"The emergence of the novel as a 'character art' very likely reflects the increase in self-consciousness that has been part of the development in our civilization." - Jerome Bruner, 1962
(Again, points if you get the reference in the title.)
So here's a snippet of what was discussed around the dinner table at our house Saturday night.
My sister was complaining that the pastor who taught her Wednesday-night class had been ranting about how stupid Jewish people are.
My mom told her that she didn't expect her to believe everything that was taught, and that she thinks you should basically find the religion that most-closely matches your beliefs, and then ignore all of the parts with which you disagree.
I take it a step further and think religion is a very, very individual thing, so big organizations with preachers shouldn't be necessary. People should read their own holy book, and figure out what they think about it. If at some point they decide to change their minds because they've realized something, they can change their minds. And I said as much.
She said that religion isn't just about the theology-- it's also about the community. Fair enough.
But that's what I love so much about the one Quaker Meeting I've been to-- the actual "religious" part is completely individual: everyone's sitting in a room together, but in total silence, doing whatever it is they feel like they should be/want to be doing for their own spiritual fulfillment. Yet they still have a community; there are activism committees and youth groups and game nights and all sorts of other things. Like-minded people get to spend time and talk with each other without squabbling over the details of the theology.
It was so cool: there was me (who for the sake of the post shall over-simplify and identify as an agnostic), people with Christian leanings, a Muslim woman, and probably a whole bunch of others who fell in-between and on both outside ends all doing our own spiritual thing in the same room together. A very diverse group, yet a huge feeling of community within that room (not to mention the community during all of the other activities I've participated in with them).
And that's what I think "organized" religion should be about.
My best friend tells me that she doesn't write any blog posts because most of what she wants to talk about is how awesome Quakers are, which isn't a Quakerly thing to do. I, despite loving all of the time spent at her Meeting, have no such inhibitions. So this is my plug.
I realize (mainly through extensive Wikipedia-ing) that other Meetings are rather different, so please bear in mind that I'm just talking about my experiences in one specific establishment.
Showing posts with label characters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label characters. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
In Which My Inner Fantasy Nerd Escapes
“We were in the business of mutual amusement, and we were reasonably prosperous.” - Paper Towns
I said I'd write a post about Bones, but then I realized there isn't really much to say about it other than that it has great characters. So then I was thinking about why I love it so much if the plots are predictable and traditional (there is a murder which is solved by the end of the episode. Pretty straightforward.) And I believe I have an answer.
I was originally thinking about this a month or so ago when watching the recording of an award ceremony for books published in 2010 with which a few of my friends were involved. Someone asked what they believed the most important element of a book was. The most common answer was "characters."
Which makes total sense, even though you expect it to be plot without really knowing why.
It's like asking "Which matters more to you: the events in your life, or the people involved?"
Well, I don't plan on getting married simply for the sake of being married. I plan on getting married because I want to spend the rest of my life with said person. And I bet the vast majority (if not all) of you feel the same.
Would you trade your best friend for a different best friend? Of course not. You don't love him/her because he/she is your best friend. He/she is your best friend because you love him/her. (either that or because he/she is your only friend, but...)
So there it is for life. And in books, it's the same. It doesn't matter how flawed the plot is (to a degree, of course) if you're spending the time with some awesome characters-- and that's the main issue with my current manuscript. The plot is alright. The world is cool. But I despise both of the protagonists.
And that's why I love Bones. The characters-- not the plot. (And it's funny.)
Now, characters taking the front seat, if you have some fantastic world in which your story is set, I will pretty much fall in love with your book. I don't mean a world in which I'd want to live, necessarily. I definitely don't want to live in Matched's society, or the London Below of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, but those worlds are so complete-- so vivid-- so real--that they carry with them an entire atmosphere around with them.
Think about it. None of the Super Bestsellers Of Sci-fi/Fantasy that I can think of made it big because of plot or characters.
Take Harry Potter. Great plot and characters, sure. But my six year-old self didn't become obsessed with it because of that. I wanted to go to Hogwarts.
Star Wars. Characters are alright. Plot is straight-forward. Why do people love it? Jedi are so freaking cool. They want to use the Force. They want to wear tunics and robes and be knights with spaceships.
Lord of the Rings certainly didn't gain popularity from being well-written or having engaging characters or a well-paced plot. Until the movies came out, it survived on the sheer comprehensiveness and novelty of Middle Earth. Elves. Dwarves. Hobbits. Wizards. Giant Demon Bad Guys in towers with legions of monsters to do their bidding.
Also Eragon, which is basically a combination of the last two: YOU GET TO RIDE A DRAGON AND DO MAGIC! Who cares if it's a rip-off? (critics and people bothered by rip-offs, of course, but you see my point.)
