Rocky Reads The Blade Itself: Predictions.

Before I start the beginnings of this book, can I just say that getting the kindle app on my phone was the worst and best thing I've ever done? I've bought soo many books. Which is awesome! And terrible! It's awesome because, obviously, more books. But it's terrible because it's so easy and cheaper than buying the hard copy, that here I am, I've purchased 7 books in, oh, the past two weeks (6 of those in the past 8 days). It's terrible, really. And awesome. I should probably start using one of the three libraries I have access to.

Anyway. Here's what I know so far about The Blade Itself:

It's the first of the First Law trilogy.

Berserk loves it and recommended it to me years ago.

It's written by Joe Abercrombie.

It's very "down to earth."

Hm... It has lots of words in it.

There you go. I basically know nothing about it. So, that being said, it's time for me to make some predictions.

I predict...

We'll be introduced to the main character in the first chapter.

Someone will be trying to kill the main character by the end of the second chapter.

Five people will die by the end of the book.

The blade that's mentioned in the title will be mentioned in the book by the end of the third chapter.

The main character will need to find the blade before the antagonist does.

There will be a love interest that tries to stop the protagonist from achieving their goal.

For most of the book, the protagonist will be working alone against multiple villians.

The protagonist will trust a lot of people that end up working for the antagonist.

The book will not end on a happy note.

And now, I'm off to go read the first chapter. Or the prologue, if the book has one.

The way this works, after I read it, I'll come back and write my review, which will probably have summaries and will definitely have spoilers. If you've never read this book, you should in theory still be able to follow along with my reviews, but just know that if you then read the book later, you'll already know everything... Just so you're all warned. I'll be back in an hour or two with the first review I have. Yay!

Also, feel free to keep recommending books to me for Rocky Reads. I'll choose the order of them based on how glowing your recommendations are, and even if I start to get a hundred books that I won't have time to do a Rocky Reads for, I will definitely at least still read all the books anyone recommends.

Oh, and I know my blog name is Samara, but my COPE name is Rocky. And Rocky Reads sounds much better in my head than Samara Reads. In case you were wondering where Rocky came from.

Well. College it is, then.

I didn't get the teaching job I applied for. Lame lane. They actually didn't even review my application. I have a feeling that the jobs were posted for technicalities, not because they actually needed more teachers. I think they were probably waiting for some of the current teachers to get back to them for if they wanted to stay another year.

These things happen. It's kinda obnoxious, but at least I have a job now that I like. I'll apply again next year if it's open, and if I don't get it then, I'll just... stop? My praxis score is only good for two years, and I'm not about to dish out another $200 for a job I haven't gotten 2 years running.

As it stands, I'm taking 3 classes this fall. I actually had signed up for 6 classes (sign language, intro to criminalistics, intro to linguistics, a couple psych classes) but then I realized I wanted something a little more relaxed, and I looked at everything I was signed up for. The criminalistics class and its lab were both at really inconvenient times, so I had some weird schedule where I would have really early classes on MW, afternoon classes TR, and big giant gaps between classes everywhere. It was just begging for disaster.

Now all my classes are on MW. I'm taking dynamics of health from 2-3:15, ASL 2 from 3:30-4:45, and intro linguistics after a 45 min dinner break from 5:30-6:45. It should be lovely. That'll go Aug 19th to Dec 14th. And, theoretically, that will still give me enough time to write.

Speaking of, I've been reading a lot so far this summer, which is an exciting thing to say, considering I've only really been done with classes for a week. I finished reading the first three books in The Mortal Instruments. It's pretty good, perhaps a step above Hunger Games. I'm in the middle of Nightingale (72% through or something, actually) and it's interesting, but I have yet to realize what the main conflict of the story is. Unless it's just about Bron discovering his powers and having some girl problems. In which case, this is an incredibly lame book. I trust that it will get better as the series continues.

And then I'm reading a couple non fiction books-- What Every Body is Saying, which is fantastic and I love it, and Million Dollar Outlines, which is also fantastic and I love it. It's definitely helped me become a better outliner, but more than that, it's made me a much more critical reader. I actually have well informed opinions about books and writing in general.

Which leads me to two things. First, one of my friends suggested the possibility of me becoming a book editor, which would mandate that I switch to a linguistics major. I think that might be a kinda cool path. We'll see how this intro linguistics class goes this fall, and then I'll decide from there if I want to keep my major in chemistry or switch it, and from there I'll decide what I'm doing with my life. And second, I want to start a "Mark Reads" type thing.

I know I've explained what Mark does on Mark Reads before, but I'll reiterate here, just in case anyone's forgotten. Mark takes a book and reads it one chapter each day, then writes a review for each  chapter. He does the same thing for TV shows. He picks books he doesn't know anything about, and for that reason, no one can tell him anything about it. No spoilers of any kind. He makes predictions about the books, and it's fun to watch him experience these books fresh.

So I need suggestions! If I do this, I don't think it'll be quite a 1 day=1 chapter thing. Probably a 2 days=1 chapter thing. Maybe a 3 days=1 chapter thing. I'd like to start asap. The only thing is that I need a book to start with. I prefer it's a book that someone who reads my blog regularly has read before. And it needs to be one I haven't read before, and not in a series that I've read before. So comment with your suggestions! Don't tell me anything about the book, though. Just a title and author. If someone else has already suggested the book you want me to read, please please say that. The more of you that have read this book when I start it, the better. Or you're also welcome to read along with me and make predictions as I go.

Should it so happen that all y'all are slackers and don't give me any suggestions, I will probably not do this. I would just pick my own book, but that wouldn't be fun because I wouldn't know if any of you had read it before. And it's actually really fun to be able to read about someone else reading the book. It's kinda like reading it for the first time yourself again. Yes. So what book should I start for Samara Reads?


... Maybe this college path will be fun.

[[UPDATE: I changed the link that Mark Reads goes to, so now it's a post he's written about what he does. It just sums things up nicely and links you to some of his favorite posts he's written.]]

I'm baaaack...

[Maniacal laughter]

Sara gets home from Poland and Sweden on Friday! :D I'm so excited. She's only been gone for three weeks, but it will be a joyous occasion. We're going to celebrate by going rock climbing, where I hope she falls in love with the sport and then wants to be my new climbing partner, that way I can have just one friend who enjoys climbing. Just one. That's all I'm asking.

More importantly, we're going to celebrate by starting up Burger Rating Adventures take 2!
10 points to Deliciousness.
5 points to Freshness.
5 points to Juiciness.
5 points to Top-Notchness.
     (This is where things like greasiness will come in.)

It will be fantastic. Maybe we'll actually invest in some little notebooks we can rate with. :) yay!

And we'll eventually get back around to all the ones we've already tried, but we're starting with ones we haven't yet. Pete's Diner or Kitchen or something or Cherry Creek something is what we'll be trying next.

I would walk 500 miles.

Everyone remember this song? And this post?


I suppose this story actually starts quite a while ago. I think I was on facebook or something, and I came across some lovely lady's blog. It's called Can You Stay for Dinner. I thought it was incredibly interesting and fascinating. If you don't want to go through and read it, you don't have to. To sum up: it's a girl's blog who has struggled with her weight her entire life. She weighed like 250 lbs or something, and then she decided to change her life and she lost 130 lbs. It was largely done by realizing she likes running, and so she did that and ate healthier. She moved to Italy for a semester or year or something and didn't try restricting herself food-wise, but if there was ever anywhere she wanted to go, she walked there. Anywhere at all, she would walk.

Anyway, after a while, running stopped being fun for her. She was down to this nice weight, and she felt like if she stopped running, she'd gain all 130 lbs back, so she forced herself to run to the point that she wasn't happy anymore. Then she realized that she'd rather be happy and gain 5, 10, 15 lbs than be unhappy and thin. So she stopped running, (she might have still gone on walks every night, I can't recall) and she didn't actually gain any weight back at all. Sweet deal.

Then, I had this friend in high school who had some medical problems, and her doctors switched her from one birth control to another to another and yet another. So she gained a ton of weight, something like 60 lbs. Yet while I was in China, she lost 40 lbs of it, and has lost the last 15/20 lbs since, all just by going on walks with this kid she babysits. It's amazing! I was particularly impressed with her, because when I got back from China, I probably weighed the most I ever have in my life.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I was reading through some old blogs, and I found the 4 sub-goals I made! I seriously completely forgot about them like two weeks after I wrote that blog. Which is sad, because I think they were good goals. I'll have to write them down somewhere that I can see them more often. Then sometime last week, I bought 500 Miles on my phone and I was listening to it on repeat.

