Time for a movie review! :)
I watched Wall-E finally last night... and I have to tell you, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had two thumbs up - both people with exquisite movie taste, both told me that I "HAVE TO SEE IT" - and a bunch of thumbs down. Consensus was, the movie was boring, had no story, and was a complete and total tree hugger movie. I respected the opinion of my two friends, but also wondered how a movie with so many negative reviews would be good at all. Either way, I figured it was time to watch it... that way, if I didn't like it, I could at least say I watched it. After watching it, here is my opinion: *clears throat* AHEM...
I LOVED IT. The movie was absolutely fantastic... it was beautiful in every sense of the word, an absolute visual treasure. The colors were sooooo vibrant!!
The movie was very visual, with most scenes sporting little to no speaking... but the dialogue was extremely thick. Wall-E's character was adorable - a robot, by himself, feeling the need to do his job. There was so much to take in with his character alone, much less when he was interacting with the other characters. He seemed so innocent, not understanding why he can't just do what he feels is right. I liked that about him.
I also really liked his love for E.V.E. Yes, he was a robot, but it was a Pixar movie, so there are going to be a few cutesy twists... and for the first time, I think Pixar finally got a love story in one of their movies! It was absolutely adorable, watching everything Wall-E did for E.V.E.! He loved her so unconditionally - no amount of abuse or hardship could be thrown at him that would make him leave her side, and all he wanted in return was to hold her hand, and make her happy.
The comedy was great - I think it was a relief to get a movie that was thick with hilarity, without relying on curse words or sexual innuendos or anything like that. It was all so physical - as a stage actor, I can appreciate that... we're always told to not only act with our personalities, but with our bodies as well. You need to be able to steal a scene without saying a thing - and Wall-E captured that through out the entire movie. Most of what he said was said with his body and actions... I found it very similar to Tom & Jerry. My dad and I always talk about how you can look back on Tom & Jerry and not realize that they never spoke... think about that. That show was on for so long with little dialogue - you just watched it. Wall-E is the same way, and I really like it. Sometimes it's not what you say - after all, don't we always say that actions speak louder than words?
The movie itself was very similar to Idiocracy (without the profanity) - a huge, corporate conglomerate owns the world, and we've become to reliant on technology to notice the world around us, and we've let Earth go. I can see how some would see that as a tree hugger point of view, but I honestly don't see it that way. I've said before that I don't like the fact that advances in technology are allowing us to become more and more lazy - and THAT'S what I think the movie is trying to get across. In one scene, a woman is flying around on her hover chair, and her "cell phone" gets turned off, and she gets to see the world around her for the first time, and I thought it was very well done. Extremely profound. To me, it wasn't saying "we have to prevent global warming and take care of trees and forget people protect nature," it was saying, "turn off the iPods and the cell phones and all of that and just look at what's around you." And it's not just about nature - it also shows how we're neglecting the relationships around us and becoming extremely self absorbed... the only thing important is what the newest thing is.
I really, really, really liked the movie, and I'm so glad I decided to watch it. I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob. I appreciated all the little things, like how E.V.E. said Wall-E's name, and vice versa. I implore all of you that haven't seen it to give it a chance - I'm not saying you'll love it, because clearly, plenty of people didn't, but at least check it out. Give yourself the chance to build your own opinion, instead of going with the crowd. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Oh and, say hi to your mother for me.
~Lauren
Haven't been here in a long time...
Limitless Ramblings presents: CALI - an original short story by Lauren Brent
This is a short story I just wrote, based on a picture I drew a little bit ago... I have a picture of the drawing, but it's not on my computer. I'll put it up here when I get it. BUT - I hope you enjoy the story... Stick with me through the whole thing if you can - it's a bit long, but it's really close to my heart. :) I think the theme of "change" is handled fairly well in this post. :)
Cali wasn’t the best stuffed animal in the world… she wasn’t even the second best. In fact, as far as stuffed animals came, Cali was lacking. She was small – tiny, really – and she had more stuffing in some places than she did in others. Not to mention, her stitching was extremely noticeable, making her less aesthetically pleasing than all the other stuffed animals.
What was worse was, Cali was a panda… she was SUPPOSED to be cute. She did her best to live a happy life, not caring what others thought of her, but it was tough. If she had been a stuffed panda in the old days, things would be easier. Back then, children weren’t so focused on looks… they were just happy to have a toy. But, now a days, parents could buy their kids as many stuffed animals as they wanted, and one was apt to be thrown away if it wasn’t absolutely adorable. Cali thought herself lucky – she had seen some of the less tolerable animals tossed out because of their ugly appearance, but she was small and unnoticeable. No one would throw her away, because no one knew she existed. It hadn’t always been that way. When Cali first came around – when she was a brand new panda – there were only a few other stuffed animals around, and Cali had been loved and payed attention to. But, as more and more stuffed animals came in, Cali was slowly pushed away. The more tattered she became, the more she was ignored.
After a while, Cali began to long for the attention she once had. She wanted to be noticed again; wanted to be held and loved – but every time she thought to speak up or get involved, she was reminded of her appearance, and ended up biting her tongue and fading back into the background. She had made friends with some other stuffed animals, but only talked to the ones who were kind enough to engage her in conversation first, and mostly kept to herself in the toy box. As she got older, she got more depressed. She desperately wanted to express herself, to make friends and actually be someone. As it stood, she felt she was useless and unwanted – pushed away to make room for the better toys. If she ever dared to get close to another stuffed animal, they ended up leaving. It was amazing the amount of trouble a stuffed animal could get into. Cali was sick of getting hurt, too. She was sick of listening to all the other stuffed animals laugh at her less than pleasing appearance… so what if her stuffing was disproportioned? So what if she wasn’t fuzzy and adorable? Where did they get the right to make fun of her? She began to get angry at her predicament and wish that someone would notice her and throw her away. She was rude to the older animals, talking back and yelling and saying mean things, and she’d make a mess wherever she went. She wanted so desperately to be thrown away. She was sick of being angry and sad and lonely and useless… she just wanted to be thrown away.
One day, Cali had been playing with some of the other stuffed animals. They had asked her to come along, and she had agreed because she didn’t want to be lonely, but she kept to herself thinking it was a trap. She had heard stories of “uncool” stuffed animals being befriended, then having pig’s blood dumped on them or being beat up or embarrassed. It wasn’t going to happen to her.
Suddenly, the stuffed animals scattered, leaving Cali in the middle of the floor, confused.
“What are you doing out?” Cali heard someone say, and froze. She had not been made aware that the Master was home, and she suddenly became very angry. This was the trick – they all left her out. The Master would see her, be disgusted by her appearance, and throw her out.
Fine, she thought. I’m useless, anyway. It’ll be better this way. The Master picked her up, dusted her off, and smiled at her.
“You’re perfect,” he said, taking her with him, away from her family and so called “friends.” The Master carried her into the bathroom and she all but gasped.
OH MY GOD! He’s going to flush me down the toilet! Cali felt more shamed than she ever had before. She had heard of a number of ways to be discarded, but being flushed was by far the worst, and most embarrassing. Instead, however, the Master turned the sink on and began to wash her. Cali was confused – why wash her before flushing her? It didn’t make sense.
“There we go,” he said when he was finished. “Much better! What do you think?” Cali stood up and examined herself in the mirror – she had never realized how much dirt and grime had built up on her in the years, and as she looked at herself, she smiled. She wasn’t so ugly after all. She peered up at the Master and smiled.
“I like it… thank you. Are you going to throw me away now?”
“Throw you away?” The Master asked, his laughter booming out of him. “Why would I do that? No – You, my dear, are a very special creature, and I have something equally as special in mind for you.” Cali couldn’t help but smile. No one had ever called her special before! The Master scooped her up again, carrying her into yet another room.
“But what about all the other animals? The ones who were ugly like me… you took them away, and I never saw them again. Some of them were my friends,” she added, and felt sadness tag at her heart again, and she was certain that if she could have cried, she would have. “I miss them…”
“Some of them had already served their purpose, and it was time for them to move on… but others… others are like you. I had something special for them. You never saw them again because they were busy doing what I had in mind for them.” The Master set her down in the room, and she looked around. There were stuffed animals everywhere – big, small, fat, skinny, old, new – and various wooden creations. She looked up at him again.
“Where are we?” She asked, and he smiled.
“My workshop,” the Master said. “Go – get acquainted with some of the other animals… we have a while yet before we need to leave.”
Cali did as she was told, and began to talk to the other stuffed animals. They were very kind, and she had little trouble talking to them and getting to know them. For the first time, she felt like she was actually loved and wanted. Before long, the Master scooped Cali up with a number of other animals and stuck them in a box. They were in the box for a long time, and Cali began to get nervous again.
“It’s okay,” some of the animals said. “We’ve done this before, we’ll help you out.” The Master took the box into another building, and placed it down in a room. Cali could hear voices, and desperately wanted to look around. Soon, she was removed from the box, and placed with a number of the other animals in a window. She looked out and saw a number of children, and as they began to grow quiet, she realized they were watching her.
“What are we doing?” Cali whispered, and one of the other animals smiled at her.
“Puppet show, it makes the children smile.” Just then, the Master picked Cali up, moving her arms and legs, and giving her a voice. The children laughed at what was being said, and Cali felt sad and angry again. She thought that the Master was making her look stupid, making the children laugh at her… but still, she liked being up there, acting out puppet shows.
“This isn’t funny!” She hissed, and one of the other animals shook their head.
“They aren’t laughing at you, they’re laughing because they’re happy!” The Master grabbed another animal, and made Cali and the other stuffed animal engage in dialogue. Cali began to smile – it was pretty funny, and she liked that she was making the children happy.
By the end of the puppet show, Cali felt as if her heart would explode with excitement.
“That was so much fun! Can we do it again? Can we?”
“You see? You’re not so useless after all. You made all these children happy, just by being yourself.” Cali smiled, and her new found friends began to congratulate her on a job well done. As they were packing up, a little girl walked up and looked at Cali, and Cali peered back at her. The little girl crouched down until her face was in line with Cali’s.
“Well hello there. I haven’t seen you around before.”
“She’s new… first day.” The Master smiled at Cali, but Cali didn’t see it. She kept staring at the little girl.
“Well, she’s very talented for a first timer… may I hold her?” The Master nodded, and the little girl picked Cali up and hugged her tight. “She’s so soft!” The little girl put her down after a while and skipped away, and Cali watched her go.
“Cali, do you remember when I told you I had something really special in mind for you?” Cali nodded. “That little girl is named Mercy, and she’s in need of a friend, and I think you’d be perfect for her. She’d take good care of you, and I’m sure you’d make plenty of friends with her.” Cali was uncertain. She was happy where she was, finally. She had lived with the Master for so long and had felt miserable… now that she was finally enjoying where she was, he wanted her to leave? “It won’t be forever… and I’m sure you’ll love it much more than where you are now. I have so much planned for you, but you have to take a step in faith… trust me and go with Mercy. It’ll all work out.” Cali looked up at the Master. His kind eyes told her it would all be okay so, even though she was frightened, she agreed.
Mercy took her home, and held her tight the entire way. When Cali was placed in Mercy’s room and given a chance to talk to the other stuffed animals, she found it very easy to make friends. Everyone was extremely friendly, save for a few stuffed animals with attitudes or tempers that needed a bit of work. Within moments, Cali met Dallas, a small stuffed cat that had lived in the same place as Cali for a number of years. They found out that they had a lot in common, including similar calls from the Master. They quickly became best friends, and began to do everything together. Before too long, Cali and Dallas had put together a group of stuffed animals that was almost inseparable. They got themselves into plenty of trouble, but shared more than enough laughs to last them a life time. Cali began to love living with Mercy. She wasn’t angry anymore, was hardly sad, and wasn’t ever lonely.
Mercy put on a lot of puppet shows… sometimes they were in her room, sometimes in other rooms in the house. Cali wasn’t always used in the puppet shows, but when she was, she loved every second of it. She was so happy that when she looked back on her life, she could hardly believe she had been so anti-social and sad. Her life wasn’t void of sadness and heart break, but she was at a point where she could climb back out, and be okay. She felt herself change. Her sadness was replaced with a witty sense of humor, her loneliness replaced by the warmth and love given to her by her new friends, and her sense of uselessness replaced with an intense sense of adventure.
Cali still lives with Mercy. Dallas and other members of the group were taken to college with Mercy’s older sister, but the group still gets together and starts trouble. As assumed, her life is far from easy – roadblocks and challenges present themselves as often as they can – but Cali herself is different. She’s rarely seen without a smile on her face, and it’s almost impossible to get her to shut up now. She still misses her old home, but is perfectly content where she is, and will always be grateful to the Master for everything he did for her to get her where she is.
If you say, "That's what she said" one more time, I'm going to pop you...
I'm having a problem blogging... this is so much harder than I thought it would be. I have no idea what to blog about...
I wish I had a video camera... I would love to make a bunch of random little videos... lol.
I've been writing a bunch of random story... finished my first really good fanfic. Well, in my opinion it was good... better than a lot of crap I've churned out before.
I've found that I'm fairly fond of Anberlin... and 30 Seconds To Mars.
I'm also extremely.... EXTREMELY.... into How I Met Your Mother. Today's episode was fantastic. It gave me another story idea. :) But I'm fairly certain that Awsful and Awfsome are going to be new words... lol. Neil Patrick Harris was fantastic on SNL, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard...
OOOO I know what I'll do.
I've been wanting to watch Office Space for a long time! That movie is hilarious. A lot of people tell me that I can make them laugh - which makes me happy - but a lot of the type of humor that I have is merely a mutation of me mimicking lines from that movie. And the cast is absolutely hilarious! Ron Livingston does a fantastic job - he's hilarious, and gives Peter Gibbons this absolutely Awfsome character... anyway, I was thinking of what my favorite scene of the movie was, and I figured it out. I don't know if this is my FAVORITE scene, but it's one of them... this is the "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta" scene, when Peter starts to "take care" of all the little problems that have been bothering him... it's amazing, and hilarious... however, the language is a little... oh who am I kidding... EXTREMELY harsh, so don't watch if you're easily offended.
Sorry about the lameness of this post... XD
Some more great scenes. :)
Anyway, I gotta get to bed... work tomorrow! Getting the ball rolling again! :)
LET'S GET THIS!
~Lauren
God's like an infinihedron...
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" John 2:13-16
We went over these versus today in Sunday School, and it kind of got me thinking. I'd heard this verse before, but for the first time, I saw that it said that he MADE the whip... Meredith and I had both thought he had merely found a whip.
