Libraries and Future Reading Material

I adore libraries. Yes, I've talked about this before. I could spend an entire day in a library if you let me. I think I just like libraries because it's an endless supply of new information for free. Plus, the information can be about anything. It can come in the form of new stories, both fictional and not; It can be learning how to perform a new task. Sure, you could say that the Internet has all of this "for free" as well, but the Internet and books are two very different things. I'm not saying I don't like reading blogs (I do, and have wasted many hours doing such), but even a book written by a blogger is a whole different experience.

Usually, the other positive that goes with checking out books from a library is convenience, but as I've gone on, I've found libraries to be lacking in the convenience department.

Libraries on colleges are not as convenient as you would think. For one thing, all of their books are academic. I know right? Who thought of that ridiculous idea? Pish. Because of that, for awhile now I've been trying to get a library card for the public library here. It seems that they don't want me to get a library card here.
The first time I went in, they told me that I needed some proof that I was living in the town. So as was suggested, I brought in my lease as proof. Today, that didn't work. Not recent enough. Bah.

Therefore I've given up on trying to get a library card in this town. Sigh. I just wanted to be like the adorable little girl who was enjoying a book at a cafe table, a pile of books stacked past her head. Truthfully, the reason I wanted a library card was for books to read for spring break. 'Tis coming up, and I want to have some good reads.

For the time being, I'm going to get some books from my hometown library for spring break. This works fine, the only issue is getting them back home afterwards. We'll worry about that later.
Right now I'd like to give you a little peek at the books I'm planning on reading in the future.

52 Loaves by William Alexander

The Butcher and the Vegetarian : One Woman's Romp Through a World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis by Tara Austen Weaver

French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

The China Study

The Sorcerer's Apprentices by Lisa Abend

Wow. They're all food books. That's odd.
These are all books that have caught my eye  or I've heard about somehow. I've heard both good and bad things about some of them, but that hasn't stopped me from wanting to read them myself. I'd like to form my own opinion. Currently I have them all on hold, but we'll see if I get to all of them. Some of them might not be checked back in by the time it's spring break. As of now, they're just desired future readings.

Sleeping in yesterday? Probably not a great move for my sleep schedule. I was wide awake late into the night, and I sort of dozed off for a few minutes at eight tonight. Maybe I just can't sleep normally. Or maybe my body gets angry when I try that crap. I dunno.

What books are next on your to read list?

It's All About Perception

Feelin' pretty fresh right now. Just sayin'. Then again, I did just take a shower.

Yeah, still need to work on those introductory sentences. Anywho, hello to y'all out there who happen to be reading. Are you ready for this week? We've already finished Monday, so we're that much closer to another weekend. Oh yes.
I have something specific on my mind for today's post, but first a few daily thoughts:

• Twitter certainly is a good way to get informed as I now know. Today's news? The author of the Berenstain Bears books died today. Those books were a part of my childhood! How sad.
• I agree Kat with wanting Viola Davis to win. Yes, Meryl Streep is a delight actress, but I still would have rather Viola took that win. Nothing you can do.
• Oregon has decided it didn't get winter-y enough earlier, so it's been making up for it. Saturday and Sunday it snowed, and today it was pretty cold. Sure it hasn't gotten Midwest cold, but that's why I would never be able to live in the Midwest.

For the last few days, I've been thinking a lot about perception. It all started a few days ago. I felt big and icky. As I was changing, I looked at myself from the side and thought, "Geez, I've gotten fat."
A millisecond later my brain slapped my subconcious silly.
Fact: I am no where near fat, or what would be considered overweight. My BMI is in the normal range, and I have a healthy body size. Yet, I was displeased with how I looked at that moment. This got me to thinking about women losing weight, or women who just have different body types. What I see as "looking big" could be "I've never looked better!" to someone else. How we perceive this is crazy.

I've been think about writing about this for awhile now, but today seemed like the perfect day to write about it. Mainly because of this video, starting at 4:40 (don't mind the Kate Upton. He's a dude, he talks about dude stuff sometimes.)-

If you don't watch it, the story is about studies on body image. Men see themselves as skinner than they are, but women perceive themselves as fatter. Okay, that's not that surprising. What's terrifying is because of this mindset that has been drilled into our skulls, the rest of the world perceives us as fatter too. Our insecurities about our bodies have made the other gender think, "Oh, she IS that big", when really she's not.

That sucks. Girls, what made us imagine ourselves as so much bigger than we actually are? Don't answer that, there are too many reasons. All I know is that I don't like it.

I'll try to look at myself more positively. Because hey, however I perceive myself is going to affect how others perceive me and I quite like being perceived as looking good. We're not even going to get into beauty here. That's a whole other deal.

That's all from me. I need to put clothes away... she said for the millionth time. Oh dear.

What are your thoughts on body image?

Making Hideous Foods

So... school. Yeah. I'm not ready for you yet. Even though I had a long break. I'm ready for routine, but homework and studying? Not fun.

Ha, but it is about time to get off my lazy arse and get back to the swing of things.

Speaking of swinging, I swung back by my house (or parent's house) to get a few more of my things. It's one of the nice things about living not-so-far away from college. After college though? Hoping to go a bit away... at least for a little while.
Truthfully? I wanted to get in one last normal shower before I had to take one in my apartment. Eugh.

While I was home for a few hours, there was one thing I was able to get done:

Brew some coffee! Just kidding. I made soup! It's called curried lentil soup, and I'm excited to try it! I have yet to do so, simply because I've heard that things made with lentils are usually better after at least a day. As for how it looks? Well, not very appetizing. The color is a brownish green, and it's sort of sludgy. I've saved you the visual... for now.
Still, I know some of the most unappealing looking meals have been some of the most delicious. I think this works for many Indian dishes. For instance, Chicken Saag is hideous, but I love it.

Also bought books today. Ouch. Most of the books were only available at this school, so online was not an option. I think it's the most I've spent on books yet.

Tomorrow is a cleaning day, and making more food day! I think I'm going to freeze half of the soups, so I'll still have three to eat. Have to have some variety though!

What hideous looking food do you love?

Bring in the British Imports!

I'll be honest with y'all. Today, even though I've done some of it, I've been distracting myself like crazy in the hopes of my homework disappearing. ...Well, some of the work is done. Anywho...

Ah, the British. Here in the U.S., we've had quite the interesting relationship with the Brits. As if you didn't already know. And if you didn't... you're probably under the age of 5. However, our relationship is not only recognized by the fact that we're almost known at the rebellious teen of England.

However, that's not the only type of relationship that we have with jolly ol' England. (No, I'm not going to get into politics or the global economy or any of that. Definitely not that intelligent in said fields.) You see, there's an interesting phenomenon that happens here in America. We freakin' love the British.
Okay, I know that's not true for every American. There are a lot of Americans who don't really care about the British, or perhaps they're superfans of other countries (see: Anime fans). However, many younger Americans love other countries and their culture, especially England. Just think about it.

• When the Royal Wedding happened, millions of Americans stayed up/woke up in the middle of the night to watch the festivities.
• What accents are Americans trying to imitate? A British one. (Then again, that might be just because we can't imitate anything else.)
• We're constantly taking British shows and trying to make them Americanized.

Now, the last one up there is the biggest one. British shows are a big deal in the U.S. of A., and there have been many many shows that have been changed to become American. Some shows have thrived, and others have not. The biggest success obviously has been The Office, and the biggest bomb has been Skins.

The show that instead of being compared to the original, was thought of as better than the original. Then again, I wouldn't know. I haven't watched it.

Since we're on the subject, let's take a look at Skins. Before the Parent Television Council of America (or whatever they're called) started having aneurysms about the show in America, the British version was a cult sensation. There was a bounty of angsty teenage fans of the scandalous show, and when news of the show coming to the United States was announced, fans were skeptic. Sure one of their favorite shows was coming to their country, but the fandom was already weary of their own country. "Geez, I wish I was from England instead of this dumb old country. GAWSH!"
Don't tell me that's not true of a boatload of middle class teens. You know it is. Anywho, as we've already seen how it turns out, the U.S. version bombed. When that happened, it made me realize something.
Foreign versions of media being Americanized are like books being made into movies.

Just think about it! You have your base fans, who were there from the start. Then, when the rest of the world gets word of your story becoming a big deal, you get a little worried. What if they don't remember this character? Aw, the slang is going to be all wrong! Remember that one part? That part is super important! Oh man, they're never going to find someone to fit that role! Whoever they end up using is going to screw it up big time. Oh, plus there are probably going to be a ton of people who say they're fans, and they don't even know that this version isn't the original! Posers. Well, maybe it's a little cool.

See? Now, was I talking about a British show or a book? You decide, but the part about the original fans kind of comes to my mind whenever people say, "I'm a fan of Harry Potter", but have never read a single Harry Potter book. (Chloe, you know who I'm talking about. Why won't she read for fun?)

