Just Zack Here...

The first book Christa had me read in our book challenge was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I started out not knowing exactly what the story was about but quickly adjusted (most of) my expectations once I had a better idea of the tale to be told.  Going into the book I thought it was a story about how Susie watches from heaven her family as they try to piece together their lives after her murder, and I thought the story would revolve around her finding ways to guide them to her murderer.  However eventually I came to realize that the story was instead about what happened to Susie's family and friends after her death, and the ways Susie got to live out her life by watching them live out theirs.

The story starts out quite intensely with the murder of Susie, which I was not expecting that to happen so soon.  It was one heck of a hook though and I found that the first night I started reading it I didn't want to put it down, I had to follow Susie's story and see where it was going!  One thing that I loved about the book was the sort of voyeuristic feel to it, the author did a great job making the reader feel like they were right there with Susie watching her family and friends throughout the story.  I also loved how real the characters felt, how everyone dealt with Susie's murder differently.  Some bottled it up only to explode later, others ran, others let it overcome them almost to the point of insanity, and in varying degrees they all let it rip them apart and most eventually grew stronger afterward.

I found the author's idea of heaven to be an interesting place.  It wasn't exactly what I would think of heaven as being, but at the same time it made perfect sense both for Susie and for the story.  Without giving too much away, it was a fluid sort of place where each person gets to shape their own existence and world around them, and they can watch the living (which is how most of the story is told, with Susie's comments and memories as she watches her family and friends).  The interactions between everyone seemed to me to be the main focus of the story.  We got to see how her mother and father reacted to Susie's death as well as some of her friends from school and also her brother, sister and grandmother, and through Susie's eyes we got to see several private moments that would have been missed otherwise.  These moments allowed Susie to not only watch her family grow as people, but to also live through them and to grow herself, and it was this aspect of the story that surprised me the most.

I was somewhat disappointed with the ending however, I felt like a few things went unanswered and other things were wrapped up in underwhelming ways but I wont get into that because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the book yet.  I attribute this disappointment to my expectations about where the story was going (before I started reading the book) and feel like if I went in without those expectations that I might of been left more satisfied by the ending.  And in that sense, I sort of hope Hollywood changes things a bit in the movie :p

I would give the book an 8.5 out of 10 because I thought the story was well told, fun to read and hard to put down at times, although towards the end though it didn't have that 'I must keep reading this to see what happens' feel.  The characters were great, every last one of them, and I definitely could use a lesson from this book on how to make my own characters more believable and memorable in my writing. 

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?  Sometimes I do, but only stuff that requires forks or spoons because I don't want to eat with my hands and end up with Cheetos Orange all over my pages!  Last week I had a coke and a mini microwavable pizza (that I ate with a fork) while reading...but mostly I'll just stop reading to grab a bite to eat if I get hungry.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?  If it's a text or reference book I will, but I never write in my novels.  Sometimes I get mad at Bookmans for writing the price on the inside of the book, even if it's only in pencil :p  ...But, I love getting personal notes written in books by people when they give them as gifts, and also it's nice to get them autographed by the authors too!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?  Sometimes I'll just flip the book over and lay it down open on the page I'm on, but if I'm going to stop reading for a while I'll use a bookmark.  Dog-earring a page should be a crime!

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?  I prefer fiction by far, but sometimes nothing can compare to a really good non-fiction book.

Hard copy or audiobooks? At one time I would have said audiobooks by far because not only did I hate reading and loved listening to audio books, I also really disliked hard cover books because they were so much more expensive than paperbacks.  Now that I actually enjoy reading I would take a hard copy over an audio book 99% of the time.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?  I prefer getting to the end of the chapters, but sometimes if I'm reading and am really tired or in a hurry I'll flip a few pages ahead to see how far I have to go before the chapter ends and if it's too far I'll just stop on the next page.  I came up with a bookmark system so that I always know where I stopped.  If the book mark is facing up I should start reading on the first full paragraph on the left page, and if it's flipped over then I should start reading on the first full paragraph on the right page!  My system actually used to involve positioning the bookmark to be just under the last line I read, but that turned out to be a bit too much :p

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?  I like when this happens because I get to learn a new word!  Normally though I'll reread the paragraph or sentence to get the context of the word and try to guess the meaning, and then look it up later if I'm still unsure about it.

