Equality or Pacifying?

I read in the news the other day about how women can go topless in New York now… you can probably easily find the article yourself… and they’re all screaming equality for women… men can go topless women should go topless… legally that makes sense… but honestly you’d think women would have enough sense to cover up… you know what’s going to happen… some man is going to brush against them or stare a little too hard and they’re going to get all offended… craziness…

But that’s not really the point of this post… I don’t get women equality… as a woman myself you’d probably think that doesn’t make sense… I want my rights… but that’s not what I’m talking about… it seems women only want equality on ridiculous things like whether they can go topless or not… what about things like being a firefighter… they wanted equality in being allowed to be a firefighter… but not in the requirements to be a firefighter… no instead the weight lifting requirement was dropped so that more women could be allowed in… how is that equality? Same in the military… as someone in the military who struggled to pass the physical requirements I understand why they might have been lowered to accommodate women… but that isn’t equality is it… this is pacifying… we want to be equals but we want the world to change so we can be equals… we don’t rise up and meet the levels required of men… instead we pull them down so we can look the part but not be it…

The fact is I don’t see why we’re constantly fighting to be equals with men… we’re not… and not because of gender… but because who are we equal with… am I the same as the woman down the street… no… she has a ton of kids and stays at home with them and does things that would drive me crazy… we’re different… am I the same as my husband? We did the same job in the military… no… he’s a freak of nature that looks like something out of Viking lore… sexy as hell… but we’re not equals… but we are partners… I do things better than him… and he does things better than me… we complete each other… romantic I know… we need more completion than equality… we need balance… not sameness… women should have the chance to do anything a man does… as long as they can actually do the same thing… there are plenty of women out there that are strong enough to run as fast and do as many pushups and sit ups… there are plenty of women who can do jobs just as good as men if not better… let them lead the way in showing the world what a woman can do… let’s not degrade ourselves in trying to be ‘equal’ in ridiculous things like clothing choices… let’s just go out and be strong women who do our thing… and if we’re the best choice for the job then we should get the job… and if we’re not we should work harder if that’s what we truly want to do…

And we all lived happily ever after…

The End

Married by Monday

BOOK 1: Wife by Wednesday by Catherine Bybee

Married by Monday     description:

Carter Billings:
Sandy blond hair and Hollywood good looks, Carter Billings could have any woman he wants. However, when he makes his bid for the Governor’s seat in the state of California, he needs to settle down and become a family man. Eliza, the woman he secretly adores, embodies the perfect amount of spice and passion to suit his marital needs, but she’s not interested in becoming Mrs. Billings. She can’t even stand to be in the same room with him.

Eliza Havens:
It’s much easier to drive Carter away than to give into desire. Matching couples is how she earns a living, but getting married isn’t an option. The secrets she carries are too dangerous to entangle anyone else. When her hidden identity and past threaten her future, she’s left with little choice. Carter is quick to offer solutions to both their problems, but saying yes could mean endangering the man she’s growing to love.

BOOK 2: Married by Monday         4 STARS

I really liked that this book didn’t deal with the whole marriage contract thing as the first book did… which helped keep it from being a complete déjà vu of the first book… although the marriage still wasn’t for love… at least not that either would admit… but it was a really interesting story… where so many romance novels (that I admit to still enjoy) rely on a ridiculous story lines and curtains rustling in the night… this one actually had a decent plot… it wasn’t absurd or really all that unbelievable… which I have to admit the first book really was… I mean I’ve read so many books that have a man’s dad require their son to be married in their will before they can inherit… has that ever happened in real life? This on the other hand was rather intense which kept me burning through pages to see what happens next as Eliza’s life is called into danger and Carter does all he can to protect her…

Also I liked how this book really brought a lot of the first story into it… while this is from the view of Eliza and Carter, rather than Sam and Blake… it still brought in things like Sam’s father and Blake’s promise to remarry Sam every year… so it wasn’t just a loose link but a real edition to the Wife by Wednesday and I think really shows Bybee as a much better writer than most of the romance novelist out there that are just rehashing the same overused plot lines… which sadly I have to admit I still can’t keep from loving… it’s a sickness… I know… also there were several other things going on… on the Alliance side and even with some detectives… it was a rather dynamic story to all things considered…

My Blood… doesn’t like you so much

My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking     description:

Teenager Alice Bonham’s life feels crazy after she meets Jack. With his fondness for pink Chuck Taylors and New Wave, he’s unlike anyone she knows. Then she meets his brother, Peter. Even though he can’t stand the sight of her, she’s drawn to him. Falling for two guys isn’t even the worst of her problems. Jack and Peter are vampires, and Alice finds herself caught between love and her own blood.

