Picking up from where the last blog left off, Thursday morning we all woke up -- or tried to, anyway -- and goofed off like crazy. Steph dressed up like the emperor of Rome and chased Rachel and I creepily around, resulting in her and I on the floor, on top of one another as I struggled to get away and she crushed my left arm. This sort of behavior is not atypical when it comes to us. Brian also managed to video tape some of it, which was...fun.... So then me and my family left for Asheville, secure in the knowledge that we'd see our friends the next afternoon. I slept for a lot of the drive up, and then we didn't do all that much when we got to Asheville except chill and rest and then go to dinner at this adorable little family-owned place that was caffeteria-style serving, but had really good food. I also managed to miss the 'lowskis (as my mother refered to them) in the few hours I was without them, which even at the time seemed a little ridiculous to me.
This was also the day all the Balloon Boy drama happened. I swear, for the entirety of the terror moments, I was in the car feeding desperately off of phone twitter for news. It was horrifying.
Friday morning was not interesting. A little after noon my family headed over to Biltmore, where we ate and then met back up with the Strys. That's really where the fun started. Not five minutes after we'd entered the house, we got into a sort of conversation with a security guard who seemed absolutely, without a doubt convinced that Brian was a computer hacker, which was hilarious. Then Brian and Rachel got in an argument over which room we were in (Brian sure he knew from memory, Rachel reading from the guest pamphlet), then went onto the balcony where we looked at the gorgeous view, took pictures of both serious and silly nature, and found a wild turkey. The rest of the house viewing was lovely and interesting and fun, and at some point Rachel and Stephanie and Brian and I all decided that once we're married we're all going to buy the Biltmore house and...live there. With our families. It was certainly big enough for four large families. Probably more like ten large families. We think it's a brilliant idea.
Once we were out of the house (the whole tour took about an hour and a half), we started to go a little crazy. We think it was from being too long inside with a lot of restrictions and needing to be quiet. Pretty much as soon as we were out we started going nuts with taking weird pictures, seriously considered sneaking out of the guest area and walking around the grounds behind the house (that was mostly Brian and I -- even when they're acting like children, Rachel and Stephanie are more responsible than that), and then pretty much ran around the gardens. And fell down...once. Actually, believe it or not, that wasn't even my fault. Brian fell and took me with him. It's true.
After the gardens, we went to the farm area where we impersonated a scarecrow family, collectively ran Brian over with a tractor, pet a sheep (who, by the way, waltzed right up to me and Brianna to get said petting...we weren't even near him), held ADORABLE little chickies, and then...froze. It was pretty cold at this point. So we went to get hot chocolate. It was lovely. Then we visited the giftshop and then left. But not before Rachel because a homewrecker and found a boyfriend.
We then went to a Chinese buffet and discovered that since Rachel and Brian are both dragons and Stephanie and I are both horses, we can only marry people who were born in very specific years, because while the Chinese zodiac thing gave us all two groups of people, unfortunately one of the groups of people Steph and I could marry are the very same group that Rachel and Brian hate and vice versa, so we're a bit restricted. Then we left, and that was hard and not fun and we're not going to dwell on it. All I'll say is that there was a time of a lot of hugging in the parking lot and people stared.
Now I'm home and working on my NaNoWriMo idea because November is almost upon us! I've also figured out what food I'll be bringing to the Tampa kick-off party if I end up going (it has to be somehow related to our story, and I'm very excited about it).
Also, I was editing a video for my personal channel today and my mom looked over and asked what I was doing. "I'm editing a video," I replied, thinking it was obvious. "But it's not your day to make one!" my mom protested. Evidently I've been REALLY neglecting my personal channel if my own family thinks it's ridiculous that I'd be making one on any day other than Monday. Sigh.
See you soon! <3
Emily
Attractive: Ingrid Michaelson's talent. I cannot stop listening to The Chain (the song on that starts a little less than a minute and a half in) and Men of Snow! Gorgeous. Sort Of and So Long are really lovely as well. I've loved her since her first album and her newest is just...wonderful.
Unattractive: Geography.
Doctor Who count: 4.11
Firefly count: 1.6
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Hobbit's Racial
So this past week, I've been in Charlotte, NC visiting my dear friends the Strylowskis whom I've known since birth and are basically my family. We left last Sunday, so most of that day was driving. It was a pretty fun driving day, though, all things considered. We got smoothies in the afternoon, Rachel attacked me with Jesus in the morning, Raich and I watched the pilot of Firefly, we had a pretty good family time because we were all so excited to see our friends. We got to their house that night and just talked and hugged and watched YouTube and hung out until about midnight when Brian had to go to bed in order to wake up for school and work the next day and Stephanie, who had been sick and has never in her life been a late night kind of person, wanted to sleep too. We were all pretty tired from the drive, so we were okay with that and we all went to bed.
