New Things

Alrighty, so it is now fairly official that I have a new blog, and I'm very excited about it!!!! Check it out: 

www.thedreamlifeofisabellafrye.wordpress.com

I am just switching everything up now. This isn't exactly a blog, but I explain that in my first post / the "About" page. Also, sorry Blogger, but Wordpress looked so awesome and new... And that theme I have is pretty crazy, am I right?

SO YEAH if you like reading fiction or you like how I write LOOK AT MY SHINY BRAND SPANKIN NEW BLOG BECAUSE I LOVE IT A LOT. Thanks, friends.

A Change of Heart

No, this is not the title of a movie that I watched (although there's apparently a comedy coming this year by that name). This is me saying goodbye to this blog.

Wait, what?

Yes I know it's a bit of a turn-around from me a few weeks ago when I said I would be writing every week, but it turns out I've pretty much lost interest in reviewing all of these movies, and kidding myself and telling myself to write new ones every week will eventually just bore you as I become more and more disinterested with what I'm writing. No bueno. So yes, I am actually saying goodbye, though I may keep writing once in a while if I'm dying to say something about a movie. This certainly won't be once a week.

Confession: I had no direction when I started this blog, but all I knew was that blogs about an average teenager's life and blogs about every random thing are usually pretty unsuccessful, so I focused on movie reviews to give it direction. The reality is, what I really like writing is fiction, so I'll be doing just that -- in a different blog. I will be writing a collection of short stories in a blog format. I honestly have no idea if this will work yet, but I'm pretty excited. I'll provide a link as soon as it's made.

I apologize to all my loyal fans (hi Mom and Dad).

It's Kind of a Funny Story

What's up guys, I'm back and it hasn't been months of waiting. Whoo! Also, I'm going to officially try to write a new post every Tuesday. Just announcing that so y'all can yell at me if I start slacking off.

So today, I will be reviewing a little movie called It's Kind of a Funny Story, based off the book with the same title, which is about a boy who checks himself into the hospital's psychiatric ward after having suicidal thoughts. He has no background trauma or terrible circumstances; he is simply depressed. He's in one of NYC's top high schools and is in the middle of writing an application to a prestigious program that is giving him a lot of stress and making him think about his future in a very pessimistic way. In the end, (spoiler alert of course), he makes friends with the people at the psych ward who teach him that his life isn't so bad compared with theirs, and that he has enough control over his life to be happier, inspiring him to write a book and help other teens like himself. He also meets a girl and they start dating at the end of the movie, though that one didn't need a spoiler alert.

Fun fact: The author of the book, Ned Vizzini, wrote two episodes of Teen Wolf and co-wrote a book with Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter movies and Home Alone. The more ya know.

The cinematography in this movie was unique, but scattered. There's a theme of Craig's illustrated "brain maps" that plays into a couple of short animated scenes when he discovers his love for art, but then there's also a scene with still images and narration here, shaky cam with saturated color there... I feel like these are all techniques that can be found in separate movies one at a time, making this feel like a mish-mash of experimental editing, which looked cool but ended up looking like a lot of people worked on this editing. The editing in these separate scenes reminded me of Juno, Super 8, and Mean Girls, which, as you can probably imagine, was confusing.

The story for this film was solid. It was good, even. The characters were all well-developed, and most of the actors portrayed them well, and the conclusion was your typical happy-go-lucky everything worked out ending. It just felt like something was lacking, like all of the puzzle pieces fit too perfectly. I've heard it from other people too -- it's difficult to get emotionally involved in this story. The story ironically felt unrealistic, which would make no sense considering the context: Author Vizzini spent five days in the adult psychiatric ward just like the main character, Craig, and claims that "It's Kind of a Funny Story was based on my real life and is 85% true." For the purposes of this review, I will be considering the value of the storytelling rather than the author's presumed life. It also adds a happier note to the ending of the story if it remains a work of fiction that is not completely based on Vizzini's life; Vizzini unfortunately committed suicide December 2013.

There's a bit of dramatic irony involved (depending on how much you sympathize with Craig) when Craig's psychiatrist quotes the "Serenity Prayer," saying, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Craig is immediately confused and thrown off at first, while this is clearly pointing toward his overabundant self-pity that gets in the way of the healing he came to 3 North for. It's hard to see the good in everything when you look toward unchangeable external forces to rule your mood. In the end, he's guided by his fellow patient and friend Bobby, who shows him that his life is worth living and the stress he is feeling is under his own control.

I honestly think that this is an exaggerated version of what happens to a lot of teens or pre-teens. Some people have a period of time in their life when they can't or don't see that their situation is not nearly as bad as it could be, and until they have something else to compare their life to, it can seem as if the world is ending. To clarify, I am not talking about people with clinical depression but rather people like Craig's friends in the film who talked about sometimes having "that depression thing." While it's normal to have a wide range of emotions that do reach some pretty low points, it does not mean that everyone "sometimes" has "that depression thing." I accept the word "depressed" as a valid adjective for a feeling that everyone can get because of its common use, but depression itself is something entirely different. Sorry, tangent. Anyway, the thing is, it's ok to have that realization when you find out that your life isn't so bad and you may have been overdramatic about something. It's part of growing up, and hell, if it doesn't happen when you're an adult, then you're either an extremely happy and optimistic person (congrats) or you learned something new that day. I'd say that's a good thing. Sorry, more tangents. Moving on.

I honestly have to say I don't recommend this movie. It's good, but not great. A lot of Ned Vizzini's work has been criticized for just this, which I feel bad about, but honestly, there are better movies out there. Go watch American Hustle (if you haven't already); I'm reviewing it for next week and according to some extremely prestigious awards, it's supposedly pretty good. I must warn you beforehand -- I am indeed a Jennifer Lawrence fan so there may be bias.

I apologize if this post was chaotic. If Craig were to draw a brain map for me right now, it'd be just as scattered as everything else about this post. It's finals week here, so forgive me, damn it.

Send me movie recommendations! Nothing is going to stop me from watching American Hustle before next Tuesday, but I'll watch whatever you have for me after that! :)

Attack on Titan

What's up guys, it's been a while. I also don't know whether or not I should refer to my audience as plural anymore, because who reads this? The world may never know. (Just kidding I can see how many views I get per day huehuehue)

So I haven't really posted anything simply because I've been too caught up doing real life things to watch much TV or see any movies... Which is weird because before coming to college I totally had the impression that I would have all of this glorious free time when I could just do whatever I want. Alas, I am a slave to procrastination... and the game 2048.

God bless Easter break, though (I'm sure He does), because I've been able to get back into some Netflix binging. Now I usually avoid anime (except for any movie made by Hayao Miyazaki), but a few of my friends insisted that I watch this series called Attack on Titan. It was either that or a horror movie, so I was definitely in favor of the anime.

Turns out, it's not a bad show at all. I'm usually turned off by all of the exaggerated reactions and unrealistic plots of anime shows, but Attack on Titan is a completely different style and atypical type of anime that seriously got my blood pumping. I'll warn you, folks, this show is a heart-wrenching tale of woe; if you're a masochist and watch other shows (or read other books) like Game of Thrones, then this is the show for you. God, I love Game of Thrones.

