Wow, it's been a really long time since I've pulled up this blog. However, I recently decided it was worth revisiting. So many things happen in my daily life that I think "hmm. I think I have a really witty way to blog about this," that I figure I may as well give it a shot.

Since there's been such a big gap in updates, I'll take a moment to bring you up to date. I'm currently a Junior at Temple and still studying film. Though its the fall semester, I'm already in my second semester as a junior and am set up to graduate next January. Don't remind me of that, it's kind of scary. This semester has been a rather crazy one, so I may not be updating very often. However, I'm planning on updating more frequently because I will be spending next semester in London! I am so insanely excited about this and hope to use this blog (and probably a video blog on YouTube if I get that far) to keep you all updated on my adventures. Studying abroad is a huge step for me that I'm incredibly nervous about. We're only a few months out and it still doesn't feel quite real. Honestly, I'm not sure it will until I'm actually there, and maybe not even then. But more on that later.
I've also been running a crocheting business by the name of Mostly Harmless Designs. Despite not having much time to work on it this semester, I have found it to be a huge success. Once I'm back from England I'm hoping to push it even further because I really love it.

Right this moment, I'm curled up in my apartment with my cat, waiting for Mika to come on as the special guest of Dancing With the Stars. I don't normally watch this, but my mother told me that Mika was going to be on, and I can't not watch him. However, as soon as it is over, I really need to get on with my editing homework. It's a really intense class and is the main reason I haven't gotten any sleep this semester.

Catch ya later!

The Gravity of the Situation

Today, I would like to talk to you about a very serious problem: gravity. The fact of the matter is that it sucks. It causes people to trip, objects to fall and furniture to be too heavy to move. As a clumsy person, gravity and I have long been enemies. I have a tendency to stumble over tree roots, curbs, my own feet, etc as well as drop things if I'm not paying attention. Now, I'm sure that some of it is due to my own nature, but most of the problem lies with the existence of gravity. If it weren't for gravity, I would not have this problem, at least not as severely.
I bring this up now primarily because of an incident this morning. After several injuries, my left ankle is a bit fragile. So when I mis-stepped on the stairs on my way to class, gravity pulled me all the way down. Thankfully, there were only 2 or 3 steps left, so I didn't have far to fall. However, my ankle has been angry at me all day and I've been gimping around a bit. I mean to ice my ankle when I finish writing this, but in the meantime, I would like to propose that we abolish gravity. It is dangerous and problematic and should simply cease to exist.

Repo! The Genetic Opera

In the not too distant future, society is floundering, on the brink of collapse. Health problems abound, organs failing left and right. The situation seems hopeless until Rotti Largo and the GeneCo corporation emerge. GeneCo provides organ transplants to those in need and even offers payment plans to those who can’t afford the surgery. Soon, elective cosmetic surgery is commonplace. Designer faces and organs are a must, all courtesy of Rotti and GeneCo. But what happens if costs become too much? What if you can’t keep up with your payments? Thanks to Rotti, organ repossession is now legal. Those who can’t pay live in fear of the Repo ma, a shadowy figure who strikes in the dark, repossessing organs in GeneCo’s name. To escape the pain, many turn to Zydrate, a highly addictive painkiller, extracted from the dead. 

And that is just the first few minutes, establishing the world of the film. The actual story follows Shilo, a victim of a non-specific blood disease. Her overprotective, overbearing father keeps her constantly inside and away from people. However, Shilo is growing up and when Rotti contacts her, tempting Shilo with the promise of a cure, she can’t resist being drawn into the sinister, twisted world outside of her bedroom. 

Now is the point that we get into spoilers, which I do my best to avoid. While I won’t say much else about the overall plot, I will say that this musical is a new obsession of mine. Much like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Repo! is a cult classic and most people either love or loathe it. It is far from a classic, typical musical. The actor’s voices are not all perfect (though Sarah Brightman’s is pretty damn close), the music has more a twisted rock and roll feel to it and the entire film is nearly devoid of choreographed, synchronized, dance numbers. I won’t deny that certain aspects of the film are downright disturbing. The organ repossession scene are brutal and graphic, the drug scenes are fully charged with prostitution and one of Rotti’s sons has a habit of ‘borrowing’ other people’s faces to wear over his own.

Surprisingly, Paris Hilton’s performance is not one of the most disturbing aspects of Repo!. Then again, she plays a spoiled, plastic surgery and drug addict who gets everything she wants from her father. But still... 

I discovered Repo! a few weeks ago and since then have been unable to stop listening to the music and have re-watched it at least 4 times (one of them was this morning). 

