Death of a (Computer) Salesman

My excuse for never updating is actually quite simple.

I died.

...well, my computer died. Same thing really.

And I mean like, dead dead. Not coming back dead.

I honestly have no idea how it happened either! There I was, minding my own business, looking up some random Youtube video or something when bam! blank screen.

Literally... that was it. And I'm fairly computer savvy. I don't go to virus-giving websites, I keep up my firewall, and I just generally don't behave like an idiot on the internet. I'm usually rich in blessings from the great computer gods for that last one, but no.

Bam. Dead. The end.

My dad said he might be able to fix it, but insisted that there really wasn't a point since my computer was a friggin' dinosaur.



Perhaps I'm being dramatic, but you get the picture.

So, I was told I'd be getting a new one. Eventually.

The next few weeks of my life are a bit fuzzy... I tend to suppress bad memories...

But then, a few days ago- bang! (notice I used "bang!" and not "bam!". There's a difference. Go with it.) My new baby was born! ...er delivered... sorta...




I'm sensing some progress.

Anyway, that's about it. Although I did see Harry Potter at midnight... and a pre-showing of a 3D movie based on a show I would never ever watch... and developed an addiction to Redvines... and lots of other totally awesome things.

Oh, and college. Well, that's not until next week. More on that later, eh?

'Cause I Saw Eclipse

K, I'm about to make a blasphemous statement, so just hold on to your seats alright peeps?

*deep breath* Well... I saw Eclipse... See, now I should just leave it at that and just let you assume the laughs but yeah, okay, that's not exactly fair now is it?

Okay... I can do this. I'd appreciate it if you didn't hate me for this...

Well... Eclipse wasn't really...

Dang, this is more difficult than I thought.

*'nother deep breath* It wasn't that bad.

Woosh, alright. Okay, okay, yes I know, the horror. But, I'm not going to lie and say it was apocalypticly bad when it wasn't.

Now was it good? You'd have to be a fan of the genre to think that. And I'm not. So no, my biased opinion claims nay, but it wasn't painful to watch or anything. How about this: It was decent.

Fair enough?

Now, hold your tomatoes and let me explain why I think this. There were a lot of things about Eclipse the book that I disliked. Lots of random, going nowhere plot points, characters I didn't care about, and, to be perfectly honest, blatant sexism in a few places. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Well, the director of Eclipse must've agreed with me, because he took those things and either quietly did away with them or changed them so they weren't so stupid. For example, *for anyone who actually cares, there's a SPOILER ahead* near the end of the book, Edward and Seth (some werewolf punk) are facing off with an evil vampire who wants to kill Bella. Seth apparently gets injured and things aren't looking so hot for our favorite sparklepire so Bella decides to be all noble and distract the evil vampire by stabbing herself in the heart and letting the blood drive the vampire nuts. if I'm remembering this correctly (I mean, when did I last read the book?) she's stopped somehow, evil vampire dies anyway, and the world is happy. Later, Edwardo gets all PO'd at her and says that Seth was only feigning injury or something and that he himself was fine and she was being stupid and yada yada yada. So, to summarize, Bells (although she approaches it wrong) decides to be useful, and gets blasted for it. The entire scene was useless- it built up to something that didn't actually happen...

In the movie, same scene happens however, Bella is smart and realizes that in cutting yourself, you don't actually have to die, so she cuts her arm instead (she's not stopped, since Edward's in a bit of a scrape), thus distracting the not-so-nice but still sparkly vampire and allowing Edward to remove her of her head. So, same scene, just... smart? Oh yeah, and she doesn't get yelled at for it later either.

Jacob is kind of a tool, but he was a tool in the book too (a distinct contrast from his personality in the second one where he was a goober, but a harmless one- a sign of bad writing indeed) so I can't really fault anyone for that. To be quite frank, in regards to the little love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob, I don't think Bella should have picked either of them. One's a depressing control freak and the other one's a prick. (Seriously, when I guy takes out the engine of your car to prevent you from seeing someone, that really ought to raise a red flag.)

But was it horrible? No, not at all. It was alright. It took the idea of the book, removed all the crap, added a few jokes, and converted it into a movie that won't make your eyes bleed. It was easily better than it's predecessors (not that that's hard, although New Moon wasn't completely awful either, it was just lame) and, although I probably won't watch it again, I can't quite fault anyone for liking it.

Breaking Dawn? Now that I'm excited for. Seriously, that book was bad. I mean, really bad. I'm hoping for a few unintentional laughs if that's-

Wait, it's being directed by Bill Condon? That same guy who did Dreamgirls and Chicago?! Both of which won several Academy Awards?!?!

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, they're copying Harry Potter 7 and splitting it into two movies?

But, but, but, but- WHY???

Nevermind. Not excited. Goodbye.

