Hello from Anna Beth and her mom. Yep, that's right: my momma won Question Tuesday favorite, because she's awesome! Therefore, I've submitted your questions to her and I have her answers:

Sara
What was baby Anna Beth like?
She was a good baby (as long as her bottle was full) and brilliant and precocious and thought other small children were unruly beasts. 

Why do fools fall in love?
For the same reason wise people fall in love.

Why do birds sing so gay?
Because they're sopranos.

Why is Aaron Tveit so amazing?
I don't know, but I heard that he wants to run away with me! ;)

Favorite Avenger?
Batman! hehehe...

Started the 11th Doctor yet?
Nope.

Favorite ice cream flavor?
Chocolate anything!

Dogs or cats?
Both.

Favorite cute thing?
Anna Beth

Which is cuter: kittens or babies?
Babies

Rachael
Favorite food?
Chocolate ice cream.  

Place you want to visit?
Finland--igloos you can rent to watch the Northern Lights. 

Where would you move to if you had to (outside of BG)? If it's within the US, what about if you had to move outside of the US?
Paris. 
If it has to be part of the U.S.: Virgin Islands.

What's one thing you would change about your life?
I would have cats that know how to use a commode.

Favorite song?
It changes by the minute! I love anything by Van Morrison, but at the moment it's Legend in Your Own Time by Carly Simon.

Favorite movie?
Again, it changes often. I love anything Hitchcock, any western with The Duke, and all the old classics, but right now it's Sabrina (the one with Harrison Ford).

Favorite mythical creature?
Well....

Would you choose to never wear skirts again or pants?
Pants. I like to twirl in skirts!


And that pretty much wraps up the questions. Thanks for submitting. My mom enjoyed all of your questions and finds it impossible to choose a favorite, so I choose Rachael because she rarely gets to answer questions. Sorry, Sara. But I mean, you did it for a year. lol. :)

Songs of the Week:

HA! I betcha you all (all 2 of you) thought I wasn't going to blog today, but I did!!!
Hello from my desk at home!
That should be the first time I actually used that "Hello from" because usually my at-home desk is filled with junk. Fortunately, I finally got around to REALLY cleaning my room the other day and threw away 4 garbage bags worth of stuff (and then some, I didn't want to keep wasting trash bags), and gave some more stuff to goodwill. Point being, my desk is now clean and is now home to my laptop.
And because it's home to my laptop it is also where I watch Supernatural...I know I know, I won't go on about it here. Just know that I'm halfway done with season 4.
Our first comic of "Art and Science" has also been completed. I'm afraid I'll mess it up if I color it though. If you REALLY want to color it, I want to scan it first (so we have a good copy), try coloring a copy on the computer first, and if that doesn't work I will color to the originals. But what's out next story going to be-- I need a script before I can draw (hint hint AB).
Speaking of stories, I caught up on Sara's and I LOVE IT...not that I did before, but ahhh!!! All the feels!
Awww...baby tumblr....I'm not QUITE obsessed yet, but I see it happening in the near future.

Hey--I just thought of an idea for the future of this blog. It might not work because it's kinda dying already...but what if we had like virtual book club blog? Either we can choose a book all of us haven't read yet, or choose a book that only one person has read (and wants us to read) and they can be our "leader."
A rule would be that we can't talk in person about the book (unless it's a really heated discussion..?) that way it will force us to communicate via the blog

Eh eh? Any takers?

16 more days!
Rachael

Oh lo 

Hello from 21! Which is basically the same as 20, except that I can now go and get a fancy sideways drivers license. I’ve got to do that soon…

I feel like there’s something else that changes when you turn 21, but I just can’t… tip of the tongue… what was… oh well. I’m sure it’s not that important, and not something anyone really cares about anyway.

So, you may have noticed that I have basically no blog ideas. Anna Beth did ask me a question:

What is something that people generally think is cute that you DON’T think is cute?

But to that, I can only really question whether she really knows me as well as she thinks she does. Do I seem like the kind of person not to appreciate cuteness? I tried, I really did. But I have no idea what kinds of cute things don’t qualify as cute in my head. Because… cute! Just, cute!

