Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Lovely Bones



By Alice Sebold

Haunting and beautiful,
Honest and elegant,
Hopeful and captivating...

All of these words came to mind as I read this book.
The subject matter was tough, and often daunting, but all together well put. The characters were real and honest. The descriptions were vibrant and almost appealing. The ending was perfect. My own words do not give the book justice. Only one word comes to mind: beautiful.

Everything about it was beautiful--the characters and thoughts to the grief and loneliness. It's hard to explain how grief and loneliness can be beautiful, but somehow the author made it possible. I don't mean beautiful as in nice to look at, but beautiful as in you can't get more honest and real than that. I often think the most beautiful things comes from the flaws hidden away beneath the cracks or the comfort that comes from a loved one. I think beauty can also be found in the strength that comes from people in desperate situations, that slowly builds as their lives are put back together. Somehow this book captures that kind of beauty.

I'm always drawn to well written books and this book definitely doesn't disappoint. There is something appealing to me when a book can take a simple, straight-forward story and turn it into a complicated and elaborate story through words. Usually I find out that the book is well written, but often not a good story or just words, and not actually a story. This book was none of those things as I soon found out.

I hope you have read The Lovely Bones and if not you should. Most likely you won't be disappointed.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Grammys, end of story

Loved the opening with U2. They still have the rock flowing through their bones. I loved that Jennifer Hudson won Best R&B Album and how she thanked God even after what happened to her family. I wasn't exactly a fan of Justin Timberlake. I just don't see the appeal of him. Simon Baker made my stomach flip when he introduced Coldplay in his Australian accent. Ah, Coldplay. There are no words right now when I think of them. Words just escape me. I could've done without the Kanye interruption. I was so excited when "Viva La Vida" started playing. I'm a sucker for a song with a good beat. The girl from Sugarland was so cute when she accepted their award like how she said she was going to be cool, but then said she wasn't cool, or how she thanked Paul McCartney. It made me so happy when "I'm Yours" and "Viva La Vida" were nominated for Song of the Year, then even happier when Coldplay won it.

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift were okay together. I mean Miley actually sounded like she was trying, but my stomach doesn't flip when she sings. I liked Taylor Swift on the other hand, probably due to the fact that she writes all of her songs. I don't know, I just like singers more when they sing their own stuff---not what their professional writers write. I loved Jennifer Hudson's performance. Her singing is so honest and she's such a beautiful person.

The Jonas Brothers were cute as usual. I'm not that interested in them anymore. (Although, I do like that they write their own songs.) Maybe because they're everywhere?! I liked Stevie Wonder of course. I feel kind of bad for wondering this, but I just kept wondering what Stevie thought the Jonas Brothers looked like. By the way, Alex asked me if Stevie Wonder could see. I ignored her after she asked me why Travis Barker had a sling around his arm. (Maybe because he almost died in a plane crash in South Carolina?!)

I love Katy Perry's performance. Okay, she's not exactly the most talented singer, but she's so fun. I loved her outfit even my mom commented on how cute it was. She was so energetic and...hyper. I love it. (And the fruit props!) I was so happy when Adele won Best New Artist. My mom aked me if she was pregnant or just chubby. I said, "No, just chubby." She said, "Good, I'm glad. A chubby girl deserves to win it." As in not just for her looks, but for her voice.

M.I.A. cracked me up when she came on stage with that outfit. Rapping and pregnant, probably the most unusual mix. I wasn't a fan of the rap collaboration, well, because I'm not a big fan of rap music anyway. To me it's not real music. Now, the Beatles is real music. I loved Paul McCartney's performance and I just love Paul McCartney. Dave Grohl was awesome, too. (With the drums and the vocals.) Okay, I don't usually like country, but I liked Sugarland and the lead singer's voice. Adele was fantastic, too. The collaboration with the marching band and Radiohead was very cool. I've never been into Radiohead though.

I liked how the head of the Grammys mentioned Obama and his connection to the show. Plus, he mentioned how he's just like us. Yay, go Obama! Smokey Robinson and everyone was great. I love when they have young stars sing old songs. I also liked Neil Diamond. I have always loved the orignals of...well music. No one compares. Ah, I loved the collaboration with B.B. King, John Mayor, and Keith Urban. There was some good guitar playing going on.

I love, love, loved Robert Plant and Alison Kraus' performance. And congrats to them for Album of the Year! They deserved it.

Overall, it was a good show. I was surprised, usually I end up not watching it because they'd focus on just one pop singer. This year there was so much MUSIC and variation. Not just pop and rap music.

Oh, the "60 Minutes" interview with Coldplay was wonderful. Before there was no words and now there are not enough words to describe how fantastic they are. Not only is their music wonderful, but as people they are wonderful. They are all so down to Earth and modest. I mean they kept saying how they would never write the perfect song. What?! All of their songs are perfect in their own way from "The Scientist" to "Viva La Vida." All of the band mates were so humble and didn't even mind that Chris Martin received most of the attention. In fact, they welcome it to him. Of course, Chris didn't want it. I also liked how they had rules taped up in their studio. Number 1 was like how their album can't be more than 42 minutes long. My favorite was Number6--"Always keep mystery. Not many interviews."

Plus, Chris Martin is absolutely adorable. I love it when famous people are just so cute in person and just so...so human. He would have to be the modest out of all of them when talking about their music. I loved it when he said he can't dance like Usher, can't sing like Beyonce, and can't write songs like Elton John, but that he has loads of enthusiasm and he tries his best. Aw, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I heard that. I can't explain it, but my stomach does somersaults when I hear my favorite stars just say awesome things like that. Also, it's awesome how he never stops writing songs even while on tour. He sang this song he wrote the day before the interview and it was pure magic. If their music isn't considered perfect, then I don't know what is.

Wow, this would have to be my longest post and it's all about music. I love it.