About Me

(Baby Jude!)

Hello there!  I've decided to start making a few changes with my blog (nothing major, I promise) and one of those changes was attempting get rid of the 'Pages' bar at the top and replace it with pictures leading to an actual post.  We'll see how this goes.


Any way!  I got these questions from the Chapter Chicks and I thought it was a good idea!  So here we go!


Q: Why did you start blogging?This one sort of has a story.  Many, many years ago, one of my neighbors went to Mexico for a vacation that lasted a couple weeks.  He started a blog that detailed his trip (at the time) to San Miguel.  He's a great photographer and I was really impressed with what he did.  I wanted to start a blog myself.  I didn't know what it would be about, because I was really young and who wants to hear about the "hard life" of a twelve to fourteen year old?  Except in stories of course.  But as I started creeping into the world of blogging not too long ago, I discovered that many people were writing about what they were reading.  I thought it was a splendid idea!  So I kind of experimented a little, and I discovered that this style of blogging really worked for me.  And I could change and evolve as I changed and evolved.


Q: When did you start blogging?

Technically, late September or early October in 2009.  That's when I created this blog (I tried blogging before that, but it didn't work out.  Books are more interesting.  My previous blog has since been deleted).  So to answer this question, I became an active blogger in late 2010, when I had just become a Junior in high school.  It took about a year to turn everything around.


Q:Why did you name your blog "...It's Like a Whirlwind Inside of my Head..."
I gave my blog this name because basically, I needed a title.  I initially started this blog for a class and I was told that I didn't have to give it an assigned name.  In tenth grade, I was still riding the bus, which meant maybe twenty minutes or less of iPod time.  That was the song that happened to come up that day and it was still in my head.  It was this one, actually:

Q: Who designed your blog?I did!  I've messed around with it quite a bit.  I found a solid colored picture on Google Images and then for the header, I took a picture of myself reading, brought it over to Pixlr (a free version of Photoshop, basically) and I traced around my shape.  Then I brought that finished project into Picnik and put the title in place.  I made my blog button in must the same way.  If you'd like me to make you a button, leave me a comment.


Q: Is blogging your job?
This thought spoils me.  I've considered monetizing my blog, but I figure I should try and get a "real job" before jumping into that.  Maybe someday, but as of yet, I don't want to deal with the pressure of keeping a consistent blog (I've tried, it's not really something that melds with my lifestyle, which is why I blog pretty sporadically, except for recently when I've been putting up scheduled posts every other day).  So, no, it's not my job, it's just a really fun hobby.


Q: How old are you?
I'm seventeen years old, turning eighteen in December.


Q: What is your favorite YA book?
Not a fair question.  Next!


Q: What Harry Potter House would you be sorted into?
Griffenpuff.

Q: How fast do you read? Not lightening speed, but faster than a snail's pace.  It really depends on what's going on in life at the time.  If I have nothing to do, I could decide to finish an entire book in one day, depending on how long the book is.  I have no numerical values for you.  Sorry.


Q: Do you read more than one book at a time?
Absolutely!  It makes life more interesting.


Q: Do you read ebooks?
I've given them a try, but I tend to gravitate towards audio books or physical copies.  There's just something magical about holding a book in your hands and smelling the mildew-y smell of an old book and hearing the crack of the spine of a new book.


Q: What program do you use to edit your videos?
When I make videos, I will use my Nikon and Gorillapod tripod to shoot the footage, then convert the video into a recognizable format with Any Video Converter (it's a free program), then put it through Windows Movie Maker (for titles and rearranging video clips).  After that, if I need to put words in the video, I will put that finished Windows Movie Maker video through Windows Live Movie Maker, because I can put the words wherever I want, unlike Windows Movie Maker.  It's a bit of a process, but it seems to work out.


Q: You're not the only one that's made an appearance on this blog.  Who have you pictured or mentioned before?

 The Dhermands (Left to Right: Pascal, Eloise, Marie, and Cecile).  Marie has stayed with us on two occasions now.  She was our first French exchange student, but recently she came an visited from France just this past summer!  And we got to meet her family!

Marie is basically my sister.  A couple of the kids that we babysat for when she was here asked me, "Where's your sister?"  It's kind of difficult to explain that we live in two different countries to a five year old.

 My Family (Left to Right: Lisa "Mumzy", Jeff "Father-Unit", Shannon "Shenanigans", Me)

 Avery!  We were kind of friends in middle-school, but once we both landed in high school, our friendship took off and we've been inseparable (well, almost.  She's not here right now...)!  She the one I take all of my trip to Half Price Books with.  She's awesome-sauce!

 My seester!

 Ezra Zee!  We make crazy art projects together and we've also been friends since middle school (probably when I was in seventh grade, which would mean she was in sixth).  She motivated me to write 'Murder by Rulers.'

And this guy, Jack, my boyfriend of almost three years now.  This is kind of an older picture, but that's okay :)

Q: Is Jude your real name?  It sounds like a boy's name... are you a boy?

No, I'm not a boy.  No, Jude is not my real name.  Yes, Jude can be a boy's name.  Jude is my pseudonym.  I love the Beatles and I also read a book written by an author with the first name Jude.  I loved it, so I made it my pen name and coupled it with the last name Rosenberg, because I thought it sounds awesome.

Q: What do you do when you're not blogging?

Reading, of course!  Either that or I'm writing, hanging out with friends, going on adventures, taking pictures, or trying to finish up high school.  You know how it is.

Any way, hopefully you liked this post okay.  If you have any questions for me, I'll be sure to update this page with an answer.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

It Happened Ten Years Ago

We didn't just lose two towers (twins), we lost our sense of security, we lost a certain amount of trust for other people, we lost our minds just trying to figure out what to do, trying to figure out how to respond.  We lost an unsettling number of people.

I was only seven or eight years old when those planes hit these towers.  I had no idea what was going on.  I went to school and they (I can't remember who "they" were exactly) explained what happened (or at least as much as you can explain to a class of third graders).  When I saw my mom, she asked if I wanted to talk about it.  I told her I didn't.  I was responding like everyone else around me was-- sad, confused...-- but they had a reason for it.  They had friends that lived in New York, they had friends that were traveling on planes that day, maybe they were even going on a business trip to New York in a few days.  They knew what was going on.  I didn't.

My little sister thought the newsreels were a movie (she was five).  This sort of thing only happens in movies...

It's amazing how far our response has spread.  I live in Minnesota, where it feels like I shouldn't be affected by this, but that's not the case.  The airport has more security.  We can't go to the gate and say "good bye" or "I'll see you soon" to friends and family.  There's prejudice-- like, more than usual, it seems.  I've been witness to it.

I don't want to talk about religion, or politics, or anything like that.

Where were you when you heard the news?  What were you thinking when it happened?

--Jude

The State of my Education: Senior Year Thus Far

Hello there!

I have now been a senior (like, recognized by the school, not just "I finished Junior year, so I must be a Senior!" senior) for about two weeks now.  Since I've been coasting on scheduled posts for about that long, I figured I'd take the time and write one out now.  To be published immediately.

It's been two weeks and already Senior year has been a year of trying new things.  I know it will continue to be so too.  So far, I have become an aid for my psychology teacher who also doubles as an economics teacher.  Basically, I get goldfish for grading papers (worksheets and then pages of notes that he calls Jig-Saws.  It's a lot easier than it sounds).  Best yet, I'm able to ask for a college recommendation from this teacher because he only writes recommendations for people that participate in the quiz bowl and for those who are his aids.  I'm going to see if I can aid a few days a week before or after school next semester, because I'll have a full schedule (no hours off!  What a tragedy!).

