I can haz ur attenshun?

For this blog, I'm going to take a moment away from all the things I usually am - a nerdfighter, a Harry Potter fan, a (very) soon to be college student, an addict to technology - and I'm going to be something else entirely: A crazy cat lady. That's right: I am not in any way ashamed to admit that I absolutely LOVE cats. I always have. I still have my teddy bear - which is actually a cat - Milo to prove it to you. Dogs have always been "meh-yeah, cute, I guess" but cats can make my heart melt in a second. If you're a dog person or you hate hearing people go "aww" and gush about their pets, run for your life! (This blog post is definitely not for you).

I was lucky enough to get my own cat when I was 7 years old. My family had a rather traumatic experience trying to buy one at the Humane Society (the one we chose and put on hold was "accidentally" adopted by someone else) and we ended up getting a just eight week old little tabby from the pet shop that used to be in the nearby shopping center. If you know me at all, you've probably heard me talk about Molly ... I love this animal so much, and she's such an intricate part of my family and my life that I practically think about her as my quirky little sister (with a bit of a "furry little problem," if you will). If you've been to my house, you're probably thinking "Huh? The Devil Cat?" Let's just say Molly has a personality to be reckoned with. Around my family, she's as sweet as can be. (Well, she keeps her own counsel about when she likes to be held and all that, but she's talkative and cuddly and a great pet.
Around others, however, she tends to get a bit, well, on-edge. She's not a big fan of strangers. I don't know if this is because the pet store we got her from was traumatic - too many people, bad upbringing - if she was taken away from her mother to young... I don't know why, exactly, but she basically can't stand anyone but me and my parents. But, all that aside, she's hilarious. She's got her own language and way of talking to us - she knows how to say "hello" in her own funny little way, she understands "treat" and recognizes her own name. She's got rituals that only pertain to one specific person: with my dad, for example, she'll always hit him up for a massage on the way up the stairs. She'll curl up ON my mom more than she will with the rest of us. And, she has a certain playful energy whenever she's around me - as if she knows she's on equal footing. But I realize I'm really starting to sound like an overly-obsessive cat owner, here, so let me just wrap this up and get to the main point of this blog. For all that Molly's the most fantastically amazing friend and pet ever, she's certainly not the kind of cat to be held, to come cuddle with you when you're reading or watching TV... and these are just things I've accepted about her. I love her despite these things and I can say now that I'm going to miss her like crazy when I'm no longer living at home. Molly is my tabby-and-white, green-eyed, pink-nosed (marked by a bee sting from when she was little), fluffy, sweet little sister.

The whole reason I'm blogging about this now - out of any time - is because I've been hit with an onslaught of cat-sitting this week. First came a set of neighbors who I babysat for a few weeks ago, who happened to have new young-ish cats, and who happened to see how absolutely in love I was with the cats by the time my evening there was up. They went out of town this past weekend as our school district is having a five day weekend and they asked me to watch their kitties while they were gone.
So, all weekend, twice a day, I've been trekking over there to play, feed, and amuse Oreo and DoubleStuff (I believe it's Oreo on the right, and DoubleStuff on the left). In so many ways, these cats are the POLAR opposite to Molly. They are both extremely affectionate, ready to be held (ESPECIALLY Oreo), and unafraid of strangers. Oreo will literally melt into your arms purring and will just stay there - he doesn't really seem to know the concept of resistance, so you can't even really tell if he doesn't want to be picked up... he just folds himself away in your arms and seems content. DoubleStuff has a bit of his own mind, but will still curl up on you and consent to being held for a few minutes. Both are extremely playful - they have this little play structure that's adorable, and they love going inside it and then jumping out at you (or each other). They have that kitten energy that's so much fun - they'll try to play with your shoes, your camera cord, your hair... anything, really. The other day I was sitting with them both on the couch and, man, it was STEREO SOUND purring. They're just as cute as can be.

AND THEN today, I started cat-sitting for another set of neighbors... a couple who goes out of town a lot and whose cat I have been watching on and off for over a year now. Since I've known them, the cats in this family have changed - it started out Reggie and Riley, then Riley and Bennie, and now it's just Bennie... But Bennie's really cute. He was a one-year old when they got him and, though he's grown up (and out - he's getting a bit pudgy), he's still playful and loving.
He loves playing with these little foam balls - he'll chase them up the stairs and down again like crazy. AND he's the only cat I've ever met who plays fetch. As in throw the ball, bring it back, fetch. When I first figured this out, it totally cracked me up.

So, there you have it, cats have really been on my mind lately - and all over my clothes. Every time I go visit ANY of the cats now, they all have to sniff me endlessly to try to figure out what (or who) they're smelling. I suppose it's not a bad way to make money (in fact, I'm just kind of excited that people will pay me for something I find so much fun). Anyway, there you have it, the four crazy kitties currently in my life.

Cheers. <3

P.S. I found out a few things when trying to take photos of all these cats this afternoon. Firstly, cats move a lot. Seriously. It must be some sort of law of the universe that as soon as your camera decides to focus, the cat - who was just holding perfectly still - decides to move and you get pictures that look like the Tasmanian Devil. I threw out about 100 of these kinds of pictures.
And secondly, cats often find the whirring of the camera lens AND the cord that dangles from the end of the camera fascinating and will abandon any attempts of being cute for the photo in favor of batting and sniffing said fun objects. I'm working on buying a new camera and - hopefully - with one that focuses quickly, takes photos well, and has some good automatic settings, this will be easier in the future, but let me just tell you that these three photos were basically the only good ones to come out of a batch of 130. *Whew*

Take Two

Okay, that certainly did not come out right. I am certainly not advocating a return to the slightly progressed Victorian age, the time of the tet-a-tet and rules for how to sit, stand, smile, or frown... the days when women would sit at home making small talk over tea and embroidery, waiting for the slight excitement of a hopefully-not-horribly-boring male suitor. I stand by what I had to say about those two passages and about the underlying morality I admire in the society of the early 1800's but need to amend and add a few more thoughts.

As fellow blogger and twitterer Gina commented on my past post (I hope you don't mind me bringing this up in another post - it's an excellent point), this is roughly what I seemed to be saying. That blog post felt a bit muddled and confused as I wrote it - apparently with good reason. Let me see if I can take a step back and clarify.

The rules of Jane Austen's time were painful. You couldn't speak to someone unless you'd first been introduced, there were certain things you could read - as I was discussing with that passage from Northanger Abbey about novels. Everyone knew their place in society relative to everyone else - and the slightest change in dress, behavior, or speech could send someone into a tizzy.

So, yes, I agree Gina - I couldn't possible tolerate these rules either - but why I LOVE Austen novels is that they show us how things were then and allow us to appreciate how things are now. Like it or not, this was how women DID live and I think it's important to keep this picture in mind when walking to school in jeans and flip flops, hugging guy-friends and being able to openly say what you're thinking.

Before I go more into detail - or rather, more into generalities - let me just say that Mansfield Park bored me out of my mind and I'd be perfectly happy if I never heard another word about Fanny Price again. Some people can be TOO good and she was one of them. Grow a spine, girl. Also, I haven't had the chance yet to read Persuasion or Sense and Sensability, though I know the story of the latter from the BBC series.

When it really comes down to it, what I admire most about Jane Austen's novels is Jane Austen herself. This woman managed not only to write novels when no one - let alone a woman - was supposed to do that ... and she managed to write novels that I think are still prevalent in the 21st Century (hence the lovely picture I included above, found via a quick Google search). Catherine Morland is a rather boring character, true, who's head was full of silliness and who sat around waiting for Henry to decide if he liked her or not. But, this was how it was - a woman couldn't show feeling unless the man showed it first. Like I've said, these rules were stupid, but they were there.

But, consider two other characters: Emma and Elizabeth. These girls acted - true, one was misguided, and a bit snobby, but I still think Emma had good intentions as she tried to help Harriet. And Elizabeth, well, that gal knew how to speak her mind! She stood up for what she wanted and believed in - the right to marry for love despite her poor financial situations, the right to an opinion, to have her family and herself respected - and it's for these reasons that I think Pride and Prejudice is such a timeless novel.

Rather than spend all day extoling the virtues of P&P, which I will defend with my dying breath against anyone but guys who irrationally hate it because it's a "chick book" (they just don't get it), let me go back to Austen. The fact that we are still talking about these books, still reading them and admiring (or disliking) the heroines is amazing to me! The fact that we can hear Jane Austen's voice standing up for what she believes in, in the novels she wrote with fervor... well, I guess that fills the role of the strong woman, taking the place of a strong female narrator or weak female heroines.

And, Gina, do not mean to go after your point of view at all - I agree that many of the women in these stories simply sit around waiting for husbands... and I haven't read Bleak House (though now I want to!), but I guess what I'm trying to say is that these aspects of Austen's books are like having a flawed character - like Harry Potter, even. If the books depicted society as perfect back then, I can't help but think they'd be a lot less interesting.

Bottom line: What jars me so much whenever I read Austen is how much our society has changed since that point in time. Since ANY point in time. If you've read this blog, you know I'm constantly fascinated by technology - the newest Twitter Applcation (Tweetie, in case your wondering... it's totally awesome), or the 1 billionth App sold on the Apple Store (the grand prize went to a 13 year old). But, what I love about these books is that they make me take a step back from the minute-by-minute, blow-by-blow observations of how far we've progressed since... last week. They make me look at the big picture: Of how far we've come in the last 200 years. And through it all, I can't help loving Austen for managing to preserve that time in history for us to read and attempt to understand.

Lighthearded Misunderstandings

I wanted to take a momentary break from studying today (I'm home for a glorious five day weekend) to review a book I finished reading last weekend and greatly enjoyed. The book I'm thinking of is Northanger Abbey, one of Jane Austen's shorter, lighter, and lesser-known works. I decided to read it now - of all times - because it is the current topic of discussion in the Austen group I participate in every Sunday night. I'm sure my opinion of it will morph and change as we discuss it - in fact, I think it already has since the time of our first meeting - but I still wanted to share a few thoughts.

Since you probably don't know unless you've read it, Northanger Abbey tells the story of the young and innocent Catherine Morland who is invited to Bath by her family's friends, the Allens. In Bath, Catherine meets the Thorpe family - befriending the girl of her same age, Isabella. She also meets a young Mr. Henry Tilney, later befriending Tilney and his sister Eleanor. The plot heats up when General Tilney, Henry's father, invites Catherine to stay with them at their Abbey home - for a reason that causes much distress and confusion by the end of the novel. Because Catherine had been reading the type of Gothic romances that were oh-so common in Austen's era, she expects (but does not find) a dark and ancient home, full of fantastical mystery. The novel was one of the first Austen wrote, but also one of the last that was published after her death.

The character Catherine is a tricky one to interpret. She's not as easily likable as Elizabeth Bennet, nor easy to immediately dislike like Fanny Price, and still not as flawed as Emma. In many ways, her naivete was what really frustrated me - the same dramatic irony that led me to call the story's end three chapters end annoyed me beyond end when the story's heroine couldn't seem to understand what was going on. That said, being a simpleton is not the greatest fault and, overall, I liked the heroine and the story.

There were two particular passages in the novel that I just knew I had to share as soon as I read them. They're in so many ways the epitome of Austen - funny, witty, and full of voice and social commentary. Northanger Abbey has a much stronger authorial voice than the other novels - it's pervasive throughout almost the entire novel, compared to simple passages here and there like Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps this is because Austen was less practiced as an author and had not yet found her true style, or maybe it's just how she wanted to write this story, but because of the shortness and sweetness of the novel, it works.

Any-who, there is one passage when the reader learns that - gasp - Catherine enjoys reading novels. I'm not sure what it was that girls during this time were supposed to be reading, but it's clear that Austen didn't agree with the societal disdain for the type of writing she was endeavoring to create:

[Catherine and Isabella would] shut themselves up, to read novels together. Yes, novels; - for I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances of which they are themselves adding - joining with their greatest enemies in bestowing the harshest epithets on such works, and scarcely ever permitting them to be read by their own heroine, who, if she accidentally takes up a novel, is sure to turn over its insipid pages with disgust. Alas! if the heroine of our novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard? I cannot approve of it. Let us leave it to the Reviewers to abuse such effusions of fancy at their leisure and over every new novel to talk in threadbare strains of the trash with which the press now groans.

Now, at the risk of this turning into an English essay, I do want to talk about this passage! It's hard to explain why I'm so drawn to it, but reading these few sentences absolutely makes me grin. It's SO Austen. Her voice - though part of a story, wrapped up in a character - is so strong. You feel as if she's in the room with you, reading passages like these. You can hear her disdain for hypocritical authors dripping from each word. The power of writing like this - to come alive before you - is phenomenal... and all done in a time when women weren't even supposed to be writing at all!

One more, and then I promise I'll go back to my usual college chit-chat, my professions of Harry Potter love, and my blathering about movies. As the story progresses, we see the usual rituals that mark Austen's novels and bring her time period to life. The societal traditions, the "dos and do NOTs" of being proper, the balls, dances, and propriety. Northanger Abbey has a particularly interesting take on all this as Austen focuses her lens on Bath - a bit of a more public and social setting than the usual small villages of Meryfield or Highbury. At once of the dances, when Mr. Tilney and Miss Morland finally make it to dancing, Henry begins to compare dancing and marriage, exclaiming how very alike they are:

"We have entered into a contract of mutual agreeableness for the space of an evening, and all our agreeableness belong solely to each other for that time. Nobody can fasten themselves on the notice of one, without injuring the rights of the other. I consider a country-dance as an emblem of marriage. Fidelity and complaisance are the principal duties of both; and those men who do not chuse to dance or marry themselves, have no business with the partners or wives of their neighbours."
[...]
"Taken in that light certainly, their resemblance is not striking; but I think I could place them in such a view. - You will allow, that in both, man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both, it is an engagement between a man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty, each to endeavor to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbors, or fancying that they should have been better off with anyone else."

Okay, if talk of dancing and marriage made you cringe away from the entry, that's fine. In fact, you probably didn't even make it past the mention of Austen at the beginning, but I simply had to shout out to the world what a wonderful bit of writing this is. Did you notice that the second part of the quote is almost entirely ONE sentence? Seriously.

But what gets me most about this is the difference between this society and ours. Theirs, rules meant something. None of this "the government says we don't use torture, but lookie here, I guess we do" back-handedness. (Okay, there was some back-handedness in Austen's time, but it was different). There was a basic morality - something that could unite even things as dissimilar as dancing and marriage - that protected everyone from each other and kept the wheels on the bus going round and round.

I've often lamented this tradition of dance dying out - and I still think it's a phenomenal tradition, but more importantly, I like the base principle that kept this society together. Even young people - I believe Catherine is still a teen in this novel - is raised with a basic idea of what's right and wrong. I think this is fading from our society now; being mixed up by warring factions of religious, political, or ethnic beliefs. I think it's time we returned to a simpler time - yes, in many ways this rigidly governed society was simpler - when a dance could be compared to marriage, when people would have a "contract of mutual agreeableness" and be happy with each other for an evening.

Anyway, I found this a very interesting Austen novel - quite different from the other "high-profile" ones I've been reading so far. I'd best get back to studying - IB and AP tests begin in a little over a week, and I've got knowledge to cram into my brain. Cheers! <3

YOUR Planet?!?

This Friday's movie night brought a vision of the planet's destruction - not by nuclear means, nor by global warming, but by aliens. As the second end-of-the-world AND alien-type movie I had seen recently (Knowing, being the first), my mind was busy with comparisons. Of course, the films are very different - one being a scattered mix of genres with few goals and little morals and the other being the remake of a campy 1950's flick... but, regardless, even without the similarities that did exist, I found The Day the Earth Stood Still to be a far better movie.

The movie centers around a scientist (played by Jennifer Connolly), who is dragged off in the middle of the night by government agents. She arrives at a Fort something-or-other, where she is put in a briefing room with lots of other scientists, and told of the fast approach of an Earth-destroying asteroid of some sort. They are given 1 hour as a countdown, and Manhattan as a target. While they fly out to the city, bracing for impact, nothing hits, until they start to see a glowing orb flying towards them, slowing down. The orb, a planet-like object, that seems to be roughly the size of a skyscraper, lands in Central park. Out of it comes - you guessed it - Alien Keanu Reeves. Long story short, Reeves has come to A) attempt to talk to us humans and B) judge if we (as a species) are worthy of remaining on the planet. He decides we aren't, and begins to initiate D-Day Armageddon. Now, I won't go much further than that in the off chance that you decide to actually see this movie - which I more or less recommend.

