Frivolous Friday... Favorite YouTube Videos.

Hello Lovely Readers,

As I am on vacation I will be posting while away but I didn't want to miss my "Frivolous Friday" post. I am trying to get better about setting a schedule for blogging and I like alliterations so I have made Friday my frivolous day to post whatever.When I get back from vacation I will announce other days that are in the works.

For today my post is my favorite YouTube videos... In undergrad I never spent on YouTube so I was months behind on knowing about "Double Rainbow" and I actually thought it was a big waste of time, but now I am addict. "Hello my name is Blaire and I am addicted to fan made videos." Here are some of my favorites...

Hope you enjoy!

Title: Period Dram- Breathe Again 

Song: Breathe Again by Sara Bareilles

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Title: Leslie & Ben || Arms

Song: Arms by Christina Perri

Link

Video below has spoilers for season 2

Title:The Last time | Francis and Mary
Song: The last time by Taylor Swift
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Title: The Laendler- Romantic Period Drama Movie Dancing Montage

Song: The Laendler by Irwin Kostal 

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Title: Mary & Matthew | We almost had it all

Song: Rolling in the Deep by The Piano Guys

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Title: Katniss & Peeta|| Say something I am giving up on you
Song: Say Something by Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera
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This is one of my favorite songs so I look out for fan videos with it being used- love that it is being used with one of my favorite fandoms.

There are more that I could share but I think 6 is enough, though it barely scratches the surface of my fangirlness

Have a good weekend!

2 books in 2 weeks

... okay maybe in 2 1/2 weeks.

Now that Grad school is over for the summer and thanks to some vacation time (with long flights) I was able to get in some fun reading. I read two very different books... one I thought I would love as it is about WWI and one I wasn't so sure about but ended up loving.

Click on link below for another review
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The first one was Stella Bain by Anita Shreve about a WWI nurse, and at the start of the novel has lost her memory and we follow her as she tries to paste her memories and her life together. While it starts in WWI, it seems to be more background to the story and sadly did not satisfy my WWI taste. I wish I could write more about the plot but I feel I would give some spoilers away. I will say even though it is written in third person, which usually as a feel of the author knowing all that will happen it had a feel that the author was discovering things as we were. This made for some choppy sentences and it took a few pages to get used to but once I did it made me feel like I was going on the journey with Stella Bain. The worst thing was I never really felt I related to Stella and while she goes through so many struggles I also didn't really have empathy for her. I saw this book last Christmas in an airport book store, and I almost bought it on whim but after reading it I am glad I waited to check it out from the library and save some money.

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The next book was Divergent by Veronica Roth I am not ashamed to admit that I am jumping on the fan wagon of this book post movie, but I am not reading it because of the movie, which I have not seen but want to now. I am reading it because my friend recommended it to me. I don't usually read futuristic books (minus the Hunger Games) because for the most part I'd rather live in the past, however I loved it book. It is another post-apocalyptic world, though unlike the Hunger Games, the society is trying to create a perfect utopian society, though that seems to be a veil hiding true struggles. The society is broken up into different fractions in order to preserve order of society, even though as children they go to school together, they hardly interact with each other. Beatrice "Tris" is raised in the Abnegation fraction, which focuses on selflessness and humbleness, but she has never felt to truly belong. The book starts on the day she and her brother, Caleb. take a test to see what fraction they should spend the rest of their lives in. When Beatrice takes the test she is said to be Divergent, which means she has broken the system which makes her a danger to the structure of society so she must keep it a secret. Now she must choose if she wants to stay in the Abnegation fraction or choose her own path. (I don't want to give it away what she chooses because I feel like its a spoiler but because movie trailer ad basically gives it away, I will say she chooses Dauntless). Dauntless are the fighters and the warriors of the society. Though this fraction so different than anything Tris has known she learns to fit in, and make friends, but she is always worried her secret will be found out...

