Confessions of a Story
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Reading Before Bed Can Help You Sleep Better!
Originally posted September 23rd, 2015-
It's scientifically proven that reading a good book before you go to bed helps you get a better night's sleep. A lot of the time, people have trouble falling asleep and getting good, quality sleep because they are stressed. Whether it's stress from school, jobs, family issues, or just the stress of a long, busy day—stress is stress, and it will affect you and your sleep. According to a study done in 2009 at the University of Sussex, reading lowers stress levels by 68%. That's far more efficient in relieving stress than that of video games, taking a walk, drinking a cup of tea, or even listening to music. And not only does reading reduce the most stress, it reduces stress the fastest. Reading for just six minutes de-stresses your entire body. The faster you relax, the faster you fall asleep.
Now, aside from all the statistics, reading before bed is a great stress reliever. Reading helps take your mind off your life and gives you a chance to focus on someone else's. According to cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis, reading a book "stimulate(s) your creativity and cause(s) you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness." Reading alleviates stress fast and effectively by getting you to take the focus (and the stressing) away from your own life, putting you in the perfect state of mind to fall asleep and get good, quality sleep all night long.
It's scientifically proven that reading a good book before you go to bed helps you get a better night's sleep. A lot of the time, people have trouble falling asleep and getting good, quality sleep because they are stressed. Whether it's stress from school, jobs, family issues, or just the stress of a long, busy day—stress is stress, and it will affect you and your sleep. According to a study done in 2009 at the University of Sussex, reading lowers stress levels by 68%. That's far more efficient in relieving stress than that of video games, taking a walk, drinking a cup of tea, or even listening to music. And not only does reading reduce the most stress, it reduces stress the fastest. Reading for just six minutes de-stresses your entire body. The faster you relax, the faster you fall asleep.
Percent of Stress Relief
| |
Video games
|
21%
|
Taking a walk
|
42%
|
Drinking tea
|
54%
|
Listening to music
|
61%
|
Reading
|
68%
|
Now, aside from all the statistics, reading before bed is a great stress reliever. Reading helps take your mind off your life and gives you a chance to focus on someone else's. According to cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis, reading a book "stimulate(s) your creativity and cause(s) you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness." Reading alleviates stress fast and effectively by getting you to take the focus (and the stressing) away from your own life, putting you in the perfect state of mind to fall asleep and get good, quality sleep all night long.
Colin O'Donoghue Gives The Hollywood Reporter the Inside Scoop
Originally posted December 3, 2015-
When The Hollywood Reporter talked with Colin O'Donoghue, Captain Hook on ABC's Once Upon a Time, he told them what they should expect in Sunday's mid-season finale, as well as a look into Dark Hook's plans and motivations.
At this point in the show Hook has already "embraced the darkness," says O'Donoghue, "he knew he didn't have the willpower" to overcome it like Emma has. He's become very angry with Emma for making him dark because of this. It was the one thing he had asked of her. There has been rampant speculation of fans that Hook might want to kill Emma for betraying him, but O'Donoghue says "he's more of a pissed off boyfriend than wanting Emma to die in any kind of way," but if she's going to get in his way it might be something he's willing to do "so long as he gets his revenge on Rumplestiltskin." As for Emma and Hook's relationship (#CaptainSwan), O'Donoghue says it's a difficult thing for him to see happening, "...it's complicated," he laughs. "Much like most of their relationship, to be honest. It's a complicated thing."
In the mid-season finale we can expect to find out what kind of relationship Hook had with his father before he left him as a child. We will get "a bit more of Hook's backstory in fairytale land," including Hook's previous relationship with the Evil Queen. Hook's plan to go to the underworld turns out to be "one that all of the Dark Ones wanted to enact," which is why he gets all of the previous Dark Ones together at the end of last Sunday's episode. Since he has embraced the darkness he really doesn't have a choice in following through with this plan, especially since he thinks it will, also, get his revenge on Rumplestiltskin. It's what all the Dark Ones have ever wanted and that's "who he is now."
Don't miss Once Upon a Time's mid-season finale Sunday at 8pm on ABC.
Get the full interview with The Hollywood Reporter here!
When The Hollywood Reporter talked with Colin O'Donoghue, Captain Hook on ABC's Once Upon a Time, he told them what they should expect in Sunday's mid-season finale, as well as a look into Dark Hook's plans and motivations.
At this point in the show Hook has already "embraced the darkness," says O'Donoghue, "he knew he didn't have the willpower" to overcome it like Emma has. He's become very angry with Emma for making him dark because of this. It was the one thing he had asked of her. There has been rampant speculation of fans that Hook might want to kill Emma for betraying him, but O'Donoghue says "he's more of a pissed off boyfriend than wanting Emma to die in any kind of way," but if she's going to get in his way it might be something he's willing to do "so long as he gets his revenge on Rumplestiltskin." As for Emma and Hook's relationship (#CaptainSwan), O'Donoghue says it's a difficult thing for him to see happening, "...it's complicated," he laughs. "Much like most of their relationship, to be honest. It's a complicated thing."
In the mid-season finale we can expect to find out what kind of relationship Hook had with his father before he left him as a child. We will get "a bit more of Hook's backstory in fairytale land," including Hook's previous relationship with the Evil Queen. Hook's plan to go to the underworld turns out to be "one that all of the Dark Ones wanted to enact," which is why he gets all of the previous Dark Ones together at the end of last Sunday's episode. Since he has embraced the darkness he really doesn't have a choice in following through with this plan, especially since he thinks it will, also, get his revenge on Rumplestiltskin. It's what all the Dark Ones have ever wanted and that's "who he is now."
Don't miss Once Upon a Time's mid-season finale Sunday at 8pm on ABC.
Get the full interview with The Hollywood Reporter here!
The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials Movie vs. Book Review
Originally posted October 14th, 2015-
Having not read the book myself, I turned to the internet and its plethora of critics and reviews to find out how close the movie adaption of The Scorch Trials was to the original book.
+20th Century Fox says that the movie is "is action-packed, but doesn’t stay close to the plot of the novel."
According to Los Angeles Times HS Insider, the movie strays from the book from the very beginning, completely changing the main plot. Originally, after escaping from the maze at the end of the first book WCKD puts Thomas and the Gladers in the Scorch, on purpose, as another test to see if they can withstand the harsh conditions. It was another way for WCKD to try to find a cure. But the movie has them "rescued" and taken to WCKD headquarters, that they don't know at first, where they are harvesting kids' brains to try to find a cure, so Thomas and the Gladers escape from the head quarters and go into Scorch. They aren't trying to survive the Scorch like the book intended, but rather running away from WCKD.
The Cranks are people that have been infected by "the Flare", the deadly virus that Thomas and the Gladers are somehow immune to. They play a much bigger role in the movie than in the book and are portrayed differently as well. In the movie, the Cranks are portrayed as zombies, which wasn't the original intent of the book, making The Scorch Trials seeming to be a post-apocalyptic zombie movie. This difference was particularly disappointing for some fans, as Aliskinner writes on Fandango, "They're not zombies, it doesn't really spread through biting, it's all in the brain. We don't need another zombie movie."
Wm54joyce says if she didn't read the book she probably would've liked the movie, but since she did read the book "the story just seemed boring in comparison to what it could have been."
Overall, the consensus of critics and book fans is that the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, with lots of action and great special effects; a must-see for action-movie buffs and an amazing film for those of us who haven't read The Maze Runner series. But in comparison to book, the movie fell flat, leaving fans of the book disappointed as they left the theatre.
Having not read the book myself, I turned to the internet and its plethora of critics and reviews to find out how close the movie adaption of The Scorch Trials was to the original book.
+20th Century Fox says that the movie is "is action-packed, but doesn’t stay close to the plot of the novel."
According to Los Angeles Times HS Insider, the movie strays from the book from the very beginning, completely changing the main plot. Originally, after escaping from the maze at the end of the first book WCKD puts Thomas and the Gladers in the Scorch, on purpose, as another test to see if they can withstand the harsh conditions. It was another way for WCKD to try to find a cure. But the movie has them "rescued" and taken to WCKD headquarters, that they don't know at first, where they are harvesting kids' brains to try to find a cure, so Thomas and the Gladers escape from the head quarters and go into Scorch. They aren't trying to survive the Scorch like the book intended, but rather running away from WCKD.
The Cranks are people that have been infected by "the Flare", the deadly virus that Thomas and the Gladers are somehow immune to. They play a much bigger role in the movie than in the book and are portrayed differently as well. In the movie, the Cranks are portrayed as zombies, which wasn't the original intent of the book, making The Scorch Trials seeming to be a post-apocalyptic zombie movie. This difference was particularly disappointing for some fans, as Aliskinner writes on Fandango, "They're not zombies, it doesn't really spread through biting, it's all in the brain. We don't need another zombie movie."
Wm54joyce says if she didn't read the book she probably would've liked the movie, but since she did read the book "the story just seemed boring in comparison to what it could have been."
Overall, the consensus of critics and book fans is that the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, with lots of action and great special effects; a must-see for action-movie buffs and an amazing film for those of us who haven't read The Maze Runner series. But in comparison to book, the movie fell flat, leaving fans of the book disappointed as they left the theatre.
RIP Alan Rickman
Beloved actor, well-known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, Alan Rickman passed away earlier today due to cancer.
RIP Alan Rickman
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
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