We burst into colors and carousels

Haven't seen me in a while, eh?

graveyardghosts — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:05:00 GMT

I'm updating here with the assumption that some people might actually still use LJ? I'm trying to make a return to the blogging life, and of course, I wanted to make a fresh start. If you're still around, I'd love to have some buddies on my new LJ: everdeening.

Hope to see some of you over there! :)

graveyardghosts — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:55:33 GMT

Hi, Patty! And HAI Becca! :D

Official announcement is official

graveyardghosts — Mon, 23 May 2011 11:49:31 GMT

Like this wasn't already obvious, but I'm making an official announcement anyway: I don't really update my LJ anymore. You will now find me spending most of my time on Tumblr. I'd love for any of you to follow me on there if you have an account. If Tumblr's not your thing, I also still update my Twitter every once in a while if you'd prefer to follow me on there.

I am, however, keeping my LJ around in case Tumblr implodes on itself (a situation that's more likely than not to happen, considering how many times I see that stinking maintenance page -- P.S., you can change the colors/graphics around all you want, Tumblr staff, it doesn't make it any less annoying!) and because there a few people whose journals I continue to stalk.

2010 books and movies: Part II

graveyardghosts — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:01:04 GMT

Part I is located here

Last Updated: September 18th

Grading system
★★★★★ = F x infinity 'Nuff said
★★★★★ = F Horrendous times were had
★★★★★ = D Forgettable
★★★★★ = C Averagely okay
★★★★★ = B Wonderfully executed
★★★★★ = A Awestrucking. Inspiring. Words just cannot describe. I am a changed person because of it.

* = First time view or read

Movies I saw in the theater
Go to part I »

	015.	• No review yet
	Let Me In*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 22nd
	Survey says: A- ★★★★★
	016.	• No review yet
	The Social Network*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 22nd
	Survey says: B+ ★★★★★
	017.	• No review yet
	???
	Check it out on IMDB
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	018.	• No review yet
	???
	Check it out on IMDB
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★

Movies I saw on DVD or TV
Go to part I »

	019.	• No review yet
	All Dogs Go to Heaven
	Check it out on IMDB
	September 11th
	Survey says: One of those childhood movies you can't rate.
	020.	• No review yet
	All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
	Check it out on IMDB
	September 11th
	Survey says: One of those childhood movies you can't rate.
	021.	• No review yet
	The Witches
	Check it out on IMDB
	September 12th
	Survey says: One of those childhood movies you can't rate.
	022.	• Me being me, I can't resist a movie about 1920s-1930s gangsters. I love that era, and anything to do with the bank-robbing faces of then. I enjoyed this movie solely for that. I think I would've been happier if it hadn't been so choppy. I wish there was more backstory about John Dillinger -- where the movie began made me a little confused. Again, the movie as a whole just seemed choppy. John Dillinger really seemed (at least from this movie's point-of-view) to be the hero of the story... minus the fact that he didn't hesitate to save his hide whenever he found himself in a tight spot (i.e.; letting loose a hail of gunfire in the middle of a public street). The end was incredibly sad. I kept expecting him to find a way to keep ahead of the FBI, but he was never really free the second time he escaped prison.
	Public Enemies*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 3rd
	Survey says: B- ★★★★★
	023.	• I was mostly impressed with the portrayal of the friends Poppy meets when she is sent to England. Those are the types of friends every teenage girl should be attempting to find. I read on IMDB that apparently ABC Family (the channel I watched this on) cut out a bunch of parts, which could potentially be why I felt the movie was confusing at certain parts. I found some of the movie was executed very nicely, but then it was ruined when they didn't commit to it and fell back on cheesy, "eye-roller" lines. Still, while it was a pretty standard story line, it redeemed itself slightly through its cuteness. All the English girls (except Harriet, of course) were adorable, and Emma Roberts was too.
	Wild Child*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 8th
	Survey says: D+ ★★★★★
	024.	• No review yet
	The Princess and the Frog*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 10th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	025.	• No review yet
	Nothing Like the Holidays*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 16th
	Survey says: D+ ★★★★★
	026.	• No review yet
	Confidence
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 17th
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	027.	• No review yet
	Matchstick Men
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 17th
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	028.	• No review yet
	New York, I Love You*
	Check it out on IMDB
	October 17th
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	029.	• No review yet
	???
	Check it out on IMDB
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	030.	• No review yet
	???
	Check it out on IMDB
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★

Books I read
Go to part I »

	008.	• No review yet
	The Clearing* by Heather Davis
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	August 14th - August 26th
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	009.	• No review yet
	Anxious Hearts* by Tucker Shaw
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	August 26th - ???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	010.	• No review yet
	??? by ???
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	011.	• No review yet
	??? by ???
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★

Table format belongs to woodycakes

Truly shameful, isn't it?

graveyardghosts — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:39:58 GMT

I AM RETURNING. I AM.

I have so much crap to update this thing with. But you probably won't hear from me again until Thursday. I am LEGIT busy, busy, busy. I had every intention of updating before I went on vacation last week -- I was actually going through and doing a little maintenance on my journal's tags the week before -- but then something happened that derailed my giant LJ renovation (2010, whut whut) and prevented me from continuing any further (mostly due to loss of time and laziness and EXCUSES, EXCUSES). So grin and bear it with me just a little longer. I think I can find my way back here by Thursday (the latest being this weekend probably... perhaps... *whimpers*).

LOTS OF PARENTHESES, EH?!

Thank you for sticking with me if you have (I dare not let my eyes stray to my friends of number... at least, not tonight).

I started with capslock, and now I must end with it.

TO BED.

Fall 2010 TV schedule/premiere dates

graveyardghosts — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:41:01 GMT

Hola!

It's the annual fall TV post! I formatted this a while back, but I forgot about making it public until now.

* = New shows

Wednesday, September 8th
8 pm AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL (CW)
9 pm HELLCATS* (CW)

Thursday, September 9th
8 pm THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (CW)

Monday, September 13th
9 pm GOSSIP GIRL (CW)

Tuesday, September 14th
9 pm LIFE UNEXPECTED (CW)

Monday, September 19th
9 pm BOARDWALK EMPIRE* (HBO)

Monday, September 20th
8 pm CHUCK (NBC)
8 pm HOUSE (FOX)
9 pm THE EVENT* (NBC) / I am only watching this for Jason Ritter.

Wednesday, September 22nd
8 pm UNDERCOVERS* (NBC)
8:30 pm BETTER WITH YOU* (ABC) / I AM SO MASOCHISTIC WITH THE SITCOMS WHYYYY
9 pm MODERN FAMILY (ABC)

Thursday, September 23rd
8 pm BONES (FOX)
8 pm THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
8:30 pm $#*! MY DAD SAYS* (CBS)
9 pm GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)

Friday, September 24th
9 pm MEDIUM (CBS)
9 pm SUPERNATURAL (CW)

Sunday, September 26th
10 pm BORED TO DEATH (HBO)

Tuesday, September 28th
8 pm NO ORDINARY FAMILY* (ABC)

Tuesday, October 5th
10 pm CAPRICA (Syfy)

(Eastern time zone)	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sunday
8 pm - 9 pm	House FOX Chuck NBC	No Ordinary Family ABC	Undercovers NBC Better With You 8:30 pm ABC	Bones FOX The Big Bang Theory CBS *$#! My Dad Says** 8:30 pm CBS
9 pm - 10 pm	The Event NBC	Life Unexpected CW	Modern Family 9:30 pm ABC	Grey's Anatomy ABC Project Runway Lifetime	Medium CBS	Boardwalk Empire HBO
10 pm - 11 pm		Caprica Syfy				Bored to Death HBO
11 pm - 12 pm			America's Next Top Model CW	The Vampire Diaries CW
12 am - 1 am	Gossip Girl CW		Hellcats CW		Supernatural CW

As usual, depending on how good or not the new shows are, I could potentially drop them all. And sadly -- very sadly -- I am dropping The Office this year. Plus, Glee and maybe Gossip Girl, depending on how the first couple episodes go. I'm also going to just go ahead and wait to buy season 2 of Community on DVD. I already have so many things to watch, I'm kind of wanting a slow-ish year. (Yes, compared to last year, this is a bit slower... and it will be even slower if I end up dropping some new shows.) And as much as I love Community, The Big Bang Theory holds my heart.

I'm also waiting to see when V comes back on.

She's alive! But not really!

graveyardghosts — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:15:36 GMT

Hello! If you haven't noticed from my unflattering surprise hiatus, I've kind of abandoned LJ (for the time being, I hope). I have, however, been using my Tumblr A LOT more, so you're welcome to follow me over there until I decide LJ is worthy of my presence again. :D I hope you don't mind, and I'm sorry I'm so horribly flaky. *sighs* I do hope to rectify that in the future because LJ and I... well, we go way back and I don't think I could ever permanently break up with him.

Now I have to go fold laundry boooo >:(

graveyardghosts — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:06:50 GMT

I'm so sorry I keep not updating. I've actually been really busy this week, but I don't honestly have any excuses for not updating the better part of January. I think I'm just totally nervous for that wedding I mentioned a few entries back. It's happening this Saturday and I've been unable to think of anything else for the past four weeks. XD; So, after it's over, I anticipate I will feel way more relaxed and able to BREATHE... and will hopefully update more.

I still haven't finished my maid of honor speech for the reception, but I'm getting there. I'm debating whether I want to be really cheesy and add some poetry because I found this quote by Plato that would allow me to easily segue into the poem. If I do end up reciting some poetry, I'm thinking... Shakespeare (because he's my homie). But, again, I haven't really made a decision, so that choice could change.

I took a horrible picture of my dress and shoes and, along with those, finally uploaded a few pictures from Christmas:

SNICKERDOODLES!!!!

(I need a real camera.)

Thank you so much for those of you that commented on my last post and watched my Alice/Hatter fanvid. :) I've got another Alice fanvid ready to go, but I'm going to wait to upload it next week I think.

After Marie's wedding, I'm going out for my mom's birthday with my grandparents. We're going to try this new Italian restaurant close to where mom and I live. It's apparently got rave reviews, so I'm pretty excited. Plus, I've been CRAVING spaghetti. Lol, I've been crazy stress-eating this week. It's a wonder I still fit in my dress. D: But I did go out for a walk/run this morning (yay me!).

And next week, I'm going to focus all my energy on job-hunting. I WANT MONEY!!1 >:OOOOO *fistshake of greed*

OH!! Also! The icon I'm using is the next thing I made with Photoshop! I actually REALLY love the way it came out.

More random! Holly Black posted the first chapter of White Cat, if you guys are interested in reading it (of course you are because she is amazing). (WANT. THIS. BOOK. NAO. KTHNX.)

Last piece of random is I am completely in love with the song 11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas. (Click and you can download it! DO IT DOOOO ITTT!!!!! *peer pressure*) The lyrics are so wonderful and inspirational.

I'll just nod, I've never been so good at shaking hands
I live on the frozen surface of a fireball
Where cities come together to hate each other in the name of sport
America, nothing is ever just anything
I looked up to you, but you thought I would look the other way

And you hear what you want to hear
And they take what they want to take...

