Peeta Bread Humor

There's a meme (Internet running joke) for perspectives of college majors and career fields such as this one:

The two in the middle are my favorites.

Then this "What people think I do" meme spread to interests including literature. Here's one for Peeta from The Hunger Games:

Once again I like the mom one. haha.

I found another meme with Peeta and burnt bread:

The movie is coming out in March. Read the book beforehand. The rating is PG-13 so teenagers can enjoy it. Thus, some scenes will not make it to the screen including most likely the last death in the game which I am grateful it is not. I had no problem with that scene in the book, but I am fine not facing it again through another medium.

If you find funny The Hunger Games images, then I'd like to see them. They do not have to be Peeta. I just feel that I know that character better than Gale from the first two books.

Gamer's Valentine

Here's a Valentine I thought was cute and worth sharing:

The first two lines refer to iconic game characters.

Done with Poison

This cover shows the long nose bridge
just as described in the book.

I finished Poison by Chris Wooding.

The story is about a girl named Poison who feels alienated in her town even within her family, which now includes a new mother. Her baby sister, Azalea, is one of only two people that Poison is comfortable around. Therefore, when Azalea is kidnapped by the Phaerie Lord, Poison musters courage to leave her home and find Azalea. The result is an enlightening adventure that changes her perspective of the world and her life.

Once I finished the story, I felt satisfaction and uplifted because Poison found her place. =)


WARNING: There are big spoilers towards the end of this post. I will warn you again right before that part.




Throughout the book, the narrator sets up questions for the reader such as:

• Why was Posion's sister taken away?
• What is the significance of the spider Lady's dagger and does it wield a power?
• Who is the Hypotroth?
• How will Poison's story end?

Each answer carries weight in the story.

There were some elements that I have seen before, which happens more as you read more, but the experience did not feel repeated. Now that I think about it, Wooding may have used classic Fantasy elements on purpose. After all, Poison noticed how fairy tales strongly related to her adventure and for a reason!

I agree, Ron.

One of those elements was a giant spider like in
The Incredible Shrinking Man 
(Sci-fi not Fantasy), The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Outsmarting the spider was still suspenseful with some fun. Poison dreaded the Lady of the spider realm more than the spiders. My only repeated experience was that I was grossed out by a giant spider.

When Poison researches the scarecrow, I remembered Pennywise (from Stephen King's IT) in an album. I reread that particular scene for thrills, but by the next two chapters I forgot the scene. Wooding wisely reminds the reader of it during the scarecrow's reappearance.

As I said before, Katniss' attitude in The Hunger Games reminded of Poison, especially when describing their homes. I felt that Poison was for a younger age range than The Hunger Games until the story took a meta twist. =) Middle schoolers will be spellbound by the concept of meta-fiction and even adults will find it intriguing. As a quick definition, metafiction is a story within a story. A new definition I heard is fiction on the process of fiction because it is a story that covers storywriting. I won't say more. Wooding explained it for you in the story.

One problem I had with the book was that some lines sounded too fantastical. I had to reread them to grasp the action and meaning plus those lines were not necessary. When Poison traveled to new places, I ignored these fantastical lines after the first attempt. Sometimes a writer feels pressured to have clever lines, but the words need to flow with the rest. Otherwise readers lose their trance. Newsweek writer Elmore Leonard has stated, "If it sounds like writing I rewrite it."


The rest of this post mentions big spoilers because the scene discussed is close to the story's end. I will not list all details though.


The day after I finished reading Poison, I remembered a scene that struck me as odd for a hero, especially for young audiences. Throughout Poison's journey, she bluffs and taunts threats. With Aelthar, she tried to tone down her attitude, realizing that it can hurt her chances. But when she was stabbed, Poison did not watch her attitude. Had she not learned? Her life was threatened the most at this moment.  Even if she had felt almighty about her new role, Poison should know that her life was still at risk. She saw what happened to Melcheron.

I questioned if Poison should be considered suicidal at this point because she provoked her stabber to strike again, "'Finish it. The last laugh will be mine.'" I understood she was helpless in this moment and hurt badly, but shouldn't she at least want to live now? She had wanted to die before, but her role is different from that point.

