That Time I Kneaded my Hands in an Evil Fashion.

My mom and Hope (to new readers she is also known as my older sister) are on a plane, right now, as I write this post. 

And this is my exact response when I saw this photo of Hope, posted on my mother's blog:

I hope you have a whole lot of fun in Washington, DC. Because I know that I won't. 

Not ever. 

Because even though I do like DC, I wouldn't necessarily want to go there for, say, my sixteenth birthday or something. No. I'd much rather go to London or some other place in England where there are British-y accents and everybody drinks tea (and not iced tea, either. Real tea). 

But that's just my decision. After all, you get to see actual, real live pandas, and the Washington Monument (but not up close because of Carter and Sadie Kane--I mean "earthquakes"), and the Hope Diamond, and Apollo 11, and all of these neat relics that I won't get to see because I'll be too busy looking at the Rosetta Stone or something.

Not to trump on your trip or anything. 

So anyway, I hope you have/had a good trip to DC and you don't/didn't get arrested for praying in front of the White House.

Yes! I Win at Blogging!

It appears as though I've won another blog award. I have to say that I don't deserve it, though I will accept it full-heartedly because I like receiving awards. Thank you NevilleGirl!
 

The Rules

1. This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books. (Reading or writing is okay.)
2. Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read. (More than five is okay.)
3. You must give this award to 5-10 other lucky book blogs you adore.

My favorite books (in no particular order):

1.  Watership Down, by Richard Adams
2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
3. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK Rowling
5. Will Greyson, Will Greyson, by John Green and David Levithan
6. Birdcage Girl, by Kimberly Karalius  

 Nominee (there's only one because the award would seem unspecial otherwise):

Kelsey at READING ROOM ONLY.

So, congrats on the win, Kelsey! If you don't read this I'll comment on your blog or something.

The Raven Boys.

The trailer is cheesy as a mother bear, but I still think it does an accurate portrayal of making me want to buy this book, so...

My Dog Died.

When I was at a 4-H camp a few days ago called Discovery Days, my dog Grindle died. 

He died because all living things die, whether the inevitable sentence be prolonged or shortened. All things die--but it'd true that all things live. They live for a short amount of time at the least, and though it ends we will always remember them.

My mother miscarried a baby a few years back, and she's still trying to get over it. But the scar is still there, and will always be there.

I've lost three Labradors, and you'd think that each death would become easier to handle as time progresses (much like is the case with my rabbits) but there's still this gaping scar there, and each time something new occurs it's reopened and reopened and reopened, and then suddenly the scar never heals and all you're left with is a spot in your chest that always hurts.

And all because of a dog.

The truth is that most of the time I hated that big lump of yellow fur, taking up space and running away when the front door was left open. 

But he was always there, wanting another scratch behind the ears.

He was always there, wanting me to throw a toy for him to fetch.

And he was always there, when all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and pet him subconsciously while watching Once Upon a Time.

 

But all that I can think about is when I was walking in the front door to collect my contact case before going going to Discovery Days, I stopped and patted him on the head, and thought this might be the last time I ever see you.

And now he's just gone, like he never existed in the first place.

...

He was only a dog. But pain can be felt for the loss of anything, whether it be a favorite book or an animal who acted a bit too vicious towards strangers.

(As a footnote, Mom, I do not want you to ever bring this post up in random conversation with me. I'm going to start getting embarrassed or something and then we'll have to go watch The Avengers again.)

Three Hellos.

As you can see, I have quite a bit of free time on my hands.

Le Golden Hippo.

About two weeks ago I went to Walmart and bought acrylic paints. And little toy animals.

And then I painted them. 

This hippo is my favorite, and I don't know why (all right, I do. But I'm not going to elaborate). There are some far prettier ones that I also love--just not as much as this one. 

Although I have to say that so far I'm LOVING this batch of animals:

Those are gold polka dots on the ram, by the way.

And NO, it's NOT copyright from the Good Machinery. Anyone can dip animals in brightly colored paint and it wouldn't be illegal.

Besides, hers are so much better than mine it's no competition.

 So yeah. Instead of a rock-themed giveaway I was thinking of throwing in three of these animals in with the prizes.

There is also a forest green pony, but I haven't gotten to her yet.

Pretty chic, no?

Anyway, tell me what you think in the comments. 

The Good Machinery is Good.

Hi, guys. It's been a long time since I blogged.

I really don't have any excuses, other than the fact that I can't find the camera cord, and even though I got a new camera, I'm too lazy to take new pictures of the junky contest prizes. Plus, as an added bonus, I spent all of my money buying acrylic paints and clothing from Goodwill (the prices are high for donated clothing)... and I've also been stalking the Good Machinery. 

Here's the explanation: a woman in Italy paints these toy animals and sells them online (they are rather expensive--and therefore I can't afford one). But still there's just something... graceful about them that I love. 

 If I were to get one of them, it would have to be this ombre horse:

But, as it is, I have to admire them from afar. 

I'll see you later. Hopefully not in another month.

To check out more of the Good Machinery's work, click here.