February 2013 Media Inventory

Not a ton of stuff to report for February. I missed one week of western films due to food poisoning, and Matthew and I watched season 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead, which was awesome, but I already figured I would write about TV at the end of the year rather than month by month. However, do know for now that Fridays are my official "girlfriend catch-up time" with Sarah, The Bachelor, and Project Runway. It's practically a ritual now and I look forward to it more than I care to admit.

Movies:

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: When I found out Matthew hadn't seen this and we were in need of something appropriate for Valentine's Day, it was a no-brainer. Smart, creative, fun foreign movie with an oh so delightful tricky twist that still freaks me out every time.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon: The loooooongest film I've seen ever, including LOTR, Gone with the Wind, and whatever else you say in the comments. This film would NOT end. There were so many back-to-square-one moments in this film and plots that kept circling around each other that I quickly felt entirely sympathetic with the characters who wanted to get out and head back East (I think at one point I even envied the dead characters). The end was touching, and there were several powerful, resonant moments, but I'm not sure the view was worth the all-day hike to get there.

Silver Lode: I watched this right after She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, so I was all set to hate it (since, you know, the last thing you want to do after watching an insanely long film is to watch ANOTHER film), which makes the following statement all the more profound: This film was FANTASTIC. Not a single moment felt unnecessary or tangential - everything was direct and to the point, and the plot unfolded in an exciting and unexpected yet realistic way. The performances were excellent, the story was interesting, the characters were intriguing, and it all felt fresh and new, despite taking on for its premise the same High Noon story that has been done to death. This might be my favorite film from western class so far.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: I've heard of this film for a while, and was glad and proud that I forced myself to go out and see it on a Saturday when I would normally be sleeping, eating, or lounging. It was really remarkable how much the film managed to show and convey of the character's struggle to have a meaningful life when it seemed like everything had been taken away. There is some gorgeous, creative, and extremely intimate cinematography, acting, and writing going on here (the father's phone call was especially heartbreaking for me). It also really made me want to watch El Mar Adentro, another film about assisted living for the paralyzed with a rather different take (at least, so I hear).

Jesse and Celeste Forever: Stupidest film I've seen in a while. I have never regretted getting a free film from Redbox more than this one. Ugh ugh stupid ugh can't even talk about it anymore.

The Far Country: Bit of a weird western. It somehow managed to cram in all the usual elements while still feeling unfamiliar and eccentric. I was a bit surprised at Jimmy Stewart's nonchalance and emotional detachment from things (up until the climax, that is, because duh), but still felt he and everyone else in the cast did a pretty good job (with the possible exception of that one extremely annoying and always right about everything woman) making a very typical, generic story feel somewhat newer and realer. Also I feel like I know more about Alaska now, which is cool. 

Man of the West: I hated the first 1/3 of this film - boring, bland, and bizarrely un-western. Things got better in the second third, when conflict and character development were introduced, but everything sort of tapered off and crumbled before the actual climax arrived, making it feel like a tired, sad, weak version of a western (possibly on purpose?). I especially didn't like the casting of Gary Cooper in the main role - he just seemed way too old and straight-laced to have the mysterious, disturbed background that the character is meant to have.

Forty Guns: Aside from its gorgeous opening sequence, I really didn't find this film all that memorable. It was pretty difficult to tell the trio of protagonist brothers apart from each other, let alone get emotionally invested in them, and I ended up rooting for the troublemakers just to keep things interesting and moving along. It also had a weirdly street gangster feel to it, as if all the gunfighters and cowboys were really city mobsters and detectives in a noir film. There was even a femme fatale. And it was even Barbara Stanwyck (of Double Indemnity!).

Johnny Guitar: Bit of a wild card as far as your traditional westerns go, but I liked it. A lot of conflict, emotion, violence, and some really crazy characters. Never fear - Johnny does play the guitar, and he also shoot guns. It was sort of obvious what was going to happen in this film, but how it happened was sure interesting.

Theater:

Henry V: A super shortened version of the play, with many liberties taken. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I had gone expecting to see "Henry V," but I went in knowing it was for children, and it was about as good as I expected it to be. There were several unexpectedly poignant moments (Henry V praying in the battlefield stood out in particular; the song at the end) and I was surprised at how little the fact that Henry V was a woman bothered me once things really got going. And there was some cool choreography with sticks.

Books:

Don Quixote (part 1): My mom read this to us once when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Back then I thought it had some funny moments but was overall too longwinded and tangential. My opinion remains about the same, although I appreciated the irony, craft, and subtext behind the writing much more this time around. I was still totally wiped out by the time Part 1 ended, though. Doubt I'll ever read Part 2.

Straight Man: Darkly cynical and fairly hilarious commentary on modern academic life. I wouldn't really recommend it to people in general due to the coarseness and bitterness, but the overwrought, despairing academic graduate students and English majors might get a kick of reading about the lunacy and drudgery that awaits them. I felt the author went over the top in making a few of his points, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually also his point.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: A humorous yet highly moralistic and soul-searching work by Mark Twain. I quite enjoyed it, though the second half definitely fell into a more serious and darker examination of human nature than I was expecting. It was good, but a little depressing. I also have to say I enjoyed the version I got from the Orem library because it included illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. Love her!

Adventures in Food Poisoning

Warning: This post is icky. Read it at your own risk.

I woke up a little nauseous on Wednesday morning, but didn't think much of it. I attributed it to watching too much of "The Walking Dead" (we blew through Seasons 1 and 2 in about five days. P.S. If you're looking for a diet plan, I highly recommend watching this show at night with someone. I was so completely fascinated that I couldn't stop watching, yet so grossed out that I never once thought about ice cream/late-night snacks - genius, right?). There were also plenty of other nausea-creating stresses on the horizon: I had to team-teach a lecture with another TA - Claire - that day, I had to prepare and teach two discussion sections on Friday, I had a ten-page paper due on Friday that I had barely started, so you know, the usual.

Anyway, I did what I usually do in such circumstances - told myself to get over it, got up, made a satisfying breakfast to get me all the way from 8:30 to 2:30 when I would get home and eat lunch before going back for my late-night film class, ate said breakfast, and speed-walked to my class. I felt a little bit queasy when I was climbing up the stairs, but Walking Dead, stress, papers, blah blah blah, and I kept going. I was feeling pretty good when I got to class and even better after I set up our PowerPoint and figured out the computer podium and lights. Then class started. The first fifteen minutes were fine, mostly because Claire was talking and I was sitting on the stool taking deep breaths behind her. As I got ready for my turn, I could feel my stomach twisting a little every time I moved, but things really got bad when I started to get an extremely uncomfortable, disoriented, lightheaded feeling in - where else? - my head. I fought it for about ten minutes, but this dizzy headache feeling kept growing until I realized that I was going to pass out. I was in denial at first - You're supposed to be TEACHING in a minute, for crying out loud! This CANNOT be happening! Man up, Ruth! - but with every passing minute it became more and more obvious that my body didn't give a hoot about my nerves or where I was or what I had to do. Claire was talking, and I had my notes already spread out on the podium, but I decided finally that I had to leave. Fortunately, there was yet another TA - Shaina - sitting in the audience whom I was friends with, and I decided to go to her, ask her to come outside in the hall with me, and tell her there that she would need to tell Claire I was sick and they would have to read my notes and show the slides without me.

Unfortunately, by the time I made the decision to go, my body was pretty much running on autopilot. As soon as I got up and started making my way up the aisle towards Shaina, things that I took for granted started shutting down at an unbelievably rapid pace. I had my eyes open, but I couldn't see. My legs were moving, but I couldn't find my balance. My hearing got really fuzzy, and at one point I lost it completely. I ended up groping for points of reference and eventually stumbled into a wall, where I stayed until my head cleared enough for me to see Shaina's face. I managed to get her to realize that I needed her to go out with me into the hall. When we got there, we sat down to talk, but my stomach and head were both churning so furiously that I could barely get out the words "So, I'm not feeling too good" before my body made a split-second decision and I had a distinct moment of clarity wherein I knew I was going to throw up. Three heaving explosions later and my nice breakfast of turkey, eggs, and orange juice was all over the floor.

I immediately felt better - the fuzzy hearing vanished, my head cleared, my balance was back and I had control over my body again. I even felt like waltzing back into the classroom as if nothing had happened and picking up the lecture. However, I had to wait in the hall for Shaina to come back with the janitor and with paper towels and tissues (somehow she got the cutest little red tissues with pictures of sheep on them - I was so reluctant to use them) to wipe my shoes, pants, and the floor. After a few minutes of making sure I was "done," I went back in, drank from my trusty water bottle (I had considered finding a water fountain, but we were in a very inconveniently located classroom), finished the lecture (Claire had already done about 1/5 of it for me), and then went home since I was still feeling lightheaded and drained.

When I got home, I was overcome by ravenous, incredible thirst. I drank all the water I had in the refrigerator and still couldn't get enough. It didn't seem as if I had drunk any water at all. My lips were extremely dry. I kept drinking. Not long after, heavy-duty diarrhea set in - we're talking four pairs of underwear ruined within a matter of hours. For the rest of the day I alternated between bed and toilet, eating nothing (the thought of food was revolting) and drinking only water. I felt incredibly tired and weak and still very drymouthed, though I was slightly wary of water in large amounts since I knew whatever I drank would evacuate itself out of my system about five-ten minutes after it went in. Any thoughts I had of going to my late-night film class completely vanished around this point (I would be lucky to sit through the credits, let alone a two-hour film). When Matthew got home, he brought me a minipack of Gatorade drinks. They didn't help much with the diarrhea but did help greatly with my lightheadedness and also with something Matthew called electrolytes but which I called tasty yummyness and feeling like a human again.

For the next few days, I survived on water and Gatorade, sometimes not even wanting either but forcing myself to drink to try to ward off dehydration, headaches, and weakness. On Thursday, after staying home from volleyball (good call) and from another class I TA for (probably a good call but I still feel sad about missing it), I felt well enough to eat a can of soup for dinner, my first substantial meal since Tuesday night. I paid for my folly later with a very perilous evening of stomach twistings and turnings, near throw-ups, disgusting burps, and sicky poop. Despite this sore tribulation that was Thursday night, I felt well enough on Friday to go to school (though I decreed it a casual Friday by skipping one class, not going to work, and doing the bare minimum in my discussion sections (to their great rejoicing)), but I didn't eat anything but water and Gatorade all day and let Matthew do the laundry while I stayed at home. I was astonished at how few of my students in my Friday discussion sections realized that I had even left or been slightly "off" during the Wednesday lecture, and one of the students even made my day by telling me that he thought I did the best job of all the TAs. AWWW. In fairness, the credit (if there be any) probably goes to Hogarth for being more interesting to talk to about than Swift or Moliere, but I was still ridiculously pleased/flattered/touched/intoxicated.

Around 7 pm on Friday evening I acquired a sudden ravenous craving for Chinese food, which Matthew was sweet and awesome enough to oblige. I ate about 1/3 of what he brought home - this was probably the happiest moment of my week, incidentally - and then had to force myself to stop - though my brain wanted to continue - before my stomach laid down a law irrevocably decreed in biology that if I kept eating I was going to regret it for the rest of my miserable, short, sad life. Consequently, the night was again perilous, but not quite as bad as Thursday. On Saturday morning, I was hoping that my appetite for Chinese food would resurface but my stomach vetoed this delicious temptation for the entire day, and eventually I had to satisfy myself with water, Gatorade, some applesauce, and, at the end of the day when I was likeliest to be hungry, a small bowl of ice cream and banana.

Things are feeling much better today - Sunday - both head and stomach-wise, and I expect I will be back to pretty much full capacity by Monday. Good thing, too, since my professor moved our ten-page paper to Monday (not because of my illness or the lack of preparation from our class, but because his father passed away and he had to leave town) and I was able to use the past two days (Wednesday and Thursday were both completely unproductive due to commitments with the bed/potty) to get a lot more work done. God works in mysterious ways.

And as for the cause of all this trouble? Stale, crunchy, three-week old French bread that Matthew brought home once upon a time to go with our perfectly fine-by-itself dinner of corn chowder (I took two bites on Tuesday night to determine whether or not it was worth keeping and concluded it wasn't). I always knew bread was out to get me.

January 2013 Media Inventory

So here's what I watched and read in January!

Movies:

The Dark Knight Rises: I don't remember much, to be honest. I think I liked it. Anne Hathaway was surprisingly decent as Catwoman, though I really wasn't impressed with my normally wonderful Tom Hardy playing Bane. After the Joker, I guess any villain seems a little... eh. But really I just like snuggling with Matthew and making superhero jokes.

Hidalgo: Oldie and a goodie. Lots of horsies!

Looper: Intriguing idea, pretty compelling story, awesome cast, but the surprise twist ending seemed a little bit too simple for me. Left me wishing there had been something more.

Inception: More Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy doing what I like to watch them do.

Edward Scissorhands: This was Matthew's first time seeing this, after I insisted. Now he can truly call himself a fan of Johnny Depp.

The Mark of Zorro: The SECOND time I've seen this Douglas Fairbanks silent classic. It's actually pretty hilarious. The stunts are superfreakinfantastic.

Mantrap: Interesting enough silent film. Probably too long. I got pretty irritated with the main flirty lady who cheated on every man she fell in love with. In the words of Grandpa Joe, what she needs is a good kick in the pants.

Snow White and the Huntsman: It took us SO long to see this, and sadly it wasn't really worth the wait. I like Snow White from Once Upon a Time better, and I make fun of her ALL THE TIME, so that should give you a pretty good idea of my feelings about Kristen Stewart playing the purest, divinest, most beautiful, innocent fairytale character ever. By the way, the biggest thing I knew about it from the media was that K. S. had slept with the director, so every time the characters talked about how good and pure her character was, it took great effort not to make the phhhhhhhhhhhhhhht sound and roll my eyes.

Bernie: Fantastic film with a lovely dark twist of humor and delightfully exaggerated presentation of Texan hospitality/reality. I loved all the characters, even the simpering and babyish Jack Black, and got quite a few of the songs stuck in my head.

Drums Along the Mohawk: I felt like I was watching the entire Little House on the Prairie saga if it were set in colonial times. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. It was long and tedious at some points, but generally interesting and enjoyable, especially the feministy parts. Henry Fonda in a ponytail and evil British guys with eyepatches are also not to be dismissed so easily.

The Ox-Bow Incident: Torturous buildup to a climactic and powerful ending. This film still bothers me.

Pitch Perfect: Fun film. fun music, fun characters, fun, fun, fun (I feel like I've made my point).

My Darling Clementine: I should probably mention at this point that I'm taking a western film class, so that's why half the films on here will be westerns. There will probably also be a lot of Henry Fonda. I had seen this film before, and it's pretty good, though the stupidity of certain brothers does amaze me. The best part was probably humming "My Darling Clementine" in the HFAC bathroom when everyone else was inevitably humming songs from "Phantom of the Opera."

Harvey Girls: What a silly little excuse for a western this was! Yet, try as I might to dislike it, it was too fun and colorful and weirdly sweet and cheesy to really hate. I was even entranced and charmed once or twice by the whimsical musical numbers and Judy Garland's pistol-waving skills.

Liberal Arts: Probably not as great of a film as I thought it was, but I can't help myself. The title was LIBERAL ARTS, for crying out loud. Of course I loved it. Ah, academics. You are so funny.

Stars in My Crown: My favorite movie from our western film class so far. I don't think I've cared about the characters and story of a film so deeply and emotionally since To Kill a Mockingbird. Also has a song that will stick in your head for forever, so be warned.

The Gunfighter: This one is just waiting to be turned into a liberal commercial for gun control. I was really angry and annoyed at how it began and how it ended. And yeah, at the middle too. It felt good when the marshal (who was pretty much the only likable character) finally delivered a well-deserved punch to a certain individual, yet it wasn't enough to assuage my anger and frustration.

Othello: Great cast, great play, great film. I'm seeing this play live the next time I get a chance.
 
Theater:

Phantom of the Opera: Ah, the theah-tuh! I had a lot of fun watching this with Matthew. Great songs, orchestra, dancing, set design (loved how the chandelier actually swung out over the audience!), acting (Raoul particularly wowed me, though that isn't extremely difficult to do since I have come to expect mediocrity from his character), makeup (they went with the pink fleshy Two-Face skeleton look for the Phantom's scars, and it worked pretty well, at least for us in the third row), dancing (actually, the dancing was a little meh because I'm a former ballerina and can spot the sloppy bits), and a fantastic spectacle (especially loved the tall guy on stilts during the Masquerade number and how they made great use of wires for the Phantom to fly around and mystify everybody with his sudden appearances and disappearances). My biggest complaint was probably that Christine wasn't as loud or powerful a singer as I wanted, but you can't have it all. Anyway, she hit the right notes and looked and acted the part well.

Books:
 
Unwind: Stands up to a second read-through. I had forgotten just how much I liked this one! Lev is sort of annoying, though.

UnWholly: Did its job in totally psyching me up for the third one. Lev is still a little bit irritating, but all the other characters are developing really nicely.

Othello: Great play - I read it while watching the Kenneth Branagh film version (which I just now remembered watching and posted up there with the films), and it's a pretty fascinating one to puzzle over. I'm definitely Team Iago for the evilest Shakespeare villain competition.

And Then There Were None: Delightful, short, but intense Agatha Christie mystery that has some surprisingly western elements in it (of course, killing Indians is a dead giveaway). The ending is so devious and twisted - I quite enjoyed it.

The Slave Community: I didn't quite finish this one, but read over 3/4, so I'm counting it anyway. The author argued that slaves exercised a great more agency and control over their personalities, communities, cultures, families, and lifestyles than most people have assumed from the Sambo stereotype, and for the most part, I agreed. I'm auditing a class on Southern history this semester and this was one of the books. I tell myself that someday I'm really going to study all this stuff for real, but in the meantime, I learn what I can.

It's a Wonderful Semester

This is how I felt three weeks ago:

After an ill-advised over-an-hour-long run through the pouring down wet snow of Christmas Eve, I came down with a horrible sore throat on Christmas Day, which quickly developed into a stuffy nose, chills, coughing fits, and general awfulness. I can't remember the last time I was this sick this suddenly, but there it was. Every day from Christmas to New Year's involved me waking up multiple times in the night to cough, blow my nose, and soothe my inflamed sinuses, then I stayed indoors all day every day trying to keep warm and not lose my mind from boredom (thanks again to Matthew for the first seasons of "Once Upon a Time" and "Revenge" and to my in-laws for the life-saving Christmas present of a slanket and a blanket). I tried to read, but found it too exhausting (need I reiterate that this was no ordinary illness?). This sort of thing lasted all the way up until the first day of the semester, when I finally was able to go for several hours in a row without needing to cough-explode my chest or give myself a hardhanded YOU CAN DO THIS pep talk before each swallow.

Flash forward to the second day of the semester, when I felt like this:

