Update

Since my last post a lot has happened. My relationship ended. I moved back in with my father. And craziness has ensued. I have had my heart crushed and any hopes for a friendship with my now ex shattered. Deceit, ddishonesty and stupidity have plagued my life. I wish so bad that I could have my old relationship back, with the man I knew and loved. I don't think he exists anymore though...
So what have I learned through this hardship? That we don't know anything. Everything is subject to change and everything changes. Do not be cocky about or take for granted what you think you know. I also learned the importance of real friends and family. I have a teeny family and only a couple close friends. But they have given me the power to change my life. They comforted me, moved me back to my dads quickly and have surrounded me in profound love. I would be nothing without them. The third thing I now know is just how strong I can be. I had to change the way I was looking at my bleak situation. Yes, it makes me sick and it makes me want to curl up in defeat and pain. But I wont. I can handle this. I am alive, I have things to be grateful for and I have so much love to give. Everything will be okay. Fall down seven times, stand up eight...right? :) Right.

I haven't been reading anything, and I know I won't make my 75 books in 2011 goal. But that's just fine. I'm finally getting to the point where I can read again without my mind wandering. I am not setting a new goal for now. Just taking it day by day. I will still update this blog once I begin to read more, but for now it's kind of hard to even think about.

Blue

Sorry for the lack of anything good lately. Going through a very rough patch right now. 

Here is a funny. CLIIIIIIIIICK.

"When tears come, I breathe deeply and rest. I know I am swimming in a hallowed stream where many have gone before. I am not alone, crazy, or having a nervous breakdown . . . My heart is at work. My soul is awake." - Mary Margaret

Slump

I am in a reading slump. Nothing sounds good and everything I have started I haven't been able to get in to. This usually happens to me a couple times a year and it always sucks. I tried reading Raptor Red and Hotel World- both novels I was very excited about. I got about 20 pages through both of them and had to stop. I just cannot get in to them. It's a bummer. Also, the weather is AMAZING right now and I have had the house open all week and have been going for walks and stuff. Guess what? My allergies are back :( My throat hurts so bad! I'm considering allergy shots this year.

So I am really not feeling the best emotionally and physically. At least my pneumonia seems to be all the way better. My parents are divorced and everything. So that's done. I also registered for college today. I feel very stressed out and crabby and tired and a lot of other things. I'm not even really sure why. Just a lot happening.

I finished How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff sometime last week. I liked it a lot, although it wasn't really how I thought it would be. I really don't feel like reviewing it.
Rating: 7/10

I will cut this post short. I feel like it's just one big annoying rant. Oh well. It happens.

Keeping it Short

I finished Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help. A very pretentious little book. It seemed really forced... like it was trying to be really unique and off the beaten path. Unfortunately, I think it failed. I know it was supposed to be funny. Some parts of it were, but mostly it was annoying. The best I can say about it really is that, being a young adult novel, kids who read it will learn some big and new words. A lot of adults will too. It was readable, just not great. Too bad...
Rating: 4/10

Tonight (hopefully) I will be starting How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Another young adult novel. I wanted to read one of her other novels, I'm forgetting the name of it, but for some reason I picked this one. So, I suppose in hindsight, that was weird of me. Anyways, this one is supposed to be about a teen girl in England between wars. It also has something with incest. Lets be honest here, I really don't know what it's about.

On a totally unrelated note, what the hell is Chris Brown doing on Dancing with the Stars? He is a moron and is despicable person. Yuck. I am pretty grossed out that ABC is having him after his sick little rant on Good Morning America. Way to support a disgrace of a human, ABC. Boo. Also, his lip-syncing is HORRIBLE.

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.  There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. " -J.C. Watts

"Don't try to be different.  Just be good.  To be good is different enough." -Arthur Freed

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." -James D. Miles

Smokey Robinson & Bed Rest

So here is something that sucks: I am still sick. This pneumonia just will not abate. I had to miss yet another week of work. I feel so bad! I went in for my shift Tuesday and immediately realized that being there was a mistake. Thankfully I work with understanding people who gave me the rest of the week off. I still feel bad though. My checking account will also feel bad. What can you do though? Just get better, I guess.

The good things about being home sick are that I get to be with my dogs and I get to drink a lot of delicious juice that I would never drink otherwise. Other than those things though, nothing is very good about this. I can't really even read more than normal because I am so flipping tired all the time. When I do have energy I basically just stare at the T.V.