A few things struck me about this movie. First off, it was comfortable in its own skin. It knew it was an alien movie, and it didn't try to hide that fact. Sure, at some points, they took themselves too seriously (such as when Connolly's character emphatically states "Well, he must have had another body before he came to Earth.") But, more or less, they didn't try to hide that they were dealing with aliens invading and destroying the human race. In all, it was rather cool to have such a campy story done with such AWESOME CGI. I mean, though I haven't seen the 1950 version of the film, I can imagine how corny it would have been - strings still attached to the UFO, and all that. But to have something that requires such suspension of reality done in a way that actually makes it seem real... well, that just shows you how far filmmaking techniques have come in recent years.

Next off, it's interesting to consider WHY this film was made - both in its original day and age, and now. The basic premise of the destruction of the human race is that the Earth is a very valuable and fragile planet - one of the few (or only) in the universe that can support complex life forms. And yet, the human race has become so destructive that it doesn't deserve to remain in control of Earth. Thus, said alien civilization steps in and removes the parasitic humans. (I'm getting Matrix undertones, here, but more on that in a minute). I'm not sure if the 1950's version of the movie was the original time it was written, but if so, let's take a moment to consider history at the time. Nuclear destruction was on the forefront of everyone's minds and - with the Cold War really getting going - the destructive capabilities of humans were, indeed, starting to feel quite fearsome. Fastforward to the 21st century... mutual destruction is in the back of our minds, but not an open threat. Instead, global warming is hitting us at every angle. Worrysome weather, fearsome planetary changes... are we finally seeing the fruits of our destructive capabilities? In all, I'm surprised this movie got panned so much by critics and viewers because, though it doesn't have a driven plot with wit and twists, as we may look for in the creme-of-the-crop kind of films, it is EXTREMELY resonant for the day and age we are living in.

This said, since so many people did NOT see this film, I think it's important to reinforce the message it bore - for it's an important one to remember. The movie stressed that humans needed to CHANGE if we were to keep our planet and our lives. However, as John Cleese's character said so clearly, it is often on the brink of destruction that the full capacity for change is realized. I agree with this in many ways. But, in the world we're living it, what's the brink? Is it when the Hurricanes get so bad that they wipe out entire cities? When fires rage for weeks, taking homes and burning forests? When the very ozone layer we depend on to continue living starts disappearing? Because it's starting to look like we've hit that brink to me. So, in all, I thought this was an admirable film. It bore an important idea that I think we need to continue hitting people over the head with. It's a pity it got so little attention because I thought it was an overall fun ride (with cool CGI), and with a solid core idea.

Just for one last moment, I do have to comment on Keanu Reeves. As Craig Ferguson (who my mom and I watch a lot) is often pointing out, Keanu doesn't do much in the way of acting... In fact, between this film and his other famous roles - Speed and The Matrix, I'm not sure he does much more than look solemnly at the camera/villain/love interest for the entire movie.


<-- Keanu Reeves as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still and Neo in The Matrix.





That said, he worked in this role. He was an alien who was sent to destroy an entire species, only to have his eyes opened by the compassion that humans can show. Did he need to act much for that? Probably not.

Technology-ology

<--Image borrowed from the Onion's website.

Back again to round out a few more thoughts on technology. I think I've done Twitter justice, but there are a few more thoughts I want to begin with there.

In regards to Ashton Kutcher (who won in a race with CNN on Twitter to see who would get to 1 million followers first) and his declarations that we are revolutionizing media - in addition to my own comments in my last post that Twitter and other social networks are becoming our sources of news, I want to comment and amend these thoughts.

In my own world view, there will always be journalism. We will always need a network of news agencies to get interviews, crack stories, report, investigate, film, photograph, and write about. Now, I think the purpose of the news agencies and manner with which they communicate with the mass population IS changing. These agencies will no longer be responsible for breaking the news - I think the rush to get the "true story" FIRST is long past. Twitter and Facebook and the internet in general continues to make this side of journalism obsolete. However, this can only extend so far. Journalists are the one who can get inside the true story - to score key interviews, photograph events, investigate deeper with a multitude of resources. Just because microwavable frozen dinners made it quick and easy to eat at home, that doesn't mean that chefs and restaurants went out of business. These are two sides of the same coin.

Okay, so, that said, I wanted to move on to a couple other social networks/technologies and just discuss them a bit more...

My latest toy has been a fun and slightly silly site called DailyBooth. (The picture on the left side of my blog page will take you to my DailyBooth account). Basically, Dailybooth is like twitter except instead of using 140 characters, you use photos. The idea is that you take photos of yourself with your webcam (or upload them from elsewhere) and thus show people little bits and pieces of your life. Part of what I find fun about this site is that it makes you more accustomed to cameras. Let me explain... while I've never been the kind of person who feels extremely awkward in front of cameras (or who can't smile in front of them - *cough*Dad*cough*), I still freeze up a bit when someone whips out a camera and say "Say cheese!" For the most part, at family gatherings and such, I'm usually the one holding the camera, so I have managed to avoid this in the past. But, what with a family wedding and, erm, COLLEGE coming up next year, I want to get over thus. Voila - DailyBooth.

As you can tell, I've linked my account to my blog for one (it lightens up the page a bit) - but if you click on the photo on the left, you'll see all the photos I've taken, their captions (which are really important to understanding random images), how to join DailyBooth if you're interested, where to comment on my photos (which you can do with text or a photo of your own). You only really need a webcam, but if you put in the patience, I think you could upload photos from a regular camera as well.

