Saturday, October 26, 2013

Alrighty, Then

So, I was watching some videos on YouTube, and an ad came up for CoverGirl. The only thing I know about CoverGirl is that their eye makeup usually rubs off faster than fairy dust, but whatever. Anyway, this ad was pushing their new line of makeup based off of the capitol from the Hunger Games. Well, I never liked CoverGirl much, but right now I'm someone afraid of what that signifies for our country's fasion future. Seriously, if the creeps in the capitol become the standard for girls' outfits, I may have a heart attack before I'm twenty-five.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Faster Than the Wind

I've heard people say stuff like, "Run like the wind," or "faster than the wind..." you get the idea. When I was walking to Pick 'n' Save today, because I needed a big envelope lined with bubble wrap, the wind began blowing fairly hard. There were all these little pieces of dry leaves being blown along, and I began racing them. I left them in the dust - literal dust, since I was by a construction site.

Anyway, I guess the semester has passed the part where every day seems like a year long, and moved into the part where the weeks go by before you can blink. It's already almost the end of October, and it's been almost two weeks since my trip to Minnesota. I turned in one of my big semester projects today, and the upcoming ones should consume my time like fire consumes oxygen.

Tonight was Halloween in the Halls. My floor's theme was Disney Princesses, and I was Meg from Hercules. I'll upload a picture later.

Right now, I desperately need a new book series to love. Hey, Elizabeth McKinney, how's the next book coming? I've been reading Twilight: New Moon (mostly because Jacob is pretty freakin' cool,) but it's not something I can really love.

There is my own book series, and the Quest for Rinaria (which I will try to get up tomorrow.) It's been hard for me to work on my own books since my cousin died, though. They all have a part in my heart very near to where he was, so sometimes it still hurts to look at them. It's getting a little easier, though. I wrote three pages yesterday in Graystone, so that's something!

The wind just picked up. I opened the window and found it started raining. Thank the Lord - we need a little rain.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Collection of Events

My titles are really losing their imagination. Sigh. Oh well.

Okay, event one: Saturday was the first WLC homecoming dance. It was in the Caf, and there were maybe a hundred people there at the highest peak. I had a fun time anyway, and I heard some song by someone called Zedd called Clarity. I really liked that song - I think I'll buy it from iTunes when I get a gift card.

Event two: Sunday, I found myself volunteering at a silent auction. I got to dress up in a pretty dress that got many compliments. There was a local music artist who sang some of her songs - the first one, called "Hero," effectively yanked at my heart. The singer is Jayme Dawicki, and I'd really recommend getting her music on iTunes.

Event three: Monday, we had a guest speaker called Eva Kor, a survivor of the Nazi death camps and the USSR. She spoke about her experience in Auswitz and about how she forgave the Nazis for their cruelty. It was inspiring on so many levels, and I thank God that I got the chance to hear that. God bless her.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Happy Birthday

Today is my older cousin's birthday. He would be 23. He died last month, and I miss him so much.

Travis, I know you don't see this because you're safe in Heaven, but Happy Birthday anyway. I miss you more than I can say.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Reason and Madness

Well -- before I begin my ramblings about my latest aberration from sanity, let me go into detail about my visit to Minnesota. It was beyond wonderful to see Caleb and Selah, two of the most supportive and friendly people in the world, again. They took me all over New Ulm (which is beautiful, by the way) and they also showed me Flandreau State Park. Seeing them was really fantastic. I wish so much that we were living in the same city.

After New Ulm, I saw Colleen in Mankato. It was equally good to see her, and to meet her friends at school. I am so blessed with the friends I have - thank you, Lord Jesus.

Okay, on to my insanity.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a hard time liking what most people like. I don't like The Hunger Games, I don't like the "What Does the Fox Say" (stupid song,) and I never minded the superhero movies, but I don't really like those either. I also never liked Twilight. I know - shocker, right? Well, thanks to YouTube, I got the chance to watch some critiques of Twilight, and ... I don't know. Some of the stuff they were criticizing just didn't sit right with me. For example, the Screen Junkies Honest Trailers made some snide comments about the movies being pro-life. So I spent a while considering getting it, just to see it for myself.

I finally caved on Monday (Monday the 7 - the day before the Biggest Literary Disappointment arrived) and got the eBook. And here is my critique of Twilight:

Let's just say that Stephanie Meyer will never be in my Top 5 Authors list. Those spots are filled by Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Jim Butcher, and Brian Jacques. John Flanagan would be sixth and Alison Weir would be seventh, but based on Twilight alone, I can comfortably say that Stephanie Meyer would be ninth or tenth. Rick Riordan and Erin Hunter used to have her beat, before their series went all crazy. In any case, I didn't care much for the romantic aspect of Twilight, but I actually really enjoyed the rest of it. Meyer absolutely captured the feeling of the Olympic Peninsula in her description, and maybe it's just because I lived so long in western Washington, but I could really see the places where Bella was.

Bella and Edward themselves weren't so bad, although I have to agree with Edward that Bella was being ridiculously reckless. Also - I absolutely refuse to be part of Team This or Team That, but Jacob was absolutely fantastic. He was so adorable.

As for the plot, it was not exciting or thrilling. It was, however, a story of people being kind and doing what was right. The best way I can describe it is to use a quote from Gandalf in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:
Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.
Twilight was no adventure story. It did not have thrilling, gripping action. Instead, it was just a story about someone trying to find her way and do the right thing in her small life. That is no bad thing. 
So, in short, I was pleasantly surprised by Twilight. It's not an action story - not even a little bit - but for a pleasant story of people doing good things, it was one of the better books I've read. I still don't understand the hordes of screaming fan girls, but I think the harsh blasting some people give it is totally undeserved. I would recommend this book to girls from middle school and up.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Transportation

Wow, I'm so glad it's fall break. I am so ready for it. I'm currently on the Megabus to Minneapolis, and from there it's on to New Ulm to see two of my best friends. Gosh, I don't know how I'll react when I see them. I hope I don't break down crying - I've been doing that a lot since my cousin died, but I think I'm past that.

Anyway, this trip was originally to talk about the House of Hades. Now it's going to be about something else. I don't know what yet- guess I'll find out when I get there. Arranging transportation was a week-long deal, but I finally got it all taken care of. I really am looking forward to seeing New Ulm. I've been hearing about it for a long time, and I tried to visit it twice before, but it never really worked out. This will be a fun adventure!

*Update: made it safely to New Ulm, after stopping at the Mall of America!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

*Headdesk*

The House of Hades was the biggest disappointment in my literary life. And no, not because I had unrealistic expectations from it. I knew perfectly well that this book was at a crossroads (ironic, for anyone who's read it,) and that it could either be great or terrible.

I did not expect it to be this bad.

I had several problems with it. There was a ton of politicizing going on in the book, which ruins any story. However, my biggest problem is on page 265. Jason is talking about how he and Reyna idolized the emperor Diocletian. Hazel points out that Diocletian persecuted the Christians, and wonders why Jason would idolize him. Jason's response:
"He wasn't a total villain," Jason said. "Yeah, he persecuted the Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler."
The truth behind this little anecdote is that Diocletian ordered the Diocletianic Persecution - the most severe persecution in Roman history! I mean, good grief, thousands of innocent people died in that persecution! It lasted for eight years (303-311) and was ordered across the whole Roman Empire. That is effectively the whole civilized world except the Far East. Christians were tortured, in an attempt to make them sacrifice to the Roman emperor or the old Roman gods, and if they didn't, they were murdered.

I'm sorry, you don't dismiss that. According to examiner.com, estimates for deaths in the Diocletianic Persecution are up to 17,000. Seventeen thousand! In eight years! Diocletian actually released common criminals - meaning, actual criminals - just so he could imprison Christian clergy.

That could be considered just a throwaway comment - not worthy of ruining the book - if it wasn't done twice, this time in reference to Nero on page 252:
"Ha!" Octavian said. "You're the Oracle of Delphi? Right. And I'm the Emperor Nero!"
"At least Nero could play music," Grover muttered.
There may have been more cases. I'm not sure. I didn't finish the book, and I don't intend to. I'm well aware that in today's society, you can offend Jews or Christians and by and large get a pass, but I did not expect Riordan to go that route.

There were actually a lot of other things in the book that made me want to smack my head off a wall, but I'm not going to get into those, for a couple different reasons. Suffice it to say that this book was beyond disappointing.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Dear NCIS Writers:

Really?! Ziva left NCIS to go back to her roots? Congratulations, you just undid seven years' worth of character development and personal growth for a great character. Yes, Ziva lost her family, but she had a new family at NCIS. So she decided to throw away her new family just to make peace with her dead family? Good grief.

Furthermore, the introduction of Ari's would-be fiancee gave you a perfect opportunity to bring Kate back in. When that idiot doctor was talking about how Ari would have proposed to her, Tony should have said something along the lines of, "Really? Because when I last saw him, he was coming onto another NCIS agent called Kate." That would have been impressive writing and would have brought more meaning to a lot of long-time hard-core fans. Instead, you slack off on the most heartbreaking episode since Kate died!

Please, you can do better. Do better.

Sincerely,
A Devoted but Seriously Annoyed Fan