Still haunting the library

I want it to be spring. I want to go and do homework in the park, not in Bobst.

I decided to go sit against the exterior wall instead of overlooking the atrium. The suicidal thoughts were starting to give me the heebie-jeebies. (Not that I'm suicidal, just that when you're too smart for your own good, you start pondering these things.)

I'm writing a paper comparing Oedipus and the Sorrows of Young Werther. The weather is blah. I have used all my Pandora hours for the month....

Blah, blah, blah. The end.

What the hell, weather.

A week in the 70s, and then a weekend in the low 40s?! NO. Just NO. :( I don't care that it's sunny, it's cold.

A couple days ago, one of my friends told me he'd had an epiphany about the nature of my writing, juxtaposed to the ambiguous ending of Up In The Air. I really, really liked that movie, so I decided to take it as a complement, but what he said was, "It always feels like it's just a piece of a larger story." - this is generally the idea, so I'm glad he caught on, even if he says my ambiguous ending bug him sometimes. I've always got more than I can put to paper, so I focus on the most interesting part of a story that's taken years to set itself up and hope that my exposition is enough to fill in the rest.

And here's a youtube video to make this post worthwhile. I loved Something Corporate for most of middle school and high school - unfortunately they've broken up and turned into Jack's Mannequin now, which I like equally but haven't bought their CDs. Um. This obsession was back when I was listening to groups before any of my friends - SoCo, Guster, Dashboard Confessional, I was into them before most of my peers thought they were cool. Of course, now I work in the opposite direction and pick things up two or three years after they were popular... (Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists...)

I'm gonna stop. Have a video.

Peace.

-Leez.

New Hampshire Pics!

My aunt took most of these, so I happen to be in them.



I made friends with cows and learned how maple syrup is made:


I explored the Orozco murals in the Dartmouth library:


We took a day trip to Bath and the covered bridge there:


It's hard to believe there's only seven weeks left in freshman year! It's gone by really fast! I got my conwest midterm back, which I was a bit nervous about because it was honest to god the first exam I've taken since IBs last april/may! Turns out I shouldn't have been worried, I got a 99! I astound myself sometimes.

Also, my friend Em just started blogging on here, so maybe go check her out?

Back in the city

Oh my goodness, highs in the 70s and sunny blue skies! I got back from NH yesterday around noon and spent my afternoon walking around, having a good time. Today I think I'm going to run some errands, get myself a smoothie, and go to the park and read.

We live in SUCH a BEAUTIFUL world!

I'll post pictures from NH later when I get a chance.

"I am a lover of largeness."

My long-awaited Alice In Wonderland review! Let me preface this by saying I went with my older cousin and we had a good time, but I'm not necessarily sure this movie was all it's cracked up to be. Granted, it is "a sumptuous feast for the eyes and imagination," but I think it had some major pacing issues - this movie could stand to learn something from Lady Gaga, namely when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em.

Despite a garden party scene that drags on far too long, a rabbit hole fall that seemed to go on forever, and the initial getting through the door with the eat me-drink me things, this movie plays all of its cards within the first ten minutes - to break into Dramatic Writing terms, the tease is too short because the movie assumes we are already invested in it: the viewers are assumed to already know the story of Alice in Wonderland and be fans of Tim Burton, so the movie doesn't feel like it has to intrigue us in any way, so it jumps the gun and tosses us into an overly long first act.

I really loved the effects in this movie. They weren't overdone and they had a delightful whimsicality about them, but the characters didn't have the same thing going. They were largely one-note, although it was clear everyone was having fun with their parts and the CG characters were great (I LOVED the Doormouse's cavalier attitude and the White Rabbit's tendency to hyperventilate - the March Hare annoyed me). I do have to give the girl who played Alice some credit, because her character had a lot of depth and was portrayed really sensitively, but I'm mixed over my feelings for Johnny Depp's Hatter-

While it was really nice to see the Hatter actually DOING things (Disclaimer: My memories of the original Alice in Wonderland animated film are VERY hazy), Depp seemed a bit all over the place. He's made a niche for himself playing very zany characters, but it would be nice to see something from him that didn't seem like a rehash of Willy Wonka.

Also, what is up with Alice/Hatter 'shipping? Like, in this movie it was kind of cute, because it's a) no longer statutory, and b) kind of reminded me of Dorothy/Scarecrow subtext from Wizard of Oz. But, I mean, the longer you think about it the more horrible it becomes. Like, has he always had a thing for her, because, you know, she was eight or nine last time she was there. It gives a whole new meaning to "Alice, why is it every time I see you you're either too large or too small?" But, I guess, all in all I did enjoy it, I just found it a bit odd that the closest thing the movie has to a romantic subplot is flirtation between Alice and Hatter, and poor Hatter gets his heart broken in the end. :( I felt bad for him!

The ending, though, was just a bit too "Click your heels three times and say there's no place like home" for me. Its only saving grace was that the wonderland actors weren't doubling for party guests, because that would be too much for me to buy. "And you were there, and you were there, and you, and you!"

Final conclusion, I did like this movie and have a good time, but I don't think it lives up to its hype. It has a rushed tease, an overly long first act, and its second act and conclusion were rushed and a bit out of tone. There were a couple of moments that really bugged me - namely the use of a "What about my wife and kids?" joke twice within two minutes, which shouldn't have happened - it was funny the first time, but the second time it fell flat because it had JUST been used - And unfortunately, the second time is the time it's important, because it introduces a plot point! Ugh, just sloppy proofing, I think - like I said, this movie plays all of its cards (pun intended) way too fast.

Okay. Let's sum it up.

Three and a half out of five. An imaginative film with lofty ambitions and great production values, but hiccups in the story that drag the rest down.

And this is why ultra-orthodox jews terrify me.

What the...?

Welcome to the sad but true world of Jew-on-Jew violence.

“His followers are really so dedicated to him so that they would do anything to protect him,” said the guest.
Another party guest called Rabbi Aderet’s followers “very fanatical and brainwashed” about the magnitude of the rabbi’s wisdom and said that his congregants seem to fear his alleged magical powers.

Yet some of Rabbi Aderet’s followers believe so much in his abilities that they call him a “messenger from God,” capable of saving them from both health and financial catastrophes.

“Rabbi Aderet has saved a lot of lives that were very close to being dead, and he has helped tremendous amounts of people when they have bankruptcies or any other financial differences in their life —and I’m one of them,” the main supporter said.

This congregant cites a 2007 incident in North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital where his aunt had just suffered a stroke; doctors recommended against life support because the patient had no chance of recovery beyond a vegetable-like state. But when Rabbi Aderet arrived to perform Havdalah at her bedside, sprinkling wine on her forehead, the woman allegedly awoke and lived to see her son get married and two grandchildren grow, according to the congregant.

“I believe that Rabbi Aderet has a very big connection [to God] because I’ve seen it with my eyes,” the supporter said.

I think that, probably, my biggest issue with this variety of Judaism is, as demonstrated by the above quote, their cultlike qualities. Of the groups I am familiar with, most of those tend to rally around their rebbes and treat him like he's their own personal messiah, capable of feats of magic and miracles (see above.) In effect, these groups become like messianic sects, except they still get to call themselves "Judaism" because their rebbes/personal messiahs aren't a second coming, but rather a first.

Bearing in mind that I, as a little conservative Jewish girl whose observance has rapidly declined over the past year, I really have no right to talk about this, but really? Really? Breaking up a party and terrifying small children because they don't agree with your religious beliefs? This is CRAZY. You are CRAZY.

So yeah, as a general rule I'm not the world's most fond of frummies, but that's okay, because I know from experience that they don't like me, either. In my (admittedly limited) interaction with them, I have generally been looked down upon and treated as being worse than a shiksa, because I'm practically sacrilegious.

Of course I full well admit that I'm a hypocrite in complaining about frummies being rude to other people while I'm hardly favorable of them. :|

I

Uh

I got nothing.

Warm thoughts

It is sixty degrees outside.

You can tell how far I've come from my Florida roots when I think this is incredibly warm weather suited to hoodies, skirts, and eating lunch in the park.

Next week I'll be going to New Hampshire, where my phone's weather app says it will be 50 and rainy. But for now it's 60 and sunny and I'm enjoying life. :)

One midterm and one paper to turn in and then I'll be out of here!

-Leez.