Oh Canada

Not much of interest happened today, aside from deliberating over what classes I should take next year (AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Spanish, AP Calc, Honors Physics, AP Music Theory, and Newspaper, in case you were wondering, which you probably weren't). But one interesting thing that did happen today was the closing ceremony of the Olympics.

I haven't talked about the Olympics a whole lot, even though they've been going for the last two weeks. But the fact that I haven't talked about them doesn't mean that I haven't watched them. Granted, I haven't watched much - mostly the ice skating. Pairs, men's singles, ice dancing, and women's singles. Also some of the skiing - mostly the jumps. But still.

I saw Evan Lysacek win the gold medal in the men's singles figure skating competition:

And I saw Kim Yu-Na win the gold medal in women's singles figure skating:

She was fantastic. She definitely deserved to win. Seriously, some of the best and most engaging figure skating I've ever seen. She was fantastic. (Okay, so I'm a dork. I love watching figure skating. So sue me. It's awesome.) But I also thought Rachael Flatt, seventeen-year-old American high school senior, and Mirai Nagasu, sixteen-year-old American, deserved medals for their fabulous skating.

And then of course there was the ice dancing. Oh my goodness gracious. Ice dancing was probably my least favorite of the figure skating events...up until this year. The competition was fantastic. Congratulations to Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who really skated wonderfully:

Tessa and Scott were amazing, they really were. But, I felt like the Americans - Charlie White and Meryl Davis - really deserved to win. They were absolutely fantastic. And I kind of loved watching them. They were what changed my mind about ice dancing being boring. Could have watched them for hours:

  

So congrats on your silver medal, guys. I felt like you deserved the gold. You were fantastic. You are also not reading this, but all the same. Seriously, guys, if you get a chance to watch a video of their performance, watch it. Especially their free skate to Phantom of the Opera music. It was really, really, REALLY awesome.

And now, I must go. School in the morning and all that jazz. Catch ya later!

Love,

Bex

Spencer and Scarlett

So. I encountered a boy, about a week ago I think, and since then I've gotten to know him pretty well. He's really fantastic. I like him a lot.

His name is Spencer Martin. He's older than me - he's 19. He's got an amazing sense of humor and rarely fails to make me laugh out loud. He can cook, and he's an actor - physical comedy. Basically he does all sorts of awesome stunts that are really funny and take a lot of talent, and he's not afraid to speak his mind in front of people or be onstage. This is a very admirable quality. Also, Spencer is sweet, and he's nice to his siblings (definitely a good thing) and he's very protective of his younger sisters (he has 3) and he's polite and respectful but not afraid to try things and he definitely has a sense of adventure. Summary: he's amazing.

Unfortunately, he's also completely fictional. He's from Maureen Johnson's made-of-absolute-awesome novel SUITE SCARLETT. The crazy part? Spencer isn't even the love interest. He's Scarlett's older brother.

SUITE SCARLETT is about a girl named Scarlett Martin. Her family owns a hotel in New York City, but business has been bad and the family is running low on money ever since her younger sister Marlene's cancer treatment. Her older brother Spencer (who you've heard quite a bit about already >_>) is an actor who has a scholarship to a culinary school but would much rather act because that's what he's really great at and it's his passion. Meanwhile, Scarlett's older sister Lola is working hard to help the family and dating a rich guy that none of the siblings except Marlene really likes.

On each Martin's fifteenth birthday, she (or he, in Spencer's case) becomes responsible for one of the hotel's suites. Scarlett gets the fabulous Empire Suite - and also gets a long-term guest, the eccentric and baffling Mrs. Amberson. Around the same time, Spencer gets a part in a play. He also gets a cast-mate, Eric, who Scarlett may or may not be very interested in... so, naturally, Scarlett is about to have one of the craziest summers she can imagine.

I absolutely adored this book. I really did. SUITE SCARLETT made me laugh out loud. No, seriously - KD, ES, CJ, and AF were giving me strange looks as I sat in one of the cushy chairs in the library, giggling manically over this book. But despite the hilarity, it also had its "aww!!!" moments. And the characters are so real and believable and amazing and you cannot help but love them. It was a really really really fantastic novel and I absolutely recommend it. Also, I'ma brag for a minute and mention that I met the author very briefly in November. She's very nice, and she wrote one of the pep talks for NaNoWriMo (which I'm entirely sure you'll hear more about later). Anyway, you can (and should!) find out more about SUITE SCARLETT, Maureen Johnson, and her other books at her website and her blog. Oh, and because it would just be wrong of me to blog without posting the book cover.... here tis:

Cute, yes? At least, I think so.

Now, I realize this post is getting a bit lengthy, but I just have a couple more things I want to say. First, the speakers on my computer randomly started working again. So I still have no CD drive, but I have sound. This is a definite plus. Maybe technology isn't quite as evil as I thought. Second, I apologize for not posting last night, but I was too busy having a fantastic time with CJ, KD, AF, ES, ZH, NG, and Ducky. I love y'all! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Third (and last), technology may not be as evil as I thought it was, but the internet is still an insane place. I had to turn off comments on my old blog because I kept getting these spam comments from random companies - "Hello, I bet you would like to find out how to get X Magic Product!" Everything from insurance salespeople to the company that sells Viagra. I mean really. So, no more comments on that one. (Don't worry, comments are still welcome here. Unless you're trying to sell me something I do not want or need.)

And now, I'm going to stop this post, because it is getting quite long and I suspect I'll be rambling soon. Next thing you know I'll be writing a whole long string of paragraphs about prom dresses and Disney songs and how I should probably be doing homework. I'll write more later (i.e. tomorrow), when I'm less likely to be incapable of shutting up. As Tigger says, TTFN: Ta Ta for Now!

Love,
Bex

How I Know Technology Is Evil

According to my computer, my CD drive has been completely nonexistent for several weeks now. Which is/has been very very VERY frustrating, but I can deal. Until today.

Because today, my computer decided that my speakers (which are built in to the computer) also do not exist. As in, iTunes/YouTube/Hulu/Pandora/Windows Media Player/any program on the entire computer that requires any sort of sound will not even run because I "do not have any sound output devices installed." Excuse me, what?

AND, my computer had been hibernating, and when I tried to wake it back up it popped up with a message telling me that it had failed to shut down properly, but it had in fact been shut down. Where did this come from? I know beyond doubt that it was hibernating, not shut down. Because I had made a point of not shutting it down. Because I had stuff open that I didn't want to close, so as not to lose data.

AND! The battery, which had been full, was randomly at less than 50% when I turned it on. No idea how this happened. It was plugged in until maybe an hour before this occurrence, and it's never drained battery while hibernating or, apparently, shut down before.

Maybe there are computer gnomes eating my computer. I don't know. But if I have to take my computer somewhere to get it fixed, then I will barely have enough computer access via the family computer to get all of my thesis work done, let alone do anything about Chelsey or blogging or author sites or any such thing.

This makes me sad.

This proves that technology sucks/is evil and plotting to take over the world. (Which is, after all, one of the Natural Laws of the Universe. Rule 5/5B, actually. Just ask CH or KD.)

I'm gonna go, so I can get my homework done and then attempt to defrag my computer, because that's really all I know to do...(thanks, CH, for the suggestion). But be warned: your technology IS out to get you. You're not paranoid. You're not schizophrenic. You're not paranoid schizophrenic. (*cough*creative writing today anyone?*cough*AF*cough*) It really is out to get you.

TTFN,
Bex

True Word Nerdiness

You might be a word nerd if...

...you can spend two hours talking to teachers about creative writing and come away thinking "oh my goodness, that was awesome." In this vein, talking to Dr. Livingston today was really, really fantastic. Just one of many wonderful things he had to say about writing: "We all know that we don't know what we're doing." Every writer has his or her own method, and we all think our way is the best way. "There is no magic bullet. No writer worth his or her salt will tell you that, because we all know that we don't know what we're doing." Ahhh I love talking to other writers. Especially when I can do that (which is productive and fun) instead of going to school (which may on rare occasions be productive, but is rarely fun except for the non-academic parts).

...you're really interested in the stuff that you're writing an academic paper about. I know a lot of people just slog through research papers and say "I can't wait to get to the interesting part where we actually experiment and do stuff," but I think all this screenwriting stuff is really interesting. Like, really interesting.

...you can be deeply interested in your topic and still not want to write it, but mostly because you would rather be writing your novel. I have missed Chelsey so much. If I don't go back to her story soon, she's going to die. Kind of like Tinkerbell with the whole believing-in-fairies thing.

...you literally choke trying not to laugh when someone asks if you've read Harry Potter, and have a similar (though less adamant) reaction when asked about Lord of the Rings. Maybe that just makes me a Potter nerd (which I am, and proud of it) or a fantasy dork (again, I will admit this shamelessly), but I think it counts.

...you completely forgot about your precal homework because you got sidetracked from the (still not-quite-finished) research paper assignment by adding NaNoWriMo, book, and wordplay flair to your board on Facebook.

About that still not-quite-finished research paper assignment. And the forgotten precal homework. Yeah, I should go do that. As much as I enjoy making lists, I even more enjoy not failing my classes. And even better than that is getting a good night's sleep. Until tomorrow, internetfolks...

Love,
Bex

Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?

Chances are, NO, it is not a good idea to microwave that. But it sure is fun to watch.

My friend MGC told me at lunch today about a wonderful series of videos on YouTube entitled "Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?" So, of course, when I got home, I had to look it up. Basically it's these two (three?) guys from Emerson College putting whatever they can find in a microwave and finding out what happens. I am very, very amused. You can get to the "show" homepage by clicking here. Prepare to be entertained. Thank you, M, for encouraging me to watch these. I have just finished watching Experiment #15: Is it a good idea to microwave marshmallow peeps? This is quite fun.

On a completely unrelated note, I might possibly maybe have a mentor for my senior thesis project soon. A professional screenwriter! I'm quite excited by this possibility.

That's quite enough insight into my personal life for today; now a brief snippet of the inside of my head. I have the song "Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin bouncing around and reverberating in my skull. I am not sure why. This song will not go away. It's not a bad song - in fact, it's quite a good song, that you might want to go listen to - but anything gets annoying when stuck in your head for long enough.

"Days go on forever, but I have not left your side. We will chase the dark together; if you go, then so will I..."

