RRT: Bookshelves were made for Dreams

Hey Everyone. How are ya?

It's about time for another Random Rant Thursday. Typically, the books I like to read are all fiction, all the stuff of dreams and fantasy. The more unreal it is the more I love it, and my shelves are bursting at the seams at the moments with all my lovely books. (It’s about time to buy another shelf) I have everything on them from knickknacks to book marks, and am always looking for things to make them more pretty. One day, I’ll show them off, but that’s not today because I’m moving soon and everything’s all boxed up.

Recently, I was contacted by Invaluable.com to make a blog post of my dream literary collection from their site, and since they sell awesome antiques, and the things I love to pretty my shelves with, I figured why not?

Books:

Invaluable.com has a ton of first edition books on sale, in addition to a ton of other books as well. After spending hours on the site, these are the ones I absolutely would love!

Rudyard Kipling – The Jungle Book

Robert Louis Stevens – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll andMr. Hyde

Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol

Arthur Conan Doyle – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Victor Hugo – Les Misérables

Bram Stoker – Dracula

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

Margaret Mitchell – Gone with the Wind

Clocks:

I have a thing for pretty clocks (though you wouldn’t know it from my house.) and these are absolutely stunning. I can only imaging one of these on the end of my shelves, perhaps next to my shakespere collections, ro next to my historical fiction. Seems like a good place.

Clock #1:

Clock #2:

I found myself getting sucked into this site, and eventually had to just stop with the site all together so I could get to some homework. I’d suggest you go take a look at what they offer. It’s much more than just books, they have paintings, furniture, jewelry, and more. It’s a great site for the collector, and for the person who just wants that one rare piece that makes things awesome.

Thanks Invaluable.com for allowing me to add my insight on my “Dream Literary Collection.”

Random Rant Thursday: On wanting to be a vampire, and other personal inadequacies

It's been quite some time since I've written an RRT, and that's mainly because I just wasn't feeling it. My wedding, my writing, my reading, my listening to audiobooks, and just my general life have been taking up all my free time, and I haven't wanted to write about what I'm doing or reading or listening to as much as I have wanted to just do it, or read it, or listen to it. Then the other day, I decided I wanted to be a vampire.

Okay, in my defense, I had been listening to the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost (review coming soon) on audio practically every spare second of my day. Ran through the whole 7 book series, plus 1 novella and 5 additional spinoff novels in less than 2 weeks. Thats probably too much supernatural in one span of time for anyone to make any real sense. Then I went out with my husband and his master's program peers one night, had a few drinks, and thought more about the stories I was so obsessed with.

I legit found myself looking around me and wondering if some of the people around me may be vampires and I just wasn't paying attention. I was looking to the skies to see if someone may be flying, and trying to see if there was something just a little too surreal about some of the people around me. Needless to say, I found no such vampires, and I woke up the next morning with a screaming headache.

That isn't to say I don't believe in the existence of some other worldly creature, whether it be vampires, or shapeshifters, or any other strange being. I absolutely do, just like I believe in the existence of a higher power, and likewise in the existence of that higher power's opposing power. In my opinion, it doesn't make sense that just because I don't see that something is there, doesn't mean it's not there.

To me, they all exist outside of my human realm of understanding and viewing, and with that existence comes the urge to become more than who I actually am. All the stories I read and love surround the one basic ideal of one person (or in some cases many people) being secretly more than who everyone else is. They're faster, can read minds, carry magic, control minds, drink blood, eat an over abundance of food,  you name it and they do it. I'm just human though, and I can do none of those things, so what makes me so special, not just to myself but to those around me.

Perhaps that's the underlying reason I picked up jiu jitsu, so I can somehow feel like I'm not wasting my life away and doing nothing to make me stand out from the crowd. Maybe it's why I no longer care when people tell me I'm different because I read a ton, or different because I think slightly different than other people they've met. Maybe it's why I write about girls with superpowers and unexplainable urges. I'm not sure. What I am sure about is that if I had a choice, I would prefer to be a shapeshifter of some sort because in all the stories they get to eat as much as they want and not gain a pound, and they can go out in the sun. Realistically though, I probably wouldn't get much of a choice because vampire, shapeshifter, secret government experiment, or just plain human, I'd make the best of whatever hand I get dealt. What other choice do I really have.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe? Does your reading ever make you wonder about who you are as a person? Do you wonder if you would actually make good decisions if given even a percentage of the power of some of the people in these stories we read? Let me know in the comments below.

Random Rant Thursday: Author Personal Lives

Not too long ago I finished a book called Magic Rises, the sixth and most recent book in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. It came out July 30th and I had it read by August 1. Then I found myself wondering just how long I would have to wait for the next one, figuring out when the author(s) would announce it and if they've even started on it. Imaginary conversations were had in my head between me and the authors where I wondered when it would be released and why they were taking so long to begin it. A break? Who needs a break? Didn't they know I was waiting on the next one?

Then I realized what was going on. Until my recent epiphany, I actually believed that my beloved authors have nothing better to do than sit around writing amazing stories for me to read. That they're sitting around on the top of their lovely words, purposefully making me wait a whole year (at the very least) for my next fix read. Then I thought about it how hypocritical I was being.

Half the time, I drag myself into work and count down the seconds until I can get back home to "freedom." Just because authors normally love writing, that doesn't mean they aren't allowed a few days of time off from their writing. A day to themselves, or two. What do writers do when they have to go on vacation, or when they're sick, or when they just don't feel like writing? Somehow those words get out there, just like somehow my work at my job gets done, but still.

I hate the fact that I have to keep reminding myself that I cant check the internet every other day for news about the next release. I have to give them time to ride the high of the last release. Besides, publishers probably wouldn't let authors release books every 2 months even if they wanted to....even though I wish they would...

