Hello from an emptier house...slightly...very slightly. I've been packing up stuff off and on for the past couple of weeks to sell at Jill's garage sale on Saturday, and oddly enough, I've actually been able to part with a few things. I'm something of a pack-rat,  so I still have every toy and book and ink pen I've ever owned. I need Hoarders to come do an episode. Seriously. 
...Okay, it's not that bad, especially now. You should all come by the sale on Saturday, by the way. It's at Jill's house at 7am, I believe. I'm selling my old Gameboy! Alright, enough shameless advertising. 
You know, yesterday I was full of thoughts and ideas. There were a lot of things rolling around in my mind, and I said to myself, "Remember to blog about this." Now guess who doesn't know what to write. :/
I guess I'll address Sara's question to all of us: the meaning of the song "Abraham's Daughter" by Arcade Fire. The song is on the Hunger Games soundtrack, although that doesn't necessarily mean that the lyrics are a direct allegory of the Hunger Games. I guess if I had to assign roles, I'd say Abraham is President Snow; the daughter is obviously Katniss; Isaac would probably be Prim/all the children who are in danger because of the Games; and the angel would be the people of the Capitol, because they're crying out for the slaughter of many innocent kids. It's a really intriguing song, when you think about it. I like the lines, ' Then the angel asked her what her name was/She said, "I have none."/Then he asked, "How can this be?"/"My father never gave me one."' If you think about it within the Hunger Games context, I think it shows how those in control have the potential to de-humanize and take away the identities of the tributes by forcing them to compete in the arena. But that's just my take on it. 
Also, if you look at the song from a Biblical perspective, it's really warped, because that's not the way the story goes at all. In the Bible, Abraham is being tested by God. The only reason he is asked to sacrifice his son is to prove his faith, but God didn't really let him kill his son. And then if you want to get into the implications of that story ( Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:2)  and how it foreshadows/sort of parallels Jesus--God's only son, whom He loves-- ACTUALLY sacrificing himself...eek, but I have three minutes to post this, so I won't get all theological right now. 

Hello from my last week of class! More specifically, 3 more classes!
This past week I made a friend! During free pancakes last Wednesday, I chatted with the girl who was making the pancakes for a little while and ended up getting an extra pancake during my second helping! (This is significant because you usually only get one, and I got THREE!) Actually it was more like Jeremy (yup, that's her name) became friends with me because she came to my room the next night and invited me over to her room the next day. I was quite hesitant at first, me being the not-so-social-with-people-I-barely-know kind of person, but she was very insistent. So after I got back from fish n' chips, I hung out her and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. I think Jeremy really likes to feed me because she made mini-ribs, cucumber, and on Monday she dropped off some fruit for me. She's super cute and apparently a famous song writer back in Vietnam. She's going to make me a CD of her songs ^^ and I've already been invited to her house in Vietnam.
Fish n' chips at Colin's house was a delicious meal and an enjoyable evening. There's a tiny shop near their house where you call and place your order and it's ready to be picked up in 15 minutes. When the Colin came back with the food, his wife simply whipped out a tarp from behind her seat, and we ate on the floor in their living room and watched a couple of rugby games. For dessert we had pavalova  and ice cream. Apparently pavalova is really easy to make, so I'm going to try to make it when I get back home. It's a light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious.
Colin mentioned that he wanted to talk with me about my ethics course, so on Monday, I went to the Centre. We ended up talking for about 3 and a half hours on ethics, morality, and God. I really wish that you guys were there as well for that because it was such an interesting discussion. You guys will have to remind me to talk about it in person or else I won't be able to do it justice.
I also had my last paper due. I thought it was due this Friday, but it was actually due last Friday, but my lecturer was very understanding and told us (because there were at least 3 other people who also mixed up the dates) just to turn it in as soon as possible. So I stayed up late last night so I could turn it in today. But my day isn't over yet! The Centre is holding a sort of graduation party for those study abroad people leaving at the end of this semester, including myself, and right after that is my last physics lab.
I also thought of another difference!
The Toilets!
In public bathrooms in America, there's usually that awkward gap between the door and the stall, but in all the toilets I've been in here, that gap is nonexistent! I really wish I could bring that back to the US. Plus, there's an extra button to do a "half flush" that's suppose to conserve water or something...but I never use it.
Oh! I'm also going to be able to meet Ian McKellen before I come back! He's touring around New Zealand and doing a show in order to raise money for Christ Church :D I'm super excited!
Cheers!
Rachael 