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I am so glad I saw this book on sale and my mom bought it for me. These post-apocalyptic books are not my norm so I can only compare it to the Hunger Games. I was talking to my friend, who recommended it to me, and she and I agreed we could relate to Tris more than Katniss (I guess we are still teenagers going through angst). I also liked that Four (the crush) because he was a fighter. I mean Peeta is great for his pure heart but he wasn't much of a fighter... which is why I liked Four he could be strong without taking Tris' strength away (as a character) and though he was strong he had fears to overcome. One thing I didn't like was how fast the action went sometimes I had to go back and re-read passages to make sure I understood what was happening.

Divergent Trailer

Now I don't like waiting for book two... I know it is published (but I am on a long waiting list at the library) and I could buy it but I feel hesitant buying books because in a few months I will be moving to a new apartment and I don't want to pack up more books.  

Fictional Obsession and Confession

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Dear Readers,

I will admit I get emotionally attached to fictional characters. If you can relate please let me know if  because sometimes I feel alone in my obsessions. For example I get overly happy every time I watch Emma and the scene where Mr. Knightley proposes to Emma and she says "Now I need not call you Mr. Knightley, I can call you my Mr. Knightley." Oh it just tugs at my heart strings. And I lost it when Matthew proposed to Mary on Downton Abbey.

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While yes I do like happy endings and I am totally a hopeful romantic. I look to these books/movies/shows as a way of escapism. I like the idea of getting lost in fancy gowns, balls, and I guess my idealistic view of chivalry. I think that is why I got into history, I wanted to escape into the past and live in the times and places I could only live in my imagination. 

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But it is not just historical stories I mean when Peeta confessed his love for Katniss I hugged the book to my chest because I was so happy. And today when I watched the newest episode of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I cried... Maybe I am just super emotional. 

I guess I just love getting lost in stories. I hope to one day be an author that writes stories that people will get lost in and will fall hopelessly in love with my characters. I mean I get lost in my own stories but sometimes I think they exist better in my head. (Is this common for writers?)

Any way I just wanted to share my obsession. Hope you, my lovely readers, will understand my posts when all I want to do is escape the realities of grad-school.   

Just a pretty picture of escapism
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Free write Friday

This week's feature is from a while back but I thought it was interesting plus it has a major tie into one of my new obsessions.... can you guess.... The Hunger Games.

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(Don't worry I won't give away any spoilers)

I follow this blog called Creative Writing Prompts and on April 20th it had one that used the theme of the Hunger Games... no there weren't any kids fighting to the death. I was a really interesting prompt so I thought I would do it. 

“As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve.” - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Poetry and Essay prompt: Think about things that fill your emotional hunger. What, besides food, keeps you alive? Free-write a list for one minute. After a minute is up, pick one thing from your list and start an essay or a poem.

To read more click here

I didn't need to think of list I knew what it was that kept me alive, it is writing. I know I should say my friends and my family. That is a much better answer but it is not what came to my mind first. My writing came to my mind first. When ever I need to escape into a world that is all mine, that no one can touch, screw up or destroy I have my writing. I have my own little world and that is where I can go and no one can hurt it. Maybe it is not my writing that keeps me alive maybe it is my imagination, it has been with me before I sat down and wrote a story. It was there with me through all my years of playing dress up and playing barbie. Most girls just dressed up their barbies but I acted out stories with my barbies long before I put pen to paper. I know some people as they get older they seem to lose that world of play and make believe. They slip on their grown up clothes and have more practical aspirations but I still get to lay in fields with daisies and dandelions that dance around me. I still get to wear fine ball gowns and fall in love with a prince. I could go to the moon and back if I so wanted to. I need only pull out a pen and paper and there I will be in my own little world, tucked away from it all. I guess I couldn't live with out my imagination and my writing gets me there.

Slowly moving on

This is really part two of Moving on from Mockingjay

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From the post-apocalyptic novel to the 1880s my reading range is wide. I have always wanted to read a Henry James novel. My co-worker, who I have mentioned a few times while writing about the Hunger Games, and I were thinking of what to read next as we both face the fact that we have to move beyond the Hunger Game Trilogy and look for other book. She thought about reading books like the Hunger Games but I thought that if I read a book like the Hunger Games all I would do is compare and contrast. So I took some books off my shelf I have yet to read and played
eenie meenie miney mo, okay it is not that sophisticated but I have found some good books just by chance. So far I gotten lost in some of Henry James' long paragraphs but I will give it my usual 100 pages. If I don't like it by 100 pages I will put it down and move onto another book.

