With wonders and wishes

So cute! I found this little guy crawling around on the beach. It looked a bit surreal.. it's eyes were pure black and seemed like they were floating or somethingg. Anyway! Punta Cana definitely lives up to its reputation as having the nicest beaches in Dominican.

2010 adventure travel #1 done! :)

What's next? I'm not quite sure (won't be thinking about it until April) but Em and I are hoping for Asia...

I think travelling is an addiction. After my Vegas/Canyon trip last July, all I could think about was going away again. Six months later after my Dominican trip, I can't wait till graduation so I can explore this world even more.. Even when I read about that School Ship that sank recently (thank God everyone was safe), I couldn't get over the fact that there's really such a thing as Breaker High.. travelling the world via ship in 5 months with other students. Why didn't I think of that earlier?? I need to get myself a boat, gravol, snorkeling gear and bread!

Haha, I don't want to stay put...

Take me there, I wanna go there.

popcorn time!

In recent weeks, I have watched a plethora of movies and wanted to give my 2 cents on a few.

Boondock Saints (1999): cult classic - an amusing and witty crime thriller; 2 good-looking Irish brothers seeking to do justice by killing off mobsters in Boston city while being pursued by a pertinacious detective. The storyline has its rollercoaster effect, captivating indeed, with good punchlines, awesome acting, artistic choreography, and of course lots of action and blood with true moments of vulnerability and pain. It was unique and very slick.. overall, I'd give it an 8.8/10.

Feeling Minnesota (1996): I saw this on TV and decided to stay put and watch because Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz starred in it. I thought they'd be an awkward match that wouldn't work but I was wrong. Although this movie received bad reviews, I'd like to disagree and say I actually enjoyed it. It really took you deep into each character's world and after the first few moments they meet I was hooked on finding out until the end if they got to live happily ever after. It was about a former stripper (Diaz) who had a debt owed to a nightclub owner and so as repayment, he forced her to marry this dofus guy. At the wedding she unsuccessfully tries running away from, she ends up meeting her now-husband's ex-convict brother (Reeves). They instantly fall in love or she sees him as her last and only hope as they indiscreetly getaway to Vegas together. The rest of the movie is a huge chase build-up from the angry husband to the detective and the club owner and his pose. It was entertaining and comedic and I barely even noticed it was Reeves and Diaz playing these characters (which is a good thing). Also, Dan Aykroyd (i.e. Ghostbusters guy, Conehead father) was perfect for the part of the detective- hilarious and naive. And surprisingly the ending was great and put a smile to my face. A lot of action, anticipation/suspense, great characters, an underlying touch of romance... overall, I'd rate it 6.8/10.

Camille (2007): This was definitely a likable adventure/comedy/drama/romance film with two of my favourite good-looking actors - Sienna Miller and James Franco. Sienna was amazing in Factory Girl (I'll blog about that movie another time) and Franco was heart-melting in everything. Anyway, the film is set in a small town about a very pessimistic petty-thief who marries his parole officer's niece, the most bubbly-lovin-southern-accent girl, in hopes of escaping to Canada when they head out on their motorcycle roadtrip to Niagra Falls for their honeymoon. He seems to despise her and find her giggles extremely annoying but love unravels as a series of unexpected events unfold with state police hunting them down. These characters really compliment each other in an opposite-attraction-love-type way. It's so cute, I love it. It's weird, random, symbolic, and pretty awesome. Overall, this film deserves a 7.4/10.

Colonel Williams - Macho Man Murderer?

Following up on the case of Trenton's Commander, Colonel Russel Williams, who is the alleged murderer of two women and two assaults (and quite possibly the deaths of five other young women who didn't even reach my age), I read an interesting article from a forensic psychologist's view.

According to TheStar, Williams might classify as the rarest type of serial offender - a Macho Man. They tend to be intelligible men with 'significant others who “do well in the workplace,” “are drawn to law enforcement or military,” display an obsessive-compulsive need for things to be “done a very specific way,” “prefer to dress in uniform,” and “stand up very straight, even in personal life.”'

