"Age Appropriate"

Hello! Today I'm going to talk about something I really care about: books. This whole train of thought was inspired by a long list of books I saved from a Page-A-Day calendar of book reviews from 2013. I figured it was time to go through the list and decide which ones I still wanted to read-then figure out if my school and public libraries have them, make color coded lists, and plan which ones I wanted to read first. You know, just normal, bookworm stuff.

I ended up going on Goodreads to get a sense of what regular readers thought of these books, and also to see which of them would be (for lack of a better term) age appropriate. I've been reading at a college level since second or third grade, so I've never encountered a (fictional) book I didn't understand, but if I'm going to read an "adult" book, I want to know if it's rated adult because of its complexity or the gratuitous and graphic sex scenes.

I didn't really think this was an unreasonable request, but after poking around on the Goodreads site for a while, I found that the idea had been discussed by users years ago and (as far as I can tell) scrapped. In fact, a lot of people on the forum seemed extremely offended at the thought of people telling them what they can and cannot read. I was kind of confused by this, so I went and looked at other sites. I couldn't find a single website that offered useful appropriateness ratings for books. Basically, everything said either "Adult" or "Young Adult," with no explanation for the rating.

Then, I understood. People seem to think that the only reason a human would want to know what kind of content is in a book is if they are a parent trying to prevent their child from being exposed to the world. Has it never occurred to anyone that there are teenagers who aren't interested in reading about sex, violence, and half the other things these reviews are telling our parents about? Why not just tell us?

As I looked even further, I started getting a little frustrated. After almost an hour of searching, I hadn't found any useful information about the content in any of the books I wanted to check. It's done with movies, isn't it? Not only are there official ratings assigned to movies, I can also go on hundreds of different websites to get information about exactly what kinds of potentially inappropriate material is in a movie I want to watch, then make my own, educated decision about whether or not to watch it. Why isn't there that much thought and effort put into rating books in a similar way? (End rant.)

So, what do you guys think? I'd love to continue this conversation in the comments, and if anyone knows of a website like I'm describing, please let me know! Also, if anyone knows how to design a website so we can just make this happen on our own, that would be great.

JMU SBC 2014

Hey guys! I've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks, and today's post is going to be about the most interesting part of that-band camp! I just got back (on Saturday) from JMU's Summer Band Camp, and it was amazing. It honestly was one of the best experiences of my life so far, and I can't wait to go back next year (hopefully).

One of the best parts for me was being around so many great musicians. I play tuba (and march sousaphone), so I'm used to being in the smallest section, and not having much of an example to follow, so having fifteen other tuba players plus our section leader (a JMU student) was incredible. It was just a few days (Tuesday to Saturday) but I really feel like my sound has improved just from playing with such talented people.

Speaking of people, I made several new friends while I was there. Two of my friends from winter guard who go to a different high school

Another thing I really loved was one of the main focuses of the camp, which was on the process. They gave us a lot of ideas and teaching techniques to bring back to our programs, and I'm really excited to share what I learned with my school's band.

And of course, the most exciting part of camp-our show! We learned and memorized the music and drill for this in just three days, because we are all marching ninjas. But seriously, I love our show, and I'm lucky enough that people have already put videos of it online. So, here is my favorite (it has the best angle):



Isn't it awesome?! We all completely freaked out when we got our music! And I can't tell you how many times we listened to Bohemian Rhapsody last week-the trumpets even wrote a parody for karaoke night.

Something that I think is really amazing is that there were three separate torrential downpours, the showers were kind of disgusting, and I'm still so sore I can barely walk, but I can't imagine not going back. It was seriously that much fun. Also I can't wait for my school's marching band to start (23 days)!

I once again have no idea what my next post will be about, but it should be coming at you soon!

Your question for the comments: What have you been doing so far this summer?

What is My Life?

Hello! Today's post is just going to be me filling you in a little on my life, so you can have some context for all this crazy. (I thought the title was appropriate, because I've been saying that a lot recently.)

First, and most excitingly, school ended on June 13th. Lucky me, the math and science program I'm in only gives one exam a day during exam week, so we all got to go home earlier than everyone else. Including picking up my sousaphone from my base school, I was home over an hour earlier than my brother (and you can bet I lorded that over him, because maturity). Although I've spent a lot of time just relaxing, I've also been pretty productive (mostly on the stuff from yesterday's post), and I'm planning on keeping it that way. Since I'm apparently incapable of having fun. It's fine.

