Flow and Productivity

Yesterday was a really good day for me. I went down to Vancouver just before noon and stayed there until four o'clock. I bought a venti Soy Caramel Macchiato and a snack to get me by. I had it all planned - I was going to stay under a tree with this marvellous book I am currently reading until life decides to pull me back. Seriously, there is nothing better than finally getting something you have been pining for in a long time. I needed the time to myself. I needed the time away from everything good and bad and just live in the now. It was not a lazy day. If anything, I think I accomplished more yesterday than any day I had had in the past weeks. I was in a state of flow. 

This was also my view. Imagine my regret had I stayed home on a beautiful Friday!

Aside from the wonderful time I spent by myself, I also finally received my final grade for Sociology *screaming inside* Super thankful. My professor replied to my inquiry regarding the rest of the assignments we still have to pick up and in his email, instead of highly recommending that I should present my research at the conference, this time he says to make sure that I do. Nothing official yet but.. it's not an opportunity I'm going to let slip by.

In related news, I am still waiting for my final grade in Psychology. The wait is making me so anxious, I could just bury my head in the ground and weep. 

The Film, The Lady, Then There's Me.

I always thought I wouldn't be caught dead at a bookstore chatting with someone on books and the finer things in life. But I guess life's just good at taking us by surprise.

The evening of Sunday, I watched a movie entitled "Midnight in Paris". To be honest, I watched it because Tom Hiddleston was in it. I had no idea what the movie was about but it looked interesting. The main character was played by Owen Wilson and there were many known celebrities in the movie which made it okay to watch even if I really had no idea what the plot was. It was actually about a young writer who went to Paris with his fiance and her parents. One night he got drunk and decided to walk the streets of Paris. When the clock struck at midnight, a 1920s Crossley passed by him and a couple of men, happily drinking, invited him in. Next thing he knew, he was having a drink with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and having a discussion with Ernest Hemingway on being a writer. Imagine being critiqued by Gertrude Stein, seeing Picasso at work and having a love affair with his mistress, Adriana. It is a writer's fantasy. I don't know about you but all throughout the movie, I was just smiling and laughing. I was astonished. I had known so little about Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds and Stein who I was told my writings were similar with. Moreover, the movie just mad fall even more in love with Paris.

The movie got me so interested in going back to the classics of the 1920s and start reading. Just so you know, I am not much of a bookworm but I do love classic literature.   I used to love Shakespeare but I thought maybe that kind of literature's quite old so let me advance a little bit.. I also do not like fiction that much especially the ones from today. I downloaded an E-book of 'A Moveable Feast' by Ernest Hemingway which is a biography of his life in Paris from 1921-1926 (I'll write a review on it when I finish). I don't know what got me so excited to read. The following day, I hurried to the library. I thought the library was the best place to read without anything else distracting me. My eyes got tired from the radiation though, so I decided to bail on my E-book and run to the bookstore to get a printed copy.

That was where I had a chat with the lady from the bookstore. While she looked through the shelves to find the book, she asked about one of Hemingway's short stories about an elephant who was on the loose and questioned everything around him. She must have assumed I had read most of Hemingway's work. Normally I would just shake my head and apologize for not knowing but this time, I knew. I knew the story since I read it back in highschool. So unfortunately, she didn't have the book I was looking for so she asked me how I liked my e-book instead. I told her I didn't like it because I really didn't. I don't know why but I just dislike reading a book from my iPad. She then pointed out that books bring so much joy - being able to write notes, highlighting your favourite quotes, lending it to a friend, going in a bookstore, inhaling the smell of new and old paper and having casual conversations with a stranger. I admit that struck me. I never realized why I always go in and out of a bookstore without anything in hand until that. It's the small things that make a trip to the bookstore worthwhile and going out with a book in your hand is even more exciting. Not to mention I love highlighting quotes from books. I thanked her for her help and for the chat and left.

I couldn't just give up my search for the book so I went to Chapters. I saw all the books I was looking for but guess what, I did not end up buying the printed copy of 'A Moveable Feast'. I thought, I'm almost halfway the book, I should just finish it and get a different one. I still plan on buying a printed copy of Hem's book though. I purchased "This Side of Paradise" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I honestly can't wait to start reading it.

I can't tell you how much the movie and the lady from the bookstore changed my perspective. The movie reminded me of my love for literature and the lady reminded me of the finer things in life we fail to see everyday. Random, isn't it? Life is just so random. Spontaneous.