Monday, November 29, 2010

FanFiction I wish I could pull off...

So a friend of mine posted this on someone else's facebook wall last night, and I have watched/listened to it countless times since then. Harry Potter rocks my world, and this song just makes it SO AMAZING! haahhahahah!!!!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

FanFiction

I posted about loving weddings, and so for my fanfiction I have decided to do a little research about different weddings in the world. =]

Italy > Weddings in Italy usually start on a Sunday (Never Friday or Tuesday, because that is considered bad luck). Or, if you are a widow, you get remarried on a Saturday. If your veil gets torn, that is considered good luck, and the bride and groom usually walk to the chapel rather than drive there. After the ceremony, the couple smashes a glass or vase and the number of pieces it breaks into represents the number of years they will be married. The usual wedding gift? Money. Cassshhhh.

China > Brides wear red wedding dresses with gold embroidery, and usually pick several to wear throughout the day. Sometimes they have 10 or 12 course meals, and then see the lion dance, where performers dress as lions and lionesses and dance to drums, gongs, and cymbals.

Mexico > Brides usually wear brightly colored Flamenco-esque dresses and during the vows, the priest wraps a lasso, a rosary, or a band of flowers in a figure eight around the couple (if they are religious, of course). The wedding cake is made with nuts and dried fruit, and soaked in rum.

Morocco > Moroccan weddings tend to be yellow or green (to ward off evil or for good luck), and temporary henna tattoos are very common. As the bride and groom leave their wedding, the do so under a shower or figs and raisins. Candy-covered almonds are frequently served and belly dancers are common entertainment.

Wedding Trivia (copied&pasted from theknot.com)
1. Hey, brides, tuck a sugar cube into your glove -- according to Greek culture, the sugar will sweeten your union.

2. The English believe a spider found in a wedding dress means good luck. Yikes!

3. In English tradition, Wednesday is considered the "best day" to marry, although Monday is for wealth and Tuesday is for health.

4. The groom carries the bride across the threshold to bravely protect her from evil spirits lurking below.

5. Saturday is the unluckiest wedding day, according to English folklore. Funny -- it's the most popular day of the week to marry!

6. Ancient Romans studied pig entrails to determine the luckiest time to marry.

7. Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck, according to Hindu tradition!

8. For good luck, Egyptian women pinch the bride on her wedding day. Ouch!

9. Middle Eastern brides paint henna on their hands and feet to protect themselves from the evil eye. Find out about Muslim wedding rituals.

10. Peas are thrown at Czech newlyweds instead of rice.

11. A Swedish bride puts a silver coin from her father and a gold coin from her mother in each shoe to ensure that she'll never do without. Learn more about Swedish wedding traditions.

12. A Finnish bride traditionally went door-to-door collecting gifts in a pillowcase, accompanied by an older married man who represented long marriage.

13. Moroccan women take a milk bath to purify themselves before their wedding ceremony. See more Moroccan wedding customs.

14. In Holland, a pine tree is planted outside the newlyweds' home as a symbol of fertility and luck.

It's Got a Ring To It
15. Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was once thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart.
16. About 70% of all brides sport the traditional diamond on the fourth finger of their left hand.

17. Priscilla Presley's engagement ring was a whopping 3 1/2-carat rock surrounded by a detachable row of smaller diamonds.

18. Diamonds set in gold or silver became popular as betrothal rings among wealthy Venetians toward the end of the fifteenth century.

19. In the symbolic language of jewels, a sapphire in a wedding ring means marital happiness.

20. A pearl engagement ring is said to be bad luck because its shape echoes that of a tear.

21. One of history's earliest engagement rings was given to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. She was two years old at the time.

22. Seventeen tons of gold are made into wedding rings each year in the United States!

23. Snake rings dotted with ruby eyes were popular wedding bands in Victorian England -- the coils winding into a circle symbolized eternity.

24. Aquamarine represents marital harmony and is said to ensure a long, happy marriage.

Fashionable Lore
25. Queen Victoria started the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 -- before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
26. In Asia, wearing robes with embroidered cranes symbolizes fidelity for the length of a marriage.

27. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.

28. On her wedding day, Grace Kelly wore a dress with a bodice made from beautiful 125-year-old lace.

29. Of course, Jackie Kennedy's bridesmaids were far from frumpy. She chose pink silk faille and red satin gowns created by African-American designer Ann Lowe (also the creator of Jackie's dress).

30. In Japan, white was always the color of choice for bridal ensembles -- long before Queen Victoria popularized it in the Western world.

31. Most expensive wedding ever? The marriage of Sheik Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum's son to Princess Salama in Dubai in May 1981. The price tag? $44 million.

32. In Korea, brides don bright hues of red and yellow to take their vows.

33. Brides carry or wear "something old" on their wedding day to symbolize continuity with the past.

34. In Denmark, brides and grooms traditionally cross-dressed to confuse evil spirits!

35. The "something blue" in a bridal ensemble symbolizes purity, fidelity, and love.

Food and Family
36. In Egypt, the bride's family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.
37. In South Africa, the parents of both bride and groom traditionally carried fire from their hearths to light a new fire in the newlyweds' hearth.

38. The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, where revelers broke a loaf of bread over a bride's head for fertility's sake.

39. The custom of tiered cakes emerged from a game where the bride and groom attempted to kiss over an ever-higher cake without knocking it over.

40. Queen Victoria's wedding cake weighed a whopping 300 pounds.

41. Legend says single women will dream of their future husbands if they sleep with a slice of groom's cake under their pillows.

42. An old wives' tale: If the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband.

Show Off at a Cocktail Party
43. In many cultures around the world -- including Celtic, Hindu and Egyptian weddings -- the hands of a bride and groom are literally tied together to demonstrate the couple's commitment to each other and their new bond as a married couple (giving us the popular phrase "tying the knot").
44. The Roman goddess Juno rules over marriage, the hearth, and childbirth, hence the popularity of June weddings.

45. Princess Victoria established the tradition of playing Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" during her wedding processional in 1858.

46. The bride stands to the groom's left during a Christian ceremony, because in bygone days the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors.

47. On average, 7,000 couples marry each day in the United States.

48. Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve are the two busiest "marriage" days in Las Vegas -- elopement central!

49. The Catholic tradition of "posting the banns" to announce a marriage originated as a way to ensure the bride and groom were not related.

50. Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.

Auto Draft

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Recipes

I haven't updated about this here in a while, but just so you guys know, I have updated my latest few recipes to Recipes Redone. I still haven't finished the Halloween Brownie post because I need to scan in the original recipe, but the post is ready and waiting. I am cooking more this weekend, will post that, and then I am going to do a documentary/film edition for the week of Thanksgiving. Probably none of my own cooking, but my grandma can outdo Martha Stewart and I LOVE IT, so that will show up soon too! =]

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Obsession

Soooo . . . . obsessions. I tend to have quite a few of those, depending on my mood and the time of year. I am probably going to do a shortened list.

1) Harry Potter. Clearly. I started reading the books when I was about 9, and have been in love ever since. Midnight book premiers, daily quoting, movie marathons, Halloween costumes, yeah I do it all. As you might expect, I AM SUPER BEYOND EXCITED THRILLED ABOUT TO POOP MY PANTS WITH ANTICIPATION for the next movie release tomorrow night. Yes, I will be attending the midnight showing and I have had my tickets for weeks. My current fb status and profile picture both have to do with the movie release, and I have a grey and yellow striped sweater that makes me feel like I am in hufflepuff that I wear to make me happy. =] Here is where my super nerdiness comes in; I have already spent hours with Harry Potter fanfiction. I have always loved reading, and with a world as expansive and diverse at Harry Potter, there are some amazingly written, superbly detailed fanfictions out there. Me gusta mucho.

2) Chipotle. I know it's a restaurant, but you don't even understand the number of times a day the thought 'I want some chipotle, mmmmmm' goes through my head.

3) Weddings. Maybe this one is a little weird, but I just love weddings. I love going to weddings, I love looking at pictures of weddings, I daydream planning my wedding. They are just so much fun, and really, the ultimate outlet for creativity, in my opinion. =] My favorite TV show is Say Yes to the Dress and until this current season, I think I have seen every episode. I also really like Four Weddings, Bridezilla (for shits and giggles), and any movie that has a wedding in it. Basically. The Knot is one of my favorite websites and sometimes I watch wedding videos if I am in a bad mood. Creepystalker? Maybe. But I just love love. =]

4) Chicken. Have you ever eaten chicken? Enough said.


So, technically, only one of those is the 'book/film/movie/art/music' that we were told to post about, but judging from the number of thoughts I have and the percentage of which those four take up, I would definitely consider them all obsessions. =] End gushing here.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Captions Galore

Morrgan and Jessica

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="I told you not to text and walk at the same time!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Boy, you farted again!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="when they said we'd be getting high, I didn't know they meant like this!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Modern Day Abbey Road!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="I be gettin mah Halloween candy early this year!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="ultimate walk of shame"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="SHE'S NOT PREGNANT!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Dat biatch tol me it was gunna rain today!"][/caption]


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Hay boi haaaaaaayyy!"][/caption]

The Time I Met Barack Obama

Pretty baller story, I know. I attached some pictures at the end of the experience. =]

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Skydiving

Last week when Prof Groom found out I had been skydiving this summer, he asked me to put the video online. So here it is!



My dad and I had been talking about skydiving for several years, and he finally pulled through and set up an appointment in late May. We woke up early (we had to drive about an hour and a half) and looked outside to see tons of low cloud cover. Calling the company, they said not to bother, we would have to set up another appointment. So we did, and two weeks later, I woke up to a beautiful, clear, blue sky and the realization that I would really be going skydiving in just a few hours.

I decided I wanted to go sky diving because I am terrified of heights. The kind of terrified where I have a heard time breathing and start to panic and/or pass out. And, it was irritating the shit out of me. So, I wanted to get over that and I figured sky diving was the best way to do so!

When we got to the pick up point, I was out near blackstone, va, way in the country. There was a little house next to a big garage and an air plane landing/take off strip. We walked inside, met the guy I was skydiving with (ain't no way I'm going by myself my first time!) and started to get training. And by started, I mean, I started and stopped within five minutes. He had three things to tell me - what to do when he opened the door, where to place my head (leaning against his shoulder), and to wrap my feet up behind him once we jumped. That was it. No tutorial, no practicing, no videos, just a five minute conversation. DAMN.

Anyway, once he started filming, I began to notice how weird he was. Granted, he has done over 3600 successful jumps and does it professionally - into NASCAR races, into baseball games, parades, etc. He knew what he was doing, but he also was just overly energetic and loved playing around with the camera - hence the weird pirate eye in the middle of filming. Don't ask. -headdesk-

To be honest, I didn't really care much that he was weird, I was more concerned with the state of that airplane and the fact that we were currently flying into the air just to jump out of it. WHAT??! When he opened that door, I had only curse word thoughts that I don't think Prof Groom would appreciate here. =] Mainly, I was just glad I was strapped to him, because I don't think I could have jumped out on my own. But once we did, it was amazing. The craziest feeling in the world; just pure adrenaline and speed. Some people have asked me if it felt like a rollercoaster, and I have to say it felt nothing like that at all. After about 40 seconds of freefall, he pulled the shoot and then spent the next 4 or 5 minutes just floating down to the ground. That part may have been ever cooler - you didn't feel like you were falling at all. The breeze was minimal and it just seemed like you were floating in the air, not moving.

Luckily, the landing was super smooth and easy. Just plopped down onto the ground! It was definitely an amazing experience, and I would love to do it again, but I am very sad to say it did nothing to cure my fear of heights. Failure. haha.

Mashup - Shutter Island and Harry Potter 4/5

Here is my mashup! I combined the trailer for Shutter Island with scenes from Harry Potter 4 and 5. Mostly 4, but the ending says 5. haha. I really like how it turned out, especially the ending! =]

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Mashups

This is the best mashup I have ever seen, probably because I love both Disney princesses and Mean Girls, so when I found this mashup, I was amazed and in love. haha!



EDIT: I am not sure why this post got messed up, but I have fixed it now.

Halloween Investigation

My group (Jessica, Stephanie, and I) went on a search to discover if Halloween was more about candy or about scariness. We didn't want to outright ask people though, so we asked other questions (What is your favorite part of Halloween?, What are you doing this year?) that could still give us a good idea. This is our chronicled investigation!



Also, that black cat at the beginning?? His name is Magic!! haha. Very Halloweeny. =]