I would also like to point out that Jill STILL has not posted a Sunday blog. And there’s no excuse. It’s SUMMER. Supernatural is not an excuse for not blogging!

Aaaaaaand I’m going to go now. Bye!

Love,

Sara

Hello from my snuggly TARDIS blanket. I don't really know what to write tonight, and I'm already late on posting... :P
UPDATE: I JUST KILLED A GIANT, TERRIFYING SPIDER!!!! Now I am very unsettled...
Do people really swallow 8 spiders a night? Or a year? Is that myth even remotely close to true. A cupcake to whoever can find out the truth!
See? I'm really desperate for something to write about, because now I'm talking about spiders. I reeeeeaaally don't like them. And I reeeeeeaallly don't want to work on the paper that I'm supposed to be revising to submit to Ashen Egg tomorrow. I'm sure there's not much to fix, because I've already worked on it, but meh.
Yep, here's a lovely stream of consciousness for you.
Ooops. It's been like an hour. I got distracted. Making a thing. Kbye
-AB

Update for those of you not on Tumblr. I did, indeed, make a thing (based on quotes from the first and last episodes of season 1):

Hello from Question Tuesday. Apparently. Anna Beth sent me a bunch of questions, and who am I deny a ready-made blogging topic? And maybe that’s Jill’s punishment for not blogging for A MONTH IN A ROW- she has forfeited her right to share Question Tuesday with me. Or maybe Anna Beth is just irritated that we’ve ignored it so long :P So here we go!


Anna Beth:
Would you rather be stranded on a deserted island with an immortal cat or a computer/great wifi?

Is that computer OR great wifi or computer AND great wifi? Cause if I can only have one or the other, there’s really not much point…

Assuming you meant and, though, I’d probably pick the internet. I would love an immortal cat, but I’m going to have to voice an opinion that I know you will disagree with: people are better than cats.

I know! Cats are adorable and hilarious and soft and adorable. But I’d rather be able to talk to people. Like, you know, you guys! Plus, then I could have all the YouTube videos/illegally posted books/movies/TV shows that I wanted. Though cats are highly entertaining, they don’t have quite as many options as the internet.

Oh, and with internet, I could probably, like, let people know where I was, so I could be, like,  rescued or something…

What fruit do you think would taste best on a pizza?

Hmmmmmmmmm. I’ve had pineapple on pizza before, and it’s alright. I feel like grapes might be kind of interesting. Or apples. Apples would probably be good.

Ooh. But you know what I think would be the best fruit for pizza? Tomatoes. You know? It’s like tomatoes were just, like, made for pizza or something. Like they’re inseparable… :D

Who’s your favorite Star Trek character?

I’m gonna have to go with Checkov. He’s just so adorable!!!!

What’s your favorite type of cookie?

Double chocolate chip. Yes, I am a stereotypical female when it comes to chocolate. I make no apologies.

Do you like ginger ale?

No.

Are there any movies coming out this summer that you want to see (that we haven’t seen yet… watch ALL the movies!)?

I’ve heard Fast and Furious 6 is really good. And I kind of want to see The Internship. It looks really funny, and also Owen Wilson. I also might have to watch Man of Steel, just because of Amy Adams. And I'm curious about Lone Rangers. It looks pretty cool.

OOH!!!!! MONSTER UNIVERSITY!!!!! I WANT IT SOOOO BAD!!!!!!

AND DESPICABLE ME 2 COMES OUT IN JULY! BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!

Ahem. Yes, I am, in fact, 7.

If your house were on fire, what 3 objects would you grab before evacuating (pets don’t count as objects, obviously)?

I’d grab my library books. If the house has burnt down, the last thing I’m going to want to deal with is library fines.

If you could choose a new showrunner and a new Doctor for Doctor Who (without repeating the past), who would you choose for each role? And if you could pick the next companion, who would portray them?

- Mark Gatiss

- Loki

- Me :D

Mountains or beach?

Beach.

Do lightning bugs ever get into your room, and if so, how do you respond?

