January Wrap-Up

I have a problem here, blog.
I'll have a fit of creative spirit and write, write,write and then...I'll get over it. I'll work and I'll read other blogs and I'll read books and obessively watch Frasier (the whole thing is on Netflix which makes Ben so unhappy) and not feel like writing anything at all.
Then, I feel bad because I'll be silent for weeks at a time but at the same time I haven't put in effort into planning anything either. Sigh, so you'll have to settle for this ramshakle of a post to assuage my guilt.

This book is the main reason why I've not been able to do anything. It's six hundred pages long and I really thought that it would be a slow start since it started with Helen's childhood but the writing has honestly swept me away. I haven't been captivated by a writing style in a while so it's nice just getting to enjoy the process.

I also, after much thought, picked up this book which deserves it's own blog post once I'm done. It's eye-opening and encouraging and a feel like I'm no longer alone in my questioning of traditional patriarchal actions that have been explain away as Biblical.

A couple of weeks ago I was on my way to work in the morning and I turned down this residential road that leads to the highway and found this poor little girl wandering toward my car. I see dogs on this road all the time for some reason but they all look healthy and not lost. This one, however was clearly scared and she was running at my car. When I got out to call to her she ran away from me, and started heading toward another car coming in the opposite direction. I must of looked like a crazy person also running at the car but it was an SUV that sat high and I was afraid it wouldn't see her. The guy stopped and asked if everything was okay and the dog tried to get in his car. That's when I got a look at her up close and as you can see from the picture she did not look remotely okay. He told me he was going to pull off and call animal control and I told him I was going to get a towel to wrap her in. I jogged back to my car and found one of those big black garage blankets in my trunk. I got it out and started to look for the SUV...and the guy was gone. There were two driveways right behind my car and I had assumed he would pull in one of those. I don't know if he just pulled into one further down, but that wouldn't have made sense to me. When I turned to look for the dog she was also gone.
Well, as it turns out I had left my driver's side door open and my car was low enough that she could get in. She was sitting in my passenger's seat eating the crumbs out of the folds of the seat. Clearly freezing (earlier that week was when we had our -2 temperatures) I wrapped her up in the blanket and turned on the heat. Now, I had to open the store that day but I couldn't very well kick her out after all I didn't know whether or not that fellow had called animal control and she was clearly in bad shape. So, I called the other manager who was supposed to work that night and told her she just had to go open the store for me while I dropped this poor dog by the humane society. Thank God, she answered her phone and I was able to take this dog (now asleep in my passenger's seat) to the Humane Society.
That weren't going to take her at first since they were full, but once the lady saw her she changed her mind. They were so sweet there and that poor dog was just so happy to not be freezing. I felt so much better knowing she was going to be okay because I know animal control would have taken one look at her and put her down. She had clearly been around people before and I knew if she had any chance it would be there.
Ben called the next day and they told him she had been fostered and was eating fine, had mange of course and unfortunately a leg that had been broken and healed wrong so they might have to amputate.
Ben and I have been on the look out for a dog recently and I told him if she checked out okay I would like to adopt her. I just called the shelter to ask about her, but I guess I got the wrong person or didn't say the right phrase because I was told since I didn't pay $75 they didn't release information about animals even though I was told I could call and ask about her. I'm going to call back tomorrow and try again and hopefully a different person will be answering the phone!
I've also been baking up a storm lately with all this cold weather I've craved nothing but gallons of hot coffee and homemade sweets. I've been thinking of doing a recipe post since I do cook so much I just need to actually plan ahead... the bane of my life, planning, haha!
I'm also really excited for Valentine's Day this year since Ben is taking me to the Philharmonic! Normally we don't do anything but I heard the Maestro talking on the radio about the new upcoming season in August and told Ben that this is what I wanted to do this year. So excited! I haven't had an occasion to really dress up in a long time and it's nice to pick out an outfit and plan ahead it sort of reminds me of prom except I only planned ahead for that like 2 weeks in advance.
That pretty much sums up my January except I'm been listening to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald Pandora Radio. With it still being so cold and the music being reminiscent of Christmas music it's the perfect comfort music.

Poetry for your Sunday vol. 10

 

Let us be women willing to lay down our sword words, our sharp looks, our ignorant silence and towering stance and fill the earth now with extravagant Love.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who make room.

Let us be women who open our arms and invite others into an honest, spacious, glorious embrace.

Let us be women who carry each other.

Let us be women who give from what we have.

Let us be women who leap to do the difficult things, the unexpected things and the necessary things.

Let us be women who live for Peace.

Let us be women who breathe Hope.

Let us be women who create beauty.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be a sanctuary where God may dwell.

Let us be a garden for tender souls.

Let us be a table where others may feast on the goodness of God.

Let us be a womb for Life to grow.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us rise to the questions of our time.

Let us speak to the injustices in our world.

Let us move the mountains of fear and intimidation.

Let us shout down the walls that separate and divide.

Let us fill the earth with the fragrance of Love.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us listen for those who have been silenced.

Let us honour those who have been devalued.

Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding.

Let us not rest until every person is free and equal.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who are savvy, smart and wise.

Let us be women who shine with the light of God in us.

Let us be women who take courage and sing the song in our hearts.

Let us be women who say, Yes to the beautiful, unique purpose seeded in our souls.

Let us be women who call out the song in another’s heart.

Let us be women who teach our children to do the same.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who Love, in spite of fear.

Let us be women who Love, in spite of our stories.

Let us be women who Love loudly, beautifully, Divinely.

Let us be women who Love.

 

I started reading Jesus Feminist last night. This poem opens the book and I thought it was really poignant and stayed with me. Let us be women who live for Peace. Every line just had me nodding my head and saying "yes, I want to be this woman." I haven't made it very far in this book yet, but it's definitely off to a good start.

 

What's been going on, literally.

(Source)

With all the stress that came with a job promotion/the holidays I started looking for an audiobook that was "easy listening." I saw a preview for Veronica Roth's Divergent at the theater and remembered one of my friends reading it when I was in high school. I decided to listen to it to see what I thought. 

I was immediately immersed  in the story and decided listening to it was too slow so I picked up an e-copy and finished it in less than a day. 

Then, I saw Catching Fire in theaters and remembered how much I loved Suzanne Collins' trilogy, so just for fun I read all three in four days time. 

Then I switched to Insurgent and finished it in record time. A part of me was wincing at the fact that I was reveling in the overly-emoting, quick-paced drama, but the other part of me told the first to shut up because she was reading. 

Then it all came to a grinding halt with Allegiant. I think my problem is with the switch in perspective. The narrator, Tris is a diverse character that is so unlike other heroines in teen fiction. She actually has talent and intelligence, isn't so shy it's paralyzing and isn't so humble it's obnoxious. I liked her problem-solving and coming into her own in the first two books, but in this third one she's sharing the narrative spotlight with her boyfriend. It's just gone a little two far away from the original concept/ structure and it's lost some appeal for me.

It makes me think of Scott Westerfeld's Extras which was so far away from the first in the series it felt like a half-formed after thought. (I will pretty much say that for anything that throws aliens in last minute) or Melissa de la Cruz's Gates of Paradise which I just managed to skim and hardly remember over the loud yelling of "Wtf???" in my head.

Now, I'm sort of stuck. A part of me really wants to know what happens in this story, and the other part of me is now really bored and ready for some kind of a challenge.

For some reason I've been curious about modern French literature, but I need a better way to find lists or descriptions. I've not been specific enough in my searches and it takes me to French websites and since  I don't read French remotely I have no idea what's happening.

Maybe, I'll just ease out of my teen fiction mode with something from Terry Prachet it'll be easy but not overly emotional and I'm four days into another seven day work week, so humor would be welcome.

Finding some new tunes

I love listening to music in the car on the way to work. It's a good way to get pumped up about a shift or on the way home it's a good way to unwind.
I've always liked listening to music, but I never considered myself super into music. I have friends who budget concerts into their lives and know the bio of every band member in a least a dozen bands. I don't do that. The last concert I went to was to see Jonsi in St. Louis at The Pageant (which was magic). A friend took me and to be honest I really didn't know who Jonsi was before that night. I loved it anyway. Before I met Ben I was constantly looking for new music and I went through a phase where I was a litttlee snobby about it. I despised the radio seeing as we have two top 40 stations, one hard rock station and the rest are oldies or country in this area.
But after I got married my tastes in music relaxed a little (Ben listens to one of the Top 40 stations so I had to stuff that opinion away) and I branched out a little into the pop world.
Working at the clothing store however killed my desire for pop music because that's all we play. (If I hear "Wrecking Ball" or "Blurred Lines" or that weird song with the line "tigers on diamonds chains" anymore I might scream.) And I've found myself in a rut as far as music goes. For the last six months I more or less have only listened to this playlist for the past seven months.



ohhh folk yeahh from mhiggins33 on 8tracks Radio.