The second thing that I've tried doing is I auditioned for a couple plays last week!  They're senior projects, so they have small casts, which made them hard to get cast for.  I tried out for a play called 'Lend Me a Tenor' (it's hilarious!) and another called 'All in the Timing' (very cute and witty!).  There was also a Shakespeare one, but I didn't audition for that.  So I stayed after school for two days because I was called back for both of the plays that I auditioned for.  When I saw those call-back sheets and I saw my name on both of them, I was so excited. It was my first time doing theater (I've attended plays, but never really participated), and just getting called back was amazing and such a confidence boost.  I didn't get cast for anything, but I was totally okay with that.  Just the audition process was fun.  I have no regrets.

I'm not trying out for choir, but I'm thinking about trying to find a group for after school.  That would be trying something new.  I'll just have to figure out what that is.

In other news, I love my classes; they're interesting and I'm interested in them.  They're challenging too!  What  a good combination to have!

My travel dates are creeping up.  France at the tail end of March and Washington D.C. on April 12.  Those are going to be some busy months.  Luckily, I've taken care of testing (ACT as of today (for the second time) and MCAs as of the end of last year.  And by that point, I'll be waiting for colleges to contact me).

I'm so excited!  I wanted to make senior year special and so far, it's working out quite well!

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Revolver' by Marcus Sedgewick (Audio Book)

"A loaded gun, stolen gold, and a menacing stranger.


In an isolated cabin in an arctic wilderness, 14-year-old Sig is along with a corpse: her father, who has fallen through the ice on the lake outside and frozen to death only hours earlier.  Then, out of the arctic darkness, comes a stranger: a terrifying giant of a man claiming that Sig's father owes him a share of a horde of stolen gold-- and threatening awful violence if Sig doesn't reveal the gold's whereabouts.


Sig knows nothing about the gold, but he does know that there's a loaded Colt revolver hidden in the cabin's storeroom-- a gun that his father had said would protect him, but which his mother had abhorred.  'Revolver' alternated between the lonely cabin and events during the Alaska Gold Rush ten years earlier, gradually unspooling the mystery of the stolen gold and the terrifying stranger, building to a climax that turns on whether and why Sig will use the hidden gun.


'Revolver' is a compelling frontier survival story, crafted with the intensity and precision of a one-act play."

I can't help but feel that the description of this audio book is propping up the actual story being told.  As I was listening, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something.  This would make me go back and listen to certain parts of the story only to realize that I had understood what was happening during that part.

The description mentions that this could be a one-act play.  I feel like it would have been more effectively told had this story been a one-act play.  I would probably be a little more interested.

The story only picked up towards the end when Wold (the giant man) and Sig end up having to go outside to search for the missing papers to Sig and his older sister can hand over the gold this intruder speaks of.  That was kind of exciting because there was more immediate danger.  Otherwise, were mostly empty threats and talk (at least, that's what it felt like).

As a saving grace, the cover (both versions of it... I couldn't find a big enough picture to post here) are very well done.  Elegant, in a way.

Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed with this book.  Maybe I'll have to give it another try later, but for now, this is my verdict.

I give 'Revolver':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. Expect another review in two days!  I take my ACT tomorrow for the second time, so wish me luck!

A Review of 'Black Box' by Julie Schumacher (Audio Book)

"Elena is quieter and steadier than her fun, unpredictable older sister, Dora.  But they have always been close, and have always told each other everything.  So when Dora is diagnosed with depression and has to be admitted to the hospital, nothing makes sense to Elena without her.

At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Dora's friends and Jimmy Zenk-- who wears black every day of the week and seems to be getting through ninth grade on his own special schedule.  At home, Elena's parents have started arguing with each other after they think Elena has gone to bed, and it just gets worse once Dora is finally discharged.  Now Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normal-- even when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.

In this gripping, moving audio book about a family in crisis, Julie Schumacher asks: How far should we go to try to protect the people we love?"

I like that Julie Schumacher focuses on the family of a depressed person.  It was an interesting point of view-- I felt stressed with Elena's parents, I felt helpless and on-edge when Elena felt helpless and on-edge.

I really didn't like Dora at all.  Maybe I would have like her better had this story been from her point of view, but from this standpoint, it felt like she didn't care and that she was doing these things on purpose (I've learned in psychology that what I'm doing is called attribution theory.  I think that the actor (in this case Dora) is deliberately being rather horrible, but she may have motives behind her behavior other than depression.  Bonus points for applying my learning?  No?  Fine).  I'm sure that's not the case, but I can't say that I've know someone who has been diagnosed with depression, so I can't say what goes on in the mind...

While I thought Julie Schumacher's novel was affective, I didn't care very much for her writing style.  It was bad, just not my cup of tea.  I can't even put my finger on what it is that I don't like, but she lacks something that just about all of my favorite authors have.

I thought that Schumacher did a great job with character development.  That's what kept me listening-- the good characters.

Overall, 'Black Box' had interesting characters and clever metaphors but still left something to be desired.

I give 'Black Box':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

Movie Time! 'The Roommate'

"While acclimating to campus life, college freshman Sara (Minka Kelly) begins to realize that her new roommate, Rebecca (Leighton Meester), is becoming obsessed with her.  When the unhinged Rebecca starts targeting Sara's friends and loved ones, can she save them-- and herself?  This tense psychological thriller also stars Cam Gigandet, Danneel Harris, Alyson Michalka, and Frances Fisher.

This was a movie made up of a lot of creepy factors that make you cringe.  Everything else would have been much scarier all the way through if they had shown exactly what was happening (though I'm really glad the directors decided not to... it was creepy enough as it is).

I'm really curious about what exactly Rebecca has.  I know she was taking medication because she was a psychopath or a sociopath, but those aren't names of diseases or disorders, just a way of being, right?  If you know, could you share your knowledge?

I watched this movie with my friend Marie from France and we watched it around 11 or midnight.  Perfect time to watch such a creepy, cringe-worthy film.

You will be put on edge as Rebecca confronts anyone that she sees as a threat to Sara and/or their roommate relationship.  And really, the scary part is that it doesn't take much to get on her bad side.

The plot thickens when we pay a visit to Rebecca's house.

Quite a good movie.  I'm not a little afraid to get a roommate...

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

A Peek Inside My Head: 'Murder by Rulers'

I'm sure that I've mentioned this before, but when I was in seventh grade, I began a story called 'Murder by Rulers.'  Since then, I have finished a draft, added to it, scrapped that entire draft, and started writing the same story (yet a completely different story) from the very beginning again.  In order to focus my thoughts some more, I decided to have a coloring day (when it was still summer) and work out what I thought some of the main places looked like.  I just wanted to show you what I've been working on since posting has been so scarce (save for the scheduled posts).  Enjoy!

 In 'Murder by Rulers' my character Kieran (originally named Edward, until I realized that half of my cast of characters had names from 'Twilight') works in his family's coffee shop called A Cup for Joe.  I described it in the story, but this is my visual representation of it.  I might have to redo that description, but that'll just have to wait until I get into editing mode.  Right now, I just want to finish.

 I tried to think of how I would design my own coffee shop and then couple that with places that I've already been to before.

 I had an upper area where Ella and Kieran played numerous games of Sorry!  They're later joined by Angela, who later becomes Kieran's love interest, though I still have to write those scenes.

 I love it when coffee shops have fire places!  They're so classy!

 This is the high school where Emmett (who later becomes Ella's love interest), Angela, Ella, and Kieran all go to school.  This isn't how I originally imagined it, but pretty close.  I guess this pictures is set inside the retaining wall of the school.  Yes.  Let's go with that.  I might have to go through and give this picture another try.  Maybe even make it lighter and easier to see.

 I want to make the front door much bigger and also higher off the ground.

I could even add in a more defined garden as opposed to this one that's just kind of thrown in wherever it fits.

So, that's all I have for you today!  I hope you liked it, and if you didn't, well, that's okay.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

A List of Musicals that I Haven't Seen But Really Want to See

Hello everyone!

So, one thing you might not know about me is that I love going to plays.  I love plays and musicals!  But there are so many shows that I haven't seen that I really, really want to see!  So I thought that I'd list them, since my current infatuation is with musicals and plays (specifically, 'Equus.'  I just requested the book from the library yesterday and I'm so excited to read it!).  If you've seen any of these shows, let me know what you though about it!

 "American Idiot"

"The Little Mermaid"

"Equus"

"Mary Poppins"

"RENT"

"Wicked"

Thanks for taking a peek!

--Jude

Don't Worry, I'm Not Dead

Hello Everyone!

I just thought I'd clue you in as to the happenings on this blog.  As you might have imagined, school has started up again for me.  Senior year!

This is relevant to this blog because... list time!

1. I won't be around as much as I was over the summer.  Of course I'll still be posting, and I'm trying to keep everything as regular as possible.  I have four reviews lined up and every other day, starting on the fifth, there will be a review.  I'm not sure if this trend will continue, but I really hope so.

2. Eventually, there will be a ton of pictures to put up.  I'm anticipating going on two pretty big trips this year.  One to Washington D.C. (I've never been to that part of the U.S. before!) and another to France.  So you can expect pictures in later April or perhaps May, if not later, because April and May are going to be super busy months what with AP testing and graduation and other family events.  This leads to my third point.

3. This doesn't necessarily apply to now, but it very well could.  You might see a very strung out and stressed Jude Rosenberg at times.  I'm going to try not to post angry posts here, but if in my anger or strung-out state I feel that I need an audience, I might end up posting here and you're more than welcome to ignore.

These are really the basic things that I wanted to tell you.  By Tuesday, I'll have finished another book, if not two, so I'll try and write those and get them lined up and start the next one right away.

Those are the goals for this school season, so wish me luck and I'll see you next time!

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' by John Green and David Levithan (Audio Book)

"It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets.  When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected direction.  With a push from friends new and old-- including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire-- Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical."

One of the most hilarious books I've ever listened to!  I love John Green and also David Levithan.  When they get together, they work magic like nobody's business.

I was a little worried about listening to this book as opposed to reading it because of the two Will Graysons, but that didn't prove to be too big of a problem.  The authors have distinctive writing styles, so if you have read any of their previous works, you might be able to tell.  Otherwise, John Green wrote the odd chapters and David Levithan wrote the even ones.

Tiny Cooper was amazing and I absolutely would have seen his musical!  The lyrics were awesome and they spoke the truth.  I also appreciated that the men who read the chapters were willing to sing Tiny Cooper's lyrics (that's an extra special treat you get when you listen to the audio book!).  That made listening to this book as opposed to reading this book completely worth it.

If you have ever been in love-- or lust-- of any kind, it will be easy to relate to this story.  And if you've struggled with your sexuality, you'll appreciate this book as well.  It's beautiful and honest as well as funny.

In summation, 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' will appeal to anyone that like a young adult, kind-of-love, self-acceptance story saturated in humor.

I give 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. I have a large number of reviews coming your way, for real this time, but I'm going to schedule them so you aren't bombarded.  The next one will be next week!

Traveling Teacher

Recently, (like, within the last two or three weeks) I have started watching a lady named Paige on YouTube under the username hopeonatenspeed (click to pay her a visit).  She is such an inspiring person.  Not only does she consistently find a reason to be happy, but she's also done many amazing things so far in her life.  One of the things that she did was move to Korea to teach English for a year.  Pretty soon, she's moving to Thailand to do the same thing.  She has been on road trips around the U.S., she went to Northern Ireland to complete her Masters degree.

While all of these things sound absolutely amazing, I'm only going to focus on one of those things.  That thing is something that I'm currently planning for myself.

I'm talking about teaching English in another country.

One of the big things that I want to do in my lifetime is travel.  I plan on living in another country for at least a year in college, but after that, I didn't know what I would do.  Before I found out about this, I assumed that my options would be to look into Grad Schools or to get a job.  While both of these things are really good to do (and I'll more than likely end up doing them), at this point in time, they don't seem like the most appealing things to do.  So when I started watching Paige, I became inspired to look into teaching in other countries.

I did some Googling, and I found this online school that would allow me to earn a certificate to teach in other countries and learn how to teach English to those who were born in a country where English isn't the primary language spoken.  It's called TEFL Institute.  While I'll have to do a little more research (maybe even dropping an email with questions that haven't already been answered), this option looks very good for me.

It's an online class.  They let me do 100 hours of online work and then 20 more hours of in-person training.  After that, they'll help me get a job in a country I'd like to go to and wouldn't mind living in.  If online doesn't seem to be a good option for me, they also offer in-person training to make up for those 100 hours.  That would take a month to complete.

After that, it looks like I'd never have to renew this certificate and they'd help me with pre-departure dates and to-do lists, so I wouldn't be on my own through this whole process, which is comforting.  They could help me find a job during the summer (though the countries are more limited) or they could help me obtain teaching contracts anywhere from 6 months to an entire year.

I could even start this training right out of high school (though I would like to attend a typical college first)!  They only require that you have your high school diploma and that you're a native or a fluent English-speaker (which I am!).

All of that is a super-long way of saying that this program sounds absolutely amazing and I really want to do it as soon as I finish at least four years of college.  I'd basically be getting paid to travel.  And to teach.  How awesome is that?

After looking at the list they gave, I think I'd like to teach in Greece, Italy, and Indonesia for sure.  But there are so many other countries to visit and look into... that decision is going to be the hardest part, but making the decision to actually do this will not be hard.

So, I thought I'd just throw this out there, because I think it's so freaking amazing that this is out there.

I promise I'll have reviews up later today.  I have about three or four of them just waiting to be typed up and published on this blog.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. Sorry for repeating the picture :)

Following Friday!

Welcome to Friday!  I'm sort of trying to get back into the swing of answering these question at the end of the working week.  I call this progress :)

TGIF, The Blog Hop, and Follow Friday are brought to you by Ginger @ GReads, Jennifer @ Crazy for Books, and Parajunkee.

TGIF

Which genre, authors, or particular books do you think people associate with your reading style?

Among my friends, I like to think that I'm associated with Young Adult Fiction that tends to be dark and depressing.  I can't say that I disagree with them.  I love books like "13 Reasons Why" by Jay Asher, and anything by Laurie Halse Anderson.  I guess that's because it's neat to see a protagonist fight against an enemy that's not human.

The Blog Hop

Non-book related week!!  Do you have pets?

I do indeed!  My house is a little bit zoo-like and I'm sure you'll know why as soon as I tell you.  First of all, I have two cats.  The oldest one is Sophie.  She hangs out in the basement all day and all night and does not like to be placed in the empty and dry washing machine.  I don't understand... the youngest cat is Quincy.  She is sociable and fluffy.  Then there's our dippy dog Louie the Beagle.  He enjoys sleeping on his back and being generally dippy.  There's Sullivan the hamster who is three years old and is still going strong!  He loves to run and play dead (no, he's not really dead.  I've checked because he's freaked me out so many times).  Also, I'm pretty sure he's fluent in French because of all the French music I play.  Lastly, there's Senior Fluffy, my sister's hermit crab.  It's fun to babysit him!  He enjoys trying to escape (and he's gotten pretty close, astonishingly).

I'm too lazy to post pictures, but trust me, there are pictures floating around this site (except for pictures of Fluffy, because he's new to the household, and Sullivan, because he's super fast).

Follow Friday

In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series, the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world.  Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

This one:

You know, as long as Norbert stays this size.  He's cuter that way ^_^

Thanks for reading!  I'd love to read your answers, so feel free to leave your web address below.  I'll try and pay you a visit to your site this weekend.  Have a good one!

