Oh, Sweet Muses, I Missed You

I felt it again tonight.

The need to write. I felt it again. The feeling that no, I didn’t want to lay here and read this book. I didn’t want to read. I wanted to write.

It’s been so long since I’ve had this feeling, that I hardly know if I even have anything to say, but it doesn’t matter. I just need to write. I’d forgotten what muses felt like. The stream of consciousness, where my fingers fly and write at almost the precise moment I think. It’s elating, these words flying from my fingertips, the sound of the keyboard clicking and tapping as my thoughts spill out from my head into real live, written words instead of the phantom letters that float around in my skull. As easy as I breathe, the words now flow from my fingers. My words, my being, slipping from my fingers onto these simple keys, while the page in front of me lights up with ideas and imagination. I can hear the sound of my voice as I write, sounding more lyrical, and perhaps a bit more hopeful, than in real life.

It's been so long, it's almost foreign. The dam that cut off my mind from my fingers was getting more and more solid every day, and I had not almost, but truly had given up hope that it would ever come down. I thought it was fuzed to the inside of my mind, that the synapse had been snapped and could never find their way back together, no matter how much a prayed.

And then it happened. In the most peculiarly subtle and normal way, as if synapses simply connected together again and metaphoric dams, miles thick, vaporized every day. The stream of my consciousness reaches my fingers just fine now. My fingers no longer stand poised over the keys, my muscles aching, begging for the words in my mind to use them as a conduit to the keys of my computer.

I think thoughts, and as quickly as they come, my fingers tap and the thoughts show up as letters in Times New Roman font onto my computer screen, staring me back in the face.

It's magic, I swear.

I couldn't be more delighted than if I won the lottery or fell in love or woke up fifty pounds lighter, or was given a lifetime supply of Goldfish crackers.

I can write again.

What I Stole On Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Found the best review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Goodreads.com from one "Montambeau"... hope she doesn't mind me putting it here to share with you all... because it's great!

Full-On SPOILERS! Watch OUT!

"Top 13 Hallows Happenings that I Loved...

13) Dudley says, "I don't think you're a waste of space."

12) Kreacher cleans the house and makes them soup after Harry is appreciative of him and gives him a chance to do something for Regulus.

11) Harry takes Moody's eye off of Umbridge's door, even though this causes panic and frenzy at the ministry and almost gets them caught.

10) The visit to Luna's rook-shaped house--especially seeing the loving portraits in her bedroom and Hermione's kick-ass escape plan.

9) Ron is in turmoil when Hermione is being tortured by Bellatrix.

8) Escape from Malfoy Manor--awesome! Fallen hero Dobby's last words are, "Harry...Potter."

7) Neville has become the leader of Dumbledore's Army while Harry's been away. He's got battle scars before the battle!

6)Harry performs the crucio because the Carrow spits on McGonagall.

5)Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix. "Not my daughter, YOU BITCH!"

4) All of Hogwarts is involved in the battle. Suits of armor march to battle, all the portraits are shouting tips and encouragement, Trewlawney gets Fenrir with a crystal ball!

3) Snape asks Harry to look at him as he dies so that Snape's last vision is of Lily's eyes.

2)James, Lily, Lupin and Sirius escort Harry through the forest safely and give him love and encouragement. Harry thinks he could stare at Lily forever.

1) Ginny and Harry live to make sweet, sweet love. I wouldn't name my own child, "Albus Severus," but I can see why Harry did.

"Yeah, JKR, ear ear! Job well done." "

-Montambeau

Great, right? Thanks!

BR: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Can I just say? Now I want my own persnickety Snarl. Maybe I should start wearing majorette boots and catch babies who get knocked out of their strollers by gigantic dogs named Boris.

Totally adored. Who DOESN'T want to come across a red notebook in a bookstore connected to a possible true love, daring you to go around New York during Christmas time and leave notes to each other? Yes, please. Very much so, yes please. This was one of those books that I totally laughed out loud at, and made me wish that I was more witty. Dang.

You probably know the authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan from Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, and are possibly already aware that each author takes a character, and they tag-team write, each "character" writing parts of the story in their own view; they claim to not plan anything beforehand and just let the story come out, chapter by chapter.

The first few chapters, it was like Cohn and Levithan were trying to out-ridiculous each other, like they were setting each other up, playing a game of who's-more-clever, which was hilarious, but at the same time, you were wondering just how serious this whole book was going to be. Eventually, the ridiculousness and out-doing each other toned down, and a real story played out. I mean, seriously, how fun would it be to have a secret pen pal who left your shared notebook in random places, with random people, giving you the opportunity to do all sorts of strange things you'd never get to do otherwise? Rub Santa's belly, decode secret messages in random books around a huge bookstore, go to a wax museum, make your own muppet....

