Why hello there, all! I am hoping you had a much less frantic weekend and are currently not putting off doing your homework in favor of practicing chord progressions and blogging. This is just a basic update on all things Erin, because I know how much that thrills you all.
So what's first? Well, I suppose I haven't mentioned Forensics all that much in my blogging. It's pretty much the most exciting thing in my life currently. For the whole of the competition season, I was next to break basically every single tournament. For you people that are not so savvy with the lingo, that basically means that out of the twelve people that make it to semifinals, I was number thirteen. Have I talked about this before? I don't remember. Too bad, you get to hear it again. Anyways. So yesterday was out regional competition, and even though I only had to compete against three people, I was pretty ridiculously nervous about the whole affair. I figured that regionals might be the only chance I had to get any kind of recognition, so I was really hoping to win. AND I DID. It was one of the more fantastic moments of my life. And my excellent Polish prose sister got second! So we're pretty much awesome. Y'know, basically.
What else...what else...oh yeah, it was my birthday, and that was pretty great. Overall a quiet celebration, but enjoyable. And I'm currently waiting for my Pottermore acceptance e-mail. THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT'S HAPPENED TO ME ALL DAY. Pottermore is live!!
And I went shopping. So that was cool.
Yeah, not the most inspiring post of all time, but I can only do so much. Enjoy your weeks!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Review: Sarah Dessen Books
So, I have several guilty pleasures. I watch Dr. Oz and 90210, I listen to One Direction, and I love Lifetime movies. I mean, it's not like that's all I watch or listen to. I do tend to have better taste in entertainment. Honestly, I do. Despite the aforementioned activities, I've always prided myself in having a pretty decent taste in books, all middle school Twilight obsessions aside. However, with the warm weather descending upon my life and all the springyness in the air, I'm starting to dig out my summer reads. Sarah Dessen writes my favorites.
Sarah's books follow a formula similar to that of a Nicholas Sparks movie, though I do enjoy her books a heck of a lot more. They're always (all ten of them) narrated my a girl who either falls in love right away and then falls out of love, or falls in love gradually and gets with her man at the end of the novel. The males in these novels tend to have quirky names and personalities (Sumner, Dexter, Norman) and are usually extremely attractive. (That's a big characteristic of Wes in particular). The plots usually range from lighthearted (Keeping the Moon, That Summer, Along for the Ride, This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever) to rather deep and dark (Dreamland, Someone Like You, Just Listen, Lock and Key). I've read nine out of ten of them, so I have a pretty good grasp on how they work, and I've even gotten to the point where I can tell some of her earlier stuff from her later stuff. So, I have decided for your reading pleasure, to review three (with no particular organization) or her books here.
That Summer (1996): I literally just finished reading this one about five hours ago. I bought it last night. I'm just going to admit bluntly that I really did not like this book. It's not like it was really awful or anything, but I've certainly read better from Dessen. The main character is a fifteen-year-old girl (my age!) who is almost six feet tall. Her sister is getting married, and so is her father, to the weather girl he had an affair with (which led to the divorce of her parents...obviously. Also many of these books contain the one-parent factor, or at least the daddy/mommy issue factor). I don't like it because it really doesn't have that much of a plot. Like, literally nothing happens. I know that I'm not enjoying a book when I find myself glancing to the next page to see if anything interesting starts happening. This is also the only Sarah Dessen book that has absolutely zero romance in it. I guess it disappointed me because it didn't follow the formula I'm familiar with, which is understandable, as this was her first novel. I just wanted something a little more memorable. And while the male hero, Sumner Lee, is adorable and charming and whatnot, he's built up to a lot of nothing. Like, the only real plot is the fact that the summer Haven (main character) was eight, her sister was in 10th grade or so and dating Sumner, and Sumner brought the family together because he was so dang charming. But then they break up, and Haven witnesses it but doesn't know why they broke up, but thinks that it's all her sister's fault. So when Sumner shows back up at the time the novel takes place, there's a lot of speculation as to why they broke up in the first place. And you don't find out until about four pages before the end. It's the most suspenseful part of the book, and the big conclusion is.....(spoiler alert)......he cheated on her. Big whoop! Ok, so I know cheating is bad, but it was SO built up that I was totally disappointed that he didn't do something like super sleazy and awful. However, I'll give Sarah a break, seeing as this was her first novel, and the first thing you ever write isn't going to be the best thing you ever write.
Overall grade: C+
The Truth About Forever (2004): I also just finished re-reading this a couple days ago. THIS IS MY FAVORITE. There. All out in the open now. I just love this book for some reason. The main character, Macy Queen, is a former runner who witnessed her father's death (one-parent...) and is now living with her control freak mother who sells real estate. She also has a crazy sister (also kind of a recurring theme in all the books. I think 4 or 5 of them include crazy sisters). And a crazy boyfriend, who is not so much crazy as ridiculously obnoxious. By obnoxious I mean a genius. He's also obviously socially awkward, because after he goes to brain camp he (spoilers) decides to go on a break with Macy because she ended an email to him with "I love you", and he thinks she's not spending enough time at the library job that she's filling in for him. Even though she totally is, the girls she works with are just catty smarty-pantses with sticks up their you-know-wheres. Macy's biggest issue throughout the novel is perfection, or rather lack thereof. Her control freak mother and her control freak boyfriend both expect a lot from her, and she's not happy with all the pressure and emptiness and boredom. So she gets a catering job with a bunch of excellent people, all of which are perfectly developed as characters. Like seriously, she goes from having seven or so poorly developed main characters in That Summer to having nine wonderfully developed characters in this. Seriously. It's hard to develop just one main character, let alone nine of them. Especially when one of them is dead. Yeah, that's right, she even develops the dead father beautifully. There's plenty of plot, plenty of romance with Hot Wes (okay, it's just Wes, but he's hot), and a great ending. All of the random details actually matter to the story, and I just love it. Absolutely.
Overall Grade: A
Someone Like You (1998): It's been awhile since I've read this one, but I wanted to cover one of her darker stories, and I can't remember Dreamland well enough. I liked this book. I thought it was quite good, as a matter of fact. So why is it darker? Well, for starters, the main character (Halley)'s best friend's boyfriend dies within the first five pages in a horrible motorcycle accident. And then a little later, we learn that the best friend (Scarlett) is pregnant. And then Halley falls in with the dead boyfriend's best friend, Macon (quirky name), who pressures her to sleep with him and is all around a dangerous guy to be with. And then (spoilers) he gets all cheesed off cuz she won't sleep with him and starts driving her home all angrily and then they get in a car accident. Nobody dies, but still. Okay. Review time. Halley's character was pretty well developed, but Macon's and Scarlett's characters could've been done a lot better. I would've really liked to see characterization of Scarlett's dead boyfriend, because there are only a couple of mentions of him throughout the book, and there's a big deal about how even though a lot of other girls dated him, he and Scarlett were really in love. I wanted to see that a little more. The plot was great, though, so that's good.
Overall grade: B
Other things I like about Sarah Dessen books: Almost all of them take place in the same area, so there are some characters and places that pop up in multiple books. For example, The Last Chance Bar and Grill from Keeping the Moon is mentioned in The Truth about Forever, the Lakeview Mall Models from That Summer are in Just Listen, Scarlett from Someone Like You is actually in This Lullaby briefly, etc. Also, I have never disliked a male hero (except for Macon and Rogerson, who you're not supposed to like anyways). And the majority of them take place in the summer time, which I love, because it puts me in a good summer mood.
Things I dislike: I don't always like the sidekick type people because they tend to have very little characterization. I also don't always like the main characters in all of them. I really couldn't stand Remy from This Lullaby, even though her male counterpart, Dexter, is my second favorite male character (after Wes). Haven from That Summer was kind of a brat, too. But really, that's about it.
Sarah's books follow a formula similar to that of a Nicholas Sparks movie, though I do enjoy her books a heck of a lot more. They're always (all ten of them) narrated my a girl who either falls in love right away and then falls out of love, or falls in love gradually and gets with her man at the end of the novel. The males in these novels tend to have quirky names and personalities (Sumner, Dexter, Norman) and are usually extremely attractive. (That's a big characteristic of Wes in particular). The plots usually range from lighthearted (Keeping the Moon, That Summer, Along for the Ride, This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever) to rather deep and dark (Dreamland, Someone Like You, Just Listen, Lock and Key). I've read nine out of ten of them, so I have a pretty good grasp on how they work, and I've even gotten to the point where I can tell some of her earlier stuff from her later stuff. So, I have decided for your reading pleasure, to review three (with no particular organization) or her books here.
