a little bit of catching up...

All right, this is going to be super quick and therefore pretty concise. First, I think I should admit that I didn't finish the Harry Potter series this time through. I hit the figurative brick wall in the middle of Goblet of Fire and couldn't finish and felt like I was wasting my last remaining days of summer on something that my heart wasn't really in, which didn't seem right to me. (Currently listening to: "Stay Together for the Kids"- Blink-182) So, I went to the library and browsed the new book shelf as I normally do and came up with Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout, the same two ladies that wrote Girl vs. Boy and the Vivien Leigh Reid series (both of which I've read). It was a story of Zahra, Kali, and Syd, three unlikely friends that met in group therapy following the divorces of each of their parents. They soon realize that they've all been dating the same guy at the same time without realizing it and arrange for some good, old-fashioned revenge. After which, they realize they can help others get revenge and thus begins Love, Inc., a company dedicated to love in all its forms: revenge, matchmaking, mediation, and break-ups. I really liked the individual personalities of the girls and the general plot. Although it dragged a tad in the middle/end, I still think it was deserving of a spot on The List. Moving on. ("Happy Fun Song"- Straight Outta Junior High) Next, I picked up My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick, which K had recommended to me over a year ago and I had forgotten about until I was volunteering at the library and shelving books and the title jumped out at me. Samantha Reed, daughter of a senator, spends her childhood watching her next door neighbors, the Garretts, from her balcony with a sense of awe. They are the exact opposite of her clean, precise, classy family: messy, crowded, loud, and unorganized.("Juke Box Hero"- Foreigner) Enter Samantha's seventeenth summer and a relationship that blossoms with Jase, one of the Garrett kids. Sam learns about love, family, and the consequences of the truth. Although there were thoroughly irritating characters (Mrs. Reed, Clay, Nan), there were also some true gems (Sam, Jase, Tim, George, Alice) that really made the book that much more special. I loved the humor, narrative voice, and idea of a summer whirlwind romance. However, the ending caught me off guard and wasn't all that clear or fulfilling. Also, after finishing, I walked around in a daze for several hours, the effects of the book still not wearing off. However, despite its negatives, I gave it four stars and a spot on The List. Next up was Whip It by Shauna Cross. After watching the movie for the first time this summer, I thought it would be a great book to check out and boy was I right. I love the sarcastic, witty, educated humor that Bliss maintains throughout the entire book. It reminded me of my own internal dialogue and I loved it. She was such a relatable character for me and plus roller derby is just so badass that how could you not be intrigued? Also, there were all kinds of musical references that I got, loved, and really appreciated--especially when Bliss was saying that Weezer's Pinkerton is the best makeout album-- I mean it's Weezer's best album, in my opinion and I just loved that she incorporated that. It was honestly the funniest book I've read in a long, long time and I've been kind of disappointed by the lack of quick, intellectual, snarky humor in everything I've read since. Loved the movie, loved the book. Verdict: Five stars and a spot on The List of 55. I recently reread Just Listen by Sarah Dessen and was struck once again by how utterly amazing Owen is and how much I really need to find his twin brother at my school or something :) Still just as great as ever and, of course, parts that I went back and reread just for my own emotional reading pleasure (for example, the scene when Owen takes Annabel's picture and shows her what she means to him--my favorite scene). Oddly enough, I was talking to K in the hallway the other day and she was saying that she's rereading it right now too. Great minds think alike I guess. A couple days ago I finished All I Need by Susane Colasanti, which I was super skeptical of from the beginning because I haven't really been a fan of Colasanti in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was a decent love story of serendipity and taking chances and summer romance, but there were parts that I just didn't like. For example, the excessive teenage girl drama between Skye's friends and the awful ex-girlfriend and the weird passage of time. I really enjoyed the alternating POV, as I've always loved. Also, Seth was such a gentleman and I really enjoyed reading his chapters because he just seems like the sort of guy I would fall for. *sigh* Now, I'm ready to start The Secret Ingredient by Stewart Lewis, the author of You Have Seven Messages, which I didn't particularly like. However, I'm willing to give the author another shot. Also, it was on the New Book Shelf and sounded interesting and the cover is really beautiful. Well, I will post when/if I have time in the future because with sports and activities and school and a social life it's going to be pretty difficult to get around to posting anything for a while. Hang in there, though. I'll be back soon enough.
Happy Reading!
-M

numbers 30 & 31

alright guys it's been one of those days when a lightbulb pops on and it can't be stifled by any force, be it the realization of being in the real world or the realization that life isn't like a chick lit book. so, to keep the light burning i thought i'd share with you guys. today i went into my brother's room to use his cd player to listen to some music. while i was in there i found a library book that i'd picked up a couple weeks ago offhandedly because i got pulled in by the cover due to my fondness for Converse and had since forgotten. i thought to myself "well i might as well read the first 3 or 4 pages and see what it's like." several hours and 432 pages later i reentered the real world with a huge smile on my face and a sense of peace in my heart that only comes from a great book. this book, Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay, was just so perfect and unique and full of drama that it sucked me in quickly and i couldn't put it down until it was finished. short summary: Marcie's dad cheats on her mom with a guy. Marcie and her mom move to New Hampshire. Marcie is upset about leaving behind all her friends and amazing boyfriend in Idaho. Marcie meets a new East Coast guy and things get complicated as she doesn't know whom to break up with or if she should even be interested in this new guy with her boyfriend still in the picture.

As i said, short summary. and i realize that it sounds ridiculous, but i love that it was written as a bunch of poems and Marcie was such a relatable character that you really feel like you're her best friend getting sucked into her problems, however shallow they may seem. also, may i point out that i was already halfway through the third Harry Potter book in my annual summertime quest to read the whole series in a timely manner. and i am NOT the type of person to read more than one book at a time or just forget about a book i'm in the middle of, so the fact that i "cheated" on Harry Potter with this book should tell you something (it's also quite ironic seeing as how the book is about the main character cheating on her boyfriend). anyway, it definitely deserves a spot (31) on The List of 55.
now, i have to backtrack and explain number 30 on the list. the book with the honor of holding the spot is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. i loved how it was so realistic. i really felt connected to Esther and all of her reasoning was solid throughout which scared me as she continued to spiral into depression and landed herself in a mental facility. it scared me because i could agree and sympathize with her and therefore questioned my own sanity and happiness. the book really screwed with my mind, but i absolutely loved it despite it's dark tone and depressing topics. thus, as i read it earlier than Love & Leftovers, it's number 30. i simply had to rant a little about L&L first because it was on my mind.
so, from here i will continue reading Harry Potter and hope that nothing else steals my attentions away.
happy reading and enjoy the sunshine :)
-M

a "whole heap" of reading, 'mon

please tell me that someone out there appreciated my Cool Runnings reference in honor of the Olympics...except for the fact that that movie is about the WINTER Olympics, but still...close enough. (Float On- Ben Lee) so, as the title says, i've been reading a whole heap of stuff so this is probably going to be long, boring, droning, and i'll go on at least one rant, but what do you honestly expect coming from me? :) so, ONWARD! (Surfer Girl- Home Grown)

• Wild Roses by Deb Caletti...this book for me started out great and i was really getting into the writing style and sarcastic humour of the main character. however, over time i felt like the book got kind of repetitive and she fell for the guy WAYY too fast. also, the end wasn't very satisfying. (My Hero (acoustic)- Foo Fighters) loose ends were left and i still ended up hating certain characters at the conclusion. i was pretty disappointed because i had really high hopes for that book and then, like most things in life, it didn't really turn out how i wanted it to.

