This week might be the most random mix of reviews ever. Seriously, ever. I even surprised myself a bit.

I was ready to love who I already loved and hate who I wanted to hate, but that’s not at all what happened. The one album I was most excited for fell flat. And the one I barely even wanted to listen to (and would rather throw out my window) I kinda liked. A little too much. To the point where I had to force myself to turn it off.

I’m going to warn you right now: don’t listen to Ashley Tisdale if you aren’t into Disney pop music. Because you’ll probably end up enjoying it. And then feeling pretty embarrassed. Especially when you can’t get enough and want to blast it from your car and the people who pull up next to you can hear it…and judge you.

Modest Mouse- No One’s First and You’re Next

If there was an award for best album title’s ever (is there??), modest Mouse would win by a long-shot. With album names like Good News for People Who Love Bad News, This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, and Building Something Out of Nothing, Modest Mouse’s new album certainly fits in with their trend of awesome names. It’s called No One’s First and You’re Next and I’ve already played it about 50 million times. I always refer to Modest Mouse as an acquired taste; a band you might hate the first time you hear them. I know I tried to like them at first, but just couldn’t. And then one day I heard “Float On” and I sort of fell in love. And now, the first time I heard this new album, I loved it, solidifying in my mind that I am now a true Modest Mouse fan.

The album is actually a collection of previously released B-side and A-side tracks, but since I’m not a crazy obsessed Modest Mouse fan (yet), I haven’t heard any of them. It’s kind of a big jumble of music and you can tell it’s an EP, rather than being a full album. But I kind of like that. I can’t even pick a favorite song, but I have to say I absolutely love the build up that “The Whale Song” brings and can’t help but wonder if the lyrics are referencing Modest Mouse’s launch into fame and desire to go back to the way it was. Other definite listen-tos? “Satellite Skin” and “Autumn Beds,” but I really do enjoy the whole album. And I sincerely wish it was much longer than 8 tracks.

Howling Bells- Radio Wars

Howling Bells was completely new to me this week. I thought I would like them more than I actually do, mostly because I heard they’ve played along with bands that I adore, like The Killers, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol. And I’m not saying I don’t like them, – I’m just saying  they were a little too “whiney girls singing” for my tastes.

I do kind of like “It Ain’t You” because it seemed to be pretty happy and upbeat. Maybe the only the only happy and upbeat sound on the whole album. I also enjoyed “Nightingale,” because I love the clapping in the background, making it probably the most interesting song of all. I found “Let’s Be Kids Again” to be a bit blah, but I did kinda, sorta love the lyrics: “Let’s be kids again/Life was so simple then/Let’s be kids again…We don’t wanna know about this currency/We don’t wanna know about this 9-5/Just a simple life/Can you picture this/We don’t wanna hear about your policies/We don’t wanna live up to these expectations/A childlike dreal/Yeah you know what I mean.” Ok, so they totally get what I’m feelin’ right now…but I’m just not sure I want them to sing to me about it.

Ashley Tisdale- Guilty Pleasure

Let me first be clear about one thing: I am not a fan of High School Musical. In fact, I haven’t seen a single one of the movies. I do think Zac Efron is kind of cute, but that’s beside the point. And he’s much too young for me, anyway.

Like most people over the age of 9, I think it’s pretty ridiculous that so many of the High School Musical stars are coming out with their own albums. Really? Because I want to listen to Disney music, right? Then I saw a few interviews with Ashley Tisdale and I started to kind of like her. So, sue me. She’s a cute girl with a nice personality. And much more adult than I thought she was. Then I saw her perform “It’s Alright, It’s OK” and I really kind of enjoyed it. So I gave her a listen. And you know what? Her album is called Guilty Pleasure, and I can totally see why.

I think she’s kind of my new guilty pleasure. And I think the girl can totally move beyond the whole Disney stigma one day. I mean, her music is a bit racey. Maybe I’m totally out of line of here, but doesn’t “Masquerade” totally sound like it’s about role-playing? Yup. I’m in love with the song “Hot Mess,” and its totally PG-13 lyrics: “I’m such a hot mess/With you/I never knew/Never knew it could be so fun/It’s true/I was such a good girl before you came along/But you’re so racy/You’re my new favorite guy/So unruly/So uncivilized.” Doesn’t really sound like lyrics coming from a Disney star does it? And “Delete You” is the perfect song for 2009! We all have guys we need to delete. Not to mention there’s a song called “Hair.” That’s all about a guy running his fingers through her hair so she feels like “a sexy superstar.” It’s the most ridiculous song ever: “I like what you do to my hair. Who knew that looking a mess could feel so good?” OK, honestly, I’m stopping now. I have to stop. I am now Ashley Tisdale’s biggest fan. What happened to me?

In an effort to show the ladies of the house that there are some things they do that are just not OK to share (or to take part in at all), Steve set up a game show where he shared the girls’ secrets and asked guys what they thought. Turns out letting your cats choose your BF is weird (no way!), but having a giant tattoo around your vagina is not (huh?).

Now, I get the purpose behind this test, and I agree with the guys for the most part (wearing a tiara in your apartment is indeed weird), but did you see the type of dude making up that audience? It looked like Steve Ward hijacked an L.A. Ink tour bus and dumped them in the “Cute or Crazy” studio. What do these guys really know about women?

After getting torn apart by a group of burly men, the women were set up on dates and given another test: to share a secret. Well, everyone but Jessa, who ended up on a date with Steve (that lucky bitch) strapped to a lie detector test. And, well, I guess she shared a secret, too: that she doesn’t like Steve.

WHAT?!

How can you not like Steve? Because he is calling out all your flaws? Because he sees your issues and wants to bring them out? Because his eyes are so beautiful that they are like deep oceans through which you can see his soul? Because he looks so hot in a suit and tie!?!

WTF is your problem, Jessa? And if you don’t like Steve, then pack up and head home. Make some room for someone who actually wants to be there. I know I wouldn’t mind a little tough love, if you know what I’m sayin’.

Whoa. Sorry about the tangent. Moving on…

As usual, the show ends with group therapy where Steve picked out the best and worst performers of the week. Taylor gets the nod from Steve for acting really mature on her date and not totally walking out on him because he didn’t drive a Maybach. Abiola gets the slap on the wrist for being too picky, but we learn that she’s not picky because she wants perfection – she’s picky because she just wants a reason to push someone away before they push her away.

Can I get an “awwww”? Seriously, how many of us do the same thing? I turned down a guy once because he watched Fox News. Or because he was really effing hot and I thought he’d reject me the minute he saw me out of a dark, smokey bar. I needed a reason to dump him before he could dump me. Now look at me – I spent my Saturday night watching High School Musical. Alone. And crying. The fact it, I totally see a little bit of myself in Abiola (and that is not the part that wears one giant earring/has cats) and I do believe that watching her work with Steve will help me deal with my own issues.

Like the fact that I won’t date a guy who wears Doc Martins…or khakis…or really short finger nails. Ew. I just threw up a little bit.

I really need Steve’s help.
(Call me!)

1. The Dark Knight.

It’s a sad irony that Heath Ledger steals the show, after the film got so much publicity following the young actor’s death. Heath Ledger’s death made millions of people flock to the movie, but the truth is, it’s actually effing good. Ledger looks like a lock for a posthumous Oscar as well. Only time will tell.

2. Wall-E

Tell me you weren’t rooting for Wall-E and Eve, and I’ll tell you you have no soul. This cute, witty, futuristic animated tale was a favorite among audiences of all ages.

3. Cloverfield

With an innovative marketing strategy – remember those bizarre commercials guised as pleading cable interruptions? Cloverfield kept us on the edge of our seats and brought the “monster movie” genre to another level with its documentary-style cinematic techniques. Think Godzilla meets Blair Witch.

4. Gone Baby Gone

Ben Affleck’s latest screenplay, starring brother Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris has all the makings of a blockbuster: A-list author, lustworthy lead, and two powerhouse Hollywood phenoms. Did I mention the suspense and the action?

5. Milk

2008 was truly a time for change. Though we elected our first black president, we also lost a few steps of progress when California retracted the rights of gays to marry. What better time to release a film about Cali’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk? This powerful piece, starring Sean Penn, depicts the tragic assassination of San Fran’s first gay mayor by none other than a former city supervisor.

6. Sweeney Todd

Maybe I’m biased, because Johnny Depp could do a film version of Blake Fielder-Civil’s time in jail, and I’d still pay to see it. But the musical Sweeney was a ground-breaking effort by Stephen Sondheim, and a great excuse to put the equally eccentric Depp and Helena Bonham Carter together to recreate the story of “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

7. High School Musical 3

All good things come in threes. And you know you wanted another chance to see Zach Effron, Vanessa Hudgens, and “The Tiz” on the silver screen one last time. Who cares if we’re in college? High school musical is the stuff that girl’s nights out are made of. Extra butter on the popcorn, please.

8. Quantum of Solace

The highly anticipated, newest installment of the James Bond chronicles features hottie Daniel Craig and takes off only days after the shocking ending of Casino Royale, in which notorious ladies’ man Bond lost his lover. No time for tears, though, as this film immediately thrusts our hero into another jampacked ride to fight consipiracy.

9. Sex and the City

Well it took ten years, but Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha finally made it to the big screen. And it only took 300 pieces of H Stern jewelry for us to find out Big’s full name, and to see Carrie finally get her glass slipper (or, rather, blue Manolo) and live happily ever after.

10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A freaky-deaky plot involving a baby who was born as an old man, ages in reverse, and finds love somewhere in the middle is at least a creative diversion from the cliche’d spectacle we usually see in the cinemas. Plus, it’s Brad Pitt. Think of this film as a fantasy version of The Notebook, and go see it. NOW.

Let’s start with those Mousekateers we all love so much. I mean, how cute were Britney and Christina? Then out of no where they become pop sensations, vamp up their wholesome styles, and become sex icons for many a-teenage girls..and boys. I’ll tell you what though…they did a damn good job with Justin. (yum!)

Years pass, and a new group of young actors take over the Disney scene.

Enter Vanessa Hudgens. So cute, so talented, soooo naughty. She made it big with High School Musical and then to all of our surprise, pictures of Hudgens posing NEKKID start popping up. Might these pictures have been for her oh-so-hot boytoy Zac Efron? hm.

Then of course there’s Miley. The adorable, raspy voiced teeny bopper became the idol of millions of little girls all over the world with her hit show Hannah Montana. From there, her singing career took off (I definitely had a couple rock out sessions to “See You Again”). In 2008, little Miss Miley caused some controversy with her sexy photo shoot for the cover of Vanity Fair. Was she too trying to break the girl-next-door image that was bestowed on her by Disney?

The most recent Disney girl-gone-wild is Cheetah Girl, Adrienne Bailon. Pictures of her posing in a bra…and nothing else surfaced on the internet. The pictures were supposedly stolen off her computer and meant for her boyfriend, Robert Kardashian (yep, Kim’s bro).

Maybe Disney has forced these girls to be wholesome and innocent and they rebel with over-the-top sexiness? Or is it that Disney has nothing to do with it and these girls are just being girls?

During Orientation, people began to cling together because, in truth, all of us were friendless. So my group of friends developed depending on with whom I ate lunch one day, who also got lost trying to return to my dorm after a party, or who was sitting next to me at one of the many assemblies. I am not complaining about my friends — they are all genuinely nice people – but I wonder: if we had gone to school from pre-K to twelfth grade, would they even give me a second glace? Would I give them?

I feel like making these friends so hastily isn’t really making any true connections. Maybe this is because I’ve never moved away, and so have known all my high school friends for years. I know them inside and out, and I am really grateful for them. Now I have plenty more people programmed into my cell phone than I did in last fall. I can call over ten girls to go eat lunch, or procrastinate by watching a movie. I can say hello to at least five friends every time I walk somewhere.

But what kind of claim is that, when I don’t know anything about them other than the generic five questions I have asked and been asked for the last few weeks. 1) What’s your name? 2) What dorm do you live in? 3) What are you interested in studying? 4) Where are you from? 5) Do you want to exchange cell phone numbers?

There is no number 6: What is it about you that would make us good friends?

The problem for me is that I do not know how to put myself out there — really let people know how I act around my old friends — without being ridiculous. I don’t think I am stifling my whole personality, but I am definitely holding back my love of cheesy Disney movies and my obsessive grammar corrections.

And so I now question as to whether my new friends are doing the same.

Are they truly this nice and smart and driven and friendly all the time? Because although they’re easygoing, they seem too normal and perfect to get along with a quirky kid like me. I almost wish there were a day where everyone could just let it out there, where I could burst into singing High School Musical 2 when someone asks, “What time is it?” Back home, that was my type of normal. As were sarcastic jokes, skipping down hallways and dancing without a care of how crazy I looked.

I know I will become more comfortable in time, but for now I feel as if I am showing the simple side of Kristine to my dozens of generically nice buddies. I am looking for a little more than that. For now, I am trying to act as normal as possible. Maybe soon I will find that my type of normal fits in just fine here.

Every time I’m in a store, I feel like I was thrown back into my time machine and should be busting out a version of High School Musical of my very own: The 1990′s edition. Okay well, actually, I was in middle school when plaid/flannels and all that other 90′s garb was popular, which left everyone questioning if that girl in the flannel button down and the hiking boots was actually a girl.

But at least this time around some of the 90′s fashions are coming back with a feminine twist. Like Vanessa’s plaid dress: it’s edgy, yes it’s plaid, but it’s gives you a waist AND shows some cleavage (cuz we know V. Hudge wouldn’t go out in public in a drabby table cloth-y thing).

So this week I bring you: Celebrity Chic On The Cheap: Punk-Rock Plaid Goes Glam. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth (much like, “I really like the taste of beer”), but the world of fashion is always surprising me.

Plaid Dress: So this dress isn’t plaid, but it’s tweed and has the adorable bow. Throw it on with some pumps or some chunky black tights and, as it gets colder, a black or white longsleeve shirt under it to give it some texture. It’s adorable and afforadable. (and the same price as a High School Musical DVD)

Other plaid Options: The neckline is on this fabulously plaid dress is retro, the plaid pattern is discreet, and the dress is rockin. Rock it out with a leather jacket in the fall, or keep it sweet with dainty shoes and delicate jewwlry.

This pattern is like Vannessa’s dress but a bit more conservative. Throw a black patent belt on it to really show off that waist line!

I know Vanessa’s shoes are patent and peep toe, but to really take it back to the 90′s (and make it fall appropriate) check out these updated loafer pumps. Seriously, you all remember rocking the Steve Madden Loafers with the hideous stacked heel; finally a version that is actually cute!!

Whew – all that shopping really took me back. Time to go find my Ace of Base tape to play on my Walkman…