So a question on my blog, sponsored by Kleenex asked "Is there a person in your life who always has a hug and makes you feel better when they're around? Who is it - and what do you love about them?"
Now do they ask this for the "tearing up" value since its Kleenex after all? Lawls.
But honestly, though this answer is cheesy and predictable I'd say that yes, that person would be Katie or perhaps Lauren or my parents. I don't like to exclude anyone in my family since seeing any one of them always makes me happy. And though my interaction with all of them is different in subtle ways, I'll always know that they love me and they know that I love them.
For instance at this very moment I'm typing up this response and my Dad's sitting across from me doing something for work. There's no music playing, just the sound of my typing and his pen scratching on the paper. And though a lot of people would probably try and fill up the silence with idle conversation; my Dad and I just, well, I don't feel the need. It's a comfortable silence and I know that if my Dad wants to talk, he'll talk.
It's the same with all my family. When Katie and I are together we never shut up, we laugh at every little thing and no one ever gets what in the world we find so funny. And when later on asked to explain, we can't really make sense of it all either but, all that matters is that we're together and having fun.
Lauren and I don't have the same repartee as me and Katie but we're still able to talk a lot more than we ever used to. We're a lot closer than we ever were and I'm very happy for that. When you're as different as I am from my Sisters, sometimes it's hard to really understand each other but that's the thing with Family. I don't think you need to have a deep understanding, you just accept your loved ones for who they are, for all their faults and triumphs, for all their traits and quirks.
All it is is love. And well, I'll agree with "The Beatles" on that at least. All you need is love.
Cue the trumpets.
I know that saying you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. And yes, that's very, very true. But for me, I'm glad I got the family I got :).
02/05/2011
10/05/2010
Book Review: Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury.
Somewhere a Band is Playing.
The first we see of Jim is his mad dash jump off of a train to land on the dusty platform in Summerton Arizona. There is one other man there, a jack of all trades, Elias Culpepper and he invites Jim along for a ride into town while he delivers ice to its residents. All Jim sees is a quiet, quaint, out of the way little place with gentle and kind elderly folk who treat him warmly and accept him into their brood instantly. He finds himself comfortable and at home in this place and his wish to stay and study grows even stronger when he meets Nef, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
In awe he asks her her name, whether it stands for what he thinks it does and she agrees, yes, her name is Nefertiti, she is that Egyptian Goddess from years lost in sand and desert, come to live in this out of the way little town. He is immediately enraptured, trapped by her beauty and with each passing second he falls more and more in love with her, regardless of the life he left behind in Chicago when he boarded that fateful train. During his stay, he discovers that though this town is peaceful, restful and beautiful, it has its secrets, as every town does. The people here never leave, never wish or want to, they are comfortable where they are. They also never age, or at least to the frail, mortal eye, they never appear to, living for hundreds upon hundreds of years. And the most chilling secret of all is discovered when Jim offers to deliver the bread for the town on Elias Culpepper’s cart and he passes by the old school house, desolate, deserted, boarded up.
Unsure of whether he wants to discover the truth about this town or not, Jim is lost as to what to do. But soon, he must make a decision in order to save this place and his love, Nef, from prying eyes of the outside as an unexpected visitor from Jim’s life back in Chicago hops off the same train and begins to explore.
Leviathan 99.
Where Somewhere a Band is Playing deals with things familiar, small towns, Summer heat and the love between friends and strangers, Leviathan 99, the other novella in this book, is as different as one can get. To put it bluntly, the story in and of itself is Herman Melville’s Moby Dick only set in outer space. Absurd and amusing one might think but with the way Bradbury writes it, the characters he molds into his own, it is a surprisingly dark and intense piece.
Ishmael Hunnicut Jones is a new recruit, trained in the Space Academy and soon to launch into his first mission, to study and track the stars and view the other mysteries of space. His roommate, a spiderlike, telepathic Alien, Quell, is deeply intelligent, compassionately gentle and the two form a fast and unbreakable friendship, even before their first launch. They are placed aboard the Cetus 7 with a sturdy and dependable first mate Redleigh and other fine and smart crewmates. But what really intrigues Ishmael are the rumors of their Captain. Completely insane and blinded by the largest comet ever to be seen in the cosmos (the white whale) Leviathan, he is on a mission of vengeance to search out that galactic threat and destroy it once and for all. At first all of the crew are suspicious and wary, simply wanting to complete the mission they were given and go back home to their family and friends. But the Captain is relentless in his pursuit and does whatever it takes to get them into the path of the Comet.
He is the instrument of his own destruction the same as Ahab.
Though the two stories in Now and Forever are as different as night and day, they are both unmistakably Bradbury. Somewhere a Band is Playing is a cool breeze on a hot Summer day, gentle, calming and soothing. As with all of Bradbury’s works, it has an almost tangible feeling to it. The words paint such vivid pictures that if one were to simply close their eyes, they could see themselves standing in the kitchen of the Egyptian View Arms, listening to the ice box melt, smell the pie cooling on the window, hear the murmur of distant voices in quiet conversation just one room away. And it’s the same with Leviathan 99. All one must do is close their eyes and they are aboard the starship Cetus 7, nervously following the orders of a mad Captain Hell bent on revenge with nothing but stars and darkness surrounding them. And though the characters, what they say and how they say it does not exactly fit how people talk these days, it is still believable in the world that Bradbury’s created. It wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t verbose, passionate conversations, deep, eager thoughts of a mad space captain or the quiet, one word dialogue between two people in love, deciding their future. Now and Forever is once again, a perfect example of Bradbury’s ability to make the simplest things breathtakingly beautiful. And these two stories are all that and more.
10/04/2010
Book Review: Crank by Ellen Hopkins.
Though one should never judge a book by its cover, I couldn't help but be drawn to this particular novel for that very reason. Set upon a solid black background, in sharp contrast and written in ragged letters is the word, Crank, spelled out in exactly what the book is named for, Methamphetamine. The cover was eye catching and once I opened the book and began to read, I was drawn in even more because of how it is written.
It is a story, with characters, setting and a timeline but it is written entirely in verse. Every page is a poem, some rhyming, others not but no matter what all the poems tell a chronological story.
Crank begins with Kristina Georgia Snow traveling to Albuquerque to visit with her estranged Father. She is your stereotypical, "good girl", straight A student, never any trouble, any parents dream. But when she meets a boy named Adam but who calls himself Buddy, she is dumbstruck. And deciding to be coy, Kristina introduces herself as Bree and the simple utterance of that made up name starts everything falling on a downward slope.
While in Albuquerque, spending time with Adam, Kristina has her first trip with the "Monster", her nickname for Meth. The few short weeks spent with her Father start her on the path to addiction and when she arrives back home in Reno, she is officially hooked. As the cravings grow stronger and she needs more of the drug to keep her functioning, her downward spiral bumps up to break neck speed.
Rife with terrible decisions, broken relationships, rape, unwanted pregnancies and an overall loss of control, Crank is startling in its intensity and yet beautiful simply for how it is written. Some of the poems are truly inspiring and it’s a quick an easy but through provoking read. Perfect for any teenager who finds themselves bored and disconnected with the world and people around them, this book shows that nothing is solved with drugs. Sure it might seem fun but it just ends up ruining everything in the end. Having left off in the perfect place for a sequel, I'll be picking up the next book in the series, Glass, as soon as I can. This promises to be an educational and memorable series and I hope it all turns out well in the end.
Book Review: Horns by Joe Hill.
After a night of heavy drinking Ignatius Perrish wakes up with no clear memory of what he did. But one glance in the bathroom mirror shows that something must have happened because he now has a pair of horns slowly piercing through the skin of his forehead. Terrified, he goes to see if his "girlfriend" Glenna can see the change. But she barely notices, simply sits on the couch and eats store bought Donuts, one after the other, admitting that she just wants to eat the whole box and not even chew.
Sickened by her behavior and realizing that she will be of no help, Ig goes to the Doctor to see what can be done. In the waiting room there is a child, screaming and crying and as Ig fills out paperwork, the Receptionist casually tells him that she wishes she could go over and slap the child into silence. Not sure what to make of this, Ig sits down, right next to the child's Mother. As her child continues to scream and wail, the Mother strikes up a casual conversation with Ig where she explains how much she hates her daughter because she's always throwing fits and interrupting the Mother while she sleeps with her golf instructor. Things become even more unsettling when Ig sees the Doctor and the old man asks Ig if he could crush up a couple of OCs and get high. But no, he knows it's not right to get stoned at work, he'll wait until he gets home and then zone out and watch his daughter's best friend run around in her bikini, though she's no older than 14.
Needing to escape the insanity that's surrounding him, Ig goes home to see his family but finds no peace there. A year ago Ig was the main suspect in the rape and murder of his then girlfriend, Merrin. He is innocent but no one has ever really believed him. And when he comes home, everyone, his Mother, Father and Grandmother admit to him how sick he makes them, how horrible he is for what he did to Merrin. But it isn't until Ig finds his brother Terry in the Kitchen that the real truth comes out. Terry apologizes, elaborates and Ig runs from the house, screaming.
After that the story gets deeper and deeper into the characters pasts and how everything is interconnected. Ig realizes that the Horns growing out of his head give him power. He can control people, make them admit their sins and all their secret desires. His transformation into a demon, or even the Devil himself, fire, pitchfork and all, only help him grow in power. But as the story progresses the reader starts to realize that Ig, this half man, half Devil is not the bad guy and the real villain is more manipulative, sinister and terrifying than Ig could ever be.
Just as intense and gripping as his other novel, Heart Shaped Box, Joe Hill is truly a master of terror and suspense. Far more talented than his Father Stephen King (in my opinion) Horns was a book that terrified me but also intrigued me. I didn't want to put it down but was almost too creeped out to continue reading. A truly imaginative and unique story, surprisingly emotional at parts and delightfully dark in others. The transformation of a man into the Devil but set out on a mission of vengeance for the woman he loves may sound absurd, but Hill makes it anything but. It is a work of absolute brilliance.
09/17/2010
Dream Go Deo
A Daydreamer often lost in books and movies and sometimes inspired to write her nonsensical thoughts down.
