Wow.

Ok, let me start by saying that I'm watching Ratatouille, the Pixar movie, not the food, if that makes this make any more sense...

I'm in this movie, and apparently, I'm dead and French with awesome stationary and I had a child out of wedlock.

Wow. I should be...flattered? that my name is Frenchy enough to get into a movie about French people, but apart from the cool purple stationary I'm ashamed of the character named after me. I mean, it's an otherwise AWESOME movie (wait, have I confessed my love for Pixar before? They're all G-rated movies, but I love them.) and they pronounce Renata with an extra "REH", a cross between rolling the "r" like in Spanish and hocking up phlegm. It makes it sound snooty.

Ok, on with the questions!

What tattoo would you get: Hmmm... something subtle, but nothing on my ankle or a "tramp stamp" (lower back), because that's really common now. Maybe a small, but intricate rose around my bellybutton, or a smiley face at the base of my left middle finger, simply for the sake of irony. :)

Have you ever read Jane Austen: No, I really should, though. I don't really have anything against those books, I just never have. Regarding another "classic" author, though, I have a reason. (and a rant, so get ready...)

I was SERIOUSLY considering reading Wuthering Heights (for the sake of reading more "classics", and because the paperback was lying around my house) but before I got around to it, EVERYONE was reading it, JUST because it was mentioned in Twilight. Really? That's your ONLY reason for reading this book? And also, you're THAT obsessed with Twilight? Really? Bella jumps off a cliff, so do you want to? REALLY?

What would your Patronus be: Ok, I took the easy way out and took a quiz to decide for me... Click the link! and I got a Phoenix. Cool.

My question isn't so much a question as it is a task, is that okay? Here goes:

Describe yourself in a six word sentence.

Life Around Town

This is very close to what the last group of pigs looked like (they're Vietnamese pigs)

So today I went to the county fair. Woot.
It's sad that we get so excited about this, really, but that is what happens when you cannot drive and do not feel like Metro-ing your way around DC every day of the week. It's official name includes the word "agricultural," which accurately describes one half of the fair, but the other half is basically a carnival with rides and such. Fun stuff.
Actually, my friend is part of 4H, so we met up with her and ended up mostly hanging around the "agriculture" end. It's surprisingly entertaining. There were pig races, if that says anything (I LOVE PIG RACES, they are the best thing ever. I watch them every year, and if it doesn't sound like fun to you, then you need to FIND A PIG RACE IMMEDIATELY. The pigs are ADORABLE, and they usually race billy goats and ducks too. CUTE. Another one of my friends and I got really annoyed because this one lady who "won" the last pig race got to PET THE FREAKING PIG, but she didn't even want to, and we wanted to SO BADLY, but we couldn't. It was depressing).
Geez, if I keep going at this rate, I might actually start to embrace country life. The horror! ;)

What tattoo would you get?
Something small, like a star or a small group of stars behind my right ear. Is that what Rihanna got? I feel like it might be. The problem with tattoos is that there seems to be some much baggage with whatever you choose and it's likely that your tattoo will be called cliche at some point or another. I think it'd be pretty, though. I wouldn't go for anything big and flashy, just because that's not how I roll. I doubt I'd ever get a tattoo, though, because I hate needles. I don't freak out over them, I just deal with them and move on, but I wouldn't go looking for a needle when it wasn't needed. :)

Have you ever read Jane Austen?
I don't believe that I have ever read Jane Austen. Crazy, I know, but for some reason, I haven't. I've read a number of other "classic" authors, but for some reason, never her. Not even "Pride and Prejudice," which I really ought to read, but I somehow never have. It may be because everybody is so in love with "Pride and Prejudice" that I feel it cannot live up to expectation - it's that weird phenomenon that causes you to become less excited for something everyone else is obsessed with. It's probably why I've never seen or read "The Notebook" - I feel like I'm bound to be disappointed by it. It's probably one of the few instances in which I will shamelessly admit that I tend to pick lesser-known or so-called "indie" movies over mainstream ones, because somehow the experience is more moving when you don't have thousands of fans slobbering over one character. (I know that sounds obnoxious, it annoys me when other people act like that, but it's true. I usually don't give a crap about how popular something is - hellooo, I love Harry freaking Potter, if that says anything about that.)
The other reason is that I've seen the movie version of P & P and, horrible as it sounds, it gave me less incentive to read the book. Some details of the plot are changed, of course, and I know that movies are rarely as good as the books, but the basic idea is the same, I think, and I already know what happens. Maybe this is why I wasn't in love with "Romeo and Juliet;"I honestly love the writing and I think much of it is beautiful, but I don't like the play much. I know it basically invented dozens of modern cliches and phrases, but I find all the characters - especially Romeo - completely unrelatable to the point where I was almost relieved when he died. Mercutio is my favorite character. And I already knew what happens in the play, virtually everybody does; I didn't mind reading it or watching it acted out, but it's not without its flaws. The story itself is good, but as a pure love story, it fails miserably. Then again, I don't think it was intended to be a model of a perfect relationship, and I'm annoyed when people treat it as such. It's a tragedy, not a "life is wonderful and then you reproduce" story.
Yes, I realize that Austen has written other books besides P & P, so I'll probably end up reading some of her other books first. I should get on that, she's supposed to be good. Thus far, my favorite novel from that time period is "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte. :)

Oh, ALEX, I didn't comment this on your post for some reason, but I am SO GLAD you watched AVPM. It's great, isn't it? :D

What would your Patronus be?

Let's start a book club!

I think we should have a book club. Everyone can suggest a book and then we'll read them one at a time and then we;ll discuss them via blog. I think it's brilliant. What do you think?

I'm in a book club right now. My sister started it for the summer and I've been away a lot and thus unable to attend meetings. This last Monday was the first one I was able to go to. The book for discussion: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

Did I mention it was a Jane Austen book club? Well, now you know.

How do you both feel about Jane Austen? Read any of her novels? Seen the movies? How do you feel about her work?

In case you don't know the story, I'll summarize a little:

Mansfield Park is based on the children of three sisters. One sister married quite favourably; one married satisfactorily; and one married poorly. The protagonist of the novel is the eldest daughter of the poorest sister, Fanny Price, who is sent, at age 10, from her impoverished home to live with her richest aunt along with her uncle and cousins. Her aunt's family are never really kind to her, and don't treat her as an equal, with the exception of her cousin, Edmund. They don't give her the same education, they don't give her the same privileges, basically they just ignore her and treat her as an inferior. Is anyone getting Jane Eyre de ja vu?

The main part of the book takes place when Fanny is eighteen and her cousins are out at balls and entertaining potential husbands, and she is sitting at home with her lazy aunt.

Anyway, once I got past the plainness and obedience of Fanny's character, I actually liked the book. It was rife with discussion topics.

I love books. I love words.

I wanted to let you know that I watched A Very Potter Musical. One of you suggested this. I loved it. All the actors were amazing and I can't get the songs out of my head. If you haven't watched it yet, you must.

Some questions I've somehow failed to answer:

Q: What is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

A: Froot Loops. Ew, gross. Who's idea was it to serve coloured cardboard to children who are susceptible to bright colours and toucans? (not a very creative answer, I know, but I can't think of anything)

Q: What is your favourite childhood book?

A: The only books I really remember reading as a kid were Dr. Seuss, Robert Munsch (PAPER BAG PRINCESS FTW!) and the Magic Tree House. I idolized Jack and Mary and their many bold adventures into different lands. Then one day, I realized the words were really big and the fact that it took me half an hour to read them and I dropped the series. I wonder if it's over yet...

Q: What is your single favourite English word?

A: At the moment, I have to say it's 'indeed'. Indeed, I do like to use that word. Of course, these things change daily. Check back later.

Q: If you could have a magical power, what would it be?

A: I firmly stick to my desire to be able to move things with my mind. The negative side of this would be that I could get extremely lazy and stop fetching anything, and simply have it zoom towards me. Whatever. If I could move things with my mind, in theory, I'd be able to fly!! Imagine that.

Reminder: Answer the Jane Austen question above? (have you read her? why or why not... yada yada.)

So... am I the comic relief?

After a couple days of actually serious blogs, (good for you guys, they were interesting... as opposed to mine...) I really feel the need to go on a sort of quasi-rant that you may find funny. I don't blame you, if it was anyone else I'd laugh at them. Here goes:

My (nearly fiftysomething) mother (source of my crazy genetics) has once again brought up that she'd like to get MORE TATOOS. MORE. I should point out that she ALREADY has two. A flamingo on her thigh (which she'd like to get "recolored", too. I guess they fade after 30 years or so...) and a treble clef on her left shoulder. (This one is more recent, smaller, subtle, not AS bad...) But apparently this is not enough for her. Noooooo. She also wants a leopard on her other shoulder, and the DETROIT TIGERS logo on her arm. This one I have a problem with. A.) WE ARE NOT FROM DETROIT. She is not a fan of the Tigers, I doubt she's ever even been there. and B.) Pretty much the SOLE reason she wants this particular tatoo is because KID ROCK (a much younger, male musician, FROM DETROIT whom she loves. Wikipedia lists his generes as "hip-hop, country, rock, rap-metal." She has eclectic, almost current music tastes and this scares me. Why can't she just like Barry Manilow or something?) has this particular tatoo.

Her weak defense of this decision is that D is her first initial. So?

Well, maybe I'm freaking out about this because she is MY MOM, and thus embarrassing. I'll let you decide for yourselves. Think: would you want your mom to have this tatoo in full view of the public? Would your mothers even DO this? I doubt it.



Well, at least without the WORDS Detroit Tigers. Just imagine the logo. On your mom's arm.

*shudder*

She's thinking about getting these as an early birthday present to herself, so I have approximately 6 months to talk her out of this.

oh.

I hope you don't mind me talking about this, but it's just - overwhelming. I literally just found out that a girl from my school died this evening. I believe she was hit by a car a few days ago and had been unconcious in the hospital since then. She was a grade above me and I didn't know her at all - I'd only vaguely heard her name because she'd ran for president or something last year - but it still... wow. That's all I can say. It's just... wow.

I don't want to give out her name; it's not my place to spread the news, if you can understand that. Maybe I sound like I'm just jumping on the sympathy bandwagon, but it doesn't feel like that to me. I have friends who were friends with her and I honestly can't imagine how they must feel right now. I can't imagine how her family must feel. She had a sister and a brother and parents, she was on the school's soccer team. A prayer vigil was held for her, and I kind of felt like "Yeah, of course she'll make it." It sort of makes me realize how much we take for granted... we have doctors and hospitals and everything, but they can't save everybody. It seems so unfair. For it to happen to somebody in my school, to somebody who is, however distantly, connected to me, it's awful. I feel like everybody comes together, somehow. It's a big school, and half of us don't want to be there most of the time, but it's our school, and no matter how much we fail - no matter how many times our football team loses (it's a lot) we still come to watch their games, we still wear our school sweaters when it's cold. Maybe it's stupid, but it's like we lost a member of our family. A distant relative, yes, but somebody who belonged to us. Somebody who was our friend, or could have been our friend if we'd known her; somebody who was kind of like us. It's awful, I honestly feel like crying. I mean, I never met her, and I still feel this way. I would hate to be anyone who was close to her right now. Selfish, maybe, but - wow. That word again, but it's just disturbing. I feel so sorry for her. I don't know if she's in heaven, I don't know if heaven exists, but for her sake, I hope it does. Honestly, she didn't deserve this. Nobody does.

I'm sorry for rambling, I'm sorry this is short, but I don't feel like I can blog for reals right now. <3

Opinionatedness and Complete Bliss

I feel really out of it right now because I'm talking about something I'm really passionate about with a bunch of people who don't really care to be convinced by me. I suppose I'm being a little stubborn, as well, but at least they have more people, while I'm all alone being surrounded in a corner.

It is for this reason I am going to explain to you what I tried to explain to them. I hope it goes better this time.

I don't know when I realized that wearing a logo is like free advertising. It's something you always sort of know, but never really realize as an actual fact. Companies like Hollister and American Eagle have it so easy; they just have to put their logo on t-shirts and sweaters and bags and pants and people will pay THEM to advertise for THEM. It's a pretty sweet deal.

So whether you realize it or not, when you buy an article of clothing with a visible logo, you are supporting that company as a business. You're saying, "I support these people, and I've given them money, which I think you should, too." (not necessarily the last part, but whatever)

** I think the above is pretty easy to grasp, and agree with, right? I'm going to get a little sketchier with my assumptions now. You've been warned. **

This theory also extends to songs and their lyrics. Some might not agree with this, that's okay. But the way I see it, if you listen to (and assumedly spend money on) a song, you are supporting the artist, which means you're not only saying you like their music, you're supporting their lyrics.

Are you with me? What am I saying? Of course you are, you amazingly brilliant-minded people. The question should be do you somewhat think I could be correct? An example? Alrightly.

I won't use something sexual, although there are many, many excellent examples out there, but I'll go with one of my favourites to rag on: Taylor Swift. I like Taylor Swift. I like some of her songs, I think they're fun to sing to in the car and have nice lyrics, that mean something other than "OMG you're so super awesome foxy hot, I want you. You're sexy. Take your clothes off." The thing I don't like is how often she goes off and whines about how all her best guy friends who she's in love with who are out with their unworthy girlfriends.

It seems to me like she's unknowingly promoting sitting in your room and pining over some guy who's out with his girlfriend because you're afraid to tell him how you feel. I can't respect that. It's not his fault he doesn't know you're interested. It is your job to make that fact known. Stop whining, put down the guitar and go after him. Or continue sulking and remain cowardly and alone.

It's not like I have experience in the matter, and maybe it's wrong for me to have such strong opinions about something I know little about, but I like to think that if I ever like a guy enough to write a song about him, I'd also have the nerve to go up to him and tell him what it is I'm writing a song about, before I share it with the entire world.

Feel free to think whatever you want about this. I think I'm actually okay with being the only person in the world to feel like this. However, I'd love to hear what you think about what I've said...

What did you think about when you woke up this morning?

I can't remember. How about, "I'm thirsty"? I'm usually thirsty when I wake up. I'll go with that.

What would you be if you could make enough money at anything?

This is a very good question. I have so much fun imagining things like this, so congratulations on making me happy.

The most specific term I could come up with that explains everything without more than three words is an artist/farmer/entrepreneur. I will explain.

If I had oodles of money to do with what I pleased I would immediately do three things:

1. plant a lavender farm*

2. open up a themed cafe/ice cream parlour**

3. create random art in my spare time that would be very expensive which I would auction off and donate 100% of proceeds to charity work.***

Once I had completed these three things I would be immediately successful and get to do whatever else I wanted with my time. Like going into politics or travelling to distant nations and trying to help in some way. That's basically it. I'm open to questions so if any come up, leave them in the comments.

*footnotes*

*I recently visited one of these and it is a dearest desire of mine to start one. They're just so magical. Attached to the farm would be a store where I would make everything in the world with lavender. Soap, dog shampoo, pie, essential oil, chocolate, toilet cleaner, even lavender flavoured water. Whatever you can think of, I will make with lavender.

**I can't share the particulars because this is the Internet and anyone could steal my brilliant idea but the main idea is that it's newspaper themed and everything will revolve around the news (imagine walking into an ice cream parlour with newspapers covering all the walls!).

***I have to do something charitable if I've going to be so successful.