Thursday Ten: life lessons from Jesus

When it comes to role models, there is only one person I look up to, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (the ultimate Role Model). I’ve learned so much from Him and I’m still learning. Here are 10 life lessons we can all learn from the King of Kings.

1. He came not to be served, but to serve Mark 10:35-45 And here’s a lesson for future leaders: If you want to be great, SERVE! Matthew 23:11-12

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Highest, never complained to serve. He did it with humility and without placing Himself above others. 

2. Always go beyond what is required. Matthew 5:40-42

We often hear this in the workplace, but it’s not always about the workplace for it should apply in our everyday life in general. 

3. He is the King of mingling. He mingled with sinners which must have certainly caused a stir back then, but Jesus never judged appearances. Matthew 7:1-6 

** I’ve been studying judging in the Bible and I’m working on a post in which I’ll be exploring it even further.

4. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive! Even if it’s 100 times, forgive. Nobody is perfect and when you forgive someone, a heavyweight is lifted off your shoulders. And when you forgive, God forgives you. Matthew 6:14-15 & Matthew 18:21-22

5. Pray in earnest. Matthew 7:7-8

Whether your prayers are long or short, when you pray, do it in faith. Abide in Christ and ask in faith because your will is to do His will.

6. Whenever He was tempted, He quoted scriptures.  Matthew 4:1-11

Memorizing scriptures can calm and reassure us during the storm. It’s also a great way to exercise the brain, solidify your faith and help understand God’s Word better.

7. Live for today. Whenever I feel I’m worrying too much I am reminded that I should live for today and not worry what tomorrow may bring. Matthew 6:25-34

8. Sometimes, we need to spend some time alone. Spending time alone with God is time well spent. It can never be a waste! It’s actually one of the best gifts we can give ourselves. Matthew 14:23

9. Love. Love. Love! It’s all about love. After all, God is the Author of Love, not confusion and we’re encouraged to spread love wherever we may go. Matthew 22:36-40

10. Keep your promises. Matthew 5:37

Our words should never be clouded in deceit. God set many examples by keeping promises, and we should strive to emulate Him.

We can learn so much from Jesus for He never misled us at any time. What lesson/s have you learned from Jesus?

***Images via Google Search & Pixabay

Thursday Ten: top 10 destinations

My travel plans always seem to fall through at the last minute, and I am beginning to dislike making them, but I wanted to do something fun today. 😄

I love exploring my country, reading about travel adventures, and watching astonishing videos/pictures of many countries. Sadly, I am yet to fulfill my travel dreams. 😞 But that doesn’t mean that I can’t share my top 10 travel destinations at the moment! 

1. France

I’ve been wanting to visit France ever since I was a child when I discovered The Three Musketeers and became an immediate Francophile. With 89 million visitors (how do they even count these things?) in 2017, France retains its crown as the world’s most visited country. Paris alone sees more than 30 million visitors a year making it the most visited city in the world. France has everything and something for everyone. 

2. Iceland

This travel destination became quite popular over the last two years thanks to Iceland’s participation in Euro 2016, but I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time. I’ll love to experience the Northern Lights during full dark nights (September to mid-April are said to be the best season) and to visit the Crystal Ice Cave in Vatnajökull. Iceland is magnificently beautiful and it’s like an ode to nature.

3. Los Angeles

This place is more than just glitz and glam. There’s the Santa Monica Pier, Grand Central Market, Griffith Observatory, OUE Skyspace LA etc. Angelenos will delightfully tell you that their city twinkles brightly when night falls. 

4. Nantucket

This isolated island off Cape Cod will be my perfect getaway! Just think about the lighthouses, the beaches, the museums, the mill, and not to mention, the bike paths! This is island living at its best! I also enjoy reading books that feature this beautiful escape. 

5. India

Beauty at its best. She is rich in culture and sits upon layers of history, and she fascinates me. She is the land of spices, a land of rich culture and one of heritage. And her attractions are top class: Morning boat rides in Varanasi, Dhuandhar Falls, the Himalayas, the wildlife etc. She is also home to Darjeeling, the world’s best tea. 

6. Peru

I’m not going to lie, whenever someone says ‘Peru’ I think of the cute alpacas! 😄 Anyway, Peru is home to Cusco which was once the capital of the Inca Empire, the beautiful Lake Titicaca and of course, Machu Picchu.

7. Mexico

Whenever I think of Mexico, I think of civilizations of thousands of years! There is so much to see and do in this gorgeous place! I’ll love to visit the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal and see Puuc architecture up close. Cancun is always a good idea, too. 

8. French Polynesia

PARADISE! Consisting of beautiful islands such as Tahiti, Papeete, Bora Bora, and 115 more dispersed islands, I can live out the rest of my life here. 

9. Greece

Opa! Greece has more than 1400 islands and perfect climate conditions. It is completely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and so much history! Delphi off the coast of Mykonos is covered with Ancient Greek ruins so you know where you’ll find me.

10. Romania

Home to the world’s heaviest building (Palace of the Parliament) and the world’s most beautiful road (the Transfagarasan highway), Romania is rich in history and beautiful sights. Everything about Romania is spectacular!

Over to you now: Where was your favorite destination to visit? If you’re yet to travel like me, where would you like to go?

***GIFs/Photos via Google Search

Thursday Ten: Languages

My mother tongue is English, but I love tasting different languages. 

Learning a new language takes time, effort, and determination, but it’s something that I can’t seem to commit to. Yes, I have commitment issues. Today, I’m going to talk about 10 languages I like, love, or has/have/had an impact on me at some point in my life. I am not fully fluent in any of them, though, but one day, I’ll love to be in a few especially from 6-1.

Ooh, boy, this post looks like it’s going to be lengthy. 

10. German

This language is not for me although I can say good morning, hello, a few other greetings and “God is love” in German.

Ich spreche nicht gut Deutsch. Yeah, I don’t speak German very well. 

09. Dutch

When I was working at Vie de France, there was a former model working with us, and she spoke Dutch thanks to some of her modeling years living in the Netherlands. She taught me how to count in the language and introduced me to some basic phrases. Dutch is one of the languages closest to English while being in the same family as German. 

Now whenever I think of the Dutch, I automatically go back in time to when Robin Van Persie scored that screaming stunner on Spain.

Ah, good times! I look forward to the World Cup this year.

08. ASL

One day, I sat down to write a story about a boy and a girl, but the boy was deaf. I might have spoken about Jai and Diana at some point here last year during the NaNo period. Anyway, Jai being deaf made me look into ASL although I was interested in it before, but never quite got into it until now.

I am currently learning how to sign. I’m supposed to be practicing with an Instagram friend, but your girl doesn’t do Skype. So meet my teacher:

He basically taught me how to say nice to meet someone…

…how to say no…

…and how to say hello with such enthusiasm:

I think it’s beautiful and this is one language that I’ll love to be fluent in. I try to keep up with my learning on Duolingo by using their flashcards. 

07. Spanish

A pretty cool language and I understand many phrases although I may not know how to pronounce them despite having Spanish in the family (most of them are from Venezuela). 

However, I have no passion to learn this language. When I was in junior secondary school, my Spanish teacher showed no interest in teaching it. She mostly skipped the class with an excuse. When I got to Secondary school, I was the one making up excuses to skip the Spanish class because I wanted to take French, but there was a mix-up and I ended up in the Spanish class with another teacher who was not on fire when it comes to teaching it. 😒

06. Romanian

I love this language! My love for this language began when I started adding diversity to my character pool. I learned some basic phrases here and there, but not enough to get me around any Romanian town! 😆

My interest in this language was renewed when I discovered the Dobre twins YouTube channel. Their mom is Romanian, they speak the language sometimes when they communicate with their non-English speaking grandma and the comment section is always lit with the language. 

Dați like dacă sănteți romăni.

05. Japanese

Konichiwa!

I blame Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters for this.

I was never interested in anime before (or after) Yu-Gi so when I came across this one, it was a rather pleasant delightful way to pass time. Eventually, I watched the series in Japanese and I picked up a few things such as one should mainly use “moshi moshi” when answering the telephone. It loosely translates to “speaking, speaking” or “I say, I say”. If you can’t hear the person clearly on the other end, you can ask, moshi moshi kikoemasuka? (Hello, can you hear me?). I also learn that one must not use moshi moshi off the phone too much unless you want to get someone’s attention. You can also answer the phone by saying hai (yes).

Another thing I learned is that Japan loves their karaoke so don’t be surprised if your Japanese friend asks “Karoake ikanai?” Overall, I love this language and I hope to pick it back up soon. 

04. Hindi

This language moves me!

And I’m so happy that it exists!

I learned some Hindi from watching Bollywood movies in my childhood. I can sing ‘Malhari’ in Hindi although I haven’t watched the movie (Bajirao Mastani) to date. The language still appeals to me today and I hope to get serious about it one day. 

03. Greek

Ya! I am currently learning this beautiful and poetic language. I feel so calm whenever I listen to someone speaks it.

I mean, look at these beautiful words: Kalimera, Kalispera, and Kalinihta. *sighs* What’s not to love? 

02. Italian

This is the world’s tastiest language! They make everything sound tasty. Even the word keyboard is tasty: tastiera. I could hug this beautiful language tight and never let it go.

Once I become fluent in it, I’ll be like…

I’m currently learning the alphabet. 

01. French

I have to leave the best for last. This language is downright the most beautiful, most romantic, and sensual thing that I’ve ever heard and it pleases my ears whenever I hear it being spoken.

There’s a reason why almost all of my characters are French or why most of my stories are set in France. I won’t go into the language in detail for we’ll be here for a long time, but I’ll be starting French Fridays soon, so stay tuned.

Okay, over to you now. What’s your mother tongue and what other languages can you speak, want to speak or simply excite you?

***All GIFs and photos via Google Images

Thursday Ten: Home Alone sins

*Shrugging* What can I say? I enjoy taking things apart in my spare time.

When I was younger, I used to enjoy Home Alone. I was a child then, so I didn’t care for weak plots and storyline. I just wanted to laugh at the wicked stuff those burglars had to endure because they had it coming. I’m older (and wiser) now and I can’t watch most movies any more without picking apart the watered-down storyline/plot, the violence, the characters and why half the things don’t make sense. Also, I’m a writer with a wild imagination, so I tend to see things differently. Oh, and sometimes I can be a bit of a theorist. 😛

These are 10 things that always bothered me about Home Alone:

1. The McCallister family is trash and a bunch of psychos. Especially that nutter Uncle Frank, who for some reason enjoys picking on an 8-year-old. There is the moment in the kitchen where everyone is eating pizza, and they forget about Kevin who makes his presence known by shoving the bullying Buzz. Uncle Frank grumpily chastised Kevin in front of everyone: “Look what you did, you little jerk!” You’ll think Kevin’s parents would do something, but they stupidly looked on. I mean, come on! The entire family bullies the child and the parents stand there like idiots? Especially the mom. What kind of mother are you, woman? Right, the kind who puts the blame on an 8-year-old to appease a relative, starve the child and banish him to the attic bedroom. 

2. The mother doesn’t work, and we’re not sure what the father does, so how can a family of 40 afford a trip to the City of Romance?

3. The police officers should be fired. When the family of psychos arrives in France and realizes that Kevin was missing, Kate calls the police back in the States to explain that a child has been left at home unattended. The cop who took the call thinks this McCallister woman is being ridiculous. There is no Kevin at home. They send a lone cop out to the house, and he doesn’t even go in because everything seemed normal.

4. The pizza boy is incredibly stupid. He runs off scared by the thought of being killed by a gun, but he fails to call the police. I mean, WHAT? You just got ‘shot at’ and you go off to deliver pizzas as if nothing happened? Was everyone in this town taking drugs?

