Happy Thanksgiving, One and All!!

I pray that your Thanksgiving is full of all the things that you are most thankful for... May God bless all of you in the coming year!!

I am most thankful for... my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: I am nothing without Him. For my dear family and friends. For my kind and loving Church family. For the warm and comfortable house I live in. For the delicious dinner I just had, and for my mom for preparing all that food.

I know there are a million other things that I am thankful for, but if I tried to write all those things down I would be here all night... most of all, though, I want to thank my God for blessing me and my family so amazingly this past year.

Love to all! <3>

More Prestige...

So! I went to see "The Prestige" again last night with a group of friends and I loved it even more this time around... This is actually an email that I wrote to someone, but I thought I would post it here as a sort of review... It's addressed to someone who has not seen the movie, just fyi. ^_^

It made so much more sense the second time around!! Everything was clicking in my mind as I watched it and I kept thinking: "That's what that meant!" or "Oooh, that's what he said!" hehe. Granted, it didn't have the shock element that it had the first time we saw it, but it was still fantastic. Two members of my group were both seeing it for the first time, so that was fun... One of them was my Mum and she gasped several times. She kept on leaning over to one of my friends (who had seen it with me previously) and asking: "Should I cover my eyes??" hehe. (Which, actually, you don't need to do if you watch it. There are a few scenes that you think will be horrible to watch, but they actually are not. It's very tastefully done--like Batman. *nod* There's hardly a drop of blood throughout the entire film.)

When it was over, and we were asking Mum if she liked it, she said exactly what I expected, "Yes, I thought it was good, but it is horrible." That really is true... it is not a fun movie to watch by any stretch of the imagination, but it is excellent. It makes a very strong example of just what obsession can do to a person. Both magicians start out as nice, lovable, characters, but by the end you have absolutely no pity for them--particularly Hugh Jackman's character. The depth of his obsession (and the things that he does because of it) is completely... evil. It really is an incredibly thought-provoking, well-done film.

I honestly can't stress how brilliantly done that movie is... It really struck me this time. On the way home, my brother, sister, and I were all exclaiming over just how alike the entire layout of the movie is to the magic acts throughout it. It is incredible. It was even more amazing this time around because you notice so much more... It really is a movie that you should see at least twice. You really must try to see it... I really think you would appreciate it.

However, I must say... don't be surprised if, when you first come out of the theatre, you can't decide whether or not you like it. It took quite awhile for it to sink in enough for me to decide I liked it. My suggestion: Talk about it on the way home! It's really as you discuss things that you realize how good it was... *nod* So that's my little piece of advice! ^_^

Note: There was another thing that struck me. There is one quote that one character in the movie says that applies exactly to the movie: "Once you know the secret, it's really quite simple." Sarah says this to Borden after he explains the bullet-catch to her, and seeing the movie the second time around and "knowing the secret," it really was "quite simple." However, as Borden replies, it is "still dangerous." Granted, the movie is not exactly dangerous, but there are still new things that you notice the second time around that you didn't notice the first time.

I say again: The movie is a magic-act. And a brilliant one at that. If you haven't seen it yet, see it as soon as you can! It's not one you would want to miss... 10/10!

Freedom!!

My composition midterm wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be... I did a sort of "pretest" myself where I wrote a five-paragraph composition in forty minutes with no be verbs. I think that helped me because I realized I could do it. And as it ended up... I had an hour instead of forty minutes!

*whew* I misread the guidelines apparently. I had forty-five minutes of writing time and fifteen minutes of outlining time. So that instantly took away some of the stress... and I found a topic which I felt like I could write on and... well... I wrote! It all went by so fast. I was done writing it with 27 minutes to spare, actually! It was wonderful. I'm so thankful...

Now comes the wait for the grade... I hope I do good! :-\

On a side note, I got an A on my biology test, for which I am very happy. :) So yes... the stress is slowly decreasing. Now I just need to finish my experiment reports and I'll be FREEEEEE!!!!!!!

...For a week. ^_^ Yay Thanksgiving break!!

"FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!" (Mel Gibson style!)

Butterflies and Writing

So, I'm totally freaking out right now... I'm relieved to be done with my lab report and module test, but today the real trial begins--my composition midterm. It will only take me forty minutes (at least, I hope it will only take me forty minutes...), but it's working up the courage to actually start that's the problem. I'm very nervous, to put it lightly. The butterflies in my stomach are making me sick... x_x

I also have a ton of biology experiments to do today and tomorrow. Thankfully, I only have to write informal lab reports on them, so that will go quicker... But still. I have a lot to do. So please, be praying for me. For my comp, please pray that I would be able to think clearly under the pressure and be able to come up with ideas easily--and that my punctuation and active writing would come easily as well. And for bio... well, just prayer that I'll get the experiments done by the deadline. I would appreciate that very much...

