Jane Eyre

I ever mention that I saw Jane Eyre? 'Cause I did. And while I love the actors/actresses more than any other version I have half-heartedly thought about watching (and then subsequently did not, because I didn't like the look of the actors/actresses), I don't think it managed to convey the story of Jane Eyre as effectively as some of the others probably did. At times it seemed to skip time and go too quickly, while other times (the romaaaaaaantic scenes especially) it went too slowly. I vaguely remember that when I was reading the book, the bits where she wasn't with the Mr. Rochester seemed to far outnumber the times when she was. I think in general the main issue was that the movie just seemed too short, even if it was two hours.
All in all: I liked it. I think I'd watch it again. Mia Wasikowski (eh, it's something like that. I could look it up, but that would take effort.) played it well, and the girl who played the young Jane Eyre was (according to my mother) a much better actress than some of the others who have come before her. And Judi Dench was in it, which automatically earns it twenty awesome points (God I love Cranford). Also, Michael Fassbender, while possessing a mildy unfortunate name as well as a horrible mutton chop-esque beard thing for most of the film (it turns into an even more horrible full-grown beard at the end¹), was still a) far more attractive than any other Mr. Rochester I've seen and b) maybe one of my favorite parts of the movie. Yes, I know. I'm shallow.

¹In general, hair in this movie was horrible. At first I thought maybe it was just Jane's, done to make her seem uglier. Nope. Not true. Everyone's was horrifying. Yes, I know: historical accuracy. Whatever. People had horrible hair back then, obviously.

Hi.

I'm still here, i.e., not dead.
I hate physics.
I love calculus.
It snowed here yesterday.
I can't find the book I was reading. I might have lost it.
I spent Thursday rewriting all my sheet music for the William Tell Overture down an octave because I have trombone music instead of tuba music.
I made a treasure hunt yesterday with some friends.
I want to see Jane Eyre tomorrow with my mom.
Lifeguarding class still sucks.
I miss France still.
I want summer.
Prom is coming up and there are no interesting couples going and I am disappointed.
I saw some friends play a show-thing the other day, and they are desperately in need of some good critical feedback. But I'm not that good friends with them so what's a girl to do?
I want to watch a romantic comedy.
I want my life to be a romantic comedy.
That is all. For now.

Hunger Games Debrief

So I know I haven't posted about France yet, but that'll be a longer post anyway - I figured I'd have time enough for a short debrief on casting decisions for The Hunger Games.

I would like to note that I'm not going to talk too much about race/hair color in this post. Hair color can easily be changed, so obbviously any complaints on that front are stupid. In terms of the whole race debate, well, first let's agree not to get offended. Second, let's agree that we are not going to come up with complex theories, but instead assume that the less complicated the answer, the better.
So: Katniss is described as having "olive" skin, black hair, and grey eyes.
Her mother has blond hair and blue eyes. We can assume this means Caucasian.
We don't know what race her father is.

Many people in the Seam (located in Appalachia) have the same looks as Katniss. Appalachia has many people who are generally (ethnically) lots of different types of European with Native American thrown in sometimes.

So: Katniss is maybe a "person of color". More likely, in my opinion, she is mixed Caucasian with slightly darker skin. (Remember, olive skin does not equal person of color, it equals olive skin. Not all Caucasians are pasty-faced and stark white.)

All of the above reasoning applies to Gale too, since he looks like Katniss.

In short, it's possible that even a "white" actress like Jennifer Lawrence could look like Katniss - her hair will (hopefully) be dyed, and Katniss is usually pretty dirty, making skin color hard to get extremely specific about in the first place.

1. Katniss Everdeen - Jennifer Lawrence

  Honestly: I can picture this one working. It'll depend on her acting, but I can maybe see her pulling it off. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in anything so no judgement there.

2. Peeta Mellark - Josh Hutcherson

This one I'm almost completely okay with. I like Josh Hutcherson; I haven't seen The Kids Are All Right, but I've heard good things, and I liked him fine in Bridge to Terabithia.
He definitely has the solid, steady look that I envisioned for Peeta.

3. Gale [...something...] - Liam Hemsworth

...not sure how I feel about this one. He looks like a gorilla.

Not actually, but he does have the vague look of an ape. And also not appropriate for Gale - who should have been more brood-y and darker. Also, I didn't really picture Gale as being a...giant neck, football-y type of guy, more of an understated muscle-y guy - Peeta was always more traditional muscle man in my mind, while Gale was....I don't know. More subtle-strong.

In conclusion: the only one I'm not fully okay with is Gale.

To Whom it May Concern

Back from France.
Will post later about the amazingness of it.
Right now am dying under a mountain of homework.
I wish we'd never come back.

France. What.

We will be leaving for France in less than 24 hours.
WHAT.
Have I mentioned this already? It's a school trip. We'll be in Paris for three days, and Normandy/Caen for the rest. While in Normandy, we'll be staying with a host family. I am excited.
I am also sick, woo. Fell ill with a form of DEATH on Wednesday night after our meeting, didn't go to school on Thursday, went in on Friday (= bad bad baaaaad idea) and took the SAT on Saturday. It went well enough, thank you for asking, thought it seemed easier than some of the practice tests I've been taking. Watched Cranford, fell in love with Dr. Harrison/Simon Woods, found out he was gay, was upset then got over it. Sunday I overstretched myself going to the mall to get shoes and gifts for my host family, and then had severe asthma that night and only slept for three and a half hours. Stayed home Monday and watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (love that movie). Felt better, and I went to school today. Hooray, lovely lovely, hope I do not die on this trip. Plan on inducing mild coma (ha ha, just joking) on plane tomorrow via Benedryl (joking about the coma, not the Benedryl).
Whew, and that was my stream-of-consciousness (sort of) for the past couple of days. Back to France: I am all packed, raring to go, etc., etc. There was a mild Thing re:rooming in Paris, but we will avoid that topic and move on past, because I am reconciled and okay with it now. By the way, in my head when I talk in this way, I imagine myself leading a tour on a Segway, whooshing about, you didn't really need to know that but oh well.
Aaaaaand yes, that I believe is all. I will attempt to blog daily/every other day/sometimes when I am in France/also maybe journal. And take pictures. I have resolved that though I am loath to look like a tourist (doncha love that phrase? So British...) I will grit my teeth and do it, for the sake of posterity. And because otherwise I will regret it.
Next up: For a little while I thought I owned that shirt that Emily is wearing at the beginning of the latest Pretty Little Liars episode. Except my shirt has long sleeves.
(Re: that episode - why the hell would you have creepy clowns just standing around your town? That's messed up, like seriously. Also makes me think of Halloweentown. Kind of want to watch that now).

Best. Coincidence. Ever.

You guys.
The guy who plays Oliver Wood's real name is Sean Biggerstaff.
Just let that sink in.

Biggerstaff.

Updates are boring, I know.

Sorry, I don't have time to actually write things. Ah well, whatever.
I have lost all will to do any sort of schoolwork.
Tomorrow we have a parent meeting for our trip (8 more days!!!) and I had better get a packing list. And an itinerary, or I will explode. (You think I'm joking, but seriously: I start packing a week or two in advance. So the fact that I still don't have an official packing list is killing me, because yes, I can think for myself and figure out what I want, BUT STILL.)
This weekend is the SAT. Kill me now please, I have to wake up at 6 so I can be there by 7:45.
I will be watching Saving Private Ryan/Cranford this weekend. YES.
Hopefully I will also buy lovely clothes/shoes/bags this Friday. MORE YES.
Also, hopefully Jane Eyre is coming out this week. I think it is? I hope it is, I want to see it. (It is, I checked, BUT IT'S NOT PLAYING IN MY AREA THE HORROR NOOOOOOOOOO)
Um, yes. I have read lots of books since the last time I bothered to update this re: stuff like that.
I have lots of new music! Eric Hutchinson, Ingrid Michaelson, Adele, Lily Allen. Hooray!

Cool.
Now I'm off to sleep for 8 hours. YES.