The Book Thief - #Reviewsdaytuesday

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a book that I was told to read while I was still in high school because it was really good. I never managed to get my hands on a copy during those four years though, so I bought it on my kindle in like January. I haven't been reading much lately, and the book can be kinda slow and boring at times, so I didn't read it as fast as I might have in high school. But I finally sat down and finished it the other day, and it was a pretty good book.

I love this book for the setting, which is Germany during the holocaust. There's the whole thing about censorship and whatnot and its just great. And the main character is awesome and someone that you can relate to, particularly if you love books. But being the book thief is about more than just loving books. Its about knowing whats right and wrong and being willing to fight for what you believe in, even if it goes against what everyone else says.

I hated this book only for the amount of death. But it takes place during a war, so what else do you expect?

I would say that this is a book for anyone ages 12 and up. There are some serious matters, but nothing too terrible. Not a lot of cursing or sexual stuff. I mean, the kids in the story are pretty young. Its definitely worth the read, but be warned that it is a bit slow sometimes and doesn't follow an exact timeline, which might be confusing for younger readers.

-EW

The struggle continues

After my last rejection email from Google Adsense, I took a small break to let go of some of the stress that this whole frustrating ordeal has caused. I have developed a slight hatred toward google, but it practically rules the internet, so I can't really do anything but deal with it. I didn't post much to either of my blogs and I stopped sending requests to get adsense. I was kind of perplexed as to why google was constantly denying me an account. I mean, if nothing else they could have let me have adverse for my videos, right? I mean, they already have my permission for monetization and ads.

I got on pinterest today to do some research about it. I read several different posts about how to get your account approved. Anything from making sure that you don't use the free domain name to pinning and sharing the blog and having a month's worth of posts over one topic. Im just going to post stuff for a couple months until I can get it approved, I guess. And if that doesn't work, maybe I'll switch my old blog over... wait, I can't do that. I can't switch my main blog over to this address because I already have that address on business cards and websites and stuff. Ugh. This is annoying.

In other news, I'm craving coffee, so I'm contemplating making a pitcher full of frappuccino from a recipe on interest. I'm just kinda afraid that I don't need all the sugar and caffeine. I've also been really lonely and bored today. Andrew won't text me, though that might just be because he's busy, sleeping, or his phone is messing up. All three are equally as likely. But maybe we could use a day's break from each other. The worst thing in the world is to be addicted to a person. But it happens sometimes.

-EW

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Flower Crowns!

If you didn't know already, I have a store online at lizardbreath.storenvy.com. I sell all kinds of stuff, but all of it is stuff that I have made by hand.

I've wanted to have my own store since I was less than 10 years old. After I learned to sew, I started calling my hypothetical store "Lizzie's Luxuries". In truth, I was really bad at sewing, so I never actually sold anything. The same thing went for jewelry making and duct tape crafts.

In October of last year, I picked up crochet and took some of my works up to a craft fair at a local school. I wasn't prepared to sell anything, but I sold almost everything I made. So, I did some research and continued making things. In January (I think, anyway), I found storenvy.com and started up the online store for Lizzie's Luxuries. I listed everything that I had and started promoting myself on facebook, instagram, tumblr, twitter, and even the other blog that I post to  almost daily. I even got a facebook page for the store (https://www.facebook.com/lizzieslux). I even learned to knit (knit items will be available at a later date).

I've sold a little through the online store, but since its spring and summer will be here soon, I can't offer much except barefoot sandals. That is, until today.

As of today, there are four completely one of a kind, unique flower crowns on the store, just in time for Easter and spring and summer. Each is handmade by me and will fit any adult, teen, or child. So what are you waiting for? Check it out!

-EW

Google Torture and Ukuleles

So, this whole adsense thing is a load of crap. Its really difficult to get set up and there is apparently no room for mistakes. Google has messed up and I'm rather upset. I still can't get adsense to accept me for an account because apparently there isn't enough text here. And the rejection emails have started coming even more quickly, which just frustrates me. I can't even get my youtube account to fully monetize because of this. Like, it plays ads, but I don't get anything for it, which sucks.

But, in other news, I finally have 51 subscribers, which is crazy because I remember when
I was excited to only have 10! About once a week or so, I get an email saying that there is a new subscriber and it feels really nice to know that people like the content that I put up, at least to some extent. I just wish they would comment more. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what I get, I just can't stand that lack of feedback and interaction. I want to know which videos people enjoy the most.

In other news, its April Fools day, which really just means that my youngest brother will probably yell something about it at me this evening and that I get to see the funny jokes that people pull on the internet. I've already seen the google one. And a chic-fil-a one.

I feel like if I spend multiple paragraphs talking about one subject, maybe google will accept my application.

I started playing the ukulele on a whim a little more than a year ago. My brother and I had both decided that we wanted to learn to play the unique instrument. My brothers and I are rather musical. We are always singing and dancing and listening to music. I was in choir in middle school and church, then theatre during high school. James (the middle child) did childrens choir in church but he didn't really like it. Instead, he started playing the trumpet for the school band during middle school and has continued through high school.

Anyway, we are always looking for new musical instruments to learn and be able to play in our day to day life. I took piano lessons when I was young, and I hated it, but both James and I can kinda play the piano. James plays the coronet, trumpet, piano, ukulele, and ocarina. He has a guitar, but he has yet to learn to play it. The ukulele was really the first instrument that I enjoyed playing.

We went to Canton, which is this huge flea market, in September or so of 2012 in search of ukuleles. The idea was originally James', but I was excited about it too. Because I was lacking in money at the time, James bought a real $40 ukulele and I bought a piece of crap uke for about $20. I tried and tried, practicing with the piece of junk uke for about two or three months. I learned the basic chords from youtube and websites on the internet. It was fun, but the tiny thing was unable to stay tuned, and it sounded super plinky and icky.

So, I started asking my parents for an actual ukulele of my own, and to prove that I really wanted it, I began playing on my brother's uke since he had been obsessed with the trumpet and the ocarina. True, James would get upset at me and we would fight a bit over who got to play it. We've never been great at sharing since we've had to share a lot of things through our lives, and we like to have things that we can claim as solely ours. But I managed to convince my mom that I was serious about the uke business.

On December 25th of 2012, I opened up a strangely shaped box to find a light pink Diamond Head soprano ukulele. And thus the process of getting better and practicing all the time began. I literally spent hours practicing to memorize new chords and songs. Every time I heard a song that I liked, I would write down the name and look up and print out the chords. I built up quite a collection, keeping them in a binder. and constantly playing my favourites.

In July of 2013, we went on vacation to Florida. We ended up going into an antique shop and I fell in love with a baritone ukulele that they had there. I had never seen one before, but I didn't buy it because I thought $150 for a really old instrument was ridiculous. On the way back, we stopped in New Orleans. My brother wanted to stop at a music shop to be able to say that he had gotten a trumpet mouthpiece in New Orleans. We ended up doing this on my birthday, which was unique. I spent a little while looking around and found a baritone ukulele there for the same price, but brand new, made by a company called Danville. So, after some deliberation, I decided to get it, and did my research to tune it on the way home.

I learned that baritone ukuleles actually can be tuned to the normal uke sound or to the bottom four strings of a guitar. I tuned mine like a guitar so that it would sound lower and would be more of a challenge to learn. This also makes the finger positions for the chords different than a typical soprano uke. But, this means that it looks and sounds more like a guitar than a uke, which I like.

Playing the ukulele is something that I really enjoy and that is something that is part of my everyday life. I play it in my free or when I'm bored. I actually brought my uke to school a couple of times and I bring it to church to sing songs with the little kids in the sunday school class that Sarah and I teach. I'm not the best uke player ever, but I really like it. I've been told many times that I'm really good and that my voice goes well with the sound of the instrument. I finally found the instrument that I like, and I'm sticking with it. My next goal is to buy a uke with a pickup so that I can play it on stage a church and stuff. That would be a lot better than putting a mic right in front of it as I've done before.

-EW