I can't think of a title...

First, I want to thank those that commented on my last post.  I seriously wasn't expecting any comments at all and especially not the ones that I got since it was so impromptu and took all of 3 minutes to write.  Elisabeth and Emily, you both are so sweet and I am really grateful that you not only read my blog, but left me such nice things to read!  All of you are great and I like you a lot.  :)

Second: 

I wasn't planning on turning my computer at all when I got back tonight because I finally caved and bought Catching Fire instead of waiting for it to come in to the library (I am impatient) and was planning to read that instead of the usual internet visits.  I figured I could just do my usual routine tomorrow morning while waiting for Hulu to load Glee.  But when I was taking a break from reading a few moments ago and got on FB via iPhone, I saw that Nina Jankowicz had updated her status to say that she had written a blog about her new song.  So I got excited and decided to take an even longer break from reading turn on the computer after all so that I could listen and tell her how wonderful it/she is.  I was not disappointed.  It is amazing.  If you are reading this then you should stop right now so that you can go listen to her song.  She inspires me. Although I'm not sure how, since I've long ago came to the realisation that I can't write songs to save my life.  But she makes me want to write songs and be good at music regardless of my lack of talent or to at least be good at something.  

Thirdly: 

We had to move the HvZ game back a week so that we could meet with this council for outdoor activities so that they could bombard us with questions about it to make sure that it's safe.  I met with the director for student activities and he was really helpful and nice and told me what it was going to be like and not to get intimidated.  I probably will get intimidated so I am making Paul come with me.  He seriously keeps me sane.  I get stressed out so easily and make everything a bigger deal than it has to be and he is there to remind me that it is supposed to be fun.  Without him I would have a mental breakdown before crashing and burning.  And he does a lot of things for the group including getting on the email announcements so that we can advertise and sending out the message saying that we were going to have to postpone so that I wouldn't have to deal with any more crap.  I have been dealing with a lot of crap too.  Some of the members (mainly the guys) have been so whiney.  One guy commented on the group saying that we needed to get on the ball and promote this thing and remind people to register on the official site.  And then this other idiot commented and said, 'Yeah, you tell them who's boss".  So after I let my anger subside I signed back on and replied in a very professional manner saying that we were working on it and that it was a lot more work than we thought and we were trying to organise everything while ensuring that everyone was going to be safe and how we wanted to give the group members time to register on their own time while the games weren't here yet before reminding them so as to not bombard them with unnecessary messages.  I said it in a way that was professional whilst still, if you read between the lines, said to chill the eff out and get off our backs because we were doing the best we could.  If I have to deal with another person implying my incompetence I am going to choke a bitch.  Really.  I think he got the message though and Paul replied saying, "You tell them, Lauren!  You are the boss!" so that was encouraging and nice.  The group now has over 300 members and literally gets a new one about every 5 minutes or so.  It's kind of crazy and I think I've been so stressed out because I don't want to let down and disappoint a lot of people.  Hopefully everything works out with the council.  I make it sound like I'm appearing before Samuel L Jackson and a Yoda puppet.  Maybe I should imagine it like that so that it won't be that intimidating.  

Currently Listening:  

Obviously. 

Currently Reading: 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  I am weak.  

I have a lot to do...

I thought that after I got all of the paper work signed and mailed off to ISA that I would get some relief.  I was wrong.  I now have Band Fan and Human v Zombie stuff to organise.  Honestly, I should have started on the Zombie thing a LONG time ago.  I just read a lot of the 'How to get started' stuff on the website and it is so much!  Apparently people get started several months in advance!  Our game starts next week and we haven't even properly advertised yet!  I'm trying to schedule a last minute photo shoot of Paul and I with nerf guns while the campus is deserted so that we look really BA, but everyone's schedules are complicated.  The idea is getting more and more popular.  We gain a new member on the facebook group about every 5 minutes.  It's great, but it's also kind of nerve wracking.  It would be great if I wasn't going home this weekend because I could get a lot of stuff together and go to the big game, but unfortunately I am.  I really don't want to. It's kind of weird that I'm so bothered by going home now.  It doesn't really feel like home anymore.  It just feels awkward.  And it's my friend's birthday on Friday.  I'm not really sure how I feel about seeing her.  Of course she's my friend and I love her, but she isn't very good at long-distance friendships and keeping in touch.  I called her last Tuesday to tell her the good news about me officially being accepted and going to Italy, but she never called back.  I'm probably over-analysing things(like I always do).  It just really sucks when she does that and I always end up taking it personally no matter how many times I tell myself not to and remind myself that she does this because that's her and that I have to stop thinking that she'll call me and want to talk to me all the time even though that's what I would do.  She's her and I'm me.  Unfortunately that idea never seems to penetrate and I end up getting sad anyway.  I'm sure she'll be happy to see me and act like nothing is wrong because in reality there isn't.  

I'm going to see Zombieland with Christine and Amanda.  That should give me all the confidence I need to accomplish all of this zombie stuff.  Wish me luck!  

