Holidays: Happy Easter!

Back home for Easter with the family. Last night my grandmother, mother, aunt and I dyed Easter Eggs. I highly recommend getting neon color kits because boy was that pink bright. I tried to do some artsy ombre technique I saw on Buzzfeed. Well it failed after the second egg. Plus it wasn't very effective for mass-production egg dyeing. I still got my artsy on with the half pink half blue egg featured below. Anyway, look at all the pretty colors! Say it with me "Ooooooooooooooooh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah."

Photos of the Week: March 18 - 24

This week's post is a little late because I had my butt kicked by this stupid cold.

18. Escalator
19. State flags
20. Rare selfie (don't get used to it)
21. Let the madness begin!
22. Night at the Circus
23. Madness pt. 2
24. First line of defense (hint: it didn't work)

Reading: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Many books are to be read, some are to be studied, and a few are meant to be lived in for weeks. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is of this last kind. Clarke reportedly took 10 years to write her novel, and she counts on our willingness to linger over conversational repartee and Gothic hugger-mugger, to attend to the inventiveness of each episode, to slow down and savor the period style.Washington Post

Oh boy, this book was a doozy. At 800+ pages, it is definitely not considered light reading. Especially when stylistically it tries to imitate writing from 19th century London, in which it is set. I had tried reading it several years earlier but had no patience for it. But now I was finally ready to conquer this beast of a book.

It took 6 weeks of toting around this two pound tome, but I did it! And surprisingly, I didn't find it boring or give up. Yay me! I think it is a sign of personal growth that I managed to finish this book after past failures.I think the only hurdle in this book is getting past the first chapter. Once you make it past that point, you're hooked.

Inevitably, if you write about magic nowadays you will be compared to the Harry Potter series. While this features magic in England, it is almost nothing like Harry Potter compared to the last book I read The Magicians which has a magical boarding school in it a la Hogwarts. The only similarity I could find between Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and the Harry Potter series is that both have incredibly detailed and fully fleshed out worlds. Susanna Clarke takes the real world in the early 1800s and adds a rich magical history to it. Footnotes take up sometimes a page or two as they recall the golden age of magic in England in 1291 or describing the theory behind the books of magic that Mr. Norrell reads. As a reader, I appreciate having this fully formed world to escape to.

From the reviews I read, I noticed that people didn't particularly like either of the main characters. I don't know if I had the same response while reading it. Yes, at times I grew frustrated by the actions Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange, but there were still parts of them I found relatable. Such as the quiet solitude that Mr. Norrell craved or Jonathan Strange's ambition to be the greatest magician of the age. To me, these characteristics made them more human. And despite their differences, I thoroughly enjoyed any part of the book that had these two characters at different ends of a spectrum playing off of each other.

In the end, I highly recommend this for anyone who has the time and arm strength to carry this large book around.

Favorite Quotes

• I have a scholar's love of silence and solitude. To sit and pass hour after hour in idle chatter with a roomful of strangers is to me the worst sort of torment.

• It is also true that his hair had a reddish tinge and, as everybody knows, no one with red hair can ever truly be said to be handsome.

For more (professional) reviews, check out the links below:
[ NY Times ] [ Washington Post ]

Liz goes to the circus

The circus came to town! If you couldn't already tell from this blog's name, I love the circus. Through my university's alumni group, I went out with 2 friends to dinner and the circus. Sure, the offer was aimed at alumni with small children, but we weren't going to let that stop a bunch of twenty-somethings like us.

It was exhilarating just being there. The last time I went to the circus was around 2007 or 2008. Many of the acts were similar to the previous circus I attended. So I sat there whispering what was going to happen to my friends. Not nearly as amusing as the grown man behind us say "What the fuck are they doing? Noooo, they're not gonna do that. That's crazy."

It was only after the circus that I realized I hadn't seen much juggling. That was a little disappointing, but it means I have to go to the circus again.

March Madness 2013

It's the craziest time of the year. Spending all day refreshing scores and talking to co-workers about brackets all while trying to actually get work done. I love it! And I want to share it with all of you, so here is my bracket. Note: I am not as good at sports predictions as I am with tv/movie awards. So let's see how quickly my bracket becomes worthless. 

Photos of the Week: March 11 - 17

11. Tea time at Mad Hatter
12. Capitol at night
13. Bright evening commute!
14. Fondue for two (nights)
15. Rewatching The Good Wife
16. Mac 'n Cheese deliciousness
17. Green eggs, no ham

Lifescouts: Horseback riding

Horseback riding badge

As a Girl Scout, my troop spent a few days in the summer at a horse riding camp. As a 10 year old girl, it had always been my dream to ride a horse. But I had not realized how awkward and painful it could be. We trotted along trails in the woods and for the more adventurous souls, the instructor let the horses gallop. I might have developed my fear for speed here. Regardless, I had a great time and I haven't been on a horse ever since.

Favorite fictional horse: did the horse from the movie Tangled have a name?



To see more, check out my collection of Lifescout badges here or the 'lifescouts' tag. And see how many you have at www.lifescouts.com.

Photos of the Week: March 4 - 10

4. Purple stamped Easter egg
5. Green on a dollar bill (a.k.a. fooling around with my camera)
6. Snowquester
7. She shoots...
8. Grumpy birthday girl
9. Cross-stitch in progress
10. Beautiful day through a screen

Lifescouts: Drive-In Movie

Drive-In Movie Badge

In summer 2008, I went to a drive-in movie with my mom and sister. As soon as the sun had barely dipped below the horizon, the movie began to start. That night was a double-feature: You, Me, & Dupree and Iron Man. It was so cool sitting in the car watching the movie on the giant screen as sound piped in through the car radio. There was even the cool refreshments ad with dancing hot dogs! Definitely a unique experience that I would do again if I could find a drive-in nearby.

Favorite movie snacks: popcorn, Raisinets, Blue Icee


To see more, check out my collection of Lifescout badges here or the 'lifescouts' tag. And see how many you have at www.lifescouts.com.

How much tv is "too much tv"?

Last week or thereabouts (it is so hard to remember timelines with the Internet) the hashtag #IveSeenEveryEpisodeOf was trending on Twitter. On the surface it seemed like the perfect trending topic made for me. I love tv! Surely, I could put this hashtag to use. But when I thought about what I would tweet with this hashtag, I was stumped by the number of possibilities. When I decide to watch a tv show, I want to see every episode in order so I don't miss out on essential plot or a funny joke. To me, if I miss an episode it means that I don't love it as a show. Or if I watch it out of order then it is only an okay show.

This trending topic has me questioning myself to the very core: how much tv is too much? Over the past year I've added more shows to my repertoire like buzzworthy Mad Men and Breaking Bad to newcomers like Elementary and Nashville to name a few. However, with these additions, I drop any shows to balance it out. Except Glee. I had to let that show stop destroying me on a weekly basis. But I digress.

You can only keep up for so long before you start drowning in tv each week. Of course, there are scheduling conflicts that arise and lead you to prioritize. For me, Sunday nights feel like picking a favorite child: The Good Wife or Game of Thrones.And then come the personal life scheduling conflicts, like a friend is in town and wants to go out. As much as I'd like to become a tv hermit, my friends say they'd like to see my face outside of my apartment and away from the tv.

It becomes a slippery slope. Missing one episode to hang out with friends can quickly mean missing another week for a concert or other social event. Once you add a vacation into the mix, you are doomed to be behind. Catching up becomes a full-time job at that point.

I never meant to fall behind in my tv viewing. In an ideal world, I would have seen every episode of shows in my schedule. There is only so much time during the week though so it was only a matter of time. I've had to push some shows to the side for catch up when I have a a week without new episodes to watch. Like during March Madness or the summer.

And without further ado, here is all the TV I can remember that I watch.

Seen every ep (currently on air) Bomb Girls Breaking Bad Game of Thrones Happy Endings Homeland Mad Men Once Upon A Time Parks and Recreation Pretty Little Liars The Good Wife True Blood Young Justice	Seen every ep (ended/canceled) 30 Rock Arrested Development Boy Meets World Coupling (UK) Even Stevens Firefly Friday Night Lights South of Nowhere Veronica Mars Wonderfalls
To Catch up

Lifescouts: Chess

Chess Badge

My dad is really into chess, so much so that he has books of maneuvers filling up his bookshelves. Eager to understand what all these books were about, I asked him to teach me how to play chess one day. Of course, I could never beat him. I could never master planning a move three steps ahead.  So I, instead, taught my cousins to play in hopes that I could win. And I did. Every time.

Favorite move: Castling kingside (or as I've always thought of it: building a fort for your king)



To see more, check out my collection of Lifescout badges here or the 'lifescouts' tag. And see how many you have at www.lifescouts.com.

Photos of the Week: February 25 - March 3

25. It's okay to watch a show called Cougar Town
26. Metro ceiling
27. Full crowd
28. Coworker's Birthday surprise
1. (I was a dumbass and forgot again)
2. Party Down
3. Postage Stamps