That Summer (1996): I literally just finished reading this one about five hours ago. I bought it last night. I'm just going to admit bluntly that I really did not like this book. It's not like it was really awful or anything, but I've certainly read better from Dessen. The main character is a fifteen-year-old girl (my age!) who is almost six feet tall. Her sister is getting married, and so is her father, to the weather girl he had an affair with (which led to the divorce of her parents...obviously. Also many of these books contain the one-parent factor, or at least the daddy/mommy issue factor). I don't like it because it really doesn't have that much of a plot. Like, literally nothing happens. I know that I'm not enjoying a book when I find myself glancing to the next page to see if anything interesting starts happening. This is also the only Sarah Dessen book that has absolutely zero romance in it. I guess it disappointed me because it didn't follow the formula I'm familiar with, which is understandable, as this was her first novel. I just wanted something a little more memorable. And while the male hero, Sumner Lee, is adorable and charming and whatnot, he's built up to a lot of nothing. Like, the only real plot is the fact that the summer Haven (main character) was eight, her sister was in 10th grade or so and dating Sumner, and Sumner brought the family together because he was so dang charming. But then they break up, and Haven witnesses it but doesn't know why they broke up, but thinks that it's all her sister's fault. So when Sumner shows back up at the time the novel takes place, there's a lot of speculation as to why they broke up in the first place. And you don't find out until about four pages before the end. It's the most suspenseful part of the book, and the big conclusion is.....(spoiler alert)......he cheated on her. Big whoop! Ok, so I know cheating is bad, but it was SO built up that I was totally disappointed that he didn't do something like super sleazy and awful. However, I'll give Sarah a break, seeing as this was her first novel, and the first thing you ever write isn't going to be the best thing you ever write.
Overall grade: C+
The Truth About Forever (2004): I also just finished re-reading this a couple days ago. THIS IS MY FAVORITE. There. All out in the open now. I just love this book for some reason. The main character, Macy Queen, is a former runner who witnessed her father's death (one-parent...) and is now living with her control freak mother who sells real estate. She also has a crazy sister (also kind of a recurring theme in all the books. I think 4 or 5 of them include crazy sisters). And a crazy boyfriend, who is not so much crazy as ridiculously obnoxious. By obnoxious I mean a genius. He's also obviously socially awkward, because after he goes to brain camp he (spoilers) decides to go on a break with Macy because she ended an email to him with "I love you", and he thinks she's not spending enough time at the library job that she's filling in for him. Even though she totally is, the girls she works with are just catty smarty-pantses with sticks up their you-know-wheres. Macy's biggest issue throughout the novel is perfection, or rather lack thereof. Her control freak mother and her control freak boyfriend both expect a lot from her, and she's not happy with all the pressure and emptiness and boredom. So she gets a catering job with a bunch of excellent people, all of which are perfectly developed as characters. Like seriously, she goes from having seven or so poorly developed main characters in That Summer to having nine wonderfully developed characters in this. Seriously. It's hard to develop just one main character, let alone nine of them. Especially when one of them is dead. Yeah, that's right, she even develops the dead father beautifully. There's plenty of plot, plenty of romance with Hot Wes (okay, it's just Wes, but he's hot), and a great ending. All of the random details actually matter to the story, and I just love it. Absolutely.
Overall Grade: A
Someone Like You (1998): It's been awhile since I've read this one, but I wanted to cover one of her darker stories, and I can't remember Dreamland well enough. I liked this book. I thought it was quite good, as a matter of fact. So why is it darker? Well, for starters, the main character (Halley)'s best friend's boyfriend dies within the first five pages in a horrible motorcycle accident. And then a little later, we learn that the best friend (Scarlett) is pregnant. And then Halley falls in with the dead boyfriend's best friend, Macon (quirky name), who pressures her to sleep with him and is all around a dangerous guy to be with. And then (spoilers) he gets all cheesed off cuz she won't sleep with him and starts driving her home all angrily and then they get in a car accident. Nobody dies, but still. Okay. Review time. Halley's character was pretty well developed, but Macon's and Scarlett's characters could've been done a lot better. I would've really liked to see characterization of Scarlett's dead boyfriend, because there are only a couple of mentions of him throughout the book, and there's a big deal about how even though a lot of other girls dated him, he and Scarlett were really in love. I wanted to see that a little more. The plot was great, though, so that's good.
Overall grade: B
Other things I like about Sarah Dessen books: Almost all of them take place in the same area, so there are some characters and places that pop up in multiple books. For example, The Last Chance Bar and Grill from Keeping the Moon is mentioned in The Truth about Forever, the Lakeview Mall Models from That Summer are in Just Listen, Scarlett from Someone Like You is actually in This Lullaby briefly, etc. Also, I have never disliked a male hero (except for Macon and Rogerson, who you're not supposed to like anyways). And the majority of them take place in the summer time, which I love, because it puts me in a good summer mood.
Things I dislike: I don't always like the sidekick type people because they tend to have very little characterization. I also don't always like the main characters in all of them. I really couldn't stand Remy from This Lullaby, even though her male counterpart, Dexter, is my second favorite male character (after Wes). Haven from That Summer was kind of a brat, too. But really, that's about it.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Money Talks
Excuse me for maybe going off for a little bit on a snotty little teenage girl rant with all kinds of first world problems, but really, I need to get this out.
I don't ask for a lot. I really do not. I accept my position as a little sister most of the time. I understand that it's not all about me all the time. So I don't find myself to ever be demanding or greedy or anything like that.
But honestly. One day a year, I get a birthday, just like everyone else, and on that one day it gets to be all about me. It is my day. Mine. And this year, I'm turning 16, which is kind of an important age for a teenage girl. 16 is the age that everyone 15 and under aspires to. It's wired into our brains.
So forgive me if I'd like this one day to be special. I don't need a big old Sweet Sixteen celebration. I just want what I asked for, and that's still not a lot. I don't want everyone to be all obsessed with my brother's college next year and how it's going to cost a fortune and we'll probably be out on the streets and yada yada yada. I don't give a crap if that's all anyone thinks about the other 364 days of the year. But in less than a week, it is going to be my day. And I want it to feel like my day. In a school year where my brother is already getting the majority of the attention for getting the lead in the musical and being in show choir and auditioning for college and getting scholarships and graduating and all that crap, I want just this one day for all of the attention to be devoted to me. I already have to share it with the rising of the good Lord.
I don't know why I all of a sudden feel like an attention deprived four-year-old. Maybe it's the loss of The Boyfriend.
I just want my freaking birthday to be my freaking birthday. That's all.
I don't ask for a lot. I really do not. I accept my position as a little sister most of the time. I understand that it's not all about me all the time. So I don't find myself to ever be demanding or greedy or anything like that.
But honestly. One day a year, I get a birthday, just like everyone else, and on that one day it gets to be all about me. It is my day. Mine. And this year, I'm turning 16, which is kind of an important age for a teenage girl. 16 is the age that everyone 15 and under aspires to. It's wired into our brains.
So forgive me if I'd like this one day to be special. I don't need a big old Sweet Sixteen celebration. I just want what I asked for, and that's still not a lot. I don't want everyone to be all obsessed with my brother's college next year and how it's going to cost a fortune and we'll probably be out on the streets and yada yada yada. I don't give a crap if that's all anyone thinks about the other 364 days of the year. But in less than a week, it is going to be my day. And I want it to feel like my day. In a school year where my brother is already getting the majority of the attention for getting the lead in the musical and being in show choir and auditioning for college and getting scholarships and graduating and all that crap, I want just this one day for all of the attention to be devoted to me. I already have to share it with the rising of the good Lord.
I don't know why I all of a sudden feel like an attention deprived four-year-old. Maybe it's the loss of The Boyfriend.
I just want my freaking birthday to be my freaking birthday. That's all.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Why Hello There.
Guess what? We are coming in on the one year anniversary of my blog!
Yay! Break out the party hats!
...you forgot the party hats?
Oh well.
It's gotten to the point where I haven't posted in so long that I totally forget what my last post was about. Sooo...I'm just going to ramble on for a little bit. And shut up Dad, if you want better blog posts then that's too fricken bad. *makes raspberry noises in your general direction*
Homework still sucks, but it's a new trimester, so it's only slightly lighter. I actually have a fun class this tri (if you consider health fun...), which involves a lot of work I don't really have to think about. Yay for required classes! And screw you, spell check, yay is totally a word.
I just finished a really lengthy and frustrating World War I project that involved a lot more work than I thought it did, so the fact that I started it at like 10 last night didn't help a whole lot.
