More library blogs!

I know you think I've been neglecting you, Internet, and I totally have. But not really, because in the time that I haven't been writing lots and lots of posts for Twin Like Me, I have written 3 new posts for Pratt Chat, the official, award-winning blog of the Enoch Pratt Free Library! It's true, we won a Mobbie. Pretty exciting stuff. I'm going to put my award on the wall in my office.

The first one is about judging books by their covers, a time-honored (by me) practice. I was also excited by this one because I got 4 comments, which is a pretty good amount for our blog. BSP, please read these posts and comment.

The next one is about when I went to the Baltimore Book Festival and met famous authors. I tried to make it pretty professional, but if you want to hear a more accurate (read: sillier) version, I can tell you sometime.

The last one is about our new art wall at the library. I'm very pleased to say that this has been a success so far, and that it was totally my idea. Yay for the art wall! I'm currently planning our December wall. If you guys have any awesome ideas for the wall for future months, let me know!

Happy (late) Halloween! I made you these crafts.

So, I've been meaning to post pictures of my awesome Halloween crafts for quite some time (since September, when I actually made them), but I'm just now getting around to it. It was my birthday. I was busy. Just kidding, I was lazy. Anyhow, these awesome spiders are a craft that I made at Family Home Evening with a bunch of Young Single Adults. I've also made this craft with kids at the library, but I'm not gonna lie, I had a lot more luck with the grownups. They were able to follow the directions better.

This is my FHE spider. We had a special, Halloween themed craft pack, with festive pipe cleaners, puff balls, and googly eyes.

 The Spider I made at the library to show the kids how easy it was. It didn't work.

I also made these cute pumpkins out of old books. Don't be alarmed, they really were books that had seen better days. I was recycling them! Anyhow, basically, first you break the spine of the book so you can bend it all the way in half. Then you fold each page of the book in half. It takes a long time, but the one that turned out best was the one with about 500 pages. Then rip off the cover, and glue the spine together so the book is in a column shape. I painted the books orange and cut leaves out of the discarded covers that I painted green. Then I glued the leaves to the top and put a stick for the stems. Okay, I'm sure I just made it sound really hard, but it wasn't. Just time-consuming.

Ta da! Super cute and impressive.

 

My final crafty thing for the month was my costume. I'm a camper from Camp Half-Blood.  If you don't know what that is, Shame! JK, it's from Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Technically, I wasn't any specific camper, although I guess I could have been.

Should have cleaned my room before I took this picture.

 

This is a super easy costume, and people who've read the books will for sure know what you are. I took an orange t-shirt (that's what they wear at camp), printed a camp logo off the internet, and taped it to my shirt. I also wore a necklace of clay beads (which we made at a different FHE once), because campers always get a bead at the end of the summer if they survive. I made up great stories for each bead, deciding what we had done that summer. You can't really tell from the picture, but the beads are a blue flower (from the summer those Demeter kids were completely out of control), a pink star (from the summer that Poseidon's kids took us on an underwater field trip and we saw starfish), the moon (from when we had a quest on the moon), a flat blue and green disc (when we found out the Earth really is flat), a pink horn (the summer we killed that crazy unicorn), and a lemon (the year we had that lemonade stand). I also carried around a magic pen. If you can't tell that it's really a sword, then you're not a half-blood. Lucky you. And, of course, I have my super cute Rasta hat that my sister, Missy made for me. I mean, I borrowed it from one of the satyrs. They were them to hide their horns, I wore it because it was cold. The hat is definitely the hardest part of the costume, but since I have a generous and talented sister, it was no problem. You could leave that part out though.

There you have it. My Halloween. I hope you also had an excellent and craft holiday!

More from Pratt

So, I've still been kind of a slacker about this whole posting thing. But I've written two more blog posts for the library, and I'll link them here.

The first one, I'm pretty proud of. It's about the large amount of authors and illustrator's who've died in the last year or so. Seriously, it's starting to become alarming. Since this post was published, I think I've read about at least 1 more person dying, maybe 2. If I were an author or illustrator, I'd be getting a little nervous. To be fair, most of these people were really old, so that's some comfort. Read about it here!

The next one isn't as exciting. It's a back to school blog that was published on the first day of school. It's more of a "services we offer" type of thing, which leaves less room for my trademark wit (not really trademarked. I don't think that you can trademark your own personal speaking style, can you?). But still, hopefully it has some valuable information. Do your homework, you rotten kids!

Well, that's about it, although I have another post due this week. Hopefully, I'll also find time to do some posting here. I just made a very impressive looking craft that I'd like to show off, so that might end up on the blog. I'm sure that I'm also very exciting and interesting in other ways, so hopefully I'll figure out a fun way to show that on the internet.

Happy reading!

Introducing: Molly the Muppet! (Finally)

I know I said I would post about my Muppet that I got in NYC back in May. I lied. But I'm here now, ready and willing to share the joy with you, dear readers. So yeah, first things first, I named her Molly! Kind of in honor of everyone's favorite spunky redhead who's also a witch (so, not Anne of Green Gables, obvs.), Molly Weasley. Also, I like the name Molly.

I don't really remember what was going on here. Obviously, we're upset about something.

She's a super fun, super spunky Muppet/puppet. I'm still working on finding the perfect voice for her. Which is one reason why there's no video of us together, although you do get more from the live action rather than just the pics. Also, she's actually pretty hard to maneuver. As you can (maybe) tell from the pictures, the puppeteer (me, in this case) can work the mouth with one hand, much like a regular hand puppet. Except that she's really heavy duty, so if you have super wimpy hands, like I do, it's kind of hard to do. Also, one of her arms has a little wand thing attached to it, so the puppeteer can also move that arm around. I refer to her other arm (the non-wand one) as Molly's stroke arm, because she/we can't do anything with it.

 

Right arm is stroke arm. You can sort of see the wand handing down off the edge of my bed (it's that black line). You can also see that my walls and my bedspread are almost exactly the same color. Good times.

Also, she doesn't have legs. I think that typically, Muppets don't have legs because it's much easier to just show them on TV from the waist up, rather than making their legs move. But since I always carry her wherever she needs to go, I don't think she minds.

Anywhoodles, sometime I'll bring her to a family party and put on a show or something. Or at the very least, I'll do a show with her and have someone record it so you can see how she really moves. She has very bouncy hair that I'm actually quite jealous of. Aaaaaand now I've ended a sentence with a preposition. Bummer. I like to think that, while I'm at work, Molly and Zefron party it up in my room. He definitely needed to hang out with some new people. Or Muppets. In any case, I've got quite the little inanimate family to keep me company. You should all be jealous.

Holy cow, I'm the laziest

Hello familia, friends, and faithful blog readers. I know what you're thinking: "How can we faithfully read your blog if you never update it????" Good question. I have no idea why I suck so bad sometimes. Anywho, I have something that might help tide you over for a while, in case I keep being so lame. I have started writing for the official blog of the Enoch Pratt Free Library! It's called the Pratt Chat blog, and there are new posts pretty much every weekday. I contribute once a month. So far I've only had two entries (both awesome), but my third one is due in 2 days. Here you can see my contributor profile (you have to scroll down to find me). I'll also link you to the two posts I've done so far.

Here's one that I wrote about kids books! Surprise, surprise, right?

Here's the other one, which is about Curious George! You all remember my George blogs from last year, right? Right???

From now on, in addition to writing new and fabulous things for this blog, which may be more personal, and will certainly be less professional than my library blogs, I will share with you here whenever I do anything there. That way, at least once a month (but hopefully much more), you'll get something new from me. Virtual high five, everyone!

Hello, Newsies! What's New? Part 2

Aaaaaand we're back. After leaving Newsies on Friday night, we were all feeling pretty pumped. Also, really, really hungry, since we hadn't eaten since our Alice lunch, and it was now 10:30. So we went to Junior's, our favorite really busy place to buy cheeseburgers and cheesecake. Here the Muppet really came in handy, since it was a perfect ice breaker with our super cute waiter, Elias (alas, we did not get a picture). Trust us, he was cute. We also made the table next to us really, really jealous when our delicious dessert (I got the red velvet cheesecake) was brought out. At this point, it was almost 1 in the morning, and I for one was feeling pretty tired. Let's face it: We all were, and it led to a lot of hilarity and probably stupidity. It's hard to say for sure. We finally made it back to Brooklyn at two in the morning, and let me just say that it's a good thing that I was not by myself. The only thing I remember from the hour-long commute home was that a really, really ridiculously good-looking man was sitting a few seats away from us on the subway for a few minutes. Then he left. :(  So basically, Friday was the day we saw a whole lot of super good looking guys. I'm including almost the entire cast of Newsies in this.