I love love love this playlist. It was a perfect blend of familiar and new for me at first. Now, I almost 

know all 43 songs by heart.

 So, I finally took it upon myself to look up a couple of my favorite artist 

from this playlist and invest in them. I found Daughter's EP, The Wild Youth last night and it was 

perfect and dreamy. Then I found on iTunes Palomino by Trampled by Turtles which I absolutely love. I definitely got my fiddle fix.

 It feels good to hear new music again. As comfortable as listening to the same 43 songs was I'm excited to hear new music again as well. Maybe branch out to a little bit of Country? 

....Nah :)

Comic Review: From Hell

Well, this was a horrible story. I honestly don't know what I thought it would be. I guess I had hoped it would have a happier ending than it did, but it's a story about Jack the Ripper, so I made the wrong assumption. The story woven by Alan Moore was a brilliant one that I would believe. A little Wikipedia research showed that there were many Ripper suspects, but me being partial to Free Mason conspiracy theories sees truth in this one if nothing else.
That being said this book was not an enjoyable read and not just because of the subject matter either. Anytime Sir William Gull was on the page the text was going to be mind numbing. He was insane and he had insane out of body experiences that lasted 10 pages at least. The last victim he killed in her home and having the time and privacy to do more to her he would have flashes of teaching in a surgical theater or of strange men calling him a different name. His ramblings were very existential and so so boring. I tried so hard to appreciate what Moore was telling through this character, but it was a little too much to hold my interest. That certainly doesn't make it bad writing it just doesn't make it entertaining writing.
I was surprised though that I found a character that I liked. Inspector Abberline was a very human character to juxtapose with William Gull's transcendent ambitions. He hated Whitechaple, felt out of place with his middle-class wife and wanted to catch this killer. His psuedo-romance with one of the victims was sad and touching at the same time. The parts of the story that focus around him were the parts that actually entertained me because they happened in real time, unlike Gull's out of body experiences.
Though Abberline wasn't the hero of the story-because no one was- you understood and accepted the decisions he made and sympathized with him all the same.
I'm happy to be able to check this book off my list it's made me feel accomplished if nothing else.

Poetry for your Sunday vol. 9

Beginning

The moon drops one or two feathers into the field.   

The dark wheat listens.

Be still.

Now.

There they are, the moon's young, trying

Their wings.

Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow

Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone

Wholly, into the air.

I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe

Or move.

I listen.

The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,

And I lean toward mine.

-James Wright

Another Resolution

On the 29th Ben and I went out drinking with my brother and some friends of ours to say goodbye because it was his last day in town. The bar we wanted to go to had a $7 cover charge for a local band that none of us knew and we didn't feel like paying it just to stand and and yell at each other, so we ended up at a pizza and microbrewery which was much quieter and cheaper. They only served their own beer so we had a couple of pitchers. I don't drink a whole lot of beer and that night I had four pints over the course of the evenings and didn't even get tipsy. However, I laid awake that night until 2a.m. unable the sleep for the beer and stressing about working all day at the store the next day. It was then my mind wandered to New Year's Resolutions.

The first that came to mind was "No more drinking!" which is something I always tell myself whenever I can't sleep because of drinking or have a wicked hangover. 

However, alcohol is part of my culture and I know if I tell myself to cut it out entirely I will fail, so I decided to amend that to a two drink limit. However, that makes a pretty lame New Year's resolution compared to last year's so after more sleepless thought I decided on cleansing.

This year I'm going to turn 25 and it's time that I start making a conscious effort to monitor how I spend my time, relationships and what I put into my body.

In 2014 I want to focus on cleansing my lifestyle. Body, mind, spirit.

The first and I think the easiest one to start with is my body. Being aware of what goes in it and cutting back on the processed things and the junk food and alcohol. I know December would have gone smoother over all if I had respected my body more by not eating out so much or loading up on sugar (aka all of the fudge). I also want to focus on my skin routine. I've been lucky in my life and have had good skin that requires little care, but I know that if I don't take steps now I won't age well and I'd rather be smart about it than look 50 when I'm 40.

