You Know You're From Texas When...

So, Mad posted "You Know You're From Ohio When..." so I decided to do my own version. Here it goes!

• You don't realize how much you say "y'all" until you meet someone from another state.
• You pronounce "Whataburger" like "Waterburger" and if you don't, people look at you like you have a stick up your...bum. 
• It's not unusual to swim in the winter, even if it is cold. 
• 75 degrees is considered winter. 
• You have to eat Tex-Mex at least once a week or you think you might die. 
• You know the difference between Mexican food and Tex-Mex. 
• You have 20 deer in your yard at one time...the cure for that, yelling "MOO!!" and watching them all run off. (Maybe that last part is just me LOL)
• It's not a Shopping Cart it's a Buggy (I didn't know that, that was a Texas thing haha)
• Everything is more green and alive in Winter than in Summer, Spring, or Fall.
• When it rains you sing praises and dance in the rain because it's so rare. 
• You know how to pronounce "Bexar" county. 
• Blue Bell Ice Cream is the only ice cream you'll eat.
• Tubing!
• Pronouncing "can't" "ca*throat catch*
• Regularly scheduled blue bonnet pictures. 
• "No...I don't ride I horse to school. I don't even own one." 

Later, 

Tay

You know you're from Ohio when...

Ok, so I'm from Ohio. I found this list and I think these are quite true:

• You measure distance in minutes.
• Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
• You know several people who have hit a deer.
• You've never met any celebrities.
• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example:"Where's my coat at?" or "If you go to the mall I wanna go with."
• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
• You know what "cow tipping" is.
• You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
• You think that deer season is a national holiday.
• You know what a real buckeye is, and have a recipe for candy ones.
• You say that you have to "sweep" your floors, even though they are carpeted and you are actually "vacuuming" them...
• You say "warsh rag" instead of "wash rag" and "crick" instead of "creek".
• You know what "pop" is.
• Taking a "vacation" is going to Cedar Point or King's Island.
• You say "supper" and not "dinner".

Oh yeah, someone told me I say "can" like "kin". Like, "Kin (can) you bring me that?", "Kin you get that for me?" and etc. I didn't realize I say that, but I guess I do! We don't say "ya'll", that's mostly a southern thing.



An Ohio license plate.

We are the children of the corn.

Yours,

Maddie

"The House at The End of The Street" Movie Review

I don't know why, but I've seen a lot of movies lately. Any who,  I was nervous about seeing this movie because I really don't do well with scary movies. Love them in the moment, but I can't deal with the after part, i.e. staying home and thinking there is something or someone in my house watching me dance in my underwear. (Just kidding! I don't do anything embarrassing at home when I'm alone...or do I?)

So, I saw it with Rae and we were squirming in our seats in anticipation! We had an amazing audience though. One person started laughing hysterically at something moderately funny in the movie, but they were delirious and laughing in such a funny way, the whole theatre started laughing at the person's laugh. So, for like two minutes people were just laughing. I started getting delirious and was the last person to finish laughing...it was so hard to stop!

Back to the movie! I could handle the scary level. I wasn't paranormal or overly gory. It was about crazy people and I can handle that just fine. I used to work for a counselor, so it was like another day in the office for me. Heehee

The plot. I know in scary movies they lack plot much less and actual point of anything in the movie other than "Kill everything!" This movie actually had a plot and was interesting. So yay! It was also very suspenseful, which I like. 

Over all, it was good! So if you are kind of a chicken and want to see something with your friends who are begging you to see a horror movie just say. "Let's see this movie! I heard it was terrifying!" Oh, but you have to cross your fingers behind your back while you say it.

Boo!

Tay

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Movie Review

So, I never expected I would love this movie as much as I did. In the words of Rae "That movie is friggin' art!" Honestly, I cried, I laughed, I related.  A lot. Not necessarily to people being so openly rude at school. I have never met anyone that rude before (I'm sure other people have), but to pretty much everything else.

If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for?! GO! Run! Buy a ticket! See it! I'm not going to give too much of the plot or story away, you'll thank me later.

I read the first 15 pages of the book from a sample online. The movie and book so far are very, very close together. I would like to read the rest of the book one day. It kept my attention, which is hard for a book to do for me. I think I like a lot of drama in my books and I never find one that is juicy enough. So this might just be the book for me. Who knows?

So pretty much, just, just go and see the movie, OK...

Buh-bye,
Tay

What is your favorite literary (book) genre?

     Okay, so every book is categorized into "genres". From www.dictionary.com, "genre" is described as, "of or pertaining to a specific literary type". Here are some examples of book genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Adventure, Romance, Young Adult (YA for short), Mystery, and etc. From them, each one is divided into sub-genres - like YA Romance, YA Mystery, and YA Adventure, for an example.
     My favorite genre is Young Adult. Maybe that's because I'm in the age range that ALA describes as Young Adult - 12-18 years old. That certainly doesn't mean you can't read that genre if you're not in the range, however. That's just what ages the writing is probably aimed at.
     There are lots of reasons why I love YA. Most YA based books have something to do with finding yourself... maybe discovering who your friends are... seeing how the world works. It's about figuring out life. It's innocent, unjaded, naive, and ultimately, boundless. 
     Here are some of my favorite YA books I have read...

1.  Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read this as a little seventh grader. I loved this book and still do. I know the book cover looks weird, but don't let it fool you. I can't say much more about it without spoiling it, so I just say go get a copy of it RIGHT NOW and read it.
2.  Copper Sun, by Sharon Draper. If you liked The Help or The Secret Life of Bees, you'll enjoy this book. It's a book about slavery from a 15 year old slave girl's perspective. It's well written and interesting.    
3.  Looking for Alaska, by John Green. I saw something about it on my Pinterest and I looked it up and bought myself a copy online. You won't be disappointed. I must say, it does have some "colorful" language and some drug usage in the book, so I wouldn't recommend this to a little kid. Since this is written by a man, you get a guy's perspective on everything. I wouldn't call this a romance book, but it did have a lot of romance in it. I actually just finished this a few days ago. :)
4.  That Summer, by Sarah Dessen. Sarah Dessen's books are always very girly, and this one was too. I read this one a few weeks ago. It's very good.
5.  Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. I think everyone knows what happened to Anne Frank and her life in the annex. This is worth reading, big time. It's a piece of history.
6.  Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. This is about the holocaust and a girl who escapes from it. If you only read either Anne Frank or this, I would choose this one.
7.  Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. I had to read the condensed version of this in my reading book when I was in the 8th grade. I would love to read the full thing though.
8.  The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It's a classic, a timeless one, and worth your time. I posted a review about this a few weeks ago. The movie is coming to theaters in December :) yay!

     Here are some books I want to read that are also YA. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky; Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher; Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen; Paper Towns, by John Green; and Emma, by Jane Austen.

What are some YA books you have been reading? I would love to know. Just leave a comment and I promise I'll respond!

Yours,

Maddie