Saturday, we slept in. We were tired! And even though it totally affected our main event of the day, I'd say it was worth it. The main event was going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Only, by the time we got there, the last ferry for Ellis Island had already departed. So, we made do with the Statue of Liberty. It was pretty cool. I've got to say, I really don't know these old-timey people made things! It's a giant copper statue, made in the time before awesome modern technology! It must have been really hard to do. I also learned some really valuable things while I was there. First of all, my motion sickness is out of control! I felt absolutely wretched on the ferry (and I thought all the people standing up to take pictures were nuts). And then I basically was dizzy for the rest of the day. I was fine when I was walking or on the subway, but any time we stopped moving, the world started swaying again. Blergh. I will definitely take some Dramamine before I go to Ellis Island. 

Larissa and me fighting seasickness. Unsuccessfully.

 

Also, do you know about the Statue of Liberty's foot pop? I never really before! I guess I never really thought about what the back of the statue looks like. Anywhoodles, I also bought my other souvenir at Liberty Island: A Statue of Liberty M key chain! My super fly Disney Princess key chain has been on the decline for some time now (all of the princesses have fallen off), so it was time for a change. I don't have a picture of it, but it's adorable. I wanted something with my name on it, but there was nothing. Why don't these touristy places listen to me? I would buy almost anything that said Meredith on it!

Foot pop!

 

If only we could have gone inside. This was still pretty cool.

 

After the Statue of Liberty, we went to the financial district (because it was right there). We wanted to go to the 9/11 memorial, but apparently you have to get tickets in advance, and we did not have the foresight to do that. Next time! So instead we saw the bull statue (and had to wait in line to take our picture with it). I don't know why they don't have a bear statue. Maybe it's bad luck? Then we went down actual Wall Street and saw the New York Stock Exchange from the outside. I must admit, it was a total surprise to me. I really expected somewhere totally different. We didn't see any occupiers, because I'm pretty sure the police keep clearing them out. That's cool, though. Seeing protesters and rallies always makes me feel uneasy.

 

On Facebook, I made a stupid joke about bull markets to go with this picture.

Wall Street!

 

Did any of you expect the New York Stock Exchange to look like this? Be honest.

We also saw Trinity Church! I know about it because of National Treasure. It might not be historically accurate, but it sure is educational! Unfortunately, we didn't get to explore underneath the church, so I have no idea if there really is a giant Masonic temple that used to hold the actual national treasure. I'm guessing no. Still, it was a really pretty church with a great graveyard. Alexander Hamilton is buried there! 

 It doesn't even need to be a National Treasure. I'd take any treasure at all!

 

Our final activity of the night was going to Coney Island. A word of advice to anyone else who might want to go: do not wait until after dark. It was kind of (super) creepy. I think it would have been fun to see the rides and the boardwalk and the beach when it was light, but when we went, all I could think was, "Haunted carnival! Creepy sea monsters! Litter!" I would have noticed the litter during the day too. It just seemed worse combined with everything else.

Even though it was dark and creepy, there were still a billion people there.

 

Doesn't this picture just scream, "HAUNTED CARNIVAL!!!"

 

Sunday was when we had to head home. Sad trombone. So we went to church and stopped by Prospect Park (Brooklyn's answer to Central Park). One of Niki's favorite movies is Wonderman starring Danny Kaye. Prospect Park plays a big part in that film, so we had to go. There was some sort of weird food festival going on, so there were a million people there. But we could tell that it's usually really nice. We especially liked the lake.

Me, all my stuff, and the lake at Prospect Park. And some ducks.

 

Then we went home. It had been a great weekend, and we were sad to leave. But at least we have awesome memories. And I have an awesome Muppet! More to follow about her next time.

Hello, Newsies! What's New? Part 1

That's right, faithful readers! It's time for me to tell you about my latest trip to the big city (New York for those keeping track). This time around, it was to see that classic of modern cinema, now turned into a delightful and successful Broadway show, Newsies!!! Also, we did other fun stuff, which I'll tell you about. The trick will be to get it in one post. I actually don't think I can, so more fun for you!

