Post #53: Ghost Stories, Summer Television, and Being Tuff

Coldplay's new album Ghost Sories came out a few weeks ago, and it got some seriously mixed reviews. Nonetheless, I went out and bought the Target Deluxe Edition. I really like it. I love "Magic", and "Ink" is a good song too. I think that the album leans towards the earlier, more melancholy albums rather than Mylo Xyloto's synth-driven cheeriness. Not that their other albums didn't feature synthesizers. Coldplay was one of the first bands that I really got into of my own accord. It wasn't something that I grew to love because my mom played it. It was something that I though was cool and introduced everyone else to. Coldplay holds a special place in my heart because they were the first band that I found of my own accord.

So most of my shows have ended, but that's okay, because the summer tv season has started. In addition to Endeavor, which starts June 29, Graceland starts on the 11. And I am hooked on Night Shift, mostly because I don't know what goes on in an ER, so I won't sit and pick apart what the characters do, and also the main guy is smokin' hot. I'm also sucked into Gang Related. It's like Chicago PD and The Departed had a baby. And it's got Rabbit from Trauma. 

My mom found The Fabulous Thunderbirds' album Tuff Enuff at the thrift store, and it's constantly being played at my house. It's a great album with some fun songs. I love "Tuff Enuff", "Wrap It Up", and "Why Get Up?". 

"Nothin' I'd do for you that's too tough for me." - The Fabulous Thunderbirds

-D.

Post #52: Into The Why the Heck Can't You Make Better Choices

We still have to do things in English, so in addition to our portfolios, we are reading Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. 

I don't like camping. At all. I enjoy nature, but I also enjoy running water and my own bed. I like hiking and gardening, but no camping. But hey, there's a dead guy and a writer trying to figure out what's going on! It sounds awesome, right? WRONG. 

Basically Chris/Alex decides "hey, I'm going to go live off the land in Alaska without any of the right equipment because I want to be like Jack London!" And then he dies and Krakauer finds "Vague, unsettling parallels" in their lives and retraces his steps. I'm 60 pages in and I hate it. This guy is just one questionable decision after another. And I'm fed up with all of the political rambling of the letters and whatnot from Chris/Alex. Sometimes he says something deep and profound, like "the joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences," and then there is a bunch of anti-government, pseudo-hermit mumbo-jumbo. And Jon Krakauer isn't much better. He seems to have reverence for Alex/Chris and his bad decisions. 

And we are watching the movie at the same time. The best part thus far has been the Eddie Vedder soundtrack. I would love to Mystery Science Theater 3000 this movie, but alas, we are watching it as a group so that's a no-go. 

"Stop Whining and find something to do." - Dowager Countess, Downton Abbey

-D.

Post #51: Look, Ma! I'm Not Dead!

I would like to issue a retraction. A couple of posts ago I talked about how sad I was that they cancelled Inspector Lewis. Turns out it got renewed. Yay!
Also: I made an actual A-Team Montage. You can watch it here.

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled blog post.

I'm done with AP! Yay! I took the AP Lit test today, and now I'm done! Woo! That is all I am allowed to say about the AP test, as I have signed my soul away to the College Board and I am not allowed to talk about it. But I'm not dead, so there's that.

I am writing this post really late today. I went to see Buddy Wakefield tonight. There was some miscommunication and when it came down to it, Mr. Wakefield preformed for about 45 minutes. We were the last stop. I have never seen a slam poetry anything, but I was hoping for more than two songs, three poems, and some rambling. But it was good. My mom and I had a good time. I got a poster. I shook Mr. Wakefield's hand and he signed my poster. I got a picture. 

Mr. Wakefield is a bitter person. Brilliant, but bitter. And that's okay. He preformed "Horsehead", "Gandhi's Autobiography", "A Little Diddy Called Happiness" and another song.  My mom and I were one of the only ones to get the pencil puns. Some of the audience members were not so sharp and did not get the point of the puns. I would have liked to hear "Guitar Repair woman, but there is always next time. 

I need to work on finding more positive art. I need more hope in my life. 

"I care to be whole." - Horsehead

-D.

Post #50: The AP Test Cometh

Cue The A-Team theme please. Roll the montage of me sharpening #2 pencils, testing ballpoint pens, circling multiple choice answers, doing push-ups while reading a textbook, and reading poems, while looking directly into the camera or flipping my hair.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to take the AP Literature test. I AM READY! (this is the part where I strike a macho pose and do some sort of a battle cry.)
But seriously, I am ready. I got a 5 on the practice test, and I think I have a decent shot at another on the real test.
To prep us for the test, Mr. Burge had us do cheat sheets of all the books we read this year, and so I went back and dug out my annotated Catch-22. It was fun to revisit my notes. Whilst searching for where I wrote down what kind of planes were being flown by Yossarian &co. (B-17 Flying Fortresses, for the record.), I found one of my annotations that pretty much sums up about 80% of the book: GODDAMNIT MILO! written all in caps, on page 446, as Snowden lies on the floor of the plane and Yossarian looks for some morphine only to find a note that says: "What's good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country. Milo Minderbinder".
Frankenstein and Hamlet were a lot less fun to go through. Frankie was okay, and it's always fun to read about Old Ham back from the grave, but Catch-22 is my favorite.
"There's more to life than books you know, but not much more." - The Smiths
-D.