Now I know that this film is not for everyone - I told my boyfriend about it and he refuses to even watch it with me - but you’re into odd, twisted musicals like Rocky Horror and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I suggest that you give Repo! a shot. This particularly holds true if you, like me, think that Giles did not get enough singing time in the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

'twas the Night Before Christmas

I have always loved the Christmas season. Though our culture has shifted the focus of this holiday to the commercial end of things, there's still something about Christmas that makes me smile. I think it has something to do with the lights. Seeing bright (if slightly tacky) light displays everywhere gives me a really funny, happy feeling. It always has. However, I think my absolute favorite part of the season is Christmas trees. The smell, the lights, the ornaments, I love everything about them. Whenever I'm feeling sad in December, I like to turn on the Christmas tree and just sit with it in an otherwise dark room. Something about it is incredibly calming to me. Yes, I know I'm strange. 

Christmas Eve is such an exciting day. You can feel it in the air, no matter where you are; last minute Christmas shopping, the smell of baking cookies, Christmas parties full of laughter (and screaming children). In my household, we spent a good part of the day together putting together Harry Potter lego sets to arrange around the base of the Christmas tree. As non-traditional as we are, it was still great fun! Even though the dog kept dropping her soggy toys all over the pieces and the cat kept sitting on them, we were still successful and our arrangement looks quite lovely, if I do say so myself. 

Now, all that's left is to fall asleep so that Santa can come to visit! Though it's against my normal sleep schedule, I mean to try! I love the excitement of coming downstairs on Christmas morning! It's something I'm not sure I'll ever outgrow! 

Merry Christmas, everyone! No matter your faith, I wish you happiness!

Creative Energy

It's so strange getting back into a routine once you've been working on something totally different for a while. During National Novel Writing Month, I was writing at every possible moment. All of my creative energy was channeled into that one source. Since I was also working with a specific goal and deadline, I was able to push myself harder and meet with greater success than ever before. Of course, now that it's over, I don't really know what to do with myself. For a few days after NaNoWriMo ended, I was mentally and creatively exhausted, so it was nice to take a step back and rest my mind a bit. Now, however, I'm starting to feel a little do-less. I have this excess of creative energy floating around and I'm having a really difficult time directing it. I jump around from one project to another, without making any real progress on any of them. I need to finish the cross stitch designs that I've been working on, but I'm feeling so scattered. I need to refine my novel, but I don't know where to start with that. I should keep up with my blogs, but I feel like I can't really capture anything interesting to say.
On the bright side, this has led me to the desire to learn something new or to return to the projects that I haven't worked on in years. It's been ages since I've picked up a pair of knitting needles, for example, and my jewelry making supplies have been in my closet for longer than I can remember. But this desire to start something new is a bit scary as well. I feel like it's likely to be a total disaster. I know that practice makes perfect, but that first project, the place to start, is eluding me.
I have so much creative energy bouncing around my brain, that my head wants to explode, but I need the inspiration to channel it into a new project, the inspiration to take that first step...

New Project

As those of you know know me in person will no doubt be aware, I take far too many pictures of my cat, Phantom. She is kind of like my baby. I know, its pathetic. I am destined to become a crazy old cat lady, and I am surprisingly okay with that. Anyway, onto the point. I decided to put those pictures to use and finally succumb to joining Tumblr. So, in addition to this blog, I am also running a Tumblr account based on Phantom's daily adventures. If you like cats or just want to humor me, check it out, promote it, be amazed at how cute she is or how lame I am, any of that.
http://phantomthetemplecat.tumblr.com/

She is also now on Twitter as @TheTempleCat and she'd love some more followers. Or she would if she really understood what Twitter was. I'm also on Twitter as @AydenAlendil. Feel free to follow me as well, though I don't Tweet that much.

Until next time, farewell.

NaNoWriMo

Hello Everyone,
By this point, I doubt that anyone is still reading this, and I must say that I find that totally understandable. I did just drop off the face of the Earth for a month. But I assure you that I had a reason! As many already know, November is National Novel Writing Month. For those who have not yet been enlightened, NaNoWriMo is an online challenge in which participants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. If that sounds like insanity to you, let me assure you that it is. 50,000 words in 30 days boils down to 1,667 words a day, if you write every day. If you happen to get behind, it can be a nightmare to catch up. What's amazing, it that people all over the world undertake this challenge, even established writers like Maureen Johnson.
Though I've attempted to participate for several years, something always got in the way. It seemed that every November I would wind up with a romantic crisis which dulled my creative spirit and desire to write. These break ups were VERY poorly timed, I must say. However, this November, I decided that nothing was going to get in the way of me giving NaNoWriMo my all.
I am proud to say, that this year, I succeeded! Despite falling behind over Thanksgiving break, I managed to catch up on my word count and hit the 50,000 word mark last night. I'm really pleased with myself and excited to wrap up the story and edit my first draft over the next few months. I feel like I've accomplished something I can be proud of!

Anyway, enough about that for the moment. Now that my month of insanity is over, I should be back to posting with more regularity. I'm also working on getting a Tumblr set up and will post the link to that when it's up.