Summer Begins

And now the famous question: what now? What will Jennifer Anne Hardy do next? Well, I began my summer with a well-deserved awesome California road trip with fellow graduates Stephanie Abraham, Cori Hoffman, Megan Knell, and Katelyn Dot Scott - my forever roommates. And I fully documented it! It will soon be video that I will add to this post. It was EPIC fun.

And here's a list of the things I have done since:

I bid farewell to my Independent Study co-workers, hopefully only temporarily. I got booted because I graduated, and since I have not officially been accepted into the BYU grad program I can't continue working there. Sadness. I miss those silly, wonderful people.

I have been spending most of my daytime hours at my high school, Highland High, in Salt Lake. Every year since I graduated from there I have made a video introducing the school to freshman. Last week I started working on the video for this year, and I have been helping my mom (who works at Highland) with CRT testing (which she is in charge of).

I gave in and finally bought The Sims 3. Yup. I started this addiction way back when I was like 10 or 11 or something and I have successfully bought the first Sims and all its expansions, The Sims 2 and all it's expansions, and now The Sims 3. Don't worry, I only bought it with the personal determination of not becoming a social hermit. Real people are still more important to me than simulated people, though I do find myself becoming rather attached to my Sim girl who wants to be an International Super Spy and has since childhood, and the mother who paints and writes on the side, and the child music prodigy. Fun stuff!

Speaking of video games, I'm also working on beating Chrono Trigger on my DS. I love this game so much, it's not even funny. I could play it over and over (and I have). I could beat it now, but I'm determined to do all the side quests too. NERD ALERT.

I have also delved deeper into the world of Bollywood. Oh, how I love it! I have literally considered moving to India to make/study films, not just a glancing thought but an actual search for schools and jobs. Yes, it's mostly just a fun idea. But lately I've decided that if I'm going to study film history I'm going to be the world's foremost expert on the musical subgenre, meaning I need to get to know Bollywood even better. So hey, I'm working on my career when I watch them! So far my favorites include Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Om Shanti Om, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, Kal ho Naa Ho, Jab We Met, Dil Bole Hadippa, My Name is Khan, and Chak De! India. I've started by watching Shahrukh Khan and am slowly working my way through his filmography. After him, I'll probably move on to Kajol. She's my favorite Indian actress. Then Rani Mukherji. Then Kareena Kapoor. I've already dabbled a bit in Shahid Kapoor. Hrithik Roshan will find his way in there too. There's just too much to discover! Every summer I find a movie or film movement to latch onto - last summer it was the 80s and Crossing Delancey. This summer? BOLLYWOOD!

Speaking of movies, the summer movie season has begun! Yay! My dad and I saw Thor, which I thoroughly enjoyed - just a good summer action hero movie. I love superheroes. I'm so glad Marvel is making all the Avenger movies. I love watching them intertwine and cross into each others stories. The Marvel Universe rocks.

Speaking of the Marvel Universe, I gave blood for the first time last week! I had my Marvel bag with me and everyone liked it. It wasn't a scary experience at all. And apparently I have really fast blood - I filled the bag in record time! It was definitely a good experience and I will go back as soon as I can.

Speaking of superheroes, I have been watching the new season of Doctor Who as well! I love that show more than I can say. The new season started off with a literal bang, and I am eager to see how it all turns out. Such an intriguing show. I LOVE IT.

I have also read the first two books of the Hunger Games series and am working my way through the third. I will save my review of the books until I have finished, and then I will discuss my thoughts. They are extremely addicting - I really do like them so far, but I have heard the third one isn't up to par or something, so we'll see. I love reading books for fun! NO TEXTBOOKS! Next on my list of books to read is Tale of Two Cities.

I haven't been able to play with my friends as much as I would have liked - they all live about 30-40 minutes away from me, so hanging out is a bit more of a challenge than it used to be. But, we have had a Bollywood party and birthday celebrations and other such fun things. Hopefully, there will be many more fun things with friends in the near and distant future. Katelyn and I plan on going to each other's Young Single Adult activities. Oh, and Lucky Mather gets home from his mission in the next few weeks - YAYAYAY! I'm excited to see him.

Pretty fun summer so far, huh? :)