Things have been happening in the wide, wide world of my personal entertainment. I have been keeping up with all my shows, but there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy (except for maybe Castle, which I was pretty impressed with). But there has been so much more going on than TV, I'm going to completely disregard television shows for the rest of this entry.
First off, Monday night, I did Haunted Lagoon up at the Polynesian Culture Center. It was mostly fun, but in a different way than last year. Let's be honest, it's hard to scream when the ghouls were too busy complimenting your hair to actually jump out at you when you turn corners. In their defense, the wig I had on was hot pink and lit up. The people in the actual lagoon were a bit more professional, but there were some loud, lewd women sitting right behind us that left us more annoyed than scared by the time we reached the halfway point. Since half the fun is expectation, waiting in line, talking to friends, I'd still say it was worth doing, even if it did cost me a fortune in gas and keep me out until 11 when I should have been home working in a paper. At least the actual ticket was cheap ($10 online).
And now the big news: Star Wars VII. I read a quote by J.J. Abrams (I think) that has a word that describes my feelings perfectly: Thrillified. Yep. That just about covers it. But no matter how scared I am, who the get to direct it, I will be in line to watch the midnight release, possibly in costume, in 2015. I have been totally geeking-out today, reading all sorts of different articles and reactions to this news. After reading dozens of articles on other's opinions and points, and balancing them with actual facts, I have decided that while Disney could ruin the films, they've also been able to maintain the momentum of other things they've acquired (like Avengers) and therefore could do an amazing job, depending on the director and writer.
Thanks to my film class and living the last few years with a movie geek, I have a passing familiarity with some of the more well-known directors and those I'm seeing on lists of "Who Could Do This" that I don't already know, I'm checking out on IMDB. My conclusion: while I'm seeing a lot of names being bandied about by fans and writers, a few of whom might be able to pull it off, the one I want behind the helm is J.J. Abrams. My brother made a great point this morning as I was driving him to the bus "Abrams has already made a better Star Wars movie than Lucas' newest trilogy when he made Star Trek." I love Joss Whedon, but I don't think he's exactly right for the project. He has a particular brand of wit and comedy that fits well with superheroes running around in bright blue suits and ridiculous-looking hats, but I'm not sure it belongs in the Star Wars universe. I could be wrong, but the light moments in Star Wars are a completely different feel from Joss' brand of "funny."
Unfortunately for fans like me, in the end, this is all just "wish lists" from fans; there aren't even rumors about who Disney may be looking at to revive Star Wars. In fact, about all we do know is that it's supposed to come out the same year as The Avengers 2 and that George Lucas supposedly created the basis of the plot for the next three movies. And that movies will be coming out every 2-3 years "well into the future", which seems to imply they plan on getting beyond #9 in the fans keep lining up days before the movies in theaters. And that could be some awesome news for people like me who love the series so much, they'll actually willingly sit through Episode I. The more I read, the more excited I get. The world cannot end until after 2015; I don't care what the heck the Mayans thought.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Warning: Excercise Involved!
Today, I sat around Ala Moana for three and a half hours and successfully avoided riding the bus during rush hour because of it, although you wouldn't have known it looking at the people packed like sardines inside. But it was also a shorter ride because H-1 was not stop-and-go by the time the bus got on. Which is what I was trying to get out of.
When I got home, my mom already had Dancing with the Stars started and paused, waiting for me. So, we watched Monday and Tuesday's shows. The individual dances, while not bad, didn't really stand out to me (with the possible exception of the Cinderella song, for obvious reasons). No, what I loved this week were the group dances. I hate the song "Call Me Maybe" but the dance they did to go with it was downright breathtaking. Very impressive, original, fit the song very well, and made me almost enjoy the song. In fact, I might, if the song were not currently lodged in my brain. But the dance was probably my favorite since Donald Driver's country free-style last year. "Gangnam Style" had the potential to blow that out of the water, if it had been a bit more polished. It was a fun dance, but the obvious mistakes were distracting and the routine wasn't as good as it could have been. I think it probably worked to their favor that they were on a different night. Don't get me wrong, my mom and I enjoyed the heck out of "Gangam Style" but the first team dance performed was executed much more cleanly.
And then, since my mom's cat had settled on my lap, I started New Girl. It wasn't a bad episode at all, but they showed all the funniest parts in the commercials my mom and I kept seeing when we were at Chili's Sunday watching the game. Funny, worth watching, but the best jokes had already been laughed at and dismissed Sunday. Maybe our expectations were too high, but I don't think that was the best episode this season...
Now the only thing I'm behind on is Once Upon A Time...I think...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Mostly Plans
So I really haven't done or watched anything to talk about since Tuesday (except for my Ghost Hunters marathon yesterday, but there wasn't anything too noteworthy in there). But I have made plans.
Monday, I'm going out with Amy (and anyone else I can find) and going on a hike. Yay me. I can't wait. The following Sunday, I'm doing Haunted Plantation with anyone who I can convince to go with me and the day after that, it's Haunted Lagoon. I'm also stockpiling wigs for this year. So far, I have a long purple one for Saint Urho's Day and a light up pink one for the "Haunteds" this year. I've also talked to my manager (to make sure it'd be okay) and have decided I'm going to wear a wig and doing some serious make-up fun when I have to work on Halloween. Yay October. I might have more fun on Saint Urho's Day, but October has the potential for a lot more fun days than March.
I did watch one thing. Ashley from work (not to be confused with any of the other Ashleys I know) asked if I had watched Beauty and the Beast on the CW. I told her that while I love that story in general and tend to watch/read any version of it I can, I thought that particular rendition looked like a Twilight knock-off. She told me it was actually pretty good and I should give it a try, so I watched the pilot on Hulu. I could see the show going either way (although I haven't watched the second episode yet). It could be another Twilight wanna-be, but it also could go in a different direction, although I'm not quite convinced it would be a better direction. Okay, almost any direction is better than Twilight, but it might not be "better" enough to keep me watching. I'll watch a few more episodes at least.
It's official. I'm saving up my tip money from Subway for a PS Vita and a few other things to go with it (like a game). $6.75 down, $353.73 remaining (including sales tax).
Okay. I'll stop here, while this entry is still (relatively) short.
Monday, I'm going out with Amy (and anyone else I can find) and going on a hike. Yay me. I can't wait. The following Sunday, I'm doing Haunted Plantation with anyone who I can convince to go with me and the day after that, it's Haunted Lagoon. I'm also stockpiling wigs for this year. So far, I have a long purple one for Saint Urho's Day and a light up pink one for the "Haunteds" this year. I've also talked to my manager (to make sure it'd be okay) and have decided I'm going to wear a wig and doing some serious make-up fun when I have to work on Halloween. Yay October. I might have more fun on Saint Urho's Day, but October has the potential for a lot more fun days than March.
I did watch one thing. Ashley from work (not to be confused with any of the other Ashleys I know) asked if I had watched Beauty and the Beast on the CW. I told her that while I love that story in general and tend to watch/read any version of it I can, I thought that particular rendition looked like a Twilight knock-off. She told me it was actually pretty good and I should give it a try, so I watched the pilot on Hulu. I could see the show going either way (although I haven't watched the second episode yet). It could be another Twilight wanna-be, but it also could go in a different direction, although I'm not quite convinced it would be a better direction. Okay, almost any direction is better than Twilight, but it might not be "better" enough to keep me watching. I'll watch a few more episodes at least.
It's official. I'm saving up my tip money from Subway for a PS Vita and a few other things to go with it (like a game). $6.75 down, $353.73 remaining (including sales tax).
Okay. I'll stop here, while this entry is still (relatively) short.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
All Caught Up(ish)
So, this week's TV.
I've pretty much given up on Revolution; I'm a week or two behind. Or, at least I was. I did sit through the latest episode, but that was only so I could have the TV; I was in a Castle kind of mood.
So, Castle. I think it's getting back on track, if Monday's episode was any indication. There was a bit of wit and stupidity, mixing in together for that dry sense of humor. The ending felt a little forced, but not completely arbitrary. The Police Chief was probably the worst part of the episode; he was obviously overdone. The Esposito-Ryan subplot as they try to discover who Beckett's mysterious new boyfriend is felt very well done (especially the big reveal); unfortunately, it doesn't quite line up with previous episodes where you get the sense that they have a pretty good idea that something is going on. As a stand-alone, Castle (the show, not the character) is back; when fit in with the rest of the season, it isn't quite meshing yet. Still, a good step forward and I'm looking forward to next week.
