100 Happy Things

Drumroll....

It's the 100th post on Full Circle Crazy!!!!! In honor of this, I present a list of 100 things that make me smile, in no particular order.

1. Puppies.

2. Babies

This is my cousin H. He is the most adorable baby ever. This is not up for debate. If you feel differently, you are wrong.
Unless you are my mother arguing that I was the most adorable baby ever. That is an acceptable position.

3. Comic-Con/panel interviews with the casts of science fiction shows

4. When the Doctor speaks baby

5. Seeing this when I peer up from my computer.

It's my Pillow Pet unicorn, Agnes.

6. XKCD comics

7. Smartfood Popcorn

8. Movie Theater Popcorn

9. PopSecret Homestyle Popcorn

10. The feeling when the popcorn kernel that was stuck between my tooth and gum finally dislodges.

11. Getting actual, physical mail.

Of course I'm covering up my address. This is the internet.

12. Stephanie Perkins' books

13. Hot Showers

14. Being done with all my midterms/finals/etc.

15. The yarn aisle in craft stores.

I didn't take this picture, but this looks like a Michaels craft store.

16. Wrock

17. Libraries

18. Bookstores

19. Snow!

One of many unused shots from "Doodling and Snow"

20. Driving

21. Seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time

22. Taking shortcuts

23. The Harry Potter series

24. The Harry Potter fandom

25. That Harry Potter inspired a wonderful charity.

Learn more at thehpalliance.org

26. Nerdfighteria

27. Trock

28. Doctor Who

29. Doctor Who fandom

30. Using things that I've made

My red backpack of wonder. Those are Wrock buttons adorning it, with a few others thrown in for fun.

31. Seeing other people use things that I've made.

32. The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio (movie)

33. John Green's "The Miracle of Swindon Town" videos

34. The fact that the above has been written about in an actual Swindon newspaper.

35. "No homework this week."

36. "No class today/tomorrow"

37. Sarah Dessen's books

38. Growing things

You may remember these from "A Simpler Pet". They still haven't bloomed but they've definitely been growing.

39. Getting discounts on items I need to buy anyway

40. When I think of an item for this list

41. Alice in Wonderland

42. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references

43. Pixie Stix

Full of sugary goodness

44. Calvin and Hobbes

45. Pomegranate seeds

46. When my phone makes the noise that means I either have a text or an e-mail.

47. Unicorns

48. Despicable Me

49. The fact that the nerdfighter sign appears in Despicable Me.

All you have to do is make Spock symbols and cross your arms!

50. My friends suggesting I lower my expectations and only write 50 things.

42. Juice boxes

52. When books get meta.

53. Jasper Fforde's books

54. Cookies

55. Inanimate objects that look like they have faces

This building is in Italy. I picture it greeting every day by singing to the sun.

56. Coming home after being away for a while.

57. Sleeping in my bed at home after being away for a while.

58. Getting to come home 3 days earlier than planned.

59. Finding items I've been looking for

60. Joss Whedon interviews

61. Finishing an exam and feeling confident in how I did.

62. Finding out that the terrible exam grade I got was still higher than the average.

63. Band-aids with cartoon characters or silly images on them.

I had these band-aids until they got used up.

64. Bulletin boards that only have relevant fliers on them.

65. Using Green Cup as an excuse for why I haven't done laundry.

66. ThinkGeek.com

67. Ravelry.com

68. Curling up in bed with a good book and a snack

69. Coming up with incredibly unrealistic and unlikely explanations for things.

70. Hot Cookie Bar

They have this every Sunday in my dining hall. It looks so gross but it tastes so good.

71. Having someone to sit with in the dining hall.

72. Putting on "shuffle" mode and having a song I like come up.

73. Actually knowing the words to a song.

74. Thinking I know the words to a song and realizing I'm wrong.

75. Knowing where my keys are without having to search around first.

76. This sign

NBN stands for North by Northwestern, a student website/magazine.

