Not that that has anything to do with anything I'm going to say in this entry. I just thought I'd translate the icon. Meh.

So yeah, three days ago, I saw Valkyrie. I am still obsessed over it. I think, I'm gonna go see it again tomorrow. Just because. I am going to buy it the day it comes out most likely.



But really this post is about the fact that I've written two fics already for the film, and am working on a third now. I'm almost disturbed by my sudden productivity. What's even more disturbing is that I like them for the most part. That rarely happens to me. *minds boggles*

So yesterday was the TSO concert. *squeals like a fangirl on crack*

It was GREAT! I wish I had pics, but I, being the scatterbrained girl I am, forgot the camera. That asides since our seats were in row U and the stadium only had through V, the pictures wouldn’t have been very good anyway. Especially since I ended up sitting in V anyway.

But anyhow the show was great! It started with a rendition of “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo (12/24)” before diving into the first CD – Christmas Eve and Other Stories, WITH the poetry/story between songs. When the narration started (and I finally figured out what it was, since the narration starts exactly like the beginning of “Old City Bar”) I literally squealed. And I don’t do that.

Speaking of “Old City Bar”- I have to say that was probably the most entertaining presentation of any of the songs. The guy who sang it came out in costume that made him look like a homeless man and really it’s hard to explain, but before singing (and he really could sing very very well) he just looked at the mic. Then he yelled “Freebird!” and of course that was met with a general consensus of wild laughter and screams. Then he sang, but the bit before the song was seriously entertaining.

The lights for the show were amazing and perfect. Really just…. *guh* I have no words. Perfection. Though I suppose if I was sensitive to strobe lights there might have been issues, but I’m not so there weren’t.

Then after they had done all but two songs from the first CD (They cut “A Star to Follow” and “The Silent Nutcracker”) the instrumentalists, vocalists, and narrator were all introduced, most with funny anecdotes, like one of the pianists’ was “not only beautiful, but like every diamond, she has one small flaw. She married him. *cue point to one of the guitarists*”. But that aside, when the introductions were nearly done, the guy giving the introductions (whose name I heard but promptly forgot) had everyone give a standing ovation for military personnel who can’t be at home for the holidays. I was touched and impressed by that.

After the introductions, there was more music (of course). That was all random songs, mostly from their other CDs, and for some reason “Flight of the Bumblebee”, but I think that one was to show off the electric violinists’ mad skillz. Which were indeed quite impressive. At the very end of the show, they did “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo(12/24)” again, and two of the guitarists went through the audience with floor seats and to a lift platform, which was great. But even better was after they got off the lift platform they went up into the lower level of the stands. It was great.

Seriously, I was/am a very very very happy and satisfied TSO fan.

The only bad things:

- Somebody stole two of our four seats, so I didn’t get to sit with my friends (I did however end up right behind them, since the people whose seats we had taken because those people wouldn’t move, had friends in a lower row and let us stay.)
- When they pyrotechnics were used I could smell the gunpowder and/or propane, which didn’t take away from the awesomeness of how it looked, but it did give me a bit of a headache.
- I couldn’t see faces (*is sad*)

Things I am still struck by/wondering about:
- I’m amazed that “Queen of the Winter Night” was not synthed. There’s a girl who actually does those bizarre scales/notes. *mind boggles*
- The fact that one of the guitarists (the pianist introduction one at that) had a dislocated knee and a torn ACL from a fall in an earlier show and that he didn’t miss a note then or a show later amazes me. Plus the story is kind of funny since it was an introduction story that started with “He forgot how old he really is and…”
- The guitar “face-off” and the Wish Liszt piano medley were great. I’m amazed at the skills of those people.
- I wanna know what ‘Fabio’ looks like. One of the guys was introduced and right after his name (which I don’t remember) the guy said “Yeah, I know, you’re all thinking Fabio, Fabio, Fabio.” But I couldn’t see faces.

