Appology and Ripple

I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, my computer and my blog were not getting along. Since my last post I have done lots of reading and have found many good books, one of which was Ripple by Mandy Hubbard. It's been a while since I last read this book, but it took an interesting twist on a familiar story. I thought the main character was well done and her reaction to every obstacle was very realistic. The cover is strange because the faces are off. The publishing company used too much computer and the models look too intense, which only makes them look constipated. But beyond the strange cover, I fully enjoyed this book.
Hopefully my computer will continue to cooperate and I will be able to post again soon.

The Near Witch

I only had a few quick minutes to grab something when I was at the library yesterday. I grabbed the first book that had an interesting description. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab was one of these books. I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed. The main character, Lexi, was interesting and the writing style was very lyrical and fun. But the story was very predictable and Lexi was almost the only interesting character. Her counter part, a boy named Cole, was the other interesting person. Honestly,  I was more interested in his life than hers. The book could have been much better if it didn't have one of my pet peeves of fiction. Romance sprung out of nowhere. I had no problem with the romance side of the story, except there was very little lead up to it. The characters barely knew each other and suddenly they are falling in love? The book was long enough that there could have been more realistic development of this side of the story. If this little romance had been left out and the two characters had ended the book as friends, maybe even friends with a hint of something more down the road, it would have been a better book.
On the upside, I really like the cover.

Friends And Foes review

This book is by Sarah M. Eden. It's one of those books you settle down with for a day, either cozy by the fire with a big cup of hot chocolate or out on the beach while you work on your tan. Unfortunately, I was doing neither while I read this book, but I still fully enjoyed it. The main character, Philip Jonquil, does a wonderful job of narrating the story. We get into his head and see things from his perspective, but at times we are still distant enough to see things he does not. Philip is a French spy hunter for the English and he has one more spy he needs to catch before he can be released from his duty. He is at a family reunion of sorts for Christmas and has some very interesting adventures.  His counter character, Sorrel, is also lots of fun. She holds her own while still having insecurities and fears. Both characters are complex and move the story forward themselves instead of being plopped into situations and reacting. It's not extremely complex and a little (ok, a lot) predicable, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Tristan and Isolt

This is a romance written in medieval times that I read for my history class. One of the things I love about college classes I end up reading things I would never choose on my own. Sometimes it flops, but sometimes I tuck the title into the back of my mind to read again. Like How To Kill an Mockingbird  and The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. I have read both of these more than once and really like them.
"Tristan and Isolt" on the other hand I found an... interesting read. Part of the problem is what was considered normal back when it was written is very different from today. Like men running around and killing giants. And adding rainbow fairy dogs into a plot.
My favorite part is when someone (I won't give it away and say who) wants to kill the main character. While he is in the bathtub. I was cracking up. It wasn't meant to be that funny I think, but in the movie inside my head it was. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to add that into the paper I'm writing for the class. The same paper I'm avoiding my writing this post. My excuse is that its Friday. And I have other homework I'll go do right after this post... just not the paper.
Interesting fact: I keep wanting to spell Isolt as Islot. Seems more like a real name to me I guess.

The end of slacking

Alright, I'm back. Finals and Christmas and New Years have kept me away. I'm sorry if this is shocking to you, but I enjoy spending time with my family more than updating my blog.
My Christmas break was a blast, even though there was never any snow. I spent time with my friends, wrestled with my brothers and sisters and even went for a run. It was my first one in too long. And I got to go ice skating! I miss ice skating. Overall it was a very fun break.
I went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie with some of my friends. I love the way the director messed with the special effects and worked with slow motion. It's probably my favorite part about those movies. It was a fun ending too. I would say, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
I also did a lot of reading. So much that I actually can't really remember what I read except for Mark of Royalty by Jennifer K. Clark and Stephonie K. Williams. It was a cute, quick read. My sister got the book for Christmas and I ahem... borrowed it for a couple days. Don't worry, I put it back as soon as I was done.

This next semester should be really fun. I have some fun classes that I've been looking forward to for months! Wish me luck with the new semester and have a good 2012!

A dragon, a turkey, a chicken, and fruit.

When I went home for Thanksgiving I skimmed the last book of the Inheritance cycle, Inheritance. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. I liked how they beat Galbotrix but the ending was way too Lord of the Rings for me. Yes, the whole series had a bit of that vibe, along with Star Wars. But I thought that he did a good job of making the story his own, not straight Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars. But unfortunately, the ending was just that.

