My Thoughts And A Review - Finding Me By Michelle Knight

This book will make you definitely count your blessings and appreciate your freedom.

Michelle Knight is the first of the three women kidnapped by Ariel Castro. She underwent horrible torture, abuse and isolation at the hands of that horrible man. But don't let that stop you from reading this thought provoking book.

I was amazed and comforted immediately at how insightful and forgiving this strong young woman is. Her book is a book of hope not of despair. Michelle focused on seeing her child again. She constantly demonstrates a huge amount of inner strength to overcome more than a decade of abuse.

Overall, she describes the abuse in a bit of detail but not in overwhelming graphic detail. You understand the horrors Castro inflicted upon the women but she also talks about the small but important ways she took a positive view of life one day at a time.

I read this book in almost one sitting. It is very easy to read and very interesting. We have all see the news reports about what happened and wondered how the women were doing since their release. Michelle has absolutely decided to move forward in her life and live a full life with healing and determination.

How can any of us complain about the little things in life when we realize how horrible things were for this woman and she came out of this terrible situation stronger and with so much hope. I admire her strength and it inspires me to be thankful for the many things I could take for granted.

Every woman should read this book as a warning of being too trusting with strangers. Michelle had a very troubled childhood and it is sad that this horrible thing happened to her. But I am so happy that she and the other women were found and released. I hope peace, healing and happiness for them all.

Freedom is so precious. The ability to go wherever whenever you choose is a blessing and a privilege. Take a moment every once in a while to realize not everyone has the freedom and is in as safe an environment as we are.

Tell me what you think of this book.

Thanks for reading!

What I Am Watching and Reading Lately

 I love this TV series so much. Not only is Timothy Olyphant super sexy, the show is extremely well written.  This is a DVD series I will add to my collection.

 My favorite thing about watching this DVD was the wardrobe but not the writing. But the wardrobe does not have the absolute perfection of real shows and movies from this time period.  I am a film wardrobe geek and I am very picky about how current movies depict wardrobe accurately. At times the wardrobe looked too costumey.

 Honestly, I did not get what all the hype about this show is about.  I wish there was a stronger and longer storyline about black characters during this time in history.

 Awesome describes this DVD. Loved the strong independent lead woman character. Loved the 1920s wardrobe and production design. All the characters were well written and developed. I was surprised by storylines that involved current issues such as abortion and drug addiction. I highly recommend this DVD.

 A lot of time was spent on special effects and not enough time was spent writing a strong script. A smart plane that will replace humans interesting and scary concept.

 There is a big twist you really do not see coming but it does nothing to save this safe you can guess the plot and the ending movie. Go watch Top Gun instead. All this movie did was motivate me to exercise harder to get in shape like Jessica Biel. Not Joking. LOL!

I wanted to like this graphic novel so much but I didn't. Maybe I needed to be a gamer to appreciate the gaming reference in the storyline. Just didn't find the story or the art very interesting.

My previous post about what I'm reading and watching is here.

Thanks for reading!

A Few Of My Favorite And Not So Favorite Things - Reading And Watching

Batman Beyond - I LOVE everything about this animated TV series from the voice actors, writing, character design, color palette (red skies set the exact mood) and the music. This version of Batman is set in the future and Bruce is an old man guiding a teenage younger version of himself in a tricked out Batsuit. Whenever I watch a Batman movie, TV series or read a comic, when Bruce is handsome, I enjoy the story even more. After watching this well crafted series over and over during the years, this was money well spent.

 I was so excited when I saw this Dr. Strange DVD on the shelf at the library. It goes into much detail about the origins of Dr. Strange. Not knowing any of his back story, it was interesting learn more about a character I enjoyed reading in The New Avengers comics.  The action scenes were the best part of watching the show. It is not often you get to see how a group of magically powered superheroes would fight each other. The worst thing was how long the story was bogged down in Strange's sad and arrogant past. I wanted the plot to be more about magical fight scenes with the evil baddies. Not a good storyline balance at all.

 Hanna is a young female action hero with an twist. The plot is not necessarily original. It seemed by the end it was a movie to set up other movies. After listening to the commentary, the movie as written made a lot more sense. I could get the "story tale" motif after the director explained it. Lots of very well choreographed fight scenes that were awesome to watch. Loved seeing a female lead know how to take care of herself.

A sequel made for no reason than it will make more money for all those involved. The first Pirates of the Caribbean was the best and the second was good too. The Spanish sailors seemed really interesting but they really were not in the story very much. I am a huge mermaid fan so I was very disappointed by the "woman in fake fish tails" boring design. Don't get me started on the mermaid "attack teeth". I was glad I didn't pay money to see this at the movies.

I got inspired to take up my knitting again after seeing a character knitting in a movie recently. This is the video that taught me how to knit. Very good instruction. Fun to watch and some danceable music too. I checked out from the library and enjoyed it so much I purchased it. This DVD will be perfect for anyone of all ages to learn how to knit. I just re-watched it as a refresher and it was knitting again in no time.

 The first three Shabby Chic books Rachel Ashwell brought out were my favorite. I'm not a fan of the Shabby Chic decor as much as I was in the past. Love the soft pastel color palette but creeped out by the scraped off painted furniture. In this book, the version of Shabby Chic is mixed up with western items. I just didn't like the two styles together. 

Too many stories of drug abuse and cheating on their girlfriends and wives, I didn't enjoy reading this book at all. For some reason, I have been reading a lot of books about the sordid lives of rock stars. The waste of life, talent, money and time don't not make for a positive reading experience. It does jolt me back into the reality of what it would be like to date a musician (some not all of course). It takes a strong person to live a healthy productive life on the road in a band and a strong person to be in a relationship with that person. 

What have you been reading and watching lately?

Thanks for reading!

Books I Am Reading, Inspiration and Writing Journals

This is the recent journal I am writing and drawing in.

This is my recent Mermaid Novel writing journal.

Inspiration! I love pin up art. I am developing my own black women pin up art.

Reading heaven. I LOVE graphic novels.

One of my many art instruction books.

This is the cover of my current writing and drawing journal. This is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

This was a quick overview in pictures of everything I'm into right now.

Ask me questions! I would also love to know what you are reading, writing and inspired by.

Thanks for reading!