Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

I admit that I am a huge John Green fangirl. Nerdfighter and all that stuff (except that I can never remember to watch his YouTube videos but, like, I love his books).


After reading John's four solo novels, I decided it was time to buy his books that he co-wrote. I recently read Will Grayson, Will Grayson in two days, so I obviously loved it.  John's co-writing with David Levithan threw me off my game a little, but I started to love it.


The chapters alternate with the first written from normal-ish Will Grayson's perspective, and the second is written from emo Will Grayson's perspective. A few chapters in, they meet, and life changes. It's not a drastic life change that forever makes them different, but it definitely alters their short-term plans.


I say read it because 1) John Green, 2) quote-able, and 3) wouldn't it be awesome to meet someone who has the same name as you? It's basically impossible for me to do that because my name is weird, but one can hope.


PS - I tried to upload a picture of me with the book to be ~artsy~ but my internet or something is being dumb.

2014 in Review

Heyyyy, so I had this great idea to film a year in review recap video. I never got around to it, so I decided to make it into a blog. But, I can't find my paper where I listed everything that I want to cover. Oops. Here goes an attempt to remember all that I had. (Oh, and if you're wishing I had done a more visual form of this, you can imagine me in my mismatched, post-work outfit of a musical tshirt over a long-sleeve tee, gray leggings (I do NOT wear leggings in public, fyi), oversized white socks, and a gray beanie which my mom insisted on calling a sock cap all day lol.


Song of the Year - Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj
I cannot say that I am the biggest fan of Ariana Granda, but, dude, I love this song. It's totally my jam when I'm rocking out in the radio station.


Movie Soundtrack of the Year - The Fault in Our Stars. Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX, and a bunch of random people I don't know of made music that fits together and fits the movie perfectly.


Musical Theatre Album of the Year - If / Then. Whoa. While it is quite vulgar at some parts, this is amazing. The cast sounds phenomenal, and Idina Menzel is perfect. I was #blessed to see the show on Broadway in June of 2014, and I have been in love since then. It's closing next month, so go see it asap.


Musical Movie Song of the Year - Let it Go. You can hate on the Frozen fame, but as a dedicated Fanzel and obsessive Disney freak, I'm going to keep loving it, belting it in my car, and lip syncing to it on Instagram. Seriously, check out my Instagram video from Christmas Eve. Good times at the radio station lol.


Fiction Books of the Year - Looking for Alaska by John Green and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Books are bae, so this was not an easy decision. Plus, I read more in 2014 than I did in all of college (other than assigned reading, of course). I totally jumped on the John Green fanbus this year. How did I not know about him previously?! So in lit-love. I read his four solo books this year, and I have Will Grayson, Will Grayson sitting on my bookshelf and begging to be read. I need to buy Let It Snow asap (or wait until next winter because I feel as if that would be more seasonally appropriate).


Autobiographical Book of the Year - Bossypants by Tina Fey. Guys, I want to be like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler when I grow up...which is now. Gosh, they're so funny. I haven't read Amy Poehler's book, Yes Please, but it's on my mental to-read list. In Tina's book, she writes about doing community theatre and being funny and hanging with the gays, and I'm like, Omg, my life. Basically, Tina and Amy are part of my friendship circle, and they just forget to show up when I'm hanging out with friends. I forgive them because they're freaking awesome.


Honorable Mention in the Autobiographical Book category: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. Funny, but short.


Christian Book of the Year - Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey. Not gonna lie, this was also a difficult decision. Despite living the #PKlife, I haven't been much into Christian literature, and that changed in 2014. I fell in love with the words of Sarah, Rachel Held Evans, and Jen Hatmaker, and they are similar to a blogger who I have read for a few years, Jamie Wright (aka the Very Worst Missionary). Sarah's book further explained, from my own views, that Jesus should be considered a feminist. Feminism is no longer the "crazy", bra-less, men-hating thing that it was years ago. Modern feminism is about gender equality - at home, at work, child-raising, decision-making, etc. I am proudly a Jesus Feminist, and Sarah writes as if she and the reader have been friends for years.


Honorable Mentions: A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans and 7 by Jen Hatmaker.


Most Disappointing Books of the Year: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. No. Just no.


