I’m moving out

“Mom, Dad…. I’m moving out”

go to www.justifyinginsanity.wordpress.com

this is my new writerly blog that I hope will go well. I’m pretty stoked about it so you should be too.

Fare thee well blog of my teenage years

Love,

Rosie

Getting Serious

Dear Anyone who reads this,

What does it mean to be a serious blogger? Does it mean making 3 blog posts a day? Researching and studying to try and write something others will find enlightening? Taking multiple pictures of you and your cat? Is it all just a state of mind? Is it even worth it?

These are all the thoughts that have gone through my head in the last…….lets say half hour (whoah, I think fast!). As it is, I don’t really have enough coherent thought to write 3 blog posts a day, I will only research things that I think is enlightening, I most certainly don’t have a cat (but maybe my roommate can stand in), and I’m still working on the “is it worth it” one.

Now you might be thinking, “what the heck is she going on about”? I will tell you. Right now.

I want to become a serious blogger. Or a real blogger. I think it will help me with my writing skills and who knows, in these days of blog popularity, maybe I can become a professional blogger and get money for staying at home. I like that. I like that a lot. So here’s me, writing a blog post on my blog after about 6 months (and another birthday! Happy Birthday Rosie!) and many agonizing days later.

However, I’ve got a dilemma that I need some outside help with. In the past, this blog has been kind of an unofficial book review blog. Sadly, I do not read nearly as many popular books or books for fun while in college. I might not be able to go this route for very long. BUT I have an inexhaustible amount of rants (probably) so the name stays. I also like how “rants” can really cover anything. I can talk about Greek Mythology and still argue that it fits under the category of “Rosie’s Rants”. ANYWAY I want some suggestions from people on what they want me to talk about on this blog. Would people want to read my reactions to current events, books still, stupid people, stupid movies, weird thoughts, interesting things I learned in class, stories I make up, cool recipes I’ve done, all of the above? Choose something that you want me to write on and I will consider it. Much obliged.

Sincerely, Rosie

Review – The Son of Neptune

This book by Rick Riordan is a sequel to the starter of the series, The Lost Hero. If you have ever read the Percy Jackson series by the same author, you will get everything I’m saying. Otherwise, you might find yourself hopelessly confused.

I’ve been anticipating this book for a long time. I pre-ordered it on my kindle. They should have warned that they literally download it to your device right at midnight on the day it is released. I was sitting in bed, ready to go to sleep when it popped up. There goes 3 hours of sleep I would never get.

The Son of Neptune follows Percy Jackson who has lost his memory and is on his journey to the Roman camp that Jason hailed from in the book before. He’s still battling monsters and all that to get there. Once he does, he finds a camp full of war-hungry roman teenagers much different than anything he’s ever seen (but of course, he doesn’t know that). He becomes fast friends with the two outcasts of the camp (of course) and also becomes a mystery to everyone else. He didn’t stay long however and was sent on a quest with his new friends to save death. Is that an oxymoron, it feels like an oxymoron to me. Percy and his new friends have to save death (along with many other things along the way) and defeat a giant all before the Roman camp gets invaded and destroyed! The whole journey, Percy is fighting with his memories, trying to remember his life before and why he’s just so, so, so Greek!

I’ve always been a huge fan of greek/roman mythology (potentially taking a class on it next semester. so stoked!) so this book (just like all the others before it) was a huge hit with me. It is a children’s/young adult book and I think written for middle school age children. But really it’s a book for all ages and I love it. I love the humor and the action and the great story lines of all the characters. However, I (being a dedicated Percy Jackson fan) am really attached to his story so when the author jumped between 3 different perspectives, I didn’t really like it as much as I could have. I had those moments, you know, when I was just like “I don’t care what you think!!!” to some of the characters. And then the END! Oh my goodness. I was all set up for a huge reunion and meeting of the greek and roman kids but then it seriously ended seconds before that moment. I was so mad! I wanted to scream but my roommate was asleep….so I couldn’t. But I silently screamed and hit my fists on my comforter. Needless to say, it wasn’t nearly as satisfactory as screaming would have been. So I guess I will have to wait another year (or whenever the next book comes out, I don’t know) to read those last sentences that he could have EASILY! put in this book. Oh I forgot to mention that I do appreciate the inclusion of my home! The Bay area was a big part of this book and I could picture all of it perfectly because, you know, that’s where I lived 18 years of my life. Just sayin’.