The next day was Monday, and Brian had school early and then had work until 7pm, so we basically didn't see him until dinner. I don't really remember what we did all day, except show each other YouTube videos, go to the mall to try and get my computer fixed (that didn't happen), and play Beatles Rock band. Jennifer was also over all day so we spent time with her, and that was very nice. That was actually pretty much all we did. Then Brian came home and Chris showed up and we had a nice dinner and then played more Beatles rock band with Chris and Brian. After Chris and Jennifer and her husband Jared had left and the parents had pretty much gone to bed, we watched the last half of "Boomtown", which was the episode they were on in Doctor Who, and then Stephanie pretty much fell asleep while Brian and I were talking about The Hunger Games, which he'd read recently and we hadn't had a chance to talk about yet. We like to talk about books. We have fairly similar tastes in books, and even when we disagree, we enjoy the debate. That's one of the things I like about talking to Brian, neither of us ever feel like we're attacking the other personally just because we disagree. We're free to pretty much air our opinions, whatever they be, and not have to worry that the other may take it personally. While we were talking, we were trying to make up the air matress, since Stephanie had fallen asleep and Rachel had gone off to get ready for bed. All was going well until some point when Brian accidentally knocked the computer keyboard off the table. It made a kind of loud crashing noise and Stephanie leaped up and stared at the keyboard with this look on her face of just utter terror and shock with slightly homicidal undertones. She started going for the keyboard and it was actually kind of scary, but Brian talked her back into bed and then forcibly closed her eyes and she went back to sleep. Well, really, she had never been awake. Brian sat back down on the floor and I whispered to him, "If someone was going to get up and kill us all in our sleep, I vote Stephanie." Brianna and Brian agreed. We started talking at a normal volume again a few minutes later, and had another small scare when Brian accidentally knocked into the TV cabinent, making another loud noise. We all stopped a stared at Stephanie, but she just rolled over and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she woke up fully and asked, "Did something really scary just happen?" We all tried not to laugh as I replied, "For us...."
Tuesday, Brian went to school later, but had to stay until around 4pm, and I had an appointment at the Apple store to try to get my computer fixed at 1:15, so we all went to the mall sans Brian, and I talked to someone who didn't fix my computer but gave me a few tips, and then we went to get lunch at this place called The Counter, which is an AMAZING burger joint where you basically build your own burger and they make it for you and it's delicious and amazing! My burger had Jalepeno Jack cheese, grilled onions, grilled pineapple, scallions, tomatoes, and spicy sour cream, and it was incredible! Then we went to Barnes and Noble where I got the new book by Jay and Grant from Ghost Hunters, Macbeth, and the paperback of Paper Towns! Then we went home where Brian already was with his friend Nick and Steph and I ended up being handed PS3 controllers and started fighting against each other in a game I never heard the name of. She was basically playing instead of Nick, and I was playing for Brian. I started out really strong and beat her a few times, but then Nick started giving her tips and she got the better of me. Then we started ignoring them completely, and I was beating her again. Then she beat me a few times. Then I beat her again. I guess we were pretty evenly matched. I was just...a bit more vocal than she was, but that's typical. Nick then stayed for dinner and then all of us kid-like-folk went outside and hung out near the fire, which was lovely. Brian had to be in bed by midnight again, so after Nick left, we chilled until then and then went to sleep.
The next day, Brian got home at 10:30am, which was only about 15 minutes after most of us woke up (Stephanie always wakes up early...always), so we had pretty much the whole day with him. We watched the last two episodes of Doctor Who, s1 while everyone was showering and getting ready, and then we watched "The Christmas Invasion", which was fun. It was really funny hearing all their theories, and their reactions to basically everything Jack-related were hilarious. Then we had lunch, pranked Zack, and had a really fun Skype conversation with Lauren, which was evidently the first time Brian and Stephanie actually talked to Lauren face-to-face. We did the traditional parents-go-out-to-dinner-leaving-kids-at-home-alone-to-be-crazy thing we always do when our familes are together that night, and part of that for us was Brian, Brianna and I going out to get soda while Rachel and Stephanie cooked the pizza that was our dinner, and then us all going out after dinner to Rock River Coffee to get lovely hot drinks so we could come home and take a walk in the cold. It ended up being sort of misty-type rainy, so Stephanie didn't come on the walk with us, but the other four of us had a really nice times walking around their neighborhood in the cold, and we realized that our shadows made us look like The Boxcar Children. Brian kept walking way too fast, so I was trying to keep him with the rest of the group, but I then would try to keep pace with him, and we'd get to far in front so Rachel would flash the flashlight all over the place and we'd stop. It ended up being a pretty good system. We got home and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, which they'd never seen before and only knew from playing Kingdom Hearts, and then we had our traditional stay-up-really-late-the-night-before-we-leave night because the actual night before we left, we weren't going to be together. This night consisted of our usual crazy shenanigans, resulting in our usual tweetable quotes such as ''Well, first off, the hobbit's racial...'', ''Oh, now we are holding hands. This is not what I wanted.'' and ''That's what you do when you have small hands. You have people throw sticks at you.'' That was fun. We went to bed at about 4am.
Aaaand, I'm going to write about the rest later because I've been writing too long and I want to go watch either Psych or Firefly. Goodnight.
See you soon!
