Used Book Haul

Finally, finally, after a week of excruciating finals, I finished school today. And what better way to kick off the summer than with a book haul? There's this adorable used book store right across the street from my school where mismatched wooden bookcases and stacked crates house every beaten, battered, and dog-eared copy you could dream of. No one can blame me for splurging a little.

Truth be told, I had a little housekeeping to take care of. For sophomore year I have to read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and one other book from the list of the following:

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shine by Lauren Myracle

About a Boy by Nick Hornby

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Out of these choices Rocket Boys, About A Boy, and The Secret Life of Bees appealed the most to me, but  I decided to start with the latter.

"Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother" , Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina- a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black bee-keeping sisters, Lily is introduced to the mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come."

-Back cover of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

This book appealed to me for a number of reasons-

1.) Reading the back cover reminded me a lot of the movie The Help with the idea of rights for African-Americans and black stand-in mothers. I really enjoyed that movie and thought it showed a time and place in America that isn't often portrayed.

2.) The part about the beekeepers and the honey instantly made me think of Charlotte Charles from Bryan Fuller's Pushing Daisies (one of my favorite shows!) and her Honey for the Homeless campaign. There's probably no real connection or parallel, but I thought it was cute. And bees are obviously going to be some sort of meaning or symbolism in the book, which is relatively uncommon in my experience, so that will be interesting to think about.

3.) There's the mystery aspect to it. I presume from the back cover that Lily's mother's death had some sort of mystery surrounding it, and a little bit of guessing and secrets is a surefire way to keep me interested in a book.

Sorry for my unnecessary and inconsistent artsyness in that shot. I don't know what came over me.

" The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered."
-The back cover of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I'm looking forward to reading a memoir/ autobiography (woah, what's the difference? I never thought about that before...) I haven't read too many, and I'm sure you have to approach this kind of work with a different lens than you would with a novel. 

"The highly original satire about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in a world-wide conspiracy, meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not-inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge."

-Back cover of The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Well, this is... an interesting story. You see, this book is one of my dad's all-time favorites. So since father's day was coming up, I thought it would be in accordance with the actions of a thoughtful and caring daughter to purchase a copy for him. However, I didn't realize until it was too late that hard-cover copies of this book are no longer printed, which is why the few I found online were priced at around three hundred dollars ( I assumed a typo was at fault) Anyways, father's day passed, and no present. So today when I wandered into Tim's Used Books and spied this little copy sitting on the shelf, I felt it was my duty as a daughter- to make my dad buy it for himself. Smooth, I know. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Anyways, I think this will be a good read since it was referenced repeatedly in Foster's How To Read Literature Like A Professor.

PS-- For some strange reason I love when I buy a used book to realize that it's been annotated by it's previous owner. There's something special in knowing that someone else held this exact same book as you, enjoyed this exact same copy, and through their notes you can almost follow along with their thought process. It's a really pure way of seeing someone- seeing what's in their head.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

I couldn't resist this little copy of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. We just finished this in English class, and ever since my teacher collected our books my backpack has felt just a little too empty- 107 printed pages of too empty, to be exact. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Steinbeck, and this book impressed me yet again. It's a slim little novel that has great power and force of idea, and since it's so short there's really no excuse to not read it.

Have I guilt-tripped you enough now?

So these will fill up at least the start of my summer, and now that I have a little bit more free time on my hands I'll definitely be updating this blog more often!

Au revoir-
Skye

pps-- sorry for that awk little copy and paste patch mehhh

If you've read any of these books leave your thoughts/ reviews in the comments! I'd love to hear what you think :)

Weekend Philosophy Purchases

Take me to brunch and I'll order a small salad. Take me to fifth avenue and I'll be content to browse. But take me to Barnes and Noble and prepare for all hell to break loose. And Barnes and Noble is where I somehow ended up twice this weekend...so as you can probably figure, my book hoarding side came out to play. The first time was after seeing the Great Gatsby with my friend (awesome movie btw, I need to read the book so bad now) and being the awkward nerdy fashionista hipsters we are, we ended up spending an hour and a half in the isles of the book store, gushing over the classics and comparing cover designs (that's the publisher's daughter coming out in me). 

My dog is camera shy ;) On my first trip I bought The Prince and Other Writings by Machiavelli. It's part of the Barnes and Noble classics line, which they sell for six dollars; it seems to be a pretty good deal to me, considering the quality is pretty nice. And I like cheap books better than pristine hardcovers; I'm a compulsive hiliter/stickynoter, and I decided to stick with cheapies after a frenzy of hiliting in my first-edition signed Mark Helprin book(ok it deserved it though, I honestly hate that guy's writing) I like the cover design too. They keep it simple but tasteful, and I have a weakness for sage green.