It doesn't matter whether or not the actual events of the stories are interesting. What matters is that the worlds are breeding grounds for daydreams.
And so you see what went on inside my head for most of middle school. I didn't spend every spare minute reading, you idiots. I spent them flying around on my dragon and killingorcs Urgals because I was a totally freaking awesome elf warrior lady person thing.
(And you think your life was cool.)
So that is why world-building is important. And now you understand all of the people at Star Trek conventions a little bit better.
If your world is such that your readers will fantasize about living in it...you're set. Because they can ignore the annoying characters and become the hero themselves. Some people do this in a healthy balance with everything else, and some do not. But that's the way it is for everything.
I said I'd write a post about Bones, but then I realized there isn't really much to say about it other than that it has great characters. So then I was thinking about why I love it so much if the plots are predictable and traditional (there is a murder which is solved by the end of the episode. Pretty straightforward.) And I believe I have an answer.
I was originally thinking about this a month or so ago when watching the recording of an award ceremony for books published in 2010 with which a few of my friends were involved. Someone asked what they believed the most important element of a book was. The most common answer was "characters."
Which makes total sense, even though you expect it to be plot without really knowing why.
It's like asking "Which matters more to you: the events in your life, or the people involved?"
Well, I don't plan on getting married simply for the sake of being married. I plan on getting married because I want to spend the rest of my life with said person. And I bet the vast majority (if not all) of you feel the same.
Would you trade your best friend for a different best friend? Of course not. You don't love him/her because he/she is your best friend. He/she is your best friend because you love him/her. (either that or because he/she is your only friend, but...)
So there it is for life. And in books, it's the same. It doesn't matter how flawed the plot is (to a degree, of course) if you're spending the time with some awesome characters-- and that's the main issue with my current manuscript. The plot is alright. The world is cool. But I despise both of the protagonists.
And that's why I love Bones. The characters-- not the plot. (And it's funny.)
Now, characters taking the front seat, if you have some fantastic world in which your story is set, I will pretty much fall in love with your book. I don't mean a world in which I'd want to live, necessarily. I definitely don't want to live in Matched's society, or the London Below of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, but those worlds are so complete-- so vivid-- so real--that they carry with them an entire atmosphere around with them.
Think about it. None of the Super Bestsellers Of Sci-fi/Fantasy that I can think of made it big because of plot or characters.
Take Harry Potter. Great plot and characters, sure. But my six year-old self didn't become obsessed with it because of that. I wanted to go to Hogwarts.
Star Wars. Characters are alright. Plot is straight-forward. Why do people love it? Jedi are so freaking cool. They want to use the Force. They want to wear tunics and robes and be knights with spaceships.
Lord of the Rings certainly didn't gain popularity from being well-written or having engaging characters or a well-paced plot. Until the movies came out, it survived on the sheer comprehensiveness and novelty of Middle Earth. Elves. Dwarves. Hobbits. Wizards. Giant Demon Bad Guys in towers with legions of monsters to do their bidding.
Also Eragon, which is basically a combination of the last two: YOU GET TO RIDE A DRAGON AND DO MAGIC! Who cares if it's a rip-off? (critics and people bothered by rip-offs, of course, but you see my point.)
It doesn't matter whether or not the actual events of the stories are interesting. What matters is that the worlds are breeding grounds for daydreams.
And so you see what went on inside my head for most of middle school. I didn't spend every spare minute reading, you idiots. I spent them flying around on my dragon and killing
(And you think your life was cool.)
So that is why world-building is important. And now you understand all of the people at Star Trek conventions a little bit better.
If your world is such that your readers will fantasize about living in it...you're set. Because they can ignore the annoying characters and become the hero themselves. Some people do this in a healthy balance with everything else, and some do not. But that's the way it is for everything.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Guy With The Coconuts
So my youngest sister and I were filming some stuff today that won't be online until early October. We walked up the street to a pavilion thing that we wanted to take some footage at.
On our way there, Sarah (who was carrying the tripod and the camera, although I'd offered) said "I'm kind of like your guy with the coconuts." I laughed, but it was true enough.
Later, she said "No one thinks much about the guy with the coconuts. Except that it's actually kind of a fun job."
I found this immensely interesting. It's true enough. The main characters in stories are always the heroes. The people interviewed by the news people are always the "heroes," or Big Important People. So much attention is turned toward the BIPs, that the sidekicks (the guys with the coconuts, so to speak) get overlooked.
Like Ezra suggested about Paige in Ascension (that she shouldn't be the person who takes down the Officiator and their general society), sometimes its more interesting to view things from the sidelines. Hindsight is 20/20 (usually), yes, but is being a fly on the wall not also similar? Sure, you can't see all of the motivation and the hidden information, but there's a certain level of insight that comes from being removed from the situation.
