*The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Where I Got the Book: I have two copies actually--one pre-ordered from Amazon for Christmas and one from when my husband went Hanklerfishing at Kroger!


In Short: true love on borrowed time, cancer


I hesitated on beginning this book because I had been feeling a little down and so many people talked about how the book made them cry that I didn't want to make my mood worse. Also, right around the time I received my copy a relative of mine died from the cancer infecting his brain.


Hazel is a sixteen year old girl residing in Indiana whose lungs don't work due to the civilization cancer had established with in them. (Gah! I so don't want to type much more than this because I feel like everything past the first chapter would contain spoilers. That's how much I love this book! I view any and all info on it as a spoiler!) Through a forced attendance to a support group she meets Augustus Waters who is in remission--i.e. cancer is gone currently, but we won't say you're really cancer-free unless you stay that way for a few years. From the first support group meeting they click and the romance grows from there.

The obstacles Hazel and Augustus (sometimes called Gus) face are: not being defined by their cancer, fulfilling wishes, and maintaining dignity while the body is doing its best to fall apart. That's all I'm going to say about this because of a previous reason stated within a parenthesis.

I really did love this book and how real all of the characters became to me. I literally started yelling at John Green (who of course wasn't in the room) that such and such COULD NOT happen while caught up in the story. I even stopped reading twice and tweeted at him about two pages that made this not-easily-emotion-invoked reader to cry. (I will not reveal which pages--that is unless you read the tweets.) I will admit that I didn't understand everything within the first read, but that's the point of subsequent readings. You hold the story in your heart, you grow, come back to it again at another time, and then notice things you didn't before or understand something you rushed through earlier in your quest to find out what happens next.

Red Flags: Language. The first curse word you encounter is on the third page of the story and it will not be the last one. I think this book is a pretty realistic representation of teenagers--and yes, a great deal of them use profanity. There is also a depiction of some more-than-kissing displays of affection and implied sex. If you are someone who really can't enjoy a novel because of these red flags, you may not want to try it. But if you're able to accept them, look past them, or not be bothered by them at all I emphatically encourage you to read this book. Seriously.

Grading
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 50/50

Tidbits
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Original Release Date: January 10, 2012
Two ways to increase the dosage of John Green in your life:

• YouTube Channel
• Important Video to Watch
• Twitter: @realjohngreen

And The Winner Is....

Sorry we went a little AWOL!  But better late than never, right? ;) Anywho, hopefully we'll be back in the game during summer, and can chug along even later.

Without further ado, the winner of a copy of The Fairy Tale Trap is....

Rebecca!

Thanks to our wonderful contributor, and, of course, to Emily Casey for her donation!

Stay tuned, readers, for more lovely chic nerdiness coming your way!

Fast Facts on Author Emily Casey

Fast Facts is a series focusing on authors, artists, musicians--anyone who creates something we enjoy--by presenting YOU, the reader, with some quick, fun little facts you never knew about them, or even find out what kind of things our talented artists recommend.  Notes from the Nerdette is honored to present our very first edition of Fast Facts with author Emily Casey!

General Facts
Name: Emily Casey
Claim to Fame: Author of The Fairy Tale Trap

Books
Favorite Book of All-Time: Soulless by Gail Carriger
Favorite Book Series of All-Time: Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
Favorite Childhood Book: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Last Book Read: The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt

Movies and Music
Favorite Movie: Ever After
Favorite Movie Series: Back to the Future
Favorite Music Artist: Muse
Writing Music: Muse, Taylor Swift, Enya, How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack

Writing (and when there is a lack thereof)
Writing Tips: First drafts need to be messy; Write every chance you get!
Non-Writing Pastimes: Gardening, Twitter, Running

The Fairy Tale Trap Blog Tour Giveaway!

Notes from the Nerdette is very proud to announce our very first contest--as well as our very first time as one of the legs of a blog tour for an author!  Thank you, Emily Casey, who is generously donating her eBook, a young adult fantasy novel entitled The Fairy Tale Trap, to the winner of our contest!

Basic contest rules:

1. In order to enter, simply fill out this form.
2. DO NOT send multiple copies of the form.  If you have made a mistake on the form, simply contact us at notesfromthenerdette (at) gmail (dot) com, and we will amend the problem for you.
3. If you do multiple entries (e.g., more promoting of the giveaway) after submitting the form, likewise simply email us and you will be given the multiple entries (provided, of course, you supply evidence for your entries).
4. The contest ends on FEBRUARY 2, 11:59 PST (exactly in two weeks' time).  All entries made or submitted after that time will not be included.
5. Contest winner will be selected purely at random by Random.org's random number service.
6. Contest winner will be announced on February 3.
7. If you are the winner of the contest, we will send you an email, but YOU MUST REPLY TO IT WITHIN ONE WEEK (the e-mail will be sent on February 3, and we must hear from you by February 10, 11:59 PST).  If we do not hear from you then, we will pick another winner.  The one-week reply rule applies to ALL winners chosen, whether the first, second, third, et cetera.
8. Affiliates with Notes from the Nerdette ARE allowed to enter, but will be given absolutely NO advantage.
9. If you choose to link our contest or promote it in any way, you MUST include a link.  WE WILL BE CHECKING.  If an entrant submits a link to their promotion and does not have the promotion up, that entry will be voided.

How To Get Multiple Entries:

1. Answer the question: "What is your favorite fairy tale/folk tale/myth?"
2. Dedicating an ENTIRE blog post to promoting Notes from the Nerdette (stating its mission and such, or even interviewing one of us contributors--worth five entries!)
3. Promoting Notes from the Nerdette or the giveaway in any way other than a whole blog post (linking, tweeting/retweeting, tumblring, facebooking, et cetera).  Please make sure that your link is not set to private and is visible to us.
4. Following @NerdetteNotes, @EmilyCaseysMuse, @IvyThornBooks or any of NftN's contributors' Twitter accounts.
5. Friending Emily Casey on Goodreads or liking her Facebook page--or even friending Ivy Thorn!
6. Commenting on an Emily Casey or The Fairy Tale Trap-related post that is on Notes from the Nerdette (two entries! and make your comment thoughtful! these posts, as of now, will be forthcoming)
7. Commenting on any non-Emily Casey or The Fairy Tale Trap-related post on Notes from the Nerdette. (make a thoughtful comment, please; one entry per comment but try not to totally spam posts ;) )
8. Following Notes from the Nerdette (see the sidebar on the side).
9. Any other form of promotion--just give us proof!

