Classes, Ivanov and excitement

Last night I have every intention of waking up this morning and getting all of my reading and notes done for college classes. Since waking up, I have read Kristina's new blog, thanked JK Rowling for saving my life via her twitter, cleaned out my closet and dresser a little, watched Samantha Brown, showered....you get the point. No notes have been taken, but the book is open and damn do I look ready to work!

Speaking of classes, my college classes are pretty cool. I am really excited for my photography class except that it has made me want to buy tons of new filters and lenses and such to play with! My film class has a fun professor, but there is a lot of reading which is less entertaining than I would have expected. But all in all, it's good at the college. High school is still lame, but I actually have some big news. Drumroll pleaaaase....I got a lead in the play! I still don't like the play and I am playing a massive bitch, but I have a lead! With a full name! So cool. I am really excited. Sure, it means kissing a close friend who I've known for years on stage, but I'll get past that xD If you know the play Ivanov, by Chekhov and adapted by Tom Stoppard, then I am playing Sasha. Basically, I steal Ivanov from his wife, who is dying of tuberculosis. Less than a year after his wife dies, I am to be married to Ivanov and at our wedding he...shoots himself. A real knee-slapper, it'll warm your heart and reduce you to tears of laughter...or not. Exciting, nonetheless. :)

The Nurses, the Brunettes and Throw me the Statue show was really fantastic. I was tired as hell because I my emotional breakdown on Monday + early morning Tuesday. The show didn't even start till about nine, but it was great! Some of the Brunettes stuff was definitely not my style, but it grew on me through their set and the other two were brilliant. Wednesday I had one of the most embarrassing moments of my life; I don't normally get embarrassed, so this was a big deal. I am not going to say what it was, but just believe me, it was BAD.

I think that is all I have to talk about now. I am going to go pretend that I am working while watching Gilmore Girls. Then I am going to go to Kristina's house, H&M for Denis' FANCY PLAID SUIT, Chipotle, Forever 21, etc because she hasn't been there since being home. Aaaaand tonight is the murder mystery cruise! Today is going to be a good day :) I love having no school on occasional Fridays. Hope you're all feeling the same way! Oh! Fringe last night! And FlashForward! Both very good! :D xx

Dollhouse tracker: Watched the unaired pilot and first episode. Pilot was...not so good. Denis and I both struggled to stay awake, but the first episode was cool!

Book recommendation: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. Because it is amazing and I am way too excited for Christmas. Fall doesn't suit me well.

Thank you

I'm going to be honest right now and try not to say whiney, but I really wanted to post something right now. I had a horrible day. Most of it was because of things in my head, but it was horrible. I've been in tears on and off since I got home from auditions for a play I didn't like in an absolutely FREEZING theatre.

Here's the honest/whiney part: I don't have many friends. I never have. Sure, I use to have a lot of semi-close friends and then school friends and all that. But one day I realised how fake and one dimensional these friendships were and I just sort of let them go. I was left with very little support. I had my three best friends and that was it at the time. Since then, I have gained a few others, though none as close as those three. (Because, you know, most of them are across the country.) And Denis, of course. But when those four people are busy, like today, I am left pretty alone. And for some reason, these are the days that the most horrible things happen to me.

Today, instead of sitting in my room alone, feeling miserable, I decided to invite YouTube to join me. Since posting this video, I have been sent things like this, been told tons of ridiculous and nerdy jokes and laughed quite a bit. You people know me so well, sometimes. It's funny, just when I get annoyed with the internet and the people it allows to contact me, things like this happen and I could not be more grateful for people like you, blog reader. There for me when no one else is. :)

So that's my blog for today. Thank you. I'm no where near 100%, but I am getting there quicker because of you. And keep the laughs and jokes and smiles coming in the comments, yeah? You can never have enough.

Fringe Tracker: All caught up and ljsdgkjbgdfh. Can't wait for Thursday. Dollhouse is next!

