Double-Stacked Bookshelves

This week's topic is:  Tattoos.  Do you have them?  Why or why not?  Talk about one. I actually got my first tattoo this year...and immediately followed it up with another!  It's true what they say: tattoos are addictive.  It took me a long time to finally get a tattoo because I was indecisive.  I had ideas of what I wanted, but was never totally certain on placement/exact image/etc.  I was also worried that it would be more painful than I wanted it to be.  It took my fiancé making me schedule an appointment to force my decision.  And I'm glad he did because it wasn't painful (really) and now I am on the path to possibly doing a full sleeve!  YIKES!  My first tattoo is totally FOR ME.  I specifically turned it upside down to face me (not the correct placement for tattoos) because I wanted to look at it.  It's not for anyone else's pleasure but my own.  It speaks to my nerdy-ness and my l...

Well hello, Wednesday.  We meet again.  Wednesday means it's time for another installation of "Why I Love", a meme hosted by Alexis at Reflections of a Bookaholic . It's really difficult for me to choose a favorite villain , this week's topic for Why I Love Wednesday.  I haven't read much recently that has a really good villain, which is quite sad.  However, I have come across several villains in the past.  I've written about one , but have decided to go another route this time.  Instead of discussing a villain that I love, I'm going with one that I despise. My choice for favorite villain is...Dolores Umbridge.  Not because I like her or because she's my favorite anything, but because she is so incredibly horrible.  Maybe more horrible than Voldemort.  Maybe.  I just reread the entire Harry Potter series and it reminded me of how much I hate Umbridge.  She's completely evil and takes so much pleasure in her lofty position and...

I realize that I have been virtually non-existent in my posting this past month.  Honestly, I have no excuses; I had plenty of downtime.  However, I chose to do something else (or nothing else) instead of catching my lovely readers up on my reviews, Why I Loves, and Teaser Tuesdays.  It's tragic and I apologize.  I feel like a failure in the blog-o-sphere, but I'm going to remedy this and soon!  Regardless of my tired excuses, here's a quick update on what's been going on with me in the PNW and what's going to be going on with the blog: What's up with me:  Summer term came to an end with excellent results.   I reread the Harry Potter books and fell in love with Hogwarts all over again :)  I had an interview at my Alma Mater for a position in administration.  I was offered the position.  I informed the community college I work for that I would be unavailable to teach courses in the Fall because of the new position I had a...

Today's topic for Why I Love Wednesday is Favorite Heroes ...well, I'm taking this in a different way and declaring my love for the Anti-Hero.  Anti-Heroes are generally the underdog of the story or the "hero-in-hiding" and seeing them triumph in one way or another is always one of my favorite aspects in a story.  So, here's to the Anti-Heroes! My most loved anti-hero is, hands down, Severus Snape.  Many would argue that he is not worthy of being considered a hero, but I would beg to differ...heatedly.  He's loyal to a fault and completely constant in his treatment toward others.  These aspects alone garner him hero status in my book.  But if someone needs more convicing, simply look at how he sacrifices himself on countless occassions: with Draco, with Harry, with Dumbledore, and, ultimately, with his own life.  Here's your medal, Professor! Another hero who falls under the anti status would be Death from The Book Thief .  Death being consider...

Oh man.  How many times have I lost myself in an alternate reality via a good book?  Countless...honestly!  Nothing can beat being so immersed in a book and envisioning that atmosphere so completely that you feel as if you're an integral part of it.  For that reason alone this week's Why I Love deals with Book Worlds .  I've tried to branch out in my Why I Love responses so that they aren't redundant AND to show that I read a lot of different things.  However, absolutely nothing, I mean NOTHING, can top the world that JK Rowling created in the Harry Potter series.  For that reason alone my favorite book world is, hands down, without a doubt, Hogwarts and everything that goes with it! I've imagined walking down those very halls and experiencing everything that comes with being a student at Hogwarts.  From the moving staircases, the variety of professors, the forbidden floors, the ghosts, and so much more.  Being able to conjure up such an a...

“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.” It's that time of the week again for my contribution to "Why I Love."  I thought long and hard about this edition because there are so many series that I love, but, in the end, the choice was obvious.  So, my choice for favorite book series goes to...drum roll please... Harry Potter .  I mean, come on!  How can you go with anything else?! I remember not wanting to jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon when it first arrived on the scene.  And I didn't.  It wasn't until a fateful camping trip during the summer before college, well after the third book had come out, that I managed to finish both of the books I had brought with me before the weekend was over.  Because of this I had to scrounge around the camper for something stashed away by my mom.  Low and behold, I found Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter ...