Hello from the first day of the new semester :/ I am, in fact, writing this on Monday, so I can’t really tell you how it’s going for me, but I only have 2 classes, which will be done by 11, so hopefully it won’t be too bad. Done before lunch seems like a good way to ease into the semester, don’t you think? Of course, in order to achieve that, I have to be up at 6 for an 8 a.m. class, so I’m not really looking forward to that.

But we don’t really want to rehash how much I dislike early mornings, now do we? So for today’s topic, I thought I’d discuss the Phantom of the Opera! He has figured prominently in Anna Beth’s most recent inner-monologue-expressed-via-internet-for-all-to-see-her-growing-insanity, but that’s not actually why I wanted to talk about it today. See, my brother gave me
the recording of the original London musical in the 80s for Christmas. It was, however, lost in the deep, dark depths of his bedroom until a couple of days ago, so I just got it and got the chance to listen to it. If you know me very well at all, you will know that I already own the soundtrack from the 2004 movie, as well as the movie itself. And the English translation of the original book. So, I thought it’d be interesting to discuss the two soundtracks in comparison. Just basics, though. You should also know that I’m far too lazy to get into any kind of detail. Or incorporate more than just the two soundtracks.

So! If you’ve listened to the movie soundtrack, you’ll know that it consists solely of individual songs taken from the movie- little if any dialogue is included, and they even leave out some of the songs, I guess because they’re considered too transitional or inconsequential to deserve a place on the CD. The original audio, however, is much more extensive, which I liked. If I’m not mistaken (which I may be- I’ve only listened to it once so far), in fact, it is literally the entire musical in audio form. So it’s almost like you’re listening to a radio drama or something, which is pretty cool :). I can’t really speak for how comprehensible this would be for someone with no prior experience with Phantom of the Opera, but seeing as I’ve seen the movie countless times, listened to the CD even more, and even read the book, I foun  it really interesting just to be listening as the action happened and picturing events in my head instead of actually seeing them on screen on anything.

Another difference I noticed was that the original musical has more than just the movie, so it was cool getting to hear extra verses and even entire songs that I never knew existed. Like, there’s an extra song in the same tune as Andre and Firmin and the gang reading the Phantom’s notes after Christine disappears where the Phantom has some extra notes on how
to direct his opera- replacing a couple of orchestra members and weeding out the useless chorus- and everyone’s accusing Christine of being behind it all so she can be the star. Then it includes a scene of rehearsing for Don Juan, and Carlotta and Piangi and everyone complaining about the composer. More of the lines are also sung outright instead of spoken, though there is still some speaking. The part when Christine is talking to Raoul about how afraid she is of playing in the Phantom’s opera is sung instead of spoken, for example, as well
as their argument about their secret engagement earlier at the masquerade. Ooh! And the graveyard seen is extended, with more banter between the Phantom and Raoul. I quite enjoyed it :).

Then, of course, the voices were different, seeing as the original was produced 25 years and a thousand or more miles apart from the movie. Since it was being performed on stage and in more traditional operatic style, there was a lot more vibrato, especially with Christine, which I really don’t care for, but for the most part it wasn’t too pronounced. And this is probably (oh, who am I kidding-definitely) my bias toward Gerard Butler, but I didn’t like the voice for the Phantom as much. For one thing, he’s just not Gerard Butler, and I mean, who can really compare? I also noticed, possibly in general, but especially with the Phantom, that you couldn’t hear the emotions expressed as much in the original version. Like, even just listening to the movie soundtrack, you can hear the Phantom’s anguish as he sings up on the balcony after Christine’s betrayal, and how broken he is after he lets Christine leave his dungeon beneath the opera. It’s not really as apparent listening to the original, but again, this could have more to do with the medium. As an opera performed on stage, the focus was probably more on the music and singing quality than having an extra demonstration of the emotions, whereas the movie really wants the audience to make that emotional connection with the characters. So in the original I think the audience empathizes less with the Phantom, which is
closer (though still quite apart) to the way he’s portrayed in the book. On the contrary, though, I liked the original Raoul much better than the movie Raoul, though again, this is most likely my own personal bias- I just really didn’t like the movie Raoul :/ (possibly because he was being compared with Gerard Butler…). Regarding the more minor characters, I thought it was interesting how similar the original Andre and Firmin sound compared to the movie versions.
They also did a really good job of making Carlotta annoying :)

As another minor detail difference, some of the words were altered between the two versions. I mean, this was bound to happen as with any remake, but I was amused hearing the original and realizing it was changed from the movie. In the original, the chandelier actually falls during the same scene as Carlotta’s croaking performance, so there’s reference to that later
when they’re grudgingly agreeing to perform the Phantom’s play. Also, you may remember when the Phantom and Christine kiss and he tells them to “Take the boat-swear to me- never to tell… the secrets you know- of the angel in hell.” I really like that part, but in the original he sings, “Take the boat- leave me here- go now, don’t wait…Just take her and go-before it’s too late.” I just feel like that line is significantly less epic, so I was happy they changed it :)

So, that’s my take on Phantom of the Opera vs. Phantom o  the Opera. Any opinions? Comments? Who do you think is more obsessed, me with Phantom of the Opera or Anna Beth with Les Miserables? Any suggestions for how I can improve this “make regular blogs” thing I’ve been trying to do? Cause this
was a lot longer than I meant it to be, so sorry if reading it all was kind of
  miserable… See youz guyz next week!


 


Love,


Sara


P.S. The original audio also comes with a book of, like,
the entire musical. <3

Hello from Question Tuesday! Also the last week of winter break… classes are starting in exactly a week now, so I’ve started getting emails about what to bring to class and feeling obligated to read my syllabi and go buy textbooks. I haven’t done any of it yet, but it’s on my to-do list. It’s gonna happen… hopefully before Monday night. You know you’re in trouble when the semester hasn’t even started and you’re already procrastinating. But anyway! I won Question Tuesday this week, so here are the Questions you’ve all been dying to have answered!

Anna Beth
What kind of drunk do you think that you’d be (not that you’d have the opportunity to find out)?
This question is sort of brought up because of a Danisnotonfire video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todAQtZSejg) (at least I assume so) about
people’s different reactions to alcohol- clumsiness, passing out, being excessively flirty or depressed, and so on. I personally don’t find any of the options to be very appealing, possibly because I’m a control freak and think my inhibitions are there for very good reasons, and because of this I kind of wonder if getting drunk would just make me paranoid about how the alcohol was going to affect me. I dunno, is that a thing that alcohol can do? Make you paranoid?
Which would win in a fight: a shark or a Dracula?
Probably a shark. I mean, even on land, the shark can still bite Dracula’s head off or fall on him or something, and what’s Dracula gonna do? I don’t think he can bite through shark skin. And that’s even with the locational advantage going to Dracula. In the water, the poor ole vampire wouldn’t stand a chance.
Would you really want to be famous on YouTube?
It might be cool, though I’m not sure how being a famous YouTuber would work with my actual career goal of teaching. Somehow the two don’t seem very compatible.
Would you want to be famous-famous (more so than YouTube)?
No, not really. I don’t especially like the idea of being stalked by paparazzi and criticized by the media for every decision I make.
If you had unlimited money, but you could only live in one place for the rest of your life, where would you live?
Living in one place doesn’t prevent me from travelling to other places right? Because it’d be really dumb to have the money to travel and not be able to. Anyway, if that were the case, I’d probably just live here or somewhere close where all the people I like are :)
Would you rather live in one place for the rest of your life or move around a
lot?
I think I’d rather just stay in one place. I mean, moving once or twice would probably be fine, but I wouldn’t want to be moving around all the time- I’d never be able to get close to the people living around me and things would be way more complicated. Plus if I had kids then I
wouldn’t want to make them keep switching to new schools- that’s no fun. Obviously there are all kinds of places that I want to visit, but I still want to have a constant home to return to.
How long do you think my family will keep the Christmas decorations up?
July, maybe?
Who’s your favorite character on Firefly?
I should’ve known someone was going to ask me this question :/ But it’s not fair! I like all the people! I’d say my top three are Simon, River, and Kaley, but I’m only halfway through at this point. I don’t know enough about them to pick an ultimate favorite just yet.
Are you even enjoying Firefly, or are you just watching it because we won’t shut up?
I am actually enjoying it :) I mean, you complain about Once upon a Time just about every time I see you, AB, but that hasn’t made me any more inclined to try watching it again. Do you really think I’d keep watching, regardless of your complaints, if I didn’t like the show? 
Who’s your 2nd favorite president?
Of course. The one favorite I actually have a ready answer to and you want my next choice. Why do you do this to me?! That would probably be more dramatic if this were a vlog… Anyway, I guess… after Lincoln… I’d have to go with… Teddy Roosevelt, maybe? After all, he got Teddy Bears named after him, and he was pretty awesome, with his rough riding and his speaking softly and carrying big sticks and all.
If you could have anyone- living or dead- be your private tutor, who would you
choose?
Private tutor for what? Most of my education is already behind me, you know… I guess I’d pick someone who’s fluent in a lot of languages? Cause then I could learn all kinds of languages, and that would be cool :D
Do you think it will snow later today?
I REALLY hope so!!! Of course, my sister’s school let out an hour early, and any time the school system decides to release early that usually means that nothing will happen, but I really REALLY want some snow!
If you could have some kind of magical object, what would you have?
A wand.
Do you think you look more like Audrey Hepburn, Helena Bonham Carter, or some other celebrity?
I have no idea. I mostly think I look like myself, so I’m not really the right person to ask.

Jill
Why didn’t Anna Beth answer my question last week?
Because she secretly hates you :) Or else she didn’t think to check for questions in the comments. But probably the former.
What was the last story you wrote (or tried to write) about? (If you can’t remember the last time you wrote a story, try harder. I know you wrote fan fiction at some point)
Well, I tried to rewrite our web series awhile ago. And I meant to work on that before school started back… but that hasn’t really worked out so far… stupid YouTube…
What do you think makes a good blog entry (not necessarily just for our own blog)?
Something that is interesting and engaging? And also grammatically correct. Spelling and syntax errors are irritating and off-putting.
What was the most recent daydream you had?
Well, recently I’ve been imagining what it’d be like to meet and befriend cool vloggers at VidCon. I’ve had other ones, too, but my daydreams tend to be almost as hard to explain as my real dreams.
If you could change the color of one aspect of the world (for example: make the sky green, or the ocean purple, or chocolate red) what would you change?
I’d make the road a prettier color. Because gray is really boring. Maybe I’d make it dark purple or something? That’d be kind of cool :)
If you could pick any ten books to be the curriculum for High School English, which would you pick? (I think I answered this once, but I don’t remember if anyone else did)
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Great Expectations or A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (I haven’t actually read either, but I like Dickens, so I feel he should be represented…)
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (probably this should be reserved for seniors, or possibly even college students, and high schoolers should read Orwell’s 1984 instead. I just don’t really like 1984…)
(note the absence of Steinbeck :)
And if you’re thinking that I just looked through lists of common high school reading material and picked books that I liked, you would be correct :)
What’s your favorite word that isn’t a word?
Umm?
Do you dog-ear pages in books?
No! I like to keep my books looking perfect and nice. Which is why I feel really bad looking back at the books I annotated in high school. The exception is textbooks. Since I keep all of mine anyway, and am too lazy to take notes on what I read, I do a lot of highlighting and occasional margin scribbling. But even those I don’t dog-ear. That’s what bookmarks are for!

So that’s all the questions for today! Jill wins, so give her some questions via comments or Facebook or something. I’m going to get back to wasting my last week of sleeping in and watching too much YouTube. Have a good week!

Love,

Sara

Hello from  the first week of Shelby and Amber's LAST SEMESTER as undergraduates! How crazy is that?! Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying two more weeks of break :). And I'm also discovering how difficult it is to find things to talk about on here :/ So for this week's topic, I decided to make Anna Beth happy and complete a challenge she gave us, like, forever ago. It's a little belated, but here it is!

So... happy Tuesday!
Love,
Sara

Hello from the first blog of 2013!!!!! Lol, I feel like one of those people who comment “first!” onYouTube videos. First, guys! Anywho, as we’ve discussed, the blog is changing this year. Most relevant to me, Question Tuesday is now everybody’s! So, instead of monopolizing Question Tuesday this year, 2013 is going to have Topic Tuesdays. Which means that I take
a topic, and I talk about it. Which is basically just a regular blog… but it’s alliterative!!! You can’t expect me not to indulge the alliteration!!!! So anywayz, if you’d like to suggest future topics for me to talk about, that’d be really awesome. Or not. I can come up with my own topics. Probably. Like today! Today I came up with my very own idea! In two parts, no less!

