I had that dream again where I was lost for good in outer space.

School is starting wrap up, it is crazy. Next week is one of my busiest weeks. I have a final and two midterms within a span of 3 days. One of those midterms is for my hinduism class. I have not done any of my readings for that class since the last midterm a few weekends ago. And this teacher actually tests on readings. I just looked up all I have to read before next week, and it is a total of 20 chapters from 3 different books. This is a major loss for procrastination. I have my work cut out for me. Aside from that reading, I have a good amount to read before my final next monday. I have an essay to prepare for that final and another rather large essay to work on. But it's okay, because it will soon be over.

My hinduism class has actually been super interesting lately, so I am hoping the readings will be interesting too. We have been learning about the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which are Indian epics. They are really cool stories. We have only gotten to hear bits and pieces of them (they are both quite long) but I think I might read them on my own at some point. The picture above is of a scene in the Mahabharata where Krsna instructs Arjuna on the battlefield. This section of the story is often removed and read on its own. It is called the Bhagavad Gita.

A few days ago I made a list of movies I want to see. I have some to add to it:

- Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

- Half Nelson

- American History X

- Boy A

- What's Eating Gilbert Grape

- The Last King of Scotland

- Titanic

So my list as of now:

- Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

- Half Nelson

- American History X

- Boy A

- What's Eating Gilbert Grape

- The Last King of Scotland

- Titanic

- The Wind that Shakes the Barley

- J Edgar

- Body of Lies

- Gangs of New York

- The Ides of March

- The Godfather

- Pulp Fiction

- Braveheart

- Winter's Bone

- Shutter Island

Hello... is it me you're looking for?

I have been thinking about making a list of books I would like to read this year.
I am going to start one, and I will probably add to it later.
Here goes, I would like to read:

- The Great Gatsby -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- 1984 -- George Orwell
- The Grapes of Wrath -- John Steinbeck
- Les Miserables -- Victor Hugo (maybe)
- The Big Sleep -- Raymond Chandler
- Mother Night -- Kurt Vonnegut
- While Mortals Sleep -- Kurt Vonnegut
- Look at the Birdie -- Kurt Vonnegut

That is all I can think of for now. I am really really fighting the urge to re-read both the Harry Potter and the Hunger Games books. I said I wanted to read 18 books this year, and although I didn't say it, I meant new books. So far I have read 8. And technically I have read two of them before, but that was at least 4 years ago, so it doesn't count.

I thought it might be interesting to try and make a list of every book I have ever read. Of course I won't be able to remember them all, but I can probably get most of them. And by books I mean novels that I read past elementary/jr high school. I wouldn't have a hope of trying to remember any of the books I read that long ago. Maybe I will attempt it sometime.

I think I will also make a list of movies I would like to see. So often I just watch whatever because I can't think of the movies that I really want to see. If I made a list, I would always have a place to go to when I wanted to watch a movie. Then I would probably watch less crappy movies and more movies that I legitimately want to see. Perhaps I will see how many of those I can think of now too:

- The Wind that Shakes the Barley
- J Edgar
- Gangs of New York
- Body of Lies
- The Ides of March
- Fight Club (I have seen most of it, but I missed the first half hour)
- The Godfather
- Pulp Fiction
- Braveheart
- Winter's Bone
- Shutter Island (maybe, I can't decide if I am too scared to watch it or not)

2011 Booklist.

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• I really only started keeping track at the start of May, but these are the books I read last year. I don't think there were any that I read in the spring, I was pretty caught up in school and textbooks.
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Animal Farm -- George Orwell

The Woman in White -- Wilkie Collins

Pirate Latitudes -- Michael Crichton

Fahrenheit 451 -- Ray Bradbury

Oliver Twist -- Charles Dickens

Slaughterhouse Five -- Kurt Vonnegut

The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- Stephen Chbosky

Nine Stories -- JD Salinger

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -- Mark Haddon

Cat's Cradle -- Kurt Vonnegut

Hocus Pocus -- Kurt Vonnegut

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -- JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -- JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -- JK Rowling

My reflections on these books are as follows:

The Woman in White was recommended to me by a friend. I was everything they said it would be. I enjoyed it immensely. Good book

I was not impressed with the Michael Crichton book. I thought I would try out some new, popular, mainstream fiction. It was a mistake. It was not a terrible book, but I felt like I was reading fluff. This is probably because I am used to reading books by Alexandre Dumas, and Dickens, and other dead people. I always find it weird to read books whose authors are still alive.

I love love loved Fahrenheit 451. It spoke to me deeply and made me feel guilty for not getting through the Iliad or for ever saying something like, "old english is too hard to read" or "I wish they would make a summary (or movie) of that." I think this book may become one of my favourites, I think I need to read it again before I make any declarations though.

I thought I knew the Oliver Twist story from watching Oliver and Company when I was little. Turns out I didn't at all. The only other Dickens I had read before this was Great Expectations, which has quite a slow part in the middle that was a bit hard to get through. I was worried that this was simply Dickens' style. It is not. Oliver Twist was super exciting the whole way through, I quite enjoyed it.

Slaughterhouse Five was absolutely nothing like what I expected. Not that I was really expecting something in particular. But it was nothing like I thought it might be. I liked it quite a bit. I also found that I quite liked Kurt Vonnegut's style.  You will see from the list that I read two more of his books. I have 2 or 3 more waiting on my shelf to be read as well. I quite enjoyed Cat's Cradle. And Hocus Pocus was written in a very interesting way. 

I didn't quite finish the Harry Potter series in 2011. I read the last bit of Deathly Hallows on Jan 1. So it will go on the 2012 list. I loved these books. I loved the story and the world JK Rowling created. I will read these books often I think.

Seventeen books. My goal is to beat that in 2012. And not with short, terrible books for just numbers. No. Good books that I actually want to read. And at least 18 of them. I will post them on my new book list as I finish them. And maybe blog about what I thought of them. I even already have some up. Look over to the right and see.

*picture found on weheartit.com. Originally found on http://marytheresaforde.blogspot.com/?zx=f684fca1cfd7b7d7

Deathly Hallows.

Last night I finished watching that Harry Potter series.

The ending left me a bit unsatisfied, I am hoping the books will do a better job of tying up loose ends. But it was still a good story. The movie was sad.

Only two weeks of classes left! Then one week of exams, and then home for Christmas!

The Harry Potter books are waiting for me at my house to entertain me over the break. I am also planning to read The Hunger Games trilogy over Christmas or shortly after. I am not sure how long it will take me to get through Harry Potter, I might not get to The Hunger Games until next semester.

Guess it always comes down to.

And I am nothing of a builder

but here I dreamt I was an architect.

You know that feeling. Where the days are flying by so quickly. But when you stop and think about specific events. They feel like they happened months ago. Even though it was only a few days ago.

School is busy. I am glad that I put extra work in on my slowish last two weeks. The fact that I am done my history paper (minus a few revisions and small changes) and have had it proof-read by my professor a full week before it is due will take so much stress off of me next week. I have my second archaeology midterm next week/weekend. I am scared for it. I now understand why some students withdraw from classes half way through a semester, even when they are not failing. I am sitting a good grade, I have already completed half of the marks for the course, but I can think of nothing that would make me happier than to never go that class again. Of course I am not going to withdraw, that would mess up my whole graduate next semester plans, but I understand why some people do.

This semester feels like it is wrapping up quickly. I have a list of all the things I have to hand in and all the tests I have to write before the end of the semester on the white board in my kitchen. I can't wait to cross them all off. 

My thoughts on Harry Potter 4: I didn't want Cedric Diggory to die. He died so quickly that I wasn't sure he was actually dead, you know. Often, when someone dies super fast, there is a good chance they aren't actually dead (major exception = The Departed). I also feel one would know significantly more of what was going on if they had read the book. 

I think my holiday reading this year will be Harry Potter. I just need to show the self control to not start reading until my exams are done. Maybe I could read the first one after my next week school rush. I have heard the first two are super quick reads. 

The Catcher in the Rye.

Last week I read The Catcher in the Rye.

I was the first book I have read that was not a text book since I finished The Bourne Identity at the start of the summer. It was quite enjoyable.

It had been sitting on my book shelf for quite some time, just waiting to be read.

I want to read more, maybe over Christmas. It's finals time now, so starting a book=bad idea.

I have many other books sitting, unread on my bookshelf:

-The Phantom of the Opera -- Gaston Leroux

-Oliver Twist -- Charles Dickens

-The Prince and the Pauper -- Mark Twain

-Les Miserables -- Victor Hugo

-The Count of Monte Cristo (the unabridged, I have read the abridged version) -- Alexandre Dumas

-Twenty Years After -- Alexandre Dumas

-The Vicomte de Bragelonne -- Alexandre Dumas

-Louise de la Valleire -- Alexandre Dumas

-The Man in the Iron Mask -- Alexandre Dumas

-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain

-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain

-Wuthering Heights -- Emily Bronte

-Stardust -- Neil Gaiman

-The Scarlett Letter -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

-Treasure Island -- Robert Louis Stevenson

-Son of a Witch -- Gregory Maguire (this is the sequel to Wicked)

-A Lion Among Men -- Gregory Maguire (also in the Wicked series)

-The Bourne Supremacy -- Robert Ludlum

-The Bourne Ultimatum -- Robert Ludlum

-The Eagle of the Ninth -- Rosemary Sutcliffe

-The Silver Branch -- Rosemary Sutcliffe

-The Lantern Bearers -- Rosemary Sutcliffe

It appears I have my work cut out for me. And don't worry, there are many books on my bookshelf which I have read. I feel like this list makes me look like I just accumulate books without actually reading them. I have started a few of these, but I just haven't been in a reading state of mind for quite a while.