Where I come from, we call this feeling sawdy.

So... our high school is hosting the effing president of the United States tomorrow, but I don't get to see him. It's just the senior class plus the crazy people who waited three hours in the snow to get tickets. 
Stupid fire safety. They could have crammed the whole school into the auditorium if they really tried. 

*sigh*

Anyways, there are more important things in my life than Obama. Most of these very important things are super-duper complicated and would take of lifetime to explain and involve me trying to figure out who I am etc. etc. very hush hush yet awfully cliche, but some of the things must be put out there, like:

1. Finals are coming up! Ahhhhh!!
2. Science Olympiad competitions are coming up! Ahhhh!!
3. Latin Convention is coming up! Ahhhhh!!
4. Chamber Music Festival is coming up! Ahhhhhh!!
5. The church musical is coming up! Yayyyyyy!! 


SO. In addition to crazy complicated things going on in real life, there are all these fake-life things that I have to deal with and make time for, and it's insane. Now when I say fake-life, I don't mean they're imaginary, I just mean that this stuff seems important right now, and even though it's pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things (unlike the real-life stuff) it seems to be taking up ALL OF MY TIME. Yikes. 


Even though I won't go into detail about the other things, let's just say that my life is laughably cliche and if it were a book, even a really well-written book, everyone would hate it because they've heard it all before. Ick.


Anyways, I've got a lot of things on the agenda for today even though I've technically finished my homework, so I'd better get crackin'.


Love,
Virgil

[Edit: just reread my post and it makes no sense. lol sorry.] 

books are yummy

I've been having the weirdest dreams lately. 

Um, winter break is really stressful, so today I'm going to talk about the things I like most - BOOKS! :) 

Before I start talking about my favorite books, I am going to say a few quick words about a book that I'm a bit sick of at the moment. Uncle Tom's Cabin. It does not please Virgil. It's funny how I haven't even read it.

Out of context I guess that might sound racist, but you have no idea how much I hate Uncle Tom's Cabin at the moment. I can't escape from it. It's taking over my life. Anyway, onto better books... 

Right now I'm reader a book called The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Holy snapples this book is amazing. I am quite picky about historical fiction, mind you, so the fact that I love this book so much is a testament to how brilliantly well-written it is. It helps that it takes place among the clansmen of 18th-century Scotland and the not-so-rising of Bonnie Prince Charlie, because well, I love those guys. And it's cool how there are scenes at places like Fort William where I've actually been (whoa!) and I can picture the landscape. 

Anyway, let's talk about the actual plot. It's really more of a romance between the main character, Claire Randall, and a super-hot ginger (aren't they all?) named Jamie. But she's from the 20th century and he's from the 18th's century, and even though she's in love with him she also has a husband named Frank who hasn't been born yet. It's complicated. There are other problems, like the fact that she's English (a bloody Sassenach!) and he's a Highlander, and the fact that he's an outlaw, and the fact that his enemy is Frank's ancestor who looks just like him which is weird... I won't give too much away, but there are a ton of crazy plot twists one of which involves a witch trial, and it feels like I've read a whole saga even though I'm only about 2/3 through the first book in a series of like six or seven. I'll have to restrain myself from spoiling everything that's happened so far, because you all have to read it for yourselves, especially xiy.

[Ye be warned of extremely graphic violence & sex. Just sayin'.] 

Another book which I'd like to talk about: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS!! So we all know how some of the pre-orders accidentally got leaked by Barnes & Noble - fortunately I wasn't one of the lucky few, because I wouldn't have been able to resist the urge - but excepting the leak, TFIOS COMES OUT IN TWO WEEKS!! I'm more than a little excited. John Green is my most favorite author ever, and The Fault in Our Stars just seems like it's going to be amazing. Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines are definitely both in my top ten or fifteen favorite books of all time, and Looking for Alaska ranks in at number one. Also SINCE I PRE-ORDERED MY COPY IT'LL BE SIGNED BY J-SCRIBBLE HIMSELF!!!! Hooray :) 

There are other book-related things going on in my life... like the fact that in my driver's ed class there's a group of kids from a different high school who all sit together, and they totally correspond to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Seamus (there was another awkward guy who tagged along with them today and we decided that he must be Cedric Diggory. Kill the spare!). Anyways, basically I can't look over at them without laughing and they don't understand why. 


Oh, and I got a book for Christmas from my parents called The Adventure of English and it's pretty awesome. I've started reading it, and it's really cool - obviously it's about the evolution of modern English, which might be a pretty dry topic no matter how interesting, but the author really makes it adventure-y. It's like, battle of the languages in the British Isles. Pretty dramatic stuff.

I was going to talk about The Hunger Games and Caleb's Crossing but I said that I would go work on NHD at 2. See ya'll. 

<3
Virgil 

 

yayyyy

No more school for the rest of the week! 

And I get to eat FOOD!! 

These are the reasons why I love Thanksgiving. 

Um, what's going on in life? I'm really behind on my NaNoWriMo. Gotta get caught up tonight. That's all that's on the agenda. I've already eaten plenty of junk food and I watched two episodes of Glee Season 1. It's all good stuff. 

Um. 

I don't have much to say today. 

I'm pretty confused right now. About like, life and stuff. 

Just so ya'll know, Math Teacher agrees with me that right-handed people are superior and left-handed people are just trying to be different so that they can complain about their awful, hand-smudged lives.

That is all.

Virgil

Oh hey, it's Tuesday!

Today's post will come to you in 2 parts.

Part 1:

OH MY GOODNESS STARKID WAS AMAZING.