I did enjoy the adventure though. And after the last line, I turned the page to a blank one and felt as if I had just experienced magic because the story actually ended at that line. Haha.

What did you think of Poison? How about that odd moment I mentioned?

Troy & Abed Shirt

I have a lot to blog about including Johnny Cupcakes! But for this post, I'm going to return to Megan Lara who has done Art Nouveau style T-shirts.

"Dope Adventures" T-shirt

Today on TeeFury.com, Megan Lara has a T-shirt of Troy and Abed from Community in the styled of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes."
At first I was a little disappointed that they don't look much like Troy and Abed. But then I thought about their relationship. Troy is the boyish innocent one while Abed is the rational one. So Megan Lara matched up the personalities well.

And then I looked at the details. If you know Troy and Abed, then you will appreciate the comic title "Kick-Puncher." =) They have also like blanket forts, and they now room in one in at the end of season 3. The little mug says "Special drink,"  which I think refers to Abed's chocolate milk recipe. So Megan Lara has succeeded in putting Troy and Abed elements in the "Calvin and Hobbes" setting.

You can get the shirt HERE for $10, but only for 8.5 more hours of today. The web page has a countdown for the duration of the shirt sale. Afterwards the shirt will no longer be sold at TeeFury. You will have to find the shirt on another website, which will sell the shirt for at least $20.

Here's a picture of "Calvin and Hobbes" for those of you who need an introduction to them:

Calvin and Hobbes

You can read the comic strips in book volumes now. Some adventures, including the great ones, last more than one strip. The names were chosen from philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes the tiger is actually a stuffed animal that Calvin imagines as a real tiger and his best friend.

There's no fooling myself now that I'm nostalgic and sentimental. I will get the shirt!

Reading Status

I am currently in between books right now.

Last week I finished reading Poison by Chris Wooding. I will talk more about Poison on a separate blog post. For now I will say that I enjoyed the adventure and the twists, but I am unsure of the heroine's attitude near the end.

After watching the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I started reading the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley. 

Ramona looks happier
in the books than in
the movie.

From the movie, I felt that the battles with each ex represented a boy's inner struggle when dating a girl on a higher level. He feels insecure about the previous relationships of the girl and hopes she won't see him as below them. So when Scott wins a fight, it can be a victory of self-esteem. 

In both the movie and the graphic novels, I crack up on the video game aspects including the pixelated Universal Studios opening. The graphic novels cover more than Scott's current relationships. I just finished vol. 2. 

One new release that I added to the top of my reading list is I, Robot: To Protect.

From glancing at a copy at the store, I thought someone just retold the story in their own style. However, from Amazon reviews, I saw that the book is a prequel to I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. One review states Dr. Susan Calvin is shown to become as she is in I, Robot. Now I am interested. =)

The other new release I want to read is The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson.

A blogger states that she loves the author Dickerson's evil villains and sense of danger in her stories. The Merchant's Daughter is similar to "Beauty and the Beast." This book seems to be about 2 main decisions.

The first decision is to be the lusty bailiff's wife or a disfigured man's temporary servant. You don't have to think too hard on that choice.

Because the heroine is a servant instead of a prisoner or an arranged guest, I think of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The second decision reminds me even more of Jane Eyre. The heroine has a spiritual dilemma: the path she chose for herself or God's true calling for her.







And finally, a friend recommended Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay to me for suspense.

How about you? What are you reading?

Umbrellas

It rained yesterday and I saw some pretty umbrellas. One umbrella that caught my eye was for its practicality:

The bubble clear umbrella

I have bumped regular umbrellas into branches. The bubble shape allows you to lower the umbrella for more cover without blocking your vision. Here's another clear umbrella approach for practicality:

I like the handle, but I worry about the strap around her neck.  What if you FELL?

The sight of umbrellas reminded of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, one of my favorite Fantasies, because the hero has an umbrella with a map of London Underground that he used as he walked. So as soon as I got on a computer, I searched to see if these umbrellas existed. They do. =)

London Underground map umbrella

There is also one for the Metro in Paris and a clear umbrella for the subway in New York:

New York subway map umbrella

Then I searched just clear umbrellas and saw some with designs like this one.

Fun in the rain!

My favorite is the one with fish, but three websites list it as unavailable.

