Art of Japan

Of course the only class I don't have in the same building is the only class I have fifteen minutes to get to. Honestly it is going to be a bitch in the winter. However the building that the class is housed in is extremely beautiful. with a garden in the center and paintings all over the place. However my room was hidden and I had to take this shady back stairwell to the second floor which wasn't nearly as nice.

I was really surprised by how many males there were in the class. I think that it might be the only class I have ever had were the is more or an equal amount of males to females. I totally wasn't expecting that at all, especially in an art class. I was in class early so I watched a lot of them walk in and there are a few that are rather nice looking. One was an adorable Asian guy who sat in the front row, there was also a tall blonde that decided shoes were not needed for class and a few others. There was also a lot of guys wearing loafers which I found rather odd. I guess I am not up to date with male foot wear.

The class itself looks as if it is going to take a lot of my time, but it will be interesting. The professor reminds me of two teachers I had in high school mixed together. She seems nice enough, but is very stringent on us coming to lecture, which doesn't really matter since I always go to class, but there aren't a lot of points and there is a lot of memorization. Also for a girl that can hardly spell her own name in her own language it is going to be extremely difficult for me to remember the Japanese words. I will figure it out somehow though and if nothing else at least there is nice things to look at in lecture.  

Abnormal Psychology

Seeing as I want to double psychology and English writing this is a course that I should not only be interested in, but I have to do well in since it will pertain to my major. I don't see why I would have any difficulty with it since as with any psych class it will just be reading and remembering terms and such, and the subject matter is at least interesting. My professor is a little...I don't even know the word. She seems extremely nice, but her voice reminds me of a little girls which makes it very difficult for me to take her seriously as well as it being a bit annoying. She showed us all the places she worked and what her research is pertaining to, but her voice! *sigh* You can't then all I guess and as long as the class is easy I can put up with the voice issue. The first class didn't give me much hope of my lecture being entertaining, but I could be wrong. If not I will just have to take a mountain dew to class to insure I stay awake.

Sherlock - A Study In Pink

Alright so after hearing my English friend rave over Sherlock and seeing it pop up multiple times on my Tumblr I decided to give it a try. Since this episode was an hour an thirty minutes I thought it deserved its own post. I have no idea if they are all this long or not, but I guess we shall see. Anyway I have to say that I extremely enjoyed it. The writing was wonderful and I loved how the updated it without totally butchering it. Sherlock is still antisocial so he texts everyone instead of calling them, I love that. I loved when he was sending the mass text messages in the press conference that just said "Wrong". It so fit the character of Holmes while blending it into the present time. I also loved how they showed the texts beside the person as well as how Sherlock's mind worked while they were running thorough the streets trying to catch up with the taxi.

The story line was also well written, though I figured out who the murder was or at least his occupation very quickly, I would have never gotten to the conclusion the way Sherlock did. However it is nice to think that you are as smart as Sherlock Holmes every once and a while. There are a string of three suicides that have happened in, all took the same drug in a location they were not supposed to be in. The police don't believe they are murders but they also can't ignore the fact that they are related. Soon a forth victim is found who is different from the others and this is when they call in Sherlock Holmes to investigate. I hate when a good mystery story is ruined so I won't tell you the ending, but it is rather good and very Sherlock Holmes.

Now he first thing that really struck me was the setting up of Watson's character. In all the other Sherlock Holmes adaptions I have seen it is Watson who is a solid rock to counter the insane genius of Holmes, but not in this series. John is a veteran returned from Afghanistan after sustaining a gunshot wound. He has not gotten use to civilian life and feels as if nothing is happening. This is very different from the upstanding physician that Watson is usually portrayed as, but I rather like the change. Watson usually has had some military background, but you never see the effects of that. Not only that but John was a lot more sassy then in a lot of the adaptions, the most recent movie aside. He goes with what Sherlock asks him to, but he also talks back and gets lippy. it took a little longer for John to grow on me, but by the end of the first episode I really liked him.

I have always loved Sherlock's humor, quick wit, and wonderful remarks so it did not take me long to like Sherlock in this series. I also didn't hurt that he has lovely eyes. When he got all excited about the fourth death I seriously couldn't handle how cute it was and then when he totally destroyed the forensic expert and the bitchy detective was amazing. The fact that he no longer smokes a pipe, but has nicotine patches I though was a wonderful way to update the piece as well as bring up the fact that he was a former addict. I really do love Sherlock in this series. I haven't decided if I like the fact that he has a brother or not yet however. Sherlock usually has no back story or family so I was a little thrown off. We will have to see after I watch a few more. 

Overall I thought it was brilliant and very well done and I hope all the episodes are this wonderful. I was excited, but also a bit disappointed that I figured it out so quickly. I hope the next one will be a bit more of a challenge. The characters are wonderful and BBC did a wonderful job with production. I give it a 4.8 out of 5
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Statistics

So I had my first Statistics lecture today, which was oddly enough in the same lecture hall I had my Vampire class, and the verdict is still out. The Professor seems pretty cool, actually I would probably be a lot like him if I was a professor, and it is either his first year with the University or his first year as a professor. I couldn't really make out which. Either way he seems really cool and down to earth and if I do have problems, unlike with my Trig professor, I feel like I can go and talk to him. I mean when he uses the phrase gobbledygook to describe something how bad can he be? He wants us to call him Jason, but I always find it weird calling my professors by their first name so if I ever talk to him hopefully names are not necessary.

Since I basically took this course in high school (AP Stats whoop whoop) I am not overly worried about this course, but there does seem to be a lot of work so I hope I can keep up. I am worried because I am missing one lecture because I am going to Dragon*Con again this year, but it is the beginning of the year so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The kid who sat in front of me had really pretty blue eyes, but his hair was gelled to look like he just got out of bed, but he was still cute. I also chatted with a boy named Ben who lives on the 10th floor of my building in the elevator.

Plans for the rest of the day are to get everything ready for tomorrow, go get my work study papers, have lunch with my brother, and then do something productive like go get those last few books I need to read ahead in Stats.

Clockwork Angel

Now I have been a fan of Cassandra Clare since I read City of Bones, which is the first book in her Mortal Instrument series. Clockwork Angel is the first book of the Infernal Devices series, which is set in London, with the same magical world she set up in the first series but with different main characters. This series is set hundreds or so years before the first book in Victorian Times. However the characters that are present are relatives or somehow present in the first series and a few do show up in the Mortal Instrument series.

The story follows Theresa Grey, called Tessa, and her life after she comes to London to find her brother Nathaniel. She is first met by the Dark Sisters who say that they are friends of her brothers. However Tessa soon finds out exactly what the Dark Sisters are, warlocks, and they train Tessa to change into people by holding onto objects that they own, such as clothes or watches. Tessa does whatever they ask because they hold her brother captive and threaten to kill him if she does not obey. Tessa thinks there is no escape until William Herondale appears in her room. She is soon wist off to the Institute where she learns a lot in quite a short amount of time. Soon she is going to vampire parties, disguised as a vampire, fighting with Shadowhunters, running from mechanical men trying to kidnap her, a mysterious Magister who wants her, falling in love, and learning that she is more special then she even cared to realize. Soon Tessa is questioning her humanity, her brother, her feelings, and just about everything around her. 

Now though I did enjoy the book, it didn't hold the same pull as The Mortal Instrument Series did. I wasn't finding myself having to keep reading to find out what happened next except in a few places. I don't know whether it was because it was a different set of characters or whether it was because a lot more explaining is done in this book, about the world that Cassandra Clare created along with Victorian London, then is given in the first series. This series is supposed to stand on its own, but also help understand certain aspects and actions that take place in the other series so the explanation is necessary, but I think it might have slowed down the pace compared to the other books. 

I am a sucker for Victorian Times, maybe just because I think I would look good wearing a corset, so that really did interest me and I like how she kept their language as if it was from that period. I also loved how she describe all the clothes because not only did it give a clearer picture, but it put us more in that time period. I especially liked the uneasiness Tessa felt seeing Charlotte dressed "as a man" in her Shadowhunter gear. I also like how they had a very striking example of a Lady in Jessamine. She wants nothing to do with fighting or Downworlders, she just wants to have a nice house, nice clothes, and a man to dote on her.

