I'm adding one final smaller post. I know she doesn't read this because she doesn't usually go on the Internet, but today is my mom's birthday, and I'd just like to share with the world what an awesome individual she is. She's currently hobbling around with a sprained ankle, taking care of my father and his herniated disc, and my sister and her mono. Despite the fact that everyone except my brother is or recently has been injured or ill (I just got over the flu, remember), she is still charmingly cheerful and wonderfully supportive.
Mom, I know we've had our differences over the years, but I just want you - and the whole Internet - to know that I love you, and you're great. I'm glad and proud to be your daughter.
Friday, November 12, 2010
No Need for Lee
This one actually is going to be short (I swear, I really do!) because I don't have much to say on the subject. Brian Cashman, of the New York Yankees, is mouthing off that the team doesn't need pitching ace Cliff Lee.
Really? Because the Yankee bullpen was absolutely awesome this year when they lost to the Rangers and Lee, weren't they?
Okay, let's get to the facts: the Yankees, with or without Lee, are a great team. If they have the good sense to resign Rivera and Jeter - and they'd better, because I may well stop watching if either of them leave - then they've got a solid base. Even with Posada as DH instead of catcher, they've still got Texeira, Cano, and A-Rod. Not much trumps that trio on the bases.
But where the Yankees faltered this year, and where they are set to continue faltering, is in their starting pitcher rotation. Sabathia's having surgery, A.J. Burnett is not living up to his reputation by a long shot, and Andy Pettitte isn't getting any younger. Even Phil Hughes didn't pass muster when faced with the Rangers' squad of tough young hitters. If the Yankees are to deal with them, with Tampa Bay, with the Red Sox (assuming that they don't fade back into the obscurity of the 84 years between championships), they're going to have to have some pitchers who can deal with those strong hitters.
Now, there are other free-agent pitchers, and Lee did fall apart on the mound against the Giants, but there's still one more compelling reason not to let another team get him: simply, you don't want one of the major Yankee rivals to have him. The Yankees have proven, two years in a row, that even their best hitters can not get the better of him. When it comes down to it, Lee is as good for self-defense as he is for offense.
Do us fans a favor, guys. Don't let a golden opportunity like this slip away.
Really? Because the Yankee bullpen was absolutely awesome this year when they lost to the Rangers and Lee, weren't they?
Okay, let's get to the facts: the Yankees, with or without Lee, are a great team. If they have the good sense to resign Rivera and Jeter - and they'd better, because I may well stop watching if either of them leave - then they've got a solid base. Even with Posada as DH instead of catcher, they've still got Texeira, Cano, and A-Rod. Not much trumps that trio on the bases.
But where the Yankees faltered this year, and where they are set to continue faltering, is in their starting pitcher rotation. Sabathia's having surgery, A.J. Burnett is not living up to his reputation by a long shot, and Andy Pettitte isn't getting any younger. Even Phil Hughes didn't pass muster when faced with the Rangers' squad of tough young hitters. If the Yankees are to deal with them, with Tampa Bay, with the Red Sox (assuming that they don't fade back into the obscurity of the 84 years between championships), they're going to have to have some pitchers who can deal with those strong hitters.
Now, there are other free-agent pitchers, and Lee did fall apart on the mound against the Giants, but there's still one more compelling reason not to let another team get him: simply, you don't want one of the major Yankee rivals to have him. The Yankees have proven, two years in a row, that even their best hitters can not get the better of him. When it comes down to it, Lee is as good for self-defense as he is for offense.
Do us fans a favor, guys. Don't let a golden opportunity like this slip away.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Video Games vs. the (Possibly Insane) State of California
This post is going to be brief, as I've been down with something that's either the flu or strep throat for the last few days, but I felt I had to say something with regard to the current case before the Supreme Court: the state of California's move to push a ban on the sale of violent video games to minors.
To start, this is California, right? The state that was actually voting to legalize marijuana? The state whose governor was the poster boy for violent and occasionally graphically explicit movies like Terminator and Total Recall? Arnold, I'm quite upset by this. I'm aware that your state is hurting for money, but this is a ridiculous way to get it. Trying to push the Supreme Court to violate the First Amendment is not going to help.
