9/25 Reading Update

So, this week I finished Harry Potter (book 1) the Sorcerer's Stone. For all you Harry Potter fans out there, no, this is not my first time reading the books, that would be extremely uneducated because even if you have read the book 10 times, it is still an AWESOME read.
If you didn't already know, J.K. Rowling actually has an entire website dedicated to Harry Potter, called Pottermore. https://www.pottermore.com/en-us/

“Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes, sir."
"There's no need to call me "sir" Professor."
The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

tags: humor, rebellion, sarcasm

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This is one of my favorite quotes (and I haven't reread this book in the series yet).

I also finished Harry Potter, book 2.
AND I am currently on book 6 of the Infinity Ring series. It sounds kind of dorky, but it actually teaches you a lot about history.
We are also starting The Color Of Water this week in Honors English, which is supposed to be a really good book.

Anyway, for those of you who do not keep up with the times, William Mason High School Marching Band won 1st place in Class AAAA in the Dayton Bands of America Competition. We also won Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual Performance, and Outstanding Visual Effect. We got 49/50 for the Woodwinds, which is almost impossible to score.
AND on top of that, we won GRAND CHAMPION OF THE 2014 DAYTON REGIONAL BANDS OF AMERICA COMPETITION.

We were pretty darn good, and although our show may not seem like it, it's a lot like a good book.

-You come in with a bang, something to excite the reader/audience
-Have eye-catching color guard members, like characters
-Move to different parts of the show, like different big events in a book
-Captivate an audience/reader with woodwind features, drum line solos, brass crescendos, pit runs,like the author captivates a read with great story lines and diction

That's all I have for now, and here's my double-funny because the next due-date for this isn't for another 3 weeks.

9/21/2014 Reading Update

So, as of this week I have finished 2 books, both of which are below my reading level, but I've been meaning to finish for a while. The first is Hunted, which is book 2 of the Spirit Animals series.

Off topic here for a minute, don't you hate when you read the first book in a series and then accidentally buy the fifth book, or accidentally buy the second book in a series without reading the first book? Because then you're just so lost and you have no clue what's going on. What I also strongly dislike is when you are someone who has read like the first 10 books in a series and in every book the author has to review what happened in the last 10 books, so anyone who has already read those books has to slog through the pages where the author summarizes the previous books because they also explain what is and will happen in this book, so whenever you just think "I'm done with this.", the author puts in some dialogue, like "I think we should plan to ambush the evil duke's castle.", and then you get excited, and then they explain about the evil duke, and you're just like:




Anyway the second book I finished was book 3 of Grimmtastic Girls series (for some reason I LOVE fairy tales) and it's about Snow White.

Anyway the books used a lot of setting description and it was very cool to like be IN the books.Do you ever have those moments where when you read, you can't hear or be conscious of anything around you? Like you just get sucked into the book? I have those moments all the time in class and it always makes it really hard to pay attention, especially when you're reading a good book and all you can think about is OMG I cannot believe he just said that and then when you get to read all the people around you keep asking questions and you're just like:




I also rated a blog today (Jenna Cavanaugh) (I hope I spelled that right)


Here is my funny for the week.

9/10 Reading Update

So I'm now reading the Mortal Instruments series (book 1:The City of Bones) and DISCLAIMER: SPOILER ALERT the main character just found out that her mom was actually the wife of this bad guy who wanted to wipe out all these people and stuff. The main guy character in the story is also incredibly arrogant, but very amusing. I posted the trailer in the last post, so look back if you haven't seen it. A quote that my friend used on me is slightly mathematical but very funny.

“If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are now.” 

― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones 


This is so true though with arrogant characters.
Okay, I know that none of you can answer this online, but do any of you really dislike writing? I mean, for me, it's totally fine, if someone says build a fictional story, but what really chips my reed (sorry, marching band reference) is when someone asks you to write a prompt, like "Please write a 4-page draft illustrating a time you had to use a virtue. Make sure to include all of our writing tools and explain your virtue within the story."
 










And those of us who have read lots of books know about, oh, 10 million ways to do that, but working it into a true narrative, without space giants and asteroids and a little romance before saving the planet? Forget about it.

I also recently read a review on my friend's blog (hi Kelly) about this book called Mother, Mother. It's actually a slightly depressing book, simply because of all the problems going on in the Hurst family household. For example:
Rose (oldest): being groomed to be a famous actress-until she runs away with her boyfriend.
Violet (middle child-16): Rebel, cuts her hair, mind-altering drugs after Rose leaves, is accused of attacking her brother.
Will (youngest-12): Mama's boy, home schooled, recently diagnosed with Aspergers and epilepsy, attacked by a family member.
Dad: starts drinking after Rose leaves, lets Josephine (Mom) have free reign of the house, no backbone (figuratively)
Josephine (Mom): After Rose leaves, she tightens her grip on her previously subtly-controlled household, sends Violet to a mental hospital after Violet supposedly hurts Will, while Violet is there, Josephine sends notes that are supposedly from Rose.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a FABULOUS weekend and may your Marching Bands always nail their jazz runs!


    

9/08 Reading Update

So, this week I actually finished quite a few books this week: Roman Myths, The Nine Lives of Chloe King (books 1-3), and I'm more than halfway through Clone Codes.

So basically Roman Myths are the same as Greek gods/goddesses. For example:

• Zeus➙ Jupiter
• Poseidon➙ Neptune
• Hades➙ Pluto
• Hera➙ Juno
• Hestia➙ Vesta
• Dionysus➙ Bacchus
• Apollo➙ Apollo
• Artemis➙ Diana
• Aphrodite➙ Venus
• Ares➙ Mars
• Hermes➙ Mercury
• Athena➙ Minerva
• Demeter➙ Ceres
• Hephaestus➙ Vulcan
• Persephone➙ Proserpina                                                  

The Nine Lives of Chloe King was a great series. They also made it into an ABC Family TV series, which has an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT plot line. The main character spends the series with a guy, while in the books she is fighting for her life against a society. DISCLAIMER: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE SERIES AND WANT TO SPOILERS AHEAD. The ending is really great though, the bad guy dies, she ends up with her guy, and they live MOSTLY happily ever after, but the author does make sure to hint at upcoming spectacles, like people having feelings for other characters and loose ends with bad guys and all that. 

Clone Codes is actually this really great book (it's in a series, so I'll have to read the next 2 books). It takes place in 2170, where clones and cyborgs are real and there's all this cool virtual stuff. Anyway, no one has perfected infant cloning DISCLAIMER:SPOILER ALERT and this ordinary girl finds out that her sister, who died in a car crash, was actually her clonee, and that the main character(same girl) is actually a clone. But then everyone keeps treating her like a great scientific discovery. And the government is after her because apparently she is the first successful infant clone, and she can lie, which no other clone can. 

My friend (Hi, Julia) actually got me hooked on the Mortal Instruments and Vampire Academy series. The movies look really good! 

And just for a funny trailer for everyone having a rough week, this is the new movie Penguins of Madagascar coming Thanksgiving. Hope you like it!