Probably Not Until Monday...

 So, the family and I are going to the fair tomorrow, and then it's Labor Day weekend. I wanted to post something quick just because. Plus, I found a good picture. :D

I do have a lot of posts planned, I just never get around to posting them. They are typed up, but I just can't get to posting them. Oh, I know. I am lazy. But I will see you all later. Until then, enjoy this picture, and enjoy your weekend.

"How to infuriate nerds from every fandom all at once..."

Until later, 

I bid you goodbye.

~Natsu~

The Costumes of Effie Trinket!

 Ahhh...So here are some of what Effie wore in the Hunger Games movie...

YAY

Effie is the one in the pink dress. Katniss is in the blue dress. This is Effie's Reaping outfit. IT IS SOOOO PINK. The sleeves are awesome. I just need some pink fabric...YAAAAAAAAAAAAA awesome.

sh

This is the head and neck piece. It's super flowery and puffy and...I really don't know how I am going to pull that off. And her hair and skin have a pinkish tint. Her hair and makeup and skin all change color with her outfits...

The gloves and shoes are cool, but I haven't been able to find any shoes that look like hers that aren't 40 dollars. Who pays that much for a pair of heels that you will wear once?!

And then, while I was searching, I found a whole post about Effie and The Capitol's fashions. So, here it is, from THE EVERYDAY SHINE Called "Post Apocalyptic Fashion."

Post Apocalyptic Fashion 

Long time no post :( Well, no worries, I'm gonna make it up to you guys. Today we are talking about two things I love: Fashion and The Hunger Games. I am gonna start by saying that if you have not watched this movie, it's highly time to do so. A few week before the movie came out, back in march, I was already hyperventilating with excitement. One of my biggest curiosities was the way Lionsgate was going to portray the Capitol citizens. After watching the movie, I can say it was simply perfect. They managed to capture the essence of what is described in the book : shallowness, color, opulence and circus. Exactly what Suzanne Collins has described. I was pleasantly surprised how faithful the producers were to the descriptions in the book.

The first time we see Effie she appears as a shocking contrast to the citizens of district eleven. Her purple purple outfit, combined like this looks over the top, but if you'd split it to pieces, well, that could be a whole different story. I, personally, LOVE the blazer. It's oversized and puffy shoulder remind me of baroque dresses I used to love when I was a child.

This outfit is my favorite from Effie's entire closet. Even though it's beautiful, it is too much, so a few alterations are in need. If it were up to me, I'd separate the upper part, just below the belt, from the skirt, add a pair of black skinny pants, and voila, an outfit you can actually wear.

"Divide and conquer" I think this saying fits the Capitol Fashion perfectly. Each and every outfit consists of some exquisite pieces of clothing which are literally breathtaking if they would stand alone. If taken separately, they look like snatched from the runways of London, Paris and New York. Well, there are quite a few designers whose creations have a bit of a Capitol air to them. So, in order to achieve that exaggerated Capitol look, it is enough to overlay two or three items, add some eccentric hair, put some shocking make-up on and there you have it: a complete Circus.

And because I did not want to be entirely mean towards the Capitol, I chose Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane's outfit as a positive example. The beard, the only different thing about his appearance, a beard which Wes Bentley brilliantly sports, goes rather well with the somewhat ordinary costume that he is wearing.
He radiates elegance and it's an outfit I would love to see on someone in real life.

Overall, I loved the Capitol fashion, meaning I loved its portrayal. I would have loved to see more of Katniss's prep team, Venia, Flavius and Octavia as they are rather fascinatingly described:
Venia: "a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows"
Flavius: " He gives his orange corkscrew locks a shake and applies a fresh coat of purple lipstick to his mouth."
Octavia:"a plump woman whose entire body has been dyed a pale shade of pea green"

So, this is it for today. I hope I made you at least a bit curious about the movie if you haven't seen it already, or maybe even a bit curious about the book.Let me know if you ended up wandering through it's pages.

That was her post. I thought it was cool because all of the pictures were there in one post!

I should have more when I find more Catching Fire pictures. This post has been delayed because of the rich content and the internet problems...BUT NOW IT IS HERE!!

Yay.

~Natsu

RETURNED I HAVE!

Hello, I am back. I am sorry for the lack of posts, but somehow, I just haven’t been in the mood to blog. I haven’t been on the computer much at all. I joined a summer reading program (2 actually) at the library and I have been, you guessed it, reading.

 Besides that, I have been writing like, all the time. I have been trying to get somewhere in my character development and plot. It’s hard when I am trying to drive the plot when there is really no villain. I mean, he began as a villain type, but I decided against it. I don’t know how mentally stable he is going to be, but everything he does, he believes that it is good. So, I don’t think that’s really being a villain so to speak.

