A Twizzler is not a sprinkle...A Mounds is not a sprinkle...A Jolly Rancher is NOT a sprinkle!!!!

Okay, so since I didn't do it in my last post, I'm finally going to get around to doing this now (despite the fact that's it's after 12:00am and I have to finish cleaning my room before I go to church tomorrow if I want to have my New Year's party). What am I doing, you ask? Why, updating you on all of the pointless crappy nonsense that's happened since my September 17th post. I'm going to try to split this up into categories so that you, the reader (assuming anyone is actually reading this thing) can skim over the parts that you want. Ready? Too bad, because here we go.

Day-to-Day Life

A couple of okay things have happened since my last "real" post. For one, I had my sixteenth birthday, which was kick arse. Well, my party was anyway. Attendees were Sean, Holly, Jill, Charlie, Nancy, Emily, Anna, Mary, Nancy, Bounkheana, and of course, my lovely muse Ariel. Trent was supposed to come, but the douchbag was in Las Vegas at the time. Butthead. I also got a job about a week before my birthday at Lifetouch, which is also where my mom and my darling brother work. It's pretty sweet, if I must say. And the pay is absolutely lovely, especially for starting wage, let me tell you. Not that money is everything, mind... A few days after my birthday - on October 26th, to be precise - I got my eyebrow pierced. Cost me $50 out of my first paycheck, but it was worth it. I can take out the ring on January 26th and change it. w00t. Another big thing occurred a little while back, when I got the most kick arse pair of boots ever. Observe:Yeah, sweet, right? Those happen to be my lovely Black Cherry boots that have a long story behind them. Care to hear it? Good. Last winter, I saw them at Hot Topic at the MoA for $70 and fell in love with them. Was going to use all of the Christmas money from my dad to buy them, but when I went back to get them a week or two later, they were sold out. Then, last spring, I saw them again the the EP Center Hot Topic on sale for only $50. Was super excited. However, just my luck, they were out of my size. I had given up hope, when a few weeks ago, I was going through my weekly browsing of hottopic.com, and happened to see these in the clearance section for - get this - $25!! I just about crapped my pants. Five minutes later, I had completed the order form for them, and five days after that, they showed up at my house. They are my pride and joy. Less-than-three!! Then, back in September, there was Homecoming. That was just...interesting. And horribly awkward. I won't go into detail, because it will probably scar you for life, as it did me, but it was just...yeah. Here's some lovely pictures, though, of that night and the night before (no, none of that is real alcohol - it's IBC rootbeer, stupids):Then, of course, there was Sadies, which Ariel and I have been waiting for since Fire N Ice of last year, when we decided we were going to go together as gay school girls. Yeah, that's right: gay school girls. However, Holly wasn't going with anyone, so she decided to join us as our gay teacher. It was good times. Again, observe:
Hooray for Sadies pictures (they're all h0tt, am I right? =})! Oh, and then there was this thing called Christmas, which I got a lot of cool stuff for. Hooray for Christmas and Jesus! Ooh, ooh! And then on Thursday this past week, I was sick. It was that one-day stomach flu thing that I got the day we came back from Christmas break last year. You know, the "I-was-perfectly-fine-when-I-went-to-bed-the-night-before-but-then-I-woke-up-in-the-morning-feeling-sick-and-puked-and-then-puked-for-the-rest-of-the-day" thing. I threw up fourteen - or was it fifteen? - different times that day. It was gross. The trailer for Order of the Phoenix came out, and holy crap I could go on forever about how good it looks. Well, except for the Dan-kissing-Katie part...and the Dan-with-his-hair-cut part. *staples it back on* Other than that though, I'm super excited. And might I say that Gary Oldman is one very good-looking Sirius in this movie, too? I am going to bawl at the end of that one. Speaking of HP, too, the title of Book 7 was announced: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Okay, I'm sorry, but WTF?! That title is so...so...not good. Very lacking, in my opinion. I don't like it. Hopefully, the book itself will be much better. I am probably going to cry at the end of that one too, not only because I'm sure there'll be nine-million-billion deaths in it, but because it will be the end. :( Oh well...I s'pose there's always fanfiction... Finally, today I went to Taco Bell and got some burritos. And that's the end of that.

