My Christmas shopping is officially finished, with a whole day to spare. Go me! Wrapping presents last night was a whole new adventure with the cat intent on trying to steal my tape, borrow through gift bags, and tear up my tissue paper. If my wrapping this year seems more shoddy than usual, blame Iroh.

I'm extremely sad that I still don't have any new boots yet. They originally arrived last week but unfortunately in a size that was slightly too small -- and I had them for all of twelve glorious hours before I finally relented and returned them and asking to re-order a half size larger. Hopefully the 9's they're sending me will fit perfectly. This is why I don't ever buy clothes or shoes online, I hate purchasing stuff before I have a chance to try them on. :P Boot fail.

With an absence of any of our usual big trips this past year, I took advantage of all of my saved up vacation days and am looking forward to a nice, extended Christmas holiday this season. During this time in between all of much tasty turkey gorging and shameless post stomach-full-of-turkey lounging, I am determined to:

• See Avatar (who wants to go with me? SOMEONE GO WITH ME!)
• Finally go and get my H1N1 shot so as to avoid dying of dreaded piggy flu.
• Play more Guild Wars. My warrior needs some loving.
• Sit back and finally get a chance to do some drawing. ;_; I miss drawing so much, I can't believe I haven't managed to get anything new done in almost a year. I had all of these wonderful intentions to draw a bunch of art pieces as gifts this year for Christmas, but as it is now nearing the end of December that plan has obviously flown out the window. Art fail. :x

OOH OOH OOH and there is a very strong possibility that I may have in my possession a shiny new iPhone by the end of the holidays~ However, this is still sort of teetering on the knifes edge considering the rational and very frugal part of my brain is overcome by guilt about such a frivolous purchase and the thought of a $20+ increase in my monthly phone bill. Inner turmoil, INNER TURMOIL!

(This is very belated blog entry that I meant to post last week but instead just left it piling up sadly in my drafts folder. In any event, onward ho and all that jazz.) Against my better judgment I went and saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Chelle. While I adore the books to a squeeing fangirly extent, the movies leave a lot to be desired and usually only succeed in destroying another little part of my soul with each new book-butchering film that gets released to theatres. Considering that HBP is by far my favorite out of the seven, I was obviously extra concerned about how they were going to ruin this one. Surprisingly enough, while they did inevitably take HBP and viciously chop it into thousands of tiny pieces, it also ended up being the most entertaining one out of the series yet.

Let's start off with the good, then ease our way slowly into the horrible, agonizing bad that made me want to hit my head against the wall over and over. Warning: probably spoiler ridden.

THE GOOD

• Daniel Radcliff is the epitome of geeky cute in a bottle and his acting has improved leaps and bounds when compared to his cringe-worthy performance in Philosopher's Stone.
• Gambon's Albus was a finally a bit more Albusy. Overall, I've always very strongly disliked his version of Dumbledore -- he always plays him too rough and cranky sounding. However, there were scenes in HBP where he brings the overdue and much needed twinkle back to the roll. Plus the part where he fights off the Inferi in the cave was fucking rad.
• I really enjoyed the addition of the scene with Snape and Harry seeing each other under the stairs prior to the tower. The way Severus offers that (arguably false) gesture of reassurance is an aspect I wish had actually been in the book.
• I also really liked the way they replaced the funeral with the simultaneous wand salute to Albus. The movie scene didn't make me cry like I thought it would (though neither did his death in the book), but it was very touching.
• Molly's face as she stares up at the burning Burrow... gut wrenching. My heart broke.
• Tom Felton looks smarmy in a suit~

THE HORRIBLE, AGONIZING BAD

• They destroyed the Burrow? WTF? Where is the wedding in book seven going to happen? *So confused*
• Seeing as once again they were forced to take a 600+ page book and hack it down to fit in under 3 hours, it's still inevitably pretty choppy (though not as bad in the past movies at times.)
• Ginny and Harry don't seem to have much chemistry together. The actress playing Ginny at times was really good, and at other times just floundered awkwardly. MOST AWKWARD KISS SCENE EVER.
• I understand why it was cut, but I was still a little disappointed to see they didn't include the opening bit with Dumbledore paying a visit to Privet Drive. I would have loved to see the wine glasses flying around and clinking against the Dursley's heads. :B
• What was up with Narcissa's hair? The Malfoy family are supposed to all be platinum blonds, but they gave Cissa this horrible black stripe that made it look like a tacky teen dye job. Someone's version of symbolism foreshadowing her role in DH to come I guess? o_O She was also way, way too old.
• The didn't do the Unbreakable Vow scene justice! My favorite scene! D: *Angst* Neither Snape or Narcissa's roles in this scene had enough time to be flushed out given the right amount of depth that you feel from the characters in the book. It's the first time Narcissa is given any serious attention and it failed for me to nail down who she really is and what drives her -- that she's a mother first, and everything else second.
  
  And what about Snape? We weren't introduced to anything new about Snape! I remember finishing the "Spinners End" chapter in the book and going wow. The way he responded in just tiny, simple, but genuine ways to Narcissa's grief and desperation; that's a side of this character that we'd never seen before -- where the impression that perhaps this guy isn't just doing this simply under his master's direction. It added a new element to Snape. But in the HBP film, we don't get any of that. He's so flat and boring -- even up until the end when Harry is chasing after him and calling him a coward. Where is the Snape Flipout? When do we get to ever see this guy unhinge like he's supposed to? He looses his cool at three different important parts in the series and in the film's he has yet to have a strand of hair fall out of place. *Irked*
  
  Okay and while I'm getting completely off-topic, does anyone else notice that Alan Rickman talks like Captain Kirk? Very... drawn out... and sort of -- choppy. Like. This. Ugh. *Facepalm* RickmanSnape kills me.
• All right and obviously my biggest grievance with this movie was the blatant way they, for reasons I can't even fathom, completely replaced the two main plots of the original story with Teenage Love Woe Angst filler? Seriously, the two main plots in HBP are: 1) Harry journey with Dumbledore examining Voldemort's past and the memory traveling, and 2) the Half Blood Prince and potion text book bits; and instead they chopped both of those story lines into such itty bitty tiny side plots that you hardly remember that they're there, and instead focused entirely on PUBERTY AND TEENAGE LOVE AND WOW!GIRLS AND WOW!BOYS. *Hits head repeatedly against wall over and over and over again* How can you take all of the actual story and just shove it under the rug like that? They cut more than half of the memory traveling! They barely even touched actual Half Blood Prince aspects, which I find exceedingly stupid SINCE THE MOVIE IS CALLED "HALF BLOOD PRINCE". They didn't even bother explaining why Snape is the Half Blood Prince, so I really hope every one who sees the movie has read the book beforehand or else they're going to leave feeling VERY CONFUSED. *Pulls at hair*

THE HUH?

• Hahahaha, oh god the Snape/Draco shippers are going to have a field day. The smoldering stares... the dark corridor exchanges... The slashers must be going to town.
• Why did Draco have Snakey? Now that his father has been carted off to Askaban, does he carry Lucius' snake staff around with him everywhere he goes like a security blanket? Oh Draco, you're such a sap.

That is all. I still have like 9 hours that I have to struggle to get through today before the keys to our new house are placed in my hands. I don't think I'm going to make it! D: *Torture*

Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: OMG TODAY TODAY TODAY!

I really need to stop reading the books before I see the movie adaptations. Coleen and I went and saw My Sister's Keeper last night and I'm undecided whether I walked out so disappointed simply because the film wasn't that great, or because it was so completely butchered from the original novel version.

I understand that book-to-movie adaptations always involve some inevitable but necessary plot trimming, but I can't stand when for no apparent reason they cut out all these wonderful scenes from the book and then end up writing all-new scenes to fill up all that extra space that don't even end up doing the original's justice at all. Why don't they just keep the original bits? There were scenes in the novel that displayed the emotional battle this family is going through so simply and vividly -- whereas the new movie inserts were fairly bland and too drawn out.

I'm also a little irked that they completely changed some of the key character's personalities. They made Anna loud, annoying, and obnoxious. In addition to giving Jesse's self-destructive personality a complete 180 degree rewrite, they also cut out his entire storyline. And poor Campbell Alexander's character should never have been given to the likes of Alec Baldwin who is both much too old and not at all good looking or charming enough to pull off the role. Though I can't say they even gave him much a role in the film -- Campbell's entire subplot with Julie (who wasn't even in the movie) was trashed, and his health condition was barely even touched upon.

