Happy New Year!

I have a feeling this year will be a good one. Not only will I graduate, but I'm going into 2012 having edited my book to the best of my ability! And I must say, for the first time in a long time, I'm very, very satisfied with it!

Something things that I got for Christmas:

1. A kindle!! I love it! <3 Aladdin got it for me after I talked forever about wanting one! I downloaded a ton of classics and that's all I've been reading, really. LOL! I cannot wait to get more and more books. I'm just going to read all the time!

2. I got straight A's!!!
This was a huge surprise and I'm so happy to end the first semester of my Senior year with a 4.0, let's see if I can do it in my second semester! :D

As I said, I am pretty much finished with my edits of CUTLASS. Now, I just have to wait for some other feedback. It is 115, 886 words (a HUGE cut!). I delete so many things I just couldn't let go of before, but I think it is a better novel! I cannot wait to begin work on FLINTLOCK! Well, it's already finished, I just have to edit! Then I can completely rewrite CANNON. YAY TRILOGY!

hehe. Okay, okay!
I'm finished for now.
I am very sorry everyone! I have no wifi or internet at home, but I'll be back t school soon! I also found a temp job, so I'll be working at the University Bookstore until February. Hopefully I'll find something that will work around my schedule!

Love,

Ashley

Two Part Movies?

I'm am FINISHED with finals!! And I have a whole month ahead of me! I have a job interview today. :/ It's at the University Bookstore. I'd be more motivated if it wasn't a temp job, but it is a job! And that's something to be excited about!  

While in between studying, I came across THE HOBBIT!!! 

And guess what? 

It's a two-part movie. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 

The Hobbit: There and Back Again

Now, while I think The Hobbit deserves two films (after all, it is a whole other world, and the film really couldn't be done any justice in just one)...it makes me wonder how far this whole two-part trend will go. 

At first I think the argument was, with books like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Breaking Dawn, that the books were so big, you couldn't possibly fit them into a one-part movie...unless it was really long, but you run into all sorts of problems in theaters with long movies. Over the years, movies have gotten shorter so the theaters can capitalize on the amount of viewings they can have in one day with a film. So, the option of having a longer one-part movie is gone. Here, however, The Hobbit is far smaller in page numbers than either Deathly Hallows of Breaking Dawn. 

Then people want to talk about working out complexity of the book-to-film adaptation.

Which I have a problem with because most of the time, as we all know, films always have a difficult time with complexities no matter how long or how many movies there are to the adaptation. I felt The Lord of the Rings Trilogy did a great job...but even then, there were some annoyances on my part when Faramir took Frodo to Gondor. *fumes*.

But...ALSO, just because a book is big...does not mean it is complex. I hardly call Breaking Dawn complex, even after it's three other books. 

This is just an opinion, of course, and doesn't mean that I hate Twilight...but I just don't think there's a high level of complexity to those books. 

...now...it depends on what your definition of complex is....

and if it translates into "a big book...." 

Well, that's depressing. 

Anyways, I'm just interested in how all of a sudden, big name books are going to be two-part movies. Man, does it impact the box office! Tons of people are banking off Breaking Dawn. I really hope the Hunger Games isn't two movies by the end of this....

But that's an opinion. And I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on this two-part movie thing? When do you think it's warranted? What is your definition of complexity? haha. 

Love, 

Ashley 

Books! :D

I had to share this post with you!
(it's a link) 

...cause it was cute. 

Blog Award & Something Funny!

Isn't this beautiful? I love it! Thank you, Cherie! If you guys haven't checked out Cherie's blog, you should right now! Go here and check out her wonderful posts!

I will pass this to 3 people:

Caitlin Lane
Abby Fowers
Krista

Yay!!

Now, I'm not sure if anyone's heard of New Girl, but it's HILARIOUS! I laugh through allllll of it, and I don't even watch T.V. often, but I'll pause to watch this (and Merlin). haha.

It cracks me up. If you have time, check it out!
This is why Hulu is the best.

Now...I have to get back to Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada. Phillip is a fanatic.

<3

P.S. I'll change my link color soon, but for now, you can click on the bold words to get to these wonderful ladies blogs!

Dead Week/Finals Week

It's THAT time of the year for me!
I'm so sorry I haven't been her much!! I love you all! And I'm planning posts!! I'm very excited.
I just realized I forgot my Insecure Writing Post!! :(
Ugh!

I decorated my Christmas Tree!!

 I've been drinking an immense amount of coco!!

And I made these cookies!!

Oh, and I CANNOT stop listening to Josh Groban!

<3

I hope you all feel so festive after this post! LOL.

I only have two finals, one on Monday and one on Friday.
That said: I have to finished editing two papers and a take home final. THEN I AM DONE!
For a month anyway and I will begin my last semester as an undergraduate!!
WHOO! Did I mention I'm still looking for a job?! UGHHH!

This is why Christmas is here--it keeps me all cheerful!! Yay Christmas!! I love you all!!

Famous People I'd Like to Meet

Ellen Degeneres

There's a lot you can say about Ellen. One of the greatest things? She's generous. If a name could ever be more perfect for a person, it's Ellen. I hope I can be half as generous as she is--she's always helping people. From car giveaways, to paying off peoples bills, to helping others with their volunteer organizations, she does it all! And with humor. Gotta love someone like that! One day, I hope to dance with her. I don't dance either...but I just might with her.

Josh Groban

Well, maybe it's because of this video:

Or maybe because of this one:

Basically, Josh is an walking contradiction. He plays the most amazing music, but he's also funny. He's very inspiring and I love listening to his music.

This is my favorite song. If you watch this, you'll understand. All of you know my love for history--the apartheid is only a fraction of history I learned about in my World Lit. class.

Ben Barnes

Yeah, you all probably seen this coming. If I ever meet him, I'm gonna ask him if he'll play Cove Rowell. LOL.

Schools Kill Creativity

I think anyone who loves the arts should watch this! 

And if you have time, watch this one: