Currently

Pages this week:100
Pages last week:172

1. He could be funny for a while solid day without ever once being stupid, and one time during lunch he made me laugh so hard a noodle came out my nose.

2. I knew from Marcus Welby, M.D., that this could and did sometimes happen, that bad news was followed by more and more bad news, until finally the doctor was telling you that you had to give up coffee, which I knew for a fact would have killed my dad.

3. King could only gasp for air. He never had a good day, as far as oxygen went.

4. Ha ha on the smokers.

5. Well, how about this: he once got locked in a basement by evil Petey Scroggs in the middle of January and survived on snow and little frozen mice. When I'm cold at night he sleep right on my face. Of that whole litter of kittens he came out of he's the only one left. One of his brothers didn't even have a butthole!

All from A Girl Named Zippy. Number five is just funny by itself, but I find myself standing up for my puppy that I found on the side of the road all the time. She's half blind in one eye and completely blind in the other and the worst dog we've ever had, but she's just so stinkin' cute! Although admittedly, maybe a little ugly. Just google search brussels griffon and find the ugliest one-- that's what she looks like.

Zippy has a friend named Dana who quickly appears in and leaves her life. Throughout my life, I've had a lot of friends like that. Dana moved in to the newest house from California and interested Zippy. When I lived in Dallas, many families would go in and out of the private school based on financial ability and disability. When you're young, it's not easy to understand why your friends have to leave and why they never say goodbye. The way Zippy reacts is very similar to how I used to react as well.

While reading A Girl Named Zippy, Zippy says, "My own mother prated about almost nothing but my dad. Week after week, year after year, for twenty-seven years she prayed that God would touch his heart and cause him to become a hardworking, nondrinking, churchgoing kind of man." Reading this, I thought of how marriage has changed since the 70s when this was written. Zippy's parents never fought and never mentioned divorce even though neither of them were exactly the type of person that the other wanted. Maybe because it was a small town and there weren't many options when it was time to marry, but Zippy's parents endured while current couples divorce, even if children are involved. The whole book is like that; it says small things about the time period without saying it right out.

Sentences of the month.

Pages this week: 172

Pages last week: 256

1. "Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath." -Rules for My Unborn Son
Because it's great advice.

2. "Later he married and divorced the same four times, sometimes marrying other women in between, including one whose name was, honestly, Squirrellly." -A Girl Named Zippy 
 Because it reminds me of my mom's side of the family... seriously.

3."Sleep's been stalking me for too long to remember." -House of Leaves
Because it's too true.

More death

In A Girl Named Zippy, more and more deaths keep occurring. Most are about animals, though two human deaths have occurred as well. Zip was supposed to be dogsitting for her neighbors, although Jiggers goes missing the first night and is found when the family returns. Poor Jiggers had tried to crawl under the porch to escape the heat and had split her stomach. Strangely, Zip doesn't comment on how this makes her feel at all.

A few weeks later (I thought all this posted the first time I wrote it, but it didn't so this will be short) Zip follows a Bausban truck to an old lady's house where they men carry out 68 dog corpses and the old lady's corpse.

Understand Close-Up Photography

I got this book by Bryan Peterson for my birthday last year, but didn't really think much of it until I was cleaning my room last weekend and picked it up. I'm really glad I read it-- it made me think about the way I take close-up photos. I asked for a macro lens for my birthday and got this book instead, but I'll share some of the photos I took!

A Girl Named Zippy

Haven Kimmel is a young girl growing up in a small town in Indiana. She's nicknamed Zippy at  a young age because of how quickly she ran around the house and is lovingly called "Zip" by her father.

What's most interesting about this book is the responses I've been getting from adults that notice what I'm reading. Many say they can relate their own childhood to Zippy's life and comment on the nostalgia the book provides them with. Between the time period and the setting in rural Indiana, it's giving me an interesting perspective because I'm trying to imagine my teachers and friends' parents as Zippy's neighbor and schoolmate going through the same things she's going through.

Something I didn't expect out of this book is the amount of death that is recounted. Zippy recalls the death of a man in town as any other child would. She explains the surprise she feels and how a little girl related to the man reacts when she brings it up-- Zippy gets a swift punch to the arm. She doesn't let the punch bother her though.  Besides the death of humans, Zippy explains, in detail, the death of eight rabbits and a chicken. Avoiding going to church, she hides behind a tree and watches her neighbor lovingly feed her chickens, when, at random, her neighbor picks one up and swings it around, instantly breaking its neck. Later, from the same spot, she watches two boys who moved in to the woman's house staple one rabbit after another to a wall and then chop their heads off, laughing about the headless bodies that hop around after hitting the ground. Her dad catches her watching both times, but gets mad at the boys the second time, intimidating them and making them apologize. The only response Zippy gets is to go wash her hands.