Besides, where would Harry be without Ron and Hermione? Sure, they do a heck of a lot more than carrying Harry's baggage, but they're still sidekicks. These guys are important, and sometimes they don't get enough love from the authors.
Even though Paige isn't going to be a sidekick. She's a die-hard citizen of Mt. Nirvana. She's completely dedicated to what they do.
Then there's Colin, who very well could be the main character, except I find Reymfla more interesting, plus it started out from her perspective before I knew Colin very well.
The thing we were filming is rather cheesy, but also rather good. It's not a skit/movie trailer like I've done in the past. We sort of invented a talk show, except it's a joke, except we're serious. You'll see when I upload it. We even have a special theme song (although I need to design a cool opening title video sequence. Any ideas on what program I should use?).
It's difficult to write a blog post while listening to John Green add the words "In Your Pants" to the ends of book titles. It's also hard when Hank starts singing "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone (From Your Pants)." Oh, the early episodes of Brotherhood 2.0, how I've missed you. So much singing went on back then, and they were so awkward, but I loved them. (I recently found a zip file of segments of 50 of their first year of videos and have them playing in the background.)
"George W. Bush is so incompetent that he failed to to poop IN my pants, although he managed to poop NEAR my pants and then later stated that he had never intended to poop in my pants and that no one in his administration had EVER talked about pooping in ANYONE'S pants. After seeing his poop, I can report that it looks EXACTLY like bull shit. (To camera) Wow, those guys must be selling the President's war plan." - John Green in his short story "Everyone Poops In My Pants, by Hank Green"
On our way there, Sarah (who was carrying the tripod and the camera, although I'd offered) said "I'm kind of like your guy with the coconuts." I laughed, but it was true enough.
Later, she said "No one thinks much about the guy with the coconuts. Except that it's actually kind of a fun job."
I found this immensely interesting. It's true enough. The main characters in stories are always the heroes. The people interviewed by the news people are always the "heroes," or Big Important People. So much attention is turned toward the BIPs, that the sidekicks (the guys with the coconuts, so to speak) get overlooked.
Like Ezra suggested about Paige in Ascension (that she shouldn't be the person who takes down the Officiator and their general society), sometimes its more interesting to view things from the sidelines. Hindsight is 20/20 (usually), yes, but is being a fly on the wall not also similar? Sure, you can't see all of the motivation and the hidden information, but there's a certain level of insight that comes from being removed from the situation.
Besides, where would Harry be without Ron and Hermione? Sure, they do a heck of a lot more than carrying Harry's baggage, but they're still sidekicks. These guys are important, and sometimes they don't get enough love from the authors.
Even though Paige isn't going to be a sidekick. She's a die-hard citizen of Mt. Nirvana. She's completely dedicated to what they do.
Then there's Colin, who very well could be the main character, except I find Reymfla more interesting, plus it started out from her perspective before I knew Colin very well.
The thing we were filming is rather cheesy, but also rather good. It's not a skit/movie trailer like I've done in the past. We sort of invented a talk show, except it's a joke, except we're serious. You'll see when I upload it. We even have a special theme song (although I need to design a cool opening title video sequence. Any ideas on what program I should use?).
It's difficult to write a blog post while listening to John Green add the words "In Your Pants" to the ends of book titles. It's also hard when Hank starts singing "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone (From Your Pants)." Oh, the early episodes of Brotherhood 2.0, how I've missed you. So much singing went on back then, and they were so awkward, but I loved them. (I recently found a zip file of segments of 50 of their first year of videos and have them playing in the background.)
"George W. Bush is so incompetent that he failed to to poop IN my pants, although he managed to poop NEAR my pants and then later stated that he had never intended to poop in my pants and that no one in his administration had EVER talked about pooping in ANYONE'S pants. After seeing his poop, I can report that it looks EXACTLY like bull shit. (To camera) Wow, those guys must be selling the President's war plan." - John Green in his short story "Everyone Poops In My Pants, by Hank Green"
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
In Which I Get Very Philosophical
Do you ever say "No one cares" or "What are you talking about? Everyone loves (chocolate/bacon/cheesecake/other food here)"? Or something of that sort?
I do. All the time. I'll probably do it within this post accidentally. (I almost just typed "everyone does," but then I caught myself).
Most people do.
Of course, there are exceptions to everyone liking bacon, and no one caring. In fact, whenever I say that, usually there are people who care quite a lot.
