Month: April 2014

I’ve recently become infatuated with the brilliance that is young, lovely Barbra Streisand in all of her Technicolor-glory. Two words.

Funny Girl.

Unfortunately I was not alive to see this fabulous musical on Broadway, but I am lucky enough to have witnessed it on screen in my living room. Close enough. I first saw Funny Girl quite a long time ago, but I felt this urge to watch it recently, and now I am completely obsessed again. I don’t even know the words to encompass all that is Funny Girl. I’ve always been a huge fan of musical theatre, having been in tons of different productions myself due to this passion. I’ve seen many musicals on/off Broadway, but Funny Girl, despite the fact that it is a movie now, happens to be my favorite (besides Wicked). It was made in 1968, but the magic of it remains the same. I won’t go into too much detail about the synopsis of the movie but I’ll divulge you in a little summary.

Barbra Streisand plays Fanny Brice (a real person but the story is mostly fictional), a young Jewish ingenue with overwhelming talent in musical theatre but who looks much different than other actresses during that time. If you weren’t pretty, you weren’t worth Broadway. Due to her “skinny legs” and “big nose”, she is mostly overlooked by producers. She struggles to get into any shows, but once a famous Broadway producer hears her incredible voice, well, as she sings in “Don’t Rain On My Parade”, BAM. She then meets and eventually falls in love with Nick Arnstein, a rich gambler who courts her. The whole story is mainly about her struggles to success as well as her rocky, tragic relationship with Nick.

This movie is spectacular because, let’s face it, Barbra is spectacular. Without Barbra the movie would be nothing. All of the songs she sings are perfect, as she pours the most funny and lovely emotion into her performances as well as having unbelievable talent. I have to admit, I do know the words to every song now, but that is because they are wonderful.

“Star quality” is a term used now to express people such as the Kardashians and Justin Bieber. I am not saying the people nowadays do not have talent, but talent back when this movie was made was certainly much more than it is today. To be a star, you had to have raw, natural talent, talent that you had to really work for. Dreams didn’t come easily. Persistence was key. There was no auto-tune or technology to make yourself sound/look/be better than you actually are. There wasn’t any insanely, over the top elaborate concerts and sets. There was just you and your ability, your drive, your passion in whatever it was you did. And Barbara is definitely the epitome of this. Despite the fact that tons of people saw her as “ugly” due to her physical differences, “odd” due to her unapologetic ambition, it never stopped her from achieving her dreams. In this movie, well, that is the whole point of Fanny Brice.

I would most definitely recommend this movie to anyone. Don’t blame me if you have “People” stuck in your head all day.♦

Today my good friend Mia stopped by. We hadn’t seen each other for quite a while as she had been in Mexico and I in Palm Springs. We had a scrumptious lunch at Pitfire Pizza, and then walked around my neighborhood and exploring my park before coming back to my house. We lazed around and just basically munched on crisps and talked all day. Later on, we watched one of our absolute favorite movies ever- The Virgin Suicides. (Sofia Coppola is a genius) I decided, in a crazy spur of the moment choice, to interview the fabulous and intellectually refreshing Mia! After reading (and hopefully liking and commenting too!)  this, go check out her and my other friend Julianna’s great blog- burstsofbeauty.com.

An interview with Mia

S: Can you introduce yourself to my readers?

M: Hi, I’m Mia. Sofia’s one of my best friends, and I am so honored to be featured in her fantastic blog. I really enjoy art and that is my main outlet for expressing my creativity, I also enjoy writing much like Fia.

S: What are some of your inspirations for your art?

M: One of my main inspirations is just the people that fill my life every day, they give me such happiness and joy. A more specific person who started out inspiring me to create art was my mom.

S: Out of all the many arts, why choose visual arts?

M: The reason that visual arts is my main calling is because I am not much of a performer or an actress, and for me, visual arts show everything I am trying to express. It’s so amazing that just one color can show so many emotions, the composition of a painting, the brushstrokes- those are all feelings that come from visual arts and no other art.

S: What are some things you are really into right now?

M: Right now, I’m really into American Horror Story, because I have no real thrills in my real life. It’s a very nice escape to be so scared that you are too shocked to do anything else. I started reading this amazing novel called “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”. It is so captivating and you just think about- it’s cheesy, but reading books that are so dynamic that make you think about your life and question a lot. You start relating the character to your life and the situations you are going through.

