countdown...

okay...so we have about an hour(my clock might be a bit off) until it's the new year...so i'm pretty excited...i think that 2009 might start off badly, but i think it has a lot of potential and will end really well...
big news...so, the ting tings, who are this amazingly awesome british band who i love, were playing in the countdown to new year's show. and they were AMAZING...they played their song "shut up and let me go" and it was so cool to watch, even if it was just on tv...katie white, the lead singer, did really well and jules de martino, the other member, was great...
so, yeah...good job ting tings!
hope you guys are having an awesome time waiting for '09!
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some quick exciting news...

1. obama finally found a place to stay before he moves into the white house. which is good because his daughters need to go to school. and it's kind of sad that the president-elect had to go through so much trouble to find a place to stay. seriously? seriously?
2. i'm officially going to be in dc for obama's inaguration(whcih i spelled wrong) which is going to be so cool. i'm really excited. over 5 million people(about the population of los angeles) are supposed to be in dc for that week and it is going to be AMAZING. so stay tuned for that...
3. bristol palin had her baby. it's a boy. it's name is trip. i really do wish her and levi johnson the best of luck with raising their kid. i think they've had a pretty tough time of it...i've heard that they are getting married next year and that levi's mom was arrested or something. i'm not really sure about the main details...so good luck you two.
and now the big news...
4. the uk has said that they are officially going to be leaving iraq on may 31, 2009. that is hugely exciting for two reasons. 1. the fact that they are actually getting out of iraq is pretty great and i hope that america can follow their example. and the uk is going to afghanistan which is where we were supposed to be in the first place. and the second reason??? 2. they are leaving iraq on my 15th b-day!!!! that is like the coolest birthday present ever...yeah...so it'll be may 31 and my big birthday present will be reading about how the uk left iraq...so happy early birthday amy...i am SO excited...
yeah. that was the main news.
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ps. i'm going to be in la for a few days, so please don't expect to many posts

okay...so...

um...okay...first off, let me apologize b/c i haven't really been posting that much lately and i'm sorry about that, but i was away for part of winter break and i didn't really have the time/energy to post, but i've written a few posts in the last few days to make up for it. but, i was going through my blog and i realized that the last time people really commented was during the whole twilight battle thing.
yeah...so i'd love it if you guys wrote comments like responding to what i've been talking about. like give your opinions about my opinions. and i'd love some constructive criticism. tell me what i'm doing wrong and what could do to improve. but please just don't be like "i think you're stupid/you suck" b/c that isn't very helpful...and please no digs about my personal appearance or anything to do with my family. sounds good?
okay...so PLEASE comment...it would really help me out with what to talk about/how to write and all that. so thanks.
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why disney...why???

okay. so...i was bored. like really really bored. like so bored not even gofugyourself could relieve me of my boredom. so, i decided to watch "pocahontas" since it's on youtube and everything...and as i was watching it, i realized how completely amazing disney movies are and how i forgot how much i loved "pocahontas" as a kid. why??? because christian bale is in it!!! he plays thomas, the nerdy kid. and he is so amazing when he's just being a voice actor like in howl's moving castle...so yeah...i'm watching "pocahontas" and i'm finishing it and i see the someone put the sequel up and i'm on this disney movie kick so i decide to watch the sequel. and oh my god...the sequel SUCKS. it was terrible and painful and mel gibson doesn't even play john smith in it and billy zane's in it and ugh...i don't even want to think about it.
so i had to watch aladdin and anastasia to clear my mind. and i forgot how totally awesome aladdin is and how much i love the song "prince ali"...and anastasia was amazing...like...i can't even describe it...i actually never saw that movie as a kid and now i realize why i felt like i was missing out on something for my entire childhood...b/c it is AMAZING and it isn't even disney and it's still good. and now i'm hoping that the "frog princess" won't be bad b/c i'm starting to like disney movies again...and i really want to see the princess bride again, but i think i'll see quest for camelot instead...and i'm rambling...
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happy holidays

hey guys...

i hope you're all having a lovely winter break and nice holidays wherever you are. tahoe is lovely and snowy and perfect. i've had tons of fun snowboarding and i can now (somewhat) jump and can ride simple boxes which is very nice. and i went down my first black run on a snowboard which was very exciting...
oh...and my parents got me the most awesome christmas present. well, i think it's awesome. some people might think it's lame. basically, it's a giant book that has the most important front pages from the new york times in it. not the original pages(obviously) but scanned copies. it is so cool...my favorites are the ones from 1850-1900 b/c they are so different from what newspapers look like now. can you believe that the ny times used to be only 10 pages long? isn't that weird...
another great present was finding out that england is going to pull completely out of iraq no later than may 31, 2009...which happens to be my b-day!!! how great a b-day present would that be????
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the internet is a lovely thing

thanks to firefox and an unlikely internet connection(my sister managed to hack on to a provider which means we have internet which is rare for up in tahoe) i have discovered that aj jacobs and mcr have blogs!!!
for those who don't know, aj jacobs is this amazingly hilarious(which i've no doubt spelled wrong) author. his claim to fame is writing The Know It All which is about him reading the encyclopedia in a year and The Year of Living Biblically which is about him following every single rule in the Bible. needless to say, he's quite funny and his blog is great. so read it. and read his actual books/articles b/c he's very clever. i have copies of both of his books if you want to borrow them. to find his blog: just type 'aj jacobs' into google. for those who are interested, he has both a facebook and myspace.
and now, for mcr...my chemical romance is one of my favorite bands. i understand that some people don't like their music, but read their blog b/c it's pretty funny and the guys in the band seem hilarious. i was literally laughing out loud during parts of it. to find it: type in "my chemical romance" into google
btw, do you know what's annoying??? the wombats christmas single "this is christmas" is supposed to be on itunes. but it isn't. which is so annoying, but it's on youtube at least.
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congratulations you guys...

so...i found out that two of the hotels who were attacked in the mumbai hostage crisis are re-opening and are completely full. i'm not really sure if that's good or bad. i think it's good because it's saying that they are willing to put what happened behind them and aren't going to let themselves be scared by terrorists. and it's super brave of all the people who work at the two hotels...so good job you guys! i'm really proud...
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books and movies

as most of us sadly know, when a beloved book becomes made into a movie, it usually ends up being absolutely terrible(example: eragon) and it makes you feel depressed that such a great(or not so great in the case of the alex ryder books) book was totally ruined by the movie making industry. not all books are ruined, of course. personally, i think the movie versions of lord of the rings by peter jackson are better than the books b/c he cut out all the parts that didn't really fit with the rest of the story(the twenty page poems) and still had the movies be great. and the harry potter movies aren't too bad...i mean they could be worse.
but there are certain books that can never become movies. never ever.
1. catcher in the rye. if it was made into a movie, it would ruin everything the book is about(holden hates the movies). and also, it'd be impossible to find a person who could really be holden. i once read somewhere that only jd salinger could really play holden, but he's in his 80s and is a hermit in new jersey, so there goes that idea...honestly, the only movies that even come close is igby goes down(which i've never seen, but heard is really good) and dead poet's society(which i have seen and isn't really the same plot as catcher, but has a lot of the same themes). so, it'd be pretty much impossible for catcher to ever be a movie. and i hope it doesn't.
2. anno dracula. it's such a great book series and i'd hate to see it become another vampire chick-lit like van helsing(which is a great movie, even if it ruins dracula)
3. a tree grows in brooklyn. it might work as a mini-series on tv(bbc this is a hint) but i would never work as a movie. the story itself has too many characters and complex twists and cutting any of them out would be a crime. so a miniseries would be good. but not a movie.
um...that's all i can think of for now...my next post might be talking about what books would make good movies...
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freedom...sweet freedom!

okay guys...so...finals are over!!!! so that means i'll probably begin updating somewhat more regularly than i have been updating in the last few weeks. and also, obama's going to be sworn in in a little over a month so then i can go back to talking about politics and all that fun stuff. by the way, do you guys think that palin really will run for president in 2012?
anyways...i'm kind of feeling drained from finals, but at the same time, i feel very self-satisfied. i think that the math one was the hardest and the fact that i managed to finish every problem made me feel really...accomplished...i probably got most of the problems wrong, but i still finished, so it's cool...
um...i don't know what to say...you guys should all see charlie bartlett. it's pretty good and robert downey jr. is in it...and also see milk b/c it is amazing. and have fun over winter break!
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ps. i'm thinking of casting antigone. what do you all think?

finals

so...finals begin tomorrow...that's why i haven't really been updating. i've been too busy studying for math and science and stuff. luckily, i only have finals tomorrow and thursday, so i don't have to go to school on friday. which will be awesome. i think i might sleep.
the one thing i always forget to do during finals is to get enough sleep/eat an actual breakfast. but i'm actually go to try to get at least 9 hours of sleep tonight(i know...shocking)
so...i better get going...i've got math problems to review...
good luck on your finals, you guys!
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milk

