October/November Wrap-Up

OCTOBER

Books I Read

4/5

I'm hard to please when it comes to sci-fi, but this one kept my attention the whole time. It reminded me a lot of the Jennifer Lawrence/Chris Pratt movie "Passengers," but without the problematic parts. I was able to piece together a lot of the mystery while still feeling like it wasn't too easy. I'd recommend it to anyone who's had a hard time finding interesting books in the sci-fi genre.

3.5/5

I had higher hopes for this one, but it was way too long. It felt like One of Us Is Lying, except more boring and with shallow characters. I loved the concept and the payoff at the end was worth the slog in the middle, but I shouldn't have to power through a hundred pages of what's supposed to be an intense mystery novel. And while the "book within a book" parts served an important purpose, sometimes those sections felt repetitive. The whole thing could have benefited from more editing.

4/5

As soon as I saw Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's names together, I knew I'd have to buy this book and devour it right away. Obviously I loved it! Even if no one had told me which author had written which character's, I could have figured it out. Their voices are so strong in this story, Becky Albertalli especially. I loved the Broadway references and all of the ridiculous inside jokes that would make no sense to anyone who hasn't read the book ("making out in a mailbox," "Hudson Panini," etc.). It was an addictive, fast read, despite its length. The only thing that prevented me from giving it five stars was the epilogue. Like with most epilogues (Deathly Hallows excluded), it took away from the rest of the story. I would have been perfectly fine with the ending the story offered before the epilogue began.

Movies I Watched

3.5/5

This is the first true horror movie I watched and WOW it was creepy. It was one of those "this is so disgusting and horrible but I can't tear my eyes away" situations. It was a bit of a slow start and I couldn't always tell the characters apart because they were all kind of blank slates, but it was a thrilling ride the rest of the way through with tons of plot twists.

4/5

I always thought I'd had this movie spoiled long before I'd watched it, but within the first twenty minutes I realized the "spoiler" wasn't a spoiler at all, but actually just the premise of the movie that the audience is clearly supposed to understand (if that makes any sense at all the way I wrote it). 

3.5/5


Even though the movie was based on Beatrix Potter's life, it still felt like everything came too easily for her, which made the first part of the movie casually enjoyable, but not all that interesting. It got a little better as it went on, but then the last third of the movie or so felt disjointed from the rest, like it was a separate movie altogether. So not the best biopic I've seen, but I still liked it. It was cute and imaginative. And I enjoy Ewan McGregor in just about anything.

3.5/5

It had been years since I've seen this movie, and not since I really got into musical theatre, so I wasn't sure if I'd still like it or not. It held up a lot better than I thought it would. As far as older musicals go, I still think modern audiences like it. There was a lot that was cheesy or predictable or incredibly far-fetched, but that's to be expected somewhat from classic Broadway stories. Miss Hannigan was genuinely funny, though.

2/5

This was a suspense movie??? I felt no suspense whatsoever. The parts that were supposed to be thrilling were not and the rest of the movie was filled with fluff dialogue and boring domestic scenes. I didn't like any of the characters and found hardly anything to be interesting. Plus (SPOILER ALERT) a dog dies in this one. So that automatically takes the rating down a star.

Quotes I Wrote

October was a big writing month for me, because I finally finished the first draft of All the World's Afraid (title to be changed as soon as I can figure out a better one)! I wrote over 10,000 words at a writing retreat, which wrapped up the story. It needs a lot of work (a lot of work, as I'm discovering through my first round of edits), but I still love the characters like they're my friends, so that's a good sign I won't mind spending more time with it.

I had a few quotable moments, but I can't share them here, because spoilers.

This is what a finished first draft looks like.

Pictures of the Month

Thanks to my super cool ushering gig at our local theater, I was able to see the touring company of "Finding Neverland." It was a beautiful, whimsical, gut-wrenching show. I cried through the whole last fifteen minutes of it (as did most of the audience!). Neverland will always have a place in my heart; watching it come to life was something special.

Got a haircut! I panicked for a while when I saw that the hairdresser had chopped off at least three more inches than I told her to, but I'm learning to like it. xD I miss my long hair already since I can no longer toss it into a bun. It's a good thing it grows fast . . .

I had so much fun at the Lake Anna Wordsmith Retreat! Even though it went by too fast, we managed to fit a ton into the few days we had together. This was my view.

How I edit (on the floor, surrounded by notes, coffee, and candy).

Cristin Terrill and Beth Revis! They were both so funny, kind, and helpful.

Everyone at the retreat received certificates for their special accomplishments. This was mine, because every single person just about spit their tea when they found out I was eighteen.

As soon as I found out Cristin Terrill was one of the authors heading up this retreat, I knew I had to get my book signed. It was one of the first sci-fi/time travel books I read and I fell completely in love with it.

Group photo!

Sir Harry from "Once Upon a Mattress" performed in "Carrie: The Musical." It's always fun to see fellow cast mates in other shows.

Speaking of which . . . our friend Caleb from "A Christmas Carol" was in "Jekyll and Hyde."

I just started taking vocal lessons from a voice teacher who works with a lot of the tween/teen performers at our community theater. I got to see her students in their Halloween-themed cabaret. It was a ton of fun! And there were lots of familiar faces from "Lion King Jr."

Sarafina.

Mufasa.

This poor girl had eleven quick changes during "Lion King Jr.," or some crazy number like that. She played just about every ensemble role you can think of.

Pumbaa.

A lioness.

Got a tiara at the Ren Faire, because why not?

 

More Ren Faire fun.

My family volunteered to write non-partisan postcards reminding infrequent voters to get to their polling places.

Now that the first draft is finished, it's time for revisions! Yayyy (she said sarcastically).

Went with friends to see a local production of "Be More Chill." Loved it! So funny.

I was one of the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaisons for my region this year, and the attendance for the kick-off party was great!

Loved my Halloween costume this year! I went as Eponine from "Les Misérables" (AKA, my dream role).

With friends.

TJ and I hung back to hand out candy.

Time for Scout pictures! She dressed up for Halloween, too. This year she went as her nemesis, the UPS delivery guy.

Sleeping in her chair while I write.

Rocking the Albert Einstein look as she conducts tons of static electricity in the laundry basket.

Looking adorable, as always.

How was your October? 

NOVEMBER

Books I Read

4/5

I liked this a lot more than I expected to, mostly because there was a lot of hype surrounding it and I've been burned before by these kinds of books that everyone seems to love. It was gritty and gripping and raw. I was hooked as soon as I started reading it, and I even loved the ending, even though it may not be for everyone. The unique concept of telling half the story from the POV of a true crime podcast worked for this story, although sometimes it felt a little repetitive if we already knew the information that was talked about during the podcast.

3.5/5

Not gonna lie, this was totally an impulse buy based on the fact that Rainbow Rowell had blurbed it. That was all the info I needed to know I was going to like this book. And for the most part, I did like it. Even though it was a super simple story with very little plot, I loved the writing style so much (which felt a lot like Rainbow Rowell's style), I could have read it just for that. But it did feel a little long and I wasn't totally into Penny's character. There were times I liked her and times I thought she was being really snotty and rude. Sam's POV made up for it. I also thought that it seemed like a Fangirl wannabe, considering it was about an introverted writer at college who likes a guy who works in a coffee shop. But where Fangirl had lovable, compelling characters and a clearer, more focused plot, Emergency Contact seemed to wander and flounder. Overall, it was pretty good.

Movies I Watched

4/5

I wanted to love this as much as I loved the first one, and I didn't, so that was a little disappointing. But I also have unrealistically high expectations for anything Harry Potter related. This was still really good! It was a lot darker, but I think we all knew the story was heading in that direction. I loved that we got to go back to Hogwarts and meet young Dumbledore (though I thought we were going to get a lot more of him than we did - he's not as heavily featured as the trailer makes it seems). This movie did a good job setting up the disaster that are going to come, but I think it could have benefited from a little more lightheartedness, especially considering that it's going to be all downhill from here. But the plot twists at the end? Definitely worth the lead up.

