Book List

The list of books I currently have sitting next to me I need to read today(Books with a * are picture books):

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

*Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

*Snow by Uri Shulevitz

*The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster Illustrated by Chris Raschka

*Flotsam by David Wiesner

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (only part of it needs to be read today or tomorrow)

Books I've finished reading but need to write about:

Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

Books need to get a hold of as soon as possible so I can get started on reading them too:

*The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís

*My Japan by Etsuko Watanabe

Shipwrecked! : the true adventures of a Japanese boy by Rhoda Blumberg

An American plague : the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

Various poem books

Various children's biography and non-fiction books

Books for research projects

aaaaaand probably more than that.

Why did I decide to be an English major?

WTWA: Currently it's only about noon, but it is pretty awesome to get to read children's books and call it homework regardless of how much reading it is.

I Dreamed a Dream

I've gotten a few steps closer to my study abroad application today. My advisor finished the recommendation form (that I dropped off yesterday, crazy productive man) and I ordered my official transcript. With each step it becomes a little bit more real, and a little bit scarier. I'm somewhat adventurous, but admittedly taking off for a foreign country where I somewhat know the language for two months and I'll be more or less on my own is stretching my sense of adventure. Okay, I realize I'm not actually in the program yet, it's only for two months, and I'll have ages to prepare, but still! Really! It's not exactly something I've ever done before. It's exciting and sounds amazing, but still somewhat frighting.

Speaking of things that are somewhat frightening, my dream last night was one of those incredibly vivid ones that are intense to the point of being tiring. But it was also nice because there were a few aspects that I wish would happen (and are physically possible of happening) in real life so I was a little sad to wake up. Then again I was also Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (but I was still me and living my life) which was the stressful and intense part. Really, I'd never want to actually be her. Have her crazy awesome slayer powers? Maybe. Deal with the demons and the undead and the apocalypse every single year? I'll pass. This might be an indicator that I've been watching too much Buffy, but I haven't watched a single episode since last Monday, I swear! Despite the fact that both the people I told this dream to today had the same almost instant reaction that I've been watching the show too much, I'm sticking with my assertion that I don't have a problem...

Back on the topic of dreams, I think dreams like this are interesting because, despite the fantastic dream-like qualities to them, they feel more like real life than other dreams. Dreams like this blur the lines between reality and dream. What is the dream and what isn't? Did that conversation you distinctly remember having with you mom last week happen in real life? Or in the dream? There are some parts in Gravity's Rainbow that slip into and back out of a dream again, and if you're not careful you can completely miss the shift. If you've seen Inception there's that part where Leonardo DiCaprio's character is explaining to Ellen Page's character that dreams feel real when we're in them, and it isn't until we wake up that we realize something wasn't quite right.

Anyway, I just hope tonight's dreams are a little less intense so I don't feel so tired when I wake up. Being the Slayer is tough- even when it was only a dream.

Oh Snap!

I feel like there's some law in the universe that prevents me from reading Gravity's Rainbow before 9:00 at night. I got home around 5 PM, which honestly should have given me plenty of time to start the reading I have to have done by tomorrow. Yet, like the past two times, I found excellent ways to waste four hours of my life before finally starting on it. I realize that doing something three times in a row doesn't necessarily mean it's a law, but I definitely think it's at least a pattern.

But I was tired! I slept horribly last night AND I went to a pilates class today. So I ended up watching youtube videos for an hour, then I took an hour long nap, then I attempted to get Pokemon Snap to work on an emulator for another hour, then the fourth hour was taken up by people getting home and me trying very hard to (not) start my homework.

And you know the worst part? I didn't get Pokemon Snap to work. Fail.

Seriously though, I have so many good childhood memories about that game. I just thought it was the most BRILLIANT IDEA EVER for you to get points for taking pictures of pokemon. Then it had that awesome level at the end where (spoilers! haha, no not really) you take ten million pictures of Mew for the boss level. Except you can't get to the boss level at all on emulators, and you have to do a lot of special modifications to get other parts of the game to work. So, my current plan is to see if my old N64 works next time I go home. That or, you know, play games that came out in the recent decade.

WTWA: While Pokemon Snap didn't work, I did play a Japanese version of Green on an emulator for a while. Due to the fact there's like no kanji (since the reading level is aimed at kids) it was pretty easy to understand. Especially since I've started about a million Pokemon games and the intro is more or less the same in all of them. Still, Japanese comprehension for the win!

Social Media

So I'm posting a youtube video on a blogger blog talking about Facebook/social media. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but it sure seems interesting.

Click here for the Amazon page where you can get The Young and the Digital. I mean, you don't have to, but I said in the video I'd link to it.

EDIT: WTWA: So I forgot to say why today (although yesterday now) was awesome. I think it was awesome because it felt like a Monday but it was actually a Tuesday due to the fact there was no school Monday.

None Whatsoever

I definitely should have done more homework over this three-day weekend. I mean, I'm not necessarily doomed this week but I'm not exactly in the best spot either. From the looks of my Google calendar, this week doesn't look too bad. The problem is that next week I'll be completely dead if I don't get a certain amount ahead. Thank goodness for four day weeks after three day weekends that followed the week of drowning in homework.

The reason for my having next to no homework done right now at 7:38 Monday night after a three-day weekend? Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hands down. Yes, I hung out with friends and did things, but honestly. I watched most of season five, and I watched seven episodes of season six today. I would have watched less of season six, but I really really wanted to get to the "Once More with Feeling" musical episode. Which, by the way, is a product of television GENIUS. No lie. Well, that episode was really only part of my need to keep watching episodes. The other large part of inability to focus on productive things today was my Spike/Buffy shipping that's been happening since Spike crashed into Sunnydale. Things keep happening with those two, and I want to keep watching to see more! I mean, I'm ridiculously close to slapping Buffy and hugging Spike with everything that keeps happening. Well, figuratively obviously. If I did either of those things literally I'd probably die because they'd kill me. Or, in actuality, I'd probably be crazy since they're both fictional characters.

Anyway, on that note of crazy I really do need to go read about 90 pages of Gravity's Rainbow and probably a few other things before I go to sleep. AND because I have no self control I'm going to watch the return of Chuck that will be happening in about 15 minutes.

I really have no self control.

None whatsoever.

Snowcone?

"At the best of times his face was unreadable. Now his face was a book written in a language long forgotten, in an alphabet unimagined. Silas wrapped the shadows around him liked a blanket, and stared after the way the boy had gone, and did not move to follow."

This quote is from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman which I just finished reading for my children's literature class, and I'm not sure why, but I was honestly amazed by this book. I mean really, read the above quote again and tell me that's not amazing. When read in context it'll send shivers down your spine I swear.

Besides going to class, going to work, finishing up The Graveyard Book, and doing other homework energy has been a little crazy around here with the current crazy snowfall. The snow has already piled up considerably, and it's still going strong. My roommates are hopeful that it'll keep snowing and we'll get school canceled tomorrow, but in all liklihood it'll either A) Start raining in the early morning and the snow will be mostly slush by the time we get up or B) There will still be LOTS of snow but the school will tell us that we should "use our own judgement" which will mean I'll need to get to school. I mean honestly. I have classes where if you miss more than three times you fail, or you lose 2% every time you miss. I know that in reality if I seriously couldn't get to school it would be fine, but meh. I just want classes cancelled.

Anyway, regardless of whether school is canceled tomorrow or not, I'm currently eating a snowcone made from actual snow. Which, by the way, is why today is awesome.

W3CG Video about Books!

Here's my WeThreeChallengirls video for the weeks in which I talk about the craziness of my life and books. Mostly books.

The links to the sites with the award winners are this link for the Printz award and this link for the other ones like the Newbery award. I'd really like to read Ship Breaker and Moon Over Manifest personally. Anyone else see an award winner that strikes your fancy? Or did you read a children's or young adult book in the past year that you think would have deserved any of these awards much more?

Staircases and Ladders

I really like books. I mean, I've always liked books and I assume I always will. Since I was a little kid, books were what held my attention. I went through some paperbacks in less time than the round trip to the bookstore. I love old books and used bookstores. In my dream house, I will have a room devoted to books. I hope it will be similar to Neil Gaiman's home library that I like to drool over.

A love associated to books and libraries is the piece of furniture that holds those books: bookshelves. Wednesdays have become a favorite day of the week at Booklicious where they showcase bookshelves and celebrity libraries. So, here are some of my favorite bookshelves I've found online (or have been featured in that blog).

This one came from a whole set of pictures where this couple shoved books into every possible space in their house. My favorite is this one where they turned their staircase into a giant bookshelf. Can you imagine grabbing a pillow and curling up at the top of that staircase, reading while surrounded by books like that? (Note to self, perhaps dream house home library should be in attic with a staircase like this?)

I really like the idea of painting the backs of the shelves. Especially with the rest of the room being grey like this. It's like, "Hey! Surprise! There's color back here!" It amuses me.

I think the awesome of this one speaks for itself.

Another requirement of the dream home library? It has high enough ceilings where you can have bookshelves that require ladders. Not only does it seem even more hardcore, but when no one is looking I can re-enact that part in Beauty and the Beast when Belle swings around slides with the ladder. I think it might be worth it just for that fact alone.

Also, have you guys seen those invisible bookshelves? I'm amused by the fact it looks like there isn't a shelf holding up the books, but I think I'd only use those for display books I don't actually read. I mean, I have those (like my Harry Potter collector's editions or my really old copies of Shakespeare plays)

Bonus Bookshelf:

I found this on tumblr the other day. I know it's more of a closet, but the converse fan in me squealed a little at this wonderful picture. Oh Chucks, why must you be an expensive brand name?