Christmas Time is Here

December has finally arrived. The time when listening to Christmas music is socially acceptable, Christmas movies start playing on TV and my favorite holiday month begins.

Yes, my favorite holiday is Christmas.

But it’s not all about the presents (though they are pretty neat). What I really love about this season [warning: extreme cheesiness/cliché] is the Christmas Spirit.

You know when it starts getting really cold and the air smells like snow? If I could stand outside smelling that for hours without being in danger of losing my exposed skin to frostbite, I would.

My mother and I will go out of our way to drive by the houses with the prettiest Christmas lights on our way home and as soon as my sister and I get out of school for Winter Break (I’ll come back to my opinion on that name later) we start our annual, nightly drives around town to look at lights.

I begin listening to Christmas music the first of November and usually don’t stop until sometime in mid-January. Yes. I am aware of how insane that sounds, but I can’t help it—I am insane.

One of my friends thinks that all things Christmas should be taboo until the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I know others are the same way, but I disagree. She says that by putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving is sinful because you’re basically snubbing Thanksgiving. I say that Thanksgiving is not that great of a holiday in the first place because I mean just think, the two things that Thanksgiving advocates are gluttony and laziness. What do most typical American families do to celebrate on the third Thursday of November? They eat too much food and watch football.

Christmas deserves more attention because it is the more meaningful holiday. I mean when you think about the actual history behind Thanksgiving you come to the realization that it wasn’t really as wonderful as your Elementary teachers made it out to be… See, the Indians did not openly welcome the Pilgrims and just start teaching them how to farm because they were not successful farmers in the new land. Truth is, the Pilgrims weren’t successful because they were lazy. Most of them didn’t even try to farm; they preferred to steal the Indians’ crops. Eventually the Indians and Pilgrims did share a meal, but that didn’t change the Pilgrims’ view of the Indians. The Pilgrims still thought that they were superior to the Indians and the relationship between the two groups did not really improve because of this dinner.

You know what else? They didn’t even eat Turkey at the original dinner—just another thing that adults lie to kids about.

The worst part is that most people don’t even know that they’re not telling kids the real story and the ones who don’t choose not to tell the kids because they don’t think it makes a very good story/lesson.

At least Santa was invented to bring joy to children; Thanksgiving has never exactly filled me with hope and glee.

Anyway, I guess what I’m really trying to say is that the Christmas season isn’t long enough, but I understand why it has to be this way. I mean if everyone celebrated Christmas for three straight months like I do, then it wouldn’t be nearly as meaningful and special.

As much I anticipate the arrival of December 25th, I’m almost sad when it comes because it means that the magic of the season is almost over…



Fun Fact: Jesus Christ was actually born sometime in July; we celebrate his birthday on December 25th because Christians needed a holiday to replace an old Pagan one at the same time.

This is Me...Actually, it's Charlie

I could spend this whole blog post complaining about schoolwork, but that seems to be the only thing I’ve been doing lately, so I’ll talk about more positive things.

For example, I decided to take a short YouTube break from my homework last Saturday. I watched the latest video from Charlie McDonnell and figured out the first thing that I am putting on my Christmas Wish List: Charlie’s first album.

Well, technically it isn’t the first album that he’s ever been involved in, but it is his first solo album! I was so excited to hear that he was finally making his music available for purchase because I tried to by his music last year and couldn’t find them, which made me really upset.

I could just go and buy the music off of iTunes right now, but instead I am going to pre-order a CD from his website. “Why?” you ask? Well, I could explain everything to you, but instead I will just direct you to Charlie’s blog and you can find out for yourself. (For those too lazy to click on a link and read another blog post, it’s basically because it looks super cool, it’s his very first solo album and where the song lyrics are supposed to be on the inside pamphlet he just wrote about himself.)

As a bonus to the wonderful CD, I really want to order the Cloning Charlie and This is Me Bundle because then not only do I get the fabulous CD, but I also get the Cloning Charlie shirt, which is a reference to one of Charlie’s other YouTube videos.

I probably seem like such a totally fan-girl/nerd for all this, but I don’t really care. I will wear the Cloning Charlie shirt proudly, assuming that dear Saint Nicholas is kind enough to pre-order me the bundle. ☺

My goodness… this post is unusually short. I apologize. I suppose I just have less to say when I force myself to be relatively optimistic. Huh. That really says a lot about my personality. Anyway, you should all go and pre-order Charlie’s CD, or at least buy the songs on iTunes, or, at the very least, go and watch his videos so that you can hear the songs-- they're amazing.

It's hard to beat an adorable British guy singing and playing the ukulele.

http://tinyurl.com/CharlieMerchandise ---> Go here to buy his CD/t-shirts!










(Click on the title of this blog and it will take you to Charlie's Blog about the Youtube video/his album!)

Drowning in My Own Enjoyment

So I realize that it's been nearly a month since I've last blogged, but I have a good excuse! (Sort of...) I've been drowning in the deadly mixture of the insane IB workload, choir, and the musical (Into the Woods for the more forgetful readers). This combination wasn't nearly as bad when we first started musical rehearsals, but now as we're approaching opening night, which is this Thursday, I will basically be living up at my school. You see, I get to school at like seven in the morning because I my zero-hour class starts at 7:15. (The normally school day begins at 8:20.)Then I go to all my classes and at the end of the day I have Junior Release seventh period and then right after school I usually have choir practice. After choir I would normally get to go home for at least an hour and a half before I returned the school for ITW rehearsal at seven, but this week that is sadly not the case.

Starting today, the school is my new home. I have rehearsal from one until whenever our director lets us leave, which is estimated to be around seven PM. Then tomorrow we have rehearsal from one to four, but I'll have to get there early and won't be ready to leave until probably an hour after rehearsal is over.
Then starting Monday I don't even get to go home after school; I will go straight from choir practice to the Green Room to begin putting on my make-up and costume so that we can start dress rehearsal as soon as possible, and I probably won't get home until like 11PM. That schedule applies through Wednesday. Then on we open on Thursday, so I won't get home until probably 12PM or somewhere close to there, and this applies to Friday, Saturday, Monday the 1st and Tuesday the 2nd. (Sunday we have a matinee so I'll get home around 5PM.)

Where does homework fit into all this madness? I have no idea. That's what I'm currently trying to figure out. I am at a loss as to how I am ever going to get all my schoolwork done this week without a scenario that involves me pulling all-nighters. And seeing as I am not a Night Owl, that would not be a valid option.

The worst part about all this is that I am losing my mind. Mind you, that was sort of already a problem for me, but it's getting increasingly worse as the weeks progress. But there are a few bright, shining beacons of light that give me the will to live:

1. The musical. Even though it is the main cause of all my stress right now it's what I love to do- perform.

2. Madrigals, the choir I have during class. Another source of stress, but not as a large a contributor as the musical and homework. Plus, music is my life, so I don't really hate all the work... I actually really, really enjoy having to go home to sing through a difficult Whitacre piece five-thousand time just so I can struggle through class the next day because I know that, in the end, our choir is going to sound so incredible when we sing the song. Right now we're singing "i thank You God for most this amazing day" by Eric Whitacre and it so beautiful. Well, all Whitacre pieces are fabulous, but I really like this one.

3. Super Smash Brothers. Okay, so this one most likely seems really random to you and you're probably wondering when I even have time in my hectic schedule to even play SSB... Well, as I mentioned early, I have Junior Release seventh period, which means that I don't have class, but since I don't have my license I can't leave, go home, and then come back for rehearsal, so I chill in the choir room. More specifically, I go into one of the practice rooms and play SSB with some of the choir boys on a TV someone brought in.

In case any of you care, or even know what I'm talking about, I play as Roy. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I play as an awesome ginger with a sword.