No, but if they did I would catch them.

Do you ever have those times when you want to say something but you're not sure if it's insulting or not?

All the time.

Who's your favorite sibling at this particular moment?

Reni. Always Reni :D

If you had to compare your relationships with your siblings with fictional sibling relationships, which sibling duo would you liken to you and your brother? You and your sister?

Umm? I can’t think of any fictional siblings.

Anna Beth's Mom:
What's your favorite knock-knock joke?

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Orange.

Orange who?

Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

Favorite fictional horse?

Maximus.

Least favorite politician?

I don’t especially care for any politicians, but I also don’t really have a least favorite.

How many miles do you think you could walk?

Probably several. Walking is fine- it's running that causes the problems.

When you move out, what is one thing from your room that you will have in your own house (again, pets don't count)?

Probably most of it?

Favorite board game?

Life.

Favorite piece of jewelry that you own?

The feather earrings my Papaw made.

Rainbows or unicorns?

Rainbows. Unicorns have been ruined for me...

Why should I continue watching Doctor Who now that I've finished the David Tennant seasons?

11, though not as good as 10, is still pretty good (mostly). PLUS, 10 is coming back for the anniversary episode!!!!! So you have to watch the 11th Doctor’s seasons to get to that one :)

Is there any reason to keep family heirlooms for successive generations? Would you care about anything handed down to you with historical/family significance or would you rather just have your own stuff?

It depends on what it is. I wouldn't want to keep everything just because it belonged to a family member, but certain special items, yes.

Rocket Power or Powerpuff Girls?

Rocket Power. Basically Nickelodeon wins over Cartoon Network 9 ¾ times out of 10.

Why are mosquitoes attracted to water?

They lay their eggs there.

Would you pierce your belly button for $100?

Probably not. Maybe for $1000, though.

And those are all of the questions! Anna Beth’s mom wins, cause she had fun questions. I’m not sure how that works, though. So… bye!

Love,

Sara

Hello from...what month of missing blogs? Shhh........
Today I went to Owensboro with my mom for a one-year-old's birthday party. There were eight kids there between the ages of 0 and 6. Most of them were cousins. I don't know where a few of them materialized from, though. One surprise hugged me. I didn't know how to respond. Kids...
Later on tonight--or last night, technically--I met up with Anna Beth and Sara at GADS to celebrate the 26th. Two months until we leave for our road trip! We sat on top of my car and felt like we were in high school again.
And doughnuts. And Supernatural. Have I mentioned that I really love Supernatural? Misha's the best. But so is Jensen. And I just really love Supernatural. And New Zealand. And Poland. And CANADA!!!

Love,
Jill

Hello from a head full of thoughts that I can either express poorly in the next 12 minutes or express slightly more completely after midnight. And so we compromise. I was going to try to make an alphabet of the different points I wanted to talk about, such as "J is for job. I started working at Beijing Tokyo this week." But then I couldn't think of anything for A, let alone most of the rest of the letters, so that didn't really work. Anyway, here's a little thought potpourri for you...

Where to start? Well, like I said, I started my first "real" job this week, if you don't count babysitting as a real job. It's weird to think about being a real adult and having a real job...like all the time. Guys, won't that be a weird thing to do? I mean, I know a lot of us have part time jobs, but think about having a job all the time. So weird. Adulty stuff. :P

___________________________________________________________________

Oh look: I posted the part up there before midnight. Deadline met! Actually, do we really care about that anymore? I mean, look at Jill. When was the last time she even blogged? And Rachael blogged late. And I'm cheating right now by not finishing by midnight. I'm calling all of us out.
I propose that we actually keep up with blogging like we did at the beginning. Especially now. I mean, maybe this summer it's not that important, since we're mostly together. That is not to say that we shouldn't continue over the summer. Of course we should. But what I'm really saying is that when the summer comes to an end, some of us will begin our senior year of college. Some will be around a bit longer. Others have already graduated. You guys, we're going to go our separate ways one of these days. All of us (you know, until we all move into a house together in London, riiiiiight???) Do we really want to have a blog in shambles, being updated just whenever we feel like it? Is that what's going to become of our friendship when we're not together. Ok, ok, I'm being a bit melodramatic. But we started this blog to keep in touch when we were all apart, did we not? So here's what I think: We should try to restore our blogging efforts to their original heights. The enthusiasm and dedication that were there at the beginning can come back. So I say we get our original 8 back: Amy, Sara, Rachael, me, Jill, Amber, Sanaa, and Shelby, plus our Mysterious Munchkin who joined us briefly a couple of semesters ago. We have a blog posted every day. Everyone does it. Or at least, we try. I hope I don't come off as a jerk. I'm really not trying to pick on any of you for quitting or not really trying. You KNOW I've posted some crappy blogs in the past and utterly disregarded the deadlines and whatnot. I don't mean to be mean. I'm just saying, let's quit slacking. I think this is an awesome project, and I'm really proud of what we've done in the past year and a half. Let's keep it together, and it'll help us stick together! Love you guys!

___________________________________________________________________

On a completely different note, I'm going to toss you a thought-provoking question. Have fun with the comments section.

Which is scarier: to love or to be loved?

I know, right? Weird question. Classic, coming from me--the one who's supposedly afraid of commitment--right?

Side note: I just looked up fear of commitment to try to find the phobia name, and I found this...

What are the symptoms of commitment phobia? Commitment phobia can express itself in all kinds of different ways, but typically sufferers may exhibit any of these:

• Being overly critical of the other partner in the relationship, and/or the relationship as a whole.
  
  
• Annoying / hurting the other person, thus sabotaging the relationship, even if it's considered to be working well. An example of this, might be consistently turning up late for things - whether with apologetic excuses, or not.
  
  
• Being scared of getting noticed, because the other person might want to start a relationship. In fact, they'll often reject other people from the word go, so that a relationship barely gets off the starting blocks. The feeling behind this, can be to protect themselves from even the prospect of allowing others' to get too close. 
  
  At the other end of the scale, a commitment phobic, may be flirtatious and appear to want the attentions of other interested parties, desiring even a longer-term physical relationship. But, eventually the fear can, and often does, win out and the other person gets pushed away, leaving broken hearts in its wake.
  
  
• Fearing being swamped by others, and thus losing sight of who they feel they really are.
  
  
• Unable to face or explore the prospects, issues, or thoughts, of living together, or getting married.Some commitment phobics may want to find Mr or Miss Right and get married, but will often have somewhat unrealistic 'ideals' over possible suitors. 
  
  
• Often friends and relatives notice and will often make comments like: 'you're being too picky', and 'Mr/Miss Perfect' just doesn't exist'.
  
  
• Sometimes they'll fall in love with other people who just aren't interested in forming an intimate relationship. The reasoning behind this can be that the commitment phobic has, (deliberately, or otherwise), chosen a person who can't/won't, form a lasting relationship, and so they are 'safe' from having to make that long-term commitment.
  
  
• There is also the type of sufferer who enters a relationship, can't commit, then leaves at some point, only to return sometime later, before leaving yet again. This yo-yoing can happen time and time again leaving hurt, bewilderment and distrust in its wake.
  
  
• There can be the avoidance of having to commit to anything. This can also involve jobs, tasks, timekeeping, as well as personal relationships / friendships. Interestingly, it can even involve undertaking treatment for the commitment phobia itself.

Well crap.

Anyway, feel free to contradict me in finally accepting that maybe I am afraid of commitment. But back to my thought-provoking question: Is it more terrifying to love or to be loved? Actually, I think this comes at the root of any fear of commitment. Perhaps it's actually a fear of love. I feel like, if I fell in love, I probably wouldn't have a problem committing to that person (probably...maybe...), but I'd be more likely to hold myself back from actually falling in love. 
On the one hand, loving someone can change your desires. It can change your priorities and what you want. It can change your dreams and change who you are. And that, to me, is supreme horror.
On the other hand, being loved by someone makes you accountable. That's the scary part. Your decisions affect others. You have to accept responsibility for that and face the potential for guilt when you disappoint or worry those who love you.
Loving and being loved are intertwined, of course. And they both require a great degree of selflessness, and I often feel that I'm too selfish for any of this. I want my dreams. I want my freedom. I just want to be me, not part of a couple, not incomplete without my "other half." I don't want to be just a half. I'm a whole. And although I'm not very good at being independent in practical ways, I have an independent spirit, and I don't want any relationship to strip me of that. It's like I don't trust myself at all. It's like I think that if I ever have a boyfriend, he'll just suck the independence right out of me and I'll do nothing but need him and hang on his every word, think about him every second, and mention him in every conversation. And it's my pride, too. I don't want to appear pathetic, and I don't want to need someone, at least not like that, not in a relationshippy way. I guess it's partially because I've seen some of my high school friends go to complete mush over guys, but it's scary to think of becoming a completely different person. 
But hey, I know God has a plan for my life, so things will work out the way He wants them to. Yeah, I'm adding this disclaimer in here. Because, yes, I believe it to be true, and I've thought about things in these terms. Just because I can go on long rants about my (supposed and often self-magnified) problems doesn't mean I don't realize that everything will be okay. Deep down, I know God's got this under control. But I also know that His plans aren't always easy. Sometimes God's will can lead to temporary miseries.  Which, you know, is why it's hard to accept sometimes. Obviously I know God will do what's best, but I'm hesitant to let go and let God because I know that what's best isn't always what makes me happy at the time. But because I really do trust Him to do more good than I can ever imagine, I'm not too worried about all this silly love stuff. Sure, I may overthink these things. A lot. But that doesn't mean everything is terrible and I'm so distressed over it all. I like to give proper thought to things, that's all. Sometimes it is distressing, but then I get over it, whether by being reassured of God's perfect plan....or by getting on tumblr and just getting distracted and then BOOM: on to thinking of other things. lol. 
Okay, wow, that turned from thought-provoking question to share time from Anna Beth's diary really quickly. Yep. 
P.S. Just because I write about love and commitment also doesn't mean I'm even remotely in love with anyone. I just have a lot of thoughts. Let's not jump to conclusions. K?

___________________________________________________________________

I bet you guys think my fear of commitment is troubling. Oh no. What's troubling is the realization I had the other day. It was quite upsetting indeed. Here, I posted it on tumblr. I won't bother to repeat my explanation: 
http://carpe-diem-ever-after.tumblr.com/post/51084745833/whyyyy


CAUTION: CLICK HERE FOR STUNNING REENACTMENT OF ME ON WEDNESDAY, POST-REALIZATION!

Grrrr, you guys just don't understand my love of Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser. And them together! Because they basically come as a package deal (No, no, tumblr, not like that!). 

Oh well. There's always Canada, right Jill? Yeah? Yeah? Right? We want to go to Canada, eh?

___________________________________________________________________

Assorted other questions/comments:

Amber's back!!! Hiii, Amber.

Does anyone want to do a summer Bible study (like we did before with JASS, except this time not JASS, obviously)?

Star Trek: Into Darkness was SO GOOD! Benedict Cumberbatch, man! What an actor! What a fantastic human! Beautiful, beautiful man. 

Today I met a man who'd had Christmas dinner with Jed Clampett! I also made a friend named Guillermo and had a gas station attendant pitch a movie idea to me.

Sleepover tomorrow--er--tonight at my house!

Yard sale June 1st! WOO! 

I also still think it would be fun to do that writing challenge we were talking about the other day. It doesn't even have to be a challenge. But I think it might be fun for those of us who want to write stories, we could exchange chapters/parts and read each other's work and help each other improve and be like fancy classic author friends like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, except without the being that awesome, clearly. But...maybe it's just me. Anyone want to be my writing exchange buddy? (*coughJillshouldwritethelogcabinstorycough*)

I think that's all...

C'est la vie. Carpe diem. Vive la France.
 
Adios.
-Anna Beth

Oh, and here, have a song. It's a good one:

Hello from my bed where I was about to fall asleep until I remembered that I have to post something.
Today we got to see Ambah!!! How long has it been? And she's a real adult now, having graduated and all...
So we went out to dinner at Tsunami's, watched the first Star Trek movie at Sara's, and then watch the new one at the theater. It was a good movie...mmmm...BC
So, I'm kinda obsessed with Suprrnatural now (thanks Jill) and watched the first season in 2 days...too bad I work all day for the next couple of days or else I'd be on season 3 by Friday.
So yeah...bed time
Night!
Rachael

Hello from my brain! It has been brought up on numerous occasions that my brain makes no sense (coughannabethcough). For example, people tend not to understand my reasons for enjoying/despising certain movies, TV series, books, etc. More specifically, they just don’t get the way I try to explain it. Like, I say that I don’t like sad things, but then, Phantom of the Opera is like my favorite thing ever. So, as suggested by the lovely Amma Bef, today I am going to attempt to explain myself by providing you with specific examples of death and sad things that I like as opposed to death and sad things that I just completely reject, and how these two categories differ. I am about 100% positive that this blog will still fail to satisfy you, so feel free to comment with questions/clarifications/disagreements/general abuse :)

Warning: obviously, this blog will have spoilers in it. So, if you see a title of something you haven’t read/seen yet and would one day like to read/see, I suggest you skip it. Unless you’re ok with me telling you who dies and how it happens, in which case, feel free to proceed.

Good

Phantom of the Opera- so, the sad thing about this story (specifically the 2004 movie version) is that the Phantom is in love with Christine, and in the end she chooses Raoul and leaves him all alone and sad. This, in my opinion, is mostly incomprehensible, because a) I don’t like movie Raoul, and b) Gerard Butler. I mean, come on. GERARD BUTLER!!!! Looking from a slightly more logical perspective, however, it does mostly make sense. The Phantom is, after all, a murderer, and also really creepy when you think about it, what with all the stalking and kidnapping and whatnot. And, plus, Christine loves Raoul, or whatever… But logic is not why I love this story so much. I think my main justification is really just Gerard Butler. As creepy and terrible as his character is supposed to be, he just portrays the Phantom in such a way that I root for him even though he’s supposed to be the bad guy. And the end part, when he’s left alone and sad and Christine gives back the ring, is really my favorite part of the movie. It’s just so touching and sad and sweet and just awww!!!! And then at the very end when he’s left the rose at her grave… I just don’t even have words…

Les Miserables- considering that we have retitled this movie, “All My Friends Are Dead,” I think it’s pretty safe to say that some sad stuff happens. But, despite all the sad and the death, I still really like the movie. Most of the deaths are done in such a way that I can take it. The primary example of this is Eponine. Her death scene is just so well done, with the pretty song, and she can at least pretend that Marius did return her feelings, and everything’s going to be ok. Also Enjolras. I mean, when it comes time for him to die, I really feel like that’s the best end for him. His revolution has failed, and that’s the one thing that he’s put all his energy and effort into. He doesn’t have a Cosette like Marius does (not according to canon, at least :P). From what we see of him in the course of the musical, I think he was happier dying than escaping. Plus, his death scene is just really epic. With all the deaths, though, it was pretty unlikely that I’d be ok with all of them. So you’ll see Les Mis coming back up in the “bad” category.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street- Ok, so this is a super dark musical. I mean, Sweeney Todd cuts people’s throats so Mrs. Lovett can cook them into meat pies and feed them to the unsuspecting public. But… I still really enjoy it, both the musical and the Johnny Depp movie (so you can’t say it’s just because I like so many of the actors). For one thing, it has really great music. And also, most of the deaths are complete strangers, so I don’t really feel so bad about it. This one’s similar to Les Mis, in that basically everyone except the happy couple (and, in this case, the little boy) dies in the end. But… ok, I guess from the way I see it, that’s really the only acceptable ending. Judge Turpin pretty much single-handedly ruined Todd’s life and caused him to go on his killing spree, and is also just a terrible person, so he had to go. Mrs. Lovett kept it from Todd that his wife was, in fact, still alive, for her own selfish reasons. And she also made pies out of people. And Todd killed who knows how many people. Lucy is really the only one who didn’t really deserve it, but, in my opinion, at least, it was an unavoidable plot point. Basically, by the time we get to the events that take place in the musical, it’s already too late for most of the characters.