And did I mention that they completely changed and reversed the ending? D: That is most ridiculous rewrite of a story wrap up that I've ever seen. There was no heart wrenching impact or twist to the movie's finale! It was anti-climactic and completely negates Anna's entire purpose in the story that contributes so much to the title My Sister's Keeper. What a sham. *Grumble mumble grumble*

On a different but still petty fangirlsh rant, I'm about so sick of all of the recent Dark Knight LedJoker fanart that I could spew. I don't think I can stand to see another dozen duplications of the "Why So Serious" poster, the infamous playing card or head quirked shots, or Ledger sitting on the damn jail cell bench. (Don't even get me started on the amount of cosplay photos you have to swim through now. Ugh.) Don't get me wrong, I like DK Joker. It's just that that seems to be all you ever see now. The Chris Nolan Batman franchise has spawned a whole new generation of Batman fans that probably don't even realize that Heath Ledger is just this one microscopic version of Mister J in a pile of Joker incarnation gems of the past in cartoons and comics. *Sad* It makes weeding through the DeviantArt results to find interesting pieces very tedious.

(Hahaha, okay, but I did come across this creepy but adorable LedJoker chibi. So cute in a creepy-clown-doll sort of way.)

Also, has anyone else noticed how funny and a bit disturbing at times it is that pretty much no matter which popular fandom or character you search for on DeviantArt, you'll inevitably end up finding a picture of them depicted as either some sort of canine, feline, or horse relation? Look! It's Joker as a wolf! Look! It's a Jack Sparrow horse! Look! It's a Severus Snape lion! And well hey now, that seems to be a bit of strange anatomical position to put him in with that Dumbledore lio-- ohmygodmyeyes *close tab close tab CLOSE TAB!* DX I guess it just goes to show there's a crazy furry enthusiast in every fandom. Though for the sake of the rest of the fan community there should be some sort of browsing filter.

Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: 26

Monday always arrives way too fast. I didn't get to do nearly enough napping on the weekend, and I nearly fell asleep at my desk at work today again. =_=; I need to start taking a break half way through the day and go for a walk or something, because this is becoming an alarming mid-afternoon trend.

On Friday I went on a hot girly movie date to see 17 Again with Nickie and Swoo, and it was surprisingly entertaining (extra points for teenage heart throb Zac Efron looking plenty fine in a button up~) Ten extra points to the ridiculously hilarious nerdism-filled love of Guy I Forget The Name Of and Closeted Geeky Principal Lady.

I also finally got my fabulously pretty Coach purse (knock off obviously, but still extremely pretty) repaired~ The cheapy leather straps were tearing off so I took them down to the mall to get them repaired/reinforced, and the man behind the counter seemed offended that I'd bought a fake designer bag and had the gall to want it repaired. He went so far as to try to convince me that the $20 he was charging me wasn't worth it. WTF. D:< Dude, I just gave you money! Shut your mouth and do your job! *Scowl* *Hugs pretty purse*

I watched Disney's Earth on Sunday! You can download the BBC version of the film already, and the only difference is the narration -- which as opposed to James Earl Jones, this one is done by sexy Patrick Stewart! Captain Picard makes everything better! (Yes that's right, I like my men old and English and who have boldly gone where no one has gone before~) The movie had some sad parts in it, but was mostly filled with adorable animals and a scene or two with some baby polar bears that Sarah Woo will probably have a massive heart attack from the sheer amount of cuteness. We also now have copies of every major Disney animated film *hearts* and the first season of Batman Beyond which I'm very excited to watch because besides the Return of the Joker movie, I've only seen one or two episodes of it.

Hahahaha, I'm working my way through a Zhao fan comic by legit Avatar storyboard artist, rufftoon. (Alternate universe: Zhao was spared by the ocean spirit at the end of the first season, loses his memories, and is taken in by the Northern Water Tribe. Hilarious Zhao facial expressions and general awesomeness ensues.) If you're an Admiral Zhao nut or just an Avatar art fan you should check it out.

I've been sort of... kind of... toying with the idea of starting a fan comic project of my own -- only obviously not nearly as amazingly detailed or shaded or awesome as rufftoon. T-T I'm too lazy to write the oodles of fanfiction that pile up and lay around doing backstrokes in my head, but it would be nice to at least get bits of the stories on paper of some medium. It's really intimidating though because of the sheer size of a project like that... I don't really have the piles of free time I'd need. And I have zero experience with comic layout and backgrounds and type. And that's a lot of freaking drawing... :x Knowing me it very well may never even be started let alone finished. Though I'm serious enough about the idea that I've at least randomly found myself instinctively going into fandomy research mode and jotting down notes and mapping out key scenes during my morning commute. We'll have to see if anything comes of it.

Mother eff. The lady living above us is vacuuming again. She vacuumes at the weirdest times of the night, last week she was up pushing that thing around at 1:30 in the morning. I've narrowed it down to either crazy double work shift mother, or deranged OCD psychopath. *Suspicious*

I downloaded the Firefox addon "StumbleUpon" and it stumbled me across an amazing UK artist named Russ Mills. One look through his gallery and I've completely fallen in love with his work. After July when we're done saving for a house and hopefully not dirt poor, I'd love to buy one of his large-scale prints to hang above the bed or the sofa~

I'd also still really like to own large prints of this piece and this piece from dklette.com. I saw them at the Christmas craft sale and thought they were really cute.

*Can't wait until she has a house and more empty wall space for art* *Hearts*

A happy first birthday to adorable Toby! He turned one-year-old today~ *^^* I took him for an annual checkup yesterday and the doctor said he's a perfect picture of bunny health! *Cuddles her Toby*

My plan for this weekend more of less consists of drawing and Guild Wars, two things which I've been increasingly wishing I had more free time for. *Sad* I just got Koss back from being stupidly captured and I have to get him to level 20 like the rest of my heros. *Rolls eyes* I have a very love-hate relationship for Koss, being married to him and all (because in the GW universe, I've decided that Koss is Ula's goony husband, because I'm a giant unbelievable nerd and think up backstories for my role playing characters like that -- and there's just something about that giant afro that screams a perfect match to my Ula who is overly butch.)

In any event, Koss, who already has proved to have a bit of a habit of being absurdly stupid (he constantly draws unnecessary badguys to us or is running off and getting himself killed when I tell him to wait at a flag) is true to his nature and goes and gets himself captured by the enemy. So I come in all heroically to save his ass, and what's the big oaf doing when I find him and the other prisoners? DANCING. Torture? Beatings? The regular hostage stuff? Oh no, with Koss it's all "Fuck that, man -- we ordered pizza!" and dance parties. Some times I question Guild Wars' character developers. (And I just found out Koss ends up running off with Meloni later on in the game. That bastard. I don't know what Ula ever saw in him anyway.)

... I think I've surpassed on my omgNERD quota for this blog post, so I should go now. ¬_¬

Why is it that I always get all sentimental and sappy when I go to my parent's house? I walk in the door and suddenly it's as if I haven't been back there in years, when really I was just there the week before. Is there some sort of reverse empty-nester syndrome? I walk around and look at all the family photos on the walls and have a habit of touching the furniture and feeling up the fluffy linens and towels (but obviously a sentimental feeling up of the linens -- not the creepy crazy kind.) Or maybe I just don't do the laundry at my place enough...

Oh old bedroom, you are now a giant bedroom-sized walk-in closet for Dad. Beloved NASA-like computer room (though slightly-less NASA-like without my own dual-monitor computer) -- I miss you and strive one day to build a computer room in your grand image. Smelly little green software fridge... you are still smelly. *Hugs*

I love the fact that I'm moved out and have a place of my own and everything, but I guess there will always just be things that you miss from a place you grew up in for half your life. It's cozy. It always has lots of warm, fuzzy memories (in addition to the linens.) And may I also add that it's such a rip that once the kids move out, the parents finally take the opportunity to prettify and renovate everything? Seriously. Pretty bathroom now? Not fair. *Deadpan expression as her computer chair rumbles and rolls across the slanty apartment floor of it's own accord with her still sitting in it*


PS. I haven't gotten a chance to play any Guild Wars in the past couple nights because of art-related things, which is very sad. Ula is level 20 now! She must quest more! Art and Guild Wars... why must you always make me choose between you?! D: