20 Things You (Possibly) Didn't Know About Me

GUESS WHAT

My teenage years are over. Yesterday (Friday) was my 20th birthday (!!!!) and I am no longer a teen.
This is mildly freaky.

In the tradition of Cait at Paper Fury, I thought I'd do a list of 20 things you didn't know about me in honor of my living 2 decades.

If you've been hanging around here for long enough, you probably know most of these. BUT NOT ALL! So read on to find out my secrets.

1. I like to eat everything - except squash and papaya. 

I even like eel. (Have you ever had eel sushi? If not you are MISSING OUT. Seriously.) But my absolute favorite food is Thai food.

2. I am tall, but not tall enough to not be shortest in my immediate family.

The rest of them are giants. When I am at home, my sister likes to call me a shrimp. When I am out in the World, I pleasantly remember that I can see the tops of many people's heads.

3. The household chore I ABHORE is washing dishes (and second is loading the dishwasher because that's almost the same thing).

I will gladly do laundry and UNload the dishwasher, though.

4. I was homeschooled all the way through high school. 

It was cool because I got to build volcanoes in my back yard and hatch chickens and build tree houses and go to museums on weekdays when they were empty.

5. This is my favorite number.

Firstly, my birthday is on February 5th, which, in addition to being splendidly alliterative, involves me blessing the number 5 with my birth. Once I won 5th place in a speech competition as a representative of Illinois' 5th district while staying on the 5th floor of the hotel which was just off of the I-55 expressway.

6. My superpower is reading fast.

And my kryptonite is non-narrative writing (textbooks, poetry, philosophical essays). This is why I used to read more than I do now because DANGIT COLLEGE.

7. I have an absolutely gorgeous sister who is remarkably talented at everything she does.

Her latest attempt at taking over every aspect of life is food blogging, which she obviously does just as well as playing piano, acting, sciency lab work stuff, and basically Hermione-ing through her schoolwork.

8. When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.

A pediatrician, to be specific. But also a writer, because who said you had to choose between an enjoyable, sometimes stressful, creative, relatively lucrative job, and an equally enjoyable, sometimes stressful, creative, probably not lucrative job? I choose both.

9. Traveling the world is possibly the best thing, after books.

I've been to the following countries: Japan, Canada (Quebec and Vancouver, so I've covered both ends), the UK (twice!), Italy, France, Costa Rica, and various US states including Hawaii and Alaska. And now I'm living in Denmark! I'd like to go to Australia and somewhere in Africa at some point so I can say I've been to all the continents.

10. I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate.

If I didn't, I'm afraid my family would disown me. But I don't like it SUPER dark. 80% is nice? So is 75%? My sister eats 100% because she naturally creates her own extra sugar because she is so sweet.

11. I have only DNF'd four books in my life.

They were: Old Curiosity Shop and Bleak House by Charles Dickens (we have a love hate relationship), The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle (I tried twice! Maybe third time's a charm?), and Ben Hur by Lew Wallace (I think I was a bit young). As you can tell, I definitely want to try them all again at some point. DNF does not equal BAD in my book. I have finished some much worse books than those I have DNF'd.

12. I love to sing!

If reading is my sedentary zen activity, singing is my active zen activity. (And to anyone who thinks singing isn't active, my choir literally does stretches before vocal warm ups so that we are physically prepared.)

13. My favorite color is somewhere in the blue/green range.

See, I don't have a favorite color. I have a favorite color palate. And this is it. I especially like the lighter ones.

14. I'm 100% Ukrainian but I have never been to Ukraine. 

And neither have my parents. We can speak the language and everything. But we have no family there, so that's why.

15. I wrote my first ever novel (i.e. chapter book) when I was eight.

It involved three children going to visit their great-great-aunt in her mansion where she lived with her butler and her maid and large collection of porcelain rabbits. Her butler was extremely mean and didn't like children but suddenly had a change of heart and gave the oldest girl a porcelain rabbit without the great-great-aunt's permission. It didn't seem to get him in any trouble. I wrapped it up quickly because I realized it had no magic in it and what fun are books without magic in them?

16. My middle name is Antonia.

It's Antonia because my dad thought it was pretty and insisted.

17. The sky makes me unbearably happy.


I don't know why, but this past summer I picked up the habit of gazing at the sky. In the daytime, not at stars. I especially love it when it has clouds, but any sort of sky makes me just overwhelmed by the magnitude and beauty of this world and AGH I CAN'T <3

18. My favorite kind of cake is the really fudgy chocolate kind. 

Followed by lemon poppyseed. And carrot.

19. I'm majoring in Chemistry at my University.

Which means - Yes I know how to blow things up. Yes I know how to make luminol to detect blood stains. No I cannot make meth.