Then I saw a blogger's cute umbrella that she decorated herself:

It's raining casts and dogs!

If I get a clear umbrella, I will follow this blogger's instructions. =)

I will end with one more umbrella:

Goggles Umbrella. Hahaha. Look at the top too.

Catching Fire: Likes & Dislikes

Hello. I felt guilty for most of December and so far in January, thinking I lacked a blog post for December. I did managed to write at least one blog though. December and probably November were busy for everyone--they were for me!

During that time, I finished Catching Fire (CF), the second book for The Hunger Games series. I can't say as much for that book as I did for the first one. First, I'll say what I liked, but there will be minor & major spoilers. I recommend that you have read at least up to Part 2 in Catching Fire:

• Character Interaction: Generally, I think I liked the interaction between Katniss and other characters better in CF. Darius became one of my favorite characters. As for Peeta, he was sweet and cute in the first book, but it was too mushy for me. He shows himself to be more than a love star in CF with his reactions and speeches.
• Revisiting District 12: I was happy to read about Katniss' hometown again. We get to learn more about characters such as Haymitch (a favorite of mine) and the district's history.
• Revisiting Mother/Daughter Relationship: In the first book, we immediately see how numb and hardened Katniss is from having to keep her family alive not just herself. Taking on this role caused her to dislike her mother. So I am pleased to see that with all essentials covered, Katniss makes an effort to understand her mother and have a better relationship. Katniss gets along better even with the cat!
• Twist in the Game (major spoilers!): When I first read that victors were safe for the rest of their lives, I saw a flaw for this dystopian society. The games demonstrate the authority's power over its subjects. Tributes are suppose to be examples of that power enforced, but the victors are actually examples of the districts' strength by beating the authority's obstacles and surviving. Allowing the victor such freedom and rewards in a dystopian society is illogical without a catch or at least behind-the-scenes punishment. Punishment is exactly what I expected and waited to read for Katniss and Peeta. Because the continued love story seemed to be the main punishment, I smiled from satisfaction and excitement when victors were re-entered into the games. I nodded my head to author Suzanne Collins for seeing that victors were a threat to the Capitol. I was also impressed with the game arena and that the cover of the book reflected it.

Wow. I am glad I decided to include spoilers because I had a lot to say for just those topics. I changed my blog title to the book's title and bumped off discussing other books.

Here are three problems I had with Catching Fire:

• Who is Katniss? After surviving the game, but no longer fighting to survive in the district, Katniss does not know herself in this book. Therefore, the reader does not get to know Katniss better other than circumstances and history. Readers may still sympathize for her because she feels trapped and confused. I realized that I missed Katniss when she re-entered the game. Her attitude may not be as strong as in the first game, but her will returned. In CF, Katniss' cluelessness expands to more than love so readers may get annoyed. If you caught on more than she did, then the ending will not be a confusing turn in events.
• Slow Burn (major spoilers!): I had expected enforced law, but the oppression felt too long for me to endure from Katniss' position and perspective. The plot starts to build once a certain character gets whipped, but then it draws on a bit. At this point, I took a break from the book because I was overwhelmed. When the new tributes were announced, I was thankful for the humor and thrill that was needed to balance the oppression, helplessness, and panic. The character Finnick contributed to this balance. He became one of my favorite characters. 
• CF Feels Like a Bridge: The second book felt mainly transitional. Without reading Mockingjay, I can tell that CF is the bridge between the first and last books. Therefore, I do not see CF as a book itself. The direction changes numerous times, but overall the plot is about transition as well. The Capitol returns to stronger enforcements and people figure out if they are rebels or not.  The rest is confusion and fear.

Family and friends have told me that Catching Fire was the long, boring book of the series. So you have to finish the second book in order to get to Mockingjay and decide if the first or last book is your favorite.

My family warned me before I started the series that it got harsh with each book. I read Catching Fire sooner than I planned to do so; therefore, I will not jumped to Mockingjay yet. I also heard that Mocking is brutal so I am encouraged more to take a break from the series.

I am still looking forward to The Hunger Games movie and still hoping that the social commentary is kept. =)

If Catching Fire is actually your favorite of the three books, please tell me what you thought of it.