Post 119: Unrealistic Character Changes

So, I get that Disney and other makers of kid and preteen movies will tone things done and wrap up the story with some sort of happy ending, but it often is way too unrealistic.

The biggest examples I can think of are 1 Chance 2 Dance and Cloud 9.

In both there is a main character and an antagonist that are competing against each other. The antagonist in both goes to extraordinary measures to take out the competition but then, at the end, claps for the main character when they win.

In 1 Chance 2 Dance, the main character and antagonist are both dancers. The antagonist is threatened by the main character, so she steals her partner. But that's not all. She also tricks her into coming to party, where she uses the main character's mother's alcoholism and her crush to hurt her emotionally. But that's not all, either. On the antagonist's behalf, a boy at the party spikes the main character's drink and then tries to get her to lie down and starts to climb on top of her. Now, the main character's love interest pulled him off her, but it is hard to say how far he was supposed to go and what he did as it was, was way over the line. But that still isn't all. The antagonist trips the main character with an intent to injure her, and when the main character is injured, the antagonist insults her again and walks away.

But then when the main character wins she basically shrugs it off and claps for her. After everything she has done to the main character or tried to do to her, it is absolutely out of character for her to not be upset about the main character winning.

In Cloud 9, it is the same ending.

Except in Cloud 9 the main character and antagonist start out on the same team. The main character is not a very good teammate, but the antagonist (the coach) cannot kick her off the team without a reason, so he has his son/her boyfriend get her into trouble.

Except that how he got her into trouble was actually pretty dangerous. She could have gotten seriously hurt. In fact, while they wrap it up like it was just to get her in trouble, it seems more realistic that the dad's actual goal was for her to get hurt, but didn't want to tell his son that.

Anyway, the son and the main character stole someone's sled (which really seems like it should have been enough). They were riding in it and all was well, until the son directed the sled towards a sign, which was really more like a giant billboard, and jumped out so that the main character would crash into it (at his father's behest).

She was lucky she didn't get hurt.

I had a friend when I was younger, a neighbor more than friend, and she cracked her skull open while sledding. She needed 19 stitches. Thankfully, she was alright but it was day and there were a lot of people around to help her. And it was not a steep hill and it was not a big hill, she just hit a patch of ice the wrong way and next thing she knew she was in the hospital.

The main character wasn't on a hill. It was a mountain. And it was steep and there were trees and she was sent directly into a giant sign. And it was night. And the guys she was with ran away, if she had been hurt there wouldn't have been people to help her. She was seriously lucky.

And yet, the coach clapped at the end like him sabotaging her and putting her life in danger were really no big deal.

There have been other shows or movies where this has come up and I don't get it. It doesn't really seem realistic and I'm sure (well, I suspect) I am not the only person out there thinking it is ridiculous and unfair.

Both these people got away with it and it is hard to say which is worse. On the one hand, the antagonist in 1 Chance 2 Dance went further, especially when she drugged the main character, but on the other side the antagonist in Cloud 9 was her coach, an adult who is supposed to take care of his team and be responsible for their safety, not jeopardize it. And they both showed in doing these acts, as well as the mention of the antagonist in 1C2D having a history of this kind of behavior, they will probably continue it.

They got away with it after all.

I would have liked to see the coach fired. Especially since what he did came out in front of her dad (who, technically, signs his paychecks and could have fired him or sued him)  but he wasn't fired and his team wasn't disqualified, it showed no repercussions for his behavior. Same with the antagonist in 1 Chance 2 Dance, she wasn't disqualified, or suspended, or punished, or anything.

So, my biggest problems with this should now be clear: they wouldn't have clapped, it isn't in their nature, and they will do it again, so there is no real happy ending.

Post 118: Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas (Dec. 25th)! 

Happy Hanukkah ( Dec. 16th - Dec. 24th )! 

Happy Kwanzaa ( Dec. 26th - Jan. 1st ).

Happy Holidays ( Jan. 1st - Dec. 31st )!

This will be a pretty short post, it is a holiday after all. So, happy holidays all no matter what you celebrate or if you celebrate at all this month.

For Christmas this year, like most years, I am visiting family in upstate New York. In fact, as I write this I am on my way from my dad's to my aunt and uncle's. It is about a four hour drive, and don't worry, I am not the one driving.

Christmas music is playing and there is snow on the ground. It is a very Christmas-y scene. Not quite movie level picturesque as it has been uncharacteristically warm this December. In fact, it was in the 50's the other day. So, there isn't quite as much snow as there has been in the past.

Which makes the drive safer, at least.

Anyway, we are on our way with a van full of gifts and toys for relatives and other random things that have accumulated over the years. 

Every year, I usually get something small for everyone. Which sounds pretty obvious, but because their are so many people in our family, we have a system in place where everyone buys for the kids and then it is set up kind of like a secret Santa where every family gets gifts for another family, but not something for everyone. By family I mean, husband, wife, and kid or married couple or single person or parent and kid, etc. I guess, household might be a better way of explaining it. 

Anyway, since I was a kid I got something from everyone, I (with my dad's sponsorship) got something for everyone. This year I made necklaces. Which was fun. I like making things. There is something both wonderfully entertaining and completely satisfying in creating things, whether it be blog posts, stories, jewelry, paintings, pie, jam, characters, etc. 

It was fun. I really enjoyed it. The first time I ever made anything in the way of jewelry was probably when I was like 11, it was a bracelet. My mom got a jewelry kit because she was considering taking it up as a hobby and she got me some stuff too. I really liked the bracelet I made and I liked making it, but I didn't like how much the beads, wire, fasteners, and other supplies cost. 

The next time I got into it again, it was with rainbow beads and elastic cord. They were not as nice as the previous bracelet. However, they were just as fun to make and the supplies was a lot cheaper. Also, because there were not as many small pieces involved I could make them anywhere. 

My dad has at least four, I probably have at least six and I have probably made at least a hundred in the past few years. Though, I tend to give them away or lose them, so I don't know where a majority of them are anymore.

The necklaces I made for Christmas are not rainbow beads and elastic cord. They are wire and beads and charms and other miscellaneous things that can be found in the crafts' section of any store that has a crafts' section.

I don't have any pictures of them. In fact, since all but two (one for my mom, who I hope doesn't read this before I give it to her, and one I am wearing because I made it as a tester) are wrapped up in a box with wrapping paper and stored in another box in a bag in the back of the van. 

Anyway, this has gotten longer than I expected it would and my hand is getting a little sore from writing this on my iPad without my handy Bluetooth keyboard, so I'm going to end this here.

Happy Holidays!!! 

Post 117: Don't Try This At Home

'Don't try this at home' is something that I remember appearing on the bottom of my TV screen a lot when I was younger, for commercials and TV shows alike. I don't see it as often now. Perhaps it is what I'm watching now. The assumption might now be that the audience is old enough not to blindly attempt the stunts being shown. However, that doesn't seem overly likely. I mean, knives come with instructions and logs for the fire come with warnings that they are flammable.

So, where are the warnings now? Probably buried in the credits or tiny print that shows up for commercials at times which has the warnings and restrictions,  essentially the fine print of whatever it is. 

Why am I writing about this?

Because I ignored the warnings and tried something I saw in a movie. I successfully completed the stunt. By successfully, I mean I didn't kill myself and caught the knife with only a small amount of blood shed.

So, I got a pocket knife recently. Not that I have any desire to use it or really any need to use it, but I'm hoping to take it with me back to CAN. My idea of Canada as a safe place is not as strong as it used to be. This year alone there were approx. 44 murders in the lower mainland area alone in BC. Including a teenage girl who was found murdered not far from my school campus. 

