So, earlier this week I was flipping through the channels and I saw that My Life As Liz was on. Mental Dialogue: Oh, I've heard of that show. The girl on there kinda looks like Hayley from Paramore. Cool.
And I watched it. I watched a 'reality' show on that God-forsaken channel, that is MTV.
Y'know what? I liked it.
The storyline was so easy to relate to! And yeah, it's probably scripted, and isn't flawless, but that's the POINT. I read something on this website where some chick was attacking Liz for saying 'Whatever...MTV made me do this." What?! It's a joke!
Quote from the WWW:
"To actually be a 'dork' implies some degree of social ineptitude or embrace of aspects of culture that may not be considered cool or mainstream, but which in turn unite those social outcasts in their own small way. Hot chicks co-opting the term 'dork' to make themselves appear more adorable [...] undermines the entire concept of the term, and insults actual dorks Middle Earth-wide."
The thing is, in whatever part of Texas she's from, owning a lizard, shopping at thrift stores, being vegan, reading comic books, hanging with the guys, and red hair aren't cool or mainstream.And why can't a dork be hot? Huh?
The people who toss insults at this show are mostly older that the character, right? Soo...In there world, Liz would be considered 'cool' or 'popular' or 'edgy'. In my school, Liz would just be a nerdy weirdo. Kinda like me. Which is why I love the show!
Finally, MTV has created a show that I can fully relate to! w00t!
The whole 'I used to be best friends with the popular girls' thing? Check.
Non-mainstream (for your school, anyway) taste in music? Check.
'Odd' clothing choices? Check.
Sarcastic sense of humor? Check.
Repulsion toward the more..*sigh* 'popular people'? Check.
Hanging with guys a lot? Check.
Slightly geeky choice in books? Or reading AT ALL? Double check.
"Glitter is the herpes of arts and crafts. It never goes away."
It's incredibly dark in my house right now.
There are absolutely no lights on whatsoever.
The only light is coming from my laptop screen, which is a bright white,
and in contrast makes everything even darker.
I can just barely see out of the back windows...
I see a sky turning dark slowly. Behind the trees...
I look out towards the front of the house,
through a slit between the curtains.
The street lights are on, but brighter.
More vivid than usual.
The light cascades over the ground. Slowly...
Every once in a while the wind blows,
rustling the leaves on the road.
The lights in the homes are off.
There's no one in the streets. The ghost town...
There is perfect silence.
Creatures hidden away in the forest,
people hiding from the dark, That you fear...
A fear they thought they'd left in their childhoods.
But there is no dark.
The moon is brighter than the sun.
Brighter than the screen of my laptop.
Clearly visible through the atmosphere that Will be destroyed...
What lurks in the hidden corners of the world,
Is woe.
The rare light you see always comes By Friendly Fires.
The Panopticon was a kind of prison designed by late eighteenth/early nineteenth
century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, which was never actually built.
The arcitecture of Bentham's Panopticon was created to allow watchmen to look
at all his prisoners without the prisoners knowing whether or not they were being observed,
making them feel as if they were being constantly watched by an omniscient being.
In other words, everyone in the Panopticon knew they could be watched at all times, so
in the end, only minimal watching actually needed to happen. The Panopticon would create a sense
of paranoia so pervasive that it's inhabitants became almost self-governing.
In the book 'Discipline and Punish' Michael Foucault uses the idea of the Panopticon as a
metaphor for modern Western society and its emphasis on normalization and observation.
Meaning, we live our lives in places that operate like the Panopticon. Schools. Hospitals.
Factories. Office buildings. Even the streets of the city.
Someone is watching you.
Or, someone is probably watching you.
Or, you feel like someone is watching you.
So you follow the rules whether someone's watching you or not.
You start to think that whomever is watching you is larger than life. That the watcher knows stuff about you that you've never told anyone. Even if the watcher is a total stranger on the street.
It's a systematic paranoia. Like, when you double dip and you have that creepy sense that everyone knows you double dipped, even though you did it a week ago and there's no evidence whatsoever.
Or when you're alone in your house, and you go to use the toilet and lock the door behind you anyway.
Another example: You're alone in your room and you pick your nose. And you can hear your grandmother telling your slimy, nose-picking self to use a tissue.
And that horrible queen-bee popular girl--you can hear her nasty voice back in the 3rd grade when she caught you wiping a booger on the underside of your desk, caling you 'booger-eater' for the rest of the year, even though you obviously weren't eating your boogers if you were wiping them on the desk.
