Set Ye Cursed Sun!

Indeed. I am ready for the sun to fully set on the Twilight books. No I haven't read them, but I keep seeing messages from it's little fan-clubs (which seem to be shrill little emo girls.) that go like this, " Harry Potter sucks, Twilight is better."

Oh. Oh no, you didn't!

That's right, my friends, those you-know-whats insulted MY books and then think they can get away with it!

*seethes*

But really. Come on, does insulting some other series get your point across annoying fan-girls of lame-ness? I shall go forth (maybe) and read these books if I get the free time. Just so I can give people the thumbs up or down when they ask about it. I judge not the series yet. Just the fans of the series. xD Sorry, innocent bystanders.

School Begins. My Life Goes.

I learn by going where to go.

School starts this coming Monday. I'm happy that it's starting because then I don't have to find things to do with myself. There are only so many times you need to reread Tamora Pierce. I learned how to knit though! (There are only so many times you can make a scarf...) Anyhow, I just thought it would be a heads up. Between band camp and about to start school etc. I haven't been able to read as much. Which makes me sad.

On the bright side: Mythology! Senior English! Newspaper! Band...(!)?

Married To My Books

Since band camp has started I've now been able to see a good deal of my friends. This means I have new opportunities to foist books off in their directions. All in the hopes of them reading, enjoying, and being enlightened by them. Mostly to just share the complete awe inspiring thing that is literature.

Now I have a problem. You see...I get emotionally attached to my books. I lend books to friends who I trust, but no others. Still, there's no way I'd let someone walk off with Beauty or Lady Knight. (Yeah, my stronger attachments are to fantasy books. Surprise!)

I REALLY want one of my friends to read As Simple As Snow, but am unwilling to part with it. Ridiculous? Yes. Known cure? No. Still, give me a week or two and I'll bite the bullet and just let him borrow it. I mean, what price is too great to share such things? *coughs* My books. *coughs*

Sorry. Cold. *Shifty look*

Randy Pausch, 47

Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture, died Friday. This makes me sad. I really hoped that he would get through it, especially after reading his book. It's worth the read. Amazingly uplifting to be written about dieing.

I Ramble, Therefore I Am

Okay, the school year is here. My senior year of high school . Screaming seems to be the call of the day, but I shall refrain. You see, I've managed to screw many things up in the past four years and now I need to fix them before the end of this year.

1. My Gpa is CRAP. Thank you procrastinating jerk! Yeah, I mean me.

Why this is going to be bothersome? Well, I have to start applying for college and now I'm worried. But then...I was already set on a local community college before I even thought of getting accepted. It will only cost $2,000 dollars a semester. Hence the already decided. Though I might throw an application towards my local university just to see if I COULD get in if it turns out that the community is awful. Which I doubt. My madre went there.

2. The four dozen friends I've fought with and no longer talk to.

And many other things besides that I won't go into.

On the bright side, Fall is almost here! I love fall. Halloween. Marching Band. Leaf Piles. It's all good.

So, I apologize to myself for screwing some things up. I also applaud myself because I know that somehow I'll find the ability to drag myself out of it. xD

Tamora Pierce

I've vaguely mentioned one Tamora Pierce on here a few times, but really have not given her the due she deserves. So here goes:

"TAMORA PIERCE IS MY HERO!"

Seriously, she writes amazing books. I've only read her series set in Tortall, but she has many other books.

She is so amazing that she is tied with Robin McKinley for my favorite author. That's right book snobs! My two favorite authors are the authors of high flying awesome fantasy books with butt kicking heroines of light! Bah, I say to those who frown upon a good fantasy book. Bah, I say to those who label with teen fiction and labels! A fantasy can be just as life changing as a dystopian or 'self help' book.

Now, I point you to both their livejournals/blogs that are on my page. -->

Trials And Tribulations

Hour and a half drive to Chattanooga to look at the car lots today. This time with my 20-year-old scraggly bearded all knowing brother.

The drive up there alone was a terrifying ordeal. He doesn't know how to use his blinkers. Or his breaks. Did I say an hour and a half? Take into account Driving of Terror! then it makes it about 45 minutes. Finally, we arrive at the car lot. Seedy looking place with even seedier looking salesmen. Eating crack donuts. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Anyhow, seedy looking place that has the car of my dreams. Ford Fusion, charcoal colored with black leather interior and tricked out with awesome-ness.

Me: "That's the car I want!"

Brother: "Shhh! Pretend like you hate it. We want it cheap."

Salesmen: "Hey Pretty Lady, don't mind as I flash me teeth at you and oggle your brother. RAWR!"

Me: ........

The conversation continued on for this strain for awhile. With the salesmen and my brother trying to out-impress each other with made up information about non-existent cars. As this was going on a giant storm brewed above us. Crashing lightening. High Winds. Pelting Rain. The whole nine-yardage. So we decide to call it quites for the day and head onwards. ( Going back tomorrow to drool over unattainable dream car.)

Amidst this Storm we have to stop and get gas because we've put it off and are now running purely on fumes. Brother waits until he finds gas station that looks decently trashy and pulls over. By this time the wind is blowing the rain all up under the awning and I'm getting drenched, but in I quest for the restroom! (Traveling with boys means that you get to pee a lot less than you want to.) While in there I get stared at by creepy old gas station men. Vaguely regret wearing low cut top, but not to much. Would have stared regardless because they're not looking for a date but recruiting for their cult. But it sounds better if I pretend like I'm being checked-out. *nods*

After being needlessly molested by old-creepy-gas-station eyes I run out to the car avoiding the lightening falling about me and trying to see through the torrents of rain. I rip open the car door....right into my face. I've got a great shiner.

How It Rolls

Holy Snap! is car shopping boring. I've spent several days car shopping now and it's, to be plain, a turd. You heard me. I mean, you have all these middle-aged-bright-toothed men baring there teeth and shaking your hand. The instinct to mace them is almost overwhelming. If I saw someone with hair that bad and teeth that glaring anywhere else, then I'd run-run-away. (What's with all the hyphens?) But seeing as it's at a car dealership. It's all good.

I was looking at the Kia Optima today and listening to the salesmen's spiel ( In this case skinny little boy with spiky hair. Reminded of a Jack Russel for some reason.)

His home run line? "Your insurance is to going to be because there are so few thefts of Kias,"

My mother's low toned mumble? "Cause they're freakin' ugly!"

She got a pretty big kick out of that. Nobody's going to want to steal your car. Buy it Starr! *coughs* Ugly *coughs*

Also up for the car running is the Hyndai Elantra and the Toyota Scion. Though I might balk at the ridiculous price of economical cars and buy something more decently priced. Ridiculous.

Cory Doctorow

Www.Craphound.com is Cory Doctorow's Page that has news etc. about his books.

You can also go there to freely download his books instead of buying them. I know! Awesome-ness, indeed.

What I know of Cory Doctorow is pretty awesome. He's a big supporter of the Creative commons License. Which, from what I've been able to gather, is that intellectual property should have no cost. For similiar infomoratin I point you to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Which, from what I've been able to gather, is a bunch of paranoid people fighting for the rights of everyone. Seriously, they're pretty cool. Extreme sometimes? Maybe. Right most of the time? Probably.)

Cory is also an administrator (contributor?) at www.boingoing.org . It's just plain random most of the time, but you find out some pretty awesome stuff.

The Man or the Government?

It seems that I only get on the nets in the wee hours of the morning. I apologize for any incoherence because of this. All else fails wait until the wee hours of the morning to READ it. Then you'll be able to read it due to 'Wee-Morn-Hour-Filter'.

I continue. Okay, I skived off on really saying anything about Fahrenheit 451 yesterday...or whenever that was, but I knew I'd come back and say something about it eventually. I liked it too much not too. xD

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag spends his life in happy oblivion. There's no reason not too thanks to the American way of living. Reality TV, fast cars, propaganda, sleeping pills/drugs. Everything to keep you oblivious right at your fingertips.

But then Guy meets Clarisse. A seventeen-year-old girl who turns his life upside down by looking at the stars and telling him that once there was a time when people just sat. Sometimes people would sit and talk or not talk and that was that. Other times those people would sit and think. Thinking.

Written more than fifty years ago this book is set in a disturbingly familiar setting. You guessed it. Bradbury manages to hit what society was coming to right on the head. In the future no one reads anymore. Because people don't read the government decides to take one step further and burn objectionable books. The Bible, Thoreau, Poe, Hamlet...all burned by the fireman. No outcry is made because only a few are left that love books.

So what's scarier? The government taking over or the people not caring?

->This really emphasizes the importance of philosphy and literature in life and what could happen if we cast it all aside. There isn't a way you can read it without thinking deep. Bradbury is just awesome like that.

Oh, Dystopians

And just like that a bunch of times passes. Helped by my outrageous sleeping habits.

Just finished Farenheit 451 and it is awesome. One of the best dystopians I've ever read, but then that's not saying too much. I've not read terribly many. Off the top of my head:

1.1984 by George Orwell

From the man who brought you Animal Farm. This is a great book that everyone needs to read. You hear it alluded to a lot in media etc. It's a bitch to read though. Some parts are just boring. BUT I did like it by the time I got to the end. I'm just not going to reread it anytime soon.

2.Brave New World by A. Huxley

Bumbumbum!! The future as it would be genetically altered. With cloning technology and whatnot on the rise it's another one that everyone should read. Plus, it's a better and smoother read than Orwell's ^. What's more important? Happiness or humanity?

3.Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

So worth it. Excellent read.

4.The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Anotherone by Atwood that is also worth it. What would happen if we were to return to our 'foundation' beliefs? Tis about what would happen in a world that returns to it's Christian roots only way too literally. Remember: Some of the Bible needs to be interpretated metaphorically.

5.Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Posted a review on it a while back. It's good. Go read the review. ( If you like the sci-fi scene then you should go check out his book Overclocked.

6.World War Z by Max Brooks

Think Zombies. It's about what would happen if zombie-ism was wide spread all over the world. It does really well with making it a political problem. The way he lays it out is surprisingly realistic for a zombie book. Comes in the form of short stories about the same happening. Recommended.

7.The House of the Scorpion by Farmer

An introductory to dystopian thinking for children. I read this when I was about 12 and I got it easily. So if your honing the paranoia and critical thinking of someone younger....

8.Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I'm sure you've all heard of this one. Ender, our protagonist, is taken as a boy to a 'space camp' that's really in space. It's where they train kids for a military that fights aliens etc. Great for you space-y peeps.

9.Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Just finished this one about three hours ago. Out of these nine it's a favorite.

From the back cover: "Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or hte joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afriad. Then guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy montag suddenly realized what he had to do...."




So, go forth and dystopia-ize.

Summer

It says I posted nine days ago...Oh please, NO! Why the hell is summer so freaking long. So painfully dull. Add uber nazi parents to the equation and you have me sitting in various places and hoping for an untimely death. Hooha.

I Want Your Advanced Copies, Foos!

Once upon a time, about four in the morning, I had about three pots of coffee too many and decided that I wanted to utillize my blogs and it's book reviews to wrangle me some advanced copies.

But then I slept.

Which led me to realize that I have the time, but not the patience to wrangle up the readers I need for a book reviewing blog. Being social makes me tetchy. xD

Anyhow, if anyone decided that they do have the time, patience, and lack of social ineptitude...here is a link that I thought was pretty helpful.

MySpace

Through much peer pressure and one of my friends making an awful one so I had to go fix it....I know have a myspace.

www.myspace.com/sandscribe

I've yet to really see the appeal. Maybe it'll come to me.

The First Book of a Genre

Can you remember the first book you ever read out of a certain genre? And no I don't mean young adult or romance. I mean do you remember your first moor trudging, governess heroine, gothic, novel? Okay, okay, you got me. Jane Eyre was the first of it's type I ever read back in the day. It still remains far up in " I love that book! Let me read it again!" list.