• The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle...in one word: amazing. very well written. i felt all the emotions of the main character and almost found myself crying along with her (which is pretty impressive if an author can get me to do that). also, i should point out that the cover art is breath-taking. quick summary: Laurel's entire family gets killed in a car crash (we know this after just the 12th page so i don't feel too bad about giving this away) as does the mother of her bad boy neighbor, David. (Mirror ft Bruno Mars- Lil Wayne) the entire book is just Laurel coping with her loss and going through the grieving process. she grows closer to David as they realize they have more in common now more than ever. *May I just point out that David definitely reminded me of the John Bender type? Which, of course, I loved about him. You know K and I's slight obsession with Bender and The Breakfast Club in general.* This amazing book I've already suggested to K and it definitely deserves a spot on The List of 55. this would make it number 16. yay.

• The Julian Game by Adele Griffin...i started this book and made myself get through a full three chapters before giving up completely. i always try to give the book a chance, but this book was just petty and pathetic. i hated the main character and all the supporting characters, so i didn't really see it going anywhere that i would like. therefore, it got discarded onto the return stack.

• The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti...I got through the first half of this book before giving up and going to the book swap hoping for a good book to read. i didn't like the dad, sister, main character, or boyfriend. (Metal Health (Bang Your Head)- Quiet Riot....from Footloose, the original of course) however, i very much enjoyed the best friend, aunt, grandma, and mom and their skepticism towards men. i just didn't like the basis of the book. i kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't and i had already wasted a lot of my time on that book, so i skimmed and figured out who the love interest would be and realized i wasn't missing a whole lot by skipping the rest of the book.

• BOOK SWAP ALERT: On July 14, K and I met at the public library (aka heaven) to talk/rant about books and swap. i waited for K, as she was late (no complaints here), and read the first few chapters of Pet Sematary by Stephen King, but i haven't picked it up since. In the swap, I got Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti and K got The Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a book that I read several summers ago and loved so much that upon finding it in a used book warehouse, i had to buy it. (Candlelight- Relient k) It's a book about life and love and the seaside. To be honest, i don't remember much about it except for the fact that i loved it. I haven't heard from K about it though, so i don't know what she thought of it. As for me, I started reading Waiting For You the day i got it and finished it the next day. i wasn't all that thrilled by it. i pretty much had the entire plot figured out just by reading the jacket cover. it was a very predictable and somewhat frustrating book. the main character (sorry i don't remember her name) wasn't all that likable in my opinion and she seemed rather immature and young. also, the guy she was after wasn't "attractive" enough (as in, i wasn't attracted by the author's description. she should've made him slightly more likable so it was really more of a struggle for the reader to switch loyalties). also, i pegged the radio host from the start and it just seemed wayy too obvious. that being said, i did enjoy his character, although i DO NOT approve of his whole "what should i do about liking a girl" approach. that's petty and, as the main character said, very 5th grader-ish. overall, it was kinda a blazé (sp?) book. (Tears in Heaven- Eric Clapton) maybe susane colasanti just isn't for me, seeing as how i wasn't exactly thrilled with the other book by her that i read: When It Happens (which you might remember i went on a rant about how the author should've just stopped at chapter 29). but K can go right ahead and try to persuade me otherwise. (From the Bottom of My Heart- The Wallflowers)

• What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen...I've been putting this book off for a while now because K had told me that she wasn't exactly thrilled with the ending of it, so i was very hesitant because i thought that i would be disappointed, as has happened before with Ms. Dessen's earlier works *cough Dreamland cough*. However, during our hour and a half book discussion that went along with the swap, we talked about the book and how she didn't really remember the book that well so that i should just give it a chance. So, after reading the swap book, i started What Happened to Goodbye. Since it's been over a week since i read it, i'm reading back through the texts i sent K while reading and after finishing WHTG.(When I See You- The Moog) here are some excerpts from our texting ranting: i'm on pg 53 and freaking out!!! annabel and owen get a cameo appearance!!.....i just finished what happened to goodbye. i agree about it not being satisfying......i feel like Dave should've been a more developed character and he should've made a move sooner. i feel like the ending was too rushed to fully resolve things. also, mclean went off to college--not a very happy ending. also she didn't get to go on the Texas trip which i'd hoped she would've done. oh and they didn't explain the whole restaurant thing very well at the end. thank you!! ah, okay. i didn't know if it was just me and i knew you'd understand. okay thank you for sharing what you thought. i thought the book had so much potential, but then the end screwed it up. I feel pathetic that i had to type out our texts, but that's the best thing i could think to do so you guys could get the full experience of our opinions and mine right after i finished the book. I would like to say, though, that Ms. Dessen has a way of writing great male characters (ex: Owen, Eli, Norman, Dave). (All Apologies- Nirvana)

