I finally bit the bullet and read Twilight. To tell the truth I was secretly terrified that I would actually enjoy it! But now that I've finished it I'm happy to say there was NO threat of that. I finished being 17 three years ago. I'm well aware of how stupid I was then, and I have no desired to remind myself of it. The main character was meant to be your typical 17-year-old girl: she saw everyone around her as completely one-dimensional, except her love interest of course, and she seemed to believe that life will always be just like high school. Instead she was a complete Mary Sue. Here's how it went down:
Bella moves in with her father in a town in Washington (that the author has clearly never been to or she would know you don't need a parka there). She's too cool to think of her father as "dad" and often "accidentally" slips up and calls him by his first name to his face. Her parents are both completely inept so she has to take care of them, because adults just want to think they're mature when they are in fact absent-minded infants with checkbooks.
She meets a mysterious young man at school. He seems disgusted by her. She falls in love with him. All the boys in school fall in love with her and the girls all either want to be her friend or are jealous of her. She thinks they are all boring and stupid compared to her perfect Edward. She finds out Edward is a vampire. He admits that he is pretty much just attracted her because he wants to eat her and he's curious because he can't read her mind. They declare their undying love for each other.
Some super scary evil vampire decides on a whim to kill her so she has to run from him! This tension lasts about 3 chapters out of 24. Then the book is over and she has decided she's so in looooove with Edward that she wants to become a vampire, even though he has been telling her over and over again how fucking awful it is.
I honestly don't know how I managed to get through the whole thing without vomiting.
On the other hand, I also saw two films this evening.
Do the Right Thing
I'd never seen it before, and I really liked it! Apparently Barack and Michelle saw this film on their first date! It did fill me with the nasty burning of privilege in my belly though.
Starship Troopers
I've seen this before. However, I was looking at it through a whole new light as I recently found it was directed by the same guy that directed Showgirls!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Hellacious week and last night's triple feature
Last week was NO FUN! I had a geometry midterm on Monday, computer architecture midterm on Tuesday, writing for the professions presentation on Wednesday, microeconomics midterm on Thursday, and fake research proposal due on Friday. Luckily for me that last one got postponed until after the break. Yay!
Last night the MAA put on a Pi Day event! I watched a presentation on pi, listened to a competitive pi recitation contest (winner got 17x digits!), got third place in a pie eating contest (someone succeeded in trying to make me laugh about half way through my piece of banana cream), and ate free non-pi(e)-related Mexican food.
I didn't particularly want to see Pi again (once is enough!), so we ran upstairs to watch other films:
Oklahoma!
Now we're about to walk to the Pie Hole for some om nom-age. I love spring break!
Last night the MAA put on a Pi Day event! I watched a presentation on pi, listened to a competitive pi recitation contest (winner got 17x digits!), got third place in a pie eating contest (someone succeeded in trying to make me laugh about half way through my piece of banana cream), and ate free non-pi(e)-related Mexican food.
I didn't particularly want to see Pi again (once is enough!), so we ran upstairs to watch other films:
Oklahoma!
- I've seen this film about a trillion times. My companions commented on the fact that I could recite most of it.
- Now that I'm older I can see that some of the jokes and major plot points are raunchy and/or macabre.
- I wish someone would remake this film but filmed in Oklahoma, with all the original songs, and maybe with a shorter dream sequence.
- This movie was unbelievably hard for me to watch. I cried throught the whole thing. I don't know if I could watch it again.
- It's a very good film though, and I highly suggest it.
- ...
- I need to read The Twelfth Night before I pass judgment on this one.
Now we're about to walk to the Pie Hole for some om nom-age. I love spring break!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Last day of 20 and the first of 21
Yesterday I had a nice lie in. It was around 11:30 that I rolled out of bed and over to my computer. I was thinking on the things I had planned for the weekend. At that point I realized I had completely forgotten to pick up the movies for the theme house event! I managed to procure all three films though before they showed. Yay for averting disaster!
I didn't really see any new films at the theme house event. I'd already seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Chicago, and I decided to forgo the 2.5-hour-long Across the Universe. From what I did see I don't think I would have liked it. The two main characters were kind of ugly and there was some severe overuse of AutoTune.
After the event Matt and Rachel and I were hungry, so we walked down to the Collective for sandwiches and a "banana boat" coffee drink. Delicious!
The weather was so nice that I insisted we take a scenic route back to the apartments. We noticed when we passed by the stadium that it wide open, so we ran barefoot on the Astroturf and climbed the stairs all the way to the roof! The stadium is the second tallest building on campus, and from the roof we could see the whole city all lit up.
When I got back to the apartment I colored my hair—Revlon ColorSilk #42 medium auburn—and then styled it and put on some make-up.
