The Picture of Dorian Gray

We all, more or less, know (I hope!) the story about Dorian Gray, the young man who sold his soul to the devil to have his eternal youth, and his picture where his old age and sins show. 

I set myself to read this classic, even though I much more prefer reading modern literature, and I downloaded the movie so I would watch it afterwards.

I was surprised of now much I enjoyed the book, and I'm sorry to say it was not the case with the movie (with Colin Firth, who after watching A Single Man really disappointed me).

Oscar Wilde is a real master in sarcasm and irony, truths and philosophies of life, human relations.. which can not be authentically depicted in a movie.

So, I recommend: Do not watch the movie, read the book, it's only 250 pages!

Here are some quotations:

"...I can't explain. When I like people immensely I never tell their names to anyone. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it. When I leave town now I never tell my people where I am going. If I did, I should lose all my pleasure. It is a silly habit, I daresay, but somehow it seems to bring a great deal of romance into one's life." - Basil Hallward to Lord Henry, introducing Dorian Grey for the first time

"Always! That is a dreadful word. It makes me shudder when I hear it. Women are so fond of using it. They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever. It is a meaningless word, too. The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer." - Lord Henry to Dorian  

"Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes." - Lord Henry

"Pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about. But I am afraid I cannot claim my theory as my own. It belongs to Nature, not to me. Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval. When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." - Lord Henry

"When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs." - Lord Henry

"Every effect that one produces gives one an enemy. To be popular one must be a mediocrity." - Lord Henry

"Like the painting of a sorrow,
A face without a heart."

Wanderlust

Help me I feel like I'm weightless
Floating right out of your hands
And there's only so much I aspire to
Taking one day at a time
And deliverance has many faces
But grace is an aquaintance of mine
Tell me how could it have happened
You know that we're not the marrying kind.
Travel light, don't think twice
We're leaving the shadows behind.
It's given us, yeah
This wonderful wanderlust.
It's given us this wonderful wanderlust
It's given us this wonderful wanderlust
I don't doubt it, I feel it, yeah
Wanderlust Wanderlust
Help me, this waterboys wasted
Falling right out of your sky
And there's nothing that could do without you
Loving the state that I'm in
Between no longer and not yet
On the threshold of some bright affair
The match was struck and I was fired
The embers of a drowning man
Tell me why won't I listen
Or acknowledge that I don't understand
Losing light, a selfish kind
And we're out on the road again.
It's given us, yeah
This wonderful wonderlust...
I don't doubt it, I feel it, yeah
Turn the headlights on full
I want to take in it all
And let it wash over me
The bridge looks so high
From the ledge that we climbed
But we climbed them so that we could be free
Give me no dreams of what the future brings
I need to know when I have gone too far, oh
Repeated lightening strikes
Up and down the spine
They search us out wherever we go
In a world full of lies
That tug at the truth
I'm taking no sides
Now I recognise you.
Wanderlust Wanderlust
It's given us, given us
This wonderful wanderlust
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
Wander---lust
I don't doubt it
No

Home WOW home

Some beautiful ideas of interior design.

* from here

(500) Days of Summer

I am not a fan of romantic comedies. Usually, I put the film on my computer, I watch it and then immediately delete it. It was not the case with (500) Days of Summer. I liked this movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Dechanel. Not in a wow-what-a-great-movie way, but I just thought the manner in which love and relationships were presented were interesting and very close to reality. The notion that it's not a typical romantic comedy is being repeated many times, and although it doesn't succeed to avoid some cliches, it is still refreshing and touchingly narrated story.

My favorite scene of the movie is the representation of how the boy feels after he gets the girl he liked for some time. It's a little bit cheesy, but haven't we all felt like running around and dancing when we've realized we are happy in love?

What i also liked is the retro feel of the whole film. Both Zooey Dechanel's and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's clothes are super-cute.

              

Music I was born with

I was very disappointed to discover that the day I was born No 1 in the UK was this song:



But then, luckily No 1 in the US was this song:

What pisses people off

I have found myself in situations when I would get really annoyed by someone or something, and when expressed my opinion I'd get those awkward looks on people's faces as if I something's wrong with me and not with the person or the fact that has been annoying me. What I am talking about are usually some things completely unnoticed by other people but somehow for me they are the only thing that exists in that moment, occupying all my attention.

I read this article and thought about what are the little things that piss me off..

1. People who chew gum with their mouth open. (I don't have to explain this.)
2. The sound of cleaning your teeth with air. (If you know what I mean, this is a really irritating sound.)
3. Whistling catchy tunes in a room. (I just don't want that tune in my mind for the rest of the day.)
4. People who sit on busy staircases. (That makes me having to skip and juggle between them, an effort totally unnecessary.)
5. People who hold the door open for me when I'm still far from the door. (I have to run so that they don't have to wait for me, when I am really comfortable just walking normally and completely capable of opening the door myself.)
6. When a part of my clothes gets caught on the door knob.
7. Taking a photo of someone and after the photo has been taken having them rush and say "let me see it!!" (I mean, relax, you'll see the photos on your computer afterwards!)

Optical illusion

My photo in the Times online competition :)

I was googling my name (yes, from time to time I do this) and among the Facebook and Myspace results I got this one. And then I remembered that a couple of months ago I sent the photo for the Times online competition but later I forgot to see if it got posted. I like my comment on the photo :)