This new knowledge as well as the the recent statistics coming out about rape (98% of rapists won't spend a day in jail, approximately 70% of rapes aren't reported, 1 out of every 6 women in the U.S. has been the victim of either sexual assault or rape, 17.7 million American women alone have been the victims of sexual assault or rape, etc.) makes commuting home especially after late night classes a little unnerving.

I mean, I want to say that it's not likely something will happen, but statistics suggest that it is more likely than people would like to think.

So, I think I would feel more comfortable just knowing I had something that I could use if the worst were to happen. 

Anyway, with this new pocket knife, I was kind of playing around. I mean, I have never had one other than the little Swiss Army ones so I wanted to make sure I knew how to open and close it. Which was actually a little more difficult than I had imagined. And I happened to remember something I had seen someone do with a pocket knife in a movie. It was like a flick and spin thing. 

I tried. I got the spin except it spun down instead of up. I got the flick except it flicked a little more than I had expected. Long story short I have two band-aids on the back of my leg and one on my finger, because that is the extent in which this went wrong. And yet, I still caught it and I didn't lose any fingers or nick any major or minor arteries. 

So, for the most part, I would list this as a successful attempt that I will not repeat again.

Anyway, I didn't have that much to say with this other than what I've written above. So, Happy Holiday Season all!

Post 116: Don't Die, Just Dye

This is kind of a review, but kind of not. So, it will be my review post for the month, but will also be counted in my post count (Post 116). If I had the time I would separate the three main brands I use and post them as part of my monthly reviews. However, I don't have that much to say and what good does it do people if I only do one or two. They can't compare them.

So, as anyone who has met me in person may know, my hair tends to change color. As of late I have been adding less natural colors. I've pretty consistently had a streak in my bangs . It goes from green to blue to purple and I recently added red to the end of the streak. However,  I also added a green and red striped streak for Christmas. 

For this I used three different brands, mostly because that is what I have and it is expensive to buy new product every time. The three main kinds I use are Splat!, Manic Panic, and Punky color.

Splat!

The cheapest from most places for what you get and how far it will go, but more limited color selection. I think there is only red, green, blue, purple, pink, and aqua. Which is really enough.

It comes in a box with a bottle of dye, a pair of gloves, and a set of instructions. Which is nice. I usually buy a pack of cheap, disposable plastic gloves from the Dollar Store to use but the instructions are nice for people who don't dye their hair often and wonder about timing. Also people who don't do it as often as I do, won't need multiple pairs of gloves for constant upkeep.

This one is also nice because it works for either streaking or for doing all your hair.

It also comes with a product to lighten the hair before adding color. 

Over all, this is probably my favorite. It takes the least amount of time to get the color to stick, the time between fading is the least and it smells the best.

The only downside is that sometimes it bleeds. This isn't always the case, but on occasion I have had colors bleed. By this I mean that if it rained, sometimes slightly tinted streams of water would run down my face. This isn't always the case, as I said, and most often it only occurred when I mixed colors or products. 

Manic Panic

Both Manic Panic and Punky color some in small jars. Manic Panic being in the smaller of the two selections and the most expensive. It usually costs about $15 dollars per jar. It takes longer than Splat! but not as long as Punky color.

Manic Panic does have the added benefit that it is Vegan and not tested on animals. Though, I'm not sure what would be in hair dye that would make them non-Vegan. It has a wider variety of colors than Splat! and various shades with in the basic colors.

It also adds new colors every once and awhile as well, so their selection is growing.

I have not had the problem of color bleeding with Manic Panic that I had with Splat!

However, it is also the most expensive for the amount that you get and I have had to double the time in my hair for some of the colors to show up (meaning, some colors can take two hours or two one hour applications - this often happened with green).

Punky Color

Even though this costs about the same amount as Splat! and doesn't bleed it often takes at least an hour for the color to stick. However, the main reason I don't use it whenever it is possible (sometime it is the only brand I have the color I want in), is because I find that it seems to make my hair feel dry. Splat! and Manic Panic while surely not great for my hair, don't seem to negatively effect my hair as much as this product does.

Overall, Splat! is my favorite because I like the price, the minimal time required, and the brightness of the color. Manic Panic has the same brightness but takes more time and more money, however for people who live in rainy climates or are deeply concerned by the possibility of color bleeding, I recommend it over Splat! Punky Color, I don't really recommend based on my experience with it.

Post 115: Counterpoint - Mulan

So, as some of you may know, I have a series dedicated to finding the plot holes in things. In this post, I am going to be doing the opposite. I am going to try and fill the plot hole in.

The plot hole I am going to be working with today? Mulan. 

Recently, I stumbled across a post on a blog that was dedicated to the 7 biggest movie plot holes. Mulan was listed, because Mulan was sent home for not being able to keep up with the other men. It was pointed out that her father would not have done any better, he could barely walk without his cane and therefore definitely wouldn't have been able to run with them. 

Definitely seems like a big plot hole, so let's see if we can't fill it in. 

The best explanation I can come up with other than 'its just a movie, don't over think it' is seniority. Her father had a suit of armor just sitting in a closet. So, he had obviously been to war before. Mulan, or "Ping", was a new recruit who had never seen battle or been trained for battle. 

So, my guess is that her father would not have gone through the same kind of training. He would have more likely been recruited as an officer or general. Perhaps, he would even be responsible for some of the training. 

If he was of a higher rank, he would most likely not have needed to face the same tests - therefore, it wouldn't have mattered that he couldn't run, because they wouldn't make him run. 

I think this point is further supported in that none of the other people Mulan is training with are older. They are almost all relatively young men. So, my guess is that older men, were sent somewhere else to train.

Or did not need the same training as their younger counterparts. 

Either way, he would have been in danger because he would be leaving the safety of his own home to go out to where the battle was being fought. And since he handed his cane away, it might have implied he was the type to push himself too far and end up getting himself hurt just by not properly taking care of himself. So, Mulan's actions still made sense as a way of protecting her father. 

In conclusion, I say it was not a plot hole. Just something that went unexplained. 

Post 114: Quotables 3

I wasn't really expecting to continue this series too much. I mean, at some point you run out of different shows and things. But, since I've recently started new shows and decided to do movies as well, it could be a never-ending series as new movies and shows continue to come out. However, in an attempt to keep them sorted, I am going to categorize them more.

So, this will be the insult/insulting comments/comebacks edition. Only to be used under certain circumstances, if at all.

American Horror Story:
Season 4, Ep. 4 - 'Edward Mordrake Pt. 2'

E: "You are a tattered waste of oxygen who bolsters herself with contempt for others."

Monk:

Season 7, Ep. 14 - 'Mr. Monk and the Bully'

R: "I hear you went a little crazy since high school. Now I just need to know, is it funny crazy or sad crazy?"

Veronica Mars:

Movie (2014)

W: "When Logan said 'jump', did you actually say 'how high' or was there just an understanding that you would achieve max verticality?"

Reign:

Season 2, Ep. 8 - 'Terror of the Faithful'

C: "The only people in bed past noon are drunks and reprobates."

Pretty Little Liars:

Season 5, Ep. 4 - 'Thrown from the Ride'

"Aria, you need to take a psychological selfie right now."

Pan Am:

Season 1, Ep. 10 - 'Secrets and Lies'

D: "I thought you'd be gone. And by thought I mean hoped."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Season 3, Ep. 20 - 'The Prom'

G: "For God's sake, man, she's 18, and you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about."

Post 113: The Wait Continues

I'm growing more and more anxious every day waiting to hear back. But I know that it will be at least another ten days. But it is getting to be too intense. How much longer will I be able to take it?

It is crazy. I feel like I am going to go crazy. This happened last time as well.

Though, it was better last time because it was stories instead of poetry. Poetry is so much more personal and while I enjoy writing stories, they aren't just for me. Poetry I write for me.

Anyway, I have been trying to keep my mind off of it.

It hasn't been working and writing this isn't helping.

Which is why this post is going to be so short, so short in fact that I am actually going to end here.

I'll write more next time.

Post 112: Catching Flies

I think this phrase is not particularly accurate. Not that I have spent much time trying to catch flies, and if I were, it wouldn't be with honey or vinegar it would be one of those fly strips. I mean, let's face it, sure the flies will go to honey, but as sticky as it is, it might not actually trap them unless they land in it.

The same way just being nice to people might attract them to you, but it won't actually guarantee their continued presence in your life. Not to say that it would be better to be sour to people. However, there is more to keeping friends than just being nice.

Actually, I read an article that says being nice all the time can actually hurt you. Not in the 'people might take advantage of you' kind of way, but in a people find it annoying and tiresome. The article recommends that for every four good deeds you reach around and slap someone in the back of the head. Not literally, I suppose, but...who knows.

Still, it makes sense. People finding it off-putting when they are around people who are always happy or cheerful, seems like the same would be true if they were around someone who was always nice and sweet but never anything else.

If changed to 'attracting' flies with honey it might make more sense. But even then it is a little sketchy. If someone genuinely wants to attract people, they obviously will be nicer to them.

However, what works even more accurately is -

'You attract more flies with B.S. than with honey'. While literally it makes sense, metaphorically it also rings a little true.

Telling someone what they want to hear as opposed to just being nice, will more than likely get them to come by easier.

Like, 'you are such a great singer' sounds a lot better than, 'it wasn't bad, but I think you should probably do something else'. However, it could hurt them more in the long run.

Anyway, I like the phrase and there are moments where it does make sense. But, other than moments where someone is being annoying or rude to someone else, wherein they know exactly what they are doing, it serves no real purpose.

Post 111: How To: Survive Week One.

So, I started a diet a few weeks ago. As many others who have dieted know, the first week is the hardest as you get used to the shift in your diet: from normal foods, comfort foods, and sometimes junk foods to healthy foods.

My mom and I have done lots of different diets and I have had family do a variety of diets. The one that has been the most beneficial and had the most impact, I've found, is the South Beach Diet. The first two weeks are by far the most extreme. 

The first two weeks is no fruit, no starches, no sugar. Basically, it is vegetables and meat. However, one thing that doesn't go away is cheese. Though, it is still limited. It also has morning and afternoon snacks. Anyway, this post isn't about the South Beach Diet (http://www.southbeachdiet.com/) it is about surviving week 1 of a diet, any diet. 

The three biggest tips I can give:

1. Start a blog/journal/diary. 
2. Don't sweat the small stuff. 
3. One weigh or no weigh. 

It is helpful to start a blog/journal/diary. Each one will have a different purpose depending on which is best for you. Journals are good as a way of keeping track of what you ate, drank, or did (like exercising). Diaries are more of a narrative. You keep track of things still, but when you talk more about other things as well like how you are feeling and things like that. Blogs can be a combination of the two, but is really best for support. There are a lot of people out there who are doing them who you can support and you will find that people will support you as well. 

Don't sweat the small stuff is a very important lesson to learn. I have seen people throw away a diet because they cheated in that first week. It is important overall, but especially in that first week, not to let cheating become a reason to quit. If you cheat once or twice, don't just give up on the diet. Don't throw the towel in. Think of it like learning a skill, just because you stumbled or struggle doesn't mean you should just give up. It is better to cheat once and awhile than give up on the diet completely. 

One weigh or no weigh is something that I think might work for some people more than others. I think that for the first week, stay off the scales entirely or only weigh yourself at the beginning. The first week, I think it is important that you focus on how you feel. Some people feel like they lose a lot of weight during that first week, even when they only lose 2 pounds. After the first week I think it is important to remember this as well. Losing weight in healthy weigh is only a few pounds a week, so checking more than once a month can be discouraging. Overall, I actually don't check the scale at all. I think this helps me because I am not doing the diet because I want to be a specific weight. The main reason I am doing it is because I want to be healthier and feel healthier. 

I think that looking at the numbers too much can detract from that. And week 1, when you are still at the beginning, and not truly committed yet it is easy to be disheartened when you are craving things the most and not seeing results yet. 

So, that is my advice. 

Post 110: WYCLF - Veronica Mars

There are lines everywhere. I don't mean lines at amusement parks. I don't mean geometric lines. I mean, lines in the sand, lines dividing two things under two different labels. The difference between being a strong character and a mean character, for example.

Most of the time, I like Veronica. She is strong and independent. She takes care of her friends and genuinely seems to empathize with her clients. However, there are a few times where she goes too far.

She talks a lot about how she was treated at the school. Her back story is a pretty classic, girl was popular something happens, girl is no longer popular so her "friends" turn on her. She says she cannot pretend that nothing happened and she is mad at them for what they did. However, she seems to lump together all the students in her school with the ones that turned on her.

The only friend she really has is someone who is new to the school.

And she is kind of rude to everyone else. A girl who she doesn't even really know comes to her after her dog goes missing and Veronica blows her off. She not only blows her off but does it in a really mean way. She later helps her, but she was still mean.

On her first day of University in her Criminology class, the Professor sets up have a game. The point of the game is a murder mystery, like Clue, but without the board. Everyone gets a card with their back story and everyone goes around and interviews people to figure it out.

The TA holds the current record for the fastest time to solve it.

Veronica Googles the game and finds the answer. She then mocks the TA for taking so long. She didn't really prove anything. She didn't show herself to be that smart. Anyone could have Googled it. She also ruined it for everyone. This was supposed to be a fun activity for everyone to do, not just to introduce them to the course but to get them to talk to each other.

What she did ended the game after only 5 minutes. She didn't break the rules, but she did violate the spirit of the game. Like using a Dictionary while playing Scrabble or mouthing the word during Charades.

Her then turning around and mocking the TA was horrible, because he actually put in the effort to get the answer by playing the game. I mean, she acts very superior. But I can't help but wonder, would she have been able to solve it as fast if she hadn't looked it up? He copped some attitude about her reading instead of playing, so I get why she would be annoyed at him, but, really, it wasn't the place to be reading to begin with. If she was finished she could have told the Professor or done something else, but reading a magazine gave off the impression she didn't really care about the class at all. It was almost like she was daring him or the Professor to say something so she could throw it back in their face.

And she was actually wrong. She said she knew who solved it, but she didn't. It was either a man or a woman, and she didn't know which. She counted on either the Professor or TA giving it away. If the professor had said 'their' instead of 'his', then she wouldn't have known.

There are several other moments where she crosses the line. This got me thinking about her as a character. I don't think I could be friends with her if she was a real person. She seems sort of two-faced.

She realized that she was perceived negatively, but she didn't seem to think she actually was doing anything wrong.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that in the 3 seasons the four or five moments where she crosses the line between stubborn and strong-willed into being right out mean really have an effect on how her character is seen.

Her character was always kind of witchy (with a b) from that first moment she crossed the line on.

I think this kind of speaks to the point that there are some lines you can't really come back from once you cross them. 

For example, if you start off being mean to someone, you never really get their trust back.

And that sometimes when writing female characters, there is a difference between strong and independent and rude and arrogant.

Like the difference between CJ and Mandy from West Wing.

Post 109: Soon is not Soon Enough

How soon is soon and is it soon enough to keep me from freaking out?

"I'll be there soon." "See you soon."I'll get back to you soon."

When? When is soon? Is soon a week from now? A month from now? A day? Ten minutes? How soon is soon?

And will I stop freaking out until I know? No. I won't.

Guess what! The semester is past the half way point. The end is near. Which is both very sad and exciting. I have really enjoyed my classes, even Latin has been better than I thought it would be. 

