Things I Like Right This Very Now

1. Much Ado About Nothing- This is my favorite play by Shakespeare. I just love Benedict and Beatrice. Their dialogue back and forth is some of the best writing I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Beatrice is my dream role.  I’ve seen this version: and want to see this version because, you know, Tennant and Tate. ’nuff said.

 

2.

Where do I find this??? I want to order it in bulk!

3. “I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”- What is the What by Dave Eggers

4. This interested me

5.

This is pretty much what I am like on a day to day basis. Gummy bears. Your argument is invalid.

6. I am just now being introduced into the marvelous world of Bob Dylan. It’s been fun. I think that so far, Blood On The Tracks is my favorite album. Not sure though. I’ll keep you posted.

7.  I love this video. Vintage VlogBrothers. Books, libraries, John Green, nerds, insults, Shakespeare… If you’re not watching VlogBrothers, you might want to do something about that.

8. I watched the 3 final episodes of Community, a TV show that is one of the best things on American television (BBC ftw). They were brilliant. But then Dan Harmon announced his firing. What is Community without Harmon??? Especially since people have worked so hard to even have a season 4!

9. I love crossovers

10. And I leave you with this…

See ya soon!

Things I Love Today…

I haven’t done one of these in a while!

1. Come Along, Chelsea Lauren- http://comealong-chelsealauren.tumblr.com/

This is my favorite nerdy fashion blog. Chelsea is always so inspiring. She takes characters from shows, books, and movies and then recreates the looks.Here’s an example. This is based on Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars:

2. This video. I’ve had it on replay.

I just recently saw Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I thought it was hilarious, if a bit crude at times. It’s my first foray into the dangerous world of Mel Brooks.

3.

Sherlock and Watson: Ponies by Vondell Swain

4.  The fact that I get to read The Hobbit, Frankenstein, and Slaughter-house Five for my science fiction and fantasy literature class.

5.  Guys, I make some mean chocolate Oreo cupcakes, if I do say so myself

BEDA #3

This post is one of those “Here’s what I did today” things that I hate. So to make it more interesting, watch this first:

Proof that you can, in fact, sing along to the Doctor Who theme. (that is not me in the video, btw. It’s the lovely Hayley G. Hoover. Look her up on Youtube. She’s amazing )

So today, I bought a textbook

…drew a Stargate

…worked on a project for my one high school class

Then I went to the library for a while.

For the grand finale, I saw the Hunger Games again, this time with my friend Ilsa. It’s still amazing. I *may* have spent most of the movie teary eyed. (*May* ).

Better post tomorrow! Cross my heart and kiss my elbow! (bonus points if you know where that’s from…)

Hunger Games!!!

The Hunger Games (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I haven’t posted about it a ton, because I know how annoying I sound when I’m into something. When I fangirl, I fangirl HARD! But guys, can I just tell you how excited I am for the Hunger Games movie?!?

 

I read through the books as quickly as I could. The trilogy is fantastic, although my favorite is and always will be the first book.The thing is, this series gets everything right that series like Twilight got wrong (this isn’t a Twilight bashing. I’ll save that for later ) I had all but given up hope that I would find a YA series that was fun, driven, and intellectually stimulating. Now, I’m not implying that this book is the intellectual equal of Shakespeare or anything, but it raises valid questions about the nature of entertainment, society, and morality. Pretty heavy stuff.

I’ll admit that I’m a little nervous about the film. The book depends on the internal dialogue of Katniss and that can be difficult to capture on film w/o use of narration (Oh, for the love of all things sacred, please don’t let there be narration! ). The reviews have been good so far, so that’s encouraging.

I’m going to the midnight premiere at my local theater Thursday night. I’ve never gone to a midnight premiere, so if nothing else, I’m looking forward to that! Unfortunately, I have a history final the day after. Yay?

Are you a fan of the Hunger Games? If so, are you looking forward to the movie?

What kind of name is Hermione?

 

“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled.”

I am not Hermione Granger. I’ve never been to Hogwarts, I’m not the brightest young witch of my age, and my boyfriend’s name is not Ron.

However, I have had strangers repeatedly comment upon the similarities between me and this fictional character.  I guess there are similarities.