 

Review – Mummy’s The Word

Mummy’s the Word by Kerry Blair. I once heard somewhere that if I liked Janette Rallison’s books (which I do…a lot) then I would like Kerry Blair’s books because it’s a similar style. Kerry Blair is an LDS writer of fiction probably for young adult types like me! Not necessarily teenage but maybe older teenage. Depending on the teenager I guess. I would compare it to Janette Rallison’s What the Doctor Ordered. It’s really similar in style to that.

This book is about Sam Shade who has recently had the opportunity to live out her dreams of becoming a superhero and working at her uncle’s quirky private detective office Nightshade. Sam is the temporary head hancho while her Uncle is away. With her limited experience (and with the help of her coworkers, friends, and local worthy police officer) she is trying to solve the case of a missing mummy and trying to keep her uncle’s business from going under while she’s at the head.

I ADORED this book! Oh my goodness! I think LDS romantic comedy type books are some of my ultimate favorites! I just love it! Sam Shade’s family and quirky business was interesting and really riveting. I had to keep myself from staying up through the night to finish it and I haven’t done that in years! I loved the fact that her whole family is nocturnal. Even though I would never do it myself, that is just so cool. I liked how Blair included the parts about Sam’s brother and his condition, it brought a whole more personal feeling to the story. The descriptions were great and the mystery was interesting enough for me to want to keep reading (or maybe it was the characters that made me want to keep reading) I think it was some of both definitely. I haven’t loved a book like this in so long. It makes me happy to read this!I don’t have anything else to say except read this book! If you’re not LDS you should still read it, the references to the religion are minimal and don’t play a huge part in the overall understanding. But then again, I can’t really be that objective because I am LDS. Anyway, READ IT!

 

Review – 13 LIttle Blue Envelopes

I’m out of my slump! Yay!!! Well kind of. I came out of it for a few days just to read some books that I bought and that I was meaning to finish. I say just to ream SOME books because I still have a lot of books I’ve been meaning to read.Anyway. So first off, I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.
This book is about a girl named Ginny (Harry Potter?) and she recently received a letter in a little blue envelope from her recently deceased aunt who was crazy, artsy, and flighty. Aunt Peg’s own family didn’t know she was sick let alone what she was doing out in the wide world ever since she “ran away” from them. But Aunt Peg has 13 little blue envelopes for Ginny and along with those envelopes, a mission. Shy, awkward, and insecure teenage Ginny must follow exactly what her Aunt tells her in each of the envelopes and she can only open the next one after she’s finished the current task. When Ginny opens that first envelope she is thrust into an adventure she would never have dreamed of making on her own. She is sent everywhere from London to Greece and everywhere in between with just her Aunt’s letters for company.

I guess I liked this book. I mean, it wasn’t that great of writing (in my opinion). The development of Ginny’s personality was very shallow (not that she was shallow) it’s just that she was only seen as shy but pretty. And then it mentions AGAIN that she is PAINFULLY shy. Emphasis on the all caps words obviously. Is she anything else? Is she smart, funny, sarcastic, loving towards her family, loyal? I don’t know. I just know she’s shy, and she’s pretty. But I did like this because of the whole Europe thing. Ginny goes all over Europe and I just thirst for any description of places in Europe mostly because it’s only my biggest dream to go to Europe. So I liked all the different places she went to and everything and sometimes it was funny. Once in a while I gave a little chuckle, that’s pretty much it. One character I really really liked in the book was Richard (I think that’s his name) but he wasn’t nearly in the book enough and his character wasn’t developed enough for my taste. I just loved him and I don’t know why. He just seemed so loveable. So if you want a light young adult read about Europe and cool things in Europe, read it.

