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I read them when they first came out. I have them all in hard cover. That should say something as to how obsessed I was. And my 3rd and 4th grade teacher was reading them to us =).

Aw, I'm sorry you don't get that channel. But I feel your pain, I don't have cable or U-Verse or anything like that. But, my friend Chuy said that her and her boyfriend went to go see it and that it was a major disappointment. I guess it's just a matter of differing opinions?

Oh, me too. I don't read a lot during the school year. It just seems like too much work after a full day of school and homework. I love Evermore! I finished that book in a day, I couldn't put it down! I read Evermore, Blue Moon, and Shadowland and I just recently got Dark Flame. I didn't get very far, though, since I was reading another book at the same time. I've figured that I'm not really into it at the moment...I don't wanna give too much away, but let's say it deals with Haven waay more than I want it to. I really don't like her...

Well, I'm glad you're better now. But, I love tennis, like I said. I even watched it last weekend when Serena Williams was on (love her!). And I don't watch sports, so that should say something.

Aw. Well, I lived with just me, my mom, and my grandparents growing up. I got a lot of mother/daughter time and I loved it. Sometimes with my grandma in there too, if she was feeling up to it. I think you'll like that you'll be able to spend more time with your mom.

I did absolutely nothing for the 4th! We were invited to go to a family picnic kinda thing and to the fireworks with my extended family, but we refused...I'm not sure why, though. How was yours?

Vball: I couldn't get into things like The Illiad. When read The Odyssey in English my freshman year, and the concept was interesting, it's just the actual reading of it that I couldn't get into. We were going to read The Illiad too, but we didn't have time.

Oh, that's great =). I can't knit for my life, but I can sew and crochet, if I just remember how. But, I'm sure you could just look up knitting on YouTube and you'd definitely find something there on how to knit sweaters. But, from what I know, you knit a sweater in three separate parts, the torso (making sure to leave holes for the sleeves and head) and the sleeves (separate). Then you knit the sleeves in the holes you made, and presto! You have yourself a sweater =). But, that's great that you found a hobby that you love.

Nope, I haven't gone yet. We'd need airfare and my parents don't wanna pay for that, then have no fun money left over. Sometimes I really hate that I live in a state too far away from anything interesting...

Jedi: Oh, okay. Well, yeah, all movies that are based off books leave things out and change stuff. But, I thought the TV series was longer than that? I could've sworn there were more than 20 episodes...Well, I don't watch it, it's just that, when I would flip through channels, it would always be on, so I figured they wouldn't do reruns very much...or maybe I'm just a crazy flapdoodle =). My parents actually watched The Lightning Thief, and they said it was really good...but they've never read the book, so I guess that's why. But, do you know if they're making other movies that are companions to the other books?

Wasn't that a good book?! Maybe I'm just overly fangirl-ish about the whole series, but I thought it was awesome. Unfortunately, Blue Moon and Shadowland I was reading during school, so I didn't finish them as quickly. Believe me, you won't like Haven at all once you get through Shadowland. And, one thing I never understood about her is, why does she have a "friendly" aura? By the way she acts, she's anything BUT friendly. I love Miles, though. I have a thing for gay guys with hot pink nail polish who wear dresses on stage while performing songs to Hairspray =D.

I didn't see the whole match, I missed the beginning, but Serena trumped Vera. Vera was all, like, letting her emotions get the best of her. But Serena, even when she scores, if it's not the end of the game, her emotions stay intact. She knows that, when you let your emotions control you, it'll interfere with your game. I guess I just really like her because she doesn't use steroids or anything, she's just naturally talented, and she is completely focused and determined when she's on the court. But, her, Venus, and Anna Kornikova (sp?) are the only tennis players I know by name. Then Vera Zvonareva. I'm not a hard-core tennis fan, I just like the game.

Of course it'll be weird at first, it's a new and different lifestyle than you had before. But, I know for me, I like being home alone, so I got used to the fact that my mom and step-dad both work really crazy hours pretty fast. I also have no siblings that I grew up with. My step-dad has a son and daughter, but when he married my mom, they were already out of the house, so I basically grew up an only child. But, yes, you will get used to it. After a while, it'll just be like second nature to you.

Aw, yours sounds fun! I honestly love getting together with my extended family for holidays, even though they just LOVE teasing me about how I used to be obsessed with Barney and Blue's Clues and about all the stupid stuff I used to do when I was little. It's normally me and my grandma on the porch swing, catching up with each other...then my cousin trying to pull me out into the yard to play some stupid game he made up with him in front of everyone else...Then me and my older cousin complain about high school =). Even though she's 21 now and has a job...haha. Sorry, I'm rambling...this is normally what like, Easter or Christmas is like...except during Christmas, we're not outside, freezing our butts off in 12 feet of snow...

