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Sunday, August 10, 2014

Girl Gospel

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There's a tag on my tumblr called "girl gospel" and it's a tag I love so much that I want to talk about it here. It's no secret that I consider myself a feminist (and really if you don't we can't be friends) and I am quick to defend women as a whole and put people in their place when misogyny starts spilling out of their mouth.

I'm one of those people who doesn't have the patience for ignorance and stupidity when it comes to this. We live in a time when it's just not acceptable to be misogynistic. There's no excuse for it. We have so much information at our fingertips all the time, there is no reason for the ignorance. Unless of course you're a misogynistic asshole, in which case, well, you're an asshole.

So I want to talk about how women don't owe men anything. And when I say women, let's get something straight. I mean all women. I mean women of every race and I mean anyone who identifies as a woman. If you get up in the morning and think "I am a woman" regardless of what you've got downstairs, congratulations, you are a woman.

And as a woman you live in a patriarchal society and it's bullshit.

So I'm going to leave you with some girl gospel to remind you that there's nothing wrong with you, you don't owe the world anything, you don't have to be who others want you to be, and you don't have to take anyone's shit.

source

austenmarie:

My Body Is Not Your BusinessAvailable on my Society6 store.
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source

source




I highly recommend that last video. It's incredible.

x

Monday, August 4, 2014

all the little things


All the little things that make me happy...

  • quiet mornings with hot coffee and a cat to cuddle with
  • long hot showers
  • reading a good book with nothing but the sound of birds in the background
  • tea that is instantly relaxing
  • sitting in the sun
  • eating fresh fruit for breakfast
  • getting rid of things that I no longer need
  • a clean bedroom to relax in
  • good conversation with good people
  • writing to soft music in an empty house
  • hula hooping while watching a good tv show
  • the smell of incense while falling asleep
  • watching the horses in the back field
  • singing along to music while cleaning the house
My life is composed of trying to get things together while managing my anxiety by making sure I take time to indulge in small moments of happiness. I don't want anything grand or extravagant out of my life, just contentment and easy breathing.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Turning 24

This space has been quiet, I know. I feel like I say that every time I post. I never have much to say to be honest. I've fallen a bit out of love with blogging. It's something I want to bring myself back to though, I just need to sort out what's important and what I want to write about regularly.

Today though I do know what I want to talk about. My birthday was yesterday and I am now 24 years old. The last year or so has been rough -the roughest it's been in awhile. My life has gone through a lot of changes and I'm still not where I want to be. There's still so much I need to do. I feel like I'm always chasing after this "adult" ideal and I never get there. A lot of it is my own fault, I know that. I need to step up my game.

I'm hoping to snowball those changes in the coming months though. Unfortunately my best friend has lost another roommate. She was given only a week's notice about it and now has no idea how she's going to make ends meet. I want to move in and help her out of course, but there's a lot I need to do before I can do that. I need to get my id renewed as it expired this year, which is proving to be a pain in the ass as I can't seems to find the time to wait at the RMV for hours. I wanted to do it online but I don't qualify to do so. I need the id so that I can apply for work out there so I could actually, you know, help pay the pills. Plus I need to renew my debit card, but to do that I need to get my bank account out of the negative numbers. Which is difficult without a regular income. I'm also finishing up school and am actually breaking from writing a paper to type out this post. And my grandmother gave me a driver's manual so I'll probably be getting my permit soon. I have no idea who's actually going to teach me to drive. I can't afford a car anyways. Plus school loans, medical bills, and a myriad of other stuff that just piles up. It's exhausting.

But, on a much brighter side, my birthday was yesterday! Sue came over to spend a few days with me and got me so many presents I was pretty overwhelmed -clothes, new pens, rainbow moonstone, a card filled with nice words, sunglasses, and a Teen Wolf Beacon Hills lacrosse hoodie. We went swimming, lounged in the sun, and went for food and ice cream.

Oh, and the best of all her gifts -A MEET AND GREET SESSION WITH TYLER HOECHLIN DURING HOWLERCON THIS NOVEMBER. He was announced as a guest yesterday (happy birthday to me!) and she bought me the meet and greet the second it was listed in the shop. I am so excited! Have I mentioned that my best friend is absolutely incredible? Because she is.

I'm still hoping to scrounge up some extra cash for a photo op & autograph as well, but I've got time for that. We sorted out our train tickets as well (many thanks to my grandmother for helping us figure out the scheduling and paying for them) and are planning to launch the online Teen Wolf Punk shop we've been scheming by August 1st. That shop will also be making it's way to the convention as Sue purchased a vendor slot -it's her brain child really. It'll be pretty awesome.

There's a lot going on here and at the same time not much at all. It's a strange sensation. I'm ever-picking away at my novel and trying to shape it into something decent as well as doing homework, cleaning house, trying to work out more, job hunting, and reading a lot.

Moving forward, slowly but surely. I hope.

x

(As always, for more frequent updates you should follow my twitter, instagram, or tumblr if you can stomach all my Teen Wolf fangirling.)

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Good Things I'm Looking Forward To...

Real talk: not a lot of good shit happens in my life. I mean, good things do happen, but not as much as I would like. That's just the way things are I suppose. I make the best of it.

HOWEVER! There are some pretty awesome things that I am looking forward to and I want to share them all because it makes me feel better and also because I wanted to update this blog but had no idea what to talk about.

  • A good friend of mine is coming up to visit in a few days and I'm looking forward to seeing his face again. (He lives in Florida now.)
  • Warped Tour! This Sunday! So excited! I'm going with Sue, her brother (said visiting friend), and will be meeting a friend of mine that I met via tumblr and who is an absolute sweetheart.
  • My birthday! I mean i'm not really doing anything for it, but it's my birthday so maybe there will be cake. I'll make myself cake if I have to, I don't even care. (it's July 22nd, I'm turning 24)
  • I will be graduating in August! My last class ends August 7th and I will be getting my degree via mail after that. I'm so excited to get it over with!
  • My uncle and his long term girlfriend are coming up in August as well. They only come up once a year an I love seeing them. My uncle is one of my favourite family members and I love him to pieces.
  • We're also supposed to be finding out the sex of my sister's baby sometime in the next month.
  • And of course, in the distance (November) Sue and I are going to Howlercon! We have our tickets and rooms booked, we just need train tickets and to save up money for photo ops and meet and greets.
There, some excellent things going on in my future. Hopefully I can add to this list: Manda actually finds a fucking job, Manda finally gets her stupid permit, Manda finishes her manuscript already, Manda is given free coffee. You know, important stuff.

x

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Wednesday Words


Guess who's doing Camp Nano again this month? It's me! And hopefully I can do better this time than I did in March. I am working on the same novel I was for NanoWriMo last November. It needs a lot of work and I have made some setting and plot changes, as well as switched the POV again. My goal for the end of July is 30k, but we'll see how it goes. I also am taking another class this month so I don't know how much that will interfere as it will be a reading and writing heavy course.

Anyways, here's some of my writing from the past week or so.

from The Necromancer's Daughter (original novel/campnano project)...
Somewhere in the dark, between one world and the next, a demon dreams but does not sleep. Behind closed eyelids he plays a stream of nightmares, a collection of fear and sickly sweet despair. He opens his jaws with sharp teeth and bites into the terror and swallows it down. It sits in his stomach like a warm meal, fueling him for what is to come. 
There is a woman he looks for. He knows her dark hair and keen eyes as he knows his own. And he knows what her power tastes like. She is blood and death and rage, and she has taken what does not belong to her. She has broken a contract and now she is to belong to him. 
But she hides somewhere, in a different darkness than his own. She is clever that one, his future pet, but she is human at her core. And humans can only hide for so long.

from a Teen Wolf fanfic (wip)...
“Nice vest,” Lydia said, taking in the studded and patched denim she wore over her t-shirt. She’d done it herself, the studs pried carefully from an old belt and the patches made by a friend of hers back in New York. 
“Nice boots,” she replied, not knowing if Lydia had actually complimented her or was making a jab at her fashion choice. The fact that Cora wasn’t sure which category her response fell into either was something she was going to ignore.   
Lydia smirked, a small tilt of lips, as if to let Cora know she wasn’t affected and could play the game just as well as she could. It was a rare person who didn’t back down from her; it was almost admirable. Almost.

x

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Currently

I meant to do one of these a little earlier in the month but I forgot, whoops. But here it is now, stuff I have been up to.
my gram's puppy Lily
Watching: Teen Wolf! Season 4 just started and the first episode was excellent. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. I've also been watching Adventure Time in between doing school work to give my brain a break.

Reading: I powered through all the books currently out in the Magnificent Devices series as well as doing a lot of reading for class. The last book (Ruin and Rising) in The Grisha Trilogy also came out and I read through that pretty quickly. It was an excellent way to end the series but I'm still pretty emotional about it.

Listening to: This collection of southern gothic playlists and well as this collection of anti-romance/aromantic playlists.

Wearing: Comfy clothes per usual -gym shorts, loose tank tops, sports bras, flip flops. I did get creative for the Fall Out Boy concert though and rocked these awesome gold and black striped shorts I have.

Doing: Homework. I just finished up all my work for my first class and have a week break before my second one starts. But the past week or two has been a lot of reading and essay writing and test taking. I've also been playing around on photoshop a lot, organizing my notes for camp nano next month, and hooping,

I know this space is quiet. I know I don't update much. But if any of you are really interested in my day to day you can find me on twitter -I tweet a lot and it's a great way to get in touch with me.

x

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Wednesday Words


It's a little late in the day, but it's been awhile since I did one of these so here we go...

from The Night Coven (an original novel)...
"Look at you, coming out of your little turtle shell," Fiona joked, pulling me towards the living room where most of the party seemed to be at. Now that we were inside I could feel the music thumping through the floorboards, punctuated by loud conversation and laughing. There had to be twenty people there, all dancing on top of each other and sprawled over the plush couches. 
"There's so many people here," I said to Fiona, looking around. Piper had dragged me to bigger parties, sure, but Dorian had said this was going to be relatively small. I had a feeling we had different ideas of what "small" was. Which Fiona only confirmed. 
"Oh this is nothing, it's still early."

from The Wolf Cycle (a Raven Cycle/Teen Wolf fanfic)...
Stiles Stilinski was not a psychic. He was tbd -to be determined. He had always been pretty determined he was a normal human with no special superpowers, but try telling the residents of 300 Moon Way that. 
Scott wasn’t psychic either, despite his impressive lineage. He wasn’t nothing though. Melissa called him an amplifier, heightening the powers of those around him. Stiles called him a battery and liked to put his cell phone on the other boys head and complain that it wasn’t working. This usually landed him a pillow in the face or a body thrown on top of him, catapulting them both onto the floor in a wrestling match.

from a Teen Wolf road-trip fic I am writing for a friend of mine...
 “Roswell? Really?” Isaac demanded, looking down at the list of places Stiles thought they should visit. It brought them as far as Texas and then looped back around to California, and was peppered with as many weird tourist attractions as he could find. 
“What, you don’t want to try to see some aliens?” 
“I’m looking at you right now, doesn’t that count?" 
Stiles shoved him into the side of the jeep, not exactly gently, but he was a werewolf, he could deal. 
“Fucking hell!” he swore, moving like he was going to push Stiles back, but Scott stepped between them. 
“I swear to god, if you cannot get along for five minutes we are going home.” 
“We can’t go home!” Stiles cried. “It’s my birthday month!” 
Scott rolled his eyes. “You don’t get a whole month for your birthday Stiles.” 
“What!? Don’t you love me?” 
“Unfortunately,” Isaac snorted. 
x

Sunday, June 22, 2014

General Life Update

I just got back from a week with Sue, which was lovely as always. We actually went with some friends to go see Fall Out Boy in Hartford for their first show of the Monumentour. They played with New Politics and Paramore, and it was fantastic. We had lawn seats so I don't really have pictures, but if you ever get a chance to see Fall Out Boy live, do it. So worth it. Here's a crappy video of one of the songs, where you can't see anything but you can kind of hear them.

We also went thrifting on Wednesday, made dairy & sugar free ice cream in the blender out of eggs and coconut oil, watched a lot of paranormal tv, and dyed our hair. I'm a redhead now! And when I say red, I mean red. I still need a good picture of it, and it's already faded a bit since I did it, but this is how bright it was the day after:
It'll continue to fade out, probably to a nice orange-y colour, but I'm okay with that. Red never really sticks, especially on blonde hair. Mostly I was just bored and wanted something different. Plus, Sue was doing hers (she looks like a pastel unicorn) and I didn't want to be left out. 

But now I'm home again with Eli, who I missed very much. I only have about a week left of my first summer class and will be spending the next several days toiling away at a research paper and getting through the last bits of reading before my final exam. And then I will start all over again with my lit class. And then I will be done! And I will get my degree finally and be able to tell people I have a BA in English Lit. And no one will be particularly impressed with my ability to analyze Shakespeare except for myself. But that's life I suppose.

Teen Wolf season 4 also starts tomorrow which is very exciting because I am a hopeless fangirl who has lost control of her life in regards to fictional characters. So there's that.

I might also do Camp Nano in July and try to work on re-organizing one of my novels. I need to move the whole setting further south, switch the pov (again) and actually make it an alternating pov -so writing from two character's minds instead of just one. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to fit into one month while I'm also working on school, but we'll see. 

So that's it, that's life at the moment. I've been sucky about updating here again, but I'm trying. I have a few half written posts sitting in my drafts that I want to get to finishing soon if only I can keep the motivation going longer than five minutes. Fingers crossed.

x

edit: I also received books from this lovely lady that I meant to take pictures of but didn't because I am a lazy butt.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Bottom of the River



Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river
Hold my hand,
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down

If you get sleep or if you get none
(The cock’s gonna call in the morning, baby)
Check the cupboard for your daddy’s gun
(Red sun rises like an early warning)
The Lord’s gonna come for your first born son
(His hair’s on fire and his heart is burning)
Go to the river where the water runs
(Wash him deep where the tides are turning)

And if you fall....
And if you fall....

Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river
Hold my hand,
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down

The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight
(Drunk and driven by a devil’s hunger)
Drive your son like a railroad spike
(Into the water, let it pull him under)
Don’t you lift him, let him drown alive
(The good Lord speaks like a rolling thunder)
Let that fever make the water rise
(And let the river run dry)

And I said

Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river
Hold my hand,
Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down
Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it's a long way, a long long long way
Hold my hand
Ooh, baby, it's a long way down, a long way down


x

Friday, June 13, 2014

Happy Friday 13th/Full Moon!

What a fantastic lining up of days! A witches dream really. I can only bemoan the fact that I can't spend it with Sue -magic with friends is always so lovely.

Firefly Moon by Deborah Olliff // Full Moon // Watercolor // Night Sky // Fireflies // Stars // Magical
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I hope everyone is having a lovely day!

x

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

I gave myself a haircut

So I haven't actually cut my hair in ages, and the ends had gotten pretty damaged due to dyeing and whatnot. So last night I decided to take the manner into my own hands and chop it off. A lot of it.





Not very good pictures I know, sorry about that. I tried to take nice ones with my camera but I couldn't get them to come out right, got frustrated, and just settled on webcam pics for now. Hopefully I can get some better ones soon.

My hair feels seriously so much better though. I'll probably grow it out again but this is great for now, especially with the hot weather on it's way. Now I won't have to worry about clipping it up off my neck or getting super tangled when I go swimming.

As for the actual cutting part, that was a little scary, as I've never done a bob on myself before. I cut my own bangs and cut off my dead ends all the time by myself, but I took off at least eight inches. I watched a ton of different youtube videos though, gathered up my courage, grabbed the scissors, and jut went for it. The videos were helpful but a lot of it is just doing what feel right and trusting your instincts.

Despite being nervous I love cutting my own hair because I can just decide to make a change and then do it that same day. I cut this at 10 last night because I felt like it. It's a freeing experience. Plus, I didn't have to spend any money to have someone else do it for me. I haven't paid for a hair cut in about 7 years and I don't see a reason to start doing so now.

x

Friday, June 6, 2014

I Am Grateful 6/6/2014

Hand Sketched Gratitude Changes Everything
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Things I am grateful for...
  • Having Sue to talk to about Teen Wolf sans the wank that seems to permeate the fandom at every turn.
  • My mom, who bought me some new boots, a new tea kettle, and paid the replacement fee on my library card. She is seriously the best.
  • My tumblr friends, who have been great people for me to talk to, which has actually helped some of my social anxiety. Because my social anxiety even extends to talking to people on the internet. It's something I am working on.
  • My grandfather for helping me pay for school, and being so supportive. I am two classes away from my degree and I am so excited.
  • The warmer weather. It's still being broken up by chilly days, but it's here and I love it.
  • Chamomile tea, which helps me sleep at night. I don't know what I would do without it.
x

Saturday, May 31, 2014

General Life Update

obligatory picture of Eli <3 td="">
I've pretty much resigned myself to being sub-par about blog updates these days. Oh well. The traffic here has decreased a lot and I'm actually kind of glad for it. I don't feel as obligated to post all the time and come up with "quality blog content." I've moved on to more important things honestly.

But anyways, if you are here reading this, then awesome, thanks for sticking around so long.

Things have been going pretty well. I am signed up for my last two classes and by mid-August I will be finished and have my bachelor's degree in English literature with a minor in history. How exciting. Mostly I'm just glad to be getting it done with so I can start putting it on resumes. A lot more companies will look at me more seriously when I apply for writing jobs.

I've also been on my bipolar medication for just over two months now and I can definitely say it is having a positive effect on my life. My ups and downs are not quite as extreme and I've had very few days of crippling depression & apathy, which is a nice change. I still struggle with my anxiety but I'm working on it. I have been better this year so far than I was last year, mostly because I can feel myself moving forward, even if it's just by inches at a time. Being surrounded by people who support me and know how to give me just the right kind of push helps a lot. I'm so lucky to have the few loving family members and friends that I do, who know how to be gentle with me and when they should kick me in the butt. It's a difficult skill to have when it comes to me as I always tend to be oversensitive about things.

And on top of all this, I have at least two exciting events to look forward to in the coming months! Sue, her brother, and I are all going to Warped Tour on July 13 in Connecticut. I love Warped Tour and I didn't get a chance to go last year so I'm super excited, especially since Less Than Jake and Cute is What We Aim For are going to be there.

The most exciting news so far though is that Sue and I are going to Howlercon!
It's a Teen Wolf convention that is actually being held out here on the east coast! It's in New Jersey in November and Sue bought us the tickets yesterday. We got an awesome package that gives us free access to everything, preferred seating at the panels, and autographs from all the cast members, as well as t-shirts, wrist bands, and buttons. I've never been to a con before and I'm so happy that my first one will be for Teen Wolf! We still have to book our hotel room and buy train tickets, but both seem to be crazy cheap, which is good seeing as the tickets were kind of pricey. But so far both Holland Roden and Melissa Ponzio have agreed to go and I can't wait to see who else jumps on over the next few months.

And now I'm off to clean up my house a bit and probably do some reading for class. Sue just left after a week hanging out with me at my place and I'm at a loss with the sudden quiet and time alone. I might as well be productive.

x

Monday, May 19, 2014

Freshly Shaved

Sue shaved my sides again for me while I was over so they're not shaggy looking anymore and I'm so happy. I love having shaved bits of hair, it just makes styling it more fun and more interesting, especially since I'm too lazy to do much beyond ponytails and clipping it. I do need to trim my bangs though.


bonus picture, this is what I am wearing most days:

Sue got me that plaid shirt awhile back and it's one of my favourite things to wear. So comfy and just the right weight for this time of year. And I'm just wearing it with leggings because I'm not a big fan of real pants, especially when I'm just hanging out at home.

x


Saturday, May 17, 2014

Currently

I'm trying so hard to update this space more and it's kind of working. I've spent most of the last week with the lovely Sue who just celebrated her 24th birthday. We've mostly just been hanging out, writing, watching some tv shows, and drinking wine. We did, however, volunteer at the library to help set up and run a book sale, which was fun.
Writing in the library.
Other than that, currently I have been...

Watching: Penny Dreadful, which is so good and I can't wait for the next episode; Orphan Black, which I just finished season 1 of last night and I am definitely hooked; and I finally got to see Vampire Academy which I loved. I'me a huge fan of the books and I was extremely pleased with the movie adaptation.

Reading: I finished the Graceling Realm series recently and I've also been rereading The Dream Thieves because it's one of my favourite books. I just got Etiquette & Espionage from the library which is next on my reading list.

Listening to: Lots of upbeat music -M.I.A., Nicki Minaj, Little Mix, Marina & the Diamonds, Save Ferris, Maroon 5, Rizzle Kicks, etc.

Wearing: It's warmed up a lot here so I've mostly just been wearing shorts and lightweight t-shirts or tank tops. I've been going barefoot as much as possible or just throwing on flip flops. I love summer because I can get away with wearing no shoes or sweaters. It's great.

Doing: Writing a lot. I've also baked a lot recently, which I love doing but haven't really in awhile. I also taught myself how to make gifs in photoshop so I've spent a lot of time doing that, just because I can.

I also will be signing up for summer classes next week so that I can finish my degree. I had to wait for my petition to count Women's Lit as a literary movement class to go through and it finally did. So I will be taking Women's Lit and hopefully another history course and when I'm done I can officially say I have a B.A. in English Lit. Hurrah!

x

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Happy birthday to my best friend!

That's right, today is my best friend in the whole world's 24th birthday! Sue and I have known each other since we were both 12 years old and we've been best friends ever since. She has been my sister, my inspiration, my rock. She has helped keep me going, given me a shoulder to cry on, encouraged me, laughed with me, and made some stupid decisions with me. I don't know where I'd be without her because she had made my life infinitely better by being in it.


So you guys should hop over to her blog and give her some love. And maybe check out her shop because she makes truly beautiful jewelry.

I love you darling!

x

Monday, May 12, 2014

Book Recommendations Part 6

I think it's about time for some more book recommendations, don't you? Because as you all know, I love to read and I love sharing my favourites with others so that we can all suffer together at the hands of a stack of paper. I mean, because I want you all to have a pleasant reading experience. Yeah, that one.

So here are two more YA lit books, both at the beginnings of series, that I think some of you might enjoy.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
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This book is the first in The Lunar Chronicles and is probably some of the best re-invented fairytale lit I have ever read. I'd heard a lot about this series long before I picked up Cinder and I had been keeping it in the back of my head. Finally, a few months ago, I decided to give it a go and I was sucked in immediately. Meyer's world-building is superb and her characters are interesting and exciting.

Summary: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. (via goodreads)


Graceling by Kristin Cashore
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Graceling is the first in the Graceling Realm books, which is a YA fantasy series. This is another great example of excellent world building and truly fantastic characters. I got really into the story and incredibly attached to the main character, Katsa, as well as Po. I actually just finished the last book in this series a week or so ago and was so upset when it was over. It's one o those worlds I wish I could stay in longer.

Summary: Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away. (via goodreads)

x

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wednesday Words


I forgot to share words last week, which was silly because I actually have been writing a decent amount. Not as much as I would like to be (I ought to give myself a daily word count minimum) but I have put words to paper! Or, err, to a word document on my computer.

from The Night Coven...
Every time I'd been to Dorian's before the house had been quiet -a large peaceful sanctuary filled with soft light and the smell of incense and baked goods. 
It was nothing like that now. With his mothers gone it was loud and Dorian had strobe lights that flashed through the windows like lightning. The music wasn't anything I had ever heard before. Piper listened to a lot of club-style music, electronic stuff with pop lyrics and dubstep. This was darker -the kind of music that made you shiver and moved under your skin.
from Drunk Dial (a teen wolf fanfic)...
"You're not, you're not... who are you? No, you're Derek, I knew that. Right. Yeah, okay. How'r you? Did you want somethin?"  
Derek blinked. "Stiles you called me." 
"I did? Oh look at that, I did. Wait, no, I called Scott. Are you sure you're not Scott?" 
Derek rolled his eyes even though Stiles couldn’t see it. Stiles had that effect on him. "How much have you had to drink?" 
"Not... not, I mean some... a lot. A whole bag" he replied. 
Derek blinked. “I… a bag of what?” 
“Dicks.”  
“A bag of dicks?” 
“What the fuck are you talking about dicks for Derek?” Stiles asked, which was followed by a bout of drunken giggling. Derek huffed. 
“Was there a reason for this call?”

And there you have it, things I have been writing. I have been writing a lot of fanfic. And as you can see from that excerpt above, some of it is fairly ridiculous. No shame.

x

Sunday, May 4, 2014

url change

So I'm a butt and I changed my url again. My previous one, "manda-rave", was a bit problematic for me because I actually have stopped using "Rave" in everything. So I just changed it to the same as the blog title -strangeinkandwine.

I did set a redirect though, so outside links will still bring you here and not to the old url.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

x

(Instagram) Photo Dump

found this tucked away in my journal, it's from forestferncreations.

we dog-sat for awhile last week, Eli was thoroughly terrified.

painted my nails a pretty mint colour, the polish is "susie" from julep

i went to the doctors and felt compelled to photograph this poster.

reading Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. such a pretty book.

waking up to Eli sleeping at my feet.

rainy morning spent with tumblr, coffee, and writing.
my instagram
x

Friday, May 2, 2014

I Am Grateful 5/2/2014

I am a terrible blogger these days, I know, I apologize. I wish I could tell you all I'm going to be better about it from here on out, but I have no idea if that's true or not. For now, a list of things I'm grateful for lately.

Gratitude Quote - Inspirational Quote - Typography Art  Print - Grateful - Inspirational Art
source
  • The never-ending support and love of my best friend. She puts up with my excessive fangirling, my ceaseless anxiety, and my nervous breakdowns. She lets me stay at her house for full weeks and eat her food and curl up under her blankets. Also for encouraging my writing, giving me feedback, and helping me flesh out my ideas.
  • The wonderful people I've met online, through blogging and through tumblr, who send me love and are patient with me when I don't always respond to their messages immediately. I'm trying so hard to be more sociable and it means the world to me that there are people who are willing to put up with me in the meantime.
  • My mom for making me go to the doctor's and for bringing my medication to me so that I can work on getting better and being happier.
  • The warm air and sunshine currently coming through my window and the little flowers popping up in the yard. 
What are you grateful for lately?

x

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wednesday Words


It's been awhile since I did one of these posts. My blog is general has been pretty quiet, and for that I apologize. I'm in kind of weird place in my life and I never know what to post about. But for now, have some of my words...

from The Night Coven...
"Piper has enough style for a small army. She's always trying to dress me."
Fiona quirked a brow. "Is she the one that picked out that blouse?"
I nodded. "It was a gift."
"You like her a lot, don't you?"
I froze. "Well, yeah, she's my best friend," I said carefully, not looking at the other girl. That's not what she meant and I knew it, but I hadn't thought I was being so obvious. I usually wasn't, had spent most of my short life being careful about revealing any feelings for Piper that weren't strictly platonic.
To her credit, Fiona didn't say anything in response to that. I felt her eyes on me for a few more seconds before she pushed herself off the bed, extending a hand to me, smiling again. There was something about that smile tha was infectious and I quickly shoved my thoughts of Piper and secrets out of my head. I'd deal with that later. For now, I had a party to attend.
from Moon Fever (a tw fanfic)...
When Tanya finally pulled the stencil paper away Derek could finally see what it was, the temporary purple ink forming a bouquet of flowers, the name "Claudia" emblazoned on a banner over it. He understood why Tanya had hesitated, probably afraid that Claudia was some girl he liked. Stiles wasn't that stupid though (Derek wasn't about to analyze why he thought that seeing as he barely knew the kid) and he was guessing she was a family member of some sort, possibly someone who had passed away.He felt a ball of emotions roll through his stomach, threatening to rise up, and he clamped them back down, gritting his teeth. He was absolutely not going to think about it.It didn't matter anyways, a few seconds later he was distracted by the fresh wave of anxiety that Stiles put off the second that the gun started buzzing."Scott," he croaked, looking desperately at his friend who was across the room in a second, clutching his hand. There was no embarrassment between the two, no shame in Stiles being petrified."I think," Stiles started, looking between Scott and Tanya who was waiting patiently, "you might need to hold me down." 


Saturday, April 19, 2014

(Instagram) Photo Dump

Life through instagram...

bracelet I made recently.

writing outside in the sunshine.

a typical morning with Eli.

one of the Teen Wolf fanart prints I bought.

the second Teen Wolf fanart print.

re-reading this book because I love it so.

my face yesterday.

waking up with this kitty this morning.
Currently back At Sue's place for a few days, enjoying her company and the nice weather. It's a bit colder this week than it was the week before, but fingers crossed we get back into the 60s and 70s again.

x


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Currently

This space has been quiet and I apologize for that. I haven't really had much to say to be honest. I have been spending a lot of time writing, reading, and talking to people via my tumblr because it's a more active space in general. I didn't forget about this blog though, I have just been at a loss for what to post. I haven't really done anything interesting.
Although, I did finally go to the doctor's to talk about my anxiety/depression. Both my mom and my brother are bipolar and we decided I definitely am as well. Which is no surprise. I'm currently on some medication for it and we'll see how it goes.

view from my back door.
So lately I have been...

Watching: I started watching Parks & Rec on netflix, which is entertaining. I also watched Brooklyn 99 which is an amazing show and I recommend everyone watch it. 

Reading: The third book of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy came out this month and I read that in about 2 days. It was so good, such a great ending to a fabulous series! If you haven't read them you should.

Listening to: A bunch of different stuff, but a lot of punk and pop punk, that kind of stuff -Fall Out Boy, The Rocket Summer, Joan Jett, The Donnas, Bikini Kill, Blink 182, The Pretty Reckless, Garbage, The Black Keys.

Wearing: Spring has finally, truly arrived! Which means I have been wearing mostly tank tops, shorts, and lightweight sweaters. I even got away with going barefoot the other day.

Doing: Sitting outside in the sun and writing, spending time with Sue, reading (always), thinking about my fictional worlds, doctor's appointments,and  making my own laundry detergent.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Photo Dump

I have been with the lovely Sue at her apartment for the last week, and although I have sucked at taking some decent photos, I have taken some crappy phone pictures that I put on instagram. Which I am now dumping here for your viewing pleasure.




1. Sue's cat Tuscany, she's adorable. // 2. A relaxing night hanging on the porch with twisted tea. // 3. My face. And newly shaved sides! // 4. Me and Sue. This sums up our friendship pretty well actually.

Maybe I'll have more pictures to share soon. We're going to a cookout later today and hopefully I remember to actually document some of it, haha.

I hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

x


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