Today is JRR Tolkien’s 113th birthday. Amazing, isn’t it, how one man could have such an effect on popular culture? I wonder if he would have been happy at how his books created such fervent obsession 😉 I hope he would have liked the movie.
I saw Phantom of the Opera this past weekend, which was nice. I liked it, and so did the parents 😉 There were definitely some off notes, but on the whole the actors really could sing. The costumes were great and it was nice seeing the sets be more realistic than they are, by necessity, on the stage. Unfortunately for me, we saw it at an independent theater that doesn’t show big-name trailers, so no Kingdom of Heaven trailer for me. Alas. I just went home and watched it on my computer 🙂
Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. I need to take down my tree sometime, I guess. *sniff* I like the holidays. I just wish I’d had a little bit more time off. Ah well. someday grasshopper. Troy comes out tomorrow 😉 I know it wasn’t all that great of a movie, but hey. It’s Orlando. That makes me happy. Random thought: anyone else notice that Kingdom of Heaven includes two actors Orli has worked with before? Marton Csokas and Brendan Gleeson also star…like you care. Random thought #2: if you like instrumental music you might like Mehdi.

Someone pointed out on one of the numerous LotR livejournals that this time last year we were all waiting for the King… ahh, LotR nostalgia. It makes me very sad that there isn’t anything else to wait for, except perhaps a massive soundtrack collection of all the music from the movies, which I would adore, but it won’t be the same…this is the first december without a midnight premiere, and I don’t know why, but it makes me sad. Just had to slip in a LotR quote there. I don’t know when or if there will be something like these movies that so inspires the fangirl in me. Spider-man and Harry Potter perhaps approach it (I have seen both the Spidey movies on opening night/midnight, after all) but they’re not at the same level.
so who’s up for a movie marathon? 😉
Oh, and happy birthday Miranda Otto (Eowyn)! I can’t believe it’s past the ides of the month. sigh. *keeps telling herself that there’s still four days until the orgo final*

yeah, so my mom called me to let me know that she has a rather large box waiting for me at home. sigh. I so want to go home and just steal it out of the house, but I bet she’s got it hidden for just that reason 😉 the agony of waiting! It’s not fair…but I will concede that if I had it right now I would be watching it if I could, and not studying. Well, I’m not really studying now anyway, but you get the point. I really do need to be studying; doing pointless nothings right now in a massive procrastination effort, trying not to think about the RotK:EE. Yeah. Not helped by all the people on LJ who are posting about their EE experience…oh, and check out Etoile’s (not me, lol) music section, it’s a nice introduction to the music of the Lord of the Rings, which, unless you are hard of hearing you love just as much as I do 😉 *seethes silently at the waiting* *tries to get into an orgo mood* *giggles and the closeness of ‘orgo’ to ‘orgy’* Sigh. I’m going bonkers. Wish me luck on orgo!

I hate waiting. I don’t know how people stand waiting for things. I guess I’m just a very impatient person when it comes to my *ahem* passions. I like things right!now. Does that mean I’m bad?
Although it means I know exactly what I’m getting for christmas, I had to tell my dad how to get onto a site so he could get me a calendar, from all places, Hot Topic. Now, there’s a Hot Topic store in the mall, but I doubt he’s ever been in, in fact I would be surprised if he had, since it’s sort of a goth-teen store that even I feel a little weird entering. Regardless, the store doesn’t seem to have the LotR stuff that they offer on the website, so I sent him there. He said he was a little freaked out by the stuff on the site. He’s also cute because he chooses used books instead of new. Luff my daddy.
Hah. If I were rich, oh the things I would buy and probably never wear…

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This Legolas Lithograph would make a nice gift, don’t you think? 😉
[edit]*moan* I want this Legolas calendar! Yes I am a fangirl. Haven’t you figured that out by now?[/edit]
I have a small wishlist, which is, of course, at home, not at work. Therefore you’ll just have to settle for going to Amazon or AE and search for my wishlists there, or you could always click on the links beneath this post 😉 Seriously, folks, what (cheap) things do you want for christmas? I think I’ve got my parents taken care of, but I have no idea what to get Olga, my roommate, for instance. She gave me chocolate and the mini Trilogy version of the LotR calendar. Mmmr. And this next paycheck is basically going to pay the rent and the bills, so I won’t have a lot left over to spend on gifts. Sigh.
In case you were wondering, I went through and changed some of the ads/affilates through out the site. I’d really appreciate it if you did some shopping through those links…activity is nice, and there are some good deals. Hopefully they’re not too intrusive. lol. do your shopping through my site! whee!
In case you were wondering, I got my latest orgo test back, and I did much better. I guess the flash cards helped. Though that means I have to make a heckuva lot before the final…grumble grumble. Studying sucks. The final really will determine my grade…I think I’m still hovering about the mean, when I want to be on the happy side of the bell curve…*dreads orgo studying* And silly library, getting both (rather long) books that I had on request in on the same week…both due the week of the final. I guess we’ll see if I finish them. I’m sure there are requests for both of them so I won’t be able to renew. Ah well. There’s always another hold, I suppose…
Still pent up about that saturday lab. I really don’t like the fact that I have to take it; but I guess I will. Doesn’t mean I have to like it! I know I spent all those saturdays in high school and college getting up absurdly early to make it to track meets, and spent much longer times at said meets than the piddly 8am – 2pm lab will take up, but at least those were fun and I wasn’t graded…ugh. Did I mention the fact that there’s an Arthurian Mythology class offered Wednesday nights (which is of course the same time as the orgo class)? Sigh. One of these days I will be able to take fun classes. Tap dance for free, anyone?
Because I really like this picture and you might see more of it soon, once I find a nice hi-rez version…

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Six minutes of heaven
Squee! Fangirl moment. Click above for the link to a six-minute preview of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King special extended edition 🙂 Ahh, that makes me happy, even if I’m going to attempt to stay away from it until I’m done with orgo. The final, anyway. Still haven’t signed up for next semester. Not like the class is going to be full or anything. Course, now that I’ve said that, watch it be the only evening class that fills up. Sigh.
Did get Spidey 2 and Hero (couldn’t resist) last night, and the National Treasure and The Matrix (yes, I know, behind on the times, it was on sale) soundtracks. Bad Jen.
So…who wants what for christmas? I basically should just ask for money this year because no one is going to buy me an mp3 player, a keyboard or a new laptop. That’s just the way life is. And one of these days I WILL make enough money to get them for myself. Greedy little minx, aren’t I? I have no clue what to get my parents. Thank goodness I don’t have brothers or sisters, so I don’t have to figure out something for them too. I’m so bad. Ah well.
I’m just rambling, really. I should be doing orgo. Guess I’ll go do that.
PS: pray for my mom. She’s in the hospital for her blood pressure. Not cool.

..but if I ever see one I might just get it, on the principle of the thing…
Barbie Collector Showcase
And in case you’ve ever wondered…What if Orlando needs a green card?
I’ve made more icons. Soon there will be a post. But probably over at the LJ. I’ll get back to you on that. Wait! There are some up in the Iconic gallery already. Yeah. Go comment.
And you must check out this site for Harry Potter fanart. Wow. artdungeon.net ~ Harry Potter Artwork (Fan Art by Marta) Am inspired.
Want the King Arthur soundtrack, the Spidey 2 score, and the Ned Kelly dvd. Next tuesday there will be a sharp drop in Jen’s budget.

Oh my goodness how much it has rained. Flooding-type weather here, hail in some places. Thank goodness nothing’s flooded around my place yet, but some of the low roads have standing water and the highways were a mess last night. I hate to say it but St. Louis drivers on the whole are pretty bad. Now, you can’t lump me in with the whole because I’m a very good driver (almost always 😉 ) and I’ve never had (read: caused) an accident, but gosh, the people in my town can’t drive if there’s severe weather. When my car was hit (about a year ago, I guess) it was only slightly rainy and the lady sure had the choice of going up on the curb or hitting my car…sheesh. Go slow, turn on your lights, and don’t tailgate like the stupid van behind me this morning.
And so I have finally seen Return of the King on DVD, which makes me happy…however, it’s also the first dvd that I’ve ever bought or rented that is defective. Nearly all of chapter 28, the Siege of Gondor, flickers, breaks up, and just plain stops until there’s only five or so minutes left to the chapter. *yes it’s a long one* The rest of the movie plays fine. So I’ll have to exchange that today. blah. Somehow I managed to buy two copies of the Hidalgo soundtrack, so while I’m at it I’ll return the duplicate…and return the cd-only version of the new Hanson album because I found the cd-dvd version at fye. Yay returns! (heavy sarcasm there)
Some subtle improvements could have made Troy a much better movie…

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