Friends

1.) Are you a Nerdfighter?
2a.) If no, either go away or become one by watching the videos.
2b.) If yes (or if you are a fan of the YA author John Green), then watch the video below.



3.) Watched it yet?
4.) OMG YETIBABY YETIBABY YETIBABY!!

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No lie, as soon as I saw the crib, I had a major meltdown. Like, squealing with joy. I can't believe they kept it a secret for almost the entire time. I mean, the Yeti's due date is January 20th. That's freaking soon. I'm so happy for both of them, and I'm thrilled. Just thrilled. Willy can hush his mouth.

So, I was just watching John's BlogTV show on the subject, and he read an excerpt from one of his books-in-progress, a desert island story that just sounds amazing. I've determined that John is my life-spiration. I respect him on every possible level, and I just want to be a fraction as awesome as he is. D'aw.

Also, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is coming out in April (a book he cowrote with David Leviathan), the Paper Towns screenplay has been written and revised (although John warns not to get out hopes up for an actual movie), and I still need to read Let It Snow. I think I'll get it next time I'm out. Yeah.

Sorry. Just had to share that awesome. I get more fangirly over authors than celebrities, don't judge me.

+ I got to see The Princess and the Frog this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, it was everything I hoped it would be.

( Non-spoilery review... )

+ I don't know if I've mentioned it much here, but I freaking adore the Bartimaeus Trilogy.

( My brother just finished reading the last book... )

+ New art for Kiss of Death.


KOD: Think of You by *sunni-sideup on deviantART

Pretty, yes? XD I need to develop them so much more.

...I have Glee songs in my head...CURSES!

I'm going around to my Ranger Leaders house today to discuss my Queens Guide with her...I'm almost finished! =D YES. Even better, I get to meet her new baby boy, who is 2 weeks old.

Karate is finishing up for the year, which is sad. The good news is all nine of my students graded. We also are having a party for the last class of the year at every dojo I go to! +_+ I feel like I'm eating more junk food than doing exercise...!

Yesterday I got kicked into the table at karate. Sensei Rob kicked me! I flew in the air! It was like the scene from New Moon when Bella goes flying into the table, except the table didn't break. Everyone was like "are you okay?!" It was quite a scene really. Luckily I came off unscathed.

See you.
- Emma

[21] kristen stewart.
[18] marie antoinette.

Preview:

( L'Autrichienne... )

+ I just watched the season finale of Glee. No spoilers, promise. But it was amazing. I've had a lot of issues with this show while watching it. It mainly has to do with the writing: the inconsistent characters, the frantic pace, the episodic storylines... I have to admit that I was becoming somewhat disenchanted with it.

But the finale was so right. The tension built from the last episode (and really, I suppose, from over the entire season) and everything worked together flawlessly. I was really happy throughout because everything that made me fall in love with it in the first place was there. There were incredibly humorous moments, chill-inducing songs, and a storyline that was absolutely priceless. THE END. OH THE END. Such a perfect ending and yet... I need to know what happens next. Flawless.

( Very spoilery cap underneath. Don't click if you haven't seen it! )

And I just heard today that in the second season (I guess? It starts in April.) will feature Idina Menzel. I've been dying for her to be on this show. She's going to be the coach of Vocal Adrenaline. YES.

+ Exams. Uh, they're still happening. I have two on Friday, one on Monday, and then I can leave, finally. I'm so sick of this place. (Not that I don't love it. I've just caught myself with these totally vacant, Stewart!Bella looks on my face lately, and I am just tired.)


_{(I wasted like twenty minutes looking for this gif--I hope you're happy!)}

Anyway, so I'm studying mainly for history at the moment. I've determined that I can make an 80 on the final and still have an A+. And a lot of the questions I've already seen before. So not too many worries. Comm won't be bad, but I really do need to work on it a lot tomorrow. And... yeah. GOD, JUST A FEW MORE DAYS.

I would have totally enjoyed reading your Top 10 Everything of 2009. I was just reading your top choice for movies, which I was elated to find was The Princess and the Frog, which I will hopefully get to see within a week or so.

AND YOU FREAKING SPOILED THE ENDING.

No love,

Me

Question about writing:

What do you define as purple prose? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Does it include any kind of flowery description, or does it just occur when the writing overshadows the characters? Is it just stuff that's unnecessary? Melodramatic? Too poetic?

I'm kind of at a loss about finding the balance between pretty writing and plot writing, I guess. I've been trying to make my actual style much more poetic--and yes, at times, it verges on melodrama, but I generally believe that it's better to go all out first. Then you can rein in any poorly-conceived metaphors or descriptions that aren't accurate. And with really strong emotional scenes, you should probably go one of two ways: either use high-falutin' metaphors that do the best job of describing the emotion or leave it extremely bare, maybe surreptitiously indicating that words just aren't enough, and let the reader fill it in for themselves.

I mean, I don't think you should go too far in describing something that's irrelevant. Don't spend a paragraph going into excruciating detail about a flower pot that's never going to show up again. And I believe a lot of flowery writing lends itself more to melodramatic pathos than is entirely necessary sometimes. But we can't just cut out description altogether. I've seen a lot of people throw the term "purple prose" around to mean anything remotely poetic, and I just... don't get the distinction sometimes.

I guess what I'm asking is: would you consider this passage too over-the-top?

Mina wondered how it was possible that her bones could splinter of their own accord, dig down into her fingers and throat and knees, carving out scars that scraped her throat raw. She wondered how everything inside her could just crumple under the weight of a few words.

“What-what are you saying?” Her voice had broken, too—a thin, hairline fracture that split every word in two.

*grin* I angst far too much over my writing, but really, I'd rather be OCD about it and make myself better than to just... not care.

It snowed. Oh, glorious day, it snowed. I woke up and absolutely squealed when I looked out the window. It's been so long since I've seen it. And it's one of those glorious wet snows that clings to everything. :D

I just spent like an hour fixing my tags in this journal. Still some loose ends that need fixing. I have the biggest issue with tagging entire fandoms. Like, I just don't think it's right to break down Twilight into movie/book/general discussions. And Phantom of the Opera is like a thousand different movies and a book and multiple plays, and just... that's a lot of ground to cover. So certain things need to be kept simple. And I probably have way too many movie tags, but I don't care, as long as it's organized. I'm so freaking OCD.

Final exams are coming up next week. I have two next Friday, one on Monday, and one that's an online/writing project. I'm not too worried about my English classes, since they don't require a whole lot of studying, anyway. But my first semester is almost over! Just one more week, and only three more days of classes. I never thought I'd actually miss any of my classes, but Critical Reading has been the best class I've ever had, mainly because the professor is brilliant, and I will miss it so much.

[11] ashley greene.
[13] kristen stewart.
[8] twilight.
[10] new moon.
[3] remember me.

Preview:


( There's a possibility... )