In Which I Defend...

...and rant unnecessarily.

I don't understand why people always assume that one is lying just to sound educated and fancy if he or she says they like Shakespeare. I finished As You Like It the other day and, while I had trouble comprehending certain points (but that's what the footnotes are there for), I actually did, well, like it.* It's a comedy, a light and witty love story that takes place in a forest in France. The ending is lame, in that it basically goes, "Hey, remember every problem that came up over the course of the play? Yeah, I'm just gonna send this random messenger who also happens to be the never-before-seen second brother of the hero and the bad guy to tell you that everything resolved itself while the quadruple wedding was going on. lulz."

Far from hard-hitting literature, but a fun read once you get through the poetic Shakespearean language. The play is also like 90 pages. When you spell it out like that, reading and enjoying this oh-so-pretentious-because-it's-Shakespeare doesn't seem that pretentious. Saying I enjoyed this silly play doesn't make me an English Professor. There are a lot of people I know whom I think would really like the story of this play, but won't read it because it's Shakespeare and "Shakespeare's hard."

I've read three other Shakespeare plays (Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet) and I've seen Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo & Juliet. I've only read them for school, but I'm really interested in reading a couple more. In my opinion, there are a lot of more difficult, snootier things I could read

Currently Reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. My test on it is on Thursday

Currently Listening to "Rockin' the Suburbs" by Ben Folds. In my grandparents' house. With my grandpa in the other room. Oh yeah, I'm BA. :)

*The sooner you embrace my inability to pass up a pun, the better.

In which I Copy...

...and paste.

I've had a tiring week, but it's not the sort of tiring that I can blog about really. So, instead, I'm showing you the English assignment I just finished. That way, when I'm trying to illustrate the extent to which my writing skills go (which isn't very far) I can simply link them to this Hamlet prequel that I'm sort of actually proud of. Enjoy.

Brotherly Hate

The hairs on my arms stood straight up in spite of the warm air surrounding me. The moment I woke up this morning I knew it would be the day. I had been preparing for this day for weeks and fantasizing about it for much, much longer. Today was the day I completed my destiny and began the life I deserved, the life of a king. My dimwitted, useless older brother simply did not deserve the crown. Just the sight of him in the lap of luxury makes me cringe. He has, well, had, everything: the crown, the kingdom, the beautiful wife. Someone had to knock him down a notch, and I just knocked him down.

I finger the tiny bottle that remains in my pocket as I stroll through the castle. I have to work to keep my pace leisurely while my heart races. To think, ten minutes ago I was in the castle garden, having a seemingly harmless, run-of-the-mill conversation with my beloved brother. My beloved, and now deceased brother.

“Hello, dear Claudius! How are you, my brother?” His unsuspecting eyes smiled up at me.

“Hello, dear King. I am great, given the circumstances.”

“Given what circumstances? The weather? It’s so warm out here.”

“I agree. It’s delightful outside today.”

“Then why do you shiver, Claudius? Are you feeling uneasy?”

“I’m simply shaking with excitement. I feel as easy I can be, given the circumstances,” I repeated, reaching deep into my pocket.

“But given what circumstances?”

I had been practicing this next line for years. I felt like an actor playing his greatest role yet as I told him, “Given the fact that my brother is dead.”

Before his face could finish contorting into a look of confusion, I pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured the bottle’s contents into the king’s ear. A drop of the green liquid rolled down his cheek as I watched my brother, the stronger, older, braver brother, writhe on the ground as if he were bitten by the devil’s very own snake. One minute, he’s alive; the next minute, he is but a lump in the garden waiting to be found by a servant. I know the subjects will mourn the death of their king, but I also know they would not allow young Prince Hamlet rule Denmark alone. Ear poison, an untraceable poison, makes it impossible for anyone to link this murder to me. The crown is finally within reach. Nothing can stop me now, not even the cruel emotion of remorse.

Currently reading The Help and As You Like It still. (I can't wait to read for fun again)

Currently listening to "My Guy" by Mary Wells. (I've been on a serious motown kick lately)

I Told You

Well, it's been three weeks and I haven't blogged. Such is life. Let's see, in lieu of three posts, I'll just sum up the craziness that has been the last three weeks.

Probably the main reason I've stopped blogging (as well as why I'm behind on YouTube) is the fact that I was asked to be the Assistant Stage Manager of my school's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I basically run around doing whatever the director and stage manager tell me to do and watch over the other (unnecessary) assistants. I have to go to every single rehearsal, every day, for three hours after school, so I've basically sold my soul (and all of my time) to high school theatre. Yay.

But honestly, I enjoy it. I'm friends with almost everyone in the cast, so I'm expected to hang out with my friends every day. Pretty sweet deal. I like the fact that I get to be a part of the show without having to have the talent to audition of all that jazz.

Outside of that, not much has happened. Winter Formal went well. I didn't win court, but I had tons of fun and my date was super awesome. (He's in the play too, so seeing him every day is an added perk.)

OH, I did go on Junior Retreat last week. It was my first overnight retreat, held at this really great place in Robert, Louisiana, the middle of nowhere. I grew really close to a bunch of people in my class, and even got a little closer to God. The coffee was also superb and free so, yeah. :)

This is once weekly, right? That's totally reasonable. I can do that. I think.

Currently reading As You Like It by Shakespeare for English and The Help by Kathryn Stockett for History. No more reading for fun for a while :(

Currently listening to "Sonic Doesn't Need a Story" by Alex Day

In Which I Buy...

...and ask.

This week (specifically the weekend) has been extremely eventful. My school's gym day, which is a BIG deal, was on Friday. So Thursday I slept at my friend's house. It was also her birthday, so the night was pretty awesome. We wrote on our cars and practiced our cheers and played with Aqua Sand (SO COOL). Then Friday night I worked with my favorite busboy, which is always fun :)

Saturday was supposed to be my lazy day of doing nothing because I wasn't working and I wasn't invited anywhere. That changed pretty early. I found an amazing dress to wear to winter formal. It's dark blue and silver and gorgeous. I bought the dress and went home, prepared to spend the evening with my laptop and my ukulele. A lot of my friends were invited to a barbecue at a relatively popular guy's house and I wasn't. But at about 8:30, two of my friends called and told me to come over to Spencer's house, he just invited me. I got out of my PJs and jetted over there, in shock of how cool I'd just become. The party was great, it wasn't like a wild party or anything. It was super chill, just some of the coolest members of the theatre community sitting around a fire having awesome conversations. I made new friends, secured my place in this talented group (I was a techie among stars), and... got a date to winter formal. XD I was not expecting that in the least. I'll be sure to blog about how this cute little relationship pans out, but I'm wary of saying anything now. I don't wanna jinx it.

Sunday turned into a cute night of dinner and coffee with my two best friends. My two best friends, who hadn't really known each other that well before that night. I love them both equally, but for different reasons, and now they love each other!! The thought makes me so happy.

Still reading Mockingjay, Perfect Fifths, and Nation of Rebels

Currently listening to "Proud" by the Remus Lupins

In Which I Celebrate...

...a successful start.

First two days of school in 2011 = win worthy of a blog post

Since I was a freshman, I had set my heart on winning "Wittiest" in my school's Winter Formal court. Winter Formal's a dance for juniors and seniors that takes place every January. I'm a junior now, and I GOT NOMINATED FOR WIT. XD I'm beyond excited and I don't even care that my parents have to chaperone the dance now and I have neither a dress nor a date, my class pulled through for me. I also don't care that I'm not going to win because I'm a junior and the senior is going to win because the senior is my really close friend and she totally deserves it. There's always next year for me. :)

I also got to meet my awesome new PE class, started three new books, still know what's going on in math, found out about our class field trip to see Macbeth in two weeks, and had shortened classes both days. So, all around :D

I've decided to continue with the little end posts I forgot I had put at the end of all of my old blog posts, so without further ado,

Currently reading Mockingjay, Perfect Fifths, and Nation of Rebels (None of which are for school!)

Currently listening to "Electric Feel" by MGMT

In Which I Make a Commitment...

...I know I probably won't keep.

It's that time of year again. You know, the beginning. The time of Auld Lang Syne and setting goals that will probably fall in a ditch by springtime. I'm going to make a concerted effort to Blog Once Weekly (BOW) in 2011, as inspired by my friend Nick, who got the idea from his friend Whimsy. Anyone who wants to participate is free to join, and here are some rules/guidelines:

1.) One post per week AT LEAST.

2.) A week shall be defined as Monday through Sunday.

3.) A post shall be defined as some bit of writing...just a bit.

For my purposes, I'm adding my own rule. All of my favorite blogs (like Kristina's and Hayley's) have cute little counters at the end of their posts. I want to do that, but I don't want to totally rip them off. So, over the course of this project, I'm going to try out different counters, counting things that matter to me.

I'm going to put in as much effort as I can to remember this blog weekly, but if I fail, I fail and live my life as a failure.

I'm assuming this blog will be filled with my adventures of the week, but I don't like uninteresting play-by-plays or publicized angst, so I don't know what sort of content this blog will contain. Then again, I'm not really sure what sort of content my LIFE will contain.

Who knows, maybe this thing will get an audience if I take enough care of it.

I leave you with a BOW(tie) 11

^^See what I did there? :D

In Which I Rip Off Other Blogs...

Things I Ate Today:
-2 cookies (a chocolate chip and a snickerdoodle, microwaved)
-8 slices of bacon (also microwaved)
-1 waffle with butter

It's funny 'cause I'm unhealthy.

Things I Will Not Name My Children:

-Abcde Nymphadelle

-Uniqua Lou

-Sha'dynasty Amrica

-Viacom Ferdinand

-Albus Severus

-Renesmee Carlie

Currently listening to the Vidcon livestream

Currently reading 1984 by George Orwell

Peace out girl scout