The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels To Tractor Wheels

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Book: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels To Tractor Wheels- A Love Story by Ree Drummond

Pages: 341 (Hardcover)

What I Thought: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels To Tractor Wheels is the story of how Ree Drummond (also known as The Pioneer Woman) fell in love with her cowboy husband. 

I love her blog and I like her show.  I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I desperately wanted to like it. 

But I couldn’t.  I found myself hating it the more I read it. 

It’s divided into three parts- the first part was fairly decent, the second part okay, and the third part…well, it was slightly more realistic than the rest of the book.  It was readable, but read too much like a blog entry as opposed to an actual story.  Just because you’re a blog writer doesn’t mean that a book you right should sound exactly like your blog. 

I felt Ree was really shallow, and really self-absorbed.  She went on an on about how cute and amazing and thoughtful the Marlboro Man (her husband) was.  But it was really hard to see why he seemed to be so in love with her, the way she went on about clothes, shoes, make-up and how clumsy she was. 

Oh, speaking of her husband…she NEVER mentioned her husband’s real name the entire time.  NOT ONCE IN 341 PAGES DID YOU SEE HIS NAME!  I got referring to him by the Marlboro Man in the first part, since she saw him at a bar and never got his name.  However, once she started dating him, you’d think we’d get his name.  Nope, not going to happen.  Not even during their wedding was his given name mentioned.  It’s cutesy in her blog, and even the first few chapters of the book, but after a couple hundred pages, it’s not so cute anymore.  In fact, the only mention of his name is on the book jacket.  WTF, Pioneer Woman, WTF? 

She was definitely ill-prepared for being a cowboy’s wife.  The way she tells it, her husband and his family never talked to her about what it would be like living on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.  She often worried about what to wear when she was going to the ranch.  It’s like it never occurred to her to ask him what she should wear.  But then again, the clothes she described didn’t seem suitable to living on a ranch.  

Ree seems to be living in a fantasy world the whole book.  She portrays her relationship with Ladd as a fairy tale, and he’s her Prince Charming.  For someone who wants to be independent, she really seems to be dependent on other people.  There’s no mention of her having a job, she spends her time at home or at Ladd’s ranch, and seems to depend on her parents for everything.  Her parents marriage falls apart, and they get a divorce, but she seems to be in denial about what’s going on.  When she isn’t, she really doesn’t seem to care that her parents are getting a divorce.  She doesn’t seem to care about Mike, her developmentally disabled brother, and often tells him to leave her alone.  She seems to gloss over a lot of really bad things, exaggerates things that really aren’t a big deal, and doesn’t ask her parents if there’s anything she can do to make things easier for them.

And as for the relationship between Ree and Ladd, I could see why she liked him and why she was attracted to him.  But nowhere did I see why he might love her.  I felt like their relationship was based more on passion and chemistry, but it seems rather surprising that it seems to be happy and successful.  Maybe I’m a cynic, but while I like a certain amount of fluff…this was way too fluffy for my tastes. 

Rating: 1 out of 5.  I didn’t like it, and while it was meant to be a sappy fairy tale, I felt a dose of realism was needed.

In My Headphones

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I feel like talking about music, so that’s what I’m going to talk about.  I have some new music I’ve been listening to, so I’m sharing some of the songs I’ve been playing on repeat. 

  • Just A Kiss by Lady Antebellum: I’ve become obsessed with this song over the weekend!  I heard on the radio, and even though I missed part of the song, I still fell in love with the song.  I was hoping the dj would have mentioned who the artist was, since I didn’t know who it was.  It didn’t matter, though, since I guessed (correctly) that it was Lady Antebellum. 
  • Mischief Managed by Oliver Boyd And The Remembralls: I love this song, and I love listening to it over and over.  It’s all about the Marauder’s Map, and I like Oliver Boyd And The Remembralls because it’s not obvious that the songs are about Harry Potter!  It’s a really fun song.
  • Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix Soundtrack: I checked it out from the library, and I like it.  It’s a mix of really dramatic and really fun, but Fireworks and Dumbledore’s Army are my 2 favorite songs. 
  • May It Be: It’s from the Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring soundtrack, which I checked out from the library just so I could listen to this song.  I haven’t listened to the rest of it yet, but I’m definitely going to do that.
  • Wrock: I’ve been listening to it a lot lately…I’ve been in a wizard rock kind of mood.  Gred and Forge, Draco and The Malfoys, and The Whomping Willows have been in heavy rotation.  And of course, Oliver Boyd And The Remembralls.  I definitely need to work in Harry And The Potters, since it’s been a while since I’ve listened to them.  I’ve been listening to Accio-Potter Wizard Radio too, to get my fix.  According to their website, though, they’re not going to be doing any more episodes, which makes me sad.  At least I can listen to the episodes they did do, over and over again.

