Long Post of Movie Reviews

I spent at least half the day yesterday convinced that it was Friday, and beating myself up over the fact that I wasn't accomplishing anything. When I realised my mistake, I gave myself carte blanche to continue accomplishing nothing, which sort of worked. I did a bit of sewing, read (almost done the book the lovely tayles sent me), and PUT AWAY MY SUITCASE! *awaits applause* Sure, there's still lots of stuff lying around on the floor, but technically, I'm unpacked! Then, I went to Kimberly's place for supper -- I helped with the preparation of a typical Southern meal of ham, fried okra, fried potatoes and biscuits -- and she once again taught me how to crochet a granny square (she did once before, when we went to Hokkaido in 2008) and we watched a movie. I crocheted two whole squares! They're for an afghan I'm making for Anna's baby. All in all, a relaxing day, and I even got out of the house, so I probably burned off the sugar from at least fifteen of the million jelly beans I ate.

Following my resolutions, I started doing the Pilates DVD. I did the ab section yesterday, and my abs are a tiny bit sore today, which is good. When I was doing the exercises, I didn't really feel anything until the very end, which is a sure sign I wasn't doing them properly; my abs are in decent enough shape, but not so much that it should have been painless. I expect the burn to increase as I learn to do the routine better and really focus on the relevant muscles.

This morning I did the hip segment, which consisted of a lot of ballet movements (pliés, tendus, dégagés and fondus*) with some yoga (downward dog, anyone?) thrown in. My lack of flexibility was a problem, as I can't really do a proper downward dog, even when I haven't just woken up and am still stiff with sleep. Once I get more familiar with the routines I'll add some basic stretching in, my goal being about 30 minutes each morning.

I did not, however, do any studying. Bloh.

* Not fondues, which come in many different flavours and are delicious XD

* * *

As I wrote in my last post, I watched thirteen films over the course of my trip. Of those, I watched eleven of them on the plane. Here are some quick reviews! As usual, don't click if you're worried about spoilers.

From Tokyo to Toronto:

( Young dancers chasing their dreams: Only When I Dance )

( Documentary? Drama? Animated? All of the above: Howl )

( Tight pants and thick Russian accents: Salt )

( Give us you meat: Chez Schwartz )

( Earthquakes and family tragedy: Aftershock )

( Bored office workers trapped in a cage: waydowntown )

In Canada, I watched these movies with A-L, because watching dance movies together is what we do:

( Psycho ballerina: Black Swan )

( Awful story, amazing dancing: Step It Up 3 )

That's enough for now. I've spent all morning writing these, so I'll save the others for another post. Have any of you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them? Comment, I'm curious! ^_^

It's noon, and time for me to do stuff besides write. Today is my last day of true freedom, i.e. the last day I have to myself, as I have plans for the next two days, so in no particular order, I want to:

- sew;
- finish putting all my things away;
- draw up a study plan for Japanese and Mandarin;
- shower;
- go out for a sushi lunch;
- write up a quick Travelpod entry;
- put away my Christmas tree;
- crochet and knit: I'm not sure if I can do two more squares today, as I'm unused to crocheting and my hand might cramp up, but I'm halfway through a sock and can probably finish most of it this evening.