BOOK 1: My Blood Approves       2 STARS

Though I loved the Trylle series by Amanda Hocking… this book was really bad… not bad enough to only get 1 star obviously but bad enough I have really no desire to see what happens next… I have to say my biggest problem with this book is that it just didn’t seem to be as good as I know she can be… there were some twists and surprises… I can understand how some people might enjoy this book… but the love triangle is a little messed up… you know people gave Twilight crap for Bella being so obsessed with Edward (something I didn’t really agree with)… well this is a million times worse… Alice seriously goes suicidal over Peter who she doesn’t even really like and who definitely doesn’t like her… which really bothered me… see she’s really liking Jack and Jack seems to truly care for her… and that part was pretty nice and sweet… it was honestly the involuntary attraction to Peter and her being ‘meant’ for him that was disturbing…

The thing is it’s like Hocking was really trying to be original… which is so hard with so many similar books out there… and though I will say her vampires are different from most I read about… they’re not different in a good way… it’s like this is probably why no one else has made them this way… I still think she’s a great writer and can’t wait to read some of the other books she’s come out with… but this one failed for me…

I also read some spoilers of the 2nd book and it gets no better… so I would recommend leaving this series alone…

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson         description:

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch—and there’s always a catch—is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson’s novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don’t want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

BOOK 1: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo      4 STARS

I have to say that the first half of the book was rather slow… it definitely kept my interest but I kept thinking when are things finally going to start happening… for the first half Blomkvist and Salander are off doing 2 different things and have never even met… Salander’s part of the story is definitely the most interesting part as you learn more about her and her rather disturbing life… but also how astonishingly smart she is and what a strong person Salander is… though I will say her part of the story is rather explicit and might turn your stomach because of the things that happens to her…

When they finally do team up the book gets tremendously better… I couldn’t put it down…. The lengths they go to to solve the mysteries they are wrapped up in and won’t stop not matter what gets thrown their way is pretty awesome… Blomkvist, while a bit promiscuous has strong morals and would go to any length to do what he thinks is right… definitely some you’d root for… Salander on the other hand doesn’t trust anyone… which considering her life you can understand… but she doesn’t believe in fighting against wrong doings but she’ll do it on her own terms and won’t necessarily turn to anyone for help… she also doesn’t mind breaking the law to do it either… together they make an odd but amazing pair… and the story itself will keep you guessing and one twist after the next you’ll be on the edge of your seat… without a doubt a book worth reading…

Giving is Giving

I just read this article, The New Science of Giving, and well I just wanted to share it and my thoughts on it… after all this is my blog I should be allowed to share my thoughts every now and then…

The fact is… as good as it is for people to give as they do… write the big checks for people who need it now… it is also good to hear about people who are thinking about the long run… though I do say this article does a good job of showing both sides… it does seem to show people mad that these givers aren’t helping anyone now… but first of all it’s their money… they could’ve stayed hold up… with their secret billions and no one would’ve been the wiser… but because they’ve decided to come out and share their plan to try and make a difference in the future… people are complaining cause as humans are so good at… we want what we want and we want it now… i know… sometimes it’s hard to put off that instant gratification… but it’s not like they aren’t giving some to people now as well… as shown they gave to a food packing place that helps feed the hungry… but they’re also asking that place to figure out a way to prevent those people from even getting hungry to begin with… help them find jobs or manage their health problems… is that so wrong… to ask people to prevent problems from even happening…

And though I may have a little wonder how much they can truly find out about the obesity problem… true it is a problem… I know half my family suffers from it… and it’s hard to control your weight and lose it… I for one love me all those good foods they got out there and well… I also like sitting in front of this laptop and chatting with all you wonderful people… but for the most part that problem could be tackled by people eating healthier and working out… honestly think back a few 100 years… people didn’t eat all that healthy but they had to work like hell… the few people that were obese were rich and could afford to sit indoors and do nothing if they wanted… it’s too easy now to never even step foot outside your home that it’s no wonder people are gaining so much weight… but I’m not ranting about this… back to topic…