Dancing With The Stars. Bristol is gone, which really isn't a bad thing. Kirtsie's dance was a lot of fun, but my favorites this week have to go to either the disco or the mambo. There were a few other dances I might have enjoyed if I didn't actively dislike the style of dance they had to do (i.e. Hip Hop and Contemporary). It was an interesting week and I really look forward to "guilty pleasures" for next week...
Yesterday, I finally got all caught up in Once Upon a Time. On the one hand, I kind of like where this series is going and I certainly think it's probably one of the better post-curse directions it could have taken, but on the other hand, people are actually legitimately, completely dying. Last season, they saved that for the mid-season finale and I was so pissed then when the Huntsman died. In fact, it was several weeks before I stopped watching only to see if he was going to come back to life (we are talking fairy tales here...)
Anything else to talk about? I'm sure I could dig up some animal story or a small little happenstance (like my sting-style shoe-buying mission). But I think I'll call it a night (on the writing front, at least). It's probably a bit shorter than normal, but I haven't been up to much.
Things to look forward to: Nothing on TV until next Sunday, and then Monday, I'm going on a hike with some friends. Yay for Monday's hike! Wherever we end up going...
THIS JUST IN: I have (after countless google searches) FINALLY found a date for the new season of Psych. And it's it February. The end of February. On the one hand, it's nice to finally know, but on the other... February feels so far away. It's next year and everything. If the world does end in December, I'm never going to get to see it!
I've pretty much given up on Revolution; I'm a week or two behind. Or, at least I was. I did sit through the latest episode, but that was only so I could have the TV; I was in a Castle kind of mood.
So, Castle. I think it's getting back on track, if Monday's episode was any indication. There was a bit of wit and stupidity, mixing in together for that dry sense of humor. The ending felt a little forced, but not completely arbitrary. The Police Chief was probably the worst part of the episode; he was obviously overdone. The Esposito-Ryan subplot as they try to discover who Beckett's mysterious new boyfriend is felt very well done (especially the big reveal); unfortunately, it doesn't quite line up with previous episodes where you get the sense that they have a pretty good idea that something is going on. As a stand-alone, Castle (the show, not the character) is back; when fit in with the rest of the season, it isn't quite meshing yet. Still, a good step forward and I'm looking forward to next week.
Dancing With The Stars. Bristol is gone, which really isn't a bad thing. Kirtsie's dance was a lot of fun, but my favorites this week have to go to either the disco or the mambo. There were a few other dances I might have enjoyed if I didn't actively dislike the style of dance they had to do (i.e. Hip Hop and Contemporary). It was an interesting week and I really look forward to "guilty pleasures" for next week...
Yesterday, I finally got all caught up in Once Upon a Time. On the one hand, I kind of like where this series is going and I certainly think it's probably one of the better post-curse directions it could have taken, but on the other hand, people are actually legitimately, completely dying. Last season, they saved that for the mid-season finale and I was so pissed then when the Huntsman died. In fact, it was several weeks before I stopped watching only to see if he was going to come back to life (we are talking fairy tales here...)
Anything else to talk about? I'm sure I could dig up some animal story or a small little happenstance (like my sting-style shoe-buying mission). But I think I'll call it a night (on the writing front, at least). It's probably a bit shorter than normal, but I haven't been up to much.
Things to look forward to: Nothing on TV until next Sunday, and then Monday, I'm going on a hike with some friends. Yay for Monday's hike! Wherever we end up going...
THIS JUST IN: I have (after countless google searches) FINALLY found a date for the new season of Psych. And it's it February. The end of February. On the one hand, it's nice to finally know, but on the other... February feels so far away. It's next year and everything. If the world does end in December, I'm never going to get to see it!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Party and Movies
Yesterday was pretty much awesome. The Packers destroyed the previously-undefeated Texans, but to be honest, I wasn't even paying much attention to the game after a while, since it felt so one-sided and I was surrounded by friends I haven't seen in ages.
