Lent Day 13: Happy Holi

There is a festival every year that I had never even heard of until I started watching Bollywood movies. It's called Holi, the Hindu festival of color, celebrating the triumph of Good over Evil and the coming of Spring.

Holi is celebrated every year by masses of people who fill the streets and cover each other with bright colored paint. It's gorgeous and looks like so much fun. Here are a few pictures:

The paint waiting at the market.

Throwing color on friends and family is a symbol of wishing them happiness and good fortune in the coming year. It can get a little rowdy (or so I read) but still looks amazing. Here's a video from the movie Mohabbatein (great movie) that takes place during the Holi festival. Just look at all the colors!

Anyway, one day I'd love to experience it for myself. Until then,

Shalom

Lent Day 11 Lesson: where ever you go, there you are

So today I have gotten a few things done. Yesterday...not so much. I didn't get out of bed until 3. In my defense I went to bed at 1 a.m. so that should count for something. I really needed the sleep. I also wonder if I was subconsciously sleeping through the better part of the day so I wouldn't have so many hours to fill without the use of Media.

Speaking of Media, I actually watched some things on youtube Friday night. Yes, this counts as Media, but I'm not beating myself up over it. There was some drama that I kept dwelling on and couldn't get the big bad scary thoughts to leave so I needed a distraction. Media is good for escapism.

As I talked about with someone recently, if all you do during Lent is follow rules you're missing the point. It's about growing not about denying yourself something. Through the removal of a common vice or habit or substance you push yourself out of your comfort zone and find out what you've really been missing. God sets the agenda, not you.

That being said, one of the things I ended up viewing is so awesome I have to post it. It will help if you are a fan of Disney and other cartoon movies (the good ones, like Classic Disney...I'll spare you my rant) and also if you are somewhat familiar with Pride and Prejudice (2005).

Isn't it awesome? Doesn't it make you so happy? They have them for other movies too, like Moulin Rouge! Titanic, 10 Things I Hate About You. Apparently there are contests. Anyway, like I said, it was a pretty good distraction.

More to come this week. I'm starting to realize that simply removing Media from the equasion does not magically reset my default to "Christine will become a doer instead of a thinker and achieve all her goals and dreams". It would be nice if that was how it works. So far I've done more yoga, practiced more Spanish, spent more time with people (all good things) and still sat around thinking about writing/sewing/gardening/cooking etc. (not a good thing). It's like that saying "Where ever you go, there you are." Changing my environment is not enough. Effort must be made on my part.

Where is my "On" button?

Shalom

Lent Day 8: the real Day 8

I really was mixed up on my days, don't know how that happened. My apologies for not posting last night. I was dealing with a technological difficulty with my previous phone. I say previous because after it wiped out my phone book with no warning and then died and refused to come back to life, I now have a new phone.

Old phone:

New phone:

Hello Blackberry!

To celebrate this momentous occassion (new phone and officially becoming an adult aka not being on my parents phone plan anymore) I decided to dismember my former companion a la hammer.

Before:

After:

Then I backed over it with my car:

It looked pretty much the same as after I smashed it with the hammer but it did make a lovely crunching sound. I made sure to put it behind the driver's side wheel so I could hear/feel it crack. Kinda morbid in a strange girl vs. technology way but all in good fun. I would have been more pleased if I could have reduced it to twisted scrap metal or had a huge hammer made of lead but still a good day.

Sometimes you just have to destroy whatever it is that's holding you back. When you are burdened by something, or go through something painful or tiring or just negative, destruction can be a great way to let go.

My friends and I in high school would get together at the end of the school year to have a bonfire and burn all our schoolwork (that we didn't want to keep. Because let's face it, I'm a nerd and I still have my AP US History notes. I love you Mrs. Andes!)

Whatever it is you need to tear up, rip apart, burn or wreck in order to move on with your life I highly recommend doing it. There's a reason that person who sings that song Before He Cheats or whatever it is (I can never remember names) does that to her ex's car. I'm not saying you should be that drastic but if you're holding on to something that reminds you of a bad experience it's time to get it out of your life.

Also, if it's something like old notes or letters or pictures etc. try ripping them to shreds first and then burning them or what have you. Watching something burn is fun but so is tearing. You know, happy thoughts.

Editor's Note: Kudos and eprops to my mom for the idea of putting it in a ziplock first and also running over it with my car. Both excellent ideas. You know me I would've just started whacking at it and gotten broken phone guts all over my pretty clothes.

Shalom

Lent Day Ate

So today I did it! I came home and I was super-productive! No naps! I went to the store, vacuumed, scrubbed, washed the dishes, had a snack, practices yoga, visited with friends and cooked dinner, did the laundry, took a shower, and practiced Spanish!

No wonder I'm so tired.

Two things I wanted to share about today:

Numero Uno: The meal I helped to make tonight with some friends was entirely vegetarian. And I don't just mean there was no meat. I mean there was a vegetable medley and something made out of soy protein and I ate it! And I loved it! I had seconds. It was crazy. Who knew veggie tortilla burritos could be so good?

Caroline will be so proud when I tell her.

Numero Dos: I'm learning Spanish. I've been wanting to for a long time. I tried a few different things, and seriously considered getting Rosetta Stone (but I currently don't have an extra 600 or so just lying around). Then my mom found this site:

http://www.livemocha.com/

It's incredible! Basically it's the same thing as Rosetta Stone but it's FREE! I mean you can purchase advanced courses etc but right now I'm on my second unit of Spanish 101 and I haven't spent anything but time practicing. And I'm really learning too! It's not just some rote memorization. There are pictures, puzzles, audio...you get critiqued by native speakers who are also part of the site learning another language. And there are several languages to choose from. After I finish with Spanish I'm moving on to French and then Hindi (so maybe I can watch all my Bollywood movies without the subtitles. It'll be fun practice anyway).

If you've ever wanted to learn another language but haven't been able to make it stick you should try this site. Don't just wish you had. Trust me, once you start and you see your success you want to keep going with it.

Because if you really wanted to do something, you'd be doing it!

Shalom

Lent Day Six: I'm on a slow boat to ...India :)

I have this bad habit of not going to bed until the wee hours of the morning. By wee I really mean 12-1ish usually. Still not a good habit to have if you're a "grown-up" with a full time job.

During Lent however this takes on a whole new meaning. I'm tired when I get home so I usually have to take a nap. The naps I take usually don't last as short as I mean them to. So I lose a lot of "getting stuff done" time and then I'm don't go to bed until oh...12 to 1ish.

It's a vicious cycle.

That said I did study some Spanish tonight and look up a lot of info on the web about different things. I might read up on Mythology in a little bit (one of the many subjects I've always wanted to know more about). I've just got to break out of this cycle.

I wanted to go ahead and start writing some of the reviews of Bollywood that I mentioned earlier. I know, you're probably thinking "Bollywood? Is she serious?"

Absolutely I am.

Bollywood is amazing. For me it started one night when I randomly thought of Aishwarya Rai

http://www.hollywood-celebrity-pictures.com/Celebrities/Aishwarya-Rai/Aishwarya-Rai-2.JPG

I know, it's a big picture right? Her face is BAM there! and you're like "whoa!" If you've ever seen Bride and Prejudice it's a Hollywood version of a Bollywood version of P&P. Not nearly as good as a real Bollywood but still amusing. She's the "Lizzie" character.

Anyway, I found this movie on youtube called Jodhaa Akbar a few months ago. I watched it on a Friday night. Then again on Saturday...and Sunday, and Monday. Then on Tuesday I bought it from Amazon. It is epic and in this reviewers opinion, rivals Hollywood epic movies in scope, cinematography, story, acting, and music.

It's about a Muslim ruler who has an arranged marriage with a Hindu princess. Then they fall in love. Let's just say if I was on a deserted island this would be on my list 5 movies I'd have with me (along with P&P, don't worry). A.R. Rahman does the music (Slumdog Millionaire, another one of my 5) and he is brilliant as usual.

Bollywood is different from Hollywood certainly. Yes, there are song and dance sequences in almost every movie. In the mountains, in the snow, with multiple costume changes. You'll either love it or you'll hate it. I happen to love it. There also isn't any sex and barely any kissing (this can be very hard to accept by many Western viewers, like my friend Niki who was constantly trying to push the actors heads together on screen with her hands). There is a huge importance placed on family and honoring parents, tradition, and religion. Very different from the West.

Anyway, here are a couple of videos of Bollywood song sequences. One is from Dhoom 2, a more Western story about thieves (similar to Entrapment Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones) with Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan (Indian Heartthrob times 10)

Not to shabby hmm? Hrithik Roshan is considered one of if not THE best dancer in Hindi film today. This next one is from the movie Dil Se which I have not seen but my mom has (yep, I got her into Hindi movies as well). I just love the song. It gets in your head! And the word meanings are pretty interesting too. Song of Solomon anyone? It is of course, a more traditional Bollywood sequence.

Anyway, more on Bollywood later and other topics as well. Until then,

Shalom