Back Home.

     Hello, friends! As can be deduced from the title and the current date, I've been home for a few days. Europe was amazing, and though leaving the Berlin airport saddened me, I experienced a near-equal level of happiness as we landed in Washington D.C. Seeing a Wendy's in the airport made me far more excited than it probably should have. And sleeping in my own bed on the night of August 19th was such a relief.

     Over the next few weeks (I haven't decided exactly how I will space out my traveling posts), I will tell the stories of my journey through Europe this summer. First, I feel some film and music-related updates are in order. 

 On planes to Houston, Texas and to Frankfurt, Germany

1) Our plane to Houston was super swanky, and their selection of films was beyond compare. Though it'd never appealed to the animation-lover in me before, I decided to watch Wreck-It Ralph for a good portion of the flight. My first instincts were completely off on this one; IT WAS AMAZING. While it is true that it's been a month since seeing the film and I do not exactly remember why I loved it so much, I do feel this intense, lingering sense of adoration. It was adorable and heart-wrenching at some scenes. I highly recommend a watch! 

2) During the nine-hour flight from Houston to Frankfurt, I decided to watch Side Effects. I'd wanted to see this film for a long while, and ended up having a reverse-Wreck-It-Ralph experience. I was disappointed and almost angry about the ending. To avoid any spoilers (because it is a bit of a thriller), let's just say the person I was rooting for ended up being the villain. Which isn't always a bad thing. But in this case... the ending just made me roll my eyes a bit. And by a bit, I mean I finally know what the inside of my skull looks like.

3) Seeing as I had a lot of time to kill, I then flipped through the music catalog.
 All that is written in my travel journal is "Bjork - All Neon Like," so I'd gander it was a favorite. Listening now, I do quite like the song. Lend an ear for yourself:

     At some point, while most everyone was asleep and the plane was in near-complete darkness, I listened to the entirety of the Les Miserablés (2012 version) soundtrack and mouthed along to the few lyrics I knew haha. Watching people sleep on a plane while listening to a very emotional musical is quite the humorous contrast.

4) The last film I watched was Identity Thief, because my options were far more limited than the flight to Houston. The movie was much better than I expected, actually! And I'm especially grateful that it ended up being a story of friendship rather than romance. True, it'd be cool to have a comedy in which a traditionally good-looking guy falls in love with a woman who is what modern society considers "fat," but romance in this case would have been too predictable for my liking. It was refreshing to see a film where falling in friendship is just as important as falling in love. So I give it points for that. But on another note, the only two People of Color in the film were villains... which made me a bit uncomfortable, to be honest. Just things to consider. My verdict: I wouldn't watch it again, but Identity Thief is not the worst movie you'll see in your life.

5) Lastly, as we flew over Germany in the morning, the plane allowed me to tune into a German radio station. It played a lot of American music, but there were a couple of songs that I'd never heard before.

I particularly liked (oh my god, looking up the lyrics now, it is so weird to discover that this song is by The Script. I used to hear them sometimes in middle school, when I listened to "VH1 Jumpstart" every morning as I got ready for school.) If You Could See Me Now by The Script:



...and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG!! I totally jammed out in my seat at 6AM on a plane.
Liebe Ist Meine Rebellion by Frida Gold:



Gallivanting across Europe : 
     Before leaving, I put a bunch of random music on my phone, not knowing what I would want to listen to while spending a month away from my laptop. I went through two notable phases during my trip: the two-country-long Katy Perry phase, and the two-week-long Lights phase. And my Lights phase was extensive-- when possible, I just sat and watched interviews, becoming ever more fascinated with the way she speaks, or I flipped through dozens of acoustic performances to hear her development as a singer. For whatever reason, she captured my attention (hurhurhur, if you listen to Lights: get the reference?) on this vacation.   

     I also developed a habit of listening to music in museums when I could not handle tourists' constant buzzing. On my 8Tracks, I'm planning on putting up all of the beautiful, slow songs I listened to while watching the sunset from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and making a separate playlist of rockabilly songs Cathy gave me, which I ended up listening to (and literally dancing around to) in the Musée d'Orsay. Keep an eye out for those!

      So this post doesn't get horrifically long, I'll simply leave here the song I was infatuated with for the majority of my trip. I would get so elated when the Wifi in our hostels was cooperating, simply because I felt a constant NEED to listen to this. Here is a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" by Lights. 

 

On the plane back to Washington D.C.
      I only had the ability to watch movies on my eight-hour flight from Frankfurt to Washington D.C. (though I'm lucky I got movie options during the longest chunk of airtime), and the journey seemed to take forever! This time around, films didn't make the hours go any faster. 

1) The first movie I chose was Admission. I have a deep love for Tina Fey, which is why I was surprised when my main complaints about this film were on the basis of feminism. The mother in the film, who was actually a total fucking badass, was not treated as a feminist queen, but a constant joke. I couldn't shake thoughts of The Straw Feminist trope, as addressed by Feminist Frequency, while watching. In addition, the resolution left a strange aftertaste because the main character basically trades in her career for motherhood. This isn't inherently bad, but media is notorious for making women choose between one or the other! I know her arc was about not staying in the same place out of fear, but couldn't they have thrown in some kind of new and exciting job for her at the end, rather than having her new-found happiness defined by her boyfriend and the possibility of motherhood? In the end, this movie didn't just feel like a sub-par romantic comedy, it felt borderline offensive.

2) While I was watching Admission, the woman next to me was watching Safe Haven. While I had no interest in checking it out before, catching glimpses of a few scenes (especially discovering that Cobie Smulders plays a minor character) peeked my interest. My viewing experience was simply lukewarm. I'm not sure how I feel about the film's portrayal of domestic violence; I liked the scene where Katie talks about her depression in relation to the abuse, but I felt a slight lack of continuity when she shows no signs of fear or nervousness when her new beau yells at her during their first fight. I've fortunately never experienced domestic violence, so I suppose I'm not in any position to talk on the subject. But the movie felt a little bit like "abuse is a one-time thing and then you meet your new boyfriend and he fixes you and it's totally fine," which seems wildly inaccurate to me. In summary, I won't be watching the film again. But, side notes: Julianne Hough looks gorgeous with that haircut. Live your dreams, girl. Also, I found it beyond amusing that Cobie Smulders and Julianne Hough had WAY more sexual tension and chemistry than the two main characters.

3) A favorite of my parent's, I decided to watch When Harry Met Sally..., circa 1989. I am obsessed with Meg Ryan's fashion over the course of the movie! Her post-high school 70s outfit is definitely my top pick. As said by my cousin, her fashion arc is crazy similar to that of our mothers', making it all the more enjoyable. I also really adored Carrie Fisher's presence! When her name appeared in the opening credits, I thought maybe she would be in a few scenes and blend in with the wallpaper, but she played a significant character! The Star Wars kid in me was rather excited. But I digress. To the important stuff: this movie was my favorite of the three I watched by far. It was such a great romance film, and Meg Ryan's character was so relatable and entertaining. It was quite elevating to have her high-maintenance qualities not be seen as crazy and in need of fixing, but aspects of her personality to be loved and appreciated. She had opinions, but some of them changed with her personal development. And when she faked an orgasm loudly in a restaurant to prove a point... flawless. Much love. Just... YES!!

     And that is a pretty comprehensive round-up of the media I consumed during the end of July and first half of August. I will be posting more about the films (most of which have been documentaries) I've watched and the music I've listened to since returning to California soon! I will also been working on travel posts as much as possible before starting training for my new job on September 4th. Feels good to be back at the keyboard! :) 

♥ Happy Watching / Listening ♥