End of July

Another month has come to an end, and amazingly I did make 10 posts this month! Yay for me! :) Plenty is going on in my life. My final class at Otterbein meets 3 more times and that's it. Then I get a degree! Despite my utter lack of feeling at graduation, I have mustered up a little excitement about being done with classes in 10 days! Granted, it fades when I realize I am not doing anything with that degree, but that's not the whole point. I think a year of just substituting, while I work like crazy to pay rent, get out of debt (should be out by Christmas!, not counting student loans which will take about 76.343424 years), and paying for Australia next summer. For the 2006-07 school year I will plan on heading back to finish my music education certification. Heading back where, I have no idea at this point. I just need a year off of taking classes. I am so sick of classes.
Vacation was fun, but as relaxing as I had hoped. To tell you the truth, I had more fun with my family last year than with my friends this year. Not that my friends weren't fun. They were, but my family (aunts, uncles, cousins) are more into doing the things I want to do so I spent a lot of vacation alone (by choice) or with my aunt and uncle who were also in the condo. Highlights of vacation with my friends: Watching the entire first seasons of Scrubs, working on my book quite a bit, seeing dolphins jump, putt putting, and the final dinner, with only Jess, across the street. We had fun and drank a lot.
Now on with my life. Although to what, I don't know. Teaching, surely, and working on my book. Moving back to Westerville this month and into a nice, large three bedroom apartment with Michael (with a washer and dryer!), and who knows what else. I am going to a Tuscan Themed 60th Birthday party for my uncle on Saturday, August 13, but the invitation was for "and guest" and I don't have a date to the party. I've been thinking about girls I know, and for the first time in my life, there really isn't someone I see all the time that I have the least bit of romantic feelings for. There are girls I know that I like, but not ones I see all the time that I do. Not really close friends. It's weird, and the condition has existed for at least a couple of months. Maybe that means my time for a girl is coming soon? I watched Hitch and it made me long for love, but I'm not in any desperate stage. We'll see. And I am getting sick of my singlness being part of all of my Life Updates on here, so I predict it will change soon. I hope. :) The good news is, it hasn't really depressed me for awhile.
Ok, enough posting. Time to go unpack and attempt to be productive. Take care all!

Qop!
"My dinner was looking at me!" ~ Me, having gone to a restaurant drunk on vacation and ordering their special, a $5.95 lobster that was whole and looked alive!

Florida

All I have to say about Florida tonight is that it was fun and I am tired. I just wanted to say I'm back, and I'll try to catch up on e-mail and journal this week. Take care all!

Qop!
"I'm no Superman!" ~ Scrubs, vacation reference

R.I.P. James Doohan 1920-2005

James Doohan died early this morning at the age of 85 from pnemonia and Alzheimers. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Monthgomery "Scotty" Scott on Star Trek. Canadian born, he was a master of dialects. Doohan served in the Canadian Army and landed at Juno Beach on D-Day. He suffered wounds and lost the middle finger on his right hand, which he managed to hide throughout his acting career. He had four children with his first wife, Judy, and two children with his second wife, Anita. The youngest of four children, he is survived by his wife of 28 years, Wende, and their three children, the youngest only being born in 2000. Doohan was never ashamed of his role as the famous engineer, and never got tired of hearing fans order him "Beam Me Up Scotty", although that line has never been said on screen in Star Trek. Doohan is the second original series cast member to pass away, as DeForrest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) died in 2001. On a personal note, I have always respected and admired James Doohan for his incredible acting skills, not just on Star Trek. I was saddened last August when he retired from public life after being diagonsed with Alzheimer's, and his death is very sad, although he led a rich and full life. Many of my favorite actors have died in recent years, Lane Smith (Perry White on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) for instance died last month. Doohan hits me the hardest though. My favorite two actors from the original Star Trek were the first two to go. Remember Jimmy and his legacy.

Qop!
"I know this ship like I know the back of my hand!" James Doohan as Scotty in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Shortly thereafter he smacks his head on a pipe and lays unconscious

Horcruxes and Princes

As I warned you, I would be posting a Harry Potter review that contained spoilers, and this is it! If you have not finish the book, do NOT read this! Unless you want the plot spoiled for you!
*First of all, that Snape scene in Chapter Two was incredibly confusing and left wandering which side he was really on. I figured he would sacrifice his life for Dumbledore's if it came to that. I didn't see his murder of Dumbledore coming at all before this book! How shocking and amazing! After six books of thinking he is on our side...I actually did see his betrayal coming when Dumbledore admitted to Harry during one of his lessons that he makes mistakes. I figured Snape was one of them, but WOW!!! And I didn't see that he was the half-blood prince until right before it happened, although it was pretty obvious. We also get to continue the Defense of Dark Arts teachers only last one year tradition.
*I felt bad for Draco! I cried fro him when he struggled with the decision to kill Dumbledore or have his family killed. He is a little prick, but I think there's hope for him yet. He may switch sides, if we can get him away from Snape.
*Voldermort's soul hidden in 6 Horcruxes that must be destroyed before he can be? Weird!
*I honestly didn't see Hagrid's brother amounting to anything, but I think he may be the key to recruting the giants, or some of them, on the side of good in the 7th book.
*Tonks and Professor Lupin!?! It works. I can't wait for Bill's wedding.
*Ok, we all know Percy is an ass, but he has been alienated from his family enough! He's a Weasley for goodness sakes! Make up with your damn family!
*I couldn't be happier to see Fred & George's success.
*It's about time Ron & Hermione came to terms with their feelings for each other, even if they didn't come out and say it. They'll make a cute couple.
*It's about freakin' time Harry & Ginny hooked up! Their breakup in the end didn't feel permanent, as Harry just had to go do his noble cause. If he survives book Seven, they'll be married. I think she needs to go with him in Book Seven. Speaking of...
*Ron, Hermione, & Harry not returning to Hogwart's next year!?! NO WAY!!! Lisa may be right when she said the school may not even reopen next year. If it does, I half suspect they'll end up going back, at least for awhile. The end of an era. Book 7 will be different. I feel very strongly that Neville and Ginny should join them. Luna could too, but I don't care one way or the other.
*Snape will have to be taken down in book seven before Voldermort. Maybe Draco could do it?
*AND LASTLY - Who is R.A.B??? I had no clue, but Lisa remembered Sirius's brother's name started with a R. R. Black. He was thought to be dead days after Voldermort's return, as he was a former Death Eater and didn't report back to his previous master. I have to think she must be right. No one ever found the body. What could possibly be going on there?
All in all, a GREAT book! Best so far in the series by far. Can't wait for the next one!

Qop! (Parts of End Of Book Six)
"How can Hogwarts close?" Hermione said softly.
"Maybe it won't," said Ron. "What d'you reckon Harry?"
"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen," said Harry. Ron gaped at him.
Hermione said sadly, "But then what will you do?"
"I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I? There are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them, and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldermort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him." There was a long silence.
"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron.
"What?"
"We'll go with you wherevere you're going."
"No - "
"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was a time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"
"We're with you whatever happens," said Ron.

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince

This entry will not contain any spoilers, so don't worry, but I will put another entry up before I leaver for vacation that will so don't expect the next one not to have any. OMG!!! It was freakin' fantastic! It changed everything! So much was revealed! Not nearly as depressing as the last one, but still dark while keeping the charm that made the series so good. I cannot wait until the 7th book! It is going to be so great! I give it the highest rating I can. J. K. Rowling deserves every one of her awards and all that money! If you haven't finished it yet, what is wrong with you?!?! It's been out nearly 48 hours! Hurry up so I can talk about it!