S: Ooh, I enjoy AHS as well! In terms of fashion, what brands and trends are you excited about right now?

M: I am very excited about spring colors! I’ve been seeing a lot of cute dresses lately-Kate Spade, oh, J Crew has such cute dresses. Sof, as you know, we both love Lea Michele, and I love her little frocks and dresses she wears. It’s just adorable.

S: Yes, I adore Lea Michele so much! How do you think she’s handled the awful ordeal she’s had to go through? (Cory Monteith’s death)

M: I look at her, and I am so amazed at how she has handled it. I don’t know her personally, but I can see that she hasn’t shut out her family and friends. She is really seeking support, and I just find it astonishing that she is able to compose herself in such a polished way. She has spoken out about it, and is open about it. The main thing I see in her is her selflessness. In her time of grief, she opened up to Cory’s fans and family. She really related to people who were going through the same grief, and helped them while repairing herself.

S: On a happier note, what have you been listening to lately?

M: I’ve been really into Ellie Goulding and an artist called Fluke. I love Ed Sheeran, Amy Winehouse, Miley Cyrus, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, you know. My favorite song right now is Awkward by San Cisco, which you showed me!

S: How have you been handling school stress lately? It’s been pretty bad recently, at least for me.

M: Seeing as we are on break, I’ve been very relaxed. When in school, I get really strung out over the smallest details. I know it doesn’t seem like the world will end if I get less than 90%, you know, but in that moment it feels as if everything is falling apart. I think this more to the last minute when the tests and assignments are coming up, even if I am so well prepared.

S: Yeah, I feel exactly the same way, it’s crazy. Anything you’re looking forward to for high school?

M: Expanding my friend groups. I’m looking forward to… well, just generally growing up as a person and becoming more passionate and focused on certain things.

S: This has been lovely. Anything else you’d like to say to the internet?

M: Before the beginning comes the end.

 

 

On that note…

It’s a beautiful day to dream. ♦

There comes a certain moment in life, usually as a teenager, when an insane epiphany is somehow just, bam, reached. It is arguably one of the worst and best moments of your life. For some, it comes at a much younger age, but for others, it takes a lot longer to figure out. It is this:

Your parents, despite everything you’ve thought so far, are not perfect human beings who do not make mistakes.

Maybe it is only me, sometimes, it is. But I have realized this: up until this moment in time, we are raised to believe that parents are these sort of god-like souls who, despite even if we absolutely hate what they do to us, can do no wrong. I was convinced that if my mom or dad told me to do something, that something was right or wrong, they were always right, despite any doubts I had about it. I thought about their ways in black and white. There was no grey area for me yet. There still isn’t, completely, of course, as I am only 14 and still very much under the control of my parents. But I have matured my thinking.

Parents are like us, just with a whole lot more experience. They are not invincible, they do not know everything, and they are most definitely not always right.

I probably seem naïve, right? Who am I, a mere fourteen year old girl, to declare something as bold as this? I have every right to. I have parents. Parents talk about their children in much worse, much more severe ways than this, of how much of a nuisance we are, and why would we not be allowed to do the same for them? We, as teenagers, are in this stage of inexperienced realization that is slowly becoming experienced realization.

This moment is simply everything to us. This is probably a terrible example, but if one of our parents is insanely, disgustingly misogynistic and has taught us that it’s okay to be this way, once we realize that our parents can be wrong, we say “no”. No is a powerful word, especially against parents in the wrong who have been used to you listening to them all your life.

This moment allows us to become ourselves, whoever that may be. If you are straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, or you feel like you cannot be defined as a gender, go for it no matter what anyone tells you. It doesn’t matter what your parents say is “right”. It may be right to them, but is is absolutely not right at all for someone to pretend they are something they are not. It isn’t okay to make someone feel like shit because they aren’t what you are. It sounds cheesy, I know, but in all honesty you are who you are, and there isn’t anything wrong or bad about that.

What I’m saying is this: Love your parents, respect them, follow their rules, but not in any circumstance let them tell you who you are when you know they are wrong. Don’t let them change you, push you into something you have no intention of being or doing. I promise, it will make you so much more satisfied in the long run. We’re all humans who are going to die anyways, so why not be yourself? ♦