I'm...back??

The reason I haven't been posting for over 2 months (I'm REALLY sorry) is not just because I've been super busy (even though I have) it's just...
I...
don't really....
know...
what to post about...

My book reviews are more like unformatted rants with unintentional spoilers
My writing is nonexistent because I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I can't write anything until I have WON

and in general I just have no idea what to post
Most blogs I see have some sort of angle--books, writing, fashion, humor, etc. A lot of people have a slight schedule, which helps keep them on track.

I...don't...

And every time I think I'm going to go write a post, I just...
Can't.

If you have any specific topics you want me to blog about, please tell me! That would make my life a LOT easier, wow.

Anyway, if you're still reading this, that means you haven't given up on my 2 month absence, so THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU

And yup, that's all. Yet another useless random post centered around me, and who cares?
So here's a picture of Jace to cheer y'all up

Random Fridays: Hairstyles

Here's another Random Friday post, hosted by Emma! I highly recommend that you check out her blog, it's all kinds of awesome.

THIS WEEK'S THEME IS HAIRSTYLES.

OH

MY

WORD

THANK YOU SO MUCH EMMA

I am obsessed with hairstyles. If I'm bored, I look up hairstyles and try them on my hair. Sometimes in class if I'm bored, I'll do my hair into different types of braids --shhh--

 waterfall braids! <3

 queen braid, isn't it pretty?

 one of my favorites, the Chinese staircase ponytail

 braided sock bun. I have worn this so many times...

 fishtail braid! :)

 MESSY BUNS. OMG.

If you can't tell... I have a thing for braids xD

There are a lot of hairstyles I like, but these are probably my favorites! ;)

Hilda's Giveaway

I just found out some exciting news... Hilda is having a giveaway! Click here for her original post.
She's giving away 2 free and SIGNED copies of her book, "The Invisible Spy, Spying on the Lives of Celebrities."


And that's not all, the 2 winners also receive a free adjustable star ring! Isn't it adorable? :)



I'd make a collage or something, but I am just awful with computers xD So here are the answers to the questions! :)

1) If you could spy without being seen, which celebrity would you spy on?
Oooh. Definitely Gabby Douglas, I would LOVE to see her training routine. <3

2) What would you do if you teleported over to your celeb's house?
You're asking me what I would DO if I was teleported?

Well.

HELLO I'D CELEBRATE THAT TELEPORTATION EXISTS
MAGIC EXISTS
YAY
And then I'd see what Gabby Douglas eats and memorize her diet and copy it.

3) Would you lend your magical ring to someone else? Who?
One of my very best friends, Jasmine Edwards. *cough* I wouldn't say she's the best with not losing things, but she is such an amazingly interesting person...she'd figure out how to do something very, very cool with a magical ring.

4) Would you spy on your crush and friends?

As of right now, I don't actually have a REAL crush. It's just book characters, soooo... I mean if they existed OF COURSE I'D SPY ON THEM. OMG. 

And my friends, well. I don't know why I'd spy on them, really. I see my friends at school, and in the afternoons they mostly just do homework and go to their various sports/clubs. And I'm not particularly interested in watching Jasmine swimming five miles of different swim drills every day, so I'd have to say no.

5) Would you tell anyone of your secret (magical ring) ?

Jasmine. Jasmine is even more obsessed than I am about magic. 

6) What would you wish for?

I don't quite understand? Like, if I had ANY wish, what would I wish for?

It would be for me to have some sort of magical powers or involvement in the magical world (that is, if it exists. If it doesn't exist, my wish would be for it TO exist. Hehe).

7) Finally, why would you like to win this giveaway? Be honest. ;)

It's a free book. The extent to which I will do things for free books is amazing. And all I have to do is post! :)

And it's AUTOGRAPHED. Autographs are always awesome, especially from someone as friendly as Hilda. And who knows, maybe someday when this book becomes the new Harry Potter, I can sell it for millions of dollars :P

Random Friday: Dream Jobs

I'm kind of having a hard time right now with a lot of different complicated things :(
But I really want to start posting again, so here's Random Friday, a weekly feature I found over at Emma's blog! I highly recommend you all to visit her blog, it's utterly fantastic.
And, uh, just note that these are my dream jobs so some of them might not be entirely, ah, possible. Hehe.

 

1. Shadowhunter

If you've read The Mortal Instruments series, you'll understand.

If you haven't, well. First things first, GO READ THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BY CASSANDRA CLARE ASDFGHJKL IT'S AMAZING

A Shadowhunter hunts demons. And I know it may sound weird or scary to you if you haven't read the books, but trust me. Shadowhunters are awesome.

 

2. Author

Need I elaborate?

 

3. Professional Gymnast

I

I just

Gymnastics is so amazingly awesome. It might be hard, but it's also fun and competitive and teaches you things that you can't learn from school or books. The feeling of being at a meet, of being on the floor while everyone in the room is watching you and only you. Those split seconds of flipping through the air nine feet above the ground.

And also the feeling of failing. Of not being able to grab the bar during a transition, or stumbling over your own feet after attempting a dismount of the beam. Knowing what it's like to have to crawl you your knees, stand up, smile and lift your head proudly when all you want to do is run away and cry.

So yeah. Even though I know there's no chance, I would absolutely love to be a professional gymnast.

 

4. Book Critic

Not entirely sure if this job exists, but how awesome would it be to be paid to read books and give your thoughts on them? I probably wouldn't be the best book critic due to my very prejudiced dislike of several genres (horror being one of them), but still.

 

5. Past Dreams

Like Emma, I'm going to list my past dream jobs.

President: Ah, back when I thought that was actually possible....

Teacher: 5 year old me loved to boss people around. In fact, 14 year old me still loves to boss people around (hehehe).

Painter: You know, when I was 3 and just painted a sun and thought I was the best artist in the whole world...that was my dream job ;)

Princess: Don't we all have this dream...

 

Wellll, there are probably more, but I think that about covers my biggest dreams. Soon I'll be posting a City of Bones movie review, some book reviews, maybe some original writing...

 

--Audrey

 

 

 



I Can't Understand Poetry

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time.
And as it turns out, my first post in almost a month is going to be something as useless as my inability to understand poetry.
But seriously. I can't. It's very...annoying? Not annoying. More like...disappointing? Irritating? I really don't know what word to use here, so let me just explain in further detail...

