Your MG Lost Heroes

Surprise, a post for me early in the week! What's the occasion? Well, today is the release day of Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero, the first book in his 2nd Camp Half-Blood series. You may have heard of the first series; it went by Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The second series is called The Heroes of Olympus.

I am SO EXCITED to read this book. I'm going to drop everything else I'm reading for this. No, seriously.

But my sister has called dibs. She sort of loves Percy Jackson, and who am I to come between a love like that? The only other book she was this excited for this year was Mockingjay.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the MG books I read when I was actually, you know, in the age-range of the target audience.

I'm putting in a disclaimer now that I did not read a lot of fiction before 5th grade. I was, however, very into Greek mythology. I read every Greek mythology book I could get my hands on at my local and school libraries until I ran out of books and had to move on to other mythologies. So I would have absolutely loved to have had the Percy Jackson books back then. Don't get me wrong. I do very much like the books now, but if I had read them as a 6th grader, I would've thought they were the best thing since sliced bread or peanut butter on bread sprinkled with sugar and toasted. (Try it! It's good!)

Back in my elementary school days, I loved reading The Boxcar Children series, enough that I collected the books. I still have a bunch I haven't read because I outgrew them before I could get through them. Then there was The Black Stallion series because I went through a horse phase, and who doesn't like a good boy-and-his-horse type survival-adventure story? Hmm, that's probably why I read The Horse and His Boy like second when I tried the Chronicles of Narnia.


Julie of the Wolves is a book that has stayed with me over the years, as well as Island of the Blue Dolphins - the first full-length novel I ever read by myself.

The Bailey School Kids series appealed to my mythology/folklore/supernatural-loving heart, and seriously, who could resist such intriguing titles as Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots or Angels Don't know Karate? How about Monsters Don't Scuba Dive?

Now, I love love love the contemporary MG series about a certain boy wizard named Harry Potter and the movie counterparts, but back in the day, I was THRILLED when they announced an Indian in the Cupboard movie beause those books were so freaking awesome. What kid doesn't dream that their toys will come alive?

So, now it's your turn. What MG books did you love when you were a middle grader? What MG books do you love now?


I'm off to start a new adventure at Camp Half Blood!

P.S. Be sure to check out Tahereh's newest EPIC contest at her blog: FREEEE MONEY. Yeah, you read that right. Use it to buy some new (or old favorite) MG books!

Randomosity on Fridays: NYC Picture Edition

Happy October, friends!

It's been another long and weird-weathered week. Last week, it was record-breakingly hot, and this week, it's raining and winter-cold. It's like California forgot what Fall is supposed to be like. In any case, it's back in the 80s again this weekend. I don't even...

ANYWAY, let's make this short and fun. I went to New York City a few weeks ago, where I had many adventures with the sister and my college roommates. One of them was our gracious hostess. For more deets, just refer back to my NYC Edition of Randomosity.

One last thing before I go, it may only be the first week of October, but November is just around the corner. You all know what that means: NANOWRIMO! Any of you joining in the writing madness? I'm already signed up. You can find me here: kangaru

Happy weekend, everyone!

Now, NYC PIC-SPAM!

Greenhouse Club

Cool fire station in SoHo

Cool wall!

Korean BBQ in K-Town

Heeey Olympus, I mean, Empire State Building

View from the balcony of my roomie's place

More food! Home-made brioche

My history crush, Hamilton, at the Met.

Sister on a Percy Jackson adventure at the Met

She also did some lunges.

Books of Wonder

Visiting Mr & Mrs Hamilton at Trinity Church

Badass Peace Fountain next to Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Hamilton at Columbia University

Randomosity on Fridays: BANNED Edition

Happy Friday, everyone! It has been one long week for me, so I can't tell you how relieved I am it's the weekend! This week, I'm doing something a little different for my Randomosity on Friday.

I felt a like I should do a bit more on the whole Banned Books Week thing, so instead of my usual 5, I'm going to point you to this handy-dandy list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books of the Past Decade.

I'm bolding the books on this list that I've read.


1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

I know, it's sad. There are a lot of classics on there I have not read, but I do plan on reading many of them.

So, how many books on the list have YOU read? Which ones are you surprised made the list?

