Rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho

• Easily one of my favorite books of all-time, if not my all-time favorite. You’d think a book so small would be a light read, but The Alchemist is jam packed with such profound statements that I was so surprised by the end of my first run through. (“What the heck did I just read? SO AMAZING.”) I’ve read some of Coelho’s other novels, but none of them have lived up to this one, in my opinion.

2. Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

• It’s basically the mother of all chick lit…and everyone needs themselves a little Mr. Darcy.

3. The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

• Picked it up in an airport bookstore on a whim on the way to Asia. It’s a really different kind of love story, but a really easy read. I recommend this book to every girl looking for something to pull at her heartstrings :)

4. Something to Someone, Javan

• I’m not one for poetry, but Javan has such captivating prose that I can’t help but be sucked in by his words. I have all four of his published books of poetry, but this one strikes me the most. (Off note: e.e. cummings is my all-time favorite poet, but I don’t have hard copies of any of his poetry. Must buy soon!!)

5. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

• Harry Potter is one of the benchmarks of my teenage years, and this was my favorite installment because of one character: SNAPE.

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I pretty much harbor a massive celebrity crush on the man, so I was pretty excited to hear that he was planning on releasing a full scale solo album this past July 1st. One of my favorite things about music is that you don’t necessarily have to understand the lyrics of the artist, per say, to appreciate it…or at least that’s what I tell myself to make me feel better about listening to music I don’t understand. Hah.

Entitled Solar, this album is arguably Taeyang’s (Korean: 태양) first foray into the Korean music industry as a solo artist. (If you don’t count the release of his previous EP Hot, that is.) It personally took me a couple of listens to get acquainted and familiarized with the album — and I have to say that I love it. Some of my favorite tracks:

Superstar Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.	Just A Feeling Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
니가 잠든 후에 (feat. Swings) Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.	Take It Slow Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’m actually in love with the whole album, except for the song You’re My — it’s way too cheesy for me to take it seriously. There’s also previous hits Wedding Dress (which may or may not be my all-time favorite Taeyang song) and Where U At for us “old school” Taeyang lovers looking for something a little familiar.

This album is generally described as a hit or miss: you either love it or don’t really care for it. It’s a lot different from the songs that were present on his previous EP, and it’s taken some time for some of the fans to get used to; I guess it’s easier for me to adjust to because the music on Solar is similar to the type of music you would find in the “American” R&B scene.

I think it’s definitely worth a listen if you’re trying to find new music to listen to. Plus, you know, the man isn’t half bad to look at :)

Yes, I actually watched both. Yes, I wasted 4 hours.

And I feel I should also provide this little disclaimer: I abhor the Twilight series, and I absolutely love the original Airbender cartoon series from Nickolodeon.

Like any other fan of any source material, I’m generally pretty excited when there’s an announcement that a movie adaptation is going to be made. I wasn’t really expecting much — I always seem to prefer the source material to its movie adaptation, and the backlash M. Night Shyamalan has gotten for “racebending” resulted in low expectations — but I couldn’t believe that mother freaking Eclipse, the third installment of the IQ-lowering Twilight series, had gotten a substantially higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I tend to regard Twilight movies as comedies — they’re always good for a laugh. The acting is stale, the plot is horrible, and the fight scenes are, at best, mediocre. Yesterday, I set out to find the truth behind the ratings — could Rotten Tomatoes be true??? (Surely, not!)

On Eclipse (a.k.a. I bet RPattz is regretting his decision to take on the role of Edward right about now)

I watched Eclipse first. My logic was this: any following movie that I watch afterwards surely couldn’t be worse. It’s a pretty well known fact that Twilight has more or less become a cultural phenomenon, and it’s one that I particularly don’t understand. I have read all four books in the installment trying to figure out what teenage girls and their mothers find enthralling about it. (Off note: my mother recently watched Twilight on TV and thought it was “romantic” and “cute.” The biggest bashing fest ensued in my household, with my sister and I trying to make my mom see the light — and not the light Edward gives off when he sparkles. What kind of self-respecting vampire SPARKLES??) My biggest regret is the money wasted buying the books and the fact that I have to hide the books in my bookshelf to save myself from embarrassment if anyone happens to see that I actually own them.

It’s pretty much a given that I go in watching these movies with absurdly low expectations. The stiff acting of RPattz, KStew, and Taylor Lautner (TLaut?) are almost unbearable to watch, but they never fail to elict laughter from me — which is pretty much the only reason I’d voluntarily waste time watching them. That being said, I laughed considerably less in Eclipse than when watching its predecessors, which may or may not be because 1) there was an improvement in acting?, 2) random chance, or 3) I just tuned everything out. Things taken from the movie:

1. Our dear Bella is a horny teenager. So is Edward, but he’s more concerned about her ~virtue~, even though he likes to sneak into her room in the middle of the night to watch her sleep like a creeper.
2. Werewolves never wear shirts.
3. Bella is still useless.
4. Edward is still useless.
5. And the best message of all: it’s okay to give up everything in life and abandon your family for a guy because nothing can fight the power of love.

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