When reading poetry, people usually have their own interpretation of it. They see a theme or a meaning or a message or a point or an observation about the universe or something.
But really, before I can even start to dissect meanings out of poetry, I have to at least get what the poem is even talking about.
It usually takes me about three rereads before I finally have some kind-of formed understanding on what the subject of the poem is.
And as for pulling themes or messages out of poems, well. I can't do that at all. Of course, I've studied poetry in school, where I completely make up a four-page essay on what I learned from Shakespeare's "Macbeth." (psst...I really learned nothing from his poems/sonnets/plays/literary works, because as mentioned about a million times above I can't understand poetry. Aaaargh).
Okay, this topic isn't actually worth a blog post, but I was thinking about it for so long and I figured I'd better post about something soon, so lo and behold a rather incomplete post about my troubles with poetry. (wow, there were a lot of grammar errors in that sentence. But quite frankly I am way too lazy to fix them).

Anyway....
I have a few posts that I've been working on, but I'm suffering from some horrible writer's block and those post drafts are just sitting there, unfinished.

And since my school starts tomorrow *cries* I probably won't have as much time to blog. In fact, I have some summer homework that I had better finish up lest I start the new school year with a zero.


THE CITY OF BONES MOVIE IS RELEASING TOMORROW ASDFGHJKL I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR IT OMG
I really can't think of what else to post, so here's a YouTube video that I found very interesting.

--Audrey

Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics That Make Me Not Pick Up a Book

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Eeeek. This is going to be very hard for me, since I always like to try new books. So I'm going to copy the brilliant Emma from Bookworm/Future Author and do a half-and-half. 5 terms that turn me away from books and 5 terms that draw me in! And for once, I'm on time!!

 

Words/topics that make me not pick up a book:

 

1. Horror. I simply cannot read horror, the same way I can't watch horror shows. I'm definitely not the kind of person who enjoys, you know, macabre and all that.

 

2. Graphic novel. I can't read them. At all. Now this is different from picture books--those I can read (not that I read a lot of picture books anymore haha). But those manga novels...I don't know, sometimes I just get completely and utterly confused.

 

3. Romance. This is very important, I don't mean that I dislike books with romance. In fact some of my favorite series have romance: Harry Potter, The Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson. But a book that is completely centered on romance? Not really my thing.

 

4. Murder Mystery. Ahem, this might qualify as horror, but I can't stand murder mysteries. Not because they're bad--I mean, I know that Agatha Christie writes terrific books. The reason I dislike murder mysteries are they make me scared. I know, I know, I'm a huge coward--but after I read murder mysteries I get all jumpy.

 

5. Poetry. This is kind of a grey area. I get easily bored by poetry, see. I mean, sometimes when a verse or two of poetry is inserted cleverly into a book (like at the beginning of a chapter), it's actually very compelling. But reading continuous long pages of poetry....I just can't get into it.

 

Words/topics that make me pick up a book:

 

1. Magic. Any magic. From Egyptian mythology to Harry Potter wizardry to demon hunting. I love reading books with magic, or supernatural/paranormal elements. Zombies are a huge exception. I dislike zombie books. But I love reading about wizards/witches, or fairies, or mermaids, or... I could go on and on.

 

2. Fairy tale or fairy tale retelling. I absolutely love fairy tales. Grimm, Andersen, you name it. And when it comes to fairy tale retellings, even though I sometimes don't like them, I always have to pick up retellings. Authors like Marissa Meyer do fantastic jobs of fairy tale retellings. I also love books where people go into a fairy-tale land, such as The Sisters Grimm.

 

3. Gymnastics. As a gymnast, I love reading books that show the "insider's view" to a competitive gymnast's life. I absolutely have to pick up gymnastics books--it's just like ingrained in my brain.

 

4. Books. I love books. I immediately am intrigued by books about books. (or book clubs, or bookworms). A book about publishing a book. A book about writing a book. A book about a book club. A book about reading books. Books, books, books!

 

5. Historical fiction with princesses. I love reading books about princesses who lived in earlier eras. Like a fake diary of young Cleopatra, or the fake life of a princess who lived during, say, the Crusades. Princesses are always an intriguing part of literature, combined with fascinating history...love it.

 

--Audrey

 

 



 

Teaser Tuesdays: July 16th

I'm late.
I know.
I keep missing these Tuesday things.
But lately I have been extremely busy with gymnastics--I'm flying to a competition in Kentucky next week! Also, Blogger is still being mean about my China pictures. But those posts are coming very soon, I promise!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Okay, so I am currently reading Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.

My teaser:

A few minutes later Pinocchio jumped out of bed quite well; for you must know that wooden marionettes have the privilege of being ill very seldom and of getting well very quickly.

Note: I will be reviewing Pinocchio soon! You have to read it. If you've only seen the cheerful singing wooden puppet it the Disney animation, you don't know Pinocchio at all. Disney completely changed his story. The original Pinocchio is so amazing, so thoughtful, almost sinister... I'll save it for the review, but trust me.

--Audrey

Synopses of My Writing Works

So about a month ago, I posted about my current writing works, which you can visit here.
And here are the synopses/summaries of them! Now, I'm not sure if any of these works are ones I might want to edit and polish up for possible publishing later in my life... But even so, I'm worried about plagiarism since I have no legal rights over my writing... So these might be a little vague. Sorry about that!


Paper Thin:
All she's ever wanted is to be thin. To be skinny. Just like her sister. Bella's mom is obsessed with her being the valedictorian. Bella's dad is in the hospital with a brain aneurysm. Bella's older sister is going to Harvard, and she doesn't care about her little sister anymore. It seems like Bella can't control anything in her life--except her eating. No one can force her to eat.



Aerial:
Five teenagers. Four events. Balance beam. Uneven bars. Vault. Floor.

Narrated by five aspiring teenagers, Aerial is all about the struggle and intensity that competitive artistic gymnasts endure.



Fade Out:
Paige used to be in total control of her life. She was a successful actress, had happily married parents, an adoring boyfriend, and everything else she could possibly want. One year, one divorce, one move, one breakup, and one hundred snobby wannabe tweens later, Paige's life is falling apart. Her spotlight is fading out.


So, those are my currently-writing pieces! Now for my currently-editing:

Catnlyst:
The title has absolutely nothing to do with the story at all, by the way.
Mayda was an ordinary wizard.
Gemma was an ordinary teenager.
Mayda wants to graduate magic training and become a full-time wizard of the Royal Court.
Gemma wants to graduate high school and major in her passion, journalism.
But fate has other ideas...
Three prophecies. Two girls. One adventure that changes everything.



A Day in the Life:
Naya Duncan is a competitive all-star cheerleader.
Eric Clarkson is on the school football team.
Naya thinks football is one of the dumbest sports in existence, what with all the shoving and pushing.
Eric thinks cheerleading is a stupid girls' hobby that requires little athletic ability.
But when a nosy fairy-in-training pokes around their lives, Naya and Eric both discover that they were wrong. A day in the life of someone is one thing. But to be stuck in someone's body ...is another.




Now, I do have some other works--dormant works--but I won't do those synopses, since those ideas aren't exactly complete. I might post parts of these stories on my blog...maybe.

--Audrey

Awesome M and M Cookies Recipe

Note: this was written a few months ago, I think in April...but I just now got around to finishing it. 
Here's a cookie recipe to start off my day! Well, it's in the afternoon in the USA, but it's around 5 AM for me! Coming back home on July 11!! :)

I've never been much of a baker, even though I love eating baked goods (though I'm not technically supposed to). And I usually don't have time, what  with school and gymnastics... But still, I really enjoy baking, and here is a recipe for fabulous M and M cookies that requires only regular baking ingredients, M and M's, and (optional) Jell-O vanilla pudding mix! Now, the pudding mix is optional, but it does wonders to the texture, shape, and taste, so it's highly recommended.

All pictures and the recipe are not mine! Full credit goes to Jenny from Picky Palate
Click on the picture, it will lead you to the original recipe! :)



Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons Instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1-1 1/2 cups M and M’s

(if desired, you can use mini chocolate chips and mini M and M's, they're so cute!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper. (note: I used a greased cookie sheet and it turned out fine, but it's better to use a liner or parchment paper)
2. In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugars until well combined. Add your egg and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add your flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt, stirring to combine. Add chocolate chips and M and M’s, stirring to combine.
3. With a medium cookie scoop, place dough 1 inch apart from each other. Leave the dough in balls, do not press flat. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

And here is the baking process in picture form:

Butter and sugar :)

Some egg and vanilla....

Dry ingredients!

Vanilla pudding mix. Seriously, you have to use this!

Give the ingredients a good mix! But only until just combined, you don't want to overmix! :)

Delicious.

Colorful candies :)

Best dough ever.

IMPORTANT: Leave your dough like this! Do NOT flatten it out!

Perfection. Enjoy!

--Audrey

The Eleven Questions Tag

I found this tag on the fantastic Seana's fantastic blog. And she is completely correct, this looks suspiciously like a Liebster Award. It is almost exactly the same....suspicious. And I was not technically nominated...but whatever.

 

Rules

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their site.

2. Post 11 random things about yourself.

3. Answer 11 questions from the person who tagged you.

4. Ask the people you tag 11 questions. 

5. Nominate 11 other blogs.

 

1. Thank you Seana! :)

 

 

Now for my 11 facts....

1. I'm currently in China.

2. It's my first Independence Day not in the US.

3. It's my first time in China.

4. I'm having a blast.

5. Except it's really humid and I am so sticky right now.

6. I just ate this delicious pastry. It was sort of like a little pie crust with this scrumptious gelatin-y egg custard-colored...ah, you know, I do not know how to describe it. A photo:

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

7. I'm going to go right now and get another one.

8. I just ate a second custard pastry thingy.

9. I really don't know what to call that pastry.

10. Actually, I do, it's called a pastry.

11. I totally cheated on these 11 facts.

 

Questions Left For Me:

1. JOHNNY DE-- I mean, uh, that's not a question! For you, what makes a good question?

The question should be interesting and thought-provoking... I really don't know.

 

2. Are you a writer? If so, what is the longest work you have ever finished? (Don't make me jealous.)
I am a writer, as probably evident by the title of my blog. Um, the longest work I've ever finished. As in I successfully wrote the ending? (I HATE endings. I have a writing-post-in-progress about endings). Uh, my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel. 51,312 words. Maybe 80 Word Doc pages?

 

3. Do you get jealous easily?
Oh yes. Very easily. But I should mention that usually my jealousy is very mild and goes away very quickly. Like when my friend bought The Mortal Instruments series, I was jealous. But like an hour later I already forgot about it. But my jealousy of Gabby Douglas's gymnastics shall never fade. Ever.

 

4. What is one thing you dislike about your personality?
Um, I do get jealous easily. Which isn't very good. But, to answer the question properly... I dislike the fact that I overthink things that aren't necessarily very important, and I start almost obsessing over it, and I get distracted.

 

5. What is one thing you like about your looks?
My eyes. They're big and green and remind me of Harry Potter.

 

6. Do you like the set-up/layout of your bedroom?
Sure. I have everything out of the way so I have plenty of room to stretch and warm up in my bedroom. Also, there's a lot of wall space, since I have this collage of gymnastics and book pictures that I am constantly adding to.

 

7. As you type this, what would you rather be doing?
Gymnastics. My god, I miss my home gym. Practicing in China is just not the same.

 

8. Fears?
Serial killers, murderers, terrorists, muggers, other dangerous criminals, bombs, guns, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, other dangerous natural disasters, blind dismounts off the balance beam, one-and-a-half twists off the vault, other very hard gymnastics tricks....

 

9. What are some words that you only recently learned how to pronounce?
Too many Chinese words to name.

 

10. Have you ever been in love?
Nope.

11. Are you disappointed that this 11th question is really no 11th question at all?
It's still a question... So no, not disappointed.

 

Now, I don't want to put up all the links to eleven other blogs and then go visit all of them and comment, so whoever wants to do this tag, feel free! And if you are, then just do the questions that I found on Seana's blog, which she found on someone named Emily's blog!

 

Blogger is being very mean with format and photos, so I might have to postpone all of my China posts until I get back to the US!

--Audrey



Book Review: Tempest Rising

This post has been sitting around unfinished for far too long, and I finally got around to finishing it up. I'm still unsure of the best way to go about reviewing books, so bear with me. I've also decided to post in colorful font, just 'cause.

I rather like the cover, don't you? Especially that beautiful tattoo.

Book: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

Genre: fantasy
(as you can probably tell due to that mermaid tail. Though there are people who believe mermaids exist, so, you know, I guess it's realistic fiction for them)

Rating: B
or a 4 out of 5 stars. However, 4 out of 5 is an 80%, which, depending on the teacher, is typically a B-minus or a C-plus. So...I don't really know what to say.

Synopsis: Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

Good Stuff: First of all, mermaids. Definitely the thing that caught my interest. There's also surfing, which I think looks fun. I've never tried surfing, despite living near enough to the ocean, due to how ridiculously cold the water is where I live. This book has romance--a love triangle, in fact, between Tempest, Mark, and Kai. But the love triangle is intertwined with the ocean-or-land dilemma, so it's unique. I also found a satisfactory amount of foreshadowing, conflict, and suspense. There wasn't a huge plot-changing shocker, but that's not always necessary (though I personally rather like those). I also liked how the author described how some things worked in the ocean, but not using the horrid info-dump technique mistake, but using (telepathic) communication between Tempest and Kai. I don't want to include any spoilers, but Tempest did something very controversial that haunted her for the rest of the book, which I very much enjoyed reading.

