Snowpocalypse in a Hippy Town

Growing up, snow days were these mythical moments that happened to other children, but never to us. If there was a dusting of snow, we'd maybe get a late start at school and once every five years or so, they would cancel classes because of black ice. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure that school was only canceled during those days because they took pity on our hopeful little souls. Because lets face it, when children are given the possibility of a snow day and then the board of directors takes that dream away, a child is going to act as if someone just locked them in a closet with nothing but bread and water.


The point I am making here is that I grew up in a town without snow. The occasional dusting was about what we would received. And then, this year happened. This is our second winter storm that has hit us. The first one, back a few months ago, blanketed the city in fluffy white snow for close to three days. It was gorgeous. Over the past two days, we have received a second helping of snow, but this time it was accompanied by freezing rain. Now, that does not sound appealing at all but picture this. Every single tree that you can see is frozen solid, encased in glass, icicles hanging from their tips. The world outside is this soft bluish white and for once, this town that is so concerned about whatever they can protest next, is finally calm and quiet. It is more than beautiful. It's a rarity and an opportunity.


Unfortunately, we also live in a world of social media and so I have become painfully aware that apparently this natural act of beauty is an inconvenience to people of apocalyptic proportions.


It is amazing to me how people have reacted to these two days of weather. Yes, we got a foot of snow and yes, the ground is icy. Is it safe to drive out there? No. Hence why most businesses closed down. Never mind the fact that back East, they live with this type of weather for a few months out of the year and still manage to survive, my town was about ready to start burning furniture for warmth and pack up and head for the hills for safety. Because, you know, nothing says serious apocalyptic situation of hatred like two days of snowy weather.

So before people call me out on a few things, let me make it clear. Of course it is dangerous out there. People are without power right now, it's cold, and there were some unfortunates (like me) that still had to trek into work during all this because their bosses didn't want to lose out on the day. I know people who have had trees fall on their homes these last few days, on their children's swing sets, and across the front of their yard. In my apartment complex, we have caution tape in some areas because trees are coming down as the ice starts to melt. It is dangerous. And, if the people who had these things happening to them were the ones complaining or the ones saying how much they hated this weather, I would agree with them. They're not though. No, the ones who are complaining are with power and are simply bored at home and grouchy that their life got inconvenienced. I don't know if the icy roads made it so they couldn't go get their non fat caramel machiato with no whip or work out at the gym for twenty minutes or if they're simply mad because
they are stuck inside the very place they work their asses off to keep on a monthly basis, but the complaining this time around reached a crescendo that would make even the tortured souls in the special level of hell, raise their brow.


There have been several different variations of the sentence “I hate snow” on Facebook the last forty eight hours, my favorite being “Snow... ug!!!!1”. There have been comments of boredom, or how cold everyone was, and about how the snow needed to go away “NOW”. A few individual's, when they received no likes or comments on their generic statement of hate, proceeded to repost a variation of their previous status every
few hours, sometimes with cute little gifs they had found to accompany them. If that wasn't enough, people starting cursing out Mother Nature in such a way that has lead me to believe that they don't understand how weather works. In my experience, cursing natural occurrences like this doesn't do anything but add to your frustration. After all, I curse my time of the month all the time and yet it still happens with a vengeance.


Yes, people came together these past two days and had a bitch fest where they all stated how miserable they were in the safety of their own homes, with their power, and their electronics running at top speed so they could post their woes on to the Internet.


The people who have had trees fall on their possessions? They all posted status updates filled with humor while they poked fun at their misfortune. One person posted an open letter to the people working in these conditions, giving thanks for the power that they worked so hard to return to the city. A friend of mine took humor in everything and dubbed these two days snowmageddeon and treemadeddeon, and a man who is a co worker of my boyfriend, posted on Facebook that him and his friends, after work, would be going around the neighborhood and helping cut up the fallen trees. That, all of that, should have been the overwhelming response of the last two days; humor over an unchangeable situation and kindness towards others.

