Welcome to Shroomy!

Life on the Road

ippoddity — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 05:30:43 GMT

I feel like it's been ages since I was in Brisbane, but amazingly it's only been about 2 months! Time seems to just fly by when you're busy having fun, I guess. I've packed in so much of this country in the period of a month that I feel incredibly lucky to have seen as much as I have. At the same time I'm a bit ashamed of being an American, because I haven't seen nearly as much of my own country! I seriously hope to remedy that once I get back home.

I am happy to say that since I left Brisbane I have traveled somewhat extensively throughout Australia. A group of 6 of us left for a road trip from Brisbane --> Sydney --> Melbourne (Lisa Cait, Oliver, Lizzy, Jeremy, Nathan, and me). While the trip didn't go exactly as planned (how often do trips actually go as you planned them though?) it was still a memorable experience. While we didn't make it to Girraween (like we wanted to, since there are amazing granite formations there) we made it to the Blue Mountains and took an amazing hike through one of the gorges. The landscape was breathtaking there, and we passed through all different kinds of habitats, from fern covered rainforests to the rocky tops of ridges. It really amazed me that it could all be encompassed in one hike.

Caption: Megan, Nathan, Lisa Cait, Lizzy, Oliver, and Jeremy under a waterfall somewhere in the Blue Mountains. (13 June 2012)

Of course we made it to a few other places besides Blue Mountains. We stopped at Seal Rocks and the Sugarloaf Pt. Lighthouse, all of which was cool. We also decided to try and find some huge eucalpytus, and went in search of the towering Ada Tree in Victoria Gippsland. Unfortunately we never found it, but we did manage to find some other pretty large ones.

Caption: We look so tiny in this picture compared to the towering trees!

Sadly, after we hit Melbourne Oliver and Lisa Cait had to split ways with us. But Nathan, Jeremy, Lizzy, and I continued onto Tasmania, where we spent a week camping and hiking through as many national parks as possible. It was quite cold (okay, it was really cold), but I try and tell myself it only made the trip even more memorable. We started out in Hobart, and went to Mt. Field (for the Tall Trees Walk and spectacular waterfalls), Lake St. Clair, Cradle Mountain, Freycinet Peninsula, and the Tasman Peninsula. I think we also got up for every sunrise and watched every sunset. This made us all extremely sleep deprived, but when you're in one of the most beautiful places in the world it's just something you have to do! While Cradle Mountain was a great hike, I will always remember Cape Raoul. While it's listed as one of the Great Short Walks, it doesn't seem to be a very popular one. But the coastal cliff views were breathtaking. Every time I look at my pictures I still can't believe it was real.

Caption: A sample of some of the cliffs at Cape Raoul. This was the view from where we stopped to eat lunch.

After coming back to the mainland Jeremy and Lizzy split off to travel in New Zealand for a week. Nathan and I continued onto Adelaide via the Great Ocean Rd. We took our time and spent about 4 days on the road. We saw the 12 Apostles, London Bridge, and all those coastal rock formations. We also made sure to visit Tower Hill, Mt. Gambier, Crater/Blue Lake, etc. As we passed through the state it was amazing to see the changes of the landscape. We knew we were getting close to Adelaide when we hit wine country!

Caption: Nathan and I at the 12 Apostles. It was very windy and raining, but still gorgeous!

After Adelaide Nathan and I split off and I started an epic journey through Australia. In a week and a half I went from Adelaide-->Alice Springs (via Uluru, Kata Tjutas, Kings Canyon)--> Cairns with a rideshare. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and I loved it! It wasn't until this part of my travels that I felt like I had truly experienced the "Outback" of Australia that I had always heard about. Sure, I had seen some pretty remote parts of the country going through NSW and Tasmania, but it wasn't anything like the vast emptiness of SA and NT. We often traveled for hours at a time without seeing any other signs of human civilization. No towns, no cars, not even any power lines. It was just us and the road. But I never got bored looking out the window. Sure, it was often just hours of red dirt and scrub, but I found that when I looked long enough I could see changes in the landscape. In some places the bushes were pathetic, scrubby little things. In others, the dry acacia trees blew gently as we drove by. I saw groves of Xanthorrea that somehow managed to grow to heights above my head (true, I'm not that tall), towering termite mounds, and magnetic rocks. Wild horses, wedgetail eagles, and dingoes were not uncommon sights. The Outback has so much to see and experience and feel I don't understand why it has often been portrayed as a desolate wasteland in literature and film. But I think the greatest part of this trip was that I finally understood everything John had talked about all quarter. Not that I didn't absorb his lectures during the course--but there's a difference between learning about something in theory and seeing pictures, and then actually standing in the dry, red dust peering at a tree that has blackened and burned bark.

Even more exciting, I wrote my Australian habitat paper on Lake Eyre, and I actually got to visit it! I totally nerded out when we got there and could hardly contain my excitement for visiting this place. I didn't see any of the flocks of birds or really any wildlife there, but the novelty of visiting an ephemeral lake still had me tickled.

Caption: It doesn't look too impressive, but I promise this is Lake Eyre, with water in it!!

I also had the privilege to spend a day at Uluru, where I got to view the sunset and sunrise at the majestic rock. The place has something truly special and spiritual about it. Thinking about the geological formation of the rock along with the Aboriginal significance of the place really gave me a new appreciation for it.

Caption: Sunset at Uluru. It was freezing cold! But well worth it.

As much as I like Uluru though, I almost though the Kata Tjutas were more majestic. I took a short hike into the Kata Tjutas and spend about half an hour just sitting and admiring the color of the rock. Kings Canyon was also very beautiful, and I watched the sun rise over the valley from the top of the canyon.

On our way to Cairns we stopped at Redbank Gorge. I had never heard of this place before, but I am so glad we stopped there. This was probably one of my favorite walks, and I decided that between this place and Carnarvon, I love the gorges of Australia!

Caption: Unfortunately I don't have a good enough camera, but the red color of the rocks was unbelievable.

Somehow we managed to blast our way through NT and made it to Cairns from Alice Springs in about 2 days. I got to spend a few days in Cairns, but unfortunately I had to return to Melbourne in time for the start of the new semester. I am already planning my travels for the end of my semester here though, and cannot wait to get back on the road again. Darwin, Perth, and Exmouth (particularly for the Ningaloo reef) are on my list of places in Australia I still want to visit. Hopefully I'll be able to see it all, and more!

I apologize for the length (and size) of this post, but I really wanted to share how deeply I appreciate and have come to love everything I learned from my time at UQ. I feel so blessed to have gotten the chance to put all my new knowledge into perspective, and truly learn about this country in every aspect--from ecology, to geology, to culture.

Because of the knowledge of Australia that has been imparted and curiosity inspired within me from spring quarter, I have been able to experience this wonderful country in a way that I would have not been able to otherwise.

This entry still doesn't even really do my experiences justice. I wish I had the eloquence (and time) to make this a better post. I still have so many other amazing experiences I'd like to record down before they fade from memory, but for now this will have to do. Perhaps someday I'll go back and re-write this so it's a proper work.

I'm not dead yet

ippoddity — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:21:45 GMT

This is just a post to reassure you guys that I haven't forgotten about journaling my Australian experience. The last two weeks have just been exceptionally busy and full of new experiences with not very much internet access. For example, I just got back from a backpacking trip in the very remote wilderness (we had to hike in all our water and pee in the bushes), so there was no chance of internet there. I assure you though, I have a ton of posts queued up to be posted, I just need to finish them all, haha.

Things to look forward to reading about:

Heron Island Research Station
Shelley Beach Camping Trip
Australian Homestay

And probably a few more, but I can't remember them right now. Lots of random thoughts occur to me as I'm traveling around and I want to explore some of them more in depth but I need the time. I'm at homestay for another week or so though, so I'll try to finish them all during this time!

Australia: Day 1

ippoddity — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:36:24 GMT

March 25, 2012

I already wrote a bit about what happened the first day I got here. Basically we all had some bonding time and explored Brisbane proper a bit. I managed to learn everyone's name in the first day. Everyone is super nice and chill, probably on account of the fact that 9/16 people are from UCSC. I don't feel an immediate connection to anyone despite the fact that I actually don't dislike anyone either! But, we all share a passion for animals and marine bio, so there's no shortage of things to talk about.

