Veronica Taber

Right now I'm kind of swaying between Debussy, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky. I also kind of like (what little I've heard) of Vivaldi. I know nothing about music theory or what makes them good, other than that I like the sound of them. Who is your favorite, and why?

I get so exasperated because everything at the library looks like complete drivel, to be honest. I can't bear romance or YA because it's so contrived and predictable. Just reading the descriptions makes me want to puke. Fantasy is too pompous and bombastic, and most other genres just don't interest me. Are there any captivating, well written books you'd suggest?

Books I like:

The Princess Bride

Gone with the Wind

ASOIAF series (Game of Thrones)

Wuthering Heights

The Hobbit/LOTR

Books I can't stand:

The Hunger Games

Twilight

Pride and Prejudice

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this question, but a little background:

I'm writing a story, and one of my characters breaks her wrist. She's somewhere in the wild where she can't get medical treatment for it for about three weeks, and she doesn't have the resources to make any sort of makeshift splint or anything.

What would happen? Obviously, it wouldn't heal correctly, but how severe would it be if she never got treatment? Would she lose use of her hand, or would it just heal crooked and limit her movement a little?

Thank you so much!

I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for a story I'm writing, and to make a longer, more complicated story short, I need a way to destroy a dangerous magical weapon. It's terrible, but all I can think of is tossing it into a volcano, which is total rip off of Lord of the Rings. I honestly need a better way to get rid of this thing, but for some reason I am completely drawing a blank. Does anyone have any better ideas on how you could destroy a magical weapon? I know that a lot of people will answer saying "it's your story, and you need to be creative enough to come up with it on your own", but I was just wondering if anyone had any input that would be helpful. Thanks so much :)

Bear with me here. I understand that fans who went in expecting the newer releases to be just as good as the original trilogy came out disappointed. In fact, I agree that Episodes 2 and 3 suck (thanks to hayden christensen, a nice piece of eye candy that absolutely sucks at acting, and the continued appearance of the monstrosity known as Jar-Jar Binks). But I personally have things I enjoyed about Episode 1.

I read a lot of complaints about the child who plays Anakin on the internet, but I kind of like him. I think he does an alright job, and the pod-racing scene (in addition to being one of the coolest scenes) actually makes you want to find out more about him and root for him. I guess some people are let down that the best villain ever had such a mediocre, normal past. But I like it. The Anakin shows promise and (at least, in my opinion) is likable, so it's tragic knowing that he'll eventually turn to the dark side.

Darth Maul- yes, he has no character development. Then again, I don't think that he necessarily needs it. The real conflict in this movie is with the invasion of naboo and that struggle/war. Darth maul isn't supposed to be the central conflict, just, literally, a "phantom menace", since the sith are supposed to be extinct. I'm not disturbed that no one knows who he is, his motive, or whatever. I feel like that makes it more mysterious when he dies, and you don't know if he was the master or apprentice. I'm perfectly fine with him not talking and not having an explicitly stated backstory. Plus I'm kind of impressed with Ray Park's crazy gymnastic skills- I can't help but be impressed with the lightsaber duel.

So I'm not arguing that it is as good as the original trilogy. It's just, after watching some recent movies, I went back and watched this and was actually kind of enjoying it for what it is. At least I wasn't wincing and cringing like I do when I watch episodes 2 and 3.

Am I the only one? Because the internet really makes me feel like it.

I'm looking for a book with and ending that is bittersweet. Personally, I didn't care for the Hunger Games, but these are some books that are similar to the endings I'm looking for:

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfield

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Levine. (I know that one is for younger children but the ending is still the same bittersweet tone that I'm looking for.)

I'm looking for basically anything that has an ending that tugs at the heartstrings. Does anyone have any good recommendations? Thanks!

PS- It should be noted that I don't mean a straight-up romance novel- I didn't like the Notebook or a walk to remember. Thanks again!

I'm a college freshman who is home for the summer, and an acquaintance asked if I'd be willing to spend time with her 12-year-old daughter for the summer- not babysitting, per se, but just to kind of hang out with her, drive her around places, and make sure she doesn't sit at home vegging out in front of the TV all summer.

I'm the youngest child in my family and don't have much experience with interacting with preteens. I tend not to be great with the children I've babysat in the past. So does anyone have any ideas for fun things we could do together? I was thinking maybe bike riding, tennis, a spa day, baking, etc. But since this is going to be an all-summer arrangement, I'm going to need some more ideas that would be fun for a girl that age! Also, any other tips would be appreciated :) thanks!

(sorry if this is in the wrong category)

So I've been trying to lose weight lately, and I do well balancing my meals and making healthy choices, but very frequently I lose control and binge snack on unhealthy stuff.

I've read up on all the tricks for helping (drinking a ton of water before you binge eat, keep snacks out of the house, brush your teeth/mouthwash, get out of the house and distract yourself, etc) but I keep slipping up and still binge eat very frequently.

I eat healthy meals and exercise, and my family thinks that I am healthy, but this constant binging is really scaring me. I'm scared I have an eating disorder because of the way I actually just lose control and eat tons of junk food. I know I shouldn't be, but I just lose my mind and feel like I can't stop myself. Afterwords I feel guilty enough where I seriously consider making myself throw up, but I never do (because I know I'd feel even worse- I don't want to get into an even MORE damaging cycle than I'm already in)

I know everyone makes mistakes when dieting/trying to lose weight, but I'm scared because I feel out of control and guilty because of these binges, and I KNOW those are typical signs of an eating disorder... Am I overreacting, or does it sound like an eating disorder?

Also, I feel like I really can't tell my family about this- If I DO have a problem, who could I go to see where I could get help confidentially? (I'm not in school)

Thank you (and sorry if this is under the wrong category!)

So I've been trying to lose weight lately, and I do well balancing my meals and making healthy choices, but very frequently I lose control and binge snack on unhealthy stuff. I've read up on all the tricks for helping (drinking a ton of water before you binge eat, keep snacks out of the house, brush your teeth/mouthwash, get out of the house and distract yourself, etc) but I keep slipping up and still binge eat very frequently. I eat healthy meals and exercise, and my family thinks that I am healthy, but this constant binging is really scaring me. I'm scared I have an eating disorder because of the way I actually just lose control and eat tons of junk food. I know I shouldn't be, but I just lose my mind and feel like I can't stop myself. Afterwords I feel guilty enough where I seriously consider making myself throw up, but I never do (because I know I'd feel even worse- I don't want to get into an even MORE damaging cycle than I'm already in)

I know everyone makes mistakes when dieting/trying to lose weight, but I'm scared because I feel out of control and guilty because of these binges, and I KNOW those are typical signs of an eating disorder... Am I overreacting, or does it sound like an eating disorder?

Also, I feel like I really can't tell my family about this- If I DO have a problem, who could I go to see where I could get help confidentially? (I'm not in school)

Thank you

I'm an amateur writer, and I'm looking for tons of criticism.

Are there any free websites I can use to post my writing and get feedback without the risk of my work being plagiarized?

I'm 10-15 pounds overweight, and recently have been trying to be more healthy. The reason I'm overweight in the first place is because I was sedentary and have a problem with snacking. I've been going to the gym daily since I've started trying to lose weight and I'm trying to be mindful of what I'm eating (no more absentminded snacking through the day, only eating at meal times/snack times, no distractions like munching while watching tv, etc)

Today I had oatmeal and watermelon for breakfast (285 calories), but

I had a soup, salad and went ahead and let myself have a cookie at lunch, so my lunch came out to about 675 calories.

If I have a healthy dinner (salad and fruit, like 400 calories), will this completely sabotage me?

I'm trying to be more aware of this stuff and I know that cookies are terrible, but I'd rather slip up and have one that I enjoy with my lunch than deprive myself and then go crazy and snack on a whole box later.

I'm looking for an adventure book with a romantic subplot. Preferably something similar to the book Gone With the Wind: a book that has an captivating plot (not exclusively a romance novel) but the romance is still a big part of it. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks :)

Side note: I didn't care for the Hunger Games trilogy, although I think that was because of the writing style, not the genre.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted two days ago (tuesday morning), and my doctor recommended that I take 600 mg of Ibuprofen every four hours, in addition to a prescription drug called Lortab until Saturday. Now I absolutely DESPISE taking any sort of pain medicine, so I didn't even get the Lortab prescription filled, and I'm apprehensive to be taking so much Ibuprofen, even though my doctor said it was okay until Saturday. In fact, yesterday I tried to take less, but the pain was excruciating, so I caved. Still, 600 mg every four hours seems like an awful lot. My question is, is this too much Ibuprofen to be taking in too short of an amount of time?

Thanks, everyone.