Good luck to all of you!  Any questions should be directed to admin Jacqueline at notesfromthenerdette (at) gmail (dot) com.

Want to keep following along on Emily's blog tour?  Head over to Angela Scott's Whimsy and Writing tomorrow!

Also, stay tuned: find out Emily Casey's pop culture recommendations tomorrow (she has really good taste!)!

*The Fairy Tale Trap by Emily Casey

Where I Got the Book From: Author gave me code to receive a free eBook via Smashwords

In Short: adventurous, funny, heartwarming

If you know me well, I have a penchant for retold fairytales.  Honestly, who doesn't?  The story telling formula of girl meets boy, one (or both) of whom is royalty, and girl and boy fall in love is so universal and speaks to everyone in some way--in fact, it is so ubiquitous and so close to the heart of every human being, that, after mankind got tired of compiling such stories in the nineteenth century, it started making its own spins on them, changing and tweaking or even adding onto them during the twentieth century and lasting well into the twenty-first century.  Hey, Disney made a whole franchise out of it.  So it seems fairy tale retelling is here to stay.

And a good thing, too.  If fairy tale retelling didn't exist, we wouldn't have a stash of soundtracks from Disney flicks (ssshhhh....).  Gail Carson Levine, Robin McKinley, and Shannon Hale wouldn't know what to write (well, okay--they're geniuses, and they've written non-fairy tale retellings before, so they'd still figure out something, but imagine a world with no Ella Enchanted or The Goose Girl!  Take that and sing it, John Lennon).  Drew Barrymore would have been out of work in 1997 when she could have been filming Ever After.  And don't even get me started on other writerly folks like Jessica Day George and Juliet Marillier.

But thankfully, there are fairy tale retellings.  And we will never tire of them.  So when I heard about Emily Casey's The Fairy Tale Trap, the premise of the book definitely appealed to me.  What fun!  A "Beauty and the Beast" (my second favorite fairytale--the first is "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" which is basically the same thing but with a polar bear and lots and lots of snow) retelling, but with a modern-day girl thrown into the story.

The heroine, Ivy Thorn, is a military brat just trying to settle into the home she and her mother have just moved into while waiting for her father to return home.  But moving is the least of Ivy's problems--when she's thrown into the tale of "Beauty and the Beast" against her will by a completely creepy and almost dictatorial pixie, things can only turn out to be more complicated.  A mysterious spell, the enchanted prince (enchanted meaning, of course, in beast form), and the eponymous pretty gal continue to haunt Ivy as she makes her way through the tale, seemingly for the pure enjoyment of the pixie who just loves to throw monkey wrenches into the story to make the situation all the more twisted for Ivy.

The Fairy Tale Trap could be easily described as a mixture of Enchanted (but set backwards, with a twenty-first century girl thrown into a fairytale) and Spirited Away, with its strong female lead who must use her strengths if she wants to return home.  (Both are fabulous movies, by the way, if you've never seen either.)  I'm usually very critical when authors of fiction write novels about characters thrown into odd situations, as quite often, writers fall into the "that-character-would-never-think-or-act-like-that" or "things-would-never-work-out-that-way" follies of literature.  However, Ms. Casey did a wonderful job portraying not only Ivy's emotions, but also how a young girl not too keen on fairy tales would react to being practically kidnapped and tossed into the plot of one.  Ivy is a character readers will root for, as she's strong, smart, and, dare I say it, snarky (we love snark!).  Ms. Casey is at the moment writing the follow-up to this novel, and I'm eager to find out what will become of dear Ivy!  (As a side note: hooray for a person-of-color starring in a fantasy novel, much less a fairy tale retelling!  As a POC myself, I find it pretty rare to find them in YA--so kudos to Ms. Casey for making Ivy one!)

Red Flags: This was a very clean book--a bit of blood mentioned once, and a few (rather comical) scenes regarding bodily functions (maybe not a good idea to eat while reading those! ;) ), but otherwise completely clean.

Grading
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 8/10
Originality: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 47/50

Tidbits
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, Fantasy
Fun Links:

• Official Emily Casey website and blog
• Book trailer for The Fairy Tale Trap
• Sample pages from the first chapter

*The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Where I Got the Book: Christmas present from my sister who purchased it from Amazon

In Short: dual point of view, character delving, chilling

I was really excited to begin this book. I had read all of Stiefvater's Shiver trilogy and had enjoyed the romance and the myth woven together. What can I say? I'm a fantasy girl. Also, shortly after its release the book was optioned to become a movie (IMDb shows it in development with a release date of 2015). The Scorpio Races, however, was nothing like that trilogy, however, still really enjoyable.

Kate "Puck" Conolly is an orphan with two brothers (one older, one younger) with a careful watch on the ever thinning contents of the pantry and the jar that holds all the money they have. Sean Kendrick who was abandoned by his mother and watched his father die is the hired "horse whisperer"/trophy racer at the Malvern stables. The Scorpio Races are what drive the two together and the haunting, terrifying, hungry, and beautiful water horses that come asore at the end of October may be the death of them.

On the small island of Thisby the Scorpio Races run on the first of November hold the island's heritage and the greatest source of income for the merchants there. They also, however, are the cause of many deaths. The year Puck decides to join is the first year a woman has ever dared to race. She races to save her family. Sean races for freedom.

My Thoughts: This book started out slow for me, but you get to know a great deal about the characters, the island, and you feel the importance of an event because of this. Once the characters started taking shape in my mind, however, I found the book to be an absolute riveting read. For someone looking for a book as filled with action as one of the Percy Jackson books, I would say borrow first, then buy. Like in Shiver there is romance in the book, but--a little to my disappointment--Stiefvater doesn't dwell on it for extremely long. In all honesty though, the brief moments of romance fit the characters that she had created, so I believe she did them justice.

Red Flags: Little bit of language. There isn't profanity throughout the book, but there are a few instances of curse words as well as a few innuendos and uncooth words. I think the reason Stiefvater chose this diction though is to emphasize and bring a ring of authenticy to the island and fact that a young woman was throwing herself into what had been historically a man's sport. Also, the book--about blood thirsty horses--is a bit violent. You are a witness to death, brutality, and practices that seem barbaric.

