Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I read Mockingjay in one day. I couldn't put it down.

SPOILER ALERT

I was so team Gale. I mean all those years together, the loyalty, the friendship, the hunting and talking, it just seemed to me that she'd end up with Gale. But that's just me. People obviously need a spark to stay together but . . . I wanted Gale to be the winner. And, I felt that he ended up such a loser. Heartless, or at least cold, creating bombs meant to take out caregivers...and Prim, ahhhhhhh.

Of course, I'd figured out (like everyone else) that Coin was the bad one...or two. I mean sure President Snow and The Capitol were bad but not any worse than Coin.

I really loved the ending, though. It wasn't all perfect and rosy...like Hollywood usually makes it but there was enough to make me feel some hope for the future of Panem.

How 'bout you? What did you think of the trilogy? Now, I just can't wait for the movies. It's going to be a girls' day out...for sure.

Catching Fire

I've started the trilogy and can't seem to put those books down. I loved The Hunger Games even though I never expected myself to really like it. I just never read apocalyptic stories. But, this was a great story. And then Catching Fire was good but definitely a sequel. I hated the ending. The only redeeming fact was that Mockingjay was already out and I could buy it in a heartbeat on my Kindle.

And, one thing I miss with the Kindle: covers.

Book covers. I love looking at them. The beautiful art, the colors. My Kindle is black and white. So, like I said, I do miss the book covers.

Anyway, I've nearly completed Mockingjay - in about one day.

I still didn't like the way the second book left me hanging. I felt sort of played. And, that's without having to wait to get the third book in the series.

I don't know maybe that's just me. After all, I read Catching Fire in one day.

How 'bout you? Have you read the series? What did you think about the way Catching Fire ended?

Writing v. Running

Writing is a lot like running. They’re both a lot of hard work.

Running: I have to self-motivate myself to get out there and put one foot after the other and I can't let myself stop when I'm tired. I have to work at doing a little more every day--if I want to improve.

It’s the same with writing. I have to sit down and put the pen to the paper – or (more truthfully) my fingers to the keyboard.

It’s so easy to find excuses not to do it. It being running and/or writing. It's a simple thing to stay home and curl up with a good book or turn on the tube to watch a movie but instead I strap on my running shoes and get outside (in that good old—cold--Portland rain) to climb those hills, run those miles, and prepare for the upcoming race.

Writing: I have to walk away from reading that book, turn off the t.v., and sit down at the computer, if I want to get my own words down on the page and not just read the ones someone else has written.

Writing and Running: You have to put in time, energy and work, if you want to improve.

Running: I can’t just go outside and expect to run a marathon…of course I can work toward it. Improving my pace, endurance and cardiovascular ability, come with time, exercise, and strength. And I am working hard to get stronger--a little more every day.

Writing: I can’t expect to write the next great novel – not without putting in time, energy, and effort to perfect my craft. And, I have to work at dialogue, character development, tense, pacing, and plot.

Both, Running and Writing: are a lot of hard work. But, they are also fun, rewarding and energizing.

I love to feel the light drizzle on a cool day as I make it to the top of a hill I haven’t been able to climb before. And, I want to do a little dance with every chapter I finish.

Mom always used to tell me, “Anything worth having, is worth working for.”

I'm working at them both: Writing and Running.

Martin Luther King Day - 1.15.29 to 4.4.68

My favorite show of all time is It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart.

What does that have to do with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?

Well the entire premise of that old movie is that one person can make a huge difference in the world and impact the course of history simply by doing the right thing.

Today we celebrate more than a man, we celebrate an entire movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. was so many things. He was more than a Reverend or a Doctor, he was a brilliant, well-educated man who was also an eloquent writer and one of the only nonviolent activists I remember living in my lifetime. He made a huge impact on the world while preaching that people can make a difference without violence in the world. He was only 35 years-old when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and donated his prize (more than $54,000) to the civil rights movement during a tumultuous time in the world.

"...I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." (excerpt of Letter from Birmingham Jail)

He lived in a volatile world. This was the era when Robert Kennedy was assassinated and John F. Kennedy. But, still he stood up for what he believed in.

He was in Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking garbage workers when he was assassinated, standing on the balcony of his hotel room.

Progress on the DIE...t Front

I weighed in on Sunday and had lost 4 pounds!!! in one week. Of course last week I'd gained 3.6 pounds, so really it had to be a lot of sodium that caused the gain/loss, so quickly. The net result was really only 4 ounces lost, in a two week period. Much more acceptable from a health standard point-of-view. But I'm just glad to be back on the right track.

Weight Watchers has been keeping me on track(ing). ;)

I ran 7.5 miles straight on Saturday, that couldn't have hurt my weight loss program. But then I had to have a little chocolate, finish off some candy canes that were still sitting around the house, and have a few Valentine candies (which are now sitting around the house-and, yes, they are already in the stores). You know growing up in a family with nine kids, I learned not to let anything go to waste.

Mom never threw anything away. Somehow she always found a way to use everything. Waste not-want not was a favorite saying of hers. So instead, of throwing it away, (it being those candy canes) or letting it go to waste. . . it still goes to waist (mine) :(

It's soooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard for me to lose weight because I love food so much.

How 'bout you? Are you having trouble with a few extra pounds put on during the holidays?

EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

My old garden furniture rotted and fell apart. It was partly my fault for not covering it but it was really the Portland, Oregon weather that I blame: wet, wetter and wettest year I remember. That type of weather is really only suited for DUCKS! And, it might have been a good year for those quack-attacks but my garden chairs didn't fair so well. You see, water soaked wood has trouble surviving. But, lucky for me, I have a husband who loves working with his hands whenever he can get out from behind that desk he works behind all day.

And, it's so nice to have a handy guy around the house. Plus, we both love to go to Rebuilders to pick up old wood that would have been thrown away if it wasn't recycled. Then Lars sands it, and goes to work repurposing that old lumber.

Look at one piece of his handiwork.












Do you ever repurpose old items? Tell me about it in the "comments" section. I'd love to "read all about it" :)

Penguins

And, I'm not taking about shooting decoys. Nope, I'm talking about crafting. We writers craft with words but some people use other mediums, like clay.

Don't you just love to roll words around in your mouth and then put pen to paper and create. Well, you might want to take out some dough and/or clay and cut it and mold it. Shaping a little blob into something is so much fun. If you haven't done it for a while, pull out a package and play.

It's good for the creative juices.

My daughter has made about ten little birds, Penguins. Here's a couple that might help inspire us writers in more ways than one.