Order of the Phoenix International Trailer

Tell me this doesn't look like the coolest Harry Potter movie to ever grace the silver screen...
Or tell me it's not very obvious I've just learned to post movies from YouTube?

Know how I love nostalgia?

So I found this on YouTube (as a result of a tendency I have to Google/Wikipedia anything I happen to think about) and it really took me back to when I was... really little. And the best part is that my brothers have picked up the song and keep singing it... My sister is about ready to kill me.
"And don't slam that- ...door!"

The Amish

I'm still rather obsessed with Plain Truth. That's not surprising. Actually, I'm less obsessed with the book than completely in awe of the Amish people. Or maybe I'm obsessed with them. In any case, they are just amazing people. They just live so simply, and they're so selfless. And they really don't feel that they're missing anything we have and they don't. I think that, regardless of religion, every one of us can look beyond the, um, interesting clothes and the lack of electricity, and learn from them.
Shabbat Shalom!

And... we're done!

I finished Plain Truth. I loved it! My Sister's Keeper is an awesome book, quite honestly one of the best books out there (Go read it!), but there was something really special about Plain Truth. I learned so much about the Amish people. Who knew that Amish teens are allowed to do things like go to movies or the mall before they're baptized at 18, or that their households are allowed to have appliances- as long as they run on gas? I didn't (but Jodi Picoult did, because she spent a week with the Amish), and just for that learning experience, Plain Truth is a great book. Other than that, since the book is about a murder trial, I also learned a lot about how the court system works. I'm not at all into the legal stuff, but I was fascinated by what goes on in there. My Sister's Keeper is also about a trial, but it's much simpler. I had no idea I liked that stuff. Maybe I should finally take my parents up on their advice and read some Grisham books...
Jut for a quick summary. Plain Truth begins with the discovery of a dead newborn in a barn in Amish country. Katie Fisher, and 18-year-old unmarried Amish girl, appears to be the baby's mother, and evidence is found that implies that Katie killed him. Ellie Hathaway, a very successful lawyer from Philadelphia, has just begun to question the morality of her career, when she's asked to defend Katie. In order to do so, she needs to get to know the Amish people up close- and therefore experiences a massive culture clash. She finds herself learning a lot about the Amish, and about herself as well.
I'm done writing now. Enjoy!

Still reading...

I'm addicted to that book! I read it on the bus today, both directions, and if I get a chance I'll read some more today. I was thinking about the book the whole day, I'm so wrapped up in it.
Let me explain. I never read during the week, only on Shabbat, because I generally have a ton of work to do. I still have a ton of work to do, but I'm now putting a little time aside to read.
This is weird. Plain Truth will likely become the first book I've read within a week in a very long time. (Actually, I don't remember when I started Mirror Mirror but in any case that was during Pesach, so it doesn't count.) I can't remember when I've been in the middle of a book I absolutely refused to put down, but I'm rather enjoying it. Know what? Maybe I'll do this more often.

Back to normal... and some book reviews

Yep, the Chag is over. I'm not particularly thrilled, especially because I just started a phenomenal, really intense book and am completely untinterested in putting it down.
The book is Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult, and I'm loving it. It's about an 18-year-old unmarried Amish girl who apparently gave birth and killed her child. She's on trial for murder, and yet she's Amish. I'm probably not describing it well, but this is just so cool. I'm learning a lot about the Amish- Jodi Picoult knows how to do her research, and is revealing a lot of surprising details about their way of life. The characters are just... amazing. Each in their own way. I'm formulating all these opinions about them, and I can't wait to find out who I was right about. Oh, and I believe there was something in the book that would have made me cry if I hadn't been sitting at a bus stop in Yerushalayim when I read it. Basically, I can't put it down, which is ironically something I don't remember experiencing with My Sister's Keeper, by the same author, which has been THE book everyone's been talking about lately. That was also an awesome book, and I would have thought I'd like it better than Plain Truth. But I guess I'm not really ready to decide which one I liked better yet. Anyway, I'm loving this book.
Speaking of books, I just finished Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire, and I have to say I was disappointed. Following his pattern, this book was based on the story of Snow White, not really from anyone's perspective, just with a different twist. It takes place in 16th century Italy, but he didn't eliminate all the magic like he did with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Don't worry, the dwarfs and the mirror are still in. Although they don't have the Disney names, and they do have an extra brother. (Speaking of which, I just quizzed myself and discovered that I still do know all of the Disney names, and I'm sure I haven't seen Snow White since I was, I don't know, 6 maybe? But get this: Happy, Doc, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy and Bashful. Go me!) Anyway, Mirror Mirror wasn't one of his better books. The wicked queen was somewhat disturbing, not to mention pure evil, and she was a big part of the reason why I didn't like the book. So if you're going to read a Gregory Maguire book, go choose another one. Nothing beats Wicked...
And just one more thing. I never mentioned the other book I read recently, which I should have mentioned because I loved it. Looking for Peyton Place, by Barbara Delinsky. The protagonist is Annie, who's grown up in Middle River, New Hampshire, a town that claims that Peyton Place was based on it. Annie never really fit in there, but as a writer she found herself growing up under the influence, for lack of a better word, of Grace Metalious, who wrote Peyton Place. The plot of the story is Annie, now a bestselling novelist, looking into an issue that's affecting the people of Middle River, but they're all wary of her, because she may be writing a book about them. Anyway, aside from being completely heartwarming and having a good feeling, I loved this book because it involves two things that always make me happy: writing and cute little American towns. This was such a cute book!
OK, now I'm done with the reviews. So today I did a science experiment with the boys. Someone gave us this crystal making kit, so we followed the instructions and now we need to wait a week to see if it worked, or in other words how badly I messed it up...
I think I had something else to say, but I seem to have forgotten what it was. Oh well.

Happy Birthday!

I write. This is one of the things about me that I'm most proud of, even though I may not have done much with it yet. But for the past year, I've been brainstorming and writing and working on an untitled fairy tale. Yes, a fairy tale. I'm really excited about it, even though I haven't done much with it yet. I don't want to say much about the plot, but I really hope this might amount to something.
Anyway, today is the 3rd day of Pesach, and it was this day exactly a year ago when a long afternoon turned into a massive brainstorming session that turned into this fairy tale. I can't believe I've been living with these characters for a year already, and I can't believe how much they've changed.
So happy birthday to my brainstorm, I guess! I really don't know, but I hope I'll have more to report soon!

Chag Sameach!

Although the weather doesn't seem to agree, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Pesach!
On a completely unrelated note, I watched part of Shrek today because I needed stimulation while I ironed. I love nostalgia...

Less than one day left to clean...

Are we still hanging in there? :-)