For a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and on

(Above picture inspired by a certain awesome album:)

Happy New Year!

I spent my night celebrating the advance of 2010 with Jacqueline, Dante, and the 'rents.
We ushered in the new year by blasting "Don't Stop Believing" (which we proceeded to replay over and over and over again a thousand times until it finally turned midnight), drinking sparkling apple cider (non-alcoholic, because we're cool like that), lighting sparklers in the backyard, and watching the ball drop in New York.


(will)


(hopefully)

We had fun with the sparklers we bought from a tent on the side of the road (if you can't tell).







Dante's excited for the New Year, can't you tell?

(Dante's inferno! Ha.
Btw, he doesn't really have a mustache, but wouldn't it be super awesome if he did??? I keep trying to get him to grow out his facial hair.)

In other news, I found some of my parents old sunglasses.
Blast from the past:

They were happy little 80's yuppies living large in sunny Florida:

(Don't my parents look cute together? People say I look like my mom, but idk...)



My collection of vintage sunglasses.
From the top left: my dad's shades from the 80's, my mom's shades also from the 80's, my grandfather's aviators from the 70's, and my very own sunglasses from the present!

Hope everyone had a great New Year's. Let's make this decade rock!
Whoo-hoo, class of 2010!

Time keeps on slipping into the future...

Whoa. 2009 is almost gone...
I feel old.
I've been alive for almost two decades now...ugh and the 90's and 00's suck!
Hopefully in the 10's we will finally get jetpacks, that is, unless the world ends in 2012...



I can't believe this decade is almost over!
You know, I remember when I was 7 years old in 1999 and my parents threw a huge New Year's Eve Party for 2000.
I tried so hard to stay awake 'til midnight and I remember sitting in my room listening to the adult's drunken attempts at karaoke through my door.
So much has changed in ten years...
So much can change in ten years!
I wonder what would happen if you took my past 7 year old self, my present 17 year old self, and my future 27 year old self, and put them all in a room together.
Would I recognize myself?
Would I still like myself?
I wonder who would be the most happy...

But anyway, changing the topic to my present happenings:
Because my dear friend Dante lives under a rock, he hasn't seen any of my favorite movies. They are, and not limited to: Back to the Future, The Matrix, and Star Wars.
I know, right? His life is a sham.

Anyway, so it's been my mission to school him during Winter Break so he will not be cinematically retarded.
First on the list was the Back to the Future trilogy, and we are currently on the third movie.

(Hello, sexy. Although, it's slightly disturbing that Micheal J. Fox is old enough to be my father.)


Since Marty travels to 2015 in Doc's time machine, Dante and I promised each other to meet up on New Year's Eve five years from now to watch the movie again and laugh at all of the corny 80's futuristic predictions that didn't come true.



I've always wished that I could time travel (and one day own a DeLorean).
It would be so much fun to travel to 1979 and meet my parents in high school at my age and then to travel to 2039 to meet my kids in high school like Marty does in the movie.

How cool would it be to be able to travel anywhere in time?
How awesome would it be to travel to 1595 and see Romeo and Juliet on opening night?
Or go to 1794 and read the first edition of Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason?
Go to 1848 and listen to Frederic Chopin in concert?
Or travel to 1969 and see the Woodstock festival?
Or go to 1985 and watch Back to the Future in theaters!
The possibilities are endless...

Ok, since we are on the subject of time, another topic change is in order:

I've been currently entertaining an interesting thought; it occurred to me while gazing at the stars (I know, how original right?).
You know how it takes light from stars millions of years to travel across space to reach us? And by that time, the stars that we're looking at could already be dead, and we are only gazing at gaseous spheres that no longer exist? Well, what if millions of years from now, the light from our Sun is finally reaching some far off planet, and they are seeing us, now, in this exact moment of time. We exist in a memory to this other planet, our star is dead and gone but the light from this moment in time is finally reaching their eyes.

Some far off beings, millions of years from now in the future, are seeing our world at this moment. But we are just fragments, photographs from a dead star, memories living in a lost world that no longer exists in the universe except in a beam of light traveling 186,000 miles per second.
Just something to think about.

Happy New Year everybody!

Dear shadow alive and well

(This is the new shirt I got from Chris and Angela for Christmas!)

Hello, hello.
How's life been treating you?
I'm just happy it's Winter Break...

It's been fun thus far.
I've been enjoying using my new coffee mugs I got for Christmas:



I've been enjoying my break like a true couch potato; sleeping in, lying around watching VHS movies, listening to records, reading magazines and books, and of course, surfing the World Wide Web (all while staying in my pajamas and/or bathrobe).
However, I did leave the house to:
1. Celebrate my dad's birthday.
2. Visit the thrift store.
3. See Sherlock Holmes.
4. Go to Vinyl Fever and IKEA

(On our way driving to the IKEA:)


Because my dad is young at heart, we all went to laser tag for his birthday. It was really fun.
I had the codename of "Impulse" (I didn't pick it, it was on my light jacket) and I received the second lowest score (but at least I beat my sister, whoo!).
I really didn't think I was going to suck so bad. I mean, my asthmatic friend even beat my score.
I dressed all in black and was feeling really macho, prepping myself in the bathroom, you know, like "eye of the tiger, baby", "I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!" But alas, I guess I'm just a greenhorn at laser combat.

So yesterday, I went and saw Sherlock Holmes with Dante, Molly, Molly's boyfriend, and Christina.
Molly's boyfriend came and picked me up. He played really hardcore, and I mean really hardcore metal on the ride to the theater, which isn't exactly my cup of tea. But it was all good, I mean, I couldn't really hear the music because my ears were bleeding.

But the movie was pretty good.
I have to say though, the trailer was really misleading.
I was under the impression that it was going to be a comedy, but it really wasn't. Don't get your hopes up, the movie's five jokes were all displayed in the trailer. But as an action flick, it was a pretty well done movie.



I loved Robert Downey Jr.'s spin on the Sherlock Holmes character. It was raw and modernized, different than the detective I grew up reading in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of the Speckled Band, but the character still retained the traditional Sherlock Holmes-est psyche and avant-garde spirit but combined with that certain bad-ass-outlaw character which is oh so likeable to the young and restless 21st century audience.


(love the dress!)

I loved the cinematography in the film, especially the slow motion scenes.
I also really liked how the director would allow the audience to see the way Holmes viewed the world and his methods of deduction (but he never once said, "Elementary, my dear Watson"! Pity).

Overall, it was an entertaining movie, with an interesting story and good action. And while it probably won't win any awards, it was a nice bit of escapism to watch over the winter holidays.

So this is Christmas...

Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, National Pumpkin Pie Day, or whatever-you-celebrate!

Is it just me, or did Christmas catch everyone by surprise? Maybe it's just my family...but Christmas feels weird this year.
Could it be because my mom just got out of surgery yesterday, so she's all doped up in her bedroom? Or maybe because it's our first Christmas without Zorro (*sniff*)? Or maybe it's because it feels like no one in my family was really in to Christmas this year, or could it be because it's 70 degrees outside?...I think the answer is all of the above.

But I'm trying to make the best of it.

(My kitten, Figaro, and I by our Christmas tree):


Last night was fun. Since my mom is confined to her bed, my dad, sister and I went by ourselves to Uncle Butch's house for Christmas Eve dinner. Aunt Susan served delicious homemade Cuban food and my dad taught my sister and I how to play pool (FYI, I suck).
I love being with my family. My Uncle Butch looks kinda like George W. Bush, which is really funny so I call him "Uncle Bush" secretly in my head. Then we came home, and I watched A Christmas Story on TBS. Best scene in the whole movie:
"Fra-gi-le, must be Italian."
"I think it says 'fragile', dear."

(At Uncle Butch's house with my sister, Jacqueline, and my cousin, Genna):


This Christmas wasn't a "big gift giving" Christmas, which I'm definitely fine with. I seriously have everything I need (I got a camera last Christmas, an iPod the Christmas before that, my Nana got me a laptop when school started, and my dad bought my sister and I a car earlier this year) so I wasn't expecting anything big (and rightly so). But there were still some really nice surprises under the tree!

From my parents I got a new turntable that plays and converts records into digital files (aaahhh!), Fleet Foxes on vinyl, Watchmen DVD, tickets to see John Mayer (yay!), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, cute coffee mugs, magazine subscriptions, and all the practical toiletries and candy my mom always puts in my stocking every year. My sister got me some super cute headbands and British Invasion book and Dante got me the Vampire Weekend vinyl record!



Also...

(Fun with Christmas lights/street lights):





Happy Holidays, everyone. Thanks to all of my followers for...well...following me! I hope you all have a special day.

Reality came around and without so much as a mere touch, cut me into little pieces

This is going to be a sad post. I'm just warning you. You don't have to read it if you don't want to.

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while.
This has been one of the hardest weeks of life.
At first, things were going ok. Midterms were halfway over, I went and saw Avatar, my parents threw a huge Christmas party/surprise birthday party for my cousin, Christopher.
But then tragedy struck.
On Monday, my cat Zorro died.
Zorro was a 17 year old black and white American short hair. He has been in my family since my sister and I were only two years old. It was the classic pet story; one night there was a bad storm and suddenly we heard meowing coming from outside. We opened the door to find a soaking wet fur ball sitting on our back porch. My sister and I begged our parents to let us keep him, and he's been our loving companion ever since.



It was so sad watching him die. It was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. My parents had to leave to go work and my sister was upstairs, so I was all alone with him.
I had two midterms to study for, so I sat on the floor next to him, stroking his head with one hand, and holding my biology review book with the other.
Suddenly, I heard a horrible gurgling sound. I looked over and saw that Zorro was throwing up. He was laying on his side, so I tried gently lifting him up to the other side of the blanket. He thrashed around, moaning. With tears running down my face, I keep petting him with whispers of "it's going to be ok". I called my parents, and they told me there was nothing I could do except keep him comfortable. I felt so helpless. He lay on his side, wheezing, his paws and whiskers twitching softly. Suddenly, he closed his eyes...stillness.
I just sat on the floor and cried and cried, unable to believe that he was really gone.
I keep running my hand over his belly to check to see if he was breathing, but there was nothing.
I kissed his head and pulled the blanket over his little body.
I don't know how long I cried. It wasn't until my parents came home at 6 o'clock did I realize that I had fallen asleep on the floor.

The worst part was studying for my exams that night.
I couldn't focus at all.
My brain keep replaying the scene, looping in my head on repeat.
How could I focus on RNA transcription and meiosis and glycolysis when I could hear my mom crying downstairs and my dad putting Zorro's body in a box?

But life goes on, I suppose. No matter how screwed up it may be.
I went to school and finished my exams, and now it's finally Winter Break.
We buried Zorro on Tuesday. We all decided that he should be buried at our old house, where we found him. After the hour long drive, we laid Zorro to rest.
Goodbye, my friend.

I'm warning you, this is not a happy post, this is a very sad post, so I don't blame you if you don't want to read it.
I'm writing this more myself, as a way to cope.

My cat, Zorro, just died. He was a 17 year old black and white American shorthair. He has been in our family since I was two years old and we rescued him during a storm after he was abandoned as a kitten.

He has been going downhill for a while. A few years ago he started to lose his vision and his hearing and he would become disoriented when he walked in a room.
He started to lose weight and started eating and walking around less and less.

Yesterday, my dad saw him fall into the freezing pool and quickly pulled him out. There was blood coming out of his anal and when he tried to walk he wobbled in a circle. We covered him in blankets and my mom and I tried to dry him with a blow drier. My dad and sister left the room but my mom and I stayed with him throughout the evening. He didn't eat and took small sips of water. He tried to stand up but couldn't and at times he would turn his head and softly murmurer.

My mom and I had a really bad fright when we walked out of the room to take a break for lunch. Our dog, Gator, had somehow gotten in the room. We walked in to find fur everywhere and Zorro collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room. We think that Gator was trying to lick him (which is what he was doing earlier) but was accidentally too rough. We gently picked him up and wrapped him back into the covers on his makeshift bed in the corner. I softly stroked his ears and he purred weakly.
I had to go to bed because I had exams in the morning but my mom stayed with Zorro all night.

Today, when I went to school, she told me that he wasn't moving all day and hadn't eaten or drunken anything. I came home early from school to help out.
When I came into the room he lifted his head. Mom said he moved the most when I got home. I stayed by his side and pat him and gave him whispers of "I love you, Zorro," and "You're a good cat."
My parents had to leave to go work so I promised to stay by him when they left.
I have more exams tomorrow so I sat by him and stroked his head while I studied.

He was fine for a few hours. He took a small sip of water and lifted his head and even said, "meow".
I started getting stiff and hungry from sitting so I asked my sister to watch him for a second while I went into the kitchen to get some food and stretch my legs. She was reluctant at first and I had to call her several times to come down.
When I left, Zorro had closed his eyes and it looked like he was sleeping.
I prepared my food and came back into the room to sit by him. As I was eating and taking a break to check my updates on my computer, I heard this horrible gurgling sound and I looked over to find Zorro convulsing. His mouth was open and it looked like he was gagging. Suddenly, I watched in horror as he vomited. I called my parents and started crying, asking them what to do. They told there wasn't much I could do except make him comfortable. Jacqueline came into the room when she heard me crying and then left immediately.
I told mom and dad to tell Jacqueline to get me another blanket because poor Zorro was lying in his own throw-up. Jacqueline called my phone two times but I couldn't answer because I was trying to lift Zorro up and lift him to the other side of the blanket. It was so horrible to watch because it looked like he was choking and kept throwing his head back and twisting on the blankets and his legs were sprawled in an awkward position. I didn't want him to choke on his vomit so I tried lifting his head.
Jacqueline came in the room. I was crying and sobbing trying to comfort Zorro, who had stopped throwing up and was lying on his side wheezing. I kept patting him and talking to him as my tears fell on his fur. Meanwhile, with tears rolling down my cheeks I say to Jacqueline, "Please go get a blanket. He needs a new blanket because he threw up. I want him to get comfortable."
Well I guess mom an dad had yelled at Jacqueline on the phone for not helping me because she started screaming at me, saying (and I swear I'm not exaggerating), "Fucking shut up bitch. Stop crying. You got me in trouble with mom and dad you fucking tattletale." I am sitting there with Zorro gasping for breath and saying, "Please Jacqueline I don't need this now, Zorro is dying. Please go get a blanket. Please," I begged her.
She left and came back with paper towels.
"Jacqueline, I asked for a blanket! He needs to be comfortable!"
She started cussing and yelling at me again, "Bitch! Why do you have to go to mom and dad and cry about everything!"
At this point, there are so many emotions coursing through me, I just couldn't take this from her.
I sat there, stroking Zorro and telling him I love him and that he was such a good friend and that I hope he goes to a happy place.
Like a heartless shadow, Jacqueline is there staring, and standing behind me.
Crying, I say, "Just go away Jacqueline. Leave me alone. Go away."
"I can fucking stay if I want. You can't tell me what to do. You're crying isn't helping him."
"Go away! Oh my god, I think Zorro is dead. He's gone, oh god..."
I put my hand on him and feel that there's no breath. I can't feel a heartbeat and his body is cold.
"He's gone.."
"How do you know? Feel him again on his stomach."
"Why don't you feel him? Or are you too grossed out to touch him, you monster? Just go away Jacqueline, I don't need this right now."
I keep petting him and sobbing and I lean down to kiss his head.
I pull the blanket over his thin body and hug my knees and cry.
Zorro died at 3:00.

I am so disgusted with my sister, and I doubt I will ever forgive her for this.
I'm so upset that Zorro's final moments were of Jacqueline yelling, "fuck you bitch".
It scares me that she can feel nothing.
Words cannot describe how much I loathe her right now, how much I want to...I don't know. I'm just so disgusted with her.

You have no fear of the underdog, that's why you will not survive

Just let it be Winter Break already. Seriously.
Three down, three to go...

So after school, my family and I celebrated my cousin's birthday at the Colombia restaurant. The restaurant was founded in 1905 and they serve really delicious authentic Cuban food from old recipes.



And then afterwards I went and saw *drum roll* AVATAR!

Oh. My. Goodness. Where do I begin?

Ok, Avatar was, simply put, awe-inspiring. Let me elaborate:
Every frame was such a delight to watch. The visual imagery was beautiful and vibrant; the colors, the bio-luminescent plants, Pandora, the Na'vi, it was all breathtaking to watch.

I was simply blown away by the special effects. I was so impressed by the computer generated characters that I forgot that they weren't real or tangible in any way. Their expressions, their fluid movements, their skin texture was amazingly realistic.



The world that the director created was so engaging and inspiring, you couldn't help but immerse yourself in it. The creativity behind the creation of an entirely new ecosystem filled with alien fauna and flora was remarkable.



I highly recommend watching this movie in 3D. This was my first 3D movie (not counting the time I saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience at Disney World in the 90's). I felt like I was actually in the movie, especially during the breathtaking flying scenes which actually made my stomach drop.

The movie was so exciting to watch and was able to keep my complete attention from start to finish; if definitely didn't feel like a three hour movie!
I cried like a baby during the emotional scenes and I was sick to my stomach watching the cruelty and injustice inflicted on the Na'vi people by the humans. At one point in the movie I seriously clenched my fist and felt like shouting, "You monsters!" at the movie screen. This movie really made me hate my species, I want to live on Pandora with the Na'vi!

However, Avatar was by no means perfect. It was a bit cliche (too much like Dances with Wolves) with a familiar "hero's journey" plot and stereotypical characters. I also didn't entirely like how the Na'vi were depicted. It would have been more impactful if they were intellectually equal with humans but were wise enough to chose their lifestyle of coexisting with their planet, not just because they were primitive.

I understand that the movie was a commentary on the evils of imperialism and was symbolic of the way that the Europeans treated the Native Americans and Africans, but I felt like white people were attacked in this movie. In the movie, the U.S. army consisted of an overwhelming majority of white guys; there were virtually no women or minorities represented. To me, the movie should have focused more on humans as a species attacking the Na'vi to highlight the pitfalls of human nature. Instead, the movie focused on only white men attacking the Na'vi.

Despite all of this, Avatar definitely lived up to the hype. Overall, it was an incredible experience and I have officially fallen in love with this movie.
As the Na'vi say:
Eywa ngahu!
(Good-bye, Eywa be with you!)

When we're young we set our hearts upon some beautiful idea

And that pretty much sums up midterm week.
Two down, four to go...

Sooooooooooo.
The new trailer for Alice in Wonderland came out yesterday.

I'm still undecided whether I want to see it or not. I really didn't like Alice in Wonderland when I was little (the Cheshire Cat freaked me out and I just didn't "get" the movie) so I'm not sure if I want to see the live action version.
Also, I still haven't seen The Frog Princess yet, but I've heard it's really good. I think it's cool that Disney finally decided to have an African American princess, even if it is 30 years too late.

Now that I'm older, I still like watching animated movies (even though Disney is racist and sexist and antisemitic).
When I was little, my all time favorite Disney movie was The Lion King.



My favorite Disney musical was Fantasia.



My favorite Disney princess was Pocahontas.



My favorite Disney princes were Dimitri and Aladdin.



My favorite non-Disney animated movies were Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.




So I made a rather sad discovery today.
On the way to school, we always pass by a field with a cute little white cottage in the middle of it. Next to the cottage is a large tree that only blooms for a few weeks in the spring. It's such a pretty sight when the tree blossoms and produces lavender colored flowers.
I wanted to take a picture of it last year but I never got around to it.
So today, when we drove by, I was surprised and saddened to find the little cottage lying in a heap of rubble. There was a giant, dirty yellow excavator cruelly scooping up the remnants of the beautiful tree.

Quel dommage!
Que lástima!
So many beautiful pictures I'll never capture...

Philosophia

I am in love with the song, "Philosophia" by Guggenheim Grotto.
It was on the mix that Dante was kind enough to burn for me.
It's been stuck in my head all day and the lyrics are simply beautiful to listen to.



"When we’re young we set our hearts upon some beautiful idea

Maybe something from a holy book or French philosophia
Upon the thoughts of better men than us we swear by and decree a
Perfect way to end the war of ways the only way to be a…

Work of art, oh, to be a work of art

But in time a thought comes tugging on the sleeve edge of our minds
Perhaps no perfect way exists at all, just many different kinds
Oh but if it’s just a thing of taste then everything unwinds
For without an absolute how can the absolute define…"



I’m not really sure what philosophy I subscribe to. I can relate to and draw truths from almost all forms of philosophy. In matters of religion, I am a Deist. In matters of government, I am a Democrat. In matters of happiness and individualism, I am an Objectivist. In matters of society, I am a Marxist. In matters of nature, I am a Transcendentalist.

I believe in the butterfly effect and that everything happens for a reason. I believe that we are influenced by our environment but that there is a part of ourselves that will always stay the same no matter what. I believe in intelligent design of the universe but I also believe in evolution.

I don't think that any religion or philosophy is completely right. Whether through religion or science, we are all searching for the answers to the same questions. But I think it's important to have something to believe in and to hold on to because it's helps to give us comfort and a sense of foundation in a vast, uncertain, and lonely universe.



I’d like to think that we have a greater purpose than merely to exist and to ensure that our offspring exist. But lately, I can’t be sure anymore. I think that the pursuit of happiness is beginning to become synonymous with the pursuit of perfection.

I’m sick of chasing after windmills and trying to interpret the shadows on the cave wall. And I hate that we have to make life so difficult and miserable because this may be all we have and all we’re ever get. The afterlife is not an insurance policy, it’s a beautiful, quixotic fantasy that may or may not exist. And we have to be prepared if it doesn’t.

I just want internal and external peace. I want true love. I want justice. I want truth. I want beauty. I want meaning. I want happiness. That’s all. Is that really so much to ask?

Is that really so much to ask?

It's cutting me down like slow poison

So, I'm not gonna lie, today was not a very good day.
To make ourselves feel better, my friends and I played a game during lunch.
There was a mysterious looking metal cylinder-like object sitting outside the window. It was only a couple feet tall, just sitting there in the grass.

We sat at our lunch table staring at, imagining what it could be.
"Do you think it fell out of the janitor's truck or something?"
"Why do you think someone left it here?"
"Maybe it's a bomb."
"Maybe it's alien object."
"Maybe it's a teleporter."
"I know! It's a time machine."
"Yeah, that's it!"
"Let's go get it and use it for world domination!"
"Yeah!"

We waited until the teacher (who is a 6 foot tall, muscular, buzz cut, former marine-looking guy) turn away and then we sprinted out the lunchroom door. Christina stayed behind (chicken) so it was up to Dante and I to investigate. Like immature middle-schoolers, we dared each other to go touch it and see what it was.
We approached it hesitantly.
"Be careful! You could be vaporized!"
We walked over, reached out our hands.....and touched it and then drew back quickly.
On the side, it had letters that read, "White Oil".
"What the hell is white oil?" I asked. But Dante just shrugged and we trudged back inside the lunch room.
According to Wikipedia, white oil is: "a home made insecticide spray used for controlling a wide range of insect pests in the garden. The spray works by blocking the breathing pores of insects causing suffocation and death."
Oh.
Lovely.
(But I still like to think of it as a time machine.)

In other news, I found out yesterday that MTV is making a remake of "Teen Wolf".
Eh, I'm kinda iffy about this.



I love the original 80's movie with Michael J. Fox (he was such a cutie back in the day) and I have a feeling MTV will...well...ruin it.
Besides, it's only coming out because of the whole vampire/werewolf craze generated from the-book-series-that-shall-not-be-named.

On another note, my house is becoming filled with Christmas decorations. Although, it doesn't really get you in the Christmas mood when it's 80 degrees out (seriously, not exaggerating) with 60% humidity in the middle of December. (I just love the south...NOT.)
But here's a video to get me in the Christmas spirit:



I seriously want to go to a Christmas party like that.
Bob Dylan sure knows how to throw a festive party.

The luck I've had...

So, this weekend I finally got around to watching Fight Club, which has been on my movie-bucket- list for a while now and it BLEW MY MIND.

I admit, I was skeptical at first. I thought it was going to be a pointless action flick about guys beating each other up, but I was wrong. It's one of those movies that sticks with you and causes you to replay its scenes over and over again in your head.
Now, I've got Edward Norton's voice narrating my daily activities with internal monologues.

My favorite quote:

"Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables — slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

Not much happened at school today. Just another boring Monday. These next two weeks are going to be brutal with all of the projects and essays and midterms due. Aaahhhhh.

I had another weird dream last night (what am I eating before bedtime?) involving baby alligators, power lines, and space ships. I remember at one point in the dream I was sitting in the closet with my sister. I turned the TV on and said, "The TV makes you invisible. Am I invisible? Can you see me?"