Bad Stuff: It seemed a little unrealistic. Unrealistic is the wrong word to use here, because of course it's unrealistic, there are mermaids. (unless mermaids DO exist. a topic to be discussed later, though). But books like Harry Potter, I can imagine them happening. Even though the plot was interesting, it seemed a bit, ah, poorly-executed. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book, since there were lots of interesting and well-written parts. But it seems like Tempest was living in a planet that was very, very similar to Earth, yet not quite the same. (that doesn't make sense, does it?) And while I liked the foreshadowing, it seemed just a little bit too obvious. The second I read that hint, I totally knew what was coming next, but Tempest didn't seem to realize anything, which seemed, again, unrealistic. Also, I was fine with it, but there was some language. Nothing too horrible, so don't let that stop you from reading this book!

Recommended Readers: I'm never certain what to say here, but I have to go with 12 and up, just because of the mild language. And there's some physical romance, but it's just kissing, so...

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2013

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I missed the Tuesday again...but oh well! Here are my top 10 books read so far in 2013! :)

 

 

 

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I'm a HUGE fan of The Mortal Instruments series by the same author, and Clockwork Angel is the first installment of a companion trilogy. EVEN MORE AMAZING THAN TMI. Wow. I absolutely loved Clockwork Angel! Go read it. Now. Just go. (or, if you haven't read The Mortal Instruments yet, read that first. You don't have to read TMI first, but it's better if you do)

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth
Do I really need to explain this, people who have read Divergent? Divergent is simply amazing. I stayed up until around 2 AM finishing it. There are books that I say that I "can't put down," but this book. I actually could hardly stand putting it down. I have a Divergent review in the works, but it won't be up for another few weeks at least. Everyone, you must go out and read Divergent. Go. Now. Read.
 

3. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Yes, this was on my last list of top ten to-read books for 2013! I just finished it a few days ago, and it was fantastic. A wonderful plot that was fast-moving, but didn't leave me confused. Magic, adventure, humor, mystery...really, this book is great! I highly recommend it, and I'll be posting a review soon. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

 

4. Spells and Sleeping Bags by Sarah Mlynowski

The third book in a series of four! This was by far the best out of the first three. It was absolutely hilarious, witty, shocking, and had a terrific ending. If you haven't read the Magic in Manhattan series yet, you should! (only if you're a girl, though). Even though there's magic involved, I can relate a lot to the narrator, and the book is very well written, with foreshadowing, realistic dialogue, humor, suspense...

 

5. Parties and Potions by Sarah Mlynowski

The last book in the Magic in Manhattan series! I still think the 3rd book was the best, but still, this book was amazing. Mlynowski is a fabulous writer...I'm always laughing out loud when I read her books! And as I mentioned above, very realistic dialogue...I can imagine everything that's happening perfectly in my head.

6. Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs
This book had to do with mermaids, which I loved, since I am a huge fan of mermaids. There was also lots of conflict, strong emotions, hidden humor, foreshadowing, and a huge surprise in the ending. Overall a good read!

7. Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
Is an explanation really necessary? This book was by Rick Riordan. Enough said.

8. Into the Dream by William Sleator
This book was published a long time ago...1979, I think. It's not exactly a YA or teen fiction book like I usually read, but it's really, really good. It has to do with ESP, dream telepathy...overall a fun read for people of all ages.

9. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
A modern take on Greek mythology. I would definitely recommend people at least in, say, seventh grade to read this book, because there is some mature content and the slightest bit of language. But still, the plot was really interesting, and there was a mystery that added suspense throughout the whole book.

Well, I have read wayyyy more than 9 books this year, but I just can't think of one more book that I really want to include on this list. So, there's my top 9! Right now I'm reading Geek Charming, which was also on last week's list!
Someday soon I'll post about China, but Blogger is being stubborn and I can't upload any pictures. So I might do a pictureless post, or maybe a post about writing.
Any plans for the weekend, anybody? Sound off in the comments! :)

--Audrey

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on my TBR List

by The Broke and the Bookish

 

 

Before anyone points this out, yes, I do know that it isn't Tuesday. But I have a very convoluted to-be-read list, and I thought this would help me to organize it...

And, since I'm trying to post more, this is an automatic post idea every week! Yay! :)

 

So, let's get started. Top 10 books to read over the summer 2013... I'm not going to choose all books that are released this summer, since that would be way too hard. I'm also not going to include any rereads that I'm planning. In no particular order...

 

1. Legend by Marie Lu.

I'm ashamed to say that I have yet to pick this one up. I've read the synopsis, I've read the free online sample, and I'm very interested in this book, but I have not read it yet. Bad Audrey!

 

2. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Now this one I would have never picked up by myself, since I rather disliked the Twilight series by the same author. (I know, I shouldn't judge authors by one bad book/series, but I tend to do it anyways) But my friend (who was, ahem, supposed to give me a guest post a long time ago) has been constantly nagging me to read it. I watched movie of this book, which I enjoyed, so I'll be picking this one up soon!

 

3. Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs

This is the second book in a trilogy, the sequel to Tempest Rising. I very much enjoyed the first installment, and am excited to read the second book. It's about a girl who must choose between being human or mermaid when she turns 17...I mean, she's already chosen by the end of the first book, but I won't spoil it!

4. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
This is another book that I really have been meaning to read, but I always get distracted by other books, schoolwork, or in my case right now, a trip to China! But I just purchased Cinder on my Kindle Fire, so yay! I'm planning to read it once I get some free time. It's about a cyborg living in the future, and is a modern spin on Cinderella, as you probably guessed.

5. ttyl by Lauren Myracle
The first-ever book written entirely in instant messages! Now, Lauren Myracle is one of my favorite authors...I adore her series, The Winnie Years. I picked this up maybe 2 years ago, but there is some, er, mature content (not that bad, though) so I thought I should wait to read it. So now I'm going to! :) The instant messages between 3 sophomore girls.

6. Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith by Gabrielle Douglas
This is Gabby Douglas's autobiography. For those of you who don't know, she was on the 2012 US gymnastics women's team. She is the all-around champion and also helped to win America the team gold! She's one of my idols, and I actually already bought her book, but haven't had the time to read it yet. I brought it with me to China!