Alright, time for some girl talk. The leading male characters are certainly easily likable and you find yourself soon drifting to one or the other depending on your taste in men. I personally liked Jem (James) a lot better then Will. I know you are supposed to, Will being the dark and brooding male, but even knowing that Jem was just so smart, sweet, and kind. He was intelligent and reassuring and I just liked that about his character. His illness might have also lead me to soften up to him a lot more then Will who was basically the picture of health. I felt for William and at times found myself liking him as well and maybe I will like him better when we get a bit more of his back story, but I have always enjoyed the quite intelligent type over the loud and obnoxious ones. If Jem dies I will be extremely and utterly upset. 

As for Tessa, I liked her but also found her a bit annoying. I have a brother myself so I felt for her in trying to help and protect him, but it was a little over the top. Maybe it is another one of those things that was lost in the era, but the blind trust she had in a brother she knew was weak and easily manipulated was a bit foolish. In her situation, finding out so much about yourself and your parents in such a short time, I might not blame her for clinging onto the one thing that was from her normal life. However after I found out about what he had done, I probably would have strangled him with my own hands.

Overall I did enjoy the book, but it took me longer to read then the other books by Cassandra Clare. I am waiting for the next one because I have a feeling the further I get into the series the more I will enjoy each book. The battle scenes were wonderful and the few intimate scenes were extremely well written. Oddly enough I also liked that people well known and liked by the reader died. Most of the main characters survived all throughout the Mortal Instruments and it was nice to see that Clare wasn't scared to take out characters. Not everyone can survive battle. For some reason however I could not dive into it as I did City of Bones. It gets a 4.3 out of 5.

Move in - Complete

Well I have made it back to Pittsburgh all in one piece, which would so much more impressive if you have ever driven with my father. He falls asleep when he sit for more then like 3 minutes so you can imagine how terrifying driving with him is. My mom literally saves my life every time we drive with him, yes he says he doesn't have a problem

Anyway the day started as they always do, I was woken up before I could get into the bathroom so there was no point in waking me up at all, my dad swore at every object he tried to pack into the car, and we left a half an hour after my mom wanted to. After we got on the road (after the above mentioned near death experience) the trip was alright until we got to the university. Then my dad couldn't find anywhere to park, which was of course my mothers and my fault, and ended up in a parking garage. After that it went pretty smooth. The dinning hall was twelve sorts of packed, but I got food and didn't stab a freshman so it is all good. 

The new roommate seems really cool. She sent a request for us to get a new fridge because it smelled like something died in the one we had. I had brought mine so as of right now we have two fridges in our room and until they tell me we can't it is going to stay that way. It is under my bed so it is super nice since I am super lazy. We talked for a bit and I think even if we don't become friends we will be able to live together. 

I also set up my printer, however I haven't tried to print anything yet so we will see if that worked out as it is supposed to soon. I then spent a good hour trying to get connected to the Internet with my Ethernet cable because we don't have wireless in the dorms. I was so frustrated, but I obviously succeeded. I think that is everything that has happened so far, well worth talking about anyway, so I will leave you for now

And so it Begins

The very torturous job of packing to move back to Pittsburgh. It isn't even like I have a lot of stuff, at least I don't think so, it is just hard locating everything in the wreckage that is my brother's room where we have dumped everything since he moved out. Not only that, but I have no energy, it doesn't feel like I am going to be back in college in a week. However I have started and brought a few things down so that is a step in the right direction. I am thinking if I do it bit by bit everything will magically appear downstairs by Friday morning. Someone remind me of this when in Thursday night I am running around like a crazy woman trying to find everything.

With this being said since I am returning to college I am probably going to be posting more on this blog since it is for everyday college life even though mine tends to be extremely and painfully boring. Hopefully this year will be different. I have recently joined an Honors Society so I am hoping that will force me to go out and make friends with my fellow college students. Also my roommate this year seems pretty awesome so I am hoping I won't want to throw pointy objects at her as I did my last roommate. Overall I have high hopes that this year is better then last.

STOP AND READ PLEASE!

As you know (or not) I am an avid reader and am always looking for new series or books to sink my teeth into. That being said I would like some suggestion on what you guys think are books worth reading. I really don't care the genre or reading level as long as they are in English I will try and get my hands on a copy.

So leave you suggestions in the comments and I will see what I can do. Even if you just stumbled upon my blog I want to know what you think

Mansfield Park - The Movie

As I sat bored this evening scrolling through Netflix I stumbled upon the movie of Mansfield Park, a book that I read for Women and Literature first semester by Jane Austen. Now I liked the book, but we kind of beat it to death in that class so it got to the point I didn't even want to think about it anymore, but I am a sucker for things set in or around the Victorian era so I decided to give it a try.

The thing that I noticed right off the bat was that they gave Fanny Price a much stronger personality then they did in the novel, probably to endear her to modern viewing audiences. At the beginning of the film they said it was also based off Jane Austen's personal stories and journals so I am guessing that is why they made Fanny a writer which she was not in the book. Dare I say that I liked her a lot more in the movie because she kind of reminded me of myself? Not the loving one man all my life bit, but the sassy writer who was quite and meek most of the time in the company of others.

As for the characters themselves I thought that it was a bit hit and miss. Fanny, Edmund, Henry, and Rushworth were close to what I imagined they would look like, however I did not find the Bertram girls or Mary Crawford to be pretty enough. As for the characters themselves, Mrs. Norris was no where near mean enough and Lady Bertram had no character, which really wasn't that far from the book, but I was expecting more. However the dynamic between Mary and Edmund was very accurate to the book in my opinion, which is all this blog is. Sir Thomas is a major creep in the movie, there is no loving father figure, just creepy old uncle. Also the whole relationship between Henry and Fanny was much more dramatic in the movie then novel.

The biggest difference between the novel and the movie was the importance of slavery. It is mentioned once, maybe twice, in the novel, yet it is a figure head in the movie. It is the reason that Tom and Sir Tomas are at odds and I found the part with the drawings completely unnecessary, but it made Tom a more likable character, for the little you saw him. Also the whole visit to Southerton, which is one of the most comical in the novel, was also completely missing.

Overall it was a fun distraction and entertaining, but it is not going to become my new favorite movie. It gets a 4 out of 5 because I did really enjoy the storytelling that was done and I thought the actors were brilliant.

Tangled

Maybe it is because I am one of those stupid 90's kids who think that nothing is ever going to be as good as my childhood was, but I had low expectations for Tangled when I went to see it in theaters. I'll admit that I had lost a little faith in the magic of Disney movies, but this movie soon destroyed all expectations I had in it and made me believe in animated movies once again. How could you make Rapunzel interesting to someone who has seen it a thousand different times a thousand different ways? Yet Disney used humor, a wonderful cast of characters, and a dash of good old Disney charm to make this one of the best children's movies I have seen in a very long time. Going back and rewatching it has only added, in my eyes, to how good it is because I still love it. 

I love Flynn Rider as well. Maybe it is because he reminds me of an old friend of mine or because he is the type of guy that I would probably date, but I seriously love him. Even though he doesn't want to take Rapunzel to see the lanterns he is still rather sweet to her even as he tried to trick her back to the tower. Then when he actually starts to like her *sigh* so cute! It might be the same old song and dance, but something about it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Also the end when he cuts her hair, I don't know but I really wasn't expecting that the first time I watched it. I need a man like Flynn Rider in my life. He is a mix between Aladdin and d'artagnan from the three musketeers.

Something that I thought was done extremely well was making the wicked witch, that is what I am going to call her, at the beginning of the movie like how every teenage girl sees her mother. She knows she loves her, but no teenage girl thinks that their mother ever lets them do anything fun. Now I could use my Russian Fairy Tales course and go into the whole psychological thing about why this is in fairy tales, but I will save you the lecture and just tell you that it was well done by Disney, and usually is.  

Pascal is the best! I never thought I would love a reptile as much as I love that little chameleon. Now I know he isn't really original, every Disney princess has an adorable animal sidekick, but there was something about him that I adored. Maybe it was because he didn't talk like the others, I don't know, but he was easily my favorite character in the movie. He is just such a bad ass and always looking out for Rapunzel. Also I loved Maximum. Again Disney is known for its animal sidekicks, but there was something about Max that was different. Maybe it was the fact that he was a horse that acted like a dog, I really don't know. 

Overall I thought the movie was beautiful. The animation was absolutely breathtaking, especially the lantern scene. The frying pans throughout the movie was amazing and I loved the thugs as well. The songs weren't as strong as other Disney movies, at least I thought so, but they were still nice. The flower song to make her hair glow I find extremely catchy. It will be stuck in my head for days. I liked that Disney added its own twist to the Rapunzel tale, though I admit I don't really know the original fairy tale all that well. I give the movie a 4.4 out of 5 mostly because of the lack of memorable songs.