OK, Let's Address the Christian, Catholic "Offenses" in 5 Seconds of Summer's "NOT OK"

Well, well, well! It looks like my boys are finally back! :D

Reflections about Barbie (2023), Tuesday, July 25, 2023, 1:30 PM: A Movie Review...Finally

I held off from publishing this until the strike was over, but I wrote it the night I saw it because I wanted to get my thoughts down about the film while it was still fresh in my mind. I don't really have a full blown analysis planned for this one, but rather bullet points that I want to get off my chest. Might be a nice change of pace here. I'll try to keep this spoiler free. 

Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious) - Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, and a Brief Review of Plastic Hearts (2020) and Future Nostalgia (2020)

Happy Women's History Month!

I've noticed that a lot of the music artists that I prefer to listen to are men. 5 Seconds of Summer, Ashton Irwin, One Direction, Harry Styles, Niall Horan... So I decided to dedicate this blog post to two woman artists that I have been listening to lately, Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa. 

A Tale of Two Brother Bands: The Impact and Evolution of One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer

Introducing my quarantine passion project! I worked so hard on this all of these months since like April during self-isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. I had a blast writing this and am extremely proud of it! It certainly kept me busy, productive, and happy. Some circumstances then took place, and I kept perfecting it and adding things, but now I finally finished it (I think LOL, unless/although I will probably/maybe continue to edit and revise it and add things while it's live lol). I wanted to wait for the best time to share it, so hopefully now should be good. I have to let it go at some point and I wanted to release it before the year ends lol. Plus, from the writer's standpoint, I'm kinda tired of looking at it now. Haha!

If you're in the mood to read something extremely lengthy about two of the best male bands of this generation, please enjoy! lol :)

Just so you know, this critique essay includes mentions of sex and profanity.

INTRODUCTION

Ever since I got into One Direction (1D), I have felt myself becoming interested in boy bands again.

But let's talk about 5 Seconds of Summer.

I Never Thought That THIS Would Make Me Happy... Or, How I Came to Love a Certain Boy Band

About time I posted on here again, huh?

I've been keeping the following to myself because I consider it a private, personal situation for me and am a bit hesitant to admit to this, but I also feel compelled to blog and share about it as well.

There are some inner issues that I am working through, feeling extra nervous, depressed, or overwhelmed about things lately. It was my 2019 New Year's resolution to overcome this, and it had gotten better in January, but I still found it trickling over a bit, for nobody changes overnight.

Stef's Female Friendships, Women's History Month 2018

These recollections of the female friendships I have made throughout my life are some of my favorite blog posts that I have ever written. They took me a couple of years to prepare because I wanted to make sure they were right, so I feel extra accomplished having finally published them all. Here they all are now in one blog post! :)

My Early Childhood Friends

My Childhood Friends

My High School Friends

My College Friends

My Adult Friends

Stef's Female Friendships - My Adult Friends

I'm posting this one now because it's Holy Week and I don't want to blog on Good Friday.

I refer to this group as my more recent set of friends because I met them gradually toward the end of my college life and then we stayed in touch after graduation. Like me, they too are writers. I met plenty of female writers during my college and adult life, forming a community with them, but these are the girls with whom I correspond the most. I also graduated the same class from Montclair State University with most of them. Unfortunately I don't have a group shot of us all for this blog post. lol

The following women all give me great, helpful feedback regarding my writing and have attended Literally! writing group meetings that I have hosted.

One of the first times Kacie and I hung out

I often refer to my best friend Kacie as my right hand woman. We hang out quite often. We met towards the end of college but corresponded earlier on Facebook. In my sophomore year I saw her in an opera on MSU's campus called Albert Herring, which I actually blogged about in the past. I somehow found her Facebook page, reached out to her, shared my blog with her, and kept in touch. Eventually we found a way to meet each other face to face and the rest was history. She is an only child like myself, so I believe we bonded over this as well. She is very kind and always there for me, and like Abby, I feel like I can always go to her without receiving any judgment. Anytime I am upset about something, I seek her for advice and she automatically makes me feel better with her perspectives. We're often always on the same page about things.

Kacie is definitely who I would call my creative friend. She is a music teacher but also a singer/songwriter and musician. We have the same artistic goals and are constantly encouraging each other's work.

I met my friend Lindsay (not pictured because we haven't taken a photo together lol) on a Montclair State University Facebook group. She was a fellow English major graduating a year or two before me asking for suggestions on another course to take to finally reach the credits in order to graduate. I commented on her post, recommending theater classes (of course), and then the two of us started talking from there. I would sometimes visit her at her on campus job and we also attended another writing group meeting together. That was fun. :) I also like her unique sense of humor. lol

I consider Lindsay one of my most logical friends. She contributes advice to the business side of things and gives me a taste of reality. It's nice to have a companion who knows the technicalities of a lot of things, particularly the freelancing life. That's true too. Lindsay is a fellow freelancer like myself, but while I mainly do journalism, she does more copywriting.

Next is Evaline. I actually met her through Bonnie! Although she was not a broadcasting major, she and Bonnie took a broadcasting class together called "Electronic Journalism". Evaline needed writers to interview for a video project for this class and so naturally Bonnie thought of me and I agreed to it.

Here is the final product.

Since then Evaline and I have been corresponding. A creative writer herself, at one point she said to me that if I ever needed a writing partner, she was available. So then, as a result, I invited her to Literally! meetings and she, along with Kacie and Lindsay, was one of the group's initial members and participants.

She is always such a kind, sweet, patient, and grateful person.

Finally there is Sashel. I met Sashel, and a bunch of other fellow writers with whom I still keep in contact, in my Intro to Fiction Writing class my senior year at MSU. I always thought that she was very quiet, but it turns out that she is actually very bubbly and outgoing once you get to know her. She is always laughing and smiling. Like many of my friends, I see her as my religious, spiritual friend as well. She incorporates plenty about God and strength in her written work and I appreciate this trait.

She's a delight. ;)

And for some reason, she and I have bonded over our mutual love of food... Random, but yes. lol

So, there you have it! My Women's History Month blog project "Stef's Female Friendships" is complete for this year! To all of the women that I have wrote about in this series (or not), thank you for being positive influences in my life. Happy Women's History Month! :)

Stef's Female Friends - My College Friends

In college, friends come and go. Coming from a small private school and now entering a large public state college, I met and befriended a lot of people at this point. This is the group that remained constant all four years. We refer to ourselves as "The Originals" because we were the original friends freshmen year. lol

Taken the first day of freshman year, Red Hawk Day, on Bonnie's MacBook Pro Photobooth and then Katlynn filtered it. I wanted to recreate this for graduation, but we never did. lol
Clockwise from left: Me, Kelly, Katlynn, Bonnie, and Shan
Not pictured: Melissa and Anthony (but he's a boy anyway so :P)

Here's another shot from the same time so you can actually see us. lol 

Facebook was a thing now, so that's how friendships were made. I corresponded with them all on a Facebook group that was created for the incoming Montclair State University Class of 2013 and then we all, along with some others, planned to meet in person on Red Hawk Day, which is a day that celebrates kicking off the new school year. We actually all connected because none of us were interested in drinking, which was a friendship quality I held dear back then.

This day was one of the best days of my life. Instead of participating in the freshmen ice breakers, we all opted to go to the Willowbrook Mall together because Shan, Bonnie's roommate that year, needed to buy a new phone. It's funny because I was so used to being surveyed in high school that I thought that I would get in trouble ditching the ice breakers. I actually snuck by them in the Student Center Quad thinking that I would be pinpointed, but nothing happened. This was when I realized that college would be a totally different atmosphere. I considered this my first college independent adventure and I loved bonding with my new friends. It also got me more excited and relaxed about college because that morning I was nervous.

Now I walk the MSU campus like I own the place. :P 

Alas, the excitement died down because eventually schedules got in the way and it was a struggle to see each other. I commuted to school whereas they lived on campus and we all had different majors, so that all contributed to the withdrawals I was feeling. I was an English major, Katlynn was also an English major with a Creative Writing concentration but yet we only took one class together throughout the four years, and Kelly majored in Nutrition. Bonnie and Shan were originally undeclared, but then majored in Broadcasting and Sociology respectively.

Melissa (not pictured) could be considered another member of The Originals. She too was an English major and I actually took an Art of Fiction course with her sophomore year. Bonnie was into Japanese culture (still is) and so she joined Japan Club, which is how I met Melissa and others that would turn into my group of college friends. Even though we weren't as into anime and such, Kelly, Katlynn, and I found ourselves attending a lot of these events just to hang out with Bonnie and the rest of the members.

Kelly, Bonnie, and Melissa eventually all became roommates in sophomore year and I hung out in their dorm room often. I considered myself the fourth roommate. lol

Even though Shan and I gradually didn't really see each other as much as the years went on, whenever we ran into each other on campus we would greet each other and converse. She is a very funny person, the type with whom you joke around. However, we would also talk about serious stuff, like Christianity. I remember this one time when she and I chatted for like an hour or so about this subject on campus.

I wasn't kidding about the whole almost drowning thing. :P

Katlynn and I walked and sat next to each other for convocation (the one that nearly drowned us :P) and to this day she and I still chat writing. She was my closest writer friend throughout college and the one I talk with and relate to the most these days, especially regarding our careers.

Katlynn would have a zinger for you every so often. She and Kelly would be the ones to come see either campus shows with me or readings of my plays that I wrote for my Drama Workshop classes, so I am so very grateful for their support.

Katlynn, Kelly, and I actually had our own subgroup called "Cheerios". The three of us were all into "Glee" at the time so therefore we associated ourselves with The Unholy Trinity. Katlynn was Quinn, Kelly was Brittany, and I was Santana.

Bonnie is what I call my optimistic, encouraging friend. No matter what I said I was considering, she would be the one to usually say "Go for it!" or "Do it!" usually starting or ending with "Girl!" For example, I once auditioned for a Players (MSU's student run theatre organization) Lady Gaga show with her.

Anyway, she would always be up for anything and was always a ray of sunshine even when I was gloomy. These characteristics are useful for her current profession. Even though she majored and graduated with a broadcasting degree, she then went on to get her Masters in education and is now a teacher to little kids and loves it. :)

Funny enough is that one thing she, Kelly, and I are doing lately post-college is making fun of the Elf on the Shelf on Facebook. I don't know how I started this, but it has turned into a Christmas tradition for us now. lol

I had a lot of personal issues in college. Even though I always say that college was the best time of my educational life (elementary and high school were kinda meh), I questioned everything about myself, specifically about my role as a woman, as a person, as a professional, and as a Catholic. Now college is the time to do this and "find myself," but it made me so stressed out and confused about who I was that I was constantly an emotional wreck. Thankfully I had Kelly there to ease this. She and I were the same when it came to concerns like this and she was often a listening ear to whatever issue I was having and I took on the same role for her. She was the one with whom I hung out the most and I missed her whenever we weren't together. We were your typical dynamic duo: she was tall, and I was short, and we had a lot of the same interests. She was my best college friend. She was also the one who introduced me to the Nostalgia Critic (while she was introduced to the character through our mutual friend Jess), whose criticisms of film eventually got me interested in pursuing the same.

Given the distance between us all and life priorities (somewhat reminiscent of early freshman year), we don't really see each other anymore. However, we're still connected on Facebook and meeting up is always a possibility. We've actually been discussing this recently.

These girls will always be icons from my college life. :)

Stef's Female Friendships - My High School Friends

If you follow my film vlogging and podcasting life, this is the group with whom you would be most familiar. My Paper Cup Review Crew gets together to record our "Paper Cup Reviews" web series and podcast, for which we discuss the movies we have just seen. This crew consists of my Lacordaire Academy high school friends Abby, Janis, and Breon.

Screencap from the "Paper Cup Reviews" premiere episode "Ted"

From l-r: Breon, Me, Abby, and Janis

Our circle of friends extended beyond the four of us, with whom I also credit memories, but I found myself closest with these three. They've always shown support for my writing and artistry. Like me, Abby and Breon are also only children.

Volunteering at school's used book sale

I met Janis first. She and I were paired up for a freshman ice breaker exercise. I was given the character Minnie Mouse, so basically I was supposed to find my match and chat with her. Janis had the Mickey Mouse card, so we met and hit it off.

I refer to Janis as my historian friend. She loves history and out of all of my friends I would go to her if I have a question about it. She's also my bookworm friend and is now a librarian. In fact, she was voted "Class Bookworm" for our Senior Superlatives.

Although this trait is attributed to all three of them, Janis is a friend that would always be completely honest with me.

I'm not sure in what order I met Breon and Abby, but I think I met Breon next. Breon and I were locker neighbors freshman year. I chose my locker and then Breon chose the one next to mine. She smiled at me with braces and I thought she looked so cute because she wore braids at the time. To this day she always has a keen sense of style. ;)

Breon is my "voice of reason" friend. We actually discussed this at my 26th birthday dinner. She is very wise and gives pretty good insight and advice on situations. She's so sweet, mature, soft spoken, hilarious, and quiet, but when something needs to be said, she says it. Appropriately, she was voted "Most Quiet."

And then finally there is Abby. Abby and I sat in front of each other in homeroom because my name came right after hers alphabetically. Our first of many conversations was me explaining the prepositional rules of FANBOY to her. Why? How did this get brought up? I have no idea. XD

Abby is one of my very best friends and constant companions. She's my foil and yet my twin. We were actually once told by a classmate that we look alike, but we're also alike in personality and interests. We're movie and Shakespearean theater buddies.

Abby has a lot of qualities that I admire. She's very studious (another girl in our class actually got this superlative but Abby deserves it too lol), focused, kind, patient, and, of course, she was voted "Smartest."

I confide in Abby a lot about stuff. I know I can say anything to her without receiving judgment from her end.

You know what? I'll also include my friend Cara in this. Cara is my borderline childhood/high school friend, but I think this blog post is more appropriate for her than the last one.

Prior to high school, I attended Lacordaire Academy Elementary Division for seventh and eighth grade. "Freshman for a Day" was a specific day when eighth grade girls from all different schools visited Lacordaire Academy Secondary Division to see if we wanted to choose it as our future high school. They split us all into groups and my female classmates and I were all distributed accordingly. I was paired with two girls from my eighth grade class.

That's when I befriended Cara. She was another girl in our group. She and I bonded over our quirky enthusiasm and so we kept in touch. She eventually attended Mount St. Dominic Academy, our rival (BOO! lol), but we still remained friends all the same. She came to my Sweet 16 and celebrated National Dance Day with Lauren, Janis, and myself. She even joined Lauren and I when we went to our very first "So You Think You Can Dance" Tour in 2008 (OH MY GOSH. I just realized that it has been 10 YEARS since this!!!).

Here we are with tWitch:

One of my favorite photos, this one actually served as my first ever Facebook profile pic. lol

She is another friend that I haven't really seen in awhile, but I've realized that she represents my transitional phase, the one between childhood and teenage hood. I was the new kid in seventh grade and back then my self-esteem was extremely fragile because I was picked on and ostracized in my previous elementary school, so Cara's friendship made me excited about starting high school and making new friends. :) And, you guessed it, she too is an only child. ;)

I'm thankful that I continue to have these great people in my life since high school.

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Years later, I would write an article about him. :)

By the way, if you're wondering what MY Senior Superlatives were, well, I was voted "Funniest" along with two other girls. I'm actually very honored about this because I didn't realize I was that funny and being told this made me more confident in my comedic timing.

AND I even got voted my own personal one, of which I am VERY proud: "Best Attitude." The photo representing this in the yearbook is of me high fiving our headmaster. My idea. ;)

Stef's Female Friendships - My Childhood Friends

This blog post is making me delve back into my mind and remember all of my childhood female friends that I made in both elementary school and church. :)

SLL, or S Double L, refers to my friendship with my childhood friends Lauren and Lucero, whom I have mentioned throughout this blog I believe. Our group name is simply our initials put together. I thought it was cool. :P

I met Lucero in kindergarten and then we met Lauren in first grade. Lauren, Lucero, and I all went to the same school with other little girls with whom we played and the same church as well until Lauren moved away after fourth grade. Now the three of us always try to make it a point to get together. :) A favorite activity of ours is game night. lol Those are a barrel of laughs.

From our first SLL night out! From l-r: Lucero, Me, Lauren

When we were kids, Lucero (or Cito) was very quiet and timid. However, she has grown more outgoing and outspoken since. It's nice to see her get comfortable like that. :)

Lucero is a Christian, and a VERY spiritual Christian at that. She is the one who normally guides me towards God's Word whenever I am upset about something. She has a way of wording things, which brings me to our shared interest in writing and literature. Both of us majored in English in college (Lucero's was English Literature specifically). Nowadays she is a graphic designer and we both write together and give each other feedback for our work.

Lucero is into fantasy, but like MANY of my friends, Lucero likes anime and was actually the person who introduced me to it. She basically kicked off the anime loving trend that I would soon experience with my later groups of friends. I never identify myself as an anime fan, but I was obsessed with "Digimon" (English dub) as a kid and so she and I had daily verbal battles in the classroom because she thought that "Pokemon" was better and that "Digimon" was a mere copycat.

Ha. Whatever. I clearly won. :P "Cardcaptors" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" English dubs were my other faves.

On the other hand, Lauren and I have the same humor and like the same TV shows. Our enthusiasm for "So You Think You Can Dance" remained consistent throughout the years. Like myself, she also didn't adhere to the anime trend. Although, like Lucero, she too is religious, and I will never forget the following story. When I was in third grade and about nine years old, I suffered from pneumonia. Along with the illness I endured unbearable pain in my legs to the point where I couldn't even walk and had to be carried everywhere. I missed a great deal of school because of this. Lauren's mother later told my family that Lauren spent every night praying for me in her room.

It was then that we realized just how true of a friend she is to me. Lauren is the type of person who always stands up for her friends, her beliefs, and expresses her eternal love. If you are friends with Lauren, you never question her loyalty.

Even though it has been years since I saw the following ladies, I would love to talk about them as well because they too left an imprint on my childhood. Jeniffer (Jen) and Kathleen (Kate) are examples of friends I made through church as opposed to school. Jen's grandmother always used to talk to my mother and Kate's parents used to talk to my parents, no naturally all of the adults figured, "Hey! Let's introduce the kids!" And then I hit it off with them. :)

l-r: Kate, Me, Lauren, and Jen

But here is something a little different about these two. Jen was a grade below me whereas Kate was two grades above me, plus I didn't go to their schools, so therefore we weren't in each other's space as often. I see Jen as a little sister and Kate, on the other hand, as a big sister figure. Like myself, Kate is an only child as well. :)

I would hang out with them individually, especially Jen, or with my other friends. Jen and I would explore the choir loft at our church, which was the first activity we really enjoyed together. Thereafter we always used to hang out. Jen and Kate were often included in my birthday adventures and get togethers with Lauren, as evidenced by the photo above. They would also always come to see my play performances, whether I was acting in them or writing them.

I'm thankful that we all have social media to keep in touch. :)

Stef's Female Friendships - My Early Childhood Friends

I'll start this year's series off with the first two women in my life, my mom Lucille and my Aunt Ea, or simply, Ea. Her real name is Maria, but as a kid I struggled to say it, so my Grandma Mary suggested that it be shortened to just "Ea" and it stuck. I still call her that to this day and now my teenage cousin, her nephew Michael, calls her the same.

l-r: Ea, Me, and Mom

My Mom and Ea are sisters and are both 100% Italian American, so they definitely contributed to my Italian culture pride. FYI, I'm not Italian at all on my father's side, hence my last name.

I am very thankful for my caring tight knit family and cherish the experiences we share.

My mom is entirely the best. I love her so much. I mean, sure like any mother and daughter we have our disagreements, but we have such a close and affectionate relationship. I'm an only child, so I tend to spend time with my parents a lot and my mom and I share mutual interests. We always do things together, such as go to the theater and movies, watch TV, color, exercise, and cook, particularly the traditional Christmas Eve seafood meal. Another favorite mother/daughter activity we enjoy is going out to eat for appetizers and drinks lol.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mom. We are sometimes mistaken for sisters (she loves that lol). She is truly my best friend and we're constantly laughing together. I can talk to her about anything. She gives me pretty good advice and tends to be right about everything in the long run lol. She is always there for me and constantly encourages me to heighten my self-esteem and confidence. Without fail she shows her neverending love and support for my writing and anything else I do. I love her so very much and my friends love her too.

Then there is who I call my second mom, my Aunt Ea. Ea was my designated babysitter along with my two grandmothers. When I was a child, she was my built in playmate, often taking part in homemade plays with me. She says that even though I no longer really play with toys anymore, now she can spend time with me in other ways. Normally when I talk or blog about Paper Mill Playhouse shows, I see them with her. See? There is clearly a theme. No matter what my age, we often go out to eat together. I also like going to the Borgata in Atlantic City with her. lol :)

Ea watched me grow up and was always there for birthdays and other big events. I may call her my second mom, but she is also my official godmother, assigned at my Baptism, so therefore she makes sure to instill Catholic teachings into Michael (her godson) and myself consistently. Her house is also my second home. My family often has dinner there (it always smells good in her house lol) and I sometimes sleep over there too. I attribute plenty of fond lifetime memories to Ea. I love her. :)

Cyndi (on the left) and I at my miniature dachshund
Jeffrey's birthday party that I threw for him. lol

Because I grew up an only child and only have male cousins (Michael on my mom's side, Chuckie and Jimmy on my dad's), I did not really have any female relationships my age during my initial years of life. Then I remembered that Cyndi, my neighbor, was there to fill that void. Cyndi herself has two older brothers and became, I guess you could say, my surrogate sister.

When my parents moved in, they befriended the couple across the street. Eventually both my mom and Cyndi's mom were expecting at the same time. Cyndi was born in late August and then I came around early November. Cyndi's father said that we could play together until we eventually made our own friends and we did just that. It was easy to hang out because we lived right across the street from each other. She would come over my house and I would go over hers, but most of the time our conversations consisted of us shouting to each other from our opposite lawns. :P

Cyndi's father's prediction ultimately came true. Cyndi and I went to different schools and then our separate ways as we got older, her becoming an athlete and me becoming the artsy fartsy you know and love. However, although our play dates have dwindled, we still talk. :) Despite our differing interests, we have remained friends. It's nice to have her there. :)

Stef's Female Friendships Women's History Month Project!

This Women's History Month I am going to do something extra special. For my series "Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious)" in the past, I have written about fictional female characters and the occasional celebrities and historical figures who I feel exhibit characteristics of the strong woman. I also spotlighted several female TV show cast of characters that compose the nature of their particular shows. Now I am planning something completely different.

Last Women's History Month, I decided to write blog posts focusing on the various groups of women who have shaped me, from family members to friendships I have made during my different stages of life. I've noticed that I have individual groups of friends that each has its own title depending on our friendship's theme. I was going to share these last year, but because I was preoccupied and never felt like they were completely ready, it got too much past March to share them so I decided to try to stop being such a perfectionist with them and to postpone them until this year. :P

So throughout March (the plan is every Friday), I am going to share stories about some of my closest friends and how they have each contributed to my life and continue to do so. :)

I'm very excited about these heartwarming installments. Stay tuned!

Happy Women's History Month, everyone! :D

Special Blog Project Announcement Tomorrow ;)

I feel like there is a lot that I want to talk about on here. There are posts that I am working on and brainstorming that I feel I should get out before February is through. But I've decided that for now I am going to dedicate this blog to a special cheerful project that I am hoping to finally deliver throughout March and I don't want any other posts to get in the middle of it. Details to come. ;)

A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (2017) Has a Church Scene EXACTLY like the Scene in HOME ALONE (1990)!

So I FINALLY saw A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) with my own mother just in time for Christmas and was pleased to see a scene in there that exactly mirrors my favorite scene from Home Alone (1990). I was actually quite surprised to see it and wonder if the similarities are intentional. :)

By the way, this blog post includes some spoilers for both films I guess, but especially A Bad Moms Christmas.

I've blogged about the scene before and the blog post for it seems pretty popular on here. Long story short, the kid Kevin is left behind by his family on Christmas and goes to the local church and sits in a pew as he listens to the choir sing. He is joined there by Old Man Marley, an old man of whom he is afraid. However, there the two bond and from that point on Kevin is no longer afraid of him.

Interestingly enough, Home Alone and A Bad Moms Christmas are very similar. Both are comedy films with slapstick (and in Bad Moms's case, raunchiness as well) and yet have this quiet moment to form solace between two characters.

We meet Amy again, played by Mila Kunis, who again, along with her comrades from the first film Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn), is so sick of the pressure of being a perfect mother. The premise is very similar to the first film, except this time the plot involves Christmas. The trio makes a pact to take Christmas back so that they can enjoy Christmas for themselves as well.

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Third Update

My first book of the summer has been completed!!!!! YAY! :D

Once again, beware of possible spoilers. However, I think I did pretty well not giving anything major away.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Began: June 3, 2017 12:23 AM

Finished: July 14, 2017 12:48 AM

It took me a month. I'm a slow reader, I guess. Then again, I was juggling this book with others. Focusing on this book alone is when I finally completed it.

I loved this book! It is because of this book that I am now a fan of Mindy Kaling. I'm going to actually miss reading it, especially outdoors, but I am looking to purchase my own copy of this one and its predecessor, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), which she occasionally refers to in Why Not Me? and seems to be a similar premise, to add to my collection. I'm looking forward to seeing what is next for her (which is actually the movie adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time coming out in March 2018).

I feel both inspired and empowered from reading this book. Even if some of her chapters seem longer, her quick humor is so easy to read through and leaves you surprised like "Wow. I am done with this section already." There is one part in her chapter called "A Perfect Courtship in my Alternate Life" that consists of fictional emails and text messages and I wasn't very excited about reading them, but she manages to make this entertaining as well. Her chapter "Harvard Law School Class Day Speech" is a transcription of her Harvard Law School 2014 commencement address and when I first read it I followed along while watching and listening to the video of it on YouTube.

Her words don't totally align and aren't exact with the book's transcription, but it was still an interesting, accurate reading experience. It was fun to see her written words literally come to life as I read them. I recommend. :)

Here is the review I wrote for Goodreads (at least so far)!

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I made it!!! The first book of the summer and my reading challenges done! :D

Such a good book! I feel so inspired! I feel like I've just been on this journey with her. Mindy Kaling gives such great, honest, life advice with lighthearted sarcastic humor and made me think of things from new perspectives. It is such a light, quick read and the mint-colored cover is so calming and inviting. It's also nice and light to hold in your hands. :)

I want to read her other book now and hopes she writes more of them! :D I also want to purchase my own copy of this book now too.

Oh! And before I conclude! Here is the Jai Courtney paragraph on page 44 that I was talking about as promised:

I kept returning to this page and paragraph just because I love it so much. And just in case you're wondering what Jai Courtney looks like...

Credit: GQ Australia - This is actually my favorite written interview with him. Very interesting read and great photos! I learned some Aussie jargon along the way too! Check it out! :)

Hamana hamana hamana 😍😍😍

So now I have been resuming my reading of Katherine Applegate's Beach Blondes. I am on page 382 out of 721. Basically I am halfway through. I'm still in the July section and need to be at page 491 by August 1. Let's attempt that goal again. If I did it last time, I think I can do it again this time.

We're still following Summer's triple romances and we still see teenagers annoyingly thinking that they are "in love," but at least Summer has been learning from past mistakes. Considering her episode with Adam, she doesn't want to fall too quickly into love, which is refreshing, especially considering that she is a main character in this type of genre. She also stands up for herself well too and tells off characters when need be. Sometimes I get frustrated with lead characters when someone says something unpleasant to them but the character remains silent because they either have no words to respond, do have the words but hold back, or they do spurt out something but immediately regret it after. "Say something back!!" I end up silently screaming at the book. Summer, thankfully, often manages to speak up for herself and rarely regrets it. It makes her a decent character. She's also a pretty funny person in general with her responses.

The "Video Blog" chapters are still irritating. I can't stand how they halt the action. They give us insight into Summer's deeper thoughts and provide details as to what has been going on between the lines of the story so that Applegate doesn't have to dedicate a core of the story to them, but like I have said before, we already know her feelings, and these minor details aren't that important. Sometimes I feel like skipping over these chapters, but then I feel like my reading of the book won't be complete. What do I care what she tells Jennifer, who is a character that we haven't even met or care about?

Diana is still the most interesting character. Her story is what drives me to keep reading, but yet it gives me the most anxiety too. She has gotten happier lately because she has come to a realization about her current situation and is concocting a plan to achieve justice. Applegate does a pretty good job keeping us guessing with Diana. Right now my mindset with her is "What exactly is she planning?"

On Monday night I MAY have managed to find and purchase NEXT year's all-summer book excursion by month (reminiscent of Beach Blondes) at Barnes and Noble. :P

It is called Summer Brides, a collection of novellas written by Marybeth Whalen, Beth Wiseman, and Debra Clopton respectively. I believe it was the only one of its kind on a "Bargain Priced" table, so therefore I felt that it was meant for me. It appears to follow this trend I have observed of wedding books on the rise nicely.

Summer Brides is a part of the A Year of Weddings Novella Collection, so therefore there are books in this series called Winter Brides, Spring Brides, and Autumn Brides as well. There are also individual novellas that are separate books that make up these books. For example, A June Bride (Whalen), A July Bride (Wiseman), and An August Bride (Clopton), make up the eventual Summer Brides collection, which was my motivation for buying it. It mirrors the Beach Blondes setup in this way, but is an anthology with multiple authors as opposed to Applegate's continuous narrative. There is also a book full of the complete collection called A Year of Weddings: Twelve Love Stories, which would have been a better purchase down the road had I known this. Now I feel like I need to collect the rest of the series to have it be complete! I'm somewhat feeling the same way about the SUMMER novel series too so I can continue reading that story.

Reading is something that makes me feel good and is leisurely for me, so I don't want to turn it into a collector's item perfectionist thing. It's okay if I only read and own a few (or even one) books out of a series. No harm done. I mean, I was okay with reading the The Last Little Blue Envelope out of order last year.

Some of the books in the A Year of Weddings Novella Collection series, such as the full collection, are only available on Kindle/Nook or audiobook anyway. Right now I prefer solid books, so I may have made the correct choice for now. I'm hoping to obtain the other books somehow so that I can somehow read them throughout a/the year by month nonstop.

They have gotten mixed reviews on Goodreads. We'll see how these go with me if I do resolve to take them on and keep the book. See, lately I'm buying certain books in stores thinking that I am not going to be able to find them otherwise and/or for a good price online, so I have some decisions to make. I do think that they would make an interesting year long reading challenge for me to compare and contrast writing styles and stories.

For now though, I sadly returned Kaling's book to the library on Monday *sniff* but in place of it I checked out Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10. I'm excited about this one. I've been visiting Barnes and Noble more frequently and keep seeing it for sale. I'm tempted to buy it, but because Sprague Library has it, I'm borrowing it first to test the waters. I also have to work on Amy Schumer's book The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo as well.

You know, I am loving writing these book blog posts! I'm starting to consider dedicating a blog, maybe this one, to just them! lol

By the way, we now have 239 books in our library! I'm still organizing my personal collection of what I want to contribute, keep, and donate.

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Second Update

I finally returned to Sprague Library yesterday to check out Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? and Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo! :) They are now due back August 2 and I am determined to finally finish at least Kaling's by that date.

Sprague Library has another book in its Pop Picks section of which I took notice. I also see it often on sale at Barnes and Noble as a new release popular bestseller. I was considering taking this one out yesterday too. However, another Sprague Library rule is that any patron who is not a student or faculty member is not allowed to check out more than three books at a time, so because I took out my two books as well as a book for my father, I had reached my limit.

The book is a horror mystery novel called The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. It is about this travel magazine journalist (one reason why I want to read it) named Lo Blacklock who aboards a luxury cruise. She eventually sees a woman being thrown overboard, but because all passengers are accounted for, the cruise goes on as if nothing is amiss. So now it is up to Lo to crack the case. It looks like an engrossing, quick read.

I was actually considering eliminating Schumer's book in lieu of this one, but then remembered that I often do this with books. I start reading them, but then get excited about another book and then never finish the original. Because I had already begin reading Schumer's book and in my last blog post stated that I am looking forward to reading more of it, plus it is a part of my Summer 2017 reading challenge that I don't want to quit, I had to make my choice. I don't want to give up on Schumer just yet. Plus, I also am already working on a fiction novel with Beach Blondes, so I want to focus on that and not get lose track of that one either.

I plan on adding The Woman in Cabin 10 to my Summer 2017 reading list. I may not finish (or even start it) by the time summer ends, but let it be known that I am interested! We'll see what happens with it. I could still read it beyond summer and it would be fine.

By the way, I neglected to tell you in my last blog post how we are doing with Operation Basement Bookshelf. Right now we have 188 books categorized, classified, and filed. :)

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - First Update

June was a busy reading month for me! It is now July 1! Let's see how I did. :)

Here are my page numbers as of now:

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate - 296 out of 721

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer - 45 out of 323

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling - 123 out of 228

Beware of possible spoilers! 

As you can see, I surpassed by Beach Blondes June goal (on June 22), of which I am very proud! :D

Let me explain something about this book that I have discovered during my journey with it. It is actually three books in one, which explains the thickness of it. It consists of the novels June Dreams, July's Promise, and August Magic. From my understanding, these were all individually released in 1995 and then rereleased as a full book in 2008, and boy does it ever date itself. I mean, the kids don't use cell phones! They use PAY PHONES and listen to their CD COLLECTIONS! On Goodreads there are adults on their commenting about remembering reading this when they were kids and wanting to read it again, making me feel so late to the party! I mean, 1995 was one thing. I was a five-year-old back then. But I feel odd reading this now as an adult given the teenage subject matter and think that if I jumped in when it came out in 2008 it would be more relevant for me because I WAS A TEENAGER THEN.

However, reading it for the first time as an adult helps me appreciate it better for what it is. It also makes me feel wiser than these kids. :P

You know, this book is surprising me. It is way better than I expected and clearly deserves a better cover photo. There is definitely more to this book than meets the eye given some of its serious subject matter and the cutesy photo of a bunch of blonde girls taking a selfie on the beach does not do it justice by any means. It's false advertising. So far there has been only one scene that I recall of the girls hanging out on the beach, and it's only two of them laying on the sand. In fact, throughout the whole book, there is only one blonde and very few female characters to begin with. Another is brunette, another is Latina (whom isn't described as being blonde), and this other girl, a minor character, is a redhead.

However, even though I do enjoy its engaging tale, I do find some flaws with it regardless. Okay so the plot surrounds an awkward teenage girl named Summer Smith from Bloomington, Minnesota (who constantly reminds the reader and the other characters of her origins, much to her own embarrassment) who is invited by her Aunt Mallory to stay at her home in Crab Claw Key in Florida for the summer. Mallory, a romance novelist now that she has divorced her husband, embarks on a book tour for the week and leaves poor sweet Summer with her reclusive cousin Diana, who doesn't make it a secret that she doesn't want Summer there.

Diana Olan (the brunette) is clearly the most interesting character in this book by far. At first she comes across this typical bitchy teenage mean girl, making me dread her stereotypical behavior, but then as we learn more about her, we realize that something deeper is going on with her. This carries the story for me. She actually got an emotional reaction of out of me when I read it in the car on the way back from a family day trip to the Borgata in Atlantic City. I want to read more about her and how she is going to overcome her troubles. I admire Applegate for taking the strides she does with this character and her plot. It's what makes this book different from the other teenage beach novels I have read.

However, the main focus is on Summer, who all of a sudden is attracting practically every boy in town even though back in Minnesota she was invisible to the opposite sex. These encounters were foretold to her by a tarot card reader while on the plane there, by the way. 

She first meets Seth Warner, who randomly kisses her in the airport but turns out has a delusional ex-girlfriend (Lianne, the redhead) who believes that they are still in a relationship and that Seth is lying and then for some reason he gets mad at Summer for being upset about this; then Diver, this hippie guy who has sworn off girls and lives in the stilt house Diana throws Summer in, only wears one pair of swim trunks (his singular attire), and declares that the neighboring pelican's name is Frank; and finally Adam Merrick, the wealthy senator's son who uses the typical lines that only an arrogant player with money, looks, and power would utter and originally dated Diana in the summer prior and has now set his sights on Summer.

I mean, seriously, all of the boys in this book are a little strange. Summer has no true winner here.

One of my biggest problems with this book is how philosophical these kids are. It makes sense when Diver does this, because it's his character, but the rest of them do this too. They don't speak like normal teenagers but instead all have these existential moments where they talk deeply about life and claim that Summer is experiencing all of this romance because apparently Crab Claw Key is so mystic that people forget who they are while they're there. Summer attempts to transform into a different person and do things she normally wouldn't, making her confused about her actions afterward, and they all attribute this to the setting itself.

Another thing I can't stand are the video blog chapters. Scattered throughout the book are chapters called "Video Blog," for which Summer pretty much provides a stream of consciousness monologue for Jennifer, her best friend back home who is vacationing in California. These basically serve as Summer's reflections of what is happening in the story, and more insufferably, act as recaps of what we have already just read. These chapters aren't needed. I already know how Summer is feeling about her situation considering I am following her as the main character and listen to all of these existential discussions she has. These are reprieves from the action and I use them as a place to stop reading for the time being, but they just get in the way. The book would be shortened significantly if these chapters were removed.

I want to move onto the other books, but I don't want to leave out Marquez. Marquez is a Cuban-American girl who goes by her last name because Maria (her first) is too common and Esmeralda (her middle) is a bit too too, I guess. She befriends Summer, gets her a job at the Crab 'n' Conch, a restaurant that is apparently the world's worst place to work according to the kids, and remains her sole companion throughout the book. She is no-nonsense and serves as the comic relief, but yet has issues of her own that are slowly unraveling. Applegate also uses her as an opportunity to discuss immigration, which is still very relevant to our world today, so that's interesting. 

So now I'm waiting on seeing what is coming up for these kids, such as what Adam is going to do next to win Summer's heart back (let's just say that by page 296 he has REALLY pissed her off...an understatement at best). I am also really wondering what Diana is going to do as she plummets deeper and deeper into her sorrows. I've actually decided to take a small break from this book because I was reading it nonstop one week and needed a breather from its heavy premise, so I chose to devote this time to continue the other books on my list.

Then I have my comedienne ladies, Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer! I haven't worked on my Roseanne Barr book yet because I was so engrossed by these books. Plus, they are library books, so I need to prioritize.

I had to return these books to Sprague Library on June 29. Because it is a college library, their policy is that only students and faculty can renew books. During the summer they are closed on Fridays and Sundays and are closed today this week as well, so I have to wait until Monday to go back to retrieve them so I can resume my reading once again. :P

This was the first time that returning books to the library gave me withdrawals!

So far I am liking Kaling's book more than Schumer's, which I guess is evidenced by my page progression above and is funny because I initially thought it was going to be the other way around.

I'm halfway through it, about to start Part 3. This is thanks to her short, quick read chapters of simple stories and tips. It's both lightweight and lighthearted and takes us into Kaling's life, about which she is completely honest and is her intention with the book. She occasionally makes references to her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), so I want to read that one now too. I also kinda like the cover design better. No offense to Schumer's nude backside, but Kaling's mint-colored cover relaxes me. 

She also happens to mention my current celebrity crush, the super hot (and hairy) Australian actor Jai Courtney, on Page 44! I'm on a Suicide Squad (2016) kick lately, in which he portrays Captain Boomerang. She says that her friend Ike (Barinholtz) knows him, and I was like, "Yeah, he does! They worked on Suicide Squad together!" I never knew who Courtney was beforehand, so I'm thrilled that I discovered him just in time to understand her reference. It's so ironic and I got so excited when I saw it! I was going to take a photo of the paragraph dedicated to him for this blog, but didn't plan on not having access to it by the time I published this (Grr!), so I'll try to supply it for my next reading update. I'm almost done reading her book anyway. It's my favorite book of the summer so far. :)

As for Schumer's book, for some reason I am getting more melancholy vibes from her and I don't really know why, given that hers and Kaling's books are basically the same concept. Don't get me wrong, it's still a funny book. 

Various aspects of her book have stayed with me. For example, in one chapter she describes her one and only one night stand. Normally I am against one night stands 100%, but her story made me see them in a new perspective. 

In the next chapter she talks about being an introvert, which seems highly unlikely for someone with her personality, but it made me realize that my own introverted side isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for female writers like ourselves. She and Kaling talk about their work process, which is a huge reason why I am reading their books. I like reading about successful women writers and how they got to where they are today as they deal with their inner and outer struggles. It makes them more human and relatable and makes me feel less alone. 

Schumer I feel often gets a bad rep, but I have gained some more respect for her after reading what I did about her so far in her book. She comes across a good person, especially when she talks about her riches to rags to riches background and how she gives money just because she wants to. I'm looking forward to reading more of her story. :)

Throughout the month of June I took all three of these books on my daily walks to a local park or schoolyard, both of which are usually void of people or at least consist of very few, where I would sit at a vacant picnic table and just read in the sunlight or the occasional windy/rainy day. These are my most serene moments of the summer.

I highly recommend. :)

"Scream Queens" Cancellation: My Thoughts and a Brief Review of the Two-Season Series Overall

"Scream Queens" has literally been cancelled for a month now (announced May 15) and I'm just finding out now. lol Last night I tweeted another girl about the show when she tweeted about binge-watching it only to wake up this morning to her response tweet telling me that it has been cancelled. I looked it up and lo and behold found articles about it.

I've been looking it up on and off to see if it had been been renewed, so I'm surprised that I missed this news. This entire time since the Season 2 finale I had been indifferent to whether or not it would be renewed and had planned to be fine with either outcome. The following is why.

I figure that I'd blog about my feelings about this considering how I've dedicated blog posts to it before. This is the first time that a TV show I followed has been straight up cancelled as opposed to simply ending after a lengthy run, like creator Ryan Murphy's other creation, "Glee."

Okay so here are my thoughts.

Murphy says that they told their story, and I agree with him. It ended in a way that was complete, so I wasn't really foreseeing any continuation. There was nothing about the Season 2 finale that told me that any more needed to be said. It's also telling when the main cast starts to move onto other projects that the end is near. The lead female characters all have successful careers and Lea Michele's character, Hester Ulrich (I literally forgot her name. I had to look it up.), the main antagonist of the series, actually ends up scot-free in a relationship with Dr. Brock Holt (John Stamos).

The only thing that threw me was the cliffhanger ending when Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) encountered a Kappa Kappa Tau logo and the Season 1 Red Devil once again in her car, which opened up an opportunity for a third season. It ended much like the Season 1 finale, after all.

But, there isn't a true reason for one. Most of the main characters have died, including fan favorite Chad Radwell (Glen Powell). Some fans, including myself, speculated that maybe Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) would return for Season 3 for revenge, considering that she is also still alive and living in an insane asylum, but I guess that isn't coming to pass.

The fact that I had to look up most of these characters and actors' names and forgot that Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) survived the series tells me that maybe this show wasn't as memorable as I remembered.

The true stars were clearly the Chanels (which I'm now kinda realizing and understanding how it was a parody of "Heathers"! lol!), particularly Roberts, and Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin).

You know, Season 2 wasn't nearly as interesting as Season 1, and unfortunately plenty of fans felt this way, which probably led to its demise. It lacked the ratings. This is probably because Season 1 was a fresh, new concept and the audience didn't know what to expect, whereas for Season 2, you kinda had an idea. I tuned in, but not as much. What really aggravated me about Season 2 was how early on they revealed the faces behind the Green Meanie, thus making the finale anticlimactic. Once they disclosed to the audience who the three Green Meanies were and all that was left was for the characters to find out, I lost interest. Even Chanel's relationship with Dr. Brock was cringeworthy. I mean, I know Chanel is supposed to be an adult, but it was still so weird for me. She's a girl in her twenties competing with a middle aged woman, Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis - I remembered her full name at least!), for a middle aged man's affections (even though, now that I recall, Brock was either younger or older than he appeared, which made him a suspect, or not...See how much I've forgotten about this show??!). I know this was the comedy, and it was unique to say the least, but still...weird, even for "Scream Queens" standards I guess. I also wish they gave Chanel #5 a romantic happy ending. I was getting sick of her being a constant punching bag so I'm actually very pleased with her outcome of finding her purpose working at the hospital with Zayday Williams (Keke Palmer - remembered her too!) and finally away from the two bitches she called friends.

In fact, the only good thing to come out of Season 2 is Billie Lourd and Taylor Lautner's (who played Dr. Cassidy Cascade - I remembered!) real life relationship, which is still going strong!

So, a Season 3 would have been fun and a good number of seasons to flesh out the rest of the series, but definitely not necessary. You don't want to drag something out to a point where the entire series as a whole becomes despicable and you run out of ideas, somewhat like how "Glee" got stale towards the end. But yet that show was regarded very successful and had a very heartwarming series finale. "Scream Queens" has ended on a not high, not bad, but mediocre note.

It normally upsets viewers when a beloved TV show is cancelled after a season ends on a cliffhanger, but for "Scream Queens," it is actually pretty appropriate given the show's theme, and I'm satisfied with the run.

So long, "Screams Queens"! It has been a crazy ride! :)