Drawing Challenge Day #7

I don't really think I need to explain this one.

The Horndar

A comprehensive analysis of the straight LDS Single's Horndar


Etymology: Horndar comes from the combination of two words. Horny meaning filled with lust (roughly); and radar an instrument used as a measuring tool or detection system.

The Horndar is similar to the terror alert levels.

Green - Low - The Single is not thinking about the opposite sex. They enjoy the company of their friends without worrying about who they can hook up with. They are open to relationships, but do not obsess with obtaining one. They are often blind to the attractive boy/girl sitting next to them. We're talking Beehive/Deacon levels here, people.

Blue - Guarded - A single living in the blue levels are the ones that are OK with the idea of saving their first kiss for the altar. They like the opposite sex. They're open to a peck on the cheek for a 3-second kiss on the lips, but only after a lengthier courtship. They want commitment with their affection. They like romance movies and books of the Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte style, or of the Disney variety.

Yellow - Elevated - Yellow levels are generally looking for their make-out sessions within a relationship. Therefore, they are seeking out a relationship. You can catch them daydreaming about chaste kisses outside the apartment door and enjoying the latest RomCom.

Orange - High - Orange is a seemingly dangerous level. It is quite the jump from yellow to orange, because in the orange levels, NCMO's, necking and petting... things that we are supposed to avoid are open to us all in the name of romance. So what if you haven't talked to him/her in the past 6 months. If it means a little action, you're willing to risk it. Innuendo is high. You find yourself looking up your favorite make-out scenes from PG-13 movies or picking up trashy romance novels from the library. Orange levels are also exciting, because they involve the push-against-the-wall, tug-on-your-hair type making out. Trouble can find you if you are not careful.

Red - Severe - This is the most dangerous level. If you were married, it might be the most fun. But you aren't married. SO make sure you steer clear of all members of the opposite sex. This is when trouble brews for certain and will probably land you in the Bishop's office.

Which level are you?

Authors

I'm one of those people that like once I've ordered something from a restaurant and love it - I hardly ever stray from that one thing. I love yellow curry. I am sure that Thai offers other delicious dishes, but I can't give up my yellow curry! YUM!

The same principle applies to authors. Whenever I find an author that I like, I can't help but go and check out every book that that author has written. This, of course, includes the authors that have written series and sequels. This year, nearly all my authors are releasing new books! I'm so excited. In fact, I used my points from doing surveys on harrispollonline.com to order a couple of them!! (Nothing better than FREE books!)

Anyway...

Stephenie Meyer hasn't written anything new since Breaking Dawn. And I haven't heard any news that she is going to release anything else in the near future. Though she has mentioned something along the lines of mermaids. I'd almost like to see a sequel to The Host. Look, I realize that she is not a brilliant author. But her story ideas are original, interesting and highly entertaining. I love her characterization. Breaking Dawn was admittedly disappointing. But one bad book is not going to sway me from being a fan. I'm loyal.

Eva Ibbotson is hard to find in the U.S. She has written over 20 titles, but not all are available to us Americans. The few that I have found, however, are all on my bookshelf. She specializes in historical fiction that takes place in Europe (mostly) and lots of detail. Normally I have a hard time with paragraphs of detail, but Ibbotson does such a captivating job that I rarely get annoyed. More, she is either completely brilliant, or incredibly talented with research. Her books explore all sorts of careers (zoology, botany, music, etc) and the way she describes the flora and fauna of Brazil would make it seem like she was there in the 1920s. It's rather incredible. I just recently ordered her new book A Reluctant Heiress. I'm very excited.