Movie of the Year: Gone Girl. Omg, I loved the book. I love everything about this movie. Well, almost everything. I could have dealt without everything that happened in that-one-scene-with-NPH near the end, and I think you know what I mean by that. The movie was filmed in my college town during my last semester there, and it was perfect getting to be near the set and hear all about it all of the time. Some of my friends and professors in college were extras in the film, and I got to hear the director, David Fincher, speak at school. So freaking cool.


Honorable Mention: The Fault in Our Stars. Presh. So presh.


Honorable Mention part two: Mockingjay part 1 because who doesn't love the Hunger Games series?!


Professional musical theatre performances that I saw this year: Bring It On at the Carson Center, Wicked at the Tennessee PAC, Newsies on Broadway, If / Then on Broadway, and Mamma Mia! at the Carson Center.


Bring It On was really cool. I doubted that it could have both talented singers and talented cheerleaders, but the cast pulled it off so well. I was extremely impressed. Plus, I got to meet Tyler and Emily Eddington Dihle of Beauty Broadcast after the show, and that was freaking awesome.


Wicked. Fourth time. Need I say more? I have seen it every year since 2010 except for 2013. So, there's that.


Newsies was omg, so cute! Those hot guys dancing...baes. The show had a good connection to journalism, so it was like a mash-up of what I studied in college and what I truly love. Sadly, the show closed later in 2014, but that just means that the people with whom I saw the show (I was chaperoning a trip to NYC) and I had a unique experience.


If / Then - See above for my fangirling. I mean, I WAS IN THE SAME ROOM AS IDINA MENZEL. What?! Cray. Afterward, a student and I met a few of the cast members at the stage door including LaChanze, Tamika Lawrence, Jason Tams, and Jenn Colella. Oh, Anthony Rapp and I tweeted a few times in 2014, and If / Then retweeted my tweet about seeing the show.


Mamma Mia! was kind of a sad way to end the year in regards to professional musical theatre. The show was a let-down because either the script or the acting was not impressive, but the music was great. In the history of the numerous musicals that I have seen, I have never seen one that included a post-show concert. So rad. Plus, one of the guys in the show tweeted to me.


Aaaand, finally, trips of the year. I had a crazy summer packed with chaperoning the trip to NYC (#VHSinNYC), Beta Club national convention (#natbeta14 #vhsbeta14), going to Florida with my family, and moving...twice (#movingsucks)...but the greatest excursion was #LAvacay.


On December 23, 2013, I awoke with an email saying that I had won a contest to be the Biggest Gleek, and I would fly to LA, stay in a nice hotel paid for by Fox and Glee, and be on the set of Glee. It was a super amazing experience, and I should have blogged about it right after it happened. Being on the set of my favorite show on February 6, 2014 was the greatest day of my life, and meeting Darren Criss along with other cast members such as Jane Lynch, Matt Morrison, Melissa Benoist, Alex Newell, Lauren Potter, Becca Tobin, and Blake Jenner and crew members such as Hannah and Ben was amazing.


Thanks to everyone who was in my life in 2014. You made it one of the best - if not the definite best - year of my life. <3

Radical Christianity

Sometime earlier this year, I started saying, "That's rad."  I'm not sure what started it, but after I realized that I said it three times within 20 minutes this afternoon, I considered my use of it.  It's not like I have a great connection to the phrase, and I probably only substitute it for saying, "That's cool/awesome."


Rad.  It obviously derives from radical.  When I think of the word radical,  I first think of hippies in the '70s.  I don't know if that's when it became popular (sorry for the lack of research...it will be continued in this post...I'm really sleepy) or if my brain has some other reason to associate those, but it does.  Then, I think about radical people.


Who are the radical people in your life?


Because of the protests / peace war happening in nearby-ish Ferguson, MO, I automatically think of that.  Many of the people who I met in college are connected to the area, and some have even taken part in trying to help solve the situation.  It is seriously heartbreaking what I have read on Twitter and Facebook about what is happening.  I'm astonished that it is happening in America, and it's no longer simply an issue of Michael Brown's death.  I know that gas bombs and shooting people with rubber bullets happen in other parts of the world much, much more frequently than in the US, but I think it takes a great amount of courage to stand up for what one believes in and try to make peace in the situation.  Those peace-fighters are radical.


