This is Your Homework.

The book does not lie.

Yes, I'm giving you a reading list. Don't worry, they're all really good books that I thoroughly enjoyed. I can only hope that you will enjoy them as much as I did.

Hit the books, kid.

And don't you close them.

No more, no more,

No more, no more.

(To the tune of "Hit the Road, Jack.")

The Artemis Fowl Series, by Eoin Colfer

I'm obsessed with these books. You know how people are with Twilight and Harry Potter? That's how I am with Artemis Fowl. If they made a movie, I would watch it a million times.

Forever My Lady, by Jeff Rivera

Oh my gosh. What can I say. This book made me cry my eyes out. It was amazing. You should read it.

Black Beauty

Do I really have to list the author? It's a classic. The personality of the horse is captured perfectly.

Lord of the Flies

Okay, so it was required reading, but it was good. I really enjoyed reading it.

Gathering Blue, Messenger, and The Giver, by Lois Lowry

These are phenomenal books. I had to read them for a class, and I now own the series. Beautifully written, and so much thought went into them. They really do make you wonder...

Goosebumps, by RL Stine

I don't care what anyone says. These books from my childhood were the coolest things ever. I loved ghost stories, and these books never ceased to fill my craving for the scary, strange, and creepy.

The Babysitter's Club

Okay, so I read these when I was younger. I still read them over and over. On my shelf, if by no other standards, they're a timeless classic. I never get bored of them.

Majyk, by Angie Sage

There's a whole series of these books, starring Septimus Heap. I've unfortunately only had the opportunity to read the first book, Majyk. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it. I very much enjoyed reading it.

Vibes, by Amy Kathleen Ryan

This is definitely a teenage book. I recently read it, around the same time I read Forever My Lady. I enjoyed it, although it is much less conservative than I consider my usual reading. It had great character development, and made me laugh and cry.

If I could remember more, I would list them for you, but unfortunately that is all I can recall for now. But now, you have three posts caught up here. Hopefully that will help make up for my random absence before. Do let me know if you read any of these books and what you think of them!

Hit the books, Jack,
Shansie

A Call For Help

As you all know, I love to read and write. Sometimes, though, I get so caught up in how a story I'm writing makes me feel, and what I think about the characters, that I don't stop to think about the reader. Honestly, that's one of my major weaknesses.

My characters are like an extension of myself. If you read into my characters, you're really reading into me. Funny, isn't it? So many of the things that happen to my characters, I've never experienced. I've never felt the pains or joys that my characters go through, and yet, they are like a part of me. Their personalities reflect me or people I know. Even their appearances and names symbolize something. I put more thought into them than I do into my every day life.

Yet, without a reader, a story really isn't complete, is it? I want someone to feel like they know a character when they've read something I've written. I want them to feel like they know me. The thing is, I don't really know how to do that.

This is me reaching out to you, the readers. When you read a book, short story, poem, or any form of writing for that matter, what makes you like it? What about it invokes that emotion that makes something such a great work? If you could commission a book to be written exactly the way you think a book should be... What would it be like? What is important to you when you read something?

Please comment... I really truly want to improve my writing. There's very few things that I really enjoy and want to do better at, and this is one of them. I want my writing to somehow help the reader. I just need the reader to tell me how I can do that. Thank you in advance to anyone and everyone who helps. You're amazing, each and every one of you.

SOS,
Shansie

Sebastian and the Invisible Polar Bears

Sorry guys, it's taken me quite a while to get back to posting. I couldn't decide what I wanted to post, or how I wanted to post it, and I didn't know if I should post more writing or not. I then realized that I hadn't posted anything since May, and that was far too long. So, here we go. How about we start off with a picture? I have quite a few I've been waiting to show you guys!

I want this.

This is sold by a Zoo somewhere. I saw it and... Isn't it just adorable? It comes with all the crayons you need! Who says white crayons are useless? Not if you have this coloring book. Unfortunately, when I went to buy it, their online store was down. Sadness ensued.

Anyways, I thought it was pretty epic. Ya know what else is pretty cool? A zipper dress. A dress, made of zippers. Ever thought "Oh, if this was two inches shorter/longer" Never fear, zipper dress is here. You can fix your dress to be just the right length.. A little higher or lower in the bust... Or to show your stomach. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

Cocktail party...Stripping at work...Stripping at a bar.

Pretty skimpy, unless you don't strip the center picture, but hey. Each to their own. Oh yes, I almost forgot... Just partially unzip one zipper and you have instant cut outs (or zip-outs, if you prefer). I prefer to stick to my conservative clothing, personally. The concept is pretty cool though.

The designer is Sebastian Errazuriz.  I don't know much about him, except that I started looking up his other stuff promptly after seeing this dress. He is very... different/unique/interesting. You all know that I collect teddy bears, yes? Well, you can imagine how badly I want this then:

How much more epic can you get?

A cute jacket... Made of a bunch of teddy bears. One word: yes. And I thought the teddy bear backpacks were cool.

This guy's stuff keeps getting cooler.
Or maybe it's just weirder.
I want this, by the way.

It's shelving! All you do is fold down the exact number of "spines" you need and.. Bam. Instant easy to organize, space-saving shelving. You really should look this guy up (I just used Google Images after a while).

There's a few more things that I'm really not sure what to say about. Shall we take a look?

Aflac?

I think this one's made of gloves.
Gives a whole meaning to having hands all over you.

Baby swings and... Elderly swings?
Well, I guess the wheelchair-bound might want to swing too.

Jean Sneakers! For the converse lover.

This is a Fireplace.

Couple cups?

Porcupine cabinet!

Long story short? This guy has cool stuff.

Still alive,
Shansie