The Quiet Kind of Passion

When you think of passion, you think of fire and lust. You think of burning emotions that capture and demand attention, loud noises of exclamation and inspiration, and of hurried and perpetual movement. The idea of passion isn't new and is understood quite well, and I really have no place telling you differently but I would like to let a though flow. So, if you would be so kind, let me vent for awhile?

My favorite kind of Passion is the quiet kind. The kind you really don't see or hear because it is so quiet and controlled that you can't be bothered to find it. It's the kind of Passion that comes in the form of a student studying late at night for a subject there is no test on,a man buying every book he sees for a library on he knows about, a girl writing stories about stories for no one else but her. These simple actions are only done with the greatest of loves and to feel that quiet love and Passion must truly be something special. I've never felt it. I wish I had though. I wish in the future I will.

Determination and Passion are emotions no one thinks to ask for but I think everyone needs to feel right. I'm neither passionate nor determined, I am in apathetic to most everything and if there was one thing I wish I had it would be passion or determination. To feel strongly for something, something you can accomplish would be thrilling. To want to work towards a goal and feel the need to move and be active would be amazing. To feel beyond mild interest and to see a future filled with something would be beautiful.

Oh well, I hope to know in the future. Maybe that's the beginning of Passion, the quiet kind. Having a goal, a wish, a hope.

Getting over Ridiculous Fears

When I was a small girl, only about 10 or so, I wanted to hold a birthday party. It was going to be THE party, the best party my family had ever thrown (and my family was spectacular at hosting parties). It was Pokemon themed, there was food, there was games, it was a sleepover, and my little brother wasn't going to bother my friends and I. I was ecstatic and had invited half of my class.
So on the day of my party, I stood at the corner of my street and waited for the cars to arrive with all of my friends. When the first car arrived I jumped for joy and hugged my friend as she got out of the car. Then we went to the corner and sat as we waited for all my other friends to arrive.
And we waited, and waited, and waited...
We waited till the sun went down.
We waited until it got too cold for us to stay outside any longer.
No one came after that. There was no late arrivals, no surprise waiting or me later. It was just Emily and I. But even that ended as she got homesick and left early. So I spent the night in a room decorated with Pokemon themed streamers, plates, and napkins. I spent the night close to tears, because of all the things I imagined going wrong that day, being completely abandoned by my 'friends' wasn't one of them.
Ever since then I've been afraid. Afraid of hosting parties. It's a stupid fear, one that doesn't even have a scientific name because it's only me. My Achilles heal is hosting a party. What a pathetic thing to admit.
But this Saturday, for the first time in about 5 years, I'm hosting a party. I'm scared as hell, I'll admit to that, but I think this will help me get over it. I have real friends now, friends who are special to me and who have stayed with me despite my faults. If anyone can help me get over this, it's these guys. So here is to hope, hope that in a crazy world where 10 year old girls get left alone and scarred over little things like parties, I can be cured of the one phobia I can't name.
Cheers.

A Thought in a While

A friend of mine brought up the idea that human ingenuity and imagination was at its limits and that we were now in and endless spiral of reduce, reuse, recycle. I don't believe him, I don't want to believe him. To think that we are at the end of our imagination scares me. I don't want to see a world where everything that can be said has already been said.

He's a bit of a pessimist, I'm not going to lie. I'm an optimist myself. I like to think of the world in rosie shades of happiness and adventure. I think he sees it in the tepid blues of monotony and futility. 

Maybe he's right and I'm just being naive, but for a while at least I would like to be. I like to think the best of Human-kind is going to come in the future. 

On My Shelf

This week has been a blast. From Band performances to the start of Tech week for Diary of Anne Frank, I've been running around setting things up and tearing things down. So I didn't do much reading. That is not to say I didn't do any reading at all. I read the script for Diary of Anne Frank. Not a compelling piece of literature in the normal sense, but it does have a fine trail of drama and cynicism laced through the actions and screenplay. While I can honestly say it is one of the most depressing things I've read, It has a small blink of hope that makes the tragic downfall all that more tragic. I don't think it's bad, but it isn't necessarily the best production I've seen either.

OTHER NEWS: Politics

I won't spend long on this, partly because I can't vote anyway and partly because I couldn't care less even if I could vote. I just can't wait until the ads are gone and I can have my TV back. Also, most of the negative energy will be gone. I hate election years, they bring out the worst about our best. It's okay to be patriotic, but to go to a level where opinions suddenly don't matter and it's about following everyone else or be the traitor who 'disagrees' with your country is just too much. Either way I don't care all that much, but life will be a bit more positive when they are all gone. 1st World Problems.

Let's get ready to NaNoWriMo

If any of you have participated in NaNoWriMo... I'm so sorry. (Trust me, they know what I'm talking about)

For those of you who are blissfully unaware, I find it is my job -No, my duty- to inform you of this wondrous occasion. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. As the title implies, this holiday is about taking all of November to write a novel. Sounds easy for some of us, but when you actually start to visualize your piece and write down the image in your head it becomes a lot of work. Not to say it isn't fun, but the work is troubling to most. There is a ground rule of 50,000 words for your piece (wow). Most people give up; it certainly is a test of persistence. You only have until the end of November after all.
Some famous books started out this way, like Sara Gruen's Water For Elephants.
Weither you participate or not, I have to offer kudos to those few who do. I might try, I will most likely fail, but it will be a little more enjoyable than what I already have planned for the month. So in the words of an old PlayStation videogame...
Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!

