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Whimsey: December

December?  But your last Whimseybox related post was for August!

Yes, I would have to agree with you there.  The last box I completed (kind of) was the August box.  And I assure you, my calendar does not go from August straight to December.  But the project for December was immediately useful to me and also easy to do, so I did it first.  So…here was December’s craft:

DIY-Geo-Stamped-Calendar

(Image links to site)

It didn’t really help that I got the box in January, but I didn’t have a calendar yet…so, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  In the box was a wooden block for mounting stamps, a large ink pad (mine was black), a bunch of Foamies (adhesive foam shapes) to use as stamps, a pre-printed calendar, and a hole punch and string (for mounting purposes).

I’ve had really great Whimseyboxes (that I haven’t done yet) and this wasn’t really one of them.  This box seemed rather haphazardly assembled.  I mean, it was packaged beautifully.  I think they have their shipping method down.  But…Foamies?  And the stamp pad they gave me wasn’t quite large enough to fit the stamp mounting block so you had to finagle it around to get all the shapes inked.  But at least this gives me a good idea for a childrens’ meeting craft.  So…there’s something.

WP_20130106_001

Sorry for the terrible picture. But I’m too lazy to go back and shoot again.

Anyway, here’s my calendar.  I’ve been really interested in triangles lately, so there are a lot of those.

Dystopian literature

I’ve been reading a lot of dystopian literature lately…intended for younger audiences.  Why for younger audiences?  I dunno.  Felt like it.  And there seems to be a lot of it available.  I wonder what that says about our society?

So first up, yes…I read The Hunger Games (and Catching Fire and I’m in the middle of Mockingjay right now) finally.  I’m sure you all know about the plot and such already.  I was kind of surprised about the quality of writing.  It’s not bad at all.

Why am I finally reading the series now since the hype about it has since died down?  Because it’s free to borrow for Amazon Prime members who have a Kindle device and I was looking for something to read.  The downside of that is that I’m only allowed to borrow one book per calendar month and the books are a pretty easy read.  So that means I finish the book in a couple nights of reading before bed and I have to wait another 28 days or so before I can read the next one.  That’s why I’m in the middle of Mockingjay right now instead of being finished with the series.

No, I don’t intend on watching the movie(s).

Second, The Giver series by Lois Lowry.  Actually, I don’t know if there’s a designated series name.  It’s just a quartet of books that take place in the same general setting.  The Giver is the first book.

Anyway, this one actually is children’s literature, but it’s really good.  I found out about it through NPR, where I seem to get most of my reading suggestions now, and I read all four books.  Since it’s supposed to be children’s lit, it’s an easy read again.  Plowing through a book is nothing.  I rather like how the dystopian themes develop through the book and are recurring through the series.  I also like the different points of view you get from each book.

The author does a good job of letting each book stand alone so that reading the previous books in the series aren’t necessary.  I would recommend it though.  Mostly because that’s just how I believe series should be read.

I would have to say that I found the last book, which I believe will be the final book in the series, has kind of a weak ending.  It wasn’t like the other books.  Maybe because it was supposed to wrap everything up as the final book.  It’s still a pretty good read though.

And there are my book reviews that really didn’t say anything at all about the books.  How useful.

In case you were wondering, since my last book report, I’ve read several books of epidemiology, virusessesseses, and diseases.  Oh, and also medical stories about hallucinating.  No, I don’t believe this fomented a desire to read dystopian literature and no, I don’t think I’ll post about them.  I just like to read about epidemiology, virusesesesses, and diseases (including those that have hallucinations as a symptom)…and dystopian lit, apparently.  I guess I should go read adult dystopian lit now.