People Who Clap At The End Of Books.

I love reading, but once school is in session, I don't get as much reading done, unless its for school. This year, I decided to change that. Instead of window shopping on the 'net [as much], I decided to spend part of my free time reading. I'm currently working on The Graveyard Book for Read + Rant, but I recently finished People Who Clap at the End of Books + wanted to share a little bit about it.

The author, Todd Caiazzo, is a friend from high school. We used to sit by each other in a few classes + occasionally have lunch at the red picnic tables on campus. When I heard that Todd had written a book + was donating 100% of the profits to charity [for terminally ill kids], I asked him if he would mind if I reviewed the book for the blog. He happily agreed + sent over a copy of the book for me to read. Before I read it, Todd informed me that it was a compilation of short stories, which were sure to bring a smile to my face. I was really excited to see what my old friend had put together. 

Right off the bat, I was hooked. Todd writes how he speaks - some of these stories actually sound like random conversations we would have had in class, when we should have been doing our math work. Some of the stories that I really got into covered these topics:

- the fact that we eat birthday cake, covered in germs, + don’t think twice about it

- when a couple decides to live together, more pillows start to appear

- the economy downturn + the hobo baby

- pickled egg jars + lava lamps

- conversations in history that never happened [but after reading, you'll wish they had]

I really enjoyed the book, although I am now slightly creeped out by birthday cake, which is probably better for my figure in the end. You can snag the eBook over on iTunes for $1.99. If you prefer the paperback edition, its $7.50 plus shipping via Lulu. As I mentioned earlier, Todd is donating all of the profits to charity, so how can you go wrong? $2 for a book that'll make you laugh, plus the funds will go toward helping terminally ill children. Consider it one of your good deeds for the day. If you've read the book already, let me know what you think!

Life After Death.

A few times on the blog, I mentioned how I was reading Life After Death, written by Damien Echols, a man wrongfully imprisoned for eighteen years for a crime he did not commit. I finally finished the book on Sunday afternoon, and had to sit down to write down all that was swirling through my head. 

I first heard of Damien Echols when I saw the documentary, Paradise Lost. He, along with Jason Baldwin + Jessie Misskelley, were accused of murdering three children. I remember watching it really late at night in the basement at my Aunt Lil + Uncle Marc's house - I believe it was the summer after eighth grade. I was flabbergasted at how these individuals, teens expressing themselves through their attire + music, had been pegged for these murders. I remember wearing questionable clothing [it covered my body, don't fret] + listening to Marilyn Manson. My mom would say that Manson was not a good influence - she even blocked MTV from being viewed at her home, because of questionable content [aka Beavis + Butthead]. I would get so frustrated with her reasoning, but being an angst-ridden teen who was attempting to cope with the recent death of her grandfather, I did not handle it with grace. 

I wanted to write these boys, who were a few years older than me, to tell them that I believed they were innocent. To say that I, too, have been misunderstood + called a weirdo, because of how I dressed + what I listened to. But I never wanted to bother them. I figured they received loads of letters from people, stating that they were on their side. Who would want to hear from a thirteen year old kid, anyway?

Over the years, I randomly thought about the gentlemen + would hop on Google to see what was going on with the case [I even wanted to order them books from their Amazon wish lists, but I was afraid the guards wouldn't deliver the parcels]. Eventually, they were released in 2011, with a plea deal that was less than stellar, but to get off of death row - I would have probably done the same thing. When I heard about the West of Memphis documentary, I also caught wind of Damien's memoir, Life After Death. Luckily, I was able to snag an advance copy so I could tell my readers about it.

I don't even know where to start, folks. There is so much that I learned while reading this book. After spending over half of his life on death row, the fact that he made it out intact truly amazes me. He is a fascinating person, someone I could see myself randomly chatting with in a coffee shop about the weather, a book, or music. Not fascinating in a negative sense, or in some freak-show sort of way - I want to clarify that. When you read the text, you will understand what I am getting at, without revealing the contents of the book. I also have such a great respect for Damien's wife, Lorri. My god, what a wonderful + strong woman she is. I can't begin to imagine what the both of them went through [pieces are given through the book, but there is only so much you can put in a book just shy of four hundred pages], but I am so glad they had each other. That's the power of love [yes, that is a Huey Lewis + The News quote, plus my second BTTF reference this week, but hey - it works].

