On Liking Things and Not Judging Others

It really, really bothers me when people are ashamed of liking something.  It bothers me even more when certain people think it's okay to hate on others for liking something.  A lot of the time people will hate on fans of something, and they're joking.  Joking's fine to an extent, but after hearing people jokingly hate on you for liking something so many times, that gets really old too.

I just wish more people would be tolerant of what other people like.  I like a lot of things considered nerdy by most people.  I don't think nerdy things are inherently bad, and I could care less if other people make fun of them.  Yes, I watch Avatar, which is a cartoon that comes on Nickelodeon.  It has a great plot and characters.  Why does it matter if it's animated?  Yes, I'm beyond obsessed with Harry Potter, which is technically a children's book.  (A children's book that deals with death and tons of other complicated things, I might add.)  I went to a Harry Potter convention.  I have such an emotional attachment to Harry Potter that I can't even adequately explain it to people who don't see the books and fandom like I do.  And I think that's the biggest thing here.  We see things differently.  My love for Harry Potter started with the books, but it's become so much more than that.

I think when people become huge fans of things, they have reasons that go beyond, "I just like it."  They fall in love with it some how.  It may be difficult for them to explain their feelings for it, but they shouldn't have to.

I hate Justin Bieber.  I'm not hating on his fans, but I personally don't like anything about him.  But I don't make fun of people who do like him.  They obviously have reasons, and what does it matter to me.

I've kind of been dealing with stuff like this for a while, but it got worse after becoming a One Direction fan.  People hate on One Direction fans all the time, and I'm part of a group that has it even worse because I'm a Larry shipper.  Other One Direction fans even hate on us.  It's ridiculous.  First of all, if you hate on One Direction without listening to their music that's not on the radio, your opinion on their music isn't valid.  (What Makes You Beautiful and Live While We're Young were basically written in order to sell as singles.  I don't consider them accurate representations of One Direction's music as a whole.  Same goes for any musical artist in my opinion.)  But I'll gladly admit that, while I love their music dearly, there's more to my obsession with One Direction than just that.  I love the five of them as people too.  (And I don't mean that in an "Oh my God.  I'm going to marry one of them one day!!!" way.  Although I wouldn't complain...)  Yes, I know that they're celebrities, so we can never know truly know their personalities.  I think you can come pretty darn close if you actually pay attention and learn to realize what's crap made up by the media/their PR and what's really them.  But this isn't even the point...

I just get so frustrated when people feel the need to bring others down based on what they like.  First of all, what they like has no effect on you what-so-ever.  Secondly, you can't possibly know why they like what they do.  I know tons of people who were saved from killing themselves because of a certain something (books, TV show, band, etc.).  They're probably not going to advertise the fact that they were once (maybe still are) suicidal, but how do you think they feel when they see you hating on something that saved their life?  Tons of fans have stories like that, and tons more have similar stories that may not have been quite as severe.  I was never suicidal, but I can't even begin to tell you the number of things Harry Potter (and other things I love) helped me through (especially in middle school), and I hate seeing people attacked for liking things that they probably have just as strong an emotional attachment to.

I don't even know what this post became, but I really do feel strongly about this.  Just please never hate on someone for liking something, no matter what it is.  You never know what their reasons are for liking it, and it's not your place to judge.

Waiting for Korra

I miss Korra.  It's been about seven months since season one ended, and we really have no idea when season two will air.  For a while it wasn't bothering me too much.  I could wait.  I'm starting to really anticipate it though.  It just got worse when Alyson Stoner announced that she'd be voicing a character in season two.  For those of you who don't know, I spent most of my preteen and early teen years being somewhat obsessed with Alyson Stoner, so I'm pretty excited about this.  Grey DeLisle (who voiced Azula in Avatar) is also voicing a character for season two, and I just really want to see these episodes.

At least we know that it's supposed to air some time this year.  That's better than nothing.  I just wish we knew when this year.  Even if it wasn't going to air until late this year, I'd still prefer knowing that.  Not much I can do though.  Every small tidbit of information makes me more excited.  I'm going to be beyond excited when it finally airs.

I Can't Resist One Direction

I guess because I got so much done yesterday I shouldn't feel so bad about how little I got done today, but I do.  I woke up later and then had to go to church, so I guess those were both factors.  I feel a lot less sick today though, which was great.

I did manage to get all of the homework done that I wanted to today, but it was much later than yesterday.  Still, as of right now I have very little homework to work on for tomorrow, so unless I get a bunch of new assignments, tomorrow will be a fairly easy day as far as homework goes.

Other than homework and church, I didn't do a whole lot.  I managed to waste more than an hour watching old One Direction videos from The X-Factor for the millionth time.  I didn't mean for it to happen, but someone reblogged a masterpost with all of the videos listed on Tumblr.  How could I not get distracted and have to watch almost all of them?

The rest of my day was basically spent reading.  I read some of a Twilight fanfiction I've been reading the past week or so.  (It's a long one.)  In addition to that, I read a play and some of the book I'm currently reading.  I'm actually still trying to read that book, but I keep getting distracted.  I'm going to try and get back to that now.  I want to try and finish another chapter before taking a shower.

A Productive Saturday

I feel like today is the most productive day I've had in a while, which is odd considering it's a Saturday.  I'm still sick, but it's not bothering me as much as it had been.  My roommate was gone the past couple of days for this big March for Life trip my school has, and she got back in the very early morning.  I woke up when she came in, and my throat was so painful that I almost couldn't go back to sleep because of it.  I eventually did though, and when I woke back up this morning, it was actually feeling much better.

I managed to get laundry done.  It was the first time I'd done laundry at school since before Thanksgiving break.  I got lucky and got the last available washer, and then someone came and finally got their clothes (that had been sitting since I was in there) right before I needed a dryer.  People really need to start getting their clothes as soon as they're done.  There are only so many machines!

I also took out the trash, unpacked some of the suitcase that's been sitting there since break, and various other small things that needed to be done.  Not to mention I've gotten more homework done in a certain span of time than I have this entire semester.  I still have some I'd like to get done today, but overall I've made good progress today.  I was even able to watch an episode of Naruto and edit a video.

Hopefully the rest of my day stays as productive.  I just have a bit more homework to do, and I want to write some of course.  That's really all I have left to get done.  This is the first day in a while where I could say that so early in the day.

Book Review: Sound by Shelley Workinger

ISBN: 1478377003
Published: November 1st, 2012
Publisher: self-published
Read from January 18th to 23rd, 2013
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Clio Kaid's had one crazy summer.
After learning she was one of a hundred teens who were genetically modified before birth, she and the others departed for "camp" at a classified military site.
Besides discovering her own special ability, uncovering a conspiracy, and capturing a killer, she's also forged new friendships, found love, and managed to lose them both.
With no answers and the end of summer closing in, Clio's terrified of going home more lost than when she arrived.
Will she finally find everything she's been looking for?
Find out in this exciting conclusion to the Solid trilogy.

Review:

I loved this book just as much as the first two in the series.  I had no idea how the author was going to wrap things up, so I really had no idea what to expect when I started the book.  The only thing I knew was that I wanted Clio to repair her relationship with her friends.  Other than that I wasn't sure what most of the book would consist of.

*Slight spoilers*

The ending of the book was definitely left open-ended.  About halfway through the book I couldn't figure out how all of the loose ends were going to be tied up by the end of the book.  I found it really interesting that they weren't because it wasn't like they were left open in a way that shows bad writing because the author failed in some way.  Instead, Jack specifically tells Clio that you don't always get the answers to everything (I'm paraphrasing.  I can't remember what exactly is said.).  I was really intrigued by that.  I thought it was a really neat idea to go that route and not tie everything up.  Instead it could be left up to the reader, so as I was reading the ending I was fully prepared to not get answers to everything.

Then I read the epilogue.  The epilogue was different than just leaving some loose ends.  It seemed to specifically imply that there was more the the story.  It didn't just leave plot points open.  It created more of them, which left me kind of confused.  This is supposed to be the last book, but now I'm left wondering about the epilogue.  Maybe there's more to do with that?  Maybe a different series or book based around the same universe that will expand on the epilogue?  I don't know.  I do know that, if there is a new book or series, I'll read it.

*End of spoilers*

I really enjoyed Sound and the whole series.  I'd never read a series like it before.  The idea of teenagers finding out they were genetically altered before they were even born was a really neat idea.  I loved the characters and the storyline.  I definitely recommend this series.

