Posting Fail

I've been so busy with homework and Bookworm Boulevard that I'm afraid I've kind of neglected The Word Nerd. I'm really sorry, guys! If I'm totally, bluntly honest...it's kind of a pain to keep up with two separate blogs. It's just difficult trying to make sure I keep up with all the book stuff on the other one and still find interesting things to post about and the time/motivation to post frequently here.

I'll still try to post from time to time, i.e. if I have something really interesting to post about, but I don't think it's going to be very often. I will still be updating BB frequently and you can definitely find me there.

Meanwhile, go listen to the songs "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette and "At Full Speed" by Jack's Mannequin. Because they're awesome.

~Bex

Why I Will Never Be An Economist

One of my summer assignments is to read a book called Naked Economics and do a double-entry journal with at least three responses per chapter (the class requiring this is AP Government and Macroeconomics, so it's not too weird). Naked Economics is not a bad book; actually, in a lot of places it's quite funny, and some of it even makes sense.

But the thing is...even the parts that make sense confuse me. The chapter I just finished contained lots of discussion about why it is good to be a mohair farmer even though there is no need for mohair. Then the author said that programs like that should not exist because they make people angry, then he said that everyone has the mohair advantage in some way.

I followed it, mostly. I understood the analogies and I understand how the stuff he's talking about fits into our economic system. But when I think about it as a whole, I still have no idea what he's talking about. I get it...but I don't get it. Which, of course, makes no sense at all.

Hopefully taking a class in economics will clear some of this up. But in the meantime, this book has taught me one very important thing: I should never be an economist.

Love,
Bex

College Searching: William & Mary and University of Richmond

Sooo over the last few days, I was in Virginia to visit colleges: the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and the University of Richmond, which is located, predictably, in Richmond. It was a lovely trip: I really, really liked William & Mary, and UR was very nice too. So nice to have a college that I'm really excited about! I am definitely planning to apply to W&M. It felt very home-like, and the atmosphere there was just great. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and I got the sense that academics are really important there - studies do matter - but that everyone has other things that they're involved in as well. I really like that.

UR was a nice school too - just as beautiful was Williamsburg but in a totally different way. I can definitely understand why a lot of people really liked it. I probably won't end up applying there - it wasn't really me - but it's a very nice place.

In other news, my cat decided to wake me up this morning around five by throwing up on my bed. Welcome home, Becky.

Off now to get some summer work done. I can't believe there are only 18 days until school starts back. I am running out of time to get stuff done and still spend as much time as possible reading... O.o

Love,
Bex

A Movie You Simply MUST See

So, as my dear friend SP reminded me just a moment ago, I totally fail at recommending awesome things to you guys, because I didn't tell you that you absolutely HAVE to go see the new Christopher Nolan film Inception.

(Okay, so he was a bit nicer about it than that. He said "I'm surprised you didn't blog about Inception." And once he mentioned it, so was I! I think it was the fact that I was up until, uh, 6a.m. the night I saw it.)

But I digress. Inception is this totally awesome sci-fi kinda movie starring Leo DiCaprio and Ellen Page and some other very talented actors, and it's about a technology that lets you get into other people's dreams. Dom Cobb and his team, including new architect Ariadne, are on a mission that might let Cobb finally go home: they have to infiltrate the dreams of a businessman's son and plant an idea there, a process called inception. (Normally, dream invading is just used to steal secrets - extraction.) Also there are ghosts from Cobb's past, namely, his dead wife; really awesome fight scenes involving antigravity hotels and tanks in the snow; a noticeable lack of sex scenes (finally, a movie that isn't just a sham of a plot and a torrid love affair); and most of all, it makes you THINK.

I loved loved loved Inception. You totally have to see it. It is so, so, so awesome.

~Bex

Book Rec + Quotes

So, you guys, you need to read The Demon's Covenant. Because it was amazing.

HOWEVER, it is a SEQUEL. Yes, that means there is a book that comes before this one. And yes, you do need to read The Demon's Lexicon first because otherwise The Demon's Covenant will make no sense whatsoever.

But that's okay, because The Demon's Lexicon is also awesome.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from TDC:

" 'Well, that sounds ominously nonspecific,' Jamie remarked. 'How could I refuse?' "

" 'I cook better than you,' Nick corrected absently. 'I think monkeys can probably be taught to cook better than you.'
'I'd like to have a monkey that cooked for me,' said Jamie. 'I would pay him in bananas. His name would be Alphonse.' "

"That was not a shriek. It was a husky masculine cry of terror." -Jamie

" 'Don't be sad, Mae,' Jamie said. 'This will be good training for when we are ninjas.'
'Ninjas often get distracted by plants, do they?' Mae smirked."

My review of TDC is here. And you should check it out and stuff. Because guys, this series is awesome.

Assorted Things on Thursday

1. I got books in the mail today! I won a contest on Elizabeth Scott's blog and received an ARC of The Replacement (which I really really really wanna read) and a copy of Only the Good Spy Young (which is a totally awesome book).

2. Sorry I'm so slack about the blog lately! I think trying to post every day or every other day is just rather a bit much, especially in summer when there is nothing going on and I'm working on thesis and college-searching and summer homework and not doing anything. So don't look for daily posts (I'm making an effort to have a life, too - we'll see how that goes XD), but I'll still try to keep up pretty regularly.

3. I hate having to annotate books. I don't like the idea of writing in books, it feels almost sacrilegious, and also it distracts me while I'm reading. I would much rather read a thought-provoking book and then discuss it or talk about it without all the "make sure you WRITE DOWN everything you think while you're reading it!!!" And I mean, I like to write. *sigh* Stupid summer homework.

4. If you don't know the song "Lift Us Up to Fall" by Tenth Avenue North, you should go listen to it, because it's awesome.

5. I really like round numbers, so I had to add an item #5 to this list so I wouldn't drive myself crazy. Have a wonderful remainder-of-July/summer!

College Searching

I spent my first day back from Georgia sorting through piles and piles of college mail. I've been getting college letters in the mail for ages, and I never quite know what to do with it, so it's all gone into a pair of canvas bags and sat there for (days, weeks, months). Today, I sorted it all out. Well, all of it that I kept, anyway. So, here, have some random statistics:

-Number of states represented: 30, plus Washington, D.C.

-States with largest number of colleges represented: South Carolina (13), Georgia (12), and New York (12)

-State whose colleges sent me the most mail: South Carolina (45 pieces of mail)

-State whose colleges sent me the most mail, excluding SC: New York (25 pieces of mail)

-Colleges who sent me the most mail: Carleton College (10) and University of Chicago (9)

That's all I'm coming up with, statistics-wise, right now. More later.

Love,
Bex