All in all – I want to see them again next year. And get better seats that time. XD

PS. I wonder if their hair is really as nice as it looked from way up in my seat… I suppose that’s a weird thing to wonder but I do.

This is such a crazy month for me. Two Christmas cantatas, Christmas itself, My sister's birthday, my birthday, and even my semester finals are all this month.

But, I've made it through two of the aforementioned things, my sister's birthday was yesterday, and finals were earlier this week. Since yesterday was Rebekah's birthday, I went with her and her boyfriend's younger sister to the mall (I was their 'babysitter' to quote my mom). It wasn't a bad trip, but I felt bad for my sister, because she and her former best friend have been on the outs, and her friend had called her that morning to complain about how her boyfriend had dumped her.

Of course the real story is a lot longer than that, but the thing that made me feel bad was that Rebekah got a text while we were eating lunch, and the three of us got to talking about the situation, and I really think this girl is using my sister. The problem is that Rebekah, even though she agrees with me, still wants to be her friend, which I suppose is a good quality on her part, but I'm just worried about her. And it kinda pissed me  off that the girl would call Rebekah her friend and then totally disregard the fact that it was her birthday to complain about a bad situation that she had gotten herself into-- especially when Rebekah told her to stop going out with the same guy over and over if she didn't want to break up with him.

I don't know, maybe I'm being overprotective, or just crazy or something, but I worry about her.

And then today, we had our family birthday party, which was fine, but I think it's a bit ridiculous for us to have to have a party every year now, when neither of us really care about them. But if we didn't our aunts would be upset, and that would be bad and rather annoying. So yeah. On the plus side, I got toe-socks. XD. I love toe-socks.

Happy Thanksgiving all! I hope it was a good one for everyone!

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA is coming to Birmingham the day before my birthday. I want to GOOOOOO.

.... I could afford a ticket but don't want to go alone. *sighs* It's no fun to celebrate my birthday alone.

But seriously. *Squees* I love TSO. I 'mma beg my mom to take me as my birthday present.

EDIT: I get to go!!! My mom is getting me two tickets and I'm going with Ava. YAY!
SECOND EDIT: Make that four tickets. Cierra's coming too. Yay!

10 things you wish you could say to ten different people right now. (Most of these are to people I know IRL, just FYI)
~ I don't know how to talk to you anymore. I want to, but I don't know what to say so I don't. It isn't that I don't care or don't want to, but I just have no words
~ All I've ever wanted is for you to tell me you love me just the way I am. Even if it's a lie, it's a lie I need to hear.
~ Thank you so much for listening to me whine and being my friend. I know I'm not the best listener, but thanks for being one for me anyway.
~ I'm amazed at some of the things you say, because they make me feel so much better.
~ I thought that maybe you'd be the first guy to look past the fact I'm not pretty, but apparently I was wrong.
~ I wish I had more time to spend with you, and I'm sorry I didn't spend the time I had wisely.
~ I want to tell you no sometimes, but I can't bear to disappoint you.
~ Sorry that I lied and didn't post more of that fic.
~ I wish that I knew how to say thank you for being what you are to me. You make up for so much that I can't describe it.
~ I don't know why you put so much confidence in me, but I swear I'll do my best not to let you down.

09 things about yourself
~ I can't believe I'm going to be 20 in December
~ I've got no idea what I'm going to do with my life
~ I'm insanely highstrung.
~ I self appoint myself the 'parental/responsible one' in any group.
~ I've never gone trick or treating properly
~ I speak a little bit of French
~ I want to learn Quenya
~ I want a Jack Sparrow hat
~ I want a James Norrington. A honest to god real man who loves me despite everything, even if I've been a total bitch to him and he should let it go.

08 ways to win your heart
~ Watch Lord of the Rings with me
~ Watch Pirates of the Caribbean with me
~ Let me gab as much as I want about random trivia I know about either of the aforementioned things
~ Read fantasy novels for fun
~ Don't look down on me for writing fanfic
~ Tell me things that you may not agree with but know I need to hear.
~ Let me cry when I can't take the stress anymore, and don't be shocked when I do
~ Just be there

07 things that cross your mind a lot
~ my relationship with my dad
~ the fact that I've never had a steady boyfriend
~ ... my fanfics
~ 'Damn, I don't WANNA study'
~ 'Now where did I put that...'
~ 'What? I missed half of that'
~ 'I'm hungry. I should go eat.' (I skip lunch on campus to save money)

06 things you do before you fall asleep
~ shower
~ get dressed for bed
~ brush my teeth
~ use mouthwash
~ Brush my hair
~ put in earplugs

05 people who mean a lot.
~ My mom
~ Rebekah
~ Ava
~ Cierra
~... Can I just say half the people in my church choir? 'Cause I'm going to.

04 things you're wearing right now
~ My Lane Bryant size 4 jeans (That's such a lie)
~ My 12 dollar Wal-mart sneakers
~ Blue shirt my grandma made
~ White socks

03 songs that you listen to often.
~ Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
~ Up is Down - Hans Zimmer on the AWE soundtrack
~ Into the West - Anne Lennox on the Return of the King Soundtrack

02 things you want to do before you die
~ Go back to France
~ Meet the 'perfect guy'

01 confession
~ I'm a lot more depressed and angsty than most people realize. I self-depreciate and can't let go of my screw ups.

Not that I didn't really think that before, but that' s not the point.

Anyhow, in my American History class our professor had us watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the nomination of the Democratic Party. This in and of itself doesn't piss me off. The fact that he WON'T be showing John McCain's and the fact that if I expressed the fact that that fact bothers me I'd be called racist and close-minded does.

I don't mind watching the nomination speeches. In fact it tells me a heck of a lot more about the candidates than I knew, because I hate to hear all the "The Other Candidate Sucks Vote For Me Instead" crap, so I just avoid presidential coverage. I'm so tired of candidates doing that. Saying that your opponent is unqualified does NOT make you any more qualified. It just makes you an asshat. I don't want to hear about your opponents voting tendencies in your speeches. I don't want to hear about your opponents proposed economic policies in your speeches. I want to hear YOUR ideas, YOUR policies, YOUR promises if you make office, not how your opponent will f*** it up if he gets elected.

I also don't want to hear the BS that you aren't putting down your opponent at the end of your speech when the first f***ing half was about how he was unqualified. That is putting down your opponent even if everything you say is true.

I'm not saying that I don't think John McCain won't do the same thing, I'm sure he will. But I don't need to hear all that stuff and then be expected to be like: "Yeah, I think he'll make a great president", regardless of the the candidates at hand. It could be freaking Mickey Mouse vs. Daffy Duck and I'd feel the same way.

I don't understand why in this country we seem to have to run on the platforms of "Let me shove my foot in the other guys face to make me look better". I don't see why politicians can't run on platforms of their own compentency and leave the other candidate out of it.


Also, I have to say, though I resent that my professor is trying to shove his political leanings on us, that some of the things Obama said he  supported (when he finally got to that) do make a lot of sense.

We do need to invest in research for Alternative fuels. We do need to make sure that children in the country get adequate education. We do need to create more jobs instead of outsourcing them. We do need to do something about Social Security. We do need to make Equal Pay really Equal. We do need to do something about the Healthcare system.

However, the likelihood of all that happening all while cutting taxes for 95% of Americans is next to nil. Those sort of programs COST MONEY. I realize that the public WANTS tax cuts, but Obama (if elected) can't keep the important promises about the economy, education, healthcare, and Social Security by taking money away from the government. You can't give a 150 billion dollars to energy research if you aren't taking in enough for everything else from taxes. It just isn't possible apart from sending the country into deeper debt.

So yeah, I think this country's politics are screwed up.

I don't understand why textbooks are so godawfully expensive. I mean 395 dollars for textbooks? What the heck is up with that. It does NOT cost 80 bucks to construct a textbook. Luckily I have leftover loan money that I can use instead of the useless 150 dollar book check from HOPE.

In other, not so annoying news, I'm writing again. Though I've been having issues with the POTC fic, so I've put it on a back burner and am working on a Narnia fic because... I was inspired. I've written 5 chapters and a prologue, which surprises me, because I've only been working on it for like three days. Granted it's all rough, unedited and whatnot, but it's writing and therefore I am proud! XD I'm so easily made happy with myself.

I'm very very very annoyed with myself. Somehow my jumpdrive has died. My computer won't detect it. It makes me made because I had RP logs, fanfic bits (5 chapters of that POTC fic that are unposted anywhere, drabbles, bits and pieces, notes to myself, a timeline, and a character catalogue, plus all my other fandom things. I've lost my LotR MS Satire! *cries*), school notes, icons, and a slew of other things. None of it was backed up because it was on my backup drive anyway.

I bought a new drive, but I don't know how to salvage what I've lost. That pisses me off so much I can't even explain it. 

I'm in my summer class now, and am drowning in readings about American history. Loads of fun! [/sarcasm] 

I'm in a foul mood. Well, it's less foul than it was yesterday. Yesterday, I wanted to beat someone over the head for stupidity.

See, I RP on HEX, and I started an RP other day. I liked the idea and thought it would be fun. At first nobody seemed interested... I bumped the thread, hoping to find someone who was. I found four, which was good, cause that's about the number I was looking for. However, I clearly stated that I wanted people to be literate in the RP.

And still there's one guy who keeps posting one sentence/two sentence posts which contain almost no punctuation and bad capitalization and spelling. I'm annoyed with this person. It irks me to no end that he didn't pay attention to that simple request, as it was the only one I had.

However, I'm in less of a foul mood because I'm going to Borders today and yesterday I wrote something! Granted it was only 700 or so words of something and there are probably random tense shifts in it because it's rather abstract and awful. But still, I wrote something! *is excited*

And here's a question for anyone who cares to answer: When you write do you write your plot/story/whatever linearly? Or do you just write bits and pieces, and put them together to make a whole?

I ask because I started out doing the linear thing, but I'm finding I'm getting inspiration for bits and pieces occurring elsewhere in my story, so I'm doing that now. I'm not really sure which way works better, and was just wondering what other people did.

So I'm going to the county singing school for the next two weeks. The next two weeks will MAKE ME FAIL my classes.

So far, I've blown off Calc homework  for two nights in a row, and that's part of our grade. I haven't studied Chem at all, and I need to.

I have however, learned that my MP3 player has nifty recording function, so I'm recording the group four part harmony songs. I may try to get them on here somehow if I can figure out how. And if anyone wants (for some reason beyond my comprehension) to hear me sing, I'll sing something (Probably Amazing Grace or Scarborough Fair) and get it on here too if I can work past my not tech savvy mental block.

But singing school is fun, though I SUCK at singing syllables (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do) for the shape notes, which is what the school is for. I learned to read music by round notes (or lines and spaces, however you prefer) and my brain refuses to process the shapes. Much less the sharps and flats (which aren't just Do sharp or Re flat or whatever, they have DIFFERENT names).

Best part is, I can hear the tenor, so I can work on learning that like I've been trying to for the past month or so. I'm way too excited.

I think I've decided to nix being a science major. In any science. I like biology, and chemistry and all that, but I just don't think my brain can handle the upper levels of it. And I want to avoid physics like the plague... 

I'm leaning towards three things at the moment, and none of them have anything to do with one another. XD. But I'm thinking either Criminology, History, or English. Or I could do Criminology and Psychology to try and be a criminal profiler.

 Gakked this from ruriruri.

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.


Here they are! I tried to find hard quotes, mostly because if you know me, most of my favorite movies are really really really obvious. 5 and 8 I picked just because their my favorite lines in those respective movies.

