Five Things Blog Challenge!

Thanks to OddGhoulOut, I get to do this fun survey! This is my first time doing something like this, so it is very exciting.

Rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you for this challenge and post a link to their blog.
• Tag 5 blogs with less than 200 followers
• Wish them to tag more bloggers to help keep this thing going!

Five Things You Need Everyday

1. My favourite webcomics. Every morning I check up on my favourite comics, which include Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Writhe and Shine (updates Mondays), Overcast with a Chance of Doom! (updates Wednesdays), Larp Trek, and Bo's Cafe Life.
2. Reddit. Yes, I'm addicted (slightly...).
3. Time to write. I don't actually get to do this every day, but I'm trying more and more to get on a regular schedule of writing a minimum of 500 words. So far, not too shabby and getting better!
4. Music. As in, my own preferred genres. May sound weird but it's not for me considering I work retail and am forced to listen to the top Pop hits of today (ugggghhhh).
5. Books. I need to read something everyday, if only for half an hour. When I don't have anything to read, I go crazy.

Five Books You Would Recommend

1. Storm Front (First Book of the Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher. These books (as well as the short-lived TV series) have a great and interesting take on magic and the supernatural world. It's incredibly in depth and I find it's different than most fiction dealing with the same topics.
2. Pet Semetary by Stephen King. I used to say The Shining was my favourite King novel until I read this one. It's so amazingly hypnotising, especially considering the fact that the really weird stuff doesn't happen until about half way through the book. I am a huge fan of King (take that as you will) but I do think this book in particular showcases how humans can go to lengths to try to circumvent death.
3. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. If you saw the movie (which was great in my opinion) you know already how confusing this story is. But trust me, this book is even better than the movie and Mitchell's writing is spectacular. He has a great way of introducing you right away into a new world, even if it's far in the future.
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. It's a scifi classic and a great commentary on the terrors of social inequality. Also, time travel, which is always a good thing.
5. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This was one of the first steampunk books I read and I loved it almost instantly. Not only is it steampunk, but also has a slight post-apocolyptic vibe. And zombies.

Five Materialistic Wishes for Christmas Presents

1. A corset! My mum and I had plans to start working on one this summer but it turns out we're both too swamped with work. But I still want one badly (one with steel boning, no silly plastic).
2. CDs or DVDs. I have an addiction to music (obviously) and to scifi TV series. Recently I've had my mind on getting the full box set of Stargate Atlantis (only natural that it should join my box set of SG-1 I have sitting on my bookcase).
3. Candles! Black and red, either tea lights or votives. I love candles. I imagine one day having so many that I can light a whole room with just candles.
4. Sugarpill eyeshadow. I love all their crazy bright colours and the eye shadow really lasts all day.
5. A big fluffy black cat plushie. I don't know why, but I've been wanting to get one for a long time. Probably just so I can cuddle with it and pretend it's an actual cat.

Five Places You Wish to Visit

1. England/the UK. Don't even ask me where in the UK. I'll just answer, "EVERYWHERE!"
2. Ireland, since it's not technically in the UK (at least not all of it).
3. Egypt. All that history! And pyramids! My inner archaeologist having a field day!
4. Greece. See above.
5. New Zealand. It's so beautiful there and once I'm there I can say that I've actually been to Middle Earth!

Five Adjectives that Describe You

1. Crazy
2. Writer
3. Silly
4. Stressed
5. Funny/Easily-Amused (yes it is one word! >.>)

Five Things You'd Say to People About Life

1. "Life's a bitch. If it was easy, it'd be a slut." (I've stolen this from my friend Lara)
2. You'll never make it if you give up.
3. Live everyday as full as you can, but don't get yourself killed in the process.
4. Follow your passions and dreams, no matter what anyone says.
5. Do what makes you happy, not what makes you money.

People Tagged

1. Jo (my good friend who is also a gothy writer)
2. Bazinga
3. Tenebris In Lux
4. Ray X
5. The Cemetery Dreamer

E-books vs. Physical Books: Why the Format Shouldn't Matter

Source

I was reading this article which talked about the time old topic of e-books vs. physical books. By now, this argument has been exhausted. Readers are divided into those who love e-books and those who think they are the worst invention of all time (okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea). Of course, there are those who fall in the middle but they don't tend to be in the forefront of the argument. Me personally, I love physical books because they're easier for me to read–my eyes tend to get tired after reading from a screen for a little bit–and I also find that I can remember what I've read better when reading from a book than from a screen. But in my opinion, the argument in regards to the future of writing and reading is irrelevant. The people that say that e-books are ruining the future of reading are silly. E-books are just another form of reading. I think that the old fashioned printed book will never completely disappear, but even if they were to, that would not stop readers from reading. Even those who hate e-books with a burning passion and swear they will never ever buy a Kindle or Nook would be forced to if all the physical books in the world were suddenly destroyed. Why? Because readers can live without physical books, but they can't live without reading.

Source

The thing is, readers will always read. There are many reasons why people are drawn to fiction: as an escape from the drudgery of regular life, for recreation, to allow their minds to become one with a fantastical and make-believe world. The types of people who enjoy reading will always find ways to read. Sure, there are many people who don't read outside of school or work (I honestly can't figure out how they keep themselves from getting bored), but I think that the number of people like that aren't getting any larger or smaller. It has nothing to do with TV, movies, video games, the Internet or what have you. It has to do with the personality. And that goes for readers as well. That's why books will survive, in one form or another. And it shouldn't matter whether you read on a screen or from a page. What matters is that the stories will still be there.

Now, this also raises the interesting topic of where the future of fiction and literature is going content-wise; whether we'll end up with more unique, thought-provoking stories or books akin to Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. That is a whole other topic, something that may be very controversial, and I'll leave that to another post. I just wanted to try to convince the people ranting about the doom of the book to set aside their blind love for the physical book and consider the e-book. Once again, I'm personally not a fan and if I can avoid reading an e-book, I certainly will. But, I don't think they are bad or good. They're just different. And the format of the book does not change the contents of the book. The story is still there, it may just look different. And the story is what truly matters.

Makeup Post: Last Day of Finals

I'm almost done with school! Well, not forever, but still. I just have one final to go and then I fly home. Very excited. I'm looking forward to relaxing for a few days and then working full time (not looking forward to that as much). Still, summer will be nice and hopefully I will succeed in writing everyday (or most days).

I really like my makeup today. I think it sort of gives me the big-eyed dolly look.

Well, that's all for now, off to take a not so fun test.

Poem: Dance of the Seasons

This time, I've got a poem for you. Now, I'm not a very good poet. In truth, I hate writing poetry because it's a terrible and unpleasant process for me. When I do write (usually because my creative writing class forces me to) I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. That said, don't except this to be a great poem. Now why am I sharing it if I think it's bad? Well, even if it is bad as far as poetry goes, I feel like it's one of the better ones I've written (though I haven't written a lot). Also, it's based off of one of my favourite pieces of art: Frost Bearer by Sheila Wolk.

Source

Dance of the Seasons

She walks through fresh snow

Footprints light, barely

Brushing her toes against

Frigid powder.

Upon her head, icy

Leaves, branches, flowers,

Lace themselves down through

White hair, merging into the

Soft pearly fabric of her robe.

Icicles hang from the sleeves as

She embraces a crystal sphere;

The only colours within a white blizzard,

Glow and swirl.

Ruby, amber, and sapphire, they

Dance gracefully. Slowly, the

Shapes stretch and mold, until

Figures emerge, beautiful women

Naked and natural, never ceasing

To dance.

Scarlet and golden leaves poke out

From the hair of the ruby woman,

In the amber’s: summer flowers,

And young sprouts and blue-bells, the first

Signs of life threaded into the azure locks.

They dance and swirl, touching each other’s

Hands, arms, legs.

Separate but never truly

Isolated.

The white one carries them now,

But soon her time will pass

And the others will have their turn

To carry and protect the rest.

Red and Black Week, Day 6: Joy Division and Stripy Stockings

Today I have two big tests so I'm wearing my favourite shirt in hope that it'll bring me good luck. Yes, Joy Division is my favourite band :)

Well, I'm off to study more. Hopefully I won't do really badly on these tests.

Red and Black Week, Day Five: Summer Dress and Parasol

Day Five! Today I'm wearing a sundress that my mother made me about a year ago. I love the material and the style. I also put my hair in pins curls last night and I love how it turned out.

And since it's super duper hot today I'm leaving prepared, armed with a hand fan and parasol.

It's almost the end of the week! And for me, the last week of classes (yay!).

Red and Black Week, Day Four: Retro Horror Show

Today's outfit is horror movie themed. But only kind of. I have this great skirt that is covered in retro horror movie script and images. The rest of the outfit I didn't really have any guidelines, except that I wanted to wear a tie (which I haven't done for a while) and my spider web armwarmers. Add some retro bouffant hair and tada!

Wow, that's a lot of pictures. You got a nice view of my side shave that I'm growing out. My eye makeup is my go to everyday stuff: bright colourful lid with black in the crease. I like to think it makes my eyelids look heavy lidded (which I think are beautiful) but honestly I don't know what it's really doing. It looks nice though and it's easy. Plus, I like to avoid eyeliner when it's really hot as mine always seems to run and smudge, so this has minimal eyeliner (only on the bottom which I then cover with eyeshadow).

Anyways, that's all folks!

Red and Black Week, Day Three: Suspenders and Dragons

Day Three! It's terribly hot today, so hopefully I won't die in jeans (that's also why my hair is a mess, I don't have the effort to make it look nice today).

I love this tank top. The lace back is so pretty!

I'm also wearing one of my favourite pieces of jewellery: my Alchemy Gothic dragon earring.

When I first got this, it was just slightly too big for my ear (apparently I have smaller than average ears??) but I fixed it with some pliers and now it's perfect!

And now makeup:

That's it! Let's hope I don't melt in the humid Oregon heat.

Red and Black Week, Day Two: Plaid Skirt and Bloody Stockings

It's day 2 of Red & Black Week! I decided to wear some of my favourite stockings, my blood splattered thigh highs.

I wish I had a full length mirror and better lighting (oh well...)

And here's my make up (I think it turned out rather well).

Happy Monday, creepy cats!

Red and Black Week: Rune Journal

It's finally Red & Black Week (hooray!). And since I'm too lazy to dress up nice just to end up staying inside doing massive amounts of homework and studying, I decided to post pictures of my writing journal (which is red and black, with a bit of gold) that I just finished decorating instead.

So this journal, my artist friend made me (she also made me a pretty blue one). It's really nice, but after I began writing in it, I kept getting confused as to which side was the front. So, in order to avoid further confusion, I decided to decorate it. But I wanted the design to end up helping me find inspiration and creativity, so I decided to cover it in magickal runes. (To answer any questions floating around out there, I consider myself a Wiccan, although I've only just recently become more serious about practising and am far from being experienced. Still, learning is a process and a fun one at that.)

This rune is Kenaz, which spurs creativity and mental ability.

This rune is Ansuz, which promotes eloquence and word power (perfect for a writing notebook).

These runes (from top to bottom) are: Eihwaz (aids in achieving goals), Isa (promotes concentration and strength in solitude), Jera (encourages improvement), Berkano (promotes new ideas), and Mannaz (increases intelligence and intellectual power).

Now, all the descriptions of the runes are not the only properties they have, but just the ones that I thought would be helpful to imbue in my notebook/writing. I also outlined the runes in gold paint, as gold and yellow enhance creativity.

So there's my notebook! Hopefully creativity will flood into my writing!