Where the Wild Things Shouldn't Be - On a Movie Screen

Ok, I'll admit that it has been like 12 or so years since I first read that little gem of a children's book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. But if I remember correctly, it is basically a ten page book where Max, some boy in a silly wolf costume, goes to a far off land, becomes king of the Wild Things, romps and plays with them for a bit, and then returns home. Now obviously in order to make this classic into a feature length film, it has to be expanded a bit. I get that. But the question is, should it have even been made into a movie at all?

When I saw this movie last Saturday at the dollar theater, I was pretty excited. It's a classic children's story, and I was hoping to escape into a cute little movie. Not so. Like at all. In fact, if I was a parent, I would not take my kid to see this movie. Most of the kids in the theater were flat out terrified or very very bored. And I was a bit, too, I have to admit. Where the Wild Things Are is a dark, psychological movie with themes and symbolism I never remembered hearing about from the book.

The visual effects were wonderful, I admit. And as a lover of "deeper meanings" and literary concepts, I could certainly appreciate the symbolism going on. (Carol = Max, KW = sister, the wild things all show a certain part of Max and his psycho personality, yada yada yada) But the overall quality of the movie just didn't work for me. It got really incredibly slow in the middle, almost to a point where I contemplated leaving (and I NEVER do that during a movie) and it catapulted into this angsty climax where nothing made sense and some bird's arm gets torn off. And he doesn't even care. (Actually that was my favorite line in the movie - "Hey that was my favorite arm!" I think some kids screamed at that part) I feel that the movie was trying to accomplish too much at once - trying to be both a children's movie and a deep thinking piece of art - that it was pretty much lackluster in both areas. Sorry. I know people loved this movie. But both Brittany and I walked out of that theater thinking that 1) that was the wierdest movie we'd ever seen and 2) we think we'll just stick to the book next time. Where no arms are ripped off and not everybody wants to eat each other.

I finally got my laptop back!

Happy '010 everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile, but I've been laptop-less for quite some time now. The weekend before finals I accidentally dropped it and the LCD screen broke. I just barely got it back. Thankfully I got the warranty my mom told me not to get. She obviously didn't realize that my clumsiness knows no bounds.

So a new semester has started. Christmas break was alot of fun; it was good to go back to good ol' Ohio and eat my favorite foods (I miss you Timmy!), see my friends and family, and just relax and not have to worry about anything. One of my favorite parts was iceskating in Fountain Square with some of my friends. Here's a picture of me, Allie, Emily, and Anna. Oh how I missed these chicas :)

I also got some pretty cool gifts - a Costco card, money, (500) Days of Summer DVD, a camera, and a pink Snuggie! Yay for the true meaning of Christmas.

So now I'm back at snowy cold Provo. My classes are Biology, Book of Mormon, Media Writing, Intro to Public Relations, Principles of Journalism, and Bowling. I like them all so far - all my Comms classes are really interesting and bowling is my second love after movies, food, and sleep, so you know, it's looking to be a good semester. And a good year :)

Looking back at this semester

Well it's official. I am now halfway done with my first year at college. ( I still have finals, but let's pretend that those don't exist, ok?) I can't believe it has gone by so fast! It has certainly been an experience I won't forget. Let's look at some of the highlights.

Realizing how much groceries cost

Me: Avocadoes cost how much?!?

Some dude standing near me: Well, it looks like its says $2.04.

(I glare at said dude while secretly moaning thinking about all the guacamole I will never get to eat.)

Guy playing Pokemon on his DS in my History class

"YES! LEVEL UP!" he whispers loud enough for the whole row to hear. I glance over at his game. A Charizard. Nice choice. I'm kinda jealous, actually. Simulated fighting creatures are so much more interesting than the Mongol conquests.

My Honors English class

I was dreading taking this class from the very beginning, because I really felt like I didn't need it. And honestly, I really didn't learn much about writing that I didn't already know. But boy did I learn a whole slew of other useful things. Like that I should avoid Physic's majors. The fact that BYU hates Stephanie Meyer too. That all professor's children are on a higher intellectual plane than we are. That even BYU students have dirty minds, and don't mind being a little sacriligious, especially for a paper extension. Take this kid for example, who decided to sing the Young Women's theme in a high pitched voice and rap out the Honor Code:

What a kid. I also made some sweet friends in this class too, and I hope that this isn't the last time I see them :(

My Comms 101 Internet Magazine

Forget the fact that it was about dating and I know next to nothing about that subject, I got a 100%. Take that, boys. http://www.shirtsandskirts.7h.com/

Oh I also made a wikipedia page for English. Check it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_Kachina_dolls

Making a fort in the lobby during Thanksgiving:

Wouldn't be freshman year without it.