Book/Movie/Album Rants and Reviews
I've read a few books, bought a few albums, and watched a few movies/shows since my last post, so I will talk about them now. Let's get a move on, shall we?
Inkspell by Corneila Funke - Hooray for Inkspell, the second book in the Inkheart trilogy! This was...amazing, for lack of a better word. I can't say whether or not it was better than the first one, because you really can't compare the two, but holyfreakingcrap it was good. I'm not going to really say anything about it, because doing so will not only give away a bunch of stuff in this book, but will complete ruin the first book, Inkheart. Just...read it. For Bob's sake, read this darned book.
Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson, and Camelot (the musical) by Merlin knows who - We read all of these in English at the beginning of the year. Okay, so we really only read all of Idylls of the King and Camelot, and only read sections of Le Morte D'Arthur and The Once and Future King, but still, I really enjoyed all of them. It was interesting to compare the different writing styles of all of the books - one was very high-spirited about war, one was very "Christian," one was highly comical, and one was very brutal and "knightly." I thought it was really interesting trying to compare all of the stories to one another, and finding the things that had had in common and the things that were completely different. All of them were actually very good, and if you're into the whole Arthurian legend thing, these are must reads.
Antigone by Sophocles - Another play that we read in English earlier this year. This was a big shocker for me, because I, despite being a huge mythology buff and lover all things Greek in that category, hated this play. I found Antigone to be unbearably annoying and thick and big-headed in this, and she really just bugged me and completely turned me off from the story. I liked the overall message and idea behind it, but I didn't like the way it was carried out. I realize that Antigone's pride was supposed to be her hubris in the play, but even so - it was just completely and utterly obnoxious to me, and it made me hate her - and the play - with a burning, firey passion. Don't read this - you might vomit.
Wicked Forest by V.C. Andrews - I don't know if I mentioned this one in an earlier post, but since I'm too lazy to check, I'm just going to put it in here anyway. This was the second book in the Debeer's Family series, and the sequel to Willow. This book was just as good as the first, if not better. I loved the way that you never knew what exactly was going to happen, and how everything that did happened surprised you. The whole marriage thing between Thatcher and Willow (the BAD marriage thing, mind you), what happened to Willow's mother, the thing with Willow and her professor, and what ended up happening to Linden - holy. Crap. Everything was just...just...wow. That book had so much packed into it, especially at the end. I did start reading the third one, but have yet to finish it. I need to make time for it, because if the first two were any indication, this one will be amazing. I don't want to say much for fear of giving things in this book and the last one away, but again, wow... Read these books - and any other books by V.C. Andrews - because they are amazing.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - Again, I'm technically not finished with this book, but I'm supposed to have it done before break, so I'll just put some stuff up for what I've read. This is another book we're reading for English, and holy crap, this is another fantastic book. Hugo's mix of romanticism and realism are amazing in here - he'll be making something seem so sweet and flowery and happy and just good, and then - BAM! - you're shoved right back down with something blunt and realistic and just...raw. He is able to convey emotion so well in this book, too - I can't tell you how sad the entire book of Cosette made me. The way he makes you feel in this book is amazing - there's so many different emotions that you experience while reading this book, and they all just hit you like a bag of bricks right in the face. Yay, that hard. And the way that he weaves everything together - ohemgee! He'll introduce something or someone to you at one point in the book - perhaps just briefly mention it - and you're like, "WTF? What did he bother putting that in for?" and then, a few chapters or books later, said character or thing will all of a sudden come back and have this huge role, and you're eyes will get all wide and you'll be like, "Holy shite, that's why he mentioned it earlier!" I love it. I'm not even done with it yet, and I love it.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Yes, we've made it to the movies. I'm sure you've all seen this by now, so let me just say that, despite the fact that, apart from Jill, everyone I know hated this movie, I loved it. It was NOT too long, it was NOT too predictable, and the ending did NOT suck. I am anxiously awaiting the third movie. Also, Johnny Depp was still horrendously good-looking in this, as in every other movie. Nuff sed.
Night at the Museum - Went and saw this for free with Trent last night since he works at AMC, and it would have been worth it even if I would have had to pay. It was that good. This movie was hilarious, and had a lot of really funny jokes and lines and actions in it that were just dumb, random humor. Mickey Rooney, who played Gus, had the best nicknames for Ben Stiller, who starred as Larry, the main character in the movie. The best by far was when he called him "lunchbox." I have now started using that word. :) One of the best lines was said by Owen Wilson, who played Jedidiah, to Steve Coogan, who played Octavius, which was, "I'm not gonna quit on you!" LAWL. I almost peed my pants, and was by far laughing the loudest in the theater. Of course, that could have been because a lot of the people in the theater were either younger kids or parents, most of which probably weren't familiar with Brokeback Mountain. I myself have actually yet to see the movie, but being in High School, I have a line-by-line account of pretty much the whole thing anyway. :) Seriously though, go see this movie while it's still in theaters. It's well worth it.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Ben bought me a four-disc DVD set for Christmas, which includes every episode of the show, plus both of the movies. WHOO-HOO! I have yet to watch either of the movies, and still have maybe eight or so episodes left, but holy crap, you must watch this series. I don't care if you like anime or not, this show will blow your brains out of the back of your head. It is by far one of the best animes ever. It's highly intelligent, yet still comical and has classic anime aspects to it. Good theme song, too. :) The only thing that I cannot stand is the character Asuka, but she doesn't come in until about a third of the way into the series, so I can deal with her. Still, she's a poopbrick. But other than that, this series r0xorz mah s0x0rz. Watch it.
Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars series - Trent loaned me these, and holy crapola, this is by far the best Sailor Moon series ever. It was only released in Japanese, so it's all subtitled, but it's still SOOOOO good! The transformations are awesome, the classic characters are a million times cooler, the Starlights are sweet, the animations are great, and the fight scenes are hardcore. Overall, it's a top notch series. Oh, and since it's the Japanese version, Uranus and Neptune aren't cousins anymore, if you catch my drift. ;) That parts pretty comical, especially since they're not shy about it at all. And Usagi and Seiya - good Lord, never, NEVER have I been a fan of slash, but I can't help but feel that the two of them are made for each other. Besides, it's not like it's Moon and Fighter - I'm literally talking about Usagi and Seiya, so that's still kind of okay, right? Right. I can't help it - the two of them are so CUTE together!! At first I was like, "WTF?! Hello, DARIEN!!" But now I'm thinking that I like Seiya a little bit better. CrAzY! But yeah... Fan of Sailor Moon? Watch this. You'll be an even bigger fan after doing soon. Evem if you're not a Sailor Moon fan - or, again, an anime fan at all - watch this series. It's well worth it.
Sailor Moon R: The Movie; The Promise of the Rose - Awww, this one was cute...it made me feel all squishy inside. :) I especially loved the flashbacks to their childhoods with the little chibi Serena and Darien. They were uber-cute! Parts of it were a bit cheesy though, such as the beginning. And the end. :P I thought that the ending was way drawn out when they were flying back towards earth, and, again, really cheesy. Especially with the alternate version where they played "The Power of Love." Overall, good movie, especially with the squishy moments in it, but Super S: The Movie was better. Now I just need to see S: The Movie. Hmph.
The Open Door, Evanescence - I know I ranted about this before, and pretty much said I hated it, but I beginning to like it more and more now. The videos are pretty good, too... And I finally bought a copy of it this week with one of my Target giftcards. Hooray. I will rant more about it once I have decided that I love it.

Well, I believe this is the longest blog ever, and since I have spent about an hour and a half trying to compile it and it's already a billion and two words long, I should probably quit. Also, I still have to clean my room. And sleep. Don't forget that. :P

"And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall/Pour real life down on me."
~ Good Enough, Evanescence

Fame was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug were the drugs.

