Poetry Can’t Quite Describe Her

… But she can use it to describe everything else. I’d like everyone to acknowledge that tomorrow (or today, or yesterday, depending on when you read this 😉 )  is Maya’s birthday. ‘Cause she’s awesome, and inspires me. If you haven’t read her poems you are seriously missing out. If you’re lucky enough to talk to her, you’re totally fortunate. If you’re lucky enough like some people and you’re her sister… Dude. You’ve got it made.

So happy birthday, Maya! May it be an incredibly joyful one and may you have a blessed year. I’m going to read a poem in honor of your birthday 😀

Twirly Whirls #2

1.) I really like Summer, and I really hate Summer. So yeah. I know that’s deep and profound and whatnot but Summer is a complicated thing  for me. I am so sad that it’s ending but then do I really want it to keep on going? Because I am really excited about some of the things that are coming up this year. I just really hate the pressure that a certain thing brings…

2.) I’ve kind of sort of been thinking about writing again. I think someone needs to stop me before I inflict bodily and mental harm upon more innocent characters that are really quite happy being in non-existence at the moment… I don’t know! But I do know that I don’t have time to write right now, sadly. Since…

3.) School starts tomorrow. AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I’m having difficulty accepting this… My schedule is intense and I’m worried. (I’m actually in denial about school starting.)

4.) I bought a new pair of plaid pajama pants today. That makes me really happy. I really only wear plaid pajama pants. I don’t even know why. It’s just what I dig, yo, fo shizzle. They’re orange and red and green and blue and I really like them 😀

5.) Finding a nice winter coat is really difficult! Particularly when you’re attracted to the idea of a red one but a certain friend who you are around frequently just bought one so of course, you can’t.

6.) I’m quite sorry my grammar is astrocious. I don’t feel like being punctual today. That’s probably because of that thing that starts tomorrow 😉

7.) Piano lessons also start tomorrow! That’s a good thing. If LOST was starting tomorrow as well, I’d be really ok with going back to school! Opps- just said it… This being in denial thing is kind of hard…

8.) I read Catching Fire in about five hours. It was beyond amazing. I loved it that much. These sentences are short. I wonder why. That should have a question mark. Here: ?

9.) I need a book recommendation, por favor. I haven’t read a book this entire week, since I finished Catching Fire. That’s BAD.

10.) I know I keep saying this but a more profound post is to come soon. I just wanted to post something. 😀

Mmm Pumpkins

WARNING: super random nonsense below…

I have this weird craving for pumpkin pie. Really, really yummy pumpkin pie. None of this Safeway nonsense- homemade all the way. But then again, that could just be because I’m doing my summer homework (got to love my school :P) and it’s taking me a ridiculously long amount of time because I keep getting distracted! I might go on eBay and research vintage polaroid cameras, and in the next minute I might be looking at early reviews of Catching Fire (I really want.) or texting friends… I need to solve this dilemna.It’s way too difficult for me to concentrate in the Summer. But I am slowly but surely tackling it. Sooo that’s good!

(even if I did have to resort to Hannah Montana music to keep my focus…)

Actually has anyone ever had squash bread? That stuff is really very delicious. It’s one of my favorite pastry type things. Haha, I’m planning on rewarding myself for actually doing my homework today by walking to the bakery and buying one of their delicious sable cookies (glorified thumbprints 😉 ).

Reading this post over really doesn’t make any sense… but I’m going to publish it anyways because I feel random and what not. My next one shall be more logical, promise. I have a book review of a series to do! Woo! Bet you can’t guess which books if you’ve been following my goodreads… 😀 Which you should by the way. I love goodreads.

Ok I’m done, off to play some frisbee now! Cheers!

Twirly Whirls #1

1.) I have a like/hate relationship with summer homework. I like keeping my mind fresh and not feeling like I don’t know what to expect for the school year (because trust me, I have enough homework that I know what to expect for Junior year…) but I hate feeling like all I’m doing at the moment is homework. I also hate when it’s boring.

2.) I really miss LOST. It’s one of those shows I talk about all the time (with certain people) and it supplied the mystery element I need in my life. I like mystery, and a little bit of action and the like, and LOST is perfect for me in that sense. So I’m supplementing my lack of LOST by watching the episodes that are on ondemand of Psych, which is actually a really interesting show. Totally different from LOST, but still good in the mystery sense. And it’s funny… 😉

3.) I am texting way too much. I’m not even texting that much by normal people’s standards. It’s definetly under fifty, probably more around 20-30 texts that I send a day, but I feel like I’m texting way too much. So then I console myself by asking my friend Marina (through text of course :P) how many texts she sends in a month…. and it makes me feel much better 😀

4.) We’re remodeling our house as I have previously mentioned, and it’s definetly been hard/good. The hard parts are the lack of home cooked meals. I’ve had so much take out (given it is gourmet take out but…) and whole foods meals that I actually don’t really want to go out to eat at all at the moment. But hopefully that will change soon. Not for a few months though, from what I’ve heard. The remodel was hopefully going to be done by September, when school starts. Yeah. Knew that wouldn’t happen. So then we were hoping for end of September, but it’s looking more like end of October for when we’ll be totally finished. The stinky part of that is that we have to be out of our rental home by the end of August, and then who knows? The good parts are good though. I love that I get to redesign my room, and actually do structural things that are awesome. For example, I’m taking a clay class at a showroom where I will learn how to plaster my walls to have that really earthy, beautifully vintage style. I’m super excited for that. And then of course there’s furniture and fun things like that 😀 So those parts are good!

5.) I got my hair cut on Sunday and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I really like the length (it’s about three inches below my shoulders now as opposed to being super long and to my elbows) however the new style is still taking some getting used to. I think it will require blow drying, which I detest, but oh well. Such is the way of hair 😛

I am so cool that

… I take photos while i’m being stung by a bee. Yeah, it’s a talent.

On Thursday while I was at camp I noticed a sharp little pain in my elbow, which quickly translated itself into a wild dance which apparently I unknowingly captured on film, because when I was looking back on the day’s photos I noticed two beautiful, yet blurry, slightly wild looking ones. I discovered that I had captured my bee sting.

Which really, doesn’t make me all that happy. I’m allergic to bee stings, and the event was rather painful. But hey, I got a few beautiful photos from it so that makes it all better 😛

first bee sting photo

and another one

It was quite a wild dance. I’m told by the spectators that they weren’t sure what exactly was happening, and whether I was just being crazy or was actually in pain. Me? Crazy? 😉

Summer…

Is a lovely thing, for example…

I can hang out with friends. My six months were up July 14th, so I have greatly been enjoying the advantages of being able to drive people outside of my family, which is amazing. It is a freedom that I am relishing. And hanging out with friends is also great for getting your mind off other less wonderful things in life. Did I well, mention my house is being remodeled? Ew. Just ew.

And… Nordstrom sale! I am such a girl and so proud of it, because shopping makes me happy 😀 I won’t bore the less fashion inclined with descriptions, but I will say one word: cowgirl boots. Because yes, I have totally fallen in love with them, probably as a result of Taylor Swift. What can I say? They’re beautiful.

Music is also another huge plus for summer. New albums, like Demi Lovato’s Here we go Again, which I have really been enjoying. My favorite song so far is Catch Me, but I’m also a huge fan of Falling over Me, U Got Nothin’ On Me, Remember December, Stop the World, Solo, Every Time you Lie, Here We go Again... Basically every song on that album! What I really appreciate about Demi’s music is that she actually has quality. Unlike most Disney Channel stars, I would count her as a muscian based upon her talent. Summer is also great for music because I have time to practice piano. That is such a rare thing during the school year! I’ve actually been able to learn my latest classical piece in about a month. That’s fairly unheard of during the school year! Needless to say my teacher has been rather happy with me lately. 😉

And of course you can’t forget this little thing called HARRY POTTER!!! I loved the movie. I would say it’s my favorite, but I know the seventh movie will be my favorite. David Yates is definetly my favorite of the four directors. He brings a really amazing touch to the movies. I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing reviews for HP6, but like everyone else I appreciated that I was able to laugh, cry, ahhh, and grimace, all in one movie. It was really amazing for me 😀 And I completely agree with John Green of the Nerdfighters in his statement that being a nerd is amazing because you can get excited about things! I might have been jumping a little bit with excitement before the movie started… 😉 Hey, it’s ok. My friends are used to it.