My second trip to Barnes and Noble was just a couple hours ago, when i was driving back from the Cape and Islands sailing tournament (I got a sunburn meh). I managed to lure my mother in with the promise of starbucks, then trapped her in the philosophy section.

(excuse the awkwardly placed pictures of my dog)

Anyways, she caved into buying me this adorable edition called Philosophy; A Graphic Guide to The History of Thinking by Dave Robinson and Judy Groves. It's basically a graphic novel of the history of philosophy, but it presents all the ideas and philosophers in a witty and matter-of-fact way, using speech bubbles to highlight (hi-lite?) main ideas. I wanted just a general guide for reference, which I didn't get with Thirty Second Philosophies  by Barry Loewer. 

The Essential Nietzche WHY IS HIS NAME SO HARD TO SPELL i less bought and more found on my shelf, but i'm excited to read it. I guess I've always been a philosophical person, and it probably just came off as childish curiosity before (Daddy, what if we're all in a dream of someone else?), but since I got into highschool I've defined my interest more, and am trying to read as much as I can on philosophy and religion. My school is definitely very supportive of philosophical thought; it's all about learning how to think, and in junior and senior year there's a mandatory philosophy class. I'll come back with book reviews in due time!

P.S. Something to be explored further in an independent post, but I really hate e-books and amazon. It annoys me to death when my mom says that "We can order that on Amazon for less." Yes, Barnes and Noble may be a giant corporation, but Borders' closing scared me, and I want to support this store as much as I can, because it encourages reading by being placed in spots like malls, where normal people might wander in and buy something. If Barnes and Noble were to close, I think that people, especially my age, would probably read a lot less, since they would be a lot less likely to seek out independent book stores or used book shops. 

The Darjeeling Limited Directed by Wes Anderson

The Darjeeling Limited makes four out of six Wes Andersons that I have watched, and I've come to the conclusion that that man is actually incapable of making a bad movie. India was the perfect setting for his style, and he took full advantage of the saturated colors his setting provided, again playing up his iconic yellow and blue contrasting.

The movie began with, actually, a short movie, titled Hotel Chevalier. It was an interesting idea as a lead-in to the movie to supply some more depth to the back story, but personally I didn't like it. The short took place in the Hotel Chevalier in Paris, where the character Jack had been staying for quite some time. His ex-girlfriend(Natalie Portman) comes to visit him, and you get a look into their complicated relationship, her saying, "Whatever happens in the end, I don't want to lose you as a friend." and him replying, "I promise I will never be your friend. No matter what. Ever." I guess the reason I didn't like this short was that it wasn't deadpan enough for Wes Anderson. You get the kind of dysfunctional, aloofness of the character Jack, but Natalie Portman just isn't a Wes Anderson actress. She's too mainstream, too pretty, not strange enough. And her lines are too emotional. When they're conversing, you don't get the sense of sick amusement in their tragic, emotional dialogue. And also what sort of offended me was the nudity/graphic quality. Anderson just seems, I don't know, above that. It was a little bit of a shock to see it in the film.

As for what the real movie was about, it follows the journey of three semi-excommunicated brothers from an obviously semi-wealthy, dysfunctional family, on their train ride across India on what Francis, the oldest, calls a "spiritual journey". The train they ride on is called the Darjeeling Limited, hence the name of the movie. It turns out that Francis has planned on finding their mother, who you get the sense of as flighty, and who disappeared awhile back, not even coming to their father's funeral. They encounter numerous stops along the way, and the movie follows the typical "quest" format; Questers(the brothers) A place to go(India) a reason to go there(to find their mother) dangers along the way(stops, poisonous snakes, boy drowning) a princess (Indian stewardess) an enemy (the steward) and a real reason for the quest (self-discovery and rediscovering eachother as brothers)

What hit me first about this movie was how fast you knew which brothers were the youngest, middle, and oldest. Anderson really nailed that dynamic right on the head. Jack is youngest, the little one who craves attention and who struggles to keep up with the others. Francis is obviously the oldest, as is clearly displayed in the breakfast scene where he orders for everyone, telling them what they want, and then asking them to raise their hands for another item on the menu. You can also tell that he feels responsible, almost parent-like, for his little brothers, when he asks something like, "Did I not do a good job raising you?" in passing. Peter falls in the middle, having more of a muted personality, and not making a big deal of his personal problems. I also love how Peter and Jack would tell each other things, then say, "Don't tell Francis" obviously because Francis is the more parent-like figure that they have to own up to. But I like that Wes doesn't allow these secrets to become dramatic, and how they get out pretty quickly, and in a very nonchalant way. Jack finds out Peter told Francis he planned on leaving early, so Jack says very matter-of-factly and without any ado, "Peter's having a baby in nine weeks." And how they avoid conflict as well--my favorite was when Francis revealed he had taken Jack's passport, and Peter just walks away. Francis asks where he's going, and Peter is just like,"To uhh pray at a different thing" I can relate to so much of this since I am the youngest of three siblings, and realistic interactions made me wonder if Wes had siblings himself.

