Media Monday: Book Edition

  Media Mondays is a place for all things media.  From social media to news media, music, movies, and art we will cover everything concerning creativity and communication.

Book Cover Selfie: Drink, Slay, Love

    Books are wonderful things.  They take you away. They take you to new places.  They create a different reality.  I used to not read novels much; I would pick non-fiction instead. But in the past few years, I have needed that escape from reality.  

    This book was given to me by my school's librarian, Nancy.  She had gotten a bunch of books donated and had many copies of this particular book.  I was intrigued when  I read the back cover:

"Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire...fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil...until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops."

    I instantly flashbacked to The Twilight Series, but thought: "wait, a unicorn?"

    I took a few copies from Nancy as a joke and shared one with a friend, the cover totally making me think the book was a joke. Then I had a crazy idea.  Why not give the book to a few other friends as well and have a reading group.  I actually was joking, thinking all of them would hate it, but they all read it, and we all actually liked it.

    This very entertaining read has lots of fun high school drama mixed in with vampire drama.  It takes a vampire through a life crisis where she must decide if she is more loyal to her family of vampires or to the greater good of the world. 

    And it has a UNICORN in it.  Hello.  

    You should find a way to read it.  Lifetime also made this literary masterpiece into a movie and you can stream it in various places, including Hulu, Amazon and iTunes. 

    I give Drink, Slay, Love ten pints of type O negative.

Flashback Friday: Menacing 30th Birthday

           Turning 30 was hard for me. I felt that I was officially becoming old. I was single which made the transition even more difficult for some reason. Looking back, I realize 30 isn’t old and there is nothing wrong with a person who happens to be single and 30.  The more birthdays I have, I realize age is just a number and numbers are often relative. 

To avoid feeling pathetic back then though,  I decided that turning 30 would be much more enjoyable away from the land of “single over 30 makes you a loser.” So, my roommate and good friend, Mary Beth and I hightailed to San Francisco, the land of “nobody cares that you are single and over thirty!”

It was on this trip that I fell in love with cable cars, Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, sesame cookies, Chinatown, and Redwood trees. 

There is nothing better than a city where you can get anywhere you really need to by hanging out of the side of a cable car, feeling the balmy air through your hair, enjoying the bells of the car and clammer of the underground cable, captivated by the skill of a gripman, who carefully maneuvers the car up and down the slopes of San Francisco. I have since been back to SF a few more times and I seriously could ride cable cars all day and be content. In fact, one day I did just that, while the group of friends I was traveling with went to Alcatraz(I had been twice and didn’t feel the need to go that day!). 

As I am now mothering two little humans, I travel a little differently.  Sometimes I mourn my single days and wish I had cherished the moments a bit more. Maybe not the moment that Mary Beth and I realized the beach we were exploring was in fact a nude beach(some moments need not be cherished) but the other moments like the ones I feel I may have wasted by worrying about being judged for being single or the moments I pinned for the whole not being single anymore. 

I turned 44 this past Monday. Funny, that turning 44 didn’t make me feel old. Life often seems to be getting better and better with age. I know who I am, what I want, and what I can say no to. Aging is truly liberating. 

Whatever spot you are on the age timeline, may you take a step back and reflect on where you have been and more importantly on where you are going. Make each moment one to be cherished and enjoy the journey. 

Age is just a number after all.