The Six Little Curly Fries went on adventure last night, and we saw the Starkid SPACE tour as a sort of really-early-birthday-present-for-Momo-except-that-Lynda's-birthday-is-actually-closer. It was magical. We had VIP tickets (thanks to the fabulous Mrs. Momo's Mom) and we all were given free posters which we got signed by the Starkid gang. We actually got to talk to them! It was so cool. I hugged Joey Richter (!!!! <3 !!!!) and also got to talk to Meredith, Dylan, Joe, Jaime, Brian, and AHHH LAUREN LOPEZ MY HEROO!!! (She told me that I'm awesome. That's like the equivalent of Ellen Degeneres telling you that you're funny or F. Scott Fitzgerald telling you that you're good at writing. Seriously.) We had a ton of fun been those-screaming-girl-screaming-their-heads-of-at-the-front-of-the-stage, and the concert itself was really great and exciting and so full of energy. They sang all of our favorite Starkid songs and we all sang along. Their guitar player was an Awesome Asian names Charlene Kaye who was also their opening act, and she was pretty cool. They also had a ton of other cool people touring with them. There were a lot of people we know who were there, mostly from our school, but I also saw one of my friends from church events which was exciting.

*catches my breath* okay, I'm done.

Part 2: NANOWRIMO AHHHH

Because I was too busy being a concert-going teenager yesterday, I am now behind on my NaNoWriMo wordcount. It's great that we don't have school because it's election day, or else I would be in trouble. I'm still catching up right now, but then I want to get ahead.

I just made a pretentious Moby Dick reference. ftw.

BYEE!

Virgil

I WANT A BOX OF LUCKY CHARMS WITH JUST MARSHMALLOWS

Teehee. 

I love Damian. 

Ummm um umm ummm let's see. What the current word count? 

1,204.

It'll go up before the night is over, though. I'm just on a Glee break. 

Here's an excerpt from what I've written so far today:

Any small motion might trigger a torrential downpour of tears which are precariously balanced at the thresholds of my eyes, held there only by sheer will and surface tension. Thank God for hydrogen bonds. 

Teehee. Science lolz.

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.

I thought I'd begin today's post with an epic Paper Towns quote. 

This post is going well already. 

Okay, what shall I talk about? *listens to The Cell Respiration Song for inspiration* 

Let's talk about song lyrics. This is a good song: 


I found myself standing on a rock
It was pretty big I couldn’t see around it
Just went on and on until it didn’t stop.
It was green and it was brown
It was blue and it was white
And it spun around so fast that the day turned into night.
I tried running forward so I could see over the edge
But soon I found myself sleeping in somebody else’s bed
And they said...




The opening lines of this song are some of my favorite lyrics ever. "I found myself standing on a rock..." it's such an awesome visual, like, standing a rock that's green, brown, blue, and white, and it spins so fast that day turns to night. Like, whoa.
 
Don’t look for light bulbs when you’re standing in the sunshine
And don’t think you’ll get tomorrow in your sights
No matter how many times you run it through your head

Because you’ll never get it right...

Just the words, "Don't look for light bulbs when you're standing in the sunshine." So beautiful. Ohmygosh. 





Umm NaNoWriMo is really soon. Whoa. ohgoshwhatamigoingtodo?!?!?!?





In other news, I found this website and I think I know what's going on my list for Santa this Christmas. 

Look at the icon I made! 

yay!!

 
 That is all. 


Byee!!
Virgil
  

Whoa Blogger, you've gone back to normal.

So today was a Sick Pants day.

It's one of those days when I wake up and say, "I'd like to stay home sick from school today because I feel quite ill, but I cannot miss school because I have to get into college. Oh, the tragedy. So I shall go to school, oh yes, but I will wear the clothes that I would otherwise be wearing if I was staying home."

So yeah, I wore my Sick Pants* today, and I could tell that people were judging me. I'm usually a jeans-wearing person, and these pants are oversized university sweats with extra-fleecy pockets that make my thighs and butt look like they've doubled in size. I have to pull them up past my belly button (typing that word made me smile) just to keep them from dragging under my shoes. But I don't care because it's a Sick Pants day, and they're effing comfy. 

*And I mean "pants" in the American sense, not in the British sense. 

It was actually quite relaxing. It was like taking a sick day, except instead of staying at home, I went to school. Yeah, I did my work, kinda-sorta. I probably failed my APUSH reading quiz, but whatever. 

ADD note: I'm listening to Eddplant's "Picture Unrelated" right now, and even though I've had this album since like the day it was released on iTunes, I still haven't designed my own album artwork for it. I'm such a failure. 

It's one of those days when the majority of my Internal Monologue** is filled with swear words. Usually they don't make it to the External Monologue, but today was a Sick Pants day, and therefore those two things were one in the same. 

**Am I the only one with an ongoing Internal Monologue? Sometimes I wonder. Do you have one? Tell me in the comments! What does yours sound like? Mine is usually in my own voice, but sometimes it sounds like someone else's voice after I've been talking to them for a while, and it goes through phases of sounding like the Green brothers. Most of the time it's in third person, but occasionally second, and very rarely first. The pronoun "I" just sounds weird in my mind. It seems superfluous to waste time in an Internal Monologue when the "I" should be implied. Is it weird that Virgil has her library card number memorized? she asks herself as she glances down at the card lying next to her keyboard. Maybe she spends too much time on the public library's website. See that random switch of topic? There is no need for transition words in the Internal Monologue! Take that, Mrs. Po Po! I bet she feels defeated. (So the "I" slips in occasionally for simple phrases when Virgil's not actually talking in first person. It's a bit weird like that, kind of like the Aorist tense. What is the point of having an Aorist anyways? What does the word "Aorist" even mean? Is there an Aorist in any other language besides Ancient Greek? See my Internal Monologue is full of questions, and OH NO now this parentheses bit is going to go on forever. That would be awful. You probably have an discomfiting sense of lack-of-closure right now, Virgil definitely does. Okay, this is getting weird, she should just end it.) Wow, Internal Monologue would make a good NaNoWriMo novel. Virgil could keep doing this for days, but then she thinks to herself with a sigh, can a collection of random thoughts from throughout the day really be considered a novel? A novel needs a coherent beginning, middle, and an end, and Rule Number One of the Internal Monologue is that there is no coherency. Do you hear that? It's the sound of background music slowly building inside of Virgil's head, leading up to the climatic point of epiphany, but then she realized that there is none and the music slowly decrescendos but does not cease completely, because the music never really stops, not if you keep listening.

That's what my Internal Monologue is like, in case you were wondering, which you probably weren't. In any case, that's what it's like on a NORMAL day, but since today was a Sick Pants day, it was more like:

Virgil is walking slowly through the hallway, one foot in front of the other, going nowhere in particular unless Latin class counts as someplace particular. Particular is a strange word, does it imply particles? People are annoyed at her for walking slow, and it's funny because usually she's the thirsty one getting stuck behind slow people, what a strange role reversal. She likes this side of it a lot better, shufflin' along, not paying those people any heed. She doesn't give a sh!t. No, sir. Who is this "sir" she is talking to? She just ended a question with a preposition, but she doesn't give a sh!t because today it a Sick Pants day. 

I just switched both of the Internal Monologue paragraphs to "small" font, so that they won't seem quite as intimidating, and perhaps to indicate that they're written in a different mood. And I don't mean mood like "I'm feeling blue today," I mean mood like indicative and subjunctive. This is the monologue mood, and the endings are all beginnings and the beginnings are transitions. Did that make sense to you? It wasn't supposed to. The one thing that you should know is that there is NO imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, OR aorist (DEFINITELY NOT AORIST) in the Monologue Mood. There is only present. It's like Christmas. 

What else was I going to talk about in this post? I had a tentative plan to complain about my life and how busy it is, but I feel like I've done enough of that today. So instead of complaining, I'm going to talk about how awesome my friends are, because House and Momo took it upon themselves to make me feel better today, so they left me a note in Latin Class and they decorated my locker with paper chains, which was very kind and thoughtful of them. My friends are so sweet. 

So... this has been a very long and unproductive post by Yours Truly. It's time to go back to my English homework now, which, if I recall correctly, I left off at the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the bloggers, for they shall have curly fries. 

Peace, guys. May your lives be far less complicated than mine. 

DFTBA

Virgil

GLEE! & some Harry Potter geekiness

So Glee starts tonight, hooray!! I want to get some substantial flute-practicing in before 8:00 (it's 7:15 right now) so this is going to be brief. Be grateful that I remembered this time!! 

So earlier I was doing tonight's Bio notes (actually I was doing last night's Bio notes, but I plan to do tonight's notes later!!) and I decided that it would be a brilliant idea to listen to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because it relates to Potions Class which relates to chemistry, which is related to biology. It totally enriched my experience, and I remembered for the billionth time that I keep meaning to Google the lyrics of "In Noctem" (one of the tracks from the album that has indiscernible words). 

OH YES I WAS RIGHT, IT'S LATIN WOOHOO!!! 

Let's have some translating fun (my favorite pastime!) 

In Noctem

Carry my soul into the night

May the stars guide my way

I glory in the sight,

As darkness takes the day. 

Ferte in noctem animam* meam

Illustre stellae viam meam. 

Aspectu illo glorior

Dum capit nox diem. 

Cantate vitae canticum
Sine dolore actae
Dicite eis quos amabam
Me nunquam obliturum

Sing a song, a song of life
Lived without regret
Tell the ones, the ones I loved
I never will forget,

Never will forget.

 Okay, so the English verses and the Latin verses are exactly the same, so no translating for me. Actually the second to last line of English is never given, and I think the last line is supposed to be "Never will forget me" but I guess that didn't fit or whatever. 

 [Danger: here be spoilers!]

I think it's interesting that this song is associated with Dumbledore's death (it's featured shortly before he dies, and maybe also while he's giving a speech at one point. I haven't actually seen the movie in a while) because it doesn't really fit to his character. I wonder why Steve Kloves (yes - Nicholas Hooper did the music, but I just looked it up and Kloves, the screenwriter, did the words) would write lyrics like "sing a song, a song of life, lived without regret." I feel like Dumbledore's life was filled with the most regret out of any character in the series, save for maybe Severus Snape. Is it just because he didn't know that yet? I don't know. Either way, it's beautiful, and the Latin lyrics give it a sort of feel that I associate with traditional church music - it's chilling. It's such a contrast to the freaky digitized voices in the track "The Drink of Despair" (are they supposed to be saying anything?). 

Okay, I'm done being geeky. I hope your mind* was sufficiently entertained by this post.  

Love,

Virgil 

*I always remember the difference between anima, soul, and animus, mind, because I just think of EZ and House: EZ is the masculine word and he's super-smart; House is the feminine word and she doesn't have a soul.  

nitwits, oddments, blubbers, and perhaps a tweak or two

SALVETE OMNES

So today I skipped fencing because I had a ton of work to do, and then when I got home, instead of starting to chip away at the mountain of homework, I: 1) ate too much food and 2) watched almost a whole hour of TV.
I have no self-control whatsoever.  *sigh* I should have gone to fencing. AND I'm supposed to be on a diet, but this stupid online health course has me so paranoid about anorexia that now I'm eating way too much. It's supposed to discourage people from becoming obsessed with their weight, but instead IT'S DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE. How counterproductive. I just had a bowl of Ben & Jerry's, and now I feel guilty. I BLAME BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY.  
So, let's see. Things that are randomly coming to my mind...
1. Bio class today was so much fun. I'm giggling just thinking about it, even though I don't remember a whole lot, because I'm pretty sure Momo and I were both on laughing gas the whole time. 