20. I have green eyes.

Which makes me a strong candidate for being a YA main character. Though I think I'm more likely that awesome secondary-character friend/sidekick.

Now I have revealed all my secrets! (Or have I?) Tell me 20 or 5 or 100 things about you in the comments! 

February // The Month of Chiberia

Febuary's been an interesting month. It's been busy. It's been stressful. But it's also been full of birthdays!

Well... not anymore. It WAS on February 5th.

And why did I decide to call this February "The Month of Chiberia"? Because that is what Chicago is right now. Siberia. January was a cold month too, but I EXPECT January to be cold. But February? And piercingly, skin numbingly, painfully COLD? Come on.

This is how I dress every day for school:



But seriously. My aunt got me thermal leggings for my birthday because she UNDERSTANDS winter in Chicago.

This winter has been really dragging out. My birthday is generally greeted by the dirt-slush of old snow under foot, but this year it decided to add to that with below zero temperatures (and that's in Fahrenheit, so somewhere around -20 in Celsius). I am SO SO SO ready for spring.

I did a lot of school, that's what happened. I got my first D on an exam, as well as dropped my first class ever, and also had a huge meltdown in my father's lap about my lack of motivation. I am glad I still live with my parents.

But! I also had a birthday! I am now nineteen years old, and one year away from not-teenage-ness. Which is mildly frightening.

My parents, two friends, and I went to a French restaurant in the area and ate a lot of deliciousness. I also got wonderful bookish gifts, but you'll see those below in this month's book haul. :-)

This month was also my mother's birthday - on Valentine's day, actually - so my sister and I went out with my parents for dinner. I really like Valentine's Day in our household, because it's really about love of all sorts, not just romantic love. I've always grown up with it that way because of my mother's birthday, and even though I've never had an official "date" on Valentine's Day, I'm never just moping around at home either. It's pretty nice!

This month, Lent started, and for Lent, I gave up mobile social media (excluding Instagram because it's new for me). I usually only check social media on my phone, so my addiction to that has really decreased. I don't know what will happen once Easter passes and I re-download the apps, but we shall see. :-P

Not a big haul this month.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by a variety of people, including Lemony Snicket, Linda Sue Park, Kate DiCamillo, and Stephen King. 
AND I got it for $1 at my university's book sale! I haven't read it yet but it is extraordinarily intriguing.

Echo  by Pam Munoz Ryan. I just put up a review of this book and it was quite, quite magical. (Thank you Scholastic!)

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. My friends Lauren and Agata got me this book for my birthday and I am super excited to read it!

And, most importantly - The Mug of Awesome from my father for my birthday. Isn't it pretty? Here's how it looks filled with blueberry tea:

 

Beautiful People #6: Arietta and Lucas  

- Or, since the lovely Skylar provided me with a ship name, LARI! :-)

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Problems
We suffer so much for our passion, my fellow bibliophiles, don't we?


How was your Febuary? Was it as cold as mine? (I'm guessing that if you're in the Midwest or North West US, it probably was.) 


~Sophia

Happy Birthday, Leo Tolstoy!

Today Leo Tolstoy celebrates his 186th birthday! How exciting!

The only work of his that I've read is War and Peace - but goodness, it was excellent. Tough, long, and full of philosophizing, but excellent. 

(Note: most classic Russian authors write books that are tough, long, and full of philosophizing.)

Tolstoy is such a genius. The way he creates his characters and weaves them through his story makes reading his work a memorable and affecting experience. I need to read more of his work, and I probably should reread War and Peace. It's been a while. :)

So. If you feel like reading my post on War and Peace, you can. Also, check out today's cool Google doodle in honor of Tolstoy. It's gorgeous!

~Sophia

Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

Today is the 450th birthday of none other than the great Bard: William Shakespeare!



Some of our most commonly used words and phrases were invented by this ingenious fellow ("upstairs" and "downstairs," anyone?). His works are probably some of the most quoted (second to the King James Bible, of course).

I actually had the chance to see Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theater when I was in London a few years ago - it was SO SPECTACULAR.

Why don't you read some of his works today in his honor? If you have some time, read one of the plays - or if you're a bit busy (as I am), try a sonnet! Actually, I'll post more on reading (and writing) sonnets tomorrow.
If you'd like some recommendations, my personal favorite plays are Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet, and Sonnet 130 is very unique.

And here's a post back from January with tips on reading Shakespeare.

Finally, the ultimate question:



~Sophia

Dickens on Stage

You may remember that I did a readalong for Tale of Two Cities back in December.
Well, my favorite ever theater company - Lifeline Theatre - did an adaptation of it, and I went to see it last Friday! It was my mother's birthday present for me... :-)

Firstly, let me mention how similar Darnay and Carton looked. They found some excellent actors who actually could be mistaken for each other, if you didn't look close. Check it out:

(Darnay, Lucie, and Carton, in that order.)

(Carton on the left, and Darnay on the right, out for a drink.)

The actors were all spectacular, as always, but I'd like to make special mention of two.
First, the fellow who played Dr. Manette:

Father and child.

He played the doctor so well, both in his difficult times, and his stronger moments. And his relationship with Lucie was perfect.

Secondly, this guy:

An interesting individual

Because there are so many things in Tale of Two Cities that cannot be incorporated into a 2 hour production, they clearly had to make some changes (more like omissions - they never really change from the original book). And one of their most interesting things they did was make the character of Jerry Cruncher into a sort of narrator/omnipresent viewer that guided the audience along back and forth between London to Paris, and took on minor character roles. The adaptor gave him (whom they called the Resurrection Man) many of Dickens' beautiful descriptive passages, that would otherwise have been lost in a theatrical adaptation. A wonderful choice. (And the fellow playing him was spectacular in his oratorical skills - he opened the play with the famous "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." passage, and managed to deliver it, in his cockney accent, with a strange elegance.)

Another change that they made was that they completely omitted Mr. Lorry! I suppose that there just wasn't enough time for him, but I would have loved to see him portrayed. The entire bank where he works, with Dickens' fantastic description, was nonexistent. Oh well - you can only hope for so much.

But apart from that, the adaptation left nothing to be desired. I adored Miss Pross (performed, in a strange reversal of roles, by the same actress who played Milady in The Three Musketeers). And Carton's final speech put tears in my eyes. 

Okay, whom am I kidding - I was straight out sobbing. 

Now I am even MORE excited about their production of Monstrous Regiment this summer! Yippee!

~Sophia

P.S. Today is John Steinbeck's birthday! Unfortunately, he won't get an entire post devoted to him like Hugo did yesterday, because I really haven't read any of his works and know nothing about him. But I am planning on reading him at some point - he's too classic to skip!
An interesting fact: today, he will be 112 years old - exactly 100 years younger than Hugo! :-)
And check out the cool Google Doodle in his honor.

Happy Birthday, Victor Hugo!

Today is Victor Hugo's 212th birthday. He, as you all probably know, wrote the great masterpiece called Les Miserables. Not only was Hugo a spectacular author, with fantastic descriptions and characterizations that I could go on about forever, but he was also a human rights activist who spoke up for the poor and downtrodden. Les Miserables clearly sprung out of a heart filled with compassion and a desire for social justice.

Surprisingly, I have never gotten around to reading Hugo's other works, such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Considering how much I LOVE Les Miserables, it would probably be a good idea for me to read Hunchback at some point.

A little known fact about Hugo is that he also loved to paint and draw. Delacroix said that if Hugo had taken up art instead of writing, he would have been the greatest artist of his time. But instead he became the greatest writer of his time. I guess some people just have it all. 

Here's some examples of his work:

11 y. o. Gavroche from Les Miserables

 

Isn't that awesome?

His final will was made up of five sentences:

"I leave 50 000 francs to the poor. I want to be buried in their hearse.

I refuse funeral orations of all churches. I beg a prayer to all souls.

I believe in God."

Happy, happy birthday, to a spectacular man!

~Sophia

P.S. if you would like to read my posts on Les Miserables, HERE they are.

Happy Birthday Cervantes!

Today, Miguel Cervantes, the creator of the idealistic, chivalrous knight Don Quixote, celebrates his 466th birthday.

Actually, I have never read Don Quixote, but I played Sancho Panza's mule in the musical based off of it (Man of La Mancha), and danced in excerpts from the ballet. Does that count?

Don Quixote is, however, on my TBR list, so I will get to it hopefully this summer.

Don Quixote, along with his trusty squire Sancho, are superficially laughable, but ultimately symbolize true goodness - Quixote has a heart that believes that all humankind is good and honorable, and that the only villains are ogre shape-shifters (aka windmills) and wizards that are made of pure evil.


The Mad Knight teaches us to enjoy the simpler, purer things in life, and never to take things for granted. We would do well to heed his words:

"Call nothing thine own except thy soul. Love not what thou art, but only what thou may become. Do not pursue pleasure, for thou may have the misfortune to overtake it. Look always forward: in last year's net there are no birds this year. Be just to all men. Be courteous to all women." 

 ~Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha

A sketch by Picasso

Thank you to Cervantes for giving us such a character. And Happy Birthday!

~Sophia