Qop!
"I knew I was different. I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something." ~ Tom Riddle, upon finding out he is a wizard in a flashback

Bonus Qop! (before you accuse me of spoiling, this is from Chapter Two!)
Conversation between Narcissa Malfoy and Snape, asking him to make an Unbreakable Promise, which if broken will kill him:
"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's Wishes?"
"I will."
"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"
"I will."
"And should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail...will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"
"I will."

ROOMMATE NEEDED!

I just wanted to put out a call for a roommate today. I'll update more later in the week. It looks like I no longer have anyone to live with, and I need to find a place ASAP. I can't afford a single apartment. Please help! Someone! ROOMMATE NEEDED!!!

Qop!
"Always look on the bright side of life! (Whistle) Always look on the bright side of life! (Whistle)... Always look on the bright side of death!" ~Spamalot

Hodge Podge

Spamalot Soundtrack - Pretty good. Not a lot of memorable stuff, but still funny. You have to love Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Sara Ramirez and Michael McGrath.
Felicity Season One - Made me cry a lot. Not as melodramatic as Dawson's Creek though, which is good. I am furious at the ending and can't wait to start season two tonight!
Batman Begins - Very intense, but incredible! I can't wait for them to continue this movie series.
Fantastic Four - I thought it was enjoyable. Funny at parts, but all around a pretty good movie.
Wicked: Songbook - I hate the keys! I can barely plunk along with the vocal line! But good music.
Summer Sisters - An unexpectedly good book by Judy Blume. A bit risque, but I like that. Can't wait to finish the last 100 pages.
Wicked - The novel by Gregory Maguire was pretty good, and it definitely left me with things and philosophies to think about.
Tales From The Captain's Table - Good collection of stories about Captains Jonathan Archer(Enterprise NX-01), William Riker (Titan), Elizabeth Shelby (Excalibur / Trident), Chakotay (Voyager), Jean-Luc Picard (Enterprise-D), Demora Sulu (Enterprise-B), Gold (DaVinci), Kira Nyres (Deep Space 9 / Defiant), and Klag. For those of you who don't know, Gold is part of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers book series and Shelby, who was a guest character in the TNG episode "Best of Both Worlds" is in New Frontier. Klag was the Klingon 2nd officer in the TNG episode where Riker did the officer exchange, and he is now a captain and has his own book series. Jenn, the Chakotay story was pretty good. It was the story of how he joined Starfleet sponsered by the old Captain Demore Sulu, who had left the Enterprise-B by that point. Riker's story was his honeymoon. Picard's was from the period between Stargazer and Enterprise-D.
Goerge W. Bush - Should still not be in office. :)

Ok, enough about that. I need to crash. I am exhausted from several days of solid work.

Qop! (From Spamlalot / Arthur - Tim Curry / Robin - David Hyde Pierce)
ARTHUR: Have you heard of this Broadway?
ROBIN: Yes Sire, but we don't stand a chance there?
ARTHUR: WHy not?
ROBIN: Because Broadway is a very special place, filled with very special people, people who can sing and dance often at the same time. They are a different people, a multi-talented people, a people who need people and who are in many ways the luckiest people in the world. I'm sorry Sire, we don't have a chance...So listen Arthur, Darling, Closely to this neqa, We won't succeed on Broadway if we don't have any Jews! There's a very small percentiel, who enjoys a dancing gentile...You just won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews!

Bonus Qop! (Sara Ramirez playing the Lady of the Lake from Spamalot)
"Whatever happened to my part? It was exciting at the start, now we're halfway through Act Two, And I've had nothing yet to do, I've been off stage for far too long, It's ages since I had a song...I've no Tony Awars, I'm constantly replaced by Britney Spears! I might as well go to the pub! They've been out searching for a shrub! Out shopping for a bush, well they can kiss my tush. It seems to me they've really lost the ploy, whatever happened to my part?"

