Book Report - Rapunzel Untangled

Title: Rapunzel Untangled
Authour: Cindy C. Bennett
Length: 293 pages
How long it took me to read: 3 days

What it's about:
Rapunzel is not your average teenager.

For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction. But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.

Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.

The ending is the most important part: Definitely a happy ever after.

Last word: This was an easy, cute, fun read. Fane was adorable.

Spoilers after the jump:

What do you want on your tombstone?

When I was in grade Twelve, I took English Literature. It was rumoured to be a really hard class, and the teacher, Mr. Kelly, had a reputation of being a really difficult teacher. We didn't have AP classes in my high school, but this was the closest thing to AP English. There were only twelve kids in the class and we were all girls; we were also some of the most brilliant in our class. It was an honour to be able to take the class.

Turned out that Mr. Kelly was excellent and had a really low tolerance for teenage B.S., which is why students thought he was so tough. I loved Mr. Kelly. He was one of my all time favourite teachers ever.

There was this one assignment that I just couldn't wrap my head around; we had to write our own eulogy.

I have this thing about death. It terrifies me. It's the worst thing that could happen. I hate it when people die. It's so permanent. It's so unknown. It's so inevidable. I hate death and I totally don't ever want to die, so thinking of what I want to have said at my funeral was something that I one hundred percent did not want to ever never want to ponder, let alone write a paper for.

So I didn't do the assignment. I never turned it in. I couldn't do it. This failure has plagued me for twenty-five years. I have thought about it many, many times over the years. I am so disappointed that I couldn't complete the assignment.

I still can't even think of my eulogy other than I want that poem that Matthew read at Gareth's funeral in Four Weddings and a Funeral: W.H. Auden's Funeral Blues. I demand for there to not be a dry eye in the place for my death will be a tragedy and the world will be a worse place when I am not here to grace the face of it. (mostly kidding)

Anyway, other than the Auden poem, and the fact that I want to be chopped up and fed to the sharks so that I can be in the ocean forever, and I want a bench with a plaque on it underneath a cherry tree, I still can't think of the words that I want. I can't write the words.

I have narrowed it down to two:

Here lies Rantgirl 12-8-1971 Death Date
Mother Sister Daughter Wife
That girl had integrity

Or

Here lies Rantgirl 12-8-1971 Death Date
Mother Sister Daughter Wife
She had a way with words.

I wish I could figure out how to combine "That girl had integrity" with "She had a way with words", but inspiration has yet to strike. Considering I have mastered neither - integrity nor words, I suppose there's no rush.

Song of the Day - I love you

So it's a total bummer that summer is "over" and now we're in regular life and how boring is that right?

Here's a song that makes you get up and dance. No ifs, ands, or buts, you just have to get up and shake it to this song.

Holy Crap! This song rocks.

Weekly Check-In

Physically: Normal. No pain, no headaches, but no gym.

Emotionally: Stressed and worried.

Spiritually: Okay, but could be better.

Goal: Last week's goal was to to survive the first week of school without having a break-down and yelling. I succeeded with the not having a break down, but I failed with the yelling. I only lasted to Tuesday with yelling at Michael, but I lasted until Thursday with the boys, so that was a positive -ish. I also didn't have a mental break down, so that's in the win column too. I'm calling this one a wash.

My goal this week is to complete a project.

Book Report - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Authour: Betty Smith
Length: 496 pages
How long it took me to read: 2 1/2 weeks

What it's about:
The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience

The ending is the most important part: There was no smashing ending, or major conclusion, but life went on to another chapter. I found that the story just ended with no major conclusion - she just went off to college.

Last word: Francie Nolan gets to join Besty Trotwood and Holden Caufield as one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. I very much enjoyed reading this book.

Spoilers after the jump:

Ways to Fail at Combating Homesickness – The Rain

I’m certain that it’s well documented here that I like precipitation. Every time it rains I get so happy because it makes me think of home. When one lives in a desert-like climate, the rain is few and far between.

Recently, Little Sister posted the following on Facebook and we had a little public convo about it:

Little Sister posted a photo – “Its raining a little.”

Little Sister – Guess who gets homesick when it rains? (two people like this, me, and her fourteen year old son)

Me – MEEE TOOOO!! Just wait; you’ll rejoice when it snows because at least it’s precipitation. Mark my words.

Little Sister – When it rains here, it really rains!

Me – yeah, here not so much – being the desert and all.

Little Sister moved a year or so ago to New Brunswick and has been posting a lot about the weather, especially the snow which as British Columbians, we never truly experienced growing up. The weather in BC is so unique that it really takes a special sort of person to be able to endure it. (webbed feet help)

Little Sister and I are those kinds of people. We have always loved the BC weather, rain and all. I find it interesting that she and I are the only ones who have moved away from BC even though we both love it so much and neither one of us planned on ever leaving the coast. I also find it soothing that she misses the weather just as much as I do, even though she lives in a climate that is very much different to mine.

I should also not that neither one of us has webbed feet. I just thought I should clear that up.

The rain, it just does something to you…

Soundgarden Outshined

This song is of course now a classic and everyone knows this song and it's great and awesome and the best.

But there's this line:

I'm looking in the mirror
and things aren't looking so good...

This is exactly how depression feels. There have been times where I can't even look myself in the eye in the mirror. I see myself as if I'm outside of myself and I look like a complete stranger. Someone that I don't trust or know very well. It's very disconcerting to look in the mirror and not recognize yourself.

When I discovered this about myself I started forcing myself too look me in the eye. It was really, really hard at first. It scares me to admit this.

I am happy to say that I can look myself in the mirror more often now.