On the way back home from Utah, I read another book. This one was called A Good and Happy Child, written by Justin Evans.
The book is told in "notebooks" by a thirty-something named George. He has just begun seeing a therapist because his wife is frustrated with the fact that George will not touch or take care of their newborn son. Through these notebooks, he remembers things about his childhood he'd nearly forgotten, including what was thought to be a case of demonic possession.
The book keeps you turning the pages, wanting to find out about George's "Friend" and his father's untimely death and all the other elements that Evans spins around you in the novel. It's immensely gripping and I had to make myself put it down to go to bed during vacation and put the bookmark in it to leave the van at rest stops. The character development was great. The modern-day George is bitter and unhappy and the child George is confused, curious and enthralled with the mysteries he is finding all around him.
I would give this book 8 out of 10 stars. There were parts toward the end where the narrative had me confused. But mostly, the story was thick and enthralling. I'd reread it again just to pick up on extra details I missed the first time around.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Life's Small Lessons...
We are in Utah and down the street from where we are staying, there is a simply-Mac store. I have been bugging my parents about getting a Macbook for several months and they've finally caved.
But not in a way that I expected.
We went and bought my Macbook yesterday after a very long discussion about finances for it. They are not paying for it.
I used their American Express card to purchase the computer. When we get back to Iowa, we are taking out a $2000 loan, with me as a cosigner. I will be paying monthly payments of about $200 to pay back the bank and get a credit score. Because my parents have such good credit, we are getting the loan for only 5 or 6%.
This will seriously come in handy when I have a computer during college and am not paying nearly as much interest as I could be on my student loans because I will already have a credit score and, with any luck, it will be a good one, since I've promised to pay on time and get it paid off early so my parents' score doesn't go down (it's nearly perfect, which is astounding).
And if anyone cares: Macbooks are amazing. Within an hour, I was already customizing, installing and thoroughly enjoying myself. I am super happy.
But not in a way that I expected.
We went and bought my Macbook yesterday after a very long discussion about finances for it. They are not paying for it.
I used their American Express card to purchase the computer. When we get back to Iowa, we are taking out a $2000 loan, with me as a cosigner. I will be paying monthly payments of about $200 to pay back the bank and get a credit score. Because my parents have such good credit, we are getting the loan for only 5 or 6%.
This will seriously come in handy when I have a computer during college and am not paying nearly as much interest as I could be on my student loans because I will already have a credit score and, with any luck, it will be a good one, since I've promised to pay on time and get it paid off early so my parents' score doesn't go down (it's nearly perfect, which is astounding).
And if anyone cares: Macbooks are amazing. Within an hour, I was already customizing, installing and thoroughly enjoying myself. I am super happy.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
In the Woods (Tana French)
While driving for 2 days from Iowa to Utah, I sat in the backseat and digested the best-selling book In the Woods by Tana French.
It started off with a bang. There was immediate mystery. It is a book that is basically an emotional, detailed police investigation, on the scene and behind the scenes. I'd never read a book like tihs before and I was instantly intruiged when I first saw it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. The plot was full of twists and turns and dead ends.
The plot is that in 1984 (backstory) three children went to play in the woods in Knocknaree and only one of them came out, unable to remember what had happened to his friends but being altogether terrified. In present day, a young girl, Katy Devlin, is found in the same woods at an archeological dig, murdered. The young boy, now grown up and using a different name, is put on the case with his partner, Cassie Maddox.
What I loved about the book is that there is so much background and depth to everything. There is poltiical backstory, emotional backstory and every kind of backstory you could want. And you can't guess whodunit. It's a complete surprise by the end. You'll feel completely betrayed by the text and the characters and the author. But it is a satisfying frustration with the ending. I would read this book again, with pleasure, to catch all the hints I am sure Tana French threw in along the way.
Overall, I'd give this book 8 stars out of 10. It was written with impeccable detail and had an intricate storyline. It is definitely on my own list of my 25 favorite books.
It started off with a bang. There was immediate mystery. It is a book that is basically an emotional, detailed police investigation, on the scene and behind the scenes. I'd never read a book like tihs before and I was instantly intruiged when I first saw it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. The plot was full of twists and turns and dead ends.
The plot is that in 1984 (backstory) three children went to play in the woods in Knocknaree and only one of them came out, unable to remember what had happened to his friends but being altogether terrified. In present day, a young girl, Katy Devlin, is found in the same woods at an archeological dig, murdered. The young boy, now grown up and using a different name, is put on the case with his partner, Cassie Maddox.
