on my list

This summer is looking pretty busy, so I'm only setting a loose reading list for myself...

 


Rereading...

the Graceling trilogy (Kristen Cashore)
I loved the intense writing style and gorgeous fantasy world...and although I'm not a romance fan, I'll be honest and say that in this trilogy, I loved the couples, too.

Second Chance Summer (Morgan Matson)
This is one of the only books to ever make me cry. It's a beautiful summer story about a girl who is trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs, and her family (esp. her dad) plays a huge role in her life. The father/daughter parts of this book made it a favourite.





New books!!

anything Maeve Binchy
Her lazy stories about people just capture my heart. She weaves hundreds of subplots and people, people, people into every book...small-town Ireland takes centre stage and by the time I'd reached the last page, I never wanted to leave. Some favourites that I've read already are Nights of Rain and Stars, Heart and Soul, and Evening Class.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith)
I've read the first three books already, walked the dusty streets of Botswana and felt the sweat trickle down my neck in Precious Ramotswe's white van. These stories are light-hearted and funny, and I'm hoping to tackle most of the series this summer.

The Wily O'Reilly (Patrick Taylor)
I'm only a few pages into this one (sort of an Irish doctor's version of the James Herriot stories) but I think I'm going to like it a lot. If it tickles my fancy maybe I'll check out the accompanying series!


Does your summer look busy, too? What are you planning on reading in your spare time?


xx
Olivia

the end of summer [goals]

Since today is my last summer weekday before school starts (can I get a "yikes"?) I thought I'd better figure out how I did on my summer goals. Just...wow, guys. Tuesday is the Big Day.
I hope I don't get lost.

Reading

I'm sorry to say that although I have been reading lots, I have not made one single page of progress on the seven books on my list.

-Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
-The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak)
-Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxes) I got halfway through and gave up.
-The Tempest (William Shakespeare)
-A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare)
-Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
-The Story Girl (L.M. Montgomery)

Overall, I am pleased with the amount of reading that I got done, and the books that I did read were good ones (some of the titles I got through were Ender's Game, Death Comes to Pemberley, the Chronicles of Kings series, and I'm currently working on L.M. Montgomery's last work, The Blythes are Quoted.)

So I'm going to give myself a 7/10 stars.


Writing

My goal kind of changed as the summer went on, but I got tons accomplished. I wanted to write a 20,000 word short story for a contest I'd like to enter, and BAM, that's done. I'm editing now. I've also been keeping up to my weekly word goal of 5,000 words (mostly, that is. When I don't write enough, I've been writing short stories based on the punishment prompts Keira gives me.) But the important thing is that I've been writing thousands of words every week (most weeks,) and I'm so pleased with what I got done over these past few months.

10/10.


Take Pictures

All I have to say for this one is "meh." I did, and I didn't. My camera was there, and I used it...and sometimes I forgot it existed. There's really nothing more to say.

5/10


Spend Time Outside

With all the time I spent on the beach (we went to visit family a lot this summer) not to mention soccer, and the time I spent reading outside near the beginning of the summer, I'm satisfied with the way this played out. Especially all the walking I got to do on the beach. I even ran a couple of times (although jogging in wet sand KILLED my calves the next day. Holp.) 

8/10


Pass My NLS and WSI Courses

As I said before, I've already passed NLS, and WSI just wasn't a possibility for me this summer. I'm still going to say I completed this goal, although I won't give myself a full ten stars...just nine. ☺

9/10


If my math is correct (thank goodness I don't have Functions until second semester!!) I think I averaged out at 7.8/10 stars for the summer. Not too bad!

Did you get a lot done this summer?
 

an official update

Summer is whipping by, guys. I'm having trouble keeping up...soccer season is almost done, and July's more than half-way over. Pretty soon school will be starting again, which for me means braving the

PUBLIC SCHOOLED WORLD

for the first time. *cue dramatic music* I can't remember whether or not I've mentioned this before, but I'm venturing off to public HS for grades 11 and 12, which is simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. I'll let you know how it goes.


photo taken by Matt

But we can talk about that later, because right now it's summer and even though I'm excited for school (and the people. people everyday! and the bus. I like busses), I like my endless hours of free time way more. Here's how my summer goals have been going so far:

Read
Out of the seven books on my reading list this summer, I've finished three and am working on a fourth. (I have been reading tons of other books in my spare time, don't get me wrong. Yesterday alone I finished three - but I'm only halfway through the seven books I specifically wanted to read.) I think I'm doing okay, but I definitely need to pick up the pace if I want to have all 7 finished by September.

Write
Originally, I had like five mini-writing goals, because I had no specific story that I was working on. I basically abandoned all of my mini-goals when I finally found a story to write, and now my only goal is to write 5000 words a week in this story. If I don't make it, my writing buddy (remember Keira?) will give me a writing prompt as punishment, from which I have to write a short story. I do the same for her, and we exchange our punishment drabbles on Sunday. This is my first week to make my goal (yaaaay!) but overall I'm really pleased with the way things are going.

Take Pictures
I'm still only giving myself a "meh" on this one. I have been using my camera, but not super-extensively.

Spend Time Outside
I'm actually writing this while sitting at the table in my backyard, so I'd say I'm doing fairly well. It's been really hot here, so everyone's been hiding out inside, but it's cooler now and I'm getting back on track with this one.

Pass My NLS and WSI Courses
I did pass my NLS class last month, but now that I'm working at the library, my schedule doesn't leave any time to take WSI this summer. So I'm finished with this goal! I'm going to call it complete, because I passed NLS and my inability to take the WSI course was out of my control.


Are you keeping up with your summer goals?
 

green was the silence

Green was the silence, wet was the light,

 the month of June trembled like a butterfly.

 

Pablo Neruda (100 Love Sonnets)

 

 

 

 

Summer has decided to begin with a bang. 40 degrees (with humidity), anyone? Thank goodness for our trusty AC, which is keeping us from melting into little puddles of goo.
Nothing too exciting has been happening lately, aside from the fact that this looks like my last week of school! Finally I'll be finishing at the same time as everyone else my age, usually I'm a couple of weeks behind. I keep forgetting that this is my last year as a homeschooler...if I stopped to think about it too much I feel like I'd be depressed the whole summer. I can get too nostalgic if I focus on the past...on the change...instead of the excitement of the future.

Speaking of change...my NLS course finished last night. 40 hours, numerous bumps and bruises, and quite a few tears of laughter later, I passed the course and became an official lifeguard. WHAT. I'm a lifeguard now!! How cool is that? Only one more course (the teaching one) and I'll be able to start looking for work at the pool! It's kind of a weird thought, since my first day at my library job is tomorrow. One step at a time, Olivia. Oh, well. I'll figure out what I want to do when the time comes. Right now I'm trying not to be too depressed over the fact that fourteen people I might have called my friends (aka my NLS class) have vanished from my life forever. Sigh. We had a lot of fun together. Maybe I'll end up working with some of them? *fingers crossed*

 

 

But anyways. By passing my NLS class, I feel like I've "officially" begun accomplishing my summer goals, which in my books means it's time for a quick update.

 

Reading - out of the seven books I planned to read this summer, I've already finished one (les Mis.) and a quarter (the Bonhoeffer biography.) I've decided to add Tolstoy's War and Peace to that list, mostly for the bragging rights. It's actually not bad so far, although I'm having a bit of trouble keeping the characters straight in my head.

 

Writing - I have not been writing every day, but I have found a plotline to work on, so I think I'm doing all right. I do want to up my weekly word count from 0 to about, um....5000. Starting next week, when I'm done school. I've been keeping up with my journal and my writing prompts, though, so I'm going to let myself get away with this one.

 

Photography - not bad, not good. I'm using my camera, but not extensively.

 

Time outside - um. Ish? I spent some time reading outside on Saturday, but I've barely stepped foot out the door today.

 

Pass NLS and WSI - halfway there!

 

and that's what I've been up to lately. I think I'll go get some writing done...outside! (and kill two birds with one stone, because I'm such a multitasker.)

 

 

Olivia

 



reading les Mis.

-please click here before reading the following post. Just so we're kind of on the same page, because this soundtrack has been in my head and on my iPod and coming out my mouth nonstop for the past 24 hours. So now you know how I feel...and when your family threatens to break out the duct tape...you're welcome-

"'So here you are!' he cried to Valjean. 'I'm delighted to see you! Have you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? ...did you forget to take them?"
-page 111

"He had painted [the sign] himself, being a jack-of-all-trades who did everything badly."
-page 151

 "[Cosette] was known locally as l'Alouette, the Lark.The village people...had thought it a suitable name for the apprehensive, trembling creature, scarecely more than a bird....but this was a bird that never sang."
-page 154

So. One of my summer goals this year is to read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Because I fell in love with several songs off the soundtrack around Christmas, and I adored the movie...and it's just not fair to neglect the book.
I expected to hate it. And be bored for the whole flipping 1200 pages. Because, really. It's TWELVE HUNDRED PAGES.

And, just wow. Because this book is seriously incredible. (once you get past the first 62 pages, which explain the backstory and life and family and yearly living expenses of a character who only shows up once. Because for some reason it's necessary to have SIXTY-TWO pages of information which we never ever need. Not to mention the 30+ page history lesson we get later on the battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's ENTIRE life, when all that was really needed was a sentence saying "this character fought in the battle and did this. now, back to the main story and the whole point of the book..")

But to get back on track...in between the history lesson and needless backstory is the core of the les Mis. story...and it's so good. I'm on page 371 and I just can't put it down. And I'm so thankful that Hugo decided to write a 1200 page book, because that means I'll get to experience the awesomeness that much longer.

If you've seen the movie, you have to read the book. Everything makes so much more sense...like where Fantine's husband went, and what really happened when Valjean turned himself in after discovering that another man was about to be punished in his place. And it's so much more desperate...and so much more beautiful.

And there are some brilliantly powerful lines in this book, guys. Some funny, some kind of knock-the-breath-out-of-you-for-a-second, and some that stick in your head for minutes after.

I never understood why people loved this book so much (because the first time I tried to read it I stopped at page 50 because of the afore-mentioned irrelevant backstory) but now I do.

Okay, I'm done ranting now. But this book is excellent and I can't wait to keep reading and if you've never read les Mis. before, you're missing out. Majorly.

The end.

with the coming of summer...

The first few almost-summer weeks are the most magical. After that it's mostly sweat and humidity. (okay, I'm partially kidding. Although the heat does make me cranky.)

 

 

But soccer's started and my camera is starting to feel comfortable in my hand and it's just so pretty outside that I don't quite have the heart to complain about it.

Yet.

 

In the true spirit of this summer-like weather, I've started in on some of my summer goals! (you can take a peek at my updated list here.) Every time I look at that reading list it gets scarier. I mean, les Mis. is scary enough on its own...but when coupled with Shakespeare and Austen and even a big honking biography...I dunno. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited to read L.M. Montgomery's Story Girl. I've seen quite a few Road to Avonlea episodes, so it'll be neat to read the original.

 

I've also begun NLS classes, which are fun. We have a good time pretending to be lifeguards - our practice time is during a free swim, so we're strapping our "spinal victims" to the spinal board amid toddlers with splash toys...blowing whistles and "clearing the pool" while dodging noodles and trying not to trip over the real lifeguards on duty. Good times. The real guards - my future coworkers? - probably hate us for getting in their way. Whoopsie.

 

Does it feel like summer where you are?

summer goals 2013

I know it's only April (almost May, guys. Almost May.) but I was wearing shorts a few days ago and okay so maybe it snowed yesterday, but we don't have to think about that right now. So, because for once in my life I CAN'T WAIT for summer, I'm making a list of all the things I want to accomplish during my two free months. It's kind of what I do. The list-making, I mean.

Read
I know it seems like kind of a stupid thing to put on a summer list, because Olivia+free time=books, but I'd like to get through some tougher lit. this year. Classics and stuff. Here's my list! (I know it's only seven books, but since I read in my free time anyway, this very short list is the books that I'm going to attempt to read and finish, instead of just picking up on a whim.)

-Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
-The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak)
-Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxes)
-The Tempest (William Shakespeare)
-A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare)
-Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
-The Story Girl (L.M. Montgomery)

Write
Another obvious one - but I'm going to be completely honest here: lately I've been talking about writing a lot, but I haven't really been enthused about a writing project since NaNo 2011. I KNOW. It sucks. I've been praying a lot about it, hoping that the creative bug will bite again...or at least that I'll be able to think of a plotline for my latest story idea...
Anyways. I'd like to start working on SOMETHING, because I feel kind of lost without a current project. My weekly writing goals are going to be

-write something every day (one short story or drabble, min. of 500 words)
-actively think of a plotline a week (instead of waiting for one to magically occur to me)
-read some books on the craft of writing
-find a writing buddy and hold each other accountable
-write in my new book, 642 Things To Write About

Take Pictures
Don't know if anyone's noticed, but my pictures have been seriously lacking over the past few weeks. Another honest moment: that's because I've barely touched my camera in ages. I actually resorted to combing through my 2011 photo albums for one post, because I didn't have any new photos. I'd like to reacquaint myself with my little Panasonic over the summer break. I mean, hopefully before then...but definitely during July and August.

Spend Time Outside
Because I'm really not a fan of the heat. I play soccer in the evenings, but I want to take advantage of the daytime, too, even if I'm just reading in the backyard.

Pass My NLS and WSI Courses
(for those of you who don't hang around the pool very often, those terms stand for National Lifeguard Service and Water Safety Instructor, respectively.) Once I pass these two, I'll be able to apply to the pool for a position as a lifeguard and swimming teacher. I'm not too worried about NLS, but the WSI is freaking me out. So I'd really love to pass both of those the first time around.

Over the summer break, I'll be posting updates to let you know how I'm doing. Sort of like a report card, which is an idea I stole borrowed from Kelli down at She Learns As She Goes.

What are some of your summer goals?