Amazing Grace

I was tagged last week by Smash from http://greatbooksandfreshcoffee.blogspot.com/ and I finally got to do it. It's a lot of fun!

What does your music say about you?

Put your iPod, Windows Media Player, or whatever music player on shuffle.
For each question, press the ‘next’ button to get your answer.

You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds.

Title this post the same as the answer to the final question.

1. IF SOMEONE ASKS, “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU ANSWER:
'Umbrella' - Rihanna

2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
'Stuck in a Moment' - U2 (scary)

3. WHAT DO LIKE IN A GIRL/GUY?
'Walk on' - U2

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
'One' - U2

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
'With or without you' - U2 (ok, so I'm a U2 fan)

6. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
'Unforgiven' - Metallica

7. WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT?
'Unforgiven II' - Metallica (I guess we're in sync)

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'Nothing Else Matters' - Metallica

9. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
'Sexy Back' - Timbaland (hmmmm)

10. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'Bonnie & Clyde '03' - Jay Z & Beyonce

11. WHAT SONG DID/WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
'All Cried Out' - Allure (that's eerie)

12. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
'Insatiable' - Darren Hayes

13. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
'Femme Like U' - K-Maro

14. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
'The Last Gospel' - Holy Trinity

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
'Ave Maria' - Josh Groban

16. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME THIS POST?
'Amazing Grace' - Il Divo

You get to tag 7 other bloggers. I choose Cathy, J. Kaye, Jeska, Diane, Lynda, Bethanny and Amy.

999 Challenge

Here's my list:

1. 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen (January - classic literature)
2. 'Arthur and George' by Julian Barnes (February - fiction)
3. 'Running with Scissors' by Augusten Burroughs (March - memoir)
4. 'From a Whisper to a Scream' by Charles De Lint (April - Sci-Fi)
5. 'Mary Queen of Scots' by Antonia Fraser (May - historical non-fiction)
6. 'The Boleyn Inheritance' by Philippa Gregory (June - hitorical fiction)
7. 'The Face' by Dean Koontz (July - horror)
8. 'Atlantis Found' by Clive Cussler (August - adventure)
9. 'Equal Rites' by Terry Pratchett (September - fantasy)

Spiritually Speaking Challenge - amendment

Silly me. In all the excitement of starting my first challenge I forgot that to sign up under Mr. Linky you need to put in your URL. So, if you do not have a blog, please email me at lilyswistek@yahoo.com with your list as well as reviews of the books if you choose to write any. I will then, with your permission, feature your reviews on my blog (with your credentials of course).

'A Song of Ice and Fire', part four 'A Feast For Crows' by George R.R. Martin

As an aged, experienced and incurable reader, I buy books in great numbers. Sometimes I will buy a book that I have already read and I know that this is a title I want to have in my library forever to re-read it any time I want to. Most of the time, like many other readers, I buy books based on opinions of others or reviews I read or even just a brief synopsis of what the book is about, usually written at the back cover. During my bright career in a mighty bookstore as a ….inventory supervisor (hmmm) I would buy books that were being bought by customers most often. I also would buy an unreasonable amount of them then. One of the titles that caught my attention was a fantasy series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George R.R. Martin. It comprised four books and yesterday I finally finished book number four: ‘A Feast For Crows’ and I will not be buying an upcoming part five.
I struggled with writing this review for the whole time while I was reading ‘A Feast For Crows’. I wanted to write an ok review simply because it is a part of a true epic and any writer who is capable of writing nearly four thousand pages without boring the reader to death deserves to have some praises written about them. Mr. Martin did manage to write a true epic and I know that he has hundreds of thousands of fans. One has to have one heck of an imagination to create all the complicated characters, all plots of revenge, raging wars and keep track of it all.
However, ‘A Feast For Crows’ made me immensely upset and frustrated. I really wanted to like it, I love reading fantasy, it is a genre I have read since my teenage years and I had hoped this book to be what I expect a fantasy fiction to be. I wanted hardcore magic (both black and white), supernatural beings and animals with great powers. I found only small instances of feeble magic, there was a mention of sinister supernatural beings that were threatening to overtake and destroy the human population and of big vicious direwolfs. But all that never really came to fruition, I thought that after reading the three previous books I would finally be rewarded for my patience in the fourth one and see these characters play a major role but I was disappointed. All I got was more killings, more fighting and some scheming. A lot of times I felt I was reading some poor replica of Bible’s ‘Exodus’ with descriptions of clans, this man was a son of that one and a cousin of another one and great-great-grandson of this one and married to the girl that came from yet another family of highborns, etc. I skipped many pages because of that, I didn’t see the point in reading something I couldn’t keep track of anyway.
All and all, even though there are supposed to be two more parts to this series I will not be buying them. And going back to the reasons for buying new books I mentioned at the beginning, maybe reading the praises at the back covers simply that convinced me to buy this one in the first place also created great expectations towards the series. One of them praised Mr. Martin as an American Tolkien and believe me Tolkien he is not.

Desiderata

I came upon this poem a few years ago. It made me cry so beautiful it is. And so true as well. I am putting the picture of my sister and me when we were little kids because every time I read 'Desiderata' I think that if those two girls knew it then and tried to live by it, maybe they would be different women today.








Desiderata
written by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.