This should be retitled: In which Elizabeth kept not posting this so she's been adding onto this post for over two weeks now...
Man, I am in an irritable and whiny mood these days. I don't know what's up, but I hope it stops soon because I don't like listening to my brain these days! But I'm feeling whiny enough that I'm going to unload it onto all of you poor unsuspecting souls and hope I feel better.
Amongst my first world problems:
Tamora Pierce is going to be near where I live. TAMORA PIERCE. Aka my freaking hero. Guess where I'll be? A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PART OF THE COUNTRY. *Sobs*
Next on the list: my favourite band Mae (I've mentioned them before) is back together! And touring! *Shrieks and flails with joy*! And they're going to be near me in a few months! But guess what. Did you guess that once again I will be across the country when this happens? If you did, you're right.
*Throws myself on the floor and has a tantrum*
Uggghhhhhh whhhyyyyyyyyy.
(But on the upside I'm seeing family during both of these absences, which I'm really excited about since I don't get to see them often. You know, being across the country and all. At least I'm closer to my mom now that I've left Chicago! Closer being relative, and only lasting a little while until she too moves. Then I'll be all alone on the east coast agaaaainnnnnn. And now I'm whining again. BRAIN. STAHP.)
Lastly, is something that I'm actually legitimately hurt by. In case you didn't know it, I'm hosting a giveaway as part of Cuddlebuggery's blog hop. (Which is super awesome - getting people to know each other in the blogging community!) This was my first blog hop, which I was already excited about, but I'm also excited because I'm giving away one of my favourite books. So what's there to be upset about? Well, I was looking at my Rafflecopter, because I wanted to see how many people entered vs. number of entries, and I noticed something funny. Huh. This person entered all 5 times, but I don't recognize their name. Maybe I just forgot? *goes to check entry thingies*. You have GOT to be kidding me.
This person didn't do ANY OF THE THINGS. Like...guys, I put a free entry in. It's totally cool if you don't feel you have anything to say and if you don't want to follow me, you get a free entry just for stopping by because why not? You can even go back and do the free entry every day. It's just...I didn't really think people did that. I'd say I'd lost faith in humanity, but I actually don't hold a particularly high opinion of humanity, so I guess it's that I lost faith in the book community. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, because we are comprised of such a diverse community in all ways - and that's awesome! Unfortunately, that also means people acting like assholes. On top of being unreasonably cranky for the past week for no good reason at all, I now actually have a reason to be irritable. Plus now I know I'm going to have to check all entries for every giveaway ever. It's not all bad though - I've already met so many awesome people through this bloghop! There have been so many interesting people who I never would have gotten to meet if it weren't for the bloghop. AND I've met people who share the other fangirl/actual parts of my life - music and K-dramas/anime! And I always get excited about that :)
Anywho, no more moaning. Onto fun linky things from around the interwebs! Other things this post should be known as: that time when Elizabeth found all of the disturbing, weird, but hilarious videos.
Yeah. I know. What even was that?! But it's also crazy awesome - I mean you don't see many cross-discipline productions like that!
Bookish News
Discussions
Common Archetypes: Invisible Bisexuals - Yes. Just yes.
Here's The Scientific Reason Why You Get Lost In a Book - This is so interesting! I mean I'm unsurprised at what they found I guess, but it's awesome that there have been studies done on it.
Fiction and Pretext - Janet talks about her theories on why pretty much every other genre appeals to her more than contemporary fiction. I have to say it's a very similar case for me.
21 STAGES OF FINDING A NEW OTP - Oh yeah, we have TOTALLY been there. Tv, books, it doesn't matter.
The Scary Place: The Art of Binging and Total Fictional Obsession - Speaking of ^ - man. I mean, I knew you guys loved books the way I do (and most of you love tv the way I do), but I've never truly believed people go into these dazes/obsessions the way I do. Let me tell you, it makes me feel SO much better. The way that Gillian describes the feeling is spot on.
The Habits of Bibliophiles: Observations - Nafiza's put together a pretty funny post about us readers!
On Being Bookishly Awesome - And on a similar note...
Sci-Fi Month 2014: Blogger Panel #2 – Scientific Knowledge - I do like to have a little prior knowledge, but I rarely require it to enjoy the book.
The Habits of Bibliophiles: Observations - Nafiza's put together a pretty funny post about us readers!
On Being Bookishly Awesome - And on a similar note...
Sci-Fi Month 2014: Blogger Panel #2 – Scientific Knowledge - I do like to have a little prior knowledge, but I rarely require it to enjoy the book.
Do You Write in Books? - Oh the dilemmas involved!
Nerding Out: YA Books We Wish Were Video Games (3)- These would be so. freaking. awesome.
Ready for another weird video? Good.
This is the creepiest, most hilarious thing EVER.
Specific Books and Authors
From ‘Mockingjay’ to Narnia: Fantasy Series Conclusions, Ranked - I have to say I pretty much agreed with all of these. More or less anyway.
The True Stories Behind Classic Fairy Tales - I actually didn't know most of these! This is...horrifying yet interesting?
9 writers on the inspiring books that shaped them - Hey-o there was a Redwall shout out on the list!
Not A Drill: Dragonriders of Pern Movie Nabs Female Screenwriter! - AHHH I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!!
The Blogging Unicorn and the Goblet of Fire: A Harry Potter Newbie Visits Hogwarts - Shae's finally visited the 4th book! Hilarious as per usual :)
The Harry Potter Alliance’s #MyHungerGames Brings Awareness to Stories of Income Inequality - I had no idea this was a thing, but I LOVE that it is! ...has anyone noticed that like 1/3 of these posts here always end up being HP related?
Holy Crap Tamora Pierce Showed Up: The Mary Sue’s Favorite Comments Of The Week - GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!!! I wish I'd written a comment Tamora Pierce commented on!!! SO JEALOUS.
Beyond the Pages: Bright Before Sunrise - Jaimie talks about how this book made her think about how much people's opinions used to matter to her
On a significantly less creepy, but still charmingly odd note, here's a renaissance band covering a Metallica song!
Blogging
What's Your Reading Personality? - I got the Lionizer!
The Reality Is … - Yash has some recommendations for contemporary fiction graphic novels
I Am A Hopelessly Peer Pressured Reader - I'm a bit half and half. I very, very rarely comment on reviews of books I haven't read (because I feel like I don't have anything to say, and there's always the threat of dreaded spoilers). But, on the other hand, the more a book is pushed on me, the longer it usually takes for me to pick up, because for some reason reverse psychology works on me at the worst times.
13 Best Book Beginnings Of Ever - I actually thought I'd already posted this...shows how long I've been making this post haha! But yeah. These really are the best book beginning of ever!
You go Meryl! So much color in this song!! I'm excited/dreading this movie so much gahhhhhh!
Nonbookish News
In Defense of Indiana Jones, Archaeologist - I adore Indiana Jones. There doesn't need to be a justification for loving this post. (Except that it is, in fact, very interesting)
This Hella Old Book of Spells Has Finally Been Deciphered - So apparently I'm way more superstitious than I thought because I think freaking out is a totally reasonable reaction haha
What it really means to be a public school educator today - YES. I couldn't agree with this article more.
27 Nerdy Scarves To Get You Ready For Winter - So I pretty much want ALL THE SCARVES. But especially the maps. And vaporeon (aka probably my favourite pokemon)
And on a final note, I can't stop listening to K-Pop! My brother recently discovered that I was not in fact a crazy person, and that K-Pop can actually be really, really awesome! So he wanted some recommendations. Cue video montage of Elizabeth only watching K-Pop music videos for an entire weekend. I CAN'T STOP. I've had a total relapse!! So here's a couple of my favourites.
Guys. I didn't think I liked Hyuna. But this music is so freaking catchy, and the music video is hypnotic! I seriously can't stop watching it. It's pretty risque by Korean standards (as far as I've seen anyway), but nothing too scandalous by American mv standards. But seeing as Hyuna is kind of the bad girl of Korea, I guess that isn't too surprising haha.
Actually, you know what? I think I'm just going to do a whole post on K-Pop. Maybe I'll do a series of posts on K-Pop/Dramas/Anime. If I ever stop being lazy. So I'll just leave you with that music video (but if you feel like jumping down the rabbit hole and exploring K-Pop in the meantime, I have a handy youtube playlist just for you!), and since I've waited so long to post this that it is officially Thanksgiving here in America, happy Thanksgiving!