On the Shelf: Review

This week I've finished a wonderful book, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It was a sort of memoir, not quite an autobiography.So I'll split this into what I liked and didn't like about Me Talk Pretty One Day. 

What I liked:

There was a sense of humor in this book. It wasn't about finding yourself after tragedy or having extraneous circumstances affect your view on life; it was about a normal guy who did some stupid things because he wasn't a genius and he wasn't going to achieve much in his lifetime. I liked that he was a strange and exciting character, dealing with his problems because he was gay, he had a speech impediment, he did drugs, he disappointed his father, and he lived in France without a basic knowledge of the language. He did a lot of stupid things, his life a stream flowing over an endless amount of rough rocks of bad decisions that pointed skyward. He failed at everything, he excelled at nothing, and he was mediocre at even the basic acts needed to live a mediocre life. But he lived a thousand lives. In every chapter something new and exciting was happening. On one page he was a professor of writing and the next had him picking up people's processions as a mover. He was an office assistant and an abstract artist, an old American in France and a small boy in Raleigh. He had stories to tell, interesting people he's met, a life full of the places he'd been. It was interesting to live all those lives with him, even if he didn't appreciate the variety as much as I did. 

I also like the writing, simple and descriptive. It was never too much but I understood what Sedaris was trying to get across. The characters were painted with brilliant colors of words on the canvas of paper, and, no matter how sappy and metaphorical that sounds, it is true. They each were bursting with personality. 

What I didn't like: 

The chronological order of the book. It was skippy, a made up word that means there were parts missing. None of his stories really had a conclusion. They just ended and a new one took their place. The ending of the book wasn't even an ending. It was just about his dad eating rotten food. I'm sure there is probably some point, some sense, as to why Sedaris used this as his last story, but it was too abstract for me to understand. His stories were great but they jumped on the timeline and his life had changed so much between chapters that I could hardly understand how this was just one guy. Age was an issue too. I never really understood how old he was through this story. In the beginning he is 7 and in the end it sounds like he is 57. I don't know, I didn't understand, but I wish I at least knew who the man was before I read the chapter. I figured it out - whether he was young or not - while reading, but it was just another difficulty I had to get over. 

Overall:

Some books are fiction and some books are not, but this book almost seemed fiction when it wasn't. It was enjoyable even if it was about real life, which is quite the feat. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a little variety in what they read, because I have honestly never seen anything like this before.

Honorable Mention of the Week: Halloween Costume Makers

I want to give a shout out to all the creative people who make their own costumes. I have for the past 4 years and I know it's difficult to be creative and thrifty at the same time. The constant nagging of the part of your brain that's repeating 'how can you make it better? Is it the right color? Is a better product at Micheal's?' It's a difficult process that requires discipline and a full pocketbook. It takes time and sacrifice, but the results - the creative liberty - is worth every bucket of blood, sweat, and tears. So thank you, creative minds. And bravo for your work.

Blogs worth blogging about

I don't want to spoil the splendors of these two blogs with unfit words, so I will simply say they have provided outstanding subject manner and are worth looking in to for great book reviews.
 http://ihaveallthesoulsineed.blogspot.com/
 http://theoutspokensloucher.blogspot.com/

My Shelf got Longer

A Game of Thrones, Kafka on the Shore, Profiles in Courage, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. These books are my constant table companions through the day, helping me deal with mid-day boredom. They are of such a variety I can hardly comprehend the thought process I have behind reading them all. Each is stunning in its own right (So far), and if it weren't for the massive amount of time I spend building sets for the theater department I would probably have finished most of them by now. As I knock off each from my list I'll place a review here so you can see if I truly recommend it. 

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: I remember the 80s.

 There comes a time where you get sick of the pop songs on the radio and the love songs on your Ipod. You get that cringe in your stomach that is comparable to the feeling you get when you watch someone eat mushrooms or broccoli (substitute with whatever food you personally are disgusted with.) It isn't a gag reflex, but it's enough to tell you "Hey man, you are just not feeling this song." or "Dude, this again?" 

I've hit that stage and now I'm skipping merrily through my Ipod's 80's and 90's pages (and some oddballs out of both categories). Do you remember the rhythmic chorus of 'Come on Eileen'? - and on that note, do you know the lyrics because I don't- Do you remember the exotic beat of 'Africa' by Toto? What about the groove in 'Footloose'? So I made a quiz. If you can answer anything see the answer by highlighting the white space next to it.

Lyrics: Name the song and artist

1.) There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do          Africa by Toto

2.) You might think I'm crazy, all I want is you.                         You Might Think by The Cars

3.) Nothing ever lasts forever, Everyone wants to rule the world   Everyone wants to rule the world by Tears for Fears

4.) Please, Louise,Pull me up from my knees                                Footloose by Kenny Loggins

5.) All the voices in your head calling , Gloria                                  Gloria by Laura Branigan

BONUS 6.) Dabei war'n da am Horizont nur 99 Luftballons            99 Luftballons by Nena

The Good years: Do you know what year these famous songs came out?

1.) It's Raining Men by the Weather girls                                                1982

2.) Maniac by Michael Sembello                                                            1983

3.) Karma Chameleon by Culture Club                                                   1983

4.) Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners                                      1982

5.) Mambo #5 by Lou Vega                                                                   1999

6.) I Try by Macy Grey                                                                          1999

7.) Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by Nine Days                         2000

8.) Kiss me by Sixpence none the Richer                                                 1997

9.) Tubthumping ( I get knocked down) by Chumbawamba              1997

10.) I Believe I can Fly by R. Kelly                                                         1996

How well did you do? Leave your score in the comments! 

On the Shelf

READING: A new addition to my reading diet is the Pulitzer Prize winner Profiles in Courage. Written by John F. Kennedy, if gives examples of great feats of courage by past elected officials. It is suppose to be insightful and inspiring, the two most cliche (but impressive) I-words in the dictionary.  I'm hesitant to jump on the 'this is so great you gotta read it' train; the last time I jumped on was Twilight. Either way I'll read it anyhow, just so I can be a little more reality literate.
My other read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is going well. I've gotten through part 1 and am starting on the actual fun, part 2. I've got a lot of reading time tomorrow so I'll continue on that adventure soon.
OTHER: The most useful thing I ever learned has got to be Physics. It sounds hard, it looks hard, it is hard, but it is the most useful thing I have ever used. I've taken down trees and lifted things twice my weight using the basic knowledge Physics taught me. It is literally everywhere and now I feel like Neo in the Matrix, able to do impossible things because I can see the numbers that make everything possible.
Honorable Mention of the Week: TED Talks
My last post was about a TED Talk and since then I've engaged myself into a higher level of understanding. Each talk is interesting and informative. I've learned everything from how my body posture affects perception  to the levitation powers of superconductors. I guess I'm in a knowledge mood, but despite my quest for intelligence I know these talks appeal to more than just the genius in me. Try it out.

What I'm Loving: TED Talks Improv

Among the many hilarious and unique internet videos we stumble upon while surfing the Internet lies a treasure many people have already discovered. Improv Everywhere isn't new, but it is timeless. I found a TED talk where the creator of the group Charlie Todd explained what they did and why they did it. It started off (fittingly) with the start of the group. It was just him and six friends with no pants on the subway. From there the ideas and the group grew into a mob of people who participated in making life just a little bit more spontaneous. You can watch the TED Talk here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html

It's inspiring in a funny way. The main question Charlie Todd asks us why don't we do more things like this rather than why do we do things like this. I agree with his message and I find the topic engaging, not being bland or science based like most other TED Talk segments. It's worth a look at, if only for the video of 'the  annual no pants subway ride.'

On the... DS?

Usually around this time of week I post an On the Shelf where I proceed to regale you with tales of plots, characters, and cliches. This week I'm mixing it up a bit. (And it has nothing to do with the fact I haven't finished my book yet.) This week I have ON THE DS!
I'll start off with Borderlands. Most people are sighing right now saying 'been there, done that, got the tee-shirt and the sequel.' I haven't had the pleasure of playing the game until recently. It was an interesting experience, combining the personalization and will of a RPG with the action and game-play of a First-person shooter. I was, of course, the Siren. The opening of this game, like many Xbox Games, is sprinkled with a hardy humor that is exemplified by scenes in which something terribly wrong or immoral happens but you can't help but laugh anyway. (ie. The dog alien gets hit by a bus.) From then on, you are stuck on the desert planet Pandora. It is desolate, overflowing with sand and destruction. The art-style of the game is unique, being both grotesquely realistic and sketchily cartoon at the same time, bringing together maturity and quasi-realism to the landscape and the creatures who populate it. I haven't played enough to comment on the plot (feel free to do so yourself if you have played, just remember NO SPOILERS) but I'm content enough with the current game-play to recommend it to someone else. A mature someone else, but someone else non the less. It looks like a decent game, good enough to have a sell-able sequel at least.
Next is Pokemon. Yes, for those in the USA who are nerds just like me you realize that yesterday was the official release of the American version of Black 2 and White 2. While there are a lot of haters out there who refuse to try it because it isn't the original Kanto game, I have no such bias. I love all the Pokemon generations (not equally, Hoenn is my fav.) and when Nintendo announced this new game, I was stoked (cool dude term meaning excited). I decided to go in with no prior knowledge, meaning I couldn't use Serebii.net to help me. So far at the third gym I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it. No, it isn't any different in typical game-play and no, it isn't an action RPG all of a sudden, but I enjoyed travelling around Unova again. It had a nostalgia with characters from the original Black and White, but it also revamped with new gym leaders, new outfits, new plot points, and new routes. Most of all they brought back some of the previous generation Pokemon and I love my Growlithe to death. Of course I haven't played long enough to worry about Team Plasma all that much and my rival (you get to name him this time!) is sorta bland as a character, but I've enjoyed the crisp graphics and the upbeat music. I think it was absolutely brilliant to change the gym leaders final Pokemon music to the epic end music, reminiscent of Pokemon Advance Battle where the music would change when Ash or May pulled of a huge turn around. All in all, it's worth a chance, even if you do have a soft spot for the original 151.
IN OTHER NEWS: Do you like my Background?
I do. If you want to spice up your background for free, visit Jellypages and pick one out for yourself. It's fast, easy, and they have hundreds of choices from Anime to Nature. But try and be mature, they do have everything. Also visit cooltext.com to get the cool banners I used. Pretty neat way to spice up your blog.
Honorable Mention of the Week: TomSka
There are a lot of things I love about Britain: Tea, Sherlock, Doctor Who, BBC, Buses, Harry Potter, London eye, Parliament, The Queen, Their use of the word Bloody. But another thing I like about Britain is this guy. He makes the funniest and most well made Youtube videos I've seen on...well, Youtube. They're hilarious, bringing me to tears every time I watch. I think he owes me a spleen of two. He's brought you classics like, Deleted, Musical Suicide, Baby with a gun, Chaos Relay, Salon shootout, Ledge-man and the Assassin, and Mine Turtle. He also brought you this:

When that clever plan goes wrong...

There is this feeling, a very lovely feeling, where you make up a plan and it is executed to perfection. You feel proud, you feel smug, and you feel that you successfully predicted the human reaction to a stimulus. In other words, you feel brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
I know because I've had several plans, pranks, and lies go perfectly. I benefited greatly from these accomplishments even if the benefit wasn't obvious. So I know a little something about plans.
Sometimes they fail.
It's one of the most depressing feelings in the world, when well made plans fail to follow through. Disappointment, anger, frustration, and sadness permeate your mood after the failure. Your mind goes into circles of how? where? why? and you can't really stop it till you forget or you solve the issues.
Today a plan of mine failed. Not an important plan, or a clever one, but the principle of the thing still jabs my mind with a sharp, pointy, prehistoric stick. I lost because I didn't charge my computer. What a lame way to lose. I can't believe that the best laid plans, the ones that you work so long and hard on, are defeated by the most mundane actions. (Or in my case, the lack of one.)
Is that the moral of this story? That it's the small details that get ya? It might be. I'm not the kind of person who should be teaching you morals, though. Really, I'm not.

On the Sh-, D'Arvit it's a rant.

This week I have some things to say, both good and bad. That means this'll be quite a long post, so I will try to organize it so you can skip to whichever part you wish.

READING: The Good and Bad of Artemis Fowl

This week, I read Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian. I want to both murder Eoin Colfer and hug him. He did my ultimate taboo in the realm of writing.

Bringing back the dead.

There are some times (very rarely) when bringing back a dead character is done correctly, with class and sophistication. But most of the time it is done to spare the readers of having to lose a beloved of humorous character. I cannot count on my hands the number of time characters have come back from a perfectly acceptable death. Goku can fill one of my hands himself, dying to save the world constantly then being wished back to life with the Dragonballs. It gives the reader some closure, but the effect diminishes the legitimacy of the writing. Leo Tolstoy never brought HIS characters back to life. Andrew Bolonski died and stayed dead.
But I can forgive him because against all odds he didn't make a romance plot. Through the series, Artemis and Holly get progressively closer even sharing a kiss once. But Artemis is a human and Holly is a fairy. Fans everywhere have been planning and scheming, trying to determine how Colfer would make this relationship work. Thankfully, even though it left a hole where my heart is, Colfer kept Artemis a human and Holly a fairy. I'm proud of him. It made it a mature piece of writing.
Artemis Fowl is kind of a disappointment in this book. I wish he would pull out a brilliant plan or have some brilliant thought, but he continually disappointed me. All his plans failed, except for his final one. When he ends up killing himself, he succeeds. D'Arvit.
Foaly was a more inspirational character. He goes out and saves his wife! He drives to his house and stops a goblin mob. It was heartwarming.
Mulch was stealing from Fowl Manor, making me lose all respect I had given him. I thought he would at least be loyal enough to leave Artemis alone (Artemis should have known) or at least not that stupid.
Holly was Holly, she was an awesome pilot, she fought, she made witty comments. Good ol' Holly Short.
Butler...lost something in this book. This character was always substantial, solid, completely loyal and practically infallible. Now he has fears, he falls easily, he questions Artemis. The whole definition of what made Butler was lost. I missed it.
Overall, it wasn't as great as the first book (I love that book). The writing and style didn't change. It was a perfect blend of narration, description, and hilarity. But the plot, the characterization, the enjoyment suffered. It made me fell conflicted between loving the original characters as they were and hating the characters as they are. I questioned the whole series and it felt like a glass shattering against the floor. I reread the first book and it was just as amazing as I remember (Maybe even better) but this last book in the series left a bitter aftertaste that pushes me into the darkest crevice of the internet to get some sort of hit to feel the high I once felt for this series. (What an odd analogy...) I think Colfer gave up. He had more ideas and more stories, but he needed to finish this arc. I wish he had put more heart into it, I wish he had made a beautiful insightful ending, but I can understand the drag 7 sequels must have on a writer. I can understand, but my faith in Colfer is crushed and I don't think I'll ever view him as well as I once did.

