THE HUNGER GAMES.

So this morning, I went with my mom & my sister to go see The Hunger Games. I'd read the book and was so excited for the film. It was absolutely, exponentially, wonderfully spectacular.

I'd heard a few people saying that they were highly disappointed as they walked out of the theater, and also people who said they loved it. Luckily, I don't give a flying hoot what others think, so I went into the theater open-minded. Sure, the director changed or left out some details from the book, like the fact that in the film, Katniss buys the mockingjay pin and gives it to Prim on reaping day, but in the novel, Madge, the mayor's daughter gives it to Katniss before she heads to the Capitol for training. But come on guys, when they make a film adaptation of a book, they never make it exactly the same. Other details were excluded from the movie, but I won't say everything; there is a list of differences on Wikipedia though!

I wanted to cry at the scene when Katniss first volunteered for her little sister Prim, even though I knew it was gonna happen. Prim's screams and tears were very believable, & the girl who plays her is even younger than her character, Willow is 11! And then when they had to leave Katniss before she goes to the Capitol was sad. Of course, when Rue died, I was crying. It was the most poignant scene in the movie, when Rue slowly looks down to see the spear in her abdomen and pulls it out and starts falling before Katniss catches her.. oh cheese. Jennifer Lawrence is also a very good crier, might I add. When Rue dies, Katniss has a nicely done crying fit before moving on. I also really liked Isabelle Fuhrman who plays Clove; she was very vicious. And Jackie Emerson, who plays Foxface. I'm actually not a big fan of Gale. The entire movie was great, they sure picked the right actors.

I basically have a girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence. I've looked up her interviews & she is quite the funny one. I would love to meet her one day, or act with her, since I'm getting into acting :) I'm also following like half the cast on twitter & instagram, like Amandla Stenberg who plays Rue, & Jackie, & Leven Rambin who plays Glimmer :) I would love to meet all of them!

Another thing, if The Hunger Games were real, and my twin sister got picked, I would definitely volunteer for her. I think. Most likely. Like they say in the book, "Family devotion only goes so far on reaping day." But I'm sure my sister would be one of the first to die, she's a bit of a pansy. At the slightest sign of injury or pain, she'd be crying, someone would find her and kill her, if she didn't die in the bloodbath.

But me, I'm tough. Physically & mentally. I've had two surgeries, the latter of which I was old enough to remember & recovery was painful. I've also had a myriad of bodily issues the past few years, such as terrible headaches, I bruised the bones in my shins, I got a decent burn from a curling iron, I tore a ligament in my knee that caused pain for over a year to this day, mysterious toothaches, recently I pulled a muscle in my lower back which was excruciating, I had an intestinal blockage of sorts, and something diagnosed as asthmatic symptoms that cause chest pain. And I get through it, usually without crying. My pain has to be terrible for me to cry about it, otherwise, I just get through it, because I know it'll be over. Mentally, I've been hurt in life. Who hasn't? I put my guard up so as to not get hurt again, & often people think I'm harsh. But that could be a good skill in the Games. I'm vicious & could be pretty ruthless if it came to saving my life. I would definitely kill someone if they were about to kill me, & it meant I would live longer, or even win the Games. I don't know what special skills I have, like archery, & I'm too big to climb trees. I'm really strong for a girl, I'm good at sneaking around silently, and if I had no weapon, I've taken karate. I could also beat someone to death with my fists. I punch pretty hard. I think I would win, or be one of the very last few tributes alive.

WHEW! That was a long post! I just had to get all of that out. Anyway, have a good weekend! May the odds be ever in your favor.

Happy Hunger Games!
xoxo, Erin

What is love? Answer me that!

Sooo I was scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed and my cousin put up a list of what she needed in a boyfriend. It was called- I need someone who is prepared for: Lemme just put em here for ya ;)

-A million questions
-Uncontrollable laughter
-My family
-My appetite
-Musical outbursts
-Random dancing
-My friends
-Sad/happy tears
-Deep talks
-My imagination
-My dreams
-Walks in the rain
-Random texts
-Useless arguments
-Acceptance of the real me

I thought that this list pretty accurately describes what every girl needs in a boyfriend. For me, it's especially the random dancing, appetite, sad/happy tears, deep talks, & my imagination part. Oh and the million questions! Acceptance of course. My mom says I'm special sometimes when I break into dance outta nowhere :) The deep talks is a big one, I can have a deep talk with just about anyone. If I don't know you well, it won't be about my problems, but anything. My imagination, oh dear me. I come up with ideas for books and short stories to write every day. I JUST NOW THOUGHT OF ONE :o

But one that made me go like uhhh was the walks in the rain one! I don't do that. If my boyfriend wanted to go for a walk in the rain, I'd be like, yeah how about we get the heck inside your house & bake some cookies or something? (Sidenote: that would have sounded much better/funnier with certain cuss words in certain places, but I've vowed not to cuss on this blog.) A drive in the rain I can handle. Actually, a drive anywhere. I like taking drives. I can't drive, but I like riding in cars. When I'm not freaking out because I think we're about to get hit and I'm gonna die before I learned how to drive. But I'm mostly over those anxiety issues. Sorta. Not really. Meh, that's a whole other can of worms, mate.