Diana Gabaldon's books are the longest I've been able to read in quite some time. I haven't gotten into her John Gray series, because frankly, I'm not interested in reading about a gay British officer from the 18th century. However, the Outlander series is AMAZING. I love Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. Again, the research that had to go into Gabaldon's work is incredible. Further, Outlander does not just skimp around basic details and facts. Rather, they go into incredible detail of what dentistry or even just personal hygiene would have been like during the Revolutionary War. With books over 800 pages long, you can't help but fall in love with the characters. The story line is fantastic - even if there is a bit of black magic and time travel. And the love stories real. There isn't a lot of fluff, but real fights and general putting up with each other. I can't wait until An Echo in a Bone is released in August. I'm stoked.

Marcia Lynn McClure was first introduced to me by my aunt who warned me of her fluffy, almost corny writing. I read Dusty Britches in a night. Finished Shackles of Honor next; and continued to read and collect until I owned every one of her published books and e-books. The last few releases I've bought on the day of their release. To say that I'm obsessed, well, it might not cover it. MLM and I had a little bit of a tiff after her last book that was released. While not my favorite, it is hard to kill my interest in her "clean romance" novels. It is hard to find romance novels that leave out the raunchy love scenes, but don't focus on God and forgiveness and stuff like that. (Not that I disapprove of God - quite the contrary. However, I don't always want to read this puffed-up Christian novels that quote Bible verses and stuff like such as.) Anyway, the point is - I'm a sucker for the type-cast gorgeous, manly men with morals and chivalry. Most of MLM's heroes make me giggle and I can't help but love that. I recently pre-ordered her newest book A Crimson Frost. And despite the horrible taste her last book left in my mouth - I'm very happy with this soon-to-be purchase. I'm weak.

Julia Quinn created a world in regency London that I haven't gotten sick of yet. I love her Bridgerton series. I have read everything that she has put out on the shelf. (Except some of her e-books, which are not as good as her regular books.) I love the bantering between the characters. I love their personalities. I love how funny these books are, and how English they are. I love that she mentions some of the characters from other books in newer ones, and makes references to things that happen - but not in a way that would confuse you if you hadn't read the other books. She releases a new book in June. I'm thrilled.

Deanne Gist is sort of the author that I already said I didn't like with regards to the romance and the pushy-Christian philosophies. But Gist does a good job of mellowing out her characters. They mention God, forgiveness and the like. They quote Bible verses and worry about "saving" the hero or heroine. But not like others that I've read. Besides that, she's sort of funny. And if not funny, interesting. I love the history and, again, the research she puts throughout the books. Usually her books focus on areas where brides are scarce. I really enjoyed her To Measure a Lady. I like that these are truly clean books. She is also releasing a new book, A Bride in the Bargain, this summer. I'm already planning for it.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series was something I tried to avoid. I actually wanted nothing to do with it. I could not understand the obsession with the boy wizard. But last summer, I gave in. I read them all, books 1-7 within a couple of months. I was surprised by the amount of emotion invoked upon my person. How much I hated Delores Umbridge and how much I adored Neville Longbottom. Rowling's story is amazing in itself. I haven't read the books that she has produced since Deathly Hollows. And I don't know that I will - unless I reread the series again, and don't actually want to leave the Harry Potter world. It is incredible the wizard world that she created! And though the movies have little to do with her as an author, I have to say that I saw the trailer for the Half-Blood Prince in the theater last night and: I'm so excited! (I was going to post a picture here too...but I clicked on a pic and it scared the poo out of me when it looked like it was downloading worms, viruses and trojans. Nice. I have given up on a picture for this particular author.)

Of course, there should be some others listed on here too, classics like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, etc. I'll have to admit, I have not read all of their works - even if I do like the books that I have actually read.

Good advice...

I was hanging out with friends with weekend and was given some good advice that I wanted to record before I forgot it.

1. It is easy to fall in love. But it is hard to remain in love. It takes work, devotion and respect.
2. Sometimes you find the right person, but it's the wrong time. There aren't necessarily soul mates - you could probably marry anyone and it work out OK as long as you are doing it at the right time. A marriage is like a yoke, and you can't have one person remain stubbornly in one spot while the other is trying to move forward. So if he/she isn't ready, then you aren't going to go anywhere.
3. You can't expect that a partner is going to change you for the better. What if they haven't developed that particular goal or trait? You have to do the things that you expect of the other person long before they can ever help you. No person is going to change your bad habits or cultivate your talents - that is your job.

In a completely unrelated note: Boise is more dangerous than I thought it was. For a moment I thought I was in Vegas. What with all the drag queens, exposed breasts and drinking, the only thing that reminded me where I was, was the lack of casinos and warmer weather.

Aspen Falls Review

The Time of Aspen Falls by Marcia Lynn McClure

The Time of Aspen Falls is a plotless love story set in modern day Albuquerque, New Mexico. It revolves around Aspen Falls, a twenty something book store clerk and her ultimate dream guy, Rake Locker, who happens to be the very essence of what a real man should be. If the storyline redeemed the choice of names, I would have forgiven MLM, but there simply is no story.


Aspen and her best friend Gina are supposed to be twenty-something-year olds who seem to have their own apartments and jobs, but still spend time sitting in a tree that they have played in since they were little girls. They are ridiculously silly and their dialogue is reminiscent of speaking to my 91-year old grandmother. They enjoy watching Leave it to Beaver, who as a 23-year old, I have never watched a full episode and doubt very much that my peers would enjoy such a show. This horrible habit of Marcia Lynn McClure's, that is mentioning song titles and TV shows, is perhaps a personal preference, but I like my stories to be timeless. And when such specific mention of Actresses, current fads, etc. are mentioned, it bugs me. Not to mention that Aspen and Gina were drooling over an 80-year old man (who turns out to be Rake's grandfather) and Sean Connery. The current 20-something-year old, especially the younger versions, probably do not even know who Sean Connery is! Other mentions of iPods, Angelina Jolie, and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books were not only unnecessary, but oftentimes ridiculous.


If I had been able to read the Author's Note before purchasing the book, it might have changed my mind as to whether or not I paid for it. Marcia admits that there is much of herself put into the story. I don't have a problem with that, except Marcia isn't 20-something, and it shows through her characters that she doesn't seem to know how a real 20-something-year old actually speaks and what their interests are. Her use of the word "cool" was just silly at times, and trust me, there was a lot worse. The obsession with the Balloon Fair was over done, the mention that Rake wears white underwear made me throw up a little in my mouth, and Gina's fetish with UPS guys was completely unfathomable and uncomfortable.


MLM's hero and heroine is patented. They are basically all the same in all of her books. There is a reason I have read all of her books - it works. However, in The Time of Aspen Falls, Rake was just too perfect. Except his name. Rake Locker. Rake Locker? I wanted to throw my book across the room in disgust when I read his name. And unfortunately, I came across that feeling more than once as I read. The costume party where he dresses up as "Rochester Darcy - the vampire" made me want to scream at somebody. The fact that he was a Victorian Cowboy (professional rodeo champion, by the way), that wore Nike (again with the modern-day mention of a brand) basketball shoes while running, was the perfect physique and still had perfect manners, morals, and standards, was too too much. Not to mention is was a Master Clockmaker, and a pretty successful one at that. Of course he was. His family was perfect. He was perfect. He disgusted me.


Their relationship was something incredibly perfect as well. Apparently they were mutually attracted to each other for weeks - from the moment they laid eyes on each other, they knew that they were going to fall in love. It took a crazy phobia attack to get them to finally meet, but then after that, it all moved so quickly. They were immediately in love, even though they didn't really know each other. Throughout the story there is mention of past heartbreak, a name attached to it even, but no real explanation for any of it. Gina's story is even more ridiculous - it leads to a make-out session on the day she MEETS her dream guy.


Over all, I wasted a few hours of my weekend reading this book. Worse, I wasted money I didn't have buying this book. I knew that The Time of Aspen Falls was going to be cheesy and typical. But I enjoy MLM's Westerns and Regency books (at least they leave Donny Osmond, UPS, and Edward out of it)and have liked a FEW of her modern ones; though, they tend to get increasingly worse. If she would leave out her personal convictions and work on developing the characters, while allowing for a little flaw in her hero and a little more confidence in her heroine, she would do a lot better.

DONE and DONE!

This may have been the best semester I've had at BYU. After three years, I think I deserve it. I don't know what it was... but everything seemed different.

1. I didn't work full-time. Granted, that meant having to accept a generous donation from each one of my aunts and uncles in order to pay off the rest of my tuition - but I some how made it through with their help, and the help of my parents.
   
2. I didn't want to transfer. I didn't even think about it! Of course, it might be because I am so dang close, that thinking of transfer would be insane. But on top of that, I LOVED my classes and I never felt completely overwhelmed.
3. I had friends and a SOCIAL LIFE! It was amazing. I did homework, and yet I still had time to play. I've never had so many friends in all of my life, and I've been having SO MUCH fun!
4. I can absolutely see the end of this adventure called BYU. I can't believe it, only two more semesters.
5. I didn't have to email my teachers asking for an extension or forgiveness, I turned in everything and on time and I'm not stressing about my grades. Whatever I get, I'll be pretty pleased with it.
   
6. I got A's (A's!!!) on tests and projects and papers...
   
7. I was able to actively do my calling at church; and I enjoyed it! Not only that but I did dinner group and church activities. Whoa. Participation - who knew how much it enriched your life?
   
8. I had FRIENDS IN CLASS! Which meant studying with people... actually studying. Holy cow!
   
9. I LOVED my classes. I can't believe how much I actually enjoy my major, and the classes in my major. I was expecting to HATE political geography, and it turned out to be totally cool. I like it. I like geography. Amazing.
10. I'm done! I finished! I don't have to worry about school until January 5, 2009. Oh man!
    

This is wonderful!

8 is Gr8

8 Things I am passionate about

1. My family
2. Etiquette
3. Reading
4. Thanksgiving BEFORE Christmas
5. Traveling - please ignore the fact I've not done any
6. Prop 8
7. MY music
8. Seeking happiness in all the eccentric ways I'm able to find it

8 Words or Phrases I say often

1. Also...
2. SLAY!
3. No problem
4. SORRY! (thanks, Kira)
5. as it were
7. like such as
8. Interesting.

8 Things I want to accomplish in the coming year

1. Graduate
2. Have a "magical" evening (not sure what that entails, but I want a real night that can be legitimately termed as magical!)
3. Leave the country
4. Tour the east coast
5. Re-cultivate my relationship with my sister
6. Get a new job
7. Start learning a new language
8. Finish my book

8 Places I would love to go or visit

1. Scotland, London, Ireland
2. Austria
3. France, Germany, Italy, Spain
4. Thailand
5. New Orleans, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia
6. Morocco
7. Belize, Mexico, Cuba, St. anything in the Caribbean
8. Romania, Czech Republic, Turkey

8 Things I need or want (sadly mostly material things came to mind)

1. Winter clothing
2. an iPod
3. a passport
4. an alarm clock that actually wakes me up
5. a new bed
6. kitchen stuff, for when I become a culinary artist
7. SLEEP
8. tuition

Eight Shows I Like to Watch:

1. The Office
2. Chuck
3. Pushing Daisies
4. House
5. those medical anomaly shows, like the man with no face
6. ER
7. Bones
8. Samantha Who?

Eight Restaurants I Like to Eat at:

1. Costa Vida/Cafe Rio
2. Thai Kitchen or Thai Pepper (I can't remember what they changed the name to)
3. Any Chinese
4. Zupas
5. Gurus
6. Rumbi
7. Stan's Diner
8. Chili's

Eight Things I've Done Today:

1. Talked on the phone while eating and driving
2. Stayed awake in class
3. Watched a movie in Italian
4. Texted 15+ people
5. Went to the post office to mail my sister a birthday gift
6. Took a test
7. Wrote on a chalkboard
8. Perused the library for European cookbooks

Eight Things I'm Looking Forward to:

1. Graduating
2. Thanksgiving in California
3. The end of this semester
4. Seeing my family
5. Christmas
6. EEE - European Eating Extravaganza
7. Going to Europe in 2011
8. Going to bed in 3 minutes

Eight Things on my Wish List:

1 - magical night
2 - boots to keep my feet dry this winter
3 - good grades at the end of the semester
4 - tickets to see Twilight
5 - ,000 dollars for tuition
6 - happy family members
7 - days where I'm actually on time to things
8 - hours of sleep

What do you fight for?

Today's society is seriously depressing if we think about it. That's a real cheery way to start this post, but it's so true. People care about things that shouldn't matter like whether someone's skin tone is different, their background, or the fact that they don't own something deemed important. And then they are completely apathetic about other things.

Passion is something that this country was founded on. There were a bunch of guys who were passionate about establishing a nation where its people could live with freedoms never known before. And have since, fought wars to preserve those freedoms.

Susie Switzer said, “There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love.”

But I think, that we are dwindling in passion because we've stopped loving. Does that make sense? It seems that everyone is so wrapped up in themselves, that the only thing they are passionate about are things that aren't important: self-gratifying, superficial...dumb things. We don't love the way people used to love. I have found seldom a work of fiction that takes place in modern times that inspires me the way things written about the Victorian era, or Civil War, or Revolutionary, or Pioneer or Pilgrim times... or any other time but now. Why? I think it's because even though these societies had their problems, they still understood what inspired passion. They still loved.

I'm accused of being dramatic. Nay. I am not dramatic. I am passionate. I LOVE the things I love. And I HATE the things I hate. And I get to angry. And I cry so easily. And basically, I am super emotional. But it all stems from passion...not melodramatics. I think sometimes people don't understand me. But that's ok. I don't understand people. I don't understand when someone says, "I love you," or "I love this..." and then when it is threatened to be taken away, they don't fight for it.

My best example of what I'm trying to get at... My best friend of 10-11 years... the girl I befriended in first grade and did EVERYTHING with until sophomore year of high school... we made plans, we plotted our futures, made promises, everything... and then something happened. We grew apart. It happens to the best of us. I think it happens to all of us. But this girl that I had grown up with and I just stopped. We stopped being friends. And the thing of it is... I just got sick of trying. I had vowed that she and I would be best friends forever. And when I said FOREVER, I meant it. But things that are going to last forever take work. My senior year, we got in a huge fight. I was so angry and so upset, and I asked, "Does that mean we aren't friends anymore?"

What I wanted to hear was, "No, of course that isn't what it means." But instead I got, "If that's how you want it."

If that's how I wanted it. It was as if she didn't care. She wasn't willing to fight for a friendship that had lasted over a decade. She was willing to just let it go and not care about what happened. I'm pretty sure I cried as if she had died. I wanted her to fight. I didn't want her to give up. But she did. I tried hard for about a year... I called her all the time, emailed her, tried to stay friends on MySpace and Facebook. I called her when I came back from school for breaks. But things are different now. We aren't the same people, we didn't continue to grow together.
I feel that there are relationships in my family that are currently going through the same thing. We are drifting apart. And it's as if they're telling me that they no longer want to fight for...anything.

Do you know how often my family uses the phrase, "I don't care." I bet it's at least 10 times a day. I'm so sick of apathy!

And I think that's what I want. What I crave the most... someone who is as passionate as I am. Someone who is willing to fight, because they love. Someone who loves me enough to fight for. I know I'd do it, fight for the one I love. Because I feel like I do it all the time.

Call me dramatic... but I know different. I'm not dramatic at all...