I know it's hip to be "beyond it all," but I entreat you to stay!

Zac(k) is gone from Facebook.
And I suddenly sense an inconquerable distance.
I miss him a lot.
Don't leave yet, dear friends. Stay until we're graduated and close again.

Love, Mary

Tidbits

1. Today my toilet started making weird noises. Now, I feel like the normal reaction to this would be to freak out or be confused, BUT I instead just sighed and felt rather annoyed. That's because if my toilet breaks (I don't think it is totally broken yet, but almost) it will have been the 3rd time this semester. I've literally been here 36 days. I feel like 3 times is kind of excessive. I live in the dorm named Prassel. It's the newest one and is supposed to be one of the nicest. LIES all LIES. Haha ok not entirely, but besides the toilet issues, the pipes in the walls vibrate when people take too hot showers, and we had ants for the first week. There's also now a really nasty smell in my room and suitemates' room, but it doesn't appear to be coming from the bathroom. ?? Seriously Trinity?

2. Saturday night my friends and I played hide and seek and capture the flag in upper campus. It was pretty fun... minus the part where I picked a really bad hiding spot and got about a million bug bites. Seriously, I looked like I had chicken pox and felt like I had been sunburned :P

3. I think today was the first time in a very long time that I can remember it being the first day of fall and it actually FEELS like fall. If it weren't for the rain, it would've been a beautiful day :) I'm so over this south Texas heat and humidity.

4. Mary and I turn 20 in a week. This age is almost meaningless, except the fact that it marks an end to our teenage years. I'm not ok with this. I feel like I've grown up to fast and that I should be 17. Mary, let's go drown our sorrows ice cream sometime next Tuesday. Meet you halfway?? :)

P.S. You should also check your mail sometime next week ;)

I could tell y'all more about all the work I have to do for school and the organizations I'm involved with, but that's probably not very interesting to you, so I think this is all I'm gonna post for now...

Except, is it just me, or does anyone else really miss being a freshman?

avec amour,

Emily

So No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way...

“I’m thinking it’s a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they are perfectly aligned. And I have to speculate that God Himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay.”

-The Postal Service, Such Great Heights

So who would have ever thought that this would happen? Be honest. Zac claims to have foreseen our rapidly increasing friendship just because we are very similar and have compatible personalities, but Zac always tends to claim that after two people he knew separately become really good friends. J Did I know that the name the group always threw around “Oh, if only Andrew Wagner were here… Tim and Andrew Wagner are so funny together…Andrew Wagner…Andrew Wagner…” (and I always took note that it was the full name—which made me curious as to see what kind of person deserved their whole name spoken as opposed to just the first or the last. And of course the name was always followed by laughter, as if remembering some past joke.)? No, of course not.

So Gig ‘Em Week rolls around, and I’m excited to see everyone again, get back to my home, and have lots of fun. Sunday moved in, Monday met Andrew for the first time at Sbisa, of course (squared). As I do with most people, hit it off right from the get go; there was never that awkward moment when you first get to know someone (we’ve all had it before!). We were just able to talk to each other very openly, honestly, and easily from the moment we met. However, it was mostly Tim and Andrew who were ricocheting off each other’s jokes that day. I sat back and observed, laughing all the while and fully enjoying myself. Gig ‘Em Week was interesting to say the least, and of course a lot of fun. As fate would have it, Andrew, Caleb, and I hung out a lot, and got to know each other better. A synopsis of the events that took place can be found written in wall posts between Andrew and my walls on Facebook, as Mary can contest to.

This is how I put it to Ashley: “You know when a person just walks into your life, and you know they were meant to be there all along? And you will never be the same because of them?” Yeah, that’s basically what it’s been like. Just randomly, one day, Andrew walks in on my seemingly normal, easy-going life, and just completely sweeps me off my feet. Literally, in some cases (he’s teaching me how to beat people up…more on that, later). But you know that things aren’t normal when you are already finishing each other’s sentences by the end of the first week that you met. And that you know exactly what the other person is thinking at any given moment. And it’s not due to the fact that we know each other extremely well; we have literally just met. It is in major part from the fact that we think exactly alike; to the point it is quite freaky. And that doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. There have been many people whom I can understand really well because we think alike. That’s different from thinking exactly the same. We have the same opinion about a lot of subjects, and the phrases “I know exactly what you are talking about” or “I know exactly how you feel” have never been said with such sincerity, truthfulness, or so often in our deep conversations. It is like we have known each other all our lives, but are just now realizing it and getting to spend time together. This kid never ceases to astonish me and cause me to fall in love with him over and over again. Another overused phrase: “Andrew Wagner, where have you been all my life?!” Ironically, not that far away; our paths very close to one another, but never quite crossing.

So I will spare you all the mushy-girly details on this thread, because those are best saved for girl time (or not at all if y’all don’t particularly care). But who knew Andrew Wagner was such a romantic guy? Not I.

“Sometimes people come into your life and you know
right away that they were meant to be there, to serve
some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help
you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be - a roommate, a
neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a
complete stranger - but when you lock eyes with them,
you know at that very moment they will affect your
life in some profound way."

-Author Unknown

Why am I not at the football game?

Here I am, sitting in the basement of Cavanaugh Hall. I'm in pajamas, sitting cross-legged on one of the plushiest couches on this whole campus-- none of that college cardboard that they tell you is a seat. I have blankets and books piled around me, a laptop balancing atop the rounds of my knees, and Cavanaugh's big screen TV flashing in front of me. The basement is a surprisingly pleasant place to be mid-afternoon, for there are large windows near the ceiling and homey upolstery colors stretched across the furniture. It's not claustrophobic at all. It's especially not claustrophobic right now, because the nearest person is at least fifty yards away and no one is in the building.

It's game day. I can hear our school cheers and the brass section of our band as clear as day through these concrete walls. On the big screen TV, I'm watching the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game while it plays out in real life not 100 yards away from my dorm. I purchased season tickets last spring but I never went to pick them up. The last two home football games I have spent here, a two-minute walk from the stadium, burrowed underground beneath books and beneath blankets.

Sophomore year, I made a list of things I wanted to change about myself and I practiced them religiously until they became a second nature for me. Thanks to these gradual changes, junior year was the year of my life when I liked myself more than I ever had. Senior year was great. As a college freshman, I was who I wanted to be. Then this summer, I made a list of things I wanted to change again-- many of them qualities that I used to have but which slipped from me in the last year.

Things didn't work like they did sophomore year. This summer, I failed a lot of the resolutions that I set for myself. I'm still failing them! One of the bullet points was this:

3) Nothing's more important than being there. Go to every social event that you're asked to attend or that you've committed yourself to attend.

And yet here I am, sitting in the basement of Cavanaugh Hall, not participating in this extraordinary opportunity for ND camaraderie. I've received texts from no less than five people saying, "Hey-- where are you? Are you feeling alright?" I continue to be here. And the worst part? I like it here.

I like the solitude. I like getting work done. I like yelling at the television when Clausen's passes go awry or when Floyd makes his touchdowns. I like that the building is empty. I like that I am comfortable. I like that I can watch the instant replays. I like that I'm so close to the action and yet alone. I like that I can ice cream. I like that I have time to write a letter to Brian and post on the Girls' Tent Blog. I like that I am separate.

And here's the meat of the inner conflict: this is not even close to being the change I want to see in the world. But it makes me happy. Man... what of that?

I need better will power. "Be the change" is so much more important than "Be comfortable."

---

Guys, I've been having weird dreams. They all have the same theme, but they're enacted differently each time. They're worrying me a lot. I wish I were a more candid person, and I would tell you all everything right here.

Oh, hey-- I also saw U2 last weekend. I'll tell you about it soon.

Any chance that any of you could find a way to Chicago this year? Any time at all? Please?

And finally: Rose, your posts are something I always look forward to. I read them with great attention. But I'd like to pull everyone back on here! Tell me things that are happening in your lives. It doesn't have to be long. I miss y'all.

Love, Mary

Inspiration Comes from the Oddest Places

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Tim Burton: Introduction, "Vincent," and "Frankenweenie"

Note: In honor of Alice in Wonderland, which is to be released March 2010, I have decided to do an overview of Tim Burton's work to date beginning with his early career with Disney. Enjoy!

"Vincent Malloy is seven years old,
He's always polite and does what he's told.
For a boy his age he's considerate and nice,
But he wants to be just like Vincent Price."

This opening narration from Tim Burton's 1982 "Vincent" could just as easily be used to describe Burton himself as it could the over imaginative slight morbid main character in the short. His long time love affair with early horror films, especially those of famed director Vincent Price and the exploitative, sensational films of the 1950s, is prominently displayed throughout his work lending his films a unique, distinctive visual style that is both instantly recognizable and highly imaginative. Additionally, his quirky personality and difficult home and school life have led to scripts centered around a lonely, misunderstood outsider with whom audiences both instantly sympathize and relate. This winning combination of style and story has quickly propelled Burton to one of the most popular directors in Hollywood.

Burton started his career as an animator for Disney who recruited him right out of college based on his hand drawn short "The Stalk of the Celery Monster." After being removed from The Fox and the Hound due to his roadkill-like concept art, he was reassigned to The Black Cauldron. He often relates this work to having a piece of his brain cut out and preferred to work on his own, more macabre shorts.

