gatsby, what gatsby?

tonight I saw The Great Gatsby. besides the costumes and scenery being phenomenal, it got me thinking. I have always been a huge fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I have loved the book since I had to read it in Mrs. Crawford's AP English class in the eleventh grade. I saw the movie in 3D, which gave it a funny look. it looked like paper dolls, the most beautiful paper dolls you have ever seen, mind you, but paper dolls nonetheless.

it was unreal. in the movie, there is a man so great and omniscient that he is praised as a god. he has so much money and wealth, and his imagination is just as colorful and beautiful. this man throws these extravagant parties and is young and beautiful (I do have to admit, I have always been a little disappointed about how leo has aged, but throughout the movie I caught glimpses of jack dawson, which made me love Gatsby even more). he would seem to be the man that everyone wanted to be.

but the great Jay Gatsby is lonely. he is alone and lonely. he is stuck in the past, in love with the stunning daisy, convinced that she only loved him as well, that she was stuck in the past as well. he spent the next five years of his life becoming grossly wealthy and throwing the most extravagant parties in hopes that she would come to one of them. and in the end, he dies and she runs away with her husband that she doesn't love anymore (I have this theory that I may have talked about before that f. scott fitzgerald is a complete and total sad, sick, and twisted little man, but that's a story for another day). it's not pretty or lovely or the things made of dreams as everyone imagined.

so this movie made me think of 2 different things. inspiration and waiting.

waiting. a couple of years ago I ran into this quote.

"why don't you tell me that 'if the girl had been worth having, she'd have waited for you?' no, sir, the girl really worth having won't wait for anybody" -f. scott fitzgerald

and then that became my motto. I could never let myself wait. I couldn't wait for someone to pay attention to me, or for him to realize that I was right here the whole time. I couldn't wait, because then I wouldn't be worth having.

let's take Gatsby as our example again- he waited for the girl for 5 years, but she didn't wait for him. it ruined him. he was so convinced that she had and it ruined him.

but then I find myself waiting.


inspiration. if you haven't noticed, this blog has been a little boring lately. I've been running dry on inspiration.

where do we get inspiration from?

is it the words that you read that are so heartbreaking and beautiful that they make you want to write too?

is it when he grabs your hand for a split second, and you heartbeat rockets uncontrollably, even though you've been trying to get rid of that feeling for weeks?

is it missing someone?

in spite of everything that has been going on around me, I have not been able to find anything worth writing about even though I have a million thoughts in my head. until today. today I was inspired- as silly as it sounds- by the hope of Jay Gatsby.

he said that Gatsby restored his ability to hope. he had never seen anyone so hopeful in his entire life, convinced until his death that daisy really did love him and only him, even on his last breath. Gatsby's whole beautiful life was built around this hope.

so don't wait and have hope- two very contradictory things that might ruin us in the end, but the wonder of it all may be what pushes us through.

because even though he was a cynic, fitzgerald also wrote, "I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.”

and anyone who can write words like that has to have hope.

the single most greatest thing that's ever happened to me

Can we please talk about the SINGLE most greatest thing that's ever happened?

It's Les Miserables.

I was highly anticipating this movie. The book, the musical, the songs, ALL of them are my favorite. I have loved Les Mis for a couple of years, and the movie did not disappoint one bit. 

It was phenomenally done.

And of course, my favorite part was "A Little Fall of Rain" and "On My Own" because Eponine is the greatest character of the book. and my favorite, can't you tell?

Ever since I watched it yesterday I can think of NOTHING ELSE.

I am itching to see it again! Anyone wanna to come? because I can't seem to find anyone here who will go with me again...

zombie apocalypse

I hate to break the bad news to you, but there's going to be a zombie apocalypse, and we're all going to die.

Hint #1. don't ever watch The Walking Dead.

Hint #2. don't ever watch The Walking Dead when your roommate is out of town because you have to sleep in your room all by yourself.

Hint #3. if you ever get scared at night, The Cheetah Girls is a good fallback movie. No zombies there. Yet.

Hint #4. don't tell people where you are hiding now that you know there is going to be a zombie apocalypse. because it's happening. really.

holy peanut butter, batman!

