Credit Card Application Denied

It may be difficult to tell what the above picture is, but what you're looking at is the rejection letter I just received from Chase.  Apparently the fact that I have zero credit history prevented me from getting a credit card:)

Oh well, I think I'll have to start with a student credit card to build up some credit, which is fine by me.  I had anticipated this being one of my easier goals to meet, so I can't stop now!

Hopefully my next post on this matter will be a picture of my new student credit card!

Book #3 Completed! (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time)

After experiencing life through the eyes of a teenager with mental instability in the last book I read, it's only natural that I moved on to reading a narrative from the life of an autistic boy.  While this book is much shorter, it has much in common with my last book.  Neither attempts to tell an epic tale of heroic acts, but rather both illustrate the unique way in which certain types of individuals interact with the world.  Both walk the reader through a series of events that while unusual, are most likely not unrealistic.

In some ways this book reminded me of Stranger Than Fiction, one of my favorite movies.  I found it fascinating to climb inside the brain of someone who experiences life in such a unique way.  Both were bittersweet and had moments of humor mixed with grief. This book ultimately ended in a way that was satisfying; not happily ever after, but also not with sadness.

This isn't the best book I've ever read, but it's definitely a good one.  It turned out to be a quick read once I got into it.  While I found myself at the end still expecting more to happen, I realize looking back that nothing more had to.  It was simply the story of a few weeks in the life of an autistic boy who struggled to deal with the drama of a broken family and the events of a world outside of his control.

Book #2 Completed! (It's Kind of a Funny Story)

I don't really have time to write a long book review like I did for the last one, but I did really enjoy this book.  It follows the life of teenager Craig Bilner as he slips deeper into depression, stops eating, and eventually considers killing himself.  Rather than actually doing it, he calls a suicide hotline and finds himself in a mental hospital.  There he interacts with many interesting characters and learns a great deal about himself and life.

I really appreciated the unique outlook on life that was presented in this book.  The author actually spent time living in a mental hospital prior to writing this book, and that authenticity really presents itself in this book.  I've never really gone through any serious depression, so almost everything described in this book was new and interesting to me.  The characters surrounding Craig also proved to be very interesting and dynamic.  Many of his fellow patients in the mental hospital ended up being very likeable, even though they were all somewhat crazy.

My first two books have both been really good, even though I really couldn't have picked two more different books.  Hopefully all the books on my list will turn out as good as these two.