After getting the body part under control I'm not quite sure how I'll go about cleansing my mind and spirit, but I'll be sure to post about it when I figure it out.

A Reflection

Ben and I being dorks next to Mom's Christmas tree, yesterday.

I just re read my first blog post of 2013 and am feeling pretty pleased. The past couple of days I've spent, like almost everyone else, thinking about this past year and weather or not I kept my resolution to be happy.

I'm rather surprised and happy to say that I have. The first part of last year was hard, probably the hardest year I've had yet. I was laid-off, then unemployed and miserable. Then when I did get a job at a clothing store circumstances there were not exactly ideal and it was a whole new stressful unhappy that I had to deal with. But after awhile and some few major changes I adjusted to my circumstances. Then Ben got a new job which finally suited him perfectly and for what felt like the first time since we had been married we were both happy.

This is not the path I would have chosen to take, nor is it the path I want to take, but it's the path I'm on and I am happy with that for now.

Yesterday was perfect. It was first of three days off in a row (YES!) and it was Ben's day off too which never happens. We slept in, ate a late breakfast and took off to see the Hobbit which was extremely well done. We then made our was back home for a mid afternoon nap (something else that never happens) and spent the evening at my parents catching up.

The fact that yesterday was good was important too me. I haven't had a good January first since I stopped living at my parent's house. Normally, I would have worked or been hung over. 2011 I remember waking up freezing and feeling miserable because I couldn't keep my heater on at night. 

This is the first time that I believe this year will be a considerably better one. I don't know what I'm doing with massage. I don't know what I'm doing with writing. I don't know what I'm doing with this blog, but I do plan on doing all three things regardless of circumstances which is the only way to succeed or fail at anything which is better than just standing still and waiting for life to happen to me.

Happy New Year!

Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

I've been hammering my way through NPR's top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy list for a long while now. I started with books that I recognized like Interview with a Vampire and Mists of Avalon but I've reached the point in the list where I either don't recognize the title or it's part of a series. I'm still unsure weather or not I'll attempt to read whole series or just the first book of each one. I guess it'll depend on the series. 

While I was scanning the list to find something that caught my fancy I came across The Handmaid's Tale. I had heard of Margaret Atwood before, but hadn't really thought to read anything by her. Since there aren't too many women authors on that list I decided I might as well give it a try. If you asked me at the beginning of this book how I liked it I would have told you I didn't. That Offred was a little whiny and that I was lost as far as where the plot was going. 

If you asked me in the middle of this book how I liked it I would have told I was tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. If you would have asked me how I liked this book by the end I would have told you that I just don't effing even know. 

If you would have asked me 3 days after I finished this book how I liked it I would have told you I loved it. This book was one I had to dwell on before it clicked with me. I've finally decided that Offred was whiny or a coward like I initally thought. She was a very realistic character whose thoughts and actions were completely human. If I had found myself in that situation I probably would have acted and thought similarly to her. This book is very similar to 1984 with one major exception: hope. Both books had love in them, but this story ended with hope for Offred in 1984 the only thing I hoped for was that poor Winston Smith died. That's not actual hope.

Offred might have made it out of the terror that was the Republic of Gilead. She might even have been instrumental to its downfall, but we'll never know.

What I loved most about this story is that it pointed out that the balance of power will never be fair and the people who have that power will always make exceptions for themselves and justify it anyway possible.

I plan on looking into other things Margaret Atwood has written, and because I was told that this was a feminist novel I've also decided to look into Feminism and flesh out my feelings on it. I've always sort of avoided that crowd finding most internet Feminist voices harsh, angry and judgmental, but I think it's time for me to figure out where I stand on the whole business. 

This has definitely been the first novel to provoke thoughts strong enough that I felt the need to pursue them, and that says a lot about the quality of the story.

What I'm currently reading

I was browsing back through old posts and I remembered that I used to do that thing where I read a million things at once. Then I got distracted by all these TV shows that I had to watch to feel accepted like The Walking Dead, Dexter and Breaking Bad then I went down to reading one book at a time how it's 'properly' done. I'm bored of all these really intense television shows (I feel like my brain can have only so many WTF moments) so I'm back to reading several things at once to fill the time.

