3 More Days: The Last Mid-Week of October

You know it's going to be a good day when you walk out of the dorm, oblivious to the fact that your fly is down and you only notice it when you are walking back from getting 2 beverages from the dining hall. You feel a slight breeze. Something is ... well ... chilly. You look down. The zipper head is hanging out, not holding anything up. ... Yup, good day ahead.

That was what happened to me this morning.

So ... Where do we start? Tuesday, right?

Tuesday:

- Only had my music class, which was still interesting. Part one of two of a lecture on Soul. The topic: Stax Records. Quite interesting! And we had the second of four music quizzes. Piece of cake! I totally pwned it. ... Did I just say "pwned"? ... I guess I did.

- English was off because the prof was out with pneumonia. :(

- And rehearsal went well.

- Found out that I did well on my 2nd Cinema project and my midterm grade was good, too.

- Missed another Dirty Jobs. :(

- Also, (I most likely mentioned this earlier, but) I have a new column out.

Wednesday:

- Cinema was good. We learned how to use an 8mm projector. Piece of cake.

- Went to a hall/building pre-Halloween costume contest and pumpkin carving contest. I tied for first in the pumpkin carving contest with my carving of Jack Skellington. The prize? A can of color hairspray. ... No thanks. ... And as for the costume contest, nobody knew who I was ... and I lost to someone in a most likely store-bought French Maid outfit. GAAAAAAAAAAAH! HOW IN THE WORLD DOES *INSERT COSTUME HERE* LOSE TO A FRENCH MAID?!?! MY COSTUME IS WAY MORE FAMOUS AND WELL KNOWN BY A WIDESPREAD COMMUNITY THAN A FREAKIN' UNORIGINAL FRENCH MAID! ANYONE CAN GO AS A FRENCH MAID! I COULD ... but that would look really freaky. MINE WAS ORIGINAL, NOT STORE-BOUGHT, AND I PUT FREAKIN' EFFORT INTO IT! [/end rant] But here's Jack for your viewing pleasure. He looks better lit up.

- Good Film Club meeting. Borrowed Sunshine from one of the club members. Haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list.

- Good rehearsal. We've begun rehearsing the pantomime. :)

- Missed another Mythbusters. :(

- But on a brighter note, my long-awaited Scott Pilgrim poster arrived! Thanks so much to John and Amanda, two made-of-win people!

Thursday:

- Picked up my ticket for the live College Humor touring show that'll be on campus in about 2 weeks. Pretty excited for it!

- Took care of some Dailybooth duties (my photo and subbing for another Boother).

- Took care of collab channel video making duties.

- Had both classes today. Finished up learning about Soul (and Motown) in music. Discussed sound and its importance in films and how it affects what we think of songs (or which song covers/versions we prefer). And we're going to be starting a video project based on a short story we read called Robby's Kill Box. I have a few choice ideas for scenes that I'll be discussing with the group that I guess I'll be heading come this Wednesday. Hopefully, it'll turn out well.

- Went bowling with a few station members, which was quite fun. Haven't bowled in a while. A few years actually. And I feel that I did well. 2 spares and 1 strike with an end score of 86. Maybe the Dude was watching over me.

- Watched the first episode of Supernatural in a while (since the season premiere or the 2nd episode of the season). Quite enjoyable, as usual. I quite enjoyed old Dean. ... In a humorous way. Seriously, people.

Also, video-wise, I got 3 new videos up on my channel, for those interested (both those who are reading this on the blog or on my Facebook). The first is my 2nd Cinema project. The second is a response to a scientific study type video. The third is the first of three live They Might Be Giants songs from when I saw them back in May.

See you on ... hrm ... Saturday, maybe? Nah ... Sunday. Oh, and don't forget about my radio show! It'll only be an hour this week because of ANOTHER soccer game. *grumblegrumble*Ruining my master plans for world domination.*grumblegrumble* Check the show Twitter and blog for more info.

Be safe and have a happy Halloween! Allons-y!

FLOOD

So ... I'm sitting here in the station, feeling a bit like a drowned rat. Why, you ask? It's pissing rain! ... Well, pissing rain probably isn't the best term ... would torrential downpour work? Nah. A flood would be more appropriate.

Speaking of floods ... it reminded me of this classic Cosby bit ...

*****

But on another note, I'm having a great day so far. I uploaded my 2nd Cinema project, which can be viewed here.

And I received a long-awaited package from Amanda and John out on the West Coast. Thanks so much, you two!

I might pop into my costume for a bit tonight. The hall is having a costume contest and pumpkin carving contest. I think I have a good idea for the pumpkin. *hums This Is Halloween* ... :) And maybe I'll win the costume contest. ;)

Allons-y!

The Weekend Past: Family, Chatters, and Good Times!

So I’ve decided that I might do this every few days. By this, I mean a recap-type post. I’ll probably keep the weekly check-in going, but I might change the format of it a bit. We’ll see come Friday.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Friday:

More planning for the radio station post-Halloween Halloween party at the station PR meeting. I’m so pumped for it. My costume is all ready.

I was hoping to have a Skype chat with Belle, a friend from Dailybooth, but she got caught up with a few other things. We’ve rescheduled it.

Noises Off! rehearsal went well. The show is coming along well!

I went to Laser Tag at the Old Union (Long story short, the Old Union was the original building, but a new adjacent building was constructed and the Old Union underwent renovations. The Old Union is referred to as the New Old Union. And the New Union is referred to as the Old New Union. Got all that?) during Late Nite (which the Student Association puts on as an alternative to going out and getting wasted underage). It was alright.

More or less, playing Laser Tag in a proper Laser Tag setting (i.e., black lights, smoke machines, neon colors and such) is a bit better.

I also checked out a Windows 7 demo. I would’ve preferred a hands-on demo, but I’ll check it out at Best Buy or one of those tech stores next time I’m in one.

Saturday:

The Parents and the Brother came to visit! Joy all around! … Eh … well … kinda. The Brother discovered the Star Trek communicator toy I had won. It was almost like he wouldn’t stop touching it. I was kinda afraid that he would stick it down his pants and walk out with it. But he didn’t. *sigh of relief*

But we did hit up a few good restaurants in the area, one for lunch and one for dinner. Lunch brought us to a nice healthy-type place called the Lost Dog Café that we frequent. They have some really good dishes. Dinner brought us to a fantastic place called Number 5. The dishes are a little on the pricy side, but they’re well worth the cash. We ate out with family friends (a couple and their daughter, who also attends college with me). Good times all around.

I made it back to campus early enough to catch the earlier show by the mentalist/illusionist who was performing as a part of Late Nite. He was alright.

Afterwards, I wandered back to the dorm and chilled for a bit before heading back to get my handwriting analyzed. I haven’t had it read before, but last year around this time, I got a Tarot reading and a palm reading. I took those words somewhat to the wise. With the handwriting analysis, I took the results a bit more seriously. I really don’t know why. It got me in a bit of a state and I made this.

But I’m feeling much better at this point and time! :D

Later that night (after pulling some stuff for Sunday’s show), I went to a concert in the Undergrounds (where Late Nite holds concerts and such). The performer was Gregory and the Hawk.

Quite good, if I do say so myself! I ran into a few friends from the station there. It’s always good to run into friends at shows.

After getting back to the dorm, I had a pleasant Skype call with Paige, who is teaching in South Korea. Quite an interesting person! I just love being (virtual) friends with so many cool people!

Sunday:

While still mulling over the handwriting results from Sunday, I finished preparing things for my show. The show … well, it was fantastic. I had what seemed like a much wider audience this past weekend, seeing as I recruited and gained a bunch of my web friends as listeners. God damn, I love social networking. Thanks a ton to Dawn, Kayleigh, Ella, Dan, Jen, Erin, Bryn, Chris, Emma, Liam, and Josh for tuning in. You guys are the best! Thanks for all the moral support prior to, during, and after the show!

Afterwards, I came back to watch some of Ilse and Kim (two newish friends from the Chat) live on BlogTV. It was a good time, from the segment I saw.

I also started (the latest I’ve started, mind you), my latest column, which should be out now. I finished it after the Op-Ed staff meeting, which went smoothly as usual.

That was roughly it for Sunday. But I also did catch 60 Minutes, which I probably ought to check out a bit more often. One or two interesting stories on Sunday. And Andy Rooney, of course. You can’t go wrong with a little Andy Rooney.

Monday:

Cinema class was okay, as usual. The Cinema department mostly focuses on experimental/avant garde cinema, which I don’t have a problem with, but I’m more of one for narrative cinema. You know, something that is both visually appealing and intellectually stimulating. So … not Transformers 2.

I swung by the radio station for a bit before heading off to drop off a few things in my room, check the mail, and get the swine flu shot. I got a postcard from the fantastic MrHollick.

And as for the swine flu shot … I got it just to be on the safe side, you know. I ended up going with the injection as opposed to the nasal spray because of my asthma.

Yes, I have asthma. But it’s mild. That’s why I can still breathe after running across campus to get to class on time. But I haven’t had to do that too often. I’m on time for my classes. Not to worry. Anyway, after getting the shot, I hung in the post-vaccination rest area for a few minutes recuperating (in case I was feeling dizzy or anything like that). There was another student there by the name of Emma. She was looking a bit nervous and not too good. I asked what was up and she said that she had something called vasovagal. As I was leaving, a folding cot was brought out for her, along with an oxygen tank. I hope that her condition improved quickly. And on another note, I’m glad that I got the shot when I did. As I was leaving, one of the people staffing the clinic was turning people who wanted the shot away because they had run out of injections.

My Journalism class later that day was quite good. I moved to the front. Why? There was an open seat. And the guy in the front seems to be a cool kid. And he’s usually on top of news stories. The prof asked if I had gotten any bad reactions from my column. I mentioned that I had gotten a lot of positive feedback from friends and classmates who read it, along with some family. Inside, I was ecstatic! My Journalism prof reads the campus paper and read my column!!!! :D

As for the evening, I polished off some food that the Parents brought up on Saturday. Thank God for home cooked goodness! After getting dinner in my, I ran off to the meeting for the Media arm of Beyond Coal, the campus group aiming to get the campus plant to switch to cleaner forms of energy, like water, wind, and solar. We spent about half an hour making pinwheels, a first for me. Noises Off! rehearsal followed that and last night’s episode of Countdown. Afterwards, I came back to write this, listen to some tunes, and chat with the Chatters, a fantastic group of people, which includes Brian, Angie, Katy, Lidewij, Ilse, Anna, Liz, Erin, Bryn, Lori, Spont, Michelle, Rachael, and Travis, to name those who I’ve been avidly communicating with.

And after a long (and a bit late, if I might add that) day, the Bed is calling me. Hey, want to stop wasting my minutes, Bed?

See you all on … Wednesday. Sound good? Or would Thursday work better? … Are you actually going to leave a comment? That’d be fantastic!

College Check-in: Week 8 ... Not Quite the Full Week, but Close Enough

Classes:

• Cinema: Aquired a Super 8 camera and filmed my 3^rd project. I set out with one focus in mind and ended up switching to a slightly different, yet similar focus.
• English: We read and have been dicussing the first volume of “Y: The Last Man”. One interesting thing that arose in discussion was that if all the women died off, men would most likely off themselves sooner rather than later because they wouldn’t have any outlet for their frustration and anger. Women tend to do creative artsy things. Men get angry and “poke” things. … Poke meaning *image of a train going into a tunnel*. That’s how the term cowpokes came about. Cow herders (a.k.a. cowboys) tended to “poke” cows when they were out on the job, earning them the nickname “cowpokes”.
• Journalism: Finished the article, which turned out okay. We discussed how the story of Balloon Boy (a.k.a. Falcon Heene) is such a good example of modern media at work.
• Music: This week- Teen Idol Pop and Surf Rock. Sure, Pat Boone’s cover of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” is good, but the original … SO GOOD!