Yeah, we still have time. I mean, it'll still be there even AFTER the HP hoopla is all over. Of course, I personally think it's made such an impact on young minds, and even old minds, that the hoopla will never COMPLETELY go away, but that's just me. Yes, I feel your pain. The closest thing I live to is Noah's Ark/Wisconsin Dells. And I hate waterslides. I hate slides in general, ever since the Giant Slide at the state fair...but that's a whole nother, long story. So yeah, to me, there's nothing fun around here. And I guess Door County is something fun...but I've been there, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I do have a friend who lives in Florida, like 2 hours away from the theme park. We're planning on "accidentally" going on the same day so we can spend some time together =). That is, if my parents'll choke up the money. It's not like we DON'T have the money, it's just that we don't wanna have to pay to get there and then not have any money left over. But, maybe once I get a job, I'll be able to pitch in...maybe I'll just pay for my own stuff.

Vball: That's wonderful that you got to celebrate the fourth with your family. Yeah, we have a pretty nice parade here too, but we didn't get to go this year. We didn't go last year, either...I think my immediate family stopped going when I got a little older. Usually it's me and my two cousins and their immediate families that go. But my older cousin stopped going a while ago, and I stopped going just recently. I'm not sure why, though...but my younger cousin will probably stop going soon too, he's around the age that I stopped going.

Why can't you tag along? Is it the money? It would be so nice if I lived in Florida...except I couldn't do the hot weather. I think that's why me and my parents are saving the park for when it'll be nicer. I live in Wisconsin, so I'm used to really cold winters, then really hot summers (which I hate). So, if we could go during Christmas, that'd be amazing. But my parents couldn't get off of work as easily as I could get off from school.

We're talking about The Immortals Series. Yes, they're very interesting, I think. They're about a girl named Ever who can read peoples' minds, tell the future, and find out peoples' personalities/moods by looking at their "aura", which is just a ring of color around them, and whatever color it is corresponds with their personality/mood. And she falls in love with Damen, who is an immortal, and he makes her an immortal as well. That's basically the whole first book, and I don't wanna give too much away. I just got the fourth book recently and tried to read it, but Haven, who is supposedly Ever's best friend but is a total b***h, is involved way too much. I'll probably get back into it later, but right now, I'm reading Graceling, which is pretty much a nerd book. I'm really into nerd books right now, like that one, Inkheart, Percy Jackson, and Eragon...the last two I haven't read yet, but I have them and I want to...haha sorry about my ranting.

Jedi: Oh, okay, I get it. Haha. Flapdoodle is actually used by Dumbledore in the Wizard Swears episode of Potter Puppet Pals. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but I think it's amazingly funny =).

Okay, thanks. As far as I know, they got the Greek Mythology part right...but I don't know anyone who's read the books and seen the movie, so I can't say more than that.

Blue Moon was my favorite too. See, that's what I wanted to say before, but I didn't wanna give anything away. Roman IS a b*****d. And he gets worse, believe me. I kind of have a feeling you'll finish the books that are out before I do...haha.

Yeah, I know. I complain all the time about snow, but I don't think I'll be able to get used to like, Christmas without it. But having to get ready for school 10 minutes before I actually have to leave gets really annoying. But the snow days (that we don't have to make up) are awesome. We get I think five snow days before we have to start making them up. It's so nice when we get a little break from school. But yeah, I mean, like right now. This past week it's been in the high 80s to the 90s and the dew point has been in the mid 70s. That's really disgusting...which is why I've been staying inside in the air conditioning =).

Yeah, I have to agree. I'd like to go later. Kind of like when a new movie or book comes out. I'd rather go see it or get it later than opening night so it's not so crowded. I'm really uncomfortable in crowded rooms, like I start shaking and breathing hard and fast, it's just bad. So, I think I'll be able to go maybe next year after I turn 18 and can go alone...I think.

I don't live that far from Great America. My old elementary school went on a field trip there a couple years ago...I think they go every year. But, my 8th grade class also went to Chicago for a field trip and I got car sick on the bus...not to the point of throwing up or anything, but to the point where I was really uncomfortable.

Yeah, Vball, you really have to read it in order to fully understand the concept. But, yeah, fantasy romance is a good way of putting it. And normally I don't like romance novels, but this one was a very good read. I would definitely recommend it.

Haha most of those serieses I have either on my bookshelf or my list of books to buy. Except A Thousand Splendid Suns, Anastasia's Secret, and Q&A. And I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire either. One question though...is The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel related to Harry Potter at all? That's honestly kind of why I wanted to read them. I only have the first two so far because, with my organization of my bookshelf, I won't be reading them for a while. I'm kind of thinking of throwing the "reading by the order of my bookshelf" thing out the window now. Yeah, my books are organized alphabetically, but there are books I wanna get to before school starts and before I get a job and I won't be able to read as much. Like right now, I was supposed to be reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, but it was really confusing and I wanted to get to other books. I started reading Graceling, and I really like it, it's just that it's really long and it took me forever to read one chapter. I'm only on Chapter 8 and it doesn't even look like I've made a dent in the book yet. It's kinda like when I was reading Clan of the Cave Bear for a book report. It was a good book, but I hated that it took me a really long time to read. And I actually didn't even finish it. I was done with my report except for the final image, which was very clear in the last couple pages, so I just looked there and...well, I got a B- I think. That's fine with me...haha.

One book I liked that we read in school was To Kill a Mockingbird. Everyone in the regular English classes say it was a stupid, gay book, but everyone (like me) in the Accelerated English classes say it was really good and their favorite book to read in school. I loved it, honestly. Is that weird? sweatdrop

Haha okay. I want to read the book first, so I doubt I'll see the movie anytime soon since I'm reading other books right now. (Mortal Instruments Trilogy =D). But, I'd appreciate it if I could find out for myself. If you told me what they changed, I wouldn't understand it anyway since I haven't read the books yet.

He's a b*****d, that's what's wrong with him. I believe Jude is an immortal, but I'm not sure. I haven't read Shadowland in a while...that's what I hate about having to wait for books, you forget everything in the previous books while you're waiting...

Yeah, exactly. I know people who live in California, and to them, cold is like, 50 degrees (which would be so nice for me right now). I think it's five, if I remember correctly...it may not be, I don't know for sure. But, we do have some free snow days that we don't have to make up. But one year when we had a huge blizzard (that I'm sure you've heard of if you live in northern Illinois) that lasted from October through April, we had to go to school on...some holiday so we didn't have to make them up in June.

Oh, I know, don't you hate when that happens? This is why I always have a variety of books, so if someone's discussing a book that sounds good, I'll more and likely have it on my shelf already and be able to read it sooner than expected. I don't really like amusement parks. I've been afraid of rollercoasters and rides in general ever since I went on the Giant Slide at my state fair when I was five. I've probably said that millions of times in this forum...haha.

Yeah, it sucked. But, I got through it...I actually slept a little since I was alone in my bus seat. And once I got out, I was better.

I haven't read The Kite Runner yet, but it's on my list. Ooh, the first two books sound really good. I kinda had a feeling that's what Slumdog Millionaire was about...or like, it had something to do with Who Wants to be a Millionaire. But it sounds like a good book.

Wow, really? I had no idea he was a real person, I just thought JK Rowling made him up. But...wow. Just wow. Lots of history in such a small space...but, I already have the first two, I might as well get the last two and read them, even though history isn't really my forte.

Haha I try to read the books I have before I buy new ones, but since I've been getting coupons over email, I buy normally one book every trip to Borders. But lately I've been getting more than one coupon in each email, so since I can't use more than one at a time, my mom and I go back to Borders every day over the weekend. I normally get an email for ones that are valid during the week, then another email with ones that are valid for the weekend. But, that's probably still way more than you wanted to know.

I know it sounds really good, but I'm kind of confused as to what Cassie and Lia are...I know they're "wintergirls", but what does that mean exactly? Or would I know that if I read farther into the book? Oh, don't tell me The Millenium Trilogy is confusing to read...I have all three of them and I want to read them, but not if they're going to confuse the crap out of me...

It's a really good book. It's a little hard to get into, I thought, but you'll really like it if you appreciate how well authors write literature. I haven't read any of those either...although I would've if I took Accelerated American Literature for my junior year English class instead of Effective Composition and Mystery and Suspense (semester electives).

Ive read Inkheart and Eragon along with the rest of the Inheritance trilogy.

Has anyone gotten a mesage saying something about gaia being over crowded and running slowly and sending that message to 10 other people to let them know that Im still on etc. One of my friends sent it to me and i dont understand it. It said if i dont send it to people in 2 weeks theyll delete my account to make room. I asked her about it but......anyway Im on gaia almost everyday. Its so weird. Im waiting for her to respond to my pm. Maybe its just a joke? I doubt but Im still confused.

Is your booty grab working. Whenever I try to play the fish arent glowing. Also I dont know where to go to booty grab anymore becaue dolphinmania is closing.....

vballlvr5- You received a spam PM. People who are mean make those up just to have chaos and make people panic, and to annoy as many people as possible. There has also been no site notice about booty grab not working, so you can just go to the Aquarium forum and look for new threads that have been recently bumped.

Kineka- Some of my time in England was very slow, some of it was very busy and exhausting. Most of it was great, there were a few bumps that will hopefully lead to a smoother road in the long run. In London I visited a 250 year old multi level toy store and The British Museum. I asked for the children's colouring set and made my own rendition of the carving of a bloodletting ritual that once the blood on paper was burned vision snakes would appear to let you talk to the ancestors... and in the 'enlightenment' cases a copper mini statue of Osiris... I also bought a calligraphy quill pen (Not sure if I have my old ink from the glass one I bought at a Ren Faire that broke, but at least it came with a new albeit smaller bottle of ink).

By the time you get to The Hunger Games Trilogy, most likely the third book will have come out (I think it's aproximately 45 days away). Mockingjay. (Which, without spoiling, is the bird on the cover of all the books.)