Wednnnnnnnnesday!

It's weird to try and spell Wednesday like you'd hold it out while saying it because it's spelled weird.  I just noticed that...

I would have posted on Monday and Tuesday while I was in Orlando--I even brought my laptop--but internet at the hotel was $15/day, and I didn't feel like paying it.  And there wasn't time at the convention center while entering cards.  So I just didn't post.  I figured I'd get to it eventually; I just didn't realize that it was going to take me until today.  I kind of (naively) thought that I would be home earlier than I was last night.  Go figure.

So Music Monday.
I'm not really going to talk about what I've been listening to lately becaaauuuse there really isn't anything new.  But I'ma tell you about my musical experiences this weekend.
I participated in a flash mob! With a musical group--much like an adult version of a Glee Club--called SING.  It wasn't as legitimately awesome as a real flash mob since we only sang America for the Nat'l Rural Elec Coop Assoc (NRECA) annual meeting.  but it's all good.
Some country singer by the name of Lee Greenwood sang the national anthem, and some awkward version of the Pledge of Allegiance.  I don't know.  It's not that it sounded like crap, it's just that it was vaguely awkward.  Kinda cool in a way nonetheless.  I guess I just wasn't overly impressed because I don't like country music.  My mom said he used to have a really nice voice but he had to shake his head for his vibrato this weekend.  I don't know.  Apparently he also wrote that Proud to Be an American song, which I didn't know until my roommate told me this weekend.  Whoops.  Oh well.
The SING group was actually good, but they so didn't perform for their demographic--men/women living in mainly rural communities across the nation, in their late 50's-60's.  And they were singing Black Eyed Peas.  What?? I felt kind of bad though because they were really good.  Ah well.  The one guy--I think they said his name was Mike--had one of the most beautiful tenors I've ever heard.  I loved it.

But that's all I've got there.

So now we're on to Tuesday and the important literature for discussion.

I'm actually reading 2 different Laurell K Hamilton novels right now, one from each series.  Ironically enough, I think they're both book 8.  But one is the end of a series and the other is just partway through.  I'm also still trying to plow through Anna Karenina, but so far the only new development is that his farmer friend is in love with his sister-in-law--but I don't think he really is.  I think he's just decided that he should be so he's bound and determined to be.  God these people were weird--and would like to marry her. But that's all I've gotten besides really difficult to pronounce Russian names and mediocre prose.  Tolstoy is not my favorite author.
I have a bunch of books I'ma need to talk about but not tonight just cause I said so, including:
Shiver--Maggie Stiefvater
Linger--Maggie Stiefvater
Infinite Days--Rebecca Maizel
Fat Kid Rules the World--K.L. Going

Blue Moon: Laurell K Hamilton

Apparently Richard (the werewolf) is in jail in Tennessee, acused of rape.  Which is bullshit, because like Anita keeps saying, he's a "friggin boy scout".  Usually that's okay, but sometimes it gets him in trouble.  And he's so hard-headed sometimes.  If he weren't so sweet and sexy and all that I'm not sure I would like him.  But he has just as damn much attitude as she does, so it's difficult to really be too hard on him.  I've only read the first chapter of it so far--on a plane; go figure--so I'm not too certain how it's going to go, but I greatly appreciate Anita and her perspectives (and Laurell's writing style, without a doubt), so it's okay.

Divine Misdemeanors: Laurell K. Hamilton

I may have talked about this book already... I can't even remember.  How dreadfully sad is that?
Anyway. Merry is pregnant and still trying to work.  She's getting these weird cravings and mood swings and she's not terribly impressed by them.  Still having wild sex, though... hahaha. Go figure.  She's still really early though, so it's technically okay.  And they're Fae, so who the hell knows.  I'm not going to make any major comments about it.
There's apparently someone killing Fae in LA which is kinda weird since the mound is in St. Luis...I'm trying really hard not to give out spoilers just in case anybody's trying to actually read this series.  So that's all I can really tell you.  Because the rest of the plot information is too... well, wrought with spoilers.
Sorry.



Post Playlist (courtesy of Pandora Radio):

Up to You--Krystal Meyers

Meant to Live--Switchfoot

Innocent--Stellar Kart

Say Goodbye--Joy Williams

Make Some Noise--Krystal Meyers

I Will Rise--Chris Tomlin

You Gave Me a Promise--Fireflight
Realize--Colbie Callat
We Ride--Rihanna
21st Century Girl--Willow Smith
Obvious--Watershed
Pale Shelter--Tears for Fears
What I've Overcome--Fireflight
Not Without a Fight--Pillar
So Help Me God--Fireflight 

Ta Da! Tuesday!

Today is not so very much ta-da factorness because I didn't bother to actually post anything yesterday and so this kind of equals fail-recompense. Sorry.  (I'm not convinced I used that word right, either.)
Anyway, since I'm in the mood and I'm in my math class and all, (not paying attention or anything because learning is all overrated and stuff after all), I'm going to cover the music I would've covered yesterday AND the literature I intend to cover today.
And since now I know that randomly people actually read this thing, maybe I'll try to be a little less weird.  Actually, no I won't, haha; what am I saying?

Music.  Let's see... Ah, yes.  Here we go:

Band: 2*Sweet
Album: Sleep Without Dreams

It was a gamble at Hot Topic this weekend.  It was $5, so I was cool with giving it a shot.  I initially thought that the band was called Sleep Without Dreams and the album 2*Sweet, but upon uploading it to my computer, it turned out I was mistaken.  Go figure; I should've known better.  I guess I just tend to go with the big words plastered across the front of an album...
Anyway, I was actually pleasantly surprised by it.  I'm not quite sure exactly how to classify it but I would try something like soft metal or softish hard rock?  That's really oxy-moronic, I know, but that's all I'm coming up with.  It's got the feel of metal music without the screech and... metal and stuff.
I don't think I know what I'm talking about. hahaha.

The other album I bought on Saturday IS:

Band: We Are the In Crowd
Album: Guarateed to Disagree

One of the songs on this album was on a compilation album that I bought one time... probably Take Action Vol. 9 but I can't really remember.  I'm pretty sure that's what it's on. haha.
Anyway, this is another female-fronted band to hit the alternative pop/rock/punk scene alongside Paramore's original fan-base, Hey Monday, Automatic Loveletter, aaaaaaand I just lost my other example. (Damn.)  They're really good, though.  They belong on the Girl Power station that I have created on Pandora for when I feel like listening to songs with attitude by female-fronted bands.
Okay, so the station isn't really "Girl Power" but mostly just because I haven't bothered to mess with it.  I've got a few stations that do that, though, so it's technically Girl Power.  Moving along.

And then!:

Transformers Score: Revenge of the Fallen
Composed by: Steve Jablonsky

1. Steve Jablonsky is probably my favorite composer right now.  I'm in love with the Transformers soundtracks, and I'm still trying to find the first one.  B&N is being really dumb and unhelpful though, so I haven't managed yet.

2. Soundtracks, with actual, legit bands and stuff (like Linkin Park, who did a lot of music for these movies) are cool and all, but I much prefer the score.

3.  This is probably my favorite venue for classical music.  I'm serious.  It's epic.  The emotions created and exploited by a good film score can make or break a movie, at least in my opinion.  The music they put in these movies keeps your blood pumping and your eyes glued to the screen, emotionally invested in the events that are going to unfold with or without your permission.  It's beautiful; it's intense; it's sexy.

Film scores are what I've taken to listening to when I get distressed or pissed off, or really just upset in general.  Listening to film scores calms me down and keeps me from blowing a fuse or crying or whatever.  I get all worked up about stuff.  Listening to classical movie music helps. At least something does.

Now I shall move on to literature, like today's blog was SUPPOSED to cover but I put off until, well, right now.

Burnt Offerings: Laurell K. Hamilton

This is the book that I mentioned last week (the week before?) that I lost and would have to rebuy... I wish that I could tell you I found it and all was well, but I didn't, so I can't. Unfortunately.  I had to buy it this weekend in Bismarck when I was there for speech competition.  Ah well.  It was pretty well worth it, I think.

Anita's life takes a few more disastrous tumbles (sorta) in this one.  I haven't finished it yet, but it's just as good as they've all been.  I won't lie; I miss Richard.  I do.  I understand the issues Anita faced with Richard and all, but... I miss him about like she does.  They're so...so...tangled in their own personal failings and issues and beliefs and emotional ghosts.
But then, Jean-Claud has his own set of background issues too.  And he and Anita aren't exactly a perfect set either.

If you're going to read the Anita Blake series, make sure you do it in order.  It's important.  I suppose you could technically get by just picking up in the middle, but you really get more out of them if you know the background previously discussed in the novels leading up to the current.  I do recommend them, though.  They're compelling reads.  I neglected the series for awhile and found myself missing Anita and her attitude. haha. I'm a geek. I know.

A Brush of Darkness: Allison Pang

I just started this book onnnnnnnnnnnnn Sunday night I think?  Monday? Sunday... Yeah, Sunday.  (Long story; I'd prefer you didn't ask. You really won't wanna know anyway. Trust me.) Anyway.

It's another fantasy/action/romance novel--look at that cover and tell me you didn't guess the last in that sequence--about some chick who has a contract with a Fae (is that still correct if you're referring to a group of them? Dunno... *shrug*) only her Fae person has been missing for about six months.  And she really doesn't know what's going on.
So this incubus shows up and wants her to help him find his sister (who just happens to be a succubus if you hadn't guessed already) but... under the table? Sorta? I'm not certain yet.  I'm only in chapter 4! Gimme a break.
She has an enchanted iPod and a (horny) unicorn staying in her underwear drawer because she apparently somehow TouchStoned with it.  (Don't ask me what a TouchStone is; it's creative license with the plot info.  Just go with it.)  Anyway. Yeah.  It's really really funny, but vaguely awkward simultaneously.

So far it's been fun.  Rather amusing and fast-paced, easy to read, and nice to look at. Straight-up, yo. *cough*
Anyway, that's what I've got.  I've been trying to read Anna Karenina at random intervals just to get it read, but I still don't like it, sooo it's tking forever.  Ya know.  (I already wrote this once but the internet at this school is freakin retarded so I'm cutting it short this time.)  So I hope that eventually I'll get it read, but at present, the 8-Ball reads "outlook not so good."  Whoot. =/

Ta ta.
--Emily Renae <3

Oops... [scratches back of neck awkwardly]

It's kinda been awhile, hasn't it?  Oops.  I've been busy though.  So instead of just picking today's topic--which is what? writing? I think so--I'm just gonna cover all the bases.

I've had Flavor of the Weak by American Hi-Fi stuck in my head for days because it played on my pandora station.  Think of You Later (Empty Room) by Every Avenue is one I've loved for months since I bought my Take Action 2009 CD...  Hey Lady by Thriving Ivory just got really stuck in my head at work yesterday and I've been singing it since.  Bitch, Please by Jeffree Star gets stuck in my head periodically... actually, fairly regularly, not gonna lie, haha.  Aaaaand...Mayday Parade's "Anywhere but Here" album is 100% amazing.  I love every second of it.  I'm itching to get my hands on Every Avenue's new CD, "Picture Perfect" and Flyleaf's "Memento Mori," but I haven't been to Minot yet to get them.  And I probably won't be able to get EA's, but... I still want it.  Oh, and thanks to a friend on Myspace, I'm now really into a punk/screamo band called Black Veil Brides.  They're really good, if you're into that kind of music, which I definitely am.  They don't scream all the time, and Andy Sixx has a really nice voice.  And he's pretty cute, won't deny.  =]  hahaha.  No, but the song "Knives and Pens" is really addicting... I think I'm going to go listen to it again... Just not immediately.  Well...in a minute.  Oh, and there are a few pop songs on the radio that I've actually been pretty into lately.  I'm not certain what's up precisely, but oh well.  It's music, and if it's good, it's good; that's all there is to it, I guess.

Celebrity figures who've caught my eye recently... mmm... Andy Sixx, but mostly just because of the BVB video last night and he's cute and has a nice voice.  I really don't know much of anything about him.  [shrug] Perhaps a research project for a later date.  Anyone else?  Mmmm... Nah, not really.

Books.  I've restarted Laurell K. Hamilton's first Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel: Guilty Pleasures.  I didn't really like it when I very first started it, but I'm pretty into it now.  It's L.K. Hamilton; how couldn't I like it?  I mean, really.  She's brilliantly descriptive, fresh, fascinating and fun!  Haha.  Seriously, though, if you're into sex and gore very clearly spelled out in your books--sometimes somewhat vaguely simultaneously--then Laurell is an author you need to pick up.  She's brilliant.  I love it.  =)

Writing.  I'm still working on In the Midst of Musicians and...the other one about the chick touring with her brother's band.  It doesn't really have a title yet... I'll find one. Eventually...  But other than that?  Mostly I've been writing letters! Haha.  A couple of weeks, I sent off 9 letters all at once.  I think 5 of them went to Canada.  It was a lot of postage, to say the least.  $5.51 in postage I sent out that day.  Mhm.  It was worth it though.  What's funny is that 2 of the Canadians just got their letters yesterday.  It took almost an entire week extra.  It usually only takes 7 days to get from here to there.  And they both got them the same day because they live in the same place!  Haha...  I don't actually know the one person; he's a friend of a friend, but now I talk to him more than I talk to her--or most any of my other friends, I think--and definitely more than she does.  They just go to school together, mostly.  He's a real sweetheart.  Maybe I should shut up since I'm giving him the address to this blog and he has the tendency to follow links I give him.  Haha.  Oh well.  It's not like I've said much of anything very telling.  (=  At least I don't think so.

As far as anything else goes, well, I'm a cheerleader.  I'm not 100% certain what possessed me to try out, but I did... and so now I am.  I've only had one practice in which we ran and did leg/core/arm workouts, and only one muscle in my lower stomach is sore, and only when I'm lying in bed and then try to sit up or stretch or whatever.  It's great.  I'm not as much of a fat blob as I thought I was!  Haha.  Okay, so not a fat blob, but I'm still a blob.  I don't ever really do much of anything... but sit at the computer...and Mom pretty much hates it.  Oh well.

In other news, one of my friends dropped out of high school a month or two ago.  His mother signed for him.  What a fucking idiot.  In reference to both of them, actually, not gonna lie.  That family's been having issues lately...for about a year or a bit more... maybe more, because I think Brittany was still here when they really started... God, has it really been so long?  Not that that'll mean anything to you, but it does to me...  Jeez... that's like, 2+ years... And they just keep getting worse...
They're coming up for Thanksgiving now next week... I'm sorely tempted to slap him across the face when I see him, but I know I won't.  I don't have it in me for one, and Mom would be pissed.  Oh, goodness, I don't even want to think about what Mom would do to me.  Plus, I don't really want to piss him off within seconds of seeing him for the first time in about 3 years... God... I can't believe it's been 3 years... Ugh. [whine whimper whine]

Lemme see...what else can I tell you... Oh.  I woke up one morning with an insane urge to color... so I've been coloring steadily for about 3 weeks or so.  I'm hardly writing during school at all, unless it's a letter.  It's kinda ridiculous, actually.  Weird...  OH!  And I preordered Laurell K. Hamilton's next book in her Meredith Gentry series; it comes out on the 24th.  I didn't really need to preorder it, but I did anyway.  Haha.  Just because I really wanted to.  I WANT IT!  And I've got a few other people hooked on these books, too.  It's kind of funny, haha.  One of them is on the same book as me, the other has to finish the 3rd one yet, and then my best friend has yet to start the 3rd book because she moved... So...yeah...  I don't know...  I might bring it to Minnesota with me when I go in December so she can bring it back to me after Christmas.

Oh, yeah, by the way, my mom and I are taking the train out to Minneapolis the night of the 18th of December so that I can go see my best friend.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.  =D  So yes...  Haha.

But that's it!

Until next time, with love,
--Emily
~~xoxo~~

"She screams for more, More than just a blue-eyed metaphor."
--Hey Lady: Thriving Ivory





Post Playlist (windows media player)
I Can't Stay Away--The Veronicas (Hook Me Up)
Home--Kill Hannah (Hope For the Hopeless)
Queen of the Club Scene--Jeffree Star (Beauty Killer)
Break Your Little Heart--All Time Low (Nothing Personal)
One Day Too Late--Skillet (Awake)
In Pursuing Design--VersaEmerge (Take Action! Vol. VIII)
Sore Winner--There For Tomorrow (A Little Faster)
Awake and Alive--Skillet (Awake)
You're Not In on the Joke--Cobra Starship (Hot Mess)
Therapy--All Time Low (Nothing Personal)

Novel Wednesdays!

Yay! It's time to talk about books. Always a topic I thoroughly enjoy. Haha, it happens when you're a bookworm. C=

So anyway. At present, I'm reading three different books. Well, two, and I just started one.