I was surprised I liked it, to tell you the truth. Having read Nick & Norah's, I was hesitant, just because I was so sick of horny teenagers, but decided to give it a shot. Decision: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is like a horny-free version of Nick & Norahs, and much better, anyways.

I particularly enjoyed Dash's persnicketyness, Aunt Ida, the way Lily legitly wore the one boot and one sneaker, and all the fun word references. Hooray for people who enjoy words as much as I do.

BR: ENTICE, Carrie Jones

By far the best in the series!

The silliness of Zara is still there, but toned down as she starts maturing more and more through all sorts of trips around the world, wounds, losses, and, of course, the eternal quest to save Nick from Valhalla...

The ending promises a FOURTH BOOK, which I'm actually rather excited about. Usually, I'm peeved when I get to the third book and IT DOESN'T WRAP UP (*coughcough-alysonnoel-coughcough*), but for once I'm pretty excited. Actually, way excited.



(book one)





(book two)



*Alyson Noel wrote the whole Evermore... series. I was super peeved when it didn't wrap up in book three--- which you can read all about my peevedness at my previous review right here. After book four, I just stopped. I stopped caring long ago, and I was just done. Did it ever end? Did anyone read Night Star? Is it STILL GOING? I know she wrote a spin off abotu Riley.... Oh my gosh, does it never end?

Anyways. Entice was fantastic. Love it. The whole character of Zara is very unique and loveable--- from her friendliness, to her love for Amnesty International and strong enthusiasm for justice, to her habit of chanting fears when she's nervous, she's great and a keeper. Plus the Pixie's thing instead of the normal Faeries thing was semi-original, which is always appreciated. Here's to hoping for the next book!

New Kindle

So, I got a Kindle for my birthday last month, and can I say? Adore it.

Crazy surprise right? I was so anti-electronic books... What changed my mind? I read that you can get hundreds (maybe thousands, I don't know) of the classics FREE on Kindle. It pays for itself after a few free books. Plus, when gifted from my parents? Yes please!

It was only weird for a few pages of electronic book, then I got used to it. Less words can fit on the page, so you turn pages all the time... but you can do it one handed, instead of needing two to seperate and turn real pages.

Make no mistake, I am not 100% converted. I still love spending hours browsing Barnes and Noble, and the smell of new books, and the crinkle of pages and the shiny covers and the weight of a book in my hands... No, I will never STOP loving real, 100% paper books. Kindles are shnazzy and convienent, but mixing it up with a real book here and there makes all the difference. I still have my books shelves and stacks of books littering every surface of my room, and were I to get rid of them, half of my soul would die. No, no; Kindle will not be REPLACING real books in my life. Just making it a little bit more electronically-savy.

Although it is waaay too easy to get new books on Kindle. Waaaaaay too easy.

The nonperks I've found on my Kindle:


1. There's no clock. I can't tell when I've spent 3 hours reading, or 4, or 8...

2. No page numbers! What?! Just a "63%" (or whatever %) line at the bottom... So, I can't tell just how thick any given book is that I'm reading. Huh.

3. No color. That makes me sad. Although if I had paid more, I could have gotten one with color, but the whole idea was to be saving money...

4. You don't get to see the cover, hardly. It's small and noncolored, and only pops up if you search for it. I miss seeing the covers all the time.
5. And most importantly: Having a brand new book instantly at your fingertips (and paying $8-$20 for it) is easy as

click, scroll, click, click!

It's waaaaaaaaaay too easy to buy books when they're magically at your fingertips! You can have a new book in ten seconds, delivered instantly. While incredibly handy, TEMPATATION IS TOO GREAT!

Vultures

Fantastic quote I just stumbled upon in my LibbaBraying

"Writers are also sort of like vultures but with fewer ethics." - Libba Bray

Thought you might like it.

Libba Bray Nonsense Video

Libba Bray nonsense.

You didn't know I had an obsession of Libba Bray, did you? Good, cause neither did I. She's flippin insane. Which is probably why I like her so much :) There's more crazy videos of her if you want more--- The Going Bovine one is pretty good. She's in a cow suit. Yeah.

(Also, I do think that lumberjacks would be a good addition to the Gemma Doyle's. Or, you know, any book. I happen to like lumberjacks.)