I Am Not a Hurricane

So, it's been, like, over eight years since I got tired of the routine, but I'll repeat it for you here:
"What's your name?"
"Katrina."
"Oh, like the hurricane!" *include corny laughter if you're a male who tends to make these comments

Oh, yeah, because you know, I was only born fifteen years, one month, and twenty-two days before that thing hit New Orleans--that's CLEARLY the only thing my name refers to.

You know, once upon a time I wanted to visit New Orleans...now, I really, really couldn't care less all because of a naming system.

I LOVE the times when someone actually says, "Oh, I know someone by that name," because it reminds me that there are other people named Katrina out there.  Other girls named Katrina with the same spelling as me.  I mean, it's not the most common name out there, and it's only been declining over the past eight years because people can't get over a storm with the same name.  I mean, some names like Andrew don't even ever take a hit, and then you get one hurricane that destroys a town, and next thing you know your name is falling out of the popularity.  I mean, even the name Miley hasn't fallen as fast as I wish it would.  (Although, I'm expecting it to take a brutal hit in the popularity ranks after recent events.)

I mean, just once, just once, though, could I go three months without meeting someone who refers to the hurricane.  It has been eight years, people.  I mean...

"Okay...that was weird..."

What?  What weirdness do you speak of?

Oh, yeah, the name ranking rant.  By the way, I'm a name nerd.  It was the second nerd type I ever admitted to being out loud, although I technically originally referred to myself as a "Pirates of the Caribbean dork," but I think that's just because I didn't want to call myself a nerd at the time.  I definitely was a name nerd before a PotC nerd anyway.

Speaking of which, yes, Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day to those who are reading this on September 19.

Back to the subject of my name, however.  I mean, I like it, I'm very attached to it, I'm not going to change it, but...I could do without hurricane references.

I'm completely fine with me telling you your cousin/niece/granddaughter is named Katrina, though.

But just once could I get a more nerdy reference?  I mean, not even my friends who love the Inheritance Cycle even bothered to tell me my name was in the series.  I had to find this out for myself!  I probably would have read them six months earlier if I'd known my name was in them!  I mean, thanks for the surprise, but I would have loved if you'd told me you'd seen my name in the book.  Authors don't normally choose it for characters.

*random critcism; "lalala, I can't HEAR you!"

I mean, the irony of the fact authors don't really use it is the fact that I am indeed named after a literary character.  When I tell people who it is, I get various reactions from, "What story?" to "That's creepy" to "Johnny Depp is weird."  I agree with only the middle statement.

WARNING:  Impending Talk Like a Pirate Day festivities may cause Katrina to reference her favorite show continuously.

Also, I have no understanding of this "weird" of which you speak.  Absolutely none at all.

Okay, so, yes, I was named after Katrina Van Tassel from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  No, not the Johnny Depp one.  That was made nine years after I was born.  If I was named after the Johnny Depp film that came out the year I was born, I wouldn't have been named until five months after I was born when Edward Scissorhands came out.  So, no, my name has nothing to do with Johnny Depp--it's just a happy coincidence I would up with.

Because, you know, every adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow you see is based on a short story written by Washington Irving in 1820, and there are characters named Katrina Van Tassel and Ichabod Crane and Bram Bones in it, and there is a Headless Horseman, but the closest thing you're going to find to the original without actually reading it is to watch the Disney adaptation.

Warning:  Not suitable for small children.  Unless you have a couch to hide behind.  Because that couch is the only protection you have against an image on the screen.  The couch is just as effective as the covered bridge.

So, yeah, basically I grew up, repeatedly scaring the pants off myself watching Disney's adaptation all because my name is Katrina, and I was named after the character.  I'd say that's a fair exchange, though.  I mean, in the whole scheme of things, I get a name with literary merit.  And I guess it's a bit of a blessing that not everyone immediately knows where it comes from.  I guess that's why I can still enjoy a name from a book even twenty-three years after the fact.

So, thanks, Dad, you did a great job naming me.  And Mom too on picking the middle name Paige out of the baby name book in the middle of the night.

But, really, people.  I am not named after a hurricane!

Now I'm off to go braid my hair so it's all wavy tomorrow and so I get to spend a few precious moments of Talk Like a Pirate Day with Captain Jack Sparrow hair.

Top 10 Animated Disney Films

Hello, there.  Sorry, I've been away.  I'm working on moving, and I've also been focusing on other non-blog writing (I go through phases of that.).  So, what's been going on?

Well, after my Pixar post, someone united all the Pixar stories into one fabulous universe, so I guess my post was a little ahead of the curve.  Woohoo, though!  I love this theory!

Also, a royal baby was born, so in about 25 years, we can have a remake of Princess Diaries 2, with the new Mia proclaiming a total, "Yes!" to Prince George.  Or, you know, delay Princess Diaries 3 until then and uniting Genovia and the UK under one flag between Princess Mia's kid and Prince George--a union which I guess would probably result in a lot of pear-flavored tea.

Which already exists.  Go figure.  Former Queen Clarisse probably drinks this every night!

But, anyway, on to the real purpose of today's blog post:  to finally give my rundown of my absolute favoritest Disney animated films.  So hop on your albatross and get ready to fly away to Neverland as we count down Katrina's top 10 films in the animated Disney canon (a not-so-easy task, as Disney has made so many awesome films!).

10.  The Fox and the Hound--I've never actually cried in this film, but childhood memories prevail!  I mean, it's about this cute little fox and puppy that grow up, and they're supposed to hate each other, but they don't, so trouble happens and stuff, and no one dies, but Tod learns he can't just live among humans because Amos Slade can't get the concept of a pet and a wild critter settled in his hick, hunter mind.  In fact, for all you know, Amos Slade is Man from Bambi.  Think about it.  (Note:  Katrina has not read the book, but I hear it's even more emotional than the movie.)

9.  Lilo & Stitch--"Meenga-ala-queesta!"  I am not quite sure what I just said, but I'm pretty sure I just insulted you.  Anyway, take the beautiful tropical beaches of Hawaii and throw in Experiment 626, the cutest little evil genetic experiment blue ball of fur to ever invade!  I mean, Stitch is just so adorable and fluffy, and then they made three more movies and a TV show, and, and, and...Aunt Pleakley, Uncle Jumba, Cobra Bubbles, "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride," cousin!  Yeah...I may have had a bit too much Lilo and Stitch in my life as a teenager.  Wait, what am I talking about?  I'm still waiting for my experiment.

8.   The Jungle Book--"Look for the bare necessities, the simple bear necessities."  "I wanna be like you-oo.  I wanna walk like you, talk like you, too-oo-oo!"  Another early childhood favorite.  And come on, it's got some of the best Disney music ever--probably because of the Sherman brothers.  If you're wondering who they are, they're basically half the Disney songs you love; the other half is basically Alan Menken, although there are a few other amazing artists who have composed Disney songs.  Another reason I love this movie is ever since I was little, my favorite animals have been lions, tigers, bears, snakes, monkeys/apes, and hyenas.  This movie hits four out of six of my favorite animals.  Rock on, The Jungle Book.  (Psst, the book is good too.)  Favorite Songs:  "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You"

7.  Aladdin--"I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid..."  "You ain't never had a friend like me!"  "Arabian NIGHTS, like Arabian DAYS!"  Ah, remember way back into your childhood before Middle Eastern culture was turned into a culture we were trained to despise and hate?  That was the 1990s, and although Muslim culture is never something I'm going to praise, Aladdin probably came out in the perfect environment.  We got to fall in love with it before we had to go and fight the land where Genie and Magic Carpet and Iago and Jafar live.  Plus, this film still makes me want a genie.  If I were given the choice between a genie and a Time Lord, I'd take the genie, use my first wish on something cool, the second on a Time Lord, and the third to free the genie.  Bonus points if the genie is as awesome as the big, blue Genie we came to love as kids.  Favorite Songs:  "Friend Like Me," "Prince Ali," and "A Whole New World"

6.  Mulan--Yes, this is probably one of Disney's most feminist films, but Mulan also happened to come out right around the time I hit my boy-hating stage (Yes, I was delayed and hit it when I was eight.  Big deal.).  When I sang the words, I would make them be about girls instead and stuff.  But then I grew out of it but still liked Mulan, even if the movie is a bit feminist.  I mean, let's focus on the historical innacuracies of it all too!  I mean, the real Mulan (according to the poem) had siblings (which Disney cut out) and managed to supposedly hide the whole "I'm a girl" thing for years until her friends came to visit her and saw her as a woman.  I guess Shang walking in at the end to find Ping as a girl wouldn't have made as exciting as a film as a bunch of guys dressed up as girls breaking into the palace.  It certainly would have been less awkward, though.  Oh, also, let's not forget the fact that this film has Mushu, the coolest dragon (not lizard, he doesn't do that tongue thing) in the history of dragons.  Favorite Songs:  "Reflection," "I'll Make a Man Out of You," and "A Girl Worth Fighting For"

