August Poll

The percent bar cut the end of the second option off. It reads, "good, but not my favorite."

Oprah's Book Club

What do all Oprah's-Book-Club books have in common? The price tag. Any published work stamped with the famous "O" automatically costs a couple more dollars. Typically classics are cheap, or at least less expensive than newly released paperbacks, but William Faulkner's Light In August is $11.16. Some other pricey titles include As I Lay Dying ($10.36) and The Sound and the Fury ($9.46) by William Faulkner, One Hundred Years Of Solitude ($10.17) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cry the Beloved Country ($10.20) by Alan Paton, and Middlesex ($8.99) by Jeffrey Eugenides. These numbers are fairly reasonable when you consider the price of a hardcover book, but these are the prices of paperbacks. It's ridiculous! In 2002, an copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy was a reasonable $6.95. Ever since 2004, the year it was added to Oprah's list, a paperback edition has been $10.88. Coincidence? I think not!

Disclaimer:
I have nothing against Oprah. I've only seen her show twice, but that has more to do with my distaste for TV than it does Oprah herself. I admire her because she uses her fame to do so many good things. Look how many people are reading and talking about literature thanks to her book club. I just wish the book publishers would stop trying to make a fortune off her. It's drilling a deep hole in my wallet. I suppose I could go to the library, but it's very difficult for me to get through a book without writing in it. Something tells me the library wouldn't appreciate my annotations.

Birthdays

Happy twelfth birthday Molly! You're my favorite sister ever!

My birthday was last Thursday, the 23rd. Coolest thing about being seventeen: I can buy R rated movies now. Whoot!

Thank You's

Mom and dad bought me this really handy ipod docking station. It's called iHome. I really love having music playing in the morning as I get ready. When I first got my iPod, I tried putting using headphones, but that makes getting dressed and showering really difficult. iHome's so much more practical. Thanks guys.

Stevie () knows me so well. I've been trying to collect framed stuff to put on my walls. The harry potter photo is perfect. I've been wanting Ulysses by James Joyce for a long time. It'll probably take me till my next birthday to finish though.

I still haven't figured out how I'm going to spend the money my grandparents and other extended family gave me. More than likely it'll fund my expensive habit of eating out. If I were smart, I'd save it for my trip to Germany next summer... we'll see how that goes.

Eclipse

I think the author sums it up best:

"If Twilight is about finding true love and New Moon is about loosing true love, then Eclipse is about choosing true love." Stephenie Meyer

Even with both Edward and Jacob defending her, Bella can't keep out of trouble. She once again is threatened by a vendetta yet to be filled. While police search for possibly the most dangerous mass murderer in history, the Cullen's (plus Bella) know that there's nothing human behind these attacks. As the book progresses, the mystery in Seattle is revealed to have little to do with a vampire's empty stomach and a lot to do with Bella and Edward. Despite the danger, time ticks on and Bella's graduation is getting nearer and nearer, along with the potential end of her human life. On top of the stress of final exams, college applications, graduation, and being slaughtered by evil vampires, Bella comes to realize she can't make her best friend Jacob, a werewolf, and her boyfriend Edward, a vampire, tolerate one another. It's time to choose between her human life with Jacob and her soon to be eternal life with the family she loves and desperately wants to be a part of.

This book is by far the funniest Stephenie Meyer novel yet. Edward and Jacob grudgingly work together for the first time, creating a comedic tension like nothing we've seen before. Edward's ability to read minds combined with Jacob's sense of humor and jealousy provides for some very fun scenes. It's really great having both the characters together. Before, when I wanted to read Jacob, I'd pick up New Moon and when I wanted read Edward, I'd read Twilight. Now I can have the best of both worlds in one book.

At 640 pages, Eclipse is the longest book yet in the series. Even though it's big, I still managed to finish it in a little over a day. Eclipse (along with it's prequels) demands to be read. It's almost a physical thing; the book swallows you and before you know it you're on page 419. It doesn't feel like a long book, so it's a real gift when you realize you're half way through and you still have a delicious 300+ pages left.

So, in case you didn't catch the hint, I think you should read Eclipse (and Twilight and New Moon). The books are nothing short of pure pleasure. Go buy them all right now; you deserve it. =)

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I'd like to take this moment and brag about my meeting Stephenie Meyer last november at a book signing. I was lucky enough to get both Twilight and New Moon signed. I'd love to get Eclipse (along with Midnight Sun and Breaking Dawn, which haven't been published yet) signed too so I could have the entire set.

If you're already a Twilight fan, there's some really cool stuff on Stephenie's website. There are playlists that go along with each book and deleted chapters and scenes and glimpses at her to be published work (my favorite part).

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This was my 100th post on Wrinkled Thought. Whoot!

Yoshima Battles the Pink Robots

Yoshima Battles the Pink Robots is becoming a broadway musical. The albom, created by the band The Flaming Lips, is one of my all time favorites. Wayne Coyne, the lead singer, guitarist, and principle songwriter for the band said this:

"There's the real world and then there's this fantastical world. This girl, the Yoshimi character, is dying of something. And these two guys are battling to come visit her in the hospital. And as one of the boyfriends envisions trying to save the girl, he enters this other dimension where Yoshimi is this Japanese warrior and the pink robots are an incarnation of her disease. It's almost like the disease has to win in order for her soul to survive. Or something like that."

Both musicals and The Flaming Lips are always great so the combination is perfect. The plot sounds really interesting. I've had so much fun imagining what the costumes and props and all that will look like. Can't wait to see how it turns out (if I see it live). I suppose if it doesn't come to a town nearby (i.e. Nashville, Atlanta) I can always watch the YouTube Videos, but somehow I feel like that wouldn't be quite the same.

First Day of School

Today was my last first day of school (excluding college) ever!

My schedule:

1. Wind Ensemble
2. English IV AP
3. Government/Economics Honors
4. Directed Study
5. Journalism
6. Lunch/Homeroom
7. Statistics AP
8. Theatre IV

I think it's going to be a good year.

Summer Reading Procrastination

For a long time I looked forward to summer reading. Rarely, in my high school career, have I been assigned a book not worthy of my time (the exceptions being Lance Armstrong's Every Second Counts and the cheese-ball 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens). Though every year, towards the closing days of summer, I begin to realize I still haven't made much progress in my assignments. Summer reading is a very stressful ritual. The intentions, of coarse, are admirable, but the project itself is the source of so much unnecessary worrying. I shouldn't complain because I did sign up for A.P. English 4 knowing that I'd have an easier time in the honors or standard classes, but this is my blog and I say what I want(!), even if my unhappiness is self imposed. If you think that finishing only two books in an entire summer vacation would not be very challenging, you'd be wrong. With mission trips, summer camps, and all the opportunity to spend this newly acquired leisure time to read books you've been meaning to get to for ages (along with the release of the long awaited Harry Potter 7), summer reading becomes very unappealing. With only a day and a half until school starts, I'm still not even close to being through. It's strange that a person who is so addicted to books waited to the last minute to complete her dream homework assignment: reading and journaling about truly amazing literature. Mrs. Sniderman's A.P. English students were instructed to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and write a journal as well as reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster and responding to some questions that help us apply what we learned. I'm only half way through A Prayer for Owen Meany, a book that's quickly working it's way up in my favorites list (this list is in my head; I have no actual recorded favorites list). As much as I love the book, I'm having a hard time motivating myself to read. There's hardly any time left before homework takes over my life again so it's difficult to sit down and work on something with such a strong stench of school. It's also an incredibly long book. How to Read Literature Like a Professor was stimulating and even managed to be mildly entertaining. I can tell it'll be a very useful reference in my future English classes, but I could have skipped over half of the book because the questions I've been given only apply to about eight chapters. I know I'd be better off reading the whole book because, in concept, summer reading is not about the grade, it's about the learning. Grades often can get in the way of learning, but that's really not the point I'm trying to make here. I could have done half the work and still completed the questions with the same quality as I will not having skipped chapters. Maybe I'll be lucky and we'll have a pop quiz with the unassigned chapters on it and I'll know exactly how to respond while the kids who skipped those parts will be caught off guard and, therefore, not do as well as their fellow classmates who actually read every page. MWAH HA HA (my interpretation of an evil laugh). We were also assigned to read both Genesis, Exodus, and one of the Gospels in order to pick out symbolism in literature. I'm ashamed to admit I blew this part of my summer reading off completely--well maybe not completely, but for the most part. I feel confident in my knowledge of Exodus having staffed at a camp for elementary students where the Exodus was the week's main focus as well as having been a member of the 'Exodus' unit at Affirm (an ELCA week long camp). Genesis, I've read, but I have to admit it's been a while. As for the Gospels, although I've never read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John in their entirety, I'm fairly certain that I've read or came across all the stories at some point in my life. I'm not one to sit down and read the bible chapter by chapter. I like to skip around a lot--find stories that inspire me. Not to mention, five years of volunteering at Vacation Bible School can teach you a lot.

Summer reading that was fun for me:

1. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (11th grade Great Books) For this book I just had to write an essay about my personal response to the book. I actually enjoy writing essays so this assignment was a dream: a classic novel and a chance to express my opinion about it creatively.
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (11th grade English) This has been my favorite summer assignment yet. I don't remember doing a project on it. I think we just had a quiz day one at school. I love this book and if it weren't for stupid summer reading it probably would have taken me a lot longer to discover it.
3. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (11th grade English) The second half of our English III summer reading was to read a nonfiction book and keep an analytical journal. This book was slow, but mesmerizing because every word is so articulate. I had a lot of fun picking at the language.
4. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (12th grade English) I love it; too bad I'm only half way through.
5. Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella (10th grade English) Our teacher set up this online discussion board for this book where we could all post our responses to the book while in the process of reading. It reminded me a lot of the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribean, and Star Wars fandom because it was so similar to the discussion boards that exist for these books/movies. It was a really cool set up because you were interacting with your classmates and it wasn't the typical quiz/essay.
6. Esperanza Rising by (7th grade English) I really don't remember much about my assignment or the book. I think I made a children's alphabet book with words I didn't know in the novel. I enjoy doing artistically demanding projects so this one was fun for me. The book was good too.

Summer reading I hated:

1. Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong (10th grade English) Luckily my English teacher hated this book too so we didn't have to do a project or anything. The book was assigned to all Williamson County students. I'm still not sure why. What a waste. They could have us reading Shakespeare or Dickens or John Irving, instead the school board assigns us a pile of profanities, shameless boasts and some trivial information about the Tour de France. I found myself to think a lot less of Mr. Armstrong after reading Every Second Counts.
2. 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey (9th grade English) This one was assigned by the school board too. It was extremely dull advise: do your homework, don't do drugs, be nice to the dorky kids. We've only heard all that about 65136813132 times before.
3. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (6th grade English) I hated reading when I was younger. I know it's hard to believe. Reading any book at age 10 or 11 would have been torture for me when I could be playing outside. The book may have been very good--I wouldn't know. Back then all books were boring.
4. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (7th grade English) I never finished this book. It was bad enough to compel me to buy something more less likely to make me fall asleep. The replacement turned out to be Esperanza Rising, which I've mentioned above.

That was a nice little break, but I should probably get back to work now. I don't think it's a coincidence this is significantly longer than my average post. I can't avoid finishing forever. Feel free to express your inevitable frustration with summer reading in the comments. There's no way I'm alone in this.

Senior Tee Shirts

I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Every year the band seniors make matching tee shirts to wear on what we call 'Senior Day' at band camp. (I know what you're thinking; I've heard it a million times. "This one time at band camp...") Only eight of our fifteen seniors showed up, but we managed to have fun anyway. I forgot to get a picture of the finished shirts, but here are some photos of the creative process: Nicolle, Robin and I went to Wal Mart to get supplies. We sort of over estimated on how much paint we'd need, so I suppose we'll be making some returns. Better to be safe then sorry.

Our shirt design was really cool. On the front we painted a magic eight ball because we're the class of 2008.

On the back we drew the blue triangle revealing your fortune with a list of all the shows each senior performed in.

Normally waiting for paint to dry is considered boring, but not with this group. Making shirts was a really great opportunity for all of us to reflect on the past week at band camp, as well as the last three years and discuss what's ahead for us too (namely college).

This is Robin and I discussing the correct technique for articulating on the clarinet. I was trying to show her that I play with the sides of my tongue touching my top teeth and it's the tip that hits the reed, but it was difficult to show her exactly what I meant because I typically don't play with my mouth open wide enough for her to examine the position of my tongue.

Josh is sort of new at this whole marching band thing. Last fall, he filled in for a trumpet player who quit. I think he's happy with his spontaneous decision. I know the rest of us are glad to have him.

This is Morgun demonstrating his Taekwondo skills. Not really, he just uses his hands a lot when he tells stories. Although, I did learn today that he and Rachel did take Taekwondo when they were younger.

Here's one of my favorite people ever, Rachel, wondering if she should pursue revenge on Robin and I after our pathetic attempt to tackle her. We wouldn't stand a chance, even two against one.

Lucky for us, she managed to stay benevolent.

Auggie

This is Auggie, short for August, the newest edition to our family. That's a grape he's eating. Isn't he gorgeous?