7. The Selection by Kiera Cass
My friend (same friend who recommended The Host) told me to read this, and I also saw a review of it over at Emma's blog, which peaked my interest. It sounds a lot like The Bachelor to me, and I personally don't really enjoy watching that show, but of course, there are other factors to it (like a nation divided by a wealth caste system) that make it more interesting.

8. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
If you noticed, this is what I am currently reading. I decided to put it on my list anyway, since it was one of my top-priority books. So far it's really, really good!

9. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman
I've heard mixed opinions on this one. Definitely some, ah, suggestive content and the main character is a teenage mother, which some people may not approve of. The narration is also very unique, according to many reviews I've read. I'm still very interested in reading this, though, because there's definitely been a lot of buzz about it.

10. Geek Charming by Robyn Palmer
Just a fun, fresh, entertaining read. It's about a high school "A-list" girl who is dragged into being the subject of a documentary, which is filmed a "F-list" boy. Disney made a television movie on this, according to my online research, but I haven't watched the movie. Anyway, it's definitely not what I'd expect to be a hugely thought-provoking read like The Dress Lodger or Gabby Douglas's autobiography, but still. Reading should be fun, too!

And there you have it, my Top Ten to-be-read books for the summer 2013! Now, these may not actually be my top 10, but considering they're what came to mind when I considered the topic, I think they're accurate enough. I'll be putting up reviews of these books as I read them! :)

So, it's about 6 AM for me right now! Off to go start another day in China! (I should really stop mentioning China...makes me sound too self-centered).

--Audrey
 

Really Quick, Guys. Please Help?

I need some help with my new profile photo! Please comment or post in the chat box to the right which photo you think would work best as my profile pic! :)
(oh, and I found a filter to use Blogger! Hooray!)

1.



2.



3.



4.





I don't own any of these images, here are the links to them in order:
1. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6idfjU5Fs1rnylyqo1_1280.jpg
2. http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9mq7mOj381rfnm26o1_400.jpg
3. http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0oso0PSVf1rrx4oqo1_400.jpg
4. http://distilleryimage0.s3.amazonaws.com/ec70f468c38a11e1b00112313800c5e4_7.jpg

Please vote, 1, 2, 3, or 4!
I'll put a poll up too, and after I get some votes in, I'll choose the one with the most votes! Please vote, it'll only take a second (especially if you use the chat box or the poll) and I'd really appreciate your input! :)

--Audrey

I'm Going off to China!!

AAGHHH. I AM SO SCARED.
I got up around 4 AM, then drove to the airport. Then I flew to Vancouver, Canada, which took about 2 hours. By the way, flying to Vancouver doesn't make the flight to China any cheaper, it's just a lot cheaper. So yay, I got to fly for 2 extra hours! Not. No. I already have a TWELVE (12, 12, 12! That's half of an entire day!) hour flight to China. I'm not claustrophobic (well, unless it's an extreme case) and I don't get motion sick very easily, but 12 hours. I am bound to get tired/sick/bored after 12 hours of sitting in a turbulent airplane 32,000 feet above the ground Eek.

So in about 10 minutes, I will be jetted off to Shanghai.
As in China.
Where I don't speak the language.
Where I look like a foreigner (and ergo am more than twice as likely to be pickpocketed).
I've never been there before.
I've never even been to Asia before (no, that's a lie. I think my plane stopped in Japan once or something, but that doesn't count).
And I'm not even with my parents.

I'm with my older brother, my godmother, and my godmother's two children. My godmother and her children are Chinese, and visit China every year. So at least I'm with experts, if I'm not with my parents. Now my godmother, she took the liberty of filming a street (yes, a street) for me when she was in China sometime last year. The drivers are insane. I don't want to be mean or anything, but THEY DON'T STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS. (unless you're like right in front of them). And actually that's what you're supposed to do in China, walk right out into the middle of a busy street where the honking is all one loud, steady blare, and don't worry about the cars charging 90 mph at you, because they have to stop if they don't want to run you over.
Talk about scary. I'd rather do a blind dismount of the balance beam. (and I really hate those).

I'm fine with honking, usually. I've been to NYC, and there is plenty of honking there. But the honking here is so...aggressive...and the driver's don't WANT to be cut off by a pedestrian, so what do they do? Floor the gas. (okay, maybe the don't FLOOR the gas, but they go a lot faster so that they won't have to wait for you). In other places, honking is a reminder that you need to watch out for another car. In Shanghai, the honking sounds like the drivers are screaming at you. It. Is. So. Scary. If I can somehow find the right website filters to do it, I'll upload a video of the streets for you guys. ARGH.

Well anyway, I have to go now...
Wish me luck!

--Audrey

Current Writing Works

So I know this is supposed to be a writing blog, but I just do not have any good writing to put up yet. Sorry! Over the summer I always do a lot of writing, so we'll see if I can get anything ready for my readers. Not that I have very many readers...sigh. But I don't want to like go around and beg strangers to come see my blog either. If you're reading this, please comment and tell your friends about my blog! And if you have a Gmail or Yahoo! Mail or FaceBook, PLEASE follow my blog. Please, please, please, please, pleaaaaseeee.....


Just so that people have things to comment about:
What are your plans for the summer?
I'm going to China. In fact, I'm leaving on Monday. EEK. Scared. I'm staying there for three whole weeks! Argh, I hope there's some way I can still practice gymnastics. Not that I'm extremely competitive or anything--I love gymnastics and I love competing, but I'm not good enough to go to a higher level than, say, regional competitions. Anyway, I don't want to abandon this already-fading-away-even-though-it's-only-even-months-old blog for three weeks, because then it'd really die. So I shall find a filter to (er, illegally) post on my blog! I won't abandon my (two) faithful readers! :) Thank you to Kiki and Hilda for frequently visiting and commenting on my blog. THANK YOU.

On a slightly more serious note, I'm getting all depressed about my blog, too. Like Fira was a while ago. Because there's barely anybody reading my blog. And there are some fellow Bloggers whom I follow, and I comment on their blogs very frequently. But they never come visit mine, which is really depressing.

Now, for what I actually came online to post about. My current writing works. Here's a list of the works I'm in the middle of writing, editing, or just dormant.

Currently Writing:
Paper Thin
Aerial (still working on the title. It's about gymnastics, and it's for the July Camp NaNoWriMo, so I haven't started yet, but I wouldn't call it dormant since I'm thinking about it)
Fade Out

Currently Editing:
Catnlyst (my April Camp NaNoWriMo novel)
A Day in the Life (my November NaNoWriMo novel)

Dormant Ideas/Stories:
Skyward (wrote three chapters, then stopped when April's NaNo rolled around)
Seaworthy (about three-fourths finished. This one I had worked on until November's NaNo arrived)
As I Always Say (just a vague idea)
Seven Seconds (a slightly more developed idea. I'm also considering titling it Run, Jump, Flip but that sounds a bit weird)

So as you can see, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and Camp NaNoWriMo are huge factors in my writing career. Well, not career exactly. My dream is to be published, but I'm not. Yet. If you have any ideas for a title of a gymnastics novel, tell me! And which do you prefer: Seven Seconds or Run, Jump, Flip? Are there any titles you particularly like/dislike?