The first of these is "Vincent," a six minute animated short about a young boy who imagines that his life is like a movie by his hero Vincent Price, who actually narrates the short. The piece is set to a poem that Burton originally intended to turn into a children's book. It features black and white animation with stark lighting and harsh, distorted shadows creating an eerie, Gothic feel that would soon become a trademark. It also introduces his preferred heroic archetype of misunderstood outsider while at the same time, making fun of it to give it a lighter, more kid-friendly tone. It went on to screen at several film festivals and to win the Audience Award at Ottawa International Film Festival, but Disney didn't know what to do with it, so after giving Burton a pat on the back they put it to the side and all but forgot about it.

Burton's second short made under Disney is "Frankenweenie," a half hour, live-action short about a child Frankenstein who brings his dog Sparky back to life after he is hit by a car. Shot in the same black and white, Gothic style as "Vincent," this short takes a slightly more serious tone, developing strong family relationships as well as the love between a boy and his dog while managing to both spoof and homage his favorite classic horror films. Although this film is imaginative and charming, Disney deemed it to be too frightening for children and fired Burton for wasting company resources. Of course, this did not stop them from later releasing both shorts on their DVD release of The Nightmare Before Christmas once Tim Burton had become a name in the film industry.

Now free of Disney's restrictions, Tim Burton was free to pursue the promising artistic direction he had established in his early shorts.

Treasure Planet

"Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins. You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you're made of! Well, I hope I'm there, catching some of the light coming off you that day." -John Silver

Disney's Treasure Planet is a futuristic sci-fi version of Robert Louis Steven's Treasure Island, a tale about Jim Hawkins who is part of a crew in search of Captain Flint's treasure only to discover that the ship's cook, Long John Silver, is a pirate planning a mutiny in order the get the treasure all for himself. In this particular version, Jim Hawkin's is voiced by my future Hollywood bestie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which on its own would make it worth watching. However, this also came from an interesting time in Disney animation. Having only intermittent success since Aladdin, Disney was now being challenged by Fox and Warner Brothers as the dominant family animators. And the threat wasn't coming in their typical genre.

In 1999, Warner Brothers released The Iron Giant, a sci-fi adventure film directed by Brad Bird. Though it was poorly marketed and under released, this charming story about a boy and his giant space robot gained a level of critical acclaim that Disney had not seen since 1994's The Lion King. The next year, 20th Century Fox released Titan A.E., a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure film about Cale (Matt Damon) and Akima (Drew Barrymore) as they search for a space station that can save mankind. Though this film also underperformed due to poor marketing, it must have been a blow to Disney's ego and consequently forced them to expand into the heretofore untouched sci-fi adventure genre with strong male leads searching for excitement and their spunky female love interests to help them.

Thus, Disney released Atlantis: The Lost Empire in 2001. Michael J. Fox voices Milo who, on the eve of World War II, has found a map to Atlantis. However, when he gets there, he discovers that Atlantis may need more help than it can give. Although Atlantis did better than the other two movies in theaters, it still did not make enough in the US to cover its production costs. Unfortunately, Disney could not blame this on poor marketing like The Iron Giant or Titan A.E. as was reinforced by the generally average to poor reviews it received. Accused of having a general lack of character and plot development, perhaps Disney had just strayed too far from what they knew. They were willing to give it another shot the following year with Treasure Planet.

With this, finally, they had done it. By using their already established skills of adaptation, they too had produced an family-friendly animated sci-fi film that had relatively good reviews on par with Titan A.E. Disney even went all out on the animation, layering 2D animation over 3D to create a unique and stunning visual effect. Plus, they made a new first by simultaneously releasing it in regular theaters and IMAX. It was a success! In everything but box office figures that is. High DVD sales and good reviews weren't enough to make up for a box office flop and Disney washed its hands of that crazy fad to return to more comfortable movies like 2003's Brother Bear.

And so the animated sci-fi genre ended soon after it began, but not without leaving a few gems worth watching. The Iron Giant and Titan A.E. of course but I would personally add Treasure Plant for it's stunning animation, well-adapted plot, and charming lead. If you can forgive the feel-good Disney end added to the original Treasure Island story, I think you'll find the lack of romance an interesting twist to the Disney formula. It's an adventure story pure and simple with the most developed relationship that of father/son. These short-lived sci-fi films show a great deal of potential in children's entertainment that could be equal to the Disney princesses given the right marketing. Each of these thrilling tales has it's own cult following and hopefully that will be enough to respark interest in the genre soon.