Emily <3
Doctor Who count: 4.11
Firefly count: 1.6
The next day was Monday, and Brian had school early and then had work until 7pm, so we basically didn't see him until dinner. I don't really remember what we did all day, except show each other YouTube videos, go to the mall to try and get my computer fixed (that didn't happen), and play Beatles Rock band. Jennifer was also over all day so we spent time with her, and that was very nice. That was actually pretty much all we did. Then Brian came home and Chris showed up and we had a nice dinner and then played more Beatles rock band with Chris and Brian. After Chris and Jennifer and her husband Jared had left and the parents had pretty much gone to bed, we watched the last half of "Boomtown", which was the episode they were on in Doctor Who, and then Stephanie pretty much fell asleep while Brian and I were talking about The Hunger Games, which he'd read recently and we hadn't had a chance to talk about yet. We like to talk about books. We have fairly similar tastes in books, and even when we disagree, we enjoy the debate. That's one of the things I like about talking to Brian, neither of us ever feel like we're attacking the other personally just because we disagree. We're free to pretty much air our opinions, whatever they be, and not have to worry that the other may take it personally. While we were talking, we were trying to make up the air matress, since Stephanie had fallen asleep and Rachel had gone off to get ready for bed. All was going well until some point when Brian accidentally knocked the computer keyboard off the table. It made a kind of loud crashing noise and Stephanie leaped up and stared at the keyboard with this look on her face of just utter terror and shock with slightly homicidal undertones. She started going for the keyboard and it was actually kind of scary, but Brian talked her back into bed and then forcibly closed her eyes and she went back to sleep. Well, really, she had never been awake. Brian sat back down on the floor and I whispered to him, "If someone was going to get up and kill us all in our sleep, I vote Stephanie." Brianna and Brian agreed. We started talking at a normal volume again a few minutes later, and had another small scare when Brian accidentally knocked into the TV cabinent, making another loud noise. We all stopped a stared at Stephanie, but she just rolled over and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she woke up fully and asked, "Did something really scary just happen?" We all tried not to laugh as I replied, "For us...."
Tuesday, Brian went to school later, but had to stay until around 4pm, and I had an appointment at the Apple store to try to get my computer fixed at 1:15, so we all went to the mall sans Brian, and I talked to someone who didn't fix my computer but gave me a few tips, and then we went to get lunch at this place called The Counter, which is an AMAZING burger joint where you basically build your own burger and they make it for you and it's delicious and amazing! My burger had Jalepeno Jack cheese, grilled onions, grilled pineapple, scallions, tomatoes, and spicy sour cream, and it was incredible! Then we went to Barnes and Noble where I got the new book by Jay and Grant from Ghost Hunters, Macbeth, and the paperback of Paper Towns! Then we went home where Brian already was with his friend Nick and Steph and I ended up being handed PS3 controllers and started fighting against each other in a game I never heard the name of. She was basically playing instead of Nick, and I was playing for Brian. I started out really strong and beat her a few times, but then Nick started giving her tips and she got the better of me. Then we started ignoring them completely, and I was beating her again. Then she beat me a few times. Then I beat her again. I guess we were pretty evenly matched. I was just...a bit more vocal than she was, but that's typical. Nick then stayed for dinner and then all of us kid-like-folk went outside and hung out near the fire, which was lovely. Brian had to be in bed by midnight again, so after Nick left, we chilled until then and then went to sleep.
The next day, Brian got home at 10:30am, which was only about 15 minutes after most of us woke up (Stephanie always wakes up early...always), so we had pretty much the whole day with him. We watched the last two episodes of Doctor Who, s1 while everyone was showering and getting ready, and then we watched "The Christmas Invasion", which was fun. It was really funny hearing all their theories, and their reactions to basically everything Jack-related were hilarious. Then we had lunch, pranked Zack, and had a really fun Skype conversation with Lauren, which was evidently the first time Brian and Stephanie actually talked to Lauren face-to-face. We did the traditional parents-go-out-to-dinner-leaving-kids-at-home-alone-to-be-crazy thing we always do when our familes are together that night, and part of that for us was Brian, Brianna and I going out to get soda while Rachel and Stephanie cooked the pizza that was our dinner, and then us all going out after dinner to Rock River Coffee to get lovely hot drinks so we could come home and take a walk in the cold. It ended up being sort of misty-type rainy, so Stephanie didn't come on the walk with us, but the other four of us had a really nice times walking around their neighborhood in the cold, and we realized that our shadows made us look like The Boxcar Children. Brian kept walking way too fast, so I was trying to keep him with the rest of the group, but I then would try to keep pace with him, and we'd get to far in front so Rachel would flash the flashlight all over the place and we'd stop. It ended up being a pretty good system. We got home and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, which they'd never seen before and only knew from playing Kingdom Hearts, and then we had our traditional stay-up-really-late-the-night-before-we-leave night because the actual night before we left, we weren't going to be together. This night consisted of our usual crazy shenanigans, resulting in our usual tweetable quotes such as ''Well, first off, the hobbit's racial...'', ''Oh, now we are holding hands. This is not what I wanted.'' and ''That's what you do when you have small hands. You have people throw sticks at you.'' That was fun. We went to bed at about 4am.
Aaaand, I'm going to write about the rest later because I've been writing too long and I want to go watch either Psych or Firefly. Goodnight.
See you soon!
Emily <3
Doctor Who count: 4.11
Firefly count: 1.6
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Darnkness and a Lack of Air
Hello, blog. Sorry it's been a while. I haven't really had much to say recently. However, today I have two funny, Doctor Who-related stories for you.
I'm sorry if you're getting sick of these, but I'm near the end of series 4, so it won't be much longer.
Anyway, last night Rachel and I watched "Silence in the Library", "Forest of the Dead" and "Midnight", which are episodes 8, 9 and 10 of series four. We were sitting on my bed watching "Silence in the Library," and the Doctor was talking very intensely about how almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark, and that it's not really irrational because it's Vashta Nerada. "It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark."