So a couple of things:

1. My favorite book, favorite broadway play (even though I've only seen it on dvd) (seeing it on actual broadway is one of my top dreams) (yeah I love it that much), and pretty much favorite thing in the entire world is Les Miserables. I just love everything about it and could go on for hours, but to get to the point, there's going to be a new movie. For the FIRST TIME EVER  (I should get paid for this advertising) (there's already a few movies of the book) the movie is going to be a musical with all of the songs from the broadway play. Yes, I almost peed my pants. But then I saw the cast list: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe... all great actors, but this is a SINGING MOVIE! I don't think that they can sing. At least I didn't know they could. But then the trailer came out:


         

honestly, it looks incredible. I have watched the trailer several times, and hearing Anne Hathaway singing isn't too bad, even if it isn't really her singing (don't really know, sounds like her) I think I am going to love it. I just really really hope it isn't rated R because that would break my heart. Oh yeah... 2 other things....
1. Samantha Barks play Eponine, who is my all time favorite character in Les Mis, and she also played Eponine on Broadway (she is in the 25th Anniversary of Les Mis DVD, which is my favorite version!) Yeah. So I know she can sing and will do a fantastic job because she's my favorite Eponine!
2. It comes out ON MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY DAY! December 14th. Best day ever (obviously) . Just got even better.

Needless to say, I am thuper duper exthited (movie reference, anyone?) for this movie. So excited, in fact, obsessive trailer watching just might ensue.


2. Regina Spektor has a new CD!!!! I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but so far it's quite extraordinary. Plus, this song has french in it and I love french!


         

and then I like this song too:


         

3. I love the Great Gatsby. Man, I have a lot of movies to see. Plus it comes out on Christmas. Yeah, almost as good as a movie coming out on my birthday. It has Leo in it, and Carey Mulligan. The colors, the props, the set, the clothes...oh the clothes! And can we just say, holy party. The trailer looks magical.


         

4. My hands smell like cow poop. Yep, I know you're thinking TMI, but they do and I cannot help it! Mulch looks pretty, but it sure don't smell purty. Dagum! 

5. Oh made this today, pretty proud of it. It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I'll show ya how I made it later. And yes, it's a necklace, and my mannequin, Rhonda, is wearing it. 

6. I'M GOING TO THE BEACH ON WEDNESDAY! just a little excited. 

wow.

So tonight some girls in my ward went to go see the Avengers, and I was invited. I thought, why not? They're my friends, first off, and it has a bajillion buff men in it, and I love Robert Downey Jr. I mean with so many beautiful people it has to be good, right?

Can I just say I had no expectations for this movie, but WOW.

WOW.

WOW.

WOW.

WOW.WOW.WOW.WOW.

and not just because of the buff men!

It was HILARIOUS. The writers of the movie did a seriously great job in making it funny. So funny it might have gotten a little snort or two out of me.

It was ACTION-PACKED. The whole time my fists were clenched and my heart was racing. It was a lot of work to watch, but it was never boring and kept me on my toes for sure.

There was even a little romance! I think that Scarlett Johansson and Clint had a little somthin' somthin' goin'  on if you know what I mean. I mean of course, I just reeeeally reeeeeeally wanted them to kiss, it would have made it so much better, but it was still pretty good without it, I guess.

yes, I know I am a complete and total girl because I want kissing and romance, but I just simply cannot help it. 

There was some serious kick-butt, sick girl moves. You go Scarlett. You go. and can we please talk about how fabulous her hair color is? I think I need to dye my hair that color red. Seriously though. 

And that's about all I can say about it because it was just so awesome and I just can't even tell you how awesome it was because it's 4 in the morning and I am just trying to get my brain wrapped around everything that I just saw and everyone was just so attractive and beautiful that I didn't even have to choose one of them! I also loved how they all became friends in the end. That was really nice. 

So it was good. Like Batman Begins and the Dark Knight good I think.

Oh and in the end Captain America gets a motorcycle. Just icing on the cake. 

may the fourth be with you.

hehehe wow. may the fourth be with you? that's definitely an all-time low.

things

I knew if I didn't come home and unpack immediately then it would be bad news. We're talking my-suitcases-won't-be-unpacked-for-the-next-four-months bad news. I am so proud of myself. It may have taken all day, but it got done!

And then I promise you that my bedroom once was cute and color coordinated and all of the furniture matched, but after having your little brother live there for the past 8 months, I did the best that I could and managed to make my room livable (aka cute) again.

Before: blank walls (how can you live with blank walls?!?!)

 After: Magazine collage! I promise it's a lot bigger than it looks. And that's Rhonda, my mannequin. I love her. 

 Knock-out roses from my backyard. So puurrty!

 I just love that green! It's almost my favorite. You can't find that green in Utah. 

But, like I said my little brother lived in here and you can't escape some things...because I "can't take them down" but secretly I kinda like the Steelers so that makes this sort of okay.

GOOD NEWS!! It turns out I do have some friends here! We went and saw The Lucky One. I never thought it was possible to love Zac Efron more than I previously did, but then I saw him be play with kids and play the piano. 

and it's technically tomorrow today?

so....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARA!!!

I love you! Thanks for being the best friend ever. I love our late night talks and how you let me hold your hand during scary movies. Well, movies that I think are scary anyway. And I love that you're tall. Sorry if I take advantage of that. haha. I love your testimony and how you bear it in everything you do. You're such a good example. I hope you have a fabulous extraordinary day and eat lots of ice cream and cake. Especially cake. Because cake is really good. Really really good.

(let's pretend my name is allyson for a second)

                                       

Wow. SEVEN WHOLE YEARS OLD!

my heart will go on...

near, far, wherever you are...

today Kimberly and I went to see Titanic in 3D.

It was so beautiful. 

at least this part is worth watching:

                

we might have been the only ones in the whole theater sobbing our eyes out. but that's ok. it was quite liberating to sing with Celine Dion at the top of our lungs. 

 

weekend weekend weekend!

this weekend was super duper exciting and fantastic. well pretty much it was. actually I don't really know exactly what it was. it was something for sure...

anyway it all started on Thursday after cleaning checks. 

we piled into the car for the hunger games and waited for practically forever (really only like 2 hours, but it seemed like forever) for the movie to start. best. thing. ever. 

I was not very disappointed in the costumes to say the least. that was one of the parts I was looking forward to the most, obviously, but all of them were fantastic except I wasn't that big of  a fan of the last one...

isn't that nice? but anyway katniss was fantastic and I was lying in my bed after the movie and was like, "Morgan, do you know what I want to be called? the girl on fire." so I then proceeded to decide that I am really katniss. I mean we both have blue eyes, so it should work. 

I have always been a fan of gale over peeta, but now I just don't know! they both did a great job in the movie. ugh. way to make it harder movie people!

the part of the movie with rue was seriously on of the most awful things I have gone through. talk about full on sobbing. it's kind of embarrassing.

oh- side note the trailer for Titanic 3D came on. Kimberly and I had a moment. let's just say the next time we go on a date- it's to Titanic. fo sho. I mean, Celine Dion, leo, beautiful dresses, a huge diamond, and forbidden love...what's better?

at the hunger games. roomies + brett

friday night mateja, morgan, and I were at target and Charles Abouo (starting senior on the byu basketball team) held the door open for us. yeah it's kinda a big deal. AND we said "thank you" to him so we're practically friends now. 

saturday brought a night of babysitting with the lovely kimberly. how many 19 year-old's does it take to babysit a not even one year-old? I don't know but we managed with 2. I think. he really liked watching the lion king haha. 

and if you read my last post you would know that in a whirl of a ton of screaming, clapping, one direction telling us we're the one thing and that we're beautiful and 2 and a half ours of intoxicating fumes, we did it! we dyed our hurz.

before when we're both blondies

we tried to take a picture today, but I really just don't look good in it, but kim looks hot so...

we're just going to have to wait until we get a better picture to see mine I guess.

new quotes too!

je t'aime

J'aime le français! Tonight I went to a French club activity (dorky, I know but it was for class) and we watched Midnight in Paris. 

Every time I read a French book or watch a French movie (or a movie based in France ^) I just get reminded how much I love it! I absolutely love it!

The language is so beautiful and poetic. As a die-hard romantic, it fits right in :) Seriously, la langue d'amour. haha

As soon as something is translated into French, it becomes a hundred times more beautiful to me. The language is so pure.

My favorite book, Les Miserables, is not only the best book ever, but it has so many French references, it just makes me love it even more!

The culture is so posh and mysterious to me, it just adds a new level of admiration. For me, Paris is an adventure that I am dying to have. 

the fashions, the accents, the architecture, the literature, the music, the art, the language

it just gets me so giddy and excited, which is kind of weird because it's a language, but that's ok...

I have French class everyday, and sometimes I think I hate it because of all the work and effort it takes, but after I step back I realize that's why I love it. I have put in years to learn this language.

I'm not fantastic at it, but it brings a new level of meaning to everything. Every time there is a French reference I am so excited that I know it, and it makes me love that thing even more.

Before every class we have the opportunity to sing a hymn in French. It's amazing how a room full of French 102 students, many who had never had French in High School, are able to sing every word of the hymns as if French was their first language.

Not only are the hymns more beautiful in French (in my opinion :) ), but it's just such a testimony of the truthfulness of their words. Suddenly, everyone can magically speak French! 

In my French textbook, we read short excerpts from various stories that are popular in France. My favorites are the ones are from a child's book called Le Petit Prince

The little prince has a rose that is very special to him. He takes care of the rose and thinks that this rose is the only one like it. He goes to earth (he lives on his own little world by himself) and sees that there are many roses just like his rose. He is sad and thinks that his is not special. His friend, the fox, points out that his rose is unique and the most important in the world because of the time and love that the little prince gave to the rose that made the rose what it is. 

He says, "Voici mon secret. Il est très simple. On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."

(This is my secret. It is very simple. We can only see clearly with our hearts. The essential things are invisible to the eye)

See isn't that just so much better in French?

I thought so.

La langue française, je t'aime!

dear long weekends

I love you.

long weekends + Harry Potter Marathon on ABC Family + kitchen sleepover =

literally a whole afternoon of napping.

P.S. dear mean Maeser boys, 

please stop throwing food and snowballs at our window and writing on it.

we don't want to go to In and Out with you. 

and we can't reach the window to clean it off.

Disney

Now, anyone who knows my apartment knows what a problem Disney movies are. For example: last weekend we watched an average of 2 movies a day. It doesn't seem that much when you say it out loud, but it's kind of pathetic if you think about it. We won't even mention the amount of ice cream eaten in that time either....

My favorite Disney movie by far is Mulan. Why? Do you ask:
1. It has the best songs:
I'll Make a Man Out of You
Reflection
The Match Maker Song...
The list goes on and on..

2. Mushu.
Need I say anymore? Who doesn't want an adorable and hilarious dragon following you around and helping you out. Plus, he's always there for comic relief. For example, when Oh No! The Huns are still alive! Mushu's response: "They popped right out of the snow, like daisies!" and "Let's go kick some hunny bun!" (those are a few of my favorites)

3. Shang.
Let's be realistic here, even though he is just a cartoon, Shang is a babe. Plus, apparently he is a 9/10 for husband material. My friend sent me a link to a page called 10 Disney Princes and Whether or Not You Should Marry Them.

This is what the person said about Shang (I edited a little bit to make it more...appropriate....):


Professional panty dropper from ancient China, Shang, is the kind of man that will whip a troop of nerds into shape and then turn around and semi-fall in love with what he clearly thinks is a guy. He’s a Renaissance man in every sense of the word. Not to mention, when we don’t have to look at Donny Osmond, his singing voice is like warm butter melting over your ears. Mysterious as the dark side of the mooooon, indeed.


hahahahahaha
haha
ha


4. Mulan goes after L-O-V-E
Now, this only works if you are a hopeless romantic, and we are in luck! I am! No matter what society says, Mulan is going to marry the man she loves, but she is still a strong, independent woman who does not need a man. And she will not make anyone a sandwich! You go girl.

5. Mulan is a beast.
What girl doesn't love a movie where the main character not only wants to find true love, but kicks some serious booty, too? Everybody loves the underdog, but Mulan not only shows that the underdog can win, but that girls ARE better than boys. She finds true love, becomes the best soldier, AND saves the Emperor of China. That's kind of a big deal.

My apartment randomly breaks out into singing all of the Disney songs in existence, and it's kind of amazing. My 2nd favorite Disney movie is Pocahontas, but ONLY because of the songs. Pocahontas has the WORST story ever. I mean, I know in real life she doesn't end up with John Smith either, but you would think that because it is Disney they would sugar coat it for me a little. Pocahontas doesn't get to marry ANYONE! and she has to let her true love go! So sad...excuse me I was crying a little bit. Plus John Smith only got a 3/10 on the husband material rating. And that's only because the person who wrote the "10 Disney Princes and Whether or Not You Should Marry Them" thinks he's hot. And he sings If I Never Knew You, which is definitely the most romantic Disney song ever. Ever. But like I said, Pocahontas has great songs and they are my favorite to sing. Savages, Colors of the Wind, and Just Around the Riverbend... That's why Pocahontas is number 2. In case you were wondering.

Plus there's this:

It kind of scared me the first time I watched it, but every other time was funny :)