I totally geeked-out on my gifts, too. A pan to make superhero-shaped mini-cakes, an R2-D2 spatula, a birthday card the recites the Green Lantern Oath (which was probably designed with an elementary school boy in mind...) and the final two Blu-Rays needed to complete my Avengers collection (Iron Man 2 and Thor). And you know I watch Thor yesterday, and made sure I made it at least through my favorite scene (let's go shirtless superheros!)...
And after the party was over, I got my mom and brother to Wal-mart so I could buy a new SD card for my camera. My previous SD card was older than my 6-year-old camera, a 128mb hand-me-down from my Mom when she got a new camera for herself. (They don't even make them that small anymore...) And before I went to pay, I hunted down the $5 Dive Bin for DVDs. Sometimes you can find some really good stuff in there; that's how I got Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It was, hands down, the best Dive Bin ever. By the time I had 8 DVDs in my hands, I started being selective about which ones I even grabbed for later review. At the end, there were 11 DVDs that, had they been in any other dive bin, I would have bought, no questions asked. And that's after I handed 2 to Jake that I thought stood a better chance of making the final cut with him than with me. But they were all in the same bin on the same day. I told myself I'd get five, but when I got down to picking out the last one, I couldn't bear to put either of the last two "competitives" back, so I bought six. I'm calling it my birthday present from my grandmothers. So, what did I get? Alien, The Fifth Element, Guess Who, Men in Black and Men in Black 2, and Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 version with Keira Knightley). And the two Jake got that I would have bought on another day? Logan's Run and Young Frankenstein. And both of us were dropping a lot of good movies. I have to find a new place for my video games; my DVD rack is now too full of my DVDs and Blue-Rays to house them anymore...
I totally geeked-out on my gifts, too. A pan to make superhero-shaped mini-cakes, an R2-D2 spatula, a birthday card the recites the Green Lantern Oath (which was probably designed with an elementary school boy in mind...) and the final two Blu-Rays needed to complete my Avengers collection (Iron Man 2 and Thor). And you know I watch Thor yesterday, and made sure I made it at least through my favorite scene (let's go shirtless superheros!)...
And after the party was over, I got my mom and brother to Wal-mart so I could buy a new SD card for my camera. My previous SD card was older than my 6-year-old camera, a 128mb hand-me-down from my Mom when she got a new camera for herself. (They don't even make them that small anymore...) And before I went to pay, I hunted down the $5 Dive Bin for DVDs. Sometimes you can find some really good stuff in there; that's how I got Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It was, hands down, the best Dive Bin ever. By the time I had 8 DVDs in my hands, I started being selective about which ones I even grabbed for later review. At the end, there were 11 DVDs that, had they been in any other dive bin, I would have bought, no questions asked. And that's after I handed 2 to Jake that I thought stood a better chance of making the final cut with him than with me. But they were all in the same bin on the same day. I told myself I'd get five, but when I got down to picking out the last one, I couldn't bear to put either of the last two "competitives" back, so I bought six. I'm calling it my birthday present from my grandmothers. So, what did I get? Alien, The Fifth Element, Guess Who, Men in Black and Men in Black 2, and Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 version with Keira Knightley). And the two Jake got that I would have bought on another day? Logan's Run and Young Frankenstein. And both of us were dropping a lot of good movies. I have to find a new place for my video games; my DVD rack is now too full of my DVDs and Blue-Rays to house them anymore...
Friday, October 12, 2012
Queen Beth's Birthday Hike!
I absolutely loved my new Camel Bak and hiking shoes. Trail Runners were the right way to go if I wanted lightweight shoes to do short hikes in. I had plenty of pockets for everything: the guidebook, the car key, my cell phone, my special nut-free trail mix. And it was so nice to be able to take a sip of water whenever I felt like it without having to stop and dig a bottle out of someone's bag. I really think that contributed to the feeling that it wasn't too hard of a hike. Usually, I find constant change of elevation very hard to do, but I was doing switchbacks climbing down thigh-high drops with no problems. I highly recommend some sort of Camel Bak or a knockoff to anyone who plans on hiking even semi-regularly. I really think it make a difference.