TELEVISION: Elementary *Spoilers*

What can I say? That it was terrible? That it was the bane of my existence? That I would rather gouge my eyes out, climb in a car, and run over a basket of kittens than watch this show again?
No, this doesn't quite do justice to the unmitigated hatred I have for this show.
Am I biased? Yes, I've seen real acting in BBC Sherlock and I can't come back. But I tried to come in with an open mind. It snapped close like a bear trap closing in on an unknowing and clueless rabbit. The episode starts with Joan Watson (Yes, our BAMF, male, British, Army doctor has been replaced with a Emotional, female, Asian, former doctor-turned companion) running towards the rehab center to pick up our main character. He escaped. So Joan calls his father and arrives at Sherlock's house to see a lady walk out. (At this point I was face-palming) Joan then proceeds to have an incredibly awkward scene with Sherlock, where he quotes a creepy love quote from the television for no apparent reason... It was just uncomfortable...
I won't explain the entire episode, it was long and boring and stupid, but I will emphasized key points to explain why I hate it so much. I'll even use a list.
1. Sherlock
I've read the original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I feel like I have some credibility in determining if a character was portrayed correctly. Sherlock was smart, odd and good at his job, but he wasn't Sherlock. I have nothing against the actor, i'm sure he has done lovely work outside this, but almost nothing was Sherlock about this character. He was pinning for a girl, had temper tantrums, didn't really deduce like a proper detective, and he apologized readily. He takes Watson's car and crashes it in his frustrations. I couldn't understand why they put that in. It wasn't brilliant, or gentlemanly. He was just odd overall, being everywhere at once and having too much emotion, too many open issues for it to be the real Sherlock Holmes.
2. Watson
Ignoring the fact she's a woman, Watson wasn't Watson. She was offended easily, she wasn't in the military, she was overly concerned with death (the real Watson killed in Afghanistan, he was made of sterner stuff), she was unhappy most of the time, she was there out of obligation rather than an emotional connection. I didn't see Watson at all. Most of his characterization was very British in nature, tea, journal, and admiration for his companion. I didn't see anything like that in Joan.
3. The crime
It was convoluted. Absolutely crazy. Try and follow.
~ Husband becomes Psychiatrist to a violent man who assaults red heads of a certain look.
~ Husband convinces beautiful Wife to get plastic surgery to become a red head.
~ Husband hires Violent man to delivery flowers in hopes that he'll become obsessed with his Wife.
~ Husband gives Violent man steroids instead of prescription drugs.
~ Violent man records psychiatrist's sessions on phone
~ Violent man kills wife
~ Husband kills Violent man, can't find phone
Oops. There are so many plot holes I'm not even going to try and fill them all.
4. Supporting characters 
There were none. End of story. They spouted one or two lines and then they were completely forgotten. It made it a very emotionless episode.
5. the Deductions 
They were accurate, and kind of clever, but not very Sherlock. He was just jumping around and lying on the floor. There wasn't any observation or small things that the real Sherlock deduced off of. There was no dirt on sleeves, or dog hair, or deduction based on looks. It was all easy things I could have figured out. The amount of glass was more than one (There was two bottoms), the slant in the floor leads to a heavy room, the room was symmetrical so the one thing not symmetrical is missing. Silly thing that most normal people can figure out. Then he goes off and predicts a baseball game which is impossible.
6. The Writing
Non of the dialog, the action, or the plot was engaging. They were dull, boring, obvious or impossible. No one was inspirational, no one was relate-able, no one was thoughtful or insightful. It was just blah. I can't even quote anything in the episode. It was boring.

So I would not recommend this to anyone you like. It wasn't redeemable as a Sherlock spoof, it wasn't redeemable as another cops show. It was boring and disappointing.

Honorable Mention of the Week: DailyBreak
Want to win prizes? Want to earn tones of money? Do you know things? Join DailyBreak. It's fun, easy, free, and I'm using it to help get money for college. Why not try? It is fun, I did a competition based on fantasy novels that I passed with flying colors. One was even for grammar Nazis. Worth a try.

On the Shelf

This week was slow for reading. Among essays, Clubs, Stage Crew, work, and Marching Band competition, I've been sweating tears of pure effort and work. This still hasn't stopped me from reading though. If anything, I'm more excited than ever as recently I've acquired the last of a series of books from my childhood. The Artemis Fowl Series has reached it's end, and I hope it is as brilliant as it's beginning.
Artemis Fowl was always a hero of mine. He was young, he was rich, he was intelligent, he was a dreamer. He had a goal most would consider hopeless and a child's folly, yet with his brilliance he discovered a mystical land beneath the earth's crust inhaling and exhaling magic, fairies, and gold. He was the villain and the hero of his own story, being both mad with power and aiming for a rather wholesome purpose. He also spoke one of the most influential quotes I have ever heard in my life.

"If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose then I'm mad. That's the way history is written." 

I have never forgotten the cover of this book, the gold binding, the elegant script, the Gnommish symbols spelling out their message, the back covers warning.

STAY BACK HUMAN. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH.

Honestly the whole presentation was wonderful, amazing, stupendous, and any other adjective that is of a higher caliber than good.
But for all it's brilliance and Majesty, the book has it's flaws. Character development is predictable, the plot is fairly predictable, the villains take turns returning and plotting another plan to destroy Artemis and his companions. People die, but they don't, Artemis falls in love, yet he doesn't, He is evil, but then he's not. The book is written as a children's book, so I give it a little leniency because really, would you give a child a book in which the best characters all end up dead?
But the plot is unique, the characters are all lovable, and the writing is spectacular and simple. It doesn't take a genius like Artemis to read these books and the humor is well written and preformed.
Artemis ends up with one of the greatest fails in all of history.

Holly: (After punching Artemis) Be a good Mudboy and I might bring you back a lollipop.