I just got sidetracked watching people light things on fire with microwaves. Seriously, go check out that show. And I'll go do my chemistry homework. Or just watch more of this microwave stuff. Laters,
Bex

Wheeee

As my sleep deficit (yay AP Pysch terms) increases, I have reached the next level of the tiredness scale. It can be described as the stage of "Wheeee. I am tired. So tired, in fact, that everything you do seems ridiculously hilarious, even though it is stupid. Stupid is a funny word. Tee hee. Tee hee. Tee hee sounds funny too...oh look I'm just gonna talk a lot and not shut up! Yay for being tired! For some reason this sentence amuses me greatly. Haha, that sounded strangely formal. Oh look, I still haven't shut up. I should learn to shut up. Hey - irony! I mean, what? >_> *laughs hysterically*"

The above description is basically a snapshot of me after the APUSH test and before the AP Lang Hour-And-A-Half-Of-Doom. Right now, I'm actually calmer. A little bit. Of course, I'm doing math homework (er...well, I'm blogging, but I have my math book open on my lap, does that count?), so that significantly drains some of the TiredBounceHyperBounceWheeee, but besides that.

You know what would be really good right now? Chocolate. Dark chocolate. Like one of those Hershey's Dark Chocolate Valentine Hearts candies? Mmm.

See, that was random. This is why I should not be left alone with the internet when I'm sleep-deprived to the state of Wheeee.

I'm gonna go now. Maybe I'll even be able to finish this math before my brain goes Ka-BOOM. You know, Ka-BOOM. Like this:

Ahh, how I love the Madagascar Penguins... "Yes, Rico. Ka-BOOM."

Okay, I should really get off the computer now before I make all of your heads go Ka-BOOM too. Random side note that I just thought of: I am still looking for a good music video song. If you have any ideas, you should share them with me. :) Really going now. Promise.

Laters,
Bex

Will You Still Call Me Superman?

I don't have time for a long post tonight, because I'm attempting to finish this RIDICULOUS 200-question chemistry review and then study for an APUSH test that I really need to do well on. But I do have time for a brief message.

Public Service Announcement! If you haven't heard, chemistry is evil. At least, this review packet is. 200 questions of math and chemistry and ickyness. Even the people who love chemistry hate this review packet. It is evil. And it just might eat me.

Since I've got chemistry on the brain tonight (and because I like this song), I have a chemistry-related song for you all. Well, ish... Krypton is an element. It counts. The song is "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down. And while I'm not a huge fan of most of their stuff, I really like this particular song:

"You called me strong, you called me weak, but still your secrets I will keep. You took for granted all the times I never let you down. [skip a bit] If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman? If I'm alive and well will you be there holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might, kryptonite..."

I should warn you, the video's a little weird. Okay, a LOT weird. But the song is quite good. And now, dear internetfolks, I must go finish my homework. Much love,
Bex

Lazy Saturday

It's always nice to have a day where you don't really have to do anything. And for a little while, I had one - I slept for around 11 hours last night (and after a week of maybe-five-hours-a-night-of-sleep, I needed it), had a weird dream involving singing prom dates and vampires, and then proceeded to do lots of nothing much at all. I've started a new book and I'm enjoying it immensely (you'll hear about it when I'm done, promise), and I've watched an episode and a half or so of LOST.

Too bad lazy Saturdays don't last. Because then I remembered that I had lost of homework that needed doing. Such as several APEX assignments, two sets of key terms, and six journal entry thingies - all for APUSH. Not to mention the 200-question chemistry review. At least I've started that.

So I'll have to do some of that tonight. I've already done the APEX, if that counts for anything... But hopefully I'll have time to read some more of this book, too, because it's quite good. Also, I've spent most of today trying to come up with a song that I can make a music video for. I've got my Flip camera, the run of my house/yard/neighborhood, and moi. All I lack is a song that does not require additional actors. Ideas? Anyone? Yeah, me either. I'll come up with something. Eventually. I hope.

AND, right now I have a Taylor Swift song stuck in my head. Not quite sure why, but I do. It's alright; I like this song a lot, I just...can't figure out why it's in my head. (Incidentally, I've also got the tune of the prom date song from my weird dream in my head, but that's totally beside the point.) Anyway, if you're a Taylor fan, you should go listen to Tim McGraw now.

"And I'm back for the first time since then, I'm standing on your street, and there's a letter left on your doorstep and the first thing that you'll read...is when you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. Someday you'll turn your radio on, I hope it takes you back to that place. When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress, think of my head on your chest, and my old faded blue jeans. When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me..."

Mkay, so that quote was a little long, my apologies. But it's stuck in my head! And it's a good song, so you should listen to it.

Love to you all,

Bex

Fallen

Sooo I finished another book today. :)

It's called FALLEN, it's by Lauren Kate, and it was very very good. It's about a girl named Luce who has been seeing shadows that no one else can see since she was very young. Recently, she was with her crush Trevor at a party, and something happened that resulted in Trevor's death. Luce doesn't know any more about it than anyone else, but she was with him, so she has been implicated in the murder.

So now, Luce is at Sword & Cross, a reform school in Savannah, Georgia where she's meeting all sorts of strange people - including Daniel Grigori. Daniel is gorgeous, and Luce is convinced that she knows him from somewhere, but he seems strangely determined to hate her. And then there's Cam, who is sweet and friendly and totally into Luce. She's not sure how to juggle her feelings for Daniel and Cam's feelings for  her, but she is determined to find out why she's so sure she knows Daniel.

I don't think I can say any more than that without giving out spoilers. I wish I'd been able to read the final published copy; I read an ARC that I got back in November, and there are a lot of typos and a couple of sections where there are sentences missing. I kind of felt like that detracted from it, but it was a wonderful story and if you get the chance to read it (the actual published version) you DEFINITELY should. It was so great. I adored it. The sequel, TORMENT, is due out sometime in September, and I will be very eager to read it. :) More info available on author Lauren Kate's website. And here's the pretty cover:

I definitely recommend FALLEN to anyone looking for a great paranormal romance. (I know, I read a lot of those. Get over it.) It was excellent. :)

Hasta luego, internetfolks!
~Bex

Father, Will You Run To Me?