What I loved about the book is that there is so much background and depth to everything. There is poltiical backstory, emotional backstory and every kind of backstory you could want. And you can't guess whodunit. It's a complete surprise by the end. You'll feel completely betrayed by the text and the characters and the author. But it is a satisfying frustration with the ending. I would read this book again, with pleasure, to catch all the hints I am sure Tana French threw in along the way.
Overall, I'd give this book 8 stars out of 10. It was written with impeccable detail and had an intricate storyline. It is definitely on my own list of my 25 favorite books.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Snuff (Chuck Palahniuk)
Last week, I began and finished the book Snuff, by one of my favorite authors Chuck Palahniuk. I haven't read anything by Mr. P for quite a while, waiting for Rant to come out in paperback. But my friend bought his newest book in hardcover and she read it in just a few days and she surprise-loaned it to me.
It took me a few days to actually get around to reading more than 20 pages at once. I'd been trying to read outside because it's summer but there are tons of gnats in my yard. So it was just disgusting. But once I sat down on my couch and dedicated myself to the book, I read over half of it at one time.
Granted, the book has a few flaws. Firstly, there is a lot of (semi- and totally graphic) talk about sex and sexual things. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is not... open-minded, to say the least. Secondly, there are 4 narrators. I had a hard time telling the 3 males apart because Chuck P didn't really distinguish the narratives a lot. They all stayed in his usual style.
The book is basically about porn. And a woman, Cassie Wright, accomplished porn star, wanting to break the record of number of men to have sex with in one... porn shoot? IDK. They go in to the room in groups of 3 and there are 600 of them. But there are all sorts of twists and turns and surprises that make it hard to put down, even though you are constantly checking to make sure no one is reading the dirty words in the book over your shoulder.
Overall, I'd give the book 3.5 stars out of 5. If anyone but Chuck Palahniuk had tried to write this book, it'd be a train wreck. But with the Chuck P name on it, it's a train wreck in the best of ways.
It took me a few days to actually get around to reading more than 20 pages at once. I'd been trying to read outside because it's summer but there are tons of gnats in my yard. So it was just disgusting. But once I sat down on my couch and dedicated myself to the book, I read over half of it at one time.
Granted, the book has a few flaws. Firstly, there is a lot of (semi- and totally graphic) talk about sex and sexual things. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is not... open-minded, to say the least. Secondly, there are 4 narrators. I had a hard time telling the 3 males apart because Chuck P didn't really distinguish the narratives a lot. They all stayed in his usual style.
The book is basically about porn. And a woman, Cassie Wright, accomplished porn star, wanting to break the record of number of men to have sex with in one... porn shoot? IDK. They go in to the room in groups of 3 and there are 600 of them. But there are all sorts of twists and turns and surprises that make it hard to put down, even though you are constantly checking to make sure no one is reading the dirty words in the book over your shoulder.
Overall, I'd give the book 3.5 stars out of 5. If anyone but Chuck Palahniuk had tried to write this book, it'd be a train wreck. But with the Chuck P name on it, it's a train wreck in the best of ways.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
This weather is crazy!
We here in Eastern Iowa have been having the worst weather this year. We had a horrible winter, barely any spring and now for the summer hardly any reprieve from rain and storms. It's insane.
Right now, the Cedar River, which runs through our downtown, is at 29.5 feet. The flood level of the river is only 12 feet. It is supposed to crest tonight/early this morning at 32-33 feet. It's crazy. There's massive amounts of water everywhere. It's the only thing on TV and the news.
There is water coming up to and over the railings of bridges that are usually towering above the river. There is water half-way up buildings downtown, such as the library. There is water coming up to the top of parking meters and street signs. It is really weird to see parts of my city on TV that are covered in water that I see normally completely dry. I can't even explain it.
I watched the CBS Evening News and two of the top stories were from Iowa. One was the flooding and the other was the massive tornado that went through a Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux (I think that's the town...?) which killed 4 boys and injured 48. It was horrible.
New York Times: Tornado Kills 4 in Iowa Boy Scout Camp
Cedar Rapids struggles to endure historic flood
I didn't take any of these pictures. I got them all from the Gazette.
On the right is our City Hall, which is on an island. There should be bridges connecting the left and right sides of the picture.
I was watching the news, and there was a FISH swimming around on First Avenue. There's that much water. It's crazy. Luckily I'm not getting any water in my house at all. The street is like a river when it rains (because when it rains, it pours) but it's draining unlike many other places around in my city.