Don't be sad, won't ever happen like this anymore
So when's it coming, this last new great movement that I can join?
It won't end here, your faith has got to be greater than your fear

(THIS ENTIRE SECTION THIS THIS THIS)
Forgive them, even if they are not sorry
All the vultures, bootleggers at the door waiting
You are looking for your own voice, but in others
While it hears you, trapped in another dimension

Drop your guard, you don't have to be smart all of the time
I've got a mind full of blanks, I need to go somewhere new fast
And don't be shy, oh no -- at least deliberately -- 'cause no one really cares or wonders why anymore
Oh, I got music, coming out of my hands and feet and kisses...

That is how it once was done
All the dreamers on the run

Forgive them, even if they are not sorry
All the vultures, bootleggers at the door waiting
We're so quick to point out our own flaws in others
Complicated mammals on the wings of robots

If you believe in this world then no one has died in vain
But don't you dare get to the top and not know what to do

And the music video is AMAZING. I think I've watched it every day since I first discovered the song:

But it made me go and re-download all the Strokes albums for Fitzwilliam. I love his voice.

SO. If I don't get a chance to update before Saturday, send good vibes my way. I would like to not a. fall on my ass as I'm walking down the aisle and b. stutter continuously throughout my entire maid of honor speech. I feel I am not asking for much. :)

HATTER FANVEEDEOZ!!1 Made by yours truly!

graveyardghosts — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:41:01 GMT

:D

*is not avoiding LJ, just lazy*

I hate how pretty she is, btw

graveyardghosts — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:31:49 GMT

Okay, this is the first thing I've made in Photoshop, and I would like OPINIONS!

Click to make it bigger. (TWSS-ish. 'Cause, well, yeah.)

It's a wallpaper of Victoria/Rachelle Lefevre because I've been totally into her recently and Victoria is one of my favorite characters from Twilight. There is like NO LOVE for her on the interwebz, though. I could barely find any HQ pictures of her as Victoria, let alone any nice wallpapers of her. It's pretty simple, but I kind of wanted a simple wallpaper. Lyrics are from the song Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke. (And this is fitting whyyyyy, Twilight fans...? :D)

ANYWAY. LEMME KNOW. KTHNXBAI.

FINALLY

graveyardghosts — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:43:23 GMT

Haha, I'm sure everyone is sick of this movie by now, buuuuuttt...

I finally got to see this today. I loved it. LOVED IT. When Jake/Sam Worthington was in his Na'vi form, I had flashbacks to Luke Goss as Prince Nuada in Hellboy II, rofl. I found him unbelievably attractive as a Na'vi. XD; Not to say Sam himself isn't very pretty.

It says something about a director that can force me to ignore the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom about an hour and a half into the movie. I could not bring myself to leave my seat, even for those measly five minutes.

I am so exhausted, though. I forced myself to stay up last night so I would go to bad at a decent hour tonight and, of course, it would be the day my friend Kim decides to call me up to go see a movie. And, OF COURSE, it's Avatar.

We also saw the Percy Jackson trailer. Definitely going to see that.

Reviewing 2010

graveyardghosts — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:46:41 GMT

2009 year-in review

My life in 2010
???

January
1. Saw New Moon for a second time and then Sherlock Holmes with mom New Years Eve. Rung in the New Year by myself. *tear*
2. Had a nice little party at mom's with my Uncle Phil, Aunt Margaret, and grandparents. Ohio State won the Rose Bowl. Family was excited. Uncle actually did a happy dance. Wished I had friends there to chuckle with over the Vlogbrothers reference I made. Alas.
3. Avoided helping my friend Marie organize her wedding even though I was her maid of honor. *coughs* (Wellllll! I still think she made the wrong decision choosing me in the first place. It's not like we're Rory and Lane.)
4. Had a pretty uneventful January, but I did get to the movies a bunch and steadily found myself updating YAauthors, which I'm happy about. I mostly stressed about Marie's wedding, which kind of dampened my urge to look for a job and... do anything else. Hopefully next month will be better.

February
1. Marie's wedding. *unhappy Lorelai face*

March
1. ???

April
1. ???

May
1. ???

June
1. ???

July
1. ???

August
1. ???

September
1. ???

October
1. ???

November
1. ???

December
1. ???

And people I loved getting to know this year: ???

Fandom in 2010
???

January
1. OMG FIRST GLIMPSE OF ELEVEN IN ALL HIS GLORY!!! Great start to the New Year. (David Tennant, you will be missed. Welcome, Matt Smith!)
2. MORE FANGIRLING OF ANDREW LEE POTTS IS HAD AFTER I FINALLY WATCH PRIMEVAL. Where the hell can I pick myself up a Connor?
3. WATCHED AVATAR. IT WAS AWESOME.
4. OMG CHUCK IS BACK AND MORE AWESOME THAN EVER.
5. Like clockwork: the 2010 Fantastic Gilmore Girls Re-watch.

February
1. ???

March
1. ???

April
1. ???

May
1. ???

June
1. ???

July
1. ???

August
1. ???

September
1. ???

October
1. ???

November
1. ???

December
1. ???

2010 music
???

January: Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke (from the New Moon soundtrack); Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois by Sufjan Stevens; Swan Song by A Fine Frenzy; Made for You by OneRepublic; Secrets by OneRepublic; Everybody Loves Me by OneRepublic; WTF? by OK Go; White Knuckles by OK Go; Got Nuffin by Spoon; Crawled Out of the Sea (Interlude) by Laura Marling; 11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas
February: ???
March: ???
April: ???
May: ???
June: ???
July: ???
August: ???
September: ???
October: ???
November: ???
December: ???

2010 movies
???

Go to my 2010 movies/books reviews

Top Ten Films of 2010
1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???

Top Five Films that Exceeded Expectations
1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

Top Five Disappointments/I Am On The Fence About
1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

Movies I Never Got To See But Really Wanted To
1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

Stuff I still have a chance to see: ???

Movies I'm looking forward to in 2011: ???

2010 books
???

Go to my 2010 movies/books reviews

Favorite book: ???
Favorite re-read: ???
Book I wished was better: ???
Least favorite book: ???
Books I'm most excited for in 2011: ???

GREAT start to the New Year

graveyardghosts — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:38:06 GMT

FREAK OUT FREAK OUT FREAK OUT

2010 books and movies: Part I

graveyardghosts — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:47:18 GMT

Part II is located here

Last Updated: September 18th

Grading system
★★★★★ = F x infinity 'Nuff said
★★★★★ = F Horrendous times were had
★★★★★ = D Forgettable
★★★★★ = C Averagely okay
★★★★★ = B Wonderfully executed
★★★★★ = A Awestrucking. Inspiring. Words just cannot describe. I am a changed person because of it.

* = First time view or read

Movies I saw in the theater
Go to part II »

	001.	• No review yet
	Avatar*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 11th
	Survey says: A- ★★★★★
	002.	• No review yet
	Up in the Air*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 16th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	003.	• At the moment, I don't find my grade fair because I feel I truly need to watch this movie again. It definitely seems like one of those movies you need to see more than once to appreciate fully. I can't say what I felt after watching this movie, so...
	The Lovely Bones*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 16th
	Survey says: C ★★★★★
	004.	• I wanted to like this movie more, but it wasn't... makes face something enough. I want to say funny? I realize it's a children's movie, but I've watched plenty of children's movies that were good with humor. And from the trailers, the humor seemed right up my alley. I love quirky humor. But I guess I feel if you're going to go that "quirky humor" route, you should make sure the humor isn't boring and stale. The only character that had me giggling continuously was Ash. Jason Schwartzman was wonderfully angsty. The Kylie/Mr. Fox interactions were pretty funny too. And don't get me wrong, I understand this movie was supposed to be about more than the comedy aspect, but I also feel that part of the marketing was the charm they placed on that quirky humor in the trailer. If you're going so much emphasis on that, well... I can only assume the movie will have copious amounts of funny moments in it. • I can however appreciate the aesthetic values presented in this movie. I LOVED the animation. It was gorgeously done, and charming in every way possible. There were numerous times when I thought: "I wouldn't mind owning stuffed animals of these characters." XD; • Lol, Mr. Fox = Danny Ocean in fox-form. That's all I could think of when he was planning the heists. AND MICHAEL GAMBON. DUMBLYDORE. :D :D
	Fantastic Mr. Fox*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 29th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	005.	• Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous. Hands down, the best film I've seen so far this year. • Emily Blunt, you are fast becoming a favorite actress/girl-crush of mine. You can do no wrong in my eyes.
	The Young Victoria*
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 7th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	006.	• Not the campy fun I was hoping it would be. • Despite it all, I feel nothing can derail my love for Emily Blunt now. She was splendid in this, given the material she was working with.
	The Wolfman*
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 21st
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	007.	• OMG! I am genuinely shocked by how much I enjoyed this movie! It definitely deserves all the praise it's been getting. I totally am renaming my car (again) to Toothless. It's a black Yaris, it looks exactly like Toothless. And I would love a pet dragon, namely a Night Fury. Universe? Make that happen. /Hagrid impersonation (Not really, though. I still really want a pet dragon.)
	How to Train Your Dragon*
	Check it out on IMDB
	April 16th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	008.	• Meh. My favorite book in the series, but I found the film stale. Oh, well. I think I'm a little bit... done with this series, even if I still find some of the characters enthralling (OHAI VICTORIA) and the cinematography lovely. It's just -- sadly -- not as fun anymore.
	The Twilight Saga: Eclipse*
	Check it out on IMDB
	July 2nd
	Survey says: C ★★★★★
	009.	• I was sad because this movie was so, so0o0o0o0ooo pretty, and the backstory itself was AWESOME... but the execution was a bit lackluster. I found myself going back to the story after I saw it, wanting to write fanfiction about it... which tells me I liked it. I just wish there was something more...
	The Sorcerer's Apprentice*
	Check it out on IMDB
	July 24th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	010.	• Favorite movie of the year, I think. It was so creative, and I came away with so many good ideas for fanfic. • Minor stuff with the story, but it couldn't take away from the fantastic casting, special effects, and general idea behind the movie. Mostly, I think I wish there was more of the story itself. I feel like this is the "Batman Begins" of Chris Nolan's Inception franchise. Like the next movie will be even better, as The Dark Knight was. Still, I think I'm beginning to love how Mr. Nolan is such a badass with the action and pacing of his films. He's brilliant, he really is.
	Inception*
	Check it out on IMDB
	July 24th; August 1st
	Survey says: A- ★★★★★
	011.	• Okay, call me a Grinch, but I personally didn't find anything all that spectacular about this movie. Agnes was cute, but that's about it. I'm also shocked to find they're already planning a sequel.
	Despicable Me*
	Check it out on IMDB
	August 1st
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	012.	• Maybe I just like movies about women who decide to go "find themselves" in foreign countries. shrugs Sue me. I guess I can understand that feeling of depression when you think you're trapped and you don't know what to do or where to go to make your life better. Just because Liz was rich and -- in most people's eyes -- had everything (from a loving husband to a good job) doesn't mean she's necessarily happy. You can just... feel empty... even with those things. I get wanting to go somewhere you've never been to maybe find a little bit of piece of mind or, as Liz stated, to simply marvel at something and put whatever it is you feel like you're missing back into your life.
	Eat. Pray. Love.
	Check it out on IMDB
	August 18th
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	013.	• Wasn't as impressed with this as everyone else. I loved Emma Stone and pretty much all of the supporting cast (STANLEY TUCCI IS GOD KTHNX), and it was comedic enough, but it lacked something for me. Can't tell you what, but it did. Maybe if I watch it again, I'll like it more.
	Easy A*
	Check it out on IMDB
	September 17th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	014.	• Definitely up there as one of my favorite movies this year. Admittedly, I am a sucker for "mafia-esque" movies, so I knew the second I saw the trailer, I would be making it a point to see this. It was a great movie, and Mr. Affleck could possibly have an amazing career as a director. It really got back to basics in terms of plot, which I loved. Although we did have the "good bad guy who just wants out" as the lead, I still felt its foundation was a top-notch display of classic bad guy vs. good guy. Sometimes you just need a movie that's less "mindfuck" and plot twists at every turn that gets back to good old-fashioned, clean storytelling. If done well (good cinematography and casting), everything will seem to click and fall into place. I loved the story, pure and simple. • I had a few quibbles with the dialogue, but they didn't take away from the film.
	The Town*
	Check it out on IMDB
	September 17th
	Survey says: A- ★★★★★

