Owl Motif

Crocheted this little owl motif (what a funny word, motif) while I had some spare time. Did it from the top of my head, and it actually turned out okay. Surprise. I think I'm going to use it as a bookmark.

Naming Water Bottles

A memory came to me the other day. When I was a freshman I got my best friend a panda-shaped water bottle for her birthday. Why... I honestly don't remember. But what I do remember is that my other friend and I spent the rest of the evening naming the panda water bottle after awesome kids that we had met so far in high school. Three junior guys in specific. The best part probably that one or two of these guys probably didn't even know who we were.
So whenever you're down and feel alone, just remember, someone could be naming a water bottle after you right now!

Attack of das Lit Hipsters

     You know how whenever a book goes viral, there's always that one obnoxious group of people that has to get all hipster about things? They read the book earlier than most and then are under the misconception that they somehow own the book. Anyone who read the book as much as a week later than them is inferior and not allowed to love the book (and all affiliated media) as much as them.
     I read the first Hunger Games book in November or December, and I didn't finish until fairly recently. I read them partly out of own interest, and mainly because my cousins had read them and needed me to do so as well. Needless to say, I loved the books and I now find myself quietly stalking merchandise as my birthday approaches. I'm not going to even pretend that I was the first to read this series, or that I somehow read them before they were mainstream, but I do love the books.
    Now that's all good and peachy, but it appears that that doesn't go over well with some. There's a group of girls in my school who I guess must have read the books pretty early on, and in anticipation of the movies have had nothing but "OMG, I ♥ Peeta" and "X days until the movie" as their Facebook statuses. Whenever anyone else even subtly references the books they insist on mentioning how long ago they read the books before they were so popular and how there are so many posers.
     It is this kind of stuff that makes me crazy. We live in a day and age where there are a lot of people who don't read that much, and any book of this popularity rightfully should be praised. If a book you love starts being loved by everyone, you should find this the perfect opportunity to revel in this with people you don't know as well or don't talk to as much. On that same note, even when the people who make you want to think silly things like, "Grrrr, well Katniss would like me better anyhow." start loving the books, then you should still be happy because at least they have the common sense to recognize something that is awesome.
     Pretty much, my bottom line is don't be a Lit hipster because when you do that, you ruin one of the best things about books: they bring people together.

Things I Like #1: The Dewey Decimal System

     I suppose it's only natural that as an avid reader I have developed an adoration for the Dewey Decimal System. In case you didn't know/recall/remember, the Dewey Decimal System (DDS) is the system used to organize nonfiction books. It also happens to be really awesome.
    Now, fiction books are organized alphabetically. Nonfiction books, however, are organized by subject matter. DDS is a list of numbers correlating to subject. You start out with a basic 000-900 number, each hundred mark representing a different subject. For example, 700 is "Arts and Recreation". The more specific the number you go down to, the more specific the subject matter is. 435 is German Grammar. For a comprehensive list of subjects n' numbers n' fun, I direct you to... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes .
    Now you're thinking "Okay, so you can put numbers on books, whoop-dee-doo" but I am now going to explain why it is so exciting. Suppose you were looking for a book that talked about Dungeons and Dragons. Your average library computer would go tell you to look for "Dungeons & dragons player's handbook: arcane, divine, and martial heroes : roleplaying game core rules", or number 793.73. You gingerly skip over to the 790's when you notice that your beloved volume is not there. Some jealous nerd probably checked it out to spite you. As opposed to grimacing and storming out of the library stifling your feelings of disappointment and woe (as I'm sure you would), as you would have if you had been looking for a fiction book, this time you'd have the option to look next to where your book was supposed to be. Then you would notice the "Dungeon's Master Guide", which according to Amazon has better ratings anyhow. Voila, problem solved. 
     The other great thing about the DDS is that it can be a very efficient upper body workout regimen. First you must find a subject matter you are interested in. I personally enjoy psychology books. After finding the one psychology book I had intended to get, I am then bombarded by twenty other books of similar subject matter, but they are different enough to not be repetitive. The results? Me ambling around the library with books stacked up to my chin. 
     Although the  system is not as straightforward as good ole alphabetical ordering, I think if you know how to use it you get more out of going to the library than you would otherwise. In fact, I believe that fiction should be organized that way too. Of course I'm not just saying that because I finished the Hunger Games series two weeks ago and need a new blond "boy-next-door" Lit-love... okay, maybe I am.

Hello Vast Interwebs...

I realized how pathetic it looks with nothing up so here's a post to change that.

Realizes she has nothing to say...