I picked up From Hell through a Comixology sale the first week of October thinking I would do a "spooky literature" theme for Halloween that's also why I made a point to get The Walking Dead review up even though I wanted to do that one some where in the middle of the month and not at the end. Well, the best laid plans... right? I'm only 200 odd pages into this tome of a graphic novel and I AM going to finish it because this is the first Alan Moore graphic novel I've read and in my mind if I read this one then I can put off Watchmen for another year or so...
I'm not sure if I got the lesser of two evils here though. The art is driving me crazy and the 50 page long architectural history lessen drove me to fantasize about beating my head into a wall. I mean my word this thing is a hard pill to swallow...only 300 plus pages to go. Maybe I can finish it by Christmas.

My dad loaned me The City & The City a couple of weeks ago and for some reason I've been itching to read it, but it's been a slow start. I would start it in bed and then decide I was too tired and have to start the first couple of pages again. I've finally broken through that (mainly because my smart phone is broken and I need something to read on my breaks at work) and am only a couple of chapters in but the writing is really captivating. I've never really paid attention to China Mieville until now, and I have a feeling I will be reading more of him (Have you seen him? He's hella buff. I'm used to skinny pale looking writers)

To be honest I was only mildly interested in Doctor Sleep when I heard about it coming out. I read The Shining last year around this time I think and I enjoyed it, but it was a little bit of a let down as far as a horror novel goes. That's a funny statement coming from me considering I've never read a horror novel, but the book overall wasn't scary. Neither was the movie really. I enjoyed the writing but it did ramble on a bit. I found Doctor Sleep when I was browsing audio books to listen to and decided to give it a go. I'm a little over a fourth of the was in and am ...enjoying it sort of. Dan Torrence is a pathetic asshole, but he's already growing as a character so I have hope for him. Stephen King's ability to describe things in the most miserable light possible is strong in this book so sometimes it feels a bit like a slog just because everything is so bleak.

I've also picked up a Margaret Atwood book, but I haven't even thought about it yet so I can't count it as currently reading since I'm more like currently looking at the cover of it.

Poetry for you Sunday vol 8

{Source}

The Poster Girl's Defence
It was an Artless Poster Girl pinned up against my wall, She was tremendous ugly, she was exceeding tall; I was gazing at her idly, and I think I must have slept, For that poster maiden lifted up her poster voice, and wept. She said between her poster sobs, ‘I think it’s rather rough To be jeered and fleered and flouted, and I’ve stood it long enough; I’m tired of being quoted as a Fright and Fad and Freak, And I take this opportunity my poster mind to speak. ‘Although my hair is carmine and my nose is edged with blue, Although my style is splashy and my shade effects are few, Although I’m out of drawing and my back hair is a show, Yet I have n’t half the whimseys of the maidens that you know. ‘I never keep you waiting while I prink before the glass, I never talk such twaddle as that little Dawson lass, I never paint on china, nor erotic novels write, And I never have recited “Curfew must not ring tonight”. ‘I don’t rave over Ibsen, I never, never flirt, I never wear a shirt waist with a disconnected skirt; I never speak in public on “The Suffrage”, or “The Race”, I never talk while playing whist, or trump my partner’s ace.’ I said: ‘O artless Poster Girl, you’re in the right of it, You are a joy forever, though a thing of beauty, nit!’ And from her madder eyebrows to her utmost purple swirl, Against all captious critics I’ll defend the Poster Girl.
-Carolyn Wells

Poetry for your Sunday vol 7

If The World Went Crazy
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd eat?
A big slice of soup and a whole quart of meat,
A lemonade sandwich, and then I might try
Some roasted ice cream or a bicycle pie,
A nice notebook salad, an underwear roast,
An omelet of hats and some crisp cardboard toast,
A thick malted milk made from pencils and daisies,
And that's what I'd eat if the world was crazy. 

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd wear?
A chocolate suit and a tie of eclair,
Some marshmallow earmuffs, some licorice shoes,
And I'd read a paper of peppermint news.
I'd call the boys "Suzy" and I'd call the girls "Harry,"
I'd talk through my ears, and I always would carry
A paper umbrella for when it grew hazy
To keep in the rain, if the world was crazy. 

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd do?
I'd walk on the ocean and swim in my shoe,
I'd fly through the ground and I'd skip through the air,
I'd run down the bathtub and bathe on the stair.
When I met somebody I'd say "G'bye, Joe,"
And when I was leaving--then I'd say "Hello."
And the greatest of men would be silly and lazy
So I would be king...if the world was crazy. 