At that moment, Rachel turned to me and said, "Can we turn off the light?"
I just burst out laughing. She proceeded to explain that there was a glare right in the middle of the computer screen and that every time they looked into the dark, she couldn't see because of it, but I was still laughing at the sheer TIMING of the comment. "Oh, there are monsters in the shadows? Let's turn off the light!"
Rachel offered to turn on the desk lamp, and I joked that leaving all the lights would give us a "more authentic experience." "Do you want a more authentic experience?" Rachel asked. "I'm game if you are," I answered. So we watched both episodes in the dark. Honestly, it was more fun that way. We've taken to watching all the episodes in the dark now.
We watched "Midnight" in Rachel's room and thought it was EXCELLENT! David Tennant's performance is always fantastic, and this episode in particular he was just so spot-on, it was incredible. We also really loved the psychological Twilight Zoney-ness about it. It's not an episode we ever heard anything about, but we're perfectly willing to sing its praises. It's on our "best episodes" list, definitely.
Anyway, story number two:
Today we watched "Turn Left". The preview for it had us yelling and screaming last night, but since it was, ironically, midnight, we didn't watch the episdoe until tonight. After watching Heroes, actually, which was...typical of Heroes nowadays and honestly just ridiculous. :/ So we watched "Turn Left" and we were freaking out throughout most of the episode, and then the end came.
I didn't realize it at the time, but as soon as the Doctor started realizing that the woman who'd talked to Donna was Rose, I started holding my breath. I honestly didn't know I was doing it, but I was. I gasped when Donna said "Bad Wolf" and they ran outside and everything was saying "Bad Wolf," but then continued to unknowingly hold my breath until the Doctor entered the TARDIS and I suddenly felt the urgent need for air.
And then the episode ended and I screamed. Rachel did too.
We're really worried for our dear friend Donna. We love her! We are very distressed. I'm afraid to watch the next two episodes. It's sort of like when we were about to watch "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday," only different. I'm scared. D:
We'll probably end up watching them on Thursday.
Like I said to Rachel, why does Doctor Who love to make us so intensely emotionally invested in these characters and the RIP THEM AWAY from us unceramoniously? Rawr, I don't like it! And then we have just a few more episodes before they take Ten from us, too! Sad faces all around!
I mean, I used to love Heroes, but when I sit there for the whole last half of that show just waiting for it to be over and then I go and accidentally deprive myself of air during Doctor Who...well the two shows just don't compare, do they? Oh well. I've gotten used to Heroes being disappointing.
I was going to blog about something unrelated to Doctor Who, but I've been feeling quite sick and don't remember what it was. Sorry. Maybe later.
I'm hungry now, so I'm going to go. Goodnight, bloggy people!
See you soon. <3
Emily.
Doctor Who count: 4.11
I'm sorry if you're getting sick of these, but I'm near the end of series 4, so it won't be much longer.
Anyway, last night Rachel and I watched "Silence in the Library", "Forest of the Dead" and "Midnight", which are episodes 8, 9 and 10 of series four. We were sitting on my bed watching "Silence in the Library," and the Doctor was talking very intensely about how almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark, and that it's not really irrational because it's Vashta Nerada. "It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark."
At that moment, Rachel turned to me and said, "Can we turn off the light?"
I just burst out laughing. She proceeded to explain that there was a glare right in the middle of the computer screen and that every time they looked into the dark, she couldn't see because of it, but I was still laughing at the sheer TIMING of the comment. "Oh, there are monsters in the shadows? Let's turn off the light!"
Rachel offered to turn on the desk lamp, and I joked that leaving all the lights would give us a "more authentic experience." "Do you want a more authentic experience?" Rachel asked. "I'm game if you are," I answered. So we watched both episodes in the dark. Honestly, it was more fun that way. We've taken to watching all the episodes in the dark now.
We watched "Midnight" in Rachel's room and thought it was EXCELLENT! David Tennant's performance is always fantastic, and this episode in particular he was just so spot-on, it was incredible. We also really loved the psychological Twilight Zoney-ness about it. It's not an episode we ever heard anything about, but we're perfectly willing to sing its praises. It's on our "best episodes" list, definitely.
Anyway, story number two:
Today we watched "Turn Left". The preview for it had us yelling and screaming last night, but since it was, ironically, midnight, we didn't watch the episdoe until tonight. After watching Heroes, actually, which was...typical of Heroes nowadays and honestly just ridiculous. :/ So we watched "Turn Left" and we were freaking out throughout most of the episode, and then the end came.
I didn't realize it at the time, but as soon as the Doctor started realizing that the woman who'd talked to Donna was Rose, I started holding my breath. I honestly didn't know I was doing it, but I was. I gasped when Donna said "Bad Wolf" and they ran outside and everything was saying "Bad Wolf," but then continued to unknowingly hold my breath until the Doctor entered the TARDIS and I suddenly felt the urgent need for air.
And then the episode ended and I screamed. Rachel did too.
We're really worried for our dear friend Donna. We love her! We are very distressed. I'm afraid to watch the next two episodes. It's sort of like when we were about to watch "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday," only different. I'm scared. D:
We'll probably end up watching them on Thursday.
Like I said to Rachel, why does Doctor Who love to make us so intensely emotionally invested in these characters and the RIP THEM AWAY from us unceramoniously? Rawr, I don't like it! And then we have just a few more episodes before they take Ten from us, too! Sad faces all around!
I mean, I used to love Heroes, but when I sit there for the whole last half of that show just waiting for it to be over and then I go and accidentally deprive myself of air during Doctor Who...well the two shows just don't compare, do they? Oh well. I've gotten used to Heroes being disappointing.
I was going to blog about something unrelated to Doctor Who, but I've been feeling quite sick and don't remember what it was. Sorry. Maybe later.
I'm hungry now, so I'm going to go. Goodnight, bloggy people!
See you soon. <3
Emily.
Doctor Who count: 4.11
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Book Survey
I have nothing really to say, except I have a new video up on StephandEmmy, and that you should go watch and comment. :]
Also, I'm copying hayleyghoover again, and I'm doing this lovely book survey she posted on her blog. :]
See you soon! <3
Emily
Also, I'm copying hayleyghoover again, and I'm doing this lovely book survey she posted on her blog. :]
1. What author do you own the most books by?
Jo Rowling. I have ten books by her, and multiple copies of ALL seven Potter books.
2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (original decrepit hardcover, well-worn paperback, spanish translation copy, 10th anniversary edition). Unless you count all the Lord of the Rings books my dad owns, or the massive amounts of Bibles in my house, but of the books I exclusively own, Sorcerer's Stone.
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No, that's how most people talk.
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
There are no secrets here. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm madly in love with the Tenth Doctor, Harry Potter and Edmund Pevensie. And I realize one is from a TV show, but he still counts because I adore him.
5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Ehhh, I'm going to sound like a child here. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I lost count after 12 times. It's probably closer to 16 now. I promise, I have read other books!
6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Ella Enchanted by Gale Carson Levine and Harry Potters 1-3.
7. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
That's a good question. If we're only counting from January, probaby House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo, and it wasn't even that bad. I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other books I've read this year.
8. What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Paper Towns by John Green and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Oh! And Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. If that counts, because it's really a play, so I'm not sure.
9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
*makes uncomfortable writhing noises because you're trying to make her choose bits of her soul*
10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Most movies from books aren't particularly good, so I'm reluctant to see any movie adaptation of books I love. I guess no answer here. COP OUT, I know. Sorry. :[
11. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Off the top of my head, probably The Hunger Games. It's contained perfectly in my head! Don't ruin it for me!
12. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I once dreamed that I was Legolas, and I was running around with the Fellowship, and Aragorn and I had to get up this really big cliff thing, and there happened to be a giant, sleeping Galadriel at the base of the cliff thing who lifted us up to the top. Nice of her, really.
13. What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Yeah, probably Twilight. Unless I read Eragon after I turned 18...
14. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Wuthering Heights. I never finished it. I feel like I should because it's a classic, but I just...couldn't get into it.
15. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've never seen his obscure plays performed! Only the mainstream ones. :[
16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Oh, this is the part of the survey where I begin to question my standing amongst the literati. Haven't read enough of either to be able to say, unfortunately.
17. Roth or Updike?
I'm sorry....I haven't read either.... *hides*
18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Myeh, I feel inadequate. Haven't read them either.
19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
SHAKESPEARE! Because I love him.
20. Austen or Eliot?
Ooh...um...Austen, I suppose. Yes.
21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I haven't read nearly enough classics. Actually, most embarrassing is probably that I haven't read The Catcher in the Rye. But I will! I promise!
22. What is your favorite novel?
RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, they are as follows: Harry Potter (all of them, but with particular emphasis on Deathly Hallows and Prisoner of Azkaban), Paper Towns, The Hunger Games, Ella Enchanted and the Abhorsen Trilogy (by Garth Nix).
23. Play?
Much Ado About Nothing, probably. Love Shakespeare.
24. Poem?
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost; Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas (which is a recent find but most definitely makes this list); and Shakespeare's 116th sonnet. <3 I also the The Second Coming by Yeats.
25. Essay?
I don't really read essays outside of school.
26. Work of nonfiction?
Well, Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History made me cry about four times, so I guess it takes top bill right now.
27. Who is your favorite writer?
NOT FAIR! :[ I can't choose! I do love Jo, though. Quite a bit. I suppose I could go with her.
28. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephenie Meyer. Hey, I like Twilight well enough, but let's face it.
29. What is your desert island book?
Um, probably that book I've read near 16 times....
30. And... what are you reading right now?
Devilish by Maureen Johnson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Jo Rowling, and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.
2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (original decrepit hardcover, well-worn paperback, spanish translation copy, 10th anniversary edition). Unless you count all the Lord of the Rings books my dad owns, or the massive amounts of Bibles in my house, but of the books I exclusively own, Sorcerer's Stone.
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No, that's how most people talk.
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
There are no secrets here. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm madly in love with the Tenth Doctor, Harry Potter and Edmund Pevensie. And I realize one is from a TV show, but he still counts because I adore him.
5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Ehhh, I'm going to sound like a child here. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I lost count after 12 times. It's probably closer to 16 now. I promise, I have read other books!
6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Ella Enchanted by Gale Carson Levine and Harry Potters 1-3.
7. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
That's a good question. If we're only counting from January, probaby House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo, and it wasn't even that bad. I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other books I've read this year.
8. What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Paper Towns by John Green and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Oh! And Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. If that counts, because it's really a play, so I'm not sure.
9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
*makes uncomfortable writhing noises because you're trying to make her choose bits of her soul*
10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Most movies from books aren't particularly good, so I'm reluctant to see any movie adaptation of books I love. I guess no answer here. COP OUT, I know. Sorry. :[
11. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Off the top of my head, probably The Hunger Games. It's contained perfectly in my head! Don't ruin it for me!
12. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I once dreamed that I was Legolas, and I was running around with the Fellowship, and Aragorn and I had to get up this really big cliff thing, and there happened to be a giant, sleeping Galadriel at the base of the cliff thing who lifted us up to the top. Nice of her, really.
13. What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Yeah, probably Twilight. Unless I read Eragon after I turned 18...
14. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Wuthering Heights. I never finished it. I feel like I should because it's a classic, but I just...couldn't get into it.
15. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've never seen his obscure plays performed! Only the mainstream ones. :[
16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Oh, this is the part of the survey where I begin to question my standing amongst the literati. Haven't read enough of either to be able to say, unfortunately.
17. Roth or Updike?
I'm sorry....I haven't read either.... *hides*
18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Myeh, I feel inadequate. Haven't read them either.
19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
SHAKESPEARE! Because I love him.
20. Austen or Eliot?
Ooh...um...Austen, I suppose. Yes.
21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I haven't read nearly enough classics. Actually, most embarrassing is probably that I haven't read The Catcher in the Rye. But I will! I promise!
22. What is your favorite novel?
RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, they are as follows: Harry Potter (all of them, but with particular emphasis on Deathly Hallows and Prisoner of Azkaban), Paper Towns, The Hunger Games, Ella Enchanted and the Abhorsen Trilogy (by Garth Nix).
23. Play?
Much Ado About Nothing, probably. Love Shakespeare.
24. Poem?
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost; Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas (which is a recent find but most definitely makes this list); and Shakespeare's 116th sonnet. <3 I also the The Second Coming by Yeats.
25. Essay?
I don't really read essays outside of school.
26. Work of nonfiction?
Well, Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History made me cry about four times, so I guess it takes top bill right now.
27. Who is your favorite writer?
NOT FAIR! :[ I can't choose! I do love Jo, though. Quite a bit. I suppose I could go with her.
28. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephenie Meyer. Hey, I like Twilight well enough, but let's face it.
29. What is your desert island book?
Um, probably that book I've read near 16 times....
30. And... what are you reading right now?
Devilish by Maureen Johnson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Jo Rowling, and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.
See you soon! <3
Emily
Thursday, August 20, 2009
About Time, Martha!
Martha is gone. Quite right, too. It was honestly the smartest thing she did all series. And I'm not just saying that out of hate. I'm saying it because it's true. Because she's not very clever, she just isn't. She's fiesty, oh yes, I'll give her that, and she's determined, but she's not clever. Her little speech about her friend right before she left shows that leaving really was the smartest thing she did all series. Because she can't make him love her, and she's FINALLY realized that. Thank the lord.
Anyway, I feel sad for the Doctor because he's all alone again, and he doesn't want to be alone. Now that the Master and Martha have both left him. But from what I hear, Donna will be along soon.
Soooo, yes. Series 3 complete! On to series 4!
I'll get a life again soon, don't worry. The last week, however, has been consumed with Doctor Who. I didn't even make it to church tonight because of heavy rain and a flooded street, so there really has been no social life for me.
See you soon!
Emily <3
Anyway, I feel sad for the Doctor because he's all alone again, and he doesn't want to be alone. Now that the Master and Martha have both left him. But from what I hear, Donna will be along soon.
Soooo, yes. Series 3 complete! On to series 4!
I'll get a life again soon, don't worry. The last week, however, has been consumed with Doctor Who. I didn't even make it to church tonight because of heavy rain and a flooded street, so there really has been no social life for me.
See you soon!
Emily <3
Monday, August 17, 2009
Story of a Doctor
I don't think I've ever really talked about my love for Doctor Who here before except for once when I called David Tennant attractive (because he most certainly is)...hang on...yeah, I just checked and that's about it. Besides the original trock lyrics I posted in the same blog, and then I think twice previous to that in a very passing way. SO I believe it's high time.
I-FREAKING-LOVE-DOCTOR-WHO!!! Very very much!
I can recall seeing my very first episode of Doctor Who while surfing channels. I couldn't find anything to watch, and as I passed the SciFi channel, I saw that Doctor Who was on. I'd heard a bit about it, but didn't really know anything about it at all. I did, however, immediately recognize the man who played the Doctor as Claude (one of my favorite characters) from my then-favorite program, Heroes. It was Series 1, Ninth Doctor, episode 3: "The Unqueit Dead". I only caught the last half or so, but I enjoyed it well enough. I thought it was entertaining, and I really liked the characters. I didn't watch any after that for a long time, though.
I kept hearing from friends that I should watch it, and I had every intention to...once my schedule cleared up a bit. I had other shows to keep up with, after all. I'd get into it later. Then some of my favortie YouTubers were talking about it...a lot. And so I made firm plans with my sister (this was sometime early this year) that we would start with Series 1 as soon as the summer started. After telling a friend of mine this, she transferred all Tenth Doctor episodes from an external hard drive she had onto my computer. I know had no excuse.