     Artemis: (After Holly leaves) I don't like lollipops.
So the greatest mind in England retorts... It made Artemis a bit more reachable and added comedy to his character that wasn't seen before. Everything is hilarious in these books from the unfortunate names (meet Dwarves Mulch Diggums and Kolin Ozkopy) to the odd quotes you'll be laughing at something in each chapter.
I love the books, absolutely adore every convoluted plot, every reoccurring villain, and every witissism that the author cleverly settled into the script. Bravo Eoin Colfer Bravo.
It's worth a try, just to test the waters. I will forever be grateful that I picked up that gold book so long ago. And who knows, it might lead you to other books. (I was an extreme case, Artemis read War and Peace so I decided I would... Wow that was a terrible decision.)
Honorable Mention of the Week: Akinator
This mystical internet Genie can read your mind, and he knows his stuff. I spent the entire day today trying to find a character he didn't know about but I could only find 1 out of 100 that stumped him. He knew everyone from Carl Gauss the physicist to Ikuto Tskyomi from Shugo Chara (A Japanese Anime). It's worth a try to find out who he doesn't know and if you stump him send me a comment with the name of your character. It's fun and gives you at least 5 minutes of entertainment, so try!

Sleep is Depressing

A symphony of violent, dream-crashing notes assaulted my ears in the hopes of appeasing a past and future me. I instinctively rose from my snug cocoon and flinched as the cool air of morning hissed at my warm skin. And I learned a great lesson.
I hate sleep. I hate cold. I hate the act of waking up at 5:30 every morning.
Not a big revelation, nor is it a new one. I have long since tired of the daily struggle to recharge and reset whilst there is work to be done. I have great abhorrence to the biological need for sleep and in my life I try to avoid it as much as possible. In all honesty, I don't need fancy words to get my point across. Sleep just sucks.
Dreaming is okay. By okay I mean that when I dream I tend to dream about what I wish would happen, or what I wish could happen, but it never happens and I have yet to discover which is better. Is it better to at least have a dream? Or is it cruel to give someone a beautiful, wonderful, impossible dream just to rip it away with all remnants of hope and acceptance.
Metaphysical food for thought.

But in brighter thoughts, I'm not dead, you're not dead, I still have more than half my life to live, I hope you do too. Birds still chirp, plants still grow, humanity is learning, we don't burn people anymore (in America), Aliens haven't taken over an made us inhuman robots bent on becoming a perfect race... So, so far so good. I mean we have Anime and Video games and BBC, what more could we want?

On the shelf

As the days progresses from a mundane morning to an uneventful close, I find myself leaning towards escape increasingly often. The idea of monotony and normalcy repel me as a fish is repelled by the thought of living on dry land. It seems unnatural and unkind. I feel it is truly the worst fate imaginable. Unfortunately, most of us live our entire lives in some symbolical microcosm of the whole of the earth. We spend our entire lives in a small amount of space (in comparison to the world at least).
But I recently read an essay that reminded me why we spend all our time with a schedule, a set pattern, a degree of normalcy. It's an essay titled My Dropout Boyfriend Kept on Dropping In. In this peculiar essay the writer conveys her feelings of jealousy and curiosity over her boyfriend Terry's decision to become homeless. While she stayed in college, worked a job, and lived normally, Terry was out looking for a place to sleep and a meal to eat. The essay wasn't just a story, nor was it written like you would expect from a college essay. This essay let you into the writers head as she contemplated the small dreamer in herself that wished he would succeed and the pragmatic self that knew he would not. In the end, Terry gives up on his scheme and the writer accepts that her laughable boring choices in life were made because that's how society works. You have to make the decision to do the boring things because they're the safe options. They're the choices that keep you secure and give you the small comfort of knowing where you are and where you're going in life.
I still feel like life is overly redundant. I wish there would be some life altering event that caused the whole world view to skew. I wish for an event that would polarize the world and cause a schism in society. It wouldn't be safe. There would be no promises of redemption or success. There would be chaos as entropy took over and slipped through the interstices left behind by such a monumental catastrophe.
It wouldn't be easy, but it would be interesting.
Interesting doesn't keep you safe though.
And that's why, despite our hidden desire for Trouble and her brothers Mayhem and Madness, we always pick normalcy. Normal does keep us safe and warm. It keeps us alive so we can dream of the interesting things.
In Other News:
Well I'm still mad at BBC for making amazing dramas that rip your heart out. Other than that, the world is still spinning. That's good. Not a very interesting week if I do say so myself, though one of my 'evil' plans will be put into action next Tuesday. That makes me excited. Nothing feels quite as good as a well executed plan. I have a piece of writing to add when I get the chance as well, so I'll get that up as soon as possible.
Honorable Mention of the Week: Nuzlocke
If you have ever played Pokemon before you know it is slightly addicting. You realize this around the 6th gym, when you ask yourself just why are you spending hours battling magical monsters so you can climb the imaginary hierarchy that is the Pokemon League? Some of the hard-core gamers soon lose the enjoyment they once found in the game. But then a hero emerged from the ashes of redundancy and created a new honor code for the truly valiant knights of the Pokemon court. This was the birth of the Nuzlocke challenge. This honor code consists of only two basic rules that change the entire basis and experience of the game.
Rule 1: You can only catch the first pokemon you see in each Route.
Rule 2: Any pokemon that faints is dead.
There are no exceptions. No mercy. No other options.
You can add rules to your specific game to make the challenge extra hard, but the main two must remain. This has created a whole knew genre in pokemon games and now it is a true test of skill and endurance. Most players also make a comic of their exploits so that others might share their feelings as they win and lose, live and die, rise and fall. I've played myself and I enjoyed it utterly and completely. 

On the Shelf

On the side of my desk, bed, table, mantel, or any other sort of flat surface I happen to be in the vicinity of, there is a pyramid of books. This archaic shape rests quietly, within my reach, waiting for me to reach over and unlock the products of their beautiful authors. My selection hasn't changed this week, I'm still reading the same books, but I've gotten farther along and am pleased by my current selection.
In Other News: 
I've been watching Merlin recently, and I absolutely adore it. The whole story, cinematography, writing, and acting are on a level I've come to expect from BBC drama. While it certainly does not have Benedict Cumberbatch, nor David Tennent, I do love the actor Colin Morgan and his interpretation of the young warlock Merlin.This Merlin is sans pointy hat and robes, but has a level of innocence I think the old Merlin never had. I appreciate the character despite his differences to the original tales.

The dark ages don't look so bad, do they?

 Honorable Mention of the Week: Rat, Wedding, Bow.
Anyone who watches Sherlock is bawling their eyes out or writing theories like a mad fan-person (we don't judge here). With Moffat and Gatiss's skillful writing and clever cliffhangers, the emotional trauma induced by watching 'The Reichenbach Falls" is almost a clinical disease. The series is absolutely stunning in itself, but the emotions the characters have, and the relationships forged from them, is so real and believable that you can't look away and not feel something for the character. Whether it's bloody Anderson, dependable Watson, umbrella-wielding Mycroft, or Dominatrix Adler you will find the sub-characters just as fascinating and lovable (or in Anderson's case, deplorable) as the brilliant consulting detective himself, Sherlock Holmes. I could go on for days about this mad and wonderful series, but I feel the best opinions are formed by doing, so I encourage you to try it. Who knows, you might just be SHERLOCKED.  

On the Shelf

Recently I've fallen in love with a book completely out of my 'comfort zone'. It isn't fiction, psychology, magic, or animal. It's a memoir.

It's a book called Angela's Ashes. It is simple in writing and diction, plain in descriptive verbs, and doesn't use proper quotation marks. But it is absolutely beautiful. The writer is writing about his life, and not only is it a doorway to the harsh realities of life we like to forget, but it demands attention, sympathy, and second look. Frank McCourt doesn't write as if he wants the pity and praise from the destructive childhood he recalls, he hardly writes as if he's thinking back at all. The writing is as young as his character. Everyone is referred to as Aunt or Uncle; he calls his Mam and Dad by the names he knew as a four year old. It's a touching story where the world is dark and real, where the bottom of civilization is truly the bottom. Like Frank McCourt wrote, it's hard enough being a child but to be an Irish child is harder, not to mention Catholic. The verisimilitude compels you to read on and cry for this family torn by poverty and bad decisions. Not every character is lovable, not every character is admirable, and no one is completely without fault (except baby Margaret, but she's hardly old enough to cause trouble). I highly recommend this story for a nice switch into something real and substantial.
Other things I have read this week include The Mist by Stephen King. This horror story was lovely, bringing together a melting pot of drama, suspense, and morbid curiosity. It makes an impossible situation impossibly real. The dissent into chaos as the once careful order is overthrown and a hierarchy of madness preaching the worlds destruction at the hands of God, caries a truth that any student of entropy would understand. What would happen if we let fear descend us into our most basic thoughts and desires?
On a much happier note:

Kittens. Because everyone loves kittens.

Come on, you know they're cute.


Feel better? Good, because I have one more thing.
Honorable Mention of the Week: Doctor Who?
This show is amazing. British television has changed my life forever. This convoluted series of mishap and mayhem has entrapped many a fangirl into it's time-lord claws. The premise is impossible, the solutions unthinkable, and the characters unbelievable... in a good way. You don't have to think at all with this show because you're not supposed to. You have no idea what the rules are, how the Aliens work, or where you''ll end up next episode. It's a story you would have loved as a kid. It's a story that brings out your inner kid. You'll find yourself dreaming of bigger things again and wishing on shooting stars and all other manners of childish whimsy because this was what most of us dreamed of. Setting off with a mysterious stranger into the depths of time and space, saving lives and watching history pass right in front of your eyes. The Doctor will take you and his companion in his legendary TARDIS and you won't want to ever stop.

A Little Love in Your Cooking.

Love - The best ingredient

I've recently read an article on a Korean man's attempt to make a childhood memory in his wok. While the recipe he comes up with is amazing itself (I might even make it myself), the thought behind it is the best part. The man tries so hard just to rebuild and remember his childhood, taking the time to build and recreate a dish from his past. The careful step-by-step planning this man uses when preparing his Jjajangmyeon is an example of the love he has for this dish, this childhood memory. The article wasn't profound, spending most of the page with a recipe and a theory as to why Jjajangmyeon is best made by Chinese-Korean immigrants, but the idea plants a tree of thoughts about my own memories and how things have changed from when I was young.

The memories I can recall the most are those of my first love, Pokemon. I can still remember holding the clunky, over-sized GameBoy and pacing my room, carefully planning the abilities and strengths of my new best friends. Each badge was a Medal of Honor, each Pokemon was my friend, and if all else failed the simple act of hugging that ancient gaming system was enough to make me smile for the rest of the day. Now the game is different. What was once 151 Pokemon is now 649. What was once one region is now 5. The game system has gone on a major computing diet and lost weight. My childhood game has not decreased in value, only changed. This change was inevitable. I only wish I could live those memories again. I still play the original games, and on occasion I hug and smile like my 5 year old self. I guess some things never change.