-Shel Silverstein


A silly poem for this week. I've been reading so many heavy goings on on the news I thought it would be nice to have a goofy take on the end of the world. Leave   it up to Shel Silverstein.

Instagram Lately

I figured I'd share some fall related shots from life lately. 

This year I decided to go minimalist with the fall decor, opting for pumpkin decorations that would get us through till Thanksgiving (except my flower pumpkin in freaking molding from all this wet warm weather) and not Halloween specified decorations.

I normally love decorating, but I hate accumulating  all this stuff that I'll use for a month out of the year. And it's stupid expensive. It'll be interesting to see if my philosophy holds up for Christmas. I love Christmas decor but I would like to try to go the simple and sweet route this year.

The bottom picture is my current favorite. Numi, Ben's cat, may be the biggest cat jerk I've ever met but he's darn photogenic and as of today he's been missing for four days. We let him out Monday morning as per usual and he just hasn't been back. I'm starting to get worried because it's rained so much the past 3 days and Ben and I both have had to work all day. Today is nice and I have food set out for him so hopefully he'll be asleep on the couch in the breezeway when I get home.

He may be a jerk cat, but I'd rather know he was safe at home being a jerk than lost or hurt somewhere...

Also, I tried my hand at making popcorn cookies which turned out way better than I thought, I'll probably alter it a bit and get some white chocolate involved and maybe even post the recipe here!

Ben and I have gotten into the habit of hanging out together before church in the afternoon on Sundays. I really enjoy getting out of the house together. It's so easy to just fall into routines especially with our work schedules and never actually do anything together. We never do anything too crazy, run some errands then go have coffee downtown but it's special just to spend that time together and away from everything.

Hope your weekend goes well!

NaNoWriMo

I first came across the phrase NaNoWriMo 3 years ago. It was in Neil Gaiman's blog so of course I was curious about it. When I found out it was novel writing I got intimidated and put it out of my mind. I don't know what it is about the idea of writing a novel that seems so daunting, but every time I consider it I always dismiss it as something I'm not ready for.
But, why? I'm 24 years old and writing is something I love to do so why the hell not join National Novel Writing Month and just see what happens. I'm smart. I have ideas.
Also, I suck at writing on a daily basis. Just look at this blog. No structure, broken promises, irratic posting. I'm terrible at it and I have no idea why. Every time I sit down to write I always find a reason not too. "Oh, I need to make sure my whole house is clean first." That's seriously what happens everytime. Why does my house have to be spotless before I do anything creative? Why am I such a weirdo?
So, to ease my self into this process of daily writing for this work week and make myself sit down for 30 minutes a day to just write and then I can clean the whole house or play Plants vs. Zombies or whatever.
The other thing I'll start doing differently is typing my rough draft instead of hand writing it. As much as I love the catharsis of putting pen to paper I have so many ideas are bits of paper somewhere in the house that will never go beyond just being ideas.
How about you? Do you want to write a novel in a month? NaNoWriMo is Nov 1 through the 30th! Why not try it and see what happens?

Comic Review: The Walking Dead: Days Gone By

Author: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Tony Moore

Published: September 26, 2006

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.

I have this thing I do on Goodreads where I have to look at bad reviews of books. If I'm iffy about a book before I pick it up I'll look at the bad reviews then. If I really liked the book (or didn't like it at all) I'll look at the reviews after to see what other people felt about them and why.

I had bought Days Gone By sometime after the first season of The Walking Dead came on television. I had never been drawn to anything that was zombie related before then, but after the show got a huge follow I was curious about it and watched along. I thought the show was really well done and was curious about the original story. However, since the very beginning of the book and the first episode were mirrors of one another I put it down for the time. I finally came back to it at the beginning to this month thinking enough time had past that I wouldn't be bored with it or find it repetitive. After I finished this volume I consulted Goodreads for a sort of guideline on how I should write this review. I found an odd amount of 'one star' reviews so of course I had to read them, and now I feel like I have to defend this book.I haven't read past the first six issues of this series, and it seems like a lot of the one star reviewers didn't either so I feel like we're on equal ground.
*Reviewer's complaint #1- The plot was too simplistic.
Duh. It's an intro to an ongoing series Kirkman can't throw all the "drama of the show" at you at once. It would be schizophrenic and you feel lost and frustrated. The show had a similar build up in the first few episodes it just threw in more controversial characters at first to draw you in. That's what shows do.
*Reviewer's complaint #2- The art was messy.
I'm a stickler for art especially in a graphic novel and though Tony Moore's style isn't my favorite I think its simple lines and black and white coloring was a good choice. That way it didn't focus on the gore of the actual zombies but on the people around them. I also believe that he purpose left details out of a lot of the faces in the camp because you weren't supposed to be attached to them or even recall their faces much as I'm sure the characters themselves won't remember those faces after a while.
Reviewer's complaint #3- There was no character development.
First, and again this was introducing the main characters in this series. We as readers should probably get to know their thought processes first before they develop so we can see it as it happens.
Second. Did you just forget about Carl? I know he's a child but I would totally consider him as a more developed character by the end of the book. Same goes for Shane. Sure, I will agree that there wasn't much development as far as Rick and Laurie go but again this is part of a series and not a stand alone book so I'm not worried.

Poetry for your Sunday vol 6

{Source}

Fairyland

Dim vales- and shadowy floods-

And cloudy-looking woods,

Whose forms we can't discover

For the tears that drip all over!

Huge moons there wax and wane-

Again- again- again-

Every moment of the night-

Forever changing places-

And they put out the star-light

With the breath from their pale faces.

About twelve by the moon-dial,

One more filmy than the rest

(A kind which, upon trial,

They have found to be the best)

Comes down- still down- and down,

With its centre on the crown

Of a mountain's eminence,

While its wide circumference

In easy drapery falls

Over hamlets, over halls,

Wherever they may be-

O'er the strange woods- o'er the sea-

Over spirits on the wing-

Over every drowsy thing-

And buries them up quite

In a labyrinth of light-

And then, how deep!- O, deep!

Is the passion of their sleep.

In the morning they arise,

And their moony covering

Is soaring in the skies,

With the tempests as they toss,

Like- almost anything-

Or a yellow Albatross.

They use that moon no more

For the same end as before-

Videlicet, a tent-

Which I think extravagant:

Its atomies, however,

Into a shower dissever,

Of which those butterflies

Of Earth, who seek the skies,

And so come down again,

(Never-contented things!)

Have brought a specimen

Upon their quivering wings. 

-Edgar Allen Poe

A little look a Williamsburg

I'd thought I'd share some pictures that I took while I spent a few afternoons in Williamsburg, Virginia.

My brother lives close to there, so when my mom and I went out to visit him we couldn't not visit Williamsburg. 

I'm not sure why this photo turned out this way but it's a picture of one of the gardens and I think it looks like an impressionist painting.

There was a pretty and kind of random bamboo forest in the middle of Williamsburg that I couldn't resist tromping through. It lead to a parking lot though, so that ruined the magic.

Pomegranates grow on trees! Duh, but I've never seen them outside of the grocery store.

These are fountains outside of our hotel in Newport News. It was a gorgeous park area.

We used to go to Williamsburg when I was little and I loved going back and appreciating the history as an adult. We didn't see any of the reenactments this time but hopefully I'll take Ben (whose never been) out there in April for the full experience.

Poetry for your Sunday vol. 5

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;        5

 Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,        10

 And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.        15

 I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood,

 and I—I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.        20 

-Robert Frost

This is a total cliche I know, but I think it's because I hear this poem so much in the fall that I've been thinking about it so much this past week.

Book Review (of sorts): The Neverending Story

I can't technically consider this a book review since that would imply that I finished the book. This is more of an explanation of why I didn't finish the book.

I loved The Neverending Story as a kid. The movie, I mean. My kid brain didn't wonder where such a freaking cool idea came from I was just happy that there was a furry dog faced dragon involved. 

When I saw the bright cover of The Neverending Story on a shelf at Barnes & Nobel I became that little kid again and HAD TO HAVE IT. Didn't even care that it was $11.99 for a paperback I bought that sucker then and there. Later that day, I settled in to read it. It started as I remembered in the movie except that Bastion wasn't and adorable polite-spoken little boy. He was cowardly, awkward, chubby and his dad didn't really like him. Okay I got that; it honestly made more sense for a boy like this to be drawn to a book and a world like Fantastica. The story ran similar to the movie, but it was a little scarier and more serious which made it better. Atreyu and Artax were admirable and I totally cried when they were in the Swamp of Saddness. Whenever it would switch back to Bastion's perspective I would be mildly annoyed that I had to read about this stupid kid who locked himself in the school attic, but I'm pretty sure I was supposed to feel that way because throughout the story Bastion will grow as a character into someone more admirable and likable like Atreyu.

Well then it gets to the turning point in the story where Bastion can make a choice and save everything and he...goes in to a corner of the attic and hides from it. Then the Childlike Empress does some crazy paradox stuff and forces Bastion to save Fantastica.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Oh, well then okkkaaay. Then two chapters of Bastion running around being a megalomanic.

Then, I put the book up. At that point I realized that this book had been translated from German and since it's a german story Bastion could very well never grow as a character then die some horrible death involving crows eating out his eyes, and the moral of the story would be, don't steal books you little asshole.

I almost never put books up smack dab in the middle of the story. (I made it through The Constant Princess after all.) This time however, I really didn't like Bastion as a character and didn't care what happened to him. 

The writing was well done. It was poetic in the right parts with plenty of symbolism.

Michele Ende did a wonderful job describing scenes that were almost too impossible to imagine. I'm sure that the book has a brilliant second half and ending, not many books make me cry ever.

I just hate Bastion.

What's been happening in Hyrule, lately.

In August after my used DS, that I bought as a high school graduation present to myself, kept freezing mid-game Ben and I went into serious talks deliberating selling both of our DS's and getting a brand new 3DS to share. 

The next day we preceded to the mall and the GameStop located there. We found a purple 3DS brand-new and it was a done deal. I couldn't wait to get home and continue playing Bowser's Inside Story on this sleek, new, purple system. Little did we know that the Ace Card that I had stored almost all my DS games on was blocked through the 3DS. Ben quickly turned to the internet and tried every trick they suggested, but much research revealed just how much the Ace cards had hurt Nintendo's revenue for DS systems so they were well armed against it. Stripped of Bowser's Inside Story and with a new and expensive toy literally just sitting on the shelf I went in search of a game that I would be interested in. 

I looked for the Harvest Moon that had come out for it but not with a lot of luck (I was also in Target so I didn't expect much) but I did find Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. 

My brother had played LoZ: OoT when it came out for Nintendo 64 and I spent much of my time watching him. I also tried to play it then, but I really sucked and lost my patience even before I could free the Great Deku Tree of the evil that was possessing it. 

This time I had the internet.

A side-by-side comparsion of the orginal game and the 3DS version.
Source

Ben makes fun of my need for a guide by saying I don't have any intuitive gaming skills, and he's absolutely right. Legend of Zelda games are full of puzzles and that's not a problem for me, it's finding the puzzles that leaves me aimlessly running around Hyrule field with Navi yelling stupid things at me for hours that really trips me up during game play. 

This time, armed with my guide, was different. I was actually able to accomplish tasks and make progress in the game half an hour at a time,

 and since I had a guide I could see how far I had left to go. Pretty soon my evenings were spent with Ben in silence, him playing Skyrim and me on the 3DS our respective games chirping away and occasionally one of us swearing or hooting in triumph. (that was actually all just from me, Ben's very stoic when he's gaming)

Through all of this I understand the act of Gaming a little better. Before, playing a game for several hours a night seemed boring to me, but now I get it. In the game you're accomplishing things and a lot of time those things are hard things to accomplish, so by the time you're done you feel like you've really accomplished a goal you had in real life, so that day was successful- when the truth of it is you just sat in the midst of all the unfolded laundry in your pajamas for six hours.

This is what happened to me, I never beaten a game before ever, so when I saw that it was a possibility it became my new goal in life. For the next few weeks I worked hard on this goal, letting laundry stay unfolded, neglecting this blog and generally not wasting time with silly things like putting on make-up before going to work. 

However, I've decided to take pause at the entrance of the Shadow Temple and recall my life before Zelda had petitioned me to save all of Hyrule. 

I understand why this game is considered one of the best and why the memorabilia and tattoos have last for the past 17 years, its an engaging game that doesn't get too repetitive or expects too much from you the first dungeon in. 

After I beat it though (and I will) I think it'll be time to surrender the 3DS to Ben so he can play Pokemon XY or whatever, and find myself as person again. My foray into the gaming world has been fun, but someone has to fold laundry, and there are always books to be read.