Having read the full transcript of the trial, I must say I was surprised by two things initially: the intelligence and informed nature of the Court themselves, and the complete incompetence by lawyers on both sides. Honestly, I could have come up with more convincing cases than theirs! The case mentions minors specifically, and contends that minors should be protected from violent or sexual speech.
I have a question: how does the First Amendment, which regulates written or articulated speech, prevent minors from accessing pornographic material, but not romance novels? I bought them all the time when I was as young as 13 and never got so much as a glance from book vendors. So how, now, can we argue that the First Amendment is supposed to deal with narrative, and then argue that the same should be used on non-narrative materials such as images or videos but not on books?
Another point - the lawyer makes the intimation that only games whose plot is non-existent or trivial should be considered, or that (because he doubled-back on himself to a point) the commission regulating the censorship could choose to consider games where they disliked or disregarded the plot. Justice Kagan asked him whether Mortal Kombat would be considered. He admitted to knowing absolutely nothing about the game. He seemed to be basing his entire argument on the game Postal 2, which, while certainly gratuitously violent, does in fact have a plot, and claims to be a satire of that which it represents.
When we start saying that we're going to limit manufacturers to producing only content that satisfies a random set of standards set by people who aren't even involved in the industry, we're breaking the rules the Constitution set down. Our laws weren't meant to be arbitrary, or subject to change because someone needs money for their state, or because someone else is offended by content which, 9 times out of 10, is being regulated by the parents' and the video games' own rating industry.
I'll start believing this country is staying true to itself when they start preventing parents from having guns in homes with children in them, not when they start regulating video games. No one ever killed anyone else with a game.
To start, this is California, right? The state that was actually voting to legalize marijuana? The state whose governor was the poster boy for violent and occasionally graphically explicit movies like Terminator and Total Recall? Arnold, I'm quite upset by this. I'm aware that your state is hurting for money, but this is a ridiculous way to get it. Trying to push the Supreme Court to violate the First Amendment is not going to help.
Having read the full transcript of the trial, I must say I was surprised by two things initially: the intelligence and informed nature of the Court themselves, and the complete incompetence by lawyers on both sides. Honestly, I could have come up with more convincing cases than theirs! The case mentions minors specifically, and contends that minors should be protected from violent or sexual speech.
I have a question: how does the First Amendment, which regulates written or articulated speech, prevent minors from accessing pornographic material, but not romance novels? I bought them all the time when I was as young as 13 and never got so much as a glance from book vendors. So how, now, can we argue that the First Amendment is supposed to deal with narrative, and then argue that the same should be used on non-narrative materials such as images or videos but not on books?
Another point - the lawyer makes the intimation that only games whose plot is non-existent or trivial should be considered, or that (because he doubled-back on himself to a point) the commission regulating the censorship could choose to consider games where they disliked or disregarded the plot. Justice Kagan asked him whether Mortal Kombat would be considered. He admitted to knowing absolutely nothing about the game. He seemed to be basing his entire argument on the game Postal 2, which, while certainly gratuitously violent, does in fact have a plot, and claims to be a satire of that which it represents.
When we start saying that we're going to limit manufacturers to producing only content that satisfies a random set of standards set by people who aren't even involved in the industry, we're breaking the rules the Constitution set down. Our laws weren't meant to be arbitrary, or subject to change because someone needs money for their state, or because someone else is offended by content which, 9 times out of 10, is being regulated by the parents' and the video games' own rating industry.
I'll start believing this country is staying true to itself when they start preventing parents from having guns in homes with children in them, not when they start regulating video games. No one ever killed anyone else with a game.
Monday, October 25, 2010
News of Almost-November
November is less than a week away. This fact scares me on an annual basis. As a spring chicken, it means the end of comfort, and the start of a long season of colds, stomach viruses, and misery. It also means having to dig my car out of the snow, and then drive through more of it to get wherever I'm going.
As a rule, I try not to think about it, so here's something a little more light-hearted: about three years ago, I read an article about a teen who had a real problem. She could not, no matter what she tried, stop hiccuping. So when I read that she was in the news again, I thought, well, finally! Someone's cured her hiccups and she can live a normal life!
Nope.
