Once In A Lifetime

So last night something that happens once in 400 years happened: a lunar eclipse that fell on the winter solstice. And being the huge lover of astronomy that I am, I stayed up until 2 am to watch it. And woooow it was so so so cool. I started to write a blog while I waited for it to eclipse, so here is the slightly delirious rant I went on.

I'm sitting here watching the Lunar Eclipse - well, sorta. I check on it every once in a while while I'm doing stuff online, and I have NASA's ustream open - and I have time to kill before it goes red. That makes me think of Doctor Who - you know, the Ood's eyes going red? - or maybe it's the fact that I'm listening to the Series 1 and 2 soundtrack. *shrug* Anyway, I'm thinking about Doctor Who. It also probably doesn't help that I watched Mansfield Park with Billie Piper in it. (It was so WEIRD seeing her as Fanny Price. I gotta say I think I like the brown-haired Fanny better...Frances O'Connor? BUT ANYWAY.) Doctor Who is just on my mind. (Here's hoping I get Series 5 for Christmas!)

I'm taking photographs of the moon as it goes, though they're not turning out as well as I'd hoped. I probably won't post this till after it's done so that I can add the photos. Aaaaand I can no longer see the moon from my window. Damn.

Well, I've just run outside to do some more photographing. I've discover it is actually quite chilly out there with just a sweater on. And also that it is incredibly difficult to take a steady picture of the moon when your camera is zoomed in all the way. So my pictures will have a bit of double-moon going on, I think. Sigh.

See? Blurry, double moon. But still quite nifty.

I'm starting to get sleepy. This isn't good. It's not even 12:30 yet. The eclipse won't be over for an hour! Sigh. I think I might go downstairs and read. Not that that will wake me up any.

See? Slightly delirious. But I didn't end up reading, I started thinking. I thought about how absolutely fantastic life was to see things like the eclipse happen. I mean, really, I got to see something that no one will see again in our lifetime. I got to witness this miracle of nature - does space count as nature? - and it just happened. There is no real reason why. It's not like the moon had to eclipse last night to survive some strange climate or something. It's just one of those things that happens. So. Cool.

And then I started thinking about how itty bitty we were on our planet. I didn't get all pessimistic, thinking about how nothing mattered in our lives, because I think that's just untrue. Everything we do as a person is incredibly important and shapes our world in some way. What I started to do was thinking about the Who's in Whoville, and started likening myself to them. Which was really fun, actually. I imagined everyone I knew as a Who. And now I want to see everyone I know drawn as a Who. XD

2011 Goals

Alan Lastufka inspired me to write this. He wrote a blog recently on his to-do list for next year, and I thought that that was a fantastic idea, especially if I got to look back and see everything that I accomplished at the end of the year.

Short Term
- Exercise every day. (I struggle so hard to exercise, but I know it's the key to keeping the weight that I lost off. So this is number one on my list.)
- Finish updating my website. (It's almost done! I just need the gallery in there.)
- Get my own domain for said website. (I don't want to be sith.headlock.ws anymore or jbutler16.gcsweb.nait.ca or whatever my school website was. I just want a jodi.a.butler.com or something.)
- Read more offline. (I read a lot online. Blog posts, Facebook notes, fanfiction...I want to take that reading offline. Well, some of it.)
- Ask Remus for coffee. (Remus happens to be the guy I like. I'm not going to actually tell you what his real name is, but he is the Remus to my Tonks. Or at least, that is my hope.)

Long Term
- Write a blog at least once a week. (I really enjoyed VEDA, so I'd like to try to start posting again. About real stuff, mind you. Not me venting and all that nasty stuff.)
- Finish a big writing project that is not fandom related. (I love fandom stuff so much. But fanfiction is pretty much all I've been writing lately and I have so many ideas that aren't fandom related. But they never get written because fanfiction is easier. So I want to write a novel, play, screenplay, or hell, even a series of short stories that has nothing to do with a fandom.)
- Meet the Vlogbrothers IRL (...nuff said.)
- Do more for the HPA (I feel like I don't do enough for this amazing amazing organization. And I want to change that.)
- Maintain my weight loss. (I'm terrified I'm going to gain all the weight I lost back. So, that's why this is both a short term and a long term goal.)
- Less time doing nothing online. (I spend so much time just clicking and clicking and clicking and doing nothing. I could be accomplishing something during that time!)
- Read every book on my bookshelf. (I have a lot of unread books on my bookshelf. 15, actually. So I want to read those, and all of the ones I've already read, because they're good.)
- Attend LeakyCon 2010. (I fully plan to, but money is tight, so this is still a goal, and not quite a given at this point.)
- Go to my first wrock concert! (LeakyCon will take care of this baby for me)

Fandom-related (aka goals for LeakyCon)
- Go to my first wrock concert!
- Meet as many HPA peeps IRL as possible!
- Get photographs with every single HPA person I meet.
- Fill up my fandom journal.

A Lack of Time Management

I just got off a Skype call with Edward and Devan from LeakyCon. I am really going to be volunteering! I'll be on the Media and Communications Team, where I could pretty much be on any of the sub-teams they mentioned. Ha! I'm a Media and Communications Guru, apparently.

But after the call, I started thinking. I really want to help out with LeakyCon, but how stupid am I? Most of my free time is already used for the HPA, and that will always have to be my first priority when it comes to volunteering. And then I have school, which is going to be crazy intense. AND I have work. AND I wanted to get on the student council at school. O_O Stupid? I think I may be.

This year will be a test for my time management skills, I think. But I'm so very excited for it. And the volunteering makes me even more excited. As my mom would point it - it will look so very good on a resume! But that's not why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it so that I can pimp up my resume, I'm doing it because it's something I want to do. And hell, if it gets me more fandom friends in the process - bonus!

Stresssssssssssss

Hello, world!

No, don't worry, I'm not turning into Dan Brown. That would be...strange. But it seemed like a fitting opening, and now I'm rambling.

September has barely even started and I'm already pulling out my hair. School hasn't started yet, even. But I'm expecting my month to be hella crazy, and I'm stressing. 1) School. Nuff said. 2) I work EVERY weekend ALL weekend. :\ 3) HPA commitments 4) Leaky Commitments. Ahhhhhhhh!

I'm sure it'll all work itself out, one way or another. But right now I'm just mega stressed, trying to ignore the stress, and not really succeeding. Plus I've spent like, $900 in the past three days. O_O So I'm sure that doesn't help. BUT ANYWAY. I don't want to whine. That's not fun and you don't want to hear it!

Elise moved in yesterday. It was kind of a hectic day, even though I didn't really do anything. It just felt hectic. She moved in, we went and hung out with Emily, went to the bookstore and I gave them a bit of a tour of the school. See, not that much stuff. But it felt craaaazy. Those are such weird days. Do you have those days?

Also, I just finished watching the episode "Reset" of Torchwood, and I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT.

I'm going to West Edmonton Mall today with Kayla and Chantal and possibly Elise. I'm really stoked. :D

Reading: Can you guess? Go on, one guess. Yep, you got it! DRACULA!
Writing: Fanfic
Listening to: Typing
Thankful For: Transportation. Aka my car. So that I can get outta this city today. Wheeee!

BEDA Day 31 | Beginnings and Endings

Whoa. How is it the last day of BEDA already? I don't want it to be over! Despite what I said in my last blog. It's nice to have something I do every single day like this. Even if I have nothing to say. Though I do have a few things to say today. So, this blog, in Vlogbrothers fashion, comes in two parts!

Part 1: Beginnings and Endings

As most of you know, I am a huge wizard rock fan and my favourite band that is still currently making music is Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. (The only other band who comes close to being in the same league for my love of their music is the Mudbloods.) Well, last night Christian announced that after Wrockstock 4 he wouldn't be playing anymore big shows as OBatR. He won't be releasing the other House EPs, though he does still have Bare Bones Volume 2 and another EP in the works. So at least we'll get some more music out of him before he hangs his wizard robes. He is going to be writing Muggle Music, so that's good but...this means that I will never get to see him live. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that I was devastated when I read his blog post. I knew what it was as soon as I saw the link on Twitter, but that didn't mean to say that I wasn't still upset. BUT I have thought it about, and I've gotten over the initial shock. And while I'm sad and disappointed that I'll never get to see him play as OBatR, I have faith that I'll get to see him play as Christian Caldera.

Christian, if you read this, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all of the time you put into making such inspirational music. There isn't a time when I feel upset or sad that your music doesn't cheer me up. I can be having the worst day ever, and I put on one of your albums, and half-way through the first song that pops up, I am singing and smiling. So I have to thank you for that. Your music is such an inspiration, even for someone like me who can't write music to save her life. I love the way you write your lyrics. I think if wizard rock was ever to go main-stream (Merlin help us if that happens!) your music would be some of the first to hit the audiences because it's so general. And I love that. So, thank you. I hope to see you at Leaky Con - even if you're not going to be playing. :)

Part 2: Looking Back

Looking back over this month, I can't believe how fast it went. I honestly have no idea how it got to be August 31. It's September tomorrow. September! HOW did this happen, pray tell? School will be starting soon, summer is almost over. I'm nervous now that we're so close.

I tried to look back over my blog posts to see what exactly I did this month, but nothing really popped out at me. I did a lot of random posts, I did a few really good posts. So I'm going to try to remember off the top of my head some things that have really impacted me this month.

The start of the month had me working a lot. I was really not impressed at the time, but I would rather be working all the time like that than what I have been lately. It's boring. But anyway. I was working a lot. I left Ardene's, and it was bittersweet. They told me that I could come back at any time, which is amazing. I got "promoted" at the HPA. John Green tweeted at me. I played a lot of Pokemon and did a lot of writing. I started posting on fanfiction.net again. We lost Esther. Mockingjay was released. I got accepted as a LeakyCon volunteer. I got a TARDIS. I moved. I spent some quality time at the lake. I watched a lot of Torchwood.

Most of this is really trivial. Some of it has meant a lot to me. But I still don't know where the month went. It's been an amazing month, and I look forward to writing more soon. (Though probably not until the end of the week.)

Listening To: Every Star, Every Planet - Murray Gold
Reading: Yep, you guessed it - Dracula.
Writing: Erm. Nothing?
Thankful for: Summer.

BEDA Day 30 | Remaking the World

What's this? An interesting blog post? No way! XD

This morning on Twitter there is buzz (of the horrified variety) of a possible Back to the Future remake with...dare I say it?....Justin Bieber as Marty Mcfly. Now, I'm not a particular fan of the films - I've only ever seen the first one. But even I know that this is wrong wrong wrong. a) It's Justin Bieber. b) Back to the Future does not need to be remade.

Hollywood has an obsession with remaking films - and usually the remake is about 100 times worse than the original. Let's face it, the only reason Hollywood thinks they need to even do a remake is because they want to cash in on the franchise, which I can understand to an extent. Hollywood is a business. They need to make money. But I am getting more and more frustrated with their Malfoy-like ways. How worth it is it to destroy what was a perfectly good film just to get some more cash from the franchise? I guess what I want to say is that it would be best to just leave the good films alone. They're already good, why remake them? If there is a real need to remake a film, find one that didn't do so well and make it better. Improve the quality of the film.

Maybe the obsession with remakes has to do with lack of original stories to tell. At least, that sounds like an excuse someone might give. But I don't think that's true. As a story teller myself, I'm finding new stories all the time. Okay, they may not be completely original - because a totally original story isn't possible at this point - but the way they are told are original. Take The Hunger Games - it isn't just another story about a hero, not at all. It's not even a revolution story. It's got about a million layers to it and every one of them could be labelled. If Suzanne Collins can do it, the screenwriters in Hollywood can too.

In a lot of ways, the obsession with remakes in Hollywood is a lot like the obsession with sequels. Look at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Curse of the Black Pearl was obviously the best, and the franchise just went down from there. Yet they're making another one. Never mind that the franchise is going to be destroyed by the time that they're done, nothing more than drivel (Free Willy anyone?), all for the sake of getting some more cash in their pocket. True, some sequels are worth it. Like Toy Story 3. But it is a rarity.

This is so frustrating for me - I want to enter this industry. This industry who thrives on remake after sequel after remake, slowly destroying the films they make until the quality is nothing more than shit. At least independent filmmakers are still making good films.

Listening To: Werewolf Love - Tonks and the Aurors
Reading: Dracula (it's taking me way too long to get through this book...)
Writing: Once Upon an Earth. Yes, that's right! My NaNoWriMo from last year! Le gasp!
Thankful for: Independent creativity. (There is a reason I only listen to YouTube musicians, after all)

BEDA Day 29 | Blah blah blah

So I'm currently sitting on Elise's computer, because I am at her house, listening to Billy Boyd's gawgeous voice. I drove an hour to come see her because that was the kind of day I was having. But I don't want to talk about that, cus my bad day is over now. I'm helping her pack. AKA I'm watching her pack and giving my opinion on whether or not she should take a certain piece of clothing with her. It's going to suck driving home tonight when I'm so tired. (I didn't get much sleep last night.)

I again do not know what I should be talking about tonight. I'm really glad the month is nearly over so that I can take a break from blogging and get some ideas in my head again.

This morning I finished watching Season 1 of Torchwood. I'm so glad I didn't quit watching the show. I am kind of in love with it. Despite the ickyness of Gwen. (I really don't like her, btw) But seriously Owen is nummmmmmy. And so is Jack. Ianto, not so much. But he is awesome. And Tosh is fan-freaking-tastic. I love the characters, except for Gwen. Well, and Rhys. Don't really like him, either. But ANYWAY, I finished Season 1 and then had to go and watching..er...I can't remember the name of the episode, but the episode where Jack and the Doctor get reunited. And I was nearly late to work because I watched so much tv. Ooooops.

...annnd this is where this baby is gonna end, because this is getting weird and rambly.

Listening To: Elise play guitar
Writing: Nothinnnnnnn
Thankful for: Escapisms!
Reading: Dracula!