PS.  If you are new then thank you so much for following my blog!  It's actually really exciting (despite being incredibly lame that I think it's so exciting) that I can no longer count my blog followers on one hand.  :-)  

I'll post about my weekend later.  

The Logic of Christmas Lights and the Opposite Sex

Today has been very lazy.  I woke up to a phone call from my roommate (who is currently visiting family at home) at about 8:30 AM because she was signing up for rooms for next year since we couldn't get it to work last night.  So she told me which room she signed up for and I quickly got dressed, threw my glasses on, and walked to the library since for some completely idiotic reason, I'm sure, the housing website would not support any other browser besides Internet Explorer and Firefox, rendering my brilliant personal computer completely useless.  It was cold, but I signed up successfully and now I have an apartment style dorm on campus with a kitchen to look forward to! It's no Florentien apartment, but it sure is a lot better than the one we are living in now.  I also got some other things printed off and then had a rather later than usual breakfast which has now thrown off my entire eating schedule for today.  But it was cool because I had Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a lot of strawberries :-)

Last night was very Christmas-y despite it being October.  It was rainy and cold and I went over to Paul's with Christine, Amanda, and Reid and we had Turkey, with mashed potatoes, peas, and really good store-bought rolls for dinner.  Then I went home and turned the Christmas music on again and started hanging up my Christmas lights.  I got these last year and they are really cool.  They're multi-coloured and they twinkle and I like them a lot.  I had to rearrange stuff so that I could stand on the desk and the (extremely narrow!) bookcase so that I could hang them up. After I got up all of the tacks in the wall and started to hang them up I noticed that half of the line had decided to go out somewhere between me testing them and the tack placement.  I was upset.  They aren't even a year old!  I called my mom and asked her why this had happened since, being a mother, she obviously has experience and knows about this stuff.  She told me that if one light goes out or is loose then sometimes the whole line would go out.  Great.  Basically I got kind of upset and frustrated over the logic of Christmas lights and even more upset and frustrated when I could not, for the life of me get the stupid offending green lightbulb out of the rest of the line!  At one point when I was on the phone with my mum I was trying really hard to get it out while she was on speaker phone.  I started to put the tiny bulb in my mouth to attempt to get it out with my teeth before I stopped, looked up, followed the still lit up line to the electrical socket, and then walked over to unplug it.  Real smart, Lauren.  Finally I got the stupid thing out with some scissors (don't even ask).  So now I just have to find a place that will sell replacement bulbs which wouldn't normally be a difficult task if it wasn't October.

Recording this story just now actually made me think of my Christmas light escapade last year. My parents were at work, as usual and it was kind of late in the season for us to be hanging up lights since we usually do it soon after Thanksgiving.  My mum said that we probably wouldn't do many lights this year because they had a lot of work to do and were never home to put them up. So, naturally, I located the Christmas decorations, unpacked the lights, sorted, tested, and went to work.  Luckily all of the lines seemed to work so I went outside and planned where I was going to put them.  The normal big, red, glass bulbs would of course go around the front door.  So that just left a huge amount of little blue lights (probably from the swim school), and a lot of plain white as well as white icicle lights to be hung around the house.  So I got on the very steep roof, despite the cold and started decorating.  I know what a stickler my sister Whitney is for straight lights, so I tried my hardest to get the non-icicle ones to be straight.  I never thought I was afraid of heights until I sat crouched on the very edge of the steepest part of the roof to plug in the lights to the giant extension cord.  It took two days, but eventually I got them all hung up and was ready to plug it in and light em up.  It looked really cool and I was pretty proud of myself.  But, alas, what would this blog entry be if there wasn't a problem?  Not a very good plot line, that's what.  On the second day of the lights being up, one of the lines decided to kick it.  It was the one that I had spent 3 hours on a ladder the very cold night before hanging up.  Typical.  And let me tell you, working with those stupid (although I am actually grateful for them) little plastic things that keep the lights in place with wholly gloves on is NOT an easy task!  Everyone appreciated them anyhow and were very nice and told me that I had done a good job and marveled how much time I had spent on the roof putting them up.  Defeated, I went inside to set up the little Christmas village.  I love setting up the Christmas village.  It's always snowy and has a giant Christmas tree in the very centre.  This was my favourite activity when I was little and it was always the first thing up.  Sometimes before Thanksgiving if my mum would let me. 

Coupled with the Christmas gift story from my last entry, I can say that last Christmas was pretty rebellious.  What can I say?  I don't eff around when it comes to Christmas.  Who knows what will happen this year!  

Now we reach the opposite sex part of the blog...

