#8: Pondering January, cinematic stories, & the unexpected

Dear reader,

I’d like to say January has been kind to all of us so far, but in my experience, it hardly feels that way - or if it is kindness, then it’s definitely tough love.

For reference, here is a vision board I made to greet 2025. It’s a hodge podge of real, genuine hope, alongside pockets of humor and satire.

Both unexpected (not pictured) and optimistically expected (pictured), things have happened within the last couple of weeks:

• snowy days in Texas (cold and unexpected);

• Juni being hospitalized again (costly, stressful, and unexpected);

• witnessing the hilarious and emotional cross cultural exchanges between the US and China on Rednote 小红书 (bittersweet, and completely unexpected);

• finding a job I’m excited about (hoped for and somewhat expected); and

• binge-watching The Great with reckless abandon (a few years, late, I know - but, delightfully unexpected).

The only wish from my vision board that’s come to fruition lately is securing a new job (please note and consider the 3 subtle pictures of a girl with a fat stack of money and neon dollar signs floating around her head); which, upon reflection, is indicative of some type of lucrative peace and stability that I’ve been trying to invite into my life (see the imagery with calming nature, especially Pepe the frog being smothered in butterflies).

So, I’m grateful, but on edge. It’s dizzying how much can happen within one of the first chapters of 2025. I’m trying not to let external stressors extinguish the new, baby-like hope that’s been palpable for me this January, even if it has felt like that baby-like hope has been held in a weird headlock recently.

We can make mental maps of vision boards, but the vision board eventually draws itself, for even our visions have their own visions (which is both serendipitous and deeply annoying).

However, I’m making peace with the fact that things will continue to turn out differently than I may hope for and expect - which, is something I’m learning to expect.

Huzzah!

Good watches

The Great

All I can say is, I’m grieving the fact I didn’t pick up on The Great when it originally aired - but, I’m completely celebrating the riotous entertainment and joy the entire series has brought to my life this week. It’s made me more pensive about historical greatness and terrible-ness. And it’s made me guffaw at 2 am. Tony McNamara’s writing is out-of-this-world unique and irreverent (somehow, still, in the most respectable way); and Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, alongside the entire cast are all absolutely, lightning-in-a-bottle, fantastic. Though I have the goal to do a deep dive on everyone’s filmography - Nicholas Hoult’s versatility is especially fascinating to me and is where I shall continue to dig..

A Complete Unknown

As a newbie to the gospel of Bob Dylan, and someone who was vaguely familiar with the era of 1906s music - I sat down for this film as a relatively blank slate. In short, Bob’s music and lyricism is beautiful, and his enigmatic personhood portrayed on screen draws you in. Of course, having been watching Elle Fanning in Catherine the Great all week, it was doubly great to see her reappear here alongside Timothée Chalamet as Dylan’s girlfriend. And, arguably, it was even more magical for me discovering Monica Barbaro and her magnetic performance as Joan Baez. Loved this scene in particular:

Can’t wait to dive into the real people and musical performances that inspired the film.

I stumbled upon a TikTok video (who knows if I’ll ever stumble upon a TikTok video again in general?) from Christopher Burn, quoting a short and meaningful line by Rumi, which is inspiring me tonight:

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.

I’d like to leave this with you, in hopes that it inspires you a little too.