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So, in 15 minutes I’ll be heading off to the graduation ceremony, officially closing my time in Spain. It’s been an amazing 5 months, something that I’ll never be able to repeat again.

It’s kinda crazy how fast (but, at the same time, slow) the time has done.

For anyone interested, here’s the final grades I got:

Culture: 9 (A)

Grammar: 8.2 (B+)

History: 7.6 (B)

Geography: 9.3 (A)

Literature: 8.8 (A-)

Art: 7.3 (B-)

Oral Expression: 8 (B+)

Monograph: 10 (A)

Not a bad semester, if I do say so myself. :)

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As is well known, I am currently (almost done!) studying in Spain. Well, our capstone project was a long paper, written (obviously) entirely in Spanish.

I did mine on the first novels in Spain, and how they developed. It was titled “The Birth of the Novel”. I wrote it kinda strangely, because I wanted to try and make it original. I wrote it ~kinda~ like a story itself. The headings of the paper were called “Prologue” and “Chapter 1″ and “Epilogue” and stuff… and it was kinda fun.

My prologue was written in verse (read: a poem) because prose (and thus the novel) was a step further down the line than verse… eh, I dunno. It was kinda fun to write, if nothing else.

Anyways, I was in McDonald’s in Paris (Don’t laugh) and I checked my e-mail and I got this:

Hola, Greg:
Ya he terminado de corregir todos los trabajos.
Me alegra decirte que tu nota es 10.
Además de la originalidad del tema, la originalidad al presentar el trabajo han hecho que sea muy fácil de leer.
El contenido está muy bien: has desarrollado el tema de forma estupenda y muy bien redactado.
Bueno, espero que esto te anime a seguir con la creatividad y la
literatura.
Un saludo, Monse.
Hi Greg:
I’ve finished correcting all the papers.
I’m happy to tell you that your grade is 10.
In addition to the originality of the theme, the originality of the presentation made it really easy to read.
The content was really good: you developed the topic stupendously and very well written.
Great, I hope that this will encourage you to continue with the creativity and literature.
Salutations, Monse

10, by the way, is the highest possible, and apparently supposed to be really hard to get.

My day was MADE! :)

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Book Read: April 2012
Review Written: April 23, 2012
Review to be Posted: Now
Book Release: February 24, 2012 by Dreamspinner Books

—

Uhm. Wow. I don’t know how to even start talking about this.

First off, be aware that this would probably fall under the “Gay Porn” category in the bookstore. It’s got its share of gay sex, some of it pretty graphic. Well written, I might add.

Amy Lane wove a very interesting story, where Chase/Chance (real/porn name) comes into acceptance of his sexuality via the weirdest way possible: he becomes a porn star. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of people come to me with sexuality questions, and I never even considered suggesting to them to work it out by becoming a porn star. Uh, wow.

So the book starts out about 3/4 of the way through the story, and then cuts to the beginning. We’re given a sex scene – not knowing who either of them are – and then it’s to a normal intro. Ehhh? But it all makes sense, because that scene is key in what happens later on.

Lane did an amazing job with her two main characters, they were pretty damn real. Chase and Tommy. The others, while important, pale in comparison to these two, because the story really is their love story. Or at least what appears to be their love story.

—

Do I recommend this book? Yes, assuming you are willing (wanting?) to read gay sex scenes, or maybe get a glimpse at the porno life. It’s a very interesting premise for a book, I have to say that.

There is very little, if any, wide public appeal. If say, my dear friend Priscilla read this, she would be cringing and going “Ahh!! MY EYES!” while I had a very hard time putting it down. (It was very awkward reading this in public…..!)

I gift… a 4/5

Oh, and fucking hot cover.

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Book Read: April 2012
Review Written: April 23, 2012
Review to be Posted: Immediately
Book Release: April 24, 2012 by Random House Children’s Books

—

It’s out tomorrow! Ahh!!!

Zero is an artist. Depending on who you talk to, she has a couple different names. Amanda (according to the school rosters), Amy (according to her mother), and to rest of the world… Zero. Because when everything is added up together, she still equals zero.

Thus begins the artist’s story of coming into her own. It’s a relatively straight forward coming of age story, but don’t take that the wrong way. It has its own charms and quirks.

For instance, at the beginning, Zero is in the middle of a fight with her best/only friend. Why? We don’t find out until quite a ways in, but it’s not expected.