• Gallagher Girls Series...After finishing WHTG, i felt like i owed it to myself to read a book with a good ending and a good love story. That's what made me walk over to my bookshelf and grab I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter. Possibly one of my favorite series (behind Harry Potter of course) and there's always comfort in reading books you know you'll love. Also, me being lazy, i hadn't read the newest book yet so it seemed right to go through and read the entire series as a refresher. Here are some essential stats about the series... favorite book in the series: book 2 (because Zach is always around and it's when Cammie and Zach meet....yeah i know what you're thinking about me being some ridiculous teenage girl...well you'd be absolutely right :) ). most confusing book: book 5. (By the Way- Red Hot Chili Peppers) most boring book: book 1 (because, let's face it, regular boys aren't nearly as exciting as super-spy boys :P ) After finishing book 5, i felt even more confused than i was when i started the book and i know for a fact that Ally Carter is writing another. However, it was kind of hinted at that the next one will be the last. (If I Should Fall From Grace With God- The Young Dubliners) Cammie said something along the lines of "when we come back next semester we'll end this for good" or something like that. also, there's the fact that the girls are going into the last semester of their senior year, so of course they can't stay at Gallagher Academy forever. however, i would be very pleased if Ms. Carter kept going and wrote novels about their after high school experience like their first years in the field doing whatever it is they'll go on to do. i'm just going to be really sad when the series is over and Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey are no longer students at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Girls. I guess i'm just a Gallagher Girl at heart. Anyway, book 5 made me tear up because i have always felt very connected to Cammie and when i thought that her best friend was trying to steal her boyfriend i was outraged and literally had tears in my eyes. I read the whole series in a week and that made it even more emotional because i basically spent all my free time with Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey and then i felt really lonely when i finished the fifth book. I now sit waiting for the next to come out...whenever that happens to be. (Someone Like You- Adele)

• Avalon High by Meg Cabot....I was at the library last week and got Avalon High and The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. What made me pick up Avalon High was the fact that K and i had talked about it when we were discussing The Song of the Sparrow and how it's also about King Arthur and how i said that i didn't like any books on the topic except for Avalon High. So, i remembered this while i was there and grabbed it off the shelf. However, I still had five books left from my last trip to the library. I was simply not in the mood to read those books because when i get something in my head, i have to do it. i looked over the books that had been checked out previously and realized that i didn't want to read about a serial killer or a person with supernatural ability or a historical fiction novel. so, i put those five books in my return stack and picked up Avalon High this morning after/during breakfast. It was not my first time reading it, in fact i think it's probably the second time i've re-read it. I finished it this afternoon and it was just as delightful as i remembered. I had forgotten that Ellie is a runner (probably because it wasn't relevant before...as i hadn't started running xc yet...that's how long ago i read this book last) too, which helped me relate to her even more. (Aint No Rest for the Wicked- Cage the Elephant) After reading the book, i wanted to go outside and run two miles in the pouring rain as she did, but that's not exactly possible seeing as how we're in the middle of a drought. May i just point out that i LOVE running in the rain. other people are complaining about getting soaked and wet and how they feel gross but my best friend and i are out there running with huge smiles on our faces enjoying the rain running down our faces. we're weird; we know. anyway i was so excited when i got to that part of the book and i just wanted to join Ellie out there in the pouring rain and go for a run (despite the fact that i already ran this morning). (Run- Ben Lee) It's a perfect chick lit book for those looking to read a fast read.

• I am now reading The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. During our chat, K suggested that I re-read it because i'd obviously forgotten most of the plotline. (Stand By Me- Marvin Gaye) So, after finishing Avalon High today, i stuck my bookmark (a worn sticky note) in the front of The Truth About Forever and i haven't touched it since. i plan on getting started on it soon, though. Also, as i've learned through the summer reading program, i've read 8,420 pages this summer. YAY! my goal is to get to 10,000 before school starts, which, the rate i'm going won't be a problem. (Salvation- Carolina Liar) i only have 1,580 pages left and 23 days left of summer break. which means that ideally i'll have to read 68 pages a day. which isn't exactly a problem for me, seeing as how i pretty much have been finishing a book every day the past couple of weeks. so i will keep you guys up to date on my progress towards 10,000 as the summer comes to a close. 

enjoy your summer, read far too many books, live your life.
-M

She's back!!!

A few notes to my fellow blogger M:
1. I definitely plan on continuing the HP series (I'm already to emotionally invested not to haha)
2. I would have been surprised if you actually left the library without a book in hand
3. I look forward to your review on Chopsticks (I've heard of the book and have been debating on if I was going to read it or not).
4. I wasn't a big fan of Maureen Johnson's book 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but after your high praise of  The Name of the Star I must read it!
5. Very nice music you had playing :)
Now on to my post :D  (pretend to be excited please haha).
(iTunes on shuffle: Teenage Dream- Katy Perry) Wow two post in one week??? Someone get me some butter because I'm on a roll! Hahaha, yeah I know that was lame, but hey at least I can still joke around! I think it's one of the saddest things when people have been so jaded by life that they can barely smile anymore...
Of course this being a post by K it's going to be all over the place as usual. So enjoy the long, random but entertaining (hopefully) ride :)
So first off I would just like to complain for a second because I'm very annoyed!!! My knee has been feeling really strange for a few weeks so far so I've been trying to stay off of it but it hasn't really helped (All The Way Up- Emily Osment, don't judge me! lol). So I'm just going to go back to my usual work out routine since putting it on pause hasn't helped :p
Guess what I just realized today. I've always known this I guess, but never really acknowledged it until today. When the book has a girl for the main character, I hate it when she's a "damsel in distress." Nothing annoys me more than a girl who can't take care of herself. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean that she has to always deal with things on her own and never let anyone help her. That's not what I'm saying at all. (Pretending- Glee version). What I mean is I hate it when the girl always counts on a guy to rescue her because then she never learns to rescue herself. It's kinda like the song Cinderella by the Cheetah Girls (yeah, I know throwback moment haha). "I don't wanna be like Cinderella, Sitting in a dark, cold, dusty cellar, Waiting for somebody to come and set me free, I don't wanna be like someone waiting, For a handsome prince to come and save me, I'd rather rescue myself." Does that make sense at all? I like a strong independent female lead, but I just don't believe that independent means that she has to do everything on her own. How about I give you an example of what I mean (of a female character I don't like): Isabella Swan (you should have seen that coming). She completely changes her life for a guy and basically set herself up for disaster when he left to "protect" her. I hate that. I can understand if you truly love a guy and he actually is the guy you want to marry. Yes, he's supposed to protect you and you're supposed to be able to depend on him, but you also need to know how to depend on yourself. (Far Away- Nickelback). I'm not sure if I got my point across, but if I didn't oh well. I'm moving on with this post.
My reasoning for posting so soon anyway is because I was reading M's latest post and I saw that she got book #15 for her list (congratulations by the way). That just made me realize that I have yet to set up my own list of 55 books *insert my "I'm so appalled" face here* haha. Anywho so that's what I will be doing with my lovely night while I try not to die of heat stroke. I just wanted to inform all of our lovely readers that I will begin my own list since M and I have different books on ours (despite the many things we have in common). (Not Afraid- Eminem).
Okay, so I love summer as much as the next student, but I'm not a summer chick. Yeah, there are days where I love to feel the warmth the sun radiates. It's relaxing and feels amazing, but this whole two months of upper 90s and lower 100 degrees of weather is NOT my cup of hot coco (I don't like tea... Mercy-Duffy). I'm a perfect weather gal. Of course mother nature does not always give us perfect weather despite my pleas. So I always tend to enjoy the cold more. I love the cold because that means I can drink hot coco and bundle under covers while watching a good movie. Plus, my body is naturally cold (you won't believe how many times I've had friends tell me how cold my hands are) and I like it that way. I don't like sweating and I don't like all the exposed skin girls show in the summer (yes, I would say I'm rather conservative in the way I dress, but I'm not a nun or anything -.-). I'm just not a summer weather girl so this weather is kicking my butt (Fade to Black- Apocalyptica). However, I'm enjoying summer and I hope you are too :)
Oh one quick thing before I go. I won't be doing star ratings anymore. Purely because I'm forgetful and often too lazy to do so. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but I think I do a pretty decent job of making my opinion known of a book in my posts. Yups, that's all. Good bye for now!!!

