Gone, Job Interview, Debate, and Birthdays

I finished Gone, by Michael Grant. I'll do a quick book review because I have a LOT of journal things to discuss.

Wow, I was really surprised by this book, and not in a good way. The entire story is centered around this town in which everyone the age 15 and over disappears, and there's this barrier around the town that can't be broken or escaped from or anything. The basic question that keeps the reader hooked is, "What's causing these strange things to happen?" I was rooting for the aliens. *Sigh* I won't reveal the ending because. . . . . . . there's nothing to reveal. You're still kept in the dark.

Not only that, but the author just wouldn't stop adding multiple, almost impossibly dangerous conflicts to the story. Some authors, such as Stephenie Meyer, can wrap up every aspect of the plot with a nice little bow that keeps almost every reader satisfied. This dude gives you NOTHING!! I was beyond disappointed, especially since his writing style is so interesting and unique.

Long story short, it was a book with a fantastic beginning and middle but a horrible ending. The ending is what ruined it for me. Other than that, it was a great book that I would have recommended to anybody. However, due to the ending I will not be advising anyone in their right mind to read Gone.

Alrighty- moving on. I had a job interview recently, and I'm REALLY hoping that I get the job. It's not anything huge, but if I don't get that job I'll be pretty upset. It's the only job that I actually want, I'd have a lot of fun working there.

I think that the manager (he was the one who interviewed me) liked me, but I can't be sure. . . . . he wasn't very chatty *Shrug* I'll know if I got the job by April 15th. I'll definitely be crossing my fingers a lot that day : )

The third topic, debate, is about this victory I got in Speech class (no, not speech like learning how to talk correctly. Like talking in front of lots of people without sweating bullets and feeling dizzy) on Friday. I had this big debate that I worked pretty hard on, and I won it by ONE vote!! It was so close; it made victory all the sweeter, haha.

The topic was whether Oreo cookies are better than Chips Ahoy. I was on the negative side, arguing for Chips Ahoy. I had two other teammates, but only one of them was any help at all. She was great at thinking on her feet, and I delivered the well researched Constructive speech. Together, we convinced my class that Chips Ahoy are better than Oreos : D It was a major confidence booster to win that one. We took a poll of our class a few days before the debate, and the majority preferred Oreos. The fact that my good teammate and I could convince them otherwise is very empowering.

Now, my last topic, BIRTHDAYS!! There are many birthdays in March (including my own) and I've been having a great weekend due to them. I had my own party with seven of my good friends, which was awesome (luv you guys) and I went out to dinner with NHC and his family because it's his Dad's B-Day. All in all, it's made for a crazy fun weekend ^_^ It was a busy week too as far as school goes, I'll be so happy when Spring Break comes around and I can just relax...

*Whew* I thought this post would be huge, and look at that! Not bad at all, if I do say so myself. So, what is SunnyD reading now? I'm in the process of reading Rumors, the second book in the Luxe series. So far it's not as attention-grabbing as The Luxe was, but I'm only in the beginning. Things can get interesting quickly.

~My next post will be about Newsies! If you don't know what in the world Newsies is, that's okay, hardly anyone does...

Extras and An Inspirational Story

I'm finally finished with the Uglies series (unless he writes another one, of course) and I was pretty satisfied with it. The ending was great, it left me with a nice closing feeling. Every piece of the plot was solved, and there was a good deal of action. However, I did have my issues with it. . . .

First and foremost was the little romance story within it. The author gets a huge FAIL from me as far as the romance goes. He really shouldn't have even tried, it just sucked. It was surprising, because I don't remember the romance in his other books being as horrible as the romance in this one. I literally found myself skipping the romantic parts because they were so awfully written. They were random and loveless. Ugh, just TERRIBLE! *Deep Breath* I'll stop now before I go overboard, but take my word for it, if you read this skip over the romantic parts.

My second complaint was the beginning. It's not that I couldn't get into it, but he lingered too long on certain parts that I don't think he needed to spend so much time describing. Sure, they were pretty central to the story, but I wish that he'd made the part with the Sly Girls a bit more brief. If he'd done that, I think he would've had more room to describe the ending climax, which I would've like a bit more detail on. *Shrug* Not a huge issue, but definitely something worth mentioning.

Other than that, it was a good book. It was really easy to step into the main character's shoes, and the mystery of the inhumans was fascinating. Again, the ending was my favorite part, it was really well done. *Applause for Scott Westerfeld*

Now, for the inspirational story topic. I was had been at Maddie's house from about 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM (it was great seeing her, it had been a while since I last saw her) and her mom was giving me a ride home. Maddie's little sisters, Jesse and Lily, were in the back of the van being relatively quiet for a change. Maddie's mom was describing the difference between a stick shift and an automatic when something occured to me.

I just want to say this now: I would never ask this personal a question to any of my other friends' parents, but Maddie's parents practically helped raise me, and I was comfortable asking them anything.

So anyway, I asked her how she met Maddie's dad. I know that seems pretty random, and I'm not exactly sure how my brain went from the topic of driving stick shift to how Maddie's mom met Maddie's dad, but it did.

I won't describe the story she told me and the twins because it's not my story to tell. I will tell you that it was very inspirational, and it made me really believe that true love is out there for everyone. It wasn't all love and happiness, though, there were many hardships in the story as well. Her main point was that everything happens for a reason, and you might not necessarily see the reason for something happening while it's going on, but eventually you'll be able to look back and say something like, "Wow, I can't believe that something good actually came out of that."

It made me wonder a lot about what the future holds. I've decided that for the time being I'll just go with the flow, and maybe someday I'll have a story of my own.

~My next post will be about the movie Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway starring as Jane Austen. I hope it'll be good (I won't have much to compare it to, though. The only other Jane Austen based movie I've seen is the Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly, and I haven't read any of the books).

Inkdeath and My Strange Homeroom Situation

Whew! I've finally completed the final book of the Inkheart trilogy, and it was a very good read. If I had the choice, I would've read it all in one sitting. The storyline is so intriguing, it's one of those books that you just HAVE to know what happens next.

I won't go into detail of the entire plot, but I'll give a brief overview: Mo was the main character in this book (at least in my mind, maybe others have different opinions) so I'll focus on him. He's got this deep inner battle about who he wants to be, Mortimer or the Bluejay? Who is the Bluejay, you might ask? The Bluejay is the hero of Fenoglio's "Inkworld", he's destined to kill the Adderhead, who is the evil ruler of the Inkworld. At the end of Inkspell, Mo was actually forced to bind the Adderhead a book that would make him immortal. Kind of the opposite of killing him, really. However, he did sort of curse the book (what he really did I don't feel like explaining) so there's still hope that he can kill the Adderhead. All he has to do is write heart, spell, and death in its pages. That's why the series is Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath.

But Mo is not just the Bluejay, he's also a husband and a father. His wife, Resa, wants him to return with her to our world (she's expecting his second child and wants a normal life for their baby), and he's not sure if he wants to go back. Mo does some pretty incredible things in this book, ranging from bringing a man back from the dead to surviving horrible, deadly torture. I won't tell you if he winds up being Mortimer or the Bluejay, you'll just have to read it and find out : P

Now, for my opinions: I had a few minor complaints, but my biggest one was the point of view. The story was told in third person limited point of view, and it would switch among several different characters: Mo, Resa, Meggie, Farid, Fenoglio, Elinor, Orpheus, Dustfinger, Violante, the Adderhead, Jacopo, etc. I don't mind when the point of view switches from different characters, but too many switches can make things confusing.

All in all, I highly recommend the Inkheart trilogy to anyone who enjoys fantasy books! They are very captivating books; I found it difficult to put Inkdeath down!

Now, for my journal portion. Something odd occured in my homeroom class, and now everyone in my class thinks I'm crazy/weird. *Sigh*

About two months ago, I stood up in my homeroom class to say the pledge of allegiance like any other day. However, something that would seem fairly normal happened to catch my eye. Across the room (and my homeroom is in my school's auditorium, so she was pretty far away) I saw a girl clutch at her stomach when she rose to say the pledge. What seemed odd to me was that she didn't grimace in pain or anything, she just put a hand on her stomach. While I listened to the school announcements, I tried to think of reasons that a person would grab their stomach if they weren't in pain. The only logical thing that I could come up with was that she was pregnant.

I know, that sounds incredibly weird, but I couldn't shake the idea from my mind. I leaned over to Jenna and whispered, "Does that girl look pregnant to you?" I probably should've whispered more quietly, because everyone in my homeroom turned to look at me like I was nuts. Jenna asked me which girl I was talking about, and I described to her where the girl was sitting. My homeroom class all looked at her, and looked back at me again like I was even crazier. I was feeling pretty embarrassed at this point, and Jenna said "Nooooo," like I was some kind of idiot.

I tried to forget about this incident, hoping that people would forget about my brief moment of oddness. However, last Wednesday (a few months after the incident), Veronica leaned over to me and whispered, "That girl IS pregnant!"

