Friday, August 30, 2013

Friday Five (5)



I HATE MY LIFE SO MUCH SOMETIMES.

1.  Monday - I walk into this HUGE MOTHEREFFING SPIDER AND ITS HUGE MOTHEREFFING WEB.  Like seriously guys.  The web spanned the entire top half of my doorway and the spider's body was the size of a quarter.  THAT'S NOT INCLUDING THE LEGS GUYS.

I don't handle spiders well.  Particularly spiders on my head.  I know the size of a quarter doesn't sound very big.  But what I want you to do is get out a quarter.  Now imagine a spider's body instead of that quarter.  Now add some spikey but THICK legs. Now imagine this spider ON YOUR FACE.


This is what happens when you walk into a huge spiderweb, and then see the spider attached to it.

Doesn't sound very small anymore, does it?


2.  I run upstairs screaming inside with terror.  The kind of terror that is so terror filled you can't even scream.  Call my mother for some comfort (HA as if.  She laughs at me usually.  Although not tonight, but you'll find out why in 2 seconds).  Turns out the reason why she called me earlier today...

BECAUSE MY CAR LOOKS LIKE THIS:




If it looks a bit weird to you it should. Because according to my mother, everything is either sopping wet, fuzzy, or both and it smells so bad she almost lost her entire day's worth of meals outside of the car as she quickly exited.   And this is after she cleaned it up.  Apparently there's even multiple colors of mold growing inside it.  Clearly she wasn't expecting my reaction to this news, but that's my baby.  My darling, beautiful baby and it had a stunning antique quilt in the back and I didn't even know mold could grow on steering wheels and seriously WHAT THE *@#%@?!?!?

And then I had a spider/car induced meltdown that somewhat resembled this:



As previously stated, although this time somewhat more calmly as I've had time to digest these events,  I hate my life sometimes.  And that was my Monday.  Luckily this post is about my whole week, so I shall continue.



3.  One of my cats back home just weighed in at 18.5 pounds...which is frankly amazing.  Especially since we never see him eat.  Poor thing!



4.  I watched The Green Journey with Angela Lansbury, and it has convinced me I need to look up what happens in movies before I watch them.  While I wasn't as blindsided with this as I was with Mary and Max (holy mother of GOD how wrong I was.  Cute children's movie?!?!? I think not!!), it is a romantic movie.  With ANGELA LANSBURY.  How could it be depressing?  Clearly every movie I don't know the ending to is going to be unhappy.  Also this movie has been out for 23 years, so if I spoiled it for you....IT'S BEEN OUT FOR 23 YEARS.



5.  It was bleeding hot this week, so I went to live at the movie theatre for a while and saw City of Bones.  Which seems hypocritical of me since I didn't really like the series, and then once it stopped being a trilogy I started LOATHING it.  Seriously that last book...but I'm getting distracted.  (And yet I still read the books and watched the movie.  I seriously hate myself a little bit.)  Here is why I went to see the movie:

How could I NOT go see it?  In any case, I wasn't a huge fan of the acting, but the movie was a pretty good adaption actually (but maybe I'm not offended because I'm not a megafan) and it looked awesome.  I considered making a post reviewing it actually...ehh...maybe I will, we'll see.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Conjured - Sarah Beth Durst

I received this from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.


Summary

Goodreads:  Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.

At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.



First sentence:  "Your name is Eve.  Remember that."
 

Thoughts

I'm still a bit daydreamy after reading this (I often get this way after good books, but it's been an hour or so and it hasn't worn off quite yet), so I'm still a bit...spacey.

This story has cemented an opinion in my mind.  I've decided I have a new favourite genre (actually I've never really had a genre I would call my favourite before, so I suppose it is my only favourite genre haha)- one that I didn't even know existed until a couple weeks ago: magic realism.  It is the reason why I am a huge fan of David Almond (most notably known for Skellig and Kit's Wilderness) and Alice Hoffman.  I think I've found the some of the best writing I've ever read...poignant isn't really the right word for it.  Delicate and fantastical and...real.  I don't really have a word for that, so whatever that word is, that's what I've found in this genre.   

