Reflection on a Valley Fair* Experience

It was like riding on the back of a wild stallion with rockets strapped to its back with my hair shaken loose and a plate of funnel cake in my hand with a large group of my friends also riding their rocket stallions in the middle of the wilderness, through a stream, and over many over-sized hills.  It was amazing**.

--Jude

*Valley Fair is an amusement park in Minnesota where many children and adults come to frolic for as many hours as they please (as long as they leave by closing time).  I highly recommend you go there.

**It was mostly amazing due to the fact that I haven't been there in almost four years.  So I was pretty easy to impress.  Also, I tried funnel cake for the first time and it was delicious.

***Yes, those are wild stallions with jet-packs in that picture.  I just wanted to illustrate my point.

The Doppler Effect: A Physics Final Project

For my final project in honors physics (or, as a tribute to Mr. Hewitt, that thing that starts with an "F" and ends in "Isics"!) I had to pick something that we had learned about in class sometime between the beginning of the year to the present.  We're in the middle of a unit about light and sound (mostly light), which was convenient, because I could apply lots of things about sound to my every day life.  I picked the Doppler Effect mostly because it was easy.  Also, I hadn't heard anyone else talk about doing it.  I like not copying people!

So any way, enjoy the video and I hope you learn a little something (because that'll mean I did my job extra right!).

Have a lovely week!  I'm still working on the last LONTEM video, I promise...

--Jude

A Review of 'Her and Me and You' by Lauren Strasnick

"'I met Fred first.'


Fred: Hot.  Enigmatic.  Alex's first friend in her lonely new town.  Maybe her first... everything.


'I met Adina the following Monday.'


Adina: Fred's twin sister.  Cold.  Troubled.  Trouble.

'I kissed him.


She pressed her mouth to my mouth.'


People warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, but Alex is drawn to them.  She wants to be part of their crazy world... no matter their consequences."

This book felt like a vacation... a vacation where it rained for an entire week.  What I mean is, as soon as I got to the end of the book, I couldn't believe that the author had ended it as fast as she did.

Let's start with something good and try to end the same way.  I was really enjoying Lauren Strasnick's writing style.  It was choppy, in that there were many fragmented sentences, but I thought it worked well because it resembled the way certain people think.

I didn't like the way the book ended.  I was left with so many questions!  Does Alex's mom eventually get visibly better after the divorce?  What about Adina's anorexia?  What happened between Alex's mom and dad to make her father go together with Caroline?  It's questions like these that ran through my head.  In short, too many loose ends were left behind.

I liked Lauren Strasnick's characters, but I felt they could have been developed a lot more.  These characters felt like ideas of characters that could be rather than real people.  Fred was about as mysterious as Edward Cullen in Twilight, Evie and Alex both had horrible mood swings and the smallest thing could tick them off, I couldn't really tell what Adina's motives were for basically attacking Alex.  I guessed that she just wanted her brother to herself, but I'm not certain that I could back up my theory properly if you asked me to.

I also wish that Lauren Strasnick had developed the story a bit better.  Don't get me wrong, I liked what was there, but like I said above, many loose ends were left dangling and those could have been avoided with a longer book or some other method that I haven't thought of.  I wanted to see how Alex and Caroline resolved their differences and I also wanted to see if Adina's efforts eventually led to her downfall (and I'll be honest, I was hoping that she'd at least get shipped off to boarding school.  I would have been happy).

I like the short chapters in this book.  In my history of reading, those have been my favorite kinds of chapters because they tend to break up the story a bit more and it makes the story flow better (in my opinion).

The cover is absolutely gorgeous!  That was the main reason why I checked it out of the library (the interesting-sounding blurb was reason two).

While there were several good things about Her and Me and You, there were just as many not-so-good things that put a damper on the reading experience.

I give Her and Me and You:

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

Prom!

One of the best nights in my existence!  Great Indian food for dinner (I just finished it for lunch this morning... still good!), beautiful corsage (that is currently in my fridge fighting for life), handsome date (^_^), and lots and lots of dancing!

