Musica Monday

Alright, so it has just been one of those weeks when nothing really seems to go my way, and nothing really seems to make me happy except doing nothing productive. This past weekend was one of the least productive ones I have had in long time, and I've come to the conclusion that that's ok! Even as a senior undergraduate less than a month away from graduation (scary thought there....) it's ok to not want to do anything and to actually not do anything for a bit!
I was looking for some music this weekend (aka this morning :P) and I came across this song that I've found really kinda describes how I'm feeling. So, next time you get the chance you should actually go and do what you are feeling at the time. Play some of your favorite music and just get up and dance! This song by Kaleidosonic makes me want to do this, so when you listen to it, seriously, jump up and shout! Enjoy friends!

And I'm now running on reserve battery power! So later my dear readers :) I appreciate each and every one of you! Muah!
Love,
Sara :)

Random Historical Facts on Octavian/Augustus

I've had a long time interest in history, for those of you who don't know, and right now I'm in an class on Ancient Rome. It is a very interesting class and I'm learning quite a bit. I also have always enjoyed doing research in historical subject areas (nerd alert I know!), and Ancient Rome is no different! My latest interest is in Octavian/Augustus: the first emperor of Rome.

During class, our professor told us that during the majority of his battles, Octavian would get sick and spend the entire battle in his tent. His army was actually run by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippa didn't seem to mind much, he even refused a triumph for what he did in Gaul since it was a time of trouble of Octavian; pretty much, he centered his career around Octavian and ended up marrying his daughter, Julia. He also believed that he had a terminal illness, and for years he was convinced that he would die of this terminal illness. It was so bad that when he did actually die in 14 AD, many people didn't believe that he had in fact died due to this fact that he thought he was going to die for years!

This fact about him getting sick so often was of particular interest to me because I had heard a similar thing concerning a Nazi general during World War II. I'm curious as to whether there is an actual sickness that could be the cause of this, as it was it a coincidence that both of these men were sick during battle, or is this 'battle sickness' a psychological thing that affected them as well as other generals during historical battles.

I will actually be doing some research on this over the next year or so, with the help of a few St Olaf College professors I am super excited for this! :D

Any suggestions, my friends?

Yay for being a history nerd :D

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

It is nearing the due date for my final senior seminar paper (pretty much the paper that combines all that I have learned in my entire major), the capstone for my entire major. In essence, this means that I am reaching a height in my stress levels on campus. Also, it's still snowing....as much as I love snow, it's the middle of April, it can stop snowing now or we are going to set a record for being the first time graduation was put inside due to excessive snow. I'm a little sour about this in case you can't tell :P

Anyways! On another note, on with the music for today (which I apologize has been lacking for the past while...sorry)!!

Enjoy the cuteness!! :D:D
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Sara :)

Movie Fun Facts: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (a1956 film)

I'm going back to the fun movie facts! Starting with the 1956 black and white horror/sci-fi film, 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. This film was interesting to watch, and was definitely an early horror movie, and I will give it the few times that I was quite disgusted and creeped out. It is in general a creepy movie at points, based off of a book, and in 2008 it was ranked as #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 10 greatest Science-Fiction films, pretty impressive! Now onto the fun facts :D

~There was on $15,000 of the total budget for the movie spent on special effects.
~The entire movie was filmed in 23 days, which was three days over schedule!
~Several movie titles were thrown away before director Don Siegal finally settled on 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.
~During initial screening of the film, the audience laughed at parts that were not supposed to be humorous, and Siegal ended up removing sections of the film also because the story was hard to follow.

SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE MOVIE! Unless you don't plan on watching it at all...then you're really missing out on a classic!
~The book's ending is left out of the movie. The book's ending has the aliens giving up on the plot for world domination and returning to their home planet.
~The film originally ended with Dr. Miles running down the highway  shouting "You're next! You're next!", but the studio wanted an ending that seemed happier, so the hospital scenes at the end were added in hopes of adding some hope to the audience's feelings towards the possibility of the end of the world as we know it.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! I will say that I did find this movie to be a bit of a thriller, that being said, I'm not one to ever watch most thrillers or horror, so my opinion might be a bit biased. I would recommend this version (I can't recommend the newer version of this movie since I have not yet seen it!).
Happy Tuesday!
Love,
Sara :)

Athletic Achievement: Backhand Spring

I've gotten really excited about this, sorry it's another short post, but I did a backhand spring today!! :D After MAC (Martial Arts Club), and it felt awesome, though again I'm missing gymnastics. It's amazing what a bit of confidence can do, I wasn't able to continue onto the competition level in gymnastics because I couldn't master this one move: the backhand spring. And I feel like I'm not even in as good of shape as I was back in middle school and high school (though I'm getting back there, slowly but surely) I think it was just the confidence I had in myself to do it and I did! :D

Lesson learned today: You'd be amazed what confidence can do! Also, don't procrastinate too much....you tend to regret it....stupid thesis paper thing :P

Also, there's still snow and it is still snowing!

Love,
Sara :)

Rain....and Snow

So, I'm not usually one to complain about too many things....well, I mean I do complain....but my point is that I try to go with the flow more often than not. However, I'm a bit of a stickler and the weather or the past day has been a bit bothersome for me. There is once again snow on the ground....bother...

Raining

Whenever it rains, I tend get two things:
1- a stuffy nose (from allergies)
2- excited!!

The first is self explanatory, since most people with allergies can relate. The water in the atmosphere brings down all the pollen and dust and stuff that's been in the air and causes all us allergy-ridden folk to become slightly unhappy (yes, I'm trying to sound smart here, idk if it's working but that's my basic understanding...)
As for the second, well I can't put my finger on one reason as to why rain makes me happy, but I can attempt to give you a sort of guess. One big thing is that I really do enjoy thunderstorms as well as times when it rain super hard and we are left with puddles everywhere the next morning. No matter how many times I've watched a thunder and lightening storm, I never really get tired of them, in fact I can usually fall asleep to them quite easily. And no matter how often someone tells me that it's just a reaction in our atmosphere I can't help but feel like it's a magical sort of thing (a little...ok a lot corny, ik, but hey! I'm being honest here!). I know I've also been lucky in that I've never been stuck in a tsunami or hurricane, which I have no doubt would not be fun in any way, shape, or form! But when it comes to being on campus or really anywhere, doesn't matter if I'm inside or outside, I try and always make time to go puddle-hopping with anyone who will come with me! It's also the fact that after a rain, it means that the ground (when spring finally gets here) will look so much brighter and the flowers start looking not so dead. It's like the rain brings the world back to life in some way. I'm not really sure how else to explain it.
And after, a shower and I get to curl up and read a book for the rest of the day, usually something that I enjoy (not homework). For instance this morning I was reading A Sea of Trolls, which is coming along quite nicely! :D
So, that's my little word vomit (for lack of a better term for this) about rain, and in case you were wondering, yes, it did rain this morning, but sadly it has stopped :(. Maybe that means that spring is on its way!
Love,
Sara :)

Jamacian, the 4-Hour Chef, and 'Rise and Shine'

Today was a fun day, I got to sleep in and then after work I headed to the Hideaway with a few friends where I learned to play rummy! Last time I wrote about the Hideaway, I talked a little bit about a drink called a Cubano, which came in a small shot class sized cup. To summarize that was essentially a double shot of expresso with sugar coated in it. Today, I was suggested something different, called a Jamaican, which is a Cubano with a pinch of cinnamon to add some more flavor. Let me tell you that I am much more likely to have a Jamaican than a Cubano, I'm not a big expresso person usually, but they are growing on me I won't lie. Another comment about drinking a Cubano or a Jamaican, I always feel like I should be sitting outside on a spring day with a croissant and a hat reading a good book while drinking one of these...anyone else ever have that feeling?
Speaking of books; I got two books this week that I'm working my way through. The first is called The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, I'm only about 40 pages through it, but I'm getting there! It's a fantasy and that's about all I've gathered at this point, sorry, but I'll get more into it hopefully within a few weekends of reading time! The other book I got is called The 4-Hour Chef: The simple path to cooking like a pro, learning anything, and living the good life by Timothy Ferriss. It is a different kind of book, one that will definitely take lots of time to get through, but even just looking through it this evening I've already become a bit hooked on it! It seriously has so much in it that I would suggest it to anyone who wants to learn about learning or cooking! :D This is a friend's copy so I may end up buying my own, that or one of his other books that I've heard very good things about!
I also might be painting my toe nails for the first time in a long while, the color is called 'Rise and Shine' (hence the title of my post, I'm going to try and be a bit more creative on these...I've come to realize I'm being a bit boring...apologies!).
Currently listening to: Late Night (check it out mis amigos!).
I hope everyone is having a safe and fun weekend! I promise I'm sober, just coming down off a caffeine rush I think :P
Love,
Sara :)