The fun adventure started at 6:00 on Friday morning, when Niki and I got up to get our bus. That part wasn't fun. Neither was the bus ride, because my seat was broken and kept reclining and moving back into its full upright position without any prompting from me. Also, when we stopped at Starbucks and I wanted a smoothie, they had no bananas! But we made it to the city in the end. The first thing we did after meeting with our friend and gracious host, Larissa, was go to an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant called Alice's Tea Cup. In preparation for this (and also because it was one of my New Year's Resolutions), I read both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. They are very, very weird books. I liked the first one, and parts of the second, but there's no denying the strangeness. The food was really good, especially my double chocolate scone (drool).

 

Nerds at FAO Schwarz. I am, of course, talking about the toys.

 

Then we walked around for a while, being lost and generally getting a little cranky because at least two of us were still carrying all of our worldly possessions around on our backs. But eventually we found what we were looking for, FAO Schwarz. FAO Schwarz is a giant toy store, so it's automatically awesome. It also has a huge candy section, which makes it even cooler. But what makes it the coolest is something we stumbled across in a moment of serendipity: The Muppet Whatnot Workshop. It's a place where you can design your own Muppet. And then they will make it for you! Of course I had to play with the sample Muppets for a while, and then I had to peruse the rest of the store, feeling torn, but in the end, I just had to get one. It didn't hurt that the salesman/Muppet maker was the ever dreamy William, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten one anyway. While my Muppet was in the works, we finally got to go to Brooklyn to drop off our things, and then it was back to FAO to get my very own Muppet. Alas, William wasn't there anymore, but my Muppet was. And in the words of my roommate, Kate, "She's fabulous!!!" It's true, she's pretty great. And it's a good thing, too, because I carried her around NYC in her clear backpack for the next seven hours.

 You can see William in this picture! Not the green one, or the one who's 12. The other one. 

We're FAAAABULOUS!!!

Next up was the main event: Newsies!!! I should probably say that earlier in the day we saw two nuns and a priest getting ice cream cones (not a joke). The reason I mention it is because we saw the same two nuns and a priest at Newsies! They seemed to be having a grand time. As well they should. The theater was packed. I didn't see a single empty seat. So, how does it compare to the movie? Well, it mostly has the same songs with a few additions. Jack's love interest (Les and David's sister) is gone, as is Brian Denton, the newspaper reporter. In there place is a spunky young lady reporter/love interest. And she's way better than what's-her-face from the movie. The only bad thing is that she and Jack sing a truly terrible love song in the middle of the show. Other than that, good times. The best thing about the play versus the movie is the sheer amazingness of the dancing. Words cannot describe how fantastic the dancing really is. After every big dance number, the applause was practically deafening, and it went on and on. Well deserved. Also, I saw three different So You Think You Can Dance alums in the show, which was very exciting: Evan Casprzak, Jess LeProtto, and Alex freakin' Wong. They did awesome. I was very proud. 

Yay!!! We can see the stage!

 

 

Aw, look how cute and excited we were! And the excitement lasted the whole time. 

Basically, the entire thing was fantastic, and if you ever get a chance, you MUST see it. They have once again extended the Broadway run (through November), but I'm also hoping that they'll take this sucker on tour. It would make a killing in Utah! 

Well you guys, I'm not even through with day one, and I'm tired out. Check back later in the week for more fun adventures in NYC!

Everybody's got a centaur?

I was just reading something that advised me to "Find my center, take a deep breath, and enjoy." Which of course, I read as "Find my centaur."  I would like to! Any suggestions of where I ought to look? Where does one find a centaur? Next question: Do I want a centaur??? What would I do with one? I guess it would depend a lot on how intelligent they are. If they're like the centaurs in Ella Enchanted, a centaur would make a good pet. If they're like the ones in Harry Potter, a centaur would just tell me something cryptic and then leave because, you know, I'm a human, and who needs that? If they're like the (bad) centaurs in Watersmeet, a book I just read, the centaur would capture me, torture me, and try to bite off my toes. I do not want to find that kind of centaur. Although I will give props to Watersmeet for having lady centaurs. Have you ever noticed that the centaurs are always men? I think we all know why, but still, it's pretty sexist. Just get those lady centaurs a shirt! And while we're at it, shouldn't the man centaurs start wearing shirts, too? Trust me world, some things should never be shirtless in public, for the good of us all.

It would be pretty awesome to have a faithful centaur companion, like a sidekick who was also half horse, if he or she were nice, and also cool, and wanted to be my friend. Because hopefully they might give me rides, and it would be good to be able to finally ask my centaur friend if it's weird to be a centaur. Do they feel kinship with horses? With humans? Both? Neither? Do they have to sleep standing up? If so, doesn't that make their human half tired? It's hard to sleep in a upright position. Also, it's kind of a bummer that they can't ride in cars or on airplanes or anything. What if they want to see the world? Do they have to gallop the whole way?

Anyhow, the point of this story is, I clearly have an overactive imagination and possibly too much time on my hands. And the need to share these things with other people. So there you go! Centaurs!

Yes, I am cool (a review of The Hunger Games, which I saw on opening day. Because I'm cool.)

Hello again, readers! I have been truly slacking off lately, but I'm here now, with my semiannual post (ha ha!). This time around, The Hunger Games! I have written about The Hunger Games before but this time, I am writing about the movie! Because I've seen it! And yes, I saw it on opening day (but not at midnight, because I'm old and tired and how is that fun???).

So, without further ado, and with no more gilding the lily my completely incoherent thoughts on The Hunger Games: The Movie!

Let's just get this out of the way first-none of the people cast in the movie look like they did in my imagination. And thank goodness for that. Otherwise, I would know that the casting director had BEEN INSIDE MY HEAD, which would completely and totally freak me out!!! So, we shall (mostly) forgo mentioning looks in favor of mentioning acting ability.

For instance: Caesar Flickerman, as played by Stanley Tucci, was not at all how I pictured. But he was fantastic. Easily my favorite part of the movie. Also, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket. Historically I find her (Elizabeth Banks) annoying, but I enjoyed the heck out of her parts of the film. So grood job, Elizabeth Banks.

Also amazing: Seneca Crane's Beard. I hope that it inspires facial hair fashion for years to come. Not amazing: Gale's non-beard. I've never pictured Gale with a beard, mind you. It's just that Liam Hemsworth (aka, the Lesser Hemsworth, aka Mr. Miley Cyrus) is so much cuter with a beard! Without one, his face looks unfinished. I hope Gale grows a beard for Catching Fire. Let's get this love triangle off the ground, people!

Another amazing thing: Prim. I knew that I'd be affected in the tear-duct region by Rue (and I was), but I've never felt too attached to Prim. But that little girl was tugging on the heart strings something fierce! I also really liked Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Since the entire book is in Katniss's head, she had to convey a lot of stuff without the use of us being omniscient or the use of voiceover (which, thank goodness! Voiceovers would have been terrible!). And she did a great job letting us get to know Katniss without a lot of dialogue.

I know what you're all wondering now. How short is Josh Hutcherson really? I have no idea. But I didn't spend the entire movie thinking that Peeta is totally shrimpy compared to Katniss. Actually, Peeta is probably my biggest disappointment from the movie. Not that he did a bad job. Au contraire! I was impressed! But! They really cut out a lot of his character development and his relationship to Katniss, which was a bummer. I'm hoping we'll get more of that in the next movie.

Okay, the next thing you're all wondering about is the violence. Am I right? And frankly, it is a violent movie. After all, it's a "24 kids fight to the death" type of thing. But considering that, it's not very violent at all! In my mind it was much more gruesome. I was super impressed by the way they killed off so many characters with such a minimum of onscreen violence.

So there you go! My overall thoughts-the book was better (of course), but the movie is still pretty good. It's a faithful vision of the book, and it will hopefully get more people excited about reading. Also, it will hopefully get someone really hot cast as Finnick. Fingers crossed!

I are reading!

Question: When's the last time I told you what to read?
Answer: I have no idea, which must mean that it was forever ago! Let's get to it!

Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Given my well documented (in my mind) hypothetical dislike for historical fiction, I normally wouldn't pick something like this up. I mean, it takes place in the 1960s! That almost qualifies as "back in the day!" (I don't think a single person who was there for the "back in the day" conversation reads this blog, but I'm leaving that joke anyway). But I needed to read it for the Maryland Mock Newbery, so I gave it a shot. I love this book. I laughed with sadness and happiness while reading this book. Doug is a character that you will love to read about. Bonus plug-since I recommended this book to my mom, she's read every book that Gary D. Schmidt has ever written!

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. I think it's safe to say that paranormal books for teens is a popular genre. Some might say an overdone genre. They wouldn't be wrong. So to find a book that totally fits the genre and finds something new and fresh to add was a pleasant surprise. An even better surprise was how much I loved the main character (the real test of a good paranormal book, since I usually wouldn't care if the protagonist died a terrible death. Sometimes I actively root for this to happen). More fun surprises: how funny it was, how much I believed in the romance, how enjoyable the mythology was. I'm looking forward to the rest of this trilogy (another point in its favor-it won't go on and on into eternity).