I have to say, there is something to be said of being surrounded by people who love the same things you do. One of the guys here is actually pre-vet. We can all sit around and totally geek out about animals and fish and ecology without being judged. And now, I am free to make my "weird" observations, and they're not actually weird. When one of us sees something cool, we all go running over to check it out because we're all just as curious. Sometimes I feel like when I'm at school or at home I can't look at things too closely or people will think I'm weird. Or, they just don't understand why I would even bother looking. But now, it's not even a problem.
Actually, if anything, I feel pretty incompetent. Most of these people are marine bio majors and they have an extensive knowledge of EVERYTHING, from ocean chemistry to Latin names of flora and fauna. They all ask intelligent questions and I have no idea what they're talking about half the time. Not to mention everyone here is such an overachiever! They all work/volunteer in labs that are doing legitimate interesting research--and they're all actually conducting some of it. Some of them volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the marine mammal center that's near Santa Cruz. All of them are SCUBA certified, because apparently a lot of their marine bio classes require it. One of the guys is actually a dive master, with 270 dives under his belt. HOLY CRAP! They can get certified through their school though. Why don't we have something like that? The other pre-vet guy goes to Berkeley and already has his >3000 hrs of vet experience. Even the other girl from SD (who is a Environmental Studies major) is crazy. She works 20+ hrs a week, has an internship, works in a lab, and has set up a research opportunity at UQ she can do while she's here. Another girl from Berkeley just got back from an internship in South Africa working with sharks and she'll be heading to Costa Rica once this program is done. EVERYONE HAS DONE SO MUCH COOL STUFF AND I'VE DONE NOTHING.

What am I doing with my life?

The Journey Begins...

ippoddity — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:00:13 GMT

*Note: I wrote a lot of these posts awhile ago, but I'm only just posting them now.

March 23, 2012--

6:05p: I leave my family at the security gate. I won't see them for 8mo. Somehow I manage to do this without tears. It occurs to me how awkward I am at giving hugs. After going through I don't look back because I know I will cry.

6:10p: already thru security. They have a freakin' yoga lounge there. I consider going into it, but my flight boards at 6:15. Gotta get to my gate.

6:25p: I'm in the last boarding group and stand there, waiting with my backpacks on. Time to go to LA.

6:45(ish): I turn off my phone, so I don't know what time it is anymore. But my flight is supposed to leave around now. I vow not to fall asleep because I need to save my sleep for my long flight.

8:05p: we touch down in LA. I don't even remember taking off. Apparently I fell asleep. Damn. Now I gotta find the gate for my connecting flight. According to the website it's in another terminal. I hope I don't get lost.

8:10p: I asked a ticketing agent where I was supposed to go and she pointed me to a gate only 5 away from the one I came out of. And lo and behold, it's the right one. Well, that was easy. Now, to entertain myself for 3 hours.

8:15p: I'm all settled in and I realize there's no free wifi or cell service here. Or electrical outlets. What heck LAX?! You're a huge international airport! The only outlets are 4 "mobile charging stations" and those only have 4 outlets each.

8:25p: after walking the entire terminal I settle down in a gate that at least has cell phone service. I decide to take out my computer and try for wifi even though my phone won't connect. And what do you know?! I somehow connect to the Internet! Thank god. Now I can waste 3 hours on Facebook.

10:59p: somehow those 2.5 hrs pass by altogether too quickly. I say my unsatisfactory goodbyes to those I was chatting online with and then go to my gate.

11:05p: the plane starts boarding. Holy shit guys, I'm going to Australia

11:25p(ish): once again, I don't have my phone so I don't know exactly what time it is. Turns out my seat is on between 2 middle aged Australian guys who came to orange county for a week for business. It's awkward cause they know each other and I'm squished in between them. They're nice enough though and tell me a bit about Queensland and Melbourne. Apparently they also spent their last night in the States in Las Vegas and had a bit too much fun. There's nothing in Australia even remotely like it, they say. And, I learn the flight is only 13hrs! Hooray! The online ticket was wrong.

After 11:50p: the plane takes off. I l is it takes offsite because it takes forever. My neighbors tell me that it isn't too hard to adjust to Australian time, provided I dont sleep for the first 5-6hrs. I'm super tired, but that might be possible thanks to a messed up sleeping schedule from finals and a good selections of movies to watch.

Sometime later: "dinner" is served and I decide to watch "the artist" first since its a silent film. I've been wanting to see it for awhile and I figure I better watch it early, while I'm still awake enough to watch the silent film. I can hardly finish my dinner though because my body is rebelling against eating at such an abnormal hour. I force myself to finish though, b/c the next meal won't be served for 10 hours.

2:30a: the artist wasn't bad, although not as good as I thought it would be. The dog is adorable though! Just like my doggie. :) Drive is up next because I feel myself getting sleepy and I figure I need an action film to keep myself going.

3:00a: so... This movie is not an action film at all. But I like it. And I finally understand why people think Ryan gosling is hot. He's pretty cool in this movie. Didn't really like him in the notebook though.

4:00a: I get in trouble for writing this on my phone because the flight attendant thinks I'm texting. Whoops! Haha.

4:30a: I really liked Drive! I wish I could have heard it better though. But the earphone jack is 2-pronged and my earbuds are not, so sound only comes out one ear. Seriously getting sleepy but I decide to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy instead of sleeping. I've been wanting to see this movie for awhile.

5:00a: I have no idea what's going on because every time I blink I fall asleep. I try to fight it, but to no avail. Might as well give in then!

6:35a: the movie ends. I slept thru the whole thing. I will rewatch it when I wake up. Again. Why am I so hot?

9:39a: after a few fitful hours I sleep my neighbors get up to use the bathroom and I use the opportunity to do so too. I'm still tired, but they're not sleeping so I decide to listen to the radio. As I'm flipping they the channels I hear a lot of tall radio (don't bother to listen to what they're talking about) and one popular music channel. And then some cheesy love music, but the host is talking about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Sukiyaki by () comes on. It was the one song he could karaoke in Japanese. It only reminds me of NSU banquet last year. I'm so sad going to be missing this year's.

11:18a: I start Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy over again. It already makes much more sense. The guy next to me is looking out the window and while there's still nothing to see the sky is a dark dark blue instead of pitch black.

12:00p: they serve us breakfast. I get the hot breakfast even though I'm not really hungry and I know it's going to be those plastic scrambled eggs. The spinach is a green unrecognizable mush. But the dude next to me eats everything like there's no tomorrow. He did the same tying with dinner. By now my movie still doesn't make much more sense, but the Australian sky is beginning to lighten considerably. I can see clouds!

1:00p(ish): So yeah. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy didn't make any sense. I think it's cause I can barely hear their British accents through these earphones. I'm pretty tired and my knees are starting to feel oddly stuck in a bent position. I don't know how those large men on either side of me are doing it.

1:30p: The pilot tells us that we are beginning our descent. The sky is light enough now that I can make out shapes and find the contour of the land. I catch my first glimpse of Australia! I can't help but think that for the men next to me it's a homecoming, but for me it's something completely foreign.

1:50p: We land in Brisbane! It's the smoothest landing in a plane I've ever experienced. I was chatting with my neighbor and didn't even notice when the wheels touched down. The descent into the airport was amazing. I got some really good views of sandbars, mangroves, and the clear blue waters.

2:10p: I meet up with the guy who was sitting in front of me, who also happens to be on the program. There were also 2 other people on our flight and we meet up in the customs line. I have to drag my heavy baggage through and I'm feeling a little self-conscious about how much I brought. But then I'm reminded that I'm here for 5 more months than everyone else, and I only have a duffel bag more than they do.

2:15p: We make it through customs (I had to declare my Girl Scout cookies that I brought for my host family) and meet up with the rest of the group that has already arrived! We sit and wait around for another few hours for the rest of the people to get in. Everyone is super tired and hot (from dragging baggage around), but we're all excited and happy to be here. It's 7:15a local time in Brisbane.

My day isn't even close to ending because they want us to get used to the time change. I won't bore you with every little detail of everything we did, but I didn't go to sleep until around 11p. After most of the group arrived we took taxis back to a hostel called Brisbane Backpackers. We got our rooms, dropped off our stuff, and then got to know each other a bit while waiting for lunch to be served. We then headed into the city, escorted by one of our professors, John. He's the terrestrial ecology expert, with a focus on plants. Brisbane is such a cute city. We walked through the street market, there was a free museum, and then we wandered around the city proper. I bought myself a 3mo cell phone plan and exchanged some of my money for Australian tender. Their money is so pretty! Once we were done running errands we headed back to the hostel for dinner and sleep.

I'm writing this only a few days after the fact, but so much happened (and I was so sleep deprived) I probably have only captured a fraction of what actually happened. There are only 16 of us on the program (there's normally 30-40) so I think by the time this trip is over we'll all know each other pretty well. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

My New Year's Resolutions and What's Become of Them

ippoddity — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:03:16 GMT

So I realize I'm posting this practically 4 months after the fact, but I thought I should record it anyway. I generally don't make New Year's resolutions because I feel like one should always be striving to better themselves in all aspects and it shouldn't just be a thing you decide to do once a year. But this year I made a change and decided to set some goals for myself. They may seem a bit odd (and probably more than a bit selfish), but there are legitimate reasons why I chose these.

1) Say "No" more often and don't let yourself get taken advantage of.

Ever since I got to college it's become increasingly apparent to me that every man is out on his own. Literally. No one goes out of their way to help others, so why should I? After being involved with clubs for the past few years (to extremely frustrating results), I just don't think it's worth my time to be nice to people anymore. If they don't deserve it then they're not getting it. Last year especially I did a lot of things for a lot of people, and then never received any gratitude in return. I'm tired to holding people up, so now they gotta deal with their own shit. If it doesn't benefit me, then I won't do it. Simple as that. I'm busy enough as it is, so I don't want to worry about trying to finish other people's work too. This isn't to say that I've gone completely heartless and I've stopped helping people altogether. My friends and family are very important to me and I will do anything i can to support them. My "Say no" policy has been working pretty well I think, and although I was still suckered into quite a few things, it wasn't nearly as much as it could have been. And I'm happier now that I've taken the time to do stuff for me, and not others.

2) Journal more often.

I would really like this journal to be a cache of events for myself, even if it's only recording mundane things. Not too long ago I looked back at some of my old posts and I literally don't even remember writing them. But after reading them I can see what was affecting me at the time and how I felt. And I think I should remember these things. I know I've done a horrible job of journaling so far, but now that I'm studying abroad in Australia it's especially important that i can remember everything! This journal should be a treasure trove of thoughts, adventures, and feelings.

So there we have it! Internet doesn't work especially well here on Heron Island, so I will probably make multiple posts at once. And during the next 3 months we are taking several field trips out into the wilderness where there's no internet at all. But I will still journal it all!

Cool Beans, cool beans

ippoddity — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:55:29 GMT

Summer has passed. Another year of school has started. I'm nearly finished moving into my new on-campus apartment, and I love how snazzy and wonderful it feels to have a place I can call my own. Although the room is quite a bit smaller than the one I had last year in the dorms, there is plenty of living space added by the living room and kitchen areas, which I appreciate very much. Additionally, my room isn't cluttered by the massive amounts of junk that I own, due to the even more massive amount of storage place in this apartment. With a huge storage closet, and multiple cabinets of varying sizes, this place is awesome for hiding stuff! Needless to say, I rather love storage.

Anyway, what I love even more about my apartment this year is the people I'm living with. My roommate kalliel and apartment-mate Chang were just in the living room, belting out the (original) Pokerap. Apparently, they both tried to memorize this song at one point. As for me, the only part I know is the very end.

"Charmeleon, Wartortle,
Mewtwo, Tentacruel, Aerodactyl,
Omanyte, Slowpoke,
Pigeot, Arbok, That's all folks!"

It makes me a bit sad I don't know more than that. However, I shall have to make-do with this knowledge, and take solace in the fact that I can always ask my apartment-mates for the rest of the words. Things like this make me so happy, because I know that is definitely wouldn't have happened last year. I couldn't even mention Pokemon, much less start singing the Pokerap.

In other news, kalliel has caught me in her meme. So, I will likewise try and capture you. If you are reading this, you are tagged! And you must do the meme. TAG! Take a picture of you in your current state, no changing your clothes or quickly putting on makeup. NO PHOTOSHOP. Show your f-list the real you!

Unfortunately, there is no Mika in the background, unwittingly captured by my camera. In fact, I think she was singing the Pokerap in the living room.

I foresee a good year ahead of me.

What is Technology Doing to Us?

ippoddity — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:35:46 GMT

Hm, so despite the fact I said I would be posting here more often, and updating you what I had done this summer, I still have not. XD I'm sorry, but apparently, I need to get my priorities straight. Look forward to a rather long, rambling, and boring post sometime in the next few weeks. But knowing my track record, that might be sometime in the next few months.

Anyway, before I do a real update, I thought I would post this article here. I found it extremely interesting:

Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain

I have to say, I really wouldn't mind embarking on a trip like this. Spending a week (or more), out in the wilderness, away from everything seems like it would be a nice change of pace. Despite the fact that I love my friends and honestly like to be involved in their lives, it all gets to be a bit too much sometimes. With websites that have constant streaming feeds of information, like Facebook and Twitter, it makes me feel overwhelmed. Do I really need to know that you "just woke up! Gonna make myself some yummy breakfast soon!"? I'm sorry, but, no!! Before the advent of social networking status messages, did people really tell each other this? I highly doubt it. So, I think there's no reason for it now.

For about the first half of the summer, I was pretty much absent from social networking sites. With so much other stuff going on, I practically forgot it existed, which was actually nice. But then, I realized that during the summer is the time to catch up with people, since I could actually have a chance of seeing some of them, now that I was back home, so I connected myself back into it. But, instead, I haven't actually seen anyone, and I've forced myself back into the bad habit of checking my Facebook news feed every few minutes. That isn't what I need! And like I said before, most of the updates are rather useless anyway. But I find myself strangely addicted to knowing exactly what is happening every minutes. Same thing goes for email. When email was the most popular method of communication, I had my email client open all the time. And I checked it like, every 5 minutes. So, like the article said, the internet does seem to have some addicting qualities. Also, I think that since I've gotten more "technologically savvy", I've gotten more ADD. I used to be able to sit down, and finish a project (like homework), in 1 sitting. Now, I'm off on the Internet every 5 minutes. I know it's horrible and does nothing for my productivity, but I can't seem to help myself! Maybe I need some intervention.

I guess I sort of felt like I wouldn't be spending much time on the Internet once I got back to school (which is entirely not true), so I would do it during the summer. Now, I'm sort of wishing I just stayed off. I need a break. But not really from LJ. I rather like it here.

And I'm off to check my Facebook again.

Wallpaper Meme!

ippoddity — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:11:15 GMT

Thank you kalliel for making me do this. However, my desktop is woefully boring. Except for the picture, which is rather pretty, but obscured by my hard drive.

1. Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper on their LiveJournal.
2. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
3. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

The picture of the sunset is beautiful. I love the ocean. I sort of miss being within walking distance of a beach. This wallpaper reminds me of the freedom of going where I want to go, when I want to go. I like the serenity of the waves.

Excuse me for sounding all oddly wistful and poetic, but it's pretty much the reason why I'm using this wallpaper.

Also, because I feel like need to show off, the UCSD Geisel Library vs. Inception fortress pic!!

March Movie Madness! (in August)

ippoddity — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:23:29 GMT

I know I've gotten woefully behind on these entries (and I honestly had very good intentions about keeping up with it). Obviously, that hasn't happened, and I had quite a few entries backlogged to post. This is one of them, and.... it's an entry about spring break. XD That was only... 5 months ago. (wow, I really am behind!)

So much has happened in the past few months that I won't bore you with it all, but this entry just had to be posted. It took me like, 1.5 hrs to type it! It's a very long entry. Over 3000 words! Which of course means, you don't have to read the entire thing. It's way too long for any sane person to read. So, if you would like to be bored, please continue with the entry.

And now, the Me From 5 Months Ago:

March Movie Madness!

So, I spent a good deal of my spring break quite happily parked in front of a television, watching movies. Unlike other ~~social~~ people, I was actually quite happy about this. Honestly, my ideal break would be spent with friends, watching movies the entire time. Unfortunately, my movie selections weren't as nicely varied as what I watched during winter break. In my defense though, I was limited to what the CV library had. It was good enough for me though, because I'm so pitifully behind on movies that the library seemed like a gold mine. Anyway, like I did last break, I thought I would keep track of what I watched, and my thoughts/reactions to the movies.

