Life of a Random

So I have some news that you all might be interested in... 1. I joined the Bloggers Commenting Back! community after getting curious about it by seeing it on all my favorite blogs. It's a group of bloggers who reply to all comments on their blog and visit & comment back on the blogs that have commented on theirs.  You may have seen this logo around the blogosphere: 2. I decided to be a part of The Blog Notes Project hosted by Amber @The Mile Long Bookshelf! Here is what will happen as explained by Amber:  Each blogger will be assigned another random blogger. I will email you with your assigned blogger on 21st April 2014. When you know who it is, please don't tell them! They'll find out at the end, but it will be more fun if no one knows who they're paired with. Everyone will have a few days to check out their person's blog. Once you have looked at your assigned blogger's blog, please send me a few lines (or even a thousand words. Hones...

"Believe in yourself, in love, in trust. In magic, in angels, in happy endings. In God, in promises, in miracles. In people, in fairytales, in following your heart. In peace and happiness, in never giving up. In following your passions, and making your dreams come true, in always having fun. In helping people, in making the world a better place, in changing for the better."    Belief is powerful. So believe. Unikke's April 4 Post ~~~~~ On another note, I have been entertaining ideas of giving the blog a makeover in the near future. What do you think? Do you like the current color scheme and design points (like the steampunkish header)? What are some parts of Life of a Random that maybe could use some improvement? I'm totally fine with advice as long as it's given nicely and helpfully. :)

I got feedback for the approximately 1,000 word story beginning I entered in the Go Teen Writers! contest. I didn't make the top twenty (Anastasia Elizabeth K. who I'm pretty sure is Anastasia Elizabeth from Every Stinkin' Page made it! Her blog is so informative about all things writing. HUGE "OOPS" IF THEY'RE NOT THE SAME PERSON ). Boo, but while I am going to take it and use it to improve my writing it was a little bummerish to find out that some of the same parts of my writing haven't improved. Good to know that I can write a killer premise though. ;) I really want to do a lot of learning and improving this year, along with writing a whole novel for once. Hopefully it works out. I wrote a guest review for The Maze Runner (by James Dashner) at Karoline's blog As a Teen Writer , along with Karoline herself and Drew of My Oddly-Shaped Thought Cloud (Some people are just blessed with coming-up-with-good-blog-names genes. I am not one of them.)....

Maybe you're a gypsy, with a wanderer's heart. Sometimes it's boring to stay in the same place for too long. Sometimes it's painful. People may not understand your need for finding fulfillment in a way that doesn't seem to have purpose. Keep wandering. Every time you slow down, you want to travel again. Maybe travel the world in a plane, car, or bicycle. Maybe the dimensions that unfold when you read. Just because you don't have a destination doesn't mean that you shouldn't be taking a road trip. It's all in the experience. Keep wandering. Unikke's March 28 Post

  What's Next? is a weekly meme hosted by Hafsah and Asma at Icey Books . These are some books I have on my (huge) TBR pile. Which one should I read first? The Girl with the Windup Heart by Kady Cross 1897 London, a final showdown is about to begin London's underworld is no place for a young woman, even one who is strong, smart and part-automaton like Mila. But when master criminal Jack Dandy inadvertently breaks her heart, she takes off, determined to find an independent life, one entirely her own. Her search takes her to the spangled shadows of the West End's most dazzling circus. Meanwhile, taken captive in the Aether, Griffin King is trapped in an inescapable prison, and at the mercy of his archenemy, The Machinist. If he breaks under the hellish torment, The Machinist will claim his powers and control of the Aether itself, and no one in either world will be safe—especially not Finley Jayne and her misfit band of friends. Finley plunges h...

I am forfeiting time reading The Raven Boys to write this post for you guys. Appreciation is in order, I think. :D (Seriously, though. How awesome is The Raven Boys ?? No spoilers please.) So, as stated above, I'm currently reading The Raven Boys , I started it after admiring the cover and stroking it. All the normal stuff. It is blowing my expectations away! It's amazing and there will be a review. I'm thinking about doing a post on stereotyping bookworms . What do you think? I also have this extremely nasty lemon/honey drink that I'm procrastinating on drinking. It's sitting very evilly at the corner of my desk. I can smell it even though it's cold.  I also visited an online book store called The Book Outlet today, and I shouldn't have. I now want to buy more books (well, more than before). It has destroyed my life.  I splurged on a  ten-dollar book that I love, but now I'm feeling sort of guilty-ish because maybe I should have used those t...