(Hopes and wishes to those who are being evacuated and flooded out of their homes.)
Right now, the Cedar River, which runs through our downtown, is at 29.5 feet. The flood level of the river is only 12 feet. It is supposed to crest tonight/early this morning at 32-33 feet. It's crazy. There's massive amounts of water everywhere. It's the only thing on TV and the news.
There is water coming up to and over the railings of bridges that are usually towering above the river. There is water half-way up buildings downtown, such as the library. There is water coming up to the top of parking meters and street signs. It is really weird to see parts of my city on TV that are covered in water that I see normally completely dry. I can't even explain it.
I watched the CBS Evening News and two of the top stories were from Iowa. One was the flooding and the other was the massive tornado that went through a Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux (I think that's the town...?) which killed 4 boys and injured 48. It was horrible.
New York Times: Tornado Kills 4 in Iowa Boy Scout Camp
Cedar Rapids struggles to endure historic flood
I didn't take any of these pictures. I got them all from the Gazette.
On the right is our City Hall, which is on an island. There should be bridges connecting the left and right sides of the picture.
I was watching the news, and there was a FISH swimming around on First Avenue. There's that much water. It's crazy. Luckily I'm not getting any water in my house at all. The street is like a river when it rains (because when it rains, it pours) but it's draining unlike many other places around in my city.
(Hopes and wishes to those who are being evacuated and flooded out of their homes.)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Hopes and Dreams
This is my media essay. My last AP Lang assignment of the year!
I made it in Windows Movie Maker, so it looks pretty grainy. And you have to view it full screen. Just click the video and read the description. :)
I made it in Windows Movie Maker, so it looks pretty grainy. And you have to view it full screen. Just click the video and read the description. :)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Heathers
This weekend, while browsing Youtube, I discovered that someone has posted the movie "Heathers" in 12 parts. I had been wanting to see this movie since I heard about it probably years ago on VH1's "I Love the 80s". Given that it was a Sunday on a three-day weekend, I thought, "Why not?" I loaded the first part of the twelve and started watching.
I was completely enthralled from beginning to end, despite the grainy, 80s film and the bizarre, morbid events that happened every ten minutes. The basic plot of the movie is that there is a girl named Veronica Sawyer and she basically abandoned her other friends to be with the Heathers, the late 80s "Mean Girls" of Westerberg High School. She meets a new guy at school named JD and he's a little... off. Within the first twenty minutes, JD pulls a gun out of his pocket and shoots blanks at two guys giving him a hard time in the cafeteria. But this doesn't faze Veronica (or the Heathers, to be honest). Apparently, pretending to shoot someone with a real gun was sexy in the 80s. Now, they'd just be derranged.
But as events in the movie progress, there are real deaths that are passed off as suicides until Veronica decides she's had enough. She's not getting what she wants out of the deaths of these people, she just feels horribly guilty. But JD can't get enough of these murderous thrills. The movie is intense because it keeps you wondering who's going to die next. It's a murder mystery that isn't really a mystery at all. You know who did it but no one besides the two main characters know. It's like your own little movie-long secret.
The climax of the movie is as intense as it is surprising. All I can say is that this movie would never be made these days. With fake school shootings, teenagers committing mass murder, suicide scandals, raging language and bombings, "Heathers" crosses boundary after boundary until you feel like you are watching something utterly taboo. It's a rollercoaster ride of murder, suspense and twists and turns.
What I really liked about this movie, though, is that despite all the morbidity and copious amounts of death, there was no real gore. Even in the climax of the movie, there is minimal amounts of blood and gross things you would find in movies nowadays. This is probably one of the reasons that a movie as sick and twisted as "Heathers" found a place on my favorites movies of all time.
Here's a trailer. It's a really weird trailer. I'd Google another one if I were you.
I was completely enthralled from beginning to end, despite the grainy, 80s film and the bizarre, morbid events that happened every ten minutes. The basic plot of the movie is that there is a girl named Veronica Sawyer and she basically abandoned her other friends to be with the Heathers, the late 80s "Mean Girls" of Westerberg High School. She meets a new guy at school named JD and he's a little... off. Within the first twenty minutes, JD pulls a gun out of his pocket and shoots blanks at two guys giving him a hard time in the cafeteria. But this doesn't faze Veronica (or the Heathers, to be honest). Apparently, pretending to shoot someone with a real gun was sexy in the 80s. Now, they'd just be derranged.
But as events in the movie progress, there are real deaths that are passed off as suicides until Veronica decides she's had enough. She's not getting what she wants out of the deaths of these people, she just feels horribly guilty. But JD can't get enough of these murderous thrills. The movie is intense because it keeps you wondering who's going to die next. It's a murder mystery that isn't really a mystery at all. You know who did it but no one besides the two main characters know. It's like your own little movie-long secret.
The climax of the movie is as intense as it is surprising. All I can say is that this movie would never be made these days. With fake school shootings, teenagers committing mass murder, suicide scandals, raging language and bombings, "Heathers" crosses boundary after boundary until you feel like you are watching something utterly taboo. It's a rollercoaster ride of murder, suspense and twists and turns.
What I really liked about this movie, though, is that despite all the morbidity and copious amounts of death, there was no real gore. Even in the climax of the movie, there is minimal amounts of blood and gross things you would find in movies nowadays. This is probably one of the reasons that a movie as sick and twisted as "Heathers" found a place on my favorites movies of all time.
Here's a trailer. It's a really weird trailer. I'd Google another one if I were you.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
August Rush
Yesterday afternoon, I settled down into the basement with my parents to watch a movie. My brothers were out and about, playing with the neighborhood kids and so what do we decide to watch? August Rush, an amazing movie rated PG.
The basic storylines of this movie is that a kid named Evan Taylor who runs away from a boy's home and ends up in New York (it is where the music leads him). He meets a kid named Arthur and a man named Wizard (and other, name-less characters) and discovers he has a huge musical talent. There is also the story of his parents, Lyla and Louis, who meet one night while both escaping a party and they fall in love and make a baby. In the present, while Evan (their son) is in NYC, they are in Chicago and San Francisco, unaware of the whereabouts of the other, being sad and not musical anymore, until Lyla decides she wants to find her son after news from her father and Louis wants to find Lyla after reuniting with people from his old band.
There are many moments in this movie that makes you want to yell and scream at the characters and their circumstances because they are SO CLOSE to the truth and yet so far. But there are many sweet moments, many cute moments and many heart-wrenching moments. If you happen to have a heart, you might want a box of tissues. But, as you can predict from the PG rating, everything is happy at the end. But instead of having a cliche vocal-realization moment or a cheesy epilogue, the film has a very classy finish with an unspoken acknowledgment between Lyla, Louis and Evan.
But because this movie is basically half-a-musical, there are many songs to be had. And they are amazing! Some of things Evan/August does with the guitar is magical and many of the vocal performances are terrific. The cello parts with Lyla are also incredible. I don't know of Freddie Highmore (Evan/August), Keri Russell (Lyla) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Louis) actually did their instrumenal or vocal performances, but if so, they are outstanding. (I personally don't doubt Meyers' performance, but I doubt that Freddie Highmore is truly a musical prodigy and that Keri Russell has been a life-long cellist, but it's a vague possiblity.)
The basic storylines of this movie is that a kid named Evan Taylor who runs away from a boy's home and ends up in New York (it is where the music leads him). He meets a kid named Arthur and a man named Wizard (and other, name-less characters) and discovers he has a huge musical talent. There is also the story of his parents, Lyla and Louis, who meet one night while both escaping a party and they fall in love and make a baby. In the present, while Evan (their son) is in NYC, they are in Chicago and San Francisco, unaware of the whereabouts of the other, being sad and not musical anymore, until Lyla decides she wants to find her son after news from her father and Louis wants to find Lyla after reuniting with people from his old band.
There are many moments in this movie that makes you want to yell and scream at the characters and their circumstances because they are SO CLOSE to the truth and yet so far. But there are many sweet moments, many cute moments and many heart-wrenching moments. If you happen to have a heart, you might want a box of tissues. But, as you can predict from the PG rating, everything is happy at the end. But instead of having a cliche vocal-realization moment or a cheesy epilogue, the film has a very classy finish with an unspoken acknowledgment between Lyla, Louis and Evan.
But because this movie is basically half-a-musical, there are many songs to be had. And they are amazing! Some of things Evan/August does with the guitar is magical and many of the vocal performances are terrific. The cello parts with Lyla are also incredible. I don't know of Freddie Highmore (Evan/August), Keri Russell (Lyla) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Louis) actually did their instrumenal or vocal performances, but if so, they are outstanding. (I personally don't doubt Meyers' performance, but I doubt that Freddie Highmore is truly a musical prodigy and that Keri Russell has been a life-long cellist, but it's a vague possiblity.)
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