hello, random, college... stuff

         Hello,

In order for me to update my blog, something amazingly interesting has to have occurred in my life. I have a hard time thinking of things, as I personally see my life as quite dull and boring. that's only one of my problems.

in order for me to update my blog, I must learn how to blog better. because let's be honest here. I suck.

big time.

it's a two-way street here. in order for me to blog I must learn to blog better; in order for me to blog better, I must blog.

pluuusss i'm going to college for a degree in Journalism. it's a bit sad that I can't even figure out how to blog proficiently.

i've always always been interested in writing movie reviews. i've done a few in the past, but they aren't awesome. totally pathetic in my opinion.

I have a direction I want to go in for my blog. I just have to stay on track. haha.

movie reviews. book reviews. book updates. (I fancy myself a pretty decent novelist, so I attempt at writing books. attempt. you'll read about my current novels-in-writing here.)

and randomness. can't forget that one.

yeah. that's what you'll find here at my blog, currently titled "those who wander".

Here's somethings that have been on my mind:

College.
Roommates.
Classes.
South Carolina.
Being on my own for the first time.
College.
Roommates.

on a non-college note:

Work.
and Coffee.
oh... and Root Beer. Sioux City sarsaparilla. even better.

One of my biggest fears of college is... roommates. seems kinda minuscule when you compare it to other things like classes and good grades.

plus, the dresscode.

I'm going to Bob Jones University in South Carolina.

yeah.

it's extremely strict when it comes to modest clothing. as a requirement, I have to wear skirts to class. they must be below the knee. and when it comes to jeans?

that's a big no.

I'm more than a little bummed at that. for some reason, I just don't really feel "myself" in skirts. I'm a country girl at heart. (at least, I like to pretend I am.) I'm into things like horses, hiking, traveling... a lot of outdoors stuff. don't get me wrong, I'm an absolute fan of shopping and heels and scarves and pretty things. buuuuttt... skirts aren't me.

totally not.

especially ones below the knee.

currently, my favorite pair of jeans have three authentic holes in them. I love them dearly. but I'll be unable to wear them to BJU.

*attempts to cry*

however... I chose BJU, and I must deal. so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum. (promise:)


I think I've rattled off enough randomness. you've probably already clicked off of my blog. right? yeah. that's what I thought.

to end my post, here's a picture that totally cracks me up every time I look at it:

Cheers!

Kristin

The Mustache Contest

There's a new contest on Figment. The requirements:

1) Join the site. ;)


2) Write a story 500 words long (can be shorter of you wish)


3) In your story, there has to be a man with a mustache. Don't matter how important this character is; he can be the MC or he can be a Side, or just an onlooker. Doesn't matter as long as he's present.


The winner will have their story made into a movie by the Figment mods. Cool, right? :)


Here's my entry! :) Enjoy:



I met him three months ago at a theme park. I expected to ride the rollercoaster by myself, but at the last second, a boy with bleach blonde hair stepped through the gate and sat down next to me.
   “I’m Jace.” he said.
   Those two words began it all. Simple, could-be unnoticeable words that anyone could have said. Little did I know who, or rather what, actually said them.
   I was about to find out though. I walked down the sidewalk to the alleyway Jace told me to meet him in. I met him three months ago, and I’m meeting him in the darkness of all places? I shook my head instantly. No, Jace isn’t like that. We had clicked the moment he spoke, like it was magic or something.
   I slipped down the alley, eyes pealing around for the boy I might possibly love. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him leaning against the brick wall, looking at me. With a smile on my face, I went up to him. He’d always had a knack at seeming invisible, so I thought nothing of his sudden appearance.
   “Hey.” I said.
   Jace gave me a smile, but it seemed nervous. I watched as he gulped hard. My eyes narrowed at him. “Are you all right, Jace?” I asked.
   He nodded. “Yeah, I’m just…” He took me by the shoulders, surprising me. I jolted slightly, but didn’t pull away. His eyes burned with something I couldn’t place. “Listen carefully, Bekah, alright?”
   I nodded. My heart beat was racing. “What’s going on?”
   “Nothing. Well, not exactly.” His grip on me loosened. “I haven’t been entirely…” He searched for the words. “Truthful. Truthful to you.”
   There was so much I wanted to say, ask, at that moment but I kept my mouth shut. It will all be explained, I thought.
   “I told you I was Jace Hatchet, but…”
   “Who are you then?” My voice was a whisper.
   Jace let go of me and paced a few steps away. He turned back. “Don’t be frightened, Bekah. It’s still me: Jace.”
   Then, right before my eyes, Jace turned into something I had never seen before. The thing in front of me was human, but it wasn’t Jace.
   Standing there where Jace had been was a man with slicked back black hair, a black suit on, and right above his lips was a thin, curved mustache.
   I blinked, but when I opened my eyes, the man was gone and Jace was back.
   “Who are you?” I asked again. I was frightened, enthralled, and confused.
   “I’m a shape-shifter.” he said.
   “How?”
   Jace shook his head. “I wish I knew.”

