Saturday, March 30, 2013

Mountaintop

There's that feeling you get at the top of a mountain. You can't get it at the top of a tree. Or a rooftop. Or the top of a roller coaster even. No, you can only get it, that feeling that you're truly, wonderfully on top of the world, on a mountaintop.
So you're on the mountain, way up high, where the earth meets the sky, literally, and lets say this mountain is covered with snow. Since it's iced in white, the light nearly blinds you, which makes things even more surreal.  You realize how vast the world truly is. How, at the very top of this mountain, you can see hundreds of miles of the earth at one moment in time, but, really, you can't see that much of it at all. Hopefully that's not a depressing thought to you, because it shouldn't be. Mountaintops should never be depressing.
They do point up, after all.



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In Honor Of...

If you caught my last post, I just had one thing to say about it
and it is that lots of random things inspire me to write randomness,
that is not always necessarily in the form of poetry,
but the stuff always just sits in a word document and never gets read,
except for the occasional post on fb.
And those silly book facers don't know much about the writing-ness in me
OK
A lot of them read this blog so I'm going to stop talking now.
...
But basically, I've decided, since I want this to be a blog all about me in general,
to post some of my (highly unedited/casual/for fun) writing with you guys.
So I hope you enjoy!

THIS blog post, however, is not about writing but about reading.
My best friend, Emily, and I are always hanging at the bookstore
and every time we go we...
a) tell ourselves we are not going to walk out with any books
b) oggle over all the books we really want,
but cannot afford
and should not purchase even if we did 
because our TBR piles are so huge
c) have highly tense debates with our inner conscience whether or not to buy said books anyway
d) hit each other with said books because we blame each other for dragging each other to the bookstore and forcing each other to buy said books that we don't need.
e) skip/run/frolic to check-out line and hand credit card to cashier with big, intent grin on face.
Can you relate?

Anyway, I actually wanted this blog post to be about those books that don't get bought.
Because when I'm at the book store, unregretfully breaking my book buying diet,
I am at least good about not buying books that you can
a) find anywhere
b) are new releases and therefore quite expensive
So I buy the cheap obscure book
And I'm totally OK with that!
But there are always those gems that, alas, do not get bought,
but are instead shuffled into the virtual pile of my goodreads TBR shelf.
So, without further ado,
here is a list in honor of the little gems that I tearfully did not buy today,
but hopefully will someday in the near future!
And hey, maybe you are not like me and have bookshelves that reach to the heavens and a bottomless pit of a wallet.
And in that case I highly encourage you to support the writer and the industry and BUY YOURSELVES SOME AWESOME BOOKS!!!

The first two I found in the YA section and the second two were in the Young Reader section, which I have been making a point to visit much more often these days. As I say, at heart I'm both an 8 year old and an 80 year old. And sometimes somewhere in between.

The Assassin's Curse, Cassandra Rose Clarke

Apollo's Outcasts, Allen Steele

Wish, Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser

Navigating Earl, Clare Vanderpool

Here's to random trips with Best Friends to the book store!
Here's to playing devil's advocate at the bookstore, a dangerous thrill indeed!
Here's to the ever growing TBR pile, may you be, well, ever growing!!!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Randomness Inspired by Randomness


it feels like one of those nights
where I write a poem
I’ll dream instead of sleep
in a state of grace
which is pretty wonderful
when you’re feeling
well any age really

it feels like one of those
days
I walk up to you
and realize it’s actually day time
and you’re actually standing in front of me
there's three inches between our sneakers
that once went trip in the mud
and now we stop and we go

and we know
it’s one of those nights
in a park
on a beach
under water
under the sun
under the stars

and it’s time for the poem to end
because all poems have an end
a last line
it’s just inevitable

and it’s one of those
moments
that will go 
inevitably
into the next onesoIguessI’llendmypoemwiththat

moments


Friday, March 15, 2013

What I've Been Doing Lately

Happy Friday!
I thought I'd take a break from my Friday,
which is day one of the weekend for me technically,
to do a little talk about what I'm up to these days.

Do you have little siblings?
I have two,
both of which I like to duct tape into chairs in dark rooms with a single light and FORCE TO READ!
MUHAHAHA!!!!
OK, that's a definite exaggeration.
But I do highly encourage them to read!
I like to suggest books that I've read and liked,
so these are them.

