Movies About Time

I thought about something the other day: I really love movies about time. Well, that's sort of the commonality I came up with when I thought of three movies and why I like them so much. Among my favorite movies are Inception, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Butterfly Effect. They all have to do with time in some way. In Inception, when you go into a dream it lasts a certain amount of time before the person wakes up. In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the baby was born old and as time progressed the person turned younger. In The Butterfly Effect, the person goes back in time numerous times to try and fix things. Each time the person goes back the history is rewritten according to the changes that happen when the person went back to change history.

Of course, I love other movies too. But, those movies really got me thinking after 5 minutes of watching the movie and still has my thoughts occasionally. I think its something about the messages that come from those movies and less about time. Although I am not sure of the popularity of those movies, I remembered that The Butterfly Effect was talked about a lot when it came out, but didn't watch it until a few years after it came out and on DVD. In addition, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the first movie I reviewed for TUTD and I watched it in DVD. Inception was really popular when it came out and that was the only one out of the three that I watched in theaters.

Since I was intrigued by the "time factor" in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Butterfly Effect, and Inception I look forward to watching Looper, which is about a man going back in time to save himself, but his younger self has to stop time travelers. It just seemed very interesting when I watched it in theaters. Hopefully, I would not be disappointed when I watch it in theaters.

Growing up With Parents Who Never Attended High School or University

Although I was not considered the smartest in my family, there was still this expectation that I might possibly attend college or university. My parents knew that grades played a factor into getting into a good school. That, and a name of a few universities were pretty much the only thing my parents knew about higher education. Since my parents grew up knowing just those things, that's what I mostly knew until I entered high school. I was introduced to the high school and university requirements, met with some advisers, and had meetings with some programs, which taught me so much more than what my parents had ever knew. I started learning about other requirements, such as being more involved through community services, clubs, sports, and student government. I also learned that the personal statement played an important part in the UC applicants decisions. The knowledge that I earned about the application process gave me hope and furthered my interest and led me to believe that I could meet the pressures and doubts of family and others.

About a month before finals, my mom told me that my cousin (who also studies at UC Davis) was taking an exam and asked me why I don't have to study for exams. That was when it hit me. My mom had no idea what I've been through these rough four years. She doesn't even know what I have to do for my classes. My parents don't know that I have to read a book just about every week in university. They don't know that there's barely any homework and that the majority of my grade is based on either papers or exams. But, what they don't know is how much time and energy I spent on trying to get through those rough four years. They won't ever know how it feels to cram in a paper or study for an exam last minute and worry about passing a course.

There are of course some things that my parents have learned about the university as the years passed. My mom learned that I could get kicked out for bad grades during university. She also learned about credits. I didn't teach her about that, but she learned about it somehow. Throughout my time in UC Davis, she would ask me how many units I have and if that was enough. That question was second, as she asked for my grades almost every time she saw me. Other than that, my mom always asked me what my major was although I told her several times. And, she would give me the same type of responses each time whenever I answered her questions. I think it was because she didn't know much about college.

Since I am a first generation Chinese American, there are a lot of things that I have to learn for myself and my parents would not know. Yet, what my parents didn't know didn't scare me, it pressured me. It encouraged me and motivated me to reach for higher education. It's also probably what has sparked my interest in not just education, but travel, food, and culture.

Independence Day

I'm a bit late on blogging about this post since it's about 4th of July. Also, I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. I'm probably going to have like 3-4 next week.

On the 4th of July, we had a BBQ. It was nice having a BBQ since I really like BBQ food. Also, the type of BBQ that my mom makes is not the type I would eat when I go dine in at restaurants that serve BBQ. They have a different style. One of the differences includes that my mom makes noodles to eat with the BBQ. You won't be eating noodles with your BBQ if you were at a BBQ restaurant.

At night, I went jogging. I haven't went jogging in months, possibly years. But, it was a good run. I don't like jogging as much as I do rollerblading or ice skating though. I could skate for hours and still want to go on, but for jogging I just want to do it for like 30 minutes and no more.

When it was finally dark, fireworks were going off around the neighborhoods. There were so many illegal fireworks. I must admit that they are pretty to look up since they go up in the sky. But, it was kind of scary when a neighbor was lighting them and the fireworks came up. My family didn't buy any fireworks this year. But, our extended relatives did. The fireworks weren't as exciting as the illegal ones, but it is always exciting to light your own fireworks.

I don't know what it is about 4th of July. But, I consider it one of my favorite holidays. I think its because no one goes to work on that day. We all like fireworks. And, there is good food. Oh, and its a holiday during the summer time!