The irrelevance of my About page...

I have declared in The About section of my blog that

I hope to publish posts about:

•  Advice about aspects of life such as http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/2012/12/pursuit-of-happiness.html
• Book reviews
• Various other reviews
• The Big Bang Theory
• Ed Sheeran
• My personal experiences
• Random Topics

I have succeeded in typing about everything on the list above besides the three topics highlighted in lime green. Why haven't I created posts on the topics in green? (I quietly rummage for my Excuse Book- which so happens to be misplaced...)

I don't often buy new stuff like hairdryers, toasters, televisions and paint so generally I don't have any of those things to review...I do watch quite a lot of films but I don't ever read film reviews so I don't know the layout of them and..."But you could learn the basic film review layout!"- one of you may retort...My reply-"Honestly I don't have any interest in typing/writing film reviews..."

I have the Big Bang Theory box set,season one to five. I think I'm on the third season of The Big Bang Theory. I'm not particularly sure what episode I'm on as I have not watched it much lately... Sheldon Cooper is my favourite character, played by Jim Parsons. Jim Parsons is an amazing actor, he lifts the show and without him the show would probably not be worth watching...Maybe, I'm just being as he is undoubtedly my favourite actor but just watch the show and decide for yourself.

Let me introduce you to may favourite singer. Ed Sheeran, why don't you step on out here? This ginga ninga is skilled with his sword...He is an extraordinary singer- simple but effective-one man- one paw printed guitar - and a voice which can send the hairs on your arms to stand straight and solute this soldier of song.

I feel generally pleased now that I have bundled up the three topics in this one post. No more will they occupy my About page with no right of being there- now they will stand proudly among the other topics and be unquestionably relevant...

My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

 My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece 

by Annabel Pitcher

 

 Ten-year-old Jamie hasn't cried since it happened. He knows he should have - Jasmine cried, Mum cried, Dad still cries. Roger didn't, but then he is just a cat and didn't know Rose that well, really.

Everyone kept saying it would get better with time, but that's just one of those lies that grown-ups tell in awkward situations. Five years on, it's worse than ever: Dad drinks, Mum's gone and Jamie's left with questions that he must answer for himself.

This is his story, an unflinchingly real yet heart-warming account of a young boy's struggle to make sense of the loss that tore his family apart.

 Jamie, his sister Jasmine and their dad move house. Jamie's mother stays behind as she is divorced from his father and she is devoted to her new love Nigel. Jamie's sister-Rose- Jamsmine's twin- was killed by a bomb which exploded in a bin in a park in London. Following this Jamie's family is torn apart. He himself doesn't miss Rose as he doesn't remember her...Jamie soon becomes great friends with a muslim girl called Sunya. She is talented at art, has sparkling eyes and wears a hijab but complications arise as Jamie's dad claims"Muslims killed my daughter"...

 Jamie is a wonderful narrator as he tells his story honestly, his comparisons are so accurate and appropriate but are quite humourous also. Stories with a child as the narrator, are often powerful stories, if the author portrays the innocence, honesty and imagination of that child eg.'The Boy in the Striped Pjamas' by John Boyne. Jamie's story is not a fairytale but its realistic nature is very relatable and compelling. He is a character I want to craddle in my arms but that's thankfully why Annabel Pitcher created Jasamine to protect, comfort and support him.

 

Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- I really liked it.(4/5 cats)
Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/re...

It was a heart warming story, it did proclaim useful life advice but for some unseen, unexplainable reason I can't give it 5/5 cats... Perhaps, I may be just drawn to more exciting, page turning, addictive books but that is just my own personal genre preference. 
The book had a steady flow but it lacked an exhilarating twist which would of undoubtedly led to another cat on the rating.
 

 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

                                          A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd, Jim Kay (Illustrator)

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

I read this book about a month ago- I should of typed a book review then but...http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/2013/02/its-been-while.html

The book begins with a monster trailing towards Conor house to visit him late in the night. The monster happens to be the great willow tree, in the graveyard , near the house, which Conor's mother is quite fond of. The monster wants to tell Conor a few stories from the history of the world and in turn Conor must tell him the truth-all of it.