The boytoy is also an interesting guy. Wait, no, I take that back – he’s rather bland. He’s supposed to be a musician with a not-so-great past. His dad was in a band way back that scored a Gold. And then the band fell apart. His mom is off in her own little world.

The story twists the above two personal plot lines with Zero’s art wants. She wants to get into the Chicago Art Institute (which she’s never actually seen before, btw) because her favorite art teacher went there. She got accepted no prob, but got denied a scholarship. So she’s going to the local community college to get somewhere. It’s there that she meets the most annoying art teacher known to man, but Zero grows to like her… in a way.

The story weaves these three storylines together to create the book, which follows Zero’s summer after graduation. Where she starts isn’t anywhere close to where she ends.

—

I don’t know. The book was okay, I guess. It wasn’t one of the “Can’t put it down” but it wasn’t a “Need to put it down” either. Somewhere in between, where you want to know what happens to her. One of the most interesting parts of it was the descriptions of Zero’s works. She lives in Phoenix, and Leveen (the author, btw) paints us (haha, get it?) some beautiful scenery with his words. It sounds like an amazing place to see.

It’s worth a rental from the library, or if you have a decent coupon, pick it up. Amazon’s letting you save 30%, and I’d say that it’s worth the $12. Pick it up if you get a chance. :)

3.5/5

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Book Read: March 24, 2012
Review Written: March 25, 2012
Review to be Posted: April 22, 2012

—

So, I’ve been reading some Galleys again, and the first one I picked (though this review won’t be published for a month… urgh) is Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen. It’s due to be released May 22, 2012 and you can see the pre-order link in to the little box to the side.

In some ways, I suggest hitting that Pre-order button NOW and in others say DO NOT TOUCH.

Within the first few chapters, any readers of Cassie Clare’s City of ___ series will note some similarities. I’m sure there’s also shared ideas between a number of YA fantasy books, but this is one that I particularly like and was reminded of… anyways, continuing on.

It’s written in first person, and our narrator is Sam. That’s short for Samantha, not Samuel, btw. She’s a plain and rather boring girl. Short and just there. You know the type. She has a friend named Carly (I couldn’t help but imagine Miranda Cosgrove, though Carly isn’t described at all like her… haha) who is just as much of a nobody.

The story kicks off when Stephen, Sam’s OMG SO HOT crush, takes her upstairs and asks if she wants him to kiss her – dur, of course. He does, and it’s kinda weird… and then he leaves her there. After passing out (quite the kiss, eh?) she heads home and that’s when she runs into crazy homeless(?) boy who calls himself Bishop. And as soon as she touches him, he’s no longer crazy.

He’s the first of a crew of angels (and demons) who are in Trinity (the town) to stop the spread of a disease – humans who have had their souls sucked out by a kiss. They’re called grays – and Sam is one.

They gotta stop this. To do so, Bishop needs to find his team – a task which he needs Sam for. And Sam needs to find out how to get her soul back. Because she’s kinda not liking this hunger that’s building up inside of her. And it’s not just for food. She wants some soul on the side.

—

So what’s the good and the bad?

The good… it’s an interesting story and once I got past how I felt like I was reading more Cassie Clare (I keep wanting to call Sam, Clary) I got really into it. I read the entire thing during the two three hour bus rides I had yesterday. I really liked the characters – the interaction between the Head Angel and Head Demon is fun. There is a lot of development to come with those two.

The bad… I feel like I know what’s going to happen. Like I said, it read like a Cassie Clare. So I’m wondering if Bishop/Sam are going to end up as siblings. ~(x-x~)

Also… IT IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES. So now I have to wait for the next flippin’ book to come out!!! Ahhhhh.

—

So yes, I’d suggest getting it. But I might also suggest waiting until the series is finished, so you’re not stuck hanging. That’s one of the reasons I’ve refused to read any of the new Cassie Clare books. (I haven’t read Clockwork Angel or City of Fallen Souls because I don’t want to have to wait!)

Rating… 4/5

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Hey there. If you’re by chance interested, I’ve been very seriously working on stuff lately. (No joke, really)

Here

Well, for one, I cleaned some stuff up. You’ll notice that the “me” section was consolidated into one page, which also got refreshed. Has current info on it now~ :O

I also got rid of the sandbox… because, well, I know that stuff. ;) That was there so I could remember the One Direction boys. Well, I have no issue with that now. >__> Haha.

