Best Week Ever? I Think So

This was my week last week, which will forever rank as one of my best weeks ever (this excludes special weeks like when I am on vacation, at an HP conference, or that whole summer when I didn’t work at all).

1.  Sunday--Went to the fair with Jill.  What more can I say, it was amazing and wonderful and I got to see my friend Linda from library school.

2.  Tuesday–Didn’t have to do storytime because we had a musical guest come!  Yea!!!

3.  Wednesday–Bought a WHOLE BUNCH of kids DVDs for the library!  I love buying stuff for the library, it is total retail therapy for me!  (Amber, I totally bought Hotel for Dogs!!!!)

4.  Thursday–Went to a live Rifftrax show with my dad and sister.  Rifftrax involves the same people who did Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which, if you don’t know what that is, I am very sorry).  The guys were in a theater in Nashville riffing on Plan 9 From Outer Space, and the live feed went out to hundreds of theaters nation wide.  It was honestly, the funniest thing I have ever seen.  We laughed so hard we cried.  Also, the opening act was Jonathan Coulton who totally rocked.  He sang songs about zombies and cyborgs which was perfect for a theater full of nerdgirls and nerdboys.  Go to this page and listen to Re: Your Brains, it is awesome!  Everyone in the theater sang along to the part “all we want to do is eat your brains!!!”

5.  Friday–I got to see my friends Jill and Brian from library school.  Jill was visiting all the way from Arizona!!  We played darts  (I realized how out of practice I am) and chatted just like old times.

6.  Weekend–I went home for my Dad’s birthday and watched old school Mystery Science Theater 3000 with my dad, had angel food cake with strawberries on top and watched the Hannah Montana movie with my sister.  Perfection!

Also, this week was one of my best reading weeks ever (best as in most satisfaction gained from the books read).  I read all 10 Princess Diaries books, which was wonderful!  It was like the equivalent of eating a whole carton of Ben and Jerry’s without feeling all sick afterwards.  Can I just say that thank goodness Meg Cabot invented Michael Moscovitz, because there are no guys like him in real life.

I also read As You Wish by Jackson Pearce, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, and the last three On the Run books by Gordon Korman.  As You Wish was great and is the perfect read alike for people who love Twilight (or books that are awesome!).  I always love everything by Gordon Korman, so I enjoyed those books, but Oh. My. Gosh.  When You Reach Me is like nothing I have ever read.  I just want to find Rebecca Stead and give her a hug and say “Thank you for writing a book that is so unique and special and phenomenal!!!”  There really are no words to describe how good that book is.

So, all in all, it was a really good week, and this week has a lot to do in order to live up to it.

Jen

Twitter Twins

I am convinced that my fellow nerdgirls have YA-author twins on twitter.  Either that or they are spending their freetime passing themselves off as certain authors…but I’m pretty sure that since Jen, Lindsay, and Amber are all working girls (insert 9 to 5 theme song here – wait, is there a theme song?  I still haven’t seen this movie *face turns red*) they don’t have freetime.  So in that case…

Amber’s twitter twin - MEG CABOT (http://twitter.com/megcabot)

Why Meg?  Well, besides the fact that they both wear adorable clothes & shoes and have a love for A&E’s version of Pride & Prejudice, consider these past tweets from Meg:

I loved “A Year in the Life With JK Rowling.” Who else watched it???
10:19 PM Jul 17th from Ping.fm

Ew. There’s a 3rd Bridget Jones where she ends up with Daniel Cleaver. You can read it here…but who’d want to?http://ping.fm/ZVkNY
12:22 AM Jul 17th from Ping.fm

I’m going to go crazy if I don’t find out what Danielle tried to do to Dina (anyone else watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion?)
6:54 AM Jun 26th from web

I know for a fact that Amber agreed with Meg about the Bridget Jones thing, so there you go.

On to Lindsay…

Lindsay’s twitter twin – MAUREEN JOHNSON (http://twitter.com/maureenjohnson)

I think I first associated Lindsay w/ MJ because she first recommended her books to me, but after following them both on twitter, I’m pretty sure they’re basically the same person.

Convincing tweets from MJ:

HOME! I’m HOME! I have returned from my TRAVELS. How are you?
4:00 AM Aug 10th from web

GOODNIGHT, TWITTER. *puts cover over screen* YOU SLEEP NOW.8:28 AM Aug 7th from web

Advice for today: stay close to your friends, but out of your pants.#nopants5:00 AM Aug 5th from web

Plus MJ is twitter friends with Melissa Anelli (author of Harry, A History) and tweets frequently.

Last but not least: Jen.

Jen’s twitter twin – E. LOCKHART (http://twitter.com/elockhart)

Alright now Jen was a tricky one.  Her twin wasn’t as obvious as the other two.  But here’s my case.
1.  She’s friends with Maureen Johnson aka Lindsay.
2.  She has several cats.  Which Maureen Johnson is currently taking care of.  Which is something I’m sure Lindsay would do if she and Jen lived in the same state and she needed her to.
3.  A past tweet of E. Lockhart’s:

Just received mail with two unicorns and a rainbow on the stationary. Also unicorn on the envelope. A bonanza!7:23 AM Jun 23rd from TweetDeck

I’m pretty sure that’s something Jen would be excited about too.

So guys, am I right or am I right?  :)

- Jill

Being Nikki review!

I was lucky enough to win an ARC for this a few months ago from the one-and-only Meg Cabot.  (I so love ARCs.  There’s just something awesome about a new book coming out and knowing you’re one of the few who get to read it early.)  For those of you who haven’t read Being Nikki, you should!  Well, first you should read Airhead, which is the first in the planned trilogy.  Just to catch you up — in Airhead, Em is a teenage girl who, instead of listening to her younger sister go on and on about supermodel Nikki Howard and her hot friends, would rather be spending time playing computer games with her best friend/secret love Christopher.  Em’s life completely changes one day when, at the opening of a Stark supercenter (which Em competely despises since Stark and their spokesmodel Nikki Howard are taking over the world), a huge television falls on her.  When she wakes up in the hospital, she discovers her brain has been transplanted into Nikki Howard’s body.

In Being Nikki, Em is still pretending to be Nikki Howard, fulfilling the model contracts for Stark, living in her loft, dealing with her so-called boyfriend, and all other baggage Nikki had.  Add to this the fact that Em thinks Stark is spying on her, her best friend/secret love has turned into a rebel since he believes Em died and she can’t tell him because her family would get in major legal trouble, and Nikki’s long-lost older brother has showed up looking for his mother, and Em can hardly keep it under control.

Being Nikki started a little slow for me, but it definitely picked up.  Em is still settling into Nikki’s life, and trying to figure out how to balance what she wants from her old life with what she has in her new.  The parts dealing with Christopher and the problem of Nikki’s missing mom were interesting and help the overall plot of figuring out the whole Stark issue.  The worst part about the book is the way it ends — leaving you READY for the third book Runway, which unfortunately won’t be out for awhile considering she’s currently working on writing it.  Meg Cabot, what are you doing to me??

- Jill

We’ve Touched Julie Andrews (basically)

Meg Cabot’s latest blog post talks about her experiences at Book Expo America, which would have been amazing to attend, but when I saw it all I could think of is I’VE TOUCHED SOMEONE WHO’S TOUCHED JULIE ANDREWS.
Remember this picture?

Now check out this picture from Meg’s blog:

Um, yes, I do believe that means the four nerdgirls have hugged Julie Andrews, once removed.  Queen Clarisse Renaldi!  Maria von Trapp!!  Mary Poppins!!!  Is there a more classy lady than Julie Andrews?

- jill

My (Still) Inchoherent Thoughts On The Weekend

Wow….just wow.

I have had so much fun this past weekend hanging out with all of my fellow nerdgirls.  I think (and I could be wrong) that it was the first time all 4 nerdgirls were together since the midnight showing of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”  Is that right??

Well, on Thursday night Amber, Jill, and I went to a Meg Cabot signing at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville.  I zoomed in at the last minute and had to stand in the back because the store was so crowded.  Meg gave a very funny, spontaneous talk about several of her books including Airhead, The Princess Diaries, and the Allie Finkle series.  Anderson’s had the priviledge of selling the third Allie book early even though it doesn’t come out till March.  Meg looked absolutely fabulous in a sparkly dress, fantastic tights, and the best heels ever!  She also had a very adorable way of posing her feet under the desk while she was signing that would have taken me weeks of princess lessons to figure out.

She was so sweet and talked with everyone as she signed all of the books.  The crowd was a balanced mix of adult fans, teens, and little girls.  When she signed my book I think I blurted something out about reading all the Princess Diaries books in ten days and she said, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve even read them that fast!”  Then I think I giggled like a little girl and ran away.

Friday night Lindsay arrived and we had a wonderful time putting together Meg’s gift.  It involved a lot of preparation including clothes shopping, hair cutting, and gluing things.  I won’t go into too many details because I think someone might post a video later (maybe…we’ll see……the sound went kind of weird due to a non-competent camera operator…..which of course was me).

On Saturday we all got dressed up and went to the 7th Annual Children’s Literature Breakfast to see Meg again.  We decided to give her the gift right away since she was innocently eating breakfast and would be easy to ambush.  She looked so pleased to receive the present (a Hannah Montana doll transformed into Meg Cabot, complete with snowflake necklace) and we got to take a picture with her and everything.  We were all on cloud nine for the rest of the morning.

The speakers at the breakfast were all very good, including Meg and her very skilled Powerpoint, Steven Kellogg and his stories about the real Pinkerton, Sharon Draper and her Sassy bag, and Peter Yarrow with his guitar.  I was a little teary through all of Peter Yarrow’s presentation, but when he started singing “Puff the Magic Dragon” and invited people on stage to sing with him I totally lost it.  I was literally sitting at one of the front tables sobbing like a 12 year old who just touched Robert Pattinson.  The waiter standing at the front of the room kept staring at me like he thought I was going to pass out or something…..but it totally wasn’t my fault, “Puff the Magic Dragon” is like the saddest song ever!!!!  Poor Puff having to waste away because stupid Jackie Paper grew up……that’s why you have to be like me and never grow up.  (And don’t say the song is about drugs, because I heard it from Peter Yarrow himself that it is NOT.)

So, those are my thoughts so far.  It was an amazing whirlwind of a weekend and it was phenomenal to meet Meg Cabot, but the best part had to be getting to spend time with my girls who live so far away.

Jen

**All photos stolen from Amber’s camera since mine can no longer take pictures involving a zoom or indoor lighting.

P.S.  A big thanks to Meg Cabot for mentioning us on her blog!!!!!

I Have Officially Crossed Over…

I am very much looking forward to the breakfast next month when all of us get to meet Meg Cabot and squeal about how great she is.  My original plan was to be the voice of reason helping to control Amber, Lindsay, Jill, and Steph and not allow them to put themselves in a position where they might get arrested.  Well, I think that someone else (Abby, are you up for it?) is going to have to take that job, because I am going to be pushing everyone else out of the way trying to get her attention first.

I had read three Meg Cabot books in my life prior to starting the Princess Diaries series.  I loved All-American Girl and Ready or Not, so I was excited to meet her.  But I knew that I should probably try to make my way through her most famous series of books before getting spoiled on what happens while everyone is freaking out during the breakfast.  I thought I would read the first couple and see how they were and then I would decide if I should read them all………

Well………

I started reading the first one last Thursday.  I proceeded to read through the end of the fourth one by Sunday.  Tuesday I read the fifth book…….and then I finished off the rest of the series in the last 48 hours……..I am still glowing with happiness after finishing the last book.  I want to dance around outside in the snow, except it is late and dark and I live in a scary neighborhood.

I really loved these books.  Granted, Mia could be whiny and totally clueless, but looking at how she dealt with some of her situations, I have behaved very similarly so I can totally relate (although sadly, I was still whiny and immature and acting like Mia well into my 20s, which is just depressing).  The books were really hilarious and I loved how so many things kept popping up in book after book.  Here are some of my thoughts on my reading experiences in the last eleven days:

Favorite Book:  Obviously Forever Princess, no competition.  It was hilariously wonderful and totally wrapped up the series brilliantly.  I almost pulled a Lindsay and jumped up and down for the last 100 pages, but I am kind of lazy, so I settled for letting out intermitant shrieks of “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPP” every now and again.  I don’t think my upstairs neighbors liked it, but I have to listen to their stupid dog all the time so I don’t care.  Plus it includes possibly the best line from any book ever: “Lana says J.P. makes Matt Damon from the Bourne movies look like Oliver from Hannah Montana.”

Second Favorite Book:  Princess in Love was when I really fell in love with the books.  I liked the first and the second one, but the end of the third one made me all giddy and happy the way only Twilight and Harry Potter can do.  That’s when I knew I was hooked and had to make it to the end so I could feel the unabashed happiness that Jill, Amber, and Lindsay had talked about.

Least Favorite Book:  I would have to say Princess Mia was my least favorite book.  It was sad that Michael wasn’t in it at all hardly, Lilly was so mean and Mia was so depressed.  It was like New Moon but without the distraction of Jacob (because I totally knew *Spoiler Alert* that there was something fishy about J.P. from the beginning).

Favorite Character:  Duh, Michael…..obviously.  At first I liked the Michael from the movie better, because when I started the first book I was like, what??  who is this guy who walks around with his shirt off all the time, that’s not Michael???  But then there was the moment (and I can’t remember exactly when it was) but I think it had something to do with Josh Richtor when Michael and Lars exchanged a significant look or something and I was totally won over by book Michael.  He was all protective about Mia’s feelings (but not in a creepy Edward Cullen way).

So anyway, it is getting kind of late and I should probably go to bed so I can get up early and see who wins the Printz, Caldecott, Newbery, etc. like the good librarian that I am.  Or maybe instead of going to bed, I can search eBay to see if anyone is selling the complete Princess Diaries Collection…..hmmmm….. must go check.

Jen

P.S.  Lindsay, I know I said I would call you when I finished the last book, but it is really late and you probably have to work tomorrow, but I will call you soon.

Finally Another Video Blog

I posted another video blog on YouTube.  In this blog I talk about the amazing, wonderful, fantastic accomplishment that is Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston.  I also briefly talk about Fun With Roman Numerals by David Adler and The Library by Sarah Stewart.

I was going to mention that I finished the fourth book in the Princess Diaries series but I forgot.  I probably would have read more, but I need to go get the fifth book from the library.  So far I am loving it and am totally smitten with Michael.  Coincidentally the movie was on TV this afternoon and I watched it and realized that even though the books and the movie are COMPLETELY different, I love them both.  Hopefully I can rip right through the rest of the series in time to meet Miss Meg herself so you guys won’t spoil me on what happens.

Anyway, here’s the video.  I am off to watch some Firefly!

P.S.  Sorry the quality is pretty low…..it kind of makes it look like I don’t have any lips…..but just try to ignore that.

Uh oh, the iPhone’s coming

Howdy y’all!

So let’s see, it’s been about a week or so since my last post…probably longer actually, but whatever.  Hmmm so what do I have to tell you all that is so important?  Not a whole lot.  It turns out working takes up a lot of time.  I used to get through a couple of books a week and that has slowed down quite a bit.  Although yesterday I went to the library (in what seemed like was FOREVER) and returned some books and got some more. 

I am proud to say that I finally read the second installment of Meg Cabot’s Allie Finkle series, The New Girl.  It was adorable - I adore Allie (and Meg) and it’s just so fun to read!  I can’t wait until the 3rd book comes out in January (along with Princess Diaries 10!!!)  I also read another Clique book yesterday (I still am going to watch the movie although it looks totally lame) – I read Dylan’s summer story.  So now I have 3 more books (Alicia, Kristen, and Claire, all summer books) and then I’m all caught up with those books till the next one comes out.

Ooooh, today I read Ally Carter’s I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You, the first book in the Gallagher Girls series.  Totally loved it, and cannot wait to go back to the library to grab the second one, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy.  I so totally want to be a spy!!  I think I’d be really good at it - when I was little and it was winter, I’d crawl around in the snow acting like I was sneaking around.  Only you always saw me because my snowsuit was bright purple (if I remember correctly…it was at least a bright color, I know that).  If I had been educated as a spy, I’d have a white snowsuit so I could blend better.  Although maybe I was being watched to see if I could blend with my brightly colored suit.  Hmmm.

Oooooh, so I am currently obsessed with Miley Cyrus’s song, East Northumerland High.  I always passed it up in order to get to See You Again, but the other day I didn’t get to the computer in time to pass it up and I ended up totally in love with it!  Also, I finally got around to reading my ARC of 3 Willows that I won about a month or so ago.  I totally loved it too!  Plus, the artwork was exquisitely beautiful (in my opinion).  Ann Brashares is such a good author!  I didn’t have any cry moments, like I did with Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Carmen’s story always makes me choke up, along with Tibby’s), but that’s OK, I think if I reread I might have a couple- there are a few heart twinging moments.  Speaking of SotTP, I need to see the second movie still!  I have it on my netflix queue – I should move it up so I get it next. 

Well, that’s all for now – I have to go get ready for bed while rocking out to Miley. 

<3, lindsayF

P.S.  Everyone make sure to wish Amber a Happy 58th (hehehheeheheheheheheh, JK) birthday tomorrow (the 8th)!

Also, you all need to watch this video.  I have trouble watching and not thinking traiterous thoughts about how these girls are the cutest little things in the world (it’s only traiterous because I’m supposed to think my neice and nephew are the cutest things in the world, at least until I have my own children – then they will be the cutest things in the world). 

Go visit them at their channel on youtube!  http://www.youtube.com/mugglesam

Rooney might have made eye contact with me…

Don’t you just love it when all your favorites things turn out to be connected to your other favorite things?! It always makes me feel like I am doing something right with my life–like I am on the trail to the bestest most favoritest thing ever.

Last weekend was Iowa’s Homecoming (and I hear that I am lucky to be such a nerd and to have chosen to do homework over watching the game. Cmon Hawkeyes! make Nate Kaeding proud!) and to celebrate there is always a concert after the parade—this year was Rooney!!!!! (and Chuck Berry, also very cool) AHHHH, MICHAEL MOSCOVITZ IN IOWA CITY!!!! I saw the Princess Diaries movie before reading any of the books, so Robert Schwartzman will always be Michael to me. Whether he likes it or not. sly smile.

anyway, so I got out of work and walked downtown to wait for my friends before watching the parade. Wait, what do I hear?? is that a heavenly angel doing a soundcheck? NO IT WAS MICHAEL MOSCOVITZ! (omigosh I hope Robert doesn’t google himself and read this…) The stage for the Homecoming show is just out in front of the Old Capitol Building, so the Rooney boys were essentially just doing their preshow stuff outside–meaning that I could literally just walk right up to the stage and watch. Don’t worry, I tried to look cool. I leaned against a rock and took out a newspaper while slightly shaking my head along to the music. OMG! there were literally only like five other people there watching with me–so chances are good that maybe the guys in the band made eye contact with me??!! I was trying really hard to have a quirky-Midwestern-girl-I-am-enjoying-your-music-very-much-but-I-am-not-throwing-myself-at-you smile, which is really hard to do. Especially when you are panicked that you are giving a I-may-look-23-but-if-I-come-face-to-face-with-you-i’m-going-to-scream-and-steal-some-of-your-hair-for-a-scrapbook smile. here is a representation of the situation:

A re-creation of me trying to act cool while standing front-row while Rooney soundchecks.

except imagine my hair shorter, and Robert looking less like Michael Moscovitz.

oh, and just to make a connection between Rooney and another teen-girl book sensation. Their video for “Are You Afraid of Me” is all about vampires. Yes.

oh and this is one of the songs they played while I was watching soundcheck and my eyes glazed over. Totally reminds me of Phantom Planet’s “Hey Now Girl”–as in I love it.

amberj.

Amber is resurfacing!

Gasp! the air feels fantastic! I have been absent for way toooo long from this blog, and so many things have happened that I should have written looooong posts about, but I’m going to give the long/short version of them all combined in a neatly ordered list.

1. Jill, Steve, and I joined Team Fiona with Sarah and her family for the walk for Angelman Syndrome in Des Moines, IA.

2. Lindsay and I roadtripped to Peoria for a Wizard rock show to see Lena of the Butterbeer Experience, Lauren of the Moaning Myrtles, and Kristina of the Parselmouths (and we also got to see NinaMyrtle and the Ministry of Magic). We both wore super cute blue summer dress and hats, but it got cold so we had to switch into the clothes we bought at the nearby mall…

3. Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson got married, and I had to read all the tabloids. I never would have predicted that Ashlee would become my favorite Simpson. Life is weird.

4. NerdGirl Lindsay gets Married! (Lindsay left her wand in Iowa City, but I made sure to bring mine, because what good wizard bride doesn’t get a photo with her dress, flowers and wand? and Lindsay is for sure the good wizard bride.)

5. Bachelorette party for Sheila in Chicago! Never ever ever stay at the Wingate by Wyndham in Arlington Heights. The staff will stalk you and make you feel most uncomfortable. And apparently the staff at Howl at the Moon ALL know the words to a Spice Girls song now, even though back in February, when the Spice Girls WERE IN CHICAGO, the staff acted clueless to our requests, huff huff.

6. Sheila gets married in 21 words: walk down aisle power out water pours through roof priest says holy cow trees uprooted walk out of church all sunny.

7. Iowa City floods. Things are getting better, I just unpacked my emergency evacuation bag last night. My apartment was fine because it was on top of a hill, but water came up from 3 sides leaving only one road out–very scary. And my poor Art Museum (you can’t really see it in the video, it is just past the Theater Building). I feel incredibly guilty that I didn’t even help sandbag it (I only sandbagged one day, which is pretty lame of me. Although, most of the sandbagging was done on the east side of the river which we weren’t supposed to cross. Other people did though. But I am a loser and follow whatever anyone tells me…) I’m sure I don’t need to go into too much detail since it has kinda been all over the news. P.S. My roommate Cassi is the lovely videographer and narrator in the video.

8. And last, my anxiety disorder has made a reappearance. Maybe someday I’ll go into more detail on this since I think mental disorders definitely need to be discussed more openly so they can be better understood and so I guess I have to talk the talk, right? Not right now though. Things are getting better! I think I have finally found some medications that are helping (yesterday I smiled while by myself for the first time in a week! I was dancing to Ingrid Michaelson in my bedroom, which is also something I hadn’t done in several weeks. I never realized how much I normally smile until I stopped and the frowns just feel so foreign.) While I’m on this topic, let me just praise praise praise the latest installment of the Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot:

Princess Mia is one the best books, YA or not, that has portrayed depression honestly and realistically, and it is the first book with a depression theme where I have actually felt a connection with the character–many books on this theme seem to feature already jaded characters who endure incredible trauma or tragedy in their lives, which is definitely a needed literature, but I think it is also important to show that depression and mental disorders can hit even the cheerful, the happy, and the, well, average. Go Meg Cabot!

phew, now I am all caught up with the boring elements of life, I am free to blog about more relevant things, like why Sleeping Beauty and the Santa Clause 2 DVDs were in the SF/HORROR section in the library…

amberj.