Movies I saw on DVD or TV
Go to part II »

	001.	• Love this movie. Love Nicole Kidman in it (perhaps what first made me a fangirl). Love the music. Love the costumes. Love Baz Luhrman's vision. The quirky way he films the movie is overshadowed by how he's able to suck you into the story itself. • The end is completely, completely beautiful and tragic and I can never watch it with anyone because I always want to cry. • The one thing I love and totally appreciate about Baz Luhrman is his foreshadowing. He always very subtly slips in little clips from the end of the movie along with something said by the characters, and I personally think it's brilliant and beautiful the way he does it.
	Moulin Rouge!
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 4th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	002.	• I really only watched this because I adore Emily Browning -- and she didn't disappoint -- but the girl seriously needs to find better movies to star in (like A Series of Unfortunate Events). She is an awesome actress. Crap like this is holding her back from the great actress she could be. I pretty much figured the movie wouldn't be spectacular, and I was right. • I was expecting something at the end, so I can't say I was surprised about the big ~~twist~~. I just knew it too neat of a wrapping to have it all be Rachel. I suspected the sister of being involved somehow (she was bit too overzealous in believing the ghost of her dead mother was haunting Anna and telling her that Rachel was a murderer), but I didn't see that it would be Anna herself... or that she was imagining her sister (though I should have, lol). That said, I still feel like there were too many unexplained plot holes and coincidences all for the sake of the "psychological thriller" aspect of the movie. The pearl necklace thing confused me (see here for my thoughts on that), and Rachel's menacing behavior toward Anna was ridiculous when you consider she's not the killer in the end. • Sadly, poor acting from the surrounding cast and a poor script really brought down the potential of what this film could have been.
	The Uninvited*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 4th
	Survey says: C- ★★★★★
	003.	• No review yet
	Bram Stoker's Dracula
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 4th
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	004.	• I just didn't like it. I wanted to, especially with the cast -- definitely saw it for James McAvoy, but Common being in it as well was a nice surprise (I have a soft spot for him) -- but the entire movie had me chuckling to myself. I found the beginning dialogue between McAvoy and the audience stupid. And when Angelina Jolie finally picks him up, it didn't get any better. It was cheesy. And THE SLOW-MO OMG. LOL. • I can handle profuse cussing when the movie isn't using it as a crutch to badass-ify itself. It just made me laugh even more because it all sounded so out of place. • The end was just... ridiculous, lol. That would be my word for the entire movie actually. Ridiculous. I guess I just prefer action without all the silly (and when I say silly, I mean they added nothing to the movie except my background laughter) special effects.
	Wanted*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 7th
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	005.	• Still one of my favorite movies. I love the message about writing it sends out.
	Finding Forrester
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 8th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	006.	• I really liked the movie overall, especially its themes about life and consuming yourself with finding that perfect job... which is something I think a lot of people do, forgetting along the way what's important in life. Obviously, it's cliche... but in a good way! I was a little torn between wanting to like the end and not. I get that it goes toward being apart of the grander message -- the people you surround yourself with in life are more important that anything else -- but then I also believe that women nowadays can have both the career and the guy. But I guess I can also understand that, in Ryden's case, I think it was about her realizing that Adam mattered more than a job. I don't think it was the fact that she was beating herself up working her way up in the company so much as it was this realization that she can always get a new job... right now? It was was about choosing the people in her life that matter above something that she finally came to the conclusion wasn't as important. And I don't think it was any sort of punch in the stomach towards feminism (as much as the average viewer might want to believe). It's not like the movie is suggesting that Ryden isn't ever going to work again now that she has Adam. (Maybe she'll move to New York and get an even better job...?) I can honestly say I think she made a good decision. To me, Adam seemed like someone to give up something for. And anyway, I think feminists and critics alike read into it far too much. It was just a simple story trying to tell you that life isn't going to be worth living without the people you love in it, and to not put so much stress on playing by society's rules if you expect to experience what the world has to offer, surprises and all. I think a person has to have a balance of acting on utterly insane impulses and knowing when to buckle down and work hard. • The cast was all pretty good, with the material they were given (though I think I would've rather less of the "crrrrazy Michael Keaton" father figure... I liked him in the end when he finally gave Ryden his first real piece of genuine advice). • Rodrigo Santoro? You are the hottest thing alive. :) • I really liked Zach Gilford. He was cute. • Lol, WTF, random Demetri Martin cameo. XD
	Post Grad*
	Check it out on IMDB
	January 15th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	007.	• No review yet
	Eagle Eye*
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 24th
	Survey says: C- ★★★★★
	008.	• I saw this as a PBS presentation and, even though it's technically a mini-series, I'm just counting it as a movie anyway. :D • Far superior to the 1996 version, though I think I will always find the character of Emma a tad annoying and it is for this reason alone that Emma will always be my least favorite of Jane Austen's stories. Still, I felt all the actors lived up to their roles, Romola Garai especially as the ever-so-slightly snobbish busybody that is Emma. • I found Emma grew on me near the end of this version (in direct contrast to Gwyneth's Emma), something I think was the result of a more detailed story line. • I got a major kick out of the fact that Christina Cole and Laura Pyper are both in this.
	Emma (2009)*
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 25th - February 26th
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	009.	• LotR-fest! I love these movies an irrefutable amount. Beautifully shot, hardly a mistake in sight (if any, from my vantage). ("What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?")
	The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 27th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	010.	• Gollum/Smeagol flashbacks abound! OMG, Andy Serkis, you're the only Gollum for me. (coughs "FILTHY, THIEVING HOBBITSES!!")
	The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
	Check it out on IMDB
	February 28th - February 29th
	Survey says: A ★★★★★
	011.	• No review yet
	Persuasion (2007)*
	Check it out on IMDB
	March 2nd
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	012.	• Such a cute movie. I'm happy I finally got a chance to see this, and also happy I've finally seen everything Austen! :) • Mr. Tilney is totally duking it out with Mr. Darcy for my favorite lead in Jane Austen's stories, and JJ Feild was awesome in this role. Reminded me of Hatter sort of. XD • I could've used a bit more of an ending, though I'm extremely happy Senior Tilney (ohai, Sarah's dad) got what was coming to him.
	Northanger Abbey*
	Check it out on IMDB
	March 6th
	Survey says: B+ ★★★★★
	013.	• No review yet
	City of Ember*
	Check it out on IMDB
	March 10th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	014.	• O_o This movie had me BZUH-ing after I finished watching it. I just didn't enjoy it all that much, which I was really sad about because I love George, Jeff, and Kevin... and Ewan (kind of). I did understand and agree with the bigger message behind it, but unfortunately the movie itself and I guess just the way it was scripted didn't strike a huge chord with me. It was boring.
	The Men Who Stare at Goats*
	Check it out on IMDB
	April 16th
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	015.	• I liked it alright, I just wished it was a bit more detailed and the emotional range of the actors had more OOMPH. I thought the end was sad, but as I was researching the E. M. Forster version, I saw it didn't even end that way in the book (though there some debate about the fact that the appendix of A Room with a View said that George would perhaps end up going to war). That kind of took away from the movie's ending for me.
	A Room with a View (2007)*
	Check it out on IMDB
	April 19th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	016.	• When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was pretty excited. With further viewings, I came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't live up to all of its hype, and when it was finally released into theatres, most critics confirmed this. So I decided to pass... until I saw it was at last making its premiere on HBO. Well. Unfortunately, my initial gut reaction was right in this case. I wanted to like it. I did. The special effects are lovely (when you don't count the fact that they're trying to be overly impressive). The coughs male cast is lovely. Definite eye candy. BUT the script is cheesy at best. With the exception for Ryan Reynolds' part at the beginning, the rest of the movie was chock-full of stupid, over-processed one-liners and even stupider/confusingly LOLZ-Y character dialogue. So, basically? Chuck the entire script, give me better background (I don't admit to being an expert on X-Men, especially considering how much detail there is to the stories), and MOAR GAMBIT. • LOL. The bullet killing Wolverine's memories? Is that really how it happened? Wow.
	X-Men Origins: Wolverine*
	Check it out on IMDB
	May 3rd
	Survey says: D ★★★★★
	017.	• One of those instances where I was expecting a lot more out of a movie. I felt that, as usual, most of the funnier scenes were all in the trailers, so the humor was lacking. Though I appreciated the effort put into the general atmosphere (the scenery and just the feelings I got while watching certain parts of the movie), the acting (yes, I am surprised considering I usually like Kat Dennings okay), awkward subplots, and horrible screenplay did nothing to help this effort. I came away with... not really anything. I didn't like Nick or Norah any better or worse, and I didn't have any epiphany moments in relation to my life. But maybe I'm missing that as the point of the whole film? Is it supposed to be a simple film about love and new beginnings? (I guess I'd perhaps believe this if the aforementioned script and acting did not suck a much as it did. But still, I can't say I didn't like it. For whatever reason, it managed to evoke something inside, even if it wasn't for [most of] the characters.) • I'm jumping on the bandwagon and admitting I'm a sick of Michael Cera taking the same roles over and over... but I will say, he did not annoy me half as much in this as he normally does. • I basically perked up anytime the gays were onscreen. Rafi Gavron was adorable. • Can we take a second and discuss how disgustingly grotesque the bathroom/gum scenes are and how there should maybe be a disclaimer for us hypochondriacs and OCD germ-killers at the beginning? Because... ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.
	Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist*
	Check it out on IMDB
	May 7th
	Survey says: C ★★★★★
	018.	• Probably one of my biggest influences as a kid to write in/love composition notebooks, lol. \o/ To this day, I have a hard time watching the scene where Harriet's friends, Sport and Janie, read what she wrote about them in her spy journal. :(
	Harriet the Spy
	Check it out on IMDB
	July sometime
	Survey says: B ★★★★★
	019.	• I need to watch this one again to be able to review it better.
	Bright Star*
	Check it out on IMDB
	August 7th
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★

