Thoughts from an Oxymoron

Thursday, October 20, 2005

NaNoWriMo Update #1

Okay... So this whole novel writing thing... I've got (in my opinion) an excellent main character, a plight for her to go through, and a main story. Despite all of this I am extremely intimidated by this and I don't really know why! I am currently making notes and trying to get into the mind set of writing 1600 words a day... It hasn't even started and I'm already thinking, "What the hell am I doing."

I just really want to do this. I really want to say I have done it. Nothing more, just to know that I did it is enough.

Thanks for the support! I'll keep you posted.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Someday is next month!

Okay I'm probably nuts but I'm gonna try. November is National Novel Writing Month.(There's a month for everything!) And I have signed up on http://www.nanowrimo.org/ to write a novel.

The basic idea is that you can't start writing until 12:00AM on November 1 and you have to have 50,000 words by the end of the month. What do you win you might ask? Well nothing. Other then the fact that you can proudly state... I have written a novel. Which is something I've always wanted to do but kept saying I'll do it "someday".

Well listen up; someday is next month! Plus with a great deal of luck maybe someone might actually buy and publish my novel, which as of yet is untitled, has no protagonist, no antagonist, no hook, no beginning action, no climax, no falling action, and no plot. Its going to be a long November. : )

Well... wish me luck! I'll keep you "posted" as to my progress!

Friday, October 14, 2005

Read a banned book!!!

So I just finished listening to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I had read it once a looooong time ago in highschool, but I don't remember appreciating it nearly as much as I did. Also, I don't remember it being as scary as it was.

We all know the basics of the book. In the not too distant future firemen start fires rather then put them out. And what do they burn? Why books of course for it is against the law to possess books. Our hero, Guy Montag, is a fireman who has lost his spark. And so we follow him as he goes through life wanting to be an individual but not quite having sufficient independent thoughts to succeed. He's a great protagonist even if he's a bit wishy-washy.

Bradbury's future is a bleak one. No one thinks for themselves and everyone is a slave to parlors with 3-wall TVs (plasma I'm sure), and seashell radios that are always in your ears (think iPod). It is actually very close to reality. During the climactic chase all I could think of was how we were all glued to the screen when OJ was on the run!

This brings me to the core of the story, and something that is absolutely terrifying to me. Censorship. The idea that certain thoughts, beliefs, and ideas being censored frightens me a lot. It only takes a few steps in the wrong direction before we are letting someone else think for us. Censorship, above all else is the practice of letting someone else tell you what you should think or telling someone what they should think. We are all intelligent people who can make our own decisions based on knowledge and experience. Does Harry Potter encourage witchcraft? Do Huck Finn and Tom engage in homosexual acts? Does The Origin of Species make a man out of monkeys? Maybe. Maybe not. But do not scream to ban these books just because they make you uncomfortable. Read the book. Make your decision. Tell your friends. But then let your friends read the book too and make there own decision. Don't burn the book just because your made uncomfortable.

Read Fahrenheit 451. Enjoy it. Let it teach the lesson of what not to do, and let it scare the hell out of you as you learn.

Note: For those of you who think I am nuts regarding the banning of books, check out these websites!

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html

http://www.booksatoz.com/censorship/banned.htm

Thursday, October 13, 2005

When 8 isn't enough.

Further proof that people in Arkansas are nuts... Well at least these people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_re_us/sixteen_kids

For What its Worth

So... One of the things I want to do with this blog is to publish some of the things that I have written over the years. Some of it will be good, most won't. : ) But I said I would describe my self a little so the following is something that I wrote about 10 or so years ago. I still feel its pretty applicable.


I have heard it said that there are two types of people in the world: antagonists and protagonists, however I don't categorize myself as either. Both pit themselves at their opposite: good or evil. I fight for neither side; I fight for both sides; but ultimately I fight for my side. If someone called me argumentative I would say, "Yeah I'd like to see you prove that, ya jerk!" Of course, to myself, I would be saying, "That’s right - but you’re still a jerk!"

I will argue over anything. With me, arguing is like what the Native Americans called “counting coo”. For the Indians, like present day undercover government officials, it was a disgrace for their enemies to be able to sneak up on them. So what they would do to insult their foe was slink up to them and touch ‘em with a stick. This was the basic theme behind counting coo. Now I realize that this practice would not fit in present day society. Most people would beat the crap out of a half naked man smacking them with a tree branch (a practice known commonly in New York as mugging); but to the Indians, counting coo was a sacred custom (just as mugging is in New York). The truth is, the routine didn’t fit in their society either. It became a common belief that a man carried a big coo stick to compensate for a small tomahawk (if you know what I mean!). Then came the discovery of Jimi Hendrix, which led to the general lack of appreciation for a coo stick.

But I digress…

For me, arguing is like counting coo; my only goal being to disgrace my adversary using any way possible (like certain present day politic-radio talk show hosts) even if it means scooping into the primordial ooze of over-used insults and half-assed slander (again, conservative radio hosts rush to mind). So I say it and then usually, I regret it either the next day, when I’m lying on the couch feeling guilty, or the next day when I’m lying in the hospital feeling nothing -- because I ‘m surviving on morphine. The afore mentioned outline is known as adding injury to insult.

Now I admit that my remarks do, on occasion, get out of hand; but you gotta understand how my mind works. Let’s take this scenario for example, to get a better grasp on how I think.

A rather large man is standing in front of the only vending machine in sight. I am starved and have just a few minutes left on my break so naturally I’m in a rush. Well, the large man obviously isn’t breathing enough to accommodate for his body size; and his brain is deprived of oxygen, because he is just blankly staring at a bag of spicy corn nuts. I politely say, “Excuse me,” with no response so I…

A.) Politely tap him on his gargantuan shoulder while kindly inquiring if he’d mind moving aside.

B.) Wait till my break is over, give up, and go hungry.

C.) Considerately demand that he get out of my freaking way before I have his lard ass hauled off to jail for loitering, resulting in my family receiving mass quantities of black roses and sympathy cards due to my being stuffed up the change return of a Tom’s snack machine.

As you can see, my "witty" remarks can, and do, get me into trouble; but I only do it for the sake of argument. People aren’t meant to take my argumentative remarks to heart. I don’t always mean them but somehow I always just kind of say them. With me its all nothing but a game; unfortunately the rule is no blood no foul, and I’m a free bleeder.

Note: So I wrote this when I was still in highschool. Upon rereading it I realize that I have mellowed out a lot!!! (Which to those who know me now is probably terrifying!) I am now a much more passive person. (No really!) While I still may think these thinks, I am much less likely to voice them.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Welcome!

Hello.

So this is it... My first of (hopefully) many blogs. This is where you can come to see my thoughts about... well everything. I will do my best to include postive thoughts, but I have a feeling in the raves and rants comparison the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Coming up pretty soon I'll tell you a little more about myself, but I'll save that for when I have more time. For now, thanks for stopping by and feel free to drop in anytime!