OMtotheG! - Wings

Wings by Aprilynne Pike is the story of a young girl named Laurel who suddenly discovered that her whole life was a lie. She was a faerie. And she had a huge flower growing out of her back.

This is a pretty good story and a fun and very light read. I feel the need here to point out that I am not a fan of Twilight. There are many similarities between the two stories, but I feel that Wings is what SMeyer wanted Twilight to be. My brother described it as Twilight minus the suck.

Wings rating: Cheesy, but not too bad.

OMtotheG! - I Am Not A Serial Killer

I Am Not A Serial Killer is a book by Dan Wells. And I'm going to review it. Hutcha!

John Wayne Cleaver is a 15-year-old boy in Nowhere, USA. He is determined to not become a serial killer. His chances of success are slim.

One of the reviews on the back cover referred to the book as "unputdownable." I would have to disagree, but only because "unputdownable" is such a silly word. This book is well written and addicting. I stayed up ridiculously late to finish it in one night, and I was very glad my teddy bear was easy to find when I finally finished and tried to go to sleep.

This book is riveting! Dan Wells obviously did his homework and researched carefully. The characters are fascinating and the story is nothing if not unique.

I Am Not A Serial Killer rating: Top shelf!

China Stories! - Friendly Neighborhood Street Vendor

Street vendors are everywhere in China! Well, everywhere that tourists are likely to go; I can't vouch for the rest. This is a picture of one of the guys that would hang around our hotel in Beijing:


He sold lots of things, including hats just like his! You can get just about anything!

kthxbai - Toy Story 3

When I first heard that there was going to be a Toy Story 3, I was dubious. I worried that Disney was leaning on Pixar and that the story would be typical Disney. It was a delightful surprise to see the beauty that is Toy Story 3. The film brings the audience through the whole spectrum of emotion, from belly laughter to heartfelt tears.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 have a special place in my heart, and I am pleased to say that Toy Story 3 has joined them there. All of my misgivings were blown away and I believe that this final chapter of the story of Andy's toys is the best of them all.

Toy Story 3 rating: buy it!

China Stories! - Traffic horror

A few people have heard me say that words cannot describe the traffic in China. It's true. These are a couple pictures from an intersection in Beijing where our bus driver turned into the oncoming lane. Exciting times.

See those two cars coming toward us? Well, size matters in China. They had to back up to give us space to cut into the correct lane of traffic, which would have been easier if the lane had been treated as the single lane it was rather than two lanes. This is the view on the side of the bus:


Remember, this is one lane! It wasn't just this intersection--this is fairly typical of traffic in China, as far as we could tell. It will be some time before I complain about Utah drivers.

Komodo Dragon Spit

Available for a limited time only. This is a video that I made for my microbiology class.

My latest project