In the wonderful world of books there are so many genres that it's hard to pick just one as the reigning champion of awesome. Everyone has their favorite world they like to dip into whether it be a tantalizing mystery, heart-pounding romance, exciting adventure, or a thought-provoking classic. Throughout the pool of amazing talent lies genres that are both revered and rejected. While the most popular for movie and television adaptations nowadays, fantasy seemingly drew the short stick in regards to respect in the literature field. A fact I find both shocking and demeaning.

Last semester, I had a bad experience with a professor who not-so-subtly put down the fantasy/sci-fi genre along with many others that did not fit into the "literary" category. They argued that these "genre writers" focused only on plot and left two-dimensional characters in their wake, making the book only satisfying as a one-time read. They demeaned the "page-turner" quality of fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery books as as a factor that should not be the desire of any writer - according to them, a writer should write complexly with stories that have multiple layers and focus on character more so than plot. She listed Lord of the Rings as the only exception.

"But I don't think any of you will be writing the next Lord of the Rings," she said. "So why try?"

There may never be a "next Lord of the Rings," nor should there be. It is a writer's job to create something new out of a bunch of used materials. Ever hear the phrase "There's no such thing as an original idea"? Well, that's true. It's what you do with that idea that makes it original - how you tell the story in a way only you can tell it.

Thankfully, I already knew that. My former professor didn't seem to.

I like to consider myself a well-read person. I have read books of every genre - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have my own preferences, obviously, but I also respect other genres for what they bring to their fans. Yes, even erotica. I also have a writer's perspective on the whole ordeal. Granted, I am aware I still have a lot to learn. Writing is a constant learning experience with a neverending need to improve. But what has always remained constant is my taste in books.

To me, fantasy should garner much more respect than it receives. It is an audience favorite in many respects, which is great. But to the writing world, it seems to be more of a nuisance than a comrade. A good number of teachers I've had in my career as a writing student always seem to advocate against fantasy as a genre and advice that writers go for a deeper and more meaningful storyline.

I have read high fantasy, urban fantasy, teen fantasy, and pretty much every in-between niche that the genre has. As a majority, they have some of the most complex and sympathetic characters around. To name a few: Harry Dresden, Kvothe, Severus Snape, Kylar Stern, Katniss Everdeen... the list goes on. I have related to and been enamored with these characters a lot more than Jay Gatsby, Elizabeth Bennett, and Oliver Twist. Not to demean any of those authors or books, I like them all well enough, I just think the aforementioned pioneers of fantasy novels have much more depth and deserve as much respect as their literary brethren.

 As for fantasy writers relying heavily on plot - that's true. Of course it's true. Fantasy has the burden (and the privilege) of transporting the audience into a new and confusing world. What's the best way to cement this world? Have the characters go on a new and confusing journey so that the rules of the world will be revealed  slowly, not scaring away or confusing the reader. As the characters are occupied with other things like life and death, things like their long forgotten cities and/or their complex, infuriating families are not just thrown in with chapters upon chapters of needless mind-dwelling. The characters instead are revealed through their actions and interactions, which I believe is a much stronger testament to who they are than sitting alone in a darkened room, brooding and contemplating their life. A character can very much do that in fantasy or any other genre, but if it makes up the bulk of their character development, the character loses interest.

As of late, I have been a part of many conversations that label setting as it's own character. It didn't take me long to recognise that I am a firm believer in this, as should be any fan of fiction. And which genre has the most detailed and intricate setting? Fantasy. I mean, come on, Hogwarts and Middle Earth have just as much character development as their title characters. Look at all of the crap they're put through. All the history wraight in their infrastructure. All the blood spilt on their soil.

