HUNGER GAMES MOVIE REVIEW LINK UP!!

Hello and Happy Hunger Games!!!! 


So the other day I had this genius idea of doing a Hunger Games Movie Review link-up! You can link up here with your posts all about the movie - whether they've just been written or they're a couple of days old! It doesn't really matter - the goal here is to meet other fans and to create a place where others can easily find reviews of the movie. I, for one, always love finding out what other people think of movies, so let's share our thoughts here! Grab a button and link on up! 

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My Thoughts: 

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 


Characters: I loved the picks for all of the characters! The only person that I didn't really care for was Prim - I thought she was super annoying. I think the movie actually made me feel for Gale - Liam Hemsworth didn't have a very big role in this movie, but the shots of him watching the games and the emotion that he as an actor was able to portray without words (combined with the amazing soundtrack) sent shivers down my spine more than once. I could feel his heart breaking as he watched the "romance" between Peeta and Katniss unfold. I almost went from Team Peeta to Team Gale. It's a good thing that Josh Hutcherson did a fabulous job as Peeta, or else I just might have made that move.

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As far as Katniss is concerned, I think that Jennifer Lawrence was an amazing pick. Even without the narrator giving us every thought running through her mind, I was able to feel what Katniss was feeling. Her emotion almost brought me to tears a few times - especially the scene with Rue. Speaking of Rue, let's just take a minute and talk about how perfect Amandla Stenberg was for that part - amazeballs. 

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Am I the only one that thought that Cato was smokin'? I mean, wow. Alexander Ludwig is FI-IIIINE.

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Likes: I loved the book --> film adaptation. There were only a few small things that I wasn't a fan of, and I'll get to those in a minute. I really liked how well the characters transitioned from the pages of a book onto the big screen - it was just as easy to identify with the characters in the movie as it was in the book, and that is really important to me. I loved the reaping scene - I was almost moved to tears - the same with Rue's death. Shivers went down my spine more than once, but the most memorable time was when Katniss and Peeta rode in on the chariot in the parade. How awesome was that fire suit?!?!

Dislikes: WHERE THE EFF IS MADGE?! I hated the fact that they changed the way Katniss got the Mockingjay pin. I love the history behind the pin and I love the pin's significance, and I think that that was sort of taken away when Katniss just stumbles upon it at the market. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE DOGS MAULING PEETA'S LEG?! Not that I wanted Peeta to have to go through that, but isn't his prosthetic leg a pretty important detail? And finally, WHY THE EFF DID I NOT GET THE CHANCE TO LEAVE THE THEATER CURSING KATNISS' NAME?!?!?! You all know how I felt when I finished the first book. I hated Katniss and wanted to high five her in the face with a chair for breaking poor Peeta's heart. Now why in the world would they leave out this very important part of the story? I guess to put it in the next movie. But seriously?! The last thing I wanted to do was leave the theater liking Katniss. Sheesh.

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So. I could probably talk about the movie for days, but I want to know what you all thought. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Were your expectations for the movie met? Were you disappointed? Link up and tell all!!

Favorite Things Friday

HEY!!! 
You can find me in a guest post here today. 
So... I don't have a lot of side commentary today. Let's just get to the good stuff, shall we? 


Favorite Things Friday! 


1. Hunger Games! And even better - my genius idea of doing a movie review link-up this coming Monday! Tell your friends and everyone that you know - lets get a ton of people to link up so that we can all nerd out big time!! 

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2. Spending the bright sunshiny day in Frankfurt yesterday with husband and friends. Yesterday was glorious not only because of HG, but also because it was like, 67 degrees and sunny. We hung out by the river, went to the park, ate brats, and had dinner with some friends!

recognize daryl ?

3. Enrolling in classes! I'm sort of terrified to have to do homework and reading and writing again, but I need to finish 6 credit hours of English before I am eligible to start my master's program (that I will hopefully get accepted to) in June. That gives me 2 months to read and analyze 9 of Shakespeare's works and learn how to critique and analyze literature. Holy balls. 


4. Swinging. I forgot how much fun it was to sit on a swing and feel like you're flying with [almost] no effort. I will admit, though, that i'm much heavier than I was the last time I was on a swing, and my arms sure felt that! Ha!

5. Smiling/ acting like an idiot/ getting excited about the little things. Guys - I had such a blast with my 8th graders today, and we were not doing anything interesting or exciting - we were talking about different types of texts (diary, news article, movie review, etc.). I just had a good time teaching the lesson, and that translated to them having a blast with one of the most boring things we have ever done. Because I was such a happy-go-lucky/smile crazed teacher today, their homework was to spend an hour outside in the sunshine this weekend.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! 

HUNGER GAMES (MOVIE) THOUGHTS! OH, AND A GENIUS IDEA!!

Don't worry - no spoilers here, folks. 


THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!! 


OH, AND GENIUS IDEA!!! I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M STILL YELLING! Okay, that's better, but I will leave the extra large font on because this is important... Okay, this really is genius, so let's make it all caps again...


LET'S DO A HUNGER GAMES LINK-UP ON MONDAY!!!! I will make a cute little button, and you can tell all your friends, and on Monday, we can all link up our posts about the movie!! 

Awkward & Awesome.

Hiiii Guys!!! 

In case you didn't know from this post, 

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!! If you don't know what day... you're disowned. Hunger Games, DUH!

Actually, while you're reading this... I'm probably in the theater. Yes, that's right, I'm scheduling a post for today so that I keep my little fingers from ruining the movie for everyone else. You're welcome. 

I almost never do awkward and awesome, but I figured, "What the hey. Anything is better than ruining HG for all those pretty people." So... if this a&a sucks... I'm sorry. But not really. 

Awkward. 

1. This video. I did debate putting this in the "awesome" category, though. I'm just that cool. 

2. Going on my first run after 6 months of not working out. Guys, I almost died (and not because I was running through the forest alone at twilight). I had an asthma attack, my knee swelled up to the size of a baseball (I'm actually not even supposed to run, but it's not like I have very many workout options here), and I tripped (on nothing) and flailed around for dear life. This is why I would rather bike 30 miles than run one, or swim 2 miles than run one. 

this person obviously wants Sonic to run like me. 

3.  My German. I haven't spoken German in forever. Anyone wanna practice with me? It's bad, though. 

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4. Forgetting to tell my ride to work that I didn't have to work this morning, and then running outside in a tshirt (without a bra) and sweats (pretty much forbidden in Germany) to tell him, "Oh, yeah... I forgot to call you...

5. Always having to do things in groups of five even if you have nothing else to say. I believe this is self-explanatory. 

Awesome. 

1. I am probably watching the Hunger Games right now. Nuff said. 

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2. This video. I was going to put it under "awkward", but I decided that "awesome" was the better choice. 

3. Freakin' Spring and Sunshine! Holy amazeballs I love this weather! 

4. Playing Hunger Games in the Forest with Husband. No, we did not kill each other, but we did run around with sticks. Yeah, we're freaks. And yes, you're invited to come to Germany and play with us. 

5. The 3 blog designs I've done this week. I think they're pretty freakin' rad, if I do say so myself. You can click the picsies and they'll take you to the blog so you can see the designs "in action" (and check out some pretty amazing bloggers at the same time)!

Happy Hunger Games!! 

Sunday confessions Link-up.

Heeeyyyyyy you guys!!!! <-- Goonies, anyone? I know I've used that greeting before, but lemme tell ya - it's so hard to come up with new ones. Seriously. 


Anyway, it's Sunday! That means it's time for those confessions, so link up and tell your ridiculous secrets to the world. 

