Hunger Games Series

     On November 20th, 2015, the last movie of the very popular series, Hunger Games; Mockingjay Part 2 comes out. The first movie of the 4 part series came out on March 23rd, 2012 and from then on everyone was hooked. If you have read the books then you have definitely been hooked before any of the movies came out. For many people this will be a sad day because, it is just like the Harry Potter series (that was a big longer) once the final movie is put out into the world, there is nothing left to look forward to, all you can do know is re-read the books and re-watch the films until you know every single word and can recite it in your sleep. That was a bit overboard.



Phillip Seymour Hoffman

     Over the past three years different directors have come through, different actors, and even one of the characters passed away off set. In Mockingjay part 1, the character Plutarch Heavensbee, known in real life as Phillip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2nd, 2014. His death was ruled as mixing drug intoxication. When it came to the point where people started questioning what would happen with Mockingjay Part 2, his parts had been mostly filmed by then and the parts that were not filmed yet, the play writers re-wrote. Another thing that had caused some trouble was the first director. The director for the first movie wanted to take five years to create the second movie, so the producers of the movie decided they did not want to put that much money and time in, so they found some one new. Thankfully the new director lived up to the first movie and all was swell from then on.  

     The three movies that have been released, in my opinion, have lived up to expectations, yes there were some scenes missing from the movie that were in the book, but the rest of the movie made up for it. Something that I have noticed is that the popularity of the movies has gone down since the first movie was released, but I think the acting and producing is still as good and interesting as the first movie.

     Just like the very popular Harry Potter series, this series has to end as well, and I think by making the last movie into a two part is kind of genius. Instead of cutting out important scenes from the final book, they are splitting it so there is enough time to get all of the amazing details onto the screen without sitting in the movie theater for four hours. This also happened with the Harry Potter series, and I think by making the final movie into two, it makes people want to come back and see the rest, instead of just sitting through one entire movie and maybe nodding off during it. For anyone who is very dedicated to the Hunger Games series, don't be upset it's ending, there will be more book/movie series that will come out and you will move on. 

**information provided by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman
** all pictures were provided by Google

The Joys and Terrors of Christmas Shopping

     Christmas shopping has two sides, stressful and joy. The stress comes from when you have you do the actual shopping and then watching your bank account drain. The joy comes from when you get to watch the people open your presents and hopefully like what you got them. Christmas shopping can also be stressful and happy at the same time because when you find the perfect present, everything seems to just fall into place.

     When going shopping for Christmas presents you are usually buying gifts for friends and family. That is kind of a lot of pressure because you don't want to be know as the friend or family member that gives out pointless or meaningless gifts. That is where the stress comes in but hopefully in the end you find the perfect present for each person and all of that stress is worth it.

     Another thing that I have noticed as I've grown up is, adults don't really enjoy Christmas as much as I thought they did. As a kid growing up you always think everyone is the happiest when Christmas rolls around. Think again. Christmas seems to be a burden for some people for different reasons, they may not have the money to get the gifts that their family wants or they don't like spending the time and trying to get gifts for people. It is kind of sad to think that people would think getting a gift for your loved one is a burden, the whole point of getting someone of gift is to see the joy in their face when they open the item you have purchased or made for them, it's a different story if you don't have the money, but what is better than seeing the joy that you have caused.

     The joy that I think many people love the most about Christmas is gift opening. I am not talking about you opening a gift from someone else, I am talking about the person you bought a gift for opening their present. I touched on this in the paragraph above but, I think there is nothing better then getting someone a gift that brings them joy. What is even better is when you see the person bragging about the gift or seeing the person actually enjoy it in their everyday life.

     Christmas shopping is different for everyone, you could be the luckiest person ever and get all of the deals and know everything you are going to buy for every single person. Or you could the person that want's to get the best for your loved ones and just don't have the bank account for it, and also just run out of luck on thinking of ideas for the perfect present. The only thing that matters at the end of the day though is when you finally get to watch the person open your present and truly like it. You will go through stressful times but it will all pay off in the end.

**all images are provided by Google 

Thanksgiving

     Thanksgiving falls on the same day every year, it is on November 25th and it is the holiday where you look back on everything you are thankful for and then eat lots of good food. Traditionally the main dish is turkey, and turkey is also what comes to mind when someone says Thanksgiving. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or as hard core like America, I feel like America tends to go more out on Thanksgiving, because I know some countries are already geared up for Christmas to be here. Something else that may be exciting is watching the Thanksgiving Day parade on T.V or actually going to New York and watching it live there, that's always something fun to do.

