my opinion matters

This new show starts tonight called Harper’s Island, where apparently they’re going to kill off one person every week – which sounds pretty cool. I think I have a good chance of liking it because I don’t really like horror movies but I like serial killer stuff. Should be interesting. Other than that there hasn’t been much on of interest – LOST of course, but besides that there’s just American Idol (which is just terrible) and Top Model (which is lame because none of the girls are that pretty). Family Guy is still there, but there aren’t really any shows besides LOST that I’m super excited about. Movie-wise, there’s been better stuff. The Prestige was seriously one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time, and Doubt was absolutely fantastic. I also saw my first Bond movie: Casino Royale, and I loved it. Journey to the Center of the Earth wasn’t even that bad. Crazy, I know. And Slumdog Millionaire! I didn’t expect much, but I’ve seen it twice and it is super good.

This year, I was a bad Oscars viewer as I had seen NONE of the movies nominated, except The Dark Knight, and that doesn’t really count anyway. Still, just like every year, I made my predictions based on buzz about the movies, other awards they won, and how much I wanted to see them. Turns out, I know what I’m talking about a lot more when I have no idea what I’m talking about. I successfully predicted: - best picture (slumdog millionaire) - best actor (sean penn) - best actress (kate winslet) - best supporting actress (penelope cruz) - best supporting actor (heath ledger) - best director (slumdog millionaire) - best adapted screenplay (slumdog millionaire) - best makeup (benjamin button) - best original score (slumdog millionaire) - best sound editing (the dark knight) - best animated film (wall-e) that’s pretty good. so out of 24 major awards, I successfully predicted 11, and I got all the awards anyone cares about, so I am totally awesome. Woo!!!!

I like finding new music, because finding something I really like doesn’t happen very often. So here’s what I’ve been listening to a lot lately: - Jason Mraz. First of all, I like his last name, so he already gets points for that. I like that remedy song he did a few years ago, but he recently came out with “I’m Yours” and it is seriously my favorite song right now. It is happy and catchy and I really enjoy his voice. I downloaded the rest of his album and I’m listening to it right now – lots of brass and fun happy music – I also like “Coyotes” and a few others. He performed on SNL a week or so ago and he was amazingly good, and usually people are terrible on SNL. I mean seriously, TV on the Radio? Where are the people who actually like that music? Because it sucks. - Lady Gaga. I have to admit, I hated the hell out of that stupid “Just Dance” song for awhile. But, like all good pop music, it gets in your head like a freaking virus and it worms it’s way through your brain until you sta...

Okay. So the first two episodes of LOST aired last week and I have a few theories and lots of questions. I continue to hope that the show will not end without telling me… something. About something. And that it isn’t aliens or a “who shot JR?” kind of thing. I think the creators know that fans would go fucking crazy, so here’s hoping. If I’m being honest, the beginning of the premiere worried me because it was bad. BAD. But then Sayid killed a guy on a dishwasher and I slowly started regaining confidence in the new season. I really like the episodes that don’t focus on one person, but at the same time I got way too confused and there was too much information to digest properly. I like that Hurley got the first flashback of the season and I thoroughly enjoyed his flashforwards – although I was surprised he told his mom the truth… but I guess if anyone was going to believe him about everything, it would be the person who experienced the numbers curse along with him. But still. I thought ...

I love the Geek Squad at Best Buy. A few weeks ago Sawyer (the dog) spilled a vanilla coke on my laptop, completely ruining it. So I took it to Best Buy and they completely fixed it, free of charge. I’m talking new keyboard, new screen, new hard drive. For free! I am now forever justified in purchasing the service plan, and I’m glad I did it because the repairs would have cost around $1500 – yikes. Anyway, they rock and I am super happy to have my laptop back and it’s all shiny and brand new-ish. Unfortunately, I have the “I want a new toy” bug, and I’ve been trying to shake it off to no avail. I dont need a new toy – especially not one that is in any way related to a computer, but alas, I have been bitten by the purchasing bug. It’s probably just the weather and the fact that I got loan money. Instead, I will try to convince myself that the money should almost exclusively be used to pay off debt. Debt. Debt. Debt. Not a new toy. Debt. We shall see.

I left Ohio once, in August 2006, to live with my sister in Oklahoma. It was supposed to be permanent. I came home in November. It wasn’t that we didn’t get along or I hated her new boyfriend – we didn’t get along, but that wasn’t the biggest reason. I missed Ohio. It was something I never expected because I had lived there my whole life, in the same house, in East Dayton. But there was something missing in Oklahoma. First of all, there was almost no construction. There are those who have said there are four seasons in Ohio: winter, almost winter, just after winter, and construction. I missed the orange barrels that they taught in driver’s ed were filled with rocks and cement to persuade us to fear them. I wonder if other states get that same lecture. Dayton is small, but not too small. We get first-run movies and even the weird independent ones at the Neon. We have an extremely healthy theatre life in Dayton, where you can see plays at the Victoria Theatre or the new Schuster Center. ...

Okay, so I was wrong before about the site for the reserach blog for my class. The actual blog is here http://www.daytonstories.org/childhood/ - enjoy! It’s apparently a group blog where all six members of my group will be posting their research progress. Sounds cool enough. Tomorrow I’m going to try and get to the archives on campus to do some actual research that will actually count for something – here’s hoping. So far the quarter seems like it will be fairly easy – I’ve pretty much picked my topic for my 700 paper, which is the thing I was the most stressed about. I’m going to keep up with my research on the pledge of allegiance and the addition of the words “under god” – I used to hoenstly believe that it didn’t matter what you wrote a paper about as long as you got it done and got an A. I now know that you won’t be motivated to do ANYthing for a paper or a class if you aren’t at least a little excited about the subject – and I am DEFinitely excited about this. I’m hoping to do so...