I’m a Nerd…..and I’m in a slump

I’m not sure how those two things fit together, but somehow it just feels right. But it is true that I am in a slump. It’s probably pretty obvious because I haven’t really written on my blog since I’ve come to college. I haven’t read a book for fun since I graduated. Honest to goodness. I have a stack of books next to my bed right now taunting me with half read pages and bookmarked places. I am pathetic. How is it that I have time to watch hours of a TV show on Netflix but I don’t have the time to finish a book that in the past I would have been able to read in a matter of days? I think there’s something wrong with me. I think the internet is turning my brain into moldy mush that can rival even the mystery food I found in our refrigerator the other day. Reading is my thing! That’s what I do, I read and I read some more. I haven’t read in the longest time. The last thing I read in full was “The Dead” by James Joyce and that was for an assignment! I read a total of 1 whole book this summer. 1! I’ve read 20 times that in one summer before. I’m losing my edge, I’m stuck in a horrible slump and it won’t let me out again. But I’ve banned myself from watching TV shows this weekend so I can attempt to get out of my slump. If I keep up this slump (or shlump, if you will) I might as well meld with my couch and only raise myself to go to class every once in a while. That’s a really gross image. I think I have found just about every way that someone can waste time online. No joke. If I wanted to, I could find ways to spend an entire day literally wasting all of my time. What is the world coming to! So I’m going to attempt to will myself out of my slump and back into the real world of working brains and deep thoughts. I hope all my willpower hasn’t been flushed away by Facebook.

Books I’m glad I didn’t buy

I used to go to the library a lot mainly because I wanted to stop buying crappy books. Here is a quick list of books I’m glad I didn’t buy, and then maybe some that I’m upset that I did buy them

Some Books I’m glad I didn’t buy:

Schools’ Out Forever – James Patterson

Howl’s moving castle- Diana Wynn Jones (good book, don’t get me wrong. Just glad I didn’t buy it)

The whole Alanna Series – Tamora Pierce

Elske- Cynthia Voigt

Ice – Sarah Beth Durst (also good book)

Timeless – Alexandra Monir

How Not to be Popular – Jennifer Zeigler

Incarceron – Catherine Fisher

Sisters Red- Jackson Peirce

The Singer of All Songs – Kate Constable

The Amaranth Enchantment – Julie Berry

The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary Pearson

Wake – Lisa McMann

Bones of Faerie -Jani Lee Simner

Wings – Aprilynne Pike

Girl, Stolen – April Henry

Crown Duel – Sherwood Smith

Nightshade – Andrea Cremer

Haven – Kristi Cook

Hush – Donna Jo Napoli

Zel - Donna Jo Napoli

City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare

 

And there’s much more. Don’t get me wrong, some, well most, of these books were pretty good, or really good. It’s just that once I read them I’m glad I didn’t buy them because I would probably never read them again. But it’s true, some of these books were disappointing and horrible. Let’s just do a group book review and I will say which ones on this list are not worth reading. Zel, Hush, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, How not to be Popular (not completely horrible, but maybe not worth reading), Elske (liked it at the time, but now I can’t remember why), The Amaranth Enchantment (if you want to feel like a 10 year old, go ahead), Girl, Stolen, Nightshade, Haven (okay, but maybe not worth it). There. There’s few books that I’m upset that I did buy them. But here’s a short list anyways:

 

Hush Money – Susan Bischoff ( I don’t care if it was only $2)

The Iron King – Julie Kagawa (and somehow I now have 2 copies?)

City of Bones – Cassandra Clare (waste!)

The Queen of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner (not nearly as good as I hoped)

Switched – Amanda Hocking

Immortal – Lauren Burd (ewwwww)

Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater (probably one of the greatest mistakes of my life)

Twice Upon a Marigold – Jenn Ferris (not nearly as good as the first)

Inkspell – Cornelia Funke (ditto)

Stardust – Neil Gaiman (not nearly as good as the movie)

The Princess and the Hound – Mattie Ivie Harrison (ummmmm……no)

Forever in Blue: 4th summer of the sisterhood – Ann Brashares ( totally ridiculous. Those books went downhill)

 

All these books were not worth the money I (or my parents ) paid for them. You know I really didn’t like it when I regret paying the $2 it cost on my kindle.

