50 Book Challenge - 2011

     I figure if you are a book nerd like I am, you may be interested in knowing which books I read during the 50 Book Challenge of 2011. Sadly, I did not complete the challenge, but I got really really close. Here is the list I read, in chronological order.

1. Girl at Sea - Maureen Johnson
2. Wave - Eric Walters
3. The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
4. Entice - Carrie Jones
5. Radiance - Alyson Noel
6. Halo - Alexandra Adornetto
7. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
8. Beastly - Alex Flinn
9. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
10. Closer - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
11. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn
12. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
13. The Poison Eaters - Holly Black
14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
15. Frostbitten - Kelley Armstrong
16. Living with the Dead - Kelley Armstrong
17. Made to be Broken - Kelley Armstrong
18. No Humans Allowed - Kelley Armstrong
19. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
20. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
21. Wither - Lauren DeStefano
22. Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton
23. The Chaos - Rachel Ward
24. The Book of Awesome - Neil Pasricha
25. The Gathering - Kelley Armstrong
26. Tithe - Holly Black
27. Valiant - Holly Black
28. Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
29. Possession - Elana Johnson
30. Enclave - Ann Aguirre
31. Forgotten - Cat Patrick
32. Forever - Maggie Stiefvater
33. Ironside - Holly Black
34. Ashes Ashes - Jo Treggiari
35. Plain Kate - Erin Bow
36. Zombies vs unicorns - Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
37. The great gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
38. Stone angel - Margaret Laurence
39. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
40. Boy Proof - Cecil Castellucci
41. Matched - Ally Condie
42. Special Edward - Eric Walters
43. Othello - William Shakespeare
44. The Diviners - Margaret Laurence
45. The Death Cure - James Dashner
46. Sweetness in the Belly - Camilla Gibb

     I call this a near success, since I was so near to it that you could almost call it a success. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Out With The Old

     My last post of 2011. The year has been pretty amazing, with its own balance of rises and falls. Looking back, I wouldn't change a single moment of it. Each day that I have lived have brought me to this moment, and this moment is pretty decent. Sure, I want the clock to tick 12 o'clock, the dawn to bring a new day. In lieu of that moment, I am going to reflect upon some of the things I've done this year.

     Starting with the Big, Fun, Scary List of 2011. I honestly didn't look at this after I had written it until about mid-summer, and then only a couple of times after that, so I am not really sure how well I have done until now:

*survive 11th grade - I am happy to report that I did this, and I did it quite well. The marks that I achieved were mostly to my liking (stupid math and physics) and the times I spent in those classes have become nice memories.
*begin last year - Following the success of the prior, I have started gr. 12. I still don't think I have mentally accepted the fact that it is my final year, though, despite having applied to university and everything. Maybe that's the best thing for now.
*go to my first dance - Still have not done this, but it will happen. Not because I 100% want it, but because I will never be forgived if I don't go to prom at the end of the year. And the only other dance that I could have gone to was the Christmas formal; not my thing.
*get a radical haircut - SUCCESS! I don't think anything was more radical than cutting off my ponytail and adopting the short hair look. I don't think I will ever go back long, since this seems to be working for me.
*actually do NaNoWriMo 2011- I would like to say that I tried, that I started writing but life just got to me. Unfortunately, life got to me before NaNo did, and I made the decision to not procrastinate schoolwork by doing it. The bad thing about NaNo is that it is in November, one of the busiest school months. Plus I had English, which took up a lot of my time.
*read 50 books - Sooo close. I made it to 46 books by the end of today, and I know that if I hadn't had English I would have done it. I didn't read much during the last 3 months because of the stupid class. I mean, I read the required reading for it, but never had time to read my own novels.
*get my driver's license - Success was achieved in this one, as well as going to driver's ed (yet to complete that, bleh actual driving). Ultimatums do apparently work for me, when it gets to a certain point.
*get a job - I didn't get a job, on the premise that I am leaving soon and no one here is really hiring right now. I have been saving my money, though, and not spending anything from my allowance. It adds up pretty quickly.
*do more blogging - Things started good in the beginning of the year, but I think once I started writing on A Week of Awesome I kind of stopped writing here. The BEDD posts have really helped me to get back into blogging, and hopefully in the new year I will be more regular in my posts.
*try vlogging - I discovered that I am way to shy for this. I do not like the sound of my voice when it is recorded. Vlogging is not for me.
*do something completely selfless - There is really no way for me to guage this, but I have done some things this year that helped others. I watched StickAid 2011, staying up about 19 hours out of 24. I also aided my school in raising money to help the community Harvest Center; we ended up raising around $1,500. For a school of around 300 students, it was very heartwarming.
*lose weight - Not as much as I wanted, of course, but I did lose some. *happy dance* Better luck next year, I guess.

     As I said, I am really proud of the things I've done this year. I got back into writing for a bit, and drawing a lot more. I realized that I have a love and a talent for writing, but not a lot of time for it. As for drawing, well, I would say amateur. I discovered a new taste in music that I didn't think I would ever like, but has become a kind of sanctum for me, especially when I'm moody. I made new friends, who I hope to one day meet.

     A good year, not the first and certainly (hopefully) not the last. The future holds a lot, yet to be discovered. And I can't wait to see what it's all about. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Sometimes I'm a Hypocrite

     I hate English. I also love English. I can explain this though. I like English in the sense of creative writing and reading and analysing (which most people hate). I love to write, and someday do wish to write an actual novel, or something resembling an actual novel. I love to read, and analysing novels can be interesting sometimes. I mean, it's interesting to see other people's opinions and have more insight on things that seemed to be so simple.

     What I don't like is writing essays. I don't like citing sources, and calling authors by their last names over and over again. I mean, some essays are fine to write, like the ones in which stories are told, but those that just teach you something lame are boring. And who cares where I got my information from, as long as it's there. Also, why can't Wikipedia be a credible source? Who cares if anyone can write an article; do you know how difficult it is these days to actually change something in those things? (Probably not difficult, but come on, they have all the information in one place.) As for author names, I am going to build a freaking time machine and meet these people so that I can technically call them by their first names in essays. (I wish)

     The love/hate thing is not the only reason I am being hypocritical in this post. I really do love English, and these things only annoy me when I have procrastinated a lot and have to rush to finish an essay. I am going to have to get used to these things if I want to get an English degree in university. *sigh*  I just like to rant sometimes. Especially when I'm tired and just want to read instead of doing homework.

     Speaking of reading, I started a book last night, and due all of the procrastinating I did today, I am almost finished it. I think the 50 Book Challenge will not be too bad now, if I can continue this way and not have too much work to do for the rest of the month. (Haha, funny. The next two weeks are going to be horrible for homework.

     Today's challenge word is love, a word which I really hate. So for the photo, I kind of translated it to heart, and something that I liked. This summer my family and I ate quite a few Kinder Egg chocolates, and I collected the plastic eggs. At first I had them in a chain, as my goal was just to see how long an egg chain I could make. Then one day my sister took that chain and kind of bent and twisted the eggs into the shape of a heart, and since then I have not touched it, despite having gotten a few more to add to it. And so that is the picture for today, a love/heart of Kinder chocolate.

     Anywho, I am exhausted, and just want to read before going to sleep. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Getting Closer

     Last night I finally finished The Diviners, a book I had to read for my English independent study. It has taken me forever, but now I can finally add it to my list of finished novels and can begin to read something new. I have to start Wuthering Heights, since it our final novel study, but I'm also going to start another book. I need to complete the 50 Book Challenge, and I only have 6 more books to go. I'm so close, and the end of the year is so close, I am beginning to get nervous that I may not make it.

