Back to School, Shooting Stars, and Personal Expectations

Is it just me, or have I not had a good journal post in a really long time? This is pathetic, it's summer vacation! Shouldn't I be up to my ears in exciting things about my personal life to blog about? Maybe I'm just boring : ) I'll try to keep things interesting in this post.

So school is starting up again next Tuesday *grumble grumble* obviously no one's happy about that, but I am kind of looking forward to seeing some of my friends that I don't get together with outside of school. Other than that, I'm thoroughly dreading the freezing classrooms, the little sleep, the waking up early, the annoying teachers, and most of all the homework. Despite all of these negatives about school, I know that I can endure anything with my friends by my side. Call me optimistic, but I have a feeling that this year will be challenging but good somehow.

I know that I'm going to make more of an effort to get involved with more activities this year. I'm going to join a bunch of clubs, I'll try to go to more at-home games for the sports I enjoy watching, and I'll even try to make it to a school dance. I like a busy schedule : ) Speaking of schedules, I got mine recently and it doesn't look too bad. I'll have a heavy workload for sure, but it definitely looks manageable. I've also already compared my schedule with my friends, and I have at least one class with almost all of my close friends! Pretty lucky, huh? I even got a class with Bubbles, which is incredible. Ever since I've known Bubbles (preschool) we've never gotten a single class together. Until now ^_^ That's pretty cool, and I got 3 classes with GOS's current boyfriend! She's really jealous, she didn't get any classes with him, lol. I've gotten to be friends with GOS's current boyfriend, who will be called Turtle on this blog. Turtle is WAY better than Loser-boy, and GOS is doing well with him. He's a good guy, and he makes GOS happy, which makes me happy : )

Now about the shooting star. I went to the beach this week with my friend Kelpo and while we were there we saw a shooting star! I've never seen a shooting star before, so the event seemed worth mentioning. And, being a little optimist, I made a wish on the star : ) Kelpo isn't really an optimist, so she simply enjoyed the sight and didn't comment on my wishful thinking. Kelpo and I are great friends (we met in the 3rd grade and haven't gone to the same school in years, we don't see each other nearly enough), but we really do have quite opposite personalities. She's very cynical in her thinking, and doesn't have a lot of confidence in her abilities (even though she's by far one of the smartest people I know). Despite our different ways of thinking, Kelpo and I have a lot of fun together. We both enjoy being active so we boogy boarded, played catch, and goofed off in the ocean together. It was awesome : D And I didn't get badly sunburned for once! Perhaps the shooting star granted me good luck on the beach trip, and maybe it'll even grant the wish I made! If there's any magic in this world we live in then there must be a little magic in those bright streaks of light that shoot across the sky, right?

Last but not least: Do people do greater in life if they expect more from themselves? I believe that people do. Having high expectations for yourself brings about a certain can-do attitude for people, which leads to greater accomplishments than what would have been acheived had the person not believed in themselves. Certain people argue that if you expect little, then you aren't disappointed if things don't work out. I think that attitude is bull crap, and nobody should ever expect little of themselves. That's just my personal opinion, though, and anybody out there is welcome to challenge it.

~I'm still working on finishing the 5th Children of the Lamp book, and when I do I'll give it a review and talk about Catching Fire.

Owl City

Gosh, I can't get this band's songs out of my head! It's really become a problem, not only have I been listening to Owl City songs almost nonstop for the past two days but now I'm actually forcing others to listen to them so I'll have people to get addicted with me. *Sigh* Now a good chunk of my hard earned cash is going towards buying a ton of Owl City songs (I'm considering getting their CD called Ocean Eyes) but that's okay. Like a good friend once told me: it's okay to indulge once in a while : )

I missed a great chance this summer to see Owl City live : ( Not only that, but they came with Relient k (another band that I love)! I would've gone at the time, but all of my friends willing to go with me were out of town. I'm not entirely heartbroken, though, 'cause I'm currently trying to work out seeing The Fray with my friends when they come. Seeing The Fray would TOTALLY make up for missing out on seeing Relient k and Owl City : D

Here, maybe I'll try to force more people to get addicted to this band with me (WARNING: All of this band's songs are fantastic, and once you hear one you'll be a goner. Listen at your own risk.) This song is my favorite, it's called Vanilla Twilight:



Did you like that? If so, great. If not, that's okay. You're actually saving yourself much time and possibly money if you didn't like it. Or maybe I'm just insanely and hopelessly obsessed with this particular sound. . . . Anyway, here's my second favorite of their songs. It's called Hello Seattle:



You know what's really incredible about Owl City? It's just one dude! That's right, as misleading as the name Owl City is, the band is just one dude named Adam Young.