Memento
Wow. Just, wow. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christopher Nolan, so I like this movie too. Not as good as the Prestige, I felt, but this was one of his earlier films. I give Nolan props for making this film in the first place. I think I have a thing for psychological thrillers. I'm not even entirely sure if this movie falls under that category though. It's practically a category all on its own.
I LOVE the premise and plot of the film. It's based off the short story Memento Mori by Jonathon Nolan, Christopher Nolan's brother. (Side note: I think these two make a great team.)
Lenny is a man who has short term memory loss. He sustained the injury in a home invasion, in which his wife was raped and killed. Sadly, this is the last thing he remembers. So, with his "disability", he sets out to find the man who raped and killed his wife, so he can exact revenge. However, since every time his mind "resets", and he can't remember anything that happened before his wife's death, he has come up with a rather interesting way of keeping himself in the loop. He uses a panoramic camera (I wish they still sold these) to remind himself of things, and he leaves notes for himself everywhere. There's tons of little things about this movie that keep you watching, but after awhile, you start to feel like you're not smart enough to understand everything that's going on. The ending was quite literally mindblowing to me. Oh! Also, if you rent the DVD, check out the DVD menus! They're creepily in theme with the film. (Watch them closely, because small things change!) Anyway, I would totally watch this movie again, even though I know the ending. I bet there are small things I didn't notice the first time, because I was busy being flabbergasted.

Hamlet 2
Normally I don't like movies like this, at all. They seem so stupid, and... quite honestly like a total waste of money. Maybe it's because I watched it with Chelsea, or maybe it's because it was break and I turned my brain off, but I like this movie a lot! It was totally stupid, had a billion horrible gags, and had no characterization/character growth, but it was still good. Dana Marschz is an out of work, failure of an actor, so he teaches drama at a high school in Tuscon, AZ. The drama program is pretty much a failure, with only two students. When the school undergoes budget cuts, the first thing to go are the arts programs. In a desperate attempt to save drama, Marschz writes a play to rally his students together. The play itself really is quite horrible, there's no denying it. It's a musical sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet, and to get around the fact that everyone dies in Hamlet, Marschz has come up with the wonderful plot device of a time machine. Yeah, like I said, stupid. But anyway, I think the movie did have some redeeming moments. Nothing stellar comes to mind, but as a whole, it somehow managed to come together. Either that, or my movie tastes are seriously dying.

Defiance
Intense. Movie. That about sums up this movie to me. You really have to be in the mood for a survival war film to see this. The first time I tried watching the film, I was also trying to do something else, and so once I got about an hour in, I had no idea what was happening, and I didn't really care. I stopped watching it, and restarted from a beginning a few hours later, when I could properly sit down and watch. Once I did that, the story opened up to me. The story of the Bielski brothers is absolutely amazing to me. The Bielski's are Jewish brothers, who hid out in the Belarussian forests from Nazis. During this time, they gain other Jewish followers, and end up building a village in the forest. It's really quite amazing what these men did.
Daniel Craig was incredibly scary looking in this movie. One word comes to mind. INTENSE. His face, was just... INTENSE! the whole time. But I think all the actors did a really good job. Liev Schreiber (Keppler from CSI!) was just as good as Craig. I honestly felt invested in the story of the Bielskis. I think Asael was my favorite. His personality was just adorable. Anyway, I think the actors even did a fairly good job with their Russian accents and dialogue. Of course, I am in no way an expert in Russian, but it sounded okay to me. In any case, they weren't cheesy. I don't think a movie of this magnitude could get away with bad accents. To be fair, some characters, like Isaac Malbin, didn't have very good accents, and even the main actors slipped out of the accent a bit when they were yelling. I was thinking about it though, and it would be hecka hard to keep an accent when you were yelling at the top of your lungs! I sort of tried to do it with a British accent, and miserably failed.

Stardust
So, I pretty much wanted to see this movie ever since I went to Comic Con and Neil Gaiman was there announcing its creation. I didn't actually get around to reading the book until winter break though, and I wanted to read it before I watched it. The movie wasn't horrible, but I practically consider the movie and book to be two separate entities. While I realize a movie will never be as rich and complex as the book, Stardust's movie adaptation left more than a little to be desired. It had wonderfully cheesy special effects, and the world of Wall and beyond the Wall were mere shadows of what they were in the novel. Which is why I decided to think of the movie and book as totally and completely separate. Like um, the movie just happens to have the same character names and basic plot, but characterization and actions are completely different. Sort of like fanfiction, I think. Anyway, Charlie Cox was adorably and wonderfully dorky as Tristan. And somehow, he looks way better with long hair than with short hair (and I usually hate guys with long hair).

Tropic Thunder
Yes, I am aware how incredibly STUPID this movie is. But, I found myself strangely entranced by it. I couldn't stop watching, even though I knew I should. I love how Steve Coogan (who I just saw in Hamlet 2) was also in this film. And of course, he played an absolute idiot. Tom Cruise was surprisingly good in this movie too. Prior to this, I always thought he had a large stick shoved up his butt. I thought he was so uptight. But I'm afraid that world view has been shaken. I'm quite sure what to think about him now. Matthew McConaughey was laughably himself. I tend not to like him as an actor, because he ALWAYS plays the same kind of character. Now, he's not necessarily bad at these roles, but it does get tiresome. Honestly though, I really watched the movie for Robert Downey Jr. I was on a RDJ kick, and still am. I find the man intensely intriguing, and so was his character Kirk Lazarus! Man, he was probably one of the funniest parts of this movie. I loved his vaguely racist comments. Anyway, I.... got way too sucked in, and decided to watch the movie with the actor commentary. I was only going to watch a few minutes, but then I got sucked into that too! The commentary thing was pretty funny though. Jack Black got there late, and spent like, the first 20 minutes chowing down on a burger. And then RDJ did the whole commentary STILL in character as a black man. Hee. That was pretty hilarious too. In like, the baddest way possible. As the whole, the movie was incredibly vulgar, racist, and off the top, but for some reason, I still enjoyed the stupidity of it all.

Young Frankenstein
I had seen some of this way back when in Brit Lit when we read Frankenstein, and I knew that I had to see the entire thing. I love those lame comedy movies from that era (gotta love Mel Brooks!), and I just added another movie to my list. I mean, I LOVE Men in Tights (much more than I should, anyway). I still want to see Blazing Saddles and Springtime for Hitler. Anyway, that's a topic for another time. Young Frankenstein had some classic scenes, such as the "It's Alive!!", switching of the brains, and my favorite, the tap dancing Monster. Ahh, great things. At times I felt the gags getting a little tiresome, but I think a movie like this sort of depends on gags. I would watch this again though, if only to see the monster dancing!

Alice in Wonderland
Do I like Tim Burton? Yes, I do. Was this movie amazing? Not really. I was hoping it would be, but I wasn't blown away at all. The graphics were very cool, I'll admit (something to go see while high), but... the storyline was amazingly lacking. I don't think I was as invested or interested in the story as I would have been, had I read the actual book. And... I didn't. As a result, I took a lot of things for granted, and had to accept a lot of things as just "stuff that happened". And I don't really like movies like that. Movies should create realistic, practically tangible, whole worlds. And Alice in Wonderland didn't live up to that expectation. Oh, btw, Helena Bonham Carter's blown up head freaked me out. And I could hardly understand the Mad Hatter's accent some of the time (and it freakin' changed all the time too! One moment he was Scottish, and the next he wasn't. What was up with that?)

The Runaways
I went to see this with my cousin (of all people). You know how I said I was on a RDJ kick? Well, he was on a Dakota Fanning kick. (I know, go figure, right?) I was a bit reluctant to see the movie because of my extreme distaste for Kristen Stewart, but the movie wasn't bad. Dakota Fanning's singing chops weren't as stellar as the reviews made it out to be, but I didn't really have anything to base them off of, I guess. I honestly have never heard a Joan Jett song (as far as I'm aware), so I didn't really know any of the story at all. In terms of "woman power!" it wasn't a bad story. Joan Jett was/is a very strong, go-get-it kind of girl. And I like those kinds of people. The whole world of underage drinking/drugs/sex was sort of disturbing to me, but I think it was supposed to be. Rockstars are some seriously messed up people. And I know you're wondering, what did I think of Kristen Stewart? Well, she wasn't bad, I'll admit. If Stewart is good at anything, it's at playing depressed, stubborn, "go fuck yourself" kind of people. And that's exactly what she did. I still maintain that she doesn't "act", she just "is". Oh, if only I could make a living like that.