My Thanksgiving was fantastic. I went ice skating for my brothers birthday, got to see some of my closest friends, snuck out once (just for fu

n, not because I had to) and ate lots and lots of yummy food.

Unfortunately, now I am sick. Hence the chicken. Chicken noodle soup is pretty much all I've had today. Not because my stomach is upset, but because there was no way I was making anything that took more than three minutes to make. Aka, stick in the microwave. Normally I am very good about cooking. But today I put my fist down. If I am going to be sick I am not doing anything that takes work. I didn't do any homework today either, even though finals are right around the corner. But I'm okay with it. I wrote some, talked about my story with my roommate and vegged. I have discovered that being sick away fro

m home is more painful than being sick at home. I miss my old red couch. I would veg on it wrapped up in a cuddly blanket and watch tv or sleep all day.

I also feel a strong urge for a homemade smoothie. This is an impossible task because 1. I do not have the right kind or enough fruit for a smoothie. 2. We have no blender. I asked for one for Christmas, because I love smoothies. I see this craving as my body telling me I need more fruit, but when I went to open my can of peaches no one in my apartment can open it. It's not the type of can you buy at the store and use a handy-dandy can opener to open. No, this is a home-canned can of peaches. They would be excellent... if I could open the can. Besides that all I have is pineapple and mandarin oranges in cans. Cans from the store. But they sound disgusting right now. That's not the kind of fruit I'm craving. I want berries or apples or bananas or grapes. Okay, not grapes. Those sound gross too.

See what my sick body does to me? I feel pregnant with all these food cravings. (I'm not pregnant.)

My roommate made oatmeal cookies with dried craisins in them. They look and smell fantastic. But sugar+sick me= really, really stupid idea. Last night I had popcorn to help with this craving. It helped, a little. But what I really need is fruit. But I just do not feel good enough to go shopping. Sorry body, you're holding your own self back. I spent most of the day in one spot on the couch even. I left it to eat and take a shower and other such necessary things, but now I am back. This couch is not as co

mfortable as my one at home. Just saying. NOTHING beats that couch when I'm sick. Nothing.

So yes, this is me in my sorry, sick state. Be glad you are not also sick. If you are, I sympathize. Eat an orange and think of me.

All the Stars in Heaven

I went to the library the other day and found the book after Counting Stars (look a few posts down), All the Stars in Heaven. I enjoyed it, though not as much as the first one. And it was about a different set of characters, just as a warning. It was a good book. I didn't love it, but it was a fun read.

What I did love this weekend was the end to the TV series City Hunter. No, it's not an American TV show, yes it is on Hulu (except for the last episode, we had to hunt that down somewhere else). My roommate and I watched the last four episodes last night. This is my favorite TV show right now, right up there with Dr. Who and Merlin. And the main character is higher than pretty much any other TV character I've seen. The show takes all my favorite elements of TV and combines them very, very well. Though in a few scenes it does have more blood than I would like. If you decide to try out this show, my only warning is that the first episode or so is kind of strange as they try to set the background for everything else. If you want to skip it you have to read a recap of the episode or you will be very lost for a long time. This is a show you have to watch in order unlike most American TV shows. I kind of like it.

I am going home for Thanksgiving this next week and I cannot express how excited I am. I have grown to appreciate my family even more now that I'm further away. I always loved them, but I miss all sorts of little things now, like my littlest brothers smile or talking with my mom or my dad's fantastic hugs. I'm very glad I moved away because I don't think I would have learned to value these things as much at home as I do now. Every time I see my family from now on I plan on taking advantage of every minute.

Have a great week!

Left Neglected

No, I am not talking about myself fortunately. I am very much so not neglected. Its actually the title of a book by Lisa Genova. I enjoyed this book but there were a few scenes I skipped. It's about a working mom who gets into a car crash and ends up with brain damage. The left half of the world no longer exists for her. No, really. She doesn't see the left side of her plate, or a cat, or even herself. She can't use her left hand because to her brain there is no left hand. Besides the two scenes I skipped I enjoyed the book. The main character really grew and came to recognize what is really important in life. I think it can be a great wake up call to the to do list side of us.
After I finish this blog post I am heading over to one of BYU's weekly devotionals with my roommate. I love being able to go to devotionals, it's so nice to have a chance to listen to great minds and receive their insight.
On a slight side note, I have the hiccups. Its very obnoxious.
This last week my mom was in town and I loved every minute of her being here. It's amazing how much closer I've gotten to my parents now that I don't live at home anymore. I think its because I really appreciate how awesome they are now. And I'm exposed to more people who don't have as great of parents as I do, which makes it even more obvious how blessed I am.
So I'm a pre visual arts major, and last night I think I was on the verge of a mini panic attack about this. I felt very overwhelmed, because I honestly do not think I'm a good enough artist to get into the program. It's very selective and extremely competitive, and most of the people going into the program have been preparing for it all through high school. I decided to try to be a visual arts major about a month ago. It felt right in a way nothing else did, so I decided to jump for it. But I'm terrified, because I don't really have a backup plan. My theory behind this is 1.) I have no idea what it would be and 2.) I think it will help me work harder to get into the program. I know I could learn everything I need to know if given the time and resources, but I'm not so sure that will happen. Instead I'm constantly doodling and trying new things (at least as much as I can when I don't have any quality supplies yet). Wish me luck, I start my first pre-VA classes next semester!

