Hat trick for Johnny-related posts! I saw Public Enemies last night, of course, with la_belle_ange and our honorary older brother (who applauded the ending of the movie because he likes to torment me). I wrote one of my professional-type reviews, so here it is, overlong and spoiler free:

( 'What keeps you up nights?' 'Coffee.' )

I sent it into our local paper because I was told they were interested in getting reviews within a week of the film's release, but I doubt they'll want it, since the paper comes out on Thursday and it is Thursday and, you know, if they put it in next week, it'll be pretty late. But I wrote a polite (read: sniveling) e-mail saying that I would appreciate any critique or comments and have lots of other work I can send and plz can we be frendz and blah-blah-blah, so fingers crossed. And in a lovely coincidence, I found out that a letter I wrote to the Philadelphia Inquirer was printed today; when I checked my e-mail at 10:45 this morning, I already had three letters from readers, as well as a Facebook wall post from scimmia_romanov. :D It was about Michael Jackson and the media and didn't say anything I didn't say in my post on here, but it's a good feeling, especially since it's, like, a legit paper and it'll look good on a resume.

And in a freakish twist, I also got an e-mail saying I WON free advanced tickets to HBP from another newspaper, this time Philadelphia Weekly, which I have taken to calling "the bitchy hipster paper," since they're very artsy and grumpy and hate everything mainstream. (I was absolutely floored upon seeing that they gave PE an A.) I guess I have to be nice to them now! I entered on a whim and didn't think anything would come of it, but there you are, and it's Monday the 13th at 7:00 PM. \o/

Also: the aforementioned honorary bro gave me my X-mas present last night (I KNOW, RIGHT?): a full-sized cardboard cutout of Captain Jack Sparrow. No, really. It's actually fairly terrifying; it's taller than I am and I had to turn it around to face the wall so I could sleep, and even so I almost jumped out of my skin when I woke up and there was a huge dark shape looming over my bed. It's kind of a huge win. I'm thinking new Facebook photo, y/y?

THURSDAY:
-- Went to the official-first-day-of-spring thingy at Rita's and got free water ice with la_belle_ange (even though it was about forty degrees and not at all properly springy)
-- Went back to her house and attempted to procure the original Funny Games, but were unsuccessful, so we played Scene It? and watched "Gilmore Girls" at 5:00 on ABC Family
-- Watched "Lost" at home and squeed, as always (HOORAY! OFFICIAL GAY!)

FRIDAY:
-- Went to my dad's and watched A Good Year for Marion (it's not bad)
-- Participated in Stategate '08 at my beloved statements (we were sort of boycotting the boycott--we're rebels!), which was a roaring success; our goal was 9,000+ and we finished at 11,511, which I especially liked because it's a palindrome
-- Found out that I am IN the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly via ONTD (thanks for the scan, ryanchai!!). I wrote them a letter a few weeks back in response to their article on why the Oscars had so few viewers. They edited me, obviously--the full letter read as such:

Come now, EW, let's just admit it: the Oscars didn't do that well ratings-wise because 2007 was filled with smart, multi-layered, introspective films, and the average person would rather see Optimus Prime blow stuff up, so they're not about to tune in and watch the other stuff win. Everyone quoted the milkshake line, sure, but did half of those people actually get that movie? The fact of the matter is that most people prefer to just be entertained than be forced to think deeply about a film in order to understand it. The Spider-man 3-type movies will always do better than the No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood types, regardless of the enormous gap in quality. Let's applaud the Academy for actually awarding excellent films this time around and not just appeasing the fairly embarrassing tastes of the viewers. (To quote the great Dwight Schrute, we need a new plague.)

With fervent movie-geek sincerity,
[me]

Uh, who's awesome? I'm awesome. :D :D :D

SATURDAY:
-- Went to, like, three different stores looking for the goddamn magazine so I could show my friends at dinner, but was cruelly denied
-- Went out to dinner with honorary older brother, mother and la_belle_ange, which was every bit as cracky as expected. Received a very entertaining early birthday gift from said older brother (I am actually very persnickety about these unofficial-type books, but it was very sweet of him and I didn't say anything)

SUNDAY:
-- Will probably be faking a seizure or something to get out of going to church with my mother, as I am decidedly lapsed in the religious sense
-- Will be going to aunt's house for early-ish Easter lunch/dinner at 2:00-something and bringing the cake (although not, sadly, baking it, as previously thought)
-- Will read Iphigenia at Aulis on the train back to school and grow alarmed at the fact that I didn't do a scrap of homework all break and have a Spanish test on Tuesday, among other things

Not bad, overall. :)

[ mood | Awake ]
[ music of the night | "Caught in the Rain" - Revis ]

Argh. Just lost my whole fucking entry. Must recap.

( Anyway, here is my speech )

Went well, people nice. No booing or throwing of vegetables. Play was changed, WTF? briefly. Later OK with it. Callbacks went well, really want to get it. Am spazzing.

Must go watch "Lost."

[ mood | Freaked ]
[ music of the night | distant music... ]

Oh dear god. On a stick. With a badger.

I just had my English exam. And for our creative part (there's usually two or three serious essays, and one creative part), I wrote a mini-essay comparing and contrasting Walt Whitman and Locke from "Lost."

No. I'm serious.

I don't know what possessed me. I was pressed for time, and the assignment said to compared someone we'd read about (or read the material) and some current-day character in a book or on TV or something, and I don't know, I just went with it. This whole idea about their similar attitudes, that whole "let's not censor anything because this is real life and we need to go hunt boar" thing just popped into my head, and during these kinds of scary-ass exams, you just have to go with it. Here, I'll post it.

( Cut because it's longish. I hope you have virus protection, because if you click on this cut, massive amounts of STUPID will infiltrate your computer. )

But hey, you never know. My teacher has liked some of the crappiest crap I've ever written, and hated stuff I've slaved over. So there's really no telling. And at least I've only got two more exams left, math and chem, and then a homework-free three-day weekend. I had this whole plan of seeing, like, five movies, but it's supposed to snow horrendously, so I don't know.

Oy.

( And a mini-meme from Dele. )