Whoa, Too Long With No Updates...

Excuses, excuses. The truth is: I got bored with the blog. I'm terribly sorry. BUT, I'll try to make up for it by being extra enthusiastic for a while. Sooooo, what's been going on in the wonderfully interesting life of SunnyD?

Firstly: I'm with a new boyfriend ^_^ He will be referred to as "Freshman" on this blog, and yes, that really is something that people call him, lol. I'm extremely happy with him, and we've been dating for about 4 months now. Shocking, I know. I really gotta update this thing more.

School's been pretty much the same. I've been getting A's, but I'm KILLING MYSELF for an A in math this semester. It hasn't been easy. But I think I can do it *crosses fingers*

As far as movies go.... well.... okay, I haven't really been to many movies lately. I did see Avatar in 3-D, though! I loved loved LOVED it! Coolest movie ever, even if the plotline was a tad predictable. *shrug* I think the fantastically amazing new world/perfect acting makes up for it, haha.

I definitely recommend seeing this in 3-D. SO totally worth it, I'll never forget that experience. Blew me away.

One book that I read that I feel I should mention is A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray. The book is historical fiction/fantasy, and to say that I enjoyed it would be an understatement. It's about a 16 year old girl named Gemma Doyle, who attends a finishing school near London during the late 1800's. She's just lost her mother, and she's also just started to get strange visions of a little girl in a strange "realm" (the realms still confuse me a little bit, but it's basically just a different world in which your desires can be carried out through a magic-ish process. It's a bit strange, but I liked it.) Anyway, Gemma befriends a few girls at her finishing school, and together they all travel through the "realms" together. They get power-hungry, though, and that's when the real story unfolds...

The book has a lot of mystery elements in it, which I thoroughly enjoyed ^_^ Also, the level of detail in the author's writing is... incredible. Her writing style definitely impressed me, it was the type of writing that left you thirsting to know what would happen next. And everything was so interesting! Not a boring spot in the entire novel. It was even pretty funny, Gemma is a sarcastic, strong, and witty character that any girl is bound to like. Also (NOT GIVING ANYTHING AWAY) the ending is the coolest part of the book, and I guarantee you won't see this one coming. Check the book out if you're interested in historical fiction/mystery/fantasty, but don't check it out if you're looking for a good romance. There's not very much of that, unfortunately.... BUT this is the first in a trilogy, and I hear that there will be more romance to come (yay!).


So yup. That's what dear old SunnyD has been doing with her life : D I hope to keep better track of this blog from now on, haha...

~I'm on Spring Break right now, and LOVING IT!

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!

Jellicoe Road, 17 Again, and Lemurs

Here we go, readers: This'll be a book review, a movie review, and a journal post! Since my poll said that the majority of people who read this blog (which, I'll admit, is very few) enjoy a variety of topics, I'm going to try to give more variety from now on.

Jellicoe Road was recommended to me by every single member of my bookclub that had read the book. I'm just going to say this now: If you are capable of reading, then I don't care what type of books you like, you have to read this book.

No matter who you are, what you're into reading, or how old you are (actually, scratch that, any kids reading this should be warned. Maybe ages 12+ or something) you'd get pulled into this book and sucked into the plot. It's impossible not to.

This book is set in Australia, and it is told from the view point of Taylor Markham. Taylor is about 17 years old, and her mom abandoned her a long time ago (I think she was 9) at a 7 Eleven on Jellicoe Road. She goes to this boarding school-ish place there for kids with issues (mostly kids without parents) and is the leader of her school when it comes to the territory wars. Taylor's school, the townies, and the cadets all fight over territory with each other, and there are many rules and regulations to follow about these territory wars found in what they call the Little Purple Book.

One day, the only person in Taylor's life that she really cares about, Hannah (she's the one who found Taylor at the Seven Eleven, and is not really a mother figure to Taylor- more like an older sister), disappears. Hannah's left behind this manuscript that she's written over the years, and this manuscript contains many secrets about five people who met on the Jellicoe Road a long time ago. Their names are Narnie, Jude, Webb, Tate, and Fitz. Taylor doesn't know anything about this seemingly fictional manuscript, but soon its secrets transform her life forever.

To say that this book is well written would be an understatement. The author did a remarkable, fantastic job with weaving an intricate and mysterious story. Words cannot describe how powerful this book was. Every emotion that Taylor felt hit me as hard as if I were the one experiencing it.

What really made this book a winner for me was the story, though. Everything part of it works together marvelously to help you figure out Taylor's past, and it all comes to you in little pieces throughout the book that make you extremely curious about how it all fits in together. Please, if you're reading this, give Jellicoe Road a chance. Go check it out at your closest library and I promise that you will not be disappointed.
Me, I hate High School Musical. I complain about it almost everyday with my friends 'cause we are forced to sing a song from the 3rd movie in my chorus class (we're doing a fun end-of-the-year Disney themed concert). Having said that, my brain associated Zac Efron with Disney because of High School Musical. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when I watched 17 Again with my friends yesterday.

