On old photographs and memories

I recently read my deceased mother's speech which she gave years ago at a woman's club. I know I must have read it before and I know parts about it, but somehow it seemed all new again and brought fresh tears and heartache as I read it. She was a hell of woman, my mom was. She is one of the true rags to riches stories you read or watch all the time in those television specials. It makes me proud to be her daughter and makes me appreciate more what I have today.

I also keep a green plaid box (since green was her favorite color) where I keep hundreds of her photos. No exaggeration. Whenever there was a camera, she was always ready with a pose and a smile.

Due to the number of photos, I now have a dilemma. I am a sentimental person, but I am also a practical one (cognitive dissonance - thanks, Midnight in Paris). I've been holding on to these photos for so long, and I've also scanned them so I have them in digital form, but I still haven't let go of them. Should I even let go of them? But what if one day my hard drives are wiped? What if there was a sudden Revolution-type event when I don't have a handy photo of my loved ones besides the one on my smartphone or any electronic device? But do I have to keep all of these photos? Am I being too paranoid? 

If I was still living in my old house where there are rooms to spare for storage, this wouldn't even be up for discussion. Now that I am living in barely a 50 sqm condo, it presents a problem. But how can a person bear to part with old photographs and the memories that come with them?

I've been researching this topic, hoping to find someone somewhere to tell me what to keep and what to throw away.

The thing I have semi-decided on was making a scrapbook of some sort. I don't want to call it a scrapbook, but more of a book-book. A memorial book? Or maybe that is all the same thing. But whatever. I am making a book. I plan on filling it with my favorite pictures of her, little snippets from her speech, and maybe some of her handwritten notes. Maybe I'll have it professionally printed in one of those glossy photo books that it'll look like a coffee table book that anyone can browse through without going through boxes of her stuff. Then most of the stuff, I'll probably throw away.

Big project. Huge. At least for me. It's going to be tough physically, mentally, and emotionally to do it. But I do feel that it's the best thing to do. I have to move on, but not without respecting who my mother was. I feel that this book will be a perfect tribute to her and her life and to the wonderful woman she was.

Midnight in Paris

There are some movies that are just so damn charming, so damn delightful that you want to tell your friends all about it. Well, my friends (or whoever you are who is reading this), I want to tell you about Midnight in Paris.

Look, now here's the trailer:

Now, as charming as that was, it isn't as charming as the whole film. In fact, I would have to say that it's even a little misleading. There's a lot going on in and for this movie than this little two-minute trailer.

But I guess that's part of the magic that comes with the film. When I watched it, I had no expectations about the film or about Woody Allen like some film critics do. I didn't expect at all to be entertained. But like the protagonist, Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson), when that clock struck midnight and that old car stops by - I knew I was in for a wonderful ride.

I don't want to spoil what happens next, but just believe me that it's an adventure that I myself would want to go on. One word for it: Magical.

There's so much more that I want to say about this film, but instead of boring you with it all - just go and watch the film already. It's only 94 minutes of your life. Do it.

You're welcome.

Disney X LucasFilm: A New Hope?

There has been a great disturbance in the Force as news came out of a 4-Billion deal between Lucasfilm and Walt Disney has been made. And, Disney - not wanting to waste their spanking new income-generating property - is already talking about making the next three Star Wars films, the first one slated on 2015.

As a Star Wars fan, and being subjected to the underwhelming prequels, this news has been met with a mix of fear and (new?) hope. Fear because, why ruin a good thing? Haven't we suffered enough Jar Jar, bad acting and awkward romances? But there's always the Star Wars fan in me that hopes that maybe, like what Disney did for the Marvel franchise, they'll do it right this time.

But let's admit it: love or hate this news, we're still going to read about it, be updated about it, be excited about it, and ultimately watch it - even just to see how bad it is compared to all our imaginings (and by now we're imagining plenty).

Hot damn. I can hardly wait. I think I'm going to watch the whole series all over again - starting with Episode 4, of course. Then, for Episode 1, I'll just watch this instead: