The Weekly Write-Up #14
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope that you all are staying warm and are enjoying the festivities that come with the holidays! Enjoy this 14th newsletter, and have a wonderful Christmas!
In this newsletter…
I finally finished this series!
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Review
BEST writing app EVER!
The fourth and final amusement park (for now)!
Something I Read
THE LORD OF THE RINGS FINAL REVIEW
Here it is! This is the long-awaited review of The Lord of the Rings! In a previous newsletter, I did a mid-series review of The Lord of the Rings, but I finally finished the series last week. This week, I want to share my final review of The Lord of the Rings series as a whole.
In my past review, I talked about how I loved Tolkien’s ability to build an entirely new universe. I still hold true to that statement. Tolkien is a master at description and crafting an entire universe. Sometimes he goes into too much description, which can make it boring. Overall, though, I really appreciate the detail he gives!
As always, I want to avoid spoiling anything, but I will say that the storyline of The Lord of the Rings as a whole is phenomenal! It takes you on a spectacular journey with Frodo Baggins and the rest of the fellowship as they seek to end Sauron’s rise to power. Like I said before, there are definitely parts where it is slow. That is why it took so long for me to read! On a side-note, the end of the series didn’t end how I thought it would. I was actually perplexed and surprised by the ending. While it wasn’t a bad ending (in fact, it was a good ending), it just wasn’t what I was expecting. When I think about it, that is good because I hate predictable endings! Overall, though, I think that the storyline is great!
In my previous review, I said I thought this would be one of my favorite book series. Do I still think that after finishing it? Yes, I do think that this series is one of my favorites. I doubt that it is the favorite, but it is one of my favorites for sure! Tolkien’s writing ability definitely shows through in this series, and he is certainly one of the best authors that I have read. I think that The Lord of the Ringsseries is great for tweens, teens, and adults. It will take serious time investment, but it will be worth your while!
Note: I will watch The Lord of the Rings movies soon and review them once I have finished them all.
Something I Watched
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish came out in select theaters on Wednesday, and I had the opportunity to see it on that day. Although I hadn’t seen the other Puss In Bootsmovies, I was still able to enjoy this movie, even if it wasn’t to its fullest.
The movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, is about Puss in Boots, who is down to his very last life. Cats have nine lives, but he has managed to lose eight of them already. He must find the star which will grant him more lives before it is too late and Death catches him. Other problems, including others who want the wish as well or relationships with friends, arise on this adventure. I actually thought that the plot line itself was pretty good. It was quite interesting and entertaining throughout the entire movie!
I will say that the movie was a bit childish, but since it is aimed at children, that is understandable. Many of the characters were from children’s books (Little Jack Horner, Goldilocks and the three bears, etc.). Even though I’m above the target range for this movie, I was still able to enjoy it. I came into this movie with low expectations since I hadn’t seen the other ones, and I thought that it would be too much below my age. Turns out, I was wrong about both of these. While watching the previous movies would have added to the experience, you could totally watch this movie without any previous knowledge of the other movies. I mean, that is what I did.
In summary, this was a pretty decent movie! I will be honest; I’m glad that I saw it! It was worth my time and something that I would recommend. It had a decent plot line, moments that made me laugh, and it was also very clean! So, I can’t really complain! This would be a great movie to go see with some friends or with your kids (or your parents if you are a kid). I would say that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was a pleasant surprise!
Tech Thoughts
ULYSSES
Last week, I talked about the first app that I’ve talked about in this section. Now, I want to share another app in this section. When I’m writing this newsletter, I don’t use the Substack editor to write my newsletter. I have many reasons for this, but mainly I just don’t like it. I wanted to write in another app that wasn’t Substack. Over the past few years, I’ve been searching for a writing app that was built for authors, and I believe that I’ve found that app. Although, I think many people could use this app. The app I use is called Ulysses. Ulysses is a writing app that is built for writers, using Markdown formatting, and contains powerful tools to enhance your writing. I love this app, and I would like to tell you why!
The first reason was actually not in my criteria for a writing app. Ulysses uses Markdown to format everything written in the app. Now, if you aren’t familiar with Markdown, it basically uses symbols (like asterisks, hashtags, etc.) to format the document. For example, if I want to make something bold, I just put two asterisks before the word and two after. Now, you don’t see this because it disappears when I export it. Markdown is nice because you don’t have to open formatting menus and go through all of that to change the formatting of something. You can continue writing without having to stop. At first, I didn’t really like Markdown because you have to learn the symbols and because it just looks weird. I’ve really come to love it, though, and would say that markdown is one of the pros for Ulysses.
My second reason is all the tools that supercharge your writing. This was what I was most excited about when I downloaded Ulysses. This outstanding app has quantities of useful tools built in. One of my favorites is the ability to see the average read time for my writing. I can also set goals, so it will let me know when I reach a certain read time, word count, page count, etc. For example, I set a read-time goal of at least 5 minutes for each newsletter. Ulysses even has a built-in editor that will edit your writing, similar to Grammarly. (I still use my amazing editor-mom to proofread everything!) All of these tools are great and really help power my writing!
The final pro for Ulysses is the organization and storage. For me, keeping documents and files organized is essential. Ulysses allows me to do just that. I can organize everything into folders, projects, and even folders within a folder or project. Ulysses automatically saves everything and allows you to store everything in iCloud, so it doesn’t take up storage on your device. Finally, you can sync all of your writing between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
For me, Ulysses is the ultimate writing app, and I love using it! I started using it a few months ago and have been using it to write every newsletter since the second one. Ulysses is $5.99 per month, but you can start a 7-day free trial here. You can also find more about Ulysses on the website. Also, this could be a good Christmas gift for any writers in your life. I seriously love Ulysses, and it is one of my favorite apps that I use on my iPad!
Wild Card
HOLIDAY WORLD
I’ve talked about Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and Kings Island. Lastly, I want to talk about Holiday World! How fitting is it that I’m talking about Holiday World on Christmas Eve? Holiday World is located in Santa Claus, Indiana, and is an amusement park filled with many fun rides and other activities. The unique thing about this amusement park is that each section of the park is themed with a holiday, hence the name.
Let’s talk rides… Holiday World has some pretty cool rides. While a lot of the rides are focused around kids, there are definitely some other great rides as well. The problem, though, is that many of these are wooden and gave me HUGE headaches. So, if you decide to go to Holiday World, beware that the wooden coasters may give you headaches. Overall, though, these rides are spectacular! The Thunderbird (shown in the picture above) was my personal favorite because it is pretty intense and really fun to ride!
Holiday World also has a water park called Splashin’ Safari. Sadly, I was unable to go to this when I was there because it was closed. I have heard from others, though, that the water park is great. Next time I go to Holiday World, I absolutely want to check out Splashin’ Safari water park.
Overall, Holiday World is a great amusement park that I really enjoyed going to in July 2020! Also, Holiday World isn’t as expensive as any of the other parks I mentioned. Plus, you get free drinks and free sunscreen throughout the amusement park. It is great for kids, teens, and adults! I would definitely recommend going if you live in Indiana or intend to visit.