Next up, I want to talk about a site that you probably haven't heard about, but that I really think is very cool. It's called Sazze (and don't ask me how to pronounce it, cause I have no idea). Sazze, found here, is a website of Consumer reviews. Everyday people like you and me can sit down and do one of two things - review something you've bought and know something about; or read reviews of something you're considering buying. Now, the coolest part about it, in my opinion, is that it's not limited to just media, like Amazon, or to any other kind of product - it's a mix of EVERYTHING... technology, media, food, household items, clothes, makeup. You name it, you can either find a review or review it yourself. The site also has a community feature - with a chat and polls and such and this can be fun as well, but as for it's main use, I think it's very revolutionary, useful, and all around very cool. If you have a iPhone or smartphone of any type, Sazze also has a mobile version so you can look up reviews while you're in a store!

I have to, of course, mention Leaky in the course of all of this. But, I could never do it justice in such a short space, so I'll have to save it for another time and post. Let me just say that the Leaky Cauldron and the Leaky Lounge are some of the coolest places online.

Now, I don't know what planet you'd have to be living on, but perhaps you haven't heard of one of the coolest sites around right now, Hulu. Hulu, started by NBC and Fox, is a TV watching site. It streams videos with limited commercials, in high quality, and with an extremely user-friendly interface... and the best part is that it combines all your favorite channels in one (Well, except CBS and ABC, though that might change soon). You can go from watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) to 30 Rock (NBC) to 24 (FOX)... all within a few clicks. Plus, with the recent rumors of an iPhone/iTouch version of Hulu, this site is one to watch, and one to use regularly.

Hmm, what next? Let me tackle YouTube. I know, I know - everyone knows about that viral website, but aside from being able to watch babies chortle and squirrels acting weird, there's a lot more going on there than you might know. Starting (I think) with the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green), YouTube grew into a community. Now, the number of people vlogging, discussing life, creating collab channels, and supporting each other is phenomenal! One of my favorite YouTube people right now is a guy by the name of Alex Day, aka Nerimon. Alex is participating in VEDA (Vlog Every Day April) and so has been putting up videos quite frequently. He has a light touch at conversation, is quite funny, and is also a brilliant songwriter and musician. (See here for an example). Imagine my surprise when I find out Alex is coming to LeakyCon? Turns out this community - made up of groups like the fiveawesomeguys, fiveawesomegirls, and such, not only overlaps with the vlogbrothers, but also with the HP fandom! Small technological world!

Now, the YouTube community has been a-buzz with what they're calling the "hulufication of YouTube." Basically, YouTube has a very difficult time supporting itself. It takes a lot of infrastructure to allow 25 million people to watch Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent (amazing, by the way), and, as John Green has been showing us, it's pretty difficult to sell Lucky Charms on YouTube (see here if you want to know what the heck I'm talking about). Well, basically, YouTube reorganized so that user-based content is only a fraction of the site. Honestly, in my humble, limited-user opinion... this isn't that big a deal. All these people who are worried about the "little guy" who made YouTube what it is being ignored? They can spare the worry. I, for one, will continue watching their videos.

Okay, this is getting long, but I have three more things to talk about. The first, and last obvious one, is Facebook. Now, Facebook is insanely popular, and equal parts awesome and annoying. It's become the source of a lot of disgruntlement (is that a word?) on the part of its users due to a recent redesign, which people are saying has made it extremely "stalker friendly." I, for one, still don't like it - I wish they'd bring the live feed back and get rid of all the Quizzes and such in the main feed, but I've kind of resigned myself to them not changing it. People are still using it, and will keep on doing so until something better and more popular comes along.

Second to last is the phenomenon of captioning photos, as seen on ICanHasCheezburger, Failblog, and others. These sites are HILARIOUS. Some of my favorites. I have RSS feed subscriptions to a lot of them - including also PunditKitchen, TotallyLooksLike, and Celebrity Captions. Basically, the main premise of these sites is to put funny captions on funny pictures. Things like this or this. I really recommend checking these sites regularly, because they keep me constantly laughing and never fail to lighten up my day.

Okay, last, this is not really a site, but a collection of sites. From someone's tweet recently (don't recall whose it was), I found this list... it's a list of the 99 Things You Should Have Already Seen On The Internet. Basically, it's a collection of really funny videos and links that have been highly viral. Some are weird, like the Numa Numa video, or the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, but for whatever reason, they're all really popular. I haven't seen or known about everything on the list, but I've been going through it bit by bit. I recently came across one of the coolest things ever...

It's called George Lucas in Love and it is a professionally made short film that combines Star Wars and Shakespeare in Love. It's brilliant and just plain hilarious - I've seen it almost five times now and can't stop laughing at it. So, if you take one thing away from this crazy long encyclopedia of my favorite internet sites, it should be this video. I've embedded it below for easy viewing - so watch, and enjoy!




Well, that's it from me, for now. Last night my family watched The Day The Earth Stood Still (the recent remake) and I think I'll review it - probably tomorrow.

Cheers! <3

You say you want a revolution...

Well, you know we all wanna change the world. You tell me that it's evolution!

I'm here tonight with a blog that is neither up close and personal nor entertainment oriented... It's merely a few musings I've been meaning to put down on paper (so to speak). In truth, after a detour from homework which led to a bit of time on BlogTV with author Maureen Johnson (founder of the epic Blog Every Day April - see my earlier post), I was simply inspired to keep blogging!

Now, if my efforts to be a frequent blogger or the sidebar littered with social networks is any indication, I'm highly interested in technological (aka online) trends. I've participated in an online forum - The Leaky Lounge - for almost 2 years now, and I'm now on staff one of the sections of the site, in addition to being a moderator. I'm regularly on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, BlogTV and Ustream, here (Blogger), and most recently, also a fun little site called DailyBooth - in addition to my efforts with a start up company and Beta website called Sazze.com (it's a really cool site - you should check it out! ) I love finding out and keeping track of about trends like This Is Not Tom (is it really all John Green?!), all the crazy Nings, BEDA, FML.com, failblog... etc. It's such a cool part of our generation and our society.But let me backtrack. I don't have forever to rant about this tonight - this might just be part one - but I want to start with TWITTER.

Picture this: average family dinner, homemade meal (delicious, by the way, Mom), chatter about "how was your day" and "did you hear what Obama did," etc - stereotypical, if you will. Now add in a full out description of Twitter, tweets, followers, time lines, hashtag searches... the full works. This was my family's dinner tonight.

In case you don't know what twitter is, well, you're silly. I'm not about to explain - you should just go find out. Or, better yet, go set up an account and get addicted with the rest of us. Twitter is social networking at the max. It's random strangers following each other (or better yet, celebrities) in their attempts to make 140 characters of text worthwhile and interesting (or mundane, inane, frustrating... choose an adjective).

So, you might have caught a key word in that last paragraph... celebrity. In my opinion, this is one of the absolute coolest parts of Twitter. Sure, hearing little bits and pieces about your friends' days is fun (and, no, it's not all "X is going to the bathroom" as some people seem to think)... but that's not exactly, well, what's the word? - Revolutionary. No, to me, the really fantastic part of Twitter is being able to hear and see bits of lives from people like Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Stephen Fry and John Cleese, John Mayer and Hugh Jackman, Tom Felton and Matt Lewis, Greg Grunburg and Brea Grant... I could go on and on. Pick a reason - gossip, curiosity, getting back at the paparazzi, feeling special - whichever. Hearing 140 characters at a time, seeing "twitpic" photos, being linked to videos and articles, all from people that are supposedly "out of reach" and famous is just plain cool.

Now, for my next argument in favor of Twitter (not that I'm particularly arguing with anyone - although if you want to disagree with me, feel free to speak up in the comments!), I wanted to first share with you something that Ashton Kutcher recently posted:

My dad always said that "I'll believe it when I hear it from the horse's mouth." Twitter is the horse's mouth. No more "well, the news said..."

Did you know that the story about the plane landing in the Hudson river broke on Twitter? That the first photograph came not from a news network, but from someone on the scene, posting from their iPhone? Did you know that Demi Moore recently saved a woman's life when she posted about a seemingly suicidal comment the woman made and thousands of her followers responded? Did you know that the Amazon-Fail story is powered by Twitter? (If you don't know what I'm talking about with this last one, look it up - it's stupid and ridiculous!)

Twitter is the new CNN and the new nightly news. Sure, newspapers are failing and companies are busy figuring out how to boost online news reading, but what they aren't realizing is that it's not how they do it, it's the simple fact that they're being replaced. We are evolving to the next level of news-getting... of society itself, I'd even venture. We are achieving (and have achieved already) a new type of global community, including an ongoing global dialogue, in which people can talk instantly around the world. Of course, this is a basic part of the Internet as a whole and as such, this is a fact of life that is now generally accepted. But, with the invent of Facebook statuses and then, now, Twitter, this is happening in a live and constant way as it never has before.

So, still doubt me? I could go on... But, it's really best if you try it yourself to see what I'm talking about. You may be left rolling on the floor in laughter at Stephen Colbert's inane comments like "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Just make sure to stab with an upward motion;" or you might be amazed by the upclose photos from the set of Heroes, provided by makeup artist "WendyLynMakeup." Whatever puts a smile on you're face, well, frankly, you're sure to find on Twitter... 140 characters at a time.

Survival, 3.14159-Style

<--It was particularly difficult to choose a photo for this blog entry as there are many beautiful covers and illustrations online. To do them all justice, take a look here and here.

Well, I've been thinking and talking about my intention of reviewing my recent read Life of Pi for a fair amount of time now, so let's have at it.

First, a bit of background on the book itself. Life of Pi was published in 2001 - fairly recently - and became a bestseller in 2004. This was one of those books that a huge number of people heard about and or read. I received it as a Christmas gift in 2005 (I believe) and far from NOT wanting to read it, I simply didn't get around to it. It was the kind of book that was on my "list" but never made it to the absolute top priority. This book is already considered among many other works of "great literature" - it was even featured on an IB test a few years ago. In other words, it really is truly something special.

I picked up Life of Pi shortly after returning to school following Spring Break. My vacation was occupied by Wizard's First Rule, an 800 page epic with wizards, prophecies, and the like. In other words, I was coming off very light and fast reading fare. As I was none-too-pleased about returning to school, I was searching my bookcases for something mellow, maybe even melancholy, and certainly beautiful, to get me through the first week back. Life of Pi is all these things, and more.

Before I go further, let me just say that I highly recommend this book to ANYONE and everyone and that it is best read without knowing anything - not a summary, not a whiff of info off the back cover. So, if anything I've said so far has sounded interesting, I suggest you stop reading this little blog and pick up the book right now. I won't mind, really! If, however, you're okay with hearing more - or better yet, you've already read it, then by all means, continue...

Very basically, Life of Pi tells the story of a young boy, Pi (short for Piscine) whose family owns a zoo in India. As a child, Pi is deeply attracted to religion, in the end finding joy in being a Hindu, a Christian, and a Muslim. Pi's family decides to move to Canada, and so set sail on a boat with some of their animals. But, the boat sinks - with all its crew and Pi's family, leaving the poor boy trapped in a life raft with none other than an Orangutan, Zebra, Hyena, and Bengal Tiger. The tiger - named Richard Parker - is key to the story, as Pi must learn to survive with the monstrous beast on board his floating home. Now, without giving anything away, all I have left to say here is that the ending is stupendous. The final part of the book - volume 3 - throws a curve ball of sorts at the reader, which makes every bit of tedium on the life raft completely worth reading.

Now, I've found reading this book to be a highly personal experience. The emotions, ideas, and roller coaster of events can be read at different symbolic levels depending on your own situation in life. The story will resonate at different amounts depending on what you look for. A friend of mine from school, Greg Watson, has a wonderful essay on his blog about the religious metaphor that appears in the latter part of the book. (Click here if this sounds interesting).

For me, I found the story inspiring. I don't deal with religion to a great degree in my own life (my mom and I were just discussing this topic on this lovely Easter morning), but I found myself admiring and empathizing with the highly religious Pi. And, as an average high school student, survival in the middle of the ocean - alone with nothing but a great carnivorous companion - almost as far from my own place in life as imagining living on the moon. However, I found my heart tugged by the character's base desire to survive - above anything else. Finally, when faced with the knowledge that not only is this a true story, but that's it's difficult (or perhaps impossible) to know what truly happened in this fantastical tale, I was hit again with how subjective reality is. My life experience is completely dependent on me - as yours is on you and the places, people, and ideas that surround you.


See my Sazze.com review here:

Read more on Sazze

It's Good to Be King

I wanted to take a moment to go back to the usual topic I choose to write about... entertainment, in whatever form it tends to enter my life in. Right now, the media form of choice that's populating my life is TV, as I haven't come across any stupendous movies recently, and, though I still mean to talk about Life of Pi, something else is simply on my mind MORE. (Maybe Pi tomorrow?)

The last few nights, I've been digging into the second season of The Tudors, the Showtime masterpiece that tells the tale of grand ol' Henry VIII. Of course, as soon as my dad hits the tarmac to fly out to North Caroline, my mom and I jumped back into this fabulous (and slightly girl-oriented) show. Though it's been quite some time since I saw the first season, it didn't take much to get me hooked again.

Now, I hardly need to explain, I'm guessing, but The Tudors tells the tale of Henry VIII. More specifically, it is currently focusing on his relationship with Anne Boleyn, and the upheaval of the Church of England that resulted from his efforts to annul his first marriage.

(*I'm guessing I don't have to warn about spoilers since this is all historical, but I will be talking about the events of the first two seasons in this post, FYI.*)

In our current season, so far, Henry succeeded in naming himself the head of the Church of England - over the Pope and the church in Rome. He has officially declared his marriage to Catherine of Aragon null and void (though she will not accept this), banished Catherine to a dingy and cold castle, and finally married Anne, making her queen. As the season has progressed, Anne became pregnant, but failed to give birth to a son, instead bringing the future Queen Elizabeth into the world. Things are becoming strained between Henry and Anne and he is beginning to turn to mistresses again. Surely (as history dictates), it is only a matter of time before he turns to a more lasting relationship, in the form of Jane Seymore. On a more political note, Henry has demanded that everyone in England swear an oath that states they accept Anne as his wife and their queen, and that they recognize him as head of the church. Notably, Henry's good friend Sir Thomas Moore refused this oath (the second part, in particular), and was killed for this.

So, that's where we stand. The show has been faulted on and off for historical inaccuraces, but overall, it gets the picture across. This season has some new faces - with Cardinal Wolsey's large role gone, someone(s) had to fill the vaccuum. So far, I'm intrigued by the characters of Oliver Cromwell, Bishop Cranmar, and the poet (and former lover to Anne) Wyatt. Oh, and I am absolutely loving Peter O'Toole's stint as Pope. Now, on a more opinion-y note, I just wnat to start by saying that I absolutely LOVE this period of history, and have for many years. I have always been fascinated by Queen Elizabeth and, indirectly, Henry VIII, though I had never learned quite so much in detail about the political and religious sides of the story. This show does an excellent job balancing the sexy intrigue and court politics with the power plays and religious upheaval of the time.

In the same way I loved Cate Blanchett's Queen Elizabeth films and Helen Mirren's Queen Elizabeth miniseries, I love to see this period come to life. Though, chronologically, 500 years back in history is not that long (compared to, say, cave men), it is a very distant time from our own advanced technological age. It's always been hard to imagine people like King Henry and Anne Boleyn as real because the images we have of them are so odd, and thus, they are hard to imagineas real. Paintings like this (of Anne) or this (of Henry) make it hard to imagine real people, though evolutionarily, 500 years would not have made much of a difference from us and they probably would have looked like someone who got lost at a Renaissance Fair. As I was discussing with my mom last night, the artists and art during this time did not capture what a person really looked like, so I value the ability of The Tudors to bring it all to life.

It's easy to imagine that our world of financial collapse, corrupt CEOs, political charisma is complex and dramatic, but, really, consider England during the 1500's. The king had near absolute power (Parliament was really a puppet group), he married and divorced (or beheaded) SIX women (gasp!), war with France or Spain was a near constant threat, and a man's conscience was one of the strongest powers in the world. Mistresses were accepted, if not expected, and women were most often seen as pawns... political bargaining chips, if you will. Dress and costumes were elaborate in courts - jewels adorned nearly everyone, and dances, customs, and manners were complex beyond imagining. 500 years may not be that far back in our Earth's past, but from my point of view, it's a world away.

Also reviewed at Sazze.com:

Read more on Sazze

Choosing Ralphie

Nothing is official until blogged - isn't that the mantra of the technological age? Well, let's make this nice and official, then...

I have officially chosen to attend CU this fall. It won out most directly over Ithaca College, but in the long run, also over Colorado College. I'm not going to go into the why of the decision, but I'd be happy to explain to any curious individual.

Just to get the details out of the way, I will be in the School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Film Studies (more specifically, hoping to get a BFA in film production, with a narrative concentration) along with a minor in literature. I will be participating in the Honors Program, more specifically, the Kittredge Honors Program (the honors RAP), so I will be living in Arnett Hall. I will also be a Norlin Scholar (which won out over the President's Leadership Class). Oh, and finally, I hope to study abroad at some point.

