Finally finished downloading these movies which I have been planning to watch later after all the Christmas celebration. Since I feel that I won’t be sleeping early tonight because of all the relatives coming to our house and neighbors belching their lungs out singing karaoke, I decided to lock myself up in my room and watch these movies. If you haven’t noticed yet, I have a particular affinity with movies that have weird/disturbing themes. I am just so fed up with the typical drama/romance/comedy films out in theaters nationwide. So here are the ones in my list:

• Elvis and Annabelle (2007) —Groomed by her overly ambitious mother, Anabelle is on the road to winning the Miss Texas Rose tiara when she dies tragically during a pageant. Her death lands her on the embalming table of Elvis, an embittered young man whose sense of family duty and love for his ailing father keep him from following his dreams. When Anabelle is miraculously resurrected on Elvis’ embalming table, the two unexpectedly connect and sparks fly. With the help of each other and Elvis’ father, they discover love, freedom and happiness as the real world and their own demons threaten to force them apart.
• In My Skin / Dans Ma Peau (2002) —After suffering deep gashes to her leg from an accidental fall, Esther, a young research analyst, becomes preoccupied with her body and skin, especially her wounds. At first she merely caresses her arms, pinches her excess skin, or traces the cuts on her legs, but it isn’t long before she is carving wounds directly and aggressively into her own body.
• Frankenweenie (2012) —If there’s one thing young Victor Frankenstein loves more than anything, it’s his dog Sparky. After his beloved friend unexpectedly dies, Victor turns to science to bring his best friend back to life—it turns out Sparky returns but he’s not exactly the same as he was before.
• Struck By Lightning (2012) —After Carson Phillips is struck and killed by lightning in the opening scene, the film tells the story of a young man who blackmails his classmates into writing for his literary magazine that he will use when applying to the college of his dreams. Colfer said the film “is about all the kids in high school who are overachieving in their own right and underappreciated for it just like I was. I think it’s very sarcastic and very real. I hope it goes to show that there are still lots and lots of smart kids out in the world. It’s about smart kids and not about stupid kids who wanna get laid and that’s their biggest goal in life.
• Teenage Dirtbag (2009) —Based on a true story, this high school drama centers on the unlikely friendship between a cheerleader and a bad boy. Initially, he harasses her, but a friendship begins when they connect in a creative writing class. Will their backgrounds overcome their new link, or will they return to who they were?
• The Tracey Fragments (2007) —15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is naked under a tattered shower curtain at the back of a bus, looking for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he’s a dog. Tracey’s journey leads us into the dark underbelly of the city, into the emotional cesspool of her home, through the brutality of her high school, the clinical cat and mouse games with her shrink and her soaring fantasies of Billy Zero — her boyfriend and rock ’n’ roll saviour. 
• Tideland (2006) —Jeliza-Rose is a young child in a very unusual situation — both parents are junkies. When her mother dies, she embarks on a strange journey with her father, Noah, a rock’n roll musician well past his prime. Jeliza-Rose escapes from the vast loneliness of her new home into the fantasy world that exists in her imagination. In this world fireflies have names, bog-men awaken at dusk, and squirrels talk. The heads of four dolls, long since separated from their bodies, keep her company: Mystique, Baby Blonde, Glitter Gal and Sateen Lips, until she meets Dickens, a mentally damaged young man with the mind of a ten-year-old. 
• Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995) —Dawn is bright but awkward, both physically and socially, and is appallingly unpopular among her peers, to whom she’s better known as “Wienerdog.” Possessing little charm or grace and perhaps the most misguided fashion sense of her generation, Dawn is not an easy girl to like and practically no one seems interested in making the effort. If life is tough for Dawn at school, it’s hardly any better at home. While her folks dote on her gratingly cute younger sister Missy (Daria Kalinina) and look with pride to her bookish older brother Mark (Matthew Faber), Dawn is either ignored or treated as an annoyance. A painfully accurate account of life in junior high.

Me: *browsing the shelves for a good book while holding the ones in the photo*

Random Girl: *picks up Fifty Shades Box Set at the adjacent shelf* 

Random Girl: “Hey, you look like a bookworm, too! Don’t you think this is a great series!?”

Me: *contemplating whether to pretend not to hear her or just tell the truth that I find those books sucky*

Random Girl: “I mean, Christian Grey is just so awesome!”

Me: “Sorry, I don’t read that series.”

Random Girl: *surprised* “Oh..  but you should!” *eyes the books I’m holding.*

Me: “Uhh, I tried, but that genre isn’t really my thing.”

Random Girl: “Hmm. But it’s so good. Oh well, what books are those?”

Me: “Uhh.. Running With Scissors, Down The Rabbit Hole, and One Moment, One Morning.”

Random Girl: “Ooohh. I don’t know those. Anyway, try the Fifty Shades series. I think they’re way cooler than that. Trust me.”

Me: *Oh hell no* “Uhhh.. no, thank you” *walks off immediately to the counter*

———————

Well, that was a weird experience, not to mention, irritating. Like, this is a freaking bookstore and there are a whole bunch of various books, why do you think every single person you meet would like the same one you do? I tried so hard not to be rude, but hell, mind your own business, woman. 

Anyways, this is, my November Book Haul Part 3, I guess? Hahaha. I know I’m not supposed to buy anymore, but the ever tempting shelves, once again, won over my frail will. And so I got three books (well, should have been more if it wasn’t for that girl) from Powerbooks:

• Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
• Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams
• One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

Jeeeeez. I already spent half of my allowance for this week. That jar over there is my savings jar for books or whatever else. And I guess there won’t be any additional deposit this week. I am so bad at this. Hahaha.

23/46

So this is my books-to-buy list for this school year. Yes, weird or not, I have a list. And after 4 months, I already have half of what’s written on it. I am actually proud of myself because, if you still don’t know, I buy these book with my own money. Although that isn’t saying much since the money I use comes from the allowance my mom gives me, I can still say that these are mine. Do you know how hard it is to manage my expenses when I am staying at my dorm, just to save money? Imagine cutting off my food binges and all that for the sake of books. I could actually ask for book money from my mom, but I don’t do that as much as possible. These books are my leisure and my greatest addiction and buying them on my own seemed the right thing to do.

Okay, so enough about the thrift talk. I am hoping to buy everything listed here before the school year ends, so that means I still have at least 5 months to save up. Most of the ones I haven’t bought yet are the latter books of the series that I am reading. Of course, I know that the list might get longer as I learn about more books that I would want to read. Still, I hope I reach my goal. Wish me luck. :) 

Since classes won’t resume ‘til Monday, I think its only fitting to knock off at least two books from my to-read list.

So I decided to start with the book I wanted to read for so long: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Somehow, the thought of a future where books are banned and burned got me curious and terrified at the same time. Imagine a world of mindless TV chatters without the freedom of fiction and literature. I started reading it this Wednesday and I am halfway done. My reading’s kinda slow compared to usual since I am alternating it with movie breaks. I have to maximize this free time. After all, how many times can we have a week-long suspension of class?

When I’m done with Fahrenheit 451, I am also hoping to start and finish Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I’ve read the summary of the book and it instantly got my attention hooked. As I’ve said before, I have this thing for weird, intelligent, loner-types of protagonist. And since Christopher John Francis Boone is described as a 15-year old math genius who relates well to animals but not to human emotions, I did what I thought was right: grabbed the book and bought the copy. I am really looking forward to reading this since the main character is also a Sherlock fan (yay, me too!) and is set to investigate the death of their neighboring dog. So, wish me luck guys! :)