Part I: 2012
So, 2012 has been a pretty great year. Just, so many cool things have happened! I mean, for one, we started this blog. I personally think it’s been a really fun way to keep up with what’s going on with everyone. There’s been Disney, and Vlogging, and challenging (often ignored… sorry, Anna Beth…),and just general happiness and friendship! And then there was kind of the
push that got the blog going in the first place- all the cool places that everyone went to. I got to hear about New Zealand, Britain, Haiti, and so many places, even though I didn’t go any farther than camp in Tennessee. Which was another awesome thing! Camp was the best! There was Jesus and amazingness and scarybutawesome trust falling and I’m so glad I got to go! Summer was also when I got my first job, and we tried to make a web series. That… sort of got put on hold on account of technology hating us… but I know that I had a lot of fun working on the script and filming and everything, and I’m still really hoping that we can eventually someday finish it and make it into a thing that we can watch.

Summer ended, and we all had to go back to school, but why would we let a little thing like that stop our fun? I know at Western we had sleepovers and bedtime stories (precedent having been set by our mini road trip to Shelby’s house to see her off to Haiti- the story of how everyone met her soul mate except Shelby doesn’t believe in soul mates will go down in history as the best bedtime story of all time), and I heard a lot about retreats and concerts and fun adventures from everyone who wasn’t here. Plus, I had the ongoing task of finishing 30 books by the end of the year, with Jill’s promise of either a prize or a surprise depending on whether I could complete the task. And I did! Which leads us up to New Year’s Eve and how Jill, Anna Beth, and I got to eat that cake. It was yummy. I’m sorry the rest of you had to miss out. We also experienced our own little apocalypse when the power went out not long before midnight- but don’t worry, we survived! And then the clock struck midnight (as Anna Beth dropped a beach ball and Jill played Auld Lang Syne on her iPhone. Such a classy way to ring in the New Year :) Which leads us to…

Part II: 2013
Now it’s 2013, and we have a whole new year to fill with awesome things! For one thing Shelby and Amber and GRADUATING in like 4months. How insane is that? I can’t believe my friends are growing up… so they’ll be moving on to real(ish) life. Even though neither of you are blogging full time this year, I hope you’ll stop by on occasion to tell us what it’s like on the other side of your diplomas :) Then Sanaa’s going to Chile to be all international and cool, and she had also better tell us all about her awesome adventures. And, most relevant to me, road trip is happening this summer! There’s going to be driving, and driving, and lots of driving, and also VidCon! Obviously I can’t predict everything that’s in store for us, individually and as friends, in the coming year, but I look forward to finding out, one day at a
time :)
So… that’s the first blog of the year. What has passed and what is coming. See how original I am? It’s not like it’s a totally obvious
  thing to do on the first day of the year…


Love you guys!!!


Sara

Hello from MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I’m thinking Tuesday is a pretty great day for blogging :) Anyways, my week has been pretty awesome! The world didn’t end on Friday, which always makes for a great day. Plus I spent it with Jill, AB, and Amber, basically loitering in one place for a few hours, then deciding we should stop bothering the owners, and then going somewhere else to loiter until closing :P Then on Sunday we had a Christmas party in the nursery- let me just say, giving powdered donuts and milk in teacups to 3-year-olds is an interesting affair. But no worries, nothing broke! Yesterday was Christmas Eve, so we went to my Mamaw and Papaw’s house to read the Christmas story and eat too much food and open presents. We also ended up watching the first two Santa Clause movies. Now that I’m older, I have to admit that they had really bad special effects… And today’s Christmas, so we also ate too much food and opened presents and read the Christmas story! And watched movies. They seem to have been integral to this Christmas season, though today it was How to Train Your Dragon (which is not at all related, but awesome and has Gerard Butler in it) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. So, this week has been generally awesome, and now, *drumrollllllll* it’s time for the last ever Question Tuesday of 2012!

AB:
What did you get for Christmas?
I got some pretty cool stuff for Christmas :) I got a Nook, which I haven’t quite figured out yet, plus some kitty earrings my Papaw made yesterday. Then today I got some cool clothes, the WOW 2013 CD, the first Sailor Moon manga, and a TARDIS pillow and ornament. Heather got an iPod, so she’s basically been glued to it all day. She got a MASH app, which is how it came to be that I am destined to marry Captain America and be a teacher in Edinburgh while raising our five kids. In a mansion, I think.
What’s your favorite gift you gave to someone else?
Well, I haven’t given all my gifts yet, but I did have fun going on a covert mission to pick up a book for my Mom yesterday. Heather and I went to Barnes and Noble while my parents were at the mall, but they beat us home, so we had to come up with a cover story and then sneak the book up to my room for wrapping before sneaking it out to the car to take to my grandparents’. Covert Christmas for the win! :P
Did your cat do anything particularly cute with the Christmas decorations/wrapping?
Well, of course! My cat isn’t capable of not being adorable! We have a picture of him sitting in all the discarded wrapping paper from this morning, because he just can’t resist a big pile of paper. That was proven when my mom was trying to wrap the presents in the first place- he
was very eager to help her out.
What wormlike larvae were ordered to appear before an Italian court in 1659 for trespassing and damaging property?
Umm… I really have no idea. Google has failed me. Caterpillars? 

So that wraps it up for 2012’s final Question Tuesday. How were your Christmases?  I can’t wait to see what next year has in store! Thanks to Anna Beth for being so diligent in providing me with Questions :) She wins the Ultimate Favorite Question Asker Award, which is not actually a real thing that will do
her any good. But it does win her my vote for first Question Day holder of 2013, unless we’ve already decided on some other way to start it off? To the best of my knowledge we haven’t made any decisions yet. We should really get on that… So anyway, I’d like to sign off for the year with some questions for the first Question Answerer of the New Year:

What was your absolute favorite thing about 2012?
What was your not so favorite thing about 2012?
What are you most looking forward to about 2013 (aside from VidCon and out road trip, if you’re going)?
If you could make your break from school last forever- the school year would just never start and you would never grow up and graduate and face real life, just hang out and chill and do whatever it is you do during break- would you? Why or why not?
Would you rather have said infinite time during Christmas break or summer break? Or some other obscure break from the semester?
Why won’t it snow?
What did you like and dislike about our blog project this past year? Is there anything else you’d like to change, aside fro  what we’ve already discussed (assuming we’ve discussed said changes by the time you’re answering this)?
Would you rather live in one city of your choosing outside of the United States, but be too poor to travel, even to visit your family and friends, or live here in Bowling Green and be able to travel anywhere within the country?

I may have some more questions once I know who’s actually answering them, but until then, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas  and a Happy New Year!

 Love,
Sara

Hello from Christmas Break! Aah, isn’t it so nice to have another semester behind us? Focusing, of course, on the fact that we get five weeks of no homework/studying/getting up early, as opposed to the slightly drearier reality that real life is looming just a little bit closer (put that in there just for your sake, Anna Beth :). My break hasn’t been too busy so far. I hung out in Bates a little on Friday, celebrating everyone’s final finals (I’m pretty sure there will never be a semester when I am not compelled to use that phrase :D). I missed church last week because I was sick, so I was especially happy to be back this past Sunday- the nursery kiddos seemed especially adorable, and I feel like my middle school girls had a lot of really good discussion points to bring up. Since then I’ve mostly been hanging around the house, taking advantage of my free time to work on my reading challenge. Also, today’s my Mamaw’s birthday, so happy birthday to her! And so, it’s time to move on, to this year’s penultimate edition of Question Tuesday:

Anna Beth:
If you had to change your first name to whatever you choose, or your middle name to your least favorite name, which would you change?
Ummmmm. I think I’d change my middle name. I don’t think it’d make that much of a difference, since I don’t really use the one I have. Plus, I really like my first name, and I got it from my Memaw, so I’m not especially inclined to give it up :)
And what is your least favorite name?
I’m not really sure. Maybe something like Mildred?
What would you want to be named if you were a boy?
Hmm. I really like the name James. Also Daniel. Maybe one of those?
What did you ask for/are hoping to get for Christmas?
Umm, mostly I was really boring and asked for clothes. I’ll be doing a lot of classroom observations next semester, so I need professional-looking attire so they don’t kick me out :P
What are you going to do about Santa Claus when you’re a parent?
I think I’ll tell my kids about Santa Claus just like I would any other story. My child/ren will be read lots of bedtime stories and fairy tales, and Santa Claus will certainly feature in some of them. He/she/they may believe in Santa just like those other stories when she/he/they is/are little, but eventually will come to learn the difference between real life and fantasy.
What’s the Abell family tradition for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day?
Well, we always spend Christmas Eve at my Mamaw and Papaw’s house. We have Christmas dinner, we listen to the Christmas story, and then we open presents and sit around the living room talking/playing with our new toys until it’s time to go home.
Christmas Day is typically less structured. Since we’ve gotten older, we tend to sleep in a lot later (I completely refuse to get up at the crack of dawn). There are usually pictures to be taken, presents to be opened, breakfast to be made and eaten, and other such activities to be had, but the order really depends on the year. Sometimes we eat breakfast first, others the presents are just calling too loudly to be ignored. 
 One constant, though, is that my mom always puts seemingly random labels on the presents- she might do reindeer, holiday characters, or some other theme- so that no one knows which presents are for whom until she starts handing them out. Occasionally she’ll misplace her key telling her which names correspond to which child, so it’ll be a little bit of a guessing game. But it does serve its purpose of discouraging meddling with the presents before time to open them :)
If you could be serenaded by any living person on Earth right now, who would you choose?
Hmm. I’m thinking Liam would be quite a nice serenader :)
What do you think of ninebrassmonkeys’s pink hair?
It looks red to me… but all the same, it looks nice.
Have you ever been to Disney World?
No :(
What is your all-time favorite novel?
WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?! I just… can’t…too… much… there’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer… and Pride and Prejudice… and Harry Potter… and Artemis Fowl… how am I supposed to pick just one?!?!
What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year?
I think I’d have to go with Avengers. It’s just so much awesome for one movie :D
What’s the most exotic animal you’ve seen in person?
Red panda?
What’s your cat limit (i.e. “I can’t get another cat because I already have _____ cats.”)?  (Assuming this is you personally, not considering your parents’ rules)
Lol. If we’re just talking indoor cats, I probably wouldn’t want more than two or three. Outdoor, though, I’d be okay with 20 or 30. Just as long as there aren’t so many that I trip over them when I try to leave the house, and they don’t try and kill each other. I’m not sure the neighbors would be as happy with this arrangement, though… I might have to keep the numbers in the single digits :/
What do you have against westerns?
I’m not really sure. They’ve just never sounded all that appealing to me. All the overdramatic plots and super serious heroes and general suspense just seems ridiculous and unappealing to
me.
Have you watched Firefly yet?...And why not???
I love how you just assume that I haven’t :P You are correct, though. I’ve been busy trying to finish my book list. I’d think you’d be ok with my putting the book challenge ahead of a one-season series. Only three more books, by the way!
Do you like or dislike Christmas shopping?
I don’t do all that much Christmas shopping at this point, but that which is necessary is not all that fun. I just want to know what to get and to have it, instead of being forced to trudge through holiday traffic and search for hours on end when I don’t even know what to look for.
Where do you hang your stockings if you don’t have a fireplace?
We just lay ours out under the tree with the presents. I suppose you could tape them to the wall or something, though.

And so ends another exciting edition of Question Tuesday! Special thanks to Anna Beth for not forgetting about it :P Hope everyone else is enjoying their time off, and I’ll see you next week for a special Christmas edition!!!

Love,
Sara

Hello from finals week :/ I’ve actually finished with half of my classes by this point, but the ones that are left are the actual tests that I have to study and prepare for. And write a ten page research paper for… Plus I was sick all weekend, so any productivity that would otherwise have happened went completely down the drain as I chose instead to sit in the living room with a box of Kleenexes and quite a lot of NCIS re-runs. And Disney movies. Can’t forget Disney movies :)
So, anyway, I’m going to try and make this blog pretty fast, because my Art Final is at 6 tonight, so I have stuff that I should be doing. 

Jill:
The Zombie Apocalypse has started? Do you go north, south, inland, or to the
coast?
Umm, to the coast, I guess. Zombies can’t swim, right? So I feel like that would be pretty good defensive strategy. Plus, since I’m already headed to the coast, I can just pick the Florida coast, and visit Disney and Orlando on the way :) (even if it means I may get attacked by zombie hoards while there, if real life is anything like Zombieland).
When’s your last final? You should come hang out with us when you’re done with
stuff.
My last final is Friday at 10:30. I should :)
What’s your favorite cereal?
Cocoa Rice Crispies. They’re chocolatey and delicious!
Who’s your favorite character in Fiddler on the roof?
Umm… I don’t really remember any of the characters from that musical… except for the dad. So… I pick him.
If you could be any character in Fiddler on the roof, who would you be?
One of the daughters?
If you could be the lead actress in any musical, what would you pick?
Either Phantom of the Opera or Beauty and the Beast. Probably Beauty and
the Beast. There’s no way I could hit the range of notes Christine has to sing. Or do opera. Though, now that I’m thinking about it, the two musicals do have several elements in common- one girl being fought over by two guys, the scarier of the two kidnaps her but he ends up being the better guy… possibly because he’s Gerard Butler and you just can’t not love Gerard
Butler…

Anna Beth:
What are some fun things you’re looking forward to doing now that you’ll have free time on Christmas break?
Free time? I still have 4 books to read… But after that, I have quite a lot of Disney VHS’s calling my name. Like, I can watch the first 5 or 6 Land before Time movies!
Have you done any Christmas shopping this year?
…totally… I always get these things done waaay ahead of time… on a completely related note, what do you guys want for Christmas?
What’s your favorite book you’ve read so far on your 30 books list?
The last Artemis Fowl :) I mean, really, there’s no competition- I really love that series, and sad as I was to see that this is the last installment, I still really loved the book.
What’s your favorite children’s book?
By children’s book, I’m going to presume you mean picture book, since my reading choices still include a lot of what may be considered young adult or independent reading (see previous
question).
So anyway- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Is super awesome. I remember absolutely loving that as a kid, and I know we still have a copy lying around the house somewhere. I also really like Dr. Seuss (like any kid born in the last 80 years), but there are too many good ones to choose from.
What realistic way do you think you’ll meet your future husband?
I figure it would probably be in school or something, either while I’m in college or after I start teaching. Or maybe at church? But really, where else do I go that I would meet anybody?
What are some ways you fantasize about meeting your future husband (realistic or not)?
VidCon :P
There’s a poor guy who physically can’t have kids and if you marry him you know you won’t have enough money to adopt. Or there’s a well off guy who really wants kids and can have them just fine. You’re madly in love with the first guy. You’re friends with the second one and you get along well enough. He loves you but you don’t feel the spark, but like I said, you’re close friends. They both want to marry
you. Who do you choose?
As sad as I would be about the no kids thing, I would still have to go with the guy I love. Being friends with someone and wanting to marry them just don’t mix- it would be bad for him because the woman he loves is so… apathetic about him, and it would be bad for me because I’d feel bad about not loving my husband and also not be in love. It’s just not a good situation.
Why are hypothetical questions so much fun?
Because they exercise your brain?
Do you think that God has one guy picked out for you, or do you think there are a number of acceptable guys He distributes through your life and you get to pick?
I don’t know. I think He has one guy in mind for you, but it’s still up to you to make it work or else totally screw it up.
Which is worse: to have high expectations for true love and possible end up alone because you just keep looking for something better, or to possibly settle because you’re in a good relationship and you’re not sure you could find something better? And by “settle,” I don’t mean you’re settling for a mediocre guy, but you’re just not sure he’s the best you can find.
That sounds more like cold feet than settling to me. Settling is when you know someone isn’t right for you and you marry him anyway because you’re afraid the right guy will never come. If he’s a good guy and you have a good relationship, then I don’t see why there’s any reason to look for something “better-” if you love each other, then why wouldn’t you want to be together forever? Sure, you may be scared that you’ll get married and it’ll turn out that you made the wrong decision and he isn’t right for you, but I’m pretty sure that happens to just about everyone on their wedding day. So I’d say it’s worse to get cold feet and let the love of your life go.
Do you want to watch Firefly? Because we’re all addicted to it now, and you should join us!
That’s by Joss Whedon, right? I don’t actually know what it’s about, but sure :)
If you had to choose one, would you rather join the military and have to be in active combat…like legit, dangerous military stuff for lots of years of your life, OR go to the colony on Mars with only 9 other people at first (they’ll add more later) and have to live the rest of your life there?
Ick… I would probably have to choose Mars, because I don’t think I could make it through boot camp, much less years and years of combat.
What’s your favorite play/musical?
Do you really have to ask? Phantom of the Opera! It’s the best!
What’s your favorite play/musical that you’ve been in?
Seussical :) Cause, you know, it’s Seuss. In musical form. You can’t get any better than that.
What are some of your fondest memories from being in musicals in high school?
Backstage antics and fun :)
Do you miss being in musical theater and secretly long to be up on stage every time you go see a show?
I did really like it, but my favorite parts weren’t the being on stage parts. I liked the whole process and getting to know all the details of the play and see everything come together. It was crazy and chaotic, but really worth it to see the end result.
If you could give WKU a different mascot, what would it be and why?
The White Squirrel! It’d be perfect, cause they’re so cute and all over campus! Plus they’re… small and seemingly easy to defeat, but when you back them into a corner they get dangerous? Idk, but I really think that a squirrel mascot would be super awesome.
Do you realize that “and why” is always implied with my questions?
Oh, really? Why would you want to know why? :P



So that’s it for questions. I should get back to
  finals week chaos now. Bye!



Love,


Sara

Hello from the last week of classes! Yay!!!!! Classes are finally winding down for me, which is quite nice :) I actually didn’t have a million things to do this weekend! I also have some good news- I am 25 books into my challenge list! Which means I ONLY HAVE FIVE MORE BOOKS TO READ!!!!! So here's to hoping that happens :) Other than that, though, I don’t really have much to talk about. So have some Questions!

Jill:
What’s your favorite small animal?
Hamster. Specifically, Izzie. (Assuming you weren’t including cats in the “small animal” category?)
If you were a cat, what would you look like? What kind of markings/fur would you have?
I was just going to be obvious and say I’d be brown… but then I thought about it, and you don’t really see that many brown cats. And I don’t really want to be brown. I think I’d rather be light gray on top with white belly fur. And bright green eyes. Kind of like a certain YouTuber whose videos I may or may not have been marathoning recently… And I’d be super fluffy. Like one of these kittens!

Aren’t they sooooo cute?
If the rest of us bloggers were small animals, what would you imagine us as?
Shelby- Chinchilla
Munchkin- Chipmunk
Amy- Red panda (pandas don’t really count as “small”)
Rachael- A cute little lizard (since she doesn’t like rodents)
Anna Beth- kitten (can she really be anything else? :P)
Jill- turtle (a ninja turtle… get it?
:D)
Amber- Squirrel
Sanaa- Garter snake
Would you rather live in a world with no snow or no chocolate?
GASP!!! Such worlds would be so lacking :/ But I guess I’d rather have snow than chocolate. Assuming we could actually get some snow…
Have you heard about NASA’s top secret discovery?- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQyIIBdvfs&feature=channel&list=UL–What do you think it is?
Well now I have. And I have no idea. Water? Civilization? A clown? It could be anything.
What do you think of the apparent prominence of females in your chosen career? (as contrasted with the lack of women in a lot of other careers). And am I even right in saying there is a significant amount more women than men in [elementary] education? (are they hiding somewhere?)
Yeah, for the most part there are mostly females in the elementary education field. It’s probably a result of proliferating stereotypes- a lot of things to do with young children tend to be assumed to be more female jobs, just like engineering and science-y careers tend to be viewed as male jobs. Parents, too, are often less comfortable leaving their child with a man than a woman, though I think that has more relevance to childcare and babysitting than teaching.
Can you have too many random acts of kindness?
Ever heard the phrase “kill ‘em with kindness”?
Really, though, if you’re too trusting and take an act of kindness too far, it can be harmful to you, which would make it too much. (Hey, let me carry your bags to the car for you. *kidnapped*)
What do you want for Christmas?
Peace and goodwill on earth
If Benedict Cumberbatch is an otter and Martin Freeman is made of kittens, what does that make Tennant?
A…. guinea pig…
If you could name a town anything you wanted, what would you name it? If you are feeling particularly uncreative, you may choose from bugtussle, mooslick, monkeyspit, catbutt, or cowtoyota.
I’m gonna have to go with Bugtussle.

“Where you from?”
“Oh, you know, Bugtussle, Connecticut.”
“Really? Nice place.”
“Yup.”

Anna Beth:
Can you love children too much?
… I think you can go to jail for it, actually…

Sanaa:
How did Taco Tuesday first come into being?
Umm. We were in high school. And we were hungry. Hungry for tacos. So we ate tacos. On a Tuesday. Because it was alliterative. And Sanaa and Sam had something to do with it. Or so they say.

The end!

Love,
Sara

Hello from I have to make a blog today! It probably won’t be too long, seeing as I have some work to get done before my art class tonight, but Tuesday is Tuesday, and I’m not about to let a little thing like homework get in the way of my perfect posting record :P No one actually gave me any questions for this blog, but that’s ok! You see, I’ve realized that, despite my diligence in preserving the weekly tradition that has become Question Tuesday, there is another part of this week day that, through no fault but my own, has been largely ignored over the past 11 months. I am speaking, of course, of Taco Tuesday! It’s a good thing I’ve realized this, too. Taco Tuesday is critical to the history of our friendship! So, in honor of this delicious lunchroom alternative to school food…

It’s Taco Tuesday! The day that I answer real questions about real tacos! 

(which basically means I Google searched taco questions- hey, it’s harder than it looks! :P)

Why are tacos so good?
Because they’re fatty and not all that good for you. And why is it that we like foods that we shouldn’t eat a whole lot of? I think Hank Green answers that question best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMsW2oXors8&feature=plcp
Why are tacos healthy?
This sort of goes in direct contrast to the last question, but tacos aren’t completely bad for you. The meat in them has protein, which is healthy, and some people actually put vegetables on their tacos, like lettuce and tomato (crazy, I know). You can also use healthier primary ingredients, like grilled chicken or fish, I suppose. If you want to take the enjoyment out of eating it.
Why are tacos so delicious?
Sort of the same thing as question one. Maybe looking up questions on Google wasn’t the best way to do this…
Why are tacos bad for you?
They aren’t necessarily, but most of the time they have lots of grease and fatty food, like beef and sour cream, which are delicious, but as they come from animals, they tend to have a lot of saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature and are more likely to clog up your arteries and stuff. Or something like that. It’s been awhile since my last biology class.
Are tacos Mexican?
Yup, though I’m pretty sure traditional Mexican tacos are different from the stuff you find at Taco Bell.
Are tacos gluten free?
Not most of the time, though you can make them that way.
Are tacos fattening?
If you put fattening ingredients in them. So, most likely, yes.
Tacos or tacos?
I’m gonna have to go with tacos.
Tacos or pizza?
Hmm. I believe this has deeper implications of Italian versus Mexican cuisine preferences. One should not rush to answer a question that has such profound resonance with one’s psychological… Oh, who am I kidding? Pizza!
Tacos or burritos?
Usually tacos, though both have their merits. 
Tacos or hot dogs?
Definitely tacos. Hot dogs are just… no.
What should I serve with tacos?
Green beans!

So, that’s it for Taco Tuesday! You guys are probably really glad right now that I lose sole ownership of Question Days next year… and I have to say I agree with you… So, if you don’t want to see another Question Tuesday where I fail to find worthwhile questions to answer, maybe you should give me some? Or not. Whichever you find more entertaining, I guess. Have a happy taco day!



Love,


Sara

Hello from Disney Question Tuesday! Munchkin started us off yesterday with top ten Disney kisses, so I was mostly overwhelmed with adorbs and awws :) And today you lovely people (namely Jill  and Anna Beth) have given me Disney-related Questions to answer, so let’s get started!

Jill:
Why is Disney awesome?
It just… it just is! There’s singing, and magic, and happy endings, and general happiness for everyone! I mean, doesn’t everyone want to live in a world where animals talk and people express their feelings through song without getting weird looks? Oh. Just me? Well fine then. I mean, Disney movies to me epitomize the life that we all kind of wish we could live only not really. Characters are pretty easily categorizeable (apparently Microsoft doesn’t recognize this as a word… oh well!) as good or evil. Magical things happen all the time. Sad or scary things may happen in the middle, but we can always rest assured that at the end evil will be vanquished, true love will be found, and everyone will live happily ever. It’s nice to be able to step outside the real world, where things don’t always make sense or turn out the way we want them to, and where the future is anything but certain, and for even just an hour and a half be little kids again, cheering on the hero and knowing that everything is going to be ok in the end.

What do you think of all the critics that say princesses are only sexual objects and nothing more?
I think they have issues. I mean, come on, these are kid’s movies! Just believe in the magic and stop trying to ruin it for everyone!  I guess it’s not that they don’t have a point. Disney characters are often quite stereotypical- the princess sings her happy little song and falls prey to an evil witch or devil or what have you, whereupon she is helpless to save herself and must wait patiently, possibly in a coma, for her handsome prince to come and save her. And all the while, her hair is perfect and her clothes are pretty and even quite revealing (Jasmine and Ariel, for instance, would definitely get dress code). But it’s important to understand that these movies are based on fairy tales that have been passed down for hundreds of years, and they’ve actually been cleaned up quite a bit to be deemed suitable for young audiences. In fact, a lot of these movies came out before modern feminist ideas became so integral to our culture, and it’s only from this modern perspective that anything seems wrong with the characters and storylines. I’m not saying that it should be excusable for all media to portray such stereotypical gender roles, but I don’t think that all movies should have to do the complete opposite, either. It’s important to recognize that trying to defeat stereotypes does not mean that no one can do or feel anything remotely in line with expectations. Just because I’m a girl
doesn’t mean I can’t love kids. It just means that society needs to recognize that whether you love kids and whether you have two X chromosomes have nothing to do with each other.
And Disney is certainly responding to more modern ideas of gender equality. Mulan was the heroine of her story- she saved all of China! Maybe Meg used her feminine charms to seduce Hercules, and maybe Snow White was an airhead who needed rescuing, but more and more Disney women have strong personalities and hold their own in their respective stories. Jasmine has quite the temper on her, Rapunzel threatened Flynn into getting her way, and Merida spoke out against the unfairness of being forced to marry and give up all her freedom.
So, sure, some Disney princesses have fairly stereotypical characteristics. But there is nothing inherently wrong with treating woodland creatures kindly or singing while cleaning. It is ultimately up to the viewer to decide whether they are going to focus on finding everything wrong with the Disney universe, or just sit back and enjoy the movie and its wonderfulness :)
Do you prefer animal, princess, or other Disney movies?
Probably princess movies. I find movies with actual people as the main characters to be more relatable and, therefore, enjoyable. Not that I don’t still love Lady and the Tramp and Lion King. I just find it easier to put myself in the characters’ places and imagine that I’m part of the story if said characters are of the same species as me.
What’s your favorite underrated Disney movie and why?
Umm… I’m not sure I’ve actually seen that many underrated Disney movies… so…
If you could live in any Disney story universe, which would you pick?
The Little Mermaid. Cause it’d be cool to be a mermaid :)

