like "Tik Tok". I know that it's not the deepest video out there but it's so much fun to watch and I love the opening scene where she wakes up in a bathtub.

9. Plain White T's - 1 2 3 4



Plain White T's is also one of my favourite bands. "1 2 3 4" is not my favourite song (it's probably "Hate" or "Hey there Delilah") but the music video is just so very cute and it feels true. It alsways gives me warm feelings.

10. Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, Pink - Lady Marmelade



Another classic. Loved this song when it came out and I still think the music video is simply fabolous.

Dienstag, 13. Juni 2017

Life sucks but you should laugh anyway; or: Why I love FRIENDS

I've been re-watching the tv show Friends for the last months. It's a funny story how I came to love this show. I never expected to like it because honestly I find sitcoms pretty ridicolous. But one weekend years ago my roommate was gone, I was bored, and had no Wi Fi, when I stumbled on my roommate's DVD of the first season of Friends. I gave it a try and I loved it. I didn't love the jokes (I actually still think they're pretty ridicolous most of the time) but I loved the story. Now that I am re-watching it in my mid-twenties it speaks to me even more.

Despite all the jokes, it's not a happy story most of the time. Actually the one thing that's constant on Friends is that they're failing. I can't count how many times they lost their jobs, how often they had to work crappy jobs they hated, how often their hearts were broken, how often they failed at achieving the thing they wanted. This reaches from little everyday goals to major life goals like having a child. That's the first thing I love about Friends: It somehow makes it okay to fail. If even your tv heroes don't have their lives together, than maybe we ordinary real life people are not such loosers after all.

The other thing is that regardless of all the disappointments and setback the Friends characters have to permanently face, it's still a show which makes you happy. Because through all this crap they never loose their humour. They make jokes about everything (even about things which would be extremely inappropriate to joke about in the real 21st century world) and they laugh a lot. They aknowledge that life sucks but they laugh anyway. Because really, what else is there to do? Maybe the only way to deal with all this ugliness is to joke about it. Preferably with your best friends.

For me in the end it's all about this: Life may suck but as long as they have each other it's all going to be okay. And isn't this true even outside of sitcoms? You may not be where you wanted to be, in fact you may be so far from that place that you doubt you'll ever get there, but as long as you're surrounded by the people you love and who make you happy, you're doing fine. You're doing great.

The Friends theme song says it all:



Mittwoch, 7. Juni 2017

Movie Recommendations - Edition: This year's Blockbusters (Part 4): Oscar Nominees Best Picture 2017

My interest in Oscar nominated movies has continuously increased during the last couple of years to the point that this year was the first one where I actually stayed up till 7 am in the morning to watch the Oscars live and have now watched all Best Picture nominees which I am interested in. I don't plan on watching Fences, Hell or High Water, Lion and Manchester by the Sea, so this post won't include them.

Apart from these four here's my ranking and my recomendations of this years Best Picture nominees:

1. La La Land


I feel like, you either love or you hate this movie and I'm loving it! (I've actually written a whole post about it already.) I've watched it twice yet but wouldn't mind watching it over and over again. There's music and dancing and LA and great costumes - what's not to like? But it was on a deeper level that La La Land truly spoke to me. I adored Ryan Gosling's character for being so obsessed with Jazz. I enjoyed both of them following their dreams though I enjoyed it even more when they failed. Because failing is part of the deal. You won't get anywhere without failing multiple times first. La La Land managed to bring this across while still leaving you with an optimistic feeling.

Also, the second time I've watched this movie I realized that the main couple was from the start far from perfect which makes the ending that much more reasonable. I don't want to spoil it but yes, I also love the ending. I think Damien Chazelle is a fantastic screenwriter who manages to create a dream like lovely feeling while still telling a story which feels utterly true.

2. Arrival


I was really looking forward to this movie and I wasn't disappointed. Not only is it Sci Fi with aliens visiting earth but also it's about a linguist. I study literature and I love that someone who studies language for a living is the hero of a movie. The movie was well made, though the camera was a bit too calm at times for my taste.

The story in itself was incredible. I was sceptical in the beginning if they would manage to bring all the sub-plotlines together in the end so that they have an impact on the main plot (because there's nothing worse than redundant telling) but they did it. Plus, in the end we find out that the main plot is not what we expected it to be after all. But you have to watch it, to see what I mean, because the suprise of this development (and believe me, you will be suprised) is really what makes the whole movie. We think it's about understanding the alien language, but in truth it's about so much more.

3. Hacksaw Ridge


This is a World War 2 movie about a very religious soldier who refuses to carry weapons. Of course first he's ridiculed for this decision but later he becomes a hero (a true story by the way). This movie was not as brutal as I've heard from friends. I mean obviously there's a lot of blood because it is a war movie about a medic but it's totally bearable. I liked the story and there was really nothing wrong with it. If you love war movies like I do, it's definitely worth the watch.

4. Hidden Figures


I actually watched this one in the movie theater. And it was fun. It's about four black women working for NASA. This was an unexpectedly light movie with many funny moments. I enjoyed it but it's not nessecarily a movie I would re-watch. It does combine two of my favourite topics: astronomy and women empowerment so there's nothing wrong with it. But somehow it didn't stick with me so much. I'm a sucker of Follow Your Dream movies which this one is but my problem was, that the message was actually: You can reach everything, if you're incredibly smart like these women. Which I'm not.

5. Moonlight


So, the actual Oscar winner is on the last place in this ranking which doesn't mean that it was bad in anyway. It was a very well made movie, especially in terms of cinematography. It's split in three parts and tells the story of a black gay boy, later teenager, then adult. It's the story of his sexuality and first love. I would have loved to see more of the society he lives in and of the drug dealer who becomes like a father to him and who was hands down the best character in this movie. After all Mahershala Ali won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for it, which is why I was disappointed that he only appeared in the first third of the movie.

Also it kind of threw me off that neither the actors of the main character nor of his love interest looked alike though the ages - the adult versions of them looked nothing like the teenager versions. But maybe I was just spoiled by Boyhood (Oscar nominee 2015) which had the same concept but was actually filmed with the same actor over 12 years. Additionally, for my taste there were too few and too long scenes so that thoughout the movie nothing really happened. It wasn't a bad movie but I think they could have made more out of it.