I can't believe that I, one: actually looked at one of these things, two: actually took the time to fill one of these things out, three: am posting it on here, and four: am posting this instead of an actual blog, especially since a lot has happened since my last blog. But whatever...I'm going to post this anyway, just because it's very witty. Or something like that...

RHS

Who's locker is next to you:
I don't know...nobody important, most likely.

-Are you usually on time to 1st period?:
Everyday, biotches.

-Full size or small sized locker?:
Small. :P

P E R I O D 1

-Who sits behind you?
Sarah Flynn


-What class is it?
Honors English


-Who's your teacher?
Ms. Holle

-Have you ever fallen asleep in class?
This class? No. Every other class? ...Yeah probably.

P E R I O D 2:

-What class is it?
College Prep Chemistry, otherwise known as the bane of my existance.

-Who sits to your left?
Mary Pheng (is h0tt)! :)

-Are you failing this class?
No way Jose!

-Is this your favorite class?
...See the first question.

-Who do you sit in front of?
...Erm, Jeremy, I think...?

P E R I O D 3 :

-What class is it?
Honors math

-Is your best friend in this class with you?
Why yes Ariel Nicole Keeton is in this class with me! *MUAH!*

-Do u hate someone in this class?
Hate is such a strong word... However, if you're talking about disliking someone with an awesome, fangoriously large, gelatinous, all-consuming fire-y passion, then yes, yes I do.


P E R I O D 4:

- What class is it?
AP World History

-What do you do during 4th period?
Take notes, watch videos, laugh at Mr. Tabor's stupid jokes, and bug Nancy and Ashley. Good times...

-Anyone you want to shoot during 4th period?
Shoot is such a strong word... However, if you're talking about wanting to cause complete bodily harm by gauging someone's eyes out with your thumbs and ripping their intestines out with a fork and then kicking them in the teeth really hard in a completely friendly, loving way, then yes, yes there is.

-is 4th period your fav class?
Nope. Sorry, Mr. Tabor...

P E R I O D 5

-what is this class?
French II

-who is your teacher?
Madamoiselle Laboe

-is it your favorite?
Err...no...to be honest, I have a lot of friends in that class, which is nice, but since I am incessantly talking to said friends, I have become pretty terrible at French, hence making it one of the subjects I don't care for as much.

P E R I O D 6

-who sits next to you?
Erm...I'm on the side, but the six people that sit around me are Taylor something-or-other, Bryce something-or-other, James Olson, Katelyn Mithun, and Molly Opitz.

-what class is it?
Health

-do you like your teacher?
Oh good Lord no. I can only be blunt on this one.

A F T E R S C H O O L

-Do you have any sports?
Nope...I became lazy after eighth grade and quit basketball after seven years of playing it.

-Clubs?
Nope. Can't be in theater anymore because of work, and there's no more newspaper...wow, I am lazy.

-Do you do your homework right away?
Never. Procrastination is key.

"I'm lower than most animals and fear what might be weird
And all those voices in my head have every right to be there"
~ I Hate Jimmy Page, Mindless Self-Indulgence

Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

C'est le ciel clair de tes yeux
Qui les gêne
Mais que j'aime tellement
Et mon teint brun dans tes yeux
Ca dérange, mais tu l'aimes tellement
Même si tu ne me le dis pas
Je sais qu'ils jouent avec ta tête en te disant
Que c'est pour ton bien à toi
Qu'il te faudrait peut-être un autre
Moins différent
Mais t'inquiètes, je leur dirai tous que c'est:

[Refrain:]
Toi, toi
Toi et non pas une autre
Que je vois, toi
Et cela peut importe
Que tu sois, ou pas, de ma couleur
Mais d'une autre
Ce sera toi et moi ensemble
Que le monde veuille ou pas
Toi, toi
Toi et non pas une autre
C'est mon choix, toi
Et cela peut importe
Que je sois, ou pas, de ta couleur
Mais d'une autre
Ce sera toi et moi ensemble
Que le monde veuille ou pas
'y en a qu'une comme toi, c'est toi

(écoute ça)
Ton ivoire, coïncidence
Moi je préfère ce qu'il couvre si bien
Ma peau noire quelle importance
Juste une belle peau, c'est deux fois rien
En plus, elle te va si bien
Ca vaut la peine
Car c'est avec toi et moi que les temps changent
Ca vaut vraiment la peine
Demain les hommes feront tout ce qui aujourd'hui semble étange
Mais avant qu'ils comprennent
Je leur dis que c'est

[Refrain 2x]

[Bridge 2x]
C'est parce qu'on s'aime
Que je les oublie
Encore moins parce qu'on s'aime
Que tu les trahis
On sait d'où on vient, ça ne change pas
Mais cela n'a rien à avoir avec toi et moi

[Refrain 4x]


Stupid Corneille had to get stuck in my head. Darn him! :p

The last time the meteors came, we thought the sky was on fire. Naturally, we blamed the Irish. We hanged more 'n a few.

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve made a post on here, so expect this to be horrendously long. That being said, I will continue.

Probably biggest thing that’s happened since my last post is that school’s started. Honestly, I didn’t want school to start, but really, it’s not all that bad. I actually like almost all of my classes, and I like the way my schedule is set up because it makes my day seem a lot shorter. The following is my schedule:
Honors English – Holle
College Prep Chemistry – Kaus
Honors Math – Brown
Advanced Placement World Studies – Tabor
French II – Laboe
Health – Nelson
So, with that, let me talk and rant a bit about each of those. Having English right away in the morning is a complete and total blessing. I mean, I’m not excited to get up in the morning and go to school, but English makes it much more bearable. Plus, Ms. Holle is a great teacher. I really like her. ^_^ CPC isn’t bad either, and Mr. Kaus is a pretty funny guy, so that parts nice. Also, we can hear Mr. Tepp teaching his class from across the hall all the time, even if the door’s closed, which always makes Sam and I laugh. However, it deals with a lot of math, and math = lame, so that part is sucky. Math is, well, like always, math is pretty much just dumb. Like I just mentioned, I don’t like math, so that part is lame, but Miss Brown doesn’t really make it any better. The chick is nice, but she’s so freaking hyper that it makes me want to shoot myself sometimes. However, the subject matter of the class isn’t too bad so far, because we’re just reviewing stuff from last year, which, despite not getting it last year, I completely understand while we’re doing it this year, so that’s okay. However, I may not have gotten any of it last year because I paid attention for, oh, I don’t know, probably about the first three days of the second semester, and either drew, worked on other homework, or slept for the rest of it. I know it’s terrible, but Mr. Zoellmer didn’t care, and I still ended up doing okay, because I’d go home the night before a test or quiz, teach myself how to do everything, and then get either an A or B on it the next day. So really, it didn’t have a bad effect on me. ^_^