It was a very teen-ish movie with lots of teen humor in it. My friends and I all liked it, we were all laughing a lot (and crying a little at one part). It was a very fun movie, but not one that I'd recommend seeing with parents (GOS, I'm saying that for you're benefit).

Anyway, this story's plot is a bit done (very similar to Back To The Future in several parts) but it was still very good. Overall, I thought it was quite fun, and very appropriate for our mini Girl's Night Out : )

I don't think I really need to give much of a plot overview for it, though. Here's a short one: A man named Mike O'Donnell is getting divorced with his wife, Scarlett. He loves his children, but he doesn't really know them. When he meets a mysterious old man, he gets a second chance at being 17 years old. He tries to fix things with his family as a 17 year old that they don't know, and he gets into some hilarious situations along the way (with his friend Ned, who's played by Thomas Lennon. He's hysterical).

I thought it was great, so if you're in the mood to watch something fun with your friends, think about 17 Again. And for you boys out there: It is not a chickflick, so don't try that excuse if your girlfriend asks you to see it with her : P

Now, my Lemurs topic. I don't want to reveal where I live on this blog, so I'm just going to say that I spent the day with my family at my brother's college. I recently decided to support a lemur at this program that they run, so I sponsor a Slow Loris named Doodlebug with about $50 a year. Today I visited Doodlebug and all of his lemur friends : ) He looks something like this:

It was dark in there, though (he's nocturnal) so all I could see was a general view of him running through the branches. He's about as small as a squirrel, and very quick! The diurnal lemurs I got a better look at, and they were very interesting as well.

Here's a fun little video of a slow loris (not Doodlebug) getting tickled. My friend Alanna saw this on youtube and sent it to me after I told her about Doodlebug:


After our lemur tour, my family and I went to visit the school's gardens, which were lovely. There were many ponds, flowers, bridges, ducks, geese, etc. It was like a gorgeous park but with tons of college students studying everywhere/hanging out ^_^ It was very relaxing strolling through the gardens on such a sunny day, everything about it was picturesque. There was even a wedding going on, so there was nice music playing by one of the ponds. My brother says that there are always weddings in the gardens because they're so beautiful.

After the fun activities, we started to help my brother move some of his stuff from his dorm room back to our house. School's almost over for him, so he's not moving out of his dorm yet, but we decided that it's going to take us two trips to get all his crud out of there (it still boggles my mind that such a tiny, cramped dorm can hold two boys and all of that crap they have). I helped without complaint, but that's mostly because we had the door open as we cleaned/packed with my brother, and several hot guys tend walk through my brother's dorm halls shirtless. Also, one of his friends dropped by to help us, and he was really nice and funny so that also made the dull (and slightly disgusting, when we got to the closet) work go by faster.

So for me, this weekend has been really fun so far. I had a great time yesterday watching 17 Again with my friends (who I don't get to see nearly as much as I'd like to) and today I was outdoors enjoying the nice weather with my family. The icing on the cake would be if NHC and I get together tomorrow, but he didn't call me today to set anything up. Actually, he hasn't called me in a while. *Sigh* It takes a lot of effort to make a relationship work if you don't go to the same school as the person you're dating, maybe I'll call him tomorrow... Wish me luck.

~Comments are appreciated!

Jurassic Park, Moonstruck, and a Nice Weekend

In the hope of shaking things up a bit, I will be discussing a book, movies, and do a journal post! I'll try keep it as short as possible (I know, I can drone FOREVER)
: P

I finally finished reading Jurassic Park after years of watching the movie (and being ordered by my brother to read the book at some point in my life, lol). Before I begin my review, I just want to say that I LOVE the movie and I've watched it way too many times to count. I had very high expectations for this book.

I enjoyed it, sure, but I couldn't help noticing tiny differences between it and the movie during the entire book. Usually I HATE it when a movie don't stay true to the book that it's based on, but in this case I preferred many of the changes that the movie made to it. The movie had more drama, of course, but it also had a few connecting factors that made the story flow better in my opinion *Shrug*

One of my favorite aspects of this book were the characters that Michael Crichton created. My all time favorite character in the story would have to be Ian Malcolm, hands down. He blatantly states his opinion without the slightest care for how his peers view him. Also, he might be an arrogant man, but his theory was right in the end. So brilliant. So blunt. So Malcolm. ^_^

Here's a good example of Ian Malcolm in the book:

"I'll make it simple," Malcolm said. "A karate master does not kill people with his bare hands. He does not lose his temper and kill his wife. The person who kills is the person who has no discipline, no restraint, and who has purchased his power in the form of a Saturday night special. And that is the kind of power that science fosters, and permits. And that is why you think that to build a place like this is simple."
"It was simple," Hammond insisted.
"Then why did it go wrong?"