My Top 10 Favorite Musical Songs

Like I said before, I'm back from my blogging hiatus and I'm here to tell you some more of my totally biased opinions. But this time, its in the form of song!

Literally. I'm mean, we are talking about music here. Aw whatever, lame joke alert. Just pity laugh K?

Anyway, here is a list of my top 10 favorite songs ever from a musical.

(But before that, I'd like to explain something. In order to avoid picking too many songs from the same musical, I picked what I thought was the best song from said musical. This was done based off music style, the tone, what effect it has on the show, and just pure likability. For example, despite my love of "Popular" from Wicked, I like "Defying Gravity" better. So despite liking "Gravity" better than say, "Castle on a Cloud", its still not on the list. Get it? Got it? Good.)

10. El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge* - This song is seriously intense. Why? Because jealousy is an intense emotion. Which is why this song works so well.

9. Castle on Cloud from Les Miserables - This falls into the genre of "tragically adorable". I mean really, you just wanna give this poor little girl a hug. You simply can't not have your heart broken when you hear it. (Also, from a technical standpoint, I like it because its in the key of A Minor, which means, pianoistically speaking, there're no sharps or flats. That is a definite win.)

8. Go Go Go Joseph from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - It starts on gorgeous, it ends on awesome. Plus it tells like three different stories throughout the song's running. That is very cool with me.

7. The Tango Maureen from Rent* - A song a guy sings regarding his cheating ex-girlfriend to her new girlfriend. Simply the premise of the song tells you its gonna be entertaining.

6. Everyone's a Little Bit Racist from Avenue Q* - Equipped with a biting message and a catchy little tune, this lovely little song is actually probably the least offensive song from the musical. That isn't why I picked it thought; I just pretty much love it.

5. By the Sea from Sweeney Todd* - In a show so dark and packed full of horrible happenings, this hilariously upbeat song completely offsets the entire show. Its all about one of the character's dream of living, well, by the sea someday. The movie version films it in an especially humorous manner- the colors and costumes are almost obnoxiously bright and cheery, despite the characters maintaining their emotastic appearances.

4. The Phantom of the Opera from, well, The Phantom of the Opera - Do I even have to explain why it's on the list? Everyone knows this song. And in many ways, that's part of it's awesome- the fact that everyone recognizes it's opening chords.

3. AC/DC from Starlight Express - I, being the epitome of maturity, went and counted all the questionable innuendos in this song. In less than a three minute period, I counted 14, 9 if you don't count the ones that were repeated. Heck, even the title. The title. Now, you'd think this would draw away from it's charm. But not only does this song have an ridiculously catchy beat, clever lyrics, and awesome backup singers, it was sung by the gorgeousness that is John Partridge. So maybe I'm just suffering from swoon bias, but this song so deserves it's spot on the list. (Update: I recently bought the piano book for this show, and I realized I missed a big one. There's 10 unrepeated innuendos. Just though you should know.)

2. Defying Gravity from Wicked - Greatest show stopper ever. Seriously. I still get goosebumps when I hear it. Its probably the best pre-intermission song ever. Why? Because, in full representation to the character singing it, it starts out small and builds to something grand and powerful, something worth hearing. I love epiphany songs, and this is easily my favorite of those.

1. Mr. Mistoffelees from Cats - This song is special and I just love it. It comes at a perfect point in the show- it's one of those all hope is lost, the bad guy just kicked out rears moments- when suddenly bang!, the underdog hero and his friend come out and save the day. It's got this wonderful smooth, up-beat jazz tune, the guy who sings it has a beautiful voice, visually the dancing is incredible, and gosh darn it, it just makes you happy.

*Yeah yeah yeah, any show with this marking has an interesting reputation preceding it. Well with the exception of #6, they don't deserve it.

The Return of the Revenge of Girl's Camp...

...really wasn't that bad...

Seriously, I really don't have much to complain about. Perhaps it was just the reoccurring nightmares from last year that put my optimism down (I'd like to see you live a normal life after a nightmare about snipes locking you in the bathroom with Doris Day *shudders*).

As absolutely enthralling as slipping on the stage carpet was (long story), being a YCL (Youth Camp Leader) was actually really fun. Although I ended playing mom the entire week, it could have definitely been worse.

Were there bad/annoying things that happened? Of course- it's a given. But will I be writing them down here? No. Why? The "good" answer to that is because we shouldn't dwell on the bad that happens in life. The real answer is that you never know who might read this in the future and then hate me for the rest of their life... those overly-sensitive moochers...

Mustn't hate, mustn't hate... so openly...

Anyway, there really isn't much more the say on the subject. So yeah, 'twas a mostly useless post. Just wanted you to know that I wasn't completely lazy for not posting in two weeks.

Also, on the most random note possible, everyone should go see the movie "Up". I just went and saw it today, and it was pretty much amazing.

So, I have a problem...

It's called "the last twenty seconds or so of this trailer actually look really cool"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSFMmkMfQ5Q

What do you guys think?

Why I Didn't Like the "Twilight" Movie

I've probably already risked my life in just mentioning the above word in a disparaging way. So heck, since I'm already going to die, I might as well keep going.

The other day, I saw the "Twilight" movie for the first time in the dollar theater. I'm not a huge fan of the books, (that's a post for another day) but I was willing to be entertained by the movie nonetheless. Man oh man, that movie was bad. It wasn't obnoxiously bad so I don't hate it but wow, for a movie about forbidden love and basic teenage angst, it sure was boring. I can honestly say that nothing interesting happened until the end, and by that point, it was too late.

For those who have been living under a rock for the past four years, "Twilight" is about a girl named Mary-Sue, *cough* excuse me, I mean Bella Swan, who goes across the country, for reason pretty much unexplained, to live with her dad in Forks, Washington. She is pretty and perfect and hates her new school because all the people are so dang friendly and nice and just won't leave her along long enough for her to cry her little emo tears. Until one day, she sees this totally hot pale guy who gives her death glares and talks frequently about killing her. *Spoiler* He's a vampire. Oh dang.

Anyway, the music score was over-dramatic, the acting was, at times, laughable, and the story felt lacking. This is suppose to be an emotionaly charged story. So why was there so little emotion?

Freakishly Busy

Alright, so these past two days have been insane. I've been busy almost all day on both days! But the good kind of busy. Some of the things I did were really fun.

Yesterday, I woke up very earlier. It was 8:30. That's unheard of for me. The previous day, I'd woken up at noon. So something weird was going on.

Anyway, so I got up and went outside and found my mom pulling weeds in the frontyard. I helped her with that for a while. Then, I went inside.

You remember all that stuff I said about the Pioneer Trek on a previous post? Well, in case you don't, I mentioned a 3-5 mile hike. Well, because it was such a nice day, it had rained, my mom, my friend Olivia, who also needed the requirement, and I went on it. Kinda. We sorta walked to the mall from my house, walked around the mall, and walked back. But hey, it counts right? It was 3-5 miles...

Shortly after that, we went and did baptisms for the dead with my cousin. (For those who may not know what that means, it's a church thing. I might explain later.) It was another thing for the Trek. Seriously, my cousin and my dad and I were so rowdy. But dang, it was hilarious. Really, who else, besides us, would ever talk about bloody injuries, pus, and gays in the temple? Good times, good times... (I have a rather funny story about that I have to tell you later. I'm short on time now but I'll tell it in another post. If I forget, please remind me in the comments.)

So after that, I went to my friend Brianne's house. I had a really great time. We hung out and watched movies the whole time. One of the things we watched was the musical "Rent". It wasn't as good as "Wicked" (but hey, what is?) but it really was good. I highly suggest it. I might write a review on the later.

Alright! Second day! Well, I'd gotten home fairly late from Brianne's, about 11:30, so I was kind of tired in the morning. At about 10:30, the phone rang. It was my friend Dorothy Ann, who had gotten surgery on Friday. She was telling me about it when my mom reminded me we were leaving soon. So, although, I would've liked to have spoken longer, I said good-bye to Dorothy and got ready to leave. We met my mom's friend and her daughter, Lindsay, my very good friend, at the mall and went and saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". I was really good! I'm not sure if I liked it as much as the first and third Indiana Jones movies, the second one is stupid and unmentionable, but I still really enjoyed it and highly suggest it as well. I'm might write a review on that later also.

Anyway, after the movie, we went shopping for a while, ate lunch, and then went home. By this time, it was almost 4:00 in the afternoon. But soon afterward, I had to leave again and do shopping for the Trek. That took FOREVER. But I'm almost completely ready to go now.

Anyway, that's my dumb story about my freakishly busy yesterday and today. Hopefully, I didn't bore you all to death. And hopefully tomorrow will be less busy. Anyway, it's late and I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

...oh yeah, I forgot to mention something important. I have to speak in church tomorrow! So, wish me luck and hope that I don't screw everything up...

Uneventful Sunday

I'm feeling unimaginative right now (plus my dog is whining at me) so I'll make this post short. Everything's been cool so far today, just your typical, fairly boring Sunday. But I didn't watch one of my favorite movies. If any of you haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle, go and see it asap. It's extremely good. It's on my favorite movie list (which is surprisingly small, by the way).
My four favorite movies are actually I Am Legend, Batman Begins, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Prestige. Funny, three of those movies star Christian Bale. Well, he's cool, so that's a good thing.
Anyway, it's getting late and I'm getting tired. I'll post better tomorrow.

...maybe...