New Year, New Apartment, New Belle

Wow, it's 2013 already. When did that happen?

2012 was crazy. Just like 2011. And 2010.

In 2012, I lived in New York for the first two months, then Toronto for four months, home in the South for three weeks, and finally in the Midwest for five months, with a whole week of that being in my new apartment.

I went from being a live-in au pair to doing social media and assorted IT stuff for a start-up company. Yeah, I'm still confused about that too.

The boyfriend and I went from very long-distance (an airplane) to long-distance (a six-hour drive) to medium-distance (driving two hours!).

My twin brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor that miraculously went away with surgery.

My car died. I became an emotional wreck. The boyfriend gave me a car for Christmas. I finally figured out humility. 

Both my twitter followers and blog readers grew by leaps and bounds. I expanded my blog posts a little bit. I don't always talk about only virginity. I write about books, and feminism, and family, and sex, and politics, and fun stuff like that. 

I even GULP participated in a giveaway.* You know, one of those shameless promotions to gain followers who sometimes keep following you, but often unfollow you when the giveaway is over? You know, one of those fun things where you can be generous to other people?

Awesome giveaway hosted by Bonnie!

I even survived the Apocalypse!

I live a crazy life. It's how I roll. I'm pretty sure 2013 will be just as up and down as my previous years. Some changes I can anticipate. Others will be unexpected challenges.

For my readers, you'll notice a few changes. I'm not going to focus as much on only blogging about sex/virginity. I did expand some this past year, but I feel more comfortable now writing like a real blogger, and not just some funny academic essayist. Of course, this is partly because I will be writing a column for HI! Magazine. A funny academic essayist column on virginity. So... there's that.

As much as I will strive to keep up my 3-7 posts a month range I've got going on, I can't make any promises. See, another change I'm (hopefully) making is getting a second part-time job for a little extra spending money... plus health insurance. This will eat into my writing time. 

That, and my only New Year's resolution is to read Les Misérables. En français. Also, my non-resolution, just regular goal of reading 53 books this year. I read 51 last year, with a goal of 52. Reading is important.

Edit: I totally forgot to mention one of the biggest changes. I didn't just move into a new apartment--I moved into my first apartment without a roommate. Turning it into my own little home will also be totally time-consuming.

All that said, big changes are in store for Belle and Beau** in 2013. Who knows, we might even experience coitus for the first time.***

Whatever happens, I'll be here, blogging away. This is, after all...

Confessions of a Virgin. 

*When the boyfriend donated to How to Lose Your Virginity, our prize packages included two cherry pendants. I gave one away. I briefly reached 51 blog followers by participating--I'm down to 48 now. But. I'm following one young woman who followed me and gave me crazy-awesome compliments on my blog. Genna's super-cool.
**If you're new here, that's me and the boyfriend.
***Kidding. Mostly. 

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Book Club Friday: The Hunger Games (eek!)

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably at least heard about the cultural phenomenon The Hunger Games, first a best-selling trilogy and now a box office hit. I first read the trilogy back in the fall, and I recently reread all three books in anticipation of the midnight showing last week. It only seems appropriate to dedicate this week's Book Club Friday to the first (and best) of the three.

Confession: When it comes to books, I can be a bit of a snob. The more popular a novel, series, or author is with a mainstream audience, the more I resist reading. After years of my favorite librarians telling me to try Harry Potter, I finally acquiesced one Christmas Eve while visiting my mom's family. I was 12 1/2 years old, and my aunt & uncle had just given my family the first three Harry Potter novels. Having already finished the 25 books I'd brought with me for our two-week vacation, I reluctantly started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My life has never been the same. I only read Twilight because I had to work the midnight release party for Breaking Dawn--and because bookstore employees could "check out" books from the bookstore like a library.

This fall, I gave in to all my friends who were encouraging me to try Suzanne Collins's trilogy.

I will be eternally grateful for all their harassment.

 

I love dystopian literature, and Suzanne Collins does not disappoint. In a near-distant future, 13 districts rebel against their Capitol. The 13th district is completely destroyed, and the remaining 12 are reminded annually of their disobedience by participating in the Hunger Games, a battle to the death between 24 children, one boy and one girl from each district.

The book revolves around Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12 who hunts illegally to feed her family. When her younger sister's name is randomly drawn at the reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the Games. 

I love everything about this book. I love the way flashbacks are woven throughout the story, fleshing out Katniss's character, but also giving the reader pertinent information about other characters, the rebellion, and the background of this society. I love that Katniss is pretty, but in comparison to everything else about her, her looks don't matter. I love the descriptions of the harshness of District 12 and the decadence of the Capitol. I love that the characters are presented in shades of gray. 

This book is a page-turner. When I first read it, I stayed up til 2am finishing it. Even rereading it for the movie, I basically didn't do anything else that week. I just reread the trilogy. 

Stay tuned for the boyfriend's thoughts. :) Why, yes, I convinced him to start reading it last weekend.

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