THANKS FOR READING! :)

Cowboys & Aliens

At 1:40, me, Kate, and my mom went to go see one of the movies I've been waiting for since early this year. Yep, the title gives it away: Cowboys & Aliens. I'm a huge fan of cowboys, like really. I'm going to marry one, preferably with frosty blue eyes like Daniel Craig. So when I first saw the trailer, my mouth was gaped. It looked super awesome, and I couldn't wait to see it. When the title was brought up, I first thought that it was kind of stupid. As a writer myself, I like unique titles. However, the more I read about the movie, and the more trailers I saw, the more the title began to fit.
   One of my questions is this: why on earth hasn't this plot line been thought up of before? Aliens in a western era, with awesome cowboys like Jake Lonergan chasing them down. Genius!
   How I described the plot, which might or might not sound all that good, is: the directors brought in several normally cliche plot lines and twisted them into a very unique story. By "unique" I don't mean, "Ok, that was really interesting." I mean, "Wow, that was original! And awesome!"
   The movie was really well done. The plot, the setting, the characters. Everything. To make it all the more better, the composer of the soundtrack was Harry Gregson-Williams! He's like one of my all-time favorites. He's also composed the soundtrack for the first two Narnia movies. Yeah, I'm a soundtrack geek.
   I had shivers the entire movie. Not only because of the music, but also because of the aliens. They were creepy! Me and Kate were talking about them on our way to the van after the movie. I couldn't think of a way to describe them. Yes, they were creepy, but...
   I quote (from Kate): They weren't a bad creepy, they were a well-done creepy."
   That summarizes them perfectly, in my opinion. I don't want to over exaggerate the aliens, but I also don't want to undermine them either. Super creepy, but not, "Oh my word, these aliens belong in a rated R movie." They were very well-done.
   As for the characters, I think that they were very well-done as well. Their development was great. From Jake to Woodrow to Ella to Nat, ect. When the movie first starts, you don't like Harrison Ford's character (Woodrow) at all. He's a mean old ranch owner that you wish would die. (ok, so maybe not, but he's annoying.) However, at the end of the movie, you really like him. I'm not going to give you anymore detail about the characters, though. Don't want to give it all away. ;)
   Have I mentioned the soundtrack? It's super amazing. *shivers*
   There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie; things that you were definitely not thinking about when you went into the theater. My lips are sealed, though. Sorry.
   My mom thought the movie was so-so, and if you're the type of person that doesn't like pop-scenes, scary aliens, and violence, don't watch this movie. It has quite a bit of all three. Since I'm on this subject, I'll mention the violence. It wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't off-screen either. There were a several shots where the aliens not-so-prettily killed the cowboys and Indians. A couple blood splatters are also seen. While it's not explicit and graphic, it's not down-played either.
   The language: there was a fair amount. Nothing bad, no F's, just your typical western words. I'm not condoning it, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't horrified during the movie either.
   There's one scene where Olivia Wilde's character, Ella, is seen naked in front of a fire. You don't see her, just her bare back, but she is naked all the same.
   Hmmm, what else can I ramble about? The soundtrack maybe? It's due to release on August 9th. Can't wait! :)

Overall, I'd say Cowboys & Aliens was a very, very good movie. Definitely worth the money I paid for it.

STARS: 5 out of 5

Pictures from the movie:

Yeah, it was a comic book first.

Jake wakes up. He can't remember anything.

Jake meets Ella. They're both searching for something, but what?

The first appearance of the aliens.

Jake having an unannounced showdown with the aliens vessel.

It's down.

Woodrow looks at Jake, and the thing on his wrist.

Tracking the escaped alien. They come upon a creepy ship in the middle of the dessert.

Olivia Wilde as Ella.

Jake looking through a hole in a roof.

The charge.

Ella and Jake... and an alien vessel.

Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.

The Hunger Games pics

Here are some Hunger Games pics... :)

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, the bread maker.

Katniss and Gale in the forest.

Gale and Peeta.

Two pieces of fan art. (above and bellow)

Yeah, I'm a serious fan of these books, and the movie. :) And don't worry, it won't be another Twilight. Far from it, actually, and much, much better.

The Cry of David

I was recently a Semi-Finalist in a contest on a writing site called Figment. While I didn't make it to the actual Finalist poll, it was super cool nonetheless. ;)

Here's the story:


The forest was quiet, with only the sounds of nature surrounding her. It was perfect. With a smile on her lips, Lizzy slipped through a tangled bunch of thin, whip-like trees, books in hand. She always found reading high up in a tree to be a pleasant occupation. Now was no exception, especially with all the drama that had recently been occurring in her life.
   As she walked through the forest, her mind went to the boy she thought she once loved. Not now, though. He had become something she couldn’t explain, always running away from invisible enemies and creating excuse that didn’t even make sense.
   Her eyes filled with tears, but before they could fall, Lizzy blinked them away. She wasn’t about to cry for him. He wasn’t part of her anymore.
   Lizzy’s favorite tree came in sight. Another smile formed on her lips instantly.
   Keeping careful hold on her books, Lizzy began to climb into its fortress. Two minutes later, she sat down in her favorite spot and let out a sigh of content. All of her worry, about life and about David, seemed to vanish. She was alone.
   Or so she thought.
   Before Lizzy could open up her first book, a sound parachuted through the forest. It did not belong to nature.
   Her heart beat picked up slightly. There were a lot of weird people out there; she hoped the sound she heard did not belong to one of them.
   Lizzy half expected to let out a terrified and amused laugh as a deer jumped out of the brush. She really wanted that to happen. It didn’t.
   Out of the forest came the shape of a boy.
   It was David.
   What’s he doing here? How did he find me?
   “Lizzy! I know you’re around here!”
   No you don’t. Lizzy shrunk back into the tree, wishing to be invisible. She didn’t want to hear any more of his excuses.
   “Where are you? Come on, Lizzy! I’m sorry! I really am! But you’ve got to listen to me. I’m not making any of this up. I promise!”
   Whatever.
   “What happened back at the restaurant was real. They truly were after me! They wanted to kill me, Lizzy!”
   Lizzy couldn’t help herself. Sitting up straight in the tree, she called out, “I can’t believe you, David! It’s too much.”
   David found Lizzy in the tree. “Lizzy, please…”
   The brown haired boy wasn’t able to finish his sentence. At that particular moment, another sound filled the forest air. It was a terrifying sound, one that made David fall to the ground in instinct.
   Lizzy wasn’t so fortunate. There wasn’t any time for her to act, no time for her to think, to say another word.
   In no time at all, there was a sick thump as she hit the forest floor. Her books had fallen down, too. They laid there. Lifeless. Just like her.
   The only sound to be heard now was the cry of David.
 

THANKS FOR READING!!! :)

4 Months Left

WHO'S excited about National Novel Writing Month?

I am.

The last time I wrote for NaNoWriMo was in 2009 with my novel: Wolf & Lamb. Unfortunately, Wolf & Lamb remains unfinished, with exactly 28,653 words. Despite these numbers I did complete the 50,000 word assignment, but with some other works of mine as well as with Wolf & Lamb.
   This year, though, I plan on sticking with a single work for the literary abandonment month of November. What I'll write, I still don't know. I have a lot of ideas, though. 

Spy, romance, thriller, dystopian, vampire (just kidding), drama, action... Or all seven. It'll be an utter surprise to everyone.


Myself probably included.

My last NaNo was, as stated above, Wolf & Lamb. It's a spy story, written in third person in two people's perspective. One is the Eagle's Wing apprentice Cody Rose. She's funny, outgoing, and easily entertained. But when it comes to her work as a teenage spy, she's all work.
   The other character is a boy named Unwin Keynes. While Cody works for Eagle, Unwin works for an entirely different group, known as Saber. It's one mission is simple: to rid the world of Eagle. Unwin's mission is a little bit more complex, though. As Saber told him when he was little, Eagle was the reason for his parent's death. Unwin wants Eagle to pay. They'll all pay, even Cody, the girl he's having trouble seeing as an enemy. 
   Two apprentices, one mission. Who will prevail?


Read Wolf & Lamb here.


Feel free to comment about your own NaNo statues. :)

STAY TUNED! :)

The Hunger Games

Yeah, I'm a total fan. I check updates on IMDB frequently, and was totally rooting for Josh Hutcherson as Peeta even before I knew he was being considered.
   Needless to say, I can't wait for the movie.
   The reason for this post is because they just released the Hunger Games poster. Bellow. Isn't it awesome? 2012 can't come sooner.

May the odds be ever in your favor.