 Anecdote time: While we were walking to the restaurant, on two occasions we were talked to.  The first, a nice guy and his car saying, "You guys look great!"  The second, two guys in a store.  One was confused and asked if we had just gotten married, the other one had it together and he said, "Naw, man, it's prom!  They're going to prom!"  Then they both proceeded to congratulate us (for what, I don't know) and told us to enjoy ourselves.  We were out until almost midnight, by which time, we were both deliriously funny from the need for sleep.

Now, I'm rather curious... if you've been to prom before, what was it like?  I find prom stories to be quite interesting, and believe me, I've heard a few today.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!  I'll be taking a field trip to try and finish my physics video and if I do get it finished and edited, I'll start working on the April LONTEM project video so that it's not two months late.

--Jude

Severe Weather

Or, you know, not really... the news stations where I live just happens to freak out about everything from a gust of wind to twenty-eight feet of snow.  I turned into a crotchety old lady and wrote a perturbed email requesting that they keep their newscasts brief and not repeat everything that they say.

Any way, that's not what I intended to blog about.  I wanted to show you pictures from last night's storm... thing... enjoy!

I was having trouble getting a picture of the lightning, so to make up for it, I took a video and then took a screen shot of the video after I uploaded it to YouTube.

A random duck just decided that this tree was the place to be.  I've never seen that before...

None of these are edited.  Enjoy!

--Jude

A Heads Up

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I may be a bit scarce this week.  I have my last two AP tests to take and then I have a whole bunch of assignments I have to make up for because of those tests... I also have my last band concert of the year and a piano recital coming up and I would rather not screw any of those things up.  There's a physics video that must be filmed and completed as well.  It will be about music.  I basically have it planned out, it's just a matter of filming and editing it.  I'll be sure to post the final video when it's done and I've run it by my teacher.

If I finish a book, I will post a review.  I do plan on doing all or most of the Friday memes because they're so much fun.

This is completely unrelated, but I have once again changed the look of my blog.  I got home today after school and I saw that the temperature outside is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  In May.  Eighty degrees.  In May.  Blarg... so to fight off the heat, I have changed the background to a cooler color.  Brown was too warm and stifling for this time of year.  Or for this day, any way.

Have a great week everyone!

--Jude

A Review of 'I Am Not a Serial Killer' by Dan Wells (Audio Book)

"John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous and he knows it.  He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.


John is obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn't want to become one.  So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.


Dead bodies are normal to John.  He likes them, actually.  They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer.  Perhaps that's what give him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat-- and to appreciate what that difference means.


Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could."

This is a very eerie read, especially if you begin listening at night before falling asleep, as I did.  John Wayne is extremely fascinated by dead people and on top of that, he helps his mom and one of his sisters (I think she's a sister) in their mortuary.  On the first CD, he goes through the embalming process.  It was uncomfortable to listen to, but it was really effective.

Another interesting thing is John Wayne's rules.  As said in the description above, John knows a lot about serial killers.  He researches them, tying them into his school work and even discovering that he shares a name with a serial killer.  John has researched the characteristics that most serial killers show before they even become serial killers.  John exhibits most if not all the predictors.  So in order to prevent himself from encountering a serial killer, he gives himself rules that he must follow.

More and more people keep dying.  There are suspects, but there aren't any strong candidates.  There doesn't seem to be a specific demographic this killer is targeting.  So far, the victims have only been men.  So what does John do?  He takes it upon him to solve this thing using his knowledge of serial killers.

There is a twist at the end that I really believe no one will guess.  It surprised me and I was really thrown for a loop.

I Am Not a Serial Killer was very intriguing and interesting to listen to.  It kept me on my toes and it involved psychology and a look into the human persona.  I'm rather excited to read/hear the sequel.

I give I Am Not a Serial Killer:

Thanks for reading!


--Jude

A Review of 'The Forest of Hands and Teeth' by Carrie Ryan (Audio Book)

"In Mary's world, there are simple truths.
The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.


And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village.  The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.


But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her.  She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, the Guardians and their power, and-- when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos-- about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.


Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her.  And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?"


When I started listening to this book, I was confused as to what kind of book I could consider this.  At first, I thought it was dystopian, but there isn't one person controlling everything.  They have two groups: the Sisterhood and the Guardians.  So I couldn't call it dystopian.  I would consider this more of a young adult survival book.  Not knowing the genre did not hinder the readability of the book.  I was intrigued and hooked from the start.

It's always interesting when there's something in a book that all of the character are told not to go near or touch or pass.  It tells us as the readers a lot about the environment they're in.  They're afraid of these things that used to be human at one point in time.  They're afraid of the virus.  They fear these things because they don't understand them, but they recognize that if everyone in the village knew more, they'd be more afraid of what's on the other side of that fence, which is why the village has secrets.  Objects like this wall always cause me to dare the characters to do what they're not supposed to do.  Of course, they do just that and that's how the story take off.  It's human nature, I guess.

This book sort of reminded me of the movie The Village from director M. Shyamalan (he's my favorite!).  In The Village, everyone is told to stay out of the forest, especially at night, because there's something in there...

What I found most interesting was as Mary was moving through the abandoned villages on her way to the ocean, she's discovering the world we are familiar with right now.  As we keep reading (or listening), we realize that the book takes place in post-Zombie Apocalypse United States.  For me, this added a level of realism and the book popped a little more (stood out) because I was familiar with the setting.  When I first started listening, I thought for sure that I was reading about some past civilization.  I thought that this was an interesting way to open up this world.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth has a sequel, which I have borrowed and will be listening to sometime.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

I give TFoHaT:

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

What...? How Did You...? Ummm...

Hello Everyone!

I hope you had a nice Mother's Day!  Celebrate your moms and/or mother figures because they totally deserve it!

You may have noticed a change or two around here.  Maybe, just maybe.  I decided to go crazy and do a redesign today.  This included buttons, the background, and the banner.  Everything else remains the same.

I took on the style of line-drawings, which I thought was kind of a cool direction to go in when I was experimenting with Pixlr (it's very much like Photoshop, but free).  In case you were curious, the person on my banner and my button is me.  I took pictures and then I put them through Pixlr, adding a layer so that I could trace my outline.  Somewhat difficult and more than a little time-consuming, but I feel like I did an okay job.

So now, my lovely followers, I must pose a question to you: What do you think?  Should I change anything?  Is something just not working like it probably should?  I'd like to hear your feedback, if you have any.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

Day of Silence

This is about a month late, but I feel like it needs to be said.

“Please understand my reasons for not speaking today.  I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies.  My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling, and harassment.  I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices.  Think about the voices you are not hearing today.”

On Friday April 15, I took part for the first time in the Day of Silence.  Upon my arrival at school, I picked up this speaking card and for the rest of the day, I was silent. 

I am not okay with the level of harassment that there is towards other people who are different from our selves.  Their differences and our own differences don’t make us bad people, it’s just the way we are.  There’s no way that we can change it and there’s no reason we should ask other people to change themselves to suit our needs and purposes. 

I’ve heard of people attempting to back up their reasoning using the Bible.  That’s all well and dandy, but I’m wondering, what happened to ‘love your neighbor’?  Does that mean that just because my neighbor is gay that I should stop loving or caring about them?  At least for me, that doesn’t make any sense for things to work like that.  I’m not gay or lesbian, but I know people and I have friends who are.  My silence is for them.  I don’t want them to be harassed by the thoughtless comments that are spewed into the world daily.  I don’t want them to feel like they can’t tell or talk to anyone about what they’re going through.  I want them to feel safe in any environment that they enter.  No one deserves that no matter what their situation is.  That’s why I participated in this Day of Silence.

I'm disabling comments for this post.  I just want to avoid confrontation because my beliefs can't be changed.

--Jude

P.S. If you have stories to share or art relating to GLBT rights, click HERE and follow the steps.  We'd love to have you contribute!  Please proceed with caution, there is some strong language in at least one of the pieces.  Thank you!

Friday! And What a Busy One It Is...

Hello there!  If you're an old follower just dropping by for a visit, welcome back!  It's so nice to hear from you again!  If you're a visitor or a new follower, welcome!  It's good to meet you!

Okay, so this post is going to be a rather busy one.  Normally I ramble on and try and answer the questions as thoroughly as possible, but that won't be as much of an option this time.  Lots to say and not enough time to get through it all!

Let's start with the Blog Hop, brought to you by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books!

Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?