"How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will You turn to me?

One tear in the driving rain
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart?

I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I've said goodbye
But if there's no other way, I'm done asking why
'Cause I'm on my knees begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees, Father will You run to me?

One tear in the driving rain

One voice in a sea of pain

Could the maker of the stars

Hear the sound of my breaking heart?

One light, that's all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If You're everything You say You are

Won't You come close and hold my heart?

So many questions without answers, Your promises remain

I can't sleep but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name

To hear You call my name

One tear in the driving rain

One voice in a sea of pain

Could the maker of the stars

Hear the sound of my breaking heart?

One light, that's all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If You're everything You say You are

Won't You come close and hold my heart?

Hold my heart, could You hold my heart?

Hold my heart."

-Tenth Avenue North, "Hold My Heart". I am in love with this song. ♥♥♥♥♥ Go listen to it likerightnow.

(Many many many thanks to my darling KD for making me listen to it in the first place.)

~Bex

You Know You're A Nerd When...

...you spend your precalculus class programming values for different letters into your calculator to help you win an argument about whether waffles or pancakes are better. (Incidentally, it's waffles. This is non-negotiable. Waffles are infinitely better than pancakes. Period. The end.) My calculator then confirmed for me that WAFFLES > PANCAKES is a true equation, PANCAKES = 0, and WAFFLES = 42. (Incidentally, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. If waffles = 42, and 42 = life, the universe, and everything, then according to the law of syllogism, waffles = life, the universe, and everything.)

...you can come up with equations like that and not consider yourself a math nerd because your brain is too occupied by being a word nerd.

...you get freakishly excited when the answers on a ScanTron sheet make patterns. Especially when said pattern is A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A. (♥ RF, MM, JA).

...you have an odd fascination with making lists like this.

That concludes my list (for now; I'm sure you'll see more lists like this in the future. I make lists a lot.), but I also have a song to share with you all. My very good friend CH (whose blog, Your Daily Cup of HaufeCoffee, I've linked to several times) introduced me to "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train a while ago, and it's been stuck in my head all day. And I'm actually okay with this, because it's an excellent song. You should listen to it.

"Hey soul sister, ain't that Mister Mister on the radio, stereo? The way you move ain't fair, you know. Hey soul sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you do...tonight."

Unfortunately, I have also had a somewhat less enjoyable song stuck in my head today. Thanks to my darling AF (whom I do love dearly even if she did get this song stuck in my head), I have caught myself singing "Hey hey you you I don't like your girlfriend..." over and over today.  Rawr.

Don't go listen to that one. Listen to "Hey, Soul Sister" instead. Meanwhile, I am going to go eat tacos. Because even though waffles = life, the universe, and everything, tacos are just pure awesome. (If you are AF, CJ, or KD: don't you DARE leave a comment about onions. I love you guys...)

Catch y'all later. Love,
Bex

I Can't Be Who You Are

The title of this post comes from the Linkin Park song I promised you last night. The song Leave Out All the Rest was actually on the soundtrack for the film Twilight -- but don't worry, even if you absolutely detest sparkly vampires and overdramatic paranormal romances, the song is fantastic. The reason I like it? Lyrics like this:

"I'm strong on the surface, not all the way through; I've never been perfect, but neither have you..."

And like this:

"Forgetting all the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well; pretending someone else can come and save me from myself. I can't be who you are..."

I absolutely adore this song, I really do. And you should go listen to it now. It's a fairly chill song, too, not nearly as screamy as Numb (although that is another fantastic song that you should listen to). "Leave Out All the Rest" = ♥.

And that was really going to be it for musical recommendations today. I had it stuck in my head all day yesterday but I didn't want to just tack it on after the ski trip stuff, so that was gonna be today's post. Only my dear friend KD (♥!!!) attended a concert called Winter Jam while I was on the ski trip, and because she is a fantastic person she brought me a poster from an amaaazing band called Fireflight.

So now I have their song Unbreakable stuck in my head. This, too, is an amazing song. You should listen to it. Again with the fabulous lyrics:

"God, I want to dream again, take me where I've never been. I want to go there - this time I'm not scared. Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakeable, no one can touch me, nothing can stop me..."

Go listen.

And now, I must go work on my thesis homework. I have two excellent new books on screenwriting to look through, and another page of lit review to write up before tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Catch ya later,
Bex

Home Sweet Home

The three words that best describe skiing: cold, exhausting, and fun. I had a lovely time skiing, once I finally got the hang of it. I will confess that Saturday morning (my first-ever time on skis) I was almost in tears because I could not figure out what I was doing. But by that evening I could handle the bunny slope no problem, and by the end of yesterday I was even going down some of the ones labeled "More Difficult." Twas quite fun. If you have never been skiing...try it if you get the chance!

But ohmygoodness it was cold. I counted at one point, and realized I was wearing 21 articles of clothing and my fingers were still numb. I think the highest the temperature got on Saturday was 19 degrees Fahrenheit. It was 14 when we got to Winterplace (the ski resort). And that's West Virginia. If I'm considering a college in Ohio, I'll have to get used to the cold.

Still though. Skiing was quite awesome. Here are a couple of pictures I've borrowed from the youth group's blog, although I'm not gonna post any with faces, because that's stalkerish:

So yes, the ski trip was quite amazing. And now that I'm home, I'm looking forward to 1) warming up, and 2) WATCHING THE OLYMPICS. Ski jumps that I could never, ever, ever do? Yesplease. But my personal favorite? ICE SKATING.

Oh my goodness gracious YES. Teehee. I wish I could skate like that.

Also, yesterday morning one of my ski-trip roommates KW woke us all up with a special Singles Awareness Day song. Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift has been stuck in my head ever since then. (I'll have another song rec for y'all tomorrow that's less country-y. Like, Linkin Park kind of less country-y.)

In that vein, I wish you all Happy President's Day and Happy Day-Late Singles Awareness Day (Valentine's Day, if you didn't know, although it's a ridiculously commercialized holiday). More after my nap(/homework). Love,

Bex

Skiing!

Skiing is a really weird word, probably because it has a double i. Seriously, how many words do you know that have a double i? It's weird. But weird word or not, skiing is what I'll be doing this weekend. I've never been skiing before, and really the only time I've encountered much snow is the one weekend we spent in four or five inches of the stuff in Tennessee several years back.

Of course, if I end up going to the college I've been considering in Ohio, that will probably change, but that's still a year and half away, so it's kind of irrelevant right now.

But back to skiing. My youth group leaves right after school tomorrow to head up to West Virginia, where we will spend the weekend at a ski resort called Winterplace and...well...go skiing. It should be fun, I'm pretty excited about getting to ski. I'll just have to hope I don't accidentally break my legs or something. There are many adjectives that describe me, but "coordinated" is not one of them. I'm a little concerned about the fact that twenty-one degrees Fahrenheit is the high temperature - I'm one of those people who hates being cold - but hopefully I'll stay warm enough in the five and a half billion layers of clothes my mom has decided I am bringing. (Okay, so maybe five and a half billion is a bit of an exaggeration. And maybe I didn't contest her decision too much. But still.)

Given that I'll be out of town all weekend, this is the last blog post you'll get until Monday. (I know, I know, you're heartbroken. I'm sorry. I'll try very hard to have something interesting for you when I return.) I don't have any new books to recommend to you for this weekend, but I've given you three over the last few days that should keep you busy until then. (@ KD and CJ - you will TEXT ME as soon as you finish HUSH, HUSH. Because by then you'll understand exactly how much I love Patch. :] ) I do, however, have a song for you all. It's one I first heard through KD a long time ago but it's been stuck in my head today:

"So glide away on soapy heels, and promise not to promise anymore, and if you come around again then I will take the chain from off the door..."

From The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson. Go listen. Likenow. Warning, though: it will nom your brain. As my dear friend JH once said: "It's fricking nom-ing my neurons, man!"

On that note, I leave you for the weekend. Have a great one! Love,
Bex

Hush, Hush

Oh my gosh. Ohhhh my gosh. So I finished reading HUSH, HUSH today. And I'm kinda speechless. It was absolutely AMAZING.

At first I thought it was going to be just another dark fantasy romance novel. They're good, not amazing, but good. And seriously, I have never been so glad to be wrong. I fell in love with the story from the very first chapter, and it just got better from there.

Patch Cipriano is the ultimate bad boy, and he's also kinda perfect in that dark, flawed way. Let's just say he ranks on my list of Amazing Fictional Guys with Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), Sam Roth (Shiver), and Jace Wayland (City of Bones). You'll hear more about that list later. Promise.

Anyway, we meet Patch because he is Nora Grey's lab partner. Nora is not at all happy with this arrangement, because Patch is creepy - and also strangely magnetic. She feels drawn to him in a way she can't explain and doesn't at all like. So when a man in a ski mask starts stalking her, she can't help but suspect Patch, especially when she starts hearing him in her mind. I can't say anything more without giving out any spoilers, which I absolutely refuse to do, but ohmygosh you should read this book.

And the cover! The cover is beautiful, don't you think?

So yes. I am officially in love with Patch, and I cannot WAIT to find out what happens in the sequel. According to author Becca Fitzpatrick's website and blog, the second book, CRESCENDO, is due out in fall of 2010. I can tell you right now, I'll be looking for it.  ♥♥♥

That's all I've got for right now, folks, because I have two tests to study for (Chemistry and Spanish. oh the joys). But if you can get to a library (or if you are KD, SH, or someone else who knows me personally and sees me on a daily basis to borrow it from), get your hands on a copy of HUSH, HUSH. You'll be glad you did.

Much love,
Bex

Spies and Signatures

Due to the nature of my current work-in-progress, I've been thinking a lot about spies lately. What technology do they use? How are they trained? Where do they go to college? What sort of missions do they go on? What different roles are there within the CIA? and so on and so forth.

This story, unlike most of the stuff I write, already has a story arc in place. I know how the plot is basically going to play out, and I know what major events have to happen in the middle to get it there. And even knowing that, I'm not bored with it, because I don't know exactly what Chelsey's going to do for that to happen; I just have a very general idea.

I think this is good for me. It has a structure, but it's not suffocatingly specific. I can definitely see this story going somewhere.

