Books Books Books: Dog On It

I'm always looking for my next read. Nevermibd that I have a pile of pools at home that I haven't read, I am plagued by the constant 'bookworm' problem if never having anything to read. Now this problem is less about not having something to read and is more about not having anything to read that I want to read. For instance, I have 4 book out from the library and at least 10 in my room that I haven't read but there really isn't anything there to read, meaning nothing there I really want to reach at this moment. Does that make sense? I'm not sure.

Anyways, I finished the book Dog On It this past week. I wanted to share this book because the author, Spencer Quinn, did something very interesting with this book. He wrote it from the point if view of the dog. Not just any dog, but Chet, a K-9 almost trained dog belonging to a detective named Bernie. Now, I'll try not to give anything away because you should go out and read this book, like now, but I will say that:

"Reading this book was refreshing. It was nice to get away from all the panic about mysteries, and instead see it from the POV of someone who couldn't tell his side of the stories and who would fall asleep during what we would think to be key aspects if the mystery and would forget the names of uninteresting people and randomly find himself doing something instinctual and getting in trouble for it. I would just like to say well done, Spencer Quinn, well done!"

Next book I'm reading (like currently) is called Blood Red Road by Moria Young. It's a popular book I guess, so I figured I'd have to give it a shot! So far, not bad!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

For the past two weeks or so, one of my best friends has been dealing with a tough breakup with her army boyfriend of two years. He's finally coming home from Mississippi, and they got into an argument (which has happened before...) and it doesn't look like it will get solved this time. My friend has been trying to get ahold of him but to no avail, and has been asking me in turn what she should do. I'm not the best with this type of things especially since I was not a big fan of how he treated her lots of the time during the pie relationship, but he made her happy, so he became OK in my book.

Anyways, I've been listening to my new CDs lately and there is a song by a group called Lillix that made me think of my friend's situation. When we are going through hard times, whether it be a tough breakup or a death in the family or just someone leaving, we all get a bit of an empty feeling inside. Or is that just me? Well, if you agree you should listen to this next song by Lillix called  "Tomorrow". I think it completely addresses many issues that have to do here. I should also say that this is not my favorite song of theirs but it is the first that I heard which means that it does have a special place in my heart (kinda like your first Doctor....oh wait....I'm being a nerd again :P).

Also, I tried to post this last week but apparently I failed...I'm super sorry about that!!

Love,
Sara :)

Movie Fun Facts: 'The Thin Man' (1934)

Going through my older posts I realized that I haven't had a movie post all summer! Now, that's not to say that I haven't been watching movies, because I have! More it's saying that I haven't been watching any movies that I felt needed to be commented on. I prefer to blog on older movies, not the ones that I see in theaters as well as not the cartoon ones. Currently, I am working my way through the 'Thin Man' series which consists of six movies all starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, who are amazing actors.
It was actually in the movie I will discuss today that Myrna Loy got her name for being a strong female supporting role, as Powell calls her his lanky woman with a wicked jaw, which because the type of character she played. William Powell was already known as a great actor to play detectives in movies with his role as Philo Vance in 'The Canary Murder Case' (1929), "The Greene Murder Case' (1929), 'The Benson Murder Case' (1930), 'Paramount on Parade' (1930), and 'The Kennel Murder Case' (1933). The 'Thin Man' series ended up being six movies long, however it started out as a 'B list' movie, meaning it was good but was thought to only get 'B' ratings. Even more interesting is that the film was shot in only two weeks!
One of my favorite fun facts about this movie is the title itself. It is commonly thought that the title 'Thin Man' refers to Mr Charles, the detective, played by William Powell. However, this name referred to the murdered victim found in the first film. Yet, because people kept referring to Mr Charles as the 'Thin Man' the name was kept in the following films.
If you are looking for a great movie for a movie night, pick up this mystery to entertain you. If it's not the mystery you're into, that's fine! This movie also provides great satire and wonderful, witty dialogue between our two main characters. All in all, there is something in this movie for everyone, even a little gang action every once in a while, not to mention Asta, the wonderful police dog!

Love,
Sara :)

Books Books Books: Flying Too High (Phryne Fisher #2)

A few weeks ago I put up a post about finishing a book called Cocaine Blues which was the first in a series that I quickly became a big fan of! Well, in continuation I finished the second book during my most recent overnight shift for work. This one was called Flying Too High and in my opinion really held up to the standard set by the first book. Not only did the story continue, but Miss. Fisher was back to solving mysteries, actually solving two of them in the same night in this book! Here's my official review for this book:

"A charming story with twists and turns, our female Sherlock Holmes returns, with her classy, patient, and sexy attitude. Only this time, she is solving not one, but two mysteries at once and of corse knows exactly what to do. Miss Fisher really is not scared to get down and dirty in this book, even if that means sleeping with an artist and walking on the wing of a flying airplane! I will be getting the third book at the next opportunity! She keeps me interested and on the edge of my seat throughout the story."

Yes, this is one series that I would love to continue reading and that I may even consider purchasing in the future. Imagine that! The next in the series is called Murder on the Ballarat Train. Next time I'm at the library I will pick it up assuming that my library has it :P
Happy reading!

Love,
Sara :)

Of Fashion and Photography

I've been a fashion of photography for I'm not sure how long. I remember my dad teaching me some of the basics, like how to hold the camera, how to focus the lens, how to frame a picture using the trees in the photo, and also how to appreciate the beauty of the world around us. He even got me my first camera: a Canon Rebel xTi, we just don't have in my closet and occasional use. However, lately I've begun to realize how behind the times I am when it comes to digital SLR cameras. And so, I'm going to save up for a new camera! There are a few at Best Buy that I have been eyeing up, but I'm not positive where to go from here. I should back up...I should start by elaborating and share the other side of the story that has to do with my photography.

When I first started taking pictures of my dad, I basically took pictures of nature and When we went camping. Even as I started traveling the world I basically took pictures of the scenery. However, through my experiences blogging and reading the blogs of others, I have come to learn that I want to be able to photograph people and fashion, too. As weird as that might sound coming from me, I find myself drawn to blogs picking fashion as we go through my own closet and realize that between me and my friends, we really have some neat and unique outfits and I'd like to share those.

So, I guess the point of this post is to actually ask for help as well as to inform. I'm saving up for a bunch of new things and I'm also going through my closet as a 22-year-old and getting rid of my clothes from(dare I say it?) high school. I hope to have some of those posts of calls coming up soonish…

I know that this might seem a little out of character for what I usually post, not to mention I have a fitness blog (to try am currently failing at...), but I guess I really didn't have much of a goal when starting this blog. While that might not change, I'm going towards that makes me happy and what allows me to express who I am.

.

.

.

Okay, longest post I've had in a while, but as a closing thought: anyone have a suggestion for a camera to get?

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday/Cheap Find

So, yesterday I stated that I picked up a few CDs at Half-Price Books while I was there, and as I claimed I will be sharing some of those here. Today's musica for instance is from said collection of CDs. Sick of Sarah is an indie rock/power pop band founded in Minneapolis, MN (yay!) back in 2005. They are an all girl band, which isn't a common occurrence (yet, two of the five CDs I picked up were all girl bands...), and I have become a fast fan of their music. It reminds me of Tegan and Sara, Paramore, with a touch of Avril Lavigne in the music video I'm going to show you. Oh! Fun fact: apparently the name for the band came from the lead singer's old roommate, who used to say that she was sick of her own name, Sarah. I thought it was interesting and kinda funny :P

The songs that I have chosed to leave for your guys' enjoyment are 'Kick Back' of which I'm really a fan of the beat and the video and 'Giving Up' because I really love the music, lyrics, and the video! Enjoy my friends!!

I also want to use this as a way to give a shout out to other stores similar to Half-Price Books for having all these unique artists who aren't quite as mainstream but have good music and these stores sell them at a really low price!! I got this CD for $1!!!

Love,
Sara :)

Half-Price Books

I have a problem. I can't go into a bookstore and come out empty handed. If I do it's because I don't have any money or they don't have anything I haven't gone through. Half-Price Books is not helpful with that. It doesn't have to be just books either: I'm a sucker for cheap/discount books and music.

For instance, today at Half-Price Books I bought one book and 5 CDs (some of which, if not all, will be featured on my musica Mondays at some point). The book is "Emily and Einstein" by Linda Francis Lee. The CDs are: "Black is Beautiful" by Rolling Blackouts, "Fast Too Slow" by Samsara, "Falling Uphill" by Lillix, "2205" by Sick of Sarah, and These Modern Socks. All of these for under $9!! This is why whenever I go there I come back with a bag of things and significantly less money. I was talking to the cashier about this and he said that there's a reason why the employees are for the most part former customers. It is defiantly a place where a book or music lover could spend quite a long time :D myself included!

Where do you guys like to go for cheap finds? What was your last Half-Price haul?

Love,

Sara :)

Reasons Why I'm A Geek 2

I know I'm a geek this time because when I'm sitting alone all night not sleeping I turn on SyFy channel and my favorite shows to watch are Face-Off and Heroes of Cosplay.

Face-Off, for those of you who don't watch the SyFy channel, Face-Off is a contest show that reminds me very much of Project Runway. It involves contestants who are competing for the best new creature creation. The last two episodes I saw were as follows. The first required two larger teams of artists who had to work together to create creatures of a different world, but separately in order to create five total creatures. They then used real models in order to bring their characters to life (pretty sweet!). The secon episode required groups of three to create the famous pair: Frankenstein's monster and bride in a modern sense. Both of these characters were then required to be made using models. This show was like Project Runway only SyFy style :D

Heroes of Cosplay really opened my eyes as to the seriousness of Cosplay. I've considered doing Cosplay in the past and have been seriously considering it in recent weeks and months. Being in Wisconsin it does seem to be a bit hard, but it sounds like the big thing is to go where the people are  who you have things in common with. I've learned so much: the fact that there are contests for best costumes, it's best to go all out and do a lot of work because it will pay off, for some people it's about sex appeal, for others it's not at all, the art is super important just as much as being in character, and so many more things! If I were to Cosplay I think right now I'd probably Cosplay the Bea Rabbit from Pandora Hearts, cause she's awesome! But I'm also learning how much I don't know about anime and manga and comics. So I'm working on that :P

This is fun so I hope you enjoyed reading about these shows and that you give them a chance, even if only from an artistic standpoint!

Love,

Sara :)

Lately

Hey, so recently things have gotten a bit rough for me and my family. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a funeral for a man who has lived with us my entire life, who I refer to as my brother, but is more of an adult foster care, or adult family home as they now call it. Kevin passed away at the age of 53, and it's going to be rough not having him around, he was a real joy and a wonderful person, never in a hurry and he never thought that something was too little to be unimportant. He was developmentally disabled but that just gave him even more charm, and for those who got to know him, he was really a wonderful person. So, I apologize but he passed away Friday morning, and it's been rough going ever since then as we deal with it. I ask for your patience with this and I hope that this finds you all doing well and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Sara

Musica Monday

Music is an important part of each of our lives. Whether its just to be background noise on the commute in to work, or if its the reason you go in to work, or if its simply how you get through the day, music is a major part of our lives. People's taste in music is just as varied and all over the place. I've been trying to listen to as much music as I can lately and for me, indie music is still one of my favorite genres. There's a song I found a while ago, then lost due to my terrible methods of storing things, then refund again just this past week. It's a lullaby by Gregory & the Hawk, a true indie band. This lullaby is very calming and melodic and really puts me in a great mindset. So, without any further ado, enjoy 'Boats & Birds' by Gregory & the Hawk!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

How many people like stories? What do you consider a story? What can music do with stories? What if we take a story and put it to music? I mean it has been done before and it will be done again, no doubt there! Stories are what make up our culture and our lives, when we were little we would use stories to learn about our lives

Here's a new example of a story telling cd that a friend introduced me to a few months ago. The artist/producer is L'Orange, who draws inspiration from the 1920s-1950s. All his music truly incorporates the genre of the film noir. His newest album is entitled The Mad Writer, and you can listen to it for free, that's right, FREE, online on his website.....here! Make sure you start at the beginning of the list of songs thought!

Another example of stories being put to music are ballads. Modern day ballads tend to be put together with music videos that tell a story through them. One of my favorite ballads is called Ballad of a Man and his Sorrow by KOBE. Enjoy!!

Love,
Sara :)

Books Books Books: Buttons and Foes (Mandy Dyer Mystery, Book 6)

So, before I go into this book review (yea! I'm on a roll right now as far as book reviews and reading in general goes! woot!!) I really need to make a correction about my previous book review. I wrote the title in wrong!!! It is The Fault in Our Stars NOT souls! My apologies go out to anyone who was offended by this or who noticed this...I'm so sorry! I promise that I will do my very best to ensure that this will not happen ever again!

Moving on, I just finished a book (this Sunday) called Buttons and Foes. I picked it up because it sounded interesting at the library and the other books that I was looking to read were no where to be found in my library. I did finally get around to ordering the second Phryne Fisher book and that should be in and I will pick it up next chance I get to go to the library (which is now closed until Tuesday :c) called Flying Too High. But I'm getting off topic, this book that I just finished was one that I rated as being alright, not my favorite but not too bad. I gave it three out of five stars on Goodreads and here's my review:

"Mandy was the type of character who could, at points of the story, annoy me to no end, but in the end she was always right when it came to her suspicions and even if non of the men (and yes, the majority seemed to be men...) around her supported her in her endeavors to learn the identity of her loyal customer's murder. The story was predictable but was well put together and ok. The opinion might be a bit off considering I realized just now that I started with the 6th book in the series....fail on my part..."

Yes, that was all in my review. I hope that you all find this helpful or at least a bit amusing considering I made such an amateur mistake as not checking the order of the series! I feel quite silly about that whole bit... Well, my cat is begging to be given attention so I shall scurry off to play with him a bit before he breaks my computer....sigh. I hope that you all are reading good books and having a good back to school time! It's so weird not going back to school this year....huh....weird!

Love,
Sara :)