Twinkies n' Hohos

AAH! how do you change/ take out your layout?!

gee, there's something wrong with my site. there's this huge space above my entries. i'll just get rid of the layout.

so, it's now SPRING BREAK and i finally have time to update. it's been 29 days since my last entry. not bad.

today, when i was coming home on the streetcar with my mom, she was reading the newspaper. i saw an article about people taking down a nude chocolate jesus sculpture, and i mentioned it to her. then she said that it's bad cause chocolate is good and jesus on the cross is bad - the two can't go together (she's superstitious). i thought they were taking it down cause jesus is nude. so then this guy across from us heard, and he was like, "are you talking about the chocolate jesus sculpture?" i nodded, and he started off on saying that they had no right to take it down and stuff like that. i kinda agreed with him, but then my mom said, "i don't care what you think"... something about the statue being bad and that it should be taken down. then, they got into a loud argument IN THE STREETCAR, so i decided to just shut up and pretend to read my book. i actually found the guy to be kinda funny, because he was an apparent jesus-lover and even said, "bless you too, sister" to my mom. but if i agreed with him, my mom would yell at me, and if i agreed with her... well, i just didn't wanna talk the guy. either way, in the end, i agreed with neither of them, as they both had such insistent and extreme views on the matter. the thing i couldn't believe is that my mom actually insulted a stranger by saying, "i don't care what you think, i'm right." this really reminds me of the time when i read the "montgomery boycott" essay by coretta scott king in english class, and there was a quote saying, "he who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." i didn't stop the fight, so was i cooperating with it? not really, i just didn't want to say anything cause i didn't think it would help, and i was shy. what would you have done?

Poll #939035 Holiday Blockbuster Movies
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

Which is Your Favorite Holiday Blockbuster? (100 million+)

i didn't see "the departed", but my fave is probably "night at the museum". it was a close race - the 1st 3 movies all got the same score (4.5 out of 5). but i only saw 3/4 of "dreamgirls", and since i saw "night at the museum" more recently than "the pursuit of happyness", i remember it better (but i think it was slightly better anyway). thus, NatM wins.

new usepic from potterpuffs, a really awesome LJ. too bad the owner quit. userpic is bellatrix killing sirius. noo! but it's cool that it moves.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY, DIANA!

i know, it's a bit late. but the oscars just happened, so i hope you're in a movie-reviewing spirit!

Movies of 2006 in Review
I keep a record of every movie I see and the score I give it. So it’d be adequate to look back at and pick out the… memorable ones.

Best Movies of the Year (4.5 to 5 out of 5)
 “The New World” – 5
 “The Shaggy Dog” – 4.5 (don’t ask me why)
 “Cars” – 5
 “The Lake House” – 4.5
 “Monster House” – 4.5
 “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” – 5
 “The Illusionist” – 4.5
 “Stranger Than Fiction” – 4.5
 “Déjà vu” – 4.5
 “The Pursuit of Happiness” – 4.5
 “Charlotte’s Web” – 4.5
 “Dreamgirls” – 4.5 (even though I only saw ¾ of it)
There were only 3 5/5 movies this year, which is a disappointment. And none of them were during the holiday season.

Worst Movies of the Year (1.5 to 2 out of 5, since I had no 1’s)
 “Date Movie” – 1.5
 “The Marine” – 2
 “Unaccompanied Minors” – 1.5
I know, not that many. But I have a lot of 2.5’s.

Movies That Made Me Cry (which is so rare, so that means that the movies are really good)
 “Charlotte’s Web”
 “Dreamgirls”
Yep, only 2. & both are recent/during the holiday season.

Movies That Made Me Hold My Pee ‘Til it Hurt
 “Night at the Museum”
As far as I can remember. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as the record-breaking 3-hour epic, “King Kong”, in which I held my pee for 2/3 of it. My body went numb.

dude, i just got off a 4 1/2 hour phone conversation with my oral presentation partner, bonnie. talk about hand cramp. and the left side of my face (including my ear) is all red. that's honestly the longest phone conversation i've ever had.

oh, my userpic changed to the wonderful amy lee of evanescence, cause my favorite song right now is "call me when you're sober". but it's been my fave for a long time, so it might switch to gwen stefani's "wind it up" soon.

i'm suddenly a fan of charlie brown. i just watched "i want a dog for christmas, charlie brown", and it was so cute & cleverly funny. i always thought that it would just be a sweet little christmas show for kids, but it's actually appealing to all. it's like every scene has a punchline, and i can tell it was made from a comic strip cause it switches directly to a new scene after a punchline. all the characters are funny & charming, but in this movie, not so of much charlie brown. still, now i want to watch all the other charlie brown movies. i'm sure they're all awesome. now i wish i bought those charlie brown buttons from chinese club!

so, i checked the weekend box office numbers, & i couldn't believe that "dreamgirls" pulled in $378,950 with 3 theaters. that's $126,316.67 per theater! thank gosh i didn't try to go see "dreamgirls" in metreon this weekend, or else it would've been all sold out!

gee, i haven't posted in almost 3 months. that sucks. but i have to split my time between this & xanga, & i don't blog much in general anyways. i do go on the computer, but i do other things. of course, i often have impulses to blog, but i never fullfill them. here's a rare moment in time that i do.

sunday is the day TO GET THINGS DONE. i know it's supposed to be the beginning of the week, but to me it's the end. geez, even my lowell planner says it like that.

i was overwhelmed that weird al yankovic performed at the big in '06 awards on vh1. i think it was the 1st time he performed it at an awards show, and the performance wasn't even advertised. so i was pleasantly surprised. i <3 the "white & nerdy" song. it's amazingly hilarious. his performance closely resembled his awesome music video, which made it (the performance) even awesome-er. or should i just say better?

guess what amy? if you don't already know, STEPHEN COLBERT won best breakthrough. 0_0. but i think "talladega nights" was in that category, so dang it.

Poll #823032 My First Poll!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

What's your favorite summer blockbuster? (150 mil.+)

my pick is "cars", one of my favorite movies of the summer. my other one is... wait for it.. "TALLADEGA NIGHTS"!

so, changed my avatar again. this time it's ashlee simpson.

lowell's been hard so far. i have mostly hard teachers(as opposed to justin), & there are, like 3 or 4 tests each week. however, i still think lowell's ok, cause the people make up for the work. i share a locker with the girl who sits in front of me in homeroom, alyssa cheung(y is pronounced as e). i was supposed to share with tammy, but alyssa asked me first & someone else asked tammy, too. anyways, i'm auditioning for my seat placement in orchestra on monday, or tomorrow (no!). & i am soo stupid to forget to bring home my sheet music to practice. i checked out my violin, but not the music. quote amy, "nub." but all we have to do is play "happy birthday" (which i memorized) & clap to a rhythm sheet (which i can't do, & now can't practice). so i'm hoping to practice it in class before my auditon, which is very little time. if i'm first, i'm screwed. but the people who are supposed to audition that day must sign up at the beginning of class on a clipboard to pick your number. so i must go early to sign up for last, or next to last. anyways, on friday, there was the first dance of the year, the "courtyard crash". i didn't go to it cause it was expensive (10 or 8 dollars), & because it was late (6-10 pm), even though you could go or leave whenever. but i went to the movies instead with my mom. i saw "barnyard" because there was a sucky movie that came out that day ("the covenant"), & so i had to pick the best one that i didn't see from previous weeks. & there weren't many. anyways, i was expecting "barnyard" to be ok or good, & it was ok. it was mildly funny & there was a little inappropriateness to it(like udders on male cows). whenever i see a movie, i rate it a number out of five, & this one gets a 3.5. the chronicle (newspaper) gave it a 3. anyways, after that i snuck into another movie (i always see two), "step up". there were no other ones i wanted to see that i didn't see, so i saw one that i saw before. i will still review the movie. before i saw it, i thought it would be bad, cause the previews make it look unoriginal and cheesy. & the newspaper gave it a bad review, too (2 out of 5). but i wasn't expecting it to be funny, and it was. it wasn't cheesy, either. "step up" might have been unoriginal, but you're not thinking about that when you're watching the movie - you're too immersed in it. anyways, i thought it was unexpectedly good & gave it 4 out of 5.

this morning, i woke up with "dot" & a humongous cramp(which i never get), & i was having blackouts, where everything starts to go fuzzy and then you can't see anything. blackouts are short, but not pleasant. you feel a little dizzy, but they don't hurt. your face also gets very pale. my days says blackouts are caused by not having enough blood in your brain. i guess this time it's because of my "dot" - all of my blood went down there. i did have an unnaturally heavy leak this morning. i've had blackouts about 2 times before in my life. the first time was in 6th grade, where i tripped down the stairs in a.p.'s yard. my dad says i had it cause all the blood went to my leg, which was hurt but wasn't bleeding. when you're hurt, blood rushes to the area. the second time was on a normal day when i woke up on a weekend. i don't know why that one happened.

o yeah, new smilies, too. QUESTION: what i that thing next to the star in my smiley?

sh!t! i just typed a whole long entry & accidentally clicked a button & now it's gone! i NEED to save it next time. well, here's my entry, in much shorter form:

i have vma-mania. i watched a repeat of the awards yesterday cause i didn't watch it the first time. then, today, i started seeing my recorded vma pre-show. the show was just moderate, but i still feel the hype. here are the winners of the awards(and if it's starred, then i wanted that video to win):

best male video: "you're beautiful" by james blunt
best hip-hop video: "my humps" by black eyed peas
best female video: "because of you" by kelly clarkson
best dance video: "buttons" by the pussycat dolls feat. snoop dogg
best pop video: "stupid girls" by pink *
best rap video: "ridin'" by chamillionaire feat. krayzie bone
best group video: "move along" by the all-american rejects
ringtone of the year: "where'd you go?" by fort minor feat. holly brook *
best new artist in a video: "bat country" by avenged sevenfold
video vanguard award: hype williams(video director)
best rock video: "miss murder" by a.f.i.
viewer's choice award: "dance, dance" by fall out boy *
video of the year: "i write sins not tragedies" by panic! at the disco
best video game soundtrack: "marc ecko's getting up" by atari
best video game score: "elder scrolls iv: oblivion" by jeremy soule

best choreography: "hips don't lie" by shakira feat. wyclef jean
best art direction: "dani california" by red hot chilli peppers *
best direction: "crazy" by gnarls barkley *
best editing: "crazy" by gnarls barkley
best cinematography: "you're beautiful" by james blunt
best special effects: "we run this" by missy elliott *

as MTV news said after the show, "the vmas were full of underdogs & disappointments." i think they were kinda rude for the disappointment part, but i agree with them.

new evanescence avatar. i think i'm gonna change mine every 2 weeks. this one might look a little weird, but i think it's ok. i <3 their new song, "call me when you're sober".

yesterday, i went swimming with justin & sandra at SI. i finally learned how to swim! i don't think i can do the breathing well, but i swam up to the line(half a width) without taking a breath. so, in the lowell test, which is 6 widths, i guess i can take one breath during each width. but you also have to tread for a min., & i only did it for a few seconds. my all-time record was 15 sec., but that was when i was in swim class. i don't think justin can teach me very well. i get it the first couple times, but then i forget & get frustrated. i don't wanna take another swim class, though. maybe i can get someone else to teach me. sandra couldn't tread.

wow, i just uploaded my first avatar. it is one of kelly clarkson's mug.

today, my dad's car broke down, & i think that's the first time that's ever happened. so, we had to take the bus to my speed reading class, & it was a great rush. oh, i'm taking a speed reading class every sunday for 5 weeks, & it's ending next week. it's to help me in lowell, cause i know i'm gonna die there. so far, i've made some progress, but not as much as i would like. i get a lot of homework from that class, too, so i don't have much time to do other stuff except watch tv. this may be apparent to some, or unimportant to others, but my tv obsession has really taken over my internet obsession. i think about... last year, i was obsessed with the internet. now, i'm obsession with tv. i think my discovery of MTV had a lot to do with it. MTV has new episodes of shows EVERY NIGHT, so i have to watch them. & oh, of course, TRL. TRL(total request live) has now become my favorite show, & i HAVE to watch every episode, which means every weekday(excluding fridays). so that's why i don't go on the computer that much. OK! back to the entry. after my speed reading class, i took the bus with my dad to stonestown, where i had a snack with my mom & bought dinner(panda express & sushi!). & it was already closing time! so i couldn't go to macy's for the shoe sale. <_> & then we went to borders, & i got a binder & a binder-like thing with clear protective sheets instead of metal rings. the second object was for my music in orchestra. & both objects were from the colorful animal paperchase stands in the front of borders. then we took the bus ride home.

has anybody seen "talladega nights"? freakin hilarious movie! it was #1 last week with 47 mil, & it definitely deserved it! will ferrell is awesome! & that movie has so many catchphrases & quotes... "shake & bake!"

august 6, 2006:
today, i went to my grandma's funeral. this was the first funeral i've ever went to. the first mortuary, the first graveyard, & the first dead body i've seen, too. it was both a buddhist & christian ceremony. everybody bowed to my grandma three times as we entered, three times when we left, & some other times in between. & my grandpa, dad, mom, aunt, & uncle placed three blankets over her. that was the buddhist part. the christian part was when the minister spoke to the audience & prayed. i had to go up once to make a short "speech"(35 seconds to be precise) that my dad & i wrote last night. my cousin made a speech, too, although his was about 2 or 3 times longer. even though he's in college, that's kind of embarrassing for me. anyway, after that, we drove to the graveyard, and the ride there was heck. these two big old guys needed a ride to the graveyard, & my parents offered to drive them. so, i was squooshed in the backseat on the left next to 2 big old guys for over half an hour. it was probably the most squished car ride i've ever been in. anyways, when i got out of the car, i had a big cramp on my right side. & i could barely stand. but i was fine later on. oh, this is random, but i actually got a high score playing a game on my mom's cell phone in the car. that's amazing, due to the circumstances. ok, in the graveyard, my grandma's coffin was lowered about six feet into the ground. then, we all threw roses into her grave, and the minister said a prayer again. then, we left to go to the restaurant for lunch. the graveyard was actually prettier than i thought. lots of cut green grass & flowers. & it was big, too. oh, in the mortuary and the graveyard, there were shapes made of flowers situated on stands. like, there was a big heart made of roses, and a picture frame(of my grandma) made of flowers. and many bouquets on the floor. the flowers were pretty, but i didn't really notice them during the funeral. i just saw they were there. i could say i cried a little during the funeral. i mean, no tears went down my face, but some on the sides of my eyes. i felt waves of tears coming to me at times, but i held them back cause not many people were crying. & this was the first time i saw my grandpa sobbing. naturally, he was the one crying the hardest. my dad said he first saw my grandpa crying when my grandma first died.