     The main food that is typically set out for Thanksgiving are, turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, there is more that I probably left out but those are the main foods you see on people's tables. The different foods my family like to put out are deviled eggs, yam's or sweet potatoes, roasted chicken, green bean casserole, etc. I have also heard that for the people who are vegetarian, they might eat tofu instead or just skip out on the meat parts, thankfully there is more food other then meat placed out.

My niece Alayna and I in
Florida

     Something else that I tend to look forward to are the desserts. The typical dessert you would see is pumpkin pie. Some desserts that are
popular in my family are a pumpkin praline cake, pumpkin bars, key lime pie, apple pie, chocolate pie, my aunt is amazing at baking so she makes those desserts every year. If you want to eat a lot of pie, my tip is to clean up from the dinner part, play some games with family and then eat dessert, it takes patience but it is all worth it once you get to shove all the pie you want in your mouth.

     Thanksgiving is not all about the food, it is also about giving thanks to all of the people that have helped you during life and be thankful for the opportunities you have been able to do over the year. Also being surrounded by family is definitely my favorite part of Thanksgiving because half of my family lives in Florida so this is really the only time I see them. Another thing is that Black Friday is also the same week of Thanksgiving, so be saving up your money to spend loads and drink lots of coffee to stay awake!

**first image is provided by Google

Adele is Rising Again

     November seems to be the month for all of the artists to release new music this year. One Direction, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Little Mix, and Adele are all releasing new music in the month of November so it might be a little tough to try and get the number. The one person who seems to not be having trouble achieving number one is Adele.

Adele

    
     Adele has not released anything for four years and now out of no where Adele released a snippet of her new song 'Hello' during the commercial break on the X Factor. Everyone became excited immediately after hearing the 30 seconds of pure magic, it spread all over social media sending everyone into a frenzy that sometime soon Adele would release a new song after four years of nothing.

     A week after Adele released the 30 second snippet, she came out with the full song the following Friday. The song Adele released was the perfect song because it showed everyone what to expect on the upcoming album. To make things more clear, Adele wrote a message saying to everyone that this album is her way of making up, on her past album is what was all about breaking up, so she wanted to show her fans that she is going to make up in this album.



Adele's album cover

     October 23rd, was the day Adele released the full song and since then the song has not left the number one spot on the charts. Also the same day, you could pre-order the album. The album stayed number one till just up till last week, that is pretty long time because all of those sales are just in pre-orders. Adele is already breaking records with just pre-orders, wait until the album is actually released, I have a feeling she is going to smash the charts this year.

    
     Yes there are a lot of albums and new music that is being released this month, but after seeing how well Adele is doing in sales, it doesn't look like she will have much competition. Adele will release her upcoming album '25', on November 20th. The album will have 11 songs, that doesn't seem like a lot since she took four years to write it, but Adele tends to have very long songs consisting of between 4-5 minutes on average. I think we can all expect great things to come her very soon.

**all images are provided by Google

Candles

     The first thought that comes to mind when someone says candle is calm. After close to three year's
of high school, my anxiety has grown worse for many reasons, so I have to always have something around me or be able to think of something that will calm me instantly. Usually I'll just think of candles. I'll think of their scent and being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket while reading a book. You may be thinking that, that does not sound calming but trust me, it is the most relaxing and easiest way to just chill and calm all of the nerves you have.

     I tend to have about four or five candles in my room and their scents all depend on the season. For example, I actually have a candle burning right now and it is the scent 'leaves'. Most of the candles I have right now are fall and christmas related so basically pumpkin pie, leaves, kitchen spice, and a pinecone scented candle. My favorite places to get candles are at Yankee Candle and Bath and Body Works. Yankee Candle tends to have a more subtle smell and Bath and Body works has more of a stronger smell, I like both but if you don't like such a strong smell, I would avoid Bath and Body works, but Yankee Candle is a pretty pricey place.

    The time I usually burn a candle is when I am doing homework or when I have had a stressful day and want to relax. Lighting candles when doing homework is a really good idea because for me, homework can be stressful at times and so just by knowing and smelling that there is a candle in the room makes me more relaxed and actually think through what I am doing. May sound like it doesn't  work but you should try, you'll be surprised.

     The one thing that makes me smile the most is when I walk into a room and it smells like a candle was burning or currently is.  Usually after you have been burning a candle for awhile, the scent tends to linger and not in a bad way, a good way. Candles  for some reason, instantly brighten my day and after having a crappy day, that is definitely the easiest way to cheer up.

     Something else that candles do is they take away a migraine. Yes you do have to take some medication but if you lay in a dark room with little candles littered around you all burning, it gives off  the sense that nothing wrong can happen to you and whatever is causing your migraine will go away since your mind is shut off and relaxed.

