What's Up Wednesday (12) / RSW (FINAL)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!

WHAT I'M READING

I'm slowly working my way through CONTROL still, but I've also started with Morgan Matson's SECOND CHANCE SUMMER. That's the YA Book Club's pick for August. It's not too late to join! I'm going to try to make the review/discussion date of SEP 3.


WHAT I'M WRITING

Is this really the last week of Ready.Set.Write! already?! I'm honestly kind of sad, but I think having it helped in that it's forcing me to be accountable and to set goals during these What's Up Wednesday posts. Thanks to the lovely ladies that came up with this and for hosting! I hope to continue seeing you all on Twitter for writing parties. :)

So I sort of accomplished my goal from last week. While I did NOT finish my second DEVIL poem, I did write a completely new one. I churned it out in a day on my phone during breaks at work! It's called THE HART & THE HUNTER.

This poetry kick I've been on is kind of insane because I honestly haven't had one like this since (probably) high school. Whether or not I'm any good is, of course, a matter of opinion. Hah.

I also mostly stitched together that scene I was talking about. All the handwritten bits have been combined and revised with the typed up bits. So yay!


Goal: Still finish that 2nd DEVIL poem, and actually work on LUCK like I'm supposed to be doing.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Last week, I mentioned April Tucholke gave the prompt "DEVIL" for #twtpoem because her book came out last week, and then I wrote a full length poem based on that. That prompt and her gorgeous book cover kept on giving because I started a rhyming poem also inspired by those things. I'm not done with it yet because rhyming poems are ridiculously difficult. I always wonder why I put myself through the pain of writing them, haha.

THE HART & THE HUNTER while not directly inspired by the "devil" prompt was still a little bit inspired by it.

On top of that, Lydia Kang sent me this amazing poetry chapbook by her friend Lindsey Anne Baker. It's full of sonnets to medical personnel, and the poems are gorgeous. They are subtle and beautiful and visceral. Who knew something titled "Sonnet to a Neuro Ophthamologist" could be so poignant.


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

My friend had her annual summer BBQ, and it was as fun as usual. There was good company and such great food. We played badminton and roasted marshmallows over a fire when it got late enough. It was even better because one of my old college friends moved back to the Los Angeles area, and so she and her bf went with me to the BBQ. Yay for friends!

The hostess' dog Happy, after trying to steal kisses from Justine.

Also, a bunch of stuff went down at MTV's Video Music Awards this year, but I basically tuned in because ZOMG NSYNC REUNION, what?! I'm actually a BSB fangirl, but I'd be lying to say I wasn't excited for this to happen - especially since my friends and I had just had a discussion about how the odds of Justin Timberlake doing that ever again were very small.

GUESS WE WERE KINDA WRONG.

Mostly, I wish the NSYNC segment had been just a little longer, but JT did a LOT OF very on-point dancing. So I'm pretty happy. Hah.

It was National Dog Day on Monday.

Loki was playing with this box and it got stuck on his face.  (PHOTO/ Sister)

And I felt a pang of nostalgia when I saw some pictures of my college campus yesterday and today. School is starting up for them, and I do miss some of that college life.

This is Unit 2's Cunningham Hall - my former dorm. I lived on the 4th floor.  (PHOTO/ ucberkeley instagram)

Q4U: What's up with you? and Were you excited about NSYNC reuniting? (This is great timing too because I am literally seeing the Backstreet Boys in concert in like a week. FREAKING. OUT.)

Randomosity on Fridays: Pictures!

Hello all! I was going to continue the Comic Con recapping, but just thinking about trying to summarize that Saturday (now a over a month past!) made my brain hurt. So I'm taking it easy this week and just posting some random pictures from the past week or two.


You all remember my colorful unicorn hair?

This is what it looks like now! I'm going all pink, blonde, and copper.

I don't remember if I mentioned here, but I kept saying I had to stop buying geeky shirts/jewelry and no more galactic/cosmic anything (since I already have a shirt, a scarf, 2 skirts, and leggings). Well, I was weak...

I mean, an image-based Marauders shirt and a Van Gogh TARDIS skirt? How could I resist?!

Epic mash-up! This shirt combines my newer love of comic book superheroes (DC ones in this case) with my
much older love of the classical heroes of Greek myth. This shirt design is appropriately titled "Modern Myths 2."

Speaking of mash-ups, one of the books I bought for my birthday was William Shakespeare's Star Wars, which is literally a translation of the entire Star Wars IV script into a Shakespearean play. As in, it's written in iambic pentameter. When I saw this, the geek and the lit-geek in me HAD TO HAVE IT. The illustrations are super cool too.

Aaaand, a friend posted a picture that led me to this other delightfully geeky remix: Winnie the Pooh IN LATIN. Now, I didn't take Latin (ever), though I seriously considered it during college (because dead languages are so useful and all), but I kind of just LOVE this. (And I still want to learn Latin...)

LASTLY, some of the best things to come of my birthday weekend...

One of my oldest, bestest friends made me an amazing, blinged out birthday greeting:

I'm reasonably sure that's Tom Hiddleston under all that bling...
and Spongebob and is that Snoop?

Which prompted my newer, dear Twitter friend Sarah to share this similar gem her friend made her for her 16th birthday:

Pretty sure Jude Law is the "sexy lahvah." (SCAN/ @sarahgoldberg)

Needless to say, I think we would've been besties if we had known each other as 16-year-olds.


HAPPY FRIDAY!

What's Up Wednesday (11) / RSW (10)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


WHAT I'M READING

I finished reading Stephanie Kuehn's CHARM & STRANGE, and oh it was good. It's a short, tense read that explores a lot of dark, complicated things. The voice is what drew me in and held me captive. Very much recommended.

I think I will post an actual review in the future, but for now, if you were thinking about picking it up, DO IT.

(This is the UK cover, which I think is a little closer to the feel of the story - a bit scary, surreal, and haunting. But the US cover is lovely too. I love the use of silhouettes, the way the forest breaks up the image and the figures.)

I'm still reading Lydia Kang's CONTROL, and I'm enjoying it. Sci-fi lovers, you're going to want to look out for this one. There is definitely more SCI in this one than the other Sci-fi YA books I've read thus far.


WHAT I'M WRITING

I've been slowly pulling those random scenes I've written (in all these different places) together. It's kind of exciting since this is the most writing I've done in... let's just say a long while. It's also kind of challenging because it's a pretty intense set of scenes that involves a particular set of imagery. So I've been struggling to describe similar things in interesting and different ways. I know, vague.

Also exciting is that I wrote a poem - like a not #twtpoem. I haven't written any poetry since...even longer than the last time I really wrote, haha. It was nice to see that I could still do it. In any case, it was prompted by April, who asked me to write her a #twtpoem in celebration of her book release (BETWEEN THE DEVIL & THE DEEP BLUE SEA, which came out the day before my birthday!). Of course, I obliged and the prompt was DEVIL.

This spawned a much longer poem, and actually, I have another one in the works now too. I am quite SURPRISED with myself.

Goal: Finish the second Devil poem and hopefully get those scenes stitched together.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Music! Parachute's new album is out, and while I'm still partial to their last one, I am loving this song HURRICANE.



And then the Sister stumbled upon this amazing (and appropriate) John Green quote from LOOKING FOR ALASKA.

People Rain Drizzle Hurricane Poster Art Print by Mei Lee

I'm also really into the song KING AND LIONHEART by Of Monsters & Men. I love the tune and the story-telling, folklore vibe of the lyrics.




WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Eating! Because it was my birthday last Friday. THANK YOU for your sweet birthday wishes (and Alz for blogging)! I ate a lot, which is to say, I was happy. So happy in fact I pretty much celebrated through the weekend. Oh and the Sister got me an amazing cake. Pictures below!

I was also productive this weekend by actually doing some house cleaning. The Sister and I even bought a new vacuum and we were super excited about it. Does this mean we're old? Getting excited about buying household appliances? (The vacuum is pretty badass though...)

The Sister took me to see The Neighborhood the night before my bday. (Photo/ Sister)

The Sister also bought me Sprinkles cupcakes: s'mores & raspberry flavored.

My gifts to myself. Yes, that's Star Wars written like a Shakespearean play.

My AWESOME cake. It's cookies & cream ice cream on the inside.

More cupcakes! My friend bought these for me, along with some cookies.

And that's all. So all in all, a good week. :)


Q4U: What is up with you?

Happy Birthday, Krispy!...TO THE GROUND

Greetings, folks! Alz interrupts your glorious weekly dose of Krispy's Comic-Con coverage with an important announcement:

Today is Krispy's birthday.  You know what that means!  It's doodle time--but more than that, it's storytime!  Aww yeah!  What better way to celebrate my love for my beloved Krispy than to abuse entertain her?

