Category Archives: General

Currently Obsessed With: The April Edition

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So, Currently Obsessed With is a monthly feature that I started at the beginning of the year to talk about all of my favorite things and latest obsessions.  I can’t believe this is my fourth one already!

So: nail polish seems to be a regular occurence with these posts, which is due to the ever-awesome Julep Maven Box, which you can see in the picture below.

Left To Right: Mariska, an add-on, Bailey, Fiora and Maren

Left To Right: Mariska, an add-on, Bailey, Fiora and Maren

So, it’s not the best photo, but I liked Mariska enough to get it as an add-on, but I haven’t worn it yet.  And I haven’t worn Maren yet either, but I have worn Fiora and Bailey.  I liked Fiora more than I expected, and while I like Bailey as color…it wasn’t the best polish to actually use.  It seemed gloopy, and it felt like it took forever to dry, which is pretty unusual for Julep.  However, Monaco, which was in one of the Maven boxes (not my usual one, unfortunately) is a similar color that isn’t gloopy, so I’d honestly go with that one instead.

I haven’t been crocheting much, so I’ve only done a little bit of work on my blanket.  So, no picture of it this month.  Partly because I haven’t worked on it much, but mostly because I forgot until right now, and quite frankly, I don’t really feel like it.  😦

I haven’t been in a reading mood the last week or two, which is weird for me.  I did go to the L.A. Festival Of Books with some friends and I had fun!  It took place on a Saturday and Sunday, and we went on the Saturday.  I didn’t make it into see John Green, because I didn’t get a ticket online, and I figured there would be no way I could get in to see him.  But I did see a panel on the YA stage with Kelley Armstrong (whom I haven’t read), Rachel Hawkins, Neal Shusterman, and the guy who wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles.  It was actually a great panel, and I liked hearing all of them talk!

I also went to the panel that Tahereh Mafi was on (with a couple other people I now want to read).  It was such a fun panel, and Tahereh is so adorable!  Actually, it was a pretty interesting, entertaining and hilarious panel, and I’m really glad I went to that panel.  It’s definitely a cool event, and there are a ton of booths.  I kind of wish I had gone to more panels, because you can only wander the booths so many times before you get a bit tired of them.  There is definitely a lot to look at, and I think one of my favorite things was this huge wall type thing where people could write what books inspired them.  I really wish I got a picture of it, because it was so amazing to see what books inspired people.  Plus, I went to Roscoe’s for the first time, and they have amazing waffles!

I haven’t been in much of a reading mood, but I have been in a t.v. watching mood.  I’ve been catching up on Nashville, which is cool, but I’ve spent a lot of the week making my way through Breaking Bad.  I know I’m way behind a lot of other people as far as Breaking Bad goes, but I can’t stop watching it!  While I do like to watch things live (because I weird like that), I’m also glad I don’t have to wait to watch the episodes

And I think I’m going to wrap this up with some music!  I’ve been listening to Lindsay Stirling a lot, and I am such a huge fan of hers!  Also, I’ve only listened to her new album once, but I’m already in love with it.  I even pre-ordered her album.  I rarely buy full albums, much less pre-order them, but I was just so excited I couldn’t help it!

1- Electric Daisy Violin from her self-titled debut album.  I could totally listen to this song on repeat!

2- Crystallize from her self-titled debut album.  Also a great song I could listen to on repeat.

3- Beyond The Veil from Shatter Me.  It’s such a great song, and while it’s different than her previous songs, it’s a good kind of different.

4- Shatter Me from Shatter Me, with Lzzy Hale.  Oh my god!  This is one of my new favorite songs!

5- Moon Trance from her self-titled debut album.  It’s a good song for Halloween, but I like that there’s this creepy feel to it.

That’s it for this edition of what I’m currently obsessed with!  I hope everyone has an excellent day today!

2014 Already?

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t believe it’s 2014 already!  It really does feel like 2013 went by really fast.

I feel like 2013 was a pretty good year, and all sorts of stuff happened.  I went to a few book signings, which was totally awesome, especially because they were the first book signings I have ever gone to! I’ll definitely be going to more, because they were totally fun to go to.

Speaking of books, I read an astounding 183 books!  I had a goal of 150, so clearly I exceeded expectations there.  According to goodreads, that amounts to 50,596 pages, which is a lot of pages. Overall, I really liked what I read, to the point that remembering what I don’t like is easier.  I really feel like I’ve gotten better at picking books I’m going to like, and that if I really strongly dislike something or am very not into something, I’m probably going to put it down and not finish it.  I’ve decided to aim for 160 books this year, and if the last couple years are any indication, then I’ll have no problem meeting that goal!  I don’t have much to add in terms of books, especially because I covered it pretty well in the bookish survey I did.  And my top books of 2013.  Oh, and this post I did my favorite new-to-me authors.

Writing this post is a little weird.  I’m so used to top ten lists and book reviews and Gilmore Girls recaps that writing something that isn’t one of those is really weird.  I definitely want to do more posts where I’m just talking about whatever, because I kind of miss those.  I’m not sure how often they’ll be, but at least one or two a month.

I get the Julep Maven box now!  I love nail polish, so a monthly box that contains nail polish is perfect for me.  There’s a really good chance I’ll be sharing them.  Like now!

January Maven Box

Left To Right: Mona, an add-on, and this months selection, Farrah, Annemarie, and Hope, plus, 2 unidentified orange squares

So, my box had Farrah, Annemarie, and Hope, and I decided that I like Mona (a nail polish included in a different box) enough to add that on to my box.  They also randomly include things sometimes, and I think the orange squares may be nail buffers, but I’m not quite sure…still, it’s always fun to get some mail that’s nice and fun.

Speaking of sharing, I think I’m going to share my crochet projects.  It wasn’t until last month that I actually started taking pictures of what I crochet (well, on a regular basis) because I was doing a few gifts for people and wanted to have pictures of what I made, so I might feature that too.  Even though I’ve been crocheting for a couple years, I still get intimidated, but I’d also like to get over that, so I’ll be trying new things as far as that goes.

Actually, I have a few ideas in mind for some fun posts, so when I hammer out the details, I’ll be sure to share!  There’s so much I want to do this year, both for my blog and in general, so I’ll do a post about resolutions sometime in the next week.  Once I narrow things down and such.  I’m definitely planning on taking a look back on the resolutions I did last year, so I think I want to take a look at that to figure out what to focus on this year.

I’m pretty sure I’m done rambling for today, so I hope everyone has a great 2014!

NaNo And Other Thoughts

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So, NaNo has been interesting.

I got bored with my original idea, so I started over with a new one.  I have remembered the importance of backing up…because Sunday morning, when I started writing, the file I had wouldn’t open, because the file was corrupt.  Thankfully, I didn’t lose everything, because I had saved a copy to dropbox, but unfortunately, everything I had written Saturday (which was few thousand words) all disappeared.

This is why you back up, and why I will have multiple copies from now until the end of the month, which is coming up soon.  That was a setback, but I am determined to get to 50,000 words.  Catching up is fun, and I’m still sure I can catch up.  Partly because I am word padding, but also because I don’t want this to be the first year I don’t complete 50,000 words.  50k or bust!

I’m currently at 31,879 words, and I’m hoping to be around 40,000 by the end of today.  That’s a little bit less than where I really need to be, but that’s close enough that I’ll be able to catch up if I write like I maniac the rest of the week.

In other news, I finished my goal of 200 books.  It’s weird that it started out as 115, which I kept changing until I finally left it at 200.  That review will be coming this week.  It’s so weird that I’ve read so much.  Like, do I want to do something more next year?  Keep it the same?  Or do I want to make it low, and see what happens?  I’m not sure, so I’ll have to think about it over the next few weeks.  Maybe I should see where I end up at before deciding anything.  It was definitely a fun year reading, but it won’t stop just because I reached the goal that would not stop changing.

I think that’s it for now, because I really to start writing!  Those words aren’t going to write themselves.

Storm Glass

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Book: Storm Glsss by Maria V. Snyder

Published by Mira Books

Purchased for my Nook (448 pages)

Genre: YA: Fantasy

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Maria Snyder

Goodreads Summary: As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it’s time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan’s glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers–particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade–require Opal’s unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance–including her own–Opal must control powers she hadn’t known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she’s ever known.