In conclusion, you can't always make an American audience like an Americanized version of a British show. Sometimes you just have to go with the original, and sometimes the culture clash is simply too large.

Truth be told, the idea for this whole ramble came to mind after watching an episode of this British show I like on Hulu. I'd constantly see advertisements for it on the sight, so I decided to take a look at it. It wasn't until I was freaking out about the content on the new episode that I discovered that I was hooked. Oh, and you know how there was a whole freak out about Skins being extremely dirty. I don't think it's just Skins. I think it's all British television. Just sayin'.

So my British import of choice currently is called Misfits, which I'm a little ashamed to say because well... It's dirty, violent, and effed up. Take one part superpowers, one part criminals, another part sex and drugs, a dash of violent crimes, a sprinkle of swearing... and that's Misfits.
Geez, my mother reads this. Oh well, she watched Sex in the City when she was younger.

Orange jumpsuits= Role models!

Yeah. About that homework... I'll see y'all later.
Oh, and on the foot front! I was able to run on it, yes! Hurts more to walk on it... Huh. Less pressure? Dunno.

What's your favorite British/Foreign import?

Bakin' Bread

There's something that I've been keeping from the blog world, and it's that my bread obsession has grown to an all new high. I have a problem.

On my adventure Borders awhile ago, I happened to also buy one other item. Here is what I bought:

Yes. A big ol' cookbook of bread. Only bread, like a bread bible. And no, I didn't buy it all willy-nilly. I thought long and hard about if I really wanted to buy a bread book.

I made my first loaf from this book last Friday, and have currently made three different loaves in the last five days. (They were before I had a boatload of homework, and one today). Like I said, it's a bit of a big thing. Instead of having English muffins in the morning, I've been using toast. 'Tis delish!
Also, I've been waiting until one loaf is (mostly) gone. Half of the Banana bread went to my cousins, so that went fast, and the other loaf was munched at quite a bit on my long run day.

So it turns out, I can bake bread. I'm not so great at cooking, but I can live off of bread, right?
Bread, eggs, craisins, veggies, and peanut butter... sounds about right.

It's time for me to rush off to bed. Ta ta!

Have you ever baked bread? What's your favorite kind?

Summer Reading and Fear of Repetition

There are quite a few little things I have to talk about, so let's get started, shall we? (I've never been good with introductions.)

I haven't been participating in my self English Class Summer Reading challenge (as I like to call it) very well. However on that same note, I have done a decent amount of random reading. I read one of Chelsea Handler's books that was sitting in the garage. I'm not sure whose book it is, but I decided it was free to read. Now I'm reading a book called Paper Towns, which is a young adults novel. Seem a little odd, but it interested me due to the fact the author is part of a vlog I watch. It almost makes me feel like I know a published author. That's one of the fun things about the Internet: You feel like somehow you know all of these people. Like, it's someone you've seen in a class, even though in reality you'll probably never see these people in real life.

Today my parents asked if I would like to go see Harry Potter again. I don't want to seem like I'm less of a fan of Harry Potter fan than I am, (Geez that sounds nerdy) but I wasn't really in the mood to go watch it again. I wondered why on Earth I wouldn't want to go watch something again that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then it hit me. I hate repetition.
Now, that isn't to say that I like life changing on me all of the time. I like having a schedule, I like having solid plans. You'd think that someone who likes to have set situations in their life wouldn't despise repetition, but hear me out. All of my life I've liked going through things, trying to get them done as quickly as possible (as well as with as much quality as possible, but that's in certain situations.) When I become interested in a show, I want to go through the episodes as quickly as possible to get to the current situation. There have been very few times where there is a show I like and I haven't gone through the past episodes like a maniac. I like knowing all of the facts, and the only way to do that is to go through the entire thing. However, as soon as I'm done... I never watch them again. I'm the same way with movies, stories, events, almost everything. Also for every goal I make, as soon as I complete I start to think "What's next?" I get bored quickly, and want to move on.

Is this a good way to live? Or a terrible way to live? I honestly have no idea, but it might be on the negative side which worries me. If I'm constantly thinking about the future, how will I enjoy the current situation? If I get bored with things quickly, what type of career am I going to be looking for?
I have no freakin' idea. Geez, I mean I'm only nineteen, I don't know how to solve my late teen crisises (or however you write the plural form of crisis).

I suppose I could write more, but that's probably a lot of blather for one night anyway. Beside, I have school tomorrow... Yeah, not looking forward to that. Five more weeks...