We had every intention of starting in May as we'd planned...until Easter. There were a lot of people in our house and we weren't really enjoying any of their company, to be frank. So my sister and I stole away to her upstairs room and started watching the first series on Netflix. We watched about four episodes in a row that afternoon. We'd soon learn that we'd never ever be able to watch just one a go.
We finished the first series pretty quickly, and moved right on to the second. I was aprehensive about having a new Doctor after I'd become SO fond of the Ninth one. The only thing I'd ever seen David Tennant in was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I knew he was brilliant in it, but I just didn't know if I'd love him as much as Christopher Eccleston. And then he was unconcious for half the episode and I couldn't even get used to him! I was very whiny and upset...until David Tennant woke up. He started asking very seriously and in the middle of a crisis whether he was ginger, he ignored the imminent danger while joyously greeting a very bemused crowd, and then...he stole my heart. He referenced The Lion King, and the absolute perfection and brilliance of his delivery of that beautiful line had me hook, line and sinker. I was officially a David Tennant fan. My sister and I had to pause the video for a good 4-6 minutes as we laughed uproariously and uncontainably because we couldn't hear the dialogue over our own laughter.
Well, we had a very busy period for a while, and after watching "The Girl in the Fireplace" with a friend on a plane in late May, we didn't watch any for a while. And by a while, I mean over two months. Finally, a few days ago, we decided it was time to get back into it. We watched episodes 5-7 of Series 2 one night, and then 8-11 the next. But we knew Rose was leaving in the last one. We didn't know why or how, but we knew she'd be gone. We didn't WANT her to be gone! I adore Rose! I love her oh! so very much, and I don't want her to leave! We didn't want to watch the last two that night anyway, since we'd stayed up far too late as it was, so we thought we'd watch them the next day. We didn't. We put it off for a few days, and then finally decided to rip the bandaid off tonight. I mean, I was legitimately stressing IRL about Rose leaving. "But the Doctor loves her!" I'd protest. "And she loves him! They need to beeee together!"
Nevertheless, tonight I knew it was time. We fretted and made worried noises all through "Army of Ghosts", and then it was on to "Doomsday".
I've never cried so hard at a television show. I've never been so emotionally invested in a television show. Usually, even if a storyline makes me cry, as soon as the program is over, I'm over it too. Not this time. We cried. We made tea. We moaned to our family about how UNEARTHLY SAD it was. We cried some more. It's not fair. It's so sad! It's not FAIR!
And no spoilers, please. I really want to experience this show in as unspoiled a way as possible. I'm aware that there are supposed to be more things that happen with Rose, but I don't know what they are and I want to keep it that way! I'm just...very very sad about Rose leaving. I love her. <333
:[
We watched "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones" tonight too. And I got sadder every time the Doctor remembered Rose. I also cried again when he said her name at the end of "The Runaway Bride." I got very confused because I was sure my friends had told me that Donna was NOT the Doctor's next companion, but then she didn't go with him and it made sense.
Donna is kind of cool, except she's kind of annoying sometimes, but I could see myself liking her in the future.
I hate Martha. She has stupid hair. And she's not clever except a few occasional ideas she has. She's actually really daft, mostly. I hate her. I also realize my hatred for her is completely unfounded, but I don't care. She's not Rose, and she's trying to replace Rose, therefore I hate her. Rawr.
Sooo, yes. That's my Doctor Who story to date. I loooove this show. I want to marry the Tenth Doctor. 'Nough said.
However, I do want to say something. As I was going through my blog to see if I'd ever written about Doctor Who before, I came across this entry, in which I talk briefly about Doctor Who (Series 1), and then talk a little about what fictional character I relate most to. I didn't have a very good answer, because I mostly just talked about to characters I WANT to relate to. Well, now I have an answer: The fictional character I relate most to is Rose Tyler from Doctor Who. I get her. I'm a lot like her. I understand. That is my answer. Rose Tyler. That's probably why I love her so much. And why I'm so sad at hear leaving.
Sigh.
Goodnight, internets.
Emily <3
I-FREAKING-LOVE-DOCTOR-WHO!!! Very very much!
I can recall seeing my very first episode of Doctor Who while surfing channels. I couldn't find anything to watch, and as I passed the SciFi channel, I saw that Doctor Who was on. I'd heard a bit about it, but didn't really know anything about it at all. I did, however, immediately recognize the man who played the Doctor as Claude (one of my favorite characters) from my then-favorite program, Heroes. It was Series 1, Ninth Doctor, episode 3: "The Unqueit Dead". I only caught the last half or so, but I enjoyed it well enough. I thought it was entertaining, and I really liked the characters. I didn't watch any after that for a long time, though.
I kept hearing from friends that I should watch it, and I had every intention to...once my schedule cleared up a bit. I had other shows to keep up with, after all. I'd get into it later. Then some of my favortie YouTubers were talking about it...a lot. And so I made firm plans with my sister (this was sometime early this year) that we would start with Series 1 as soon as the summer started. After telling a friend of mine this, she transferred all Tenth Doctor episodes from an external hard drive she had onto my computer. I know had no excuse.
We had every intention of starting in May as we'd planned...until Easter. There were a lot of people in our house and we weren't really enjoying any of their company, to be frank. So my sister and I stole away to her upstairs room and started watching the first series on Netflix. We watched about four episodes in a row that afternoon. We'd soon learn that we'd never ever be able to watch just one a go.