This is a difficult one since I'm following so many bloggers... I've already met Ezra Zee, because we're friends in real life, so I don't suppose it would be fair to count her now (but you should still go check her out because she's amazing!).  I think I would most want to meet That Hapa Chick and/or Liddy from Y.A. Reviewz.  They just seem like really great people to know in real life (this is judging by the videos I've seen of theirs).

Next!  Follow Friday, which is brought to you by Parajunkee.

Circle time! Time to share. What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?

In short, I'd like to be Hermione Granger and I'd date Peeta from the Hunger Games (I wonder how many people are going to say that...).

And now for TGIF brought you you by Ginger at GReads!

What occupies your time when you are not reading and/or blogging?

When I'm not reading or blogging, I'm writing (some writing of mine can be found HERE if you're interested), taking pictures (which you may get to see soon, because I just took a few more), creating videos, and attending high school (I think there's four weeks left for everyone who is not a senior!  So exciting!).

And now for an update for the Audio Book challenge that I committed to doing even before January 2011.  

I just did a count and I have listened to and reviewed three audio books, I've listened to a fourth, but I'm currently working on a review, and I'm actively listening to yet another one.  This would all add up to five, which puts me to almost the halfway mark!  I would say that that's not too shabby, considering we're not yet half-way through the year yet (but almost.  June is creeping up, slowly but surely...).  So that's my update!  How is everyone else doing?

Speaking of challenges, I've decided to take up yet another one (stop the madness!).  It's called the Off the Shelf challenge.  What I must do for this challenge is read x-number of books that I own that are on my shelves that have not been read yet.  I've been meaning to do this for months, but not I have a little motivation behind it.  I'm going to shoot for level one, which is Tempted, meaning I'm going to try and read five books off of my shelves.  Had I started this early, I might have pledged level two, which is a significant step up to 15 books off my shelf, but alas, we're almost halfway through the year and that would not be realistic for me.

And now for just some final announcements that you may or may not care about but I'm going to tell you any way.  As I kind of said above, I'm currently working on writing another review and I hope to have that finished sometime this weekend between studying for my last two AP tests and other assorted school work.  I'm also trying to get my April LONTEM Project video created, but once again, school must interfere and I have to make a video about sound for my physics class which is due in exactly two weeks.  So again, I'll probably have another late video unless I finish the school one early, which I intend to do.

Okay, that's it for me.  What are your answers to the questions above?  If you would like me to visit your blog, leave a message and/or your web address in the comments and I'll try and at least respond to you as well as visit your blog.  Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. How did I do blog-post-length-wise?

A "Serious" Discussion About Senioritis

I felt as though it was about time that I addressed this serious issue that is affecting high school and college students of all ages.  It's time that we've had a serious talk about Senioritis.  

The Symptoms

o Work is not appealing even when the person doing it knows it's good for them or knows that it'll alleviate their boredom

o Homework starts piling up to a point where the student doesn't know what to do

o A student is more excited about getting out of school and heading into summer 

o Usually occurs towards the end of the school year

o Student begins making whimsical decisions-- and they usually aren't for the benefit of humanity

o Fun and play is chosen over work (may or may not be related to the last point)

o Getting lazy and antsy even if the student is not a senior (in other words, it can happen at every age and to anyone)

What To Do If You Or Someone You Love Exhibits Symptoms of Senioritis

o Do not call a doctor.  This is not a serious medical condition.  It can be treated using home remedies

o Parent or compadre intervention may be in order to counter the effects of Senioritis

o More interesting assignments may need to be given (then again, they might not ever get done)

o If all other efforts fail, the condition will undoubtedly clear up by the beginning of the following school year when the afflicted realizes that there is more than a month of school left

Someone had to do it :)

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

*Yes, stuffed dolphins are a legitimate alternative to studying for any kind of test (AP Geography not included in this.  I've put myself on the hook by borrowing this book.  It just happened to be the only one I had).

**Do not take any medical advice from me whatsoever.  I'm afraid of the medical profession, so why join it?

In Which I Ask For Your Input

So today, I learned how to create surveys (hurray!) which is super helpful, because now I will hopefully have an easier time asking questions and receiving feedback.  If you could fill out the survey below, I would really appreciate it!  It's nothing terribly intrusive, I just want to see how I'm doing so far.  Please be completely honest,  the survey is completely anonymous.  Thanks everyone!

--Jude