77. Actually knowing what to bid in bridge.

78. Friends

79. Playing with little kids

80. Getting a good night's sleep.

81. Wa-Wa

Don't even try to tell me that you don't have some childhood toy or blanket that makes you smile.

82. My family.

83. Care packages

84. Actually doing something that I want to do "someday."

85. Class ending early

86. Airline travel.

I know I'm in a minority here, but I enjoy flying.

87. Using my drivers licence as ID to fly instead of my passport.

88. Sherlock

89. Joss Whedon shows (When he's not killing off my favorite characters)

90. Meeting people with similar interests

91. Smarties!

More sugary goodness! And just in time for finals.

92. Writing

93. Remembering dreams

94. Sudoku

95. Remembering people's birthdays without Facebook.

96. Unicorns

97. The moments when I feel psychic

98. Winning.

99. My dorm room wall.

There are pictures in the picture.

100. FINISHING THIS LIST!!!!!!

I Think My iPod Has a Crush

I thought it might be fun to put my iPod on shuffle and write a story based on the first three songs that came up. These are the songs that were played:

Don't Look Back - Alex Day
This is Not Harry Potter - Hank Green
Love Me Do - Beatles

Ummmm. Let's try again.

Forever Yours (demo version) - Alex Day
Everything You Know is Wrong - Weird Al Yankovic
No Sacrifice - Alex Day

Sigh. I've got nothing. My iPod however seems to have a thing for Alex Day.

Things Other People Are Obsessed With

I fully admit to being a tremendous fangirl about a lot of things. I love Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Wrock, Trock, youtube, Nerdfighteria, books, knitting and way more. I realize I go on about these things a lot. There are however, things I've noticed other people are obsessed with. Some obsessions I understand, and some I don't, but here are, some things that other people are obsessed with.

1. Twilight

People tend to be obsessed with this series in one of two ways. They are either obsessed with it because they love it and need to be a crazy fangirl, or they're obsessed with it because they hate and need to bring the TwiHards down. Now I've read the books and I enjoyed them while I read them, but I never really saw the point to picking a team. I know that there was a big debate in the Harry Potter community about whether Hermione should be with Ron or Harry. While there are many fan fictions that explore Harry/Hermione, once the books made it clear that wasn't happening no one really went around saying they were Team Harry. Then again, unlike Twilight, the focus of Harry Potter was on a great battle between good and evil, not about what boy to make out with.

Which brings me to the Twilight haters. I realize that it's mostly people like me who are Harry Potter fans doing a lot of this but really, this needs to stop. The only reason there's really any hatred is that Twilight began as Harry Potter was ending. The fantasy elements and heft of the book caused some people to proclaim it as the next Harry Potter. This is an unfair comparison that has led to much strife. All the people who complain about Twilight do so under the impression that Twilight is being treated as great literature. However, my view of it is that the Twilight books are good snow day books. They're fun to curl up with on a snowy day while you drink hot chocolate. They aren't books you write papers about.

Both groups need to calm down and learn to respect each other's opinions.

2. Chipotle

Yes, they have good burritos but this restaurant seems to inspire rapturous praise from almost everyone I know (at least, on a university campus). Maybe it's because I had a negative experience my first time there (pretty much all their meat except the pork is at least a little spicy which I did not know, and was not informed) but I don't have the same obsession. I have nothing against them, and I will eat there, it just seems like when people are trying to figure out where to go for dinner, it Chipotle is mentioned, that stands out as the clear favorite. It may be that Chipotle has the familiarity of a McDonalds or Taco Bell, but is higher quality enough that it doesn't get the same negative connotations. I'm sure that I will be eating there more frequently over the next few years than I have in the past (considering that I've eaten there twice, once in eighth grade and once last quarter, I need only dine there once within the next four years to up my rate) I don't know that I'll ever really "get" it.

3. Football

While I have recently come to understand the rules of football more fully than I ever have in the past, I still don't experience the same obsession that others seem to have. When I went to the homecoming game, or if my school is playing, I come closest to getting it. It's a point of pride for "your" team to win. I still have trouble with understanding professional football. I support my school's football team as a way to support my school. I chose my school and I love my school and I want us to do well. As for professional football, do I support a team just because I happen to live nearby? Do I support them because I grew up nearby? If the team moves to a new city do I still support them? What if all the best players leave for another team? I just don't get what determines what teams I'm supposed to root for. Frankly, I don't care if I do.

Dial-Up Tour!!!!!!!

So on Friday I went to the Chicago stop on the Dial-Up Tour. I had a lot of fun, and I took a lot of pictures.

The show opened with Olan Rogers.

I'll be honest. I'm still not sure who this guy is, but he was very funny anyway. He told a few stories about his childhood, and I was crying with laughter a little bit.

Next up were Shawna and Tessa, or Nanalew and Meekakitty.

They opened with the song, "Space Crustaceans". Again, I'd never heard this song before, but it was entertaining and a great way for them to start their set. They did some comedy things and sang two more songs.  One was "Lizards Scratching at the Car Door, They Want to Come In".

Apparently it's a metaphor for their lives. They ended with their pop hit. Now, when they first started talking about the song, I thought it was called "Dirty Hipster No No's". Then they started singing it and I though it was good, but wondered when they would start giving out the no no's. Then they starting singing about how they would cut off the hipster's nose and I realized the song was actually called "Dirty Hipster No Nose." It was still a great song, the miscommunication just made it a little surprising.


Now, I've mentioned about twice now how I appreciated that even though I don't watch Olan Rogers, or Tessa or Shawna, I still had a lot of fun during their sets. I'm sure there were some jokes I missed by not watching them, but overall I had fun. I say this to provide contrast to the next group, LiveLavaLive, or Mitchell and Kyle.

Now, I want to be clear, they were very funny, and I still had fun, but their act was longer than the others (or at least felt that way) and I felt a little left out of some jokes. For example, they had a video montage of other recurring characters performing bits of their sketches. Very funny if you've seen the sketches, less so if you haven't.

One part that was sort of in between being inclusive to all and exclusive to fans was when they invited someone up to join them in performing one of their better known sketches live.

I had fun watching the sketch, and a real fan got to interact with them.


Next up was the real reason I'd come, the final act, Jason Munday and Alex Carpenter!!!!

They started with the songs "Start of Something" and "Internet Age", from their EP, "Dial-Up". There was a trock song, "Bowties are cool", and a wrock song, "Lovegood". They played "The Coast" and "Wonderland", also from their new EP, as well as "Ready for Anything" (Star Wars song). They ended with the last song from their new EP, "Bacon Song", and were joined by Tessa.

And then they were joined by the rest of the tour group.

After the show, everyone came out and I was able to meet Jason and Alex. And take pictures with them.

So that was my Friday night. I had an amazing time. Also, funny story. When I showed my ticket to get in the bouncer-man-guy asked me if I was 21. Immediately I panicked and said, "I thought this was an all ages show." He responded by informing me that it was all ages, but that he still needed to know if I was 21. I told him no, and was sent in without a hand stamp. I just found it funny that he couldn't figure out that when my reaction is to panic, I'm probably not 21.

Project For Awesome 2011

Today at noon the Project for Awesome begins. Technically speaking you're supposed to make a YouTube video about your favorite charity, but I have no knowledge of how to do that so I'm writing a blog instead because it still raises awareness. Please go to YouTube and like and comment on videos with the tag P4A because this is a day to decrease World Suck and make the world a better place.  More information can be found at the project for awesome website or at fightworldsuck.org.

Okay, now that I'm done introducing the Project for Awesome I can talk about my charity of choice.

I want to raise awareness for the Harry Potter Alliance. This charity was created in 2005 by Andrew Slack, who serves as Executive director, and Paul DeGeorge from Harry and the Potters. They have since grown adding more members. There are currently 60 chapters of HPA around the world. Essentially this is a real life Dumbledore's Army. Yearly events include the Accio Books campaign, where they collect books and money to buy books for underfunded or underprovided libraries around the world to help increase literacy for children and young adults. Last year my temple youth group held a book drive and donated hundreds of books towards this cause.

Other campaigns have included "Wrock the Vote" where the HPA along with Wizard Rockers have helped people register to vote, as well as "Wrock for Equality" which has taken an active role in getting and keeping same sex marriage legal. In anticipation of the final Harry Potter movie a Deathly Hallows campaign was started wit ha new issue every month, dealing with topics of bullying, self esteem and the climate.

An ongoing campaign from this is the "Not in Harry's Name" campaign, which asked Warner Brothers to use fair trade chocolate in their Harry Potter chocolate items. This campaign started November 1 2010 and Warner Brothers still has not made the switch, insisting that their chocolate complies with the ethical guidelines they have, but has produced no proof of these claims.

The HPA is giving Warner Brothers until New Years Day to provide proof or make the switch. If you wish to get involved you can send a cease and desist letter, create a Muggle Howler and even buy fair trade chocolate frogs being made by the HPA.

This charity is a great reminder of the power of books and reading and what can be accomplished when a group of people really work together towards something great. You can donate on their website. Even if you don't wish to donate, you should still go and look around to learn more about this great organization.

The Weapon We Have is Love. Happy Project for Awesome and DFTBA!

The Prince's Tale

So I got a copy of The Prince's Tale, Lauren Fairweather's newest CD at the huge Hamden Wrock show on Saturday and I've listened to it many many times in the past few days. I love this CD. I think I like the Lily songs a little better than the Snape songs, Lose You and Mudblood are my favorites so far. I love the sultriness (this might not be the word I'm thinking of but it's the best I can do) of  these songs.This being said the first three songs (two of which are from Snape's POV) and This is it (another Snape song!) are also very high on my list.

My least favorite songs are Worst Memory, Keep Her Safe, and Harry. It's not because they aren't good songs, because they are, I've been singing them all to myself several times this week, but because they are much more "this is what happens in the story" than the others. What I mean by that is this; Lauren has said many times that she was struck by this chapter in particular because she could relate to it so well. In all the other songs on the album there has been some universality to them, that if you changed the Harry Potter specific references would still be a great song. Maybe does a great job of conveying the feeling of being lonely and wanting a friend, Freak does a great job of expressing what it feels like when someone you love shuts you out and doesn't approve and Lose You describes very well the feeling of having a friend who is going down a dark path, a friend who you want to change for the better before you cut them out because it's too painful.

The three songs I mentioned before don't have the same universality to them. Worst Memory pretty much just describes what happened to Snape, there's some ability to relate to the feeling of being bullied but it's very specific to the story. Similarly, Keep Her Safe and Harry tell us what ultimately happened. Each song has parts that are relatable, but overall they are difficult to connect to. As I said, I still love the songs, and most Wrock is very story specific, so it's not like this is a bad thing. I just think the other songs are stronger as songs and Wrock songs, as opposed to these which are really just strong as Wrock songs.

What did you think? Let me know in comments!

Wizard Rock Number 2!

Last night I went to a Wizard Rock show! More specifically, I went to the first show on the Whomp the House Tour, so that felt pretty cool, since my only other experience at Wizard Rock was the last show of the last tour. I wonder if the next show I go to will be the exact middle show of tour. That would be cool.

This show was held at Julia's House, so thank you to Julia for opening her home to this amazing event. (My mom had a hard time with the thought that someone would have a show in their home. "Are you sure 'Julia's house' isn't a restaurant?" "Yes." "Can you Google it please to be sure?" [I do so] "Yes I'm sure, nothing's showing up." "Maybe it's a club.")

My First Wizard Rock Concert!

Okay, this is going to be really long. Last night, February 11, 2011 I went to my very first, well you can read the post title. The show was at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York, and featured, Mary Beth Schroeder as Nagini, Lauren Fairweather as herself and Matt Maggiacomo as the Whomping Willows. I had a great time and met a lot of nice people. I don't know much about writing reviews of shows, so this is more going to be more my favorite parts/a set list.