So, there's my upcoming four years in a nutshell, but in a greater sense of the term, this all boils down to one thing for me right now: excitement. I am absolutely bounce-in-my-chair excited for college. Sure, it has something to do with finishing off the 27-odd days left of school, and maybe it also relates to the 43 mere days until Boston and all the LeakyCon madness, but in general, I am really looking forward to college.

I can't wait for the freedom. I'm feel ecstatic at the thought of not being confined to a concrete building with no windows from 7:30 AM until 2 (or 3) PM every day. I know I've been even more trapped at Fairview - particularly this year - due to my lack of un coche, but more than that, I'm sick of the regularity, the monotony, the similarity of every day. I can't wait to have a schedule I can choose, to have classes at sane hours of the day (which does not include getting up anytime before the sun is high in the sky), and to have variety - some classes M-W-F, some T-Th; some discussion based, other lecture style... all that.

I can't wait for the change! While at first I was terrified of leaving home and being on my own, the comfort of staying in the Boulder has allowed me to feel intrigued at the thought of dorm life, of managing a budget, of managing my own meals and schedule. I'm looking forward to the change of pace, to the opportunity to grow, to feel like a grown-up, to be living my own life (in that cheesy Teen chick flick film kind of way).

This is definitely nerdy (hooh-hah... Nerdfighters!) but I can't wait for the classes. I'm so excited to leave the days of "World History in two semesters" behind, and enter the realm of "Society and Culture Under the Roman Empire" and "Good and Evil in Film." On this note, of course, I can't wait to explore my major, the subjects that really interest me, and to be able to choose my classes in more detail. CU's class catalog reads like a phone book, so I'm sure I'll have more classes than I can ever partake in to chose from.

So, this is reading like one of those teenage-girl-discovers-self-and-prepares-to-enter-real-world novels... but as I've been shopping (and re-shopping) for CU sweatshirts, selecting a date for orientation, taking placement tests... and seeing this all take shape, I finally understand why everyone would always say they were looking forward to college. This may be the late realization of a house-bound only child, but this is starting to look like more than a scary experience to deal with; and instead, a bountiful adventure ready to be undertaken.

I'm sure when I'm knee-deep in textbooks for my first round of finals, hearing these words parroted back will make me feel stupid, but as I head toward a MAJOR new chapter of my life, I have to take a moment to say... wow. I've come so far from the days of dreading Outdoor Ed and lounging on couches at Horizons. I've moved past the shock of 2,000 people in one high school. I'm leapt beyond the fear of leaving home, of being on my own, of not knowing what the future would bring when I stood on the stage at graduation (or at least, did so metaphorically).

So, maybe you've enjoyed this rambling and sporatic bolding, and maybe this wasn't a coherent or purposeful blog or review (remind me to tell you about Life of Pi!), but consider this a journal entry, a time stamp, a piece of a time capsule: I'm roughly 40 days and one SUPER summer away from something big...

And I couldn't be happier or more excited about it.

Now, bring me that horizon. :)
... Oh, and some scholarship money would be nice too.

BLOG EVERY DAY APRIL, sort of.

(It's true! And I really can't resist starting blogs with a photo.)

Well, I sure haven't been blogging a lot. With only 3 posts in March, 1 tenth of the total month's days, I certainly can no longer say that I "regularly" keep a blog, as I often do, but I mean to change that. You see, I find it particularly easy to rant and ramble on here after I have watched a film of sorts - something that leaves me with a lot of thoughts and opinions. But when it comes to the chance to opine on a variety of other subjects (REAL LIFE, for example), I often don't make time to come in and record my very own two cents for view on the world wide web.

Recently, nerdfighter-associated author Maureen Johnson started a project that's floating through the blogosphere like a wildfire: Blog Every Day April (BEDA). She came to the realization (much like myself) that she had not, in fact, been a regular blogger, and she had the desire to change this. Many people are following suite, with the hopes of recording their own two cents for view on the world wide web every day of April's 30. Some brave and visual individuals are doing their own take on the project, Vlog Every Day April (VEDA).

Now, this is the kind of project that makes my fingers itch to start typing, my brain racing with sentences, and my to do list filled with homework to feel mundane and ANNOYING. But, alas, with a to do list that grows longer constantly (despite the fact that I've checked a half a dozen things off today alone) and a schedule that's filling up more and more... not to mention a handful of SCARY AP and IB tests that are looming over me, alas... I am fully aware that I cannot participate in this fun. Once again I find myself in the position of DYING to participate in something (NaNoWriMo, Hooter, Project for Awesome) but not being able to due to its timing. (Hell, if NaNoWriMo were in June, I'd have 50,000 words in a heartbeat... but in Novemember, I have finals to study for, a holiday to relax over, and I invariably get a tiny chicken in my brain at some point).

It's not that I strictly COULDN'T blog every day in April. I could. I could promise to try, and do pretty well, but I know better for myself. It's not smart to create another thing I feel like I HAVE to do at this point in time. So, I'm starting my own variation... BALA. Aka, Blog A Lot April. I want to Blog A Lot in April. I'm not going to even try to make a promise to do it every day, but since I really appreciate the general ENERGY, EFFORT, and IDEA behind BEDA, I want to participate in some way. Blogging is like keeping a public journal. It's a nice way to relax, unwind, take a break from studying, and get rid of Brain Crack (Ideas that stick in your brain but that you never act on). So, this is my announcement - not promise, commitment, or goal, but announcement - that I HOPE to blog a lot this month.

We'll see how it goes.