Read any good books this summer?

Right Idea, Wrong Time and 10,000 Hours

My talent for having the right idea at the wrong time is at full power apparently.

Confused? Let me explain.

As you know, on Friday I went up to go get a textbook for my summer class. One of the two things I needed to get done while up there was that, and they just happened to be taking inventory.
"Well, you don't really need it yet. I mean, what are you going to do with it beforehand, look at it?" my sister told me.
"I guess you're right," I replied.

Hmm. Actually, I do need it. Looking over the syllabus, I noticed that we have homework due the first day of class. Hoo boy. That just means I have to get up there as soon as the bookstore opens, then finish the homework in the hour and a half before class. That's all I can do.

The second instance of the right idea at the wrong time happened today, when I went into town to go get books from my mom's business. I had the key... To her part of the building. Did I have a key to the entire building? No. Pish.

In other thought processes, I've been thinking about the 10,000 hours concept. The idea is that you need to spend at least 10,000 hours working on a skill to become an expert in it. Being very type A personality, I want to get a start on that as soon as possible. The only problem with that is I don't know what skill I'd like to develop.

Oh geez. It sounds like I'm talking about majors. Similar though, isn't it?

What's your 10,000 hour skill?

Summer Plans List and High School Reading Materials

Does time just pass much more quickly during the summer? Because it sure feels like it.

I say this mainly because I feel like I didn''t have enough time to finish anything today, despite having as many hours in the day as usual. I guess that's a duh comment.

After almost a week of being home, I've finally made a list of things I would like to do this summer. Some of the goals are goofy, and are similar to goals that little kids make. Go to a drive in movie? It's on the list. Make up a song about a silly topic? Yes, that's there too. There are also a few goals that are "big kid" goals like getting accessories for my apartment next year and marathon training. Pretty much all of my goals involve less time with technology and more time... being a kid? I guess. Sure, I'm taking classes and working for my mom Monday through Friday, but I still need to make time for summer stuff. For the longest time, I wasted summers zoning out to the TV. Dang it, not this summer.

One of my goals that I personally think is the most interesting is my summer reading list. The list isn't full of easy reading, or the next big book. I've decided to fill my list with classic novels. The whole thing started earlier this school year, during my English classes. We'd always mention books that everyone should have read in English class. The Catcher in the Rye? The Lord of The Flies? Everyone read these books in high school, right? Apparently not in my high school. The only two classic high school reading books I remember reading were The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men. Hopefully the novels I read will be more like Mice than Gatsby. I hated The Great Gatsby because situations that did not need much detail were overly detailed. The part I remember the most? When one of the women is in a car accident and Fitzgerald goes way too much into detail about how she's been ripped apart. It's explained how her boob was ripped off her chest. That's what I remember.

I'm sure I'll think of other things to add to the list, but for now it's looking pretty good.
Tomorrow is a long run day! Ack. It's always scary when you have to run a distance you've never run before.

What are the High School Reading materials that you've never read? Do you have any suggestions?

New Zodiacs, Classy, Bulletin Boards, and Security

Ah... the stress of the week seems to have lifted, and the anticipation of the weekend has begun to grow. Let's chat about a few things, shall we?

First of all, has everyone out there heard about the Zodiacs changing? I'm not kidding. Apparently, some scientists/astrologists have decided that the moon has moved or something, and the signs therefore have changed. There's even a new sign that no one can pronounce known as Orphiuchus, or the man strangling a snake. I wish I was making this up. Here's an article about it:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/13/horoscope-hang-up-earth-rotation-changes-zodiac-signs/
I refuse to be a Virgo. I will always be a Libra. I love my goofy scales!

Lately when I have the time, I've been trying to work my way through the book Classy by Derek Blasberg. The book is basically an etiquette book for the modern lady. It's a really fun read! Then again, I think I'm becoming my mother in the sense that I enjoy etiquette books, but it's interesting nevertheless.

You don't want that tramp stamp!

Remember that bulletin board that fell from my wall? Well, I happened to come across this lovely sight again:

Goodness. I tried putting it up one more time, but it fell to the floor for a third time. For the time being, the board sits against the wall on the ground.