What are you currently reading?  I'm reading a few books at the moment.  I'm still working on The Book of Air and Shadows, which has been relegated to my gym book (I read it while using the treadmill or stationary bike), and I'm trying to finish up the Moon Called series.

What is the last book you bought?  The last book I bought was the second book in the Hunger Games series for Christa!  For myself it was Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?  I like to read one at a time, but sometimes I'll do two or three at once, especially if I'm reading one that slows down a lot (or is really heavy) and I need a change of pace.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?  I love, love, love to read outside when it's really sunny or in my bedroom during a thunderstorm!  I do think I need to find a better place to read than on my bed though because I find that I get too comfortable and start to fall asleep!

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?  I suppose I don't mind it either way as long as the story is good :)  I do however make a lot of fun of series books because it seems like almost any new book that comes out (by a new author) says it's part of a trilogy, and for some reason that makes me chuckle.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?  Neil Gaiman!  I love his work, and also I recommend the Harry Potter series to anyone who hasn't read em (which is sometimes hard to find :p).  I like Chuck Palahniuk too, but his last few books have sort of sucked big time so I've stopped recommending him for now (still haven't ready Pygmy, so I've got my fingers crossed on that one!)

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)   I have a system that makes sense in my head but it's hard to describe.  I sort of keep them together by author and genre and also I like to keep the hardcovers on one shelf and the paperbacks on another, but as I buy more books it's apparent that I need a new system :p  ...If life goes as planned eventually I'll need to use the dewey decimal system because I'll have so many books I'll need a library!

A lot can happen to a person in 10 years...

You can graduate high school, and then college, and then get a job they utterly hate followed by one they absolutely love, and still want to switch careers.
You can watch your sister have a kid, or your brother have two and try to start a family of his own. 
You can fall in love, and out of love and back into love while you try and try again to make one for yourself. 
You could mount up $10,000 in credit card debt and struggle for years to pay it down so that one day you can finally pay it off to start saving for something worth while, like maybe a trip to Ireland or even a new house. 
You can start writing 10 novels and never finish one, and start 100 short stories and only finish a few, or even dabble in poetry, photography and outdoors stuff like hiking, cycling and bird watching.
You can watch the Red Sox win a World Series, and then another! (and hopefully another!)
You can go to Disneyland every few months for years in a row and never get bored of it.
You can meet countless friends along the way and share wonderful times with them as they move on with their own lives while a special few will remain with you forever.
You can wake up one day and realize that in a blink of an eye a decade has passed, and you don't know where the heck it went but you're too excited to see what the next one brings to dwell on it for too long.

If you wanted, you could do all of the above with plenty of time to spare to do anything else you desired, but nothing will make you miss you father less because he will always be there with you along the way.  Laughing with you through all of your blunders and cheering for you during all of your triumphs.  He will never forget you as long as you never forget him.

10 years ago on August 1, 1999 my father passed away from cancer while I was about to start my senior year in high school and I really am glad to know that even though he couldn't see me these last 10 years that he was still able to be there with me through it all.

I can't believe how fast these last 10 years went, but I know they're just a drop in the bucket in the wonderful life I was given by my mother and father and everyone else I've met in the last 27+ years and I plan on doing everything I can to make the next 10 years be just as memorable.

I really want to spend a few weeks driving around and exploring the East Coast sometime soon, maybe if I start planning it out I'll be able to do it next summer!  So I grabbed my copy of 1000 Places to See Before You Die and here's what I was planning on doing.  (If anyone has any other ideas let me know and I'll be sure to check them out when I finally go.)

I want to fly into Washington DC and spend a few days there visiting the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and the White House. If I have time I'd check out some more places like the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. From there I'd like to drive to Philadelphia and spend a few days seeing the Liberty Bell, the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

On my way to New York I'd like to swing through Princeton New Jersey to check out their campus and spend half a day exploring there before spending a week or so in New York. There's so much I want to do there like see the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Central Park, visit the Met and catch a Broadway show. I'd probably take one of those bus tours to check out the city and if a friend of mine still lives there I'd stop in to visit her and see if she knows any neat places off the beaten path worth seeing.  And of course I definitely want to witness a subway mugging (hopefully not so up close that I lose my wallet in the process :p) and get a slice of real New York pizza (even though I prefer deep dish).