 Zippy has an older brother and an older sister and often comments on her relationship with them and their relationship apart from her. In one situation, Zip's older brother gets mad at her sister Melinda and rips the bathroom door off the hinges because he's going to be late for the bus. In a more personal situation, Zip's sister is running for the queen of the town fair at "a penny a vote," and Zippy wants her sister to win so badly that she gives her entire life savings-- $1.61-- to the cause. At the crowning ceremonies, she even wears a dress in hopes of making her sister look good. Melinda gets first runner-up and Zippy feels crushed, though Melinda is later crowned the winner after the original winner admits she's 3 months pregnant and is getting married in two weeks. I only have one older brother, but I spent a lot of time around my many (MANY) cousins and step-cousins and a young child. My brother and I never fought much because we had separate areas in the house and didn't spent too much time together, but the way Zippy's siblings act reminds me of the way my cousins both fought and supported each other. Ultimately we love each other, we just have differing opinions sometimes.

Claims of the Day

"In this shocking yet comically amusing video we observe an unusually grotesque reaction to some news that set a strange wild boy into a mystifying tangent of caterwauling violently."

"In this photograph, the contrasting colors of the bench and the grass, along with the thoughtful camera angle, communicate a sense of appreciation and respect for the nature that we seldom acknowledge."

 "In this photograph, the contrasting colors of the bench and the grass, along with the thoughtful camera angle, communicate a sense of appreciation and respect for the nature that we seldom acknowledge."

"In this painting of a couple meandering down a sidewalk, the relaxed broshstrokes and comples simplicity of the colors embody a feeling of pleasant passion which mesmerizes with its unassumingly focused design."

"The painting “Bold as Love” by Scott Cicero portrays an intense and dramatic expression through the spiritual flow, soothing colors, and compassionate movement emphasizing the complex design."

N00b!!

Mommy's Nose is Scary

Emerson's chubby cheeks, varying moods, and melodic giggles highlight the sincere, playful, and cheerful innocence of children.

Appearance- adorable, chubby, blue-eyed, precious, small

Moods- curious, frightened, amused, innocent

Giggles- cooing, high-pitched, melodic, squealing

Surroundings- comforting, busy, clean, stimulating

Amused, energetic, happy, optimistic, sincere, playful, cheerful

Currently

This week: 256 pages

Last Week: 378 pages

This Semester: 962 pages

1. "Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath." -Rules for My Unborn Son

2. "Remember, the girl you're with is somebody's sister. And he's perfectly capable of kicking your ass." -Rules for My Unborn Son

3. "Later he married and divorced the same four times, sometimes marrying other women in between, including one whose name was, honestly, Squirrellly." -A Girl Named Zippy

Rules for my unborn son

Rules for My Unborn Son by Walker Lamond is very cute, short, and fast. I finished the 206 page book in about thirty minutes. The rules apply to everyone-- not just young boys. I had my mom read it and also suggested for my boyfriend to read it. The short rules on each page are humorous and are good advice. Some of the rules I've discovered for myself already while others made me think to the future. The rules about girls even seemed true to me and how I would like to be treated. I definitely think it's a cute book to pick up every now and then. Although I did find a typo :)

Currently

This week: 378 pages
Last week: 119 pages
This semester: 706 pages

The three day weekend gave me plenty of time :)

"How can she say she loved a man when she's incapable on anything even remotely resembling commitment?"

"The simple answer I know: Lude woke me up at three in the morning to check out some dead guy's stuff."

"No better bookends than two walls. Lessons from a library."

All from Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves

Sarah Dessen

As a general rule, I don't really like pop fiction books. The two exceptions to this rule are Sarah Dessen and Nicholas Sparks. Roll your eyes all you want, I'm a sucker for a good love story. I recently finished Just Listen by Dessen and it wasn't exactly my favorite book of hers. Maybe it was because I didn't feel like I could relate to it, but I've enjoyed her other books much more. Dessen's novels tend to include dramatic events that, though rarely, do actually occur to high school girls. While others include orphans, pregnancy, divorce, or drinking, Just Listen focuses on eating disorders, family, and friends. Overall, the main character was not very likable. I thought that she complained a lot, about everything from her parents to her house to the fact that her sick sister got more attention than her. Even on her modeling career, she complained that there were prettier girls. She makes one friend in a boy named Owen, who she originally did not like at all and was quite rude to. Similar to character though, she pushes him away and then decides that she does want him as a friend. I was happy for Owen when he treated her rudely back. I mean, how am I supposed to root for a character like Annabelle? She appreciates nothing and Dessen expects readers to want the best for her. Just Listen isn't a book I should have finished, I should have given up on it. I just kept hoping it would get better. I was very, very wrong in those hopes.