Now if only there were a way to get an easily accessible camera without hanging it around my neck... Mom kept digging it out of the back of my bag, which in some ways is good. Our 2-hour hike resulted in 50 pictures, and it probably would have been triple that if I had had my camera in my hand (or a short reach away) the entire time. (Mom said I need a smaller camera, but I love mine and refuse to replace it; it's 6 years old and when I pull it out, people still say it's a good camera.) It's hard to stop taking pictures, though. I don't go on hikes for the views, or to experience nature, but it's hard not to notice the natural beauty around you. I would have added "when you live in Hawaii" but I'm sure everywhere has amazing views. Otherwise, why would people hike? Sure, there's the "I did it!" and "exercise" excuses, but I think without beautiful views of nature, hiking as a sport would not exist. Besides that, there's certainly beauty in everything God created.
Movies and Superwoman!
I have not been keeping up with TV at all. I've been a bit busy. So,
what have I been doing? Well, Wednesday, I was out all morning (hiking
and tracking down food) and then I had a movie to watch for my Film
& Lit class and a movie I just wanted to see. Thursday, I was in
class all day and then spent over 2 hours getting home afterwards; I was
absolutely exhausted and ended up crashing just after 10. Today, I
woke up, got caught up on manga, watched a few special features on my
new DVD and then just got home from a crazy night at work (where I
discovered my least favorite co-worker is Super Woman).
Let's work our way backwards through my stories. The first: the story of Super Woman. From about 7:05 (I know the time because my break got cut short) until about 8:15, we were slammed. Two-people-up-front, running-around, constant-line, run-out-of-meats-and-breads slammed. And when we were finished, there were sink-fulls (note the plural) of empty dishes. In the 45 minutes between the end of the rush and closing, my co-worker washed well over 2 sink-fulls of dishes, swept and mopped the lobby and behind the line and took out the trash. I may be Queen Beth at Subway, but she is freaking Super Woman. I expected us to be there until quarter till 10, or at least 9:30, but she walked out the door with the very last bag of trash (which I usually take out) at 9:05 and I was locking the front door 15 minutes later. She may annoy the heck out of me most of the time, but there is no one I would rather work with on a night like tonight than her.
For my birthday, my little brothers bought me The Avengers on Blu-Ray. :) Okay, so I wasn't surprised (I mean, shoot, I sent Jake a text from Wal-Mart the day it came out letting him know it was there already). But I enjoyed it immensely. And the deleted scenes were a lot of fun, too. A lot. Watching the movie was a great way to finish my birthday. After my third watch-through, I've made a couple of guesses about the future of the series, but I think I'll wait until the movies come out before I talk about them (or at least until I've watched the movies a few more times...)
Before that, though, I had to finally sit through Blade Runner. Okay, I'm a sci-fi geek. My movie collection has only 3 chick flicks and 10 sci-fis (counting Firefly the TV series as 1 and not counting my superhero movies). That's a 3:1 ratio. The only thing I have more of is fantasy and that's only because I have several series. I watch more science fiction on TV or in theaters than anything else (in fact, the last two years have been odd TV-wise since I'm watching so little sci-fi). And on the rare occasion I go to Blockbuster, I walk out with a classic sci-fi movie. I even did a huge paper on dystopic sci-fi movies two years ago. And yet, despite the fact that there are three copies of Blade Runner in my house, I have never sat through it. Oh, I've started it a few times, but I just didn't like it. If it hadn't been for school, I probably would have never sat past the part where Roy slowly and calmly pushes in Tyrell's eyeballs until he dies. Uuuggghhhh! The violence in Blade Runner is done so calmly, quietly, and by such human people despite that. When describing why I didn't like it, I found myself referring to Alien, which has the same director. Both movies are futuristic science fiction that have a lot to do with humanity and robots; both are dark, almost fatalistic. But Blade Runner has such deliberate, slow violence, while Alien, sure, there's a part where the alien literally pops out of the one guy's stomach, and there's blood everywhere, but then that's it. The violence is quick and mostly in the shadows. There's no slo-mo as a woman gets shot three times and crashes through windows, her red blood trailing down the inside of the see-through rain jacket. I just can't handle that. I can tell you I am probably never sitting through Blade Runner again.
Alright. I think that's enough (especially since I want some pics when I talk about my hike, so I'll do that as a separate entry...
Let's work our way backwards through my stories. The first: the story of Super Woman. From about 7:05 (I know the time because my break got cut short) until about 8:15, we were slammed. Two-people-up-front, running-around, constant-line, run-out-of-meats-and-breads slammed. And when we were finished, there were sink-fulls (note the plural) of empty dishes. In the 45 minutes between the end of the rush and closing, my co-worker washed well over 2 sink-fulls of dishes, swept and mopped the lobby and behind the line and took out the trash. I may be Queen Beth at Subway, but she is freaking Super Woman. I expected us to be there until quarter till 10, or at least 9:30, but she walked out the door with the very last bag of trash (which I usually take out) at 9:05 and I was locking the front door 15 minutes later. She may annoy the heck out of me most of the time, but there is no one I would rather work with on a night like tonight than her.
For my birthday, my little brothers bought me The Avengers on Blu-Ray. :) Okay, so I wasn't surprised (I mean, shoot, I sent Jake a text from Wal-Mart the day it came out letting him know it was there already). But I enjoyed it immensely. And the deleted scenes were a lot of fun, too. A lot. Watching the movie was a great way to finish my birthday. After my third watch-through, I've made a couple of guesses about the future of the series, but I think I'll wait until the movies come out before I talk about them (or at least until I've watched the movies a few more times...)
Before that, though, I had to finally sit through Blade Runner. Okay, I'm a sci-fi geek. My movie collection has only 3 chick flicks and 10 sci-fis (counting Firefly the TV series as 1 and not counting my superhero movies). That's a 3:1 ratio. The only thing I have more of is fantasy and that's only because I have several series. I watch more science fiction on TV or in theaters than anything else (in fact, the last two years have been odd TV-wise since I'm watching so little sci-fi). And on the rare occasion I go to Blockbuster, I walk out with a classic sci-fi movie. I even did a huge paper on dystopic sci-fi movies two years ago. And yet, despite the fact that there are three copies of Blade Runner in my house, I have never sat through it. Oh, I've started it a few times, but I just didn't like it. If it hadn't been for school, I probably would have never sat past the part where Roy slowly and calmly pushes in Tyrell's eyeballs until he dies. Uuuggghhhh! The violence in Blade Runner is done so calmly, quietly, and by such human people despite that. When describing why I didn't like it, I found myself referring to Alien, which has the same director. Both movies are futuristic science fiction that have a lot to do with humanity and robots; both are dark, almost fatalistic. But Blade Runner has such deliberate, slow violence, while Alien, sure, there's a part where the alien literally pops out of the one guy's stomach, and there's blood everywhere, but then that's it. The violence is quick and mostly in the shadows. There's no slo-mo as a woman gets shot three times and crashes through windows, her red blood trailing down the inside of the see-through rain jacket. I just can't handle that. I can tell you I am probably never sitting through Blade Runner again.
Alright. I think that's enough (especially since I want some pics when I talk about my hike, so I'll do that as a separate entry...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Too Busy for TV
Of this week's shows, all I've seen is Dancing with the Stars and New Girl. And I admit that the only reason I watched DwtS is because I've kind of gotten my mom hooked on it, so she's all "You don't want to watch Dancing with the Stars?" Monday when I get home from work and doesn't stop any time I sit down in front of the TV until we watch it. Which is kind of nice. Sure, a majority of my shows are still just things I watch, but having something that someone else wants to watch with me is fun, especially a show like that. Most of my other shows I can at least talk about them after the fact with one of my friends.
Today is my birthday, which we make into a big deal in my family. You get to chose the menu, don't have to do any chores, get breakfast in bed, and, of course, presents. I asked for this day off of work months ago, and since it's a Wednesday, I'm class-free, too. So, how do I want to spend this day that's all about me? I'm making my mom take me on a hike and I'm using all my brand-new hiking gear. Maybe 2 weeks after I broke my ankle, I found an amazing deal on a pair of shoes for hiking (half-off a pair of higher end shoes, which made them cheaper than the lower-end ones I'd gone to the store to price) and I finally get to use them (the 30 min walk around the neighborhood to make sure the supported my foot and ankle doesn't count). And for my birthday today, I got a brand new purple Camelbak L.U.X.E. and some hiking socks designer for warmer climates. Score! So I'm going out, I'm hopefully doing all seven miles and I am giving my virgin gear a break-in!
Today is my birthday, which we make into a big deal in my family. You get to chose the menu, don't have to do any chores, get breakfast in bed, and, of course, presents. I asked for this day off of work months ago, and since it's a Wednesday, I'm class-free, too. So, how do I want to spend this day that's all about me? I'm making my mom take me on a hike and I'm using all my brand-new hiking gear. Maybe 2 weeks after I broke my ankle, I found an amazing deal on a pair of shoes for hiking (half-off a pair of higher end shoes, which made them cheaper than the lower-end ones I'd gone to the store to price) and I finally get to use them (the 30 min walk around the neighborhood to make sure the supported my foot and ankle doesn't count). And for my birthday today, I got a brand new purple Camelbak L.U.X.E. and some hiking socks designer for warmer climates. Score! So I'm going out, I'm hopefully doing all seven miles and I am giving my virgin gear a break-in!
Friday, October 5, 2012
A Little Bit of Ketchup
Please ignore the totally lame pun in the entry title. It's almost midnight where I am, I had a long, hard night at work, I spent the last hour calming myself down after a crying fit and I'm back on pain meds for my ankle.
Today's topics: My Birthday disappointment; Thoughts on Castle: Cloudy With a Chance of Murder, Revolution: No Quarter, and New Girl: Fluffer
Today's topics: My Birthday disappointment; Thoughts on Castle: Cloudy With a Chance of Murder, Revolution: No Quarter, and New Girl: Fluffer
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Rambling from the Sleep-Deprived Mind
Today, I'll start off with my wake-up call. Okay, it wasn't really a call, but when my cat rolled over and fell off the bed this morning, it certainly woke me up, with a laugh. I have got to have the most uncoordinated cat ever. My story: she has to be cross-eyed. There is no way a perfectly healthy cat can be so klutzy unless there is something wrong with her vision. When I got home from school, I wasn't so happy with her. She'd left a little, accidental "present" just inside my bedroom door. And at the top of the stairs. And outside the bathroom I share with my brother. I know I should feel bad, because she's obviously not feeling well, but those messes were sitting there for hours because no one comes upstairs during the day and I had a hard time cleaning them up. According to my mom, she left a present at the bottom of the stairs, too, but my mom saw that mess earlier and got it up no problems.
And now to school: It's really amazing how fast I can churn out a paper when given the right incentive: usually, a deadline that looms closer by the hour. Take today for example. My first class today, I had a 10ish-page paper due on Othello and King Lear. I had from Thursday evening when I got home until Monday night to complete this paper. Did I work on it? Not until two hours before I had to go to work on Monday. I finished a page and a half before leaving. You'd think that all those pages would be haunting my entire shift, especially since it was such a slow night, but most of the night, I was able to forget it completely. And then I got home. I just knew I would be up until 2 am or later, finishing up my paper. 10:45, 11:15, 12:00. Before 1 am, I had written a total of nine-and-a-half pages, found legitimate sources to back up what I already knew (and some dates I found on Wikipedia), and had gone through my paper and carefully cited every quote and anything else that needed it. I'm sure it's not my best work, but based on previous last-minute papers, I'm guessing a B. Maybe a C. But hopefully a B. Since the teacher said "Just use something legitimate" when asked which style of citations we should use, I'm pretty sure I won't get burned there (and that's where I was most sloppy). I'm thinking, I probably spent a grand total of three-and-a-half hours on it, not counting breaks and the like. And then I was able to even squeeze six hours of sleep in before I had to get up and tackle my day. Score one for the English major!
Of course, by the end of my day today, I was completely exhausted. I just CANNOT mess with my carefully constructed sleep-habits without it biting me in the butt, and staying up late and then sleeping in does not make for a good night of sleep. Well, not a good morning, at least. I had six hours I could have slept, but the last hour or so was more dozing then sleeping, and that does me more harm than good. I know, I know, it's pitiful, especially for a college student, but that's the way I am. I've always needed more sleep than my contemporaries; I don't need any more sleep than I did growing up, but while others have been able to whittle down their time sleeping, I've stayed basically the same. And so while others talk of only an hour or two of sleep, I'm yawning and losing focus when I've had five hours of good sleep. So, when I finally got home from school (walking a mile instead of calling for a ride was probably not the best thing for me to do, as tired as I was), I had energy to eat, wash a few dishes, take care of my poor cat, and watch Dancing with the Stars.
