Apparently that’s what Chinese New Year is about. It took about 6 hours for our phone to stop ringing, and that only gave my grandmother enough time to pick up the phone and call a few more friends. Meanwhile, the very amateur pyrotechnics I’ve been subjected to do leave a fair deal to be desired.

Due to my inability to find my copy of Anna Karenina, I’ve been reading Pride and Prejudice hypertext online at the Republic of Pemberley, a sort of mega Jane Austen fan site for rabid Austenites. Now, did you know that there’s a Jane Austen font? I stumbled across it yesterday, and it’s quite pretty. I hope Pia Frauss, the fontographer, won’t mind if I just link the image.

In other news, I purchased a laptop. Surprising, how easy the internet makes shedding money. *sigh*

My mother and I snuck out to visit our friends, only to be overfed by Zhang Ting’s mother. Mmm, hot pot is delicious. All this, despite all our shopping for bathroom fixtures and the mess of our apartment complex’s property management company that has been taking over our lives…. *sigh*

I also received a few emails that were actually directed towards me as a human being (rather than me as a student, a member of student government, or a potential customer of anti-hair-loss medication, etc). This happens a couple times a year, but I do get excited each and every time it happens. Also, thanks Jack for the lovely Christmas card. I never get mail, especially in Shanghai, so that too was exciting. (Also a late thank you to Leslie for that adorable “holiday greeting,” because who can really complain when a friend gives you Prince William for Christmas?)

The excitement of Chinese New Year continues with a big family feast on New Year’s Eve. Coupled with a city in absolute deprivation of taxi cabs, I can surely look forward to that night when I shall be stuffed to the brink of explosion, yet will somehow end the day frozen and hungry because I had to walk across town from the restaurant back home.

Went to the dentist today. *sigh* I hate cavities, but I guess there was still no mention of wisdom teeth, so it could be worse. Am I just a mutant with no wisdom teeth?

About 7 years ago, someone took an X-ray and told me that they should be coming in soon. So far, no sign of the things. I hope they just convert to a third set of teeth in development, so that after all my teeth rot and fall off when I’m 80, I can just lose them and get a new set. Although, by then, I’ll probably be in a worse humor about orthodontics. Hmmm…. I’ll just choose to believe in modern medical technology.

Now I’m off to buy large amounts of dental accessories from Drugstore.com. *sigh*

So I watched a couple movies this week, in between dinner with Elaine, more editing, and many hours on IMDb.

• A History of Violence. This is actually a genuinely good movie. Mildly disturbing, lots of grisly violence, but that didn’t keep me from watching it before I went to bed last night. There’s all this Oscar buzz around this film, and I can see why, but the script! Well, William Hurt’s lines were hilarious.
• What a Girl Wants. Really cute, not terribly spectacular, but good clean entertainment. It’s probably one of those movies I’ll watch again when I’m in a bad mood because it’s just so adorable. Who says teen movies can’t be great fun?
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Ha ha. Since half the world has already seen it three times this summer, I don’t really need to talk about this one, do I?
• Nanny McPhee. I know it’s a kid’s movie, well family movie, but it’s great. Angela Lansbury is hilarious. Of course, half the world also thinks that Emma Thompson can do no wrong, so this is yet more evidence for them. The film is so aware of itself being a fairytale, it even mentions other fairytales as part of the story. Coming out in the US on January 27th. (I’ll probably go see it again in theaters, and not only for the extended Colin Firth exposure.)

I never made New Year’s resolutions as a child because I never quite saw the point. You could make resolutions at any point, any moment of any day. Why choose the New Year? And although I don’t really plan on changing that, I do have a few things I want to do as I near the end of my undergraduate years. Not surprisingly, they all fall broadly under the category of “having a life.”

• Be more cultured. I’m going to read more books, watch more movies. I’m even going to a ballet next week, and once back in Boston, I really have to research those student specials for the BSO and the Pops.
• Explore more of Boston. Although I sometimes claim to hate doing touristy stuff, I do feel slightly stupid having lived in the area for the better part of 4 years without seeing much of The Outside. Besides, whatever happened to that idea of eating at all the Zagat rated restaurants in the city? There can’t be that many… right?
• Make more time for friends. Of course, this can only be done properly if the sentiment is reciprocated. We’ll work on this.

A list of books recently read, and those I still need to read.

• Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond. The history of the world in a couple hundred pages, from the eyes of a biologist, anthropologist, and linguist all in one. I learned more about the beginnings of world agriculture than I ever dreamed of.
• The Other Boleyn Girl – Philippa Gregory. The trashy historical fiction that made me start reading again. Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary was an interesting choice for a heroine, and after reading several of this author’s other books, I still like this one the best.
• The Virgin’s Lover – Philippa Gregory. More Tudor-era historical fiction. I always liked Elizabeth, but it was somehow less engaging. Maybe it was because I was reading it as I studied for finals, and therefore distracted.
• The Constant Princess – Philippa Gregory. Still more Tudor-era historical fiction, this time about Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. I didn’t like this book as much as I had hoped, but it made the 4-hour bus ride to Nanjing more bearable.
• Girl with a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier. We see the world through the eyes of Griet, a maid in the household of Dutch painter Vermeer. Her first-person narration makes the work gentle, yet full-bodied. I had seen the movie, and I couldn’t help thinking of some of the scenes in it as I read the book because the cinematography in the film was so beautiful, but the book does have its own unique charm.
• The Purchase of Intimacy – Viviana A. Zelizer. A book about social interactions as economic exchanges. I saw this at the MIT Press Bookstore and was helplessly drawn to its title. Now, I’ve still only read the opening pages, and a few passages about strip clubs, but I’m determined to finish it. Really, I am.
• The Birth of Venus – Sarah Dunant. Something about the daughter of a cloth merchant in 15th century Florence. I read a few pages at the beginning and then the pages at the end. I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done.
• Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy. This book has been sitting neglected and half-read in my room for four years. And although I’m not always one for “classics,” it probably deserves another look.
• Collapse – Jared Diamond.
• Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Add to my list of books to read. Make comments!

Movies to watch

• The Constant Gardener
• In Her Shoes
• The Merchant of Venice
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• Aviator
• Alexander
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• What a Girl Wants
• Gangs of New York
• The English Patient
• Harry Potter 2, 3, 4
• Pulp Fiction
• Gia
• Donnie Brasco
• Get Shorty
• Where the Truth Lies
• Pride & Prejudice (2005)
• Match Point
• A History of Violence
• Troy
• Proof
• Nanny McPhee
• The Matador
• Syriana
• Walk the Line
• Thank You for Smoking
• V for Vendetta
• Ice Age 2

Add to my list! Make comments!