Possibly another reason why I can be ok with all the death and sadness in this musical is just the ridiculousness of the whole thing. I mean, as far as I can tell, the whole premise is just completely implausible. And it’s also approached really humorously. Dark humor, yes, but humor nonetheless.

Stardust- this movie also has a lot of death and stuff in it, but it’s just approached so hilariously and ridiculously that it’s really hard to view it that way. There are a couple of deaths and events that I don’t like (poor goat :( ), but they’re to such minor characters that I can get over it pretty easily.

I’ll stop there- this blog is going to be ridiculously long- but some other sad things that fall into this category include V for Vendetta, The Book Thief, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and Bones (with one major exception).

So, to summarize this first category:

             - Musicals can basically do whatever they want
             - ALL THE FEELS!!!!!
             - Funny is good

Bad

Serenity- and by Serenity, I mean Wash. Why? JUST WHY JOSS WHEDON?!?!?! There was just no point! One second, everything was fine, and then there was a giant spike where Wash’s heart was supposed to be. And Zoe? What about Zoe? She’s never gonna be ok now! They never get to grow old together, or have a baby, or just be happy and together ever again. And why was all this necessary? Just so Joss Whedon could keep us on our toes, and prove that he has the power. THAT IS NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO RIP MY HEART OUT AND STOMP IT ON THE FLOOR!!!!! Ahem. Sorry about that. Thinking about Wash just does not give me the good kind of feels…

Les Miserables- As I said before, I mostly like the movie and thought the sad stuff was well done and I could be ok with it. There are a couple of sad things I just couldn’t, though. The first to come up was Fantine. From the time she got fired and had to try to make money on the street to her death, it was all just so sad, and I couldn’t find anything to make it better. It just seemed like it was all so avoidable. If they hadn’t read the letter, if Jean Valjean had stepped in and helped her sooner, it would have just been so easy for her story not to end that way. And even though Valjean was able to save her daughter, so she was ultimately happy, it just seems awful that she didn’t get to be around for it :/

Javert was also really sad to see. He was just so broken and stubborn. And the cracking sound. *shudder*

And also the little boy. It’s never ok to kill a little kid :’(

Catch-22- So, I know Jill really likes this one, and I’m sorry, but it was just not the good kind of sad for me. A lot of the book was really funny, which is good, but then all of a sudden a plane would decapitate someone, or Nately’s story would be over right when everything finally seemed to be going well for him, and just no! All the bad things just seemed to happen out of the blue, no warning, no reason, just because. And I guess that was the point of the whole thing, but I just don’t like it. I just don’t appreciate that the author kept making me care about these people, and making me happy that things were going well for them, and then just completely ruining everything beyond the point where it could be fixed. Just… no…

STEINBECK- just… everything. He’s just so depressing. The Grapes of Wrath characters are basically hopeless. They’re travelling out west hoping that things will look up for them, but it’s already too late, and Rose of Sharon’s baby, and it’s just not ok! And The Pearl (Anna Beth, I’d advise you to skip to the next paragraph). Just don’t even get me started. The whole thing could have been avoided from the very beginning. He didn’t even have to throw the pearl back into the ocean! He could have just sold it, and everything would have been just fine. But no, he had to be stupid and greedy and put his whole family at risk, and the baby! WHAT DOES STEINBECK HAVE AGAINST BABIES?!?!?!

Blech. I think I’ll stop now, but here are some other stories that fall into the bad category: The Kite Runner, Warriors Power of Three- Book 6: Sunrise, Bones (Nigel-Murray), Once upon a Time, The Last Summer (of You and Me).