Sigh... Why do the guys you want to like you never notice you or see you as "just a friend", but the guys you definitely don't want to like you always do?  Why does it have to be like this?!  That is so epically frustrating!  Basically, loveacrosstheocean, if you are reading this, I definitely sympathise with your current boy dilemma as I am currently having one of my own.  My friend Paul's roommate David who went to the corn maze with us is in band and is really kind of cute in my opinion.  He plays trumpet and was in DCI with the Blue Devil's (hot).  He's really nice and funny and of course, being me, I started the "what-if" game (what a crappy game!).  Then there's this kid named Michael, who is one of our other friend's roommate and I think he kind of has a thing for me.  It might just be him being nice (really nice), but I'm going to put the pieces right here on the blog for you, my hopefully existent blog readers to figure out.  At the football game Saturday it was really cold and I was there with Michael, Christine, Amanda, and Paul.  He was sitting one person away at first, but then after people left to smoke and then just eventually sought the indoors away from the freezing mist, he motioned for me to scoot over.  He's a pretty nice (if not weird on occasions) guy so I did and we exchanged pleasantries and awkward small talk and what not.  I was kind of shivering from lack of protective socks underneath my converse and he asked if I was cold.  I said yes and he started trying to generate heat by rubbing my back (which did absolutely nothing except make me feel awkward and avoid eye contact).  He did that for about a minute, which is a lot longer than it seems.  Go ahead.  Count to 60 mississippilly and tell me that isn't a long time.  Then he held out his hands and asked me if my hands were cold.  I said no because they were nice and warm inside my jacket pockets.  So after that one of the guys that I don't really know came back from his smoke break and I invited him into his previous spot between Michael and I.  It was around the end of the third quarter when Christine told me that they had left to eat at one of the dining halls so I was about to leave when Michael looked behind his friend, touched me lightly on the back of the elbow and asked me to go out to eat after the game with him and his other friends that I didn't really know all that well.  I told him that I was actually just about to leave and go meet the others so he didn't press it, but instead wished me a good weekend.  

Now let's talk about David some more.  He went home for the fall break so he didn't have Turkey dinner with us, which I was kind of disappointed about.  He was brought up some how and I slyly asked about this one freshmen girl, Morgan who I had seen sitting by him on the couch with his arm around her towards the beginning of the year.  "What about Morgan?  Are they going out?  I thought I saw him with his arm around her towards the beginning of the semester."  

"No!  He doesn't even care for her that much!"  Christine said aggrievedly.  "That's my point!  He does that all the time!"  

"You mean he's a player?  He doesn't seem like that kind of guy."

"No, he doesn't, but he totally is.  He brings a different girl to the apartment every week, sits on the couch with them, and watches Stardust."  agreed Paul.  

"Stardust?"  

"Yes.  Stardust.  I don't know why, but that's what happens." 

I disappointedly mulled that one over in my head a bit.  Stardust?  What the eff?  Now, admittedly, I have never seen this movie, but it doesn't seem like that much of a guy favourite.  It has Prince Caspian (aka Ben Barnes) in it so I can see why it would be a girl favourite.  I am confused.  No wonder Stardust is always on the top of their tettering pile of DVDs.  Anyway, the fact that he's kind of a player was definitely a turn off so that crush is gone.  Which is good.  I'm still kind of stressing over the Michael thing though.  It's not that I don't like him and he's nice to hang out with every once in a while (as long as other people are around because I can't really see a one-on-one conversation ever moving past awkward), but I just don't nerdfighterlike him.  Help.  No really.  If you have advice then please share.  I've never had a boyfriend so I'm pretty new at this stuff (kind of pathetic, I know).  I was, however asked out in high school, but that's for another blog post.  

I would write and get annoyed about the "just friends" thing, but I think this entry has been long enough.  

PS.  Sorry that all of my blogs are insanely long.  If you haven't lost patience and are still reading to this point then thank you so much.  I love you for doing that.  That is all.  

Currently reading:  Just finished Waiter Rant.  It was quite thought provoking at times and I really enjoyed it.  It was pretty frustrating when reading about the customers and I could never have his patience.  

Currently listening:  Nothing.  Maybe I'll go watch Stardust on YouTube and see what the fuss is about.  

Moral of this blog entry:  Murphy's Law sure is a bitch.  

2 Months, 13 Days, 7 Hours, and...

... If we could just skip all of that then that would be great.  It really needs to be Christmas.  Like right now.  My roommate and I both promised that we wouldn't listen to Christmas music until 12:01 AM the day after Thanksgiving.  She's already caved (for good reason.  She had a headache and a bad day).  I've broken that promise just now.  Today isn't a good day.  I'm facing a football game with no one to sit with.  :-(  I don't know if you know, but that really sucks and I've had plenty experience with it.  Last week I just went to Paul's and we had spaghetti and watched the game on TV.  But I really want to see the marching show.  They're doing songs by Boston.  I watched as they practised the other day and they sound really awesome.  I'm even wearing my Band Fan shirt.  Not that anyone would be able to see it because it is very cold outside and I will be wearing a jacket.  I really need a long sleeved T so that I can wear it under shirts.  I should get on that.  Target, here I come.  

A few minutes ago I was feeling sorry for myself and thinking about how I don't really have any good friends (that aren't in the band) to sit with at games and that I do everything with.  That really sucks.  I see other people and their friends and I'm like "Why don't I have that?!  What the eff is wrong with me?".  I was even thinking about Italy and the likelihood of my return.  Honestly, even if I wasn't sad right now it still wouldn't look good.  So since I was feeling pretty crappy and sad I looked at Michael Buble's two Christmas songs in my iTunes library (I know.  I should definitely have more than two.  I'll make sure to take care of that at Target tomorrow) for about 2 minutes before growing apathetic to the promise I had made and clicking on them to listen.  Let me tell you, instant gratification.  I felt happiness wash over me from the first notes.  I just leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed and smiled to myself.  

I'm not meant to wait this long for Christmas music.  It's just ridiculous!  Oh October.  Why can't you be more December-y?  I've wanted to listen to Nargles in the Mistletoe by the Moaning Myrtles for about a month and a half now.  It's pretty been pretty hard to hold back.  Maybe I'll make that winter video in response to Hayley's Fall Video even though it's about a year late now.  I have all the footage and I know what I want to do with it all. I'll just keep listening to Christmas music and get inspired again.  

I wonder if I'm going to get everyone gifts again this year.  A few years ago we started just drawing names and got that one person a gift or gifts that costed X amount.  But last year most of the family decided not to do that.  Nelda and I were the only ones that decided to.  So along with getting Nelda the new gym bag that she wanted I also got everyone else something too.  I was kind of upset that the whole family decided not to give gifts this year so I did it anyway.  Heh.  Serves them right for voting on something like this while I was away at college.  They got a gift whether they wanted to or not!  I got Megan Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (she was the one that gave me the book 9 years ago and introduced me to the series in the first place.  I thought I'd return the favour) along with a 4 page note I wrote which thanked her, explained what HP has done for my life, along with convincing reasons of why she should read it.  I got Whitney a baby food cookbook because she was expecting in about two months.  Jamey (Whitney's husband) Boondock Saints DVD because he likes movies like that.  I got my mum the Josh Groban Christmas CD and a bottle of the perfume I use because she loves it.  I got my dad a Michael Phelps book that he liked.  And for Liam and Lori (Liam's now wife) the gift that I spent the most time on, a framed collage of them both.  Pictures of when they were just friends, just starting to date, and then finally the proposal which had happened just a month earlier.  I had to facebook stock their profiles as well as get onto Whitney's computer for pictures of them.  It turned out to be pretty good.  I explained what I had done and handed out the gifts and everyone was really taken aback.  I was really looking forward to Liam and Lori's reaction.  They kind of just hid behind the collage and pointed and talked.  I was getting kind of nervous when they finally told me that they liked it a lot and said it was really sweet.  I like how it turned out.  I had spent about 6 hours on Christmas Eve working on it.  The printers I was using must have know that I was trying to do something nice for someone because they were both being a bitch.  I was watching The Office the whole time.  LOL.  It wasn't that bad despite the finicky printers.  I love The Office.  Before the Christmas music came on today I was watching Jim and Pam best moments on YouTube.  Seriously, the kiss in the season 2 finale is the Best.  Kiss.  Ever.  I want one.  I also want to re-watch the wedding.  I am fully convinced that the reason I didn't cry was because I was watching it with my roommate.  Tomorrow though when not many people will be on the internet and hulu will be cooperative I will watch it and I will cry.  

I had a Chai Tea Latte for the first time ever yesterday and it was AMAZING!  Danielle had told me that it tasted like Christmas, but I didn't know exactly what it would be like.  I'm so glad I had it.  I had a Pumpkin Spice Latte only 2 days before.  I hope I'm not turning into a Starbucks junkie. That could really put a huge dent in my bank account.  Poor bank account.  I definitely want more of those Christmas tasting Chai Lattes though.  Amazing.  

Only 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 7 hours, and 19 minutes until legitimate Christmas music listening slash Christmas movie watching!!

Only 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 7 hours, and 17 minutes until Christmas!!

Currently listening:  An Epic Christmas Tale, Chapter One:  How the Thestrals Saved Christmas by The Mudbloods.  Favourite Christmas song ever.  

Still reading the same thing as last time so instead I'll post what my favourite Christmas movies are.  

Muppet Christmas Carol.  Best Muppet Movie and Christmas Carol movie adaption ever.  I used to watch it over and over again during Christmas.  Som

etimes I would watch it 4 times in one day.   

Elf.  I just love the part when the kid reads Santa's list book on the news.  It's awesome.  

Home Alone.  I remember when I used to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit grandparents and cousins for Thanksgiving and every year after Thanksgiving dinner the kids would gather round the old TV in the old den that my grandfather built with his own two hands and watch Macaulay Culkin outsmart the bad guys.  We managed to fight through the tryptophan.  

Favourite Christmas Songs: 

The aforementioned song by the Mudbloods.  This is the song I am planning to put with my Winter video that (if it is ever completed ) I will make sure to post on this blog.  I love this song.  It's just happy.  The Mudbloods rock! 

Joy to the World by Nicholas Jonas.  Yes.  That Nicholas Jonas.  It was when he was younger and cuter (not that he's not cute now, but he was little boy cute).  He is such a good singer.  I remember the first time I heard this song.  I was about 14 and I had fallen asleep to the radio during Christmas time and this song came on in the middle of the night when I was asleep.  Suddenly I woke up.  I'm not exactly sure what woke me up, but I was amazed about the song on the radio and tried so hard to find his CD, but couldn't.  I finally found the song on iTunes about a year ago.  

Nargles in the Mistletoe by The Moaning Myrtles.  Genius.  It's amazing what they can do with that character.  I wish I was as talented musically as they were.  I couldn't write a decent sounding song to save my life.  

Happy Christmas Day by Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls.  I love this band.  They are really good and End of an Era always puts me on the brink of tears.  This song is so happy!  

Happy Christmas anyway!  And for your enjoyment and also because I mentioned her briefly earlier, here is my 7 month old niece, Caroline.  

Don't Go Changing...

... I love you Just the way you Aaaarree! 

Sorry.  That's the song I'm listening to right now.  The title was almost "Thursdays Are Good" and while that is still true, I really like that song especially when Harry Connick, Jr. sings it.  

Thursdays are really good though.  This morning I slept through my alarm clock and woke up 21 minutes later than intended, but it didn't really make a difference because I didn't have anything to do until my 12 o'clock lab anyway.  So I just went onto Hulu and watched Glee.  But before I did that I went through my normal computer routine which includes school email, regular email, facebook, blogger, and youtube.  Except I didn't really get past the first one because I got really nervous at the first unread message.  It was from ISA (the study abroad programme I applied for) and it said "ISA Acceptance Email".  Now normally that would clue one in on what the subject of the email would be and I did at least catch on that much.  I got an initial excited jolt that I hastily choked down for fear of being utterly distraught when it delivered the bad news.  "It says Acceptance!"  I thought.  "So what!  That doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means. They could all say that.  It could be telling you that you weren't accepted."  

I clicked on it and closed my eyes while the page loaded.  I closed them for a good minute before opening them... "Dear Lauren, We regret to inform you that you have not--".  

Wait a minute!  That's not what it says!  "Dear Lauren, Congratulations! I am happy to inform you that you have been officially accepted into ISA's Business, Studio Art and Liberal Arts Winter 1 2010 program at the Florence University of the Arts and Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, Italy. Your acceptance package has been sent out to the address provided on your program application and should arrive shortly."  Holy crap, I got in!  I reread that first sentence about 10 times before peeling my eyes away from the screen and letting it sink in.  Then I had an overwhelming urge to sing Accio Deathly Hallows at the top of my lungs despite the earliness of the hour.  So that's that.  I am that much closer to going.  Just to be sure, I forwarded the email to my study abroad advisor asking if (and feeling incredibly stupid for it) it was the real deal to which she promptly replied that it was.  

I didn't tell anyone except for Sarah (even though she had kept telling me that I would get in) until leaving it in my status a few hours ago.  My sister commented on it and then called me and left a message asking why she had to find out via facebook.  And then my other sister called and asked why she had to find out through our other sister who found out from facebook.  Serves them right!  I'm the youngest in my family and have always been the last to know everything.  See how they like it!  My family is funny.  My sister who commented on the status said she would be willing to go out of her way to help me move into my Florentine apartment.  So sweet.  Always thinking of others...  My other sister said that her and Nelda were ready to be packed into my carry-on.  Unfortunately for them I will not be flying Southwest so they will have to cough up in order to cover the extra baggage expense.  

Grassroots meeting was today and was fun as always.  We got on the subject of politics which was fun with them.  Then Jim and Pam wedding.  Sigh.  So sweet.  "Here's to waiting."  Which I've done a lot of.  Where the heck is my Jim?!  I'm slightly ashamed, in the pathetic-whining-girl way, to admit that I really kind of want a boyfriend.  Dammit.  

Currently listening:  Young at Heart by Frank Sinatra.  It always reminds me of Disney World.     :-)  Disney World makes me happy.  

Now Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain has come on.  That is the ONLY country song that has or ever will (God willing) be on my iTunes library.  

Still reading Waiter's Rant.  I recommend it to anyone.  It's hilarious and SO TRUE!!  Just everything.  The customers he talks about.  The back of the house cooks.  The hostess, the manager.  Everything!  

I need your opinion...

You, yes you if you are reading this, should tell me what you think of this idea.  

I had this idea around last year for the Harry Potter Alliance and I'm going to try and sell it to you now.  Here I go!

 

So, we all have our own stories about how we first came to Harry Potter and that still remains for most of us a very important and defining chapter in our lives.  Some fans have even begun to write their own novels or stories inspired by that moment.  Each story is different and has had an incredible impact and continues to unite us even after Harry's story has ended.  Some may say the fandom is starting to dwindle and they may be right.  But we all feel the same nostalgia when we reminisce about the first time we read that first chapter in that first book.  The wonder and the magic we felt.  We were all his friend and companion through his first perilous year and beyond.  We would endure the bewilderment and judgment of our parents and/or friends when we glued our noses to the books or anxiously theorised and re-read while waiting for then next installment to come out because it was worth it and it was okay to be misunderstood because Harry was misunderstood too.  

