Prepare A Place

She found herself in a waiting room.

The pallid room had an ethereal feel to it, almost a dream-like quality. It was all so relaxing and peaceful; she closed her eyes and let the atmosphere take her in. Her sandaled foot bobbed absently to the beautiful orchestral music flowing from what she assumed was hidden speakers, since she didn’t see any, but she didn’t know. Frankly, she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt so tranquil in a long time and decided to revel in it as much as possible. It didn’t even give her a sense of complacency; it was pure, unaltered peace.

Somehow she knew she was waiting for something, but it didn’t make her anxious like waiting rooms usually did. Even the fact that she knew no more than that didn’t frighten her. She had nowhere to be. There was no rush to make it to work on time or get the grandkids to soccer before the game started.  Worry was completely unnecessary.

A man with an extremely pleasant and comforting face poked his head through an open door she hadn’t seen before.

“We’re ready for you, Jenny,” he rumbled languidly. Jenny had never heard a deeper, more cordial voice in her life. He smiled as she got up slowly and grabbed her hand to lead her down a long hallway. It seemed endless and yet she didn’t tire.

“Here you are, my dear,” he said finally, stopping to direct her into a very quaint, very lovely room. Jenny gasped at all the decorations, the bedspread, and the curtains. She quickly overlooked the fact that the only object in the room was the bed. Aside from that, there was nothing; not even a couple knick knacks on a table or some shoes strewn across the cream carpet. In fact, there wasn’t even a dresser.

“It’s perfect,” she breathed, running her hands over the cherry red down comforter. An amused chuckle emanated from behind her and it wrapped her up in a feeling of joy. She hadn’t the slightest idea who this man was and she didn’t care. He was treating her with such gentleness and kindness she almost felt she didn’t deserve it.

“I know,” he replied, stepping forward to take her wrinkled hand in his again. He led her to the side of the bed closest to the humungous window, pulled back the covers, and helped her into the bed with delicate, strong arms.

Jenny sighed blithely and sunk into the mattress with a giddy grin on her face.

“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked quietly. The man smiled and continued to gaze at her face much like a proud father to his daughter.

“Because I choose to,” he replied simply. “And I love you.”

“Who are you?”

This elicited another chuckle from him. He came closer and tucked the sheets around her tighter before speaking again in a soft whisper.

“I have many names, my dear, and my face is one not recognized. But none of that really matters. I love you more than you can fathom and you are my precious daughter. That is all that matters. Now you should rest, Jenny. Good night.”

He kissed her on the forehead and without so much as another thought, her eyelids were closed and she was gone.

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John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Playlist Timeline

Tread lightly - musings roam these parts...

I suppose this is more for me than specifically anyone else, but I figure people might find it interesting. For me, the music I listen to almost betrays my state of mind/what I'm really feeling. It can sometimes be confusing, however, because in some instances, I'll listen to certain songs just because I think they're pretty, not necessarily that I feel like I can relate. (I.E., I really like "break up" songs, but obviously they don't apply. I just think they're pretty and sad.)
So, I've arranged this playlist timeline in tiers of pre-Peru, Peru, and post-Peru. The songs that I include are listed generally because they held some kind of significance (or I just liked how they sounded).
For those of you who care, pay attention to the type of music and how it changes and grows over time (although some tastes overall stay the same). I think it's intriguing. 

Pre-Peru (during the year of preparation leading up to moving on Oct 4, 2008): Paramore (All We Know is Falling; Riot!), Avril Lavigne (When You’re Gone; Innocence), Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Soundtrack, Pussycat Dolls (When I Grow Up), Apocalyptica (Worlds Collide), Cobra Starship (Viva La Cobra!), Evanescence (Fallen), Fall Out Boy (From Under The Cork Tree; Infinity On High; Folie A Deux), Family Force 5 (Business Up Front, Party in the Back), Lily Allen (Knock ‘Em Out), Matchbox Twenty (How Far We’ve Come), Nickelback (Savin’ Me; Far Away; Photograph; Rockstar; Someday), Skillet (Comatose), 3 Doors Down (When I’m Gone; Away From the Sun; Here Without You)

Peru (Oct 2008-May 2011): Angels & Airwaves (Breathe; Sirens; Secret Crowds),  Breaking Benjamin (Phobia; We Are Not Alone; Dear Agony), Christina Perri (Jar of Hearts), Coldplay (Parachutes; Viva La Vida; Prospekt’s March; A Rush of Blood to the Head; X & Y), Copeland (You Are My Sunshine; In Motion; Beneath Medicine Tree; Eat, Sleep, Repeat), Daughtry (Leave This Town), A Day To Remember (Homesick), Eluvium (Copia; When I Live By The Garden And Sea; An Accidental Memory In The Case of Death), Enur (Calabria ft. Natasja), Ferraby Lionheart (Ferraby Lionheart – EP), A Fine Frenzy (Almost Lover), Blue October (Into the Ocean), Flyleaf (Fully Alive; Cassie; There For You; Perfect; Breathe Today), Future of Forestry (Twilight; Travel I; Travel II; Travel III), Hans Zimmer (Marry Me (Overture)), Hinder (Better Than Me), Jars Of Clay (The Eleventh Hour; Furthermore – From the Studio, From the Stage; Good Monsters; If I Left the Zoo; Jars of Clay; The Long Fall Back to Earth; Much Afraid; Who We Are Instead; The Shelter), Jem (24), Jen Titus (O Death), John Mayer (Dreaming With a Broken Heart; Heartbreak Warfare), John Foreman (In My Arms), Kelly Clarkson (Beautiful Disaster), The Killers (Mr. Brightside), Lifehouse (From Where You Are), Lily Allen (Smile), Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory; Meteora; Minutes to Midnight), Mae ((a)fternoon; (e)vening), Maroon 5 (Won’t Go Home Without You), Mika (Happy Ending), Mindless Self Indulgence (Mastermind), Moloko (Sing It Back), Murray Gold (Doomsday), Muse (Time Is Running Out), The National (Fake Empire), Never Shout Never (Lovesick), Nickelback (Dark Horse; Into the Night), OneRepublic (Waking Up), OneRepublic & Sara Bareilles (Come Home), Papa Roach (Lifeline; Forever; Getting Away with Murder; Scars), Parachute (The Mess I Made), Paramore (Brand New Eyes; The B-Sides; The Summer Tic – EP; Other Unreleased Tracks), A Perfect Circle (Counting Bodies Like Sheep), Pillar (For the Love of the Game), Rains (Liar), The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Don’t You Fake It), Regina Spektor (Begin to Hope), Rihanna (Disturbia; Breakin’ Dishes), A Rocket to the Moon (Like We Used To), Secondhand Serenade (Fall For You), Seether ft. Amy Lee (Broken), Shinedown (The Sound of Madness), Sick Puppies (You’re Going Down), Simple Plan (Perfect), Sixx A.M. (Life is Beautiful), Skillet (Awake; Collide), Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars; Open Your Eyes; You Could Be Happy; Run), Superchick (We Live; Stand in the Rain), Switchfoot (Oh! Gravity.; Awakening), Tenth Avenue North (Over and Underneath), Theory of a Deadman (Scars and Souvenirs), Three Days Grace (Riot; Pain; Never Too Late; I Hate Everything About You; Animal I Have Become; Home; Life Starts Now), Unkle (Burn My Shadow; With You In My Head), The Used (All That I’ve Got; The Bird and the Worm; Burning Down the House), Vanessa Carlton (Ordinary Day; A Thousand Miles; Twilight; White Houses), xi (Death Piano; Midnight), Yiruma (First Love), ZOEgirl (Scream; Dead Serious), 3 Doors Down (Your Arms Feel Like Home), 30 Seconds to Mars (The Kill)

Post-Peru: Angels Fall (Call On Me), Chevelle (Jars; The Fad; Send the Pain Below; The Red; I Get it), Copeland (The Last Time He Saw Dorie; Good Morning Fire Eater; Love Affair; The Day I lost My Voice (The Suitcase Song); Coffee; Chin Up; Should You Return), Counting Crows (Colorblind), Daughtry (Break the Spell), David Cook (Avalanche; The Last Goodbye), A Day to Remember (What Separates Me From You), Disturbed (The Animal), Cage the Elephant (Shake Me Down), Coldplay (Mylo Xyloto), Flyleaf (Red Sam), Foster the People (Pumped Up Kicks), Gotye (Somebody That I Used to Know), Jimmy Eat World (Bleed America*), Linkin Park (A Thousand Suns), Mae (Suspension), Mumford & Sons (The Cave; White Blank Page; Little Lion Man), Neon Trees (Animal), The Offspring (You’re Gonna Go Far Kid), Oh Land (Sun of a Gun), The Script (Breakeven (Falling to Pieces); For the First Time), Secondhand Serenade (Awake), Serianna (Lose Yourself), Shinedown (45; Simple Man; I Dare You), Snow Patrol (Crack the Shutters; Run), Story of the Year (The Ghost of You And I), These New Puritans (We Want War), Three Days Grace (Life Starts Now), The Ting Tings (That’s Not My Name), Train (Hey, Soul Sister; Marry Me), Woodkid (Iron), 30 Seconds to Mars (Kings and Queens; This is War; Closer to the Edge)

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* - From Bleed America, a specific song that really hit me was My Sundown

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Interesting? I hope so. 

For some of the artists, I put the entire albums (for example, for Copeland in "Peru" I listed four albums) because pretty much all the songs applied or I loved them all. That can be said for a lot of these artists. However, sometimes albums are named after a song in them, so that makes things a tad troublesome. Oh well. Determine what you will.

You know what would be even more challenging? Picking just one song or album to describe my entire time in Peru, and before and after. Yeesh. To be honest, I'm not even sure that would be possible. 

Over and out,

V

"Hunger Games Trilogy" Review/My Theory on What Makes a Book Popular

Foreword/Disclaimer: I haven't ever done a review on anything in this blog, so look past it if you like or continue to read if you'd rather. I suppose my thoughts are fairly radical, so read at your own risk. The whole thing is probably snarkier than necessary, but oh well. These are my thoughts. Do with them what you will.

---

The Hunger Games trilogy. One word: eh.
Allow me to thoroughly explain.

The plot: the storyline of these books (more so the first one than any of them) is absolutely fantastic. The idea is raw and unique, and extremely powerful in its own right. Kudos to Miss Collins for thinking up such a splendid idea. I am envious of this creativity.

The characters: more or less multi-dimensional. At least they were consistent with their roles. I feel personally that Katniss was really boring. And perhaps that's the complete aim of the author. But if Katniss Everdeen existed in real life, despite her "underestimated good looks" and braveness, I don't think I'd like to be friends with her. Not to say that makes up my mind as to whether It was a good or bad book; it's just something else I think about. She seems like a typically dull person. Doesn't smile. Doesn't like to say what she's thinking. These things lead me to believe that Peeta just fell in love with her looks. I mean honestly, folks? They hadn't exchanged a word, ever, until the hunger games and all of the sudden he's been in love with her all this time? Really?

I'm getting away with myself.

The writing: absolutely nothing special. When I read a book, I read it like a writer. I read it as if I'm going to highlight the sentences or phrases or passages that catch my eye or are unique, fresh, and altogether something I'd like my own writing to turn into. (I do actually have a few books on my shelves that have multiple high light marks in them.) So, basing this "writing" scale on that, I would have to say I am thoroughly disappointed with the writing. To be bluntly honest, I only saw two or three things in the entire trilogy that I, had I owned the book, would have highlighted.

Overall comments: Disappointment. All the hype about these books got me excited, and for what? The riveting plot? That's it? There is more to a story than a good plot line, if you ask me. I was told the writing was pretty good and so began reading the novels practically already as a fan of the trilogy. Don't get me wrong; every time I had to stop reading I couldn't wait until I could pick up the book again (from the plot and flow of the story), but at the same time, I continuously wondered if I would ever be completely satisfied (by the lack of descriptive/creative writing).

I also initially thought that maybe the difficulties of writing in first person make exceptional work a hard thing to achieve. (Seeing as twilight is also written in first person and also not written very well.) I thought maybe it was like the plague of writing; if you can't do it 100% "perfectly," you can't do it at all. However, then I recalled that I have a favorite series (Solitary by Travis Thrasher) that is written entirely in first person and I adore it. The writing is fresh, clean, witty (because of the character, mainly), and unique. It's also to the point but at the same time descriptive. This brought me to the conclusion that it was not simply the all-encompassing struggles of first person writing that make it a task to do properly. I in no way claim to be superior in any aspect of the word to these authors in the realm of first-person writing. I find it extremely difficult to write in first person unless it's a non-fiction work that is about me. This is why I choose to use third person in any fictional work that I produce. I realize and accept that I'm not very good at writing in first person and carry on. To me, it's almost like these authors said "this story will sound better in first person" but neglected to think about how precise they must be in order to get their points across in a descriptive manner.

Overall, I tend to read things for their writing, not solely their plot lines; and perhaps that's just me and I'm weird for seeing things that way. Whichever. For those of you who base only on plot lines and don't care about the writing, have at it. You're the reason twilight became so unfortunately popular. I, however, will sit here and attempt to find something to read that is more than halfway decent while at the same time riveting through the plot and the prose. How groundbreaking!

In the end, it's obvious to me that the plot is what made the hunger games so popular. And I see very clearly why; the plot is simply extravagant and amazing. I will not deny that I very much enjoyed it. That much I appreciate. What just gets me is the fact that the writing isn't anything special. That's all.

Miss Collins deserves all the attention and hype that she got; just for the plot line, not the writing.

---

My Theory on What Makes a Book Popular 

Generally it takes a broad combination of things to get a book to even be eligible to become popular. As in the depth of the characters, the development of them over the course of the story, the flow of the story, the raw plot line itself, the description and use of figurative language, etc.

In the end, after all of that is said and done, I feel like there are two main things that have the potential to make a book popular. They are plot line and writing. Now keep in mind that in this case, one element can exist without the other and still be successful all by its lonesome; however, it is possible to have an equal share of good on both elements in one story to make it successful as well.

Example: Assuming you read the above review on my take of the Hunger Games trilogy, I made it blatantly clear that I am very supportive of the plot but not the writing (meaning style, use of description, figurative language, etc.). (Just like I said above in my review of the Hunger Games: even though the writing was nothing special, I still felt inclined to read because of the plot line; every time I put down the book, I couldn't wait to continue.) The plot has made the trilogy popular enough to be made into a movie for goodness sake. Don't get me wrong, Miss Collins is a genius for thinking up such a unique, original idea, but the plot is all that carried the story to fame. She deserves the fame for the idea, just not the writing. That's all I'm saying.

Now, on the opposite side of the spectrum, if you have really really good writing and maybe not so intriguing/strong of a plot line, it still is possible to keep readers interested enough to continue. If your sentences are bursting with rainbows of description and written with a great, unique style and knowledge of creative sentence structures and organization, it could very well be all you need to have a popular story on your hands. However, this tends not to happen as often as the above example. (Plot over writing as opposed to writing over plot.)

There is one story this theory doesn't quite match up with though...

The Twilight Saga.

I absolutely have no idea what brought this story to life. I'm pondering perhaps the fan base and the age group of said fan base. (I will admit, when the books first started coming out years ago (back when I was in middle school (the main targeted fan base, if you were wondering)) I immediately bought in to the hype and the romance and everything. But back then I was also not a writer and read things at face value, never really digging in deep and picking it apart to see what the raw of it was. Recently, just to test my changes in how I read things now as opposed to 6-7 years ago, I re-read the entire first book, Twilight, and it was absolutely horrid. Stephanie Meyer finally got some kind of idea in how to write in the fourth book, Breaking Dawn.) The plot line I suppose is salvageable overall, although it could do with some drastic changes in my opinion. In the end, it was the fan base, age group of the fan base, the onslaught of sudden obsession with forbidden romance and sparkly vampires, and the poorly-and-yet-constructed-just-enough plot line to hold everything together.

It's things like these that frustrate me as a writer. Authors like this give young, serious writers a bad name (among other things, of course). Again, not to say that I am a professional reviewer or writer and every product I crank out is glistening with golden script. Lots of the ideas I have get tossed into the trash bin almost immediately. However, I do like to think (based on my own thoughts and other people's input) that I can write fairly well, plot line-wise and creative writing-wise. It does, though, take a ton of polishing on my part for me to feel completely satisfied with anything I write.

Anyway, I am basing all of this on solely reading the stories and my own opinions. I'm not in any way trying to bash Stephanie Meyer (or Suzanne Collins) as human beings; it's possible they are charming, lovely people. They're just charming, lovely people who can't write creatively, is all I'm saying. Just because you can't write worth a darn or write well doesn't mean that's the quality of a person you are and that you should be shunned because of your disgusting writing skills, or lack thereof.

---

Hate me if you like. These are all solely my thoughts. I gave you the chance at the very beginning to turn away from this blog post, so if you're still reading at this point, just know that it was ultimately your choice to continue. 

(:

Ta~

(/opinionated quips)

Pageviews by Countries

So apparently now I’ve got people reading my blog (or perhaps accidentally stumbling upon it long enough for the “pageviews” count to pick it up) from not only the United States, but Canada, Belguim, and India. (Oh, and 53% of them use Firefox. Little fun nugget fact for you.)

Somehow I feel like this is just perhaps some screw up of the IP addresses, but who really knows. Maybe there are some curious looney-seeking people out there.

Well anyway, I just thought that was an interesting little morsel.

EDIT/UPDATE:
I was just looking at pageviews for the week! The screenshot now is of all time!  Russia takes second place under the United States? Bizarre. I love it though. (: My day had officially been made.

Ta~

-V

Photographic Obsessions

On our way to VA beach - the sunset across the bridge.

Pretty kitty. (Blue eyes=deal maker)

 These are just some choice photographs that I've taken within the past half year or so. I'm fairly proud of them, but they definitely aren't my "jewels," if you know what I mean. Hopefully you do. Perhaps you don't. Oh well.
Anyway, enjoy this little collection. All of them belong to me, no stealing, yadda yadda.

Photographs (c) Me
Taa~

Grayscale towels. Macy's Bed & Bath section. Yeah. I'm that girl.

Abandoned paper mill sunset.

Intriguing word choice to print on the side of a cardboard box.

Night tree.

Triplets. (Fun with clones)

...don't ask.

"Murderer" is spelled C-R-A-Z-Y

She was bleeding beneath him.

He licked the blood off the knife like a red Popsicle and it dribbled down his chin.

“Does it hurt yet, love?” he whispered, biting her earlobe with his canine until it was punctured. Her lip was seized between her teeth and he could see crimson lining it.

“No,” she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.

He smiled wide. “Good.”

He plunged the knife into her stomach for the third time. The wounds made a small triangle just below her rib cage. He watched in sick satisfaction as her muscles clenched and her back arched, her fingernails digging into the dirt below her while it caked her clothes and hair into a matted mess.

“Scream for me,” he cooed into her ear, running the blade softly down her neck.

And she did.

She gulped down the chilly night air in an attempt to soothe her sore throat, raw from torment, but it did nothing more than hurt worse.

“Honey,” he murmured while grabbing her wrist. “You’re bleeding quite a lot.” He held the warm flesh tightly in his grasp, flipping it so that her palm was facing him. He could see the color fading from her face, her lips turning paler as the seconds ticked past.

Her eyes rolled around in her head while she panted hard, trying to restore the depleted oxygen in her lungs. Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt heavy as lead. She cringed and groaned at the knife cleanly slicing away the tender skin of her wrist. Blood poured over his hands and onto her shirt.

“Are you going…to kill…me…?” she gasped when he slid the knife down her leg just hard enough to break the jean material and skin that lay beneath.

“No,” he whispered plainly. He took her trembling hands into his bloody ones, wrapping her fingers around the handle of the blade. “You are going to kill you.”

Fear flashed in her eyes, but before she could summon up enough strength to stop him, he shoved the knife down.

Right through her left breast.

She cried out, wriggling feebly under the knife that pinned her to the ground before lying very still. Darkness poured in on her and she couldn’t escape it.

He chuckled and twisted the knife, laughing louder at the blood that squirted out at him. “‘It’s all your fault’; I can hear you say it. ‘Jay, it’s all your fault. You did this to me. It’s always been your fault.’” 

He tugged the blade from her body and wiped the crimson on her tattered jeans. “Well darling, I’m sorry to say that it’s not my fault. It doesn’t matter now anyway, because, guess what?”

He burst from laughter, clutching his stomach as tears filled his eyes. “You’re dead!”

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Yeah, the title kind of sucks, but oh well. 

 I can't remember what state of mind I was when I wrote this, but I do know it wasn't recent. Almost a year at this point I would imagine. Maybe I was having some crazy dreams. And maybe I was just channeling the inner-psycho that was brought out while watching The Uninvited. Who knows. Those darn scary movies don't scare me; they make me scary. Interesting how that works.

See? Looney bin.

Ta~

-Vicki