blackened blue eyes.

I snagged an instrumental version of Nelly Furtado's Say It Right tonight.
It was always my favourite track off Loose, but the more I listen to it, the more I acknowledge that it may be my favourite from her overall, replacing Fresh Off the Boat.
The production to the song is incredible.
The raw bass sound of the synths, the haunting "Hey! You don't mean nothing at all to me" that Timbaland chants in the background, the electric guitar that comes out of nowhere at the very end. I thoroughly approve of the song.
On another musical side note, Hips Don't Lie surpassed a playcount of 250 spins today. Ugh.

Also, I wrote a research paper last week on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I argued that the social norms and etiquette that were prevalent in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are reflected in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, yet at the same time the novel allows us to look at our own society and see how far we’ve advanced and progressed since the days of the original Grimm renditions of Cinderella and other tales. Anyway, today I wrote a critical paper psychoanalyzing Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldemort) from the books. I should also note that the other month I wrote another critical paper examining Hermoine and her role in feminsim. I should just major in Harry Potter, really. Anyway, below you'll find my psychoanalysis of Voldemort. It's been passed in already but any additional feedback would be swell.


J.K. Rowling developed a world where many children and adults alike escape into; forgetting about their own lives, and choosing instead to live in the magical world she invented. One of the primary characters in the best-selling series, and the main instigator of all things evil that occur in Harry's world of magic, is Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. Voldemort is an interesting character as he is the axis of evil within Harry's universe and is malicious to a tee. Growing up without any kind of family, Tom Riddle transformed himself into one of the most instantly recognizable and feared wizards in both literature and the magical world J.K. has created. Yet, Voldemort's desires of domination and life-long journey into immortality represent the repressed desires and mental anguish brought on by the onset and absence of said family.

Throughout the course of the book series, details of Voldemort's life are revealed and it is made known to the reader that his only remaining relative, his mother, passed away shortly after giving birth. Growing up without any sort of parental figures in his life, Tom appears to have become "stuck" or fixated in the oral stage of Freud's theories. This oral stage is described as being one where a person is "forever wanting to suck, to consume, to take in, endlessly hungry and needy" (A Glossary of Freudian Terms, Craig Chalquist). Freud described the oral character as being the first of the psychosexual development phases, from birth to roughly 8 months. Freud further states that family conflict can cause a person to become fixated with a certain stage; it is therefore appropriate that Tom Riddle be stuck at this stage since from birth onward he has not known any family. Tom Riddle is clearly seen as a character of greed, and constantly wanting to consume and take-in as evidenced by his desire to draw people to him, constantly seeking power and minions to do his bidding as demonstrated by his use of, and creation of, the Death Eaters. He is shown as being an individual who desires power and control above all else, relentlessly seeking these things and exerting his power and influence over people.

Furthermore, Tom Riddle, having experienced the death of his mother at the earliest stage of life, is shown as having thanatophobia. According to Freud and his students, Thanatos is a state in which one subconsciously wants to return to a lifeless form. Tom Riddle having been exposed to death at a crucial stage in his life has a deep-rooted fear of dieing because of this. He goes so far as to make himself immortal through the use of Horcruxes and other magical elements such as the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone in order to prevent facing his own death. Voldemort further fears death above all things, and in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that Voldemort considers death to be the worst form of punishment, further implying his deep fear and hatred for mortality, a possible consequence of having his own mother die.

Tom Riddle is an interesting character as he serves as the central diabolical figure in the series. He is both feared and hated, yet looking below the surface of Tom’s own powers and desires, it becomes evident that he is merely the result of the direct loss of his mother at an early age. His hatred, greed and quest for immortality are a result of him acting out his subconscious desires and fears.

lovers who uncover.

I updated my Livejournal today, so I figured I would copy and paste it into my blog, for your convenience.

"Hello people of the internets! It's been some time since I last conveyed any kind of public message and/or statement via Livejournal to you all. My apologies.

Since we last left off on the saga and poorly scripted event known as my life, things weren't looking so good for the main character (aka me). Things have now gotten progressively better. Hoorah! That's a good thing since I don't think my journal could have taken any more emo posts.

I'm still working at Resolve, which is still the worst place on Earth, but I'm surviving and dealing I suppose. I'm still at the library as well. It's a little on the slow and boring, but I make it through. I also managed to get everything the government owed to me. On top of that, they threw in a grant for $1000 in an effort to say sorry for screwing everything up as only the government can. That was nice of them. Anyway, school is also going phenomenally better this semester than last. Although I don't think I had much of a choice, since I don't think I could have sunk even lower on the ladder of academic standing without getting kicked out of UPEI. And who authentically gets kicked out of UPEI? Seriously. They'll take almost anyone. Getting kicked out would not have bode well for the confidence, I'll tell you that much.

Aside from that I've been hanging out, chilling out, and enjoying my time on the Island. I was going to be a hermit this semester and not do anything except work and school, but I decided spending time with friends did equate some level of importance in my life. Why you ask? Well, in case you didn't know (and very few do), I'm going out West. On the 30 of April the fam is coming over, and then over the course of the following few days we'll be chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool, perhaps even shoot some b-ball outside a school. Then we're driving across the country. Driving some twenty-three million miles in a confined space with my family. Can someone volunteer right now to either post bail for me, or at least attend my funeral? Oi Vey."

girlfriend.

In the one week after buying Avril Lavigne's new single Girlfriend, I've listened to it 63 times.
New obsession say wha?
Easy hattah's, I like the girl, regardless of how "poorly" it reflects on my musical taste.

crystal ball.

At this moment, in this instant, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Who knew a little piece of paper could be worth so much in terms of relief?

On a side note, why does no one use my shoutbox? It's so lonely. People should use it lest it becomes an emo shoutbox.

glamorous.

Now that I've given Facebook up for Lent I have all this free time on my hands.
I suppose I should put that extra time into my research paper.
When I'm bored and have nothing else to do (aka tomorrow), I'll update this with everything I promised I would.
Plus, I've been thinking about changing the name of my blog and creating a new URL for it. I'm tired of reneortiz.blogspot.com as it doesn't do much for privacy, plus "soul meets body" is getting tiring to look at. Any suggestions?



If you ain't got no money, take yo broke ass home