Note: I changed my audio clip again. Now it's a suite that I made from three different songs from the Van Helsing score by Alan Silvestri. Enjoy!! ^_^

I'm actually planning on changing the clip every week (on Saturdays), so you have about four days to listen to it. Hope you like it... I had a blast making the suite. For anyone interested, the three songs are: Journey to Transylvania, Who Are They To Judge?, and Reunited.

For Anyone Interested...

Check out the new Spidey trailer!



... I can't wait for May. ^_^

Fire and Rain

Oh, the lovely sound of a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace, and the rain sprinkling loudly on the roof. *sighs happily* Fall has, indeed, set in.

A Bit of Art

Wow, I haven't posted any photoart on this blog in a long time, but since I have finally done a bit of photoshopping, I decided to post 'em... ^_^ Yesterday I suddenly felt the need to make some X-Men avatars... And what resulted were nine (yes, only nine) Logan avatars. I'm working on making more, but here's what I have so far...





Hope you enjoyed. I'm planning on *finally* updating my site on Monday, so check over there, too. ^_^ Cheers!

Technical Difficulties and Worried Celebrations

My grammar & composition class got cancelled. *cries*

Last week, Mrs. Troxel's microphone was quite sick, and now it has completely died. So, during my class time, she is driving 60 miles to the "microphone technician" to get it repaired. *sigh* So, needless to say, I'm very disappointed... I love this class. And I really needed this one because Mrs. T was going to be talking about the midterm which we have to take next week. I'm already nervous enough about it, and now I don't even have Mrs. T to explain it... *shiver*

However, she emailed this morning and said, because I'm doing so well on the grammar portion of my weekly assignments, I'm exempt (sp?) from that section of the midterm. Hooray!! And there was much rejoicing...

No really, that makes me very happy. And it's quite funny because I feel like I have been doing horrible on all my worksheets... but I'm actually not. So that's an unexpected surprise. :)

However, everyone has to write the composition for the midterm, no matter their grade. And that's what I'm nervous about, because I only have forty minutes to write it. Eeek!! *trembles* I take days to write a paper!! How am I supposed to do it in forty minutes??? o_o *is very scared*

Would you please be praying for me??

Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot... I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot...

We watched V for Vendetta last night. I must say I found it extremely interesting, although there were certainly parts I disliked. It's rather confusing at times, and I feel like if I watched it again I might understand it better... but overall, I think I liked it. It's an interesting storyline, and the acting is quite good. Needless to say, I was considerably astonished with the latter--Natalie Portman with an English accent??

I am beginning to think that, perhaps, that girl really can act. She really did a quite amazing job in V, although her accent was, at times, quite cheesy. Hugo Weaving was awesome as V, but then, we already knew he's awesome. The fact that you never see his face throughout the entire film was a nice added touch.

As to the storyline... A man attempts to overthrough a totalitarian government. Pretty simple, right? No, not really... not when you have as many sub-plots running through the main plot as the Wachowski brothers put in this film. It kept me guessing until the very end, and there were several twists and turns that I most definitely didn't see coming.

There were certainly things that I didn't agree with, but really, I thought it was an interesting, well-done, well-acted film. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, although not too soon... It's not one that I'd watch over and over again, I don't think. Still, I enjoyed it. Probably a 8/10, although that rating might change once I've thought over it for a little while longer/seen it again.

Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot... I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.

Note: Too bad tomorrow's Sunday, or I would wait to post this until the 5th... That would be fun. Oh well... The 4th will have to do.

I've Decided That I Really Don't Like Computers.

No, really, I think they're awesome. It's just when they don't work that I get irritated with them! =P Let me 'xplain... I was supposed to read my argument composition in G&C class this morning, and my microphone decided it would be a really brilliant idea not to work. *anger*

The irritating thing is that it was just working!! So yes... that frustrated me to no end. But at least I have a nice, understanding teacher who was more then willing to read it for me. Thank you Mrs. T!! :) (As it happens, she was experiencing her own microphone troubles, so she sympathized with me...)

And now that I'm done ranting about malfunctioning technology...

I have discovered another movie that I am very anxious to see. It comes out December 8th and it is called Blood Diamond. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou star (yes, it's a Leonardo DiCaprio movie and I actually want to see it... try not to faint...), and Edward Zwick directs. Zwick is the guy who directed The Last Samurai, for anyone interested. It looks like a really good movie... *nod* I really want to see it.

Here is the trailer for it at apple.com: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/blooddiamond/large.html

I have two other trailers for it as well, but I don't think they're quite as good as that one. Still, if you're interested, post a comment and I'll post the links for those as well. ^_^

NOTE: I have been watching that trailer over and over and over again... it is so well done. And I absolutely adore the music at the end. That's part of what makes it such an amazing trailer. That song gives me the shivers... *shivers* Enjoy!!