With all the podcast listening I’ve been doing, it’s a wonder I manage to listen to any music…maybe I need to find some music podcasts to listen to.

More Podcast Talk

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I went look for some more podcasts over the weekend.  I got caught up on the one’s I listening to, and found a ton of new podcasts to listen to.  Some I found at iTunes, but there were a bunch I found over at Pride48, which had their 48 hour marathon event.  I guess they have it every year, and since some of the podcasts I listen to were participating, I thought I’d listen this year.

I had heard of some of the podcasts before, but never listened to, so I downloaded those.  And there were a bunch I downloaded that I had never heard of.  I’ve listened to a few of them, and I’ve definitely found some new podcasts to listen to.  There are definitely a few that I tried listening to months ago but couldn’t get into.  I think I’m going to give them another listen, because I definitely have a few podcasts that I tried listening to, deleted, and then listened again…and liked them.

Back to Pride48, though.  It was really fun listening, especially since all of the Vegas shows were live, in front of an audience.  There were quite a few shows that weren’t broadcast from Vegas, but overall, it was really fun.  It made me wish I was there, but that really wasn’t an option this year.  And I don’t know if a non-podcaster can attend anyway….maybe if I start podcasting, I’ll be able to go next year, even if I don’t do the live show thing.  And hanging out in the chatroom was really fun!  I mostly lurked, but every once in a while, I commented on something.  I can’t wait for next year!

Anyway, I have lots of potential new podcasts to try out, and maybe some of them will stick.  I’ll probably post some kind of podcast update when I get through everything.

Fruits Basket, Volume 11

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Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages: 200 (Paperback)

What Did I Think? In Volume 11, Akito keeps the zodiac with him during the day, leaving Kyo and Tohru alone.  Akito and Kureno set off to meet the Tohru the next day, because Akito thinks that Tohru needs to learn that she is no match for him.  After seeing Kyo and Tohru having fun at the beach, Akito decides that Kyo needs to learn the lesson first.  We meet Rin Sohma, who is the horse in the zodiac, but Tohru and Yuki promise they won’t tell anyone she’s there.  Akito asks for Kyo and asks if Kyo is any closer to succeeding in the bet they had going.  Akito goes to see Tohru before leaving, and tells her to stop interfering.  Akito reveals that Kureno is the rooster, and that Akito is the god of the zodiac.  Tohru vows to break the zodiac curse.

I liked this volume, and this is the real turning point in the story.  I think this might be my favorite in the series so far, because you see Kyo wanting to protect Tohru, and realizing that it won’t be easy, and you see Tohru resolving to break the curse so her friends will be okay and so they can be free from Akito.

And of course, no volume of Fruits Basket is complete without fan art, which is always really cool to see.  We also learn about the year of the sheep.  I miss the random ultra special blah-blah-blah column, but at least she has random side notes to read, which are always interesting.

Rating: 5 out of 5.  If I could give it a higher rating, I would.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

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Book: Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Pages: 341 (Paperback)

What Did I Think? In Chamber of Secrets (CoS), the Chamber of Secrets is opened.  Harry gets a visit from Dobby, a house-elf who works for the Malfoy family.  He warns Harry that something terrible will happen if he returns to Hogwarts.  Harry makes his way to the Weasley house after Fred, George and Ron come to get him.  He finally makes his way to Hogwarts, with Harry and Ron taking Mr. Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia since they can’t get to the Hogwarts Express.

Several students, plus Mrs. Norris get petrified by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets.  Hermione, Ron and Harry brew the Polyjuice potion to figure out who the Heir of Slytherin is.  People thought it was Harry after the school learned he was a Parselmouth (one who can speak to snakes) after an incident at the dueling club.  Moaning Myrtle is a girl who haunts the school after being killed the first time the Chamber opened, most notable the bathroom where she died.  Let’s see…we also meet Aragog, who is a spider that Hagrid found.  Everyone thought that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets and so he was expelled.  Aragog isn’t the creature who was in the Chamber.  In fact, Aragog is scared of the monster in the Chamber.  We find out that the monster is a basilisk, who travels the pipes…and those must be some pretty big pipes.

Ginny, Ron’s younger sister, is taken into the chamber, and Ron and Harry go to rescue her, along with Professor Lockhart.  However, Ron and Lockhart get left behind after Lockhart’s attempt to obliviate Ron and Harry backfires.  Harry saves Ginny, destroys a diary that belonged to Tom Riddle, kills the basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor, and Ginny realizes that she was possessed by Voldemort and was the one behind the attacks.

There’s a lot of adventure, and some mystery.  It’s amazing how many clues are in the book, and how a lot of the places and creatures seen in this book are important to later plot points.  There is a lot going on, and I wish could throw in every little detail, but I can’t.  Especially I want to try to practice condensing HP to a few paragraphs…this will be especially important for books 4 through 7.

Back to CoS, though, Lockhart is hilarious, and completely useless as a Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher.  Another favorite moment in CoS is when Hermione transforms into a cat (on accident, of course) after drinking the Polyjuice Potion.  While I like CoS, I think I would place it behind Sorcerer’s Stone.  A lot of the things and places and people do make another appearance somewhere in the series, and I love the details.  I love how things that don’t seem important and are insignifcant in this book show up to be more important.  One of my favorite things about CoS is that there’s still a sense of innocence.  There are some very bad, evil things in the wizarding world, but it’s far off in the distance…at least to a certail extent.  There’s no Voldemort, not really, anyway, and things are solved easily.  Things are still pretty black and white, with no real shades of grey.

Rating: 4 out of 5.  While not one of my favorites, it’s still really good, and sets up some stuff that’ll be revealed in later books.  And there’s a little bit of everything in the series, as well as this book.

Off In TV Land

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I’m really excited about all the t.v. season (and series) premieres.  So what am I watching?  House, which I hope gets better this season.  I don’t know what to make of Lisa Edelstein being gone, so we’ll wait and see.  Grey’s Anatomy, of course, and I’m really interested in this season.  I really hope Meredith and Derek can work things out, because the whole “things are fine, and then they aren’t, but, oh hey, things are fine again” thing is getting really old.  But then again, it wouldn’t be Grey’s Anatomy if things were hunky-dory with Meredith and Derek.  I haven’t followed any spoilers for House or Grey’s Anatomy, so I have no clue what’s going to happen.  I’m the most excited about NCIS, and I’ve followed every possible spoiler I can get my hands on.  We find out who the mole is, EJ comes back and we meet another FBI agent, who I think is going to make a few appearances over the course of the season.  And this is all in the premiere.  It sounds like there’s all kinds of fun stuff going on this season.

I’m also watching America’s Next Top Model, which is something I only watch every once in a while.  This season is the all-star season, but what I want to know is why it took 16 seasons to do an all-star season.  I was really hoping Shannon would go home, because she’s super-annoying, and her whole “the lace shorts look like underwear, and underwear is reserved for the bedroom for my husband to see, so I’ll wear really skimpy bikini bottoms instead” logic makes no sense.  I felt like hurling something at the t.v.  It looks like there will be lots of drama, but since it’s ANTM, you need to have drama.  And I’ll finally be able to watch CSI this season!  I never could before, since it was always on at the same time as Grey’s Anatomy.  Watching it online never occured to me, so I’ve only seen random re-runs on tv and the entire 1st season.  Since it’s on a completely different night, and doesn’t clash with anything else I’m watching (that I know of, anyway), I’ll be able to watch it!  I don’t know how much of it will make sense, but it is my favorite of the 3 CSI shows.  I can’t stand Miami, and New York was somewhat tolerable before Sela Ward came on.

As far as brand new shows, I’m looking foward to Once Upon A Time, Terra Nova, and Revenge.  I, very vaguely, remember what Once Upon A Time and Terra Nova are about, based on trailers, but they look really interesting.  And Revenge looks really cool too, but I can’t remember when it’s on.  I think it’s on at the same time as something else I’m watching, and since I don’t have a DVR of any sort, I’ll have to try and watch it online.  Actually, I just googled it, and it’s on at the same time as CSI.  Maybe I’ll go back and forth, and see which one I should watch online.  And Person Of Interest seems interesting too, but that’s one I’ll have to watch online, since it goes up against Grey’s.  There’s no way I’m missing Grey’s for some new show!

There’s definitely a lot to look foward to, so I’ll probably have recaps after each show premieres.

Random Side Note: I got a jar of Nutella at the grocery store yesterday because I keep hearing about how awesome it is, and because I’ve seen it pop up in a few recipes.  I tried it, and I love it!  Seriously, I love it as much as peanut butter, and I really love peanut butter.  I’ll have to find some recipes that involve it…after I get another jar, since the one I have is the smallest one they had, and I don’t think it’ll last long…

Day Of The Video

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Okay, since I have no clue what to write about today, I have some videos to share.  I’ve found them in random places, but they’re really entertaining.

First, we have the Crazy Honey Badger video.  I recommend having the sound ON while watching this, because the narration is really what makes the video great.  And if you have the sound off, it’s just a bunch of nature footage.

Next is the Original Badger Song.  I never knew this video existed until I saw it posted on Facebook.  As a proud Hufflepuff, I bow down to the Badger.

The next video is the Potter Rock Anthem (Now I’m HufflePufflin).  Is it weird that I started singing along?  I think it’s one of my favorite parodies.

We R Slytherins is a parody of We R Who We R by Ke$ha.  I think I found it while watching the video above, but I can’t remember for sure.

And the final video for today is Harry Potter in 99 Seconds.  I found it over at The Last Muggle, and it’s one of my favorites.  I’m amazed they managed to condense 7 books into 99 seconds!

I hope you enjoyed the videos, I may post a few more another day.

More Dream Talk

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Okay, I’ve been thinking about dreams for the last couple days.  I’ve had a few of them over the last week or so, and I’ve noticed an interesting pattern.  I’ve been writing in my journal before I’ve gone to bed several times, and that’s when I have memorable dreams.  What I’m wondering is how writing in my journal before bedtime affects my dreams. 

I feel like there is a connection, like writing about my thoughts and feelings somehow opens up my mind to deal with everything.  I have some sleep issues- sometimes, I just can’t sleep for no reason, but other times, I just can’t shut my mind off, and I’m worrying.  So to help me calm down, I write in my journal, and then I’m able to get to sleep.  Writing doesn’t make it completely go away, but at least I’m calm enough to go to bed.  It’s like my brain is going “you’re writing about it, it must be okay to work this out in your sleep.” 

As far as novel-writing goes (since I feel like I need to include it), throwing in a dream sequence or two is a really good way to word-pad.  Gone are the days when I would use nefarious means to word-pad my NaNo’s, but if it’s something that I feel lis necessary, I’ll definitely include it.  I don’t think any of my bizarre dreams have worked their way into my novels, but writing dreams is always entertaining.  It’s really easy to write something off-the-wall, and have a character keep talking about it.  The great thing about dream sequences is that they can be anything, and if you have some crazy scene or some wacky character that you can’t get out of your head, then a dream is a really good way to get it in there. 

Of course, I do like to throw random stuff in just for the hell of it.  It can be pretty fun, and it’s ALWAYS amusing whenever I re-read.  Actually, it makes an already amusing re-read EVEN MORE amusing.  ‘Cause…that’s how I roll.

I may or may not do a post about some of the cool videos I’ve come across.  I really don’t watch enough videos now that I think about it…

I think that’s it for now, so have a great day everyone!

I Have A Confession To Make

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I was going to be all productive over the weekend, and work on my plot bunnies.  I had high hopes of doing some character profiles, and actually attempt to make some decisions on what to do.  I was even going to do some writing on Saturday or Sunday.

So it should be no surprise that I didn’t do anything.  I didn’t write anything, I didn’t make any decisions, work on any of my characters…but I did write a couple of notes for one plot bunny.  And then realized that it was something I had written a few lines up.  So I didn’t even come up with any original ideas either. 

The clock is ticking, and I have just over 6 weeks to finish up these ideas.  It seems like a lot of time, but for a procrastinator like me, it’s really not that much time.  Maybe I need to spend some time at the library, since that seems to be one of the few places I can actually get any work done.

So, I’ll try to work on a couple characters, and try to decide what direction I want to go in for a couple of them.  I can’t promise that I’ll get any work done, since I seem to be really bad at it right now, but I’ll definitely try.  I just need to sit down and actually do it. 

Here’s hoping I will!

And The Dreams Keep Coming

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Over the last few months, I’ve had a few dreams where I’ve been at a grocery store.  According to Dream Moods, shopping for groceries means that I’m currently lacking some emotional or physical need- I might be in need of nurturance and/or fulfillment.  That’s what I get for writing in my journal about how anxious and worried I am right before I go to bed.  But to a certain degree, it is right. 

Or maybe it just means I’m not at all prepared for disasters, as evidenced by the ranom county-wide power outage last week.  Especially when it comes for food. 

I also had this dream a few days ago where I was running around this really weird looking locker room because there were 3 guys chasing me.  It was implied that I was attacked (or at least the very least, they tried).  I couldn’t get their names right, so no one could do anything about it.  The guys were happy about this.  One of the guys I met (but wasn’t after me- there were several men that I met that weren’t chasing after me), smiled at me, like he was going to try to do something terrible to me. 

Then I was randomly in a lecture hall, where the professor specialized in dead babies, especially orange leathers. 

And then I was at my house, where one of the neighbors came over in the middle of the night to tell me that one of my rearview lights was on.  I moved my car a little, and one of my tires was all weird.  Not flat, but something was wrong with it.  And then my battery died, and the neighbor said he’d fix it.  I woke up after that. 

I have no idea where to begin with that dream, but it was weird.  Especially the 2nd part, with the professor who specialized in dead babies/orange leather.  The dream wasn’t exactly clear on that, so I have no idea what the connection between the dead babies and the orange leather was. 

At least my dreams are somewhat entertaining.