So the plot revolves around these three main characters: Eren, his adoptive sister (and kinda bride-to-be) Mikasa, and Armin. These characters live in a dystopia during what looks like the Middle Ages, and they live a rather humble lifestyle. They live within the confines of a giant wall, however, keeping their world apart from that of the outside, which is crawling with gigantic beings called Titans that can be up to 60 feet tall and have the single terrifying objective of eating humans. They also look like lumpy baby-like men. While this is mostly terrifying, it sometimes amuses me. Then they start eating people and it gets awkward.

Eren Jäger (or Yeager) is a strong-willed character who wants to be the most able soldier in the military to kill all of the titans and avenge the death of his mother, which is gruesomely shown in the very first episode. Mikasa Ackerman is basically the silent but deadly badass who constantly keeps Eren out of trouble when he is unable to be level-headed (which is 99% of the time). She also happens to be the only human left with Asian ethnicity (she's a halfie like me!), which the show doesn't explain to any kind of satisfying extent (yet). Last but not least is Armin, who is the brains of the group. While watching the show I actually got annoyed at a friend who could not stop talking about how useless he is. I happen to value wits, and so do the characters on the show who miraculously live through at least a few episodes because of those wits. As a rule, you should definitely always appreciate people who save your life.

Within the first few episodes, the show even pulled a Red Wedding on me, only without the wedding since no one has time for frivolous things like that in a world where people are too busy avoiding being eaten. This show is literally just very depressing. I swear I'm not a masochist. I am a very happy person... who just likes watching unhappy shows.

Fortunately, this show is not only depressing but also very intriguing.The character development is fantastic, though for reasons I can't say lest I spoil all of the fun... Though I will say that each character is pushed to their limits, and I'm not even talking about just the main three characters. The minor characters are just as real as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, who sometimes have even more complex characterizations than the main trio, which is as refreshing as it is painful because you must know that they have a 75% chance of dying a miserable, quick, and undignified death.

The realism in this show also annoys the hell out of me, but in the best way possible. I'll give you one example without spoiling too much since I've already mentioned how everyone just dies all over the place: There's a scene where titans are chasing after a tired group of soldiers carrying back the bodies of the dead. These guys are super fast and they're hungry for human flesh, so rather than being heroes and simply magicking their way back home with the bodies safe and sound, they very purposefully dump the bodies of some of the most elite soldiers in order to save their own lives, having some serious psychological effects on the soldiers who were expecting to give their friends a proper burial. It's just things like this which make every moment of this show all the more painful and all the more glorious.

Have I mentioned I'm not a masochist yet? Good. Ok. So what are you still doing here? Go watch the show!

Just kidding, I'd also like to take this opportunity to mention that this blog, while it used to be a mish-mash of very random things, will basically consist of reviews of shows and movies and various other media now. If I've got something urgent on my mind that I think the world should know then I'll spill it, but usually my urgent thoughts are about TV shows and movies anyway.

If you have a movie or show suggestion, please leave a comment below! I will watch ANYTHING YOU SUGGEST (within reason) and I will review it, whether I like it or not. Hopefully this will provoke some more controversial comments out of me since so far I've basically liked everything I've reviewed. Things that do not count as being within reason: Barney, Justin Bieber music videos, porn. That escalated quickly. Have a nice day, folks.

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN

I couldn't hold it back any longer. My obsession for Frozen must be made known. Now.

I honestly had very low expectations for this movie for the longest time. I saw the trailer for it with Olaf losing his nose and Sven eating it (for those of you who have not watched this yet, Olaf is a snowman, and hence he has a nose made of carrot, not flesh), and it just didn't look very appealing. I even dismissed the post I saw on Facebook with Idina Menzel singing a sample of one of the songs since I didn't know that she was actually voice acting a prominent role. The point is, I didn't pay attention to it until I started hearing the hype.

Oh my lord, the hype. It was everywhere. I was basically shamed into watching it because I'm not a free-thinking soul who can live without getting all of the mainstream references. I was calling a group of friends, and one of them kept saying (or singing), "Do you want to build a snowman?" I had no idea what he was referencing until I asked him, and at that point, I just said, alright enough, it's time to watch the damn thing.

So Frozen is about two sisters, Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel), who rule over Arendelle as estranged orphans. Elsa, the eldest, has the power to create ice (hence the title), and is so traumatized by a childhood accident that she blamed herself for, that she hid away from her sister and everyone else, only to find her power would grow out of her control. After the secret of her powers gets out, she escapes to the North Mountain and becomes a bad-ass bitch so she can create her own ice castle and finally be "free," leaving behind a kingdom in a "real howler in July." Anna goes after her with her new buddy Kristoff the ice deliverer to attempt to bring summer and her sister back to Arendelle.

Spoiler alert from now. Sorry. Guess you'll just have to watch the movie. >:)

May I just say: there was so much troll humor in this movie it killed me. The entire problem with this movie started when Grandpoppy tells Elsa that her powers are to be feared, failing to mention that the only way to control it is to be open about it and love, which doesn't really work out. You almost tricked us with your feigned wisdom, but you're just a troll. Stop with your trolling. Anyway, there wouldn't be a movie without that so I suppose I should be grateful. Also, when the troll priest dude says, "Do you, Anna, take Kristoff to be your trollfully wedded..." That KILLED me. So your favorite line was, "Some people are worth melting for?" Cool beans, but honestly, how can you beat being trollfully wed to someone you just met by actual trolls? My happiness derives from the fact that I often use the expression "trolololol," by the way.

THE MUSIC. There's a reason why the title of this post is in headlines. I have been listening to the soundtrack of this movie nonstop for the past few weeks, which is truly unhealthy, but I just can't stop listening! I had the same reaction of basically everyone else at first: "Wait, Kristen Bell can sing? Kristen Bell can sing really well? What?" It was obsession thereafter.

There were so many Broadway stars in this movie, it's no wonder they're comparing this to The Lion King. Speaking of which, my father likes to tell me I watched The Lion King at least forty times as a kid, so at least my tendency to obsess over musical movies is not a new thing. Fun fact: even Kristen Bell has been on Broadway. She played Becky Thatcher in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (there are clips on YouTube) and sang in the revival of "The Crucible" with wait... Liam Neeson? There are just fun facts everywhere. Thank goodness I have IMDb.

Idina. Freaking. Menzel. Ohmotherofbabyjesus. Her voice, in my opinion, has actually gotten stronger than when she was on Broadway, which is ridiculous and probably the result of computers and recording technology, but I was listening to the "Wicked" soundtrack and the Frozen soundtrack back to back, and it just sounds stronger in the most recent one. Menzel packs a powerful punch to all of her performances, but the song "Let It Go" was simply perfection. Sorry, Demi Lovato, you cannot sing the same song as Idina Menzel and expect me to like it more.

Confession: I actually do like Demi Lovato's version (it's an awesome song for working out), but still not as much as the movie version.

Oh gosh, look at the time. I've gone a full half hour without listening to "Let It Go." I thought there was something amiss. And with that, I leave you with the strongest recommendation I have ever given: See. Frozen. Now. Now. Now.

Stuck in Love (the movie, not real life)

There need to be more movies like this one out there. Now, I have to say I like this movie for very selfish reasons; usually I like a movie because it's believable, the characters are well-written and well-acted, and if there's a nice soundtrack, but this movie was special because of its Canadian title Writers. I'd like to think I'm an aspiring writer... when I'm not busy studying, eating, sleeping, or playing Candy Crush. Regardless, I just want all of these people to be in my life, flaws and all. Also, any story about writers inspires me to go write, hence this blog post's existence. Also, when I found this on YouTube (yes, it's on YouTube, so go watch it now; there are no excuses), I felt like an idiot because a few months ago, I had looked for it EVERYWHERE, and couldn't find it. The internet is an elusive creature.

Stuck in Love is a movie tracking the intertwining but very different stories of four different family members: William Borgens, a published writer (Greg Kinnear), Erica, the ex-wife who married a younger and rather more muscular man because she's played by Jennifer Connelly so she looks like she's 10 years younger than she actually is and it's totally fine, Samantha Borgens, a college-aged, soon-to-be published writer who's a bit promiscuous (Lily Collins), and Rusty Borgens, Sam's sweet and innocent baby brother (Nat Wolff).

From the very beginning, it's pretty clear that this family has some issues. Sam, who is a "realist" and hates the idea of love, makes it very clear that she does not communicate with her mother because she feels betrayed ever since her mother left her father for another man. This dynamic in and of itself creates tension within the whole family since everyone else still somehow stays in contact with her. The dad, William, is still clearly in love with his ex-wife to the point where he takes great pleasure in watching her fight with her new husband from their window, which is a bit creepy. The runt of the family, Rusty, is still going through that unfortunate high school phase of extreme bouts of awkwardness, and has that equally unfortunate but fitting hopelessly romantic outlook on life and girls. Basically, each member of the family receives some kind of advice to step out of their comfort zone and explore life a bit more, all in the context of lots of writing and lots of partying.

Yes, it's a feel-good, cheesy movie. Yes, I absolutely still love it. OH MY GOD I just realized the director of this movie, Josh Boone, also directed The Fault in Our Stars. How. Did. I. Not. Know. This. I just became doubly excited for TFiOS. Holy crap.

Honestly, one of the things that made this movie so much better was the cast. Had this movie had mediocre actors, I would 've been very upset. From the perspective of acting in general, I just love it when there are those perfectly natural looking scenes when there are so many people talking at once to no one or anyone and it's not just lines from one person to another. There's a scene like that in Super 8 where there are six kids sitting at a diner having a million conversations at once. I love it. It bumps movies up a notch in my opinion, and to quote my brother, it makes it "real." Yes, he watched it. Guys, take note; it's not a chick flick.

I wasn't a huge fan of Logan Lerman, but I guess it's only because I feel like it was Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower playing the character Louis because honestly, can he play anything besides an awkward kid with family issues and a love for obscure books and music? I can't decide if I want him to go play some badass character or if I want him to just keep playing awkward guys for the sake of not finding out if he's bad at being a badass. Also, I didn't like his character in the movie in general. Louis was needed but not needed... his only hold on the plot was the fact that he is inexplicably in love with Samantha Borgens even though she is clearly not his type. Pretty much everything in this movie was believable, but Louis's existence seemed very forced. With a bit more back story, that could've become something I'd be ok with.

I was, however, a huge fan of the soundtrack of this movie. God damn. I'm listening to "Between the Bars" by Elliot Smith as I'm writing this and I may or may not have had a mini scavenger hunt for all of the music. It's definitely a genre of music that not everyone will enjoy... but it's pretty chill and more importantly, it perfectly portrays the swinging moods throughout the film. One might call it obscure. Hang on and let me go get my Ray-Bans.

So all in all, I absolutely definitely recommend this movie. Just gave it 9 stars on IMDb and heard my brother tell me to tell everyone else to watch this movie. The fact that he said that combined with the fact that I listened to my brother adds up to gowatchthismovienownownow. Like I said, it's on YouTube (for now). There are no excuses.

Speaking is a good thing.

So I'm doing some serious college-level procrastination here on a Sunday night because I feel like I'm still stuffed from the last three Thanksgiving meals I've eaten (three days in a row, not three years in a row). I should probably look over this political science presentation, but you know what? We all already know that China and North Korea have authoritarian governments. Hopefully. If you didn't know that, please refer to a New York Times near you. Or the internet. The internet is a wonderful creation.

While at college, I've learned a few things. First, that the college experience is like one big culture shock. Living with someone completely new and expecting to get along, making new friends quicker and becoming besties in months... It's expected of us but challenging nonetheless. The other thing I've learned is how some people live thinking that speaking up for yourself and for others is something that requires perfect timing and circumstance. I had never really experienced this kind of thing outside of cheesy American comedies and dramas, where I found it peculiar that a character would struggle so much over telling someone the truth, no matter how large or small the consequences. They'd always wait for the "right moment" or just make excuses until the truth came out in a horrible way that they hadn't anticipated, snowballing into the climax of the movie.

Don't get me wrong, I get when it's hard to say something when there's a lot at stake, but if you're just avoiding the subject for the sake of avoiding the subject, that's cowardice. I just read an article in the New York Times about my aunt and uncle who married five years ago, and they described their relationship as one that works because of communication. Everything is talked about. Some things may be argued over but at least they're out there.

In my own family, bluntness is a requirement. My dad grew up thinking debates were relaxed everyday discussions, while my mother thought the opposite, but regardless, debates are a regular thing. For some, this might make it seem like my household life is stressful or annoying, but I honestly miss it so much here at college where passive aggressiveness is the norm (I unfortunately do not exclude myself from such behavior) and there's no such thing as putting an issue out in the open to talk about. I've been in multiple situations where people have wanted to bring up an issue, but they don't because they're afraid of what comes next. There are times when things can end badly, but honestly, it's better to end something than to drag a horrible situation out. I have heard too many stories of how relationships (between friends, boyfriends, and girlfriends) ended because he said that she said that their neighbor's dog said that something happened when it didn't and then miscommunication after miscommunication ruins everything when it would have been so much easier to cut the crap and talk.

So people - most books and movies may create expectations about the awful shit that goes down when you actually talk directly at a person, but there are so many other books and movies that are about what happens when you don't speak. Like the book/movie Speak.

Got a problem with your friend? Talk with them about it. But more importantly, talk about solutions to that problem so it doesn't end terribly like in the movies. Got a problem with your enemy? Same thing. I'm going to cringe as I impart this little tip... Sometimes it's good to speak before you think. Too much, that is. Speak about your stress, don't stress about speaking, and all of a sudden your speaking will be stress-free.

I'll see if I come up with anything less ranty soon.

Just the Tip of the Apple

Here is how you know you are actually a country girl -- you're the first one to notice among your friends that in the city, you can't see stars at night. Spending a lot of time out on the family farm and at lake houses definitely made me more aware of how bright the stars can be, and it was certainly a shock to the system to look up into a clear sky and see one star... wait, just kidding, it was a plane. I literally relived that moment in Madagascar when Marty and Alex are looking at the sky, trying to find stars, and when they find one it's actually a helicopter.

So now that I've started out on a somber note, it's time to liven things up a little. Yes, I consider myself to be part country girl (I don't listen to country music), but living in the Big Apple is GREAT. People keep mentioning to me that college will pass by so quickly, but so far it feels like I've lived here for months. It's been almost three weeks. As completely cliche as it is, I have to say that there is no place I'd rather be right now. I've stopped chuckling to myself when I tell people I'm heading home when I mean my dorm because it's no longer a strange concept. Taking a step back and thinking about it in this context is a bit scary, but for the most part, I know I feel like I belong. Now cue the emotional collegiate orchestral music and montage of over-smiley faces...

I have been surprised by one thing, other than the fact that I really haven't been able to find time to blog (this doesn't count either since I really need to go back to doing homework): my Theology class. It's not Bible Studies, thank goodness. Yes, I'm going to a Jesuit university; no, not everyone here is religious. Literally all we do is talk, discussing how each person's life is changed by other people and their beliefs and ways of life. Being in that class reminds me of what my dad told me about his family when he was growing up -- all of the siblings would get into these arguments that would go on and get pretty intense, but at the end of the day, no one was upset, and everyone learned something new. I suppose I can't speak for fifty people, but I can personally say that that's how Theology class is for me.

I will probably be posting about that class a lot, because otherwise all I have to talk about is doing homework and eating way too much Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Oh, and getting Korean food in Koreatown. And wandering around in Manhattan. And passing by Fashion Week (not even interested in fashion?..). And planning on going to Hell's Kitchen Flea Market. Are you jealous yet?

College!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted anything in a lifetime, but it seems I've entered the world college. Whaaaaaat?

So what do I talk about? I feel like I'm not qualified to say anything because I'm a wee freshman still wondering where everything is. I found the bookstore and coffee so I should be set, right?

Orientation was crazy. Being a very independent, somewhat sheltered person, I like structure, but my first two days were just insane. No rest for the weary. At least I could actually tell who the freshmen were by our little lanyards and wide-eyed expressions. The best part by far though was the fact that every single person here that I've met is incredibly friendly. My fellow freshmen, the professors, the staff, and everyone else here is patient, helpful, and knowledgeable. Look at all this cheesy collegiate talk. At least I won't go into detail about the cockroaches...

First day of classes was today. I can't even wrap my brain around most of this stuff (i.e. literally everyone's name), so ironically classes gave me an opportunity to wrap my brain around something. German is not a teacher babbling in German for an hour, and Theology is not Bible Study. What is this, some kind of liberal school? Psh.

I can't think. It's definitely a good idea to blog when one can think. I'm going to sleep and I'll try again later.

Inspirational People

I think we all like to think that there are truly inspirational people out there; people who wholeheartedly care for others, who show unfailing kindness through both their words and their deeds. I was blessed to have known my grandmother, who was that inspirational figure for so many family members and friends. For all intents and purposes, she is a saint in my mind.

To give you some context, my grandmother was the mother of thirteen children, whom she raised and home schooled on a dairy farm. As if this doesn't already sound like an impossible task, she also managed to stay happy and healthy as she welcomed friends, husbands, wives, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to her home throughout the rest of her life. I suppose I can even thank her for my very existence; it's because of her that my parents met. When I was little, my dad would tell me "Farm Stories," and my favorite was always when my dad and a few of his brothers would sneak off in the middle of reading something since their mother had nodded off, probably to go sit in the cherry tree and eat until they felt sick. It's simply so classic and American and I love it.

I don't know whether or not it makes me a terrible person to get my ideas about heaven from a TV show, but it does give the place a nice impression. In Buffy, there's an episode when she comes back from the dead and discusses what heaven was like. She recalls it being a place where she was completely content and at peace, and she knew that all of her friends and family were safe and loved. There are a lot of ideas about what heaven is like, but this is by far my favorite.

Rest in peace, Granny. You will always be my inspiration.

Much Ado About Joss Whedon

After hearing a few very good comments about it, I decided there was just no escaping it: I had to see Much Ado About Nothing. I had mixed feelings about it going in, since I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan, but I never really learned to appreciate Shakespeare... *ducks and covers as assorted rotten fruits and veggies fly in close proximity to my face*

Maybe I just have a thing for black and white modern films. I still love The Artist in all of its wonderful and lightly humorous beauty. Much Ado was similar to this, with its roller coaster of emotions and unexpected moments of hilarity.

Basically, the play is about two couples who go about admitting their love in two very different ways; while one couple is set to marry in a few days' time with only a few... minor... setbacks, the other pair profusely denies their love for one another, bickering and providing most of the comedic relief while avoiding the topic of love when they're clearly falling head over heels for each other (sometimes literally).

Being a Joss Whedon film, I have to comment on the actors first. If you've watched any of the other TV shows Joss Whedon has produced/directed/written (seriously, any), you'll notice right away that he basically took a couple actors from each of his shows and dumped them into this one. Once I got over the fact that Wes was finally going for Fred (Angel) and Topher actually grasped the concept of love (Dollhouse), it was easier, but it's still a little disorienting. Truth be told, I completely support Joss's casting since he really knows these actors. The characters did remind me of previous roles they've played, but only because they played those roles so damn well. Reaching out for new actors would've been tricky, especially on a budget of... well, so low I can't find it, since Joss Whedon apparently said, "Whatever you're thinking, it's less." Respect.

Many aspects of the film took a while adjusting to, but it's mostly because of the nature of the film itself. It's in black and white, it's in Shakespearean, it's freaking WES and FRED... But I assure you, I was able to eventually slip into a more relaxed viewing state, not trying to rearrange every sentence to make sense of it. It's like travelling to a foreign country and learning the language by just immersing yourself in the culture, only in about ten minutes. Or five if you actually read Shakespeare and don't cling to your Sparknotes. *somersaults into bomb shelter to avoid the fury of the gods of English literature*

The overall setting was very well done, especially considering it was apparently filmed at someone's house... This may sound easy, but for those professional-looking shots, it takes more than a camera and a house to film. They worked with this aspect very well. As for the setting in terms of story, Joss Whedon does a very nice job mingling time periods and cultural differences. Don't believe me? Watch five minutes of Firefly.

I actually have a gazillion other things to do right now. I swear I planned on a relaxing, stress-free summer, but I've finally proven that it's impossible for me. Point is, I'll talk about one more thing before going back to procrastinating. Which is probably why I'm stressed. No matter.

Unlike this blog, that movie had comedic timing and stunt work that was incredible, especially considering the time spent (twelve days to be exact). It goes to show how mind-blowingly awesome a group of actors is when they spit Shakespeare's lines like they came out of the womb talking like that (albeit there were a few monotone lines toward the beginning), and how the timing was perfect. I literally have nothing to equate it to. I always find some awkward spot in comedic timing in a movie, where someone stands with a blank stare on his face for a millisecond too long, but Much Ado had no time for that (terrible pun intended). There was such a familiarity in those awkward fumblings of Dogberry and Verges, as well as the over-the-top comedy of Beatrice and Benedick that gave me a newfound appreciation for Elizabethan comedy and a renewed appreciation for all things Joss Whedon. I even made the terrible decision last night of going back and watching one of the only Angel episodes where Fred and Wes are together... I won't name names, but I will say that if I watch this particular episode we'll call "A Schmole in the Schworld', my tear ducts will shrivel up and fall out of my eye sockets.

Wait, what? It was a terrible decision because I watched it at 3:00 in the morning, not because of the episode itself! Shame on you... It's never a terrible decision to watch anything by Joss Whedon.

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that it was a coming-of-age story, and that Emma Watson and Nina Dobrev are in it. That's enough to make me a bit biased when it comes to reviewing it. Then I watched it and decided there's no way I can criticize this movie. So I apologize for all you Negative Nancys out there who really like criticism, but I just have so much good stuff to say about Perks.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a boy named Charlie, and how he enters high school a quiet and sad kid with virtually no friends, writing to an imaginary friend. Soon, though, he makes a handful of senior friends who help him adjust to high school. It's the typical coming-of-age tale with overtones of psychological twists and turns, and the little group of friends all go through turning points in their lives as they go off to college or into the next stage of their lives.

Actors, actors, actors. Logan Lerman as Charlie was flawless; that awkward but cute guy thing is hard to pull off! Besides that, though, Lerman does a great job showing those rare moments of emotion that can only appear so many times in a wallflower. Just recently, I watched a video of some Harry Potter actors trying to say things in American accents; Emma Watson was actually pretty bad at it, so considering that video was made only a few years ago, she did an impressive job with it in this movie. There were definitely moments when I suddenly started looking for Hermione, but her acting made up for it. Nina Dobrev, even though she played a relatively small role, did a great job as well. I actually prefer her style of acting with moments of heightened emotion; if you watch this movie, you'll see what I mean when I say that woman can put a hell of a lot of emotion in one very short word. She's definitely had her experience in acting out the more negative side of the emotional spectrum because of The Vampire Diaries, so it was quite a surprise to find out she wants to do comedy sometime in the future.

Within the plot itself, there are two main reasons why I am probably way too biased when I say I loved this movie: I love writing and psychology, and there was plenty of both. I actually just felt the sudden need to buy a nice old typewriter... Just kidding, I just realized how often I use the backspace button. God bless modern technology.

Fun fact: Perks was directed by the same guy who wrote the book. I found this immensely interesting, because the job of a director is to really understand the themes and message of a story, and so you can now rest assured the artistic vision of Perks is consistent throughout the book and the movie. What Stephen Chbosky did was add little snippets throughout the movie that became more important as time went on, which can only really be done by someone with a real understanding of what's going on in the plot and the characters' heads. Visually, some of the camerawork and effects matched perfectly with the mood and atmosphere.

Lastly, going back to the little snippets, this movie took advantage of something that isn't really seen in movies nowadays: implication. Today's films are all about getting raw video and seeing everything, stripping away any visual boundaries and forgetting about emotion in a whirlwind of an overload of images and sound. This is probably because of the availability of more and more technology that can produce more exotic images and sounds. While this can be done artfully and manage not to completely ignore the importance of emotion, sometimes it can lead to the audience not feeling any connection to characters, which defeats the purpose of a good story. In Perks, many things are implied, albeit conveniently because of Charlie's blackouts, but it was nice how they didn't actually film the most explicit parts of the movie. There's a theme of innocence and going back to childhood, and just filming things that are unspeakable to the characters would take away from the themes and the emotion. I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with me, but regardless, I appreciated the power of implication in this film.

Leave comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms, etc.

Dead Poets Society (and other things)

Sorry I haven't been writing lately folks, I've been a little busy... you know, just little things like graduating high school. No biggie.

I've decided not to spend too much time talking about graduation since I really have nothing to say about it other than I feel totally and utterly relieved. I know college will be a lot of work, but for once I'm not thinking about next year's high school activities and classes. Clean slate. Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy high school, but the idea of a clean slate is exciting for me, mostly because I've never had one before. During graduation, I sat next to people I had known since Kindergarten and possibly before, and though I will miss all of the people smiling next to me in the countless photos, it'll be interesting next year.

Wow, look at this. Nostalgia's already made me its bitch.

Anyway, Dead Poets Society, since Joon did request it. I suppose I've been meaning to watch this, especially after I watched a clip of it during Film Studies last year. (Can I call senior year "last year?" This is weird.) Do you ever see something that you don't realize has meaning until later on? I suppose the clip that I watched in Film Studies should've ruined the whole movie for me; if you've watched it before, you'll know it's the one that makes you cry like a baby. I did not cry that day in Film Studies, though, because although it was a very sad scene, there was no background behind it, no context. I didn't understand what was going on, and I didn't think much of it until I watched it again within the movie.

Dead Poets Society is about a snooty American all-boys prep school that teaches boys to conform to societal rules and that they are basically not fit for individual thought until they "become men." Then all of a sudden, along comes Mr. John Keating, the English teacher who shows the boys in his class a different way of looking at the world and at themselves, demanding that they treat their passions with respect and that they "seize the day." It's a back and forth battle between this crushing and ever-pursuing society and the rebellious and ambitious boys, and whether or not society wins is entirely up to you.

As I watched, my Film Studies teacher's slow snarl popped in my head like an informative little commentator, and I remembered what he had said about this movie. The theme is pretty blatantly stated as conformity, or rather the effort of some to destroy it in order to encourage young people to think for themselves. I could see a lot of ways in which this movie could've been aggravatingly cheesy (I almost said "very cheesy" but Mr. Keating would've been quite ashamed), but they somehow avoided these cliches and made a story that will work those tear ducts.

If you've read any of the other blog posts I've written, you'll know that I have some issues with overactive authority figures. This may effect my biased opinion as I tell you to watch this movie nownownow, but I assure you it is a good film. Some of the camerawork was confusing. It was just a little jarring to me, but considering the scenes in which it were jarring, I'd say it fit. The acting, of course, was excellent... for a movie made in 1989. I will warn you that there are cheesy spots, but only the kind to make you smile, not cringe. Unless you don't smile at adorable 1980s romance. Cynic.

Comment on this post or any other if you have a movie or book you want me to review... Otherwise I will consider reviewing Fight Club, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The Casual Vacancy, which is basically how I spent this weekend. Summer is such a glorious thing.

P.S. Just one more thing. The word "nice" used to mean "stupid." Here's a snippet from www.dictionary.com:

"Nice, it turns out, began as a negative term derived from the Latin nescius meaning “ignorant.” This sense of ignorant was carried over into English, and for almost a century, nice was used to refer to a stupid, ignorant, or foolish person... By the late 1500s, nice was used to describe refined, polite society."

