The Castle of Otranto

As I did last semester I am going to review the book I have to read for class. Since I am taking two literature classes I should post about a lot of books. 

The first one I have finished is for my Gothic Imagination class called "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. It is considered by some as the first Gothic novel, but to be honest I was not overly impressed. I think it was because I had a hard time figuring out what was happening. Walpole does not use quotation marks or paragraph breaks between dialogue so if two people are having a rapid conversation it is hard to understand who is saying what. The story itself was rather predictable, but that is because more popular stories have followed his model.


In a very short review Manfred's son, Conrad, dies right before he is married leaving no male heir for the throne. Manfred gets the idea to divorce his wife and marry Conrad's fiancée Isabella so he can have a male heir. There is so much more that goes on, but it all goes back to the fact that Manfred's grandfather stole the throne from its rightful heir and everything that happens is because the throne was taken. I don't want to ruin the story, but it is really weird and not overly interesting to me.    


It is a short read, only 101 pages, so you won't feel like you have wasted your life reading it, but one read was enough for me. I give it a two out of five stars because even though I know it was first the other Gothic novels I have read were much more compelling and interesting.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

So I can't even explain how happy I am that my friend introduced me to this movie, I love it! It was just so perfect! Now I am not really in to the Japanese movie/shows/music scene but this movie has changed my mind. It is based on a book (written in English) which I now want to read! The story line is so compelling and the characters make you fall in love. I laughed, cried, and loved so much in this movie. Also the ending (which I am not going to tell you) is very believable and something that you could see happening in real life. There is so much I want to say about this movie, but I can't even put it into words (and I want to be an English Writing Major?)

It is the story of Naomi Sukuse who, as you might have guess, gets amnesia after falling down the stairs at school. The movie is about her life after the accident and how much she changes. At first I was a little unsure about her character, but I soon fell in love with her. Maybe because I could identify with her a little as being kind of shy and unsure myself (though she has a better reason for it then I do) or just because the acting was amazing, but I was rooting for her. She is a photographer which adds a very awesome aspect to this movie with all the work they do with pictures and capturing moments. At the beginning of the movie she tells us this is a love story and by god it is the best love story I have watched in a long time. It is lovely, heart gripping, and as I have said before believable. 

*screen cap courtesy of my friend*    

This is Mirai Hasegawa, Naomi's best friend, and my favorite character in this whole movie. He is sweet and someone you can see existing in real life. He is the editor of the yearbook and that along with Naomi. This works with the whole pictures theme. I don't know what it was exactly that made me love him, maybe it was all the perfect mixes he made for Naomi, or how he was always smiling even when he was hurts, but I fell for him completely. I don't want to say too much more in fear of ruining the movie, but he is my favorite.

This is Yuji Minwa who helps Naomi even though they did not talk before the accident. He is mysterious, moody, and sexy. He is the kind of boy that every girl falls in love with because he is just such a complex character. Again I don't want to give away too much, but what he does for Naomi is too sweet, caring, and romantic that it is hard not to love him. Naomi also does a lot for him and helps him as well. The kissing scenes between him and Naomi are just too perfect not to comment on, but there is just so much more to this movie.

Now there is another male character, Ace, but I can't comment about him without giving a lot away (I have used that phrase so much). He is Naomi's boyfriend before the accident and his part in the movie isn't as large as the other males I have mentioned.

There is so much more I would like to say, but just go watch the movie. The whole thing is on youtube with subtitles and I promise that you will enjoy, if not love, it. If nothing else you get to watch very attractive guys for about 2 hours. It gets about 7 out of 5 stars in my book and I want to own it on DVD.

My Present From College

I always thought that it was a little mean to have grades come out 2 days before Christmas eve, but this semester it will not be a blue Christmas. I finished this semester with a 3.703 GPA with one B, two A-, and two A's. It could be worse, especially since the class I got the B in my professor pregamed before lecture. She was entertaining and knew, for the most part, what she was talking about, but was just odd. She also enjoyed swearing...a lot and could never walk in a straight line. We also only had four grades in that class. one quiz, midterm, one paper, and the final. I will take getting away with a B in that class.

I also got an A in math *happy dance* *fist pump* After getting a 77 on my first exam I was worried about that class, but working my ass off on all the online homework problems and rocking out on the second exam and the quizzes really helped me. If I didn't get an A in that class I should have been shot though since it was the third time I have taken Algebra. What was scary was that fact that there was a lot of stuff I had never done before. Next semester we are going to tackle a math I have never taken before, Trigonometry. I can't wait *eye roll

I am so excited for the rocking GPA. It has to be the best Christmas gift....well minus a few hockey players, KPop singers, actors, and other pieces of man meat that I want to see under my tree. Let's say it is the best gift that the university could have given me.

House M.D.

Alright so something I have done this semester while battling my way through my math homework, a final I should be studying for right now, is rewatch the first season of House which I own on DVD. I forgot how much I like this show until I came back to it. I stopped watching when they got rid of the original cast of Chase, Cameron and Foreman and started having the competition to see who the next team would be (I think it was the third or fourth season). Now I know that Chase and Foreman are back, but I can't just jump back into the series since I have missed so much. If it is an instant watch on Netflix I might try to get caught up.

ANYWAY, like I was saying the first season was absolutely amazing even though I have watched all of these episodes before. I never get old of House, maybe because he reminds me of my brother, or looking at Chase. Now I don't know why I liked him so much the first time I watched this series because he is a bit whinny and a backstabber in this season. I won't give any details just in case you haven't watched it yet (GO WATCH IT), but I have a soft spot for Chase. It might have something to do with the fact that he has an Australian accent and is extremely good looking....just maybe. 

My favorite character however has to be House's best friend Wilson. Why you ask, well because that is who I am in friendships. I am the person that does everything possible for the other person and 9 times out of 10 gets walked all over. Wilson is also as witty as House, but also a nice guy. I really just like his personality and the way House and Wilson interact with each other. He is the only person House is close to in this season and it lets you see a softer side of House.  

Overall rewatching the first season has pulled me back into liking House and trying once again to watch the series. I just checked and it isn't an instant watch, but that is why there is an Internet full of illegally copied episodes for me to watch...not that I would ever do that. Now I am going back to studying for my math final...so excited.

Ouran High Host Club

Ouran High Host Club is one or the weirdest, childish, ridiculous, and absolutely amazing animes and mangas I have watched and or read. If you want something serious this is not for you. It is also aimed towards girls, but I think guys could watch it just for the amazing ridiculousness of it. I love the heroine Haruhi Fujioka because she isn't your typical heroine. She is strong and smart, but she also has strong opinions and a strong love for fancy tuna. She also says what's on her mind even if it isn't exactly what goes with what the "rich kids" think. Now Haruhi is mistaken for a male the first time she meets the club and Tamaki Suoh, the club king, makes her join the club as its dog. The club after the first episode finds out she is a female, but want her to stay with the club. Haruhi hides the fact that she is a female from everyone because if she is found out she would no longer be able to be a host. Of course many members of the club fall head over heels for her as well as a few students who find out the truth. 

 

The Hitachiin twins have to be the most ridiculous, but also I have to say my favorites. It might just be me personally because I usually have a special place for twins. The Weasley twins were my favorite characters in the Harry Potter books and movies (And I got to meet them!) Hikaru and Kaoru aren't just your average mischievous twins however, their characters are actually developed, more so in the manga, but the anime does an alright job as well. They become two separate characters and you fall in love with them.

I especially love Honey and Mori sempi. They are the wisest as well as the most entertaining of the group. Honey with his stuffed bunny Usa-chan instantly became my brother's girlfriend and my brother from the first episode. He is just too adorable not to love as well as Usa-chan. If they were all real characters however I would either date Mori or Kyouya. Mori takes care of Honey and is the strong and silent type while, Kyouya is the brains of the operation and unlike the rest of the characters is serious and mature. And then there is Tamaki...you can't really sum him up, but you will either love him or hate him.

You fall in love with all the the hosts and the weird people that enter their club. You learn about why each member acts the way they do and how being rich does not mean that you have a happy ever after. Though it is cute and sweet, but it also deals with deeper issues. Now the manga is a lot better and deeper then the anime and the ending is a lot better. You can tell that the anime needed a way to tie up the series, but the ending of the anime was not what I wanted it to be.

Overall I would give it four out of five stars and recommend it :) I don't know if they can make a live action version, but they should defiantly try.

Midsummer Night's Dream

I am sure that anyone reading this blog as either read, seen an adaption, or at least heard of Shakespeare's play. For my freshman seminar class I had to go to a cultural event and one of the options was A Midsummer Night's Dream put on by Carnegie Mellon Drama School and it was AWESOME! They took the tale and though they didn't move the location or change any of the script made it a modern day telling. It is hard to explain if you didn't see it but let me tell you that an Ipad and a segway were used during the production.

I wonder if someone had an Ipad and a segway or if they budgeted for it? How exactly would you explain that one to the person who looks over the accounts. "Yes we need these two items for our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Yes I mean the segway, Puck is going to use it" I wonder how long it took them to convince the people upstairs about that one. 

All the characters were very well cast and so many little things were thrown in here and there that it wasn't the same old retelling of the play. I really enjoyed everything, except I wasn't really a fan of Titania's outfit. It was very pretty, but wasn't exactly what I would but the Queen of the Fairies in. Especially when Oberon was wearing this totally BA red floor length jacket the plain white dress really wasn't doing it for me.
I also give them a huge round of applause for actually having a pool of water on stage. I don't know how they did it or what it took to get it there, but it added so much to the play. Also the lifts that were used for the fairies to get on and off stage were also amazing. Way to go stage crew you guys were AWESOME! I also loved how the actors used the whole auditorium and not just the stage so you felt as if you were part of the performance.

Overall it was an awesome performance and I wish all the actors the best of luck as they move forward with their careers whatever they may be ;)

Who got an A? I got an A :)

So I had I just got the grades back from my Russian Fairy Tale exam and my Math exam and guess what....I got an A on both :) I had a 95% on my math exam *happy dance/fist pump/every other happy gesture* What is even better then that is the material we are covering now I remember from high school so it should be super easy. Let's just hope not a lot of stuff from the first test is on the final and I will ace it :)

As for Russian Fairy Tales, I really had no idea how I did on the test because a lot of the multiple choice questions could have been two answers and for the essay I forgot the names of all the feminist theorist we discussed, but I got a 91% overall and a 14.55 out of 15 on the essay! I also heard that this exam was the hardest one we are going to take, mean the last exam should be a piece of cake. So excited.

I still haven't heard back about my Women and Lit midterm because I kinda skipped class today. Okay, so I went to class, but my professor was 15 minutes late so we took a class vote and we all voted to leave. I feel a quiz coming up next class because my professor is probably going to be pissed that we left, but she is always late. She was 15 minutes late for our midterm and then made us leave 5 minutes early. We deserved a day I think and I have already read the "The Yellow Wallpaper" once so it should be a piece of cake. (If you haven't read "The Yellow Wallpaper" I recommend it. It is a short story and it will really mess with your mind.

Well I just had to share my happy news with you :)