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

iPad, State of the Union, Zinn

Well, today was pretty damn interesting in regards to headlines. For me, anyway, since they were on topics that interest me. I don't even know why I'm drawn to certain things, as I'm not one of those hardcore Apple elitists (honestly, the only Apple product I own is an iPod Nano), nor am I very into politics, nor am I a huge history nerd.

I guess I always find new gadgets fun to learn about. I think I just like the idea of maybe owning them one day. I spent the majority of my time during my morning philosophy class keeping up with the long-awaited official announcement of the new Apple tablet, the iPad. I must say, the specs are pretty cool and I'm digging the fact that it (supposedly) has 10-hour battery life. I don't think the iPad is anything... new, since it's been talked about so much. Though, it's definitely steps up from the Amazon Kindle, and pretty much exactly what I expected to come out of Apple: an oversized iPod Touch (BTW, I hate when people refer to it as an iTouch, as there's no such thing as a fucking iTouch) with a few more capabilities. It's still pretty cool, and I wouldn't mind owning one. I wouldn't recommend getting it instead of a Macbook, though. Instead of a Kindle, definitely. Also, the name "iPad" made me picture a feminine sanitary napkin with white earphones attached to it. And once I got over that, it reminded me of pad thai, which made me a bit hungry.

Now, on to the State of the Union address. It was pretty much what I expected. I mean, the only thing that really pertained to me was Obama's announcement of an increase in Pell Grants. Though, this might mean they'll be denying other students of such grants in order to accommodate for those who could use the increase. Sucks for them. Less important things to comment on: Nancy Pelosi blinks a heck of a lot, Obama makes too many jokes about the rivalries between parties. (And by "too many," I think I meant, like "two.")

Lastly, I found out that the noted author and political activist Howard Zinn passed away today, and it actually saddened me a little. I'm not sure if I can call myself a fan of his, but I definitely respected the man. ("The man" as in "Howard Zinn," not society.) Honestly, the only things I know of his opinions come from his book, "A People's History of the United States." It's very biased and leftist, and definitely not something one should read if they want what would be the most accurate account of United States history. Nonetheless, it is a very interesting and good read. (Interesting and good? Really, Reyna? Could your adjectives be any more dull and generic?) Anyway, I didn't think his death would make me feel bad seeing as how I was never that into history and activism. Then I realized that I cared about this because of what I associate this man with. Naturally, when I think of Howard Zinn, I think of "A People's History." I remember having read a chapter or two my sophomore year of high school when I was doing research on God-knows-what. Then junior year came around, and I had to read it for A.P. US History. I found it so much more fun to read than the actual textbook we were using. At the end of my senior year of high school, I asked a few of my teachers to sign books for me. Books I'd read in their classes, that is. There was a teacher, Mr. Woessner, whom I took three classes with. I told him to sign my copy of my Zinn book. I was always fond of this teacher, especially since I was never supposed to have taken A.P. US History with him at all to begin with (but that's a story for another day). Anyway, he signed my copy of "A People's History" and wrote a very endearing note on it. I always respected Mr. Woessner. And, I guess Zinn's death saddened me because I always associated Zinn with Mr. Woessner... which made me feel like part of Mr. Woessner was gone, too.

Reyna on Rain

I like Twilight... except for Edward and Bella [Explanation]

So, I got a ticket for walking...

Harry Potter (for lack of a beter title)

As I sat down at my computer, I decided I felt like blogging. Then I realized I didn't know what the hell I wanted to write about. I opened up iTunes and decided to catch up on listening to MuggleCast. I remember listening to the first 5-ish episodes way back when they first started podcasting (around my freshman year of high school, I think). I don't know why I ever stopped. Anyway, I started listening to them again during the summer of 2008 (right before I started college) because well, I had nothing to do that summer. I think MuggleCast is one of those things that makes me realize how big a Harry Potter* fan I really am. I've been visiting MuggleNet since early middle school, and still keep up with the news in the fandom. I was never really a huge part of the fandom (didn't have a huge website or a wrock band or anything), but still shared the same love for Harry Potter that so many others that grew up with it do, too.

I wanted to take this blog somewhere different. I don't know why I started talking about MuggleNet and MuggleCast, haha. Anyway... I've had times when I'm not as into Harry Potter as I used to be. Then there are times where I am still the super excited Potter fan that I was when I first discovered it. However, there was one thing that kinda re-sparked my love for the series and reminded me of the feeling Harry Potter gave me through middle school. That "thing" would be the song "This Isn't Hogwarts," by Hank Green. I remember listening to it and being like "I know this feeling!" Gah! Listening back to all the songs Hank's written about Harry Potter, I pretty much agree with all of them.



I guess the fact that I kinda live on the internet has made me a bigger Harry Potter fan than I'd intended to be. I don't think I'll ever stop being one. I can't picture myself becoming as obsessed with anything else for such a long period of time as I was with Harry Potter. Unless... y'know... I fall in love one day. Bahaha.

Thanks, nerdfighteria and MuggleNet (and The Leaky Cauldron, too!) for always being here to give me my Harry Potter fix.


*Whenever I say "Harry Potter," I don't actually mean Harry himself (or Daniel Radcliffe, for that matter). I'm talking about the book series, movies, the fandom, and whatever else comes with being part of the Harry Potter world.

Disneyland!

Probably the most boring Disneyland footage you'll ever see.
This was actually on November 7th. Uploaded it pretty damn late.

Fred wants your bad romance

In case you guys didn't know, I absolutely LOVE Lady Gaga's music. It's so upbeat and fun. The video for her new song, Bad Romance, released today and it was just as amazing as I expected it to be.

Awesome choreography, crazy outfits, cool floating glass things. Ah! It gets a Reyna stamp of approval. Yes, I give stamps of approval. They all say [FUCK YEAH]. 'Cause I'm a free bitch, baby! ;)

Also, the costumes (are they costumes or outfits?) in the video reminded me of this runway show, which just blew me away the first time I saw it:

The stuff kinda looks like something Björk would wear, and I love me some Björk. I wish people could dress like this on regular days and not get looked at like "wtf?" I would totally wear shit like that to school and work if I were (a) skinny enough to wear it (b)cool enough to wear it and (c)able to afford it.


In other video-released-today news, Fred's new Christmas song is out! I don't hate or love Fred, but I just HAD to blog about this. I don't even know if I hate or love this song yet, but I can't get it the fuck out of my head! This definitely made my mental list of Songs You Can't Unhear:


What do YOU guys think of Lady Gaga and Fred's videos/songs? Eh? Eh?