I started writing this entry in, like, September. Better late than never? Also, HI!
And I'm back again! Consistently inconsistent, thy name is....me. Here are some things that have happened since the last time I was around lj-land, which was apparently... March. Oh em gee.
1) I spent 4 weeks in June studying abroad in Lille, France. I would describe the overall experience as positive, although there were some setbacks - life without a laptop or television proved difficult at times, although it did give me a chance to rediscover books. There was a nice bookstore with a handsomely-equipped English-language section where I spent quite a chunk of change. One discovery I made there was this fun historical-fiction series where Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle solve mysteries together. Great idea, or GREATEST IDEA? The first book I read was actually the fourth in the series (Oscar Wilde and The Nest of Vipers), and it was a jolly good time (Wilde! Conan Doyle! Royalty! Vampires! Special guest star Bram Stoker! What's not to like?). I've since read the fifth, and it was not as much fun, but I still bought the first and third books because they were on sale on Amazon, and I'm optimistic that they'll be a return to good times. (Can we do werewolves, please? I really, really want werewolves. And damn it, now "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" will never get out of my head. Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves!)
(Okay, since I first started writing this entry long, long ago, I have finished the first book, and while still not reaching the amazeballs heights of the fourth, it was still quite fun! So I'd still give this series a hearty thumbs-up - if a thumbs-up can be hearty, that is.)
2) In other books news, I read the last two books of the Hunger Games series. I was sort of dreading Mockingjay, because I'd heard terrible things about it, but it was not as bad as I thought.
Thoughts:
1. FINNICK AND ANNIE. What's that, you say? This book is about other people too? Okay, fine. But I kinda love those "person loves other person even if he/she is batshit insane" stories. Maybe because it gives me hope that someday someone will love my crazy ass, too. And since I never really cared about the "main" love story or triangle or whatnot, I get my shipping where I can. Plus, I loved the minor characters in this series so much more than the main peeps. Cinna and Haymitch (who I totally shipped with the girl from District 12 in his Hunger Games for the .5 seconds before she died (side note: Haymitch's Hunger Games - hardest-core ever, y/y? That shit was bananas, yo.) and Johanna and Boggs and everybody (and I'm still pissed that Madge didn't even make it out of Twelve alive).
2. I was never into Peeta/Katniss, because I'm not into those love stories where one person is totally devoted to the other for no real reason. I mean, Katniss is awesome, obvs, but I don't get why Peeta would be so madly in love with her pre-Games. You gave her bread, like, once, dude. You never even talked to her! And yet somehow she's ~the one~? At least Gale knew her and was her friend. Not that I shipped Katniss/Gale, either, really, but at least I could kind of see where he was coming from. Still, it was a pretty weak triangle anyway. I mean, did anybody think it was going to end up Katniss/Gale? I saw the "Gale does something terrible for the greater good and drives Katniss away forever" thing coming miles away. I actually was surprised he didn't do something worse than it turned out to be.
2. I thought Prim's death was lame. Not the actual death, but killing her off seemed...unnecessary, or something. I don't know; it just didn't sit right.
3. Really, Katniss? After EVERYTHING, you still vote "Yes" on Hunger Games: Redux? NO. HUNGER GAMES BAD. I thought that was the whole freaking point! I guess if the point was that everyone, even the series' heroine, can be corrupted or broken by war and loss and suffering, But still. HUNGER GAMES BAD.
4. Way to tie everything up in a bow in the end, Suzanne Collins. So...Peeta got better, huh? Or does Katniss still wake up sometimes to find him trying to smother her in her sleep? Um, good luck with that.
In Real Life news, this was my last semester as an undergraduate at college. Oral Communication nearly killed me, but our last class was tonight and after the exam on Monday it's all over. Dear God. As for the post-college future, there are some things potentially a-brewin', but I think I'll save that for another entry. Ooh, suspense.
I'm hoping to use my upcoming vacation time during the Christmas/January holidays to start writing again. And to catch up with everybody here in Livejournal-land, of course. What's up, y'all? I've missed you!
And I'd like to take a moment to wish a happy belated birthday to both dollsome and veritas724! I hope you had lovely days, and thanks for not defriending me in my absence!