Twilight

Well, I have been stating in previous posts that I would write about Twilight. . . . it's just been so difficult to make myself do, as it is so far beyond words, and so far into my obsessive place, that I've been trying not to think about it. . .tahaha, but Caitlyn did write a beautiful tribute to it, so i suppose that could be inspiring.

So Twilight. . . . .as we all know, I began reading the first book one fateful day in November. My friend Art had given me his copy of the first one, and I was interested in finding out what all the hype was about. I mean, I didn't even know what it was until I unintentionally arrived at the release party for Breaking Dawn at Barnes and Noble. But alas, after the first 50 pages, I was hooked. I could not physically put the book down. I remember waking up at 4:30am due to a cough, and not being able to fall back asleep with my brain so awake with wanting to be in the story again. So I just started reading and finished the book before class. That night I went to Target to acquire book two. It continued like this for a week until I finally finished. And it would have been much shorter, had it not been for midterms week and an unexpected visit from Colin. The thing was, my brain was so alive, like I mentioned, that I was able to read at home constantly, study for midterms, and be at school all day (without reading), be completely deprived of sleep, not have much of an appetite, and still survive! I was surviving on the purity of my love for these books. It was an amazing experience, that probably won't happen very often in life. Don't get me wrong, at the end of the week I crashed. I was exhausted and starving, but it was like coming off of a high of some sort. It was amazing.

Now, there is so much to say about the glory of these books. I shall try not to get too involved. First of all, Edward Cullen. Perfect, obviously. I am really looking forward to the book she's releasing that will be book one from his perspective. I'm sure we will get to know him a lot better through that, but through Bella's eyes, he's such a perfect match. I mean, he is so entirely in love with her. His whole life is her once they meet. I mean, it really makes you wish life was like this. If none of us had the worries of every day life; money, jobs, stress. . . .you have everything you need, and you can devote your entirety to loving this one person. It's so amazing. And it just makes it that much better that she doesn't really have anything special in her life before him, so she doesn't need to give anything up, or abandon anyone. She finally has some purpose for her life: to be with Edward. It's glorious. And I really relate to Bella. I have a lot in common with her. Obviously not the fear of attention, or lack of relating to people, but the way she thinks. . . .I really relate to. I wonder if that is because the author and I think similarly. I don't just accept things as they're told to me, I need to know every detail of a story or a situation. My mother often gets frustrated by my endless questions about a non-important topic or happening. While reading the series, I was never left questioning things as I often am in books or movies or shows, because Bella always needed to find out as well. She always got the details or asked why? instead of merely accepting the information given. I really loved that.

The romance of the book is my literal dream (well, except perhaps for the bruises and all that, but that's way later...). I love every second they are together. It's perfection. Every time he touches her or kisses her, or even looks at her. It's perfect. And the way it's written really is so personal. . .it's like you're experiencing these intimate things, and while reading them, it's amazing, but if you bring it outside that intimacy, it becomes like you're discussing something truly personal that no one else should know. The actor that plays Edward describes this well in an interview. The writing literally gets you into Bella's mind. I felt every single emotion she felt. I felt like I was her. And when she was torn between Edward and Jacob, I felt it too. Many of my friends who read it were not fans of Jacob at all, but I just can't feel that way, because I felt every emotion that Bella felt. It's very odd. And amazing. I cried ridiculous amounts when she was hurting. I felt the pain. And her mood affected my days. If she was unhappy, I had a long, hard day. If she was excited, my day was amazing. I'm telling you, this experience was like nothing else, and it was wonderful. Perhaps this partially due to my immensely empathetic nature, but regardless, it ruled.

So the movie? I mean, it's hard not to love it since I saw it four times. (Not entirely my fault. . .the fourth was because I promised Bevin I would go with her!!) But, I was determined to like it regardless. It really didn't matter how bad it was, because it stuck to the book, and it was TWILIGHT! Kind of like, no matter how bad the Harry Potter movies are, you still have to see them. No choice in the matter. The movie on its own is really fun and exciting. I mean, my brother saw it with me twice, so it must be relatable to those other than addicts of the books. Now, in relating it to the books, I must state that it did not evoke the same feelings. But can we really expect it to? Perhaps. . . .but as I said, it is hard to relate those intimate moments in any other setting than her unique writing style. And the leads both played the characters quite differently than the book. Bella was way more "too cool for school" in the movie, and had less of the sweetness and purity that Bella has about her. Of course, I still enjoyed her. And Edward. . . .well he played it more as this pained guy who hates himself and really doesn't have the control that he's trying to attain, whereas in the book, yes, Edward doesn't like that he's a vampire, but I feel like he's come to terms with it more, and is a very strong guy. He also has more of a parental nature in the book, as he has been around for quite a while, and is always in need of protectng Bella. The way he attempts to control what she does gets extremely frustrating to me in the third book, but it goes along with this protective, dominating nature.

Alright, so what do we think? Twilight is perfection, and I am extremely glad that I found this beauteous love to be obsessed with, because we all know I love being obsessed with love. Now if only I could find my Edward, then all would be wunderbar. Someday soon! :)

My Dream

So I have dreamed of making a movie version of La Boheme exactly like this forever. . . .and here we are. . . . .Anna and Rolando doing it. . . and it does look like pure beauty. . . . .too bad it's out in Europe and not here. . . . . .Stupid America.

The Giving of Thanks

Ok, sooo. . . .I have not written in a while. . .and I do have some ideas to write about, but I just haven't been able to! I didn't have reliable internet over the break. Alas, break was NICE! I really shouldn't be doing this right now, as I have an audition in 2 hours, but since when do I do what I should?

Oh Olivia, you will be happy to know that I woke up this morning, but it did take me 20 extra minutes. Oh, and I am listening to the piece you put on your blog. It is beautiful. And quite a sad topic! Whew! You could completely sing that, though. It's amazing.

So this past week was THANKSGIVING! It was quite lovely! I took a different bus than usual, but it was the one that I took when I came up here at 3:30am. I was really excited, because I love traveling and road trips and adventures. Not like it's a huge adventure driving home on a bus, but still! It was even better, though, when the bus was an hour late and we stood outside in the cold the whole time. We did, however, get back into town when I had expected us to. Then on Wednesday I basically did nothing but hang out with my brothers while my mom was at work. We watched Get Smart the tv show for a long while. David really likes it. I feel like we must have gone out somewhere or done something of concequence, but I cannot recall. Clearly it wasn't of very large concequence. Then, sadly, David had to go to my dad's for Thanksgiving, so I missed him. He always has to go when I'm home!! Jake was working at Starbucks that morning, so we ventured over there and got online, where I watched True Blood. In the middle of Starbucks. Quite. (I'm really over that show for the moment.) Anyway, then we went to Mimi's Cafe for Thanksgiving dinner and to see Twilight. There will be another post about Twilight, because it deserves some attention.

Then, of course, on Friday the "friends from home" as they're always called, got together. Mary said we had to go somewhere fun exciting, so of course we ended up at. . . . .the mall. Don't ask how this happened, but we are not those of creative minds, obviously. Nobody bought anything, but we did try on some potential purchases. I think Christine already bought that furry vest. Indeed, it was an enjoyable afternoon at the mall. Again, I can't remember for the life of me what I did after this extravaganza, or on Saturday morning. . . . Oooh, ok, so I went to Walmart to get the Twilight cd, and to Toys R Us with my mom. Then we met up with Jake at (you guessed it) Starbucks, and he and I decided to be REALLY cool and go to to the movies. It was the plan, though, to buy tickets for one movie, but sneak into two, sooooo, we saw JamesBond, and then snuck into Twilight again. It ruled.

Ooooh, but on the way back. . . . .our usual 4 hour bus ride took 7 hours! It was insane. Luckily Lauren and I were on the bus together. We partied. It was fun.

So, I posted. . .it's not very interesting, but I did it! I'll work harder next time, but I'm in a hurry. hahaha, CIAO! :)

La Bohème

I decided to write about Bohème before I go into other things, because I love it quite a lot.

