An Abundance of Quotes Part 5

I think we only have two John Green quotes on the menu today.


“Do I think everyone has a good book in them? Yes, but I think most people can’t write that good book. Writing is not so much about Having A Great Story; it’s about knowing how to translate that great story into these meaningless scratches on a screen that will come to life in the mind of a reader. That’s a tricky business, and not everyone is suited to it.” - #1


“Let me answer your question with a question, Google. If we spent as much time thinking about quantum physics as we do thinking about whether celebrities are gay, do you think we’d have a unified theory yet? I do!” - #2


Having a unified theory would be fantastic. If you don't know what that means and don't mind learning a bit of string theory, I would recommend Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. It's fun to read, has diagrams for us visual learners, uses lots of metaphors so that we can wrap our heads around the concepts, and explains it well.


"I like marriage. The idea." - Toni Morrison


"The superfluous, a very necessary thing." - Voltaire


"We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"A Nation of Wimps"

"I'm not 'shy.' I'm 'conversationally selective.' Quote me on that." -- Um...that was me who said that. It was going farther down in the post, but then I thought it was funny, so I moved it here. (Actually, I am shy, but more of that shyness has morphed into conversation-selectiveness in the past year.)


This post is one of my commentaries on an article. This isn't one of the angry(er) ones, but it is rather long.


Thanks to Kenny (again, ha) for the link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/nation-wimps


"...today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves."


I used to think it was just my getting older that made me think the newer playgrounds were lame, and I only liked the older ones for the nostalgia. No. The newer ones really are lame. Give my an old wooden one any day. There's one at a park sort of near my house, and another at my mom's old elementary school, and another that used to be at the park of their hometown, but that one got replaced by the "safe" plastic. Mhm.


"'(A) 13-year-old "couldn't see the big picture.' That cleverly devised defect (what 13-year-old can construct the big picture?) would allow her to take all her tests untimed, especially the big one at the end of the rainbow, the college-worthy SAT."

*face palm* That was in reference to a supposed "condition" that required the teacher to make special accommodations.

"When he took over as president of Harvard in July 2001, Lawrence Summers publicly ridiculed the value of honors after discovering that 94 percent of the college's seniors were graduating with them." 

Good God. And I thought my middle school was bad, handing out "good behavior tickets" just for wearing school colors or getting an answer right. Sometimes even for coming to class on time. These tickets (if you have enough of them) can be redeemed at the end of the month to allow you to meander around outside for an hour, or attend a mandatory during-school dance. 

There's also an AR (Accelerated Reader) system where students are required (for a grade) to take content-based (Who was stealing the life force from Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets?) tests on books for points in hopes of meeting a point goal. If you make your goal 3/4 quarters, you get to go to the AR celebration, which when I was in 6th grade was a trip to the roller-rink, and more recently was with "inflatables." Come on.

In elementary school, it wasn't required. You could redeem your points at a monthly "store" to get silly erasers or cool pencils or little green army men or whatever. It was simply an incentive to read more. None of that "you should have done this anyway, but YAY BONUS FOR YOU FOR DOING IT." Also, the goal maximum in the middle school was (and is) 40 points. It didn't matter how fast or often or well you read. So my great accomplishment in 8th grade was to make over 1000% of my goal in one quarter.

"It is a pure index of emotional over-investment in a child's success. And it rests on a notion of juvenile frailty—the assumption that children are easily bruised and need explicit uplift."

I'm all for commending kids when they achieve stuff, but we shouldn't make up achievements solely for the sake of commending them. 

It's an argument I often have with my parents:

Them: "Olivia's got her book published on AMAZON. Isn't that AMAZING?"

Me: "It would be...only it wasn't based on the quality of the writing. There are so many typos in there (due to the rush I was in to smash it together), and most of the short stories aren't even that good, and the table of contents is even missing some of the items. Literally anyone could do it. It's self-publishing, and it's free."

Them: "But--But--So? We're allowed to be proud of you."

Me: "I'd rather you be proud of me for things worth being proud of. Otherwise your pride doesn't mean much anymore."  :(

"The organized sports many kids participate in are managed by adults; difficulties that arise are not worked out by kids but adjudicated by adult referees."

Case point: 3rd grade. 3 days out of the week, we were required to do an organized sport, or walk the track. 3rd grade recess became something to be endured, not because I didn't enjoy 4-square, but because I was required to play it during my free time.

Also, and I don't want to reflect badly on my mom because of this because she's an awesome mom and I love her, but here's another example:

My sister and I are yelling at each other over something stupid. She yells at us to stop fighting. We aren't allowed to peacefully (or otherwise) our own conflicts. When we're furious at each other, we're forced to leave the room. We're reduced to ranting about each other to either our other sister or Dad. Where is the social-skills-learning in that? Sure, I understand why she doesn't want to listen to us fight, but...Oh well.

Then there's a page about cellphones and parental contact during college, which I've already spoken of in previous posts. The thing with blogging so much is that it's a pain to fish around for hyperlinks. If you want to see that post, leave a comment and I'll be happy to find it for you, but otherwise I'm not going to bother.

"At age 2, none of (the kids genetically predispositioned to anxiety) wound up fearful if their parents backed off from hovering and allowed the children to find some comfortable level of accommodation to the world on their own. "

I don't know if I'm one of those kids, but I definitely exhibited some of the symptoms mentioned. 

And I have a story that definitely backs the above quote up, which doesn't really need to be told. 

"Children need to be gently encouraged to take risks and learn that nothing terrible happens."

Here's where my dad's paranoia kicks in:

I read that and think: Yes, but sometimes terrible things do happen; like car crashes. God, car crashes. No, no, no, don't want to drive don't want to drive don't want to drive.

Granted, I have been driving places, and nothing terrible has happened, and I'm feeling much more comfortable about it. It's an interesting feeling to be in control of the car, and one I'm still getting used to....but hey, I've had my permit for less than two weeks.

"They need gradual exposure to find that the world is not dangerous."

And here is the point where I temporarily lose open-mindedness about this article. B.S. 

The world is dangerous.

"Being examined all the time makes children extremely self-conscious. As a result they get less communicative; scrutiny teaches them to bury their real feelings deeply. And most of all, self-consciousness removes the safety to be experimental and playful. "If every drawing is going to end up on your parents' refrigerator, you're not free to fool around, to goof up or make mistakes," says Anderegg."

True. Very true.

"...ubiquity of video games that encourage aggression."

Not true. Very not true. I've been playing a game that used to be rated M(ature) for violence (which is now a T[een]) since I was three and watching it be played since I was two, and I am not a violent person.
Maybe some people who like violent video games happen to be more prone to violence. That doesn't mean it's the games' fault.


And...that's it. Off to reading a book. I only have about 7 out from the library right now on three-week loans...

An Abundance of Quotes Part 4

"Holes in one's worldview are always good, sometimes you can look through and see the stars." - Kenny's comment on my last post.


"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under." - H. L. Mencken


"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton


“Weltschmerz. It’s the depression you feel when the world as it is does not line up with the world as you think it should be… Because everyone thinks it should be possible to just keep falling and falling forever, to feel the rush of air on your face as you fall, that air pulling your face into a brilliant goddamned smile. And that should be possible. You should  be able to fall forever.” - Will Grayson, Will Grayson


The current campaign over at The Harry Potter Alliance is a seven-part thing tackling real-world horcruxes. The current one is on body image. Check it out.

"Of The Day" Montage

Another TED video for your enjoyment. That's the Video of the Day.

Quote of the Day:

"Civilization is the process of reducing the infinite to the finite." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Explanation of the Day:

Montage. That's what happens when you're sitting in a chair with your mind elsewhere all day and think of a lot of unrelated things to blog about that aren't detailed enough to warrant their own posts.


Thought of the Day:


I find it interesting that my location when writing has such an influence on the story. Writing at school, surrounded by people, makes it more centered around characters and interpersonal relationships, while here at my grandma's, the quirks of her subdivision are nudging their way into the story's scenery. At home when I'm alone in my room, there is significantly less dialogue and more introspection/narration. This is all with the same characters, and the same plot line. Does this happen to anyone else?


News of the Day:

• Someone at my school was diagnosed with TB, so they're testing everyone who has classes with him. I'm not one of those people.
• David Tennant got engaged, funnily enough to the woman who played his daughter in season 4.. Fortunately, I'm not quite old enough to be upset about it, seeing as how he's in his 30s.

*puts on the Humble Hat*


Honest Paragraph of the Day:


Also, Kenny, I want to thank you for being here to stick holes in my world and in my arguments. I like to think of myself as a broad-minded person (which is different from open-minded, although I like to think of myself as that as well), and you often help to make that perception more of a reality than a fantasy. Sorry that I don't always respond in a grateful manner (or not at all).


Recommendation of the Day:


My best friend now has a blog. Go subscribe, I COMMAND YOU. (See, I took off the Humble Hat without telling you, so now I can order you about as I please.) She's awesome.

Am I Doing This Right?

Most of you either read or skimmed my essay on globalization and the internet. If not, here is the link.
I still stand by everything I said there, but this guy has some pretty good points.
I said that the internet is an amazing tool for connecting and educating people. But when I look at my statistics, most of my views come from the United States, and after that Canada and Europe. There's most of the "Western" world. We're all pretty similar. When I look at my feed list, the majority of the people there are Americans in their twenties (or in the case of those I know personally, teenagers). Most of them being women. I am an American woman close to her twenties but not quite there yet, and doing (literary and media-related) things that most people don't do until then.

So apparently I recognize the potential of the internet, but am not utilizing it. Which kind of sucks, because I thought I was doing such a good job. At least I know I'm doing better than a lot of people I know.

The man in the video also said that it's difficult to rectify this problem because when we're looking for new things to read, we ask our friends, who usually fit into our demographic (American teenagers), and therefore usually read the same sort of things that we do.

Some food for thought. I'm off to watch more TED videos.

What To Bring?

"A man is what he thinks about all day long." - Ralph Waldo Emerson\


“In the ensuing silence, I have time to contemplate the word cute— how dismissive it is, how it’s the equivalent of calling someone little, how it makes a person into a baby, how the word is a neon sign burning through the dark reading, “Feel Bad About Yourself.”” - Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. Not sure whose chapter this is. I find it to be very, very true. I know when most people call my clothes or my hair or whatever cute, they mean it as a compliment, but it bothers me nonetheless.


In English, we're reading a book called Night, which is the memoir of a Holocaust survivor. It's very good, and very sad. But that goes without saying. Yes, for those who know her, this is the book Beth mentioned awhile back.


We were talking about how when many Jewish families, upon being told that they could only bring a small bag of possessions, grabbed the photo albums, and why we thought that was.
Then my teacher asked us what we would bring, which I found to be a much more interesting question.
I don't have very many purely sentimental belongings, and none that mean enough to me to make hanging on to them a priority when being deported. A hand-made wooden magic wand is a loving gift from my dad, but it is not useful when Nazis are after you with whips and guns, or the other weapons that their modern-day equivalents would have.
The vast majority of the things that mean the most to me are either things I've written (most of which are stored on Google's servers, and if Google shuts down then we're all completely screwed anyway) or books that I own, which are heavy, repetitive after many re-readings sitting in a concentration camp (not that I'd get to keep it), and also not very useful.
So I went with what one of my classmates said: a journal. Preferably many journals. Preferably all of my journals, both empty and otherwise. They contain my past identity in a way that nothing else can, and I can both record events and write stories within the empty ones. If I could, I'd bring this blog, because I can go into more depth here, because I type faster than I scribble.
Except I have a lot of journals. And got two more since Christmas.


What would you guys bring, even if it's not terribly practical? I am interested to see what other people value.

Books Read In 2010

You've seen my list of books in the sidebar. I'm making this post so it will be preserved despite the fact that I am resetting it for the new year. If you want to know who a book is by, put it in a comment and I'll tell you in a future post because there is no way I'm doing hyperlinks for all of them. You know I love you, guys. Just not that much.

