Brain Fodder

Brain fodder - as in food for your brain. But not necessarily the healthy low-carb, multi-grain stuff. I've tried to be a consumer of wholesome, quality content but the Cynthia brain has trouble digesting large quantities of BBC News and Seriously Deep Films - especially when I've got tons of responsibilities to procrastinate from. Nevertheless, I've tried to include a good mix of content for your own procrastinating pleasure / intellectual "stimulation". Whoops. That sounded a lot more suggestive than it meant to be. Note to self: don't put the word stimulation inside quotation marks unless I'm writing about an entirely different topic. 

BRAIN FODDER: Things That Entertained Me Or Made Me Think Recently

1. This Creative Little Website

SITE: Form Follows Function

Which, quite honestly, has no immediately identifiable function but is also the coolest interactive web project I've ever seen. On the home screen, you pick a "card" from the many options available and it will bring up its own little unique design/interactive experience. No two cards are the same. Example: 

There's no explanation for the randomness of each scenario, hence the name: Form Follows Function.

2. This Exquisitely Shot YouTube Video

 

Title: Watchtower of Turkey

By: Leonardo Dalessandri

Came across it while scrolling through the comments on a JacksGap video. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on YouTube and I can't believe it's only got 380,000 views. Watch the entire 3 minutes of it and tell me that doesn't inspire you to travel to Turkey. 

3. These Griping and Thought-Provoking Books

Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma

What It's About: 

Incest (hence the title). It's definitely not an easy topic to write about, considering the automatic revulsion with which even the very word conjures up, but against all odds, Tabitha Suzuma has actually managed to craft one of the most unique and beautifully written novels I've come across this year.

Seventeen year old Lochan and sixteen year old Maya are more like friends than siblings who have had to spend their entire lives holding their dysfunctional family together. These circumstances have brought them closer than the average sister and brother. Yup. I'm not going to say anymore. You read it for yourself and tell me what you think.

Nominated for the Carnegie Medal in Young Adult Literature (but I don't think it's should be categorised as "Young Adult" at all)

Goodreads link

The Storyteller - Antonia Michaelis

What It's About:

Originally published in German, The Storyteller is a lovely interweaving of fairy tale and stark reality. Anna meets Abel, a troubled boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He has a little six-year-old sister who he's been caring for on his own and who he often tells beautiful fairy tales to. Anna overhears one of these stories and starts to become curious about the different side to this withdrawn, rumoured drug dealer at her school.

I went into this book expecting something totally different and was totally surprised (and a little bit horrified) by the direction the story sometimes took. But that's why I would recommend it to people - you won't be expecting any of it. Plus, it's wonderfully written.

Goodreads Link   

4. This Korean Film About a Werewolf Boy

Title: A Werewolf Boy

Official Selection at the Toronto, Vancouver, Hawaii & Busan International Film Festivals

A family move into a house in the Korean countryside and find a wild, unkempt boy hiding in their backyard. He doesn't speak, he eats like a starving dog and has inhuman strength. What in the world could he be??

Okay, predictability aside, this movie was actually shot, acted and produced really beautifully. It's not a cheesy Korean re-make of Twilight - far from it. The plot centers on this family "adopting" a strange, wild boy and their attempts to combat the community's growing interest in him. Each and every scene is shot with a lot of thought in mind even though the story is simple, there is a strong emotional undercurrent underlying all the character's actions. 

Odds & Ends #5

You know what I've missed? Lazy days - days such as today when I can wake up with the knowledge that I have absolutely nothing planned for the rest of the morning, afternoon and night. My mind tricks itself into thinking that I've got plenty of time to get everything done and as such I find myself waking up at 11am, finishing 'breakfast' at 1, spending a couple of hours on YouTube, doing odd tasks that I normally would've ignored (e.g. cleaning and blogging) and making mental lists of the things I want to accomplish by the end of the day.

So basically I trick myself into thinking that time is an infinite resource and in reality, never actually get around to completing anything of importance.

But the illusion of freedom is nice all the same.



I've been spending a lot of time either working or hanging out with people so I haven't had many lazy days to myself. But I've got no cause for complaint. Work is rewarding, the team are one of the most supportive and hilarious group of individuals I've ever met and well, the view's not too shabby either (see exhibit A above)... plus we get free pastries and drinks on Fridays.

I honestly hadn't realised how miserable tutoring had made me until I actually quit. Okay, judging from my constant iteration of, "Tutoring is killing my LIFE" to literally everyone I came in contact with, I had a pretty good idea. But it wasn't until I really left the place for good, set aside all those disgusting folders on Persuasive Writing and Areas of Study, that it really hit me that I would never have to deal with unpaid lesson preparations and belligerent parents ever again. The freedom was bloody intoxicating. I felt like Andy Dufresne at the end of The Shawshank Redemption, emerging from a sewer pipe of restrictive work hours and unreasonable expectations, ready to take my place in normal society.

Here's to being able to watch this scene without having to draw parallels to Belonging, Discovery or Journey ever again.
(Source)

So yes, I am more than glad to say goodbye to that chapter of my life.

Apart from work, I've been making an effort to spend time with the people who are important to me, as well as some cool, new people I've met. Last Thursday night, Punchy, Aastha, Shane, Rochelle and I went to see Les Miserables at the Capitol.

The adorable Punchy getting her 'Vive La Revolution' on

 It was amazing and I would give my left kidney to see it again.

Just kidding - my left kidney's not worth the $130 it cost to get a ticket on the balcony. But I would gladly pay that sum again if it meant being able to experience the intensity and out-of-this-world talent that is Les Mis on stage. Simon Gleeson was fan-fucking-tastic as Jean Valjean, the set design and use of space and effects rivaled even that of Wicked and just every aspect of it blew my mind. And I've seen a lot of musicals. So if there's anyone out there who's unsure whether the cost is worth the entry ticket, I would say to them: Hells Yes. You will not regret it. And if you do, I give you permission to punch me in the face. That's how confident I am.

I also went and caught The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron with some other uni mates. The movie was good but I think I had more fun during the other aspects of the outing. For one, we ate at Pappa Rich afterwards and I freaking love me some nasi lemak.  We had $3 left from our meal and after debating whether we should hand it over as a tip, we made our way over to Central Park hoping to grab something hilariously tacky from Daiso. Daiso was closed so we went into Woollies with 5 minutes to spare and came out with a tub of Bulla Vanilla ice-cream. How's that for good use of 3 bucks?

We ended up camping out in the UTS tower building with our tub of ice cream, to the consternation of the nighttime security guards (this was around 10-11pm on a Saturday night). One of our friends, Yujun, taught us a Korean drinking name game and we played that with our "shots" being ice cream scoops instead of alcohol. We hit up a karaoke joint afterwards so I ended up having to take the NightRide bus home at 2am in the morning but it was worth it.

I might wrap up this post here because as usual, I'm only blogging to procrastinate. Oh, but speaking of procrastination, I recently got my marks back for an essay worth 40%. I remember putting it off and having to complete it last minute at a friend's house so wasn't harbouring any hopes for a good result.

I got a HD for it. Who says procrastination doesn't pay off?

Anyway, a final thing. My friend Kay and I recently made a video covering Drake's Hold On, We're Going Home. Here's the video if y'all wanna check out Kay's amazing voice and my embarrassingly intense concentration face. We'd be very much obliged ;)