Random Quoties =D

Hey, guys! This is a bit of a random post, I know...but hopefully you're all cool with that. This is a lovely collection of quotes I've heard, been a part of, or picked up, through friends or teachers or movies...Read, enjoy, and take 'em to heart.

"Anybody who criticizes you is a wimp. So be you. And be you loud, and be you strong, and be you to the maximum."

"If I could be any part of you, I'd be your tears. To be conceived in your heart, born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips. "
[Unknown]

"I like the floor. It's the only thing that seems real."
[Abre los Ojos]

[regarding magic]
Xander: You can't just go "librum incendere" and expect...[the book on his lap bursts into flame]
Giles: Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books.
[BtVS]

"Whether there is freedom and love or not, in death everyone is equal. I hope that death is not your end. You adored the light, so you will never fear the darkness." [Summer Palace]

[kiss scene in Abre los Ojos]
Senora Molano: EW!!
[Entire class cracks up]

"Just changed the name of my iPod to "The Titanic" so whenever I plug it into my computer it says 'The Titanic is syncing' "
[from www.boardofwisdom.com]

Krisnelly to Rishabh: Don't make me angry, otherwise I'll punch you in the uterus!!
Rishabh: ...........
Me: ...........*starts laughing really hard*

"Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me." [BtVS]

"I didn't discover choral or classical music until I was 18 years old. My very first experience singing, at hearing these close harmonies around me...the dissonance was so exquisite. And so when I finally started composing, when I was 21, I filled my music with those dissonances, those vibrations, because it just makes me feel...I just want to die in that moment." [Erik Whitacre, choral composer]

"Per aspera ad astra" (through hardships to the stars)

"The righteous shall walk a thorny path."
[Lindsey, Angel]

"You're not *friends.* You'll never be friends. You'll be in love until it kills you both. You'll fight...and you'll shag...and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love is not brains, children, it's blood--blood screaming inside of you to work its will!............I may be love's b**ch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
[Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer]

Carissa: What's up, mah babymaker?

"Overhead transparencies are like underwear. When you run out, you've gotta wash them!"
[Mrs. Ross. ♥]

Mr. Woodworth: You need more FIRE and less PANTS!!

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
[Douglas Adams]

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came, and he pushed, and they flew.
-Christopher Logue Croyez-

[Katy, Kristen and me inside the girl's dressing room>Fall play]
Kristen: Let's dress up in other character's costumes, then run around and see if they notice!
Male voice over intercom: That's...not...nice.
[3 seconds of complete silence]
*laughter with legit tears*

[Chang Gung University Cafeteria, Taiwan]
Me: You got everything?
Milena: Wait, wait, I need to get a pair of those tweezer thingies...
Me: ...don't you mean chopsticks?

Frankenstein Monster: I am accustomed to pain.
Van Helsing: It lets you know you're alive!

Annoying Chinese telemarketer: [Speaking Chinese] Hello. Do you speak Chinese?
My mom: [Also in Chinese] No, I can't.
*She hangs up*

"Inspiration comes in the middle of the night when you should be doing homework." ~Amy Lee~

Mr Stemmler: Does anybody else have the word "UNDERGARMENTS" in the first five words of their DBQ?

"Be nice to other people. They outnumber you 6.8 billion to one!"

Eileen: What a butt!!

"When life gives you lemons, use them to squirt lemon juice into the eyes of your enemies."

"...some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast. It's how life IS."
~The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Name Change!!

I am now officially known as...ACHMED THE DEAD TERRORIST!!!

No, not really, although this video is certainly worth seeing (warning: foul language):

If you took the time to watch that, hope you enjoyed. Many thanks to a friend for showing me this amazing clip =D No racism, please. Remember that extreme Islamic fundamentalists are very much the minority in this world, so I don't want to hear or read anything about how all the Muslims on earth should be nuked. 

Okay, back to business. I have officially trashed the title "The Phantasy Lives On" as the name for my blog. Yes, yes, say it out loud, the old one was cheesy. I don't really mind your titters. I had originally started this blog for different reasons and then I found myself moving in this direction. And merely changing the title of the blog is a breeze compared to moving all the irrelevant entries into a separate blog. So I took the lazy way out. The name might change again, but I'll do my best to make this one stay put for good. Watch out for a different URL, though, that might also change. So now...*ahem* Welcome to Inkblots, etc.! Hope you like my noob black and white banner!

Don't choke, don't choke...

Now I feel like the British teenager Kanye West chose as his single person to follow on Twitter (but hopefully without that huge onsurge of followers Mr. Teenager got from that event). Let me explain the full story: Several months ago my mom proposed that each month I choose a new novel to get from Amazon.com and she pays for it, provided the final price is reasonable. I guess since I'm more of an English/arts person, she wants to keep me in civilized company where books are concerned. It might sound weird and old-fashioned to some people, I suppose, but I love reading and at the time I hadn't gotten any new books for ages, so I was really excited. And so it began...

Fast forward a few months. I happened to see a novel on Amazon by this more-or-less-obscure author and got interested, so I bought it. I didn't leave a review for it on Amazon until a few days ago, but I did manage to find and follow her on Twitter in the meantime. And guess what...half an hour ago she tweeted with a thank you for my nice review! She doesn't know me personally, of course, but since I took the time to give a genuine review...

It was just sheer coincidence that I was following her on Twitter and happened to see her tweet on this. She didn't mention any reviewer's names in the tweet, but I was curious and checked it out. And holy moly, it was my review for her book! She currently has 768 followers and has tweeted a lot about her writing schedule, other reviews for her books, etc., so you can understand my surprise. It was all I could do to not start squealing and hopping up and down. Hopefully I'm not coming across as shallow. It's just really cool to have a mini-celeb acknowledge you and thank you for what you had to say. Good thing that there's nobody home but me now...

Changes and Storm Clouds

I ended up changing the URL for my new music-review blog after creating it and because of that, the earlier link doesn't work. Here's the new link: http://playonrockonliveon.blogspot.com/

[Edit: Apparently Blogger doesn't like this new URL either. Click on "Go to blog homepage" and it will show.]

So I've been home for a couple of days now and...I'm not actually in the best mood. My mom's been bugging me about the things I still have to do for college applications. I haven't been in the mood to finish up my summer assignments and right now my tummy is bothering me =( So all of this adds up to a rather grumpy Amorailuv. Argh. I hate deadlines of all kinds.

Home Sweet Home

Hello peeps,

We arrived back home yesterday around midnight and naturally I was hyper and awake, so I stayed up late to unpack and do this and that. I love visiting Taiwan, but this time I think the weather got on my nerves earlier. Even though we were staying 3 weeks instead of the usual 1 month, I was glad to get back home. It might be hot here, but at least the nights are cooler than before and we aren't baking in the muggy humidity that is Taiwan in the summer. And no mosquitoes that leave hard 1-inch welts on your arms and legs! I came back bearing real scars from some of the worst bites...

I just caught myself scratching one of them. But Taiwan is a really awesome place to stay during the summer. Here are the more interesting parts of my journey this time:

A fireworks display for a local celebration in Keelung (pronounced "Jee-long") gone wrong. The hillside caught fire. Even then, they continued to shoot them off. Silly of them...

The Taipei 101, currently the second-tallest building in the world. We make lots of treks to Taipei during our annual stay in Taiwan.

I've only seen this kind of handicraft in Taiwan. A dragon, made completely out of drinking straws.

This Disney mural is only a minute's hard walk away from my aunt's apartment, where we stay each summer. Aladdin seems to have gone bald, though...

One of the coolest rings I've ever seen. It's literally a small adjustable belt, not just one solid piece. I would have gotten this, especially because Taiwan's a great shopping place with amazing prices, but I was broke and couldn't afford it =P

A halfway-decent sunset in Danshui (pronounced "Dahn-shwey"). This place is famous as a sunset-watching spot.

So here's the drill...

Hello, peeps! I'm on vacation still and I'm heading back two days from now, the 28th. Then I have roughly two weeks until school begins. This summer has flown by so fast, I seriously wish it could have gone on longer. In those two weeks, I will hopefully get some more material online, hang out with friends, visit at least one or two colleges if they'll let me and deny the fast-approaching *terror* that is my senior year of high school...

INTRODUCING MY NEW BLOG for music reviews! Yeahhhh, Amorailuv has successfully managed to somewhat organize the chaos that is her online life! *round of applause* So this blog will contain my modest input and opinion on this song and that artist, this genre and that....I just created it today, so I only have an intro post up there. Feel free to check it out and Follow me!

Go to my new blog here <3

Amorailuv returns!!!

Hello, peeps! Sorry for disappearing off this thing for so long, I've been busy as hell for the past several weeks. Anyhoo, I'm currently camped out in my aunt's apartment in Keelung, Taiwan for three weeks...and I'm returning on the 28th. My daily schedule includes trying to stay cool in Aunt's non-AC'd apartment, slapping at mosquitoes, visiting places, finding amazing things at amazing prices not available anywhere else, pretending to be completely fluent in Mandarin chinese, and pretending to be working on AP Spanish summer work and writing notes for summer reading. Huzzuh =D


In an attempt to organize myself, I'm considering setting up a different blog for music reviews, recommedations, etc. Remarks?

From LittleLotteChoosesScorpian's Fanfiction.net Account:

LittleLotteChoosesScorpian says she got this off Wikipedia, but I couldn't find it when I searched for it myself. Anyway....

DEFINITION OF A "PHANTOM PHAN"

"A cult following has evolved around the story, with members calling themselves Phantom Phans. The most obsessive are those enthralled with Erik, but members can be fans of any of the characters. The most common way to spot one of these people is the way they manage to relate their everyday behavior to the story in some way, comparing their current life situation to some aspect of the story, or weaving their favorite character into the topic. Phans have been known to attend film showings in full costume -- though they hardly need that reason to don their capes and masks in public. And they often stop in their tracks at sight of masks, elaborate chandeliers, a new cover to the book, or even pipe organs. They may sing along if a Phantom-related song comes on over the speakers in a store or elevator. At least one Phan became so infatuated with the story that she legally changed her name to Christine Daaé. One website held a year-long competition as to who was the "Official Phantom Phan". The winner has kept that title as of 2006. Websites contain long lists of favored traits of the Phans themselves, Psychological/Medical breakdowns of the characters, comparisons of the book, play, and films, and news about the actors, along with copious fan fiction ("phan-phictions") Some "phictions" are alternate versions of the same story, and some simply use the setting and characters from The Phantom of the Opera as a launching station for their own storylines. Online Phantom forums have also blossomed over the internet connecting generations of "Phans." The growing number of Phans of The Phantom suggests that these are people who already were inclined to devote themselves to the arts, and many express great interest in other works focusing Gothic romanticism, the forgotten genius, or the damsel in macabre distress."

Awesome exchange in my house today...

This was a really random conversation I just experienced between my mom and my older brother Kevin. In reality I don't think anybody will really care about this, but whatever =D. Some of this is paraphrased.

My mom (upstairs): Kevin! You've had that Tylex next to the bathroom sink for weeks! Why did you never put it away?
Kevin (downstairs): Well, *I got lazyyyyyy!!*
My mom: So every day you failed to see it? Why do you keep it there?
Kevin: [smiles] So I won't get mildew on my face!!

Music Blurb: This Girl's Gonna Be BIG!!

Ever heard of Christina Perri? If not, you will soon. The way things are going, she's up to be the next Lady Gaga (but probably with a more conventional fashion sense). Like so many aspiring artists, she wound up in Los Angeles. But reality bites: many talented people who move to LA for fame and fortune don't get any. Christina ended up being a waitress at the Melrose Place Cafe, writing songs on her off time. But she was one of the lucky ones. One of her friends knew about her aspiration to be a recording artist and gave the demo of her song "Jar of Hearts" to Stacey Tookey, the choreographer for "So You Think You Can Dance". 


The rest is history. On June 30th, a new episode of SYTYCD aired...featuring a song from a complete unknown to millions! As you can predict, people went crazy for the Philadelphia native and her heartfelt breakup ballad. Christina's live performance of the song during the results episode upped her overnight popularity. Sales of the "Jar of Hearts" single skyrocketed; as of July 19th, 2010 it is #8 out of all the songs available on iTunes! Over 100,000 copies and counting have been sold, and as of yet, Christina Perri is still unsigned!

And hopefully it will happen soon, because this girl is chock-full of hidden talent. She is currently working on her independent-label EP, to be released in late summer.


So here it is for your listening pleasure, the one and only "Jar of Hearts"!


Youtube Link: Jar of Hearts (Full Song)

 

Okay, this is one thing that I really have to say...

Can you guys PLEASE stop with the comment spamming? Pretty please? I'm being quite nice about it even though it privately pisses me off. You leave lovely strings of Chinese characters that lead to an ellipsis that leads to websites I'd rather not look at. It's extremely annoying. And does what? You peeps are just wasting your time. Sad thing, really. So don't do it. Please and thank you.

Psalm 23 with Bush II

Advance apologies to any Republicans and fervent Bush supporters out there reading this. I advise that you skip this, because you won't like it. I just found this too hilarious and creative to leave to obscurity...

Taken from Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com):

"Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war,
I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of thy term,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever."

Update...x 3?!?

Once upon a time, I received an iPod nano 2G for Christmas. Whoohoo! Unfortunately, it got stolen or lost barely a year later, so I got myself a Nano 3G. You know, that fat squarish one. I secretly hated it to death and wanted to trash it, basically...and last December, finally ordered my dream iPod, a purple iPod Nano 4G with 8GB of storage. But because the new one has only about 1/2 the battery life of the old 3G (darn you, Apple), I ended up rotating between the two. 

I feel like such a rich b**ch to be saying this, but I think I'm going to need a new iPod. AGAIN. Yes, seriously. Both of my current 8GB iPods are actually closer to 7.3 GB, and at the rate I'm going I'll run out of space in a couple of months. I feel like such an ASS, especially because I just compared prices on Amazon and I found that the purple Nano 4G with 16GB actually cost less than what I paid for my purple Nano 4G 8GB. Seriously, I should have gotten the 16GB in the first place......

What on earth is happening?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dying_and_ignored

A homeless man died today in New York City.

That's great, RIP, move on.

No, hold it. There's more.

He died because he saved a stranger's life, sacrificing his own in the process.

How sad, how inspirational...that's great, RIP, move on.

Hold it, I'm not done yet.

He died because nobody had the heart to help him.

A couple starts to argue, It gets violent, homeless man intervenes to break it up, the husband turns the knife on homeless man and the three scatter afterward.

Homeless man collapses on the street from deep stab wounds to the chest and lays there unmoving for an hour. It's in the early morning, a good number of people pass by him on their way. Some of them stop, some of them stare, and all of them continue on their merry way without doing anything for him.

By the time someone finally feels like calling 9-1-1, too late. He's already dead. Martyred in the news without even asking to be.

No thanks to you fellow New Yorkers.

Say whatever you want...you didn't see him, you were too busy, you were late to work and couldn't help, whatever. But keep your excuses. I ask you this: if you saw him, sprawled out on the sidewalk in a strange way and unconscious, why did you ignore the part of your mind telling you that something was wrong? And even worse, if you're one of the people who stopped walking and stared at him, why did you continue without doing a darned thing? A 9-1-1 call takes only 3-4 minutes at the most. It's not a brainbusting thing to do and yet it could save an innocent life. 

A homeless person is not a leper. Maybe people didn't want to attract attention as the one person who stops and thinks and does something about an unconscious stranger on the street. Maybe they are wary of alcoholics and think he passed out from drinking too much. But the burning question is, whether the person is homeless, an alcoholic or a victim of stabbing, they need help. And they're people too, just like you lucky readers who have a home, are sober and are healthy. So, I ask you, NYC'ers who passed Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax this early morning: 

Why didn't you help him?

Random Phantomy Quote I Picked Up

"Your work... is very dangerous and alive. And I love your poems; they move me. But that's not who you really are... You're running from your past and your pain. And yet you keep it so... close to you, so you don't have to be afraid of who you are... because you're beautiful." 

[From The Saint (1997)]

The Wonders and Trials of Music

I'd like to thank the Big Guy Above Our Heads for inventing music.

Somebody--and I have no idea who, it would be hilarious if they were reading this--posted something to me online that at first made me hurt, then wonder if it was true. I don't feel like giving full details, but they were basically saying that I'm really stuck-up and bossy, or I can't sing, or both. So naturally, whoever posted this would mostly likely be in Concert or Chamber choir, who knows me well enough to say so.

When I read those words, it was enough to make me freeze in my computer chair and literally stop breathing, my body completely numb. I read what (s)he said a few more times and my mind remembered how to breathe again as I tried to come to terms with what I'd read.

Doubt and second-guessing are two of the worst enemies you can have.

Without trying to be overly defensive, here's my response to whoever wrote those things:

If I come across as stuck-up and bossy, I don't mean to. When we split into sectionals (quick review sessions where the choir splits into separate voice parts) and practice vocal lines, I'm generally not the one who sits back and lets someone tell me what to do. When it comes to leading people in a group I'm decently good at it, and having some musical skills helps also. The truth: the others in the alto section are not, for the most part, obnoxious, but they don't tend to stay focused and always start talking five seconds after we finish running through stuff. If I happen to be one of the people plunking out notes on the piano and therefore leading, it's probably my responsibility to get them back to work so we can actually accomplish something, right? After all, our choir director tells us to do sectionals because we need more practice in hammering out parts proficiently. So of course, he'll expect that we get things done and come out of the practice rooms better than when we came in. So whoever wrote that, please think again. I'm just trying to follow Mr. Woodworth's (our choir director's) instructions here. And as far as I know, I'm not a dictator when it comes to shushing everyone, but there are periods when the luxury of chatting can't be afforded.

If it's implied that I can't sing, I'll say as modestly as I can that I don't think that's true. As far as technique goes I'm lacking in some things. I have enough pride to acknowledge that. I've never taken private voice lessons, so I pretty much never had the chance to truly develop my singing as an individual. But I've been involved in the school choir for six years running now and I daresay that compared to when I started, I sound better now. I've had people give me constructive criticism (and therefore implying that I'm not great) and I've had people give me genuine praise. Each to his own. If I'm bad at singing, I can't help it. If I'm amazing at singing, I can't help it either. If the person that wrote these things disagrees with Mr. Woodworth's decision to place me in Chamber Choir for this coming school year, I can't do anything to resolve their opinion. His decision is final. Try and discuss it with him if you want to be that nosy, but he probably won't change his mind. If he thinks that I'm good enough for Chamber Choir, then that's the way it'll be. If he thinks that I'm not, then that's the way it'll be. 

_______________________________

My brain shorted out for about five seconds after rereading what was written, then I maximized iTunes on my computer and started playing Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful". 

Yes, really. As cheesy as it sounds, I started listening to that song and I replayed it once or twice more on Youtube.

And then--incredibly--I started smiling a little as the song went on and I literally felt all the oppression and dark thoughts releasing me, or maybe the other way around. The thing is, that song is probably the best picker-upper encouragement song I know of and all the amazing emotion in the song--the joy, the love--just really reached deep inside me at that point. And I felt the words I had read before lower to an unintelligible mumble. After the song ended, I felt so much better.

The words I didn't want to read were fading away fast in my mind. So was I denying the possibility that those words were true?

No, I'm not. 

All I can say is that I am...who I am. And I can't do anything about it. 

Perfection is impossible and I can't please everybody on earth.

Perhaps those words are true to some once they get to know me. But I have friends who disagree with what that person had to say. They disagree not to make me feel good about myself, but because they genuinely believe it. They know me well enough not to permanently judge me because of what they happen to see during one class or one day. And as long as I continue having true friends, I'll assume that what I have to offer is good enough.

Microblogging entry

Ah.

I am such an idiot.

Let's see. I have

A history project

Imogen Heap's "Headlock" stuck in my head

Breaking Benjamin's "Anthem of the Angels" stuck in my head also

Blade of Fire from the Icemark Chronicles to read more of

PS: When it comes down to the source of her evilness, Medea is rather pathetic 

And an English project

And SAT's and all those other wonderfully standardized tests.

I want to go to Jupiter now.

I am so glad that junior year is not truly like this.

I have an insane amount of homework, so much that I'm about to get smushed by it. Imagine Atlas struggling to hold the world up by his shoulders. Only, it's me! And there's the word SCHOOLWORK written over the sphere in fat, scarlet red marker. It gets heavier and heavier, and then...

BOOM!

Happy April!!!

Well, the weather is FINALLY heating up for good here.....Jolly wonderful! I was starting to get very sick of lying in a cold bed and wearing long-sleeve shirts. Bring on the T-shirts and flip-flops, especially because tomorrow's going to be around 87 degrees.

I have to leave for Choraliers (an extracurricular choir group) in a bit and then some, so I'll say ta-ta for now. Great thing that I have basically no homework tonight...<3!

End of an Era

I found out today that I got into Chamber Choir, the auditioned choir group of my school. 

I've been taking choir for seven years now and I think I have a decently good voice. Buuuuuuuuuuut, I have never taken private voice lessons outside of school. So when it comes down to it, I'm lacking in some nuts and bolts of a good singer. So all in all I'm really happy that I got in, but I think I might be at a disadvantage because I believe that a good portion of the Chamber Choir members take voice lessons outside of school. And basically, all of the members in Chamber Choir, whether they had voice lessons or not, are just REALLY GOOD. I bugged my parents several times over the last one or two years about arranging voice lessons, but they don't have time. So part of me feels like a mediocre wannabe intruding on a lively little party reserved only for the really good singers. 

On the upside, I'll be with more people I know well next year, which makes me really happy. Readers, do you have or did you remember that class in school where your classmates were people you hardly knew and that you only had one average friend? Or worse, you didn't know anybody at all? So when they're absent, you feel embarrassed or lonely? That's pretty much the case with me this year in Choir. I have my friends, I love them and they love me, but they number pretty small because a) around half of the choir are freshmen and they tend to remain in their preformed groups, and b) I think there's only one other junior in the non-audition choir group that I'm in, and we aren't that close.

And all this makes me really guilty because one of my very good friends, which may be reading these words, will remain in the non-auditioned group. 

It's all gloom and doom, in'it?

The weather has gone back down to a mumbling, grumbling drizzle promising to upgrade into a torrential downpour later tonight. Flood Watches are officially issued...again!

That same mood of Gloom and Doom has transferred to the whole student body at my school today...the students were largely quiet in my classes, or we were doing minimal-conversation tasks. 

As the sky grays, my homework calls......

After a few quick games of Worms 2. FIREEEEEEE!!

Just don't.

Just to put the idea out there, DO NOT procrastinate on a marking-period project that requires you to do an annotated bibliography--a regular bibliography with a general thesis and how your article or essay supports it. 

Especially if you need to do it on the masterpiece of an author of your choice...

Using five decent-length, understandable essays concerning that masterpiece...

And remembering, of course, the complicated formatting of the finished document...

When it's due the next day.

DON'T.

I've been unfortunate enough to do exactly that.

I finished my annotated bibliography on "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes about 15 minutes ago.

I started doing it seriously from about 10 pm, but I think I've made my point clear.

PS: Although you might come home from school and be so exhausted you're sorely tempted to crawl off to bed and nap for three hours, sometimes it's better to work through the sleepiness. Especially if in addition to the annotated bibliography, you also have to finish your outline for a DBQ (Document-Based Question), which is generally not the easiest thing to write.

Survivor's Alert!

Like many of you may know, recently I've been unlucky enough to be plagued by nasty viruses of one kind or another. This is what I've been hitting myself in the head over the last couple of days...and if you're experiencing any kind of erratic computer behavior, keep reading, because this might help you!!! 

(Note: this may only apply to users of Windows Vista.)

• Opening any program such as Mozilla Firefox (which I use), Internet Explorer, Microsoft Paint, Powerpoint, Windows Movie Maker, etc. results in an "OPEN WITH" window that forces you to choose what program you want to open the program with (redundant, I know...but you should choose to open Internet Explorer with Internet Explorer, Firefox with Firefox, etc.)
• It's impossible to open iTunes at all. If you click on iTunes from the Start Menu, it shows a message:

C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe
"This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel."

• Or if you try to open iTunes by clicking on your desktop shortcut (icon), you see a shorter, but similar message like "This application is not available."

...either way, you can't access iTunes. What the *beeeeeeeeep* ?!?!?

Well, let me tell everyone reading this that I am NOT at all a computer-savvy technician of a nerd. I can find my way around just fine, but when someone needs serious help, I'd be the one looking for the helper, not being the helper. But with a million Google searches, I managed to find my way out of this mess! Here's the stuff you really need to know:

I had the great good luck to get infected by a very notorious malware called 
VISTA ANTISPYWARE 2010. 

Other Names This Malware Uses (Alphabetical order):

• Antivirus Vista 2010
• Antivirus XP 2010
• Antivirus Win 7 2010
• Vista Guardian
• Vista Antivirus Pro
• Vista Internet Security
• Vista Internet Security 2010
• Win7 Guardian
• Win 7 Antivirus Pro
• Win 7 Antispyware 2010
• Win 7 Internet Security
• Win 7 Internet Security 2010
• XP Guardian
• XP Antivirus Pro
• XP AntiSpyware 2010
• XP Internet Security
• XP Internet Security 2010

There are many kinds of malware, but one of the most common kinds is a self-installing program that just appears on your computer without explanation that usually tries to scare you into buying their fake anti-virus software. They send you notifications that your computer is badly infected and, like Vista AntiSpyware 2010, may run computer scans by itself without you initiating them. (Yes, really: programs infecting your computer, telling you that your computer's infected. The irony...!)

If the experts are correct, all the supposedly "infected" stuff that shows up in the chart of the scanning window are either fake, don't exist, or are actually NOT infected. 

They are LYING. 
They are a FAKE, MALICIOUS software. 
DO NOT believe them! 
Got that? 
Good.
P.S: The creators of these things should just go to hell.

On a side note, it's always a good idea to do a quick Google search on any programs that show up on your computer and any programs you download, just to make sure you're doing the right thing for your computer. I only found out that Vista AntiSpyware was a rogue malware after doing so.

SO HOW IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD DO YOU ACTUALLY FIX THIS THING?!?

There are one or two ways that I've heard of. Here's one of them, the method that I used:

1. Download the file "FIXEXE.reg" here: download.bleepingcomputer.com/reg/FixExe.reg Or create the file manually (here's a how-to): http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-vista-antispyware-2010.html 
2. Download the free version of Spyware Doctor, a very thorough and efficient anti-spyware software (no lies this time, it's completely safe!) that often picks up infections, worms, tracking cookies, etc. that other programs don't. Download here free: http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
3. Start up Spyware Doctor and run a full scan. 

Keep in mind that the free version of Spyware Doctor cannot remove viruses, worms and general bad stuff that it detects! It can only notify you that you have them.  

HOWEVER, after you finish the full scan, even though it's not the full version and can't delete anything, you should find that you can open up iTunes again and also, all the annoying "Open With" windows have disappeared!

More info here: http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=38629

I also recommend downloading MalwareBytes AntiMalware. Like Spyware Doctor, it's also free, very thorough and completely safe. I haven't had the chance to run a full scan of my computer using this, but I know that it works. Here's some info: http://www.myantispyware.com/2010/01/28/how-to-remove-vista-antispyware-2010-vista-antivirus-2010-vista-guardian/ 

Download MalwareBytes AntiMalware here: http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

HUZZAH!!!!

  

And just in general, DO scan your computer regularly for viruses and things of that nature. I know for a fact that my computer still has a frightening number of infections of varying degrees, but as long as I can open programs without too much fuss, I'm currently apathetic to the other problem. Do not seek to rouse me from my glee!

Computer Issues

So I found out yesterday or the day before that I have a majorly infected computer with malware and viruses galore. Fantastic. It had gotten to the point where I literally could only access Microsoft Word and nothing else...no internet, no Microsoft Paint, no GIMP (similar to Photoshop), nothing. So yesterday I was downloading software and running three or four full scans on my computer, feeling like I had only a quarter of a computer. I became really freaked out, especially since my mom's promised me a laptop for graduation and WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES change the time I receive it. So even if this computer I'm using exploded in my face right now, I still won't get a new one until a year and a few months from now. 

I should also add that it's unfair on our part how software companies offer people a free download of their software, without telling them that if they want to actually GET RID OF the viruses or malware or whatever, they have to purchase the full version.

*Sighs* Well, later yesterday, I was able to use my computer again...with complications. I was so busy trading punches with my computer that I can't even remember clearly now if I actually deleted anything of note that shouldn't have been on my computer. Some of the scans I ran yesterday didn't turn up anything, others did...so I'm sure I still have things of a malicious nature piggybacking on my computer.

PREMIERE

I, Amorailuv, do hereby acknowledge on this day, March 9th, the West End premiere and official introduction of a new Broadway musical, the official sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, called Love Never Dies. 

Winterblues?

The strange thing is, I didn't know how much I missed the sound of birds chirping at 6am until I heard it today when I woke up for school.

And my very first thought was (well, after "don't wanna get up"), "That's the most beautiful thing I've heard in ages."

It was a wonderfully mild, warm-winter day today, 55 degrees, about...and will hopefully keep that way until spring really kicks in. Break out the flip-flops! Huzzah!!

 

My take (sort of) on what "Bohemian Rhapsody" is really about.

I was moseying around on Wikipedia (which I do often when I'm bored, it's actually quite entertaining) after having recently added "Bohemian Rhapsody" to my iPod. In the article for "Bohemian Rhapsody", a music scholar by the name of Sheila Whiteley claimed that lead singer Freddie Mercury wrote this song to express his sexuality (most people agree that Mercury was either gay or bisexual). 




Normally I would have dismissed a radical claim like this, but Whiteley's statement stuck with me and I kept thinking it over...until I privately concluded that she was right. If I'm right in saying so, this is one of those songs that everybody knows but nobody really understands. Queen had often said, both as a group and individually, that they left it up to listeners to understand that the song was talking about. So to explain what I mean further, here are the lyrics: 

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality

Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy
I need no sympathy
Because I'm
Easy come, easy go
Little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows,
Doesn't really matter to me
To me

Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, oooh
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on
As if nothing really matters

It's too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body's aching all the time
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, oooh
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, scaramouche,
Will you do the fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning
Very very frightening me
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo, Figaro
Magnifico-o-o-o-o

I'm just a poor boy,
Nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy
From a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Easy come, easy go
Wiill you let me go?
Bizmillah!
No, we will not let you go!
Let him go!
Bizmillah!
We will not let you go!
Let him go!
Bizmillah!
We will not let you go!
Let me go!
Will not let you go - let me go
Never let you go
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
Oh, Mama mia, Mama mia,
Mama mia, let me go
Beelzebub has the Devil put aside for me
For me
For me
For me...

So you think you can stone me
And spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me
And leave me to die?
Oh, baby - can't do this to me baby
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here

Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really matters,
nothing really matters to me

Anyway the wind blows...
_____________________________

Going by stanza, and skipping some:
First, the name is "Bohemian Rhapsody." Bohemians are traditionally non-conformist, freethinking and many tend to be homosexual or bisexual.


Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality

It's really just a hint here, nothing big, but indicates that something's not quite right in the speaker's life and that he has to deal with the consequences. 
 
Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, oooh
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on
As if nothing really matters

"Mama, just killed a man" <-- thrown away the "normal", heterosexual part of him
"Didn't mean to make you cry...Carry on" <-- Coming out about his sexuality, his desire to flee and how the world will go on anyway.

It's too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body's aching all the time
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, oooh
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

General: How it hurts to be different and how the speaker has to leave to find himself, face the truth, etc. "I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all" speaks for itself.

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, scaramouche,
Will you do the fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning
Very very frightening me
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo, Figaro
Magnifico-o-o-o-o

Nothing much to say here, but if you know the song or are following the music video, notice how there's a high vocal part and a lower one...almost like a masculine and a feminine voice arguing with each other. Masculine=generic and heterosexual, feminine=his possible homosexual-ness and leanings towards the female gender.




I'm just a poor boy,
Nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy
From a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity

"...just a poor boy from a poor family" <-- LGBT's (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) come from all over the place. Rich, poor, white, black, city, country, London, Tasmania, etc. "Spare him his life from this monstrosity" is self-explanatory.

Easy come, easy go
Wiill you let me go?
Bizmillah!
No, we will not let you go!
Let him go!
Bizmillah!
We will not let you go!
Let him go!
Bizmillah!
We will not let you go!
Let me go!
Will not let you go - let me go
Never let you go
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
Oh, Mama mia, Mama mia,
Mama mia, let me go
Beelzebub has the Devil put aside for me
For me
For me
For me...

More high-low/male-female quibbling here. The higher voice pleads, "let him go" while the lower says "No, we will not let you go!" In other words, the higher voice register is asking in general to "let him go" and be who he really is: homosexual (or bisexual). Also, in past centuries people believed (and still believe) that people who are not heterosexual would go to Hell for being different (the Devil).

So you think you can stone me
And spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me
And leave me to die?
Oh, baby - can't do this to me baby
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here

LGBT's have been maltreated for ages and ages, hence the stoning and spitting, and a reprise of the Escapist. 
_______________________





Sorry if this seems out of the blue. I just wanted to put this in print somehow after mulling it over for a few days.

(Yes. This is what I spend my weekends doing.) 

PS: Please do not ask me what I was doing up at 3:34 am. I wish I knew. 

Scheduling in all its Glory and Goriness

So as of right now, this is my schedule for next year's courses:

Creative Writing I and II
Concert Choir
Spanish VI AP
Fashion/Clothing I and II
Lunch
Gym/Health
AP Statistics
English 12 Honors (Senior Seminar)

...and I think I may be eligible for AP English. My guidance counselor was totally wrong when she said I wasn't. But as much as I hate to say it, I might just stay in english 12 honors, because from what I hear, AP is all about grammar and writing. Writing I can deal with, but I basically suck at grammar, so I might drop it. Mom's not gonna be happy.

The Cyclone of School Goes On...

I do not hate school.

No, I do not.

I dislike how cruddy the timing can be at times. I mentioned before how I personally had/have to deal with regular homework, plus the musical this last weekend, plus all the tests they give us right before HSPA's tomorrow, then the HSPA's. All of this crammed into 1 and a half weeks!! Seriously?

But anyway, I'm fairly relaxed for the math HSPA tomorrow, but a little nervous about the English essay. Normally I sail through English like a calm sea (aha! simile! You see that?), but I tend to rush my essay writing until my hand's cramping up insanely in order to write the conclusion and finish in time. So I hope that doesn't happen on Thursday. 

Also, I think my computer might be infected, which is obviously terrible for me. It started acting up and freezing and creating popups and things...It got to the point yesterday where I basically couldn't do ANYTHING on my computer, not even open up a Word Document I'd closed 30 seconds ago! Well, today it's behaving as I use it at present from another computer profile. I have no idea of when this crazyness will end, but I like my computer...a lot...and I really don't want to face my mom's wrath, because this computer isn't terribly old yet. If we have to replace it............

Okay, I'm not even going to go there.