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.

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!

LOST?

Yeah, me too. I love this show with a fervent passion - it's "I Do," in sickness and in health, (its driving me crazy, hence the sickness), for richer and for poorer (heck, there's an economic downturn), and all that. But, man, this television show is insane!

(Disclaimer: if you're a fan and haven't seen any or all of the episodes up to the two from the season 5 premiere, so help you, god, if you keep reading. Arr, matey, spoilers be ahead!)

Okay, I have been a fan of Lost since approximately the third season - my mother and I started catching up via the DVDs in a mad rush of fervent watching and we were hooked. Now, if you know anything about the show, you'll know that it's only gotten nerdier, more confusing, and more complex over the past few seasons. Now, this isn't bad or good, it simply is how the show is.

Being someone who's fully committed to seeing this thing through all six seasons, I've long been interested in noting its progress. Lost started out as a very real and fairly classic television drama - it was about people and their interactions. It was still quite a ground-breaking show, with the flashbacks and the six degrees of separation elements, but it was, at the core, about people. It simply was telling people's stories, while using the setting - a plane crash on an island - as a backdrop.

But it started getting weirder. Trees would move in the forest, polar bears would appear, a french woman showed up, and we learned about the numbers, the button, Dharma... then Ben showed up and all hell broke loose. We got into time-traveling, a fake Oceanic 815, a creepy Charles Widmore and.... AHH! So much. So many webs and layers, plots and sub-plots, hints and references! Who could possible keep track of it all?

I'll tell you who. Doc Jenson. Aka Jeff Jenson. Aka the main Lost columnist for the magazine Entertainment Weekly. Since last year, I've been reading his blogs - he writes at least one per episode - and things have finally started coming together. Through him, I've begun to see the subtle shaping of the series. I've always wondered, though, how much is really in there, and how much is us the viewers making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Much the same as my study of the Harry Potter books, I really wonder... did Jo really put in all the stages of Alchemy, purposefully? Or are we just finding that? Did the Lost creators really link everything together, place stuff in season 2 that they're using now, and name everybody as part of a grander scheme? The more I think about it, the more I realize that they must've!

In this last week, I've finally realized that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (the writers/creators minus JJ Abrams) maybe sort of know where they're going. They clearly seem to know that they're down to the hard-core fans... that anyone who's still watching is going to keep watching, till death do we part. All this time travel madness that permeated the last two episodes... that's the peak of Lost's nerdiness. This is where we're heading, how it connects, and hopefully, what will finally make it all come together.

Now, this has been rambly and scattered, a product of writing a blog over the course of several days, and of attempting to talk about the elusive shadow that is this television show, but I can only end by saying that I sure am glad that Lost is back, and that it's headed toward it's last two seasons. Maybe the pieces - much like our work with the Lost puzzles - will finally come together. Maybe, someday, we will no longer be Lost.

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.

The Clock is STILL Ticking... (24, Part Two)

Okay, I'm back, and here to dig into Season 7 of 24, which premiered last Sunday and Monday. I've got my cup of coffee and 24 music playing in the background, so I'm ready to think this through. I tried summarizing the episodes at one point, but it was so long that I won't bother. If you don't know what happened, go watch. That's all I have to say. I'm going to focus on opinions about the new series, assuming you the reader know what I'm talking about. Now, I'm going to break this down so as to not be quite as scattered and summation-al as I was in the last blog. Now, let's see...

(Like yesterday, all this is up Spoiler-Alley, so watch out if you don't want to know!)

New Location, New Agency:
As you can (maybe) tell from the official Season 7 poster above, 24 is no longer in Los Angeles. It's been relocated to none other than our nation's grand capital - D.C. itself. Personally, I really like the change. As the EW blogger pointed out last week, there's only so many bad things that can happen in L.A., it's time to move on. Plus, it puts Jack closer to the President (I wonder if that will come into play...?), allows for new plot options, and makes for some really cool scenery, like when the First Gentlemen met up with Samantha and they sat right in front of the water, with the Jefferson Memorial behind them ... really pretty.

Also, with the new local, comes the news that CTU was disbanded and that the main agency we'll be dealing with in this season will be the FBI. Hmm... This one disappointed me at first. I mean, 24 without CTU is like Lost without The Island. But, it makes sense. CTU was going overboard, and they could only push it so far. I like that the FBI is more restricted - and I'm particularly enjoying all the audience intended jokes like "We're the FBI, we obey the law!" Sure, *rolls eyes* we'll see how long that lasts.

In fact, this leads into one of the questions that 24 raises... when you boil it down, this season is really asking Do the Ends Justify the Means? Sure, Jack Bauer went overboard in every season so far, torturing people and getting that vein in his forehead to stick out, but we were there - we all saw that it was necessary. Now, Jack's being brought to trial for it - he doesn't regret it, and neither do I (don't know about you). Meanwhile, there's the FBI saying they're not going to sink to their limits, but as soon as the pressure's on, Agent Walker is already doing just that. Innntteerrressting!

Jack is Back:
Hell yeah, he is. Jack is so cool, can I just say that? Last season he felt a bit "do I really have to do this?" but now he feels like he's back in it with more energy. Maybe it was the time of for Kiefer Sutherland, or maybe traveling around the world for a year did the guy some good... but I feel like he's more energized, readier to do what it takes to save the world, yet again.

Damn, this hacker is good:
They couldn't have possibly considered getting rid of Chloe, but I was still so happy to actually see her back. The face-off with Janis the FBI equivalent of Chloe was totally hilarious, and I loved when Chloe mentioned Jack's Senate hearing and ended with "By the way, you looked really good." I truly love this character, she's good writing and acting in action. I can't wait to see where they take her in the next 20 episodes.

Undead, or Not Dead TONY!!! Squee!:
Okay, I admit, when the info first leaked that Tony was back - and bad - I couldn't wrap my head around it. First of all, we saw him die in Jack's arms! As much as this show enjoys ignoring reality, it isn't LOST!? People who die stay dead. But the way that they explained it actually worked. Plus, I recently read a bit of trivia that said that they didn't use a silent clock for the commercial break after Tony died - which they always do for characters who die, so they've probably been planning this all along.

Still, Tony, evil? Nuh uh. I was so glad (literally yelling at the TV) when they revealed that he was undercover. I do really like the writing here - Tony did go back. That is, I guess, believable. He lost everything at the expense of the government and was angry. But he wouldn't go against everything he believes in - hurting innocent Americans in a terrorist plot. Too much of a change. So, I was glad to see he was good, and am really enjoying the Jack/Tony team-up. Can't wait to see where it leads.

Of Presidents and Plots:
I like the new President, for the most part. On a side note for a moment, I wonder what sort of real life political ramifications this will have. After all, David Palmer (and later Wayne) were the first mega-example of a black president, and now 7 years later, look who we've elected? I'm not the first to say it, but I really wonder if this will lead us to a female Commander-in-Chief in the next 4 or 8 years. (Just, dear god, don't let it be Sarah Palin!)

Back to the show. We haven't seen too much of Taylor in action yet, but she seems to be very noble and upstanding - in a way we haven't seen since David Palmer himself. I'm really starting to suspect that the big bad rat in the whitehouse is either Ethan, the chief of staff, or the slightly awkward Secretary of State. They're the only characters that have been really set up so far.

I think the issue of African lives vs. American lives is very interesting. It has a lot to do with the topic of National Interest, which interestingly enough (har har) we were just talking about in my history class. As horrible as it is, I believe that American lives should come first. But I bet they'll find a way to work around it.

Basically, I think the plot is really charged in this season. The only major issue I've had so far is that they've been talking down to the audience too much. You know, like taking extra time to explain what's going on, or always saying "Damnit, this is our only lead. Without it we have nothing!" That kind of thing. We get it, 24 writers. We're smart people! Don't waste our time.

But yes, the plot is good so far. I like the idea of not being able to trust anyone and I think, overall, they're doing a good job balancing plots and subplots. There's a new episode tomorrow night, and I can't wait!

That's it for me for now! We're off to see Defiance this afternoon, so my next blog will probably be on that!