Laura's blog

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but I FINALLY got to read Envy over Christmas break and I love it, so of course I have to talk about it. It's the second in The Fury Trilogy, by Elizabeth Miles. It is also the second in a very short list of books that, after finishing, I have immediately flipped to the beginning to read again. Oddly, they both begin with E. Hmm... UK cover of Envy In five words: Love triangle. I know what you're thinking. "A love triangle in a young adult paranormal book??? NO WAY!" but hang on a sec. For the first time in my reading experience, the Em-JD-Crow business is not a major plot point. A teenage character  not utterly consumed by her love life??? What??? Also, she's not with either guy. Em loves JD, who wants nothing to do with her, and meanwhile Crow likes her but she wants nothing to do with him. One, he's an ass. Two, she's actually mature enough to tell the difference between attraction and lo...

When I was younger, I used to make all these lofty moral New Year's resolutions. Follow the Ten Commandments.* Be nicer to my brother. Smile at strangers. Don't swear...well, not as much. This year, I realized -- I'm supposed to do all of that stuff anyway.  Isn't it a cop-out to say, "This year I'm going to donate to charity, follow the Ten Commandments, be nice to my brother, and clean up my language" when I'm supposed to be doing that every year, all year, anyway? I mean, that's the kind of moral/philosophical/spiritual stuff that you're supposed to work on throughout your entire life as a Christian. Have I been letting myself get away with making vague, cop-out resolutions instead of resolving to do something definite, definable, and practical? OK, now I'm having a moral crisis. Deep breaths. I mean, what's a New Year's resolution really good for, anyway? Unless I write them down, I've usually forgotten mine by Februar...

I got a blog award!!! More than that, I got a blog award for one of my favorite things -- comments!!! Brooke R. Busse, a young writer at Paper Mountain (a blog I really enjoy) gave me this award. Head over and check out her blog. :) Seriously, comments are my favorite thing about blogging. I can scream into the void all day, but I'd much prefer to have a conversation. Comments are important. Without discussion, I don't really see the point of blogging. That's one of the things I liked so much about NaNoWriMo -- the forums. In blogging, I've encountered a bit of an attitude of, "Well if you disagree, then just get off my blog! I only want 'you're fantastic and all your opinions are gold!'" comments. Yeah, no. As much as, "I loved this! I want to read more!" comments make me smile in self-satisfaction, I like comments with a little more depth. I also try to leave comments with a little more depth. Why did I love this post? What ...

This year, I made a resolution that I was going to read as few books for fun as possible -- the better to focus on the chaos of college. Well, I'm miserable. The only "for fun" book I brought along was Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, and I've already finished it. I'm itching for new books to read. I'll have to wait until Monday for the library to open, sadly. Specifically, I'm dying to read: Ahh! Look at those costumes!!! The Republic of Thieves is the sequel to Red Seas Under Red Skies , and what with the way that one ended, I need to read the sequel. It's not a want anymore. It is a NEED. RSUR was a fantastic second book, but the ending was just...depressing. While The Lies of Locke Lamora could be read and enjoyed by itself, Red Seas Under Red Skies is clearly a part of a series that is meant to continue. So far, my only complaint about the series is that amazing characters from the first book got dropped for the second. That ...

I feel like a zombie lately.* Symptoms manifest most commonly in first period music theory class. Pale skin. Dark, baggy circles under my bloodshot eyes. Slack-jawed drooling. Blank stares. Groaning "Uhhhh...." in response to questions and conversation. Always looking for brains, more brains, brainsbrainsbrains. (I hear you're supposed to have those in college.) I think I'm so sleep-deprived that my body and brain are staging a revolt. Hence the zombie-like symptoms. Not strange, then, that I'm thinking of the zombie apocalypse when I should be sleeping. If the zombie apocalypse happens, we're all screwed. But not for the reason you probably think. You see, we have nuclear plants all around the country. Maintenance of these plants is performed by highly trained crews of professionals who have to meet extremely high standards. For example -- radiation diving. It's a thing. Divers repair and maintain the parts of nuclear plants that are underwater -- i...

This blogpost is going to be something of a PSA, inspired by Kiersten White and Ilana at Mommy Shorts. (They're both pregnancy PSA's, but no, I'm not pregnant.) Mainly, I'm writing this because I don't want other people to do the same bad things that I have done. What's the phrase? "If you can't be a good example, then be a warning." Ahem. I hereby acknowledge my hypocrisy before you even read this. I'm working on it, OK? Anyway, it's my blog and I can write what I want! Nyah. Ahem. So. Down to business: I went to the doctor yesterday. Wait, let me repeat that. I went to the doctor yesterday, instead of ignoring my symptoms in the hope that they'll go away, or in the delusion that I can take care of them myself. I know no one wants to go to the doctor, but I have been practically pathological about it to the point where it's almost self-destructive. To give an example: One time in high school, I knew my parents would take...

This may be the best idea for a blogfest I've stumbled across yet. Mina Lobo, a follower of mine and a romance writer at Some Dark Romantic , is approaching her first blogaversary! To celebrate, she's hosting the Resurrection Blogfest . You can still sign up until Wednesday, November 7, 2012. The idea is that during that first year of blogging, it's hard to build your audience. Your favorite posts languish with no comments. People don't really read your blog yet, so your start-up posts with all those brilliant thoughts get neglected. Doomed to a dusty grave in some obscure corner of cyberspace. The Resurrection Blogfest is an opportunity to resurrect some of your posts from your first year of blogging! A blast from the past, as it were. I'm really excited, myself -- although I will admit, some of the stuff my overenthusiastic first-time-blogger 18-year-old self wrote makes me wince. :P There's also a contest and a giveaway, judged by Mina and her lo...