Those who have seen my earlier posts might recall one of my classes from this semester causing me to have a slight spazz attack. Creative Writing: Fiction. It was the portfolio. It threw me. It made me unbelievably nervous. 

What if I didn't get it in? What would that mean? Would it mean anything? 

Well, I've done it to myself again. 

Creative Writing: Poetry.

I'm so excited. I submitted my portfolio and the professor said I would hear back from him soon. I'm assuming that means that it will be once the submission deadline passes next month. However, in the meantime, I'm going to continue to freak out. 

Since, I am on my phone currently. I am going to keep this short.

I'll post again soon.

Post 108: Story Cubes: Rolls 3 & 4

So, just a refresher as to what this series is all about: I have a small bag of dice (9 dice total) that all have random pictures on each side. I am going to roll them twice and try to come up with a story synopsis that encompasses, most if not all of them. 

I have already rolled it twice in a previous post, so this will be rolls 3 and 4. 

Here we go:

Roll 3:

A key, a cane, a fish, a moon, a sleeping face, a lock, a smiling face, a tree, and a turtle. 

The combination of the turtle and fish could be interpreted as an underwater setting. The moon and sleeping face combined with the turtle and fish make me think of a girl who when she goes to sleep dreams of being underwater. Or, perhaps, is enchanted so that at night she changes into a mermaid, or into a human from a mermaid. The lock and key with the smiling face can be combined together to show that she is on a quest, she finishes the quest and gets a happy ending. The tree, which looks similar to a Christmas tree, could reflect the time of year as December. The cane could be an older relative, perhaps a grandparent, that advises her.

If we put that all together:

Human by day and mermaid by night, Asherah is different from the rest of her family. She dreams of a world where creatures of the land and sea live in harmony. After sneaking out on land one day, she meets her grandmother who made her home in a grotto. Her grandmother tells her that she decided to stay on land after falling in love with a land walker. She explains to Asherah that she had a child with the human, and that is why Asherah is unique. Asherah makes it her mission to find her grandfather and, hopefully, find out how the dispute between the two sides began. 

Roll 4:

A scale, a castle, a sheep, a wand, a shooting star, masks of Thalia and Melpomene (comedy and tragedy), an apple, an arrow, and an evil shadow. 

The castle and wand can be put together as the setting as a medieval time where magic exists. The sheep could be taken as the main character being Shepard. The arrow and apple could represent an archery contest. The shooting star could be a wish. The scales of good and evil mixed with the evil shadow behind a person could be an internal struggle inside the main character between good and evil. The masks could indicate the genre as Drama.

If we put that all together:

Dyson, a Shepard, who dreams of a better life spends his nights watching his family's flock and wishing on stars. One day, after hearing about an archery contest taking place at the palace, he wishes for better archery skills to win. The wish comes true and the prize is the Princess's hand in marriage. Shortly after the wedding, the king passes away and the kingdom shifts under Dyson's control. As he discovers how much power he has, it starts to go to his head. Will Dyson lose himself to the temptation of power? What will happen to the kingdom  under his control?

Post 107: Revolving Door of Men

That sounds like a really provocative title. Or just a very strange one. This post will be an internal debate between myself and myself, over a fictional character's love life. Whose to say who will win such an equally matched debate?


On the one side, I will be arguing the commonly held opinion that the main character should have ended up with one of the three men in her life. On the other side, I will argue that none of them were really right for her, so it was better she didn't end up with any of them.

The character: Lorelai (Rory) Gilmore. Men: Dean, Jess, and Logan. (Not including any of the potential love interests that didn't make it to boyfriend status: like Tristan or Marty).

She should have ended up with Dean. He was kind to her. He always loved her, even after getting married. Two out of the three times they broke up, it was only because he felt insecure and didn't think he was good enough for her. This showed how much he thought of her. He was also more supportive than either of her other two love's and he got along with her mother.

She should not have ended up with Dean because even though he loved her his insecurities lead to them breaking up twice. And the main reason he didn't think he was good enough for her, was because he kind of wasn't. He didn't go to college, or he did but then dropped out, he talked about going and then suggested he couldn't go to class and then it didn't come up. He married someone else, who he didn't love. He cheated on his wife, multiple times. And even though he told Rory that he would have left his wife if she hadn't found out about the fair, he had shown no indications of that so I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't have. He bailed on Rory twice. He used his little sister to try and break her and her boyfriend up. Meanwhile, she was a straight-A student who got into all three Ivy league Universities she applied to. She wanted to be a journalist and see the world. He wanted to get married and have a kid. There is nothing wrong with what he wanted to do, but he would have either held her back or they would have broken up because he would get too paranoid about her not being home all the time.

She should have ended up with Jess. He loved her. They had a lot of the same interests. He was kind to her. They had really good chemistry together. Even though she was with Dean he still went out of his way for her. He even came back several times in the show and said he still loved her. He was the one in the end that helped her see straight and helped snap her back to her old self after she dropped out of Yale.

He was horribly rude to her mother and, basically, everyone else in town. He was a partier and even though he was smart, maybe even as smart as she was, he ditched so many classes he didn't even graduate high school. And the only reason that he did things for her, the only reason that he was nice when she was with Dean, was to steal her from Dean. He literally told her that the only reason he participated in the town events was to win her over and that now that they were together he had no reason to go anymore. He then bailed on her for prom and left town without giving her any notice. When he showed up again he avoided her, told her he loved her and then bailed again. He didn't take her feelings into consideration, he only tried to force his own on her. He did seem to mature through the final seasons, however, he still has things he needs to do in order to get himself and his life in order. If she were to end up with any of the three, he seems like the best in the later seasons, but not for a  few more years after the show.

She should have ended up with Logan. He was like a mix of Dean and Jess. He was nice like Dean, but he was adventurous and smart like Jess. He loved her. He changed to try to be with her. He was supportive of her and encouraged her to live her life to the fullest.


And he was also a jerk. Perhaps even worse than Jess because he was two-faced. This was most thoroughly demonstrated when he first officially met Rory's grandparents and he stole something from them. He sat around joking with them then stole something that had value to them. The maid was almost fired, possibly to be arrested as well, because of his actions but it wasn't until Rory's mother demanded he hand it over that he gave it back. Rory didn't say anything either. She knew he had it and that a woman was about to be fired for his actions, but said nothing. He was a poor influence on her. He was the one she stole a boat with. He was the one that led to her dropping out of Yale. He is the one that got her into trouble on multiple occasions. He let her drop everything she had ever wanted and he supported her only in the sense that he did nothing at all. He didn't try to help her. Plus, he cheated on her. They were taking some time apart and he slept with or "fooled around" with at least four women. (If you have seen Friends, you will know about the "we were on a break!" plot, which is also used here.)  He later started to act like a jerk after losing a large amount of money. He went partying and went to Vegas instead of being a mature adult and dealing with it. The only reason she forgave him for this is because he injured himself. He didn't actually learn a lesson, she was just so scared of losing him that she felt guilty he almost died when they were fighting. In the end, he gave her an ultimatum, "marry me or we're through", on her graduation day. So, he broke up with her on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. And only shortly after he basically proved that he was still as reckless and haphazard with his life and other people's money as he had ever been. 

It was good that she didn't end up with any of the guys because on multiple occasions she let a guy lead her away from her dreams. In the very first episode, she wants to back out of going to Chilton so she has more of a chance to be with a guy, a guy she had ONE conversation with (literally, one. He says sorry she is leaving and that he noticed her around, and she is ready to throw away something she'd been working like crazy for). This same guy is the one who later pulls her into having an affair with him, even though he was only recently married. She then tries to DEFEND what he did, because he was "her's". She dated other people since and treated him horribly, he moved on and got married but he was "her's".

