Friday, January 11, 2013

Irish Skeletons

Hey peeps! :3

Today is my first book (or technically series, I guess) review. Now, what is this lucky title?



Why, it's Skulduggery Pleasant!

Maybe now you're thinking, oh that's why that was the name of the post! The author, Derek Landy, is Irish and hilarious. The dude could be a comedian!

dereklandy.blogspot.com

So, I know what you're thinking. You're like;
  • This book looks stupid.
  • This book looks clichéd.
  • This book looks exactly like the one I read last week.
And yes! I went through this too. But then I actually read the book (I've got a soft spot for clichés) and I realized that... well...

First off, Derek Landy is a hilarious author. He's written seven books so far in this series, plus several short stories, and all of them are different in their own special way. Yes, maybe it does get a bit boring after a while. I just got the seventh book for Christmas, and it ended at almost exactly the same point in the overall plot where it began (but with a few more people dead).

This series is about the adventures of Skulduggery Pleasant, a magical flame-throwing dead skeleton, and his partener Valkyrie. At the beginning of the series, Val was 12, but she will be 19 by the time of the 9th (and final) book. She is really the main character.. with, of course, a dark secret revealed at the end of Book 4.



By the way, if you'd like a summary of the books, here's one on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skulduggery_Pleasant_(series)

And here's the official website: http://www.skulduggerypleasant.com/

Tip: If you're going to the website, choose the UK button vs. the USA one; more books are out in the UK so they have more info.

The real allure of the Skulduggery Pleasant books is the tongue-in-cheek humor, found in nearly every chapter. Let me say it again: Derek Landy is FREAKING HILARIOUS. Some typical quotes, that probably will not make sense until you read the book but are amazing nevertheless:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...you do realize that Adolf is traditionally a man's name?"
"That makes sense, as my great-aunt was traditionally a man."

"There's a screwdriver! I could use the screwdriver to prise it open!"
"Yes," said Skulduggery, "or you could use it to unscrew the screws."

"On a scale of one to ten, how dangerous would [a Yeti] be?
"Well, if one was a kitten, and ten was a Yeti, then I'd say it's a ten."
"Dear God, I want to hurt you so bad."

"So at this stage it's important to acknowledge that you love your grandmother, who is an elderly lady, and to acknowledge the fact that she is a strong and capable woman."
"Please don't tell me you're in love with my granny."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, overall?
  • Plot may be repetitive between books, but not in the first three
  • (This matters because only books 1-3 have been released in the USA, but you can order the others off Amazon with your parent's permission)
  • May have some humor and scenes that you would not want to read if under 10, or ask your parents
  • Can probably find books 1-3 in your local library
  • REALLY FUNNY.
  • Great characters, keep you dreaming beyond the end of the book
If you'd like a sample of Derek Landy's books, I'd suggest seeing his blog (link above) or reading this short story from him: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/3451743-the-button

Keep reading books, and recommend them to me if they're any good!

~OZMCT

All about AJ

Hello!

Okay maybe the title of this post was slightly misleading, and this post will be mostly text, so if you don't feel like reading, no hard feelings. Mostly.

I've been getting back into Animal Jam (animaljam.com), and I've noticed some changes from when I last played, like, 5 months ago? 6?

But yeah. Anyway, some are good and some are bad and some are, quite frankly, both.

Sky High
GOOD: You can win random items at the top!
BAD: They keep reusing the layout, i.e. the clouds are all in the same place more than once. I suppose this IS excusable as someone has to program out the entire thing (do you know how much coding goes into ONE CLOUD?) but it's pretty annoying when you get the exact same one twice in a row.

Fox Hats
These will be the gloves of 2013. You know, unless they return within the first few months.
GOOD: I found, like, seven in a random storage account I have!
BAD: GET OVER THEM, PEOPLE! If you're already a fox, do you really need a fox hat too? -.-

Scamming
GOOD: Everyone seems much more aware and cautious, so they lose items less.
BAD: Well, scamming is bad. Lying and saying you were scammed to get items is bad. And accusing random people of scamming you is also bad. Need I say more?

Betas
GOOD: At least people know what they are...
BAD: ...kinda. A heart couch is NOT a beta.

Begging
GOOD: I got nothing.
BAD: It's really, really annoying!

