This or That Tag

Thank you to the wonderful July for tagging me in this! :D
I'm sorry for not posting often. On top of gymnastics practice, I'm also on my school's track and field time, as well as homework and trying to keep up with April Camp NaNoWriMo.....

The rules; 

1. Answer the questions given to you

2. Give the people you nominate the same questions

3. Nominate three people 

4. Let the amazing three know that they've been tagged 

Alright, let's do this.

 Hair up or down?

It's kind of fun to go around with my hair down since my hair is really long, haha. But since it's so long it gets tangled rather easily, so when I'm too lazy to make sure it looks nice (which is most of the time oops) I just twist it up in a bun. So hair up, I guess, since I wear it like that the most. And braids are really fun to do ;)

 Dessert or fruit?

My gymnastics and track coaches would be proud because...fruit. I love how pretty desserts are, but I find that a lot of them are way too sweet for my taste, and afterwards I just feel really guilty and want to go burn it all off, which isn't fun.

 Dress or shirt and sweatpants?

That depends on the occasion. If I'm going out somewhere, then a dress because my mom would never let me out the door wearing sweatpants xD Although I actually wear skirts more often...

But at home or waiting on the sidelines at a meet or something, definitely sweatpants. They are so comfortable.

 One Direction or Jonas Brothers?

Ehh, I don't like either band very much (although to be fair, I haven't really listened to their music that much either) Probably One Direction since the Jonas Brothers is like a Disney band or something and my parents are too cheap to buy Disney channel so I've never really heard of them much haha.

Radio or iPod?

iPod. The only reason I can live through sports competitions and run 10Ks is my iPod. <3

Sleepover at your house or at a friend's house?

A friend's because then you don't have to worry about making sure the house is clean and everyone is having fun ;)

Cookies or apples?

Apples all the way!

Playing cards or painting?

PLAYING CARDS. Definitely. I love card games, oh my gosh. And it's a bit complicated, but in the story I'm currently writing, two people fall in love essentially over card games ahaha. ...and I can't paint at all

In a board game, would you rather be a green or a white piece?

Well this is an original question, kudos to whoever came up with it. I don't play board games very often, but green. White is the mourning color yknow :) 

(that's a book reference for those who haven't read The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. In which case drop everything and get your hands on a copy of City of Bones right now).

In accordance with the rules, I have to tag 3 people, but from my experience, people don't typically like being tagged in these kinds of things, so...just do this tag if you'd like, I guess! :)

It's my spring break now, so I'm going to go sleep for like 15 hours and then watch some Netflix...and hopefully get some blog posts written so I can still post when school starts up again.

Thanks for reading! 

--Audrey

On Crying Over Books

There are those people who never cry while reading.
There are those people who will cry at any book with strong emotions.
There are those people who...walk in on me sobbing over a book and tell me I'm an idiot.
(in case you're curious, my older brother. Who. Really. Should not have been. Walking into my room. Because. What if I was changing. Just saying).

I'm don't necessarily cry over all character deaths/misfortunes, and I rarely cry of happiness. I cried when I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I'm sure some of you know why) and I also cried while reading Clockwork Princess because GAAAH it was just so...so... well I can't really find the right word for it, but I was basically in hysterics and didn't talk to anyone for like a week after reading that book.

Then recently, I was rereading The Giver by Lois Lowry, and I'm going to have spoilers of that book down below so please only proceed if you have read the book, don't plan on reading it, or (not that I recommend this AT ALL because it'll ruin the meaning of the book for you) don't mind being spoiled. I'll put a note where the spoilers end.
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
Okay so the first time I read The Giver, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention because I was ten and had to do a book report on it. It's not like I didn't enjoy the book, I just didn't really...think about it much.
And then I finally decided to reread the book, and...
W-o-w.
The Giver is a really intense book, and it's one of the earlier-published popular dystopian novels, as well as, in my current opinion, one of the best. The way everything works--pretty much no choices at all, no color, no hills, no birthdays, no biological familial ties at all, no grandparents, no SUNSHINE (I mean. Come on.), no snow, no........
So yeah, that alone already really intrigued me and had me on edge the entire time I was reading.

But near the end, when The Giver tells Jonas that he can't see colors anymore, and then it has the line "Jonas's heart broke" I'm not even sure. I just started crying. I was reading in my bed, and on the wall across from my bed there are several squares of different paint colors (paint samples) and then just seeing those colors, and seeing everything that was in my bedroom and thinking of how different lives could possibly be...
I am very bad at explaining thoughts, I apologize.



SPOILERS ARE OVER NOW
So my brother heard me crying, I'm assuming, and so politely just barged into my room and was like "....why are you crying...." *look of scorn*
Me (in tears): Well this book...it's like...um so...*another bout of tears* and they, well, I...
My brother: It's just a book.
Me: *tries not to strangle him*
My brother: What? It's not like it's real or anything.
Me: *physically restraining myself from killing him* But but but it's like...it...I...
And then my brother called me an idiot for crying over something that "isn't real or anything".

Moral of the Story: People who don't read don't seem to understand crying over books. And big brothers are mean.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having emotions over a story that might be made up. I can't exactly explain why because I'm bad with words... oops...
And besides, there's always a chance all the stories are true. ;)

In other news, I apologize for being gone so long. I was impeded by this annoying thing called Dealing With Reality and Homework.

Fictional Life Tag

I was over at the wonderful July's blog and saw the Fictional Life Tag, which she got from here. And it looks like great fun, so of course I rushed right over to my own blog to do it! :)
NOTE: I have a tendency to fall hopelessly in love with books, so excuse me if these questions have about 5 million answers each. Also. I'm ignoring character deaths.

1.What fictional world would you live in?
Oh dear lord. Lots of options. How bout my top 3 (I told you I'd have trouble choosing. Sigh.)
-the Shadow World (from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. not as creepy as it sounds.)
-Hogwarts/Harry Potter Wizarding World (do I need to explain?)
-Narnia (seriously, do I need to explain?)

2. What fictional being would you be?
Shadowhunter (from TMI) Shadowhunters are just so. Awesome. I can't. Argh.
Being one of those forever young immortal Neverland fairies would be pretty nice too, wouldn't it.

3. What fictional animal/creature would you keep as a pet?
Unicorn. :) Not that I'm exactly the best with horses... 

4. What fictional couple would be your Mom and Dad?
Hmm. I want to say Will and Tessa from the Infernal Devices but they lived in Victorian times soooo
Yknow what, how about Percy and Annabeth from Rick Riordan's books. Then I could go to Camp Half-blood!

5. What fictional characters would be your brother and sister?
Hmmmm. Like which families would I want to be a part of?
-all the Weasleys from Harry Potter ;) I could be Ginny 2.0
-not that they exactly have family but I kind of like Raven from Delirium
-Alec and Isabelle Lightwood from TMI

6. Which fictional character would be your best friend?
Isabelle Lightwood from TMI (in my dreams, anyway). Who's my "sister" too...whoops...
Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars would also be an amazing best friend. 

7. Choose 3 fictional characters to be your close girl friends?
I guess excluding  Izzy because I already said she was my best friend? Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter (isn't she fabulous) Jess from MDBC (other people have answered this too but I mean come on Jess is just great), aaand... Hazel Grace Lancaster from The Fault in Our Stars

8. Choose 3 fictional characters to be your close guy friends?
Again, excluding Augustus because he's supposedly my best friend. Simon Lewis from TMI, Magnus Bane from TMI, and Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games

9. What fictional character would be your girlfriend/boyfriend?
Just one? Si-igh. Jace whatever-his-last-name-is from TMI (fellow Shadowhunters understand my problem with his name right LOL). I also love Augustus Waters. Who is uh, my best friend too and I even considered making him my sibling because you can't get enough Augustus Waters in your life.
While I'm here committing polygamy, Finnick Odair. Or Simon. AUTHORS HAVE CREATED TOO MANY AWESOME CHARACTERS THIS IS SO HARD

10. What author would pen your story?
Cassandra Clare, because she's amazing.

This was not as much fun as I thought it would be because I had the hardest time choosing and some people I just wanted to put in multiple categories and sigh. Answer these questions in the comments below, I'm curious! :)

--Audrey

A Kaylie Quickwrite

If you haven't read my first quickwrite introducing ten-year-old anorexic Kaylie at a science camp, you can find that here, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to...
I just felt like writing more (after more than a year. Oops.), but I hate the pressure of writing something and then editing it because when I've edited something I feel bad if there are mistakes because, you know, I edited it xD
For those of you who don't know, a quickwrite is just something I write and publish without ANY edits. Except random typos, of course.  Haha.
Anyhoo without further ado (what exactly is "ado" anyway) HERE I GO *inhales, exhale*

 Leaves crunching. Wind whistling. People chattering. Birds twittering. But Kaylie didn't hear a thing.

All she knew were stares. The hissed words of her peers were lost.

Hey, that's the girl they took away last night.

What’d she even do?

I dunno. But they kept her there all night.

            In little groups, the fifth graders shuffled into the dining hall, wide oak beams arching across the ceiling above their little heads. High school volunteers milled around, placing platters of breakfast foods on the tables.

            Kaylie slid into her cushioned seat, balancing her tailbone on the very edge of it, clenching her little fists under the white tablecloth.

            “That’s the girl who didn’t eat yesterday.” A brown-haired girl pointed at Kaylie, her lips pressed to a friend’s ear.

            Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Don’t eat. Not hungry. Don’t need food. Strong. I am strong. I am better than this. I can do it.

            Words ran through Kaylie’s mind like a mantra as she stared unblinkingly at her lap, appreciating the various different hues of blue of her jeans. Anything, anything to keep away from that horrid silver spoon on the table.

            But Kaylie’s willpower broke and her large hazel eyes swept to the eating utensil. There it was again. Her reflection. Disfigured, blurry, upside down, fat. Kaylie slowly drew her right hand from under the table, running a finger over her high, prominent cheekbones and down along her cheek, tracing her bony jaw.

            Fat. All of it. Round. Soft and warm and. Fat.

            Her stomach twitched, threatening to rumble and give her away, but Kaylie flexed her muscles the way she’d practiced, and the noise was stopped before it came. She knew that if her stomach rumbled, someone would notice and make her eat. No eating. That was the rule above all the rest.

            Haters, all of them--the nurse, the counselors, the teachers. She had a goal. She was going to reach it. No one could stop her.

            “Kaylie! You’re not eating?” The same young man, the camp head, from yesterday towered over her, a false smile plastered on his face. Hater.

            Very deliberately, Kaylie stretched across the table and grabbed a large platter of scrambled eggs, dumping a spoonful onto her plate, splattering grease across the previously clean porcelain. “I am.” She took a tiny bite of it, chewed more times than necessary, and the whole time, pinched her leg with her left hand still hidden under the table.

            “I am,” when she swallowed. She stared the man straight in the eyes, a sort of quiet challenge in her eyes. “See.” Another tiny bite. More pinching. She tried not to wince.

            “Well. Yes, I see that now.” The man smiled again, awkwardly, and waved to the table, moving along to the next group of students.

            The second the man left, Kaylie wanted to drop the spoon like it was poisonous, but she knew people were watching. Waiting. Judging.

            Little bit little, the lump of oily yellowness slid down Kaylie’s throat. Her nails grew tired from the pinching and her tongue hated every second of the eating. But by the time it was over, no one was paying attention anymore. Free.

            Kaylie stood abruptly the moment breakfast was declared to be over, running back to her cabin to change for the morning hike. She was all alone for maybe thirty seconds, and that was all it took. Several pairs of ankle weights wrapped all around her calves, baggy yoga pants concealing them fully.

            She was ready.



Thanks so much for reading! Please comment any feedback/suggestions below! :) Have a lovely day.

--Audrey

/Speechless/

I... I... I...
NOTE: SPOILERS. ONLY READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVE READ ALL HARRY POTTER BOOKS OR DO NOT PLAN ON READING THEM

 (the name is misspelled haha)

-random Dr. Seuss quote to take up space so people who haven't read HP won't see what's below-


Apparently JK Rowling regrets Ron and Hermione's relationship.
Click here to read the original but I'm going to copy-paste it for your convenience.


Rowling says that she should have put Hermione and Harry together in the Harry Potter series instead of Hermione and Ron.

“I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment,” she says. “That’s how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” she continued, “I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I’m absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility. Am I breaking people’s hearts by saying this? I hope not.”

Okay, to be totally honest. I was never the biggest fan of "Hermiron" (aw but what a cute ship name haha) in the books, but I never expected JK Rowling to say so. I mean, Hermione and Ron all but hated each other in the first half of the first book, and Hermione seemed to constantly be getting mad at Ron (hehe see the hilarious quotes from Order of the Phoenix especially), which is why I thought it was sort of weird that they got together, but I eventually pretty much just accepted it. And the epilogue of Deathly Hallows was super cute awwh
There are worse couples than Hermione and Ron.

But I wonder what Rowling means when she says "wish fulfillment"? Does she mean her own wishes at that time, or the wishes of the readers?

What do y'all think of JK Rowling saying this? Are you a fan of Hermione and Ron? Sound off in the comments! :)

--Audrey

Book Review: Delirium

In order to honor my resolve to post more, here's a book review that has remained unfinished for far too long... Delirium by Lauren Oliver! :D

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

(just a note: I absolutely love the synopsis. I just. It's fabulous, isn't it?)

What I liked: Oooh, dystopians. I'm always attracted to dystopian novels, and this one was especially interesting to me--the title, the synopsis, just the whole idea in general. I absolutely love the writing style; there are plenty of descriptions but not so many that it's extremely boring (like another book that I'll be reviewing soon). I couldn't put it down. Every time I told myself I'll stop at the end of this chapter, I kept reading on and on until like 3 AM. Not kidding. I especially love the character named Alex, though I'm not sure if I should elaborate on why ;) sort of spoiler-y. Oliver does a fantastic job of explaining how this new USA works without making it seem like an info-dump. And I got mad plenty of times, but I'm pretty sure I was supposed to get mad, haha. Ending was beautifully heart-wrenching and I'll leave it at that. 

