"The Name's Bond. James Bond."

Although I am a devoted fan of Rowling's Harry Potter series and movies, my favorite movie would have to be Casino Royale. I can be a very laid-back, relaxed person at times. I prefer activities like kayaking, swimming, or running, none of which are contact exercises. Yet for some reason, this movie is one of those that I can watch over and over and still enjoy like it's my first time watching it. Last night my dad was flipping through the channels on the TV and this movie came up. The remote stopped clicking the "channel up" button as we watched this and I couldn't help but smile. I enjoy the high-speed chases, action, James's quick-wit and quiet deception, and the lavish lifestyle that 007 leads.
When I was younger, I used to play spy with random toy gadgets like light-up goggles, motion detectors, and wrist-watch walkie-talkies.I would try to uncover some non-existent top-secret information using these tools and my "detective knowledge" (of course I would always bend the story in my favor.) Maybe this is part of the reason I love this movie so much: I find their excessive intelligence exceedingly impressive. They combat their corrupted enemies with the well-thought out plots of this secret British intelligence agency. I always knew that I was no super-sleuth detective, but how can playing pretend hurt a kid?

Pay it Forward: Random Act of Publicity Week

We've always been told that it's better to give than receive, to pay it forward, and to essentially be generous to others. So why don't we do this in the writing world? Author Darcy Pattinson has addressed this issue with Random Acts of Publicity Week. From September 7-10, writers can participate in this "holiday" by reviewing friends' books on Goodreads, posting to their blogs, buying books, or doing generous things to promote others' works. September is always a productive month what with returning to school and work, so why shouldn't we all try to read a good book and post something nice about it somewhere, suggest it to a friend, or write a positive review on  Goodreads. So take some time now to read a book and prepare to pay it forward.

More details can be read on Darcy Pattinson's website. (Note, the banner displayed is Darcy's and does not belong to me.)

The Last Olympian= Gold Medal Success

Although it doesn't have to do with the Olympics, Rick Riordan's The Last Olympian is an outstanding book.
This book may have been a quick read, but I loved it. Rick Riordan describes his characters so well that they became clear people and images in my brain. Quite often when I read books I picture the characters looking like somebody I have seen before but with his series, I have always had a clear illustration of who the people are. They really pop off of the page and make the reader care about them and their multi-faceted personality. One character who I particularly liked was Hestia. She came off as a sweet girl but with great wisdom and values.


The ending was not in the least disappointing either. I was curious as to how Riordan would end his series. I was afraid that Percy was going to end up being the hero and somehow work the Great Prophecy so he is not defeated by Kronos. But I was more than happy with the twists in the ending, between Sliena's valiant death (another scene which was vivid in my mind) and Luke's ultimate sacrifice in the end when he realized that he had made a big mistake. The ending to this series is not at all cliché but still has a happy resolution that left me smiling. 5 out 5 stars!

(This is a link to my Goodreads account where you can find this review and others.)
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/118400964

D.E.A.R Time

This summer has been a rather dry one with little precipitation until yesterday morning when the clouds darkened over Massachusetts and poured rain over the parched ground. For the first time since June, we really felt the chilling effects of a crisp rain. Whether it be running through the weather for shelter or staying cooped inside with rainy day past times. With the warm and inviting weather of summer, I find myself spending much of my time occupied outside and being consistently active. I easily fall behind in my scheduled summer reading and am forced to stay up late at night to catch up. But with this wet weather, I have found more time to do one of the things I most love: reading.

Aside from quick errands, I have spent most of the past two days indoors reading.Without the bright sunshine illuminating the pages of my books and causing my wandering eyes to notice the gorgeous summer weather, I have gotten considerably ahead in my summer reading. With this obligation kept at bay, I then advanced to a book for my personal enjoyment. Since middle school, I have been a sucker for Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series. These books are very entertaining and a quick read; thus, I have zoomed through most of the last installment in just a matter of hours. It's easy to get lost in a great book, connect with the characters, and exist in the environment of the story. Time isn't an object when reading and it was soon seven o' clock at night in real life yet entire days had passed in Percy's quest. In this imaginative world, I have found solace in the rainy days of summer. Yet I think the rainy days may be the real comfort after a busy summer; it's nice to have time to relax, be lazy, and read a book.

The Alphabets

Yesterday I went to a book signing for Cecelia Lee's book, The Alphabets. I walked through the bookstore to the event room and found a table full of books food, and people surrounding it. I was introduced to some of the other attendees (one happening to be from another town and is best friends with one of my friends from camp) and bought a copy of her book. She casually signed it and returned it to me.

At the party, we talked about summer vacation, the upcoming school year, the school's track team, and our favorite video game characters from our childhood, a semi-unrelated yet intriguing topic. But after nibbling on a handful of chocolates, I had to leave for a dinner with my sister. All in all, the launch party was great and I can't wait to read the book. Good job Cecelia!

School's Out For Summer

School has indeed been out for summer. But now summer vacation is winding down and the low-key, relaxing days of summer are fading away as the beginning of the new school year approaches. I always find that these last days of vacation are filled with cramming summer reading into few spare moments, trying to fit in activities that I have wanted to do for the entire vacation, beginning sports practices, and searching for time to relax before returning to the scheduled life of school. The commitments of school activities begin to reappear as more e-mails and text messages fill every possible inbox with important information and dates to mark on the calendar. It's also a time of setting goals for the innovative fall season and preparing for what lies ahead with new beginnings and changes.
But why is it that we think this far ahead instead of savoring the week and a half that is left of summer vacation? It's tough to live in the present and enjoy where we are at any moment when we aren't under the constant pressures of work and school. Life can easily become scheduled and lose all sense of spontaneity. And once we return to these positions, there is little to no time to honestly relax. So why not kick back for these two weeks before Labor Day?

Deliver the Letter the Sooner the Better...

Although this poem brings me back to fourth grade reading class and Beverly Cleary's Dear Mr. Henshaw, I have always loved communicating by old fashioned snail mail. When I was younger, I loved to poke through the day's mail delivery in hopes of getting some letter or package addressed to me. More often than not I didn't have a single letter, until fourth grade when my cousin and I began to correspond as pen-pals after spending a week of our summer vacation together. We soon talked about everything through our letters and I would eagerly await the day when a letter would come addressed to me from Florida. It's such a novelty concept that I have grown up loving: a white truck drives to your house's box, drops off parcels, and moves on to the next house.

Snail mail is also a simple alternative to all of the new technology out these days. With all of the social networking media on the Internet, it becomes easy for people to lose that sincere and personal touch of a letter. At camp this year, I always anticipated checking my CIT mailbox for mail from friends and family. A letter reflects extra time given addressing the person to whom you're writing. Hand-written thank you cards, although sometimes a nuisance, are suggested for a reason. Why not try writing a friend a letter? Although, I wouldn't recommend putting the urgent and childish poem on the envelope.

Word of the day: Blog?

I've always thought that "blog" was an intriguing word. It's an odd name for a special type of website.

I love writing and am always looking for ways to write. Yesterday, I was a guest at a local author signing at a nearby bookstore and when talking to the other authors, I realized that blogging is a fantastic way to write. Between this, following my sister's blog, and trying to keep a little blog on my book website, I thought that I may as well give this blogging thing a shot. It seems like fun: writing about something, posting it on the Internet, and seeing if people read it. Even if not it seems like an entertaining way to write. If you've stumbled upon this, good job! I'm blindly stumbling into this new environment as well. I may write about anything really: writing, reading, the day, or whatever else is interesting enough to write and (hopefully) read about it.

Blog- it's an interesting word, but for an interesting concept.