Finals Time! - Fall 2009

So finals are coming up and I'm somewhat-stressed, somewhat-not stressed, depending on the exam I'm thinking about. That's right, I only have 2! For English, we just had to turn in our portfolios and I got out of taking the Psychology final because I did everything on time and have an A (technically an A-, I think). Anyways, I have one exam Saturday: my History 125 class (the Social History of American Popular Music in 20th Century America), and I'm not too worried, he kind of showed us what would be on the exam, so I just have to find all the info and put it in one place to study study study for it. I'm mostly worried about my chemistry final next Thursday, as the professor said it was going to be hard. So far my 3 tests all are B-'s and I just don't want to mess up and tip my grade over to a C. Anyways, becuase of the long break I'm just going to go ahead and go home after my Saturday exam just because I might just go crazy here at UNC! Thus, I'm missing a review session but I think it'll be for the better regardless...Everyone good luck, and same for me!

New Moon Parody - CollegeHumor.com

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

So this video was posted on MSN's site and I saw it like a week ago, and it made me laugh after having seen "New Moon" (as I mentioned previously). The parody video successfully recreates the two hour movie into one minute with the criticisms I had previously talked about. The main girl even got the main character's real-life mannerisms down! From the "didn't I already go through this?" to the wolf being a dog, this video was dead-on with its humor. Even real Twilight fans can't deny that this was at least somewhat entertaining.

The Blind Side (2009)

So I also saw this movie over my Thanksgiving Break with my sister and my grandmother. I didn't really go in with high expectation for the movie; just figured it'd be another cliche sports movie. While at times, you feel those cliches working into the film, the movie is really good, entertaining, and heartwarming. Knowing it's a true story doesn't hurt either. Seeing the compassion extended by one family to help a struggling boy find what family truly means and help his reach his dream made for a wonderful film. Sandra Bullock was really funny and good in this film--totally believable. You may not be expecting it, but this film is better than the average sports film and easily flys by in its two-hour time slot! Though I must admit the poster is a little cheesy...But definitely a must-see!

New Moon (2009)

So over Thanksgiving Break, I went and saw "New Moon" with my grandma and sister. Let me make one thing clear though, I'm not really a fan of the movies or books (haven't even read them). Still, both the movies are okay but really do best when tension builds up with action. Otherwise, the series is obviously not geared towards me. In this movie, though, not much happens. Basically, there's a repeat of the whole "I'm dangerous, you can't be around me" thing with now the wolf instead of a vampire. It picks up towards the end when the main character must go to Italy to save the vampire, but it's over and done in like 5 minutes. Overall, it was a decent movie that kept my attention but nothing to rave about.

The Box (2009)

So a couple of weeks ago, I went and saw "The Box" in theaters. I wasn't super excited to see the film or anything, but I thought it would be decent. While the plot and initial phase of the film hook you in, the rest of the movie just leaves you scratching your head. Now I'm all for the confusing movie that then in it's climax makes sense and it's like "wow". This, however, did not occur in "The Box", as by the end you still have questions and nothing is really explained. As well, it seems like the whole middle of the film could have just been cut out as the ending suspected to happen does and nothing discovered in the middle helps resolve the issue. James Marsden and Cameron Diaz star and are generally good, though I just couldn't get past Diaz's southern accent. Watch the trailer below, but wait for the movie on TV!

Unit Project 3: Thoughts on Revising

So when I was supposed to post this over Thanksgiving Break, I didn't have access to wireless internet, so I'm just posting what I wrote then now.


When first thinking about how I was going to revise the rough draft of my unit 3 project essay, I knew I needed to take some things out. The rough draft of my essay came out around 1,200 words and the desired length was only a thousand words. In the rough draft, I just wrote straight through without worrying about length, so one of the things I had to keep in mind in editing was to shorten the paper. As well, initial thoughts also dealt with comments my group members had written after reading my essay. These comments mostly involved just shortening certain parts to help make my points/ideas more concise or clearer. To help with this, I needed to be sure to look at my sentences and make sure I wasn’t being too vague or including a bunch of extra words that may not have been necessary for the sentence. Also, after reading through the paper, I need to get rid of a few sentences that were either repetitive or simply didn’t add anything to the paragraph or my point. As far as content, I feel I successfully explain to my audience what I want to study and the information that already exists, as well as how my proposed study would benefit others. The organization of the proposal seems to fit as I start out discussing my project and what specifically I want to study. Then I spend two paragraphs on explaining the research that already exists and other background information and two on how I would carry out my proposed study. In the end, I feel like I describe well what the data would provide and how in-turn it would be used to design an awareness program on the issue of stigma around physiological disorders. With the good feedback I received, the biggest issue I face is simply reducing the length of the proposal and making sure I am getting my point across without any unnecessary additions.

Charlie Brown and the Mayflower Voyagers

Like I said, my mom and I watched the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown special yesterday and then the DVD set had this extra episode. I think I had watched it before, as it seemed familiar but I didn't remember much. Unfortunately, it does not live up at all to the previous special. This episode recounts the Mayflower's journey to the New World and the pilgrims' first Thanksgiving. At first, I thought they would do plenty with the story to keep it as funny as the regular specials. However, not much is done besides the probably semi-accurate, little-kid version of the pilgrims and Thanksgiving. I was disappointed but it wasn't bad, it just couldn't compare. PS: Don't really know what's up with the video at the end, but it's the only clip I could find of the episode...