i saw the movie "milk" this afternoon after school, with my mother and sister. i can't really describe how amazing it was. i just can't. if sean penn doesn't win best actor, i will be devestated. and it will mean that the academy really has something wrong with it(heath ledger and brokeback mountain anyone?)
personally though, my favorite actors in it were either james franco or lucas gabreel. james franco plays scott smith, milk's first partner in the movie. he was so perfect. honestly, scott was probably my favorite character in the film, just because franco did such a great job playing him. also, lucas gabreel(from hsm) was great. he played a photographer who begins working for harvey milk. i was really glad to see an actor who is lumped with all the disney stars to break out and be in such an amazing movie. also: josh brolin was amazing. he is one of the most talented actors out there.
bottom-line: milk is amazing. the newspapers are right. it's the right movie for the right time. watching milk and his team waiting to hear if prop 6(which would fire any gay teachers or those who support them) is passed. the prop 6 scene is exactly like what happened with prop 8. except prop 6 did NOT pass. i began sobbing at that point b/c it shows that we are just going backwards with civil rights. also, milk is all about "change" and "hope". a lot of his speeches sound like obama's speeches. so, now, i'm terrified that obama's going to be killed too(not giving anything away. it's hard to when the movie's based on true events).
bottom line: go see "milk". ask an older sibling to take you. or a parent. it's pretty good to watch with a parent. but see it. just see it.
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i capture the castle/cold comfort farm

okay...so...finals are coming up...they're next week!!! i'm kind of worried about them, but then again, who isn't a little freaked out about them? but once they're done, it's winter break...and that means snowboarding and then going to los angeles! pretty excited for both of those things...
and besides, i've found a way to keep from getting to stressed out. so, there are these two books that i absolutely adore. they are called I Capture the Castle and Cold Comfort Farm and they are amazing. and over the weekend, i found out that there are movie versions of them and said movies are both on youtube. so, whenever i've finished my homework and have some extra time before i need to go to bed, i watch part of one.
both of them are really good and they both have actors/actresses i like. I Capture the Castle has Ramola Garai(i'm not sure how you spell her name) and Henry Cavill(he's in that show about the Tudors) in it. and Cold Comfort Farm has Rufus Sewell in it. Rufus Sewell, my friends. That is quite exciting. I love Rufus Sewell. Actually, it's a bit of full-on obsession. But it's not my fault that's he's such a good actor and has such pretty eyes.
anyways, better be getting to bed.
bye luvs!
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sorry about the wait guys...

i know i haven't updated in ages and i'm really sorry. it's just that exams have been coming up and i'm sick and stuff...but i'll be better about updating in the future...
for all those dominic cooper(mama mia guy) fans out there, you should check him out in bbc's "sense and sensibility". he plays willoughby and he's great in it. even though i'm obligated to like colonel brandon, dominic cooper is pretty good.
in fact, the whole mini series so far is pretty good. my only complaint is that i feel like their trying to make all the characters look like their counterparts from the 1995 "sense and sensibility"(the one with kate winslet and hugh grant).
that's it...just wanted to tell you all to check out dominic cooper. and maybe even dan stevens...
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moulin rouge

might i just say how much i love moulin rouge? i saw it tonight for the first time and i completely loved it. by the end, i was sobbing because it's so beautiful and sad and because i am a total sap for things like that(i cried at the end of the second potc movie). and so i'm sitting there crying and what does my sister do? does she hug me? does she offer me words of kindness? no. she tells me to be quiet so she can hear what's going on. geez. thanks.
despite it's sob-inducing ending(or maybe because of it) moulin rouge is a great movie...where else would you get to hear the amazing jim broadbent with his awesome mustache(best bit of the movie) sing "like a virgin"? or see a drawf named tolouse dress up as a magical sitar? or get to hear ewan mcgregor sing "come what may" and "the sound of music". that was definitly the best part. ewan mcgregor: you are a god...when will you be in another movie? oh, and nicole kidman: why did you dye your hair? it looks so much better red.
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random news

okay...just a pretty random post with random junk...
1. i am so excited for this weekend...i don't know why, but this week has been pretty hard. and i feel like it's gone on for forever...
2. the winners of the pa weekly short story contest, including me, are having a reception at keplers on monday night at 7. it'd be great if some of you guys tried to come. there'll be food if that helps...
3. barack obama called this senator from florida and she hung up on him b/c she thought he was prank-caller. isn't that hilarious??? well...i thought it was pretty funny...but it's good to be careful after sarah palin's run-in with a prank caller.
that's all...happy december guys!
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anno dracula

okay...so basically, i discovered on of the best books ever. it's called "anno dracula" and it's totally amazing...it's by kim newman and was written in 1992(the year it was written is kind of important) basically, it's premise is: what if dracula killed van helsing and became the ruler of the british empire? what would happen? and what if book characters we took for granted were actually alive?
the plot: someone has been killing new born vampire women in the whitechapel area under the name of "jack the ripper". gwen, a 400-year-old vampire who looks 16, and charles, a human with a failing engagement, work together to solve the mystery and find themselves falling in love(of course). with the help of people like dr. jekyll and oscar wilde, this unlikely duo find themselves trying to catch and murder and maybe even save england.
"anno dracula" is totally amazing...it's really well-written and the way the plot is set up(you know who the murderer is after the first chapter) is really good. i'd really suggest it to anyone who likes good mysteries, dracula or the movie "van helsing". check it out. it's pretty good.
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