Hiccup girl is now in the news for aiding a robbery-turned-murder. The link, here, had me cracking up. Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible for the murder victim, and his family, but this wasn't the end of the story I was expecting! I wonder what caused her to turn to crime? Was it the relentless teasing she must have received over her condition, family economic pressure (she does live in the economically-troubled state of Florida), or something else altogether? Was it drugs, or pressure to act out because she knew she'd never fit in?
Most importantly, is she still hiccuping in jail?
These are the important questions for our day. What's your opinion?
As a rule, I try not to think about it, so here's something a little more light-hearted: about three years ago, I read an article about a teen who had a real problem. She could not, no matter what she tried, stop hiccuping. So when I read that she was in the news again, I thought, well, finally! Someone's cured her hiccups and she can live a normal life!
Nope.
Hiccup girl is now in the news for aiding a robbery-turned-murder. The link, here, had me cracking up. Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible for the murder victim, and his family, but this wasn't the end of the story I was expecting! I wonder what caused her to turn to crime? Was it the relentless teasing she must have received over her condition, family economic pressure (she does live in the economically-troubled state of Florida), or something else altogether? Was it drugs, or pressure to act out because she knew she'd never fit in?
Most importantly, is she still hiccuping in jail?
These are the important questions for our day. What's your opinion?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Entering Imagination Land
So. I'm apparently not done blogging for the night, as I'm still in the mood to write. Read it or not, but here's some more food for thought. In talking over why I have such trouble writing, I've come to the more concrete notion that when I was young and my teachers talked about what a gifted writer I was, they were absolutely wrong.
I'm not going to be falsely modest - this is a blog, not a job interview. I have a great talent, and I was quite gifted when I was young. Just not at writing. My gift is my creativity, my ability to come up with fascinating worlds and stories instantly, and to immerse myself within them and discover them to possess more depth than I'd ever thought possible. As C.S. Lewis put it memorably in "The Last Battle," to find the true world, one must go "further up and further in." I can, and do.
However, as an actual writer, I'm really only average. No head for lovely descriptions (although I have a keen admiration of them), nor any particular talent with putting the right word in the right place at the right time. The best you could say is that I rarely ever have to double-check a paper or a post. I'm a grammar and spelling fiend, and I have a reasonably large vocabulary, if not an eloquent one.
Still, it is something, and I'm about to introduce you to more. What you're about to hear is not anything I've told anyone in my family or circle of friends. What I'm going to divulge, in bits and parts, are details of my creative castoffs over the years, the ideas in a 62 page file called "The Big Index" that are highlighted in green and blue.
"The Big Index" is a list of every story idea I've ever had, and where to find notes on them. My story files, scattered across two computers, three large notebooks, and a backup drive, have quirky titles such as "Bizarre Bazaar of Words," "Alpha Files," and "Middle School Mix." Files don't match titles, nor are all story details always contained in a single file. They're disorganized, and more often than not, make sense to no one but me (if they make sense at all). But having the list to help me sort through them keeps me sane.
Green in that list signifies stories I've grown out of, ones that I've decided are just too silly or juvenile to bother writing. Often, if the plot is good, it evolves and finds its way into another, more mature story. Good characters migrate to more defined universes. Blue indicates that a story is good, but fan-fiction. For instance, if I think up a sequel to a story that ended unhappily in my mind, it makes me feel better and it might be good, but it's still illegal to sell it. So it sits on the shelf, lonely and untouchable.
To begin - directly before I end this ridiculously long post, I'll start with the last section of my list: Musicals.
The Basic Facts: I have written ideas for 36 musicals. I've written outlines for 10, and 2 of them are complete, with lyrics, script and all. I wrote one in 6th grade, and it is absolutely horrible. I never know whether to cringe or laugh looking at it. The other, called "Summer Romance," was written at sleep-away camp, and is a sappy, ridiculous, musical romance novel, wherein four girls and their counselor fall in love with the four boys and counselor of a neighboring bunk. I showed it to the theater counselor. After that, I haven't shown it to anyone else, nor do I think I ever will again. There's only so much humiliation a person can take.
There are three musical ideas that I might actually write someday, and you're not getting the details of those. They're based on myths and fairy tales I love, in particular, "Eros and Psyche," "Pomona and Vertumnus (look it up, it's sweet!)," and "King Thrushbeard (the most under-used good Grimm's fairy tale)."
But maybe in another post I'll tell you some more about the rejects. There are some spectacular ones. Fun, isn't it, watching the writer crash and burn? Meet me back at Pyrakanthe's Place in a little bit, and maybe you can hear about my two separate ideas for a Phantom of the Opera spin-off and sequel. I promise, you they can't be worse than what's playing in London right now. :)
I'm not going to be falsely modest - this is a blog, not a job interview. I have a great talent, and I was quite gifted when I was young. Just not at writing. My gift is my creativity, my ability to come up with fascinating worlds and stories instantly, and to immerse myself within them and discover them to possess more depth than I'd ever thought possible. As C.S. Lewis put it memorably in "The Last Battle," to find the true world, one must go "further up and further in." I can, and do.
However, as an actual writer, I'm really only average. No head for lovely descriptions (although I have a keen admiration of them), nor any particular talent with putting the right word in the right place at the right time. The best you could say is that I rarely ever have to double-check a paper or a post. I'm a grammar and spelling fiend, and I have a reasonably large vocabulary, if not an eloquent one.
Still, it is something, and I'm about to introduce you to more. What you're about to hear is not anything I've told anyone in my family or circle of friends. What I'm going to divulge, in bits and parts, are details of my creative castoffs over the years, the ideas in a 62 page file called "The Big Index" that are highlighted in green and blue.
"The Big Index" is a list of every story idea I've ever had, and where to find notes on them. My story files, scattered across two computers, three large notebooks, and a backup drive, have quirky titles such as "Bizarre Bazaar of Words," "Alpha Files," and "Middle School Mix." Files don't match titles, nor are all story details always contained in a single file. They're disorganized, and more often than not, make sense to no one but me (if they make sense at all). But having the list to help me sort through them keeps me sane.
Green in that list signifies stories I've grown out of, ones that I've decided are just too silly or juvenile to bother writing. Often, if the plot is good, it evolves and finds its way into another, more mature story. Good characters migrate to more defined universes. Blue indicates that a story is good, but fan-fiction. For instance, if I think up a sequel to a story that ended unhappily in my mind, it makes me feel better and it might be good, but it's still illegal to sell it. So it sits on the shelf, lonely and untouchable.
To begin - directly before I end this ridiculously long post, I'll start with the last section of my list: Musicals.
The Basic Facts: I have written ideas for 36 musicals. I've written outlines for 10, and 2 of them are complete, with lyrics, script and all. I wrote one in 6th grade, and it is absolutely horrible. I never know whether to cringe or laugh looking at it. The other, called "Summer Romance," was written at sleep-away camp, and is a sappy, ridiculous, musical romance novel, wherein four girls and their counselor fall in love with the four boys and counselor of a neighboring bunk. I showed it to the theater counselor. After that, I haven't shown it to anyone else, nor do I think I ever will again. There's only so much humiliation a person can take.
There are three musical ideas that I might actually write someday, and you're not getting the details of those. They're based on myths and fairy tales I love, in particular, "Eros and Psyche," "Pomona and Vertumnus (look it up, it's sweet!)," and "King Thrushbeard (the most under-used good Grimm's fairy tale)."
But maybe in another post I'll tell you some more about the rejects. There are some spectacular ones. Fun, isn't it, watching the writer crash and burn? Meet me back at Pyrakanthe's Place in a little bit, and maybe you can hear about my two separate ideas for a Phantom of the Opera spin-off and sequel. I promise, you they can't be worse than what's playing in London right now. :)
The Blank Page
For all of you viewing this post in its published state, which is all of you (minus my boyfriend, who is sitting next to me as I write), you cannot see what I see now. It is the writer's personal canvas, the window into another world, and often the picnic area for muses, characters, and plots to come together. It can also be a writer's worst nemesis.
The blank page.
All that empty space. Horrible, isn't it? I'm sure you've had this feeling: it's the day of the test you didn't study for, and you're faced with that dreadful essay question, the one where you have no thesis, no evidence, and no hope. Only for a writer, it's even worse - you aren't even given the essay question. You just put down what's in your heart and mind, and hope that it works.
For me, the writing process has always been a struggle. I'm great at ideas. So great, in fact, that they don't stop coming. I'm constantly being bombarded by inspirations from all around me, on TV or the radio, in books and articles I read, or even in everyday situations. Where do I get my ideas? Where don't I?
But when an idea arrives, and I scribble it down on a notepad or some form of paper (which I'm never without), often it remains as notes. When I was younger, I took less notes, had less direction in my stories, and far less technique. But I had stories. Over time, I've been taught to be careful with my words, and with that care came a wariness that has shadowed the last six years of my life.
In college, I studied poetry for the first time. I learned to write in a new form, and it changed the way I thought about writing. Using a shorter form forced me to be more creative with words, and less so with character and idea. I learned to take an archetype and dig deeper into the generic. I still had story ideas, but in seeing the beauty my classmates brought to the written word, I was convinced that nothing I wrote could ever measure up.
Six years later, I've managed to put together two half-finished novels, two partway begun pieces of fan-fiction (fiction based in another creator's world), and notes for a brilliant medieval-style world that absolutely sings with color and detail. I got out of college, went into grad school, and stagnated.
As I've said previously, it's not that I haven't had anything to say all year, but that I haven't had the courage to put forth the words. These stumble, they're verbose but not encompassing, and as usual, the post has gotten too long already. But they're a start. The page isn't blank anymore. Maybe tomorrow there will be another news article, and I'll be more in my element, with my typical self-assigned essay question: what is your opinion?
But until then, you lucky few readers can have a look into the head of a budding writer. And then, presumably, be grateful not to be one.
The blank page.
All that empty space. Horrible, isn't it? I'm sure you've had this feeling: it's the day of the test you didn't study for, and you're faced with that dreadful essay question, the one where you have no thesis, no evidence, and no hope. Only for a writer, it's even worse - you aren't even given the essay question. You just put down what's in your heart and mind, and hope that it works.
For me, the writing process has always been a struggle. I'm great at ideas. So great, in fact, that they don't stop coming. I'm constantly being bombarded by inspirations from all around me, on TV or the radio, in books and articles I read, or even in everyday situations. Where do I get my ideas? Where don't I?
But when an idea arrives, and I scribble it down on a notepad or some form of paper (which I'm never without), often it remains as notes. When I was younger, I took less notes, had less direction in my stories, and far less technique. But I had stories. Over time, I've been taught to be careful with my words, and with that care came a wariness that has shadowed the last six years of my life.
In college, I studied poetry for the first time. I learned to write in a new form, and it changed the way I thought about writing. Using a shorter form forced me to be more creative with words, and less so with character and idea. I learned to take an archetype and dig deeper into the generic. I still had story ideas, but in seeing the beauty my classmates brought to the written word, I was convinced that nothing I wrote could ever measure up.
Six years later, I've managed to put together two half-finished novels, two partway begun pieces of fan-fiction (fiction based in another creator's world), and notes for a brilliant medieval-style world that absolutely sings with color and detail. I got out of college, went into grad school, and stagnated.
As I've said previously, it's not that I haven't had anything to say all year, but that I haven't had the courage to put forth the words. These stumble, they're verbose but not encompassing, and as usual, the post has gotten too long already. But they're a start. The page isn't blank anymore. Maybe tomorrow there will be another news article, and I'll be more in my element, with my typical self-assigned essay question: what is your opinion?
But until then, you lucky few readers can have a look into the head of a budding writer. And then, presumably, be grateful not to be one.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Beginning Opinions
As a part of my intent to start over with this blog, and to begin working on some real writing again, I've decided to write short reaction pieces to articles I read in the morning. I'm a voracious news reader, and I find I almost always have opinions on what I read, and so I'd like to share my thoughts and see what other people think.
That is, one day, when other people actually start to visit this blog. ;)
So what was in the news today? A recall for my car - with all the Toyota recalls over the last year and a half, it had to happen sometime, the not-quite-confirmation of Derek Jeter's engagement to Minka Kelly, and the results of last night's game, proving that the Yankees are not out of the pennant race yet.
Oh, and a little piece about a commercial against obesity aired in Washington D.C.
The commercial is about 40 seconds. A man lies dead in the morgue, his wife weeping, the doctor comforting her. A cheeseburger is in the dead man's hand. When the camera at last pans to his feet, McDonald's famous golden arches sweep over them. The caption: "I was lovin' it."
Harsh, blunt, and not kid-friendly. Yes, you will be scaring your kids away from their Happy Meals if they see this. Yes, the government is interfering with how you eat. But is that really such a bad thing? I posted the following comment in response to the article discussing the commercial (the link to which can be found here).
"To the person who commented that people who eat fast food and eat unhealthily are not the norm, I beg to differ. According to the Center for Disease Control, almost 1 in 3 people in this country are obese as of 2009. Over 10 states have an obesity rate greater than 30%. It may not be the majority (yet), but when there are more grossly overweight people than there are of some minorities in this country, it absolutely counts as the norm.
As for the argument that the government should not be our "Mommies and Daddies," that's ignorance. They tell us we can't steal, can't kill people, and they tax us - which is basically a grown-up version of the allowance system kids and their parents use.
And furthermore, even if the government isn't parenting us, this country decided to be responsible for Medicaid and for a portion of our health care system. It is therefore in their best financial interests, and the better interests of the country, to discourage people from practices that can put an undue and unnecessary strain on the health care system. Obesity-related disease is becoming epidemic in its scope. The government cannot afford to ignore it any longer.
Personally, I think alternate versions of the commercial should address the threat posed by other fast food chains such as Burger King, White Castle, and Wendy's, but all in all, this is a good start to address what is rapidly becoming a serious problem in our country."
So, those are my thoughts for the day. A final thought for those who call the government food-Nazis, though (btw, not my term): the states with over 30% obese populations are concentrated in areas with very high poverty. Kind of tough to ask the government for food stamps and then balk when the government starts telling you how you should use them.
As a last note: the CDC and poverty charts that I used can be found here and here, respectively.
That is, one day, when other people actually start to visit this blog. ;)
So what was in the news today? A recall for my car - with all the Toyota recalls over the last year and a half, it had to happen sometime, the not-quite-confirmation of Derek Jeter's engagement to Minka Kelly, and the results of last night's game, proving that the Yankees are not out of the pennant race yet.
Oh, and a little piece about a commercial against obesity aired in Washington D.C.
The commercial is about 40 seconds. A man lies dead in the morgue, his wife weeping, the doctor comforting her. A cheeseburger is in the dead man's hand. When the camera at last pans to his feet, McDonald's famous golden arches sweep over them. The caption: "I was lovin' it."
Harsh, blunt, and not kid-friendly. Yes, you will be scaring your kids away from their Happy Meals if they see this. Yes, the government is interfering with how you eat. But is that really such a bad thing? I posted the following comment in response to the article discussing the commercial (the link to which can be found here).
"To the person who commented that people who eat fast food and eat unhealthily are not the norm, I beg to differ. According to the Center for Disease Control, almost 1 in 3 people in this country are obese as of 2009. Over 10 states have an obesity rate greater than 30%. It may not be the majority (yet), but when there are more grossly overweight people than there are of some minorities in this country, it absolutely counts as the norm.
As for the argument that the government should not be our "Mommies and Daddies," that's ignorance. They tell us we can't steal, can't kill people, and they tax us - which is basically a grown-up version of the allowance system kids and their parents use.
And furthermore, even if the government isn't parenting us, this country decided to be responsible for Medicaid and for a portion of our health care system. It is therefore in their best financial interests, and the better interests of the country, to discourage people from practices that can put an undue and unnecessary strain on the health care system. Obesity-related disease is becoming epidemic in its scope. The government cannot afford to ignore it any longer.
Personally, I think alternate versions of the commercial should address the threat posed by other fast food chains such as Burger King, White Castle, and Wendy's, but all in all, this is a good start to address what is rapidly becoming a serious problem in our country."
So, those are my thoughts for the day. A final thought for those who call the government food-Nazis, though (btw, not my term): the states with over 30% obese populations are concentrated in areas with very high poverty. Kind of tough to ask the government for food stamps and then balk when the government starts telling you how you should use them.
As a last note: the CDC and poverty charts that I used can be found here and here, respectively.
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