Colds and Homework

The past few days haven't been the greatest.  I think it was almost a week ago when I started suspecting that I was getting a cold, but about three days ago was when it started getting really bad.  Yesterday was particularly miserable.  This morning I woke up with my throat feeling worse than before, but overall I actually feel better.  I think it has a lot to do with only having one class today, so I've just been in my room resting (and doing homework).  I'm hoping I'll feel even better tomorrow even though I have more to do.

I managed to get a lot of work done, but for the past few hours I've gotten completely distracted even though I still have a bit of work to do for English.  I really hope I do actually get around to getting that done instead of pushing it off to a later day.  I'm having such a hard time forcing myself to work on it though...

Inauguration and Three Day Weekends

I feel as if I've had the laziest weekend possible.  I spent a good deal of time doing homework on Saturday and Sunday, but even so, I feel like I've mostly just done nothing.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that my roommate's been gone all weekend and it was a three day weekend.  Even though I did a ton of homework, I've been mostly by myself (I think nearly everyone went home this weekend).  Plus, having today off as well made it seem even longer, and I didn't have much homework to work on today.

It snowed earlier, so I avoided going outside all day today.  (I really should have eaten in the dining hall instead of using up microwaveable food though.)  Luckily it's all melted now, but it's still way too cold outside.  I'm not looking forward to walking to classes tomorrow.  It's also supposed to snow again on Thursday.  Maybe we'll get extremely lucky and it won't.

I spent most of my morning watching the inauguration.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many people I follow on Twitter and Tumblr were also tweeting about it.  I figured since it was Obama's second term, most people wouldn't care to watch it.  I'm happy that so many people seemed to have cared anyway.

Other than the inauguration and some homework, I spent most of today watching shows and reading fanfiction.  I'm in the middle of reading a Twilight fanfiction right now.

Tomorrow's not only the first day back after a three day weekend, but it's also the busiest day of my week.  Let's hope classes go well!

Weekends Feel Weird Now

It's only my first weekend back at Marian, and it honestly feels kind of weird.  I forgot what it felt like to be at school on days there aren't classes.  Plus my roommate left for the weekend, so I have the dorm to myself.  It should have been great time to get homework done, but I'm kind of slacking on that.  I don't even know how I managed to waste so much time, but I did.  I still managed to get a decent amount of work done tonight though, so I'm not too bothered.

I had three classes today, and it's kind of interesting because my science professor talked about philosophy in life science today.  He was talking about stuff that my philosophy professor had mentioned in either our first or second philosophy class.  It was because our science professor was talking to us about the beginnings of science, and he talked about how science and philosophy had started out being the same thing.  I just find it cool when other classes overlap.  (My psychology professor mentioned philosophy the other day too, but he was kind of making fun of it.)

We learned about The Apology in philosophy today, and now we have a three page packet to read that's something (I didn't look too closely at the title or anything) that Plato wrote.  We talked about different types of government and other basic things in politics today.  And we went over really basic stuff in life science today too.  I feel as if we haven't gone over anything I didn't already know in either politics or life science so far.  I wonder how long that will last.

I have a bit of work that I want to finish up for my technology in education class, and then I think I'm going to be done with homework for the night.  I'll probably spend the rest of my night reading, but we'll see.

Adjusting to Dorm Life

When I really think about it, it's kind of weird how comfortable I've gotten living in a dorm.  I still prefer my room at home, but it's really not that bad once you get used to it.

At first the whole idea of the dorms terrified me.  Being stuck in a somewhat small room with a stranger was scary.  Now though I've gotten really used to being stuck in here with my roommate.  I still would prefer not to have a roommate overall (not my roommate's fault, I'm just an introvert), but I've adjusted to it.

I also used to want the door to the room shut all the time because I felt weird about people walking by (social anxiety does that to you).  Now I keep it open almost all the time.  I really only have it shut at night.  Our room is right across from one of the exits, so a lot of people walk by our room when leaving our hall.  At first it made me nervous.  Now I could care less.  And if someone says hi when they walk by, I no longer panic.  It's kind of great.

I'm still not a fan of the small space and public bathroom and showers, but I've adjusted.  I don't know if I ever actually expected myself to get this comfortable here.  I hoped I would, but I don't know if I actually believed it.  I was getting pretty down on myself right before Christmas break because of certain things, and I just pushed them to the side over break without thinking about them, but in my first several days back I'm really starting to feel better about the things I was down about before.  And I think the realization of how much more comfortable I am living on campus than I was in August is a big contributing factor to that.

New Classes

Here goes my first blog post since starting the spring semester.  I really like all of my classes so far.  I think I'm going to enjoy all of them, which is something I can't say about last semester (nothing against my precalculus class, but it's just math...).

I was a bit worried about philosophy, but so far things are going pretty good in that class.  I was worried it would end up like my theology class last semester (the potential to be interesting but easily made boring by the professor), but I think our philosophy professor will be able to make it interesting enough that I don't want to fall asleep.  It probably won't be my favorite class, but I do think I'll enjoy it.  I find philosophy interesting to a certain degree.  I just don't know how much I'll like studying it.

My intro to American politics class is also really enjoyable so far.  Politics has always been interesting to me. I think it's because it ties in so closely to history a lot of times, and I'm a complete history nerd.  We haven't talked about anything other than the absolute basics (the professor talked about the definition of politics today), but I think it'll be fun.

My English class seems really great.  It's a class that's for English majors only, and the class is basically to introduce you to the major.  There are only eight of us in the class, and the entire class is basically a discussion.  It's great because my English class last semester only had a few English majors.  Discussing English and literature with only English majors is entirely new to me, and I love it.  The only downside to the class is that each time we've ran over and I've been late to life sciences.

My life sciences class reminds me so much of AP biology, which I took junior year of high school.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it.  Biology and astronomy have always been the two types of science that I find most interesting.  We have three one-hour lectures a week and one two-hour lab a week.  We've only just started as far as lectures go, so there hasn't been anything at all difficult as of now.  I had my lab yesterday, and it was okay.  It was kind of an introductory lab, and I'm sure the ones from here on out will be more interesting.  What has me worried is that we're apparently going to be doing blood typing with purchased blood.  Not ideal for someone with a phobia of blood.  We'll see how that goes when it comes time...

I'm so excited for psychology.  I loved the psychology class I took senior year of high school.  (I probably should have added that to my list of favorite sciences in the last paragraph.)  When the professor was going over what we'd study, a lot of it sounded like what we talked about in high school.  I find everything so interesting though that I'm not bothered by that.  Plus, our professor is an actual psychologist, which is different from high school.  It should be a lot of fun.

The only other class I have is my night class.  It's two and a half hours long and only one night a week.  I had it last night.  It seems fun enough.  It's technology in education.  My first education class.  I'm excited to do a lot of the stuff we're going to learn.  It's so late though, and the class is so long.  I'm not looking forward to that.  And walking back to the dorms in the dark in the middle of winter is not fun at all.  I was freezing!

Outside of classes, yesterday was pretty eventful.  Our heater has been broken, so that got fixed the other day.  Now we have a cool dial on our wall that tells us how high up the heater is.  Definitely a step up from the tiny knob inside the cobwebbed covered heater that we used to have to turn.  My roommate also lost her key, so our door locks had to be changed.  It took no time at all, but we had trouble getting our new keys since no one was down in the office.  Our RA brought them to us last night though, so that was taken care of.  Hopefully we won't have to be calling maintenance for anything else anytime soon!

Now I'm off to play Sims.  I've been wanted to play since yesterday and haven't gotten around to it.  (It's been at least a week since I last played.)  I still have homework to do, but I'll have time afterwards.

Start of the Spring Semester

Well, I'm back at Marian, and the spring semester starts tomorrow.  I'm not really sure how I feel about it.  I like being at Marian, but I also really miss home while I'm here.  Plus, it means that I'm going to start getting really busy and swamped with work soon.  I'm looking forward to a lot of my classes, but I also think that they'll require a lot of work.

I also have to adjust to dorm life again.  I'm back to living in a small room with a roommate after getting my own room back for a month.  And dining hall food.  I despise Marian's food in the dining hall.  You should see the amount of microwaveable food I had my mom buy.  I avoid that dining hall as much as I can.  By the end of last semester, the manager at Subway actually said something to me about how often I came in there. You would do if you'd eaten at our dining hall.  Someone actually got food poisoning in there and went off about it on Facebook.  I love my school, but that's definitely one of the worst parts of it.

I've already talked to several people that it was great to see again.  As an introvert though, I'm not really looking forward to having almost no escape from people.  One of the downsides of having a roommate and living in a dorm.

I'm not entirely unpacked yet.  I still have to unpack my suitcase full of clothes, and I'll probably have that done sometime in the next month or so (or however long it takes me to wear all of the clothes).  I pretty much unpacked everything else.  I've apparently made a habit of forgetting one thing each time.  I remembered my pillows this time (thank God), but I forgot my alarm clock (which is kind of important).  I had this random cheap alarm clock sitting in my dorm, so I'm using it.  It makes this really annoying ticking sound though, and Katie and I took down the wall clock I had up because the ticking annoyed us so much.  Also, I've never used this clock, and I can only hope I set the alarm clock correctly.  Here's to praying I wake up on time in the morning.  My mom's supposed to be mailing my other alarm clock, so hopefully that gets here soon (and doesn't get lost in the mail, which would probably result in me being in tears).

I'm looking forward to my classes in a way, but I'm also a bit nervous.  I'm always nervous about new stuff like this and meeting new people.  I feel way better than I did at the start of last semester though.  My new classes are probably going to require a lot of work, but they are on topics that should be fun to study (except maybe philosophy, I'm pretty nervous about that).  And this semester I feel confident that I can find all the classrooms with no problem.  I still have to get my textbooks.  I plan on getting that started right after classes tomorrow.  Hopefully this semester goes well!

Naruto Shippuden Episodes 17-32 Review

I don't even know where to begin talking about these episodes.  I guess I'll start by talking about how creepy I find Sasori.  I think I find him so creepy because I don't really understand how he did what he did.  I mean, I know it's a fictional world and all, but I can't wrap my mind around how he could make himself into a puppet.  I also don't really understand how you make people into puppets that don't seem to be bodies, if that makes sense.  I just decided to stop questioning it though and just go with it.

The story of Sasori's childhood was very sad though.  It makes you almost feel sorry for him, but he's so evil and creepy that you don't at the same time.  I really liked that part of the story.

I also really hate Deidara.  Not in the same way I hate Sasori though.  Sasori was genuinely creepy.  Deidara just annoys me.  Obviously he's a threat, and he's a capable villian in some ways.  But he's so cocky and arrogant.  It just gets on my nerves.  Every time he opens his mouth I want to yell at him to shut up.

I can't talk enough about how much I love Naruto and Gaara's relationship.  Gaara is one of my favorite characters, which is odd considering I don't usually like characters like him.  I love his story though, and I absolutely love how his relationship with Naruto has developed.  Naruto when he thinks Gaara is dead forever is so heartbreaking.  And Granny Chiyo giving up her life for Gaara was heartbreaking as well.  I loved how that storyline went.  It was sad to watch, but I thought it was really well done.  I knew Gaara was going to live because of spoilers, but it was still a very emotional moment.

These episodes also introduce Sai a bit.  I know next to nothing about Sai, which is kind of odd considering how many spoilers I know about the series.  All I know is that he replaces Sasuke in Team Kakashi (which is already forshadowed in these episodes).  I'm kind of intrigued by him.  He seems like a character that I would dislike, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.  Hopefully I end up liking him.  It'll be interesting to see

Book Review: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin

ISBN: 0316018716
Published: April 10th, 2008 (first published April 17th, 2007)
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Read from November 15th, 2012 to January 3rd, 2013
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Hailed by reviewers as "powerful," "haunting" and "a tour de force of personal journalism," When A Crocodile Eats the Sun is the unforgettable story of one man's struggle to discover his past and come to terms with his present. Award winning author and journalist Peter Godwin writes with pathos and intimacy about Zimbabwe's spiral into chaos and, along with it, his family's steady collapse. This dramatic memoir is a searing portrait of unspeakable tragedy and exile, but it is also vivid proof of the profound strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.