Which does bring me back to friends! This past weekend was the YG retreat with my old church, and it was really wonderful to get to see people I haven’t seen in a while. I loved inner tubing, though I do have a few burns and scrapes and bruises the size of a plum (no. joke.) to show for it. Water tubing is a blast. If you ever have the opportunity and aren’t afraid of a few sore muscles, go for it. The entire weekend was completely emotional. I totally broke down the first night and had to go off with one of my friends for a little while and spill my hearts contents to the her. Crying is such good therapy! So is journaling. I must have written at least twenty pages in one day alone. But seriously, God really revealed himself to me this weekend in ways I really needed to see. This past year was such a hard year, and it was really important for me to see that it’s been hard for everyone. And yeah, just maybe, I might not be alone! Such a concept 😀

Continuing on the retreat, the senior service was so powerful. EVERYONE was crying for about two hours straight, but in such a good way. It was a very emotional/intense weekend but it was like therapy, and after it was over you feel so relieved, and so much better. Like pounds of guilt and pain are completely lifted. I love God. He rocks.

On Tuesday of this week, Laurisa has her surprise birthday party! That was really fun to hang out with friends and such. Photoshoots at the beach? Amazing. We’re all gorgeous, hehe. We also watched Confessions of a Shopaholic for the second time for me, and I love that movie. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a really amazing lead guy character with British accent. I love accents. Desmond…. 😉

Oh! And I pumped gas for the first time! It was seriously…. Well, embarrassing 😛 But I had Marina to help me so that was good. We couldn’t figure out how to start it! But once we did it was fine, it was just difficult getting started.

And I had an amazing cookie today. It was like a thumbprint, but better. So amazingly delicious.

I haven’t read much though. That would be the only thing slightly annoying about my summer so far. But… it’s ok. It’s almost like I wanted a break from that too. This has been a very different summer for me, and at first it was hard to adjust to that but I think it might just be part of getting older, and growing up. Not giving up reading, never. But not needing to depend on things so much, that’s really important.

I’m even enjoying my summer homework! I have mountains of APUSH and APCOMP work, as well as preparation for some of my more difficult courses such as Physics and review of Spanish and Algebra. Yippee 😛 But the nice thing about summer homework is that you don’t have to do it all at once. In fact, you don’t even have to do it everyday or everyweek. I appreciate being able to space it out and not feel overwhelmed. For example, I was planning on working on my APCOMP homework tonight, but I think I’m going to go watch Ever After instead. Because I can. And that’s a lovely thing!

Ohhh, and the weather. It’s wonderful. A nice break from the normal drab and gray. Summer is officially my favorite season. I love the heat and the freedom. It’s awesome.

And camps! I have a wedding the first of August, then camp from the 2nd through 7th, and another camp where I’m a counselor from the 8th through 13th, but I’m counting myself dead on the fourteenth after two weeks of non-stop action!

Anyways, there is my snippet peek into my summer. I like summer. I get to hang out with friends. I’m refreshed for the upcoming year, and get to rest while still being busy, which is just the way I like it. So how has your summer been so far? 😀

What makes a book special?

I like posts that get discussions going, so inspired by my last post, here’s a thought: what makes a book interesting for you? I know some people go for the writing style. Lyrical, lush, detailed, plain, simple, straightforward, unique, whatever it is that makes the book speak to them in a certain way. Some are all about the characters. If they feel like they can relate to them, like their lives are reflections of their own, or if they’re complete opposites even, the characters are what make the book real. The plot, obviously, keeps the story moving forward and is essentially the story. I think most people go for a combination of all these things, and more, when choosing a story that they love.

There are always exceptions to this rule too. Some of my favorite books don’t make sense to me. Like the Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. The main character is quite daft for the first half of the novel, and the writing though beautiful can be a bit overdone and dramatic at times; yet I consider GG to be among my top five books/series/authors. I think that’s mostly because of the connection I feel with the book, and how it was the first novel that actually introduced me to YA literature! And how cool is that? It’s kind of like Ella Enchanted: it will always have a special place in my heart.

My book tastes have personally changed a lot too, as the years have gone on. This past year has been particularly interesting as I’ve grown to love authors like Sarah Dessen and branched out from the fantasy world dramatically. I barely even read fantasy novels anymore it seems.

Writing novels has also seriously given me a new appreciation for books. I read slower, for one thing, and try to relish the book instead of read as many books as I can. I’ve found this to be really lovely. I’m receiving way more from what I read, which I wholly appreciate. I’ve also found that when I read slower and actually enjoy the details, say a fight scene or a romance, I get so much more from the book. I’m able to respond to it more as a reader and understand what I’ve read differently than when I just rush through it. Books like Harry Potter are excellent examples. They’re so rich and lush in details, and reading them time and time again is an enjoyable experience because of that.

So what say you? Books, what makes them special, and your reading styles? 🙂

Superheroes

I think it would be super cool if I was a comic book character. I could defeat bad guys, travel the world in one frame, and still make it home in time to do my homework and maintain a super cool image at my high school. Yeah, being a super hero could have it’s advantages.

Anyone seen Phineas and Ferb? One of the things I love most about it is how the evil dude (who really isn’t evil…) always tells Perry the Platypus his plans for evil world domination, or maybe just to get everybody dressed up in formal gowns, before he puts them into action. Now I’d rather be a superhero than an evil villain (although that does have certain advantages) but if I was an evil villain I hope I wouldn’t do that.

Also, I would wear a cool costume cause some of those outfits are pretty ridiculous. Maybe I wouldn’t even wear a costume, just dress like a normal person. Seems like you would stand out less that way anyways 😉

This does bring up the issue of super powers though. I’ve been asked that question so many times. If you could have super powers, what would you choose? I would probably choose something useful, but at the same time it would be fun to be unconventional and do like emy 9th grade science teacher suggested, and choose something like the power of absolute zero! That would be pretty ridiculous, but I think that would be more useful for an evil villain.

The best part might be that you get to travel, cause the whole famous thing doesn’t actually have that much appeal to me. People watching your every move, and critiquing you whenever they can… sounds icky. * nods very seriously *

But really this whoel argument is pointless because I don’t have super powers… where is that vat of toxic waste when you need it?

So that in a nut shell is a half critiquing half encouraging viewpoint on superheroes. But I’m still not sure what powers I would want. Maybe the power to make people fall in love with reading! But then again, that could be bad too because what if they all fell in love with Geric?! EEK! We can’t have that, enough competition as it is 😉

I offer no excuses…

I’m just incredibly busy and you all know why. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, 4.0’s are also not maintained without effort, and boy have I been busy. The past month has been filled with final projects in humanities, and this little thing we like to call death to our grades where it’s  culminative core class project worth one third of our grade! Eeeeek! It’s scary! I’m done using exclamation points! Maybe not! Ok seriously, done. 😉

Now I may be extremely busy, but I’m one of those people that when life gets way too busy to handle I fight back by reading (and coincidentally, practicing piano which makes my piano teacher quite pleased with me, haha). I’ve discovered that when my life is spinning out of control, I like to read abotu characters that are on adventures or the like. Puts things into perspective: at least I’m not on the verge of death! (<— Exclamation mark is back…) So you should go check out my books read in 2009 page to see what I’ve been reading lately. I would definitely recommend Fablehaven, and Sleepaway Girls. Maybe once summer comess I’ll post a few reviews and such.

And… Yesh. That’s about all I’ve got. I’m really excited for the release of Along for the Ride coming out next week! Should be a great procrastinating tool for when I should be studying for finals, right? 😀

Promise to post more soon 😀

My Sister’s Keeper

Anyone seen the trailer for this yet? Oh, that’s kind of a dumb question considered I just posted it…

Ahem, anyone read the book My Sister’s Keeper? The odds are probably pretty high that you have, it’s a fairly common book. I read it back in January and upon finishing it proceeded to bawl for an hour. I was sitting outside of the barbershop while my dad and brother were getting their hair cut and when they came back out to the car they found me just crying. And I couldn’t stop! This is one of those books that affects you for many reasons. You think you know exactly what’s going to happen; but really you have no idea.

The trailer looks promising. I’m very excited to see this movie. Maybe excited isn’t quite the right word, but I will definitely be there as soon as I can manage to go see it. I recommend you do too.

Good Titles Can Be Hard to Come By

I fail at posting! No actually, I’ve just been way too busy/sick/uninterested to post lately. But I decided that I need to update. Except for I have nothing I can think of to say.

Well, except maybe a few general life updates? I guess I can try.

I did not successfully finish NaPoWriMo (didn’t expect to either), but I made about twenty-three poems which I’m quite happy with! That’s still a lot of poems for one month. Some of them are going to be permanently deleted and never again exposed to the light of day, but some I’m really pleased with actually and it will be good to continue working on those.

In other news, I have forty-three days until school is out. That’s days in total, but just school days. That seems like a long ways away still. I wish it were sooner, but the good news is they will not be cancelling school anymore for potential swine flu cases so we shouldn’t have to go into Summer. Speaking of swine flu (or oinkbarf) I’m so sick of hearing about it! So I shall talk about something else.

I’ve recently started doing pilates on a regular basis with a personal instructor, and I love it. I suppose not that recently, I’ve actually been doing it for almost two months now, but I really enjoy it. It’s a challenge to the mind as well as the body, but you’re so busy thinking about the mind that you don’t realize (most the time) how hard you are really working your body. It’s good.

I haven’t had nearly as much time as I would like to do reading (school is a pain) but I have read all of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books and cannot recommend them highly enough. They are brilliant. If you like humor, adventure, action, greek mythology, and a dash of romance you must read these books. No really, they’re that good.

I’ve also read A History of The Middle East (not recommended at all), Two Girls of Gettysburg (highly recommended!), Palestine Peace not Apartheid (surprisingly interesting), and books like Trouble (pretty good), Forest Born and listening to The Goose Girl in audio book format, which is of course wonderful 😀

Hopefully I will be posting proper reviews coming soon too.

Which also reminds me, here are a literature picks for my next few weeks reading list (not really in any particular order):

1.) Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

2.) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

3.) Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

4.) Deep Blue by Melody Carlson (reread)

5.) Out of a Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

6.) Fablehaven Book One by Brandon Mull

7.) Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin

8.) Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare

9.) The Important of Being Earnest by Earnest Hemingway

10.) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

So some of those books I really do want to read, and others are just ones that I think I should read to enhance my mind, etc. I’m thinking I’ll do a post coming up with books that are being released soon, as well as the reviews and such. I’m planning on hopefully being more bookish around here, along with the interviews which will still be coming of course.

Oh, and I am so excited to start my AP classes, particularly APUSH. The teacher at my school is one of the most enthusiastic and passionate teachers for his subject, he makes me infectuously excited to start. Let’s put it this way, he started talking about a summer boot camp to get ahead in our learning and I started jumping up and down slightly with excitement. He makes me WANT to learn. I can’t wait to get started 😀

Hehe, and the LOST Season 5 finale is this Wednesday, so I will definitely have to give my thoughts on that!

And writing. I am planning on continuing work on my novel (and maybe persuing a few other ideas I’ve had lately in that regard) as soon as school is out. Life unfortunately is too busy right now for me to concentrate on too many different things at once. But finals will be here soon, and projects will be finishing up soon and then I will have time. And that will be nice.

Carpe Diem, er, Interview.

Next in the ongoing series of interviews, is Miss Maya at Allegro!

1.) Let’s start with how would you describe yourself… in a poem?
I would be the curious narrator who wants to explore the world around her. I’d refer to myself as “she,” and you would find a lot of imagery in the poem.

2.) You think that people should…?
Carpe diem. End of story.

3.) Something (may I make that “Someone”?) that always makes you smile?
My family: my mom, who can crack really good jokes, my dad, who always manages to make me smile, and my sister, who is so incredibly spectacular (99.9% of the time) that she doesn’t need any explanation.

4.) If you could paint your room any color what color would it be?
Purple, hands down. I’ve got eight sections of wall, and each would be a different shade of purple. That’d be really pretty.

5.) After having become a published author, do you really feel much different, or is it still mostly the same?
As of right now, it’s mostly the same. It’s just those times when someone stops me and says, “Hey, I know you — didn’t you write a book?” that feel very different, because I’m finally able to say, “Yeah, I did.” Or when I’m signing books, or addressing packages, etc, I’m so grateful to my parents for letting me publish, and this whole “poetess experience” feels so, so good. And so very different, but I love it.

6.) Can you choose a favorite book? Or are you forced to resort to books, in the plural sense?
Mainly I’ve told people it’s “Paper Towns,” by John Green. But I think “North of Beautiful” (Justina Chen Headley), which I’ve claimed is my second-favorite, is almost just as good. What I look for in a favorite book is that it has to teach me something about life or the way I live it. Both of these books have done that, and NOB is such a close second, but Paper Towns takes the cake.

7.) When did you first realize that Carrie Underwood was the epitome of awesome?
She’s always been the epitome of awesome, though I didn’t realize it until Saturday, March 14, 2008, and Sunday, March 15, 2008, two days that I spent doing my homework and listening to the 30-second previews on iTunes all afternoon long. She shows people that you can achieve anything if you just go for it, and I think that’s really important.

8.) What’s something you think not too many people know about you?
That I’m a very sensitive person.

9.) Do you think books should be made into movies?
Of course! It’s great to see something you’ve read being acted out. I know that when I read a book or write prose, the dialogue plays out in my head, like a movie. So, for me, getting to see those same scenes from someone else (the director)’s perspective is a really neat experience.

10.) Have you ever been truly, perfectly, and incandescently happy? Do share 😉
Definitely. Anytime I’m doing one or more of the following things:
-writing (without struggling!) 🙂
-listening to fantastic music
-it’s sunny + raining at the same time (I love both the rain and the sunshine, so this is a perfect compromise)
-spending time with my family

11.) How would you react towards a group of turtles in pink tutus, sipping strawberry smoothies with little umbrellas in it?

Where did they come from? *runs away*

12.) If you had to choose between beauty, curiosity, or creativity, what would you choose?
I’d choose curiosity. I don’t think beauty is as important as our society makes it out to be — even though your physical appearance is what a lot of people judge you by, you just have to be beautiful on the inside. Creativity is important, too, but curiosity is what you need to learn. It’s what holds all the answers. And that, I think, ranks a bit higher than creativity in my books.

13.) Where do you see yourself in 11 years, three months, and twenty-nine days?
I’d probably be finishing up college, studying journalism/mass broadcasting, creative writing, and/or psychology. I’m not sure exactly which one(s), but I’ve got a while to think about it. All three sound like a lot of fun.

14.) What never ceases to amaze you?
Sunsets. We get really pretty ones here in Washington — with gorgeous stripes and colors.

15.) What question have you always wanted to be asked, and never been asked? Go ahead and ask that now 🙂
Q: Do you prefer black-and-white or color photos?
A: Black and white…unless it’s a sunset or sunrise. Such colors!

16.) If someone was willing to pay you a thousand dollars to spend the day with Miley Cyrus, would you do it?
I’m not sure. If we were going to do something fun, then yes. But if it was going to be all shopping, watching movies, etc, then a big no.

17.) Do you think that kids can make a difference in the world?
I really do. Most of the time, adults underestimate what children can achieve. But we can do so much more than what an adult can achieve, because our innocence allows us to believe in ourselves and be true to who we are.

18.) If you could choose a superhero name, what would it be?
I’m not into superheroes, so this is going to be pretty tough. What about…Auriga? It’s a gorgeous name and I definitely wouldn’t mind being named after a constellation.

19.) Do you believe in wishes?
No, not really. I believe in dreams, though. Wishes are more pessimistic — they’re more of longing rather than believing. Longing won’t make you go anywhere; if anything, it’ll only send you backwards.

20.) Are there any other forms of creativity you like to express yourself through besides poetry?
I love art. Drawing, painting, and the like — especially pastel work.

Thank you so much for a great interview, Maya! 😀