Moving On

Hey everyone!

I've moved again. But for real though.  If you want to keep reading what I have to say, check out my new blog at http://justhannahdotrose.wordpress.com!

Thanks for reading!

Umba Umba a Rickey Tickey Tumba

I was reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone" to my little cousin Ella tonight and Firenze had just told Harry what drinking a unicorn's blood would do when Ella exclaimed, "OH MY GOODNESS IT HAS TO BE SNAPE! HE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT WOULD DO SOMETHING BAD SO THAT HE COULD GAIN SOMETHING FOR HIMSELF! HE IS THE ONLY ONE! PLEASE TELL ME IT'S SNAPE!"  

I will forever love the way these books make children feel.  Always. 

Project For Awesome: Girl Rising!

Hey everyone!

It's that wonderful time of year where everyone who is anyone on the internet decides to get together and raise money for charities! Julia and I decided to do a video on the charity Girl Rising!  Girl Rising tries to get all girls around the world education.  What could be bad about that?

It would be great if you voted on it, or at least voted on other Project For Awesome videos that you think are super cool!  All of the charities are awesome so even if you think ours is the worst video you've ever seen, help decrease the suckiness in the world by voting on another one!

http://www.projectforawesome.com/charity/girl-rising/project-for-awesome-girl-rising 

DFTBA

The Immaturity of College Students

So yesterday was one of those days in college where everyone goes off to watch our modern day gladiators fight it out on the football field.  I wasn't there because, well, I really don't care about football even a little bit, but I feel like I really could've been there the whole time after all the talk and news.  Apparently, Mary Sue Coleman, the current president of the University of Michigan, spoke at the game during the halftime show.  Now everyone (including Michigan students) is obsessed with the idea that her speech was drunkenly given and that this, somehow, makes her a horrible person that should be made fun of, and by association, the school a horrible school that should be made fun of as well.  Now I'm not one to be all up in that "Go Blue!" business, heck, I usually put on a yellow shirt to pretend I'm patriotic or spirited or whatever just so people don't bug me about it, but I find there to be a lot of problems to this ridiculous argument.

First, it does not matter even the slightest if Mary Sue was drunk.  She is over 21 and she can therefore legally drink alcohol at practically anytime.  The majority of the Big House is drunk on game day, so why should she be any different?  Does this really give means to make her a joke?

Second, I listened to the video.  To me, it sounds more like someone who is a nervous public speaker, sick, or recovering from a stroke.  All of these things are serious and require zero need for rude comments.  I don't know if any of these things are the case, and they could very well likely not be, but they are certainly things to consider.  After this year, Mary Sue is retiring from her position as president.  Did anyone consider that maybe this poor woman is just sick or tired.  She was just trying to make some encouraging statements at a game that wasn't happening to go very well for the school she works at.  Is there any need to punish her in her final year, or ever for that matter?

Third, just because people have created these silly rivalries between schools, doesn't mean they have to use humans to fuel these rivalries.  That is a manipulation that removes people from other people in a way that just doesn't make any sense. Why should anyone be mean to her, or anyone else?  People get all excited when their team beats the other team at a game of football.  They scream and shout that they are the best, but they actually didn't do anything.  They didn't play for hours and hours against a bunch of big hulking men, so they didn't do anything at all.  And how does one define best, anyways?  Best at what?  Certainly not being genuine human beings if you feel the need to be mean to others for the pure joy of it. 

Basically, I'm writing this post to ask everyone to stop being so cruel.  Think deeper about the situation.  Maybe President Coleman was drunk.  Maybe she wasn't.  Does it really matter?  I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the answer is no.  

Also, I would say this about anyone, not just the president of my school, so I don't need any annoying comments about that. However, if you would like to leave a comment about humanity or anything of the sort, I'd love to read them.  

The End of Your Comfort Zone

Every day I tell my roommate that I want to quit school and travel the world.  Everyday she laughs and says, "I know".  It isn't always that I don't like a class or am stressed or anything.  Usually I would just rather be off in Africa on some Safari.  Or seeing a play at the Globe.  Or swimming the Great Barrier Reef.  Or climbing the Great Wall of China.  One day I want to go to every continent.  (So far I've been to five out of seven so if you feel like donating to the cause I wouldn't say no.) After that I'll hit up every country.  Sometime I'll even make it to every state. (That one shouldn't be too hard, right?) 

I have a friend with a tattoo of the map of the entire world on his arm.  Well, minus Antarctica.  Every time he goes somewhere he marks it on the map just like I mark the map on my wall.  He has been to so many places that I can only imagine going to.  Today I talked to him all about the at least five different places he plans to go in the upcoming year.  Let me tell you... wow!  He has it all figured out.  He says that they are all just ideas, but how many people have done great things without just an idea? Yeah.  That's what I thought.

I'm on my way, but I'm definitely nowhere near there yet.  And guess what?! I don't care!  That's half the fun!  I get to spend my time thinking and planning and dreaming of all the adventures I will make sure that I have.  I'm so excited!  

I just felt like I needed to share that with you all today.  Go travel and see the world.  You'll be better off for it.  Trust me.   

One Small Step, Or One Giant Leap?

I have a map in my bedroom that takes up most of my wall.  It has a bunch of flags and pins reminding me of where I've been and where I someday hope to go.  Ever since I put it up years ago, I've had a picture of the moon just above it with one yellow pin.  I never thought I'd ever really be able to make it there, but it was fun to dream.  After last night I don't know how much fun that dream really is anymore.  Why you might ask?  Last night was the night all of my dreams of ever going to space to see the world, and I mean really SEE the world, all washed away like a footprint on the beach.  Last night I saw Gravity.  

Okay, even though it was terrifying, what an excellent movie!  It's not too long at all, but you definitely don't feel like you still need the satisfaction of a good ending.  Plus, the music and sound is outstanding, which really makes a movie for me.   It was especially awesome because the people in charge of sound really played with the oxygen and lack there of in a space setting.  The sound was totally different outside a helmet versus inside or inside a shuttle.  Totally great.  The story was pretty awesome too, but definitely hard to watch in some parts.  So awful sometimes.  I didn't even realize how tense I was until I looked down and saw that I had marks on my palms from where my nails dug into my skin.  Pretty freakin' intense.  And the 3D really just added to that.  I was physically ducking to avoid pieces of shrapnel flying in my direction.  

Now I'm going to warn you that there is a spoiler in the next paragraph of this post.  I really can't help it and I really don't want to anyways.  So skip a paragraph and continue, or if you're too lazy and just wanna stop reading I get that too.  Okay, here I go.  

Spoiler paragraph: This excellent and scary portrayal of space has basically one and a half characters that you immediately connect with without even realizing it.  You are totally invested in their journey right away.  Sure during the movie I was scared for them, and I felt bad, but lately I've been doing this thing where I don't cry or anything during a show, book, or a movie.  But hours, or even days later, I find myself lying in bed crying my eyes out for a character that had something super unfair happen to them.  My mom has always told me that life isn't fair, but it doesn't make it easier to watch it happen.  It doesn't necessarily mean that the person died unreasonably, but something had to happen to them that just shouldn't have. Sometimes something classically sad just happened to them, or something that just made their life that much harder.  But it gets me every time, just not right away. Last night I found myself doing this for Mr. Clooney.  I woke up in the middle of the night with tears streaming down my face for a fictional character that witnessed a certain kind of hell and then floated into the stars because it was his only choice.  He chose to do it.  He had to!  How unfair for him!   I couldn't stop crying.  Even writing this now I'm getting a little emotional. 

So basically how do you know when a movie is just amazing?  I don't know if this is the same for everyone else, but for me it's when you think about it after and you can still hear the whirring in your mind as it works to figure out what it just saw and what it all means.  When you cry for a character because you feel just that close to them and you're not ready to see them go.  When the music adds to it instead of plays in the background because someone thought it was too quiet without it.  And when the story is so good that it makes you change your mind about something you didn't even think was important enough to be changed.  So for me, Gravity: good movie.  

If you've seen it tell me what you thought. If not, go see and tell me.  I'd love to know what you have to say about it and if you felt the same way as me.    

P.S. I guess this was a movie review.  I didn't really mean to but it was on my mind.  If you like this style of writing let me know and I'll do some more of these.

We're All Mad Here

Another lovely Wednesday Write Night in my hall tonight!  Again it was great and it even included cider and donuts for all!  It totally made my night.  There was even more people there tonight too!  That means more poems to hear from more awesome writers!  And of course, everyone's writing was just actually amazing and inspiring.  It's so cool to see how different everyone's poems are when we all have the exact same theme and topic to write about.  

Tonight's theme was Weird Writing.   We chose the topic of Voices in Your Head.  Each of us said a word that was supposed to be included in the poems as well.  The words were: caramel, edict, twitch, auto tune, frazzle, loquacious, Viagra, and pillow.  Plus bonus snap points for including: chicken nugger, sweer potato, and/or french fried.  So here is my Weird Poem.  I hope you enjoy it!

A Weird Poem With Some Weird Voices

By: Christina AKA Me AKA Hannah

I’ve developed a twitch

I’m not sure what to do about it

I’m not really sure how I got it either

It probably has something to do with those voices in my head

Like auto-tuned robots singing in my ear

Go away you daft punk losers

But hey, they aren’t really hurting me right?

They just tell me to do stuff, but it isn’t usually bad

It’s just words.

I can lie on my chicken nugger pillow and think about all of the sweet caramels and cider of the world but the voices are still there whispering loquaciously as I try to sleep.

They aren’t dangerous, but their voices are sickening nonetheless

I’m frazzled and frizzled and freaked out and fucked

I feel like I’ve just found out what Viagra really is, two minutes after I’ve swallowed four too many.

I guess I should call a doctor.  But doctor… who?

Anyone I ask will pronounce I’m crazy with some kind of edict with lots of big words that I don’t understand.

But maybe I am crazy

Or maybe it’s not me. 

Heck it’s probably you. 

And here’s just for you.

Just for you and your crazy and me and my not.

Nobody dies

And the little girl never gets any older.

And oops that’s a spoiler

No it’s a plot twist.

No it’s not. 

I don’t know.

Those are just the voices talking to no end. 

There is no end

But then again,

There is no beginning

Unless you’re in the hospital

Oh well.

I’m not

And I’m not crazy

Those voices are just friends, and enemies, and frenemies staying by my side as I walk down the street in the dark by a parking structure

There are so many cars

Maybe I’ll steal one

Maybe the voices will too.

Yeah I think we will

Yippee, a new car for me

It’s shiny and new and now it’s mine

And now I’m done

Finished if you will

Yup