1. “Pin them up together and they will devour each other without a second thought... Human nature, in'it? Or... fish nature...”
2. “Meant something to you! You think I'm going to stay here with you in this… this sin wagon? You can take this piece of tin!” - Grease
3. "Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends." 
4.  “I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm.” - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
5. “ Don’t worry, I won’t let them rape you.” -King Arthur
6. "Tens of thousands." "But, my lord, there is no such force." - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
7. “Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming” - The Princess Bride
8. “The Lord tells me he can get *me* out of this mess, but He's pretty sure you're fucked.”
9. "Ahh, old grey beard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee."
10. “…arson; kidnapping; perjury; piracy; pilfering; deprivation of a Federal Loyalist.” -Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

*sighs* I'm tired. And I'm tired of being tired. I feel like I haven't properly slept in a month, I'm stressing about classes because I HAVE to keep a 3.0 GPA, and I don't know what I want to major in.

Well, that last part isn't entirely true. I want to major in Chemistry or English. I don't know if I can MANAGE a Chem major, or what I'd do with an English major.

Also, I've got like 8 fic Ideas in my head. Not conducive to doing school work. It's really annoying. I keep having ideas that just beg to be written in the middle of class, but none when I sit down to write. Which leads to my C average in my Chem class.

*sighs again* I dunno what I'm going to do.

So, I've got four classes all on Monday and Wednesday.

Chemistry II or 1212, whatever you want to call it will kick my ass again, just like 1211 did last semester. I'm stupid for wanting to be a Chem major. *beats head against wall*

World History from 3200 BC to 1650 AD shouldn't be so bad, as it'll be a swift overview of everything, and I LIKE Ancient History. Once you hit the Revolutionary War though, I don't really care. Which is kind of weird actually.

Calculus 1 is also going to kick my ass. Too much work. I hate math. *headdesk*

Theatre Appreciation shouldn't be too bad. In fact, (and this is a LOVELY plus) I'll even get points for writing the Easter play for the Youth at my church, as I am hereby apparently head of all things creative, even though I'm a member of the class. So that shouldn't be too bad.


Now for a Random Meme:

I was tagged by kh_mattie

The rules are easy, just post 10 things that recently made you happy! Then tag 10 people and force them to post this meme on their LJs. Because it is good. Everyone needs a little happiness once in a while.


 I tag ruriruri, celticrose88, sailarmo, xxzyrexx, jynky, astraybucanneer, mrs_norrington, smiley_nat, insanitys_place, and cricketbrit69.

Happy New Years, first off. I hope everybody's year has been great and the next will be even better.

So, as far as school goes, I made Dean's List. Yay! [/fake excitement] I've got four classes next semester, but only one Honors class, Chem 1212, so maybe my brain won't constantly feel like it's leaking out of my ear.

I saw Sweeney Todd with Ava and Cierra on the... *mentally counts backwards* 28th. It was pretty good. The blood spray was bad though. Totally unrealistic. Also the fact that three of the four main characters were actors in Harry Potter, made for some amusing trains of thought. For example, Alan Rickman is Judge Turpin in the movie. And of course Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd is out to kill him. However the first time you see the pair together they end up singing this song about pretty women. IF Alan Rickman wasn't Snape in my mind, it would be fine, but as it was, they were singing and my mind was like "rofl. Snape's singing. Singing about pretty women at that." Has anybody else seen it, and if you have, do you know  where I could find the lyrics to the song that Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett sing looking out the windows of her shop after deciding what to do with the Italian barber guy's body? I didn't catch all the words to it and it amused me. Also amusing were the period bathing suits.