There's just nothing better than the first book you ever read of a certain genre. No matter what genre it is. When you find what you love...nothing like it.

Higgeldy Piggeldy!

I was looking through My Really Crappy Writing when I came across this old poem that reflects my general outlook on the mathematical world. I share it with you now.

"It's All In My Head"

I sat cringing in algebra,
Working strange formulas,
When all of a sudden...
I fell over dead.

A victim of i, an imaginary number.
Something that existed just in head.
Just in my head, just in my head.
Something that existed just in my head.

The math teacher with the mean disposition,
Reprimanded me for my uncouth position.
So the morticians came and took me away.
took me awy to the morgue where I laid.

The studiers came and studied my brain,
They studied my brain until they were almost insane,
But they finally concluded that my brain was polluted,
With roots, squares, and other such things.

--->Sadly I was fourteen when I wrote this. I know. I was already starting on My Really Crappy Writing. *wipes away tear*

Regardless, the point is...that poem made me think of another form of poem, Double Dactyls!

--For some odd reason saying double dactyl makes me want to hum the tune to the new Willy Wonka movie.--

I shall show you step by step how my friend and I composed a Higgeldy Piggeldy about my favorite section...the brass.

How to Write a Higgeldy Piggeldy:

A Higgeldy Piggeldy is a poem follows the rythm --work with me here-- Da du du, da du du. It's eight lines long and follows these general rules.

The first line must be a nonesense word such as, "Higgeldy Piggeldy", "Jiggery Pokery", or "Bibbity Boppity" etc. You can make up your own nonesense words just make sure they follow the Da du du Da du du rule.


My friend and I went with the more commnonly used Higgeldy Piggeldy.

The next line can be whatever your talking about, be it person, place, or thing. Follow the Da du du rule!

Mr.B Denton is, --make note that I have no skill at this and therefore cheated like a monkey playing poker.--

The third line is just whatever is needed.

Constantly having to,

The fourth and eight line must rhyme!

yell at the brass.

Now, the last rule is that the fifth, sixth, or seventh line needs to be composed entirely of a six syllable da du dun word. Cha. Whatever. Words like that are nearly impossible to think of and work into it. I've seen plently HPs that have them, but you try. It's hard!

Some examples of these words are--Megalomaniac and err...I'll put some more down when they come to me. --See, told ya. HARD.--

So, after all of this long hard work I finally give you the finished project that my friend and I spent several long periods on last year.

-If your offended by the word ass then read no further. *chortles to herself*--

Higgeldy Piggeldy,
Mr B Denton is,
Constantly having to,
Yell at the brass.

Horrible section of,
Underachievers they,
Always rush Breadfan*,
And love to suck ass.

*Breadfan is a song that you can find by the artists Budgie and Metallica. We play during our marching band and it's one of our faster pieces. Mostly because the trumpets are ridiculous *coughs* Awful crappy players *coughs* and rush it a good deal.

Oh look! An Ancient short story!

Ya! I know! I wrote this about the same time that I was reading Wuthering Heights in....errr...seventh grade maybe? But I continue. This is a really crappy short story probably written during algebra class.

--Geez! Just because it's crappy doesn't mean you shouldn't read it. Continue on!--


“Mr. Newman, could you please tell the rest of the class why you are NOT PAYING ATTENTION?!” Ms. Fifestein glared and wiped the spittle of her mouth.

Brayden could not in fact tell her what was so interesting. He was doing what all extremely bored and moderately intelligent beings do. Zoning out to the point of incoherence. He could of course tell her that he was thinking, but that would be a complete lie. Not that she would know that. “ I was thinking Mrs.Fifestein.” he lied.

“And why were you thinking Mr. Newman?” She glared a bit more and neglected to wipe the spittle from her face this time.

