precocious animals

There are a lot of things that I don't like that make people think that I am inhuman. These include most sports, Power Rangers and, yes, animals. Now, I don't mean that I hate all animals, but I am more than satisfied just by looking at a picture of a cute puppy - I don't need to touch it to know that it's cute. I've never had a dog or cat so when people start talking about missing their pets at home I feel cruel for not empathizing...but whatever. I've recently decided that I'd like to have a dog one day, but this is an idea that will take several years to get used to and might never happen, because let's face it, as responsible of an individual as I am, I hate having to get up to do things. I'll sit and read in the dark rather than stretch to turn on a light, so I'm not sure how the whole walking a dog thing would work out. Maybe I'll just get another fish and call it a day.

I'm usually nonplussed by normal animals like house cats, wild bunnies, horses, etc. I will not pretend that insects don't cause me to retrogress to an eight year old girl, but on the whole I deal with animals pretty well for being a non-animal person. Take Barky the Bat for example - I really liked him and found him incredibly cute, though he had to stay behind glass for safety reasons. But recently I've had some very frightening experiences with animals. I'm totally ok with friendly pets as long as they don't have sharp teeth or claws - I'm talking about wild animals here, and though you'll probably judge me for my fright, at least I'm giving you some interesting stories.

1. I met a deer at American University who was the friendliest deer ever. This was slightly unnerving because it didn't run away from us and was walking around a campus in the middle of a city in the middle of the day, so I would rate the experience as curious on a scale of normal to deathly animal encounters.
2. On our first stop for gas and coffee on the way to Florida, Melanie and I found ourselves at a McDonald's in Benson, North Carolina. First of all, this place was cleaning its specialty coffee machines and wasn't on either a regular or breakfast menu even though it was 4 in the morning. So after being denied a mocha frappe and a cheeseburger, we settled on coffee and got two creamers a piece. Pulling away and sipping our coffee, we realized this would not do. So we went to a convenience store across the road, which was closed for cleaning for the next half hour...but thankfully the man cleaning the floor took pity on us as we stared forlornly through the glass doors. When we asked for coffee creamer, he left for a few seconds then returned to the door with a giant pump, from which he proceeded to pump delicious cream into our cups (I got six pumps which made my coffee sickeningly sweet, but hey, better than black). By this time we were tired from not sleeping and not eating and practically jumping through hoops just to get some caffeine, and we also needed to use a bathroom which we were denied at the gas station, so we went to Waffle House (or WAFLE OU according to the lit-up sign). They were, I kid you not, playing Hillbilly Bone as we walked in and the woman serving us was as stereotypical as they come for waitresses at Waffle House at 4:15 in North Carolina. After drinking more of our coffee and eating decent waffles and finally being allowed to pee, we were ready to go. I went out first, prepared to take over driving for the first time, but I was stopped in shock at the sight of dogs by my feet. They were noisy and ownerless and my first thought was of Fluffy, the three-headed dog in Harry Potter, but there were only two of them and they were, upon closer examination, not actually connected. They just moved together and followed me as I stepped off the curb. The man who had been working inside the Waffle House was taking out the trash at the other side of the parking lot, and I wondered if they were his dogs, but this didn't make much sense. Perhaps they wanted food? I looked back at Melanie for help in getting them to stop following me, for I couldn't move to the car without getting killed by them (though small, they had very wide eyes and big teeth and seemed unafraid of confrontation), but she was safely behind the glass door and looking more terrified than I felt. I told her she had to come out since she had the keys, so she did and immediately the dogs began tracking her instead. I gleefully scurried to the car and waited for her to come and let me in. This was not ok with me, and on my previously mentioned scale, it is just shy of the lethal mark.
3. Though not as dramatic a story, at Animal Kingdom a giant bird swooped right over my head and almost attacked me and I was also not ok with this. I think it just wanted to eat something, as it landed in front of the restaurant I was walking towards, but my hair is pretty off-limits to basically all birds. This was a bit beyond curious and probably most aptly described as gasp-worthy.
4. There was a miniature stink bug (or some other sort of tiny bug) on my laptop last night and I actually didn't freak out about it and let it crawl away, though as a precaution I didn't go to sleep for another three hours, so that it would have time to vacate my pillows. On the regular animal encounter scale this would be considered normal, but for bugs I would call this a positive experience (the only way it could be more positive is if the bug in question were behind glass or possibly on tv).

I am ok with cute animals, friendly animals, even precocious animals - as long as they have owners I can find responsible for their actions. The nerve of some bugs, to come to my room uninvited, is beyond me.

disney love

Going to Disney World for the first time made me think a lot of thoughts. First, it made me excited to have kids and bring them there (in like 17 years, no rush) to experience the magic. Second, it made me want to rewatch every single Disney movie ever made. Yesterday I watched Sleeping Beauty because this was one of the princess movies we didn't own and that I was always enchanted by, kind of like how I loved watching Scooby Doo when I went to my grandma's house because we didn't get Cartoon Network. Anyway, my cousins had it and that's where I saw it for the first and probably only time. It wasn't very cool this time around, though the song is stuck in my head now.

I wouldn't say I'm one of those anti-Disney people, but being a realist I don't like the fact that kisses can wake people up from enchanted sleep. So I looked up the original Grimm version of the story and decided that I was ok with the kiss.

Things that I like about Disney:

• Great songs
• Emphasize dreams and possibilities
• Interested in sustainability
• Great employment opportunities
• Lots of female heroines

Despite common complaints about the depiction of females in Disney movies, I beg to differ. First of all, all of the dead mothers really cared about their kids and if they were alive we wouldn't have much of a movie because then the mothers would be taking care of them. So that semi-negates the women needing saving theme. We still have the trouble of dashing princes being required to save the day in lots of classic princess movies, but I would be much more troubled if the princess always had to save her own back and I think that scenario would be more demeaning to men than the current stereotype is to women. Because don't women want to be saved? As much as I like being independent, if there was someone who I could truly trust I would totally be ok with him saving the day to prove his love for me, because there isn't much else that would prove it to me (take note...I will require someone epic).

Let's look at some examples (by which I mean all of the official princesses) and I'll explain why I'm ok with Disney depictions of romance as long as kids are eventually taught that they aren't reality.

Snow White - I'm not ok with this one at all, actually. She's really cute and likes animals and is kind and not prejudiced, and he can ride a horse. That does not qualify him as her true love, and even then that shouldn't wake her from her poison-induced coma. I do like that he recognizes her from the well and that it isn't merely her beauty that makes him kiss her like in the original tale, but rather her great singing voice and love of animals.

Cinderella - this is more about class distinctions than gender roles, and if the stepfamily were nice they could have saved her but they weren't. So the prince was able to use his resources to pull her out of essential slavery. Where I dislike this movie is in their brief romance and how he falls in love with her based on her beauty and ability to dance, but this is basically true of all Disney movies so I can forgive it. Also, she's brave and resourceful and kind and perfect and she's kind of my favorite classic princess ever. We have again the problem of happily ever after meaning happily paired off with a man and getting married and being rich without working for it, but this is a kid's movie and I'm ok with an idealized view of romance in some cases or else childhood would have been very depressing.

Sleeping Beauty - while I like the idea of a betrothed couple meeting and falling in love without realizing the other's identity, they literally see each other for like two minutes and dance the entire time and then decide they're in love, and Aurora has even less personality than Phillip, who doesn't really have facial expressions. Also, she's sixteen. So I'm not really ok with this one, either. And what a strange way to alter the prophecy/curse. But on the bright side, the fairies save the day in many ways and Aurora is shown to have independent thoughts, so it's definitely a positive take on women (men, as shown by the kings, are not portrayed as very resourceful or nice).

The Little Mermaid - I think Disney basically ruined this story by making it children-friendly, because the original is super interesting and cool. She is supposed to be motivated by a desire for an immortal soul in addition to her love for the prince and her curiosity about the land, and the girl Eric falls for is his betrothed anyway (though tragically he mistakes her for the one who rescued him from the sea). I will defend the movie, though, because she wants the legs not only to meet Eric but also to satisfy her curiosity, making her adventurous and rebellious which is way more than lovesick, as people who bash her story would have you believe. Yes, she trades her voice but she gains the ability to walk, dance, etc. which is clearly an experience she would otherwise never have. Also, in the original she's supposed to experience stabbing pains every time she walks and it ends in tragedy, which of course I am a fan of (but actually it's a way better story). Anyway, she gets to choose her own fate and gets to live happily ever after so I wouldn't say it's entirely a bad moral story.

Beauty and the Beast - this is essentially the best story ever. Ok, some will say that it teaches girls to stick with abusers to change them...but Belle doesn't love him to begin with and only at the end realizes this, so I don't really buy that argument. It teaches all people to love beyond appearances, and in the end she saves him instead of the other way around. Also, she's a nerd and turns down the buff guy. She's awesome. While it still teaches that happily ever after is strictly defined as finding a husband, I'll refer to the Cinderella argument that this is fair because she also gets wealth so this is a fairly good achievement. It's kind of negative in that this means she can't make money for herself, but I would argue that she could live in the village on her own after her dad dies and be fine (like she's on track to do from the beginning by denying Gaston), but she doesn't want that boring life, so choosing the Beast is really about exercising her own free will. It's like the idea of becoming a housewife really being a luxury rather than strict confinement from the workplace, though that's not exactly the implication for the remainder of her life.

Aladdin - I'm not a Jasmine fan, but I suppose she's clever and feisty and holds out for love and someone kind, despite their social ranking, which is a good message. She's not about marrying for money or connections, much like Aurora, which is good though not entirely practical for a princess (but it's ok, I doubt there are many princesses who are taking lessons from her). Her need to marry is about her royal obligation more than monetary necessity so in that sense it doesn't speak to female independence at all except as in line with the social setting, though this could be said of any Disney princess...

Pocahontas - I don't feel qualified to speak on this subject since I haven't seen it in many years, but I would say that if they had stuck to real life events this would be way less kid-friendly. It definitely depicts a strong female character.

Mulan - this is my favorite Disney movie of all time, so I will of course be defending it. Women in Mulan's society are seen as highly superficial with the exception of the tomboyish title character who pretends to be a man not so much motivated by proving herself but rather in order to protect her father from injury and certain death. She has family values and though she realizes that she should be a wife, she doesn't feel cut out for it. In the end, she turns down a man's job so that she can be with her family - which might seem like a blow to feminism, but hey, it's her choice and that's the important part. It says that caring for family is a valid life choice for a woman, even one who isn't really ready to host dinner parties or pour tea. And on a hugely positive note, she doesn't get married at the end, which is great because she hasn't even had a chance to be a woman around Li and so we can imply that they don't have a rushed romance. Though romance and true love is never something she seeks out, we can imagine that she would make a great, courageous wife to a man who is an equal match to her wit. So she wins herself a man - that's kind of an accomplishment and not at all a bad message, because we know she doesn't "need" one, but we also know that defying some gender stereotypes doesn't make her unworthy of finding love.

The Princess and the Frog - I don't think that this was as progressive of a movie as it could have been, but I will say that I don't agree that it is entirely against single working women. I think that a lot of that reflects the society it's set in, and the characters who discourage Tiana from pouring all of herself into her work are trying to encourage her to invest in personal relationships, not necessarily romantic ones, which is a very good message to everyone. Obviously this was going to be a romantic movie, and I think that they did a fine job of displaying an "actual" relationship as opposed to all of the classic princess love stories (granted, this is between frogs and they're only together for a few days, but they got the bickering and flirting right); certainly it's the most like a classic non-animated, non-magical romance movie, yet is still entirely appropriate for kids. Yes, it takes some magic for her dreams to com e true, but we can assume that her hard work would have eventually paid off and that had she quit earlier she never would have achieved her goals.

Tangled - ok, she won't be official until October, but she's in the picture so I'm including her. I would rank her story along with Tiana's (and Mulan's) as being about more than finding love, and the romance being a nice addition to her life. Sure, you wouldn't have much of a movie without it, and it doesn't add much realism to Disney romances, but again we have a strong character who is quite resourceful and delightful on her own. The movie adds a lot more depth to the original story, which pretty much epitomizes damsel in distress being rescued by a dashing prince, so that's a plus. It takes her much longer than the audience to realize her love, and neither of them are motivated by royalty (though of course she is a legit princess), and she actually sacrifices part of her beauty for a good reason (better than Ariel's, at least).

Finally, what these movies overlook:

• Some people are perfectly happy without finding a "true love" or alternatively get married and later realize this was a mistake...or lose a loved one (though this is alluded to by the loss of other family members)
• Real marriages take a lot of hard work...the wedding is never the end of a true life story
• Most people need a lot longer than a few days and songs together to know that they want to spend their lives together
• Some people can love more than one person in their lifetime, and happiness can be found in making a choice to love

But personally, I would not like to be taught these things by singing mermaids or beautiful princesses; from them, I like to learn that courage and kindness pay off and that for some fortunate people there really can exist a happily ever after. Leave the rest of the lessons for the disillusionment of adolescence.

*spoilers*

I have now waited for seven midnight releases, between books and films, and have spent the past seven years feeling like Harry Potter's closest friend, and now there's no denying that he's all grown up. Blah blah blah sentiments...my favorite part of a Harry Potter release, aside from the costumes, is the analysis that follows! Since I read most of the last book in the last 24 hours, I have a lot of critique to give.

• Percy had no apology/reconciliation scene whatsoever which was to be expected, but I was disappointed. He used to be my favorite character (mostly because I like being weird, but also he's a prefect) and I was sad to see that he was present with the Weasleys and Chris Rankin was recast but they didn't even touch that storyline.
• Ok, what on earth, why did Voldemort even make that announcement that they had one hour, and then McGonagall put up the enchantments and then Harry learned about the diadem...this was completely backwards and I did not approve, and then he made the one hour announcement again, so that was pointless. Also, they didn't evacuate the students, this seems really dumb.
• Ollivander was not supposed to believe in the hallows since that indicates that he told Voldemort about them which is contrary to the book - because if he knew about them he'd totally be after them, so I found this a little bit discomforting.
• Voldemort was not supposed to feel when the horcruxes were destroyed, that race against his discovery was half the fun of the end of the book. And Harry wasn't supposed to hear them, I thought that was just dumb.
• Ok, Snape's last memories in the book are tear-jerking every time, Snape's last memories in the movie were ok except for when he goes into the Potter's home. That directly contradicts the part that they even show in the movie when Dumbledore tells Snape that Harry has Lily's eyes (I assume that this was supposed to be after she died, since Dumbledore's talking to him, but then he would have already seen him so it's just dumb). I've always been disappointed at the way they show memories, so this wasn't really surprising, but it was one of the best parts of the entire series so I was sad it wasn't perfect. And then, he's all crying and that makes me uncomfortable because it's Alan Rickman and he can't cry.
• Did I miss the part where they say Teddy was born, because Harry mentions him to Lupin but that was all I saw. So, they completely glossed over the way him being orphaned was supposed to mirror Harry and made Lupin/Tonks' deaths seem pointless and yet not even that sad. Also, I was sad we didn't see Fred die.
• I understood taking out all of Harry's angst about Dumbledore lying to him and uncovering his past, but that was kind of the heart of the book - Harry found himself in lies and secrets and decided not to continue, making him better than Dumbledore, and certainly a good user of the hallows. When he died, he didn't even talk to Dumbledore about the hallows and never got an explanation as to why Dumbledore did what he did and why it was important that he be a willing sacrifice, and they left out how his sacrifice protected everyone else. Whatever. In general, King's Cross disappointed me since I could imagine everything that they showed pretty easily and at least the dialog wasn't all cut short and not well explained in the version in my head from reading the book.
• There was no hallows/horcruxes debate!
• What on earth was going on with giving people other lines...it was Harry's idea to get on the dragon, Hermione was supposed to tell Harry to see where Voldemort was, etc. These just seemed like little things that could easily have been accommodated without any need to change them.
• What was that little boat house supposed to be? Shrieking Shack not good enough?
• Along with the not evacuating students, there was no fight with Ginny about her staying behind and I rather liked that in the book.
• They never explained Harry repairing his wand and that was like the best part ever about him being so noble.
• Inference of Parvati's death seemed weird considering we already have the emotional grief of a twin dying, and she was overage anyway so I don't see why they couldn't have just done Colin Creevey like they were supposed to.
• The Gray Lady bit seemed weird and I feel like they just didn't explain that properly - it was supposed to take some persuasion, which we've learned from HBP that Harry is good at, as he's so like Voldemort (I still would have liked the scene in HBP with Hepzibah, but this is not the place for general movie complaints).

On a more positive note,

• I liked everything about McGonagall, and they added some great quips.
• The beginning scenes were spot on with the book, and everything up through Gringotts was perfect. The fake Bellatrix was awesome. I didn't like that we didn't understand why Griphook wanted the sword and the whole idea of goblin ownership, but I suppose this is one of those deeper philosophical things that just doesn't have space in the movie.
• I'm glad they cut out Travers since he was just unnecessary.
• Good work cutting out Hagrid and giant stuff, but actually.
• I would normally not like Neville and Luna together, but seriously, they are awesome together and I was sad to hear from Jo that they didn't get married. This is movieland and I am perfectly ok with them pairing off evenly.
• I was skeptical of Ron and Hermione telling Harry where they were going to get the fangs, but it worked out and was really cool and didn't ruin anything plotwise.
• Everything about the Malfoys was perfect. I wished they had explained Fiendfyre, but since Crabbe wasn't there it would have been kind of weird I guess...but I didn't like that Harry used a fang on the diadem...but I did like Voldemort's faces in the fire.
• I liked how they aged for the epilogue and the casting was great.
• I was glad that they included Lavendar being attacked by Greyback and Hermione stopping him; she's so mature.
• Though the enchantments were supposed to happen before the Death Eaters approached, all of the visual effects of the castle protections were really cool.

I still don't know how I feel about:

• Aberforth showing up at the battle...and leaving out all of the Grindelwald/Ariana/Elder Wand business. It wasn't entirely entirely necessary, but again this mystery was central to the book and Harry's frustration with Dumbledore and Dumbledore's plans and so on and I don't think it would have really added to the movie much, just as Winky didn't have to be really important in Goblet of Fire as proved by her absence, but I don't like that in the future it will be deemed unimportant just because it wasn't in the movie.
• All that random stuff with Neville during the battle - like the snatcher and him randomly finding the sorting hat (and not being tortured with it) and his speech. They were ok moments, but not really that epic - and I wish that his epicness had been witnessed by everyone.
• How Ron and Hermione are fighting Nagini while Harry fights Voldemort. Actually, I didn't like it. It was dramatic and ok for a movie, but the point was that he didn't want to be separate from her because, you know, he didn't want to die. But, it was good that Harry ran into Ron and Hermione instead of Neville before sacrificing himself. I was mad at first but then they started crying and I decided it was way more emotionally satisfying this way. BUT, Neville was supposed to kill Nagini in front of everyone and Voldemort was supposed to be defeated in front of everyone, and I don't like that this didn't happen.
• Dean being really really tall.
• Snape calling in all the students and asking them to come forward with info about Harry and whatnot...this did not seem to be something that was protecting any student and knowing he was a good guy this didn't make much sense.
• The whole jumping off the cliff together thing was really weird, but the face meld was really cool and almost worth the departure from the book.
• Lack of house-elves...again, expected but still not cool.

And that's about all I have. All told, a good movie!

florida overview

The past two weeks have probably gone by the fastest of any two weeks I've ever known, except for maybe the last two weeks of high school. I've been rushing to finish my reread of Harry Potter (just finished the epilogue, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging right now) between visits from Katie, Isabel and Jamie and, way more time-consuming, my trip to Florida!

I had never before been to the sunshine state, nor in a car for that many hours in a row since I was about two, so it was quite an enlightening experience. I maintain that I love long car rides, even slash especially when I am driving, so if you're planning a road trip for the near future let me know and I'll be in! As long as you're paying for gas. Anyway, Melanie, who's been my friend since seventh grade and is perfectly okay with being a nerd with me, also loves Harry Potter so we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. Or, that was our main motivation in going...it turned into much more than that.

How my blogging is going to work out regarding this trip and my life will be like this:

1. I will post this overview as soon as I finish writing it.
2. I will watch Harry Potter and then blog about it tomorrow.
3. I will have a lot to say about various topics blogged over the next week or so that relate to stories from Florida.

So, most of the fun stuff is not going to be here but I thought I should lay it all out before I forget how it all went down. First, Katie came to visit me two weeks and like four hours ago. We hung out and then went to bible study and Isabel joined us, so we went to DC the next morning and they ran in the morning etc etc, it was a great time. That afternoon Jamie drove up from Williamsburg to join us and we made jewelry boxes and then there was a whole ordeal about Georgetown Cupcakes that I'll get to later. Jamie and I hung out, walked a lot, had a legit fourth of July (I finally got to see Danyah), and this brings me to Tuesday, July 5th, otherwise known as Isabel's birthday. I, for the fourth time in five days, went to DC and got a ton of free food but also walked like five million miles and felt like dying afterwards. I got home around 9:20 pm and started packing for Florida. I felt just like Harry in the beginning of HBP when he doesn't pack a thing until Dumbledore arrives, because some part of him feels like it's too good to be true. My main reason for not packing was busyness, but it was kind of the same...I didn't have time to think about the fact that I would be in Orlando until just before I left. About seventy minutes of packing later we were on our way! Can I just say, I did an expert packing job considering my time constraints, especially compared to Melanie who forgot, among other things, her toothbrush and wallet.

Anyway, we drove overnight and had a lolzy time in North Carolina which I will also revisit in a later post. We got to her uncle's house around 1 pm on Wednesday, after I had about a combined hour of sleep, but I managed to stay awake until around 8 and then slept for fourteen hours. For a while I thought I was doing great and thought, hey Marisa, why do I bother sleeping when I can clearly forgo it and be fine? This is a bad, bad thought because I'm pretty sure I actually lost time in this deal due to overcompensating for my lack of sleep and also I was pretty groggy throughout the day. This is why I don't do all-nighters.

Anyway, then we went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with her uncle over the next two days and saw a lot of rain but obviously had a magical time anyway, considering this is Disney we're talking about. And considering I could pretty much never afford to go to this many parks for this many days, it was really a blessing that we got free admission - otherwise it would have been a much shorter trip and a lot more confined to Universal. Anyway, we went to Universal on Saturday and got 2-park tickets so we could see Boys Like Girls in concert that night (and also all the cool non-Harry Potter things are in the second park). Harry Potter was really great and magical and all, but very crowded and we didn't feel like standing in long lines after the main ride, which turned out to be a 90 minute wait, so we did some Dr. Seuss rides and other roller coasters for the majority of the day. We didn't have a lot of time to shop for Harry Potter goods which was sad, but after the concert there was a general Universal store open, and they practically had to kick us out we stayed so long. I bought a chocolate frog, which I've already had before but they're the best Harry Potter themed candy in my opinion, and some playing cards which are oddly larger than normal cards, but whatever, I mostly got them for collecting's sake.

Sunday, we went to Clearwater Beach and I got pretty burned, and then we were planning on coming home on Monday but we still hadn't been to Magic Kingdom and the only reason we had to come home was for Deathly Hallows, so we stayed a while longer. Monday I mostly just read, but we got to go to Downtown Disney that night, and this is really when they started to win me over. I didn't buy anything, but it was pretty awesome shopping for like three hours, and this is coming from me (the only person I know who likes shopping less is Jamie).

Finally, on Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom. This truly felt like the most magical place on earth, probably because Melanie and I were so excited to meet the princesses after looking at all of their merchandise the night before and thinking about it ever since we had finished our obsession with all things Harry Potter (or at least, paused it). This was basically the best day ever, though by the end of it I really did feel like I was dying (we were there like fifteen hours, as long as we possibly could be). Then came the drive back on Wednesday, which we decided to do during the day, though we got to a late start due to sleeping in. When I got home I unpacked everything and read some Deathly Hallows then passed out, and when I woke up all I did was read.

And now, I'm finally, finally ready for the last installment. I hope.

brb

Going to Florida with Melanie, many more updates to resume in approximately one week. Nbd.

pokemon lessons

Watching seven hours of Pokemon this weekend may seem redundant considering these are all episodes I watched about 18 months ago (and which I also remember from when I watched them on tv like 13 years ago), but I must say that this time around I learned something new. I realized a lot of the lessons that Pokemon teaches children are actually pretty good, though they aren't the explicit ones you would think would come from a kid's anime show. Maybe I'm just stretching here, but I think they're pretty good at subconsciously teaching us to be good people.

1. Being nice to mean people is always the right thing to do, though it's hard (see Ash et al. saving Team Rocket from drowning in the St. Anne).
2. Sass and stubbornness are funny but they don't make you friends (see Pikachu all the time).
3. You should accept people as they are and accept that you don't have the right to change them (consider Ash not making Pikachu evolve to defeat Raichu).
4. In relationships, quality is better than quantity and it's better to surround yourself with people who you care about than people who are powerful (a general metaphor from Ash's encounters with trainers like AJ who are pretty tough on their Pokemon).
5. Having hope and faith distinguishes people of good character from cowards.
6. Street smarts can be more important than book smarts (see all those preps from Pokemon Tech).
7. No one likes to be underestimated because of their age/any other reason.
8. Persistence pays off.
9. There are no bad Pokemon, just bad masters (as we learn from Ekans). This doesn't exactly apply to people...but I guess there is no person worth hating, just their decisions?
10. You should respect animals' natural habitats (Tentacool, Digletts, etc.).
11. Mottos are way better than songs, and you should hold onto your values (Team Rocket does this so it's kind of a negative message, but Ash always cares for his Pokemon).
12. It's ok to admit you made a mistake (Ash trading away Butterfree, Ash not properly defeating Brock, etc.).
13. Some theme songs are so awesome that you can listen to them and sing along to them like 24 times in one day, so if your theme song is not that good you should keep looking for a better one. Seriously.

This is so much Pokemon love.

my workout blog

I do not have a workout blog. If I did, the post for today, as has been suggested by Isabel and Katie, would be commending myself for walking across a crosswalk in 17 seconds.

My friends Katie and Isabel have a pretty intense love for their workout blog. I started reading it for a while but then I got bored because they work out pretty much all the time and it made me tired just hearing about their escapades. I think it's a kind of lulzy idea for a blog and I commend them for a) working out and b) keeping up with a blog about it, but a workout blog is probably the least likely blog you would ever see produced by me.

Blogs that are more likely to be produced by me:

• a music blog (this is already pretty unlikely, but I could talk about how Rolling in the Deep was on two stations at once and how Wet Seal played a whole bunch of MJ but not on the anniversary of his death etc etc)
• a tv blog (this is fairly likely, actually)
  
• a food blog (good for recipes, my thoughts on various bacon-based meals, my baking escapades, my indignation at having to pay so much for froyo, etc.)
• an econ blog (mostly about how everything I see relates to econ or math in some way)
• a harry potter blog
• a political blog
• a design blog
• a photography blog
• a general pokemon/lolcat/internet blog (aka my tumblr)

To be fair, I did a pretty good job of burning calories by walking around DC for forever and a half. I had to research this via google maps so that I couldn't be blamed for overstating this, but just so you know we walked 1.6 miles one way (from the Metro to the Capital to lunch) and 2.1 miles another way for a total of 3.7 miles walking on the streets, which does not account for standing in two massively long lines (ok, one was tonight) and going through a museum and shopping at Michaels. It's fair to say that this is about 10 times as much walking as I do on a normal day of the summer, and maybe 2 times as much as I would do on campus during school, so of course my feet are sore.

Back to workout blogs. Mine would be the least interesting of all. It would mostly consist of excuses...like, "today I did 20 crunches and then I was going to do some more but I got distracted by looking at my drawers while I did them so then I had to reorganize all of my t-shirts, and by the time I was through with that I had to eat dinner." This hasn't happened to me, but it easily could. I do begin the day with motivation, but I generally lose it because I have to take a shower right now or I to eat or something. I don't have the motivation to run - let me be clear, it is only the motivation to do minor stretches and crunches - which is why I slept for an extra hour this morning while my guests ran.

I guess I like to run at the rec center, but I come up with a lot of excuses there, like, I'm feeling kind of sick, I really need to sleep, by the time I walk there I'm already exhausted, I'll just get a smoothie and cancel out my workout. It's not like it doesn't feel good to run, but since I would much rather sleep it doesn't really happen.

Whatever, I can still cross streets fast enough to avoid death and illegality so I assume that my sedentary lifestyle isn't having any major adverse life effects.