Why?

I don't understand why I have SO much stuff to do.  This weekend I had an English essay to edit and a lab report to write for Biology...and I also have my History paper to rewrite if I can.  It's an optional rewrite, but seriously, there is so much to do.  It's not fun, that's for sure.

I'm done with my reading for the night, but I'm not looking forward to trying to get that paper done.  I only have tomorrow to write it at this point.  And it's a four page paper.  So, I may be stuck with the grade I initially got (which was fair, and it was only a B, not anything below that) instead of actually getting anything higher...

That's just life, though.

That being said, why do I really have to be so busy?

What I Actually Did Write...

So, I'm looking back at the document now, and I have to say, part of what I did write at the beginning of the month wasn't bad.  I definitely need to edit a bit of it, but it wasn't bad.  Nor was the beginning of the story I tried to start on the second day.  All in all, it looks pretty okay.  It's just a matter of actually fixing it up and working on it now.  Not a problem, really.  Unlike last year.  My draft is still sitting there mostly unedited...not a great idea...

This is Not Fun

This is what happens when I'm sick all weekend.  I have to put things off.  My biology lab report only got put off until Monday.  But with lab and studying for the test on Tuesday, I'm left to write my English essay on Wednesday.  When I barely had a start on it. 

I do not relish this situation.  Actually, I rather dislike it.  I'm almost done with this essay, but I'm so tired of writing it that it isn't even funny.  And I've only been so busy today that I've only been working on it for a little while. 

That's my rant for tonight....I need to go finish the essay and then go to bed so that I can actually get up for the class it's for...and so that I can study tomorrow for the chem test on Friday.  This is not a fun week...

Review: Moulin Rouge!

The first thing I have to say is that Ewan McGregor makes this movie what it is.  I'm a bit of a fan of his, I'll admit, but this movie, along with some of his other performances, proves that, unlike his Star Wars co-star Hayden Christianson, he actually has a whole truckload of talent.  That also means that he actually can act, and he isn't popular just because girls think he's cute or because he's in Star Wars. 

Moulin Rouge! is the story of a penniless writer who has newly come to Paris, and a courtesan who is oblivious to the deadly disease she has.  I will say this - this is not a movie I would recommend for younger children, really.  It's a good movie, but not something they should probably watch, I don't think.

Christian, the young writer, falls desperately in love with Satine, who is a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge, which is where the title comes from.  The problem?  Satine is supposed to be giving her attentions to the Duke, who could be the making of her career as an actual actress and the Moulin Rouge as a theater.  Bigger problem?  She's in love with Christian, too.  And they have to hide it from the Duke because he's fallen in love with her (Well, actually, it's more like he's fallen in lust) and he would kill Christian if he found out.

This is overall a very good movie - the performances of Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor were absolutely wonderful.  I'd say it's four and a half out of five stars, personally.  It really makes me wish McGregor would sing more - he has a gorgeous voice. 

The Mean Kitty Song

Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This is a new sort of post I have decided to do.  It's not because I don't have anything to say, but because I think this could be fun to do sometimes, or more often in general.  My intent is to write reviews of movies I see, books I read, and new CDs I get. 

The first of this series of reviews is a movie that came out a little while back - G.I. Joe.  The title, and the titular organization in the movie, stands for Government Issue Joe.  In this case, the Joes are the best of the best from military organizations across the world. 

Enter Captain Conrad "Duke" Hauser.  On the surface, Duke is fairly easy to read.  He's a no-nonsense commander in some ways, but his closest friend is part of his battalion.  They bicker as he and Rip Cord (affectionately known as Rip for most of the movie) pass the time when they are in the middle of a top-secret mission. 

Their mission?  To transport the nanotech warheads designed by a weapons company called M.A.R.S. 

Along the way, they get ambushed by a group of soldiers, led by a woman later revealed to be the Baroness, an operative (who actually is a baroness) who means to take the warheads from Duke's battalion.  Explosions abound as she and her soldiers go after the warhead case.  There is only one way that they can lose: Duke, of course.  And guess what?  Duke wins.  Thank goodness for plot armor. 

This attack throws Duke and Rip, the only survivors of the attack on their battalion, into the world of G.I. Joe, a top secret organization made up of the very best soldiers and operatives from around the world.  And guess what?  They asked Duke to join them a while back, only he doesn't remember it.

For the sake of not spoiling the movie, the plot stops here.  Overall, I give it five stars out of five.  The acting is good - Christopher Eccleston (who some may know the Ninth Doctor on Doctor Who) plays McCullen brilliantly, and Channing Tatum makes Duke engaging and does a brilliant job making the character seem very layered, among others.  The rest of the cast played their characters nicely, but Eccleston and Tatum jumped out at me more than the others did.  Some of the romance was a bit cheesy (okay, Scarlet and Rip is VERY cheesy and a bit cliche) but the action more than makes up for it.

All in all, a great movie.  It's very balanced, and the best part is...there's at least one more (possibly up to three from what I've been told) to come.  

Okay...

So, I'm looking at the Word document I have open, and I'm starting to think that trying to participate in NaNoWriMo this year was not the best idea. 

It's not that I don't have the inspiration - I do.  I actually want to write again.  It's just that the last time I participated (last year), I had really severe writer's burnout at the end of it and I couldn't write for months.  I don't really want to have that happen again, particularly where I am right now.  I need to write. 

So, I'm up to 2,100 or so words when the goal is like 3,300ish.  And there's not a whole lot of time left for the night.  Brilliant, right?  Not smart.  And I'm off to try to finish this before I go to bed...I can at least try...

NaNo

So, tonight is the start of NaNoWriMo.  I've been looking forward to this for a while now, and it has finally begun.  50,000 words in 30 days.  Let's see if I can actually do it or not.  At this point, I sort of doubt it, even though I'm already done with the word count for the day.  I don't know where I'm going with anything or what I'm really doing, since I tossed my plan out the door last week in favor of actually writing something instead of trying and failing to write one of my novels.

That being said, I've got my 1,667 words I'm supposed to have, even if it was a bit difficult to get them this time around.  Ah, the joys of being a writer...

And now back to work.