For Banana:

 These two are books that I've been reading or that I will soon read to Banana. She really likes The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer so far and she seemed intrigued by the idea of a girl who could fly. As she likes to interject her opinion on what's happening in the plot and what she thinks might happen next or what she thinks is wrong or right, I think The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester will really satisfy her.
 This is a book she picked up herself from her English teacher. Definitely not a book I ever wanted to read when I was her age; it was all heroines on unbelievable adventures on pirate ships for me, but I read the first chapter of this to her per her request, as she'd already started it and really liked it, and I have to say I was impressed. The writing was beautiful and I would definitely keep reading!

For Lantern:

 Lantern is definitely a more hesitant reader, lately he's been busy with new friends and homework, but he DEVOURED The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and has been working his way through The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Hopefully he'll finish it soon so that he can finally read Catching Fire!
This book Lantern got from someone, who was not me, as a gift, and though I have not read it he recommended it to me. The first and only time he's read a book for fun that I have not. Someone pinch me. I'll have to read it soon.

Do you have any books for younger kids that you would like to recommend? I actually have a project in mind that would involve this very subject, so your suggestions would be much appreciated!

I've also been busy with dance lately getting ready for our choreographer's showcase, of which I have choreographed to a mash up of the Stardust soundtrack. For those of you who don't know, it's based on the book by Neil Gaiman, which you should also read!
Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of the excitement with you soon!

I've also got a new Latest Three coming your way. Yaya, more book recommendations! Gosh, I've been reading some seriously great books lately. Hope you all have been too!

Here's to sharing the books you love with the people you love!
Here's to the child in all of us!
Here's to Voltaire, who said, "Let us read, let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world."
!!!

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Latest Three

This has been a rare, and also wonderful, semester.
Mostly for the reason that I have gotten to read quite a few more books than I have in the past.
Wouldn't that make your semester more wonderful?
Yes, indeed.
So anyway, as I have been reading so many books, here are...
The Latest Three!

Crown of Embers, Rae Carson
Ah, this book. Just FYI, if I say that about a book then it was beyond believably phenomenal and I loved it and I wanted to have its babies. I have not felt such strong emotions from a book in a long time. Every time Carson had the opportunity to take Elisa's character/adventure one way--and make me a very pissed off reader--she threw a curve ball and made me want to kiss the ground at her feet. Basically, there are so many excellently well crafted parts to this story, such a perfect second installment to the trilogy. Oh and Hector? TOTALLY saw that one coming! But holy cow, that romance was way even better than I could have fathomed. Well played Carson, well played.

Cinder, Marissa Meyer
I thought the first part of this book was a little slow and a little predictable. The most grabbing part about it was the setting, which is good for me because I consider myself a setting fiend. Well, having that said, I really loved this book. I loved Peony, the romance between Kai and Cinder, the presence of the plague, and of course the thoughts that were explored regarding Cinder's being a cyborg. For being such a fun read, I found the story surprisingly gritty and thoughtful, and I love it when a book can make me do that. I can't wait for the sequel, Scarlet!

The Morning Gift, Eva Ibbotson
I read A Company of Swans way back in the day and loved it! It seriously became my new favorite book and Ibbotson my new favorite author. Well, since then I have not yet read anymore of her books, which made me feel a little phony about calling her my favorite author. But now I'm one step closer to legitimizing that statement because I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It's a romance, but a very well done romance. In fact, I'd say there's something romantic about everything about this book, which probably has to do with the fact that it's not written by a contemporary writer for young adult, which I think shows. Ibbotson luxuriates in her setting and her characters, side plots abound, and it all comes together for one final climax that is as romantic as it is satisfying. I loved being transported into WWII times. The cultures of Austria and England were so vividly portrayed and I've never even been there before. I can't say it enough, give this book and Ibbotson a try.


Here's to more time to read this semester!
Here's to more time to read next semester!
Here's to more time to read EVERY semester!!!
(School gods, do you catch my drift?)

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Birthday Post

It's time for the Birthday Post!
My first one too.
I'm so excited to have turned twenty!
It's strange, but not strange.
And it's awesome, though I still act like a twelve year old sometimes.
But I also act like an 87 year old at other times.
So I guess age is but a number.
Which is a good way to think about age, if you ask me.
So this is my birthday post.
Hurray!!!



This is my family dinner at Tresettis's in Modesto. GREAT FOOD!!! Bought my birthday outfit thrifting in Santa Cruz and got another opportunity to wear my prom shoes. So yay!

And here is Santa Cruz. My cousin (shown above) went with me to visit my other cousin for a couple days. It was grand!





This giant cookie had oat, chocolate chips, caramel, and pretzels. I grovelled at its feet crumbs.



Here's to Birthdays (and Birthday Posts)!
Here's to my Twenties!
Here's to another year living, no matter the number!!!