AP World Studies is a lot of fun, but a lot of work. I really like the stuff we’re currently learning, because it’s all ancient world stuff from like Mesopotamia and whatever, and I’m a big ancient world buff, so the material we’re going over is interesting. However, that class is pretty much made up of strictly notes, homework, and tests, which can get a bit tiring. Every Wednesday, we get a packet of notes and a chapter to read, and we have to read the chapter and finish the packet by the following Wednesday, when we take a test on everything we read, and then get a new packet to do the same thing over again, though obviously with a new chapter. Our first week, we had a two-page packet, front and back sides, and this past week, we got a three page on instead. :p And the classes pretty much revolve around taking notes. However, like I said, it isn’t as bad as it could be, because I’m at least interested in the material, and Mr. Tabor is hilarious, which makes the class more interesting and seem to go by quicker. After this I have lunch, whom I eat with Nancy, Matt H., Sam, Max, Bounkheana, and her friend Sarah, and it always proves to be an interesting affair. :D After lunch I have French, which is pretty okay. I like it so far, although I have to admit that I really needed the review that we did for the first two weeks, because I forgot most of the French that we learned last year. Mademoiselle Laboe is also really nice, and is pretty funny herself. My last class of the day is Health, and that class is pretty much what I expected it to be: horrendously boring. Middle School Health was boring every year, and High School Health isn’t any better. Ms. Nelson, the teacher, doesn’t really make it any better either, because the lady is sometimes kind of insane, and she scared the crap out of me the first few days of school. She also looks like she smoked a pound of pot before class everyday. But whatever. It’s only for one semester, so I guess I can handle it.

Anyways, that was a lot about school, but since school seems to be taking up virtually all of my time lately between all of the homework and tests and quizzes and essays and speeches I’ve had (yes, I’ve had all of these so far this year :p), school is all that I’ve really had time for. But I still want to move on from that and talk about some more interesting things, such as some more movies I’ve seen/bought, the new Evanescence album and their concert, Project 86, and probably some other pointless stuff. I believe that I informed you this was going to be long at the beginning, and that isn’t changing yet.

So, we’ll start with the movies, shall we? And the first movie that I’m going to talk about is Sense and Sensibility. My mom bought the movie for me from Best Buy about a good month and a half ago because I really wanted to see it, and it was only like, five or six bucks. In case you’re not aware, it’s another movie based off of a Jane Austin book of the same name (like Pride and Prejudice, which I watched again, by the way, and Matthew MacFadyen is still h0tt as ever in it), and it fits into the typical Austin theme, revolving around marriage/courting, social status, and typical life for females back during her time. It has a lot of great actors and actresses in it, including Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant (who is terribly attractive in that movie), and Alan Rickman. And may I just say that, despite the fact that, again, the guy is freaking old now, he is still attractive, and in this particular movie, absolutely, positively gorgeous. He plays Colonel Brandon, and good Lord, he is fi-ine looking. *nods* Of course, just because of that the movie would be good, but even if you take him out of the equation of the film, the movie was still really good and I really enjoyed it. It’s one of those, “Awwwwwww!” movies, that just makes you feel all warm and squishy on the inside.

Also, I received a $20 giftcard to Best Buy for helping Anna bag groceries for United Way, and I bought two movies with that as well. I was originally going to buy Silent Hill, because that came out in August, and I really wanted to see it again, especially since the bootlegged copy that I got of it in Kosovo was terrible quality-wise, and I couldn’t see anything that was going on. However, once I got there, I decided to get two other movies instead, since I could get two for less than the price that I would pay for just buying Silent Hill. Also, I’m going to go bag groceries again later this month, so I figured I’d either buy the movie with the giftcard that I get then, or wait and see if I get it for my birthday or if not, buy it with money that I get for my birthday instead. Anyway, I ended up buying Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, because despite that I love that movie, I still didn’t have it, so I just decided to buy it since it was only $10, and watched that again when I got home. That movie is still as weird as ever, and the part where they dress up in the weird, crazy costumes and talk about where the fish is still scares the crap out of me. :D

The other movie that I ended up buying was love actually. I had rented it the day before, watched it and loved it, and decided to buy it with the other half of my giftcard. That movie is really good as well, and stars a lot of great British actors, including about half the cast of Sense and Sensibility, including Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant (who is still good-looking), and Alan Rickman. Who is also, once again, very, very good-looking (though still not as good as in Sense and Sensibility), though he plays a doucheface character. The movie also stars Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, and Rowan Atkinson, and almost every one of the guys in that movie is terribly good-looking. *nods* I can’t help it if British guys are all h0tt, and that their accents are very charming as well. But yeah…so the movie was really good, and the ending left me with mixed feelings of depression and happiness, because with most of the characters, you feel all, “Awwwwwwww, that’s so nice and cute,” but with like, Rickman and Thompson’s characters, you feel all, “Nooooooooooo, that shouldn’t be happening.” And like I said, Rickman played a doucheface husband, which made me sad, both because it was really sad in the movie, and because it’s Alan Rickman and I don’t like disliking him in movies. :p

So that’s pretty much the movies I’ve seen (at least that I haven’t seen before), so I’ll move onto Evanescence. Now, first off, I’m a huge Evanescence fan, so when I first found out last spring, that their new album, The Open Door was supposed to drop in October, I was ecstatic. However, my brother cautioned me that it may not be as good, saying, quite bluntly that, “It’ll probably suck.” I reprimanded him, and didn’t want to believe it, but when they released their first video from the album this summer for the song “Call Me When You’re Sober,” I thought again. After watching the video, I wasn’t too sure if I liked the song or not. I mean, there were some things about it that I liked, but for the most part, I wasn’t too thrilled with it. It was really…different. And not in a good way. Right now, I am actually listening to the album, because it got leaked and Ben downloaded the whole thing for me. I figure, I’m going to buy it anyway, so why not just get it early.