After New York I'd drive to Boston to spend a week there and maybe stop at the Yale campus on the way to get lunch. My number one thing to do in Boston, or probably on my entire trip is to see a game (or three!) at Fenway!!!!! I would love to see the Red Sox beat down the Yankees while in town, but really just being able to see the Green Monster in person would be plenty of excitement for me. I'd take a bus tour here too just to get a feel of the city, and I'd like to check out the Harvard and MIT campuses too. I want to go to the Boston Common's Frog Pond and hopefully even though it's the summer time I'd still be able to ice skate there, and I want to see a show at the Colonial Theatre and visit a museum or two.

Sometime during the trip to Boston I want to break away for an overnight trip to explore Salem. I've wanted to visit Salem ever since reading The Crucible and seeing the movie Hocus Pocus :p The witch trials is something that's fascinated me for so long that I honestly contemplated moving to Salem with a friend of mine a few years ago and I think the main thing that stopped us was his burning desire to move to Savannah instead (because it's more haunted he says!).

If I have another week of vacation time I would then like to drive to Syracuse and spend a day there just exploring while on my way to Toronto Canada. I'd stop by Niagara Falls on the drive and give the whole barrel over the falls thing a shot ;) My aunt Jennie lives in Toronto so I'd definitely like to meet up with her since I've never met her before and also I have a few friends that live there too (or close enough to come visit) that I'd like to see.

Even though I'm sure lots will change before I actually take the trip, that's what I have planned!

Side A

The Mixed Tape by Jacks Mannequin - This is a fantastic song about making a mix tape for someone really special to you, how you put thought into every song and in the end make a tape that is so unique for the both of you that it's almost like writing the songs yourself.  It's sort of a downer in that I think Andrew (lead singer / song writer for the band) was in a bad place with whoever he wrote the song for, but I think it shows that when you care about someone a lot you'll still be there for them even if times are tough.  Plus I love Jack's Mannequin / Something Corporate so I couldn't make a mix tape without putting something by them on it!

Homesick At Space Camp by Fall Out Boy - Whenever I hear this song I think about how nice it is to reconnect with your friends and family that you haven't seen in a while and I thought it would be perfect for a vacation mix!  Like the Jack's Mannequin song it can be interpreted as somewhat sad, but I just don't see it that way.  I see it as the type of song you would play for someone just to say that you miss them, and I really like the part in the song listing all the things you like about the person you're missing.

Chasing Cars by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (Snow Patrol cover) - This is one of my favorite songs because it so perfectly describes the feeling you get when you're with someone special and the world just melts away.  It's something that I am really looking forward to feeling again :)

Episode IV by Jimmy Eat World - It's been one of my favorite songs by them for about 10 years now and it's just so completely amazing!  I absolutely love the line, "We'll dance off time to the songs we've never liked, and sing off key thinking it sounds alright," mostly because I can't dance worth a damn and am pretty sure I'm tone deaf :p ...and I just like the idea of feeling so comfortable with someone that I could dance and sing with them and not be embarrassed!

Dig by Incubus -  This is one of those songs that I always sing really loud in my car when it comes on!  I really like the chorus, "If I turn into another, dig me up from under what is covering the better part of me. Sing this song, remind me that we'll always have each other when everything else is gone."  It makes me feel like no matter what the real me would shine through to someone special, and that even if I start to slip off course they'll be there to guide me back to where I belong.

I Won't Disagree by Kate Voegele - I love the sound of this song, especially how she drops her voice then picks it up and sings with the beat of the music.  Plus the lyrics are good too, so musically it's got the best of both worlds.

Side B

Just Like Heaven by Goldfinger (The Cure cover) - Best.  Cover.  Ever.