Ah Well, I should have saw that one coming, thought Brayden. Now he was in a bind. Why was he thinking? Nothing in this environment could have inspired such an activity. The endless repetition of bland facts, the monotonous voice of the harpy up front, the ancient and yellowed posters on the wall. Nope, there was absolutely no reason why he should have been thinking. He glanced the black board and saw only the faint outline of a rather unflattering caricature with an even more degrading caption. No help there. He was on his own to get through this one.

“ I was thinking about the Pythagorean theorem Mrs.Fifestein. “ He gave himself a mental pat on the back. Nice answer, Pythagoras was a smart guy. He probably wouldn’t have told the geography teacher that he was thinking about Geometry during her class. He took back the mental pat.

“ Mr. Newman take your stuff and remove it to the hallway for the rest of the period so maybe tomorrow you’ll remember to keep your mind on this class!” Her glare was fairly murderous by now and a small puddle of spit had formed on one of the front desks.

Well, that went over rather well, he thought with some asperity. He grabbed his books and shoved them all haphazardly into his ragged book bag. He saw a title one of the books out of the corner of his eye Wuthering Heights. He had been conned into reading it by his girlfriend ( A friend that was a girl, not his significant other.) and had to admit that he had enjoyed it. Then the idea struck him. Would Heathcliff have taken this? No, he would have given his teacher the what for. Then, right in the middle of class, he lost it.

He saw red. If you’ve ever saw red you know the feeling of complete helplessness that overcomes you as you sit back and watch the not so rational part of your brain take over. You, the rational part, are sitting in the back of your head thinking “ Oh dear.” While the slightly evil and more than slightly entertaining part of yourself takes the most rash course of action. Be it slugging the quarterback for cutting in line, keying the car that took your parking spot, or, in our heroes case, forgetting for a moment that your not HeathCliff and giving your ancient crab like teacher a piece of your mind.

“ I’m leaving Mrs.Fifestein, but first I want you to know something. This class is the biggest waste of time I have ever had to endure. I sit here day after day learning facts about landscapes that I will never see. Will I ever need to know the average percent of rainfall in Bulgaria? I think not, Mrs.Fifestein. I will not stand another minute of this vile and grotesque torture. You, wrinkled prune that you are, can do nothing to stop me. ” He looked about the room with finality and turned his face toward a nonexistent moor. “ And I’m taking Catherine with me!”
Brayden swept out of the class room and marched down the hall. The rational part of his mind had conveniently died from mortification so he was now free to do as he chose. As he walked the thirty four miles to his house the rational part came to just enough to wish he had chosen to remember he didn’t have a car.

What you just read was supposed to be humorous. If you didn’t find it funny then I suggest you go back, read it again, and think funny thoughts while you do so.

Emo Poems

What is in an emo poem? What makes a poem emo?

Since we're on the subject...What the heck is an emo?! A darker more emotional version of a large flightless bird perhaps.

Here is my list of tentative requirements for emo poems. Feel free to add your contributions to be later posted.

For a poem to be considered emo it must be/have:

1. Vaguely depressing...and if it doesn't vaguely depresss you then you at least know that they were attempting to be maudlin.

2. Be so poorely written that all attempts to be written in typical emo-maudlin fashion have made there work slightly hilarious.

*To see a typically badly written poem feel free to visit my badly written emo poem blog-->http://www.brokendespair.blogspot.com

Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Okay, the characters are static, the action scenes are crap, and it's completely unbelievable...Still, it was so good it took me less than a day to read it. Have I mentioned I'm a sucker for fantasy?

While reading it you feel like you're sitting in the cinema. Have you ever read a book like that before? It's like the author wrote it because they eventually wanted it to be a screen play. So you really don't get in depth with any of the character's feelings. You just get these nice flat people whose reactions are always the same.

Alice is unsure. Hatter Madigan is stoic. Bibwit Harte is scholarly. Dodge is out for revenge.

There you are character wise. But the ideas...The mirror system (The Continuum) which is tantamount to sky diving while on shrooms. The Cheshire cat is a part human assassin. Beddor is taking a young children's book and turned it into a violent, bloody, action filled book for everyone who isn't a young child. Bravo, Mr.Beddor. I applaud your ideas if not your characters.

With the exception of Hatter Madigan who is just freak to the awesome. I leave you with a quote from the book.

"No amount of Millinery training could have prepared Hatter for getting sucked through the Pool of Tears. Having somersaulted out of a puddle and landed on his feet with the agility of...well, of a cat, he let his instinct for self-protection take over. His backpack sprouted its usual array of weaponry. His steel bracelets popped open and spun in propeller-like action. He reached for his top hat but it was gone, which was bad news. Really bad news. The top hat was his signature weapon, the one he had worked the hardest to master. And he was probably going to need it, judging by the shocked and alarmed faces all around him. He had emerged from the exit portal in Paris,France, 1859, and found himself standing in the middle of a wide thoroughfare known as the Champs-Elyse`es."

"Who was this strangely attired man with knives and over-sized corkscrews jutting out of his backpack and rotary blades on his wrists?"

So, I recommend this to other suckers for fantasy and definitely to those who enjoy Alice in Wonderland.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Yet another review done for my school paper.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Terrorists can attack open society, but governments can abolish it. (WWW2.Piratepartiet.se/the_pirate_party)

Little Brother follows Marcus, a 17 year old senior in San Francisco chaffing under constant surveillance of the school system. So, when the school isn't watching he becomes W1n5t0n, figuring out how to evade the newest security measures that have been put into effect. From putting rocks in his shoes to avoid gait recognition to nuking the tracking cards on his library books, he's got it covered.

He is with three of his friends in downtown San Francisco when the worst happens. A mushroom cloud rises over the ruins of Bay Bridge as people trample each other trying to get away from the destruction. Terrorists have bombed California. In the aftermath that follows Marcus and his friends find themselves prisoners. When he refuses to let his captors have access to his phone and computer passwords he is tortured and humiliated for answers that he doesn't even know. No, not by Al-Qaeda or political extremist. Marcus has been taken into the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. A week later he is released. " But from now on, you belong to us. We will be watching you. We'll be waiting for you to make a misstep. Do you understand that we can watch you closely, all the time?"

Outraged and afraid of what the government is becoming Marcus does the only thing he can. He starts a revolution. A secret one. Using his Xbox he makes a spy proof system that even the government can't crack. He also earns the following of other kids like him who don't want to be watched. So starts the underground revolution of Xnetters.

Little Brother a great read steeped in American Culture --odd considering Doctorow's Canadian--. It's the hippie movement and 1984 both applied to a more technological world. You'll be able to recognize allusions to Emma Goldman and other heroes of the 60's and 70's. Not to mention the "Don't trust anyone over 25" slogan floating around throughout the book. Don't let the Orwell influence dissuade anyone from reading it, though. It's fast paced and directed at a teen audience so you're not going to be bored half way through. Just take into account that this is a book of science-fiction and shouldn't be taken seriously...yet. It could easily double as a handbook for the paranoid, but even you less paranoia prone guys will probably enjoy it for the different gadgets Cory Doctorow introduces. So, unless you absolutely can't stand conspiracy theories this is a must read.

--> This was indeed a good book that I can recommend without shame that you read. I didn't like that how much of the technological stuff went WAY over my head, but that may be due to my lack of technological savvy-ness.

Neil Gaiman wrote a review for it saying that he wished it could be in the hands of all thirteen year olds...I say no to that. It does casually mention sex and drugs throughout it. I wouldn't want my thirteen year old kid reading a book that portrayed sex and drugs as an acceptable recreational activity. Now fourteen...Heh. Just according to how mature your thirteen year old is I guess, but I was impressionable at thirteen. (Take into account that I'm only seventeen. I'm just saying that if my hypothetical kid was thirteen I wouldn't want them reading it. Thirteen year olds please do not be offended...but if you insist feel free to bite me. ;) )

When reading this you might want to keep in mind who it was written by. Cory Doctorow has some slightly extremist views on things. So, take the book with a grain of salt. Much like you would our pessimistic friend, Mr.Orwell.