Newsies

I LOVE this musical!! x D It was made in 1992 and it stars Christian Bale and David Moscow. I recently got to watch it in a class of mine, and my friends and I were overjoyed (but for most of them I think they were just excited about seeing a movie with Christian Bale in it, which is perfectly understandable) and singing along to all the songs. I'm very sad to report that Blockbuster doesn't carry this movie : ( even though they totally should. It's amazing.

Newsies is set in New York during the year 1899 (which is kind of cool, because the book Rumors that I'm reading is set in 1899 too) and is centered around the young boys who sell newspapers that call themselves newsies. When the newspaper publishers raise the distribution price of their newspapers, the poor newsies go on a strike (which is led by Jack Kelly, Christian Bale's character). Jack and his friend David's journey together as newsies is fascinating and very touching, and the songs sung during this musical are great. I'll be singing at least one Newsies song at my next chorus concert, which is awesome but also means that I'll have the songs stuck in my head for months *Shrug* Oh well, it's a price that I'm willing to pay.

Here is one of the songs sung in Newsies, the guy who starts the song is David (played by David Moscow) and the guy who says, "Anybody hear that? So what are we gonna do about it?!" is Jack (played by Christian Bale). It's called Seize the Day:



That's my favorite Newsies song, but there are plenty of other good ones!

~If you like musicals, watch Newsies!

Gone, Job Interview, Debate, and Birthdays

I finished Gone, by Michael Grant. I'll do a quick book review because I have a LOT of journal things to discuss.

Wow, I was really surprised by this book, and not in a good way. The entire story is centered around this town in which everyone the age 15 and over disappears, and there's this barrier around the town that can't be broken or escaped from or anything. The basic question that keeps the reader hooked is, "What's causing these strange things to happen?" I was rooting for the aliens. *Sigh* I won't reveal the ending because. . . . . . . there's nothing to reveal. You're still kept in the dark.

Not only that, but the author just wouldn't stop adding multiple, almost impossibly dangerous conflicts to the story. Some authors, such as Stephenie Meyer, can wrap up every aspect of the plot with a nice little bow that keeps almost every reader satisfied. This dude gives you NOTHING!! I was beyond disappointed, especially since his writing style is so interesting and unique.

Long story short, it was a book with a fantastic beginning and middle but a horrible ending. The ending is what ruined it for me. Other than that, it was a great book that I would have recommended to anybody. However, due to the ending I will not be advising anyone in their right mind to read Gone.

Alrighty- moving on. I had a job interview recently, and I'm REALLY hoping that I get the job. It's not anything huge, but if I don't get that job I'll be pretty upset. It's the only job that I actually want, I'd have a lot of fun working there.

I think that the manager (he was the one who interviewed me) liked me, but I can't be sure. . . . . he wasn't very chatty *Shrug* I'll know if I got the job by April 15th. I'll definitely be crossing my fingers a lot that day : )

The third topic, debate, is about this victory I got in Speech class (no, not speech like learning how to talk correctly. Like talking in front of lots of people without sweating bullets and feeling dizzy) on Friday. I had this big debate that I worked pretty hard on, and I won it by ONE vote!! It was so close; it made victory all the sweeter, haha.

The topic was whether Oreo cookies are better than Chips Ahoy. I was on the negative side, arguing for Chips Ahoy. I had two other teammates, but only one of them was any help at all. She was great at thinking on her feet, and I delivered the well researched Constructive speech. Together, we convinced my class that Chips Ahoy are better than Oreos : D It was a major confidence booster to win that one. We took a poll of our class a few days before the debate, and the majority preferred Oreos. The fact that my good teammate and I could convince them otherwise is very empowering.

Now, my last topic, BIRTHDAYS!! There are many birthdays in March (including my own) and I've been having a great weekend due to them. I had my own party with seven of my good friends, which was awesome (luv you guys) and I went out to dinner with NHC and his family because it's his Dad's B-Day. All in all, it's made for a crazy fun weekend ^_^ It was a busy week too as far as school goes, I'll be so happy when Spring Break comes around and I can just relax...

*Whew* I thought this post would be huge, and look at that! Not bad at all, if I do say so myself. So, what is SunnyD reading now? I'm in the process of reading Rumors, the second book in the Luxe series. So far it's not as attention-grabbing as The Luxe was, but I'm only in the beginning. Things can get interesting quickly.

~My next post will be about Newsies! If you don't know what in the world Newsies is, that's okay, hardly anyone does...

Becoming Jane

Ah, Jane Austen. I enjoyed watching this, but it was heartbreakingly sad. I'll definitely have to read her books someday, they'll probably be ten times more amazing than the movies. I'm not saying the movies are bad, but typically movies are always a bit worse than the books that they're based off of. *Shrug* At least, that's my opinion.

I admire that Jane Austen didn't accept Mr. Wisley's proposal when she had the chance, that she wanted to marry for love. Unfortunately for her, love came to her in a most desirable and yet impossible form. To me, and I'm not usually the type of person who thinks this way, fate seemed to frown upon Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy. Not in a forbidden love kind of way, and not that well-maybe-they're-just-not-meant-to-be kind of way either. I saw it in a very simple view: that they're love was true, but fate did not deal them the right hand for them to pursue it.

As a movie, I enjoyed it very much. My favorite scene was the one in which Jane was walking in the woods with that deaf friend of hers, communicating to him in sign language. Tom, who appears to be numb from suppressing his emotions for her for too long, walks up to Jane and begins to apologize for something that I won't reveal : P Jane responds very curtly, almost coldly. However, the deaf man asks her in sign language if she is in love with Tom. Jane shakes her head vigorously and goes into a long explanation as to why she doesn't love Tom in sign language. Then Tom, appearing to snap out of his numb reverie-ish state, runs forword growling, "I can't take this!" and proceeds to kiss Jane fiercely. Jane kisses him back intensely, as if she too had been surpressing her emotions for too long. Then, once their lips part, she starts beating his chest with all of the force she can muster. The deaf man watches all of this with increasing confusion, and I found this scene to be quite funny/bittersweet.

Despite my positive opinion of the movie, I do have to admit that I liked Pride and Prejudice better. There was more happening in that movie, more to get into. Also, I thought that Keira Knightley looked more like the role of a young woman of the eighteenth century than Anne Hathaway did. They both did incredible as far as the acting goes, but Anne Hathaway just didn't look the part to me. This is just one small complaint, though, because Anne Hathaway did a fantastic job (as always).

I'll leave you readers with this: If you're thinking of watching a Jane Austen based movie, then watch Pride and Prejudice. If you like that, then watch Becoming Jane. I suppose I'll have to watch Sense and Sensibility someday, but probably not for a while. Once I do, it'll be interesting to see how it compares with the others...

So, what is SunnyD reading now? Well, I'm reading something for my bookclub called Gone by Michael Grant. I'm the first person of my bookclub to read it, so my review will affect how many others read it after me. I'm about halfway through it, and I think I'll give it a lightly positive review (but that could change). The story is intriguing and the author writes it well, but the ending is very key. Basically, the entire story is centered around one pivotal aspect of their altered world, and I won't know whether or not I approve of the book until I get to the answer of the huge mystery. It'll be at the end, though, because once it is discovered that'll be the end of all the central plot points.

~I'm enjoying the weekend, I hope you all are too!

Extras and An Inspirational Story

I'm finally finished with the Uglies series (unless he writes another one, of course) and I was pretty satisfied with it. The ending was great, it left me with a nice closing feeling. Every piece of the plot was solved, and there was a good deal of action. However, I did have my issues with it. . . .

First and foremost was the little romance story within it. The author gets a huge FAIL from me as far as the romance goes. He really shouldn't have even tried, it just sucked. It was surprising, because I don't remember the romance in his other books being as horrible as the romance in this one. I literally found myself skipping the romantic parts because they were so awfully written. They were random and loveless. Ugh, just TERRIBLE! *Deep Breath* I'll stop now before I go overboard, but take my word for it, if you read this skip over the romantic parts.

My second complaint was the beginning. It's not that I couldn't get into it, but he lingered too long on certain parts that I don't think he needed to spend so much time describing. Sure, they were pretty central to the story, but I wish that he'd made the part with the Sly Girls a bit more brief. If he'd done that, I think he would've had more room to describe the ending climax, which I would've like a bit more detail on. *Shrug* Not a huge issue, but definitely something worth mentioning.

Other than that, it was a good book. It was really easy to step into the main character's shoes, and the mystery of the inhumans was fascinating. Again, the ending was my favorite part, it was really well done. *Applause for Scott Westerfeld*

Now, for the inspirational story topic. I was had been at Maddie's house from about 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM (it was great seeing her, it had been a while since I last saw her) and her mom was giving me a ride home. Maddie's little sisters, Jesse and Lily, were in the back of the van being relatively quiet for a change. Maddie's mom was describing the difference between a stick shift and an automatic when something occured to me.

I just want to say this now: I would never ask this personal a question to any of my other friends' parents, but Maddie's parents practically helped raise me, and I was comfortable asking them anything.

So anyway, I asked her how she met Maddie's dad. I know that seems pretty random, and I'm not exactly sure how my brain went from the topic of driving stick shift to how Maddie's mom met Maddie's dad, but it did.

I won't describe the story she told me and the twins because it's not my story to tell. I will tell you that it was very inspirational, and it made me really believe that true love is out there for everyone. It wasn't all love and happiness, though, there were many hardships in the story as well. Her main point was that everything happens for a reason, and you might not necessarily see the reason for something happening while it's going on, but eventually you'll be able to look back and say something like, "Wow, I can't believe that something good actually came out of that."

It made me wonder a lot about what the future holds. I've decided that for the time being I'll just go with the flow, and maybe someday I'll have a story of my own.

~My next post will be about the movie Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway starring as Jane Austen. I hope it'll be good (I won't have much to compare it to, though. The only other Jane Austen based movie I've seen is the Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly, and I haven't read any of the books).

Natural Disaster

Hehe, I was bored so I stole this from Alanna : P All you have to do is this:

1. Put your iPod, iTunes, (or any MP3 player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW BAD IT SOUNDS.

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Should've Said No- Taylor Swift

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson (uh, suuuurrrreee)

3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Trust Me- The Fray (wow, that one worked pretty well)

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Soul- Matchbox Twenty

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Makes Me Wonder- Maroon 5 (that question DOES make me wonder....)

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Photograph- Nickelback

7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Everyday- Toby Lightman

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs- Fall Out Boy

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Tremble for My Beloved- Collective Soul (whoa, sorry guys, but I don't tremble for you...)

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
If I Never See Your Face Again- Maroon 5 and Rihanna (NO, why couldn't I have gotten Tremble for my Beloved for THIS one?!)

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Wake Me Up When September Ends- Green Day

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Pocketful of Sunshine- Natasha Bedingfield (haha, that'd be nice...)

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Secret Valentine- We the Kings (eh, kinda makes sense... except we're not "secret" *Shrug*)

15) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down (Lmao, no way)

16) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Walking on Air- Kerli (HEY! *Glare* They'd better not, lol)

17) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Everytime We Touch- Cascada (Um. . . . . okaaayy)

18) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Twenty-four- Switchfoot

19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Basketcase- Green Day (*Shifty Eyes* Lol)

20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
This Love- Maroon 5 (I disagree with this one)

21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Bella's Lullaby- Carter Burwell (what??)

22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Boston- Augustana

23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Must Have Done Something Right- Relient k

24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Hate (I Really Don't Like You)- Plain White T's

25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Oxygen- Colbie Caillat (??????)

26) WHAT MAKES YOU SCARED?
Tired of Being Sorry- Enrique Iglesias

27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Fallin'- Alicia Keys

28) IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Your Guardian Angel- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (lmao)

29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Lonely Day- System of a Down (this one makes sense, but I didn't have a lonely day...)

30) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS NOTE AS?
Natural Disaster- Plain White T's

The Luxe and Annoying Template Problems

I finished reading The Luxe, and I was VERY impressed! This book was captivating from start to finish, there was never a boring or slow moment. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a good read (and it's the first of a series, so the fun will continue! Yay!)

The story is set in Manhattan of the year 1899. The basic plot is a tangled web of forbidden loves, with a little murder mystery mixed in. If you like lots of drama in a book, definitely read this. I honestly can't find a single negative thing to say about it, which is rare for me. . . . . . .

I especially enjoyed the ending; it was both surprising AND satisfying! The author tied the loose ends together quite well, and set up a nice little cliff hanger-ish ending for the second book, Rumors (which I'll certainly be reading as soon as I can get my hands on it).

What am I reading now? Well, lucky me, there's a huge wait list at the library for Rumors, so I'm reading Extras. This is the fourth book in Scott Westerfeld's series (which also consists of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials) that I lost interest in for a while. . . . It's good sci-fi, but sometimes it gets hard to follow and I find myself thinking, "Why on earth am I reading this? There are so many better books that I could be reading. . . . ."

Not that I'm against Scott Westerfeld's series. It's pretty good, but there's better stuff out there for sci-fi lovers. *Shrug* Oh well, I'll finish Extras and then finally be done with the series.

Now, before I end this post, I'd like to ask you readers one thing: Do any of you have problems changing your template? My computer won't let me : ( Whenever I try an error comes up. *Huff* It's very annoying, and I'm DYING for a new background (no joke, I have at least five backgrounds that I'm just waiting to use).

~Goodbye from your frustrated SunnyD

A Snow Day of Mixed Emotions

This is a journal post, my next one will probably be a book review. For now, I'm just talking about my crazy snow day. . . . .

I'll start from the beginning, which was about 10:00 this morning. I was eating breakfast with my parents, eager to start my snow day (there was only about an inch or two of snow, but that's enough to sled and stuff). I had told my dad on Saturday a little about a biology current event that I was working on, and he brought it up asking me what the title of the article was. It's "Tracking Forest Creatures on the Move" and that's all I told my dad. *Sigh* He exploded at me, saying that an article about technology has absolutely no relation to biology and that I'd slacked off on it. He didn't even read the article or my current event paper. I was feeling stubborn, so I argued with him about it, saying that my article WAS related to biology. He screamed at me, threatening to keep my in my room for the snow day, cut me off from my friends, and make redo my entire paper for giving him lip.

I just stood there and took the yelling, I wasn't worried at all that he'd physically hurt me. He's never physically hurt me. I could feel a the angry tears well up in my eyes (I still don't think I deserved to be screamed at for my paper, I was downright proud of the job I did on it) but I held his furious gaze despite my tears. As soon as I could get away I fled to my room for about an hour, waiting for him to cool down and waiting for my tears to stop. My loved ones have more influence on me than they think. One harsh word from them can feel like a slap across the face. I can barely keep myself together when my dad screams at me for valid reasons, but trivial things like that affect me even more. Being yelled at by my father for small, unimportant things makes me feel worthless. Like he'll never really love me.

That's not true, though. I know that my father loves me. He put up with a lot of abuse from his parents as a kid, and I know he does his best to raise my brother and I differently. His explosions aren't a normal occurance, but when they happen I feel like a part of me is breaking inside. Maybe my heart. I don't know.

The last time he yelled at me like that it was far worse. I came downstairs one morning and he didn't think that I was dressed warmly enough for the weather. I thought I was dressed perfectly warmly enough. That earned me a lot yelling, and I actually ran from him that time. I'd like to lie and say that I just wanted to get away from his explosion, but that's not true. I was actually afraid that he'd hurt me that time. I couldn't control my tears as I ran to catch the bus.

I was lucky, though. It was so early in the morning that the darkness provided some privacy for me. Bubbles got on the bus one stop later, and the darkness hid my face. I managed to keep my voice even so that she wouldn't be able to tell that I was crying. I wasn't in the mood for pointless comfort.

I think she knew that something was wrong, but by the time it was light enough for her to see me I had myself under control and had discreetly cleaned up my face. I did something similar this morning. Once I had myself under control, I went back downstairs to face my dad. He had calmed down quite a bit and seemed far more reasonable. I showed him my paper, and he helped me make a few changes. It took almost no time at all to "fix" my paper. I was out of my house by about 11:00.

From there, my day improved drastically. I met up with Maddie, her little sisters, and Bubbles to go sledding. Maddie's mom drove us to a great hill for sledding, and we had tons of fun racing down the hills together.

Maddie participated in our brief snowball fights, but she's not one for sledding. Mostly it was just Bubbles, myself, and her little sisters. I must say, I'm a little sore from falling so much (there were several ramps) but that was some of the best sledding I've done all winter. Excluding Dare Devil Drop, of course : )

Maddie's mom dropped Bubbles and I off at Bubbles's house a few hours later. Bubbles's little brother, Nick, and Jake (not my brother, different Jake) were all there, and we had the house to ourselves. That was interesting.

We played Sardines (a form of hide-and-seek), listened to Jake's country music (which actually wasn't half bad), ate lunch, and played Clue. By then our snow clothes were dry enough from Bubbles's fireplace, so the five of us all went outside together.

They made me play football in the snow. Again : ( But I'm getting better! I actually scored one touchdown ^_^ My team still lost, but that's the best I've played yet.

We headed to Dare Devil Drop once we were done playing snow football, but we didn't sled down it. The view from the top of Dare Devil Drop is incredible, especially when it has snowed, so Bubbles and I went to simply gaze at the icy forest.

Her little brother, Jake, and Nick went to bounce on this trampoline out in the woods (Bubbles and I didn't participate, 'cause we know the girl who owns it) and after that brief escapade we all headed back to Jake's house.

There we played card games (I actually won a round of Spoons!) until it started to get dark, and I trudged home feeling quite peaceful. My morning of hurt was almost entirely forgotten, and my dad seemed to act like nothing had happened.

It still helps to write all my feelings out. I hope you guys didn't really read all that, it wasn't a very interesting post.

~I promise a better post next time!