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. I might be a bit biased here, since I met the author (oh yeah, I'm cool. Just kidding, I'm the nerdiest. I should probably post about my swimfanning one of these days). Tuesdays is a great fantasy for younger readers, something I especially enjoyed since I've been sucked into so many dense and complicated fantasies lately. This is exactly the type of book elementary school me would have loved. Bonus: it's the first in a series! but not the frustrating kind that leaves you with a horrible cliffhanger.

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell. I love a good fairy tale retelling, and this one is one of the best I've read in a long time. It starts off as a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses (which is really popular right now) but it also includes some fascinating elements that I will not spoil here. Reveka is an engaging heroine, and the story is begging for a sequel. Just don't count on getting one too soon, since book 1 just came out.

Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger. The sequel to one of my favorite books of 2010, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. These book have a lot of Wimpy Kid appeal, with a nicer protagonist and more Star Wars references. They're funny and heartfelt, and they come with origami instructions! Come visit me at the library and I will show off my Origami Yoda. It's pretty impressive.

Chime by Franny Billingsley. I think this is a love it or hate it type of book. I love it, and I can't see why anyone wouldn't, but I've heard enough people who hate it to think it must be true. I do hate cover, though. Blech. Anywho, as to why I love it: the beautiful language, the believable and somewhat swoony romance, the super cool somewhat historical but also with magic setting, and the twin sister! Yay for twin sister!

 

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. Speaking of fairy tales...A fun and bloody revisiting of some of my favorite childhood fairy tales (and a few that I had never heard before). As a child, I would have loved this book for being gruesome (much like the original version of the tales). As an adult, I also love it for being a great book about childhood.

Pegasus by Robin McKinley. Longtime fans of Robin McKinley know that she has never written a sequel in her life. No, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword do not count. What a time for her to start! Her latest book, Pegasus, is gorgeous. This book reminded me why I love Robin McKinley in the first place. Alas, the story is not complete, however. This is the first of 3(!!!) parts! And who the heck knows when the next one will come out, let alone the last one. Still, I loved every single page, and I will be only too happy to continue the journey whenever the heck Pegasus parts II and III get released.

Foundling by D.M. Cornish. I  just praised Tuesdays at the Castle for being uncomplicated fantasy, so you might be confused to find this super dense, really complicated fantasy on my list. But it is so good! The whole Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy is fantastic, a snapshot of a world that is as real as our own. This isn't a trilogy for people who want every detail to play an important part in the overall plot. It's not a trilogy for people who want everything wrapped up in a tidy little bow at the end. It's mostly just a trilogy for people who like things that are amazingly wonderful. Bonus factor: illustrations!

The Enemy by Charlie Higson. This book freaked me out and totally wrecked me. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. I was disgusted and terrified most of the time I was reading it, and the rest of the time I was crying. What can you expect from a world where all the grownups are either dead or zombies who want to eat you? I haven't psyched myself up to read book 2 yet. I think maybe in the summer, when it's light for more of the day. Definitely don't read this one after dark.

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Let's say you're an 11 year old boy who's so tall that people often mistake you for an adult. What do you do? Correct them? Slouch so you look younger? Or do you ride the coolest amusement park rides, test drive a few cars, and then con your way into a space program? If you're Liam, you do the awesome stuff. But silliness aside, this is also a great book about what it means to be a grownup and a tribute to awesome dads. As someone with an awesome dad, I approve!

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey! That's not new! That came out before I was born!" True, but I just barely read it for the first time. And it's cuter, sweeter, and funnier than I ever thought it could be. I truly cannot wait to have kids, just so I can read them this book. There is a reason it's a classic, folks.

And there you have it! 12 books for 2012. Read on!

It's Hard to Say Goodbye

"It's hard to say goodbye." -Bryce Larkin, in the pilot episode of Chuck.

How prophetic those words turned out to be. Two weeks ago, in an epic 2-hour finale, Chuck signed off for good, after 5 seasons and 91 episodes. It's been an emotional journey (both for me and our hero, Chuck). Let's commemorate one of my favorite TV shows of all time (and I love TV, so that's saying something) with a list (hey, I also love lists!) of what I love about Chuck. If I can stop crying enough to actually write it. Okay, I've been "writing" this for some time now (I started the morning after it ended) so the tears have stopped and the nostalgia has set in full-time. Let's go!

