X-3 spoilers below, you have been warned

Wow, this is hard for me to put down as my thoughts are all running a mile a minute!

Okay, this movie was all right, but not great. i had not expected so many deaths and lost powers at all. i also expected (from what previews and promo photos i saw) for the Brotherhood to be working against the X-Men (but of course this was too much to hope). In the final battle Angel's rescue of his father was awesome, Iceman vs. Pyro excellent, and Wolverine was strangely self-sacrificial. i did not expect him to take such a leadership role at all, it's very different for him (the loner).

Of Jean / Phoenix... Scott / Cyclop's death was pointless. It was really awesome how they made her powers look and what they made her do but overall the scene in her house was just dumb. Also, the younger computer generated versions of Xavier and Magneto were terribly fake.

i was pretty upset about Rogue's decision to give up her powers; i understand where she was coming from but she took the easy out imho. When Wolverine was fighting to get to Phoenix / Jean to kill her i fully expected Rogue to show up and absorb her powers because i thought i had read on the internet something to this effect was in the comic books but must have confused it with someone else. This is probably what bothers me the most in that, Wolverine's sacrifice was noble, but Rogue's was selfish. i was never a Jean / Wolverine shipper so this was strange for me to watch.

i felt really bad for Leech and was hoping someone would get him out!

Angel trying to cut off his wings was heartbreaking.

i was shocked by Mystique and Magneto's loss of power but don't think it's permanent. When the Beast's hand was changed it returned to normal after a while. i'm also relieved that Xavier lives on in some way (and if you didn't stay until the end of the credits, shame on you!).

tackling immigration

Heard on Rush Limbaugh: Call It What It Is

i've avoided writing about immigration reform because i really don't know what to think about it. i mean, there are certain aspects that i feel strongly about because my father was in the Border Patrol since i was little and is now in Immigration, but overall i do not know how to fix the problem. The trouble is, the laws that are currently in effect are not being enforced. i definitely to not support amnesty for those who have come here illegally and certainly if it will cost the illegal immigrant a fraction of what it costs a legal immigrant to become a citizen. There is no logical reason to reward anyone for breaking the law! It's also insane how long it takes for someone to become a citizen because the system is flooded. If someone wants to become a citizen and legally fulfills all requirements then they should not be turned away or have to wait a decade. That's about all i can think to say right now, but i hope the new bill doesn't pass.

for those of you who are wondering (and i know you're out there)

My final grades were finally posted and are as follows:
Art Appreciation - A
Mythology - B
First-Year Spanish II - C
Archery - A
Weight Training - A
World's Greatest Films - C
GPA - 3.18

Art i knew about (i didn't have to take the final because i had an A), Weight Training and Archery i was pretty sure would be an A, Mythology could have gone A- or B+ but i probably got marked down for the paper being late, WGF i was hoping for a B but the tests kept dragging my grades down (the papers were mostly A's), Spanish--i must confess--it is enough of a relief to discover that i passed.

Why I recommend "The Surrogate : A Novel"

The Surrogate : A Novel

by Judith Henry Wall

While this book’s villians are a televangelist and her brother, this book does not have a negative outlook on Christianity, rather it praises genuine love and caring and charity. The book starts with a chapter in the middle of the action and then goes back to the very beginning. Meanwhile it looks at the unfolding events from the perspective of multiple characters, those both integral to the plot and those who are only supporting members of the drama. While it is the most articulate or well written book i’ve ever read it is a good read, a good diversion, and would probably make a really good film. Definitely worth reading though it’s not for children: there are a couple of sexual situations and its entirety is focused on moral issues.

See more about The Surrogate : A Novel

stuck in my head

i'm so tired of being here ~ suppressed by all my childish fears ~ and if you have to leave ~ i wish that you would just leave ~ cause your memory still lingers here ~ and it won't leave me alone

these wounds won't seem to heal ~ this pain is just too real ~ there's just too much that time cannot erase

when i cried You'd wipe away all of my tears ~ when i'd scream You'd fight away all of my fears ~ You've held my hand through all of these years ~ so You still have all of me

You used to captivate me by your resonating light ~ now I'm bound by the life you left behind ~ Your touch it haunts my once pleasant dreams ~ Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

these wounds won't seem to heal ~ this pain is just too real ~ there's just too much that time cannot erase

when i cry will You wipe away all of my tears ~ when i scream please chase away all of my fears ~ will You hold my hand through all of these years ~ because You still have all of me

i've tried so hard to tell myself You're not gone ~ but though You're still with me ~ i've felt alone oh so long

when i cry You wipe away all of my tears ~ when i scream You fight away all of my fears ~ You've held my hand through all of these years ~ and You still have ~ all of
me
~ adapted from "my Immortal" as sung by Evanescence

goal 9

Lose 30 pounds… completed! i can’t believe it, i don’t feel any different. i think i owe this to my new job because i stand for ten hours (well, i get to sit when there are no customers, but on a crate without a back). i’m taking out heavy garbage (which i just started to notice didn’t seem as heavy to me anymore), sweeping and mopping, and carrying buckets of windshield washer fluid mix. So i’ve finally got past the twenty-five pound hump, which is amazing to me! Praise God.

See more progress on: make 10 reachable goals

just back from Mission Impossible 3

Great film, better than the second, though not as good as the first of course. Abrams really did great work. i just got back, hopped on the internet to drop everyone a note, and discovered that Abrams is slated to write, produce, and possibly direct Star Trek XI with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (as yet untitled or announced which series it will be based on, mum is the word on such developments). All i can see is wow, i can hardly wait until 2008.

Yeah, i wrote that last post last night at work. My sis is sick so we're staying home from church. i still hope to see MI3 tonight. i'm currently updating my list of songs that i want to download once i get a new computer and/or mp3 player. Gotta leave pretty soon for a Mother's Day picnic.

people can be stupid

So today the gas station i work at ran out of Unleaded because the truck didn't come. Everyone (75% of our customers) is just driving through the parking lot instead of getting Unleaded Plus. The thing is, our Unleaded is $2.71 and our Plus s $2.81. i'm looking a block away at Unleaded for $2.84. So everyone is paying more for Unleaded instead of getting our Unleaded Plus with a savings of 3 cents. Like i said, some people are stupid.

p.s. Regular Unleaded in Colorado is 85 as opposed to 87 in Arizona and most other states, but we're still the ampm of the Rockies.

~ 06051.3 1975

regarding last week's silence

It had been really nice to write after i get off work (helps me unwind) but last week it wasn't possible because relatives were staying with us. Finals will be sprinkled throughout the next two weeks and then i'll have more time to post here (for a while at least). Hopefully i'll also be able to buy my own camera and computer now that i'm working. Guess that's about it.

Cyrano De Bergerac = Gérard Depardieu at his best!

i’ve always thought of this actor as being typecast as the bumbling idiot, but Cyrano truly does have panache. This movie is funny, the translations of the poetry rhyme, and the the viewer can’t help but love and empathize with the hero. i would definitely recommend this movie even with the sad ending. Wonderful locations and costumes make the film complete.

Art Appreciation oral report

Something i forget to mention last night: oral reports did start yesterday with Ancient Art (from about 8000 BC as i recall, covering several periods). They did not seem prepared or thorough, yet the teacher seemed to think they did fine. I know they had a difficult period to report on, but they chose it, and i felt they did poorly. I could do my report better right now and i haven't even started my research! So i'm now confident that i'll do fine. i'm sure that we won't be going until next Tuesday and i have the weekend ahead of me to prepare... not that i'll need to use all of it. Besides, i have work, too.

just got home from work

i'm feeling a lot better now than i did earlier. My first night on the job solo went really smoothly. The only hitch was that Sean took the key that we have to share so i couldn't lock up. He had to drive back down to lock up for me. But i spent a good portion of the night hanging out with this guy Jared who lives in an apartment behind the gas station. He's kind of cute and funny. Hanging out with him definitely makes time move more quickly, plus if i'm alone i don't think people are as likely to bother me. But everything went well tonight, praise God!

what i need to remember

Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.
~ Romans 12:12 (NLT)

i should be studying, but i'm not. i'm tired of studying. i'm tired of reading stupid books and trying to disect movies in the hopes of learning something. i don't want to write another paper about Lawrence of Arabia. i don't care to be prepared for my presentation on impressionism. i just feel so dead. Mythology was okay but i have another test on Thursday. Archery stunk so badly. i'm just dreading these last few weeks of school because i'm so sick of the b.s. i got conditionally accepted at the University of Hawaii but i don't have the money to go and i just got a new job that i don't feel right bailing out on when they're so hard up for employees. i just feel stripped, devoid of ambition or wisdom. What is the point in trying when you always fail? i don't know what God wants me to do and He's not telling me but i still feel guilty that i'm not asking enough. Why do i abuse myself like this? He hasn't said anything for over six years, it's not my fault. i hate feeling like this, like i can't try any harder but i haven't tried hard enough. As soon as i get back on my feet something else that's bad will happen, it always does. i can't be happy or successful or even get by, why no of course not, Kristi has to be held down. i hate feeling like this. Why am i doomed to be a pessimist?

epic but not empathetic

Lawrence of Arabia

by David Lean

This movie has great cinematography and is made well enough but i just can’t identify with Lawrence. i think that’s what the makers were aiming for (making him seem unfathomable and an enigma) but i believe that it’s the film’s greatest weakness that they couldn’t give us a hero to identify with.

See more about Lawrence of Arabia

em...

Jane Austen's Emma

by Diarmuid Lawrence

Well i was looking forward to watching this but was disappointed by it. It’s not as bad as Persuasion or Northanger Abbey but it’s nowhere near as good as either Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or Mansfield Park. Could be worse, but it’s definitely not the best. There’s not enough character development for the movie to stand on its own: i had to keep explaining things to my sister because she was lost. i prefer Clueless.

See more about Jane Austen's Emma

Dean Koontz quotes

i couldn't find the one i was looking for, but these are good, too

“Perhaps extreme danger strips us of all pretenses, all ambitions, all confusions, focusing us more intensely than we are otherwise ever focused, so that we remember what we otherwise spend most of our lives forgetting: that our nature and purpose is, more than anything else, to love and to make love, to take joy from the beauty of the world, to live with an awareness that the future is not as real a place for any of us as are the present and the past.”

“Like all of us in this storm between birth and death, I can wreak no great changes on the world, only small changes for the better, I hope, in the lives of those I love.”

“When tempest tossed, embrace chaos.”

archiving Art Appreiciation critiques

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit
Two Women by Vermeer

archiving World's Greatest Films papers

Form in the Wizard of Oz
Chinatown
Getting Wet: Shower or Bath?
Memos Gone Awry
Lost Treasure
Dark Documentary
Images of the Desert

Yeah, this class has been a major headache as every time i try to read the book it's more confusing than helpful and i feel like i'm not learning much. Basically i've written all of these papers by the seat of my pants but somehow still am doing pretty well. I've gotten a C and a B test and still have my final. I'll continue posting my papers here (i'm writing them, someone might as well be reading them, even if they are stupid).

p.s. Please DO NOT copy my papers and use them yourself!