Fictional Reality

*taps mic* Hello hello? Anyone there? It's been a while since I've updated youtube. Much less updated this blog. But here I am, anyway, with a new video about reality in fiction. Enjoy?

Hunger Games & 2012

Firstly! I have an old~ish video of me flailing about the Hunger Games trailer and how much I love it. (Which is a lot.)



Then in a Top Ten Tuesday with my New Year's Reads, I list off my favorites from 2011 and releases I'm looking forward to in 2012!



2011 Favorites
- Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- Where She Went by Gayle Forman
- Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
- Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Anticipating in 2012!
- Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
- Velveteen by Danny Marks
- Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
- Fear by Michael Grant
- Severed Head Book by Robyn Schneider

In My Christmas Mailbox:
- Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Thanksgiving

Here's my last guest vlog for YARebels, talking about the things that I'm thankful for :)

Vices

Here I am, bumming around for a second week at the YARebels talking about my vices!



Secret: I spent pretty much the whole of Sunday filming/editing this because I kept having to refilm and re-edit. But because I am so very devoted to being a proper (or semi-proper) Rebel of the Month, I tried my best.

Anyway.

As of late, I've just been using my blog to mirror my youtube uploads and provide some extra commentary on the videos I've been making. Things that I feel nobody will want to read in the down bar, but because I talk a lot, need to go somewhere or my brain will explode with thoughts.

But I'm going to try doing other things with this blog like... blogging, maybe. And book reviews. And other fun things.

And lastely, a bit HELLO to my new followers! You're beautiful. All of you. Really.

NaNoWHYMo & the YARebels

It was two weeks ago I was looking at the date of the last video I'd uploaded and realized... oh. It's been a month ...and then I proceeded not to update, like the lame face I am. But I have PLANS now, youtube - and I will be updating more regularly. Probably.



Also. I have cloned myself.

I'd tried out for the YARebels over the summer when they opened up auditions. I didn't make it, but Gretchen (Monday on the channel) emailed me the day after asking if I'd be willing to substitute for her a day or two in October/November when she was busy. But when November rolled around, and Leah went into Busyland / NovelWritingLand / IHaveToDoMyJobToGetPaidLand they asked me to step in for the whole of November as Rebel of the Month. Which. Is undoubtably cool.

So yes. My clone will be making an appearance every Sunday during November on the collab channel the YARebels. Here's the first of its appearances! Better be quick to watch it, before it disappears into the wild again...



And, apparently, the plague of awkward thumbnails follows me no matter where I post. Sigh.

The Origin of Place

I dub this the unintentional video.

Friday night, my brain was about explode while I was furiously studying for an exam, so I decided to take a break and play with my new editing program. Which is why, if you are that attentive, you might've noticed that this video has a lot of footage that I already used in my Goodbye video (or that the footage just seemed completely random or boring, lol.) I originally made this video just to have fun poking around the cropping and positioning.

But as I synched it to music and watched the clips play out, I realized that there was a story there too. And unconciously, my mind started to form words around this story. So eventually, this video just spiraled into its own creation without me realizing it. It was kind of weird for me, since it's usually the other way around: I script first, and then I film. So this was an interesting and new experience for me.

Though I think some of the inspiration definitely came from marionhoney, owlssayhooot, and Hank Green from those videos of theirs, respectively.

I was a bit hesitant to post this video up, since it's so abstract and could be potentially boring to someone disinterested in philosophy (does this video count as philosophy? Perhaps I shouldn't get ahead of myself) or have short attention spans. But I thought I might just upload it anyway. And if you enjoyed it, I tip my hat to you.

Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher is a terrifying and amazing book. I gush about this book not because it is one of my favorites, but because it is so well-written and so sharp. Hits the nail right on the head, and then some.

I've read a lot of books that handle tough issues. But I always feel like those are elements of character to make it interesting (whether it be anorexia, cutting, etc.) But the question of sexuality in Almost Perfect is ingrained into the storyline. It is torn apart and reassembled and dissected and molded into the story. Katcher sucessfully divulges the black and the white. He makes us feel GUILTY - which, good writing can do.

Even though it's been a few months since I've read this book, sometimes I go back and think about what had happened and how I wish it could've gone differently. It's a very haunting and eerie book, that latches onto your mind and makes you think and think and think about it.

But, as I said - it is a bit of one of those in-between topics that some people may feel uncomfortable with, which is fine. But if you'd like a challenge yourself, or are genuinely just interested, this is an excellent book with an excellent story.