Counting Stars

... is the book I finished earlier today. It's by Michele Paige Holmes, and was a very enjoyable read. She did a wonderful job creating realistic characters and in a very real setting. I really related to the main character in her romanticness. If you don't want to cry, don't read this book. It has a few very sad moments, but its all forgiven in the very sweet moments.
The only thing I didn't like was the last page. I would have been okay if she'd left out the whole last chapter, but I can see why she did. But the last page, specifically the last two paragraphs. I feel like the story just.... ends. I'm not sure if this is her version of a cliff hanger or if there was something implied that I just wasn't getting. Which, this does happen to me occasionally. I like to have things spelled out and sometimes miss implied things. I'm very straight forward like that. And actually, the whole side plot that the chapter ends with I don't find terribly necessary. There are whole sections that, while interesting and a good read, should just be part of a separate book. The character this side story focuses on is important to the story, but not so much that we really needed so much side stuff. He could have just told the main character what he had been up to for the past year instead of having us live it with him. Sometimes this is a very good thing. In this story I thought it was unnecessary.
But I really do like this book. I am recommending it to all those romancy, chick-flick lovers out there. This story has all the elements of a good chick flick but is so much better. It's not just happily ever after, but about working towards that, showing all the rough patches along the way. I love how realistic the story is in that aspect. So please, if you have time for a 300 (ish) page book, enjoy a good read.

Heir Apparent and an update on me

So I'll start with a book review. I randomly chose one off of the list on the side of my blog, so Heir Apparent it is. I haven't read this for years, but I do have fond memories of it. It's a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy. The main character , a girl who's name I can't remember, goes to a video game place. It' s in the future, and when you play games you get completely immersed, as if you were in the world. She decides to play a Middle Ages game, and things are going swimmingly until something goes wrong outside the game. She has to finish the game aka win within a certain time limit or her brain will be fried. That's all I'll say without giving away juicy details. It's a good book for preteen/teenagers, definitely a light read. It's got action and a hint of romance. No, really. A HINT of romance. If I'm remembering right. It could have been me reading more into the story than is really there.

Alright, now onto my life. I'm adjusting to my new schedule finally. This upcoming week will be almost as busy as finals week, so we'll see how that goes. I'll have three exams and two papers. I was a little freaked out when I realized that. In response I have become super organized. I have color-coded sticky notes on my computer screen (did you know computers had that program? I was stoked when I found out), a color-coded calendar on my white board, a to do sticky note on my whiteboard, and color coding in my agenda.
I like colors.
I've also joined the building council for my building, which means I'll help plan activities. So far I haven't been able to help a whole lot with work and such, but I'm determined to do something extracurricular. Let me rephrase that. Something FUN and extracurricular. Work doesn't count. Although I do enjoy making money, it makes me feel much more secure about next year.

But college has proposed quite a dilemma for me. I am having a very difficult time finding time and energy to write. When I do have time I spend it socializing. I don't want to give up any of my social time, but I do want to write. I'm having to learn to squeeze it in here and there, but this makes it hard to stay inspired. I'll have to find a constant time to write, even if it is just one hour a week. That's better than my five minutes here and ten there. That's hardly enough to get anything done! The moment I get into my groove I have to set it back down. I'm hoping as things get even more settled I'll be able to write again. I refuse to give up on my main story. I have started over and brainstormed and labored for too many hours on that story to set it aside. I think this is my third (fourth maybe?) time starting over. I wouldn't have, except that I needed to switch which character was talking. This last time I started over I thought about it for MONTHS first. I was pretty far into the story and didn't really want to write the beginning all over again. I'd spend probably about 5 months on that version. But I eventually realized that it would never work if I didn't change the point of view. Of course, it was the simplest route that I should have started with in the first place. Figures.
Later.