First, let me say that this book was so, so beautifully written.  The prose was never overly flowery (although, admittedly I do tend to like very flowery prose), but it wasn't sparse like a Hemingway novel either.  It was just...perfect.  There are all these descriptions..of people with diamonds in their dreads, or women with antlers growing out of their heads...and I could see them.  I'm a pretty imaginative person, so I usually see when I read, if that makes sense (I've heard that it doesn't work that way for everyone, but I know some of you will know what I mean).  Usually it's just sort of a vague sense of things, but everything I saw in this book was so...vivid.  And it's not even that Durst spent hours describing the way things looked - she really didn't.  Honestly, it was just perfectly done.  And this story was so dark, so beautiful and fantastical - everything I would want from a carnival story.

There is so little I can write about this novel without giving away anything!  And you really need to know nothing more than what is written in the summary, or it spoils things.  I want to reread the book when I have time so I can read through it knowing everything that happens - so much makes sense when you know the ending!  But, of course I should stop teasing you, since I know the ending and you don't.  Just know that I never would have guessed it, not even a bit, but it's not one of those solutions that seems contrived, like you couldn't have known because you weren't given the information. 

I have decided that I need to stop looking at people's reviews of books on Goodreads, because more often than not I am wordless with shock and just can not possibly understand why people feel a certain way about a book.  I just looked over some of the reviews for this book on Goodreads, and I was shocked.  How could you NOT like this book??  I mean if you are looking for a wham bam romance or gun toting action packed book, you're not likely to enjoy this book.  I suppose it is slow paced, in the sense that it takes you quite a while to even get an inkling of what's going on, but it certainly didn't lose momentum with the time it took to get there.  If anything it built it!  At a first glance, it doesn't appear to be a character driven novel (and I tend to prefer character building over anything else).  But at a closer look it's because Durst has done a very impressive thing:  not once are you told a character is a certain way.  You are always shown.  Sometimes it's Eve's instincts, which is sort of telling, but it's always backed up with a character's actions.  That's quite impressive, actually.  And in the same sense, it's not really plot driven either, since things aren't actually happening.  So much is told in flash backs, but, again it doesn't get boring.  It really hikes up the tension as this goes on.  Maybe part of it is that it doesn't read like a typical YA novel.  The writing is more isn't scattered with slang, and in fact there's little dialogue now that I think about it.  I'd say my only complaint is that I wasn't hugely connected to Eve's love interest.  But it's not really a big complaint, and he wasn't really the point of story for me.

Another big selling point of this book for me?  I love that this isn't part of a series!!! Alleluiah, thank the lord! All in all, I really loved this book...but it's a quiet sort of love, not a shout from the rooftops sort of love.   I'm sorry I can't list all the reasons why this is a wonderful story, but it's not all because I don't want to ruin it for you, it's many ways it's simply indescribable.
 

Would I recommend this? 

Absolutely.  But if you are looking for heavy romance or a fast-paced plot, this isn't the book for you.  It's got great mystery, great suspense, twists you'll never see coming, and  such beautiful writing you'll imagine you're in an entirely different world!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Top 10 Most Memorable Secondary Creatures




 Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter


There is NO WAY this is not at the top of everyone's list. And if they aren't, well why on earth aren't they??  For once I absolutely mean this is my first choice.  But really, I'd include all the characters in Harry Potter universe.  I mean when Dobby dies - DID YOUR HEART NOT BREAK?!   And I know I'm not alone in knowing the Fred is alive.  He never died - it's all lies!!  And while I'm tempted to make a top 10 Harry Potter secondary characters post, I know that everyone would agree with me (there is no way to disagree with JK Rowlings characters.  Seriously).  So I thought I'd do a top 10 secondary animals...or other creatures instead.

 

1.  Pantalaimon from His Dark Materials


Also known as Lyra's daemon.  A daemon is basically a physical representation of your soul (and as seen in this picture, Pantalaimon settles on being a pine martin).  Wouldn't you like to be able to be bff's with your soul and hang out all the time?