At about 5 to midnight I took my last shot as a minor (it was José Cuervo) before heading back the Collective. Rusty gave me a shot of "royal peach" (Royal Crown + peach schnapps) on the house. It wasn't my first drink, and it wasn't even my first legal drink (dad took me out to a bar in Canada where the drinking age is 19), but it was my first drink as a 21-year-old!
Rachel bought me an amaretto sour (yum!) and I ordered another shot and a Marshall wheat (a local brew). We sat on the patio for a while and I drank my surprisingly tasty beer. Rachel bought me another shot (something with Baileys in it), and we listened to the band for a bit (Stevedore, a fairly popular local duo).
We went back to the apartment and had one last shot (tequila again!) We were all pretty tired, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL outside! We changed into sneakers and took a stroll around campus. We stopped in the parking lot to put a fake mustache on handicapped parking spot sign.
By the time we got to Lottie Jane it was time for a bathroom break, so we stopped into the lobby. We considered putting a mustache on the paining of Lottie, but decided that would not be appreciated. So we endevoured on.
Our next stop was Danielle's apartment, but she was asleep. Instead we left our calling card—mustaches!—on her door. While we were passing the Methodist church a group of men in a car tried to get us to come to a party with them, but they were a bit creepy so we ignored them.
Kep is always open, so we decided to stroll about in there. We bought some snacks from the vending machine on the lower floor and Matt showed us the men's restroom. The stalls are blue in there (they're red in the women's room) and there were so many urinals! Jordan liked the statue of the oil drillers so we took him upstairs to see all the little machine people figures on the upper floor. Some of them were stuffed in a bizarre little corner, which I thought made a good hiding spot.
We reminisced about the Honors House (which I never lived in or spent time in) and made observations about the sorority and fraternity houses as we crossed Harwell Field. We went down into the stadium again and bemoaned the light pollution in town. The Big Dipper was right above us though, and some planet.
When we got back the apartments the boys went to bed, but Rachel and I stayed up to watch My Super Sweet Sixteen. Around 4:30 I finally went to sleep, feeling really happy.
I woke up to my dad calling to wish a happy birthday. After that I browsed the Internet for a while and went to brunch at the caf around noon with Matt.
Mom picked me up around 2:30 and we split fajitas at Mexico Lindo and went to Gardener's (I got The Physics of Star Trek).
When I got back I ate dinner with Matt and Rachel and Jordan, and then we watched Gypsy. I can see why Sondheim had problems with this film version. The camera work was terrible!
I was really impressed with Natalie Wood though. I've never thought she was very pretty as Maria in West Side Story, but she looked beautiful as pre-stripper Louise in this film, and apparently her songs weren't dubbed.
The music was nice, as I expected. I'm going to have to add some other Sondheim musicals to my queue (A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum).
Over all, it was a nice birthday!
I didn't really see any new films at the theme house event. I'd already seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Chicago, and I decided to forgo the 2.5-hour-long Across the Universe. From what I did see I don't think I would have liked it. The two main characters were kind of ugly and there was some severe overuse of AutoTune.
After the event Matt and Rachel and I were hungry, so we walked down to the Collective for sandwiches and a "banana boat" coffee drink. Delicious!
The weather was so nice that I insisted we take a scenic route back to the apartments. We noticed when we passed by the stadium that it wide open, so we ran barefoot on the Astroturf and climbed the stairs all the way to the roof! The stadium is the second tallest building on campus, and from the roof we could see the whole city all lit up.
When I got back to the apartment I colored my hair—Revlon ColorSilk #42 medium auburn—and then styled it and put on some make-up.
At about 5 to midnight I took my last shot as a minor (it was José Cuervo) before heading back the Collective. Rusty gave me a shot of "royal peach" (Royal Crown + peach schnapps) on the house. It wasn't my first drink, and it wasn't even my first legal drink (dad took me out to a bar in Canada where the drinking age is 19), but it was my first drink as a 21-year-old!
Rachel bought me an amaretto sour (yum!) and I ordered another shot and a Marshall wheat (a local brew). We sat on the patio for a while and I drank my surprisingly tasty beer. Rachel bought me another shot (something with Baileys in it), and we listened to the band for a bit (Stevedore, a fairly popular local duo).
We went back to the apartment and had one last shot (tequila again!) We were all pretty tired, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL outside! We changed into sneakers and took a stroll around campus. We stopped in the parking lot to put a fake mustache on handicapped parking spot sign.
By the time we got to Lottie Jane it was time for a bathroom break, so we stopped into the lobby. We considered putting a mustache on the paining of Lottie, but decided that would not be appreciated. So we endevoured on.
Our next stop was Danielle's apartment, but she was asleep. Instead we left our calling card—mustaches!—on her door. While we were passing the Methodist church a group of men in a car tried to get us to come to a party with them, but they were a bit creepy so we ignored them.
Kep is always open, so we decided to stroll about in there. We bought some snacks from the vending machine on the lower floor and Matt showed us the men's restroom. The stalls are blue in there (they're red in the women's room) and there were so many urinals! Jordan liked the statue of the oil drillers so we took him upstairs to see all the little machine people figures on the upper floor. Some of them were stuffed in a bizarre little corner, which I thought made a good hiding spot.
We reminisced about the Honors House (which I never lived in or spent time in) and made observations about the sorority and fraternity houses as we crossed Harwell Field. We went down into the stadium again and bemoaned the light pollution in town. The Big Dipper was right above us though, and some planet.
When we got back the apartments the boys went to bed, but Rachel and I stayed up to watch My Super Sweet Sixteen. Around 4:30 I finally went to sleep, feeling really happy.
I woke up to my dad calling to wish a happy birthday. After that I browsed the Internet for a while and went to brunch at the caf around noon with Matt.
Mom picked me up around 2:30 and we split fajitas at Mexico Lindo and went to Gardener's (I got The Physics of Star Trek).
When I got back I ate dinner with Matt and Rachel and Jordan, and then we watched Gypsy. I can see why Sondheim had problems with this film version. The camera work was terrible!
I was really impressed with Natalie Wood though. I've never thought she was very pretty as Maria in West Side Story, but she looked beautiful as pre-stripper Louise in this film, and apparently her songs weren't dubbed.
The music was nice, as I expected. I'm going to have to add some other Sondheim musicals to my queue (A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum).
Over all, it was a nice birthday!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
ETA: 3.5 hours
I've got a visitor arriving at 6:30, and yet I'm still awake. Oh well.
I'm on a pretty severe musical binge, and there's no purging in sight. Here are my most recent views, in reverse chronological order:
On a related note, my theme house is putting on a musical event jointly with the Music Manor. I didn't have much input in the movie selection, so it ends up that we're showing one film I don't want to see, one that I've seen and don't care to see again, and one that I own. Here's the poster, because I like to show off my own work, even when it's not very good.
I've got a nasty schedule coming up:
I'm on a pretty severe musical binge, and there's no purging in sight. Here are my most recent views, in reverse chronological order:
- Once Upon a Mattress
- Annie Get Your Gun
- Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
- Into The Woods
- Cats
- Man of La Mancha
- 1776
- Mamma Mia!
- Flower Drum Song
- Kiss Me, Kate
- Camelot
- Annie
- Barnum
- Xanadu
- Oliver!
- Cannibal! The Musical
- Bye Bye Birdie
- Hello, Dolly!
On a related note, my theme house is putting on a musical event jointly with the Music Manor. I didn't have much input in the movie selection, so it ends up that we're showing one film I don't want to see, one that I've seen and don't care to see again, and one that I own. Here's the poster, because I like to show off my own work, even when it's not very good.
I've got a nasty schedule coming up:
- Monday: Advanced Geometry exam, or "Are these cevians concurrent? Is this transformation affine? What does this shape look like after applying t?"
- Tuesday: Computer Architecture exam, or "Wait, what's Tomasulo's algorithm?"
- Wednesday: Writing for the Professions presentation, or "These people have actually been at this university for three years and they still can't write?"
- Thursday: Microeconomics exam, or "This stuff made so much sense during lecture!"
- Friday: a long nap, BSG, and maybe some chocolate
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A few thoughts from a half-feverish Rackles
- I've always thought that the English language needs more grouping symbols. Lists would be much more understandable if we could use parentheses, brackets, and braces.
- I really don't like the story in Moulin Rouge at all. I don't like the lead actress. I don't even like most of the music. I do like Ewan McGregor though. He's just too darn cute in every scene!
- Mom was right. Taking a hot bath really does help you feel better when you're sick. Simon and Garfunkel help as well.
- I could probably spend the rest of my life on a comfy couch watching Food Network programming.
- Mom never wanted me to watch Gypsy when I was little because it was about a *gasp!* stripper! Now I want to see it, but they only have it on VHS at the library and I'm too embarrassed to ask where they keep them.
- With regards to Mamma Mia!
- I hope I can look half as good as Meryl Streep when I'm almost 60
- I think this whole thing works much better as a film than it did as a stage production
- The locals doing back-up singing and dancing are the best part of the film
- There is a rumor on IMDB that Keira Knightley will be starring in a remake of My Fair Lady. I don't know if this is true, and I don't know if Keira can sing, but I want this to happen.
- Top Chef ended exactly the way I predicted. I won't expand on this to avoid spoilers.
- If it was possible to cough a lung up, I think I would have done it today.
