Today's to do list is currently as long as most of my to do lists are when I wake up in the morning. And it's past seven at night. That's not because I haven't done anything today. This is less than half of what was on the list this morning. Thank god it's the weekend tomorrow, so I'm not too worried about it. Tomorrow's to do list isn't incredibly long, so it looks like I'll be finishing all of this stuff up then.
I'm not going to complain though. So far the end of the semester is going as well as it can be expected to. There's a lot going on, but things are good. At least I enjoy most of my classes. Even the one that I'm not overjoyed about isn't terrible. Things could be so much worse.
Oh! I can't forget to mention that I bought Star Wars tickets today for the Thursday it comes out! I'm so excited! Yay! That's actually the Thursday after finals for me, so that's excellent timing.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Movie Review: Mockingjay Part 2
It's been almost a week since I've seen Mockingjay, and I still feel like I can't really talk about it largely because it feels so important to me as a movie. You see, despite all of the hate Mockingjay gets in comparison to the other two books of the series, it's my favorite of the Hunger Games books. While the entire book is my favorite, there's so much that I particularly love about the parts that became the second Mockingjay movie. Add that it was also the final Hunger Games movie, and this movie just makes me really emotional.
Long story short, I loved it. I knew it was going to be great because all of the others had been. All of the actors did a fantastic job, and after being worried that my favorite scene from the entire series would be cut, I am still so happy that it was in the movie.
Of course, not everything can be perfect, so I did find two things that felt off to me. But one of those I can't even fault them for really, and they're not huge. (*SPOILER WARNING for the rest of this paragraph and the next*) The first was Haymitch reading the letter from Plutarch to Katniss. I appreciated the use of "Plutarch can't be seen with you now" to explain why he wasn't there, but it still felt strange to me, especially knowing that this scene was supposed to mimic the scene with Plutarch on the hovercraft in the book. I felt a little jarred during the scene, and because I was thinking about it, I realized that the scene must have been reworked because of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Because of that, I really can't fault them, but it did feel like it played out strangely to me.
The next part that was strange to me was the epilogue, which was probably what I was also most worried about going into the movie. I really wish they had left it without dialogue like how it is in the book. Katniss' speech to the baby felt a little strange to me and also not Katniss-like. I didn't really like it at all, which is a shame because I was hoping the epilogue would be done really well. (But I also wasn't surprised that it wasn't my favorite part of the movie. I do really love it in the book.)
I don't want the negatives to overwhelm this review though. I really did love the movie. I think the problem was that I loved so much of it that it's hard to pinpoint which things to talk about. So much of it felt like the book despite changes, and I think that's always one of the biggest things with book to movie adaptations.
I'm really sad that the series is over. Part of me doesn't know what to do with myself, which has made it harder for me to write this review. I want to pretend like there's more of Hunger Games in the future. Since it has to be over though, I'm really happy with the movie, and I'm just very thankful that we got as good of an adaptation of the series as we did.
Long story short, I loved it. I knew it was going to be great because all of the others had been. All of the actors did a fantastic job, and after being worried that my favorite scene from the entire series would be cut, I am still so happy that it was in the movie.
Of course, not everything can be perfect, so I did find two things that felt off to me. But one of those I can't even fault them for really, and they're not huge. (*SPOILER WARNING for the rest of this paragraph and the next*) The first was Haymitch reading the letter from Plutarch to Katniss. I appreciated the use of "Plutarch can't be seen with you now" to explain why he wasn't there, but it still felt strange to me, especially knowing that this scene was supposed to mimic the scene with Plutarch on the hovercraft in the book. I felt a little jarred during the scene, and because I was thinking about it, I realized that the scene must have been reworked because of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Because of that, I really can't fault them, but it did feel like it played out strangely to me.
The next part that was strange to me was the epilogue, which was probably what I was also most worried about going into the movie. I really wish they had left it without dialogue like how it is in the book. Katniss' speech to the baby felt a little strange to me and also not Katniss-like. I didn't really like it at all, which is a shame because I was hoping the epilogue would be done really well. (But I also wasn't surprised that it wasn't my favorite part of the movie. I do really love it in the book.)
I don't want the negatives to overwhelm this review though. I really did love the movie. I think the problem was that I loved so much of it that it's hard to pinpoint which things to talk about. So much of it felt like the book despite changes, and I think that's always one of the biggest things with book to movie adaptations.
I'm really sad that the series is over. Part of me doesn't know what to do with myself, which has made it harder for me to write this review. I want to pretend like there's more of Hunger Games in the future. Since it has to be over though, I'm really happy with the movie, and I'm just very thankful that we got as good of an adaptation of the series as we did.
Life Post: Just Think About the Weekend
I'm writing this after a difficult morning where I woke up at my alarm and then fell back asleep (without hitting the snooze button or anything like that). I woke up to noise in the next dorm about twenty minutes later, and I wasn't late to anything. Still, it's left me feeling a bit out of it, and I woke up with a headache. Not the funnest situation in the world.
This week has still been packed full of things to do. Today is the day where I only have one class, which is awesome, but I still have plenty that I have to get done today. I just keep reminding myself that there's today, tomorrow (which will be even worse because I have an early, three-hour class), and then it will be the weekend. I can make it until then.
Over on Youtube, I did manage to get up a Star Wars tag video that I filmed days ago. You can go watch that if you're interested in what Star Wars planet I would live on, my Star Wars name, etc.
This week has still been packed full of things to do. Today is the day where I only have one class, which is awesome, but I still have plenty that I have to get done today. I just keep reminding myself that there's today, tomorrow (which will be even worse because I have an early, three-hour class), and then it will be the weekend. I can make it until then.
Over on Youtube, I did manage to get up a Star Wars tag video that I filmed days ago. You can go watch that if you're interested in what Star Wars planet I would live on, my Star Wars name, etc.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Book Review: Decorum by Kaaren Christopherson
ISBN: 1617735213Published: March 31st, 2015
Publisher: Kensington
Read from November 12th to 26th, 2015
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Kaaren Christopherson's brilliantly observed novel captures the glamour and grit of one of the world's most dazzling cities during one of its most tumultuous eras--as seen through the eyes of a singularly captivating heroine...
In 1890s New York, beautiful, wealthy Francesca Lund is an intriguing prospect for worthy suitors and fortune hunters alike. Recently orphaned, she copes by working with the poor in the city's settlement movement. But a young woman of means can't shun society for long, and Francesca's long-standing acquaintance with dashing Edmund Tracey eventually leads to engagement. Yet her sheltered upbringing doesn't blind her to the indiscretions of the well-to-do...
Among the fashionable circle that gathers around her there are mistresses, scandals, and gentlemen of ruthless ambition. And there is Connor O'Casey--an entirely new kind of New Yorker. A self-made millionaire of Irish stock, Connor wants more than riches. He wants to create a legacy in the form of a luxury Madison Avenue hotel--and he wants Francesca by his side as he does it. In a quest that will take her from impeccable Manhattan salons to the wild Canadian Rockies, Francesca must choose not only between two vastly different men, but between convention and her own emerging self-reliance.
Review:
I was really torn over how I felt about this book. I still am a bit to be honest. There were parts of it I really liked, but there were also parts of it that I strongly disliked. While it feels like there were more parts of it that I disliked than liked, that could also just be because I'm remembering the negatives more than the positives. Either way, I didn't enjoy this book that much. I would start to finally get into it again, and then something would happen that either made me annoyed with the book (not in a good way) or it just got boring and difficult to pay attention to.
There were many times where the story felt long winded to me, and I think the story would have benefited from trimming out some bits that felt unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. I think the book tries to follow a lot of people at once too, and some of the stories seem to fall off as loose ends. I think some of those stories would have been better off having had a lesser focus in the beginning.
The books is, overall, I think, supposed to be an historical romance, but it didn't feel much like a romance to me. If I was to peg it as anything, it was historical fiction that felt like a slice of the life of the characters. There wasn't anything overtly romantic. I despised Tracey from the moment he was on the page, and there was certainly nothing about his and Francesca's relationship that could be determined as romantic.
I didn't like Connor much either truthfully, but setting that aside, his "romance" with Francesca felt very abrupt and out of nowhere. It really doesn't come in until close to the end of the book really, and I'm still not sure if I was supposed to find it romantic or not. I think they could have a nice marriage. There was nothing horribly wrong with their relationship as a relationship. It just didn't feel like I was reading a romance. They were far too practical and logical for that. Neither of those things are unable to be in a typical romance novel relationship, but there didn't seem to be much romance between Connor and Francesca either.
That isn't something I would count against the book. I enjoy reading stories that aren't romances after all. It just left me a bit unsure about what I was reading. What made me dislike the book was all the parts where I got bored with the story and began zoning out. That happened far more than it should have.
It was still a nice book. I enjoyed some of it at least, but I can't say it's a book that I would recommend.
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for a review.
Life Post: Too Much
It's only the second day back after Thanksgiving break, and I am over my head with work. I'd had a calmer period leading up to break, and now everything has hit me full force. There's so much to do, and I know it's going to be that way straight through finals week. The one thing keeping me from losing my mind is knowing that there's only a couple of weeks left. I don't think I could keep up with this level of work for longer than that.
I'm going to keep this short since I have so much to do today (more than I can realistically get done, if I'm being honest). Soon, it will be Christmas break, and despite it only being three weeks this year, that's at least three weeks where I won't have to worry about school work.
I'm going to keep this short since I have so much to do today (more than I can realistically get done, if I'm being honest). Soon, it will be Christmas break, and despite it only being three weeks this year, that's at least three weeks where I won't have to worry about school work.
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