Just Throw a Brick

It's Friday! I think the only thing that keeps me going throughout the workweek is that Saturdays, we have nothing. It's blissful. We usually meal plan and grocery shop in the mornings, and then do something fun for the rest of the day. Even if "fun" consists of walking around the huge outlet mall near our apartment. Or we'll take a trip to the two-story Target. Last Saturday we hit up the local Petco for a new fishtank for Jeffrey. Speaking of, he's been very listless lately. He barely makes it off his little leaf to say hi to me when I get home. I think it may be near the end for the little guy. :/ Don't die, Jeffrey! You're my only friend out here! And no, I still have never seen him eat. I don't know what's up with that little dude. Happy thoughts that don't include poor sick Jeffrey... Um... I'm getting back on my CBMR kick this week. I got my compensation book yesterday and I read it yesterday. All of it. At one point I looked u...

This week has been CRAZY but I've spent a little time trying to get through Gumption by Nick Offerman. I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize this, but books written by TV/movie stars are generally not well-written and are mostly opinion. I know, duh. But Gumption is written better than most. I can literally hear Ron Swanson reading it in my head. It is absolutely fantastic. So I'll get back to  you when I've read more of it. I've finally finished the introduction, so that's a plus. I just feel so guilty sitting down and reading when I should be throwing my massive hoodie collection into a big black trashbag (yeah, that's how McDanel girls pack for moves.) I suppose I should go through my massive clothing collection and throw stuff out, but that hoodie collection... I just can't get rid of it. Sorry C. I've known them longer than you. Freshman year - Proof that hoodies will always be awesome, and you can never have too many of them. Yes I...

Guys.  Do yourself a massive favor, and read this book. Thanks, Goodreads Yes, it's Brandon Sanderson and some of you aren't really into the science fiction genre. Neither was I. But this book is amazing, and everyone who is anyone should read it. I'm not even done yet and I'm telling you this. Coming from someone who inhales books for a hobby, take a couple days and read this bad boy. I'm serious. Our protagonist, David, lost his father in an Epic attack on a bank they were in. Epics are superhumans, with amazing supernatural powers (like creating illusions, killing people just by pointing at them, etc). However, every single Epic has one weakness, and it takes a smart guy to figure out what each one's is. David is that guy. Ever since his dad died when Steelheart (the big, bad, invincible ruler of Newcago) attacked, David has had one motivation - kill Steelheart. Because no one, except David, has seen Steelheart bleed, and he alone can figure out the s...

I finished Starbird Murphy and the World Outside  this week, so that was good. It was a fun little quick read, everything ends as you want it to, although a bunch of questions remain. It wasn't tied up enough for me, but for a short little YA general fiction book it did all right. I'm glad Starbird decided to stay in Seattle and go to school, and that she and Ben ended up together instead of her and dumb Indus. And personally, I believe her father is Iron John, not EARTH. That guy's a few fries short of a Happy Meal. This week, I reached out (on the recommendation of a friend) for Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart . Normally the science fiction genre isn't my favorite, but I trust E's opinion so I'm taking a whack at it (said in Parent Trap style). *"Bad to the Bone" plays in the background*  That being said, my stomach has been on strike lately (Rice Chex and water, anyone?) so I haven't felt like doing anything other than laying on a cou...

I'm not going to beat around the bush guys - I'm stressed a lot of the time these days. Figuring out how to move across the country will do that to a person. But what's my guaranteed stress-reliever? Say it with me - BOOKS! READING! WORDS! Thank goodness for books. This week, I'm currently in the middle of Starbird Murphy and the World Outside  by Karen Finneyfrock.  pic courtesy of Goodreads I've been in the middle of a Kimmy Schmidt kick lately, and this book is definitely on that track. It follows Starbird, a teenage girl growing up in a share-everything type church/commune in Washington. In their religion, they believe that everyone receives a "Calling", which is what they can do to help their little community. It is decided that Starbird's calling is to help be a waitress in the restaurant their group owns, which takes her away from her friends, her family, her crush, and everything she knows.  I'm only about halfway through, b...

This week I managed to finish Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman. *obligatory spoiler alert* This was was as good, if no better than Prisoner of Night and Fog . In that one, the title really says it - she was a prisoner in her own house and frankly, in her own land. In Conspiracy , we see her and Daniel a few months later, living safely in England with her psychiatrist buddy and his family, who love her like a sister, and it's really refreshing to finally see Gretchen have a family life that isn't terrible.  However, nothing stays good for long. Daniel is being accused for a murder he didn't commit back in Germany, so he decides to leave without warning Gretchen and clear his name. Naturally, because she's Gretchen and she's tough and awesome, she goes back to help him. She starts in Munich, and then for the majority of the time is in Berlin. This book centers around the Reichstag Fire and the political uproar it caused, leading to the Enablin...

This week (or rather, Sunday afternoon) I picked up The House at Tyneford . *spoilers ahead* Thanks Goodreads! This book follows Elise Landau, a wealthy young woman enjoying her life in pre-WWII Austria as the daughter of an illustrious singer mother and a novelist father, with an amazing violinist as a sister. She however, feels left out since she has no musical talent. Her parents decide they're all going to America, but since they don't have the money for everyone in the family, Elise will be sent to a manor in England to become a housemaid. She arrives, has difficulty learning to be a housemaid, figures out how to be a housemaid, falls in love with the son of the head of the house, etc. Okay. When I saw the title for the first chapter was "General Observations on Quadrupeds", I knew I was going to like this book. And I did, mostly. However, it was highly predictable (not that that's a bad thing, just not as fun that way.) Things I liked: -Why I have...