15) The Name of the Star

ok guys i know i just posted a couple days ago, but since then i have finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which made me feel like my life's purpose was gone because i've spent so much of my time with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine o' course :P ). the re-reading of the entire series was very satisfying and i picked up on some stuff that i hadn't noticed the first time around. i wholly (sp?) encourage K to get through the series because they're awesome. nuff said. (song: Come As You Are (live)--Nirvana)
i went to our public library today for my volunteer shift (this happens every thursday during the summer) and checked out a book despite the fact that i told myself i would walk out of there empty-handed. it's called Chopsticks by: Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral. a couple months ago i had read a review on a book blog i read occassionally. it's a book that tells a story through pictures, letters, quotes, and other types of mixed media forms. i was intrigued and thus when i saw it on the New Book Shelf at the library i just HAD to pick it up. i'm very intrigued to start it and sorta flipped through it earlier. (song: Bullet with Butterfly Wings--Smashing Pumpkins) so that is now on my stack of books (it's pretty small though so i don't feel quite so bad about it).
after finishing the wonderful series of Ms. Rowling, i started The Name of the Star by: Maureen Johnson. this book has been in the back of my mind since whenever it came out. a friend of mine is a huge fan of Maureen Johnson, so she kept going on and on about it when we were in Barnes and Noble. i told myself that i would read it eventually, but hadn't seen it around the library much because it was always checked out when i was in there. so, when i went to the library (probably for another volunteer shift) a couple weeks ago and saw it was in, i was thrilled. (Ain't No Rest for the Wicked--Cage the Elephant) although the other books i checked out that day were due, i kept only this one because i had been waiting so long to read it. as it turns out, it's a great thing that i read this right after Harry Potter, because there were some noticeable similarities that made it easier to transition into real life again. for example: it takes place at an English boarding school where there are prefects and head boys and girls. i was so excited when i found that part out. now, i don't know if all English boarding schools are organized like this, but it came as a shock to me, the naive American. (The House of the Rising Sun--The Animals) oh and i should also point out that i'm very into books that take place in boarding schools, so if there are any suggestions out there, that would be great. anyway, a quick synopsis for y'all:
Aurora (Rory...like in Gilmore Girls :P ) is from New Orleans and moves to England her senior year of high school to go to boarding school at Wexford, a pretty prestigious school. (One Headlight--The Wallflowers) London is in a state of panic after a murder takes place in exactly the same fashion of the killings of Jack the Ripper in the 1800's. This copycat is scaring everyone because they know that the city isn't safe on certain days (the same days that the original Ripper victims were killed). Rory finds herself in the middle of all the conflict and has to juggle that, her new friends and roommates, homework, and adjusting to the culture of boarding school.
This book is great because it incorporates mystery, romance, chick lit (which is pretty much the same as the one before it), paranormal, and suspense. i haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. i was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book and started it one day (read 30 pages) then finished it the next day and the book is 370 pages long. i was hooked from the start. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. (My Hero--Foo Fighters *sidenote: i like the acoustic version better, but whatever*) i simply can't explain how great this book was and am thoroughly looking forward to the next books in the series when they come out. until then, i will continue enjoying reading Maureen Johnson's tweets, as they are always obscure yet awesome in a creepy way. anyway, for those reasons and many more, The Name of the Star deserves a spot on The List of 55. we're up to #15! woo hoo! yay us!
so, after reading such an awesome book, i sat down last night and had planned to start reading Obsessed by Ted Dekker, but was somehow drawn to a Sarah Dessen book because i was feeling very girly and needed some good chick lit. so, i grabbed my copy of Along For the Ride and read it until about 4am when i finally gave in and fell asleep (i stayed up to read it in homage to Eli and Auden's nighttime wanderings). i then finished it today and was very pleased. (Brain Stew--Green Day) however, i've said it before and i'll say it again: the ending isn't quite satisfying. as K said in her last post: it's like The Vow's ending. we're girls. we need closure and a good, satisfying, if not stereotypical and cheesy ending to keep us happy. (Self Esteem--The Offspring)
on a completely unrelated note, i'm really enjoying my Nirvana Pandora station right now, as you might've noticed from my song choices. i've been listening to it for the past few days and i feel like Owen would be so proud of how much i've branched out. i never would've thought that i would be the type of person to listen to Nirvana, but here i am. so i guess you never know until you try. also, stereotyping people is bad. in general. i'm just pointing this out because people are often more than they appear to be. oh and i was very happy when i saw that Serena Williams won her match at Wimbledon this morning. i will definitely be rooting for her Saturday morning in the finals if i'm up. this ties back to the whole England obsession that i harbor, as does K. we have problems and we know it. (In One Ear--Cage the Elephant) ok enough rambling from me. good bye, auvoir, adios. (sorry, that's the extent of my foreign language knowledge) happy reading and enjoy your lives and keep the music loud :)
-M

random musings

You know that scene in A Cinderella Story where they show the entire neighborhood's grass to be dead and then zoom in on the one house that has green grass? maybe its just me. however, my point being that if Google maps or whatever they used to do the bird's eye view in the movie were to focus on my neighborhood, our house would be that green one. we are in the middle of a semi-drought and my dad is obsessive about watering his lawn. daily. i don't get it. conserve water.
I am currently re-reading all the Harry Potter books and am on the Deathly Hallows. as much as i love these books (and believe me, i do), i feel like i haven't got the chance to read anything else all summer. so, after i finish the series, my book priority list is as follows:

1. The Name of the Stars- Maureen Johnson
2. Obsessed- Ted Dekker
3. The Song of the Sparrow- ?? (i need to read this so that K and i can have another book swap)
4. 1984- George Orwell (not of MY choosing, but of the AP Lit teachers' choosing)

Summer is almost halfway over and i feel as if i've done absolutely nothing that i told myself i would do.  hmmm thats ridiculous. however, that's how my summers all end up. oh and i still haven't redecorated my room like i said i would this summer. yeah. i'm that lazy. also, i really would like to see K again somewhat soon. oh and on a related note, K and I have been spamming each other's FB pages with music. it's great. except for that awful country song she tried to get me to listen to....that was really bad. Owen (from Just Listen by Sarah Dessen) would be so proud of our Music Enlightenment. it's really too bad that he doesn't exist. also, i've been using my time this summer to immerse myself even deeper in different types of music.
I apologize now for the randomness and seemingly insignificant-ness of this post. I just thought that our devoted readers *insert sarcastic smile here* deserved a post since the last one was about a month ago.
Oh, and in case anyone cares.... Song: Love Me or Leave Me by: Rooney

Peace Out. (which of course reminds me of "peace up a town..." yeah that's gonna be stuck in my head for a while and hopefully your's as well. you're welcome :P )