Grading
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 49/50

Tidbits
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Original Release Date: October 18, 2011
Recipe for November Cakes: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/maggiestiefvater/6505338297/

A Fangirl's TV Recap: Downton Abbey 2x01

Pardon the little hiatus--just a few days!--in our posting schedule.  We're back!  And we'd like to introduce our new feature, "A Fangirl's TV Recap"!  Kicking off this new feature is admin/founder Jacqueline, who will be fangirling/recapping one of her favorite shows of all-time, Downton Abbey.  (Be forewarned of much fangirling, much fandom-related items, possible shipping, DEFINITE SPOILERS--so step carefully!, rambling, ranting, and other goodies.  Feel free to chime along in our comments!)

Downton, oh, Downton, how have we Americans been without your presence in our daily lives for almost a year?!  Julian Fellowes, torturing us with the ultimate cliffhanger--"we are now at war with Germany!"--at the end of season one, and then stabbing our lovely Mary/Matthew ship with Mary's complete idiocy (darn you, Mary!).  So when the second season of Downton finally rolled around last Sunday night, of course I was glued to the TV for two hours until eleven at night (and so what if I had my first day of the quarter the next day?).  Let me try to go as chronologically as I can with the episode, but you have been warned of any gushing and such.

• WAR. ZOMG. It's much more in-your-face (season one saw very little violence, with the exception of William beating up Thomas on the kitchen floor) with some blood off-screen.  C'mon, I wasn't the only one who was like, "MATTHEW, DON'T DIE.  WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T. FREAKING. DIE."
• Mary.  My gosh.  She holds so much in.  Listen to Carson!  Be honest with yourself!  Sheesh!
• Thoughts on Lavinia: okay.  From the onset, just hearing about her makes it seems like she's the kind of gal you'd love to hate.  I certainly made the assumption that Zoe Boyle probably has a squeaky voice ("like the mice in Cinderella", as Joe Fox from You've Got Mail would say), but she doesn't, so you automatically can't get annoyed by her.  And then when Sir Richard Carlisle is being a total jerk and bullying her, you don't want to hate her anymore, and, in a way, you kind of want to say, "Lavinia, you're a really sweet girl, but can you stop ruining the Marthew ship?  Please?"
• O'Brien!  I think everyone was determined to hate her at the beginning of Season Two, but, just like her hair, she's toned down quite a bit.  Even though she does once seem to be trying to ruin plans, she does so in a way that she thinks will be beneficial to the family--aww.  Was I the only one cheering her on when she was making fun of Ethel?
• Oh, and speaking of Ethel...what a brat.  I want Gwen, the nicer ginger, back!  (okay, I don't mean that: Gwen, keep your secretary job, but Ethel's just a pain in the bum and you were so much sweeter than her)  Why do I feel like she's going to be a rascal later this season?  I'm hoping she has SOME redeeming qualities...she seemed pretty cut up by the end of the first ep.
• And my all-time favorite ship, BAnna (not a misspelling)!  GAH.  Okay, so maybe they have kind of an age gap.  And maybe he's kind of married.  And maybe this is totally like "downstairs Jane Eyre".  But GAH.  They're so. freaking. adorable.  But of course, Vera has to come in and ruin everything. *grumble grumble*
• Even though Molesley tries to ruin the BAnna ship a little, there's something so adorable about the fact that in ye olde days of King Edward, instead of texting a girl to say, "heyyyy gurllll u fineeee...wanna go out for some pizza?", they would lend each other books and ask each other to read them to share opinions about them with each other.  Sigh.  Just another reason I love the olden days and disapprove of the twenty-first century.
• Thomas....hmm....I feel like he's softened up a bit like his partner-in-crime, O'Brien, no?  As my mom pointed out a few days ago, even though viewers may hate him initially because of all the things he did in Season One, he still has a very human side of him in this first ep that people that empathize with.  I just hope he doesn't try to ruin anything again this season.  It's bad enough having Vera Bates as a sort of unfortunately-completely-sane-and-thus-knows-what-she's-doing Bertha Rochester nee Mason, and that Sir Richard Carlisle...he certainly looks like he has something up his sleeve for this season. :-/
• Daisy!  What in the world do you mean when you say you and William aren't sweethearts?  Dare you ruin the Dailliam ship?  GAH.  I'm so nervous for William now.  William!  Don't you die, either!
• A part of me also really likes the Carson/Mrs Hughes ship.  A lot.  They're just so sweet!  GAH.
• The whole Edith-at-the-farm plotline just felt like it threw the whole story off a bit.  It was kind of off-kilter.  It's highly uncharacteristic, I think--I don't know why it was added in, as it seems like a very haphazardly written portion just so that Little Miss Middle Child isn't so left out while Mary mopes and Sybil gets to be a nurse.  Was it to show that Edith isn't such a snob that she doesn't mind associating--and practically canoodling--with farmers?  I don't know.  Does Mrs Drake get to exact revenge on Edith for crushing on/kissing her husband?  Unless this plotline goes any farther in the second episode, I don't really see the whole point of adding it in. 0_o
• Last but not least...Sybil!  Branson!  Much to many Sybson shippers' chagrin, I'm sure, Branson had only a few lines in the first episode, but I have know doubt that his role will grow.  On a second thought...shows tend to make their characters back-track a little: they forget a little forward action they took in the season finale, and then suddenly seem to forget that action in the next season's premiere and start practically from square one.  This formula--if you can even call it that, since it's so frustrating--just happened with Sybil.  She briefly holds Branson's hand in the first season's finale, and by the next season she's like, "OMG wut?  Branson, this totally can't work because I'm a lady and you're just a chaffeur.  And, like, I *may* have had a crush on a few other higher class dudes, but they all kind of died in the war."  Um, Sybil dear, don't forget you held Branson's hand in the season finale.  Apparently that's slipped out of your mind.

Nonetheless, as Masterpiece Classic hostess Laura Linney (love her!) said about this particular Downton ep, it was DEFINITELY worth the wait.  Can we expect another action/drama-packed second ep tonight at 9/8 C?  I sure hope so!  (And, tonight, the Golden Globes had better be as generous to our favorite series as they were during the Emmys!)

Downtonians, what do you think?  Any predictions?  Favorite ships?  Spoilers are allowed in comments (so be forewarned, new Downtonians, if you're still making your way through season one), but please limit it only to the first episode of Season Two!

A Resolution

N.B. This isn't quite what I'm driving at with the rest of this post.

Ever since I started attending grade school, my family and I would have a little tradition.  It's probably not unlike yours, unless you're the kind who gets invited to a New Year's Eve party every year: the TV would be on, tuned in to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, my parents would be running around to get the Martinelli and its appropriate fancy glasses (or they'll watch the TV and make some amazed comment about how old Dick Clark is/looks), and I'd have the job of running and getting pens and paper.

