Challenge Day #17

Today's challenge is to post a picture of myself and tell about my day. I'm going to stretch it a little and tell about yesterday and maybe some of today.

Yesterday was a great day, but it was also very bittersweet. It marked three years since the day my sister passed away. I keep thinking that the next year is going to be easier when it just doesn't seem to be that way.

We didn't get going until about noon which was nice. It made the morning relaxed and laid back. We, my mom and I, went and picked up my sister and her boys then we went to Olive Garden for lunch. After that we went to Kohl's and shopped for a bit. Then we went to Cocoa Bean and got cupcakes for dessert. By that time it was time to get Gigi from daycare, so we dropped Kate and crew off then rushed home. Then my mom and Gigi and I went and got flowers and put them on Brittany's grave then went home and got ready to go to the temple. We took Gigi to another babysitter and then went up to the temple where my cousin and his wife were going through for the first time. It was a perfect ending to the day.

I then came home and watched The Duchess with Keira Knightley and Dominic Cooper. It was such a good movie. I highly recommend it. I had not wanted to see it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I even dreamed about it. When you watch it, I'm sure you will also dream of Keira Knightley and her big hair in that movie. It is definitely impressionable.

Today has been pretty chill. I woke up, did Zumba workout, ate, got ready, helped my sister while the boys were getting their haircuts, then we went to Wendy's and surprised my mom with some lunch. Since then I have cleaned up and now I'm just hanging out. I go to work in about an hour, but I am just covering for the Rexburg store, so it will still feel like a day off. Ha!

Anyway...there ya go.

Challenge Day #16

Post a picture of the last thing you purchased.



I went to the cheap seats last night and watched The Eagle for a whopping $3.50. It was actually a really good movie. I also had great company, sitting between two awesome girls. All in all I would recommend seeing this movie. Channing Tatum is not the best of actors, but I do like the story line and the cinematography is amazing in it. So check it out.

Challenge Day #15

Today I get to post about something I cannot leave the house without.

This is probably where some of my OCD stuff comes out. I have to have things in their right place whenever I go somewhere. My keys have to be in my right pants pocket, my phone and my chapstick in my left pocket, and my wallet in my back right pocket. Those are all habits I've had since my mission. I carry chapstick everywhere I go ever since I got back from Florida because I am keenly aware, now, of just how dry it is here in Idaho especially in the winter. Before Florida I didn't really even notice.

All that being said I think the one thing I cannot leave home without is my iPod. Music keeps me going. Enough said.
However, I also have to bring a book or my Nook with me everywhere. You never know when you will have a moment to read a couple pages.

Challenge Day #14

Today I am supposed to blog about my favorite musician. I'm going to talk about my top three even though it is hard to do that because I have so many favorites. I absolutely love music and I literally don't go anywhere without my iPod.

Number 1: Tori Amos

She is an acquired taste to be sure. When I first heard her I wasn't impressed. Part of the reason it is hard to love her right away is that she enunciates words in an odd but charming way. It is a distinct sound that I cannot get enough of. Just recently I was trying to introduce a friend of mine to the ways of Ms. Amos and I got all excited about a part in the song "Precious Things" and I was disappointed by her reaction. I asked her what she thought and she said "I couldn't understand her."

A big reason I absolutely love Tori is because I do understand her. She manages to connect to me at a different level that I cannot explain. Another huge thing for me is that her music literally saved me during my grieving after my sister's passing. Right at this moment I am listening to her cover of "Father Figure" and it is amazing.

Number 2: Florence + the Machine

A new love of mine I was introduced to at the end of last year. She is a genius and reminds me a bit of Tori Amos. Maybe that is the draw. Her lyrics are brilliant and also don't make complete sense at face value just like Ms. Amos'. My favorite song of hers is "The Drumming Song." I cannot wait for more brilliance from her. I cannot get enough of her album.

Number 3: Adele

Her new album 21 is freaking amazing. I've loved her since I heard "Chasing Pavements" a few years ago. The raw emotion and beauty in her voice is so appealing to me and it speaks to me. Her sound is classic and timeless.

Runners Up:

Number 4: The Civil Wars
Number 5: The Killers
Number 6: Ke$ha

Interesting to Note:

Kelli would appreciate this, but I just realized that my top three favorite musicians are all redheads.