So it's not that you either pick your nose because you want to pick it, or you don't pick your nose because it's germy. It's that you are having a mental conversation with all the forces that could be watching you and condemning you for your nose-picking (potential or actual)--even though rationally you know that noone can see you.
Edit: This was all written as a memo on my BlackBerry. Now it's on my blog.
The Tomato and the Blueberry:
A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savory fruit.
A fruit with ambitions far beyond those of the average fruit.
What do you do with your average fruit? Nothing, you just eat it. No one is ever going to found
an entire meal on a blueberry. Can you imagine it? Everyone would be so sick of them
within a week they'd starve to death. The blueberry has no versatility. The country with
a cuisine based upon a blueberry would be a country of lunatics, turned mad by the unwavering
sameness of their daily meals.
the Tomato > the Blueberry
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
Shakespeare: Hamlet Act II
"Much madness is Divine's Sense--To a discerning eye."
Emily Dickinson
"Information is of no value for its own sake, but only because of its personal significance."
Eric Berne
"We know what we belong to, where we come from, and where we're going.
We may not know it with our minds, but we know it with our roots."
Noel Coward* 'This Happy Breed'
*What a terrible last name!
"On such a full sea we now foat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar Act IV Scene III
"To be what we are and to become what we are capable of becoming, is only the end of life."
Robert L. Stevenson 'Familiar Studies of Men and Books"
"Ne knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity."
Francis Bacon 'Of Fortune'
"Of equality-as if it harm'd me giving others the same chances and rights as myself-as if it were not indispensabe to my own rights that others possess the same."
Walt Whitman 'Thought'
"To multiply the harbor is not to reduce the sea."
Emily Dickinson
I've seen the streets in the West
I've driven down the 90, hell I've seen America's best
I've been through the Rockies, I've seen Saskatoon
I've driven down the highway 1 just hopin' that I'd see you soon
Cause I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home
I've never been to Alaska, but I can tell you this,
I've been to Lincoln, Nebraska and hell you know it ain't worth shit
I've been through Nova Scotia, Sydney to Halifax
I'll never take any pictures cause I know I'll just be right back
Cause I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home
I've seen a palace in London, I've seen a castle in Wales
but I'd rather wake up beside you and breathe that ol' familiar smell
I never thought you could leave me, I figured I was the one
but I understand your sadness so I guess I should just hold my tongue
But I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home
I know that we're takin' chances, you told me life was a risk
but I just have one last question...
will it be my heart or will it be his?
Both of you are spirited lovers. With both of your Venuses in fire signs, you and your partner approach love in a fiery, direct manner. Sparks fly between you! Each of you falls in love quickly and intuitively, although your partner tends to take love a little more seriously than you do. Both of you are rather me-centered in love, which of course can be somewhat problematic! You and your Venus in Leo lover are competitive folk—just be sure you don't compete with each other too much. Friendly competition can be invigorating, however, and can help maintain the vigor and excitement you both crave in love. You admire each other a great deal, although your pride may not allow you to show that admiration all the time. Because your temperaments in love are similar in many ways, when the relationship is good, it's very good; when the relationship is bad, it's very bad! The ego-stroking and flattery that your partner craves may not always be forthcoming with you, because you incline to be somewhat blunt and unpolished in style. Your partner is likely to appreciate your simple charm, or find it infuriating. Probably it's a bit of both! Your partner's style of expression in love is certainly more flowery. Chances are just as good that you will find your partner exciting and infuriating at the same time! Let your lover know how special he or she is, but in order for this to work, he or she will definitely need to share the spotlight once in a while. You are both strong people in love, and you can have a lot of fun together. These partners have genuine admiration and respect for each other, but they need to learn to take turns commanding and giving orders — even when they’re only choosing a movie at the video store! This partnership is all about fiery passion, domination and who’s on top — and when! Both Signs can be impatient and proud. Leo likes to be adored and their egos to be stroked, services which easily-bored Aries may not want to provide. Leo may also be bothered by Aries’ flirtatious nature — but this relationship is always exciting. Despite their sometimes noisy differences, Aries often looks to Leo as a guide or counselor. Leo is the Lion and, with Leo, Aries can be the lamb. As in the myth (The Lion and the Lamb), any differences between these two can be overcome.
Aries is ruled by the Planet Mars and Leo is ruled by the Sun. Both are masculine energy archetypes, and together they make a good combination — they understand each other because they’re coming from the same place, so they’re highly compatible and can make a powerful team.