Also on the 28th, Ava and I decided we MUST continue our Death Note crackfic! journal from senior year. It was really fun, and I honestly can't wait to start it up again, as I think we're doing crack journals here on LJ. It will be fun fun fun. And totally non-canon, which can't disturb me in the least as I don't even know the canon. XD

On the subject of fic, I'm the victim of writers block. *whines pitifully* I WANT to write more for my PotC fic o' doom, but I've only gotten drabbles for the end done, which sucks as I've got... oh a good half dozen or more chapters to write before I even hit CotBP. Rargh. I am not happy. *sighs* I'll keep writing bits and pieces and drabbles, but what I really want to do is get that momentum back like I had at the beginning where  I would sit down and  write two chapters in one go,  each of them being about 2000 words. And let's not even think about the editing that need be done. Nope. Not going to go there yet.

Today, I sat in with the high school sunday school class at my church. I still do activities with them, but have changed classes Today at the end of the lesson we were talking about fundraising and activities we could do as a youth group. Well, somebody said something about a Christmas Play. It's 23 days till Christmas. I think it's way too late to be doing this sort of thing. However, most of the class was like "Yeah! That could be fun!"

Guess what duty I was saddled with? 

Wait for it. It's a big one.







Writing the play. That's right. In the space of about four hours I need a tentative script to show Kevin. I have no idea what to do. 

*pulls out hair* 

Anybody have any suggestions

... Granted the crisis just goes to show how pitiful my life is.

I thought I had lost my jump drive last week, which bothered me immensely because I've got a massive amount of fic, and school assignments on it. I was more freaked out about the fic though, because I've got unposted stuff on it, so I would have just lost those things forever. I had a fit when I couldn't find it.

But I found it in the lining of my purse. So yeah... near crisis averted.

Also I've been listening to TSO's Christmas Eve and Other Stories CD, and I thought that it'd be neat to write a short story version of the story told in the songs Ornament, Old City Bar, and ... The Wisdom of Snow I think is the name... But I can't remember at the moment. It starts with the line "So tell me Christmas, are we wise?"

I may actually find time to do it and post it on here, but I may not find time, as I've got one paper to finish and three to revise for Lit which I HAVE to have a B in.

I've found that having a family member ill leads to introspection for me... CW (my stepgrandfather) had quadruple bypass surgery yesterday morning, but Monday, we didn't know what was going on, so my mother and I went up to Redmond Park to see him, since they had taken him up there earlier that day when they found four 90% blockages when the doctor's went in for a heart Cath.

The doctor came around about nine that night, and said they were going to run tests yesterday and today, and that Thursday would be the surgery date. When my mom and I went home, I got kind of introspective, because this is the third time I've had a grandfather in the hospital.

When I was 6 or 7, my grandaddy died from renal failure, due to his diabetes, and he was in the hospital for about two months. I only saw him once in that whole period of time. When he died, it just broke my heart. At that time, I was still among the kids that got teased (not that I ever really left that bracket, but it was before I accepted that people are petty) and my grandaddy was my best friend. I remember that in gifted the year he died, we had to write stories about people we know for some newspaper competition, and I wrote about him in the corner of the library by the room with the punch press and laminating machine.

When we had to turn the stories in I refused to give mine up. I told my teacher she couldn't have it. She said I had to give it to her, because it was a grade, and I still wouldn't give it to her. I'm still not sure why I didn't get in trouble, but I didn't. But one thing I realized Monday night is that that year was the year I stopped being ... nice for lack of a better word. I started speaking up against things I disagreed with as far my teachers went, as I've always been vocal about what I agree/disagree with with my classmates.

But yesterday the surgery went fine. He's in ICU now, and will be until next week. Seeing him in ICU made me worry for Claudia and Cameron. CW is their greatgandfather, but is their only grandfather for all intents and purposes. I'd hate to see them lose a grandfather at their age, simply because I've been there and done that and I doubt it's made me a better person.,. Cameron especially ADORES him, and he's the youngest, so I'm afraid it'll hit him hardest if something happens. 

*sigh* This whole situation is just depressing.

Gakked from ruriruri.

Comment and I'll tell you:

1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ.