So things have been crazy, hence my lack of update.

Work is insane. We're going through accreditation and that needs to be done by next week.

My birthday was on Wednesday. It was interesting working on it and not in a three hour rehearsal, but with kids who get excited for birthdays. 

NYC was fun, not amazing, but fun. We got to shop and I got fabric from Mood (yay!)

And now, today, I get back to work on Wizard of Oz! I almost have Dorothy's dress done, I only have a few things left to purchase for the Tin Man. I think that if I can get those two things done plus the munchkin blue items (hankies, bow ties, etc) then I should be okay... Maybe...

How I will manage to do this show, move to Chicago, and get to Ct for my summer position and stay sane I do not know! I'm feeling the stress :)

What makes a good story?

Everyone asks that question at some point on their writing adventure either as beginners or seasoned writers. Pages have been devoted to the topic from articles to books. Regardless, that is the question that I confront with Carrie Ryan's book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth,

I found myself immersed in Ryan's book from start to finish, unable to put it down. I fought back tears at the beginning and end. The main character, Mary, frustrated me, but there was an overwhelming sense of sympathy, I, as a reader felt. Were there flaws in this book? Yes. Did I care? No. Flaws did not alter the fact that I fell in love with the story, writing, and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is full of unconsecrated or you may be familiar with the term zombies. The main character, Mary, lives in a world of thinly veiled turmoil. The village lives on constantly threatened by the unconsecrated, a wall built up between them and civilization. Religion rules the village and Mary has three choices in life: to get married, live with her parents, or be part of the sisterhood.

The next paragraphs will be spoilers so please stop reading this post if you would not like the book to be ruined. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and the supernatural.
( Spoiler Alert! )

I am terrible... I totally have been doing nothing since like 7 and I really should be writing! That was the plan for tonight, hence writing in LJ, right? lol.

Well, I will start writing and probably write until like a decently early hour in the morning cuz I don't have to work tomorrow. Yay.  I get to shop for interview attire tomorrow. BOO. Crossing my fingers for no snow.

So I got money for gas to go to Syracuse in two weeks. Tre exciting. I hope it will be enough... I might try to see if theyll let me babysit again on sunday of this upcoming weekend. Then I won't have to worry that I'm not saving money...

So I was poking around on livejournal today and on one community there was a post where this girl had this long blurb about how she used to hate Valentine's day, but then realized that couples have it good for one day and single folks have it good for the next day with all the lovely discounts. (Happy discount candy eve!)

Tomorrow I get to go buy munchkin accessories for wizard of oz... go costume design!

got my plane ticket for $223... im excited I'm Chicago bound :)

Good news: 
I don't have cabin fever anymore after a stupid quest through old EC which led to one car going into another lane so he wouldn't hit me at a stop light, a slippery drive to drop Abby at home, and someone tailgating me in the snowstorm on the way to my house!
I don't work tomorrow. YAY! (I worked for most of today and it was stupid there were six kids.)
Made meatball muffins for dinner and delicious sandwiches for an appetizer. They were pretty good though my dad thought he lost a tooth in one of the meatballs for a second there which I don't know if it's a testament to my cooking...or he just has weird teeth. ;p

Bad news:
We have more snow.
I fell down my stairs.
I went to book tickets for a flight to Chicago in April and my session timed out right as I clicked the button and now they want $100 more.

I might puke. Only good thing is knowing that I felt like this all day and not just after these events.

Quotes of the Day:
"The last time you were in here [being fat and ordering bagels/getting Mochas] I was thinking of who you remind me off--it's my cousin's daughter!"
"[Guy looks at me and Abby in line] Is she your sister?"/"Um.....no....i mean I guess it's close enough."/"Ahhhhh....she's your besty!" [Guy continues to stare.]
People working in a blizzard seem rather bored...

Oh and I got in trouble for playing Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus to three year olds though we've been doing it for over a year literally....

I made homemade bread today. It took way too long and I won't get enough sleep, but it's delicious. I'm pretty excited about it just because bread always seemed like a food I couldn't replicate. I don't know why.

Yipee.... only I have the worst case of cabin fever ever!!!

Finally made a main website today:

http://m.velvet-iris.net/

I need to finish my costume portfolios and make final copies... I also need to finish cleaning my basement.

At least my room is clean though....and my dad's office's closet. Who cares that everything is shoved downstairs, right? ;p

I shattered a plate today, because I'm special. I turned the burner and low and was making pancakes for dinner. There's also like four feet of snow outside. Yay. Another ruined weekend. At least I went shopping with Kyle in old EC before it all happened, went to blockbuster, and got some donuts. Sometimes its doing simple things like that that saves your weekend.

Last weekend we were snowed in too and I think the weekend before but I don't really remember. It's quite frustrating. However, I've started to clean and have started the process of figuring out the necessities of what needs to be brought to Chicago in a couple of months. Granted, it's a lot of repacking of what I've never unpacked and a lot of throwing away and getting rid of my pack rat tendencies. So I'm almost done with my room, finished the closet in my dad's office except for clothes but I think they're all staying anyway, and have started the crawl space in the basement. I'm going to finish my room tonight and then start in on the basement.

Unfortunately, I have not been writing. I think that thats why I was so tired this week and depressed. I'm going to try to do that tomorrow. I'm also going to try to put some stuff on ebay to sell. Like books and things. I'm considering selling my bike, but also might wait, because if I can bike ride to work in Chicago I feel like that might be a good way to keep up my exercising.

Oh boring boring life :)

Someone I knew but wasn't friends with died in old EC on Thursday night. He might have been homeless. It's strange because there's something about death that even if you only vaguely know the person or know the people that are affected you still feel something. It's an uncomfortable feeling. Like you understand how fragile you really are. Especially when it's something that could have happened to you. He died by being run over by a train. They found him 10 cars back.  He also had someone with him that no one found. The person supposedly ran into Caocao Lane covered in blood and told them to call 911.

On a lighter note, someone on friday night amid the snow storm that is being called snowmagedden apparently now, decided he was going to make a boast about his antique 1977 car and how it can drive around in the snow and be fine. well, it is now buried in snow with a truck that tried to pull it out at our church and isn't even on the pavement! Kind of hilarious.

Oh, people.

THE MAGICIAN OF HOAD
by Margaret Mahy

There is simply something about this book that draws me into it despite all odds. This book is captivating in an unexpected way and I am looking forward to reading the other book, Maddigan's Fantasia, that I was able to find at the library today along with my solar system books for work.

My original urge was to state that this is a plot based book and not a character book. There's a distance that the reader has from the characters that I find myself not liking in my own writing or in others, however, it somehow works for this story. Because of this distance, I believed the the plot was carrying this story on and not the characters, but, thinking back on the plot, I don't really remember a grand arch of a story. There isn't a huge climax or a pins and needles viewpoint that propels the reader forward that one finds in most young adult books these days. There's simply being that is innocent and unique to this piece.

The main character, Heliot, searches for the mysterious of his existence and meaning to his life. He wants to become something, but is lost at what to become. Heliot's friend, Cayley, is mysterious, but must also uncover a truth about life that might urge the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about who exactly this character is in a way. The Prince Dyset makes no illusion of his wishes and is remarkable simple and innocent: much like some of Shakespeare's lovers such as Claudio and, Lynnet, is his Hero.

There is something pure and innocent about this book that drives the reader through it. In a way, because of the great timespan, I think that the reader is given gift of feeling like he or she is growing with the characters. In another way, I feel like the timespan neccesitates the need for the distance between the characters and the reader.

My other conclusion is that the main character, Heriot, is unique. I think I fell in love with how unique he becomes. I don't want to ruin the story, but reading up to the conclusion is worth it just to see how he turns out. However, because of his peculiarities, I think that the reader needs the distance between this character and the story to truly appreciate him.

Also, another facet that makes up for the lack of dialogue is the writing itself. Even descriptions or summaries seem alive and full of life in this novel. None of the long paragraphs that seem more telling than showing seem dull. Quite the contrary.

I finished this book between a couple hours or reading yesterday and two hours of reading today. It's longer than a lot of young adult books, but a quick read.

I think, and I have to cross my fingers on this one, that I finally am able to write this damn story! I have to retrace my steps a little bit. However, after that I think it will be smooth sailing. I hope.

Okay, didn't want to write a new post, because it feels like kind of a waste. But update: I relooked at the first section of the story. It is now in first person and reformated. I think it's in almost the proper format if I wanted to send it in, which is nice. This story is so much fun to write because it's so action packed.... I need to do more car research and more fencing research. I can't wait until I can put the blimps into the story! I like this rewrite, because you get to see more of this one crazy lady and more of like everyone's personalities.... Hopefully I'll still like it in like a month!

Image credits: 
Train
Girl and Birdcage