Aries is a Cardinal Sign and Leo is a Fixed Sign. Aries gives Leo the assertiveness to charge ahead and take chances, while Leo can help teach Aries to stabilize and follow things through. Aries may sometimes hurt Leo’s feelings by saying something hurtful without thinking. Conversely, Aries may be irritated by Leo’s bossy nature and tendency to sulk. But they’re both loyal and care about each other deeply.
I just got about 10 books and I'm incredibly pleased with myself :)
So, I've decided to give the book title and a short plot summary thingy, ehh..?
Perhaps a book cover picture too, since I can't be the only one who judges a book by it's cover.
Alright, here it goes:
Looking For Alaska by John Green*
Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL. His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love. She is literate, articulate, and beautiful, and she exhibits a reckless combination of adventurous and self-destructive behavior. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plot elaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds in all-night bull sessions, and the depth of her unhappiness becomes obvious. Green's dialogue is crisp, especially between Miles and Chip. His descriptions and Miles's inner monologues can be philosophically dense, but are well within the comprehension of sensitive teen readers. The chapters of the novel are headed by a number of days "before" and "after" what readers surmise is Alaska's suicide. These placeholders sustain the mood of possibility and foreboding, and the story moves methodically to its ambiguous climax. The language and sexual situations are aptly and realistically drawn, but sophisticated in nature. Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
In the summer between her freshman and sophomore years, Frankie Landau-Banks transforms from “a scrawny, awkward child” with frizzy hair to a curvy beauty, “all while sitting quietly in a suburban hammock, reading the short stories of Dorothy Parker and drinking lemonade.” On her return to Alabaster Prep, her elite boarding school, she attracts the attention of gorgeous Matthew, who draws her into his circle of popular seniors. Then Frankie learns that Matthew is a member of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male Alabaster secret society to which Frankie’s dad had once belonged. Excluded from belonging to or even discussing the Bassets, Frankie engineers her own guerilla membership by assuming a false online identity. Frankie is a fan of P. G. Wodehouse’s books, and the wholly engaging narrative, filled with wordplay, often reads like a clever satire about the capers of the entitled, interwoven with elements of a mystery. But the story’s expertly timed comedy also has deep undercurrents. The author creates a unique, indelible character in Frankie, whose oddities only make her more realistic, and teens will be galvanized by her brazen action and her passionate, immediate questions about gender and power, individuals and institutions, and how to fall in love without losing herself.
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
13-year-old Kyra lives in an isolated polygamist cult. Life in the compound is as dry as the surrounding desert, more confining than the chain-link fence on its perimeter. But Kyra finds small freedoms despite the tightly controlled communal environment and is able to slip outside to wander the desert. There she chances upon a friendly book-mobile driver who opens the world of children's literature to her. Kyra even begins a flirtation with her classmate, Joshua, a dangerous sin for which they will both pay dearly. The brutal leader, Prophet Childs, has plans for Kyra and will brook no disobedience. He assigns her to be the seventh wife of her own 60-year-old uncle. Repelled, she resists. She and Joshua are badly beaten and she is told that other young people have been killed for taking a similarly defiant stand. Kyra's loving father is powerless to help her and counsels her to accept her fate, but she cannot. The story ends in a high-speed chase with the Prophet's goons gunning for her as she improbably races toward freedom in the blood-spattered book mobile. Has the friendly driver been killed on her account? Is anyone looking for him? What retribution will be taken on her family and what kind of a life lies ahead for her? These unsettling questions are not addressed, but these omissions do not diminish the relief of her successful escape.
Beautiful Disaster by Kate Brian
After wasting away in a mental institution for a year and a half, Ariana Osgood is finally back where she belongs. She has a new look, a new name, and a new life -- all thanks to her former friend Briana Leigh Covington.
Now enrolled as a junior at the exclusive Atherton-Pryce boarding school just outside of D.C., Ariana sleeps in Frette sheets, flirts with the captain of the crew team, and gossips with the most beautiful girls on campus. She killed to get back her life of privilege. Just how far will she go to keep it?
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints
of “normal” life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up.
Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.
Story of a Girl** by Sara Zarr
Deanna's father catches her having sex in a car when she is 13,and her life is drastically changed. Two years later, he still can't look her in the eye, and though Tommy is the only boy she's been with, she is branded the school slut. Her entire family watches her as though she is likely to sleep with anyone she sees, and Tommy still smirks at and torments her when she sees him. Her two best friends have recently begun dating, and Deanna feels like an intruder. She tries to maintain a close relationship with her older brother, but Darren and his girlfriend are struggling as teenage parents. Deanna learns to protect herself by becoming outwardly tough, but feels her isolation acutely. Her only outlet is her journal in which she writes the story of an anonymous girl who has the same experiences and feelings that she does. Through this, readers see the potential that Deanna cannot identify in herself. This is a heartbreaking look at how a teenager can be defined by one mistake, and how it shapes her sense of self-worth.
Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga
After six months in the Maryland Mental Health Unit, Kyra Sellers, a.k.a. Goth Girl, is going home. Unfortunately, she's about to find out that while she was away, she lost track of more than time. Kyra is back in black, feeling good, and ready to make up with the only person who's ever appreciated her for who she really is. But then she sees him. Fanboy. Transcended from everything he was into someone she barely recognizes. And the anger and memories come rushing back.
I also got Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, but I assumed you wouldn't want a summary of Shakespeare's plays. :P
Alright.. about the asterisks.
* Here is John Green and his brother, Hank Green, being Nerdfighters :)
** Part of the reason I got this was because of the song Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by...Nine Days, I think? But the intrawebz has been saying it's by Third Eye Blind and Three Doors Down too :-/ meh.
"This is a story of a girl
Who cried a river and drown the whole world
But while she looks so sad in photographs
I absolutely love her when she smiles"
Speaking of Third Eye Blind, we were talking about them during lunch today, but
one of the girls didn't know what Third Eye Blind was and she was like whuuutttt?!
And I responded "It's the name of a band, but if we did have a third eye it would totally be blind 'cause natural selection wouldn't be so kind. Oh, that rhymed." :)
*sigh*
5 gum is not a good replacement for food. I believe it's time to go to the watering hole/kitchen..
Oh, wait, before I leave you with nothing but these little words and the lyric video of that song...
Damn it I forgot what I was gonna say.
Ah, well...
G'nite!
1.Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY:
Brick By Boring Brick - Paramore
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF:
Careful - Paramore
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
In The Bathroom Is Where I Want You - Nightmare Of You
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Miracles - Mambo Sauce
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Fireflies- Owl City
WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Starlight - Muse
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
The Only Exception - Paramore
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Playing God - Paramore
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Ignorance - Paramore
What's 2+2?
Looking Up - Paramore
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Classifieds - The Academy Is...
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
The Silence - Mayday Parade
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Doctor - Cute Is What We Aim For
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Curse of Curves - Cute Is What We Aim For
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Greenday - 21 Guns
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Nightmare Of You - I Want To Be Buried In Your Backyard
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Uprising - Muse
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Dat New New - Kid Cudi (VIKING REMIX)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Cobra Starship - Hollaback Boy
So I took this quiz... http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/new/imunimaginative/what-political-party-do-your-beliefs-put-you-in/# "What political party do your beliefs put you in?"
I know this sounds ridiculous, but lately I was sort of... confused.
I'm a bit more...well, a lot more conservative than most of my Democrat friends,
but waaayyy more liberal than my Republican friends, and definitely less...
annoying than my Independent friends.
By that I mean, they're always so against belonging to a party and try really hard to
be what can only be called "non-conformist".
But the problem is, they're not!
It's like those emo/indie kids who call themselves non-conformist,
but mimic each others every movement!
It's not non-conformist just because you're emulating something or someone different
than the majority!
YOU'RE STILL CONFORMING.
*sigh*
Whatever...Ignore that rant.
Anywho, I decided to do what would come naturally to a normal teenager.
I took an online quiz :)
And I chose this one because it went by your beliefs instead of who you voted for...
Also, because it didn't limit you to the two major parties...
As you can see at the very bottom of the page.
Underneath the cool guy singing Use Somebody :)
Alright, well...
Check out my results.
And check out the cool guy's YouTube channel (eddplant)!
P.S. Merry Ethiopian/Greek Christmas! Well, technically it's on the 7th of January..Not the sixth.
I didn’t even really go out for New Year partly due to rebellion against what I see as
‘organized fun and drunkenness’. I actually hate it.
I'm not going to pay forty fucking bucks for a ticket to get in somewhere I don’t want to go and celebrate something I couldn’t care less about.
Its not a ‘New’ year anyway. Nothing in my life has changed.
Its not like you have to make new friends or start a new job with all past commitment
and Criminal Convictions wiped-clean.
I’ll just be writing an 10 instead of a 09. Its a shame. I like 9.
Apologies for the extreme cynicism. Deep down I'm bitter and hateful person. :-)
P.S. Will all kids born in 2010 have perfect eyesight? Like, twenty ten?
Haha, btw I found a great YouTube artist, so..here he is.
