What I Read: May 2017

Hey everybody! I've read an absolute crap ton of books this month. I read 24 books (holy crap), which puts me at 45 for the year. I've had so much more free time lately, since I just finished school and got back from vacation. A lot of the books I've read aren't really worth mentioning, but I will talk about some of the ones I've enjoyed this month. I did focus on reading a lot of YA books and graphic novels this month, which really helped me finish a lot of books in a short amount of time. I feel like I've read way too much lately and sort of burned myself out a bit, so next month will probably be a slower month reading wise. One last side note before I talk about some of the books I've read. Sorry for the lack of interesting posts on here. As you can tell from this post, I've spent pretty much all my free time reading instead of working on new posts. Without further ado, let's talk about some of the cool or lame books I've read this month.

One that I really enjoyed was Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. I absolutely love any books that are based around crime. I don't know why, but I ever since I was a kid, I thought the processes surrounding how crimes are solved were super interesting. This book is all about how the FBI began their criminal profiling program. It talks about different serial killers and other criminals and how the police eventually caught these people. It's so scary how accurate these profiles are and all the patterns the FBI has discovered. The FBI can figure out so many details of your life from just a few things, like how you commit your crimes or from evidence left behind. It talks about a lot of other ideas to, such as how the media can play a role in solving these crimes and whether criminals are born that way or shaped by something in their life. Very interesting overall, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're into that sort of thing.

I feel like I haven't talked about many books I've absolutely hated in these monthly wrap-ups. I do a lot of research before I pick up a book, so most of the time, I already know I'll enjoy the book I pick out. That was not the case with Loner by Teddy Wayne. It was very popular on a site I look at and I think a bestseller a couple years ago, so I figured it was worth the read. Basically, it's all about this whiny kid that is starting college at Harvard. I didn't mind the main character at first, but as he goes through the year obsessing over this one girl, he becomes more and more of a douchebag. This book didn't have many redeeming qualities for me. I liked that it was short but hated how many obscure words the author used. The odd words make sense, since it's from the point of view of this Harvard nerd, but still, it was annoying to read. The ending was absolute trash. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

This post is getting sort of long, so I'd like to quickly go through some other books I've enjoyed. I finished Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, and I'd have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It follows the main character, Jean Louise (or Scout as she goes by) from To Kill A Mockingbird, as she's older and returning to her hometown. I liked the plot and thought it was a cool read. The graphic novel series I've been into lately is Saga. I've finished all seven volumes of it, and I have to say I've got mixed opinions. It's pretty interesting and all, but there's some elements of it that really annoy me. The art is amazing though, and the overall plot is neat. I would recommend it if you're into sci-fi or comics in general. I'm getting more into reading non-fiction, so I've been reading some books on statistics and economics. I enjoyed Naked Statistics by Charles Wheelan but didn't like Freakonomics or SuperFreaknomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner as much as I thought I would.

I think that's about it for this monthly wrap-up post. I've read a lot of other stuff, but these were the ones I think deserve mentioning. At the end of the year, I think I'm going to post my entire list of books I've read, in case any of you are interested in seeing what books I read that I don't mention. I don't think I'll ever read this many books in a month again, so going forward, I should be able to talk about each one a little more in depth. Hope you all are enjoying these sort of posts! Thanks for looking!

First Year Of College Reflection Post

So I recently finished my first year of college. I had a lot of expectations going into it, but honestly, most of my expectations were pretty off. I mostly enjoyed the year overall. There were definitely parts that weren't so great, but that's how life goes. I'm super glad it's over and that I'm home for the summer. Some of the big highlights were undergoing two major changes, taking 9 classes, surviving living with a complete stranger for 9 months, and meeting some cool people.

I guess the first thing I'll talk about is the academics since that's the main part of school. I didn't think the classes were necessarily that hard. To me, they seemed very comparable to my high school classes. There's a system and once you learn the system, you can do very well. The classes didn't necessarily focus on learning. Instead, it was just memorization for the big tests. The biggest difference in college is how high stakes the classes are. In most cases, you're paying thousands of dollars, and the large majority of your grade is based on several exams. One of my classes this past semester had 80% of the final grade based on four exams. That's pretty ridiculous to me, because if you do badly on just one of them, it screws up your chances of getting a good grade. I don't really feel like I learned that much either. I didn't care about my classes all that much, since they were just a bunch of general education classes. Luckily, I finished pretty much all those types of classes, so the rest of the time I'm in school will be focused on what I'm actually studying.

I'll also quickly touch on the whole two major changes thing real quick. Basically, I went in undecided and knew I wanted to at least declare some major by the end of my first semester. I already knew that I kind of wanted to do something with math or statistics. Once my first semester ended, I declared my major which was sort of combination of statistics and computer science. After my second semester, I realized I didn't like computer science all that much, so I decided to switch to doing straight up statistics. I also figured out I really liked economics, which made me add that as my second major. I'm definitely really happy with what I'm studying now and am pretty excited for all the classes I'll be taking in the future.

Another big aspect of college is the social scene and the dorm life. I met some cool people for sure, but also a lot of immature idiots. I came to college to get a good education, so the social aspect isn't too important to me. The dorm life was exactly what you'd expect. The dorm wasn't the best, but it was totally fine for the year. I absolutely hated my roommate. Not gonna go into all those details, since they're not that important. I'm not dead, and I don't really have any super bad horror stories about her. I wouldn't discourage doing a random roommate, which is what I had. I know they work out in some cases and don't in others. It's just all up to luck whether you get someone good or not. I learned pretty early on that you only need to able to coexist with your roommate and don't necessarily have to be their best friend. I'm glad I'll never have to see the girl again. Luckily, I'm living off-campus for the rest of time in college, so that's something I'm really looking forward too.

Honestly, I can't think of much else to say about my first year. There's probably a ton of little things I'm forgetting, but hopefully I got the gist of it all. I've got a video coming soon about this as well. I will say that I think college is a scam. If I didn't need it for what I wanted to do, I don't think I'd keep going. In this day and age, it's not as great of a value as it used to be. I don't wanna make this post any longer, so maybe I'll make a different post about why I think that. But yeah, my first year wasn't awful but not super amazing either. This post touches on more of the negative side of my year, but it really was totally fine. All the really positive things that happened to me are things I'd rather keep to myself. Anyways, I'm looking forward to the coming years, because they really can only get better from here. Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed reading this more personal post! More EDC related stuff coming soon!

My Favorite EDC Water Bottles

I've gotten a huge appreciation for quality water bottles in the past year. I always hated buying disposable water bottles, because it's super bad for the environment and why buy water when it's free. I picked up a few different bottles before I went off to college, and I'd have to say these three are my favorite.

I honestly don't think these bottles have very specific names. As you can see from the pictures, I've got a Nalgene, Klean Kanteen, and CamelBak. I was originally going to talk about each one individually, but then the post was becoming way too long. I think I'm going to do individual review type posts of these three to make sure I cover everything I'd like to say. 

Basically, the Nalgene is my favorite, followed by the Klean Kanteen, and CamelBak. I dig the Nalgene, because it has a narrow mouth. I've found that the wider the mouth, the more likely I am to spill water all over myself. The Klean Kanteen is cool because it's metal. I really like the feel of solid metal bottle. I'd never tried a metal bottle before, so I wasn't sure what to expect from it. It's definitely nicer than drinking from a plastic bottle. I use the CamelBak if my other two bottles are dirty or if I want quicker access to water. It is insulated, but I don't necessarily think it keeps my drinks cooler for that much longer. I don't like using sport nozzles for daily use, because I've found they get dirty very quickly. They're so much easier to drink out of, but I'd rather not risk getting any crap over the surface I'm drinking from. I do especially like this CamelBak, because of the lock on the lid. It helps make sure water won't leak from the nozzle. I will say this CamelBak is the only bottle of the three that I've had issues with leaking. Every so often, I have issues with leaking where the lid screws onto the bottle. Other than that, all these bottles have been pretty good for EDC usage. I'd eventually like to try a few more bottles and maybe even some good insulated ones. Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for those separate reviews of these bottles!

