Day 3-Things that make me happy

Day 3 of my 31 Day Blog Challenge is things that make me happy.

Link to my first post: 31-day Blog Challenge!~

Again, since I don't want this to be too long of a post, I will limit it 5 things that make me happy.

By the way, who's watching the FIFA World Cup right now? This is the first year I'm watching it (and the first year I actually care). I'm rooting for the meager amount of Asian countries in there; South Korea, Iran and mostly Japan (and I still support them now, even though they lost to Cote d'Ivoire and tied with Greece (their prospects are not looking good) but it doesn't look like any of them win the tournament xD. Well, I don't think any Asian team will, like, ever. I guess soccer is just a thing that's limited to soccer fans within the Asian country; it's not a national thing (like China, and I found it funny that they didn't qualify this year. They are even worse than the countries I mentioned above at soccer but they made a big deal about it by sending as much press as they could over to Brazil.) Compared with South/Central American and Europe where soccer, or football (which makes better sense to me to call it that), is widely enjoyed in most of their countries. They have a longer history with soccer and also more...talent; I'm not exactly sure how to state this but I hope you get the general idea of what I'm trying to say. They're built differently over there. xD

But surprisingly this year, Japan and South Korea didn't really suck that bad...especially Japan. They definitely played better than when I last took a peek at them in the 2010 World Cup (which I vaguely remember.) So congrats to them for improving! They have a bright future!

Anyway, but my top contender for winning the World Cup, it would probably have to be Germany. I saw their match against Portugal and they pretty much crushed them; 4:0. Not only that, but their technique and play is so freaking beautiful. They really are skilled. My favorite player that game was Ozil because his ball control is amazing and I thought he played well. Don't take my words seriously though, I'm not an expert on soccer. xD

Ahem, I spent too much time talking about the World Cup so let's move on to today's challenge, shall we?

5 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Food 

Oh yes, the good ol' food you eat when you're depressed over a hard breakup. That familiar companion you have when you're lonely. Food will always have a special place in my heart. And it makes me especially happy when I'm on the verge of starving and I take the first bite and feel like I'm in heaven. The types of foods I like are, sweets, pizza, noodles, rice, sushi, pasta, bread buns, frozen yogurt, etc. Generally, I crave Chinese food and Italian food constantly, which is kind of weird, I know.

 2. Watching a show (be it anime, movie, etc.)

This should be obvious, since I like watching anime, but the reason why I like watching shows so much is because I love being immersed into the story and characters. Of course, it's not too good to be obsessed and unable to differentiate between reality and fiction (which I do probably way more often than I should) but I like to take risks. ;P Haha, no I'm actually a very cautious person. Cautious and stupid. Anyway, it doesn't have to be anime specifically; I got very engrossed in The Walking Dead tv show before the 4th season started and then I kind of dropped it sooo yeah. I also liked The Big Band Theory. And Two and a Half Men was my guilty pleasure. My sentences are getting reallly awkward.

3. Books

Not just reading books but buying books, touching books, looking at my bookshelf, just gives me so much joy. I don't know what it is but yeah, call me a book pervert if you want. ERMAHGERD BERKSSSS

4. Nature

To describe what I like about it in more detail, I like being outside (though I don't go out a lot xD) and sunbathing while admiring the forestry scenery around me. It's just so peaceful, relaxing, and I feel content with life. It's like, I'm reaching enlightenment or something. You know what, I should probably just stop writing sentences. 

.....

Okay, one more thing; my favorite place to sun bathe is in my backyard which, since I live in a townhouse, is shared by many families but basically, we have a gorgeous view of a pond (and forestry surrounding it.) Probably the best house location I've ever had. 

 5.  Kungfu/Tennis/exercise in general (sleeping is a close second)

I like sweating. Is that weird? I don't know, maybe it's not the sweating I like, but the exhilaration I feel when I pushing my body to the limit. Also the knowledge that you're burning calories is very appealing too. Speaking of exercise, I need to do more of that this summer. xD It seems like when the school year is over, I always feel like laying around and not doing anything, even though it's the perfect time to get things done.

Soo...that was my 5 things that make me happy! :D Yay, I feel a little happier typing this all out ahaha.

End note: My second BookOutlet order arrived today so I'll be doing a post on that soon! I feel like I have so many ideas on what kind of posts to create for my blog but no idea on how to execute them. Ya feel me?

Today's a good day to have a good day.~ <3

Day 2: Favorite Quotes

Today is another day! Which means I have to complete another step in my 31 Day Blog challenge (see my first post for more details.) Day 1: Selfie & 5 random things (31 Day Blog Challenge)

Today is day 2 and I'm supposed to include my favorite quotes. They didn't specify how many but I'm just going to include 5 quotes because I don't want to spew another gigantic post.

"Impossible is just two letters away from possible."

-Cr1TiKaL 

Cr1TiKaL is actually one of the funniest gaming youtubers I watch and when I heard him say this, I instantly thought, "oh my gosh, this is so true!" Although he appears to be a shallow man that only sexualizes women, if you continue to watch his videos, you can tell that he is educated and doesn't put women down....? I don't know how to state what I was thinking but he also donates part of the revenue he earns from YouTube to charity (he even has a twitter account solely for that purpose of recording all of his donations) so he seems like a  pretty dope person.

This quote reminds me that impossible is closer to being possible than I think it is. 

"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."

-Lao Tzu

When I first read this quote, it immediately clicked in my mind and it almost hurt how relevant this was for me. This serves as a reminder that I should be living in the present, content, and not thinking about regret or worrying about events that haven't happened yet. 

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

-Vincent van Gogh

I have doubts about myself. I think everyone does. Sometimes I get really pessimistic and emotional and I feel like giving up on everything, really. This quote kind of goes hand-in-hand with the first quote. Saying that something is 'impossible' or 'I'll never be able to do that' is wrong, and I recognize that. But to actually shut that evil little voice in the back of your head that says that you cannot do it, you have to go out there and actually do it first, without worrying about whether or not you have the ability to do it. This is definitely something I struggle with; pointless worrying before I do anything that is out of my comfort zone (ex. moving to a new place; I feel really unsettled and depressed.)

Overall, I guess the message is that no matter how much you think you're going to fail, the outcome is uncertain until you try something. You might fail, sure, but that's no big deal; brush the dirt off your pants and keep on walking. But if you don't even try, you don't know that there is still that percent chance, however small, that you will succeed. And I also guess it's about how you should take opportunities when you see them or when they're offered to you (wow I'm just a connection master today.)

"When anger rises, think of consequences." 

-Confucius

Although I may not seem like a person that has a temper, I do have a bit of a temper. xD I guess the cause of it is because I'm so withdrawn and quiet, that I do it to get attention? I've read a thing somewhere (possibly from the roots of studying human interaction and such) that people who get angry easily need more love and affection in their life but I honestly think that I can handle it with a more optimistic viewpoint on life. ^^ 

Getting angry is not good for yourself and the people around you, but something I think the general population doesn't know is that anger can affect your brain (depleting brain cells) and possibly affect other parts of your body too. I'm not really too sure about what else it affects but you could search it on Google to get more details on that. 

More peace and love! <3 Anger is bad. :(

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." 

-Chinese Proverb

AKA it's now or never, baby. Also something I struggle with. Time management and productivity. Procrastination is my worse enemy yet I embrace it all the time. It's never too late to do something, even if you think it is late. If you start now, you can still get going. But if you keep on postponing something to a later date, it's a good chance you'll never get to it. 

I should recite this quote everyday. Like a mantra.

Okay! That was the end of my favorite quotes list! Maybe I'll get to posting something else today, who knows, but you'll definitely see me post tomorrow. 

Today is good day to have a good day. <3

So, um, wow.-BookOutlet Haul #1

WARNING: Whoa, very long post. o.o

Miraculously, on the day I created my blog, my BookOutlet order came to my door. *angel music starts playing*

Just a quick explanation of BookOutlet; it's basically the best site to buy books from (other than Amazon.com). They sell new books for ridiculously cheap prices just because, for example, they have a marking from the original manufacturer or overstock. They also sell scratch-and-dent books, aka books that have some wear and tear to them but the prices on them are heavily reduced. Most of the books on their site are at least 60% off the original price of the book AND THAT IS CRAZY. Granted, it sometimes doesn't have the books I want but usually I can find some books I want to buy.

The only downside is the shipping. It starts at $3.99 for 2 books and they $0.50 for every other book you have(so if you get 4 books like I did, the shipping would be $4.99). If you get a lot of books, no matter how cheap they are, the shipping will get to be more and more expensive(it's not really that bad, but when you think about the fact you could get another book for the price of the shipping...it kinda sucks). That's why I only got 4 books but then I saw more books that I wanted on the site and went back for another order. xD That's the reason I put the title as "BookOutlet Haul #1"; I will be doing another one of these when I get my second order(I got 5 books in that one :3 so excited!)

Ahem, so anyway! Onto the haul! You can bet that I'm making reviews for all of the books that I've shown here! Maybe not soon but someday!

Here is the lovely box it came in! Oh how seeing their logo nearly brought tears to my eyes! 

Also, ignore my messy bed please. lol 

This is what I see when I open the box (of course I took out the brown paper packaging to make it look nicer but yeah, THANK BROWN PAPER PACKAGING. You did my book babies well.)

 The first book I see is...of course, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion!

Now I know, I know, how could I have not read this already? There was so much hype about the movie and even before that, the book was pretty popular too...I did hear about this book but I just never had the chance to pick it up. Oddly enough, a few years back I was hesitant to buy any books at all. Now, I'm a shopaholic...

Synopsis (from back cover): "R is having a no-life crisis--he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may occasionally eat people, but he'd rather be riding abandoned airport escalators, listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collecting souvenirs from the ruins of civilization.

And then he meets a girl. 

First as his captive, then his reluctant guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R's gray landscape, and something inside him begins to bloom. He doesn't want to eat this girl--although she looks delicious--he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they can't imagine, and their hopeless world won't change without a fight."