     I am really not in the mood to write a lot tonight, so I'm just going to put up the challenge picture and end it. The challenge for today is gluttony, excessive drinking or eating, which happens to be one of the seven deadly sins. I took a weird spin on this photo, and it came out very different. I don't know whether to call this vampirism, cannabilism, or zombification. All I know is, I don't taste very good, and won't be chewing on my fingers, or anyone else's for that matter, in the near future. I just didn't want to go with the usual food/drink image that seems to do with gluttony. I went outside the box with this one, and it may or not have worked.

     And that's all, folks! I really don't have much else to say. Spent my Saturday playing video games, because I am nerdy like that. Now I must get all of my work done tomorrow, but that's alright. So don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: The Quest Begins

     It may be a little late in the evening, but I have posted! I have just been working on today's photo challenge, and what I thought was going to be an easy one turned out to be a tad bit more difficult than expected. Day 1 called was 'anything goes,' so I thought I would talk a bit about the 50 Book Challenge, since I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

     The 50 Book Challenge was part of my Big, Fun, Scary List for the year. The point was to read at least 50 books by end of the year (duh), to see just how much people really read during the course of a year. For the longest time, my Challenge meter has been logged to 26 books, basically since I stopped the major blogging this year. But I never stopped reading (gosh, that would be worse than my heart stopping beating). So finally, I dragged up my memory lists, my Chapters list, and perused my bookshelf, and discovered that I was up to 41 books. Dissatisfied. So I read a book (a short one) that night, and then finished Othello today, which brought me up to 43. I messed up on my list though, so the counter says 44. It just means that I won't have to make a new one once I finish the next book.

     Anywho, back to today. I figured since I was so excited about being so close to my goal, I would make the first BEDD photo a picture of all of the books I have currently read. Of course, I don't have all of them (I borrowed a couple and 2 are novels from school) so I just put filler books into the picture with the spines turned away. But every other book is my own personal novel that I own and have read.

     Like I mentioned before, I didn't think that getting this picture would be difficult. At first I underestimated the pure size of 43 books. I had to find them all on my bookshelf and take them out, and then move them off of my desk and onto the floor to take the picture, since there is no room on my desk to take a decent picture. Then, once I had the picture, I had to move all of them back to the desk and put them back onto the bookshelf into their correct places. I am kinf of OCD when it comes to my bookshelf. Since there is no more room (I have a lot of books) everything needs to be placed correctly to fit. It's like Tetris, but for books.

     I am going to go to bed now (after reading a bit), since moving everything and my day in general has made me really tired. Tune in tomorrow for another post/picture. As always, don't forget to be awesome!

Wither Away

     I spent the afternoon lying in bed finishing up my book. It was just too good, and I had to know how it ended. But of course, it is just the first book in the trilogy, and the next book won't come out until 2012. Life just sucks like that.

     Wither by Lauren Destefano is about the future world where humans are plagued by a genetic disease that severely shortens our lifespan. Men die at age 25, women at age 20. And there's nothing they can do to stop it. It's a story that really makes you think about life and how we go through it doing these petty things. Do we really make the most of what we have, or are we just settling for what we believe we deserve? The main character, Rhine, is kidnapped and forced to become one of three brides for a man who is blind to what is really going on behind the doors of his mansion. I usually don't enjoy science fiction type books, but I really loved this one. Anyway, it was fantastic and beautiful and I can't wait for the next book but it's going to take forever for it to come. It's called Fever, and the trilogy is called The Chemical Garden trilogy.

     I've got a big biology assignment that I now have to go and do so that I don't leave it for tomorrow like I usually do, so I will write once that is done, and only then. DFTBA, and have a good weekend.

Literary Lunacy

     It's pretty crazy how many novels I can read in just over a month. I read 8 novels in the month of April, and I took some breaks in between a few of them. I'm also two-thirds the way through another book. Good god I'm a nerd. But I love it. I don't know what my life would be without it.

     Starting from the beginning, I read the John Green novel An Abundance of Katherines which I received from K for my birthday. It was the last book I needed to have read all of John Green's books. It was really good, though not my favourite of his books. It's the story of Colin, a child prodigy who only dates girls named Katherine. He attempts to develop a formula that would predict the outcome of any relationship between any two people. For a book about a math formula, it had surprisingly little math, and the math it did have was pretty easy to understand (thanks to grade eleven functions, though). The story was really good, and there never seemed to be a dull moment, thanks to other characters and their complicated lives.

     The next book that I read was Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong. Please don't try to 'click to look inside.' I really do hate it when pictures come with captions or things like that. And I couldn't find another one of my cover that would size correctly and not blur. Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series chronicles the lives of supernatural women who try to live their lives as normal as possible under their circumstances. This specific novel featured Hope Adams, who is an Expisco half demon. She struggles with being both a demon and a human, and how it affects her life. Toss in a pair of chameleon-esque brothers (one with an eye for a special lady), a supernatural gang, and a few dead bodies, and you've got yourself one  amazing read.

     Let's just say I was on a Kelley Armstrong binge for a while, because the next few books are all by her. No Humans Involved introduces Jaime Vegas, a necromancer whose career in showbiz is to 'contact' to the spirits of the dead. But when her chances at reality TV come along, she jumps at the chance ... and finds herself in the middle of a ghost infested house with secrets of its own in the backyard. Jaime has to figure out what is going on before anyone else notices something is up, or worse, it happens again.

   I took a break from the Otherworld series and read a different kind of Kelley Armstrong novel. Made to be Broken is one of her crime and mystery novels, told by hit woman Nadia Stafford, or Dee to her employer. But this time it isn't a job that has Nadia leaving her lodge in the Canadian north; its the disappearance of her teenage employee and her baby. No one else seems to take a notice, or any interest, that the young girl is missing, and that here has been no sign of her for days. Nadia knows that this isn't just normal teenage pressure from living in such a small town in the middle of nowhere. And she's not about to let them disappear without a trace. 

I returned to the Otherworld series, and was introduced to a human girl named Robyn in Living with the Dead, who is great friends with half demon Hope Adams. Framed for two murders she didn't commit, Robyn is forced to run, into a new world she could never have imagined. Werewolves, demons, sorcerers, people who know where you are no matter where you are. It gets pretty crazy in the end, but it was pretty good, definitely one of my favourites of the series I think.

     The next was Frostbitten, another Otherworld novel. I loved this one because it finally returned to the story of Elena, the female werewolf. I must admit I'm usually not one for tales of werewolves (they are one of my least favourite supernatural beings) but the Otherworld werewolves have capture me in their world. I think it's because they have this really tight knit family type society going on, and they are so familiar with each other, and I just love it. I like the smallness of it coupled with the closeness. Anyway, Elena and her husband Clay (also a werewolf) have to go to Alaska to fix up a mutt problem (what they call werewolves who aren't part of the pack). It was really an amazing one because you learn a lot about the wolves, but also quite a bit about the Alaskan wilderness and some of their legends. I think it would be an interest place to take a vacation in the future, if I was ever so inclined to go someplace and freeze my fingers and toes off.

    

     The next book that I picked up is really different from the last few books that I've read. Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I've got to admit this novel made me think quite a lot about life and what it means to really experience it. The novel is set up in a series of letters written by Charlie, to some unknown friend. All the names have been changed, including Charlie's, so that the recipient of the letters won't know who they are from and won't be able to send anything back. The letters are all about growing up and experiencing new things. Charlie's experiences and observations kind of become your own, and you start to feel sorry for this boy who doesn't really understand the world quite yet. Though I can tell you that none of us do, and we never will. Sorry. We just won't. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the novel:  "So this is my life, and I want you to know that I am both happy and sad, and I'm still trying to figure out how that can be." "I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there."  I really recommend this book, it was such a great read and I enjoyed it so much, I was really upset when it ended.

     The next book I read was a collection of stories by Holly Black called The Poison Eaters. I really enjoyed them because they were quick reads and they were interesting and unique. My favourite story from the collection was The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. It was pretty much about a time when a vampire virus takes over, and parts of cities are quarantined and called Coldtown, since the vampires are so cold. Anyway, the Matilda is trying to starve the virus out of her system so she can return to her family and boyfriend, until she learns he has gone to Coldtown with her friend to find her. So she has to go and find them. There are many other good stories in the book, including faeries, unicorns, elves, the devil, and many more magical type things. It really satisfied my appetite for fantasy.

     Anyway, I'm exhausted from this week, it seems like it has dragged on forever, so I'm going to crawl under my covers with my book and read until my eyelids cannot stay open, and then sleep. I will hopefully post again tomorrow, and satisfy my writing mood again. Until then, keep reading, and DFTBA.

Forever Teasing Me

     I've never put a video into my blogs before, but this is a special occasion and I am SUPER EXCITED and I'm going to start doing it in the future so why not start now. Introducing the Forever trailer, complete with mesmerizing wolves, enchanting music, and a hidden story that I cannot wait for:

     I talked about Forever back in September. It was one of my first blog posts. I'm sure you could tell that I was super excited then, and if you haven't read that post, well you know that I'm super excited now. I mean, only a bit more than two months left until I can FINALLY read Forever. By the way, you can preorder Forever here. Not only preorder it, but preorder it autographed. By Maggie Stiefvater. (Duh). I don't think nerdlife could get any better sometimes.

     Anyway, the song from the video is "Summer Girl" from the novel Shiver and this version is done by Jonas and Plunkett. I love it. It reminds me so much of Sam and Grace and Mercy Falls and the wolves and how much I wished for summer to come so that they could be together. If you like it, you can get it here.

     So now I'll go back to counting down the days until I can stop wondering and I'll know what happened to Grace and Sam and everyone else from Mercy Falls. Until then, keep dreaming, and DFTBA.

Just Don't Freak Out

     This week has been the most boring week of the year. Nothing particularly interesting happened, and I haven't done anything worth talking about. I've mostly been thinking, and even that has been pretty dull. The only real news to report is that I finished two books this week and started another. This means I am back on track with the 50 Book Challenge, and may possibly get ahead of my schedule by the end on the month. The way I thought about it, I would need to read one book per week, and have a two week period in case more time was needed for certain books. Kind of like the 50QC.

     I finished Mockingjay late Monday night, so I couldn't post like I wanted to. The ending was, of course, the best part of the book. I cried my eyes out reading it, and had to get up a couple of times to blow my nose. Just like the second book, I never could have predicted what had happened. This trilogy has become one of my favourites. Not only did the characters feel real and complete, but the story seemed to resonate with a sound of truth, like this is what our future holds. The plot is undeniably possible. I just hope for the sake of the human race we can pull ourselves together and not come to something like this. All in all, I would rate this book a 9.5 out of 10.

     The reason I didn't post on Tuesday or Wednesday was because I had begun reading yet another book. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. As strange as the title may sound, the book was absolutely amazing. It was the perfect mix of romance and mystery that I needed. The story is about a girl, Lily, who left a notebook in a bookstore in New York, with a dare in it for whomever found it. Dash finds it, and instead of just following the final instruction, leaves a dare back for Lily. They continue on like this, writing back and forth in the notebook, getting close to one another without really getting close. Then add in a nightclub at 2am, an enormous dog, and an unforgettable New Year's eve. This book had me hooked from the first page to the last.

      That's all I really feel like writing at the moment. I promise another post early in the week, a very special post. But that's all I'm going to say about that. So have a good weekend, DFTBA, and...

Lost Blogger

     Over the last two weeks I feel as though I have lost myself as a blogger. I haven't updated at all, I haven't put any thought into a single post, and yet I've had time to do so every day. To make up for it, I'm going to try to jam pack this post with as much as I can possibly write, until I lay, broken and empty, asleep in my bed. That sounds really nice right now, but I will resist the distraction. I will!

