23 Things to Do in My 23rd Year

As usual, I have left my blog alone for months again. I always go through phases of wanting to write a post a day (which is actually too much because I don’t have that much to say) to going on a six month long hiatus. A lot has happened in those six months. I started a new blog with some of my friends (which was also abandoned by me like this one), I started my first “big girl job” at a marketing agency, and just yesterday, I turned 23 years old. I spent most of my 22nd year being just content. That is why this year, I decided to make a list of 23 things I am going to do or change or begin or finish this year.

1. The obvious first choice is to write more. When people ask me what my dream job would be I always say I want to be a writer (probably a columnist), but I never write anymore. I was fortunate enough to write a blog post for work and it got the gears grinding again. I’m going to be ambitious with this one and try to write a post once a week.
2. Finish all the TV shows I have started. This includes The Wire, True Blood, Masters of Sex, and Seinfeld. I fully realize that I do not have a life.
3. Find a form of exercise I actually enjoy. My past favorite was running on the treadmill while watching Netflix on my iPad.
4. Clean out my closets/drawers. Some things do not always come back in style. I’m looking at you purple leather jacket…
5. Save up enough money to go to Europe in four months.
6. Stop wasting money!!! (Or else you won’t be able to go to Europe in four months).
7. Floss more. Just do it. 
8. Finish Rosetta Stone. I have taken Spanish classes from fifth grade through college and I even studied abroad in Spain, but I am still not great at the beautiful language.
9. Take more pictures. Even if I just take more Snapchats, I will be happy.
10. Stop wasting the weekends away. Branch out from going out all night and sleeping all day.
11. Take more day and weekend trips. I live a little over an hour from DC, and I haven’t been there in over five years. There are a lot of cool towns nearby that I never think to go visit.
12. Do more bargain shopping. I need to learn to just wait for things to go on sale. Almost everything eventually does.
13. Make plans to see my friends from college. I am lucky enough to have friends who live all over the country. Seeing old friends and visiting a new place in the same trip would be amazing.
14. Clean my room.
15. Keep my room clean. This should honestly be numbers 14-23. That is how messy my room is.
16. See more of America. I have been fortunate enough to travel outside of the country a lot for my age, but there are a lot of places within my own country’s borders that I have not seen yet. The places at the top of my list currently are Chicago, Denver, and Austin.
17. Go to a hockey game (this should be an easy one).
18. Read more. I joined a book club at work, so hopefully this will motivate me some more. I have been reading The Goldfinch for four months now…
19. Explore more of Baltimore. Who knows where life might take me next. This could be one of my only chances to explore this up and coming city!
20. Try to watch most of the nominees before the Academy Awards. I love watching the Oscars because I’m typically pretty good at guessing which films are going win, but this year, I want to be able to pick which films I think should win.
21. Read the news more often. Right now, I’m getting my daily news from the trending sidebar on Facebook…
22. Try a little harder most mornings. I tend to wake up and feel comfortable just walking out the door. I want to take a little more time and try to look my best most of the time. Keywords: most of the time.
23. Have the best year ever.

Thoughts on Not That Kind of Girl

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”

Favorite quote: “There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told, especially if that person is a woman.”

I have been a fan of Lena Dunham for quite some time now. It could be the fact that her and I are so incredibly different, but it’s mostly that she is not a typical female Hollywood success story. Rarely, do you find a woman who is praised more for her talent and brains, than her looks. This is not me saying that all actresses are dumb. No. Not at all. You’d be surprised by the amount of actors who have ivy league schools on their resume. She’s definitely not the first funny woman to grace the world with their presence either. What draws me to her, is how relatable she is.