Still...I miss some of my fictional worlds. I miss some of my favorite characters. So much so, that I often want to head over to my favorite author's doors and knock and ask if my character can come out to play. I want to tell them I miss them. That it's not as amazing reliving reading reruns of our past fun times together.

Please tell me I'm not the only one to feel this way....and Kate? Wherever you are....please come out to play? I promise Roland will be nowhere nearby...oh and be sure to bring Curran and Derek with you.

The review of Magic Rises will be out Monday, August 26.

Random Rant Thursday: Picking things up

Hey Everyone!

So in an effort to get back into blogging after my short hiatus, I've looked through my past posts and saw a bit of a decline in the amount of features I've done. It's been mainly review after review, after review, with one of these RRT's thrown in there. I don't want to flood you all with constant review without giving anything else. It doesn't allow you to know me at all, and I think I may be beginning to bore you to death!

For that reason, I'll be picking up my random rants, and attempt to have one every Thursday, or at the very least, 3 Thursdays out of the month. I may also be picking up some of the other blogger's featured features. I always loved Teaser Tuesday, so I'll probably pick that back up and probably do a few others too. I just have to do a bit more research to see which ones I like the most. Any ideas on which ones I should choose?

Ive also had a lot of issues with blogger lately. Sometimes I log in and my reading feed is nonexistent. Sometimes I cant post anything. I've just had entirely too many issues. I'm beginning to get fed up with it. I know I've talked about it before, but I'm convinced that I'll probably move to wordpress sometime before the end of this year/the beginning of next year. I may also get a whole new blog design and everything to celebrate the switch, but since I'm a bit allergic to technology, I'll be hiring someone to do it for me. Doing research on that now. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

Thanks for listening!

Random Rant Thursday: My Personality Disorder

First things First, I'm back. Wanna know why? You'll find out soon enough, if you read this whole entry. I'm happy to be here, and even more happy that you all were willing to accept my break. I don't think I've been gone that long, so that's always good.

I've been reading a lot. If you follow me on GR you would see that I've been reading at least 3-4 books a week but I didn't really feel the need to write anything about them. I didn't feel like doing anything I didn't want to do....And then I read a book who's review is coming soon and I found myself unable to wait to tell everyone how freaking amazing it was and I knew that my blogging hiatus was basically over.

I'm sure you all know the kind of book I'm talking about. The kind of book that you read well into the night and can't wait to pick it up. But I do something beyond that that my family seems to think is weird, and I must ask if you all think the same thing about it.

Sometimes, I read a book and the story is too real. The characters are so real I feel I can almost reach my hand out and touch them. What happens in the book affects my mood. It affects almost everything I do. When I was a kid and I went with my family to the movies to see something like Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, I would come back home and walk around the house with my hands down and out to the sides like Angelina Jolie as if I had guns strapped to my waist and sashay my non-existent hips as I walked. If I went to see an action/spy movie like 007 or something, I would find myself creeping along the walls everywhere I went trying to make sure I wasn't heard and then pop up on my unsuspecting parents with a water gun. If I saw a scary movie that took place in a basement, when I came home I would stand at the top of the stairs that lead to our basement, and peek around the corner into the darkness, breathing in that horror movie way that everyone around me could hear. I'm sure you get the picture. I was just that into it.

It's kind of the same now too, but with books and not as much with movies, though I'm older and can control myself a bit more so I don't actually act things out. I have noticed though that if I'm forced to stop a book in a particularly tense scene, I take on a tense vibe. I have to have a break to bring myself back to reality after I stop reading, like 5 minutes to myself so it doesn't affect how I act. I've snapped at friends and family due to my mood if they talk to me while, or right after I'm reading a story that's gotten to a bad scene. It's mean, but it happens.

The other day, BF and I had a deep talk where I told him that it felt like he didn't like the fact that I was a big reader for various reasons, and he responded saying that it's not that, but that when I'm reading, sometimes it seems I'll get so angry at him if he talks to me anytime around when I'm reading, that he feels I'd rather not be in his company when I'm reading. That his presence ruins my day if I'm reading, and of course I apologized because that wasn't the case at all.

Only recently, as I finished a book and lay in bed trying to assure myself that my life wasn't actually in ruins, that I was not living with multiple personalities, and actually do have a great relationship with my family, did I realize what was going on. I would get so involved in a book that I would infuse myself into the main character completely.The things that happened to him/her, would actually happen to me, and to tear myself away from it is to tear a piece of myself off and tuck it inside the book as a bookmark.

That's how I know when I absolutely love a book, and that's why I can't get rid of books I love, or have even liked, and that's why I cant loan them out; because almost every book I own has a small piece of me inside it. Every book I love has taught me something about my own life. I can't help but let it affect me, and I don't want to, because this feeling,the absolute infusion of myself into another character completely, is the reason I love to read. And the feeling afterward, the one where you're so overjoyed, or angry, or annoyed, or empowered that you can't help but tell someone else what happened and hope that they realize how genius it is...is the reason I love blogging. I'm back guys...and boy have I got a few stories to recommend to you....

Does anyone else understand what I'm saying here? Do you ever feel the same way? Let me know down in the comments. I'm so happy to be back!

Random Rant Thursday: A Break

Hey Everyone.

I'm here to tell you all that unfortunately, I will be taking a bit of a break from my blog for a bit, if that wasn't already obvious from my lack of presence.

I've had a few deaths in my family in the last couple of months, and it's began to take a bit of a toll on my overall mood and reading. I do have a few reviews that are stockpiled and scheduled and will go out some of the days this month, so you will have a bit of me for a little while. But I'm not sure how I'll feel at the end of this month so I dont want to make any promises that I'll be back by then, though I hope I am. I love this blog and I love my readers, but I've noticed my mood in some of the reviews that will be going up shortly, and I imagine you may be able to tell I'm a bit sad over here, so I think my best option is to take some time to myself to get over the loss of some of my family.

Thanks for understanding. I'll probably stop by every so often and stalk your blogs, so no worries. See you later!

Random Rant Thursday: Multiple levels of Suck

Hey everyone, I'm feeling pretty crappy right now. I follow a lot of authors, and I've read all about their writing process. They all talk about how I feel right now. The time when you're reading your work and you think, "Does this suck?" I heard all about it. How you look at it and you begin doubting it, wondering if it's really as good as you think it is. I hear its a pretty sucky time in the writer's life and the problem isn't that I didn't believe them...I did! The problem is that I didn't realize just how much it would actually suck.

Like in my mind there are levels of suck. There's like a little sucky, sucky, and then "Holy crap this really sucks." A little sucky is when you're walking through your apartment/house in socks and then you walk into the bathroom and somehow step into a puddle of water that your feet left on the floor from the shower that morning. Sucky is when you're walking into the kitchen in the middle of the night wearing socks and then you step in dog pee and track it all through the kitchen, only to realize what happened when you're wondering why your socks are wet, and then you cut on the light to see your dog looking extremely suspicious  with that yellowish puddle and realize you now have to mop the whole floor in the middle of the night. "Holy Crap this really sucks" is when you're running downstairs in the basement to pick up something while wearing socks, and as soon as you hit the bottom step, your foot splashes, and you cut on the light to realize the basement has flooded, everything is wet and holy crap, how am I supposed to get all this water out of here. (I include the socks because nothing sucks more than wet socks.)

That's what re-reading and editing a novel is like. It starts off just a little sucky and then slowly but surely progresses into "Holy crap this really sucks." You find yourself wading through the pool of words trying to figure out how to take all the stuff that doesn't belong out, and make everything else perfect and nice, and you have no idea how to do it, or if it can even be done.

Like the problem with my novel is, first of all, is my premise even interesting? I think it is, but I'm in my head all day, so of course I think it is. Do the words I put on the page make anyone want to read more, or pull their hair out. Is it ridiculously stupid and idiotic? Will people that read it hand it back to me with a lighter to set it on fire?

Then it makes me think about myself. I wrote it. But, like I said before, I'm in my head all day. There are things that I like and don't like that others don't feel the same about. What if all of that stuff is in the book? What if I'm just not a like-able person and all the stuff I write is also not like-able. What if traits of my characters are things that make readers think the characters are idiots? It would be then that I realize that I must be an idiot inside too. Of course, I have an extremely tough skin when I'm in front of people but still.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a break to tell you how I feel. It sucks right now, and I know I'll get through it and feel a little better when I'm done but right now, holy crap! This sucks.

Random Rant Thursday: Editing

Hi everyone. I wasnt going to do a RRT today, because I had nothing to say. Then I realized. I have wonderful news. I have (finally) started editing my book!!!! It only took me like 5 months to feel the urge but so what. At least I'm doing it.

I owe all my thanks to my mother. She wrote a book and began badgering me about reading and doing a first edit for her. So finally I did.I hated the process, and my mom says I was pretty harsh to her with my comments and issues but that's beside the point. The point is that while I was in the mood and understood what I didnt like about her book, I was able to take a step back and take a look at mine and guess what? It's actually not bad.

Granted, I have edited like every other line. I've added and deleted lines, and worked on choosing better words, I've also finally come up with a title, though I'm still not 100% happy about it and Ive come up with names of the different societies in the stories that im not sure about yet. Regardless, it's coming along. I hope be done with my first round of edits maybe this weekend (but probably next weekend...I'm too lazy to make hard deadlines right now).

This means I may be coming to some of you to beta read soon and tell me what you think. I'm curious to know if my book is as good as I think or if its actually best used as a fire starter at the bottom of my fireplace. If you're interested, leave me a comment telling me so and include your email if I dont already have it.

Hope you're having a wonderful Thursday. I sure am (going to go see Iron Man 3 tonight!!! Woo Hoo!!) Wish me luck in edits!!!

Random Rant Thursday : The Dystopian Obsession

Lately, I have been reading a lot of Dystopian novels and it has me thinking, why exactly do I like reading them so much? Is it the utter hopelessness of the society that does nothing but make you want a hero to rise from the ashes and fix it all? Maybe. Is it the fact that society has been brought so low that baser instincts for human survival are the only thing we, as a society can focus on? Probably. Is it the fact that the worlds have been developed in such a way that we can see the path our society would have to take in order to get there and all the governing principles seem probable? Definitely!

Its strange. I enjoy reading about a hero who, despite all odds, can rise up and defeat an entire society. It interesting to read about the following they receive along the way, the things they learn about themselves. I love the way that despite whatever happened with the world, the appearance of this one character can eventually make everything okay.

I also like reading about the fights, the fact that society no longer focuses on shopping and partying (though at times those are elements of the stories) but instead it focuses on the acquisition of food, water, air, and just attempting to live. However, those arent the things I like the most about dystopians. It's the fact that the world, despite everything, has been brought to it's knees by the stupid actions of us as a society, and I can see how we could get there. It's the corruption, and greed of people in our world who I can see using destruction as a means to gain more power over us. It's the fact that, in order to keep that power, those governing bodies will do anything to keep society weak and make themselves stronger. I love reading it because it's so horrible, but I can see it happening.

In my opinion, everyone has a bit of bad in them, even if it's just the hate we feel for the truly horrible people. Everyone seeks power in some way, even if it's just seeking the power to overcome obstacles. It's for that reason that we can see society advancing to dystopian levels. We can understand that people have varying levels of power and evil, and sometimes, despite the purest efforts, those people can take something that's perfect and turn it into something horrible, and I love reading about that.

Though dystopians are often lessons taken to the extreme, and thus do not necessarily compare to our world, I like to use the lessons I learn, and the things I read about when forming opinions in my own world, and I hope that enough people read the books that we can eventually prevent something similar happening in the future.

What do you think? Do you like Dystopians? Why? Let me know your thoughts on this topic.

RRT: The Hatred of Ellie Watt (of The Artists Trilogy)

Hey Guys!!! This will be a regular old post for now. I havent decided if I'll be doing a video for my YouTube page but we'll see. If I do, I'll post a link here.
I just got finished reading this post over on The Experiment in Terror Official Site page talking about the backlash from women about the character of Ellie Watt; liar, thief, con-artist, and 100% bad-ass from the Artists trilogy. (See My review for the first book, Sins & Needles, here.) It seems women pretty much hate everything about her, all of her decisions they hate. Even the one bug huge decision at the end they hate; the one that shows that maybe, perhaps, Ellie Watt is attempting to be a better person. To some women readers, her decision is selfish, and in some ways maybe it is. Regardless, the decision is made.

I really dont understand the backlash. As Karina Halle, Author of the Sins & Needles book, said, we love our male characters to be bad boys. They can lie, cheat, steal, kill, rape, abuse, and do pretty much anything else and as long as they have rippling abs and sexy dark eyes and decide not to kill the one damsel in distress, they're officially swoon worthy. Excuse my language, but What the Hell? Seriously. How is Ellie this horrible person because she's made bad decisions whereas the guys are completely sexy and gorgeous? Double Standard anyone?

It's my belief that there are little bits of Ellie in all of us women. Maybe that's why it's so hard for some women to accept her. We all put on these innocent fronts for everyone around us of being good little girls who always do the right thing and only want to fall in love and blah-de-blah-de blah. We act like we would never do anything wrong, like we never lie, or cheat. We spend our time pretending we dont think badly of ourselves as Ellie does, that we dont always deserve the perfect life for our mistakes, and we therefore make even more mistakes. We act like there hasn't been a time when we hear our conscience screaming at us to just do the right thing. That this time you probably shouldn't do that one bad thing you always do, because this time you may just get caught, but you do it anyway, and stupidly you get caught. Sure our actual events may not be as serious as Ellie's or as dangerous and damaging, but still, I think we're more like her than we know. We just grew up in a different situation.

We all have skeletons that not even our closest friends know about. Yet we prefer books where the guy is the bad-boy and women are the good girls because it ensures that no one knows our secret. It ensures that no one knows that women can sometimes be just as bad, if not worse, than all those sexy men we love in the books.

I love Ellie Watt because she shows the good, the bad, and the ugly. She shows our weaknesses, not just as women but as humans in general. She shows our strengths and our ability to go on despite all odds. She show's our innate ability to survive no matter what. Her final decision in book 1 shows the sacrifice we as women make time and time again to protect those we love from getting hurt. No, it may not have been the best decision, but it was the one she could deal with.

I love Ellie Watt, I love Sins and Needles. It's my hope that we as women can see the good in her the same way we can see the good in our male book heros and stop puting her down.

What do you all think about this topic? Do you agree that this may be the reason people put down the character of Ellie Watt or do you think I'm wrong? Could it be that we hold our fellow women to a higher standard than we do men? If so, do you think that's fair?

Message to the Author: (if by some miracle you're actually reading this) Thanks so much for making all your characters as flawed as we as humans really are. It makes your books so much more real and it keeps me hooked!

RRT: Book Guilt

Hey Everyone. Time for a new Random Rant Thursday Video!!!

Let me know If you've read any of these books and how they were. If you want to suggest one I absolutely must read, leave a comment. Also, let me know some of the books that have been just sitting on your shelf waiting for you to read them.

If you want to see Kristina's original video that sparked this, click here. If you want to see the web series I discussed, click here.

Thanks for visiting. See you next time!

RRT: Video Style

Hey Everyone!!!

Last week I asked you all about doing a video for some of my posts instead of typing everything on here and you all agreed that it would be a good idea. Well I'm back with the video and I hope you like it!!!

Tell me what you think! Should I go back to doing things the old fashioned way typing everything or do you enjoy these? What about me being a fan psycho? Leave some comments and tell me whats on your mind.

RRT: NaNoWriMo is over

Hey there Lovelies!!! Its been quite some time since you've heard from me, and if you've been following, It's because I've been focused on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's finally over and I'll admit that although I'm a bit glad, I'm also a bit sad. Since this was my first NaNo, I'll give some insight on how I felt about it.

To begin, Nano was quite difficult. With school and work, and other activities in my life, it was extremely difficult to come up with the time to do enough each day. I found myself skipping entire days and having to write 3 or 4 times the daily amount of words i order to not fall completely behind.

Its interesting the places you find time when you have none. I found myself writing at work (dont tell my boss), writing while cooking (a dangerous combination for my computer), writing while eating dinner, writing while in the bathroom (dont ask). I used the nice iPhone voice dictation thingy to write a few things in my phones notepad while I was driving, and my showers were spent imagining wonderful bits or dialogue in my head, only to rush out and hurry to type them (we wont talk about how many times I forgot to shave my legs because of this). My computer came with me everywhere, even if I knew I wouldnt have the time. It was at thanksgiving dinner next to the carrot cake, it was in my trunk when I took my dog to the surgeon, it was in my bag when I went out for mom's birthday, and I even took it with me to church. I'll admit, these times only about 30 or so words were written, but I suppose that's 30 or so words that wouldnt have otherwise been written.

There's a reason why you should start NaNo with a clean slate.I started with a Novel I had been working on for quite some time but never had the time to complete. It was about 9,000 words originally, but once I started, only about 6000 words remained because I removed an entire chapter. Nonetheless, keeping up with an accurate wordcount and coming up with new ideas was difficult when part of the novel was already written. I found myself already at 50,000 words well before the final day, but because I already started with words and didnt want to be a cheater I had to keep going. I'll remember that for next time.

I follow a few writers and read their blog posts about how it is to write a book. They talk about how dishes pile up in the sink, laundry doesnt get done, you forget to shower and otherwise lose contact with humanity. Although my experience wasnt quite as rash, I completely understood what they meant. I try to normally keep a pretty organized apartment, but November found me with dishes piled in the sink, the dishwasher, etc. I feasted on leftovers from Sunday dinner st the parents and ramen noodles, tortilla chips and salsa, popcorn, grilled cheeses, and tyson anytizer chicken nuggets. No real cooking was done, except for thanksgiving (hence the comment earlier about the dangerous computer/cooking combination). I spent conversations with people daydreaming about how I could possibly include a conversation like this in my writing. We wont talk about my laundry. The only thing that's saved me with that was the fact that the basket is in my walk in closet and I can close the door. There's no room though to actually walk in the walk-in closet anymore. (I'll have gotten to it by now though...I hope)

I found myself having full blown conversations with myself, out loud in my apartment. Maybe I was going crazy. Sometimes it would be to rationalize how much time I would spend taking a break, other times I would be in the mirror and have a conversation withmyself, pretending that the myself that was in the mirror was some other person, and then go write that conversation into my novel.

I experienced times when I doubted myself and my writing, thinking it sucked, I sucked and I was going to be a pure failure. I remember times when I dreamed of being on the NY Times Bestseller list. I fought internally with myself to try not to remove tons of pages of writing because I felt it probably sucked. I called myself all sorts of idiots and geniuses and failures. My emotions within myself were all over the place and I stressed a bit internally.

I loved writing the novel and still think a lot about how I could make it different. My characters came to life to me and I would imaging seeing them in a crowd and how they would react. I also hated writing the novel because I think I became pretty boring tomy friends. You may be surprised but talking about wordcounts and imaginary characters and worlds and discussing the awesomeness thatis your most recent development in the novel isnt all that exciting to non writers. I've seen a lot of vacant wide eyed expressions mixed with mmhmm's and ahh's as my friends feigned interest in something I could barely explain with words.
I'm proud to say I finished NaNoWriMo, and I won. It's a great feeling, even though I have tons of edits to do before I let anyone read it. I've signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo in the summer next year and will probably be doing NaNo in November next year too. So many other stories are floating around my head and I just have to write them down.

Did you participate in NaNo this year? What were your experiences with it? Will you be doing it again next year?

RRT-Daylight Savings Time

Yes, Yes, I know it's Friday but I figured that since it's Daylight Savings Time (DST) and we had to push our clocks forward an hour, than I could (for a day) push this post forward. Honestly, I planned to make this post yesterday, but time got in the way and with NaNoWriMo, I just didn't have the chance.

Any who, In the spirit of DST, I just want to say, I HATE IT!!!! That whole "spring forward, fall back" thing may be a good idea in theory, but in real life it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Let's start with the spring. Sometime (I'm never even sure when) in the spring, we must all diligently go to our clocks at 2am and turn them 1 hour forward. Therefore, we lose an hour. That includes an hour of sleep, which means instead of waking up at the normal time, say 6am, now that the clocks changed, you're now waking up at something more like 5am. It really puts a strain on the good moods come Monday morning. Let's not even talk about the fact that every one almost always forgets that they're supposed to change their clocks so they wake up thinking they're on time and then realize they're an hour late.

Then comes the Fall. Everyone seems so excited when the Fall comes because instead of losing an hour, they gain an hour. At 2am you will turn the clock back to 1am, and now you get an extra hour of sleep. Sounds pretty awesome right? Well, it isn't. Look at it like this. You're laying in the bed, and your alarm clock goes off (people barely forget to turn the clocks back, we like our extra sleep and will set reminders to remember set our clock back before bed). You should be pretty rested, since you got that nice extra hour, but your body is already used to waking up at a certain time unless it's a weekend. So now that you've gotten the extra hour, your body thinks, "Hey, Sherre must not be going to work today, let me just make her feel the need to sleep in like she does on the weekends." Then, before you know it, you've snoozed your alarm a few hundred times and you're late for work. Then comes the night time, when you get tired at 9pm and can't keep your eyes open because your body thinks it's 10 and almost time for bed.

Can you see now why I think Daylight savings time sucks. It seems purposely put there to mess with my body clock. Furthermore, the fact that it makes me want to sleep so early messes with my ability to write for NaNoWriMo well into the night like I planned. I hate DST, and I think it should be done away with.

What are your thoughts? Does it annoy you as much as it does me?

RRT: On Being a Grown Up

If only time machines were real. I could go back in time and right all my wrongs and enjoy my childhood to the fullest!
There’s this little girl I saw recently. I’ve watched her grow up from the time she was a baby and she’s really becoming a good little girl. She’s 9 years old now and like the cutest little girl you can imagine. As I was walking by, she stopped me and said hi. I asked her about school and her (fairly) new little sister. She asked me how old I was now. I told her I was 23.
“Oh my goodness you’re really growing up aren’t you,” she replied.
Chuckling to myself, I had to agree that she was right and informed her that she too was growing up (especially using phrases like “You’re really growing up.” That’s normally reserved for old ladies with too much lipstick and false teeth).
“No I’m not,” she replied. “I can’t wait til I’m grown.”
It’s funny. I remember when I said almost that same exact thing in my younger years. I couldn’t wait until I was a grown up. I couldn’t wait until I was able to make all my own decisions and rules and follow no one but myself. I fantasized about growing up and getting married and having my own children. I told myself that I would be nothing like my parents. I would let my children eat candy and play all day if they wanted to. They would never have a bed time. I would let my daughter talk to boys on the phone and go on dates before she was 16. After all, why should there be an age limit? I would have an awesome job with awesome friends and go on awesome vacations all the time. Oh yea, and I’d be rich but never have to go to school. Life would be perfect….as soon as I grew up.
But now, I’m a grown up (kind of). I have bills for everything. There are the food bills, and the rent bills, and the electricity bills. Then there are the bills for cable, the bills for clothes/shoes. You even have to pay to get to work to make the money that pays the bills. It’s ridiculous. Then there’s the fact that you’re all alone. Sure you can go do whatever you want, whenever you want, but that’s provided that you don’t have to work that day and come home dog tired. Your parents don’t make you do things you don’t want to do, but they still give you a horrible time if you don’t do it. Now, if I were to do something stupid or reckless they would probably send me to jail instead of just calling my parents. (Not that I do anything wrong, but still)
I no longer have enough time for anything. I find myself running from here to there and back again. I’m not rich, not by a long shot. I’m not working in my dream job. I can’t go on tons of awesome vacations, they cost money (money I don’t have). Some of my friends are awesome, but most aren’t “real friends”. Life isn’t perfect.
I dread the end of every month, because that means that at the beginning of the next I’ll have to fish out more money to continue living a somewhat decent life. I still listen to my parents because they seem to kind of know what they’re talking about. I have to follow different rules now, laws. I have to start going to sleep early so I can make it to work the next day almost on time. Thank goodness for special occasions and romantic dates where the other person pays otherwise I’d probably never eat out at a restaurant.
I have to be responsible these days. I understand the need for those rules I used to hate and would probably initiate each and every one my parents initiated when I have my kids. Even now I almost freak out when my little sister tells me she’s interested in guys.

Being a grown up sucks. I wish I could go back to being a child. Whereas before I was wishing my time away and attempting to run forward into my future, I’m now digging in my heels and slowing things down. I miss the days when the only thing I had to worry about was whether or not I should make ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly for lunch, (PB&J always won) or the days when my only stress was trying to learn my multiplication and division. I miss the times when I could come home from school and lay in the bed allllllllll dayyyyyyy and have absolutely nothing to do. I miss being a kid.

So when the little girl told me this, I crushed her dreams like dust. I told her that she doesn’t want to be an adult. “Being a grown up sucks,” I said, “You never have any money, you can’t do everything you want to do, and If you do anything wrong they’ll send you to jail. Your parents never buy you anything anymore and they don’t do things for you like they used to. No one loves you when you’re a grown up. They just leave you alone to wander around and it sucks.”
She was pretty sad, but didn’t question me. She probably thought I had become a psycho in my old age. It may be true. She just walked away, glancing back at me warily.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that. It was a bit harsh but seriously, being an adult sucks. I wish I had known that when I was a kid so I could stop hoping for a better day and just enjoy what I had. Perhaps I’ll feel the same away about my current years when I get to be retired and old. After all, I do still have fun, within the confines of the law. The select amazing friends I do have bring so much awesome into my life it’s crazy. People do love me, and I love them, and love means so much more to me now. To me, being a kid meant freedom, fun, and reckless abandon, but being an adult means passion, love, fun, and control. Depending on how you look at it, both are amazing.

Yes, being a grown up sucks….

but I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

RRT: Imagining an Imagination

Remember when you were little, and you could picture any and everything. A flying squirrel? No problem! A castle made out of candy? Easy Peasy! An Entire audience full of non-identical people who would scream your name as you amazingly belt out the words to your favorite tune? Done!

My imagination used to be wild. I was an only child for 9 years so I learned early how to keep myself busy. I could come up with immaculate stories and design everything in my head down to the smallest detail. I would have whole deep conversations with my Barbies as I took them through the house. Remember the boy from the movie Toy Story? He had those movie style play sessions with his toys. I remember a few of my friends saying how they could never remember a time when they played that hard with their toys. Well I do remember! I was exactly like him. I never bothered my parents, (actually they often had to check on me to make sure I was awake because I was so nonexistent) and could sit by myself for hours on end playing and doing things with my imagination.

Remember Barney. "With Imagination and the Barney bag, we'll see what we can make today. Yeah! We'll see what we can make today" That was me! I could imagine Barney in my room, a full size dinosaur playing and making arts and crafts. I didn't have any imaginary friends that I took around with me or anything, I knew they weren't real and I didn't make them anything else. But I still imagined they were there when I was alone.

I notice now though, that my imagination is starting to deflate. I was listening to the Leviathan audiobook (the review will probably be posted in a few weeks) and the author came up with excessive amounts of machines and animals and other stuff. I found myself completely lost. Without the pictures accompanying the actual hard copy book, I found I could not picture any of those items. I mean, obviously the author knew it would be a bit difficult to imagine some of the stuff since he decided to include the pictures in the first place, but still. I should have at least been able to picture something. But no. My mind, when the text referenced these animals and machines, put in their place a silhouette...much like the one you get on facebook before you upload a profile picture (question mark included) except they were machine silhouettes or animal silhouettes.  Its quite frustrating.

Granted, I know my imagination is still there. I can still imagine the way full conversations will go n my head, or have full on imaginative day dreams. I can still dive fully and completely into a book to the point that I can imagine I'm in there too, but sometimes I just cant picture some of the stuff. It's almost like trying to remember a dream after I've woken up. Some of it's there, but I cant imagine the way it all fits together, or remember the little details. I'm worrying I may be losing my imagination. Is such a thing even possible?

Maybe grown ups aren't allowed to have imaginations like kids, or maybe I'm overreacting, Regardless, I want my imagination back, but how? Do you just slowly but surely build it back up the way you do muscles that have disappeared or do you just tally the loss and hold on tight to what you have left.

I need tips folks. Tell me you feel the same way at times. Tell me I'm an idiot who's over thinking this. Tell me something!

RRT: I cant help it if books are more Interesting than you!

 

Hello everyone. I hope you've enjoyed all of my reviews for the past few weeks. I've moved out of my parents house and thus have less distraction from my beloved reading, except perhaps my dog who likes to force his way into my arms, or my boyfriend who likes to have my undivided attention when we hang out.

Speaking of my boyfriend, the other day (which was really like quite a few months ago...new years eve...I'm only thinking about it now again), he called me a loser (which is a term we volley back and forth to each other for deeds the other feels are "less than exciting" or "uncool") because I thought it was a good idea to catch up on my reading before a party he had at his place. Let me just note that the only people who were there were me, him, his roommate, and one of his frat brothers, the usual people who occupy his apartment. Apparently, I should be spending this time "having fun" instead of doing boring reading stuff. Granted, the guests would have been arriving in about 30 minutes, but what's wrong with doing a little reading before the party. Especially when I know my main task is to ensure people don't underage drink, or, legally drink entirely too much. And definitely no drinking and driving!!! I am also to ensure the violence stays away (since of course when drinks are involved, violence has a way of sneaking in through people's nostrils), no one accidentally on purpose cheats on their girl/boyfriend while they're on the other side of the room. I am pretty much the "mother" of the party. For some reason, I can focus a lot easier on calming people down when they're frantic, or can slip into the mother role easily. It's a somewhat stressful job I must admit, but I tend to succeed, which is why it seems to always be my job. You can see now though why I would prefer to read for a little bit and relax myself before all the excessive excitement right?

If you know me, you know I don't really do the whole party scene. I'm perfectly content with sitting home in my apartment, reading a book, having 1 nice glass of wine, and watching a few movies on TV. I like to play with my dogs, have little gatherings where people don't get wild and crazy but we play a game or two and maybe some cards. Most of all though, I like to read.

As many of you know, I went to the Dominican Republic 2 weeks ago (and I have a lovely tan to go along with it). In my suitcase were 7 books, of which I read 4. My boyfriend would see me and ask, "did you finish another book, and just shake his head, because I should probably be enjoying the vacation and he doesn't see that I am. I can read anytime (except while in a car...motion sickness). Night time (I don't fall asleep if its a good book), daytime, while on the beach, while in the pool, during a movie, at work, in the middle of a party, during the Superbowl, at church (my mom won't let me though). It doesn't matter how much noise is going on, or even if someones talking about me. I can focus on my book anywhere.

Books take me places I've never been, and help me experience things I'll never experience. They help me be a better, more exciting person. They make me feel good, and feel sad. They make me laugh, and make me cry. People just don't seem to understand why I can read a book when they're in the room. Non-book-readers see books as boring things that you only read when you have too. They don't see the things they make me feel. They don't understand why I would prefer to read a few more pages than get up and go downstairs to see that new movie, or to answer that question you asked but I didn't hear you because I was caught up. They just don't understand, so for those non-book-readers, who don't understand, I'll just say this:

I can help it if books are more interesting than you!!!

Sound Harsh? Maybe it is, but compare it to guy's (or girls) when they're watching the (US) football  game. "Hold on honey, just let me see this last 2 minutes" (we all know the 2 minute warning means there's at least 20 more minutes left in the game by the way. Done try to sneak it by us guys...) In that instant, the game is more interesting than we are. Or to that person who wants a little more time out with his/her friends. Or to the movie watcher who wants to just watch it until the end of this scene. In that instant, nothing is more important than seeing what happens.

Books are my friends, the characters help me ease my sadness and get over big tough things sometimes. Some books feel like movies and you just have to see what happens at the end of this chapter. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's boring. Besides, in a sticky situation, and used properly, books (hardcover's mostly, but maybe even some soft covers) can be used as a weapon when in danger.Oh and just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can't listen when we rant on and on about how wonderful this book is and "Oh my gosh I cant believe she did that!" I know I've feigned interest when you talked about how number such and such did something or other while the defense had him completely covered and still made the touchdown, so you should at least feign interest in my stuff too. (and make it believable)How about when that best friend is going on and on about that guy and you really don't want to hear it but you're a good friend so you listen and offer support anyway. They should do the same when we talk about our books, because honestly,

In a choice between you and my books, my books will always win!!!!

What do you think? Anything to add? What about any non-book-readers? Do you have anything to offer in your defense? Maybe I'm an imaginative, over excessive, book reading freak? Let me know! I'd love your input. For now, I'll leave you with this quote...

“She remembered one of her boyfriends asking, offhandedly, how many books she read in a year. "A few hundred," she said.

"How do you have the time?" he asked, gobsmacked.
She narrowed her eyes and considered the array of potential answers in front of her. Because I don't spend hours flipping through cable complaining there's nothing on? Because my entire Sunday is not eaten up with pre-game, in-game, and post-game talking heads? Because I do not spend every night drinking overpriced beer and engaging in dick-swinging contests with the other financirati? Because when I am waiting in line, at the gym, on the train, eating lunch, I am not complaining about the wait/staring into space/admiring myself in reflective surfaces? I am reading!
"I don't know," she said, shrugging.” ― Eleanor Brown, The Weird Sisters

See Ya Later Lovelies!!

Random Rant Thursday - WHY WON'T YOU JUST WORK ALREADY!!

Random Rant Thursday is a random meme, hosted here, posted randomly (mainly on thursday) where I can cry like a baby over random issues.
My newest issue......I can't comment on other people's blogs.

I decided to post this mainly because I'm frustrated as hell, but also because I want those of you who's blogs I always comment on to know that I have not been ignoring you. I've commented, and it says very nicely "Your comment has been published" and then when I refresh the page, or come back later to check out any new replies, THERE'S NO COMMENT TO CHECK. Now I do want to admit that my comments could just be getting deleted by the blog owner, but I'D DOUBT IT. They're all good comments that are posted on blogs of people that (kind of) appreciate my words of somewhat-wisdom. 

I just want it to work out correctly and stop causing me all these issues. I find myself commenting over and over and over again, hoping that if I comment enough, one of them will stick, but no!(Not sure if you get the email for comments, but if you've gotten like 6 from me and see nothing on your page, I didn't delete all 6, I commented 6 times and they all just randomly disappeared)

You know how you're sitting there, having a bad day and you're curling your hair. It's hot and you've already burned two fingers, but it's okay because you're almost done. You just want this one piece to curl just the right way. You do everything right and then  on the reveal, it falls flat. Crap!!! Lets try again, you do it all again and hold it a little longer. The extra heat will probably force it to curl, and once you let go, it falls flat again. Double crap!!! So you grab some hair spray (the super hold kind) and try to work some magic. You try again, holding it extra long, and then you let go, knowing this time it'll work out great and WHAM! STILL FREAKING FLAT!!! "what the *beep"? Really? You really just couldn't follow instructions?" And now my hair looks like this:

And that's how I feel!! (Ignore my obviously horrible paint skills)

I am honestly getting fed up with blogger and all it's issues. First GFC, and now this. Plus sometimes I log in, and apparently am not subscribed to anyone's feeds. WHAT?! OK I guess. And my spell check hasn't been working either. As time passes, Wordpress starts looking better and better.

What about you all? Have you had this issue and know how to fix it? Have you had any issues with blogger that make you want to just break the computer screen? Are you leaning toward moving to Wordpress? How bad are your bad hair days? Should I take classes on working MS Paint? All comments are accepted (don't be upset if I don't comment on your page though. I probably will, and it wont work....again.)

See Ya!

Random Rant Thursday - The Problem with Plans

Making plans sucks!It never works out the right way. Take a few things for example.

Last semester, I planned to continue to review books on my blog and post and all that great stuff during class. None of that worked out. I ended up taking at least a week to read one book, and even more time to review it. Now, I'm in another class. I decided to quit planning to keep up with my blog and what happens? I end up writing reviews at least once a week and looking at other's blogs the rest of the week. I finish books and write the reviews the following day. I stay on task and get school work done on time as well.

I planned to go to the Spring into the Future book tour when they stopped in DC (really Alexandria, Virginia) last Saturday. I was excited and hoping and planning to go. My little sister was supposed to go with me and everything would be fabulous! Then, I sprained my knee the weekend before.Never before having any injuries I assumed it would get better by then. NOPE! I could barely walk without crutches and moved at a snails pace.Let's not even think about how bad an idea trying to drive would be, and the parents had other things to do besides drive me to some "little book thing." (I'm 23 for goodness sakes. When will anything I do stop being "little") So once again, my plans were blown.

Time and time again I make plans only to have something better come along and make me feel horrible for making them in the first place. Almost every time I make plans, something else HAS to occur at the same time on the very same day. Why on earth cant things happen when I have absolutely nothing to do huh? All the fun and exciting stuff just sits back and waits until some requirement comes along and then WHAM! it pops out in front of me, taunting me and telling me how fun it is and wonderful and "It's too bad you have that important thing to do because we could have so much fun together." Then, say some miracle happens and I somehow get out of the important thing, all of a sudden, the fun and exciting other thing gets cancelled too. Or how about when the one thing you missed ends up being the best fun thing ever and "Oh My Gosh I can't believe you missed it!!!

I'm pretty sure plans and I don't get along. They're only really made to show people how much of a failure they are when it doesn't work out. How much they aren't fun anymore because they have important stuff to do instead. That`s why, beginning today, I'm going to stop making big plans until the last possible second (if I can) I'm just going to go with the flow (for the most part) and I'm going to show plans who's the boss.

Am I going to blog during this class? I'm not sure. Stay tuned and find out.

Am I going to set dates for doing homework and dates for reading and writing? Nope! Probably Not. All I'm going to do is make sure I meet the hard class deadlines for assignments.

Now that I think about it though, I cant really stop making plans. Ultimately, what I'm doing right now is making plans not to make plans. That sucks. I think the real problem with plans is, no matter how much you don't want to make them or follow through or whatever, you can't help but make them.

What do you think? What are your experiences with making plans? Please tell me I'm not alone!

Random Rant Thursday on Tuesday: Captcha

Yea yea, I'm on the wrong day of the week but so what! I needed to speak! Okay, so until I finally made the switch to the new blogger interface, and found out that Captcha was still enabled on my page! Ugh! Who would'a thought that you needed to change them both. It just makes sense that if u make changes on the old interface that it will also change on the new interface too. Guess that's too much common sense.
Anywho, I switched it so can someone please comment on this post and let me know if it requires the whole capcha thing still? I hate it when I post on other people's comments so I'm sure other people hate it when they comment on mine.
Why on earth does it even exist. It's such a pain!