Category Archives: General

I’m Not Just Reading

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Since I posted a ton of book reviews last week, I thought I’d talk about other stuff for once.

I don’t really do that anymore, mostly because posting book reviews are often easier to post, as opposed to coming up with other topics.  Seriously, sometimes I just stare at the screen and have no clue what to blog about.  I really need to brainstorm ideas, that way I’m not just staring at the screen, wondering what to write about.  Plus, I like talking about stuff other than books, so I’ll be working on that.

I’ve almost starting writing stuff!  Seriously, I’ve gotten very close to opening up one of my novels and starting writing.  Will this be the week I start writing again?  Stay tuned to see if I actually do it.

I’ve been playing the Sims for a while now.  Not a lot, although probably more than I think.  It seems like they fixed that weird glitch in world adventures, so they can actually go on vacations and not come back as a double.  Plus, stuff is still there and doesn’t disappear.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the expansions packs, since there seem to be rumours of problems/glitches with the other ones.  Maybe when the next version of the sims come out?  Although the biggest factor is the prices, because in comparison to the Sims 2, the Sims 3 is expensive.  Eventually, I’ll get around to it.  I think.

I’ve been cooking…more cooking than baking, which is weird.  Because I love baking.  Actually, I’ll probably do that since I feel the need to bake a loaf of bread.  And chocolate chip cookies.  Because they make everything better, and chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.  Speaking of food, I should probably make something.

T.V.!  It’s been a while since I’ve talked about it.  I’m sad to see that this is the last season of House, but at the same time, I think it’s time for it go off the air.  Pan Am has already had it’s season finale, and I have a feeling that it won’t be coming back.  But I hope it does.  And apparently Terra Nova had it’s season finale back in December or something.  Which I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago.  I thought maybe they were on hiatus or cancelled or something.  Everything else that I watch is pretty much the same, and I’m enjoying everything.  I really liked the 200th episode of NCIS, and how things might have turned out.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but by the end, I loved it!  At this point, I’ve given up on Revenge and Person Of Interest, because I keep forgetting to watch it.  I feel like I’ve mentioned that already, so I’m sorry if I have.  But if I haven’t, then I’ve pretty much given up on it.  Maybe I’ll get around to it eventually.

I can’t think of anything else, so have a great day!

Here’s What I Found

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Remember when I said I was looking for some new podcasts?

I found some!  I have no clue whether I’ll like them or not, since I haven’t started listening to any of them, but I found a bunch that seem really interesting.  There are so many, though, that it got a little overwhelming, but for now, I think I’m good.

I downloaded one on the history of children’s literature, which seems really interesting.  It covers everything from fairy tales to poetry to Disney, and I can’t wait to listen to it.

I came across one that’s about zombies in literature.  I knew I had to listen the second I saw zombies.

And the one about mythology looks pretty cool.  It looks like it mostly focuses on Greek mythology, but that’s okay, because Greek mythology is really interesting.

The last one I wanted to bring up for right now is the sociology of mass communication.  While I find the role the media plays in our lives interesting, there are so many other things that play a role in our lives, so I may have to go looking for a few more…

I found everything in iTunes, under the iTunes U section.  They have podcasts, both audio and video, and it looks like they have actual courses.  But I haven’t look at any of them, so I can’t say for sure.  But it’s all very exciting.

I can’t really think of anything else for today, so I’ll be back tomorrow!

For The Love Of History And English

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I love history.  So much, in fact, that I will read it on my own.

See, me reading history, on my own, for fun, seems to confuse some people.  And me reading for fun seems to confuse people too, especially if I’m reading anything that’s an “English class book.”  An “English class book” is basically my phrase for books that are considered classics…basically, anything you’d probably read in an English class.  It’s almost like I have to be reading it for a class, because people apparently don’t read Pride And Prejudice or Dracula for fun.  But I really need to read more classics, because there are a lot of books that I haven’t read, and I feel like I’m missing out on some books I feel like I need to read at least once.

Like The Diary Of Anne Frank.  I have NEVER read it, and I swear I’m not making this up.  I don’t think we even read an excerpt of it.  1984?  Never read it either.  Lord Of The Flies?  If you guessed that I haven’t read it, you guessed right.  I definitely need to read some of these books, but if I don’t like them, that’s fine, because the goal is to at least try to read them.

But back to history.  It’s true, I don’t have a degree in history.  And I don’t have one in English either.  Nope.  My degree is in sociology.

A lot of people think I studied English.  I understand that, because I like writing, and I read a lot.  Sometimes, it is entertaining to see people’s reaction when I tell them I studied sociology and not English.

On rare occasion, someone thinks I studied history, because I like reading Tudor history.  Someone even asked me once why I studied sociology, and not English or history.  Since I really like history, and I really like reading, it would make sense to study it, right?

Not exactly.  See, I love reading, and I find history really interesting.  But I know that those are 2 things that I will continue to do.  It’s not that I like sociology more because I have a degree in it.  It’s really that I know I don’t need any kind of encouragement or pushing to do it on my own.  I guess you could say that I’m a self-learner…I have no problem doing it on my own.

I do wish that I had the chance to take more history and English/literature classes.  There were more than a few that looked interesting.  But with an entire section of iTunes that’s devoted to podcasts posted by universities, I’ll be able to “take” some classes.  While there are a lot of classes that don’t seem to be posted, there are still more than enough podcasts for me to pick from.  Plus, they’re free, I can listen to them at my own pace, and I don’t have to do any homework or assigned reading.  I’ve looked it before, but wasn’t too interested.  But it’s time to listen to something new, I think, and I might as well see what’s out there.  I’ll definitely talking about them in the near future.

Sharing Is Caring!

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Here are some more blogs I thought I’d share with everyone.  I’ve come across them pretty recently, and they are pretty cool.  It’s actually occurred to me that I should probably add all of the blogs I read to Google Reader, since there are a lot of them.  It would be nice to have them all in one place, instead of going to each blog…

Meadowbrook Farm is pretty cool.  It has recipes and lots of photos.  I like the photos, they’re pretty!

Black*Eiffel also has some cool photos.  For some reason, I’ve been looking at a lot of photo blogs lately.

I also The Drifter And The Gypsy.  It’s mostly photos of different things that inspire the blogger.

I came across The Freedom Experiment because I saw a link to a post on gratitude on another blog I read.  I’m not completely sure about, but I’m intrigued enough to keep reading it for a while.

The Party Dress has some pretty cool party ideas.  I haven’t looked at the magazine or store, but the blog is really cool.

I think the last one for today is pretty light, which is another photography blog.    The photos are so pretty…

I think the next time I do one of these, I need to focus on the wordpress blogs I like.

My Apologies!

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While working on a post for Matched, I accidentally published it instead of saving it.

If it has appeared in your inbox, just ignore it.  My deepest apologies for the accident.

Time For Sharing

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Today, I’m sharing some of my new favorite blogs.  I like to check out what other bloggers read, and I got into this thing where a blog would lead me to another blog which would lead me to yet another blog.  And today is the result of that clicking.

Amongst The Oaks has some beautiful photographs.

I also like The Center Of My Self, which is an interesting blog.  It’s a little self-help-ish and motivational, but it’s still pretty interesting.

The Cottage Nest is also cool.  I love the photographs, and it feels very home-like.

I am nowhere near getting married, nor do I know anyone who is getting married.  But I really like Snippet & Ink, which is another blog that’s (mostly) photos.

Another favorite is simplesong, which is done by someone who owns a paper goods shop.  It’s another one that’s heavy on the photos, but it’s interesting to see some of the things she’s working on, as well as some of the things that she likes.

I think the final one for today is Patchwork Harmony, which is a home decorating blog.  It focus on a mix of vintage and contemporary things, and so many of the items featured are so cute!

I really like interior design and home decorating blogs.  They show some amazing rooms and finds.  And they’re fun to look at!  Maybe I’ll get some inspiration for a birthday present for my grandma…

T.V. Time

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It’s been a while since I talked about t.v., so I suppose it’s time to talk about it. 

Well, stuff is back on now. 

Mostly.

I watched the season finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  I used to watch it all the time, and then watched it sporadically.  But just when I got used to watching it again, it goes off the air!  I was surprised that I wasn’t crying, but then the last few minutes, with the old clips happened, and I was crying.  I’m sad, but they had a good run.

And for some reason, I felt the need to watch American Idol this week.  I have no idea why, since the last time I watched it was when the pants on the ground guy auditioned.  But my grandma was watching it, and I wanted to be with my grandma, so I watched it with her. 

I missed Once Upon A Time, because I forgot it was on.  And promptly remembered that it was one after it was over.  Because that is how things work.  I’m slightly annoyed that they showed a new episode of NCIS, only to take a break for a few week.  And I still need to catch up on Revenge and Person Of Interest.  For some reason, it’s getting harder and harder to remember to watch them.

I honestly can’t think of anything else, other than I’m excited that House is coming back on Monday with a new episode.  Have a great weekend!

Word For The Year

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I can’t remember where I got this idea, but knowing me, it was probably a blog or a podcast.

But I feel the need to pick a word to describe how I want my year to go.  Like hope or positivity or kindness or something.  Every word I think of seems so boring and cliché.

Like, positivity is good.  I try to be positive.  But do I really want it to be my own personal word of the year?  I’m not sure. 

Creativity?  Maybe.  I do want to be more creative, whether I’m writing, being craftsy, baking, or cooking.  There are so many ways of being creative, so maybe it’s a good word to have as my word.

Healthy comes to mind, but I feel like it’s because it’s a new year, and that’s the thing on everyone’s mind.  I do need to exercise, and I feel like I eat pretty well, but I’m not sure.

There’s no rule that I need to have, so maybe a list of words that I can think about and remember and incorporate into my life.

I don’t have a set list of resolutions this year, and I’m not sure why.  I mean, there are things I want to accomplish this year, but I can’t seem to get into it.  But this word for the year thing has.

Go figure.  I think I need to create a master list and then narrow it down from there.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk about my guiding word soon!

Post A Day

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I know it’s almost 2 weeks into the new year, and it’s probably a little bit late to be mentioning this…

…but I’ve decided that I just have to do the official wordpress post a day challenge.  I kind of, but not really, and very unofficially, did this last year.  Until I decided that posting every day was not something I wanted to do.  But I thought I’d try it on a more official basis. 

I’ll be talking about the usual stuff: t.v., movies, music, podcasts, and book reviews.  Plus, writing, if I ever do any, and random photos.  Last year, especially towards the last month or two, I felt like all I wrote about was t.v., music, and books.  And I’ll still talk about those things, but I’m more than a t.v. watching, music and podcast listening book reviewer. 

I feel like I need to talk about more than that, and I’ll definitely be planning my posts slightly more.  Not all of them, but definitely some of them.  I’ll be talking about t.v., but I don’t think it’ll be every week.  At least a couple times a month, maybe 3 depending on what’s going on with t.v. 

It should be an interesting challenge, and hopefully I can keep up the momentum.

Musical Lists

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I managed to come up with 2 lists, plus some honorable mentions.  One’s music-related and the other is podcast related, so enjoy!

My 5 Favorite Songs From 2011:

  1. Lights by Ellie Goulding.  I love this song.  It’s catchy and indie, pop and electronic all at the same time!
  2. Lily’s Theme from the Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Soundtrack.  It’s haunting, yet hopeful.  And the scene at the very beginning of the movie, with Snape looking over the school, with the dementors around the school?  Lily’s Theme fits it so well.  Come to think of it, a lot of the songs have a lot of the same elements…
  3. Heartbeat by The Fray.  I love The Fray!  And for some reason, I love this song.  It makes me feel happy.
  4. Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift, with The Civil Wars.  This song is HAUNTING.  It’s from the Hunger Games soundtrack, and the song fits it so well.
  5. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People.  I always want to sing along to it, and it’s such a good song!

An honorable mention goes to the rest of the HP and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 soundtrack.  Courtyard Apocalypse, Snape’s Demise, Severus and Lily, Harry Surrenders, and Procession are some of my other favorites from that soundtrack.

My 5 Favorite Podcasts:

  1. Greetings From Nowhere.  This was one of the first podcasts I listened to, and it’s fun listening to Christina and Nicole talk about their lives in Nowhere.  It makes me laugh and I keep finding that I jump right into the conversation.
  2. Tudor Talk: This was another podcast that introduced me to the lovely world of podcasting, and I love that it’s about the Tudors.  Tudor England is one of my favorite periods, so I get to hear about different movies, the t.v. show and books that are related to Tudor England.
  3. The History Chicks is another favorite podcast.  Every episode is about a real or fictional woman from history, and the hosts (Susan and Beckett) do the research and condense everything into an hour-long episode.
  4. Game Night Guys.  This is hosted by 2 guys who like board games.  They play a different game each week, explaining the rules and then making up their own.  One of them left, though, but another board-game loving friend joined the show as a co-host.  It’s still fun to listen to.
  5. The Gilmore Girls Re-watch Podcast is another favorite.  Every week recaps an episode of Gilmore Girls, and it’s fun to watch the episode right before listening.

Honorable mentions for favorite podcasts go to Cocktails and Creampuffs, Accio-Potter Wizard Radio, Hello Nessa, the Joy The Baker podcast and Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap.