Just for fun

I visited a blog recently of a girl I went to high school with, she had a link to this jewelry giveaway and in order to participate I need to link her to my blog... so here are the rules.  This jewelry is beautiful... I hope I win!

Just follow this link to Tickled Pink!  and you'll find the link to her new etsy shop Sass and Savvy Jewelry.  If you like what you see, you can enter too... but only until this Saturday!

UGLIES ***

So, I finished UGLIES by Scott Westerfield yesterday. It was a pretty good book. It was definitely an easy read with an interesting story, but it was lacking something for me. I wasn't totally involved with the characters and the story until perhaps the last section (its divided into 3 sections). The picture is Book 1 (UGLIES) and 2 (PRETTIES) of this 3 book series, the last book is called SPECIALS.

There were certainly things I enjoyed about the book. I really like science fiction, where an author has created some future for our (or other) world. It always intrigues me to see how imaginative an author can be while keeping it somewhat believable. This story takes place about 300 years from the time that the earth is nearly destroyed by humankind, that aspect of the story, to me, was fascinating. I also liked the main characters, Tally (I went back and forth while reading on whether to pronounce it with a long or short "A" sound), Shay and David. They weren't quite as captivating as other sci-fi characters for me, but they seemed real enough and I enjoyed my time with them.

There were things I didn't like about the book as well, most notably, the author seemed to have an agenda and the ending. Westerfield's agenda was mostly illustrated in his depiction of the "Rusties" (humankind before the earth's near death experience). I may be the only person that felt like he was trying to push some tree-hugging, but that was the impression I got. It frustrates me as a reader to feel like the author is using the story to manipulate me. The other thing I really disliked about the book was the ending. You know when you see a movie and its pretty good, but then the end isn't really the end... in order to see the real end you have to see the next movie... that is how this book ends. I feel like the author should just feel confident that he's written a good enough story that he's left the reader wanting more in such a way that will have to read the next one... not because the story isn't finished, but because the reader isn't finished. I don't know if that makes sense, but that is the best I can describe how I felt about the end of this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I don't feel like I've gained any great insights into humanity or into myself, but I enjoyed myself. I'd probably give it 3 out of 5 stars... meaning I liked it. And I will be reading the next books in the series if for no other reason than to get the rest of the story.

Other Fun Stuff

I volunteered to decorate a cake for our Relief Society Birthday Party.  I wanted to do something really springy and this is what I came up with.  I got a little carried away, but everyone oohed and awed, it was fun.  Not what I envisioned, but I liked it alright...and the really important part...the taste, was perfect!  Oh and it earned me the responsibility of teaching a cake decorating class next month.  Anybody have any great ideas for teaching?

I think what I liked best about the cake was the leaf border around the bottom, it was so much fun to make and I think it looked lush and delicious!

Many of you know that I love to make cards, well, these were some fun ones that I "mass" produced one afternoon... they were so easy!  Mass producing is great, because you just cut the same things repeatedly and then glue the same, etc.  Granted, they could have ended up cuter, but for the amount of time and energy I put into them I think they are fabulous!  Then you end up with a lot of cute, handmade cards you can use for any occasion!

Book Tag

Jeni just got her first tag and is really excited! She just tagged me with this interesting one...

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

Book: UGLIES by Scott Westerfield (my current read)
Sentence:

Tally collapsed onto the bed, covering her face with her hands and sobbing.

Tag: Terra, Liz, KellyAnne, Kim V., Camille

I haven't even gotten this far in the book yet, so I have no idea what Tally is so upset about.

If I didn't tag you and you're dying to do it, please do...if I did tag you and you hate being tagged, please accept my apologies and I will not hold it against you if I don't see this on your blog! ;o)

For book club in my ward last month we read Jane Eyre, we all had different editions and learned that each edition had a different number of pages...wouldn't it be funny if we all had this tag then...

Which Jane Austen Heroine are you?

I found this on a friend's blog and thought it was fun...check it out and post your results in the comments. I don't necessarily agree with this one, but many of the characteristics do fit. Maybe I was just in an emotional mood while taking the test.

Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Freakonomics Discussion ***

OK, so now you've read it (or are reading it) let the brawl begin...OK, no brawling actually, let's be nice to each other. :o) I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book and ideas presented therein.

Some of the questions may contain "spoilers" so I have indicated which chapter the question is dealing with if you really don't want to get any info about the content of the chapter before reading it.

• What is the purpose of the book?
  
• From the Introduction:Do you buy Levitt and Dubner's claim that conventional wisdom is often wrong? What is the role of conventional wisdom in society?
  
• From Chapter 1: Why do you think more parents at the Israeli day care came late after the financial penalty was added? Are their situations in your life where guilt is a better motivator than money?
  
• From Chapter 1: Do you believe Levitt and Dubner's findings about Chicago school teachers and sumo wrestlers cheating? Did the findings surprise you?
  
• From Chapter 2: How do you think the Internet is changing the information advantage of experts and secret societies (like real estate agents and the KKK)?
  
• From Chapter 3: Were you surprised by how similar the Black Disciples' organizational structure was to corporations like McDonalds? Why do you think people perceive drug dealers as well off financially?
  
• From Chapter 4: Do you buy Levitt and Dubner's argument that the drop in crime in the 1990s was the result of Roe v. Wade? What are the strengths and weaknesses of their argument?
  
• From Chapter 5 & 6: Do you agree that their is little parents can do to influence whether their children are successful? Do you think there are high-end and low-end names?
  
• Rate Freakonomics on a scale of one to five.
  

Remember, next month's book will be Scarlet Pimpernel, I'll try to post questions before the 15th!

Blogging Woes

I have had a few people have trouble accessing my blog since I change to my "cute" background...so I thought I'd change it to a regular blogger template and see if that fixes the problem.  Please let me know if you're having trouble or if this takes care of it!

Thanks!

April Book

Well, the people have spoken and the book this month is Freakonomics by Steven Levitt. I just finished it today and I think it will be a good discussion...that is, if you'll join me! It is a really easy read (I started it Sunday and only read while the kids were in bed for the night-keep in mind that this prego body of mine cannot stay awake very long while reading).

I do have to warn you that it has some controversial topics discussed and there are a couple of places that have bad language. To warn you in advance, the first happens in Chapter 2, How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? (page 70) in a conversation between two guys Kevin and Bob. Its not pertinent, so skip it if you'd like. The next chapter is Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms? In it there is a lot of discussion of gangs and there is a lot of bad language from their quotes. I'm sorry if you're terribly offended by our choice...I honestly didn't know the content when I suggested it, I'd just heard great things about it.

I hope you'll read this one, its not our typical read by any stretch of the imagination. It was quite enjoyable and offers some new perspectives to many subjects. And like I said, it should prove to be a great discussion. I'll post questions by April 8 and then you can respond as you read. Thanks for voting!

Oh, one last thing...since The Scarlet Pimpernel was such a close second (it really could have been a tie, if you read the comments to the post below) we'll plan on reading it in May! I'm going to go get my copy from the library this week.