Anna Beth:
What’s your all time favorite Disney movie? Why?
Aladdin. It’s just my go-to Disney movie to watch. I kind of just love everything about it. The songs are the best, Aladdin is adorable, he and Jasmine are adorable (I love it when she figures out that he was the street boy she met, and he’s all flustered, and they’re just adorable!), not to mention that it’s got Robin Williams- Genie is the best!
Who’s your favorite princess? Why?
Hmm. It used to be Belle, because she’s smart and has brown hair and is therefore awesome. Plus that’s probably my second favorite Disney movie. But I think Rapunzel might have beat her out, both for favorite princess and second favorite movie. It’s just so adorable!!!! With the songs, and the chameleon, and the hair, and the AWWWW!!!!!!!!
Who’s your least favorite princess? Why?
Well, this isn’t going to be a completely fair choice. I haven’t seen Pocahontas, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or Snow White in years. But, based on my current memories, my least favorite is probably…Aurora. I just… don’t remember her doing much of anything. She pricks her finger, she falls asleep, she wakes up. That’s about the whole movie. I also remember the fairies fighting over which color to make her dress, but other than that, she didn’t have much personality (that I remember), so she doesn’t really stand out to me.
Who’s your favorite Disney prince? Why?
It’s gotta be Aladdin. He’s just so sweet and adorable! But Flynn and Eric are tied for a close second.
Going along with Jill’s question, do you think Disney Princesses are good role models for little girls?
To an extent. They certainly aren’t bad characters. I don’t think a girl should model her behavior after one specific princess, but taken together, I think they demonstrate some very model-worthy qualities- they do well under adversity, they stand up for what they believe
in, they go after what they want, they are gentle and caring. Of course, they also disobey their parents, run away from their problems, blackmail people, and a few of them can be a bit lacking in personality. But no one, character on person, is perfect. And a lot of the times the bad qualities, like disobedience, come out of extenuating circumstances that I don’t think little kids would think of as something to imitate. Unless they’ve been locked up in a tower all their lives, I don’t think they would consider blackmailing a thief into sneaking them out of the house against their mother’s orders :)
What’s your favorite Disney animal movie?
Lady and the Tramp :) It’s just so cute!
What’s your favorite Disney song?
Oh dear. This is going to take some thinking about…Wait a second, never mind. It’s A Whole New World. Aladdin is really coming up a lot today, but I can’t help it. It’s just good at everything! Although I also really like the Tangled song, See the Light. It’s just so aww :)
Which Disney love story is the most like what you want with your future husband? (it doesn’t have to be from a princess movie or even be between humans, just love)
Ahh, this one’s hard! All the Disney movies have elements that I think are super adorable, but also things that I don’t like so much. It’s so sweet the lengths Aladdin is willing to go to be worthy of Jasmine, but he also lies to her about who he is, which I wouldn’t want. And I love how Belle and the Beast start out almost hating each other, but then they slowly get to know each other and see the good in the other. There’s just the issue of the Beast mistreating Belle’s father and holding Belle against her will. Tangled is sort of a combination of both of those things, they slowly get to know and love each other, but Flynn is a thief and lies and everyone is trying to keep them apart! And Eric is in love with Ariel from the moment he hears her voice, but then he doesn’t think it’s her, so it’s all one big misunderstanding, and he almost gets conned into marrying Ursula. Maybe I’m just overthinking this a little bit? :P
Ooh, what about Howl’s Moving Castle? Howl literally sweeps Sofi off her feet and you know they’re perfect for each other from the beginning. There’s just the small issue of Sofi being cursed into an old woman and Howl almost dying…
Ok, Disney movies are romantic and adorable and all, but upon reflection, I don’t think I’d actually want my love story to be like one. I don’t want my relationship to be based on abuse or deceit, and I don’t want people rooting against us and trying to pull us apart. 
I seriously think too much…
Why do some animals in Disney movies talk and others don’t? Example: In Cinderella, the mice talk but the horse and dog don’t.
It’s a matter of the fantasy genre in general (I should know, I just wrote a whole unit study about it :) It’s up to the creator of the universe to create the specific rules that the story will have to follow, since it doesn’t follow real world norms about animal communication and laws of physics and such. So if the creator decides that dragons can talk but crickets and horses can only communicate in grunts and squeaks, then that’s how it’s going to go. Come to think about it, do horses talk in any Disney movies? People ones, I mean. The horse doesn’t talk in Tangled, or in Cinderella, or in Mulan. I can’t think of any talking horses. Maybe they’re just not very chatty or something. Anyway, the writers decide the rules of the movie’s universe, and as long as they follow those rules and don’t break them and create unexplained inconsistencies in the following of those rules, it’s all hunky-dory. 
Who’s your favorite Disney character?
Umm. There are so many choices :/ It might be Peter Pan. I just love him :) Or Rapunzel, cause she’s the best. Or Aladdin, cause he’s Aladdin.
Should Giselle be a Disney Princess?
Probably not. I love Enchanted, but it strikes me as more of a spoof on the typical fairy tale, drawing from and expanding on other stories, than a fairy tale in its own right. Plus, Giselle spends most of the movie as a real person instead of an animated character, and that’s just not acceptable if she wants to be a Disney Princess :P
Favorite Dwarf?
Well, Dopey, of course! He’s just so clumsy and adorable :)
Though Grumpy is a close second.
Why is there no blood on the knife at the end of Tangled?
For the same reason that you rarely see blood in Doctor Who- it’s gotta be kid friendly, even if that means sacrificing realisticness. I mean, come on. It’s not like Tangled was very realistic to begin with :P
Why does Pocahontas 2 exist?
Because, awesome as Disney is, they never learn to quit while they’re ahead. I think this is a common feature of big companies in general, so we can’t be too hard on them.
What is the animal Gaston killed in Beauty and the Beast? You know, the one Lafou carries around before the Gaston song.
I couldn’t find a picture, but if memory serves, it appeared to be some species of Deercoon.
Who are the best Disney parents, and who are the worst?
First, I would like to ask if anyone else has noticed how rare it is to find a good mom in Disney? It seems like she’s always dead (Tarzan, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast), and sometimes even replaced with an evil stepmother. What kinds of childhoods did these writers have?
As far as the best go, though, I’m thinking Peter Pan. Mrs. Darling is caring and gentle and good at telling stories, and while George Darling loses his temper a little bit in the beginning, it’s mostly because he’s stressed. Once he learns not to care so much what the neighbors think, you see how unconditionally he loves his children.
The worst parent award probably goes to… I don’t know. As far as biological parents go, most of the ones I’m thinking of seem to be great parents. They love their kids and want what’s best for them. Sure, they may lose their tempers or display intolerance, but they generally learn the error of their ways in time for everyone to live happily ever after. 
Step parents on the other hand, mothers in particular, tend to be quite ghastly. Out of these, Snow White’s is probably the worst- not many step-mothers actually try to kill their stepdaughters. They usually settle for holding them captive and/or forcing them into eternal
servitude.
If you could have any Disney character for a grandparent, who would you pick?
Of course you would ask this question, AB :P I’d have to say… Belle’s dad. As a father, he’s already tiny and adorable, and it would be fun to see all his experiments and help him try new
ones.
Should Merida from Brave be an official Disney Princess? Why or why not?
I see no reason why not. She is Disney, and she is a princess. Sure, it’ll wreck the whole even number ten thing, but Puerto Rico would wreck our even number fifty, and I still think they should have the right to statehood.
Does it matter if a Disney Princess doesn’t have a prince counterpart?
No, a princess is not defined by the man in her life. This is the twenty-first century, after all. Sure, love stories where the prince and princess fall in love and get married are adorable, but they’re not the only stories worth being written. Merida’s story is a pretty great one, and one of the main points was that she wasn’t ready to get married to some strange boy she hardly know. Had she been forced to go through with a marriage, it would have been kind of demoralizing and defeating. Though, now that I think about it, it might be kind of adorable to see a sequel where she falls in love with one of the princes…
Were there any Disney movies or characters that scared you when you were little? 
Mulan was probably the one that scared me the most. Especially the part when the Huns started popping up out of the snow. 
If you had to pair up characters from different movies (like a crossover), who do you think would make a good couple? Who would be best friends?
Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to break up any of the existing relationships. But I think Jane and Belle would be best friends. They’re both really smart and like learning and adventure and stuff. And Rapunzel would get along with everyone. I think Disney should just make a movie where they all meet each other and general awesomeness happens. Disney style. Not Once Upon a Time style.
Relationship-wise, I really don’t know. Once you eliminate the main characters, who are already spoken for, there aren’t that many choices left. At least that I can currently think of. Lol. I think it would be funny if Lotty from Princess and the Frog and Yao from Mulan- the short angry one- got together. Wouldn’t it just be adorable to see her running up to him and attacking him with a giant hug?

And that’s all the questions we have for today! I think Anna Beth wins this one- the love story question was fun to think about. I think I said the winner could have Question Tuesday again. So congrats :) I can’t wait for the rest of Disney Week!

Love,

Sara