Top 5 Books

I didn't have that great of a reading year in 2011. Way too much other stuff to do. But I had some good ones for sure.

5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Who knew that Jane Austen was really writing about zombies? Because there's a solid chance that she was, and she just didn't know it; that's how awesome this book was. See the next entry for specifics.

4. Pride and Prejudice

Remember a few years ago when Persuasion was one of my top books in this blog? And I said that I thought Persuasion only made it on because it was the first Austen I'd made it all the way through and that I don't think I like her? I may have lied. I understand now why women love Jane Austen; it is because of the female characters she creates. They are quietly rebellious, every last one of them. Elizabeth is, of course, recognized as rebellious, but the beauty lies in the minute differences in rebellion of all the women. None are quite the same, nor feel the same way about any two things. Women can't help but see themselves, or wish they could see themselves in one or more of the female characters. Austen was a genius in this manner; she wrote in the style of her time but broke free from the constraints of stock characterization and petty stories.

3. The Hunger Games

I read this book in about 6 hours, mostly because it is a young adult lit book and pretty easy to read, but also because I was really into it. The rest of the series was kind of a let down, but only because I'm probably a little too old to continue reading YA lit like I do. I always see through it now. But this first book didn't address much of the bigger story that's going (the dystopian future and Katniss's involvement in taking down the people oppressing everyone); it stuck with the Hunger Games themselves, the yearly fight to the death between 24 young "tributes," as an introduction to the bigger story. It's brutal and suspenseful, and you have no idea who to actually pull for. There's also a wide array of intriguing side characters to keep you on your toes.

2. The Help

This was one of my reads over the summer, and it was a pretty awesome choice. It's simply written and easy to read; in fact, as I was reading, I wanted to find a reason to work it into an 11th grade American Lit class. The characters are easy to love or hate as the author wants you to and, really, as you should morally. Also, having partially grown up in the south, I enjoyed the giggles I got out of the ridiculous southernness of some of the ladies. I haven't seen the movie, which is unfortunate because I'm sure it would be on my top list.

1. Storm of Swords

I started reading the Song of Ice and Fire (the name of this series), because HBO made a pretty nice TV series based on them, or at least the first book, called Game of Thrones. This is the third book in the series, and it was game changing. And. So. Awesome. I know I use the word awesome a lot, but this was. It was so emotionally satisfying. I cried circa page 700, cheered sometime after that, and then literally kicked my feet in excitement on the last page. If you enjoy fantasy novels at all, you should give this series a shot. I've enjoyed every book so far, including the 4th, which everyone else said was the worst, they just weren't enough for the top 5 of the year.

Honorable Mentions

The Great Gatsby

I've read this book twice before. I chose to re-read it this summer after finding out that they're making a new movie version with Leonardo Dicaprio. I read the whole thing with him in mind, and it was mind blowingly perfect. I'm excited about the film.

Top 5 Movies

I definitely have to preface this year's movie list by telling you that I did not watch movies much this year. At least, not the ones that were released in 2011. I caught up on a lot of old ones I hadn't seen. Last year's list didn't include anything from December 2010; this year's doesn't include anything from November or December of this year. Oh well.

5. Bridesmaids

I actually didn't like this movie as much as I thought I would based on what everyone else was saying. I mean, I laughed, but not as hysterically as I was expecting. What I did like about it, and what made it a top 5 movie for me, was the relationship between Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's characters, and the problems that arise for both of them with the introduction of Rose Byrne's character. It felt very real. It's hard to be friends as adult women sometimes.

4. Black Swan

Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses and seeing her in this role was pretty awesome. It was fun to watch her lose it in that way. There's the question of what was really going on in the movie, i.e. sexual abuse by the mother? Mila Kunis's character: exists or imaginary? How much of the movie was actually happening or was hallucinated?, and by this time, you surely know I like movies that make you question things. Darren Aronofsky, who directed this movie, does that really well. I left the movie with no definitive idea of what had actually happened, and I like that. On second, later, viewing, I think I got a better idea of what was real and what wasn't.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Harry Potter has been a part of my life for about 15 years. Watching this movie was like a culmination of all the tears I had put into this story. There are many things I disliked about the other film versions; to be honest, there were a few things I disliked about this one. But the good outweigh the bad for this one. Over the course of the story, Neville became my favorite character. Finally getting to watch Neville become the hero - the one he could have been had Voldemort "chosen" him at birth - in the moment that he cut the snake's head off was AWESOME. Granted, I didn't like the way they changed that scene, but it was still great fun. This probably isn't a top movie for anyone who isn't a fan of the series. I get that.

2. The King's Speech

Colin Firth is incredible in this movie. I love him. Everything about this movie was awesome. See it now; I don't know what else to say about it.

1. Drive

Ryan Gosling is a god. Also, not to be confused with Drive Angry, starring the not-so-godlike Nic Cage. Drive is not a movie for everyone, but I was intensely moved by a lot of things about it. Gosling's acting was out of this world. I haven't seen The Ides of March yet, which is the one he's going to get nominated for an Oscar for, but I wish that it had come out in a different year than Drive, because he deserves a nod for this as well. The music was PERFECT. The scene in the elevator where Gosling makes out with his girl for the first time before brutally killing a guy sent to kill her was INCREDIBLE. This movie was not about driving cars; it's about what drives people, about what motivation there is behind our actions. It was interesting how much I was moved by this movie about the things that move people and then to see other people who were moved in such a different way than I was. Seriously, now I just want to go watch it.

Sort of Cool

When I was teaching, I was always trying to find really cool but still educational things for the students to do. One time, I had them try to write This I Believe essays. Go to thisibelieve.org for more information.

I had them do this while we were reading To Kill a Mockingbird, a book about morals and beliefs. I had each class choose two of their peers' essays to submit to the organization for publication. I've never heard that any of the kids had theirs published, but I think that's probably because they wouldn't think it was as awesome as I would. They did get really into it though, because of the competitive part, I'm sure.

Anyway, to help them through the process, as it is really difficult, I wrote an essay of my own with them and went through the submission process as well.

And here it is, on the This I Believe website: http://thisibelieve.org/essay/96171/

FOUND

I don't know why I couldn't find the Boston pictures before. Weird. They were right where they should have been. Anyway here's some fun pictures from when the family went up to Boston back in May for Renee's graduation.

In the Common.

Stapleton siblings have questionable graduation rituals. Admittedly, we were also playing twenty questions with our sister at the same time, and some Northeastern professors were definitely sitting at the bar next to us discussing the merits of skipping the actual ceremony.

We find Renee first.





At a bar with everyone, though obviously not everyone is pictured.


Zak redoes my "High five, Paul Revere!" photo op.

Other highlights: Holocaust memorial, which I took lots of pictures of but none of which have people in them; some blurry pictures of the actual graduation ceremony; Zak, Renee, and I visit Fenway during a baseball game and I drink Guinness for the first time since leaving Ireland...

I'm already planning how much fun being in Chapel Hill for my graduation/30th birthday party will be in 2013!

Grad School is Hard.

Dear Laina from 10 months ago,

You clearly wanted to get into Carolina. It's a good thing you like reading, writing, prezi.com, google docs, and typing. Here's hoping it stays that way, and you continue not minding working for 11 hours straight on a Sunday.

Love,

present Laina

First Day of School, First Day of School... (ala Nemo)

Okay. Let's be honest. I was NOT excited about my first day of school like Nemo was. In fact, I spent much of the time leading up to the first day wondering, seriously, whether I had made the right choice in leaving a pretty good job (read: I made money) and going back to school.

I had no idea. I rather doubted it actually.

But today, the third day of school, I remembered how much I love being a student. And I think it's going to be okay.

Okay, Daddy...

As my dad so kindly pointed out to me, my life is really not that average. So here's a quick couple of pictures from the cool stuff going on in the last 5 months or so.

Jim took his black belt test in Atlanta, so I drove down there to watch. We missed the test accidentally, but had fun hanging with Amanda nonetheless.

My friend Dan and I took students to Ireland, Wales, and England.

I kissed the Blarney Stone.

I supported my dear friends Anna and Kalyn by going to LEAF.

We had a masquerade party for my 28th birthday.

Also, Renee graduated, but for some reason I am not able to access those pictures from blogger... They're on my computer... I can see them... Alas, they remain the lost Boston pictures.

Oh yeah. I'm also moving to Chapel Hill, NC on Friday to attend UNC Chapel Hill this Fall for my master's in Library and Information Science. There's that. :)