Conor's mother has cancer and metaphorically the monster could be the grief, dishonesty and the general futile hope which is built up in Conor. Conor has to stay with his grandmother whom he detests as his mother has to stay in the hospital again. The monster follows him to his grandmother's house and Conor believes the monster's objective is to save his mother from cancer.

I devoured this book in a monstrous fashion. It was a truly a unique take on cancer and the implications of the disease not only on the victim but on the relations of the victim. 

The illustrations are fabulous-simple but effective(the best way to do anything)- they were black, grey and white - eery but not to the extent of one experiencing nightmares. 

My Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- It was absolutely amazing(5/5 cats)

Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/reviews.html

It has been awhile...

It truly has been awhile but I do have a few things to tell you. I am 10 books into my 2013 book challenge of 50 books-  one fifth of my way to completion-20%- so I'm pretty happy with that as I am quite on track. So far I have read the following books:

Winnie the Pooh- A.A.Milne

A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness

Princess Diaries- Meg Cabot

Jinx- Meg Cabot

Teen Idol- Meg Cabot

Peter Pan- J.M. Barrie

The Giving Tree- Shel Silverstein

The Magic Finger- Roald Dahl

Going Solo- Roald Dahl

Why We Broke Up- Daniel Handler

I have played rather a lot of Call of Duty: Black Ops II on PS3. Some fellow gamers got quite a shock, once I started talking into my mic, for generally girls don't tend to enjoy virtually shooting and killing people...

My username is Cat_n_Boots     I would of picked the username CatinBoots but it was  taken...Black Ops II is an exceedingly good game- far too addictive though!

It is the season for colds, coughs and flues. I have gotten and currently have a bad cold- stuffy nose- runny nose- the works! Also I may have pulled a muscle in my back yesterday from cycling up far too many steep hills...Life is good!

Rusty at german

My german is unfortunately  quite rusty at the moment. It's not too big of  a problem because I generally like the german lanuage and pick it up easyly but I still am quite rusty at speaking it. Also I am bad at writing it...So I decided I would do something about it- Since my new year's Resolution happens to be -pro-activeness...Anyway, I got a Teach Yourself German audio CD with a book and I am going over the basics. 

I have learned some new things already:

How to ask someone his/her name - Wie ist Ihr Name?...I already knew how to ask the other way to ask someone's name-What are you called? - Wie heissen Sie? (It is just better to know the two ways anyway)

Mr- Herr, Mrs- Frau and Miss- Fräulin( apparently people in Germany generally call women over the age of 18 Frau instead of  Fräulin even if she is not married)

Great Britain- Grossbritannien(My keyboard is incapable of doing a scharfes S so I have to use 'ss' instead.

Excuse (me)- Entschuldigen Sie

One- man(not the number but referring to a person)

Passerby- Passant

Which answer fits?- Welche Antwort passt?

Which words are missing?- Welche Worte fehlen?

There are 23 units in the book along with the audio tape.I plan to listen to a unit a day. I have listened to  unit 01 Mein Name ist(My name is) today.So if I keep interested and on schedule, I should have all of the 23 units done in 23 days. I may add that this estimate may vary due to length of each particular unit, amount of time I have to do the unit and difficulty of the unit. 

So I guess this is me being proactive and learning useful information...Sorry for the somewhat boring post but sometimes the things that are most beneficial are the most boring.

Which Career?

Interests
Firstly what are you interested in? What are your hobbies?
-I love reading YA books.
-I like playing the keyboard occasionally.
-I like watching documentaries on a wide range of things: Animals, geography,science etc.
-I like blogging some bit.
-My favourite subjects are: Art, history and english.
-I like playing sport.
-I like getting involved in musicals.
-I like spending time with animals.
 Secondly- What are your anti- interests so to speak-what do you hate doing?What do you hate?
-I hate school...
-I dislike rude, loud, condescending, selfish people...
-I don't particularly like maths...
-I hate early mornings...
-Business theory and accounting is not my thing...
Analysis
What can be determined (in one sentence) from the above information?
This person is generally an open-minded person but doesn't particularly like maths and does not have any preferences between indoor and outdoor activities...Also this person does not like business or accounting.
Career Paths
What jobs have you considered for your future career?
-Actress
-Primary school teacher
-Secondary school teacher
-Vet
-Astrophysicist
-Psychotherapist
-Social worker
-Councillor
-Artist
-Animation designer
-Fashion designer
-Narrator
-Author

Aptitude Testing
Have you taken an aptitude test? If so which aspects did you score best in/worst in?
My abstract reasoning was the highest.
My mechanical reasoning was quite high.
The mathematical part was somewhat low.