Also: I watched Friends With Benefits tonight, IT WAS SO FUNNY! I love Mila Kunis so much. So much. She's beautiful. If I ever meet her, I don't know what I'll do. HUG ANOTHER HUG PICTURE WILL YOU GO TO LUNCH WITH ME YANK OUT A HAIR WHEN SHE'S NOT LOOKING-- wait, what? :D

Okay it's like midnight. I need a shower. Then to sleep, I gots church tomorrow!

Sleep tight!
xoxo, Erin

SPRING BREAK.

So, it's been an extremely long week, waiting for our week of freedom. We could all barely sit through class, especially since the English TAKS was Wednesday. That test seriously hasn't gotten any harder since I first took it in 5th grade, when I moved to Texas. I almost feel like they're insulting my intelligence! Like, do you think I'm stupid? I know I'm not alone in this. But this blog is actually about me making a change & people who I'm changing unconsciously.

In response to the whole Joseph Kony deal, I sent in a club proposal to start a club at my school to raise money to send to Feed the Children. My vice principal asked me why don't I wanna help poverty kids in my community instead? I LIKE AFRICA. I've always wanted to send money to Feed the Children, but never had money. I figure, I can figure out ways to raise money with anyone else at school who wants to be in my club and we could raise a lot and make a difference for those sweet little African babies :) I told the VP if he denied my club request, I would just fundraise outside of school, so he might as well say yes! I just wanted to make it easier for anyone at school to join me in my quest. Plus I figure, all adults see my generation as lazy, selfish, self-consumed. If one of us wants to make a change for anything, anyone, anywhere, why would you deny us that? But, just because one person might say no doesn't mean I'm giving up! I am a determined person. When I set my mind on something, I don't stop until I get it. End of story. I will raise money for those kids in Africa. I need something positive to focus my energy on, so I don't have as much room in my head to think about bad things or non-important things. :)

People have been saying super nice things about me lately! I shall share a few :)
-"I respect your opinion because you are one of the few people who is nice enough to respect others."
-"You are a great friend, and wonderful human being in general."
-"I wish they were all like you."
-"You're keeping me on the straight and narrow."
-"How someone is able to be kind-hearted & sassy at the same time is beyond me. However, you manage to do so flawlessly."
-"You're the type of friend with good advice and a hug ready whenever someone needs it."
-"She may come off as shy but if you stay around her long enough, you will see her colors shine."
-"You're too young to have the blues. Chin up, girl, the world awaits you."
-"I enjoy your presence in my day, it makes it a whole lot better."
-"You're super nice and anyone who's ever mean to you should go die."
-"Keep your head high! Someone will see your spark."
-"You are a true woman of God."
-"I'm happy you're you."
-"Thank you for being there when people in general need you despite how you feel or what is going on."
-"You're a giant contributing factor in keeping me in reality and not lost in my mind."
-"You're one of the best people I've ever met. You know that?"
-"I'm glad I befriended you, you're super sweet."
-"You're the sweetest person on earth. Hands down."
-"You're the only one that truly understands me, for real."

That was essentially a list of the nicest things people have ever said to me, that I can recall. Those were all either stored in my phone as texts, my Facebook, or my twitter. If anyone happens to send me a nice text, I save it to make me smile when I'm sad, that's where a lot of those quotes came from. I will always remember them verbatim & who said what. I love my friends :) this was a long post! It's 1:14am & I've started going to church again so I should sleep!

Goodnight!
xoxo, Erin

JOSEPH KONY MUST BE STOPPED.

Good afternoon, fellow humans :) I feel the need to write a blog post about this pressing issue around the world today: Joseph Kony. Who is he, you ask? Welllllll..

He is a man who is in his early 50's. He is said to reside in Africa. He has spent the last 29 years abducting children and teenagers right out of their beds, turning them into child soldiers, and the little girls into sex slaves. He has forced them to kill their own parents, and mutilate people's faces (shoot them in the nose, ears, mouth, etc). He has essentially created an army of children who have been taken away from their families, and who will be killed if they attempt to escape his grasp. Now you ask, why is this suddenly trending worldwide in 2012? Many people didn't know about him. A group of guys went down there in the late 1980's and made a documentary about it around the 2000's. They have made 11 total. They managed to get the U.S. government to send some troops down to Uganda to try and find Kony but he is basically invisible. NO ONE CAN FIND HIM. And, his bodyguards are kids. Any attempt to capture him would result in the deaths of many kids who don't know any better. This just isn't right. Tell your friends, tell your school, tell your co-workers. We need to spread the word about him.

Also, I've heard rumors about the validity of the Invisible Children campaign, the one that made the documentaries. Supposedly they only want money, and use the profits from their t-shirts and posters to make more videos. Granted, we need the videos to spread the word, but they shouldn't be spending 8 million dollars on just videos! How about we use that money to FEED the children of Africa? That might be a good idea.

Although I am all for the cause of bringing down Joseph Kony, I'm a bit iffy on the charity, so I will just focus my efforts on Africa in general. I will be raising money to send to real charities such as Feed the Children. I probably will create an organization at my school for such purposes. If we all got together to make a change, how amazing would that be? We could show the elderly that our generation is not ignorant and selfish. We want to make a difference! I'll crochet bracelets to sell for $1 each, and packs of gum for $1.50 each. I'll think of more stuff later. I'm so focused on this, God will be pleased with our work :)

Sweet dreams!
xoxo, Erin