Fingers Crossed by Millencolin -  This song is really upbeat and a lot of fun to sing (and took me forever to learn all the words because he sings so fast!).  It's also my pick me up song, no matter what if I'm feeling bad about anything I can play it and feel better if only for a few minutes.

The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls -   This song reminds me of just letting everything go and not worrying about where things are going, just trying to have fun along the way.  I really like the idea of forgetting the past and starting fresh, Nintendo put a reset button on the NES and if it's good enough for Nintendo it's good enough for me :)

Woke Up In a Car by Something Corporate -  I like being totally random and doing whatever my heart decides to do at that moment and to me that's what this song is all about.  Sometimes I just get in my car and go where the wind takes me, and the song takes that concept and grows on it by being carefree with someone else.  I would really like to do a road trip all over the east coast to check out Boston, New York, DC, Philadelphia, Toronto and everything in between, and this song reminds me of that... I just need to find someone to join me on this adventure :)

Fingerprints by Katy Perry - This is such a good song, I just can't get enough of it!  I kind of like the idea of leaving your mark on the world or just the people in your life, and listening to it just makes me feel good!

Bonus Tracks

Weird Beard by Mad Caddies - You can't have a mix tape without at least one song about a pirate!!

When You Were young by The Killers -  I had to put a Killers song on the mix, I love them, it was just so hard to pick only one song so after eventually whittling the list down to this and Mr. Brightside I had to toss a coin to decide for me :p

The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman - This is hands down my favorite story of all time because it mixes elements of several myths, legends and fables together to create a world where anything can happen but that ultimately resembles ours and makes me feel like I'm in on the secret.  That's such a crappy way to put into words how amazing the story is, but I don't know that I could ever properly describe it so that's what you're stuck with :p  In the series, there is a story in it where you get to see how William Shakespeare comes up with his idea for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and you get to follow Death and her new friend from century to century as she asks him if he wants to live another 100 years or finally pass on, and you get to see what happens to Hell when Lucifer decides to quit and give Sandman the keys.  It was all of these little stories interconnected with the larger overall story that sucked me in originally and the way Neil Gaiman uses his characters to tell old stories from a whole new perspective is magical.

The Lucifer Series by Mike Carey - This series follows Lucifer after he left hell and is sort of a continuation of The Sandman series so naturally I like it!  Part of what draws me to the story is getting to see a different side of Lucifer then the standard giant red beast with a pitch fork we're used to.  He was just as cunning and manipulative in this story as he is everywhere else, but since he was no longer in charge of hell it was a whole new spin on things for me and definitely kept me thinking.  Almost anything that deals with Heaven and Hell will steal my attention and keep me contemplating on the story for hours or days and this certainly didn't disappoint.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling - These books are not only incredibly entertaining they also have some of the deepest characters I have ever come across before.  Really all I need to say on that is Snape, but I'll go on :p  Its refreshing to read a story where the characters have flaws and strengths like real people, but aren't exaggerated to the extent that you're being beaten over the head with their traits.  Having realistic characters helped make Rowling's world feel real even though it was full of wizards and magic, and it's an example I will strive to imitate with my writing.  The end of the 6th book kept me up at night it was so amazing, I couldn't stop thinking about the story and what would happen next and still to this day I can sit and think about everything that happened in the series.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - I already wrote a little blog about this book so I'll just paraphrase.  This book was amazing because it showed how the smallest event could change the world and it made me feel like I could make a difference in the world some day given the right opportunity.  It's a weird feeling in a way to think about that, but it's powerful and definitely something that captured my mind.

I've got some more books to write about, so I'll get that list posted later :)

What are some of the movies that linger in your mind after seeing them and why?

I'm going to try really hard to not give too much away about any of these movies just in case someone hasn't seen them, and if I do ruin something for anyone then I'm sorry about that.

Donnie Darko, Run Lola Run, Sliding Doors -  I liked these movies because you get to see how little events have far reaching consequences and how they can completely change the outcome of any story.  In Donnie Darko you get to see two universes collide to cause a tragic event, but in turn that tragedy stops another from happening.  In Run Lola Run three wildly different versions of the same day happen all based on how quickly Lola makes it out the door in the morning.  And In Sliding Doors you get to see a story unfold in two different ways based on rather Helen makes the train or not.  I really enjoy stories like these that place a lot of emphasis on what could of happened based on earlier events because they show just how truly random life can be, and how you may not know it but you are effecting countless peoples lives every day. 

The Thirteenth Floor, The Matrix, The Nines, Groundhog Day - What I like about these movies is watching the characters learn about themselves as they are forced to leave behind what to them (and everyone else) is the normal world.  Groundhog Day could probably be in the above section but I think it fits here too because of how Phil becomes aware of what is happening to him, much like Neo does in The Matrix and Douglas does in The Thirteenth Floor.  Both The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor deal with what it means to actually be alive, where the characters in each movie can freely move between reality and a computer simulated world.  In The Thirteenth Floor you get to see Douglass enter the computer world to solve a murder and slowly realize exactly what it means to be human, whereas in The Matrix Neo has to learn how to be more than human to fight for everyone's freedom.  In Groundhog Day Phil has to relive the same day over and over again until he remembers what being alive really means because somewhere along the way he forgot.  The Nines is a little different because Ryan Reynolds plays three different characters but not really if that makes sense :p  It's three stories that overlap ultimately leading to Ryan Reynolds learning about himself and the world he lives in.  Each of these movies has made me stop and think about myself and who I really am, so they all deserve to be on a list of movies that linger in my mind.

I'm still working on my list so this is just part 1, when I get part 2 ready I'll post it!

The Red Sox are on a 10 game winning streak having just swept the Yankees!! ...and Ellsbury stold home in the 5th!!  How cool is that?!!?

Answer: Very

Yesterday I read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point from cover to cover and it did for me what I think The Secret was supposed to!  The book is about how certain small things can start epidemics, such as a new fashion becoming popular (I finally understand Uggs :p), or the spread of a disease, or even what keeps a TV show from being canceled.  What to me was so powerful about this book was that is had example after example of how tweaking one (carefully chosen) cog can impact a much greater system and produce a change that far outweighs what you would logically expect, and it showed me how I can actually make a positive difference in my life and the life of those around me by focusing on the little things instead of letting the big things weigh me down!

Admitidly I felt like his scientific method was a little hazy in some places, and I didn't agree with how he came to all of his conclusions (sometimes it felt like he would use correlation as causation which drives me batty!), but the end result was still a very captivating read for me!  I'm sort of a nerd, I love my science that's for sure, so I don't know if this book would be as compelling for everyone, but Gladwell did take some very complicated theories and present them in a way that I think anyone could read.  So pick up a copy the next time you see one, it's totally worth it!

What I meant earlier about this book doing for me what The Secret was supposed to was that last night as I finished it and started getting ready for bed I began thinking about what I had read and slowly felt like a lot of the 'problems' I let stress me out peel away.  It's a really hard feeling to describe, it just feels like I can take anything that would normally overwhelm me and break it down into a more managable problem now.

If you've read it before I'd be interesting in what you think about it and if not I definitely recommend that you pick up a copy and give it a read!!

Perfect moments are hard to define, they sort of come and go as they please and are different for each of us but when you're in the middle of one it's unmistakable.  I had a perfect moment today, just a few minutes ago in fact!  I was driving home from the gym with the windows down and Spinning by Jack's Mannequin playing when a breeze hit me just the right way and all at once everything was perfect.

As the effects were wearing off I was imagining the perfect moment as something in the wind, floating on to the next person and as much as I wish it would stay with me forever it's nice to think that out there someone is feeling the exact way I was just minutes ago :)

I wanted to find a way to share my moment with everyone, I thought maybe a picture and a link to the song that was playing but I realized it just wouldn't work so instead I scoured the world wide web for some help and came across a poem that describes someone else's moment better than I ever could:

Beautiful eyes open across a pillow top,
It seems for this moment time will stop,
The earth slows and sounds wane,
A frozen moment without stain.

Your body close to mine,
Our hearts beat in time,
With a smile of simple pleasure,
This moment should last forever.

Some say perfection is unattainable
For most things that's explainable,
But in your arms and with your heart's affection
I have found a brief moment of perfection.

 - Ian Pires