Hello from the last day of my teenage life! Also my first day of working at a legit job, which is why I didn’t post this in the morning like I usually do. I actually got home several hours ago, but then I sat down in front of the TV to watch episodes of Doctor Who on my DVR. Yay procrastination Doctor style! And speaking of the Doctor…

You guys are pretty much the best friends ever :) Those of you not in Bowling Green will probably have heard about (and seen on Facebook) my Doctor-rific birthday party on Saturday. We ate TARDIS cookie cake in the park, and then I was told that I had to find my
birthday present. Sanaa and Amber were in charge of telling me whether I was “hot” or “cold” (which led to far too much singing of a certain Katie Perry song…). Before they would take me to it, though, I had to get through several “challenges,” such as playing the alphabet game in the cemetery and walking
around blindfolded (but they didn't bring a blindfold, so this meant having Amber walk behind me covering my eyes), having to trust Sanaa to tell me the right direction to go. After a long, long, long time, this finally led me back to the parking lot, where Jill and Anna Beth were waiting with the 10th Doctor and his TARDIS to take us all back to the Mesozoic Era (aka Dinosaur World)! The aforementioned 10th Doctor is technically Shelbeiber, but don’t worry Shelby! Shelbeiber can easily come back when school starts! For now, though, David Tennant is sitting in the TARDIS in my room :D By the way, I put the head back on last night, and it was totally freaking Reni out. I have several pictures on my phone of him just staring at it, looking like he might attack. It was really adorable. Not to mention that he’s hardly left the TARDIS since it got here :P Yeah. Cats are totally better.
So now it’s time for Question Tuesday!

Dwain:
Who would play me, Leang, Johnny, Matthew Johns, and Nathaniel?
Augh! Why are you doing this to me again?!?!?!?!
Dwain-
Leang-
Johnny-
Matthew Johns-
Nathaniel-
You know what? I have no idea. So I’m going to agree with Sanaa and say it’d be best just to have a casting call.
Why did you neglect us? Did “all of us” exclude the guys?
Yes, Dwain, in this case “all of us” did exclude you, since the question referred to those writing the blog, as opposed to every single friend that I have.
What do you think about Taylor Lautner portraying me? (just kidding you can ignore this question)
…
If “all of us” excluded the guys, then when you say “challenge for you guys” does that mean the challenge is directed for only me, Leang, Johnny, Matthew Johns, and Nathaniel and any other male who reads the blog?
Dwain, there’s something you should know about the English language. When people say “guys,” it is perfectly and linguistically acceptable for them to mean “people” in general, as opposed to referring directly to only half the population. In this case, for example, I was
 referring mostly to females, seeing as they make up the biggest part of the readership, though of course anyone, regardless of sex, is free to respond to said challenge.
Also, I wasn’t aware that Leang, Johnny, Matthew Johns, and Nathaniel read this blog. Do they?
Can you ignore me putting “me” at the beginning of the lists in the previous
question?
Well not now, I can’t. Though I don’t see the significance in it.
Why was Anna Beth the only one to ask questions last week?
Because she’s the most awesome one out of all the dozen or so people who read this blog :)
Anna Beth:
Which of Snow White’s 7 Dwarves would each of us be?
Sleepy- Amy
Sneezy- Anna Beth
Dopey- Sanaa
Doc- Rachael
Bashful- Amber
Grumpy- Jill
Happy- Shelby
Disclaimer: this was kind of tough. Several of the were really easy (like Amy and AB…) but then I got down to, like, Bashful and Grumpy, and my choices were dwindling, so those aren’t
quite so fitting as I felt the others were. Especially Bashful. Sorry Ambah, you’re probably more like Doc or Happy, but the spaces were filling up…

Anna Beth also asked me a bunch of other questions, but seeing as she just asked them today, and I’m just now getting around to posting this, I’ll save those for next week. Sorry…

Also, I have a question for you guys this week. I think a couple of you have heard the song “Abraham’s Daughter” by Arcade Fire? From the Hunger Games album? If you haven’t, or would like to listen to it again, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCoJv192VY. I really like this song, but the lyrics kind of confused me, so I looked it up to see what other people thought about it. So what I’d like you guys to do is give your opinions on the metaphorical correlations: who do you think the song means by the angel?
Abraham? The daughter? Isaac? Explanations would also be appreciated. Then I’ll give you my thoughts next week :)

Ok, so this week’s Question Tuesday winner is…Dwain. I wasn’t going to let him win, since his Questions were all so purposely annoying, but they were relevant and interesting to think about. Plus, he’s teaching me Japanese… So that’s all for today! I’ll talk to you guys in the comments :)

Love,

Sara

Hello from half way around the world, I don’t know if I’m late or early but its still Monday here. So I’ll start with a recap of what I did arriving in Taiwan. The travelling part of the trip was a total of 30 or so hours. That is from leaving home to arriving in Taichung, Taiwan. One of the people on the trip, Hillary, started a timer leaving her house to arriving and it was 32hrs, but she lived a bit further from Nashville. We arrive at the airport at 6:45 in the morning, when the only international airport in Taiwan was deserted. There was almost no one in the airport, besides the people who arrived with us. Right after the 14 hr flight we had to get onto a bus thing and drive for 2 hrs to reach our apartment. Upon arriving we are greeted by three of the students, all of which were extremely nice and helpful. They were Frank, Yang, and Kent. Kent and Yang helped us carry our luggage up four flights of stairs,(Sadly no elevator). The apartment was really nice. There were three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one kitchen, and a living room. It was all furnished and we even have a washing machine and a dryer. After seeing the apartment, we went to visit our labs and that was that for the first day of our trip. On Friday we woke up and went to the school at 8-9ish. I arrived early for my time, so Justin and I went around and visited the campus. We found chickens, goats, and cows. I went to lab later and shared my discovery with my lab mates and they were as surprised as I was. After facebooking until 5, I waited to go the night market with my lab mates. We didn’t leave until 7, but it was worth the wait. The streets were so crowded and lit; it was like Christmas or something. Sorry folks no pictures because I forgot my phone. I’ll try to get pictures next time. Saturday, they took me to a valley of something sort and the beach. Yes the beach, I can no longer use I have never been to the beach in ten fingers anymore, I have mixed feelings. I’ll get pictures soon, not now, but soon. Sunday, nothing really happened, we wondered around and that’s that. Monday was alright today, I still didn’t do much in lab, mostly facebook and stumbleupon, hopefully tomorrow will be better. I love you guys and I almost happy birthday Sarah!

dudes, please comment on my other blog because it makes me feel loved, and I look back at my comments for encouragement when I need it!

Hello from my last official summer weekend in Bowling Green. :( It’s beautiful, sunny days like this that make me regret accepting my full-time internship starting next Wednesday, but nonetheless, I’m excited for the opportunity! I am hoping to be home as many weekends as I possibly can, so the weekend will always be something worth looking forward to. :)

This past week has been full of super-busy, out-of-the-house days and super-busy, never-leave-home days. I’ve loved seeing those of you in BG so much over the past week, and look forward to seeing you all again tomorrow! (Yes, Sara, it’s still a secret!) Besides awesome friendship time (which never seems to be long enough), I’ve been busy making a headboard for my apartment (it’s going to turn out really cute!), cleaning my room, washing my car, sewing and fitting some new clothes, purchasing apartment stuff, and working on my online class. All the craziness… but it’s been so much fun! =)

As a side note, my sister’s dance recital is this weekend! I loved seeing her dance yesterday—she looked so graceful and beautiful—and am looking forward to watching her dance again tomorrow night. I’m very proud of her! *insert proud sister smile here*

As for future summer plans, Sanaa and I are in the early-thinking stages of planning Summer ROMP! Can you believe this will be our 4th ROMP? So crazy! I’m really excited for it… but I’m not telling any secrets about what themes we’re considering! As far as planning the date, expect it to be either late July or early August, and the location… ;)

I also have other summer plans coming up: the weekend after Mark gets back from Bangladesh, his family will be driving down to visit Mammoth Cave, and he’ll spend the weekend with me in Bowling Green! Yay! I’m really excited- I’ll get to meet his sister, Krista, who I’ve been looking forward to meeting for a long time. Plus, Mark and I will be together! CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! So much happiness!