But really, how does that come close to explaining how a high-ranking military officer, respected and looked highly upon with a wife who is associate exec to Heart&Stroke, can commit such hideous crimes? The answer is a whirlwind of ideas but there is one that the forensic pointed out - compartmentalizing. The dictionary definition states that compartmentalization is a "divide and conquer" process for separating thoughts that will conflict with one another. In Williams' case, he was able to separate his secret malicious behavior from his respectable daily life, and thus, kill without guilt.

"Like a hitman for the mob, he kills for a living yet otherwise leads an ordinary family life."

Compartmentalizing is closely associated with dehumanization in serial killers, whereby the offender believes their victims are subhuman and expendable and that maybe they are doing society good for killing them off. So much for extreme altruism. Col. Williams has 23 years of experience in law enforcement and civil protection and he goes on a killing spree targeting young females. Quite evidently, he took his power and control way too far.

Anyway, this case brings up worried intuitions inside me thinking.. don't we all experience compartmentalization in some way or another? Maybe we're not experts like Williams and all the other offenders in this world, but it does come to show that we do have divided hearts. But that's the Christian life isn't it? At least until we really figure out how to blend the two together.. or let one take over the other.

Oh and just another quick thought... how about the soldiers fighting in the war? I mean, it's almost runs parallel. They're killing people (for a "cause") while they've got their girlfriends, wifes, children back at home... again, altruism in its extreme.

Dreamcatcher

Everyone writes about fashion, celebrities, and cupcakes. I clearly don't know fashion since I wear the same sweater almost everyday.. nor do I find much interest in celebrity gossip.. and lastly, I barely have time to bake. So in light of this and because I feel the need to release my thoughts in some way or another (without making another sad and lonely post)... I am going to blog about my dreams! .. AND since I watch tons of movies that I think many people miss out on, I'll write about that too.

Exactly a week ago I had this crazy dream. I'm not psycho..FYI, this was after I watched the movie Boondock Saints, lol. Anyway, my dream begins like so...

I was with my dear friend and there seemed to be something bothering him. I asked him what it was but he couldn't seem to tell me.. until after constantly probing him and asking, he told me. He said, "Three weeks ago I was surrounded by a gang, they wanted to kill me, but they beat me to the ground instead." He explained why he didn't want to tell me right away about it and for some odd reason I got mad at him for lying to me. I was torn over the fact that he wouldn't come to me first for help. I hated how he kept that a secret from me even if he was trying to "not get me worried/in danger". So in my frustration, I beat my friend up for not being able to trust me (how ironic). I actually beat him until his face was bleeding and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. When I realized that he was losing consciousness, I held him and said I was sorry and called the ambulance.

Later, while he was recovering in the hospital... I was determined to find this gang that attacked him. I had a friend to accompany me. We found out these guys operated an underground brothel in a run-down area of a city. In order to get to them we decided to pose as workers there and waited for the boss to make his nightly visit. Finally, he entered one of the rooms and we quickly made our move to replace the girls that would go inside. We shut the door and my friend held him down while I beat the crap out of him. I broke his arms and stabbed him with a knife. I noticed he had a hand-gun, so I took it for my next mission.

There were 3 other guys I was determined to get revenge on. In the hallway we found them and shot them down, but one got away. At this point in my dream I was just running and running, chasing after this guy. He was skinny, looked young, and extremely terrified, but I didn't care. Finally, I see him run into a convenience store and I slow down my pace.. getting ready to kill him. I walk in and there's no sight of this last dude. The store clerks were frightened and hiding behind the counter. I start walking up and down the aisles, this was a big convenience store, until I spot him and corner him. His hands go up and he pleads for mercy or anything. I just start yelling at him and saying he was stupid to beat up my friend. My friend whips the knife at him like she's throwing darts and his left arm gets pinned to the wall.

I just walk up to him slowly and aim my gun on his right chest. "I don't want to shoot your heart, you don't deserve to die, but you deserve to suffer the same pain as my friend did". He was crying at this point and asking me to not shoot, but I did anyway. My goal was complete and we ran out of there.. back to the hospital to tell my friend everything was taken care of.

One week until Punta Cana :)

Oh mister Sun, Sun.. mister golden Sun.. please shine down on me!

What a ride into the new year it's been.

Deliver me out of my sadness

Deliver me from all of the madness

Deliver me courage to guide me