What I didn't like: The narrator, Lena, was kind of eh to me. Nothing to really dislike about her, but she didn't really stand out in any way. (note: this changes in the next book. Wow.) Relationships and trust seem to build weirdly fast, probably because quite a few weeks pass throughout the book, but it seemed a little rushed. Some swear words are used, the f-bomb two or three times, but that's not worth not reading this book. Romance was mostly just kissing, some suggestive moments but they were written smoothly. 

Overall Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommended Reading Age: I don't really know ummM 12+, maybe 13+

Sorry, I'm still working on my book-reviewing skills...right now they're still in the random-paragraphs-of-my-thoughts stage. Someday I'll get better.

--Audrey

The Fun Questions Tag

-ignores that I've deserted blog for 2 months again-
...
well okay I guess I can't exactly just ignore that. I'm sorry. I'm a terrible blogger. I visit blogs very often, but I just never know what to post on my own blog.
But when I saw the fun questions tag on the fabulous Seana's blog, I thought it would be easy enough since it's like, a ready-made topic for me.

1) When is your birthday? (You don't have to include the year if you don't want to.)
June 11! :)

2) What are 3 of your favorite colors?
Black, turquoise, and gold.

3) What are your 3 favorites quotes?
This is super hard for me to decide so here are 3 quotes I really like but they might not be my favorites:
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." --John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

"When your legs get tired, run with your hear." --Cassey Ho

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." --I have absolutely no clue. Oops.

4) Are you addicted to YouTube?
Psh... no.... *wipes liar's sweat off of palms*

5) What are 3 of your favorite shows on TV or YouTube or both?
Once Upon A Time, Make it or Break it, and America's Got Talent

6) What are 3 qualities you like in a best friend?
Kind, loyal, and likes to read (I'm sorry I just. Really have a hard time talking to people who don't read a lot because reading > life)

7) Do you like your name? 
I'd like it better if my last name was a Shadowhunter name, but sure. Why not.

8) If you have the choice to pick your own name, what will it be?
I'm still trying to figure out what my Shadowhunter name will be so I'll get back to you on that.
But as for first names, maybe Hazel (from TFiOS and Heroes of Olympus hehe) or Isabelle (Lightwood) or something book-related, of course.

9) What is your fantasy dream?
To be a Shadowhunter. :)

10) Do you wear makeup?
Not normally, but I do for performances/competitions.

11) If you could write a book, what would the title be and what would it be about?
I'm writing several books, but I want to keep the ideas vague so they'll be a surprise if I get them published! Everything from magic to anorexia to gymnastics.

12) What makes you cry?
Books, specifically character deaths or something that a character says. (cough CLOCKWORK PRINCESS cough)
the occasional movie, but that's rare.

13) What makes you angry?
Any sort of racism, sexism, bigotry, or in general unfair bias. Also authors killing off the characters I love. Like. Seriously?!

14) What makes you happy?
Books, gymnastics, Jace, books,  rain, my friends, books, books, books...

15) What is "Fangirling?"
fangirling: noun
defintion one: Audrey's favorite pastime
definition two: when one (usually female) obsesses over something (anything. Music, a book, a movie, an actor...) by crying over it, laughing too much, screaming, buying an abundance of related merchandise, etc.

16) What are your 3 favorites snacks?
Ummm. Blueberries, Greek yogurt, and of course, chocolate.

17) What are your 3 favorite foods?
Sushi, Greek yogurt, and who could forget chocolate.

18) What are your 3 favorite drinks?
tap water (preferably cold), Chinese green tea, and guava juice

19) Can you tell us a little about yourself?
*stern English teacher face* of course I CAN tell you about me ;)
Here goes: I'm Audrey Jones, 15 years old, and a competitive gymnast (not the super serious kind who try for the Olympics or anything, just to be clear). I am extremely obsessed with reading fiction of many different genres. I also secretly aspire to be a Shadowhunter and my one true love will always remain Jace from The Mortal Instruments series. Sorry, nonexistent boyfriends. *shrugs*

20) What are 10 random facts about you?
- I love butter cookies even though they're super unhealthy.
- I can't sing. At. All.
- I have weirdly green eyes.
- My hair is really, really, really long. But I usually keep it braided or in a bun or something.
- I have a secret dream to become a famous YouTuber (part of the BookTube community to be specific).
- I am useless with computers.
- I have participated in every single NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo since 2009.
- That is not to say I've won all of those.
- I love cats.
- I don't actually have any cats.

21) What are your 3 fun things to do?
-read fiction
-do Pilates (it's just really fun okay)
-procrastinate on YouTube

Thank you all for reading! :D 

--Audrey

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