So then I got to thinking. What would happen if I did finish it and get it published? What if it happened soon? It would be kind of amazingly cool to be published at sixteen (although even if I finish in the next month or two - which WILL NOT happen because of senior thesis and the fact that I'm only on draft 1 - I'd be seventeen by the time it could go anywhere). It would be kind of ridiculously awesome to be a novelist while still in high school. I don't have my heart set on it or anything; I know publishing is a difficult industry to break into, and honestly, if I have to wait until I'm an adult for that to happen, that's cool. I'd rather wait until I have something worth publishing. No rush. But still.

And then I kind of slipped into daydreams, which I tend to do quite often. I imagined walking into Barnes & Noble (my favorite store of all time) and browsing for something new to read and seeing my book (with a decent title and an awesome cover) sitting on the "New Releases" shelf with all the other books, and having someone pick it up to browse through it and seeing the "about the author" tab with my picture, then slowly turning and seeing me...

At this point in my dream world, the random stranger says something like "Ohmygosh. You're the person who wrote this book!"

Me: *some cool response*

Random Stranger: "I read a library copy of your book the other day and I sat down and read the whole thing in one night. It was amazing, I just had to have my own copy!"

Me: "Aww, thanks! That's so nice of you. I'm really glad you enjoyed it."

Random Stranger: "Could you sign it for me?"

Me: "Of course!"

And then I would pull a pen from my purse (I would have one; even in the Real World I carry a pen with me at all times) and autograph a book - my book! - for this person. And it would be very cool and professional and it would make me happy.

Of course, it's not the most plausible scenario. But hey - it could happen, right? And it's always nice to have dreams, no matter how unlikely they may be.

Never mind the fact that the signature I've been practicing on the backs of my history notes isn't mine. *cough* I mean, of course I haven't been signing Chelsey's name all over my schoolwork, trying to pin down her perfect handwriting...what a silly idea. Ha, ha! *whistles innocently*

Unfortunately, daydreaming/living in my characters' heads often means that I look up to realize it's 10:17 PM and my Senior Thesis homework isn't done yet. Of course, that's purely hypothetical...

Or not. Must go. Much love,
Bex

This Post Has A Title

Because I don't have anyone to credit with the title for this post (other than myself...?) and my brother and I spent about five minutes laughing hysterically over this yesterday, I'm going to share with you a very amusing little video by the name of Tom's Tales of Awesome. It's quite entertaining, if you're looking for a laugh. Or a giant lemon.

But anyway, now that I've gotten thoroughly sidetracked, I would like to spend a moment talking about titles. Titles are really important to books, movies, etc., and it's not at all rare for the working title to be completely different from the final published title. The trick there is, I hardly ever have even working titles for my stuff. I have exactly zero idea how to come up with a good title.

Seriously. How do people (i.e. you, dear reader, who could leave me a comment with advice) come up with good titles for stuff?!

So many books have these great titles. Like SHIVER (Maggie Stiefvater) and HOLD STILL (Nina LaCour) and TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY (Jay Asher) and IF I STAY (Gayle Forman) - titles that are concise and descriptive-but-not-too-descriptive and make you wonder what's inside them. And then there's books like I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU (Ally Carter) - cute titles that make you smile, play with words, and just invite you to find out what they're talking about. Titles and cover images are the first things that you see when you look at a book, and they usually determine whether or not you pick it up. So good titles matter.

Unfortunately, my superpower is not Creating Excellent, Perfect, Wonderful Titles. Not, of course, that I have a superpower, but if you were to take something I'm good at and call it a superpower, Creating Excellent, Perfect, Wonderful Titles would not be on the list of options.

I wrote a vampire story once, back when you could walk into the young adult section at Barnes & Noble without practically drowning in vampire stories. Of course, then TWILIGHT came out and vampires were huge and now this Untitled Vampire Romance Novel is completely cliched and overdone and I don't really want to look at it anymore. But my point here was about the fact that this novel clocked in at 83K words on the first draft (which is where it still is...well, draft 1.5), had a pretty complex pot, was about characters that I loved, and...completely lacked a title. I was sort of calling it IMPOSSIBLE, but there's already an excellent and somewhat recent book with the same title by Nancy Werlin (you should read it, by the way, it's quite good). A friend who read the manuscript suggested BLOODLUST, but that seemed so dark and vicious and didn't at all convey the contents. And no one else offered any suggestions, and I didn't come up with anything else, and it has no title.

And for that particular story, it's kind of a moot point now, since that one's on the back burner until the vampire hype dies down. But now I'm working on a new story. It's currently saved in My Documents as "chelsey spy story." I guess it's not important to have a title for the whole novel when you're only 13,600 words into it, but I'd love to have something to call it besides "chelsey spy story" or "chelseystory" or "current spy story."

Sigh. If anyone has any Magical Powers of TitleCreating, I'd love to borrow them for a while. Please?

Having said that, I'd like to warn you that if you did lend me your Magical Powers of TitleCreating, it might be a while before you got them back.

Especially since I can't work on my story right now (grrrrr) because I have to do AP Lang homework (mega-grrrr) about "Civil Disobedience" (which put me to sleep several times) and "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" (which was better). I would procrastinate on the AP Lang work in favor of "chelseystory" except that Castle's on tonight, so I have to have my homework done by 10.

Because ohmygoodness I would be so sad if I had to miss an episode of Castle. It's an awesome show. ABC Mondays at 10, people. Watch. :)

Love,
Bex

We'll Sing Hallelujah

Hello, dear readers. This is my official February 7th post, after the fifteen-minutes-late February 6th post. Just, you know, in case you didn't know.