This blissful transformation was due to the coincidence of the following happy events: 1) I am auditing and super-enjoying an American Southern history class that I finally mustered up the courage to take after waiting and hoping in vain for a teacher I was familiar with to teach the course. I was a little intimidated by my Mississippi Delta-accent professor with glasses, typewritten syllabi, no Learning Suite materials, and business attire, but after meeting with her in her office and making a few comments in class, I am delighted to say that she is lovely! She seemed to appreciate me introducing myself and has no problem with me being an outlier from the Humanities graduate student department. She also is friendly, funny, and calls on me quite often in class. And the material - good gracious, how I looooove learning about the South. It's definitely where my heart and head click together the most. 2) It turns out that the department did me a favor in canceling my class, as I got a second TA job at the last minute. I am now TA-ing for two Humanities 202 classes (for different teachers, both awesome people whom I've worked with before) and probably getting more pay for less work than either of my 101-teaching peers (TAKE THAT, SOMEBODY!). The overlap in 202 material from the classes is also quite enjoyable and informative, as I just might be teaching 202 in the future. I am so grateful to have the added income and experience for this semester and can't believe my luck, really. As for actual teaching, I only have to teach two 50-minute discussion sections on Fridays, which is SO much easier than having to prepare 3 hours worth of new material every week. Not only do I have a lot of free rein over what we do, but my students so far seem to enjoy and get into the material (not to mention TALK) a lot better than my 101 students. Maybe it's because we meet at 10 and 11 am rather than some ungodly hour like 5 pm. 3) I got better! Remember how I was sick? Well, I got better! Papers, reading, and exams seem like nothing compared to two bedridden weeks of misery. And I'm even feeling confident that I'll stay well throughout the entire semester since, you know, I'm immune. 4) My two best graduate student friends are in both of my classes, and we are thick as thieves. I'm really enjoying the extra time we spend together since they will both soon be graduating. It's nice to already have friends at the beginning of the semester. 5) Both of my classes are looking great. Only two papers to write for one of them, and no papers at all in the other (but a lot of report-style writings of books and films and whatnot)! In one class we're studying adaptations - wait for it - and with that, we'll be looking at Poe, Hitchcock, LOTR, Jane Austen, and Shakespeare. Yup, dream class. And with both my friends in my late-night class on the western genre, it's kind of a "movie night with my friends" type of class than a "we're REALLY going to be here for five hours?" type of class. 6) My intermediate volleyball class has been quite fun. We have a good mix of experienced students but no dominant, annoying personalities as of yet, and I've recognized some old friends as well as made some new ones already. And I like the teacher. And last week I went on a serving streak of about 7-8 points. Booyah!

In conclusion, after the horror of last semester's first-time teaching stress combined with reading exam nightmare, I am overwhelmed at how nice it feels to look forward to rather than dread each day at a time. At this point I can only suppose that this semester will be one of the best ones I can remember having (and definitely the best one if it ever warms up). Here's hopin'.

When the Covingtons are sick...

When Ruth is sick, Matthew cooks.
When Matthew is sick, Matthew cooks (or we have LEFTOVERS!!!).

When Ruth is sick, Matthew helps out with the dishes.
When Matthew is sick, Ruth does ALL the dishes (score for me).

When Ruth is sick (in the winter), Ruth sleeps on 3/4 of the bed with a heating pad and 80% of the blankets and pillows.
When Matthew is sick (in the winter), Ruth sleeps on 3/4 of the bed with a heating pad and 80% of the blankets and pillows.

When Ruth is sick, she laments over how much time and energy it takes to wash her hair.
When Matthew is sick, he laments over how much time and energy it takes to shave.

When Ruth is sick, she stops talking.
When Matthew is sick, he cannot stop talking.

When Ruth is sick, she sleeps all day and all night.
When Matthew is sick, he stays awake all day and all night.

When Ruth is sick, Matthew drives.
When Matthew is sick, Matthew drives.

When Ruth is sick, Matthew watches "Once Upon a Time" with her. He proves his love by rubbing her head and agreeing to sit through not one, but TWO hour-long episodes before bedtime. She also watches "Revenge" and "Downton Abbey" on her own because extraordinary sickness calls for an overdose of extraordinarily good TV shows.
When Matthew is sick, Ruth watches "Batman Beyond" and the early Batman TV animated cartoon series with him. They watch two 30-minute episodes before Matthew complains of too much movie-watching and wants to do another activity (Ruth interprets this unbelievable declaration as a testament to the alarming degree of his malady).

When Ruth is sick, going to visit the in-laws is out of the question. Going to Ruth's family to celebrate New Year's Day, however, is obviously okay.
When Matthew is sick, going to visit the in-laws is out of the question. Going to Matthew's family to celebrate his sister's birthday, however, is obviously okay.

And finally, when Ruth is sick, all journal and blog-writing activities cease.
But when Matthew is sick, Ruth gets bored and lonely and decides to write blog posts again.

When Ruth is sick, NO PICTURES will be taken.
When Matthew is sick, he looks like this:

Still adorable. How is it FAIR?

Media Inventory/Family Newsletter/New Year's Resolutions 2012

I really slacked off keeping track of what I watched and read in 2012. I guess I was busy or something. I have already resolved to do better with this in 2013, as my monthly media blog posts were always fun to write and to look back on. Fortunately, the little Shelfari thing on the side of my blog has a pretty good record of what I read in 2012, so here are some reviews:

Understanding Comics/Making Comics by Scott McCloud: Really interesting, visually appealing books that make you wish you could learn about EVERY subject through comics.

Batman: The Long Halloween: Pretty fun graphic novel. Quick, easy read. The pictures are hyper exaggerated and super colorful and I did feel a bit like a nerdy teenager, but I still enjoyed the story, characters, and format - especially after reading McCloud.

Carrie: I'm not really a Stephen King fan. I thought The Shining was such a drag. And there is a lot of over-the-top didactic stuff in Carrie that made me roll my eyes a bit. But I still enjoyed writing and thinking about Carrie in the context of some pretty big issues we discussed in one of my classes last semester on monsters. I even saw the movie, and wasn't nearly as freaked out as I had been led to expect I would be.

The Knife of Never Letting Go: I was really fascinated by this book through about 90% of it. And I do mean the I can't stop reading or even put down this book type of fascination. But for some reason, the end didn't quite have me dying to read the sequel the way it was supposed to. I tried to start the sequel and just couldn't get into it with the same amount of enthusiasm. This has happened before with The Maze Runner, and I'm still not sure why. Too much build up with too little pay off? Or maybe too much pay off? (Once the main question was answered, I wasn't as interested in finding out anything else.) Anyway, I enjoyed the concept and thought his style of writing was very unique (i.e. intriguing/odd/sometimes downright annoying). Give it a whirl if you're in a mood to be controversial.

Rosemary's Baby: Didn't much care for this one. I've heard it called a horror story and a satire, but it wasn't quite scary, and it wasn't quite funny. I also got a headache trying to figure out how to write about it (I eventually switched to writing about Carrie), so I currently am holding a grudge.

Delirium: I really was intrigued by the concept of this book (Love is a disease? Fascinating!), but found the characters and execution to be oh-so-tiresome. The story was quickly bogged down by the overkill development of the not that hard to grasp background, and fretful, wistful, time-wasting meandering through typical teenage mood swings, swooning, determination to rebel, etc. I eventually gave up and skimmed through the whole thing, decided the plot wasn't that impressive after all, and moved on.

The Fault in Our Stars: I've tried to read a few Jon Green novels before this one, and never really got attached to the characters or story. Until this one. From almost the first page I was immediately drawn in and was astonished at how quickly I came to relate and identify with the main character's attitude and situation. The simplicity and normalcy of the story somehow seemed epic and crucial. I would highly recommend this one, and I'm going to give his other books another go.

Ready Player One: Loved, loved, LOVED this one. Entertaining, exciting, intriguing, creative, and non-stop adrenaline the whole way through. Another one I had trouble putting down. And I don't even play video or computer games (which is what the whole book is about). Definitely recommend.

Flowers for Algernon: I loved this book - the story, the writing, the character, and the heart behind it all really got to me. It's heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

Lazy B: Nice, nostalgic read about Sandra Day's memoirs growing up on a ranch. Made me want to write and live my own childhood again.

The Meadow: I've read this before, but it's worth reading again. Poetic and thought-provoking. 

I Am the Messenger: Very interesting, creative work from the author of the Book Thief. It doesn't feel quite as epic or inspirational as The Book Thief, but still brings that element of truth combined with mystery, secrecy, and import. I am amazed at how well this author weaves together seemingly unconnected images and moments to create such unified and beautiful ideas.

