Movies, dorms, and the craziness of me!

DRINK UP ME HEARTIES YOU HO!!!!!! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was sooooooo amazing!!!! Oh man!  I can't even begin to describe it!  It was so much better than I could ever have hoped!  After the slight disappointment of Spider-Man 3, this just blew the roof off my world!  I honestly think that it's just about tied with the first one in terms of how great it was!!!  They added more amazing music, the fight scenes were phenomenal, and the characters (and acting!!!) were just on a whole new par!  Oh man, Barbossa rocked my socks off in this film!!  And the monkey! Keith Richards was pretty cool too-even though I was a bit like, huh? when they announced his cameo!  And the two comic relief navy dudes! And the darkness (especially the beginning) And the move that me and Emily and Liz totally do all the time, that comes in in the end (you'll see what I mean when you see it!)  And the sexual tension (whoa, some of those scenes were so hot!)  And the ending where you're all like, oh no they're not going to, they can't, wait, THEY DID!!!!  (P.S. Stay to the end of the credits!!!)

This movie gets a 10 out of 10- 5 stars - two thumbs up!! OOOhhhh, it was so worth it!!!!  An excellent way to end the trilogy.  I'm so going to see it again soooo many times!!!! 

I hardly know where to begin! I got back on Saturday from my Euro vacation extravaganza! I'm so tired that I haven't left the flat yet except to buy food, and I caught a bug from all the changing of water (see Emily, I told you!) Oh well, it's almost gone. I shall try to tell the tale, shortly but thouroughly. Don't know if it will work.

We started off by flying to Barcelona. A lovely city, except that when we arrived we found out that my debit card had been blocked by my bank. I suppose it was a good thing, just in case someone weird had gotten ahold of it, but this meant that I had to mooch off of the generosity of Emily's heart until we got to Nice, and got it fixed. Needless to say, I emailed my parents immediately, and they got it taken care of. Barcelona was great, we saw the Sagrada Familia church, went on a cable car, went to the aquarium, walked Las Ramblas, and went to a Picasso museum. The next morning we got on a train to France!

Next up was Avignon. An excellent city for history. It was very cool, because much of the city is walled in by the old fortified walls. We saw the Pont d'Avignon (a famous bridge), and the Palais du Papes, the seat of the French Popes during the papal schism in Medieval times. It was very impressive. More worrying about credit card. The hotel had a great breakfast though (yum!!!)

Next up was Nice. We got into Nice pretty late, so it was dark, and our hostel was close to the train station, and we were kind of freaked out by it, because there were all sorts of sketchy people about. The hostel wasn't the best, but we got our own room, and it was clean, and had towels, so we were happy. When we woke up we tried to go to the Matisse museum, only to get up there and find out it was closed until June. We saw some Roman ruins instead, and then took petits trains touristiques through the city from the coastline. A beautiful coast by the way. Much of the city was under construction for a new trolley line while we were there, but oh well. More Roman ruins, and then we went to see the Fountain in French. A slightly odd movie, coupled by the fact that I couldn't understand quite all of it, so parts didn't make sense. Oh well

Next up was Monaco. Amazing city! Oh man. Every car was a luxury car! It was like stepping out into the film Casino Royale, except in France, not Montanegro. We saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino, and les Jardin Exotiques (where I saw remains of australiopithicus africanus through cro-magnon!) We also saw where Grace Kelly is buried, and wandered around.

Next we took the train to Milan where we spent the night.

Milan sucked. We got in at about 10 p.m. and were like, okay, our hotel is just around the corner, I even have the address. We round the corner and see no hotel. So we walk, and turn around, and walk more. There are no street numbers, so I can't check my address, and we keep wandering. We ask a taxi driver who doesn't speak English, and he points one direction. We walk that way for about 15 minutes, ask more, then turn and walk back. We walk down the street it's supposed to be on for about a half a mile or some long time, to a very sketchy part with sex shops and bars, which was nicknamed "Gay Street". Yes, very hope inspiring. We walk back, and ask another taxi driver who doesn't speak English, who points us in a different direction. We walk that way. It has now been 2 1/2 hours. We are tired and upset, and thinking about just screwing it and getting one of the 3 star hotels we see. Finally I call the phone number that I find, and the guy is all like, "Oh yeah, we changed our name, it just hasn't been changed on the website yet." It turns out we'd walked past it like ten times, but were like, oh that's not it, the name's not right. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Anyway, next day, onto Venice. Doesn't really need an explanation I think. St. Mark's Square, Grand Canal, the isle of Murano (glass factories!). Awesome Gelatto! We went to a restaurant were I had to pay 5 euros for about 2 drinks of ginger ale (literally, a tumbler full). But, the hostel was the best, and we found a marathon of Smallville in Italian! (Clark! Est finito!). Awesome!

Florence was next. Probably my second favorite city in Italy. We saw David of course, the Duomo, the Arno, Sante Croce, an awesome view of the city, the Ponte Vecchio, and more! It was gorgeous. I'm starting to get tired though, so descriptions will get shorter.

Rome was up next. My favorite city. We saw the Colosseum of course, and Roman ruins, the Trevi Fountain (my favorite site), the Vatican, Michelangelo's Sistine chapel, St. Paul's church, and more that I'm forgetting right now. We wandered half the city looking for a movie theater when we couldn't think of anything else to do, only to discover it was closed. But we found another one that showed movies in English and saw The Prestige and Casino Royale.

Next onto Naples. We did laundry, and saw Pompeii. Pompeii was pretty amazing. Two hours definitely wasn't enough, but we had to get back for our flight to Athens.

Athens was soooo beautiful! The weather was wonderful, and it was just amazing. We saw the Acropolis of course (the Parthanon is my favorite site from the trip, coupled with the pyramids). Temple of Olympian Zeus, Temple of Athena Nike, Temple of Hephautaus, Panthenaic stadium, Lykavattos Hill, National Gardens....It was just all amazing. All in all, this truly was my favorite city to visit. it was amazing.

Delphi was gorgeous. Up in the mountains, it overlooks the Gulf of Corinth, and is just a small town with the archaeological ruins withing walking distance. The ruins were pretty awesome (and had many, many, many, many cats wandering around.). The Temple of Apollo there was pretty sweet! We won't mention trying to find the bus station to get there (we ended up in the outskirts of Athens first, and it took us about 2 hours to actually find something that we could have easily just taken a taxi to. Sigh, oh well). On to Egypt!

Egypt was also great, even with the great amount of pollution in Cairo. It was the most jarring culturally different though, especially the gender relations there. Men are scum there really, but whatever. Bargaining with taxi drivers, and store clerks, all very interesting. Of course seeing the pyramids for real was like, one of the most awesome things that I have seen in my life so far. They were simply amazing, I can't even describe them. A camel ride riddled with fear about our guides, and whether or not we should be running for our lives, etc., was actually quite nice when I relaxed, even if my saddle was about to fall off the rear end of my camel. The Citadel was sweet! Very cool. Alexandria was gorgeous because it's located right on the Meditteranean. Gorgeous!! The library of Alexandria, Fort Qaitbay (on the sight of the Lighthouse), the Catacombs, and the Roman Ampitheatre were all stops there.

Then it was back to Cairo to fly back to Scotland. Sigh, and our extravaganza was over. Sniff.

Then to Ayr for Burns' Night, but since I'm sure no one is still reading, I shall leave that for another post. I also have to keep cleaning my room.

Also, on the Wed. before I left I got so much done. I finally got a young person's railcard, which saved me a bunch of money this weekend on train tickets, I got a membership to the gym, turned in library books, and bought my first bottle of wine from a store! Also, I feel it necessary to comment that I'm still never sure how to spell Wed., so I always abbreviate it!

Alright, so I've decided, to keep up my practice of writing, that I'm going to start writing about issues that concern me in livejournal, so if you don't want to read it, I won't be offended. Deciding what I want to research, I used Wikipedia for much of my information, just so anyone who wants to know is interested.

Every day I look out the back door, or drive down the street, there is always some lawn crazed person with their sprinkler going full blast usually spraying more concrete that grass. Sometimes this goes on for hours, and I'm sorry, but no matter how much you water concrete nothing is going to change about it. Clearly then, their obsession is with the emerald hue that is so obviously imperative to the maintenance of their lawns. Being slightly worried about the downward spiral that is occuring in our earth's "health" if you will, this always makes me stop, think, and then worry quite a bit.
When you think of irrigation, what usually comes to mind? Huge fields of corn, soy beans, or other crops being watered by canals, huge sprayers, rice fields, etc. But interestingly enough, it turns out that the number one crop that is irrigated in the United States is in fact the lawn. According to Wikipedia.com, 50-70 percent of resedential water is used to water lawns. When I think about the fact that the freshwater supply is being severely depleted now, mainly to the depletion of groundwater for irrigation, I get so infuriated by the stupidity of it all. For a purely aesthetic purpose, people either do not know, or do not care that they are contributing to the deterioration of the earth and life as we know it.
It is true that lawns can play an important part in keeping down the temperature in cities, and help with erosion and oxygen depletion. However, unless the area in which you live is going through a severe drought, there is probably not much chance that your grass will turn brown and crumbly before the next rain. And even if it does, who cares? Few people drive down the street and say "Wow, what a lovely lawn, that person must be important. Look! It's greener than the one next to it! Take that green, your neighbor's can be described as emerald!"
Why not plant more trees if you need shade, and they also perfect to help with oxygen depletion. Plus, then there is less grass to actually mow, and thus, less money to use on gasoline powered lawn mowers (unless you use a push mower, which is doubtful, but very healthy!). Less mowing means 1) less work for you to maintain a fairly superficial habit, 2) less money spent on exhorbatent gas prices, and 3) less damage to our already fragile ozone layer.
When you look out you're window in the morning, is the shade of green of your grass really that important? Or if you must water it, must you do it every day, or during the middle of the day, when most of the water will evaporate anyway? Seriously people, use some common sense! Find beauty in nature, and stop using things like pesticides and gallons of water to make your lawn look too green to be natural anyway. Do you actually spend time rolling around on your lawn? Why not do something to help the environment and concentrate on more important things?

Ok, taking this from Janet, who apparently took it from Josh, who apparently took it from Brekke. Enjoy!

+ Known as: Regena (Reggie, Reggiecat)
+ Lives in: Urbana
+ Birthday: May 19, the best day of the year!
+ Religion: Catholic
+ Shoe size: 8.5
+ Hair color: light blonde
+ Eye color: blue, sometimes green because of a yellow ring around my pupil
+ Hair Style: long!!!!!!

* section 2 - have you ever... *

+ Cheated on someone?: no
+ Been Cheated on?: do friends count? If not, then no
+ Fallen off the bed?: Hmmmm....
+ Broken someone’s heart?: Doubt it
+ Had your heart broken?: well, if you count my parents splitting up
+ Had a dream come true?: life's a dream (Janet's saying, and I love it!)
+ Done something you regret?: bien sur. Many times
+ Cheated on a test?: I honestly (haha!) don't remember, but I don't think so

* section 3 - currently *

+ Wearing?: black tank top and black dance pants (just came from swing)
+ Listening to?: WICKED (No one mourns the...)
+ Located?: my dorm room
+ Chatting with?: no one really, I'm writing this
+ Watching?: myself typing this
+ Should REALLY be doing?: showering and then sleeping

* section 4 - do you... *

+ Brush your teeth?: twice a day!
+ Have any piercings?: two in my ears!
+ Drive?: when I get the chance
+ Drink?: at home
+ Smoke?: cough cough, hack, wheeze, what's that I smell in my nose?, I'm sorry what was the question?
+ Got a cell?: yes

* section 5 - the last person you... *

+ Hugged?: Katie I think
+ IMed?: Hmmmm. Katie also I think
+ Talked on the phone: Mom
+ Yelled at?: probably also Mom (or Janet)

* section 6 - personal *

+ What do you want to be when you finish college?: Work in musical theater, in film production, or perhaps (most pertaining to my major) media related things
+ What has been the best day of your life?: Can I pick one? I think not.
+ What comes first in your life?: family/friends
+ Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/crush?: One bazillion crushes. Sigh
+ What are you most scared of?: shall I list them all?
+ What do you usually think about before you go to bed?: I make up stories in my head
+ How many times have you fallen in love?: does infatuation count? If not, then only like, twice.
+ Love your family?: more than anything on this earth
+ Love your friends?: they are family (also Janet's saying that I like)

* section 7 - favorite *

+ Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean, and any romantic comedy.
+ Song: Anything from Wicked, and A Wink and a Smile
+ Band: Lifehouse, Franz Ferdinand
+ Store: Aeropostale, and Target!
+ Relative: well....if you want to be that way!
+ Sport: swimming, horseback riding, and recently beach volleyball. Oh yes, and dancing.
+ Ice Cream Flavor: Moosetracks (and Chocolate!)
+ Fruit: Raspberries!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYYAYYAY!
+ Candy: Raspberry filled chocolate bars
+ Color: Green(emerald green, like the city! and Elphaba) and Pink
+ Name for a Girl: Eleanor, Aislynn, Maggie
+ Name for a Boy: Ian/Eoin

* section 8 - do you *

+ Like to give hugs?: of course! It's sharing yourself with another person through your physical contact
+ Like to walk in the rain?: only if there's fun puddles to jump in!
+ Prefer black or blue pens?: black
+ Like to travel?: yes. very much. I want to go everywhere! BY CAR! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!!!
+ Sleep on your side, stomach or back?: I can't get to sleep anyway but on my stomach
+ Have a goldfish?: Nope. Doubt he would get much attention in college
+ Ever have the falling dream?: yes, I dream I'm walking and then trip (which happens in real life also)
+ Have stuffed animals?: Oh, many, many.

* section 9 - what do you think about... *

+ Abortion: for the most part, I'm against it, but it really depends on the case
+ Suicide: kind of a cowardly way out
+ Smoking: cough cough, wheeze, hack, what's that I smell in my nose, "I'm sorry, what was the question?"
+ Eating disorders: Also, seems a wimpy way for someone who doesn't want to go through the work of being healthy
+ Summer: as long as there's some way to cool
+ Tattoos: maybe on my hip. I like them for the most part (not a big fan of the full body ones though
+ Piercings: see answer for tatoos (minus the hip part)

* section 10 - this or that *

+ Pierced nose or tongue?: yuck, nose I guess
+ Single or taken?: single (don't know if I sad about that anymore or not)
+ MTV or BET?: neither
+ 7th Heaven or Dawson's Creek?: oh 7th Heaven I guess
+ Sugar or salt?:I like eating them at the same time, to balance each other out
+ Silver or gold?: silver
+ Chocolate or flowers?: flowers
+ Color or Black-and-white photos?: black and white (although I like color also
+ M&Ms or Skittles?: M&Ms
+ Stay up late or sleep in?: hehehehhee, aren't those two directly correlated?
+ Hot or cold?: cold
+ Mustard or ketchup?: "Excuse me, do you happen to have any Grey Poupon?"
+ Spring or Fall?: My two favorite seasons, but my birthday is in spring so....
+ Happy or sad?: Happy of course!
+ Wonder or amazement?: wonder
+ Mexican or Italian: Italian
+ Candy or Soda?: Candy all the way!!!
+ Pepsi or Coke?: Pepsi


Anyway, if you made it through this, congratulations! Now, am really tired from swing, so must go take a shower.

"Life's more painless, for the brainless" (Dancing through Life)
I love Fiyero

Ok, so Wicked was the most awesome thing ever!!!! Oh my goodness, everyone needs to see that play! And I need to be in it! I'm so happy that Emily/Alyssa and I are going as Glinda and Elphaba! This show is so incredibly amazing! I'm putting up pictures soon (hopefully) on my facebook and such, so look for them in like, 3 days.

Wow, the hotel room was awesome. It had the most comfortable bed EVER! I'm totally going depressive, happy right now because I want to be Elphaba on stage, but don't know about changing my major, don't know if I could get in, etc. Sigh. Life is so confusing. I feel like I should just go for it, cause you only live your life once (and I am feeling like I should take charge even more because of a recent Grey's Anatomy episode), but I'm still very happy in my Media Studies and English major. I don't know what to do. I don't know if the feeling will pass or not. I mean, I've always loved musical theater.

Back to Chicago. We were on the 32nd floor! I jumped on the elevator going down, only it was going so fast that my legs just collapsed under me and I ended up on the floor. Later, Emily/Alyssa did the same thing. Hehehehe. Good times. Anyway, we went to Navy Pier, and had fun there. And the aquarium and we saw great Beluga Whales, and penguins, and dolphins, and sea otters! And an awesome jelly fish.

Duh duh duh Duhhhhhh! And then we ate....(and I must admit, I looked good in my dress)....AND THEN WE SAW WICKED! Our seats were really good! Wow, it just keeps getting better each time I see it! The girl who played Galinda was the understudy, but she was just as good as Kate Reinders (the usual), and she REALLY impressed me. If anyone want to go, I MIGHT (i emphasize might because this is kind of unlikely, but I would like it to happen) be going again. Talk to me if you want to come!

Toodles (I have to study and figure out my schedule b/c I register tomorrow!)

Anybody want to go see Wicked? This weekend, Sat. night. You would pay for hotel room, any food you want to eat, and transportation (possibly ticket, or split cost with ahem, someone who backed out (cough Liz cough). Liz, you should still pay for part of the ticket at least because of all the aggravation(monetary and emotional, sob) you've caused, but you'll have to take the monetary issues up with Emily/Alyssa. So anyone who knows me or Lauren or Alyssa, email one of us, or call us, or post a comment on this livejournal and we'll get back to you with details.

I'm sad Liz, don't you love us anymore! :_(

I can't think of anything interesting to write anymore, just fun test things. Sigh, maybe I'm all written out because of the continuous papers, and microthemes, and ten minute quizzes that come at me week after week.

Anyway, new test thing!

How to make a cute_regena

Ingredients: 3 parts success 3 parts crazyiness 5 parts joy

Method: Combine in a tall glass half filled with crushed ice. Add curiosity to taste! Do not overindulge!

Your Musical Tastes Match: Nicole Kidman

See her whole playlist here (iTunes required)

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Lieutenant Blaze Your Superpower is Ancient lore Your Weakness is The Moon Your Weapon is Your Cosmic Gel Your Mode of Transportation is Llama

Llama I tell you!

Last one, I promise:

Your Animal Personality

Your Power Animal: Eagle Animal You Were in a Past Life: Whale You are active, a challenger, and optimistic. Hard-working, you are always working towards a set goal.

Procrastinating reading parts of the Domesday Book and writing about statistics of 11th century England.

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary. People think they've had enough of you, but they're back for more in an hour.

Your Irish Name Is...

Orla Dunne