5. I liked Kevin, but I thought Marv was a cutie. I mean, look at the handsome thieving bastard with the beautiful eyes!

It’s too bad he was a pervert (Wet Bandits anyone?) and Harry was his partner! The subtlety is not so subtle.

6. Kate accepts an uncomfortable ride in the back of a van with seven strange men. Eh! That’s what happens when you sell your soul. 

7. Kevin got overwhelmed when told to pack his suitcase, yet, the nutcase in the making eagerly set evil bobby traps for the burglars without complaining?

8. There is no way on this green earth that Marv and Harry could’ve survived those tortures to return for Home Alone 2. They should’ve been long dead. And torturing people for fun isn’t funny. Kevin has probably joined some sort of terrorist organization by now if he’s not busy trying to be the next Ted Bundy.

9. The movie is incredibly stupid when you take away Kevin’s so-call genius. His family is actually some of the worst actors I’ve ever seen in my entire life! 

Me too, Kev. Me too.

10. Or maybe, Kevin doesn’t exist and the mother was having a mental breakdown. This would explain the reason why he’s always being ignored, why the father threw his ticket in the trash, why we never saw his bedroom, why he doesn’t get any pizza, why he is banished to the attic room, why the cops didn’t care to take the mother seriously, why the mom left her family in Paris to go on a trip with the devil because she wanted to see him one last time, and she’ll do anything hence selling her soul. Right, theorists?

Maybe being home alone existed in Kevin’s mind. I mean, he has friends (it was mentioned), so why couldn’t the stupid mom call one of their friend/neighbor to watch him? Maybe Illinois is a state of mind. Maybe Kevin is in fact, a child murderer who killed his entire family (“I made my family disappear.”) and invented the whole home alone thing because he was getting lonely. Eh! Plenty of reasons to kill them after all. I mean, they were mean to him, they bullied him, and Uncle Frank probably sexually abused him. The creepy old bastard! Teasing the child about his private part (“he says if I see him naked, I’ll grow up never feeling like a real man.”) and no one bats an eyelid. No one? Really?

Theories aside, I thought Macauley was brilliant as a child serial killer in the making. I give this movie a 2/5 rating.

*** GIFs and pictures via Google Search

Thursday Ten: reasons I like Jughead

Looks like it’s going to be all about Riverdale and Jughead today!

I actually had something else planned for today’s top ten, but there’s enough time in the world to talk about books. Since the start of the second season of Riverdale, I’ve been doing weekly reviews, and most of them, if not all, centered around the best character from the show, Jughead.

Today, I bring you ten reasons why I dig Forsythe Pendleton Jones III aka Jughead. This should’ve been done a long time ago, but now is also good so let’s talk about why I like this tall, dark, and brooding character. 🙂

Cole Sprouse plays him

Cole Sprouse is the man. I remember watching him alongside his twin on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and I was team Cody all the way. Cole was the perfect candidate to portray Jughead Jones; I don’t see no other. 

He writes

Call me bias if you want, but when I was younger, I loved and adored stories with characters who were librarians or writers. Jughead writes and he’s dedicated to his craft. When he isn’t writing, he’s eating; when he isn’t eating, he’s writing.

He’s also a cinephile.

He cares about the truth

If it’s one thing I love about Jughead is the fact that he constantly searches for the truth. In season one, finding out what truly happened to Jason Blossom was his top priority. 

His sarcasm

His sarcasm is off the radar and I love it for he’s a master at this wonderful art.

His relationship with Betty is goals

Unlike his best friend Archie, Jughead knows what he wants, and he has his eyes on one girl, the lucky Betty Cooper. Throughout the first season, I watched him devote his time and attention to her. He was there for her when she found out the truth about her sister Polly and always made time from his schedule to just be by her side. They’re soulmates.

His bromance with the redhead jock

When I read books, I look for that special friendship bond because I’m a sucker for a friendship with a strong bond and Jughead and Archie have that special chemistry that I love between friends. 

It also helps that KJ and Cole are great friends in real life.

His love for food

He frequents Pop’s more than anyone else and would use any excuse to get food. Just about any excuse.

The boy sure loves his stomach just like I do!

His aesthetic and beanie

Jughead’s aesthetic is totally skater boy meets brooding writer… that was my first thought when I first saw him. The crown beanie is special because it’s a part of him and without it, he wouldn’t be Jughead.

He isn’t afraid to be himself

He isn’t afraid to be weird for he does not conform to society’s trend of the norm. This is my favorite thing about him. I have a character just like this and I enjoy writing him.

He’s perfection

Character-wise that is. I wish I had written him! He is like a younger angsty version of Dr. Spencer Reid. He is flawed, but he embraces it without trying to be perfect for anyone. I love his quirks for it is very endearing. It’s okay to be different, and he boldly makes this statement without attaching attention to himself.

That’s ten already? Time flies fast when you’re having fun!

Thursday Ten: editing checklist

After NaNo comes editing!

I am in no way a professional author or an expert in anything writing, but I write and that means I also have to edit. For NaNoWriMo this year, I wrote Dangerous Obsession, and although it’s not completely finished, I am going through the first draft and editing as I go along. I’ve compiled a small editing checklist.

1. Strike needless words

This pretty much explains itself. Look for redundancies and get rid of them.

2. Quotation marks 

Add quotation marks where necessary, especially when your character is speaking.

3. Similar character names

This can be confusing for both the writer and reader sometimes, so make sure the characters’ names are easy to recall individually.

4. CAPITALIZE!

Capitalize names, places, months, the beginning of a sentence, etc.

5. One voice or two voices?

Writers are told that is better that they stick to one voice (POV), but if you’re working with two or more characters, make sure that you include whose POV they’re speaking from.

6. Avoid using ‘literally’

Like literally!

7. Spelling

Does it look right?

8. Dialogue game

Make sure that the dialogue serves the story in every case.

9. Read aloud

Gotta make sure what you’ve written is making sense.

10. Double check everything

A writer can never go wrong with this technique. After all, we want the reader to be satisfied with what they’re reading.

***GIFs via Google Search

Are there any editing tips that you’ll like to share?

Thursday Ten: Books I did not finish

*sighs* I didn’t realize that I’ve neglected this top ten thing.

There are books that I’ve forced myself to finish because of the somewhat intriguing plot twist, books that I skimmed through to get to the end, and then there are the books that I just couldn’t finish. I know this is a top 10 list, but at current, I can only list 8 books. The thing with reading/exploring different genres is that you get a sense of what you really like, what you don’t, what you need to stay away from, and what to give a second chance to.

1. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I can’t believe that this book won a Pulitzer! This book has such terrible writing style! This book does not even deserve a place on my bookshelf and I don’t think I’ll ever attempt to read another book from this author. 

2. Power Play by Catherine Coulter

Catherine, what happened to you? You used to give me better stories than this drivel. I am sorry, but I have to put your books down.

3. Persuasion by Jane Austen

I tried. *sighs* I really tried. Then I tried again…

4. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

…and then I give up on this author as well. A woman can only try so many times! I am done with her for she keeps wasting my sweet reading time. I finally accept that she is not my cup of coffee because I find her books unbelievingly boring to the point where I want to strangle the book, so I’ll let Mark Twain speak for me:

I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop everytime I begin. Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.

– Letter to Joseph Twichell, 13 September 1898

Yes, even Twain knew how I feel. Wait, do I even like Twain’s books?

5. A Mercy by Toni Morrison

This is literary garbage. The summary of the book is misleading, I feel as if I was dumb down while attempting to read it, and the different characters narrating chapters with no initial knowledge of who’s speaking? Please, leave this to an expert like James Patterson. This stream of consciousness style was annoying. Incredibly boring and if this was my book, I would’ve set it on fire. Doesn’t deserve to see the light of day and I don’t care if it’s a bestseller. 

6. A Bit of a Difference by Sefi Atta

Not my style and the writer was rambling as if talking to a friend and not addressing the reader. I couldn’t even make sense of the character.

7. Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan

Talk about mediocre writing at its best! We have a heroine who is divorced and decides that she wants nothing to do with men for a while. She goes to her aunt’s house to recuperate and immediately, she spots an attractive jogger (he happens to be a doctor) and well, she likes what she sees. This woman is the mother of two brats (I still don’t know what’s so funny in authors making brats out of every single kid out there) and no redeeming qualities about her. This doctor should’ve jogged the other way.

Books like this end up in my trash can because they’re not fit to even wipe my feet on.

8. One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Nice try, Jojo. Nice try. This story was predictable and unbelievable. I was thoroughly disappointed and before I burst into tears from being bored, of the corny dialogue, I calmly put it down for the book did not belong to me. Had it been my property…

Are there any books that you’ve started and just couldn’t finish? Disagree with me? Feel free to share in the comments down below. 🙂

Thursday Ten: things to do with a blank book

It’s been a while since I’ve done a top 10 list!

While cleaning out recently, I came across some blank notebooks that I once had intentions of using, but I somehow forgot about them. I love notebooks, but lately, I prefer to use my laptop because of arthritis. However, the blank notebooks gave me an idea or two or three or ten…

1. Writing journal

Writing every day can spark new ideas for stories and help you practice your writing at the same time. It can also be therapeutic, ignite your creativity, and help you achieve goals. 

2. Daily journal

Chronicling your daily life can be a task at first, but it can help you connect with your heart. In the long run, the entries can also be used in a non-fiction story. I used to journal when I was younger, but I haven’t done so in years. 

Image via Besottment by Paper Relics

3. Bucket List journal

I had a bucket list journal when I was younger! Putting pen to paper and writing the things that I’ve always dreamed of was a blast! 

4. Quotes book

I collect quotes, so I’ll definitely be turning one of the blank notebooks into an inspirational book.

Image via reasontoskipthehousework.com

5. Fitness journal

Set health and fitness goals. 

6. Spiritual journal

Write down prayers, hymns, and give thanks to the Most High for life. 

Image via Bible Journaling Digitally

7. Art journal 

I don’t really draw anymore, but whenever I feel the urge to draw, I can practice my drawing in the book.

8. Dream journal

Track the significance of your dreams!

9. Handwriting practice

I had a better and fancier handwriting before arthritis kicked in so this sounds like a good idea.

Image via The Postman’s Knock

10. New words 

I love coming across new words especially long ones! I also love trying to use them in a sentence. 

What about you? Any suggestions that you’ll like to add to the list? Do you keep a journal of any kind?

Thursday Ten: favorite YouTube channels

Subscribe? *shrugging* why not?

I have a few YouTube channels that I frequent whenever I get the time. It’s around 15, but I’m going to just randomly put down whatever comes to mind first. Let’s do this!

1. Matthew Santoro

This lovable shiny bald head goof probably has the brightest smile you’ll ever see on YouTube. He is my utmost favorite YouTuber. Santoro mainly posts “50 Amazing Facts” and top 10 lists videos. I dubbed him the Dr. Reid of YouTube and I love learning from every area he covers on his channel even if it’s haunted history. 

2. Lucas and Marcus

They make me wish I had a twin.

My twins! Well, I’ve featured them quite a bit this week, so I won’t go into many details. They post videos about pranks, gymnastics, and challenges, and sometimes the entire family makes an appearance.

One day, these two lovable idiots would go far with a prank and their mom would kick them out of the house. They’re lucky they have cool parents.

3. Dobre Brothers

“We’re the Dobre brothers and we do backflips.”

This channel is relatively new, and they have 12 videos so far. It consists of twins Marcus and Lucas and their older brothers, Darius and Cyrus. So far, they’ve posted some really cool harmless pranks like the sticky note on the twins’ car (video below).

4. Fédération Française de Football

This is the national French football team channel. They mostly post training sessions, highlights from games, and interviews with the players. 

5. Tottenham Hotspur

Another football channel that I like. I recently enjoyed captain Hugo Lloris’s saves against Juventus. 

6. Comme une Française

Geraldine is my overall favorite French teacher on YT. She takes her time to explain what words and phrases mean making you pay attention. I highly recommend her channel for English speakers interested in learning this beautiful language. 

7. Lily Petals World

I love interracial couples and this Blasian family is too cute. Lily is from Korea and James is from Kenya. The pair met and fell in love in Korea. I love their channel because it gives you an intimate insight into Korean culture. Love is a feeling, not a color.

8. Meet The Eagles

I recently came across this couple and I think they were cute, so I stayed a little bit. I am relatively new to them so I’ll watch more of their videos in my spare time. Ovoke and Giuseppe are an interracial pair (Nigerian/Dutch/Italian) and they live in the Netherlands. Love is a feeling, not a color.

9. Learn French With Frencheezee

This channel was actually recommended by YouTube and I am happy that they did because this channel is incredibly helpful when it comes to learning French.

10. Saddleback Church

I came across this channel also recently by accident and decided to stay. 

If you enjoyed reading this, give it a thumbs up and please subscribe 🙂

***Photos via Google Search

Thursday Ten: sports movies!

With the football pre-season upon us, I thought I’d feature my top 10 sports films today. 🙂

1. Jerry Maguire (American football/sports agent)

THE MOTHER OF ALL SPORTS AGENT MOVIES!! Up to this day, I haven’t been motivated to watch American football, but Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire was…

2. Chak De! India (Hockey)

One of my top inspiring movies of all time. In reality, I don’t care for hockey, but watching this film made me understand the sport better. Shah Rukh Khan was just wonderful as Kabir Khan! He pulled off the coaching role with flair. I cheered him and the girls on throughout the film. 

3. Patiala House (Cricket)

Another sport I don’t care for, although I found myself watching a match recently. It is not as exciting as my beloved football, but Akshay Kumar pulled off his cricketer role very well. This movie is not only about the love of a sport. It is about following your dreams regardless what your parents may want for you, but be respectful when you choose to thread the path.

4. Bend It Like Beckham (Football)

I like football, but I am not a fan of David Beckham. I also dislike British movies, but this one was okay because Parminder Nagra was AWESOME! Kiera Knightley is a boring actress. It’s like watching paint dry.

5. Coach Carter (Basketball)

At the time I watched this film, I thought it was very inspiring and Samuel L. Jackson murdered his coaching role. SLJ now is very unwatchable.

6. The Karate Kid (Martial Arts)

The first time I saw Jaden Smith light up the screen alongside Jackie Chan, I thought the kid had a good future as an actor. Now, I ain’t so sure, but this film is a guilty pleasure of mine. I tend to watch it whenever I come across it on the TV. Smith did a fantastic job and this movie is more than martial arts. It’s also about cultural clashes and I think the message was delivered well.

7. The Blind Side (American Football)

I ADORE THIS MOVIE! Yes, Sandra Bullock did a pretty darn good job in her role, but Quinton Aaron was the standout actor for me. He was the one who brought all the emotions alive inside me.

8. Space Jam (Basketball)

This film was a favorite of mine during my childhood. I’m all grown up now and I may not care about Bugs Bunny any longer and I might have gotten over basketball when Michael Jordon retired (I loved Chicago Bulls & I even had a backpack at one point!), but if this movie is on, I’ll sit in front of the TV and watch it. The sex appeal for Lola Bunny was inappropriately amped up though.

9. Days of Thunder (Auto Racing)

There is no need to talk about Tom Cruise’s acting chops. I watched this movie and liked it. 

10. Hawaa Hawaai (Skating)

When Bollywood gets it right, the movie never features a big name star like say, Shah Rukh Khan or erm, Aamir Khan. Nevertheless, this cast was superb and they pulled their roles off flawlessly. Inspiring film and it’s family-oriented. I’ve always admired skaters (ice skaters included) and I thoroughly enjoyed this film.