Monday's recommendation on Tuesday...

I don't suppose spending the weekend at school rather then at home is a good excuse for having forgotten to post, but perhaps having to do a couple of sheets of homework is.
In any case, let's stop with all the chit-chat and give you your recommendation!

The 'Warriors' series: Book 1-6
by Erin Hunter

Alright, alright, they are children's books! But what books they are! I just have to recommend the Warrior series. In the art of Jean de la Fontaine, Hunter creates a mirror society of our own in the clans of the wild cats. Discover the amazing world that lies right next to ours and what our cats really do when they slip out of the house for a couple days.
We follow our main character, an adorable house cat as he ventures forth into the unknown and somehow becomes Firepaw of the Thunderclan, an apprentice in training to become a warrior.

Just for shits and giggles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWw7MhLyztw

Just thought I might give this all to you for a good laugh and an excellent Sunday evening activity.

Gotta love those classes

I just have to say, modern dancing will forever remain a mystery to me. I really, really...Really, can't understand what the hell they are doing! Especially when you are musically inclined and they aren't moving in the right rhythm then you just feel like giving them a big wallop. But oh well, amazing painting, amazing sketches and all for free thanks to the loveliness of being young and being alive!

BTW

                                           HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

To make sure you know

Alright so I just need you all to know this. No matter what you hear, or where you heart it from. The Latest Harry Potter movie was... Brilliant! Beautiful cinematography and great development of half of a book I was really wondering how they were going to do. If you have read the books or not you will be touched by the human aspect of this movie and how well it describes the relationships between the characters after all the other adventures they had together and how they face the big bad. All I can say is a big thumbs up and a great cry of despair in having to wait for the next movie!

Monday's recommendation

I don't know if it's unorthodox to recommend a romance novel but gosh darn it I am going to recommend this one!

What an Earl wants
By Shirley Karr

This is the typical battle of the sexes story. Romance soars when our seductive hero, Quincy , gets hired by Lord Sinclair as his... Secretary? A job only given to men during this period piece but what Lord Sinclair doesn't know is that his new secretary isn't everything he... or she seems.
A great read and a really fun writing style, you'll be pulled in by the witty characters and the forever matchmaking household of Lord Sinclair.

Christmas!

Don't you love the Christmas season?! I (just a bit) go crazy for Christmas! This year I am going all the way with presents created by yours truly and decorations... Because apparently I don't have any homework (this is not true! I must be stopped!).
Anyway I thought I would share some thoughts on little amazing decorations that I was inspired by off of internet. I don't remember where exactly I got these but isn't it such a great idea? And it saves so much money on all those store bought decorations. Bring on the glue, newspapers and a whole lot of colors and props!

Class?

I've always been a bit wary of plays that are either recommended or forced to attend to by teachers. After having a couple of bad encounters with characters that would spit up blood and do other things that came out of their bodies...*shudder* I've always expected the worst.
Tonight however, I was pleasantly surprised and spent a nice time at a great play (even ending the play with Arcade of Fire). The play was an American turn on Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and kind of happens in the late sixties, everyone wearing suits. It was actually really well done and I recommend it to anyone in France, and I think is plays in the US too!

Haircuts, haircuts, haircuts

Doesn't getting a haircut seem like such a big deal when really it isn't.... completely. I'm pretty OK with the whole cut it all off till it's 'man' short even if it's super long, and even when I get those worried looks from the hairdresser and the couple dozens of times that they ask "Are you sure?" before they take that fatal first snip. I love short and long so the ginat leaps from one to another are fun more then disconcerting to me. The one thing that freaks me out is trying a new style...
You know when you think about, maybe I should get it more curly-like, and then you imagine yourself with a poodle on a head instead of your hair and you get those inner shivers that make your skin crawl. Then you want to be original but not to the point that you have to make an effort every morning and if you don't you're that creep that has 'that haircut' but doesn't take the time for it. Like the emo/punk only considered emo because his mohawk is hanging off of his nose. Sigh... perhaps I think too much. Instead! Look at someone who always looked good.
I've always wanted hair like hers... maybe I'll try it and describe the dire consequences of my actions to you later.