Oh! Before I forget, I actually do like both of the actresses Sara & Anna Beth chose to play me in the movie of our lives! :) (Although if I had to choose, Anna Beth’s fits me a tad bit better ;) Plus, I asked one of my friends, and they came up with “Karma” as a couple name for me and Mark… Kind of catchy, but I’m not sure how I feel about karma being a couple name… lol

The weekend after that I will likely be headed out (plans not final yet) to Colorado visiting my brother and his family- I can’t wait to see my niece and nephews! They’re getting so big!

Also, I’ve also been in talks with some of my friends from UK driving down to visit me in Nashville… all that really remains is for us to find a common date! It’s all so exciting! This is definitely my busiest summer ever… but I’m really enjoying it! XD

One last thing: the song of the week this week is actually really important to me. I heard it on Way-Fm last night and fell in love with it. I’m hoping to arrange it for Victory… however, before I propose it, I at least want to work out the first verse and chorus. This will (hopefully) be the first song I ever arrange… and for an a cappella choir, at that! Pray for the inspiration and the perseverance I’ll need to complete the arrangement! Thanks guys! =D

Mikeschair- “Someone Worth Dying For”

           Hello from Sanaa's House! aka week number 2 of blogging from the houses of other blog members. I feel like most of the events of my past week have already been blogged about by other people. So, I don't really have much to say....
        Dwain, Sara, and I traded language lessons on Thursday. Dwain taught us some Japanese and we attempted to show him some American Sign Language. 
     Sara, Anna Beth, Amber, Sanaa, and I celebrated Green Chicken Day by consuming mucho pollo verde and watching Lord of the Rings. 
    Ok, Everyone is bugging me to try to write what they're saying, so get ready for some nonsense (they're talking too fast to get everything. It's hard to imagine what court recorders have to go through, oy). Try to guess who says what, lol.

Which is the one where they go to the army base?
there have been two hulks and avengers
I'm still waiting on Big Bertha in the movie, did you see how she transformed
they talk to how her excess fat goes to....her hips....she looks like a model....foom...shhh.....she like throws up, I think its hilarious, big bertha challenging societal standards.
I looked on google images for her
she's in her superhero from...haha...big bertha
she's gonna come sit on you, poor sara. 
So Sara, would you rather be a dwarf, an elf, a hobbit, or a person, actually don't answer person, I didn't say that
I don't understand
you can live forver
you can only live forver if you go to the magical live forever place
are they fearing if the darkness comes to the 
I think that's something you need to consult rachael on
I think I would be a hobbit
I would be an elf. I would finally be the tall one
I think what happened is there was a french system of something
we just assumed 
teachers are liars sara
are you gonna teach your students about columbus day
no European settlers just came and just traded
That's the thing about elementary school, its not very history related
so you'd rather go with the lies
suger-coated Columbus
I don't know, in my experience they view columbus as kinda dumb
columbus didn't need directions and neither do we - man rules.

All of the above was the nonsense of Sanaa, Sara, and Anna Beth. I'm sorry about the worst blog ever, guys. But they were pretty adamant about me trying to catch as much of what they were saying as possible. A prize goes to anyone outside of that conversation that can correctly attribute what was said to the person that said it. 

Love,
Jill

Hello from...time is running out! And it's funny, I guess, that I put it like that, because not only is time running out tonight for me to post this blog, but that's also what this post is sort of about.
Time is running out. I realized recently that I am halfway through my college career. Now that doesn't seem too extreme until you line it up with the other 13 years of school before that. When you compare it that way, I'm almost completely finished with my formal education, out the door into the "real world."
And to be honest, that scares the heck out of me. But it's not just the fact that I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm actually doing after graduation. It's that whatever it is, I won't be doing it with you guys. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. With a few exceptions, most of us are together a lot of the time. And those of us who go to different schools still stay pretty connected, I think. But graduating is a whole different ballgame. There's grad school, med school, internships, jobs, relationships, and it will all be in the midst of us going our separate ways.
I don't know the point of this little rant. I know my future is in God's hands, and I know that we still have two entire years left together. But still, I can't help but worry that these are the best years of our lives, just like everyone seems to say. And where's the fun in that? It sounds like it's all downhill from here. But I guess deep down I know it's not. Growing up doesn't have to be dull and lonely. We'll always be friends, best friends. And we will go on to lead extraordinary lives.


So there. My emoting is done.
 
In other news, Mellow Mushroom was delicious today! I've found my new favorite pizza place. I had Hawaiian pizza, and it was the best I'd ever had. Usually when I get Hawaiian, the ham is all hard or too chewy or somehow unpleasant. But Mellow Mushroom's ham was altogether scrumptious! Also, it was good to see friends I hadn't seen in a long time. And Kathleen's job at the Corvette plant sounds really awesome, by the way. I'm also really excited for tomorrow: LOTR Friday! Complete with Green Chicken! I <3 you, Sanaa!
Friendship is awesome, and that's exactly what I've been up to lately. I hung out with Amy before she left for Taiwan, we went to see The Avengers (which I really liked, even though there was a little too much blowing up stuff for my taste, lol), and I babysat Taylor and Tatum for the last time before they move to Arizona.
Plus, I got my mom to watch Doctor Who with me, and she actually really likes it. I thought it might be too weird sci-fi for her, but it was just odd enough for her to like it, so now that's what we're doing, watching Doctor Who. But we're only on series 1, so be patient, Jill! Also, everyone should go watch Sherlock. Right now. 

Good night, and in the spirit of Sanaa's new means of communication, I shall leave you with a gif.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4aljnSCBn1qju7t7o1_500.gif


Love, 
Anna Beth

Hello from my final month in New Zealand! When I think about how much longer I have here, it seems like such a long time until I'm back home, but at the same time it feels like I only have a very short amount of time left in NZ.  Once again, I don't have a lot of news for you guys--I went to Burger Fuel and ate a ginormous burger, I got free food at a luncheon for international students yesterday, and we made definite plans for fish n' chips this Saturday.
Oh yeah, I also learned that Katie is getting married. Yup, Katie Vincent and Canada kid--I mean David are tying the knot sometime end of June/July. In Canada. Where she lives now. My mind is still blown. I also made soup from scratch on Sunday. I'm rather proud of that accomplishment.
Anyway, in order for my blog to look a little less pathetic, I'm going to list a few  subtle differences between the United States and New Zealand.
1) The Crosswalk
    Drivers here (and I've also heard in Canada) actually stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. They won't try to speed up and 'beat' the walkers to the crosswalk. A normal crosswalk without stoplights or crosswalk signs.
2) Everyone dresses up for class
    Every college student has those lazy days/ 8am classes where they simply don't care what they look like and will go to class in sweats and a sweatshirt, right? Nope. Not here. Even the guys here at least put on jeans before coming to class, and most of the girls have on skirts, with their hair done, and a lot have heels on as well. Even old ladies that I see when walking around town are dresses fashionably and have heels. In fact, if you see someone in sweats and glasses, there's a VERY good possibility that it's me--I mean, that  they're an American study abroad student.
3) Bare feet
    Talking about shoes, it's perfectly acceptable here to go without them. I would say about 20-ish% of people here go without shoes--to class, walking around the mall, on the bus, and even when going grocery shopping.
4) The Food
    According to a reliable source, aka my friend Jenna, New Zealand does not have spicy food. Or maybe their level of 'spicy'  is a lot milder than American's. NZ is also full of little cafes and bakeries, although the food/drinks that they offer is way more expensive. Kebabs are a New Zealand specialty, along with a sausage served with a piece of sliced bread and tomato sauce (NOT ketchup, tomato sauce is kinda sweet as oppose to salty). But the biggest food here are the meat pies. You can go anywhere that sells anytime of food and you'll most likely be able to buy a meat pie. Apparently the gas station meat pies are the best, but I like the ones they sell in the MUSA shop--their version of our Bates Shop. 

I'm sure I can add a few more things to the list, but that's all I can think of right now.

About "Somebody That I Used to Know" I think the song is about a failed relationship where the guy didn't really try to keep the relationship going, but the girl did. Once they broke up, the girl was heart broken, but got over it, but the guy finally realized how much he cares, but by then it's too late. She doesn't care about him anymore.

See you guys in about 32 days

Hello from the last week of school for my brother and sister! Do you guys remember when we used to have to stay in school this late, and even later? Ah, my poor siblings. But this is it for my brother! He’s graduating on Saturday; can you believe it? So that’s pretty crazy. It’s also crazy that Amy’s leaving for Taiwan today! So those of us in Bowling Green have been putting in extra effort to try and hang out with her as much as possible before she left; we watched Lord of the Rings at Anna Beth’s house, we drove around aimlessly in Sadie, yesterday we went to see the Avengers (LOVE that movie!), and today Jill’s driving her to the airport, while Anna Beth and I tag a long for friendship :)

More awesome stuff- Jill’s finally started watching Doctor Who, and since she likes to marathon through these things, she’s already at the end of season/series 4! This makes me immensely happy. We showed the first episode to Sanaa, but she didn’t seem to like it :( She is, however, planning to watch Sherlock soon, so I guess that makes up for it. And I’m spending a lot of time talking about my friends’ television habits. Sorry I have no life… So let’s move on to Questions!

 Anna Beth:
What is your favorite conspiracy theory?
Favorite conspiracy theory? I worry about you sometimes. I don’t really have a list of conspiracy theories I particularly like lying around. The only one I can really think of is the whole area 51 thing. So we’re gonna go with that one.

If I told you that there are ancient Egyptian artifacts in a cave in the Grand Canyon, would you believe me?
No.

Who do you consider your role model(s)?
Well, a lot of my family members. Like, my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles. A lot of my teachers too. Since, you know, I’m planning to become one… 

Which member of One Direction do you think is the
cutest?
Probably Harry, who, by the way, also happens to be the youngest and farthest from our age. Bummer… :P

N Sync or Backstreet Boys?
I was a Backstreet Boys girl when I was little. I think I wanted to marry one of them. Brian, maybe? Despite the fact that I was about 10, and he was like 30 and already married. 

Who would play you in a movie of your life? Who would play your love interest? Who would play all of us?
To figure this out, I had to find a bunch of actors/actresses close-ish to our age. Cause in my movie, there will be no 30 year olds playing teenagers! Feel free to let me know if you have better suggestions for anyone.
Me- Emma Roberts?
As far as love interest goes, I don’t have one of those in real life to go off of, so I just picked the first actor I thought of who’s close enough to our age that it wouldn’t be creepy: Alex Pettyfer, from I am Number Four and Beastly :)
Luke Kleintank, who plays the newest Squintern in Bones, would also be cool (by the way, have you seen the season finale Jill? I hate cliffhangers!!!!!)
 Shelby- Ariana Grande
Amy- Jenna Ushkowitz
Rachael- Selena Gomez
Anna Beth- Dianna Agron
Jill- Jennifer Lawrence
Amber- Alyson Stoner
Sanaa- … I didn’t realize how hard it would be to find Asian actresses until I started looking…

Ok, I don’t know enough famous people for this, and I’m sure it shows. So I have a challenge for you guys! Can you come up with a better list of actresses/actors to play us/our Hollywood love interests? I’d be really interested to see what all of you guys think. You could put it in the comments, or your next blog, or even the etcetera section, but I really want everyone to give it a try! Please?

Can a guy be too much of a gentleman?
Yes. A relationship is supposed to be based on equality, so that both members are giving and taking equally. If the guy is trying to do everything for the girl, won’t let her open her own door, pay for her own food, or do anything for herself, then that can get irritating and, more importantly, unbalance the relationship. I’m not saying that gentlemanly tendencies aren’t appreciated, or that it isn’t nice to know that chivalry is not, in fact, dead, but, like anything else, chivalry needs to be given in moderation. For the relationship to work, the guy needs to realize that throwing himself at a girl’s feet is not the way to go. He can help her and be there for her, but he also needs to let her help herself, and help him. If she wants to open the door for him, then he should go through said door instead of insisting on getting the door himself.

If Seneca Crane didn’t have the awesome beard in the movie, do you think he would have still been such a likable character? Lol
Disclaimer: Sanaa, and anyone else who hasn’t seen the movie yet, skip to the next question!
Of course not! The beard, in my opinion, makes the character. I mean, you get so caught up in how cool his facial hair is that you don’t even think about how he is responsible for the deaths of 22 kids. It is true that the movie character does seem more reluctant to be outright brutal, and he does butt heads with President Snow a bit in an attempt to lessen the cruelty, but he is still Head Gamemaker, and he seems to enjoy his job quite a lot up until it leads him to a bowl of nightlock.  

What is your favorite thing you’ve ever dressed up as for Halloween?
Well, from the time I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pretty much the only thing I ever dressed up as was Hermione. I’m not even sure I can remember anything I dressed up as before then, it’s been so long.

What’s the best prank one of your siblings has pulled on you?
Well, nothing particularly prank-like is coming to mind. When I think of things my siblings have done to me, the first things that come to mind are my brother dropping a fish tank on me and my sister running me over with her bike. That was all accidental (I hope), and not all that funny. I mean, sometimes Nathan decides to jump out at me when I come home, but I can’t think of anything that they’ve really planned out or orchestrated to get me. I guess they’re just not quite as sadistic as certain friends of mine... 

What irrational fear did you have as a kid?
I was super afraid of tornadoes. I remember seeing a show or something, like on the weather channel, that said the sky could be blue and clear one minute and then there could be a tornado the next, so I remember sitting in my room and seeing the clear sky outside my window and being convinced that there was going to be a tornado. A little bit irrational? Yeah… 

Oh, and I don’t think you ever answered this one: If the 10th Doctor came in the TARDIS and wanted you to be his companion, but you could never see any of your friends or family again, would you go with him?
Why are you so obsessed with this question? You asked it several times, and I believe I did answer, though apparently you weren’t listening :P
And anyway, I said no. I think being a companion is best as a temporary thing. It’s kind of like a super epic road trip around the universe. You get to go, see all these amazing sights, fight bad guys, maybe save the world from certain doom a couple of times, but then you get to go home and use what you’ve learned to live the rest of your life and hopefully help make the world a little better in the process. Hanging out with the 10th Doctor in the TARDIS for a little while would be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I definitely wouldn’t want it to comprise the entire rest of my life. I’d want to be able to come back to my friends and family and get on with my life here on earth :)

You said that “You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness” is your favorite line of the song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Why do you like that line best/what does it mean to you?
I think the main thing about that line that first intrigued me was just how poetic it is, and also how it makes you want to argue with it at first. Like, you hear the line, and you want to say it’s wrong: people don’t like being sad; how could they get addicted to it? But then you think about it and it’s true. There are times when everyone opts to be sad. As a minor example, I know there are days when everything is going wrong and I just want to be in a bad mood. I don’t want people to comfort me, I don’t want anyone to rationalize my feelings or try to explain anything, I just want to be able to be sad or mad or grumpy for a little while. You know what I mean?
What the song seems to be talking about, then, is in more of a relationship context. They’ve both realized that the relationship isn’t working, that they aren’t compatible and they’re just doing harm to each other, but they still choose to stay together despite knowing that it can bring nothing good for them. They know that they would be happier apart, or just as friends, but they have become addicted to the “sadness” of the relationship, and they don’t want to let it go.
At least, that’s kind of how I thought of it. Any other thoughts on the meaning of that line, or of the song in general? Do you guys have a favorite line that you want to talk about? I’d like to hear about it :)

Should I go to film school or try to get an internship/job after graduation?
You should look/apply for both and then see what the best options are.

If you were a superhero, what would your superhero name be?
Sarasite :)

And that’s all for now! This week, it looks like Anna Beth has made a comeback as favorite! Both because she had some really good questions, and because no one else posed any. Feel free to leave comments and Questions! No ideas on what to comment about? Why not give your thoughts on who would play us? Or argue with me about how I answered a question? I like interactions :)

Love you guys!

 Sara