Oh, Alzheimer's. You're weird.

I'm only posting this so I can remember every detail of what happened just now, so I can tell my mom about it in the morning... or something like that.

I was sitting in front of my computer screen watching an episode of Doctor Who at around 12:30 am when my grandma walked in, looked at me, and asked why I was up so early. I told her that it wasn't early yet, and I hadn't gone to sleep. She walked back down the hallway and into her room, convincing me that she understood that she was awake at a different time than it really was. Understandable. It happens to everyone at one point or another.

However, she came back out from her room fully dressed five minutes after that. She sat down at the dining room table and set her purse down in front of her. I asked her why she was sitting there, and she told me she was waiting for my uncle to pick her up because he's supposed to get here at about 7:30am. I went on to tell her that there were still seven hours left 'til then and asked if she was gonna wait that long. She just looked at me, dumbfounded. I asked her if she knew what the current time was and she told me it was around seven. Once again, I told her it was past midnight. She didn't believe me. I told her to look out the window, and notice how there's not even a hint of sunlight shining through. She said nothing. I asked her what the time was. Again. She said it was around seven. Again. I asked her if she looked at the clock to check the time. She said she did, and that it was seven. Then I thought to myself Well, maybe her clock is wrong. I led her to her room so she could show me what clock she referenced for the time, and she pointed to it and said "See. It's 7." The clock actually said it was 12:50. I turned on the light so she could see it clearly and made her look at the clock closely, then she finally realized I was right. It was past midnight. It was not seven in the morning.

"Oh. In that case, I'm gonna put my purse away." This was all she said. She then went back into the dining room, picked up her purse, and took it back to her room. She hasn't been out since. (It's 1:05am right now, by the way.)

I find it so weird how that was her only reaction. If it were me, I would've laughed at the situation and said something about how it would've been embarrassing if I'd just gone on thinking it was morning. But, nope. She only said she should put her purse away. What would've happened had I not been here? Would she have sat there and waited seven hours for my uncle to pick her up? It's odd seeing her so... emotionless like that. But I guess that's just what happens when you're old and have Alzheimer's. You don't really care about anything anymore. The good, the bad, the funny, the silly, the scary. Well, maybe the scary. She still says she hears voices talking to her every now and then. For the most part, I can tell they're just her conscience. Though I do remember a particular day in which I'd asked what the voices told her, and it was some pretty malicious shit. I'm not sure what that was all about.

I hope I don't end up this way. If I do, then I hope I have a grandkid who's lame enough to stay up on a computer past midnight to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Update: Oh! My friend Luis reminded me of this short film when he read my tweets about what happened. (Like usual, I tweeted a play-by-play as this all went down.) It's very... well, just watch it.

Mockingjay!

As you may or may not know, I'm a fan of the Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy. I never really liked to call myself a fan, but then I realized how excited I got when things like the release date for the final book (August 24th, 2010, by the way) were announced and decided that I am, in fact, a fan.

Scholastic announced the cover and title of the third (and last) installment of the "Hunger Games" trilogy today, and here it is:

I really like it. It's very different from the first two covers, which were much darker and straight-forward. They told me something along the lines of "Here is a mockingjay inside a ring, with some circles in the background. Make whatever you want of that." Book 1 showed us the famous mockingjay pin. Book 2 had an actual mockingjay, but it was just kinda there, flying at about the same angle as the mockingjay from book 1. This time, however, we're presented with a bright mockingjay spreading its wings; exposing itself to the world. Mockingjays have always represented strength, willpower, and hopefulness in this series, and you can be damn sure they'll mean more than just the final book.

Also, note that the background is light blue, and reminiscent of the sky. I get the feeling this is telling us there will be more to explore within the story, both literally and metaphorically. See, this time, Katniss won't be trapped in the Hunger Games arena for the majority of the book. She'll be out there trying to save her district and, by extent, all of Panem. Speaking of her district, I couldn't help but notice the shapes in the background and how the center circle is now broken. To me, the background shapes always represented the districts of Panem and how they're all connected. When I noticed the background of this cover, the first thing that came to my mind was the last line of Catching Fire: "there is no District Twelve." I expect chaos in this book. Lots and lots of chaos.

I can't wait for the release! I'm very excited to see what happens, and also very curious as to how this Katniss-Gale-Peeta love triangle will turn out.

What are your speculations? Are you guys as excited as I am?! :D