Wes Anderson definitely isn't trying to be subtle in his use of symbolism in this movie; I mean it takes place on a train, which basically screams moving through life. The train they are all on, the Darjeeling, is not a very good atmosphere. It is heavy with secretive parallels; the siblings are always telling each other not to tell each other things, and they have to keep such things as smoking and a poisonous snake secret from the steward. The steward himself represents the anger and hatred between the brothers, and the stewardess is the unhealthy relationship that Jack is in. Throughout the movie, the brothers are carrying around all this luggage/baggage *baggage*, and it's always kind of in the back of your head, annoying you, like, "why are they lugging this all around?!" and it's so refreshing when they are running to get on their new train, the healthier, more balanced one, they drop all their luggage.

Okay but I actually loved the casting for this movie (with the exception of Natalie Portman but that has already been addressed)  Something that is consistent in Wes Andersons is the use of actors that aren't quite attractive, instead having interesting and quirky faces, and that was shown again in this.

I absolutely loves Jason Schwartzman as Jack. His big mustache and haircut in the movie, in addition to his comparatively short stature and big dopey eyes, made him seem so little brother. I love that when he walked with his brothers he had to take twice as many steps to keep up; it was so cute and little duckling. He looked sort of mopey throughout the movie, but in that kind of immature little brother way, and it just fit the role so perfectly. I thought that it was hilarious when Francis kept saying "Jack agrees" and at a certain point Jack was just like

ADRIEN BRODY. I can't... I don't even know how to broach this. He was so great as the middle sibling who was just trying to figure out his life on his own in a quiet way, who wasn't so sure what to do with himself and kind of just went along with whatever was said. But I loved how you could tell through the whole film he really did love his brothers, and how he was kind of dealing with the idea of having a son when he knew how messed up his family was. And i love how he would always take his family's things; it showed in a subtle way ho attached he was to them. His character was a more subtle one, but I thought the most interesting in the movie.

Okay, so actually I'm pretty much done with Owen Wilson. He plays the same character every time! He played Francis, the oldest, in this, and he did an okay job, but I just can't see him as the character, I always see him as himself. Just meh.

I guess what was different about this movie was the emotional aspect of it. In the other Wes Andersons I've seen, there's always this sense of detachment, of cynicism and irony. It's like, whenever there's a sad situation there's ironic humour to balance it, and whenever there's a funny scene, there's tragedy to balance it, so the movie just goes in kind of this emotional flatline. And that's good, that's his style, and it's very distinct and interesting. This movie was a bit different from that; it let itself get more absorbed in the emotions and the scenes. When there was a sad moment, sometimes there wasn't the irony to bring you out of it. And I think that Wes Anderson executed this style brilliantly as well. The movie was a really great voyage through brotherhood; my favorite line was when jack asked, "Do you think we would have been friends in real life? Not as brothers, but as people." And I think that's the thing with families. You may not always like them, but you always always love them.

MUSIC SHOUT-OUT

This Time Tomorrow-The Kinks

Strangers-The Kinks

Champs Elysees-Joe Dassin

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Finally, finally, finally, I finished this book. I decided to read The Scarlet Letter because I found this adorable edition at T.J.Maxx (Penguin got a famous fashion illustrator to do the cover) and I figured I should read a "classic". As it turns out, I probably should have waited on this book. I'm not sure if it's because I'm too young that I didn't enjoy this book, or if it's just not my cup of tea and never will be, but I struggled to get through it. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes in such a circuitous, over-wrought fashion, and never really makes succinct points that you have as landmarks in the book. And yes, I know that it's also due to his time period that he writes this way, but I would zone out for whole paragraphs, and when i came back he would still be talking about the same exact thing. There was definitely a lot to analyze in this book, and no doubt it was well written, but I don't really want to go back and try to work with it solely because I honestly can't stand the writing. I know that this is a classic, so I feel a little bit like an ignorant high-schooler putting it down like this, but hopefully I can come back to it in later years and enjoy it more.

How To Read Literature Like a Professor- by Thomas C. Foster

Finishing this book felt like saying au revoir to a friend after having had a particularly satisfying discussion with them; to an extent you wish you didn't have to go, but at the same time you feel mentally sated. Thomas Foster really does feel like a friend when you're reading through his book. He speaks straight to you, the reader, and he doesn't take himself too seriously, either. He's a professor yes, but he cedes multiple times throughout the book that being a professor does not mean his word is law, particularly in literature, since it can be interpreted so many ways. Instead, in How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster provides a comprehensive guide to approaching works of literature, outlining the checklist of things to consider when reading, and he goes about it all in a patient and entertaining manner.