Check out my awesome Threadless shirt, Fahrenheit 451

Finally, I've been mentioning To Kill A Mockingbird a lot when I talk about a banned book that I love, but there's another book I'd be remiss not to mention. It's a book by one of my favorite authors (though it's not one of my favorite books by him), Ray Bradbury. Of course I mean, Fahrenheit 451, a book about a future where books are illegal and firemen burn them. Now, Bradbury has said he didn't intend for the story to be about censorship, that it's more about the dangers of mindless TV, but how can a book where book-burning plays such a big part NOT bring to mind the dangers of censorship and the importance of intellectual freedom?

So I encourage you to READ, explore, and THINK. Make your own decisions.

Celebrate BOOKS!

For more Banned Books Week awesomeness, check out Le R and Tahereh's Banned Book Bonanza - where they and a bunch of other bloggers review their favorite banned books.

Have a lovely, lovely weekend, friends. I'll catch you on the flip side.

Banned Books Week & THANKS!

Quick mid-week post because I couldn't hold back any longer, and plus, it's an important week.

FIRST, I'd like to say a ginormous THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by and commented on our Compelling Characters blog post. We really had no idea it would be received so well, and we loved reading your comments (and posts)! So thanks!

And what the who now?! We got to over 50 followers in the course of like 2 days, my head is still reeling from the quickness! (That or my head is still recovering from the UNREAL EPICNESS that was MUSE at the Staples Center, but I digress.)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to those of you who thought we were cool enough to follow! YOU are the coolest.

Wasn't that blogfest fun? I'm still reading posts!


SECOND, it's Banned Books Week here in the U.S.!

The week celebrates the importance of intellectual freedom and the freedom to read. Intellectual freedom and the effects of censorship are both important topics, period, but they're important to me because I'm an avid reader, who learned A LOT from books. My parents are great and super involved in my life, but they let me read whatever I wanted to read, trusting me to choose what I thought was okay for me, and for that I am very, very grateful. (That and I think they were just really glad I was book-inclined, rather than playing-inclined.)

So all of this is also about individual choice, and I am a big fan of that.

I planned on celebrating by reading SPEAK, but I got my hands on both Blameless by Gail Carriger and The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. So I'm celebrating by just READING what I want, when I want, and how I want (which at this juncture is both books at the same time). I do plan on reading SPEAK soon though.

Speaking of celebrations, the writers at The League of Extraordinary Writers are posting on banned books all week. So go check that out!

I'm a big fan of often challenged and banned To Kill a Mockingbird, which is poignant, beautiful, and brilliant.


What challenged or banned books are YOU a fan of?


See you Friday!


P.S. My dear Alz did a fun post way back about Animal Group Names. Here's a fun follow-up I saw tweeted: A Guide to Supernatural Collective Nouns.

I know I need that. I've got angels and beasties and all sorts of anthropomorphic what-have-yous running around. And don't get me started on the tangle of cosmic serpents!

Blogfest - Writing Compelling Characters: Who was that again?

It's Sept. 24th, which means The Great Blogging Experiment is underway! Check out the other cool entries on the topic!

Alz and I discussed for a long and frantic time how we should approach this. I wanted to have our characters debate each other to the death, but you don't know them, so that wouldn't be very compelling, and Alz pointed out that they would probably just tear the blog apart (I think they only hear the 'to the death' part of my plan). So, we settled on a list of characters we found compelling and not so compelling and why.

Yeah, this was a little rushed, so I probably shouldn't have watched Fringe but it was SO GOOD. Ahem. Alz wrote up the descriptions after we discussed and I went to sleep early. Thanks, Alz!

HERE'S OUR POST on Writing Compelling Characters!
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COMPELLING

LIKABLE Compelling

BOOK: Soulless by Gail Carriger
CHARACTER: Alexia Tarabotti - Soulless, Victorian, a bluestocking, and quite conscientiously conscious about all of these things.

Krispy - She's confident but also very aware of her flaws and even insecure about them. She's compelling because she deals with all the craziness in her life head on with such delightfully plucky aplomb and poise.

BOOK: The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
CHARACTER: Katniss - This 17-year-old BAMF cares deeply for her family and is their sole breadwinner. She can shoot a squirrel in the eye in the dark from a hundred paces with her bow and arrow. She's forced to engage in a fight to the death with twenty-three other teens in a booby-trapped arena beneath the thumb of a ruthless totalitarian government.

