Last Post of 2009

I really don't have much to blog about that I haven't recently said in a video here, here or here, but I figured I should make a last post of 2009. I'm not going to write stories of things that happened in 2009, or even talk much about it...but it was a fantastic year. Full of love and excitement. Can't wait for 2010 for new adventures, experiences, places, people, surroundings, et cetera.

As for an update, I have done nothing exciting but watch some Battlestar Galactica. Honestly not much else to report on that I haven't said in videos and I figure you all watch those. Sooo...OH! I recently receive (am borrowing) a certain ARC of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by a couple guys you may know, John Green and David Levithan. Which comes out, I believe, on April 6th. It's really good so far and I am very excited to keep reading. Once I am finished, Denis and Kristina are both going to read it before it's returned to even out Alan's couch, haha.

As a wrap up, my Christmas was great, got lots of cool things, bought a faux fur jacket from H&M and am spending my New Years watching Star Wars for the first time. Speaking of which, I should go get ready. People should be arriving at Denis' in under an hour. Very excited for all of the food his mother made :)

I'll blog again in 2010, everyone! Sorry for the lame post, but have a happy new year! xx

Style section: I have wanted a faux fur coat for a long time. I found one downtown and it was reduced from $80 to $20. HOW COULD I NOT BUY IT? I'm sure most of you will be like "omgfurizuglyYOUSUCK." To which, I do not care. Especially after seeing The September Issue (which you should see), I really wanted a fake fur coat. They are classy! And who knows if I'll ever wear it, but it's good to have. I still want a leopard print one. xD Also, I got the Evanna leggings I wanted desperately for Christmas. I am actually wearing them right now. Woo!

BSG tracker: Just finished 1x05, I believe. No spoilers please!

I love Martha Jones

Okay, so since I haven't written a blog in awhile and I don't feel like writing one now, I'm going to post my argument on why Martha is my favourite companion in Doctor Who. Sorry if this doesn't matter to you, but I know there are a lot of Martha haters and they just don't make sense to me. She never did anything to make her hatable and people need to cool their jets. Click here to see the blog post I am responding to; read that first then read the following. xx

And here’s the part where I defend Martha, haha…

I disagree. I don’t think that her pining was annoying at all. First of all, can you blame her? It’s like the man of her dreams walked into her life while he was breaking and she wanted to fix him, while at the same time getting to know him and learning to love him. I think Martha is, by far, the strongest companion (emotionally and physically). Martha could handle things without the Doctor (Family of Blood episodes + you know, SAVING THE WORLD). She handled her emotions and never really let them get in the way and act selfishly or stupidly. She didn’t flaunt, either. She didn’t ask for thank you’s or anything from the Doctor; she accepted what she had to do, did it well and was rightfully proud of herself.

She was very SMART. The smartest of the lot. Something the other two lacked a bit coming from the backgrounds as a shop worker (no schooling post secondary) and a temp (not to say they weren’t intelligent, but all that schooling and training and everything, she is stacked with knowledge). She IS a doctor. That is something cool for the Doctor to have on board the TARDIS. She listened to him and did as he said. Always.

He couldn’t have gone from Rose to Donna. It would have been an extreme change and would have probably aggravated and hurt him more. He needed someone who would be kind and help him when he was down. And also, I honestly believe that anyone with a heart could have helped the Doctor gain footing after the time war. Anyone who could open his eyes to more humanity and life and happiness and everything he lost and couldn’t see. Martha could have done it just as well, had she come first. Or even Donna.

And finally, though I could go on for days, the Doctor picked her. People always complain and bitch and moan about her, but he loved her. Not romantically, of course, but he loved her. He wanted her there. He kept taking her on trips and seeing how wonderful and helpful and fun to be around she was. He gave her a key to the TARDIS, too. He choose her and he didn’t make her leave. She was the strongest and was able to leave. Sure, people think that was a stupid move, but I think it was the boldest in New Who. She saw the end of humanity and knew it was her goal in life to save it (again.) She found her purpose and knew she couldn’t do it being a sidekick for the rest of her life. I think the Doctor respects her SO much for that.

People dislike Martha because they started with Rose and hated seeing her go. They were bitter and probably would have hated anyone who came in. In addition, they would have been happy with anyone who came around after her.

(For the record, I LOVE Rose, but find her very damsel-indistressy and Donna whined and bitched SO much, but I learned to love her, too. Martha > Rose > Donna.)

So there. MARTHA LOVERS OF THE WORLD: UNITE.

Also, I have decided to respond to you guys' comments to further defend Martha. So EDIT.

Laura: I am happy to see that you agree. But here is some Martha defense xD : She is CERTAINLY not perfect. She has this broken family, no time for anything but work, no one really close to her besides her sister, she's struggling emotionally throughout the whole season, et cetera. I don't understand how her mere existence puts the other companions down? She is a doctor, she's not mocking the other two and waving her diploma in their faces; she has a natural instinct to help people. I never once felt that she was written in to be better than anyone else. I loved that the Doctor had someone who could match him with intelligence in certain areas (or, come close in any way). I think that it gets old when the creators throw in characters that humans can relate to, simply for the fact that they can relate. I don't need that when watching Doctor Who. You should be able to relate to anyone in the show in some way (or, maybe not everyone, but parts of people). The Doctor has the same emotions we do; we may not relate to ALL of his experience, but we can relate to many and we can relate to his emotions. /end. xD Ooh! and I should add to this whole blog that I prefer Rose/Nine and Martha/Ten. Rose had more chemistry with Nine than Ten. Martha, to me, was a perfect match for Ten.

Julia: I just wanted to reply to your suspicion that Martha only saved the world to win the Doctor and I don't think that's true at all. I think by that point, she'd resigned herself to the fact that she couldn't get him in that way. She has a good, honest, true heart and did not do it for her own selfish reasons, but to save people. And the Doctor meets everyone "by chance," except for Donna and Wilf who he KEEPS meeting. He only met Rose "by chance" in a store, did he not? He meets people entirely by chance.

lanna-lovely: I think Martha certainly grew from her experience. Maybe not outwardly, but certainly emotionally and inwardly. I think it is impossible to travel with him and not grow and change. I also love that Martha could move on a grow once she left the Doctor. She went to work more to do things similar to what the Doctor does, but on Earth. She never STOPS helping the Doctor. But she moves on, gets engaged and is clearly in love with him. It's just cool. She really grew.

Holly: MARTHA'S whining? What about Rose's endless "I want to stay with you!" and Donna's "take me home!" Martha NEVER whined. Especially not to the Doctor. She loved him and I don't understand how ANYONE can blame her for that. Who wouldn't? I sure would. She doesn't mope about it. She is strong about it and doesn't let her emotions stand in the way of her judgment. And it's safe to say that I entirely disagree with you on her acting :P

natnel56: Of course it was because she followed Rose. Haha. I said that. People hated Martha because she followed Rose and people like Donna because they hated Martha so much, they'd be happy with anyone. It's really unfair. Rose fangirls talk about Martha's whining...they whine ten times more about Rose than Martha ever does about the Doctor xD

justjustine: I agree. I just NEED to defend my Martha

Jackie (K): Agreed. He choose them all. None of them are bad or stupid or boring. They are all fantastic and brilliant. I just feel the need to constantly defend Martha because people don't seem to remember that when it comes to her. Ugh. And text me ANYTIME for Who talk :D

Ravenclaw2313: You'll warm up to Donna even more, I promise :) and what you said about her is all right.

Project for Awesome

This is going to be fairly short because I am honestly exhausted and need to go back to taking my internet break after two days straight. But the Project for Awesome was SO amazing. I have never been fortunate enough to really participate in the project due to school and other things of that sort, but man, I am glad I finally got a chance.

I was in the skype chat of awesome and was helping with finding videos and that sort of thing, as well as hosting a couple times. Hosting the livestream was really fun and, although the party shift till 3am was killer, it was something that I really enjoyed doing. We got number one trending topic on twitter, TONS of videos in the most discussed and I was informed via email by shortMonica that "In two days, we spent over THREE YEARS watching the P4A broadcast." SO awesome! So thanks to everyone who participated and made the last two days so memorable!

Other than that news, I've received a few letters and things in my P.O. box*, including an owl re-useable grocery bag from a lovely girl named Savannah. Thanks for all of those letters, too! I will be making a video showing things off in the coming weeks and then the cards will be added to my memory book! :) If you would like to send me things and don't know what, I'd say either nail polish, owl things or things that remind you of where you live. Obviously, I am not telling you to send me anything, but a few people have inquired, so there is an answer.

School ended for break, which is lovely. I had a mock oral exam yesterday which went terribly, so I really need to improve on that. But I think I did fairly well on my most recent paper, so yay! Christmas is ALMOST here and I have almost all of my gifts wrapped (minus the ones that require gift boxes I don't have, grr)! Before the holiday, I am seeing quite a few films, I hope. I haven't seen any in ages and I always get cinema gift cards from my grandfather, so that is convenient for all the films I have to see! I'm seeing The Princess and the Frog tonight, An Education tomorrow, then Fantastic Mr Fox and Me and Orson Welles sometime this coming week. After Christmas I am seeing The Lovely Bones (<3)>

I am jealous of all those with snow :( I really, really would love some snow before Christmas, but it is highly unlikely. Booo. Also, I still haven't made more decisions on the summer front. But it's looking more likely that I'll be at Infinitus and not VidCon. Which is upsetting, especially after the P4A, but alas, I will take what I can get.

I think that's about all. I am going to go re-read some more Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger. I forgot how much I adore this book. Consider it my recommendation of the day. Oh! And whoever said that Cupcake Royale is crap and not as good as Trophy, you are wrong. I have eaten at just about every cupcake place in western Washington and Cupcake Royale is, indeed, the best. I am a cupcake snob xD

Have a lovely weekend and hope you have a wonderful break! xx

*My P.O. box address:

Kayley Hyde

P.O. Box #51

Edmonds, WA

98020-0051

Summer dilemmas and an awful weekend

I should be revising an essay right now but even I, very rarely, procrastinate. The things that are currently troubling me in the writing of that essay on Hughes' poetry? Well, let me tell you, there are a few. One being my desperate desire for a job nearby that I can walk to. Next, Selena Gomez (horrible album, but I am addicted to it this evening). And the big thing? My summer plans. I have no idea if I can afford to do anything seeing as I got into my top school, which is private and expensive, plus I intend on moving out next summer/fall.

See, my (completely unrealistic) dream trip would be as follows:

• Either fly to LA or drive with Marion and Shawna, who may be passing through Seattle before heading south.
• Get to LA on the 8th. VidCon till the 11th.
• Spend three-ish days in Disneyland; possibly stay with a friend?
• Leave for Florida on the 14th.
• Infinitus/Harry Potter freaking theme park.
• Leave for home on the 19th.

Though, as I said, that is quite unrealistic.

I hate that I feel like the choice is stretching my personality in two directions. My Harry Potter side and my YouTube side. Well, here are some pros and cons:

VidCon pros: Seeing tons of people I may not have a chance to see any other time. First big con hosted by John and Hank (I'm sure there will be more). LA friends. Disneyland. Meeting tons of subscribers. Closer. Cheaper. Possible road trip with Marion & Shawna. John Green said he'd give me a piggyback ride in the ballpit.

VidCon cons (lol): Registration is expensive, as is the hotel. I've been to LA a lot, as well as Disneyland (no new Disney stuff that I haven't seen). May go to Disney with the family next wintertime. Not many of my friends will be here.

And now...

Infinitus pros: HARRY POTTER THEME PARK. I honestly have no patience when it comes to this. I have to go and I have to go NOW. I really miss my HP friends. I've never been to Florida. Disney World. Don't really need to pay for registration. Tom Rutland.

Infinitus cons: LeakyCon 2011, which I am not missing for the world, is the next year. More expensive. Humidity of Florida.

So, as you can see, VidCon has 7.5 pros to Infinitus' 5, but it also has 6 cons, and Infinitus has 3. I am having such a hard time. I want both. I really, really want both. But I don't know if I can even get one. Rawr. This is going to consume my mind for months now. I suppose I should sit down with my parents and figure this out. I should get on that. Sigh.

Besides my mental turmoil, I have had a pretty crap weekend. It started on Friday with finding out that my physical education waiver didn't go through, which means I have to sell my soul to a gym for the next few months. Which I guess could be worse, maybe. :/ Throughout the day, it got progressively worse. I CRIED in the stupid school counselor's office about how I already got into college and may not graduate high school and felt like shit and blah. Turns out, there is no way that they won't let me graduate. So, you know, that's awesome. Minus the awesome and plus the ridiculous because why are they freaking me out with all of these freaking credits if they don't MEAN anything? Liiife. The day continued with neither of my actors showing up to class so I had no one to direct and nothing to do. Worked on a re-write of a paper I did poorly on. Had to take down the fake prop Christmas tree we jokingly put up a few classes before, alone. School ended, I went to a party with people I don't really talk to anymore, it was awkward, when to another pretty fun party, left it early and went to sleep.

Saturday was a real winner, though. Denis and I had plans to go somewhere new for dinner and go see The Lovely Bones* and I was SO excited. Turns out that the film isn't out in Seattle until the 25th. Awesome. So we decided to see Fantastic Mr Fox. But then I decided that it would be a good idea to eat some of the hazelnuts we buy every year around this time of year. Keep in mind, I eat hazelnut stuff ALL OF THE TIME. I LOVE hazelnut anything. I struggled through cracking four of them open, complaining that I was too weak to crack them open, before I noticed my throat swelling up rapidly. This scared the, pardon my language, shit out of me. I don't have any strong allergies, cats make my eyes watery and my nose stuff up, but nothing like this. I was calm at first, just thinking maybe I was developing a sore throat or a nut had scratched my throat. Then breathing got harder and harder and the next thing I know, my mom is running to the drugstore for Benedryl and I was drinking copious amounts of water and having a panic attack. I took the drugs and then proceeded to sleep. ALL DAY. Waking up for five minutes every now and then, throat still hurting, before passing back out. Date got cancelled, I was miserable, it was great. Luckily, the night ended with Denis and I getting some food once the drugs wore off enough for me to stand and the proceeding to go to the grocery store and picking a gem from the $5 DVD bin. The title is...wait for it...Mammoth. It's as good as it sounds. It stars my love, Summer Glau, but boy...it's something.

Today, we made up for last night a little by getting cupcakes at Cupcake Royale. Other than that, the day has been uneventful. It went by SO quickly...Oh, time, you are a bitch. I think I am going to leave it at that. No fashion section today because I don't know what to say except Saoirse Ronan is lovely and I love her clothes. No book recommendation either, because I need to read. And read and read. I miss reading.

Farewell. Let me know what your summer plans on and which of my choices I should pursue. Oh! Also, I got a P.O. box, so if you want to send my Christmas cards (or Galaxy chocolate you UKers ;) ) or anything else, I'll be recieving the address tomorrow and will let you know. Finally, I was initially opposed to The Princess and the Frog, I really want to see it! Okay! Night!

* I currently have a huge girl crush on Saoirse Ronan. I loved her after Atonement, but oh my, she is SO lovely and funny and aaah. I really need to see The Lovely Bones. Plus, Peter Jackson and Stanley Tucci <3

P.S. Commenter who said Cupcake Royale was bad...YOU ARE CRAZY. I've had cupcakes from just about every cupcake place in western WA and Trophy was one of my least favourite. So :P haha.

Social reformer, Dollhouse and exciting things

Happy December! I am very excited to be blogging away to you in the final month of this wonderful year of 2009. If you can't tell, I am in a rather good mood. I spent the day baking tons of cookies and now feel slightly ill from the consumption of said cookies. Well, not all of them, but tons. I also had a meal of delicious salad and mac and cheese from Panera. And clearly I base my happiness on how well I've eaten each day, so it's been a good day!
I am currently studying Martin Luther King Jr speeches and I really, really enjoy it. What a brilliant man. I wanted to share a few of my favourite quotations from some of his speeches:
"Death is the irreducible common denominator of all men."
"Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."
"Every time I take a flight, I am mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible, the known pilors and the unknown ground crew."

Those are three of my favourites, from his speeches Eulogy for Martyred Children, I Have a Dream and Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, respectively. He is so eloquent. That's one thing I dislike about myself; I am horrible at putting words together eloquently when I speak, and often when I write, as well. Also, while discussing English, I should probably mention that I got googlewave last week and while I don't really get it, it is a wonderful tool of distraction when two of your friends in class also have it and your high school has recently granted you (very limited) internet access. Yeah, we spend all of class IMing each other from different sides of the class. Ha.
Other interesting things that have happened to me include seeing into Santa, not once, but TWICE eating in Panera. I am currently directing a one act called Let Us Go Out into the Starry Night by John Patrick Shanley which is absurd and beautiful. It's about a woman looking for serious conversation and her meeting with a young man plagued by ghosts and monsters. Oh! Did I ever mention Teatro ZinZanni on here? Because it was a wonderful, awesome evening. I HIGHLY recommend seeing the show and eating there. I've made a ton of videos. I've cried over the Deathly Hallows trailer, the release date for the final Hunger Games novel was announced (24 August 2010) and I have become addicted to formspring. Seriously addicted. Go ask me questions.
Dollhouse on Friday was SO GOOD. Enver Gjokaj is an absolute genius. When he was Topher, I lost my cool and was freaking out. It was sosososo good and I am still so upset about it's cancellation. :( Summer Glau was fantastic and if Bennett weren't so crazy, I'd totally ship her/Topher because they were so freakin' cute. Also, I saw A Christmas Carol and it was good, but REALLY creepy. Really, reaaaaally creepy.
It snowed for about 20 minutes last night and that made me ecstatic. That's one thing that may be new to you blog readers, but I have an OBSESSION with snow. I get bubbly and cheerful and gloriously joyful. I adore the snow and how it covers everything up and makes everything seem so untouchable. Beautiful. I long for more snow to sit and watch in the twilight with my Christmas lights on. Sigh.
Okay, so I am going to go read and sleep. I had more I want to write, so maybe I'll blog again soon. Have a good week, everyone.

Fashion section: I have nothing to say, really. I need ideas for this section, aha. But basically I can't stop wearing my new red hat. You can see it in my latest videos. Haha. It's from ForLove 21, which is the Forever 21 accessory store. Also, I painted my nails red and it's the first time I have never successfully done by myself very well and they look fantastic. So YAY! Plus, the video I posted last Tuesday was sort of about fashion-y stuff, so there you go.
Book recommendation: I am about to read Mythologies by Roland Barthes after searching for it forever. It was recommended by Rosianna and I am quite excited.

Oh! I plan to make at least two videos a week on my personal channel and while I have some recorded and have some ideas, but you should leave some that do not have copyrighted music or really specific things (ex: "tell me where you buy your socks!") or anything like that. Okay, thank you :) xx