We read to know we are not alone.
-C.S. Lewis
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So I am slowly moving on from The Hunger Games but I will never forget Katniss, Peeta and Gale, I think they will live within me for awhile. 

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Moving on from Mockingjay

I don't know where this picture comes from but this was my
favorite quote in Catching Fire.
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I have finished Mockingjay the final book of The Hunger Games trilogy. I really can't write a book review with out giving something away so I won't even try.

"Finishing a great book is like leaving a good friend"
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Have you ever walked away from a book sad by the fact it was over? 

I am not sad with the ending but I am sad I am done with the books and I can't keep living in their world. I know Panem was not a great place to live in but I got lost in the world Suzanne Collins created and I really don't want to leave. My co-worker said it is kind of like leaving a good relationship, you know has to end but you don't want it to. I don't feel that strongly about these book but I do feel a little bit of loss. I have a long list of books I want to read this summer before summer school but right now I don't know which book I want to read and to be honest any book I read right now would just be a like a "rebound" book. Is that sad?

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During these last two weeks I have been so wrapped up in these books I feel like I haven't had any really good writing time. So I think until I am ready to move on I am going to get some writing in. The Hunger Games is nothing like what I write, but Suzanne Collins writing pushes me to be a better writer because I want people love my stories so much they don't want to let the book end.

Okay here is my one spoiler.... so look away.

I loved the end of this book. I finished it at 1:30 AM and I was so happy I cried. 

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Catching Fire... and the obsession continues

I don't know how I am going to write this book review with out giving away some spoilers so if you plan on reading this book you may or may not want to read this review. But before you look a way know how much I loved it and if you have read the Hunger Games you have to read this book too. Also have a copy of Mockinjay near by for when you finish because you are going to need it.

OKAY people who don't want spoilers look away.

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In Catching Fire we join Katniss and gang six months after she and Peeta have been declared victors. Their act of "love", eating the berries, is seen as a act of rebellion which has caused a spark in the districts. Six months after the games the Katniss and Peeta have to tour the districts, which is a rub in the face to the districts to prove the Capitol is powerful.President Snow comes to Katniss to warn her that she has to put out the spark. She has to convince the districts that she and Peeta are really in love and not acting out of rebellion but they doesn't seems to be enough to please President Snow or stop the spark. The tour is not ideal but they can only hope life will be okay but then the worst comes... this year is the 75th Hunger Games and being such a big occasion the Capitol has a surprise for them. President Snow announces that each district must supply their tributes from previous victors. This means Katniss for sure and Peeta takes Haymitch's spot. Katniss has set it in her mind that Peeta must come out of the games alive, he is the only one who can help the growing rebellion. But what will happen in the end?

I admit I am on "Team Peeta". When I was reading the Hunger Games everyone was asking me if I was on "Team Gale" or "Team Peeta" but to be honest I didn't know because I didn't know Gale from just that one book but Peeta captured my heart when he announces his love for Katniss. I am a sucker for a love story. It just crushes me how much he loves Katniss and can't accept his love. I know she keeps saying that she wants Gale but her actions reflect that she needs Peeta. I mean is he is the one that calm her down and stop her bad dreams and he is the one that keeps putting himself on the line to protect her. So I love Peeta and I just wish they could be together forever.

I am so hoping that Peeta and Katniss get together that my co-worker who is on page 300 of Mockingjay has told me that if they don't end up together I am going to need therapy. Yeah I get swept up in love stories.

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I also get really wrapped in stories, in general, and these are great novels to get wrapped up into, so when they announced that Katniss would have to go back into the arena I was really mad. How can they do this to her and to me again. How can she and Peeta survive another time in the arena. The only thing that got me through this torture was what my friend said when I was reading the "Hunger Games" is that the story is told through Katniss' eyes so she has to live. I kept telling myself every time I worried that she would not make it out of the arena alive. Even with this knowledge my heart pounded in indication of what was going to happen and how was she going to survive. I don't know if I would have survived these books if it was not for my friend's good insight.

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I will admit when I am reading a book that has me holding my breath, I read the last page to see what is going to happen. The last line of them saying there is no District 12 I was like what the what? How much more are these people going to go through till it ends? I guess I will find out when I finish Mockingjay. I want to finish so I can stop holding my breath but I don't want it to end because I love these characters and these stories and I don't want them to end. Because like Peeta says "I wish I could freeze this moment right here, right now, and live in it forever." I don't want to live here forever as I know there are other books to read I just love Suzanne Collins writing she keeps me on the edge of my seat and I just don't want to put it down. And when I am in these books I just escape into another world and I love books that allow me to escape.

I am so glad my friend made me read the Hunger Games... I will put them on my list of books to read over and over again.

I know this is not actually in the movie just liked it.
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The two things I hope for in MockingJay....

1. Peeta and Katniss will end up together or else I will just cry

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2. That Cinna is alive, I hate what they did to him

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I can't believe I thought I wasn't going to like these books and now I am just absorbed into them.

As I await Catching Fire

I finished the Hunger Games early in the morning on Sunday and I am awaiting my library to email me when I can pick up a copy of Catching Fire... but I am fifth person on the list so I wait patiently for the book to be in my hands. While it is the last month of school and the final crunch is upon me... I insist I must have something fun to read.This year I only want to read new books, I love re-reading books but I have a few books sitting on my bookshelf that I have not touched yet. I told myself that in 2012 I am going to clear off some of those books from my ever growing book list.


 For a long time I have wanted to read The Help. I loved the movie and bought a copy for myself during Christmas and it has been sitting on my shelf since then for me to get to. Well I am finally getting to it.

I have read a few pages already and so far the biggest difference I can tell is that the movie was mostly from Skeeters perspective and the book is from Aibileen Clark's point of view. 

My blog post on the movie... lost in cinema (part 3)

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The Hunger Games

Song: Safe and Sound

Artist: Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars 

(From the Soundtrack of the Hunger Games)

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I am sad to say that when I started the Hunger Games book I didn't want to like it. Every one raved about it and I thought when I started to read it I wouldn't like it. It is not like anything I have ever read futuristic and violent, these don't really scream "Blaire". Also I don't usually read books just because they are popular, I mean I have never read a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings books. But my best friend sold me on this book because she said there was a love triangle "okay," I thought "I will read it, if it has a love triangle." I was even more intrigued because my best friend hates love stories but she liked this, I had to give it a try. I usually give a book a 100 pages, if I am not captured by then I set it down, but this book me had me on my edge of my seat long before then. I was captured till the very end.

I think with all the buzz of the movie, I don't need to discuss the plot and I don't want to give anything away because if you haven't read it... you are missing out. But basically it is  post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive (source... gives spoilers). The story is told through Katniss' perspective, she is the older daughter and provider for her mother and sister. At the reaping (the lottery) her younger sister's name is called but Katniss takes her place... but now she must survive The Hunger Games. 


I think to say I was captured is the best review I can give, as a girl who is a hopeless romantic I was swept up in the story, but it not a complete romantic story. I mean everyone I have met who has read the book loves it, boy or girl, young or old, it doesn't seem to matter. So while the title of the book and basic plot might turn you off... give it a try. I was so captured by this book that read every time I was on the T, once I missed my usual spot because I was so engrossed. Another time I was so swept up in the story I got on the wrong T line. It is kind of embarrassing and funny how much I loved the story. Almost crying at some points while in Dunkin' Donuts and staying up till 2AM to finish the book. With all my grad school reading I still finished it in a week... so if you have time you probably finish it faster. 


The only thing I found frustrating about this book was when ever I pulled it out, people wanted to talk to me about it and I had to hush them because I didn't want to give anything away... so if you read it maybe bury yourself in a closed off room. 

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I highly recommend reading the book before watching the movie... they left out some details that were crucial. As always the book is always better.