will you forgive us and give us one more try?

cassandra clare's mortal instruments series. i want to read them, but dont really want to buy them. and of course the public library chooses now to fail me. my friend told me about this series about a year ago. apparently cassandra was writing a harry potter fanfic - a draco/ginny ship - that she had posted on fanfiction.net. it got really really popular and then people started noticing that most of it was plagiarized. like pages copied word for word from books/movies/whatever. and then she started writing her own book. i think that mightve brought more attention to the whole plagiarism thing. anyways, according to my friend who read the fanfiction as it was written and then read the mortal instruments trilogy, the trilogy was almost exactly like the fanfiction. of course the plagiarism thing was changed, the names changed, and i'm guessing the harry potter world taken out, but the plot line was the same. she took the fanfiction offline, but people were still suprised that after being caught with blatant plagiarism she was still being published.
main thing is, i want to read the books, despite the fact that i havent really tried very hard to get them for he past year.

*The End With You - Box Car Racer

music makes the people come together

i was going through my itunes today because i had homework to do and of course organizing music is more important than my grades. anyways, i was looking at my top 25 and was surprised that all the songs on it were actually my songs. my old ipod was used by other people more often than me. half the music i put on for others i never even listened to. and since these people had only two songs each that they liked on my ipod, and they listened to them repeatedly throughout the entire bus ride, my music was pushed further down the list. but with this ipod, no one but me ever listens to it. and i realized that my top 25 is very undiverse.

1. your guardian angel - the red jumpsuit apparatus
2. boomerang - steven strait
3. half lit - steven strait
4. never said anything - steven strait
5. smart in a stupid way - steven strait
6. sweet tangerine - the hush sound
7. house lights - steven strait
8. i've just seen a face - the beatles
9. fix you - coldplay
10. where we went wrong - the hush sound
11. the man who can't be moved - the script
12. breakeven - the script
13. we cry - the script
14. one thing leads to another - steven strait
15. stuck in a moment you can't get out of - u2
16. this is for keeps - the spill canvas
17. we intertwined - the hush sound
18. this is living - steven strait
19. love is gone - david guetta
20. before the worst - the script
21. anybody there - the script
22. pure example - steven strait
23. the end is where i begin - the script
24. i'm yours - the script
25. the dutch courage - the spill canvas

see?? its like the same 5 bands/singers repeated a million times.

*Music - Madonna

they don't learn but still they think they can teach

so after a day of doing absolutely nothing, i realize that i have homework due tonight. homework i havent started. homework i just found out about two minutes ago. now this wouldnt be such a big problem except that its for my security class. my professor for that class is useless. completely incompetent. she knows absolutely nothing about anything. and yet, she likes to think that she's decieving us into thinking that she's some kind of computer world god. she spends the whole 3 hour class talking about her children or telling us to memorize what acronyms stand for. someone really needs to let her know that out in the real world, memorizing what a bunch of letters stand for really won't help anyone. as long as you know what it does or is used for you're good to go. oh wait, we did. and she insists that her success is all because she knows that SHA-1 stands for Secure Hash Algorithm version 1. she'll read a point off of a slide someone else made and ask us if any of us know what that is or means. at first, we thought she was just fishing for participation. but no, she really was asking what the most basic things were. her favorite phrase: why dont you google that. if we were in one of the rooms without internet connection, i think she'd die. anyways, despite being a complete waste of space in the classroom, she likes to assign incredibly complicated homeworks that she doesnt even understand enough to explain. apparently, she likes to learn new things through our answers. so now i have to go suffer through a homework because mason has apparently become so desperate for professors that they'll hire anyone, despite their incompetence.

*Reinvent Myself - The Holloways

the tv's on, he's connected to the sound

i was talking with my sister and brother-in-law today and remembered this clip. a friend showed it to me a couple of years ago. anyways, he does a great preview man voice.

*Flavor of the Week - American Hi-Fi

there's nothing for the kids to do today

i say 'where's waldo' and it's like a wave of nostalgia. cue the wavy fade out into memory. we all remember searching for that little man in the red and white stripes at circuses, parks, and busy city streets. you would think that anyone dressed like that would just jump out at you. but for some odd reason everyone in those books wore stripes, most people wore funny hats, and everything in the background was varying shades of reds and whites. not to mention how crowded they all were. for something so integral to our childhood memories, it's hard to believe that there are people that havent wasted hours of their life searching for waldo or looking for seven paperclips hidden within the pages of an I Spy book.

but, believe it or not, there are. a whole bunch of them in fact. i spoke to a group of girls who didnt even know where's waldo books existed. "i thought it was just a saying from a movie or something," one said. children who have never been introduced to waldo?? granted he's hard to find, but... seriously??

but these same children all had email addresses at the age of 5. they all had cell phones way before i even thought of getting one. they all spend the hours they should be looking for waldo chatting and surfing the web. they play sports through video games, start lemonade stands online, and even pop virtual bubblewrap! for many kids these days, the days of fresh air and nature are just stories from the past of 'old people.' sure everything is still out there, but you can get it all inside your house too.

when i was young, i was never online. ever. true, it didnt really exist back then the same way it does now. but i spent time travelling back in time to egypt, playing doctor to trees, and starting very unsuccessful lemonade stands where our only customer who wasnt family was a lady who stole our lemons.

yes, technology is great. it has done lot to further mankind and whatnot. but at what cost?? is it even really worth it??

overdramatic?? probably. but children these days should experience what we got to experience. sports. games that don't use any type of screen. imagination. my childhood was amazing, and i cant help but feel that kids these days are missing out. they have their whole lives to immerse themselves into technology, but there is only so much time that you can jump off the couch and try to fly without looking completely insane.

cliche as it sounds, children are growing up way too fast. and where does that leave waldo?? hiding at a circus waiting to be found with no one even looking. poor waldo... :(

*Nothing for the Kids - The Holloways

can't you see that you're smothering me?

so i was talking to my sister and we were discussing the obnoxiousness that is people. well, one obnoxious aspect about them, namely the way people read too much into things. i write something and automatically it's written about me or about someone i know. i say something random and it's a subtle response to something someone else said six million years ago. everything has ten different shades of meaning, and usually none of them are right.
if i write that a girl jumped off a bridge, it does not mean that i have suicidal thoughts. it does not mean that i'm mad at someone and am hoping that she'll jump off a bridge. it does not mean that i feel like a bridge and people are jumping off of me while i'm stuck in one place. it's just an imaginary girl jumping off an imaginary bridge. that's it. i'm not saying that it can never mean anything, but unless you know for sure, don't read your own thoughts into my words. sure, you can read it and think, "wow that's exactly like my great aunt mary," but odds are that was not my intent. so don't tell me it was. last i checked, the world did not have access to my mind, which means that unless i choose to share with you every thought behind every word i write or thing i say, then you really have no idea what i mean by it. think whatever you want to about it, but know that they are your thoughts, not mine.


*Numb - Linkin Park

the double vision i was seeing is finally clear

today, as i was leaving class and walking towards the bus, my contact escaped! i swear it just jumped out of my eye out of nowhere and ran away. i looked for it... but it was gone. so then i had to drive home half blind. i was a menace to society. ok not really, i drove perfectly fine but still...

*Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5

where oh where have the smart people gone?

i was listening to the radio this morning - the kane show on 99.5 - when he plays this recording of a lady who called the police because she was locked in her car. yes, you read that right: in not out. there's a family guy episode where brian is listing examples of peter's stupidity and he mentions the time that peter locked the keys out of his car - you see a flashback of peter sitting in the car staring desolately at the keys which are sitting by the street. you laugh because its hilariously stupid. no one can be that dumb. apparently, they can. this lady called the police saying her car wouldnt start and she was locked inside it, nothing electrical on the car would work. what did the police call answering lady suggest? trying to unlock the door manually. genius! the lady locked in her car says doubtfully "well i'll try that" and voila she's able to escape her car! she goes on to say reassuringly, "i'm all right." really?? you called the police because you were locked IN a car. doesnt sound all right to be. sounds like there are too many stupid people walking around in this world. anyway, she called AAA and got home safely.

*Stupid Girls - Pink

it's easy to believe somebody's been lying to me

So on April Fool's Day I love seeing what "tricks" the websites have come up with. i've seen some pretty good ones in the past, but this year most sites left stuff to be desired. My sister believes google's trick every single year. I don't think i've ever not gotten a call or something from her gushing about the cool new thing google has. But not today.

It's not just the sites, though. Most of the "April Fool's humor" I saw/heard today was anything but humorous. Transparent "jokes" that are not in the least bit funny have been popping up everywhere.

"we have a pop quiz in class today" says the professor who is having the most difficult time keeping a straight face. really? not that i would've studied but... "April Fools!" oh haha witty professor, for about half a second you made me think about the fact that i don't study for anything you give us. you are a funny one.

"my computer died yesterday when i had a really big project due" says the random dude who started to speak to me on the bus. you could hear the tears in his voice, so i must give him credit for his performance. "oh" is my polite reply, followed by a silent diatribe in my head. i do not know you random stranger. why would i care the least bit that your computer died? is it because we are on the same bus? is that a form of bonding to you? I go back to listening to my iPod. "I was just kidding... april fools you know" he says half an hour later as we are getting off the bus. "oh" is my polite response. should i laugh now? was that supposed to be funny? did you think i would suddenly start caring if you let the joke sit there for half an hour? perhaps you should have saved that one for a professor, or friend, or someone who at least knew who you were.

i was eating dinner and the table next to me bursts into laughter. someone had asked for a coke and had recieved a diet instead. another knee-slapping april fools trick. college campuses just breed hilarity these days.

but i started this by talking about websites... here are a few of the oh so funny tricks i found online today.

mugglenet, a harry potter fansite, usually has some pretty good tricks. so after a year of not visiting the site, i went to see what they would have. they're apparently downsizing because of the recession.

youtube had turned their site upside down for the day.

google created the best AI out there. "Cadie" has transcended even the comprehension of her creators.

gmail had started an auto-reply program. you don't have to miss out on any more of those spam-tastic opportunities. the nigerian prince wants your bank account to send you 25 million dollars but you don't have time to reply?? dont worry, gmail will now send him the information for you! along with ssn, mother's maiden name, birthday, and whatnot.

while i must admit a couple of these were pretty clever, i've seen a lot funnier ones.

UPDATE: here's a list of all the internet pranks.

*One Thing Leads to Another - Steven Strait

you know i try to read between the lines

10 things i would probably never knew if i didnt read (that may or may not be true, but i choose to believe them):

1. when you're dizzy, sit and put your head between your knees. it helps.

2. red streaks on your skin (like seeing your veins clearly red) means blood poisoning.

3. your pain tolerance is dependent on how many mu receptors you have. you're born with these and the number only changes if something drastic happens, like vampire saliva entering your bloodstream.

4. one famous poet, i forgot his name, didn't sell a single book the first two weeks that his first book of poetry was published. like not even his mom bought a copy.

5. ether is awesome and highly addictive.

6. in the old days (like early 1900s) people often left out the "meat" of the sandwich. cucumber sandwiches, tomato sandwiches... these were delicacies.

7. the starboard side is the right side of a ship, the port is the left.

8. if you can analyze the psychological motives behind your actions, then whatever you're doing is okay. for example, you hang out with a girl because when you're with her, people actually notice you. you know the motive, so even though that's considered a psychological malady, it's okay.

9. mixing sawdust into a used car's engine will make it run like new... at least for the few miles it takes for the new buyer to get far away from your car dealership.

10. milkweed or milksop or something like that can be used in fishing. you dam off a little part of a lake and throw the weed in there. it paralyzes the fish which then float to the top of the water. you pick up however many you want and then undam your area. when the weed loses concentration, the rest of the fish go back to normal.

*Up Against the Wall - Boys Like Girls