January is such a refreshing month. It is a time still touched by the pure joy
and celebration of Christmas, while simultaneously full of promise and hope for
the year to come. I feel that I’ve had
an extraordinarily good start, which I hope will set the tone for the rest of
2015.
And because February is always the
busiest month (three birthdays, my parents’ anniversary, Valentine’s Day,
school fundraising, and sometimes [like this year ;o;] the beginning of Lent!)
of the year for me besides December, I decided to combine my monthly favorites
posts together this time around.
That being said, here are my favorites
for January/February 2015~! It’s a
longer post, but there are some particularly lovely mentions here so I hope
that it proves to be worth your time. ♥
Book
The Writer’s
Journey by Christopher Vogler
&
“Daughter of Aero” by Katharine Bond
I was required to read the first book,
as it is one of my textbooks this term.
The latter, well… I was also required to read because it is practically
my godchild, the work of my dearest friend and writing partner, Katharine
Bond. Both are absolutely incredible
works and merit their shared place on my list for this month.
As
a writer, I appreciate any book or article that helps make my job an easier and
more fulfilling experience. Let me tell
you: I have never read a book that has inspired or influenced me more than this
one by acclaimed screenwriter Christopher Vogler. It’s…inexplicable. I truly believe that The Writer’s Journey is an indispensable guide for writers,
regardless of profession or genre.
If
you’ve never heard of it, click here to read all about it. If you’ve been putting it off, I’m begging
you to find it and read it. You will not
regret it! There’s something here to be
learned and/or gleaned by everyone.
Purchase the book! -> Daughter of Aero on Amazon
Follow Katie on Facebook! -> Katharine Bond
Follow Katie on Twitter! -> @BondKatharine
Visit Katie's author page on Goodreads! -> Katharine Bond (Goodreads Author)
Visit Katie’s blog! -> Katharine’s Korner
Film
Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon
This movie is the very epitome of
cheesy old martial arts films (which I absolutely love to watch, haha). It
features totally not fake AWESOME wire work, cool weapons, fists and
feet and antagonists flying everywhere.
…Hey, those “special effects” were revolutionary at the time! The setting and music, aspects that seem to
be fairly consistent in the realm of Asian entertainment, are spot-on as well.
For
me, nothing beats a chilly late night with peppermint hot chocolate and a good,
action-packed movie.
TV Series
Coffee Prince
Before Lent began in mid-February, I
binged-watched several kdrama series despite having midterms including It’s Okay, That’s Love, Bride of the Century, To the Beautiful You (second
time through oops), and this month’s favorite: Coffee Prince. All of these
series were pretty good; I enjoyed all of them and they’re great in their own
unique ways but Coffee Prince just blows the others out of the water and far,
far off into the distance.
Not
gonna lie, I could write a non-scholarly (on account of the constant fangirling
and use of internet lingo) dissertation on why I love this series. Romance? Check. Drama? Check.
Comedy? Check. Delicious food and coffee? Check and check. This series is perfect in every way at
least for my tastes, anyway and I just love it. >u< I cried. Lots. And
I laughed even more. Coffee Prince’s
adorableness and hilariousness are very unpredictable, which I feel contributes
to the overall entertainment value for someone like me (a writer who is real tired
of predictable plots and dynamics on TV). It got me over and over again.
There is no way that I can properly summarize this drama's plot without confusing or scaring you, so I'll just say that if
you’re into this sort of thing, watch it.
You won’t be disappointed!
Game
To the Moon (CPU)
Okay, now this is a favorite that I
experienced a few years ago when it released, but its beauty and magnificence
had somehow managed to drift into the deepest recesses of my memory.
Last
week I found amongst the 3000-something songs that I have on my personal
computer “Everything’s Alright,” which is theme song for the game and also a
favorite for this past month. Hearing
this beautiful song for the first time in foreverrrr brought the game back to
my mind and I decided to play through it again.
Dear
God. I didn’t remember crying so much
back then. I’ve definitely changed. LOL
The
developer’s site describes the game as “A story-driven experience about two
doctors traversing backwards through a dying man's memories, in order to
artificially fulfill his last wish.” It
is absolutely incredible to me how much raw emotion and plausibility the
developers were able to instill to a pixelated game. It’s a truly impressive, fulfilling video
game. I’m a firm believer in these sorts
of games—the ones that make people think and wonder, instead of just hack and
slash.
To the Moon also won numerous indie game
awards for the year of 2011, and rightfully so.
If you’re a gamer who’s looking for a new experience, give this a
try! It’s short and sweet and will leave
you in awe. You can purchase it on Steam for $9.99. It's well worth the money.
Music
“Everything’s Alright” by Laura Shigihara (To the Moon OST)
As previously mentioned, “Everything’s
Alright” is the theme song for the game To
the Moon. It’s…a beautiful
song. Definitely one of the top 10 songs
that give me emoceans! There is also a
fantastic cover of the song by YouTuber Emily Scholz that gives it a slightly different flair. They’re both wonderful, and I will embed them
here for your listening pleasure.
Original
Cover by Emily Scholz (EmSArcade)
Product
Nature Republic Cleansing Soap
LAY ver. (acacia scent)
Long story short: a friend of mine
gifted this bar soap to me because in South Korea, k-pop group EXO is currently
endorsing skincare giant Nature Republic
and each member’s face was stamped on the sleeve for each different scent of
the soap. My favorite member of the
group being Lay, my friend got me his version which is the acacia scent.
Apparently,
acacia is a thorny shrub or tree that smells like heaven that has been
known throughout the ages for its distinctive scent and heavy symbolism. Different peoples have associated it with
purity and endurance of the soul, resurrection, and immortality. Egyptian mythology associates the acacia tree
with the tree of life. Today, it is
still used to make incense, perfumes, and amazing soap bars with k-pop idols
on them.
The
soap itself is lovely but mild. For me
it removes impurities without any side effects, positive or negative. Because of the strong scent, cleansing tends
to become more therapeutic, so I don’t use it all the time. Just when I need something a little extra
before my skincare routine.
…And that’s it for this post! Whew, that was a bit lengthy. If you’re still reading this, I thankyu! Thankyu for putting up with my fangirly
ramblings. >u<
‘Til the next post~!