She treats Dean horribly because of Jess. She gets into her most serious fights with her mother of Dean. She becomes a homewrecker and ruins her reputation in town because of Dean. She is partially responsible for Jess crashing his car into a store front, hurting herself and ruining the storefront. She ditches school because of Jess. She misses her mother's graduation because of Jess. She drops out of Yale because of things that happened with Logan. She steals a boat with Logan. She jumps of a high place because Logan asks her to. She treats her friend badly because of Logan. She lies to her closest friends because of Marty, a guy she wasn't even dating.

In the entire show from the time she turned 16, she was never really single for very long.She needs to go and live, and be single for awhile. Even when she was single, there were always guys around who wanted to be with her (Marty, for example). It will be good for her to be unattached during the time after the show when she goes to travel the world and write about everything she sees. She can learn to be more independent so when the right guy comes along (whether he be a previous love interest or a new one) she can be in a relationship with them without sacrificing what she has worked so hard for.

Post 106: Rain, Rain Go Away

The rain has been crazy here lately. It is very stormy outside. The winds are a-howling, the trees are a-swaying, and the temperature is dropping. The time is coming. It is almost winter. Soon, the rain will give way to snow. Am I looking forward to that? Yes and no.

I like the snow. Snowball fights and snow angels are both fun activities for the snow. However, it doesn't really snow that much here. Not really, anyway. When I visit my family in New York, it isn't a lot of snow if you can see over the piles of it. People still leave their houses after four - five feet of snow. Here if there is a foot people start getting panicky.

So, it isn't really a lot of snow to work with. Also, it tends to melt during the day and then become ice. Ice isn't as fun. And it means the snow is not really building up and that it isn't readily available when I'm willing to freeze my toes off.

So, do I like snow? Yes.

But I don't like the cold. And I would like the snow to have a use. I sound very practical sometimes, thinking about the value of having a use. However, not everything needs a use or to serve a purpose, but it doesn't have one or the other it better be warm or it better be really pleasant to look at.

I liked the rain last Wednesday. I went to Fright Nights and it bucketed down. Which might not sound like a huge amount of fun, but the rain drove a lot of people home. So, there was really short lines for everything. I think the longest my friends and I ever had to wait was about 20 minutes for one of the Haunted Houses. Some of which we just walked right into. We managed to get through like four or five rides and ALL the houses.

We had friends go the next night, which was rain free, and they only made it through two and waited hours to go through. So, rain was on our side for that.

It was so cold, though. I was freezing by the time I got home.

Still, while the rain was nice then, it isn't any more. Now it is more of a hindrance than a help. And who wants to walk home on a grey, cold rainy day. Anyone? Probably not.

I miss Summer. I won't as much when it gets here and the temperature reaches scorching, but right now I miss it.

Post 105: What Big Picture? The Purge

Let me start off by saying I haven't watched this movie or its sequel. I have a big problem with the movie's premise.

Essentially, according to the trailer and description, the movie is set in a universe like our own, except that every year there is an annual 'Purge' where for 12 hours all crime is legal. During this 12 hours, the country/town/world (I actually don't know what scale the purge is on) falls into chaos.

The main premise of this movie seems to be: the only thing keeping people from turning into thieves, murderers, and rapists is fear of punishment.

This raises a lot of questions for me, both about the movie and about what that would actually mean.

Some of the questions I have:

1. If this was an annual thing, wouldn't stores have really good security? And wouldn't people have a whole heck of a lot of security features on their house?
2. If it is legal for 12 hours and illegal again after, can people be persecuted and/or prosecuted for things that they did during that time once they are illegal again? What if they committed assault during the 12 hours, but then the person died after the 12 hours were up? What about people who committed theft? It is illegal to possess stolen property, so even if it was legal to steal it, it would be illegal to own it.
3. Is this like the Hunger Games, where there is really only a loose explanation of why they are doing this and everyone just accepts it?
4. If this is more than just a city, is the 12 hours different depending on the time zone?
5. If people do steal from work or don't show up to work or hit their boss while it isn't a crime, can they be fired for their actions later?
6. What about religion? Just because murder is suddenly legal, doesn't suddenly mean that there aren't religious or moral reasons not to do it. So, does this proposed place not have religions?
7. If people do turn into murders just like that, then why don't people just lock themselves in a panic room for 12 hours? I mean, is that one person they sort of want dead really worth risking being killed themselves?
8. Why are people suddenly hurting people? I mean, I feel like theft would be a much bigger issue than assault or murder.
9. Just because it is legal, doesn't mean it is okay. There aren't laws against having affairs or insulting people, but that doesn't make them right. So, are people really just like 'oh, cool murder is legal now; let's go kill that co-worker who was annoying me'? And I mean, what about after? Are their coworkers just going to go back to work and be like "oh yeah, you murdered an entire family of people, but its cool because it was during the purge so can I borrow a stapler?" 
10. Doesn't the idea that it is only the consequences that matter suggest that the people in this place would do all the same things if they thought that they wouldn't be caught? So, it isn't really even the laws that were stopping them to begin with.

Sometimes I consider watching, just to see if any of these questions are answered. However, I keep coming back to the fact that this just seems like such a disturbing idea to me. 

Post 104: Pet Peeves Series - Unspoken Changes of Plans

"Let's meet at noon instead of 11." "We'll be home closer to 8 than 7." "I can't give you a ride."

All good things to actually say, rather than assume someone knows. This might go a little past pet peeve level. But, it depends on the situation too.

Recently I made plans to meet a couple people for one of my classes to study. One of them canceled, which was fine. The other didn't. So, I showed up at the time we were set to meet. When I got there I waited. And waited. Ten minutes after the time we were supposed to meet, I sent her a message asking where she was. Ten minutes later I got a text that said she was at the mall, that she had to pick something up but would be at school soon. 

Basically, she decided to change her plans and not tell me. I would have been totally fine with meeting later. I could have blogged, I could have gotten coffee, etc. But instead, I rushed to get a table so we would have a place to work. And I waited there instead of getting food so we didn't lose the table. 

It was only half hour really that went to waste. But it still annoys me that she didn't just tell me. 

This came up again not that long ago. My step-sister and I each have a night where we are supposed to make dinner. 

So, I expect to make dinner and usually ask about a time to have it ready. 

Of course, plans change and suddenly no one will be home for dinner, only one person, dinner will be later, someone is running late, etc. But I don't get told. 

Which is frustrating. When you spend an hour cooking dinner even though you have other stuff to do, only to realize you will be the only person home. It is really frustrating. 

I kind of get that sometimes people don't want to say that plans have changed. Especially if they promised to do something for someone, but then can't, but it is better to tell them rather than to just not do it. 

I can adapt to change, I can't deal with making plans and then having people flake out.  

Post 103: What Big Picture?: Hogwarts' Houses

Over thinking, a term used when someone gets nit-picky about the details. Often used when someone loses focus on the big picture when watching a movie, book, or TV show. Basically, they start getting a little too hung up on the fact that reality doesn't always hold a place in works of fiction.

This will be a series where I do just that.

Starting with Harry Potter's famous houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

Here are some of the main traits associated with each house:

Gryffindor - individualistic, daring, desire for fame, adventurous. 
Ex. Thor would probably be a Gryffindor.

Hufflepuff - practical, humble, loyal, risk averse. 
Ex. Spiderman would probably be a Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw - wise, curious, creative, fair. 
Ex. Bruce Banner (not Hulk-Banner) would probably be a Ravenclaw.

Slytherin -  cunning, confrontational, traditional, group-oriented. 
Ex. Natasha (Black Widow) would probably be a Slytherin.

Now, what is my problem with the Houses? I actually have four problems with them.