Fun times with my roommates

Whether it's dressing up as gangsters at Halloween, hitting up random dance parties, watching Glee with Kailee, playing pranks on Hollie, stressin about science with Christine, checking out boys with Kelly, laughing at Brooke ;-) , crepe parties, yummy dinners (Cincinnati Chili on Sunday! Can't wait!), sporting events, cleaning checks, or whatever antics we get up to, it's been a blast with these girls. Hopefully we all don't want to kill each other next semester.

I'll probably think of more later, but it's getting late and I should get some zzz's. Cause finals really do exist, unfortunately.

Fun times with the Fam!

This weekend I got to take a break from school and go up to Washington to visit my extended family! I was really fun because I haven't seen some of them for several years and it was cool to see how much all my little cousins have grown. One of my uncle's just had a little baby girl so we got to see her baby blessing. Her name is Chloe and she is way adorable!

Some of my aunts are professional hairdressers (they even own their own high-profile salon up here!) and they did my hair. Take a look:

Hahahaha. But really, my actual hair does look way good. They gave me more highlights and lowlights and it is really pretty. I love having relatives that will do my hair :)

So we drive back down tomorrow. It was way fun to see everyone but its time to get back to the grind. Ugh. Gotta catch up on my schoolwork. yay.

Oh here is a video of some of my little cousins wrestling. Quite entertaining.

Here you go Kailee :)

My lovely roomie Kailee complained that I haven't updated my blog in a while... and she's right. I've been wayyy busy. Midterms just ended and they were pretty darn stressful, although I did pretty good on them (except for freaking Physical Science. Dang you!)

Anyways, not too much has happened since last time... Oh wait. I turned 18! Finally legal haha. My birthday was fun, I went up to my aunt's house and celebrated there. My other aunt that I haven't seen in a long time came as well and it was nice to see her. But other than that, just work, school, studying, and listening to my roommates drama (I really do love you guys ;) has been my life. Oh, and getting VERY little sleep. But alas, such is the life of a college student.

For one last thought, please subscribe to shirtsandskirts.7h.com. It's for my Comms 101 class, and more subscribers = higher grade! The articles are pretty good too, I think. Subscribing is easy, just click "subscribe," enter your email, and click "subscribe" again in the email that gets sent to you. We will be having a cash promotion soon, so hurry and sign up!

stresssss

So two whole weeks of classes have come and gone. And boy, will they be a lot of work! I don't really think that college is a ton harder than my high school was, but it sure does require a lot more effort. This weekend I have to research 11 books for my English paper, read 150 pages for History, watch two International Cinema movies (so hard, I know), read a chapter in my science book and write a paper for both history and Book of Mormon. I love college.

Other than that, I really enjoy it here. There's a football game today (Go BYU!) which will be a ton of fun. I can't wait until the home games! My job is the opposite of stressful, and guess what, they don't take taxes out of my paycheck for some reason! Maybe they're hoping we'll do it later... we'll see about that.

Anyways, I thought maybe I'd end this post with the recipe for my most favorite food in the world: guacamole. It's my Uncle Juan's and he's a 100% Mexican so you know it's good :)

Juan's delicious guacamole:

Ingredients:
4 avocadoes
2 tomatoes
1 onion
fresh cilantro (a must!)
1 lime
salt
pepper
garlic or garlic salt (another must!)
oregano
jalapenos (optional)

Directions:
Cut avocadoes in half and spoon them out into a bowl. Cut up the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and cilantro and put into the bowl. Mix well with a fork. Add as much salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic salt into the bowl as suits your fancy. Cut the lime and squeeze lime juice into bowl. Mix well and enjoy!

College...

So, a whole week of college has come and gone. Not too sure what to think of it all yet. My classes seem like a lot of work, but my Honors English class and my Comms 101 class seem like they'll be really enjoyable. Too early to tell, though. I did get a job, which I'm really happy about. It's at the University Press Building, and my job is to put paper in a paper-folding machine. It's actually pretty fun.

My roommate is Kailee; she's from Kaysville, Utah, along with two other of my roommates, Hollie and Brooke. Then there is Christine from California and Kelly from Texas (where I used to live!) They are all incredibly fun and super nice.


(haha so I stole this pic from Kailee, my roomie. Anyways, it's my roomies; Kailee, Brooke, Christine, Kelly, Hollie, and me)

So things are pretty good, I guess. I just need to meet more people and get more involved. I'll keep you updated on all the interesting things that happen around here. Ciao.