Better

Have you ever felt just really poor? Like you see all these celebrities on television, and they get these new expensive clothes, and it's just literally they're saying, "What recession?" Then it makes you a little upset that they get all that and you don't. Then you feel bad because it's not their fault that they're rich and famous and talented, because if you were you might act that way too? Or maybe not. All I know is that money, the issues of money, the deprivity of money, the excessiveness of money is all people think about. A lot of people right now feel really poor espeacially compared to some other people.
This month I recommend reading two books, they are really good, and even if it doesn't make you feel better about being poor, it'll just make you want to be better.

• Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
• The Off Season Catherine Gilbert Murdock ( The sequl to Dairy Queen)

I can sincerely promise you that these are two phenomonal books and hope you like them as much as I do. It's been a year or so seen they've first come out so they should be in public library systems by now.

Here's to not feeling poor, and to not feeling worthless because trust me nobody is. Nobody is.

-Ash M.

More Interesting Books

I know you're getting tired of me bugging you about summer reading, but just in case you're interested I have a few more books that also interesting to read.

• The Mozart Season by Vigina Euwer Wolff
• Angelfish by Laurence Yep
• The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make by Sean Convey (also the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens)
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

I have to say that I thought all of the books were very interesting to read, except maybe the last one. It was good, but it wasn't of my usual preference. But let me know if you like it.

Ciao!

-Ash M.

Summer Book Suggestions

I was thinking about the post I did and guessed that a suggestion of books would probably be helpful, so below is a list of some of my all-time favorite books. I had to narrow them down of course.

Summer Book Suggestions

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffenegger
• Pompeii by Robert Harris
• Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
• Max by James Patterson (I would recommend read the 1st four books in the "Maximum Ride" series first)
• Plum Lovin' by Jane Evonovich
• What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
• Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food by Eric Schlosser
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Allie Carter
• Speak by Laurie Anderson
• The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

I hope you find at least one book that interests you on this list and feel free to comment if want a synopsis of any of these books and another list made suited to your reading style.

See ya!

-Ash M.

School's Out Forever

Summer is coming and as all students' brains are winding down, forgetful of the fact that we all have finals in just a few weeks, we have other things to worry about.

• Vacation
• Camps
• Summer Jobs
• Volunteering
• Goofing Off

I, for one, am a personal favorite of the last one. But I like to read,too. Big shocker there, huh? I read the most books during my summer break and it's more beneficial that way. Sometimes I'll pick up a book during the summer, that'll end up being assigned for class later on. So read book that won't only will excite you, but also take you on an adventure. Read not only books that are one-sided (like only girl-point of view books), but books that explore every angle. Immerse yourself in some classics this summer. I took some time to read Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger just to see what was so funny about it. Read books that you can discuss with adults or just to sound smarter than your friends. More importantly, just read. Because we all know that our "What Did During Summer Vacation" essays always sound more impressive if we add a fancy book in between slept for two days and beat my stay up record of 4:35 pm (True story). Happy Reading

-Ash M.

All About The Iliad

If you're doing a project on the Iliad by Homer translated by Robert Fitzgerald, there are some things you need to know. Firstly the main characters are

• Agamemnon
• Zeus
• Akhilleus
• Hektor

The minor characters are

• Odysseus
• Diomedes
• Aias
• Aias
• Helen
• Poseidon
• Alexandros
• Athena
• Menelaos
• Patroklos

The story takes place in about 1184 B.C. in Troy (which is presently Turkey) and the war lasts for 10 years, but the book begins near the end (after 9 years it starts). Homer finished this poem in 75o B.C., but Robert Fitzgerald didn't publish it until 1975 when he translated it.

Good luck!

The Difference in Me

Breathe in and out. Inhale Exhale. Relax. You're reading a bookinsomniac's blog, so just relax and do one of my favorite things: read.... Now that's that out of the way, Happy New Year! Like all eager beavers psyched for the new year, I made my New Year's Resolutions. I would read them to you, but there are exactly 31 items, so,um, maybe later. I will share a few though.

• Become Closer to God
• Become the Greatest Guitar Player
• Stay Attentive
• Be a Better Person
• Be a Better Friend
• Become My Own Person
• Get More Sleep

You may have noticed that the title is "The Difference in Me" by the Clique Girlz.Well, my mom and I were talking earlier about how my friends and I have survived where we are, even though we're so different from the norm. She asked me if I would mind if we moved away so she could get a job. My answer was that I would miss my two best friends, Ashlee and Aurora.

"But how often do you really see them?" she asked

"Not very much," I answered, "but we like to go to movies," I said.

The truth is that I would still miss them very much( especially since that new Jonas Brothers 3D Concert movie is coming out)! because I don't really have any close friends at school and I am very different. Although I stand out a little and I do enjoy being different and sometimes alone (like at school), it's good to know that there is always a few people who are similar and support me.

Spend more time with your friends this year, they're the only family you can choose. Happy New Year!

-Ash M.

Everything, Born for This, Misery Business

You may have noticed that a few changes have taken place on the site. First of all is the title, which is dutifully renamed Untitled, not because I'm lazy but because I lack creativity. It is no longer Who Knew Playing the Guitar Was So Hard? because I realized something. It's not so hard if you focus. (I lack focus as well) So I won't rename the site until I learn how to play ( Help me focus, people!)
Another thing different about the site is that there is a description about the site now. I hope that helps any new readers decide if they want to read this blog or not.
Anyway, you may or may not hear from me for the rest of the week, it my week off (plus I still need to finish my Science Fair project. any ideas?) If you don't, I hope everyone has a nice Hanakkuk, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year's and Boxing Day.
Today's selection includes Everything by Michael Buble and Born for This and Misery Business both by Paramore. I was just listening to my myspace profile playlist. Don't you just love music?
I just finished reading Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince in honor of the Harry Potter weekend that ABC Family had just a few weeks ago. The movie was actually supposed to come out on December 5 this year but around September or October it was announced that it wouldn't come out until Summer '09. The same thing happened with the movie-adaptation of Twilight, which was originally scheduled to come out on December 12 of this year, but got changed to November 21st, not that anyone was complaining.....