The storyline sounds really cute! I can't wait to devour this book! <--see what I did there? 

P.S. and all it had was this. Besides this, the book was is PERFECT condition. Unbelievable. And I got it for $4.99! 

This next book I got is Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff. It's the first book in his "The Lotus War" series. The third book is expected to come out on September 23, 2014.

Synopsis (from Amazon): "The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. When hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a legendary griffin, they fear their lives are over. Any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.  Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, the girl Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire."

I haven't read any other books by Jay Kristoff so I don't know whether or not I'll like his writing style but the premise GUYS. THE PREMISE. IT'S TOKYO STEAMPUNK. How freaking cool is that?? There's not much diversity in YA novels, and japanese culture is not often combined with steampunk so basically my head is exploding right now. It sounds SO AWESOME. But I'm also afraid that my high expectations for this book will be crushed. 

I've read a few reviews on Amazon.com and a lot of them say the same thing. Apparently the character interactions are awkward and forced, it wasn't written well, etc. Something that did make me regain hope was that the general consensus was that the second book redeemed this book so, I'm looking forward to that! I picked up the second book in my second BookOutlet order! :) 

One notable thing that I read in a review is that this book would probably gain the love of otaku fans, which is perfect! I wouldn't necessarily call myself an otaku (because it has gained a negative connotation) but I do like anime and manga...if you didn't catch on. xD 

 YESYESYESYES ALL THE YESES! 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

 This is a very popular book on BookTube and has been raved about ALOT pretty much everywhere. 

I've read about halfway through this book and decided I needed a physical copy of this (I was reading on my iPad mini) and bought it on BookOutlet.

Again, this is the only mark I found on the book. One thing I was surprised about this book was that it was thicker than I expected. I don't know, it looked thinner when I saw people holding it up in their videos. 

Synopsis: "Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.
Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?" 

I can't wait to finish this book! I can really relate to Cath, in the sense we're both introverts and write fanfictions (although I can't say that I'm as obsessed that she is. xD) 

 My last book of this haul is Cinder by Marissa Meyer. The fact that it was set in modern Beijing really intrigued me. Besides that, it was really cheap so I decided to get it. Are you starting to see a patten to how my mind works? xD 

This book is the first in the Lunar Chronicles trilogy, and the two other books, Scarlet and Cress are already out. I plan on getting them both in the future so I can marathon this trilogy. 

Synopsis: "Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though; Cinder's brain interface has giver her an uncanny ability  to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. 

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger step-sister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived. 

But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for."

Seriously sounds freaking interesting. I'll have to finish reading the books my school assigned me to read over the summer first, sadly. Though I doubt that they won't be good books. 

Above; The Stranger by Albert Camus and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Since I have to do it for school anyway, I will be doing an analysis of these 2 books...probably soon if I don't procrastinate.

Well, that's the end of my haul! I can't wait for the other books I've ordered to arrive. :D :D :D 

Have a fantastic day~ <3

31 day Blog Challenge!~

As you can tell, I'm new to this blogging thing. Please treat me well. ^-^~

 

I first got the idea for this when I was browsing YouTube and discovered BookTube. From there, I completely fell in love with the community and I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to join. If you don't know what BookTube is, it is a YouTube community(like gaming, beauty gurus, etc.) for book lovers. They generally post things like book reviews, book hauls, book tags, etc. It sounded perfect for me! 

I don't plan on creating a channel right now but I do hope to in the future. I thought it would be a good idea to gain experience through blogging first so that I would know what I'm talking about on camera(which now, I don't have a good camera anyway.) 

So yeah, that's my story there. And also the concept of my blog. I will be posting anime/manga related things as well, since they have been a big influence in my life, along with books. 

Today I'm going to be doing the 31-day Blog Challenge(oh how cliche sounding) and it has things for you to do everyday, for 31 days. 

I got this challenge from Simmworks: 31 Day Blog Challenge

I know it says "March 2013" but there's no reason it can't be done year-round, right?

DAY 1: "Self portrait and 5 random things about yourself"

 I took this selfie a while ago but yeah, still relevant. I haven't showered for 2 days(I know, omg, I'm so gross) so I don't look my best but it's not like I'm drowning in my bodily oils-OKAY. TOO MUCH. MOVING ON.
I'm Chinese, if anyone asks.

 Random Facts About Me

1. I take forever to get ready in the morning (totally not a morning person.)

2. I love crows because they are intelligent and porcupines because they are cute. But glomping a porcupine will be a feat indeed....Strangely enough, I haven't told anyone that I like these animals. xD

3. I have a sock tan. And it's really noticeable. *sad face*

4. My favorite gaming YouTuber is CryaoticMonki (his personality is great; do check him out. When I mean "check him out" I mean, damn, his voice is hella.)

5. I am interested in different cultures; any cultures really. I guess I like seeing the different traditional clothing and architecture, as well as the religion. It's quite intriguing to step back and view things from, perhaps, an isolated society's viewpoint.

That was the end of Day 1! I hope to post up something related to my blog soon! Yeah! Goals!

Have a fantastic day~ (^_^)/