Okay this post is probably boring and too long now. I will end it now. I need to start doing my reviews again. I haven’t done one in a long time.

 

 

What’s wrong with mothers?

So this is actually a serious, non-book and non-high school rant. (side note, I’m  actually out of high school now) This is a real-life issue thing that I care deeply about and it makes me want to rant whenever I think of it.

The thing is, feminists. I’m a girl, I like being a girl, I like being able to vote and go to school and I like opportunities and such. But what’s wrong with being a mom, or even a stay at home mom? Some feminists feel like if women start becoming stay at home moms, it’s some kind of anti-feminist revolution and we’re starting to move back in time to when women were oppressed. Who said taking care of your children is oppressive? If it’s our own choice, how can you call it a problem? does this make any sense?

I just think the whole super-feminist thing is selfish, to be honest. the whole, “I can do everything myself and if I want to be a ceo first and a mom later than I will. I have my whole life ahead of me and I don’t need a man to do anything.” attitude is just stupid and slightly selfish. I mean, you will deprive a child of having a constant mother so that you can be successful for a few years? That lack of mothering can ruin a child’s development and their happy memories of childhood. And sure, it’s good to be independent, but not at the expense of someone else. And not to the point of just pure stubbornness.

Why is being a stay-at-home mom associated with non-feminism? Can’t a woman still be strong and be a mom? Even if she’s married? Can’t a woman be smart, wise, independent, while still caring for others? yes, yes she can. A woman who needs a career to know that she is powerful, is just sad.

Furthermore, I don’t see how thinking women should focus more on motherhood, is a conservative value. women don’t need to be constantly reaching for another liberation front, for another thing they can fight the man for. it’s pretty clear that women today can do everything a man can, so what are the feminists fighting for now? How far are they wanting to go? Are they trying to fight for a world where women live completely without men and the orphanages are full and the abortion clinics are backed up, all so they can prove that they are equal, but not equal anymore, superior.

In a way, feminism has already gone too far. There are far more females than males in universities today. That is because girls are strongly encouraged in their education, while boy are forgotten and they start believing they aren’t as smart of girls and therefore inferior and it’s not worth it going to college. Because society is so worried about girls and their equality, they forget about boys and their own self-worth. I feel like, often, feminists forget about guys and how they still make up a large part of the world too. What happened to equality? Since when did it become a race to see who is more privileged?

I’m not saying that women should defer to men, or that women need to be the smiling, immaculate housewife of the 50s. Just that Women and feminists shouldn’t be afraid to have children because children doesn’t make you any less worthy to be called a strong woman. And maybe women should be focusing on being equal rather than superior. Also, feminists shouldn’t be so proud that they overlook the importance of having a family, or help from people for that matter.

Crazy story, or I think it’s crazy. True story told to me by some woman who is a little feminist (obviously). So this woman tells me this story about how she went to the gas station and she was going to get out of her car when one of the workers stopped and said that it was woman’s day so he would do her gas for her. She said she just let him do it but she was seething inside. She was upset that he would offer to do her gas for her, because she was perfectly capable of doing it herself. Following this story, I didn’t see the problem. If someone wanted to do something for me, like pump my gas, I would be like, “heck yeah!” What’s wrong with someone wanting to do something nice for you because you’re a woman? Since when was pumping someone’s gas for them an offense?

Sincerely, what is the world coming to? Or, more specifically, what are feminists coming to?

The Eyre Affair + 1984 = CONNECTIONS!

It took me a while to actually write this post. I’ve been thinking about this for the past……many months and just now decided to write it down. So a while ago, I read 1984 by George Orwell in my High school British Literature class. I liked it except it was kinda sad and depressing. Not the point. So also a while ago, I read the book The Eyre Affair. I wrote a review on it. Maybe you read it, maybe you didn’t whatever. The point is that I’ve made connections! All my years of English classes are finally paying off! I was reading 1984 and some lights started going off in my head. I was making connections! These are some of the connections.

The Eyre Affair is set in 1984, and (obviously) so is 1984. They’re also both set in England.