2.5/5 

This was slightly more exciting than "Rear Window," but it's a pretty low bar. I really can't stand Hitchcock's tendency to include endless shots of cars racing through the countryside for no reason at all. We don't need five minutes of Tippi Hedren driving in silence. It was a creepier/gorier movie than I though it'd be, considering how long ago it was made, so I can see why it scared people so badly. I would've liked some sort of explanation as to why the birds were attacking people in the first place, and the ending felt way too abrupt. I can see what it was trying to do, but it didn't do it well. Instead of being ominous, it was unfinished.

2/5 

I don't think this is a classic that holds up today. I found my mind wandering way too often to consider this an even remotely interesting movie. It was a lot of people who looked and sounded alike talking about politics in a confusing manner. The movie probably had a lot more weight to it to audiences back when it was made, since it was right in the middle of World War II. I did appreciate the fact that the ending wasn't a predictable Hollywood conclusion, which, as it turns out, is one of the reasons why it's still considered a classic today, because it was one of the first movies to not be tied up neatly with a ribbon.

4/5 

Despite its goofiness and the need for audiences to suspend some serious disbelief, I liked this movie a lot. It was funny and sweet and you can't help but love Forrest and the friends he makes along the way. The most hilarious parts, for me, was whenever he obliviously and accidentally inserted himself into historic events (like Watergate or John Lennon writing "Imagine"). Tom Hanks was great, as always.

4/5

The Thanksgiving that the first "Wreck-It Ralph" came out, my family went to the movies to watch it, so we continued the unofficial tradition by going to the theater to watch the sequel on Thanksgiving. All of the subtle references to different aspects of the internet (pop-up ads, viral videos, etc.) were super clever. I think the Disney princesses stole the show, though. They weren't overused, so their presence was just funny enough that it wasn't annoying. It was a good sequel.

3.5/5 

I had serious doubts for the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, because it seemed like the story was going to be heavy on the math and feature a lot of insufferable prep school boys who only cared about being top of the class and scoring with the most women. The story takes a different soon afterward, though, so I was able to relax and enjoy it more. Even though the plot was interesting, I had a hard time connecting with Nash. I felt bad for him because of his circumstances, but I didn't necessarily like him as a person. He didn't seem all that kind or even polite. He was definitely full of himself and didn't always treat those around him with respect. It made it hard to fully immerse myself in the movie and feel like I cared deeply about what happened to him.

Quotes I Wrote

November was completely dedicated to finishing NaNoWriMo, and guess what?

I honestly wasn't sure I'd finish this year, but I did! Even with ML duties and being involved in a Christmas show, I was able to (barely) scrape the words together. After two years of not being able to complete the 50K-word goal, it feels so good to finally win this year. The draft is a mess and nowhere near being finished, which means I'm going to end up with a draft roughly around 100,000 words only to have to cut at least 30,000 of them, but hey, at least I completed NaNo.

There isn't a lot I can post here without cringing at how much work needs to be done, but I can give you a little excerpt. I decided that the story as a whole would be from Mrs. Darling's point of view, but between each chapter I included a page or two of Peter Pan's perspective, so you can get a better look at how his mind works and how sinister he really is.

"I can see all of London from up here!" Bellowed John, who had to hold his top hat firmly in place to keep it from plummeting to the earth. It was silly to wear a top hat to bed after the day's pretending had long since finished, but children often did silly things until they were old enough to lose the joy in it.

"Why look at London when you can look at the stars?" Wendy sighed dreamily. She stretched her arms above her head, as if she could pluck them from the sky and hold them to her heart. "Oh, Peter--to think you fly so close to the stars every night."

"Me, fly close to the stars?" Pan scoffed. "The stars fly close to me. Watch!"

Pan swooped and soared and spun in spirals, all for the children's amusement. Tinker Bell even joined the fun, darting around him so Pan glowed under her golden light. Michael laughed the loudest, clutching his stuffed bear tighter for fear of losing it in his wild amusement.

"Peter," John inquired once Pan had finished with his childish antics. John pointed in the direction from whence they'd come. "Is that Mother following us?"