But the point is: why do we do that? Don't we move past that stage at some point in our childhood? I am of course referring to the stage where we are the only "real" thing in the universe. "I can't see them, so they can't see me." The stage where we only write stories in which the main character is ourselves. Now don't get me wrong. I quite often have stories in which my main characters are similar to me. But at least now I (we) try to distance ourselves from them. We give them different names, for one thing. We invent characters for them to be friends with that don't actually exist. But at the same time, they are our mirrors, to a point. Fun house mirrors, that distort us enough that we can ignore the fact that we're looking at ourselves. I am, of course, referring only to myself, and using "we" because I'm the only real person in the universe. Sorry. You are all fake. :)
But maybe you identify with what I'm saying.
But enough about characters. I don't want to talk about them. I want to talk about people.
Quote: "Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."
I know you guys are real. And you know I'm real (well, I hope you do). Theoretically. But saying statements like those at the beginning is proof that we don't. Not really. This is why we're surprised by people's actions. We forget to imagine them as complex human beings like ourselves, instead of simple robots following simple programs. That should really be a theme in Clockwork, actually. Robots would make a good metaphor for something like that. (I hate when I get good ideas like that that require enormous amounts of editing to integrate).
So what if I propose this:
The goal of the individual is to, over the course of life, come to understand others as independent like-beings, as opposed extensions of the self, and to love them anyway.
Why do we get mad when people don't give us/let us do what we want? Is it because we can't understand why that person doesn't want us to have it? They are us, after all.
This post is going in a very different direction than what I originally intended.
Do we get angry only when we are confronted with the fact that someone is not us?
I was watching Furturama, and Bender got a sex-change to be a FemBot in order to win gold medals. A celebrity robot fell in love with him/her, and kept saying how he/she "understood the male mind." Did he love him/her so much because he was a mind he could understand in a female body? Do we really only love ourselves (at first, anyway)?
So is learning to unconditionally love someone different from you a sign of maturation? Or is it perfectly fine to love someone who happens to be rather similar to yourself? I happen to lean toward the second, but maybe the first is true as well. That's why I'm asking.
My, I'm being philosophical today. I even tackled "the meaning of life." Worship me in all of my glory, for I am the only True Being in this universe, and you are all reflections of Me. So love Me, for how can you not? You are of Me. MUHAHAHAHAHA. That sounded like an attack on Christianity. Sorry if I offended anyone. I didn't mean for it to be that way. Yet I don't erase it. Why? Because maybe I did mean it. It's hard to know.
Oh, and what if someone hates themselves? What then? Does hating the world really just mean you hate yourself?
I mean, this is the main reason my mom gets mad at me. I refuse to "be her" in a given situation, and so get in trouble. So when we talk about whether or not we want a clone, and I say "no, I don't want a clone," maybe I do want a clone. But then again, if there was another me, we'd have to compete for copyrights, and who has to do what, and role in society/family, and romance (because we'd naturally fall in love with the same person, since we'd be the same person)...so maybe I don't want a clone. **such a quandry**
I'm going to go to bed now, like I should have awhile ago.
I do. All the time. I'll probably do it within this post accidentally. (I almost just typed "everyone does," but then I caught myself).
Most people do.
Of course, there are exceptions to everyone liking bacon, and no one caring. In fact, whenever I say that, usually there are people who care quite a lot.
But the point is: why do we do that? Don't we move past that stage at some point in our childhood? I am of course referring to the stage where we are the only "real" thing in the universe. "I can't see them, so they can't see me." The stage where we only write stories in which the main character is ourselves. Now don't get me wrong. I quite often have stories in which my main characters are similar to me. But at least now I (we) try to distance ourselves from them. We give them different names, for one thing. We invent characters for them to be friends with that don't actually exist. But at the same time, they are our mirrors, to a point. Fun house mirrors, that distort us enough that we can ignore the fact that we're looking at ourselves. I am, of course, referring only to myself, and using "we" because I'm the only real person in the universe. Sorry. You are all fake. :)
But maybe you identify with what I'm saying.
But enough about characters. I don't want to talk about them. I want to talk about people.
Quote: "Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."
I know you guys are real. And you know I'm real (well, I hope you do). Theoretically. But saying statements like those at the beginning is proof that we don't. Not really. This is why we're surprised by people's actions. We forget to imagine them as complex human beings like ourselves, instead of simple robots following simple programs. That should really be a theme in Clockwork, actually. Robots would make a good metaphor for something like that. (I hate when I get good ideas like that that require enormous amounts of editing to integrate).
So what if I propose this:
The goal of the individual is to, over the course of life, come to understand others as independent like-beings, as opposed extensions of the self, and to love them anyway.
Why do we get mad when people don't give us/let us do what we want? Is it because we can't understand why that person doesn't want us to have it? They are us, after all.
This post is going in a very different direction than what I originally intended.
Do we get angry only when we are confronted with the fact that someone is not us?