2. This book that I'm reading, The Forgotten Legion, is really, REALLY good. It's quite a lot like A Game of Thrones - let's do a little comparison game, shall we? The eager English student inside of me is having a party. I really should be working on an English essay about mangoes right now, but whatever, this is more fun. 

Similarities between TFL and GoT: 
1. They both have alternating perspectives between different characters of contrasting status, who may or may not be on opposing sides of the same conflict and/or have stories that somewhere link together or will link together in the future. 
2. They both have a lot of political themes involved. 
3. They are both written by military-tactics-nerds. 
4. They both involved the objection of women in the form of both a) rape and b) prostitution. 
5. They both contain a lot of blood. 
6. They are both really great books. 


Difference between TFL and Got:
1. The Forgotten Legion is historical fiction, wheres A Game of Thrones is (as far as we know) completely fantasy. 
2. A Game of Thrones took me over a month to read, whereas it's only been a couple days with TFL and I'm about halfway done.


It's interesting how these days we are (or, at least, I am) entertained by the violence, sex, and politics (I feel like these three things go together) of civilizations that either never existed or haven't existed in centuries. Is it some sort of fascination with pain? Does it make our own lives seem better in comparison when we're reading about the depressing lives of characters who face terrible situations, half of whom are enslaved? I don't know about you guys, but reading about Daenerys getting raped or Fabiola getting sold to a brothel really puts my own problems into perspective. OH MY GOODNESS I GOT A BAD GRADE ON THE APUSH ESSAY, WHAT ON EARTH AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE? Maybe that's why I love reading Harry Potter so much - his life sucks. 


Don't judge me because I read just to make myself feel better about my own life, because that isn't even true. But I would be lying if I said that it wasn't one of the many reasons. 


*sigh*
I salute you if you actually read my little train-of-consciousness post. It probably makes no sense.


DFTBA, 
Virgil

it's-a-tuesday-and-i-almost-forgot-to-post-again-BUT-I-DIDN'T-FORGET

Hello, folks!

School is going quite swimmingly so far. Hooray! The best parts of my day today were mostly sightings. 

1. The Ms. PoPo sighting, which occurred before lunch. (In her natural habitat - the classroom!)

2. The House/EZ sighting, which occurred before ninth period.  (awwww)

3. I sighted a Carrie after school today!! She was kind of far away and I'm not sure if she sighted me too, but the moment definitely brightened my day. Hooray!! 

Since I have no time, today's entertainment will be a dive into the past. I'm going to go through the oldest documents in my "Virgil" folder and show them to you here. (It's actually titled as my real name, since I've been using it since I was like eight. I wasn't called Virgil back then...)

Okay. Ready? *clicks "sort by date modified," scrolls all the way down*


Oldest Document: Titled "Feelings" - Date last modified: June 8, 2005 (I was eight years old.)
This document is comprised of not words, but pictures, more specifically the crappy shapes which can be found on Word 2003, filled with all those lovely "present fill effects." It's got a heart, two stars, a sun, and a moon. 


Number 2: Titled "Rainbow" - Date last modified: June 9, 2005
This one is similar to "Feelings," above. My feelings are a rainbow. This must mean something. 

Number 3: Titled "Beauty" - Date last modified: August 29, 2005 (I'm nine now!!!)
This one is basically the same as the other two. Again, mostly hearts, stars, and suns, filled with wonderful fill effects.

Number 4: Titled "[Virgil's] Favorites" - Date last modified: January 4, 2006
Quoth:

color-purple

place-Bahamas

food-strawberry

animal-dolphin

movie-Pirates of the Caribbean

holiday-Christmas

Those were the colors and everything. Don't I have such an artistic eye? 

Number 5: Title: "stone soup almost final copy" - Date last modified: February 6, 2006
This is going to be the last one, since it's quite long. IT'S BASICALLY NOVEL LENGTH.
I haven't looked at this in years.... I submitted this to the kids' writing magazine, Stone Soup, and it got rejected because I suck at writing. Hehe.
The actual title is "A Crystal in the Darkness" - I hope you enjoy!! 

Oh god I can't believe I'm putting this on the internet. 

Here it goes....
(Since it's absolutely NOVEL LENGTH, I put in a page break.)
(Just think about this for a moment. You're about to enter the mind of nine-year-old-Virgil. I haven't changed anything in the writing since 2006. O.o ) 
(Consider yourselves lucky)
(This'll be like a collectors' item someday)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Review - Part 3 (& other things)

Okay, so this is Part 3 of my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 review. I started this a month ago... let's see if I can finish it tonight!

I left off at "lightning has struck, I repeat, lightning has struck!" 

Now I shall move on to one of my least favorite moments of the movie, but that's okay because right after that is one of my most favorite moments. The least favorite moment is when Ginny walks in and just kind of gawks at Harry, like, "HUH? WHA?" She should have been ecstatic to see him, the love of her life who's been on-the-run-and-possibly-dead for the last eight months. She should throw her arms around him or something. Ron's comment about how she doesn't even say hello to her brother is funny, and then Seamus saying "she only want Harry" was also funny, I guess... but the whole moment was quite awkward, and I feel like the humor was unnecessary in a time that's obviously a transition into the more dangerous-and-serious part of the movie. 
Also, in this whole scene, there's a random ginger standing next to Cho Chang who looks like she could be like ten years old. What is she doing in Dumbledore's Army?