Well, as soon as the first song started, I was completely blown away. And not by how good it was. Quite the opposite, in fact. I was completely and utterly blown away by how bad it was. Ben came into my room not even halfway through the song, and my remark was, “This sucks.” Right now, I am listening to the last track of the album, and I can honestly state that, as a whole, this album is not very good. It’s really grungy and raw and, I don’t know, just different. Like I said, it’s completely different than their older stuff, and while I realize that bands are all going to change their style at some point or another – and that they have every right to – and that Evanescence especially was going to change because of the loss of Ben Moody, it’s still way more different than I ever thought it would be. They did change from their Origin and pre-Fallen days to the time that Fallen was actually released, but it wasn’t as big of a change as this, and besides, it was an okay change. I actually prefer the stuff on Origin to Fallen, but Fallen is still one of my favorite albums ever, and it’s still amazing lyrically, melodically, emotionally - everything. The Open Door, on the other hand, is not like this at all. I mean, in my opinion, it is a change for the worse. There’s bits of the albums that are okay, and some things are actually pretty good, but again, overall, I don’t care for the album. The style that Amy Lee sings in is, as mentioned really grungy, and I cannot stand grunge or grungy-type stuff. Also, there’s just really crappy instrumental stuff on here that just doesn’t sound good, and actually makes them sound a lot more like a low-profit, garage band than a professional band. Their previous work was really advanced, intelligent sounding music, and was more about doing what they wanted, trying new things, and doing things people hadn’t done before, while The Open Door sounds like they were trying to sound really mainstream and makes everything seem really low-quality and almost as if they didn’t care as much anymore, which is exactly opposite of what Amy Lee said she was trying to go for and accomplish, and why this album took so long to get released.

Needless to say, after all of this, I’ll still probably buy the album, just because I am a fan of them and their music, and I figure, every band has a bad record at least some point in their career, and that, hopefully they’ll move on from this and turn out even better than before. Look at Bob Dylan – everything that he put out in the 80’s was absolutely terrible, and yet he’s still hugely popular, just put out a new album, and was on tour with Willie Nelson within the last year. However, one thing I can say is that I am definitely not regretting that I can’t go see Evanescence live anymore. They are playing here in October, and at first I was bummed because I couldn’t afford the $25 to buy a ticket since I owe my mom about eighty bucks. But now, after hearing this new album, I don’t really know if I want to go see them play all of this new stuff anymore. *shrugs* Who knows? Maybe the album will grow on me if I give it a little bit more of a chance. All I know is that right now, I’m not digging the album.

So now, let’s move onto what I’m going to make my final thought in here since this is already over four and a half pages in Word: Project 86. Yes, they are playing here again in November, and yes, I will be seeing them again, for I believe the seventh time now. Ben said they are supposed to be releasing a new album again next year, and that Schwab is coming out with another new book. Hooray! At least I can be excited for this band, because, with the five albums that they’ve put out so far, I’ve never been disappointed or letdown, and I don’t ever expect to. I don’t think there is any way that this band cannot be bad, so let’s just hope that that stays true.

Well, because this thing is horrendously long, I’ll end now. Enjoy your day, and combolations Elizagerth if you made it all the way through this post. You have less of a life than even I.

"You shut your mouth/How can you say/I go about things the wrong way/I am human and I need to be loved/Just like everybody else does."
-How Soon is Now?, t.A.T.u.

Call this an unfair generalization if you must, but old people are no good at everything.

So, I never did around to posting that rant I said I was going to in my last post, and frankly, at this point in time, I don't think I'm going to. I decided the next morning that I was too lazy and didn't really care anymore, and kind of forgot about it until now. I guess you'll never know what the weasels were doing to my mind. ^_^

Now, before I get into what is no doubt going to be a horrendously long post, I'd like to point you in the direction of my new blog, The Pointless Weekly List of a Teenage Nerd. Here I will weekly post reccomendations for one book, movie, and album/playlist that you should check out, as well as a random tidbit of Harry Potter info, just because it is called the Pointless Weekly List of a Teenage Nerd. So definitely check that out. Right, let's move on.

Well, onto other news, I watched a few more movies. Stigmata was on TV on Saturday night, so I watched that, and it was really good. And Gabriel Byrne, who played Father Kiernan, isn't really all that bad-looking. Okay, so he's like 61 years old or something like that, but really, you can't say that the man isn't decent-looking. What the crap is it with all of these old British actors? They can be 60 freaking years old and yet I still find them attractive. What is wrong with this picture?

*coughs*

Anyway, so I watched Stigmata, and thought that it was a really good movie. Interesting plotline and everything, and the special effects were great. The ending was quite surprising, and I'm not sure that I really got the last scene all that much, but it was good nonetheless. Bounkheana and Trent came over today and we just hung out and stuff, and BK brought One Hour Photo, which we watched. That movie was...weird. I don't know if you can really call it anything else. It was just...weird. And kind of creepy. Actually, really creepy. And it was also really weird to see Robin Williams playing Sy in it. Not his typical film, which made it just feel...well, to be cliche again, weird. Didn't quite work with me, and yet it did. I dunno....I really have no idea what I'm talking about anymore. All I know is that was a weird movie, yet it was still good. Or something. Yeah, probably something...

I watched Garden State again today, too. Actually, to be more correct, I watched it twice. Once while Trent and I were playing Scrabble, and again after he left since I was only half paying attention to it. Need I say again how much I love that movie? I never fail to be completely shocked and in awe of the amazing, deep lines in that movie. Nor the hilarious, innappropriate ones, either. ^_^ What follows are a list of my favorite ones:

Mark: We'll probably go over there right after we bury your mom.
Random Guy: Well I gotta shower.
Mark: Same.

Kenny: Largeman-Holy sh*t! Oh, man. How you doing?
Large: I'm-I'm great.
Kenny: You're mom just died!
Large: I know.
Kenny: I mean, that's why you're home.
Large: Yeah. Yup.

Tim the Knight-guy: By the way, it says "balls" on your face.

Mark's Mom: Oh. Oh, you guys, don't stay in here all day 'cause I took the batteries out of the carbon monoxide detector. It was beeping all night.

Karl: I thought you killed yourself!
Large: What?
Karl: I thought you killed yourself. That wasn't you?
Large: No, that wasn't me.
Karl: Who killed themselves?
Mark: That was the Gleason kid. Oh, and Tina.
Large: Tina who?
Mark: You remember Tina. She was anorexic, did gymnastics-
Large: Oh, gymnastics Tina? How'd she do it?
Mark: I don't know. She wasn't Jewish. I didn't bury her.
Karl: I think it was sleeping pills, or that car in the garage thing. I forgot.
Sam: *tugs on ear*

Large: ...I don't want this guy taking you to, like some sketchy quarry in the middle of nowhere to find, like, crack whores huffing terpentine or pit bulls raping each other or whatever it is you have us doing!

Sam: He's my knight in shining armor.
Large: Don't talk about knights in front of Mark. It's a sore subject.
Mark: I'm gonna kill that motherfu*ker.
Large: Pun intended?

Large: So knock! Knock and barter for Desert Storm trading cards.
Mark: Don't tease me about my hobbies. I don't tease you about being an a*shole.

Albert: I suppose it's odd that we live down here like this.
Mark: No.
Sam: Not at all.
Large: Never crossed my mind.

Sam: I haven't even lied in like, two days.
Large: Is that tue?
Sam: No.

Large: Hey Albert!
Albert: Yeah?
Large: Good luck exploring the infinite abyss!
Albert. Thank you. ...Hey! You too!

Large: You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up inisn't realy your home anymrore? All of a sudden, even though you have someplace where you put your sh*t that idea of home is gone. You'll see one day when you move out. Just sorta happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like a rite of passage, you know? You won't ever have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself. You know, for - For your kids. For the family you start. It's like a cycle or something. I don't know. But I miss the idea of it, you know? Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.

Large: Maybe what mom wanted more than anything in the entire world was for it to all be over. And for me? What I want more than anything is for it to be okay with you for me to feel something. Even if it's pain.

"Took a right on Lyndale I'm getting near/But then the road became empty and the people disappeared/The clowds ran away, opened up the sky/And one by one I watched every constellation die/And there I was frozen, standin' in my backyard/Face to face, eye to eye, starin' at the last star/I should've known, walked all the way home/To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone"
- Atmosphere, Always Coming Back Home to You

Can we go Catholic so we can get communion wafers and booze?

Besides all of the books I mentioned before, I am also now reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, and would like to begin Dante's Inferno. I swear, I always end up reading a bazillion books at once and then having to go back and re-read stuff because I forget what's going on or get it confused with whatever else I'm reading, but whatever. So far, Julius Caesar is pretty good, though I'm only a few pages into it, so I suppose I can't really judge it. But again, whatever.

Anyway, I have this really long rant that I would love to post right now, but I don't think I have the energy, nor the time for it. It has to do with society and how f****d up it is. Pardon ma francaise, but seriously, I don't think you can really make it any lesser. I am normally not a fan of that word at all, but after hearing what I have to say, you'll probably be able to see exactly why that is putting it in lamest terms. Maybe if I get around to it tomorrow, I'll write it all out during the day and post it tomorrow night. I really want to write it now, because it's been gnawing at my brain like a box of starving, crazed weasels, but like I said, I don't think I have the energy to do it right now. I would like to make it sound decent, and I think it's important to have coherent and full-functioning sentences in it, so I shall wait. The bob gammed weasels will have to gnaw at me for another night. Just prepare for a fangoriously long and horrendously one-sided and probably biased and slightly bitchy post.

Well, I should probably get a move on going to bed soon, since it's almost 2:00am again. As I have mentioned countless times, forced insomnia will be the death of me. Especially when I stay up until four in the morning and then get up again five hours later. Blargh. But that's what happens when you're really busy and can only get online late at night. Once again, whatever. Good night to the three people (if even that) that actually read this retarded thing.

When every word you ever said came true
All I missed
In all of this was you
- Project 86, A Shadow On Me

The sun is out, birds are singing, bees are trying to have sex with them -- as is my understanding ...

So, went to Universe Games with Ben last night, and we played a bunch of board/card games, such as: Lord of the Fries, Who Killed Dr. Lucky?, Guillitine, Brawl (which I just bought my own deck for - a Tess one, to be specific, which has a bazillion hits but no presses :p), and Munchkin. Actually, I just watched Ben and his friends play Munchkin, because I've never played it before and even if I had I don't think I would have been able to. Freaking hardest game ever to understand.

Erm...watched Spice World tonight. Surprisingly, it was a lot funnier now than it was when I used to watch it every single week when I was younger. I actually got all of the jokes and stuff that I was totally oblivious to when I was little, and recognized more of the bazillion cameos in it. For example; the last time I watched this (which was probably in third grade), I had no idea who Meatloaf was, and upon watching the movie tonight, discovered that he played the bus driver in the movie for the Spice Bus. LAWL.

I've actually been watching a lot of movies that I've already seen this weekend. I watched Pride and Prejudice again, which I believe is the fourth time that I've watched it since I bought it. I'm actually thinking of putting it in while I lay in bed tonight and fall asleep watching it. I teh heart Matthew Macfayden, of course. (Whom I should really be kissing in that picture.) I also watched Corpse Bride again with Ben, and I have to say that I found it funnier the second time. Ben enjoyed it as well. And, I also watched Garden State again last night. Or rather, early this morning, since I didn't get to bed until 4:30 again. (Go figure.) I had forgotten how much I love that movie. Every single person seems like they were made for their role, and I love how it's completely and utterly realiztic and raw, and can still be funny and emotional and entertaining. And it's full of amazing quotes and lines, which are perfect for monologues. Yes, I would know. ^_^

I also watched North Country with my mom today, which was highly depressing, but excellent. It was really sad and horrible, but I admire the women that the movie was based on for their courage, and things ended up okay at the end. Hey, what can I say - I like happy endings! But seriously, it's hard to imagine that a thing like that can happen at all, let alone just a mere twenty or so years ago, and even more so that it happened in Minnesota. I mean, you see movies like this a lot, but somehow I'm always able to find a small fraction of comfort in the fact that "my people" (Lord, now I sound like I'm some civil rights activist...or Moses...^_^) never did any of this. But to sit there and see that these things happened in a place where I'm from (okay, so I'm not from the Iron Range, but I'm from Minnesota) is kind of hard to watch. It makes me feel a lot worse knowing that it happened here, even though none of it was my fault and I couldn't have prevented any of it from happening anyway. *sigh* Such is life... Regardless, it was still a good movie.

I'm still working on The Magician's Nephew, but I've also started reading a few short stories by Richard Matheson. He is the genius behind I Am Legend, one of my favorite books ever, and definitely my favorite vampire novel. Oh, and I just started reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. It's a book filled with a collection of short stories that "brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation," according to the back of the book. ^_^ So far, I've only gotten through the first story, titled Every Little Hurricane, but it was amazing, and I am looking forward to reading more.

Well, that's probably about it for now. I have gotten through posting some of my Kosovo pics on my deviantART account, which can be found on the appropriate link on the right side there, and will probably finish with my London ones tomorrow. Other than that, I think that's it. I will talk to yous all later!

"Look, I love those girls, and I'd do anything for them. But I won't do that." ~Meatloaf in Spice World. Can we say LAWL REFERENCE?!

Remember, you can always find East by staring directly at the sun.

I just finished a 47-chaptered Harry Potter fanfic. It was horrendously long. It is now almost three-thirty in the morning. As the title to one of Ben's mixtapes says, "I Have Come to the Conclusion that Forced Insomnia Will Be the Death of Me." Amen to that. I will now go to bed, after getting only about four hours of sleep last night, or rather, this morning. Maybe I will get more today. Who knows? Not me. All I know is, I'm having trouble coming up with coherant sentences. *nods* Good night, or something of the sort.

"Emo - like a goth only less dark and more like Harry Potter." - Katie on The Nuthouse God Bless that Girl.

They turned the Navy into a floating joke. They ruined all our best names like Bruce and Lance and Julian. Those were the toughest names we had!

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted on here (which is why you should be prepared for a horrendously long post). But between Kosovo, catching up with people, and working on late English homework that I still have to finish from this past year, I've been kinda busy. Oh, and reading fanfiction too, of course. Can't forget that. Nope.

Anyway, Kosovo was, in lamest terms, amazing. Probably one of the best experiences of my entire life. I learned so much there and got to know so many people. It was just fabulous! ^_^ Considering I am using my brother's computer now and don't have any of the pictures on it, I can't post them yet, but I will eventually. Not like anyone reads this thing anyway, but whatever...

I brought Inkheart with me to Kosovo, though only ended up reading a little bit of it on the way over, and maybe a chapter or two on the way back. However, I took it up to my trailer with me this past weekend and finished it all there, and I have to say that it was pretty amazing. The plotline was incredible, and I loved how Funke kept the whole fantasy thing realistic. Most fantasy books take place in a totally different world that suits the whole "fantasy" mood, and the ones that actually do take place here normally alter reality so much or place a different "world," so to speak, in our own world (such as in Harry Potter where there is the Wizarding World which is located within the rest of the Muggle World) that it doesn't feel as though it's a part of our world at all. Which is okay, because that's normally what makes fantasy fantasy, and since I'm the "fantasy goddess," that's not really a big deal. But in Inkheart, things are quite the opposite. The whole book takes place not only on our own planet, but in our own "world." Yet it still has fantasy elements in it. It's sort of refreshing to have something that seems to deny the rules of its genre, and take a complete step away from the norm. Also, the book is about books, one book in particular which Inkheart was named after, which is sort of odd but very cool if you ask me. The characters are really well-developed and everything, too, and I love that they are not always so typical, either. And the book is full of absolutely amazing quotes, too. Overall, the book was fantastic and I am wanting to go right out an buy the sequel.

I also watched the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. I had, as mentioned earlier on here, bought the special edition before going to Kosovo, but didn't have time to watch it. However, we ended up watching it in Kosovo anyway, so it was all good. As far as my opinion on the movie, I thought that it was really good, and think that it's probably tied with the original. When I first watched it, I thought the original was way better, but then I went back and watched it when I got home, and decided that the new one was just as good. I had forgotten about the terribly cheesy animations for the magical creatures in it. All I have to say about those is LAWL. I happen to prefer the White Witch in the original - in fact, my first thought when I saw the new one was, "HOLY CRAP! SHE'S EVEN SCARIER LOOKING THAN THE FIRST ONE!" Although, when thinking about it, I may have liked the first one better because she was more ridiculous and had a much colder and scarier air about her, while in the new one, she seemed to be a lot more "gentle." Granted, in some parts, she was supposed to be gentle, but I still liked the way the original White Witch did it better. I also thought the beaver's in the new one were kick arse. Seriously, real beavers?! AWESOME!!! The best was when he was wearing the armor. I almost pissed my pants laughing at that... And I also like Tumnus way better in this one. He wasn't as old and it didn't seem as weird when he befriended Lucy. Not to mention the fact that the guy who played him wasn't entirely bad looking, or the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. I mean...

Well, nothing else to talk about, I guess. Pathetic, really - I haven't watched any new movies or read any other books besides those since I got home. Although I am reading the Chronicles of Narnia now. I had only read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and even that was quite some time ago, so I'm reading the whole series now. Currently reading The Magician's Nephew, since that's the first book in Lewis' preferred order, so yeah. Um...oh, been doing a bit more writing. More like drabble-type writing, but if you want to check any of it out, go here, and you'll be able to find it. w00t.

Well, since I've already posted a bajillion words, I'll shut up and go read some more fanfiction. Because I am a nerd. Yes.

~Caitlin

My dad's always there/To open all my doors/You have to call a patronus just to catch a glimpse of yours/My mom says she loves me/When she tucks me into bed/How's your mommy doing in the Mirror of Erised?//My dad is rich/And your dad is dead/My dad is rich and your dad is dead
~ My Dad is Rich, Draco and the Malfoys

If The Flintstones has taught us anything, it's that pelicans can be used to mix cement

Oh yeah, I forgot to post this. I just stole this from Ben's Blog:

Yes... I leave for Kosovo at 7 PM tomorrow. If for some reason you'd like to keep up with what goes on over there, there are a few ways to do so.

1. The Kosovo Group Blog should be updated daily by our youth pastor Micah, as well as random updates from various members of the team. I may make some posts there, although I might also make some posts on here.

2. You can also send a blank e-mail to list@kosova06.com with the subject line "Subscribe News@Kosova06.com". There will probably be daily updates to this as well.

Anyway, have fun whilst I am gone and all that. See you in two weeks.


"My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star." ~Grandpa in The Simpsons

dsfdhsfdhshfFIVE DOLLARS?!!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!? Get outta here....

So, I leave for the airport to go to Kosovo in say...oh...I dunno...about sixteen hours or so, give or take a few minutes. Funny thing is, I'm completely calm about it all. I mean, I'm a bit anxious because I feel like I've forgotten to pack something, but that's about it. Other than that, I feel really at ease. I hope and pray that that means that good things are to come from this trip.

So anyway, I didn't ever write about my amazing journey on Wednesday that involved me buying a crapload of books for dirt-cheap from the booksale at the library. Because I know you'd all love to hear about it, here's a fantabulous list of what I got:

Katie Maxwell, They Wear What Under Their Kilts?
Stephen R. Lawhead, Avalon: The Return of King Arthur
Dave Gross, Black Wolf
Piers Anthony, Faun & Games
Mel Odom, The Rover
Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon
L. E. Modesitt, jr., The Spellsong War
Gerasimos Xenophon Santas, Socrates: Philosophy in Plato's Early Dialogues

I also picked up a set of two very, very old volumes, which are known as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. They contain all of his plays, poems, and sonnets, which is just fabulous for me, since one of my goals this summer is to read all of his works. They also had an entire set of the Deluxe Edition of The Harvard Classics, which had the likes of all of the old, famous writers, philosophers, etc, and I really, really, really wanted to get the whole set, as the whole thing would have only cost me $4.50, which is horrendously cheap considering what they are and the fact that they're all hardcover, but my mom said I didn't have enough room for them and couldn't buy them. I convinced her into letting me buy at least two, and ended up just getting the books for Homer and Dante. I love the Odyssey, and have always wanted to read Inferno, so I just figured I'd get those two. Poopy...I wanted the whole set. :p

I haven't read any of the books yet, but I'm bringing the philosophy one with me to Kosovo, so yeah. I will probably post more on the books once I actually read them. I shall be going now.

"Books have to be heavy because they hold the whole world inside of them." Meggie in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, quoting her father Mo

Look at the name of this country... "You Are Gay"

Yes indeed, I am one trendy poser. I now have a blogspot in addition to a website, a myspace, and a deviantART page. w00t. I suppose that makes me horrendously special or something. Yeah, whatever...

So I guess this blog is here to give congratulations and commiserations to things, whether it be music, movies, books, people, or just life in general. Ranting is what I do best, but if something is good, I will let you know. I guess...

I'm going to start this off right now, and say that last night, I went on a shopping spree to Borders with money I got from Confirmation. I was originally going to buy a portable DVD player to take on the plane ride to Kosovo (which I leave for in 4 days!!!), but that turned out to be 119 bucks by itself, not to mention the $70 extra battery so I could use it for at least half the plane ride. Therefore, I decided to go spend a large portion of the money I was going to use for that at Borders. I was able to buy Wormwood by G.P. Taylor, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, and The Encyclopedia of Mythology (which contains Norse, Classical, and Celtic myths) by Arthur Cotterell, as well as the movies Corpse Bride, Pride and Prejudice, Monty Python and the Holy Grail Special Edition, and the special edition of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for about $98. Oh, and I also bought some Cockroach Clusters. Let's start with the rantings and such, shall we?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the best movie ever, and this special edition DVD has so much extra crap that it makes it a billion times better than my VHS version. Nuff said.
Corpse Bride, which I watched this morning, was a really good movie. Typical Burton film, really dark but yet horrendously funny in some parts. I still think that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is my favorite of his movies, but this one is still good. The plot was great.
Pride and Prejudice is a good movie. I haven't watched it since I bought it, but we watched it in English this year while reading the book, and it was really good. I liked it a lot better than the book, at any rate. And Matthew MacFayden, who plays Mr. Darcy, is a total h0ttie, which doesn't make it any worse either. He's not as good-looking in real-life as he is in the movie, but then again, I'm partial to long hair, which he doesn't have in real life. Saddens me a great deal. Actually, to be honest, he kind of looks like John Cusack in real life, and that is a pretty decent-looking man right there, so I guess he's not too bad. Still...

Well, considering that's all I've gotten around to right now, I'll wrap this up. I'll probably post more on the other things I bought once I read/watch them.

Later taters!

"And in my best behavior/I am really just like him/Look beneath the floorboards/For the secrets I have hid" ~John Wayne Gacy, Jr. by Sufjan Stevens