Monday, February 16, 2009
A silly name meme
State Your full Name as of right now:
Raquel Elizabeth Phillips
1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father's middle name) - Ann Guy
2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) - Charles Robert
3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) - Phira
4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Turquoise Elephant
5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - Elizabeth Muskogee
6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning) - The Purple Rooster Booster Lite
7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) - Raph
8. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie) - Cherry Chocolate Lemon Bar
9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pets name, current street name) - Pecos 8th
10. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy) - Beyond Paradise Airheads Xtremes
Raquel Elizabeth Phillips
1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father's middle name) - Ann Guy
2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) - Charles Robert
3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) - Phira
4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Turquoise Elephant
5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - Elizabeth Muskogee
6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning) - The Purple Rooster Booster Lite
7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) - Raph
8. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie) - Cherry Chocolate Lemon Bar
9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pets name, current street name) - Pecos 8th
10. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy) - Beyond Paradise Airheads Xtremes
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Culinary adventures and other delights
Friday
After watching a scene in Battlestar Galactica where Starbuck eats a steak with carrots, greens, and mashed potatoes I had an insatiable craving for steak. Kyle and I decided to make steak. The cut we got was no bueno! We were both disappointed.
Saturday
I was still craving steak, so we all went out to the Texas Roudhouse! When you get to the table they give you a basket of rolls (sweet and buttery!) served with cinnamon butter and a bucket of peanuts. The idea was to eat the peanuts and then dump the shells on the ground, which I did after some hesitation. My steak was super tasty, and just exactly what I wanted.
Sunday
Everywhere we went on Super Bowl Sunday had obstacles! First we decided to head down to the SAC where there was a Super Bowl party, but all they had was chips and queso: delicious, but not dinner. Next we tried Señor Villa, but it was closed for "renovation" *cough* health departnment *cough*. Dena's was closed as well. Our next stop was the Collective, but it was closed for a private party! By this time we were hungry and cranky and tired, as we had been walking all over in search of food. Finally we borrowed Kyle's car and headed over to the Pie Hole. DELICIOUS. We went home all the more satisfied for our wait.
Monday
I kind of forgot to eat dinner. Oops!
Tuesday
Took Mom to eat at Desi-Wok. I got the tikka platter with grilled veggies, as did she. It was just right! My mother, who likes maybe three restaurants in the whole world, was very impressed. Desi-Wok is just too good.
Wednesday
I made a sort of pork and beans (turkey smoked sausage in pinto, butter, and great northern beans) with baked sweet potato fries. Finished it off with Rachel's baked apples and a little spiked peppermint cocoa.
Now it's Wednesday night, which means Top Chef! I hope Stefan goes home (though I know he won't).
Tomorrow I will be pledging ΑΦΩ, the coed community service fraternity. I'm a little nervous about the whole "secret ritual" part, but I'm betting it will be a little tamer than other Greek orgs.
After watching a scene in Battlestar Galactica where Starbuck eats a steak with carrots, greens, and mashed potatoes I had an insatiable craving for steak. Kyle and I decided to make steak. The cut we got was no bueno! We were both disappointed.
Saturday
I was still craving steak, so we all went out to the Texas Roudhouse! When you get to the table they give you a basket of rolls (sweet and buttery!) served with cinnamon butter and a bucket of peanuts. The idea was to eat the peanuts and then dump the shells on the ground, which I did after some hesitation. My steak was super tasty, and just exactly what I wanted.
Sunday
Everywhere we went on Super Bowl Sunday had obstacles! First we decided to head down to the SAC where there was a Super Bowl party, but all they had was chips and queso: delicious, but not dinner. Next we tried Señor Villa, but it was closed for "renovation" *cough* health departnment *cough*. Dena's was closed as well. Our next stop was the Collective, but it was closed for a private party! By this time we were hungry and cranky and tired, as we had been walking all over in search of food. Finally we borrowed Kyle's car and headed over to the Pie Hole. DELICIOUS. We went home all the more satisfied for our wait.
Monday
I kind of forgot to eat dinner. Oops!
Tuesday
Took Mom to eat at Desi-Wok. I got the tikka platter with grilled veggies, as did she. It was just right! My mother, who likes maybe three restaurants in the whole world, was very impressed. Desi-Wok is just too good.
Wednesday
I made a sort of pork and beans (turkey smoked sausage in pinto, butter, and great northern beans) with baked sweet potato fries. Finished it off with Rachel's baked apples and a little spiked peppermint cocoa.
Now it's Wednesday night, which means Top Chef! I hope Stefan goes home (though I know he won't).
Tomorrow I will be pledging ΑΦΩ, the coed community service fraternity. I'm a little nervous about the whole "secret ritual" part, but I'm betting it will be a little tamer than other Greek orgs.
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