Stories

I love to tell and hear stories. Through song, or prose, or just talking. I find the development of stories, real or fake, to be fascinating and amazing, no matter how boring or stupid the story itself is.

I love how almost everything can tell a story, if you want it to. A piece of paper on the table that isn't yours, or a lost pair of shoes left in a parking lot, in the empty space next to your car.

You always wonder to yourself what happened, how did it get there, how long will it stay there? And if you don't, you have absolutely no curiosity in your body. So leave me alone.

Next time you have a story to tell, just assume that someone wants to hear it and tell it. You never know how it might change the person you tell it to. That sounds silly, but, it's so true. What are books, but stories? And how many books have changed lives?

Don't hold in your words. Let them out in music, or drawings, or poems, or whatever you want.

The story belongs to you, and it's up to you how you release it into the world.

Stories are so beautiful. I hate to see them wasted.

Lots of Pictures

Often times, being a 14-year-old (soon to be 15) girl, I can gain crushes on a variety of actors or musicians or just plain guys. It's sort of a gift/curse deal, which most people reading this (I don't expect many guys except Hunter, and he probably experiences the same thing with females) understand.

What doesn't normally happen is me getting crushes on guys from fandoms I don't even follow. (See: Zachary Quinto or Chris Pine. I don't watch Heroes and I didn't see the Star Trek movie.)

Lately, I am overwhelmed with crushes on the most random guys. I think that this is mostly due to tumblr. I follow 269 people, many of them from many different fandoms, so I see a lot of different people on my dashboard everyday.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a good example.
If you asked me to name something I have seen him in and loved off the top of my head, I couldn't.

I've been thinking about him more and more since the main character of When it Happens (a book a wonderful friend of mine let me borrow) mentioned that she had a crush on him and said she was dating him. "Dating," of course, the same way I am "dating" Remus Lupin.

This one started innocently. I had a total girl crush (which is a subject that I will be getting to) on his sister Maggie and when I looked for pictures of her, I found a bunch of them together that were really cute.

But, come on. Does this really need that much of an explanation? Look at him! He is the perfect example of the dark-hair-sweet-eyes combo that I have always loved so much. I haven't found a picture or video of him yet that has given me second thoughts. Does it get any better than that?

Or take, as I said, Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine. I haven't seen them in anything prominent either.

Yet, I find myself instantly drawn to any pictures or videos of them I see. Suddenly, I want to see the Star Trek movie and hunt down old TV shows (like Lizzie McGuire, cello) that Zach was on before he hit it big with Sylar (see? I know his character name!) on Heroes.

Don't get me wrong, though. Nothing could make me watch Heroes. SHAZZAM. I'm just kidding of course. Heroes is a perfectly acceptable TV program. I just don't watch it, that's all.

Seth Meyers. Good lord, the list goes on.
He has a beautiful smile and look at those dimples!I have always loved Weekend Update, but, after Amy left I was sort of "eh" about it.

Then, I took a second look at this hot slice of a goose and changed my mind.

He doesn't make the jokes any funnier. They were always funny, anyway. Still, a face like that can make the bad ones go down easier, right?

He's the head writer on SNL for goodness sakes. You'll see later in the list that that might be kind of a trend.

Like, with Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.
Andy, too. The three of them make for one awesome combination of hilarity, genius, and hotness.

Take this picture for an example. There are a billion others, but, this is the most recent I have fallen in love with.

Jorma has such a sweet smile! So does Andy. Here he just looks silly, though.

Akiva is my favorite. I think everyone here (ie, the two people who read this regularly) are going to notice this: I love nerds. Regardless of a guy's looks, if he is nerdy there is a good chance that if I get to know him, I will like him more than other people.

With Akiva, the cuteness helps things along. I love his glasses.

This is why these guys showed up so much on my YouTube ritual blog post. They are such studs! Nerdy, adorable, funny, silly studs.

Silliness is a key factor to me liking someone, as a friend or otherwise. You have to be able to be silly and appreciate its art.

With these three, it's not as much a random event, but, I count it because I didn't really like Jorm as much until I started following a Jorm blog on tumblr.

Having nothing to do with random crushes is: Michael Showalter.
God, I love this man.

I watched his new show (with Michael Ian Black) premiere last night, and I laughed out loud almost the entire time. It was so awesome.


























I love how the two of them play off each other. It's just so perfect. I've loved it since I started watching Stella (both the standup and the TV show.) I went to see them live and it was amazing. David Wain is great, too. He directed one of my favorite movies, Role Models and is hilarious himself. He and Black were both in Michael Showalter's movie The Baxter. I love seeing them all work together.

The three of them were also in a comedy show on MTV called The State that came out on DVD today. My mom had been waiting for it for ages and I had never seen it so we sat down and watched about a disc and a half yesterday.

All I have to say is, if you ever get the chance to watch The State, do it. You won't regret it.

And if you do, you and I probably wouldn't get along.

:D

So, those are some of the most crushes at the moment. There are so many more. That's the great thing about crushes: You don't have to stay commited to one like a boyfriend or anything.

I will probably blog about my girl crushes later, in a separate post. That's a whole other arena.

In My Dreams

Last night was no good. Moving on.

I had a dream last night about John Green where he was wearing this really cool dress shirt/vest/tie combo and he was at my school. I was running around, looking for something (like I always seem to be in dreams) when I saw him in the hallway. I ran up to him and hugged him and I was like. "I met you in Lancaster! And I wrote you an email! My name is Julia!" And he actually remembered me and smiled at me. He was like, "Wow, thanks Julia."

Then, I had to keep on running because whatever I was looking for was apparently more important than my biggest hero not only remembering who I was but being genuinely pleased to see me.

It was a great dream moment for me. It was also my fourth ever dream about John Green.

Kiri

With the 'best friend' I used to have, I really feel and felt like I was always just superior.

I would listen to her sing and know I could do better. I would read her writing and know that I was better. We were in 2 plays together, and I knew that I was putting a better foot forward.

It got tiring, having to encourage her and convince her she was good when I never actually believed it.

We stopped talking, and I was relieved (not just for this reason, but, for a variety of reasons.) It took a while to cut the tie, but, now it is and I am so much happier for it.

This year, I met a girl. Her name is Kiri. Kiri (I hope she doesn't mind my saying) is my best friend.

It definitely is not tiring, being friends with her. I feel like we have a balance of talent and enthusiasm that blends well together.

She is a much better singer than I am, and I love her for it. I love to listen to her sing and be able to just sit back and say 'Yes, she is better than me. And I love to hear that superiority.'

She tells me I am a great writer, and while I love to read what she writes, I still think I am a better writer. I'm glad for the fact that she likes to read what I write, and that she actually does read all of it.

When we are on the stage, we both go all out.

I love us as a friendship. I've never been so glad for a friendship ending, because without Amanda and I quitting, I may have never gotten close with Kiri. And I love her a lot.

Summer Tuesday

I stayed up until 2AM last night.

I haven't stayed up past midnight in a while. It felt good.

I was sitting on a chair on the laptop/writing in one of my journals while my brother and his friend sat on the couch opposite my chair and played Playstation 3.

I felt at ease. It was really nice.

Today, I woke up at ten o'clock. I haven't slept in past nine in a while. It felt good, so, I went back to sleep and stayed in bed until eleven.

Now, I am wearing my Cinematic Titanic tshirt and eating a brownie cake for breakfast.

Summer tastes sweet.

Cinematic Titanic

I was born in the year 1994. Keeping that in mind: according to a reliable source (IMDb) Mystery Science Theater 3000 ran from the year 1988-1999. This means I was around five years old when it went off the air. Hardly old enough to have had the time to watch or enjoy the show.

Luckily for me, I have a mom who was out of diapers, watching, and enjoying the show for me at the time. She raised me on brilliant music, brilliant TV shows, and brilliant movies my whole life.

When Cinematic Titanic came out recently, I knew Joel, Frank, and Trace from MST3k. We bought the DVDs and my mom, my brother, and I each had our own geeky little meltdowns while watching something new from five of the funniest people we know.

Well, we've watched every Cinematic Titanic DVD that has been released with nerdy joy. And we found out that they were taking the show on a live tour. Needless to say, my mom had yet another meltdown and we bought tickets.

On Saturday, we went to see them in Philly.

The gig was sold out. The line to get in ran all the way around the block.

The theater was very cool. We sat in balcony seats on what were essentially red cushioned bleachers. I sat next to my mom. We were both shaking with nerves and excitement while we waited for someone-anyone-to come on stage.

Our prayers were answered when Gruber (as pictured to the left) came onstage and saved us! He warmed us up with some haikus and some stand-up, along with music from J. Elvis and TV's Frank!

Finally, after an eternity of 10 minute warnings, Joel came onstage, sharply dressed in a suit and tie, with his microphone and introduced all of the Titans and the movie itself.

"This movie features probably the worst movie monster of all time. And I've seen some bad movie monsters."

We all cheered our hearts out as Mary Jo, Trace, Frank, Josh, and Joel all took their places and the countdown to the movie began.

The jokes were brilliant, of course. I wasn't expecting any less. They all had incredible timing. They were making the audience and each other laugh. I watched Joel drink his pop and all of them turn the pages of their scripts as the movie went on.

It was an incredible experience that I am so glad I got to share with my mom.

After the movie (and the Best Of reel) were through, we bought tshirts and got in line to meet the Titans.

My mom and I were still shaking as the line moved slowly (almost everyone who had attended was sticking around.)

At one point, we noticed Gruber working through the line and saying hello to everyone. He approached us and said hello to each of us individually, then started up a conversation with my mom. "You do a great job leading them in," she told him, and all of us smiled. (On the CT DVDs, Gruber leads them into the theater and introduces the movie.)

He was very gracious and said thank you. "You recognized me, huh? I think it was Joel's idea...You know, I've had my hair long for quite some time. He rigged up the ponytail with som cardboard." And all of us laughed.

He pulled out a small card that had the Cinematic Titanic logo on it with all of their sillohuettes. He drew himself with blue sharpie and signed it "Hey, from Gruber," then left us to wait in line again.

We were the last people in line, and as we got closer to the Titan's table, we notcied Trace was heading through the line and signing things for the people who were still waiting. He signed my DVD and my brother got a picture of him with his phone.

















J. Elvis was first at the table. He signed my DVD and shook my hand. Then, Mary Jo. She signed my DVD and then paused, just looking at the disc itself that my mom had labeled 'Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.' "Have you been borrowing?" Mary Jo asked. My throat was dry, and I found I couldn't speak, but, I heard my mom answer from behind me. Frank was the last one sitting and he signed as well and shook my hand.

Last but not least, Joel was standing at the end of the table. He signed everything we had, shook all of our hands and said hello, then let us all gather around for a nice picture (which is yet to be uploaded to the computer).














In this picture, he is actually poking John's stomach as an alternative to standing awkwardly and waiting for a handshake.

Thinking about Saturday still makes me giddy.

In short: Best. Night. Ever.