Sunshine and Dark Chocolate











{October 7, 2008}   Miscellaneous Happiness

1. Gaia now has AUTOMAIL!!!!

2. I’m a zOMG! beta-tester!!!

3. RENT is going on tour with Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp as Roger and Mark, respectively.

4. The Bald Soprano is going to pwn.

5. I’m singing “Prayer of The Children” at Honors Chorus!!!!

6. I’m going to the opera Thursday!

7. Ruffles.  XDDD

8. Hugs for Macauley for having been proved wrong!!

9. I was nominated for GHP!!!

10. The BUFFY and TWILIGHT felt friends are almost finished!

~Alice



{October 2, 2008}   Drinking and Drawing

It is never a good idea to drink and drive.  Mothers will get Madd at you.  But Drinking and Drawing is a fun activity for anyone who finds themselves unable to resist the urge to get wasted on occassion.  The concept is simple, the materials even simpler.  All you need is a case of beer, some paper, and a box of markers.  If no markers are availible, crayons are a suitable substitute, but colored pencils are not.  The first step to the full enjoyment of drinking and drawing is to enjoy your beer while you’re getting wasted.  Nobody likes a sad drunk, especially when the time comes to play the game.  Once your words are slurred and your logic has reverted to that of a nine-year-old with Down syndrome, you are ready to play.  Grab a sheet of paper and your favorite color marker.  If someone else has the same favorite color, either pick different shades, or be the bigger person and choose your second favorite person.  Then, you all shout random things and the others try to draw them.  The best drawing gets another beer.  The game continues until you are out of alcohol or passed out.  If beer is not to your liking, this game can also be played with mixed drinks, shots or other liquors.

Disclaimer

I, the author of this post, do not support underage drinking, nor do I condone getting wasted as an appropriate pastime.

Additional Disclaimer

My cousin Travis has Down Syndrome, so before someone says something about my mention of down syndrome, I would just like to say that I am fully aware of how serious the condition is.

~Alice



{September 21, 2008}   Yellow Jackets

I spent the weekend chillin with Toph, which was fun, except for one unfortunate event.  She wanted to go see the goats, and I reluctantly agreed.  I’m not much of one for the outdoors around here because goats smell really bad.  Well, she tried to pet the skittish goats, but to no avail.  Instead, we started climbing the hay bales in the barn.  Now I know all of you folks from the city probably won’t understand what’s so fun about that, but it is great fun to race to the top of several bales of hay.  Unfortunately, there was a next of yellow jackets in the boards under the hay.  Needless to say, we were pretty viciously attacked.  Those things don’t give up!  But we survived the encounter with minimal damage, and had a pretty great rest of the weekend.  On Saturday Pirate came and kidnapped us to watch Pushing Daisies at her place.  That is definitely an amazing show.

Alice~



{September 17, 2008}   Rock Me Sexy Jesus

When I first saw commercials about the movie Hamlet 2, I was convinced that it was a tasteless piece of trash which could only serve as an insult to the works of Shakespeare.  This opinion has stayed with me for quite some time, until I recently read a summary of the film, which claims that it is a comedy about a failed actor turned high school drama teacher convincing his students to put on a politically incorrect sequel to Shakespeare’s tragedy.  This didn’t sound too terribly bad, although I have yet to shell out the $6 needed to see the film for myself.  Instead, I went to youtube and watched the sing-along version of “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” in hopes of getting a better idea of what the music would be like.  At first I was appalled, but after the initial disgust wore off, I found it quite catchy and even entertaining.  If it weren’t for the obscenity of the dancing which goes along with this sequence, I would even have to say I like it.

I am not conservative and I hope that I have made my point of that quite clear.  I do have a problem with anything which doesn’t show the proper respect to religous icons, including Jesus.  Still, I think I just might go see this show, if only for the pure comedy of it.  My normal tastes in media runs to the meaningful and entertaining, but perhaps this might be intriguing.

Alice~



Last night, I suffered what must be the world’s most devastating breakup.  No, it was not mine.  It was the breakup of Oz and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  It was the most emotionally draining experience I have ever been completely uninvolved with.  This is the reason my post is so short.  I have lost the ability to write a comprehensive post about anything other than this completely terrible event.

Alice~



{September 4, 2008}   RANT #3: Racism

Racism is one of the dumbest concepts in the world.  I don’t know how many times I’ve been fussed at by a black guy for disliking them because they’re black.  Because I am technically white, I can’t possibly dislike a person of color because they’re a prick.  I must dislike them because I’m racist.  So here I am to share my philosophy on racism.

Everyone’s a little bit racist.  There, I said it.  You know it’s true.  And to prove my point, here is a lovely live clip from Avenue Q.

And now, to conclude, I would like to add that asking for race/ethnicity on tests, applications, etc subtly promotes racism by reminding people that they have a race.  When I fill out those forms, I list my race as Other-Human.  Color does not determine who you are, and we shouldn’t preoccupy ourselves with it.

Alice~



Sometimes great ideas are born in a simple burst of inspiration.  This one sprung forth from two.  Twisting pickup lines has always been a favorite way of mine to ignore what’s actually going on in class, and one day I began thinking about what would happen if instead of an angel falling from heaven, a demon bent on world domination miscast his spell and overshot, right into your living room.  Better yet, what if it was the living room of a teenage/college age girl?  This idea began to simmer, and two classes later, in Chorus, it started taking shape.

When Kelsey asked me “What should I draw?” Nothing immediately came to mind.  Still, the intriguing idea from earlier still buzzed in the back of my mind, and soon I began furiously scribbling a stick person storyboard and explaining to Kelsey my idea.  She loved it, and began drawing the first chapter of what has come to be known as Paige and Kelsey’s Ultimate Comic of DOOM!!!, Comic of Doom for short.  Perhaps one day it will have a real title, perhaps even cleaned artwork on unlined paper, but until then, it exists in spiral notebooks and binders and pages stuffed into bags.

Right now there are three major characters and one particularly important background character.  Clarissa is our central protagonist, a twenty-year-old college student with a random personality and a penchant for anything shiny.  As she sat on her couch listening to music and writing a paper for her English class, Damien, a cat demon, crash landed in her living room.  Outraged at first, she loses all sense of anger when she discovers a shiny ring in his cat ear.  Taking the ring and stringing it on a chain around her neck, she ties the hapless kitty-boy to a bed and waits for him to come to.  Unwittingly, he reveals that the jewel is more than a shiny ornament, it is the grounding point of his demonic powers.  Without it, his magic is uncontrollable.  When Clarissa refuse to return the jewel, Damien finds himself stuck living with her.  Slowly but surely, he finds himself drawn to her inexplicably.

The third prominent character so far is Prosper, a young man whom Clarissa meets at a bistro and later discovers is attending classes with her at her University.  A flirtatious friendship begins, and when Damien and Prosper meet, they begin a furious competition to prove that each is better than the other.  Clarie, as Damien has nicknamed her, is oblivious.

My favorite bit of humor in the comic is the Presidential Campaign ads which Clarissa lives for.  [Yes, I realize I ended a sentence with a preposition.] She is a fanatic supporter of the candidate InuYasha, whose dog ears go unnoticed by most people and his white hair is considered ‘charming’.  While watching TV with Damien she will frequently talk during the show but force him to remain absolutely silent during any of InuYasha’s presidential ads.

Alice~



{September 2, 2008}   Once Upon a Midsummer’s Dream

Into the mirror I stand and stare

As memories fly by

Pictures on a projector screen

So real, yet so far behind

Days spent in ignorant bliss

Oblivious to the world

Though happiness seemed to rule supreme

Dark clouds loomed overhead

Now those days cannot return

We can’t be what we were

Too many lies and false promises

To bridge the gap between

Now these days of bliss long past

filed neatly into line

final remains of what could have been

Once upon a midsummer night’s dream

For some reason, I felt like poetry today. I’m not sure what it was. Perhaps being in contact with Phillip again, or possibly just my current temperament, I do not know. Still, this is what was produced, for better or for worse. Maybe one day I’ll edit it, or even take it down, to be cataloged forever among the dozens of notebooks which contain my artistic muse.

Alice~



{September 1, 2008}   All Five of Me- Live

So yesterday I went to see All Five of Me live at the Decatur book festival.  It was great.   Unfortunately, I was late and missed the first song of the set, which turned out to be one that I love to see performed live.  I took Christmas Eve with me, and she and Tarzan fought like siblings.  Anyways, the music was fantastic.  He played two sets, one accompanied by Sarah and Scott and the other solo.  I am also happy to say that although he didn’t sing it during the main performance, Luke did sing the tritone song like he promised, although Sarah stopped him halfway through it because she doesn’t get the whole tritone thing, although it was a landmark song as it signified an entire five minute span in which Hunter and Luke were not trying to kill/maim/dismember each other.

But anyways, the main purpose of this post is to advertise All Five of Me because Luke is amazingly amazing and I think people need to hear his music.  I also wanted an excuse to tell people how awesome Scott is, because he’s currently my favorite GA Tech student, as he is the only Tech student I know.  Sarah is also an incredibly talented individual whom I greatly admire.  It’s not many people who can sing high notes with such bombastic volume.  I’ve gotta go eat, so I’m ending this here.

Alice~



{August 28, 2008}   Reflections

“The past is the past… and the future is the future. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. I am who I am, and you are who you are. Like it really matters anyway….” – Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)

In one brief moment, Faye delivers this uncharacteristic wisdom, showing an introspective side of her which is rarely evident in her usual characterization.  In just a few words, she explains how everyone wishes they could feel about the world which is more often than not falling to pieces around them.  I’ve never had much of a love life, having standards far too high for any Barrow Boy to keep up with for more than a week or two, but these words remind me that when it comes down to it, nothing matters except what’s in your heart.  No matter what’s in your past, where your future lies, or who you are, love is the one thing that matters.  As Hubb said in Secondhand Lions:

“Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love… true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.”

In short, the point I am trying to make is that no matter what, the most important things in life should always come first.  In Tsubasa, Kurogane said something which struck me as wise, something which is a foreign to his impulsive character as liking women is to Fai.  “Don’t look back. If you got something to do, then only look forward.”  If you dwell on the past, or the what could have been, you’ll never be able to live.  All you will be is a shell, letting precious time fly by you while you wallow in memories of the past.  As I’m talking in quotes today, I have one more before I depart.  As Grandmother Willow said in the Disney Pocahontas movie, “Listen to your heart, you will understand.”

Alice~



et cetera