The best part about playing SSB is that I have gotten A LOT better since I first started playing at the beginning of this year. I can actually beat a lot of the guys who play, which is a good thing because that's basically the only reason I'm allowed in that room anymore. See, a month ago they had to go from playing a projector in the copy room to playing on a smaller TV in a dinky practice room. The main problem being that the practice room cannot hold as many people as the copy room could, so in order to conserve space the boys decided that girls were no longer allowed in GameCube room. This was upsetting to me because I really like to play, but thankfully one of my friends would still let me play during seventh. This was good because the play time runs into the beginning of after school rehearsal, so all the guys that came in to play right after school would come and I eventually got to the point where I could beat most of them, so now I am pretty much the only girl allowed to play- it's great.

If you're interested in hearing the Whitacre Madrigals is singing listen to this:



My choir is going to sound a lot better, not that I'm biased in any way, but it's still a nice rendition to listen to.

The Versus Debate (Episode One)

It's Friday and I don't really feel like thinking too much about a good subject to discuss so I figure I'll just use this blog to play a little game I like to call (as of ten seconds ago) "The Versus Debate!"... Actually I can't really come up with a good name, so I just sort of threw that out there so it would be less random, which didn't exactly work.

Anyway, the way this works is that I am going to tell you some of my preferences when it comes to brand name things, and some other stuff, that people often argue about (like PC's vs. Macs).

Okay well hopefully you all understand the gist of what's about to happen; I realize that explanation wasn't the easiest to comprehend, but I have faith in your general level of intelligence.

1, 2, 3, GO!

1. (I'll go ahead and answer the example I gave.) PC's or Macs

I am definitely a PC girl; Macs are incredibly confusing and, despite what many people believe, they are not very user-friendly. At least not to me... Now don't get me wrong, I love other Apple products, especially the iTouch- I just don't like their computers.

2. Coke or Pepsi

DR. PEPPER! The reason I didn't say Coke vs. DP/Pepsi vs. DP is that most people never include DP when talking about the best soft drinks, which is just upsetting because it truly is the greatest soda known to man. If you have never had the Dublin Dr. Pepper (with the real pure cane sugar) then you should go buy some right now. Well, wait until you finish reading my blog, THEN go and by some real DP.

3. Walmart or Target

I have to say Target. The reason being that Walmart is always packed with people and I really don't like crowds. Also, they recently redid the layout of the Walmarts nearest to my town and the isles are now much closer together and while I used to know exactly where everything was, now I have to spend more time walking down isles and wasting my time.

4. Google or Yahoo

Google is the only search engine worth using. I didn't even bother to include Bing on this list because I think if you have to advertise your search engine that it obviously isn't as good as it should be. Plus, Google is always so interesting and I am able to find information more easily than on some other engine.

Well that's all for this weeks episode of "The Versus Debate". Tune in next time I decide to be lazy for my opinion that you probably don't care about!

I Have Two Blogs Now?

A few days ago, I completely finished the final edits for my very first article to be published in my school's newspaper. Pretty exciting, right?

It's an opinions piece, shocking I know, about the required school reading at our school, though I'm pretty sure I already told you guys that. Oh well, since I haven't been posting recently you'd probably already forgotten.

I have to post a blog every week on our newspaper's website, which you all should totally check out because we have a fantastic staff of writers and photographers who all work very hard for the paper and I feel that we need more people to read what we write. (Just click on the title of this post and it should take you to the website.)

Anyway, I feel like I've sort of placed this blog on the back-burner and I don't want my readers to start feeling like I don't care about them, believe me I do (though I'd like it better if people would comment or something...), and so I am going to share the post I just wrote for my newspaper blog with you:

Rapping invades other genres of music

Emma Hair
Staff Writer (We have to do that for all the things we write for the paper... Just be thankful that I haven't gotten too much into that habit, so I won't be doing it at the beginning of any of these blogs. At least I hope...)

As I mentioned in my previous blog post (I had used my "The Problem with Radio" blog from here to post because I forgot to write something.), I try to avoid listening to the radio because I’m not a fan of the more popular music of the day; call me old-fashioned, or just plain weird, but I much prefer Disney and Broadway soundtracks.
Regardless, I am sometimes unable to avoid the radio or “popular” songs, and there’s a trend that I started noticing earlier this summer that, for me, began with Katy Perry’s hit song “California Girls”. That trend would be the featuring of popular rappers in songs such as the aforementioned Katy Perry hit, Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie”, and B.O.B’s “Airplanes”; there are others, but those are just the first few that come to my mind.

This new fad is really starting to get on my nerves for multiple reasons:

1. I don’t really like rap. I’m not saying that it’s a terrible thing that no one should listen to; I just don’t care for it. It’s hard to understand what they’re saying most of the time, and you can’t sing along to rap.

2. It makes the artists seem lazy. I mean just listen to “Love the Way You Lie”- how much did Rihanna actually have to write lyrics and music for?

“Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that's alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that's alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie”

That’s about it; the rest of the song is Eminem rapping, which is essentially just a poem set to rhythm. True, there is some music in the background and Eminem sort of has a certain set of pitches that he assigns each word, but it is a lot easier to write a rap than it is to write an actual song.

The same thing could be said for “Airplanes”; the only part that could be considered part of a song is the chorus.
The reason I get so frustrated when this sort of thing happens in the music industry is because these artists are getting truck-loads of money and all they did was sing a few lines of music and then have some rapper come and do the rest of the lyrics. Can it really even be considered a song when the majority of it consists of some guy rapping?

3. The song title always says Ft. [insert rapper’s name here]. With the exclusion of “California Girls”, most of the song is performed by the rapper, so shouldn’t it be the other way around: Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie (Ft. Rihanna)”. Now, I do understand that that isn’t how it works, and that it’s Ft. [insert rapper here] because the other artists actually wrote the song, but I don’t like the rappers aren’t given more credit; I’d want more than just a little shout out in parenthesis if it was me.
Hopefully this “Rap Revolution” the music industry is going through will soon be over because I’m getting tired of my humming and singing being interrupted by background noise. I’m sure many of you disagree with me on this, but every man (or woman in this case) is entitled to their own opinion and I really don’t like rap.

There are some songs that I occasionally hear on the radio that I really wish would get more air time because they are devoid of rappers and have catchy melodies, but not annoyingly catchy like the “It’s a Small World” theme song; these songs include: Sara Bareilles’ “King of Anything” and Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet”. Maybe one day these songs will be the popular ones and the raps featuring a little singing will be the songs you hardly ever hear, but this is one dream that I fear will probably never happen. Oh well, at least I still have a CD player in my car!

Hopefully you all enjoyed that litte taste of my newspaper blog, which you don't really need to read because until this one all of my blogs were directly from this one. I am a terrible procrastinator.

Into the Woods!

GUESS WHAT READERS OF THIS FABULOUS BLOG: This girl landed herself a role in her school's musical!

I am one of Cinderella's stepsisters! Now, to some of you this might not seem like a role large enough to get all excited about, but I would have to disagree. It's not that the stepsisters have a lot of lines or play a major part in the show, but it is the first time that I will have lines in a high school production. I also believe that the stepsisters each have some minimal solos (like one line of a song), which is also very exciting. A lot of people at our school go to the musicals to support their friends in the shows and this role will finally allow me to show people that I have talent, which is always nice for an ego boost. (People need those every now and then.)

Anyway, I am really looking forward to the start of rehearsals, which I believe start sometime next week!

I have to say, before I got called-back to read for three different roles, I didn't think I was ever going to get cast as a character with actual lines. The main reason that would have upset me is because there's a sort of path that you have to follow (of course there are always exceptions) to make your way to a lead role in a musical.

1. Get a part in the chorus your freshman or sophomore year.

2. If you were in the chorus freshman year, then you at least need a chorus part with a line your sophomore year.

3. Junior year you get a smaller part with some lines and some solos.\

4. Senior year! If you've managed to follow the rest of the "plan" then you should be on your way to one of the leads this year.