Undertrades
This is when people trade you something that is not rare for something that is. Over and over.
GOOD: Kind of doesn't happen anymore. YAY!
BAD: Really annoying people do it ALL THE TIME.

~OZMCT

P.S. This post has been under construction for a loong time. Sorry! New one coming soon, and I'm also gonna try to put up a page for book recommendations.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year

It's officially 2013, everyone!

*Horns honk, whistles blow*

I hope everyone enjoyed their winter break, I know I did. Back to school, I guess... *sighs* How unfair is it that in Europe, they get off until like the 10th because of Three King's Day? I guess if you live in Europe this really isn't unfair at all, but from my perspective...

I spent my break visiting my family and watching Avatar reruns.



THE CABBAGE MAN!

Here's a quick summary of the Cabbage Merchant, if you don't like Avatar or just don't remember the guy.

The Cabbage Merchant was first introduced in the episode, "The City of Omashu", and has been a classic in episodes following. Though he was supposed to be a one-time character he returned for  episodes such as "The Waterbending Scroll", "The Serpent's Pass", and several other episodes I can't quite recall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvBLllG9ne0
He was also referenced in the second-to-last episode, "The Ember Island Players", as "...a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."

His most famous line?
"NO! NOT MY CABBAGES!"

I think these four words sum up the entire Avatar: The Last Airbender series perfectly.

Oh yeah, he was reincarnated in Legend of Korra, the second Avatar series, as this statue:



NO! NOT MY CABBAGE CORP!

Ahem.

So, I noticed on PH that nonmembers can now get COOKIES from Vidia's Daily Spin, as well as ingredients. This has probably been around for a whuile, hasn't it?

(Pic coming soon)

But, hey, me likey. *evil smile*

~OZMCT

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Give for the holidays, y'all!

It's time for Coins for Change in Club Penguin!


And, in AJ, there's the Play Wild fund:



So, AJ has the Play Wild fund for big cats and Club Penguin has Coins for Change every winter... what exactly does PH have to help get people involved in communty stuff?

Y'know, besides Kit's stuff, which nobody actually does. :/

Should I write to the Never Council about it? What would I want them to support?

The environment? Fighting deforestation? Or combating bullying?

I could use some help here, guys...

~OZMCT

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Yup. Still not Christmas.

After Christmas this year, but before New Year's, I'm heading to Chicago to see my cousins! So I won't be posting then, pretty much.

PH buisness:
Winter Palace open! New dress in Queen's Boutique, and new outfits in the PPO. Sorry, no pics.

But... one of the more famous PH bloggers did post a video of the Ice Palace! It seems quite small to me this year :/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwjJRuVgsUc

Vid right there. ^.^

And about eh membership I'm getting? I actually found this site called Stuffpoint. It's pretty epic... you complete offers and get stuff for free, including Club Penguin and Pixie Hollow memberships. They also have Avatar DVDs that can be shipped to you.

So please, click here and sign up! Ask your parents first though :)

http://stuffpoint.com/index.php?r=100596

I'll soon be able to redeem for a second PH membership, I'm waiting on the first :D

Also, Animal Jam has updated quite a lot. I hadn't been on for a while but when I did, I saw that they were reintroducing the Shamans, now called Alphas!













For some reason, there aren't many Cosmo pics. That's the best one I could find, and it's actually a wallpaper.

But... YAY! Alphas! My favorite is Peck. If you're not a Jammer but still interested, here's a link with some info: http://blog.animaljam.com/category/alphas/

What do you guys want for Christmas?

~OZMCT

Friday, December 14, 2012

Merry Christmas!

*PH news is at the bottom.

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I do have to keep up with homework. Unless any of you would like to write a complete primary research paper on the breeding habits of the Spotted Salamander...

No takers? Thought so.

But.... first things first. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Eventually I'll get around to putting snow on the blog. Maybe. I'm hoping for a white Christmas. How about you guys?



Or maybe a white Chanukah. Sorry :)

One of the bad things about having a white Christmas, though...





I don't know if any of you remember the Snowmaggedon along the East Coast a few years back...? Well, I really want another of those, as long as I don't lose power. Or Internet access.



INTERNET! DON'T LEAVE ME!

I'd also like to share a little pic I found...



This is Terra, one of the characters from Teen Titans, which was a TV show on Cartoon Network.

I find this amusing because, well, Terra did beat Toph (of Avatar: The Last Airbender) to earthbending fame! Though I believe Terra didn't call her powers earthbending... And several minor differences you wouldn't get unless you're a TT/ATLA fangirl like me...

And, finally....

*TRUMPETS PLAY*

I'm gonna become a Pixie Hollow MEMBER! YAY!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angry Mob: That wasn't very interesting, Ozma!
Ozma/Zzzyzx/MCT: Really? I thought it was.
Angry Mob: *throws tomatoes and cake*
OZMCT: AHH! Wait, what's with the cake? And who knew it was so painful?
Angry Mob: GAHHH!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh yeah, there's also some new winter-themed scarves in the PPO. Go check 'em out!

Ciao,
OZMCT

PS: Don't you love my new nickname? Ozz-mi-cit.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

PH: Dec. 6, New items!

Today is another PH post (sorry, guys):

We begin with *gasp* the Queen's Boutique!


It sure is... erm... poofy. -.-

Next, PPO:




To tell you the truth, these aren't exactly my style. I guess I'm more of a summer gal!

Speaking of which...

It's been really warm lately on the East Coast! (For December, I mean.)



Okay, maybe not. But I can dream, right? :D

Bye, y'all;
~Ozma/Zzyzx/MCT

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Gravity

So, today I was thinking about gravity.



Always obey gravity! Otherwise...



Your hair gets all messed up! Eek!

Well, my favorite songs in the universe come from the musical Wicked. One of them just happens to be about gravity...


I suppose that this fits the occasion.

So another thing I wanted to talk about is some new PH stuff! If you don't care, don't look past this point.
(BTW, I've changed accounts to MayaCassTara.)
Logging on now...


Well, I'm not a member so this really doesn't apply to me...



I guess this is the member's only quest. Looks like the Ice Palace will be closed to nonmembers again this year.
And there's a new dress in the Queen's Boutique!


I look pretty good in it, if I do say so myself. Very pricey though...

Nothing new in Gale's, but some pretty cool stuff in Summit Style!







I really don't care for any of these outfits... I'm kind of disappointed.

Next is the PPO!




I believe these actually came out yesterday, and I actually like the caplets. They add some decoration!

Bella's Baubles:




I like the tiaras <3
..And that's it for new fashions!

I flew over to Sil's to take a look at her quest...


Sadly, it's members-only. Ah well, maybe some members will post pics of the Palace online!
By the way, here's the forbidden gateway to the Ice Palace.



Well, us nonmembers can still play Snowfalke Sweep to get in the wintry mood! Enjoy the decorations.

~Ozma/Zzyzx/MCT

Monday, December 3, 2012

Hey y'all!

Hello, wonderful readers! :3
Maybe some of you guys know me from AJ, or PH, or CP. Maybe you were just clicking through your followers and saw me on there. Maybe--well, I don't know.

Anyhoo, thank you for reading this! I hope that this blog will be about me and the stuff I'm interested in. Hopefully I can help you find a new interest. For starters, here's a bit about me:
  • I play soccer, basketball, field hockey, and I swim.
  • I live in EST.
  • I love languages; I'm fluent in Spanish and am currently taking Chinese in school and teaching myself German.
  • I play AJ, PH, and CP (though not as much as I used to).
  • I love reading.
  • My favorite artist is Taylor Swift, and my favorite songs are all from the musical Wicked.
  • I love throwing pies at people.
  • My first online alias was Ozma00, but I've moved on to Zzyzx and most recently MayaCassTara. Maybe I'll post about MCT, my novel, a bit later.
Now, some random topics I could post about:
  • NimbleBit
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra
  • Teen Titans
  • Good books!
  • Pixie Hollow
  • Animal Jam
  • Club Penguin
  • Food
  • School (not using any real names, of course)
  • NaNoWriMo and whatever's in progress
  • W.I.T.C.H.
  • Other blogs
And yup, that's pretty much it.

Sorry for making this a dull post (with no pictures!), but I'll try to post at least every two weeks. If I can't please understand that it's my freshman year of high school at a very competitive school, and I've got work to do. ^.^

Thanks, Ozma