Speaking of sousaphones... marching band! I mentioned that our show is Latin, but I thought I'd give you a little more detail. (Yay, details! Come on, at least pretend you're excited!) Our show doesn't have its performance title yet, but right now we're just calling it A Celebration of Mangione. Chuck Mangione is a composer who was apparently big in the '70s. None of us had ever heard of him, but he composed the music for the movie Children of Sanchez. For those of you (like me) who haven't seen it, let me tell you, the music is fabulous. Or we got a really amazing arrangement. Probably both. Both is good. There are way too many sixteenth notes, but I really like the music, and I'm really excited about our upcoming season!

A lot of my time this summer is going to be spent on band and crafts and other fun things, but I also have a decent reading list. My priority is something that was assigned to me for school, called Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History. Something I want to read for myself is The Count of Monte Cristo. Because of the weird way we did our foreign language exams this year, my French class finished about three weeks before the school year did. My teacher decided to use all the extra time to show us the seven hour movie version, starring Gerard Depardieu. Then she challenged me to read it, so I'm going to do that. It's apparently over a thousand pages, but I've read Lord of the Rings, so how bad can it be? I really enjoyed the story, so hopefully I'll feel the same about the book. I also have a few smaller things I'd like to read, which aren't really as interesting. And finally, my dad is continuing his quest to get me to read the Bible and the Koran. Neither of us are religious, but he thinks it's important to be well educated in other people's beliefs. He has a point, so if I get around to it, I'll probably do that.... I don't really know.

I think that's enough of a look into my boring life. At least now you'll have a vague recollection of what I'm talking about in future posts! Speaking of which, I'm going out of town for the next couple of days, so I don't really know when the next post will be, or what it's going to be on. Yay, surprises, right? Right? Well, in any case, I'll talk to you soon!

And now, your question for today: What are you doing this summer/over the next few months? I'd especially love to hear about books you're reading or have read recently, since I'm always looking for new stuff to try. Let me know in the comments!

A Lazy Craft Update

Hello! This post is going to show you a few things that I'm working on right now, recently finished, plan to make soon, etc. Just one thing: I hope you aren't looking for super classy pictures, because I took these on my iPod in bad lighting. (It's easier to get them on the computer that way, and I was feeling lazy. Hence the title.) You're welcome.

First, just a quick look at something I'm so proud of, I might end up writing a whole post just on this at some point.

This skirt was super easy, super fun, and dare I say super cute? Here's a closer view of the print:

The band geek in my gets excited whenever I look at it!

Next, I have a much bigger project, which is nowhere near being done.

This is just the first square of this blanket, which, according to the original creator, will eventually be the size of a queen bed. Anyone recognize it? Yeah, I'm really living up to my blog name with this one. It's the Earth Kingdom symbol from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is completely nerdy but also fantastic. (Side note: Book 3 of Legend of Korra airs this Friday and I'm so excited I can barely contain myself.) I've already started the next square, which for me is the symbol of the Air Nomads. I don't actually have all the yarn I need to do Water and Fire. Ooops. I guess I'll just have to go to the store soon..... (yay!)

I'll keep you up-to-date(ish) on how this goes. I'd really like to finish it this summer, or at least the bulk of it.

I also have another blanket I'm working on, a t-shirt quilt. At this point, the top is basically done, but I'm not totally sure how I want to proceed from here. I'm going to do a little reading to figure out what the standards are for finishing these things, and I'll let you know what I decide

In addition to all this, I also have some other projects I'm planning on doing soon, including this Kimono Cardigan from Peabrain DIY, this Gathered Skirt from By Hand London (because I desperately need zipper practice), and something like this Red Skater Dress from Melissa Ting: Life & I. I'm really excited for all these projects, and for the trip to the fabric store they will inevitably require!

Next time, I'll probably talk a little about my life, and what my summer looks like. I swear, it won't be as boring as it sounds!

And your question of the day: What projects are you working on? What are you excited to start? Let me know in the comments!

On Writing and Mechanics

Hello again! This is the second part of my writing post from a while back. I'm not really a fan of either of these posts, since they are more like boring rants and not very interesting to read, but I figured I would just get this up and get it out of the way. Here goes:

One major problem I have when writing for school is using "academic mechanics." For example, one thing that I do a lot, and mentioned in my last post, is use parentheses. Obviously, I have some sort of unhealthy obsession with them, because I will overuse them forever and always, but I find that they're a lot like how my brain actually works, and that helps me share what's going on in there. Besides, if they're so wrong then why were they invented? However, if I tried to turn in an essay, even a narrative essay, with parentheses in it, I'd get points taken off before it was even read.

That's just one example of my own mind constantly battling with my English teachers. Don't get me wrong, I have always been the girl that gets excited when the teacher announces yet another writing assignment or essay, but I've also always been the one who has to switch modes in order to write them. For a while, I thought this was some weird thing, since none of my friends had this problem. They just hated writing essays! But finally, this year, my English teacher taught us what diction is in writing, which kind of cleared it up for me. Basically, whenever I write for my teachers, I'm struggling to take the informal diction in my head and make it formal diction that I can turn in. As far as I can tell, this isn't an unusual thing, but it is a little bit annoying. My inner voice is naturally sarcastic, so when I'm told to get my act together and use an "appropriate" tone, that inner voice sighs and rolls its eyes (yeah, that went in a weird direction).