They changed Malcolm in the movie. They made him out to be kind of silly-ish, and his thing in the movie was "life will find a way." In the book, Malcolm pretty much preached the Chaos theory to anyone who would listen. He predicted every twist and turn that the park took, and he was never surprised when he was proven correct. He's such an awesome character : )

Malcolm wasn't the only character that the movie changed, pretty much every character was altered in the movie and it would take way too long for me to go through it all. Another example is Dr. Grant: In the book, he loves children and willingly risks his own neck for them without any motivation but their safety. In the movie, they made it kind of a journey for him. He started out with a strong dislike for children, but by the end he had unwillingly formed a strong bond with Hammond's grandchildren which altered his view of kids.

Another large difference is the endings. In the movie, they leave with with the heartwarming scene of Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, Hammond, etc. flying peacefully off into the sunset in a helicopter while the grandchildren are fast asleep in Dr. Grant's arms. Dr. Grant smiles at Dr. Sattler (they sort of have a thing going on in the movie, but she's just his student in the book) and it is a very touching smile, full of promise.

In the book, they pretty much are flying away as fast as they can while the island erupts in violent explosions in the background (there's no volcano, they're bombing it). Dr. Sattler is comforting one of the sobbing children as Dr. Grant is a bit disappointed/relieved that he'll never get to study the dinosaurs as much as he'd like.

Yeah, it leaves you with pretty different feelings, doesn't it?

Also, the book makes you really think about science as a whole rather than just genetics. It's a very interesting read, but I'm not left with a great respect for the author. He's ideas are fantastic, his writing. . . . . . not so much. Still, it's a great book for any sci-fi lovers out there.

Now, time for a movie review. Moonstruck came out in 1987, so of course I didn't go seeking this one out. My friend Bubbles has awesome parents, and they forced us to watch it with them (despite our protests). I didn't expect to like it, and I didn't. I loved it.

This movie is great. I wouldn't exactly call it a romantic comedy, it's more dramatic than that. It is hilarious, though, and the romance was the central plot. It's also about family loyalty, so it's not ALL lovey-dovey.

The actors did a great job. It stars Cher and Nicholas Cage, and they sure played their parts with commitment. I was truly blown away. Oh, and just to clarify, it's not a musical. I know that the picture I posted makes it seem like it is, but it's not. That's the best picture I could find for it, so don't be fooled.

Anyway, if my recommendation isn't enough for you, it won three Oscars, fifteen other awards, and eleven nominations. Yes, it is that good.

However, I suggest that kids only 13+ up watch it. There is some adult content. Not a lot, though, just one scene really. *Giggle* It got awkward with Bubbles, me, Tay, Devin, and Bubbles's parents all watching that together. Anyone else out there feel weird when everyone in the room is turned on by the same scene? : P We all avoided eye contact for a while after that part. . . .

Now for my last topic: my vacation-ish weekend (which was last weekend, I know I'm slow to post). I went to my friend Bubbles's riverhouse with her, Tay, Devin, and Matt. It was quite relaxing, and surprisingly warm too. We did some hiking, went in the water, played rummy, watched Moonstruck, and ate good food. It was great : ) Her riverhouse is awesome; I totally loved the bunkbeds. It was like a giant sleepover at night (with me, Bubbles, and Tay of course. Devin was in a different room and Matt slept at his dad's house).

Bubbles and Tay are some of my wildest friends, and I love them to death. My only complaint is how they pressure me when it comes to NHC. They don't really mean to, but they pry about him too often. I trust them and everything, but sometimes I want to tell them to butt out. *Sigh* They help me, though, considering they have WAY more experience with guys than I do. Telling them to butt out is not smart, especially since I need their advice sometimes. . . . .

Lol, I think Bubbles and Tay should write a book together. They know a LOT about guy's heads, if you ever need to figure out whether a guy likes you or not, go to them. They know exactly how you can test to see if he likes you or not, how much, and whether he'd go out with you. All without the dude having a clue as to what you're doing. They've been very helpful over the years : P

Anyway, they pressure me more than they realize. I know they don't really mean to, but it's still annoying. They tell me to do these physical things with NHC that I know neither of us are ready for/want to do. They mean well (they claim that he might get bored with me if I don't 'make some kind of move on him' or something like that) but they really don't know what they're talking about in this situation. NHC and I are at a very good place in our relationship (in my opinion at least, I can't exactly speak for him) and there is NO way that I'm going to change things when it's going so well. I'd be SO uncomfortable if we went any further at the moment, and I don't see how that would accomplish anything. So Bubbles and Tay will just have to deal with it, 'cause I'm definitely not listening to them this time.

I do hope that I can revisit Bubbles's riverhouse soon, it was incredibly relaxing. . . . . *Dreamy Sigh* I wonder what it'll be like during the summer when the water's even warmer. . . . .

~Peace out, my wonderful readers : )