Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

      Jane Eyre is a timeless classic that I absolutely adore.  If I don't know what to read, I generally turn to Charlotte Bronte's great work.  It is so in depth with emotion- love, anguish, hatred, sorrow, etc....   To those who don't enjoy classics (I started to enjoy reading by the classics, so I'm partial to authors like Charles Dickens, Bronte, and even Shakespeare.), this tale could be difficult to get into, and is rather long for most peoples tastes.
      Jane is an orphan, having both her parents die when she was an infant.  Her mother's brother- Mr. Reed of Gateshead Hall, a rather rich man, took her in.  Soon after, however, he passed, and left her with his wife and three children who mistreated her terribly.  Accustomed to their torment, and often hearing how horrible and wicked a child she was, she usually sat quiet and brooding, dreaming of a time where she could leave Gateshead Hall.

      Her wishes were granted after the harsh punishment that left her unconscious in the Red Room.  Soon she was sent to Lowood Institution for girls- a quaint Christian school started by Naomi Brocklehurst- currently ran by Mr. Brocklehurst of Brocklehurst hall. There she meets a few people who she would hold dear to her heart.  There she would experience heartache, beginning when her dear friend dies during the typhus outbreak.

 

      Her vast knowledge she acquired at Lowood helps her become the governess to Miss Adele Varens at Thornfield.  There she meets Mr. Rochester.  Despite her curiosity towards him, she tries to keep her distance.  Despite that effort she does fall in love.  However, she feels he won't feel the same for her since she is a governess and he is a wealthy man.  This is not the case.  

      Their plans to marry were tarnished when an objector informed Jane and the Priest that Mr. Rochester's first wife (one who he did not marry, but could not leave due to her insanity) was still alive.  Jane leaves him for a number of years, but returns.

      There is a happy ending, and they are married, despite what others may think.

      Despite the length of the novel, and how most would think Charlotte Bronte's writing seemed to drone on and on, I like this classic.  Like I said in the beginning of this post, I often turn back to this work.  If you have a young reader, who reads on a level more mature than most, or prefers the finer things in life (well, finer literary works), I recommend Jane Eyre for them.  

DIY: Weeping Angel Costume

       This Halloween was quite exciting.  As you all know, I am a die hard Doctor Who fan, and am blessed with a family who also love the show.  This year for Halloween, my brother, sister, and I decided we were going to go as different characters from the show.  While I went as the Eleventh Doctor (with a bit of Steam-punk flare), and my brother as the Empty Child, my youngest sister went as a Weeping Angel.
      As excited as I was, I knew I couldn't tackle her costume by myself.  My mom (Yummy Bites by Amy) made her gown out of a gray pillow case and fitted sheet set we got from the store.  It was nothing extravagant- just a regular set that cost less that ten dollars.  The gown isn't sewn together.  It's two pieces: a top and skirt.  She cut the holes for her head and arms, then cleaned it up a bit.  For the skirt, she pinned different sections together in the back and waist before stitching them together.  When she wore it on Halloween, she wore a gray long sleeve shirt underneath.

      I was in charge of the wings.  

      The first thing you will want to do is measure out the size of your torso (from your shoulders to the small of your back) and the width in between your shoulder blades.  Write your measurements down on a piece of paper.  Use your measurements to cut out a base on whatever material you wish to use.  (I used a cardboard tri-fold.)  Sketch out a wing shape on your material.  You can see the shape I used in the picture above.  When you have the shape you desire, cut it out using either a box cutter or exact-o blade.  Caution: Those who haven't used the blade, I wouldn't let a child use it.  It's very sharp like a kitchen blade, and can easily cut someone.  Once I had my initial wing done, I flipped it over, traced it, and cut the other wing out.  

      Hot glue your wings onto your base like you see done in step two.  Afterwards, draw and cut out your feathers.  I made a simple oval shape, leaving the top of the feather straight as you can see.  

      Hot glue your feather shapes onto your blank wing shapes like you see in step four.  After that is done, paint your wings a light gray color.  For all of those who do art, I suggest that you throw technique out of the window for step five.  It will only frustrate and upset you.  Honestly, step five was my favorite part of building the wings, because I got to go crazy and let all frustration out on the board.  I did not paint each wing individually, because that would be painstaking and too time consuming.  I simply stippled, or dabbed viciously, a darker gray paint over my base coat.  When the dark gray dries, stipple another layer of light grey to give it a stone look.  

      My mom added elastic so my sister could wear them around while she trick-or-treated.

      Here are the pictures of my brother (The Empty Child [Are you my mummy?]), my sister (The Weeping Angel who we made this costume for), and myself (a Steampunk version of the Eleventh Doctor.)

All Souls Trilogy: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This is a clickable image!

      It's been a while since I had posted something, and I had been wanting to do a book review for a long time, but classes have kept me extremely busy.  FINALLY, I had a little window of time, and read this book.  I've read it before, but forgot most of its content (sad, I know), and thought, "Hmm... a dose of magic will get me out of my writers block!"

       Interestingly enough, it did, and I was chomping at the bit to tell you all about it.  

      Diana Bishop, a descendant of the long line of Bishop witches, doesn't like to use her magic.  She believed, up until recently, her lack of spells and powers were her own doing since she only used them if she absolutely needed to.  Though she is a known professor at Yale University, she is studying at Oxford for a conference.  There she calls Ashmole 782, not thinking it would unleash a world of magic, chaos, and even love.

      Matthew de Clermont is one of those creatures interested in Diana's ability to call up the long lost manuscript.  It is supposed to hold the secrets of why Daemons, Vampires, and Witches are what they are, when they were created, and if there is a possibility of reversing their habits.  However, Diana doesn't take too kindly to Matthew at first, and, at one point, wanted to hit him with her rowing ore.  Though, for him, it was just fuel to his heart's flame.  He knew she was his mate, and eventually, Diana started to fall for him as well.

      This book isn't only about love and passion, though.  When you meet Ysabeau, Matthew's vampire mother, she doesn't take to kindly to Diana.  In fact, she hates her.  She hates all witches for what they assisted the Nazi's in doing to her husband.  Though her dislike of witches, Ysabeau ends up accepting Diana as her daughter.

      There's an imminent danger, and it seems like it would be settling down, but that is not the case.  A dangerous witch and a member of the Covenant kidnap Diana, and Matthew and his family have to save her.  Afterwards, she and Matthew travel back to Aunt Sara and Emily's house to stay to try and buy time.  There, Diana develops new powers.

      After that it is an amazing adventure, and I truly recommend it to anyone who is willing to read it. .

      

Confessions of a Teenage Nerd

      I've never given thought to what being a "Nerd" really means to a nerd vs. outsiders (Yes, I said Outsiders.) until the other day when my cousin called me up, asking to borrow my "Geeky Items."  My natural response was, "What do you mean "Geeky Items?"
      Her response actually silenced me for a few minutes. "You know, dorky glasses and knee high socks and stuff like that."
      Um.  I'm sorry.  Did you say dorky glasses?  Knee high socks?  Oh, okay, yes you did.  It's just... I didn't realize that glasses and socks were for dorks.  Thank you for enlightening me.  (To be clear, that was not my response.  I actually let her borrow a puzzle top.)
      That inspired me to write this post: Confessions of a Nerd.

      1. We do NOT  look like Steve Urkel. 
      In fact, I've never met a nerd that looked like Urkel.  This suspenders and glasses fad is exactly just that- a fad.  You want to know what a nerd looks like?  Pajamas, a sweater, socks, and a good book.  Although, I have to admit, the Doctor's attire really inspires me.

      2. We have too many fandoms.  

      For those who do not know what a fandom is, it a bunch of fans of a certain T.V. show, book, movie, etc..  For me, it would be Doctor Who, Big Bang Theory, and... I can't keep count.  It's a wide sea of fandoms out there: Supernatural, Sherlock, Divergent, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Glee, and so, so, so much more.  

      3. If you date us, or even know us, it will be a reference bomb shell. 

      I realize way too often that I making references to Doctor Who.  It doesn't matter where I am, what I'm doing, or who I'm with.  I will make a reference.  One time while taking an art test, one of my friends whispered "May the odds be ever in your favor."  It can be quite scary sometimes.  

      4. We, too, like to look at pretty boys.

      My cousin is always telling me I don't like to be mesmerized by boys.  Um, no.  I like to stare at pretty boys.  I just don't stare at the hipster down the street.  I stare at the actors from the Avengers, does that count?  (Answer: yes, they does.)

       5.  We do not ALWAYS watch our shows, or read our favorite books... 

      Okay, sometimes we do, but only if there is absolutely nothing else going on.  We have lives, but our lives don't consist of going to the mall 20 times a month to just walk around, or hang out at the park.  Speaking for myself, if I were hanging out with someone, I'd want it to be in a house.  Of course, if your active a park is a perfect place.  

      6.  We're not in our rooms because we're antisocial.  We're in our rooms because we're reading or you're loud.

      Seriously.  I cannot explain this enough.  My parents have never accused me of being antisocial really, but my sister has.  Sometime we really are just being antisocial, but most of the time, you are just very loud.

      7. We didn't choose the nerd life.  The nerd life chose us.

      There isn't an explanation needed for this.

      I hope you enjoyed!

      

      

Super Friday

      Today is, unfortunately, the last day for Geek Week, and I am quite sad at this.  I will admit that some of them frazzled me a bi
t, because I didn't know if I would be able to finish on time, but I enjoyed it so much.  Who knows?  Perhaps I'll do this again next year.
      Since today is Friday, and a lot of people love Fridays, I thought I would make today Super Friday.

      Superheroes have been around for a long, long time and have been enjoyed by kids everywhere.  They bring hope and happiness, and it is something adults and children both can enjoy.
      There are a lot of different kinds of Superheroes, like: Captain America (FUN FACT: Captain America was created during World War II to bring America hope.), Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Superman, Green Lantern, etc..  Recently, Marvel Studios has been creating more and more heroes like The Guardians of The Galaxy and much, much ore.
      I think kids and adults enjoy Superheroes for different reasons.  I think kids like them because they're just really cool and big and strong, but I think adults like them because it's something they watched as children themselves.
      So, today, instead telling you so much about why I think people like Superheroes, I'll tell you about some that are my favorite, and let you decide if you'd like to read the comics or watch the movies.  I'll tell you a few characteristics about why I like them, but won't give a huge back story, because it should be up to you whether you would want to read them.

       First would be Wonder Woman.  I have adored Wonder Woman since I was really little.  I even have a Wonder Woman cup! Wonder Woman is this kind of kick butt, major iconic character for me.  As a little kid, she set in the idea that a woman can do anything.  She's an amazonian, given, and Amazonians are pretty awesome and a little scary at the same time.
 

       Clark Kent, AKA Superman, is this sort of tall handsome reporter from Krypton.  Ironically enough, his only weakness is Kryptonite.  He's very much in love with Louis Lane, a fellow reporter.  But, he doesn't allow his feelings for Louis to get in the way of him saving the Metropolis area frequently.

       Captain America came about in the 1940's, in the midst of WWII, to bring hope to the American people.  He was a scrawny guy who really wanted to be a soldier, to fight for the cause, but was told many times that he would not be a fit soldier.  Finally, he was allowed to be a soldier, but was also asked to partake in a experiment to make the world's first super soldier.  From there, he is in S.H.I.E.L.D. and is an agent of sorts.

      Thor is probably one of my all time favorite Superheroes.  I mean, he's sort of an alien, but he can control thunder!  How cool is that?!  He also has a love interest, but that is totally beside the point.  He's the son of Odin, brother of Loki, and is just really really awesome.  (It should be noted that I have only seen the movie.)

       I like many other characters, but to keep this short and not 20 minutes long, I'll just say the fourth favorite, and that would be Black Widow.  I don't really know how to describe Black Widow, honestly.  She's very... snarky.  Like Captain America, she is part of S.H.I.E.L.D., but is less willing to follow direction than he is.  What struck me funny was that she can speak Russian in the Avenger's movie.
     

      To add to my love of Superheroes, they have a Lego Marvel Superheroes video game! (Which is super fun by the way!)

Lego Thursday

      Today is Thursday, August 27, 2015.
      AKA Lego Thursday!

      My brother and I really like Lego's, and he builds with them quite often.  (I can't, because I become too frustrated.)  So, naturally, I asked if he would want to help me with this little exposé.

      While I wrote my paper for school, I gave him the time to make a couple of structures.  During one of my breaks, I asked what he was making, and he said, "A phone holder, a control holder (for Wii remotes), and a zip line box."

      Lego's are small building bricks that can connect to one another.  Children use these in their playrooms, making silly creations.  This toy can "create anything, and build everything," (I looked up what Lego users say about Lego's.) and can, "help you understand how to be creative and build things on your own."  I think that that statement is spot on, because it is important that we teach children from a young age how to use critical thinking skills, and give them a chance to show their creativity.
Some of the stuff my brother builds truly astounds me, and I'm always pleased to see what he's built.

      Not only do you have generic Lego, Lego users, who also play Minecraft, have Minecraft Lego's, which I thought was really fun to build.  They sell sets at Toys R Us and Books A Million!.
       To add to my brother's holders and zip line box, I decided to be a kid again and play with the Lego's.  On Pinterest, a popular social media site, I saw ways to incorporate Lego's in the classroom.  As a future teacher, I wanted to see if this could be useful.
       I built a bacteria model, which can be easily copied, and, for all you chemistry lovers out there, I made molecules.
      Here is my bacteria model, which I am quite proud of:

      After doing this bacteria model, I thought that this is a very smart way to represent parts of the cell, and could do this as an activity.  In Biology, you learn about plant and animal cells, so doing an activity similar to this could be very beneficial rather than just drawing a model.

      The molecules were harder to do, but if I were a chemistry teacher, or if I home schooled my child and were in the chemistry unit, or just simply wanted to show some examples, I'd use Lego's to show examples of bonding and such.

       And, for your personal enjoyment: my father fooling around with the Lego's.  Enjoy!

Busting Myths Wednesday

      Here we are, at day three of the fabulous Geek Week.  I really enjoyed the time and thought I put into this, because, at my house, we are total dorks and love experiments.

      With this being said, today is Busting Myths Wednesday!

      Mythbusters is a television show where they use the scientific method to see if they can bust a myth.  An example of that would be: If a woman wears high heels, does it affect her driving?  (It's not a make up example either.  This was on an episode.)

      

      So, my brother, two sisters and I decided to do a little myth busting ourselves.  It may not be as glorified and explosive as the television show, but we had a good time. 

      If you want to try these at home, these are kid friendly, fun experiments that do not take much time if done properly.  Most times I ask what they think will happen, and at the end, ask what really happened.  This is teaching them skills that they will later learn in science classes (scientific method.)

      Experiment #1: Does vinegar dissolve the shell off of an egg?  

      For this experiment you will need:

      -An egg straight from the carton (each child could get one, or you could only use one.  We only used one, since we had three children participating.)

      -A measuring bowl

      -Vinegar

      First, set your egg in the measuring bowl.  Once that is completed, pour vinegar in the measuring bowl until the egg is completely submerged.  Leave the egg(s) in the measuring bowl for 24 hours (one whole day), then the make your observations.  Do NOT take the egg out yet.  Leave it in for another 24 hours, and then, when the next day is over, make your final observations.    

      Observation? It does dissolve the shell off an egg!

       The final product should look like this:

      Note: I would use gloves when performing this experiment, because it can make your hands smell very bad. 

      Suggestion: Try bouncing the "naked" egg like a bouncy ball (lightly.  Please do not throw the egg, for it will pop.)  Also, take a tooth pick and watch it explode!

      Experiment #2: Which could give the copper penny a bluish tint the best: vinegar, soda, or lemon juice?
      This will require an adult, since you will have to cut a lemon in half.
      You will need:
      -lemon juice
      -vinegar
      -soda of your choice (I used Cherry Limeade.)
      -small measuring bowls

      First, you would pour the liquids into three different, small measuring bowls.  Then, place a penny in each bowl (do not use the same penny.)  Like the egg experiment, I let them make predictions and then observations.
      You should let the pennies set in the liquid for 3-12 hours.  I only kept them in there for three.
      Observation? Neither lemon juice, cherry limeade, or vinegar turn the pennies blue, but lemon juice seems to corrode one penny.

      Experiment #3: If I put a tic-tac in a bottle of Cherry Limeade soda, will it explode like Mentos and Pepsi?
      You will need:
      -Tic-Tacs
      -Cherry Limeade
      -a bottle (I used a small, glass milk bottle.)

      This is the simplest experiment I can do.  We figured if a Mentos will explode a Pepsi, then a Cherry Limeade soda and a tic-tac should do the same.
      First, pour the Cherry Limeade into a bottle.  Next drop the tic-tac into the bottle, and observe.
      Observation?  It does not explode, but the tic-tacs do get a little bit bigger.