I'm sitting here going through your K-Pop playlist, because I can. When I was a kid we lived in Papua New Guinea, and we used to get MTV Asia (I'd be glued to it every day after school) and they played *a LOT* of Asian pop, so I secretly love it ;) they also played a lot of British and European pop music so my music preferences have always been at odds with everyone else I know lol
ReplyDeleteHmmm Metallica covers, I totally loved that video! Have you heard of Apocalyptica? If you haven't you should watch this: http://youtu.be/rbTozgoj9OQ I have a thing for heavy metal played with cellos (when they added a drummer and occasionally other musicians I was actually disappointed lol)
I'm sorry you're going to be in another part of the country when awesome things are happening :( that's always the way isn't it? Hopefully you get the opportunity to see them again in the future!
I'm going to shut up now because this comment is ridiculously long D:
I am FINALLY getting a chance to delve into this:
ReplyDelete1. Fiction and Pretext: YES! That sums it up so well. I feel the same. I like contemporary fiction (especially in the fact that it is easy to devour), but I don't get the same buzz off of it like I do other genres. Also, YA contemporary fiction generally either makes me roll my eyes about the teenaged drama, or it makes me very very scared of teenagers and the trouble they get into. Either way, I feel old. Haha.
2. Invisible bisexual: Super interesting. I am actually watching that show she mentions and I really like it too. But I did find it really interesting last night when I watched an episode where Karma has to tell her parents that she is not actually a lesbian, but straight and introduce her boyfriend. She is worried that her parents, who were super excited that she "came out", will be really disappointed. And not that I condone lying to her parents, but couldn't she have just said she was bisexual?
3. Finale rankings: I agree with the post fairly well too. Especially about Allegiant. My main issue was not what happened with Tris, but how the whole book was written. So sad. I also really liked Mockingjay - ESPECIALLY given the epilogue.
3. What type of reader are you? - I got Endurance Reader. I'm not sure about that because I tend to stay away from really long books because I want to read ALL THE BOOKS, but as a teenager that was certainly true.
Dude I'm totally jealous - our MTV doesn't have much variety. Or it didn't the last time I watched it in my early high school years...but I'm betting there's even less music videos, so I don't hold out much hope that it improved instead of declined haha.
ReplyDeleteYes! That's actually my favourite song of theirs! Do you know 2Cellos? I'm betting you do, because they sound TOTALLY up your alley.
1. Yeah, that's definitely exactly it for me. It's fun, and I even have a favourite author (Deb Caletti), but it just doesn't bring the same...everything I love about reading to it.
ReplyDelete2. I actually hadn't ever thought of that - I mean, some of that comes from not really having any shows off the top of my head that have gay characters at all. Which makes me sad, especially since there are so many that have come out in the past year or so with gay characters. But yeah, when she started talking about it I was like...oh...you're right!
3. Yes! I thought the epilogue was fantastic. Like I really wouldn't have believed any other ending.
4. You know, I honestly don't know if I read bigger books now or as a teen. It feels like YA books have definitely bulked up since I was a kid, but I'm also not reading adult fiction/classics as often as I did back then, so I suppose it's a bit of a trade off!
Nice video. I enjoy listening to K-Pop, but I am not up on the newer groups/artists, since I also listen to other music as well. I will be looking forward to your K-Pop post(s) to find more music to check out.
ReplyDeleteAs for weird Metallica-influenced music, have you ever heard of the Beatles-x-Metallica crossover tribute band, Beatallica?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQtIjGQGPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyCK0a3XbMo
Yeah, I tend to go through obsessive phases every now and again with music. Mostly I just listen to an eclectic mix of stuff, but every couple years I get hit with some serious phases, like that time I only listened to Celtic music (yay pre-New Age Clannad!) or that time I listened to only Ben Folds for like a month haha. I usually hate listening to things on repeat - including artists, so it's always really out of character when I go into these loops!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this before, but HOLY COW IT'S AWESOME! I can't believe this exists! This is freaking fantastic!