The Avengers Premiere

   Alright, so a group of kids from my ward decided to go and see The Avengers the night it came out (I know, I bet you never would have guessed that based on the title, yeah?) There had been talk about how funny it'd be if we all dressed up as Harry Potter characters--especially with the type of fans that would be at the midnight showing. Well, I figured it was mostly just conversation, however, about an hour before we were meant to leave, I came out of my room (which was solely mine at the time. That only lasted about 2 weeks, by the way. However, it's alright, Heidi is my new roommate now, as opposed to flatmate, so it's all good.) and my flatmates were all dressing up. I had nothing better to do, so I thought I might as well, too. I have never dressed up for any movie before--and I was purposefully dressing for the wrong film. That's the way to do it, I tell ya. With Lucy's help, I was able to create a pretty neat Bellatrix Lestrange costume and hairdo.
   As it turns out, no one else had the guts to dress up with us. Goobers--the lot of 'em! At the theater, it was brilliant--so many people talked about us and watched us as we walked (or, in my case, strutted, past). Unfortunately, despite our early arrival, our group had to sit on the front row. On the plus side, it gave people a better view of us, and I was able to strut darkly (haha, yeah...) for my audience. It was great--I held my expression nearly the whole time even though people were definitely looking right at me! It made me miss theatre, that's for sure. Check out the pics--Lucy is Tonks, Heidi is Hermione, Morgan is Professor Trelawney, and I, of course, am Bellatrix.

In character:

And posing at the front of the theater:

   Oh, and the movie was really good, too!

Miss Representation

   As a Tracy Anderson Method consumer, I get emails from TA every once in a while. Today, the email came with several links for women, as Mother's Day is approaching. At the bottom, Tracy recommended watching the doc "Miss Representation". I read the little blurb about it and figured that this movie was about how oppressed women were and how much life sucks sometimes because we are so victimized (or something like that). However, I clicked the link that took me to the site, and immediately realized that I was wrong. I watched the trailer and was shocked. This film talks about how objectified women are in society. My favourite quote is: "You can't be what you can't see". Now, I am not suggesting that every point is being represented perfectly, however, I am very interested in this and feel very passionately about it.
   In the trailer, there is a montage of clips of women as portrayed in the media. It was shocking and sickening. Though I've always tried my best to avoid such things in the world, I have also been fairly sure that I at least know enough about what is going on. Especially in Church, I hear about how this is the most wicked time and the most wicked world, and, quite honestly, I end up boggled a lot of the time after hearing this. I understand that there is an exceeding mount of wickedness going on, yet I cannot imagine a world where things are that much better (what do they do there--just skip through the flowers all day?). Watching that trailer was a huge eye opener--seeing a collection of what is popular and considered good entertainment. It really helped me to see how horribly objectified women are. It's so wrong. Hollywood tells us that we must be beautiful to be successful, and watching just one thing that sort of supports such a message may not seem too bad, however, when you realize that that is the message that nearly everything is selling women, it is revolting.
   Now, there is really only one major thing that I disagree with from the trailer. They say that when boys are girls are young, about an even number of them want to be president when they grow up, but when you ask them when they are 15, girls are far less likely to want that still. There probably are some who just don't think they could, but, at least for me, I think that it isn't as tragic as they make it out to be. As girls get older, I think that many of them probably decide that they would rather be mothers or have less stressful jobs (so they can balance a family, or whatever). Political life isn't that huge a draw for a lot of people, I feel. Either way, check out the site, here's the link. Also, here is the link to the longer video. I highly recommend it. This is a pretty excellent cause, I feel.

Click here to go to the Miss Representation site

   Back to Tracy Anderson. I just found out that she is having a second child this month. I have to say, I really admire her. One of her original DVDs was a post-pregnancy workout, and she talks--fairly often--about how women can be mothers and have a body that makes them feel beautiful. I remember a while back when Jillian Michaels said she would never have children because she did not want to lose her body. In response, Tracy sent out an email saying that was a horrible mindset--that women are naturally nurturing and many of us want to have families. She also said that you can look great afterwords (you can see the results with her and her clients). However, when Tracy last had a child, she wasn't the super-trainer that she is today. I was really pleased to see that the trainer I have aligned with puts a high value on family and motherhood, even though she had the perfect body.

   On a final note, I would just like to bring up that there is a difference between 'sexy' and 'sexism'. I find nothing wrong with innocently (for lack of a better term) wanting to feel sexy--it's the devaluation of women that I have a problem with.

Oh, and that guy--(in the trailer) that replied, "You mean besides the pms and the mood swings?"--can go to hell.

Zumba--it's a dance party!

   I've been meaning to blog about this for several months now. Brilliant. Anyway...
So, my freshman year of college, I bought a bracelet that allowed me to attend Zumba classes (and others, but I mostly did Zumba) in the evening. For about a month, I was really good and went a couple of times a week, however, after that, I stopped going. Since the bracelet only gave me access for 1 semester, I went Zumba-less for nearly a year. Fall semester of my sophomore year, I enrolled in a Zumba class (for credit). There, I was bitten with the Zumba bug. Some days, I really hated that I had to exercise (the grades were solely based upon attendance. However, I actually memorized the choreography to several songs we did and would do them in me flat on days when I didn't have the class. Over Christmas break, I went Zumba crazy. It was pretty much the only productive thing I did. I would dance for a couple of hours--it was great! This past Winter semester, I bought another bracelet, went once, but then ended up Zumba-ing on my own. There are so many routines online, so you can choose which songs you feel like doing.
   I love the results I've seen. Dancing definitely increases full-body coordination, and I have shaped up quite a bit!

Pre-Zumba:

Post Zumba:

   To anyone curious about Zumba--try it. It's loads of fun. If you don't know too much about it, then check out this video. This is currently my favourite routine to do, so I thought I'd film it for those who want to know what Zumba is all about.

Click here for the video :)

Fort of Awesome

   On Pinterest a few weeks back, I came across a list of indoor activities to do with young children. As I read the list, I was became increasingly excited because so many of the things on the list were activities that I thought would be fun. Now. Even if children weren't involved. So, I wrote down a list of my favourites from that list. Since that time, I have been anxious to actually do things off that list. Last night, I was finally able to do one.
   What do a handful of college students do at 10 p.m. when they are bored? Build a fort out of furniture and blankets, of course! That's right, we made an awesome-spice fort. Then, we sat inside talking excitedly about how cool our fort was, how fun it was to have made a fort, and how great it was to be sitting inside our fort (because we're just that cool). We actually managed to stuff 7 people inside at one point. Impressive, n'est-ce pas? Once we were all happily squished inside, like a bunch of sardines, Dave read us a story--in total darkness, aside from a single flashlight--for half and hour. It was great. Near midnight, several people stopped by and they all seemed to appreciate our handiwork/the fact that we spent our time building a fort (because everybody enjoys forts). It was ridiculously brilliant.
   To make things even better, I actually got pictures of it (if you're interested in seeing a few more poorly taken pictures of us in our fort, they're on Facebook). Check it out.
   Exterior view:

   Inside the fort:

Another Video About Being a Film Student

Alright, so this is gold. Couldn't not share it:

"Jack's Films". Teehee!

Film Students

 So, if you didn't already know, I was accepted into the Media Arts program (Film). Though I have only been in the program 1 month, I have already heard--or said--90% of this stuff (some of it, many times). This is epic.

Lies About Homeschoolers

   I haven't ever posted a video, but this is too good not to.

If you were homeschooled, you adored this. If you weren't, I am so, so sorry because you just won't really get it; you can't. This video sums up my life since I first started homeschool. So, after nearly 10 years of these EXACT questions, let me tell you, this video is awesome.
P.S. Nothing in this video is exaggerated, I promise you; this is exactly what I've been getting for years.

Extreme Changes

   So, you may have noticed I haven't blogged since September. If not, don't worry, neither did I. I realized that I really had to post now though, because the title of my last post is HILARIOUS. I mean absolutely laughable. Yes? How would you know--it's not like I'm updating. Anyway, I guess I'll take care of that right now. Last year, I posted about a few minor changes in my life and mused that, despite what I thought, things really could change. Yay. OK, so, here is my new list of changes (that have come about since September 12):

-First of all, I am obsessed with doing things with people. Yes. You read that correctly. I enjoy nothing better than hanging out with a group of friends now. Nothing. At all. Yes, I am the same person who frequently bashed humanity in general back in August. In fact, I am pretty miserable if I don't have at least 10 minutes of conversation with at least a few people (other than me flatmates) every day. Things are even worse if I go more than 3 days without some sort of group activity. I know, first world problems and all that jazz.

-Going off of the first change, I would choose to stay up all night, every night with friends than sleep. It's true, I adore sleeping, however, I think it would be great if I didn't have to sleep just so I could have fun all the time. Oh, and yes, I have tried this--it doesn't work after 1 day.

-Fall semester, I enrolled in a .5 credit Zumba class to make myself be motivated to exercise at least twice a week. It worked. I have been bitten by a Zumba bug. I LOVE it and am nigh obsessive about it. Best part: I am really toning up! Alright! I think this is the best shape I've been in, in fact.
Side effect: I cannot help dancing (not Zumba) whenever I hear 'dancey' music. You know the phrase "dance like no one's watching"? Yeah, who cares. Unless it is Zumba, in which case I shut the blinds and occasionally have to shove the neighbors out of me flat.

-As sort of a side-note to my new Zumba hobby, I usually listen to Zumba or Latin music now. It's so much fun and so energetic--I just love it.

-I sing all the time. I've always loved singing, but, as fate would have it, one of my flatmates, Julene, loves singing too. As a result, we have created many duets to songs and have an absolute blast! It is SO much fun. So much fun.

-I frequently end up in headlocks. I don't have a good explanation for this. Remember how I took self-defense last Winter semester? It made me confident. That's great and all, but that class teaches you how to really hurt someone who's trying to get you. As it turns out, most people I fight are actually fighting, not trying to get me, so I lose. Maybe I'd win if I utilized what I know, but that would be mean because it would hurt the other person. So, I continue to ask people if they want to fight (because it is a good release of energy and I feel that now I must win to prove myself), and I continue to be lifted, put in headlocks, and restrained. I've decided I have serious 'kitten that thinks it's a tiger' syndrome. Plus side: I've toughened up some. Some.

-I love organic cereal for dessert. It's just really yummy.

So, though that was a lot of text, it was only a few points, however, I think you get the idea, yes? I've made a 180 degree change in less than 6 months. Goodness, my 17 year-old self would have disliked me...I'm totally nuts--but it's great. Oh, yeah, I'm also officially a film student now, so that's sort of a big deal. (PS saying "me flat" or whatever is not a typo. That's just how I talk now.)