I bring you an illustrated tale that I like to call Krispy's Birthday TO THE GROUND.

(Yes, we did watch The Lonely Island's I Threw It On the Ground back when it first came out. Every now and then--particularly now--it comes back full-force into our lives.)

~*~*~*~

Krispy's Birthday TO THE GROUND

by Alz

Once upon a time, Krispy was born.

This is Krispy.

As things that are born tend to do, she grew up (as opposed to the opposite--growing down is both unconventional and unhealthy when you are a Krispy) and she wrote and went to school and Comic-Con and clubbed and helped raise a Loki and found herself afflicted by a mortal case of the Alz, but there are no helping some things.

Yet Krispy was a happy Krispy and soon enough, it was that special day again, the day that the universe was made that much more a kickass place by reason of her coming into existence.  Yes, it was Krispy's birthday again!

As Krispy was celebratory by nature whenever a promise of dessert was involved, she donned a party hat in preparation for the big day.  Like a creeper lurking in the shadows, Alz observed this phenomenon.  The wheels of machination, well-oiled by years of sadistic cunning, began to turn in Alz's head.

As Krispy was afflicted by a mortal case of the Alz, naturally Alz felt obliged to do something appropriate for the occasion.

She followed up on her action by wishing Krispy the appropriate birthday sentiment.

Krispy was a mite less than pleased by Alz's attempt at festivity but she restrained herself admirably from such catharses as tears, recrimination, or violence.  Krispy considered herself a paragon of courtesy and anyway, it was her birthday, so she thought she ought to be generous.  Alz was Alz, after all, and there was little enough that could be done to help her.

Instead of dwelling upon a minor damper on an otherwise spectacular day, Krispy instead turned her attention toward matters of utmost importance--namely, cake.

There are few things in this world that are more glorious than a triple chocolate mocha fudge espresso ice cream cake.  And there is nothing in this world more glorious than having a triple chocolate mocha fudge espresso ice cream cake all to yourself.

Alz, of course, was not yet done with her version of celebrating.

Krispy remained a saint.  She did not murder Alz in the face.  There was no helping now that the ground had taken and enjoyed the birthday cake all to itself.  The ground had partaken of the gloriousness that, by rights, ought to have been Krispy's, but Krispy put it from her mind.  She walked on the ground everyday and without the ground, life would be pretty hard, floating in space and all, so she supposed it was all right that the ground celebrated her birthday with her.  Krispy was a sharing person, though she rather wished Alz hadn't chosen to share her things for her.

Still, there was the other best part of birthdays for her to enjoy.  What birthday is complete without presents?

And yet somehow, despite her valiant effort to remain happy and chillaxed, Krispy couldn't help but feel a little, well, edgy.

Surely, though, Alz was done.  She couldn't ruin invite her way into every aspect of Krispy's birthday.  Surely it was all in Krispy's head, this niggling foreboding feeling that Alz was lurking somewhere nearby, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Paranoia is sometimes well-founded.

There are no helping some things Krispy told herself as Alz jumped off the flattened remains of the birthday present.  Really, Alz was no help at all, and there was no helping her.

It was at this point that Alz turned to Krispy and spread her arms wide.  Her smile was joyous, her demeanor demure, her eyes super swirly as she said to Krispy:

There are no helping some things, but sometimes you just have to help yourself.  Krispy had gotten exactly what she wanted from Alz for her birthday.  And it made this the best birthday ever.

THE END

~*~*~*~

Join me now, peeps, in wishing Krispy the happiest birthday ever TO THE GROUND!  Krispy, may your day be filled with food and frolicking!  HOORAY!

What's Up Wednesday (10) / RSW (9)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


WHAT I'M READING

I finished The Dream Thieves and it was GLORIOUS. I need the next book asap! I think this is the biggest flaw to reading anything early; it makes the wait THAT much longer! On the bright side, I still have tons of amazing books to read and many more coming out in September!

I've picked up Charm & Strange again, which isn't to say it wasn't good. I was reading it on Kindle and then the Sister borrowed the Kindle to read something else. That's why I had to stop, but it's nice to be back in. The voice is great, really engaging.

I'm also reading Control, which is another ARC. It doesn't come out until December, but I've been dying to read it because I adore Miss Lydia Kang. Our fellow #twtpoem poet Miss April Tucholke had an ARC and was kind enough to lend it to me. So yaaaay for blog friends & books! (Also, am dying to read April's book, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea as well. It's out Thursday & I have ordered it as a birthday gift to myself since my birthday's this Friday.)


WHAT I'M WRITING

I started connecting my fragments together, so yay! More importantly, I think I figured out how to get my plot going on "Luck." Still haven't quite figured out where the beginning should be, but I was trying to add some more tangible stakes and I think I've found the thing for that. Now, back to the hard part. I'm just one of those people who need to get the beginning right for the rest of it to follow. *SIGH*


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

The absolutely gorgeous writing in Maggie Stiefvater's DREAM THIEVES. Her turns of phrase are so evocative and brilliant, and again, she is a master of mood.

Also, inspired by the exhibit on the Japanese Internment in the U.S. during WWII inside the Japanese American National Museum in LA.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

I've been resting up! Unlike my past weekends, I pretty much stayed home this weekend. I saw Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters, which was much closer to the books and therefore MUCH BETTER. I thought the first one was awful in one sense but also very entertaining thanks to some of the humor AND a lot of the acting (I love Logan Lehrman's Percy). So yes, this one was better, though the pacing still needs work. They also really need to stop messing with the plot so much. :P

We also went to Little Tokyo to shop, but we stumbled upon the Nisei Week celebrations. It was festive, fun, and filled with delicious food. So I ate a lot too.

Watermelon lemonade, pulled pork chips, house-made chips, bacon-wrapped corndog,
chai popcorn, corn on the cob with cheese and spicy garlic aioli

(Photo/ the Sister)

AND here's some brief SDCC stuff - swag! All the things we picked up/ bought!

Cute stuff we bought - except the Mr. Toast postcard & the Pancreas pin.

The miscellaneous stuff we picked up: Peanuts postcard; World's End pre-screening card; True Blood bracelets; RED 2 sunglasses; Black Sails bandanas; Adventuretime pins; an ebook novella voucher postcard for Breaking Bad; and a set of cards for The Awesomes.

The Sister bought the SDCC exclusive Snoopy iPhone case.


The stuff we picked up at the BBC Booth: Little Doctor Who figures, including the SDCC exclusive tuxedo Ten, and a SHERLOCK T-Shirt.

The swag we got from the 20th Century FOX Hall H panel: viral marketing materials for Trask Industries and their Sentinels for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past movie (hat, propaganda posers); T-Shirts for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and The Wolverine.

This is all my book-related swag! From the Summit T-Shirt Bar, I made this Dauntless shirt. You could choose to have any of the faction symbols on your shirt, and on the back, it says DIVERGENT and the movie's release date. Also from Summit is that Divergent pin. From the Penguin booth, I got those Legend temporary tattoos, and from the Hachette Books booth, I got an ARC of Curtsies & Conspiracies by giving them the right password.

Also book-related AND movie-related was the Ender's Game swag. There was a lot and it's pretty awesome. From the Summit booth, there was the T-Shirt Bar again - so you can get the symbol of any of the Ender's Game armies on a shirt that says Ender's Game & the movie release date on the back. (We got Dragon Army, the best.) Also from the Summit Booth was that giant bag and the army symbol pins and stickers.

We picked up more stuff later at the Ender's Game Experience. Other than our green screen photo in the Battle Room, we also got to make International Fleet recruit ID cards/badges (you can see them under the wildcat sticker and the T-shirt), and we got those dog tags.

At the HANNIBAL panel, we got our first piece of panel swag. We turned in our tickets at the Fulfillment Room for this print of a sketch done by Hannibal Lecter. It's a sketch that appears in both the show and in the movies. I've not shown the actual picture because it's kind of graphic (a man impaled by lots of sharp, pointy things).

And lastly, we got these free YODA dog and cat ears for our furry friends at home. Loki has yet to be subjected to the ears yet. (The cat ears I picked up for a friend.)

Thanks for sticking around week after week, guys. I love hearing from you all, and I can't believe the summer is slowly but surely coming to a close. Ah, why?!

Anyway, I have to go figure out what I'm going to do for my birthday this weekend. True to my introvert nature, I think it'll involve reading and sleeping, hah.


Q4U: What have you been up to?


For more SDCC goodness, here are my previous related posts:

1) What's Up Wednesday (7) / RSW (6)
2) SDCC Recap No. 1
3) What's Up Wednesday (8) / Our Comic Con Fashion
4) SDCC Recap No. 2
5) SDCC Recap No. 3