Pens. And paper.

Why, you ask?  To write down our resolutions, of course!  Promising we'd be better people every year, accomplish something amazing--you know the drill.  Around the time I hit middle school, though, that latter tradition kind of, well, died.  We didn't sit down and write resolutions anymore.  And once I got into blogging, I started just posting my resolutions instead.  Which is kind of what I'm doing now.

Except...not.

My resolution this year?  To not have a resolution.  I think I once remember reading with my mom in People or some like magazine many years ago about an actress (possibly Hilary Duff, but I can't remember for certain) who said that her resolution was to not make one at all.  Back when I heard that, I was bewildered.  Why would you want to do such a thing?  Resolutions are fun!  They're great!  They make you a better person.

Call me jaded or whatnot, but I don't think like that anymore.  Actually, to be really honest, I stopped thinking like that since last week.  I thought about what resolutions I wanted to make for 2012, and the "resolutions" that ran through my head were the same exact ones I had last year.  Ones I didn't accomplish, such as finishing my novel, reading a gazillion books, exercising more, blogging more (though perhaps on this tenet I've improved a wee bit within the past few weeks)...and it just got me more frustrated than anything (I was also probably suffering under this weird stress-anger thing from a wee mental/nervous breakdown to do said novel I was writing, but that's a long and different story).  Of course I've set goals for myself--I'm not an aimless person.  But I've realized that resolutions don't always make you a better person.  They don't always push you as much as you wish they did.  And when that ball drops in Times Square, you're not going to suddenly have the urge to accomplish much more than you did a second before.  Make goals for yourself, sure--but why limit to a year?  The difference between one year and the next is a mere minute: make lifetime goals, ones you know you can accomplish.

I still like watching the last seconds of the year tick by on TV, and I like clanging glass cups with my family and drinking Martinelli's or soda afterwards.  And yes, I still would love to be able to exercise more and perfect playing "Hallelujah" on the guitar and finish that goshdarn novel.  But if I'm going to accomplish them, it won't be just to check off a resolution.  It'll be because I want to accomplish it gratify a lifetime goal.

As a side note: If you're one of those people who REALLY take your resolutions seriously, I congratulate you, and please don't be offended by my post.  It's just that I don't know many people who do, including myself, as I find, and I think the only way to really have and fulfill a resolution would be to set mini-goals for yourself throughout the year in each month to fully accomplish it.  But who really does that?!  Again, if you do, cue the applause.  But really...do you, like, save people's lives everyday, too, or something?

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

When I decided to share the recipe this was all that was left.

I made these for a family Christmas party this year and everyone loved them. My husband and I found them to be a little bitter so if you don't like semisweet chocolate, then I recommend you going for milk chocolate instead.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 - 6 oz. package semisweet or milk chocolate pieces
2 Tablespoons peanut butter (optional)
Cooking spray

1. Lightly coat an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray and set aside
2. Combine crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon inn a medium mixing bowl
3. Add 3/4 cup peanut butter and syrup to the crumb mixture, mixing just until blended
4. Press mixture evenly into pan and set aside
5. Place chocolate morsels in a double boiler (or a glass bowl over a pot because you don't have fancy cookware) over simmering water or melt them in a microwave safe container--stirring occasionally--until completely melted
6. Stir morsels until melted
7. Spread evenly over surface of peanut butter mixture
8. (Optional) Swirl 2 tablespoons peanut butter into warm chocolate using a knife for marble effect
9. Chill until chocolate is set, cut into squares to serve

I re-made this recipe before it was posted and realized that I had a glass measuring cup with a spout that would be a whole lot safer and easier than my makeshift double broiler.  The first picture is with semi-sweet and the below picture is with milk chocolate.

Again, I didn't think to snap a photo until most was gone.

Addiction of the Week 2.1: Beautiful Small Machines

Happy New Year, fellow Nerds and Nerdettes! Funny, AotW (Addiction of the Week) 1.0 only had one post (on Wakey!Wakey!), but since 2012 is already here (yikes!), AotW has to start a new edition--2.0! (Anyone, it makes it sound spiffy.  Like it's iTunes or something.)

So to ring in the New Year, I thought I should share this little indie folk-electronica band I've been really liking lately--Beautiful Small Machines (if you've heard of Bree Sharp, this is her new project).  I'm tempted to buy this duo's EP, Robots in Love, especially after I'm pretty much obsessed with their song "Counting Back to 1", which, to me, sounds like a mix of Metric and a spunkier Au Revoir Simone or the The Submarines.  Listen to it below, and see if you get addicted, too!  (And catch the Ender's Game references!)

Another song with very, very interesting lyrics is "Robots in Love", which is basically about a broken-hearted nerd(ette?).  Sounds like Beautiful Small Machines should be a welcome addition to any Nerdette's playlist--what do you say? :)

The Secret Austen

Let's admit it: Jane Austen has permeated our culture in a way that no other author has.  Okay, so we have Dickens's A Christmas Carol floating around every Christmas.  And Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is a big favorite.  And Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights has a fanbase (though I can never figure out why--why?!).  But, love her or hate her (I, for one, simply adore her), Jane Austen can--and will--slink onto your bookshelf, your TV screen, your local movie theatre somehow, even though she's long, long gone.  So what that she was born 236 (and six days) ago?  She's still totally modern!  And she somehow keeps popping up in twentieth and twenty-first century pop culture (without containing the words "pride", "prejudice", "sense", "sensibility", "mansfield", "northanger", "emma", or "persuasion").  If you're a Janeite itching for something that doesn't involve empire-waist dresses and with fewer cravats, this Janeite recommends you check out some updated, but heavily Austen influenced, books and movies:

1. You've Got Mail (1996 film): Written by Nora and Delia Ephron (the former of whom is going to turn Lost in Austen into a film--woohoo!  And the former is a YA author, so basically they both win awesome points by me), this has got to be one of my favorite movies ever.  Okay, so, on the surface, this film about really, really old technology and AOL chatting in its most primitive days really doesn't seem like the most Austen-influence thing ever.  The heavy influences and allusions to Pride and Prejudice are simply staggering.  Basically, replace GBP with bookstores and throw in an ancient Internet system, put Meg Ryan in Elizabeth Bennet's place and Tom Hanks in Mr Darcy's, and thus results You've Got Mail.  (Also: watching Hanks chuck a copy of a Firth/Ehle edition of P&P across a table in favor of some booze is just freaking hilarious.)

