Team Mockingjay, bitches!

Hunger Games spoilers ahead

The insanity is already starting - I swear to Dog if I hear someone ask “Team Peeta” or “Team Gale”, I’m going to punch them in the nuts.

This isn’t a love story like that fucked up one about the disco balls, puppies, and the girl who is weak as fuck.

This is a story about a girl who chooses to volunteer for certain death at the hands of her government. While there is a bit of a love story, it’s ultimately about her and the choices she makes to stay alive and survive the Hunger Games. The story continues in the next two books with what her survival means to her community, to the country as a whole, really.

Yes, boys make appearances, and yes, there are feelings for those boys. But, honestly, I didn’t get the feeling that the girl was really in love with either of them. If she was, the writing was weak, because I didn’t feel like I was consistently hit over the head with it. Yes, she winds up with one of them. The realization of her feelings toward him is sweet, simple, and kind of blah, truth be told: “You love me. Real or not real?” “Real,” I tell him.

But if that’s what you’re looking for when you’re reading the books, you’re missing the fucking point.

Because this is the story of a girl who starts a rebellion and winds up with a hot boy as a kind of an afterthought.

Once again, tumblr helps me with my newest obsession…

Right before our trip to Nashville, I noticed a lot of Hunger Games gifs popping up on Tumblr.

Since I’m older than 99% of the people I follow, I wasn’t sure if I should try the books or not, but some of the quotes grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go.

I ended up using my Amazon Prime membership to borrow the first book on my Kindle.

I loved it so much, I downloaded the entire trilogy within seconds of finishing “The Hunger Games”.

I plowed through “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” so fast that I need to read them again. That normally never happens - I do read fast, but I usually read slow enough to really memorize certain scenes. This time I was blasting through them just to see how they ended. Just when I think I had it all figured out… nope.

Now that I know, I’m going back through them, a lot slower, and wow.

Mind. Blown.

Again.

In Stereo

Buried in my mind is a life I once loved and a love that had died.
So I visit it and send flowers but I’m doing fine. The Landlines

There’s so much that I can say that ties back nicely to that lyric…

...but I don’t really feel like telling you.

So instead, I’m just going to sit here and listen to it on repeat.

(If you want to hear it, you can find it here.)

Finding joy in the LITTLE* things

I’m writing again. (Storyist+ Bluetooth Keyboard + iPad = HEAVEN)

I’m knitting again.

I’m headed to Saratoga again.

I’m feeling like ME again.

*That will probably make me giggle for the rest of my life. Dele-Vegas forever, baby!

Shake it Out - Florence + The Machine

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It’s always darkest before the dawn

And I’ve been a fool and I’ve been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I’m always dragging that horse around

And our love is pastured such a mournful sound
Tonight I’m gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it’s always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaaah

And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I’m gonna cut it out and then restart
Cause I like to keep my issues strong
It’s always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It’s a final mess but it’s left me so empty
It’s always darkest before the dawn

Oh woah, oh woah…

And I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t
So here’s to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I’m ready to suffer and I’m ready to hope
It’s a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I’m gonna let it happen to me

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

Florence and the Machine - Shake It Out (Acoustic) from Pick Up The Headphones on Vimeo.