Melissa, Olympics, Yellowstone and Theatre Thursday!

After many days of sanity threatening Walmart experiences, I'm finally taking some time off! Tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I'll be moving my car to Ames, Iowa where the enchanting Melissa lives. I just need to get through one more shift and I'm home free. I couldn't be more excited about it. I haven't been to Melissa's new apartment so I'm eager to see how she's living these days. If she lives with bugs...I'm visiting from the hotel. :) Melissa dislikes bugs almost as much as I do so I don't think this will be the case. While I'm at Melissa's, a little known sporting event will be getting started. I'm on the edge of my seat to see as much of the Olympics as humanly possible. Gymnastics, swimming, diving, rowing, running, basketball, volleyball....I love everything! I think I'll pass on trampoline and badminton but sign me up for everything else!

About a week after I get back from visiting Melissa, I begin an epic journey to Wyoming to enjoy its wonder and adventure. Yellowstone will be our home for about 8 days and I intend to make the most of it. I'm also very excited to hit up Elitch Gardens on the way. I haven't been on a roller coaster in many years and I can't wait to end that abstinence. I will definitely have stories to share after that trip. I can't imagine 6 people stuck in a van/tent for 10 days not having amazing stories. So get excited for Melissa, the Olympics, and Yellowstone. I've been waiting for this part of the summer since it started and now, it is all within my grasp! Muafafafafafa!

THEATER THURSDAY!!!

This week we will actually be talking about something I saw in theaters. I know that's what Movie Monday is for but I missed it and I really want to talk about this movie. So deal with it! The movie is (drum roll)........Dark Knight Rises.
Adrian, Phil, and I went to Sioux City on Monday to see this movie and I liked it quite a bit. Now that I've gotten over the fact that Christian Bale has to destroy his vocal cords as part of his epic heroism, he's finally grown on me. There were so many things about this movie that I liked and a couple that I didn't. Let's get started!

I really appreciated the ridiculously attractive cast. Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Daniel Sunjata...it was pretty much all good news. Even Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgen Freeman were rocking the attractive old guy thing. Can't lose!
I also loved that Marion Cotillard, turned out to be the bad guy. I totally didn't see it coming and she shifted effortlessly into an evil persona. She had conviction, passion, and explosive weapons. LOVED IT! I liked that the movie was a bit of a tear-jerker. If Michael Caine is crying, so am I. He is such an amazing actor and he really sucked me into everything. I adored Anne Hathaway as a pseudo-reformed bad girl. She really pulled it off. I didn't think she had it in her. I'll be interested to see the miracle of her pulling off Fantine in Les Mis...but that's an entirely different blog. I liked very much that they made Bane much cooler than he was in Batman & Robin. It wasn't hard, as that movie was an epic train wreck (sorry George!), but I was legitimately terrified of Bane. The bad guys have been so amazing under the guidance of Christopher Nolan. I'm a little sad that this will be the last one, but I think that it is good to go out with a bang. The Batman franchise will be revived again and again but I believe that this re-boot will always stand out as great.

That brings me into what I didn't like. If this was the last movie and they have no plans for more, why was there such an epic cliffhanger with the Robin character discovering the bat cave and Bruce Wayne not dying. It is too much for my fragile emotions to handle! I suppose if that is my biggest problem...it isn't so bad.

Pure

Goodreads Synopsis:

 We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . . 
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

 Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . . 
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

 When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.


Pure by Julianna Baggott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a very long time to read this book. More time than any other book that I've ever read. Normally, it would be because I didn't like it and was dragging my way through it. This time it was because I finally burned myself out on dystopic novels. I'm taking an official break from them now that I've finally finished this.

That being said, the book was quite good. It was interesting and had something different about it that set it slightly apart from every other novel of its kind. It wasn't completely set around teen romance (which is a relief). I really cared about the characters and their well being and I was kept on my toes for the most part. There was a lot of things that I could see coming because they followed the basic form of "dystopic teen book 101", but there was also some amazing imagery and genuinely creative ideas. The writing style was easy to follow and everything was well developed. It ended in a way that made it clear that there was more to come and that it was going to be good.

The extensive time period that it took for me to read the book might be marring my judgement but I really can't think of anything that I didn't like about it. I'll definitely pick up the next one and I expect great things from Julianna Baggott in the future.

View all my reviews

Long Time!

So I've been away for a while. No worries! I'm still alive. Woohoo!! My laptop died an unexpected death and I'm in the process of working my fanny off to buy a new one. In the meantime, my access to the internet is sporadic at best. Hopefully the four people who read these blogs will be patient and stick with me. :D

I just finished moving out of my house and am in the process of being a nomad. I'm staying at Ashley and Brie's right now and then will be staying with Erin after I get back from Yellowstone. After that, I'm moving to Chicago with Kenny and will be reunited with the kitten loves of my life and stability...and internet and cable. Can't wait for that!

In the meantime, it's just me and Oscar-fish. We are sad and lonely but we do what we can. I'll update whenever possible and let everyone know how Wal-mart is. I know that everyone wants to know that. :)

Stick with me peeps!!!