1 films: ah! good ol' cinematography. how can you hate sitting around watching films all day?! it is simply an unhateable thing. the way directors and writers and actors and the innumerable other members of cast come together to make something magnificent--something they consider to be art, and is--there is a certain level of complexity to a film but no matter how simple or complicated a film is, there is an impossible amount of detail that goes into it. the soundtrack, loactions and sets, costumes; all those costumes! and if there are crowd scenes, hundreds of extras.. i just can't wrap my mind around how they pull all of this off. and great films are even more astounding. films by directors like francois truffaut and michael gondry and alfred hitchcock and woody allen and wes anderson and sofia coppola and tim burton all amaze me in all of their endeavors. they leave long-lasting impressions on me and people who view their films. and be it short films, silent films, indie films, adaptation films, animated films, or any other sort of style i'm forgetting, they can all touch you in some way, pull some string within you, and that's just pretty astounding because when it comes down to it (unless the film's a documentary or based on real events) the whole thing's just a story, complete fiction, made up. but we still believe it! they have the ability to make us believe it, that's the best part.
2 stars: those glittering little dots in the night sky. unfortunately i don't have much of a chance to see these at night much; i don't have time and this town's not the best for star watching. but beaches and in the countryside, or anyplace that isn't too urban, are great for it. for seeing stars. if you have time to really look at them, especially if you're alone just lying on the ground outside, they just make you think of how big everything is and how small you are. it sounds depressing but they really are eye-opening, and they seem so close but they also seem so far away at the same time. they're untouchable little gems up there, looking down at you, trying to tell you something, a story. they just have this ability to make me feel empty and while that sounds kind of horrible, it really is pretty neat, that these dusty bits of space can make your emotions go this way and that so strongly and abruptly. astrology is a beautiful thing. (plus i love the shape of cartoon stars, with the five points.)
3 nice tea: one of the christmas gifts that i bought with my grandmother (for the kitchen of our house) was a set of tea, straight from china, hand-sewn dry tea leaves and flowers that blossom when you pour water over them. there are only about ten different individual blossoms in the set, but they are beautiful. not only that, they taste very lovely as well. and not just this tea; almost all tea i encounter is wonderful. i do enjoy black tea the most (earl grey is my favorite really). tea is just such a pretty thing, they really consider it art in some parts of the world (mostly asia i think) and it just warms me in the greatest way. i love coffee too, but it just doesn't have the same effect as a nice tea does.
4 pressed flowers: my other grandmother has been pressing flowers for years. every so often i'll be at her house, and my dad will be with his brothers working on some little project (the house is really old and constantly needs some form of repair) and i'll have the chance to go into her bedroom and just look at everything. it sounds funny but all my girl cousins and i loved doing it as little little kids. i found on her bookshelf a few books, and inside them pressed flowers as old as from the 60s and 70s! i've taken akin to pressing flowers myself, i just think they're so pretty. dried preserved flowers, brittle but they do last a long time and you can easily save them by just pasting them with clear nail varnish to a page in a journal or just a piece of paper. just a small hobby that i enjoy. it's special.
5 good music: i really don't know how i can express this without sounding cliche or writing too much :/ i just think it's incredible how musical artists can come up with the lyrics they come up with. i mean it really is poetry. listening to music can really change your spirits, or your mood and really uplift you or just agree with you. it's just simple, some music is just GOOD and worth listening to and enjoyable. i really can't say anything more! :O
6 good friends: i see this #6 and just sigh. you just can't get much better than a good friend or a group or good friends, or seperate good friends, good individually in their own different ways. whatever it may be, a good friend is one of the best parts of your family. they aren't your relative and they come from a completely different set of ancestry, and that's the brilliant thing; there isn't as much pressure and you just fit with them, you're right with them. you can express things to them you may not be able to express to your immediate family, they offer new ideas and opinions and are a shoulder or a heart (or a brain, er) when we need one. laughing and crying with good friends is the best. memories and photographs! momentoes and "family members" that last for forever. meeting new people is also an astounding thing but this is getting too extensive anyway.
and i would mention art and citites and photographs and literature but i haven't the room or the willpower. we'll leave it to another post.
if you read all that, i applaud you.
ps: the last image is from flickr.