And so here’s a simplification of things that land stories into the bad category:

            -  Children :(
            - Pointlessness/completely avoidable-ness
            - Steinbeck
            - Messing with my favorite characters

In between

I should mention that I don't categorize everything as either good or bad. There are some things that I have a hard time deciding whether I like or not, so I’ll give you a couple of examples of those.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog- so obviously what I’m talking about here is Penny. On the one hand, I understand what Joss Whedon was doing, and I get why it was necessary, and the end is just so heart-wrenching and feel-inducing. I know that her death made the whole thing so much better, and it was really well done. It’s just… poor Dr. Horrible! On the surface, it looks like he has everything he ever wanted, and it’s all smooth sailing. But on the inside, he’s just miserable, and he feels responsible, and it’s just so sad, and I feel so bad for him!!!

Harry Potter- when I say Harry Potter, I’m not talking about most of it. Most of the people who get killed off in the series, I understand JKR’s reasoning, and I feel like it contributes purposefully to the plot progression, and I really just feel like it’s really well done. Even Fred is super sad, and I feel so bad for George, and I kind of wish it hadn’t had to happen, but I do get it. One thing I’m conflicted about, though, is Snape. Probably most of this stems from the fact that, until I read the last book, I was, like, 100% certain that he was a bad guy, and killing Dumbledore had proven that. But then Deathly Hallows, and Lily, and Voldemort’s snake, and I just feel so bad! Snape’s whole life is all just so sad- he has a terrible home life, he’s picked on at school, and then he loses the only girl he ever loved over and over again- when he calls her a mudblood, when she gets married to James, and ultimately when she dies saving Harry’s life. Like with the other HP deaths, I think his was really well done, and also really important to the ultimate outcome of the story, but part of me just feels really terrible and wishes things could have turned out better for him :/

Aaaaand that’s about it! As I said before, feel free to let me know if I make a little more sense to you now, or if you still think my reasons are stupid and unacceptable. Or, if you have other things you want me to try to explain to you, let me know that too, and I’ll talk to you next week!

Love,

Sara

Hello from my parents' 33rd anniversary!!! Yep, they've been married since 1980! Right now they're on a date: eating out at Schooner's, here in Panama City Beach.
I realized that this spring/summer, I'm slowly working my way west when it comes to bodies of water. On spring break, we took a dip in the Atlantic. Now I'm at the Gulf of Mexico, and in July/August, we'll hit the Pacific! Did I ever mention how much I love the beach/ocean? It's a lot. But you're right, Jill, sand is a pain in the butt. Especially when you have to reapply sunscreen and you're grinding the sand into the pores of your skin. Exfoliating, sure, but not the comfiest thing in the world.
And speaking of things that aren't all that comfortable: being hot. I mean, I'm at the beach, and it's hot, and today I felt like I was frying, but it was okay, because there's a lovely ocean to jump in and a nice, cool hotel room waiting anytime I want to take a break. But can we just take a few minutes to think about--not reconsider, just CONSIDER--hiking in the Grand Canyon? I'm not saying we're all going to die (yes I am), but it's going to be HOTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! I just thought I'd bring that to everyone's attention, in case you needed a daily dose of obvious statements. That is all.
Anyway, what else? Oh yeah, my title! It's karaoke night, guys. It was karaoke night last night, too, apparently. I haven't gone to it yet, but it's after the magic show tonight, so I might just show up and sing. But see, the magic show (which I probably won't attend) starts at 9, and my parents will probably be back from dinner by then. I was hoping that the karaoke would happen earlier so there would be literally NO ONE IN THE ENTIRE HOTEL who knows me. Then I could totally rock out! lol. Well....maybe not. OOOh, or maybe when my parents get back I can convice my mom to go sing with me. You know, I think she'd be up for it.
Anyway, the sun is probably going to set any minute, so I think I'll try to catch that, since the Gulf has the best sunsets imaginable!
p.s. You know what else is the best? Bacon-wrapped BBQ shrimp! Seriously the BEST THING I'VE EVER TASTED!!!!!!!!!! It's a tragedy that you guys will probably think that's gross, especially Jill, who hates both bacon and shrimp (ok, Jill doesn't hate things, but she doesn't particularly like them). BUT GUYS IT WAS SOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS. THE END!