The one thing I hate about summer...

 "Summer afternoon, summer afternoon -- to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." ~ Henry James

Oh, summer. How I love this wonderful time of the year. (: School is out, the weather is warming up, the sun is out... it's all so PERFECT. (: That picture up there is one I took at a park that I went to with a few of my friends last Friday. We spent over an hour just hanging out, wandering around the little "forest" that boarders one side of the park. It was such a perfect day; our first day out of school, warm air surrounding us, the sun shining down... in other words, the epitome of summer! (;

I rarely do anything fun or exciting during the summer. It's sad, but true. While I have friends who will go on cruises, visit Disneyland, or go to some other awesome place, I stay home. Hang out with friends, if I'm lucky. (By the way, in my life I have never been on a cruise, visited Disneyland, or been to very many "awesome" places. Sad, but true). But, I guess that that really doesn't matter, right? It's SUMMER! A time of friends, family, fun, and sunshine! Some of my favorite things in the world! (:

So... maybe I can survive with out Disneyland? Maybe? ... eh, we'll find out.

 

However, there is one tiny little thing that I may or may not dislike about summer. Most people probably won't understand. This reason is... The Mentalist. Yes, The Mentalist. Maybe some have heard of it? It's a crime drama on TV starring Simon Baker. The main character is a man with a dark past with uncanny skills at observation. And I adore it. (: The thing is... it's not a summer show. It runs from September to May... in other words, no Mentalist in the summer. And it slightly kills me! I mean, how am I supposed to survive with out THAT face up there greeting me every Thursday night?! (;

 

Oh... I'm pathetic. Yes, I do realize that fact. But that does not lessen my love for this show in any way. (:

 

So... never heard of The Mentalist before? Like I said, The Mentalist is one of those many crime dramas. But, it's not quite like the rest. It's special. And why is it special? Patrick Jane, played by Simon Baker. (;

 

Anyway. Season three of the Mentalist just ended this past May with a shocking finale. I'm not going to spoil it for anybody who hasn't watched the show. (: But, the ending did slightly scare me, because, while it was a cliff hanger, I could see CBS just leaving it at that - no closure. So, for the next few days, I was wandering the internet, searching for any news of The Mentalist being renewed.

 

Thankfully, it has. (: The Mentalist will return for a fourth season this fall. HALLELUJAH! (:

 

While I'd love for summer to be as long as possible, there's always one tiny part of me that is just begging for September to come around. Ah, well.

Les Miserables - the book, the musical, and why Javert is not a villain (;




Ah, Les Miserables. I'm a self-proclaimed expert on the subject. (; So, be prepared for some rambling. This is probably my biggest "Enthusiastic Interest." So I suppose I should start off my posting with this subject, yes? Yes. (: I have an indescribable love for the musical, and I enjoy the book very much as well. Starting with the book, I've only ever read the unabridged version, and I prefer the translation by Norman Denny. As of right now, I'm on my third time of reading it. It's by far the longest book I have ever read, but also one of the best. The characters and messages that this book has inside are all so beautiful and thought-provoking. I love it all.

As for the musical, I can never get enough of it. The music, the story, the characters, I'm in love with it all. Through out my entire life, I pray that I'll be able to see the musical as many times as possible. I actually saw my first performance of Les Mis live and in person this past Sunday, on June 5th. (Yes, I was so deeply in love with the musical even before I saw an actual performance of it. Thank God for YouTube and iTunes). It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. The characters, in both the book and the musical, are so memorable and touching. My two favorite characters are the antagonist and the protagonist: Javert, followed by Valjean. Valjean is an easy character to love; his story of redemtion and the lengths he will go to to be good in the eyes of God, and also to protect his beloved daughter Cosette can touch anybody's soul.

As for Javert, many people will look at me funny when I say that he's one of my favorite characters. 'Why would you love the villain of a story?' First of all, Javert is not necessarily the villain. He's not necessarily a bad man. He's simply misguided. (:

Why do I love Javert? Well, for one thing, I'm usually a sucker for the "misunderstood" characters. Here's my take on him: Javert is the way he is because of his belief system; being born in a jail, the son of a gypsy fortune teller and her convict husband, he grew up unwelcome in society. He came to find that he had only two options in life: to attack society, or to defend it. He chose to defend it, and the law became his religion. Anybody who choses to break the law needs to be punished justly. And that's why he treats people the way that he does. It's true, he's not right in the way thinks, but in his mind, he is.

On a side note, I have one more favorite character, but this one is only in the musical, not in the book: Enjolras. Oh, Enjolras. (: I don't like him much in the book, but I simply adore him in the musical. (: So full of passion, usually quite attractive, most of the time an fantastic singer, and all-together amazing. Not my absolute favorite, mind you, but definitely up there. (; I honestly think that the biggest reason as to why I fell in love with the musical's version of Enjolras would be this man:



Ramin Karimloo. (: With a smile that could melt your heart and a voice that could melt your soul, I absolutely love this man and his take of Enjolras in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert. He. Is. Fantastic. (:

Anyway. I should probably stop this rambling now. Though, to be honest, I could go on and on. I'll save it all for later. ;D

Til next time! (:

Musings of a Fanatic (:

Well, well, well. I suppose I should say a little about myself and my blog, yes? Yes.

Why the blog name? Well, once I develop an interest for something... I can get a bit "overenthusiastic" about it. (: Some may call them "obsessions", but that sounds a bit too negative for me. I prefer "enthusiastic interests." (:

What are some of my top "enthusiastic interests," you may ask? Well, let me tell you. (:

1) Les Miserables

2) The Mentalist
3) New York City

4) Stage Actors & Movie Actors

5) Family History

6) Music

People need to be careful around me when they bring up any of those subjects, especially the top four. Because, when they do, I get a bit excited. And then I go on and on about whatever subject was brought up, to the point that whoever I'm talking to begins to wonder what they've gotten themselves into. So, I've gotten to the point where I have to severely restrain myself. (; To be honest, I think that this blog may be a sort of outlet for me, where I can ramble on and one about any of these Enthusiastic Interests of mine without annoying people. (:

So, that's kind of how this blog will be. I'll ramble about my Enthusiastic Interests, and throw in a bit of my day-to-day life in there as well, just to add some boring to the mix. (: For the first few entries, I'll probably focus on each of my "Top Six" listed above. After that, anything's game. We'll see what happens. (:

Anyway, I suppose that that's all for now. (:

Here we go again...

Hello! And welcome to my humble abode. (;

I used to have a different blog. But I slightly moved on from it, and fell out of blogging for a long time (nearly a year!). Now, I've decided to pick it up again! But, just to officially start things fresh and new, I created a whole different blog. (:

Why blog, you may ask? Well, maybe I just like pouring out my life to invisible readers. I don't know. (:

So, let's see if I can keep this up, alright? No promises. But I'll try. (:

And please excuse the short post. This is just sort of my "Welcome" to anybody who stumbles across this. Posts will be longer in the future, once I get back into this whole blogging activity. (:

Until next time! (:
Chantel