Pan, whose vision was remarkably keen, spotted the woman at once, but he pretended not to see her at all. "Of course not, silly John," he said. "Grownups can't fly. They've forgotten how to do such things. They ruin all the fun. But I rescued you from boring, grown up responsibilities, didn't I?"

"Oh, yes," cried the children.

"Of course you did, Peter," said Wendy. "And we're ever so thankful."

And one excerpt from Mrs. Darling's POV (who goes by Mary here):

"But you cheated," Jukes said. And he didn't even sound upset that she'd done it, only that he hadn't thought of it first.
 
"That's what pirates do, last I checked." Mary strode past him to join the group of dumbfounded pirates. "And frankly, it says more about you that you didn't dare fight back against a scrawny, sixteen-year-old girl simply because she had a knife to your throat. I pinned you for ten seconds, like it or not."

Mary snatched the tricorne off the table, the feather tickling Smee's face. She placed it firmly on her head, surprised by how well it fit, like it was made just for her. None of the pirates moved to stop her.
 
"Mary--" Smee started.
 
Mary cut him off by making a tutting noise.
 
"Now, now, Mr. Smee," she chastised. "That's 'Captain,' to you."

Obsessions I Acquired

"Dear Evan Hansen" - So I've always loved "Dear Evan Hansen," but after seeing it on Broadway and getting to hear cut songs on the deluxe album, I dove deep into the obsession. At any given time, you can hear one of the songs playing in the kitchen while I cook, in my room while I'm getting ready, or in the car while I'm driving. If you're as in love with the musical as I am but haven't checked out any of the deluxe album songs, I highly recommend listening to them now. "In the Bedroom Down the Hall" is my personal favorite from that album, and I'm sad it had to be cut from the show.



Pictures of the Month

Saw friends in "Little Shop of Horrors" at our community theater. It was darker than I expected, but knowing nothing about the musical beforehand, I really enjoyed it!

Voted!

Outside our polling place. I dragged my horribly sick self out of bed to go do my civic duty. I had a cold that would not quit for at least two weeks.

Dressed as pirates to go to a villains-themed Halloween party.

  

Even Scout joined in!

DEAR EVAN HANSEN!!! I sobbed my way through the whole thing. We saw a different Evan from Taylor Trensch since we saw a matinee and I loved him (Michael Lee Brown) right away. He was so awkward and lovable and had the perfect imperfect voice that fit his character so well. And Mallory Bechtel!!! She was amazing as Zoe. I can't believe she barely graduated high school. I loved her voice even more than the original Zoe. The entire show was beautiful and everyone was so nice afterward to come out in the freezing cold and sign our Playbills.

To Kill a Mockingbird was excellent, too. I really liked the changes that were made to the story. It included a lot of racial commentary that still applies to modern times. Having the three main kids (Scout, Jem, and Dill) played by adults worked even better than I would've thought. Dill was hilarious. I wasn't expecting him to be one of my favorites, but he was. I highly recommend both shows.

I obviously had to get a shirt while I was there.

Movie time!

Made cookies for the holidays with a few of my theatre friends!

With some of the cast of "Charlotte's Web." We spent a whole afternoon painting the set together.

My friend Sammie came to visit for Thanksgiving and she even came along to help with the Charlotte's Web set. She'll be in the program and everything!

People say we look alike . . .

It's family tradition to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree once we put it up. We get one nice picture, and then we descend into chaos.

Recreating "The Lion King."

 

 

 

Me doing a split . . .

. . . my dad, not so much.

Dropping some sick beats for our album.

 

 

 

 

 

"PUPPY!!!!!"

My friend TJ performed in his first lead role as Ralphie in "A Christmas Story." He was excellent! So expressive and funny. It was the perfect character for him.

 

With Scut Farkus, who was also Bill Jukes during "Peter Pan Jr."

With Helen, who played Wendy in "Peter Pan Jr."

Ralphie gets his revenge.

Time for Scout! We dressed her in her Santa costume while we decorated, and she immediately ran to take a nap under the tree.

   

It's getting cold out and the chilly weather is starting to mess with her hip, so we got her a sweater. It even has a hood!

She cooperated for a picture!

How was your November?