I'm baaack!

BYU, here I am! You get to deal with me once again. *Cue evil laugh*
I'm actually a little bit sad to be back. I had a ton of fun at home. I spent almost every night out with friends and got closer to my family. I got lots of writing done and basically just enjoyed myself. I'm sure I'll have lots of fun here, but it is starting all over again. I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I also had a strange dream. I don't remember any of it, but I was very disturbed when I woke up. I had no idea where it had come from either, which almost makes it worse.
I finished The Hourglass Door Trilogy. Those books are now my favorite, easy. I've never been able to say that before. Her descriptions and use of emotions is breathtaking. As a writer, I'm jealous. If you never read any of the other books I suggest on here, please read this series. I would say just read the first one, but it's impossible to not read all three. The first two books end with cliff hangers (normally annoying, but this time it's a good thing) that won't let you go until you find out the ending. All three books are so well tied together. When I finished the last book I couldn't stop thinking about them for a week. When I am no loner tight for money I will buy all three of them.

Pie and books

I have a lot I could post about. Let's see how much actually gets transferred from my head to paper. Well, computer.
First off, I'm home!!! It's for two very short weeks, but that will be enough to re-energize my energizer bunny and get me pumped for fall semester. As much as I enjoyed school, its so nice to be home and be surrounded by familiar faces.
I spent most of my birthday with my family. We hiked to a waterfall with a pool and messed around in the water for a couple hours. It was nice to be out in the wilderness and not in an urban area. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the woods until I was stuck in a city.
Later that night I went to a friends house to watch a movie. I was very excited seeing as how most of these people I hadn't seen for about two months and who knows when I'll see them again after these two weeks. Well, I could tell the guys were up to something. They kept whispering in tight little circles like a bunch of 6th grade girls. When two of them disappeared outside I was sure it was to decorate my car. I'd done it to them before after all, so it wasn't like I didn't deserve it. When one of my friends said I should go look out the front window I took that to mean they were done.
I was very surprised when I walked around the corner and ended up finding a pie in my face. So surprised it took me a second to even realize what had happened. And I was blind. It's quite difficult to see through whip creme, just so you know. Luckily they didn't waste a good pie on my face, it was just whip creme.
What makes it even funnier was not only did they get pie all over me, but themselves, the stairs, the floor, and into the next room. I think I was laughing the hardest out of everyone. While the boys cleaned up the mess I went into a bathroom and rinsed my hair out the best I could. They offered to take me home so I could clean up better, but I didn't want to miss any of the fun so I just pushed my soggy hair out of my face and enjoyed the movie. It wasn't until I got home that I saw how greasy my hair was. It shone. It was a very memorable and amazing birthday.
Since I've been home I read a book that was highly recommended by another friend. The Hourglass Door is now one of my favorite books of all time. To make it even better, its part of a series. This book made me laugh, cry, angry, exasperated, happy, confused, conflicted, concerned, fall in love, the whole range of emotions. It's been a long time since I cried in a book, so if it can make me cry that's saying something. I had actually seen this book before and read the back cover, but that doesn't do the book justice. It doesn't show you how emotionally attached I became to this book. This is right up there with The Queen of Attolia in my book. For those of you that don't know me very well, that is saying a LOT. So I'm begging you. Please read it.

My week and books

I learned something new this week. It is possible to procrastinate and work at the same time. About the same assignment. It's called working really, really, really, really (did I say really?) slow. It took me a very long time to do an assignment that should have taken me a couple hours. It was annoying, because I had planned to work on a big project due a week from tomorrow (I'm still a little flustered by the idea). I took all my stuff for both of these assignments to the library, my roommate and I both determined to get a lot done.
Ha.
The funniest part is that we weren't even talking or distracting each other that much. It just took me forever to do the assignment. Painfully long. And I never did get to my project.
But on the upside I had a wonderful and fun Saturday. And I've probably spent far too much time on my homework this term. I really want to get A's in both of my classes. I never really cared in high school, as long as it wasn't a C. Now I want to try to get scholarships.
Why didn't I think of this earlier? I keep asking myself that. My guess: High school was too easy (with a few exceptions) for me to ever really care. I could get by with out really trying, so I didn't. I focused on other things, like reading, or friends. Good things, but I could have spent a little more time on school. And my music. I slid by with the piano too. But I'm going to change that. I have sheet music I plan on buying, and I am going to work really hard and get that song down as fast as I can.
I read two books this week. Shadow Hunter and Firethorn. Not a huge fan of either of them. I couldn't even finish Firethorn. Please don't read it. It's only perk is what made it so awful; the characters didn't have modern ideals about how to treat women or people of lower class. It grated on every cell of my body. I put up for it for a while, thinking that as the two main characters fell in love he would treat her better. Nope. He was a jerk the whole time.
Shadow Hunter was good, but it wasn't amazing. It was a good quick read, an action book with a little mystery in a very realistic setting. It's not going on my list, though. It just didn't have enough... spark for me. Maybe if I was a guy I would have liked it, who knows.

