Between the Darkness & the Light

Yes, I have been watching too much Babylon 5, as the title clearly shows.  But it's also related to where I am in my life right now: pretty much done with high school, but not even sure where I'm going to college.  I just want May 2nd to come.  And there's the other set, the darkness of senioritis and the light of schoolwork.  I think, to deal with being rejected by my top two choices, I wrapped myself in a cloak of don't-care, and sat around watching DVDs and blogging about politics.  With the exception of a few classes that I genuinely care about, I have a hard time doing any work anymore . . . . but I'm starting to kick that habit now, thankfully.

But guess what!  Over spring break, my family and I went on a ski trip, and I went down black diamond runs!  We also got caught at the top of the mountain in a blizzard, and got to ride down in a snow cat . . . I was freaking out to no end at the time, but all I have now is a good story.  So all is well :)

Also over spring break, I (rather stupidly) left my nice digital camera at school, so I went hunting for other cameras around the house.  I found two: A Canon Elph LT 270, and a Minolta Freedom AF 35.  The Elph uses APS (Advanced Photo System) film, which almost no one sells anymore, but is totally awesome, not least because it offers three different sets of dimensions.  Awesome, yes, but hard to find, since the film Elphs were discontinued in the early 2000s and APS never really caught on.  BUT Amazon sells anything and everything, so I found some Fuji film, ISO 400, 3 rolls of 25 exposures each.  I can't wait to start taking pictures!  Film for the Minolta is upcoming, I need to go to Samy's this week.  I'll tell you all about the pictures, and maybe bully my scanner into working so you can see them.

Hm.  I got a twitter account, if anyone cares.  @AnyaPrynn  . . . not that hard to find :)  Mostly I use it to promote my politics blog and talk to Senators haha.

Babylon 5 is one of the best TV shows.  Ever.  I say that about every show I watch, but this is different.  It's . . . devastatingly real.  Everything is so perfectly imagined.  I see parts of myself in every character.  I laugh with them and cry with them and use them as examples on my religion tests (I got a 100%, so I'm not complaining!).  It's so philosophical and adventurous and everything I could ever want in a TV show.  So . . . go watch!  I have 2 episodes left in the second season and all I can say is that it's getting better and better!  I did a wallpaper . . . not the greatest, I don't think, or at least, it's not what I wanted, but it's nice.  Oh, whatever, you decide :P

Full-size image & description on my website as usual.

Current Music:
Capercaillie
Battlestar Galactica soundtrack
Avatar soundtrack
Loreena McKennitt
Nightwish

Current Books:
"The People v. Bush", by Charlotte Dennett
"Iranophobia", by Haggi Ram
"Destiny: Child of the Sky", by Elizabeth Haydon
"Rapture of the Deep", by L.A. Meyer
"Sharp Teeth", by Toby Barlow
"Mrs. Dalloway", by Virginia Woolf
"The Wizard of London", by Mercedes Lackey

Current TV Shows:
Babylon 5 Season 2
Law & Order: SVU Season 2

Will the Real Catholic Church Please Stand Up?

So, I'm looking for the Catholic Church as it was meant to be.  The Catholic Church that:

• Preaches love for everyone
• Supports tolerance
• Is doing such a good job helping people in Haiti
• Knows better than to get involved in politics and legal battles
• Says everyone is equal in the eyes of God . . . and the Church

Not the Catholic Church that:

• Seems less than interested in reaching out to other faiths
• Threatens to stop social service operations in DC if the city legalizes gay marriage
• Threw support behind the "yes on 8" campaign in California in 2008
• Has forgotten that church and state are supposed to remain completely different entities

I might as well wish for Admiral Adama to swoop out of the sky in the Galactica and take me to Kobol, it seems.

6 C's

1. Cinema (Julianne & I watching "Avatar")
2. Caffeine (Drinking more iced tea than we probably should at the Cheesecake Factory until 11.40 at night)
3. Chemistry (Yep, we did our AP Chem homework at dinner.  We are just that awesome)
4. Cold (Beautifully cold and windy outside.  A truly lovely day to be out and about!)
5. Cairde (Irish for "friends")
6. Craic (Irish for "fun')

Full review on "Avatar" coming later, but for now, I'm exhausted!

Lazy Amazing Days

It's a cloudy, rainy day in December, and I'm in one of those funky, artsy, calm-but-hyperaware moods that the rain always puts me in.

I'm sitting in bed, doing AP Government homework and listening to Enya music.

But I'm also ripping some Stargate Atlantis episodes.

But I'm also dying to go out and dance in the rain.

But I'm also writing a story.

But I also just kind of want to curl up and go to sleep.

See what I mean?  Southern California rains are just so rare, and real cold winter rains, complete with clouds and raindrops running down your window are just so rare.  There's a big tree right outside my window and I can see individual raindrops on its leaves from across the room.  I'm slightly in awe.  I went outside and sat in my backyard for a bit, just watching the world turn.  My backyard is huge and a bit wild, and when it rains I feel like I should see garden fairies or something.  I'm normally a more analytical person, but fairies have always held a special place in my heart, and the rain brings out all the wild myths that I've always half believed in.

The rain washes LA clean, more, I think, than in other cities.  All the colors are sharper, the air is more welcoming, the city is more alive.  You feel like you should see plants growing in front of your eyes, and the world has a new soundtrack for a bit.  That's why I love the rain, it's wild and powerful and beautiful and it brings you life.