Image From This Month
"If you're ever gonna find a silver lining
It's gotta be a cloudy day
If you wanna fill your bottle up with lightning
You're gonna have to stand in the rain"
On the return flight during my unexpected trip to California (see below), there were several mix-ups, delays, and cancellations, which gave my family and I an extra 12 hours in SoCal. We were extremely bummed out and just wanted to go home, but we ended up heading to Venice Beach for a lovely dinner and walk during sunset which was so worth the flight mix-ups.
What did I read this month?
What Fun/Noteworthy Things Happened?
1. An Unexpected Trip to my Homeland | California ~ I know it seems like I got to California in every single one of my monthly wrap-ups, but I promise there isn't a (foreseeable) trip in April. Sadly, my best friend, Emma's (pictured above) grandfather passed away this month and the entire family and I made an emergency trip to California for the funeral. We were in there and out in less than 72 hours, and despite the reason for being there, I had a great time getting to know more of my family.
2. Forever is Composed of Now and I Seek a Great Perhaps | Wandering ~ I normally don't put books in as events of a certain month - mostly because I'm ALWAYS talking about books - but this is a special case. I FINALLY read/reviewed Paper Towns after watching the Trailer and am now completely obsessed with exploring, wandering, and discovering. Throughout the month of March, with my boyfriend by my side, I've been exploring Syracuse and all of the lovely nooks and crannies it has to offer including long walks in the cemetery and trespassing on my local golf course. I've probably walked 25 miles worth of Saturdays alone while traipsing all around his neighborhood and mine, and Paper Towns was yet another nudge I needed to live life in the moment and take chances.
3. Getting My Lay Butt off the Couch | Track ~ I've been "getting back into shape" for the past two inconsistent months of attempting to run a few miles here and there. Well wait no longer, because it is Track season which means I have practice and/or meets 5 days a week until June. It's been taking up a lot of my time lately and there has definitely been some juggling of my schedule to be done, but ti's overall been a lovely experience of learning, making new friends, and of course, running.
4. An End of an Era | Playwriting ~ You might remember my tried and failed attempt at a 10 week series of videos/blog posts called A Progression in Playwriting. There actually ended up being only 4 episodes, but there is always next session (perhaps "A Pondering In Poetry"). In short, I did make one grand wrap-up Progression in Playwriting just to gush about everything I learned about Playwriting and how much I valued the new experience.
5. Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.... | I mean "being busy" ~ I have to admit, I said that I would get out of my blogging/reading/YouTube slump in my February Warp-Up, but that didn't happen either. My excuse is the multiple projects/essays that were assigned this month (including a 25 page Screenplay of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein), Track Practice every day after school, and spending time with my boyfriend (they require a lot of attention, you know - JK :p) In all honesty, I have absolutely no excuse because my extracurricular activities related to reading are all conscious choices of mine to make and there is no one to blame for my busy schedule. I'm hoping that I will do better in April, but I've learned that I just can't beat myself up and attempting to spread myself too thin. I need to take some serious time for scheduling/prioritizing in the beginning of April, but there is also Spring Break to spend much-needed blog/YouTube Channel maintenance.
What Movies/TV was I obsessed with?
What music was I obsessed with?
Kacey Musgraves released her first new single since 2012, you can bet your bottom dollar that I spent the entire month listening to it on repeat. Biscuits has the same feel that "Blowin' Smoke" and "Follow Your Arrow" did, and I am so looking forward to a second full-length studio album from her.
I have to admit that I hadn't even heard this song until it was featured in the Paper Towns trailer, but it is definitely my most-listened to song of the month. I love its message, lyrics, and overall instrumentals and think it was PERFECTION to put it into the trailer.
I got overall obsessed with the dynamic duo known as Maddie & Tae this month (especially "Girl in a Country Song") and absolutely adore their harmonies as well as feminist lyrics.
Luke Bryan came out with another chart-topping country album this month and Games was its headlining single that I have listened to on repeat for way more hours than I care to admit.
Even though I haven't experienced what the story-teller has, I inexplicably related to the song so much and absolutely relished in the sound of Florida Georgia Line's more acoustic sound.
I actually wrote a review of last year's On the Record (both the episode and the soundtrack), and while I haven't (as of writing this blog post) watched the episode yet, I have been listening to the soundtrack avidly since the day of its release. I love how the stars of Nashville are their own artists themselves and sound amazing live.
What music was I obsessed with?
Kacey Musgraves released her first new single since 2012, you can bet your bottom dollar that I spent the entire month listening to it on repeat. Biscuits has the same feel that "Blowin' Smoke" and "Follow Your Arrow" did, and I am so looking forward to a second full-length studio album from her.
I have to admit that I hadn't even heard this song until it was featured in the Paper Towns trailer, but it is definitely my most-listened to song of the month. I love its message, lyrics, and overall instrumentals and think it was PERFECTION to put it into the trailer.
I got overall obsessed with the dynamic duo known as Maddie & Tae this month (especially "Girl in a Country Song") and absolutely adore their harmonies as well as feminist lyrics.
Luke Bryan came out with another chart-topping country album this month and Games was its headlining single that I have listened to on repeat for way more hours than I care to admit.
Even though I haven't experienced what the story-teller has, I inexplicably related to the song so much and absolutely relished in the sound of Florida Georgia Line's more acoustic sound.
I actually wrote a review of last year's On the Record (both the episode and the soundtrack), and while I haven't (as of writing this blog post) watched the episode yet, I have been listening to the soundtrack avidly since the day of its release. I love how the stars of Nashville are their own artists themselves and sound amazing live.
What was my favorite book?
What posts/videos am I proud of?
In this video I tackle the big question of "What do you want to be when you grow up," my hated for it, as well as the fact that I absolutely despise the fact that we live in a society that expects decisions on what will impact the rest of our lives done in haste then judges us.
The Paper Towns trailer dropped this month and I absolutely adored the trailer which was the final kick in the butt towards reading the darned book.
In this video I tackle the big question of "What do you want to be when you grow up," my hated for it, as well as the fact that I absolutely despise the fact that we live in a society that expects decisions on what will impact the rest of our lives done in haste then judges us.
The Paper Towns trailer dropped this month and I absolutely adored the trailer which was the final kick in the butt towards reading the darned book.
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| Lost In Translation |
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| The Role of "Pictures" in Young Adult Literature |
This post tackles the subject of what should be retained during a young adult novel's translation from its original language to another. We don't often consider what elements of story must be preserved and I had so much fun tacking the question.
In the 21st century, there are obviously pictures, drawings, and graphics in novels, but that doesn't make them "picture books" or "graphic novels." Sometimes they help readers visualize sequences, sometimes they provide comedic relief, or are essential to the story.
What was my favorite quote?
I did a compilation of my favorite quotes from Paper Towns and any one of those could be considered a favorite of this month. I also critically read Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein which had some of the most brilliant quotes I have ever read. But my favorite quote would have to be one by Emily Dickenson which I discovered because of (no surprise) Paper Towns. [Disclosure: I don't own this image]
When life gets busy, what do you do to relax?
Despite my many excuses for not being productive, I can still be classified as "busy." Life sometimes feels like it's going a mile a minute and is suddenly made up of sensory overload. When I need to relax or at least clear my head, I'll go on a run (you know, to overthink about everything I need to do) or take a shower, two very important things that at least put my life into perspective no matter how crazy I think I'm going.
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