Other radical people who I admire are people who I only know through the internet and literature.  Welcome to the awesomeness of Jamie Wright (theveryworstmissionary.com), Rachel Held Evans (rachelheldevans.com), and Sarah Bessey (sarahbessey.com).


Jamie was introduced to me first on Twitter, and then on her blog.  Now, I also follow her on Instagram and Facebook.  She is the most realistic Christian of, like, ever.  For a while, she and her family - which includes her husband and three teenage sons - were missionaries in Costa Rica.  Then, they moved back to the US and are living in California.  She is passionate about reaching beyond Christian norms to lead people to Christ, and she is also passionate about freeing people who are held captive as sex slaves.  I admire her work, her honesty, and her tell-it-like-it-is attitude with her family and her ridiculously creepy cat,  Knives.  Jamie is rad.


Rachel was introduced to me through one of her books, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, by a friend in February after that friend had listened to Rachel speak at my friend's alma mater.  I fell in love with the book; Rachel researched 12 things in the Bible that women are supposed to do that are not commonly practiced, and she practiced each for one month.  Her dedication to that alone was cool. Then, I found her Twitter and blog, and I continued to respect Rachel.  She is blatant and stands up for social justice and is all around kick-butt.  I recently read Rachel's other book, Faith Unraveled, which was originally published as Evolving in Monkeytown.  Although I did not agree with everything that Rachel said in Faith Unraveled and everything that she posts online, I think she is living as Jesus called her to do: standing up for what she believes is right and following God as best as she can.  Rachel is rad.


Sarah is my newest Christian writer who I fangirl over.  I'm currently reading her book, Jesus Feminist.  It's structured much differently than Rachel's books, but I can see where Sarah is going with the text.  She grew up in Canada not knowing that sexism exists in the church, moved to the US and was amazed by the sexism that exists in the realm of Christianity, and moved back to Canada with her husband and three "tinies" (what she calls her kids) to pursue her fight in social justice while believing that Jesus was a feminist.  To that, I say, "Right on."  Sarah is rad.


So, obviously I admire these three Christian women who I have not met.  I know Christians in real life who I think are rad, too.


Look around at the Christians who you know.  Who is very blasé in the faith, and who is doing things to actively serve others?  I really think that loving and serving others are two of the best characteristics of Christians, and it's what I strive to do (though they are both really difficult for me because I have a natural disposition to dislike people).


I am not at all a perfect Christian.  I often fail to read my Bible regularly which is pretty sad because I love reading and I have given two talks about the importance of studying God's Word.  I don't always reach out to others when I should, and I am kind of a bad friend at times.


I'm a work in progress, but...aren't we all?


So, what do I do to try to be rad?


I work closely with Chrysalis, a bi-annual church camp which I regularly work on with monthly services where I am on the board for the community.  I volunteer at my town's consignment store about once a month.  I try to be uplifting on social media (at times when I'm not talking about how much I dislike people). I play keys in my church band sometimes; this may not be super rad, but I'm using my love of music and slight amount of talent to serve God and hopefully serve others.


I feel like being a Beta Club Co-Sponsor is a calling in my life.  It may seem silly that a club of high school students is what I think is one of the very most important parts of my life, but teenagers deal with a lot of crap, and I want to put positivity in their lives while allowing them to have fun learning how to serve others and be involved in the community.


I try to not use churchy words.  While hanging out with three friends tonight who happen to be Christians, we were discussing whether we were "hanging out" or "fellowshipping."  Why do people put certain terms on Christians spending time together?  I think it's weird, dude.  I also hate when people say that they are going to "love on" others.  Why can't you just "love" someone?


Aaaand now this is an awkward ending because I don't have a way to wrap this up because my brain stopped thinking of words and I only want rice which is what I'm going to eat now but I don't have any soy sauce so it's going to be plain and kind of gross and this is a run-on sentence like obvi...


What are you doing to be rad?

Where have you been, KT?

Once upon a time, I planned to exercise once each month and blog once each month. Lol, 2013. What was I thinking?

That obviously failed.  So, here I am in February of 2014 with a lot to say but maybe not much.  I think about blogging often, so it's possible that I will return to a normal-ish blogging schedule, but don't bet on me or keep your hopes too high. ;)

2013.  I moved for the second time as an adult.  I learned how to live completely on my own - hating it and loving it at times, but more loving it.  I finished my college career and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication: Multimedia Journalism and a minor in literature.  I disappointed people.  I made them happy.  I bought internet access for my home.

I did a lot of living, but I hope to do more of living life in real time in 2014.  I don't want to do, I want to be. 

Eh, go ahead and judge me for sounding super ambiguous.  YOLO, c'est la vie, etc.

For 2014, my goals are to be creative as often as possible, hang out with people who I say I want to see, and be happy.  Being happy is a work in progress, being creative is more difficult than it seems sometimes, and it's difficult to fit everyone who I want to see in my schedule.  But, trying is key.

As for being creative, I have created (haha) the hashtag: #2014Creativity to use on Twitter and Instagram to record what I am doing this year in regards to first goal - resolution, if you will.  I am learning how to play an acoustic guitar.  I am learning a little more of the keyboard and understanding the vast world of music.  I painted a few wall quotes, and I hope to make more.  By the end of the year, I would love to be able to play a few songs fully and record them to show my progress.  It may not happen, but you never know if you never try, riiight?

So, here's to 2014.  :)

Happy 2013!

Oops, this is delayed. And as I write this, I think it should be noted that I'm supposed to be writing two journalism stories. Yolo. (Btw, I say that meaning oh well or no big deal, not saying it in the way of doing something stupid because I only have one life...just to clarify.)

Yea, it's been a while. Time to catch up. Not really. I will attempt to focus.

Heyyyy, it's a new year. I really tried to think of great resolutions.  I've pondered it quite a lot, and I have nothing too deep. Of course, there are the personal reminders that I can always take time to be healthier or grow closer to God, but - not to discredit those in anyway - those aren't my focus of the year.

Instead, I have a seemingly silly list of things to accomplish within this year. Lehgo...

1) I would like to watch all of my movies within the next year.
I probably own 75 movies, but I watch less than 20, and I feel like I'm wasting them by letting them sit.
2) I want to blog and work out at least once per month, but obviously not at the same time.
Oops, I already failed. So, I'll make up for it by blogging and working out twice this month...or I will wait until December and do both of them 12 times. Jk, I'll try to be consistent and bump those up to more than once a month if I can fight the laziness.
3) I would like to wear a bikini and not feel self-conscious.
Don't judge me. I don't want to do this to show off my body or because I want attention from guys. I want to do it to show confidence. I currently don't have the confidence to do it. I'm not sure how to find the belief in myself to be ok with it by the end of the year, but I'm determined to do so.  I want to be able to walk in front of people at the beach or on the way to a pool and not feel like the entire world (or the x number of people around me) are judging me and going to talk about me to their friends. I want to feel like it's just another outfit.
4) I want to find a new place to live in July where I'm happy and free.
I really don't have a choice on a part of this one. My lease ends in July, and I'll be forced to move. No big deal. But, I currently don't know where I'm going to live.  I have a few ideas in my mind, but nothing is really saying, "Hey, Kirsten, live here!" like my current apartment complex screamed to me when I toured it. God will provide.
5) I want to work toward life goals.
These goals could change, and that's ok, though I know that some will always remain. Here's the current list: 1) Grow spiritually.  2) Keep my very close friends close to me and appreciate their friendship. 3) Work on a friendship with someone in particular and attempt to make it grow to the best of my ability. 4) Be happy. Do what makes me happy and not what anyone thinks I should do, even if it's one of the very close friends. Live life, whether that means moving to Chicago to go to my dream school or eating Mint Oreos everyday because they're freaking delicious. 5) Even if I go nowhere with my theatrical dreams, always try to pay it forward with kids who may not have any other performing outlet.

So, are these really resolutions? Maybe random goals? Maybe things to try to get me to where I want to be in life?

Idk. I only know that they have been swarming around in my mind and buzzing me constantly to let it out. Here I go. I shall try to fulfill my list.