In 1984, the party was bent on changing books and telling lies so they can literally change history to brainwash the people. In The Eyre Affair, I noticed that their history was all messed up because people kept going back in time and changing things probably. But it was like changed without any of the characters knowing it was changed. I just knew it was changed because I’m the third-party observer.

In The Eyre Affair, they have this ongoing war that has lasted for 8 years, and there doesn’t really seem to be any end. People keep thinking it will end…..but it doesn’t. In 1984, the country of Oceania is kept in a constant state of warfare to control the people more.

In 1984 people are always changing and getting rid of words or literature. In The Eyre Affair, Thursday’s job involves making sure nobody changed literature or the true essence of literature.

In The Eyre Affair their government is made up of many different groups and factions. Some of them are super secret and stuff. In 1984, the part is made up of different groups and some of them are secret to the main character. Meaning, if you don’t work in them, you don’t necessarily know it exists kind of thing. I think.

I think that may be it for the connections. At least for the ones that I remember. I think this clearly shows that the author of The Eyre Affair had 1984 by George Orwell in mind while he was writing his book. He must have had it at least sometimes in his mind. It’s just too connecty for these connections to not exist purposefully. I connecty isn’t a word, but I’m making it one.

It’s been a while

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. And it’s been a while since I’ve written down one of my rants. I wouldn’t say it’s been a while since I’ve ranted, because I always have something to rant about. But it’s hard to choose a rant that I can write down because most of my rants these days are in context. Meaning that they only make sense in the moment of something else happening. So I’ll have to think about this one.

It was a dark and stormy night, young Victor Frankenstein was hard at work……… just kidding. But just as a side note, that book was very sad. Ummmmm rants rants rants rants

Hopeless situations. That’s what I’m going to rant about. Hopeless situations in books and movies and such. Mostly in books.

By hopeless situations I mostly mean unhappy endings. Or, I guess, hopeless situations are always unhappy endings, usually. They have them all over YA books. I guess it creates conflict and such. I’m going to have to use a few examples which will give away endings to certain books. So if you don’t want to hear than turn away your ears now.

First off, for example, Inside Out my Maria V. Snyder. It was a good book right? But then at the end they realize that…..they’re in space. They are in a space ship which is traveling and will be traveling for hundreds of years. Yay? No, not yay. That’s lame! I started to read the second book in that series and it suggested something about something on the outside wanting to get in…maybe they’re not in space? But for right now, I’m focusing on the first book in and of itself. I don’t like this ending or this realization that they’re in space. It gives absolutely no opportunity for growth. They’re in space. Yeah….now what. Well, they have to travel for hundreds of years and they will never see the light of day. Oh I get it. That’s STUPID!

Same thing happened in Across The Universe by…… I can’t remember. They realized that they still have hundreds of years to go and that the engine is making them go slower. yeah. The end. That was IT! seriously, how stupid can the authors be? I mean, if you want an interesting story that makes people want to read the second book or that makes people like your book, you’ve got to put some kind of hope at the end. You can’t just be like, “oh, they’re in space and they will never get out. But they’re gonna keep on livin’!” NO! It doesn’t work that way. I say it doesn’t work that way, and so it doesn’t work that way. That’s like the worst ending to a book that you can possibly have.

They also do it all the time in movies. Movies like 2012 that are all about the end of the world and the tagline is something like, “and there’s nothing mankind can do about it” who wants to watch a crap movie about how we’re all going to die someday? Yeah, I know I’m going to die, I don’t need to see it on the big screen. I don’t get people who like end of the world, hopeless movies. What’s the point? You go to the movies to be entertained. What can possibly be entertaining about everyone dying a hopeless death? Same goes for movies. What’s entertaining about leaving your readers with the knowledge that their favorite characters are never going to be happy or are never going to see Earth again? NOTHING. That’s what.

The good ones are either the ones that have a happy ending or ones that leave room for salvation or a future happy ending. Those are the good books right there. I guess I’m mostly talking about fantasy or sci-fi books. Because real life problems books always have sad endings. But there’s not much you can do when your book is completely based off of feelings.