Tomorrow’s a big day. The big day. The day that I’ve been dreaming about for months.

Yes ladies, tomorrow marks the release of Dear John and I. just. can’t. wait.

Call me cheesy. Call me girly. Call me pathetic. Just don’t call me between the hours of 9pm and 11pm when I’m soaking up the chick-flick of the decade with my girls and an overpriced, oversized package of Twizzlers.

And don’t tell me you’re not excited about this one, too. Dear John has all the elements of the perfect movie and here are 5 reasons why I’m already holding tickets to the opening night premiere.

1. I love a good cry. Dear John is adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel by the same name.  Sparks also happens to be the tear-jerking genius who wrote The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, both of which left me heaving into my Diet Coke in the movie theater. As sadistic as it sounds, sometimes I just need me a good cry and after having watched the trailer, um, a lot, I’m positive this movie will give me one.

2. Channing Tatum. As if I even need to mention this. I have admired his chiseled jaw, gorgeous lips, and Adonis-like abs since Step Up came out in 2006. Even after I finally gave up trying to teach myself all the dances in the movie, my love for Channing stuck with me. He was my profile picture on Facebook for awhile. I mentioned him in my final article for my school newspaper. I planned my life as Mrs. Zahra Tatum…

Where was I? Read More »

A big part of etiquette is knowing how to deal with rude people with dignity and grace.

Let’s face it, you can mind your manners all you want but there’ll always be that jerk that comes along and pushes you off the swing set anyway *cough-Ryan-M-from-first-grade-cough* So here are some quick guidelines of how to deal with the Ryans of this world:

During a confrontation…

1. Ask yourself if it’s really worth it.
If someone’s walking straight at you and expect you to get out of their way, remember that it wouldn’t kill you to move over. Yeah, it’s a pain in the butt and yeah, that person is completely rude, but is it worth ruining your day over?

2. Stay calm under pressure.
As Miss Manners, I really can’t condone rudeness; however, I do understand that everyone has bad days and sometimes people honestly don’t know that they’re being rude. So if you catch an attitude at the get-go, they might see it as you being rude first. Never fight fire with fire. No matter what, speak calmly and rationally and perhaps they’ll realize how ridiculous they sound in comparison.
DO NOT: Act patronizing. If your calmness comes off as patronizing/douche-y, that’ll only set them off again. No one likes to feel stupid and you’ll just push their buttons if they feel like you’re looking down on them.
OR: Start a shouting match, especially in public. Then both of you are being rude. Plus it’s hard to be rational when you’re screaming/being screamed at. Read More »

Not gonna lie – I’m not a fan of war movies.  Granted, depending on my mood, I might be persuaded to sit down and watch a couple bloody hours of awesomeness.  Most often, a boy toy convinces me to watch one and I do all I can to spend the entire time making-out with him rather than actually watching to movie.

Now that I’ve laid that down, in honor of Memorial Day I’d like to give special attention to those movies that actually made me stop the tongue dance and watch the action (on the screen…not under the blanket).  Here’s my (very uninformed) list of the 10 greatest war movies:

The Patriot: Lots of blood and guts, but the costumes make this movie a hit for me.  Plus, Heath Ledger is pretty awesome as an innocent boy who just wants to fight for the country he thought we should have.  Thanks, fictional homie.

Schindler’s List: This is  a must see on any movie list and should probably be your first reference for war movies.  Aside from the incredible performances and intricate plot, I’m lovin’ the black and white effect in this one.  And Liam Neeson?  Very yummy in his day.

The Big Red One: I saw this one while going through a Star Wars phase (…which may or may not still be going on), since it stars a young Mark Hamill [Luke Skywalker]  as a member of a famous heroic band of men.  It’s gritty, bloody, and emotionally satisfying.

Gone With the Wind: I’m gonna include this one because it shows the other side of the war – the home front.  It’s a masterpiece, from the incredible acting to the sweeping score.  I very much enjoy the costumes in this one as well (there might be a trend here…).

Tropic Thunder: So maybe this movie isn’t actually about a war, so much as a movie about a bunch of guys trying to make a movie about a war.  At any rate, there were guns and blood, so it counts.  Plus, it was funny and if you can make a war movie funny then you’ve got some talent, my friend. Read More »

Welcome freakin’ back, Gossip Girl! I officially screamed at my television last night. Bring on the juicy.

Let me say this: I continue to have a bitter distaste for Dan, and Chuck remains (by far) my total fave. AND Lily gained some cool points tonight too. If you missed it, stop reading now, turn on your DVR, and watch. And if you watched, feel free to comment on your favorite part of last night’s stellar ep.

The show started with the usual Yale bullsh*t. Blah blah blah, aren’t they in yet, already? No, they aren’t. And there’s a certain new, young, hot teacher who is going to rock everyone’s world. Anybody else think it’s weird that Serena instantly becomes her new Shakespeare teacher’s bff? I mean, I had teachers I was tight with, but not to this degree. And, a note to Ms. Carr, never tell your students it’s your first salaried gig. That’s just asking for it.

As the Yale-shizz unravels, Serena laments to Dan that she is afraid that she’ll get into Yale, and Blair won’t. Presumptuous? Or foreshadowing?

This week’s weekly party is the opera gala. Seriously? That’s not nearly as exciting as the white party. But I suppose it’ll do, since Jack has already thrown Chuck’s dead father into the mix. We all know that Chuck was had by Jack last week, but is he going to take that? Hell. No.  And you gotta love Lily in this ep for making it happen. Read More »

So who gave Russia permission to be the biggest buzzkill ever?

