It's been a while.

I know, it has been a long time since I have posted. In my defense I have been busy with work and school and plays. Over the summer I got certified as a scuba diver and that was probably the most exciting part of my summer. This semester has been a good one. I have had some really great classes with some amazing instructors. I ran the light board for a show over Halloween and that was an incredible experience! The show was a new stage adaptation of Tell-Tale Heart. It was such an awesome show. Everyone involved was really great! Someone from that show contacted me not long after it ended its run and asked me if I would help out on a show in January so I am starting to get more and more involved with my major and it is getting exciting! I also performed in a show in November and that was a new experience. I played a twelve-year-old boy and I was alive in some scenes and dead in others. I was a projection of my character in the dead scenes and I was alive in the flashbacks. I had never acted in a play before but it was really fun. I am hoping to be able to act in another show at at some point. I recently went indoor skydiving and I have to say, I am hooked. I am hoping to do it again in the next week or so. The more I go the more experienced I get and the more likely I will get to learn how to do some tricks! Like flips and twists and all of that cool stuff. Well, I've got to go. I am writing this while working on some stuff for finals this week.

My New Favorite Activity

Slacklining!

Many of my friends know that I am the type of person that is perfectly content just chilling at home watching a good movie or playing a video game. But recently I have found myself venturing outdoors. I have always enjoyed hiking but working nights for a year and a half kind of made me not want to go outside. The sun would hurt my eyes or I would be awake while the rest of the city was sleeping.
A good friend of mine invited me to go slacklining at the park with him and a few other friends. For those of you who don't know what slacklining is, it is a bit like tight rope walking except you are walking on some webbing that is two inches wide and has a lot more give. It will swing side to side while you are walking and when you first start your body isn't used to it so your leg shakes like crazy.
 I went and let me just say after a that first day I became hooked. I wasn't even good at it. I couldn't stand up on it for a while and then getting to the point of walking seemed like it would never happen. But as time has passed and I have continued to practice at it I can now walk on it and have started to try and learn some tricks on it. It isn't easy and can sometimes be really frustrating. But I love it. I have made some new friends and have started spending my days off work outside at a park. Life is good.

We set up three lines at the park. It was the fun triangle. 

J.K. Rowling

Love her, love the speech, and of course love Harry Potter.

And by the way, some of the seniors complained that she was the one to give the speech. Stating that they could have gotten someone better. Really? Not cool.

A New Tomb Raider

I know that posting this more than a year in advance is a little bit odd. But I saw this trailer for a new video game coming out next fall and I couldn't be more excited for it. Many of you know the name of Lara Croft but every time I see the movie or anything to do with the old games I don't feel any sort of connection to the character. I guess I should state that recently I have become really involved in video games. I have always played Nintendo. Mario Kart, Zelda, Super Mario Bros. But at my old job the people I worked with played Playstation and XBox 360 and I became corrupted and I am now a gamer. Although I can say that I do not play the online games or the games that require monthly payments. Back to Lara Croft. The game series is getting rebooted and I love the direction they are taking the character. She actually looks like your average person. No tiny waste, giant chest, and no ginormous lips.

A New Life

I AM NO LONGER A CREATURE OF THE DARKNESS. After a year and a half of being a vampire I have found the cure. It wasn't an easy transition. I got some nasty sun burns since my skin was not used to seeing the light of day and I had difficulties staying up past six in the evening. But I have done it. I can now walk in the sunshine without experiencing any sort of pain. It is now possible for me to sleep along with the rest of the world. But best of all, I can hide the fact that I am a former vampire by going to school full-time. Life is good.

Some people may want nothing more than to become a vampire but I couldn't wait to earn my slot among the living.

Childhood Ends

I know this post is over a month late. In my defense this is probably the most difficult post I have written. Not because I'm telling some depressing story (ok maybe it is) but because I have to tell about the end of my childhood. When I was about ten years old I was introduced to a brand new world of witches and wizards, quidditch, and a school all about magic.

Never having been much of a reader I owe my love for books and my career choice to this series. J.K. Rowling showed me that a book doesn't have to be just words on a page. I can enter new worlds and make new friends just by reading. I found myself captivated and the rest is history. A girl who hated reading is now an English Literature major who desires to be a book editor, and like millions of others out there I waited in line for hours for both the books and the films.

