F.A.M.E. update

It's nearly 1:30 in the morning. I'm sitting at my desk in a ratty old Death Cab t-shirt and gym shorts, half working on homework and half watching old episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" on Netflix when all of a sudden my phone buzzes. I pick it up and notice that I have a new follower on Twitter. "Who could that be?" I think. I don't have too many friends in the Twitterverse and I've been getting an abundance of spam followers lately so I open up the app, fully prepared to mark it as spam. This is what I found when I logged on: 

WHAT?! WHAT?! I...don't even know. 
I have never heard of Elina Madison and I was a bit curious so I took the liberty of looking her up on IMDb.com. I found that she has had a total of 85 television and film roles, a majority of which are indie horror films that I have never heard of. Elina has also been featured in an episode of "1000 Ways to Die", Spike channels recently cancelled television show. 
As if being followed by some strange indie actress wasn't odd enough, I discovered that she has also had small roles on primetime television shows such as ABC's "Brother's & Sisters" and NBC's "Las Vegas" both back in 2007. 
My research also found that Elina has been in a couple of adult films at the beginning of her career with titles such as "The Erotic Misadventures of the Invisible Man" (2003) and "Bloody Tease" (2004).  
After my research was over I sat dumbfounded in my chair for a few minutes. Who is Elina Madison? Why is she following my Twitter? How did she find my Twitter? I have all of these questions and I'm kind of afraid to ask her.
I sent a text message to a friend informing her of this new life development, which read: 

"So I'm pretty sure that a porn star/D-list actress starting following me on Twitter and I'm not sure how I feel about this" 

And her super helpful response was:

"Haha. Maybe this is how you will get famous."

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that this is not the way that I want to gain fame in the celebrity world. Actually, I'm pretty sure the only real allure of fame is the money that comes with it. 

I really don't understand what's going on right now.

F.A.M.E.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Arco around the corner from my house pumping gas into my truck when I heard my name being called out. I turned around, befuddled, expecting to see someone that I knew or even recognized, but instead saw myself facing an old black woman. "Hey, Katie!" she said, "What are you doing over here?" I stared at her for a moment before I answered. "Do I know her?" I thought. 

"You don't recognize me do you? I shop at your store all the time. My sister owns that Wingstop in the parking lot."

"Oh, uh...right. Hi." 

To this day, I still don't know who that woman is. It freaked me out a little that she knew my first name because I wasn't wearing my nametag or in uniform. I was in jeans and a t-shirt, getting gas 20 minutes from my work. I admit that I was a little weirded out.

Last week, I was at school walking to my truck after class, listening to my iPod, when a girl walked up beside me and started babbling on about her math professor. I only heard about half of it because my music was up pretty loud and I had assumed that she was talking to someone else. When she wouldn't stop, I took out one earphone and said "I'm sorry, but were you talking to me?" 

"Yes. You're in my math class right? What do you think of the professor?" 

"Um...I'm not in any math classes this semester...sorry"

"You're not? Well I know you from somewhere! Do you work nearby?"

"Yeah not too far I guess."

"Oh! You work at [enter grocery store name here]! You are so funny!"

"Um..thanks?"

It's things like this that weird me out. Lately I've noticed more and more that people remember me because of things I say or do, and 99% of the time I have no idea who they are. Another example that has nothing to do with where I work. 

A few months ago, me and a friend went bar hopping on a whim. We ended up at a bar in downtown Long Beach and he got a text from a girl he was interested in. It turned out that she was at the bar next door celebrating someone's birthday. We went over to say hi to her before calling it a night and when my friend introduced us, she took one look at me and said "OH MY GOD! I KNOW YOU!" 

I looked at the girl, I looked at my friend, and back at the girl and said "Ummm...ok?" Admittedly she looked a little on the drunk side so I thought she was just mistaking me for someone else. Until she said, "You were in my Environmental Science class a couple of semesters ago," 

"...The class with the Asian guy no one could understand? The guy who just kind of made up everything as he went along and had no clue what he was doing?"

"YES! I sat behind you! You made the funniest comments!"