So today is Superbowl Sunday. I really couldn't care less about the Superbowl. Football is not exactly my cup of tea. I'll probably be doing math homework (or thesis homework, or creative writing homework, depending on what I do now) during the actual game, and then I'll look up for just long enough to watch the commercials. Because really, the advertising is the best part of the Superbowl.

However, I did not write this post to tell you that I don't understand the point of football but find talking animals and cute children saying funny things about random products amusing. I was originally going to recommend the song Change by Taylor Swift, which I'd heard once or twice but really listened to for the first time the other day. I know it's country and therefore not something that I'd usually listen to, but I think I am somewhat in love with this song. It's amazing. Because of lyrics like this:

"You can walk away, say we don't need this, but there's something in your eyes says we can beat this. Because these things will change. Can you see it now? The walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down. This revolution, the time will come for us to finally win, and we'll sing hallelujah..."

Amazingfultastical. (Yes, that is a word.) I love it. And that was originally going to be the sole focus of this blog post, and you should absolutely go listen to it now.

But then I spent the first part of my afternoon reading instead of doing homework, and I discovered a book that I absolutely had to share with you all: TANGLED, by Carolyn Mackler.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked it. I thought it was going to be just another chick lit where the dorky-girl-who-has-no-life either ends up with some hot guy who turns out to have a sweet personality or discovers that being hot and popular is not all it's cracked up to be. But I kept reading, because I kind of liked the characters, and...wow. It turned out to be really good.

TANGLED is the story of four teens - Jena, her mom's friend's daughter Skye, a hotshot jock named Dakota, and his dorky younger brother Owen - who for various reasons have to spend a week at a resort called Paradise. Jena meets(/falls for) Dakota and finds a suicide note by a hot tub, and then things are in motion that are beyond their control. There are four sections in the book, each told from a different character's point of view and surrounding that character's individual story, but there's definitely crossover between them. The book is about how their lives get tangled together and how it changes all of them. That sounds sappy or dorky or something, I know, but it's not. It was sooo good. Skye's and Owen's sections were probably my favorites because I could relate to them better, but they were all great.

There is some strong language and some sexual content, especially in the first half, but it's written in so that on the whole it adds to the book rather than taking away from it. I almost put it down because of some of that content, but I am reeeally glad that I kept reading. Seriously. Sweet story, great characters, and just overwhelmingly real. Probably more of a girl book than a guy book, although guys would probably enjoy Dakota's and Owen's sections just as much; you should read it if you get the chance. :) You can find out more about the author, Carolyn Mackler, at her website.

So now you have a song to listen to and a book to read. Two if you take into account ALL UNQUIET THINGS from last night. And I have homework to do. So that's gonna be all for now. Until next time, internetfolk!
~Bex

All Unquiet Things

It's 11:59 PM as I start this, so it'll switch to midnight by the time it gets posted, but I'm gonna count this as the post for February 6. There will be no deliberate double-posting on the 7th. (Yup, there it goes, it is now midnight. Ah well.)

Anyway, once I got home this afternoon, I sat down and finished the book I'd been reading. It's called ALL UNQUIET THINGS, it's by Anna Jarzab, and it was absolutely amazing.

I will admit it took me a while to get into it, but after the first few chapters I was completely hooked. Long story short, ALL UNQUIET THINGS is essentially a murder mystery. A year before the story starts, Carly Ribelli is found dead with four gunshot wounds to the chest. Her uncle, the father of her cousin and best friend, Audrey, was convicted of the murder, but Audrey doesn't believe her dad is guilty. So Audrey enlists the help of Carly's ex-boyfriend, Neily - who was still in love with Carly - to help her figure out who really did it. The story alternates between Neily and Audrey's perspectives. It's really well-written, maybe a bit slow at times but still very engaging, and the story - oh my goodness. Some of it is a bit hard to believe, but Anna Jarzab makes it believable. And the characters are so real and well-developed and amazing. There is some language and content that might not be appropriate for younger teens, but to anyone who doesn't mind that stuff, I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this book. Readreadread. It's awesome. ♥ You can find out more about the author at her website. (You should check it out.)

Well, it's 12:16 now, so I'm going to wrap this post up and get ready for bed. One other quick update before I go: LOST, Season 3, episode 5. I'm still not in the John Locke fan club, but I can't decide what I think of Ben. And the death at the end of the last one I watched (not naming names, because I don't go for spoilers) makes me sad.

But not as sad as the deaths in the seventh Harry Potter book. Reread of that series to commence soon, I hope.

And now I really must head to bed. Goodnight, internetfolk!

~Bex

Popcorn

It is 11:21 PM and I am sitting on AF's floor, not eating popcorn. I am not eating popcorn because I am typing this blog post. AF and KD are eating popcorn. It's the second batch of popcorn we've made tonight. The first one was nasty. This one is good.

Oil + sugar + salt + corn kernels = kettle corn.

Science project: INVALID. Too many variables changed at once on the second batch of popcorn to determine what, exactly, made the second attempt better than the first.

If you're reading this and making sense of it, congratulations. Either you are AF or KD (in which case, hello!!! I loves youu!!!) or you understand how my brain works.

On second thought, I take back "congratulations." If you understand how my brain works, I'm officially terrified of you, because I do not at all understand how my brain works. Yay for neuroscience?

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly overly coherent tonight. I think it's the mix of popcorn + mall + guitar + "caves" conversation + tired + um.....something else maybe? I shall sign off for now. More interesting news later. Probably.