How To Read Literature Like a Professor, is, basically, an extremely condensed college course in literature. Foster spends a few pages explaining topics ranging from interpretations of the seasons to the appearance of baptism in it's many forms. The first chapter is a nice, soft lead-in to the book, talking about how most trips are quests. I'm pretty sure that he started the book this way because you can immediately put identifying quests to use; they pop up everywhere. The night I started reading this book I watched Django Unchained, and almost immediately I jerked my pointer finger at the tv and shouted "THIS IS A QUEST FOSTER SAYS SO" But soon after Foster delves into less obvious interpretations and themes; one of his next chapters is about vampires in literature, and yet the examples he uses are not pulled from Stephanie Meyer or Anne Rice. Not even Bram Stoker. No, he references "Daisy Miller", about a young woman who is struggling in a romance with someone in a different social system than her, and although this might not sound like an ooky spooky vampire tale, as Foster explains further, you realize the clues are as plain as day- the older man who is sucking the life force from a younger woman, etc. Throughout the chapters, the reader is provided with an array of examples from literature, and the list of sources at the back of the book is a dozen pages long, and it helps to elucidate his points, as well as makes you want to read more than a few titles he mentions.

I've mentally dubbed this "The Reader's Textbook", and like math, or science, it's good to read the textbook before getting into quadratics or conducting an experiment. I promised myself that I wouldn't read any other books until I finished this one, because I feel like there's so much to understand that I didn't even pick up on before reading this. I really wish that I had been introduced to this book earlier; there are so many books that I'm absolutely certain I haven't appreciated to their full potential simply because so much of the subtlety went right over my head. I would say this book is a must-read, and is the newest addition to my list of favorites. But the message it really sends, at the end of the day, is that to be a good reader, as with anything, you have to practice. The more you read, the better a reader you will be.

Spring Cleaning

Welcome to May! It's crazy to think that I'm almost done with the school year--it's gone way too fast! But I'm glad that summer is coming, bringing with it long days on the water and sun-bleached hair (and I've got my fingers crossed for a tan, too!) I really need to catch up on my blogging, though--there's so much to review, but for some reason I always find myself doing playlists....OK so I might include a few songs in this post, but I mean.... I also want to change up the look of my blog a little; it's far too generic and, well, not ME right now. 

Sooooo to give this post a bit of substance I set my Grooveshark to shuffle and here are the first five songs that came up!

Riverside by Agnes Obel

I first heard this song when I was watching season one of the ABC show Revenge. Season one was really good and I would highly recommend it, but I would say stop after that-- their soundtrack gets pretty bad too.

Kaleidoscope Machine by Katie Costello

For the life of me I cannot remember how I came across this song, but I know that it always makes me happy when i listen to it :)

Hey Little Rich Girl by Amy Winehouse

I know this has already been on my blog, but it's worth another listen. It's one of my favorite Amy songs; it has a lot lighter feel than most of her others.

My Favorite Game by The Cardigans

Classic.

Buy My Love by Wynter Gordon

I found this one through my brother-- it gets me dancing every time.

Spring Playlist

My darling readers, it is my joyous pleasure to inform you that spring has arrived! Ah yes, it may have gotten off to a chilly start with a few scattered snow showers, but all is forgotten now that the plants are budding green and the birds are coming back from their travels to serenade us. And as the cold gray skies of winter recede into the past, I find myself shrugging off the gloominess and depression that I have carried with me and starting to be interested in more creative pursuits and optimistic thinking. And of course, my favorite part of spring is that I'm sailing again! I could care less that my fingers come dangerously close to frostbite on a daily basis and that my shins look like eggplants from being knocked around so much, because I'm on the water and there's salt on my skin and wind in my hair and I couldn't be happier. And the soundtrack to the new season unfolding around me has so far been a fair quantity of, for lack of a better term, hipster music, but hey it makes me happy. 

Jerk it Out by The Caesars

Mansard Roof by Vampire Weekend

The amount of preppy is almost too much to handle...

Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson

He melts me inside.

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant

Listen to the lyrics.

Daylight by Matt and Kim

Walcott by Vampire Weekend

What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club

Campus by Vampire Weekend

Sleepyhead by Passion Pit

The names to many more of my favorite songs are eluding me so when I remember them there will probably be a second installment of my spring playlist. 

xx, Skye

On Niagara Falls and Inanimate Objects-- "Wonderfalls" Review

I think I need to start by supplying a bit of a road map, so let's go back in time a bit. A few months ago, I decided to get back in touch with some old friends, so I called them up and proposed going to the newly released Breaking Dawn Part 2. The only other movie from this franchise I had seen was the first one, which, to put it eloquently, sucked, so I only chose this because I didn't feel like seeing an action movie or a horror. I didn't have very high expectations for the movie, and as it turned out rightly so, but either way it didn't matter because as I previously stated I was with my friends so it was more of a "drool over the hot guys" night. The group quickly divided into Team Jacob and Team Edward, but being the little rebel I am I loudly declared that the hottest guy in the franchise was the "grungy one with the eyebrows!" Which led me to Google him. Which led me to the Lee Pace tumblr tag. Which led to an unhealthy amount of fangirling, and creeping, and stalking, which led me to Pushing Daisies, in which Lee Pace starred. Pushing Daisies was directed by Bryan Fuller, and was prematurely taken off the air, but I fell in love and re-watched far too many episodes. But soon I got curious, so I Googled Bryan Fuller (Google is my best friend), and it turned out he had directed Dead Like Me as well as Wonderfalls. I realized I had watched Dead Like Me before, and I ended up not liking it due solely to the fact that the main character's face annoyed me ( a problem I did not have in Pushing Daisies). So that left Wonderfalls. All I need to say is that I marathonned the whole thing in one weekend.

A NOTE ON BRYAN FULLER SHOWS

They are quirky.

They are cute. 

They are really strange(and slightly offensive?) at times.

They are perfect.

But honestly, he has a very distinct aesthetic that I haven't really seen in anything else. Wonderfalls took place in Niagara Falls--like who sets a show there-- and follows the adventures...misadventures... of a young twenty-something Brown University graduate named Jaye. Jaye is the youngest of three siblings, and although she went to Brown and has a philosophy degree, she lives in a trailer park and works in a gift shop, and is devoted to getting away with being as lazy as she can possibly be. The quirk in the series is that inanimate objects begin talking to her, telling her to do things without explanation. Creepy, right? Except it's Bryan Fuller so, no, it's simply imaginative and cute. And all these objects have great little personalities, they become characters in the show. In any case, the things that they are telling Jaye to do seem to not make sense throughout the episode, but end up leading her to do good. 

I really loved the characters in this show, especially Jaye(Caroline Dhavernas). Possibly because I can connect with her about a lot of things.

1.) She is the youngest child. She has two older siblings, both leading very successful lives, and feels like she doesn't compare to them, so decides to go in a different direction altogether. I think she said it best in the show when she stated that everyone in her family works hard and is stressed out and is unsatisfied with their lives, so she can be unsatisfied with her life without working at all. She makes a point of not going for a very good job or leading a "successful" life, but just taking it as it comes, and trying to get by and enjoy herself, which is an attitude I can identify with.

2.) She's not a big fan of people. She's combative and doesn't make an effort to get people to like her, and she only has a couple of close friends. She's not distinctly spiteful, though. She's not going to spend any effort or energy being nice or mean to people.

I think that it's really great the way that the main character is a very strong girl, and not concocted to be especially palatable. She's not really someone that you would want to be friends with, but she's very much an individual and not any kind of stereo-typical tv personality. I think that people can connect with her so much for that reason; she's very real, and that includes the good and bad parts of being a real person. 

I'd just like to give a shout-out to the character of Sharon Tyler, Jaye's sister. She's the oldest of the siblings, and has seemingly got her life together, being an accomplished lawyer. The dynamic between her and Jaye was very believable as sisters; they have a lot of petty conflict and fight, but you can tell that Sharon is always there for Jaye and cares about her very much. Something that took me by surprise in the first episode is that you find out that Sharon is a lesbian, and I think for this Bryan Fuller deserves a round of applause, especially for the way he weaved it into the plot. When I watched this show I only came to realize that I've never really watched anything where a lesbian was a central character. It seems that the television industry has accepted and marketed gay guys recently, but lesbians have been exceedingly elusive in TV, and when they are there the point of their character is to be "the lesbian". In this show, Sharon was just a rounded out character, and being lesbian was a part of that character, but not focused on overly much. I think it was a really bold move. 

Side note about Sharon: She is ALWAYS eating. I liked that about her, because I think we all know that person (if we aren't one ourselves) that walks into a house and busies themselves with finding something to eat, and just likes to snack a lot. The thing though, is that they didn't focus on that. Sharon wasn't fat, and I'd be halfway through a scene before realizing that Sharon had been eating through the whole thing. It was a little perfect.

YES EVERYONE LEE PACE WAS IN THIS SHOW.

He actually didn't have a very big part but I feel as though I need to address it because....it's Lee Pace.

And also, I can't even believe the Lee Pace fandom on Tumblr, because I looked up Wonderfalls and I would have to say about 80% of the material was Lee Pace (from his like 20 minutes in the show MY GOD)

In any case, Lee Pace played Aaron Tyler, Jaye's brother, and the middle child. Aaron studied comparative religion and was working on his dissertation for his doctorate. Or something like that. I felt like Aaron Tyler was a weaker character than most in the show. He played parts in the plot that needed to be played, but his character didn't really stand on it's own as much as the rest of the family. I did like that Bryan Fuller had him studying religion, though- it was a theme that was constantly underlying the show. Were these talking objects that were making Jaye do benevolent acts the voice of God, or something like that? Aaron was the character that was asking that question, and it was never answered, which I don't mind. It's for you to think about, and Bryan Fuller isn't advocating for religion. I think that the show actually came out with an agnostic vibe. You just got the feel that there was good in the universe, and everything would work itself out in the end.

