Catching up: Tour of my new home!

This blog is the first of many quick, random, and possibly not-so-timely entries in an effort to catch up on my posting and continue blogging with some regularity. I've been meaning to put up this particular post for over a week, so without any further ado, here it goes. I moved into a dormitory on Thursday August 20th, and though it is less than 20 minutes away from my home, it's where I'll be staying for my freshman year of college.

So, let the tour begin. Welcome to Boulder! This is my door (from the inside) - a weird shot, I know. Turning around 180 degrees from here, you will see our weird little hallway which, as it turns, houses our closets. (Mine is the one on the right). On the wall directly behind these closets, my roommate and I found an excellent poster of one of our favorite men, Johnny Depp.The poster is a huge - 3 foot by 5 foot, and takes up the entire last wall of our hallway. The left side of the room is my side, so here is my bulletin board (and posters) and bed. Every dorm room needs storage...And I even have a nifty little windowsill. In this shot, you can also see the lights that hang outside my window and shine straight at my face at night. Annoying. Here's my desk, including...My meager collection of books and DVDs (I left most things at home), as well as....My gadgets: computer, iPod, and iPhone. Honestly not sure how I'd live without any of these things at this point. (Oh, and woot for Snow Leopard, which my Macbook is now running).
Next, there's our food area (the fridge is mostly full of smoothies right now) - and, yes, that's another picture of Johnny Depp. We can't get enough. Our TV has its own little spot. We figured out a nifty way to hook up our laptops to the larger screen and better speakers, so we can stream stuff from Hulu and watch DVDs with ease. Finally, I was lucky enough to get a suite room with a private bath, so as you can see in the above picture (on the right), here is the door into the bathroom... (The crazy red and black towels are mine - kind of love them).
Oh, and that sliver of wood on the left side of this picture shows the door to the OTHER room, which currently has only one person, but will probably have another as of tomorrow.

So, that's it from me for now. I've got lots more to catch up on, but I'm working on taking this one entry at a time. See you soon!

Cheers, :)

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.

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.

Time goes by...

I've been singing the beginning of Madonna's song "Hang Up" all night long... "Time goes by, so slowly... time goes by, so slowly." I guess it's just been on my mind today, what with having my schedule thrown off at school because of CSAP testing at school these two weeks, having a relaxing weekend (aka lots of time on my hands), and of course, having that mysterious and unfathomable force, Daylight Savings Time, throwing everything off today.

Time's one of those things... one of those topics that you could easily spend hours contemplating, thinking through, and attempting to figure out, (kinda like what happens after death or the Stock Market). It's a silly concept really - little numbers that add up to other numbers, that add up to our days, our weeks, our years... that add up to all our moments spent on Earth - yet it's amazing how much it governs our lives. I've always been fascinated by how arbitrary it is... how not-rigid it is, when we make it seem all-powerful.

Have you ever had a moment where it feels like time must be wrong, must be some how befuddled? For example, I typically get home from school at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and feel like my day is over, like it's already the evening. But on weekend, that's usually the time my day is truly beginning, when I've gotten through sleeping in, eating breakfast, reading, or messing around online, puttering around the house... and finally sit down to do homework or scholarships or something productive. How can those be the same times?

The same feeling - the thought that one moment that is mathematically the same as the day before could feel so radically different - occurs everwhere. How is it that a morning of block classes feels like ages, while I can sit through a 2 or 3 hour movie and still not want it to end?

And how is it that an idea that turned into a governmental decision, which in turn was passed into law, causes us to jump up one morning (or evening,if you think ahead), and suddenly change this concept of time, the time-space contiuum, the all-powerful force that we have created to govern our days? How is it that 8pm can suddenly be 9pm, that we can just lose an hour - lose a bit of time - then and there?

Well, this is turning into quite the philosophical waxing, but I find time really odd... I mean, it's like looking at English grammar or the metric system. (Why the heck through ever be prounounced throo? Why are there 5280 feet in a mile?) Why do some months have 30 days, some have 31, and that silly random February is stuck there with 28 - wait, wait - sometimes, 29? It's just weird.

And so I know many of you woke up today bemoaning the lost hour - I was one of you last night, watching my reasonable 11:15pm bedtime turn into past-midnight with the click of a clock button. But this evening when the sun was in full swing at 6:45pm, when I wasn't eating dinner with the moon beaming through the window, well, that was kind of cool.

Although, come to think of it, I'm not looking forward to getting up in the dark tomorrow. It was just getting light at 6:30 in the morning. Ah, well... That's time for you, always changing its mind.


P.S. Though I usually hate the spring side of DST, just for the record, it was pretty darn easy to just flip the hour up one on the clocks, rather than having to go all the way through the cycle to go back an hour. =P

73 ... And Definitely Counting

Well, for once, I don't have a specific movie to review, TV show to rant about, or actor to applaud. That's not to say I couldn't spend a blog discussing Grey's Anatomy, which I haven't talked about, or Crusoe and Legend of the Seeker, which I've recently really begun enjoying, or the lack of Life and Heroes, or the amount of Private Practice I have to watch, or even more time about 24 or Lost... that's just not what I'm feeling up to today. Although, now that I see that list, I should probably get on that. Maybe in the coming week.

And, while I could talk about going to the gym and Fitting It In, the Oscars, the snow (and the approximate 0.0% chance of us getting a Snow Day even if there's a freaking blizzard), the books I want to read, the books I'm reading, or any of a myriad of things, instead, I'm going to talk about 73 particular, intriguing, and increasingly painful days.

That's the magic number. I went through the school calendar and, as of right now, I have only 73 days left of high school. Forever. And Ever. So, yeah, for once, I'm going to blog about real life.

For a while, that elusive May 23rd Graduation Date was scary. It was like I was cruising along comfortably in a convertible, on a sunny day, with the top down, accustomed to high school (okay, I guess it wouldn't be a convertible on a sunny day... more like driving on a rainy day). It wasn't the best, but it was familiar, and then all of a sudden, I was hurtling toward the brick wall of real life, of college, of a possibly $40,000 education, of living on my own... and that was scary.

But now? Not so much. Now that I've been accepted to my schools and am able to see how this is going to happen, it's more like I can see that the road is going to change direction, but I know that it's going to change direction, and I'm okay with the change.

Still, those 73 days are staring me in the face. Sure, they're broken up by Mondays of no school, of CSAP days (haha!), and spring break, and April break... but that still seems like a long time. Particularly if I have this much work. Don't teachers know that math worksheets are usually annoying, but when they're grouped with the 73 days, standing in your way of freedom, they're excruciating? Don't teachers know that wasting your time in class is just plain cruel?

Now, everyone's going to say, oh, don't worry, it's just senioritis. And I know it is... heck, I knew it was coming, but that doesn't change the fact that it's here, it's real, and it's making school kind of annoying.

However, those 73 days, I can deal with them. They're not only counting down to a summer of freedom - of absolutely no summer reading (hopefully), and of hours of lounging, reading, movies... Ahh, bliss. Nope, they're also counting down to LeakyCon, something that is shaping up to possibly be one of the best experiences of my life to date.

So, if 73 days is the price I have to pay for that, well, maybe I can manage. Okay, now, back to homework!

No way to avoid being cliché: YES WE DID!

This guy is our President?!?!?!

My friends, welcome to a new America! I can't saw how totally thrilled, how tear-evokingly happy, how gleeful and proud I am to be able to say President Obama.

It has been said, re-said, and re-re-said, but this was definitely an Election for the history books. Personally, it became real for me when Obama spoke in Denver. That was probably the first time he brought tears to my eyes with one of his speeches. I will also carry with me the memory of Election Night; the feeling of walking on water as everything went right, all the pieces fell into places, and this lovely well-spoken man glided toward the presidency.

So now having Obama around is not something we have to fight for, hope for, or work towards - it's real. He's ours, he and his lovely family are sitting in the White House, and he is changing our country. I still can't shake the feeling that it's real - it's like that moment when you first wake up, hoping your last dream won't fade away... except that it's not a dream, it's reality, and he's not going anywhere.

Now, I'm not going to argue politics. I'm not going to say to the grumbling conservatives that they had their damn 8-years in power, and look where they left us. I'm not going to hope the door kicks Bush and Cheney on their way out. I'm not going to do any of that. I'm going to look to the future.

In history class this week, my teacher, in his classic attempt to be thought-provoking asked us if we're really headed toward something new, toward a change or a new era. Some nay-sayers in the class said no, some who wouldn't have voted for Obama grumbled, and some were too sleepy to even acknowledge the question, but I'm not going to have my bubble burst.

Because whatever Obama has to fight... whatever Washington D.C. corruption and lobbying that comes his way and stays the same... whatever he's up against, I truly feel like this time, this round of the fight against it all, is going to be different. Why? Because we're all with him. We've joined the fight.

Some say that Obama is only going to disappoint because he can't exact all the change he's promised. But see, that's just it! Sure, maybe he can't, but WE can. If there's anything this election proved, it's that when people come together - when those darn community organizers (*sticks tongue out at Sarah Palin*) come together and do their job, well, that's pretty darn powerful.

Now, I don't know what the future holds; what Obama will or won't do, or where we'll be in four years when we go through all this election-madness again, but I know where we are now. We're one step closer to closing Gitmo. We're moving toward a policy of openness. We. We are doing it. We are in power again. And Obama is leading us forward.

And I also know what I saw on the day of the Inauguration. I know that my entire school ceased to function, as what seemed like every student in the school crowded around the TV in the Senior Lounge, and occupied literally every surface in the Student Center where they were also broadcasting the day's events. I know that people laughed and cried. I know that millions stood in the cold simply to be there. I know what Obama said, I know that we seem to have Camelot 2.0 in the absolutely gorgeous Michelle and the phenomenally cute Melia and Sashaaaa (*cue the jazz hands*), and god damn, I know that our President can dance.

But most of all, I know that we have hope again. We the people of the United States of America have been empowered, and we have been given a unique opportunity. Yes, this was an Election for the history books, but I think this is also a moment, a president, and above all, a united generation of individuals headed straight for those history books.

Now, I'm not religious, but for right now, I mean it when I proudly say, God Bless our President, and God Bless America.