And a good chunk of the remainder of our conversation was directed towards me. I felt kind of bad for stealing my friends thunder but at the same time I didn't know what to do. I've noticed recently that everywhere I go, I seem to know at least one person in some way or another. I've observed that these kind of awkward coincidences freak me out. When I was in class with that girl, she legitimately just heard the comments that I made under my breath. It wasn't even anything major or one comment in particular, it was all of them. Same thing when people recognize me from work. Let's be real here: in regards to the company and the whole store itself: I am no one. I'm at the bottom of the chain. i know this. I accept this. i don't want to stay there any longer than I have to. But the fact that i get recognized when I'm out and about...it's weird. I've been in bars and someone will come up to me and ask me if I work at the store. It's weird. I don't recognize people from their jobs out in the world. I don't know. 

I have to get ready for a barbecue. Happy Labor Day! 

Long Overdue

*SPOILER ALERT*

There have been many different opinions on which Nolan Dark Knight is the best of the trilogy. If you know anything about me, you'd know that it is virtually impossible for me to remain unbiased on the subject of Batman anything so in order to explain why I feel the way I do about the trilogy---that factor must be understood. Ever since I was a kid, Batman has been a big part of my life. It's a story that I have grown up knowing and I hold anything that comes with the Batman name on a very high pedestal. Knowing more than an average person should about Batman's legacy and backstory, I am fully prepared to defend my argument that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises are my two favorites of the trilogy for one reason. His name is Ra's Al Ghul. 
When asked who their favorite Batman villain is, most people go with the Joker. After all he is the most well known villain and the possibly the most psychopathic character in the DC Universe. In my case, Ra's Al Ghul is my favorite villain. In the comics it has been proven time and time again that he cannot die. It's kind of complicated to explain but in a nutshell Ra's found the secret to eternal life. This secret is called "The Lazarus  Pit" which enables him to be revived at around 50 years old. In his first appearance in the comics, Ra's Al Ghul is roughly 500 years old but had lost count of his age many years before. He likes to play both sides of the spectrum when it comes to Batman. On one hand he wants to make him a better man and on the other, he wants to take over the world. I feel that his role in Batman Begins was very well played by Liam Neeson. granted, Liam Neeson could portray a paper bag and still do an amazing job, but still. 
I remember watching Batman Begins like it was yesterday. I remember how excited I was when I realized that Ra's Al Ghul was going to be the villain of Nolan's Batman directorial debut. No one talks about Ra's Al Ghul. When most people discuss main Batman villains---he is the one that no one remembers. Batman Begins had a brilliant way of showing both sides of him. Nolan was able to bring one of the most brilliant villains to the spotlight in such a way that it will not be possible for fans to forget his name.
In The Dark Knight, his name was not mentioned at all. In regards to the trilogy aspect, I felt like this film---although very good on it's own---had very little to do with the "trilogy". Yes, Heath Ledger was a phenomenal Joker. He captured the essence of the character much better than Jack Nicholson did in the '80's and he deserved each award that he won for that role. The Joker is a character that no one will ever be able to fully understand. He is a psychopath that no one can stop or get close to. He does not have friends or possessions. He does not care about anyone or anything. He is the epitome of chaos. Again, although the movie was very good as a stand-alone film, it had nothing to do with the aspect of a trilogy. 
And finally, we come to The Dark Knight Rises. I have heard mixed reviews on this---most of them were good and the others were mostly "The Dark Knight was better." I can understand why those people say that, but I think it's just because they can't fully grasp how monumental this film was to the franchise. Not just with this film but with the others as well, Nolan managed to take multiple Batman storylines and mash them together in such a way that he managed to create his own Batman universe. He created his own beginning and end to the Batman story. Due to this fact, the first time I saw the movie I did not see Talia coming into the film. When Bruce came to the conclusion that Bane was Ra's Al Ghul's son, I just accepted it because Nolan had created his own world. I was angry not at the film, but at myself because I KNEW that Ra's only had one child and that it was Talia. I should've seen it coming. The second time I saw it i caught a good chunk of the signs that Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) was not who she pretended to be. There are several things that I  really liked and disliked about the film even though it was probably my favorite of the trilogy.


