The Workings of an English Major and Scott Westerfeld

So as many of you know, I have changed my major about 6 million times. But thankfully last year I finally settled on being an English major with an emphasis in education. Here's my logic behind this....English so I can be a screenwriter. Education to pay the bills and not starve while I am working on the whole screenwriting thing. Like it? I do. ANYWAYS... so yes I am an English major and I have become a read - a - holic. I have been reading all the time. Last semester I took a Young Adult Literature class and it all started from there. Later I'll blog about some of those books, but today it's Scott Westerfeld: my new favorite author.

So before I had even heard of Scott Westerfeld, when people would ask me who my favorite author was all I could say was, "I have no clue." And they would throw back, "But aren't you an english major?" Sheepishly and unsurely I would answer in reply, "Yes?" I had no clue. I mean I loved reading before and I had read a lot, but I just didn't have a favorite. Now I can say I do!

Welcome to the world of Uglies.

I absolutely love this book. It's a young teen named Tally who lives in this futuristic world where when you turn 16 everyone has this surgery to make you "pretty." You go from average looking, or what you're called: uglies, to super model pretties. That is Tally's entire life goal until she meets Shay, a fellow ugly who poses the idea that maybe their is more outside of Uglyville and Prettytown. There are people who live outside of the limits of the city who don't have the operation and Shay wants Tally to run away with her to go find it. The night before they are suppossed to have their operation Shay runs away and gives Tally directions to the "Smoke" (the place where the people outside the city live) incase she changes her mind. Enter Dr. Cable. She is a member of Special Circumstances, an organization thought to be a rumor in the city but they pretty much keep everything running according to their rules and regulations. Dr. Cable knows that Tally has been speaking to Shay and that Tally knows how to find the smoke. Cable gives Tally a choice, either follow the directions to the Smoke and activate a tracker so Dr. Cable knows where it is, or stay ugly forever. Well ofcourse for a kid who all her life has been told that her goal is to turn pretty at 16 would take option A. So the book is about Tally's journey to the Smoke, her life when she gets there, and her ultimate decision: betray her new friends and stay ugly forever or turn them in and get the one thing she's been yearning for all her life.

So to some of you it may not sound THAT interesting......but it is SOOO good! If you like young adult fiction, read it. And don't judge it based on my synopsis because my synopsis' are always horrible. I promise I haven't given away anything HUGE in the book. What I just summerized isn't even the first half. Not to mention there are three more books in the series:

I haven't read Extras yet, but the other three are fantastic. They are well written, have a great story, they are just all around good books. If you are a girl and are not really interested in sci-fi, or if you're a girl and you are, read these books. So good! He has also written a lot of other books such as Peeps, The Midnighters, and a couple of other things I'll post later. So far I have read Peeps and I'm about to start The Midnighters. I'll keep you posted!

For those of you who aren't English majors, please forgive my nerdiness. :)

So this week is SO much better! So far. :) I'm at that point in the cycle where life starts to look up and things are getting better!

My friend Kristi was able to come up from Provo and spent the weekend up here in Rexburg and that was a ton of fun. We ate pizza, and more pizza, and played games (hooray for dominoes!), and it was just nice to relax and not do anything for the long weekend.

Valentines Day was so much fun! So first, I made breakfast for the apartment, which was fun. Then my friend Ryan came over and we made a CD! He was this whole portable recording studio, thing and I recorded a CD of me playing the piano (No, not singing....) and playing some stuff I wrote and arranged. It was awesome! It was so high tech and it was great. Then we watched The Rocketeer, because there were guys over and we didn't want to scare them away with a super girly chick-flick. But it was fun! THEN, our FHE brothers brought us roses! Not crappy ones, but like really pretty and really nice ones! They are currently residing on our kitchen table. It was so nice! So that was the extent of my V-Day. So like I said, not super exciting, but still just as fun. I hope you guy all had a fun day too and that you got something special or did something special for someone.

If I can put in a personal plug real quick, I have applied to a couple of jobs at the hospital back home, so if you pray or keep me in your thoughts (if you don't pray...) that would be awesome. Thanks guys. You're wonderful and I appreciate it!

This is my roommate Kim with the roses from our FHE brothers!

Stay Positive (WARNING: this post may contain excessive amounts of venting and frustration.)

So I figure I'd warn you guys before you read, this may be a slightly sad post. Much venting and being frustrated. So now you're warned. :)


School is going great. It's fantastic actually. I love it and classes are going so well. It's wonderful. I also got to go down to Provo last weekend and take a friend's engagement pictures. I was SOO excited! They turned out so well and Heavenly Father definately answered my prayers when it came to the pictures and the weather. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't have asked for a warmer, sunnier day. Especially in February. My friend and her fiance were awesome and it was just a really good weekend.

Monday is when it all starts going slightly south...

Monday I was feeling exhausted and slightly sick and I didn't make it to any of my classes. I felt like such a bum, but it was the first day in the semester I had missed class, so I figured I was ok grades wise. So I wasn't feeling good Monday. Not to mention I had an argument with someone which didn't turn out well, as most arguments don't, and I just felt and still feel horrible.

Tuesday was better. I was able to get a lot of things done, devotional was good, there was a dance (which was SO fun), and things were good.

Wednesday not so much. I missed an important meeting with one of my professors which counted as an attendance grade. I know it doesn't sound like it, but it's kind of a big deal. It counts a lot towards our final grade because it's a hybrid class. This means that we meet once a week, but then meet every other week with our professor for about 30 mins. The weeks we don't meet with our professor, we meet with the TA. This is an advanced writing class and we're making and writing for each others literary journals. I happen to be the editor and chief of one of them, and so it counts a lot if I'm there or not. And I was just not happy with myself. I also found out that I missed some pretty important stuff in the classes I missed on Monday, but I was assured it's nothing that I can't makeup for.

Thursday was the worst. It started out really good, and then plumeted (did I spell that right?) into a spiraling downfall. My first class didn't start till 5:15 PM, and I had all day to do laundry, work on HW, and do various other things. Good so far right? Then I get on facebook. Curse you, facebook. I started talking to a "friend" from back home and things went nuts. I say "friend" because hmmm, we're suppossed to be friends but when this person starts cussing me out and saying how rude and selfish I am, that's when the "friends" part diminishes. I wanted to cry. And funny, this person always makes me want to cry. Apparently I bring it upon myself. Well I say goodbye because I have to go to class and after I sign off, I STILL get messages from this person in my inbox telling me how horrible I am. Yay. This person is not the same person I had an argument with previously in the week, but they coencide because they both deal with me going home. So I am leaving for class a horrible, miserable wreck. Mascara running all over my face, shaking wreck. THEN, later that night, while I'm trying to submitt an assignment for my religion class the next day, my internet FREAKS out and I don't have internet anymore. And it's an online assignment. I was livid and I just wanted to sit down and cry some more, but I was proud of myself and I didn't.

I'm really not a cry baby (unless it comes to REALLY good movies) but I have just been so tired and so done with drama. I hate drama. But it seems like everyone likes to bring their drama to my doorstep and say, "Here. Deal with this." What?! "Umm, no thanks. I'm ok." "No, really! Take it! It's yours!" And then they run away. Grrr.

So today is Friday the 13th. And not to jinx it or anything, but so far....so good. I have a friend coming to visit me from Provo, I'm recording a cd for my mom (for those of you who are wondering, NO...I'm not singing), and it's a long weekend. Not to mention, Valentines Day weekend. So I'm not in love, but I'm excited for it just the same.

I feel better for getting this week off my chest. I need to stay positive. I need to just "Keep Moving Forward" as Walt Disney said. Yes, I just quoted the creator of Mickey Mouse. Hopefully I'll be able to make a temple trip this weekend, have fun, and not have to worry about certain things or people. *Sigh* Let's hope. :)

I love you all, have a good V-Day, and don't forget to do something special for that someone special. Toodle-loo!


An exasperated, Liz :)