1.) What's the point?
2.) More harm than good.
3.) Why isn't this setting off red flags?
4.) Stereotyping.

What's the point? It seems very clear that students are divided into houses based on their personality. But, what is the point of that? They still take all the same classes so it isn't like they are being divided to give them the best education. If they were divided and given different classes or at least classes in different styles to best address what they want to learn or how they learn then I would understand it.

However, this does not seem to be the case. So, dividing them by personality seems to serve no purpose.

More harm that good. Separating them into houses by personality means that they get very limited interaction with people who are different than them. Outside of classes, they never really had to work with people that were different. They are even separated for meals. Which means that they are not being properly prepared for when they leave school and have to work in an environment where they might be surrounded by people with different values, ideas, and personalities.

Red flags. I suppose this could be tied in with the first one. However, one thing that annoys me is something that came up in the first book/movie. Ron: "There wasn't a witch or wizard that went bad that wasn't in Slytherin". So, basically, everyone who has ever gone bad - was in one house. And no one stopped and said, 'hm, maybe we should do something about this?' (In the books, this isn't the case but seems to still be the case that like 90% of those who went bad were in Slytherin).

I'm not saying they should assume being in Slytherin makes a person bad, but perhaps they could have put in measures to prevent future Slytherins from going bad. Like maybe classes in tolerance or counselling. Maybe some sort of Muggle outreach. Because a lot of them have problems with Muggles, but really going to a school miles away from any and surrounding them with other people who think muggles are inferior isn't going to help them better accept them.

And I happened across Fanfiction that had a legitimate point about the problems that could come up in allowing Muggle-Born students into magic schools. And it was that because they have a stronger tie to the muggle world they are more likely to inadvertently expose magic. And, looking at Hogwarts curriculum, a lot of the things they are learning will only be helpful if they stay in the magical world.

How are potions or the historical wizards going to help them if they want to be a muggle lawyer?

So, there are some legitimate issues. But, at the same time, not teaching them how to control their magic is just as dangerous. But these are all issues that could be resolved if there were talks and discussions to help address these issues that some of the Slytherins have.

Stereotyping. There is a lot of stereotypes surrounding the houses. Especially in the idea that all Slytherins are villains and Gryffindors are heroes and Hufflepuffs are the "left overs" (even Harry didn't want to be a Hufflepuff).

Let us a take a moment to look at some of the horrible things Gryffindors have done: James' horrible bullying of Snape, the twins’ locking Montague in the Vanishing Cabinet (getting himself out almost proved fatal for him), Hermione hexing the DA parchment, Harry using a hex on Malfoy (without knowing what it would do, causing serious harm, and almost killing Malfoy).

Also, looking at the examples you may also see that separating people also means giving them an enemy. Gryffindors and Slytherins seem to hate each other. But does the school address this?

James bullied Snape. Hermione hit Malfoy. The twins tormented Montague. Harry hexed Malfoy.

A Gryffindor hurts a Slytherin: seems to be a re-occurring theme.  

But they're obviously hero-types. So, it gets overlooked. After Harry hexed Malfoy he got detention. Detention! He almost killed him. Hogwarts is essentially a school where students are not only allowed to carry weapons but encouraged to use them. There should be more classes on how to resolve issues without violence or magic. Especially for Slytherins and Gryffindors whose first instinct appears to be wiping out a wand when ever someone upsets them.

On the other hand, when ever something bad happens everyone looks at the Slytherin house. When the final battle came Slytherins were put on the spot. Like someone from another house couldn't have possibly caved in to the fear of dying? Like maybe the Slytherins didn't want to fight because it would mean fighting family or friends?

At some point, you have to think that they just get to the point where they give in. After being treated like they are destined to turn bad, they start believing it to.

Conclusion: Hogwarts needs to start using these houses to better the school and its students or it needs to get rid of the way they are sorted. Because as it is, they seem to be doing nothing good for anyone.

Post 102: Cheez-It's

I love Cheez-its. It's hard to explain why the infatuation runs so deep, but it does. I have tried cheese nips and other Cheez-it wanna-bes but they just aren't the same.

Why am I talking about these delicious cheese crackers? Because I just received some in the mail from my dad. He lives in the US where there seems to be a war against everything, except flavour. Which means they have Cheez-it's and Apple Jacks and good rice-A-Roni. 

I like Apple jacks and all but I can live without them Cheez-its on the other hand....

Well, let's just say that when I graduate and am making my pro-con list to decide whether to stay in canada or go back to the US they will make on the list. 

Anyway, it's weird that they aren't available here. In fact, the other day I was thinking about how weird it is so many products haven't made up into Canada.

Recently, Mountain Dew had a contest to see which of their flavours was going to come up. Because they didn't already have code red up here. Which was a shame because I liked code red.

It should be a point in favor of my good taste that code red was the winning flavour. It means that, I sometimes, like the same thing as the majority. So, we should have Cheez-it's in Canada.

Okay, the logic is a little fuzzy but it's late and I'm still sick.

I have heard rumours that they are available in a few select locations in Canada. I haven't seen them but I will keep looking.

Well, that's about as much cracker-related rambling as I can probably manage

So, best wishes all. Hope you're all healthy and happy.

Post 101: Contaminated. Infected. Sick.

It really kind of stinks to be sick. It's like rain on prom night or an ER visit on your birthday. No one wants to be sick. Even kids who think they want to be sick to miss out on school, don't want to be sick when they actually are. 

My friend, who I'm going to call Emily, compares it to child birth. For those of us who haven't given birth, I will provide more context. When a woman gives birth it is generally known to be a painful experience. There is blood and screaming involved. It is like a scene from a horror movie.

Yet, women are excited by the thought of having a kid. People even call giving birth beautiful or spiritual. My friend says that there is a theory that this is an evolutionary thing because if women remembered how painful it was they would not put themselves through it. I haven't heard the theory, but to sounds plausible.

The same thing applies to being sick. Kids and adults might think in passing, "man, I hope I'm sick tomorrow so I don't have to go to work/class/etc." 

But that thought usually disappears as soon as that person actually is sick. 

I don't know anyone that has ever though, "that goodness I am sick, now I don't have to go to school."

Anyway, thankfully, this time it won't be a total waste. For the first time ever, this virus/hug has inspired me. 

A short story might be born from this experience. 

I don't want to say too much about it but basically it is a short series of journal entries from the perspective of a girl who gets sick. (You can see the parallel, right?) 

Anyway, it is a specific type of sickness and it follows along as she tries to piece together how it happened and what will happen. 

There is so much more to it, but I don't want to give more away just yet. So, keep following along. 

Maybe I will upload a link to it when it is finished. 

In the meantime, all those who are sick out there, I feel your pain. All those who aren't, I envy you in an externally friendly way, while internally I'm annoyed at you for ridiculous reasons.

Post 100: Celebratory post.

This post will be as short and snappy as I can manage. How sad is it that my 100th post happens to fall on a day when I'm sick and my brain is functioning on low?

I won't be talking about much in this post.

However, I would like to say I am pretty darn psyched to have gotten to post 100. I will be even more psyched at 200. I might just turn into a firework at post 300.

And that's it. That's all I got. My brain is ready to retire into a nice cozy bed.

Post 99: Sims 4 Coming Soon...

So, Sims 4 is coming out soon. I think I've said this before. However, I have such mixed feelings about it. Not that long ago EA put out a sample of the game. Though, it only lets you make a Sim. It is pretty weird.

Sims 4 Sims look strange. But that was kind of to be expected. The Sims in Sims 3 looked weird compared to Sims 2. However, this was a little different. Also, they are more moldable. You can move them and shape them like clay. This, in theory, sounded nice. But was actually frustrating.

