Titles

So I have two potential titles for my book of short stories:

Making Conversation with a Mannequin on the Top of a Swiss Mountain

Looking Through a Window on a Rainy Day, Seeing the World as if it were an Impressionist Painting

Which do you prefer?

This morning on NPR they were talking about the new Jonas Brothers television show that's making its premiere on the Disney Channel tomorrow night. The reporter called it a marketing blitzkrieg. I loved it. I think it describes the whole situation perfectly. The reported also said that "in the show, the brothers are all regular teenagers who go to a regular school and have regular problems....that they sing about." That also reminded me of this.

Enjoy. 

Procrastination

I hate procrastinating and yet that's what I'm doing at this very moment. 

I have an AP Euro final Thursday and I'm really nervous for it. I felt confident about my studying and the preparation I've taken for this test. Then I took a practice exam in the Princeton Review book. Most of the questions I feel as if I'm making an educated guess on. I mean, most of it is so specific.  

Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about and I thought I understood European history to an extent. 

Like Clayton says, this test and the AP test will decide the rest of my life. Therefore, I should be freaking out about it as much as I am.  

Is anyone getting tired of my constant rambling about AP Euro? 

I am. 

Except I can't stop thinking about it. 

It's consuming me. 

I'm obsessing over it. 

It's horrible.

Thankfully I can still sleep at night.

(Sorry)

Leben (Life)

Life right now is short of chaotic. 

It's all about the AP Test. In the past week, I've had at least three dreams about studying AP Euro with Samantha, Saniya, or Spencer or all three. It's so bizarre; so outre. 

I've been so spacey lately. I took a practice AP test Saturday and I took my Scantron home. I don't know why I did, I was the only person who did that. But for some reason, I thought we could. I don't know why but it just really hit me. It hit me hard. Probably hit my ego more than anything but I just felt so discouraged. It was so minuscule, I know. It was as if I was slowly losing my mind. I probably am. Bit by bit, day by day. It's like dying: slow and inevitable.  

At least I didn't say that the Big Bang was the thing that killed the dinosaurs like a girl did in my Biology class today.

I'm becoming so frustrated. With this thing and this person and it just drives me crazy. I can't really even explain it so sorry for the arbitrary vagueness.  

More and more I'm becoming distant. I think I should have been born in the late nineteenth century. As I'm studying for AP Euro I find that I agree with the artists and authors of the Romantic movement. I like nature more than this superficial world I'm in. I see art and literature as a way to escape, leave this world. I'm sitting here, waiting, not doing anything. The only thing I don't agree with is emotion over reason and that's just one little part of Romanticism. 

Just call me John Constable. 

Happy Independence Day Togo!

A Fresh Batch of Names!

I love names! Here's some more from You Can't Call It "It"! 

Dali-reminds me of the Surrealist painter (who was a little bit screwy) but I like it as a first name

Magnus-another solid name

Xander-no need for the "Ale-" in front, this is fine by itself

Zephyr-a strong wind? I like it as a first name, nonetheless

Condor-another solid name

Thoreau-like Henry David's last name, makes a good first name

Conon-I just like it.

These are all boys' names on account that I didn't see any girls' names that I really liked. I'm still really liking Atlas, despite what certain people may say about it. 

I Want

Vanity Fair, Thackeray

To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee

War and Peace, Tolstoy

The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

Pride and Prejudice, Austen 

Little Women, Alcott

The House of Seven Gables, Hawthorne

The Complete Works of Charles Dickens

I want this so much. 

This lady in Washington, D.C. makes wallets and purses out of old, used books. It's beautiful. I think it's kind of funny that my copy of War and Peace has the same cover as the one she made the purse out of.

Anyone have an extra $160 they'd like to give me to get one of these? :)

Casino Royale

I've decided to give a weekly movie review. Hopefully I can keep up with it. I know you're all so very excited. Please, try to contain your excitement and do not pee your pants. 

This week's review: Casino Royale (2006). 

Fact #1: The James Bond series by Ian Flemming has made more money movie/book wise than any other series. It's probably soon to be surpassed by Harry Potter. But it still holds that number one spot. 

This movie was just a little bit.....ridiculous. I was really looking forward to seeing this movie but other than Daniel Craig in the lead role I was let down. I mean, so much of the whole plot line was completely implausible although for a James Bond movie I guess that is pretty typical. In one scene the guy was applying an AED to himself...while he was still conscious. Ok, you should be unconscious if you need an AED and have no pulse. It means your heart has stopped and usually by then you can't really attach an AED to yourself. Please correct me if I'm wrong. It just blew my mind away. 

Overall, it was great action-wise and a pretty good movie if you like a thriller/action flick. It was classic Bond with a good-looking guy with a British accent to play him. Then he always falls in love with one (or sometimes more) beautiful woman. The plot had a nice pace and I liked the fact that you saw two sides of James Bond as opposed to this superman you had seen in earlier films. 

Overall, it was fresh. 

My Five-Year Plans

Stalin had fiver-year plans so I figure since Stalin had them, I should have them. However, mine have nothing to do with increasing industrialization and the amount of farms in my country. Mainly because I don't have a country. 

In five years I want...

...to be in the MTC if not already in the mission field.

...to have a high school diploma.

...to have visited at least Germany.

...to have been to MOMA. 

...to be fluent in German.

...to have two years of college done and possibly a nursing degree. 

...to have read all of Shakespeare's plays.

...to have actually read a play by Henrik Ibsen. 

...to have been to the Rijksmuseum.

...to have been in a hot air balloon. 

...to be content. 

Stalin did it and so can I. (I like Stalin.)