Life:

• TV: More like "These Are The Shows That I Have to Catch Up On".

· Glee: 6 episodes

· Supernatural: 4 episodes

· Fringe: 1 episode (not the one from 3 weeks ago)

· Heroes: 6 episodes

· Dollhouse: 2 episodes (not Friday evening yet)

· Psych: 1 episode ... or maybe 2

· Mythbusters: 2 episode

· Dirty Jobs: 2 episode

Now ... back to the list. This week's episode of House was interesting. And that’s all I caught. :P

• Reading: Started a Lewis Black book that I picked up during UFest. I’m enjoying it so far. Finished About the Author. Interesting read.
• Movies: Hrm … Nada.
• Music: Nothing new.
• Clubs/extracurricular: The rehearsals for Noises Off! Are going well. We started blocking stuff out.
• Late Nite: Last Saturday, I hung out with Jared a bit. We made pennants. And I rode on a giant tricycle. No picture, though. There are a bunch of things this weekend that I'm hoping to check out. Laser Tag, Windows 7 demos, and Sicko (the Michael Moore flick) on Friday. All start at the same time, but go on all night. Except for the showing of Sicko. A mentalist, a concert, and handwriting analysis on Saturday. The mentalist and the analysis start at the same time. The handwriting goes on all night, I think. We'll see how things go.
• Mail: Sent out a letter to Michelle.
• Radio Stuff: The show on Sunday went well. Got a compliment or two from DB people about my reading of Where the Wild Things Are. :) As for this Sunday's show ... we shall wait and see.
• Web stuff: I’ll probably have a new post up within the next few days. The topic? You’ll have to wait and see. And as soon as we view everyone’s video projects in my cinema course (which should be Monday or Wednesday at the latest), I’ll upload my 2^nd project to Youtube.

Well, I think that that's about it. Stay tuned to my Youtube, Twitter, and Dailybooth for more updates, etc.! I should be back here soon! Oh, and I'll be back on the air this Sunday at 2 PM EST. Check this Twitter for updates!

TTYL, TTFN, be seeing you, and allons-y!

P.S. I'm thinking about making a few changes to the frequency and style and such of my postings here. Perhaps Music Monday (talking about an artist or a song or an album)? Perhaps doing reviews of new films on Fridays after seeing them? Perhaps doing these weekly check-ins on Sunday, before the new week of classes start? Thoughts are greatly appreciated in the comments!

Worst Parents of the Year?

Well ... considering all the news about families being on or trying to get on reality TV these days, I decided to compile a little list of the top 3 worst parents that are in the news for one reason or another.

3) Octomom

Okay, Nadya Suleman. You already have 6 kids, all through In Vitro Fertilization. You decide, "Oh, hey, I have 6 frozen embryos left, so I'll have them implanted at the same time!" You did. One of those eggs split in two. 9 months later, despite the fact that you're looking like Violet Beauregarde after her unfortunate gum chewing accident, you give birth to 8 surprisingly healthy babies. What's worse is that you don't have a regular source of income. So ... how the eff are you going to care for these kids? Can anyone say ... REALITY SHOW?

But seriously, thanks for contributing to the re-population of the world! Now ... can you find some good childcare? Thanks.

2) Jon and Kate Gosselin

Hey, Jon and Kate. You've had kids through In Vitro Fertilization, before Octomom made it popular! But Jon, you can't seem to control that little guy in your pants, so off you go with someone who's not Kate and the tabloids go nuts! And now you're getting divorced! Oh, and guess what? You're off the show, Jon! ... And you now want your kids OFF TV?! *facepalm* So ... first, you and your wife want your life and your kids lives broadcast on cable TV and after a little boinking with someone other than your wife and a divorce and a re-branding of what used to be your show, you want your kids OFF TV? ... JON! GOD!

But at least you two provide for good distracting TV. ... So, what's going on with that care bill thingy?

1) Richard and Mayumi Heene

Okay, Richard! You and your wife want a reality show to talk about your possibly nutjob theories about the world being run by lizard people (you haven't been obsessing over the 1980s show V, have you?). How do you drum up buzz for your reality show? Oh, I know! Go on a hunt for UFOs? ... No, not good enough. Hrm ... viral marketing campaign? No, too cliché. Oh! Perfect! Release a giant saucer shaped weather balloon and claim that your son accidentally crawled inside it and he's stuck in the balloon! Oh, you know what would be even better? Call the media BEFORE calling the proper authorities to report the incident! And guess what's next? After a wild goose chase after the balloon, your son, aptly named Falcon, isn't in the balloon, but inside a box in your attic!

And what in the world could happen next? During an interview on CNN, your son goes ahead and says, "I thought it was for the show." ... FOR THE SHOW?!?! YOU DID THIS FOR A SHOW?!?! You stole the attention of the media from important things like healthcare reform for a hoax story to drum up interest in your soon-to-be reality show?! ... And you even came up with a theme song ... A FREAKIN' THEME SONG?!?!

*sigh*

*******

Okay. Your thoughts. Got any more names for the list of Worst Parents of the Year? Leave names and stories/evidence in the comments.

Being Funniest is a Weakness?

I get these e-mail notifications from the Compare People app on Facebook every week or so and the overall results are usually the same.

Your friends have voted on your strengths and weaknesses:

STRENGTHS:

best mannered
most likely to succeed
most tech-savvy

WEAKNESSES:

most creative
funniest

Umm ... so being creative and funny are weaknesses? Let me ask you this ... IN WHAT WORLD?!

I mean, I don't necessarily think that I'm the most creative out there. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of people who are more creative than me. I take what I see and develop my own ideas and techniques based around what I see in movies and other videos and such. People do that. It's kinda why we have Elvis impersonators.

And the funniest? Okay, I'm kinda funny, sometimes in the awkward Michael Cera/Jesse Eisenberg way and sometimes in the witty comments way, but I am by far not the funniest person out there.

But seriously, how is being funny and creative a weakness? Both of those traits/characteristics are beneficial in both male and female mating, so ... by saying that those are weaknesses, is that insinuating that I won't find a significant other? ... I assure you, I can and I will, but it's not my first priority. It's not my #1 priority to find someone with good looks, dump my load, and go on with my life. All I'm looking for right now is a good education, decent food, a roof over my head, good friends, and perhaps a lasting relationship. See? Not my #1 priority.

But then again, it's just a Facebook app. Why should it tell me what my friends think of me? I can just ask them myself. It's just a computer program. What do computer programs know about relationships and friends?

So, I leave you with this. Why do you think that being funny and creative are considered weaknesses here?

College Check-in: Week 7

Classes:

• Cinema: Waiting to upload the 2nd project, which is being counted as the midterm for the class.
• English: Only had one day of class this week. We discussed disabilities and how people are treated as a result, including lists of good and bad fictional people with handicaps. House was on both the good list and the bad list. :D
• Journalism: We have to interview 8 people, gauge their responses and write an article based on the interviews about their feelings on the recent basketball scandal on campus. I'm making some progress.
• Music: Sun Records and Elvis was mostly the focus of this week. Quite interesting. Fun fact- RCA bought Elvis's contract for $35,000.

Life:

• TV: More like "These Are The Shows That I Have to Catch Up On".

Glee: 5 episodes

Supernatural: 4 episodes

Fringe: 1 episode (not the one from 2 weeks ago)

Heroes: 5 episodes

Dollhouse: 2 episodes

Psych: 1 episode ... or maybe 2

Mythbusters: 1 episode

Dirty Jobs: 1 episode

Now ... back to the list. This week's episode of House was interesting.

• Reading: I started a book called About the Author that I picked up for free during UFest at the end of August. Interesting so far.
• Movies: Saw Where the Wild Things Are earlier this afternoon with Ryan, who recently started a film blog. I really enjoyed it, but it dragged a teensy bit. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.
• Music: Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack. Go. Now. Listen. You will thank me later.
• Clubs/extracurricular: Pizza party in the film club. And we watched Don Hertzfeldt's Rejected. Which is hilarious. And the read-through for Noises Off! went quite well. Apparently, my character is in his 60s (or 70s) and is a problem drinker. And he's hard of hearing sometimes. And I do have some ... humorous lines, to say the least.
• Mail: Sent out a letter to Ikirak.
• Radio Stuff: The podcast blog is up-to-date. *phew* And my show will be from 3 to 4 PM EST on Sunday.

Well, I think that that's about it. Stay tuned to my Youtube, Twitter, and Dailybooth for more updates, etc.! I should be back here soon! Oh, and I'll be back on the air this Sunday at 3 PM EST. Check this Twitter for updates!

TTYL, TTFN, be seeing you, and allons-y!

College Check-in: Weeks 5 and 6 (A little belated)

Classes:

• Cinema: Finished editing and presented my 2nd project to the class. Got more good reception. I'll upload it either on Wednesday or on Friday.
• English: We watched a movie called Series 7 that poked fun at reality shows and violence on television. We also watched an interesting documentary called Murderball about the US Paralympic Rugby team.
• Journalism: Interviewed the radio station's grandpa/mother for a profile piece that turned out quite good. Spent the last class discussing recent news events and why celebrities are in the news so much.
• Music: We've been delving into the roots of rock and roll with the discussion of blues and jazz.

Life:

• TV: More like "These Are The Shows That I Have to Catch Up On".

Glee: 4 episodes

Supernatural: 3 episodes

Fringe: 1 episode (not this past week's)

Heroes: 4 episodes

Dollhouse: 2 episodes

Psych: 1 episode ... or maybe 2

Now ... back to the list. I quite enjoyed the last 2 episodes of House, but I was expecting a Star Wars reference during the James Earl Jones episode. And we finally learned what happened between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere of Fringe! Yes! As for Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs, I quite enjoyed the season premieres.

• Reading: I started a book called About the Author that I picked up for free during UFest at the end of August. Interesting so far.
• Music: Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack. Go. Now. Listen. You will thank me later.
• Clubs/extracurricular: Got into the cast of Noises Off! Pretty cool cast mates. The first rehearsal is tomorrow night.
• Mail: Sent out some postcards for the Dailybooth Postcard Exchange. And I got one, too.
• Radio Stuff: Sat in and covered for Faust (a.k.a. Adam, my 1st apprentice) on Saturday. Covered for Ras and Ari yesterday. The podcast of Saturday's show is up on the radio blog and the podcast of Sunday's show is making its way up. *phew* I'm pooped.
• Miscellaneous: I was planning on going to Julia Nunes's show in NYC on Saturday (the 10th), but travel didn't necessarily work out. Maybe some other time. I also participated in a Pirates of the Caribbean themed trivia scavenger hunt on Friday (the 9th). The prize, you ask? The 3rd Pirates movie on DVD, a big bag of Reese's minis, and a foam pirate sword. :D

Well, I think that that's about it. Stay tuned to my Youtube, Twitter, and Dailybooth for more updates, etc.! I should be back here soon! Oh, and I'll be back on the air this Sunday at 3 PM EST. Check this Twitter for updates!

TTYL, TTFN, be seeing you, and allons-y!

Keith Olbermann's 3 Part Special Comment on Health Care

I have nothing more to say than to watch this.

This is powerful.

This is moving.

This is more personal than town hall protesters yelling about how they don't want socialized medicine. What about prolonging your chances of living if you're stricken with a horrible disease that takes thousands out of your pocket? What about saving your life if you need a kidney transplant, but your insurance company would prevent you from getting a transplant from one of your two sons? And what if these sons would have to be tested for preexisting conditions that would prevent them from donating a kidney?

Enough of Fox News and their compatriots and cronies and those in the pockets of big insurance promoting how great the US health care system is. We're 19th in the world in terms of health care. The UK is #16. Canada is #6. We're not #1. We like to think that we're #1, but we're not.

This is about us. This is about LIFE! Who cares about cost as long as you're in good health? If you feel good and have a clean bill of health, it feels like nothing can stop you. Let's keep it that way.

Folks, this is personal. Let's actually do something about this rather than bicker and protest and yell and shout.

Let's fucking do something.

A Rant: Get My Kids Off of TV! And We Don't Want the Olympics In America!

Okay ... 2 topics. Let's go!

First off, Jon Gosselin. Jon, now that you're off the show, you want your kids off the air because it isn't good for them, in your opinion?! ... Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?! AS IN BEFORE YOU SIGNED YOUR LIFE OVER TO TLC!

*phew* That's one bit of steam.

Secondly, CONSERVATIVES! Yeah, Rush, Glenn, Bill-O, Hannity, Americans for Prosperity, and people from Fox News! Don't you realize that by bashing Obama for going over to Copenhagen to try to get the Olympics in Chicago (which IS in America, if you didn't realize that), you're bashing America! You guys are always talking about "America this," and "America that," and "Hey, we're America! We'll do what we want! We'll invade foreign nations to find fictional weapons of mass destruction and to get oil ... and to take down a dictator. Yeah. That too." Should you be all for having the Olympics in the US? ... I don't expect Glenn to notice it. He's usually out of his mind, so I don't see how he'd notice that.

*phew* I'm feeling better already!

Have a nice day, classholes!

I Have a (Post)Secret

I never read or visited the PostSecret site before. I saw something on Facebook about Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret, coming to speak on campus. I was intrigued. I had seen and heard about similar things, like Secret Booth on Dailybooth. But I hadn't emotionally invested myself in this phenomena. Until tonight.I bought the ticket (which was free for students) a little over a week ago. I picked up a copy of the 4th PostSecret collection and flipped through a bit.

And then tonight was here.

I went with a cast/hall mate of mine. We got seats in the first row. Nearly front and center.

About 15 minutes after the event was scheduled to start, the music video for "Dirty Little Secret" played on the hanging screen in the concert hall. Frank came out and began telling his story of how he started the project, how he went about sorting secrets, how he came to update on Sundays. Students, only one of whom I know (and who is a good friend of mine), got up and verbalized their secrets.

After I saw that my good friend opened up, I was tempted to go up myself. My heart was pounding. But I didn't. Something was just ... I don't know ... preventing me, maybe? Holding me back? Perhaps fearful of embarrassment? But my friend had come clean about something similar. I felt that I was among friends, people with similar secrets, but I couldn't bring myself to pull myself together and go up to the nearest microphone and spill my secret. I just couldn't.

After roughly an hour and 15 minutes, Frank closed the event with a montage. The hall let out. I waited around and got on line for Frank to personalize my book. I mentioned Secret Booth to him and took a picture.

I wanted to leave my secret with him. Right then and there. Leave the postcard with my secret on it. I didn't have a pen. There was a collection box for an on-campus PostSecret exhibit in a few weeks. I wasn't sure about leaving my secret there.

And that's why I'll be sending in my own. My first PostSecret postcard. Will it be my only one? Or will it be the first of many? Who knows?

And I have one final thing to say.

Thank you, Frank.

Where the Wild Things Are ... Or Will Be

Well, it's just shy of 2 weeks until the long-anticipated adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is to be released.

I must say that I'm more than excited for its release. I don't have too many major memories from growing up, but I do have inklings of reading the book, particularly "We'll eat you up! We love you so!"

The trailers and TV spots have had me tearing up. The posters have brought huge smiles to my face. And listening to the soundtrack (streaming at imeem) just brightens my mood. The soundtrack is just brimming with a pure sense of innocence that I haven't heard elsewhere.

I'm officially looking forward to this movie (or have been since I saw the first trailer back in March. The one with Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" as the backing track.). I definitely know what I'm doing on October 16th.

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Featurette:

Let the wild rumpus begin!