Senior Year Update: Thanksgiving (Week 16)

So I'm not going to dedicate a post to Week 13- 15 mostly because I don't remember much about them other. Well I do remember talking with all of my friends and Nikki coming to sit outside with us at lunch (which is practically unheard of). I also remember the bombing in Paris and am sending them well wishes. Also, I send well wishes to Beruit who was bombed on November 12, 2015 and was barely recognized. All I can say is that we live in a world of ridiculous ideals.

Week 16 (11/22-11/28)
Thanksgiving break!! WHOOOO!! Well there is one thing that's raining on my parade. We didn't get to send in the Magazine because someone decided they would start complaining about the resolution of the pics even though I had been working on it for almost 3 weeks!

I went to Boston, MA on Wednesday with my family and it was so awesome! I hung out with my cousins and my CuCu (pronounced shosho, meaning grandmother in Kikuyu). My baby cousin Chris is so adorable. He takes forever to eat but he loves giving hugs and I loved hanging out with him. And his brother was equally awesome. He's grown so much since the last time I saw him. It was so strange seeing him so different and more talkative. I had a good time just hanging out with all of them. We got into the heart of Boston which is so nice. The architecture is so old and beautiful, all of the buildings seem to have their own stories and tidbits of the past. It was absolutely amazing. As was Harvard. The campus is glorious and quieter than I thought it would be, but it was really nice. We didn't do too much exploring but what I did get to see was positively delightful. Enough to make me apply? Probably not. 

I don't think I've ever eaten as much as food as I consumed in those three days. By the time we got home I was absolutely stuffed. But it was so worth, all of it was so good. Chai and chapati for breakfast every morning, who can complain? And the turkey we had on Thanksgiving was phenomenal, so tender and delicious. Great times. Now I really want chai. Not the point, the food was amazing. And when we got back home, we had a Thanksgiving party and some of my mom's friends were over and we danced all night. It was exhausting but the conversation was really nice. Everyone, I hope, had a really god time. I know I did.

All in all, one of my favorite Thanksgiving breaks. It was nice to spend time with my family and just get to chat and catch up. Hopefully, the next time I say everyone from Boston will be very soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Disney Series: Princess Ranking

So recently my friend hsas been asking all of these Disney related questions and she suggested that I make a Disney related series on my blog. So here it is: Part 1- a ranking all of the official Disney Princesses (plus 2 princesses in waiting).

13- Snow White

She walked into a random person's house. And just decided to crash there. It's not like the house was abandoned or anything, it was very much lived in and yet she chose to just enter. On top of all of that, she ate an apple from some RANDOM old lady she didn't know! Didn't anyone ever tell you don't take food from strangers? Erg!

12- Ariel

She thought she needed to change herself to be with a man that she saw once in her life. And on top of that, she was stupid enough to believe that Ursula would play fairly.

11- Elsa

She froze her kingdom. And proceeded to run away. You may ask: why didn't she try to hone her powers early? Answer: she was busy feeling sorry for herself and avoiding her sibling even the lovely rock people never told her to hide away from everyone. She still froze her kingdom though.

10- Cinderella

Far too weak. What was she so afraid of? What would her stepmother have done. She wouldn't have too much claim to the house, if that's the issue. I think I would have liked her more if she had made an attempt to get out of the situation that she was in.

9- Aurora

People seem to conveniently forget she falls in love with a guy that she's met in her dreams. Anyone else thinking hallucinations? Hmmmm? However, she wasn't a terrible princess. Not that she did very much anyway.

8- Rapunzel

How come she was to stupid to figure out how to get out of the tower on her own? How come she didn't realize that her hair was long enough for that? She was just stupid and I didn't like her.

7- Anna

She was too childish. And far too naive to be likable. I don't have any actual reason for disliking her but her character was irksome. 

6- Belle

Not going to lie, the fact that she really loved reading brings me great joy and saved her from being further down the list. However, Stockholm Syndrome is a serious issue with this girl. Just sayin'. On the same token, Stockholm Syndrome isn't necessarily her fault, she saved her father's life in exchange for living her days with one person. So I guess she can't really be faulted too much.

5- Merida

First truthfully strong princess to appear on the list (which isn't at all relevant to this). She was so ready to do whatever it took to not get married, practically unheard of during that time. But she's not higher on the list because she decided to turn her mother into a bear... Yeah, questionable actions.

4- Tiana

She really showed what it takes to change your situation. And she was going to do it without the prince. However, in what world would you actually kiss a frog? They're unhygienic and gross feeling and there is no way that she would have kissed a frog in real life. But she does win some points back because she was so sassy and assertive. I loved her!

3- Jasmine

She was friends with a tiger. I think that says it all. But if it's not enough to convince you, she was also extremely determined to choose her own husband and she fought admirably for her beliefs. Some might argue that she fell in love with a criminal but he was practically starving. And he was pretty clever.

2- Pocahontas

She did what she wanted. She went against all rules of the tribe and she even made an active attempt at getting to know white man's culture. Plus, she had the voice of an angel! 'Colors of the Wind' is definitely one of the best Disney songs ever (so much better than 'Let it Go'). 

1- Mulan

 She fought for her country, not once but twice. She's considered a Disney princess not for marrying into royalty or for being royalty, but because she saved her kingdom. Her main priority wasn't falling in love or changing herself for a man. She saved her kingdom and did so even when Shang was being all pride hurt. Win for women kind all around the world. And all respect has to go to her for being so independent.

What do you guys think? How would you order the princesses and why? Any of mine that you think should have a different rank?

Review: The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Date: 14 March 2006
ISBN: 0375831002 
Pages: 552
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon|Book Depository




It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I knew I would end up writing a review on a book that I really didn't like at some point, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. It took me two weeks to finish this novel and I had to force myself to finish it.

First off, this novel is amazing in its description of detail and the accuracy in which World War II was portrayed. It doesn't delve in too deep with the specifics of major nights in Germany prior to the start of World War II but I appreciated it. I also enjoyed all of the characters that were introduced, each of them was their own person. Or, at least, I could see their potential to be more than just a flat, one- dimensional character. This again relates back to the intricate descriptions which I appreciated. But that's just about where good things end.

Things were happening, there wasn't a single chapter in which the characters were doing nothing. However, because of the detail provided it felt like everything was moving at a glacial pace. Even though months had passed in the span of four of five pages, it felt as if we were reading about a single day. All of the details made for a very slow story without any climax or anything truthfully interesting. Even the supposed climax wasn't very good because it was so overly detailed.

Moreover, the narrator- Death- was not as interesting a perspective as I thought it would be. I expected Death to be more morbid and he was just average. There was nothing exciting or intriguing about his perspective. The story probably would have been very similar if told from Liesel's neighbor point of view. There was no real value that the story added when told from Death's perspective except for when he was picking up dead bodies. And even that was so detailed it became this mundane thing just happened. And that may have been the intent that Zusak wanted- death being a normal, every day thing- the way it was written made death seem like this boring action. Zusak didn't even really explain how Death managed to watch Liesel for as long as it did without ever coming to take her personally.

Liesel's book thieving happen wasn't even a central idea or major issue in the plot. It didn't really come into play well past the halfway point. And to be honest, I wouldn't count what she did as "stealing" which implies that she was... uninvited.

Overall, I felt that the entire book had the potential to be an interesting plot but failed to reach the bar. Despite my love for description, Zusak utilized far too much and slowed the plot down to a point where the end always felt so far. And he didn't utilize the perspective in a way that could have made the entire plot more striking or though provoking. I would only recommend this book to die-hard historical fiction fans who want a very slow read or who want a book that they can put down often without feeling like their missing something. 

Have you guys read The Book Thief? What did you think?

The Rain

I love thunderstorms. 

The feeling of water snaking down your arm, making rivulets that curve and bend.

The patter against the rooftop in the middle of the night.

The delicate scent of the drenched grass.

The dark clouds looming overhead.

The strange warmth in the air, warm yet able to make you shiver.

The gravely sound of thunder as it runs across the ground.

The scream of the lightening beating the earth, shaking the electrons.

The grating squeak of sneakers against the linoleum floor.

The quieter breaths everyone seems to take.

It rained today and everything was so peaceful. I walked outside with a friend to get something from their car and get completely drenched on the way their. And I never completely dried off but it was such a nice feeling. Today was really calming. I read more of The Book Thief and I finally reached halfway. Hopefully a review will pop up by next week. It's not raining right now and I have homework to do, así adios.

Senior Year Update: Week 12

Time for some honesty: I was a little worried about putting this up. I think it came from the pressure to present life like this joyous and constantly fun place when, in reality, it's not always like that. And the reason I'm posting this is because one of the purposes of this blog is to write about my life and how I felt every step of the way regardless of whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.  

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Week 12 (10/25-10/31)

I don't know why I'm writing this. Nothing good has happened this week. I had a 12-16 page paper to write and I thought it was going to be fine. But Thursday night rolled around and I didn't have enough research for it and was up until 2. It was ridiculousness. Friday was just exhausting because of that. 

I failed a math quiz.

My knee injury continues to persist and I'm scheduled for some physical therapy, which I guess I'm excited for. But I desperately want to get back out on the field and play. And yea, I might complain about having to go practice sometimes but I detest being stuck on the sidelines. I feel like I've become crappy decoration for my team and that I'm just letting them down. It just sucks.

I continued reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. So far I'm not in love with it. In fact I can't even say I'm even enjoying it. But I'll leave all of that for my review after I've finished.

And this weekend I felt more like an outsider than I've felt in a really long time. I felt like the weird kid on the playground who wants to join in with all the fun that everyone else is having but can't because I wasn't invited. And I'm usually okay with that but it feels like it's happening more and more frequently. It's like thinking you have somewhere you belong, at least a little, and having that yanked from you. No warning, no explanation, nothing.

But I guess that crappy feeling got me to talk to someone who understands where I'm coming from. It was nice to vent to someone who was just going to listen without trying to insert their opinion or try to pat me on the head and say "snap out of it". They just let me talk and then we worked through how I was feeling, at least a little. And I got to do the same for them. It was comforting to know that someone was there who understood, even it it was just a little. So I guess something good did happen. 

Random word I just learned: Petrichor (ˈpeˌtrīkôr) a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather