Monday Inspiration

3 new songs to add to your playlists:

P!nk -- "Try"
YouTube / Amazon
Where there is desire
There is gonna be a flame
Where there is a flame
Someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns
Doesn't mean you're gonna die
You've gotta get up and try try try

fun. -- "Carry On"
YouTube / Amazon
Cause we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we're miles away
So we'll come
We will find our way home

Beyonce -- "I Was Here"
YouTube / Amazon
I will leave my mark so everyone will know
I was here...
I want to say I lived each day
Until I die
And know that I meant something in somebody's life
The hearts I have touched
Will be the proof that I leave
That I made a difference
And this world will see
I was here

Monday Inspiration

This is by far one of my favorite songs regardless of the mood I am in.  It always lifts me up.  I hope you may find the same when you listen to it!

"By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North

Why are you striving these days

Why are you trying to earn grace

Why are you crying

Let me lift up your face

Just don't turn away 

Why are you looking for love

Why are you still searching

As if I'm not enough

To where will you go child

Tell me where will you run

To where will you run

'Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you

Look at these hands at my side

They swallowed the grave on that night

When I drank the world's sin

So I could carry you in

And give you life 

I want to give you life

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you 

'Cause I, I love you

I want you to know

That I, yeah I'll love you

I'll never let you go, no, no

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you 

Here at my side, my hands are holding you

Ohhh...

My Current Playlist

1. "The Cello Song" by The Piano Guys : Amazon, YouTube
2. "Home" by Phillip Phillips : Amazon, YouTube
3. "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men : Amazon, YouTube
4. "Banner of Love" by Luminate : Amazon, YouTube
5. "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin : Amazon, YouTube
6. "When We Stand Together" by Nickelback : Amazon, YouTube
7. "Telling the World" by Taio Cruz : Amazon, YouTube
8. "I Was Here" by Beyoncé : Amazon, YouTube
9. "Some Nights" by fun. : Amazon, YouTube
10. "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk : Amazon, YouTube

Quick Critique of Socialpunk

As you might have read yesterday, Monica Leonelle loves creating fascinating hooks.  And, friends, she certainly did a great job doing that in Socialpunk.  Instantly I was hooked trying to figure out the world Ima, the protagonist, lives in and how the world came to be.  She lives in Chicago, but it's definitely not the world we know today, making this novel a Sci-fi edge-of-your-seat novel.  For that, I give her props.  She not-too-quickly unraveled details about The Dome, the characters, and the dystopian plot.

What I love in any book is the ability of the heroine to lift above herself and societal expectations do to what she knows is right.  Ima is a relatable character, in spite of the world she lives in (though, readers could argue about how The Dome has references and metaphors to our current world and society, something else I love about these types of books).

I couldn't help but be reminded of the Orwell-esque dynamics, which definitely was a driving factor for me being unable to put down the book, regardless of if it was Monica's intent.

Overall, this was a fast read without being too short that characters and backgrounds weren't explained properly.

I would have to say that until connections and stories started making since somewhere in the start of the middle of the book, it was a little bit slower of a read.  I think that is normal, though, as your brain has to take the details and information given to recreate the dystopian world in your head in order to better understand what the author is writing.

I thoroughly enjoy these type of novels and I am sure many will categorize this book with the Hunger Games trilogy (I have never read any of the Hunger Games books, but from what I see the Hunger Games has a similar premise).  

I can definitely believe that Monica loves fascinating hooks, the craft of James Cameron (and perhaps Christopher Nolan a little bit?), and that she is very well-organized because there were not any gaps in her storyline even though the fact that things were slowly unraveled could have made it easy to be left completely confused.  She does however understand the importance of reader interpretation!

I am looking forward to the remaining two novels in the Socialpunk trilogy: Socialmob and Socialhood.

Check out Monica Leonelle's website or buy her book on Amazon!

Favorite Movies About Love

Hello, friends.

Since it's Valentine's Day, I decided that I would share with you my top ten love stories that I never get sick of (in no particular order).  I am very critical when it comes to "chick flicks" and these are the ones that I have fallen in love with.  What are some of your all-time favorites?  =)

1. When Harry Met Sally
1. Harry Burns: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. 
2. The Princess Bride
1. Grandpa: Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End. 
2. Miracle Max: Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe 
   [smacks his lips]
   Miracle Max: they're so perky, I love that. 
3. Inigo Montoya: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. 
4. Westley: Hear this now: I will always come for you.
   Buttercup: But how can you be sure?
   Westley: This is true love - you think this happens every day? 
3. The Notebook (of course)
1. Young Noah: Well that's what we do, we fight... You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you're back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. 
   Young Allie: So what? 
   
   Young Noah: So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out. 
2. Young Noah: If you're a bird I'm a bird. 
3. Noah: I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough. 
4. Duke: That's my sweetheart in there. Wherever she is, that's where my home is. 
5. Duke: Science only goes so far and then comes God. 
4. Love Actually
1. Daniel: Tell her that you love her. 
   Sam: No way! Anyway, they fly tonight. 
   
   Daniel: Even better! Sam, you've got nothin' to lose, and you'll always regret it if you don't! I never told your mom enough. I should have told her everyday because she was perfect everyday. You've seen the films, kiddo. It ain't over 'til its over. 
5. Casablanca
1. Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 
2. Ilsa: Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time. 
3. Rick: Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine. 
6. The Quiet Man
1. Thornton: If anybody had told me six months ago that today I'd be in a graveyard in Innisfree with a girl like you that I'm just about to kiss, I'd have told 'em... 
   Mary Kate Danaher: Oh, but the kisses are a long way off yet! 
   Thornton: Huh? 
   Mary Kate Danaher: Well, we just started a-courtin', and next month, we, we start the walkin' out, and the month after that there'll be the threshin' parties, and the month after that... 
   Thornton: Nope. 
   Mary Kate Danaher: Well, maybe we won't have to wait that month... 
   Thornton: Yup. 
   Mary Kate Danaher: ...or for the threshin' parties... 
   Thornton: Nope. 
   Mary Kate Danaher: ...or for the walkin' out together... 
   Thornton: No. 
   Mary Kate Danaher: ...and so much the worse for you, Sean Thornton, for I feel the same way about it myself! 
   [They kiss. Thunder rolls] 
7. Dirty Dancing
1. Johnny: Nobody puts Baby in a corner. 
2. Johnny: I'll never be sorry. 
   Baby: Neither will I. 
8. He's Just Not That Into You
1. Alex: You're my exception. 
2. Ben: You may be the best friend I've ever had. 
3. Gigi: So what now I'm just supposed to turn from every guy who doesn't like me? 
   Alex: Uh. Yeah! 
   Gigi: There's not gonna be anybody left. 
4. Gigi: I may dissect each little thing and put myself out there so much but at least that means that I still care. Oh! You've think you won because women are expendable to you. You may not get hurt or make an ass of yourself that way but you don't fall in love that way either. You have not won. You're alone. I may do a lot of stupid shit but I'm still a lot closer to love than you are. 
9. City of Angels
1. Maggie Rice: I wait all day, just hoping for one more minute with you, and I don't even know you. 
2. Seth: I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it. One. 
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love
1. Jacob: I'm going to help you rediscover your manhood. Do you have any idea where you could have lost it? 
2. Cal: I'm so mad at you. I'm really mad at you for what you did. But I'm mad at myself too. Because I should not have jumped out of that car - I should have fought for you. Because you fight for your soul mates.

Weekend is here, time for good cheer?

Atlanta's own groundhog, General Beau Lee (I don't know which is better: that or Punxsutawney Phil) says that spring is around the corner... hooray!

So, my Wednesdays-Fridays are hectic, to say the least. I am not even at home for most of those days. Wednesday I have classes all day, I stay downtown with my friend, Thursday we have lab from 8am-1pm. Then I do various other things that need to be done. This typically consists of me running errands like I did this past Thursday. I got a lab coat and a sphygmomanometer (the instrument that checks your blood pressure, what you normally see when you go to the doctor every single time) and a super cute cat name badge holder for when I am in the hospital (I start this Thursday).

[Photo taken on iPhone using Instagram App.]

I joined From Aisle to Aloha's the Birthday Club because I thought it would be a fun thing to do. I sent my first birthday card last week to Ann-Margaret, a total sweetheart who I share some interests with, like TEA and PHOTOGRAPHY. Man, those are great pleasures in this girl's life. In fact, those are a big part of her life, too! She has a tea shoppe (how cute is the olde-time spelling?--yes, I went overboard there...) which I fully plan on taking advantage of. So, all in all, that was a brilliant idea for me to join & meet someone who can further my love of tea....& all the other wonderful things in life like our shared faith in Jesus.

Found this on Etsy that I thought was a delicate, feminine touch for Valentine's day coming up around the corner:

This is a Ruffled Princess Ring courtesy of CMVisionJewerly outside of Des Moines, Iowa.

P.S. I am kind of in love with the photography, as well.

Last bit of fun information, I watched The Social Network last night. I've been wanting to see it for awhile. I had a free movie rental from Amazon on Demand and I have been waiting for this movie to come out to use it. I heard great things about it, but couldn't quite understand the big to-do about it nominations-wise. Um, I understand now. I'm not sure about the Best Actor nomination, but the cinematography, the film editing, and the director Oscar nominations are pretty aptly given. I took a film class as an elective, so I tend to see things now that I never saw before (composition, editing styles, positioning, etc). I was very impressed with the editing and the cinematography of the film (something I know just everyone pays attention to, tehe). If you've seen the film, I am particularly talking about the Harvard rowing competition scene. Fellow photographers might be just as impressed. As far as the acting goes, I would say it was good and I was very impressed with how they told the story. As far as whether the film actually wins it's nominations.... well, it has some serious competition (Inception for cinematography and editing? It may not be as unique as the scene I mentioned, but it was still pretty amazing).

Overall, in my very unprofessional critical opinion, I'd give the film 5/5 stars just for the story-telling ability, 3/5 stars for how likely I am to watch the movie again.

Hope everyone has a delightful weekend.