I was watching Furturama, and Bender got a sex-change to be a FemBot in order to win gold medals. A celebrity robot fell in love with him/her, and kept saying how he/she "understood the male mind." Did he love him/her so much because he was a mind he could understand in a female body? Do we really only love ourselves (at first, anyway)?
So is learning to unconditionally love someone different from you a sign of maturation? Or is it perfectly fine to love someone who happens to be rather similar to yourself? I happen to lean toward the second, but maybe the first is true as well. That's why I'm asking.
My, I'm being philosophical today. I even tackled "the meaning of life." Worship me in all of my glory, for I am the only True Being in this universe, and you are all reflections of Me. So love Me, for how can you not? You are of Me. MUHAHAHAHAHA. That sounded like an attack on Christianity. Sorry if I offended anyone. I didn't mean for it to be that way. Yet I don't erase it. Why? Because maybe I did mean it. It's hard to know.
Oh, and what if someone hates themselves? What then? Does hating the world really just mean you hate yourself?
I mean, this is the main reason my mom gets mad at me. I refuse to "be her" in a given situation, and so get in trouble. So when we talk about whether or not we want a clone, and I say "no, I don't want a clone," maybe I do want a clone. But then again, if there was another me, we'd have to compete for copyrights, and who has to do what, and role in society/family, and romance (because we'd naturally fall in love with the same person, since we'd be the same person)...so maybe I don't want a clone. **such a quandry**
I'm going to go to bed now, like I should have awhile ago.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
1/50 Characters
Considering this character spawned from part of our conversation last meeting, I thought I'd share him with you:
Max Kerbrem
A small community acting group, specializing in under-ten-actor plays, meets for their rehearsal of a slightly adapted version of Othello. Before they begin, they stand around chatting for a few minutes. It becomes apparent that every member of the group knows the same person, James Southropin, but none of them knew the others knew him. Max Cerbrem is astonished. “Why is it that everyone I know knows each other?”
Maybe that’s true for the acting group, but Max is known for his astonishing ability to find connections between the most estranged of things. He loves suspense and mystery films, often figuring out the plot/crime before the protagonist does, as well as watching tennis on TV. This year’s Australian Open is coming to a close, and Max is supporting Andy Murray. During the epic match between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, Max was rooting for Roger and felt horrible afterwards, so now he always hopes the lesser-known player will become the champion.
Max, a jingoist with a bit of a goatee, is fairly active politically as he has a relatively well-known radio show. The 31-year-old’s “friends,” led by Southropin, are secretly plotting to kill him as part of creating one global country. They know he’s a threat to their plans, which is why they have come together around him in order to eliminate his existence.
Sorry, Zach Dickerson, for making you into a murderer.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Butt In Chair Day
Today was a Butt In Chair Day. I worked on my 50 characters for about an hour. I should be typing all of that up right now. Obviously, I'm not. I'll do that after dinner or something.
I've been taking characters from Clockwork, When The Sun Was In Your Hair, The Family Business, as well as some abandoned projects. I've also been creating new ones, of course.
And wow, has this assignment evolved The Family Business. I've worked out a good deal more stuff about the characters you know about, added several more (Bubos Puth being the most hilarious of them), and decided some things about the world Jake and co. live in. I might have to bring some of the descriptions next meeting just so you guys can have the information. Clockwork combined with Homework (that was a joke) will likely be keeping me too busy to work on much else. I also have to work in some time for me to do nothing more than play solitaire and watch YouTube videos (yeah, lazy me. Too bad.).
I haven't actually written the ones for Clockwork yet, so no astonishing things about that, but I did figure out some more motivations regarding the robots on the way home last night. No, they are not all going to be robots, by the way. You will just have to wait and see.
When The Sun Was In Your Hair, in case you don't know (which you probably don't), is what I worked on for the latter half of 8th grade. At the time, I intended it to one day be a published novel, but now I realize that it's pretty crappy stuff I don't want anyone to ever read ever (yet more people [just 2] have read it than have read the entirety of any of my other longer works). It sits sadly at around 52,000 words, abandoned. Looking back, I see that it was actually my form of self-psychotherapy. I needed to work through issues in my life and tell someone some things about me. Now I've either evolved out of those issues or have come to terms with them. I don't need Sun anymore. The characters are there (a version of one of them turned up later in 2009, oddly enough), and I'm using them for the assignment, but that's all the use it will give me, I believe, without so much editing that it would probably end up being an entirely different book.
We're in the computer lab for some of tomorrow typing up some of the character stuff, and then Monday and Tuesday will also be Butt In Chair days. 1.5 hours a day in which I can write with little relent while listening to my iPod if I so choose (which I didn't until I got to Evendara Diabbla, since I didn't have appropriate music for any of the other ones).
And my teacher for that class has such a bias towards us. The other classes (he teaches AP and Standard English 12) aren't allowed their iPods, gum, food, or a few other things we get. Ah, the unexpected perks of being a writer. :D
I've been taking characters from Clockwork, When The Sun Was In Your Hair, The Family Business, as well as some abandoned projects. I've also been creating new ones, of course.
And wow, has this assignment evolved The Family Business. I've worked out a good deal more stuff about the characters you know about, added several more (Bubos Puth being the most hilarious of them), and decided some things about the world Jake and co. live in. I might have to bring some of the descriptions next meeting just so you guys can have the information. Clockwork combined with Homework (that was a joke) will likely be keeping me too busy to work on much else. I also have to work in some time for me to do nothing more than play solitaire and watch YouTube videos (yeah, lazy me. Too bad.).
I haven't actually written the ones for Clockwork yet, so no astonishing things about that, but I did figure out some more motivations regarding the robots on the way home last night. No, they are not all going to be robots, by the way. You will just have to wait and see.
When The Sun Was In Your Hair, in case you don't know (which you probably don't), is what I worked on for the latter half of 8th grade. At the time, I intended it to one day be a published novel, but now I realize that it's pretty crappy stuff I don't want anyone to ever read ever (yet more people [just 2] have read it than have read the entirety of any of my other longer works). It sits sadly at around 52,000 words, abandoned. Looking back, I see that it was actually my form of self-psychotherapy. I needed to work through issues in my life and tell someone some things about me. Now I've either evolved out of those issues or have come to terms with them. I don't need Sun anymore. The characters are there (a version of one of them turned up later in 2009, oddly enough), and I'm using them for the assignment, but that's all the use it will give me, I believe, without so much editing that it would probably end up being an entirely different book.
We're in the computer lab for some of tomorrow typing up some of the character stuff, and then Monday and Tuesday will also be Butt In Chair days. 1.5 hours a day in which I can write with little relent while listening to my iPod if I so choose (which I didn't until I got to Evendara Diabbla, since I didn't have appropriate music for any of the other ones).
And my teacher for that class has such a bias towards us. The other classes (he teaches AP and Standard English 12) aren't allowed their iPods, gum, food, or a few other things we get. Ah, the unexpected perks of being a writer. :D
State of the Union Address- January 2010
I usually leave the political stuff to The Liberal Rocker. They're more interested in it than I am, are more knowledgeable about it than I am, understand it better than I do, and actually intended to talk about it when he created the blog. However, in the light of last night's State of the Union Address, I'm going to write a bit about it too.
Two things before I start in on the notes I took during the speech: Did anyone else notice the Gryffindor tie Obama was wearing? Not blue for democrat. SCARLET AND GOLD STRIPED.
Also: This is the first presidential speech I have listened to other than Obama's inauguration speech. I enjoy listening to him talk, plus this is the first State of the Union Address I have been deemed old enough to stay up and watch it.
Onward. All quotes are approximate.
"...Building cars... " Um, cars aren't the greatest things for our planet at the moment. I know our country is set up to use them, but that really isn't the greatest idea.
Comparing the bank bailout to a root canal: Great comparison.
It was amusing to watch the republicans applaud some things, and the democrats others. While observing the audience, I also spotted a man picking his nose, and a man in a brown coat who definitely looked like he was texting someone. We couldn't tell because a chair blocked our view.
"Yeah, I thought I'd get some applause for that." Ha. You succeeded in making me laugh.
"infrastructure of tomorrow" - If we're going to be making the infrastructure of tomorrow, why do we need to be building cars?
"... creating clean energy, clean energy products, jobs..." Again with the cars.
"...making sure jobs stay within our borders" What, are you afraid we're all going to move to Europe? Or Cananda? Well, I do know several people who might want to move to one of those places (granted, one moved here from Canada when he was in 1st grade). Note that nearly everyone gave a standing ovation to that statement.
Referring to the last decade as "The Lost Decade" because job growth was slow and we plunged into debt fighting to wars against people who were using our own weapons against us (that last bit is from Chaney, not Obama). - that was amusing.
"how long should we wait?" An excellent question.
He began talking about how we need to build more nuclear power plants, and lots of people clapped, but I couldn't tell who was clapping. I thought nuclear power plants were bad for the planet but good for electricity. Am I wrong? Are they "green"?
About global warming, he mentions the "overwhelming amount of evidence" supporting it (and the Democrats applaud and cheer), but then picks up the Republicans too by turning it into a competition whether or not they believe the evidence.