Book recommendation: The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan. He is one of my favourite authors and this book is one of his best. It's so touching. I love it.

P.S. Since beginning this post, two of the aforementioned four best friends have gotten in touch and helped very much. Prongs and Moony, that's right, we are the Marauders. Have been for years. :) Now, back to the hot chocolate, blankets and Harry Potter.

Busy, busy, Fringe

Denis' birthday was great, so thank you to everyone who wished him a good one. :) It wasn't overly eventful, but it was nice because I didn't have school on Thursday, so we got to spend all day together. Next week, on Friday, we're going on a Murder Mystery cruise for his birthday and I am really excited about that.

Actually, next week if going to be pretty busy. Sunday is Denis and my ten monthiversary, though I'm not entirely sure what we're doing for that. Tuesday, my community college classes start. I am pretty nervous for these and a little upset that my Tuesdays and Thursdays won't be completely free anymore, but I'll deal with it. Later that night, I am going to see Throw me the Statue with some friends. I love TmtS and the Nurses will be there, too. Aw, it's sad looking at my planner for Thursday, because The Killers are going to be in Portland and I can't go see them. It cost too much and I have no way of getting down there because no one really wanted to go with me or had the money either, so it just never worked out. But luckily, the cruise the next day will make up for it. Coco Before Chanel comes out next weekend, as well. So I'll have to find someone to go to that with. Saturday, I have been invited to a birthday party of a girl whom I haven't talked to in months, but we've known each other for years. I don't think I am going to go, though, because we just never talk anymore and have different friends and it'd be awkward. Saturday is also the day of a Seattle Browncoat meeting or something. I'd love to go, but I fear it would be too weird for me. Haha. And that's next week.

That really wasn't suppose to be overly entertaining for you readers, but I think it's nice to use this blog to chronicle things like that. :)

We're almost done with season one of Fringe, so that we can watch episode one of season two and be caught up in time for next week's new episode! I am really into it. I love the feeling it gives me when it comes to who is good and who is evil, so to speak. It's like the ultimate Snape debate, with every character on the show. I have no idea who I can trust (minus Olivia, Peter, Walter, Astrid and Charlie). A few hardly-spoiler notes: Peter and Olivia need to get together already. Charlie gets the shaft in every episode and I am not okay with this. Walter is the cutest thing in existence. I don't like Olivia's sister. I want to see William Bell.

I could go on, obviously, but I don't want to get into any plot details.

I think that's about it. I am getting hungry, so I'm going to go eat and read. Speaking of which, I am glad you like to book recommendations! It's fun for me to look through my bookshelves and find good ones to share with you. :) xx

Fringe tracker: Just finished 1x15.

Book recommendation: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. I read this book years ago because Emma Watson said it was one of her favourite books and I absolutely adored it. It is the first book in the series, but I don't know that the whole series is released in the US. I got the rest of it when I was in the UK last year and have never gotten around to reading it (I know, I am awful). I find it hard to believe that the story could keep going after the ending N&C had. But the book is really, really great and I highly recommend it.

Birthdays, Fringe and Mallory!

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAYLEY. I would've had your birthday present sent to you already, you bitchassbitch, but you still have no given me your address. So gimme itttt and I love you :) Happy nineteen. (Speaking of nineteen, I probably won't be blogging tomorrow, because it is Denis' nineteenth birthday! Exciting stuff.)

You guys are all so awesome. I love having people who read my blog and have the same opinions as me on things. I love nerds so, so much. You're wonderful people! Especially since I had a weird/badish day yesterday and I'd receive all of your comments on my phone and they're so sweet. Thank you.

On to the blogging now, why is it that I have seen everyone in Fringe before? Other than the obvious fact that John Noble (aka Walter Bishop) was Denethor in Lord of the Rings, I have seen so many of the actors in like, one other things before. The Observer was in a horrible production of Hedda Gabler I saw earlier this year, which Denis and I just noticed yesterday. In one episode, the man who played Jason/Digger in Gilmore Girls was a villain (though I still think I disliked him more in GG). There was the guy who played the ship captain in Benjamin Button, Norah's best friend in Nick and Norah, etc. They're everywhere!