It comes with set body shapes, but they aren't that varied. Anything else you have to mold, for the most part. I liked the sliders of Sims 2 and 3. And I liked the more options in Sims 3, but just moldable is a little annoying.

Also there was a really limited selection for clothes. Sims 3 was like that too. There were more options for customization than Sims 2, but Sims 3 had the store which had more clothes. That took some getting used to, and it got a little expensive.

I'm hoping Sims 4 isn't like that too. Especially since there were only set color combinations, not color customization options like Sims 3.

It is also weird that necklaces and bracelets are in two completely different sections.

Overall, I am not a huge fan of Sims 4 so far. The Create-A-Sim is not my favorite thing ever. I did create a Sim, here is the link...click here.

But, really I felt limited by the choices available. These were the only dresses that I liked, that also didn't look weird on her. The others made her look weird.

The walks were cool. You can customize those too now. There aren't a lot of choices for that either, but any choice is more than Sims 1, 2, or 3.

Sims 3 is still my favorite and nothing about the Sims 4 Create-A-Sim has made me more eager to buy it. When I saw the trailers for Sims 3, I was preparing to pre-order it months away.

So, Sims 4 = mixed feelings.

Time will tell if I will change over to Sims 4 or just stick with Sims 3.

That's all for now, think I'm getting a cold or something.

Post 98: Quotables 2

Part 2 of my quote collection, though I must say part 2 seems to have more challenging ones to work in to a conversation. 

Gilmore Girls:

Season 1, Ep. 8 - 'Love and War and Snow'

T: "There is no use for a lava lamp unless you're on drugs."

Big Bang Theory:

Season 4, Ep. 9 - 'The Boyfriend Complexity'

L: You'll never guess what just happened.

S: "You went out in the hallway, stumbled into an inter-dimensional portal, which brought you 5,000 years into the future, where you took advantage of the advanced technology to build a time machine, and now you're back, to bring us all with you to the year 7010, where we are transported to work at the think-a-torium by telepathically controlled flying dolphins?"

Dollhouse:

Season 2, Ep. 2 - 'Instinct'

T: "I don't want to use the word genius, but I'd be okay if you wanted to."

Veronica Mars:

Season 1, Ep. 16 - 'Betty and Veronica' 

V: "Can you do me a weird favor without asking any questions?"

W: "Isn't that the bedrock upon which our friendship was founded?"

Camelot

Season 1, Ep. 5 - 'Justice'

S: "Uther's daughter, Arthur's sister. You can't be defined by others. People need to know you for yourself."

Friends

Season 1, Ep. 18 - "The One with All the Poker"

R: "Guys, guess what?!"

C: "Okay, the fifth dentist caved and now they’re ALL recommending Trident?"

Haven

Season 1, Ep. 4 - 'Consumer'

A: "I've seen this movie. It doesn't end well."

Merlin

Season 2, Ep. 3 - 'The Nightmare Begins'

A: "Merlin, what have we said about you trying to be funny?"

M: "I shouldn't.” 

Grimm

Season 3, Ep. 7 - 'Cold Blooded'

W: "The problem is alligators don’t rob houses."

Lost Girl

Season 2, Ep. 6 - 'It's Better to Burn Out Than Fae Away'

K: "If you hurt my best friend again, one day, in the future, anthropologists will find your skeleton in an unmarked grave with a massive, massive, life ending blow to your head, delivered by a totally awesome chick."

Warehouse 13

Season 5, Ep. 3 - 'A Faire to Remember'

C: "The internet is still around? Dad said that would be a passing fad."

Xena: Warrior Princess

Season 2, Ep. 13 - 'The Quest'

A: "Would you calm down? There's barely enough room up here for my paranoia."

Post 97: Naked Sushi

"Got to say sh*t". That was the advice that someone in my English class gave about blogging. It seems obvious if taken as meaning you have to say stuff, but she really meant it in a different way. She meant you have to say things that are controversial, potentially inflammatory, if you want more people to view your blog. Or at least, if you want to be famous.

This was a weird idea to me. I don't want to say things just because I think they will get a reaction. I didn't start this blog, or really any of my blogs, because I thought they would lead to fame. In fact, it is really hard for me to comprehend. I think I am relatively empathetic, StrengthsFinder counts it as one of my top skills, yet this just blows my mind. 

Who starts a blog to try to become famous? I mean, I wouldn't be offended if it happened, but it has never been my goal. To be honest, I am always seriously shocked when I find out someone has read my blog. I have had friends and co-workers comment about it. Even teachers. I can also see the number of people who have viewed the blog, as well as each post, because Blogger monitors it. But still I am always like, 'you did!?' 

It reminds me of people who quit school to sing or act. There are so many other people doing the same thing (blogging) that it seems impractical. And doing things just to get a reaction, not necessarily because you agree or even care, seems like selling out before you've even sold anything. Like when celebrities wear meat or ride nude on wrecking balls to get a reaction.

I don't know. It just doesn't process right for me.

After all this you are probably wondering what on Earth the title has to do with the post.

Well, the title is an article we looked at in English class. It partially inspired the advice that my classmate shared.

What is Naked Sushi? It is a catering company that serves sushi on naked bodies. The article mostly focus on eating sushi off women and feminists are in an uproar about it. However, they do use both males and females.

They also aren't exactly naked. More nude, since all 'sensitive' areas are covered.

Most of the article is a discourse between a model for the company and feminist arguments that this is objectifying women. However, since the company offers both male and female models it doesn't seem like it is as misogynistic as they've made it out to be.

But perhaps, I am still caught up in the 'EW!' factor. I don't want someone else touching my food much less eating it off someone's stomach. Also, even being the model and having raw sushi sitting on me for hours seems just as bad.

Still, without the conflict and controversy that comes up by bringing feminism into it, it might not receive as much of a response.

However, a news source doing this makes more sense than a blog doing it.

Maybe, I am just biased because I blog for different reasons and about different things.

Who knows, maybe this could help me blog, thinking about what will inspire more of a response from readers. Yet, I don't think I will ever make it as much of a priority as it was made out to be in class. 

Post 96: No, I do NOT like pancakes.

Before I begin, I am actually going to interrupt myself. Three updates on the blog: One) both Quotables and Story Cubes are going to be series. Quotables will probably not be a long series. Two) some of the posts will be taken down periodically for editing and re-vision. They will all come back up again, in time. Some will be down for only a few minutes, others might be down for days. Three) I am actually going to transition the Reviews and Views posts to this blog. Maybe then I won't forget about it, and it will open up the URL for someone else. They won't be counted, (i.e. 'Post 96', 'Post 97'). So, hopefully, the merge doesn't throw anything off. 

Moving on...

Weird title, but it is based on a weird jingle. Some people may not need anymore information to understand what is running through my head. For those who do not...click here.

Now why am I talking about this? Because I cannot understand how no one has bought this to use for advertisements or commercials! Seriously, it is one of the most annoyingly catchy songs ever. I haven't listened to it in years and yet I still remember it. Pair this catchy tune with some flashy images of pancakes next to a bottle of maple syrup, with kids dancing while holding maple syrup, or with dancing maple syrup and you have a memorable maple syrup commercial.

There are so many jingles paired with commercials that are dull or unmemorable. Or just totally irrelevant. Like, some of Pepsi's (We Will Rock You with Beyonce, P!nk and Britney). It worked for Pepsi though because it was a good song, it had big name singers in the commercial and singing, plus there was a huge production value. I mean, they were actually in an arena. (Not a real one, but it looked like they were in one.)

It doesn't always work.

This weird catchy jingle would work.

It would be nauseating, but people would remember it.

Just like the Bologna song. Don't remember that either...click here.
Or the Oscar Meyer song. Don't know it....click here. By the way, notice how the song was tied to the brand in 1965. I mean, it has lasted years. Grandparents to grand-kids will recognize the song. Even if they don't like the brand, or hot dogs in general.

Same with the pancake song. I don't like pancakes. Not really a huge maple syrup fan either.

However, I still remember the song.

You might wonder now, if you don't like pancakes then what do you care anyway?

Well, I do like waffles and french toast. But! That isn't the only reason.

Sometimes, we have to buy things we don't like. Maybe if we have guests, maybe in the future when we have kids, maybe someone asked to pick something up as a favor.

If I don't like pancakes or maple syrup I won't know what brands are good. But if I remember the song, I will remember the brand. If I remember the brand, it is what I will most likely buy.

Unless there is a sale on something else.

So, I think commercials should go back to catchy tunes instead of spending all their money on effects. Like the car commercial that looks like a trailer for a super hero movie. I don't know what the brand is. I don't even remember if it was actually a car or a van or truck or the bat-mobile.

So, yes, the commercial was memorable, but what good is that if the product and brand weren't?

But I remember the bologna song. I remember that brand. It taught me to spell bologna.

I remember the Oscar Meyer song, so do my parents.

And I remember the pancake song.

Post 95: How To: Talk to Strangers

I figured it was about time that I posted something new, and it seemed like a fitting topic considering where I am. Where am I, you ask? I am sitting in a Biology 100 class, that I am not register in, surrounded almost entirely by strangers. Not that I will be talking to any of the at this point. I look like I am taking notes right now, so I am not distracting anyone. Talking to anyone would mostly likely cause a distraction.

However, it helped inspire this topic.

Talking to strangers is easy, in theory. But, there are a lot of things that are easy in theory. Like cooking. Or straightening your hair.  Or driving a car.  Or riding a bike.

But the number of bicycle accidents per year alone should tell you that nothing is ever as easy as it seems, except breathing. Although, Biology students might disagree (if you want to get technical about it). 

So, how do you talk to strangers? Or rather, how do you start up a conversation? 

Find a common interest, sounds easy enough, but how do you out get to this point?

There are lots of ways to get there but the easiest way requires you to be observant. 

What is the person wearing? Do they have a shirt with a band name or tv show on it? Do they have really cute boots on? Are they carrying an umbrella?

Make note of these things. 

If they are wearing a band shirt and you like the band, there you go. You have something to talk about. So, you might want to start with,  "are you a _______ fan?" This would also work if their shirt or backpack is paraphernalia for a TV show. 

If they are not advertising anything in particular, find something they are wearing that you like. (This might be an easier tip for women to use, as far as I know. I am not a guy, so I can't be sure.) 

Then once you find something, tell them that you like it. They might mumble a simple 'thanks'. But, sometimes, this is really all it will take because they will start telling you more about it and where they got it. If they don't, feel free to ask. 

Ask them where they got it. If you've been to the store, say so. The point is to find something in common. Once you find something in common, it becomes easier to keep the conversation going.

If you are in classes with them or know that they are a student, ask them about their classes. Inevitably they will have something to say. You can ask what year they are in, what their major is, what they want to be once they graduate. 

It is important to note that these people may not want to talk. So, if you are asking questions and they are not really eager to answer, are giving short answers, and/or aren't asking questions back they could be trying to let you know that they don't really feel like talking, at least not with you. 

So that's it. That is how you talk to strangers. I mean, once you get past any awkwardness or feeling of anxiety. I am sort of an extrovert, so I can't claim to fully understand how an introvert feels in these situations. But, I think, that this will work for both the outgoing person and shy person alike.  

Candy Crush: iPhone App

I have joined the madness. I used to hear people talking about this game all the time and, eventually, I just had to find out what it is. It is a game. An annoying, frustrating, fun, repulsive, entertaining, addictive game.

It doesn't even seem like it would be that complicated either. You are just trying to line up three colors in a row. That's it. That is all you have to do. Except you have to get a certain number. And you only have so many moves. And there are time limits for some. And there are score minimums for some. And if you connect with Facebook you're competing with your friends. Not to mention the jellies and weird shaped boards.

It reminds me of Candyland. That is what the board looks like to me, at least. Except, I don't remember Candyland ever making me want to throw my phone out the window. This game has made me feel like that. Honestly, I feel like it should have a horror theme. The candy down plays the menacing nature that is held with in the games coding. It makes you lower your guard. You assume it is harmless. But it isn't.

I've never played flappy bird or angry bird, because I've always worried that I would be really stressed one day and one 'game over' too many would lead to a broken phone or a busted window.

But, I think if I can handle this game, I can handle those.

I like that the game involves some strategy, but a lot of it is luck. It is like cards. Yes, you need to have some strategy and you have to know the game, but all the card prowess in the world won't guarantee a win if you are running low on luck.

I like that there isn't a time limit on a lot of the levels. You can be in the middle of a level, but then just put your phone away if you need to without worrying about dying or losing your place.

Also, the games are short. They don't usually take more than minute so they are good for waiting for the bus or waiting while the tea is steeping (which were the times I intended to play before the intense desire to beat the game and the annoyingly perky person saying I failed to compete the level again took over).

So, I would recommend it to those who like short games that aren't so enthralling you won't automatically be sucked in just by playing. But, warn those that get easily frustrated to stay away.

Post 94: Story Cubes: Rolls 1 & 2

'Rory's Story Cubes: let your imagination roll wild!'

So, today for my blog I am going to show off a product I bought for those times when I run into a wall made up of writers'-blocks.  What it is, is a bag. A bag filled with 9 dice, with random illustrations on each side. I am going to roll them once or twice and try to come up with a story synopsis that encompasses, most if not all of them. 

Here we go:

Roll 1:

A dragon, a key, a moon, a scale, a castle, a smiling face, a key hole, a light bulb, and a hand.

The easiest way to do this will be to pair them up and make them connect to each other. 

The dragon and castle can be tied together to make fantasy story. The key and the keyhole can be put together as a quest, maybe the main character has inherited a key and must find what it goes to. The smiling face and light bulb can be put together with the scales as a way of symbolizing a bigger picture: a battle between good and evil that ends with the a brilliant idea that leads to good winning. The moon and hand could be put together as a way of having a supernatural, "creature of the night" kind of being that lends the main character a helping hand. 

If we put that all together:

Mathia was a country girl and an orphan. Her father was a knight, killed by a dragon when she was young, leaving her nothing but an obscure map and a key. Fifteen years later a knight who fought by her father's side shows up to pull her from her safe life in the country and back to the castle to help prevent an overthrow of the King. Along the way she learns about the creatures in the woods, the struggles of the people, and she begins to question whether the overthrow isn't in the best interest of the people. 

Roll 2:

An eye, arrows pointing in all directions, a cane, a dialogue bubble, a die, a magic wand, a plane, an L in a box, and a question mark. 

Starting the way we did before, by breaking it into pairs (and a trio):

The question mark, eye and arrows can be put together as a mystery that requires the main character to search in different places to find the answer. The cane and magic wand can be put together to make the main character or the antagonist a magician or other type of performer. The dialogue bubble and L in a box could be put together to be the antagonist's name starting with L and being interrogated in a jail cell or interrogation room. The die and the plane could be a trip to Las Vegas. 

If we put that all together:

Las Vegas has many performers, but there is only one Great Lovinski. He is a magician, and a talented one at that, but he finds himself in a lot of trouble when someone steals his signature disappearing act and uses it in a bank heist. He must now team up with a serious, magic-hating police officer on a trip across the country to track down his past assistants in hopes of finding out who sold out his act and who might be framing him. 

The dice are kind of obscure but, as you can see, they can create stories or, at least, get the creative gears turning. And I can take one or two, four or nine, any number of dice could work.