[Error: unknown template qotd]I remember 9/11 mostly for how important it was in hindsight, rather than at the time, to me.

I was in fifth grade. My sister and I were both in afterschool, and we noticed that a lot of the other kids were leaving early. I wondered why; had there been an early release day and no one told us? We were the last to be picked up by my mom. In the car, she told us that a few airplanes had crashed.

I was nine years old at the time; I didn't quite get the significance. I just thought, "Oh, okay, I guess that's sad," and didn't really think about it afterwards, until the next day everyone was talking about it.

I remember that my dad was actually in Philadelphia during 9/11, and that he was stranded there for a few days since the airlines had been paralyzed; eventually he had to take the train home.

That's pretty much all I remember. At some point (I don't remember whether this was during 2001 or some later year) I remember thinking it kind of sucked that my birthday was a week and a half after 9/11, but then later I thought it would have been worse if my birthday was actually on 9/11.

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Nyahaha...of course, I would say, not at all, but that's because I'm Young and Naïve and Inexperienced. Maybe.

The whole point of my current writing project, An Artist of the Heart, is to prove that love should be based on something other than physical attraction. As I was reading Silver Phoenix during spring break, I realized that I was tired of physical attraction as a basis for romance. I had a hard time stomaching the descriptions of how Muscular and Manly Chen Yong was, and how Strong His Jaw was, and How Exotic His Foreign-Looking Amber Eyes were, after a while, when Chen Yong hardly had any personality. On the other hand, I really liked his brother, Li Rong, who was funny and lively; I kind of wished the heroine would end up with him instead of dull Chen Yong. This is also the reason I prefer the kinds of romance depicted by Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, and Shakespeare in some plays, to most modern romance.

So that's my question: Why does nearly all romance in fiction focus on appearances--how muscular and manly the guys are, and how curvy the girls are--while giving the two romantic leads either clichéd or paper-thin personalities? Why can't we have more romances based on chemistry between personalities, like a clever girl who hooks up with a witty guy? That's the kind of romance I like to read--which probably explains why I usually avoid the romance section in the bookstore.

In terms of my personal preference...if you were to ask me what my ideal partner would be like, I would rattle off a string of personality characteristics before the thought of physical appearance even popped into my head. Sometimes I wonder if it's even possible to find someone with all the characteristics I'd like, ahaha.

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I knew those review-ish things I posted on LJ would be useful--I had to look over them to remind myself of what I read this year. XD

My standards for fiction have considerat: if I can read a book to the end and be reasonably entertained by it, I will call it a good book. Not a "great" book, but still. So here are the books that I read this year that ranged from entertaining to great:

- The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. Actually, I can't remember whether I read it at the end of last year or the beginning of this one, but whatever. I liked it quite a bit for the excellent writing, great dialogue, and amazing portrayal of complicated characters/relations. (Unfortunately, I didn't like the sequel nearly as much.)

- The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. One of those rare instances of first-person narration used in a good way. Plus, interesting characters, a vibrant world, and a compelling mystery.

- The Conqueror's Shadow by Ari Marmell. Best dialogue ever, hands down. Also, I really liked the main character, who could've been really clichéd and cheesy but instead ended up totally awesome.

- Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin. Steamboats + antebellum America + well-written vampires for a change = amazing book (although the first half was a lot better than the second half).

- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Fun, fun times in WWI Europe, steampunk version.

- The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Definitely more on the entertaining end of the spectrum, but I actually liked it because of its overall message. I'm also a little puzzled why Dan Brown is considered a bad writer (apart from his factual inaccuracies) if he can write a coherent, gripping story--anyone want to enlighten me?



Year in Review: Books is now done. Next up: music.

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Ooh, tough. I tend to look back on the past with rose-tinted glasses, so it's a bit hard for me to say...

What comes to mind for me is, in terms of academic years, my junior year. That was the year I was most productive in school and, I think, most happy.

Now, I complained dreadfully during my senior year, but it was also the year of my highest achievement (too bad senior GPA doesn't count for college), and it was also the year I got to spend a month in Europe, which I consider one of the traveling highlights of my life so far. I also ended up doing quite a bit of writing my senior year--well, okay, a forty-something page novella that was abandoned somewhere along the editing process is not "quite a bit," but it was substantially more than I'd done the rest of my high school years--and any year I manage to accomplish more than ten pages of writing and sustain interest for at least several months on a single story I view as a good year. ;)

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I would like to be more knowledgeable about many subjects, usually depending on what I need to research for my current WIPs. At the moment, I need to know more about 1920s America/Polish immigrants, daily life in the Aztec Empire, and how to make scented soaps and candles. :)

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1. Yes.

2. It's my personality, really, and not something I consciously control. I wish I were more open, and sometimes I try, but it does take a lot of effort on my part.

3. I don't know that there are many direct benefits to being emotionally guarded, other than in situations that require you to not express your emotions to other people. The disadvantages are many--you don't make friends easily, you may turn people off by not being talkative enough, you may have a hard time asking others for emotional help (and others won't ask because they probably won't notice something's off about you)...

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My own characters.

....Um, yeah.

Just so I can interrogate them for an entire day. And then break for lunch. And then interrogate them some more.

At which point they will probably throw rotten tomatoes at me and refuse to see me ever again.

(My brain is fried from finals week...can you tell?)

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Isn't it far too early for these questions? D:

Movie: I wouldn't nominate any of the ones I've seen this year.

Song: Uh, I don't know any new songs that came out this year. In terms of songs that I recently discovered, I quite like Baccano!'s opening and ending songs.

Book: Best out of the ones I've read so far this year would be Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah.

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Meh...I'd rather disown my username. It was back in a time when I was a bit more obsessed with Japanese, and considering the chances, it's likely grammatically/idiomatically wrong. (For the record, it's supposed to mean "visitor at night.")

Now that I think about it, I have the urge to disown most of my usernames...