My homeroom (including me) all turned in shock to peer at the girl. Sure enough, there was a small but definite bulge on her belly. A part of me was amazed that I was right, but another part of me really wished that Veronica hadn't said anything. Now my homeroom class thinks that I have some freaky sixth sense about knowing when girls are pregnant. I tried to explain that I had just noticed her grab her stomach, but they still think I'm weird. Next time I notice odd things, I should just keep my mouth shut. . . . .

That's about it for now. . . . Oh, I'm proud of GOS for moving on from loser-boy!! *Round of Applause* She no longer feels anything for him, and now she has a new (and FAR better) crush! Bubbles and TQ are still pointedly giving each other the silent treatment, though. In result, I don't get to talk to TQ anymore, which sucks. I really wish that they hadn't broken up, but that's life. *Shrug*

Also, (I can't believe I'm admitting this) I miss NHC. I know that doesn't sound bad, but it's extremely sad how badly I miss him. I really shouldn't complain (he's beyond a great boyfriend, he calls me to keep in touch 'cause we go to different high schools) but I can't help it. If I could just stop thinking about him until I get to see him again, maybe it would be easier. Haha, easier said than done. I can't get him out of my head, it's hopeless to even bother trying. I also really hate dreaming about him, it's just torture. I'll wake up and then remember that I still can't see him for a while. Honestly, I just don't see how long distance relationships could possibly work. I'm having trouble just being away from him for more than three weeks, how could couples possibly work if they hardly EVER see each other??

I know that I can last another two weeks, though, so I'll just have to deal with my pathetic-ness for now.

~I hope this post wasn't boring (not that anyone's said that my blog is boring, lol *Shifty Eyes*)

The Hobbit, Angry Chocoholism, and Strange Dreams

Hmm, it's hard to know where to start with this post. . . . it's been a strange week. I guess I'll start with my review of J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Hobbit.

It took me a while to get through this one due to a combination of reasons that I won't bore you with. This book was tough for me to get into, and I'm not really sure why. I guess I'll just be vague and say that different books grab the attention of different readers for different reasons. The Hobbit never really captured my interest the way other books have, but that's perfectly okay. I'm very glad that I read it; I hate how some people never venture outside of their comfort zone, and I was long overdue for trying something new.

The story itself was actually interesting to me, but I didn't like the author's style of writing. Again, maybe it fascinates certain people, but it didn't do much for me. One of my biggest complaints about this story is the lack of female characters. To me, there wasn't much definition between characters either, but between the types of people. Like, "all Goblins are cruel" and general stuff like that. Maybe I'm just complaining about small details, but that's just my opinion. However, now that I've gotten into the story, I'll probably have to read The Lord of the Rings eventually. When that time comes, I'll compare my opinions of those books to The Hobbit, because I've heard several people argue that they liked the others better than The Hobbit and vice versa. *Shrug* I'll just have to see for myself I suppose.

Now, I'll explain my "angry chocoholism" topic. This goes back to the personal issues (and believe me, there are many) of my friend GOS. As I've discussed, my poor friend has been having some boy troubles. I must say, I've underestimated what a jerk loser-boy is. Days after he broke up with GOS, he called her (quite a few times as a matter of fact) and lied to her about going out with two other girls immediately after breaking up with her. He told her that he hadn't asked anyone else out since they broke up, but he'd already gone out with at least one, maybe two other girls!! Then, once she discovered the truth, he told her that breaking up with her was the "biggest mistake he's ever made in his life." Uh huh. Anyone else sensing a lie here?

When GOS told me of all this, I'll admit it, I exploded at her. I yelled for a good ten minutes about all of the reasons that she shouldn't care about loser-boy anymore, and she argued back that he needs her (apparently he's cutting himself again) so between the two of us, we didn't make much progress. I think I made my point, though, that she deserves far better than a lying, emo, and possibly cheating jerk (I can't prove that he ever cheated on her while they went out, but I have strong suspicions).

Now, what does all of this have to do with chocolate? Well, after my loud and angy discussion with GOS, I stamped downstairs and downed three mini reese's cups. I know that's not a lot, but that's not what scares me. I didn't even notice that I was eating something until I threw away the three wrappers. I was so caught up with my anger about GOS's lame ex boyfriend that I didn't even realize that I was eating chocolate. Is that weird or what? I've heard of girls eating and not noticing it when they're really sad, but when they're angry?? It's definitely new to me. I'm going to have to be more careful from now on about being around food when I'm ticked off. . . . . .

Okay, I'm down to my last topic! I've tried talking to Alanna, Nikki, and NHC about the strange dreams that I've been having lately, but so far I'm still coming up blank. Well, first of all, I should explain that strange dreams are normal for me. Ever since almost as long as I can remember, I've always been able to recall most of my dreams without any trouble. It's pretty rare that I wake up and can't remember what I'd been dreaming of. In fact, when I go downstairs to eat breakfast, my mom sometimes asks me what I dreamed of the night before because I've got a funny look on my face as I think of it. My dreams aren't scary for the most part, just weird. I'm also one of those people who can sometimes be aware that I'm dreaming during a dream, and on those rare occasions (this is a theory that Alanna and I read about, it's called lucid dreaming if you're interested) you're supposed to be able to alter your dream to your liking. It's incredibly hard, though, and I can only think of two possible instances when I might have had some influence on my dream during the dream.

Okay, I'll stop ranting about dreams (which have always intrigued me) and get on to my point. I've had a reoccuring element in my dreams lately, and it's really bugging me. Until I can figure out what this means, I'll probably keep having this dream night after night, which gets extremely boring. I'm literally desperate here, I've even resorted to looking it up in a dream dictionary (which was absolutely no help at all).

Here's my reoccuring dream: I'm facing a bridge, and I absolutely can't cross it. I want to, but my feet just won't move. The dream varies sometimes, but the bridge seems to be the key element. Sometimes there are people on the other side (my friends, actually) but the people never notice me. Sometimes the bridge is over water and other things like steep ledges, but mostly there's just a bridge, surrounded by nothing at all. In my dream I'm not afraid of crossing the bridge, but I still don't want to. I'm not sure why I don't want to, but it's not really fear. I get the sense that there's something that'll have to happen if I cross it that I'm not willing to do. I'm not really sure. . . . .

One thing that's always the same is that the bridge is old. If it's metal, it's rusted. If it's wooden, it's half rotted. Maybe that means something, I don't know. At this point, I'm open to any suggestions.

Alanna and Nikki both agree that the bridge must be a symbol for a decision that I'm subconsciously trying to make, which makes sense. The thing is, I can't think of any big decision that I'm avoiding, or any "big steps" that I'm afraid of taking. That's another reason that I'm so obsessed with these dreams. They don't make sense, and I really want to know why I'm having them. Maybe it's just random, but I don't really think so. *Shrug* Maybe I'll have better luck tonight. All I really know is that the dream probably won't end until I either A) Cross my dream bridge or B) Figure out what it symbolizes. I know that you readers can't help me cross the dream bridge (which I've tried to do, but it's almost like I physically can't make my dream feet move) but maybe you could give me some new ideas about what it's supposed to mean? I'd appreciate that. . . . .

~Thanks for reading, and please comment with ideas!

A Day of Shopping and Jacob Black

Wow. So, I went shopping today. I'm a strange girl in that I have mixed feelings about going shopping. Especially at certain stores for certain things.

For the holidays my Aunt and Uncle gave me a lot of clothes from Aeropostale, and I know they meant well, but it all had TONS of ruffles and glitter. I have a strict no pink, no ruffles, no glitter, and no sequins policy when it comes to clothes. I had to return all of the clothes that they got me, which gave me a fair bit of credit at that place. Well my friend Maddie got a giftcard to Aeropostale for the holidays, so we went shopping together. Whoo.

It was fun eating pretzels and drinking smoothies with Maddie in the mall, but I'm not so wild about the actual shopping involved. I tried to seem eager, though, 'cause I didn't want to ruin her fun.

Now, onto the topic of Jacob Black. I have very strong opinions about this particular Twilight character, and I'm about to type them all out for once. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS, DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE ENTIRE TWILIGHT SERIES!!

In the book series, Jacob started out as a very minor character, but he grew to become much more than minor in Bella's life. A lot of people object to Jacob simply because "he's trying to steal her from Edward!" This is my question: Since when is it a crime for someone to fall in love?

Jacob did so much for Bella when she fell apart in New Moon, he was there for her when everyone else had given up on helping her. I personally love the character of Jacob Black far more than I like the character of Edward. Edward is Bella's true match, but Jacob seems to be more happy-go-lucky and far less bitter than Edward. I would even call Edward arrogant because he always seems to think that he knows what's best for Bella while Jacob was always more willing to let her make her own decisions.

I'm not saying that Jacob is better for Bella than Edward. He clearly could never have a chance with Bella. But he seems to be the better man to me than Edward. Renesmee is a lucky girl : )

As for Jacob going after Bella, that doesn't make him a bad person. In his mind, he was saving Bella from what he thought to be a horrible fate. Him loving her also doesn't make him a character to be hated, his soul mate just hadn't come along yet and he was confused. If readers really examine him carefully, you'll find that there's nothing to hate about Jacob Black. He adds so much to the story along with being a great kid.

In Twilight, Bella didn't have a clue about what she'd be giving up if she sacrificed her mortality to be with Edward. In Eclipse, she realizes and sees another option that is available to her. She could have life and love without having to give up all of the things she'd have to give up to be with Edward. By recognizing and dismissing her love for Jacob, she makes her love for Edward all that much stronger. She knows exactly what she's giving up for him, and she's still willing to do it to be with him forever.

I was beyond ecstatic to see Jacob get a happy ending in Breaking Dawn. If anyone deserves Renesmee Cullen, it's Jacob Black. I do not in any way think that his imprinting on her was creepy. He is Renesmee's true other half, and if he hadn't imprinted on her, he'd still be in pain from missing Bella. If I could ask Stephenie Meyer to continue one aspect of the Twilight series, I'd ask her to do a book centered around Renesmee and Jacob. Bella's story might be over, but Renesmee's is just beginning!

Leah Clearwater's story also didn't seem to be over to me. There were so many questions that her being a werewolf posed, and they never really got answered. Not to mention her love story, is she really a genetic dead-end? Was Sam the only man that she could truly ever love? Can Leah imprint? The questions are endless, and we'll never really know the answers to them (unless Stephenie Meyer chooses to answer them for us, of course).

Okay, that's enough about Twilight. Please don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Edward, I just like Jacob more.

~If you read this entire post, thank you! It was a long one. . . .

A New Year With Old Friends and An Interesting Book

Wow, it sure is late. . . . . I'm actually sitting on my friend Kelpo's bed as I type this one : )

Okay, my New Year was interesting this year. My parents dragged me last night to my neighbor's (who, incidentally, I haven't seen in FOREVER!!) New Year's Eve party, and that wasn't too fun. I like her, but her boyfriend stood next to me and lit random things (like potato chips, soda cans, napkins, etc) on fire. It was very freaky, so I left.

I thought it would be kind of rude to come to a party, eat their food, and then leave; so I tried to be sneaky and leave discreetly. I couldn't go back to my locked house (and it was below freezing outside) so I went to my other neighbor's house and that was more fun. We played cards and talked as we watched the people in Times Square freeze to death ^_^

So on January 1st, I went to my friend Kelpo's house for a New Year's Day party. This was fun, there was a long counter of good chocolate, cake, and chips. The adults talked, and the kids played poker and foosball. I got lucky at poker (we were playing Texas Hold 'Em) which was cool, 'cause I typically have bad luck, so maybe 2009 will be a good year after all.

But one dude who was there also freaked me out. What is it with strange guys at parties? *Note to self: Don't give any guys that I meet at parties my phone number, they all seem to have strange, hidden qualities* This guy didn't light things on fire, but he was on pot. Whoo, great example for the little kids there. He also offered us some stolen watches, which we didn't buy.

So then Kelpo's mom suggested that Plexy and I sleep over, and we both said yes! So I am currently sitting on Kelpo's bed typing this while Plexy and Kelpo meditate.

As for the interesting book, I recently finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha. I also rented the movie, and I was impressed. Admittedly, it got a little dull at times, but it really captured the meaning and essence of the book well. The acting might have left something to be desired, but all in all it was worth renting. But it couldn't hold a candle to the book.

The book Memoirs of a Geisha was interesting from start to finish. I think that has something more to do with Arthur Golden's writing style than the actual story itself. His book really sucks the reader in, which is good, because I know I would've dropped the book and labeled geisha as Japanese prostitutes if he hadn't captured my interest so early on. The story of Sayuri really is fascinating, and I'm glad that I read it all. Her choice at the end is controversial, though, and I probably wouldn't have done all of the things that she did for love. For us normal people, we probably wouldn't have gotten the happy fairy tale ending that Sayuri had if we took the risks that she took.

As for what I'm reading now, I've made a deal with my boyfriend. He'll read Twilight if I read The Hobbit. So, I'm stuck reading The Hobbit. It definitely would not be something that I'd be drawn to on my own, but I'm glad that he's making me read it. It actually is a good book, and I might just have to read the other books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

There's only so much of winter break left : ( I'll probably have to get some homework done tomorrow. Specifically, EOC review stuff. . . . .

NO MORE PROCRASTINATION FOR ME!! I'll make a promise to myself, the next time I log on to blog something, I'll have done at least ten problems of my geometry review!

~I love you readers!!