We both

• Have bushy brown hair
• Have brown eyes (although mine are hazel-ish)
• Have rather large front teeth…sadly
• Are know for intellect and cleverness.
• Can be quite bossy
• Are book-smart
• Are afraid of failure
• Are loyal

And I’m sure there’s more. But I’m not Hermione! Unless this means that I get to ride a train to a magical school for young witches and wizards…

This is not an uncommon occurrence. Additionally, when I used one of those online “generate a nickname” site, it gave me, you guessed it, the name Hermione. Sigh.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”

Interesting, this quote from The Fault in Our Stars may just some up how I feel.

It is about cancer, but almost incidentally. It’s about pain, suffering, and the human condition. It’s about the idea of oblivion and existence and meaning. It’s about the reason we’re here and what we should do with the time we’re given.

It’s honest. Candid. Relevant.

I don’t know how to go on without being pretentious or spoiling the plot. Please read it. I can’t promise you’ll enjoy all of it. But it’s the kind of book that makes you question assumptions. It takes you back to first being in love, first seeing death, first questioning the universe. I think the world would be an infinitely better place if we all revisited those moments, free from the irony of blase eyes. Look at the world unfiltered.

*This is straight from my Goodreads account because I don’t know if I could write another review without crying. It really is a wonderful read!

View all my reviews

Happy New Year

Image via Wikipedia

 

I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions. However, I’m all for to-do lists. They’re what keep me organized. So here’s a list of some of the things I want to accomplish in 2012. I’d love to read yours

 

• To get started, I’m doing the Try Something New Revolution through the UK’s Channel 4. Everyday, I have to complete a challenge and I plan to vlog about it. To stay up to date, you can follow me at youtube.com/ifimjuliet.
• I want to blog at least once a week. Because I miss you.
• Also, BEDA. Need this be said?
• Finish editing 2011′s NaNoWriMo
• Do NaNoWriMo this year
• Complete my submission to Less Than Three
• Read at least 50 books. Reviews to be posted here.
• Watch 100 movies. I’ll post the reviews on this blog, if I feel the movies deserve reviews.
• Make a black and white silent film.
• Keep my 4.0 college GPA.
• Do Drawctober
• Make a top 5 college list by February (I’m a high schooler attending a community college, so I’ll need to transfer after next year)
• SAT!
• Help decrease world suck. Every year, I choose an organization to volunteer with. I haven’t chosen one yet..
• Take a kickboxing class
• Learn how to do a backflip. I only recently learned how to front flip, but I want to try!
• Meet John and Hank Green (and the Katherine!). I’m going o the local stop of the Tour de Nerdfighteria courtesy of my dear friend Caitlin (she of the Green Applesauce fame).

That gives you an idea. I tend to be overly ambitious.

 

A Conversation with A Friend

This is what a typical conversation is like in my so-called life. This is not verbatim, but it’s pretty freaking close.

My friend: I think we should pretend you had a horrible breakup so we can have one of those “watch-terrible-chick-flicks-and-eat-tons-of-ice-cream-and-not-feel-guilty” nights.

Me: ….

My friend: what??? we get to have an emotional night, but you get to be the brokenhearted one, ok?

Me: Why I am the heart broken one?

My friend: Because I was the last time.

Me: Ah, we take turns?

My friend: Well I can’t always be brokenhearted, can I? According to some people I don’t even have a heart!

Me: Same here!

My friend: Do you want me to take this round? I can get emoti0nal if I get ice cream for it.

Me: No, I’ll do it. I feel like crying for no reason anyways.

My friend: Maybe it should be both of us this time. Do you want Gregorio or can I have him?

[side note: Gregorio was the imaginary Italian boyfriend we created in middle school. Yeah, I know.]

Me: You can have Gregorio. I’ll sob about Paulo

[side note part deux: there is no story for Paulo. It's just an attractive name]

My friend: Ok good, because I get confused. Yay! I’ll make a playlist and we can come up with a list of movies.

Me: Yay!!! Some new films, not just our stand-bys

My friend: I agree. How about Dirty Dancing?

Me: Yes! I’ve heard Barefoot in the Park is good.

My friend: Let’s add it to the list.

Me: What about Love Story?

My friend: I haven’t heard of it, but let’s give it a try.  After all, we are broken hearted hormonial teen girls

Me: True, true. It’s from the 70s. It may be on Netflix

My friend: I have a whole category of romantic movies on there.

Me: Bam! Good idea!

My friend: We will be spontaneous.

Me: But not about ice cream.

My friend: Of course not! That is sacred.

Me:  Amen!

My friend: Oh, and I bought some cookies for the party [another party, not the break-up, ice cream one], the closest to jammy dodgers I could find.

Me: Oooooh could we do fish fingers and custard???

[side note trois: both jammy dodgers and fish fingers and custard are foods from the British show Doctor Who, of which we are fans. This might explain the rest of this conversation.]

My friend: Ah! we need to!

Me:I think the custard is a weird British type though…

My friend:  Yeah it is. I don’t know where to get it.

Me: Um, there used to be a British tea shop in the area. Or we could just use American custard

My friend: No, I’m sure it tastes different.

Me: I’ve made custard from scratch before…

My friend: Then we should just do that, and while making it speak in English accents so it’d be British.

Me: Perfect!

Merlin, Christmas, and a bit about chick flicks

Image via Wikipedia

Hello there!

So first things first: I did win NaNoWriMo but I didn’t finish my novel. It has decided that it wants to be more than 50,000 words and who am I to stand in its way?

Now that I have that out of the way, you may be wondering what it is that I do when I’m not blogging, vlogging, tumblring, doing school, or getting injured. The answer to that comes in three parts, placed in the title of this post for your convenience.

My latest TV fascination sustaining me during the hiatus of Doctor Who is Merlin.  Basically, it takes the story of Arthur and Merlin, turns them into teenagers, and places them in a court where magic is outlawed. Is it cheesy? Definitely, but it’s fun. And it’s clean. Plus, it seems like everyone in the show is good looking. Yes, I can be that shallow.

Moving on… a good deal of my time lately has been spent on making Christmas presents, buying Christmas presents, wrapping Christmas presents, worrying that people won’t like their Christmas presents and so on. I have this mindset where I want to get The. Best. Present. EVER. for people. And consequently, I have this fear that after all the time and energy (but not money, because I’m poor) I spend on a present, it is simply destined for the re-gifting pile.

It’s not just Christmas though. Whenever I get a present for someone, I want them to love it. I want it to be personal. This translates into me rarely giving gift cards or money. I don’t want to give a gift just for the sake of saying I gave you something. Ramble over.

The third and final part of this post is the idea of chick flicks. For those of you who are unaware of what this genre is all about, we turn to the ever reliable Wikipedia:

“Chick flick is a slang term for a film mainly dealing with love and romance designed to appeal to a female target audience. Although many types of films may be directed toward the female gender, “chick flick” is typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes that are relationship-based …”

That may be one of the broadest definitions I’ve ever heard, but it works for my purposes. Basically, a chick flick is a sappy romantic film that involves exaggerated plots, unrealistic relationships, and happily ever after endings. Right?

So, in that case, I would not consider myself a fan of chick flicks. Sure, there are a few I like (anything with Audrey Hepburn), but many of the “romantic” films I like have sad or even tragic endings (Casa Blanca, Phantom of the Opera). And what about films like Marie Antoinette (2006) which is female-oriented, but not relationship based?

Movies seem more complicated now than when I was a child. Then I could either like a movie or dislike it without having to explain why. Now? Not so much.

That’s all. I have a video project that I’m hoping to create during the Christmas break and I’ll continue editing (read: “finishing”) my NaNoWriMo. Is it ok if I simply bombard you with poetry instead of actual post until after the holidays?

In which I monologue primarily about the Doctor but also about other things

Image via Wikipedia

Hi there! So,  here’s the thing about BEDA 2: I’m doing it, but not really. There are at least three days this month where I will have no internet whatsoever. So, with the exception of those three, I plan to blog everyday.

I’m such a Doctor Who fangirl. I liked the show before, but now that I’ve seen almost all of season 4 (I’m so close to being caught up!), I feel like I have more of a right to it. I don’t know if that makes any sense. My goal is to caught up by the time part 2 of season 6 comes out, or August 27.

Another plus about getting caught up is that Chameleon Circuit songs make much more sense.  Chameleon Circuit is a trock (time lord rock) band and they’re good. I mean, they’re so good you really don’t need to know anything about Doctor Who in order to appreciate how good they are. But knowing all the little references , or almost all, is so cool!

And guys, I saw Blink! It was as epic as everyone says. It truly was.  I think it’s probably my favorite so far. The Angels are so scary.  They are tied with the Vashta Nerada as the scariest villain of the series.  Actually, I think that the Weeping Angels are a bit more scary in and of themselves but since they don’t actually kill… I’m torn.

I promise to write a post tomorrow that is not about the Doctor.