The rest of the article can be found here: http://hotword.dictionary.com/nice-guys/#o1RTQtmw3u3s1XfO.99 

Oh, how did you know I'm an English nerd? What gave it away? The coffee stains? It's always the coffee stains...

Man of Steel!!

You know it's summer and you're a lazy bum when you wake up so late you can't decide whether to eat breakfast or lunch. I just ate so many bowls of cereal.

Last night, I went to see Man of Steel, and it's a good thing I don't do a vlog, because I would be talking so loudly; my ears have been sufficiently blasted. I can't tell if it's just the movie or if the dude controlling the volume at the theater was on drugs or what, because that movie was SO. LOUD... Are there still people who control volume at the theater? I should know these things.

Anyway, before the movie started, there was plenty of time to discuss it and dash all of my hopes and dreams. First of all, I just don't want to hear about Rotten Tomatoes ever again, because Man of Steel got a 59% rating (supposedly it was 55% last night) and even Now You See Me got a measly 48%! And America worries about grade inflation... The second thing was that my friend and I had noticed that the trailer had been very blue. When I say blue, I actually mean the color blue, not the mood. Movies sometimes have theme colors (The Matrix = green, Sweeney Todd = ketchup red), and it would just be a bummer if any movie had blue as a theme color when it's about aliens and superheroes and not very blue things.

The movie was not blue. Sure, there was plenty of it, but not enough to make it the theme color of the movie, so thank goodness. What it was, however, was action-packed. The rhythm of the movie as a whole was nicely done; the first half was a series of flashbacks and random acts of heroics which somehow made sense despite the crazy time jumps. If it hadn't made sense I would be very upset. There are basically five stages of Superman: infant, elementary schoolboy, adolescent, Henry Cavill without the beard, Henry Cavill with the beard.

To a certain extent, I have to agree with some of the critics. I feel terrible, I know, but that dialogue... I tried paying attention to the cinematography, but writing is my first love so it was hard to ignore the quality of writing in this script. There are just... so many lines that should never be used. It also would've been nice to see dialogue in parts where they just had shots of characters' faces. What were they thinking? I have no clue, because all I see are vaguely smiling faces. Or was that a wince? A smirk? I'm lost.

Here's one thing that I noticed A LOT of... Being a huge Joss Whedon fan, I couldn't help but notice all of the actors who had been in Whedon's shows. Amy Adams did show up in a Buffy episode as Tara's cousin, Harry Lennix was in Dollhouse, Tahmoh Penikett was also in Dollhouse, aaand awkward that's it. It probably felt like there were more because of the fact that it was fairly late at night and because Michael Kelly looks like Jeff Ricketts who played the second man with "hands of blue" in Firefly. You don't see the resemblance? I'm not crazy, I swear.

What I did notice right off the bat was how the flying scenes were shot. Joss Whedon did this whole spiel about how when he was making Firefly, he wanted the shots of Serenity to be slightly chaotic, with random zooms and pans that made the whole experience more chaotic. This is exactly what happens in Man of Steel. Every time something was flying, I wanted to lean over to a friend and say "OH MY GOD JOSS WHEDON DID YOU NOT SEE THAT" but of course no one would've heard me over the power of Hans Zimmer.

Speaking of music, one of the friends I sat next to is a HUGE fan of Hans Zimmer, and explained some pretty cool stuff about the technicalities in his music. I didn't understand 90% of it (no offense, it was very interesting anyway) other than "OH MY GOD THOSE TRI TONES" and the difference between Hans Zimmer and John Williams. If you don't know these two real-life superheroes, just know:

Hans Zimmer = Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Batman (the newer trilogy), Inception.

John Williams = Jaws, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Superman.

The main difference between them is that you probably have one of John Williams's theme songs stuck in your head right now, whereas when you think of the movies that Hans Zimmer has done, you think intense atmospheric music but wait what was that melody?... I personally like John Williams because I do like having that melody, but Hans Zimmer did a spectacular job with this movie. A spectacular job blowing my ears off, that is. With awesomeness.

Overall, I do recommend you see this movie.

Aaaand that's all I have to say about that because I'm about to go edit a music video that I shot for a friend today!! Hoorah!!! I'll have a link at the ready when it's all done and on YouTube, but for now if you want to check out the musician, April has a YouTube channel here.

P.S. Little did I expect I would actually get a comment on my last post! But I did, so I will be watching and reviewing Dead Poets Society soon. Keep those comments coming if you want more reviews or any other topics covered... Within a range of comfort. I will probably never talk about certain things. Let's keep this PG-13, people.

Damn it, I'm an adult.

First, as promised...

Double rainbow all across the sky-y-y!!

Acid unicorn. On steroids. Oh my god.

I WANT ONE.

Also, in case you were wondering, this apparently exists.

I don't see how this kind of advertising would help...

I'm going to ruin the moment now. Apparently I have issues with authorities and rules. Apparently.

Here in the US, we have that silly little law stating that you are not an adult until you are 18, and you can't earn money online unless you're an adult. I suppose this is a reasonable law considering the government probably doesn't want ten-year-olds selling avalanches of their old matchbox cars and photos signed by Justin Bieber, but lately it's been pissing me off. I've been thinking of all the ways I can possibly save (and spend) a little money before I head off to college, but it turns out that saving part can be difficult, especially since I tend to have gaping holes in my pockets. Darn it, I shouldn't have spent that $1092019 on Unicorn Farts; what was I thinking?? 

If I were 18, I would be able to make money selling old crap on eBay and Amazon, I could write articles for Yahoo as a freelance writer, hell I could even make like five cents a month on this little blog with AdSense. But damn it, I'm 17 so I am an invalid working three jobs over the summer so I don't starve in college. Ok. That was a slight exaggeration since I'm probably going to eat a truckload of food in college, but regardless, that's a lot of money that I could have earned. 

There is that option of mooching off of my parents' accounts, but for all of you out there considering doing any kind of joint account with an adult, just know that it is a total pain in the ass and it takes up way too much of your valuable time, not to mention the transfer of money can become confusing with all of the online payment methods and gimmicks out there. I say this from experience; last year I made a Kickstarter account with a friend of mine to fund a project, and though it sounded so simple at first, when the money started changing hands it was a temporary nightmare and for a few minutes I thought I lost about $2,000. Not good not good not good. 

There are so many solutions out there... Or so it seems. Can't sell things online? Sell them in the real world! All you need to do is just sit at a second-hand clothing shop and watch three people sort through all of your perfectly good slightly used clothing, only to find that they took two out of the twenty items you brought! The best part about this story is how I trudged home with my bag full of new-looking t-shirts that they didn't take when I had just seen a whole rack-full of hideous unwearable clothing. Honest to goodness, I found a cami with shoulder straps so long I could wear a shirt over it and make it look like a skirt. ...how does one even...

No, Early, it really doesn't.

On a happier note, less than twelve more hours until I see opening night of Man of Steel! I is exciteddd. I'll review that, then consider mentioning my mixed opinions about V for Vendetta. Got a movie you want me to review? Mention it in the comments! If you're awesome and check this blog out often and somehow like it, click that awesome little button on the right... The one under "There are no members yet" that says "Be the first!"... I'm worse at advertising than the guy selling Unicorn Farts.

Control Freaks

This post will be particularly hypocritical since I can be a bit of a control freak at times, but for now, let's talk about the control freaks with actual power in this world, therefore excluding myself.

Let me preface this rant by stating that I do believe that for the most part, the education system in America is declining at an alarming rate. Much like control freak-ish governments, the school systems believe that with just one more regulation or rule, everything will be right as rain and all of the problems will be solved. It's as if they've never even heard of thinking outside the box. Sorry to break it to them, but you can't fix motivation levels of students with simplistic incentives. People even tried money and regarding long-term results, it was mostly unsuccessful. I digress.

We, as human beings, tend to like freedom. We enjoy it in this wonderful country of ours, and we tend to get just a little bit upset when that freedom is threatened. Much like the country as a whole, freedom within high school is valued by many, but at this point, there are so many rules and regulations that it's impossible for the administration to even enforce most of it because they don't know what those rules are. The lack of logic in these situations can lead to inconsistent punishments, which can even lead to more discrimination within the school's disciplinary system. There was once a study done by one of the AP Statistics students: random students of various genders and races walk loops around the hallways without a pass to see how many times they're stopped by a hall monitor. It was pretty mind-boggling how many times the black students were stopped compared with the white students or Asian students. Apparently my school is racist after all.

So what is the point of the hall monitors anyway? They are, after all, supposed to stop everyone without a pass in the hallway. If they can't get that straight, what else could go wrong? Every time there's a reminder that there's a dress code, I get very confused. So they're enforcing it now? *walks two feet outside of the classroom* Whoops, I guess not.

Just recently, NY state created a new rule so that students can't enter a testing area with any electronic device on them with huge fines that come with violations of this new rule. The one reason this rule made me laugh was because it includes headphones when they say electronic devices. So I could potentially walk in a testing room with headphones in my pocket and nothing else and get fined thousands of dollars. "Uh, sorry sir, I didn't realize I could get in so much trouble for listening to... oh right, nothing, because headphones don't produce sound." Now, this rule doesn't really make me too upset because there are so many other ridiculous ones, but if I started naming the ones that really get on my nerves, we'd be here much too long.

If you went to high school here in the U.S., most likely you've heard of senior skip day. It's an age-old tradition that's right up there with senior pranks, and I am sad to say I did not participate because I'm paranoid about everything. But see, that's my entire point. There are schools out there that don't let seniors walk at graduation if they participate in senior skip day. I cannot express in words how pointless that is. Yes, you're encouraging your kids to go to school just one more day. Great. Question. What do seniors do in class in the last few weeks of school? Oh, right, NOTHING. Teachers give quizzes and tests on skip day to make sure their kids are in class. They haven't given quizzes in weeks! The entire premise behind these silly little stress-makers is one thing along: control. These people think that it's better to have the tightest grip possible on others so that they're the ones in power. On my list of things that annoy me, this is right up there with young adults who treat me like a two-year-old. Ughhhh. Rantrantrant.

Everybody likes freedom. And adults wonder why teenagers can be so rebellious.

P.S. I apologize for such negativity; I'll try to make my next post about rainbows and unicorns and puppies.

Now You See Me

I will talk about how I'm done with high school once it's actually sunk in that I'm done with high school. It'll probably take a couple weeks at least. For now, it's movie review time.

When I saw the trailer to the movie Now You See Me, I was actually a bit skeptical. I have this fear whenever I see a very cool trailer that it's just because of the music and that the pacing of the actual movie will be different and make me uncomfortable. Who am I kidding; everything makes me uncomfortable.

Here's the short: Four street magicians with very few resources are brought together by a mysterious man who gives them each a tarot-esque card. One year later, they stage three performances, where at each one, a large sum of money is stolen and given to the less fortunate in the audiences. After each one, they manage to piss off three different men who begin to chase after these magicians, trying to learn their tricks and catch them before their next act. Everyone is suspected of being someone other than who they say they are, and intense chase scenes commence until finally, the truth about the magicians is revealed to the audience.

Now, this ending sounds rather boring when you think about it since it seems to wrap up so nicely. But PREPARE TO BE AMAZED. "Because the closer you think you are... The less you actually see." What I particularly enjoyed about this movie was the audience interaction. When I say this, I don't mean the characters are breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. I'm saying they don't break the fourth wall and they talk directly to the audience. When they say "look closely," they're not just talking to the other characters in the movie. So sit back, try and guess, because suspicion will be everywhere until the very end. I went with a group of friends so I know that I wasn't the only one who was surprised by the ending.

Plot-wise, this movie was amazing and I highly recommend watching it in theaters. With some movies, I can recommend that you go see it, but not necessarily in theaters because it wouldn't make much of a difference. Some movies, though, like this one, are just better on the big screen. Visually, it was captivating, with complex scenes and very nice and somewhat dizzying camerawork. I wouldn't necessarily say I was gripping the edges of my seat, but only because this film provided a different kind of excitement that was more on the intellectual level. It was like Inception with less emotional background and more action scenes, which in some senses was nice.

I believe that in order for me to properly critique this film, I have to give it some actual criticism as well. The characters in this movie have almost zero background, which wasn't bad for the plot, but it was bad for the audience. Background, though it may be inserted into some movies at awkward times and make the audience yawn, can make characters more relatable, therefore making the audience more attached to them. Example #1: (SPOILER ALERT) One of the characters dies. I won't say why, how, when, or who, but I will say that the only reason any of us were sad was because he's cute. That's not a good reason for the audience to be sad.

Second thing I'd like to critique: there's a point to which something can be too fast-paced. Action movies have the luxury of being as fast-paced as they want to be, but for movies involving intellectual backgrounds and subplots, the audience needs a bit more time. Don't get me wrong; I understood what was going on and I'm only a little slow, but there will always be a difference in letting the implications of a gunshot sink in and letting the implications of an underground, historical, and slightly mystical organization sink in. It just allows for the awesomeness (or the lameness) of a plotpoint to be fully appreciated by the audience before moving on to the next mind-blowing scene.

So there it is. If you read this while it's still in theaters, go see it! If not, then watch in on the most high-quality device you or a friend owns because it's certainly worth a cinematic experience. 

Distracted from Distraction by Distraction

I might've mixed the title up; I can never remember how it really goes. Anyways, I apologize for being boring lately, but I've been busy... Having fun... Got back yesterday from the Pocono Valley Resort for my class's senior trip, where I only found out at the end of the day that during the summer, it's a weight loss camp. Makes sense, because I am pooooooped. For one day, though, it was absolutely fantabulous.

I still have lots of work to do, so to keep y'all entertained, I give you my AP Calculus final project. It was super fun to make and hopefully you'll learn something. Whoo yay for entertaining animated stick figures and complex psychological discussions! There's a bit of math in there, too. Kind of.

If you don't know me, chances are you won't get the the little inside joke. You'll know what I mean, unless you too know a Michelle with amazing math notes.

Crap, I just realized you can see who I am at the end of it. Um... That's not me... That's my distant cousin three times removed... Awk.

The Truth About Honesty

Hoorah for a four-day weekend! Everything that would've made me busy today was cancelled so I had the opportunity to waste a little time and watch movies and procrastinate so much that I've forgotten how to type. Seriously. It took me five minutes to type that first bit; sitting around all day does some weird stuff. Anyway, I just finished watching the movie People Like Us. I've been meaning to watch it for a while... I love me some good family dramas.

People Like Us is about a man who's not doing so well with his job. He thinks he is doing well until he destroys his career with a technical error, shooting him into a pile of debt. Meanwhile, his father just died, though this gets an odd reaction from him since the main character (Sam, played by Chris Pine) hated his father as a kid. His father leaves behind a little bag full of $150,000 to give to a nephew he never knew he had, so Sam gets to know his nephew and half-sister without telling them who he really is. There are a ton of subplots too, but I've gotten my main point across.

The real problem with almost all of the characters in this movie is that they lie. I can see their lying faces, and they can see each other's lying faces, but other than getting angry about it, nothing is done to fix the constant lying. It's the whole reason there's a conflict of emotions for Sam and it's why he waited so long to tell his sister about the money.  I realize if he had just been straight with her and told her everything, there wouldn't have been a story, but honestly, it's hard not to think about those kind of things.

Keeping secrets, telling lies, and avoiding people are some of my biggest pet peeves. Mostly, I'm a terrible liar so I avoid it when I can, but when I hear someone talking about waiting until the "right moment," I just want to go up to them and tell them to cut the crap, because there is no singular right moment. There are an infinite number of "right moments." Whether it's telling someone you're their brother and that you've got $150,000 sitting in the car or you're nervous about telling someone that you love or don't love them or anything else, there is no limit to the number of right moments that a person can say these things. I understand that in some cases it's a good thing to wait until there's more information available so you don't go making stupid mistakes caused by a lack of knowledge, but having a secret or keeping up a lie and just telling yourself that you'll come out with the truth later is complete bullshit. 

Lies and secrets are ironically like money in the bank: the longer they're there, the bigger they get, and sooner or later it's going to get out. Only one of those scenarios is good, and we all know it. So what is it that makes us procrastinate when it comes to telling the truth? We know that the lie can only get worse, but we get stuck with it anyway. I guess lying could be compared to avoiding homework or taking out more and more loans from a bank, but unlike those things, you have complete control over the scenario. With homework, your dog could have actually eaten it, and with loans, maybe the bank decides your credit score is questionable, but with lies, it's much harder to lose sight of the truth that you're keeping to yourself. Fear's a big factor in all of this, but it'll be a bigger factor the longer you wait.

Oof... I tried avoiding using "you" to make this not look like it's a personal attack on you lovely readers. I assume nothing! Maybe you've never told a lie in you're life; how would I know? It was just easier for me to write in second person and I'm too lazy to change it. End of lecture. Time to go regain feeling in my legs... and brain.

Time for Some Edumacations

Greetings, strangers! It's certainly been a while. I've been pretty busy... doing nothing. Lucky for y'all, senioritis got so boring that I'd go crazy if I really spent the last few weeks of school sitting around being so unproductive my brain melts and I revert back to being a monkey.

So yesterday I came back from Washington D.C., where I spent three days touring around with some of my friends in the music program at my school. Friday started off with a bang -- I got to see Stephen Schwartz perform and talk onstage at the Kennedy Center, featuring songs in tribute to his successful career. Last year, the music trip was in New York City, where we watched Wicked on Broadway, so it was simply a happy coincidence that I had the opportunity to listen to the composer and overall mastermind behind what I saw last year. Long story short, IT WAS REALLY EXCITING. As a lover of creative processes and writing stories, I was incredibly happy when Mr. Schwartz began explaining how he came up with ideas for Wicked and how the story changed over time. He also played snippets of concepts for songs that never made it in the musical, which was a real treat. Also, for you Smash fans out there (awkward, I'm not one), Jeremy Jordan appeared throughout to sing some of the songs.

Though I did also see Show Boat, a dolphin show, and various museums, I did actually have something I wanted to talk about today. On the bus rides to and from the captiol city, I got super bored so I started reading a book I found called Mirroring People by Marco Iacoboni. Did you know that if you press the palm of a newborn baby's hand, its mouth will instinctively open? This is because our hands and our mouths are controlled by nearby parts of the brain. It's an evolutionary feature of many species that use their hands to eat, which is why we eat with our hands and our dogs and cats do not. Allowing a baby to suck on its thumb is a way of training for bringing food to the mouth.

Ever wondered why we get so emotional during movies? Those guys are fictional; you don't need to cry because they're not really dead! When humans see facial expressions, we literally mimic those expressions with our muscles, sending signals to the brain that recognize the emotions as sad or happy or angry. Put a pencil in between your teeth and try recognizing different facial expressions. It's harder to do, right? The pencil acts as a mental and physical block, disabling your ability to mimic the expression and fully understand the emotion connected with the face being made. Mirror neurons in the brain allow us to recognize any action  that we see or hear. For example, the same part of our brains light up when we type on the computer and when we see or hear someone else typing on the computer. Confused? Awesome.

Speaking of mimicking, humans can pantomime; monkeys, apes, gorillas, and chimpanzees cannot. Pantomiming is using motions to reference an action without actually doing it. For example, air guitar. Even if monkeys could play guitar, they would not be able to understand air guitar because of the absence of the actual instrument.

Basic mimicry is instinct for many species though. Yesterday at the Baltimore National Aquarium, I saw a dolphin show where many of the complicated tricks were achieved through copying exactly what the trainers were doing. This is probably the most basic type of training, since it's natural for animals to imitate those around them, especially trainers with whom they have a stronger bond and relationship. I'm guessing the training to get dolphins to splash the audience takes a lot more time and energy.

Am I boring you yet? Ha, of course not because this stuff is AMAZING. I've laughed and gasped in shock at this book more than I've ever done for a novel. Nerdy? Yes. Unproductive? No.

I have a theory about all of this psychological business. It'll probably be discussed later in the book (I haven't actually finished it yet), so before I ruin it for myself I'll share my thoughts with you guys. This book covers all of the rules that human beings follow regarding feeling empathy and learning through mimicry, but what it hasn't covered yet are the exceptions to the rule. There are people out there who either don't feel empathy or do a darn good job hiding it. Sometimes our anger or hatred can override pity or sympathy, and as I read this book, it suddenly feels like that goes against human nature. We are built as a species to help each other out and understand each others' feelings by showing outward emotion; it's why we blush and cry. How can people possibly not understand another's pain or even cause another's pain? I believe the experiences we have in life (just the really bad ones) can create chemical blocks, preventing our mirror neurons from either working or from sending those little empathy vibes that make us understand one another.

So get those mirror neurons whirring and just be human. It's why laughs are contagious, it's why one Negative Nancy can cast a cloud over a whole group of people, and it's why people in this world can be inspirational and loved. Point is, be happy. Hakuna Matata.