In Which Marina Exemplifies ADD

Another week of stress-induced mayhem!

I took the physics test last week, and miraculously got a 78% overall! Huzzah! Since the class as a whole didn't do very well, he's offering a makeup test to get half our points back, and I'm definitely taking advantage of that opportunity. Today I took a Book of Mormon exam, and tomorrow I have a calculus exam and a quiz.

Last night was really wonderful! I went to Dance Lab, which was basically a huge dance in the ballroom specifically for Social Dance students. It was amazing! I've learned Foxtrot and Cha-Cha, and a little bit of swing and waltz in my class so far. My favorite by far is Cha-Cha. The whole attitude and social interaction (aka flirting) of the dance is so exciting. 

Halloween is tomorrow! I'm wearing my costume from two years ago, Jemima from the musical CATS. I'm going to wear it aaaall day. I'm really excited! I'll definitely post pictures.

 And as of now, I have three days left of my childhood before I officially become an adult. Aaah! It's a weird thought...

Randomness time!

First spotlight: Last.fm

This is an amazing site where you can make an account, and then favorite lots of artists, composers, groups, and songs you like. You can listen to full tracks up to three times. Your library of favorites becomes your own "radio station" and you can listen to all of your favorites on random as much as you want! I absolutely love it. I like to leave it on when I'm doing homework, and I've found a few new groups that I really like. For example: 

Your Vegas. This group, to me, sounds like the grandchild of Coldplay, and the child of Keane. The smooth height of the singer's voice reminds me a lot of Keane, and the calm, catchy beats in their songs are similar to Coldplay.  A few of my favorite songs are "In My Head", "Up Until the Lights Go Out", and "Troubled Times".

Another group I've discovered is Phantom Planet. I just like 'em. :3

While we're on the same note (haw haw), if you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, you should do so right away. Click the the link that says "watch it right now". Give yourself about 45 minutes to watch it. It's an amazing little comedic-tragedy musical that was written during the writers' strike. They wanted to make something professionally made, while still being very low budget. The songs are very catchy and funny! *sings* "With my freeze ray I will stop! the world..."

In the world of literature: 

John Green, a young adult writer, is still on his tour for his most recent novel Paper Towns. I read his other two books, An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska. I absolutely love his writing style. He expects a lot from his readers (who are generally Nerdfighters), in that he expects them to think critically and analytically about the symbolism and messages he is trying to convey. Basically, he likes his audience to be active readers. Paper Towns was #5 in the New York Times Bestselling list, and is #6 this week, in a large part due to the huge population of Nerdfighters who watch him and his brother, Hank, on their YouTube vlog Brotherhood 2.0. I'm looking forward to when I can escape campus to Borders and buy a copy! (I think I'll get one with happy Margo on it...)

DeviantArt spot!

Visit the amazing art gallery of Leonidafremov! His stunningly gorgeous work is done in oil paint in a style that he has created and practically perfected. He uses strong, bright colors in scenes that dazzle the eye and warm the heart. 

And that concludes my spazzy ramble!

Best wishes!

M Scribble

Randomosity!

I'm in the library, er, studying for physics with Rudy and Katherine in the No Shhh! Zone. I feel like I understand most of it conceptually, but writing equations for systems confuse me a bit. We've been doing conceptual and calculation practice problems like crazy.

Thanks to Jeff, I recently discovered the genious of an LDS composer/musician named Jon Schmidt! His work is so passionate and exhilarating! Go listen to his music right now! My favorites are "All of Me," "Waterfall," "Game Day," and "Pachelbel/U2".

College is very difficult but an absolutely wonderful experience. I have so many stories to tell from within the past two months, I'll just blog them whenever I suddenly remember one! For example:

A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of us went to the projector room in the LRC to watch Jurassic Park. I'd never seen it, so it was really exciting for me! We brought blankets and pillows, and the girls crowded together on the floor and most of the guys sat in the student chairs. Everyone got really excited when the granddaughter came on, because apparently I look a lot like her. I absolutely love the soundtrack/theme of the movie, of course. Who doesn't love John Williams? I remember playing the theme in middle school and loving it. As we were watching the rest of the movie, when the raptor burst out in the basement, I screamed so loud! Everyone laughed, since they knew it was coming.

Another movie story! At about midnight, we all decided to sneak onto the track near Helaman Halls and watch "Stranger than Fiction". Everything worked perfectly. I got my speakers, we all snuggled up together in blankets and pillows, some sat on a covered bench, and the laptop was propped on the ___. We watched until 3 AM or so, and the laptop still had 12 minutes of battery power left. We packed up, left no trace of our having been there. Just as we were walking out, we saw a little golf cart pull up. Some of us started running away (stupid!), but we were pretty much caught. They shone the light in our eyes, and Katherine spoke up:

Campus Police: Why do you think you guys can be in here?

Katherine: Well, the other day a janitor told me that if you lived in Helaman Halls, you could use the track any time you wanted.

(all of us thought she was BSing, but she was telling the truth! a janitor really did tell her that. probably to see if she'd get in trouble...)

CP: How did you guys get in here?

K: Um, we crawled under the fence...

CP: And is that a good indication that you're welcome in here this late at night?

All of us: Nooo....

The funny thing is, they let us off without a hitch! It felt strangely good to get away with it. See what Mormons do for thrill-seeking??

Until next time, DFTBA!