Express Yourself: 5 & 5

Welcome back to the Express Yourself meme! This weekly bloghop is brought to us by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani Bertrand @ Entertaining Interests.

This week, they ask us to name 5 books we wouldn't want to live in, and 5 books we would like to.

Sheesh, this will be hard.

My Don'ts (in no particular order)
1. Fahrenheit 451. A place where books are so obsolete they're illegal? No thanks.
2. Sense & Sensibility. I sided too much with Marianne. I probably would end up the scandalized maiden, and I don't have time for that.
3. Stephen King's It. I have NO time for killer aliens dressed as clowns. None.
4. A Clockwork Orange. Even though it seems like a world we do live in now, I don't like the idea of a gang of gibberish-talking thugs lurking around corners preparing to rape, steal, or kill anything with a pulse.
5. The Crucible. All someone had to say was you were a witch, and you were burned at the stake?!

My Do's (in no particular order)
1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. A magical wardrobe to another world? I would try to make myself dream of places like this for most of my life. I usually just ended up sitting in a closet.

I read a lot of dismal stuff, so I don't think I'd want to live in any other book I've read...I need to read some happy books.

Friday Freeday: Snow

When I was a child, there was nothing I loved more in Winter than waking up to 6+ inches of snow, the huge ditch behind our complex to slide down when we lived in Pennsylvania, and the ice at the bottom of said ditch. Even up to high school, I loved not having school because in Delaware one inch means we will all die if we're out on the road at the same time. I'd laugh at myself for falling (except that one time when I was 9 where I busted my entire face. My sister laughed, so I burst into tears and ran home with a scraped forehead and bloody lip.) and enjoy the snow ball fights and snow angels.

Now that I'm almost 30, I've learned snow days equal no pay days, falling HURTS, and the likelihood that I will get a sinus infection goes up with the speed of the wind gusts. The plow guys don't come until after the state offices are shut down, and you really want to go outside, but it feels like 17 degrees. As someone who also gets hot very easily, I only have 3 sweaters...Yep. I'm cold right now.

So in the spirit of winter, I also thought I would pay homage to some great "Snowy" characters.

Mary Margaret aka Snow White from Once Upon A Time This Snow packs a punch! Though she's also a bleeding heart, and though that was the reason her stepmother, Regina the Evil Queen, hates her in the first place, Snow always has the purest of intentions and just wants to live happily ever after with her (hot) Prince Charming David. If you're not watching this show, my goodness, you're missing greatness.

Jon Snow(First off, Kit Harrington, mmm). Unfortunately, Snow is the last name of bastards in the northern part of Westeros in A Song of Ice and Fire, but who doesn't love a broody, dark-haired character? It seems like the moment Jon decides to take the Black, which means he has to leave all of his past life behind him, Seven Hells break loose, and that's all he gets to hear about! I cannot WAIT for The Winds of Winter, even though I must. As one of the late great Eddard Stark's children who are alive, I need them all to find each other, though with GRRM, we don't know if that will ever happen. :(

Well, that's all I have for today. Happy Valentine's Day to those with one. Singles, enjoy your day. lol

Express Yourself: Book Couples

Happy Early Valentine's Day!

For this week's Express Yourself, Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books ask us to talk about some of our favorite book couples.

I've read too many books and don't remember many couples' names anymore. lol I at least remember the books, so I can look them up.

Tien and Ben in The Deep Green Sea by Robert Olen Butler. The love these two have really make the story, and for most of my reading this book, I wanted that kind of love. I refuse to give away the twist, but there is one, and it's devastating.

Jeremy and Deborah Cole in Wabash by Robert Olen Butler. I clearly remember saying, "If these two don't have sex by the end of this book, I will be upset." They struggle to make it in a steel mill city while the death of their daughter has put such a wrench in their relationship, but you just want them to make it!

Ed and Winry in The Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. Not only is this the best anime I've seen and manga I've read, but watching Ed and Winry grow and try to figure out their relationship through the conspiracies of their country just brings you hope. lol

IWSG: Why I Must Succeed

Hello!

I'm writing this a day early, so I don't know who the helpers are this month, but THANK YOU for visiting us all, and as always, a big "DOMO AMARIGATO!" to our Sensei, Ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh, for creating this support system. You can now also visit the Insecure Writers Support Group page to view and/or join us!

Now, my semi-dramatic topic. Over the past couple of weeks, I've realized a few things:

1) If I never get published, I may never be completely happy.

2a) (Thanks to a Parenthood episode) I didn't acquire any other marketable skills besides writing and singing, so the chances I'll be doing anything else but deskwork increase astronomically the longer I don't push myself. 2b) I really need to push myself to get this done. It's scary, and you're about as vulnerable as you're going to get when you put yourself out there, but I have to do it!

and 3) I'd rather not end up like my mom's older brother, who is near 60 but has chased pipe dreams most of his life, bless his heart. I come from a very arts-inclined family. My great-uncle is the only one I know who actually sells his artwork. The rest of the singers, dancers, writers, and artists in my family have basically gone down the "What-if" path, and I'd rather not.

So with that said, I'm going to do my best to succeed this year. This year is a stretch, but it's just now February, so I have faith. lol

Express Yourself: Goals

Welcome to Express Yourself, the weekly meme brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books. This week's question is about what goals we have for ourselves this month.

I plan to (weather permitting) get out of the house this month. It's exceedingly hard when you don't have a car, but I need to get out. Most of the time, I see nothing but my house, my church, and my work, and I need a LIFE.

A bigger goal for myself this month is I want to try to obtain beta readers for a tribute novella I wrote last year based on Octavia Butler's Fledgling. I really loved that story, and I put a lot of research into it when I wrote the novella Ruby. I think it might have the makings of my first novel(la). I was thinking about this last night, and writers have said sometimes their first work isn't their first published, so while I'm not particularly certain, I want to see how this goes, as it's my second finished WIP.

SO there you have it! More to come on this tomorrow, actually, and be sure to visit the other participants! Oh! That is another one of my goals: to visit my followers and more bloghoppers to whom I'm connected. I've already started that one! :)