After that awkward Room of Requirement thing comes one of the best scenes ever, in any movie, EVER - when Snape calls the students together and asks about Harry Potter's whereabouts, and then Harry just pops out from the crowd and is like, "uh, you've got a security problem." AND THEN the Order of the Phoenix shows up and the crowd goes wild! Snape and McGonagall's duel, although short, was nothing less than truly epic. I don't remember if I've said this before, but Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith basically showed up everyone else in terms of acting.   

I was disappointed that all of Slytherin House was escorted to the dungeons, rather than given the choice to fight or go home. I also don't like how they didn't evacuate the underage students - in the book, McGonagall's first priority is to keep the students safe and under control, but in the movie the battle just sort of starts and then everyone in Hogwarts is running every which way with no apparent purpose other than to emphasize the hysteria. 

THEY SKIPPED THE SCENE IN RAVENCLAW TOWER. I understand that it was for time's sake, and that the scene is quite pointless in the book because all Harry does is find out what the diadem looks like, but still. I WANTED TO SEE RAVENCLAW TOWER. Oh, well. Maybe that's a good thing, because now the image of the Tower that I have in my mind can remain untainted by the influence of film. 

Helena Ravenclaw was SO CREEPY. In that one part when she get's all mad, "HE DEFILED IT WITH DARK MAGIC!!" her eyes get all bulgy and weird, and that was probably the scariest part of the film for me, no joke. I was sad that they cut out the random back story about Helena and the Bloody Baron, but I guess it doesn't actually matter to the plot. Going on simultaneously with this scene - the protection of Hogwarts is truly awesome. That magical shield that the Order & teachers built - it was so well-done! (Although, I must say, it looked better in 2D. The 3D made it a bit cheesy.)

[All these comments about the battle might be a bit out-of-order. It all happened so fast!!]

Around this time, there's a shot of Fred and George talking. "You alright, Fred?" 
OH MY GODRIC. This is the part when I started bawling, and I didn't stop until a few days later. 

Also, McGonagall activating the suits of armor was pretty BA. I'm not sure if "I've always wanted to use that spell" was really needed, but I can't help but love anything that comes out of her mouth. Neville on the bridge... ah, I love Neville so much. It was so cool how they were able to blow it up. 

The Room of Hidden Things was well-done. The Fiendfyre looked really cool (again, the 3D did NOT live up to expectations, but I liked it in 2D) although I'm not sure why they felt the need to stab the diadem with the basilisk fang, when the Horcrux got destroyed by the magical fire anyways. Oh wait, THAT REMINDS ME. I skipped a VERY IMPORTANT PART. 

Ron & Hermione 4 evahhhhhh!! ohmygoodness the kiss was perfect. I never ship Ron or Hermione with anyone else because they're both so perfect for each other! (On a side note, I actually did once read a fanfic when Harry and Hermione hooked up, but it was okay because Ron was dead.) I loved it when Ron told Hermione to kill the cup, and she was like I can't do it, and then he just looked her in the eye with such complete trust and told her that she could. Ahhh what a moment. <3 They just make me so happy! There were actually quite a few other R/H moments in this movie that I left out - for example, when they're trying to figure out where Harry went on the Marauder's Map and Ron points out that Hermione once told him that the Room of Requirement doesn't show up on the map, and she was like, "Yeah... I did!" like she was surprised that he remembers what she says. It's because, of course, he savors each word that comes from her lips and stores it up in his heart because he's so in love and OHMYGOSHIHAVETOMOVEON.

Voldemort creeped me out during the final battle. It kept switching back to him, and as the battle progressed, you could sense him getting more and more anxious as well as angry. I love it when he just randomly kills someone. So perfect. This movie really captures his psychotic-ness. 

Another great Voldemort moment was when he's talking to Lucius and he asks, "How do you live with yourself?" and Lucius says, "I don't know." It's a very touching moment between two very evil people. Lucius is so torn between his loyalty to his family and his loyalty to the Dark Lord, and Voldemort knows this, and even HE is disgusted by Lucius's inability to choose a side and stick with it. But then Voldemort tells him to bring Severus, and I start crying so hard that I can't even watch. 

The Trio's journey from the castle to the boathouse is almost surreal. They somehow get past all of these duels going on at once (I feel like in real life it would be likely that at least one of them would get hit with a spell) and they see dead?Lavender about to get eaten by Fenrir Greyback, and Hermione defends her, which I think was very honorable, because of course she despises Lavender. So yeah - there's like five whole minutes of them running through the battle, past spiders and trolls and various people. This bit is a bit fuzzy in my mind because I was so freakin' emotional. NO SNAPE DON'T NOOO!! (A note about the boathouse: I was okay with the change-of-scenery from where it took place in the book. The Shrieking Shack is ugly. Now my favorite character can die in a beautiful place.) 
 
I'm too tired to fully express my feelings about Snape's death scene. I'm afraid it'll have to wait until Part Four of my review, coming next week! I guess I won't be getting through the whole movie tonight... but I'll try to finish it next time! 

--

In other news, marching band has started, and House and I are in the same squad again yayy!! Except this time, I am the squad leader, so I get to boss her around. It's loads of fun. Also, Momo's sister is a field commander, which is quite exciting. 

School starts in less than a week. It's hard to soak in when all that's going through your mind is "SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER" (part of our opener this year). Sigh. I really, really hope that I have classes with the other Curly Fries. If I don't, I will be very sad indeed. 


It's crazy that we're sophomores now. It's even crazier that the sophomores are now juniors, and the juniors are now seniors, and the seniors are going off to college. EVERYONE NEEDS TO STOP GETTING OLDER, I CAN'T HANDLE IT. Like xiy, who just had a birthday. IT'S NOT OKAY. (Just kidding. I love birthdays! Did you see the banner I put up? Major artistic talent right thur.)

That's all, folks.

Love,
Virgil

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Review - Part 2

This post is a continuation of last week's post. If you didn't read it, please go here.

SO. I saw the film for a third time since I wrote Part One (the people running the mission trip decided to give us a break from the boiling hot sun & hard labor & sweat, so they took us to the only movie theater in the county where the water bottles cost like seven dollars) and this time it was in 3D.

Now, I should start off by saying that I don't like 3D movies in general. The 3D-ness always seems to pull me away from the movie itself, because there are certain bits that are more noticeably 3D than others. This was exactly the problem that I had with the 3D version of Harry Potter - it just takes away from the *escaping* aspect of watching the movie. There were also green-screen effect bits that seemed to be much more obvious because of the way the 3D had been shot. Also, those glasses are annoying, especially when you have to put them over actual glasses. 

Overall, the 3D was pretty well-done, but I liked the 2D version better.

Moving on with the actual review.... I left off in Gringotts. The escape scene was cool (great music!) and I loved the shots of the expressions on the goblins' faces as the dragon crashed straight through the lobby. The thing with the chandelier shaking right before all hell breaks loose - what a classic Harry Potter scene! That scene gets an A+ :)


The flash-vision Voldemort/Horcruxes bit while Harry was in the water - that was nice put together. It gave all of the necessary information without over-explaining things. It was weird how after they jumped in the water and swam to shore, they felt the need to walk all the way up the hill before they started changing clothes. That whole scene was so awkward! Shirtless!Rupert was a nice treat, but he and Dan spent ages struggling with those sweaters, and it was awkward how Hermione didn't put on dry clothes. I realize that nudity isn't allowed in PG-13 movies, but she could have at least put on a dry jumper or something. OR they could have just used that Air-dry charm that Dumbledore does to dry off Harry's clothes in the sixth book.  










The Caterwauling Charm when they Apparate into Hogsmeade was well-done. I liked the way Aberforth was first introduced - you could hardly see him there in the doorway - and then you find out who he is, and he goes into his "don't trust Albus" rant. It kind of bothered me how resiliently trustful of Dumbledore Harry seemed throughout both movies. He has serious doubt in the book, but I guess they just didn't have time to insert the entire subplot into the movie. Still, there was a short time on July 21, 2007 when I think every Harry Potter fan doubted his or her own trust in Albus Dumbledore, and that feeling just wasn't replicated on screen.

They didn't go into as much detail with the Dumbledores' story as I would have liked, but Ariana's portrait was nicely done. Then... NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM! This is the part when the movie starts being amazing: the moment Matthew Lewis walks on screen. HE'S MY HERO. I love how he leads them up to the Room of Requirement, says a little something, and then just steps aside with a smug look on his face to reveal Harry Potter. Lightning has struck! I repeat, lightning has struck! That line made me laugh.


I'm SO SORRY I couldn't finish this review in two parts, because I have to hop on a plane soon. This will automatically post tomorrow, and then I'm not sure if I'll be able to write a post next week, but I'll definitely finish my review when I get back. 


Love,
Virgil

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Review - Part 1

I didn't have time to write a full review, so I'm splitting it into parts. 

;) 

I'm going to talk about the soundtrack first, since I listened to it before seeing the film (it was released two days previously).

It was phenomenal. I was a bit worried because Desplat's score for Pt. 1 received merely an Exceeds Expectations from me, but this score was much better. Naturally, it's tough to fill the shoes of great wizards like John Williams, Patrick Doyle, and Nicholas Hooper. There were quite a few parts of the movie that were completely silent, and I think they were well-chosen, although I wish there had been some music during the conversion with Ollivander, because the absence of any music at all made it seem rather dry to those of us who already know the information.

More specifically - I think that Desplat's strong suite is in huge, epic battle-songs rather than the subtle romantic stuff of Hooper fame. Tracks like "Dragon Flight" and "Broomsticks and Fire" and "Showdown" were much more musically impressive than the slow background music during less violent scenes. I didn’t like the over-usage of that female vocalist – the theme with that vocal at the beginning (“Lily’s Theme”) was really good for a start, and I understand that he wanted to re-introduce it when Sev/Lily cropped up, but I just don’t like solo vocals in movie scores.

The music in the Epilogue was its only redeeming factor. I think they took it straight from the John Williams score of the first movie. What a great way to bring the series full circle.

The opening shots were good choices. A quick recap of the last scene from Part 1, but not too long as to seem like a “What you missed in the last episode of Harry Potter!” type feel. Then Snape’s regime at Hogwarts, then Dobby’s grave, and Shell Cottage! Already, the pace is going well. I was disappointed when a couple key scenes from Shell Cottage were left out, most importantly Dobby’s funeral, which was implied to have already happened seeing as the gravestone was already carved. The other scene that I wished were there, even though I understand why they saw fit to cut it, was the announcement of Teddy Lupin’s birth. I just wanted to see the look on Harry’s face when Lupin tells him that he’s the godfather.

Ollivander and Griphook were both good. They changed the things that Ollivander knew (in the book, he doesn’t know what the Deathly Hallows are, only the Elder Wand) but that wasn’t a big deal because the Hallows needed to be re-explained for those annoying people who don’t read the books. Warwick Davis was an excellent Griphook, just like before.

The moment when Hermione holds up Bellatrix’s hair and says “positive” – that really got to me. Remember that shot in Part 1 when the hair fell upon her freshly-carved arm? Then, of course, Helena Bonham Carter did a fantastic job showing Hermione’s mannerisms. The awkward high-heels walk was a nice touch. The dialogue when Travers points out that Bellatrix’s wand was stolen – it isn’t there. I think we’re meant to assume that the whispering goblins also knew this.

The idea of “the wandless” – beggars roaming the streets, no longer accepted in society – was completely glossed over! I think that part was very important in the book, because it showed how terrible Voldemort’s bigotry really was, and it reinforced a belief in why they should be fighting against him. The line that should have been in the film: “How did it offend you?” – spoken by Travers in the chapter “Gringotts” – because he’s referring to an injured beggar as “it.” 

The way they shot the Gringotts lobby at first kind of made me seasick, and the lighting made it all seem a bit surreal. Either I’m going crazy, or it looked different from the Gringotts in the first film. But then the roller-coaster cart ride was epic, epic filming and epic music, and the way they did the Thief’s Downfall was just how I had imagined it in the book! Oh, and that poor, poor dragon. The paleness and the scars and the chains and those wretched clankers! It was all illustrated so tragically.

And then the scene inside the vault – it was all quite good; although I don’t think they portrayed that the multiplying treasure was also scorching hot! Maybe they decided that the Golden Trio wouldn’t look attractive enough for battle when they were all covered in burns. 

Now I'm off to Harlan! I'll set this to post itself on Tuesday. See ya! 

<3

Virgil

It all ends here.

I can't describe this feeling right now.

It's like... this is something that I've been anticipating for ages, but now it's finally here. You know how there are some things that seem so indefinitely far into the future that it's like they're not even real?

"Someday I'll go to college."

"Someday I'll be a published author."

"Someday I'll have children."

It was always that sort of thing for me. "Someday, there will be no more new Harry Potter movies. The last one will come out, and we'll all have to make the decision whether or not we should move on with our lives." I knew this to be a fact, but I never actually accepted that it was true in the real-life sort of sense.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 will be released to the public within a matter of hours. (At the moment, 56 hours.) It's not "someday." It's the day after tomorrow. And... I just don't know what to say. 

One half of me is really excited to see this film. It's going to be an epic movie, and I have confidence that it will do justice to the book, although of course nothing can truly match the book's impact on my imagination and emotions. I look forward to seeing these scenes - scenes that previously existed only on paper and in the minds of millions - come to life on a screen.

But the other half of me wants to curl up in a corner and cry, just refuse to see it altogether, because it's the last one and seeing it would be like an irreversible milestone that I just can't hurdle. Of course, there are rereads and there are re-viewings, but there's nothing like reading a Harry Potter book for the first time or seeing a Harry Potter movie for the first time at a midnight premiere.

I kind of hope that they decide to remake the movies in 50 years with a different set of actors. I wonder what that would be like. 


The soundtrack to Part 2 came out yesterday, and I've already listened to it twice. I'll post a full review of the soundtrack along with my review of the movie (which may or may not appear next Tuesday... I'll be out of town, so it's possible that it'll have to wait another week) but let me just say that I was not disappointed. Nothing beats John Williams, but Desplat did a solid good job, and I think it's a lot better than the score for Part One, which was just okay.



So I suppose I could freak out in all-caps right now, and that would seem appropriate, but I feel like the time for that has passed. This is a solemn ending to the series that changed my life. Although the franchise lives on, this really feels like the end. Four years ago, in July 07, we could at least say "well at least we have the rest of the movies to look forward to." Now what do we have? The promise of Pottermore? Visits to the Wizarding World? More fanfiction? Periodic fan conventions that will continue for decades to come? It's just not the same. 


I must go work on my re-read of Deathly Hallows. I've read it maybe 6 or 7 times, but I want to be able to accurately point out every single difference between the book and the movie. It's my job. 
Ta-ta! 


Mischief managed,
 Virgil

Book Tuesday!!!! (I'm Old Gregg!!!)

<< VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE THAT ALSO INVOLVES BOOKS!!! 
JOHN GREEN HAS ANNOUNCED THE TITLE OF HIS NEW NOVEL, "THE FAULT IN OUR STARS"!!!! 
AND HE'S SIGNING ALL OF THE PREORDER COPIES!!! 
I MADE A COVER AND POSTED IT IN YOUR PANTS, HERE IT IS:

 THAT IS ALL. CONTINUE READING THE POST AS USUAL.

Today, I am going to talk about books. But before I do that, I have to get something off my chest. 

16 DAYS UNTIL HARRY POTTER
**HYPERVENTILATES**
OH MY ROWLING
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
HARRY POTTER SHALL NEVER ENDDD
**dies**

Okay, okay. I'll try to breathe normally. But while I'm on the topic of OMG HARRY POTTER, I'm going to talk about Pottermore. OH WAIT. There isn't anything to talk about because nobody has any idea what Pottermore is!! Grrr >.< That announcement video was so vague. She just went up and was like, "This is going to be a brand-new online experience internet thingy that has something to do with the eBooks and you're all going to love it and OMG LOOK THERE'S AN OWL GO FOLLOW IT!!!" I'm not saying that I'm not excited to find out more, because I'm really pumped for whatever Jo is throwing at us. I'm just annoyed because the way it's presented, it makes it look like the whole thing is explained, when really it just raises more questions about what this thing really is. 
I just hope it doesn't cost money. 

Go watch Alex Day's video "What the f-ck is Pottermore?" on YouTube. He agrees with me. 

Okay, now I'll move onto the actual post. First things first: theme song time!! 
La la la la, la la la la, Virgil's world! La la la la, la la la la, Virgil's world! Virgil loves Reading Camp, and APUSH too! That's Virgil's worrrllddd!!! 


I have a lot to talk about, but all of the various subjects are related because they all involve BOOKS!! 


NUMBER ONE:
I am reading A LOT of books right now. I don't even know how this happened. I'll list them in no particular order:
Shipbreaker Paolo Bacigalupi - okay, I actually just finished this one the other day, so it's not really current. It was recommended by Hank Green in a video a few months ago and I just got around to reading it. A bit more YA-ish than I normally prefer, but it was really good and had some really interesting world-building. 
The Moses Quest by Will Adams - really good so far, but I've just started it, so I haven't formed an opinion yet. 
Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher - The second book in a series called "The Codex Alera." JIMBUTCHERJIMBUTCHERJIMBUTCHER AHHHHHH
Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson - I've never read any of her stuff before, so I found this and started it, but then I kind of put it down and didn't pick it up again. But I'm still technically in the middle of reading it, and I still plan on finishing it. Eventually. 
The Aeneid by Me - just rereading my own work. You know how it is. Always room for improvement!
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose - it's just so totally awesome that she's a writer and her last name is "Prose." That just blows my mind. 
I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert - I love this guy. He's hilarious. And totally not a liberal... ;)
The American Pageant - lol no comment. I finished the first chapter today!! 

NUMBER TWO:
Reading Camp was amazing!!! My kids were great, and they all improved so much! It's awesome to see how much of a difference a little bit of one-on-one attention can do for a kid's reading skills, and also just overall confidence. They all grew so much over the course of one week, and I am so proud. It was really hard work, and I got no sleep at all, and one of my campers wet the bed and I had to do the laundry which was NOT FUN, and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but everything was worth it. I also bonded with the other counselors. We had a blast during our time off (which was like 9:30 pm onwards every night) and we spent the wee hours of the morning watching YouTube videos, eating junk food, giving each other straddle-massages (because any sense of decency disappears when you're at camp), attempting to free-draw maps of Africa, and playing Connect Four.

I love Reading Camp. :)  


Have any of you seen the YouTube video called Old Gregg? Don't look it up. This is a cult that you DON'T want to be in. 
At first I thought it was a sea anemone... the second half of this quote isn't appropriate for the 6LCF blog

NOO DON'T GO LOOK IT UP ON YOUTUBE IT'LL SCAR YOU FOR LIFE I SWEAR!!! 
do it.
NUMBER THREE:
I swear I had a number three, but now I've forgotten what it was.

Okay, that is all. 

Best wishes!
Virgil 

I just got braces for the second time. FML.

My mother, in her apparently neverending quest to make my teeth perfect,decided on the day I was supposed to get my braces off that, oh no wait a minute, how about we get four of your teeth pulled so that those silly top teeth won't be sticking out quite so badly, hm?

DO NOT WANT DO NOT WANT DO NOT WANT DO NOT WANT.  D:

But arguing was useless, and so it was decided (entirely by my mother, I might add) that my teeth were going to be pulled. She went to some dentist she's apparently friends with (I have never seen that dentist previously in my life) and got said dentist to be all, "Honey, your teeth are sticking out so much that you cant close your mouth properly; see, look, your teeth are pushing your lips outward! Let's pull them out so that you won't regret it later~*"

Might I add at this point that at the time of the visit, I had only gotten half my braces off for about a week? Thus, I had a) half a centimeter of metal and wire still cemented to my bottom teeth and b) only had a week to adjust to not having the aforementioned amount of metal and wire cemented in a similar manner to my top teeth? It's having braces that makes my mouth difficult to close, and it's not like I'd had any time to get used to my newly-stripped teeth; my lips hadn't adjusted to the gap yet.

In fact, after I got the braces put back onto my top teeth today (I really am annoyed by my mother sometimes), it's become actually consciously difficult for me to fully close my mouth again. So now I look like an idiot, and I'll continue to look like an idiot through a good portion of stupid high school because of the stupid dentist and my stupid mother** (what's sad is that the orthodontist is the only one at least partly on my side >.<) and their stupid tooth-pulling schemes.

(This place is reserved for capslock expletives that, for the sake of family friendliness, never made it onto the post.)

Anyway. Speaking of putting on the braces again (have I mentioned that I really am annoyed by my mother sometimes?), I had to sit (no, wait, it wasn't sitting, oh no, it was lying down at an uncomfortable angle so that the back of my head was completely numb) with my mouth stretched (uncomfortably!) open while people poked metal things in my mouth and sucked all the moisture out of it at the same time. So by the end of it, my tongue was completely dried out, I had an awful taste in the back of my throat from I-don't-know-what, the back of my head felt really weird, my mouth hurt, I had another pointy half-centimeter of metal and wire stuck once again on my teeth, and my mouth couldn't close properly.

And hey, guess what? NONE OF IT HAS GONE AWAY.

sdl;fkja'jdsdkl;jherjdfjfdf

AWDOUIQAS;DKLW;EIE;'K'E;ROJKERJELKRHEKRJAOWEIJAOPFJK

AWE[AP'E;ORIUA'RLJASDL;KDJFL;AWEAORJ'ODRJFDFNBDFL;SL[DFJD

D|

xiy

*And then, of course, she went on to relate horror stories about people who didn't want to pull teeth when they were teenagers and then had to foot the bill for major oral surgery later; etc, etc.

**Okay, fine, she's not stupid and I really do love her and every decision she makes is for my own good. I know. But sometimes I need to vent, alright?

I went to the dentist today and they put pink stuff on my teeth.

So... it's been summer for a whole week. Yayy. 

I don't have much to talk about. Uh, I've been working out a lot. And walking my neighbors' dog a lot. And I went shopping TWICE! (That's more times than I went shopping this entire school year!) And I bought a journal for the APUSH notes (haven't actually started the notes yet, though. I put my name on the journal - that counts for something!). 

I auditioned for an orchestra, but I haven't found out if I got in yet. 

Ummm.... I don't have much to write about. I miss you guys. We should have a get-together before Momo goes to Germanland. 

<3

Virgil

Oh P.S. I won't be able to post next week because I'll be at Reading Camp. I might remember to pre-write something and set it to post next Tuesday, but it's possible that I'll forget.