Birthday present

For my birthday my lovely friend Jess gave me a ticket to a wonderful musical show! I was so excited I ran through the metro to get there and bumped into a few very irritated gentlemen that were wooed with a bright smile of uncontainable joy. Funny how infectious that is. They all gave me a big smile and a little giggle.
The show itself, Mozart-L'opera rock, was awesome. Kind of a musical turn on the movie Amadeus, it told the story of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and I thought all the songs were superbly done. One in particular, although the subject was... well suicide, was a really good song and I am ever tempted to purchase it! hehehe

I must add however that sometimes you find yourself a bit confused and wondering why this person is singing and who this person even is. But the story quickly catches itself up to remind you what the hell it's on about.

Monday's recommendation

Everyone might already know this one but just in case you've heard of the series on HBO and not the book then I recommend to you, The Sookie Stackhouse series or True Blood

The first book of which being,
Dead Until Dark
by Charlaine Harris

Now if you know the series then let me just tell you that the book, to me, has a more interesting plot line. There are some changes in the series that didn't make sense and, a big plus in my opinion, there is a lot more Sookie then any other characters in the book. The plot has started really diverging from the book in the third season where things are happening that the director is just making up.

For those who have not read the book or seen the series.
This book is about a young waitress who lives in the South (of the US) in a town called Bon Temps. She lives with her brother and her grandmother, her parents having died in a tragic car accident when she was still young. What differs from our world and hers is that two years prior to the beginning of the story, vampires have 'come out' and revealed to humans their existence. The reason for their forward behavior being the invention of 'True Blood' a perfect synthetic blood developed by a Japanese company. There are some countries where the vampires are rejected but in others they are accepted with a strict set of laws that have to be followed.
What makes our hero so different from a usual girl in a world full of vampires is that she has the power to read minds. Her power however, does not work on the immortal vampires. She finds herself entranced by a new man that has just moved 'back' into her town after a couple hundred years of absence. She finds that the peace of mind that she feels around him is just too good a chance to miss.

Searching for the right stuff

Searching through the net as I do, (and you know you do too!) I came upon a store that my friend had talked to me about and decided to take a look. The name of the thing is Muji and if you know Kinokuniya, and I sincerely hope you do, then you will LOVE this store. Not only does it have similar paper and notepad sets as Kinokuniya this place also has sets of traveling goodies, fashion nonsense and useful little arranging tools.
On the search as I am for Christmas goodies to slip under the tree this shop struck me as a piece of luck. Hopefully it'll help you too.

Isn't this the best idea ever?

It's a wall mounted CD player! Just pull the cord to start the CD and there are small buttons on the top to switch songs.

Drinking is bad

Here's a work I made about 'not doing something' that my teacher said wasn't understandable so here you go. A failed piece of homework.

Four day weekend

As it was the beginning of a four day weekend Thursday past my mother, brother and I decided that Disneyland (on Thursday and Friday) was a necessary action. So off we went. I ask for forgiveness for not posting anything during my time there but, you have to pay for internet and everyone knows that Disneyland, although the happiest place on Earth, is not the cheapest.
BUT! What a great time we did have! Granted it was cold, rainy and generally grim (Disneyland in Paris can do that) it made for some general laughs as we tromped along in our amazing ponchos that my ever ready mother saw fit to bring along. It was my little brother's first visit! (that he can remember) and we had a great time as we froze in lines and spent time waiting for it to be time to use a fast pass haha. Freezing I say because my mother and I had a t-shirt, a shirt, a thick wool sweater, a little less thick wool sweater, a coat, gloves and a scarf and a poncho. I even got myself a cowboy hat, the best hat ever against rain! I never knew but there it is for you.
All in all we had a great time, saw a few great shows and witnessed the lighting of the Christmas tree and the castle at night.

Discoveries!

Found the most amazing little 'passage' with the greatest shops inside. The Passage Jouffroy leads through an array of books that cover the walls and tables that line the walls on either side. You continues up a set of stairs and arrive in another hall filled with the greatest sets of shops. A shop where they make hollow books to stash your treasures in, a shop for toy houses and creative accessories to make bears and such (which was the shop I was going to called Pain D'épices hehehe) and a great bakery. Not to mention shop after shop of Christmas Decorations!!! This is an event in France since they don't really doll anything up, santa-style, for the great occasion that is X-mas.
In short, Greatest Discovery EVER!

