The Weekly Write-Up #4
Welcome back! It’s another week, but this week is different! It is special because it is my mom’s birthday week! I want to give a shout-out to her because she is outstanding! I love her so much and am so glad that she is my mom! She is also my editor and edits all of these newsletters. (She is in Greece right now celebrating her birthday with my dad, so we FaceTimed to edit this!) Please remember, as you read each newsletter, that it seriously wouldn’t be possible without her and her great editing skills!
In this newsletter…
Book series people have highly recommended to me!
Why The Hobbit shouldn’t be three movies!
What is my favorite keyboard ever?
One of the BEST places for kids (and adults) to visit in Indy!
Something I Read
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Today, I’d like to do something just a bit different. Instead of talking about some books that I’ve read, I want to talk about some books that I would like to read. These are books I’ve heard about from other people. I have a bounty of books that I would like to read, but today I would like to focus on 3 books that appeal to me and have been recommended to me. This is especially challenging since I haven’t read the books yet, but I’m going to answer the question of “Why do I want to read the book?” With that being said, I want to talk about Hunter Brown, Michael Vey, and Millie Maven. (I also just realized that the names of these series are all people’s names). I will start reading these series soon and talk about them in future newsletters, but it may be a while.
Hunter Brown: I heard about the Hunter Brown trilogy, written by the Miller Brothers, from my brother a while back. He read it a few months ago and immediately recommended it to me, saying that it was one of his favorite book series! I know that he loves books, so saying that this is one of his favorites is pretty good! It is a Christian-Fiction book series, and it sounds pretty cool! Just from looking at the cover and flipping through the book, it looks spectacular! I’m very excited to read this series, and it is probably one of my next reads!
Michael Vey: Recently a friend of mine told me about this book series, and I’ve been wanting to read it ever since then. This is currently an 8 book series, but the author, Richard Paul Evans, may write more books. He actually just came out with the eighth book a few weeks ago, and it looks outstanding! Even though I haven’t read this series, a lot of my friends have, and they say that it is great! In conclusion, I don’t even have this book series yet, but I plan on buying them and reading them!
Millie Maven: My brother read this series a few months ago, and he really enjoyed it. It is a three book series written by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker. I have read The Dream Traveler’s Quest by Ted Dekker and I really enjoyed it, so I think I will enjoy this series too! When I asked him what it was about, he said it was basically “a Christian version of Harry Potter.” If you have read my previous newsletters, you know that I really like Harry Potter, so I’m hoping that I will enjoy this book series. I plan to borrow it from him and read it pretty soon!
Something I Watched
THE HOBBIT
I’ve already mentioned that I’ve been reading The Lord of the Rings and that I read The Hobbit a few months ago. My family has been watching The Hobbit movies over the past two weeks and just finished the third one a few nights ago. The Hobbit movies have a number of pros, but also a matching number of cons.
I was honestly very impressed by these movies. First, they were very well put together. The visual effects were great, and the action scenes were intense. The second pro is the actors. Every actor chosen for The Hobbitmovies was a great fit. They all played their parts very well and really brought the movies to life! The final pro is also somewhat of a con. It is the fact that they added multiple new plot lines to the movies that weren’t in the book. While this did make the movies a little more interesting, I usually don’t like when movies venture away from the book, so I would say that this is more of a con.
Even though these movies are pretty good, they still have their fair share of cons. The first con and possibly the most obvious is that The Hobbit was split into three movies. It seriously doesn’t make sense. This book was shorter than all of The Lord of the Rings books, yet it was split into three long movies. Don’t get me wrong, as the movies are put together really well, but they are just long. It was very unnecessary to split one book into three movies. Going off this, the second con is that the movies dragged. As much as I hate to say this, the movies just seemed slow. There could have been a lot of content cut out of the movie. Each movie was 2-3 hours long, and there were 3 of them. Talk about some watch time! I’m not saying the entirety is boring (In fact, I was on the edge of my seat at multiple points), I’m just saying that it was very long. The final con, which I mentioned before, is the added plot lines. To make these movies longer, the producers added multiple new plot lines that were not in the book. There were added characters, scenes, and plots to extend the story. While some of these were quite interesting and cool, I would prefer that the movies stayed closer to the book. One of these plot lines was used to set up The Lord of the Rings in a way that wasn’t in the books, and I found this unnecessary. That is how I would describe a lot of what was in these movies: unnecessary. It could have been cut out, but it was kept in or added to lengthen it.
Don’t get the false idea that I hated these movies. I actually really enjoyed them and may watch them again at some point. I think that they did the book justice and portrayed it in a good way. My biggest criticism is that it was split into 3 movies. By doing this, the movies were unnecessarily lengthened. An adequate alternative would have been to make one long movie or possibly two movies, but three long movies is just too much. I am glad I watched them, though, and I can’t wait to watch the Lord of the Rings movies once I finish The Return of the King!
Tech Thoughts
LOGITECH K380 KEYBOARD
Having a keyboard is obviously very essential for me, being a student and a writer. I have had multiple keyboards over the years, but I have finally settled on the Logitech K380. The two main reasons that I like it are functionality and portability.
This keyboard is great for typing, whether it be for school, this newsletter, or even just a text message. I love pulling out my Logitech keyboard and typing. The main reason for this is that it is comfortable. The keys are actually rounded, which is different from my past keyboard, but I definitely like this new key shape. Some other great features of this keyboard are that it is fast, has powerful function buttons, and that you can switch between 3 different devices seamlessly. I don’t use this final feature very much, but it is nice to have in case I ever need it.
This keyboard is also very portable. While it may not be as portable as two of my other past keyboards (which were absolute trash), it is still pretty small. I can easily fit it into my backpack to take it to school or carry it in my hand around the house. It isn’t much wider than my iPad, and it is also pretty thin.
For me, the Logitech K380 Keyboard is an obvious choice. Its unique typing experience, powerful capabilities, diverse functionality, and convenient portability make it a great choice! I love using this thing to write! You can check it out on Amazon.
Wild Card
THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF INDIANAPOLIS
Another topic that I would like to talk about in the wild card section is cool places to visit! A lot of them will be in the Indiana area because that is where I live. I do really like to travel, though, so there will certainly be some other places to visit that aren’t in Indiana. The first place is a place that I’ve been multiple times before, but I hadn’t been there in a long time…until recently. I have gone a few times in this last week since my grandma has a grandparent membership, so we can go as many times as we would like. After going multiple times in this past week, I remembered how awesome this museum is! It is the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis!
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is remarkable! The best thing about this museum is that it is unique. They have tons of exhibits, but they are different from the average museum’s exhibits. The reason that I say this is that it presents learning in a very fun way! The exhibits are educational as well as hands-on. Every time I go (I’ve been tons of times), I learn something new and have a fun time while doing it. A new edition to this museum is the Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience. It is an outdoor play-space open from March through November. They have areas for almost every sport you can imagine!
Another reason I really like this museum is that it is fun for all ages. Despite the name, I still think this museum is cool, and I’m not even really a “child” anymore! While the museum is specifically designed for children up to twelve years old, I think that almost anyone could have a fun day here. I’ve been here with people of all different ages, and I believe that all of them enjoyed it. I’m not saying that every exhibit interests me, but there are some that definitely do! I especially enjoy the Sport Legends Experience because it is seriously outstanding!
If you are ever visiting Indy (or you already live in the area), you have to come here. No matter your age, I’m convinced that you will have fun! Bring your family, your kids, or your friends, and come have a fun day here! To learn more, visit The Children’s Museum Website.
I’m so glad that you all are continuing to read my newsletters! I hope you are getting something out of these newsletters! See you next week!