Long time, no see. Like, a lot longer than usual.
Turns out I didn’t post for our whole six weeks away in St Louis, Las Vegas, New York and South America. It was a very awesome and exhausting trip. But sorry to leave you hanging.
Luckily, good times were had by all, and were well documented, so there are a ton of cool pictures and videos to share with you. Spoiler alert: Brazilian fans are very awesome.
At this exact moment, however, I’m jetlagged to buggery, and will share with you just this one amazing thing.
On our flight from Rio, Brazil to Santiago, Chile, Justine tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out the window. (She is a window sitter and I am an aisle-ist. Is there any more perfect marriage?) Outside, somewhere over Argentina, was a huge anvil of clouds, its structure revealed by the lightning flickering and flailing within.
It was a very big and violent thing to witness, especially from the fragile vantage of a flying machine. But any nerviness was totally outweighed by old-fashioned awe.
My iPad camera I managed to capture a fraction of what it looked like:
Pretty intense, right? But go look at it bigger on YouTube.
More cool stuff soon. Promizes!
Hello, Rue!
My cat always attacks me…I have SCARS on my ankles. I bought a sign that’s currently hanging in my room which reads, “Death From The Knees Down” and has a picture of a cat on it. It suits him so well.
Good, I’m not the only one with a cat that seems to do whatever it can to tick me off.
@everyone talking about cats, be glad you even have a cat. all of my family is allergic except for me. instead we have an adorable/vicious little ferret who i think is secretly a vampire because she bites much.
@97. I’ll leave the door on the latch if you ever come back, if you come back. There’ll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat if you ever come back. There’ll be a smile on my face and the kettle on, and it will be just like you were never gone. There’ll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat if you ever come back, if you ever come back, yeah. (Ooh, ooh, ooh, oo-ee-oo)
From memory. Bang. I could quote the majority of that CD, actually.
@103. That explains the name…
The local vet clinic (where I work 🙂 has a clinic cat that we adopt from the Humane Society, and his name is Stoney. He’s awesome. I’m sort of in love with that cat, except that he tried to kill me today (He drew blood…)
Oh, and a question for all of you:
Do you think that London would be lighted by gas lamps or worm lamps by the time LBG happened? I need to know for rewriting ch.1 of Orion…
@104, yeah. i’m ever so slightly obsessed. some ferrets look like Perspicacious Lorises! mine is a little rascal.
@105, in my opinion it would totally be worm lamps. eerie Darwinist bioluminescent lamps. creepy but awesome.
totally off topic, but whatever
i read uglies: cutters today and OH MY GOSH i could KILL shay-la
btw the hole on the wall is so BUBBLY
@107- I totally need to get that book. But I’m pretty much broke right now. (seriously, 8 dollars and a walmart gift card). Was it epic?
@106- I didn’t even make the connection with your name and ferrets haha. Sorry, I can be really prettyminded sometimes (look! For once autocorrect didn’t make me say something dirty instead of my bogus words!)
I didn’t sleep well last night because I was at my friends house and it is incredibly creepy to have Harry Styles smiling at you as you try to sleep.
@97- I can’t wait for Into Darkness! You know, weirdly, I understood the teaser better than the actual trailer. The latter was much too confusing. Still, it seems like it’ll be one AWESOME movie.
In spanish they called it “En La Oscuridad”. It sounds like some lame horror movie title, I hate it when that happens. With books and with movies, the spanish translation sounds a lot worse. Take Inkheart. It’s not a good movie, but in spanish they named it “El Libro Mágico”, which is “The Magic Book”. The world needs some good translators.
I also found out that Benedict Cumberbatch will play Smaug in The Hobbit.
@108 that’s creepy. i don’t have anything against Harry, but i don’t want him or a poster of him watching me especially at night. that’s terrifying. you have my sympathy, and quite frankly your friend does too.
and nothing from UPSE is bogus!
@107&108: I was recently at a bookstore, so I naturally went straight to the teen section to see how much LBG they had. (Does anyone else do that?) Anyway, they only had Goliath and the Manual (hmph), but they had both Uglies graphic novels. Except no Uglies. That bookstore….I don’t even….I mean, what’s the point if you don’t have the beginning of the series or even the series itself? XD
@109: I don’t care if it’s teaser, or trailer. I just watch it over and over….O.o
And really? ‘The Magic Book’? *hides face and groans* Did you know they changed barking Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to ‘Harry Potter y el misterio del principe’? It’s not that different, but….gah. No.
And, yeah, I know about Benedict the dragon. It’s why Sherlock skipped 2011; they were both in New Zealand. And, weirdly, Benedict was in the cast in the end credits of An Unexpected Journey. You know like when they flash the names of the actors for the most prominent roles? My sister and I were like, “But he didn’t do anything yet….”
@110- thanks. It will be nice to know that only my cat will be watching me tonight. I actually have a very strong dislike for One Direction (no offense) so my friend says that she’s gonna get life size cardboard cut outs of them and make them watch me as I sleep. On the bright side, sleeping is not a very time consuming activity for me. Nonetheless, the faces of all of the posters will most likey have mustaches when the morning comes.
The only book in the UPSE series I ever see in the local book store is Extras, and I’m like “it’s the last book of the freaking series! Who is going to buy just the last book?!?!?” then of course someone goes and buys it, because that is just my luck… Haha
@111: About The Hobbit: Apparently Cumberbatch is the Necromancer as well. And Bilbo is Watson, and Smaug is Holmes! Kind of interesting if you ask me. He DID snort at the end. 😉
@112: I don’t like One Direction either, but for the sake of their fans here I’ll leave it at that. I loved Extras, but it would be confusing to read it first. I once read the third book in a series first, and it was a very odd experience.
@113- we agree! Haha, I dont like One Directon, and thats what makes me beautiful! But yes, leaving it at that is best.
With UPSE I kinda read Pretties first. I got it from the school library and didn’t know that it was the second book. And I think that’s why I love Zane so much, honestly, I met him first lol.
Happy New Years everyone!
Merry Christmas 🙂
Nice Shots 🙂
Did any one else pick a song to describe their year in 2012? Mine’s one of those songs that’s kindof a Monday in detail, and I really think that that’s how my year was. Just one Monday after the next. Not that that’s all that bad, I got a ton of Monday’s off of school this year then…
Happy New Year everyone!!!!!! 🙂
@93: Did you even read the lyrics that Sergeant Pepper quoted? Did you look up the songs themselves? I doubt it. It depresses me to no end when people such as yourself will happily gobble up the crap that passes for music nowadays, and then, when somebody kindly shows you the door to something real, you either ignore it, or shun it simply because you don’t understand it (or don’t want to). I did look up the songs you were considering. I could barely get past the first 10 seconds. It’s just the kind of drek you’d hear in a gas station any old day. It’s oppressive. And it certainly doesn’t represent the Leviathan series at all. If you read the lyrics to the two songs that Sergeant Pepper (a Beatles reference, btw) quoted, you’d notice the striking correlations that they share with this series of books. Whereas I’m guessing you picked your two songs off the top 40 at random. I think Sergeant Pepper’s idea was to compliment the Leviathan series with two (awesome) songs that, when really listened to, would give the viewer a new perspective on the series. But maybe that’s not what you want.
Happy New Year everyone! We survived the apocalypse! *rolls eyes*
(It’s still the first here.)
@120- yes! It gets very confusing when I’m like “It’s my birthday…. Well it was before I came on this website” lol
@108. True dat. I’d have nightmares. Try Big Time Rush instead. You’ll have wonderful dreams.
@111. All the time.
@118. I sense that your personal bias is affecting your opinion on the matter. And your mood. Calm it down and keep it classy.
@121. Indeed. Wait. When was your birthday?
Well, I trust that the lot of you are doing well. If you aren’t, do better soon.
Anyway, it’s nice to know that we’ve survived the year ended, so that’s a good thing.
Happy 2013! May the new year bring you good fortune in your lives. May it put your mind at ease and your body at rest, calm your nerves and give you a smile or two.
(At this point, I could type out a long and touching speech about life, but I won’t unless it’s requested and you need a pick-me-up 🙂 )
@121: Happy belated birthday! I find it a bit confusing as well, but I know it’s a little over half a day ahead in eastern Australia. Just a little mental adjustment is all.
@123: What a heartwarming comment.
@122 & 124- well, my birthday isn’t until March, I just couldn’t think of any other examples because I’m uncreative lol. But hey, you totally are the first people to wish me happy birthday this year.
@123- I would welcome your long speech about life, bit I don’t really need a pick me up.
“Today I felt like part of something awesome; the human race. I know it can be ugly, it really is in so many ways, but there was nothing ugly to see today, just people trying to be better. And maybe thats the key. Not resolutions and forgotten promises, but instead a commitment to do this year a little better than the last. I’m feeling good about this one, I really am.” -Andrew McMahon
I’m thinking I’ll follow that. Just cause I’m awful with resolutions (of course, that was said by a guy who wrote a song called The Resolution… Many of his words contradict each other…) but I think I can do this one.
I’ve developed a habit of only painting the nail on my left thumb. I’m not sure why, but it looks kinda pretty. I currently have it painted blue and in white I wrote “swim” in cursive and dotted the “i
* with a star. I tried to tell it not to capitalize my little i but it submitted it instead lol
@118 – Hey there, calm down a bit. No need to be rude.
As a matter of fact, I’m listening to “King Of Bohemia” right now. I liked both songs Sergeant Pepper quoted. The first one is not my type, but I recognize they are really good, honest songs, and they fit with scenes in the books perfectly. I just didn’t have time to write more in my previous comment.
About my recommendations, well, I don’t mind if you don’t like the same music I do, but don’t criticize like that! I too think that the music that is popular now is not music at all, and you’d be surprised by how many people don’t know the songs I recommended. Perhaps you didn’t want to understand them, but I think they are great songs, and deserve to be heard for more than 10 seconds.
I’ll say one more option for a Leviathan trailer. At least listen completely to this one. Both the lyrics and the song seem to fit perfectly for Leviathan, specifically for Deryn and Alek. It’s “Perfect Stranger”, by Civil Twilight. Here are the lyrics for you:
Tonight I feel something over me
Something I can’t change
Many nights I have spent sailing
With many reasons to be brave
But tonight I feel my heart begin to fail
And my head begin to fall
Like two ships crossing their path
I see you like a new dawn
My perfect stranger, don’t sail away
It was meant to be, we met this way
So many nights I’ve been in this place
The winds haven’t blown in 7 days
I turn to the stars and the moon at night
But the more I look, the more I lose sight
And heaven knows and heaven shows
Pieces of its glory
It’s moments like these
And treasures we must seize
So we can tell the story of
My perfect stranger, don’t sail away
Tell me your secrets, and be on your way
Hold me here cause there’s no fear
My perfect stranger
Arms open wide to me
Tell me your secrets
And tell them as you lay
I sing
Hold me now, my perfect stranger
(Title), Very Very frightening!…
I’ve just been itching to do that.
@127: What an ass I’ve been! Clearly I misjudged your thoughts based on your short reply to Sergeant Pepper. I was also (pointlessly) a little confrontational. I now see that it was presumptuous of me to assume that you hadn’t actually listened to Sergeant Pepper’s recommendations. I’m glad you did. I hope you do seriously consider at least using “King of Bohemia” as a song in your Leviathan trailer. It’s a beautiful song, played by a truly talented musician, who wrote it himself. This is what seems to be lacking in modern popular music (if you can call it music). Real talent. I mean, it’s out there. You just have to search to find it.
I was unable to find a full version of the other song you were considering. If I had, I would have certainly listened to it. However, I did find the lyrics interesting.
@122: Of course my personal bias is affecting my opinion on the matter! Aren’t the two pretty much indistinguishable? I will admit that my presentation left a little to be desired, though.
“I guess it doesn’t matter anyway…” – “Morning Dew” (by Bonnie Dobson, notably covered by the Grateful Dead)
@ 118, 122 and 127: I think something A Dude forgot is that in music there is no right or wrong. Both of your opinions are equally valid. Both of these musical choices are concurrently good and bad, because different people believe they are. When I posted those two long-winded comments about musical suggestions I was just trying to recommend a couple of songs that I personally love. If you like them too, great, and if you don’t, well, that’s fine too. I realize, unlike some, that people’s personal decisions about musical preference are particular to themselves, that is, they only speak for themselves when they say that Artist X is better than Artist Y. In someone else’s opinion Artist Y makes Artist X look like Artist Z. But both of these statements are true. It’s like religion. Someone may say Christianity is the truth, while another may say Buddhism is, or Islam, or The Flying Spaghetti Monster (an actual theology). The “truth” is, they’re ALL right. And wrong. Because it’s all opinion. That’s what art is, a world with no right or wrong, only opinion. Everyone has their own truth that they believe, and because the truth is improvable, everyone’s right. I prefer Richard Thompson to 30 Seconds To Mars, but my preference isn’t right; it’s just my opinion. And I’m not saying majority rules, because opinion is just that: opinion. It’s intangible, with no basis in reality. You can say the sound of tree branches scraping against the side of a house is music, and then proclaim to like it. And you have every right to like it.
And someone else has every right to dislike it.
I’m glad A Dude posted a more diplomatic follow-up comment. That first comment was pretty rude. His/her remorse is indicative of introspection, a virtue tragically all too uncommon. And I agree with his/her basic sentiment, about the pervasive nature of what I consider to be “bad” music. But of course, that’s only my opinion. I’m also glad that Middy Me has listened to those two songs, especially “King of Bohemia”. That Thompson is somethin’, ain’t he? 🙂
Everyone keeps on saying bohemia and it makes me want to sing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
“thunderbolts and lightning,
Very very frightening.
Galelaeo! Galelaeo! Galelaeo figoroh!
I’m just a poor boy,
Nobody loves me.
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity.
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?”
I’ll stop there, I guess.
@129, 130: I’m glad that’s settled.
@131: Hmmm! Now THAT’S an interesting coincidence. Funny how some things work, isn’t it?
@131, wow! that’s exactly what that made me think too! aaack all of you are great, but reading some of these comments was just wayyy to much diplomacy and big words for my brain to process in the dead hours of morning. my bad.
@133 & 134- I think it’s kindof a natural reaction. But that song is like the funnest (I know that’s not a word) song ever to sing in the shower. Until people yell at you to shut up. Haha then you just sing a little more quietly with a little smirk on your face and think “make me! Mwahahahaha!”
@129 – Don’t worry about it, we can all get carried away sometimes.
It’s weird that you didn’t find the complete song. I found it on Youtube and Spotify. You should check out other Civil Twilight songs, those guys are geniuses. And yeah, I’m thinking the melody of King of Bohemia would make a good trailer. Now I just need to take photos of the book to get started.
@130 – I agree with your point about opinions. I guess they are at the heart of almost every wrong thing there is. We should all, like Middy Miles said, “keep it classy”
And, yes, Richard Thompson knows how write one hell of a song 🙂
I’m just going to say that I love all of you. ^^
Okay, weirdness over. Happy New Year Four Days Late! Scott! Update? Pweeez?
And the song “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz I find to be very Dalek-y. Since everyone is talking about music….Ack! I find too many songs Dalek-y! So much music….Does anyone else on here love Celtic and classical just as much as gothic rock? I like too many genres….
(And “Here(In My Arms)” by Hellogoodbye. LEAVING NOW!!!!!!!)
@137- we love you too! Lol that was weird.
And I like gothic rock. I think. It really depends on the definition of it, although I prefer emo/piano rock.
I LOVE YOUR BOOKS!! Especially the Uglies series!!!! 🙂
A month ago one of my friends told me, “So…I’m reading this awesome book, it’s called Uglies and guess what? IT HAS YOUR NAME IN IT!!!”
So at first I just had to read it because I was being seriously self centered about the whole name business (not everyday you find a character with the same name you when your name is something like Shay…).
Then, halfway through Uglies, I became seriously obsessed. Not just because my name was in it:).
I LOVE YOUR BOOKS!!!
@139- WOAH
THAT’S SO BUBBLY
i won’t spoil anything for you…but i’ll just say shay-la isn’t my fav character…
TODAY’S MY BIRTHDAAAY!!! *throws confetti* I’M FINALLY A TEEEENAGER!!!
It’s supposed to be January FOURTH, actually. It’s also Isaac Newton and Louis Braille’s birthdays. :3
@All the People Talking About One Direction: Okay, I know the guys are way, way overrated, but they are sweet and funny. I personally hate their music, and I know hate is a strong word but I’ll wing it, but I love them as people. And their accents are so cute. :3
This isn’t a Dalek-y song, but I think that Viva la Vida (Coldplay, but y’all probably know that) is a PERFECT song for Alek. You know, “I used to rule the world”?
@Middy Joe- Happy birthday! Well, it’s belated now, but I just found out.
Has anyone actually seen a boomerang come back? I haven’t.
@137 – you know, I saw a video of Jason Mraz’s If It Kills Me, and I actually thought it was a song made for Leviathan! Of course, then I looked it up, found out it was his and all. Though that one is better suited for Deryn.
@141 – happy birthday!!!!
@146: OMYGOSH I LOVE THAT VIDEO!!!!!! That’s actually how I started loving Jason Mraz. I searched for Leviathan on YouTube. That’s also how I found an awesome video book review of Leviathan that’s like ten minutes long, but so funny and SO worth it. I watch it when I want to reward myself for doing things, like homework. XD It’s by Cassidy Tucker….CassJayTuck or something is her username….I have most of it memorized because I am so weird. XD
@141: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
140- Ohhhh.. does she go to the DARK SIDE?! I read a little bit of Pretties today, and she seemed so bubbleheaded, I can’t imagine her snapping out of it or anything!!!
141- Happy birthday! happy being a teenager too!!! 😀
Being a teenager is bubbly!!! (well, I’m only fourteen, so i’ve only had one year of experience!;))
@148- well… Sort of. It’s really complicated. It’ll make a ton more sense after you read the whole series and then begin the Shay’s Stories. I don’t want to spoil anything though.
I admit, I fell in love with Zane. I actually cried a little bit when he died, and that’s saying a lot coming from emotionless me over here.
So I found out that Penelope was the most popular baby name of 2012. Since that’s my full name (I never go by it though) and I’m a teenager, are my parents hipsters because they liked the name before it was cool?
@149 – hmm… I think you just spoiled something pretty big there…
I saw The Hobbit again yesterday. I lost a bet with my brother about who was Fili and who was Kili, luckily he hasn’t remembered. I also found out Kili is the guy from the BBC series Being Human! I knew I remembered that face!