Awakened Passion

Love can be as restoring as it is destructive.
How do you know you're ready to leave memories past?
The flame can be as deceptively gentle as it is aggressive.
How do you know you're ready to set out the reddened mast?

You aimed your heart at empty things,
burned were your hopes, torn were your fantasies.
Mistakenly leaving your pride in their hands,
In pieces it was returned like plucked delicate daisies.

Tossed aside plans and half-hearted words tower to block your sight,
The What Could Have Been lurk to infect.
When are you able to walk onward
conquering ill-fated thoughts so difficult to detect?

You've bore the burden of unfulfilled love.
Alone, you were left in the depths of guilt..
When is the right time to trust?
So you can let rise a paradise, the one that was always to be built.

A soul warming shiver will guide you as she passes by,
a thoughtful sleepless night will pry open your mind.
At a glance, the minute hand will start to double back,
take your time, feel her cure, for she was always yours to find.

Dan in Real Life

      One of the many crimes of man is to remake movie plots of older and better movies, thinking that one can substitute actors and get better feedback from the audience. Don't do it! All you screenplay writers, use your combined intellectual power and come up with one original plot please. The thing is, I'm having trouble watching and enjoying older movies because I've already watched at least one movie, that released in the past year, that has a similar plot version. What movie am I referring to? Yesterday, one of my friends was curious to what I had to say about a movie that he liked very much: Peter Hedge's "Dan in Real Life", that came out in 2007. So obviously, I wanted to write a good review about it, so as I was watching it, I gave the movie the benefit of the doubt. After thirty minutes of the movie, I felt as if I watched this movie before. I started guessing what was going to happen in the next scene and to my disappointment, I was correct. But aside from all this, if I had a time machine that could take me back four years and, simultaneously, clear all the modern bias I have residing in my head, I would use it to watch this movie. Because if it was 2007, I would have liked it.

      Consequently, I will attempt to talk about the movie as if I didn't watch Luke Greenfield's "Something Borrowed." Steve Carell, the star in "Dan in Real Life", teaches the audience how hard it is to be a single father of three children and deal with the messy, life scrambling "Minotaur" that is love, especially if love comes in the form of your brother's new girlfriend. To me, there's always this sense of unbelievability when it comes to Carell's acting. But in this movie, he proved himself to be of a higher caliber, not too high, but higher. Partially because of the scenes that I thought were "bare" and required more of Carell's animated touch. He, undoubtedly, had more chances to really "wow" the viewer, but I guess the screenplay didn't really give him enough space to work around.
      Those who were responsible for the casting of this movie made it very obvious how this relationship dilemma was going to pan out, without actual lines being recited. To know exactly what I'm talking about, I want you to look at the photo above and tell me who's the better couple. With this in mind, there was only one way that this movie could come about; with an uneasy attraction between the characters played by Carell and Binoche. Regardless, I was continuously smiling at the chemistry between these two actors and unrelenting charisma that Carell never fails to bring to the table. Carell succeeded in making me feel afraid and helpless if I was put into his character's shoes. If I was going to watch a late night movie on the ol' big screen with a lady-friend, "Dan in Real Life" will be one of the first I would reach for. But would I watch it again, by myself? No, not really. But I do hope to live by Carell's ending lines of the movie. To know what they were, shed all your modern bias by the microwave when you're heating up the popcorn, and watch it.
   

What I Want...

        For a long time I've been asking myself some very important questions. Where is this all leading to? What's the dream? What do I want? Every time I ask these questions, the answer is one and the same. This is where I want to be.

        Here, beauty surrounds me and soft winds guide my direction. I see myself, one day, walking down a path just like this one, towards the water. Hands in my pockets and wearing a dark T-shirt, I'm listening to some music while walking towards the shoreline.
        Here, peace of mind comes so easy. I love the water. I love being in it, on it, and near it. Even today, if I have trouble sleeping, I repose to the sounds of waves or raindrops softly tapping the windowsill. Maybe on one of the days I'm off from work, I'll take a little boat and just let the winds carry me across the water.
        Here, I'll fall in love. I'll be able to see that woman inside my little house overlooking the waves and when I leave her side, I'll be comforted by affectionate nature. What happens if Cupid strikes home before I get here? I don't think that would be a problem. Maybe if I'm lucky, she'll love the place more than I do.
        Sounds too much like a dream. It sounds like a place like this is not real and this photo is actually a drawing. See, this place... this dream... doesn't exist for me today but I assure you it'll be there. After all this studying and work is said and done, it'll be there.