When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows first came out summer of 2007 I was able to avoid the sadness and the feeling that nothing would ever be the same that came along with the end of the series because I had more movies to look forward to. Harry Potter wasn't over yet. Two more movies still had to come out. Since at that time they hadn't announced that they were splitting Deathly Hallows into two films.

As the time drew nearer for Deathly Hallows part two to be released I found myself both excited and terrified. I would finally be able to see not just read the final battle. But then it would be over. No more waiting in line all day to see the next film. No more Harry Potter themed parties where I could be a total nerd and dress up.

At 12:30 in the afternoon my sister Josie and I got in line. Yes I was in line for twelve hours to see a movie. Why does everyone think that was such a bizarre thing to do. It was Harry Potter. As I started talking to the people in line with me I realized that everyone there was just as excited for the film as I was and wanted the day to move faster but at the same time we all found ourselves wishing that it wasn't ending. I discovered that I am not the only person that has gotten teased because of an obsession over a film/book series.

Most of the people I work with don't understand why I would take a night off of work just to see a movie. I would always explain that Harry Potter is my childhood. I grew up alongside Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They were my friends growing up and still are. Too which they would explain that they are just fictional characters in a book. And continue to tell me that I am a dork to which I would respond, "I'm not a dork, I'm a nerd there's a big difference."

Back to waiting in line. While waiting in line cars would honk at us as they drove by in their air conditioned cars and make fun of us calling us, and I quote, "Nerds, get a life". We actually turned into a fun game. The group next to me went and stood at the side of the road and "cursed" the cars that drove by with their wands. And we began laughing and saying that those people were just Twihards that are jealous because they don't have as awesome fans as Harry Potter.

We played board games, shared our favorite memories and moments about the films and books. And at about 10:30 we were escorted into our theater and got to wait another two hours sitting in the theater waiting.

As the film started I was actually surprised at how silent the theater was. At every other midnight showing I have been to the audience has started cheering and screaming their heads off. But not this time. You could feel the anticipation. The movie was awesome. Of course it was. A few minor things bothered movie but you can't please everyone completely. I was surrounded by the sounds of sniffling. It started when the Professors start to defend the school and got a bit ridiculous when Snape died. But that was one of the best parts. A bunch of teenagers and college students all getting teary eyed over a movie. It, was, awesome!!!

I am still a bit depressed that I no longer have anything Potter related to look forward to. I have tried to fill the void with video games and new books. But I have realized something. Nothing can take the place of Harry Potter. Nothing can be better than spending twelve hours in line for a movie. Or staying up all night so that I can finish reading the latest book.

Thank you J.K. Rowling for creating such a magical world. And thank you to all those involved in the films for doing such an amazing job of bringing the school I wish I had been able to go to to life.

X-Men: First Class

In the year 2000 the first X-Men film was released. It was amazing. It introduced some of the most well known mutants flawlessly. Unfortunately, since then the X-Men franchise has just moved further and further downhill. After the pretty good X-Men 2 the series absolutely fell apart with X-Men: Last Stand and X-Men Origins.

So when I heard that they were going to be making a film about Professor X and Magneto I was a bit worried. Both characters are so well known and after the last origins film (X-Men Origins). Magneto is probably one of my favorite villains of all time so I was worried that they would fail to deliver yet again. My worries began to slowly dissolve after I saw the trailer for the film. It looked like the film was actually going to be good but then again so had all the others.

All doubts were thrown out the window when I saw X-Men: First Class. The storyline couldn't have been better, the casting was spot on, and the action was awesome.

I found myself struggling to see Magneto as the bad guy he is later on in the series after learning everything he had been through at the hands of the Nazis. I loved being able to see such a different side of Professor X. A fun guy who likes to go to bars and pick up women by talking to them about genetic mutations.

It was great to be able to learn the backstory of how and why Magneto and Professor X went from being friends to enemies.

Plus, the introduction of some awesome mutants without making the audience feel like they were getting information overload was a huge plus.

Highly recommended. I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.