I’m quickly becoming a fan of Maria Snyder.  She really does come up with some interesting ideas, and her worlds seem to be pretty distinct.

First, I just love the names in Storm Glass!  They’re a little fantasy-esque, but for fantasy names, they’re not too crazy or out there.  I loved that she didn’t feel confident in her abilities, but became more confident over the course of the novel.  I loved how she used her magic- through glass animals that are used to communicate.

Snyder did a fairly good job at creating a memorable world, although there were times when I felt like I was missing something.  There are plenty of details and I had a good sense of what was going on…but there were times when I felt like I was reading the series out of order.

Other than that, I really like the setting.  And the society that Snyder created was also interesting.  I loved that there were a lot of people who had magic manifest in different ways and yet ended up in the same classes as everyone else because no one knew what to do with them.

The glass-making is a really interesting aspect, and I really enjoyed seeing it used in a really interesting way.  I also enjoyed seeing the Stormdancers and what they did.

I liked Opal, and how she doubted herself but still did what she needed to do.  She felt very human and flawed, and I liked that she wasn’t completely sure of herself.  But I felt like she did become more confident by the end too.

I didn’t like the love triangle, which wasn’t really a big surprise, because it felt really forced.  With both guys.  As much as I love romance, I’d rather it not be in there than feel like it’s there to create conflict.  There are a quite a few characters, but I think I liked Opal the best.

Storm Glass gets a 4 out of 5.  It’s a really interesting world, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

A Look Back At September

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September is over, and October is here, which means it’s time for my usual monthly round-up and look ahead.

Gilmore Girls Project: I talked about Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5 and Episode 6.

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books On My Fall TBR List, 10 Books That Make You Think, 10 Bookish People I Want To Meet, and 10 Series I Haven’t Finished

Books: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout

UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones

Daughter Of The Forest by Juliet Marillier

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Other Posts: I talk about Pride48 and share the video for Crazy World

And this month, I plan on reviewing The Casual Vacancy, And The Band Played On, Queen Of Fashion and quite a other books.  We can’t forget about Top 10 Tuesday or The Gilmore Girls Project, and at the end of the month, I’ll be talking about NaNo.  There’s definitely a lot in store this month!

Fun Times

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So, over the weekend, I listened to the Pride48 marathon.  And while I didn’t get to listen to every single podcast, I still listened to a lot.  It was so fun listening to all the different podcasts- from the ones I love to the ones I don’t normally listen to.  I’ll definitely miss it, and I can’t wait until next year.  It was so fun to listen to!

Over the weekend, I went shopping for a bedspread.  And I really need to complain about this.

So, my old bedspread had this really big hole in it, so I was in desperate need of a new one.  I kind of, sort of, but not really looked at a few places online, and didn’t really find anything, so I figured it was time to stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bedspread or comforter for a twin bed?

Pretty impossible in the store I was out.  Mind you, they have a great selection of bedding, and I did find one that I really liked.

But I didn’t have much to choose from, because…having a twin bed eliminated most of my choices!  If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that most people who sleep in a twin bed are either 10 year-old girls or in a college dorm.  That also eliminated most of the remaining choices.  Nothing against the  dorm-room bedspreads, but I just didn’t like them, and the 10-year-old girl ones…let’s just say that’s a bit too young for me.  It’s been a while since I’ve been 10.

I did manage to avoid bedskirts, and the more I see my new bedspread, the more I love it, so it’s cool.

I am curious as to whether it’s just this particular store or if it’s just in general.  I get that certain age groups need twin-sized bedding more than others, but a more varied selection would have been nice.

And now I have this need to go to different stores and check their bedding section just to see what they have.

Not much is going on right now…but I am going to an alpaca farm on Saturday! I am so excited, and there will definitely be a post about it!  Although I’m slowly starting to get ready for NaNo- I can’t believe it’s almost that time again. Hopefully it’ll go better than last year…I just need an idea!  Or 5, or something.

I honestly think that’s it for today, so happy Wednesday!

Pride48!

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So, this is weekend is Pride48!  It’s 48 hours of live podcasting, and I’m super-excited.  I can’t believe I didn’t mention it before, but there’s still today and tomorrow, if you want to check out any of the podcasts, and I’m sure most (if not all) of the podcasts will go up on the Pride48 website.  And probably through each podcast.  Maybe I’ll find some new podcasts to listen to!  Because 57 aren’t enough.