Books I read
Go to part II »

	001.	• No review yet
	A Great and Terrible Beauty* by Libba Bray
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	January 3rd - January 24th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	002.	• No review yet
	Rebel Angels* by Libba Bray
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	January 26th - ???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★
	003.	• Meh. I wasn't expecting it to be fantastic literature, and I'm happy I went into it with low expectations because I wasn't disappointed. Still, the story wasn't what I was expecting. I think I was on the assumption that it was going to be about a love triangle between a vampire, an angel, and a human. And Cynthia's writing could sometimes make my head spin. Her style of writing is... weird. It's hard to explain.
	Eternal (Tantalize, #2)* by Cynthia Leitich Smith
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	February 17th - February 23rd
	Survey says: C- ★★★★★
	004.	• No review yet
	Light Beneath Ferns* by Anne Spollen
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	February 24th - February 28th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	005.	• No review yet
	Tantalize (Tantalize, #1)* by Cynthia Leitich Smith
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	April 3rd - May 4th
	Survey says: C+ ★★★★★
	006.	• No review yet
	Give Up the Ghost* by Megan Crewe
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	May 4th - May 21st
	Survey says: C ★★★★★
	007.	• No review yet
	Hearts At Stake (The Drake Chronicles, #1)* by Alyxandra Harvey
	Read a synopsis on Goodreads
	May 22nd - ???
	Survey says: ??? ★★★★★

Table format belongs to woodycakes

Goodbye 2009, hello 2010

graveyardghosts — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:53:33 GMT

It's about an hour and a half away from 2010 here, so I thought I'd do this.

(Side note: Finished at freaking 5 am.)

My life in 2009
As far as I'm concerned, this year was pretty uneventful life-wise. More bad stuff happened than good this year, but, unlike 2007 and 2008, I believe it's truly helped me grow and decide that 2010 is going to be... so much better.

January
1. Was still working at Primus. Blech.
2. Rung in the New Year watching Doctor Who with two of my best friends, Kim and Christina.
3. Met woodycakes. ♥
4. FINALLY GOT AN EFFING WII.
5. Discovered I am psychic.

February
1. Celebrated my mom's 55th birthday.
2. Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance came out. I listened to it. A lot.

March
1. Discovered how awesome Goodreads is.
2. Mom finally hopped aboard the Mac-train and gave me a solid estimation as to when I would be getting one.
3. My external hard drive died. :( (Still haven't fixed it either.)
4. Went to the Twilight midnight release party with Christina and Kim. Cullen-tastic adventures were had.
5. Discovered Dailybooth.

April
1. Attempted BEDA. Failed. BUT: wrote some of my most favorite entries of the year during that time.

May
1. Discovered Dreamwidth. Finally got houseofwolves for a username. For about a week feared the oncoming LiveJournal apocalypse. But, fancy that, ~~Buffy saved us~~, we're all still here. :)
2. Founded YAauthors on Twitter. MAJORLY, HARDCORE got into YA. Liek, even more than I already was.
3. Accidentally crashed my car into Kim and Christina's parents' car. Praised whatever deity saved both cars from ABSOLUTELY NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER.
4. Started revising my 2008 NaNoWriMo story.

June
1. Got a new Sidekick THAT'S LIME GREEEEEN.
2. Finally figured out what was happening to my hands aka CONTACT DERMATITIS SUCKS.
3. OMG, switched e-mail addresses. Lol. I had my old one for a REALLY long time, okay?

July
1. Won a book thanks to my epic Artpad skills. I never win anything. I was very happy.
2. HALF-BLOOD PRINCE MIDNIGHT PREMIERE.
3. Celebrated my 22nd birthday.
4. Ignorance by Paramore came out. I listened to it. A lot.

August
1. Mom loses her job of about eight years. Consequentially, I lose mine as well.
2. Remarkably, still ended up getting my Macbook Pro. Dub it officially Fitzwilliam Darcy the Laptop, esq.
3. Finally organize my closet, lol.

September
1. Still job-less. (Apply to a library [first choice] and a few other places. No calls.)
2. Sob over the fact that I have no money.
3. Get a Tumblr. Use it profusely for about... two weeks.
4. Find out that New Moon's soundtrack is going to be amazing thanks to Death Cab for Cutie, OK Go, and Sea Wolf.

October
1. MOM GETS A NEW JOB BECAUSE SHE IS AWESOME.
2. Spend the better part of a week in October convinced that I need to have an appendectomy. *coughs*
3. Despite the fact that I STILL HAVE NO JOB, really enjoy October and fall and Halloween.
4. Promote NaNoWriMo liek hale.
5. Go to Texas to see my aunt and uncle's new digs. Meet Abbie. Lose about a half an inch off the bottom of all my jeans. ~~Sneak her into my suitcase to take back home with me.~~
6. Visit the Alamo for the first time.
7. Hand out candy on Halloween for the first time in a while.

November
1. Start NaNoWriMo.
2. My cat goes missing.
3. Find out ~~he's been kidnapped~~ some weird people picked him up because they thought he was their cat (who's been missing for close to four months, fyi).
4. Suck at NaNoWriMo AGAIN. BUT: still come up with another awesome story that I AM GOING TO FINISH WRITING THIS YEAR DAMN IT.
5. New Moon midnight premiere with Christina and Kim. Cullen-tastic adventures YET AGAIN. Including IHOP mozzarella sticks. And pancakes.

December
1. I had a lot of fun this month.
2. Even though I don't finish NaNoWriMo, e-mails between my Aunt Carole and I really make me focus on the fact that first and foremost... I want to freaking write a book. I really and truly and passionately want to be a YA author.
3. Christmas card writing
4. Formspring chats with Kristina Horner and eventually getting to e-mail her a few times. :)
5. CHRISTMAS PLANNING
6. Project for Awesome is... awesome.
7. Most shocking thing ever happens with my family. (I never mentioned this, I know.) Christmas almost seems ruined, but then it isn't and, while our family is forever changed, I think it makes us open our eyes to each other.
8. Chat with my aunt when she comes to visit for Christmas and she basically convinces me that 2010 is going to be good. With my mom. With my life.
9. Apparently, I can bake. ;D
10. Christmas week is stressful, but it ends well.
11. My grandparents get this AMAZING present from my Aunt Carole and Uncle Greg that makes me appreciate them even more for the wonderful people they are and the things they've done in their lives.
12. New Year's Eve is spent with my mom, first seeing New Moon and then Sherlock Holmes.
13. My Uncle Greg has surgery on his heart. Happily, he comes through PERFECTLY ~~because Cristina Yang was his surgeon~~.
14. Ring in the New Year with Doctor Who AGAIN.

And people I loved getting to know this year: Brittany, Patty, Sarah, Kim, Christina, Lisa Mantchev, and Heidi R. Kling. (And, though I didn't talk to them as much: Becca Fitzpatrick and Lisa Schroeder.)

Fandom in 2009
Fandom-wise, however, I think this year rocked. Nick at Night and I were BFFs, and I discovered some shows that were old news to everyone else... but I'm happy I watched them because I can't imagine my life without them right now.

January
1. Found out who's replacing Ten. (I still find my eyes welling up a little over the fact that David Tennant will be gone soon.)
2. Thanked Chris Weitz profusely for giving Taycob a second chance.
3. Discovered the EPIC AMAZINGNESS that is Frasier and Niles Crane. Epic Twitter updates commence as I'm watching episodes.

February
1. Fell in love with Mitchell Davis even more.
2. Discovered The Nanny. I love you, Fran Fine.
3. PUSH. CHRIS EVANS. DAKOTA FANNING'S HAIR.

March
1. Got excited for The Vampire Diaries when I found out Ian Somerhalder was joining the cast. And playing DAMON no less. Killed. Dead.
2. Starting re-reading Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's books and fell in love with her all over again.

April
1. Added Rachelle Lefevre to my list o' girl crushes.
2. FOUND OUT MICHAEL EFFING SHEEN IS PLAYING ARO. PROCEEDED TO HAVE A FANGIRL ATTACK. Calmed myself. FREAKED OUT AGAIN. DIED.
3. Kind of fell in love with Bleach again.
4. Added Allison Harvard and her cute bunny teeth to my list o' girl crushes.
5. Got back into Harry Potter (idek).

May
1. Started fangirling YA authors.
2. Started hardcore fangirling Zachary Quinto after watching a little movie called ~~Spock~~ Star Trek.
3. SAW THE FIRST POSTER FOR NEW MOON.
4. Re-discovered Skins. Officially fall in love.
5. Finally caught up on Supernatural. Started fangirling it again as well.

June
1. SAW THE FIRST TRAILER FOR NEW MOON.
2. True Blood season 2. Some serious fangirling of Eric was had. Then... Godric. Oh, Godric.

July
1. Loved on Harry Potter most of this month. Re-read HBP.

August
1. Got my first viewing of Dakota Fanning as Jane in the newest New Moon trailer. Added her to my list o' girl crushes.
2. Discovered The Big Bang Theory. Fall in love. A lot.
3. Discovered Seinfeld. Fall in love. A lot.
4. Finally watch Torchwood: Children of Earth. Love it.

September
1. DISCOVERED A LOT OF NEW SHOWS. GLEE. EASTWICK (BOO, ABC, YOU WHORES). MODERN FAMILY. MERCY. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. BORED TO DEATH. COMMUNITY. V.
2. Love on season 3 of Skins and Effy/Freddie.
3. #PDIDDYISSCAREDOFHISTV
4. Grey's Anatomy's season premiere kills my heart.
5. Fall in love with old-school Nickelodeon shows again.

October
1. JIM AND PAM EFFING FINALLY GET MARRIED.
2. Had a Little Bear-fest.
3. WHERE. THE. WILD. THINGS. ARE.
4. General love on Maurice Sendack.
5. Discovered Roseanne. For some odd reason, really enjoy it.

November
1. Chris Weitz heals my love for this effing series. THE EVIL VAMPIRES ARE AWESOME. Fangirl Victoria's hair. Add Charlie Bewley to my closet o' men.
2. HUSH, HUSH. I can no longer eat macaroni and cheese and chicken without thinking of Patch. :D
3. I read a lot of books. (YA IS A FANDOM.)

December
1. First glimpse of Holly Black's new book.
2. First glimpse of Deathly Hallows trailer.
3. And, finally... (and this is important): I WATCH ALICE AND DISCOVER HATTER AND ANDREW LEE POTTS.

2009 music
I don't pretend to actually remember the music I loved on month by month, but I thought I'd at least recap by posting a ~~little~~ mix of the songs I remember listening to the most this year.

Unfortunately, with my computer being out of commission for most of the year, my iPod was sort of stuck in limbo until I was able to get my Mac. This did give me a chance to find things on my iPod that I had never really listened to. I remember listening to The Dear Hunter A LOT... which is really the only band I don't think I was particularly in love with in 2008. Bloc Party was next on the list. Of course, My Chemical Romance, and then The Receiving End of Sirens. Mute Math, Eisley, Death Cab for Cutie (another of course), The Postal Service, Coldplay, Paramore, and UVERworld.

UVERworld really surprised me by being such a favorite band this year, mostly because I don't normally listen to j-music (and obviously DO NOT admit to being an expert on it).

The albums that were released in 2009 I was most excited for included: Act III: Life and Death by The Dear Hunter, Brand New Eyes by Paramore, Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson, Ellipse by Imogen Heap, White Water, White Bloom by Sea Wolf, the New Moon soundtrack, and Sound the Alarm by Howie Day.

I think my artist of the year is most definitely Sea Wolf. While I listened to them a bunch last year, I sincerely believe they really became one of my favorite bands this year. The other album I listened to a lot this year has to be Intimacy by Bloc Party. And then I basically listened to the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack for a good two weeks in October. Also, though I honestly never gave this song a second thought... 1901 by Phoenix has been on repeat for a good week or so thanks to my friends Brittany's Hatter/Alice fanvid. XD

And I know it seems silly, but I really have my new Mac to thank for really broadening my musical tastes from September to now.

These are in order of when I remember listening to them all throughout the year:

The Lake and the River by The Dear Hunter
Pale Blue Dot by The Receiving End of Sirens
Clark Gable by The Postal Service
One Day I Slowly Floated Away by Eisley
Styrofloam Plates by Death Cab for Cutie
Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance
I Caught Myself by Paramore
Picture by Mute Math
The Libertine by Patrick Wolf
Trojan Horse by Bloc Party
Colors of the Heart by UVERworld
Hissei Satsuki Prologue by UVERworld
Said So What by French Kicks
Not a Robot, but a Ghost by Andrew Bird
So Stung by Howie Day
Skins Theme Tune by Fat Segal
It's a Wild World by the Skins cast
Single Ladies (Beyonce cover) by Pomplamoose
Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack by Karen O and the Kids
Stripped by Shiny Toy Guns: For some reason, I listened to this a lot right around the time The Vampire Diaries came out.
Cath... by Death Cab for Cutie: I really got into Narrow Stairs this year. I didn't like it as much as their older albums, but now I do.
Canvas by Imogen Heap
Wicked Blood by Sea Wolf: First song off the new album, and I remember SERIOUSLY letting loose a few tears. I had it turned up really loud with my earphones in and it just made me... want to cry. His lyrics are so beautiful, and the melody itself is so wonderful and lovely.
Hang You from the Heavens by The Dead Weather
Help I'm Alive by Metric
Your Arms Around Me by Jens Lenkman
Mountain and the Sea by Ingrid Michaelson
Rawnald Gregory Erickson The Second by Starfucker
Meet Me on the Equinox by Death Cab for Cutie: God, this song.
To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra
Come Back When You Can by Barcelona: Thank you SO MUCH, TVD, for introducing me to this song. It is amazing.
The Haunting by Anberlin: I LOVE THE CHORUS.
I Was a Daughter by Basia Bulat
Swan Song by A Fine Frenzy
See These Bones by Nada Surf
Made For You by OneRepublic
1901 by Phoenix: Brittany's fanvid is here
Death by White Lies: I've been listening to this on repeat these past few days. I really love it. It's a good year-end song, I think.

(Let me know if I messed any of these links up.)

Songs I can't upload because I bought them off iTunes: Unbelievable (I Am Jen/JCPenney Remix) by Sleepy Rebels (lol, yep... and I really love this song), Brand New Day by Tim Myers (ft. Lindsey Ray) (from the Target commercials, rofl), In the Dark by The Changes, and Satellite Heart (Air Mail Remix) by Anya Marina (SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL)

I don't want to say it, but I feel like Death Cab for Cutie is slowly overtaking My Chem as my favorite band. We'll see what they do on their new album next year.

2009 movies
I'm going to try to make it a New Years Resolution to see more movies this year... again. I only saw 15 movies in the theatre this year. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Go to my 2009 movies/books reviews

Top Ten Films of 2009
1. Where the Wild Things Are
2. (500) Days of Summer
3. The Time Traveler's Wife
4. Star Trek
5. New Moon
6. Push
7. Whip It
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) (parentheses because I'm on the fence, but I'm torn about not including it because it's Harry Potter)

Top Five Films that Exceeded Expectations
1. New Moon
2. Push
3. Confessions of a Shopaholic

Top Five Disappointments/I Am On The Fence About
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. Watchmen (Yeah, I said it.)
3. Brideshead Revisited
4. Sunshine Cleaning

Movies I Never Got To See But Really Wanted To
OMG SO MANY
1. Coraline
2. Up
3. Adam
4. New York, I Love You
5. Duplicity
6. Easy Virtue
7. Adventureland
8. Bright Star
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. The Edge of Love
11. Julie and Julia
12. Zombieland (I know, right?)
13. District 9
14. Phoebe in Wonderland
15. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
16. Pirate Radio
17. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Stuff I still have a chance to see: The Princess and the Frog; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Avatar; An Education; Up in the Air; and (yes, despite all the terrible reviews it's been getting) Nine

Movies I'm looking forward to in 2010: Alice in Wonderland; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; Eclipse; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Iron Man 2; The Last Airbender; The Lovely Bones; Remember Me; Sherlock Holmes 2 (maybe?); Toy Story 3

Via woodycakes, an AMAZING 2009 cinema fanvid (that no lie almost made me cry when I first watched it and idekw; I'm at that age, I guess):

2009 books
Despite my awesome efforts to stay up-to-date with YA this year (well, okay, mostly PARANORMAL YA, haha), I didn't read a lot. Bought a BUNCH of new books and discovered a ton of new authors, which I love... just didn't read them... yet.

Go to my 2009 movies/books reviews

Favorite book: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Favorite re-read: Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes; Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Book I wished was better: Seven Tears into the Sea by Terri Farley; Frozen Fire by Time Bowler
Least favorite book: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Books I'm most excited for in 2010: White Cat by Holly Black; The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories by Holly Black; Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine; Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick; Hourglass by Claudia Gray; The Line by Teri Hall; Sea by Heidi R. Kling; Perchance To Dream by Lisa Mantchev; Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder; Linger by Maggie Stiefvater... and a ton more, lol. I'm also crossing my fingers that we'll hear more about Cate Tiernan's new series.

Swears she's not your vampire boyfriend

graveyardghosts — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:42:05 GMT

Lol, you guys, I feel very stalkery -- is that even the right word? Big brother-y? Idek -- when I check out LiveJournal's new guest feature. I mean, just coming out and saying it... it is a little creepy that I have the ability to see who's checking out my journal. Kind of, sort of. Maybe not creepy, but it's... something...

But then I started to think -- for instances like last night -- as I was skimming through a few journals on nightingails's New Years friending meme, I happened across someone who posted about this extremely hot actor I remembered seeing in something but couldn't remember what exactly. Stupidly, I forget to write his name down, so as I'm going to bed, (of course) I suddenly recall wanting to IMDB him earlier and immediately begin scouring my browser's history searching for the mystery user. Unfortunately, I know there were a few times where I accidentally clicked on the same user more than once, so now, anyone with this feature probably thinks I'm some sort of Angel-esque lurking lurker. :)

Anyway, yeah, I'm in the middle of an intense session of New Super Mario Bros. gameplay, but that was on my mind all day, so I thought I'd share. Longer update later. :D

Cinnamon pie? Or the post that was written at 3 am (RAMBLYPANTS!)

graveyardghosts — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:29:13 GMT

I awoke at 6 am today after only 5 1/2 hours of sleep because of -- who else? -- my cat's incessant scratching at my bedroom door. His Highness requested to be let out of my room because he enjoys consuming food at ungodly hours of the day. I felt like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. So I had a really hard time getting back to sleep after that and just spent two hours on the internet until I was too bleary-eyed to go on. Mostly looked at a lot of anti-Twilight stuff and laughed. I think this one is my favorite: click and prepare for lulz!

Fell back to sleep at 9 am and slept -- unfortunately -- until 1 pm. D: I hate sleeping that late! I guess I was tired, though. This was when my mom woke me up and said I needed to go buy her something from the grocery store.

Her: BAKING SODA!
Me: z__________Z SOOOODAWAT
Her: For the cookies.
Me: Cookies? *springs from bed*

But I love this. I prefer drinking organic milk, and this one particular brand is REALLY good. Like, I honestly think the 2% tastes like whole milk. I can taste a difference between it and other 2% brands, I swear to you. *fistshake* SWEAR IT. My mom won't admit to this, though. As a matter of fact, she consistently claims that she only drinks it because she doesn't want to have to buy two brands. Today I open up the refrigerator and I see Horizon organic heavy whipping cream staring me in the face. Orly, mom? Orly?

This morning, mom went to get me cupcake mix from the store and I wrote down this exactly: GET VANILLA CUPCAKE MIX + FROSTING. WILL BE MIXING CINNAMON INTO THIS. And what does she buy? ~*~Festive~*~ holiday mix with that "funfetti" stuff mixed in it and green frosting. UM. CINNAMON. CINNAMON IS GOING IN THIS. I think she has something against me attempting to make anything that doesn't follow a recipe on the back of a box. She secretly thinks I'm going to screw up. She kept saying stuff like: "Alright, you DO know that cinnamon is a very pungent spice and if you put in too much--" "YES." "Well, if you put in a lot of cinnamon--" "Spicy demon cupcakes of cinnamon-y doom with invade the kitchen and enslave us all." "But I'm just trying to tell you that cinnamon is an EXTREMELY pungent spice..." I should put extra cinnamon on her cupcakes just for continuously second-guessing my Martha Stewart cooking skills. Dude, one time, I made biscuits from scratch and they turned out AWSUM the first time out of the oven. I GOT THIS.

*cue ominous thunder*

And then she keeps saying I shouldn't mix cinnamon into the icing. Like...?????! Is this an illegal baking maneuver or something? She just got this massive BZUH?! face when I told her I was doing this.

The entire house has been a veritable cornucopia of baking smells all day, and I wish it would stay that way. Mom made chocolate chip cookies... with bitter sweet chocolate. Side note: Does milk chocolate > bittersweet chocolate? What do you guys think? Me, I'm a milk chocolate fan. Then she made shortbread cookies. And she's also making CINNAMON ICE CREAM. It sounds AMAZING.

SNICKERDOODLES AND CUPCAKES TOMORROW. YES. And I found this tira misu cupcake recipe that I want to try. It looks tasty.

*vworp* *vworp* *other TARDIS-y noises*
Oh, wait.
It's not blue. :(

Welcome to another Hatter fangirl! totallybalanced, you are already loved and much appreciated. ♥

Except. Maybe I'm going about this all wrong. Maybe it's another Hatter fangirl to fight off. >_o;

Maybe I can share...

We'll see. You seem nice enough.

I know I'm forgetting something.

Oh, yeah. Did you guys know that you're more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider? I can't wait to share my newfound knowledge (read: bug the shit out of) with my family on Christmas Eve. I can imagine the conversations:

Them: And, well, I just couldn't eat the tiny slice of pie because I was full and... you know... pie is fattening...
Me: *blank stare*
Meanwhile...
My brain: Dean Winchester likes pie. I likes pie.
Me to my brain: ONOES. Why weren't you listening?! What were they just saying?
My brain: Idk. Something about pie. Dean Winchester likes pie...
Me to my brain: Okay, where's the "Interesting But Totally Useless Facts: The Family Dinners Edition" folder? *mental sifting*
My brain: Bringing out the big guns, I see?
Me to my brain: Hey! Don't sass me! You and your short attention span and your Winchester pie!
My brain: Mmm, Winchester pie.
Me to my brain: >:|
OHYEAHIMCONVERSINGIFOGETZ
Me: Hey, that's nice, about your pie and... stuff. Did you know that you're more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider? *eyes the wine bottles and backs away slowly* I don't know how you can stand next to them without flinching. You're a braver soul than I, my friend.

In fact, if they make me play the stupid bowl game that I can't even be bothered to explain the rules to (JUST KNOW THEY ARE COMPLICATED AND STUPID), I will break the rules and write down: "Shannon has a completely rational fear of sitting near any and all bottles of wine and/or champagne. She will be waiting patiently in the car reading a book until you have disposed of them all aka decided that the bowl game is REALLY STUPID BECAUSE IT IS and the last round has been completed." on all my sheets of paper.

To end this on a somber note, RIP, Brittany Murphy.

SORRY BUT OMG MOAR HATTER FLAIL

graveyardghosts — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:19:43 GMT

Credit: getyourguns

I knew the second I saw this movie that I wanted a gif of this scene. I love Caterina Scorsone's expression. All slowed down for your viewing pleasure.

See previous post for my introduction into the Hatter/Andrew Lee Potts fandom.

Also, woodycakes, I GOT YOUR CARD HOORAY!! ♥

(Funny how Buddy's expression seems to reach either end of the excited/horrified spectrum. I imagine a fangirl squeal erupting from that icon atm.)

HATTER!!1

graveyardghosts — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:08:01 GMT

I'LL FIGHT YOU FOR HIM, BRITTANY, I WILL!!!!!!!!!!! >:O >:O >:O >:O

*dons boxing gloves*

I am not above mud wrestling. And hair pulling.

Andrew Lee Potts' Hatter has been on my mind ever since I finished watching Syfy's Alice on YouTube yesterday night. Thanks to drinkthistea, might I add. No, really. Had I not taken her advice, I would've missed out on having the pleasure of adding to my already heavily stockpiled closet o' men that hunk of gorgeous British man meat (woah, boy, that sounds sexual) above thar. It would've been tragic, I tell you.

But I need Alice/Hatter fic. I am obsessed. I mean, I knew Alice/Mad Hatter shippers existed, and I did find the ship attractive and I was kind of, almost lured into the fandom, but now... I am IN LUV. *fangirl squeeeeeeeeeeeee* *hops aboard new fandom train* And I'm not just talking about the Alice/Hatter ship from Syfy's Alice. I mean in general. I love the idea of Alice/Mad Hatter and the many different variations of the Alice in Wonderland story. I was searching DeviantART and there are a TON of interpretations of what the Mad Hatter looks like (of course, ALP's Mad Hatter is at the top of my favorite Mad Hatters list), and it just gives me a gravy boat of freaking ideas for fic. (Bandwagon much, Shannon? *doesn't care, doesn't care, doesn't care*)

Side note? OMG, seriously. There's only like one or two pictures of Andrew Lee Potts as Hatter that pop up when I do a search on Google. How sad is that? I don't want Johnny Depp and his transvesty-looking Mad Hatter taking over my computer screen, tyvm. That's right. Transvesty. I said it.

REQUEST!!! Okay, this is driving me nutso. I have to continuously use my old laptop to resize stuff because I've only ever used Paint Shop Pro 7 my entire career of graphics-making... but I would really like to stop this. I hate having to switch over to that damn laptop every time I want to do something as simple as resize a picture. So I need something (Photoshop?) for a Mac. Can anybody help, plz? D: D: Plz? *gives cookie* *gives Poptart* *gives cupcake*

Anybody seen the Iron Man 2 trailer? Oh, lawdy. *fangirls Scarlett Johansson's red hair* *and RDJ, obviously* *and OMG BADASS SPECIAL EFFECTS WTF WTF MICKEY ROURKE!WHIPLASH*

I've been participating in Project for Awesome all day, and I've had A LOT of fun. Maureen Johnson was by far my favorite host. And watching all those Livestream broadcasts totally made me want to do my own BlogTV broadcast, but alas. I am not popular enough for it to be enjoyable.

I am seriously going crazy with all the holiday crap going right now. I know. I still need to update about that little incident I mentioned last post. I will. Soon.

Finally found the time to finish Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner... actually, it was more a question of forcing myself to sit down and finish the book. It started off really good, but I had trouble getting past the second half of the story. I haven't written up a review for it yet, but idk if I will. After I stopped reading, I kind of lost track of the story, so it'd feel like work attempting to recap the entire thing. I did like the very end of the book. Now I'm finally reading A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray because drinkthistea told me to. I've had the first part of this series since high school, lol, but I'm only now reading it. Terrible, terrible (hardy har). I read about 50 pages into A Great and Terrible Beauty, but IDEKW! I didn't finish it.

Okai. Bed. Nao.

Hi!

graveyardghosts — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:52:05 GMT

I'm a cheese-head. I totally forgot to say THANK YOU to everyone who gave me a snowflake cookie. :)

I've got four more cards to write, but I've already sent a few out to woodycakes, petnarwhal (whom I know got hers), dumblydore, roughs, round (and I know you got yours, Jess), and potthead. And Patty and Jen, PLEASE let me know when you get your cards. As I stuffed them in my mailbox, I said a little prayer to the post office Santa Claus, lol. Hopefully they will get there alright.

And, ugh, I've been in a fog since Saturday because of some news I heard about someone in my family. I'm sure I will most likely write up an entry about it soon and set it to friends-only, but it's nothing death-related, so no worries in that realm of thought. But it was enough to suck the Christmas cheer right out the window. December can only go uphill from here on in, I hope, I hope.

Ron is so oblivious

graveyardghosts — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:21:41 GMT

Hello, guys, hello!

I've had a particularly busy week that I'm now going to be boring and recap about.

Last Saturday, I went out with my mom to help mom do some errands, namely shop for for Christmas decorations, w00t! It was cold out -- like bitter cold -- lots of wind, and no sun. Mom took me to Reeve's, a nice place to pick up decorations and fake flowers. It's kind of a random place, filled with random things you think of for your home, but never know where to look for them -- Reeve's has them! And they had an awesome Christmas selection. Mom and I spent the better part of the afternoon there trying to figure out how to decorate the table since we're hosting this year. Lol, I think we were there for around four hours messing around with stuff. It got to the point where we actually pushed a bunch of stuff off a table to arrange a mock table set up of our center pieces.

But here's what we got for the table:

Mom pretty much picked out the colors, but surprisingly, I saw most of the stuff here except for the deer... and I arranged it all. She's going to have a green runner with the red seen here laid over it, and then a set of three votives in different sizes lined down the middle (two sets on each side). I hope it looks alright. She wants to put something in the middle, biggest candle holder (like holly branches or something), but she couldn't find the right thing at Reeves. But those candle holders are so pretty in person.

Here it is from the back. I like the way I have the deer. XD;

I LOVED THESE FOR THE MANTEL. But mom wouldn't buy them. She and I are different when it comes to certain decor. I'm a tiny bit more whimsical. ;/ Had to take a picture of them, though.

SHE DID COMPROMISE AND GET MRS. FOX!! But then she wouldn't buy Mr. Fox. I was like "But she'll be lonely without Mr. Fox! :O :O" "Maybe she'll be happy to get away from him." "*pondering look* Well... she is going to a family with a single mother. Potentially, she could feel right at home."

LOLOLOL. I tweeted John Green about these dudes (found in Michaels, btw), but he never responded. He's probably got a bunch of people sending him pictures of black Santas at Christmas, so I forgive him. (See: Paper Towns by John Green to understand this reference)

Later on in the day, I had to mention to mom that Reeve's had taken all of the idea-making out of me, haha. My brain would start thinking of things in other stores to suggest to my mom, but I couldn't even bring myself to vocalize them because I didn't want to get into anymore discussions over what might work and what might not. XD; AND I was so sick of walking around that store... and I was hungry which made it even worse.

We left there around 4 pm and I pestered mom to go get us some FOOD so we went to get hamburgers from McDonald's. Then we went down to the mall to go to Michaels because mom needed to get a picture framed. That's where I saw the black Santas, lol. AND I SAW VERY PRETTY NEW MOON POSTERS. Pestered my mom about those, and even she admitted to liking the Edward poster (and she doesn't like RPattz [OMG IKR]), but ALAS. I left Michaels New Moon poster-less. :[ But I hinted heavily to mom, so Christmas...? AND OMG FRAMING HER DAMN PICTURE?! FREAKING $500+!! NO LIE.

We drove down to World Market after that because mom wanted to get some of these gingerbread cookies she bought there one other time for Christmas... stuck around there because I found CUPCAKE HOLDERS!!! and I had to decide how many I needed for everyone. AND OMG, they are so cute!! They hold four cupcakes each, which means I can give two cupcakes to each parental unit in our family. It works out perfectly. Two is just the right amount to appease all the "Oh, I don't eat sweets ~~except I really do, I just like to pretend I can't eat a pound cake in under a minute when no one's around~~" people in our family (which is practically everybody). I got those along with some pastry bags since I'm baking brownies for my friend, Marie, and cookies for my friends Kim and Christina's parents. I was so happy I found them, though. World Market FTW.

Then we headed to this tiling place to look at stuff for the backsplash in our kitchen, which is where my brain lost all interest in errand-shopping. I was surprised I lasted as long as I did. But I think mom has an idea of what she wants to put up, so now all I have to do in convince her to hire somebody to accomplish this before Christmas rolls around. :D Good luck to me!

Mom rewarded me with Carrabba's for dinner, hallelujah!

Monday, we had a plumber out to fix something apparently the granite dudes messed up under the sink -- which turned out to be nothing, so he only ended up installing our new sink faucet. The granite dudes were out again to fix something they messed up on the granite. Tuesday I actually had to myself, I believe. Wednesday, we had a carpet cleaner dude out to take our huge oriental rug to clean and clean our couch and chairs in the living room. He was a talker. I was trying to finish up the mixed CD I sent to round and he kept talking to me about "life" and stuff. He sounded like a guidance counselor. I had to help him move our coffee table, which I didn't mind (even though it's heavy as shit), but then he had me help him move the carpet... which I was like... should I be getting paid for this, roflolol? *spoiled brat* But seriously... IT WAS HEAVY!! I was a little shocked my mom didn't discuss how big/heavy the thing is on the phone because I would imagine, had they known, they would've sent two guys. I mean, I didn't mind too much, but not all customers can be as forgiving as Shannon the Saint, right? *coughs* And later on I had to help my mom move the coffee table back and now I have two gigantic bruises on my wrists. AND THEY HURT. D: *clearly has no upper-body strength*

THURSDAY I WENT TO THE DENTIST ICK. But I haz no cavities YAY! Then I came home and did chores BOO.