                                          Pain d'épices

Monday's recommendation

It's really early in the morning and I'm wondering why I'm awake. Taking care of puppies feels like one big montage from the Beethoven movie, n°2.

Today's recommendation is:

The Belgariad
First book- Pawn of Prophecy
By David Eddings

This series of books tells the story of a young farm boy (of course) who discovers the power inside himself as he journeys to fight evil. Sound familiar? What makes this story special is that, accompanied by his aunt and his grandfather, Garion must recover the Orb of Aldur and fulfill a prophecy that was once forgotten.
Pretty usual fantasy plot but I really recommend this book for those fantasy lovers. The story has really good twists and turns and the main character is always on the same wave-length as the reader (even though sometimes that means we both need a little explaining from the other characters). I, unfortunately, thought the series went downhill at the fifth book so if you stop there I won't be the one to say no. In the stories defense however, the fifth book wraps up the story in ways and then starts again as though forced, if you read until it wraps up then you've got yourself an amazing series.

To shop the shops

An amazing day! (This is not a recent poster above but the Nimagine expo/selling place takes place every year).
As you can guess we went out to Nimagine to look through the tons of little shops. There is so much great, unique stuff and it's really difficult to choose which shop you want to spend all your money in (since nothing is really cheap). I brought my friend Jess, who's at my house for the weekend, and bought him an awesome shawl at the stand where I bought some pretty fabulous clothes. I also got new glasses! So excited!
All in all I was really happy that I spent the day with my two friends from my village (and consequently my youth) which has been a long time since.

Bonsai Madness!

Hello again! It is a happy person that greets you today! I am very pleased with myself (hahaha) but mostly I should be pleased with my amazing little bonsai that got through the rough moment and survived!
I've never taken care of plants but I now find myself with two bonsais and five little cactuses. My Chinese Orme went through a horrible moment and was dying to my great despair. It was potted all wrong by the shop so they could sell it in a tiny pot for cheaper but it really needed place for its roots to breath. I repotted it, risky as it may be at the start of the winter season, but I told myself if I didn't do it now it was going to die anyway. So I tried my best to do as instructed by the many books and bliss has been achieved as my little Orme is now thriving like never before! I'm so glad!
Here are a few, before and after of repotting and re...life I guess.

Birthday Treat

It's a bit late to bring this up perhaps but for my birthday I gave myself a little treat and was really happy with it! I had never made cupcakes before and they were from scratch (not a box thank you very much). So here I share with you the little treat I made that was thoroughly enjoyed by my little brother for my birthday.

Some of my work

Dear dearies!
I also want to share with you some of my work! I realize I have never shown any of my editing on my blog so I think this time is as good as any. So here you are! One of my projects for my thesis class was to depict someone not doing something. I picked someone not getting fed.

Hobbies

Surprisingly enough, I am not much of a hobby person. I guess you can call my piano playing and horse-back riding hobbies but I am not someone who collects them like most of my friends. There isn't something that I'll go out of my way to do that requires an extra amount of work (I consider piano and riding as purely enjoyable moments).
However, not so long ago, I started sewing. I used to take sewing classes when I was young and enjoyed it tremendously! But there weren't any classes after I left America, the only land that has classes for everything. (Sometimes I wonder how anyone knows how to do anything in this country! Argh France!)
In any case! I have become a sewing fanatic! I have gone crazy, even to the point that stabbing myself in the finger is an enjoyment and a great part of the experience (I know. Something is terribly wrong!).
I just had to say this and exclaim my joy ti the world!
I will put up some pictures of my work soon!

Monday's recommendation on Tuesday...

Alrighty then! I have had a hectic weekend/first two days of the week. But! I must not neglect you! So here is yesterday's recommendation.

Mr. Darcy takes a Wife
by Linda Berdoll

Having read every Jane Austen novel and having gone crazy over all the adaptions by the BBC, I naturally turned or was turned along with my mother, towards the 'continuations' of Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice.
I have read quite a few of these and I can say some turn the story in ways I didn't much appreciate, or changed things from the real story which bothered me tremendously. Here I give you an amazing continuation! Not only does the story evolve in ways that are credible to the characters, the characters stay the way we have come to know them, and have lots of crazy twist and turns with our favorite bad guy Mr. Wickham, but also the story has a sexy side to it that will leave you craving for more alone time for the extremely busy Mr and Mrs. Darcy.