If you haven’t heard, Russia decided to go wave their giant international schlong around in the Georgian region of South Ossetia last week. And then, since Georgia’s military consists of two tanks and a three-legged dog, they decided to just run all over the damn place – go for the gold, perhaps. Oh, hey, how topical.

Russia, what gives? Were you thinking that everyone was too enthralled with the Olympics to notice? We’re not blind, Russia. We see you over there. Mr. “I’m only the Prime Minister” Putin, wipe that snide smile off your face, you’re not fooling anyone. We are ready for swift, decisive action. It’s not like we’re too busy chumming it up with the women’s volleyball team or anything.

Russia, really, we’re sorry you haven’t had a bona fide invasion in sixty-odd years. We know your country is huge and hard to invade. We know you just want to sit in your snow palaces and chortle heartily as the fascist armies starve to death on the tundra. But could you at least have waited until the world-wide quadrennial moment of community was over? Man, we really had some spirit going on.

Couldn’t the one-sided massacre of civillians in a thinly veiled land grab along with grotesque human rights violations have waited at least until after the BMX competition? Maybe?

Not like anyone’s surprised, of course. Government people have a pretty terrible record of ruining the fun of decent, normal human beings. Let’s have a look back at some of their more belligerent moments: Read More »

It’s time for your daily dose of news with Kandy Korrespondent!

The Myanmar death toll from Saturday’s Cyclone Nargis is now estimated at 22,500 with 41,000 still missing. Despite such a large body count, Myanmar’s government has thus far only given a few aid organizations access. According to the New York Times, UN disaster assessment officials were still waiting for visas as of Tuesday night.

You can help! The following aid organizations are working to send aid to Myanmar, World Vision, Save the Children, Foundation Burma, and Direct Relief International.

In yesterday’s presidential primary, Obama secured North Carolina with a 14% margin, and Clinton barely squeaked by with a 2% margin. Indiana proved to be a tougher battle ground than most expected. It was after 1am before CNN and other TV networks called the state decisively for Senator Clinton.

Check out my real time continuing coverage from last night to find out more.

Dmitry Medvedev takes office today as Russian President with ex-president Vladimir Putin as his Prime Minister. Many believe that Medvedev will simply be a puppet of the Prime Minister, thereby allowing Putin to retain the outward appearance of constitutionality even as he continues to control Russia. Read More »

Due to the fact that I was surrounded by the most politically minded people in school – who now, mind you, live and breathe Washington D.C. politics every day – I have grown up to be quite a political person myself. Yet even I only caught glimpses of last night’s State of the Union Address; mostly because of the writer’s strike and the fact that there was absolutely nothing else worth watching on TV.

Trust me; I tried.

It’s not like I wasn’t interested in what GW had to say; it is just hard to watch George Bush give a speech with bright eyes and (false) positivism when the country has been reduced to shit all around him. We have serious economic issues, war issues, health care issues, not to mention the thousands of people still displaced by Katrina. I don’t really want to spend the little free time I have watching W. sugarcoat those not-so-pleasant truths for an hour. Read More »

• What are the top 10 foods to top with bacon when bacon goes with everything?

• Looking to waste time on the internet? Is that question as stupid as the bacon one? Eh, just waste your time here!

• Coca Cola is evil. But only in Russia.

• The eternal war wages on! Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

• This guy’s even better than the real Santa.

• So now when your little brother won’t stop making you play Rock, Paper, Scissors you’ll know how to shut him up.

Days as a Freshman: 90

Mood: Guilty

“Do you have any gum?”

Stacey shifted in the brown leather chair, straightening her blazer. She had dressed for the occasion, opting to go for “mature and classical” instead of her usual “fake and preppy”.

I was sporting my standard jeans and long sleeved shirt look, being under the impression that the Dean of Student Life didn’t really care about our clothes.

“Here.” I reached into my giant purse and pulled out a half-crushed packet of gum. “You sure you want to be talking to Dean Carlon with stuff in your mouth, though?”

“Do you have any gum that hasn’t been through the washing machine?” Crinkling her noise, Stacey stared at my hand like I was passing her a dead rat. “And I was gonna spit it out before going in there anyway. I just have this horrible taste in the back of my throat.” Begrudgingly taking a piece of gum from the pack, Stacey slipped it behind her shiny pink lips and bleached white teeth. “I always get a gross taste in my throat when I’m nervous.”

“Should we be nervous?” I took a piece of gum myself and started to chew quickly, realizing that my jaw had answered my question for me; we should be very nervous. Read More »

I’ll be the first to admit that I did some messed up shit to my frenemies during my younger years. One time in middle school, my friends and I poured Snapple and mashed strawberries in a girl’s backpack because we were fighting for absolutely no reason.

Seeing as our military isn’t in middle school (though they are in a similar predicament: fighting for absolutely no reason), I’d expect a little more tact from them. But apparently the U.S. military has come down with the mean girls-syndrome that I suffered circa the strawberry incident.

No, they didn’t mash strawberries in the backpacks of Iraqi extremists. But they did do some very Regina George-esque plotting to create a gay bomb to use against enemy soldiers. A gay bomb. Seriously.

A watchdog organization that tracks military spending exposed the U.S. military’s plan to build a bomb that could turn opposing soldiers gay—consequently shifting their focus from fighting to sex, CBS reported.

The watchdog group found that “the Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistibly attractive to one another.” Read More »