Kittens in a Blender

I have a podcast!!!

My friend Mike and I are starting a Podcast called Kittens in a Blender.  Where we talk about geeky things.  In this one we talk about DC's new 52.

Enjoy

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1. The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

 by John Green

 ***** (awesome-sauce) 

Overview: The book follows a girl named Hazel, who has cancer, and her relationship with a boy, Augustus Waters.  The  book is not cancer book.  Cancer does play a very large role in it (after all, Hazel and Augustus both have it) but it is not a 'cancer book.' It focuses more on being a teenager and relationships, and the world around them. 

Note: Everything and anything that John Green or his brother Hank touches turns to gold.  If you have no idea who I am talking about then you need to go here: http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?feature=watch and fix that.  Then read any of the 5 books (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson Will Grayson and of course The Fault in Our Stars) that John Green has written. 

The Good:  This is a book that I can see being used as a 'classic' in future classrooms.  The fact that I finished the book in less than a month, speaks to it's awesomeness.  (I have been known to take over a year to finish some books.)   You go from laughing at the antic of teenagers, to crying at the bleakness of the situation, to pondering the workings of the world, all within a 5 page span.   The book is filled musings of whys, and hows that made me re-think some of my world views and options.  The main character, Hazel is depressing, yet inspirational.  She has terminal cancer, and is the first to admit that it sucks.  She's not out to change the world or find a cure, in fact she doesn't leave her house much at all.   She still inspiring just the same showing you don't have to touch millions of lives to change the world, you just have to touch one.   

Also, the quoteableness of this book is outstanding.  There are so many one liners, and phrases that make your thoughts come to a screeching halt, just so you can focus on the 4 or 5 words on the page.  My favorite quote and the inspiration for my blog name: "Sometimes the universe just wants to be notice," is in my option the new 'stop and smell the roses.'  The universe is vast and wonderful.  If you choose to ignore it, it will find a way to make you notice

The Bad:   Now, there is nothing really . . . 'bad' in this book but I feel like everything has to have a good and a bad in it.  It helps to prevent bias, though I will be the first to admit that I am totally bias with this book.   Augustus. . .well. . . he's really the only 'bad' thing I could thing of, and he's not bad at all.  As my bestfriend's boy friend said it perfectly, "I love Gus but if I met him in real life, I think I might punch him in the face."   Augustus is a great character and exactly what Hazel needs in her life.  He caring and sweet but incredibly pretentious and could get annoying.  

The Ugly:   It is going to make you sob.  I don't care if you never cry, you will bawl like a baby.  It's a tear jerker so I wouldn't suggest reading it in the office or on the subway, (although the might be a good way to get two seats to yourself during rush hour. . . hmm. . . note to self).

The Finale:  Overall I think this book is a must read.  It will make you think about things and challenge your views and options. The Fault in Our Stars surpassed all expectations that I had, and believe me I had a lot.  

Until next time,

Doormie

Herding Cats

So, I am a teacher.  I teach math at the middle school level and I am currently chaperoning an overnight trip. It's a lot of fun and I am getting a ton of material for my 'weird things kids say' blog that I will eventually post.  My favorite so far is 'the cold is driving me insane!  No wait, I'm always like this.'

Anyways, most of my duties consists of getting the kids on a bus to go from one event to another.  Not hard.  Except for the fact that getting 30 kids together is very similar to herding cats.

We would do a head count and get 24 kid. Ok. Missing 6. Six kids would show up and we do another head count. . . 19. . .what?  It took like 20 minutes to get 30 kids in one spot.  (Note, they were all in the same room we just had to herd them to one spot in the room.)  

Needless to say it has been an interesting weekend.  

Don't Get to Excited

This will likely never happen again.  Posting TWICE in as many days.  It's a miracle.

This won't be a long post, I've just got some exciting news and I want to share it!  (Well, I think it's exciting, you may be less enthused. )

Ok drum roll please. .. . . . .    I lost 5 pounds!  WOOT!  I have been battling my weight and weight related diseases for a while now and no diet that I went on has seemed to work. Weight Watchers, no carb, low carb, whole wheat. . . . I gained more than I lost.  Over christmas I was diagnosed with weight related asthma and my doctor told me that I had to lose weight or I'd mostly likely have type 2 diabetes with in the next 5 years.  Finally getting diagnosed with a weight related disease and seeing that type 2 was in my very near future kicked me into gear.  I joined Curves.  It's a gym  designed for women.  There's a diet portion of it called Curves Complete and joined that as well.  So far it's been going really well.  I like CC much better then Weight Watchers because it's slightly more restrictive.  I found with WW (hmmm. . .I just noticed they are both alliterations) it was to easy for me to go over points and that I got sick of keeping track of them quickly.  With CC they give you a meal plan.  You can change that meal plan and finagle it to some degree but it gives you recipes and says 'this is what you are going to eat the next week.'  No calculating point, or counting carbs or calories.  Just print out my recipes and go.  The recipes are really good to, most of it is portion control.   There's an eating out portion and it has TV dinners on there too.  The other part of CC that I love is that it's connected to the gym Curves.  Something that I feel WW is really lacking. I know in WW you can earn more points by doing exercise and such, but it's all on your own time.  CC is connected with a gym and comes with a gym membership.   I love it! 

Wh-o are yo-u?

So, hi.

I've wanted to start a blog for a while and have gone back and forth about whether anyone would want to read the ramblings of a 24 year old, ADHD dyslexic let alone if anyone would be able to decipher my spelling.  But there's spell check and 7 billion people on this planet; someone will find my amusing.  So here I am.

 Hi.

The main reason I started this blog, or really the fire that burned my ass, was the fact the I don't read, or at least not as much as I used to. I, being dyslexic, can find it difficult to read.  Combine that with my ADHD and I have little patience to sit and re-read the same sentence 3 three times until it makes sense. That being said, I get distracted with audio books.  So I have decided to challenge myself.   Last year a friend of mine read and reviewed over 100 books, and challenges herself to read 60 new books and at least 60 re-reads this year.  I, being not quite so ambitious, have chosen a humble 12 books, with 6 of them being new.

So I will be reviewing books.  I will give you the author and a quick over view (of course).  As well as  a rating:
* (burn it)
**(eh. . .NMCT not my cup of tea)
*** (pretty good)
****(really good)
***** (Awesome-sauce)

Please feel free to leave me constructive criticism and give your own review in the comments!

Until Next Time!
Doormie