I have been staying up until midnight working on these types of things. I listen to the soundtrack The Phantom of the Opera until I know every pitch and every word. I have gotten pretty good at “Think of Me” in both ways that it was sung: with Carlotta and her soprano and accent and then with Christine and her high notes and softer, less overpowering voice. I love The Phantom of the Opera. It was pretty late when I first saw it. It was on a PBS station, the Broadway performance. It started at 10pm and I was up pretty late watching it. I thought it was amazing. So, after months pass and such, my sister gets the movie version from the library. I watched that twice.  The Phantom is portrayed by Gerard Butler, I believe. And I am still thinking whether Raoul’s actor sung better than Gerard…I don’t know yet.

Yeah, it is a little creepy, the whole thing, but I think it’s awesome. If you listen to the lyrics real close-like, you get a better picture of the Phantom and what he is trying to get. I read a comment on the internet somewhere that it was a bit, uh…stalkerish, I think that’s what it said. Yeah, maybe, but not in a creepy, "I look at your Facebook page every 6 minutes creepy." That was an example…I don’t really know anyone that does that, and I myself is not on the Book of Faces…so…

It’s a different kind of stalking. One brought on by loneliness and love and a tortured childhood.

So there.

 I also have been listening to other things, like different movie soundtracks and just music in general. I have been trying to listen to a wide range of music. I found out today that there is like a secret, non-existent track 13 on One Republic’s Dreaming Out Loud album. It’s basically just a jazzed up version of track 4, Apologize.

I have listened to The Hunger Games soundtrack, and that was pretty good. All of the songs just screamed Panem, District 12, the Games…everything. And the Civil Wars are on there, so really, that's a no brainer. The only one I didn't really like—and that’s mostly because I am not into the beat box, rock and roll, blow your eardrums out music—was The Ruler and The Killer by Kid Cudi. I liked the Maroon 5 song on the album, Come Away to the Water. That was cool.

I have also been trying out stuff like Jason Mraz and Owl City. I couldn't believe how much I was digging Owl City’s All Things Bright and Beautiful album. That was amazing! I wanted to dance so badly!! :D Out of the Jason Mraz stuff, I have only listened to Love is a Four Lettered Word. That was a good album. 

Yeah.

That’s about it.

I finished reading “The Looking Glass Wars” and I have found out that there is a screenplay in the works for 

it. SO YAY! It was a really good book. Really good.

~~Natsu~~

Catching Fire is NOT the Hunger Games 2!

(It's called Catching Fire. It is the sequel to the Hunger Games, but it is not called The Hunger Games 2.)

Last Friday I finished reading Suzanne Collin’s Catching Fire. Overall, it was pretty good. Much like the Hunger Games, it was fast paced and the story kept going. We got to see deeper into people’s real stories and how wicked the President really is.

I was surprised that they had to go back in the Arena for the Quarter Quell. I had not expected that at all. I kind of felt bad for Katniss; she had to work so hard to get out of the Hunger Games with her heart still beating, and then she is the only female tribute in District 12 that had won. So, she didn’t have a choice in the matter whether or not she wanted to be in the Quarter Quell.

This year was different. Instead of just picking (during the Reaping) like they did last year, the Tributes were picked from the previous winners of the Hunger Games for the Quarter Quell. (Which I believe is the 75th Annual Hunger Games.) The plan was, this time, to keep Peeta alive. Whereas in the first book—as Haymitch explains—the goal was to keep Katniss alive. They had decided that if Haymitch was chosen, (Peeta and Haymitch are the only male winners in District 12) Peeta would volunteer. That’s what happened. I believe that if Haymitch were to go back into the arena, he might have had a chance of winning. He is very smart, despite the person he plays towards everyone. And he did kind of win the Games once...I learned that he drinks because he is trying to get rid of the pain and memories that the Hunger Games brought him. Which makes sense to me; I wouldn't want to remember it either. I don’t know if I would go towards the spirits or other things that numb out the pain…I would probably end of going to a guidance counselor every Thursday and then write a couple novels about it.

Anyway, the characters that we see in the Quarter Quell are unlike the ones in the original Hunger Games. These tributes are much more…seasoned would be the word. As I said, each of them already survived the Games. So they had already gone through it once and know what to expect.

In the Hunger Games, the first novel, all the people that were in the games were children. I think the age range runs from 8-18, although I am not sure. But in this Quarter Quell, everyone is much older. And besides Peeta and Katniss, Finnick is really the only one that is closer to their age.

I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it, but the arena was COMPLETELY different from the wooden area last year. It was all sand and water. Harsh jungles and the Game-Makers were relentless: Sending poison and monkeys and all sorts of awful things.

The end was a totally shock for me. I did not see that coming. I knew the President Snow was evil, but I didn't know that he would do what he did…

There were a couple things, like in some Animes, that were in there that didn't have to be there. I mean, seriously, it wouldn't have changed the plot at all if those things weren't there. But, who am I to judge it? I just think differently I guess. And there were like two parts, two paragraphs throughout the whole book that I just thought were weird.

Onto other things concerning this particular topic, Wednesday, I saw the Hunger Games movie for the first time.

I am going to say first, that overall, it was a good movie. I liked the camera angles, Jennifer Lawrence was awesome as Katniss and I liked how—unlike the book—we got different views of the story. The director explained in the extras that they needed to do this because people needed to see. Because in the book, it is written in first person; everything we read is out of the eyes and mind of Katniss. We get no view upon the Game Makers because, obviously, she was in the arena at not with them. So being able to see the Game Makers do all the things to the arena was pretty cool. Seneca Crane has a crazy intricate beard…That was awesome.

I am going to say, secondly, all and the many things my brother and I found wrong with the movie. This was because we were comparing it to the book. (Brother had just finished reading it, whereas I had read it last summer.)

1. First off, the story begins with Katniss waking up and such and then there are the complaints about Prim’s cat. We only saw the cat for one second in the movie when Katniss was threatening to cook it. 
2. Madge gave Katniss the Mockingjay pin. She didn't buy it from the Hob. (This bothered me the most and I don’t know why.)
3. Madge wasn't even in the movie. She was in the second book. If she is in the second movie, how is anyone supposed to know who she is?
4. I don’t think that there was any uprisings in the Districts in the original Hunger Games…There were uprisings in Catching Fire, and even then, the Peacekeepers took care of them…

On a better note:

Haymitch was awesome. He sounded like a cowboy.

I guess I am done complaining, only because I cannot remember what else we were complaining about and my sister told us to stop comparing it…so I guess the thoughts left me. But it did get better once we got the Games.

Effie was amazing. I mean, I hated her in the book because she was so “on time” “this and that” “doodley doo”, but in the movie—and Catching Fire—I liked her. Her Reaping outfit WAS AWESOME and I am totally making one for myself. In fact, all of her outfits were kind of awesome…

Gale, well, he was cool in the book but kinda meh in the movie.

I understand why they needed to do things differently in the movie. Because there was just so much going on in the book, that if they did all of it, the movie would have been hours long. I think, that if I hadn't read the book, I would have thought it great. Ya know, besides the fact that its kids killing other kids for the entertainment of the Capitol...

Overall, I enjoyed it.

The End

~~Natsu~~

It's so hot in the Northeast--

 I told you I would be back. Granted, it wasn't around Tuesday like I expected...I have been super busy. I guess not busy. I have been doing stuff like reading and I am trying to work on my novel and school and other extra things and crafting (I am in the process of binding a book that I made out of printer paper) and Pinterest and etc...

 There is just too much to post and I either don't have enough time to post it or I am just too lazy.  I guess it doesn't matter...for I am here now. ~gleam~

To explain the matter further--this is a picture I took of all my library books. I did it to prove my point.

There are 7 books here. The one on the top however, I decided not to read. The rest of the pile includes titles such as Cathing Fire, Mockingjay (both the sequels to The Hunger Games) The Looking Glass Wars, (book 1 and 2) and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing-Traitor to the Nation- Book 2, and last but not least, Clockwork Princess. I think they are all going to be fairly awesome books. I had read The Hunger Games last summer. It thought it was alright--at that point I wasn't much into the Post Apocalyptic books. Funny how things change in a year--and I decided to get the last two. I guess the adds on the internet of Catching Fire (movie) had reminded me that I hadn't finished them yet. I will have to blog that movie poster. Katniss's dress is AWEEEESOME!

As for The Looking Glass Wars...I am a complete Wonderland fan. They struck me as interesting. I guess the story is that Lewis got it all wrong and this was what really happened...I don't know for sure. I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I don't know what I was thinking when I got seven novels...and then I only have 3 weeks for them. And apparently I will be busy and not be able to read them except for in the wee hours of the morning...Ugh.

The Life of Octavian Nothing. I had just recently finished the first one. Let me explain how I came across this.

A couple months ago--and now still, as it would seem--I was really into books written in first person. Mainly because I was trying to write one. I still am. And then I started another. Then I had two stories started and now...I have started another one. Sometimes, I wonder if this is was being a writer is like. 

Anyway, I stumbled across Octavian Nothing while searching the library shelves. The thing that struck me as cool  was the pages were kind of ripped. Not the pages in the book...rather, the sides of the pages. They looked as though they were meant to be older looking and worn. Well, that effect certainly worked. The book itself looked cool, but the inside was a little cooler.

Here's the summary, I am not very good at typing those up.

The greater part of the story is told by a boy named Octavian, who grew up with his mother Cassiopeia, an African princess, in a house full of philosophers and scientists in colonial Boston. Under the watchful eyes of Mr. Gitney, also known as 03-01, Octavian has received a classical education as well as a musical education which has made him into an extremely skilled violinist. Octavian eventually comes to understand the price of his powdered wigs and education: he is not only the "property" of Mr. Gitney, but he is also being used as an experiment to test whether the African race is inferior to the European race.

In time, Cassiopeia angers the scientists' benefactor and the Society loses its monetary support. The two are forced to go under the new watchful eye of Richard Sharpe, who cuts Octavian off from his books. It is later revealed that Richard Sharpe works for a group of colonial businessmen, who now fund the house where Octavian is held. These businessmen own slaves, and it is strongly implied that Sharpe is attempting to bias the experiment with Octavian in order to prove that Africans are inferior. He does this by stopping most of Octavian's education and making him work in the house.

When the political unrest that would later spur the American Revolution begins to seep into the Gitney household, Gitney decides to move into the countryside outside of Boston, and then hold a Pox Party. Each attendee is infected with the pox, with the hope that under this controlled circumstance they will have only benign cases. Gitney also wants to both weaken and quarantine his slaves when he begins to hear talk of a slave revolt. Cassiopeia, however, is killed by the pox, and after her death is dissected by the scientists in the house. Octavian discovers what the scientists are doing and in his anger flees the house, and ends up in the Colonial Army. 

Octavian's military adventures are narrated mostly in epistolary form by Private Evidence Goring in letters to his sister Fruition. Octavian is eventually recaptured, and back at the Gitney house he is kept chained and completely alone. When Sharpe and Gitney, as well as his former classics teacher Dr. Trefusis, eventually decide to speak with him, Octavian is furious to discover that, with many of their funds coming from plantation owners in Virginia, they are counting on Octavian to fail, and to prove the "inferiority" of the African race.

I apologize for basically spoiling the book, but I thought it was cool and I didn't know how else to put it. :/ I thought it was really interesting. Overall, I enjoyed it!

Then there is Clockwork Princess. The third--and I believe final--book in the Infernal Devices series by Cassie Clare. I am only 4 chapters in and a lot has happened.

But I swear, if my favorite character dies...I will NEVER read books again.

That reminds me of a conversation I had with my Mom...earlier this month...

Me: [Sitting on the couch, just finished Entwined by Heather Dixon] [I toss the finished book aside.] The book is over, my *life* is over. I am never reading again.

Mom: [Who was walking through the living room, looked at me.] No.

She was right. I have read maybe two books since then...I don't know.

But that is completely irrelevant. Entwined was an AMAZING book, BTW. There is a character called The Keeper...He started out amazing...and then...got...creepy. He was still cool, even as he was going down hill. That's totally a book I would recommend.

This here is a book I bought at the book sale they were holding at the Library the day I went. I love book sales--mostly because I am trying to up my book collection so I can have an amazing book shelf. It was interesting because a few weeks ago, I wrote the name "Dorian Gray" on my whiteboard. It was a reminder to find the book at the library and put it on hold. Well, I didn't get it on hold, but I got it nevertheless...I am a happy girl indeed. I have wanted to read this book for a few weeks now.

That, and my goal this summer is to read A LOT. I know...that's all I did last summer. But all I read last summer were Historical Fictions, Inspirational Fictions and the like. This year, I am going to go more for classic stuff. Stuff like Wilde, Dickens, Poe, Voltaire, Shakespeare...must I go on? Then I want to read EVERY single thing that Tolkien ever wrote. That is my biggest goal for this summer.

It's going to be fantastic. 

And this well, I decided that I am going to randomly post the pictures of what ends up on the whiteboards...This was something my sister made. It's just...so...HAPPY.

FREE HUGS FOR EVERYONE!!!! YAY!!!!

And there's a Unicorn there, so, yeah. Believe it.

I have more picture to post.

Be right back.

~Natsu

Four Words. Hunger Games, Vampire and Taylor.

 Happy weekend everyone!

 Yesterday I began to read the first Hunger Games book by Suzanne Collins. Now, I am only 5 chapters into it, but it has been really good so far. I can't wait to read the rest! I am not going to say anything else about it because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it but want too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other thing I would like to show you IACB (Inside a Camo Bag) readers. My sister made me a heart necklace on a black chain. I think it looks Gothic. I can't define Gothic, nor do I really understand what it means...I was going for a vampire look.





~~~~~~~~~
Now that's about it for now. The weather is beautiful. Chocolate Twizzlers are surprisingly good, and there is absolutely nothing on on cable tv on a Sunday afternoon. LOL



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 I also saw Taylor Swift/Civil War's  new music video for  'SAFE AND SOUND' this afternoon. That was for The Hunger Games (The Movie) It was EPIC!!! ♥ ♥

                I love love love this!!! It's way mysterious and I love the voices and the way it sounds! If you are a Taylor Swift fan, you will love this :)

I am done with my crazy rant. Goodbye.
~NaTsU