The Last Song

A typical romance book, with a predictable ending, was what I had expected when I picked up The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.

I know that The Last Song isn't a new book or anything, but I just got around to finishing it yesterday and wanted to share my thoughts.

I had seen the movie prior to reading the book, so I already knew the basic plot summary. Despite the fact that I got a bit emotional watching the movie, I never really liked it. To me, it is too unoriginal: a troublesome teenager falls in love with the town's so called "heartthrob" Will Blakelee and they face the normal problems each couple faces when they come from families with different financial incomes. The only slight twist is that Ronnie's father dies at the end from stomach cancer.

Although the movie did include Ronnie's father's health issues (which was a large part of the book), it focuses much more on the relationship of Ronnie and Will, which consequently leaves out other small details that make the story line and Ronnie's past much clearer and stronger. For example, Ronnie's parent's divorce is not given much attention in the movie, which is surprising because it explains a lot about Ronnie's attitude towards her father and why she feels so guilty after her father's death in the end. Also, the church fire was important in the story, but the movie blames the fire on Ronnie's father. However, Will and his friend Scott confess in the movie to starting the fire. But that never happens in the book! The fire is actually started by a boy named Marcus, who is convicted at the end of the book, but is barely present in the movie.

Overall, I would say the book is much better in comparison to the movie. But there are some parts in the book that I didn't really like. Now although I can't really be judging Sparks's writing in the The Last Song, considering that I have never written a book, but I found that Sparks writing was a little choppy. It seemed that sometimes he would add unnecessary sentences and repeat ideas a lot throughout the story. He may not be my favorite writer, but The Last Song is a great book.

Hairstylin' Away!

Hey guys! Since it's summer, I've been experimenting a lot with both of my sisters' long hair. So here are some of the hairstyles I've done. Let me know what you think!

French Braid

Sock Bun

My Own Design

 Milkmaid Braid

Dutch Flower Braid

Infinity Bun

Curls

So which one is YOUR favorite? Comment below!

One of the Most Underrated Things

Hey guys! Sorry for not "blogging" much recently. My life has been pretty slow. But I do have an interesting experience to share with you....

On Saturday, my sisters, a couple of friends, and I decided to go paint balling. I was excited. Paint balling seemed like such a hardcore thing. I thought I could handle it. I was a bit apprehensive about the amount of pain I would have to suffer with each bullet, but my older sister told me that they put the pressure really low for beginners. That calmed my nerves a bit. I didn't know how much I was supposed to bundle up. Online, it said to only wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt, but it never said anything about sweatshirts and sweaters. So I assumed from the lack of thick clothing required that the pressure would be really low. Plus, I didn't want to bundle up because it was sweltering hot outside. I was already sweating buckets in a long sleeve shirt.

When we got to Santa Clara Paintballing, one of the first things I saw was an ambulance. That was probably a sign that I ignored. We quickly checked in and got our equipment: a mask, chest guard, and a gun. Everyone wanted to enter their first game, so we hastily got the equipment together and started our first game.

It was creepy.

It was so much more war-like that I expected. We were hiding behind fake castle walls and shooting at the opposing team. I was shot out of the first game when a yellow paintball hit me in the face, on my goggles. Pathetic, I know, to be hit on the face. Did I really not see that coming?

After our first game, we were all really hungry, so we got pizza and ate about four slices each, just to regain enough energy to enter our second game.

The next couple games I didn't get shot at all. But, I don't think it was due to my awesome paint balling finesse, but more to me hiding behind tall pieces of wood. In my last game, I was finally hit by a paintball. And let me say this: The people who work at Santa Clara Paintballing are liars. They said it wouldn't hurt, but....

it hurt. Really freaking bad.

So that ended my paint balling experience. When I got back home, I saw that I had a big red and purple bruise on the back of my thigh.

Life is just full of surprises, huh?

Oh, America!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! My Independence Day was definitely spent well. I did a myriad of things, but my story starts in Half Moon Bay. My family and I decided to spend a good chunk of our afternoon at the Half Moon Bay beach. Little did we know that we were not the only ones who had a similar idea.
When we reached the beach, the parking lot was completely packed and the next available space was about a mile down. But after roaming around a bit, we found a perfectly legal parking space not far from the beach. After we selected a spot, we sat down, got comfortable, and started to snack on some chocolate chip cookies. The waves were big. Actually, big is an understatement. The waves were GARGANTUAN. The waves closest to the shore were big enough to surf in. But many people weren't going that deep, because the water was literally ice cold. Ice cold water may seem like a soothing idea now in the hot weather, but it made my whole body numb. The killer waves obviously drenched me with salty water, but those parts were what made the trip fun.
After playing in the sand and relaxing, we called it a day and headed home.
As soon as I got home, I took a shower, washed my long hair, and watched TV. But then some family friends called us over for a small Fourth of July gathering in Union City. (In Union City, ground fireworks are legal, whereas fireworks in the air are not.) So, we stopped by our friend's house and had a blast playing with small fireworks that buzzed, screeched, and spun. But we also got our own show of fireworks in the air. It seemed that many families in that neighborhood were doing illegal fireworks, but it was fun for us to watch....until the cops shut them down.
Yet, today was one of the greatest days of my life.
If it's not too cheesy to say.

So how'd you guys celebrate your freedom?