I love funny television shows. I would pick 30 Rock over Breaking Bad any day. Sue me. As much as I enjoy The Mindy Project and Parks & Rec (just to name a few comedies brought to you by women), there’s that relatable aspect of Girls that I find incredible. As a twenty-something woman, Lena Dunham addresses themes and ideas that I experience daily. From not being able to find a job to listening to the absurd boy troubles that are all in your friend’s head, she knows what’s going on. I can even relate to the disgusting episode when Hannah gets a Q-tip stuck in her ear…(yes, it has happened to me).

This collection of essays really shook things up in the media. I’m referring to the very strange part about finding pebbles in places they shouldn’t be. Honestly, I do not have much to say on this one. It’s weird and uncomfortable. Lena’s response to this was restating that the book is not an autobiography. This is something you should remember while reading it. While I do believe most of it is based on actual events in her life, you never know where the story stops and the truth begins. This isn’t the first time Dunham has been called out for her unique tactics. Before this incident, she was regularly confronted about the amount of nudity in her show… Hate to break it to everyone, but the world isn’t full of “never-nudes” like Tobias Fünke!

Now, after a few paragraphs lacking transitions, I will finally talk about the book. My bad. Essays can sometimes be tough for me. For example, B.J. Novak’s One More Thing, was very hit or miss to me. I loved some of the short stories, then couldn’t wait for some of them to just be over. I felt the same way while reading this. Some essays I found to be hilarious and insightful, others were drawn out and boring. As mentioned before, some of the events seem to based off of Dunham’s life. I took this from finding a lot of overlap between the essays and storyline of Girls. If you watch the show, you will pick up on these immediately.

I would, and have, recommended this book to friends. Is it the best book I’ve ever read? No, but it made me laugh, and at times, cringe. If you watch Girls, read this. If you’ve never seen Girls, read it anyway. It’s not often that you get to see into the mind of a Golden Globe winner. I think people sometimes forget how impressive Lena Dunham’s accomplishments are. Creator, writer, director, actor. Most people aren’t even one of the four. If you’re an aspirational young woman, like myself, read this!

A Few Short Reviews

Once again, I have neglected my blog. There is a lot going on right now. Mostly I am trying to spend as much time with my friends who are graduating before we head our separate ways. Excuse me, before they head their separate ways. I will still be in Auburn, Alabama for another semester. In this post, I am just going to give short book reviews on a couple books because I have read a lot during my little hiatus. I hope that is okay with the four people who will actually read this.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This story is told through the eyes of a young autistic boy in England. One night he discovers his neighbor’s dog has been killed, and he wants to figure out who is responsible. As the mystery of the dog unfolds, so does the mystery of his family life. I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read and it took a unique approach in its narration. It was definitely sad at times, but had a fair amount of comedy too. If you are looking for an easy summer read, I would highly recommend this. It also does a great job going inside the mind of someone struggling with autism.

Crash by J.G. Ballard

Wow to the writing in the story, ew to the story itself. This novel made me cringe most of the time I was reading it. The writing is eloquent. Ballard can illustrate any scene with such vivid detail it is unbelievable. I knew what to expect when I starting reading this novel, but it was disgusting. The story revolves around a few adults in England that find themselves sexually aroused by violent car crashes, hence the name. This book is seriously twisted, but it is written so well, that sometimes I forgot how disturbing it really was. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark, messed up stories, or people who just enjoy great writing.

Savages by Don Winslow

I was a bit skeptical about this book. A few friends recommended I read it a couple years ago and I never got around to it. When the movie came out, I saw it in theaters. I don’t know if it was the fact that I saw it with my guy friends but I was the only one in the group who didn’t enjoy the movie. Honestly, I was pissed I spent $12 on my ticket (probably didn’t regret spending $28 on a small drink and a pretzel though). I will also admit that I had been out late the night before and we saw the movie in the middle of the day. A hangover may have been involved. After seeing the movie, I had even less interest in the book. One day, Amazon was having a great sale on eBooks and I decided to give Savages a try. It definitely exceeded my expectations after the movie. I really liked how short Winslow makes the chapters because it made the story seem more raw and showed that when writing a book, you make your own rules. The story follows two friends in the drug business. Their shared(?) girlfriend is taken by the Mexican cartel and they have to get her back. The novel was exciting and interesting. I would recommend that everybody skip the movie and just read the book (even though the movie does have Taylor Kitsch aka Tim Riggins).

I promise I will be adding a few more things this week! Movie reviews, binge-watching update, music, and more books!

Snuff Book Review

Favorite Quote: “The damaged loves the damaged.”

I don’t even know where to begin talking about this book (and I mean that in the worst way possible). I am a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk, typically. He’s not afraid to dance around the line dividing weird and just plain messed up. I decided to read Snuff because it was short and by a great author. This book was only 208 pages, but it took me FOREVER to read. This isn’t a story I would typically be interested in at all. Basically, it’s the story of a porn star breaking some disgusting and obscene record. The story is told from the point of views of three of the men waiting to help this old lady break the record. One narrator is a seasoned adult film star, one is a young boy who claims the porn star is his mother, and in all honesty, I can’t even remember who the third narrator was.

The story jumps around, almost as if it is trying very hard to have an oral history format, but it is just all over the place. Their background stories are pretty stupid, which makes their current stories also pretty stupid. They all talk about really disgusting things that barely pertain to breaking this absurd record.

They spend all this time waiting to meet this famous porn star, and literally nothing actually happens. I honestly felt it was about as exciting as a dentist waiting room. When things finally start to begin, Palahniuk tries to create his usual plot twists, unsuccessfully. They were predictable and disappointing. I won’t say what the big twist was, just in case people are actually thinking about spending their time reading this book.

I will just finish this review by saying, do not bother reading this book. Even if you love Chuck Palahniuk, I have a strong feeling this story will fall short of your expectations. If you do give this story a try, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Overall Rating:

1 star (my lowest rating yet)

Catch Me if You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake Book Review

Well once again, I have dropped the ball on blogging more. I do have to go to school, but that is no excuse because I’d rather be writing on here anyway. I’m going to blame the holidays. And Lost. It only took me ten years to actually give it a chance. Seriously, it’s been ten years since the first season. Just because I have been obsessing over Lost, doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading. I have a few more books to review. I am going to try to start the new year off right (even though we’re already a month into the new year).

Favorite Quote: “A man’s alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself.”

I will admit, I saw the movie before I read the book. I only watched it at first because it came on TV and I had never seen it, so that’s my excuse for that. I feel like I have an excuse for everything today. Anyway, when I first saw the movie, of course, I liked it. Young Leonardo DiCaprio is all I needed. When I watch movies, I am that annoying person who analyzes everything. Basically, I’m the one saying, “You know that could never happen in real life.” I suck, I know. After watching Catch Me If You Can, which is based on a true story, I had a “that could never happen” moment and instantly had to research Frank Abagnale. Sure enough, this led me to the book. I just had to read it because I could’t believe this kid could do all of that. I’m not saying the movie and book were exactly the same, but it definitely convinced me.

One major difference from the movie was how much I didn’t like Frank Abagnale. It is impossible to hate young Leonardo DiCaprio, so that might have had something to do with it. I really sympathized with his character in the film. I didn’t feel like anything he was doing was all that bad or even wrong at all. It’s like my mind justified stealing millions of dollars from innocent people, and putting people’s lives in danger by posing as a pilot or doctor. This lightheartedness I felt for Leonardo was not how I felt about the real Frank. I know it wasn’t all him writing, actually, none of it could’ve been written by him, but I still didn’t like him. He was pretentious and selfish. I could feel his arrogance through the book, it was that bad. Basically, I wasn’t rooting for him at all. I wanted him to get caught and go to jail for the rest of time, which he obviously did not.

My strong dislike for the character is not the only thing I took from the book. I will say Frank Abagnale and/or his writer has a great vocabulary. Anyway, it took me a while to actually get into the story. I felt as if maybe I shouldn’t have looked into his story quite as much before reading the book. He talks about his home life and his mom leaving and some sad stuff, but nothing out of the ordinary. I think a lot of kids’ parents split up, but they don’t start forging checks or posing as doctors. I mean, come on.

Once the story picked up, probably when he starts posing as a Pan Am pilot, I couldn’t stop reading. I hated Frank Abagnale, but I wanted to know why and how he thought of these elaborate plans. I was also interested in the people he met along the way. The people who believed his lies. The book gives a detailed look into a life most people will never see. A life on the run, a life as a wanted man, the life of a lawyer and doctor and pilot. I, personally have never met someone who was a doctor, lawyer and pilot, so I find that pretty impressive. People are fascinated and infatuated by things they will never experience. That is why this book is such an interesting read. I don’t plan to take any of those career paths and I am hoping to never be a wanted fugitive.

This is a great book for people who enjoy realistic adventure and true stories. The story of Frank Abagnale is one definitely worth knowing. Read the book and see the movie, or just pick one or the other. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Overall Rating:

3.5 Stars

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Film Review

I just got back from seeing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I was very excited to see this movie because I read the first two books of the series. At the same time, I did not make my expectations too high. After seeing the first movie in the series, I was a little bit disappointed. The people who I went to see the first movie with had not read the books and they LOVED it. I, on the other hand, read the book and wasn’t all that impressed. I do tend to be pretty critical though. I thought a lot of important parts were missing from the first movie, which now, I can’t even think of any examples.

To be fair, I did read the book about two years ago, so for all I know, there could have been huge parts missing from the film. I really wouldn’t, and didn’t, notice anything. That is the main problem I typically have with book to film adaptations. I never realize that if you adapt a book word for word and with nothing missing, the movie would probably be ten hours long.

Although the film was kind of long, it didn’t feel like I was sitting there for over two hours. When reading the book, I found it very hard to get into up until about the fiftieth page. I felt like nothing was really happening until the action began, but when watching the film, I didn’t feel like this as much. Once the action starts, it doesn’t stop. I also enjoyed the bit of humor that was added in there, mostly from Haymitch.

I definitely recommend seeing this movie, even if you haven’t read the books. Two of my roommates came with me tonight, and they are actually starting the series tonight. The movie made me want to finish the series which I hope to do over the holidays.

Overall Rating:

4.5 Stars

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Celebrity Sighting: Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones)

Wow. I am truly a terrible person. I left my blog alone for almost a month, but I am finally back for good. I have not been just sitting around though, I’ve been reading, watching some movies, and getting my roommates hooked on Downton Abbey while I become hooked on Lost (about five years too late). I have been sort of busy because this weekend I went to Atlanta, where I was lucky enough to run into Sophie Turner, a.k.a. Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones.

Sorry I just couldn’t resist bragging about this somewhere. Meeting her made me want to drop everything and move to Hollywood just so I could meet more celebrities. This has not been my first celebrity encounter, but it was definitely one of the coolest since I actually had the guts to go up and talk to her. It did help that we had been pregaming for my friends birthday all night before though. I had to share this with someone, might as well be you!

The Magician’s Nephew Book Review

I have been looking for a job at school, which is proving to be impossible, and is the reason why my blog has been seriously lacking recently. Although I have not been writing on my blog, I have been reading and watching a ton of movies and television. I’m trying to make up for lost time, so I will be posting something everyday this week, I promise!

Favorite Quote: “For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.”

This past weekend, I read The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I know I started the books out of the original order but I don’t really care so, whatever. This book was a break from the typical books I read, and I felt like I just have to read this series. I was craving a lighthearted fantasy book, and this was perfect. I have owned this series for probably fifteen years now, and just have never gotten around to or been interested in reading them. I probably am reading these books in the completely wrong order, but for now, it makes sense. The Magician’s Nephew tells the history of how Narnia came to be.

I’m not sure if the order will have anything to do with my opinion on this book, but, honestly, I just thought it was okay. It took me an absurdly long time to get through considering it was only 221 pages. I enjoy the fantasy and mythical creature thing I guess, but it was not exciting enough for me. The biggest action is two children waking up a witch who never acts all that evil, in my opinion.

Overall, I didn’t hate or love this book. I read it and it was over, and that’s that. Maybe people should read the novels in the original order rather than the new publication one, but I feel like I am focussing my opinion on the order more than I should be. I would recommend this for kids who enjoy the fantasy genre, and for adults looking for an easy read.

Overall Rating:

2 stars

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Book Review

Author: John Boyne

Published: September 12, 2006 by David Fickling Books

Pages: 224

Favorite Quote: “Don’t make it worse by thinking it’s more painful than it actually is.”

I have been interested in World War II ever since high school. Every year, my school was fortunate enough to host Holocaust survivors. Only the seniors were able to hear them talk and interact with them though. This was something you looked forward to for the three years prior. Being able to hear the stories and actually talk to people who had been there is an incredible opportunity.

When my senior year finally came, I couldn’t wait to start the World War II unit. The teachers planned the curriculum for some of the classes based on this. It was easy to do because I went to a small school. I still remember we spent the third quarter of my senior year on the Holocaust. We learned about it in history and read about it in literature. At the end of the unit, we took a field trip to Washington, D.C., and got to see the Holocaust Museum. It was such an emotional trip to be able to see the things people went through. One moment I remember in particular in the museum is when we walked through an actual cable car that was used for transportation to the concentration camps. The atmosphere in that cable car was something I had never experienced before and something I will never forget.

When it came time for the Holocaust survivors to visit our school, the teachers picked out students to host each of the survivors. I was fortunate enough to be chosen. I hosted a nice little Polish woman. She was very quiet and shy. When the time came for her to speak, it was hard to hear her because her voice was so faint. She was a young girl at Auschwitz. Her father was separated from her mother and her. This woman was taken into the gas chamber to be killed. As she was waiting for her time to come, the camp was liberated by US soldiers. Her story was so emotional and detailed. I thought of her story a lot when I had finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

I really love how this story was told through a young boy’s perspective. It was not written in first person, but John Boyne writes in the naive  style of young boy. There are certain words that a child would not know, in which he leaves out or changes all together. One example of this is Bruno constantly calling the concentration camp “Out-With”. He also leaves out major plot points that would be considered too mature for a nine-year-old boy to hear about.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas tells the story of a German boy, Bruno, and a Jewish boy, Shmuel, who become friends during the Holocaust. The only problem is, Shmuel is a prisoner in the work camp and Bruno’s father is the soldier who is in charge of it.

I really enjoyed this book. I had always wanted to read it, but never got around to it. I was always a little surprised we never read it in school. I thought the story was heartfelt and tragic. It was hard to read about two boys who were so unaware of the world around them. It was so great to hear them slowly start to create their own opinions on the situation, rather than listen to what their parents had to say.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was a very sad story most of the time, but it did have it’s funny moments. Most of the funny moments, stemmed from Bruno’s misunderstandings of the adult world.

The only part I didn’t really like about this novel was how much the story jumped around from chapter to chapter. I liked hearing about flashbacks to further explain a point, but I did not like when a full chapter was dedicated to something that happened in the past. Other than this, it really is eyeopening. Although it is not based on a true story like other incredible Holocaust novels, such as Night by Elie Wiesel, the things that happened in this book probably happened in real life. Maybe not the whole friendship on the other side of the fence, but stories Shmuel told and things that happened inside the fence, happened every day during that time. I really do recommend this book for people who have not yet read it, especially teenagers, if only to open their eyes to the world the exists outside of their small town.

