Nazotoki

So, I kinda have a thing for Japanese tv shows.  I love them.  I absolutely love them.  I love how the stereotypes are different then here in the US.  I love that I don't usually see what's going to happen.  I love the actors (especially Sakurai Sho and Yamamoto Yusuke).
Nazotoki wa Dinner no ato de is currently my favorite jdrama.  An attractive butler (Sakurai Sho), and a spoiled heiress/police officer (Kitagawa Keiko) try to solve mysteries.  Kageyama (the butler's name) helps his mistress, Reiko (the heiress) solve the weird cases that she comes across.  But he's not so humble that he won't call her an idiot whenever he sees fit.

Sakurai-san is incredibly charming as Kageyama, Kitagawa-san is beautiful as Reiko, and the two of them  have excellent chemistry.  And yes, I desperately want them to end up together.  There's a special coming out in March, which I am ridiculously excited about.
You see? Ridiculously attractive!

Nano (again)

Well, I finally finished!!!  I validated on the 25th, felt just about as cool as possible (you know, as possible for me to feel) and went back to my other project.  So for everyone who finished: Congrats!  You did something amazing this month.  Give yourself a pat on the back, ice cream, whatever you bribe yourself with.
Didn't finish?  Don't even worry about it.  Look over your story, figure out what made you not finish (not setting aside enough time, cramming all your writing in at once and burning out, etc) and make a goal for next year.  You can totally do it!!!

NaNoWriMo

NaNo is coming and I am thrilled.  I did it last year, didn't win, but at least I tried.  And I had 32k words towards a story, which made me happy.
For those of you who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and it's when writers across the world (who have heard about it, at least) try to write 50k words in the month of November.  Each day you're supposed to write 1667 words, and if you make it to 50k then you win!
Ok, it's not  like you win anything material, but you've got at least half of a novel!  Plus, if you register on the NaNo website, you get a little note on your bio that you won and the year.
How many of you guys are going to compete?

Goliath

It's pretty much amazing.  I got it a few weeks ago and...have been rereading since I got it.  Because it's just that amazing.  No spoilers, but just know it was fantastic and that the ending was perfect.  I wanted a little more, but not because it needed it.  Because I wasn't ready to let go of these characters.
Long story short, highly recommended.
And I'd chose Alek over Edward, Mr. Darcy, Jacob or really any other "perfect" guy.

In light of the last post

I just want to remind Alek of what Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender says: "Protection and power are overrated.  I think you are very wise to chose happiness and love."
So, Alek, listen to Iroh and get together with Deryn!!!!!

Leviathan

Read it.  That's the short version of this post.
Ok, long version time.
Leviathan is a steampunk book about WWI.  There are two main characters, Alek (who's an Austrian prince on the run) and Dylan Sharp (who's real name is Deryn...and happens to be a girl despite her masculine disguise).
I loved this series so hard.  I've only read the first and second, but Goliath is in the mail.  And I'd better get it soon.  The story's great, but it's the characters that really make the book stand out.  Alek's brave, compassionate and an excellent leader.  Deryn is funny, brave and still a girl despite her masquerade.  But at the same time, she's no girly girl. She's tough and does what she thinks is right which I love.  And the chemistry between the two of them is fantastic.  Anyway, I'd highly recommend this series!!!
 <--That's the book I get on Friday!!!

Surprising, yet inevitable

First of all, I didn't make up this term.  I got it off the writingexcuses podcast (an excellent podcast, by the way).  But it's one of my favorite things about reading.
Basically, this is when the ending is so surprising that it takes a minute for you to realize that it was always going to happen.  That it was obvious.
For example...
WARNING!  IF YOU READ THE MANGA BLACK BUTLER (Kuroshitsuji) AND HAVEN'T READ CHAPTER 57 DON'T READ THIS!!!
In this chapter Ciel (13 year old main character), Lizzy (fiance in an arranged marriage; very cute) and Sebastian (Ciel's demonic butler--literally) are all fighting these zombies.  To make matters worse, these Shirigami (like Japanese grim reapers) drop down and start fighting Sebastian. Ciel's boot gets stuck in part of the ship's floor, and Lizzy's surrounded by zombies.  Ciel grabs a gun and starts shooting the zombies, but runs out of ammo.  That's when Lizzy turns toward him and says, "I wanted you to think of me as cute until the end," as she smiles sadly.  Ciel yells her name, and the page goes all black except for a few white blood splatters.
The next page shows her kicking butt with the sword she took out of the wall behind her.
To begin with, everything was in place for this scene.  We already knew that her mom was a knight, that she was more worried about Ciel thinking she was cute than anything else, and that the shirigami could kill Sebastian if their blades went through him.  So, remembering that Lizzy was always only cute, I was positive she was dead.  I was upset.  I was mad.  Now Ciel was alone again!  That's not fair!  So when it cut to her kicking butt, I couldn't believe it.
It all makes perfect sense now, in hindsight.  Of course she'd know how to defend herself, her mom being a knight and all.  And of course she wouldn't want to show Ciel she could take care of herself, she wanted him to think she was a cute girl he could take care of.  But she'd rather save him than be thought of as cute.  All these pieces were in place about a billion chapters ago.  But I never saw that ending coming.
I guess my point is that one of my favorite techniques is this "surprising...yet inevitable".  Also, I still can't get over that whole scene, so I decided to blog about it.

Ouch

Few things in the whole world hurt as much as paying rent.  Owwwwww.
Why does it cost so much to live?

Ohmygoodness

There's going to be a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  Called XIII-2.  Of course.
Am I thrilled?  Yes.  Yes I am.
Please let Hope be in it!!!

Tests

They are the real vampires.  They suck out your GPA, your energy and pretty much your whole life.  And I have three left to take before Thursday morning, when I fly back home.
Now THAT would make a great book.  "Ella, your grade is like a drug to me," Edwin said. (There were more allusions I wrote, but trust me, you're glad I deleted them.)