Rent
I've been wanting to see this movie ever since it came out in theaters (and I even remember seeing the commercials). Unfortunately, that never happened. I really wanted to see it just for Jesse L. Martin. LAW & ORDER MAN, LAW & ORDER. I love Detective Green!! I know there are a lot of people who don't like Rent, but I actually liked it. I liked how they used the original Rent cast in the movie. Tracie Thorns (from Cold Case) has an AMAZING voice, something I didn't expect. She can really belt it out though. For her supposedly "amazing" voice, I didn't find Idina Menzel much of a stand out. Certainly she has a strong voice, but... I wasn't super impressed. There's having a strong, loud voice, and then there's having range, clarity, and depth. I find that more impressive. All in all, I found myself invested in the plight of the characters (Angel!), and in the end, that's all that matters from a film. Oh, and I didn't like Rosario Dawson as much as I think I should have.

The Soloist
ROBERT DOWNEY JR!!! Of course, right? He's just as good playing an everyday guy as he is playing a superhero. He was completely believable, and um... I have no more words. Oh, and of course, Jamie Foxx was excellent too. He certainly has a knack for playing musically gifted people. Or maybe it's because he is one himself. Slightly sappy, but I would see the movie again! (As with, just about every other movie on this list... I think I'm getting less picky.)

I Am Sam
What to say about this movie that hasn't already been said? It's one of Dakota Fanning's first movies that got her into the spot light, it's about a sensitive issue, it has Sean Penn... Sean Penn, of course, was amazing as Sam. Playing a mentally retarded man, I think actor's tend to go over the top, but I found his performance completely believable. Perhaps that's just me being optimistic and not knowing enough able handicapped people though. Dakota Fanning aptly played the intelligent, endearing, little girl. And the story was so sad! But at least it had a "happy" ending. But everything he had to go through to get his little girl back... makes me tear up just thinking about it. Sort of. This movie is something that is an experience. Although, whether or not I would experience it again is up to debate. I loved the movie, but it put me through so many emotions (and some bits were a bit tedious), that I don't know if I would do it again. I do think people should experience it for themselves though.

Bad Translator!!

ippoddity — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:36:17 GMT

Currently, I think this thing is the greatest invention ever. Don't click on the link unless you have a lot of time on your hands though, because it's addicting.

The Awesomeness!

It's so freakin' awesome! I should probably tell you what it is, huh? Well, it's a really bad translator. You know how you use those internet translators, and they usually just come out with a bunch of gobbledy-gook that doesn't make sense because it translated it word for word? Well, here's a translator that does this on purpose, but it's even better! For example, I input:

Chuck Norris doesn't eat boneless chicken. He eats chickenless bones.

And got back:

3 translations later:
Chuck Norris does not eat chicken from the bone. Eating feet chickenless.

10 translations later:
"Norris never eat chicken bones. Restaurant chickenless feet."

25 translations later:
"Norris does not eat chicken feet. No chicken restaurants."

54 translations later:
"Norris does not eat chicken feet. Okay kind."

Isn't this great?!?!?!

Oh. One of "those" people.

ippoddity — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:23:26 GMT

Yes, those people. You know who I'm talking about. They stand around in highly-frequented, public places, exclaiming and extolling the ways of God. Yeah. Them.

There's always one here, on Library Walk. He has a 10ft sign that says "Believe in Jesus", or "Give me 5 seconds, and I will show you the wonders of God", or something like that. And while he yells sometimes, he's usually not that loud. But today, we have a new Bible advocator. And he's very loud. And he says weird stuff.

I passed him this morning, just when he was starting his speech.

"I have here in my hands, a very important book! No, it's not Harry Potter, IT'S THE BIBLE!" (no joke, he really said this.)

And then I went on my way to class. When I passed him a few hours later, he was denying the existence of watchmakers. He said that the watch on his wrist was proof that God existed. Of course, the dude he was talking to was just as skeptical as I was about a watch being proof of God.

College Student: "No. The watch on your wrist was made by a watchmaker."

Bible Guy: "Was it? I don't think it was. I don't understand how these things work. So God must have made it."

College Student: "No, I understand how watches work, and it was made by a watchmaker."

Bible Guy: "Have you ever met a watchmaker? I never have. I've never met one, so how can I believe that they make watches? God made my watch."

I'm sorry, but that's probably one of the worst arguments in defense of God I've ever heard. Just because you haven't met a watchmaker, they don't exist? If that were true in every case, A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT OF THINGS WOULDN'T EXIST. I think Bible Guy could have come up with a better, more convincing argument. That was definitely not even close though. Good thing I quickly passed him, and didn't hear the rest of his argument though, because I don't think I could have listened to any more of his ludicrous statements.

Apparently, other people can though. When I passed again, another few hours later, there was a crowd of at least 50 people standing around him, listening. He gathered a following.

Wonderful. I hope he's not here to stay.

Reminders of those middle school days

ippoddity — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:33:15 GMT

I was super excited when kalliel told me that Evanescence was recording a new album. I absolutely loved this band when I first heard them, and I'm not ashamed to admit I still do! I'm (mostly) over those moody pre-teen days, but I still think Amy Lee's voice is hauntingly beautiful.

But then, I saw this article. I realize that Evanescence has been heading a new direction ever since the original members (namely, Ben Moody) left. The Open Door was drastically different than Fallen, but still good. And, it still sounded like Evanescence.I attributed it to them growing as a band. This new album they're working on seems like a drastic change though. Completely different than anything else before! I congratulate Amy Lee for moving on, but I also almost feel as if it's too much change. What made Evanescence "work" was that organic element, the one she talks about discarding. I'm afraid I have mixed reactions towards the new album now. Don't get me wrong, I still can't wait for it to come out, but at the same time, I'm afraid it'll be too different, and I won't like it anymore. (Remember Panic at Disco, anyone?)

Would I be considered an unfaithful fan if I had an urge to check out We Are the Fallen?

And it keeps going and going and going...

ippoddity — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:51:30 GMT

This is embarrassing, idiotic, and ridiculous beyond words.

What's happening now?

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

ippoddity — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:09:57 GMT

Normally, I am not into these things. I have to say I am fairly liberally and open-minded, but I usually keep my thoughts to myself, because I hate conflict. I hate starting things, and I hate getting in the middle of it. But this? This, I cannot ignore. Mostly, because I feel like it affects not only me, but the atmosphere of UCSD, and reflects on the UC system as a whole.

You may not have heard, but over President's Day Weekend an extremely racially offensive event called The Compton Cookout was held by UCSD students. (It's actually been all over the news) The event was in response to all the Black History Month activities on campus. Now, Compton Cookout wasn't on school campus or supported by the school in anyway, but nonetheless it has still reverberated throughout the entire campus, and even the UC system as a whole. You can find the description of the party
here. Of course, now UCSD is being seen as a super racist campus. This makes me sad, because now we have that "image". Additionally, it's now the end of February. College acceptances come out in the beginning of March, and because of the media hell storm, this story is going to be fresh in the minds of students (and parents) everywhere. And with those super-protective! parents that exist these days, I foresee the class of 2014 at UCSD being somewhat smaller than it would have been, had this not happened. Which makes me sad, because UCSD really is a great place.

Obviously, some major awareness and education events have been taking place over the past week, in an attempt to address this serious infraction. I feel like the Cookout might have started out being just a joke, but they went over the top. Not to mention, this was just done in extremely bad taste. Whoever even THOUGHT this would be a good idea is just an idiot. I personally know a lot of people who don't understand why the "party" was such a big deal. I can sort of see it from their point (being, "Well, it's sort of funny!"), but at the same time, NO, IT'S NOT FUNNY. These people do not even seem to realize why this is so incredibly unacceptable, especially in this day and age. There is a point where making fun of stereotypes can be done in jest. I do not think The Compton Cookout did this. While the creators of the event may not have done this to be outright racist, I think that is exactly the problem. PEOPLE DO NOT EVEN SEEM TO REALIZE HOW RACIST THEY ARE. And it is when people fail to recognize their prejudices that there is truly a problem. How can you be so ignorant as to not realize this?

So, the campus re-education thing is good and all, but I never really thought anything would happen out of it. Honestly, in the end, the people who are willing to be "educated" are those who already are. Those who don't want to be open-minded just won't be. But some attempt at change is better than none, I guess.