Challenge Day #13

Post a picture of something that makes you happy.

SUNSHINE!!!

The Maze Runner

Rating: 3 out of 5 Grievers

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines. Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out? (courtesy of Goodreads.com)


The concept of this book is fascinating. Young boys sent to a Maze they are supposed to solve without any explanation. It is obvious it's a test, but for what? The whole premise is built around how "everything is going to change" when it is hard to see what it is going to change from. I think Dashner could have spent a little more time explaining and building up the "regular life" in the Glade and the Maze. Some of it just felt rushed and glossed over and then seemingly needless details were gushed over.

Let me back up. I seem to do that a lot and get ahead of myself.

I liked this book. There is a lot of potential to it, and I am excited to read more. That being said, I think the execution of it wasn't exactly what it could have been. I've said it before and I will say it again--a good idea deserves great writing. I'm not saying Dashner is a bad writer. It just felt contrived and immature at some points. The little twists and turns at the end of the chapters were built up and dragged out so long when I knew what was coming so I found myself skipping to the last sentence of the chapter. I had a hard time not skimming at points because I felt like there were so many unnecessary details and inserts into dialogue that should have been neatly bared down. Dashner weighs down his dialogue with expository weirdness that doesn't do anything for the flow of the story.

Where he was heavy in exposition he was light on description. I never really felt like I was there in the Glade with these boys. It just felt like I was distanced from it because the descriptions were just so sparse. And the characters are never really described. We never get a full description of what the main character looks like. Some may argue that that allows the reader to imagine what he looks like, and maybe Dashner didn't think it was necessary to describe him. What little character descriptions we do get are sparse and leave something to be desired.

Before I get too carried away with all this, I do recognize that this is teen fiction and the writing in this genre is usually simplified to gear it toward that demographic, but for some reason it grated on me a little.

The relationship between Thomas and Teresa is intriguing, but it feels forced. My favorite character was Minho because he seems to have his head on straight most of the time. That being said, sometimes he'd have random mood swings that just didn't seem to fit with his character and seemed like a convenient way to have Minho out of the picture for awhile.

Overall I like the book. There are just some things that bugged me. And I was annoyed that it took me so long to get through because I should have been not wanting to put it down. Some of the scenes in the book, namely the final battle scene with the Grievers, was fascinating and I could picture most of it being turned into a movie. I gave it 3 out of 5 Grievers because, to me, it was likable but not wonderful. Here is hoping the next installment, Scorch Trials, is a little better.

Manuscript

My manuscript has been e-mailed to a handful of my friends so I can get some good feedback from them. I cringe to think of some things they will say. Honesty, however, is the best policy especially when it comes to art. That being said it is also still very nerve wracking simply because it is like I am sending out a piece of myself with them. It is hard to separate myself from my writing because those are characters I spend lots of time with (arguably more time than with anyone else) and get to know better than most anyone else I know. And it is a story that I firmly believe in and that I treasure because it is full of potential.

I remember when my skin was not so thick when it came to critique. When I was younger (junior high to sophomore in high school) I had a friend who I shared art and stories with. We would trade fan fiction short stories and drawings of them along with notes. This friend became not only a really good friend but, in some ways, my art guru. I was learning and I was obsessed with getting better at the craft. Sometimes I would get notes from my friend that weren't the nicest. She is the type that tells it like it is and it was hard for me to stomach that at first. At the time I hated it, but now I appreciate it. She prepared me for the even tougher skin I would have to develop later on.

Once I got to college I tried to be an art major. One of my teachers ripped my pieces apart. I only had one art piece that he even remotely liked. All of the others he would tear down with words that stung. Art became not so fun anymore. It became drudgery and work. I didn't like that.

Writing, on the other hand, is a completely different story for me. I love getting hardcore critiques. Rip my stuff apart; I say BRING IT ON! The only way for my writing to get better is if people tell me what is not working for them as a reader. During my time as an undergrad I had to develop a separation, a thicker skin, when it came to my writing. Otherwise, I would go insane and be so depressed and down on myself for sucking it up. When it comes to writing I don't like the pacifist route. Hit me with your best shot. This thick skin I've developed can take it.