--Jude

Vacancy.com Blog Scholarship Entry

In a year's time, I'll be packing my life up in boxes and moving out of my house that I've lived in for seventeen years and moving into whichever college I get accepted to.  Ideally, this college would be the University of Minnesota- Duluth (UMD).  I would live on campus for a year, if not two, before seeking out an apartment.

While I was meandering around Vacancy.com, I, alas, could not find an apartment in or around Duluth, so I assumed that I was going to the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota.  I found an apartment that was nearly perfect for what I was hoping for in an apartment (for a first apartment, any way.  I have big plans for that dream home!).

This apartment is owned by Bowers Real Estate Development (you can click on the owner's name to check out the Vacancy.com page for it).  I picked this apartment because it fulfills my basic apartment necessities checklist and it fulfills a couple romantic notions of mine.

My basic apartment necessities checklist in a few years will more than likely consist of decent rent, enough room for two people (myself and a roommate), and access to public transportation (with optional lake and bike trail access).  This particular apartment has a two-bedroom apartment available, which would make my hope of having a roommate completely possible (roommates make life interesting).  With this dream roommate in mind, the rent would be much lower if we split it between the two of us.  So that takes care of the first two things on my basic needs checklist.  The last thing is access to public transit and/or lakes with bike trails.  Though this isn't mentioned in the ad on Vacancy.com, I happen to know the area quite well.  There are three lakes nearby complete with bike trails that connect to each other.  I would definitely utilize these trails and lakes because by hobby, I'm a photographer that prefers to take pictures of naturally occurring things and I also like to ride bikes whenever I can.  While I seriously question the origin of these lakes (I'm fairly certain at least one of them is man-made), lakes are things found in nature, and I appreciate that.  As for public transportation, this would be the main way that I get around.  I'm planning on studying abroad for at least one year, if not two, and also teaching in a different country (if not several) as soon as I obtain my degree for teaching English.

The point is, I don't believe I'll need a car for quite some time.

As soon as I looked at the lone picture on the Vacancy.com page, I noticed one really awesome thing.  This apartment is situated next to, if not directly above, a Murder Mystery book store called Once Upon a Crime. Being a book blogger and lover, this could be a very dangerous living situation, however, I'm willing to take the risk.  This was one romantic notion of mine.  The second is having a lot of adventures.  Taking a city bus to and from college means that I would come back to this apartment with tales of the many interesting people that I saw or met.  I have a few already, and while they were scary at the time, they make for great stories to tell to friends now.  Not only that, but with city bus access, there are many opportunities for going on adventures around the city and maybe even outside the city.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this apartment, but there are a few things that I would change upon moving in with my roommate.

First of all, I would change the color of the walls.  In the picture, they show that the walls are stark white.  Like a hospital.  I hate hospitals.  I don't want my beautiful apartment to look like a psych ward in a hospital.  If my landlord doesn't let me paint the walls themselves, I'm collaborating with my roommate and we'll frame every picture we've ever taken of anything and hang them on the walls.  They'll be the most interesting walls in existence between our travels, friends, maybe even times in high school or else a five year reunion, and artistic photographs.  Also, bookshelves.  Lots of them.

The second thing I would change is putting in a garden.  I don't mean that I would go nuts and break holes in the floor just to find a place to put dirt in.  I'm fairly certain that that wouldn't go over well with my landlord and my roommate would probably move out.  At least in my room, I would have a corner for plants.  Because of a project that I have done this summer, I have discovered a love for gardening and now I don't think that I could not garden even if I wanted to.

This apartment would be perfect for me and for a roommate of a similar disposition as me and there are very few things that I would actually have to change to make it feel and (hopefully) look excellent, which is only an added bonus.

The Ad for the Bowers Real Estate Development Apartment: http://www.vacancy.com/minnesota/minneapolis-apartments/bowers-real-estate-development/photos/

Thank you very much for reading!

--Megan Bernard