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt Release Date: March 26, 2013 Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 320 Source: Library Format: ebook When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List: 1. Run for pep club secretary 2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree 3. Sew a dress for Homecoming 4. Find a steady 5. Do something dangerous But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far. Obviously, there's no "good" way to find out that your boyf...

I feel like documenting this month's book haul. I know I shouldn't have, but I bought seven books at a used-books store when I already have loads of books waiting to be read. *sigh* It is the curse of the bookworm. #sorrynotsorry So, let's get on with it. I got these for a total of $6.65! Isn't that amazing?? GOSH. I'm stunned by my own bargain-making. OR LUCK, YEAH IT COULD HAVE BEEN LUCK. Also, I grabbed the first two books of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I'm really excited to read them because I've seen the movie ( The Golden Compass ) and because it seems to be religiously controversial in the book world and I'm curious. The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman  The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2) by Philip Pullman A Ride Into Morning by Ann Rinaldi The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede ...

Isn't it awesome how the world is made? The world is a million stories true and imagined. You are a beautiful work in progress. First drafts are lying hidden in every niche and corner. Not only are you an amazing story, but there are around seven billion more unique stories being lived right now. Write your story and know that it is important. Listen to other people's stories. Just like the story of the earth is written in each grain of sand, the story of the world is written in you. Unikke's March 22 Post

I have a little brother. I don't talk about him a lot on here, but he's four and very cute (and loud) and has just started talking in sentences. There isn't anything wrong with him. He's just a smart butt who doesn't like doing something if everyone wants him to. He is currently making a small Easter basket tied to yarn bang against my side. He thinks it's funny which I totally disagree with but whatever. :D Anyways, we were playing outside today in the sandbox and I was getting tired of it because I'd been out there for a while and I wanted to go inside. Perfectly reasonable. I tell this to him. LITTLE BRO: No. ME: Pleaaaase. Please?? LITTLE BRO: No. (He's very strict.) ME:*pouts* LITTLE BRO: *stands up* Catch, Jiejie (Chinese for older sister). *throws ginormous baseball at me* ME: Um. Okay. *gets baseball and throws it back* (By this time he's playing with his toys in the sandbox again.) LITTLE BRO: *looks up briefly* Catch, Ji...

Sometimes it's too easy to let yourself go, to wish for anything but now, and hope that tomorrow will be better but do nothing about today. Today...listen to music. Let it sooth you and speak to you. Let it fill in all the empty places. Plug those earphones in and jam out like a rock star. Cause you know what? You are one. Unikke's March 18 Post

I'm not one of those people who smiles all the time. I don't laugh at every joke (sometimes I roll my eyes). But it's important to really laugh, not fake laugh, because when you laugh it means you're happy. A laugh is like a million smiles added together until they just burst out of you. It's the best emotion in the world because it means that you're living life to the fullest. It doesn't have to be something big. Find a funny Pinterest board and die laughing at all the book and movie fandom references you understand. Help someone else who's not having a good day to have a good day. Find something to laugh about today. Tell a joke to yourself, laugh, and tell yourself that, hey, you're awesome. Life is a song with an awesome beat. Why not laugh and dance along to it?  Unikke Lyfe's March 16 Post

"I think scars are like battle wounds- beautiful in a way. They show what you've been through, and how strong you are for coming out of it." Demi Lovato     You might have physical or emotional scars, but it doesn't matter...It shouldn't affect the way people look at you and it shouldn't affect the way you look at yourself. You are beautiful . You are smart . You are strong . You have pushed through hard times and survived . Remember that.    ~~~~~ Unikke Lyfe , another blogger, has started a thirty day long project called 30 Days of Inspire and invited other bloggers to participate. From today until April 15, I will post something inspirational (quotes, lyrics, etc.) every day, probably in a small segment under my regular blog posts. I will put a link to Unikke's daily posts each time too. And I know it's a little weird to have two posts for one day, but I didn't want to add this to my book review for The Help . Unikke's M...