Saturday, June 25, 2011
High School?
So, I'm doing this project to get fifty bucks. Basically, I'm doing a data-entry thing for a class reunion. Okay, sorry, I have to pause here and tell you something funny. My mom just came home from Target with Biodegradeable Poop Bags. Yes. Okay, anyway, I have this big packet of people that went to a high school in a town near here, and it's kind of really interesting to read all the names of these people. Only five people live outside the state. Five. That's kind of weird. Maybe not. Maybe everyone only thinks about leaving the state and going to college in some big fancy place and we all end up back here anyway. I don't necessarily plan on leaving, unless I have to go out of state for college and decide to move to that state because I like it there. Several people (I'm too lazy to go through the whole packet and count) are married to other people who went to high school with them. It's fun to imagine those kinds of stories. Have they been together since high school? Did they meet again at a previous reunion? Did they get together online? Did they just run into each other at the store or something? It could be anything, really. Going to the same high school is like an ice breaker for a conversation. Suddenly, with finding this thing you have in common, you can talk about teachers and classes and where you went to college and who your friends were and if you remember each other. Is it sad to be married to someone you've been with since high school? Somehow, I don't think so. Maybe it's just dedication or something. Then there are the ones who fall under the "Unable to Locate" category. I want to know what happened to those people. It's not likely they just fell off the face of the Earth. Maybe they joined the five that are now living in other states. Maybe they live in different countries. Maybe they developed a life of crime and are hiding under an alias. Okay, so that last one was perhaps a little far fetched, but we come back to the endless possibilities. Some people have a whole slew of information under their names, while others just have thier addresses. I also have to wonder how the committees for this reunion found all of these people. How do you track down so many people? You're only bound to keep in touch with a few, and there's no way everybody knows where everybody is. Some people cut themselves off completely from high school and rediscover themselves in college. Maybe those people are the ones who could not be located, the ones who decided they were headed for bigger and better things than keeping in touch with the class of 1976. I'm not saying that those who did stay in touch aren't doing bigger and better things. Maybe they're just sentimental. I could ponder for hours on the meaning of high school and old friends and reunions, but I guess it really comes down to people wanting to relive old times and see friends they haven't seen in years. Right now, I can't imagine leaving any of my friends behind when I go off to college, but it's inevitable. You have to lose a few people along the way. I believe that if someone is supposed to stay in your life, it will happen. Nobody can know the future, but the decisions we make now can determine the outcome. Will I cut myself off from high school once I graduate? Not likely. Will I still be close with all the friends I'm close with today twenty-five years from now? Also not likely. But something will stick. I doubt I'll forget these years.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Better Blog Coming Soon
I really should be blogging a lot lately, since I don't have a lot to do other than hang out downtown and go to the beach and sit around my house reading Cracked articles. And barf.
Wait, what?
Yeah, I'm kind of sick. I threw up like...an hour ago? I don't really know. I'll spare you the nasty details, but I basically feel like complete crap on a stick. So I'm going to go lie down and take a nap or something. My next post should be another joint review. Not a review about pot, you silly people. I mean a review combining a few movies I've seen and a couple of books I've read recently. Those of you who read my last post and reveled in the sheer awesomeness (I'm totally humble. And probably spelled 'revel' wrong) are most likely slightly dissapointed right now. Well, I'm sorry. Go find yourself a nice piece of literature or something and appreciate the fact that you know I'm still alive. For the most part. I'd post about my new job volunteering at the zoo, but we actually have to sign a form saying we won't put any behind-the-scenes stuff up on the internet, and I'm not totally sure what's okay and what's not, so I'm playing it safe by not saying anything. The komodo dragon's name is Precious. There, that's not top-secret. Neither is the fact that sometimes when you wash the windows of the baboon enclosure they jump out and scare you. Mostly, it's pretty fun and I have to talk to a bunch of strangers for eight hours a week. Anyway, I'm going to take a nap now.
Wait, what?
Yeah, I'm kind of sick. I threw up like...an hour ago? I don't really know. I'll spare you the nasty details, but I basically feel like complete crap on a stick. So I'm going to go lie down and take a nap or something. My next post should be another joint review. Not a review about pot, you silly people. I mean a review combining a few movies I've seen and a couple of books I've read recently. Those of you who read my last post and reveled in the sheer awesomeness (I'm totally humble. And probably spelled 'revel' wrong) are most likely slightly dissapointed right now. Well, I'm sorry. Go find yourself a nice piece of literature or something and appreciate the fact that you know I'm still alive. For the most part. I'd post about my new job volunteering at the zoo, but we actually have to sign a form saying we won't put any behind-the-scenes stuff up on the internet, and I'm not totally sure what's okay and what's not, so I'm playing it safe by not saying anything. The komodo dragon's name is Precious. There, that's not top-secret. Neither is the fact that sometimes when you wash the windows of the baboon enclosure they jump out and scare you. Mostly, it's pretty fun and I have to talk to a bunch of strangers for eight hours a week. Anyway, I'm going to take a nap now.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Yet another person to add to the kill list...
Just kidding. Mostly. Here, read this. You'll need it to understand a single word I'm talking about.
Alright, Mrs. Gurdon. Argument number one. John Green.
John Green is a YA novelist who has written three books alone and cowrote another book with David Levithan. The book he cowrote is called Will Grayson, Will Grayson and is about coming to terms with accepting who you are. In it, two high schoolers named Will Grayson are affected by the presense of one Tiny Cooper, an enormous gay kid who wants to put on a musical about his life and love. He captures the heart of one Will Grayson romantically and the other in pure friendship. Though profane, this book hardly seems (and I quote), "So dark that kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18". Although profane in some parts, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is wholesome and hopeful and a beautiful story.
However, I just finished (for the second time) one of John Green's first books, Looking for Alaska. Not only is this book pretty profane in some areas, it also deals with (spoilers!!) teen death. I'd say suicide, but it's never confirmed. Not only that, but there is underage drinking and smoking. Good God, Mrs. Gurdon, hide the kids! But in all seriousness, Looking for Alaska not only pictures the troubles in the death of a friend, but the beauty in finding true hope after that friend is gone. So, even a darker, more profane novel by John green is full of that rainbow that always comes after the storm.
Argument two: mostly a rant about sheltering.
In my opinion, YA novels are the best way to portray information that is dark and profane. We need to know this stuff. Teenagers can't live in a world where everything is always rainbows and butterflies. I know there's enough in the news and online about such things as cutting and depression that we're not oblivious to the fact that it exists. Some novels depict these things in guesome detail, but it helps us to understand the why of the news we see everywhere. When an author writes a book about a teen that cuts herself, she's not just describing it in disgusting, gory detail. What Gurdon fails to understand (possibly because, and here's a shocker, kids! she's not a young adult) is that these novels also describe how that teen girl deals with her problem and how she came to have this problem. Adults don't seem to realize that we need to figure this out at some point before we're brutally shoved into the real world. Well, Mrs. Gurdon, are you going to teach your children about why some people are pushed to the brink of self-mutilation? Or are you just going to put your hand over their eyes and monitor every book they read?
Now I come to my third and final argument, which is somewhat like the first. Not all YA novels are dark and depressing.
There are at least forty books in my room. Basically all of them are YA. About six of them are dark. The other 34 or so are about things such as friendship, love, and other sorts of happy things. It appears that when Mrs. Gurdon did her research, she looked solely for the books with the creepy titles and covers and overlooked the books on the other side of the shelf. The ones that have happy, brightly colored covers and titles such as The Truth About Forever and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, neither of which, as you can imagine, have any of the things that Gurdon talks about within their pages.
At some point, we need to recognize that there are going to be controversial and dark books out there. We also need to recognize that teenagers will find these books and read them. However, most people leave it at that and hope for the best. What Mrs. Gurdon needs to realize is that the information is out there, and we're going to find it somewhere. Honestly, wouldn't she rather we read a profane book than go searching for internet porn? Now, I'll admit that's a little extreme, but still. We need to know. I credit most of who I am to reading YA novels. They've taught me about acceptance, love, and friendship through any sort of weather, whether it is dark or light.
Alright, Mrs. Gurdon. Argument number one. John Green.
John Green is a YA novelist who has written three books alone and cowrote another book with David Levithan. The book he cowrote is called Will Grayson, Will Grayson and is about coming to terms with accepting who you are. In it, two high schoolers named Will Grayson are affected by the presense of one Tiny Cooper, an enormous gay kid who wants to put on a musical about his life and love. He captures the heart of one Will Grayson romantically and the other in pure friendship. Though profane, this book hardly seems (and I quote), "So dark that kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18". Although profane in some parts, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is wholesome and hopeful and a beautiful story.
However, I just finished (for the second time) one of John Green's first books, Looking for Alaska. Not only is this book pretty profane in some areas, it also deals with (spoilers!!) teen death. I'd say suicide, but it's never confirmed. Not only that, but there is underage drinking and smoking. Good God, Mrs. Gurdon, hide the kids! But in all seriousness, Looking for Alaska not only pictures the troubles in the death of a friend, but the beauty in finding true hope after that friend is gone. So, even a darker, more profane novel by John green is full of that rainbow that always comes after the storm.
Argument two: mostly a rant about sheltering.
In my opinion, YA novels are the best way to portray information that is dark and profane. We need to know this stuff. Teenagers can't live in a world where everything is always rainbows and butterflies. I know there's enough in the news and online about such things as cutting and depression that we're not oblivious to the fact that it exists. Some novels depict these things in guesome detail, but it helps us to understand the why of the news we see everywhere. When an author writes a book about a teen that cuts herself, she's not just describing it in disgusting, gory detail. What Gurdon fails to understand (possibly because, and here's a shocker, kids! she's not a young adult) is that these novels also describe how that teen girl deals with her problem and how she came to have this problem. Adults don't seem to realize that we need to figure this out at some point before we're brutally shoved into the real world. Well, Mrs. Gurdon, are you going to teach your children about why some people are pushed to the brink of self-mutilation? Or are you just going to put your hand over their eyes and monitor every book they read?
Now I come to my third and final argument, which is somewhat like the first. Not all YA novels are dark and depressing.
There are at least forty books in my room. Basically all of them are YA. About six of them are dark. The other 34 or so are about things such as friendship, love, and other sorts of happy things. It appears that when Mrs. Gurdon did her research, she looked solely for the books with the creepy titles and covers and overlooked the books on the other side of the shelf. The ones that have happy, brightly colored covers and titles such as The Truth About Forever and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, neither of which, as you can imagine, have any of the things that Gurdon talks about within their pages.
At some point, we need to recognize that there are going to be controversial and dark books out there. We also need to recognize that teenagers will find these books and read them. However, most people leave it at that and hope for the best. What Mrs. Gurdon needs to realize is that the information is out there, and we're going to find it somewhere. Honestly, wouldn't she rather we read a profane book than go searching for internet porn? Now, I'll admit that's a little extreme, but still. We need to know. I credit most of who I am to reading YA novels. They've taught me about acceptance, love, and friendship through any sort of weather, whether it is dark or light.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Why am I such a klutz?
Is that even how you spell klutz? So many questions.
I fell down the stairs at school today. They're linoleum stairs. I have a significant bruise on my elbow. I was walking out of my last class, Microsoft Office, and wearing slippery shoes. All of a sudden, I slipped right off of the stair I was standing on, slid down a couple more, and finally landed on my elbows and pushed myself back up. Naturally, the first thing I said was, "I'm okay. I knew that would happen to me someday." Why would I say such a thing? Because I trip, slip, stumble, fall over, fall out of chairs, and run into things on a regular basis. Yes, I am clumsy.
I know I'm not the only one. At my age, everybody is kind of gawky and awkward. But I've never really been gawky. Awkward, maybe, but not gawky. So I wanted to know why I, of all people, am clumsy.
On Wikipedia (hey, hey, it's legit...sometimes...), clumsy goes off in a few different directions. I chose the "accident-proneness" route, because that sounds about right. Apparently, being accident-prone is actually, like, a thing. So, basically, there's this conception that some people actually have a predisposition to be more likely to suffer from accidents. Upon clicking the "nature and causes" link, I discovered this nugget of information:
"The exact nature and causes of accident-proneness, assuming that it exists as a distinct entity, are unknown. Factors which have been considered as associated with accident-proneness have included absent-mindedness, carelessness, impulsivity, predisposition to risk-taking, and unconscious desires to create accidents as a way of achieving secondary gains."
Okay. That sounds about right. I'm not sure if I actually have an unconscious desire to create accidents, but I guess that's up to my unconsciousness.
I fell down the stairs at school today. They're linoleum stairs. I have a significant bruise on my elbow. I was walking out of my last class, Microsoft Office, and wearing slippery shoes. All of a sudden, I slipped right off of the stair I was standing on, slid down a couple more, and finally landed on my elbows and pushed myself back up. Naturally, the first thing I said was, "I'm okay. I knew that would happen to me someday." Why would I say such a thing? Because I trip, slip, stumble, fall over, fall out of chairs, and run into things on a regular basis. Yes, I am clumsy.
I know I'm not the only one. At my age, everybody is kind of gawky and awkward. But I've never really been gawky. Awkward, maybe, but not gawky. So I wanted to know why I, of all people, am clumsy.
On Wikipedia (hey, hey, it's legit...sometimes...), clumsy goes off in a few different directions. I chose the "accident-proneness" route, because that sounds about right. Apparently, being accident-prone is actually, like, a thing. So, basically, there's this conception that some people actually have a predisposition to be more likely to suffer from accidents. Upon clicking the "nature and causes" link, I discovered this nugget of information:
"The exact nature and causes of accident-proneness, assuming that it exists as a distinct entity, are unknown. Factors which have been considered as associated with accident-proneness have included absent-mindedness, carelessness, impulsivity, predisposition to risk-taking, and unconscious desires to create accidents as a way of achieving secondary gains."
Okay. That sounds about right. I'm not sure if I actually have an unconscious desire to create accidents, but I guess that's up to my unconsciousness.
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