------------------------------------------------------------
It is frustrating to not know what career path to choose!I feel constricted by time and the curse of not making the right choices...(pressure)I'm continually thinking about my career choices and frankly I'm stressed over the whole thing. Why? I do not want to end up in a collage course which, is too difficult or that I'm not interested in...Not to mention, a collage course which does not offer much easily attainable jobs after qualifications are obtained! I would love it if the world was operated by elders picking a job that suits me(The Giver by Lois Lowry)

 Conclusion =I'm in a bit of a predicament -Confused...

Winnie-the-Pooh (The Winnie-the-Pooh Series #1) by A.A.Milne

Winnie-the-Pooh (The Winnie-the-Pooh Series #1) by A.A.Milne

The Bear of Very Little Brain and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood have delighted generations of readers since Winnie-the-Pooh was first published in 1926.

Back by popular demand, the four full-color gift editions of the original Pooh classics are available again. These elegant books, larger in format than the classic editions, include all of Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, each meticulously hand-painted in delicate watercolors.

Here are the two great storybooks chronicling the adventures of Christopher Robin and all the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood, as well as the two charming volumes of poems. Bright in color and true in spirit, these are books for giving--To Pooh fans of all ages.

What can I say or more literally type? I expected the book to be good but not to the extent where I sat transfixed by A.A.Milne's brilliance and I read all one hundred and twenty five pages in one go. Why? The characters are so lovable, the journeys they go on are exciting and humorous. Also  the writing style is simple yet brilliant and the illustrations are phenomenal!

The characters consist of : Winnie the Pooh the bear of little brain who's weakness is honey, Christopher Robin the boy who all the animals are associated with, Piglet the nervous and cautious one, Rabbit the plan maker, Eeyore- a  gloomy donkey with a nailed on tail , Owl the wise owl who lives in the Hundred Acre woods, Kanga a protective mother kangaroo, Roo- Kanga's adventurous little son and not to mention all of Rabbit's relations...Winnie the Pooh is an appropriate main character. He is silly, obsessed with honey- which in turn causes a lot of sticky situations for Pooh. Not to mention, he sings the wonderful insightful songs/poems and he is a generally good natured bear. It is truly hard to not like these well established characters that A.A.Milne has created. They interact together superbly and are just plain-simple-but effective-characters.

It was completely enriching to read the amusing, eventful adventures Pooh and his friends went on. One such adventure is, when Pooh and Piglet decide to give Eeyore a gift each for his birthday as he had got none and in turn was more depressed than usual. Piglet decided to give Eeyore a bright, red balloon, while Pooh choose a pot of honey to give to Eeyore. Piglet ran eagerly- too early in fact- he wanted to give Eeyore his present first but he fell and as a result the balloon popped. Meanwhile Pooh had already devoured the honey, then realised his mistake but uncharacteristically thought up a brilliant plan. He resolved the issue by deciding to give Eeyore the empty pot instead to put things into- It is rather a nice pot - he thought. He got owl to write 'Happy Birthday' on it but Owl ironically can't spell so it was just a big scrawl of misspelt birthday wishes from Pooh. Surprisingly, Eeyore was absolutely delighted with his deflated balloon and empty pot of honey to Pooh and Piglet's relief.

The writing style is quite effective. It is descriptive but not too descriptive to bore the reader. Since it was published in 1926, the writing style is somewhat fancy. It even makes Pooh seem more sophisticated than he is. In co-ordinance with the vivid illustrations, the story is really brought to life. This helps to shorten the description, to appeal to a younger target audience primarily for children but now enjoyed by all ages(as specified already in the third paragraph). Winnie -the- Pooh is full of heart warming tales that could warm one up after a lousy day, better than any cup of tea could ever do.

My Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- It was absolutely amazing(5/5 cats)

Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/reviews.html