Cultivate Me: Creating the Most Awesome Me Possible

I was on the site 43things the other day while working on my Life List and I clicked on the resolutions tab. For 2011, the only thing listed was Be Awesome. Now, to me, a resolution is an idea - inspiring and loosely defined. Unlike a goal, which needs to be specific and measurable. My resolution made me think: How can I work on being more awesome?

What I came up with is this: cultivate small parts of myself to make one (awesome) whole. I don't know what exactly this means yet, but some ideas of things to work on swirling around my head are: the way I move, the way I dress, the way I speak, the things I use, the food I eat...etc, etc. It's all about doing things more intentionally, without forcing it or being fake. Intentionally authentic. Or something. I guess.

I'm working on the fine details of what it means to be me.

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

So, I won this book from a twitter trivia contest from Chapters Indigo. It's called Divergent  and it's written by Veronica Roth. For the contest, you needed to read the first nine chapters of the book (available online!) After reading it, I had to win that contest. I have never wanted to win an online trivia contest more in my life. True story. Those first nine chapters were a giant tease. And then I won, and it was awesome.

So, since the synopses of the book has already been written way better then I could ever describe it,  so I'm just going to do the old copy and paste. From Harper Collins:


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

 Ok, so with that out of the way, I'd like to point out that I'm writing a book review. Usually, the closest I get to writing a book review is "It was good, you should read it" or "It was terrible, don't waste your time". The fact that I am writing one now should tell you how strongly I feel about it. It was so good. I received it this morning around ten and I've already finished it. And wrote this review. And I had to go shopping for a couple hours this morning, so I got a late start on things. Most of the time when people say they couldn't put a book down, they are lying. Or exaggerating. Whatever. I only put it down to cook some food, and you can bet I read while I ate that food!

I think the main reason I don't write book reviews is that I have a hard time putting to works what exactly what made it so awesome. And such is the case with Divergent. It's not only that it's well written with a great story that leaves you wanting more (good thing it's book one in a series!). And it isn't just because the characters are complete and wonderful, with flaws and strengths that make you love them but also want to hit them right in face sometimes (or most of the time in the case of the antagonists). It's those things, sure, but it's so much more. I just can't explain it.

I guess you'll just have to read the book.

 

Happy Election Day, Canada!

It's election day (again) in Canada! I've been out and voted. Have you? What are you waiting for?
 

Music Monday: Die Vampire Die

This video contains some strong language, so if there are people around that you don't want to hear such things you may want to turn the speaker down.