John 2:15 is a verse that is abused a lot - so many people turn to it to point out that God could not have been perfect, because he acted on his anger and threw a temper tantrum in the temple. We discussed how Anger itself was not a sin (I honestly think the only emotion that is a sin without action is Lust, but I could be wrong about that), and how Jesus was acting in "righteous anger."
But for whatever reason, neither of us could let go of the fact that Jesus had taken the time to make a whip... and this is why.
I had always seen this verse as kind of like, Jesus got mad and it was okay cuz he was Jesus. I realize how blasphemous that sounds, but I don't mean it that way... I guess what I'm saying is, I never understood why it was okay for Jesus to get angry and act the way he did, I just knew it was okay for him to do it and not for us to do it. Even the whole righteous anger thing didn't make sense to me... but that whip thing did.
The reason it was okay for Jesus to act like that was because his anger didn't drive him. He was "righteously angry," and handled the situation how he saw fit. It was a sin because he wasn't devoured by that anger... know how I know?? Because he made a whip. I mean, think this through with me - have you ever been angry?? I mean, so angry that you would over turn tables, and yell at people, and fight small kittens, just because? So consumed with anger that you just wanted to scream?? That's when anger becomes a sin - when you let it take hold of you and act through your anger... when you start letting your anger drive scenarios instead of your heart.
How many people, when they get to that point, could think ahead, figure out what they needed, collect the necessary supplies, and MAKE that which they felt they needed?? I know I couldn't. I'd only see red, I wouldn't be able to focus on making anything.
Jesus was able to think clearly enough to make what he needed.... *shrugs* This probably doesn't mean a lot to any one else, but it kind of smacked me in the face today, and I know it kind of shocked Mere, too, so... well, if anyone is having problems with that verse, I hope this helps. It helped me... but then again, my brain is weird. :D
Also... blogging is hard! I mean, I suppose I could make it easy and just throw some lame surveys up here, which I've totally done before... but actually blogging - twisting your brain and organizing thoughts into a real, readable post is difficult... I'm kind of thankful for that story that I started, gives me something to put here. :)
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"What do you mean it didn't smile back?" Jordan asked. Cali shook her head.
"Just what I said! It didn't smile back! She smiled, and her reflection didn't smile back!"
"That's so weird," Suzan said.
"We need to do something!" Lewis said, stamping his foot onto the ground. "Could you imagine a world where reflections didn't return smiles?"
"Would you be able to make sense in this world?" Lily asked, rolling her eyes.
"So her reflection didn't smile back," Suzan started. "Big deal!"
"It is a big deal," Jordan said. "She could have a portal to another dimension in that mirror... what if her reflection killed all of our reflections?? I've seen Mirrors, it doesn't end well for us."
"Mirrors... Keifer Sutherland is in that! Yep!" Lily smiled and took a swig from her water bottle.
"Even if it did mean something bad, which it DOESN'T, what are WE going to do about it?" Suzan asked, looking around at everyone. "We don't have powers worth using, remember?"
"Shh, here she comes!" Cali said, and everyone fell silent.
"I'm going for a walk," Taylor said. "Maybe you all can learn to respect me better when I get back."
"Not likely." Lewis smiled at her. Taylor left in a huff, and Jordan punched Lewis in the arm. "OW! What? I'm sposed to make her want to rip her brain out, remember?"
James held onto his journal as tightly as he could, but the thug was bigger and stronger, and he was losing the battle fast.
"Please, I don't want anyone to get hurt!" Taylor stopped as she passed in front of the alley, listening to the commotion.
"Seriously, kid, just give me the stupid journal!" Just then, James lost his grip on the journal and the thug flew back. "HA! Now, let's see what's in here..." He opened the journal, flipping through the pages, and looked at James strangely. "What the heck, dude, it's just some weird words."
"They're sleeping... close it now, while you still can!"
"What?" Just then, the journal started shaking. The thug threw it on the ground, and the words began to climb out and attack everyone, including Taylor and James...
"OMG HELP ME! PLEASE!" Richard ran up to the four friends, tears sticking to his face. He had run all the way from the school, looking for anyone who could help him.
"What seems to be the problem, kid?" Jordan asked as Richard tried to catch his breath.
"A voice... there's" a voice in my head "A voice in my head! It says everything I want to say right before I say it!" Suzan hung her head, and Lewis started laughing.
"Look, kid, what's your name?"
"Richard..."
"Richard... ok Richard, now tell me, what does this voice sound like..."
Me.... it sounds like "Me, it sounds like me!" Richard buried his head in his hands. "It won't leave me alone!"
"Sounds to me like you can read your mind!" Lewis said. "Looks like you've got yourself a super power!"
"That's not a super power, Lewis!"
"A super power?" Richard said, his eyes lighting up. Lewis shot Suzan a dirty look, then smiled at Richard.
"Yeah! You can read your mind... not a lot of people can do that." Jordan laughed and nodded.
"It's true! Few people can read your mind!" Just then, they heard Taylor's screams.
"What was that?" Lily asked.
"Sounded like a scream," Suzan said.
"No kidding," Jordan said, rolling her eyes. "If we ever decide to fight crime, I'm calling you Captain Obvious."
"Let's go see!" Lewis took off out the door.
"LEWIS!" Suzan yelled. They all took off after Lewis, who was heading toward the source of the screams. "WHAT ARE THOSE?"
"Captchas!" James cried as he tried to fend off four of them. "Be careful!" Lewis ran up to James, kicking the vicious captchas away from him and pulling him out of the worst of it. They all took shelter behind a dumpster.
"What... the heck... are CAPTCHAS?" Jordan asked, being sure to keep her voice low.
"They're... they're angry things... you see... I have this ability... every time someone enters a word verification online, I immediately get the word. I then write them down in my journal and keep them locked up. They're angry because they aren't real words... they're just... Captchas."
"How do we stop them?" Jordan asked.
"Paper should work," Lily said.
"And how do you know that?" Lewis asked her.
"Dunno... isn't it my ability?? If we can get them onto paper and back into James' journal, we should be okay."
"Alright, then!" Lewis said, standing up. "Let's go CAPTCHA them!"
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Lauren threw down the script in disgust and looked at Kitty.
"That isn't real... that wasn't a real pilot." Kitty laughed.
"Yes it was."
"Unbelievable!" Lauren said, shuddering. "That's the worst thing I've ever read... what... what was Taylor's power?"
"You find out later that Taylor's special ability... is having a reflection that can't smile."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"And... it was either this... or Lost?" Kitty nodded. "I take it back, then... Lost is NOT the worst show ever written... THIS is."
"Told you," Kitty said, laughing. "Told you."
Let's get this!
~Lauren
I hope I get it, I hope I get it....!
I hope I get this post in in time!
I finally watched it! I finally watched it! Music Within is the most AWESOME movie!!! Ron Livingston did a fantastic job... it was a touching movie, and was very well done! I encourage everyone to watch it!
I'm currently watching Saturday Night Live - Neil Patrick Harris is hosting, with Taylor Swift musical guest! Watching it makes me REALLY wish my dream about hosting SNL wasn't a dream... XD
Okay, so, I don't have a lot to blog about, because I have EVERYTHING to blog about.
((Wow, NPH is hilarious. :D))
OMG... I can't stop laughing... they brought back the Samberg as Wahlberg character tonight!!! :D "Say hello to the cast of How I Met Your Mother for me."
I do need to apologize for my depressing story in yesterday's post, so I decided I would try to write a more, undepressing short story. I can't promise it won't suck. XD
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"Okay, so, raise your hand if you've ever met someone that makes you want to rip your brain out." Taylor's friends stared at her outstretched hand as she sat in the booth. "Come on, get em up there... I know you've all met somebody like that, come on, come on." Slowly, her friends raised their hands. "Why are you raising your hand, Suzan?"
"Be... because, I've met someone that made me want to rip my brain out," Suzan said.
"Oh? Get outta town! Me too!!" Everyone exchanged quizzical glances. "Who does it to you?"
"Well it--"
"Awesome... sucks when that happens, huh? See, for me, it's that jerk from last week." Taylor flagged down a waitress and smiled at her as she ordered a cherry coke.
"Wait," her friend Lily said. "The one you thought was cute? What was his name? Um... Larry... Laurence..."
"Lewis," Taylor said. "And he's a jerk... I've seriously never cursed somebody's name so much."
"Are you serious?" Jordan asked. "The other day you were saying how awesome he was, and now... you hate him?"
"Yep, he's a... you know what?? Can we cut?" Everyone on set sighed, and Taylor stood up. "This is horrible. I hate this writing! What, did you guys just decide to give your jobs to children? SHEESH."
"Raise your hands if you've ever met anyone who made you want to rip your brain out!" Jordan muttered, and everyone's hands went up. Taylor looked around, crossed her arms, and let out a "hmph!"
"You know, I don't need this job! I don't need ANY OF YOU!" She stormed off the set and to her dressing room, slamming the door and staring at her reflection in the mirror. "I don't need them! I'm special! I'm VERY special!" Taylor smiled at her reflection... but her reflection didn't smile back...
"OOOO SINGSTR!" James exclaimed, scribbling the name down in his journal and closing the book tightly. "Don't stare at me!" He yelled at the other riders on the subway. He held his journal tightly, keeping it closed. As the subway stopped, he stood up and got off, heading toward the stairs that led to the surface.
"Hey!" Someone said behind him. He clutched his journal closer and picked up the pace. "HEY!" They said again. James didn't want a confrontation, so he started to jog. He could hear the people behind him start jogging as well. As he got to the top of the stairs, he felt someone grab him and push him into an alley. "I was talking to you! What was that thing you said on the bus?"
"Just a word," he said. "I think of them, and write them down." Someone else shoved him back, and he almost dropped his journal. "HEY! Be careful!"
"Why?? Afraid that if your journal gets dirty, you'll have to clean it?" Everyone laughed at the weird joke - everyone but James.
"You don't want my journal to open... you don't know who you're dealing with." The thugs echanged glances and laughed again, before the leader grabbed part of the journal. James and him were thrust into a vicious battle of tug-o-war. James clung to the journal, terrified of what would happen if what was inside was ever released...
Richard ran through the halls as quickly as he could, the footsteps of the bullies getting closer. He threw his body against a door and pushed it open, diving into the room and freezing. There was no way out. He dove underneath a table and pulled the chairs in front of him, hoping that the bullies wouldn't see him. They burst into the room shortly after him, and he held his breath, hoping they would just move on. The bullies approached the table he hid under and looked around. He felt like he was going to pop, his lungs crying out for air. After a while, the bullies left the room, and he crawled out from under the table and peered into the empty room.
Phew I think it's safe...
"Phew, I think it's safe," He said, then froze.
What was that?
"What was that?" He aksed, and clamped a hand over his mouth. Oh no, something's wrong with me "Oh no, something's wrong with me!" Richard looked around the room, terrified, and wondered if he was really alone...
"Who does she think she is??" Jordan asked, crossing her arms. Lewis, Lily, and Suzan all sighed.
"It's not worth getting worked up over," Lewis said. "She thinks she's the best thing this side of the... hey what's the nearest body of water?"
"Tachapee Lake," Lily said, smiling. "Yep, Tachapee Lake."
"She thinks she's the best thing this side of Tachapee Lake," Lewis said. "She's not going to change."
"Well, that doesn't mean I need to take her crap! You, know, I could teach her a lesson! If I really wanted to, I could---"
"You could WHAT?" Suzan said, cutting her off. "Turn her purple? Red? Make her clash with her shoes? Face it, Jordan... we can all act tought because we're "special," but to be honest, we're just losers."
"Hey," Lily said, sticking her lower lip out. "That's not nice."
"I'm not a loser," Lewis said. "I'm so cool, I'm measured in Kelvin."
"Thank you for proving how much of a loser you are, Lewis." Suzan said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm not a loser... and you know she'd go balistic if I turned her... like... green."
"Jordan, you can change the color of anything you touch. Lily, you know useless facts - which would be cool if we lived in a game show. And Lewis... Lewis I don't even think you have a power, you just don't make sense." Suzan shook her head. "And I... I state the obvious. These aren't powers, you guys... we're lame."
"I could turn her grey. Who wants to be grey? Not me..."
"I give up," Suzan said, turning to leave.
"WAIT!" Cali ran up to the four and waved her hands wildly. "I... I was just... trying to talk to Ms. Taylor... and... and she was talking to the mirror and... and... you'll never guess what I saw!"
To Be Continued!!!!
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Sorry, I had a lot of fun with that story idea... looks like it's going to become a longer thing... but it's gonna be fun, I promise! I hope you enjoyed that one... I may make it one of my interactive fics, and put people I know in them... Jordan's already a character... well, I took her name. I'm starting to have fun with this short story thing... haha... but I'm thinking this one won't be as short as the others. :)
Again, check out Music Within... it's a GREAT movie! :)
Let's Get This!
~Lauren
Of Captchas and Centurions...
I was thinking the other day that it's been a while since you guys got a good rant from me! Now, don't worry, this one won't be too long, I just wanted to point something out that's been bothering me.
If you're a blogger, chances are you know what a Captcha is... if you don't know what a Captcha is, don't worry about it, it's not going to be on the SATs or anything. Captcha is simply something that's used to make sure you're actually a person, and not a spam bot. It requires something called a "word verification."
Here's where the rant starts.
If something is called a "word verification," you'd think that a word would be required in order to verify you. Here is an example of some Captcha Word Verifications:
- Deafedly
- Disse
- Nulasace
- Reari
- Scoup
- Shvfenio
- Singes
*shakes head* It just seems so pointles... don't call it word verification if it's not a WORD.
/rant
Now that I look at it... all those "words" sound like they'd make GREAT pokemon names... hey, Jordan, wanna draw some new Pokemanz? :P
To put this note on a more happy note, I've decided to throw in a quick short story. I've had a lot of creativity bouncing around in the ole noggin lately, mostly because my novel project hit a stand still. I've been churning out story idea after story idea, one shots and what not... and I've still got a fair amount of crazy ideas jingling around in the old noggin... a lot of times I'll just say something random, and this whole crazy story will form in my head. This is one I've had since I wrote THIS post, and I've finally got the energy and creativity to form it into a story... plus, Jordan mentioned her friend had posted a short story, and she inturn posted one herself, so I figured I'd follow suit. Who knows? Maybe I'll do this more often, and a bunch of us bloggers can get together and publish a book! haha!
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Pain... I didn't know much outside of the excruciating pain tearing through my entire body. My eyes darted around the room, trying to comprehend what had happened... where I was... how I had gotten here. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the pain and remember where I was...
"Oh no!" I heard a female voice cry. I didn't open my eyes - I knew her exclamation was in reaction to the site of my crumpled, broken body, lying on the floor. Her worried remarks only drove home the fact that I was dying, and as that realization hit me, my life flashed before my eyes...
For as long as I can remember I was alone. I lived on the streets, getting food and shelter where I could. I had found a few nice homes but was never able to stay very long. Anyone who saw me was absolutely disgusted by my appearance, and chased me away before they even got to know me. Still, I remained optimistic. As the rainy seasons drew closer, I began to look for a shelter, some place to stay to get out of the rain. It wasn't hard to find a place - by the rainy seasons, most places had become abandoned, but I was growing older. The older I got, the colder it got, and I decided that this time, I wanted a place with heat. I had been searching for a while, on the verge of giving up, when I heard voices.
"We can get in through here... she'll never suspect a thing!"
"Are you sure? She won't see us coming?"
I snuck up slowly, hiding behind a bush and listening closer.
"Not at all... and we can get in while she's sleeping. Once we find what we're looking for, there's nothing she can do!"
Thieves! I thought. I peered cautiously out from behind my hiding spot and saw them... there were three of them, crouched beneath a window. I assumed that they were planning on crawling in through the window and taking what they wanted. I had never liked thieves, especially ones that came in the cover of night.
"We need to sneak in before hand, case the place." I watched as they all agreed, and started for the window. My eyes darted around... surely there had to be someone that could stop them! But alas, no one. I took a deep breath - it was going to have to be me. I didn't want to; I still needed to find a place to stay, but I couldn't just turn my back on this situation. I took off as fast as I could, scurrying silently across the ground and after the intruders. I ran pass the back two and went straight for the leader, leaping onto his back and biting into his neck. I dug in, grabbing on deep and keeping his body pinned to the ground until he stopped moving.
"We've been compromised!" I heard one of the remaining two say, and they both left, abandoning their leader. It didn't matter, he was dead. I wiped my mouth with the back of my arm and peered into the window.
The room looked welcoming - dimly lit, well furnished, and warm. I decided I deserved a warm place to stay for the night, since I had just foiled the theives plans, and crawled in through the window. I heard distant voices, and decided to take a look around. Lots of posters covered the walls, stuffed animals overran one corner, and books were everywhere. I spotted a comfortable looking corner and crawled up the wall and across the ceiling to inspect it.
"I don't know why they haven't come into my room yet," I heard a female voice say, and I froze. I watched as a young woman walked into the room, and I fastened a piece of silk to the ceiling and dropped down to get a better view. She spotted me almost instantly, and I grip the string with my back two legs and hoist my body up in a defensive gesture, outstretching my remaining six limbs in what I can only hope is a scary pose.
"Cool," she mutters in a low voice, leaning a little closer. My initial reaction was to jump on her face and bite her so I could get away, but I had this strange feeling that she wasn't going to hurt me. "What are you doing here?" I shrug, not having an answer, and scurry back up the silk to the ceiling, and continue to my corner. She watches me, smiling, and then leaves.
How strange, I think to myself as I settle down in my corner. But, at least I have someplace warm and dry to stay.
Days went by, and I got along well with the young woman. She let me stay in her room, undisturbed, and I killed any creatures that tried to come into her room. She began to call me her little centurion. I liked the nick name... and the fact that for once, someone wasn't disgusted by me.
As we ventured deeper into the rainy seasons, I decided to venture deeper into the room. I crawled down the wall and scurried across the wide floor, taking in everything, and heading for the stuffed animal collection in the opposite corner. However, before long I grew tired, and went to turn back... that was when I found out how lost I was. I had no idea where I was. I crawled toward a shirt on the ground and tried to find my way top side, to get a better view of where I was. Before I knew it, a great earthquake moved the shirt, and I felt myself lifted into the air with the article of clothing. I saw light and hurried to it, poking my head out and realizing I was in the arms of the young woman. I ran out from under the shirt and onto her arm, waving my arms at her, overjoyed that someone found me.
"EW!" She screamed, and I realized in horror that she didn't recognize me. I tried to get away, but she flicked me off of her arm, driving me into the floor hard. I got to my feet, dazed, right before a crushing wait came down on me once... twice... three times... "What was THAT?" I heard her say, and then the pain set in. I knew something was wrong.
Pain... My eyes darted around the room, trying to comprehend what had happened... where I was... how I had gotten here. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the pain and remember where I was...
"Oh no!" I heard a female voice cry. I didn't open my eyes - I knew her exclamation was in reaction to the site of my crumpled, broken body, lying on the floor. Her worried remarks only drove home the fact that I was dying... my fault, I suppose. As the pain began to receed, so did my consciousness... but I smiled. At least I got to die in a warm place... with a smile on my face.
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Yay for short stories!!!
Let's get this!
~Lauren
It means that his brain is perfectly functioning, while his body is more or less useless... just think of it as the opposite of you.
Anyone ever been to photofunia.com? It's a blast! It's mildly addicting, but so much fun, and the results are actually pretty cool! :D
BUT - that's not why we're here today. I've been looking for a new movie to watch... I kind of wanted Ron Livingston to be in it, because I'm kind of on a Ron Livingston kick, but I also wanted to watch a movie that I didn't think anyone had seen, or even heard of, before.
I found it. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm working on getting a hold of it and watching it... basically, I was reading an article/interview about Mr. Livingston in his roles in Office Space and Band of Brothers, and they talked about him in another war role, as Richard Pimental in "Music Within." (Came out in 2007) I decided to check it out - it looks like it went straight to DVD but I could be wrong about that. 00:32 seconds into the trailer, I was hooked, and as the trailer progressed, I was pulled more into the movie. I really wanna see it now.
Here's a quick synopsis of the movie:
Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) begins his life as a fighter, and his life's work becomes a process of fighting for the rights of others.
Rising up from a childhood in a dysfunctional family, armed with a talent for public speaking and a winning personality, the young man makes his way to a Northwestern college, confident that he will ace his try-out for his idol Dr. Ben Padrow (Hector Elizondo), the coach of the winningest team in the history of the College Bowl.
But Dr. Padrow shatters his dream when he rejects him. Richard's immediate reaction is to enlist in the army for a tour of duty in Vietnam. During combat, the young recruit loses his hearing to a bomb blast, and has to deal with this newfound disability on his return to civilian life in Oregon.
Richard discovers that his disability and the struggle to transcend it is a defining moment in his fight for what he believes in. When he tries to help his friends, vets like himself and others with disabilities, to get work in an environment that treats them with pity at best and disdain as a matter of course, he realizes that he can make a difference. The friends who make up his close-knit clique are: Art Honneyman (Michael Sheen), a student wheel chair user with cerebral palsy who uses his rapier wit to deflect the prejudice that greets his disturbing appearance; Mike Stoltz (Yul Vázquez), a fellow veteran with a lot of rage and nowhere to put it; and then there is Christine (Melissa George), the passionate libertine who strokes Richard's ego and initiates him into the world of free love.
Together, the friends experience the currents of those turbulent times, and the wild, joyful energy of winning through confrontation and humor. Without his hearing Richard is all the more prepared to listen to the message deep within himself, and to carry that message to the thousands of people whose lives are improved by the movement he helps to organize.
YAY! I think it'll be one of those movies that speaks to you, like Seven Pounds, or Pay It Forward, and I'm totally into it because it's Historical Non-Fiction. I'm really looking forward to seeing it! :)
Here's a snippet of the interview with Ron Livingston that I mentioned earlier, talking about the movie and what not.
In "Music Within," you play Richard Pimentel, who was instrumental in getting the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990. What specifically drew you to this story?For me, it was a story about a guy with a crazy life. Kind of like the one you saw in "Forrest Gump," except that this one really happened.[In] the very first opening moments of the script, he's sort of abandoned, left in an orphanage by his mentally ill mother who can't remember where he is to tell the rest of the family. They want to know where he is and she doesn't know. She says, "What kid?" [It] just seemed too perfect to be true.And Richard's got a particularly wicked sense of humor that, to me, opened up just a whole new ground in how you can talk about people with disabilities. We're sort of used to the politically correct—you have to be very solemn, or it gets preachy or it gets very passionately felt. I think Richard feels passionately about it, but his primary medium is he starts with humor.And he starts by challenging what you think you know and he goes from there.The banter between your character and the Art Honeyman character was some of the liveliest.
Yeah, it's funny to think of it as being lively banter when you consider that one guy's deaf and the other guy has cerebral palsy and it takes him ten minutes to say anything.But I felt that they did a great job with both the script and the shooting of the movie, that what seems like it might be painful in the beginning, by the end of it, the audience is used to it. You really feel you go along with it and it does feel like banter.You met with Richard Pimentel for a few days before filming. What were your preconceptions and misconceptions about portraying him and bringing his story to light?I just wanted to get a good feel for him. Any time you play a real person it feels, to me anyway, that there's an additional responsibility to represent them honestly. You don't always have to represent them the way they want to be represented (laughs), but you don't want to be making up stuff about them. You want to try and get them on the nose.Richard was very helpful as far as being very open talking about what made him tick, what his particular kind of issues were, and how he felt about certain moments in his life. It really helped me right away with a little bit of a framework.And then there's ultimately a lot of parts to the character that you just have to bring from stuff in your life, or you just make it up and hope that the guy won't mind too much or that it won't be too far off.His character does show his flaws in the movie...Yeah, who doesn't have flaws? And I think your flaws and your strengths always kind of go hand in hand. They tend to be one and the same
Everyone is asked that question - if you could choose to be struck blind, or struck deaf, which would you choose? And I've always said I'd rather be struck deaf, partly because I'm clumsy as all get out and would fall all over the place if I couldn't see, and partly because I know sign language and have been educated on how deaf people hear differently than us, and how they see the world in a different way, and part of me wants to experience that. I think it'll be fascinating to see how Mr. Pimental's life was changed after he was struck deaf by the bomb blast.
I'm really looking forward to it, and if you get the chance, you should check it out, too. Ron Livingston is a great actor, and I have no doubt he'll do a great job. :)
Let's get this!
~Lauren