Beyonders (1&2): Didn't enjoy either of these as much as Brandon Mull's Fablehaven or The Candy Shop War. The magic worlds, evil bad guys, and perilous situations all seemed a little too exaggerated to be taken seriously (kind of like the old boys-in-danger story scenarios that Daniel and I used to write when we were little).

The Night Circus: This one gets a picture because I loved it so much. It would be my favorite book I read this year if I hadn't also read Mistborn. Super intriguing plot and beautiful imagery and writing throughout.

Midnight in Austenland: I loved the first Austenland book, but this one seemed a little contrived to me. Too Lost-in-Austeny for my taste.

Warbreaker: This was my first attempt with Brandon Sanderson and it was a smashing success! I went from skeptic to convert after reading this book, an excellent, creative, in-depth examination of religious and social structures complete with complex, three-dimensional characters and epic confrontations between good and evil.

Mistborn Trilogy: Hands down my pick for the best books I've read this year and probably for many years. These are books you want to live, not just read, and not just once but over and over again. I fell in love with the characters, the concept, the plot, and the writing. Seriously, I can't say anything bad about these books (except that if you are like me, you will cry when you finish them because all you want to do is to keep reading them forever).

Elantris: Again, one of the best sci-fi fantasies I've read, though I still consider it the weakest of B. Sanderson's. Still, I'm astonished at how good he is even when he is not so good.

King Lear: A very tragic play, but touching, inspirational, and beautiful in its own way. A lot of the lines got under my skin for a long time, particularly Edmund's self-condemning speech about how we blame fate in vain for our actions.

The Crossing: The second book in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, and one I've been meaning to read for a long time. Very powerful, gritty, deep stuff.

Something Borrowed/Something Blue/Baby Proof: Probably the most frothy/indulgent books I read all year. A tad scandalous, but oh so juicy and gossipy, and I ended up caring more about the characters than I expected thanks to Emily Giffin's appealing, straight-from-the-heart style. It felt almost like reading a stranger's diary or blog, maybe while eating ice cream and giggling with your girlfriends. Definitely while eating ice cream.

The Hunger Games trilogy: It had been a while since I read these books, and I was surprised at how much I couldn't remember about the details of the plots. The first book is definitely my favorite - such a twisted, crazy, fascinating scenario, and with sympathetic, enjoyable characters as well! The second book is also quite good, though the novelty wears off a little. The third book is the worst. I tried to like it both times I read it, but both times I ended up just shaking my head in sorrow, disgust, and quizzical disbelief and amusement. It does has the greatest expectations placed upon it, so it's understandable why it isn't as good, but it's still disappointing.

As for movies, I really enjoyed seeing The Hobbit, The Avengers, and The Hunger Games this year, and am still looking forward to seeing the last Breaking Dawn (there, I admitted it), Les Miserables, and Skyfall. This semester I'm hoping to see a lot more International Cinema films. I'll be taking a Western films class too, so expect to see a lot of westerns over the next four months. Incidentally, some of my other resolutions for the year include writing my thesis, probably over spring and summer (my goal is to have at least a rough draft of every chapter by December!), taking a dance class (I want to do one before I graduate, and it's looking like that will happen a year from this semester), finishing up everything I need to graduate besides my thesis (Spanish 321, I'm looking at you), writing in my journal weekly (I took two weeks off due to being sick), swimming/exercising/playing volleyball more regularly, and finally, a few spiritual goals - daily prayer, scripture study, and weekly family home evening/date night with Matthew. This May will be our two-year anniversary - how fast it goes by! Hard to believe we're still in the same apartment we started out in, and even more that it feels like home.

It's beginning to feel a lot like...

Christmas time is here!

Happiness and cheer . . .

 

Fun for all that children call their favorite time of year. 

Snowfloofs in the air

Beauty everywhere

Yuletide by the fireside

 And joyful memories there...  

The most wonderful time of the year is finally here!