1. The Cast. I initially checked out the show for Adam Baldwin, who so fantastically played Jayne in Firefly. And he's even better as Casey, the NSA agent with a million grunts. Pretty immediately, though, I realized that the whole cast was pretty special, from Yvonne Strahovski (who knew she's really Australian? She hides it well) to Ryan McPartlin, and of course, light of my life Zachary Levi. Not only are they genuinely good actors, I'm also pretty sure they'd be fun to hang out with.

2. The Characters. Captain Awesome, why are you not someone I know in real life? Jeff and Lester, I'm super glad that I don't know you in real life, but I enjoyed having you on my TV. Some I loved immediately, and some snuck up on me, but eventually, saying goodbye to the characters on Chuck was like saying goodbye to real-life friends (yes, I know that means I have no life).

3. The Guest Stars. Scott Bakula! Linda Hamilton! Timothy Dalton! Chevy Chase! Nicole Richie! Oh wait. JK, she was actually really good, because you're totally supposed to hate her character. Summer Glau, the Old Spice Guy, Tricia Helfer, I could go on. And on. Because Chuck has had a million awesome guest stars, from the super geeky to the super cool.

4. The Funny. Chuck is super funny. Probably funnier than most of half-hour comedies on TV. I can rely on Chuck for at least one good belly laugh per episode, usually more. It's honestly one of the happiest shows I've ever watched.

 5. The Serious. Which is not to say it doesn't know how to be serious. There are moments on the show that are heartbreaking and just plain tragic. It has made me cry! Not as much as it made me laugh, but for a funny show, Chuck really knew how to bring the drama.

6. The Action! Spies!!! I'm sure they're not really as much fun as Sarah, Casey, and Chuck are, but this is TV! There are car chases, fights, gun play, and more! True story, the only Emmys that Chuck has ever won are for the super awesome stunts. Also, Sarah Walker is my hero. My action hero. Har har!

7. The Music. Quick: name a current artist and their latest song! The chances that I've heard of them and actually know the song: pretty low. The chances of me searching for a song on the internet after I heard it on Chuck: much, much higher. The songs were always perfect and frequently cool enough that I could pretend very briefly to have music cred. Bonus points to Tim Jones, who wrote all the musical themes and the score, which could be beautiful, funny, scary, or all three at once.
          
8. Jeffster! Here's where I insert a picture of myself wearing a Jeffster! shirt. JK, I don't have a picture of myself wearing a Jeffster! shirt. But I do have a Jeffster! shirt, so someday it could exist. The world's creepiest cover band, with Lester on vocals and Jeff on keytar, Jeffster! has provided some of my favorite musical moments on the show, including a fantastic performance in the finale that had me laughing, cheering, and crying.

9. The Romance. Proof that having your main couple get together doesn't have to kill a show. It can make it awesome! When Chuck and Sarah finally got together, I cheered. When they got engaged, I cried. Yes, it's safe to say that I was crazy invested in the relationship of the fake people on my television. Whatever, it's romantic!

10. Rewatchable! In the 2 weeks since Chuck went off the air for good, I have watched 26 episodes Chuck. That's right, I started from the beginning, and I'm already halfway through season 2! And I still love it. In fact, I probably love it more now than I did before.

"I love you, Chuck. Nothing's ever going to change that."-Sarah Walker

Me too, Sarah. Me too. Thanks for five Awesome years, Chuck!

I'm being tested. HELP ME!!

I got a new calling at church a few weeks ago: I am now the Family Home Evening coordinator in my ward (for those of you keeping track, I'm also the Family History Consultant. Wheee!) Anywho, FHE is the calling I like to call "the soul crusher." It gives people nervous breakdowns. So I'm a little anxious. And wondering who has it in for me.

Since I still have my family history calling as well, you can bet that we're going to be doing some Family History FHEs. I also have a small selection of FHEs that I planned in grad school that we'll probably be pulling out. Still, I need more ideas! Anyone have any they would like to share? Some specs to help you out-the people attending are probably in their twenties or early thirties. They're single. They're mostly female. They range in number from 5 to 20, although if 20 people showed up to FHE, I'd probably die of shock.

Okay, friends and family. Now's the time to help me magnify my calling. Go!