So I guess I'll add a recipe of my own; try it at your own risk.
~ 1 Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Green
~ 1 Nintendo GameBoy Advance/Sp/Color
~ Multiple hours of free time.
~ A candy bar (Admit it, you loved sweets as a child)
~ Stuffed Animals

1. Put game in Nintendo product of choice.
2. Surround yourself with Stuffed Animals
3. Turn game on
4. Unwrap candy bar
5. Eat and enjoy!

On the Shelf

I've finally finished SHADOWCRY, and for sake of time and spoilers I'll sum it up in one word. Eh.
The plot wasn't riveting, the characters were bland and formed no real relationships, the story would branch off just for it to reach a dead end three pages later. The whole of the story was predictable as well. There was no real moment where I was stunned by something, anything! It reminded me of nothing and made me feel nothing. It was just eh.
So next on my list is a collection of Stephen King vignettes in The Skeleton Crew. I've been anxious to read some of his work. I've heard it is similar to some of my writings. I really am looking forward to reading classic stories such as The Mist.
Also on my list for reading is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a story about magicians who don't preform magic. An interesting premise that I hope I enjoy much more than the last magic book I read.
IN OTHER NEWS: I've been watching the Big Bang Theory recently and I absolutely love it. The humor is right up my alley (I've taken a physics course) and yet it is also at an intelligence level where you don't have to be a physics geek to laugh. The mixture between genius and childish immaturity make main-character Sheldon Cooper someone adorable and frustrating at the same time. Definitely an inspired character.

I haven't been spending my days just watching television and reading books. I've also been playing Oblivion and Skyrim. Obviously I could go on for hours as to why I would recommend the Elder scroll series for any Role-player, so I'll just tell you it's awesome and worth any effort you have to exude to obtain a copy.
Honorable Mention of the Week: Homestuck
This an odd little internet blip I found awhile ago that I thought I'd share. Honestly, it's pure crazy. Aliens, alternate dimensions, an evil backing company, transporting computer games, arm-less sprites, and the author's broken forth wall make this a story you won't understand but you'll love anyway. The logic is skewed, the art is all done on mspaint and it even has it's own soundtrack for the long animated scenes. Yes, it's a picture book and a movie all in one. I highly recommend it as something to read and relax too. The only downside is the length of the story. It's over 2000 pages long (and counting) and each only has a sentence or two on average, but there are some length dialogue bits that I glance over for lack of time. Overall it seems like something from the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. It's worth every confusing second.

Relationship issues...

144 pages into SHADOWCRY and I'm wondering if it's just me or the entirety of the Young Adult section. Something isn't agreeing with me. The book isn't bad per say, just typical. It starts with an orphan and leads to magical death powers. I think Harry Potter already covered the magical orphan thing.

I think the Young Adult section and I need to sit down and discuss our issues. This relationship obviously isn't working right. I was willing to forgive the genre for horrendous pieces like Twilight and Maximum Ride, but when everything else is just sub par I can't overlook the overall depressing situation. The standards for what is a well written and original has slipped, probably because of the profit gained from typical romantic dramas. I wish people cared about what was out in the real world, literature-wise.

I guess it's not all bad. I distinctly remember enjoying the RedWall series despite it long drawn out plot. These books might just be better as stories that make you feel good, not necessarily to mentally stimulate you. If so, there not exactly the riveting novel I'm looking for, but they have promise as stories of their own. In their own way, they have achieved their purpose.

The official review on SHADOWCRY won't be out until I finish the story, but I feel a little bit more confident about it now. A clean mind might be just what I needed to enjoy it.

Beginnings

Blog. B-L-O-G. A strange word when you think about it. What can you do on a blog? What do you write? Who even has a blog? Well, John Watson has a Blog, but I don't think I'll be able to write about exciting chases down alleyways, long days at the surgery, or an uncontrollable flatmate.

So what will I do? This blog will be a story book. A digital story book. Laughter and sorrow will both house themselves within the confines of a laptop cover. I'll write about books I've read, their stories, and if I'd recommend it to others. I'll write short stories myself and let them collect dust on this blog's shelf. I'll write, and I'll hope someone will read.

My goal is to find a book that truly defies the mold that most "pop genre" books have fallen into. I want to find that holy grail, some story that holds a perfect blend of plot, characters, and setting. If I have to read every book in every genre to find this questing beast of books, I will. It will be my quest, my plot. This will be a basis for my blog story.

So who is the hero in this quest for the holy story? As a reader, I am quick but shallow. I only go as deep as my interest lies. I do not search for the hidden allusions or alliterations. I simply take it in as a tale that someone out there wishes to communicate to me. Maybe that makes me fall short as a reviewer. Maybe that brings me closer to my goal.

So shall I start? Shall I begin? I invite you to join me on my quest, to become my companion. Let's travel to distant lands, parallel worlds, the past and the future. We'll enjoy the music of the Jazz age, preform magic with wizards, solve crimes with sociopaths. We'll see it all and still be home for dinner. Let's take that first step. Now is always the best time for beginnings.