All Aboard!

Whoo! Thursday was tons of fun. My mom and I went on a train ride nearly all day long to get to my grandma's house (she lives about an hour away) and back home. First, at around 9 in the morning, my dad dropped us off at the train station on his way to work. Then we went on 2 trains to get to my grandma's and another 2 trains back home. It was awesome! On the way to my grandma's, we even got an ocean view! Then my great-cousin (whom I call my aunt) picked us up and we had lunch with her and my grandma. It was a long, long day, but very cool (and yes, I did pack three different bks, even though I hardly got to read much--it was too exciting! I brought TGG, Mia, and Wildwood Dancing). Any train stories from y'all?

Quote of the Week: June 22-28, 2008

"Sometimes we have to choose between what is right and what is easy."

Which author wrote it? You do not need to say which book. Extra points for getting the character! Not that we're scoring.

Ditzy Chronicles Part 2: The Alarm Clock

It's 2:30 at night. I've been trying to fall asleep for over half an hour, now. Suddenly, I think I hear something. Something like...drums. Beating. Very LOUD. I ran through what this was all about. Either: (1) some wacko decided to play his drums really loud or (2) there are robbers outside our house with the punk rock radio station turned up all the way that I can hear it from my room. I guess that number one may not be it, but number two is probable. So here I am, laying in bed, freaking out that there are robbers outside our house (yes, punk-rock-listening robbers). I cup my ear, afraid, but I listen. And listen. And listen. And before I know it, I recognize a song. It wasn't a punk rock song. It was a country song. Not just ANY song. A Rascal Flatts song. Great. I recognized it b/c I've heard it so much on the radio in the car. I listen closely. The song ends. Now I think either one of two things is possible: (1) the robbers like country music or (2) I'm delusional. Soon, I hear another song, one that was the Blake Shelton version of "Home".* WAIT A SECOND!! First off, I'm not delusional, since I hadn't yet heard his version of it, and secondly...it was my alarm clock radio. Great.

The ditzy part? I don't know how to use my alarm clock. Sad, yes. My alarm clock is pretty old, and I still don't know how to work it out. Finally, I figured it out, so after I got out of the shower a few minutes ago...well, I turned on the radio and listened to some country. Yep! And, yes, I was able to successfully turn it off.

*I knew this b/c (1) my mom owns the original "Home" by Michael Buble on her iPod (she wanted me to buy the song for her for Christmas a couple yrs ago) and (2) I subscribe to Country Weekly. YES, it is a country music magazine. *sigh* What can I say? Give me books, the Internet, and country music and I'm set to go!

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I. LOVE. THAT. BOOK. PERIOD.

YES I DO. LOVE it. Figured out what I'm talking about? B1000. Yep. I finished it last night and, well, I think it's about time I fixed up my "favorite books" list and rearranged it. So I said that PA would have a "special place in my heart"? OK, so maybe it gets an honorable mention, but B1000....WOW. I don't think I've ever read a book that was so classic that as soon as I was reading the last paragraph I wanted to reread the whole thing over again. WOW AND SOIL I LOVE THAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm going to write up a schnazzy little (forgive me, my reviews aren't really little ;-) ) review on Butterfly Forest soon. *sigh* I love B1000!!!!!!!!

Quote of the Week

"If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends."

Which author said these words of wisdom? What book of theirs was it from? Take a guess!
(btw, Delaney, I shall get that excerpt out to you...Monday, tomorrow. Promise!)

Talk About Crazy Dreams!

I don't know why, but ever since summer "officially" started again, I've been having crazier dreams than ever. Maybe my "creativity" is coming back to me, or something, but I've been having really random dreams. You know, stuff like LRRHers in a wagon cart *roll*, but last night I had a really, really, weird dream. It was like I was watching a movie; a Hayao Miyazaki movie, but it was adapted from MY book. But I've never had the idea for this book before. It was so real, so when I woke up this morning (ok, at 11 am, then), I thought, "THAT is my idea for my book!" You see, last night I officially decided to be a writer. Officially decided. It's going to be hard, I know, but just maybe this idea--this crazy idea--is going to be the book that will help me be a writer. I know, I know, I probably sound like my brain is in fairy-tale land or whatever, but it's true! Anyhow, so in addition to writing Heaven's Stars and Pandora's Box, I'm going to write this new one. I think I'll call it...The Elements, though that's tentative.

Other BB news...hm...oh, yes, I finished Part 1 of B1000 last night and I'm in Part 2 now! I started really reading it on Monday (shows you how slow I am), so hopefully I'll be able to do a review on it next wk on Butterfly Forest! Stay tuned! :-D

At Last!!!

I have done it! I am actually 100% fully satisfied with my review blog, which is new and improved! Woohoo! You can find it here: http://bookbutterflyangel.wordpress.com/. Me love it! How do y'all like it? Does it have any "potential" you think? How's the template? what about the poem up top?

On a last note, we got our first Netflix movies of the summer today! We got Miss Potter, Becoming Jane, and No Reservations!! w00t! w00t! I'm having a very good wk. *mrgreen here*

WANTED: Expert Wordpress Person

Ok, now I need help from someone who uses Wordpress, b/c I know that there are quite a few of you out there. So I'm still trying to figure out the basics of Wordpress (it's a little bit more complicated than Blogger), so how do you add a Blog description? HELP!!!

A Very, Very Good Day

I'm having a very, very, very good day! First of all, it's the first day of the only week of the year where I am not obligated to any work at all! Woohoo! And, *clears throat*
**First, after getting up at 11 am, we went to the post office, then to the library and I got an application to be a volunteer!
**Second, after some grocery shopping (where we also bought this one ice cream bar that I was hyperventilating over b/c I hardly ever see it), we went to Chick-fil-A, my favorite fast food place
**While eating lunch at home (at 4 pm), I watched Castle in the Sky!! Yay!
**Just a few mins ago, I went on Amazon, and WHATTYA KNOW? They recommend me RR and the new Sugarland CD, Love on the Inside!!!!!!! I was hyperventilating terribly; gack, I'm so excited.
**On a final note...I'm going to a Carrie Underwood concert in November!!!!!!!!! w00t! w00t! Gah, if only I could win those free tickets.

Anyhow, *happy dancing* 'tis a very good day, esp compared to the craziness a few wks ago. :P

♥BB

WANTED: Everyone who reads this blog

*clears throat* Okay, my dear blogging friends, I need your help. I've decided that the name Cloud Chronicle doesn't suit my review blog well, so I'm changing the URL (yes, I know I'll have to get rid of the other one first...) later today (it will be bookbutterflyangel, but it hasn't been set up yet), but I need titles. I've come up with a few already, but I'd like to see what you guys think of them and if you have any ideas.

*Angelic Reviews
*Butterfly Forest
*A Nerdette's Guide to the Best of the Best
*Rambler's Reviews
*Confessions of a Bibliophile, Cinephile, and Music Maniac

Or we can even just go back to Cloud Chronicle or Ripsnorter Reviews, though I'm not entirely fond of either of those. Opinions, please! I'm begging you!

Quote of the Week

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."

Guess who said it in what book!

Well, well, well...

I did it. Yup, I finally got a WordPress blog. Here: http://cloudchronicle.wordpress.com/. There's an intro on the front page. So say farewell to Ripsnorter Reviews on Monday (at the latest Tuesday); I have to transfer the stuff I wrote on there this weekend to Cloud Chronicle. Anyhow, I promise with all my heart that CC will be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy cooler than RR (I kinda got sick of the name; there's an explanation on CC; also, what if people get confused when Rapunzel's Revenge comes out? ;-) ).

Hope ya visit the Cloud!

Half-Way Reviews: Mia, CCB Part 1

This is going to sound really tuppid to everyone, but until I figure out what to write about, I'm going to have half-way reviews. These are reviews of books I'm in the middle of reading and how I like them so far. And since I'm not really reading all of those books under "What I'm Reading Now", I'll just do the two that I've been really, really, really reading. That would be Mia by Laurence Yep (AG bk) and Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman.

OK, so for Mia. To be honest, I had very low expectations for this bk. It had kinda low ratings on Goodreads, so I didn't think this would be as good as the other AG bks. But I was surprised! Well, first off, it's kid lit, but it's really quite good! Laurence Yep did a fantastic job w/ the narrating; you could almost hear a 10-year-old girl narrating this story! Sometimes some of the dialogue does sound a wee bit younger or a wee bit older than what a 10-year-old says, but other than that, this bk is cute. This one even has some humor that you just can't resist chuckling to. So far I'm on Ch 6 (I think), literally half way, but I'm really liking it so far.

Catherine, Called Birdy. I finished the first chapter in about half an hour, which is kinda short considering how slow I usually read. Either I'm finding everything funny, or I'm just reading a lot of funny bks, b/c this is also quite humorous and comical. The narrating is also terrific; you forget that this is written by a modern-day author and not by a Medieval teen. I'm quite pleased with this one. The bk did fool me: it may look like a thin little bk, but it's not a light read. Or maybe I'm just too slow. ;-)

BB News

This is a heads-up for everybody. Well, first off, BB Times will be turning boring soon. Since I'm running out of things to talk about, I think I'm going to make this like a reading journal and talk about my writing process. Yup, so boring stuff. Second thing, Ripsnorter is going to go bye-bye. Not exactly, but I'm going to get rid of it and go to Wordpress instead. I know, I know, it's a major change, but I going to probably call it "The Cloud Chronicle" (long story why, but anyhow, if you want to know, go ahead and contact me). As for DLP...I'm going to keep it for a bit, but I might move it to TCC, too, and have it as one of those private things. So, just to let you guys know. I'll post anymore new stuff. This will all probably go into effect...this Saturday at the earliest. Oh yeah, and on a last note, on Saturday I will also change the template and stuff on here. So major stuff coming. Prepare yourselves.

MOLD Mania!!!

It seems I have this thing about the word "mania". Anyhow, new blog set up! MOLD4EVR is finally here. Woohoo! We've got some fantastic MOLDy readers on the blog (anime, Delaney, Anilee, Verity, Liz, ennagirl, Ina-Chan...and me!), and we'll always welcome some more MOLDy peoples. Having issues w/ MOLD? Come join us! Just e-mail or PM me on LRRH (if you are an LRRHer, which I'm sure--I think--all of you are), and let me know! NB that I will also need your e-mail. You can also contact one of those awesomely cool gals I mentioned above, since they are all admins and can add you in. Thanks! Check us out here: http://embracethemold.blogspot.com/.

Author Meme!!!

Tagged by Aren of Taiger

Uhh...first, before I begin, it's best that you know that I'm going to cheat and look at this list of favorite authors I made up on Word a few days ago, so my answers aren't exactly..."improvised".

Rules
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Who’s your all-time favorite author and why?
Ay, yi, yi...hard, hard, hard. *runs to look at list* Probably Jane Austen or Roald Dahl or Shannon Hale [edit: and all the ones mentioned below].

Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her among your favorites?
My first fave author would be...Tomie dePaola. How can you not laugh and love Strega Nona? Or those 26 Fairmount Avenue books? They ROCK.


Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
After carefully looking over my list, I'd have to say Shannon Hale. Well, I just recently read PA several months ago, and that was the very first I read from her, so she is my latest, most recent fave author. Or perhaps Jacqueline Wilson goes second; she's a pretty recent addition, and I really want to read all the rest of her books. Double Act was awesome.

If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection? Shannon Hale...Jane Austen, after some thought. I previously mentioned Roald Dahl and Tomie dePaola and Jacqueline Wilson...after cheating, how can I forget Edward Eager, Eleanor Estes, and E. Nesbit and Kate DiCamillo? *le gasp* And J.K. Rowling!!! Duh!!!

I tag....*prays that they haven't been tagged yet* Delaney, anime, Maggs, Summermoon, and Anilee!

Wanted: An Expert Blogger Person.

OK, can some "expert blogger person" please tell me how to make sticky posts? Because I will need to do them when I get my new template for the Quote of the Week. I need to know ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please help!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

[edit: Also, MM2008 Updates: Instead of having a whole post for each song, they will be presented on the right with the lyrics. It's just easier that way for me.]

Whatcha readin'?

I'm in a little bored mood. I mean, c'mon, it's almost midnight.

Anyhow, so I was on Goodreads, and I know there are some of you (like me) who read a ton of books at the same time. But really, what book are you really, intently reading? Like what is the first book on that stack of books that you have waiting for you that you pick up and just start reading? And what do you plan on reading next?

Sorry, it's just a really random question that I just had to kinda blurb about. Oh yes, and anime helped me figure out how to make this: ♥. Oi, why couldn't I figure out to use the key pad on the side? Other symbols you can make: ☺☻♦♣♠•◘○.

You can tell I'm bored.

I'm in competition.

Yup, that's right. I'm in competition with

the silver bugs.

Yes, the silver bugs. They're after my books. I'm seriously not kidding. If you find that you have a lot of silver bugs at your house, it's because they're after your books. They want them...oooo scary, eh? This is not a joke at all. This Terminix guy told my mom that when she pointed out that we have a ton of silver bugs at our house, and it's because they want my books. MY BOOKS. Now what's up with that? Hmph.

Anyhow, I should really get that new template soon. *yawns* Maybe this weekend or so.

Music Mania 2008: Day 5

Ever stuck on what life is all about? Well, neither does dancer-singer Julianne Hough! You'll love this song, which is co-written (and originally sung by but had not be released?) by Jessica Andrews, the singer of the hit "Who I Am"! Enjoy!

About Life ~ Julianne Hough

MOLDy Blog!

So, earlier on BB Times, Delaney and I were talking nonstop about a MOLDy Blog that should be started, and on LRRH I started a whole thread about it. So I was just wondering for those of you who read my blog if y'all can answer a few questions:

***Are you going to do it or not, or at least comment on it once in awhile
***Name for the blog (you can see stuff we came up with on the post about New BB Updates
***Content (list of stuff on LRRH)
***The admin: who will it be?

Hope I can get answers to these questions asap!

Music Mania 2008: Day 4

Oof, MM2008 has been gone for some time! Well, real quick updates: lyrics will be a widget on the side from now on, so you can check it out there, and...enjoy this awesome, dissing-the-guys song! w00t!

The More Boys I Meet ~ Carrie Underwood

BB Updates!

There's going to be some new stuff coming to BB Times!!! At the end of MM2008, I'm going to (finally) put my Project Playlist on here. Several other new stuff:

***Layout--Yes, I think I will have a new layout, and I have an idea of which one it will be (from Pyzam). Stay tuned for it!

***Quote of the Week--I'm going to try to have a quote of the week on my header. It will be changed every Sunday afternoon (or Saturday night, depending on my schedule that week), and it will always be a very MOLDy quote I found from Goodreads or Wikiquote, like the one above.

***"Posh People's Brilliant Blogs"--Instead of putting your names, I'm going to put the title of your blog instead, and add some new ones. Some links on there will NOT be found on here. The reason is because I'm going to link review blogs to Ripsnorter, so don't freak out or get mad at me if you don't see your blog on here--most likely, it'll be on RR. Also, I think I'll be shortening the title to something like..."Posh Blogs". The word "posh" just sounds so...posh!

***"Awesome Authors"--that's just a tentative title for another new section. This will have links to my fave author's site, or at least list them (if they don't have a site). Though the title is tentative. Which is better: "Awesome Authors" or "Inspiring Authors"? Or should I do "writers" instead? Opinions, s'il vous plait!

Me on iTunes!

Schweetness, no? I made an iMix on iTunes! If you click the link below, you can get a sneak peek at the rest of Music Mania 2008's songs. OK, well, iTunes for some weird reason didn't post all the songs I'm planning, so the iMix isn't totally accurate, but y'all can still check it out!

PLEASE READ BEFORE CLICKING THE LINK:
If do not have iTunes and you do NOT want to download iTunes to your computer, DO NOT CLICK THE LINK, because this leads you straight to iTunes, and if you don't want iTunes....well, sorry, but that's life. :-?

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=281539666

It'd also be really great if you could just quickly give it a star rating when you get there!!!

Lots of Love,
BB ;-)

[edit: Schweetness...I added it on to here! That is, if you didn't notice. ;-) )