Let's face it.  There is a tier system in the fandom (maybe that's not the right word, but I can't really think of any other way to describe it).  Some Harry Potter fans are more popular and have more influence than others.  Some excel at music and so they start a band.  Some are just really brave and better than others at expressing themselves and choose to do it over the internet and get good responses to that expression (I'm not saying they don't endure the hater every once in a while because we all know they do).  Then there are the fans who are lower on that totem pole.  They look up to the people that are higher up and want to be noticed by them.  I am definitely guilty of this.  Probably more guilty than a lot of people.  Maybe we are shy and are afraid of putting ourselves out there and that's why we have a harder time making friends (again, guilty).  I'm not saying this is a bad thing.  It isn't.  It's natural for some to be more popular than others for whatever reason.  We like putting people on pedestals and I'm not saying those people don't deserve it.  There are good things about those people and they are rewarded for putting themselves out there and that's fantastic.  I love those people!  They're awesome and although I would love to be friends with all of them they can't be friends with everyone.  It's impossible.  That isn't the point I'm trying to make so I'll just stop talking about it.  Basically this fandom is huge and, as much as I hate to say it, has gotten kind of impersonal and a lot of people, including myself, feel like there is no place for them anymore.  We as Harry Potter fans all have two things in common.  We are dorks and we love Harry Potter.  Not one person's story is more important than another's and I think that is really important and we all need to realise this. We all bring something to the fandom.  Some people are good at running websites and so they provide all of us with an information source about our favourite thing.  Some people are really good at writing and choose to contribute the the fan fiction part of the fandom.  Some people just have a way with words and are really good at expressing themselves and their ideas on camera and because of this have a lot of followers.  Some people are talented musicians and write and perform their own songs and contribute to the music part of the fandom and at the same time provide the rest of the fans with an opportunity to attend a free concert and socialise and meet with other fans.  Some people are event planners and take the aforementioned opportunity to socialise even further and create events that contribute to the lasting friendships and networks that make up the fandom.  Some people have a passion for charity work and/or making the world suck less so they set up things like the HPA and the ning.  This fandom is full of amazing people.  Some people write musicals and perform skits and some people have over 20,000 subscribers on YouTube and are still humble (and normal) enough to be surprised and flattered when someone recognises them on the street.  All of us are good at something even if we don't realise it and there is no reason for some of us to just hide in the shadows and admire from afar.  We need to be comfortable with each other and realise our equality.  No one is cooler than someone else because we are all nerds and that is OK!  We need to realise that we ALL contribute to this fandom equally and all have the right to express our opinions as well as share our stories with fellow fans as well as the rest of the world.  I say the rest of the world because there are plenty of people I know who just don't seem to get it.  Maybe they are hesitant for whatever reason to start reading the books.  Maybe they think it's too late for them and that they've missed the boat (or train!) or maybe they are just intimidated (which is understandable from an outside point of view).  If they could see something the impact it has had on people then they might want to be part of it too.  Just imagine that you are sitting with your future eleven year old child and you as a parent want to introduce them to the magic that is Harry Potter so that they can experience the same joy you had.  The only problem is is that Harry Potter is a little outdated by there time and they might be a little hesitant to read something that thick or may be turned off from the title or cover.  But if you could show them yours and hundreds of other people's stories of how this book changed their lives then that would be amazing and they would probably want to be a part of it just as you were.  

I think it would be a really neat way to unite the fandom if all of us were to write down those momentous chapters of our lives and somehow compile them into the same book.  Now I know what you are probably thinking.  That would be a really big book.  Yes it would (but come on, we should really not be turned off from thick books by now).  The fan base is huge and spreads across numerous countries.  That equals A LOT of individual stories, but they all are so interesting and unique.  What if we could get a lot of people to write down their stories, publish a book, get the fans to buy the book and then donate all of the proceeds through the HPA to something like helping the situation in Darfur and Burma.  We could even do multiple volumes of the books and that would be even better because it could raise even more money.  No volume would be more important than another.  There would be a story from Chelsey Wieringa right next to a story by Melissa Anelli which is right next to a story from someone who lives in Egypt.  It would be equal just like all of us are equal.  It could be an amazing way to create unity in the fandom because I think we need to be united.  Our fandom boils down to one thing and one thing only.  Harry Potter.  People shouldn't be afraid to put themselves out there for fear of being rejected by the fandom.  We all love the same thing.  We all get a little choked up when we hear Hedwig's Theme.  And we all had that very first moment with the most ordinary boy who turned out to be extraordinary showing us that we too could be extraordinary.  This could be a way for us to pass on to the future what Harry Potter meant to us, the ones that were fortunate enough to wait for each book to come out and attend wrock shows and conferences.  Us, the ones that created the fandom.  

I also realise that I forgot to mention what I was listening to in my last post.  Oops.  I'll just list 2!

Currently listening: 

1.  Candyman by Christina Agulara.  It sounds very swing music-ish and I like it a lot.  I wish Christina Agulara was still popular.  She was actually talented.  It doesn't seem fair that she isn't as famous simply because she is constantly being outslutted.  Oh America... why do you have such low standards?  

2. Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus.  Judge if you will, but I am not one bit ashamed.  

Currently reading:

I got bored of waiting for my library to get Catching Fire (which they STILL haven't!)  So I found this book called Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica.  It is quite hilarious.  It's basically a book of his essays about being a waiter and I can't help but to relate and sympathise with what he goes through.  Someday (perhaps someday soon since I seem to be on a roll this week) I will post my experiences in the food service industry thus far...

... but until that time, I bid you farewell and hopefully I will write again soon.  I can't wait to hear your opinions!  :-)  Feel free to disagree too.  I just hope I don't lose any of you, followers.  You are nice to me and I like you. 

Corn Maize Fun!

So we didn't actually do the zombie game in the corn maze thing, but it was still a lot of fun.  We went at about 7 pm so it started off light, but then got progressively darker and more fun.  At the beginning there was this corn cop (that's what I'm calling them anyway) who told us the rules.  There was something about not running and not throwing corn (neither of which lasted long and we each did both at some point in the maze).  There were also clues on half sheets of paper called passports that could help get you through the maze.  At certain points you would come to numbered intersections and you could read a trivia question and the correct answer would be the correct way to turn.  They didn't help that much though because the maze was huge and there were only 10 numbers so even if you got the question correct you would just make a wrong turn somewhere else and return to the same numbered intersection.  We quickly ditched the passports (mainly cause I snatched them from the people still using them) and I kind of liked the idea of getting through it without the help and Reid at least agreed with this.  We were enjoying it and didn't mind making the same wrong turn several times.  He liked it so much that he often purposely led us astray.  Reid is a funny guy.  I attacked him with a corn stock.  I started off leading the group then got the idea that that would be fun so I crouched behind a corn stock and waited for people in my group to pass.  Lori, Sarah, Colleen, Paul, and David all passed by unharmed.  This wasn't necessarily initially aimed toward Reid, but after I thought about attacking each one of them I thought he would be the least likely to retaliate.  And I was right.  It was pretty funny especially because it was still light outside and they all could see me and each wondered what I was doing behind that corn stock.  Reid came around the corner, saw me and started to ask what I was doing when he got a stock to the face (not hard though so it didn't hurt.  It just startled him).  I'm not sure why I'm telling you this as it probably won't seem very funny to anyone who was not present and can't recall what happened.  Oh well.  I said I would blog about this so I will.  

It started to get darker once we were about halfway through it and it was a good thing we had flashlights.  We made numerous wrong turns and were just having fun and no one seemed to mind the fact that we weren't making any progress.  I was in the lead again and it seemed like another good opportunity to scare someone.  I again went about this without having a pre determined target and walked a little faster ahead of the group so that I could hide in the corn stocks around the corner.  Sarah was the only one walking beside me, but she didn't question my odd behavior.  She just turned around to watch, pretending to wait for the rest of the group to come.  Sarah is awesome.  Lori was the first to round the corner and was too deep in conversation to really look where she was going so I dove out of the corn stocks right at her and yelled.  And she yelled back.  Not at me particularly, but more at the world in general and anyone who would listen.  It was a funny moment and she was a good sport and I assured her that she was not the pre determined target, but just so happened to be unfortunately leading the group at the time and, therefore the first person I saw.  Apparently they had been talking about being attacked and Paul had said, "don't worry, Lori.  We'll make sure you don't get attacked and raped." right before I jumped out at her and they were all laughing really hard at what was unintentional perfect timing.  I love when that happens.  

We got to one of the two bridges that overlook the maze and even though it didn't really help us to determine the way out, we were still amazed (hahaha XD ) at how huge the corn field was.  We finally found the exit and were about to exit when someone preposed the idea that we try and find the entrance again.  So we turned around.  However, it chose that moment to start drizzling and we decided that this would be a lot less fun if we were wet and cold so we headed back toward the exit, but not before purposely leading another group the wrong direction.  

That was a fun night and I was really tired when I got home.  I was actually planning to go right to bed even though it was only 9:30 but then I preposed the idea of Humans v Zombies to Paul over facebook chat and he said it was awesome, but that if we wanted to do it on the 25th of October that we would have to get the ball rolling.  So I created a facebook group with all the info and made Paul and I administrators and Officers.  I am the Vashta Nerada (Doctor Who anyone?) and he is the Inferius.  I invited everyone from my college that was on my friends list and he did the same.  I was kind of embarrassed and was fully prepared to lose a lot of the friends that were more acquaintances and that I didn't know very well, but surprisingly it hasn't happened yet.  So far the group has 41 members and has gained 5 since I last looked 30 minutes ago.  This might actually be really cool and I am really excited.  

County Fair and Zombies

I should be going to bed right now, but that's usually the story, so whatever.  I had a really good weekend and it's not even over yet!  Thursday was a grassroots meeting which I always look forward to and of course The Office, of which I really only thought the beginning was funny, but oh well.  Next week looks promising because it looks like it's just going to be a Jim and Pam cute fest which of course I never oppose to.  But I digress...

Friday my last class was cancelled and then I went swing dancing later that night with my roommate, Paul, and Lori.  Paul invited his friends David and TubaCam and then Reid came later on.  Reid is kind of a crazy guy.  He somewhat reminds me of Hank Green, but that's probably just because he sort of looks like him.  It's sort of hard to describe Reid so I am just not going to try.  Anywho, we did some swing dancing and some two stepping and some cotton eyed joe and some cupid shuffle and it was fun.  I found out two things.  1. I do not mind country music when it is being danced to (other than that I can't really stand it) and 2. I am obsessed with Big Band music.  I've listened to Pandora which has provided me with a lot of songs to go and download on iTunes.  It is amazing.  I'm listening to Everything by Michael Buble which I realise doesn't really fall into the category of Big Band, but he's still in the same playlist as far as I'm concerned because you can still dance to his music... and he makes my heart melt.  

Today I didn't go to the football game.  Instead I went to Paul's and he made spaghetti (again.  It's kind of his specialty) and we had ice cream and left over birthday cake while watching the game and then the last part of Disturbia (we made fun of Shia Lebouf's scream).  Then we decided we wanted to go to the fair which was on it's last night in town.  We tried to get more people to go with us, but as it was kind of spontaneous everyone else had other plans.  The fair was kind of a bust because after you pay for parking and pay to get in you have to pay to ride stuff and play games.  We did ride one ride where you are in a rocket shaped thing and you are kind of acting like a pendulum (accept one that doesn't really follow the pendulum rule) and you go upside down and hang there for a couple seconds before you finally swing back down.  All I could think about while riding it was my iPhone is going to somehow, despite how securely it is positioned, fall out of my pocket and into oblivion, and... Final Destination.  Then we went to look at some of the local school art cause it was free.  Then we left to go see Zombie Land which was, if possible, better than I expected.  Despite the hilarity of the movie and the fact that it wasn't serious at all, most of the upcoming movie trailers were all about horrors.  There was Saw (whatever number they're on now), Shutter Island which is a movie about a Mental Hospital on some island and Leonardo DiCaprio tries to speak in an accent that he doesn't have (which is always funny); yet another end of the world movie, and, randomly, New Moon.  I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but New Moon actually, and despite my protests to these books and movies being so popular, looks kind of good.  Robert Pattinson has a minimal role which is good and Jacob just looks hot.  

Tomorrow I plan to go to church, make pizza at Paul's with friends, and then going to the Corn Maize.  Lubbock does this thing where they make a maze with really cool designs in corn.  I'm pretty freaking excited.  Mazes are awesome.  I've always wanted to be in a Goblet of Fire type maze.  As if mazes weren't fun enough on there own I was thinking earlier that I'm probably going to get my friends to play a game while we're venturing to the centre.  It's going to be like tag, hide n' go seek, and sharks and minnows (minus the water) combined.  I am going to call it Zombie.  I'm sure it speaks for itself, but basically one person (determined by "nose goes") is assigned zombie and has to count to 50 outside of the maze while everyone else tries to get as far as they can away from that person/ toward the centre aka safe zone.  Then the zombie has to go around finding people to tag and, therefore mark as one of there own (that's the sharks and minnows part).  Then soon there will be more zombies than people, determined on how difficult the maze is and how long it takes for everyone to get to the centre and it will just be fun.  There will be a lot of running in the dark maze.  

Because I was thinking all of these zombie maze thoughts, I began thinking about a game Kristina Horner played on her college campus.  It was zombie based and basically there were zombies and normal people and the zombies had to try and attack the normal people.  Except the normal people were loaded with nerf guns.  I think I am going to try and introduce the friends I go to the maze with tomorrow to this idea and have a designated "Zombie Day" on campus and see how many people we could get in on it.  I was thinking that it would be cool if it was on Halloween, but that lies on a Saturday and I don't think it would be as fun.  It would be a lot cooler if you were part of the resistance and had to look over your shoulder while loaded with a nerf gun on your way to class.  

That's all for now.  I suppose I'll update again tomorrow or the next day with the results of the Corn Maize and pizza making and also if my friends think College Zombie Day is a good or realistic idea or not.  

Currently listening to:  Lot's of stuff.  Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick, Jr., and Sing Sing Sing.  

Currently reading:  just finished Hunger Games and LOVED IT!!  It was making me a little crazy toward the end.  My college library doesn't have Catching Fire, but I requested it.  I just hope it comes in fast because I am really excited to see what happens next!