There are more than a few I’m excited about, like Cocktails And Creampuffs, Greetings From Nowhere, What Some Would Call Lies, the Satyrsphere and Game Night Guys…to name a few.  Also a bunch I’ve never of, or have heard of but never listened to.  Sadly, I didn’t make it out to Vegas this year, but maybe next year.  It’s been fun hanging out in the chat room though.

Big Fatty’s show was great.  I have no clue why I *don’t* listen to Big Fatty, but since I’ve subscribed, I’ll be able to listen to every single episode!  Cocktails and Creampuffs was great, and hilarious.  And Greetings From Nowhere was great as usual.  I missed the first 5 to 10 minutes for the Satyrsphere because I turned off the stream and it took forever to connect!  But…it was a great episode!  It’s just fun to hear some of my favorite podcasts live.  And a whole weekend of podcasts just make it more fun!

There’s really not much else to say…at least for now.  But I’ll probably talk about some of the other podcasts next week.  Maybe.  We’ll see.

I’m super tired, since I’ve been up for a really long time.  I think I’m off to bed!  Have a happy weekend everyone!

Closing Ceremonies

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The Olympics are officially over, and now I don’t know what to do with myself.  Sleep, I guess.  My interest definitely dropped off the second week, but I still found myself watching track and field until all hours of the night.  It’s been fun, and Rio seems like a long 4 years away.

I love Closing Ceremonies.  They’re a lot more fun, and a lot less formal than Opening Ceremonies.  The music was great!  Our House is a great song.  One Direction!  I really wanted to sing along…I should have because my grandma’s the only one who would hear me.

Stomp!  Definitely cool.  It feels so much more random.  I love random, so it’s cool.

I love how they’re all walking in together.  It feels like a lot of people are sticking with their respective countries and aren’t really hanging out with anyone else.  Then again, it’s hard to tell a lot of the uniforms apart.  It’s still early, so that could change as it goes on.  Although it’s weird to me that there are athletes who go home after they’re done competing.  Why wouldn’t you stay and get the whole experience?

Loved the Lucha Libre masks.  So cool!

Random question: for the long distance running events…why do they run in a single-file line?

The actual events felt a lot more U.S.-centric than in previous Olympics.  It’s like the rest of the world didn’t matter.  Except for China.  I think they’re the exception.  Like, “oh, we’re only showing these other countries because they happen to be competing against us.”  And it felt like the other athletes/countries we did get to see were the ones that are super-dominant in their respective sport.  It’s disappointing because I LOVE seeing everyone compete.  Not just the U.S. and whoever really good at running, swimming and gymnastics.

Not that it stopped me from watching, because I just couldn’t seem to turn it off.

Bohemian Rhapsody?  They did that during the Opening Ceremony!  Stop recycling music!

John Lennon!  Loved the children’s choir singing.  And George Michael!  His performance was just okay though.

You know what happens when you don’t pay attention?  You miss a fashion show.  Or a more cheerful look at fashion.  Annie Lennox coming in on the ship was really strange.  From Willy Wonka to Russell Brand…wow, they’re really trying to be as random as humanly possible, aren’t they?

Loved the person getting video with their iPad.  And the really bright colors.  Fatboy Slim!

Taio Cruz?  I didn’t know he was from Great Britain.  And what the hell is Jessie J wearing?

Spice Girls!  I am so excited about this!  I think that’s my favorite part.  That old guy dancing to the Spice Girls was really amusing.  Oasis, oh my god.  This is almost as exciting as the Spice Girls.  And Wonderwall is one of my favorite songs EVER.  Totally sang along.

So…when are they handing things off to Rio?  I’m enjoying it and all, but they’re going to get there eventually, right?

Monty Python!  I’m so glad Monty Python made it in!  I don’t watch Doctor Who, so I don’t know if that made it in…because the tardis is the only thing I’d recognize, and I didn’t see it.  Anything else would go over my head.

They’re really big fans of Jessie J, aren’t they?  Was Adele unavailable or something, because you’d assume she’d be there performing.

Seriously.  YOU HAVE JESSIE J, ONE DIRECTION AND THE SPICE GIRLS, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE ADELE?  What kind of closing ceremony is this?  Maybe she couldn’t perform or something.

