Warm Bodies: Evolution of the Evolution of Humans

The adaptation of Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion into a film was a great idea. Sure, it's cheesy, and no, it does not accurately represent the book, but I still love it. It is no cinematic masterpiece, but I like the fact that both mediums evoke the same responses.

Warm Bodies follows R, a zombie of unknown origin, in his time as one of the living dead. Following the stereotypical zombie lifestyle, R finds a girlfriend, marries, and is given children to look after. He ingests only the living and can only communicate with occasional guttural grunts. R cannot sleep or dream or die.

Then, one hunting trip, R is changed forever.

Upon the ingestion of a certain living being named Perry, R begins to fall in love with Perry's girlfriend, Julie. Amidst the building carnage of the hunt, R protects Julie and brings her back home. Over the days Julie is held captive, her friendship with R transforms him more and more into a living being.

Although Julie returns to her home in the living sector, the transformation in R continues and seemingly infects other living dead. Realizing that the governing bodies (no pun intended) of the living dead, the Boneys, are aware of the contagion and its source, R travels to the living sector in search of Julie.

Once again under R's protection from the impending attack, Julie and R have no choice but to present themselves to the governing officials of the living. Having to convince the living of the living dead's transformation proves more difficult than they anticipated, but in the end, the actions of the living dead provide enough evidence to convince the officials.

Written as R's first-person account of the preceding events, Warm Bodies accentuates the blurred line surrounding the concepts of living and life. It subtly invites readers to consider the meaning of life and love in the unconventional relationship between R and Julie. What a surprise coming from (seemingly) young adult fiction!

Bright Future, Big Plans

The last few days have been a flurry of completing applications for summer internships and externships and updating my resume. Instead of being frustrated about how little I have accomplished, I have become more and more excited for the future. For instance, I am applying to several internships in different locations around the U.S. I would still like to be able to travel during the summer and I thought, "what a great way to do so than by applying to internships in places I would like to travel?" I do not know if any of them will work out, but I am at least applying.

I suppose the point of completing all the applications is partly to keep myself busy and partly to remind myself that there is a whole world out there and I do not have to do the same things over and over again. I can simultaneously do something beneficial to my career and do something I really want to do - travel!

Liberal Arts

This topic stems from the movie Liberal Arts, staring How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor. The film details the unlikely relationship between Jesse and Zibby, an alumnus and current student of the same college. Though the years between them span more than a decade, Zibby and Jesse are kindred spirits. Jesse, however, has reservations about their relationship and the two ultimately make the difficult decision whether to continue seeing each other or not.

One amusing part of Liberal Arts was the conversation Jesse and Zibby have about presumably a Twilight-esque fiction novel. Jesse repeatedly voices his dislike for the novel and implores Zibby to provide one good reason she enjoys it. The book in question apparently is not well written nor provides any literary significance, yet is well liked by millions of readers. Jesse questions the readership and, in essence, Zibby's maturity, simply because her views differ from his. Zibby rejoinders with the point of a liberal arts education - meeting and disagreeing with people.

What is the point of a liberal arts education? I always took liberal arts education to mean that I could take whatever classes I wanted in addition to the classes toward my major. I looked for and applied only to liberal arts colleges and ultimately decided on a nursing program that would seemingly allow me to complete a minor and study abroad.

Although my sister attended college a couple years before me, her collegiate career was much different from mine. I figured out soon enough that things were not going to work out the way I had planned. I ended up having to put up a little extra work to complete my minor and I am working on studying abroad for January Term of next year.

Now, after two and a half years of college, I consider Liberal Arts as having various means of communicating and discussing different points of view. There are all kinds of courses, clubs, events, and activities offered to students and oftentimes are a prime topic of conversation. As strange as it sounds, I enjoy disagreeing with people and being able to discuss why. It is invigorating and empowering and I suggest it be attempted daily for premium health and wellness.

Traveling with Liv: The Link

Last week, my brother, mother and I took a trip to Seattle aboard the Link. We drove to Tukwila and boarded the Central line Link into Westlake station. The trip was only to try a different form of transportation into the city, but it proved to be an adventurous one!


My brother has an affinity for many forms of transportation, including light rail. He was more than excited to take the C-Link and wanted to return to the station as soon as possible.

Initially our plan had been to take the Link into Seattle, do a little shopping, grab some lunch, and head home. Unfortunately we left later than planned in the morning and spent less time in Seattle than we anticipated.

Saul had chosen where to sit when we boarded and, as I anticipated, he chose the front of the Link. It just so happened the seats faced the opposite direction we were traveling. He was surprised, maybe even a little uncomfortable, and kept saying, "Libya we're going backwards!"

After the first stop, Saul was no longer preoccupied with the motion - instead, he marveled as traffic and landscape rolled by. Although the journey only lasted about 20 minutes, the excitement was imprinted on Saul's face the rest of the day.

The Westlake Station put us about a block away from the Westlake Center and by the time we arrived in Seattle the three of us were hungry, so we headed straight for the food court. There we enjoyed various noodles from the Noodle Zone, depicted below.

Although my mother and I could have gone for a little shopping, all Saul wanted to do was hop aboard the next Link home (or any other Link for that matter!). On the way back to the station, my mother and I detoured to a few shops in search of more Seahawks gear.

On the way home, I took a few videos which I hope to compile into the next "Traveling with Liv" episode for the video series on YouTube. I will announce it as soon as I am finished with it.

Upon arriving in Tukwila, despite our general exhaustion magnified by the afternoon sun, my brother and I raced to the car to grab the front passenger seat. I won this time. Nothing, I repeat, nothing could have made the trip better.