Secret Torture Method?

     I can't believe I have survived this week. With studying and writing exams, finishing another novel, and trying to hold onto my sanity, I never thought it would be possible. But I have, against all odds. And that means writing another post. Not that I'm not excited to, but it feels like this entire week has come down to this post. How can I sum up everything and not screw it up? Well, let's give it a shot.
     Like I said, I've started exams this week. Since it's grade 11 and they like to torture us, my exams are now up to three hours long. Three hours! Not many people understand what happens to your mind when you are forced to just sit there and regurgitate everything you've 'learned' in the past five months. How can they expect us to remember everything? I can barely remember what I did last week, let alone what I did three months ago. My motto for exams (and excuse my language) is "when in doubt, bullshit your way out!" I can't even count the number of times where I made something up for the sake of trying to answer a question. The only thing that keeps me going when I'm writing is the fact that after that three hours is up, I don't have to think about or remember any of it. Unless I have to take the next class the following year, but I don't have to think about that for a couple months. I've written two of my four exams so far, and I swear if it wasn't the weekend I would go insane.

     I finished another novel before starting my exams. I have also sworn not to start the next one until all my exams are finished, so that I do not distract myself from studying. That's what happened last time. I got so into the book that by the time I finished it, I barely had time to study. Not that I study all that much. I finished Entice by Carrie Jones on Wednesday I believe. It is the third book in a series, which is still ongoing. The first two books are Need and Captivate. To be blunt, they are about pixies and weres and Fae. The main character, Zara, is the daughter of a pixie king. She falls in love with Nick, who is a werewolf. Her friend Devyn is a wereeagle. Her grandmother is a weretiger. It's all just kind of random when it comes to the characters. Anyway, Nick dies, and gets taken to Valhalla, which if you know your mythology, is the where warriors go when they die. They get taken by Valkyries, which is pretty cool, because they are kind of like the modern idea of angels, except they only take those chosen by the Norse god Odin. Anyway, going off topic there. To get him back, Zara decides to become a pixie when she meets Astley, a queen less pixie king. That's all I'm revealing. It's an amazing novel, and I can't wait for the next one.

     I just need to slip this picture in. My blog, my opinion. I prefer Astley over Nick, but let's save that argument for another time.

     I feel like the weekly question is kind of like a way of telling time on here. Anyway, this week I haven't thought at all about my answer. Too many other things to think about. "When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?" I fear that in the end, I will have said more than I've done. I want to do so many things, but I just never do them. I can't say just yet whether I will have said more than I've done, and only time will tell.

     This weekend will be spent studying, so it will be extremely boring. I wish you luck with your exams, and a new semester. DFTBA, and have a good weekend.

Squished Another One

     I feel almost like I've gotten half-good at this blogging thing. There haven't been too many long gaps between posts, I've been able to keep up with the 50QC so far, and in my opinion, things haven't been too boring. I think the only bad thing is that I use it to procrastinate against homework. Which I am doing right now.

     I finished another book yesterday. This brings the grand total to 4. At this rate, 50 in a year will be a cinch. The Scorch Trials turned out to even better than I expected. But of course, it's only books two, and it ended in the biggest cliffhanger I've ever read. There was just so much brought out in some of the characters that it makes it impossible to even try to predict anything for the next book. I read the second half in a few short hours Saturday morning, it was just that good. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read, just read the first book first. Things will make much more sense.
     I never read hardcover books with their dust jackets on. I always leave them at home on my bookshelf so that they don't get ruined or ripped. Looking back at the cover for this book at this moment, I realize that I should probably look at them more when reading the book. It shows a lot of what happens in the novel, right on the cover. I guess that's what I get for wanting to keep my books in their best condition. Oh well.
     I have been reading a web comic lately that I am really enjoying and just want to take a moment to share it with you. Bugcomic is a comic about bugs, which are just a metaphor for people. It's pretty hilarious and witty, and I'd like to show you some of my favourites, but Blogger won't allow me to put them into a post for stupid reasons. So I'll have to link you to them. Not my favourite type of sharing things, but what can you do. Slim Pickins is my absolute favourite so far. It reminds me a lot of Will Grayson Will Grayson. Some more good ones are Trashed, Sex 101, Amen, Zombie Saturation, and For the Haters. Sometimes I really hate copyrights, but I understand the need for them.
     Here goes another week of procrastination, frustration, and temptation. And yes, I wrote that so it would rhyme. Exams start this week, so wish me luck. I will need it. Trust me. DFTBA, and don't die this week. Please.

