What's YOUR Team???

I know what you're thinking. I can read minds.

YOU: "Oh no..."
ME: "Ohh yeahh babyy..."
YOU: "Please don't tell me you're team Jacob."
ME: "I'm not."
YOU: "So you're team Edward?"
ME: "Nope."
YOU: "What team are you???!!!"
ME: "I'm Team Zimmer/Gregson-Willliams!"
YOU: "They're not in Twilight..."
ME: "I'm not talking Twilight... I'm talking score!"

I hope that resolved everything. One: I don't watch/read Twilight. Two: I think there's only one point there.

Right now I am listening to one of my absolute favorite scores, "Battle At Aslan's How" by Harry Gregson-Williams. (You can hear that song, plus two other songs by Williams, two songs by Trevor Rabin, and "Time" by Hans Zimmer if you click here.) But that's not what this is about. This is about TAKE THAT, "SOCIAL NETWORK!"

Okay, so, if you're not in on the latest Score drama, you need to read this.
First, if you're REALLY not updated about what's going on in the world of Score and you don't even know what it is, let me clarify this: It is not fiction. It is a genre of music, usually (as far as I know) meaning it is a part of a soundtrack for a movie and it's instrumental with the exception of acappella. So, the latest drama going on is that Trent Reznor got an Oscar (I know... aren't those for movies? Then again, scores are a part of movies, so...) for his work on "The Social Network" and it beat out my ole man Hans. I mean, seriously. "The Social Network" ain't got nothing on this:

You gotta love "Time"... I love it so much that my last chapter of "Unspoken" is about Grace, and if you read the book you'll find out who she is, and I named the chapter "Time" because, well, she's kinda explaining that time has healed her of so many things while also taking breaks in between mentioning how she's playing piano in her school's orchestra at the time. And you wouldn't know it unless you were Team Zimmer or read this post, but the song she is playing is "Time".

And what other musician sounds better live than recorded? That's a first! (Psst--- that's Hans on the piano!)

Take THAT, Team Reznor! You may love that guy of yours so much, but would you dedicate an entire chapter of your BOOK to him? Would you put him in your acknowledgements (I don't think Zimmer will be in there, but there's a chance)? And, would you put your funeral in the hands of Zimmer by having "Time" played there hopefully a good seventy years from now? Nope. You're just too Facebook-obsessed to realize there's better music out there. So get off the computer and get on your iPod. Get off Facebook and get on iTunes. You can still be forgiven of your misdemeanor. You can give my buddy an Oscar... next time he makes a masterpiece like this.

And listen to my other buddy while you're at it. This beautiful song deserves more than a place in a movie. It deserves more than having the privilege of being the first song I ever learned musically, and it was on piano FYI. And it deserves more than being my second favorite score.

Don't the violins and cello and horn make you wanna cry???? I swear I have asthma when I listen to this song. I can't breathe.

Take THAT, Team Facebook! You don't even deserve the right to be called Team Reznor. All due respect. But y'all got nothing on this. I'm barely breathing, it's that good. I. CAN'T. BREATHE.

Call...
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Dream a Little Bigger, Darling

Here are the best scores you'll EVER find! Featuring Hans Zimmer, Trevor Rabin, and Harry Gregson-Williams!

What should you do while writing? Ask young author Victoria Kasten any day! She's completely open to interviews, and she's so easy to talk to, as you may or may not have seen here.

She once said (and I was there!) that while writing, you should listen to music. A fun fact about her is that she's musically talented, too; PLUS she also hates math! Now, Victoria Kasten-Tecken, Matthew Thiessen, and me are in the same club!

Although she's all for listening to music while writing, here's what she's NOT for: Music with lyrics. "I accidentally wrote the lyrics [in a book] once," she said back in April. She loves music with lyrics, but no, not while writing.

And I have to say I'd agree. Since I've been listening to more music than the amount of TV I watch, my titles have become less original and my sentences have become familiar--- the I-heard-that-somewhere kind of familiar.

So, here are some scores to help you write well from the best composers (that are still alive) known to man and woman kind!

<3 Harry Gregson-Williams <3

That song was my Level 4 gymnastics floor exercise music which introduced me to this man who is well-known for his impressive Narnia scores.

<3 Trevor Rabin <3

Last but not least...

<3 Hans Zimmer <3

These are just three of Hollywood's best (and my favorite) composers. Listen to them responsibly... you just might get addicted!

Written in Quotations

Today, I thought I might mention some of my absolute favorite quotes. Some are from songs I like, some from Narnia, others I found in random places.

"Don't worry about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."

-Charles M. Schulz

"You go too far, Miraz!"

-Disney/Walden's "Prince Caspian"

"When your time comes, will you be ready?"

-Unknown

"If you're lucky enough to be different, don't ever change."

-Taylor Swift

"You can forgive me too..."

-Relient K, Forgiven

"I'll stop the whole world. I'll stop the WHOLE WORLD from turning into a monster, and eating us alive! Don't you ever wonder, how we SURVIVED?..."

-Paramore, Monster

"You'll come back, when it's over. No need to say goodbye. You'll come back, when it's over. No need to say goodbye..."

-Regina Spektor, "The Call"

"She's wearing a hat!"

-"Bandslam"

"I had it sorted!"

-Disney/Walden's "Prince Caspian"

"She's not a saint and she's not what you think--- She's an actress! WOAH OH!"

-Taylor Swift, "Better Than Revenge"

"The best thing is that it's happening to you and me!"

-Relient K, "The Best Thing"

"Let it set your heart ON FIRE! Let it set you FREE!"

-Fireflight, For Those Who Wait

"Baby, don't waste this chance cuz it might not come back... COME BACK AROUND!"

-Deas Vail, Sixteen

It's A Narnia Thing.

Today, I just watched the pinnacle of Narnia's success--- "Prince Caspian": Disney/Walden version. It's not like it was my first time or anything... but it is my first time this year. Overall, this was maybe my 30th time--- if that's not even enough, I don't know what is.

I've been obsessed with Narnia since 2008. I must admit to being very disappointed in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but that doesn't change my love for it at all.

Seeing the second movie today opened brand new eyes, no pun intended. In all the times I've seen it, I never thought through everything that took place during it. Wanna know what I learned?

• "Sometimes we live for no one but ourselves" in Forgiven is so true, and you can see it through Peter's attitude in this movie.
• There is an ongoing battle... it never ends.
• You're always there for a reason and never doubt it.
• You can't always see God---no, you can't see Him at all---but "it's not faith if you're using your eyes". You have to trust that He's there and follow Him anyway, just like when Lucy saw Aslan but didn't follow because she couldn't see him, and no one believed her.
• People will not always believe you, but in the end, they'll probably end up looking pretty stupid when they don't. "Last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid," Edmund said.
• Just like when Jesus turned over the tables in the temple when people were selling things there, certain Narnians turned Aslan's tomb into a place to do literal "witch"craft (White "Witch", eh?) and there were consequences.
• Bad things happen when you take matters into your own hands, as Peter found out when he (and Caspi) led the Narnians into battle at the castle and got half of them killed, when Caspi told him DIRECTLY that taking on the castle and being the first ones to do it was a horrible idea.
• Every knee shall bow... even those that never believed, which Trumpkin found out at the end. He never believed Aslan was alive until he was kneeling before him.
• Believe in yourself.
• In His time, things can be made whole again.
• Just like Aslan's roar beautifully awakened the trees, the Holy Spirit can awaken you.
• Just like everything they did for Narnia they did for Aslan, everything you did for someone in need, you did for God.

So, what do you say? Beautiful movie, indeed. It gets me, right down to the perfectly wonderful, perfectly planned, beautiful music. Actually, the music is what makes this movie whole. Without it, that makes the difference between three and five stars for me. It really does. I am very fond of the music because my favorite composer, Harry Gregson-Williams composed the entire movie. He composed my Level 4 Gymnastics Wolverine music, and when I found out he did all the Narnia scores, no wonder I liked my floor music! But the music is sweet. The choir, the cello, the violin... all the way down to the French horn, if there is one. The whole thing is beautiful.

Did I mention the English accents?

You know what I'm about to say...

"For Narnia!!!!!!"

-Most likely Peter says that.

"These Things Will Change..."

I missed Wednesday's Walk yesterday because my mom made us shut down the computer until we did our chores or something of the sort. Tomorrow is my first "RandomNess Friday" and you can link up! (Don't forget to read Prism's blog.) We're still gonna do our Narnia stuff, but for now, I gotta read The Magician's Nephew.
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Honestly, I was going to blog about how much I'm dreading volleyball yesterday, but I'm glad I didn't! We won our game today! I'm loving it! My serve is usually great, (thanks to my coach from last year, Alan) but today it was kinda... well... all over the place. But otherwise, I did good. Our whole team did good. These girls have basically all played junior high school volleyball, so we're a really good team. WHOOO HOO!

The video looks a little small, but I hope you can see it. To tell you the truth, I think it's really weird how like, there's this girl rocking out on her violin, but I can't hear violin, like, anywhere in the song.

This song, anyway, relates to me a lot. It reminds me so much of gymnastics. At the beginning when Taylor says "Somebody else gets what you wanted again", it reminds me of the meets/competitions, really only one meet but gazillion practices, a girl named Megan* and her friend Tori* were good at every event. (although I was really good on the beam and floor, they still did great) Megan was a bigtime vaulter. She was so fast, and she was tall like me. (so I had no excuse for being a slow vaulter.) She was the perfect example of a great gymnast, someone worthy of making the level 5 team. Or was she really worthy of making the team?

Physically, yes. Mentally, no. She was rude. To me, she wasn't. Towards her mom, she was. Very annoying. She always talked back (to the coach, I'm not sure, but I think so) and I couldn't understand why i tried so hard and she still was better than me.

Then there's Tori. The typical middle school cheerleader. Her attitude was the average cheerleader behavior. I'm a cheerleader, I'm not snobby. But I also don't cheer anymore. Kayla is a cheerleader, but she's friendly. Tori isn't.

Tori didn't talk back, (and this is before she was a cheerleader.) and she was kinda nice. To me, at least. But she was a huge perfectionist. If the springboard was slightly out of place, she perfected it. What kind of nerd does that--- WHAT THE HECK???!!!!

She bruised easily. That's her skin, she can't control that. But Tori.... oh Tori. Drama Queen all the way. Once, she bruised on the vault when she fell at practice, (we all got hurt that day, especially me. I had to vault on a cut foot, and she's the one complaining?) and she was crying for so long, we were on the beam and she's still crying. Baby, baby, baby--- annoying.

Tori was great on the floor. At practice, when we knew our dance routines well enough, my coach would turn off the music ("I'll Find My Own Way" by Harry Gregson-Williams from the X-Men Wolverine sountrack) after every single mistake made. Tori and I had good technique, so we both had the longest timing. Her routine was almost flawless, but she messed up on our easiest skill, a handstand forward-roll. At the very end of the routine. A skill I had perfectly, and the way I did it was even compared to the way my coach did it. But Tori could dance better. Tori already had her back walkover. Tori almost had her back handspring. Tori had great balance.

Megan was strong. Megan had her front handspring on the floor and back handspring on the wedge. She was great at tucks. Her tumbling skills were unbelievable. her balance was crazy good.

So here's what happened:  We had a competition last March and it was my first time as a level 4, a very respected level at our YMCA. Our first event was floor. "I'm gonna win this." Or so I thought.

During this time, I was very achy from whatever happened to my hip, and could not do the splits. Bad, because that was the beginning of my routine. I couldn't make the back walkover, ya all know that. My legs split in the middle of my back handspring/flic flac/flip flop/lions' leap. I ended the routine perfectly, but it didn't matter at that point, because as usual, Tori did it perfectly.

On beam, I failed worse than that. I fell, one too many times. Megan admitted (her words!) "I was afraid Hope was gonna win. I was surprised she didn't." Well, she won. Because she's really good. She won vault,  also, and I got bronze. Not too shabby there. But that didn't matter. 26.2 points. Second-to-last in the all-around, and only beat the last place girl by .1 points. Embarrassing for both of us.

But Marnie* said "Everyone wil be last, sometimes it's you." She was after me in the all-around, and when she said that, I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I felt bad for her, and knew that we needed to practice and then it would work.

Victory isn't easy. "Rome wasn't built overnight..." is one of those inspiring sayings. So I keep practicing, and maybe I'll make it to victory. And maybe I have level 5 in store for me someday.

Those things will change, I'll see it soon. Don't be discouraged, because it will only bring you further down. Do everything with no regrets and you're sure to shine!

*Names changed so I wouldn't be a gossip.

"For Narnia!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Now is the time to be strong!"

Oh my gosh, I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader today! I actually, kind of.... didn't like it.

If you haven't seen it yet, let me tell you: It's worth the money and time, but it's not worth five stars.

Aslan plays his part as great as usual. He relates to God so much! (As bad as that may have come out, you know what I meant.) He reminds me of the beauty and the forgiveness of our God. "We are the sons and the daughters of our God..." Aslan plays his role perfectly, and reminds me: "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are HIGHER than any other! Our God is healer, awesome in power, Our God! Our God!"

The White Witch? As witchy as always. This may sound twisted, but I always laugh when she tempts Edmund, because his facial expressions are like, "Oh, Turkish Delight! Oh, I want to be the king!" But the witch has a new way of being evil this time.

Prince Caspian. He's older! I'm surprised it hasn't been 1300 years! However, I don't like that after being in love with Susan for so long, he nearly likes some blue star girl. (Don't ask...)

PETER!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! One thing I didn't like was that Peter only appeared once. And it didn't even count, because he appeared in a dream! But for you girls out there, Peter hasn't lost any of his cuteness!:)

Susan. Ugh. I usually hate that character. Christians shouldn't hate, but Susan isn't real. Sorry C.S. Lewis, but I HATE Susan. She appeared on and off every so often. At least her face did.

OH, MY EDMUND.... EDMUND, DEAR, YOU CAN BE MY KING.... I love Edmund! He is cute as always! But along with that, he's kinda stubborn.

The first movie: Turkish Delight Syndrome. Candy Addict.

The second movie: Stabs the witch's back. Good boy, Ed.

The third movie: I-Wanna-Be-King Syndrome.

Ed soon gets tired of Peter and Caspi---- HEY!!! Why am I spoiling the movie for you??? Nevermind...

So yeah... great movie.

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My Craaaaaazy Night

It was a night with girls that I didn't know. I went to a party/sleepover for my friend Sarah, so yes, I knew why I was there, I just didn't know most of the others. They all---most---go to Dominion Academy, so it was a bit awkward, with them talking about people I knew nothing about whatsoever.

(P.S. I'm watching Prince Caspian right now!! It's at the beginning on SyFy Channel! You can still catch it, if you're reading on time.)

We watched "13 Going on 30". GREAT movie!

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A Sad Story

Here's a story I found on the internet that reminds you that if you love someone and you're just too shy... you'll see why.... it's about a boy who loves a girl who's "just too shy" and "doesn't know why".

10th grade

As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "best friend". I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and handed them to her. She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Senior year
The day before prom she walked to my locker. My date is sick" she said; he's not going to go well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends". So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she isn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Graduation Day
A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said, "you're my best friend, thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

A Few Years Later
Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do" and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "you came!". She said "thanks" and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Funeral
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: I stare at him wishing he was mine, but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! `I wish I did too...` I thought to my self, and I cried.

Isn't it terribly sad???
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Hey!! Before You Waste Your Money....

Natalie Portman is in a new movie, "The Black Swan". For your own good, don't watch it. I saw reviews. They are scary. Yes, I will spoil the movie for you so you won't watch it. She ends up dying. How is too freaky. Now you don't wanna see it because you know how it ends!
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Musical talent is yours, too!

If you would just click here. you could play a Narnia song! Without chords, so it's twelve times easier! Take it from a Narnia fanatic!
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Did you know that the director for the new Narnia movie isn't the same? The old director is gone, making it different.
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Did you know that Georgie Henley (Lucy) is fifteen years old?
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Okay, I'm totally boring you out by talking about Narnia, so goodbye!
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P.S. Time!
-I got the new Third Day CD!
-At the mall, I parked next to a G6!!!!