College Searching: William & Mary and University of Richmond

Sooo over the last few days, I was in Virginia to visit colleges: the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and the University of Richmond, which is located, predictably, in Richmond. It was a lovely trip: I really, really liked William & Mary, and UR was very nice too. So nice to have a college that I'm really excited about! I am definitely planning to apply to W&M. It felt very home-like, and the atmosphere there was just great. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I got the sense that academics are really important there - studies do matter - but that everyone has other things that they're involved in as well. I really like that.

UR was a nice school too - just as beautiful was Williamsburg but in a totally different way. I can definitely understand why a lot of people really liked it. I probably won't end up applying there - it wasn't really me - but it's a very nice place.

In other news, my cat decided to wake me up this morning around five by throwing up on my bed. Welcome home, Becky.

Off now to get some summer work done. I can't believe there are only 18 days until school starts back. I am running out of time to get stuff done and still spend as much time as possible reading... O.o

Love,
Bex

A Movie You Simply MUST See

So, as my dear friend SP reminded me just a moment ago, I totally fail at recommending awesome things to you guys, because I didn't tell you that you absolutely HAVE to go see the new Christopher Nolan film Inception.

(Okay, so he was a bit nicer about it than that. He said "I'm surprised you didn't blog about Inception." And once he mentioned it, so was I! I think it was the fact that I was up until, uh, 6a.m. the night I saw it.)

But I digress. Inception is this totally awesome sci-fi kinda movie starring Leo DiCaprio and Ellen Page and some other very talented actors, and it's about a technology that lets you get into other people's dreams. Dom Cobb and his team, including new architect Ariadne, are on a mission that might let Cobb finally go home: they have to infiltrate the dreams of a businessman's son and plant an idea there, a process called inception. (Normally, dream invading is just used to steal secrets - extraction.) Also there are ghosts from Cobb's past, namely, his dead wife; really awesome fight scenes involving antigravity hotels and tanks in the snow; a noticeable lack of sex scenes (finally, a movie that isn't just a sham of a plot and a torrid love affair); and most of all, it makes you THINK.

I loved loved loved Inception. You totally have to see it. It is so, so, so awesome.

~Bex

Book Rec + Quotes

So, you guys, you need to read The Demon's Covenant. Because it was amazing.

HOWEVER, it is a SEQUEL. Yes, that means there is a book that comes before this one. And yes, you do need to read The Demon's Lexicon first because otherwise The Demon's Covenant will make no sense whatsoever.

But that's okay, because The Demon's Lexicon is also awesome.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from TDC:

" 'Well, that sounds ominously nonspecific,' Jamie remarked. 'How could I refuse?' "

" 'I cook better than you,' Nick corrected absently. 'I think monkeys can probably be taught to cook better than you.'
'I'd like to have a monkey that cooked for me,' said Jamie. 'I would pay him in bananas. His name would be Alphonse.' "

"That was not a shriek. It was a husky masculine cry of terror." -Jamie

" 'Don't be sad, Mae,' Jamie said. 'This will be good training for when we are ninjas.'
'Ninjas often get distracted by plants, do they?' Mae smirked."

My review of TDC is here. And you should check it out and stuff. Because guys, this series is awesome.

Assorted Things on Thursday

1. I got books in the mail today! I won a contest on Elizabeth Scott's blog and received an ARC of The Replacement (which I really really really wanna read) and a copy of Only the Good Spy Young (which is a totally awesome book).

2. Sorry I'm so slack about the blog lately! I think trying to post every day or every other day is just rather a bit much, especially in summer when there is nothing going on and I'm working on thesis and college-searching and summer homework and not doing anything. So don't look for daily posts (I'm making an effort to have a life, too - we'll see how that goes XD), but I'll still try to keep up pretty regularly.

3. I hate having to annotate books. I don't like the idea of writing in books, it feels almost sacrilegious, and also it distracts me while I'm reading. I would much rather read a thought-provoking book and then discuss it or talk about it without all the "make sure you WRITE DOWN everything you think while you're reading it!!!" And I mean, I like to write. *sigh* Stupid summer homework.

4. If you don't know the song "Lift Us Up to Fall" by Tenth Avenue North, you should go listen to it, because it's awesome.

5. I really like round numbers, so I had to add an item #5 to this list so I wouldn't drive myself crazy. Have a wonderful remainder-of-July/summer!

College Searching

I spent my first day back from Georgia sorting through piles and piles of college mail. I've been getting college letters in the mail for ages, and I never quite know what to do with it, so it's all gone into a pair of canvas bags and sat there for (days, weeks, months). Today, I sorted it all out. Well, all of it that I kept, anyway. So, here, have some random statistics:

-Number of states represented: 30, plus Washington, D.C.

-States with largest number of colleges represented: South Carolina (13), Georgia (12), and New York (12)

-State whose colleges sent me the most mail: South Carolina (45 pieces of mail)

-State whose colleges sent me the most mail, excluding SC: New York (25 pieces of mail)

-Colleges who sent me the most mail: Carleton College (10) and University of Chicago (9)

That's all I'm coming up with, statistics-wise, right now. More later.

Love,
Bex

Hello Goodbye

Hi guys, sorry to have been so mysteriously absent lately. Lots of stuff has been going on, including several "repairs" to our faulty internet service. It just got worse after the first time they tried to fix it, but it seems to be better now, so hopefully I'll be able to post without getting cut off every two minutes.

I've also been doing a lot of research about colleges, trying to find somewhere not-huge, reasonably affordable, coed, with a good English department and some film/theater production courses that look interesting, and not too far from South Carolina. Much easier said than done.

Of course, as of right now, I'm also supposed to be packing. Leaving tomorrow morning for a brief trip to Georgia, off to the Dark and Mysterious Lands of No-Wireless-Internet. So, there'll be another couple of postless days coming up. But as of Monday, I should be back and posting again.

Until then,
Bex

Linger

Hey guys, LINGER comes out today.

Yes, LINGER, as in the book by Maggie Stiefvater, the sequel to SHIVER, the second book of Grace and Sam and Isabel and Cole and the Wolves of Mercy Falls.

It comes out today.

So go to a bookstore. And get a copy. Because Maggie is awesome, and her books are AMAZING.

Ohmygosh you guys, I love this series. I love this book. Read them. They are made of awesome.

Love,

Bex