We finished the first series pretty quickly, and moved right on to the second. I was aprehensive about having a new Doctor after I'd become SO fond of the Ninth one. The only thing I'd ever seen David Tennant in was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I knew he was brilliant in it, but I just didn't know if I'd love him as much as Christopher Eccleston. And then he was unconcious for half the episode and I couldn't even get used to him! I was very whiny and upset...until David Tennant woke up. He started asking very seriously and in the middle of a crisis whether he was ginger, he ignored the imminent danger while joyously greeting a very bemused crowd, and then...he stole my heart. He referenced The Lion King, and the absolute perfection and brilliance of his delivery of that beautiful line had me hook, line and sinker. I was officially a David Tennant fan. My sister and I had to pause the video for a good 4-6 minutes as we laughed uproariously and uncontainably because we couldn't hear the dialogue over our own laughter.
Well, we had a very busy period for a while, and after watching "The Girl in the Fireplace" with a friend on a plane in late May, we didn't watch any for a while. And by a while, I mean over two months. Finally, a few days ago, we decided it was time to get back into it. We watched episodes 5-7 of Series 2 one night, and then 8-11 the next. But we knew Rose was leaving in the last one. We didn't know why or how, but we knew she'd be gone. We didn't WANT her to be gone! I adore Rose! I love her oh! so very much, and I don't want her to leave! We didn't want to watch the last two that night anyway, since we'd stayed up far too late as it was, so we thought we'd watch them the next day. We didn't. We put it off for a few days, and then finally decided to rip the bandaid off tonight. I mean, I was legitimately stressing IRL about Rose leaving. "But the Doctor loves her!" I'd protest. "And she loves him! They need to beeee together!"
Nevertheless, tonight I knew it was time. We fretted and made worried noises all through "Army of Ghosts", and then it was on to "Doomsday".
I've never cried so hard at a television show. I've never been so emotionally invested in a television show. Usually, even if a storyline makes me cry, as soon as the program is over, I'm over it too. Not this time. We cried. We made tea. We moaned to our family about how UNEARTHLY SAD it was. We cried some more. It's not fair. It's so sad! It's not FAIR!
And no spoilers, please. I really want to experience this show in as unspoiled a way as possible. I'm aware that there are supposed to be more things that happen with Rose, but I don't know what they are and I want to keep it that way! I'm just...very very sad about Rose leaving. I love her. <333
:[
We watched "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones" tonight too. And I got sadder every time the Doctor remembered Rose. I also cried again when he said her name at the end of "The Runaway Bride." I got very confused because I was sure my friends had told me that Donna was NOT the Doctor's next companion, but then she didn't go with him and it made sense.
Donna is kind of cool, except she's kind of annoying sometimes, but I could see myself liking her in the future.
I hate Martha. She has stupid hair. And she's not clever except a few occasional ideas she has. She's actually really daft, mostly. I hate her. I also realize my hatred for her is completely unfounded, but I don't care. She's not Rose, and she's trying to replace Rose, therefore I hate her. Rawr.
Sooo, yes. That's my Doctor Who story to date. I loooove this show. I want to marry the Tenth Doctor. 'Nough said.
However, I do want to say something. As I was going through my blog to see if I'd ever written about Doctor Who before, I came across this entry, in which I talk briefly about Doctor Who (Series 1), and then talk a little about what fictional character I relate most to. I didn't have a very good answer, because I mostly just talked about to characters I WANT to relate to. Well, now I have an answer: The fictional character I relate most to is Rose Tyler from Doctor Who. I get her. I'm a lot like her. I understand. That is my answer. Rose Tyler. That's probably why I love her so much. And why I'm so sad at hear leaving.
Sigh.
Goodnight, internets.
Emily <3
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Half-Blood Prince REDUX
I have now seen HBP for the second time. I have to say: I LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH!!! I mean, I loved it the first time, but I LOOOOOVED it the second time! I want to smother it in huggles. I still miss the things I missed the first time, but I've accepted the fact that they're not there.
I do, however, have to make one correction to my last post: Snape DID react to being called a coward! He didn't freak out, book!Snape style, but movie!Snape has always been slightly more menacing and slightly less heated than book!Snape. Movie!Snape has ALWAYS been about the facial expressions (the first time he saw Harry, anyone?), so it only makes sense that his reaction would be all in his face! There's just a little moment, right after Harry calls him a coward, where his expression changes so he looks hurt and angry instead of stiff and villianous. Rachel and I were very happy to see that.
So yes, I had a ton of other thoughts, but I have things I need to do tonight. :]
P.S. I definitely cried longer and harder than I did last time. :/ That wand lighting scene is still too beautiful and perfect for words. I got choked up just talking about it.
I do, however, have to make one correction to my last post: Snape DID react to being called a coward! He didn't freak out, book!Snape style, but movie!Snape has always been slightly more menacing and slightly less heated than book!Snape. Movie!Snape has ALWAYS been about the facial expressions (the first time he saw Harry, anyone?), so it only makes sense that his reaction would be all in his face! There's just a little moment, right after Harry calls him a coward, where his expression changes so he looks hurt and angry instead of stiff and villianous. Rachel and I were very happy to see that.
So yes, I had a ton of other thoughts, but I have things I need to do tonight. :]
P.S. I definitely cried longer and harder than I did last time. :/ That wand lighting scene is still too beautiful and perfect for words. I got choked up just talking about it.
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