     I know I have been repeating myself by using the words calm and relaxed but I really want to get my point across that candles are not just decoration or to give a room a nice scent. Candles are there to calm any situation that is on your mind, or just to make you smile and that one thing in life is right. Also it is getting close to winter time and the weather outside starts to very gray and depressing so if you look on the bright side, lighting a candle makes everything around you glow and it gives a sense of warmth and comfort even though the outside is depressing.

Books by John Green

John Green

     A couple of year's ago there was a book that was going not just around my school but across the world, this book became so popular it was made into a movie. The book is; The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. After the storm calmed down around The Fault in Our Stars, people wanted to read more of John Greens writings because his first book was so well written. It turns out that John Green has written five other, very popular, books. Those books would be; Paper Towns, Looking For Alaska, Let it Snow, An Abundance of Katherines, and Will Grayson Will Grayson (that is the title not a typo). John Green has also had two of his books made into a movie, those would be; The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. 

Looking For Alaska

     My favorite out of the six books would have to be, Looking For Alaska, because the story is all about a boy who doesn't fit in his hometown and wants to try living in a new place that will give him new and more exciting experiences. Miles, the main character, decided to go to the same boarding school that his father went to, to try and get a fresh new start on life. Miles definitely does get a new life, he get's a new nickname, long lasting friendships, and memories to look back on. This book gave you the life you wished you had, it let you live out and grieve over the journey Miles had during his first year at his new school. This book is for the people who like to live through some else's journey and it also makes you think about what things you should change in your life.

     Personally for me I like to read books before watching the movie that is based on the book. By doing this you get to compare the similarities and differences, and you also get to see the added things that are in the movie that were not in the book. With 'The Fault in Our Stars' I feel like the movie did a really nice job on keeping things the same as they were in the book. On the other hand I felt like 'Paper Towns' did not do as good of job because there were certain things that were left out of the movie, and I feel like with good editing and producing, the missing parts could have made it in smoothly. When you read a book you create a picture in your mind, so when you watch the movie on it and there are key things that you loved from the book that are missing, it kind of dampens your thoughts on the movie. Don't get me wrong, I still love the book and movie, 'Paper Towns', but I do warn people who don't want to get a bad feeling on books they love, don't watch the movie if the reviews for it are not good.

     John Green has created books that are not only well written but also well produced into movies, his success started from one book and just multiplied from there on. I would highly recommend reading his books even if you are not a fan of fiction, his books appeal to anyone and everyone because John Green actually makes you feel like you are experiencing the characters journey with them. His books are definitely books that you can never put down once you have started.

**all images are provided by Google
   

Eleanor and Park

     One day I was browsing through Barnes and Noble and I came across the book Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. What caught my eye was the cover of the book, it had one girl with long curly red hair and one boy, they both have headphones on that are connected making the & symbol for the title. I thought that the cover looked interesting and made perfectly for the description of the book, and I am a person who does judge a book by it's cover. The book is perfect for people who like drama and romance type books because it has a good amount of drama involved and a romance that no could have expected.

     In the book it switches between two people's point of views, which are Eleanor's and Park's. Usually I don't like when a book keeps switching to different people but it actually worked for this book. Eleanor lived a very different life than Park's life, Eleanor shares a bedroom with her three siblings and there is only a small bunk bed for them to sleep on, also Eleanor lives with her step dad that she despises and her mother. While Park has one sibling and they both have their own room and their parents make good enough money to get them by peacefully, unlike Eleanor's family.

     You are probably wondering how they met, well they did live in the same neighborhood so they shared the same bus. Their neighborhood bus was very judgmental meaning everyone had a certain seat and since Eleanor's family does not have a lot of money, so she has to wear more men's clothing that are oversized, anyways Park was the only person to let Eleanor sit with, and from then on their relationship blossomed and it was a very rocky road.

     I don't want to give away to much information, just enough to get whoever is reading this to maybe give the book a try. The book defiantly takes you on a rollercoaster because it feels like you are going a journey with Eleanor and Park as their relationship grows. I do have to say though that the ending was a big let down for me, if you read the book, you'll know why. Rainbow Rowell really out did herself with this book and she did say that she considered doing a sequel but after the success of Eleanor and Park, she decided not to because she didn't want to let anyone down if the book didn't reach the standards of the first one. Even though I haven't read the other two books she wrote, I do recommend to read them because I have heard a lot of positive reviews from them.

