HD Love, Jimmies (plural), & the Like

5 Interesting Things You All Ought to Know

-1-

New year, new me, new blog.

 Look around. Isn't it colorful? I am currently working on improving the layout of the blog and making it more functional. I'll be rolling out some more minor changes which will hopefully make this blog easier to navigate. 

-2-

Heather Dixon loves me.

Me, and Marlene. Below is a screenshot to prove it. If you haven't read Heather Dixon's positively enchanting novel Entwined or clicked "follow" for her hysterical blog Story-Monster, I would highly recommend it. She can make me laugh (or swoon) even on the darkest and dreariest of days.

Fangirl captions added for your entertainment.

-3-

Downton is back, ladies n' gents.

While other viewers are trying to keep calm and carry on after Season 3, I am still suffering from post-Season 2 depression. Face it: Best season of Downton Abbey ever. I have professed my love for William and Branson and Downton Abbey before, so I will leave the gushing to my past self. I am looking forward to Season 4 viewing sessions with my family until I return to school. My sisters, mother, and I all make tea and watch it together, and my father inevitably asks for the details the next day. (He's secretly a fan. I just know it.) So far it's more of the same, but the promise of new characters should shake things up relatively soon.

 -4-

On top of Jimmy, there are jimmies!

There's Downton Abbey Jimmy, and then there are jimmies. As of tomorrow, I'll have both! I'm planning to bake some sprinkle-covered cookies over the course of the week, and for some reason the irony of back-to-back Jimmy-ness tickles my funny bone.

Durdurdur I'm Jimmy durdurdur.

-5-

 My sister loves Earl Grey. I repeat: SHE LOVES EARL GREY.

I watched my youngest sister acquire a taste for tea over the past few years, but we had sort of parted ways. She experimented with vanilla chai concoctions while I perfected the art of a perfectly steeped, stirred, and sweetened cup of E.G. She saw me having my "usual" this evening and asked for a sip. She brought the mug to her lips, took a tiny sip, looked me in the eye, smiled, and said, "That was delicious." I promptly made her her own cup and watched her skip off into boiled leaf juice bliss. I'm so proud, guys!!!

The tea was Iroh approved.

On the writing front... All this time off has given me some time to write, which has been glorious. Still in my fairy-tale phase. I may or may not have promised some of my friends at school some finished stories, so I have my work cut out for me. I only have two weeks before I have to head back! My sentiments on the subject look a little like this:

Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but I'm pretty happy right where I am. So there you have it: 5 things you ought to know. Until next time!

Image Credits: 2nd down, 3rd down, 4th down

Batten down the hatches...

MY STORY

... because the entire East Coast is about to get whammed in the face with Sandy. My family has stocked up on flashlights, fun food that can be cooked in the fireplace (Jiffypop, s'mores, hotdogs, etc.), batteries, you name it. School's out, and flooding is possible, but opportunity for fun is optimal. Because my opinion is, don't let a crazy hurricane rain on your parade when you can have an adventure! I mean, just look what adventure does for a writer:

Normal person: "Gah! Cold shower! I'm freezing!"
Writer: "I finally know how it feels to be stuck in a freezing torrential downpour!!! I've gotta write this into a scene."

Normal person: "Gah! All of our food is going bad and it smells!"
Writer: "I can now write an accurate description concerning the smell of decay!!!"

Normal person: "Gah! The power's out, technology is dead, and I have to use a flashlight!"
Writer: "No Internet to distract me from my masterpiece! I can write dramatically by candlelight like the geniuses of old, and call flashlights "torches" and lose them in Narnia! Huzzah!"

Did I mention we might have family game night?

We might have family game night. :)

PS - Sorry this post is so long overdue. But truly, I have been busy. Still working on those college applications, still haven't finished my O.O. speech, still practicing music for multiple concerts, still doing homework for AP classes, still getting distracted by the Internet and by rippingly corking books such as...

READING UPDATE

Entwined!!! I *finally* read it. I was milling about the book fair at my co-op, silently wishing they had this book. I had daydreamed that they would have it, but I figured it was impossible. I mean, I've been pining after this book for months now. It seemed so unlikely that our little tiny fair would have such a book. Yet there it was, in the middle of a pile, there it was, in all of its glory!!!

Now that I have read this darling book, I am quite determined to learn the fictional dance in it, the Entwine (see above for the dance and the corresponding adorableness of Azalea and Lord/Captain/Mr. Bradford), and the Soul's Curtsy (also fictional and amazing). Read about the Entwine here. Read the authoress' blog here. I swear on silver that Heather Dixon's blog is almost as hysterical as she is. I mean, I stayed up til 1 AM reading it once. Every. Single. Post. Finally, you can purchase the book here. Support B&N so we can prevent another Border's incident.

Those of you who know me personally, don't hate my guts, and like to have fun, contact me so we can learn this aforementioned Entwine. And the Soul's Curtsy... but only when the boys aren't looking. ;) Oh, and I've decided to incorporate some of Lord Teddie's language into my daily life. People think I'm nuts whenever I exclaim "smashing" or "ripping" or "corking". But then again, they already think I'm a little crazy.

Finished this too. AWESOME ending. Classic Riordan, to end with some mentally insane plot twist/cliff-hanger. Buy it here. You won't regret it.

 I read this all in one day, as I did with Entwined. It was wonderful. I simply could not put it down, under any circumstances. I was so happy to be back with the beloved characters of my childhood. It made me sort of sad to see Miri grow up and develop even more as a character, but it was very well done. Either I couldn't put down the book because the plot had thickened to the consistency of peanut butter, or because I was determined to make sure that Miri did the right thing.

Oh, and Peder was just as swoonworthy as ever. That silly mountain boy... I think I love him more than I did when I first read him when I was ten. *wide grin* He's just a stupid, oblivious, complete and total boy. Purchase this lovely book here. You shan't regret it. And if anyone is interested in sewing me Miri's blue crocus dress...

WRITING UPDATE

Furiously plotting my NaNoWriMo novel. Dragging others down with me. I think I may have roped in my best friend, and two of my younger sisters, who are both determined to do the 50,000 word program, even though they qualify for the Young Writers Program. November is in only a day or two, and if I'm without power, that's going to make my job a lot harder. I mean A LOT harder. So please, say a prayer or two that I can get this all done. Now excuse me while I add NaNo to my list of impossible things...

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT.

I don't know if you've ever run around your house screaming, but I certainly have. Because guess what?

The sequel to Princess Academy just came out.

*SQUEEEEE!*

I made a meme. Idk why, but they just seem to be able to convey my emotions better... and my facial expression.

Do you wanna see it in all of its glory? Of course you do! Here's a picture:

Miri is so grown up... and pretty... and that is totally a miri flower in her hair.

Pardon the fangirling, but Princess Academy was my FAVORITE book as a girl. I read it a trillion times. I tried to quarry-speak like Miri. I fell head over heels in love over my first literary crush, Peder (who smelled like bread and had a name based off of "Peter" before it was cool). It was one of those books that seemed so real to me. I never dreamed Shannon Hale would write a sequel. 



Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting... until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she "should "help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where "Princess Academy "left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.

New crush? Who could ever in a million years replace Peder!? Miri, darling: HE SMELLS LIKE BREAD AND CUTS STUFF OUT OF LINDER. MARRY HIM NOWWWW. I should probably be more worried about these "frightening plans", but alas... Speaking of must-have books, check out my To Read list. The following have been bumped up in terms of priority. Sorry, The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's nothing personal.

My good friend Marlene has been singing this books praises for some time now. I've been meaning to pick up a copy ever since I got hooked on the blog of the lovely Heather Dixon, called Story Monster. The night I discovered her blog, I stayed up til midnight reading old posts. She's hysterical and adorable and I can hardly wait to read this book.

Rick Riordan follows a format: realistic characters, loads of wit, plenty of plot twists, and a whole ton of randomness. I'm currently reading The Serpent's Shadow from The Kane Chronicles, his series based on Egyptian mythology. As awesome as Carter and Sadie Kane and the gang are, nothing can compare with my besties Percy Jackson and Annabeth. When the Percy Jackson series ended, I was brokenhearted. Then he wrote The Heroes of Olympus series, which was like P.J. meets a whole cast of new, awesome characters. So addictive. The cliff-hanger endings are terrible. I stayed up til the early morning hours, forced to read in the bathroom (my sister could no longer stand my reading light), and finished The Son of Neptune. MAJOR CLIFF-HANGER. I've waited a year for this book, and I'm blimey well gonna read it before my friend Kate can spoil it all... I give Jason, Frank, Piper, Leo, blahblahlbah EVERYONE permission to die, except for Percy and Annabeth. End rant.

Writing Update: College essays. I don't want to talk about it. Too painful. Another day.

What are you reading? Any sequels you're excited for? Recognize any of the titles above? The comments await you. *deep bow*