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| I did something bad today. I was suppose to be studying, but I sneaked in a movie ... Atonement. Which was really good, so I snuck in another Keira Knightley movie, The Duchess, also very good.
The crazy thing about the second movie is that it's true! These things happened to these people. For the life of me I cannot comprehend how terrible it must have been to live in a society where women were second rated, freedom was a privilege and not a right, and the importance of being 'high society' lead women to make decisions that degraded and belittled their self worth. Why did the Duchess decide to stay with the Duke?? It wasn't for her children, which was what she told herself and her lover. It was because of the money, power and status! She had a child with Charles Grey as well! Her choice has left me feeling ashamed. That a women would choose money over love may be justified, but along with her choice, she had to endure living with her husband's lover! It is very belittling in my books.
I'm afraid these 2 movies were bad choices for relaxation. They were both about people that love each other but couldn't be together due to reasons which may or may not be their own doing. It's left me feeling irritated. I feel their pain. I think I've been stuck in the house for too long.
Or ... it could be because the contrast of today's societal values and believes are so starkly different to that of a century, or three ago, that I am both appalled and grateful.
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| The past 8 days has been the most indulgent 8 days ever. It's about as far away from my everyday life as you can get. To keep it simple, it started last Friday with an awesome dinner at Etch with my uni friends. The food was pricey and the portions were small, but good. And that is enough. The next day Matt and I followed up with dinner at Tetsuya's. The most amazing food experience I have ever had!!! Matt thought Tetsuya's signature trout dish is the best dish that he has ever had. It lived up to all the hype. We didn't take any pictures of the food because we didn't want to interrupt our dinner. That's fine because I don't need pictures to remember how absolute divine each course was. All the hype did nothing to diminish our experience of the quality of the food, presentation, and service. The service was really top notch, they didn't go wrong once throughout the night. And because it was our anniversary, they gave us a complimentary course. 13 courses!! I was full before the main started, but the food was so divine I gobbled it all up as soon as I tasted each dish.
The next day I flew to the Gold Coast for a work conference. Stayed 7 days at the Sheraton Mirage. Seafood buffet and unlimited alcohol every night. Flawless service once again. Pool with a wet bar. And various activities throughout the week while we weren't working. I can definitely live like that! Who knew that good food, service and accommodation could go such a long way in making someone feel so satisfied.
I had always prided myself for being an adventurous person that preferred to travel off the beaten track, ate dirty local food (e.g. cheap but good) rather than pay 10 times the price for wankie small portions that don't dent your stomach. But I must say, I did not mind living in a 5 star hotel and being spoilt rotten one little bit!
Anyway, back to reality. Back to the books. I don't want to join the dark side. No, really I don't.
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| For the record, I did not pass last year. So I'm doing it again this year *sigh*. I'm more focused this time around, so fingers cross.
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| Yesterday Matt and I stumbled across the dress rehearsal for Carols in the Domain. There was only a tenth of the people that will come out today. The night was cool but not too cold, and we were able to stand behind a large extended family, away from the crowd, and watch the show. Kate Richie was sitting in a tent approximately 10 meters away from us reading her scripts. I think we caught the best hour of the show, because we got to see Santa, The Wiggles and Delta Goodrem - whose voice was noticeably better than any of the other singers on stage. There was even fireworks.
While all this was lovely, I could not help noticing the beautiful extended family in front of us. There were 2 sisters, their husbands, 3 kids each and their parents. Some of the little children were euroasian and had really nice skin. The grandparents were both very smart looking, with a mane of white hair and faces that showed their age. And they all looked so happy dancing along with Dorothy the Dinosaur and yelling "Wake up Jeff!". I have to admit, I watched them as much as the singing and the dancing on stage. At one point, I caught the grandmother staring at Matt and I holding each other and singing along to one of the Christmas carols.
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| Reading old blogs is fun!! I just need to not be too cryptic so that I know what I was talking about when I read the blogs years later.
I had also forgotten what a terrible year 2005 was. It was the quintessential year of being completely loss and desperately trying to find myself. There were so much heartache and sole searching in those blogs.
Note to self: Appreciate every day and do not take anything for granted. You have it good.
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