La Bohème is quite perfect. It is the most beautiful, selfless love story. I really relate to Mimi. I know that people have different opinions on her background, but I thought of a perfect compromise. Lauren Flanigan did a master class recently at MSM and pointed out that in this time period there were different levels of unwealthy, single girls, but they all had "suitors." One level was probably like Musetta, where she had many, like a courtesan, but another level had very vew, maybe only one, and she worked in the background like Mimi, sewing flowers as a seemstress. I'm thinking that perhaps Mimi is very young and new to the "profession" and has met her "suitor" perhaps, but nothing has happened yet. That makes perfect sense as to why Musetta would call her an "angel from heaven" and refer to her as pure and whatnot. She dreams of poetry and love and fancies, but she is very optimistic and content. And perhaps somewhere in her she knows her life is not going to bee extremely long, but she doesn't think about it conciously. Therefore, when she meets Rodolfo, she is completely taken off guard, but so excited about it! Um, finding your person is AMAZING! And they fall in love! I think that the love has to be pure and real, or the story means nothing. If he is just another man she is going to sleep with, than who gives a crap. That is not the story. This also explains why she goes with the Viscount after she leaves Rodolfo, because she needs someone to support her, and she is deathly ill. And this was how things would have been for her always, had she not met Rodolfo. Of course she doesn't want to go with him, but she's a strong girl and sucks it up.

So what do we think about Rodolfo's behavior? He does say in a very beautiful melody in Act II that he would not be so forgiving if Mimi ever was unfaithful. I don't know that it really relates to Act III and his description of Mimi's behaviors, though. He rants and rants about how he wants to leave Mimi for good, and she is a flirt and looks at every man with languid eyes, until Marcello says, "I don't need to tell you that you're not being honest," when he finally admits it's not true at all. He then admits that Mimi is gravely ill and he cannot help her, and every day he watches her slowly die and can do it no longer. He loves her so much, he cannot watch her suffer and thinks he is to blame for the poor conditions of his apartment. He has no money, obviously, so he can't take care of her the way he wants. So I feel like this is a week moment for Rodolfo. Mimi would never leave him and hurt him because of her own feelings. This is why she is so strong and tells him they will part, without bitterness. Beautiful. Of course they are both desperate without each other, and when she's dying she returns to him to die by his side. Being in Italian, I feel it is so much easier to have beautiful words not sound awkward. My favorite thing is Rodolfo's nickname for Mimi. He calls her his "piccina," his little one. It's so adorable, but more in Italian than English.

So now I am singing "Donde lieta usci" instead of "Mi chiamano Mimi," but only for now while I rework the other one. Overall, La Boheme is perfect, and I want to sing all of it. "Sono andati" at the end is amazing. Of course I've sung the act III quartet, but that was. . . . .less than ideal. Perhaps if "eye licking the page guy" were in it it would have been better. (I guess most people won't understand who that is, but who's reading this anyway?) In conclusion, I love La Bohème, and I cannot wait to play Mimi. J'adore. And Baz Luhrmann's production photos are amazing, as you can see.

Olivia is a Girl.

I just read Olivia's comment on my last post, and she has finally agreed that she is indeed a girl. This is good news, for anatomically, she is one as well. I enjoy being a girl. I think that is a musical theater song, but that kind of song makes me really hate musical theater. It's funny how I actually loathe so much of it, but adore some as well. Alas. Opera is better. (Unless you're Howard Keel, in which case you are perfect, and everything you sing is perfect.) Perhaps this revelation will inspire Olivia to finally read Twilight, one of the most perfect creations in existence. Twilight is pure perfection, and the movie is coming out on FRIDAY! So everyone (aka Mary and Olivia who will read this) should read the book so that they can see the movie! A girl from school who's from Czech Republic is reading them now, because we've all been talking about them so much that she needed to jump on the band wagon. She is quite obsessed as well already. It's adorable.

So in boring notes, I have not gone food shopping in a month and a half, and I don't feel like going now. I'll probably end up eating McDonald's for dinner. It is quite convenient, being located right across the street. Wow, I really need to work on this, because Mary's page was so interesting, and this is so incredibly lame. Geeze louise. . . maybe I should just make an entire entry on La Boheme and that would inspire me.

Well, since we're on a Twilight note, and I like adding photos, enjoy this lovely photo of the movie. :D

Inspired

So, there is a first for everything, I suppose. Normally I'm lucky to make a journal entry a few times a year, how could I expect to keep up a blog? But I guess time will tell how long it lasts.
While reading Olivia's blog earlier, I was inspired by the writing style these create. It's quite honest and real, while still being creative and fun. I feel this could be a good outlet! I just have to work on writing things interesting enough for someone to want to read. . .
Alas, now I am tired and can't remember the feeling that spawned this entry. It took me a really long time to create my layout, and it forced me to remember the reason I don't normally do these online things; they are too frustrating! I'll write again later when I'm more energized. Yay for my new blog!