Summer To-do and Summer Done

Continuing my Summer To-do List...

1. I published those Skulduggery reviews I promised, got a comment from Derek Landy himself (!!!!!), and got three new followers. Thanks, Kallista, Queen Nessie, and Legolas!

2. Find new series. I was literally about to give up on finding any books to love, when I found The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. It's not a series. Yet. I hope it turns into one though. I look for books that make me care. I care about characters, so I look for books with phenomenal characters, but it seems whenever reviews praise a book for its characters, it's a dull book with bland characters. However, Neil Gaiman praised this book for its "heart," and I think maybe that's what I'm looking for. J. J. Abrams also described heart, as when he sees a movie and FEELS something. (He was speaking of his movie Super 8, and it did have some heart, but to be honest, it wasn't that great). When I started Girl Who, I thought it would be a quirky story with creative puns, settings, and concepts. It is, and that's enjoyable enough, but it also encompasses several original yet universal insights into the human condition, and its heroine, September, is likewise original yet relatable. And that's what made me really care. Not the cities of cloth or elaborate fairy feasts or intriguing plot points, but September and her friends and enemies and the insights they provide. I've read books that made me care MORE, it's true. Nonetheless, I had to go through at least a dozen books (half way) to find one book that made me care. In other words, it's pretty worth the read.

3. Read, read, read. Like I said, I was discouraged by all the boring books out there. Maybe I'm just picky, but I tried many popular books and wasn't interested.

4. Write 13 short stories. No good. I didn't get a single one written yet. We'll see how this month goes.

5. Finish any other stories. No good. We'll see, once again, how this month goes.

6. Watch, watch, watch. Was doing okay with this. I loved The King's Speech. But now the Wii isn't working and I haven't been to the rental store in a couple weeks.

7. Blog, blog, blog. I could be doing perhaps slightly better, but it's hard to top my performance during the last few weeks. =) I have a post on God and religion coming up. Just as a warning.

8. Stuff I SHOULD do. I did a bit of that last night in fact, but I should be doing more.

9. Try to meditate. Not so far.

10. Drink hot beverages. Not so far.

11. Do new stuff. Um, yeah. I guess. I did try loitering, but as I'm not familiar with it, I was properly baffled by those obstacles called "streets" and the guides known as "Walk/Don't Walk." You can probably guess I don't spend a lot of time in town. I actually tried to get a tan this year. Most years, I don't worry about it, because it leads to wrinkles and I like my skin pale just as much as I like my skin tan. But this year, I had a book to read outside (Girl Who Circumnavigated) and I thought it might be fun to get that glow I see on kids who spend every moment outside. On them, a tan looks like adventure. Let's see if I can fake it. Not the tan. The adventure.

(By the way, I used to add a Fact of the Day to every post, but I think, from now on, I just do that now and again.)