Krispy & Alz - What more can you ask for?
Krispy - Katniss is actually a very reactive heroine rather than active, but she's still incredibly compelling. Of course, the compelling circumstances help, but still, you always hear about the importance of having an active protagonist and here we have one who mostly doesn't act until she is forced to/has to. What makes her compelling then? When she does act, Katniss does so with courage and determination. She tries to remember what is important to her and to be true to herself.

Alz - I also found that Katniss's occasional indecisiveness and uncertainties made her compelling. Ordinarily I find a female protagonist's indecisiveness about boys or what to do about etc. to be wishy-washy same-old same-old, but because Katniss is normally such a strong character (and also because of her circumstances) it's refreshing to know that she still worries about these things. Also, she doesn't wallow in self-pity or drama, indeed, Katniss is a very practical-minded and down-to-earth girl.


INTRIGUING / UNLIKABLE Compelling


BOOK: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
CHARACTER(S): The Warden - Ambiguous and manipulative, full of hidden depths, intrigue, and questionable ambition.
Keiro - Ambiguous intentions and actions, moral yet immoral, a loyal cheater, sort of not good but not bad either.

Krispy - Both of these characters are compelling for their ambiguity. I was never quite sure where either of them stood, especially Keiro. They're both blatant about their own ambitions, but they act in ways that sometimes hint at something deeper - that they might have less selfish motivations.

Alz - I was never sure if I liked Keiro or not, but I cared enough to want to know what would happen to him. You keep reading because you want to get a better grasp of who they are. Even with the Warden I was never really sure if what he claimed in his more emotional moments was true or all an act.



MANGA: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
CHARACTER: Light - He's a teenage genius whose disillusion with the system and good intentions develop into a giant God-complex. He thinks he has an absolute sense of justice and, when given the nigh-undetectable supernatural power to inflict his moral vision on the entire world, he does not hesitate to murder as, when, and who he deems unworthy of life—and whoever gets in his way.

Krispy - Here's a great example of a protagonist who is not necessarily likable (I stopped liking him real fast as the story progressed), but is super compelling. I was actually rooting for his antagonist - the guy sent to catch him - because I liked the antagonist more, but I was still pulled along by Light's brilliant machinations.

Alz - Even if you don't like him, you find yourself invested in his plans. You kind of want to see him get away with it, even if you don't agree with his methods or even his ideology. He's supremely intelligent and though he has good intentions, well, you know what they say about the road to hell.


RELATIONSHIP Compelling

BOOK(S): Havemercy & Dragonsoul by Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
CHARACTER(S): Rook & Thom - Listed together because in both books, their first person narratives are on the same plot-line. Rook - no-nonsense, foul-mouthed, rough-around-the-edges Airman of the Esar's Dragon Corps, who grew up in the roughest parts of the capitol city. He doesn't give a flying *bleep* what you think of him, but if you're on the same team, he'll have your back. Thom - a street kid who managed to pull himself out of the slums by intellect. He's smart, well-mannered, University-educated, and in the first book, he has the dubious pleasure of having to rehabilitate Rook (and the other Airmen) into (at least) presentable members of Society.

Krispy - They're very different characters with very different views of the world and ways of approaching situations. Thom is easily likable, but Rook is a huge JERK a lot of the time. Still, Rook ended up being my favorite character because he's also funny, honest (like in a character sense, his actions and words feel authentic), and has these moments where you get where he's coming from and why he's so antagonistic. Thrown together, Rook and Thom have a lot of personality clashes ,but there's also growth. Nothing comes easy for these two, but you want to see if they'll manage to work together or even understand each other a little. The dynamics of their volatile relationship is what drives the story forward.

Alz - I only read Havemercy but I have to say that Rook and Thom were my favorite POVs in that 4-person-POV story. They have a very intense relationship that starts off based on bullying, hatred, fear, and disdain, but neither guy is going to give in to the other. The sizzling chemistry practically burns the pages of the book to a cinder. Rook is indeed a big fat jerkface quite often, but he makes no excuses for himself or for others; Thom is a little more stable a character, but hard work is his ethic and he sticks to it grimly in the face of people like Rook who want nothing better than to make him give up.