Overall rating:

4 stars

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower Book Review (Sort of)

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Published: February 1, 1999 by MTV Books and Pocket Books

Pages: 213

Favorite Quote: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” (Really original, I know)

I honestly wish I had read this book earlier in my life. This is probably going to be an extremely cheesy review because I honestly think this book changes people for the better, even though it is kind of depressing. This is the kind of book that I recommend to everyone, unlike other books. Just one of those books everyone should read once. I do not want to be a total cheesehead and say this book changed my life, but it kind of did…sort of.

For a long time, I was a girl who just liked things because other people liked them too. I only liked certain movies and music because my friends liked them. So basically, I was a huge follower. Slowly I started realizing that I don’t have to just like the things that are popular. I have my own mind, tastes and style. Now I am not saying that I am a hipster of any sort. I fit in with most crowds, and can usually talk to anyone about anything. For some odd reason, this book kind of showed me that it was okay to like whatever I like. My brain was kind of telling me, “You don’t have to watch these stupid Nicholas Sparks movie adaptations if you don’t want to!” Before I read this book, I was listening to whatever music I wanted and watching whatever TV shows and movies that I genuinely enjoyed, but I wasn’t necessarily telling people about it. This is making me sound like I am interested in really weird stuff, but I am not, I swear.

After I read this book, I realized that liking indie films and older music was not embarrassing at all. It was actually kind of cool. Slowly I started recommending stuff to my friends, who had not heard of a lot of the stuff I liked, but once they gave it a chance, they seemed to enjoy these things almost as much as I did (or so they said). I probably should not go as far as saying that this book changed my life because it did not. What The Perks of Being a Wallflower did was make me comfortable with who I am.

When I first started reading this novel, I thought that it was written for elementary school or early middle school levels. It was short, and was not a challenging read. After reading the first chapter, I realized this may be a little bit too dark for a kid. I love that this is written in the form of letters. It makes the story feel so personal and real when you read the letters from Charlie. You get to see the story through Charlie’s eyes. I can’t say too much about the letters without giving some stuff away, so I will leave it at that.

The story was funny, but also sad at times. Charlie is such an interesting character that I think a lot of people can relate to. He has issues just like everyone else in the world. He’s also kind of weird, but, then again, who isn’t a little weird? I know I can be strange at times, but it’s these quirks that make people who they are. I really liked the few times Charlie was a strong character, but most of the time, he’s a shy and confused freshman. Haven’t we all been that shy and confused kid at one point in our lives? Wondering why we are the way we are. This is a major issue in Charlie’s life throughout the novel.

Stephen Chbosky covers so many serious issues in his novel, which I think is very important in a coming-of-age novel. A lot of books directed towards teens tend to sugarcoat things to a point beyond the realms of reality. This novel deals with depression, substance abuse, abusive relationships and more. All of these thing exist in the world and need to be addressed. High school is a very hard time for a lot of kids, and knowing that your issues are real, and that there are ways to get help is really great.

One other important thing I took from this novel was to not judge someone by what you think they are. Although someone should be the jock or the nerd or the snob, doesn’t mean they are. People go a lot deeper than what you see on the outside. This is a hard concept for people to grasp. I know judging people was a hard habit for me to kick.

Last thing I want to talk about is the quote, “We accept the love we think we deserve.” I know I’m probably the millionth person to rave about how great this quote is but I just can’t help it. I would get it tattooed across my forehead if that was acceptable. I just think this is so true. People are always talking about what they deserve as compared to what they actually have. No one ever knows what they actually deserve. I know I don’t. Before reading this book, I would have never thought about this concept. This is a quote that has stuck with me for a long time now, and I think it always will.

All in all, I just think this is a book every teenage kid should read once. It’s funny but also has a lot of issues that people should be aware of. I recommend seeing the movie too. I personally really liked it, but some people I’ve talked to did not realize it was going to be so dark. I cannot promise that you will get any thing out of this novel, but I did.

Overall Rating:

4 stars

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