New blog

Hello, loyal readers!

If you don't already know, I've started a separate blog while I'm studying abroad. Here's the URL:

http://deniseinthailand.blogspot.com

Up-to-date

After a two month hiatus, I'm back, loyal readers! Hold your applause, please, until this episode of my life has wrapped up... then, clap to your heart's content.

So what've I been up to that has been keeping me away from my precious blog? Not much, really. I just got a bit lazy and stopped writing for a while. I had a wonderful winter break at home with my family and some old friends, and I even made a few extra bucks working at the theater even though I had basically sworn off that place for life... eh, things change. The extra cash was nice while it lasted.

School has started again, and I'm trudging through my classes - this is my last semester for Italian, statistics is - so far - only a review of what I did in high school, accounting is becoming more and more incomprehensible (and I'm not alone in thinking so), and my two MIS classes are surprisingly my favorite courses. That being said, since I enjoy MIS and it's a relatively prosperous career field, I have declared MIS as my second major (in addition to Business Honors).

Another major development: I've decided to study abroad next spring. At this time, I'm pretty much set on Thailand (sorry Mom). I considered Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and Scotland also; the b-school doesn't offer a program in Ireland, and the other three's spring semesters span February to June/July, which just won't fly since I need to intern that summer. But then we look at Thailand: the b-school offers a great program (complete w/courses taught in English), it spans the same time as a semester here at UT (January to May), it's cheap, there are lots of scholarships offered, it'll stand out on a resume more than a semester abroad in Western Europe, and it's guaranteed to be one extreme experience. I'll deal with the food, I'm already used to a similar climate, and I won't be the only study abroad student there (Thammasat takes approx. 500 abroad students each semester... I think). So I signed up, but I can change my mind since I'm not going until the spring...

This past week has been rather... stressful, shall we say? I had two tests last week, two tomorrow morning, and then accounting next week (which will require a week's worth of studying all on it's own). Lovely timing, ain't it?

Ah, but I'm managing. I still get my free time and enough sleep. Plus, I'm not sick, which is amazing (*knocks on wood*).

Go, Speed Racer, gooo!

OMG. Speed Racer movie. No kidding. I'm excited :D

Movie reviews, pt. 2

Wow, it's only been, like, 2 weeks since I've posted. Ha.
So, my life... it's been busy - in a sense. I'm the kind of person that likes/needs to have some downtime each day in order to stay sane, (What will I do when I have children?!) but I've still kept pretty busy. Lots of tests to prepare for and papers to write (oh, the papers!), and I even survived a presentation the first day back from Thanksgiving break. During a class discussion on outsourcing and team MIS projects, my professor commended two of about fifty people, another girl and myself, for playing the "Devil's Advocates" in the discussion and sticking to our guns despite the overwhelming opposition. It was exciting, though it seemed like a lot of people that didn't speak up were nodding their heads when we spoke, so I think we weren't as alone on our views as we thought. I've watched a few movies, read a couple books, studied a BUNCH, caught up on Heroes (finally!), and even managed to test out Rock Band at Wal-Mart. Still, I can't wait until finals are over and then I get a month to NOT think about school.
On another note, I love Christmastime. Absolutely LOVE it. Our apartment is decorated with some lights and garland and even a fake poinsetta. I can't wait until I go back to LJ and we bake cookies... yay! I uploaded all my mom's Christmas music to my iPod, and now it's pretty much on there all the time. That's the one thing I truly miss about being in orchestra: the music. The Nutcracker Suite is soooooo amazing... ok, now I'm just being an orch dork. Sorry.
Also, I found this picture stuck inside a book I never finished reading (but am now starting again). Apparently, I used it as a bookmark... and come on, it's adorable!


I like how my dad looks exactly the same, but I'm like, 7 times bigger than that (obviously). I remember that little Cowboy Snoopy toy still.
I've done a few movie reviews for the holidays. These are some of the movies in theaters still that I've seen. Enjoy.

American Gangster: This movie was pretty darn good. It was thrilling and intriguing and heart-stopping and... I could continue with more adjectives, but I won't. There are some pretty shocking scenes, but I thought the story was amazingly written - my only complaint is that it's nearly 3 hours long. My suggestion: yes, watch this movie if you like thrillers and dramas. But wait until it comes out on DVD unless you're able to sit in a theater for 3 straight hours.

August Rush: Okay, so I'm a sucker for the sappy and heart-warming movies. That's exactly what August Rush is. Of course, I absolutely love Keri Russell (Felicity, Waitress, she was the captive agent in MI:3) and Freddie Highmore - who by the way, is in EVERYTHING these days: Finding Neverland, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he voices a main character in The Golden Compass... this kid is the new Haley Joel Osment. Or Dakota Fanning. Anyway, as much as I love music and the passion people around the world have for it, how could I not love this movie? It was amazing, though the fact that he could "hear" his parents' music and by following the sound he could find his parents was kinda corny. But cute. Very cute.

Enchanted: Omg, HILARIOUS. This is not your typical Disney movie - although it is every other typical Disney movie wrapped up into one big production. Pretty princesses, wicked witches, charming princes, McDreamy (I mean, what?), and musical numbers written by Alan Menken (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, Pocahontas, The Little Mermaid... this guy is a Disney music LEGEND... it doesn't get much more Disney fairytale-ish than this. Except for the fact that they're in NYC. And that no one seems to understand the prince and princess except for themselves and children who still believe that dreams do come true. This one's worth the $5 matinee price - go see it. Bring your friends, your kids, your brothers and sisters, because this is the most enjoyable family film since Happy Feet (according to me).

Hitman: For a movie based off a video game, this was a fairly decent movie. Not that I've seen many movies of the type, but still. It's got the action - gun fights, sword fights, fist fights, people dying, etc. - and the comedy - the awkward assassin who doesn't know how to act around women, though whether or not the rest of his lines were meant to be funny is questionable... still, I laughed. I haven't played the VG, so no, I can't compare the two. If you're an action junkie, you can get your fix from Hitman.

Martian Child: Aww, the story of an endearing young boy who doesn't fit in and the man who takes him under his wing and tries to be the best dad-whose-wife-just-died ever. The kid WAS kinda strange-looking, though I won't fault the film for that because he IS supposed to be from Mars. The movie was kinda slow at times, but overall, it was your typical drama. I give it 3 of 5 stars.

Eye on the prize...

Jeez, I cannot concentrate to save my life.
I have a couple of papers to write and a few chapters to read for my classes before tomorrow, and I cannot for the life of me focus. I even left the apartment and came to the university, hoping that being in a study room would help me to, you know, study. And now it seems this trip up here may have been in vain, because I can't concentrate here either.
I've been here for 45 minutes, and all I have to show for it is two lines for my reflection paper. Nice job, Denise.
I really shouldn't be blogging right now. I should be focusing. I guess I'll go try to focus again.
If that fails, then I'll be back to write more here in "le blog".

Movie reviews, pt. 1

Movie review time! I've decided to cut my reviews post up into smaller, more managable pieces - better for the digestive tract. The reviews are in alphabetical order, but if you don't see a particular movie on here, it's probably because I haven't got around to writing about it yet. Another movie review post will follow soon, with more summer and fall flicks commented upon for your pleasure. Enjoy.

1408: I'm not a big horror movie fan, but the idea and story behind 1408 is really intriguing. A haunted hotel room that no one is allowed to stay in because everyone who has in the past dies/commits suicide. I didn't think much of it until the end, where ***SPOILER WARNING***SKIP TO NEXT MOVIE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW*** you find out that the room is basically an alternate reality that will continue to repeat the same day over and over again until the guests ultimately kill themselves, since that's the only way to escape the repeating horror.

The Bourne Ultimatum: After seeing this movie, I can safely say that the Bourne trilogy is one of the best action series out there. Most series tend to start out really well, and then they start to lack in quality. But Bourne was really good. The suspenseful/action-packed storyline is really what does it for these movies - well, that, and the action sequences, and the acting, and... okay, so it's all really good. This final movie has the best hand-to-hand fight scene I have EVER seen in a movie.

Children of Men: Wow. As far as futuristic films go, this one is probably my favorite. The plot is sooooo interesting - a world where all women are barren, save the one woman who miraculously got pregnant and now must be protected from all harm and even the government (since they would just do a bunch of testing and take her baby away). Director Alfonso Cuaron cooks up another winner with this movie.

Evan Almighty: Definitely not even on the same level as Bruce Almighty. This one is geared toward a more family-oriented audience than Bruce. It's decently funny, and I love Steve Carell, but when you're expecting something similar to Jim Carrey's performance in Bruce, you're totally let down for this movie. There were bits and pieces of the movie that were great and hilarious, and others that just dragged on and on. Decent Friday-night-with-the-family-eating-pizza kind of movie, though.

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer: This was a grand hour and a half waste of my time. You could pretty much get the gist of the entire movie out of the trailers. I considered getting up and leaving (which, to date, I have only done in one movie - Eragon), but I sat through it because I'm a superhero movie fanatic. Unless you're a huge Fantastic Four fan, I would not recommend spending any money on this one.

Knocked Up: Wow, where do I even begin? H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Very, very vulgar - so parents, please don't let your children watch it (unless you think they're old enough). Made by the same guy who did The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Talladega Nights and Superbad (he's just rolling out the blockbusters!). If you're okay with watching the vulgarity and the drug use, then I highly recommend this movie. It's even got a nice, sweet story to back it up. Ha.

Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4): Continuing the Die Hard legacy, Bruce Willis returns to the silver screen. To be honest, I've never seen Die Hard 1-3. But as action movies go, this one was pretty good. The action sequences (cars flying, bullets flying, debris and people flying everywhere...) were really well done, even if unbelievable at times. The plot was somewhat inventive, but intriguing all the same... how many "world domination by evil guy" movies involve said evil guy shutting down every communications system in the U.S.?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS FREAKING MOVIE!!! There are lots of people out there who will tell you that Pirates 3 was a three-hour waste of time. I strongly disagree. The graphics are PHENOMONAL, the acting is SPECTACULAR, the music is MIND-BLOWING (FYI, I love most super-dramatic orchestrated music for epic films), and the storyline is SO AMAZINGLY AMAZING. Maybe they could have split the movie in half, making movie 3 about getting Captain Jack back, and movie 4 about making it to "world's end". But still, if you liked the first Pirates, I think you'll like this one. The second is questionable.
***NOTE: At this point in time, I'd like to add that I believe Johnny Depp is one of the best actors Hollywood has ever seen. He's such an incredibly versatile actor, playing in roles that require entirely different personas, emotions, accents, characters, etc. Compare his characters in Cry Baby, Pirates, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Libertine, Finding Neverland... the list goes on. I fully respect Johnny Depp as an actor, even if he does wear tacky red suits to Red Carpet events.

Ratatouille: A touching story about a rat chasing his dream of becoming a chef. This movie is great; it has humor, it has emotion, it has the great animation that we've come to expect from Disney and Pixar, it has the "lesson" that is learned (humans dealing with good rats in the kitchen)... the only qualm I have about this movie is the fact that they are RATS. And they're cooking the food...? But if you put that aside and remember that this is fiction, it's a cute movie that's good for people of all ages.

Surf's Up: Now, I saw the trailers for this one and thought "Why'd they rip-off Happy Feet?" But the fact of the matter is, animated penguin movies were just on fire in the box office. I only saw half of this movie (due to technical difficulties), but what I saw, I liked. It's definitely more of a kid's movie, and they used Green Day songs way too much in the film, but it's still a funny little break from reality.

Finals, whoo.

Exciting news about my finals:
They're all early. I'll be done with them by Friday, Dec. 15th.
Which means I'll have an entire MONTH off for winter break.
Ah, what a blessed release that will be.
Yay!
(More to come later this week. Sorry for the lack of posts last week.)

Fantastic...

Wow. It's 10:24 a.m. I must've shut off my alarm in my sleep. I've now officially missed management and MIS for today. Oh well. There's always next week.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Have a spook-tacular day! (Laaaaame.)