What should I be doing right now? Reading Heart of Darkness for AP Lit. But that book is as dull as my aunt Mertyl's childhood, and I don't even have an aunt Mertyl.
Also Forensics season has started, and every week I am SO FRUSTRATINGLY CLOSE to moving on to semifinals. As in, out of the 12 competitors in my category that break, I am number 13. They should make an action movie about my Forensics life. It would be called I Am Number Thirteen, and I'd get to meet/gape at Alex Pettyfer. It would be about this girl who is pretty decent at performing her Prose piece and gets a lot of laughs from the audience, but she keeps getting beat by this girl who acts out getting raped in a closet. Okay, okay, she ALMOST gets raped in a closet. But then, Number Thirteen miraculously triumphs over Number Twelve and her closet rape, and beats that diva kid with the ridiculous name, AND WINS!
Because that would be a totally legit story.
Except for not really.
And the thing that really bugs me is that I put a lot of effort into this. I cut my piece myself (though I'd never have been able to get it where it is now without my coach, so props), and I really, really like it. Like I feel all connection-y with the characters. So yes. I should be breaking into at least semifinals. That would make me happy.
Yay! Break out the party hats!
...you forgot the party hats?
Oh well.
It's gotten to the point where I haven't posted in so long that I totally forget what my last post was about. Sooo...I'm just going to ramble on for a little bit. And shut up Dad, if you want better blog posts then that's too fricken bad. *makes raspberry noises in your general direction*
Homework still sucks, but it's a new trimester, so it's only slightly lighter. I actually have a fun class this tri (if you consider health fun...), which involves a lot of work I don't really have to think about. Yay for required classes! And screw you, spell check, yay is totally a word.
I just finished a really lengthy and frustrating World War I project that involved a lot more work than I thought it did, so the fact that I started it at like 10 last night didn't help a whole lot.
What should I be doing right now? Reading Heart of Darkness for AP Lit. But that book is as dull as my aunt Mertyl's childhood, and I don't even have an aunt Mertyl.
Also Forensics season has started, and every week I am SO FRUSTRATINGLY CLOSE to moving on to semifinals. As in, out of the 12 competitors in my category that break, I am number 13. They should make an action movie about my Forensics life. It would be called I Am Number Thirteen, and I'd get to meet/gape at Alex Pettyfer. It would be about this girl who is pretty decent at performing her Prose piece and gets a lot of laughs from the audience, but she keeps getting beat by this girl who acts out getting raped in a closet. Okay, okay, she ALMOST gets raped in a closet. But then, Number Thirteen miraculously triumphs over Number Twelve and her closet rape, and beats that diva kid with the ridiculous name, AND WINS!
Because that would be a totally legit story.
Except for not really.
And the thing that really bugs me is that I put a lot of effort into this. I cut my piece myself (though I'd never have been able to get it where it is now without my coach, so props), and I really, really like it. Like I feel all connection-y with the characters. So yes. I should be breaking into at least semifinals. That would make me happy.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Lazy Days
I am so content right now.
Like I got up at way too early because my family decided going to breakfast was a good idea. And I guess it was, but I was really tired. But then I had like two or three cups of coffee. I think two. Yeah.
Since then I've been listening to my indie/alternative/hipster Pandora stations, browsing Pinterest and such, and just chilling. In sweatpants, with my hair up and no makeup. This is just so nice. It makes me really, really want summer to happen so I don't need to worry about actually being productive. Like there's a lot of other stuff I could totally be doing right now. But I'm not, because I'm currently in the process of thoroughly enjoying myself.
So what else is new? I was in the ER Saturday having basically the worst day of my life. I had this gushing nosebleed that drained down my throat and backed up into my left eye and lasted 40 minutes the first time. And then it happened again. And then a third time. Which was when I decided that a trip to the hospital was probably a good idea. So I spent Saturday covered in gore feeling terrible, because the silver nitrate they used to cauterize my nose burned like the dickens and I had to develop a new method of breathing.
But I am aaaaall better. So that's good. Now I think I'm going to try and get something done, because that would probably be a good thing. I hope you all have a wonderful President's Day.
Like I got up at way too early because my family decided going to breakfast was a good idea. And I guess it was, but I was really tired. But then I had like two or three cups of coffee. I think two. Yeah.