5.  Tangled--"And at last I see the light!  And it's like the fog has lifted!"  Ah, after eight years of mediocre movies (Well, Meet the Robinsons had its moments, but I tend to overthink time travel when there's as many paradoxes involved as in that film, and there was also The Princess and the Frog, but that was more a movie for the sole purpose of "let's get a black princess so we can say we have racial equality."), Disney finally gave us what we wanted:  a fairy tale, set in fairy tale times, with a princess who needs help, and a guy to help her out.  This is the movie that turned the frying pan cliche into something awesome, that took the required Disney Princess horse and gave him more personality than quite possibly every other horse ever, that took the room of scary people and made them sing and dance with the heroine, instead of singing and dancing while plotting against her.  This is the film that restored my faith in Disney films again.  Favorite Songs:  "When Will My Life Begin," "I've Got a Dream," and "I See the Light"

4.  Beauty and the Beast--"Tale as old as time, true as it can be..."   If I could pick one word to summarize this film, it would be:  elegant.  This movie just spills over with pure Disney magic:  the music, the animation, the characters, the love story.  Belle is my second favorite Disney Princess, and she's probably the one I'm most like.  I also read a lot and can polish off huge books in a matter of days.  Yes, there's the whole, Bell develops Stockholm Syndrome thing or whatever, but her bonding with her captor, whom she learned to love despite his angry, beastly exterior, broke the spell so they could live happily ever after.  Favorite Songs:  "Belle," "Be Our Guest," and "Beauty and the Beast."

3.  The Emperor's New Groove--"Boo-yeah!" "You threw off my groove!"  "Happy, happy, birthday, from all of us to you!"  "Cheese me no likey!"  "Let me guess, we're about to go over a huge waterfall."  "Squeakity, squeak, squeak, squeaken."  "I'm a llama again!"  "I'll turn him into a flea."  "My spinach puffs!"  "What's with the chimp and the bug?"  "He's doing his own theme music?"  "LLAMA FACE!"  "It's a good thing you're not a big, fat, guy, or this would be really difficult."  "Why do we even have that lever?"  "That's a harp...and that's a dress."  "Hey, I've been turned into a cow, can I go home?"  "Well, in my dream, Dad had to kiss a llama!"  "That's a little too far back."  "Why would I kidnap a llama?"

2.  The Little Mermaid--"What would I give to be where you are?  What would I pay to stay here beside you?"  Growing up in Japan with few to no friends, I often longed for America, and I sang "Part of Your World" a lot as my way of wishing for them.  Ariel became my Disney Princess because we both longed to be somewhere we couldn't be.  To this day, she is still my favorite.  Although I have become more Belle than Ariel over the years, The Little Mermaid will still always be extremely special to me.  Hey, come on, what girl, even as an adult, doesn't want to be a mermaid?  Also, this is another film with fantastic music.  Favorite Songs:  "Part of Your World," and "Under the Sea"

1.  The Lion King--"NAAAAAAANTS INGOYAMA BAGITHI BABA!"  Ah, nothing like realizing you forgot to turn down the volume on your TV when the opening notes of the majestic masterpiece "Circle of Life" come booming out of the speakers, sending you halfway to the Serengeti.  And after you turn the volume back down and watch the reporters animals all bow to Prince George Simba, you've officially sold yourself to this film.  And then you meet Scar and the hyenas (I should note this film covers my two favorite animals The Jungle Book missed.).  And then you're annoyed at Zazu, but Simba just can't wait to be king.  Then the wildebeest kill Mufasa (Still haven't cried over that.), and Simba runs away.  We learn the meaning of "Hakuna Matata" from Timon and Pumbaa (and also get introduced the concept of bromance years before it happened).  And despite how good those grubs looked, most of us still haven't eaten bugs.  And then Simba and Nala feel the love tonight, and Scar is defeated, and happily ever after.  This, my friends, is my absolute favorite animated Disney film, and I haven't traded it for another one in nineteen years.  Forget the genie, I want a pet lion.  STAT!  Favorite Songs:  "Circle of Life," "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," "Hakuna Matata," and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

So, that's that.  The 10 best animated Disney films that Katrina has ever seen.

Bonus Mention:  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow--I've only seen The Wind in the Willows part of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad once, but I grew up on the Sleepy Hollow part because I'm named Katrina after the book character.  Although this film can't rightfully hold a spot on the list because of my only liking half, I feel it deserves to be mentioned because it holds a spot very close to my heart, even if that Headless Horseman scared me half to death as a child.  Still, I mean, that's completely a good thing.  It's probably the reason I'm not scared of half the stuff I see on Doctor Who as an adult.  Seriously, people, scare your kids to a certain limit when they're little.  It'll help them grow up either well adjusted or just very, very weird.

Also, I'm disconnecting my Internet in about an hour and a half, so I have no idea when the next post will be, although I feel an MK post brewing.

Also, remember, when we hit 1895 posts, I will finally post about Sherlock! :)