• 13 Little Blue Envelopes
• 21 Proms
• 666: The Number of the Beast
• Abhorsen
• Alice In Charge
• Alice In The Know
• Alice On Her Way
• Almost Alice
• An Abundance of Katherines
• Anthem
• Before I Fall
• Behemoth
• Bermudez Triangle, The
• Book of Shadows
• Boy Meets Boy
• Boys Without Names
• Catching Fire
• Celtic Way of Seeing: Meditations on the Irish Spirit Wheel, The
• Children of the Mind
• Cloaked In Red
• Dangerously Alice
• Daughter of the Blood
• Devilish
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
• Ender's Game
• Ender's Shadow
• Eye of the World, The
• Fahrenheit 451: Graphic Novel
• Fang
• FlashForward
• For The Win
• Ghosts of Ashbury High, The
• Ghosts of India- Doctor Who
• Girl At Sea
• Harrowing, The
• Heart of the Soul, The
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Hold Still
• House and Philosophy
• Hunger Games, The
• Incarceron
• Juliet, Naked
• Key To The Golden Firebird
• Last Days, The
• Let It Snow
• Leviathan
• Life, the Universe, and Everything
• Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr
• Lord of the Flies, The
• Lost Hero, The
• Lost Symbol, The
• Maze Runner, The
• Mists of Avalon, The
• Mockingbird
• Mockingjay
• My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
• Mysteries of Druidry
• Neuromancer
• Oedipus the King
• Pagan Spirituality
• Paper Mage (Half)
• Paper Towns
• Parallel Worlds
• Perks of Being a Wallflower, The
• Physics of the Impossible
• Plot Chickens, The
• Poison
• Price, The
• Princess Mia
• Ranger's Apprentice: Erak's Ransom
• Ranger's Apprentice: Halt's Peril
• Ranger's Apprentice: Kings of Clonmel
• Red Pyramid, The
• Restaurant at the End of the Universe, The
• Scarlett Fever
• Shadow of the Giant
• Shadow of the Hegemon
• Shadow Puppets
• Siddhartha
• Simply Alice
• Speaker For The Dead
• Strange Case of Origami Yoda, The
• Suite Scarlett
• Tango Makes Three, And
• Things Fall Apart
• Tombs of Atuan, The
• Twice Told
• Unseen, The
• Wiccan Beliefs and Practices
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson
• Word After Word After Word
• World According to Twitter, The
• Xenocide
• Year's Best SF 14
• Zombies vs. Unicorns

Montagey Post of New Year's Theme

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." - Neil Gaiman

I hope I do all of that stuff too, Mr. Gaiman.

This is going to be a bit of a montage post today.

First, a link to an interesting talk about goals, which I feel is appropriate for the Resolution-ing season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHopJHSlVo4

I was going to write a post about my goals for 2011, but in the light of that video (and because I found a few other things to write about instead), I won't.

Actually, I will say one thing: "My New Year's Resolution is to be more freaking awesome." That's quite possibly one of my favorite songs I've heard this year. ;)

A friend of mine emailed me a link to a site called Worldometers, which keeps track of various numbers regarding our planet.

Deaths this year: ~137,000

Deaths today: ~137,000.

Suicides today: 2418

Those are just some of them. Our world is pretty screwed up if they're that high in LESS THAN A DAY (depending on where you live). Let's view them as motivating rather than depressing, and make a commitment to do something to make them lower this year. 

Now to a more happy note.

I started 2010 eating gingerbread. 2010 was the best year of my life.

I started 2011 at my best friend's church for a multi-generational game night. Let's hope 2011 takes the title. I've tried two new foods already, and found a religion I have absolutely no issues with whatsoever, which is a first. Yes, an actual religion. Me. That's right.

The game night was amazing. I learned several new games, met some awesome people, and it truly was multi-generational. The teenagers didn't go into one corner, the parents into another, and the grandparents into a third. We all played together. Somehow I worked up the courage to sing "Ulcerative Colitis" in front of a bunch of people I'd only just met. During the White Elephant gift exchange (everyone brings a gift of questionable desirability and everyone takes one home), I got a new book and a bumper sticker that says "Who would JESUS execute?"

Highlights Of 2010

This year, instead of posting an incredibly crappy poem for New Year's, I'm going with a Top 15 (since I am myself 15) list, written in no particular order. I'm sure I left some important stuff out, though, so my bad for that.


1. I finished my first novel, The Clockwork Experiment. Querying began, and has been so far unsuccessful. However, Daphne Unfeasible (aka Kate Testerman) of KT Literary reviewed my query letter, and had good things to say about it.


2. I spent a lot more time with my old friends this year, became closer to the newer ones, and generally had a more-fulfilling social experience in general. Every other Wednesday became the highpoint of my fortnight, both because of evening writing club and because I got to spend the entire afternoon and evening with my best friend, who for the first time since we met in 3rd grade, I was not seeing every day.


3. I read a lot of fantastic books, some of my favorites of the non-rereads being Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Leviathan, Behemoth, and The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld, The Plot Chickens, and books 7, 8, and 9 of the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan.


4. I met two authors of some of my favorite books: Orson Scott Card and the aforementioned John Flanagan.


5. I got contacts and a new haircut, both of which I love, despite the fact that I'm not currently wearing the contacts. (I am allowed one purely vain thing on here, right?)


6. I was interviewed on the Office of Letters and Light's blog.


8. I was asked to include some work of mine in a publication, and will be receiving payment for it, providing I get it finished on time and everything works out according to plan.


9. My self-published anthology, Thoughts on Life became available on Amazon.


10. I took Driver's Ed (which sucked majorly), almost died several times (okay, I exaggerate) during the driving portion, but now have my permit and successfully drove somewhere today (I'm writing this on the 30th) without causing any harm other than pissing off the people behind me.


11. I've received over 4000 views on this blog since the Stat feature kicked off, and nearly a quarter of that in this month alone.


12. I was fortunate enough to attend about 5 wizard rock shows this year, which was incredibly awesome. These ranged from 7-band extravaganzas (ROFLCOPTOUR) to intimate Lord of the Rings-watching event with wrock sing-a-long-afterwards house parties. I spent a lot of money on music this year, and don't regret it. I met two of the Five Awesome Girls (Kristina and Lauren) which was, well, awesome.


13. The Quad N and "The Phantom of November" music video went pretty well. I got less views than I expected, but more views than would have been garnered if I hadn't done it. It was an enjoyable experience, and I grew as a filmographer (I don't think that's a word...). Also, I started a book reviewing YouTube channel, which while it only has 3 subscribers last time I checked, I plan to expand and make considerably better within the new year. Also, my Project For Awesome video got good reception from those who watched it.


14. I've done a lot of thinking about a wide variety of topics this year, so I now have a better idea of who I am and what I think and generally know more about myself, which boosts my self-confidence. So that's good. Yay for growing up and all of that.


15. I joined my school's Debate Team (as well as the Club, which are different), and had a fabulous and intellectually and creatively-stimulating time of it, even if my tournament scores didn't reflect my feelings on the event.


Seems pretty dang good for a girl of 15. Here's to hoping next year is even better.


If you want links to any of the other stuff, leave it in a comment and I'll put one in. Thanks for listening to me ramble, rant, and speculate here on Elf Army Writes, and I hope you'll continue to put up with me in 2011. :)
DFTBA.

Button Pushers

"We're having hot lesbian sex. And by 'lesbian sex,' we mean 'tea,' but it's still pretty hot." - my friend's Facebook's "favorite quotes." Not sure who actually said it.


Ha, I will laugh if that, which was added solely for laughs, ends up bringing in a bunch of views via Google searches. And I will know, via my beloved stat feature.


The following are the lyrics to a song I wrote based upon the first few episodes of Season 2 of Lost, because I'm a geek and do stuff like that. Happy New Year, guys. I hope this one's better than the last for you, regardless of how good this one was.

“Button Pushers”
A Song

I don’t know what happens if I don’t push it but
I can’t risk it, so yeah, I don’t get out much
I don’t know how long I’ve been here despite the tallies on the wall
I can’t leave until you come so to the button I crawl

Is it real
Is it not
Everyday I have this thought
What if it’s all in my mind?
What’s your name?
Hello, John.
Are you the Island’s pawn?
Take my place? Wow, you’re so kind

I’m a button pusher
Button pusher
Button pusher
Button pusher

4 8 15 16 23 42
Type it once every 108 minutes then I hit execute
Wake up, work out, make some breakfast, wait for alarm to sound
Monotony until I see three outsiders sneaking around

Is it real
Is it not
Everyday I have this thought
What if it’s all in my mind?
What’s your name?
Hello, John.
Are you the Island’s pawn?
Take my place? Wow, you’re so kind

I don’t know what happens if I don’t push it but
I can’t risk it, so yeah, I don’t get out much
I don’t know how long I’ve been here despite the tallies on the wall
I can’t leave until you come so to the button I crawl
To the button I crawl