I'm the kind of person who starts a series and has the unfortunate need to have to finish them. Though that didn't happen to a few series such as "Fallen" because it literally sucks. I read fiction to escape reality. You can read ew.com's summary/ review here. This is digital spy's. If you have read the book, just skip the articles above and everything I write and watch the trailer below. Anyways, the all souls trilogy is good. This is a simple summary, really. You should see how thick the book is. The trailer is meh in my opinion. The book is much better. Book 1: A Discovery of Witches Set in the present, Matthew Clairmont (1500 years old vampire) meets Diana Bishop (Bridget Bishop's descendant, basically who will become the most powerful witch because the goddess is like her fairy godmother), a witch that doesn't use her magic. Matthew sought out Diana because she found the missing book of life. But they fall in love, and they break the covenant where creatures (vampires, witches, demons) don't mix. <Cues lots of drama and conflict which everyone can identify with when you want to be with someone who doesn't seem to fit you>. Diana gets tortured by a Finnish witch Satu Jarvinen who is a member of the Congregation (like creature government). Matthew helps her get in touch with her magic. They decide to time walk into the past at the end of the first book to seek out the mystery of the book of life and find powerful witches in the past to help Diana with her magic (Diana can time walk, told you, she can do every witchy thing, and creatures are "dying out" and becoming lousier because of the no mixing thing). All along the way there are many secrets to uncover. And I low key aspire to be like Ysabeau (Matthew's vampire mother/maker). Book 2: Shadow of Night They go back to 1590 (think Shakespeare, Elizabethan England), Matthew "changes" because of his multiple identities, I like all the historical references and stuff. Deborah Harkness did her homework (and a lot of "magical storytelling"), so there's a lot to google along the way and read up on like Grisham's Exchange etc. Enters Gallowglass, Matthew's nephew, who eventually falls in love with Diana and protects her from the past all the way until the present, which is in book 1, and then has to leave because he cannot have her :( There's Prague as well, magical lessons, alchemy, spy stuff, vampire stuff, hunting for the lost book etc. Courtly life in both Prague and England (where Elizabeth doesn't like Diana, unsurprisingly). This book touches on a lot of historical figures, so wikipedia away. They get to see the book of life before its broken, three pages get torn (like how it was at the start of the story when Diana unknowingly met the conditions of the spell), many people get killed along the way, and they go back to the present at the end of the book. But by then Diana is a pretty powerful witch already. Her witchy teachers are cute, especially Goody Alsop. Oh, and Diana is pregnant with Matthew's child. Mixing. Book 3: The Book of Life They go back to the present, Benjamin (Matthew's vampire foe turned son with blood rage -> Too many biological explanations really so it can't go in the summary) endangers Diana and other witches like her by trying to impregnate them, Diana gives birth (basically breaking the rules and becoming targeted by like, everyone), Matthew gets captured and tortured like his awesome father Philip, Diana and all goes on a rescue mission, they find out Benjamin was the one who tortured Philip, kills Benjamin. On the sideline there's also the discovering of the magical significance and finding the three missing pages, in the end they realise the congregation was set up to prevent creatures mixing and giving birth to powerful beings that are magical and long lived, the convenant is repealed, Matthew heals, and the world is saved. Okay I think that's most of it even though I left out like 60% of the people and story. COMING SEPTEMBER 2018: TIME'S CONVERT!!!!
Omg I can't wait haha.
Ciao ;) The lotus flower is a beautiful flower that can be found all over the world. But the start of this flowers life is not as beautiful is one might image. It’s unlike many other flowers. When the lotus first begins to sprout, it is under water, making its home in lakes and ponds in areas where the water remains fairly still on the surface. But underneath the surface, the lotus is surrounded by mud and muck and by fish, by insects, and simply dirty, rough conditions
It is then that the lotus slowly opens each beautiful petal to the sun, basking in the worldly beauty surrounding it. The lotus flower is ready to take on the world. Despite being born into dark, murky conditions, where hope for such beautiful life seems dubious, the lotus grows, rises above adversity. Ironically, this same dirty water washes it clean as it surfaces. As the lotus opens each petal to the air, not a stain or spot of mud remains externally. The inner lotus too, has never seen a drop of mud or dirty water. It is pure, and bright, and beautiful. 所谓,出污泥而不染 I guess in life, the adversities we overcome make us the people we are. The tougher the circumstance, the stronger we grow to become. But at the same time, just like the stems underwater in current, we need to learn to bend in order not to be broken. Strength, With Love. Facts adapted from https://withanopenheart.org/2013/01/04/the-story-of-the-lotus/ on 16 June 2018.
I Mayday-ed but actually wouldn't have had it any other way - Family Drama / SMU Juris Doctor6/1/2018
When I paid the $100 application fee I felt like I was throwing it to lottery. You know, like, I thought that there was no chance I was going to make it. But what prompted me to even try? Serendipity, I guess. I was reading my relatives' affidavit and drafting our reply point-by-point to our lawyer when I thought, I might as well be reading law.
We draft our reply (lay out the facts and reply to what the other side is saying), send it to the lawyer so that the lawyer can draft a draft (though sometimes they just copy chunks from our email and paste it in), then send back for our confirmation (so I can read what I wrote again) before it becomes an affidavit filed to court (and they send a copy to us after its filed, and I read it again). So yeah, a lot of reading for a non-legally trained person. I didn't consider another law course other than the SMU Juris Doctor, because what was the point of trying multiple schools when there's just one you want (and you don't buy lottery from both Singapore Pools AND illegal bookies right?). I've been browsing the course site for a few years and I felt that SMU's pedagogy was different and more engaging, and everything just feels right to me. [This article has been edited for grammar on 1 May 2020, and also because the SEO for this blogpost has matured so much that I am no longer comfortable sharing about my family drama in detail. All I can say is, gosh, my writing isn't perfect but it has gotten A LOT better after two years in SOL.] So, the SMU Juris Doctor application. Summarised timeline with possibly useless comments:
When the letter dated 20 April came, I couldn't believe it. Its a surreal feeling where I'm filled with disbelief on the inside, the surface of me is ecstatic, and the aura around me feels like a dream, and then I went through a period of struggle to decide on whether to accept the placement offer. [post add-on] There's always been a rather percentage of people who drop out. Around 20%. My class started with 30, and we're left with 22 from the original batch now, though by the time you reach your second year students from previous batches who had taken a leave of absence of deferred modules start to join the class. The first two payments are really close together, so some people would have spent over $20k before they decided to quit. It's just that sometimes reading law isn't what it seems on the surface, and it's really not for everyone. Oh, and prepare to be amazed by how you can feel that you're learning so much, and at the same time feel like you're completely stupid for being confused over the concepts. I think I spent my first year feeling that way, humbling. If you're interested in the SMU JD Application, write in and I'll answer to the best of my abilities. :) Cheers, Mori |
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