2.  Algernon from Flowers for Algernon


  God I was devastated by this book...I'm tearing up just thinking about it :-/




3.  Faithful from the Song of the Lioness Quartet


Alanna's cat/god companion (I'm not entirely how to categorize Faithful).  There are so many great characters in this series (I almost picked Buri, I LOVE BURI), but then I made this list animals, so Faithful is the obvious choice.


4.  Dobby from Harry Potter 


You start out sort of hating Dobby, but oh man by the end do you love him!



5. Reepicheep from The Chronicles of Narnia


A true gentleman - brave and courteous.  They should make all men that way!



6.  Disreputable Dog and Mogget from the Abhorsen series

Artwork done by RohanElf  


Lirael is my favourite book from the Abhorsen series, and the Disreputable Dog is by far one of the biggest reasons why.  And of course I love the super snarky Mogget!



7.  Ash from Deerskin

Artwork done by Joy Fulcanis

One of only a few characters here who does not a human /supernatural personality, you couldn't get a more loyal companion than Ash.  I know many of you haven't read Deerskin, as it's not one of McKinley's more well known works, but I highly recommend it. 


8.  Gollum from The Hobbit


Although I expect Gollum will be making his rounds on many these lists - predominantly under The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is where I first met Gollum and was deliciously creeped out by him.




I know I'm not the only one who loved Rontu more than her little brother.



10.  Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes


I grew up with Calvin and Hobbes in both the sense I read it and the sense that I lived it.  My little brother was a reincarnation of Calvin I swear (Yeah.. Imagine living with that) and he had a stuffed tiger as well!



Honorable Human Mentions



Bailey tells it like it is, and is totally heartbreaking in the process.



Akane and Aoi from Love So Life


THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!  If I am going to be completely honest, they are 100% of the reason I read this manga.  I mean sure, it's a cute story, but honestly I don't care about the other characters at all - I just want more Akane and Aoi!



And that's it for this week's TTT!  What's on your list?  Leave me a link below! 

(No really - leave me an actual link...as far as I can tell with Disqus it won't send me to your blog, so I might not be able to figure out where you post.  Also if anyone has tips on how to get Disqus to send me to someone's blog, do tell me because I'm not having much luck finagling with it so far)

Friday, August 23, 2013

A Ring of Endless Light - Madeline L'Engle

Summary


After a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys.

Zachary Grey, the troubled and reckless boy Vicky met last summer, wants her all to himself as he grieves the loss of his mother. Leo Rodney has been just a friend for years, but the tragic loss of his father causes him to turn to Vicky for comfort—and romance. And then there’s Adam Eddington. Adam is only asking Vicky to help with his research on dolphins. But Adam—and the dolphins—may just be what Vicky needs to get through this heartbreaking summer.



 Thoughts

 There is something so pure and magical about how Madeline L'engle combines science and religion and poetry into her writing.  Coming from the Bible Belt really polarizes religion and makes it very political (not that it isn't most anyways).  Whenever I go back to read a L'Engle novel it is so refreshing because it is about goodness and wisdom.  Novel ideas for the church as far as I can tell.  It's not about being right.  She also shows that science isn't a separate entity from all other subjects.  She is constantly blending science and religion, showing that it doesn't have to be one or the other.  Not only is science and religion perfectly married, but particularly in this book, although she mentions it many times in her Wrinkle in Time series as well, L'Engle argues that there doesn't need to be a divide between the more creative side of people and the more analytical side.  Vicky, who is a poet, comes from a family of doctors and scientists and is working on a scientific project with Adam on dolphins.  Originally she feels very much like an outsider because of this, but she becomes involved with the dolphin project and proves to be a key to understanding them.  Despite not being knowledgeable in the details and terminology of what's going on, she understands the big picture and is an immense help to the project.

I think one of the many, many reasons I have always loved this book so much is because Vicky and I are so similar.  I am not a poet by any means, although I have written some (rather terrible) poems.   But I am  a musician.  From the time we start learning about math/science and literature/history we are categorized as being very much part of one group or another.  I have always definitely been grouped with the latter one, but I've also always been extremely interested in science.  I love the abstract ideas that come with science, but I'm not terribly interested in the inner details and terminology that comes with it.  Vicky is the same way, and again L'Engle shows how well the two actually pair.  It's also interesting because the Austen family is both very well read and in general just very, very smart.   There are constant references to literature and classical music - in a way that Pamela Dean's Tam Lin tries to be (but Dean overshot her mark and that much reference packed in just bogged the book down).   It's done in just the right way.  If you understand the references, it really deepens your understanding of things, but the references are short and not necessary to understand what is going on, so it doesn't distract the reader if they don't get the references.  (I know this because over the past decade I've been reading this, clearly I have more literature and music knowledge to pull from.  And getting things I didn't before and who the people they are talking about when I didn't before is really cool.  And unlike Pamela Dean's these aren't super detailed or really out there).

This story is so much more than all these small parts I'm talking about.  It's mostly about growing up and discovering love and what it means, what our responsibilities to others are, it's about the meaning of life, and what dying means.  I have been through every stage of life Vicky goes through in this book.  No matter what age you are, there is at least one major point of this story that you will relate to.  And I know every time I pick this book up I will discover something new that means everything to me, something I may not have picked up yet because I haven't experienced yet.  There is something uniquely special about a book that not only have you loved since you were little, but that grows with you as you grow.  It helped a lot with a year in college that was really, really dark and I was just completely overwhelmed by...really just life.  By everything.  This book gets it...all the terrible, awful things that happen, but it's so...it sounds corny, but this book is just so full of light.  And it really helped me deal with what I was going through, countless times whether it was as simple as a bad grade at school, or dealing with the death of a friend.  I could give you a long list of all the reasons I absolutely love this book, but instead I will leave you with some of my favourite quotes:



...I discovered that there is something almost more intimate about crying that way with someone than there is about kissing, and I knew I'd never again be able to think of Leo as nothing but a slob.


It was obvious he was making the funeral people feel frustrated, rejecting their plastic grass and their plastic dirt.  He was emphasizing that Commander Rodney's death was real, but this was less terrible than plastic pretense.


“If thou could'st empty all thyself of self
Like to a shell dishabited
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf
And say This is not dead and fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou art all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity
That when He comes He says This is enow Unto itself - 'twere better let it be
It is so small and full there is no room for me.” - Sir Thomas Brown


Rob was only seven.  Still young enough to talk about things you don't talk about, especially to someone who's dying.  But why don't you?  If I had a fatal disease I'd want people to talk to me about dying, instead of getting embarrassed and pretending I was going to get well.


Zachary's [eyes] were steel-grey, not sea-grey like Adam's, but metallic.  Well--Adam's eyes were grey, and Zachary's were gray, the way his last name is spelled.


"The obligations of normal human kindness--chesed, as the Hebrew has it--that we all owe.  But there's a king of vanity in thinking you can nurse the world.  There's a kind of vanity in goodness."


I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
  All calm, as it was bright,
And round beneath it, Time, in hours, days, years,
  Driven by the spheres
...
There is in God, some say,
A deep but dazzling darkness - Henry Vaughan


..."are you afraid...of dying?"
..."not so much of dying - I'm of afraid of annihilation.  Of not being."


I could honestly quote the whole book!  So much of the book just...IT'S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL.  It captures exactly how I felt the first time I read it, and it captures how I feel in the decade that has passed since that first reading.  The ending in particular is so moving, and I love how Madeline L'Engle's prose breaks down in structure, it fits the mood perfectly (I don't want to talk about it too much, on the off chance you haven't read it and plan to someday).  Some things, like the dialogue, date the book a bit, and all of the characters feel a bit older and more well-versed than I would expect an almost 16 year old to be, but I don't remember noticing that when I was younger.  But then when I was younger, I don't think I noticed that talking about the Bach Goldberg Variations was odd haha.

This is the first Austen book I read (in fact it may have been the first L'Engle book I read, I'm not sure if it was this or A Wrinkle in Time) and for a long time I didn't even realize it was part of a series.  I didn't discover this until high school and I didn't love the other books in the series nearly as much as this one.  I think part of this is simply because I discovered them so late.  I have this theory that books that affect us deeply when we are children are more potent somehow.  Perhaps it's because as children we don't know how to hold back, so we throw ourselves into things without reserve.  I've found that I HAVE to reread books I loved growing up.  It's a need, not a want.  As I got into high school I still found books I loved and reread, but there were fewer I needed to reread, and I'm not sure I've read any books (that weren't already part of a series) that I needed in a way I need books from my childhood.  This isn't to say I don't love books as much as I used to, I really don't have a better way to describe it.  Is it the same for you?