I did finished The Pact by Jodi Picoult today. So that was kind of productive. For being sick at least... I really liked it. The last half was basically unputdownable. I'm very surprised. I didn't expect to enjoy a Jodi Picoult book. I'm not sure if I will read more of her stuff, but this was definitely good. My one critique is that the ending was a little sappy for my taste. That's okay. We can all use a little sap once in a while.
Rating: 8/10

Up next I am reading Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help by Douglas Anthony Cooper. I got this book a long time ago and totally forgot about it. It is a young adult novel about a boy who talks to dead people and has to see a psychologist. It is supposed to be really funny and awesome. Ideally I picture it being a bit like Neil Gaiman style. That would be nice...

I also wanted to say that I loved The Silent Land by Graham Joyce. I finished it earlier this week and rated it, but didn't review it. It was so different and creepy. I could not put it down and immediately bought a couple more novels by Joyce. It was a super refreshing take on creepiness. The story was really neat too. I believe it is considered a horror/fantasy novel. I don't think that is accurate though. You can't really place it in a category. Kind of hard to explain, but it's true.


Have a good evening everyone!

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."  -Irish Proverb

Pneumonia

For the past week I haven't had the internet and I have had a horrible case of pneumonia. We now have internet, but unfortunately, I still have pretty bad pneumonia. I took all last week off work in hopes that it would make me better. It didn't. I have to return to work tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it. Firstly because I feel like shit. Secondly because I doubt customers are going to want their lattes made by someone coughing up a lung. I just want to sleeeeeeep :(

If I attempt to write a long blog tonight all that is going to happen it a ton of complaining. I don't want to be sick and that is basically the only thing I have to say. Here are the books I have read while being sick and what I rate them:

• Help! A Bear is Eating Me! by Mykle Hansen 5/10
• UR by Stephen King 5/10
• Riding the Bullet by Stephen King 6/10
• The Silent Land by Graham Joyce 9/10 

Now I am reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I have never read anything by her. So far it's fine.

Haruki

Haruki Murakami is safe :)

Hmmm

I really don't have a ton to say today. On top of all the weird stress I have been feeling lately, this awful stuff in Japan has just kind of stopped my motivation to blog. It seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? It is surreal to know what all those people are going through... and here I am in my comfy house, with the people I love and my dogs all safe. Just sitting here drinking some diet pop and blogging. It makes one realize just how incredibly fast life can change. So send good vibes to Japan. When you start to bitch about lame crap happening in your life, think of the people over there.

If you can, please, donate to the Red Cross by clicking here.

Here is some news that is making me worry that is coming out of Japan: Haruki Murakami has not been heard from since the earthquake and tsunami. A lot of people who are close to him have been trying to reach him with no success. This may not seem like a big deal when you compare it to the scope of what is actually going on there, but to me it is. Murakami introduced me to the Japan that I love. He has motivated me. He has entertained me and relaxed me. I know I am not the only one who feels this way about him, so the second something is heard of him, I will post it. Hopefully he is okay :/

Now to the book reviews (short ones today):


Jaws by Peter Benchley- I liked it better than the movie. If you have never seen the movie you probably will enjoy this even more. I thought some parts were a bit draggy and some parts were strangely graphic. All in all it was pretty good. I don't know that I would ever recommend it though.
Rating: 6/10


Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern- This novel sucked. I have been waiting months to read this because the plot sounded great. However, the characters were terrible. They were underdeveloped and had no motivation for most of their actions. The main character drones on and on about her miscarriages for absolutely no reason. I don't understand how this was published without editors fixing these problems. I almost just stopped reading it half way through. It is that bad.
Rating: 1/10

Now I am reading Help! A Bear is Eating Me by Mykle Hansen. I really don't know what I think so far. I am about half way done with it. Some bits are hilarious, others are just so-so. I need a good book :( I am getting into a stupid old rut.

I hope you all have a good day. Please, don't forget to think about what you are thankful for. What you have that you take for granted. The chances you have that others don't. The fact that you are alive.


"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem.  Everything else is inconvenience."  -Robert Fulghum

Bummed Out

Life is stressful right now.
I have read:
Jaws by Peter Benchley
&
Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern
Reviews soon!

In the mean time, please vote for my dog Sonic in this smile contest :)
Here is the link!

My Custom Van

The other night I finished My Custom Van by Michael Ian Black. It is a bunch of short essays and stories and it was hilarious. Michael Ian Black is one of my favorite comedians. I love Stella and I have seen him do stand-up in person twice. So...I might be a little biased. My only complaint is that if you have seen his stand-up in the past few years, a few of his essays in this book are from that. Which makes them less exciting and surprising. Still funny though :)
Rating: 6/10

Now I am reading Jaws by Peter Benchley. So far it's better than the movie. This does not seem to be the popular opinion based on other reviews I read, but I didn't like the movie very much. Hopefully it doesn't get lame. I don't want to read any stupid books for a long time.