Check

So. There are certain things teenagers are expected to do.
Such as-
Get your heart broken by a guy. Check.
Lay on the floor with friends reading magazines. Check.
Sing with the windows down in a car. Check.
Get braces. Check.
Get braces off. Check(as of two hours ago.)
Watch mindless television. Check.
Get angry at family. Check.
Avoid doing homework and go to mindless movie about vampires instead. ...reluctantly, check.
So yes. I get it. Most teens can be somewhat stereotyped.
Then there's a little different list.
Write book. Check.
Spend hours revising book. Check.
Spend more hours. Check.
Send in book. Check.
Get back review and revisions. Check.
Spend more hours revising. Check.
More hours.
More hours.
More hours.
Lie to friends about why you refuse to pick up phone or go watch brainless television and keep revising. Check.
Send back in. Check.
Get email two days later about how
'We love the story, but it is with our greatest regrets we'll have to turn this down. It's simply that most teenagers are not responsible enough to sign.'
Or some such. I kind of deleted the rejection.
(Fine, not the most mature thing.)
But still. I'm not responsible?! After all of the hours put into it, I think I'm responsible enough.
Heavy Sigh.
Heavy Sigh Again.
Oh well. There's more agents out there. That was just kind of a slap in the face.

Why books beat movies

This is not high school.

On the other hand, neither is this.

It's funny. With all the movies, commericials, articles, about high school students, you'd think that more of the average kid's life would get covered. But it really isn't.
For instance, I have yet to see my cafeteria break out in renditions of 'Status Quo.' In fact, there isn't even really a status quo at school-at all. Yet look at most movies about teenagers, and there will be the hated 'Clique.'
That's why I love books so much more. Authors like Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, Maureen Johnson, and so many more, will catch a kid's view way better than a lot of movies. (I'm talking mostly realistic*ish* fiction.) Granted, there is the occasional patronizing book that comes to mind (one in particular is sitting on my floor, where I happened to throw it out of sheer annoyance) but in general, books do a better job of catching point of view.
A movie is not going to catch the unrequited crush that turns out to be a jerk. It isn't going to show you how much it hurts to lose a friend, or how much we stress out about grades. It won't teach you about long, rambling emails, or how much stupid, little stuff hurts. Books have all of that.
What brought on the monologue? I heard some girls complaining about how no one understands teenagers. It's a kind of common whine around high school, and on some level, sure, I agree. Of course, no one really understands anyone, regardless of age. Books are those lovely little creatures that let us see into other people for a little while. I don't think it matters how old you are.
This is a key example of why books will always, always be better than movies.
(Though admittably some, like the one below, come pretty dang close.)

Epic moments all around

I'm not even going into that, other than to say, yes, I am participating. Kind of. But I think everyone knows the rules and the excitement. I think it's great. I do kind of find myself wincing on behalf of the agents and editors out there (I imagine they're about to be bombarded with hundreds and thousands of manuscripts) but it is great. Epic, even.
(Agh, just googled Epic to find a picture. Yuck.)
Halloween is over, which is sad. I'm kind of a sugar bug, so I'm fond of that holiday. The only problem is the ferocity of trick or treating children. They're very forceful.
For instance:
Me- "Oh, that's a cute costume."
Little blonde creature- "What am I?"
I look her up and down and recognize the S and W on her blue and red outfit. "You're Superwoman."
Blonde creature- "No, I'm Super Girl. Get it right!"
And she tromps off, candy in tow. I resisted the urge to take back the Snickers bars. This is my effort of spreading holiday cheer-not smacking children and withholding candy.
Oh, wait, that's Christmas
On a random note, I just finished this book;


It's very good. Creepy with an aggravating ending, but very good all the same.
The book trailer is even better. And no, that's not just because the guy's kind of cute.
That's only some of it.

Best time of year

This is seriously what my back yard looks like. All of it. It's beautiful. I love the trees, and I love the rain we have.
I just sent off a partial request. Fingers crossed. (Or they would be, if I could get my stomach to calm down.)
So. I'm reading Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield. It's very good. This is it's cover.

This is what came up when I googled 'Leviathan.'

Anyway. I found that remarkably cool.
*shrugs.*
This would be longer, but my friend is having a bonfire and I have to go get ready. YAY! Bon fire! Smores! Fire! Lots of loud, insane people! And . . . chocolate strawberries? Yes, those too, because she is just that cool.

Not fond of this sick thing

I admit it. I've been kind of blase about the whole swine flu thing. And yeah, I probably don't have that. (Note that the doctor's said probably. I didn't even think about it until she said something like 96% chance not. Thank you for that four percent chance.)
But holy monkeys, the normal flu this year? It is bad.
On one hand, though, I've been working on revisions a LOT. I thought it would be easy. Cut, chop, be done.
No.
Very wrong. Everything ties so well together that by cutting three chapters, I have to add in other place, and cut in other places, and basically sew it together.
I do like it better now, though.
I'm cutting long, long wordy passages, and it kind of hurts. They're pretty, but they're boring. Kind of like some celebrities. I don't want my book to be a boring celebrity. I want it to be a Miley Cyrus.

Either you love her, or you hate her, but very rarely to people just give up bored. Also, she's remarkably pretty, and sparkly.
(Random note. It was kind of hard to find a good picture with clothes on, and no mean comments added.)
So, anyway. That's my two cents. Being sick stinks, and books should be like Miley Cyrus.
I think I'm on too much medication.

Revisions are my life

Delete Chapter One.
Delete Chapter Two.
Delete Chapter Three.
Rewrite one through four.
Delete bits of revision.
Rewrite.
Add an explosion.
Splice Chapter Five, Six and Seven together.
Chapter Eight is now Chapter Five.
Revisions are my new life.
Sigh.
But I think they might be done by Sunday, if I write like a maniac.
(Note the maniac part in particular.)
The one good thing? I am watching so much less television.
Now, because it's a short post....

Because this is a television show I make time for. (Vampire Diaries.) Because the actors are remarkably good for a vampire television show, and because I am way jealous of that dress and those shoes. And the hair. Oh, and the boyfriend. And....You get the picture.
I'm off to sleep....in seven hours I must wake up.....

Like Heaven, except less guys

My local Borders long ago lost my respect when I realized the religion section was three times as large as the young adult, twice as big as the science fiction, and only about half as small as the romance. (Possibly this might be a bit exaggerating.) However, it has gained it back.
How?
By becoming Young Adult reader heaven.
Don't I wish.
Well, it's almost that good. I bought four different YA books; no doubt I'll blog about them later. I don't want to put them here in case they end up being something I dislike. It was seriously beautiful though-five huge bookshelves filled, with something other than Twilight and the Pendragon series. While I like both, I get a bit sick of them.
On another, more random note;

Isn't it cool? You can find them here. They're from Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series. If they weren't over fifty bucks, I would probably have one. However, I'm a teenager and have decided to save my money after realizing that all the colleges I like are 50 grand a year.
(Enter image of me choking.)
Then, there's this-Scrivener.
It's a writing software that looks supremely cool. I'm asking for a new program for Christmas. Unfortunately, that one only runs on Macs, because it's by far the coolest I've seen. It does digital sticky notes, snapshots, all sorts of interesting, awesome things. I love my Dell computer, though.
Off to finish Chapter Ten now . . . Or read . . . . Or research college.
I'm going to chose reading or writing, actually. If I do that, then I won't have to go crawl into a corner of emo.
:D