The fact is I wish more people would think of the future… figure out how to tackle the big problems even though it may take longer to see results… we shouldn’t keep putting a band-aid on issues for a quick fix only to see it fall off in moments… yes like I said before it’s wonderful for those that do give and help people who need it now… but it’d be great too to figure out how to keep people from needing constant help… being able to help our country and help people get back on their feet and take care of themselves… then we can take all that money and do something really awesome with it… like give me more books to read…

That was my little rant… I feel better now… and I hope you all have a nice day…

some rather Grimm zombies

Well in wondering how I’ll begin to face my fear of zombies in order to write the book I’m attempting to write… it just has to be fate that one of my favorite shows… Grimm… has to go all walking dead on me… in fact I’m actually watching it as I write in order to take my mind off my heart wanting to jump out of my chest… but it is only a small part of the story and so I get a little break from the clips that will be fueling my nightmares tonight… but I’ve got to suck it up and perhaps maybe really start checking into this… there’s several books out there that sound interesting… I’m thinking that Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion might be one for me to check out… after all it’s a good zombie that saves a girl… how bad can it be… either way… wish me luck…

Although I would like to say that for the Grimm show they should’ve used the story of the Three Snake Leaves… that’s actually a story where the princess is brought back to life and is different and evil and then tries to kill her own husband… I really do love this show but sometimes they seem to really ignore the Grimm stories and kind of do their own thing…

Jack of Kinrowan

Jack the Giant Killer by Charles de Lint     description:

Once there was an ordinary city… but behind the everyday streets there lies a Faerie world, where trolls and goblins lurk under motorway bridges — and giants walk the earth. Once there was an ordinary girl… who didn’t believe in giants. But now Jacky Rowan’s been marked for destruction, and sent on a quest that only a fool would dare. Once there were no more heroes… until one mortal woman set out to save the city — human and otherworldly alike — from a nightmarish demise.

BOOK 1: Jack the Giant Killer      3 STARS

The main problem with this book is like it was so close to being really awesome but just didn’t seem to quite make it… and honestly I’m not sure I can explain why… it was interesting and exciting but it seemed like everything Jacky did was more of luck than anything and yet she acted like she was so hard core… But if you like fairy tale type things this is a book to check out… It has everything you’ve ever heard about in fairy tales hidden behind a the veil in our very own world… and once you know it’s there you can’t unsee it…

I like the different characters in the group that slowly forms… and how Jacky is the Faerie worlds new Jack… and the Jack is a trickster and is sent to save them… but as much as a lot of the creatures are afraid to save themselves form the evil that is coming… there are still those few that stand by Jacky and help her along the way… including her best friend Kate…

The ending of this book is pretty awesome… it may actually be the best part of the story in fact… so even though it’s only 3 stars it isn’t bad… it’s in fact rather interesting and a good edition to the fairy tale world…

 

 

Drink Down the Moon      description:

The magic is hidden…Unseen by mortal eyes, magical creatures carry on a secret existence – in the streets and parks of a modern city.
The magic is lost…The wild fairies drew their luck from the Moon herself – until a heartless wizard stole their power away.
But the magic is real! Jacky Rowan slew a giant once…but now she’s imprisoned in a wizard’s tower, and only young Johnny Faw has the music – and the magic – to set her free.
Only he doesn’t know it…

BOOK 2: Drink Down the Moon       3 STARS

The winning factor in this book is actually Kate… where Jacky basically acts like an idiot who has gotten by on her good luck to long… Kate actually is logical and figures out how to help and fix the mess Jacky’s gotten them into… my main problem with this book is that it starts out with 2 different stories going on and it takes a little too long for them to really start to combine…

Plus the story of Johnny Faw wasn’t bad but it wasn’t that interesting… I’d much rather have seen more of Kate in action and have the Johnny Faw story more involved in what she was doing rather than it being it’s own mess of craziness… once again though the story isn’t that bad… it just didn’t, in my opinion, reach the awesomeness it has the potential for… still fun and action with of course a little love story going on… not as bad as some, just not as good as others…