So you're bored at home with no power. If you have children, it is the perfect time to light every candle you have and drag out the board games. It is the perfect time to build a fort in the living room and have a camp out and teach them how to roast marshmallows over a candle flame. You have the opportunity to make a fun memory that you otherwise might not have gotten because you were too busy and tired from work or your kids were too busy with their video games or their friends. Read them a story. Hell, sit down and read a story yourself.


Don't have children and you're snowed in? Whether you have power or not, this is the time to take advantage of the fact that you can't go anywhere. Nothing can serve as a distraction right now. Cuddle up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, and talk. Spend time having a conversation that isn't hindered by phone calls or the television. Don't want to talk? Fine, there are other activities that you could be taking full advantage of given the fact that it's cold and you're bored

By Caitlyn Tendick

Or here's another one. Go on a walk. Actually look around at the snow. Notice the beauty of it when it hasn't been disturbed yet. Listen to the way it crunches beneath your feet or watch the snow falling from the trees and the plume of white dust it makes as it falls to the ground. Go to the park and no matter how old you are, be a kid again. I spent two hours the other day playing on a swing set and slide because I could. Just because you are an adult and have the adult stresses, doesn't mean that you can't be childish when the time is right. Call up a friend. Walk to them. Have them walk to you. Sit on the phone with them and chat for a while. Go out on the streets and see if anyone needs help out there. Enjoy the fact that it is a rarity that the trees become encased in ice like this and we are practically living in a movie setting.



Then, when it's all said and done, go home. Sit with your loved ones or sit with your animals or yourself and just stop for a minutes and remember that life is absolutely crazy and is a whirlwind of good and bad times. Bad weather shouldn't be looked at as bad weather, it should be looked at as an opportunity to take a deep breath and rediscover yourself and your family. There will be plenty of times in the future where you will be running around like a crazy person in perfect weather. Next time it snows, hopefully these people that have viewed these last forty eight hours as the end of their world will either take it to the extreme and go all Walking Dead on people, or will calm down and remember that days like this can actually be fun if you'd just calm down for a minute or two.

World War Z by Max Brooks

4/5 stars
****

I liked this book. I really really did. Zombies that actually become scary is a rare commodity in this world and let me tell you, when you live alone, and you have cats with a penchant to knock things over unexpectedly, this book becomes terrifying.


Told post the War, World War Z does an exemplary job on describing events that we, as a reader, need to believe changed our entire world. It isn't just one country effected. It wasn't just one category of people. This books spans a variety of cultures and gives voice to several different groups who are now forever united together in a single events that was meant to destroy them. In moments that are blindingly terrifying, this novel portrays zombies in a refreshing way. It does not spend hours focusing on how the zombies move or give us countless images of them gnawing on torn limbs, blood staining their face. It instead focuses on the survivors, what they think, what they had felt during the time, who they were concerned about and whether they thought the entire scenario was a joke or not. This leaves countless things up to the readers imagination and in this scenario, it works. This is the type of novel where less is a hell of a lot more because what the brain can conjure is always going to be much more personal and much more skin crawling, than what an author can try to give you.


What I think impressed me most about this book was that there was something for every type of reader. World War Z. Brooks had a story for every type of reader here and switched between voices with conviction and ease. That alone makes me sit back in awe of him. He didn't just have one story he set out to tell in this novel. He had dozens.

For example, I do not enjoy politics. When that point in most novels is reached where the authors spends pages going over a political structure or the on going push and pull between two parties, I zone out. It is a necessary thing to have in novels, especially ones that are trying to set up and brand new world. Often you'll see me complain about this because I am not the type of reader who cares how the world functions so much as how the people inhabiting it do. My brain registers the hints of a political rant or even a financial explanation, and starts to wander to more exciting moments that I wish were taking place instead. Max Brooks had his fair share of stories told from a politician or someone who knew way more about economics or even how the business aspect of the world worked. He also had stories about parents trying to keep their children alive just one more day, computer geeks escaping from a four story apartment complex, and pilots who became so delirious that they could not explain how they even logically made it out of the war zone alive. This type of story works in the structure that Brooks has set up and does not detract from the overall enjoyment of

I am genuinely excited to see the movie adaptation of this and am looking forward to buying the audio book to enjoy this experience all over again. World War Z was a novel that I did not expect to enjoy, nor did I expect the range of emotions that poured out of me while reading. It is one of the first critically acclaimed novels that I've read in quite a while, that actually lived up to its hype.

If you want to see what else I'm reading this month, visit here: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-book-reads.html

And don't forget to like me on facebook.  Also, if you like the Zombie propoganda posters that you see here, visit their website.  There are plenty more where these came from. http://www.behance.net/gallery/WPA-Style-Zombie-Survival-Guide-Posters/9388537

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

I have some mixed feelings about this novel. I spent the first half of it struggling to keep my eyes open and the second half of it fairly impressed with how everything was coming together. When it comes down to it, I think that I enjoy the mechanics of this book, and maybe even the story itself, but its not something I would normally read.


Jellicoe Road is a hard book to summarize without giving away what truly makes it interesting. What I can tell you is that it is about a girl who was orphaned very young, trying to find her mother. The beginning was a bit confusing to me because I was a uncertain where the main character was staying and if the “territory wars” they continued to talk about was something to pass the time at the camp like environment she seemed to be inhabiting, or if they were actual territory wars. Although, that could all be on me because like I said, I didn't actually get into this novel until I was half way through.  Half the novel felt more like a chore or one of those books that teachers make you read in high school because it's supposed to be amazing but you struggle to see why from the moment you open it.

The most enjoyable part of Marchetta's storytelling is held within the story itself. Yes, there is a story within the story in this novel and every time we moved into the more linear storyline, I found myself wanting to go back to the stories about boys in trees and teens who loved each other in loyal and honest ways. In fact, I think that the story of those souls, overshadowed the rest of the tale. When bit parts are more interesting than your main character, you have a problem as an author. I fell in love with the characters that the girl was learning about and I too wanted to know more about them. The main character of Taylor though was one that I was bored with from page one. Again, this is more of a personal preference than a critique on the book but the substance that Taylor had was nothing compared to some of the other characters in this book. Not to mention that Taylor fell flat on the page and was more akin to that carbon copy type of character that we see through most teen novels.


As a whole, Jellicoe Road is worth a read. I plan on keeping my copy and giving it another go sometime in the future because I do believe that this book is a decent distraction from our reality. While it is not the best that I've read, the author intertwines the past and the present in very neat twists that make me appreciate what she was trying to do with this novel. Marchetta had a very definite goal in her storytelling and she was able to convey it in a clear manor. That's not something that I see often with teen novels. Lately, a lot of teen novels have been taking notes from Hollywood and are trying to distract you from the gaping holes within the plot with pretty faces and witty dialogue.



Overall, Jellicoe Road is a solid three star book. If you are looking for a mystery novel then this is the one that I would point to. It is reminiscent of a good summer read and this is definitely a novel to sit on the beach or around a campfire at night and indulge in. 

Make sure to follow me on facebook and Google + and for more reviews of what I'm reading this month (and the last since I haven't been able to read much lately) go here

http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-book-reads.html

and here

http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-book-reads.html

Yes, I'm Crazy - Yes, I Write

There's a little bit of insanity that goes hand in hand when you are trying to write. Or, at least there is for me. Bachelor degree's, real world jobs, social lives, blogging and constantly searching for someone who will take my crazy and adore it, leaves little to no time to focus on a novel. Let alone a novel that for some reason I felt needed to be complicated in such ways that I wish I could go back in time and tell my fourth grade self, “Don't aspire to be a writer. It'll bring you nothing but headaches and an early onset of arthritis”. That, however, would create a paradox and if there is one thing I will take away from fictional characters experiences, it's that paradoxes never end well.

So, since I can't go back and change the mind of my little self, I'm forced to live this life. And when I say forced I do mean choose but you know, force just sounded like a more solid word choice.

One of the first things people seem to learn about me is that I'm writing a series. Oddly enough, I am never the one that shares this tidbit of information but I have a handful of friends and family members that point this out to almost every new person I meet as if this is a series that has some sort of discernible weight in the literary world. These same friends and family members are now going to point out that I just pointed all of this out to you in a blog post. And around and around we go.

Anyway... Eventually, these new people find out that what I am writing is more than just a dabble. The conversation usually goes something like this.

Strange New Person: “Oh, so what do you write?”

Me: “Umm... I'm just working on a small novel.”

Well Meaning Friend or Family Member: “Oh my Gosh! She is in the middle of writing her third book in a trilogy all about imagination and what it means for little kids and how we as adults react to it all and its really really good and I've already read it and it just blows my mind and she's being too modest. Have I mentioned its the third book?”

Strange New Person: “Wait... really? You've written three books?”

Me: “Well.... yeah...”

If you think I'm joking or exaggerating, I can give you the name of a dear friend who I am pretty much quoting verbatim right now. She'll have no problems probably saying this exact same spiel to you.

Now, after this is out of the way, people somehow coax out of me that this is a story that I've kind of been focusing on for, oh, about fifteen years give or take. Of course, I haven't been writing it this entire time. The idea started as something small when I was a child and then when I was older, it was one that I picked up again to write. It has grown beyond what I ever thought it would and now requires little self written note cards in order to keep straight the mythology I have created in this world. When, Strange New Person, finds this out, one inevitable question always arises.

“Do you feel like a crazy person?”

The answer?

Yes.

Yes. Yes and YES.

I would add a few expletives to that but family members are reading this and they still sometimes pictures me as a little girl. I do not want to change this perception too much seeing as it still works in my favor during the Christmas season.

But, I am, in fact, a cross between Topher (below) and that owl. 

In short, writing makes you crazy. I didn't always feel like this. There was a time when I could write and I'd step away from my computer and switch to whatever else it was that I needed to do. Now, it's a very different story. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking about that world I've created. I'm thinking about those characters. When something new pops up in my life, I wonder how they would react to it. When a song comes on the radio, my ears tend to hear words that relate to scenes and moments that I have either written or have yet to write. Upon knowing book three is going to be the final book, I create blogs in order to distract myself from actually writing it because I know when I finish, these characters are done. When you live with a small set of characters for close to fifteen years, they become something beyond what you originally created. When you have to say goodbye to them.... well, I don't want to think about that quite yet.

Thus, the crazy person feeling.

I catch myself, sometimes. There are times when I've been sitting and talking about my story with friends and realize that I am talking about my characters as if they are real people. It's as if I should be able to call them up on the phone and invite them out for a drink. I know them well. Too well. I know what they eat, I know their biggest fears, I know who they love and who they think they love. I know how they react to death and sorrow and how they laugh and what their smile looks like. One character, in fact, is what I measure all potential guys to in my life. Which is probably why I'm single. The point is that I know these characters as well as I would my best friend. I don’t always agree with them (which makes for some interesting writing nights) and there are plenty of moments where I have to walk away from the computer because I am too angry or too upset to continue to write what they have to do or what they have to respond to.

Thankfully, I have understanding friends who when I start speaking as if these characters are real, they know I am simply slipping into writer me. If they were less understanding, they'd have me committed.

Writing is a process that drives me absolutely insane. I love it and I crave it and sometimes, when the night is late and my living room is lit only with the pale glow of my computer screen and a few small candles, I put my head down and have to breathe deeply as I mourn, laugh, and love along with these character. Sometimes, I think they are so entwined with my life that I forget where they end.

Would I change this? Well... yes. I already admitted in the beginning of the post that I would tell little me not to become older me. But, here's the thing about little me. She was a stubborn little thing. I doubt she'd listen.

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