My Undying Love For Foursevens' Classic Preons

I had been trying to write the review for the FourSevens updated Preon P2 that a guy had kindly let me borrow from him. I really thought I liked the idea behind the updates that FourSevens made to the Preon line, but I think deep down I knew nothing could compare to the classic Preons. I've got a blue Preon P1 and a green Preon P2. I'd have to say, of all the flashlights I've tried, these are probably the best lights I have ever owned. I've tried all sorts of flashlights from FourSevens to Nitecore to Thrunite to Fenix. Yet I always come back to the classic Preons. Maybe my hunt for the perfect flashlight is a waste of time. Maybe these classic Preons are as good as it gets. I remember thinking that my biggest gripes were that these classic Preons simply weren't bright enough because they didn't even reach above 300 lumens. I think I've been so blinded by the fact that I need to find the brightest flashlight available. It seems like everyone in the EDC community is after the smallest and brightest flashlight possible. Quite frankly, my 80ish lumen P1 has never once been too dim for me. If there is ever time it is, I've got the P2 that's probably around 200 lumens, maybe a little less.

There's just so many things these classic Preons do well. Sure they may not be the most technologically advanced, lacking features like mode memory or customizable configuration levels. Their design is awesome though. It's simple and sleek. I had always been accustomed to lights with crap tons of knurling or machining, but I've found all that isn't really necessary. The quality is great. I've never had any issues with either of my Preons. All the color options is really what gets me. I love my colorful gear. I think you all that have watched my videos know that. FourSevens really knew what they were doing when it came to colors. They offered such a wide variety of different color options. The colors of my Preons are so vibrant and cool looking. I've never quite seen shades of these colors from other companies before. That's one huge reason I can't seem to find any better flashlights. Even if I find flashlights that are brighter/better suited for EDC, they usually only come in black. At this point in time, I can't really make myself buy any black gear. I've structured my whole collection around colorful gear, and it'd be too weird to introduce boring colors back into it.

I'm hoping my perfect flashlights were right under my nose the whole time. That must be the reason that I always come back to these classic Preons. I think I'll still occasionally buy flashlights that interest me, but I don't think anything can dethrone these classic Preons. Thanks for looking!

Another Interest Of Mine: Video Games

I think it's time to start bringing more posts about another hobby of mine to the blog. Video games are a pretty big part of my carry when I've got more free time. I don't carry a gaming device with me at all times, but during times like the summer and weekends, I've always got at least one close by. Summer is quickly approaching, and I'm planning to catch up on a lot of games. I mostly game with handheld consoles. I'm not too into PC gaming besides games like Sims. I've got a PS4 that I like for sports and action/first-person shooter games.

I'm a huge Nintendo fangirl. I grew up playing the Game Cube and Game Boy Advance. One of my favorite consoles is the 3DS. Nintendo has handheld consoles locked down. I picked up a Switch on launch day, and that's an amazing console too. I haven't gotten to play it all that much yet, since I left it at home while I'm at college. I did play during most of my spring break, and I think there's a lot of potential in the system. Breath of the Wild is insanely good. Such amazing graphics, and the world is so fun just to explore. I just picked up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that I'm eagerly awaiting to play once I get home.

The PS4 is my other main gaming system. It doesn't get as much use as my handheld consoles, just because it's not as portable and the games available aren't as much fun to me. The graphics are great, and most of the games have awesome story lines. I'm a big fan of the Mafia series and have played a couple of hours of Mafia III so far. Uncharted is another series that I love to play. I don't have as many games for the PS4, so I think I'm going to try to pick up a few more this summer.

Be prepared to see more posts relating to video games. I'll be doing some posts about my favorite games, consoles, etc. I think I'll do a post on the Switch once I get back from school. There's always new games and consoles coming out, so that should make for an endless amount of fun to post about. Thanks for looking! I hope you all are excited to hear about another one of my hobbies.