The music section will also slowly disappear, as I complete more and more over at aRM Music. Eventually, that should *all* be hosted over there… we’ll see how that goes.

In future news, I am going on Spring Break starting on Wednesday, and I’ve downloaded a lot of books to my Kindle to read when I’m on it. Since I will be spending a lot of time on trains and buses and whatnot, I’ll have plenty of time to read.

And what type of books? Galleys! Remember way back when (like, last year) when I did that review of I Am Tama, Lucky Cat? Well, it’s the same service and I’ve got a number of novels that I’ve got set-up.

- The City’s Son
- The Goddess Test
- Dark Kiss
- I am (not) the Walrus
- Brook Street Fortune Teller
- The Paladin Prophesy
- A Boy and a Bear in a Boat
- Scarlett Dedd
- Burn
- Fitz
- On the Day I Died
- Happy Families
- The Wednesdays
- Zero

They’re a huge mix of genres, so it should be interesting to see what I like of the mix. I sadly can’t post reviews until 2 weeks before their release, so some of these might have to wait to have a review posted until November. Oo; Others I can do as soon as I read them.

So we’ll see

aRM Music

The newest member of the aRM family, it’s something I’ve had on the backburn forever and ever and ever. I never liked having lyrics here – this is supposed to be my blog… but I needed somewhere to put them. Well, with this site… I have it! I’m still in process of building it, but it’s got a pretty good backend, and I’ve done a good amount of content for it.

This is also proving to be my play toy. I’m learning quite a bit. For instance, I learned how to add Facebook comments. How nifty is that? I know, most people don’t care… but I’m learning!

I’m also making it more and more dynamic. Like, for instance, I have a basic news system. :O Nifty, eh? I know. My current project is making a paginated archive for the news. I’ve got the basics… kinda done. But not really.

DigiDisc

The other “new” member of the family, it also falls under the DATS family. (Technically, it is a “DATS” site, but meh. DATS is mine and therefore DigiDisc is mine too)

This one is pretty much the same as aRM music, except with a lot less… detail? I dunno. I haven’t all decided what to put in this site. Right now, I’m just working on getting the actual CDs taken care of. Which I’m enlisting the assistance of the people at DATS to help with. Megumi’s done a few and Ryan did… 1. lol.

This is also gonna host downloads at some point. Just gotta get around to downloading and uploading everything. -o-

DATS

Nothing’s been happening at DATS, really. It’s just the silly Pages that get any attention. I’m enlisting pawitp to try and integrate DigiDisc with the forum, so we’ll see how well that goes. ;)

Also, today I finally replaced all the XenForo banners with DATS ones. Yay~

The Magykal Network

Still working on the basics… but it’s so pretty. <3 I think I’m going to steal the aRM Music news system once I finish it. It’ll be a good use of it.

I’m also considering, if the site were to get popular at all, to use the DATS forum for it… but I dunno how well that would go over with the DATS crew. :\

Or, with the fansubbing stuff, how that would work… bleh. :( I love XenForo but DATS really doesn’t seem worth it. xxxxxx

GeoRockman

Nothing

See, I’ve been busy. :D

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a poem in Spanish for class. You can see – obviously – that I was getting more into it by the third stanza :P The first two are meh.

Lluvia de tus ojos

La lluvia ha empezado
La puedo ver en tus ojos
Ahora, voy a tocar tus codos
Y decirte que eres el ombligo de mi mundo

Estamos viviendo en una primavera eterna
Tú eres el cielo por todos mi flores
Por eso, es necesario que tú llores
Y das agua a toda la tierra

Pero, mi amor, no lloras tanta
No queremos el diluvio de Noé
Debes sonreír, porque contigo, el mundo iluminaré
Tú eres mi dueña, mi vida, y a tí, me encanta.

And then an attempt at a translation… (of my own work??)

Rain from your eyes

The rain has started
I can see it in your eyes
And now, I’ll touch your elbows
And tell you that you’re the center of my world

We’re living in an eternal spring
You’re the sky for all of my flowers
Therefore, it’s necessary that you cry
And give water to the entire Earth

However, my love, don’t cry too much
We don’t want Noah’s floor
You should smile, because with you, I’ll illuminate the world
You’re my lady, my life, and it’s you that I love