Friday Five (5)



1.  First and foremost I need some help from my fellow blogger users!  I've had a few anonymous posters leave comments, and at first I thought they were deleting their comments afterwards, but I've had enough now that it is clearly not the case.  I've double checked the settings, so that anyone can comment and there isn't any comment moderation.  Does blogger just not let anonymous posters show on the blog?

2.  I just lost another glass (and by lost I mean smashed to pieces)...one of the matching ones that went with the pitcher.  I sort of...walked into a wall....  Also who wears shoes in their apartment?  That's dumb.  Soo....I started wondering what all the weird red stuff all over my floor was...looked down at my foot and realized that the red stuff would be my trail of blood!  Gross, haha.

3.  Other things I've learned in the past couple weeks:  Olive oil.  You might think it is a good idea to use in your hair (or not.  I use all natural products, so you use some weird shit in your hair sometimes)  IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.  I'm a blondeish brunetteish person....and I went from looking like Cinderella to Belle, if Belle looked like she was a greasy homeless person.  It took me SIX showers to get it all out!  And that was only after I ended up using liquid dish soap in my hair (so much for all natural!).  Lesson learned.

4.  Also cinnamon in your hair is a bad idea.  It does make your hair smell nice....for days....so that's not so bad...But that's another long story for some other day when I feel less silly about trying new homemade ideas instead of just sticking with normal things...New goal:  Don't do anything new with my hair.  Nothing.  All the ideas are bad!

5.  I got my library card!  I've been living here for a year now and never went, so I'm really excited I have it now!  I was going to only check out 3 books (who am I kidding.  When have I EVER had self control in a library?)...and checked out 5.  And it was only 5 because I'm not allowed to check out any more for a month haha.

And that was my last week (or two).  How was yours?

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Hunger (Gone #2) - Michael Grant






 Summary

Goodreads:  It's been three months since everyone under the age of fifteen became trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ.

Three months since all the adults disappeared. GONE.

Food ran out weeks ago. Everyone is starving, but no one wants to figure out a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers. Tension rises and chaos is descending upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.

But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.

The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.



Thoughts

It was absolute drudgery getting through the first 2/3 of the book.  Everyone's starving and rebellious and Sam's got too many problems and you start to feel as stressed out as he is.  I get it.  Again it feels exactly like it would feel if you were literally in that situation.  And maybe that's part of my problem - I read for escape, and the utter madness these kids are going through are not a fun escape.  The first chapter was horrifyingly graphic and terrifying and great!  But then after that it's mostly just 20 billion problems all happening simultaneously and I was getting really overwhelmed and I wasn't sure I was going to make it and AHHHHHHHH  When the action picks up, it's really awesome and intense and I think I a sweat a puddle into my bed I was freaking out so much! 

The book introduces some new characters and fleshes out some of the more minor characters in the first book (particularly Quinn) which I liked, although I can't fathom keeping track of anymore characters because I couldn't even tell you how many there are at this point.  I honestly can't talk much about this book without spoilers, but I'm not really sure how the story is going to progress judging by the ending.  It felt a bit like a filler book.  I don't know why I'm not getting more into it than I am.  The world building is awesome as is the level of detail.  I think part of it is that there are just too many main players for me to really feel connected to them in any way. Although I really like Lana but I think that might primarily have to do with this:

"I am Lana Arwen Lazar," she cried with all the shrill force she could manage.
"My dad was into comic books, so he named me Lana for Superman's girlfriend Lana Lang."
You will serve me.
"And my mom added Arwen for the elf princess in The Lord of the Rings."



I seriously had a total fan girl moment when I got there (also she references "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel earlier in the book.  Just yes.  SO MUCH YES.)  

And I think I'm going to like Orsay.  Which is interesting since they both spent the majority of each book surviving on their own rather with the townies or rich kids.  

I had more problems with this book than I did with the first one.  I was upset about parts of the ending, but I can't tell you why as the spoilers are too big.  It's not how I'd expected it to go down and it seemed a bit of a cop out.  Actually a really big cop out.  There were some issues brought up - Orc's alcoholism and Mary's bulimia keep getting mentioned over and over, but there is so much else going on that they aren't really dealt with, or what is dealt with is very short.  Maybe this is going to get resolved in another book, because it seems weird to keep bringing it up and not doing anything about it.  I get it, again things like would be going on as well, but this is a novel and not real life, so everything has to have a point.  I also want to know why the villains are so messed up.  We see why some of the sort of bad guys (like Orc) are messed up, but we don't know what's got Diana and Caine messed up, although I can accept Drake just being a psychopath.  But not the other two.  And why does Diana stay with Caine?  She says that she is out for herself, yet she stays with Caine instead of Sam where she knows life will be better in the first book, and she helps him in this book when she knows it will mean high chance of death to help him, and after she helps him it'll get even worse!  And she isn't even trying to hide that she loves him, as far as I can tell she really doesn't love him.  At the very end after big fight everything is resolved (sort of), but it's sudden and there is no explanation of how things were dealt with to get there.  Since the majority of the book was about these issues, I would have liked a little more time spent here. 

That being said, there were still lots of things to love.  The issues are still relevant - particularly because we have this huge divide going on about "normals" and "freaks" - easily seen as any time people see others as threatening (ex: Nazis vs. Jews).  The story line is freakishly believable, even though one wouldn't think of supernatural powers and space invasion? or weird radioactive things? being a particularly believable subject.  And once again, I was blown away by the diversity!  Not only do we have latinos, blacks, whites, and asians, we have this:

"Sam, that's a great concept.  And maybe you believe it.  But I'm black and I'm a lesbian, so let me tell you:  From what I know?  Personal experience?  There are always lines."


I never thought I was going to get to use this .gif and I'm super excited I can now haha


The last chapter of the book is SUPER creepy and it really makes you want to keep reading the books.  And I'm going to.  As much as I'm not loving this series, I can't come up with a good reason to stop.  But I can come up with a million reasons why I should love the series, and I really recommend them to any dystopia lovers because I think I've just not been in the right frame of mind when I read the first couple of books.  So I'm going to give myself some space from the series and then dive right in because I am so, so ready to fall in love with this series!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Title of your life

Jamie's got another fun post going, and since I'm not doing this week's TTT, I thought I'd do this instead!  It's like a soundtrack to your life thing, except instead of a soundtrack it's a....book track?  I thought it was going to be super hard (and well..it was kind of hard), but looking through my goodreads list made this SOOOO much easier!


You:

How would you describe your 15 year old self? The Metamophosis
When You Looked Into The Mirror What Did You See: The Looking Glass Wars  
Your 16 your old self outlook on life/motto:  Just Ella
How You Think People Would Describe Your Personality:   The Gates of Sleep, Falling Up, Everlost
Describe An Insecurity In High School: The Wallflower
Describe Your Worst Trait As A Teen:  Diva
Describe the contents of your diary/journal: I Was So Mad
Your biggest Fear:  The End
You excelled at: Queen of Babble 

You were always concerned about: Oh The Places You'll Go
You Thought Your Life Was: Half Magic


I went through this huge transition between my freshman and sophomore year of high school.  I went from being this really shy girl to being really confident.  I didn't want to pretend to be someone else, but I wanted to be braver.  I was pretty universally known as being rather ditzy (which I hated.  I'm smart, but unfortunately not particularly well spoken)..I was always tired, extremely clumsy, and everyone knew I got lost.  I once left the grocery store two minutes from my house and ended up at a church half an hour into the wrong state instead of my house.  I was always afraid as being seen as dumb, but I was more worried about being seen as boring.  I wasn't comfortable being in the center of attention, but I also didn't want to be forgettable.  I had a pretty good high school life once I got more comfortable in my skin, and I couldn't wait to get out of my small town life!


 Love Life:

How would you sum up your high school love life? An Acceptable Time
Describe your most serious boyfriend from high school? Pride and Prejudice
Describe your first kiss: Reckless
Your philosophy on dating/love: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Describe Your Worst Break Up: Much Ado About Nothing

I wasn't much interested in dating, really.  I liked having fun, but I didn't like committing to anyone.  Luckily that meant I wasn't really that invested in anyone which meant no awful break ups!  My first boyfriend was probably the only serious relationship I had (and we really were like Lizzy and Darcy reincarnated. I HATED him for years, and somehow ended up dating him) and by serious I mean I actually called him my boyfriend haha. I'm not even sure we dated 3 months!  Outside of school, that was a different story.  I had a first love and it was quite dramatic in a way only summer things can be, but that's a story for another day.
   
Family

Your relationship with your mom as a teen: Heart of the Matter
Your relationship with your dad as a teen: Close Kin
Your relationship with a sibling: Brutal
What you thought about your parents rules/parenting style: The Crystal Prison

 


I have always been extremely lucky with my family.  80% of the time I had a fantastic relationship with my parents.  There were a couple of rules I thought were ridiculously unfair, but for the most part I knew they had my best interest at heart and that most of the rules were there for good reason.  My brother and I on the other hand had a TERRIBLE relationship until my senior year when he made it to high school (and even then it was pretty hit or miss).  We get along really well now though, so I suppose it was worth it?


Friends:

Describe you and your best friend at 16: Soulbound
Your Social Status: Nobody's Prize

Describe Your Group Of Friends: Waifs and Strays

My high school was pretty good about not being super cliquey.  I had a bunch of different all from various groups of people in the school, which meant that I didn't really have a single group I hung out with.  It did, however, mean that all my friends hated each other hahaha.  I didn't have a single best friend, but I did have three very different best friends, and am still good friends with all three of them!

 

School:

Your Perception Of High School Upon Entering: Here There Be Dragons

Your relationship with academics: Damsel Under Stress
Your Weekends Were: Remember Me?
If Your High School Life Was A Movie It would be called: Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging
A Class You Wish High School Would Have Offered: Life, the Universe, and Everything
Your Senior Year Was: Voyage of Slaves
Describe prom: Wildwood Dancing
When High School Ended It Was:  The Call of the Wild

 


I was always ridiculously busy in high school between swimming, a youth orchestra, a youth wind ensemble, and a quintet, let alone school, so free time was a myth.  Despite all of that, I learned a lot of life lessons and had a lot of fun (as much as one does in high school).
 

The Future

How You Felt About The Prospect of College:  Where the Wild Things Are

How You Thought Your Life Would Be At 23:  Song of the Wanderer
 

When I left home for school, I thought I was going to be this free spirit and I was going to travel the world, just me and a backpack.  Instead I started dating someone despite all intentions otherwise, and realized life as a musician is spent mostly indoors being neurotic, not outdoors.  Although I have done a fair amount of travel, and with a backpack, so I can't complain too much about that.


Your Life Now:

Describe Your Love Life Now: Princess in Love

Describe The State Of Your Friendship With Your High School BFF: The Neverending Story
Your Relationship With Your Parents Now:  Guess How Much I Love You?
Your Thoughts On Your High School Reunion (either if you had it or if it’s upcoming): So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
Biggest Lesson You Learned In High School: Bloomability
One Thing You WISHED You Had Learned:  Sense and Sensibility
Advice You Wish You Could Have Given Your Teen Self: The God of Small Things

Something You Could Learn From Your 16 Year Old Self: Be Brave Little Noddy

I honestly have a pretty fantastic life.  I have had a lot of really tragic things happen over the years, but I've always had a really great set of friends to help me and my family is my rock, and on top of all of that, I have a really fantastic boyfriend (who came out of the blue and changed me of my commitment phobic ways...mostly haha).  I'm still rather ditzy and have come to accept this about my self, but I have found myself shrinking back these days and this quiz was actually a pretty good reminder that I did it once before - I was bold and brazen in high school (or it's at least how I like to remember it), and I can be that again!

Thanks again to Jamie for creating this!  I'd love to see your lists, just drop me a comment and I'll go check it out, and if you do this remember to link back to Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner!