The Magic Violinist: December 2020

October

Since it's December and we're ready to get in the holiday spirit, let's talk about Halloween! Yay, candy! Yay, spooky vibes!

So, uh . . . needless to say, I've gotten very behind in my wrap-up posts, for a mix of reasons that will become clear as you read. All because of good things, though!

Anyways, as I watch big fat snowflakes float past my window, let's talk about spooky books and horror movies!

Books I Read

DNF (for now)

I was genuinely enjoying this book, just not enough to keep reading it at that moment. It's been harder for me to deeply get into a story lately for whatever reason; maybe it's the pandemic, maybe I've just been in the mood for other genres and haven't realized it. I want to pick this back up someday and finish it, but I can't keep my focus on it right now.

DNF (for now)

I DNFd this for the same reasons as above.

Movies I Watched

3/5

I enjoyed the group dynamic of the trap plot in this one, much like with "Saw 2," but the final twist at the end was really disappointing. It wasn't that shocking or interesting, even though it was gruesome. A very basic "Saw" movie; not too memorable.

4/5

Now this one, I liked! I didn't even care that it was such a blatant commentary on the American healthcare system, and not just because I agreed with everything it had to say; the plot was just good. The traps were interesting and the plot twist made me gasp. Plus, the gore (especially at the very end) was A+.

3/5

We're not even going to talk about the ridiculous sequence this movie used simply because it was made to be 3D . . . and we're definitely not going to talk about the cheese during the very first trap that made me laugh out loud because of how bad it was . . . The trap plot was interesting and the traps were good, but the conclusion to that storyline was disappointing. One of the redeeming qualities of this movie was that we finally got to see the reverse beartrap in action, which was pretty awesome.

3.5/5

I was expecting to really hate this movie, but I didn't! The quality and the feeling of it was way different from the other movies, so in that sense, it did feel very separate. But the twist was in classic "Saw" style and it was fantastic! That definitely made up for the modern style of the production and the few instances of bad dialogue.

3.5/5

If you ever want a movie to make you feel cold, this is the one. This story did a great job of setting up a very specific kind of isolated atmosphere and the suspense was there. It was kind of like if "The Walking Dead" were set in Alaska. And the final scene was gut-wrenching. None of the characters really stand out to me now though as I write this because they all blended together; it was definitely more plot-based. I would've liked a twist or two to keep me on my toes, but I found most of it rather predictable. Still a solid horror movie though!

3.5/5

What a cute children's movie! This is exactly the kind of horse movie I would've loved as a kid. It had a great soundtrack too, very "Tarzan"-esque. It was a simple story with lots of long shots of horses running around, which wasn't quite as cinematic as it would've been if it were live-action, but still very sweet.

4/5

This reminded me a lot of "Ready or Not" and I was here for it. The characters absolutely made this movie for me. There was a hilarious and tense family dinner scene toward the beginning of the story that was so entertaining, I could've watched an entire hour and a half of just that. There was something about it I couldn't quite put my finger on that kept me from giving this the full five stars, but I really enjoyed the whole thing and it was the perfect movie to watch on Halloween.

Pictures of the Month

Outdoor get-together with friends!

Celebrated completing the "Go Teen Writers" 100-for-100 challenge with peach cobbler and a pumpkin spice latte 😋

Zoom shenanigans for our "Saw" marathon

Zoom fun!

I took advantage of the last gorgeous day we had to read in the hammock

My "big sister" for big/little week mailed me her package of goodies; Scout was very intrigued

The best Christmas present come early: Josh volunteered to quarantine himself in his room for a full two weeks so he could move in with me for over a month before the holidays. He seriously stayed in his room, completely isolated from his parents, for two full weeks so he could come over. It was the first time we were able to truly be together in over seven months. He's the best. 💓

And, of course, we had to get him strawberry syrup so he'd have plenty of strawberry milk during his stay 😂

Our vocal teacher brought by Halloween treats for all of us!

A friend's birthday/Halloween powerpoint/costume party. So much fun!

My parents got us these t-shirts as a surprise; we loved them!

Dance class!

My mail-in ballot for my first ever presidential election!

My family and Josh volunteered to do contact-less canvassing for the Biden campaign. It was extra exciting since we're in Pennsylvania, which ended up being a huge player in the election.

My dad made us "I voted" stickers since we didn't get them from the polls this year (the only bummer about mail-in ballots). Luckily, we were able to get some anyways!

Date night!

Scout adores Josh.

My friend made this meme after I was texting her all about my conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift being bisexual and how poor Josh had to hear all of my in-depth lyric analyses. 😂

Game night double date!

Scout is the biggest drama queen ever. This was when she was pouting that I wouldn't let her out of the room to harass my mom for food.

The return of the milkshake selfie!

Making mummy hot dogs for Halloween

Video chatting Liv to make "indoor mini s'mores!"

We had a virtual Jackbox/Among Us Halloween party. Tons of fun!

Scout wanted to be a part of it too

This picture was Josh's idea 😂

We "trick-or-treated" indoors with my parents each dressing up as about 12 different "characters" total. We had to run up and down the stairs to knock on different doors in the house and one of them would be behind the door in a different costume to hand out candy. It was hilarious.

Time for Scout pictures!

Scout loves game night

November

Books I Read

A big fat whopping zero books finished because November was all about writing, writing, and then writing some more. I spent the last four days of NaNoWriMo finishing the 20,000 words I had left to write to hit 50k. My eyes were so glazed over every night from staring at my Word document that I never had the energy to read much of anything.

Movies I Watched

5/5

A delightful movie. This was so cute and well-cast and sweet and heartwarming and tear-jerking and everything else an adorable rom-com should be. And it was a rom-com, but it also had all kinds of depth to it and touching moments and family dynamics and plot twists. Plus, TIME TRAVEL. And I genuinely had no idea how the story would end; the plot went in so many different directions I didn't expect (in a good way). This movie really had everything I love in it.

3/5

Okay, cheesy and campy as all get-out, but also not terrible. The ending was garbage, but if you ignore the last thirty seconds or so, it's not so bad. I enjoyed the concept a lot and the main girl was excellent and scrappy; it was like "Home Alone" if it were a horror movie. I still can't decide if Freddy scared me or amused me because he was so goofy looking; maybe both?

3.5/5

This was . . . strange. It wasn't at all what I was expecting; I thought it would be some over-the-top horror movie with lots of teenagers having sex and then dying bloody because of it. Instead, it had indie movie vibes and a low-budget quality with all kinds of Easter eggs I didn't notice at first. I liked it, but there were also some parts I didn't get at all. I have no idea how to give this description of the story justice. It's one of those films you have to watch yourself to completely understand.

4/5

This was a really good film! There were some humorous moments, but it was dark and heavy. The acting was excellent in that it made me extremely uncomfortable and uneasy to watch. It wasn't quite anything I expected, but it was a really interesting portrayal of the parts of history we don't often hear about.

3/5

This was a lot like "Nightmare on Elm Street" in terms of production quality and campiness (which makes sense since it's an older movie). The kid actor in this was great; he was so cute and actually not a terrible actor. I also appreciated the ridiculousness of some of the characters and the random lines of dialogue we're all just supposed to accept as being normal. It wasn't really a scary movie, but it was a fun one.

4/5

If you want to watch a horror movie that makes fun of all the horror movie clichés, this is the one for you. I thought it was an excellent premise, especially since I spent a lot of the beginning of the movie trying to figure out what the hell was going on. In my opinion, the movie used what was a really cool premise and took it a little too far, which ended up cheapening it. But I did love all of the horror movie cameos, the humor (one character specifically was comedy gold), and the constant twists and turns. (Plus we get pre-"Thor" Chris Hemsworth!)

Obsessions I Acquired

"West Wing" - What an excellent show! I'm probably the last person to show up to this party, but despite this show being like twenty years old, it doesn't feel all that outdated. The characters are great and I love getting to see the behind-the-scenes of politics. The way politics are handled fairly and without a great deal of partisanship is definitely outdated, but it's a fun fantasy government world to live in for a little while.

"Cool Girl" by Dodie - DODIE HAS A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT NEXT MARCH AND THAT IS THE BEST EARLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT I COULD HOPE FOR. Her single is so, so good. I listened to it on repeat at least a dozen times the day I first heard it. The music video is great too. Everything about it is great. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

Dead by Daylight - When my boyfriend came over to stay for a little over a month after quarantining himself at home, he brought his Playstation so he could play Dead by Daylight with my sibling. I fully expected to just watch the two of them play it, but Josh let me take turns on his Playstation and I got super into it. It's a really fun and addictive game (even just watching it is fun), even though I am terrible at it. I don't think I'd be so bad if I could play on the computer, because I'm much more used to steering characters with a mouse and keys than with a joystick, but my computer is not nearly powerful enough to run the game. Oh well, I'll have to settle for being horrible.

Scrivener - Since I finished the 50k for NaNoWriMo by the 30th, I got a few winner perks, including a 50% off coupon code for Scrivener. Seeing as how I was never going to get a better deal than that, I bought it, and wow, there is no going back. It takes a little while to get used to and there are tons of cool features I still have no idea how to use, but the way it allows you to organize all of your notes and outlines and revisions while letting you use a split-screen feature all makes my brain happy. This is so much better than having a thousand Word documents open at the same time with a messy pile of index cards at my elbow. I can't wait to use it for my next round of revisions of Angel of the Underworld.