July 7th, 2005

Wow. I was at work all day, delivering, and no one mentioned the London bombings. I heard briefly about it in class, then my aunt called me. It wasn't until I finally got home tonight and turned on CNN that it hit me. I am a little disappointed that the Americans don't seem to care as much, at least the ones I was around all day, about what happened in London. I would be willing to be the British felt very deeply for the Americans on September 11. I got the same sense of dread when I turned on CNN tonight that I got that day 3 and a half years ago. To me, London wasn't in another country. It was part of the same fight. And in retrospect what happened in Madrid a year ago was in the same boat as well. How did we all ignore it? I didn't even remember it happened until an anchor talked about it.

My aunt tried to use the example of London to get me to stand behind Bush. I admit Blair came off really well today, and I have to respect him. Bush even said some of the right things today. But I don't respect Bush. As I tried to say to my aunt, yes, I agree, we need to stop the terrorism. But being in Iraq doesn't help it one bit! I was not surprised at all to hear about London, not like I was shocked about New York. I guess London has always suffered, and it's something we Americans don't keep in mind as much. I admire the Britains quite a bit. The more I learn about history, the more I think Americans were just arrogant assholes in 1776, but that's past and Britain forgave us and we're all good friends. I am so happy London got the 2012 Olympics. They deserve it. And the bombings won't affect that at all. The British didn't stop their lives today. They kept right on going. They weathered it, as they always do, to the best of the ability. I admire them for it and my heart goes out to everyone affected. Let's keep 7/7 in our memories the way we keep 9/11. It's all the same battle, and we're on the same side.

I have been a bit obsessed in the last four years with the future of global government. I do believe we're rapidly globalizing, and I want to tell myself the days of world wars are over and we just have to deal with random and senseless terrorist attacks. But are they? As we rapidly move towards a one-world governing system, as I believe we are and always have been meant to do, will it all blow up in our faces, or will we achieve it? And if it happens, will it be as horrible as 1984 or other futuristic novels, or will it truly be a utopia? Or is the bible right, and will God not give us a chance to find out? I believe in God, but I think the bible is flawed and I hope we'll be ok.

Qop!
None. Remember the British

America's Birthday

I used to revel in Fourth of July. It was my favorite holiday for awhile. Now I am so ashamed of my country's leaders, and the people that put them in office, and how we are portrayed to the world, that I can hardly drudge up an enthusiasm. I feel very sad at that loss. Hopefully it will not be permanent. Still, family parties were fun, Red, White, & BOOM! was good, and spending the 4th and 5th in a surprisingly uncrowded Cedar Point with Jonathan was a blast. Front seat rides on the Dragster, Millenium Force, Raptor, and Magum were the highlights. 3 trips on the Force and 5 on the Magnum. What a trip! Too bad our hotel was a bit seedy. But now I am home and exhausted. Hope everyone is well. Talk to you later!

Qop!
"MEET THE FUCKERS" ~ Seen on a t-shirt at the Point with Bush and Cheney waving below :)

Oregon Trail

Last Saturday, as Lisa wrote about in her blog, her, Jonathan, and I had a ball on Oregon Trail. I found the old old school version on the internet, for the Apple, and an emulator to run it on my computer, so I played it today. First of all, hunting was a lot harder. Trees got in your way and you couldn't really move. It sucked. And you could only keep 100 pounds of food, instead of the 200 on Jonathan's newer version. And you had a very short time limit to hunt. Also things were more random. For instance, everyone was in good health and nothing was going wrong, and then Jonathan broke his arm and died two days later, it didn't say how he died. The arm? Sadie drowned a week later in a 6 foot deep river as we were floating. I wanted to be a doctor, but in the old game that wasn't an option. At least I kept finding abandoned wagons, but they never had any food in them. Then the end where you floated down the river was really hard and had confusing controls, plus you had to land yourself, it didn't stop for you. So Lisa (with a broken arm), Michael (with chlorea), and I (without any injuries or diseases the entire game) made it to Oregon. Yay! Ok, so it was just me by myself, but hey, whatever. :) And since I downloaded it, I could to look at people I didn't know's graves.

Qop!
"JONATHAN HAS DIED."
~Oregon Trail