And yes, this is the best/most flattering picture of Adam Young that I could find. If anyone wants to help a girl out and hunt up a better one for me, then good luck to you : P There was one really awesome pic... but it was on photobucket and got removed so I couldn't use it. Darn. Apparently Adam claims that his musical talent comes from his insomnia. I'm glad that someone could finally find a good use for insomnia : )

~Check out Owl City, but try not to get obsessed like poor SunnyD!

Time for a Change!

Hello everybody! I have decided that as much as I love my current template, it's gotten its fair share of use. I'm getting tired of looking at the same old green again and again (even though it's a really awesome green ^_^). I've narrowed down my decision to 5 different templates, and I'd really appreciate some comments and opinions to help me pick one. I'm leaning towards a sun themed background (after all, I am SunnyD) but I'm open to alternatives. So please, check these out and comment on which is your favorite! Thanks a ton!

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/preview/shhh-listen

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/preview/optimistic-sunshine-

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/preview/in-my-hands

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/preview/starry-sunrise

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/preview/sunset-beach

Knowing, The Silence of the Lambs, Julie and Julia, The Great Tree of Avalon: Book One, and Do Women Usually Make Better Romance Authors Than Men?

I guess I'm taking procrastination to a whole new level (don't even get me started on all the summer homework that I'm still putting off) because I have several things that I'd like to discuss in this post that I probably should've split up but I'm too lazy to do so : ) Sorry, this post will definitely be a biggie. *Cracks Knuckles* Where should I start? How about with the movie Knowing?

About a week or so ago I had a great sleepover with Maddie (who now has a blog! If you're interested, it's www.maquiqui.blogspot.com) and we picked Knowing as our movie for the night. I will start with this to be absolutely clear: I personally enjoyed this movie, but I'd recommend it to very few people because it was a specific type of movie that wouldn't fit everyone. It had a message and purpose that I can't see your general audience being particularly fascinated with. If you're considering watching this movie, then I advise you to choose it carefully.

Now I'll get onto what it was about and why I liked it. John Koestler (Nicholas Cage) is a single father raising a son named Caleb. Koestler is a professor who teaches astrophysics at MIT, so he's clearly an intelligent man who bases many of his beliefs on scientific principles. When his son Caleb brings home a sheet of numbers from a school time capsul, Koestler thinks nothing of it. Until he really looks at the numbers and sees a pattern. 911012996 among a stream of numbers. If you separate it into 9/11/01 it's the date of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The 2996 is the exact death toll after the attack, and these numbers were written 50 years ago (remember his son got the numbers from a school time capsul) by an elementary aged girl. Koestler spends a sleepless night going through all of the numbers and making similar connections (date and death toll) to countless more catastrophes that happened over the past 50 years. The next date on the list of numbers (with a predicted death toll of 81) is supposedly going to happen the next day. That's when Koestler discovers that the other numbers on the sheet are latitudes and longitudes that give the exact location of the disasters predicted. He discovers this bit of information because he is present at the next predicted disaster.

You might be thinking that this movie seems very philosophical, or that there is little action. Trust me, there's action. Even a little suspense during some parts, I really enjoyed it. There are major "end of the world" and apocalyptic themes, they mixed a bit of religious views with all the science (which is best explained on a feature of the DVD that Maddie and I watched after we finished the movie, it cleared up a lot of confusion for us). Anywho, it was a great science fiction movie that made me think- which I loved : D I could go on talking about Knowing for a long time, but I'll move along to The Silence of the Lambs.

I did not like The Silence of the Lambs. At all. Some of my friends are outraged, they consider The Silence of the Lambs a classic movie and they think I'm insane for not liking it. Perhaps it is a fantastic movie loved by many, but it just plain wasn't my type of movie. In comparison to Knowing (the type of movie that I can really get sucked in to) this movie was the exact kind of movie that I have no chance whatsoever of truly liking. I suppose I found it interesting, but I didn't get any enjoyment out of the movie.

FBI Agent in training, Clarice Starling, is assigned a tricky task. She has to question and attempt to obtain information from a man named Hannibal Lecter. He is a brilliant psychiatrist who also happens to be a cannibalistic serial killer. He's been in prison for a long time, and Clarice is sent to question him because her superiors think that her sweet face and interesting manner (not to mention her sharp and clever mind) will intrigue Lecter and maybe soften him up enough to relinquish some useful information for a current case that the FBI are dealing with (and Lecter happens to know a lot about). The movie follows Agent Starling as she deals with Hannibal Lecter and attempts to solve the Buffalo Bill case that the FBI are so preoccupied with. However, to solve the Buffalo Bill case Agent Starling must tell Hannibal Lecter personal information about her and her past. She has to uncode the many messages that Hannibal Lecter gives her, and she has to keep a level head while she reveals dangerous information about herself to a cannibal and serious killer.

It's a captivating plot, I'll admit. To me it's the definition of an on-the-edge-of-your-seat movie. It has several things to keep you interested..... and several things to make you run away from the screen screaming. I didn't get nightmares after watching this movie, but you won't catch me watching another horror-ish movie until 2010.

I saw this movie with my friend Alanna, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! It kept me interested and left me feeling properly entertained and inspired. The story follows two women: Julie Powell and Julia Child. Julie Powell is a woman living an ordinary life, she feels put down by her job and jealous of the success of her friends. How does plain jane Julie escape the ups and downs of her plain jane life? She cooks. Her husband encourages her to set up a blog about her cooking, and she accepts the blog with a challenge. She's going to cook every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook in one year! That's 520 something recipes in 365 days, and Julie feels like Julia Child is with her every step of the way.

Meanwhile, the story also follows Julia Child while she was living in Paris. It shows how her interest in cooking started, and follows Julia's life while going through cooking school and while writing a cookbook of her own. While Julia Child's struggles are different than Julie Powell's, you see connections and similarities in what they're both going through and how they're dealing with their separate obstacles.

The fact that the movie is based on two true stories makes it even more cool in my opinion, and my only complaint was that it was a bit long (over 2 hours!). It didn't drag at all, though. In fact, I was sad to see it end : ) A good movie to see with friends and family; I highly recommend Julie and Julia to almost anyone.

I tried to pace myself, I really did : ) Unfortunately I failed, and finished this book way more quickly than I had planned. This book is great for people who love a good fantasy- it's full of mythical creatures, magic, quests, and a dark prophecy! The land of Avalon is a great tree, born of Merlin's magic seed that beats like a heart. The various creatures of Avalon live on different roots of the tree (Mudroot, Fireroot, Woodroot, etc.) and things are going well after the Age of Storms.... until the Year of Darkness. One child born during this year is prophesied to bring the end of Avalon, and one child born during this year is prophesied to save it. The book follows the journeys of Scree (an eagleman), Tamwyn (who is half flamelon and half unknown), and Elli (a human slave to gnomes who escaped and became a priestess). Together, they can stop the dark sorcerer who is plotting to ruin Avalon on his own terms. But which of the children is the one who will save them all? And which child is the one who will doom them?

I definitely liked this book, and I will most certainly read the rest of the series. If you aren't majorly into fantasy books then I wouldn't pick this one up, but if you are a fantasy lover it's a great read!

Okay, my last topic isn't exactly a journal one, it's just a question. Do women usually make better romance authors than men? If so, why is that?

I love to read, I'm sure anyone who follows my blog knows that. I've noticed often with books written by men there can be a situation with an obvious love interest... and they describe absolutely nothing between the two people involved. The two involved in the love interest won't have a moment, kiss, or even acknowledge their feelings for each other and yet we're all supposed to know that they're in love! Or sometimes the author will attempt to describe a romantic moment and he will completely and utterly fail. I'm not trying to be sexist, but I've noticed this tendency more often in books written by men than books written by women.

And I'm not saying that men can't write good romance! They're out there, those sensitive male authors. And on the flip side I'm not saying that certain female authors don't suck at writing romance just as bad as some of the men. I'm just saying that in general it seems that male authors really wimp out when it comes to describing romance between two characters with a love interest. If you're going to have a love interest in a novel, there should be something (even just one tiny little part) between the characters so that it at least seems like they are actually in love. This is just my opinion, though, anyone out there reading this is perfectly justified in disagreeing with me.

Here's my theory about why men in general avoid writing any romance in books even if there's a love interest: men define romance differently than women. I think most women feel that romance is two people expressing their love for each other whether that be through words, kind gestures, a kiss, etc. I'm not sure how men define romance, but I think they define romance as certain things that aren't appropriate to write about in young adult novels. Maybe that's why there's sometimes a complete lack of romance in books written by men where there very well should be romantic parts. Or maybe I'm totally wrong : P Whatever the case, I hope you have an opinion about this question or that it at least made you think.

So, what is SunnyD reading now? I'm reading the fifth Children of the Lamp book, and it's okay so far... As for what I'm up to these days... nothing too exciting. I spent a fun day yesterday at the mall with Grip of Steel, her boyfriend, and her little brother. Tomorrow I'm having breakfast with NHC at a bookshop/trying to stay out of the heat as much as possible. Basically, I'm doing all the normal summer activities : D

~Sorry that this post was so long, I'll try to split things up more from now on!