~Bex

Procrastination Central, Version 2.0

Contrary to what one might expect, I did not spend chemistry class today learning about chemistry, nor did I spend APUSH learning about United States History. Instead, I filled one side of a piece paper with song lyrics. I limited myself to one line of the paper per song, and no song repeats were allowed. This page-o'-lyrics was my "collection of positivity" for the day. So now, I have a 30-song playlist of awesomeness. And it makes me very happy. Which is why I am going to share. Hope you enjoy it too. :)

1. Swim - Jack's Mannequin
2. Forgiven - Relient K
3. Never Too Late - Three Days Grace
4. Believe - Yellowcard
5. The Way She Feels - Between the Trees
6. Jump Rope - Blue October
7. Breathe In Breathe Out - Mat Kearney
8. Take Me - Hawk Nelson
9. We Need Each Other - Sanctus Real
10. Meteor Shower - Owl City
11. Dare You to Move - Switchfoot
12. Hallelujah - Paramore
13. All Around Me - Flyleaf
14. Stand Up - Fireflight
15. Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby) - Jack's Mannequin
16. Words - Between the Trees
17. Must Get Out - Maroon 5
18. Tell Me Why - Taylor Swift
19. On the Radio - Regina Spektor
20. A Time for Yohe - Between the Trees
21. There, There Katie - Jack's Mannequin
22. Straitjacket Feeling - All-American Rejects
23. Run - Snow Patrol
24. Runaway - Cartel
25. I Want to Save You - Something Corporate
26. Breathe Into Me - RED
27. Undo - Rush of Fools
28. Me and Jesus - Stellar Kart
29. Set Me Free - Casting Crowns
30. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

Whew! Quite a list, no? It makes me very happy. I would have posted the bit of lyrics I wrote down for each song, but if I had this post would never end. I'm sure I'll end up sharing these songs individually at some point, and you'll get quote snippets then. (I realize some of the videos for the songs are kind of...well, not exactly great videos, but it's what I could find. Music's still all there.)

Also, an update on the LOST-watching: I have now finished Season 2. And oh my goodness. As soon as I finish this ridiculous Senior Thesis Prep homework and some APUSH journals, I will absolutely be starting Season 3. (Apologies to ES and CJ, who want me to watch NCIS instead, but I must find out what happens.)

Love to you all,
Bex

Book Rec! (Plus LOST)

Dear readers, I have a book recommendation for you. As you may (or may not) be aware of, the last book I blogged about back at Teenage Bibliophile - before I moved over here - was WONDROUS STRANGE by Lesley Livingston. It was a wonderful dark fantasy with a bit of romance, about changeling Sonny Flannery and actress-with-unknown-Faerie-past Kelley Winslow. My one-sentence summary there doesn't do the book justice at all. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. (Well, HaufeCoffee hates fantasy, so I wouldn't give it to him. But other than that...)

Anyway, as of yesterday, I finished the amazing sequel DARKLIGHT. It was released back in December, but I only just managed to get a copy, thanks to my local library. And oh my goodness was it amazing. I don't want to say anything too spoilery for those of you who haven't read the first book, but I will say that Sonny and Kelley are having to fight to keep their relationship alive. Sonny is on his quest to destroy Mabh's Wild Hunt, and Kelley is being harassed by a leprechaun with some serious issues and dealing with her new Faerie powers. Meanwhile, King Auberon is sick and no one can figure out why. Things are amiss in Faerieland...

DARKLIGHT was definitely an excellent book. Lesley Livingston writes amazing characters and amazing descriptions and a really engaging plot. My only complaint was that it went by too quickly and I don't have book three yet! You can find out more about the series and the author at her blog.

Also, I promised some talk of LOST. I have now watched all but the last two episodes (er, one episode with two parts, I believe) of Season Two. Seeing as the Season Six premiere is presumably ending as I write this, I've still got some catching up to do. But it's doable...I hope. I am so confused and I really want to know what happens, because Michael appears to have gone off the deep end and two people have just died who I definitely did NOT expect to die. At least, not yet. I guess I shall have to keep watching to find out...

Unfortunately, I don't have any exciting/amusing paraphrases for you today because the episodes I watched today were so serious. But I will say that I kind of adore Sawyer. In a sometimes-I-loathe-him kind of way. And also Mr. Eko is amazing and I dislike John Locke.

Off to go do APUSH homework now. And then watch more LOST. Love to the internetfolk,
Bex

Public Service Announcement

In case you forgot, today is the first of February. This is a very significant day. It is now....February. (No, February is not my favorite month.) Yes, I know. This is very important. You're completely blown away.

If you haven't already, you should change your wall calendar to "February" instead of "January." That way, you won't have a conversation like this:

AF: So the sleepover's gonna be on the 12th.

BT: *looks at calendar* But....that's a Tuesday...

AF: That's January. Wrong month, dear.

BT: ...oh.

And now there is a picture of a whale and the words "February 2010" where it used to be a picture of polar bears and the words "January 2010." You should change your calendar too.

Also! Today's Abbreviated Version of LOST Highlight:

Jack: don't touch that!
Kate: what, this?
*giant net scoops them up*
Jack: yeah that.
Kate: woops...here, let me grab the gun from your back pocket and very awkwardly almost-kiss you to create all kinds of romantic tension for the audience!
Jack: kay. shoot the rope.
gun: *BAM!*
Kate: woops...
Jack: my turn.
gun: *BAM!*
Kate: yay you.

That is all. Until next time, internetfolk!
~Bex