State of the Union:

TV:

- Gossip Girl is back on, and is still a nice source of escapism, but now that the spark is gone between Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick, there's not much else appealing about the show.

- When is 30 Rock coming back on? "Best of Liz Lemon" is officially one of my favorite videos on YouTube.

Movies I Saw Recently and Loved:

- The Wind That Shakes the Barley (history teacher's already recommended me a book on the Irish Revolution. Just powerful, powerful stuff. Cillian Murphy's brilliant in it)

- Memento (what surprised me was how funny it was. "I must be chasing this guy" *gets shot at* "wait, no, he's chasing me." I never suspected Nolan of having a sense of humor.)

- The Piano (the kind that changes your perception of movies forever. I have never seen a bolder depiction of female longing, but it's also a contemplation on female selfishness - Ada teases her husband mercilessly, Flora ends up as her mother's betrayer. It's definitely more of a woman's movie - all the men on IMDB seem to hate it, and it has a lower rating in guys' demographics)

Books:

Read "Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Mansfield Park". Latter's surprisingly racy for Jane Austen, but not gonna lie, it's pretty refreshing. I lament that I prefer old novels over contemporary ones, but they're so well written. It feels like every current novel I've picked up lately has been a contemplation on adultery. Snooze. Will be starting teacher's book of Irish-Revolution tales soon. I also read a picture book written by Jackie Kennedy's sister Lee, about the summer after their graduations (high school for Lee, college for Jackie) they spent in Europe, traveling and looking at art. Good lord, am I jealous. I started reading up about the Kennedys and got melancholy about Bobby Kennedy. I think that had he become president, he would have totally outshone his brother's reign (which is completely overrated, anyway). 

Other Pop Culture Bits:

- Tsunamis are shitty but I can't see anyone willing to donate at a time of such fiscal uncertainty. 

- Roman Polanski case got me reading up on murder of his wife Sharon Tate, and it was one of these moments where I hoped Hell existed just so the people who stabbed Tate, who was two weeks away from giving birth, SIXTEEN TIMES, in addition to hanging her body and using her blood to scrawl "Pig" on the front door, could burn there for eternity. Then I discovered that one of her murderers just died less than a week ago, isn't that odd? I then Youtubed a recent video and was disconcerted on how composed, soft-spoken and well, remorseful her killer was. There was a great sadness that emanated from her, and then I started feeling bad again because she probably came from a cracked-up background. I was right - it turned out that her father was an alcoholic, her mother was crazy, she had faced abuse, foster homes, alienation, etc. as a kid, and was consequently fucked since the day she was born. 

- BTW, I have to admit I don't care very much if Polanski gets away with it, though I prefer conviction. I mean, pay your dues. C'mon.