House of Leaves

So far House of Leaves is a pretty slow read. Despite that, I'm really enjoying it. It's slightly confusing because the actual story has footnotes that tell a completely different story. The cover is 1/4 of an inch shorter than the pages of the book, which I didn't understand until it said the house that Mr. Navidson moves in to is 1/4 bigger than the blueprints say it is. He discovers this the day after two mysterious doors show up in the bedroom after they are away for a weekend. Along with other strange things that I don't understand yet, the word house is always blue, even when it is said in other languages. I'm not sure if this is to give the house in the book more importance. but I'm sure I'll find out. I'm really excited to read the rest of the book, I hope everything fits together eventually. For now though, I'm satisfied by how different the book is. It's not challenging text, but keeping the plots separated is slightly difficult.

ESFJ

According to the quiz, I'm a caregiver. I think that's pretty true because I love taking care of children, friends, and even my sick boyfriend. It also says I don't understand unkindness, which is also true. It also says that I need to be in control, which may explain why I always strive for leadership positions. What isn't true is that it says I blindly accept rules without questioning them. This couldn't be more wrong because I challenge rules a lot and try to stretch my limits. It drives my parents crazy, but oh well.

Week two blog tour.

Kind of like a field trip, but not.

These are the blogs I checked out today:

On Paper Wings: This is me. This blog made me laugh.

Inside out. Seriously, read The Egg.

Noodles.

The Ozone lair.

Phyllis.

Chillin in the Nyle.

Life's Unexpected Adventures.

Fire Side Reading!

Jake Hath Spake.

I only wrote on two... sorry.

week two. 9211.

This week: 119 pages

Last week: 209 pages

Total this semester: 328 pages
 SoTW is a few posts down! They're not as funny this week, but I'm still rather fond of them.

SoTW

"Sleep's been stalking me for too long to remember."

"Vandals, junkies, you name it, they get near the building and Flaze will lunge at them like a pitbull raised in a crackhouse."

-Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves


"The sky was coconut ice cream."

"Main street buzzed behind her like gnats around a licorice whip as she grimaces, weary of my idiocy,"

"Horror, in my heart. I won't cry. I will. Not. Cry... Didn't cry. Honest. Until I picked up the bag."

"Everything she says has a pin in it. Even the nice things. She was trying to be nice, wasn't she?"

Chip Kidd's The Cheese Monkeys

 

Hello, HHS. This is your pub staff. Be afraid. :)

Good is Dead.

While continuing The Cheese Monkeys, a Professor Winter yells at a student for turning in good work. Winter's reasoning is that "good is dead." While this may seem to make absolutely no sense, think about what would be more interesting: a perfect painting of a forest that looks incredibly lifelike or an abstract painting of the same landscape. Personally, I would definitely rather look at the abstract painting. Although it may not be as "good" as the other, it demands more creativity and imagination from the artist and would challenge my thinking on the scene. 

The narrator's friendship with Himillsy was also challenged in these pages. He wants more of a relationship with Himillsy, though she is dating a bland architecture student. Her boyfriend is the type of person she hates, but in the glimpse of the relationship you see, they seem to challenge each other and balance out. The narrator, nicknamed Happy by Winter, does not understand Himillsy's relationship and is frustrated when he sees her with her boyfriend. Himillsy also steals Happy's idea for a graphic design project after she tells Happy it is a stupid idea, though he doesn't stay mad for long. In one case when Happy was defending Himsy's (his nickname for her) art, Winter says "Nice try Hap, she's got you on a tight leash, doesn't she?" I'm really interested to see how their relationship will develop.

A Face in a Cloud, No Trace in the Crowd.

     I started a new book today that was reccomended to me by a friend at IU called House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. So far, I don't really have all that much to say about it. It starts in a very interesting way and it definitely grabbed my attention and had me asking questions. Flipping through, the variety of the page layouts and included materials really seems strange, but made me excited to get to those pages and read them for myself. The dedication page simply reads, "this is not for you," which makes me want to read the book, of course. It's like a secret not meant for my ears.