 

     I've completed two books, and am almost done a third, since the last word from me. Closer by Roderick Gordan and Brian Williams. It the the fourth book in the Tunnels saga. It just keeps getting better and better with every book, although I'm getting really impatient for a definitive ending. I've loved every minute of the books, but now to wait for a fifth? Anyway, there was some death, some reunions, and some very interesting events, including blowing up a laboratory, being locked in a closet for weeks, and gaining a 'sixth sense' of sorts. Now to away for Spiral, which will hopefully hold an ending!

     Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games series. I'm just finishing up the last book today, so maybe there will a post about it tomorrow. I read Catching Fire really quickly, it was just so good and so twisting. Out of all the possibilities that I expected for the second book, what happened was miles out the range. Things seemed to be going along well and then BAM! a huge plot twist. That's what I liked most about this book: the complete unknown for the future. After this turning point, it was like an anything goes attack against the reader. Truly magnificent. But what else would you expect after the awesome that was The Hunger Games? The only thing I can say about this book is this: Tick-Tock.

     I am going to do a double here and answer two questions to make up the quiet that had seemed to settle here lately. First, "to what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?" Well, if control in my life was placed in a scale of one to ten, one being none and ten being complete, then I would say about a six. I can't control that I have to go to school, or that I have to sleep at night and be home by a certain hour. But I can control what kind of classes I take, the path I hope my future to follow, and how I present myself. So, while I don't have a lot of control, I have what I need. For now. As I learn and grow, my control over my life will increase. It will never be at a ten, or even a nine. Life just doesn't work like that. But it will also never be zero or one. As human beings, be always have control over ourselves. Maybe not in the way that everyone thinks or would like, but in the way that matters.

     The second question is "are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?" I think I'm going to have to be a fence sitter here. Mostly because the question confuses me, but also because I'm human and my choice changes all the time. I like to do things right; if you don't do it right the first time, you have to do it again, and I don't like doing things twice. I also try to do the right things, because in the long run it will make me a better person. "The right thing and the easy thing are never the same thing." As difficult as it may be at times, I try. I try to do both, and sometimes it moves me forward, sometimes backwards, and sometimes I find myself exactly where I started. But I'm alright with that.

     Now I will go and finish Mockingjay so that I can write again tomorrow. I must admit though, I don't feel so broken and empty right now. I think a lot of this post has come into a roundabout and completed itself somehow. I'm not even going to try to understand it right now though. So try and DFTBA everyone.

P.S - I found this really funny webcomic the other day. Link. What are you waiting for, go look! LINK!

Still Here

     I realize that I haven't really posted anything in over a week. I kind of felt like just giving up lately. Every time I thought that I should write something, a little voice in the back of my mind kept saying "Why bother? No one cares what you write." I've been agreeing with that voice lately, and am still fighting to keep it gagged and tied up in the dark recesses of my mind. So right now I figure I will continue on in the normal routine.
     Clearly I have used up one of my two safe weeks for the 50QC. I was hoping to never have to skip a week, and answer all of the questions with two weeks remaining in the year to reflect and whatnot. Oh well. The question for this week is actually pretty interesting. "If the average human lifespan was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?"

     If the average lifespan was 40 years, the first thing that I would do differently is not spend as much time in school. Currently I am expecting to be in school until I'm around 22 years old, which would be half of my life. Then I would have to work the rest to pay off the debt of school, and I would have no time to really live. So I would spend less time in school and more time doing things for myself, like traveling and meeting people and having different experiences. If I were only expected to live to around 40, I would forget about trying to save for a future as much as people now do and focus on being with my friends and family. I most certainly would not be wasting a Saturday evening typing at my computer like this. Just kidding. It's not a waste.