I'll start with the one that I'm reading most often--e.g. the one I pick up more times than the other(s): Mistral's Kiss--Laurell K. Hamilton

Preceded by A Kiss of Shadows, A Caress of Twilight, and Seduced by Moonlight,it's a continuation of a quite impressive--and intriguing--story line that I haven't been able to stray away from. I won't deny that they're graphic...in both senses of the term used here. There is a lot of violence in these books--about as much as there is sex. Oh, dude, there's so much sex in these books it's pretty much like porno in print! But at least it's good sex. Hah, I know, I shouldn't really be saying that, but come on. The series is about the princess of the Unseelie Court of Faerie, Meredith NicEssus--who goes by the alias "Gentry" when she's hiding from the court in Los Angeles--in a race to get pregnant with her cousin Cel--who's trying to impregnate one of his harem--to take the throne from her aunt (and his mother) Queen Andais. Each book is riddled with assassination attempts on Meredith and her men, along with torture and battle and magic duels, et cetera. Steadily, the Unseelie Court is regaining the power that it lost over the years--from various causes, including moving from Europe to America--and so are the members of the royal guard, now Meredith's, rather than the Queen's....and it's because Merry is having sex with them. Well, sometimes; sometimes if they're just around when she's having sex, then shit happens, but now we're back to sex, and I'm avoiding that bit. ASIDE from the sex, Laurell (the author) is a brilliant wordsmith and artist. She paints the most beautiful--or macabre--and vivid pictures with her words, it's just incredible. I can see everything she describes in perfect clarity in my mind, and that's part of the reason why I love her so.
Not really a book I'd suggest to the weak of heart....or those who can't handle reading sex...and really macabre torture and such... yeah.

Book 2: Deathwish: Rob Thurman
Preceded by Nightwish, Moonshine, and Madhouse, this book concludes the Cal Leandros series in ever-more hilarious tension, sarcastic comments, and unbeatable action. (By the way, these really are my words coming out here. I could write reviews for stuff, no problem, haha.) I love this guy, partly because his writing style is like mine on a really good day--only all the time--and his sense of humor is nigh identical to mine. That, and I actually happen to find men's habits and thought processes and reasoning amusing. Don't ask me why, I don't really know, but I'm sure it stems of the fact that I'm a girl. Haha. Anyway. The books contain great characters, thoroughly developed, but with things that you either like being left ambiguous, or wish they weren't. I haven't finished it, though, so there may be a few more things discussed. I'm hoping on a couple of things. [= Anyway. The series is about Cal and his brother Niko living in New York and fighting monsters, meanwhile trying to evade and kill off the nastiest monster of them all: the Auphe. They're like elves, but the nastiest, most terrifying elves you could ever in your darkest nightmares come up with...so far as I can tell. The description of them isn't so terrible, but if you let your imagination run wild--as I so often do--they get pretty ugly. Anyway. It's a really good series, and one that I totally would recommend to about anybody. They're just great. [=

And I just started this book called "How I Became Stupid" but I don't remember the title because I just got it from the library today. I picked it up on a reccomendation of a friend of mine from Fargo, the ever-amazing Harri Boyd. That kid's just great. I love him. He's one of the best writers I know, and I aspire to be as good as he is. He doesn't read a lot of books, and he's got the same reason as I do, only he freely admits to being kind of conceited about his writing talent--which he kind of has right to be, but he knows that he still needs critique, which is the important thing--so he hardly ever finishes books. Fat Kid Rules the World--another book I forgot the author of--was one that he finished, and I read, and thoroughly enjoyed. Hawksong--no author again, sorry; too lazy to go look--was another, but someone stole it from the school library, so I haven't read it. But my best friend Tara read it several times and loved it, so... I'm going to say it was probably a pretty good book. I'll get around to it later, perhaps. We'll see.

Well, that concludes my reading material discussion for the week. Next Wednesday, I might let you know about How I Became Stupid. Or I might talk about something else. Who knows? It's all fair game in the big wide world of Emily's Bookshelf.
Ha ha

Until next time, with love,
--Emily
~~xoxo~~

Blog tracklist (courtesy of www.jango.com and my own library):
TiK ToK--Ke$ha
Rock is Dead--Marilyn Manson
Say Anything (Else)--Cartel
On and On (About You)--Bowling for Soup
Don't Count on Me--The Secret Handshake
Heart Surgery Isn't That Bad--Jeffree Star
One Thing is For Sure--The Spill Canvas
Gunslinger--Avenged Sevenfold
In Fate's Hands--The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Now or Never--Madina Lake
Do It For Me Now--Angels and Airwaves
Sleeping with Giants (Lifetime)--The Academy Is...
Breathe Today--Flyleaf
Boyfriend--Ashlee Simpson (I normally wouldn't admit her, but I like this song.)
Homecoming--Hey Monday