Do you believe in ghosts?

Okay, I think I've gotten WAY too into Ghost Hunters or something.  Not that I've been watching it all that much lately, but I've been thinking about ghosts and the paranormal a lot lately (at least since I started DVR-ing the show).  But let's be honest: it really doesn't take much for me to get into it.  When I was away at school, I watched it all the time and it was one of the first shows I thought to record once our cable provider changed and we got DVR.  And some of the stuff you see on that show...

I don't believe in ghosts, at least not in the traditional sense.  I don't think people's spirits hang around here after they die.  But I most certainly believe in the paranormal and things science cannot, and will possibly never, be able to explain.  There is something out there beyond what our five senses show us and I think it can sometimes affect our physical environment.  What it is, I couldn't say.  But I would very much like to experience it at least once.  Maybe I need to get a job as a tour guide at some old historical landmark or something...

COMING SOON... (well, soon-ish)

I have not gotten a good night's sleep yet this week, and it's already Thursday. Last week, my computer broke. Cost-less-to-just-replace-it broke. It's currently rigged to several other sources so it can limp along until I can afford a new one. Last night, I got into a yelling-fight with my coworker, only the second time I've ever done that in my life. And the worst part about it is that I know she'll be telling everybody about it before I get back to work on Friday; that is what she did when she got into a fight with Linda two weeks ago. Let's just say that my life has been crazy and wrap this up here.

But thanks to the awesomeness known as "Hulu Plus" and "PS3" I am still managing to keep up with a few of my favorite TV shows: shows like Castle, Psych, New Girl and Once Upon A Time. While I have things to say about all these shows (glossing over the engagement ring was not cool, Psych), I think I can certainly talk the most about Once Upon A Time. And that is exactly what I'd like to do. So I am going to start what will be known as "The Rumpelstiltskin Files" where I go all Lit-Analysis on some aspects of the show. I'm going to try to post a little article at least once a week, culminating in my favorite issue over Spring Break (the last week of March): Rumpelstiltskin (hence: The Rumpelstiltskin Files).

Some of the issues I plan on exploring are:
Narrator interference
Good and evil
Girl power
and a reconstructed timeliness of events from beginning (in the fairy tale world) to the end (in our world)

Aida

Tuesday, I ran into a very interesting bit of culture and how I ended up there is a story in itself. It all started Monday night when I got a text from my best friend, Leigh. Her step-mom was sick and didn't think she'd be up to the Broadway play that they had bought tickets to a few months ago so Leigh asked me if I wanted her step-mom's ticket. My only question was how to get home afterwards. We discussed appropriate dress (jeans and a nice shirt, advised by her Dad who had been to Broadway shows before out here where Hawaii-casual reigns everywhere) and then said good night. Tuesday morning, I woke up earlier than usual so I would have time to get ready, put on a knee-length blue-jean skirt complete with nylons and walked around all day in my favorite high-heeled shoes. I felt ridiculously over dressed, especially when I found out Leigh was wearing jeans and flip-flops. She teased me mercilessly over the heels, until she got a text from her Dad asking her to unload his ticket as well. She spent the rest of the day asking everyone she even kind of knew to take it. We finally convinced my brother, who has no fondness for musicals, to use it, but only with the help of my Dad (who thinks James needs a social life).

As we're walking up the block, trying to figure out exactly which building at the Blaisdell Center our show is, we notice a group of people gathered outside, so we walk over and discover it's a lecture on opera. We half-listen for a few minutes and then continue on our way, turn the corner and find something completely unexpected.

There's a large crowd milling around; most people are our grandparents age at least, although there are a few younger people. And me, who had felt overdressed all day, I suddenly find myself severely under-dressed. Men are wearing three-piece suits (I didn't even know men who lived in Hawaii owned three-piece suits) and some of the women have on ball gowns. Sure, there were a few other people as under-dressed as Leigh and I, but we had to actively look for them. And that's when we realized we had tickets for Aida the Opera, not Aida the Broadway musical based off of the opera.

A Bit of a Lot

It's been a while since my first (and last) post, so I thought I'd try to put up something. I've been busy lately with school work (trying to avoid it) and my job (unavoidable) so I haven't had time for much of anything else. Or, I wouldn't if it wasn't for the 15+ hours a week I spend on city buses and hanging out at bus stops. Instead of buying new books for my kindle, though, I've been rereading old favorites instead; the last two or three days I've been reading books by Karen Witemeyer. It started with Head in the Clouds, which I love probably because I identify with the main character so much. I mean, really. She almost falls off a porch because she's too busy reading to look where she's going and we all know I've never done that before. Well, maybe not a porch, but... And then, I was so enamored by the book (which I would like to point out I've already read multiple times) that I downloaded A Tailor-Made Bride by the same author, which I have also already read more than once. I'm almost finished with it, but one particular scene put me in mind with another favorite churf* title, so I already have The Measure of a Lady (by someone else) downloaded and ready to go. Thank God I'm simply downloading books I already own and not buying these things one right after another; it's no wonder I always end up spending too much money on books!

The only other thing I can think of that I did purely for entertainment purposes was I watched an episode of Castle on Hulu. I really want to just sit down for a couple hours one day and catch up on all my shows on there...

Anyway, this weekend, I'm really going to push myself to get decently ahead in school (somewhere in the two-week range) so I can take it a bit easier on homework during the week and have time to watch TV shows on Hulu and read books when I'm not on a bus. We'll see how well that plan works out...

*Christian-Historical-Romantic-Fiction with a u thrown in to add a vowel

Sergeant York

Today, I watched Sergeant York (illegally) for my American Lit class. Not my usual bill of fare at all. First off, it's one of those old movies with dozens of awards that everyone should see. I almost never agree with the critics who tell you those things. Second, it's a war movie (kind of). In fact, I think it would be safe to say that if I hadn't had to watch it for English, I wouldn't have watched it at all. Still, it was a decent movie, even if it did move a little (okay, a lot) slow. I mean, I kinda knew the whole plot before I started the movie (Wikipedia is my friend). So, I knew he'd become what would today be called a "born again Christian" and not want to go to war because of it, go to war, perform admirably and then come back home. It was an hour into the movie and he just found God. An hour! So, yeah. Think I liked it better than Citizen Kane (which I also had to watch for American Lit, but that was watched in-class). It's done now, and I still have reading from the textbook to do for my religions class (which is tomorrow! Help!).