Just Like Prozac Only Cheaper...

I always kinda have been but I think my movie watching h
as increased due in part to my new job at Family Video where kids movies rent free. Yup. That tagline is what I say in my head every time I hear "family video" now. But whenever I get good enough sales I get free movie rentals so I've been educating myself on a bunch of great titles. Recently: A Clockwork Orange and Prozac Nation. Both based on books. Both very great. Clockwork was... strange... disturbing... and that's an understatement. I've never read the book but always have wanted to. Now it's definitely on my buy before I read list.

Same with Prozac nation. I was surprised at how much of myself I saw in the main character's personality and feelings. It was a little scary to see what I know is how I act sometimes. But it also makes me want to keep bettering myself and accepting who I am regardless.

Movies, books, art and music are all things that affect us on some level. I love when I find one that really touches me or clicks with me. It's almost like therapy... but a lot cheaper. Maybe doctors should start prescribing these things instead of pills...

EDIT::

Leah!!!! Who won't let you have your ice cream bar back after giving her a taste...

Leah likes jammin to Prince with grandpa!

August 7 --"Reading rocks in Rockford"

Hey, writers!!!
Sat. August 7, 10am-3pm in downtown Rockford.
I just picked up a brochure on this...
Of most interest to you all: 10:30-12:00 Adult Writing Workshop (at the Library) "Take publishing into your own hands/internet publishing and You..."

Not sure, but sounds like a great literary adventure. I plan to take Simon and Addie to see Kevin Kammeraad at ~11:00 at the "Garden Park Stage" on Squire St. Maybe I will see you there!

Stop and grab a BRIGHT YELLOW brochure at a Rockford business to get the whole scoop. Not sure if they have a website-- haven't looked.

PS -- let me know what you're reading!!! "The Help" was amazing!!! "A Tale of Two Cities" is proving difficult but worthy!

Life Wishes

"What do you wish you would have done before you died?", an important question asked by none other than Tyler Durden (and many others but Tyler is just psychotically awesome). Paint a self portrait? Build a house?

My wish is to read as many classics books as I can..because I love them =]
(feel free to offer some authors and titles)

What is your wish??

Who do you write like?

This was posted on FB by Lisa McMann about her writing. Give it a try and let me know what it says about your writing!


Lisa McMann: What famous writer do you write like? Paste a few 'graphs here and see what it says:
http://iwl.me/
I analyzed three of my current/upcoming books, and this is what it told me:
GONE=Stephen King
CRYER'S CROSS (coming Feb '11) = Margaret Atwood
THE UNWANTEDS (coming fall '11) = Kurt Vonnegut

Wisdoms and Realizations of a Graduate - pt1

As my last high school summer slowly comes to a close I've realized how much the things and people around me have changed. It's weird to think that my freshman year at Sparta High School I was that strange 'goth' kid who tried so hard to pull off a look that wasn't quite right. And to see the friendships I held dear weren't quite right either. Now looking back I know it's easy to regret certain parts of my past but it's better to just learn from them. I was never the out going person in high school and that's one thing I missed out on, but on the other hand, I know I was always a good person to those around me. So with the regrets there are always positives. Since Graduation my life has changed. I've been working a full time job, my relationship with friends aren't quite what they were, my relationship has gotten stronger (3 months away from a year!), and my stress levels have risen. However, this all part of my experiences in life. The decisions I make in my life will all be new experiences and something to learn from. And for me, that's what life is. A Learning Experience (how many times have you heard that phrase?). Whether life is long or short or somewhere inbetween it's always a journey filled with unexpected turns and forks in the road.
Life for me has be stressful, fun, depressing, maddening, histerical and everywhere in between. But with all of those ups and downs and twists and turns life is always Beautiful. Sometimes I think people forget the small things that make life what it is. So my advice to anyone who reads this is: Look at the things around you. The small things that you don't pay attention to until someone else points it out. Something as small and overlooked as a leaf or expression. It's easy to focus on the big events and things in the world but true beauty comes from those overlooked and unnoticed. So i challenge you to take a moment out of your summer day to step outside and take a good look at the world and see what it has to offer and where the beauty is for you.
Though I may never have had a full and lengthy conversation with the majority of my graduating class I do wish you all of the best in your lives. Just remember: Keep Your Head Up...The Colors Are Beautiful

Awesome documentary!

Food Inc.

Everyone should watch it. I know you won't, but you should.

"There is a time for everything.... a time to be silent and a time to speak" --Ecclesiastes 3

Just something I thought you'd be interested in...

so i have just found out about this awesome new thing (not new to the world, just new to me) called a print on demand service. let me explain: a few days ago i was reading a revising blog post from one of my favorite authors, maggie stiefvater, and she mentioned something about needing a sense of objectivity to revise something well, and a good way to do that was have a print on demand website print off the book so it actually looks like a book. just reading the sentence made my blood start pumping with anticipation. she specifically mentioned lulu.com, so i went and checked it out.

basically, lulu.com is a self-publishing online company. they will print out your book, short story, poetry book, or any other type of book you can think of for a low price and it will look like something you could buy in a store. you can just do one copy for revising purposes or for your own personal enjoyment, or you can go full out and have them distribute it to places like amazon.com and barnes & noble. that costs a lot more, but you'll have your book in a public place where people can buy it!

i just thought i'd let the CW class know about this because i know some of you would jump at this like i did. and WK, maybe you could integrate this into next year's CW class. or at least let them know about it because i'm sure they'd appreciate something like this! seeing as i don't have a full novel done yet, but i really, really want to try this out now, i fully intend to have a published, professional looking, basically a book copy of my latest short story by the end of the summer. complete with a custom cover. so what are you waiting for?? go check out lulu.com!! as for me, i'm off to morgan's graduation party in a little bit! :)