 

2. The Lake House (2006 film): Time-travel and a funky boxy-ish--no, this is not Doctor Who.  Calm down, Whovians.  I'm talking about the last time Reeves/Bullock worked together on a movie, and it wasn't on Speed.  Okay, so I'm including this on the list because, uh, a really old copy of Persuasion is almost waved across the screen to tell the audience, "THIS IS ONE OF OUR INFLUENCES AND AUSTEN IS AMAZING."  In this very underrated flick, Keanu Reeves is more or less the Wentworth counterpart (and instead of one amazing letter at the end, it's a series of a lot of shorter ones) and Sandra Bullock is, I suppose, Anne Elliot.  As if the writer of this movie couldn't scream Austen enough, they even had Bullock read out of Persuasion: "There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved." Heart!

3. I Capture the Castle (1948 novel, 2003 film): If you thought Dodie Smith was always preoccupied with spotty dalmatians, you're wrong--in fact, she's quite the Janeite!  I Capture the Castle is simply speckled with Austen references--at the very start of the novel, one character asks the protagonist about living in an Austen or a Bronte novel kind of life: "Which would be nicest--Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?"  (If you're not squeeing already, read the book and I dare you not to squee during the whole of it.)  Frankly, I haven't seen the film and can't be much of a judge whether it is accurate or even any good at all (though it seems to have low reviews--however, Romola Garai stars in it!  Of course, that merit doesn't necessarily make it any good--Angel was a disaster and had her as the star...but that's another rant-y tangent).

 4. Harry Potter: Did you know that along with C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen is J.K. Rowling's favorite author?  In fact, she once spoke of her favorite Austen novel, Emma, that "I have never set up a surprise ending in a Harry Potter book without knowing I can never, and will never, do it anywhere near as well as Austen did in Emma."  And Argus Filch's beloved cat, Mrs. Norris, is named after none other than Mansfield Park's annoying aunt, Mrs. Norris.

5. Rudyard Kipling: Okay, okay--so I cheated here.  Rudyard Kipling is not a book or a movie, but a person--aka "the dude who wrote The Jungle Book".  So Baloo dancing to and singing "Bare Necessities" frankly has nothing to do with Marianne Dashwood weeping "Willoughby, Willoughby!" whilst longingly watching Combe Magna, but the creator of the former character was a huge fan of the creator of the latter character.  When I say huge, I mean huge--to the extent that the guy is the one who popularized the term "Janeites", the word Austen-maniacs (like yours truly) call themselves, through a story about a bunch of veterans (dudes, obviously) who are really big Austen fans (to be honest, I haven't read it...yet; and apparently another famous Austen fan, C.S. Lewis, actually blasted the story--but that's another tangent I won't get into) and even wrote a lovely--and perhaps even tear-inducing--poem entitled "Jane's Marriage" (yes, that Jane).  I could really write a whole 'nother post about Austen's other big author fans, but Kipling is probably the most prominent (as in most influential) of them all.

Sneaky Miss Austen!  She just turns up everywhere in culture--where else have you folks seen her (that is, in places not directly related to her works)?

Top 10 Things Hollywood Gets Wrong About High School

For a while now it has bugged me how Hollywood has portrayed high schools. Sure it's a movie and we all know it's not real--even the ones based on a true story--but most of the high school movies have moved on to the point of being absolutely absurd. So to satisfy my practical side, I've come up with a list of 10 things Hollywood just doesn't get right about high school.

1. There is no clear distiction between the "cool kids" and the "nerds". Just like every person is multifaceted with several interests, so are the "subsects" of high school social classes. Just because one person is in the marching band doesn't mean that they can't also be an awesome soccer player or the school mascot is a complete loser. Our school mascot was also on the track team, was well liked, could do or build anything, and now, five years later, works for NASA.

Although I don't think the all white plus white lipstick helps.

2. Not all high schoolers--even the most popular--drive cars that cost loads of money or drive at all. Fact is parents having money is not equal to popularity AND just because they have money doesn't mean that they're willing to spend a great amount on an inexperienced driver. In these economic times I don't think many parents can afford cars for themselves let alone teenagers. Back when times were a little easier there were still a plethora of licensed drivers taking the bus. Not only is it cheaper (considering cost of car, insurance, tags, and gas), but it's more ecofriendly.

3. Dress code. There is no way students would be allowed to wear hardly anything you see them wear in movies or on TV. Most schools' dress code is as follows: no hats, no baggy pants, no revealing of underwear, skirt can be no shorter than a few inches above the knee, all tank tops must have straps several inches wide, no tight-fitting clothing and forget about wearing anything revealing--you'll be sent home. Even school dances have dress codes and again, they will send you home!

Yes, all three of you need to go home and change right now.

4. Lack of backpacks/bags. Particularly with the female students the lack of having some sort of bag to carry all the essentials (other than some small purse that would barely hold today's large-screen-but-really-small cell phones) is like they're showing a school worthy of the "Twilight Zone". Your locker--which I will get to later--is probably located in some absurd location that you never have time to visit. The few minutes you have to get to your next class is not enough time to make it to your locker located 5 miles away. Thus, you need a bag to hold your various sets of books and notebooks--and then probably a bigger bag just to haul all of your homework home.

5. Kids/teens are not so self-absorbed in current culture that they have no sense history. Usually this is used as a comedic reference as to the cultural differences between the misunderstood teen and the dorky adult. Hollywood seems to think that if it's not part of the current fad, then the youth is unaware of it. Heads up, Hollywood, I have a friend who is 17 and is the biggest fan of Frank Sinatra as well as the rest of the Rat Pack. A few teens I know are crazy about math and are learning its history! Also, I know a rather petulant person who is completely obsessed with ancient civilizations. People aren't oblivious up until the day of graduation and then suddenly realize they want to be botanists.

Sorry, Seventeen magazine says I don't care about that.

6. PDA. Very much like the dress code, the blatant Public Displays of Affection follow a strict set of rules. In the movies you see the typical couple being completely inappropriate on the protagonist's locker. No school would ever allow for this to happen--particularly repeat offenses. Teachers do monitor the halls in between classes and several schools have surveillance cameras set up throughout the building. Usually the most couples can do is hug...not quite the same as what you've seen in theaters is it?

7. High schoolers do not look like they are in their mid-20s. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves on the list. You don't go from middle school/junior high looking like your family's favorite pet name for you is "munchkin" to being one of those models from Abercrombie and Fitch. It just doesn't work like that. At this time in our lives we're working on growing into ourselves. That means crooked teeth, awkward hair decisions, squeaking voices, and yes, ZITS! Not even the girls that I was completely envious of got to escape the dreaded pimple.

Only 3 of us actually were teens when this movie was released.

8. Pristine schools which include ample locker space. Come on, Hollywood! This is a public building...filled with teenagers...rushing in a herd of other teenagers to get to their respective classes...for years on end. Things will get scuffed. Paint gets chipped. Lockers? Scratched and dented. Also, since I mentioned lockers, you would be hard pressed to find a school that has lockers that can fit a nerdy student. Lockers usually don't extend all the way to the ground--what a waste of space! You might be lucky to get a top locker or you may have to squeeze in between the legs of other students to get to your bottom locker. My last year of  high school had Freshmen and Sophomores sharing lockers due to how crowded we were.

9. Everyone knows a choreographed dance and performs it during the big school dance. Are you kidding me? People couldn't even get coordinated enough to stand up at the same time to cheer on their team. (Invention of the Wave anyone?) Also, people actually exist outside of school. Once the last bell rings, people are going to practice, study groups, home, work, or another million possibilities. Sure you could say that there could be a dance (during the dance) committee to teach everyone how to do a specified dance, but it would be extremely hard to get the entire school to show. Unless it's something like the Hokey Pokey, the Macarena, or the Funky Chicken (which no one wants to bring out at a formal) there isn't going to be a super cool dance everyone knows done at a predetermined time.

Even while doing the "cool" dance they still look goofy.

10. The anti-freshman mentality. The main worry of mine transitioning from middle school to high school was the fact that there was going to be an ENTIRE year before me of relentless torture. All the TV shows and movies I saw showed that the whole student body thought Freshmen were the scum of humanity. You should just lay low and pray for Sophomore year to come swiftly. Guess what? Not. True. The other students couldn't care less that I was a Freshman. In fact, on my first day, when I had a hard time finding my classes, several pointed me in the right direction. As long as your ambition isn't to thoroughly annoy the upperclassmen, then most will pay you no mind or take you under their wing.

There you have it! Is your mind blown? Did you nod in agreement at least once? Are there any that you think are obvious, but I've missed?

Addiction of the Week 1.1: Wakey!Wakey!

This is a new feature that is a part of the new NftN.  Every week, a contributor will feature one thing that they're currently obsessed with--whether it be an artist, a certain dish, a TV show, whatever!


As I usually do, I was flipping through Pandora (my Internet radio app) and was recommended a spectacular little gem by an indie artist I'd never heard of: Wakey!Wakey!  (The name is obviously completely awesome.)  I haven't looked too much into the artist yet, but I believe it's a band that occasionally gets help from other musicians but relies mostly on one guy, Michael Grubbs, who sings, writes, and plays the piano--basically, it's almost a one-man band.

Pandora had recommended me "Square Peg Round Hole"--take a listen and see if you're hooked.

(To be honest, I have no idea where the cover art is from, but it's not from Wakey!Wakey!  I chose this video because it has the best quality of sound, and that's what matters, right?)

If this song doesn't give you the earworm, check out "Almost Everything" and "Take It Like a Man" (the latter just confirms that this guy is the closest you'll get to a male Regina Spektor--amazing!)

What other Wakey!Wakey! songs do you guys recommend?  Anything you're addicted to this week?

An Announcement: Reinventing NftN (for GOOD, this time)

First off...hi, again, fellow nerds and nerdettes! I've missed you all, and I've missed this blog, even though I've cared and maintained for it VERY sporadically.

So. It's time for a change. For REAL, this time.

I guess I have to start with a wee anecdote. A lot of things have changed since I made my last post back in March this year. I finished my last AP classes/tests, ever. I graduated from high school. Then the-summer-in-which-I-was-hardly-ever-on-the-Internets. And then college. Now, my first quarter is over--and I'm itching to start blogging again. I'd been reading a few other blogs--not review blogs, actually, but stuff like HelloGiggles and SparksLife. If you've never set foot on either site, do so NOW. You're obviously a seriously deprived human being (blog-wise, that is). Anywho, but all that occasional blog-reading made me really want to restart this little corner of the Internet.

Then, I had this fantastic (or, at least, I think it is. I may just be narcissistic) idea: make NftN into a blog that's not just about reviews, but about a whole slew of other topics. Fun topics. Random topics. Even fangirl-y topics. Maybe advice topics. The kind of posts you want to read when you're having a bad day and want something uplifting or something that will crack your sides open with laughter. But let's face it--I kind of have a lot of stuff on my plate. And so do a lot of other bloggers and wannabe bloggers. Plus, blogging takes up a ridiculous amount of time. But what if we had a team, working on this new NftN? Everyone pitches in a bit, and the blog becomes a well-oiled machine?

Okay, so maybe I'm not pitching this right. Maybe you're a little confused what this "new NftN is". Allow me to demonstrate.

Old NftN:

• Solely a review blog, theoretically with contests and interviews
• Run by one person (yours truly)
• Posts once every blue moon
• That one person goes "blah blah blah me me me" too much

New NftN:

• Contains reviews of books, movies, and music, as well as interviews and contests, but also contains a potpourri of other topics. These can include things about life, advice, tv recaps, things in general. I'll be posting some things to give you an idea.
• Run by multiple people (including maybe even YOU)
• More people = more posts more often
• More posts more often by more people = a variety of topics and viewpoints
• A direct focus on girls--of all ages, young and old! (though boys can join in on the fun, too--we're not discriminatory here! I just don't know too many guys who'd be interested in joining/reading a blog with "Nerdette" in the title)--who consider themselves Nerdettes: gals who love books, movies, music, and culture in general. And maybe fangirling, usually over said items.

As stated, this is a brand-new NftN. And this isn't any old blog*. But I can't do this alone. I already have one contributor on board--the absolutely amazing, sweet, and funny Kim of And Anything Bookish--but even we can't do it by ourselves. We need help. We need YOU. If you're even mildly interested, e-mail me PRONTO at: notesfromthenerdette (at) gmail (dot) com. Or, if you're ready to contribute, fill out the form here (after reading the policy link on that, of course!).

Thank you, and stay tuned! :D

*I am certainly not trying to deprecate other review blogs! I've read many, many review blogs, and I find them all special and wonderful. Yet, somehow, I myself could never manage to do one so well. So maybe with a little help, NftN could be a uniquely fabulous blog, too--but nothing to be compared to other blogs. Like apples and oranges.

In Memoriam

Dear NftN readers,

If you haven't heard already...yesterday, the fantasy novel world lost an extremely important and very dear author...

Diana Wynne Jones, you will always be in our hearts. Thank you for giving us the beautiful world of Sophie, Howl, Calcifer, and others. Ingary will live forever on, as will the rest of your worlds. Thank you for creating the world that inspired one of Hayao Miyazaki's loveliest films--it is because of both the film and your book that I've made some very special friendships with people who love your work just as much as I do.

To my readers, I highly recommend Ms Jones's works. Our authors are never given the recognition they deserve, so please honor her life by reading Howl's Moving Castle (I reviewed the book not too long ago), or any of her other books. I promise it'll be worth it. I am only sorry that I did not get to read more of her novels before her death. Howl hit all my sweet spots as far as books go: fantasy, adventure, romance, humor, identity--just lovely.

Rest in peace, and God bless.

~Jacqueline

*Emma (2009)

How I Watched the Movie: First watched on Masterpiece's website online, and later bought on DVD from BN (I think it was)

In Short: beautiful, witty, fun

I'm a Janeite, if you didn't already know. I will never tire of Pride and Prejudice, I know the story of Sense and Sensibility like the back of my hand, Northanger Abbey never ceases to make me squee with utter joy, Persuasion makes my heart sigh with the happiness of a fulfilling romance, and Mansfield Park...well, I have a bit of an issue with it, but that's another tangent entirely.

So being a said Janeite, I of course had seen the two 1996 adaptations of Emma (along with Clueless, of course) and knew the story very well, a coming-of-age chronicle of the ups and downs in the "career" of a wealthy wannabe matchmaker who simply muddled in everyone's business a little too much for their--much less her--own good, and for the longest time I was quite content and greatly enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow's film version.

Until I became as spoiled as Emma Woodhouse herself.

Let me first make it simple: I've seen the 2009 miniseries more times than I can count (and I'm certain is nearing ten, which, considering this is four hours long, is quite a feat). But to make an adequate review, let me break things down a bit in a way I don't usually do them:

• Casting. When I first heard that Emma was being remade, I was, frankly, iffy about it. "We don't need another Emma!" I said. "The Paltrow movie was great enough!" Wrong. When I saw the cast list on Wikipedia for the first time, I wrinkled my nose. Romola Garai as the eponymous Miss Woodhouse? Johnny Lee Miller as the chivalrous Mr Knightley? Michael Gambon as Emma's valetudinarian father? It didn't sound right. How Nicholas Nickleby's little sis, Edmund Bertram (also Angelina Jolie's first husband, believe it or not), and Albus Dumbledore could fit into one miniseries I couldn't figure out. It didn't sound right. I'd seen Garai in multiple movies, all period dramas, as traumatized Kate (Nicholas Nickleby), mercenary Gwendolen (Daniel Deronda), and wimpy Celia (As You Like It). None of these roles made me think she'd make a good Emma (she was also Barbara Spooner in Amazing Grace, a dominant, kick-bum role, if I may say so myself), but being a Janeite--and since I did enjoy her acting and those movies she had been in--I was still interested in watching this. Am I glad I did. There are a few casts I think fit perfectly together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and this is one of them. Everyone was practically the characters come to life. I couldn't have been more wrong about Garai as Emma--practically made for the role, she had comedy, emotion, innocence, and poise: everything required to play Emma, in contrast to Paltrow's prissy, snobbish counterpart. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten more recognition, having been snubbed at the Emmys and the BAFTAs (thank goodness for the Golden Globes though). I don't follow up on many celebrities, but if I were to draw up a list of my favorite actresses, she has definitely made it onto mine. Michael Gambon couldn't have been a better Mr Woodhouse (he made me crack up more times than I can count), and each character was perfectly casted, especially Harriet Smith (Louise Dylan), Jane Fairfax (Laura Pyper), and Frank Churchill (Rupert Evans, aka Frederick Hale from North and South--!!!). Amazing cast.
• Accuracy. I read the novel not long after first watching this and was blown away by how accurate this adaptation was. Each Austen novel has an adaptation that corresponds to it dutifully (take Colin Firth's P&P), and this is Emma's.
• Music. I could listen to the beginning score for hours...it is simply gorgeous. The first time I heard it, I was in love. When it opens with the absolutely beautiful opening credits sequence, all my previous qualms about this version of Emma were instantly removed. I just want the soundtrack badly. Listen to it here (I can't seem to find the artwork from the opening credits, but I suppose that is a good incentive for you to go watch the whole thing yourself ;) ).
• Costumes. The costume designers certainly didn't get the Emmy nod for no reason (and they were sorely snubbed, in my opinion). If you watch the bonus features on the DVD, they explain how they chose their color palette, and each costume corresponds exactly with each character. The people who worked on this took such care to follow Austen's masterpiece and understand it so well that they know down to the exact shade that Jane Fairfax would wear and the styles that Harriet Smith would mimic from Emma. (As a side note, my favorite was Emma's ball gown--simply wonderful.)
• Settings. The places picked were perfectly suited for the adaptation: the coziness of Hartfield, the dark and masculine Donwell, the sweet comfort of Highbury, the cramped Bates home, the relaxed atmosphere of Randalls...each location was carefully picked to match these fictional places. These places were so beautiful that it made me want to step inside Emma's world and live there. The interior design, especially of the Hartfield sitting room, was splendid...love, love, love!

Red Flags: Nothing that should be of any concern; it is as clean as it can get! It is a romance, but there is nothing above a sweet kiss. One character is said to be illegitimate, and all that is said about that is how it reflects on her status in society.

Grading

Plot: 10/10

Acting: 10/10

Screenwriting: 10/10

Originality: 10/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall: 50/50

Tidbits

Original Release Date: October 4, 2009 (in U.K.)

Length: 240 min

Director: Jim O'Hanlon

Producer: Phillippa Giles, George Ormond

Production Company: BBC Drama Productions

MPAA Rating: NR (but as good as G, I think)

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Where I Got the Book: My paperback copy is from Barnes and Noble

In Short: idyllic, charming, simple


The Penderwicks is an "it book"--one of those books you hear about all over the place because every prestigious book reviewer in the blogosphere or in review journalism is praising it, talking about it, comparing it to every great classic ever made (for example, I would say The Hunger Games is an "it book". I would like to say that Harry Potter also is one, but I consider it more of a mass phenomenon than simply an "it book". As widespread as The Penderwicks or HG is, I don't think they're quite to the degree that HP is at). Although I've always had a huge fondness for MG books, the real reason I sorely wanted it was because of another book--one that The Penderwicks had been constantly compared to: Half Magic.

As an elementary schooler, I was that kid who was obsessed with Harry Potter, Roald Dahl, and Edward Eager. I had read all of Edward Eager's books and, just as I am with Shannon Hale's novels now, recommended Half Magic to all of my friends (and very few have or did ever read it, if any did). To this day, I still think Eager's books influenced me as a reader in my tastes and as a writer in what I tend to write. So when many of my friends and tons of blogs that I read couldn't stop talking about Jeanne Birdsall's book, I knew I simply had to read this. I hadn't touched an Eager book in years, but I was certain this would be a delight.

I was right...but I think my expectations were a little too high for this book. Or maybe I've just aged. I'm not quite sure which, but I couldn't enjoy it as much as I did an Eager book or an Eleanor Estes novel. The feel, the mood--yes, that was familiar. The plot was vaguely similar, though perhaps with more of the adolescent troubles than would have been found in Half Magic.

The Penderwicks starts off very much like an Eager or Estes book: four sisters--so extremely realistic that they could be your neighbors--go on vacation over the summer with their widower father at a rented cottage called Arundel. Within the time span of three weeks, the sisters, each completely different from the next, undergo various Estes-esque adventures: Rosalind, the eldest, is trying to gain maturity and be more of an adult than she truly is; Skye, second eldest but the Penderwick sister with the quickest tongue of all that she simply can't seem to hold; Jane, the idealistic bookworm always off on literary adventures in her head; and little Batty, whose adorableness and innocence make her exactly your run-of-the-mill Estes "baby of the family". Joining the Penderwick girls in their mad schemes is Jeffrey, a boy whose mother has over-the-top expectations from her son, a kid who really only wants the simple and carefree life (or at least summer) that other children like the Penderwicks have.

A National Book Award winner, The Penderwicks is a fun, light summer read for Eager, Estes, and Nesbit fans, young and old alike. (As a random side note, I think those who will love this will relate wholeheartedly with Jane--she makes so many delightful literary references, and literary references + me = nerding out literary fangirl ;) ). I would definitely give this a shot if you're a fan of any of those authors; it may not be quite as beloved to you as Half Magic, Ginger Pye, or Five Children and It may be, but it's still a nice, quiet read for the interested bookworm. Not a favorite of mine, but I'm still excited to read the next books in this unfolding series.

Red Flags: To add to CSM's warnings, Surprisingly, there was perhaps a thing or two that was very vaguely hinted at, but it will easily fly over young readers' heads and can be very differently interpreted. Nothing to worry about, but a little odd, nonetheless.

Grading
Plot: 9/10 (wavers, just like an Eager or Estes book, but no direct plotline)
Characters: 7/10 (I really wanted to love all of the characters--and I simply love Jane--but Rosalind sometimes got on my nerves)
Writing: 10/10 (the writing style is not bad, and irons out the quirks that I always found odd in Eager's and Estes's works)
Originality: 10/10 (how many books nowadays do you see in the ilk of beloved authors of the fifties and sixties?)

Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 45/50

Tidbits
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Juvenile Fiction
Original Release Date: June 14, 2005

Bloggiesta Wrap-Up

This is a list of stuff I've done for Bloggiesta (my first year--w00t!)

• Changed and fixed the design and banner (about three times, I think :P )
• Changed font colors to match said design and banner
• Posted The Penderwicks review
• Updated the Archives page
• Updated the "What's Next" widget
• Added the "Pledge to Read the Written Word" widget (see left sidebar, below)
• Changed colors of my WhosAmungUs widget to match said design and banner
• Changed colors of my StatCounter to match said design and banner
• Edited and updated the "Who I Am" page
• Changed my e-mail for my Ning networks (this counts for blogging! Ya know, networking and all...)
• Changed ownership/e-mail for all Google Docs, including forms on this blog
• Actually LOOKED through blog forms (GASP)
• Changed the About page to "About NftN"
• Fixed the page widget above, as well as the Directory page
• Wrote bloggy-related e-mails :)

I was planning on doing so much more, but oh well. I missed the first day...I guess I'll just have to make do with writing more posts during the week. And then I think there is another Bloggiesta in July...yay! So participating in that one, and PROMISING to do so much better.

Bloggiesta--OLE!

I've actually NEVER participated in Bloggiesta before, but this time, I'm DETERMINED to do it and actually get stuff done around here.

Here's my basic weekend plan (and yes, I am aware that Friday is almost already done with, but I'm going to do what I can!):

• Write reviews (duh)
• Figure out how to throw in some guest posts (which will require YOU to participate! E-mail me for more info)
• Fix up the design. It's pretty outdated, don't you think?
• Edit the pages
• Introduce and plan my super secret project!
• Keep my Google Reader nice and tidy :)

That's...mostly it! And though that seems like so little in comparison to what many Bloggiesta participants are doing, I'm planning on writing a TON of reviews (and you know how long my reviews are).

Who's doing Bloggiesta? Good luck to those doing it! :)

Um, 2011? Why Are You Here?

(It should be noted that, upon writing the title of this post, the author typed "2002" instead of 2011. And when she tried to type "2002", she instead wrote "2022". She really fails at numbers and years.)

Yeah, so...why is it that after one minute jumping from 11:59 to 12:00, we're suddenly in another day which then means we're in another month which then means we're in another year? I mean, say WHAAAATT?

I've already wasted two days of this year--which means three hundred sixty-four days to complete the following resolutions (I've decided for this year to split some of my resolutions into months):

• Read a TON (namely, finish my TBR pile; not sure how to make this a monthly resolution, but I am aiming to finish the classics I own by this summer)
• Write a TON (my main goal is to finish my WIP before the end of this month, but also to participate--and maybe even win--NaNo, Script Frenzy, and FAWM...and maybe NaBloPoMo, too)
• Blog a TON (that means updating this two to three times a week--maybe do more if this really takes off--and update my tumblr more instead of staring at pictures on my dashboard all the time! That...doesn't sound creepy. :P )

My other resolutions--and huge biggies for me this year--are:

• To do everything faster! Really, I'm super slow at everything--have you noticed?
• Work ahead of time and not procrastinate...which I guess goes along with the first
• And since I just noticed that the second goes with the first, I'm going to add another on a whim: be more patient with people, more accepting, and try not to get easily angered by others' actions. Basically, can I ask to be a saint? ;)

What are YOUR resolutions? Happy New Year, my lovelies!

~J