BOOK: The Tamir Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling
CHARACTER(S): Brother & Tobin - Here we have a creepy baby ghost. "Brother" was killed as soon as he was born so that his twin sister could magically assume his male form and escape the execution her female nature would have brought upon her.

Alz - Their relationship is fascinatingly ambiguous and often violent as Brother haunts Tobin; Brother knows everything while Tobin knows nothing. They grow up together, the ghost who was robbed of his life and the boy who doesn't know he's really a girl.

-----

NOT COMPELLING

BOOK: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
CHARACTER(S): Nora Grey - Boring name indicates boring non-personality, too much teenage angst, zero sense of self-preservation/caution, beyond poor taste in friends, not enough wits to compete with a potato in a first-grade spelling bee.
Vee Sky - Nora Grey's best friend, boy-crazy, fewer brains than a mummy, criminally stupid, criminally juvenile, criminally existent.

Krispy - Maybe you can tell Alz didn't like this book much. Nora was okay to me, but there was nothing about her that really drew me in. She was kind of just...there.

Alz - I freely admit that my descriptions are perhaps a wee tad bit biased. I suppose that Nora was all right, but she lacked any strength of character or interesting/unique characteristics to separate her from a thousand other generic YA-romance heroines. As for Vee, though, I feel I was probably too gentle and generous in my description...


BOOK: Joust by Mercedes Lackey
CHARACTER: Vetch - So overwhelmingly pitiable and pathetic that the author feels it is necessary to explicitly tell us on page 12 that "he was truly the most miserable of boys," after 12 pages of telling us how horrible and pathetic and terrible his life is, and then 5 pages later he's whisked out of said horrible life into a brand new life where everything conveniently, and coincidentally happens to go exactly right for him for the rest of the book.

Alz - This is a classic case of show, don't tell. The author spends the entire first chapter telling us how miserable Vetch is, and then it becomes pretty much a non-issue for the rest of the book. Vetch is very much the angry downtrodden serf-boy, and he was extremely irritating because I felt like rather than outside circumstances making him feel that way, he adopted the attitude and styled himself to suit it. Vetch has no personality beyond the cardboard rebellious-serfboy cutout and his struggles are pretty much nonexistent.

-------

LIKABLE BUT NOT COMPELLING

BOOK: Shadow Magic by Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
CHARACTER: Caius - one of the 4 first-person POV characters; a young, very talented magician. He's eccentric and charismatic, witty and funny, and strange enough to keep most people on their toes. He also has a rather dark reputation, which adds to his air of intrigue.

Krispy - So I kind of loved Caius. He's the type of character I like - seemingly composed and good-natured on the surface, but harboring some sort of unpleasant past. The thing is, by the end of the book, I didn't feel like I'd gotten to know him THAT much better than when I started, even though I spent a quarter of the book in his head. I didn't feel like he'd changed very much over the course of the book, which is a problem when the book is heavily character-based.
--------

So that's our post! Agree? Disagree?

I guess the takeaway message is that compelling characters come in MANY DIFFERENT forms. You can love them, hate them, love to hate them, but no matter what, you're drawn to follow them on their journeys. Also, it takes more than just likability, cute quirks, or badassness to make a compelling character. They have to be real, flawed and human. They need to ring true to the reader, and I think most importantly, they need to grow and change to be truly compelling.

Be sure to check out other takes on the Compelling Characters topic by visiting the link at the top of this post! Have a glorious weekend!


P.S. This is a great article from Nathan Bransford about the role of parents (or lack thereof) in kidlit: In Defense of Dead/Absent Parents in Children's Literature

P.P.S. I'm seeing MUSE this weekend! I didn't even realize! It's going to be EPIC!!!

Randomosity on Thursday?

Yep, you read that right, folks. I'm doing my Randomosity post a day early because TOMORROW, we at A Nudge will be participating in Elana, Alex and Jen's Great Blogging Experiment!

The topic is Writing Compelling Characters. I'm excited but also freaked because Alz and I haven't discussed what exactly we will be doing and/or writing about, and I want to watch the season premiere of Fringe tomorrow. Yes, priorities, I know. Besides, I already did most of my freaking out this weekend when I cried, "I don't even know if I do write compelling characters!!!" - to which Alz assured me I did, but she's possibly just being nice.

So SEE YOU TOMORROW HERE for Character Bloggage!

Ahem. Onwards and upwards! NYC picture-spam will be next week since I'm still uploading them.

1. Next week is Banned Books Week. I'm sure many of you have heard of the stir surrounding the modern YA classic SPEAK. Basically, some guy wants to ban it from his school district because he thinks it's pornography. Yeah, SRSLY. Read more about this here at author Laurie Halse Anderson's blog, and be sure to watch the SPEAK poem video. It's moving.

2. In that vein, I will endeavor to read a Banned Book next week since I'm finishing up with my current read. Perhaps SPEAK? Also, check out the #speakloudly hashtag on Twitter.

3. TV IS BACK! Glee on Tuesday, Criminal Minds yesterday, FRINGE tonight, Supernatural on Friday!!! AH! I need to control myself so I don't spend all my time on TV.

4. People, I am freaking out about this. The Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1 theatrical trailer is out!!! IT'S SO EPIC!!!

5. I'm already thinking about Halloween. Any costume ideas? I have Gail Carriger's Blameless sitting on my desk, which makes me want to go all steampunk (but mostly I want to read it!)


What's your random this week and who else is participating in the blogging experiment tomorrow?!


P.S. Yesterday was the first day of autumn, and also the Moon Festival! I'm not really a fan of moon cakes, but the Moon Festival's cool! Hope you all had a good one!

Randomosity on Fridays: NYC Edition

I am BACK my darlings from New York City, and oh, was she a more glitzy temptress than I remember! I did much, I ate much, and basically, there was much muchness and I came back with a milkshake cup from the chocolatey paradise of Max Brenner called The Alice Cup. How fitting is that? I love chocolate AND I get a named cup. AWESOME.

Anyway, I'm about to pass out, so quick recap this week. Pictures next time!

1. I experienced the longest shuttle ride of my life. Take a cab from the airport into the city. It's a lot faster and TOTALLY WORTH the extra money. I got in a shuttle at 7:55am and didn't get to my friend's place until 11:30am. I KID YOU NOT.

2. I was a fatty the entire trip. I had a DAY of my vacation dedicated solely to EATING. That day was topped off by a homemade dinner from my friend's pastry chef friend, who (of course) made us dessert. I ate THREE of the brioche desserts he made - with ice cream and strawberries.

3. Um, books! Chilled at a Borders near Wall Street, stepped into Barnes & Noble on 18th - apparently "The Largest Bookstore in the World," and checked out Books of Wonder. Perk to the Books of Wonder trip was the Cupcake Cafe next door. They were part of Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts thing, so we got free cupcakes. SO GOOD.

I did mention I was a total FATTY on this trip, right?

4. The sister and I had a whole PERCY JACKSON Adventure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while we were there. We joked about it when we got there since Percy's a New Yorker and part of his adventure does take place in the Met, but the Met actually has like a pamphlet thing ABOUT Percy Jackson and how "mythology lives" at the Met in their Greek and Roman collection. So that was pretty cool.

Chillin' w/Hamilton at Trinity Church

5. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. For those of you who don't know and/or are new around here, there's something you have to know about me. I'm kinda sorta in love with Alexander Hamilton. Yeah, that handsome fellow on the $10. I think he's super awesome. Well, he was a New Yorker - went to Columbia University (known as King's College back then), lived and practiced in Manhattan, and was interred at Trinity Church. So, OF COURSE, I had to go on little Hamiltonian excursions. Hit up Columbia, Trinity Church, and stumbled upon a portrait of him done by John Trumbull in the American Wing of the Met. Oh and this is behind a building facade replica of a branch of the Bank of the United States a.k.a. Hamilton's brainchild.


That's all for now. You can check out all my ridiculous foodage on Twitter/Twitpic: @kangaru.

More updates/pictures in the future. It's technically Thursday night as I write this and I am tired from travel and I have work tomorrow. So, I will see you all next week. Hope you all had a wonderful week! Anything interesting happen while I was away?


P.S. In case you hadn't heard, the sweet and cool Tere at The Lesser Key HAS AN AGENT!!! Go congratulate her if you haven't already! Oh and her agent also reps Suzanne Collins, as in the woman who wrote the freaking Hunger Games trilogy. So yeah, congrats FOR REALS, Tere!