Random Top-Five Rant.

Today's not even over yet and I've already got several things to get off my chest. I think, perhaps, a little ranting list will help keep the issues in check...sort of.

1. Some oddly shaped girl, who probably drives a Prius (Prius owners always seemed to be as oddly shaped as their cars), who happens to also be a drama teacher at another school, was presenting along with her group today in my creative writing class. When I raised my hand to comment, she listened to me for all 10 seconds (maybe 15, tops) and then stopped me and continued onward.

She didn't even hear me out nor did she let anyone else in her group say/do anything, except for what she had planned, most of which was only her talking. She even stopped some of her group members during the presentation because it wasn't what she wanted. It pissed me off to the point of almost walking out of the class and cussing her out. Bitch!

2. Just found out that Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 doesn't come out in theaters until November 19, 2010! I knew it would be a while before it came out, but I didn't think it would be that long! Although it's quite trivial I still hate waiting between movies. Sure, the books are a fantastic read, but I like the movies too. I'm from New Jersey, so I'm allowed to be a little impatient at times.

Benefits of Failure and Importance of Imagination

J. K. Rowling gave the commencement speech at Harvard University's 2008 graduation ceremony.


J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

In her speech, she discussed the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. I thought that it might be inspiring to some, so please feel free to watch the video and/or just read the transcript of her speech. But let's be serious, the British accent is much more pleasant!

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.

My 'Twilight' Experience.

I came across a brilliant 3 part article on The Washington Post's website about literary women, their love for the Twilight saga, and their complete and utter lack of shame for falling so hard for a silly tween love story.

Finding the initial piece led to another article about the healing powers of Twilight and it put me at ease, or at even more ease I should say.

When I first heard of this whole Twilight thing, it was during the holiday season last year and I was working a crappy mall job to pass time between semesters. People would come into the story raving about the movie, wearing the t-shirts and hoodies, and promising me how great it was. Initially I was very much against this whole vampire business, having had no interest in them prior, and swore up and down, to Jupiter and back that I would never Benedict Arnold my love and devotion to Harry Potter.

Then came the nonstop advertisements on OnDemand during the early spring time of this year. I kept ignoring them and praying they would stop showing me this stupid crap.

When a sudden and unexpected dry spell hit me, having no more new or old movies to watch, I caved in and decided to let myself find out just exactly what all the craze was about. So I picked up a copy of the movie and within 20 minutes, I was completely hooked. It was like I had been injected by an unwanted course of emotions and it wasn't going to stop.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

I know I don't talk about HP very much, but anyone who knows me well enough knows that I love, love, love, love this series! July 15th simply cannot get here soon enough. I own all the current movies (and have watched them more times than what is probably considered healthy) and of course all of the books as well. One of the reasons why I prefer HP over any of the other series is because how intricately detailed the storyline is. I love Twilight, I [obviously] love the characters, but the initial movie was developed and made for anyone to follow. Harry Potter, on the other hand, has lots and lots of undercover bits and pieces to the story, ones which only someone who really gets into it would notice. Overall, the story, though very different, is unarguably much more developed. I've included one of many sneak previews I came across for the HP6 that's being released in a month for all to see and enjoy!