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This, “The Painter’s Honeymoon” by 19th-century Victorian classical painter Frederic, Lord Leighton,  is one of my favorite paintings of all time. While Leighton himself hated his works being described as “pretty” – he once said it was the only form of abuse he couldn’t tolerate – there’s no denying the fact that the aspect of his works which tends to stand out the most is their sheer, breathtaking loveliness. The first time I saw this I stood stunned to awed silence for at least ten minutes. The tenderness of it, the way she leans against him with complete abandon and the gentle delicacy of his hand on hers, his hair lapping with hers, the way that he’s focused on his art and yet she is willing to let him be so, and even shares in it, the vivid, warm shades of green and gold and brown…I love it to absolute pieces. It’s simultaneously a magnificent character portrait, a great work of art, and a love story/narrative on the intersection of art and love.

See a larger version here

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Pasta continues to be unbelievably adorable. Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Sun Kyun have chemistry so sizzling that it should unlawful, and the drama itself is very very endearing. Here are some random caps of romantic highlights of recent episodes.

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Tired of Facebook telling you what to do? Don’t CARE what group your friend joined? Not interested in “re-connecting” with that middle school friend you haven’t talked to in years?

Same here.

The solution is surprisingly simple. You can join the facebook group here requesting that Facebook get rid of the Suggestion box…OR you can go here, add the userstyles extension to Firefox, then go here and download this. The whole process took me approximately three minutes and when I went to Facebook with bated breath, unable to believe it was really that easy, presto! no more annoying suggestion book. It’s like a whole new Facebook(okay, it’s still the same frenetically-annoying-and-yet-addicting site, but you get my point).

You’re welcome.

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- A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde

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In the Sun, She & Him – She & Him is the insanely cool collaboration of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, and this is the single off their second album, set to be released in March

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Blow Me Away, Breaking Benjamin- first single from the rock band’s new album Dear Agony

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Pick Up the Phone, Dragonette – insanely addicting pop hit from the Canadian electropop group’s second album Fixin’ to Thrill

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Good Riddance(Time of Your Life), Green Day

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Scars, Allison Iraheta - marvelous second single from the American Idol contestant’s first album Just Like You

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In the most blatant(and thus hilarious) piece of exhibitionism I’ve ever seen on the ice, Evgeni Plushenko delivers the goods and then some at the 2001 Worlds(ETA according to a commenter, this was his unjudged piece which makes sense but makes it only marginally less funny).

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I first heard Barbra Streisand’s brilliant and beautiful song “The Way We Were” in her Robert Redford film of the same name. The song captured everything the movie was about, and stands on its own as an achingly melancholy tribute to the passage of time and a love remembered.

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Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were…/
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Memories, may be beautiful and yet
Whats too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget..

Download

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(Taken from the Sparknotes Blog)

“A few weeks ago, we posted a ? letter to the to-do list. It got us wondering what other people’s to-do lists look like. Ours are pretty boring, generally topped by “Clean room” or the ever-exciting “Get new toothbrush.” But some people’s to-do lists have to be exciting (right?). What about all those characters in books who murder and cheat and hunt wild pigs on a deserted island (not that island)? Here are our favorite literary characters’ to-do lists imagined:

[Read more →]

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Back from Westwind and decided to cook. I took a brief glance at this very tempting Autumn Beef Stew but decided it was impractical as I don’t have beef broth and no cubes to make it either, so went instead with this Beef Goulash with Paprika. Making it was a breeze and it is currently simmering merrily away on my stove(well, perhaps slightly less than merrily given that I realized I don’t have a lid for that particular pan). It underwent interesting transformations however because I could’ve sworn I was making spaghetti sauce – it has the same basic ingredients – and then after I added water it just appears to be beef soup with unusually large chunks of beef in i, and yet apparently it is neither because it’s supposed to be eaten over noodles. Interesting. As long as it tastes good I would definitely make it again, simple ingredients and quick preparation(my main fear now is that it will turn out to be taste like the dreaded beef stroganoff, which I hate.

Am now drinking boba my roomies kindly brought back and up next: finishing off the Ethan Hawke Hamlet for class, which is not only one of the most brilliant films I’ve ever seen, but also features an extremely hot Ethan Hawke – I’ve always favored the man ever since Before Sunset but his attractiveness comes and goes. As Hamlet – mmmmm. After which I will work out and clean the bathroom.

Current song I’m obsessed with: Mix Tape by Butch Walker

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In honor of Shahrukh’s new film My Name is Khan which is getting a wide release in the US today (yes!!), here is an interview with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG2Og1Y6SEg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ0XqTBc2xM

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