Of course, this plan doesn't apply to everyone and it won't always ensure you a lead your senior year, but most of the time if you've made it to some sort of actual role your Junior year you'll have a decent role your when you're a senior.

It also helps your odds of getting a lead when you're a senior if there are only like four or five senior girls auditioning. Of course, leads roles can go to the junior girls, but they tend to go to the seniors since it's their last musical at the school. I'm not trying to imply that I am without a doubt going to get a lead role next year; I'm just saying that my odds are much better considering the progress I've made thus far.

Sorry, if you're not really all that interested in musical theatre or anything. I just really needed to express my joy to the world (or at least to my small group of dedicated readers).

Oh, and I don't know this for sure, but I will probably get to wear a really gorgeous dress for my role because they're going to the "festival" (basically the ball) and will, of course, need beautiful ball gowns to wear. I hope I feel like a Princess in it.

Isn't it Nice to Know Alot?

I'm sad that ever since school has started I've had less time to devote to my beloved readers; though I'm sure that you all are just as busy, if not more-so, so it all evens out in the end. Right?

Tonight, I got lucky and didn't have nearly as much homework as I normally do, so I'm going to use the extra time to get some writing done. I know you've all been anxiously awaiting this post all week. (Which is actually kind of sad because I don't really have much to write about. Darn that Writer's Block!)

OH! I just thought of something fantastical to share with you all; the auditions for my school's musical are TOMORROW!!!

I'm starting to get nervous, but I really know the song well and I finally mastered the really nasally voice that the character I'm auditioning for needs. In case you've forgotten, I'm auditioning to the role of Little Red (yes, the one who wears a red cape and hood) in the musical Into the Woods. The songs our director gave us to choose for our audition are all from the show and the one I am singing is called "I Know Things Now". It's a pretty difficult piece to sing because it's very wordy (most Sondheim songs are) and the notes skip around and go from pretty low to pretty high (Like high E). What's more is that I have to sing it while using a voice described by our director as "Annie gone bad". If you have never seen the musical Annie, then shame on you; go and watch it right now. I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere...

Anyway, back to my upcoming auditions. They consist of the singing portion, which I just talked about, and then we're doing something new. Normally, after you sing you then move onto an acting portion where you do cold readings of the script, but this year is going to be different. Since there aren’t many scenes in the musical that are just talking the director has decided to have us all do Improv instead. Not too sure how that's all going to work out, but I'm a little worried because I'm really not very good at improvisation. Especially not in a larger group of people, which is how I think she's going to organize it. Of course, I could be completely wrong and it could turn out to be really good and I'll do a fantastic job, make everyone laugh (because I'm being a good comic, not because I do something stupid), and then at least get called back for the role of Little Red.

That's my current goal- get called back. Then at least I'll know that I'm being considered. I hate it when you don't get called back for any of the major roles and then you just sit around twiddling your thumbs for the rest of the week, waiting for the cast list to be posted. Then comes the morning that the list is posted and you scan the list in search of your name only to discover that it's not there, and then you get to spend the rest of the day trying to hold back your tears of disappointment. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...

The outlook at least looks somewhat brighter this year though because I was actually in the musical last year, so hopefully I managed to show the director my dedication and talent through that, and she'll decide that she simply must have me in the show. As Little Red.

I'm going to get some shut eye now, so that I might be well rested and refreshed for the auditions tomorrow. Wish me luck! Cross your fingers for me ALL DAY. Just kidding! (Sort of...)

This One's for the Guys

Because I feel so bad about not having time to blog much this week, and because I meant to blog about this a few days ago, but forgot to I am going to write two blogs today.

This one is more of an apology to the males of Earth (sorry extraterrestrials). I feel the need to write this "letter", so to speak, because I recall (I'm sure you do too) writing a particularly bitter blog about how I have no date for Homecoming, and have never had a boy friend(my younger sister has had like five, but until recently I didn't realize how hypocritical I was being.

Besides the fact that I like the tradition of guys asking girls out- it's more romantic, it reminds me of Jane Austen (if you don't know who that is, go away), and, I don't know, I've just always felt that that was just the way things were supposed to work- there's another reason that I'd rather be asked then to be the one doing the asking. That reason is fear of rejection.

I think everyone, even guys, can relate to that fear. Now, I want all the girls reading this to think of this from the guys' perspective:
They're expected to be the askers, but they also have this fear of being rejected by us. Then we get frustrated because none of them will ask us to the big dance, or whatever.

What I'm trying to get at is that we should try and remember (I say try because I realize it's sometimes difficult to be patient) that feeling of fear whenever we're stressing about guys. Maybe girls could even get up the nerve to ask a guy out. Sure they could say no, but isn't that the same for guys? They ask girls out all the time, yet there is always that possibility of rejection.

So, males of Earth, I'm sorry that I often complain about never being asked to anything by you. With this new insight I realize it isn't always because I'm not pretty enough, or funny enough, or *insert adjective here* enough, it's because you're just as afraid of rejection as I am. And I will willingly admit that.

I am afraid to ask a guy to Homecoming, or anything for that matter, because I am terrified (even more so than I am before an audition) that they aren't going to say yes. That they might, for any number of reasons, say no. It's something I probably won't even be able to handle. I really have to give you men props because, even if it's not for awhile, you eventually work past that fear of rejection. Well, at least enough to actually ask a girl out.

Here's hoping that you boys manage to successfully make it past that terrified stage, and that you understand that us girls are just as worried about being rejected as you are. Also, if one girl rejects you, then she isn't the girl you're meant to be with anyway, so do your best to get over her and move on to bigger and better prospects.

Homecoming Update

Tonight was/is the first home football game of the season at my school, so obviously I was the first in line to buy a ticket wearing nothing but red and black (Our school colors).

FALSE.

I didn't even go to the game, and I probably won't go to one until the Homecoming game. Why is that? Well, as it turns out, I am going to Homecoming and so I figured I should do it up right by also attending the game, per the customary tradition. Now before you get all excited because you think some guy finally got the guts to ask me, don't. Because that didn't happen. I am simply going because I am being a fantastic friend (long story short: My friend was having some sibling issues and I could solve them by going to Homecoming in her group) and a small part of me sort of wants to go with, or without, a date.

The good news is that I at least won't be the only person in the group without a date; roughly about five other girls are going stag as well. I'm sure you're all interested about who is in my Homecoming group, and if not, I'm going to tell you anyway. My group consists of people in choir; most are in the top two (Madrigals and Vivace!) but there are some, or maybe just one, girl who is in another choir. There may even be a girl not even in choir... I don't really know many details about my group because I just recently joined and I didn't even tell the girl organizing everything that I was tagging along; I had my friend tell her. You can tell how much I care about this can't you?

Actually, all sarcasm aside, I really do kind of care about going. I mean I'll get to see my friend, who has never made an attempt to be feminine, wear a dress and dance with her date. I'm sure I'll end up enjoying myself and making memories that will last me a very long time.

At least I hope I have fun...

'Cause it would stink if I didn't.


On a semi-unrelated note, I survived my first week of school! It was quite stressful, but I at least managed to make it through with minimal episodes of histerical crying. That's a major accomplishment for me, since lately I'm becoming more and more emotional... Further adding to the amount of baggage the poor guy who eventually, for whatever reason, finds me a suitable girl to date.

I apologize for not being able to write more this week, as I said I was stressed, and I just didn't have time to sit down and blog. Sad face. Hopefully this next week will be better and I'll be able to get more blogs out. I might even try writing some during my Newspaper period when I'm at a loss as to what I can write about... Just don't tell my teacher.

Well, I am going to go driving with my dad now; only like forty-thousand more hours to go! UGH. I really just want my license. Like NOW.

Oh, and since I'm sure you were wondering (I was): the correct spelling of the french word for "me" is "moi". You're welcome.

My Favorite Teacher is Anti-Disney?

I've only been back at school for a total of two days and I have already had an emotional break-down. Mind you, it only lasted for about five minutes because that's all the time I had to spare for my emotions. Yep, you heard me right, I have to schedule in my emotional break-downs. That's how busy I already am with school! It's insane; junior year is seriously going to be the most stressful year of my life.

Though I suppose you would rather I talk about something more uplifting or at least more interesting than my issues with the new school year...

So, I have this one teacher, my English teacher, who absolutely hates Disney; He told me it's evil. When I first heard about him from friends last year, I thought that he and I were not going to get along at all because I think Disney is one of the best things since sliced bread. As it turns out, I was wrong. English is my favorite class so far this year (Yes, I realize it's only been two days, but you know what they say about good first impressions and whatnot), and he is my favorite teacher of the year. One of the things I really like about him is that he wants this class to be a place where we can express our opinions without being prosecuted or judged, which I find appealing because my opinions are often some of the least popular; especially when it comes to religion, but I won't get into that today.

Another reason that I liked my teacher from the very moment I met him was due to the fact that he was wearing a really nice suit. Now I know this may sound silly, but something I value is a man's ability to be well dressed. And my English teacher is not too bad looking either, but don't worry I don't have a crush on him or anything. There's absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing a good looking person.

Going back to his hatred for Disney, I came up with an idea awhile back when I first found out that I was going to have him as my teacher. I decided that I was going to color him a page from my Disney Princess coloring book every night, so that every day of the school year I would have a page to tape to the wall of his classroom. I know that might sound kind of strange, or insane considering that the man abhors Disney (especially the princesses), but that's sort of me in a nut shell- insane, annoying, and crazy. Oh, and I forgot intimidating (something that I have started to work on this year).

Anyway, I like this idea, even if you all think I'm crazy (Which I am, so what does it even matter?), and I feel like my teacher won't hate me for it. It'll be more like that thing that you act annoyed about, but really you feel appreciated because someone took this time to do something just for you.

I also forgot to mention that my English teacher has a very sarcastic, dry sense of humor, which is fantastic because it's very similar to mine, and so I get all his jokes. It's also funny because some kids in my class don't understand his humor at all and just laugh because other people are laughing.

Why are high schoolers all such sheep?

I guess it's just a maturity thing.

Well, hopefully these last two days of your lives have been far less stressful than mine.

My Very Own Magic Wand

Guess what.

Go on, guess.

YOU'RE WRONG. (Well, I suppose you could be right, but you're probably not.)

I actually finished reading Great Gatsby this morning!
Isn't that exciting? It made me happy because now I only need to read the first chapter of Walden and I'll have completed my required summer reading. That might sound like a pretty simple task; it's only the first chapter right? Well technically, yes, but it's 65 pages long. UGH. The worst part is that it's not even a story- it's philosophy.

So, I you can't really blame me for not wanting to read right now. But my English teacher can blame me if I fail the test we're going to have on the first day of school, which is on Monday. Which means I really do need to finish those 65 pages by Sunday night... or Monday morning... or the period before I have English. Just kidding! I'm not that much of a procrastinator, or at least I won't be this time. (I hope.)

Alright, enough of my summer reading; it's really not that exciting.

The only thing is, I really don't have anything very exciting to tell you all today. Ha. "You all"... I'm not even sure if that's an accurate description of how many people read this thing. That is probably more fitting for someone with at least twenty readers. Maybe.

Anyway, I guess I'll tell you about my new curler. My mother and my sister went to the store today because my sister needed some stuff for school and a new straightener. Well, they returned home with one of those curling wands for my sister and I to share! This got me pretty excited because I have quite a lot of hair (think horse tail) and it usually takes me like two hours, sometime three, to curl my hair. But I had been told by many people that with this wand thing you only had to hold your hair to the heat for approximately twenty seconds. Of course, I sort of thought that was too good to be true, but somewhere in the back of my brain I sincerely hoped that it would work. Well today, that little part of my noggin got what it wished for! This wand really is magical!

Yep, that's right; today I successfully curled my hair in thirty minutes! Look out world, this girl is going to be curling her hair A LOT. Normally I just straighten it, but now I can actually have some variation in my hairstyle, which will be nice. Plus, I actually like my hair curly more than I like it straight (probably because we always want what we can't have), but now, I CAN have what I want! It's fantastic.

Well, I'd love to continue talking about my hair, but those 65 pages aren't going to read themselves! Wish me luck! Hopefully I won't fall asleep...

Lions and Tigers and Bears- OH MY!

Today I had the pleasure of going to the Dallas Zoo with two of my friends. It was such a fantastic day! We got there at 9:30, so thankfully there weren't many guests right away. In fact, there weren't many people enjoying the animals today. Not that I'm complaining; it was nice that the zoo wasn't too crowded. I'm not a fan of crowds.

It wasn't until we arrived at the front gates that I realized how long it had been since I'd visited a zoo. Too long. Much too long. I think my friends and I should make a plan to go to the zoo once every couple of months.

All little kids should experience the joy that only a trip to the zoo can bring. I can remember my parents taking me to the zoo when I was like five. Back when my favorite animal was the elephant. (Now it's the tiger. 'Cause I'm sure you all care very much, right? Right.)Anyway, parents need to take their kids to the zoo because it's a magical experience for a child. I mean, where else will they get to see the exotic creatures of Madagascar or Africa? Well, unless their family plans a trip to either of those places- nowhere. Children should be able to see lions, tigers, and bears before they reach the age where going to the zoo is a juvenile thing to do.

Clarification: You are never too old to go to a zoo.

Second reason to take your kids to the zoo would have to be the fact that when you do get older and all the things you used to think were for little kids when you were in middle school (i.e. Disney movies and going to the zoo) have once again become "cool" you'll get an urge to go to the zoo. Once you arrive you'll have flashbacks to your childhood and how much fun you had at your earlier visits to the zoo!

At least that’s what happened to me. It actually made my zoo experience more enjoyable because I sort of felt like a little kid again… well not really little, but you get what I mean (I hope). It was really nice to be able to be a little silly and what not because as I continue to age my life gets more and more stressful and it was nice to just relax and let loose for a few hours.

Well, I don’t want to make this blog post too long because I realize that my last one got a little ranty (yes, that is now a word) and turned out to be the longest post I’ve written so far, and I don’t want to overload your brains with too much me.

Hopefully I have now inspired you all to take a trip to the zoo, and to be sure and take your children should you ever have any. (I’m sure most of you will someday, just not you BFFAE.)

Second Clarification: BFFAE stand for Best Friends Forever And Ever.
Third Clarification: The reason she’s not allowed to reproduce would be due to her hatred for children and the fact that we need to end the passing of such crazy, ginger genes on to future generations.

You’re welcome future world.

Harry Freaking Potter

I saw "Vampires Suck" today! And while it wasn't as good as I had thought it was going to be- I was still impressed because the acting was really good. It takes skill to act as terrible as Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart. (If you couldn't tell, I don't think highly of either of them.)

Anyway, being at the movies reminded me of how much I am looking forward to the first part of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" movies coming out. (November 19th in case you were wondering.) Despite the fact that I can always find something in every Potter film to complain about, I really am excited about the last two movies. "Why?" you ask. Well, even though it upsets me that they have mangled the plots and couldn't even manage to get Daniel Radcliff some green contacts, I am a dedicated fan to the Harry Potter franchise.

Plus, the acting is amazing. Rupert Grint is so talented (not to mention Alan Rickman, Dame Maggie Smith and practically every other actor in the movies), and it's sad because he is often overlooked as one of the stars of the series. For example, my friend once showed me this one edition of Seventeen magazine that featured Daniel and Emma on the cover, but was captioned something along the lines of "The Golden Trio". Naturally, this offended my friend and I. First of all, since when were two people considered a trio? I mean, COME ON. Additionally, Rupert's character (Ron Weasley for those of you with low IQ's) is a larger role than Emma's (Hermione Granger). Then, in the corresponding article inside the magazine, they claimed it was a story about, once again, "The Golden Trio", but they only mentioned Rupert Grint in maybe one sentence squeezed in at the end of the article. Rude much?

Thankfully, Harry Potter fans did not stand for this lack of Ron recognition. My friend spotted an angry letter to the editor in the following edition referring to the very article that had upset us both. I wouldn't be surprised if there were many other similar letters written as well. The letter complained about how Rupert had not been on the cover of the magazine with his co-stars and how even though they titled the article "The Golden Trio", the article did not feature all three of the actors. It made me glad that others shared my anger when it came to this article.

I feel kind of bad for Rupert, not often though because I mean he is rich, famous, and attractive, but when stuff like this happens, I do. Poor Rupert always seems to be pushed to the back so that Emma and Daniel can take the spotlight. I realize why this happens though. You see, Daniel is the start of the movies, so obviously he has to be the main focus. As for Emma, she is much more attractive than Hermione was supposed to be. If you read the books you notice that there are many things JK Rowling uses to describe Hermione, and things that happen in the book that prove my point.

Examples:

1. Hermione has buck teeth. (Not saying those make you ugly, but they certainly don't make you look like Emma Watson.)

2. Her unmanageable and incredibly frizzy hair. (Once again, not ugly, but not movie star beautiful either.)

3. At the Yule Ball, Hermione actually puts effort into her appearance and no one, not even her two best friends, are able to recognize her. Now, if you watch the fourth movie, the fact that Harry and Ron don't know who's with Krum is ridiculous; the only difference between normal movie Hermione and that Hermione is that she's in a dress and has a prom hairdo. In fact, in all the movies, with the exception being the first film, Hermione has exceptionally nice hair. It looks better than mine on a good day.

Hermione was not supposed to have good hair except when she used a lot of product for the Yule Ball.

4. Hermione is not Harry's love interest. If the Hermione in the book had been as attractive as Emma Watson as Hermione, then Harry would have dated her instead of Ginny. That's just how these kind of things work. The main character and the girl best friend ALWAYS end up together. The exception being if the female BFFL is not really pretty. In this case, the female friend dates/marries the OTHER guy friend.

Even my dad, who hasn't read the Harry Potter series and just watches the movies, mentioned how Hermione should have gone out with Harry. This upset me because, of course, I ship Hermione/Ron (as this is how it was always meant to be). I'm not saying that I want them to make Emma Watson look really unattractive, just that her hair should not have been so sleek and shiny with perfect curls- it should have been frizzier.

I do understand why they didn't make Emma play the less-attractive version of Hermione though. It's really quite simple- they wanted a "hot girl" to attract more boys/creepy older men to the movies.

The same basic principle is the reason why I watch the television show "White Collar". The main character, Neil Caffrey (played by Matt Bomber), is one of the most gorgeous men I have ever seen. He has piercing blue eyes, for which I have a major soft spot for, but then again who doesn't? In the show he only wears really classy suits, shirts, ties and shoes. Plus, sometimes he rocks a fedora (one of my favorite hats). Then, to top it all off, in this week’s episode there was an entire scene in which he was shirtless! And I had thought he couldn't get any more attractive... How naive I was.

But I digress...

Anyway, I guess the whole point of this blog was just that I'm anxious for the next Harry Potter movie and I'm also sad that soon, the series will be over and I won't have anymore nerd sessions to attend (the midnight premieres). It's enough to make a girl cry. But don't worry- I'll save my tears for the end of the last movie.
You know what the saddest part is? I have yet to attend a midnight premiere for any movie, this includes the Harry Potters. It's because they always fall on a school night and my parents won't allow me to go. Major sad face.

Well, I sincerely hope that you all are as excited as I am for the last two movies, and you should all go to the midnight premiere for me because I doubt I'll be able to go.

"You're Harry Freaking Potter; we don't prefer Gandalf, Merlin, or Oz.
You're a whole lot hotter, with that lightning scar you're a super star to us all."

I Wish, More than Anything

Yesterday, I attended a workshop hosted by my school's drama club for the upcoming musical, "Into the Woods". The whole point of going to this workshop is to give you a leg up on the people who don't come. (At least that's the plan, but it doesn't always work that way.) We get a packet upon arrival filled with the girls' auditions pieces and a CD that has all the audition songs on it for our listening pleasure.

Our day started at 9:30am and we spent three hours learning the pieces with the music director. Then we were allowed an hour for lunch and then it was back to the auditorium for the opportunity to perform the songs individually for the director. At least, that was the plan, but our director decided to split up the group of kids and half of them stayed with her; the half that my friend and I belonged to got to go into the Black Box and work with another Theatre teacher at our school. This did not please me. I have two main reasons why:

1. Until the last week of school this year, he had basically ignored me, and it was very clear that I had somehow offended him (though I was at a loss as to how).

2. He wasn't going to be directing the musical; the whole point of performing at this workshop was to receive feedback from the women whom we were trying to impress come auditions.

To make matters worse, the guy who we were stuck with had us perform as a group! That was NOT supposed to be the point of this afternoon session. I had been looking forward to performing by myself because I felt that it better help me prepare for the auditions, but I was disappointed.

Anyway, I promised myself that I wouldn't dwell too much on that because I've already ranted to three or four of my friends and I just need to move on.

Soooo, after learning all the songs at the workshop I decided on two songs that I plan on singing at the auditions. One is sung by Little Red, "I Know Things Now", and the other by the Baker's Wife, "Moments in the Woods". Thankfully, I won't have to sing these songs in their entirety because for the auditions we are only required to learn the cuts.

Interesting side note, the Baker's Wife doesn't really have a name. Throughout the entire play she isn't referred to as anything. I think it's fascinating. Sondheim probably did that so that then people could more easily relate to her character. The Baker and his wife are the only two characters in the show not from a fairy tale and so it's more like two people who have been thrown into this imaginary world, which turns out to be more like a nightmare.

Alright, I'm done given you guys a synopsis, so to speak, of the play; if you are still curious then use the resource already at your fingertips (The internet- more specifically- Google.)

Oh, and don't think that I'm done blogging about "Into the Woods" just yet. I still have the auditions coming up and so I will definitely be telling you all about it, since I apparently have nothing better to do. Not that I don't enjoy sharing my life with total strangers.

In case you were wondering, I don't really care what role I get (though I do draw the line at the horse's rear end), but I would love to be Little Red or the Baker's Wife. Baker's Wife is my first choice, but that's more of a dream than something I think will actually happen. Though dreams have come true before, so why not this one?

"Now I understand, and it's time to leave the woods."

For The Guys Who Can't Sit Through Another Vampire Movie

If you have cable and watch decent shows on a semi-regular basis, then you've probably seen commercials for the new movie coming about called "Vampires Suck". It's from the people who brought you the "Scary Movies" (I've forgotten how many there are...), "Kick A**" (At least I think so. Hmm.), and "Dance Flick".

If you haven't guessed, or seen the commercials, it's a parody of Twlight! I highly recommend that you go and watch the trailer on Youtube if you're still in the dark about this amazing up-and-coming film.

If I'm not mistaken, and I'm usually not, then it comes out this Wednesday . My friends and I are already planning on going to the midnight premiere! I'm totally stoked to see this movie because, as you already know if you've read my previous posts, I do not like the books or the movies. At all. The sad thing is the actors they chose to play the characters in the movie look and act better than the original cast. Though I can't say that I'm surprised because afterall, Stephanie Meyer helped with the casting and I've already proven that she is incapable of being intelligent. (At least most of the time she is; I will admit that she has her moments... just not frequently.)

Anyway, if you weren't already planning on seeing this movie- I highly suggest that you do because it is sure to make you laugh. Well, it will if you've seen the other movies or read the books... If not, it will probably still be somewhat amusing, but you really should have prior knowledge if you want to understand everything.

Since I'm lazy, I just figure everyone else is too (and honestly there are quite a few people out there that this is a very true statement for), so I am going to be really nice and give you the movie trailer right here for your viewing pleasure:

Dancing and Sports... EW

I live in Texas. Do you know what everything revolves around during the fall here?
Homecoming and football. Two of my least favorite aspects of high school.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's not okay to like going to football games and wearing a giant mum that jingles obnoxiously every time you move.

You what the sad part is? I really want to go to Homecoming. The thing is, I won't go unless someone asks me, and that just doesn't seem to be something any of the guys at my school are interested in doing. Some of my friends say that it's because I "intimidate" them, which is totally plausible because a guy in my English class last year even told me that I was intimidating. But I'd like to think that I don't scare off every guy at my school.
Of course I don't mind if I intimidate the freshmen because honestly I don't really want to go with any of them; this group of incoming fish is especially annoying.
Some of you might be thinking "But why doesn't she just go by herself, or with a group of friends?". Well, you see, I don't have the self-confidence to go alone and my friends that are going all have dates, so I'd rather not be a third wheel.

Another reason I want a date is so that I can have a mum. My mom thinks that they are a stupid waste of money and doesn't think I should ever have one, but I like them. I've already sort of figured out what I'd want on a mum too. See, most of the girls have bears on their mums that usually have something to do with whatever group they're involved in, but I want Ron and Hermione bears. Yeah, I realize that might get some strange looks, but I would treasure it for years to come.
My mom thinks that if I want a mum so badly I should just make my own.
Okay, that would just make me look pathetic. And all day at school I would continually be asked who my date is, but I wouldn’t have one, so it’d just a be constant reminder of how I didn’t get asked. Who wants to deal with that? Not me.
The last reason I don’t really like Homecoming is the dance. Yes, I understand that is kind of the whole point of Homecoming, but I can’t dance. I’m not saying that to be modest or anything and I’m not exaggerating. I literally have practically zero rhythm, and I look like a fool when I try and dance. I tolerate dancing when it’s for a musical, but outside of the theatre, I don’t dance. So even if someone did ask me, there’s always the chance that I might just say no because I don’t know them very well and so I wouldn’t be comfortable showing them how awful a dancer I am.

The reason I don’t like football? That’s pretty simple. It’s a sport, and sports just don’t do anything for me. I don’t find them interesting. In fact, I get quite bored whenever I do find myself watching a game of football, basketball, golf, soccer, or baseball with my dad. I actually have been to some football games though. I went to some last year with my friends because we liked to watch the half-time show. We had a lot of friends in the band and a few in Color Guard (the flag twirlers), so we went to be supportive friends. Even though I don’t really like football, I’ll probably end up attending most of the home games because my friends will drag me there and I’ll end up having fun just talking and hanging out, but don’t expect me to know who won or what happened; I won’t be watching the game.

My Future is Unlimited

What do you want to do with your life?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Have you thought about colleges yet?

These are all questions that I've been bombarded with ever since my years in high school have started to zoom past.

As a junior, you really have to start worrying about getting into a good college and figuring out what kind of things you're interested in studying. Thankfully, I have basically known my major since the freshman year and last year I finalized my plans for college.

Dream Plan:

1. Go to Oxford.

2. Major in Musical Education.

3. Minor in Musical Theatre.

4. Fall in love with a British guy.

Okay, so that plan is obviously just a fantasy...

"Practical" Plan:

1. Go to UNT.

2. Major in Musical Education.

3. Minor in Musical Theatre.

So it's not much different, but it is more reasonable, and I can actually control all of those factors. Well, sort of.

If you hadn't already figured this out- I really want to teach. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile. I just didn't know what I wanted to teach. I couldn't pick between English, Theatre, and Choir. Then freshman year I realized that singing is my passion and if it wasn't for my middle school choir teacher I wouldn't have been where I am today in the chorale program. I thought about how I wanted to someday be able to give kids the same oppurtunities that she had given me, so I am going to be a choir teacher.
I haven't quite decided what grade I plan on teaching, I was leaning towards high school at least for a few years, but I am going to get my PhD and I want to eventually teach at the college level because let's face it- the pay is better and I'd get to pick when I teach.

So, I told all of this to my grandparents awhile ago because we got onto the subject of college and careers and whatnot. Anywho, she told me that I shouldn't be a teacher and should be a lawyer instead.
When I asked her why I shouldn't be a teacher she explained how teachers don't make any money, but lawyers make boatloads. I then pointed out that lawyers, while having a lot of cash, don't have time to really have a family and settle down. I also said that I didn't want to be a lawyer (brings back too many repressed, middle school history memories), and that I loved kids and wanted to teach.

She didn't really understand that line of thinking because she never attended a university, but that's okay; I don't have to take career advice from anyone if I don't want to. And in this case, I don't because I've already got my future planned (Hopfully that plan works fine for me!), and the people investing in my education, my parental units, fully support my decision to teach.

Maybe you've noticed that I haven't mentioned what I plan to do with a Minor in Musical Theatre yet. Well, dear reader, It's always been a dream of mine to perform on Broadway, so I intend to use that Minor for when I audition.
In case you were curious, these are some roles I would love to play (in order of conception):

1. Elphaba in "Wicked".

2. Maria in "The Sound of Music".

3. Belle in "Beauty and the Beast".

4. Ariel in "The Little Mermaid".

I really do hope you're seeing a theme. I want to be a star.
Of course, I realize this may never happen, but I will never stop hoping, dreaming, and praying that it will.

Until next time,
Future Choir Teacher/Broadway Star

Endangered Punctuation

I was hanging out with my friend the other day and she told me a story about this college professor. You see, the first day of class this professor wrote this sentence on the board: "A woman without her man is nothing." He then asked the students to add the appropriate punctuation.
The men came up with this sentence: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."
The women wrote this: "A woman: without her, man is nothing."

My favorite of the two is, naturally, the women's, but I'm not here to talk about feminism, today. What I want to talk about is punctuation; more specifically, the use, or lack thereof, of the semi-colon.

I don't know if you're aware, but the semi-colon is an endangered species.

I'm not kidding! Fewer and fewer people continue to use it in everyday conversation; obviously I'm not talking verbal, and even less people actually know how to use it correctly.
It's actually quite depressing. I mean I didn't even learn the correct usage of the poor, little semi-colon in school. I only learned because my eighth grade teacher suggested that our class read this book called "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"- it talks about the right way to use punctuation and shares anecdotes about punctuation mishaps. I, being the grammar nerd that I am, bought and read the book. It was actually really funny and I learned quite a bit from it. Now I'm not saying that you should all go out and read this book, because honestly you probably won't find it as interesting as I did.

Anyway, I decided to inform you all of the correct use of the semi-colon and then hopefully, armed with this knowledge, you will be more likely to use them.

Let's begin with the basics- a definition, courtesy of dictionary.com (my go-to place for all things vocabulary):

N. Semi-colon: "The punctuation mark (;) used to indicate a major division in a sentence where a more distinct separation is felt between clauses or items on a list than is indicated by a comma, as between the two clauses of a compound sentence."

In simpler terms, a semi-colon is for when you have two related, complete thoughts and so instead of having two separate sentences for them, you put a semi-colon in between.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about-
Bad example: I love "The Sound of Music". I also enjoy "Wicked.
Do you see how disconnected that looks? It doesn't read very well either; it makes you stop reading, pause, and then pick back up again. Not very nice.