Yesterday was quick-step and the jive, two of my favorite dances to watch. But until Apolo Ohno came out on the floor, I felt like they were a little flat or, in the case of Bristol Palin, not even the right dance. My favorite dances were the two Olympians. Apolo's was the first dance that really felt energetic and fun and the footwork was absolutely awesome, from what I could see. And I must admit that I loved the song Shawn Johnson danced to, which made the entire thing feel more fun than it might have to a different tune. Future reference, it's much easier to skip through the results show if I just watched the competition one. I admit I expected Bristol to survive this week, but I expected her to at least be in jeopardy. Once you had the bottom three couples, though, I pretty much knew Joey "from N*Sync" would go. He has got to have one of the best attitudes I've seen about getting the boot, although I admit I've watched maybe three seasons and the first season or two I watched were six, seven years ago. Looking forward to next week.
Tomorrows Goals:
Acts 1 and 2 of As You Like It
Revolution, Castle and New Girl
And now to school: It's really amazing how fast I can churn out a paper when given the right incentive: usually, a deadline that looms closer by the hour. Take today for example. My first class today, I had a 10ish-page paper due on Othello and King Lear. I had from Thursday evening when I got home until Monday night to complete this paper. Did I work on it? Not until two hours before I had to go to work on Monday. I finished a page and a half before leaving. You'd think that all those pages would be haunting my entire shift, especially since it was such a slow night, but most of the night, I was able to forget it completely. And then I got home. I just knew I would be up until 2 am or later, finishing up my paper. 10:45, 11:15, 12:00. Before 1 am, I had written a total of nine-and-a-half pages, found legitimate sources to back up what I already knew (and some dates I found on Wikipedia), and had gone through my paper and carefully cited every quote and anything else that needed it. I'm sure it's not my best work, but based on previous last-minute papers, I'm guessing a B. Maybe a C. But hopefully a B. Since the teacher said "Just use something legitimate" when asked which style of citations we should use, I'm pretty sure I won't get burned there (and that's where I was most sloppy). I'm thinking, I probably spent a grand total of three-and-a-half hours on it, not counting breaks and the like. And then I was able to even squeeze six hours of sleep in before I had to get up and tackle my day. Score one for the English major!
Of course, by the end of my day today, I was completely exhausted. I just CANNOT mess with my carefully constructed sleep-habits without it biting me in the butt, and staying up late and then sleeping in does not make for a good night of sleep. Well, not a good morning, at least. I had six hours I could have slept, but the last hour or so was more dozing then sleeping, and that does me more harm than good. I know, I know, it's pitiful, especially for a college student, but that's the way I am. I've always needed more sleep than my contemporaries; I don't need any more sleep than I did growing up, but while others have been able to whittle down their time sleeping, I've stayed basically the same. And so while others talk of only an hour or two of sleep, I'm yawning and losing focus when I've had five hours of good sleep. So, when I finally got home from school (walking a mile instead of calling for a ride was probably not the best thing for me to do, as tired as I was), I had energy to eat, wash a few dishes, take care of my poor cat, and watch Dancing with the Stars.
Yesterday was quick-step and the jive, two of my favorite dances to watch. But until Apolo Ohno came out on the floor, I felt like they were a little flat or, in the case of Bristol Palin, not even the right dance. My favorite dances were the two Olympians. Apolo's was the first dance that really felt energetic and fun and the footwork was absolutely awesome, from what I could see. And I must admit that I loved the song Shawn Johnson danced to, which made the entire thing feel more fun than it might have to a different tune. Future reference, it's much easier to skip through the results show if I just watched the competition one. I admit I expected Bristol to survive this week, but I expected her to at least be in jeopardy. Once you had the bottom three couples, though, I pretty much knew Joey "from N*Sync" would go. He has got to have one of the best attitudes I've seen about getting the boot, although I admit I've watched maybe three seasons and the first season or two I watched were six, seven years ago. Looking forward to next week.
Tomorrows Goals:
Acts 1 and 2 of As You Like It
Revolution, Castle and New Girl
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