So, I had one of the best experiences of my life the other day. I had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with Sarah J. Maas, Savannah J. Foley, Biljana Likic, Kat Zhang, and Susan Dennard!!!

I got to the restaurant/meeting place early. I'll admit, while I was waiting, I kept thinking thoughts along the lines of "What if they don't like me?". However, that worry was put in an early grave as soon as I saw Susan's van appear, along with Savannah and Sarah smiling and waving at me. When everyone got out, they each gave me a hug and we went in to eat lunch.
 

 



From left to right: Sarah, Susan, Biljana, Me, and Kat (Savannah was taking the photo)

From left to right: Susan, Biljana, Savannah, Me, Sarah, and Kat

I stole this from fallenidol_453 who took it from muses_circle who I'm sure took it from someone else.. So, in the end, we're all thieves. :D

Apparently, if you've seen more than 85 films, you have no life. This isn't going to end well for me, is it?

[EDIT] Good Lord, that's crazy. But,in my defense, it's been over span of around twelve years that I watched these movies. It's not like I sat down and watched them all in one sitting or anything like that. So, you know, put that in your pipe and smoke it. [EDIT]

( the movies that i've seen )

TOTAL: 159

I took this meme from fallenidol_453. :)

Name you go by:
Sydney. :)

Where you lurk (social sites, other journals, etc) :
Facebook, Tumblr, LJ, and GoodReads.

Birthday and signs:
November 21. I'm a Scorpio/Sagittarius rising, and I was born in the year of the horse.

Religion:
I'm a Christian. I hope I don't push my beliefs on others, though. I try to keep an open mind.

Sexuality/Relationship status:
I'm straight, but not narrow. I'm also single.

School?
I graduated high school in 2009. I'm currently studying at a local college, but I have plans to transfer to a university next spring.

Genre of television/books/games/anime/music:
✦ Television: I actually really like cartoons. Not just adult cartoons like South Park, American Dad, or Futurama (though I do like those a lot), but actual kid cartoons. :P Invader Zim, Spongebob Squarepants, Samurai Jack, Avatar: The Last Airbender, etc.

As for more adult shows, I do really like Game of Thrones, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Skins (UK), Glee (I know, I know), and The Office, to name a few.

✦ Books: Oh Lord. I love reading, and I love love love young adult fantasy, YA paranormal, YA sci-fi, and anything pretty much YA that isn't set in the typical teen world of high school and unnecessary drama. I also love historical fiction, historical romance, steampunk, adult fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, and mystery. I'm a huge sucker for strong leads in general, but particularly strong female leads. That's one reason why I hate hate hate HATE Twilight, Fallen, Hush, Hush, etc. Not only are the female leads Mary Sue-ish, they also manage to be whiny, rude, and annoying. Agh. Sorry, I kinda got into a rant there.

✦ Games: I've never really been a gamer, but there are games that I do want to play. First and foremost, American McGee's Alice and the sequel. IT LOOKS AWESOME. Super Mario Bros. of any kind will work, too. Oh, does Just Dance 2 count? :P

✦ Anime: I've never been a huge anime fan, but I can't get enough of movies like Spirited Away and Ponyo.

✦ Music: Oh boy. It would take forever for me to list every style that I like, so I'll just list the ones that I don't: (most) Country, Hardcore Rap, Hardcore Metal, and Screamo.If it isn't anything like those, that I will probably enjoy it. I do really enjoy indie, folk, soundtracks, and anything beautiful.

Tastes (food, smells, colors, sounds);
✦ Food: I love trying new foods. I was a vegetarian for years, but I'm not at the moment. I love organic foods, foreign foods, and fruits/veggies. Don't get me wrong - I do like sweets. Chocolate or sprinkles will be the death of me, mark my words.

✦ Smells: Freshly baked bread, muffins, cookies, etc. Most flowers, flowery perfumes, clean sheets, and the pages of either very old or brand new books.

✦ Colors: Purple is my favorite color, but I also just like colors in general. Unless it's puke green or something. :P

✦ Sounds: I think that silence is golden. However, I love the sound of running water (rivers, oceans, rain, etc.), pretty music, and genuine laughter.

Talents!

I love writing, sketching, painting, singing, acting, dancing...anything creative, really. I'm not very good at sports (except soccer, which I played for a while), but I do like watching them.

♫ Quirky or strange habits?
✦ I always have to make sure that when a person uses one of my pens/pencils, they return them.
✦ Also, the pen caps need to be on!
✦ I read the last page/sentence of a book before I read the whole thing. It lets me know if I'll like it.
✦ I went through a phase where I didn't heat things up before I ate them. To this day, I have no idea why I did this.
✦ I can usually sleep through anything.
✦ When I blow my nose, it's LOUD. I don't do it on purpose, and it didn't used to be that loud. :/

Languages (speak, learning, want to learn) and places you have visited/want to visit:
✦ Languages: English is my primary language, and I started taking Spanish in kindergarten. I want to minor in Spanish, as well. I wish I knew every language, but sadly, this is not the case. I really would love to learn all of the romance languages, mandarin chinese, sumerian, and ancient egyptian.

✦ Places I've Visited/Want To visit:

I've visited Illinois (Chicago <3), California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, and the Bahamas.

The places I want to visit are England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, China, New York, Italy, Spain, and Egypt.

Own any pets?

YES I DO. I have four cats, four dogs, and two birds. That's ten animals. TEN. :P

Favorite animal- domesticated, wild or fictional.
Dolphins are my absolute favorite, but I also really adore horses, unicorns, doves, and whales.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hopefully, working at my super dream job. <3

Favorite quote!

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind -
Each prayer accepted, each wish resigned."

-Alexander Pope

Hello! I hope you all are having a wonderful new year so far - mine is going pretty well. :)

Between my birthday (November 21) and Christmas, I received SO MANY BOOKS. Seriously, it was fantastic. I just finished the last book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing). I absolutely loved that series, as it was so well written and had beautiful (and sometimes frightening) imagery. Libba Bray is definitely a lovely writer. Yesterday I started reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. I'm so excited to get pulled into that world, as heartbreaking as it may be. Plus, Katniss Everdeen is a total boss.

There are so many books out there that I want to read, especially YA fantasy novels, which I'm totally obsessed with right now. They all make me want to be a better writer, and to kick my muse into inspiration again so I can finish all of these stories that I'm working on. You hear that, muse? Get off your butt and help me out here! :P

Anyway, how are you guys? Have you read or written anything awesome recently?

Hello, hello! I finally found a break, and I decided to post an update here. I know I'm still dragging my butt on Love's Status, but I've almost got the next chapter finished. Or, at least, half way finished. I also have the prologue of another story in the works. Oddly enough, it came to me in a very detailed dream, so I'm kind of excited about this one, too. :)

My grandmother gave me a book called The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (cool name, right?). It's more of a contemporary novel than anything else, but I'm enjoying just as much as I would a good fantasy novel. It does have a fantasy feel to it, though. OH, I also bought a really freaking cool copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I can't wait to start reading it. :D

I get to pick up my little cousin from school tomorrow. She's so adorable. Seriously, you guys have no idea how cute she is. And random. For example, she and my uncle went grocery shopping the other day, and she spent the entire time play-punching him and calling him a lobster. XD She's adopted from China, and she's the sweetest girl EVAH. :P