As a last thought, I'd like to think about a blog post that I read recently posted, that blogger Kat linked. Here's the original post:
http://www.imanokie.com/2011/01/every-bloggers-nightmare-2/
 Her situation is kind of a long shot for me, but it has a good main idea. Basically, it got me thinking about how private things on my blog should be. I'm not sure if I really post any information that is really risky, but it's a good thing to look out for. I make sure I don't post things on Facebook that could be dangerous to any job or something like it that I might go for in the future. I'm not going to be silent on my blog, just keeping a watchful eye on what I post. Better safe than sorry!

I... didn't do a lot today besides classes, run, and watch a lot of Rotten Tomatoes specials on Hulu. Which was actually pretty swell.

What's your new astrological sign? What do you think of the change?

New Teachers, Considering Majors and a Lot of Work

Spanish has started to show me that this is going to be a busy term. Woowee.

Despite being a busy term due to Spanish homework every night, I think I'm gonna have some pretty cool classes this term. One of the ones was the costume class I mentioned yesterday, but my two new classes today seem quite interesting. I'm actually pretty excited for writing. It may be kind of hard, but the teacher seems pretty cool. One random thing I noticed is that his hair is screwed up big time. He did mention his barber didn't really understand the meaning of "take a little off the sides", but he needs to trim the baby mullet. Just sayin'.

Ouch. My bank account is crying right now, because there's not much left in there. I had to buy two more books today that weren't as much as my Spanish texts, but still managed to do some damage. I know that I earned money this summer for school but... geez, it hurts to see it disappear like that. Next year, I am seriously going to take advantage of the Internet for books.



Damn you Dos Mundos and your expensiveness!

 Because it's winter term, I've once again started seriously thinking about majors again. Right now, I'm not sure if I even want to stay here. There are so many pros and cons to this school, and both the pros and cons are big. And if I transfer, how will that affect my credits? My ability to travel abroad? That's why I'm starting to think about this again now. Now, I have a notebook (that I got for Christmas) dedicated to figuring out what I want to do and traveling abroad.



That's a pros and cons list of some majors. Yep.

 Yeah, I'm that intense. I thought that perhaps if I jot my ideas down, they may come clearer. I think next term I'm going to take simply classes that sound interesting to me. Yep. If they are required, that's cool but I just want to know what things I'll really like.

Other than homework, went on my first run back at campus again! I think it's official that treadmills are my enemy. I don't care how cold it is, running outside is the way to go.
Funny that even when I'm a bit messy in the room, my room mate still seems to top me in the messiness department. Makes me feel clean.

How do you organize your thoughts?

Libraries and Going the Distance (Or Not)

I am quite excited that tomorrow is Friday! Yet there is still much to do this evening.

Yesterday I saw a poster for another play tryout! Do I want to do it? Yes, of course! Then today one of my hall mates texted me and mentioned that she wanted to try out for it. How exciting!

Hello Third Floor Library, have we met?

This brought me to going to the library to look up books for monologues. I have been to the library as mentioned before, but I had yet to check out any books.

If you got a chance to look at my first post, you'd see that I have a habit of taking facts from books a lot, or quoting said information. Where do you find books other than the library? This takes us back to this summer, where I would visit the local library multiple times and check out as many books as I could carry. Were these novels? Ha, if only. No, these were books on information like how to succeed in college, finding out the secrects to being financially savvy. Pretty much how to books and factorial books. Weirdly enough I love this type of stuff.

Fast forward today. I look up some monologue books and go find them. One would be enough, yes? I grab three. It seems like I would be good for the day, but what's this? Something has caught my eye! Some books about writing are on the shelf. I skim it, but find nothing of interest. Wait! What's that on the next shelf? Books about food? I am interested about finding out proper nutrition more... I wonder if they have- Fast Food Nation! People always tell me to read this! And let's look at those nutrition books...

This led to me getting  this pile of books:

There's another one in my backpack as well. The question is, when am I going to be able to read these? I have until December 2.

This morning I was planning to run 5 miles, as my training schedule I made said. However, it did not happen. I was having serious issues this morning. It wasn't that my legs were tired, I just couldn't breathe! I don't know what was going on. I ended up running 4. I don't feel very guilty though since

1. I ran an extra mile earlier this week to test out my new shoes.
2. I did Aerobics tonight, which was fun! I was surprised that it didn't totally kill me. I think I'm gaining some endurance!

Truthfully, I think I put more mileage on my training schedule than the one I took the main idea from. I'm doing fine as far as I'm concerned.

The aerobics thing was part of a campus activity... that ended up ending at 9:40. Add me taking a shower, and you've got the reason for the post so late in the evening. Time to go dry my hair!

How do you feel about libraries? What books do you usually go for?