A Bus to Busan Just Isn’t As Good of Title

 . . . Also, the fact that a pack (horde, squad, unit, pod . . .?) of zombies would have made really quick work of a bus. If you’re confused at this point, you probably didn’t watch 2016 thriller Train to Busan/부산행.

Train to Busan stars Gong Yoo/공유 (Goblin, Coffee Prince, Silenced, etc., etc.) as a divorced workaholic with a young daughter. It’s his daughter’s (an excellent performance by young actress Kim Su-an/김수안) birthday the next day and all she wants is to visit her mother in Busan. They board the train, but so does a wounded young woman with a nasty bite on her leg . . .

Naturally, the enclosure of the train carriages and a rapidly spreading zombie-virus make for an intense setting and constantly tense situation. It is a really well-done thriller with empathetic characters, and the lead actors are all fantastic. I’m not a fan of zombies, but I loved the movie anyhow (though be advised, the zombie violence is genre-typically disgusting).  I was also surprised at how touching it was. (cries inside). As an interesting side note, I did ride the KTX to Pohang, and we stopped at the East Daegu Station/동대구역 where the original train stops in the movie.

But back to Busan

Busan is South Korea’s second-largest city, and it is located on the east coast about 96km/61mi south of Pohang.

From Pohang, we took a taxi to the intercity bus terminal, and rode for about an hour and a half – which, in total, with the subway ride at the end, cost about 17,000 won ($15.21) per person! The we, in this case, included myself and 5 other international students. We stayed at a hostel near Seomyeon Station, which put us in a pretty central location for shopping, sight-seeing, and riding the subway to other locations in Busan. Despite the good location, a two night stay only put each of us back 18,000 won ($16.11). Granted, the trip over all added up expenditures quickly – but try spending so little on transportation and accommodation in Chicago or Manhattan! To be honest, if we hadn’t gone shopping, been to the noraebang, and eaten at several restaurants, we could have returned to school having spent under $100 and still seen everything we saw. (While I’m finding that cities in Korea aren’t cheap, there is a lot that is free or has minimal entrance fees if you are willing to walk a bit and ride the Subway a lot).

Since we had to leave after classes on Friday, we didn’t arrive until evening. But after checking into our hostel, we set out to explore the busy, brightly illuminated Busan streets.

Cute or Cheesy – not sure?

After wandering around, we ended up at a Dak Galbi (see this post) place, which was fantastic, and then we continued roaming the streets. By the time we’d walked off how full we are, we picked a random noraebang to troop into. The staff seemed slightly dismayed at the sight of six 외국인 (foreigner, pronounced “wayguk-een) girls, and no one spoke more than a few words of English, but I muddled my way through with Korean, translating back and forth until we had a room, too many snacks, some soju – aka, the necessities.

It would have been a lot easier for everyone if we had known exactly what we wanted before we walked in, but the place also didn’t have a sign advertising what it had. Still, in the end, I got some good Korean practice in. I just felt bad for the poor guy who got to deal with our indecision!

After karaoke, there was talk of a club, but I was tired from all the navigating, so I went back to the hostel. Everyone else ended up there as well, and we decided to explore earlier the next morning. Our first stop was for coffee (necessary), and then we went to Synnara Records (신나라레 코드)Synnara is well-known throughout Korea, and it was fun to see Korean albums, movies, and soundtracks alongside on an actual shelf*

VIXX!

(they also had quite a lot of Korean traditional and classical music, which was cool). Bookstores and music stores are places I will stay forever, so I made sure that I didn’t browse too long, as this was only our first stop.

Required BTS standee

After Synnara, we went to Kyobo (교보문고), which is a major bookstore in Korea. This was a large, two-story place with a pretty big selection of books, including some English and Japanese ones, and a very cool stationary section that we all spent over an hour in. I mainly bought gifts here, so since I don’t want to risk my siblings seeing the post (because you know they’ll read it if I talk about things I bought them!) – here are some pictures of the Korean books I bought so far (for myself, lol). I keep telling myself I won’t buy anything, but books are so hard to resist, you know?

So, after emerging from Kyobo with lighter wallets but heavier backpacks, we planned on going to Aladin Used Bookstore (sad but true story), however, we got turned around and distracted by underground malls, the ritzy, over-the-top Lotte Department Store, and finally decided to head on to Samgwangsa Temple (삼광사), which we had heard had some great views. We decided to walk and see the city, so it took us a bit to get there. However, it was fun to look into cute cafes, restaurants, and anything else interesting on the way.

Samgwangsa is a newer temple, only built in the 80’s, and still functions as a place of worship for many of Busan’s practicing Buddhists. As of 2015, only about 43% of South Koreans identified with religious, which breaks down into approximately 19% Protestant Christian, 15% Buddhist, 8% Catholic, and the remaining 11% divided between traditional, or folk religions such as Shamanism, or offshoots of Buddhism, etc. Like the US, Korea is pretty secular, but the churches and temples are still more populated than the ones I visited in Hong Kong last year (the busiest temples I saw in HK were full of fellow tourists). Anyhow, since I’ve been in Korea, I’ve mainly attended the International Community Church in Pohang, and the people there are extremely kind and full of vibrant love for their community.

But back to Samgwangsa. Samgwangsa is built into the side of Baekyang mountain (basically in the foothills), and took a fair bit of climbing. The views inside and outside the temple were as gorgeous as we heard, with most of Busan visible from the highest parts. The temple complex itself was serene and well-maintained, with hiking trails in the back and lovely architecture and garden areas. We all wandered around (quietly, since this is an active temple), and took a few pictures. The serenity of the woods and the buildings was quite the contrast to the bustle of Busan!

Sadly, we didn’t have time to go to any of the older, more historic spots in Busan (six people’s opinions to consider and less than two days!), but I plan on going back before I leave Korea!

After walking all the way up to Samgwangsa, going down was easy. We took a different route back, going through a market on the way. Markets in Korea are large affairs that have stalls selling everything from fish (live in tanks), to blankets, shoes, and cooking-ware. This one was huge, and several of the girls bought walking shoes (their need became obvious after Samgwangsa^^). I didn’t buy anything, but I always have a lot of fun looking!

When we finally made it back to the subway, we were hot, sweaty, and hungry, so we headed for Haeundae BEACH (해운대해수욕장). The minute we stepped out of the subway exit, you could smell salt water and feel that beachy vibe. The streets here were more open, with a lot of people milling about and music playing everywhere. I wanted to explore, but I was as hungry as the others, so we hunted down a Halal/Vegetarian restaurant that two of the girls had really wanted to go to the day before. The food was delicious, but a little pricey for the amount.

After the restaurant, we headed back toward the beach, but were distracted by a crowd in the middle of the road. In the middle was a street performer doing magic tricks. We watched for a few minutes, and then stayed because he promised to do tricks with fire next. He was a great showman, with good presence and a sense of humor, so by the time the fire tricks started, we were all cheering and clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

I admit I was partially distracted by two little twin sisters who were watching the whole performance with the widest, most serious stares. They were probably around 2 years old, and wearing chic, coordinated little dresses. Anyhow, they both hardly blinked, and while one of them danced to the performer’s music, the other just stared and frowned. They were so adorable! At the end of the performance, one of them gave the man a high-five, but the other one hid her face behind her hands, which made the whole crowd laugh.

By the time we finished the fire show, the sun was setting. It was a little dark from cloud cover, but we hurried down to the beach in time to take some lovely pictures. There was a live band setting up, so we listened to them practice and walked along the beach. The air was quite cold, so I wasn’t as sad that I didn’t have my swimsuit, but I still managed to get soaked up to above my knees because I couldn’t keep out of the water!

The night was so fine, and vibrant from the people everywhere, so we wandered around for a couple more hours. We found a street with food-stalls, and I finally found Hotteok (호떡), which was something I’d been keeping an eye out for since I came to Korea! It’s more of a winter thing, but I figured that we could find it somewhere. Hotteok are basically a filled pancake made from a yeast dough. The dough has to rise for a while, and then you fill it with a sweet mixture of brown sugar, honey, seeds, peanuts, for more traditional ones, or in the case of the food vendor we went to, cheese! The dough is shaped into balls to keep the filling inside, and then dropped into a tray of sizzling oil. Next,  the vendor flattens them out

with a special press (see the photo), and once they are golden brown, they slide the sizzling Hotteok onto a rack to get off the excess grease, and in our case, the vendor shoved the Hotteok into a paper cup which we held out to her so she could reach it with the tongs.

Naturally, you have to eat the Hotteok while it’s hot ! The flavor is fantastic – crunchy golden-brown dough that is just thin enough to crisp up, with a subtle of saltiness, and the volatile liquid honey inside that seeps into the dough to add just the right of sweetness – it’s comforting and painful all at once, since it’s still burning hot! And, just so you know, this is something you don’t ask the nutritional value of.

Eating street food in Korea is something that has always been on my list, and I hope to do more of it next time – but for now, the Hotteok was enough (though it didn’t stop me from buying a loaf of bread and some red-bean buns for the next morning as well).

Eventually, we were all tired enough to head back, and we slept well from all that walking! One of the other girls and I got up early the next morning to go to a church I found through Google (lol), and the others went their separate way as well. It was a lovely Sunday morning, and even though I wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the church (Google maps is dodgy here), the walk to and from the Subway was lovely. Of course, as soon as we made it to the bus stop (a landmark from the church’s website), we realized we were going to be about 10 minutes late, assuming we could actually locate the church. However, a couple other women came to sit and wait at the bus, and after looking at us (very American, backpacks included) lost-looking girls for a minute, one of them introduced herself and asked if we might be looking for Redeemer International Church. Of course, we said yes, and it turned out that both ladies were regular attenders, and they helped us find it and soothed our worries about being late (we went in with them!).

The service was led by a teaching elder, since they couldn’t support a full-time pastor yet, and though the building was humble and unassuming (and hard to spot!), the people were from all over the world, and united by their sincerity and faith. Afterwards, many people greeted us since we were obviously not members or regular attenders, and then invited us and some other visiting students to go to lunch at a Thai restaurant. We accepted, and then we got to spend some more time getting to hear the individual stories of the people there. It was a fantastic time (and the Red Curry I had was delicious!), and they were so loving, sincere, and welcoming, even though we told them that we were only there for that day and might never be able to make it back. I was truly grateful that we had decided to strike out and find them! **

But we had to head on back so we wouldn’t arrive in Pohang too late to finish some homework. We walked back along the beach, and as the sun was out, we were able to take some gorgeous pictures. I was sad to leave the beach and Busan, so when we got back to the original meeting point, we messaged the other girls and told them to head back without us. I planned on catching a later bus, at least, and two of them joined me.

Now I was able to go to Aladin/아라딘 Used Books. It’s a good thing we were on limited time and money, because I could have spent hours there and several hundred thousand won if I had the opportunity. I did not escape without loot (more presents, sorry!), but if I’d had more spare cash, I would have probably accumulated an extra suitcase full of DVD’s, CD’s, and used books. I do plan on purchasing a couple used DVD’s before I go back, just because it is frequently hard to find movies with Korean subs outside of Amazon (at least in Michigan), and they are really good for learning practice! Also, if you’ve ever seen a K-pop album, you know that they are frequently more like collector’s pieces with art, beautiful photography, and an intense level of design (seriously, one of my BIGBANG albums is in a metal slide case. Metal) – so if you want to see, scroll down to the bottom of this post to see what I’m talking about.**

But I digress – as usual. We ended up missing the next bus, so we got coffees  at the bus station and visited until the next bus showed up. The ride home was lovely, still light enough to see the mountains, the trees, and the lovely architecture of Gyeongju (경주) on the way. Gyeongju is one of my must-visit spots, being a historical hub, and I can’t wait to spend more time there!

Overall – I had a blast in Busan, and I am looking forward to going back to see some of the more historical sites. However, it was a fun place to be with a group as well, and group of other exchange students were cool, interesting people and I really enjoyed spending more time getting to know them better.

Footnotes:

*Yes, Korean music in Korea, imagine that – but seriously, when you are an avid collector of international music, seeing physical albums on a shelf gives you thrills – I’m just a nerd, okay?!

**Korean albums be putting everyone else to shame – they are more like crazy labors of love for the fans – and it makes dropping a twenty on a CD seem like a lot better deal!

Exhibit A: LOVE YOURSELF 結 ‘Answer’ – 방탄소년단/BTS

Best part – these are the same guys:

How’s that for multi-faceted? (Mic Drop, feat. Steve Aoki)

See – I wasn’t kidding! And to make it more complicated, this is only one of four editions of the album (they spell out SELF), each with difference visual concepts and themes. (Also, a percentage of the proceeds go to their big UNICEF campaign for ending violence against children).

This doesn’t even include the poster that came with . . .

So do you get the picture? These albums are serious. And they take up a lot of space (one of my BIGBANG albums came with a square canvas – wall art! – for real).

OKAY – that was a lot of pictures and information! Hopefully it wasn’t too boring 🙂 Have you seen Train to Busan? What is your favorite beach you’ve been too? Have you ever toured a Buddhist temple? Do you want to try Hotteok? Have you ever seen an album more extra? Tell me in the comments!

Look Mom, I’m an Exchange Student!

Ahh, orientation. Does anyone like orientations? I mean, they’re useful and necessary and all that . . . I’m sure someone enjoys them somewhere. And it isn’t all bad. You meet everybody, figure out where things are, and get to know your temporary home.

Call me a Scrooge, but they just aren’t my favorite. For someone who recharges by being alone and not having to talk to people – orientations are exhausting affairs.

Me after orientation

In any case, as soon as I made it to HGU (한동대학교), I was immersed in orientation. The first few days were a whirlwind of activities, new people and places, and finishing everything one must do to be an exchange student. For me, the highlights were 1. The international students and 2. the food. Our schedule had us getting up at around 7:00 am and being free to go to bed around 11:30 pm (23:30). Mornings started with breakfast at the cafeteria, then morning chapel, activities or tasks (such as going to immigration to register ourselves, or setting up a bank account), lunch, more activities that ranged from outdoor to icebreaker, dinner, evening chapel and maybe a lecture, and then team meetings before we could go to sleep.

Basically us

They kept pretty close tabs on us, and we had very little time to ourselves, but in the end, it did make us comfortable with each other and better equipped to study in a new school. My team was comprised of 11 people, including one leader to help us navigate and keep us on time. The 11 of us were all from different countries and spoke different native languages, so English was the one language we all had in common. Represented were

Korea, the US, Russia, China, Mongolia, Malawi, Hungary, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Nepal, and Germany, which was pretty amazing. Everyone in my group (and all of the rest of the students) were lovely, and they will all be fun to get to know better and hang out with during the semester.

And as for the food . . . sigh – kimchi with every meal, hot stews served in earthenware ttukbaegis (뚝배기), plentiful rice, and the opportunity to try more Korean dishes two times a day? Sign me up. I haven’t had anything bad since I’ve been in Korea, and the cafeteria offerings at HGU suit me just fine.

Stew or jjigae (찌걔)

Despite the food and people, by the time we reached Friday, I had major cabin fever, and I couldn’t wait to head back down into Pohang City center to explore. Since our official activities ended by Friday afternoon. My team (and most of the teams) went downtown and celebrated with Samgyupsal BBQ (삼겹실).

삼겹살!

(I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!) After dinner, some of us decided to go to the 노래방 (noraebang) – or the Korean version of karaoke – which is an extremely popular weekend activity in Korea. You pay for a room to yourselves, and (frequently) some drinks, and then sometimes some 안주 (anju – or snacks to go with alcohol) alongside the drinks. Couches and tables, a tv or two, and microphones are the most standard features. The one we went to had a bunch of songs in both Korean and English. Since we had an international group with differing levels of Korean (ranging from none to reading and singing ability), we stuck to classic pop songs that most of us knew.

노래방!

Singing loudly with friends and laughing at yourself is a good way to let off steam and tension that has built up over the week. And though I was shy at first, as I tend to be, once we were all singing our hearts out, it was easier (well, as easy as singing along to Michael Jackson ever is). One of the funniest moments was when you had three of us singing along to an iconic K-pop ballad by Taeyang (태양 from BIGBANG) “Eyes, Nose, Lips” (눈, 코, 입) – China, US, and Hungary represent! To be honest, an hour at the noraebang did more for my comfort level than every icebreaker, and I can’t wait to go back soon.

We were quite responsible, and came back to the dorms after the noraebang. As a side note, this is the first time I’ve ever lived in a dorm! Saturday morning was spent mainly cleaning those dorms and then moving our stuff out so we could transfer to our permanent room (the rooms we’d been in were temporary arrangements for orientation). Once the dust settled, we were able to move our things back in to the rooms that will now be ours for the next four months. My roommates are from Argentina (but Korean by birth), Mongolia, and China, and they are all really nice girls. We are all on the same team (remember the teams from orientation? HGU does this every year, and has big teams that the small orientation teams meld into after the semester starts. Each team then has a professor as a mentor, and exists to give each other support and help us have friends during the semester.

As exchange students, it didn’t take us long to unpack. But once we did, we saw what we were missing, and decided  it was time for a trip to the Japanese bargain chain Daiso. Daiso is basically the nicer version of a dollar store, where you can buy most household necessities for low

DAISO

prices. On the other hand, everything is also cute, and you can find yourself finding small gadgets that you don’t really need! I managed to avoid buying a lot of things, but it was a narrow escape.

 

After Daiso, a group of us went out for Dak Galbi (닭갈비). Dak Galbi is a savory, spicy chicken dish with veggies cooked in a big pan in the middle of the table. You can add rice, kimchi, rice cakes, and various other ingredients as well. It was absolutely fantastic, and to feed 8 of us, it cost about 7.50/8 US per person (including the one bottle of soju that some of us split).  Though I’ve been in Korea for two weeks now, I still can’t get over the amazing deals you can get on

Dak Galbi

absolutely delicious food. It’s definitely a highlight. Still, since I’m on a very slim budget, I’ve also eaten a lot of triangle gimbap!

 

For me, triangle gimbap (삼각김밥) will forever be linked to the main character of the Korean tv show Good Doctor (and yes, the US show with the same name is a remake of the Korean one, and it is also excellent!). If you have never watched a Korean drama but you like medical series, then Good Doctor is an excellent recommendation. I watched it after work during the summer, and though it sometimes tended toward the melodramatic, over all, it was a great show with really good acting and sympathetic characters. The lead actor, Joo Won, plays a savant but autistic doctor named Park Shion, and it is a fantastic performance. Anyhow, in the show, Shion basically lives off of triangle gimbap since he can’t cook and doesn’t have a lot of money or friends to go eat with ;P Thinking about Shion and the gimbap made it more fun to be living off of it myself!! (at 900 won each [80 cents] – you can’t beat it).

Passive-aggressive gimbap eating

But back to the point – I survived orientation week and am now settled into my first dorm and getting used to the routine as a Handong Student. The campus is not as big as that of my home university, so it is an easy walk to any classroom. There are trails to explore behind it (if it would stop raining! We’ve been under typhoon warnings for a week and had lots of rain), mountains and a beach nearby, and the town of Pohang barely explored. Currently, I have only signed up for 13 credit hours (the least I’ve ever taken), and so I hope to be able to explore on weekends, and maybe be able to read another book or two! I’ve also been writing since I got here, and today I was able to sketch. I’m not naive enough to think that this absolute peace will last (because it’s school!!), but so far, just being able to do some of the things I love most has been so therapeutic. (And a certain BTS album coming out at the same time hasn’t hurt, but more on that next post).

Okay – so that was a random string of events – hopefully not too boring! Have you ever been an exchange student? How was the school different from your school? Do you like orientations? If so, why? Am I just a Scrooge? Have you had triangle gimbap or any of the other foods I’ve mentioned? Do you like medical dramas? Most importantly, have you been to a Noraebang? I’d love to know in the comments 😉

 

Sorry Honey, I Forgot Our Blogoversary . . .

SO, I figured out that my blog’s anniversary was August 13th . . . and then I worked a 65 hour week and didn’t think about it at all.*

So I’m doing a belated Blogoversary post for myself. That means I will use an inordinate amount of gifs and jibber about nothing for at least a page; you have been warned.

I’ve been blogging for a bit now, but I’ve only been consistent for about a year. In that time, I’ve made some awesome friends, and had a lot of fun getting some words out there. More importantly, I feel like the writing connection with others (and the helpful feedback) has made me a better writer, and made me a more efficient writer.

I answered a lot of the “Why do you blog” questions on this tag from blogger Victoria Grace, so I’ll skip that. Also, you probably have heard more random facts about me than you ever needed! So I’ll skip that too. Instead, I think I’ll write a bit about my past year in blogging, and where I see myself going.

As most of you probably know, I had my debut novel scheduled for August publication.

Unfortunately, it’s already September (yes, I’m screaming), and I have yet to hear back from my publishers on a new, concrete date. They haven’t done something terrible like close down or drop my book, they’ve just pushed everything back in their schedule because: LIFE HAPPENS. No one knows this better than me, but it doesn’t make it easy. In fact, it’s made my last couple months rougher mentally than I would like.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to stay positive and work on the many writing projects (new and old) that I have. I’ve also kept myself reading – because my love of reading is what got me writing, and it’s still my favorite pastime. It’s also good to get other people’s’ words and ideas flowing through your head, just like it’s good to have conversations with various people and not always be stuck in your own brain!

A Few Things I’ve Been Working on Between Last August and Now:

Promoting:

Knight of the Blue Surcoat, my delayed but still debut novel – an Arthurian historical fantasy adventure starring King Arthur’s daughter Melora. More about it here.

Editing:

The Last Coffee Shop (TLCS)- A snarky, post-apocalyptic adventure novel that involves a barista, a bounty hunter, a dancing thief, and a lot of aliens. Read more about it here.

Drafting:

Red as Blood – A genderbent Snow White retelling set in the same “world” as TLCS, just a decade or so later. It involves high fashion, corruption, food service, and quirky, damaged characters. More about that here, and in my current series of Beautiful People posts. September’s entry will be up soon!

Reading:

Scads of research books for a planned Japanese folktale retelling, and a few for an epic fantasy idea that I’ve been tossing around.

ARCS – as many as I can get to, for my day job as a bookseller. Standouts include Vassa in the NightBlood for Blood, and Patchinko.

Most recent reads: Tokyo Ghoul Volume 8 (<3t_t KEN!) and Malice by Keigo Higashino (Japanese mystery).

Learning:

Korean, and lots of other things – to be continued below . . .

Cooking:

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my random kitchen projects. Kimchi-in-everything has been the theme. I’ve progressed to a proper kimchi storage container, so I can make as much kimchi jjigae (김치찌개) as I want!! Other things, such as Korean BBQ, fresh tuna sushi, Thai curries, the usual pies and scones, and many other things happened in my kitchen between work and other work.

Watching:

Obviously, I haven’t had much time to watch anything. However, I did finish the Korean Comedy/Horror/Drama “Let’s Fight, Ghost!” and it was hilarious (and actually a little creepy at times). I also started watching PinocchioCity Hunter, and a big-budget Chinese drama called Ice Fantasy. If you’re interested in hearing more about my tv watching habits, check out this post. AND PEOPLE – if you aren’t watching W: Two Worlds, you should! Not only do we get Lee Jong Suk being a fabulous action hero, it’s a reality-bending drama about being sucked into/out of a manhwa (만화 – Korean comics) and it has a rather Christopher Nolan-esque/postmodern feel about it that is pretty unique.

Oh, and Lee Jong Suk = reasons to watch anything. No, I’m completely unbiased.

ANYHOW.

The last movie I saw was Suicide Squad – and I had very mixed feelings about it. It felt like two different movies competing with each other, and I thought that it would have been better off as a goofy heist-style movie. Everything from the message to the storytelling was muddled (and I seem to be in the 1% who thought the Joker was in there too much – and I’d thought he was the main villain from the trailers . . .). And honestly, the villain (Tia Dalma 2.0, supermodel edition) was completely underwhelming. That being said, the main cast was good and parts of it were very fun/funny – and there were some excellent soundtrack choices.

I’m really looking forward to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemMiss Peregrine’s wasn’t my favorite book – I found it rather boring, and the romance was really the only unnerving thing about it, but the movie looks pretty cool. And of course I’m excited about Fantastic Beasts! It looks like breath of cinematic fresh air.

Listening to:

Other than the usual, I’ve really been liking Korean rockers F.T. Island‘s mixture of pop-punk and excellent vocals/instrumentals. Other notable current favorites include BØRNS (Michigan Native!), For the Foxes, EXO and B.A.P‘s dance-y recent offerings, The Unlikely Candidates, and Icelandic rockers Kaleo.

Also in music, I compiled an ultimate Last Coffee Shop Playlist (around 100 tracks) that gives you a great audio picture of the novel – and it includes a lot of the songs I listened to while writing TLCS as well.

Work:

Err, that. Back in February, I took on a second job at a new craft brewery, in addition to working part-time as a bookstore manager/head book-buyer, writing reviews for a women’s mag, and my own personal writing/reading work . . . so, yes. Anyhow, it’s been fun, but I think the crazy work fest might be over for the year.

Travel:

Besides travelling to Nashville and back in three days, I’ve been to Pensacola (for a day, but well, it was a good day), Gulf Shores, Chicago (4 times!), Traverse City, Harbor Springs, and all that jazz. I manage to clock a lot of road hours for someone who is rarely away from work, 😛

Life:

I GOT A NEPHEW!!! I already had a niece (and she’s one of the most precious, sweet, and mild-mannered little angels ever), but as of the end of June, I have a nephew too. He’s adorable and cuddly, and I got to go see him way too briefly in July.

So you remember I was learning Korean?

Well, last fall, after some serious contemplation/soul-searching/finance-shuffling, etc, I decided I’d be interested in putting some of my savings toward a few more college courses (I have some credits, but that’s all). I’ve always wanted to travel, travel write, and make it to East Asia. Not to mention, my passion for Asian History has had me reading courses worth of books for years. SOooo, I thought, well, a degree in East Asian Studies? Worth it? Maybe a foray into International Relations, or a certificate for teaching ESL? My number one goal has always (and probably will always be) to be a published author, but that travelling/teaching/exploring side is loud too. I want to write, in other places. So this meandering paragraph just means, I’m going back to school, as long as I can afford it . . . At least I’ll have a whole class of people to practice Korean with!!

Related to this – readers might remember how my sister and I had to leave our rental and ended up back with our parents? Well, I’m going to move (at least till December) down to Grand Rapids, and commute to my bookstore job in between. So I can’t see the craziness letting up any time soon, but it will probably be a bit more organized now. *Gulp*

And while I’m on the subject of school, I’m attending a college that really is quite a nontraditional place for an adult student – and it feels like I’m in class with high schoolers – I feel so awkward and out of place. So there’s that. I thought about doing a series about what it feels like to go back to school at 27 (on a small enough campus to where you can feel it). So that might be a thing . . . It’s amazing how isolated you can feel when you’re surrounded by thousands of people. Don’t get me wrong, I love being by myself, but trading in 65hr work weeks for 65hr work-and-school weeks is kind of lonely, you know? But I know that I have you guys to talk to! (And believe me, it’s comforting)

So that’s it – that’s all there is in a nutshell. Happy Belated Blogoversary to me! (Also, happy 추석 to my Korean friends out there!)

(I love Lurch’s dancing because we can all do better – sorry Lurch)

If you blog, when’s your blogoversary? Have you ever thought about going back to school after leaving it? Would you read a series about going back to school as an adult student?

What have you been up to this September? Conversation is delightful ;P

*I didn’t forget my beloved Bigbang’s anniversary though (August 19th). Priorities, priorities . . .

 

JUNE ATE ME FOR LUNCH (My Month – Recapped)

I might as well just post this title and go home. But even though it tells you what my month was like, it doesn’t tell you what my month was like.

Here are some gifs to help explain that:

Getting the idea?

I did write ONE June Post – the required Beautiful People, featuring the doctor from my WIP. So I will still consider this a valid entry for the Wrap-Up Round-Up Monthly link-up with Nicole from Feed Your Fiction Addiction.

ANYHOW, there were a lot of reasons I wasn’t on the blog – and the biggest one was a forced relocation to my parents’ upper room. (See May Rewind). So my sister and I couldn’t find a place fast enough, and my parents were kind enough to take us back. The problem is, there are already a lot of people crowded into my parents’ small space, and it’s double the distance from both of my jobs. The perks? I love my family, and they have internet. *Proceeded to binge watch Tokyo Ghoul *

So it’s a little like living in The Burrow – only without magic.

That was the worst news of June (best news soon) – but I have also been extremely busy at both jobs. June – August is always a crazy period at the Book Nook, with Harry Potter Camp and two music festivals in that short period. June has the West Michigan Wine and Jazz Festival, which brings in jazz musicians and singers from all over the country. It’s a lot of fun (and great music), but rather exhausting.

And while I’m talking about music (which I do a lot, I realize), my sister and I had a break from the moving stress and went to see Fitz & The Tantrums at Meijer Gardens. They. Were. Awesome. The Meijer Garden’s Amphitheater is a huge outdoor venue (and it was packed), with rental seating, or you can bring low-backed chairs and sit/stand on the grass. Grace and I managed to get on the second step up, so about 10-15 feet from the stage, which was perfect. The evening started out with indie California rock band Finish Ticket. I’d never heard of them, but they were fantastic, with stellar musicians and an extremely powerful vocalist. They came out the gate with music and vocals that were completely on point and effortless. Needless to say, I bought their mini album/LP, and I’ve really been enjoying it.

But of course, I was there for F & T. I’ve never seen them live, but I’ve been a follower/fan since 2013 (when they released their second LP), so three years of loving their music made me anticipate the live show. I WAS SO EXCITED.

And guys – they were AWESOME.

Vocals, to energy, to crowd interaction, to general quality – it was in the top 5 performances I’ve ever seen on every level. Added to this, the sound quality, lights, and atmosphere were perfect.

And it was so much fun – Fitz ” (with his co-vocalist Noelle Scaggs – who is a phenomenal soul/pop singer, and a handful of extraordinary musicians) wouldn’t let us sit still and be stodgy, complacent listeners (which my sister and I usually are). He got everyone on their feet in seconds, and Noelle’s dancing (and urging of the crowd to dance) was contagious enough for my sister and I to at least bob our heads and tap our feet.

Zion T. is an accurate representation of our public dancing 😛

*Hey, they got us to ‘handclap’ for Handclap, so they need an award here. I think it would take me about twenty years to learn the actual Handclap dance . . .*

 

So in short – if you like dance-y soul pop you should check out Fitz & The Tantrums!

(Start with Fools Gold, Out of My League, Dear Mr. President, Tricky, Walking Target . . .)

And speaking of dancing – this crazy video also happened in June.

Every time I watch EXO dance, I am somewhere between awe and despair. HOW EVEN GUYS?? How can you move (or not move) like that? Cordinationally-challenged individuals like myself can only dream.

And on the subject of dreaming AND concerts – BIGBANG keep spamming innocent international fans with all of the cool stuff they’re doing for their 10th Anniversary in Korea, China, and Japan – and it all looks miserably awesome. And far away. Thanks guys

ANYHOW – in non-music related stuff- I was in one of my best friend’s wedding the first week of June.

A lovely shot of the bride and groom that I creepily pilfered from someone's Facebook
A lovely shot of the bride and groom that I creepily pilfered from someone’s Facebook

It was beautiful and everything went well, so that was an answer to many prayers. And no one fainted, though I actually locked my knees for the first time in my life 😛

 

KIMG0550
This picture is actually mine – but the poor quality is my phone 🙁

 

 

I am still waiting to see all the pictures . . . I was too busy to take many myself. But the most important thing is that it all went off without a hitch, and that she is now happily married and relocated with her groom to Indiana (and now I have another person to visit on my spontaneous roadtrips!!)

 

 

BUT THE BEST JUNE NEWS OF ALL?????

I HAVE A CUTE NEPHEW. And thus, one of my lifelong dreams is realized: I now have a nephew AND a niece. William Charles was born on June 30th, and he’s absolutely precious. It is a great testimony to my willpower that i didn’t ditch work, jump in my car, and speed down south at once. Instead, I am consoling myself in many, many cute baby pictures. I will now commence buying adorable little boy clothes and biding my time until I can dart off to see him.

What’s Next?:

Well, Lord-willing, Knight of the Blue Surcoat is still set for an August release (though the publisher contacted me to tell me there might be a small delay . . .?), and when I know more, I’ll tell you.

And July – there’s Harry Potter Camp (prepping like a wizard studying for O.W.L.S right now), and a new Beautiful People (which I’ll use another one of the Seven Sisters for), and maybe, maybe, a cute nephew to go see?? (If I can pull time off out of my ears, maybe). And I’m almost done with my readthrough of TLCS, so I’ll enter the actual editing phase next (June didn’t happen). OH – AND BOOKS TO READ. I basically read a pile of manga in June. It was the only thing I had time/attention span for. But I’m hopeful for July (Blood for Blood – just started it!). And I’m still plugging along at my Korean studies and research (more about that eventually), despite having the attention span of a two-year-old and no time. I’m sort of hoping that I’ll just absorb it from the unhealthy amounts of music I listen to . . .

Despite my busy schedule, my parents’ internet means you’ll probably see a little more of me (though what state I’ll be in – that’s uncertain).

Happy July! Keep Reading and Writing!

Soooo – any summer/fall concerts planned for you? What are you reading or writing? Have you made it to the beach yet (sadly, I haven’t)? Any new bands or songs you’re liking? (Summer is the perfect time for windows down and speakers UP)

 

 

Tags, Tags, Tags – and Gifs

So, I was wanting to write a post, but none of my drafts looked appealing. I started reading other people’s posts instead, and I found out the Victoria Grace @ Wanderer’s Pen had tagged me! Thanks a bunch 🙂

***UPDATE*** Aaaand, then, as usual, life happened . . .

*Cue Jaws Theme*

_Ahem_ Two Months Later . . .

Back to the tag – Victoria said that I could choose which tag I wanted to do, so I just decided to answer ALL the questions. So we have the “Secret Life of a Book Blogger” questions first, and Victoria’s questions from the “Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award” next. Savvy?

First, I am prepared to spill all my secrets *shifty eyes*

Secret Life of a Book Blogger

1. How long have you been a blogger? –
Let me look . . . err . . . and after much digging, I found my blog’s birthday!! It’s August 13th, 2012 (I always did like 13). And now that I found it, I’ll have to do a blogoversary post. So I’ve been blogging on and off for 3ish years, but I didn’t get serious about it until last year.
2. At what point do you think you’ll stop blogging? –
I guess I haven’t thought that far ahead? I don’t intend to quit blogging. Even if no one reads it, I’ll probably still be here. I’m like that.
3. What is the best thing about blogging? –
While it’s fun to share your thoughts with the world, it’s not nearly as cool as interacting with diverse people from all over the place. My favorite part is definitely following/commenting/conversing with all of you fabulous people.
4. What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay? –
The worst part – not having the time/energy to blog when you really want to!!! I’m still working on trying to make it okay, to be honest. But not worrying about it is helpful 🙂
5. How long does it take you to create/find pictures to use? –
Depends on the picture. I usually have a pretty clear image in mind that I want to use (see my extensive use of gifs). If I am creating an image, it takes me days to be happy with it, so I rarely do that.
6. Who is your book crush?

Tom Imura, obviously. (from Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry).

And forget the crush, I want to marry him.*
Tom is, to date, my only literary crush. As much as I love hordes of male characters, I am typically more inclined to want to be them than have a crush on them. (i.e., every man in LOTR.) And tbh, most of my favorite literary guys would be bad news (I’m looking at you, Howl, Mordred, Luthe, Hamlet, Peaceable Sherwood, etc, etc.). And I don’t have patience for that. Nope.
*sadly, even if he was real, I don’t think I’m Tom’s type, ;P
7. What author would you like to have on your blog? –
Robin McKinley. She was one of the first author’s to write books and characters that I fell in love with (outside of Tolkien. And I can’t interview him, for obvious reasons). Robin McKinley influenced me as a writer and reader, and I still love her books so much. It would be a huge honor to have her.
8. What do you wear when you write blog posts? –
 . . .
Because *everyone* dresses like G Dragon when they . . . wait, I’m pretty sure that NO ONE but GD dresses like GD . . .
 Whatever I wear normally. For example, today I’m wearing jeans, an anime costume shirt, and clogs. What I want to know is, does anyone actually change what they wear for blogging purposes??
9. How long does it take you to prepare? –

Prepare for what? Work? The Zombie Apocalypse? This year’s election (I don’t think I’ll ever be prepared for that)? The Olympics (Err, never).

I’ll stop being a smartaleck now – as this probably means a blog post. It really depends. I’ve written a post off the top of my head, and taken about ten minutes. Other posts have taken weeks. But my average is a couple of hours.

10. How do you feel about the book blogger community? –
I like them a lot! We’re all united by our love of books and reading, so we have a big plot of common ground. On the other hand, you read a lot of unique voices and experience people from all walks of life, and that is one of the best parts of the community.

And now – The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Rules (which I will sort-of ignore)

Rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link their website (click it)
2. Use the award logo on your post (see above)
3. Answer the 10 questions provided by the blogger who tagged you (following)
4. Nominate 10 bloggers (I did this last time, so I’m flouting the rules. )
5. Ask them 10 questions (I’ll leave 5 questions for anyone who is interested)
Now that the rules are out of the way, Victoria Grace’s fabulous (but difficult) questions:
1.) What is your favorite fandom?
Favorite because I like it, or the fandom itself?
Well, my favorite fandom (that I’d consider myself a part of) will always be Lord of the Rings. It’s the earliest one for me. If we’re talking about the fans themselves – err, still LOTR.
2.) If you were in an epic fantasy battle what weapon would you use? (Magic counts)
This is so hard!! Just ONE?? I want to use all the weapons 🙁
If I HAD to choose, a sword. I’m all about those classic lines and a sophistication.
3.) If you could be any fantasy or alien race besides human what would you be?
An ELF (a la Tolkien). This is the easiest answer of them all.
4.) What Divergent aptitude are you?
I just went and did the official test to help myself out, lol. And I quote:

“YOUR CHOICES DEMONSTRATE THE VIRTUES OF MORE THAN ONE FACTION, SCORING HIGHEST IN ERUDITE AND DAUNTLESS TRAITS”

Guess I’m Divergent. I’m not sure what I’d pick, to be honest. I’d probably decide that I wanted to be Factionless. That’s what I kept thinking when I was reading the book. Sure, you’re a total social outcast, but you’re on your own. Seriously.

5.) Japanese manga, American comic books, or graphic novels?
Manga! That is pretty much all I read (other than research books) when I have busy months (like June)
6.) Have you ever been out of your country? If so where have you been? If not where would you like to go?
I have been to Canada – but I really want to go EVERYWHERE. Especially Japan, Korea, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand.
7.) What element would you like to control? Air, water, earth, or fire?
URGH – another hard question! All of them? I want to be master of all the elements . . . but if I had to choose . . . air. Distractible, fickle, packs a heckuva punch but it would really rather play a game. That sounds like me.
8.) Favorite video game, card game, or board game?
*continues griping offscreen* Probably board games. I love cooperative strategy games like Pandemic or Zombicide
9.) Favorite piece of jewelry (with a pic)?
Currently? I reaKIMG0357lly love earrings, and I got these super cute Mitoki ones in Chicago after the B.A.P concert (right side). The other ones are Bigbang earrings from that same store. I also love every piece of jewelry from the Fandom of the Month Club.
10.) Do you like your hair straight or curly?
When I straighten my hair, I look like Hugo Weaving (not that there’s anything wrong with what he looks like, for him). So I’ll pass.

So those were her varied and fun questions! Thanks Victoria!

Would you have answered the same as me, or opposite?

Oh – and before I forget – here are my extremely random questions, if you so desire:

1. In your opinion, what is the function of a rubber duck?
2. How far would you travel for a concert?
3. What is the strangest book you’ve ever read?
4. If you woke up tomorrow and were fluent in any language, what would you like it to be?
5. You are stranded in a warehouse that’s surrounded by enemies (zombies, rabid wolves, rival soldiers, rabid fans, take your pick) – what is the one fictional character you’d like to have at your side?

Monthly Rewind: April-pocalypse

And here I was, thinking April wouldn’t be crazy . . .

Nice to know I can still be naive, I guess?

April made my crazy March look -well- calm.

Have some more 10

So now it’s May, much too soon, and high time for the month in review link-up hosted by Nicole over at Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Click the links to look at what participants have been up to, and/or to join up.

On the Blog:

While I was hardly online in April, I did get a few things up, in spite of myself.

  1. I posted what happened in March – including a (slightly horrifying) pile of imported cds and dvds that . . . err, grew even larger in April. And everyone laughed at a rude waiter with me. That was fun.
  2. I continued working on Red as Blood, and posted a rather long introductory piece about The Seven Sisters of Henpecked Bar and Grill
  3. I made a really exciting announcement about my debut novel, Knight of the Blue Surcoat.
  4. I counted down (just) 10 of the books that make me laugh to the point of tears for Top Ten Tuesday. It was basically just an excuse for me to use silly gifs.
  5. And just when we thought (*I thought) that I’d disappeared from the internet and you would never read anything writerly from me, I decided to post a thoroughly involved post/essay/article on the differences between Villains, Antagonists, and Antiheroes.
  6. Bonus* There was no Beautiful People for April, so I snatched an old one and featured Sull, the protagonist from Red as Blood. (I actually posted this in May, but I typed it up in April, so don’t tell anyone).

Off the Blog:

This is where things got busy . . .

I have been working away at my two jobs, which is a bit like juggling, but with all of yourself. I have been on bartending training shifts, which aren’t hard (since I have the experience), but they do involve longer hours. On the upside, I’m just living the life of my characters in Red as Blood (albeit with less space, and sadly, no aliens. Yet.)

I helped host a bridal shower for one of my best friends (cheers!), which made the imminent wedding seem, well, imminent . . . And my sister and I made many fruitless searches for bridesmaids’ dresses, as we’re both in the wedding.

My sister (the oft-mentioned Grace) made Hotteok (호떡) – or Korean sweet dessert pancakes/street food – which were amazing, but we ended up using them to make egg sandwiches because of the end of this video (if you don’t click through, it’s an interview with Bigbang, with a “cooking competition” at the end.) They aren’t exactly the same thing, but, whatever.

2016-04-30 14.18.37 2016-04-30 14.25.22

They were really good- by the way.

And while we’re on the subject of reality tv (sort-of), there is this new Korean show called “Fantastic Duos” and the concept is really fun (we should adopt it over here). A recognized artist records their part of a song, and then invites anyone and everyone to participate by recording the other part(s) as a duet on their smartphone. Some of the participants are chosen to perform later on the live show (with the artist looking on), and then one is selected to actually perform a live duet with the aforementioned artist. It’s a ton of fun to watch, and they’ve already gotten an incredible performance like this out of it:

I already knew Taeyang (from Bigbang) was a great vocalist, but this girl is crazy good, and it will be a surprise if she doesn’t land herself a record deal. Anyhow, you should watch this, as it’s beautiful. 😛

But I digress – when we weren’t cooking (how we spend the majority of our “free time”, for whatever reason) or watching snippets of reality shows,  I was cram-reading to get ready for book club in May, and a local tv appearance (more on that some other time), and getting ready for Book Expo in May.

To be honest – most of April is a blur – but I actually remember the end of it, because that’s when my sisters and I went to Chicago for the weekend. We actually helped at my friend’s bridal shower, and then got in the car and drove straight to Naperville to check into our hotel. This went faster than expected, giving us plenty of time to stop at the H Mart that was (almost) next door. I mainly just ended up buying vegetables (because that’s what I usually end up buying, regardless). The most exciting one was a radish that was larger than the upper part of my arm . . . Naturally, we stowed the vegetables and things at the hotel before we went over to the Rosemont Theatre for our BAP CONCERT!!!

(for a few pics, you can look at my Instagram feed)

At the Rosemont, we somehow ended up with pretty good seats. We were in the top section (there’s only a balcony and a floor section – it’s pretty small – about 5K seats), and we were in the direct center, so we could see really well (even without the screens). The crowd was far more diverse (especially in age) than any other concert I’ve been to – ranging from little kids to couples my grandparents’ age. And it was a great crowd – minus the extremely annoying and immature girls behind us. They screamed for the point of screaming (and so loudly/high-pitched that they could have broken glass), and talked about the band members like they weren’t even human. I’m an old-fashioned grouch though – I go to concerts because I love the music and want to see the performers live – so I might have overreacted, but still . . .

Other than those girls – everything was awesome. B.A.P are energetic, incredible performers, from their dancing to their impressive vocal talent. Despite the (moderate) language barrier, all of the guys have great stage presence and senses of humor, and they were so much fun to listen to/watch.

To give you an idea, here’s a video from one of the girls in the front row (from Youtube.com)

This is one of B.A.P’s older songs (1004 Angel – released 2014), so most of the crowd knew the (mostly Korean) lyrics, and sang along. When you have thousands of people who don’t all speak a language singing along anyway, that’s pretty cool. Naturally, if you were there you could actually hear B.A.P a lot better, but off a cell-phone camera, not so much!

At any rate, we got back WAY too late at night, but managed to beat the traffic :). The next morning, we found the closest PCA church (which turned out to be a church plant – Restoration Community Church), and they were so welcoming and friendly. After church, we decided to go to Chinatown instead of driving straight home (because I’ve actually never been there . . .). We mainly walked around, as the weather was glorious. We did stop at the Kpop store there, to buy something for my sister Lydia (who had been bummed that she couldn’t go). A cute snapback with the logo of one of her favorite bands did the trick ;P

After that, we continued wandering around and people watching (there were a ton of families out in their Sunday clothes – so so many cute babies). I thought about going to the Disney store (one of my other favorite things), but then I decided it was too hard, and we made the trek back to my car. Walking all afternoon is a little fatiguing after going to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

We finally headed back to Michigan, tired but still amped up (partially thanks to my too-loud music and the nice weather). And then it was back to work as usual!

And now, as it’s May 9th, I’m sitting in a beach house in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and finally having time to write an update. Why Alabama? I flew down for Mother’s Day weekend (as the rest of my family was down here vacationing). And then – most of my siblings got sick, and my phone crashed so bad that it might never be fixed – so I borrowed my brother’s laptop, and here we are. I had all kinds of pictures for this post, but they are on my phone – which is too bad!

On the upside – I am stranded at the beach – so I really can’t complain. Also, I have an eARC of Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani (sequel to Sunbolt).

I have to be in Chicago (again) for Book Expo on Wednesday, so we’ll see how things go. In the meantime, I might head back out to the water. The weather in Alabama is lovely, warm and breezy, and the swimming has been even better (though I did spot two stingrays while I was in the water). Or I’ll pull out The Last Coffee Shop and continue my read through. But here’s to hoping that everyone feels better soon, that I don’t end up with the virus, and I make it to Book Expo in one piece!!

Happy May! If you’re a Mom, belated Happy Mother’s Day!

How was your April? Do you have any big plans for May? What was the last concert you went to?

 

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2016 – a Month Where a Lot Happened That Was Not Blogging

I can’t believe it’s April. (I mean, you’d think I would, because I’ve said something similar every month for, I don’t know, a year?)

But yeah, March. Over. *looks vaguely bewildered*

Monthly Wrap Up is hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction, and instructions on how to join are here.

I’m getting around to the Monthly Wrap Up late as usual.

A legitimate representation of me

The biggest thing on the blog in March was THAT I MOVED IT. I have this shiny new site and I couldn’t be happier with it. Everyone has had such lovely comments about the new look, so thanks guys!

In March, I also:

  • Introduced Sull, the MC of my newest WIP, Red as Blood, for this month’s Beautiful People.

I decided that I wanted to write as an angsty teenage guy, and listen to all of the same music I did as an angsty teen (with the addition of copious amounts of G-Dragon <3). It also reminded me that Castle of Glass (Linkin Park) never got enough love.

I’ve already finished one (The Wise Man’s Fear), which I read as a buddy read with fellow blogger/fantasy author Sara Letourneau (it was a ton of fun, and motivating – thanks Sara!!)

SO EXCITED.

I added pertinent quotes, and let myself gush a bit about why these gems need other people to appreciate them 🙂

  • -And then I stole a tag (mainly as an excuse to use all the gifs I’d been hoarding) – and wrote a bit about my “writing process”- Behold, the #WritersLife tag!

  • -Just when I thought you’d never get another sensible, non-gif filled post out of me ever again, I decided to write an extremely sensible (for me) post on Writing What You Know.

All told, that’s 6 posts, which I’ll take with a smile. Between work, work, work, and moving the blog, I was surprised that I got anything up at all!

On Other People’s Blogs:

I always read quite a few posts (as it’s much faster than writing a post!), but I don’t always comment. I skipped around the blogosphere a lot this month, and I discovered some great posts. Here are a few highlights –

Off the Blog:

Well, I was rather down in the dumps in February (despite my general tendency to laugh at everything) – and I probably should have had my debit card confiscated. What does that have to do with March? Err – all the random stuff I purchased from overseas showed up this month. If you don’t know how exciting it is to get a package from Japan (or anywhere that isn’t in the US), I’ll give you a hint –

Kirito (L) = Everyone else. Asuna (r) = Me
It feels like this
So, thanks to the buying-binge of February, I have A LOT of Cds . . .

20160401_225816

And this – I’m still baffled by it, tbh.

Screenshot 2016-04-04 17.20.25

Errr – it’s this intense random thing with a dvd, a calendar, a poster, weird card things that confuse me, and a photo book with 2 billion photos. What am I even supposed to do with it? (And I can hear you all saying, “don’t look at me, you’re the one who bought it!”) I did find one use for the photo book though – my sister and I used it as a makeup guide! Nifty.*

20160401_230057

*Who’d have thought?

I also have a cute dress from the UK . . . but I digress.
So March was Music Madness. And of course, work madness. Two jobs take a lot out of my energy levels AND time, but it’s been nice to bump my savings back up a bit (despite the buying binge of February).

Other than working (and reading The Wise Man’s Fear), I started a whole pile of other books, including H is for Hawk. It’s very well-written and it’s a fascinating subject, but I’m only about halfway through so far.

On the writing front, I continued to add details to my plotting/scraps for Red as Blood, and I look forward to working on it in April.

For whatever reason, my sister and I ate out more during March. We discovered Sakura in Grandville – a Japanese restaurant with excellent sushi. However – the night started off with awkward hilarity after the waiter asked for my ID. He squinted at it, and then told me that I didn’t look like the same person – because (and he actually said this) – I wasn’t as pretty as the person in the picture, and we looked different . . . And while I had on my glasses and work bandana, and had no makeup on – I don’t think I looked that different??

What-Excuse-me-Say-what-GIF

 

Anyhow, my sister and I were a little startled, but then we had to focus just so we didn’t explode with laughter in his face. And our waiter – well, he quickly backtracked, and then we could hardly keep straight faces the rest of the time.

WHO SAYS THAT TO A PERSON’S FACE???

Still, on the bright side, I looked young enough to be trying to use someone’s ID. ;P And I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!

And then – at the very end of March – I came down with a dreadful cold. I did not pull a Howl-esque diva fit over it – I just bought some medicine and slept every free hour. And when I felt too bad, I just watched a bunch of really old BIGBANG videos on Youtube. While the latter part didn’t help much (with the cold), it did help my flagging spirits. So. Funny.

Bigbang in the early days . . . (from Dirty Cash MV)

Ah, the awkwardness of youth . . .

Seriously, they’re still hilarious. (And it helps that I really love their music)

Times change

Okay, maybe not everything has changed, 😛

From “Running Man “- BIGBANG + JongKook as “The Gladiators”
Stay awesome, guys.

Coming in April:

Starting Edit #1 for The Last Coffee Shop. In a departure from my normal haphazard ways, I decided to download Sara’s super helpful editing sheets. We will see if I can stick to this more orderly route.

Oh, and I’m going to go see B.A.P in Concert!!!!

You may remember this band from my songs that should be books post that I did back in February. No? Here’s a video to give you an idea:

So we have to drive to Chicago. That’s closer than most of the bands I want to see will venture!! (On that note, I found that one of my favorite US bands, Fitz and the Tantrums, is actually coming to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. Just not until June)

On the blog – we will see! I’ll do Beautiful People, but I’ll probably post as often as my work schedule and erratic internet availability allow me. And hopefully, that will include some book reviews!

I’ve considered doing a few Last Coffee Shop editing posts, but I’m still undecided.

And of course, there’s the general randomness that I produce from time to time 🙂

So how did your March go? Is it still snowing where you are (it is in Michigan!)? Do you have any big plans for April? What was the last book you read?

 

#WritersLife Tag – In Which I Pilfer a Tag Instead of Being Creative

Just when I was starting to adapt to my new (ish) two jobs schedule – Daylight Saving Time.

Recovering from DST was bad enough before. Now it makes me feel like death (and probably look like it too).

So, in short, I feel like writing, but not writing any book reviews or anything that requires a lot of deep contemplation. So what do you do in a situation like that? Character interviews! While it requires thought and creativity, I have more of those than I do energy ;P

So in short – I haven’t been doing much reading or writing for a few weeks. Work, sleep, eat. And again! But I do have a few books I’m working through, and I’m hoping to get a few finished and get back into reviews. Hoping.

In the meantime, I felt like writing a post, but I was too lazy to think of something – so what do you do in those cases? Pilfer a tag. Preferably a writing one, since writing about writing is the closest thing to writing, right? (Read that sentence five times fast)

The #WritingLife tag was originally from Cait @ Paper Fury (who stole it from someone else), and I snatched it from Victoria Grace @ StoriTori’s Blog. So it’s a thrice-stolen tag

Face it – this is all just an excuse to use too many gifs in a post

*note* – none of these images belong to me – they’re all copyrighted by the respective suits. I’m not making money off of any of this.

Yo ho, yo ho, a #WritersLife for me:

1.) Write Fuel: What do you eat/drink while writing?

This is an important question. But it’s kind of difficult to eat while writing,* you know, so I tend to stick to liquid. Favorites include TEA, coffee (usually an entire pot), and wine, when it’s around. Having something to pick up periodically makes me less distracted, overall.
You were warned
*Footnote – I have tried eating ramen and writing – neither went too well. Chocolate works better.

2.) Write Sounds: What do you listen to while writing?

More music than is probably healthy. It depends on what I’m writing, but I have playlists for each book (sometimes each character), and I play them in a row so I don’t have to mess with it. Hundreds of songs later, I usually just want the sound of silence ( not the song, the actual thing). So I’m an extremes girl. My current writing mood playlist is below, if you’re interested.

3.) Write Vice: What’s your most debilitating distraction?
Err, everything? The door. Cars. Strange sounds the house makes. My cat. Books. I don’t have internet at home, which is a source of endless frustration, but also the reason I actually get things done at home.
Food. Food is always a distraction. I spend a lot of time thinking about eating things I don’t have. *whispers* YouTube
An obvious choice, I — SQUIRREL!
It’s kind of amazing that I have ever written anything . . .
4.) Write Horror: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you while writing?
When I was sixteen or so, my writing computer crashed, and I lost about half of my writing. I salvaged what I could, but when you combine an epic loss with teenage hormones . . . it was rough for a bit. The good news is that I became a back-up junkie. I have back-ups for EVERYTHING, including my backups, and two different online storage locations.
This is how I feel just THINKING about it . . .
5.) Write Joy: What’s the best thing that’s ever happened while writing or how do you celebrate small victories?

So far – signing a publishing contract for Knight of the Blue Surcoat. I’m still kind of holding my breath until I actually hold it in my hands though. Actually, when my publisher requested a full manuscript from the partial – that excitement might have been even better. Even though I didn’t know where it was going, she seemed so eager to read my manuscript, and that does so much for your writer’s confidence!!

More excited than Buddy over Santa!
6.) Write Crew: Who do you communicate with or not communicate while writing? –

It depends. If I’m in deep, I communicate with no one. I go into a mental writer’s cave and ignore the world as long as possible. If I’m just talking about writing, or *gasp* actually editing, then I frequent Twitter and other blogs! And I have to mention my dear sister Grace who is my patient beta reader, rant listener, and is generally tolerant of my moods/current obsessions.

Grace – this gif is for you
7.) Write Secret: What’s your writing secret to success or hidden flaw? –
I don’t think there are any secrets to success. Work hard, be dedicated, and don’t give up. That last bit is the most important, because it’s the hardest thing.
*Hidden* flaw? It’s no secret that I’m a wordy little blighter . . .

 

8.) Write-Spiration: What always makes you productive? –
I don’t think there are many “always” things in my life . . .
Music helps (mostly). So does Pinterest (mostly)
Ironically, sometimes a really bad day can make me the most productive. Working in customer service, I always have to be on top of things and functioning  110%, so writing is a release. I have done some of my best work (in my humble opinion) when I was at my lowest points.
9.) Write Peeve: What’s one thing writers do (or you do) that’s annoying?  –
Other People: Tell writers how/what they should write, and leave no room for the differences in people’s lives, situations, or temperaments. Now I’m not talking writing professionals, friends, or advice-givers here, I’m talking about telling people what to do because you know so much better.  If you don’t believe in and love your story – why are you writing it?
Me: Too many to list here. My inability to focus on one project at a time drives me crazy.
10.) Write Words: Share one sentence from a project, past or present. –

And here I thought I’d get away without writing anything . . . ;P

So here’s a random phrase (okay, 4 sentences) from my WIP, Red as Blood –

“Take it back –it’s hideous. They got it all wrong. I wanted a girl. She was supposed to be beautiful.”-Red as Blood

I’ll just leave this here

So there you go. Feel free to pilfer it yourself!

And because I stole it, I’m also flouting any rules.

PIRATE