Update

Greetings, cyberspace. I've neglected this blog for quite a bit and decided it'd be nice to update again. Hopefully said updates will be somewhat regular.

I'm preparing to go away to college soon (yikes, I know) and have acquired a much-coveted red stapler for this purpose. It's pretty divine, and I'm looking forward to sharing a desk with it in the near future.

In other news, I got four vaccines the other day. My arms are still somewhat sore, but it's nothing too bad. My family and I just finished rewatching the entire Star Wars saga for the umpteenth time. It was a multi-night endeavor and smashing good fun, as always. I've also been watching a lot of Star Trek lately since it's now readily available via instant play. I'm mostly watching the original series (as opposed to TNG), but only because I haven't seen a lot of the original episodes. With TNG, on the other hand, I've seen the majority if not all of the episodes multiple times. I still love them to pieces, though, and thoroughly enjoy rewatching them.

I'll keep this post short since I haven't the time to do a proper one at the moment. I just wanted to say hello, let you know I haven't migrated to Mars (yet), or abandoned the blogosphere. Until next time, then!

May hath cometh

Ack, the blog is again embarrassingly dusty. I feel I start the majority of my posts with similar statements, but that's the way it is. The truth is, I've been extremely busy all year and haven't had much time to blog. It's a sad thing, and I figured I'd spruce it up a touch.

I am currently in the homestretch of the school year. AP tests are here, and I feel oddly less stressed about passing them than I have all year. Not to say I'm not frazzled, but I can finally see the light at the end. This is probably due to my exhaustion. Of course I'll be disappointed if I don't pass, but I no longer feel it's a matter of tenacious life and unspeakable death.

Although school consumes a considerable portion of my life (not to mention how it infringes on my sleep), good things do happen. For instance, I recently saw went to a David Sedaris reading with my friend! I'm extremely excited for his new book to come out, and it was a great reading. It's marvelous that he visits the area so often, especially considering he lives all the way in France. Another highlight in my life right now is my English homework, which I am currently doing in addition to blogging. We're studying contemporary rhetoric, and tonight's assignment is on pop culture. That class is always interesting, and I love it to pieces. People who read this blog most likely know what I'm talking about.

Speaking of my massive fanbase of blog followers, Blogger is really isolated. It's actually pretty funny. All these people rush out and create these blogs, ooh ahh, and then that's about it. I may look into Tumblr, which a friend recommended. I do like Blogger, but it would be nice if, you know, the blogs around here were more active. It shall be an issue to be examined at a later date.

Well, that concludes this little post for the moment. I hope all is well with all of you, wherever you are.

Oy!

The blog is all dusty and musty. I don't like it. Consider this post to be like a Swiffer.

Many blog-worthy events have come and gone un-blogged, and I feel sort of guilty. After all, what else is a blog for? So: I'm going to make a list of all the things I wished I blogged about but never got around to, complete with brief descriptions and comments, etc.

In June, I went to a David Sedaris reading/signing in a lovely little book store! It was amazing! I must have been smiling the entire time, I was so excited. He is very friendly and rather short in person. He read us two new (well, new at the time) essays, in addition to parts of his diary and a couple other things. Everybody was laughing and having a marvelous time. The setting was very intimate and was so happy to be able to go. He signed my copies of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked, and gave me a condom (he was handing them out to all the teenagers). This book event has got to be one of the highlight of my life so far, and I love him to pieces!

Also in June, I saw Third Eye Blind with a bunch of friends at a free concert in a park. Excellent, much? They were fantastic live and played a lot of my favorite songs. The entire day was an adventure and a smashing good time.

On a more somber note, huge funding cuts have been made to the public libraries in my area. The new hours-- which became effective July 1st-- are truly devastating. I continue to volunteer and drop by often. Hopefully these cuts will be revoked when the state budget gets back on track someday, as I believe libraries to be among the most precious of resources.

Speaking of reading, this summer I've gathered up the courage to finally read Anne Rice. I've always seen her work labeled as horror, which made me steer clear of her for a long time (I'm not really one for horror, you see). However, I was reassured by other readers that her writing is more gothic than horror and my curiosity eventually won out. As of today, I've read Interview with the Vampire and am getting very close to finishing The Vampire Lestat. I find I'm more fond of the latter, but I did like Interview, too. While the book as a whole did have its weak points (i.e. Rice's tendency to write in such a flowery manner it's often distracting), I found it overall a good read. I find I've been much more motivated while reading Lestat, probably because I really like Lestat. It's good stuff, I tell you. (As a side note, I thought I'd tell a little story about my early experiences with Anne Rice. I used to babysit these darling little girls, and prominently displayed in their living room were all of Anne Rice's works. I'd read the ghoulish titles and see the macabre cover art and be very afraid [I was also afraid of the Gollum bookends and oriental masks, but they really are very, very kind people.] Anyways, I think it's a funny way to first become acquainted with an author.)

And what was I most looking forward to in July? The big screen adaption of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, of course! My two friends and one of their moms saw a late show downtown. We dressed up and had a wicked time! I must say I was impressed with this film and thought it far better than the last one. I was satisfied with the portrayal of teenage Tom Riddle, who I feared would be butchered, and I swooned often over Alan Rickman (and Tom Felton, who appeared quite a lot). I thought they did a lousy job of explaining who the real Half-Blood Prince was in the end. In the book, it's so enchanting, because who doesn't believe Snape is made of win? Yeah, nobody. Overall, I liked it very much. Also, did anyone else notice that the wonky, smooth black bricks from the department of mysteries made a comeback? They were in the orphanage. I guess David Yates loves those bricks. I also was impressed with Slughorn's performance and character portrayal. I thought it to be one of the film's strong points. I really must reread the series one of these days!

If anyone read all that (and I realize it's a beast) I really am flattered and applaud your perseverance. Of course, loads of other things happened and are happening or will happen, but I thought it'd be nice to skim over the main points in my life as of late. Now, with the clear conscience of a good blogger, I shall move on to my one of my summer assignments, which is what I really should have been doing for the past hour. Cheers!