HP is epic, but with some borrowing

I won't lie. I was really impressed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I mean, I've only been anticipating its release for months now. And it delivered. My blood pressure remained unhealthily high throughout the film (always ready for something to jump out and scare the living daylights out of me), and after 2 and a half hours of Potter, I left the theater feeling rather winded and exhausted. As fantastic as the film was, however, I thought that it had quite a lot of...overlap with the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Like, a questionable amount of overlap.

TWO THUMBS UP, DUH.

Similarities between HP7 and Lord of the Rings

• Barren scenery with lush mountains in the distance
• Rapid switches between loud music and jolts of silence
• Flashes to scenes that are not really explained or played out in full
• Flashes of a great wizard falling down, down, down  
• Musical score -- not the same, but containing a lot of the same thematic motifs and elements (except for the music of the final scene, which sounded a lot like the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song in a different key)
• In the characters' search to destroy an evil object, they wear it on a chain around their neck and become corrupted and weakened by its power
• Elves are supercool

So.Much.Intensity.

Harry and Hermione on their way to Mordor?

Autumn Adorableness

WalMart's gearing up for Black Friday...

...as is evidenced by the stacks of shrink-wrapped 42" televisions. But what on earth happened in terms of the sign reading "Merchendise not for sale untill 5am"? Clearly, whoever was in charge of the signs cannot spell to save his or her life, but the individual also colorblind to the red squiggly line that would have underlined the incorrectly spelled words? I understand that he/she was all riled up for the beginning of holiday/heavy shopping season (OMGBLACKFRIDAYGOTTABUYEVERYTHING), but the red line does not indicate early Christmas spirit. It means you have a spelling error (and for future reference, the green line indicates a grammatical error. Again, not holiday spirit). After not catching these glaring errors on the computer, however, it's no surprise that the incompetent fool was able to print and post FIVE of these signs on the plastic-wrapped palates without noticing his folly.

This photo looks like something I would have found under the "Engrish" tab of failblog.org, but alas, I took it with my very own cell phone. As a self acclaimed spelling and grammar fan (read: stickler), I'm not sure if this sighting should make me laugh or cry. The entire sign consists of six words (counting "5" and "am" as one word, due to the lack of space between them). Two of these words are incorrectly spelled. 2/6=.3333333333. Approximately 33% of this sign is incorrect. That's a 33% fail. The English concentrator within me died a little bit when I first saw this in my hometown's WalMart. However, upon further reflection (read: staring at the photo on my cellphone and chuckling to myself), I've realized that this occurrence is just so classic Wally World that a different little part of me feels nostalgic when I see the fail. It's a comforting reminder of home and why shouting "FAIL!" was at one time so popular.

This is not to say that I spell everything correctly the first time. I don't. But I do a. hit spellcheck and b. read my document before printing. Sorry, but a six word phrase just doesn't take that long to proofread.

Welcome home. Welcome to Lisbon. Welcome to WalMart.

Some Thanksgiving lols

 

Traveling during peak holiday times...

makes me really hate the Mass Pike. Like, really hate the Mass Pike. When a 90 minute trip turns into a two and a half hour trip, I get aggravated. And ancy. And frustrated.

As my father says: "I wish that I owned just one toll booth on the Mass Pike. I would retire to the south of France and just have the money shipped there."

Massachusetts DOT/Holiday travelers

How I feel about this semester:

It finally happened.

Brain break. Winthrop DHall. Approximately 11:30pm. I saw my first cockroach. And nearly retched. Thanks to one Crimson article most of Harvard's campus thinks that Winthrop house is overrun with roaches, but no Winthropian that I've talked to has ever seen more than 2 in his or her respective time in the house.  I come from the country. We don't have roaches at home. They've always been semi-mythical fears to my mind (like dragons, or the plague).  I was counting on them staying in the walls for my 3 years. I was counting on them being hidden, absent, invisible. I was not counting on seeing one scuttle across the black and white checked floor of my dining hall -- the very place where I EAT MEALS. I didn't expect it to run so fast. I didn't expect it to be fully 3 inches long. I was not mentally prepared for this. I want Raid. I want exterminators. Why? Because it is STILL ON THE LOOSE. No one's slipper clad feet even attempted to squash the vermin, which means that it's still running around somewhere...alive...moving...terrifying. I cannot deal with this. They know that I cannot deal with this. They're going to find my room and eat the glue from my book bindings and infest and swarm. The apocalypse may or may not be approaching. It's brown and tiny. It's fast and ugly. It's an infestation of cities. It's time to retreat to the country.

**Just as a side note, I don't actually live in the building in which I viewed this hellish creature. But still.

Fox News Strikes Again

...with ignorant comments, incorrect facts, and disgusting biases. Get over yourself, FOX News, and learn that we are all Americans, we are all citizens, and were are all people. Your inability to apologize for a history of violence and oppression is sad and quite disgraceful. This nation was full of heroes even before the Europeans "discovered" it; don't criticize those who fought for freedom... even freedom against European colonization.

A Response to Disrespect

The Game

Crimson is the color of blood. Blue is the color of water. Everyone knows that blood is thicker than water. 

Harvard and Yale

Harvard vs. Yale

Harvard beats Yale

Harvard > Yale

GO CRIMSON

I love my blockmates and I love my linkmates.

New Issue of the Voice!

http://thehvoice.com/

Rock it.

adorable.delicious.desired.

An Orange Spinning Stool

An Orange Pad
a perfect circle
of cracking vinyl
with dirt in its creases
and a strip of grey tape
curled at the edges
and tacky with age
rests and spins
atop a silvered pole
of rusting metal
coated with grease
(that traps the dust)
to increase lubrication for spin
all the way to the base
of four pointed legs
with small and unsteady
wheels underneath
that roll around
an inch at a time
shaky and uneven.
This is the stool 
that I sit upon,
one leg and ankle
tucked ungracefully beneath
the opposite thigh,
uncomfortable and ancy,
toes bouncing impatiently
upon a nearby shelf. 
This class is so long 
and the hour hand moves
so painfully slowly.


-- I wrote this while in class.

Well, this is just adorable.

I can has one pleez?

I just saw...

...two Indian guys playing cricket out on the quad. It made me chuckle.

I like owls.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving morning

My family is far from holiday-oriented, but every year, Thanksgiving is routine. Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are the only way we have ever started off the morning. The heat of the oven will combine with the hissing steam of the radiators and the smell of cinnamon and sugar will permeate the walls, from the kitchen to the living room to my bedroom. "Getting ready for the day" will consist of showering and changing from a pair of pajamas to a pair of...sweatpants and a T-shirt. My family has never really believed in putting on the pearls to eat food in one's own home. By the time I reach the bottom of the stairs, the television will already be turned on. We are not a family who eats their meals around the television, Thanksgiving is a special occasion. Never in my life have I missed the annual airing of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I will watch the entire show, from the high school marching bands, to the Radio City Rockettes, to the enormous balloons, to the floats, to the very end, right before the credits roll, when Santa and Mrs. Clause arrive in their sleigh. I'll call to my mother, who will seem chained to the stove until we've sat down and begun to mang', when a particularly impressive Broadway show number is featured and, of course, when the Rockettes move into the formation that announces their famous high kicks. Call me 5 years old, but I love the parade. I love the colors and streamers and sparkles and hats and coats. I've never attended the parade in person, but not every child gets to go to Disneyland, right? Maybe someday. Immediately after the parade airs, the film A Christmas Story will come on (same channel!) and yes, I will watch it because it is a classic and because it gives me my yearly dose of gun-handling tips and techniques ("You'll shoot your eye out!"). The rest of the day will pass in a blur of delicious smells and tastes. Inevitable. I will fall asleep happy and full. Inevitable. I will talk to my parents for hours and hours, and remember the perks of being an only child in an incredibly real family. Inevitable.

Why yes, I've moved over to Blogspot, from Tumblr. Here I am.

For those extra-New England-esque days...

…because it’s cold and it’s rainy and it’s gray. But I always enjoy a good list, even amidst an Amazon-esque deluge, so here are not one but two.

Here are a few things that I like today:

1. My leopard print umbrella
2. My LL Bean wellies and Welly Warmers
3. My hot pink Northface rain jacket
4. Having one class today
5. Having that one class be the one that I really, really like

Here are a few things that I don’t like today

1. Shin bruises from my wellies
2. Being splashed by cars
3. Having to walk to and from the Murr Center for my H-Y ticket 
4. Being behind on my reading
5. Having had to run errands amidst the downpour

Today:

it is raining again, but I suppose that’s because I’m in Cambridge. How does one enjoy fall when the leaves can hardly fall from the trees of their own volition. I demand a recall of how the month of November has gone so far. I want brisk air, crinkly leaves and pumpkin-smells. I don’t want gale force winds, soggy leaves or rain. Come on Mother Nature. This is the prettiest time of the year…why do I see so much gray? I want to rake leaves into a pile and jump into it, completely disregarding the possibility of sticks and bugs lying beneath the surface. I want to make a nest and take a nap in it. A layer of dry leaves act as excellent insulators from the cold. And when I go inside, I want to smell cinnamon and apples and crust, because there is already one pie in the oven and another two sitting on top of the counter, patiently waiting to be baked. I want dinner to be lasagna and green beans and acorn squash, cut in half and cooked under the broiler with butter and brown sugar and cinnamon in its cavity. I want to roast its seeds, alongside the apple pies, and coat them with rosemary and sea salt. I miss Connecticut in the fall.  

This made me smile

The humanities often get a bum rap for not being as “hard” or “intense” as maths or the hard sciences. Personally, I think that concentrations in the humanities can be just as challenging as concentrations in any other field and honestly, I’m sick of hearing that humanities classes are “easy ways out.” That said, seeing this post on HarvardFML  just about made my day. So to anyone who thinks they’re “better” for studying something “harder,” chill out. Everyone’s working here.

“I switched concentrations from the sciences to the humanities thinking it would be easier. It’s harder. FML”