Now, to be perfectly honest, the Compton Cookout was usually the last thing on my mind this past week, despite all the Black Student Union demonstrations and the daily sightings of news trucks. I just never felt like it affected me that much. But now? This is TOTALLY GETTING OUT OF HAND.

Tonight, I received two emails regarding happenings spurred from The Compton Cookout. First, the extremely ~~stupid and offensive~~outspoken student publication called the Koala somehow hacked into the school-run TV station, and aired some really stupid programming.

On Thursday night, a deeply offensive and hurtful program was aired on
Student Run Television (SRTV), a service of the Associated Students.
The content of this program does not represent the views of the
Associated Students, and was aired by KoalaTV, the television show put
on by the student organization The Koala. We condemn the actions of The
Koala, its program and its content.

The Koala always says controversial things, and I think they like pissing people off. But taking over the TV station? That's just out of hand. Second, THIS. Despite it, I don't feel threatened or scared of being on campus. I never got the feeling before, and I don't have it now. I haven't met any (outwardly) racist people. In fact, most of the people I've met are rather nice. Still though, the fact that things have gotten this out of hand are RIDICULOUS. I want to know how it got to this point.

I also got an email from someone in my ochem class (he emailed the entire class), saying he honestly felt threatened on campus. Now, I totally think this guy is over reacting (especially given he's Asian, hahaha), but at the same time:

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?

Edit 2/26/10-1:30pm:
I passed by Library Walk this morning, and there was a HUGE demonstration (for UCSD anyway, because no one ever demonstrates) of people dressed in black. You couldn't walk past them. An hour later, the demonstration was even bigger, and some officials had moved them into a building off the walk. All the yelling and cheering was sort of weird.
I also got an official email from campus saying they have no idea who hung the noose in the library. Wonderful. And now, I'm getting like 5 million Facebook group invitations in reaction to all this crap. For, against, with? I haven't answered any of them. I just want this to go away, and stop being such a big deal. Talk about being blown out of proportion by all members.

Edit 2: 3/2/10
Some people are just idiots. I swear. Really, what kind of person puts a KKK hood on the statue of Theodore Geisel?

A Very Merry Unbirthday

ippoddity — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:09:21 GMT

So, yesterday was my birthday. It didn't really feel like it though, because I had an ochem midterm, which are always ~~hellish~~ fun. And I stayed up until 5am because I was studying. You know, normally, staying out until 5am on your birthday means you had a pretty wild, fun-filled night. Unless you're me, of course.

The night was made marginally better, because at midnight (when it officially turned to my birthday), my suitemates Whitney, Krista, and Marisa came into my room and surprised me. They serenaded me with the Madagascar birthday song and gave me a warm brownie with ice cream. Yum. The card they gave me was awesome too, because it had one of those toys where when you put it in water, it gets really big. Even better, it was a frog! So now I have a pet frog, named Daikon.

And then at 2am, my other suitemates Rebecca, Pia, and Caitlin surprised me by covering my bed with balloons and a poster. The balloons were really cute, because they all had messages on them. :) I had left the room temporarily to "help" one of my other suitemates with her homework (a distraction ploy!), and came back to discover the goodies. They also baked me a fresh chocolate cake! I haven't had a chance to eat it yet though. This was all super nice, because honestly, I didn't even realize when it hit midnight. And spending the first few hours of my b-day studying was not the best way to start it off.

Luckily, it ended rather nicely. I went to an NSU meeting at 7pm, and afterward spent somewhere around 5 hours talking/chilling with Mika kalliel and Chang. Honestly, I don't even remember what we talked about for such a long time, but it was nice. I think I'm going to rather enjoy living in an apartment next year.

People certainly know the way to my heart too! First of all, I love getting/sending cards. So the fact I got so many birthday cards was extremely exciting. Second, I got SO MUCH food for my birthday! A brownie cake, a chocolate cake, and my big sib from NSU MADE ME CREME BRULEE. No joke. She made it from scratch. It totally looks legit too. Jamie sent me a package with candy and my cousin sent me a Trader Joe's gift card. To top it all off, my parents sent me a huge box full of snacks/food. I'm going to be such a fatty after I finish with all of it! And of course, I finally got the chance to open the present Chelsea (latemarch ) gave me. It's been sitting on my shelf for over a week, and the suspense was killing me, even though I knew what was inside already. Despite this, just opening it made me smile. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, because I want to set aside a big block of time where I can actually read it all through at once, and enjoy the experience. I suspect I will do this in a few hours, after I start pretending it's already the weekend.

I never check my horoscope (and tend not to believe these things at all), but I always check it on my birthday. So, here's my forecast for the coming year:

IF FEBRUARY 24 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Cosmic wisdom from unlikely sources may prevent you from making a business or career mistake in the next several weeks. But the protection of friends and family cannot save you from your own flawed priorities. Pass up a new hookup or investment opportunity between now and the end of April when your gullibility is at a temporary high point. June is the best month for a vacation. July is the very best month for astute business dealings and making significant career progress.

Which is rather interesting, because in June, we're going to Hawaii for vacation/a wedding, and July is when I plan to start volunteering/working. Hopefully nothing happens to me in April though, because that was when I wanted to start doing spay/neuter clinics in Tijuana with the Humane Society... It's a good thing I don't believe these horoscopes.

I also liked this horoscope because it's comforting to know life will be easier than it has been in the past few. The only worrisome thing is that it says I'll get fat, but I'm not disputing it. It's already happening. I can only pray that I still fit into my jeans by the end of the year.

Even though it was officially my birthday yesterday, it didn't feel "birthday-like" at all, hence, it was my "unbirthday". Today, will be my honorary birthday. I've already treated myself by sleeping in until 11:30 (after going to bed at 4am even though I had 3 hours of sleep the night before) and by neglecting to do any studying whatsoever. Instead, I did laundry and cleaned. Isn't it sad that's my "treat" to myself? Oh well. Now, off to folding laundry.

Book should not = Textbook

ippoddity — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:43:08 GMT

Have I ever mentioned how much I love memes?

(sort of) Tagged by kalliel

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

The large cell is a macrophage (see Figure 6.14a). It helps defend the mammalian body against infections by ingesting bacteria (the smaller cells) into phagocytic vesicles. The macrophage crawls along a surface and reaches out to the bacteria with thin pseudopodia (called filopodia). Actin filaments interact with other elements of the cytoskeleton in these movements.

It's just sad that the closest thing to me was a biology textbook. At least it wasn't a ochem text. *shudder* That's just horrible. Of course, I suppose I shouldn't really be on LJ while I'm studying anyway, should I?

I tag you.

Straight Angles

ippoddity — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:10:45 GMT

Just a little lame something I wrote when it was raining. I love the rain, but the rain here is simply too much! Darn poorly designed campus. I haven't written in awhile, so I realize the piece doesn't make very much sense. I tried to keep within a 100 word limit too. I was also slightly depressed, if you can't tell.

Straight Angles

There is nothing about this place that is even. Dips, cracks, and bumps abound on every surface, an engineering nightmare.
Who designed it? Everything flows downhill. Down, down, down, the rivers cascade leaving nothing untouched, to gather in the uneven places. Once they reach their fill, the contents spill over, to seep in the wet. Relentless, the source is unyielding, washing over me. It's too much, and I can barely keep my head afloat.

Where are the straight angles?

Movie Recap!

ippoddity — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:24:27 GMT

This post is mostly just for myself. I sort of would like to keep track of the movies I've watched over winter break, and I guess remind myself what they were about. The movies aren't listed in any particular order (as I can't remember the order I watched them in).

Lost and Found
Girl searches for what she believes is hope in her grave condition (she has leukemia), and finds love along the way. Although not the best movie I've ever seen, there was something about it that really struck me. Perhaps this can be considered the Chinese equivalent of a chick flick? It was wonderfully sad and depressing. At the same time though, it was quite a touching sort of love story. Can it truly be considered a love story though? I'm not entirely sure. I don't even know what about this movie I liked, aside from the fact it had Takeshi Kaneshiro in it. This guy seems to love doing quirky movies, playing quirky characters. While the movie definitely didn't have to be almost 2 hours long, it was still a nice story. Hm, I'm not sure if I liked this movie more than I think. Maybe it's too late at night to tell. Have you ever noticed that movies watched late at night seem better?

Too Tired to Die
This was a pretty weird movie. I'm not entirely sure what the point was supposed to be. About a young Japanese man named Kenji who is a completely aimless and lazy person. He doesn't have a job (and doesn't seem to be intent on getting one anytime soon), lives off money sent by his parents, and spends most of the day sleeping. He has a chance meeting with Death, and she informs him he has 12 hours left to live, so he should spend those hours wisely. In the end though, I can't really tell you what he accomplished. I guess that was the point? Aimless people will be aimless forever? Not sure. While the idea is intriguing, the plot and script of this movie were really too disjointed to be a good movie, unfortunately. For example, in this movie alone, there are people speaking Arabic, Japanese, English, German, French, Cantonese, and Mandarin. WTF? And for some reason, quite a few of the characters are obsessed with France/Paris. But it's never pointed out why. WHY?! There were a few interesting tidbits of the movie regarding Death. It was pointed out she doesn't necessarily like her job, and only does what she's told. She dislikes taking away the young people, because they have such grand futures planned out for themselves. And, from what I could tell, I think she wants to be more human. She wants to be able to sleep, to dream, and to feel. But alas, she is Death. Side note: Takeshi Kaneshiro's haircut is absolutely ridiculous in the movie.

Sherlock Holmes
WHEE!! This was a pretty darn good movie! I sort of like Robert Downey, Jr, from Iron Man. I haven't seen him in anything else. But I felt played a pretty likable hero. In Sherlock Holmes, he does a good job, once again. Also, he and Jude Law hit it off pretty well. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson was very believable, and even quite cute at times. I loved Holmes's narration of his fight scenes. They just made them that more epic. I wish I could see the movie again, just so can catch all the jokes too. They were speaking quite fast at times, and with that British deadpan, it's sometimes hard to tell if they're saying something funny. The soundtrack is amazingly catchy too, and I had it stuck in my head for a day. It completely fits the tone of the movie though.

Hero
The cinematography in this film was AMAZING. So amazing in fact, it almost doesn't matter what the plot is. It's about the Qin Emperor and his quest to unite all the kingdoms of China, and those who stand in defiance of him. The fight choreography was stunning, especially the fight between Jet Li (Nameless), and Donnie Yen (Sky). Even more memorable than the fights though was the scenery. GORGEOUS. I could have sworn that the scenery was digitally altered, because there is no way places that like exist on Earth. But they really did film in these places! And now I want to travel the world even more. My favorite scenes? The leaves and the still lake. Pure beauty. Don't let the prettiness take too much away from the plot though. It is quite intriguing, in a very classic Chinese movie sort of way. I like how you don't know the truth until the very end. And even then, it's still sort of hard to figure out.

The Incredible Hulk
Even though I really really really don't like the Hulk (I think he's just revolting and nasty), I actually liked this movie quite a bit. I owe it to Edward Norton playing Bruce Banner. Even though I've only ever seen Ed Norton in Fight Club, I think the man is amazing. I always totally and completely believe his performance! Anyway, he was what I consider to be a very sympathetic Bruce Banner. I really felt sorry for the man. And while the Hulk was still pretty gross to me, the Abomination was 100 times worse. Ewwie!

Eragon
AAAAHH!! The most boring movie I have ever seen!! It really was a drag!! Bad acting, bad script, bad everything! 40 minutes into the movie, I could have sworn that it was about to over. But then I realized that there hadn't been a battle yet, and they weren't even close to battling, so I still had quite a bit more of the movie to watch. I looked back at the clock at what seemed to be an eternity later, only to realize that a mere 10 minutes had passed. Horrible!! I'm so glad the dude who played Eragon was also an idiot, otherwise, I would have felt sorry for him playing such a lame character. What was with John Malkovich playing the evil king too? I burst out laughing every time he appeared on screen. It was ridiculous!

Eat a Bowl of Tea
I thought this movie was sad, even though it had a fairly happy ending. It's about the arranged, but love-filled marriage between an Chinese-American man, and his Chinese wife. When he brings his wife back to the U.S. from China, they are presented with many challenges and situations that threaten their marriage. Even though I felt sorry for the main character man, Ben Loy, I have to admit he was a bit of an idiot and sort of lame. Also, Russell Wong just is not a good actor--at all. As for the wife? Bah. I didn't like what she did to her husband. Maybe a bit exaggerated, I thought the movie was a poignant depiction of life for Chinese immigrants in America.

The Proposal
Teehee. I am a bit ashamed to admit this, but this was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. And it was truly funny, not corny or so horrible it was funny. Sandra Bullock did a good job in the movie, but I thought Ryan Reynolds made the most ridiculous faces!! Heehee! Just thinking about his funny face makes me laugh. Admittedly, some parts of this movie were put in for unneeded laughs (an eagle stealing the puppy?), but overall, I liked it.

The Blind Side
Another Sandra Bullock movie. About the story of Michael Oher and his rise to the NFL. Definitely a touching, feel-good movie. Not usually my type of thing (especially since I know ZERO about football), but I liked it. Some parts were ridiculous, like Oher scoring a "98% in protective instincts" on a standardized school test. That's complete BS if you ask me!! Now, I don't know about you, but none of the tests I took in school ever tested me on something like "protective instincts"! What kind of schools do they have in Tennessee?!! While Sandra Bullock received a lot of praise for her role, I quite liked the kid playing Michael Oher. And surprisingly, Tim McGraw did a good job too.

Chungking Express
All I can say is: WTF? This was a frickin' weird movie. I watched it just for some Takeshi Kaneshiro action (I was quite obsessed with him for quite a while, as you can tell by the movies on this list), but he wasn't even in the second half of the movie! He just like, disappeared off the face of the planet! Quite possibly one of the oddest movies I've ever seen. I'd try to explain the plot, but there really wasn't one. As described by Netflix, " Hong Kong director Kar Wai Wong established a unique style with this cerebral film that presents two somewhat similar but ultimately unrelated stories about loneliness and disconnection in the big city. In the first story, a policeman pines after his former girlfriend and gives himself 30 days to find another woman; in the second story, another policeman catches the eye of an attractive waitress, who's intent on completely rearranging his life." I think these stories were more unrelated and dissimilar than the summation makes it out to be. This really could have been two separate movies. There were definitely some odd stalker behaviors( this girl went to this dude's apartment everyday during lunch and just like... lived in there, and the guy didn't even notice), and even odder characters. I simply don't know what to say. Highlights: Takeshi Kaneshiro played a depressed guy who ate 30 cans of pineapple all in one night, and Tony Leung Chiu Wai plays a cop who considers himself observant, but really isn't. He also talks to his household items, like his towel and soap. If anything, you should see the movie just for that. (I can't figure out why this movie is called Chungking Express.)

Once Upon a Time in China
Um. Wow. A really bad Chinese kung-fu film. The only redeeming factor was the fight scene in the end with the ladders. Jet Li is amazing. I don't really understand what the plot was, because the beginning made it out to seem like I was about to watch something epic, but it really wasn't. Jet Li is Wong Fei-Hung, a famous Chinese war hero. However, he is followed by idiots and extremely bad fighters in the movie. I'm not really sure why such a powerful man surrounded himself with such numbskulls. I HATED Aunt 13, as she was incapable of doing anything at all. I think they tried to throw everything into this movie--gangs, a love story, war, invading foreigners, prostitution ring, and evil rival swordsman-- in an attempt to appeal to people. It just ended up being a jumble of too much though.

What Dreams May Come
*sob sob* Super sad movie. It feature Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, and Cuba Gooding Jr. About a man who dies in a car accident, and goes heaven. His wife, stricken with grief, kills herself, and ends up in Hell. So he sets out to save her. The visual effects are amazing in this film, especially considering the movie was made in 1998. (Heaven is depicted as a painting). Will definitely pull at your heartstrings.

The Great Gatsby
This is probably one of my favorite books, although I couldn't really tell you why. I love Gatsby (but who doesn't), and I especially like Nick. There's something about his narration that I find very appealing. Anyway, despite the fact I love the book, I didn't really like the movie. Which is somewhat of a blasphemous remark, because the movie is a classic with greats like Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Bruce Dern in it. However, I felt like Robert Redford was too much of a manly man to be Gatsby. In my head, I sort of always imagined Gatbsy to be a bit pathetic, although still charming and endearing. And when I think "Robert Redford", I think "dashing action star", not "love-struck pining man". Ashamedly, I fell asleep near the end of the movie. I think the whining just got to be too much for me. I don't think I really missed anything though, as I filled in the rest with my head. In my opinion, the book was still way better.

The Departed
Holy. Moly. I don't think I've ever head the F-word said so many times in a movie. Seriously? Could they have dropped the F-bomb any more? It was almost ridiculous. Mark Wahlberg's character was the worst offender, so I really didn't like him. (In the end though, he turned out to be a "good guy", but it didn't really matter to me). Anyways, this was a crime drama flick about the Boston police, corruption, and it was darn intense. It was a good movie, but I'm a bit paranoid now, I think. The police are all corrupt! Either that, or they have a personal agenda! Or both! (Or, as in Mark Wahlberg's case, they're just idiots). After seeing this movie, I think I will just have to comfort myself with the fact that I do not live in Boston.

Paranormal Activity
Bad horror movie. Boring. Not scary. Not really funny either. Just.. bad. The film is supposed to be footage shot by a couple haunted by a demon. I really didn't like Katie or Micah, because they were just both freakin' stupid. The whole time, they were just antagonizing the demon thing, and they didn't really have any common sense. 40 minutes into the movie, and all that happened was a door that moved an inch in the middle of the night and a swinging chandelier. Big whoop. Also, what the heck is scary about Katie getting up in the middle of the night and standing next to the bed for 3 hours. Actually, more importantly, what was the point of that scene? It happened more than once, but as far as I can tell, it really didn't serve any purpose. It was just stupid. The movie as a whole was not really believable. Mostly because their house was unrealistic!! They are supposed to be a young couple, and Katie is going to college still, so Micah is the only one working. But their house was still amazingly huge, and exquisitely furnished. KATIE FRICKIN' DROVE UP IN A CONVERTIBLE IN THE FIRST SCENE!! Not believable at all. The most believable part was the way it was filmed. It sort of did look like a home movie. I would say, not really a horror movie worth your time unless you want to watch a boring one.

@!%!@%#%!!!!

ippoddity — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:41:58 GMT

College is making me sound like an uneducated red-neck. I swear so much now! I don't really like it either, because I feel like there are so many other eloquent ways of expressing yourself. But no. I've sort of fallen down so far that I'm reduced to swearing like a sailor. This really needs to be remedied. I don't like swearing.

However, I can say though, I think I may know why I'm swearing so much. It's because I've been super emotional lately! Like, so emotional, to the point that I can't express myself fully except by screaming. But of course, I don't scream. So, I've resorted to swearing. I've actually found myself dropping the f-bomb quite a bit, and I really don't like to hear it come out of my mouth. I used to consider crap a bad word, so f*ck is is MAJOR NO-NO.

I need to calm down, so I don't swear anymore.

So this is what a blog is used for?

ippoddity — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:04:46 GMT

I've decided I should try and post in my blog more often. After all, I have it for a reason, which is to bore the heck out of my f-list. Haha. Also, I want to see what happens when I chronicle little snippets of my life over the period of a month. Also, I wonder what will happen when I look back on this in a year or so.

So, winter quarter is fast approaching. Too fast for me, in any case. I'm at least 2 weeks behind in all my classes! But that's not the point I want to make. I'm trying to make out my schedule for next quarter, and I think I'm going to die. Really. I know for sure that I have to take Bio, o-chem, and humanities. That's already 14 credits right there. But I think I also want to take the second part of my history class, because it's Asian-American history. I'm contemplating minoring in Asian Lit/Asian studies (or something along those lines-- I haven't thought it all out yet), and I think this history class will be a good introduction into the field. But if I take that history class, that's 18 credits! And well, those are all pretty intense classes! History, maybe not so much. But, if it's anything like my history class this semester, it's going to be really intense.

Instead of the history class though (which is something I actually want to take), I might have to end up taking an o-chem lab. Which would be horrible! That would be 8 credits of o-chem. Eww!! I already hate the subject enough, and I'm not spending 6 hours a week in a lab. *sigh* These darn requirements for vet school are going to kill me! I'm really beginning to think I'm not cut out for vet school. I might have to settle with being a vet technician....

I really hope this all works out, and I can find it in myself to crack down and study!

Taiko tryouts

ippoddity — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:09:06 GMT

For the past month, I've been attending taiko tryouts in the hopes of joining Asayake Taiko. I fully understand my chances of getting into the club are about 0.0000000000000000000000000000001%, but I figured that I may as well finish what I started. So, today was the last day of tryouts. I didn't have the best performance, but it's done and over with. And I am so glad it's over with. I think aside from enjoying being introduced to taiko though, I am so glad I tried out. I feel like I've met some amazing people. I really really liked my taiko tryout group. Everyone was super nice, and in the past week, I genuinely feel like we became friends.

Out of our group of 5 (including me), I feel like I really bonded to three of them. We spent so much time practicing together, and just hanging out in general. While we certainly were not the best taiko drummers at auditions, I feel like the extra time we spent together made our performance seem more cohesive and smooth, simply because we knew each other better. Okay, maybe it's just me. I'm really proud of our group though! Regardless of whether I got on the team or not though, I am so glad I tried out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met these people!

One of those days...

ippoddity — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:48:57 GMT

You ever feel like your whole life all you've ever done is give, give, give, give, give to other people? And then the minute, the moment, the SECOND, that you actually give something to yourself, you're that "pushy little bitch who always has to have things her way"? Well, yeah. Today was one of those days. Actually, correction. This week has been one of those weeks.

Btw, death glares don't work on me. It'll just piss me off even more.

This weekend better make up for all of this crap.

(So far, I've seriously pissed off four people this week. Not bad, huh?)

What High School Has Done to Me

ippoddity — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:08:04 GMT

Mostly, I've noticed high school has affected my speech. A lot. In fact, I sound like an idiot nowadays! I didn't really think I had a large vocabulary before, I just tended to use the words that fit the situation. Of course now, I can never really say what I mean without using some type of slang. For example, I tend to say "frickin'" a lot now. I find myself saying things like, "That was FRICKIN' HUGE!!", and stuff like that. Which wouldn't be that bad ('cause I did say it before), except that I say it all the time now. But that's not even the worst of it. I think this is the greatest sacrilege here:

I'm beginning to catch myself saying "HELLA".

NOOO!!!!! I cannot believe I've succumbed to the Norcal speech affliction known as "hella". I've always said "hecka", but it never got to the point where I said "hella". Until now. The other day, I said, "It was HELLA cool!" *urk*

It makes me sad, because now I sound like a stereotypical Norcal/Bay Area girl. And that makes me feel stupid.

Top Ten in the Nation!

ippoddity — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:56:20 GMT

I don't know why I didn't post this earlier. I really should have, since it came out awhile ago. And I was so excited about it! But for some reason, livejournal slipped my mind when it came to telling the news to everyone. Well, this post directly connects to one that I made awhile ago (see: Because this is my life). I can't figure out how to directly link that page to here, so you can search for it yourself if you don't remember. Anyway, without further adieu--

www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1889754_1889752_1889749,00.html

Amazing people, simply amazing. WE MADE A NATIONAL LISTING BY TIME MAGAZINE!! Thousands (if not millions) of people in the world know what TIME is, and they read it! Dude, we are so famous. And what's even greater is that we're famous for our EPIC FAIL. That sort of just makes my day. It tickles me in every way!

A College Decision Already? No way, that would make it way too easy!

ippoddity — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:27 GMT

So, I visited UCLA for their college tour yesterday, and I went to UCSD last weekend for their Admit Day. And I have to say, now I'm more confused than ever. Before I went to UCLA, I was 99% sure that I wanted to go to UCSD. I mean, I liked the campus better, I liked the housing better, and I liked the overall feeling of UCSD better. But, after spending all day at UCLA, I have to say I'm not so sure about UCSD anymore. Maybe it's because their College Day was set up really well, maybe it's because the student tour guides are really good at their job, or maybe it's because the staff is really good at convincing people. I'm not sure. In any case, I think I like UCLA a lot more than I did before.

Initially, I thought I was going to come away from UCLA knowing FOR SURE that UCSD was the place for me. Because well, while I liked UCLA, UCSD was the place that initially struck me. But now, I'm thinking that UCLA is pretty striking too. Hopefully, this confusion and awe with UCLA will wear off soon, so I can make a decision with a clear mind.

Ahhh! This trip was supposed to make it easier to decide, not harder!