Books, Part Two

Happy Monday everyone! I have read a few good books lately and would love to share them with you.

1. Letting Ana Go by Anonymous. This is an anonymous journal belonging to a girl who died from anorexia. If you’re familiar with the popular book Go AskAlice, it is basically the same as that. The book documents the struggle of a girl named Ana with her eating disorder, all the way to her death. The book is obviously very sad because it is the real journal of someone who died, but it is incredibly interesting (and disturbing) to have the insight into the mind of someone with this disease. It is not a light-hearted read, but it profoundly affected me and it is worth sharing.

2. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. I mentioned this book in my previous post about books, and have finally finished it. This book is the memoir of author Frank McCourt, documenting his time growing up poor in Ireland, through his moving to America when he was 19. Again, this isn’t exactly a light-hearted read, but hearing of McCourt’s rough childhood and seeing him overcome it was interesting. I didn’t particularly love this book, however. It was really hard for me to get through because it seemed to just drag on and on without too much happening, but it was also the first memoir I’ve read, so maybe that just isn’t my thing.

Mindy favorited my tweet. We're basically bffs.

3. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. I freaking LOVED this book. This is essentially a collection of essays by the wonderfully smart and funny writer, comedian, producer, and actor, Mindy Kaling. Mindy wrote and starred on NBC’s The Office and now has her own show, The Mindy Project. Kaling is incredibly relatable in this book and she is also hilarious. Please, please read this book. Also, I tweeted about loving it, and Mindy favorited it. Holla!

4. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizinni. This book is about a 15-year-old boy named Craig who checks himself into a psych ward after he contemplates suicide. Although this book sounds like it would be depressing, it’s not at all. There are some funny parts, and I really enjoyed it. Apparently it was made into a movie a few years ago. Check out the trailer here. Judging by the trailer, the book is approximately two hundred times better.

5. 642 Things to Write About by the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto. Just as the title suggests, this book is filled with pages of 642 things to write about. Prompts range from writing an ode to an onion, to writing a scene in which the only words spoken are “uh-huh,” “Umm,” “Urrrrr,” and “Mm-mmm,” to documenting the difference between the first death you can remember to the most recent one. Although this book isn’t a novel like my other suggestions, it is super fun and I love it.

Use the rest of your summer well and read some of these lovely suggestions. Have a great week and thanks for reading :)

Where I've Been

Happy Saturday to all! I haven’t posted in a really long time, and that is because I have been a tad busy. Let me fill you in on my life as of late.

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen I tweeted about writing for a blog called U lala. U lala is a fashion and lifestyle blog focused on college students and fun things to do around a college campus. I obviously write for the Butler branch, and am quite excited to contribute to this site. It is really pretty to look at and the posts range from music recommendations (like my Music Monday posts), to DIY crafts, to cool things to do around each school’s campus. Check it out. I promise you’ll like it. Here’s my first post for the site.

My student's sketch of me. #SoProud

I was also busy this past week because I was back at Butler teaching an art camp. The camp was through the Butler Women’s Volleyball Camp that was going on. The kids played volleyball in the morning and then I had them for art in the afternoon. I was incredibly nervous going into the week because I had never taught art to anyone before, let alone a group of 16 seven to ten-year-olds. Luckily, all of the kids were super well behaved and loved all of the projects we did. A few of the kids told me I looked like Carly Rae Jepson, one girl drew me in her sketchbook, and a few others proudly exclaimed they loved art. Needless to say, it was a great week.

Now I’m back at home and anxiously awaiting my trip to Lollapalooza next week. I will definitely blog about that, so watch out if that interests you at all. I have also read some good books lately, so I will blog about those later in the week.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend :)

7 People You Should Follow on Twitter

Happy Tuesday to all. I love the Internet quite a lot, and one of the parts of the Internet I treasure is Twitter. If you only follow people you went to high school with who tweet about “getting’ swoll” or “chillin wit their bbe,” then your Twitter experience will turn sour real quick. Lucky for you, I have some brilliant accounts that you should follow.

1. Grace Helbig. I’ve blogged about Grace before when I posted about her YouTube channel, DailyGrace. Grace is hilarious and you must follow her.

2. Mindy Kaling. You might now Mindy as Kelly from The Office, or from her lead role on her tv show, The Mindy Project, or from her best-selling memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). She is smart and incredibly funny and I want to be her best friend. 

3. Hipster Mermaid. A man named Braden Graeber runs this Twitter feed and it is hilarious. I don’t know what it is, but all of his tweets  get me good. 

4. Awkward Girl Problems. I love Awkward Girl Problems. She tweets about the strangest things and I just really enjoy it.

5. Anna Kendrick. Anna Kendrick is hilarious and adorable. If you haven’t figured that out yet, please follow her on Twitter. 

6. Steve Martin. Judging by his Twitter feed, Steve Martin seems incredibly strange. I love it.

7. Steve Carell. Steve Carell’s Twitter is as delightful as you imagine it would be. He also tweets about his kids sometimes, which is adorable.

 Go ahead and improve your Twitter life by following these accounts. Also, feel free to follow me because I'm hilarious. Just ask me.

Have a great week and thanks for reading :)

Music Monday: Bear Puns

Happy Music Monday! Let’s talk about a band called Bear Puns.

My friend Alexis introduced me to this band (she also introduced me to Lorde, check her out!), and they are pretty fly. Bear Puns is a fairly new band, so I don’t know much about them, and there is not much on the interwebs about them yet, but I do know their music is a bit indie and a bit quirky, and what’s not to love about that?

The band consists of a singing/songwriting duo, and they have released one digital album entitled A Blank Portrait. Their album is available here on their bandcamp website, as well as on their Facebook page, so pop on over to both sites and give it a listen. My favorites are “All in a Row,” “California is Waiting,” and “Hey Girl,” but mostly “Hey Girl.” They also just started a YouTube channel, so you should check that out as well.

P.S. Their Facebook page only has a bit over 1,000 likes, so if you’re like super hip and into knowing about bands before they make it big, you should go like them.

Have a great week and thanks for reading :)