Also, I want to give Mallory a shout out because she got ENGAGED yesterday! I am so happy for her. :) Mal is a good friend of mine, but we rarely get to see each other because we live quite far from one another and have very different schedules. But I am very excited for her and wish her the best. I can't wait for the wedding :D

I really need to stop wondering off and doing other things while I blog. Because now time is running out to write this and I just want to go eat eggo waffles. So that's what I shall do. Later, kids. xx

Fringe tracker: Just finished 1.07.

Book recommendation: Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz. This is the first book in a series I read pretty long ago. It was very good and kept me reading for all four books.

When did I become so into television?

I have been seriously neglecting this blog and I am sorry. Actually, I don't even know if I'm apologising to anybody. I think I drove people away with my lack of posts and dislike of Glee. And for the record, no, I'm not going to go watch the first episode/pilot. If the second episode can't match up to the first, that would seem that the episodes are getting worse and why would I be interested in this show if episodes are getting worse? So sorry, those who want me to like it, it's just not my thing. I'm more into nerdy science fiction shows or shows packed with wit (Gilmore Girls and iCarly).

Speaking of shows, I watched the pilot of Fringe and really liked it. It's intriguing and fascinating. I'm excited to watch more today. And even more on television, the new episode of iCarly was rather unsatisfying. The ending...ahhh.

Okay, so it's now over twelve hours later. I had to jet off to eat at a less than impressive Hispanic restaurant with the Franco clan. Which was then followed with an unsuccessful trip to H&M for Denis, who is in search of a skinny black tie, another watch of Serenity while he napped, a trip to Chipotle and a couple more episodes of Fringe.

Okay, sorry this is a failed blog. I am far too tired now. Here is a list of things I was going to talk about in this blog:

- Got tickets to see Throw Me the Statue, Nurses and The Brunettes at the Vera Project at the end of the month.

- My deep love for Thai food.

- Denis bought Alton Brown's new book (Good Eats: The Early Years) and with it came an awesome poster and TWO TICKETS TO SEE/MEET HIM at Third Place Books next month! Ah!

- V for Vendetta (one of my all time favourite films.)

- I've decided to continue with my book recommendations. Some of the books I mention may have been read by me a very long time ago, but I can't read fast enough to have new ones every blog xD

And with that, I bid you all goodnight. Cheers! xx

Fringe tracker: Just finished season one, episode three (1.03).

Book Recommendation: The Funny Thing Is... by Ellen Degeneres. It's hilarious.

Stories, Glee and Community College

Finally, a legitimate story to tell you, blog readers. So I have two friends in my play production class who offered to give me a ride home yesterday, Eric and Ryan. I chose to go with Eric because he lives closer to me and I didn't want to inconvenience anyone more than I already was. Ryan was joking around and giving me all this crap for going with Eric instead of him and we laughed about it until we went out separate ways. We get to Eric's car...it doesn't start. The parking lights were left on, so the battery had died. No big deal, we walked to Eric's house, he lives about a mile away. Turns out, Eric has no key, we go around back and sneak into the house and Eric proceeds to search for the key to the other car. There is no key. Meanwhile, I am keeping Ryan updated on this situation and he is giving me a ton of shit, saying that he hopes it rains when I walk home and that I made the wrong choice. Long story short, I walked home from school yesterday.

I know that wasn't a particularly interesting story, but I wanted to record it so I could remember it for the future because it was hilarious. I love those days when things just go comically wrong. Like, you do one thing but realise that you forgot to do something else, which leads to other consequences and soon your whole day is just and mess and it's slightly hilarious and slightly morose. That was my day yesterday, pretty much.