In all seriousness, this book brought out a variety of emotions, as Echols has a way with words + connects with readers on a level I didn't think that was possible. I am kicking myself for never sending letters of support, after reading what Damien experienced throughout the course of his life. Luckily, he received continued support over the years from notable folks such as Peter Jackson, Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder + Henry Rollins, just to name a few. These people helped shed light onto the case + made sure this wasn't forgotten, that these men would be freed.

Life After Death will be released on Tuesday, September 18. If you'd like to pre-order or purchase for your Kindle, head over to Amazon. If you are going to be in the NYC area on Friday, September 21, there will be a speaking engagement of sorts with Damien Echols + Johnny Depp at the Union Square store. If I didn't have to work that day, I would be there in a heartbeat. If any of you attend the event, please let me know how it went!

Things I'm Loving Lately.

Sometimes its simple things in life that make you smile. Here are a few things (besides my friends + family - because that is a given) that have made my day this week!

Call me a cat lady if you want, but you can't deny that this Cute Cats Jumper from Romwe rules. I just saved 20% on my first order + so can you!

My partner in crafting has recently started Meme for Monday on her blog. I don't know about you, but Monday's are usually the suck over in my neck of the woods. Thank you, Sarina, for making Monday more bearable! 

Floral Halos from That Madonna Girl. I'm obsessed with The Kimmie (shown above), The Lainie + The Marie. 

Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet has a really awesome feature called Literate + Stylish. Yours truly will be featured in the upcoming weeks + I am stoked to be a part of something so awesome. 

My pen pals! I have over a dozen across the country + its so great to connect with them outside of the 'net. Every day, I can't wait to check the mail box to see if I have a letter. If you guys are reading this, you seriously make my day every time I read what you write to me.

Drinking coffee or tea out of cute mugs is the best way to enjoy your beverage, in my humble opinion. I just came across this fun Uglydoll mug + I definitely want to add this to my growing mug collection!

I have been watching this video for weeks + it never. gets. old. Psy is the man + I can't wait to learn the dance. He was recently on Ellen + gave watchers these words of wisdom, "Dress classy + dance cheesy." I'm working on the classy part, but I've got the cheesy part down part, in more than just the dance department. If you love it as much as I do, you can download the track here for under $1.

I hope you are all enjoying your week - I can't wait until the weekend arrives, so I can sit down + get a few hours of schoolwork under my belt. Sounds silly, but I'd rather get it done now, so I can pay more attention to the blog + studying for my state examinations.

Currently.

Anticipating: Erich's birthday! Its tomorrow, and we took a nice little "staycation." Unfortunately, he has come down with a cold, so he is laying low. I'm hoping he feels better by the weekend, so we can adventure a bit. Oh, and I'm also anticipating listing items in my brand new Etsy store! The coasters I just made in the picture above will be listed, among some of the jewelry I have been making. My vintage Gucci bags will also be going up there, because I just have way too many bags and I need to clean house a bit.

Listening to: Summer 2012 Saddle Creek Sampler. I snagged this from Amazon for free, which was awesome. It has artists such as Bright Eyes, Cursive and The Mynabirds. You can find the album here, and check out more of their free downloads. This is how I discover new music, and its safe to say that 15% of my iTunes library are free albums I snagged from Amazon.

Loving: The Beatles Yellow Submarine vinyl figures, recently released by Funko. I am totally in love with these little buggers, but I can't really justify spending the money on these at the current moment. My birthday is in November, so here's to wishful thinking! Fun fact: I have The Beatles Yellow Submarine tattooed on my back.

Planning: what to do this weekend for the boy's birthday! Especially tomorrow. I have no clue what I want to do yet. Maybe I'll take him out for a nice lunch out on the town or something. He just made a comment as I was typing this, saying something that he wants me to surprise him. This coming from the guy who does not like to be surprised. Jeez, nothing like pressure at the last minute, right? I'm sure I can think of something. 

Reading: my advance copy of Damien Echols' Life After Death. I was lucky enough to receive a copy from the publisher a few weeks early, in order to give my readers a brief review of the book. If you are unfamiliar with Damien Echols, he is a gentleman who was on death row since the mid 90s for a crime he did not commit. If you have ever heard of the West Memphis 3, Damien is one of the three individuals who was wrongfully imprisoned for the horrific murders of three children in West Memphis, Arkansas. Their story has fascinated me since I saw a documentary on HBO when I was in middle school, and I am so grateful that Damien sent me in the right direction to obtain a copy of the book. 

Watching: Disney flicks, believe it or not! I just got my paws on The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under Blu-Ray set , and I'm going to watch it as soon as I'm done typing this. I will never tire of watching Disney films, even when i'm 64. :) 

Wishing: I could get my paws on a solid camera, to take pictures for the blog. I usually use my iPhone, or I have someone with a nice camera help me out and take some shots for me. I would really like to have something of my own, so I could adventure out and snap some beautiful shots. I have been eyeing the Nikon D5100. A friend of mine used to work for the company and recommended this model for what I plan on using it for. The price is definitely not in my range at the moment, but I have been saving up points on my credit card, which I can cash out for gift cards to various places that sell the camera. Its an older model, so I'm hoping I can still acquire one before the holidays. 

Working on: my organizational skills. I have been utilizing my planner to a greater degree, and using mini Post-it notes for my blog posts, thanks to something I read on little chief honeybee. Its actually been one of the best things I've done lately! I'm actually putting together a ginormous contest, which will hit the blog later in the year, plus starting up a weekly or bi-weekly feature from other bloggers I admire. 

Bookworm.

Two Sundays ago, it was pouring buckets. With so many fires breaking out on Long Island in the last few weeks, the rain was welcomed with open arms. I had two shoots lined up for that day, so we had to alter our plans a bit. The first shoot, which will be featured on another blog at some point in the Spring/Summer, was shot outside. It was so cold out! We had to run around in the rain to get to a covered area. We decided to head to a local library to shoot the second portion. It was a lot of fun, and some of the library staff asked what we were doing. They didn't mind; we were respectful and I'm pretty sure they found it amusing.

Perusing the history books.

I'm only 4'11", so I needed a boost to see the top shelf.

Brett found a Star Wars book for me. He knows what I like!

It was really nice, just relaxing in the library. We sat on the floor and talked about school, work and how much we wanted summer to be here already (although once the August heat is unbearable, we will be crying for autumn to arrive). I found a copy of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and started leafing through the book. I had seen the movie and liked it, so I'm sure the book would be pleasurable. There are lots of music references, which I'm a fan of, so maybe I'll check it out. I need to get a library card, though. I have one for the college, but not for the town libraries. Its foolish, because the libraries out here are AWESOME. 

One of the corners we occupied while frequenting the library.

Leafing through a copy of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Another amazing ring, handcrafted by Mary-Jo Peritore. She's a genius!

Getting really into an excerpt of the book.

Outfit
Top: Trash + Luxury, $33.80
Jeans: 7 For All Mankind, $159
Boots: Dr. Martens, $125
Ring: MerCurios, custom order
Necklace: Chandler the Robot, $25
Glasses: Fendi

I'm super stoked for you to see the other photos from the earlier shoot that day, but it'll have to wait until it surfaces on the other blog. Until then, we will all just have to wait and see. :)

Five Things (Weekend Edition).

I had a really good week. Kept myself busy, connected with a bunch of people regarding the blog, and continued my job search. Here are a few things that made my weekend much brighter.

1. Draw Something

I am no artist, by far. But I try, which is what matters. This was my rendition of Kanye West that I sent over to my friend, Kimber. I'm sure she would have figured it out, even if I didn't write, "Imma let you finish," but it made it more amusing. 

2. Running

Last week, due to scheduling and not feeling so hot, Liz and I got a bit off track with running. We got back to it, and let me tell you, it hurt like crazy. But we pushed through, and are back on track again. This is a picture of me stretching, before running. When I come back from running, I do not look this put together, hah.

3. Frozen Yogurt

Even though I am watching what I am eating, I can still enjoy junk food  - in moderation, of course. On Sunday, Liz and I went to YoChi Yogurt, in Patchogue - right down the street from where I had adventured on Friday. I was so stoked about having fro-yo, I took this picture to share my excitement with the world (well, just on Instagram, but close enough).

4. Gorgeous Weather

It feels as Spring is already upon us. Even though we lost an hour of sleep, thanks to daylight savings, I spent Sunday enjoying the beautiful weather. Definitely an even trade, in my book!

5. Magazines

My poor magazine subscriptions always get the shaft during the school year. Before bed, I quickly flipped through these. NYLON has been one of my favorite magazines for 10+ years - Paper being a close second. When I have more time over the weekend, I plan on ripping some recipes out of taste of the south, but I'm sure they'll have to be modified, in order fit into my healthier eating habits. 

What are some things that made your weekend enjoyable?