Blog Title

Oh, I'm changing my blog title to Merchickety, because I recently discovered that SkepticGeek is taken.

The Psychic

Harry Potter is Jesus

I Can Haz Vacation?

I don't really need one but I'm getting one. I'm going back to Florida for 2 months to see some friends, chill on the beach... oh and I'm gonna spend some time with my dad too, so that's cool. (Just kidding, my dad is awesome.) I might not post very much, so nothing new there, but I'm going to be doing a lot of cool stuff I'll probably blog about, so stay tuned and experience the coolness vicariously!

For the time being, enjoy this picture of a Bonobo I took at the San Diego Zoo recently- they're a bitch to find so you better appreciate it! :P

Huh...

16 posts in a year, half of them just in the last month...

Then again, the 48 hour book challenge posts hardly count, do they?

Screw it, I'm counting them.

A Modest Proposal Redux

Overpopulation is a serious issue in many parts of the world. In many countries, the land can no longer support all of the people who live on it, and so many suffer in poverty. Luckily, though, a solution is in sight, and from one of the most unlikely places! A plan has already been put into effect, right under our noses, and it seems even the participants are unaware of the great service they are doing for our planet! I am, of course, talking about the anti-vaccination movement.

Oh man...

The problem with spontaneously taking on book challenges is that you forget to take into account that you are going to be leaving on vacation during the challenge.

So... Yeah. That's why I didn't finish.

Oh yeah, and I'm lazy, too.

48 Hour Book Challenge: 8 Hours, 10 Minutes

Alright, I'm putting the book down for the day. Have you ever spent so much time reading a book that the words just started to swim together and you had to put it down, even though you were really into the story? That's about where I am. So- taking a break, might read a bit more before bed, but might not.

Time Breakdown: (All times PST)

Friday AM
7:40- 8:10 Reading
8:10-8:15 Blogging
8:15-9:15 Reading
9:15-9:20 Blogging
9:20-10:24 Reading
Friday PM
2:15-2:20 Blogging
2:20-5:20 Reading
5:20-5:25 Blogging
5:25-8:00 Reading
8:00-8:10 Blogging

Reading Total- 8:10
Blogging Total- :30

48 Hour Book Challenge: 5 Hours, 35 Minutes

So, I'm on part two, where Maud tells about her past. All I can say is, yikes! I can see why she's so strange! I saw the miniseries but if I remember right they didn't go into quite as much detail about how... weird her childhood was.

Time Breakdown: (All times PST)

7:40- 8:10 Reading
8:10-8:15 Blogging
8:15-9:15 Reading
9:15-9:20 Blogging
9:20-10:24 Reading
10:24-2:15 Napping
2:15-2:20 Blogging
2:20-5:20 Reading
5:20-5:25 Blogging

Reading Total- 5:35
Blogging Total- :20
Napping Total- 3:50

48 Hour Book Challenge: Whoops...

How am I only at 2 hours, 35 Minutes you ask? I fell asleep for 4 hours! Oops!

Time Breakdown- (All times PST)

7:40- 8:10 Reading
8:10-8:15 Blogging
8:15-9:15 Reading
9:15-9:20 Blogging
9:20-10:24 Reading
10:24-2:15 Napping
2:15-2:20 Blogging

Reading Total: 2:35
Blogging Total: :15
Napping Total: 3:50

48 Hour Book Challenge: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes

Counting only the time spent reading and not the time spent blogging, I am at 1 hour and 30 minutes total. Still reading Fingersmith of course (Do you know anyone capable of reading an entire 582 page novel in 1 hour and 30 minutes? Even with a 50-or-so page head start?). I saw the BBC Miniseries before I got the book, so I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to get into it, but I have discovered my fears were for nothing. Sure, I remember what happens, and I don't get the chance to form my OWN picture of the characters, but there is a lot more depth to the book that just couldn't have come out in the miniseries.

Time Breakdown Thus Far: (All times PST)

7:40- 8:10 Reading
8:10-8:15 Blogging
8:15-9:15 Reading
9:15-9:20 Blogging

Reading Total- 1:30
Blogging Total- :10

Now for more reading!

48 Hour Book Challenge: 30 Minutes

I've been reading a little bit of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters for a couple of days and so I decided to go ahead and keep reading it rather than starting a new book. I just finished reading the part where the main character, Sue Trinder, describes her journey from London to Briar. It was exhausting just reading about it, she sounds so miserable!

48 Hour Book Challenge: Starting Line

I literally JUST heard about this from reading my sister's blog (Lessons From The Head) and it sounds awesome! So even though I just read about this like 5 minutes ago and I'm totally unprepared, it sounds like fun so I'm gonna go for it!

So I'm starting. Right Now.

Starting Line: Friday, 7:40 AM (PST)

Sorry!

I did it again. This time it's been 5 months (as if anyone even reads this anyway). I've just been totally busy with class, and I've been thinking through a few ideas for stories and still haven't managed to pin one down to focus my time on. I have about four ideas floating around, and I keep jumping from one to the other. Maybe I'll eventually just finish them all at the same time and suddenly have four completed stories after having none.

I think my main problem is that all the ideas are vastly different. Two are sort of supernatural horror stories, One is an idea for a series about a werewolves with a teen audience in mind, and no, that one is nothing like Twilight. It's much darker. and the last one is an idea for a series of novels about a group of time travelers that would be in a sequence similar to Harry Potter in that as the characters age so would the target audience. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's kind of like how in the first Harry Potter the main characters are 11, and the story is written in such a way that it's primary appeal is to kids around 11 years old. The content certainly matured that way. The 7th book, the one in which the main characters are all 17, is clearly targeted to an older teen audience. I hope that makes sense, but I'm just kind of writing this on the fly, the same way I write all my other posts.

Anyway, the last idea about the time travelers, I'm really into that one right now. Especially since the story I have in my head is ridiculously fun. I first had the idea for it last summer, and it's weird that as this summer is starting, so my interest in the idea is reigniting at the same time.

Happy New Year

It's been about 2 months since my last post. Man I'm bad about this... I think I need to just start posting every time something random pops up into my head. Sure, it'll be really annoying, but at the same time I'll get in the habit of writing more often and eventually (hopefully) something interesting will pop out of my head and onto the computer screen.