I also watched the first episode of Glee. Now I was, in no way, interested in watching this show, but there was nothing good on the Food Network and Denis and I had nothing else to do, so we turned it on to see what all of the raving was about. It was...horrible. The teacher is boring and his wife is a bitch, none of the teenagers were realistic and the writing was bad. I love Lea Michele, but her voice sounded horrendous in the show. She sounded like a shitting popstar. I seriously have no idea what people see in this show. Denis and I must have looked comical because I know we both had our "what the hell is this crap" faces on. I'm sorry if you like it, but I didn't find anything about it. I didn't care about any of the characters, I didn't even like the music they sang and the plot was bullshit.

Needless to say, I will not being returning to Fox next Wednesday at nine, or whenever it was.

Pretend there is a transition here that brings us away form yesterday and onto today...

I'm really nervous right now. I don't get nervous, so this is incredibly weird and I hate it, but I am nervous about my community college classes. I am afraid I'm going to be awful and look like an idiot. I have to go up there in about 20 minutes with my mom to pay fees and buy my books; I am not looking forward to that. I hate money. My debit card/checking account has not a single penny in there, simply because of food. Why is food so expensive? Ahhh. But yes, I am nervous and don't know what to expect. Eek. I know it'll be fine as soon as I finish the first class, and in my second class, I have my best friend who has been in full Running Start (cc classes) for other a year. I haven't had classes with her since about third grade, so that is exciting. Oh, life.

I best be off now; I am getting picked up in a matter of minutes. Have a lovely Thursday and cross your fingers that Hayley will post a video because I miss her face. xx

Book recommendation: Ruined by Paula Morris. It's a cool book that I'm reading right now about New Orleans and ghosts and cemeteries. It's really good and easy to get wrapped up in.

First day lameness

This won't be too long because I'd rather drink tea and watch the Goofy Movie on Disney channel. But basically, first day was fine. My English class was WAY over crowded due to the cutbacks. There are twice as many people in it as last year and it makes me sad because it's ridiculous. As predicted, my teacher did nothing but check off the homework so it was virtually pointless. I then proceeded to an hour and a half gap in classes due to the fact that I only have a 3rd and 5th and we had all classes today----TO STAND OUT. ABOVE THE CROWD. EVEN IF I GOTTA SHOUT OUT LOUD. TILL MINE IS THE ONLY FACE YOU SEE. GOTTA STAND OUT TILL YOU NOTICE MEEEEE---which is how my schedule will be every Friday. So hurrah, an unnecessary 90 minutes at one of my least favourite places in the world. Then went to play production, which was really weird. We had to do all of these newcomer thing, like tours and information stuff, which we haven't done since I started the class two years ago. Plus, I don't like some of the people and it was awkward and bah. Then another hour of waiting while other people went to 6th period and then more awkwardness in after school play pro.

We did some funny scenes involving technology, though. We all had to choose a piece of technology and my group was all excited to do an electronic shoe buffer scene. But then we had to pass our brilliant idea to the group next to us and we received the robot maid form the Jetsons (Rosie?) Believe it or not, I never watched the Jetsons, so I was rather unhelpful. Basically we made arguably too soon Billy Mayes references and pretended he was giving a sales pitch of Rosie to get into Heaven. It was horrible, but fun, so there you have it.

It's been rather uneventful since then. I did record a fiveawesomegirls video, which will be going up tomorrow. It's about time, right? I thought so. Oh! And I have another video for my personal channel coming soon. AND WOW, I just had a blast of inspiration and have a brilliant idea for a video that will be posted next week. This is so exciting! Okay, I'm going to dart off the the previously mentioned cup of tea and film now while I plan out this idea. Blog to you all later! xx

End of Summer and Firefly

Whoo, at 8:27am this morning, I completed my summer homework! Which is usually the worst assignment of the year, so glad to have that out of the way. Theoretically, I should not be awake right now. I should not be sitting up in bed, watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and blogging away about how I have just finished homework. I should be asleep, silently enjoying my final day of freedom of sleep. However, my sleeping pattern sucks and I woke up at 7:15am, so there we have it. Quite unfortunate. Luckily, I don't have to go until my high school any earlier than about 9:30 all year long, so that's awesome.

So today is my final day of summer. I would definitely say that this tends to be the worst day of the year for me and I loathe it. Just knowing that the second I step into that establishment tomorrow, all happiness with be sucks from my heart like Capri- Sun from its juice pack. I don't care if it's my last year and that I'm a senior and all of that; I just want out. I don't do so hot there in terms of my mental health. And after I've heard of who are in my only two classes there, I can't think of a single reason to be excited about it. The weather these last two days has not made me feel any better about it, either.

But I digress, I don't wish to discuss that any longer. Let's talk Firefly. I finished! I have yet to watch the film, but I finished the 14 episodes of the show. I loved it. I want more. I still hate the western element and the theme song, but I love the rest of the show sooo much. Kaylee is my favourite, but River and Simon are very close behind. It was really sad to watch certain elements of the program that they obviously wanted to build on in following series', but never got the opportunity to do. The Shephard's story, Kaylee/Simon (looove), Mal/Inara, Inara's departure, River's whole story, men with blue gloves (who scared the shit out of me), Reevers (spelling?), Saffron, etc. So many loose ends. But the last episode was SO GOOD. Mostly because of my deep affection for River and because Summer Glau is so fantastic. So yes, I adore Firefly. I'm a Browncoat, I believe? Yes, I think that's it. :)

Next on the agenda, I believe, is Fringe. I am slightly hesitant going into Fringe because of my extreme and ridiculous case of belonophobia. Like, to the point that I can't see/hear the word without flinching and wanting to bury myself in a deep hole to avoid hearing it again. It's...bad. Ask any of my friends. Sigh, I watched Torchwood and Firefly, which are ridden with...those things I hate...so I can do this, too! As for why we chose to watch Fringe next, it was because the new season starts soon. But we're going to watch Fringe, then Dollhouse, I believe. I'm quite excited.

I should go, though. I want to finish this film and get ready for a day full of...well, I have no idea. But I have to do SOMETHING exciting today. Hope you're having a fun labour day! The next time I talk to you, I'll be studious and whatnot. Siiiiigh. :( xx

Hours until school: 24.5.

Days until I graduate: ...Screw it, I'm not taking math this year.

Expectations

First of all, all of you need to go vote for Kristina so that she can go to Antarctica. I've always wanted to go there and maybe if Tina goes, I can live vicariously through her. Tell your friends to vote as well! She needs as many votes as possible. Secondly, I posted some new photographs from the other day. So, you should check those out and such. Maybe leave a comment because I love knowing people actually look at my photos.

Sorry for the crappy post yesterday, but hey, I got 20/25 quotes done. I just need some assistance from a couple people for the other 5. I never want to see Hemingway's name again, to be honest. Sigh. But enough about homework, I have an idea. It's actually an idea I stole from the lovely Shawna Nanalew. She wrote a list yesterday of things she wants to have accomplished by this day, next year. Her list is a lot more ambitious, I think, than my own will be, but here we go...

By 5 September 2010, I want to have:

- Completed high school.

- Figured out what I want to do with my future, or at least the next five years.

- Been to a Doctor Who convention.

- Gone to San Diego ComicCon.

- Had a lead or at least a non-double casted role in a play.

- Gone on a road trip with Denis and Lauren.

- Spent New Years with Samantha and Hayley.

- Been back to Disneyland at least once.

- Gotten accepted into at least four of my college choices, with some scholarships.

- Figured out how to use my hd camcorder really well, as well as my nikon d40.

- Written at least five short stories.

- Had a job. Maybe even more than one.

- Had a photo of mine used in an exhibit or art show or something of that sort.

- Seen every episode of Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse and Fringe.

- Torchwood and RSC Hamlet on DVD.

- Gotten my license, just in case I'll ever actually need it.

...I could keep going, but I think that's enough. I wish I had more ambition, but I really don't know what's reasonable to expect from myself and what isn't. How about you, readers? Comment telling me some of your goals and such.

Hope you're all having good first/second/third weeks of school. I'll talk to you tomorrow, probably. Happy weekend! xx

Quote of the day: "Well, I've got a banana and, in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

Yeah, I'm watching "The Doctor Dances." Such a well-done episode. Steven Moffat, I hope you can keep this satisfaction going into the forth season. I have faith.

In the Loop

Oh, hi! Not much to update on, actually. I went to see In the Loop the other day and it was hilarious. Both Lord Cutler Beckett of the East Indian Trading Company and John Frobisher from Torchwood were in it, so it took a while to warm up to seeing them in other roles, but they were brilliant. The film had many Harry Potter references and was just all around silly. I recommend it, if you're looking for a good laugh.

Other than that, I visited my director at school, got some recommendation letter forms and spent some time with my friends. Nothing big, really, I just didn't feel like blogging because I wanted to watch Firefly and the food network. Ha. Speaking of which, I finally understand Lauren's Kaylee song because I saw the episode it's about. So yaaay.

Gosh, I really have nothing else to say. What have you guys been up to? I'm just sitting here with Denis. The first episode of the new Who is on, "Rose," and he's reading Flash Forward while I "do my homework." My goal is to have half of it done today, but I am not doing well thus far. This book is just dull and I'm horrible at collecting quotes. But I suppose I better get on with it since I only have about three more days to do this. Sorry this is so short, but hey, better than nothing, right?

To make the comments more interesting than my post, tell me what the best film you saw this summer was. Or your least favourite, whatever you'd like to talk about. :)

Have a stupendous Friday and rest of the weekend if I don't write or you don't read this weekend! xx

Days until school starts: Three.

Number of quotes which need collecting: 24/25.

P.S. Check out Eric. He's pretty hip, really indie and almost as clever as Ryan. Ha.

Perspective

I hope you're all enjoying Catching Fire, if you managed to grab a copy yesterday! I've heard tons of excited reviews from you guys and people on YouTube. I'm happy that it's gotten such positive feedback because after being in Scholastic and seeing how much they all love the books they publish, I really want to watch this book succeed. I feel like I have a personal connection with Catching Fire. Hehe.

Since I didn't really blog yesterday, I guess I could fill you in on my day. I spent the morning/early-afternoon with my best friends, Lauren and Denis. We went to Borders in search of the amazing mockingjay pins that they didn't have. That was disappointing for me; I was so excited. But I suppose I'll look next week. Then we hit up a Starbucks for the first Pumpkin Spice latte of the season! I swear, they are the only things about fall I look forward to. The pacific northwest fall is cold and wet and not nearly as pretty as fall in other places, for the most part. Everything is so green here that there isn't too much changing colour and all that jazz. Plus, I'm not into Halloween or starting the hell that they call school, so fall really has nothing but drawbacks. 

Back to my day, we then went to one of my favourite parts of Seattle, Wallingford, for some thai food. One of the best parts about dating a chef is all of the new restaurants I've tried since we got together, many of them being in Wallingford. This place was called Jhanjay and it was entirely vegetarian, so that was easy. I had yellow curry and it was good, but pretty spicey. Lauren got a three and so hers had little chili flakes in it. It burned your lips before it entered your mouth. Needless to say, we had pretty unsettled stomachs afterwards, haha. 

Denis left and Lauren and I went for a long walk in which I shot two rolls of film and she took a bunch of great shots which are already up on her flickr. You should check them out because she is amazing. It was nice to get out and just walk for a long time with my camera, which I haven't done in months. I needed some fresh perspective through a lens and I think I got that, which is nice. I'm taking my film to get printed later today and I'll them up either tonight or tomorrow. 

This blog post is fairly uneventful, so I'll throw in this little tale. We were across the street form the library and there was almost no light left, so I was desperately trying to find two well-lit objects to shoot. I saw a really cool, distressed looking windowsill on a house whose lights were on. I was setting up the shot, which probably won't even show up due to lack of light, and the guy across the street who was randomly sitting outside shouts "I hope you're not taking pictures into my house!" Except, for some strange reason, he had a Southern accent. We're in SEATTLE, go home and take your twang with you! Sorry, I have nothing against accents, but it was just annoying because he was so rude. Lauren shouted back, "Don't worry! We won't! You're house isn't nearly as cool," and we continued on our way. That's why she's my best friend, ha.

We came home, ate way too many chips with salsa, watched Matilda and Princess Diaries 2 and crashed. And I woke up at 7am because I fail. She probably won't be up for hours. Which leaves me here, blogging. Sigh, I really need to get going on this summer work. I hate the first assignment of the year; it's always the worst. Plus, The Sun Also Rises is DULL. I am bored. There's too much random subtext which I didn't even think of noticing until I read SparkNotes. Ridiculous. Basically, if you guys wanna help and have read the book, I need to find quotations that represent character development, style, theme, plot and setting and then say how Hemingway uses those quotations to convey each category. I can bullshit the description, but if you have read the book and any quotes come to mind for those categories, let me know.  Oh, and if you could put page numbers/chapters, that'd be awesome!

Whatever is on Nickelodeon right now is weird. It's called Hip-Hoppity or something? But they're bouncing around a lot and now they're sniffing for carrots. So bizarre. Well, off to work until Lauren gets up and dyes my hair. Have a good day, everyone. xx

Catching Fire and my Scholastic Experience

This is a blog which I wrote directly after (give or take a few hours) my experience at the Scholastic headquarters. I thought it would be appropriate to post today since Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins was released today! I hope you all love the book and I have a video which I recorded right after I read the book a few weeks ago. Happy reading!

It’s hard to put to words just how brilliant my experience at the Scholastic headquarters was. From making Hunger Games twitter jokes to David Levithan’s thoughts on Haymitch/Katniss shipping, it was a day that I will never forget.  Promptly upon arrival, my mother and I were met in the reception area by Adrienne Vrettos, the lovely woman we had been in constant communication with since I won the contest which brought me over 3,000 miles to the wonderful New York City. We were taken to the roof of the building where Suzanne Collins was having photos taken and I joined her in a few of those before we went down to one of the coolest rooms I have ever entered. Across the walls were tons of large, beautiful pictures from tons of books that I had grown up reading and loving. The Wild Things, Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh were among the wall décor in this room fondly referred to as Scholastic’s living room.

            For the next couple of hours we all ate great food and had even greater discussion. About ten people, including my mother and I, surrounded a large table and talked book recommendations, Greek mythology, funny college anecdotes and first New York City apartment stories (I have a lot to look forward to, it would seem.) It was beyond excellent; I could have sat there for hours.

Unfortunately, the afternoon was drawing to a close and Suzanne had to dash off, but not before giving me a few precious treasures. She gave me a lovely copy of Far from the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy, the book which gave Katniss Everdeen her surname, and a spider ornament representing a character from her other book series, The Underland Chronicles. In addition, she signed two Advanced Reader copies of Catching Fire, to ensure minimal scrabbles for the book on the flight home between my mom and I, and the entireUnderland series for me.  I was given a number of other books that I simply cannot wait to read, including Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater which, based on all of the strong recommendations, should be awesome.

A few more photos were taken and goodbye hugs were given. Everyone there was absolutely amazing. I cannot remember the last time I was surrounded by so many genuine and kind people. Thank you, Scholastic for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime and thank you Suzanne Collins for writing such a fantastic story – I can’t wait for more! Interning or working at Scholastic would be such an incredible experience; one day I hope to do one of the two. Now, off to finish Catching Fire!