     Last week I finished two books: The Hunger Games and Beastly. I borrowed both of them from K, but I intend to buy The Hunger Games trilogy next time I'm in a bookstore. She only had the first one, and it completely hooked me. Basically, it's about a girl who is sent along with 23 other teenagers to battle it out in the annual Hunger Games, in which the contestants have to kill each other to survive; the last one standing gets to live. It was really amazing. Beastly is pretty much a modern day take on the classic Beauty and the Beast story. It was also really good, much better than I expected it to be. This has now been eight books toward the 50 book challenge. I'm a little behind from where I would have liked to be by this time, but that's alright because I will make it up in the summer.  

     So there, I've actually posted for this week. Hopefully this following week I won't be in this mood again and I'll actually write. Have a good week, keep your hopes up, and DFTBA.

    

Release the Nerd

     I think I would prefer to take double exams than go through the week I just had again. I haven't been this stressed, tired, and moody in my entire life. Every little thing this week have come together to drive me insane, and  I don't think there's any going back at this point. The only thing to look forward to is the hours and hours of sleep I will be getting after this is posted. Thank god for sleep.

     A positive note before I go on to rant and complain: I finished Halo last night. It was much better than I expected it to be. The ending was sort of rushed, but it was logical and very entertaining. There was a lot of romance and love in it, which is exactly what I had been craving. I kind of guessed what was going on from about midway through the novel, but there were a lot twists I never saw coming, which I always like. I've been staying up late every night to read it, which is partly why I'm so tired right now. But it was too good to not stay awake. I believe there may be a sequel; it was finished on a kind of cliffhanger, with a really bug and important question left unanswered. But a sequel is always a good thing. I'll just have to wait and see what happens. This has been the sixth book in the 50 Book Challenge for my BFS List. I believe things are moving along nicely.
     Since I haven't written all week and probably won't have any time to do it this weekend, I will answer the 50QC question now. I'm up to number six, which to me seems king of high to me, but it actually has only been six weeks since 2011. Go figure. "If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?" First off, I don't see how happiness would ever work as a currency. It's an emotion, and differs in people based on their chemical balance, so couldn't be properly measured and averaged (*cough*nerd*cough*). If it was though, I think that any work where I directly helped people would make me happy. I like to teach people things and see understanding and happiness fill their faces. It's partly why I think I want to become a teacher after highschool. I like to be around children and teenagers, and I've always liked the satisfaction of knowing that someone understands a certain concept because of me.
     I think I have been moody this week mostly because of the upcoming 'holiday,' Valentine's Day. Or as K so geniusly put it, 'Single's Awareness Day.' At least, that's te category I fall under. It's kind of depressing always being in that category. But what can a girl do. Here's what I think of Valentine's Day, sprinkled with a bit of my nerdiness.

     I'm too tired to do any real ranting. I'll save that for the horrid day itself. Now, time for sleep! Have a good weekend, DFTBA, and don't forget, you are not alone on this big blue marble.

**Edit: changed the title from "Release the of Nerd" to what it actually should say.

Rant-ish...

     I know this week's post is really late. Or, it will seem late once you have read it. I just haven't been in the mood to write lately. I'm stuck in a rut, and no amount optimism will be able to snap me out of it as quick as I would like. Sometimes I just get into a mood, and it takes time (and a lot of effort on my part) to get out of it. I don't like people helping, or trying to help. I don't need to be treated like an antique vase, ready to crack and break at the slightest touch. I just need routine, normal life. And time. Lots and lots of time.