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1. I'm addicted to Words with Friends. I also find it hilarious to play words like "titty," "hooters," and "pee." I've had this app on my iPhone since forever... but just got into it. I think I was inspired by McKenzie's addiction. Psst... start a game with me: AlyxGarner

2. I found another way to enjoy Nutella. Okay, two more ways to enjoy it. I can eat it on my pretzels (yum!), or I can stuff my french toast with it (thanks to Sabrina for sending me every Nutella recipe she finds). 

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3. I have no clue what to do with my life now that I'm done with the Hunger Games. I have gotten some good book recommendations from people, I just need to sit down and figure out where to start next!
4. I slept in until 2:30 p.m. 3 times last week. Yeah, you wish you had a life as lazy as mine. I also spent two entire days in my pajamas. 

5. I may or may not be catching the fever... baby fever. Shhh... I don't want to talk about it - I'm in denial. But seriously... look at this random cute baby that I found in Google by searching "cute baby..." isn't it cute?? 

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PS: Enter the giveaway here.
Happy Sunday!!! 

Mockingjay [Flammender Zorn] Thoughts.

WARNING: This post contains spoilers. If you have not yet read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, or Mockingjay, go to your local library and check them out, or go here, here, and here and order yourself the ebooks. If you have a Kindle and Amazon Prime, you can read the ebooks for free. Simply not reading these books is not an option. 

[Insert District 12 Salute here.] <--yeah, I know I did that last time, but I'm a nerd, and I look so frickin' cool doing that in my brain. I'd probably look stupid if I did it in real life, which is why you get a picture of Katniss doing it, and not a vlog of me. 

Anyway. Husband and I stayed up all night last night. Get yo mind out of the gutter. We were reading (and I was working on a blog design that I can't wait to show you all). We weren't just reading any ole books, though... we were finishing book 3 of the Hunger Games series. He was reading Mockingjay, I was reading "Flaming Rage" as it is so eloquently called in German. 

Since we read it at the same time, I thought it would be interesting to do a joint blog post with my oh so sexy husband on how we felt about the book. You're welcome. 

Mike's Thoughts:

 

Katniss, get out of the freaking hospital and go talk to somebody. You're gonna turn into a drug addict. 

Oh, and at the end, I didn't like the whole "being burned by fire" thing and not actually winning the war. The rebels did it all. It would have been way better if she'd watched Prim die and then gone all hardcore and killed everyone in the mansion, including the president. 

I mean, if Prim has to die, anyway. I don't think she should have died.

I think Gale should have died. But... not when he got captured. He shouldn't have gotten captured. He should have died protecting Katniss from the fire bombs or something, enabling her to go to President Snow. 

Oh, and Katniss is a whiny little girl - she didn't really seem like a very good symbol for the Rebellion. 

I was really hoping the truth about Coin would come out in the trial, and that she'd be exonerated for the right reasons instead of being insane. Then she'd be a hero instead of some lunatic who only wants to kill herself. 

All that being said, I was ultimately happy with the ending and happy that she got together with Peeta - I just didn't like how she arrived there. 

My Thoughts: 

(first of all....) Ditto everything Mike said. 

WHAT THE EFF! WHY DID FINNICK HAVE TO DIE?!

WHAT THE EFF?! WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT COIN? 

Okay, FINALLY Katniss and Peeta are together. WHY THE EFF DID IT TAKE THIS LONG?!?

HOLY CRAP. SHE KILLED COIN INSTEAD OF SNOW! 

Gale, I still don't like you. 

Snow, you're a dirt bag. 

HOLY CRAP. Those "Mutations" (I don't know what they're called in the English book) are frickin' terrifying. 

Katniss - quit being all depressed and stuff. 

NOOOOO PRIM!!!!! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE?!

What the eff? One second Katniss is all hardcore and about to save the day, the next second she's in a drugged up stupor dreaming of dead people? Not a fan of that transition. Not a fan at all. 

FINALLY. My life is complete - Peeta and Katniss are together. 

Some of my Twitter thoughts from while I was reading: 

Phew, Peeta is still alive. My life is now complete.

SAY WHAT?!?!?!? District 13, what the eff...

I'm on chapter 4, and so far... these people are freakin' crazy.

can someone with a british accent please do a vlog? I love british accents! (wait, that's not about Hunger Games, I just really want someone to do it...)

OMG PEETA!!! WHAT THE EFF. I WAIT FOR YOU ALL THIS TIME AND NOW YOU TRY TO CHOKE KATNISS?!?!? WHAT THE EFF, WHAT THE EFF!!!

I am seriously about to cry for peeta. Poor guy is off his rocker.

Katniss, you stupid skank. Gale is not for you, so quit makin' out with him just to get some. SHEESH.

ohmygosh. If Peeta and Katniss don't work this thing out, I am gonna be PISSED. Seriously. KATNISS, JUST ADMIT THAT YOU LOVE HIM!

As you can see... I'm a little more... expressive than Mike. He actually got mad at me because I was ahead of him and would randomly shout things like, "WHAT THE HECK?!" and "SERIOUSLY?!" and "OHMYGOSH!"

Have you guys read the series? How did you feel about the way it ended?

Favorite Things Friday

Howdy, frans! 
TGIF. No, seriously. Thank frickin' goodness it's Friday. This week just seemed to drag by for me. I'm so happy it's the weekend! 
As you know.. Friday always brings along a sweet little list of my favorite things. This week, I'm going to do a blogger edition. 
1. Gentri Lee's interpretation of Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games. Seriously! Gentri just started Esthetician classes, and she's already pretty amazing. Just look at the makeup she did as she interpreted Effie Trinket. So cool, right? Oh, and just to add to the awesome-ness... she recently started doing a Friday feature where she shares some of the cool stuff she's learned at school. Like... about waxing her nose and that fun stuff. 

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2. Anything from Erin at Living in Yellow. Guys... I don't know if you follow Erin, but if you don't... you probably should. I almost always leave her blog chuckling to myself. Plus, it helps that she's a fellow mac'n'cheese lover. 

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3. Cecilia's toucan shoes. Now... I only follow like, 2 fashion blogs (mostly because I have no hope of ever being as fashionable as those people, so I choose to just give it up), but you know I love me a good pair of shoes. shoes = my drug. So when I saw these puppies on Dearest Lou, I was smitten. 

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4. This post by mah friend B. at Different Paths, Same Destination. Okay, so you may have guessed that I am pretty passionate about loving the skin you're in. Hadn't guessed that? Oh, well... now you know. I'm not going to rant about it right now - I'll save you. I don't really have a picture... you just need to read it, because it's that good. 
5. The new "Pass it Forward" project by Ashley. You guys remember the movie Pay It Forward? Well, that's what this project reminds me of. It's such a cool idea. It's a simple way to brighten somebody's day (and maybe make you feel a little better in the process). There's this new website, www.spreadtheshine.com, and, according to Ashley, this is how it works:

Pass it Forward is designed around a card. Each card is given a unique ID number. Lets say we're at McDonalds, and I decide to pay for the person behind me in the drive through. I'd give the cashier the card, and tell them to pass it along to the next car when the give them the food that has been paid for. I then go home and log into the website that was on the card, and find my unique ID number. I log into it, and add my information... My first name, city, and a description of what I did....

Let's say the person behind me was you, you would pass it forward to someone else, and then would go home and do the same thing. From the very beginning, you will be able to track where your card goes, and how many people you affect just by doing one simple act of kindness.

This is what the card looks like, so be on the lookout for one of these puppies: 

So... there you go! Those are a few of my favorite things from the blogging world this week. 

What It's Like: The Awkward and Awesome of Being Bilingual.

Hallo! Hello! 

So... if you follow me on twitter, you would know that inspiration has not reared its pretty little head in a while, so I decided to do awkward and awesome with a little bit of a twist. 

You all know that I live in Germany. I also speak German. I like to consider myself fluent, but then I always wonder what fluent is. Obviously I don't speak German as well as I speak English. Duh. It's not my native language. I figure, though, that if I can read 600 page novels and watch movies and carry on conversations without any difficulty, then I must be fluent. 

Anyway. 

Awkward: 

1. Reading books like The Hunger Games in German, and then discussing them in English. I don't know how to translate those made-up words. 

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2. Writing blog posts half in English, half in German. This happens quite a bit, people. I then have to go through and replace all the random German words that are dispersed throughout the post. 

3. Sleep-talking in German. Apparently this happens. 

4. Speaking Germenglish. This also happens. Quite a bit. 

5. Going to other countries where they don't speak German or English, and automatically speaking German and expecting people to understand me. I guess since they're speaking a foreign language, my brain just automatically goes to the only foreign language I know. This happened in Italy - I'd ask, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" People would say, "English, yes. German, no." 

Awesome: 

1. Reading books and understanding them. Ummm, how cool is this? I can look at a book in a totally different language, and understand it all! 

2. Watching movies and understanding them. Again... how freaking cool, right!?

3. Thinking in 2 languages. My brain is kind of confused, apparently, but it's so cool to see how my brain thinks. 

4. Dreaming in 2 languages. Sometimes I dream in German, sometimes in English. It's weird, but cool at the same time. 

5. Being able to translate for people. I like that I can help other people to understand what's going on around them.

Happy Thursday, and if anyone finds Inspiration, send that sneaky little dude my way - I'm having "blogger's block!" 


PS: You can still enter the giveaway here. 

HG: Catching Fire (Gefährliche Liebe) Thoughts

WARNING: This post contains spoilers. If you have not yet read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire, go to your local library and check them out, or go here and here and order yourself the first two ebooks. If you have a Kindle and Amazon Prime, you can read the ebooks for free. Simply not reading these books is not an option. 

[Greets you all by making the salute from District 12]. Yeah, how's that for a new greeting, eh?

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So anyway,  I finished Catching Fire yesterday, but because I read it in German, I didn't even know that was the title until... yesterday. [Side Note: the German title translated means "dangerous love." I'm not sure that I like that title.]

Titles aside, let me tell you some of my feelings and thoughts upon finishing this book. 

- Sigh, okay. Katniss.... I guess I don't hate you. As much. Anymore.

- WHERE THE EFF IS PEETA, AND IS HE OKAY?!

- Haymitch, you sly, sly dog. 

- Katniss - are you stupid? It was obvious that Plutarch Heavensbee was planning something. Did you not see his secret mockingjay?

- CINNA!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

- Ugh. Gale. I don't like you - go away already. 

- I KNEW there was a District 13. 

- S*%& has hit the freaking fan. I doubt President Snow is going to be happy about this. 

- Wait... was Peeta's leg metal? Why didn't it go all rusty in all that water? Okay, it probably wasn't metal. 

- I wonder what Finnick looks like in real life - he sounds hot. 

- WHERE THE EFF IS PEETA, AND IS HE OKAY?! Yeah, I know I said that already, but I'm sort of "team Peeta," and this is really bugging me... 

Overall, I loved it. I can't say anything about Suzanne Collins or her writing style, because I have no idea what it's like. I'm stuck reading translations, which makes life a little more difficult. 

I have the 3rd book, but I probably won't start reading until later today, so don't expect it to be finished until Thursday or so. My goal with these books is to read about 100 pp per day so that I can finish them within 4ish days. 

What did you guys think? Have you read them? DON'T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY ABOUT THE 3RD BOOK!!!! 

PS: I'm over here today. 
PPS: You can still win some cool stuff here. 

Sunday confessions Link-up.

Yo. Word to yo' motha. 

Guys, be impressed. I remembered at midnight to do my Sunday Confessions so that it'd be easier for you all to link up. I realize that I am speaking to you all from the future (well, most of you). That is yet another reason for you all to be amazed. That's right, these confessions are from (dun, dun, dun...) the future. 

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That being said... grab yourselves a little button and get to sharing your confessions! 

1. Sometimes I'm scared to say what I really want to on my blog because I don't want mean comments. Most of the time I say it anyway, and I'm surprised to hear that the majority of people think what I say. I like it that I'm not the only one. 

2. I am fascinated by World War II. I know, I know... I'm a nerd. Whatever. I don't even like history, but I can't get enough of WWII. Maybe that's part of the reason I have such a fascination with Germany, but who knows?

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3. I had a dream about my cat last night. What is wrong with me? I dreamed that I came home and my cat hated me. Issues? Destined to be a cat lady? Check and check. 

4. I feel the intense need to vent my frustrations with Katniss via social networks in the hopes that someone will discuss the 2nd book with me. Living in the middle of nowhere with no friends sucks. I actually called my mom yesterday [partially] just to vent about the book. This is one reason I am so excited about the blogger book club that Natasha Louise is starting. No, we will not be reading Hunger Games, but at least I'll have people to talk to about the books that we do read! 

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5. I sometimes laugh like a weirdo. Actually, my 13th graders heard me guffaw, and they made fun of me for the next 10 minutes. Good thing I know how awesome I am and can take it. Ha! 

Happy Sunday! Don't forget to go here and enter the giveaway. 

Favorite Things Friday

Yo homies. 

As surprising as this may be, it has been a freaking long week (even though I only worked 3 days). That being said... I am totally in need of my Favorite Things Friday list to make me smile and remember the good stuff in life. 
1. Sitting in bed with Husband and a good book. Hunger Games and Hubby, that's all I need to make me happy right now. [Side Note: KATNISS I STILL HATE YOU!!!]

2. Hunger Games. I know, I know. This has been on my list like... every week. But I finally got the second and third books, and I'm so stoked to read them both! 

3. Settlers of Catan. I need an intervention. Catan world online has become my go-to boredom fix. It's bad, people. Really bad. 

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4. Pronunciation mistakes made by German students. I know I'm awful for saying this, but it is hilarious when my students mess up pronunciation. For example, someone was talking about veggie burgers and kept calling them wedgie burgers. A sweat shop has become a sweet shop. PMS doesn't stand for pre-menstrual syndrome - instead it stands for post menstrual satisfaction. A vacuum is not a cleaning tool anymore - oh, no. It's something much better - a whack-you. I imagine that this is some sort of weapon used to hit people once they start to annoy you. Needless to say, things sometimes get interesting, and that makes me happy. 

5. Warm[er] weather. People, it's been in the high 30s all week long. Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen? Thanks. 

PS: There is still time to enter my giveaway hosted by Amy here. 

And... I am giving away a free blog design at Truly Lovely. 
And... Don't forget to link up this Sunday for Sunday Confessions! 

Hunger Games Thoughts.

Yes, I already posted today. 
HOLY FREAKING CRAP, PEOPLE!!! That is all I have to say after reading this book: 

Yes, I know I'm late jumping on the bandwagon. 
Yes, I read it in German... I know, I'm crazy. I could have had it done in a few hours, instead I decided to torture myself and read it at a snail's pace in another language. 
All of that aside, let me present this one question: 
KATNISS WHAT THE EFF IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?! 
You make me want to punch a baby. Okay, dude is obviously head over heels for you, RUE FREAKING TOLD YOU HE WAS, and yet you have to go and break his little heart? 
You suck. 
You better freaking redeem yourself in the second book, because right now, if you and I were together in an arena... I'd let the monster wolf tribute things eat you instead of Cato. That's right, I said it. Or... I'd feed you those poisonous berries. Yeah, that's a little nicer. I'd do that. 
Girl... I better be a lot happier with you once I'm done with the second book. 
The End. 
Now I'm going to go answer emails. Yay for an awesome Friday night.