And Friday, I hung out with Kim and we watched Half-Blood Prince on her new awesome TV and I gotta tell you... I am now a fan of Bluray. I'm officially pushing to get a PS3 so we can start buying Bluray. (That won't happen for a year, lolol. Or until I can get a job and save up.) We barely paid attention to HBP, but we had fun mocking Slughorn whenever he did his little eye-squints and... just... I love hanging out with Kim, lololol. Kim showed me the game Little Big Planet, which is also the other reason I want a PS3. AWSUM. Then we turned HBP off right after Aragog died and went to Barnes and Noble. I got some books with my gift card and we listened to this horrible little talent show as we browsed. Some kid was trying to be a comedian, and he sucked royally at it. I felt so bad for him at the beginning because he kept asking the crowd questions to get them into the show, but nobody would participate. It was hard not to cringe at his jokes. When he asked if anyone liked Santa Claus, I was like "Man, I should've raised my hand and said 'IIII DOOOOO!!!!' or something." BUT THEN BUT THEN. I'm in the aisle with all the YA books and he starts talking about Hey Arnold. I'm like "OMG NO WAI" because I had just mentioned Hey Arnold twice earlier that afternoon (Kim even asked me why I kept bringing up Hey Arnold, lol), so I peeked around the corner of the book stacks to find Kim and I caught her eye and started LOLOLOLOL'ing. BUT THEN. Dude totally pulls a major faux-pas and DISSES Hey Arnold, saying he really hated the show. I immediately rounded the corner to look for Kim again and she was already in my aisle walking towards me, this shocked look on her face. THEEEEEEENNN HE DISSES ON FREAKING DOUG!!! Kim's face is basically: >:OOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! He's like "What's up with all the blue-tinted people on the show?" So, of course, we both stood behind the stacks for the rest of his "performance" whispering angrily about what a stupid-face this guy was. Some announcer dude comes on after him and ANNOUNCES STUPID-FACE AGAIN and the guy proceeds to read a two-sentence poem eliciting WTF faces from both Kim and I. And then -- the pièce de résistance -- he announces that he's going to fucking beat box. I was like "Great job. Unfunny comedic routine, lame-ass poetry, and terribly bad beat boxing? Way to alienate the entire crowd." (Perhaps had Stupid-Face not dissed Hey Arnold and Doug, I would've found it in my heart to forgive his amazingly awful "performance", but I was very bitter, okay? What did Hey Arnold and Doug ever do to you, Stupid-Face?! NOTHING. THAT'S WHAT.)

We went to Burger King after that and Kim got some food for she and her dad and I pretended not to notice the New Moon propaganda. Then we went back to her house and I watched her play Little Big Planet once more and cheered her on from the sidelines whenever these big boulders came out of no-where and tried to squish her and she wanted to stop running, but I was like "NOOOO KEEP GOING KEEP GOING!!" Christina got home shortly after that and we decided to drive down to the mall to go to Sephora. But then Christina decided to hit Barnes and Noble first, haha. Kim had used her discount on my books the first time we were there, so I had enough to get a third book... so I did. :D Christina ended up not getting anything, and guess what? STUPID-FACE IS PERFORMING HIS ROUTINE AGAIN. So Christina sticks around to watch that for a little and then we leave.

And that's pretty much the end of my night. No flourishing ending, I'm sorry. But I had so much fun with the both of them! Like I always do. :)

Lots of caps in this post, aren't there? And run-on sentences.

Okay, I'm going to bed. Love you guys!

OH YEAH! I got one of those Formspring accounts because everyone else and their brother's mother are doing it. You can follow me here.

It's an update, Luigi!

graveyardghosts — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:54:05 GMT

ETA: IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T SEEN IT!!! DEATHLY HALLOWS PREVIEW OF THE PREVIEW: http://video.the-leaky-cauldron.org/video/1404 OMGZ OMGZ BRB SPAZZING OUT

Finished The Devouring by Simon Holt today!

Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!

The Devouring
Simon Holt
Little, Brown Young Readers
Read a synopsis of the book on Goodreads
★★★★★

Yet another book with a story I wasn't expecting. I don't mind horror, but I don't read it very often. Like many other reviewers, I was definitely able to recognize the difference between true horror and gross-out horror in this book. I felt some of the scarier parts could be equated to one of those Saw movies -- movies I still refuse to see, by the way, for the same reasons I wasn't in love with this book -- because those movies are mostly all blood and gore, as was the case with THE DEVOURING. Other reviewers also touched on something I completely agree with: Reggie's a horror buff? So why is she messing with stuff she hasn't the first idea about? That's like... horror movie 101.

I don't particularly feel that the frights in this book are by any means cheesy or B-movie-like because if I was forced to sit and watch a two-hour movie based on it (especially with the ability we have nowadays to create amazing and, at times, quite realistic-looking special effects), I would probably not only be scared out of my wits, but also find myself wanting to be sick. Besides that, I can acknowledge that a lot of the scarier parts happened in the mind of Henry -- a kid. What kid wasn't afraid of cliche things when they were little? Clowns, cemeteries, hospitals, being lost somewhere? I know I was afraid of at least some of those things, and I still am. The Vours only took Henry's "child-like" fears and magnified them into something even more twisted and horrifying -- fears you yourself may not find especially original in execution, but to a little boy like Henry who doesn't care about how authentic the thing scaring him is? Probably, I'd say, pretty much he's scared shitless. Still, I admit... I was actually looking up from the book at times and laughing out loud at how utterly ridiculous and unrealistic some of the scenes were. And then again, who knows how I'd react to a killer clown chasing after me swinging the decapitated heads of children in his wake, knowing it was as real as daylight.

That said, Holt really touches on everything that you might consider frightening: spiders in every form (one particular scene got to me just because of Holt's descriptive writing), drowning, demon children and babies, killer clowns, evil doctors, zombies, corpses, disgusting bugs, fire, dismemberment, body parts, sharp things, blood, gore, and even one horrific scene where Reggie gets her hair hacked off to the scalp (hey, it's a girl's worst nightmare if she has long hair, lol).

The reliance on sheer horror, attempts to scare the reader, and less psychological-induced fears could in and of itself be the book's main downfall. While I didn't dislike any of the characters and I was most definitely sympathetic to them, I didn't feel attached to them. Displaced focus on the horror left me craving more in-depth characters and character bonds.

I didn't rate the book lower only because I could see parts of Holt's writing trying to pull a moral from all the smoke and mirrors that were his fearscapes and terrifying hallucinations. His imagery created with his descriptive prose was intense and brilliantly executed. I might sound a bit hypocritical, but I really loved the atmosphere Holt created at the beginning -- dark and icy with the winter scapes, a town completely devoid of color. It was creepy, but enjoyably so. The opening chapters placed around Christmas gave me a shivery delighted feeling because you normally associate Christmas as a time of happiness, but Holt definitely touches on that other side winter brings when it arrives... cold depression when you're not with family celebrating.

There again unfortunately is another thing that had me growing tired of the book; the darkness combined with the horror left little for the reader to latch onto in terms of hope. Even though Reggie and her brother, Henry, eventually overcome their fears, because the characters are so hard to connect to, I couldn't find the symbiotic "light" in all the dark. I'm not saying I expect everything to be easy for the characters, but it helps to have a balance of horror and hope, something I find severely lacking in this book. I believe you come away from it slightly emotionless because you don't see enough character connection and I think, had Holt somehow brought the dad into the mix at the end and made Reggie show more affection and happiness upon reuniting with Henry, it would've been a step up. I never really had a moment in my mind where I heard uplifting, heroic music announcing a forthcoming determination to battle back the villain, even though there are scenes in the book you could classify as heroic. As it is, I think the dad and the mother were only there as plot points -- to give Reggie something to throw her anger at and show her sadness at the way her family is crumbling apart. Perhaps the sequel will better resolve these issues and we will finally have closure over Reggie and Henry's mother leaving. Though I still believe the mother was only there to build on Henry and Reggie's character development, it was, however, a wonderful moral that Holt had Henry overcome his fear that he was the one that made his mother leave by making him defeat a Vour version of her. I was definitely able to understand its relevance in Henry finally accepting his mother might never come back, but also that he shouldn't blame himself. And of course for him to find some courage within himself that he can survive without her.

The other thing I liked was the idea that Holt's story provoked in me of how powerful the mind is. Our minds are one in the limited number of things in this world that I feel have mysteries left to be solved about... mysteries that we may never solve. Though it can be debated that we are all predictable when it comes to certain things, we still have the potential to break out of that box. I think it's amazing to know that you need only think of your brain to realize that you are connected to something even more incomprehensible than the furthest regions of the world. It's pretty remarkable.

My favorite thing to do with books whose plots revolve around a mystery that needs unraveling is to try and find out whodunit, lol. I picked either Eben or Quinn, and I am happy to say it turned out they were both involved, though Quinn's intentions were obviously not the best. :) While I appreciated the slight geek vs jocks undertones near the end of the story, I honestly found this to be more of a way to poke fun at how many YA novels nowadays set the heroine no jock would look twice at up with a handsome glamorously popular hero just because it doesn't happen very often in real life. (Maybe I'm just reading in to it too much, haha... or maybe I'm just overly protective of my beloved paranormal romance YA genre.)

When it all comes down to it, to anyone who is like me -- someone who rarely reads horror but still finds it interesting when she does -- this may be a book you'll feel better about checking out from your library instead of buying. I don't regret reading the book, but it's not something I'd read again simply because it's not an easy ride to go through (not in the sense that's its not a quick, engrossing read, but that it's dark and not something I'd enjoy for a light read a second time around). If you're a pure, 100% no-limits horror buff, you might actually find this book a little too tame because of the hackneyed scares, lol. But those who enjoy horror will definitely get it here, and they will find a good enough story based around a slightly unique take on the "changeling" myth and a satisfying moral to go along with it.

Related links: 2009 books and movies, my Goodreads profile

Lol, if you're wondering why I'm suddenly reading so much more, so am I. Will power, maybe? Maybe it's something to do with November/December? *shrugs*

Of course, something ended up happening with the granite yesterday aka they measured a few pieces wrong and had to come back this morning to finish up... cue me getting up early for no reason because they gave us a random window of time they would arrive in. I was actually a little surprised because I thought my mom was getting a backsplash (lol, and all the savvy DIY/HGTV-ers come out of the woodwork) done when she had the granite installed -- like I thought she was going to have the same company do the backsplash too. But she's apparently going to attempt to do it herself. Which means it won't be done before Christmas and we have this ugly unpainted section in our kitchen leftover from the old counter. You'll get a visual to see what I'm talking about when I can be bothered to snap a few pictures of the granite itself, lol. Mom seriously asked me if I wanted to help when she was cutting the stone for the backsplash and I gave her a look... "Right. No thanks." "Why not?" "Um, cutting my hand or fingers off is kind of on my top 10 list of injuries I never want to happen to me in my lifetime." "I doubt that would happen." "Why tempt the fates? Like I said... no thanks."