PS-- My two cents on the Majandra and Aaron romance. Majandra(Mahandra?) was Jaye's best friend, and like a part of Jaye's family. She got together with Aaron later in the series AND I DID NOT LIKE IT. I DID NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT. It was just too convenient and it happened too suddenly; I felt like it didn't have a very strong basis. And also Lee Pace is mine.

The romance between Jaye and Eric in this show was so sweet. Eric had come to Niagara on his honeymoon, but had caught his wife cheating on him and refused to go back home with her, instead becoming a bartender and living in the back of the bar. I liked that his character was really sweet and sensitive, and obviously had problems that he was struggling to work out for himself. He and Jaye became friends quickly, and stayed that way for most of the series. *Everyone knows relationships built on friendships are the best ones* 

AND FOR ANYONE THAT MEMORIZED ALL THE WORDS TO THE OPENING THEME LIKE ME----

Oh my god I can't stop listening to it....

In conclusion I really loved this show, and I would give it 4 stars. It was extremely original in it's plot and characters, and although out there it was very easy to connect to and get involved in. Sadly there were only thirteen episodes due to the fact that it got cancelled only a couple episodes in, and the rest of the episodes were released on DVD. It wrapped up well, though, and the ending was satisfying and the perfect end to the series. Definitely a must-watch!

Reading Anti-Theistic Documents and Being Sick.

I have had an exceedingly philosophical day. I woke up this morning with a severe head cold and sore throat, and after a half-hearted argument for going to school, I was convinced to go back to sleep. Three hours later I awoke with a strong urge to ponder the universe and all it's mysteries. So I grabbed some mint-chocolate chip ice cream, swathed myself in a forest-green comforter, and proceeded to pour over my collection of religion and philosophy books. I started with 30- Second Philosophies by Barry Loewer.

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone hungry for some food for thought. The title is slightly misleading, considering that the book is less philosophy and more some of the thoughts that make up philosophies: little tidbits of ideas for you to consider and perhaps decide to pursue further with other books. However, the text is succinct and to the point, with an abundance of examples to elucidate the sometimes abstract points it's making. Each philosophy has a long paragraph explaining the ideas, a "three-second thrash" which summarizes in a sentence what the page is about, and a "three-minute thought" that poses some questions to consider and approaches the philosophy from a critical standpoint. I wasn't in love with the art in the book, but the actual content was good, covering ideas from metaphysics to mathematical paradoxes to the human nature. With philosophical warm-up, I then tackled Sam Harris's book/ long essay Letter To a Christian Nation, which I spent the remainder of my day reading. 

I'd like to start by ascertaining that I consider myself to be agnostic. I don't follow any faith or religion, but I like to consider religions and the idea that there is something more there, and I am a certified philoceraptor. So I approached Sam Harris's book with an open mind, not prepared to scorn it or totally accept it. In Letter To A Christian Nation, Harris writes to his reader, a stereotypical Christian in modern-day America. He spends the book dissecting religion, poking holes in all the arguments put forth on behalf of Christianity in society. Harris has a very defined point of view; he believes that religion has no place in the modern world and that it is time for society to move on from it; worshiping is an antiquated practice. The arguments made in the book were solid, and pointed out the flaws that no one ever really talks about. It was an eye-opener, and I would definitely recommend it to people of all religions as well as atheists.

My only problem with this work, however, was just how certain the author was in his argument. He was very no-nonsense, and very extreme in his view as an atheist. He didn't leave any room for doubt, it was either take it or leave it with his ideas in the book. Every argument made by religion he smacked down with facts and percentages and assertive statements. I loved the book, and I think it's a good jumping-off point to form your own ideas about what he is saying, so I personally agreed with him but would add to his argument that there is always room in people's minds for philosophy and the consideration of ideas; while I believe that religion as it stands now is harmful to society and horribly twisted and corrupt in some cases, I don't think it is necessary to shut down faith. People should always be asking questions, including the question of is there is some kind of spiritual world out there, or some kind of something more. I think in some respects complete atheism is bad in that it's just another way of not thinking about ideas. 

Whether or not you are religious to any extent, I think that reading books like this can only be good for you, because it strengthens your own thoughts and arguments to hear those of other people. This was a short little book, and I read it in a few hours, so I would definitely put it on my must-read list, and I know that I'll be revisiting it in the future.

