baby animal of the week

Because I had to. Also, who else's life is seriously lacking adorable baby animals?

Also, all of my friends who've visited Australia have told me that you're not actually encouraged to hug koalas. What?! Well, there goes my life's dream.

Matched

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

(From matched-book.com)

I thought I would love this book because of the plot, and the dystopian world it's set in. It automatically made me think of books like The Giver and Hunger Games. But what I really loved about this book was the language.

Every line of Matched was like a well crafted poem. Despite the fact that it took place in a futuristic society, a lot of the book felt very close to home. The emotions Cassia goes through, her guilt and anger and happiness, all felt very real. Not to mention what was going on with the Society--they gave out information and technology very sparingly, and destroyed so much of what was beautiful and wild in their world. Like the summary says, the Society decides who you love, where you work, and when you die. Having so much freedom taken away from you sounds like a nightmare, and I couldn't put the book down once.

Matched is definitely one of my favorite books of 2010 (it came out in November, I'm just slow), and I would recommend it to both teenagers and adults.

I just wanted to quickly go back to the poetry of the novel--it was one of those books that I'm sure I'll read a few times. Once, in the heat of the moment, just to get to the climax as soon as possible, and again, later, to read over every word and cherish every beautiful, tragic syllable.

One of my favorite quotes from the novel is this:

"I think of how perhaps the best way to fly would be with hands full of earth, so you always remember where you came from."-Ally Condie (Matched)

9.1.11

whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy

I wouldn't ever want to be frozen, as in, cryogenics. Because after all of that time, cold, alone, it would be like dying and then being woken up again. Always asking for five more minutes.

I am fifteen, going on sixteen

Hellooo,

Today is kind of a big deal to me because it's my last day of being fifteen years old. My 16th birthday is tomorrow, and since I won't have a lot of time to blog, I wanted to do what a friend of mine does on her birthday. Sixteen wishes for sixteen years.

1. Leave the country. I should probably flee the country now, before the RCMP starts tapping my calls... No, just kidding (and hey, did you notice how RCMP sounds so much less intimidating than FBI or CIA? Come on, Canada). I just want to go somewhere amazing.
   
2. Eat less meat. This is actually one of my New Year's resolutions, too. I really see the benefit of being a vegetarian, and I'll do my best (but, oh my god, meat is tasty).
3. Get my L. When you turn sixteen, you can take a written test to get your Learner's permit and--no way!--drive. Oh my gosh, I am horrified already.
4. Go to writing camp. This will be my second summer going to the Penticton Youth Write Camp, and it was so fantastic last year that I can hardly wait till July.
   
5. Start a 'wrock' group. Aka Wizard Rock--I want to write songs about Harry Potter.
6. Learn to swim. Don't get me wrong--I can swim. If you toss me into a lake or ocean or other large source of water (but don't), I can keep myself from drowning, and move a bit, too. Unless there are sharks. Okay, bad example, but I want to be a better swimmer, like, swimming lanes and such. Oooh, athletic.
7. Stop biting my nails. Finally! I have been biting my nails for... basically my whole life. I hate it! This year, I will have longer nails!
8. Write a book. This is where I say, in my pompous British accent, that I have written a book. Well, okay, a first draft for NaNo, but I'm proud of myself. And if I did that, I can write another, right?
9. Make a new friend. Okay, lame, I know. But I love meeting new people, especially people that I really "click" with, and having another friend like that would be absolutely fabulous.
10. Walk more. Instead of getting rides to school or work, or taking the bus, I want to do more walking.
11. Drink more tea. This goes without saying, really. I'm honestly surprised that I've been able to survive without caffeine for so long.
    
12. Write every day. Whatever it is! This kind of goes along with not being afraid to write, and not being afraid to screw up. Something I want to work on.
13. Read tons of books! Maybe 16 can be the year I finally read War and Peace--or, at least, Lolita. Oh, and a bunch of YA books, too.
14. Be unafraid. I was going to write "be fearless," but I don't know if that's the best advice. Like, I'd prefer it if I stayed afraid of killer bees, because that's mainly for self-preservation. But I want to stop being so afraid of screwing up or saying the wrong thing or being too weird to do what I want.
15. Be open to love, in all its forms. I know, I'm bordering on motivational-speaker here, but I really feel like I need to work on being more... lovely. And loving more. Just, all that love stuff.
16. Be happy. With myself, my hair, my body, my friends, my family. With my job, my houses, my day, my age. I just want to learn to be more content and grateful for everything I have right now, and work towards even more.

Awww. Sorry guys. Didn't mean to go all overboard on the mushy feelings towards the end, there. But growing old makes me sentimental *sniff*

Anyways, I hope you're having a fabulous year. Mine has been... eventful, so far, and not in a good way. Because I forgot to say this earlier, I want to wish you luck, love, happiness and all the perfect words for 2011.

Take care,

Erika

flesh

"Meat is the decomposing flesh of an animal that did not want to die." That's what Peta said about Lady Gaga's meat dress, and it has me thinking. I don't need to eat meat. I can survive quite well--maybe even better--without it.

Or can I?

I think being vegetarian is super. Okay, so that sounds a little halfhearted. I think that people who have made a concrete choice not to eat meat, and stand by it (or try their best) are doing something good. I don't think we really need meat nearly as much as we think we do, or as much as we simply enjoy it.

But maybe I'm just another animal who doesn't want to die.

2.1.11

Sometimes it's hard to stand by and do nothing.

Other times, it's easy.

2011

Happy New Year!

So, today is officially January 1st, 2011. The only January 1st, 2011 in ALL OF SPACE AND TIME AND HISTORY :O

And I've already spent an hour playing my brand new ukulele instead of doing grammar homework.

New Year's is all about setting goals, right? You plan out what you want to do over the next twelve months, which is easy, because, after all, you have twelve long months to accomplish all of your lofty goals. For instance, this year I want to:

1. Blog at least twice a week, every week
2. Learn to play "I'm Yours" on the ukulele
3. Write two first drafts. Not sure of what, exactly, but I have ideas.
4. Be able to swim much better than I can now
5. Read more adult fiction

Urgh, so dull. I'm sorry. The things I want to do, and be, in this coming year are hard for me to write down. I want to be happy, and open, and loved. I want to be so much more.

Love,
Erika