Nostalgic Future

     This past week has been both the shortest and the longest week I've had in a long time. I traveled and saw my doctor on Monday, was sick on Tuesday, had school Wednesday and Thursday, and did absolutely nothing all day today. Mix in a new book, a visit to the gym, lots of homework, and even more travelling, and you've got one tired out me. I was planning on posting yesterday, but my computer decided it was going to update just about every program it has last night. So I went to bed early.
     New books. Always a really fun topic. While I was in the city, I bought two new books; The Scorch Trials by James Dashner, and Entice by Carrie Jones. Both of them are parts of series. I also ordered two books last week which I've just heard came in. Closer and Radiance. I started reading The Scorch Trials because I've been waiting forever to finally read it. So far it's brilliant. I'm about halfway through it, and I can't put it down (though clearly I have if only to write this post). It's the second book in The Maze Runner series. I've already cried, yelled at it, and hit myself in the head with it. It's so frustratingly good. Sometimes I wish I was a speed reader so that I could get to the end faster, and figure out what's going on. But if I did that, I would be sad that it had ended so quickly. I mean, even reading at my normal pace I find books end to quickly. But I think that just comes from a love of books and reading.
     So the week is coming to a close, and it's time for me to answer a question. "If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?" I think that we do things that we don't like because we always hope and believe that there will be more time later to do the things we want to do. We believe more in the future and a hope in that future than we do in the present. It's kind of like a quote from my favourite novel, Looking for Alaska, by John Green:

"Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. ... You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present."

     We like things we don't do because they keep our imaginations running, keep us living in the future. We get to keep wondering what it would be like and how it would go, but we are too afraid to actually go out and do it because it would mean facing the truth. Once you do something, you can't change it. Sure, you can alter that memory, or try to forget about, but it still happened. And sometimes, the fear of not knowing how something will turn out stops us from going out and doing it. It stops us from completing our goal.

     That's it for this week. As usual, I have to get work done this weekend, and writing will not help me accomplish that. Nor will reading, but of course I'm going to be doing that. I just can't help it. So enjoy the weekend, and hope to hear from me next week. If not, it means that the dreaded exams will have killed me. DFTBA.

Christmas in ... January?

     When my family and I celebrate Christmas, we do a lot of baking. Cookies, cake, banana bread, rice crispy squares, but we have never made a gingerbread house. After the new year, we were shopping and noticed that the left over gingerbread kits were really inexpensive. So we bought some. They wouldn't that good to eat, since the cookies were hard, but they would be fun to make. So today, instead of doing homework, I sat down at the kitchen table and got to work.
     For something that advertises "easy assembly," it was incredibly difficult. The icing was hard, which made everything impossible. But I did it. It took over an hour, and my fingers were very sticky the entire time, and the candies just did not want to stick to the sides. Here it is, in all of it's miniature glory.

     Now I will go and get some homework done. Maybe. Or I'll have a bite of gingerbread house. Have a good week, and DFTBA.

Et Two?

     I really didn't plan for the second challenge post to be a week after the last. Life just happened that way. Well, life and procrastination. I just kept feeling that if I posted earlier in the week that it would be too early. Also, instead of writing last night I slept all evening. Then all night. It was kind of awesome.

     Book two of the challenge was Wave by Eric Walters. Like I said last week, one of my favourite non-fantasy authors. The POV was split, with the brother telling the first half and the sister telling the second half. Let me just say that after the wave hit, all of my expectations were met and exceeded. There was just so much that happens that I would have never have thought of. The only complaint is that after the climax, things slowed down. Then again, I guess it was just to accent the nerve-wracking feeling of impatience that the sister, Beth, would have been feeling. The ending was the most unexpected part. I stayed up past midnight to finish the book, and it had me in tears. Although not my favourite novel from this author, is it within the top 5. Also, I love the cover art for this novel. I don't know what I'll be reading next, because I am going to Chapters in the next few days and will no doubt be buying more books. But I will let you know what I have decided once I make that decision.
     I'm not going to lie, I haven't thought too much on this week's question, since I sort of knew what my answer was going to be, but mostly because I forgot and this week has been rough. "Which is worse, failing or never trying?" I think that never trying is the worse choice, first because you don't even know about the end outcome. If you don't try, how do you know you will fail? How do you know you will not succeed or not find something that you love? If everyone just sat at home doing nothing because they were afraid of trying, or afraid of the outcome, we would all be lost. Also, I don't believe on failure (at least most of the time). I believe in learning. If at first you don't succeed, learn from it and try again. It's not a failure, it's a lesson. Clearly we have learned many lessons, because I can say with little doubt that anyone was perfect at anything the first time around. No one walked the first time they put one foot in front of the other. No one counted to 10 on their own the first time they tried. I'm thankful for my failures, because they mean that I have tried, I have been mistaken, and I have learned.
     I hope that I make some sense when I try to explain myself. It really means a lot to me that I can do this. So, I will update as soon as possible. Until then, keep trying. And keep this last thing in mind. Rome wasn't built in day. DFTBA.

*PS- I updated the playlist at the bottom with some new music. Enjoy.

One is a Lonely Number

     One. It's a lonely number, but it also signifies a beginning. And this one post will signify the beginning of two challenges that I have started. I have read my first book of the year, and I will answer the first question for the 50QC. It's been on my mind all week, but I have just been so extremely busy that I have had time to do nothing but homework. Next week doesn't look to fun either, but hopefully I will post before Sunday.

     The 50 book challenge at first seemed like too big a number, but after taking only a week to read this book (more like 4 days) I think the goal of 50 is completely within my reach. The book was Maureen Johnson's Girl at Sea. It was a pretty amazing book. It actually taught me a lot about archeology. The main character, Clio, has to spend a few weeks with her dad in Italy on a boat with him, his new girlfriend, her daughter, an assistant from Yale, and her father's best friend. There are lots of twists and turns, and a surprise ending. I just could not put it down. The plot was really realistic, and the characters had a real depth to them, which always makes a book better. I recommend it to anyone.

     I have already begun to read the next book. Wave by Eric Walters. He is one of my favourite non-fantasy writers. His latest series of books have been about world tragedies, which his characters must survive. They are excellent, in both detail and truth. If I didn't know it was fiction, I would almost swear that it was a real account from a survivor.

     This week's 50QC question is 'how old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?' I have thought all week, when I had time to just think, about this. My answer is 18. I would choose this age because I would still be young enough to be considered a teen or child, so I would not have as many responsibilities as an adult, but I would have freedom and not be treated as a child. Also, I would either be in my last months of high school or just entering university, which would suit me just fine. I would be able to drive (though I can do that now, I just haven't cared enough to get my license). I think that 18 is an age where you begin to lose your childish beliefs and thoughts, and begin to know who you are, or are at least finally beginning to look properly. You will be forced into situations where you will get to see who your true friends really are, and how you act as a person under new situations.

     A new week lies ahead of me, with a lot of challenges and tests (literally and figuratively). If I make it through this week alive, one will be joined with another. I promise. Until then, I've got nothing else to say except DFTBA.

My Thoughts on a New Year

     C&H could not have said it any better*. The new year does not mean a clean slate. It does not mean a fresh beginning. It means it's the day after December 31rst, and just because that day is January 1rst only means that the annual calender cycle has restarted. People don't get excited and celebrate when the moon turns from a waning crescent to a new moon, meaning that the lunar cycle is restarting. We don't resolve ourselves to change things once a weekly cycle has past.

     To me, a new year means changing the date on homework assignments and getting a new calender. It means I am another day closer to death, and though that may sound pessimistic, it isn't. It's the cold hard truth. It means another round of winter, spring, summer, fall, winter. Another birthday, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It means new trends and new music, new ideas and finishing old ones. Another 365 days, none of which I am ever promised. I could die tomorrow, and a 'happy new year' would mean nothing. So can we just resolve to surviving this year? I could live with that (no pun intended).

   

  *Thank you C&H for finally giving me something to tell myself for the year.