Matched

I borrowed this book from a roommate and read it in one day. It was very good. It reminded me a little of The Hunger Games but wasn't as dark and with a different twist on the idea. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, both were well thought out. I finished the book eager for the next one in the series (it comes out in November. I looked it up.)
I love that its by an LDS author too. That means it has good morals and is nice and clean. This isn't true 100% of the time, but it's more true than with non-LDS authors.
I think you should all read Matched by Ally Condie if you like a good, clean romance.

Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood

Alright, so I'm trying to give a small blurb about every book on my list. I decided to start at the bottom, cause I'm cool like that. Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood is a book that I read when I was younger, as in like 13-14. I haven't read it since then, but I really loved the story. It's about a girl who lives on the edge of the forest. She lives by herself except for the animals and a magician guy who visits every once in a while.
I'm not going to say any more than that (partially because my memory is fuzzy on the book), but it's pretty good. I would probably not read it now, but I liked it then. It's a good recommendation to give like a younger sister or something.
So I did something very silly, but very typical of me. I decided I wanted French Toast for dinner (YUMMY!) so I went to buy bread and eggs. Guess what I forgot? Syrup. Luckily one of my roommates let me borrow from her. It was very delicious syrup. But I should probably go get my own before I have french toast again.
Okay, make a huge turn here, I'm changing the topic. I'm trying out Pandora radio for the first time tonight. I can't decide if I like it or not. One thing I do know is that I like Grooveshark better. Pandora seems like its good for helping me find new songs, but it doesn't actually play songs I like. Grooveshark is a playlist of songs. So I think I'm going to stick with my groovy aquatic friend and only use Pandora to find new songs.
I feel strange not being at mutual (youth group). I have gone almost every single Wednesday night at 7 for... years. Since I was twelve. That's a long time. To not go tonight (seeing as how there is no youth group in college) feels weird. I don't like it. In fact, I'm very bored right now. I have no classes tomorrow so I'm not doing my homework, and all my roomies are out or busy doing something. So.... yeah. I have no idea what to do. At home I would read or go talk with my parents or hunt down a friend. Or be at mutual. But I don't very many people here, and they're all busy or live about an hour away. Darn.
This is a very strange feeling.

Book List

I did it! Yay me! I added the list. Granted, it doesn't include all the books I've ever read and enjoyed. That would be a very, very long list. But it's the books I own or could think of off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll add to the list as the weeks go on. I might even do two lists, one for more mature books, one for my fantasy fluff. I love reading both, but I've definitely been reading fluff a lot longer that serious adult books. And I'll probably try to talk about all the books on my list, you know, on those days when I run out of things to say. Oh, and I should say some of these books I haven't read in a long time. I loved them last time I read them, but for some that was when I was about 12. Just so you know.

The Chalice

Yesterday I borrowed a friends book, The Chalice by Robin McKinley. I really enjoyed it. The book had a unique voice that is different from pretty much everything else I've ever read. It make the book even more interesting, and the plot was good enough by itself! Like I say about almost every book I read, you should read it too.
My bedroom is still scattered all over our house. It's been almost a week. Yuck. I have tried to stop complaining about it to my friends, but this is a difficult task. Until it happens to you its impossible to really understand what its like. It's not even that my things are hard to find and I can't wear all my clothes because I can't reach them. It's that I have not one ounce of personal space. I took way too long of a shower yesterday just so I could have some space. It was the day after Earth day, isn't that a little bit ironic? I killed some poor fish with my water wasting. At least according to some commercial I saw a few years ago.
But, the silver lining is that the floor is all dry and nothing was damaged, at least as far as I can tell so far. And I get my carpet put back in tomorrow. This might be my last night on the couch! Thank you!
For Easter we had a delicious dinner today after Stake conference. Both were amazing. President Uckdorf (how do you spell a German last name? I have no idea) was presiding over the broadcast. He spoke for about an hour. That is a long time to speak, I was impressed. He spoke about everything from chastity to electronics to saying daily prayers and having a current temple recommend. It was a very good talk, along with the other talks given today.
Yesterday we colored eggs, and I showed the kids a few cool tricks to make stripes and poka-dots. Mine ended up looking like different kinds of leaves because of its green color. And that none of my poka-dots were actually circular. Lets just say I didn't learn how to cut a circle in kindergarten. I have a hard enough time with long straight lines. You think that since I'm so artistic I could draw, or cut, a straight line. It's a lie, I can't do it.
Happy Easter! Don't forget the true reason we celebrate it.