Likes
-Bane: When Bane comes to mind most people think of the super muscular guy in a luchador mask who pumped up on steroids (technically it's called venom but eh). In the '90's movie, Bane was portrayed as an idiot. TDKR was a much more accurate depiction of Bane. In the comics he is a criminal mastermind. Yes, he has super strength but he is a mastermind. He can come up with plans, he can brainwash men into following him and do his bidding. He is the mastermind that was portrayed in the film. 

Yes. This happened.

-Backbreaking: The scene where Bane breaks Bruce's back was so...beautiful. This topic has been discussed many times over by fans such as myself before the movie came out because it is such a crucial moment in the Bane/Batman story. Bane was one of the very few characters who never feared Batman---never worried about whether or not he would lose the fight. Bane breaking Batman's back was a crucial moment in the comics. It put Bruce out of commission for a long time and it ruined his spirit. In that moment in the sewers, when the two of them are fighting, I was breathless. 
- Catwoman: I had serious doubts about Anne Hathaway's portrayal of this vital character. Throughout the history of Batman, Catwoman has played a very important role in Bruce's life. Selina Kyle is an expert jewel thief and has always been an expert jewel thief. She is another character that can be seen as an anti-hero. She doesn't want Bruce to fail but she doesn't know if she can trust him. I was shocked at how well Hathaway played the role of Selina Kyle. She is indeed more of a Robin Hood type character and that speech she gave to Bruce when they are dancing at Tate's party was so well done that just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. 

Dislikes
-Lack of Ra's: Although I am aware that Nolan wanted to stay far away from the supernatural aspects of the traditional comic book film, I still think that it was wrong to exclude Ra's from the film. Yes, there was that minor 3 minute hallucination but for me, that wasn't enough. HE CAN'T DIE! It was a little irritating but I understand why he didn't present it in that manner. 
-The Ever-Popular Bird Issue: Everything about this film was incredible...but this. This. This stupid combination of characters into one character was...the dumbest thing...I don't even have words for this. Plot lines can get mashed together and it works but characters? No. Let me clarify something: I am talking about Robin. For those of you who don't know, there are four Robins in Batman's life. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damien Wayne. Each sidekick has a different origin story and three out of four are orphans. They all have dark pasts and that is what draws Bruce to them. They understand him. I wish Nolan would have picked one defining Robin to model his Robin after. The fact that he NAMED his character Robin was stupid. It ruins the effect. I also believe that the name Blake is too close to Drake---the third Robin and a fan favorite---for it to be a coincidence. He needed to pick one, not take elements of the three. 
-Talia Dying: To be honest, I didn't actually mind her death all that much (except for that acting job. That was terrible). What I did mind, even though I hate to admit it, was the lack of Damien. Damien Wayne is the spawn of Bruce and Talia. There's a whole lot that I won't get into but just know that Talia's death changed the course of the Batman universe. He created his own world but he changed too many things. 

All in all the movie was fantastic. As a hardcore Batman fanatic, I thought Nolan did a really good job with his story.   

Womp Womp

This is an assignment for my Global Communications class. I was working on this survey at my local coffee establishment earlier and read a couple of answers to my friend Sarah. She suggested I post it because I like to talk about myself and I thought it was a brilliant idea because I'm pretty awesome. Originally there were 24 questions but a few of them are boring so I'm leaving them out.

1. Which authors do you enjoy? Ernest Hemingway, JK Rowling, John Green, J.D. Salinger, and Jeff Lindsay
2. What was the last book you read? What kind of impact did it have on your life? The last book I read was Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire. In all honesty, I felt that it droned on a bit too much and the only parts that I thoroughly enjoyed were the last three chapters. It didn’t have too much of an impact on my life other than solidifying the fact that The Twilight Saga is the worst piece of fiction written in a decade.
3. What types of books would you like to read if you had more time? I would like to finish Atlas Shrugged.
9. When do you listen to the radio? Do you listen primarily for music, news, or talk shows? What stations do you listen to? I listen to the radio when I’m in the car because my Ipod adapter is broken. I typically listen to KROQ and KIIS. They’re FM stations.
10. How and where do you listen to music? Do you listen to music on the radio or just music downloads? I listen to music on my Ipod mostly. I listen to music all day everyday. If I don’t have it on me I’ll listen to Pandora on my phone. I’m a big CD collector but I usually download albums first to judge whether or not it’s worth spending money on.
11. Do you listen to music frequently, rarely, or occasionally? What types? I almost can’t function without music. Even if it’s a half a mile car ride, I need music to break the silence. I listen to a little bit of everything except for country. And Opera. And musicals.
13. What is your current favorite song and your favorite recording artist? My current favorite song is “Heinrich Maneuver” by Interpol. My all time favorite song is “(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan” by Dntel. I have a few favorite bands. Death Cab for Cutie, The Strokes, We Are Scientists, and Bright Eyes are the big four. I’ve been really into Interpol lately though.
14. What influence do you think popular music has on people in your age group? It has a pretty big influence on society. I bet that teens would not have been as keen to drink grape flavored cough syrup for pleasure if Lil’ Wayne hadn’t rapped about it first.
16. How often do you go online? Do you regularly use Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites? Which ones? I go online probably about 20-30 times a day on my phone. I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Send the occasional Tweet. I have a YouTube channel but it’s mostly dumb videos of my friends doing stupid crap. I’m really into Intagramming at the moment.  
18. What do you make a point to watch every week? Why? I have a few shows that I watch. Pretty Little Liars, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, True Blood and Dexter. Some of them I watch for comedic value. Others because I like the mystery. I watch Dexter because I have a thing for vigilantes. And because he gives me hope for the world.
20. Do you own an iPod or an iPad/Kindle? How have they changed your viewing, reading, and listening habits? Yes I own an Ipod. His name is Mortimer. He's enabled me to listen to music at all times. He's probably made me become slightly more socially awkward than I should be.

Mortimer in all his glory

21. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? How long ago? The Expendables 2. Last week.
22. What is/are your all-time favorite movie(s)? Why? This is a complicated question. I have several favorites in different genres. The Godfather because I like that you can clearly see his descent from do-gooder Army Vet to ruthless mob boss. The Scream movies because Wes Craven makes fun of himself and the horror genre in each film. Donnie Darko because it’s weird and no one can ever fully grasp what the whole thing is about other than “it’s about time travel”. Atonement because it’s intended to be an apology. Garden State because it helped me get through high school. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist for the soundtrack and the adventure that I’ve always wanted. Superbad because it reminds me of me and my best friend. Mean Girls because it’s the most quotable movie on the planet. (500) Days of Summer for the soundtrack and because it’s not a love story. Watchmen because it’s arguably the best comic book movie ever filmed. Sin City because on the surface, it’s several subplots with nothing in common except that they all tie together in the end. Jurassic Park because I’ve always wanted a dinosaur. Heavy Metal because it’s the most epic cartoon musical about absolutely nothing that I have had the pleasure to watch. And finally The Dark Knight Trilogy because Nolan included my favorite Batman villain: Ra’s Al Ghul. And because Nolan got more of the Batman universe correct than any director before him. And because he drew his ideas from the actual comic book storylines and mashed the different plots together.

I think that last answer means that I should really get my DKR analysis out there. Not tonight though. I have to get up in 4 hours. Not tomorrow either. Maybe sometime Friday. Or Sunday.

I'm awesome.

I took the summer off. So sue me.

Aaaaaand after a long summer break I'm back reader(s) (coughSarahcough). I'm kind of being forced to keep up with this blog due to a Journalism class requirement so I'll most likely be posting regularly from now on. So much has changed in the past 3 months, I don't even know where to begin. Because I'm getting a little hungry, I'll make these into bullet points. 

  

- I have acquired two lovely new scars, both in very different ways.  

1. I can't show you the first one because I'm currently wearing jeans and it's located on my upper thigh. How did I get it you may ask? During a trip to The Vegas in late June, severely intoxicated me was angry and somehow managed to stab myself in the leg. No, I don't know how I did it. Yes, it hurt like hell for a week afterward. The scar is in the shape of a big blotchy circle---that in all honesty kind of looks like Ditto from Pokemon.

2. I have an almost perfectly circular scar on my forearm, just above my wrist. This is everyone's favorite scar because of how I came to get it and the because you can tell what it is just from looking at it. For the sake of the second party involved, I'm not going to go into full detail but the gist of it is this: my friend bit me. Not in a fun way, she just bit me. There was a whole lot of alcohol involved and it just happened. While I'm waiting for the picture of the actual scar to upload from my cellular device, here are some aftermath photos of that night.

 

Yes, she bit my eye. No, we're still not sure how it happened.

This one is located on my inner elbow.

There it is in all it's glory. 

 - I've been hanging out with some new people who, without knowing it, have given me a new perspective on things. They are incredibly fun to hang out with and it's been a damn good summer. Hopefully this coming year will be ten times better than last year was.

- For some insane reason, one of my bosses at work decided to make me in charge of safety at work. The official title is "Safety Champion" but I prefer to call myself "Safety Captain". Not much comes with this new title. Once a week I take an hour or so out of my shift and run around the store posting the new safety fliers on the walls of each department and once a month I replace giant calendars that advertise safety on the walls of said departments. Let's be real though---I actually just walk around the store for 2 hours and hang out with my friends in the Bakery and Meat departments. I was hoping a pay raise would come with this new position but all it came with was this:  

The one perk of having this on my nametag is that I get to yell at people about safety all day and point at my nametag. It makes the time go by faster.

- I am FINALLY almost done with The Hunger Games series. I struggled to get through the second and I'm a little more than 1/4 through the third. So far it's much better than the other 2. 

-The last installment of Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy was released. I have conflicting opinions on it but I'll save my review for a later date. Maybe after work tomorrow. We'll see.

- And last but definitely not least, my best friend in the world packed up her crap and moved to the boring, humid state of Oklahoma for grad school. It was really depressing but I'm pretty sure we had an awesome last summer together. Do I miss her? Not really. The new scar on my arm will never let me forget her. And she kicks my ass everyday in Words with Friends. Stupid game. 

WHO IS A????

Ever since ABC Family's hit television show Pretty Little Liars hit the airwaves, I have been watching it religiously. If you haven't seen it, the show is about four friends reunited after a year by the discovery of their friend Allison's body. Allison had gone missing after a small kickback the previous year and no one knew where she went or what had happened to her. The small town they live in assumed her to be dead so when the body was found in her backyard, the girls had to relive it again. At the actual funeral, they all get a threatening text message from a mysterious A character who spends the rest of the show in the shadows, hellbent on ruining the lives of Aria, Emily, Hannah, and Spencer. If you've seen it---you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Although I think this show is partly retarded, I still love every moment of it. There are hot guys (Jason, Ezra, and Caleb), high school problems, and mysterious figures. What's not to like? I know many of my friends think it's a dumb show and I don't have one guy friend who seems to enjoy or watch the show without complaint.
Due to our love of PLL and alcohol, my friend Lauren and I have taken it upon ourselves to create a drinking game to this show. I know you can pretty much make a drinking game out of any show or movie, but in my experience not all drinking games are fun or exciting. This particular game is a sure-fire way to help you either get into the show or come up with a new perspective on it. It might even be an incentive for your friends of the male persuasion to get into it or at least not complain when you watch it.

Here are the rules:

1. 1 drink every time some one mentions Aria and Ezra's secret relationship
2. 1 shot for every awkward lesbian scene
3. 1 shot for every text message from A
4. 2 shots whenever you realize that each character has a different phone in each episode
5. 2 drinks when the name Alli or Allison is mentioned
6. 1 shot whenever Lucas is referred to as a Hermaphrodite
7. 1 shot everytime someone accuses Ian of murder
8. 2 drinks whenever Spencer disagrees with everyone
9. 3 shots for every flashback when Aria has pink hair

and finally my favorite rule of all time---
10. 1 shot every time Spencer wears a weird hat.

So there you go. Do you have what it takes to figure out who A is while intoxicated? Test yourself and find out. Now I must leave you so I can finish my tostada before I go back into the depths of hell. AKA work. Toodles.