The song “All about Us” by He is We featuring Owl City introduced me to the movieThe Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and in turn, to the book of the same title by Cassandra Clare.
Well, I like Cassandra Clare’s idea of integrating all fairy tales, legends, history, and other things from other books and from imagination into one world. I like Cassandra Clare’s ideas of runes having magical powers, of shadowhunters saving the world from demons, and of Clairy discovering her connection with the shadowhunter world.
However, what I don’t like about this book is that some parts are just way too childish or corny bordering on being a hybrid of Harry Potter and Twilight. Still, I consider the fact that this book is written for teenagers. Maybe, they don’t mind those parts at all, as evident by the books popularity and high sales.
That being said, I don’t know when I will pick up the next book, or if I ever will. Surely, I want to know the continuation of the story. However, I want to save myself the trouble of encountering cringe-inducing dialogues and stories again. Perhaps, I’ll just wait for the next movie, that is, if it is to be made. Credit: Image from here.
On my last post, I stated my desire to read motivational books.
Sad to say, I still haven’t finished reading all of the books I have listed. I couldn't read a whole chapter of Seven Habits without breaking into a reverie every now and then. Not that the book promotes daydream, on the contrary, I find it too thick with information, that my brain just would wander automatically after sometime.
The good thing is that I was still able to read something. The Fault in Our Stars I believe is the first book I have finished reading this year. I seldom have the chance to read books wherein characters have terminal illness, so reading this book made me sad. Still, I'm thankful that through this book, I now have deeper understanding of the sufferings of cancer patients, be it physically or emotionally, their apprehensions, and their concern for their family. I felt Hazel's pain of missing her future because of the illness that consumes her present.
On the lighter side, this book has lines that totally cracked me up. John Green really did great in writing this book. There are not many authors who can make you laugh and cry at the same time.
I haven't had a chance to fill this blog meaningfully, but now I know what to do. It's about time I read books again and share some things about them.
The last time, I mostly read fiction. Now, I'm going to read or reread these motivational books. As always, one book per month. I hope I have enough books for the next 11 months.
For now, here's what I have:
*The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- Stephen Covey
For the longest time I have been wanting to make a comic strip, but I always end up doing nothing. I don't even know the elements of comics. Hence, when my friends told me to try my luck on a Bible comic, I hesitated.
Still, I have long resolved to be a "yes girl" and not to be someone full of excuses, so I tried. Well, I'm really not expecting much. I just did it to prove to myself that I can also draw for comics (hopefully not the first and last).
Here's my drawing. (I was told to make an anime/manga version of a comic strip, so I did.) Hope you like it.
Stop thinking that we've lost our chance and time. Everything happens for a reason. Life is not all about years that pass by. It's about how we live, how we dream, and how we make our existence meaningful. Let's welcome 2014 with new hope. :)
Disney's Frozen is not entirely what I was expecting. I think it's even better.
I haven't expected that this movie is also a musical. On the first song, I suddenly had a "Tangled" flashback and for a while I wondered if Disney is going to make all of its movies musical.
Frozen is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. However, the good thing about this movie is that the snow queen, Elsa, is not entirely evil. She just doesn't want to hurt people, especially her sister, Anna.
This movie is surely enjoyable and heartwarming, especially for sisters who have this love-hate-awkward relationship. Of course, it also shows how true love comes in an unexpected way.
Some things I
learned from Frozen:
(PS: With spoilers)
*Do not fall
in love with a person you just meet. Most importantly do not get engaged with
him (or her).
Anna easily falls in love with Prince Hans, and the crazier part is that she
agrees to be engaged with him. At first, I thought that they share true love
since they even have their own music video in the film. Boy, I was wrong.
It really is a
good lesson to control your heart and not fall in love with someone you barely
know. You wouldn't want to get your heart broken by a stranger, right?
*Do not hide
in fear.
Elsa, in her fear to hurt other people especially her sister, Anna, spends most
of her time alone in her room. She gets to fully appreciate her powers again when it is revealed to everyone since she no longer has to
hide it. Thus, she is able to make beautiful things again with her
icy powers.
It makes me
think that fear, really, paralyzes us and hinders us from growing or harnessing
our potentials. I actually felt sorry for Elsa for having been trapped in that
room for so long without being able to use her powers or build relationships with other people. In real life, I think
there are also situations where we are trapped in fear of so many things. This
should not be, it's actually tiring to be scared all the time, right? Also, I
once read that most of the fears you have are 90% imagined.
*An act of
true love comes in different shapes.
What I like about the film is that it does not give that ordinary
kiss-by-a-prince kind of "true love". Instead, Anna's choice to save
her sister from harm makes an act of true love deeper.
*Accepting
yourself frees you.
When Elsa finally accepts her power and rejoices that she is free to do it
without any reason to fear she is able to do beautiful and magnificent things.
This movie surely has a lot of fun and lessons, and it is also full of entertaining music like this soundtrack. Enjoy. :)
The song “All about Us” by He is We featuring Owl City introduced me to the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and in turn, to the book of the same title by Cassandra Clare.