Review:

I was originally reading this book for my history class because we were going to have to write a paper on it.  I was about a hundred pages into the book when my professor said we no longer had to read it.  At that point I was far enough into it that I decided I was just going to finish is anyway.  I decided to read it slowly though, and that's why it took me about a month and a half to finish.

I greatly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs.  It's is really fascinating.  Godwin was a white born and raised in Africa, and it really is fascinating to read about Zimbabwe from that point of view.  I don't think many of us in America (and various other countries) really understand what day to day life is like in Africa.  This book really helps you to start understanding.  I wasn't very informed of Zimbabwe's history, and I knew nothing of it's current political situation.  It's the kind of thing where I was shocked that all of this had been going on and I'd never known.  It really shows how little African news is reported in other nations.

I think everyone should read this book just to learn more about what life is really like in Africa.  People tend to just think of poverty when they think of Africa, but it's so much more complicated than that.  This book does a brilliant job of showing what it's like in Zimbabwe, and I think it's something that way more people need to know about.

Family Relationships

Isn't it kind of weird to think about how your relationship with your family changes over time?  I guess I've kind of been thinking about that lately, since I came back from school and got to see a lot of my family for the first time in months.  My little brother and younger male cousins' voices are all changing, and they're ridiculously tall now.  It's so weird.  That doesn't really have much to do with relationships, but they're definitely getting older and that's more obvious when I'm away for long periods of time.

My sister and I used to fight like crazy.  I'm pretty sure that at least nine out of ten times that I was punished as a child involved fights with her.  It was probably an even higher number than that.  For long periods of time we probably got in huge fights daily.  We definitely still fight, but it's a million times calmer than before.  And the fights are more slight arguments than attacking each other over extremely little things.  We actually willingly spend time with each other now where things don't dissolve into a huge fight.

My brother and I have always gotten along, so the changes in our relationship are less obvious.  Same with my parents.  Things change so gradually that I don't even realize it.  I was thinking the other day about how I used to pick my brother up all the time for absolutely no reason.  I probably did that until he was at least eight years old, maybe slightly older.  I was still picking him up when he was at least half my height.  Now that would be impossible.  He's almost as tall as I am, and there's no way I could even if I wanted to.

I remember going through a phase, around middle school and maybe the beginning of high school, where I felt like an outsider in my family.  I never really rebelled or anything, but I pretty much just sat in a corner and did almost nothing during family gathering because I felt so out of place.  I'm not oldest on my dad's side and one of the youngest on my mom's.  I only have two cousins relatively close to my age (one on each side), and both of them are boys.  At that age I felt too old to play with my younger cousins, too young to fit in with my older cousins, and I definitely didn't fit in with the adults.  Even though the age gaps are the same as they've always been (and should probably be more obvious since my older cousins are mostly parents and my younger ones are now in grade school and I'm a college student), I don't feel that way anymore.  I don't know why.  I used to hate going to family events because I felt out of place, but now I love them and love getting to see my family.

I'm sure similar things happen to everyone, but it's interesting to think back on how things have changed with my family over the years.

One Week of Break Left

Now that I only have a week until I go back to school time seems to be flying by.  I can't believe that exactly a week from now I'll probably be getting settled in my dorm again.

I only have a week left, and I haven't really gotten to see my friends much.  I've seen a lot of family, but as far as friends go, I've only gotten to see Haley and Jordan and not for that long.  Maybe I'll see someone this week, but I really doubt it.  I guess that's a drawback to Christmas break.  You get so caught up in Christmas and family stuff that it's hard to see friends.  I'm not doing anything this week though, so who knows.

I'm going to get back to reading fanfiction.  For some reason I decided to read a sad fanfiction, something I rarely do.  I'm not so sure it was a good idea...

Book Review: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

Published: 1984 (first published 1956)
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Read from December 21st to 25th, 2012
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Narnia...where dwarfs are loyal and tough and strong--or are they? ...where you must say goodbye...and where the adventure begins again.
The Unicorn says that humans are brought to Narnia when Narnia is stirred and upset. And Narnia is in trouble now: A false Aslan roams the land. Narnia's only hope is that Eustace and Jill, old friends to Narnia, will be able to find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land. Their task is a difficult one because, as the Centaur says, "The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do." Who is the real Aslan and who is the imposter?

Review:

I really enjoyed the end of this series.  This review is probably going to contain a lot of spoilers, so I wouldn't read it if you don't wanted know what happens.

I feel as if I would have more to say about the book if I had reviewed it sooner, but it's been almost two weeks, and I've read quite a lot since then.  (I had to get get caught up with my goal for the year.)  I knew before that the kids would die because I'd read it online (whoops), but I still don't know how I feel about that.  I mean, they didn't suffer or anything obviously, but I just don't know...  I guess the point was that once they had seen what is basically heaven they can't go back to their world, and Lewis wanted to write about heaven so he had to have the characters die.  Still it seems kind of harsh considering how young most of them are.  And the parents dying too made it even more over the top.  I guess kids reading the series would be a bit comforted by seeing that the parents were there too, but I can't help but wondering how Susan is feeling back on earth having lost her entire family so suddenly.  She's not even mentioned...

I do like how death was handled.  It wasn't presented as this absolutely terrifying thing, and I really think it would help kids reading the book be less scared of death.  The characters are all dead, but they're happy.  If you had a kid who was really scared of death or something, reading this book might help.

It was kind of sad to see the end of Narnia, but overall I thought the book was a good end to the series.  I enjoyed it.

Having read the whole series, I think The Horse and His Boy was my favorite, which is interesting considering that until about the middle of the book I didn't like it at all.  I find that it's the one I think about the most though.  I'm not really even sure why.  There's just something about that one that I really liked.

I Can Drive Again

Today I woke up far earlier than I have since the holiday season began.  I had to go to the BMV with my mom this morning, and they closed at 12:30.  I wanted to get there even earlier than needed though in order to get it over with, so I woke up and was ready to go at nine.  Then it turns out that my sister had taken my mom's keys (even though she had a different car), so we had to wait for her to get home and waking up that early had been slightly useless.  She got home relatively quickly though, so we were still able to leave pretty early.

People who have been reading this blog for a while (or following me on Twitter, Youtube, etc.) know that my permit expired a while back without me ever getting my license.  Well, I now have a permit again.  I'm going to actually drive this time, and hopefully I'll have my license some time this summer.  I still hate driving, but being stuck on campus with no way around is driving me crazy.  I can't do that again next year.  I need a car.  Plus I'm going to have a kitchenette next year, and I'll need a way to go grocery shopping.  (Technically there's one I can walk to, but the way to it kind of freaks me out.  My school's campus is safe, but it's in what is basically the worst neighborhood in Indianapolis.)

My mom made me drive around my old high school's parking lot for a little bit too.  I have to say that I have at least improved over when I very first started driving around the end of my freshmen year of high school.  It still terrifies me though...

Since getting home I've managed to write some Hunger Games fanfiction, and now I'm listening to a podcast.  I imagine that's what the rest of my day will be like.

Cooking and Sleep Schedules

Today has been spent watching stuff on my computer more than anything else.  I spent this morning watching some documentary on Netflix about the remaining royal families, and I just managed to finally finish up an episode of Naruto that I've been trying to get through for hours right before I started writing this.

I cooked dinner for my family tonight (with some help from my mom).  It was chicken cutlets parmigiana.  We had a bit of trouble getting the chicken to cook all the way through the way the recipe said to cook it, so we had to put it in the oven for longer than the recipe called for (according to the recipe, you're just supposed to broil it).  It turned out pretty well though.

That's been the extent of my day.  I was finally starting to get back to a normal sleeping routine, but New Year's screwed that up, so now I'm sleeping in pretty late (although some days are worse than others).  Because of that I feel as if most of the day is already gone by the time I get up.  I definitely need to start getting a normal sleep schedule again before I go back to school.

First Post of 2013 (Unfortunately)

I'm still worn out from New Year's.  It's probably partially due to my allergies, which are currently giving me a massive headache.  I haven't really done much today, and I think it's because I feel so horrible.  I wanted to get this book read today, but I spent hours and only got through two chapters.  I just couldn't concentrate.  Now I'm listening to a podcast because it doesn't really require doing much, but I keep zoning out and missing what they're talking about.  That's literally all I've done today basically other than sit on Twitter and Tumblr.  I'm just ending this post here because it's nothing but me complaining, and I really can't find the energy to write anything else.  This is my first post of 2013.  I could have started the year off better...