Next post (or a post coming soon, anyway) I'll have a synopsis of my currently writing works and my currently editing works. Maybe a synopsis of Seaworthy, too, since I already know where it's going.

That's it for today! Make sure to sound off in the comments about your summer plans, and if you have any ideas about my story titles! Have a great day, everybody! :)

--Audrey

Travels, Birthdays, Illegal Blog Posts

I'm sorry, but this is going to be a really boring post about some things I plan to do over the summer. I posted a very brief list in the last post...here's that...

Learn how to write and eat with both hands equally. This could very possibly come in handy someday. I'm naturally right-handed, but I recently realized that I'm not too bad with my left hand either. Ambidextrous! :)

Learn how to knit with more than two needles. I can knit with two needles, and I can crochet, but I can't do that awesome thing with three needles that makes a hat. Oh, I also know how to loom knit and finger knit.

Study more SAT vocab. Not fun, but my mother will kill me if I don't do well on that test coming up in a few years.

Several gymnastics routines, mostly on the balance beam, that I need to nail. :)

Read more. Very fun!  My to-read list is about ten miles long.

Those are some rather specific things I wanted to learn. I'm also going to CHINA. Eek! I don't really speak Chinese much, unlike my friend Jasmine. Who is supposed to be giving me a guest post soon....hint hint.... I'm going to Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. I mean, I'll be stopping in more cities too, but those are the big ones. Unfortunately, China blocked Blogspot, so I don't know if I'll be able to post about my three week adventure. But, I know there are lots of website filters that let you access blocked websites in China (at least according to my Chinese godmother). So. Maybe I will be able to post (though, um, illegally). Fingers crossed! Those posts would actually be pretty interesting, wouldn't they? Except I'd have to find photos without me in them because I don't want to post a picture of my face.

Um. Other things. Gymnastics. I'm going to Detroit later! Yayyyy!!!! And I need to practice gymnastics routines, as aforementioned. I want to go to NYC, which is only one of my favorite cities ever, but I'm not going to. Sigh. On the bright side, maybe I can save the trip to NYC for May of next year for the Book Expo of America!

MY BIRTHDAY. I FORGOT. (ahem, yes, I kind of forgot my own birthday for a second there). June 11th! Anyone wanna guess how old I'm turning? Winner gets a guest post! :) If you've been a constant reader of my blog, it should be very easy. If more than one person guesses correctly, then they all get guest posts! Guess by next week, the 16th of June!

I have about ten half-finished book reviews sitting in my post drafts list. Which someday I'll actually complete and publish. Someday. Someday soon. Well, soon-ish, anyway.

I'm going to participate in the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo! Just because I'm in China doesn't mean I can't write! :)  I also plan to do more editing on the horrendous novel I wrote in April, which you readers (not that I really have many readers) will get to read! Don't expect that anytime soon, though.

Bye for now!

--Audrey

Wait, Wait, Wait. It's June Already?

June. As in, five months of the year have already passed. Every January I tell myself that this is the year I'm going to, you know, try new things and meet new people and all that. But I never do it. Sigh.

On a brighter note, my school is out! Which means no more finals or tests! (well actually, I'm taking math over the summer so I can skip yet another year of it. My mother is huge on getting me to skip years so I get more APs, for college and everything. College. SATs. *shudders* I'm not even that close to them yet, anyway). Well actually, I'm kind of close to them, considering my brother started SAT vocab prep in 7th grade. But still. My brother is much smarter than I am.

I want to post more over the summer, so I have decided that for the three months of June, July, and August, I will be posting at least 3 times per week. I will probably not acheive this all the time, due to my summer homework (gah), and some vacations (yay!). Right now I have like 20 unfinished posts waiting in my blogger dashboard, glaring at me to finish them. There's book reviews, original writing, recipes, tags/awards, and just some random things. And don't forget my totally awesome fangirly posts on Jace and Magnus and Clary (not that I really like Clary very much, but she IS the female lead...and the main lead...) Oh, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to The Mortal Instruments series. If you haven't read it, go read it. NOW. By Cassandra Clare, first book is City of Bones. My review is in a previous post here.

What to say, what to say... I'm going to copy Amanda and list some of the things I learned this year. I highly suggest you go visit Amanda's blog. She is witty and funny and very, very interesting. Her blog is much better than mine. Seriously. Go check it out.

My list is soooo boring. But I'm gonna try...

• Math, which basically means Algebra 2 and pre-calculus. I didn't actually do both in one year... My school is pretty weird. Mainly it was Algebra 2.
• Shakespeare analysis. Not going to go into the details, but let's just say that whole unit was ridiculously hard. I kind of like reading Shakespeare, but dissecting every last theme and metaphor and poetic element out of the literature is not enjoyable. At all.
• Like Amanda, I did learn the location of all the countries in the world and significant bodies of water (of which there are a lot). That test was hard, but I like knowing all the names of all the countries that no one has ever heard of, haha.
• SAT vocab. I hate looking at the lists of SAT vocab, because I've never heard of ANY OF THEM (well maybe a few) and then I have to memorize their definition, too. Argh. I really hope I get better at this before I have to take the test.
• Debates. This is actually a good one. I love debating, and I'm on my school's competitive debate team. I went to Boston to observe a debate once, too. That was really cool, but those debaters were SO GOOD I was changing my opinion every time one of them delivered a speech. Then there were the debates I participated in, six of which were twelve hours long. I went to Detroit for a 3-day debate thing, too. And instant debates, those are fun.
• Science...well. Physics, mostly. I like physics for the most part, though I think I prefer biology. I haven't done much chemistry studies, so I can't say about that. I built catapults and these chain reaction things, and lots of other stuff. I got an honorable mention in the county science fair, which is more than I expected. Didn't make it to the state or anything, though...
• That I love reading Charles Dickens.
• That the Wizard of Oz is actually a series of 3 books (who knew?) and that the other two books are better than the first one. Go read all 3 of them.

I'm gonna stop now. I learned more, I guess, but nothing is really worth mentioning. Now some things I want to do over the summer (besides the obvious stuff like go swimming and to the beach and all that)

• Learn how to write and eat with both hands equally. This could very possibly come in handy someday. I'm naturally right-handed, but I recently realized that I'm not too bad with my left hand either. Ambidextrous! :)
• Learn how to knit with more than two needles. I can knit with two needles, and I can crochet, but I can't do that awesome thing with three needles that makes a hat. Oh, I also know how to loom knit and finger knit.
• Study more SAT vocab. Not fun, but my mother will kill me if I don't do well on that test coming up in a few years.
• Several gymnastics routines, mostly on the balance beam, that I need to nail. :)
• Read more. Very fun!  My to-read list is about ten miles long.

Well, that's all for today!

--Audrey

This or That?

I don't usually like playing 'this or that' games, simply because I find them a bit silly. Especially the ones that have you choose between things that I don't even think exist, like asparagus-flavored ice cream. (I would be astonished if this did exist. I can't imagine the taste of asparagus and perhaps a normal, vanilla ice cream mixing together). But I still like doing tags, and I have nothing to post about. I found this tag on July's blog So....



Make-up
(before I start this, I pretty much never wear makeup, so expect very lame answers)
Blush or Bronzer? Uhhhhhhh, maybe bronzer? Because it just sounds cooler, and most blushes make me sneeze uncontrollably.
Lip gloss or Lipstick? Well, I hate the feeling of anything on my lips...it just feels so...weird. I can't focus on anything else. But I do have to wear lipstick for gymnastics meets sometimes, so I guess I'll go with that.
Liner or Mascara? I personally have an awful fear of stabbing myself in the eye when applying any sort of eye product, but I do know how to put on mascara, unlike eyeliner. So. Mascara, then.
Foundation or Concealer? Eh, I have like never worn foundation. Ever. Even though I do have some. I'll go with concealer, because it can come in handy, occasionally.
Neutral Eyeshadow or Colour? I don't see the point of wearing a neutral eyeshadow...I mean, then no one can see it, right? So color. By the process of elimination.
Pressed or Loose Eyeshadow? I don't know what the difference is. And I frankly am way too lazy to look it up.

Nails and Body
OPI or China Glaze? Hmm...OPI, I suppose. I occasionally paint my nails with this brand. I don't know about China Glaze...
Long or Short Nails? Well, I keep my nails pretty short...I find it a lot easier to do gymnastics with short nails. But I think long nails are prettier.
Acrylic or Natural? Ehhh, I don't know what this means either, and I'm not gonna look it up. I'll say natural, because it just sounds better.
Brights or Darks? Bright nail polish is more noticeable. So, bright, I guess! But if you wear a lot of bright clothing, it might be better to wear darker nail polish.
Flower or No Flower? I like flowers...but painting little flowers on fingernails takes away the beauty of real flowers. So no flowers.
Perfume or Body Splash? My school doesn't allow perfume (I have no idea why) so all the girls just use body splash/body spray. Which in my opinion usually smells better because they have some sort of flowery or vanilla scent, which I like. So body splash.
Lotion or Body Butter? I don't use body butter. Never have. Probably never will. But I still think lotion is better, because my hands and feet have extremely dry, cracked skin because of the chalk I use for gymnastics, and lotion really helps. And my dry skin from swimming also requires lotion.
Body Wash or Soap? Body wash...I love the Dove brand. They have these very yummy-smelling body washes, with things like nectarine and sakura blossom and plum and jasmine... And I always drop the bars of soap.
Lush or other bath company? Um. I don't even know what Lush is. But I like Dove, they have great body washes. And Pantene has good shampoos and conditioners.

Fashion
Jeans or Sweatpants? Definitely jeans. I always wear jeans to school. Or jean shorts. I don't wear sweatpants that often, but I do wear yoga pants over my leotard.
Long Sleeve or Short Sleeve? Short sleeves. Even if it's winter, cause then I'll just wear a jacket over. I love tee shirts...
Dresses or Skirts? I only like sundresses...I despise any formal dress. I don't really wear skirts, since I wear jeans so often...
Stripes or Plaid? Stripes. Especially wider stripes. Plaid looks really weird on camera.
Flip Flops or Sandals? Oh, my. This is a rather hard one. I wear very cheap flip-flops to swim practice, and I also have nicer ones that I like to wear if it isn't too cold. But then I also have a lot of strappy sandals, that I all love. Since sandals are also more durable, I have to go with those....
Scarves or Hats? Mmm, scarves. They come in so many pretty colors and prints and shapes and sizes, and there are a lot of different ways to wear them. As for hats, I always feel quite weird while wearing one.
Studs or Dangly Earrings? Dangly earrings are very pretty, but I like studs better. I'm allowed to wear studs to gymnastics practice, and I have a lot of pretty birthstone studs (I have several pairs of birthstone studs that aren't actually my birthstone, just cause they're so pretty).
Heels or Flats? I don't own anything with a very substantial heel...I don't think I own anything that even has any trace of a heel at all. So, flats.
Cowboy Boots or Riding Boots? Er, I don't own either. But cowboy boots do look nice.
Jacket or Hoodie? I really like Aeropostale hoodies. But in general I think I wear jackets more often.
Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe? I don't shop regularly at either, but I own like three articles of clothing from Forever 21. So, I suppose I have to go with XXI Forever!
Abercrombie or Hollister? I know these two stores are very similar to Aeropostale, but I don't really go to either of them that often. I suppose Hollister, I do own a few pairs of their jeans.

Hair
Curly or Straight? I think hair looks better if it isn't completely stick straight. But very springy corkscrew curls must be very hard to manage. Just a few waves, I guess.
Bun or Ponytail? Oh, dear, another hard one. My hair is pretty long, which means there are a ton of different buns that I can wear my hair in. So I have to go with buns. (but I do wear ponytails quite often too).
Bobby Pins or Butterfly Clips? Ooh, easiest one so far! Definitely bobby pins. I couldn't live without bobby pins. Everything--my buns, my braids, my hair twists...I use bobby pins! Love them.
Hair Spray or Gel? Ah, hair spray. I don't use either liberally. But in order to secure my more complicated hairstyles, I use a quick spritz of hair spray. It also adds some shine.
Long or Short? Long. My hair is long. It takes a bit more managing, but you can do so much more with long hair...
Light or Dark? Dark. No, light. I don't really know.... My hair I guess is classified on the lighter end of the spectrum. Both can be really pretty.
Side Sweep or Full Bangs? I would definitely choose side sweep. I have a sort-of side sweep. I've never really liked full bangs...
Up or Down? Well, I've been going off and on about various braids and buns, so they only reasonable answer would be up. But just leaving hair loose and down is also very nice.

Random
Rain or shine? I do prefer a nice sunny day over rain. But rain is also great weather. It smells nice, and the sound is quite calming.
Summer or Winter? Oh no. Another hard one. I love winter so I can ski, but summer has no school and it's gymnastics competition season. Mmm, summer. I love gymnastics.
Spring or Fall? Spring. I have allergies, but I don't care, because I can grow so many flowers and vegetables and it's so nice, to see the world kind of be reborn.
Chocolate or Vanilla? I like chocolate better. Dark chocolate. Yum....
East Coast or West Coast? Both. Both, both, both! NYC is one of my favorite cities in the whole country, but I also love San Francisco and LA on the west.

So, that's my tag! If you feel like doing this or just need a post, you are hereby tagged!

Have a super sparkly day!

--Audrey

Utter Randomness Part 2

Sorry. I really haven't been posting much lately. It'll get better once summer comes...because my teachers have the crazy notion that since school is almost out, they have to cram as many projects as they can before we're done. Sighhh....

I have a lot of short little ideas to post about, so I've decided to compile them all into a post full of jumbled randomness.
Only 12 more days of school until I'm out!!!!! *cheers wildly* My last day of school is May 31st. But it's really more like 10 days, since on two of those 12 days I'm going to different amusement parks (one for getting a 4.0 GPA ((finally)) and one for being on my school band--I play flute). Huzzah! Over the summer, I still have school, kind of. I'm going to take summer math course, so I can skip one year of math. Which means I get 3 math APs in high school. I hate math, but APs make it all worth it. College, college, college!

I have failed to share this with you guys (I think), but I happen to love doing things to my hair, especially fancy braiding. My hair is quite long, and it doesn't get tangled very easily, which makes it a lot easier to do stuff with it. Except more than half the time I just take out my fancy hairdos, because my gymnastics coach only allows ponytails and plain buns. My favorite hairstyles, which I wear to school quite often (besides ponytails and just leaving my hair down) are fishtail braids, waterfall braids, and rope braid buns. (told you I liked braids...) I found these very nice tutorials on YouTube for these hair braids, and I just wanted to share them.

All three of them are by Bebexo. She is one of my favorite YouTubers!!! She has a ton of other hair tutorials too, which are all worth watching. I have wasted many many hours trying to copy what she does.

Then, I saw this article about photographer Jaime Moore who threw a unique photo shoot for her 5-year-old daughter, Emma! Instead of dressing Emma up as beautiful Barbie dolls and Disney princesses, she had Emma copy the poses of real-life women role models. I tried forever, but I can't figure out how to copy the images into this post, so just click the link below to see the very adorable and very inspiring pictures!!!!
http://www.jaimemoorephotography.com/2013/05/09/not-just-a-girl/


As I have mentioned before, I recently joined a message board, Prisoner of Reality. It looks VERY complicated when you first visit (I couldn't find my way around at all). But if you just poke around and visit it more often, it gets really easy to navigate. Please join--the more the merrier!! :)

Last thing: I know a lot of bloggers who don't like awards and tags, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoy doing them. So, if you ever need someone to nominate an award or tag for, please let me do them? I really like them. I have like 4 award-like posts that I'm working on, but haven't finished due to aforementioned crazy amount of projects. And getting ready for a gymnastics meet...because if I do well enough at that one, I get to go to Detroit over the summer for a bigger competition! Have a great day!

--Audrey

Just One Wish?

There are several awards and tags that I haven't gotten around to doing yet. But I will. Promise.
I also have these long posts, one each for Jace, Clary, Magnus, and one for the City of Bones movie. My friend Jasmine will also be guest posting on the topic. But for those of you who haven't read the Mortal Instruments, all the posts will probably be super boring and will not make any sense. So, I'm going to post something today that doesn't have anything to do with anything related to Shadowhunters or City of Bones or movies.


If you could have just one wish, what would it be?
A question I've been asked many times, a question that I think about whenever I have the chance (ahem, this actually means in class when I'm much too bored by the curriculum--usually math--to pay attention)

So here is my answer, finally, after so much pondering (and yet later I may change it. Because I still have many more math classes in my lifetime, which means many more opportunities to not listen to some long complicated formula and think about hypotheticals instead).

I would wish to see magic. Or, you know, learn magic or be a part of magic or just be 100% absolutely certain that magic exists.
Because in my own personal opinion, magic does exist--whether there are cloaked wizards in wands or sarcastic part-angels that kill demons or mermaids that drown sailors, I don't know. But I haven't, you know seen magic or anything, and I would really like to know that it does exist...in some way, shape, or form. (completely off-topic question: is God supposed to be magic?)

The problem with this answer: If there were some magical force that could grant wishes, then I guess I wouldn't really need to wish to see magic. But whatever. Good enough.

For the longest while my answer was world peace. Of course, world peace, the easy, noble, good choice. But world peace is really not all it's cut out to be. So if I do wish for world peace, then all of a sudden, everyone who is at war or arguing will suddenly stop. Which seems good, but imagine if you were in an very heated argument with someone. And then you are forced to stop arguing, it may be peaceful, but still in your mind, your heart, your thoughts, you know that you don't want to agree. Because, well, arguing isn't good, but being forced to keep all of your thoughts inside of you and living a big huge lie is even worse.

And then, there was getting published. My dream. For years and years and years and years and years and years and years. (actually, more like just 4 years. Whatever). But if I get a book published, I want it to be because some publisher out there really, truly believed that my writing was good, good enough to be read by the general public. Not because I wished for it, so a magical force just thrusted my writing into the printer for distribution. Does that make any sense?

Cold fusion discovered. Not as oftenly mentioned, but still significant. For those of you who don't know, cold fusion is basically this science thing where you can combine two atoms, creating free energy. Like the sun does. (notice how I'm sparing you from the long boring scientific explanation. You're welcome). Which is good, very very very good. Because we no longer have to burn the dwindling supply of fossil fuels, which means putting an end to all this pollution and global warming. You can do a lot more with cold fusion but I won't go into it...just know that it would be a cause for great celebration if it happened. But the problem is, the magical force will make cold fusion possible for humans. But the newspaper's not just going to say, "BREAKING NEWS: MAGICAL FORCE CREATES COLD FUSION DUE TO A TEENAGE GIRL'S WISH" Oh no. Someone's going to get credit for it. Some scientist(s), who did not discover cold fusion for humans, will get all the credit. They will most definitely receive a Nobel Prize; will be among the most famous scientists ever. When they didn't even deserve it. Now, that's not good.

Magic, world peace, being published, and cold fusion were my main four choices. And I found flaws in all four, but magic seemed the best. So...yeah. There's my answer! What's yours?

--Audrey