Jr. Miss

So quite a few of my friends preformed in Junior Miss last night. Of course I went to encourage them, even thought it was four hours of watching girls do a fitness routine, self expression (answer a question) and talent. All of my friends did a wonderful job, and one even got second place! I'm very proud of all of them, they all looked beautiful.
But, I have to make a side comment to the night that makes me giggle. The program changed its name this year to Distinguished Young Women. Imagine saying that in a snooty British accent. Now you see why it makes me snicker. No one but those running the program call it by its true name, a testament to the fact that people are stubborn when it comes to change, even the little things. Humans are so silly.
As for the rest of my life, everything is going well. In my Lit class we are reading two dystopian novels, so of course both of them are going to be on the depressing side. My teacher has a... dark sense of humor. But not like evil dark. I'm not sure exactly how to describe him, so I'll stop trying. Anyways, we are reading The Handmaids Tale and Brave New World. So far I'm part of the way through The Handmaids Tale. It's not my type of book at all. I'm not into the whole "life stinks because the world is a big, fat mess" type of book. Well, now that I think about it, it's more that the government has become too controlling, not chaotic. But still. Not my favorite book.
I just tell myself that it's a good experience and that it's good to broaden my horizons.
It's strange, because this school year is quickly reaching it's end. Yet.... it snowed last night. In March. Mother Nature just LOVES to play games with us up here. Luckily the snow has all disappeared, but it will probably snow again before spring officially happens. But my tulips and daffodils are starting to peek up, so that's a good sign. It's going to be very sad to leave my garden when I go off to school. I just managed to get all the plants that I wanted planted last year. Except for some more bulbs. I would love to plant some crocus this fall, but I will be long gone. Sad.
So a few of my friends and I have been watching this BBC tv show called Merlin. It's a little on the cheesy side, but we all three love it. It takes the legends of King Arthur and Merlin and mixes them all together, throwing in some new stuff along the way. I've always loved Arthur's story and it's fun to try and guess what's going to happen in the next episode. We've taken to watching a few every weekend since we have to use a disk since none of us have BBC. Though I've heard it's on the Sci-Fi channel too, which makes absolutely no sense. It's all about magic in old medieval times... and its on a channel dedicated to futuristic sciencey stuff. Hm. Whatever floats they're boat I guess. So if your ever in the mood for an adorkable guy, go watch Merlin. He's pretty funny.

A Company of Swans

I just finished reading this book. Literally, just finished. Like two minutes ago. Its by Eva Ibbotson. Its set in the early 1900's with a girl who lives in Cambridge with her horrible father and aunt. She escapes to become a ballerina. Its a very cute book. There is a little too much description toward the beginning with ballet that I didn't care for and ended up skimming, but the rest is very good. It ends happily and has a cute sense of humor.
I thought I should share.

Gray

The world is very, very gray right now. It's raining out side, and its so dreary. I despise winter. It's making it very difficult for me to work on my stories. Which.... I should post snippets of that sometime. Not today, but maybe sometime. Or a really cool quote from one of them. Though, now that I think about it, quoting myself would be a little strange. Hm.
It's amazing how much the weather effects my mood. I definitely have a case of the winter blues. At least it comes and goes, it's not a constant thing. One thing for sure, when I am actually choosing where I live, I'm living somewhere with sunny winters. They don't have to be warm, I just need to see the sun. There is NO SUN here. It drives me crazy. Even in the summer there is a thin film of clouds, so the sky is never that summery blue that everyone dreams of. Thank goodness for pictures.
I am planning on reading The Count of Monte Cristo as soon as the school library gets it back. I'm excited. Even though Alexandre Dumas was a jerk, his writing is good, and I can easily ignore his personality when reading his stuff.
If your looking for a cute book (But not chick flicky) read The Black Tulip by Dumas. It's one of my favorites. It actually has a happy ending! That's really rare in French Lit. Or at least as far as I have experienced it is. It's so different from his other stuff, and a LOT shorter.Now go read it. ;)