Good example: I love "The Sound of Music"; I also enjoy "Wicked".
Now that is what I call a well written sentence! (Because I am totally, in no way, even the tiniest bit biased. HA.)

There are other ways to use the semi-colon, but I feel as though that might be too much information for you to take in, so I'll just leave it at that and hope that at least a one of you comes away from reading this blog knowing how to correctly use the semi-colon; perhaps you may even use one someday!

I suppose that's it for now. Good luck with all your future punctuational endeavors! SAVE THE SEMI-COLON! Promote its usage and spread awareness of that fact that humanity is slowly, but surely, forgetting its existence!

Oh and I suppose I should wish you a happy rest of summer vacation! Well, for America at any rate.(I've only got a mere two weeks left. Ahhhhh!)

Way to Rain on My Parade

Even though my phone is pretty much in a perpetual state of “silent mode”, I decided to record some new ringtones today! They are both from musicals, the Very Potter Musicals to be exact. I am a total nerd, but it's okay.

Alrighty, well today I need to rant: My head choir director had decided to switch the class periods of our school's top two choirs, Madrigals and Vivace!, which was going to cause a lot of schedule conflicts and my choir, Mads, was possibly going to lose three people. It even caused some scheduling problems for me! My math class is only offered one period, the same period that Mads would be... Can you say frustrating?

Well after many, many complaints from various students, our director finally saw that it would just be best to switch the periods back. This, of course, was not going to make him very popular in the counselor’s office seeing as schedule pick-up starts on Monday, but it was what was best for the choir program. It solved all the issues we were having, which means no one would have to quit. I even got to take my math class instead of taking in senior year instead. Everyone was happy.

At least we were until we all got a text from one of our Madrigal captains:
"Hey mads! I talked to [our director] today mads is going to stay 5th period."

Wait. HOLD ON. I thought he already said he was going to switch them back to the way they were!
Turns out, he didn't, which really sucks. ALOT. I don't understand why we couldn't just leave things the way they were. Last year was an awesome year for both choirs and why should we jeopardize all that just to mix things up a little? Your guess is as good as mine.

Now I have to take my Economics class this year and take math senior year! That means I won't have math for an entire year and then I'll be expected to remember everything I learned last year!!! It's hard enough to do that just over summer break... Math is one of my worst subjects and I'm already going to be taking tough enough classes; I don't need to add math after a year off to the mix.

If you've ever had any issues with your schedule before, you have my sympathy. It's a load of crap and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy... Okay, maybe I would, but only on the people I truly hate, and even then I might feel bad about it. At least I don't have to deal with the counselors; I'm starting something called the IB program and the guy in charge of that deals with all our schedules. So that's slightly better... but not much.

OH! I almost forgot! I do have some good news! My friend recently started blogging. She only has two posts so far, but they're really funny and I had already heard her talk about everything she wrote about. So you should definitely go and read it- Just click on the title of this blog post and it'll take you right to her blog! Isn't that nifty? I thought so.

I guess that's all I have to say for now. Hope all your schedules are problem and stree free!

Some Very Potter Musicals

A few days ago, I was at Barnes and Nobles, perusing the teen section, when I came across Nightlight. It's a parody of Twilight! The cover is a pale hand holding up an apple core- it's fabulous. I've already finished it and I think everyone should go out and buy it right now... well finish reading my blog and then go buy it.

Okay, I'm done talking about Twilight related things now.

So, I am currently at my friend's house on her laptop and I'm supposed to be working on this project we have, but I got bored/sidetracked and started blogging. (My wonderful ADD has come into play once again.)

Anyway, I was looking up stuff for this project and I got distracted (shocker) by some pictures from A Very Potter Musical. If you don't know what that is then go throw yourself off a cliff.

Just kidding!

Well, it's this play that some kids at a college in Michigan wrote and performed on campus not last year, but maybe the year before that... I can't really remember. The sequel, which is actually called A Very Potter Sequel, was released on YouTube July 22nd. I have watched both of the musicals and I fell in love with the songs, script, and the cast. They are a surprisingly talented group of kids! The guy who plays Harry Potter, Darren Criss, wrote the songs with the help of another guy. He also plays the guitar, I think he can play the piano, and he has a phenomenal voice. I'm not exaggerating either, this guy has some seriously amazing vocal skills. Don't just take my word for it though- you should watch the musicals yourself!

I have all the songs from the first AVPM on my iTouch and I plan on getting the songs from AVPS very, very soon; possibly as soon as I get home...
Every song from the AVPM is incredibly catchy, but I especially like "Back to Hogwarts" and "Hey, Dragon". Awww, who am I kidding? I love them all!!!

Now the sequel isn't as good as the AVPM, but sequels never are. Except for the second Godfather, or at least my mother says so. I wouldn't know; I've never seen any of the Godfather movies. Anyway, there are still some really good songs in the sequel all the actors came back to do the show so you don't have to worry about another Dumbledore fiasco. (In case you're clueless, that was a reference to Michael Gambon becoming Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed away... I don't like Michael Gambon.) The opening song, which I believe is called "It's Not Over yet", and the one directly after, "You're Harry Freaking Potter", are fantastic and there are some other good ones throughout the show. My favorite is "You're Harry Freaking Potter", I literally started crying with joy the first time I heard it. (Go ahead and call me a freak, I'm used to it.)

So, yeah I think you all need to go and watch both AVPM and AVPS right away, but you might want to spread them out over a few days because each one has about thirteen scenes in the first act and thirteen scenes in the second act, and trust me they are far from short. Nonetheless, they are amazing and should be viewed ASAP.

I hope you enjoy the musicals and even if you don't it's still good that you at least watched them!

Well, that's all folks! (At least for now.)




Here's Act 1 Scene 1 of AVPM!




Oh and did I forget to mention that Darren Criss also happens to be really good looking? Well he is! According to my good friend he is my future husband number one, since he's the oldest of the three. Now you know a little more than you wanted to know about me... YAY! Alright this blog post is now over. I promise.

THE END.

Vampires Suck

This is how incredibly ADD I am...

I started writing my last entry with the intention of writing about why I hate the Twilight Saga, and I ended up talking about Harry Potter! My goodness; I apologize.

So, now I'm going to write about Twilight!

First off, I should probably preface this by saying that I have read the entire Twilight Saga. I read the first book when I was in sixth grade (I think...), and I was naive enough to actually like that worthless excuse for literature. I thought Edward was a "gentleman" and that it was "so romantic" that he would watch Bella sleep at night. Now I know better- he's just a perverted creeper. And what's up with Bella? I mean, COME ON, you find out that the guy you like has been creeping' on you at night and that he thinks your blood smells delicious, yet you STILL want to date him? She really needs psychiatric care.

Furthermore, why would you ever date someone who wanted to eat you? Wouldn't you rather find a guy you could go out to dinner with, rather than someone who just wants to have you for dinner? Bella must have a death wish. Just look at her in New Moon- jumping off of cliffs and riding way too fast on a motorcycle. Either that or she's a masochist.

You know, if Bella would just use her brain she wouldn't get into so much trouble. The first time she actually thinks is more than three-fourths of the way into Twilight, and she never uses her brain in the second or third books at all. Well, I can't really say that. To be honest, I haven't read the books in many years, so I don't really know, but I'm sure I'd remember something as significant as Bella proving that she has some sort of measurable IQ.

Another thing that really frustrates me about the series is that fact that Bella is completely pathetic. I find it incredibly insulting that Stephanie Meyer made the heroine of her series an extreme stereotype of woman-kind. In fact, I'm shocked that more girls aren't offended by this. Meyer is teaching young girls to be dependent on men, marry rich, and to throw away their entire lives just because they think some guy is "hot".

Breaking Dawn is an excellent example of what I'm trying to say. Bella marries the first guy she's ever been in a relationship with at the age of 18, and then she gets pregnant! I mean it's already bad enough, but then you add in the fact that her husband is a monster and you've got a seriously messed up plot line. You don't even have to go as far as the last book to see my point. Just look at the scene in Eclipse where Bella fails to seduce Edward. REALLY??? Bella is, what 17?, and she's trying to have sex with her vampire boyfriend!!! That goes against everything that girls SHOULD be taught; like waiting until MARRIAGE. And that's exactly the opposite of what Bella's trying to do. Bella Swan is a slut and is not fit to be seen as a good role model for girls.

There's a lot more I could rant about on this subject, but I feel as though you don't really want to read a novel length slander of Stephanie Meyer and her waste of precious resources that some people like to call a book series, so I will end it here (for now).

Oh, but before I end this, there's this guy on YouTube named Alex Day and he has this series of vlogs in which he reads chapters of Twilight aloud and talks about how stupid the writing is. They are simply wonderful and I really suggest that everyone watch them because they're monumentally humorous AND Alex Day just happens to be British and the room-mate of the one and only Charlie McDonnell, also known as charlieissocoollike! I'll attach a video below so that you may all view "Alex read Twilight". Enjoy.

"JK Rowling proved that Young Adult books could be more than 400 pages. Stephanie Meyer proved that some shouldn't be."
(Just a witty little quote that I thought went well with the theme of this post)

Preaching to the Choir?

Today, I finished reading the fifth Harry Potter book for about the seventh or eighth time (I lost count years ago), and I was planning on beginning the sixth, but sadly I had to start my required summer reading for school.

But I digress; the point is that whenever I am not reading anything I start the Harry Potter series over again. I never get sick of reading it. It's a classic, or at least it will be in years to come. If you haven't read the HP series, I highly recommend it. Now if you're one of those people who haven’t read it because you've been told that it's "against the Bible" or something similar, then let me just tell you this: HARRY JAMES POTTER IS A JESUS FIGURE!

Yep, that's right. Harry Potter is not, in fact, some devil's advocate who uses his magic powers for the forces of evil! That would be Lord Voldem-, excuse me, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The whole point of the series is basically that You-Know-Who (The Devil) is trying to kill Harry (Jesus), but Harry (SPOILER ALERT) eventually defeats him because Harry has the ability to love.

In fact, a friend of mine was not allowed to read the series because her mother believed it to be un-Christian and what-not. Then, after my friend relentlessly begged her mother for permission to read Harry Potter, her mother finally agreed to read the books to her. At first, her mom intended to have discussions after each chapter with her on how it was unlike the Bible, but was surprised to find that there were many allusions and similarities to the Bible.

So, if the reason you have yet to fall in love with the "Golden Trio" (like I, and many others have already done) because of your religion. Then I would rethink your decision to ignore this wonderful piece of literature, 'cause you're missing out.

If you have already followed Ron, Hermione, and Harry on their magical journeys, then you'll have to forgive me for "preaching to the choir" today. I promise to refrain from doing so in future blogs.

All Things British

I am obsessed with all things British. "Why" you ask? Well, for one, the British accent is the most delicious, irresistible accent in existence (in my opinion anyway). Everything sounds better in a British accent. For example, I don't particularly like it when people curse, but it hardly bothers me when the person saying said curse word has a British accent.

Movies with British actors always seem to make it straight to my favorites list. The Harry Potter movies are a special case though. I really like the acting, it's amazing, but the fact remains that many details that I deemed important in the books were omitted from the screen versions... But I will save that rant for another blog because I feel like being more positive today.

I am planning on applying to Oxford for two main reasons- it's in England, and they filmed scenes from the Harry Potter movies. There are other reasons, of course, but those are the two things I find most appealing. Sadly, I highly doubt both my parents and the Oxford would want me to attend that school, but it'll be fun just to see if I can get in.

Someday I would really, really like to move to England. I have this whole thing planned where I will buy a flat in London, meet a nice British boy who I will eventually marry, then when I am about to have my first child we'll come back to the states for awhile so that she/he will be an American citizen. Then we'll go back to our flat once she/he is born and I will begin to speak only in a British accent around my child. My reasoning behind this is that it would make me incredibly happy if my child had a natural British accent and the only way for that to develop is if the only accent she/he really hears is British. And seeing as though I would be most involved in my child's life I need to fake one until they've developed their own.

Now please don't take that little "plan" too seriously because while I would love that to actually happen, I do realize that I will most likely not even move to England to begin with. It's mainly just a dream, a beautiful, wonderful dream. Oh well, at least I can always vacation there.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy obsession. I know my friends all enjoyed that "dream" of my future husband and child. Too bad I wasn't born in England... At least I'm part British! So long! Farewell!

The Problem with Radio

When I was younger I would listen to the radio practically non-stop. My favorite radio station was "Radio Disney" and my parents probably got sick of hearing "The Hamster Dance" and various other tunes blasting from my dated, purple radio. Now-a-day I hardly ever listen to the radio outside of the car when it can't be escaped. It's actually not that surprising that I don't listen to the radio anymore though. I mean between Youtube and my iTouch I have all my favorite songs whenever I want.

There is another reason why I try my best to avoid the radio though... And that would be because you only ever hear the same songs. For example, I was in the car with my siter the other day and we were listening to Kiss FM, which plays the popular songs of the moment, and I swear we must have heard the same three songs over, and over, and over. It was a never-ending cycle of "Break Your Heart", "California Girls", and "Your Love is My Drug"... Of course, there were a few other songs thrown into the mix, but the same setlist was repeated for the entire car ride. Now while most of those songs aren't really good, I don't mind some of them... Except for when I hear it no less than twenty times within an hour on the same radio station. That is just ridiculous; there are SO many other decent songs out, but yet stations these days don't seem to want to play them. I just don't get it... After hearing "California Girls" for that many times I didn't want to hear the song ever again.

So my problem with radio? Majority of the stations out there ruin songs that I once enjoyed listening to. This is why I will be making many CDs in the near future to play in the car as an alternative to the radio.

Introductions

Since this is my first stab at writing a blog I figured I would start off my introducing myself to whoever might read my blog.
Here are fifteen things you should know about me:

1. I am obsessed with Harry Potter and will probably talk about/reference the series often.

2. I like to rant. I'll try not to be long-winded when I do it, but I can't promise you that I won't.

3. I don't use curse words. It's just something I don't like to do because it sounds less intelligent and there are plenty of other words that I can use to express myself.

4. I am a procrastinator, meaning I'll probably be writing alot of blogs when I should be doing something else (like homework).

5. Correct spelling and grammar are extremely important to me and I tend to correct others when they make mistakes.

6. I am a perfectionist, but I am no where near being perfect.

7. I am in choir and will talk about it at some point in the blog. Probably more than once.

8. My favorite TV shows are "The Big Bang Theory", "The Office", and "Gilmore Girls".

9. I don't Vlog, but I think it would be fun.

10. I am a major fan of the Youtuber Charlie McDonnell.

11. I tend to be a freaky fangirl every once in a while. If it annoys you, too bad.

12. My iPod consists mainly of songs from Broadway Musicals and Disney.

13. I am a selective eater.

14. I hate to exercise and only do it occasionally.

15. It took me several hours to come up with a name for this blog, and I'm still not sure if I like it.

Well I hope that helped you understand me a little more and what sort of things you might be reading about in my blog. I'm going to try and blog at least once a day, but can't promise anything. My only goal, so far, for this blog is to at least have a few readers because it'd be really pathetic if I was just writing these with no one reading them. That would simply make this blog practically an online diary... Except that I won't be posting anything too personal because it is, afterall, the internet and open to anyone.

That's it for now!