Long Overdue Update

So I've been pretty much AWOL here as of late. Eighteen credits, study abroad preparations, and illness have all taken their toll on me, and I've had basically the worst November of my life. Thanksgiving can't come soon enough. Right now I'm feeling very anxious because I haven't yet found an apartment in France, even though I've written email after email to landlords and building administrators. In fact, I have to go right back to flat-hunting as soon as I've finished this blog post. When you take into account the five exams I have to prepare for, the fifteen-page paper I have to write, and the packing I have to finish before I leave, it's safe to say that the worst of the stress is yet to come. Sigh.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you some of the few things that are making me happy these days. First, the second trailer for The Hunger Games came out a week ago, and it looks amazing. I've watched it more times than I care to admit, and I'm not even a huge fan of The Hunger Games. However, I think most of my problems with the books were stylistic; Suzanne Collins has a background in television writing, which I think is very apparent in her prose. This can make for a sometimes clunky narrative, and considering Katniss is not the most accessible protagonist in literature, the books have their fair share of odd or cringeworthy moments. Having seen the trailer, though, I will cautiously say that most of my issues with the books will not be a problem for the film. Jennifer Lawrence is a fine actress, and she might help me warm up to Katniss a bit more, get me to understand her motivations. Josh Hutcherson looks to be in top form as Peeta, which makes me incredibly excited; Peeta is my favorite character, and while I never doubted Josh's abilities as an actor, I'm thrilled to see that he is almost exactly like the Peeta in my head. Rue, Prim, and Effie look just like they should. And Lenny Kravitz really does seem to be a spectacular choice for Cinna; it was an odd bit of casting at first, but having seen him in action, he conveys precisely that sense of calm and understanding I liked so much in the book. Here is the trailer, so you can see for yourself:


The Brave trailer was released last Wednesday. I'm not as impressed with this one as I was with the last, but I still am confident it will be a great movie. With a no-nonsense, butt-kicking, redheaded Scottish princess as its protagonist, how could it not be? The trailer is below; I am in constant awe of Merida's hair, especially considering how hard hair is to animate. Just look at those glorious ginger locks and try not to be amazed:


And as always, I'm incredibly thankful for my family and friends. My parents have been keeping me sane, and my friends have stopped me from getting too overwhelmed. Special shout-outs go to Pooja, who brought me food this weekend when I didn't feel up to leaving my room (horrendously bad cold at least), Sarah, who invited me home with her for Thanksgiving and continues to be a great prayer partner, Matt and Andi, who have proven to be excellent Avatar-watching companions, and Jackie, who is a steadfast Skyper and even better friend. Hopefully the next time I update, I'll be talking about the fun I had with all of them instead of the stress relief.

Well, back to looking for apartments and packing for the next few days.

Twenty-One

Well, I am now twenty-one, and I have consumed my first drink. Sara and I headed out to Harris Teeter this afternoon, where after much deliberation I picked out some Korbel Sweet Cuvee, a not-champagne from California (as a Californian, I figured it was an appropriate choice). It was really cheap and 11% alcohol, so it probably wasn't very good, but since I didn't really have anything to compare it to, I had to judge it on its own merits. I did enjoy showing the cashier my ID at the check-out line, although I look about sixteen in my driver's license picture. Hells yeah, I'm of age!

Many of my closest UVa friends came by my room tonight for a little get-together; Sarah gave me a wine glass, Pooja brought birthday cake, Sara gave me a card, and everyone else brought their lovely selves. We started the evening off with sparkling cider, since it's non-alcoholic and something I know I like, and then I opened the bubbly around 10. My more experienced friends said the champagne was actually quite good for being as cheap as it was, but I'm not sure if I liked it yet. I've never cared for the way alcohol smells, and the taste was pretty strange, too; I ended up pretty much drowning my champagne in orange juice and sipping it very slowly. I finished it over the course of an hour, partly because I also had birthday cake and friends were trickling in and out, so I had hostess duties to attend to. Consequently, I don't think I felt much when I was drinking, not even a little buzz. Honestly, I think alcohol consumption is way overrated. There's still about half a bottle of champagne to consume, and I'm not sure I'll have the rest. Still, the party was nice, especially because apart from Pav Lunch and the excursion to Barracks the rest of my day was pretty terrible (scholarship rejection, econ test, and a politics class I wasn't prepared for, among other things). Ah well. Hopefully I have plenty more birthdays to look forward to!

Entertainment 2011 for October forthcoming. Time to get some religious studies homework done!

I Love My Mom (and Other Stories from October)

Having discovered that I have only posted six times this month, I decided to write a nice, anecdote-filled update about my adventures in October. This is also the last post you will get from me as a twenty-year-old, so join me on this journey of reminiscence as I look back on the first year of my twenties.

My mother came to Charlottesville on Thursday to spend the weekend with me, which was just was lovely and wonderful as I had hoped it would be. I took her around UVa, showing her all my favorite places and (most of) my favorite people. It was so different from the last time my mom had been in Charlottesville, the summer before my first year, when I knew absolutely nothing about my new town of residence and was just as overwhelmed by everything as she was. This time, I was walking so quickly my mom had to ask me to slow down, and I could tell her all about UVa and my college life. She was staying in my dorm room with me, so there was no need to wait for her to meet me in the morning or walk her back to a hotel in the evening. Instead, I spend nearly every moment of the weekend with her. Friday I introduced her to Miss Kathy, brought her by my work-study, took her to lunch at Fine Arts, and gave her a little tour of Central Grounds; later that evening, we celebrated my birthday a few days early by going to dinner at Basil, a Mediterranean restaurant, with Sara. Saturday we mostly spent shopping (I now have five pairs of shoes instead of two), and Sunday was more leisurely, with a long brunch at Runk and an afternoon of studying, topped off with informal worship at Wesley. This morning we had breakfast at Bodo's and then said good-bye. I miss her already, but she's back in California safe and sound, and the visit was short enough that we didn't get on each other's nerves (much) and I think she had a good time.

Other October happenings:

• I've finally started watching Doctor Who, having heard so much about it from friends both online and off. It can be really cheesy, and the aliens are laughable, but I kind of love it. I'm just about to finish series two of the newer BBC show, so far I'm familiar with Billie Piper as Rose, Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Series one was good, but series two is fantastic; David Tennant makes an amazing Doctor, and I think he and Billie work well together as Doctor and companion. That said, I think my favorite episode so far is still "Father's Day" from series one, although I enjoyed "Tooth and Claw" from this series. I haven't watched the series two finale yet, but I've heard I should be both very excited and very sad. We shall see.
• Third year has been very busy indeed. Partially it's my own fault for taking six classes, but also I just have a lot of work. So much reading, I don't really know how to handle it. Ruth says that the classes at Sciences Po are much easier; I certainly hope so. I don't think I could take another semester like this.
• Last weekend was Wesley's annual Pumpkin Palooza, where some friends and I ended up going as the gang from Scooby-Doo. I was Velma, though I sadly lacked in orange socks, and my hair is already quite a bit longer than Velma's really should be. Still, I think we pulled it off all right. It was a fun outing in any case, and since the evening ended with an Avatar marathon, it was a very nice night indeed. Matt, Andi, and I have reached the episode where SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Zuko joins Team Avatar SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS, and I'm quite excited for the next marathon now that this momentous event has occurred. Yay vicarious living!
• Pooja gave me an exercise book from the early 90s so I can develop a routine that doesn't require me to leave my room, should I not be able to find a gym in France. The pictures haven't aged well (Sara: "Why is she wearing spandex on spandex?"), but the workouts are decent. In fact, my body has only today fully recovered from the soreness, and I imagine it will return in full force when I do my lower-body routine tomorrow. So much pain, but good pain, I think.
• Evidence that I have lost a significant amount of weight since in the past two years: I put on my old Regency dress from first year to go to Maria and Pooja's Halloween party, then called Sara in to help me with the buttons. As she was doing them up, she tugged on the back of my dress and said, "This needs to be taken in, maybe by a couple of inches." She even suggested that I pin the back of it, as there is apparently a significant gap between the buttons. Sometimes I get frustrated that I'm not slimming down as quickly as I want to, but then something like this happens and I have to remind myself that progress is being made. I'll probably never be a size 0 or even a size 6, but I am getting better, and that's what's important.
• Richie and I actually had a reasonably long Skype conversation this weekend. True, our mom was there, too, but I was pleasantly surprised at the length and quality of the call, and felt very good about it when I hung up. I'm hoping this is a sign of things to come for next semester, when I imagine I will become very dependent on Skype.
• Well, I'm about to be twenty-one, and I will consume alcohol for the first time ever within the next twenty-four hours. Yes, I really have completely abstained from drinking, even during my first two years at college. And while I plan on trying alcohol, I don't plan on getting drunk. Actually, I don't plan on ever getting drunk. I'm just not interested, and frankly I don't like the idea of losing control. I'm weird enough at, say, three in the morning. I don't need any of the silly things I do when I'm sleep-deprived exacerbated by drunkenness.
• I'm slowly becoming more and more addicted to the Vlogbrothers channel on YouTube. I've been laughing myself silly over John Green's Miracle of Swindon Town series, and I'm following the saga of the Fault in Our Stars signing with great interest. Nerdfighteria makes econ reading bearable, basically.
• Happinesses: this episode of Parks and Recreation, The Harry Potter Companion, a fantastic fanart site, Pav Lunch with Wesley every Tuesday, finding new ways to tie my scarves, figuring out how to implicitly differentiate, seeing the cute kids you babysat during the summer in their Luke and Leia costumes, Carter Mountain, and watching Disney songs in foreign languages.

Well, that's it for now. Next time I update, I'll be 21!