Skip forward in the notes to something related to the above paragraph. They tell us in school that school is nothing like the real world. Based on my observations on what Obama said throughout the speech and the people in the room listening, they are wrong. There were people texting, as I mentioned, people muttering to each other and clearly making fun of the speaker, people terribly exuberant, people being petty, and the mob effect going on. I mean, all this business between the two political parties is so much like the business between any two groups of people in a middle or high school (and probably college too, but I wouldn't know). There's fighting. There's the "trying to make the other group have more embarrassing headlines written about them." There's the people setting themselves against others just because of what group they're affiliated with. Sorry, teachers. Real life is a macrocosm of school with less knowledge, more weight and importance, and less equality.
School is required to be nondiscrimatory. Life outside? Not so much. We are being run by a bunch of people who never really got over their teen years. Why? Because the things associated with being a teenager aren't exclusive to that age group. They just climax and become the most visible then. When we're little, do we try to exact revenge on our siblings? Do we try to manipulate our parents into giving us an extra cookie or hour at the playground? Do we cry when we lose and want to pulverize the victor? Adults are the same. They just tend to have less visible and more complex ways of going about it, and the nouns are different.
Back to chronological order.
My mom commented that she "loves the way Obama looks at [Mrs. Obama], like he really, really loves her." That's nice.
He began talking about the budget and tax cuts and how there have been no tax increases. Don't we need tax increases to pay off all the money we owe to China and other countries? They're not going to sit still forever. There's a reason I recently wrote in a U.S. vs. China war in the relatively near future in one of my character descriptions (Space Commander Jezlak).
Somewhat early on in the speech, Obama mentioned that there needs to be no economic expansion. We need to save what we already have. Later, he says something about "finding new markets."
He places emphasis on educating the common person in math and science. Yay and all that, but what about English (and language in general)? I like math and science, I think they're extremely important and fascinating (I just don't want to do them professionally). But what about the person or people who wrote this speech you're giving us, Obama? What about the programmers (yes, programming is still languages) who keep the computers we depend on running and give us all of these great websites (and the Internet itself), programs, Apps, and stuff? What about all of the other important stuff English (or other languages) give us? What about reading and writing? You should have included Language Arts (there we go) in there too.
While he was talking about healthcare, there was a moment when Joe Biden and the other lady literally were talking behind his back. I had to laugh. I wonder what they were saying...
Did I mention those yellow shirts? There were people in red, blue, and purple, but what was up with all of the bright yellow? What does that represent?
"let's try common sense-- a novel concept" HA. My English teacher last semester would have definitely taken points off for something that cheeky. (is cheeky the right word?)
Much amusement when Obama mentions something about "gay people being allowed to serve in the millitary openly" and the cameras zoom in on the military guys who sit there solemnly while Democrats clap frantically in the background. I know they're supposed to look serious, but that was funny.
Last but not least: I love that he reads letters from people each night. It makes me want to write to him. The boy who sent him his allowance asking for it to be given to the people of Haiti was especially adorable.
Now I'm going to write another post that's back on topic.
Two things before I start in on the notes I took during the speech: Did anyone else notice the Gryffindor tie Obama was wearing? Not blue for democrat. SCARLET AND GOLD STRIPED.
Also: This is the first presidential speech I have listened to other than Obama's inauguration speech. I enjoy listening to him talk, plus this is the first State of the Union Address I have been deemed old enough to stay up and watch it.
Onward. All quotes are approximate.
"...Building cars... " Um, cars aren't the greatest things for our planet at the moment. I know our country is set up to use them, but that really isn't the greatest idea.
Comparing the bank bailout to a root canal: Great comparison.
It was amusing to watch the republicans applaud some things, and the democrats others. While observing the audience, I also spotted a man picking his nose, and a man in a brown coat who definitely looked like he was texting someone. We couldn't tell because a chair blocked our view.
"Yeah, I thought I'd get some applause for that." Ha. You succeeded in making me laugh.
"infrastructure of tomorrow" - If we're going to be making the infrastructure of tomorrow, why do we need to be building cars?
"... creating clean energy, clean energy products, jobs..." Again with the cars.
"...making sure jobs stay within our borders" What, are you afraid we're all going to move to Europe? Or Cananda? Well, I do know several people who might want to move to one of those places (granted, one moved here from Canada when he was in 1st grade). Note that nearly everyone gave a standing ovation to that statement.
Referring to the last decade as "The Lost Decade" because job growth was slow and we plunged into debt fighting to wars against people who were using our own weapons against us (that last bit is from Chaney, not Obama). - that was amusing.
"how long should we wait?" An excellent question.
He began talking about how we need to build more nuclear power plants, and lots of people clapped, but I couldn't tell who was clapping. I thought nuclear power plants were bad for the planet but good for electricity. Am I wrong? Are they "green"?
About global warming, he mentions the "overwhelming amount of evidence" supporting it (and the Democrats applaud and cheer), but then picks up the Republicans too by turning it into a competition whether or not they believe the evidence.