**all pictures are provided by Google

Lush

    Now if you never heard of Lush, that is because it is a U.K based store and they create all of their products in the U.K. I first heard of Lush through Youtube because I generally tend to watch more British vloggers through Youtube and the person that I heard about Lush from is Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella. Lush is a beauty, bath products, hair products, just in general a cosmetic store. They have items ranging from hair products, soaps, face masks, lip balms, perfume, makeup, shower, body scrubs, and their most popular item are bath bombs, I'll get more in detail later.

     Now what makes Lush a unique store is that every product is completely natural. Everything is hand made and to prove they are hand made, on the bottles and containers there is a little sticker with the face and name of the person who made the product.  Now since everything is organic and all natural and also if you live anywhere else in the world beside the U.K, the prices tend to be a bit more pricey, but if you really think about it, what you are buying is really good quality and handled with care. Another thing about the products is that they make things you have never heard of before. For example, body conditioners, shampoo bars that you have to rub between your hands and then transfer to your hair, solid body tints, shower jellies, etc.

Various bath bombs

     Something that I mentioned earlier are the bath bombs. Bath bombs are these balls that are packed with oils, possibly flower petals, and little fizzy items to spice up your bath. When you drop a bath bomb into your bath tub you get an immediate reaction, usually the bath bomb will start to stream out theses amazing colors and if you picked out one that has items inside like flower petals, cinnamon sticks, glitter, seaweed, they will float out and give your bath an extra special feeling. They make your baths colorful, they make you smell amazing, and they also at the same time make your skin really soft and clean. If you want to see a bath bomb in action, go to Youtube and just type in bath bombs, they are truly amazing and they make you re-think taking baths.

     Another amazing thing about Lush is when you actually visit the store. I have gone to Lush multiple times and every time one of the employees will come up to you ask if you would like to try out some of their products. I usually say yes, and what they do is they take you over to a sink and ask you what your favorite scent is or what you want to get. They will then pull out some type of scrub,
moisturizer, lotion, anything that you can rub onto your hands. You get to try out new products that you had never considered before and it makes your hands soft and smell really good. I actually ended buying a body scrub and body conditioner because I really loved how it felt on my skin. You should definitely someday try to find a Lush and go inside because the place smells amazing and the atmosphere is amazing.

     If you are looking for new products to try on your hair, face, body, anything really, I highly recommend Lush. Lush makes your hair feel nice and if you have split ends or your hair is just really brittle, the store makes shampoos and conditioners for all hair types. For example, right now I'm using the shampoo Rehab because my hair was starting to get out of control and my mom has natural really curly hair so she is currently using curly whirly as a hair gel to tame her curls. Lush is defiantly one of the cosmetic stores that I think everyone should try at least once because I know nobody would every regret buying a Lush product.

**all images are provided by Google

Social Media: Twitter

     When I was younger the website everyone was on was Facebook. Facebook was what is twitter now, and I think the reason everyone has left Facebook is because it's turned into a more of a family page. Now you only go on Facebook to check in on family and see how everyone is doing, that's what I do personally. The main social media that people now currently are using is Twitter. Twitter is a place where you can tweet whatever you want with a limited number of characters, so you won't see any long boring paragraphs, you'll just see short little posts. Twitter is also the website that every celebrity uses, even the President has his own twitter account. If you want to know what your favorite celebrity is up to or thinking, you can check their twitter and they will most likely have posted something about what they are doing currently.

     Twitter has also become the place where some award show's use to make a category with. For example you can vote for an artist using a certain hashtag, it could be #vote5sos, and whoever in the category gets the most tweets using that hashtag wins the award. That is where you see the fan accounts going crazy getting people to retweet or tweet the hashtag a crazy amount of times. Actually sometimes when I scroll through the tweets of people voting, I notice that their twitter account is dedicated to just voting! That is dedication right there.

     Another thing that Twitter has incorporated to their website/app is that there is a trending list. The
trending list can range from what is trending in your state to what is trending in the world. The trend list is basically where you can look to see what is being tweeted about the most. For example, if there is a major natural disaster, you will see the place where it happened most likely because people will be tweeting the name and what it was because people are also tweeting about what it was. Or sometimes you'll see PrayforTexas, something like that. Just by looking at what is trending you can see what is going on in the world or in your state and see what everyone is currently talking about at that time.

     Twitter is the new platform that everyone, not only teens but also adults who are strong figures in the world, to say whatever they want or show their passion for the people they look up to. It is kind of interesting to think about what Twitter will be like in maybe five or ten years from now. Will it be like Facebook and diminish off or will it still be a strong platform for people to use. What will be the next exciting new social media platform to rise, we kind of saw Vine rise but then that did not stay up for very long. For right now Twitter is the social media Queen where you can post your thoughts or help people win awards, who knows.

**all images are provided by Google