I can't wait until this week and next are over. We've got my uncle coming by tomorrow to install our new sink and then my grandparents are coming Sunday to help clean the china in my mom's china cabinet. So mom's in a frenzy to have the house look slightly nicer than it does for my grandma, her being the clean freak that she is. Lol, all I care about is the fact that my room looks neat. XD; *horrible daughter, but please take note that none of the mess out in the living room is mine coughscoughscoughs* Then, ICK, I've got a dentist appointment on Thursday, which is, if I'm being honest, the reason why I want next week to be over NAO. After that, I can comfortably enjoy the rest of December.

So, what do I read next? I'm oscillating between Immortal by Gillian Shields and Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner.

Momma? Mommaaaaa!!

graveyardghosts — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:19:32 GMT

White Cat (The Curse Workers) by Holly Black

OMG, I think I might be THE MOST excited for this book out of everything coming out in 2010.

Yeah, I mean, I have tons of 2010 books I'm excited for... but... IT'S HOLLY BLACK!!!

We're having granite countertops installed today! I will hopefully remember to take pictures when they're finished. I'm hiding out in my room reading, lol (The Devouring by Simon Holt).

Now I leave you with The Muppets and Tom Cruise's audition for the Twilight movies. ENJOY!

Sup?!

graveyardghosts — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:11:29 GMT

Finished Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz today.

Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!

Deadly Little Secret (Touch, #1)
Laurie Faria Stolarz
Hyperion Book CH
Read a synopsis of the book on Goodreads
★★★★★

Pretty quick read for me. I really wanted to enjoy the book because I love Laurie Faria Stolarz's Blue is for Nightmares series a great deal... this unfortunately set me up with greater expectations than usual. But I agree with some of the reviewers on here. It's really hard to connect with the characters, despite how interesting they all seem, or want to be seen at the hands of the author. I felt the entire story as a whole could've been expanded upon merely by developing the characters more. I didn't feel the passion between Ben and Camelia, though I liked them when they were together. I don't want to say it, but this book feels like a remake of Blue is for Nightmares to me, only it's not as good. I just found the subject matter so engrossing -- Ben's gift? There could've been so much more to the story with that at the helm, and I think had she taken a different route, it wouldn't have ended up as lackluster as it was. I found the ending abrupt, and minus Ben's leaving, it really was too neat of bow tied around the suspense of a. the entire stalker plot line, and b. when Camelia is actually held captive and Ben saves her (probably the best part of the book). Again, I felt the book could've been so much more! Instead, the author not only goes for a standard plot, but, worse, also ends up bringing nothing new to the table.

I did like the ending, because Laurie Faria Stolarz is amazing with the suspense and horror... I didn't believe for one second it would turn out to be Ben, but I can honestly say I wasn't expecting it to be Matt either. Though you could tell the author was trying to set you up with the dilemma of having a bunch of potential stalkers to choose from, I think she did a great job of keeping Matt from becoming too easy to spot as the stalker. He was on my list, but he was in it enough for me not to intensely suspect him, and sidelined to the point that it was difficult to interpret what was really going on in his mind. Creepy because she's so good at writing him as the normal, everyday guy.

Despite it all, I will check out the second book. Hopefully this was just the start of something better.

Related links: 2009 books and movies, my Goodreads profile

Now I need to figure out what to read next... I didn't expect to finish that one so soon. >_>

I got my hair cut today! And dyed! Yay! Lol, the girl who does my hair got into Twilight because of me, so we were both talking about the movies and books. It's so funny to hear her all spazzy about them because she seriously knows everything now. She was comparing the movie New Moon with the book and saying how much she thought they stuck by the original story, and how much BETTER it was than Twilight. We started discussing the ev0l vamps and, of course, Victoria comes up, but I didn't even mention her hair... she did. Seriously. Five minute conversation about Rachelle Lefevre's awesome-tastic hair. Lol.

Surprisingly, the shirtless boys barely came up. 9-9;

Then I went to Target and bought some toiletries, w00t! I won't go into detail there. Checked out the books because when have I ever gone into a place with books and not done some browsin'? And got the rest of my cards! So be expecting those maybe... in a week or so? Okay, guiz?

OMG, so my mom had a friend staying with us last week, and you know what? He bought us all Christmas presents! :D Mine was in an envelope, so I figured maybe it was just a card and decided to go ahead and open it... no! It was a freaking $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble! :O!!! I can't even get my family to buy those for me usually! This guy barely talks to me whenever he's here, and yet he knows I'm a book-a-holic. Sad, family. Very sad. ;)

Lol, btw, I haven't watched TV in about a week. XD;

SAAAAANNTTTAAAAA!!!!!

graveyardghosts — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:23:43 GMT

FIRST THINGS FIRST!! This is the last call for Christmas cards! Go here if you want one, and read the ETA at the bottom, plz.

I actually bought some cards today, but I was apparently living in la-la land because I didn't even notice they were all gift card/money holders. XD; While they're pretty cute, I still thought it would be kind of tacky to send those out since they all say something like "A gift to brighten your holidays!" on the inside, rofl. But it works out anyway because mom might need them when we're wrapping gifts.

It's officially a day away from December 1st! So I had to update my icons with a default for Elf. :D Coincidentally, Buddy's face is kind of how I feel right now. SO MUCH TO DO. We're hosting Christmas this year, and TRUST ME there will be rants and more rants about my mom and how crazy she's going to make me as Christmas gets closer. So begins the 2009 Wright Family Super Clean-a-thon. Yaaaaayyyy. But, OMG, we totally got our Christmas tree up yesterday! A miracle, I tell you! A miracle! Still needs to be decorated, but the hard part is out of the way.

Movies I need to see soon include New Moon for a second time because we can't have woodycakes beating me with her already four!!! views. Not that it's a competition, or anything. 9_9; *coughs* I want to see Nine, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Up in the Air, and (believe it, or not) The Princess and the Frog. And that doesn't count what comes out on Christmas day. (Sherlock Holmes!! \o/) I also wanted to see The Lovely Bones, but that's limited release. ;-;

I finished reading Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick today, and I wrote up a review:

Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!
Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)
Becca Fitzpatrick
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Read a synopsis of the book on Goodreads
★★★★★

I'd have to say the book definitely follows a similar Twilight plot line, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I was immediately hooked from the beginning, and Becca Fitzpatrick's writing drew me in completely. I could not stop reading for the life of me because, while certain things in the book made other things very obvious (namely the foreshadowing given to us via a certain movie and a certain roller coaster), the mysteries surrounding Nora were addictive -- I needed to find out what was going to happen! And the one thing I will admit to is not anticipating the book to draw me in as it did. I wasn't expecting Becca Fitzpatrick's style of writing and the direction she took the book, which is conceivably the reason I liked it as much as I did. My hopes were neutral for its entertainment value, and I think the book really went above and beyond that spectrum. I wasn't even visualizing the passion between Nora and Patch to be as, albeit tame compared to other books, hot and steamy as it was... and even then she didn't touch on it enough for me, lol. I could've gone the whole book with just Nora and Patch scenes, rofl. Woo! Every time they were together, the way Becca Fitzpatrick writes? Oh, boy, you'd better believe I couldn't help but smile like the hopeless fangirl that I am.

Patch, entering into Nora's life kind of like Edward Cullen enters Bella's (which, if we can be honest with ourselves, is a standard plot line for a lot of YA paranormal romance nowadays), is actually in a completely different vein of "heroes" compared to him. He's more like the Dark Knight to Edward's quote unquote White Knight... and I really enjoyed him every bit as much as I did Edward, but in a different way. I think Patch is on a totally different level compared to Edward, so it's a little unfair to say the books are exactly the same. For one, Patch plays by indisputably contrasting rules unlike Edward, who will go out of his way not to take risks if it involves Bella. And that's something I love about Patch. He's like a tornado but not; unstable but at times, the one thing that stands out in a room that is spinning.

Sorry to be comparing the books so much, but when I was going through reviews, I read that as one major conflict everyone had when they were reading Hush, Hush. I feel that, while the plot is similar, Becca Fitzpatrick's prose speaks for and easily sets itself apart from Twilight. Not just the fact that it was about angels, but the feel of the story is different. It's hard for me to come down on a certain side about Patch: is he a good character for ~*~impressionable girls~*~ to be reading about and fangirling over, therefore wishing all boys could be like him and blah, blah, blah... debate, debate, debate. But he's such a fun, enthralling character that honestly brought the entire book to life for me, despite his jackassery and mysterious ways. I think I was also happy that Ms. Fitzpatrick didn't attempt to cover up the fact that he's a bad boy either. He was there to bring out the fire in Nora's personality and make her take risks. You could look at him as a horrible example being set to young girls everywhere, or you could just enjoy the book as a good paranormal romance that happens to include a devilishly wicked male lead and stop fussing over what type of example the book is setting to whom. And let's face it, in the end, he turns out not to be that terrible of a guy anyway. If you pull yourself back to reality, I think books like this are wonderful reads. Not every character has to be a great role model, and not every book has to have a moral (though I think you can easily pick some out of this book's ending).

Again, the one thing that didn't make this a five star book for me was all the foreshadowing, and though I wasn't entirely sure who was going to end up being the guy in the ski mask, I had my suspicions that it would turn out to be Jules... just because Elliot seemed like too easy a target. And then after we found out it was him, I immediately started thinking, "OMG I BET HE'S CHAUNCEY!" Lol, that's not necessarily Ms. Fitzpatrick's fault, but I think a little more insight into Jules/Chauncey would've made me think twice about him. The fact that he was absent most of the book made it hard for me not to latch onto him as the one behind it all. I mean, Nora even said it. He made himself scarce when Patch was around, and stayed in the background so as to go unnoticed. Haha, and that just made me notice him even more. Though, I can easily admit I don't know what it would've been like going up against his Nephilim powers. XD; Furthermore, compared to Dabria, I liked Jules/Chauncey's motivation for attacking Nora. I did get Dabria's reasoning, but I still thought Dabria's character could've been fleshed out even more because I always tend to love the female villains, and she kind of annoyed me.

I really did love the end with the big Patch/Nora/Chauncey showdown. And I loved the section where Nora gets stranded and Patch comes to her rescue. And then the backstory Patch shares with Nora.

I didn't leave the story completely balking at the way she manages to keep Patch in Nora's life either. I like slightly sloppy endings, and in my opinion, you can categorize this book's ending as one. I'm very excited for this book's sequel and I can only hope it builds on Patch and Nora's barely-there but totally steam-up-the-windows romance... oh, yeah, and the angel plot line.

Related links: 2009 books and movies, my Goodreads profile

Lol, when I finished, I found Becca Fitzpatrick on Twitter and sent her this @reply:

SEQUEL FOR HUSH, HUSH NAO kthnx @becfitzpatrick

And she responded! Yay! I love YA authors. :)

Now I'm finally reading reading Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz (whose name I for the life of me can never spell properly without looking up).

I do have one other "real-life" thing I need to talk about, but I'm tired, so I will save it for another day. This is just kind of a reminder for when I'm updating later on.