Reel Talk: Dead Poets Society

It’s been a hot minute since I posted anything (that “hot minute” being two years), and I have a new favorite movie (can you guess what it is?)!

That’s right my dudes, I’m talking about the 1989 cult film, Dead Poets Society.

Reel Talk: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Please someone mention the pun I just made.

I got the wonderful opportunity to see this two weeks before the release (shoutout to the Nerdfighters at UNT for hooking us up), and let me tell you… there are spoilers ahead.

Top 15 of 2015

It’s time for the obligatory top 15 of the year 2015. Now, as a disclaimer, not all books came out in 2015; this is just a list of my favorites that I read this year.

15. The Misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe by Gordon McAlpine

So yes, this is a middle-reader book, but when you’re aiming to be a children’s librarian, you’re never too old to hang out in the “kids’ section.” Anyway, this is the first book in a series about these two twins, Edgar and Allan, named for their ancestor (of course), Edgar Allan Poe. These two aren’t just any ordinary twins, though. They’re so similar and so close that they can read each other’s minds and know where the other is if they’re apart (they may be closer than Fred and George Weasley… although I doubt it). This interests some scientists, who wish to experiment on the boys to see exactly how powerful their connection is.

It’s a really cute, fun, and short read, and I really enjoyed it! I wasn’t itching to read the next book, though (although I am older than the intended age, which might have something to do with that).

Carry On (My Wayward Simon)

You know, recently some of my favorite bands had comebacks, and I told a friend of mine that I was screaming about it, and to that, she said I was “perpetually screaming.” As I write this now, I see she was right; there’s always something for me to scream about.

Today, it’s Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.

Why Do You Like Kpop?

*sighs*

Over the years, I’ve gotten this question more times than I can count, and it’s usually accompanied with one of these faces:

Here’s my answer:

I got into Kpop in the sixth grade. I was 11, so I hadn’t really had the time to form a prejudice against music I whose lyrics I didn’t understand upon the first listen. Because of that, I never formed a prejudice against music in other languages, and since I never have had that prejudice, I don’t understand why other people do. Liking kpop or any music in another language makes sense to me because I don’t remember much of my life before then aside from Winx Club and the Jonas Brothers. That, and I sing in other languages in choir all the time, so is there any real difference in listening to it?

Now I listen to kpop because it’s opened so many doors for me. I don’t know if I’d be the culture-crazed person I am today without it. I’ve made friends through kpop, and I’m not afraid to try new things like foods (I’m a picky eater, or at least I’m apprehensive about what I put into my mouth), experiences, and other cultures, as well.

Plus — come on — have you seen some of these idols?

(this princess was actually named the most beautiful woman of 2014 in this video) (Nana of After School and its subgroup Orange Caramel)

wow what a cutie (Zelo from BAP)

Honestly, kpop has opened my mind so much as to what I do, who I hang out with, how I look at other aspects of life, etc. That’s why I’m bad at answering the “why do you like kpop” question. Then perhaps a better question would be: why don’t you like kpop?

Until Next Time,
Shelby

An Ember in the Ashes — aka A Tear in My Eye

This is crazy.

NaNoWriMo Week 1 Wrap-Up!

We’re officially ten days into the month, which means if you should have somewhere between 15,000 and 16,667 words.

I don’t know about you guys, but I made a mistake in not doing my chapter outlines before I started working on my story. I’m now working on my outlines as I’m writing, which is turning out fine, but I’m finding that I need to stretch my story out over more words. I don’t know exactly how far I am in my story, but I’m further along than I should be…

I am really enjoying this, though. I’m writing way more than I usually do, of course, but I’ve done better at managing my time to fit this into my schedule, too. It’s all because of to-do lists. Seriously, if you don’t do a daily to-do list, I suggest changing that, because they’ve saved my life on occasion.

Should you be curious, I’m not using Word to write my story. Instead, I’m using 750words.com, which I’ve found is great for NaNo. 750words is a site where you’re supposed to write 750 words a day, and during November is great for taking NaNo a day at a time. What’s really cool too is it’ll give you statistics about what you’ve written — the emotions its centered on, whether or not it’s intro/extroverted, whether you’re positive or negative, and so on. It also gives a list of the words you use most often and just cool things to look at in general. Then when I’m done on 750words, I copy and paste everything in a google doc so I can access it on all of my devices.

Now let’s look at some of the best of my Facebook and Twitter posts regarding NaNo so far:

This week has been really fun so far, and even if I get distracted sometimes (okay, a lot of times, but it’s hard to work on NaNo when your friends are joking around), it’s still a lot of fun to do. And I’m proud of my story so far, even if I didn’t start planning it out until October 31… I think it has great potential, and I’m hoping at some point to publish it.

Piece of advice to NaNo writers this week: take a break every twenty minutes or so. Walk around, shake out your wrists, maybe do a dance. Trust me; your body will thank you.

Well, that’s all for now! Good luck, and happy writing!

NaNoWriMo is Starting and I’m Not Prepared

(Screaming in the distance)

How ready are you for the start of the most chaotic month for writers? I’m not ready at all! All this talk about Halloween and adjusting to dorm life and I completely forgot that NaNo was a thing until this morning.

Here’s the calendar for this year:

(click to enlarge)

Basically you should write 1667 words a day, which doesn’t sound like much until you have to actually write it.
Then it’s awful.

I plan on being more dedicated this year but I’m not sure how possible that is with finals coming up at the start of December. Also I feel like NaNo makes the month go by even faster than it already does, and then before I know it, it’s Christmas time (although as far as my roommate and I are concerned, Christmas time starts November 1, since if we wait until after Thanksgiving, we won’t have long to appreciate our cute dorm decorations)! Maybe I’ll try to do weekly wrap-ups regarding NaNo, and I’ll watch progress videos for Booktubers to keep me inspired.

I don’t really know; I’m anticipating a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. And less sleep. Thank the lord we get an extra hour of the day. Use that hour to write!

The Time and Place Book Tag

There’s a book tag going around where people list five books that have special memories linked with them of a place or time in your life or just an interesting story, so here are mine!

Let’s Review: Alex As Well

Intersex main character? I’m so in! Check out Alex as Well by Alyssa Brugman!