A Studio Ghibli Update- "From Up On Poppy Hill"

It's no secret that I am a devoted fan of Studio Ghibli and all the wonderful movies it puts out. So when I heard about From Up On Poppy Hill, I was excited to give it a try. I can't really do a review of this movie, though, because I could only get about forty-five minutes into it-I really didn't enjoy it! The first turn-off was definitely the music; Joe Hisaishi composes the music for all the Studio Ghibli films that I like, and his music is incredible- it's such a strong component and adds such depth and beauty to the films. The music in this wasn't written by Hisaishi though, and from the beginning I could tell that the music wasn't as good. It didn't really lend anything to the scenes and it sounded very gimmicky and done. Unoriginal. 

I would include a summary of the movie, but I didn't even really understand what it was about: there wasn't any clear conflict or catalyst for the plot. It was just following this Japanese highschooler named Umi, who lived at a hotel or something, and her budding romance with this other highschool dude. Likeeeeeee, so what? There wasn't really any depth or dynamic to the characters; nothing that made me care about them at all. And it just kind of lowered the bar for the movie to make it about a romance; that alone can't really constitute a plot. Don't get me wrong, because if you consider it basically all of the Hayao Miyazaki movies I've seen are romances, but it's not obvious; it's not about a romance. The plots are about something bigger, and the romance is even more of a friendship, which takes place on a deeper level than a romance. I didn't feel like this movie really stood for anything, even though it seemed to be about the changes in Japan after WW2. That was too obvious, not enough of an idea and more of an observation, whereas in other Studio Ghibli movies they bring up many ideas and points of view on things: they can be dissected, you can discuss them. 

I also didn't get the sense of a world in this movie. The great thing about Miyazaki movies is that they create these interesting, fantastical worlds, even the ones that are supposed to be realistic. They feel different, like a parallel universe that has just a touch of magic in it. That's really what it comes down to. This film was missing the magic of Studio Ghibli movies. It didn't entrance me, it didn't make me want to watch it again and again because every single scene was so beautiful and poignant. It makes me sad, I guess, because I love Miyazakis so much, and yet it seems that the more recent movies have lost some of their originality and genius; they're more mass market and less personal. I think I need to go watch Porco Rosso now just to restore my faith in Studio Ghibli.


PS-- I didn't make it through the whole movie, so maybe some of it picked up later on, but I think that it says something if I don't want to watch the whole thing.

Amy Winehouse Playlist

Amy Winehouse was my childhood. Her jazzy vocals could always be heard echoing through our house growing up, and without even trying I memorized all the lyrics to every single song on Back To Black. I can even remember jumping on the indoor trampoline while watching one of her live performances.

But somewhere along the road I stopped listening to her, and I recently re-discovered her songs, along with my love for them. She had one of the most amazing and unique voices I have ever heard in a singer, and I love the bluesy vibes in her music. It speaks to me, and my memories, and I hope that people will continue to enjoy Amy's music long after she passed away.

Stronger Than Me

This is my favorite at the moment. It has a really cool vibe with the guitar chords in the background, and I love the scat part at the beginning.

You Know I'm No Good

My all time favorite.

The Girl From Ipanema

I love her take on this classic tune; her voice fits it surprisingly well.

Fuck Me Pumps

One of her simpler songs, but I think it's really honest and I love the lyrics.

Hey Little Rich Girl

*Happy Vibes* Also who wouldn't want to be those two guys off to the side just havin' a ball? I'm thinking future career...

Rehab

I mean, I pretty much had to include this one. It's CLASSIC. 

Tears Dry On Their Own

Rest in Peace, Amy.

An Online To-Do List

I haven't written in forever! I started sailing last week, so I've been getting home around eight o'clock every night after a good few hours of strenuous workout in the freezing cold, so yes I have a legitimate excuse YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID. In any case, I've contracted some sort of cold/ throat sicky thing and now I'm stuck at home with all the time in the world to write blog posts. So in the future few days I shall be writing----

A REVIEW OF PAN'S LABYRINTH
I watched this a little while ago, and I really hated it actually. I think I need to watch it again to refresh my anger toward it, because it really did leave me feeling like I'd wasted two hours of my life. I know that's a little bit of a contrary point of view, but haters gon' hate. Haters being me.

A REVIEW OF LIFE OF PI
I watched this one a few days ago, so I think I'll write this first because it's still fresh in my mind. Another one I hated! My lord I am a hateful person aren't I? I mean, there really aren't a lot of movies I like though. It's pretty hard to impress me.

A REVIEW OF WONDERFALLS
Aaaaaahhhhh Bryan Fuller you've done it again! *fangirling* Oh god I love Bryan Fuller he's an amazing TV show producer. And I absolutely LOVE LOVED LOVED Wonderfalls. It was so perfect and made me feel good and happy and whimsical inside like all Bryan Fuller shows have a way of doing. And anyone that claims I only liked Wonderfalls because Lee Pace was in it is so entirely wrong, because I actually happened to dislike his character in this show. But honestly I think that is the only downside to the show that I noticed; I would still say Pushing Daisies is my favorite over this one, but I'll give four and 7/8 stars.
P.S. Bryan Fuller is coming out with a new show in like, two weeks called Hannibal and it's about Hannibal Lecter(doink). It seems a lot different from the kind of shows Bryan Fuller normally does, but, I mean, it's Bryan Fuller so I have high hopes for it.

A REVIEW OF PUSHING DAISIES

I really, really, REALLY need to get around to doing this one, considering Pushing Daisies is one of my favorite shows. And yes, it's by Bryan Fuller. And yes, Lee Pace is lookin' fiiiiiiine in it. It's a really great show that has lovable characters, a great plot, and very unique artistic direction; it's the whole package. It's a shame that it got cancelled before it had a chance to really round out it's plot, but it's definitely a worthwhile watch!

And I'll probably throw in an Amy Winehouse music post, considering I just re-discovered my love of her music. While you're waiting, this song is my obsession right now. (No really, I listened to it on repeat for forty five minutes straight today. I have a problem.)

Stronger Than Me by Amy Winehouse

Also, an update on my perfume obsession....

Twirl by Kate Spade

So I'll get to writing! Check back for new posts!

Look It's Bambi

Should I even try to explain this? Idk I was stuck inside all day and didn't want to be productive...

Farenheit 451

Farenheit 451--
The temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns...

This book was exactly what I needed right now. That's what I have to start by saying. I used to be a voracious reader, and here I'm going to have to use a quote from one of the characters in the book--

"I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner and midnight munch. I tore out the pages, ate them with salt, doused them with relish, gnawed on the bindings, turned the chapters with my tongue! Books by the dozen, the score, the billion!"
-Fire Chief Beatty

I think that this blog post could very easily regress into a collection of quotes from the book, and I would still get across exactly what I want to say, because it's one of those books. Those books where you understand every sentence, not just in terms of what it's saying, but in terms of what it means, what it means to you, to your life, what it means to the story. The book brings up ideas that just ring so true, the ones that you want to spend forever thinking about and discussing, just to try to understand them better.

But my point was that ever since high school hit, I've changed, and I know I have. I don't read anymore, because I don't have the time to read. Oh yes, I have the time to watch TV shows and movies, to talk with my friends, to go on tumblr, but I simply don't have the time to read. Because it's not the actual reading that takes time; It's the thinking. A book is ideas, so many ideas, all bound up with glue and a cover, and when life is moving so fast, you don't want to think about ideas. You want to have things told to you, definitively. You want to solve for X and come out with a whole number to plug into the equation and have it make sense. But that's not what thinking is, not what reading is. It's trying to figure out what the X is, again and again, when, in reality, the X is nothing. The X is everything.

And this book made me realize that.

In fact,

This book made me feel guilty.

It's funny how this book had the power to do that to me. It took every single argument you could make against reading and sent it up in a mushroom cloud of flames. It told you THERE IS NO EXCUSE. And that's exactly what I needed to hear.

I suppose I should have said about five paragraphs ago what Farenheit 451 is actually about. I guess I'm not writing this as an informative post, or even as a review. I don't feel like it's my place to review a book like this. I just want to get my thoughts down, I need to, because I have so many. But the book, written by Ray Bradbury, takes place in a future, where "Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden."-back cover. The story follows Guy Montag, a firemen, but not in our sense of the word. Firemen started fires, making midnight runs to burn collections of books that were found in homes. Because it was illegal to own books, illegal to read them. But Guy meets a girl Clarisse, seventeen, and different. She's not like the other people he's surrounded with; she takes time to think, to appreciate the world. To touch, smell, hear, see all the things that others are whizzing by too fast for others to notice. And she introduces Guy to this world. She plants the seed of a different way of thinking. Clarisse disappears from the story soon after, and Guy hears she was hit by a car and died. In the movie version she appears again at the end, in reality not dead, but in the book she never appears again. But it doesn't matter. Clarisse was less of a character, more of a catalyst. She set the cogs turning, set the ball rolling. And so Guy starts wondering why he's burning. What if books should be read? This train of thought leads him to steal a book AND YOU KNOW I DONT EVEN WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE PLOT BECAUSE I DONT FEEL LIKE IT GOOGLE IT.
It was really good though...

But I think what was really...chilling, I suppose, was that this book was written in 1950. That's over half a century ago. And yet, it's like Ray Bradbury could see into the future. I mean, weren't televisions barely invented in that time? Yet it's like he knows what effects they'll have on the future population. People being glued to televisions, thinking of the characters in them like real people, the shows of practically no consistency but somehow riveting people to watch them. He seemed to already understand that books would fall out of favor, how people wouldn't want to think about them. And it's true; not a lot of people my age read anymore. But I wonder, would they if they read Farenheit 451? Would they if they were aware of their condition, aware of the excuses they make to themselves, aware of what the future could turn into? I think that they would.