Fun Facts About Lana Tuerner

Lana Turner was born Julia Jean Turner in Idaho, February 8, 1921. The first tragedy in her life occurred when her family was forced to move to San Francisco, where her parents separated and in December 1930, he father was killed after winning a game of craps. Due to her mother's health, they then moved to Los Angeles for a dryer climate, which is where Lana started her film career. She was first discovered when she was sixteen-years old when she skipped class to buy a coke at a drugstore, and at that point signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after she was cast in They Won't Forget (1937). This movie got her the nickname "The Sweater Girl" due to the form fitting attire she wore. After graduating from Hollywood High School, she switched her contract to MGM Studios when the studio director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer believed that she wouldn't amount to anything. After appearing in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), the studio became convinced she would become the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol in film.
Starting off as a glamour girl in the last 1930s and 40s, she quickly gain popularity and hit her peak during World War II, when she became a pin-up girl (a model whose mass-produced photographs see wide appeal as popular culture, similar to Marilyn Monroe). The 1940s were very good to Lana Turner,  and it was during this time that she made the switch from pin-up girl to serious actress with the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her comment on this was:

"I finally got tired of making movies were all I did was walk across the screen and look pretty. I got a big chance to do some real acting in The Postman Always Rings Twice, and I'm not going to slip back if I can help it."

While she never game up her glamourous image, she did end up staring in movies that did not have her dolled-up, such as Green Dolphin Street (1947). She was commonly paired with actor Clark Gabel, and the two were named "the team that generates steam". She continued her success in the late 1940s, including staring across from Gene Kelly in her first technicolor movie, The Three Musketeers (1948). By 1948, Turner was MGM's biggest star and one of the ten best paid women in the United States.
However, the 1950s were not so kind to Turner. She ended up staring in several flops and due to the increase in the popularity of Television instead of movies, MGM did not renew her contract in 1956. However, Lana Turner was not knocked down for long, she got more attention when she stared in the 1957 film adaptation of Peyton Place, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, but did not win. However, when news of her daughter's killing of Stompanato (Lana's lover at the time) got out, her career was nearly fully derailed. Lana did continue acting in movies until 1966, with big hits like Imitation of Life (1959), Portrait in Black (1960), Bachelor in Paradise (1961) her final film with MGM, and Madame X (1966) her last leading role.
From 1969 through the 1980s she did some work in film, but none of it was as memorable as her work in films.
Turner was well known for her personal life and a few of her movies were said to have reflected it. She dated often and switched partners frequently, was married eight times to seven different men and had one child: Cheryl Crane. Cheryl was the daughter of her second/third marriage to Steve Crane, and wrote a book about her mother's life called Detour: A Hollywood Story. About her marriages, Turner was later quoted as saying:

"My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around."

As mentioned earlier, she had many relationships, many lovers, one of whom was Johnny Stopanato, who met Turner in 1957, not long after her fifth marriage fell apart. It turned out that Stopanato had connections to the gangster Mickey Cohen, and Turner tried to break things off when she discovered this, only to be forced into an abusive and unhappy relationship with Stopanato. In April 1958, the two had a violent argument at Turner's home in Beverly Hills, and Turner's daughter, fearing for her mother's safety grabbed a kitchen knife and proceeded to stab Stopanato, killing him. While this was later deemed to be an act of self-defense, it still took its toll on Lana's career.

Lana Turner was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992, and proceeded to stop her long-time smoking habit, becoming cancer free a year later. However, in 1994 the cancer returned and she died June 29, 1995 at the age of 74 at her home in Los Angeles.

I hope that you guys enjoy this info! Happy Friday!!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

Return of the Musica Monday! So, I have been quite lucky as far as my new car since my accident this past December. With my new car, I was lucky enough to get a 'used' car, which turned out to simply be a pre-owned (dealer owned), meaning I get free satellite radio for a while :D, super exciting!! Over the past few months I have experimented with different Sirius radio stations, and have collected the names of several new songs that I find awesome (or funny!). This is an example of a more funny song. It is by Thomas Dolby, and is called "She Blinded Me With Science". I'm not exactly sure why I like this song so much, I think it is possibly because it is so random :P Anyways, here it is! I hope you enjoy!

Not an exciting video sorry, but I hope you all appreciate it!
Shout out to Matt! It's his birthday today!! :D Happy Birthday!!
And now I'm off to bed, good night all you lovely people.
Love,
Sara :)