This week, I picked up Greg Proops' book, "The Smartest Book in the World". Oh, you don't remember Greg Proops? Maybe this will help you remember... That's right, Greg Proops of WLIIA fame wrote a book, just like Colin Mochrie (although unfortunately, Colin's book isn't at the library.) He breaks the book into sections about music, movies, poetry, women, and historical figures you should know. I get bored in the movies and women section, since they're all movies I haven't heard of and the women usually bimbos, but the rest of it is fairly interesting. I think my favorite section so far is the one where he creates his ideal baseball team out of famous women in history that actually did something instead of star in movies. That said, this book is purely bubblegum entertainment. Like a friend asked me, "So, it's basically a book about topics you can bring up when conversation lags at a party?" Yeah, pretty much. Entertaining, ...

So this week I finished up Prisoner of Light and Fog  and it was an adventure. Thanks, Goodreads... It follows the story of the fictitious Gretchen Muller, an almost-adopted niece of Hitler. In their city of Munich, it is a well-known story that her father, Klaus Muller, died saving the Fuhrer's life during a march to overtake the government. Her father jumped in front of the hail of bullets, saving Hitler's life, and because of that, he treats the Muller family well, helping her brother Reinhard rise through the ranks of the budding Nazi party and treating her like a special niece. However, she meets a Jewish reporter, Daniel Cohen, who has new facts about the night her father was killed, and they paint a very different picture of that night than the one everyone talks about. She then joins in an unlikely partnership with Daniel to find the truth about her father and the night he was murdered. First off, I really enjoyed Gretchen's dedication to her education. When...

So me and C went to a movie this week. But not just any movie. This was a one-night-only special event. And it was a gift for C, so it was even more special. What was this incredibly special event? The 2015 DCI Tour Premiere of Awesomeness! (I added the "of awesomeness" part, but it was awesome...Just not in the way it was intended.) What is DCI? It stands for Drum Core International , an organization for people to join that just couldn't get enough of marching band in high school and feel a need to join a "professional" one, touring the country performing against each other, for reasons. (And before you get all snippity, I know it's spelled "corps", but I'm a phonetic reader, so...it's core.) And disclaimer, no matter how many band things I watch, they all start to look the same after ten minutes, no matter the quality of the band, which I also can't tell. Are they good? Are they bad? I have no idea. The only way I can tell how...

Well, I finished Rules of Civility  on Monday, and I ended up liking it well enough. Thanks for the pic, Goodreads... In the end, Katey talks about how one decision can affect a lifetime, and how these decisions she made from 1938-1940 really defined her and made her who she is. While Tinker is a running theme, Eve kind of disappears after the first half of the book. While at first I was annoyed because she was easily the most entertaining character I've read about in awhile, at the end she talks about how you meet these people, they come in and then they leave and you're left with the memories. In that way, the whole missing Eve thing really worked. And since Eve is just one of those people that makes friends wherever she goes and is always moving on (we see this from her rejection of Tinker), it fits that she's only in the book part of the time. This book really was a snapshot of life - the happiness, the sadness, the anxiety of a new job, the excitement of new, you...

Maybe I'll start doing themed days on the blog, would that be weird? Wednesday I could talk about books I'm reading? Yay/nay? Well you're going to get it today anyway, because I need to talk about Bernadette.  And I'm not good at reviewing books, I just write my honest-to-goodness thoughts, so don't expect anything super deep, logical, or moving. *spoilers ahead* Okay, people. What the HECK was with that ending? I understand it's a satire about technology and Microsoft and that type of thing, plus it's in Seattle so you get the typical Seattle weirdo vibe, but I guess satire isn't really my thing. Maybe I'm not smart enough for it? I'm just a sucker for good stories. Where Bernadette  went meh for me was around the last little bit, where they go to Antarctica to find her. I loved how she escaped from the intervention with Aubrey, that was unexpected, just what I like to read. But the rest of it, and especially how it all comes down to an unse...

Okay guys. I just finished season one of HD and I have a few thoughts that refuse to be kept in until I write an actual post. If you ever plan on watching this show SKIP. SKIP NOW TO THE ***. THERE BE SPOILERS IN THESE WATERS. 1. Okay. Zoe Hart is okay-cute, right? But is she cute enough to deserve the adoration of all the single men in Bluebell? NOOOOOOO way. 2. Show's getting a little sleazy. Might not make it all the way through this one. I could literally read all the synopses on this show and be totally fine not wasting my time on sleazy crap. 3. While the idea of a "Who gets to keep Zoe? Wade or George?" battle is intriguing, it also sounds terribly immature and not fun. 4. I thought Wade's scruff face would grow on me. It hasn't. 5. I thought Lemon would grow on me. She hasn't. Also, I finally figured out her dad's name is Brick. Brick? Might as well call the guy Dirt. Or Ficus. I mean, come on. This is the end of my impromptu HD post. ***...

So ever since I finished Gilmore Girls completely for the second time, I've been looking for a new show to fill my Amy Sherman-Palladino void. This week I tried... Main premise: A wannabe spoiled surgeon, Zoe Hart, is turned down for a fellowship in her hospital in NYC and is told to do a year of GP (general practice) before her mentor will consider her to be worthy of this fellowship. He also tells her that she has no bedside manner (not an exaggeration) and she needs to grow a heart. So she remembers this random guy that went to her college graduation that was like "Oh hey, if you ever want to do a year of GP down in Bluebell, Alabama, give me a call." So since she has this perfect opportunity, she goes down there and finds the practice, only to find the dude had died and he was actually her father (unexpected totally-forseen plot twist!) So now she takes over his half of the practice, while trying to get patients to like her as she ruins parades, throws terrible p...