     I finished Radiance on Wednesday night. It was a quick read, but really good. At first I didn't like it, because things just happened with very little reason or explanation, but as I neared the climax I began to understand things a bit better. It's about a girl who dies, and returns to earth to help other souls who have remained pass over. There is also a boy who is with her to guide her, but nothing romantic happens, which was quite a disappointment. But from what I can tell there will be another book about the characters, so we'll have to wait and see what becomes of it all.
The book I am reading now is called Halo. No surprises what this one is generally about.
     I have been quite reluctant to answer this week's question. I tried to do it on the last post, but it just didn't happen. I will give it another go, and hopefully this time I can write something that doesn't sound completely horrible. The question is "what is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?" It took a lot of thinking for this answer, but the one thing I would change is the way people judge each other. I am so tired of people looking at each other and passing a judgement on their appearance, or something they heard from someone else. I know that I myself am guilty of doing it sometimes, but there are some people who are so quick to judge that it makes me question humanity. We judge people on some of the poorest criteria possible: physical appearance, gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religious beliefs, the list goes on. The one thing we all have in common is the one thing that seems to push us apart; the fact that we don't know who we are or what is really going on. We try to make ourselves seem better to each other, and push each other away so that we don't show how really scared we are of life.
     Anyway, I figure that I won't rant any more than that. I don't want to start a riot or anything. So I hope you have a good week, and you will hear from me soon. As always, be good and DFTBA.

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.

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.

10/10/10

     It's pretty early, but it is now officially 10/10/10. It isn't really a big deal, just another day really. But this phenom will not happen again until 2110. Next year will be more epic, but this is still pretty amazing.      So, events happening on this day. So far, that I've heard of, there will be a lot of environmental awareness events and projects starting. Thank you google. I think that's pretty cool. 350.org has a list of every single registered event in the world. They even have one for the city near where I live, so they're pretty precise. You can find that here.

     Also, a book is being officially released today (tomorrow?). Kaleb Nation's Bran Hambric: The Specter Key is being released in store. He is hoping, and dreaming, that his book gets on the national best seller list. Preorders have been being made for more than a month now, including signed copies. If his book does appear on the list, he will make a visit to the city with the most preorders. Too bad I don't live in a city that loves books. Sigh. Anyway, he will have an epic (hopefully) YouTube video out in the morning, so you should check that out. And you can read the first three chapters of his book, and of the first book, Bram Hambric: The Farfield Curse, here. I really recommend at least giving them a shot. What's the harm?

     Another thing I know that is happening happens to be a Nerdfighter thing. There's going to be a gathering in Chicago, but since I can't be there, I'm not going to say anything about it. If you want to know more, you can look at this video. Why do all of my favourite people that I want to meet have to live outside of Canada?!?

     Anyway, I am posting this now, at like 2am, because I might be busy tomorrow. I still haven't completely made up my mind, so I'm doing it now just to be safe. Now, why does it seem that lately this blog has been about telling you about other people and other people's fun? Oh, that's right, because it has been. School has just been it's annoying self, grasping me in it's annoying-ness. My English teacher has been MIA for over a week, which means annoying filler work while she is gone. I mean, you can only have so many "class discussions" before someone should realize that there are only a select few that actually discuss. For others it's down time to do work from other classes, talk, listen to music, or play games on Ipods. I mean, is everyone else just blind to this kind of stuff but me?

     So here is a warning to anyone who is thinking of using physics as a filler class/report card boost. Don't. It's very difficult if you mean to use it like that. It needs to be taken seriously. Like, study and make sure you understand everything kind of seriousness. I know by unfortunate experience. I thought that it wouldn't be difficult, and that it would just be something to occupy that period. But it's hard. Like, maddeningly, frustratingly, hard. But I will get through it. I've got some amazing help. And google. Nothing helps like a bit of google. 

     I have spent this past week with late nights reading, annoying school days, and evenings ignoring everything. Homework, people, YouTube (which took a long time to catch up on), and sleep. I just basically sat around the house thinking, and planning, and never following through on those plans. But this weekend, this glorious long weekend, has already begun to piece back together the horrible puzzle that I had created. 

     So anyway, I will be sure to post something more me-like sometime this week. Before the weekend, I promise. So have a good 10/10/10 my friends, stay true to yourself, and DFTBA.  

P.S. - That poster I did last weekend that I blogged about? The Egyptian themed one? Yeah, 100%. I know. Awesome. XD