Skip forward in the notes to something related to the above paragraph. They tell us in school that school is nothing like the real world. Based on my observations on what Obama said throughout the speech and the people in the room listening, they are wrong. There were people texting, as I mentioned, people muttering to each other and clearly making fun of the speaker, people terribly exuberant, people being petty, and the mob effect going on. I mean, all this business between the two political parties is so much like the business between any two groups of people in a middle or high school (and probably college too, but I wouldn't know). There's fighting. There's the "trying to make the other group have more embarrassing headlines written about them." There's the people setting themselves against others just because of what group they're affiliated with. Sorry, teachers. Real life is a macrocosm of school with less knowledge, more weight and importance, and less equality.
School is required to be nondiscrimatory. Life outside? Not so much. We are being run by a bunch of people who never really got over their teen years. Why? Because the things associated with being a teenager aren't exclusive to that age group. They just climax and become the most visible then. When we're little, do we try to exact revenge on our siblings? Do we try to manipulate our parents into giving us an extra cookie or hour at the playground? Do we cry when we lose and want to pulverize the victor? Adults are the same. They just tend to have less visible and more complex ways of going about it, and the nouns are different.
Back to chronological order.
My mom commented that she "loves the way Obama looks at [Mrs. Obama], like he really, really loves her." That's nice.
He began talking about the budget and tax cuts and how there have been no tax increases. Don't we need tax increases to pay off all the money we owe to China and other countries? They're not going to sit still forever. There's a reason I recently wrote in a U.S. vs. China war in the relatively near future in one of my character descriptions (Space Commander Jezlak).
Somewhat early on in the speech, Obama mentioned that there needs to be no economic expansion. We need to save what we already have. Later, he says something about "finding new markets."
He places emphasis on educating the common person in math and science. Yay and all that, but what about English (and language in general)? I like math and science, I think they're extremely important and fascinating (I just don't want to do them professionally). But what about the person or people who wrote this speech you're giving us, Obama? What about the programmers (yes, programming is still languages) who keep the computers we depend on running and give us all of these great websites (and the Internet itself), programs, Apps, and stuff? What about all of the other important stuff English (or other languages) give us? What about reading and writing? You should have included Language Arts (there we go) in there too.
While he was talking about healthcare, there was a moment when Joe Biden and the other lady literally were talking behind his back. I had to laugh. I wonder what they were saying...
Did I mention those yellow shirts? There were people in red, blue, and purple, but what was up with all of the bright yellow? What does that represent?
"let's try common sense-- a novel concept" HA. My English teacher last semester would have definitely taken points off for something that cheeky. (is cheeky the right word?)
Much amusement when Obama mentions something about "gay people being allowed to serve in the millitary openly" and the cameras zoom in on the military guys who sit there solemnly while Democrats clap frantically in the background. I know they're supposed to look serious, but that was funny.
Last but not least: I love that he reads letters from people each night. It makes me want to write to him. The boy who sent him his allowance asking for it to be given to the people of Haiti was especially adorable.
Now I'm going to write another post that's back on topic.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Character of an Assignment
Ah, cheesy post titles. At least you sound mildly interesting.
We spent most of Creative Writing today reading each other our character profiles/paragraphs. Many were interesting, many were depressing, and many were about a hitman-priest.
Our homework was all of the above, with the priest being optional. We have to write 47 more character profiles for 47 more characters. An interesting assignment, a depressingly large assignment, and an assignment to possibly include a hitman-priest.
I'm thinking of doing some of them on characters I already have. My teacher won't know, and this could really be helpful to me. That's the point, right? To improve my writing?
So far I've completed 5/50 (including the 3 already done for homework last night), and am working on another one. Two of them (Anthony and Alfred Zuckermangut) are brothers, and I might do one about Mrs. Paula Urga-Torie's husband Robert.
This has proven to be a difficult yet enjoyable thing to do.
Crap, I need to go to my math homework. I completely forgot about that. Grrr.
We spent most of Creative Writing today reading each other our character profiles/paragraphs. Many were interesting, many were depressing, and many were about a hitman-priest.
Our homework was all of the above, with the priest being optional. We have to write 47 more character profiles for 47 more characters. An interesting assignment, a depressingly large assignment, and an assignment to possibly include a hitman-priest.
I'm thinking of doing some of them on characters I already have. My teacher won't know, and this could really be helpful to me. That's the point, right? To improve my writing?
So far I've completed 5/50 (including the 3 already done for homework last night), and am working on another one. Two of them (Anthony and Alfred Zuckermangut) are brothers, and I might do one about Mrs. Paula Urga-Torie's husband Robert.
This has proven to be a difficult yet enjoyable thing to do.
Crap, I need to go to my math homework. I completely forgot about that. Grrr.
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