Even if none of these points reach you, there should be one thing you are absolutely aware and respectful of: The craft of fantasy. All writers go through an outlining stage where they craft the basic plot, characters, conflicts, etc. For a writer working within the rules of the world as we know it today, they can focus more intently on niches and individualities for their stories to possess. Fantasy writers can do this, too - on top of the worldbuilding stage. Worldbuilding is exactly what it sounds like. Hogwarts, Middle Earth, and Westeros all took hours upon hours of rule making, land building, history crafting, and more to come to life. Since they are worlds completely separate from our own, they require their own set of rules. Some rules can overlap, but for the most part the worlds have to be original and concrete. This takes up much, if not most, of the outlining stage of writing. In some ways, worldbuilding never ends. This process is long and draining but the result is nearly always worth it. The authors create a new world readers dream of escaping to and that talent it is taken very much for granted. Not to demean any other genre of literature, for there are countless amazing stories and plots of all genres, but there is no question the amount of work that goes into writing fantasy. This is the main reason why the lack of respect for this genre boggles me.

The fans of fantasy are also not usually looked upon with high regards. From television to books to RPGs, fantasy fans are deemed social outcasts to the point that many feel the need to hide their passions so as not to be ridiculed. I find this ridiculous. As a former D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) player and LARPer (Live Action Role Play), I also continue to feel these pressures. But with the growing popularity of shows like Game of Thrones and games like Skyrim, I feel there is a change coming. At least, I hope so. It is now very common to run into someone reading A Song of Ice and Fire or geeking out with their friends at the newest episode of GOT. Fads in television and books have had both positive and negative connotations throughout the years. When I was growing up, everyone wanted to be a wizard - a la Harry Potter. Now everyone is a closet Harry Potter nerd, it seems, and those who have not seen it or don't like it are the outcasts. A few years later, the Vampire craze hit. That one wasn't as pretty. But now it seems like high fantasy, or really fantasy in general, is becoming the norm. I hope this respect and love for the genre seeps through to more than just the general public and is also felt by critics of literature and the writing community because, as it has been for years, fantasy is not going away anytime soon.

Fantasy has drawn the short end of the stick in many regards but it still remains my favorite genre. True, there are many bad fantasy stories. But there are also many bad literary stories. Just because someone went the extra mile and used their creative energy to create a new world on top of a story with colorful characters and plot to tell does not demean their talent. It extends it.

A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep.
- Walt Disney's Cinderella, 1950

Dreams are weird.

For the past year-and-change, I've been keeping a dream journal. I try to write in it every morning but usually only have the patience for it a few days out of the week. It's taken many forms. First, it was a tiny little spiral notebook I found on sale at Meijer with little pink and brown stripes. Then, it was the fraternal twin of journal #1, only this one was polka-dotted. Now, it's my used Gender Studies notebook. Don't worry - I ripped out the three pages I used for the class.

Through these journals, I've learned a lot of weird things about myself. Supposedly, the purpose of a dream journal is to "familiarize the person with their dreamscape" and help people become lucid dreamers.

(lucid dream: a dream where you know you're dreaming)

I can definitely attest to this theory. I don't have lucid dreams every night, mind you, but I have them a lot more often since starting the journals. Even then, I don't realise for a while. I'm working on that bit. But they allow a nice escapism. The rest of the time, I'm left at the mercy of normal dreams. Which is usually fine.

Usually.

I  don't have nightmares often, thankfully, but I have been having some lately. Normally, I would just disregard them. But since I don't usually have nightmares, I figured I would try to pinpoint the cause. After some thorough research (and by that I obviously mean clicking on the first link on Google) I found the answer.

Stress.

What a shocker.

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend about a breakup. The two had been going out for a long time and he was pretty devastated. Obviously, I felt horrible for him and tried my best to comfort him. A few nights later, I had a dream about him retelling me the story and his ex stalking us around a building. The nightmare progressed into something out of a slasher fic. It was horrible.

I woke myself up, terrified, and wrote down everything I could remember. It was so vivid. So fresh. So freaking terrifying.

I went through the rest of the day in a sort of haze. I was tired and generally felt very down. The nightmare had seemingly sucked away all of my energy. I couldn't focus on anything. The haze built up until I was forced to pull an 8-hour homework binge because I had neglected to finish it earlier.

The point is, I went to bed stressed. I was stressed for my friend. Stressed about my own personal stuff. They were the last things I thought of before going to sleep.

Well, that was a mistake. And I have the journal entry to prove it.

It's my belief that dreams tell us more than we realize. They reveal how weird we are, how we think, and what's really hidden underneath all of those song lyrics. I've realized a lot about myself from rereading old dreams I wrote down. They were telling me things I needed to hear. They also revealed the times when I really needed to take some time for myself.

I believe my nightmares were telling me to calm down. To take it easy. I have a lot of stuff going on but that doesn't mean I have to stress out about it 24/7. I'm allowed to have some me-time. And that goes for everyone else as well.

I recommend that everyone try keeping a dream journal. If anything, they'll be therapeutic. They also might tell you things you hadn't realized just yet. And isn't that what we all want, really? To know what we want?

Everyone loves movies. Some people even love to hate them. But like it or not, they're a huge part of our lives. They are as diverse and emotional and controversial as life itself. And because of this diversity, different movies appeal to different people. Hell, that's pretty much the function of genre itself. Genre distinguishes the main themes of movies and books other art forms as a sort-of psychic paper. It allows people to see what they want to. (That one was for you, my fellow Whovians.)

Some people like Horror. Some people like Drama. Some people like a strange David O'Russell hybrid that can't even begin to be defined. Different people have different tastes in things. It's common sense. It's what makes people unique and interesting. I wrote about this in a post back in February dealing with how people get different things from books. The same goes for movies. And music. And pretty much everything ever. People are different. Get over it.

That being said, I'm going to tell a little tale for a second. It's about me and my brother. We're alike in many ways - we both love music, theatre, performing, and reading. We're also different in many ways. I won't list all those for your sake. The important thing we disagree on is movies (well, important for this post, at least). He's going to school for film, I'm going for writing. It's safe to say we get different things out of different movies. Don't get me wrong - we agree on a lot of things as well. But recently, that hasn't been the case.

Over our winter break away from college, we went to see American Hustle. He loved it. I didn't. I thought it was too long, too dry, and was trying too hard to be something it wasn't: An Oscar-winner. My brother, on the other hand, didn't agree. He thinks David O'Russell can do no wrong. That's all fine and good. I loved Silver Linings Playbook. Whatever. But when I broke the news to him that I didn't like Hustle, he became super defensive and started throwing questions at me like a baseball-shooting machine.

"What?! Why didn't you like it?! It was perfect! Oh my god. How could you - no. No it was amazing. Don't even."

I listed off my reasons, not trying to change his opinion or anything, just stating what I thought. He stuck out his hand in a very preteen manner, giving me a look, and just couldn't deal. How dare I? Rotten Tomatoes gave it a great rating. That means it's amazing.

Okay, let me press the pause button here.

Rotten Tomatoes is a fairly famous critical site that rates movies on a percent-scale by combining reviews collected by several "reputable" critics (I only put quotes around reputable because Rotten Tomatoes lists them as "top critics." I have no idea how this is determined). Now, I've never been one for critical sites. At all. Ever. I like to watch a movie and form my own opinions without bias before reading what other biased people have to say. My brother practically worships the site. Before he watches any movie, he has to check the rating on Rotten Tomato. It's apparently like the law or something.

It gave Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a 78%. That's pretty much my main argument there. But, like I said, I'm completely biased. But so is everyone else.

Take, for instance, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. As a fan of the books and being within its age demographic, I feel like my opinion is rather valid on the quality of the film. I'm also quite critical of any book-to-movie adaptation so, if possible, I might be at least somewhat qualified to write a review about the film (which I did, btdubs). I liked the movie. I thought it did rather well for a first go at the very complex and detailed world that Cassandra Clare wrote. It was a bit rocky, not sure of itself. But overall, I think it was good and deserved a second go with a sequel.

This is the score that Rotten Tomato gave it:

(1) The only thing similar to Twilight is the romance. And even then, it's completely different. No emotional abuse here. Well, not really. Most YA fantasy series have romance. It's part of the formula to appeal to the female demographic. Chicks dig romance, man. It's a thing.

(2) This review isn't even about the movie. Keep your opinions of the book to yourself or post them on a book review site. Books and movies are not the same thing. Unfortunatly. (If you want a four-hour Harry Potter movie clap your hands!)

(3) For those of you who don't know, Cassandra Clare is a former fan fiction writer. Harry Potter, more specifically. She then wrote her own fantasy series. Which bares no resemblance to Harry Potter except that it's fantasy. I mean, there are witches and warlocks but the magic is completely different than J.K. Rowling's version. By far. I have no idea why this "Flick Filosopher" called the film out as being a "bad name" to fan fiction when it isn't fan fiction at all. I should know. At least I hope so.

Now, as a counterpoint to these negative reviews, let's take a look at the thing I would recommend paying attention to if you were to check Rotten Tomatoes for a film rec. The audience score.

This is Evelyn. She's seventeen. Loves the rain, asking questions, and eating bread right out of the bag.

She's also a character I started writing last summer.

I've been playing Sims 2 since I was in middle school. I loved decorating the houses, making the cute little babies - but most of all I loved creating the Sims themselves. Seriously, I would sometimes spend two hours in the Create-A-Family mode, move them into a house, and then never play them again. I would also import characters from books that I read and have them marry the characters they should have ended up with. With no regrets.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I started using Sims for a different purpose.

I had my first idea for a book when I was in high school. The project has since been filed away for future use but at my planning stage I was having trouble grounding the images of my characters. I had named them, given them careers, and outlined the basic plot of their story. I just couldn't picture any of it.

One day I was playing Sims, getting bored of the family whose lives I was ruining, when my eye caught the piece of paper where my characters' names were written down (my desk is like a war zone most times so "re-finding" things is a pretty common occurrence). Then, I got what I deem to be one of the best ideas I've ever had: Creating my characters as Sims.

Within a few hours, I had grounded the likeness of all four of my characters into the game, moved them into a house, and started building their backstory. Well, granted, the backstory bit went a bit wonky. As any frequent Sims-player can attest to, sometimes the Sims themselves get a little hard to control and end up running off and doing their own thing. Which is kind of like writing characters - sometimes they dictate their own story. But at the time I didn't know that so it freaked me out and I stopped.

My game has crashed since then and I don't have those characters imported anymore. But I have the Addams family (pun not intended... not really) all created and moved in, which includes Evelyn and her parents. I also plan on importing all of my other original characters into a city I built called Bookville. Not creative at all, I know, but I started the neighborhood not to play necessarily but more to worldbuild.

If you are a writer and have any version of Sims, I highly recommend using it. Especially if you're just getting into writing and having trouble with any aspect of worldbuilding/character building. I used to constantly berate myself for not having any artistic talent but thankfully I found something to remedy that. Hopefully, with this insight I can bestow that relief onto someone else.

The Vampire Academy book series is one that captures its readers. It's sexy, daring, funny, and even original.

"What I will say is that I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That’s how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione with Ron."

. . . 

"In some ways Hermione and Harry are a better fit,"

Recently, I've been struggling with the idea that I might have to give up something that has been a part of my life for close to twelve years.  Like leaving any part of your life behind, it's rough to picture things without it - but the fact is that you can. You can see your future without its comforting presence clearer than you ever thought possible. It's scary. Terrifying, even. But it's there. And the fact that it's there has got to mean something, right?

I've been in choir since I was a beaming little fourth grader. At least, that's the last time I can ever remember choosing to be in it rather than have my teacher usher me and the rest of the students to our half-hour block of music class. Since then, it has been a constant part of my life, especially in high school. The only way to describe it is, well, that I found my second family there. I also found a hidden talent that gave me what little confidence I had growing up. In that little choir room in the corner of the school, hidden in the confines of the secluded music hallway, was my haven. Sure, most of the time it smelt like feet and the clocks were always off and the band kids nearly always blamed us for their transgressions but some of my fondest memories took place there. Practicing for competitions with our horrendously out-of-date cassette tapes, waiting anxiously to audition for our dream role in the winter musical, lining up to make our big entrance through the stage door and sing our hearts out for our friends and family. It was our little piece of the world that we loved and held on to with all of our might until it was time to let go and watch it join the others in the jigsaw that was our life.

My passion for music grew through the years and I continued that passion when I started college. Back then, I couldn't fathom my life without choir. It was blasphemy. Where would I be without the concerts or the Stroope or the thousands of renditions of Gloria and Alleluia? Hell. I would have been in hell. I was already in the scary new world of college - it would do me good to have a sense of familiarity.

Now, as I grow older and my life becomes burdened with more responsibility, I plan for my future career and am faced with a choice that hurts just thinking about it. Leaving choir. Leaving behind the rehearsals and the music and the people. Just graduating high school three years ago, knowing I could never return to the choir room in the corner was heart-wrenching enough. But life moves on and you either move with it or are dragged along by it. Continuing choir would mean neglecting my responsibilities and postponing other accomplishments I want to achieve by the time I graduate college. I need to focus on other things in my life. I need to move forward.

It's no surprise that I feel like this. I knew the day would come eventually. I just never thought about it. Now that it's here, I almost refuse to believe it. It's not yet official or anything but it feels as though I'm already done. It's really ending. But I need to stay positive. I need to think about all of the great times I had rather than yearn for them to repeat themselves. No matter how much I crave it, the past is the past and it is better left there. I had a good run. I accomplished many things and created everlasting memories. I sang the great songs. And did it well.

Yikes.

Ouch.

Jeeze.

Wow.

Well.

I've already broken my New Years Resolution. Way to go me.

No but seriously I feel super bad about this. I was actually busy this weekend but there was a block of time I could have posted on Friday and I just forgot. My bad.

But let's move on, shall we? I'll forget, you'll forget. It'll be a good 'ol memory wipe.

In light of my horrible memory, I think today I'll focus on ways to remember responsibilities. In list form. Because that's all I can blog about, apparently.

• Calendar. This one is a no-brainer. Get yourself a calendar or a planner and write down the things you need to do or accomplish. Better yet, invest in both a hanging wall calendar and a planner. Me, I use a planner for my schoolwork and maybe a few bigger events I have to go to or plan for. My wall calendar is dry erase and marks major tests, papers, or other events that I absolutely have to remember. Also, put your calendar in a place that you will always see. No hiding it behind your door. Put it by your desk or in your kitchen.

• Sticky notes. I use these to remember usernames and passwords mostly. But in light of recent events and my unreal amount of Post-Its, I'm starting to use them to remember weekly goals. This past week, I had to write 200 words a day for one whole week for an assignment. It was probably the most daunting assignment I have ever started but then, after I was on my second day, it quickly shifted into the easiest assignment I've ever completed. I want to keep pushing myself to meet that goal every day. Even if I only write for ten minutes, it'll be a lot more than if I hadn't done it at all. 

• Tell a friend. Enlist the help of someone to check up on your progress of something. I've done this multiple times with my roommate and she with me. It helps when you give someone permission to yell at you when you haven't taken your vitamins.

Hello all! And a belated Happy New Year!

Wow. 2014. That's actually a thing now.

A New Year is can mean a bunch of things to people. It can mean starting over. It can mean another year closer to your immanent death. It can mark the anniversary of some of your favorite movies turning a decade old, as is the case this year for me.

(Seriously. Mean Girls. Look it up.)

But on a happier note, it is also the start of many resolutions. Resolutions meant to improve your life health-wise, spiritually, creatively, or even resolving to keep your life just the way it is because traditions are for losers and partaking in them would be conforming to the man.

I, for one, love making resolutions for myself. Do I keep them? Most of the time, no. But this year I am aiming to amend that. I've composed a list of things that are well within my grasp to accomplish without putting too many high barriers up for myself and intimidating my way out of things. One of those things is keeping up with this blog more often.

I'm a writer. That's what I do. It's what I aspire to keep doing for the rest of my life. What better way to motivate myself than a weekly goal to write things down? Plus, I like blogging. It gives me room to air out things I've been wanting to talk about but haven't had the gusto or the, well, words. I feel that I communicate easier through writing than I do with speaking. You can ask my friends how horrible I am with puns sometimes. Seriously. It's rather deplorable. But here I can add, delete, or edit things I say to really get the message across and that's something special.

So, from here on out, this is going to be a weekly blog. Posted every Friday.

There. I've done it. It's all official because it's on the internet. No going back now.

Happy Friday everyone!

Alright guys. It's time to get serious.

I was watching E! News the other day (Don't judge... it's my guilty pleasure) and they were - shocker - talking about celebrities. In particular, Justin Bieber. There was some scandal involving him, I don't remember the details, but the point is that one of the anchors felt the need to say that he is a Bieber supporter - and I don't think he meant his music.

It is no secret that half of the talk about Bieber involves some type of hate, whether it be about his music or his scandalous reputation. I, for one, don't understand any of it.

If you would have asked me a year ago - no, maybe even a month ago - for me to make a list of the five celebrities I hated, I would have done it with no hesitations and probably with accompanying stick figure doodles. But it was E! News and a few online gossip articles that got me thinking about what hate really means. Hate is a strong word. We really take it for granted. We point it at food that tastes funky to us, we use it to describe our feelings towards homework, but most often we associate it with other human beings.

I do believe that there are instances where "hate" can be used to describe your feelings towards someone. But the only instances that involve that are when you have a personal relationship with that person or know them through association with others. They may have done you or someone you care about wrong and that, I believe, is a good reason to use "hate," albeit sparingly. Don't use it if a guy broke up with your best friend - call him a jerkwad or the slew of other creative nicknames that come to mind.

Hate in relation to celebrities is an entirely different case. There is a strong chance that the celebrity you claim to hate is one who you have never spoken to or even seen in person. It is understandable to forget that they are people sometimes. They appear on our televisions and on the glossy covers of tabloids, far away from our mediocre lives. They are entities, they are larger than life, they are rich as hell and we constantly wonder how that is. But they are also people. People with feelings. When you write a blog about how much you can't stand Miley and her obsession with twerking and how much you hate her for getting all this attention, you don't realize that there is a person on the receiving end of that rant. Think of it this way: Would you tell the head cheerleader at your high school that you hate her guts and wish she would die because she was a slut and had everything you secretly wanted? In most cases no, you wouldn't. If you are the person who would do that, congratulations. You're about as mature as a fourteen-year-old.

If you genuinely don't like someone, that's fine. If you don't like an artist's music, that's fine. If you don't agree with some of the things they're doing, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Everyone is entitled to share those opinions. But think before you talk or post about it. Think about if you really hate the person you're talking about or just get a bad vibe from them. Hate is a strong, hurtful word. This can apply when you're talking about someone in your life or someone as far away as Beverly Hills. I can do a whole other post about cyber bullying so I won't talk too much about that - I think you get the gist of that issue.
Moral of the story: Think before you speak. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself. Or your best friend. Or parent. Put a face to person that you're talking about and imagine them reading what you wrote or listening to what you said. Put yourself in their shoes. Does it feel good? Do you enjoy hearing people say they hate you without even knowing you?

This is the last time I'll be posting about finals, guys. I promise.

(Until April, that is. Groan.)

This time around, I'm going to share some study tips for you lovely people. At least, the ones that have worked for me in the past. Study methods vary from person to person so take these with a grain of salt.

• Never study with more than three people. Three is the cap for most study groups. If it gets over that amount, the group members tend to get really chatty and distract each other from doing actual studying. (Again, this is my own experience, so if a big group usually works for you, more power to ya.)

• Also on the subject of groups: Pick your study buddies wisely. Don't say yes to a friend you know is going to distract you if you have legitimate work to get done. Save that for when they are the ones that have to study. 

• Take breaks. Don't study in five-hour long blocks. Study for an hour, take a ten minute break and play a relaxing game of Solitaire or something. Then, straight back to work.

• Bring both healthy and not-so-healthy snacks. The healthy ones are for when you're actually hungry and need an energy boost. The not-so-healthy ones are for rewarding yourself for getting stuff done. For example, I knew a girl who did her reading for class by putting a Skittle after every paragraph. 

• On the subject of food: Don't forget to eat. I know that finals week is a stressful time. Some people don't eat when they're stressed. But even if you're not hungry - if you haven't eaten in six hours, have an apple. Or a cookie. Keep that blood sugar up so you don't pass out or die. Dying while studying would be the worst way to go, really. Don't subject yourself to that boring obituary. 

• Listen to classical music. Maybe even some Dubstep. Lyrics are a distraction more times than not. Especially when writing that final paper you've been putting off since Midterms. Yeah, that's right. I'm looking at you, bub.

• Wear comfy clothes. Seriously. The comfier you are, the more relaxed you are, and the less distracted you'll be from constantly pulling down that shirt that just a little too small on you but you like it because you spent your entire paycheck on it and a pair of boots. No one is going to care if you show up to the library in Ninja Turtle pajama pants and an old sweater you still have from high school. Because chances are, they're either wearing the same thing, or envious of you having the guts to wear it in public while they're constantly adjusting their miniskirt.

• Pick a crowded place to set up camp. The slew of people surrounding you that are doing work will act as a motivator to get off Tumblr, pull up Google Scholar, and get cracking on the research for that same paper you've been putting off since Midterms. Or a whole other paper you've been putting off. You know, because you're really good at organizing your time. Still looking at you, bub.

• Write a to-do list for what you want to accomplish that day/afternoon/evening/whatever. Don't try to get all of your studying for all of your classes done at one time. Space it out. Do it little by little. Or conquer whatever is due first/whatever exam is scheduled first. That's what I do. Then, if I get tired or bored with it, I switch over to a larger project that due later in the week, and come back to whatever is due first. 

It's that time of year again, folks.

Nah, not Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm talking about something even more disturbing with far less candy and cheerful carols.

Finals.

Each year, finals have been getting progressively more stressful for me. This semester, I have a paper for every class, plus three in-class exams, one take-home, a portfolio, and I'm performing in a holiday concert the Monday the pandemonium begins. Plus, I get to work all of Black Friday Weekend. It's safe to say I've been close to losing my marbles every day.

To help alleviate some of the stress, I thought it would be nice to put together a list of all the things that are helping me get through these next few weeks.

• Coffee and tea - and lots of it
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathons study breaks
• Equally stressed out roommates to share the pain
• The light at the end of the tunnel - Christmas break
• My new warm sweater-wrap I splurged on from work.
• A heated apartment
• Junk food
• Sleep - and lots of it
• Socks (preferably fuzzy ones)
• The premise of finally having time for leisure reading
• Warm showers
• Netflix
• Twinkle lights
• Thinking about my upcoming summer in London
• The hope that I'll finally get some time to work on my book after the semester ends

I don't understand all of the hate that is coming out about this movie. I absolutely loved it. Of course, I had my stipulations, but all around I really enjoyed it. And, before you ask, yes I read the book. Honestly, I am insulted you would even suggest such a thing.

A lot of the problems people had about the movie are mostly to do with it being so slow-moving. And to that I say: Have you read the book? I read it for the first time this summer when I heard the movie was coming out. I had been recommended it before but never had much initiative to read it until I saw the first trailer for the film. And, I'll admit, it was pretty hard to get through. I'd heard so much about it. Heck, even my dad read it (which isn't that much of a surprise since he's more of a SciFi nut than I am... but still!). The majority of the book takes place at battle school, as does the movie. It focuses on the many battles Ender had to face such as the battles between armies and his personal demons, as does the movie. So really, I don't get why everyone is whining so much about it being so boring. My coworker, who hadn't read the book, holds that opinion, which I respect. But I honestly don't understand why people who read the book hated the movie so much. The acting was good, the visual effects were stunning, and it followed the plot as well as it could with the book's vast timeline.

Now, I'm not saying the film didn't have its weak points. SPOILER ALERT. PLEASE DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO AVOID MAJOR MOVIE GIVEAWAYS.

Peter. I wanted more of him. At the beginning of the book, we see that Peter is pretty much a psychopath. Now, the movie does allude to this. But then it just drops it. The movie version of Ender and Valentine do discuss later that Ender is not like Peter, yada yada yada. But if you didn't read the book, you really wouldn't understand what that meant. Peter is a guy who tortured living animals. I just wish that the movie would have emphasized Peter and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his family.

They also way overplayed Petra and Ender's relationship. I understand why - it's explained in this Wired interview with Orson Scott Card - but it was still unnerving to witness. Especially since I know in the books they have a significant age difference. *shivers*

My final point is a positive note to end on. Card has openly said that the movie is "damn good" so... there. I like it. Card is obviously fine with how it turned out. Now I'll just go off and bake a cake so we can all eat and be happy.