I think next time I'll be talking about some projects I've been working on the past few weeks: mostly sewing, but also some crochet. I have no idea when that'll be up, but keep an eye out for it! And now, my question for you:

Have you struggled with translating your thoughts into something you can put onto paper? Let me know below!

No One Cares

*peers sheepishly from behind my laptop*

Hi guys. I know it's been a while, but I have finally returned to the land of bloggy goodness. However, I have come back with a new attitude, which hopefully will mean that this will be more enjoyable for all of us.

I have always been a very self-conscious person (actually that's not completely true, but that's for another post), so something I've been working on lately has been telling myself three words: no one cares. No one cares if you answer that question wrong, no once cares if you have two big zits, no one cares if you look tired today, etc. I'm extending this into this blog with three things: No one cares if you don't post for a while, no one cares if you don't post every day, and no one cares if you post twice in one day.

All of this is a kind of long-winded way to say that I'm going to be posting what I want when I want to, completely unapologetically. I have some cool things to share with you guys, including an awesome skirt I finished up in time for the last week of school, a t-shirt quilt I'm working on, and a whole bunch of random other things that I'm excited about. Maybe even a little fashion, although I'm not entirely qualified to talk about that. Even better, marching season is coming up, so you'll probably be hearing a lot about that, too. Here's a teaser: our show is freaking fantastic, and despite what our director says, totally Latin.

I have a post that I started back in March, which is sort of continuation of my last post about writing for school. It's a little boring, but it's a rantish thing that I want to have, so I'm going to post it anyway. That will probably be for tomorrow, though, because it needs a little work and it's late here. So you'll probably see that sometime tomorrow morning, assuming I actually get up (ahhh, summer break). Talk to you then!

Oh, one more thing. I'm going to start leaving a little discussion question thing at the bottom, in the hopes of sparking a conversation. Come on guys, it could be fun! No? Too bad. Here's your question for today:

What have you realized lately that has made a change in your life? What words or ideas are you living by? Let me know down below!

On Writing and Personality

Hi guys! Can we just skip the part where I awkwardly acknowledge the fact that I missed two posts? Yes? Thanks so much, I love you all.

Anyway, today I thought I would write about writing. Because that makes perfect and total sense. You in the back, I can see you rolling your eyes. Yeah, you! So getting on with it...

I'm going to start with something pretty basic: I write a lot. This probably won't be a surprise to anyone who's been to high school, but it goes a little beyond that. First, there is the part of me that is a high school student, so of course I write all the time for my classes. (In fact, I've been known for my creative writing and essays for as long as I can remember.) However, with a few exceptions, I don't really count that stuff. I also do a lot of writing in my spare time, mostly short stories (and some much longer ones) and a bit on this blog. This writing, my personal writing, is much more interesting to me, since I actually get to put my personality into it and have some fun.

On the one hand, I know that I have a distinctive writing style (which is a little different from what you read here, due to my excessive social awkwardness and the possibility that there are actual real live people reading this), and most of the time I like it, but I have a voice in my other ear telling me that everything I write in my spare time is wrong. (Let's just ignore the fact that I switched from hands to ears. I think you still get the point.) This is about everything from my naturally sarcastic narration to my overuse of parentheses (come on, don't say you haven't noticed).

Part of the problem is that writing assignments at school are so subjective. Last year, we were given a prompt to write about the similarities we had with a fictional character. I immediately thought of Hermione, and I got really excited about writing this essay. I kind of ignored the usual limits that I put on myself when I write in school, and I ended up with the essay that turned out to be my favorite piece of writing that I've ever done as an assignment. Since it was about me, I was comfortable in revealing my writing style in a way that I never had before, and it paid off. I got a perfect score on it, but I know that if I had turned it in two years earlier, I would have failed the assignment. Even though I consider it to be one of my major writing achievements, I know that the teacher I had then wouldn't have been so accepting of my style and tone.

All this means that I've developed two brains: one for school writing, and one for personal writing. Most of the time I wish my personal writing brain could just take over, but I do acknowledge that being able to write more professionally is important. And then I'm right back where I started.

You're probably completely bored of reading about my messed up brain by now, so kudos to you if you read it all through! I did really enjoy writing this, and I haven't really said everything on my mind, so if no one has any objections, I think I might come back to this topic at some point. In the meantime, what do you think? Do you have two (or more) separate writing brains? Leave a comment and let me know!