Rio!  Finally!  I was curious about what they’d do.  It was interesting, but I was definitely expecting it to be more festive and loud.  Where’s the fun and frivolity?  They don’t have to get all crazy, but something a little more festive.  Maybe they’re saving the party for the actual Olympics.  I’m so not going to remember this in 4 years.  It just didn’t stand out.

Cool fireworks though.  And I can’t believe I didn’t mention the stage before!  Very cool that it’s the shape of GB’s flag.

I liked Closing Ceremonies but I thought the Opening Ceremonies were a lot better.  Wasn’t The Who supposed to perform, or did I miss that?  I wasn’t paying attention to parts of it, so I probably missed stuff.  But I don’t remember seeing The Who.

I’m going to miss watching the Olympics.  It’s too bad I’m not a big fan of the Winter Olympics.  But maybe I’ll tune into that.  At least I can watch Gilmore Girls in the meantime…

The Gilmore Girls Project

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I’m a huge fan of Gilmore Girls…and have decided to start a project relating to said show.  Gilmore Girls has been on my mind the last week or so, and after seeing watch-a-thons on a couple blogs I read (for 2 different shows), I decided to do one myself.

Why Gilmore Girls?  I love the show, and it’s been a while since I’ve watched it.  It wasn’t until I got all 7 seasons on DVD that I saw the show in its entirety (and in order, like you’re supposed to).  I saw random episodes on ABC Family, which is what got me into the show.  Season 7 was the only season I saw “live” and in order.  `

My plan is to watch an episode a week.  All GG Project episode posts will be posted on Mondays, and will start next week.

In non-GG Project news, I’m sad the closing ceremonies are tonight.  At least I have something to watch…

The Olympics Are Exhausting

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For the last week, I’ve been up until midnight watching the Olympics.  And it’s been exhausting, because I haven’t been sleeping much.  But it’s been worth it, because I love the Olympics.  Or maybe I’m just really weird or something.

I’ve been watching swimming, and even watched Michael Phelps’ last race.  It was exciting, and cool that he went out with a bang. Speaking of swimming…I watched synchronized swimming.  One, I didn’t want to watch tennis, and two, when else am I going to watch synchronized swimming.  I’m really impressed by how well they can hold their breath underwater.  And 8 to 10 hours training in and out of water?  I wouldn’t think that much training goes into it.

I watched track and field…and immediately wondered why I WAS WATCHING PEOPLE RUN.  Oh, right, because it’s on, and I have this insane need to watch whatever’s on when it comes to the Olympics.  But it was still fun.  Because this is pretty much the only time I care enough about track to watch.

Of course, I watched gymnastics and was glad to see Gabby Douglas win!  It’s too bad Aly Raisman didn’t win the bronze, but she still did really good!  Of course, I’m looking to event finals, which should be fun to watch.  The vault final was great to watch but the girl from Canada falling was scary.

I was really impressed and super-surprised by the fact that one of the gymnasts was 37.  That’s ancient for a gymnast, because most of them are 17 or 18.  Why isn’t this a story?  I totally thought I misheard the commentators, but then realized I did indeed hear her age correctly.  McKayla Maroney falling on vault was bizarre…and just shows that even though she was the clear favorite to win, anything can happen.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch any of the trampoline finals, but maybe I catch them in 2016.

At least they’ve played those annoying P & G sponsors moms commercials less.  Because, you know, dads don’t support their kids or anything.  If it were reversed, and they sponsored just the dads, people would be freaking out and talk of boycotting them would likely come up.

Before I start ranting, here are some random thoughts.

  • Volleyball: the changing sides thing doesn’t make a lot of sense.  The hats/visors/sunglasses at night (for beach volleyball) is a little strange, but kind of makes sense given the sand.
  • The female marathon runners look a lot skinnier than the women over in track.  I’m sure they’re all in great shape, but is it a distance and training thing?
  • The obstacles in the equestrian competition are really cool.  And now I want to go horse-back riding.
  •  I can’t imagine swimming without Michael Phelps.  It’s a strange thought.

I seriously can’t think of any other thoughts right now but I’m sure I’ll think of something as I continue to watch the Olympics.