Probably part of the reason I really like the Can You Stay for Dinner story and my friend's story is because I'm incredibly lazy. It's an art, really. I know I should be better, but I'm pretty happy with my life, and I'm not interested in changing a lot. It's probably best if I try to become less lazy, but I've tried to deny my laziness, and I've made the plans countless times to do P90X and eat 100% healthy and blah blah blah, and it's never worked out. I've made it work for about a month at a time, and then it all goes downhill. So instead of denying my laziness, I'm embracing it. :)

Since I started working at the rec center, I've tried to go in and "run" on the elliptical (the lazy man's workout. Seriously. You don't even have to lift up your feet) for an hour 3ish times a week. Once school started up, I would read my psych textbook at the same time. I've been alright with that. Not awesome, but better than I've ever been with any exercise program before. The reason I'd ever not go in is because it feels super ridiculous to drive 7.5 miles away to use an incredible amount of electricity for an hour, and then drive 7.5 miles back. I mean, why? Why drive somewhere and use my gas to workout for an hour on a machine, then drive back? I should just run to the rec center and call that good!

But I never would do that. I tried running back in November. It went like this: I left the house, ran down the street and to the other side of the elementary school, then turned around and came home. Haha. It was like that status update on facebook. "I went running today, but had to go home after two minutes because I forgot something. I forgot I'm fat and lazy and can't run for more than two minutes." Basically that was my exact experience. It was hilarious. And sad. At the same time.

It wasn't until last week when I was listening to 500 Miles on repeat (though no road trip; I was just sitting on my bed) that I realized a new goal! This will replace goal #3. Because I now realize I'm so lazy that I will never do P90X. Or if I do, it is not in the foreseeable future. (Speaking of, if anyone wants to borrow my copy indefinitely, I'd be happy to let someone get some use out of it. They really are good exercises.) What if I walked 500 miles. Right? I mean, right? I downloaded an app that will track how many miles I walk/run/bike/hike/whatever and how fast I do it, and it keeps track of personal goals for me. So I haven't set a date for when I want to walk 500 miles by, but I have the goal. Maybe by the end of the summer? I don't know. I'm trying to pick something reasonable. End of the year?

So my 4 goals, with slight tweaks, are now:
1- Eat things that make me feel good. I truly believe that eating out is not always the worst thing for you. I love eating at Five Guys and Chick Fil A and Chipotle because I never feel like I killed my soul and body after eating there. (I don't get the same impression from Wendy's or Taco Bell or Good Times, though.) And I do like to cook occasionally, but I can cook crap that's not really good for me as well. So there's a balance, and I don't believe it's as cut and dry as "fast food" or "homecooked." And I think I have to trust how I feel after I eat something to determine if it was a good choice or not.
2- Drink enough water everyday. Yes. Nothing new to report here. Same concept, just reiterated because, as mentioned before, I completely forgot about all these 4 goals about 2 weeks after posting this blog before.
3- Walk 500 miles.
4- Go to sleep at a consistent time every night. This one changed for a couple reasons. I've been going to Old Chicago every Thursday, and last night for instance, I didn't leave until 1 in the morning. I didn't get home until 1:30. I didn't go to bed until 2:15. I wasn't up all night on my computer or anything, but I just straight up don't get home early enough for this to be a good rule, especially with school being over and me not having to wake up at 5:30 anymore. And secondly, I want to start writing this summer. I've been reading a lot more since school ended (yesterday, ha), and if I want to start actually writing this amazing book that I've got planned out in my head, maybe I'll want to be on the computer writing until 10, 11, midnight. And I think that's fine. As long as I'm consistently going to bed and waking up throughout the week, and not selling my soul to facebook in the process, I think it's ok for me to write later in the night/evening or read my books on my phone. Since summer just started, I'm not sure what time it is that I'll be going to bed, but I'll figure it out.

The end. Any thoughts? Advice? Warnings? Stories?

I'm a Hacker (the game).

Time to make your own music album cover!

1- Go to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) and choose "Random article" from the menu on the left. The first random wikipedia artilce you get is the name of your band.

2- Go to http://quotationspage.com/ and select "Random Quotes" from the menu on the left. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3- Go to flickr (http://www.flickr.com/explore) and change the time frame to include the last 7 days. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. (If you have a problem with getting one from flickr, try http://pintrist.com/categories/ and a general category and pick the third picture.)

4-Use photophoe or microsoft "paint" (already on all windows computers under Start; All Programs; Accessories) or a similar program to put it all together.

5- Post the finished album cover with these instructions.