Since then I've been listening to my indie/alternative/hipster Pandora stations, browsing Pinterest and such, and just chilling. In sweatpants, with my hair up and no makeup. This is just so nice. It makes me really, really want summer to happen so I don't need to worry about actually being productive. Like there's a lot of other stuff I could totally be doing right now. But I'm not, because I'm currently in the process of thoroughly enjoying myself.
So what else is new? I was in the ER Saturday having basically the worst day of my life. I had this gushing nosebleed that drained down my throat and backed up into my left eye and lasted 40 minutes the first time. And then it happened again. And then a third time. Which was when I decided that a trip to the hospital was probably a good idea. So I spent Saturday covered in gore feeling terrible, because the silver nitrate they used to cauterize my nose burned like the dickens and I had to develop a new method of breathing.
But I am aaaaall better. So that's good. Now I think I'm going to try and get something done, because that would probably be a good thing. I hope you all have a wonderful President's Day.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
I Really Wasn't Going to Rant, I Swear.
I promise you I was not. I didn't really feel like blogging today, even though I had something on my mind, but you know what? This is the last effing straw.
Because I have just visited the One Million Moms website, and I just really want to slap a bunch of people. Really. I do.
The "Issues":
JC Penney and Ellen: As many of you probably know, JC Penney has paired up with Ellen for their new advertising campaign and stuff like that. And One Million Moms are pissed off.
Because she's a lesbian.
That just makes me SO MOTHERLOVING ANGRY. Okay. Here's the thing. You call yourselves "One Million MOMS", which must mean that you are mothers who want to create a nice, wholesome world for your kids. YOU ARE BEING HATEFUL PEOPLE. YOU ARE CREATING HATE IN THE WORLD. YOU ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST GOD'S PEOPLE. If you think that being gay is against God, you obviously have not read the rest of Leviticus, because it also says that we can't play football. Might I direct you here, to a video shared with me when I brought up this issue on Facebook a couple months ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSXJzybEeJM
In which the West Wing proves that the rules in the Bible have changed with time. Also every time I watch that clip I say BAY-UM at the end, because seriously, it just makes me love America. And I've said it before, maybe not on here, but nevertheless: I believe in God, and I refuse to believe that he hates anyone, including gays, because my faith has taught me everything about love.
Also, OMM keeps talking about "remaining neutral in the culture war". I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, but I know it's really offensive. Also hypocritical, because OMM are certainly not remaining neutral in this so-called "culture war". They seem to have taken the "shove our bigoted beliefs down your throats" road.
The "Modern Family" episode where Lily swears (which was hilarious): OMM finds children swearing to be "disturbing behavior". What OMM does not know is that when children swear, they tend to not know what it means. They just think it sounds funny or enjoy their parents' reaction to it. Seriously. I didn't know what the f-word meant until I was in 7th grade. Yes, I knew it was a bad word before then, but not until the 2nd grade. The site for OMM says that when Lily swore (which was actually the word 'fudge' bleeped out), "she smiled every time knowing it was inappropriate". Or maybe she's just a little kid on a TV show who smiles all the time. And I imagine the director told her to smile because she thinks Cam's reaction is funny. So she's ACTING. Because she's an ACTRESS. Also the page for this "issue" unnecessarily mentions that she is the child of a homosexual couple. Way to just throw that in there, OMM. As if we didn't already know you were a bunch of ignorant [bleeps].
Oh Wait, every single one of their issues centers around them being bigots. They bashed Kathy Griffin for posting risque pictures for an LGBT magazine article. They bashed Target (NOT COOL.) for sponsoring an LGBT special on Teen Nick. They bashed Dancing With the Stars for having Chaz Bono (a transgender) as a contestant. They bashed Old Navy for selling Gay Pride shirts. A lot of their issues also revolve around things being "Anti-Christian".
So here's the thing. I took AP Government when I was fourteen. I know about separation of church and state, and I know that there is no national religion. Plus religion can't be taught or promoted in public schools. What OMM clearly fails to understand is that NOT EVERYONE ON THE PLANET IS A CHRISTIAN. They get pissed off a lot about "family companies" like JC Penney, Old Navy, Target, yada yada, for advertising during shows that have slight inapropriate content.
So here's the thing. I watch Mad Men. Also I dabble in the common sense department. So I know that advertising companies probably don't give a flying [bleep] about what shows or channels they are advertising on. They most likely just advertise during the time slots when they expect a lot of people to be watching TV. Modern Family is a popular show. Heck, it's trending on Twitter every time there's a new episode. I imagine that advertising companies have caught on to this and want as many people as possible to see their commercials. They're not in any way saying that they support the content of the shows.
And besides. The content isn't even that bad. When are the One Million Moms going to take the blinders off of their kids? And what can we expect from that generation? I don't want to live in a world where people are ignorant just because somebody is different or think that swearing is ridiculously offensive. I'm lucky to have grown up in a household where I can say what I want in front of my parents, which also tends to make me not want to abuse it. And when I was younger, they explained to me why swear words are considered offensive rather than pretend that they don't exist. When they taught me about gay people, they told me that it's natural and there's nothing wrong with it. So thank you, parents, for not turning me into a [bleep]ing ignorant [bleep].
For more rants, please continue your browsing of this blog, because they're kind of my thing.
Because I have just visited the One Million Moms website, and I just really want to slap a bunch of people. Really. I do.
The "Issues":
JC Penney and Ellen: As many of you probably know, JC Penney has paired up with Ellen for their new advertising campaign and stuff like that. And One Million Moms are pissed off.
Because she's a lesbian.
That just makes me SO MOTHERLOVING ANGRY. Okay. Here's the thing. You call yourselves "One Million MOMS", which must mean that you are mothers who want to create a nice, wholesome world for your kids. YOU ARE BEING HATEFUL PEOPLE. YOU ARE CREATING HATE IN THE WORLD. YOU ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST GOD'S PEOPLE. If you think that being gay is against God, you obviously have not read the rest of Leviticus, because it also says that we can't play football. Might I direct you here, to a video shared with me when I brought up this issue on Facebook a couple months ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSXJzybEeJM
In which the West Wing proves that the rules in the Bible have changed with time. Also every time I watch that clip I say BAY-UM at the end, because seriously, it just makes me love America. And I've said it before, maybe not on here, but nevertheless: I believe in God, and I refuse to believe that he hates anyone, including gays, because my faith has taught me everything about love.
Also, OMM keeps talking about "remaining neutral in the culture war". I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, but I know it's really offensive. Also hypocritical, because OMM are certainly not remaining neutral in this so-called "culture war". They seem to have taken the "shove our bigoted beliefs down your throats" road.
The "Modern Family" episode where Lily swears (which was hilarious): OMM finds children swearing to be "disturbing behavior". What OMM does not know is that when children swear, they tend to not know what it means. They just think it sounds funny or enjoy their parents' reaction to it. Seriously. I didn't know what the f-word meant until I was in 7th grade. Yes, I knew it was a bad word before then, but not until the 2nd grade. The site for OMM says that when Lily swore (which was actually the word 'fudge' bleeped out), "she smiled every time knowing it was inappropriate". Or maybe she's just a little kid on a TV show who smiles all the time. And I imagine the director told her to smile because she thinks Cam's reaction is funny. So she's ACTING. Because she's an ACTRESS. Also the page for this "issue" unnecessarily mentions that she is the child of a homosexual couple. Way to just throw that in there, OMM. As if we didn't already know you were a bunch of ignorant [bleeps].
Oh Wait, every single one of their issues centers around them being bigots. They bashed Kathy Griffin for posting risque pictures for an LGBT magazine article. They bashed Target (NOT COOL.) for sponsoring an LGBT special on Teen Nick. They bashed Dancing With the Stars for having Chaz Bono (a transgender) as a contestant. They bashed Old Navy for selling Gay Pride shirts. A lot of their issues also revolve around things being "Anti-Christian".
So here's the thing. I took AP Government when I was fourteen. I know about separation of church and state, and I know that there is no national religion. Plus religion can't be taught or promoted in public schools. What OMM clearly fails to understand is that NOT EVERYONE ON THE PLANET IS A CHRISTIAN. They get pissed off a lot about "family companies" like JC Penney, Old Navy, Target, yada yada, for advertising during shows that have slight inapropriate content.
So here's the thing. I watch Mad Men. Also I dabble in the common sense department. So I know that advertising companies probably don't give a flying [bleep] about what shows or channels they are advertising on. They most likely just advertise during the time slots when they expect a lot of people to be watching TV. Modern Family is a popular show. Heck, it's trending on Twitter every time there's a new episode. I imagine that advertising companies have caught on to this and want as many people as possible to see their commercials. They're not in any way saying that they support the content of the shows.
And besides. The content isn't even that bad. When are the One Million Moms going to take the blinders off of their kids? And what can we expect from that generation? I don't want to live in a world where people are ignorant just because somebody is different or think that swearing is ridiculously offensive. I'm lucky to have grown up in a household where I can say what I want in front of my parents, which also tends to make me not want to abuse it. And when I was younger, they explained to me why swear words are considered offensive rather than pretend that they don't exist. When they taught me about gay people, they told me that it's natural and there's nothing wrong with it. So thank you, parents, for not turning me into a [bleep]ing ignorant [bleep].
For more rants, please continue your browsing of this blog, because they're kind of my thing.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Long and Contemplative Post Title.
I'm feeling a little...well, I don't really know.
I am feeling rather frustrated that my STUPID L KEY KEEPS STICKING. Stupid key. I was typing a lot today and every time I wrote "love" it said "ove", and then I kept thinking of the Ove Glove and I couldn't take anything seriously anymore. Of course now that I've yelled at it in blog form, it's stopped sticking as much as it has been. Eff you, L key.
So what's going on? A lot. Too much, maybe. I feel like I have a lot on my shoulders right now, and maybe you don't want to hear it. So if you don't want to hear me kind of complain about all this crap I'm dealing with, perhaps skip this and wait until I'm happy and talking about infomercials again.
For one thing, I have a ton and a half of stuff to do. Homework stuff. But I won't complain about that, because I just told you in my last post that you don't care about my AP Class complaints. Let's just leave it at two 300+ page novels due in a week. But hey, I can do it. I've power read stuff before. Heck, I read the majority of The Fault in Our Stars in four hours. And that was about 200 pages. Or so. Bah! I'll make it.
Speaking of The Fault in Our Stars, Forensics season is coming up, and I'm performing a portion of it as a prose piece. I'm kind of excited and kind of nervous, because I want to do it justice. It's a really important book to me, but it's also a little terrifying to think that I'll be interpreting my version of it to strangers. I don't know why that's terrifying. It just is.
And then there's just high school issues. High school comes with drama. Lots. Let this be a lesson to all of you middle-schoolers and freshmen: I don't give a crap and a half if you promised yourself that you wouldn't get involved in high school drama. It's going to happen whether you like it or not. So there.
Well, I guess that wasn't too complainy. I was going to talk more about drama stuff, but I don't want to go posting other people's business on the internet for the world to see. So I'll just leave it at that. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got stuff to do. (:
I am feeling rather frustrated that my STUPID L KEY KEEPS STICKING. Stupid key. I was typing a lot today and every time I wrote "love" it said "ove", and then I kept thinking of the Ove Glove and I couldn't take anything seriously anymore. Of course now that I've yelled at it in blog form, it's stopped sticking as much as it has been. Eff you, L key.
So what's going on? A lot. Too much, maybe. I feel like I have a lot on my shoulders right now, and maybe you don't want to hear it. So if you don't want to hear me kind of complain about all this crap I'm dealing with, perhaps skip this and wait until I'm happy and talking about infomercials again.
For one thing, I have a ton and a half of stuff to do. Homework stuff. But I won't complain about that, because I just told you in my last post that you don't care about my AP Class complaints. Let's just leave it at two 300+ page novels due in a week. But hey, I can do it. I've power read stuff before. Heck, I read the majority of The Fault in Our Stars in four hours. And that was about 200 pages. Or so. Bah! I'll make it.
Speaking of The Fault in Our Stars, Forensics season is coming up, and I'm performing a portion of it as a prose piece. I'm kind of excited and kind of nervous, because I want to do it justice. It's a really important book to me, but it's also a little terrifying to think that I'll be interpreting my version of it to strangers. I don't know why that's terrifying. It just is.
And then there's just high school issues. High school comes with drama. Lots. Let this be a lesson to all of you middle-schoolers and freshmen: I don't give a crap and a half if you promised yourself that you wouldn't get involved in high school drama. It's going to happen whether you like it or not. So there.
Well, I guess that wasn't too complainy. I was going to talk more about drama stuff, but I don't want to go posting other people's business on the internet for the world to see. So I'll just leave it at that. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got stuff to do. (:
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