There Are Lame Things, and Then There Are Complimenting Compliments
"I like your shoes."
"That's nice of you to say."
Moving on...
I was chugging down the hall upstairs and my dad saw me. He smiled and said, "Good! Exercise." He was telling me I was fat! Five seconds later he piles on another insult. "Do monkey bars, stretch, grow taller!" So I'm short too!
Fat and short. I'm never going to live this down...except I can't go in that direction any further, apparently. :)
I finished reading Fire From Heaven and The Persian Boy by Mary Renault. It was fun to note the different views she takes on her characters in the two books. Quite, quite enrapturing. I had such a good time I've decided to punish myself and am currently reading The End of Science by John Horgan. Surprisingly, this too is very interesting and I'm enjoying myself immensely.
It's sad when things don't turn out as planned, isn't it? Strangely, I don't mind in this case. :)
I'm done with Lucky by Jackie Collins. A quick summary - everyone sleeps with everyone else. One of the more pointless books ever written. I definitely need some serious castigation.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury...terminated! Finally!
"Burning Bright" allusions, metaphors (personal opinion, of course) -
1) City is compared to Babylon, the wanton, corrupt whore of the Earth in Revelations and is accordingly destroyed
2) City is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, which was also eradicated for wickedness (but they were milk-sop cousins to Babylon)
3) Montag cries in his mind for Faber, Mildred, and Clarisse to run - Abraham asking God if he will spare the city if there are fifty, ten, a few good men
4) Montag thinks of his wife left behind - Lot and his family fleeing, his wife is too attached to the doomed city --> turned to a pillar of salt (dies)
5) "Burning Bright" - city rears up in its final death throws like a New Jerusalem before its fall, the spirit of the "Bibliophile Group" (pet name) grows stronger, brighter, Montag's ties to his past are burnt away with the dead behind him and he is free to make his new identity
6) From the ashes of the city will rise the "Bibliophile Group" as a phoenix to new life
These are my extremely biased impressions.
1) The number of people who are JSA members is very impressive, and a large percentage of that must be credited to Jay's ingenuity and dedication. ^_-. No, that's not a vacuum cleaner sound, I'm very sincere about this.
But to be citizens, people are involved in politics. I'm assuming most if not all SH students are citizens and want their voices to be heard. Politicians make a difference, direct the wave of public opinion. That's a lot of power, and people, at least initially, want that power. How? Be involved with JSA. Show an interest in the government and be a part of the way it's run. Improve your public-speaking skills.
2) People flood the meetings of Key Club, an extremely active community service club. People must in their high school lives do something other than just academics - they must serve their community. Key Club provides the opportunity for them to fulfill those requirements and get acquainted with people who can help. Learn to adjust your schedule for time to help others. Looks good.
3) FBLA appeals to people who plan to be in a business in their futures. This is practically anybody. The Future Business LEADERS of America also fills in with JSA and Key Club that little check box with not being just a follower and only concerned with one's little life. Be a professional, involved person who contributes to society.
I could go on (in praises) of Youth Alive Christian Club. Especially in the constant blaring warnings that religion is under attack with the atheist weapons of stem cell research, abortion, gay marriage, etc., Christians seem to either be hating, wavering, or banding closer together. Religion is one of the most unifying bonds on earth.
The cabinet and members of these clubs are amazing, stupefying with all they've accomplished. But...
But I have a point to this, really. :) Just looking at a National Honors Society packet, I was wondering where Writeway could fit into this. A magazine, good. Could I get recognition each time I spend untold hours and effort on a story? Because that's obviously for myself. I'm not helping anybody else. I'm not getting credit for all the rough drafts, the ideas, the revisions. Nothing.
Whereas if I spent that time and effort on community service, every second would be recorded.
Writing doesn't demonstrate the "leadership" ability that NHS would like to see. The well-rounded student package of academics, athletics, community service (maybe job, arts) doesn't seem to care about the highly individual interest of writing.
All this being said, I personally don't care about benefits and little blank boxes to fill in. But I know other people do, and while I understand their reasons, I can't agree with them, so I'm lost as to getting their interest...and their work.
People will see actors, dancers, singers perform, businesspeople keep the economy running, politicians con--I meant, represent the people, but unless writers turn to nonfiction and textbooks, there is no stable source of income.
So there seems to be no future in it. For every success story (no pun intended) there are a million failures. :( Of course people don't and usually aren't interested solely in writing, but I'm pretty sure that people look at the name Writeway and think "One of those oddball hobby sort of club."
Quite a few good writers I know are embarrassed to show their work. Hidden talents like Freak-Dancing must be shoved into the limelight, but it's not cool to be a writer. What?
We are missing MASS APPEAL. :(
"That's nice of you to say."
Moving on...
I was chugging down the hall upstairs and my dad saw me. He smiled and said, "Good! Exercise." He was telling me I was fat! Five seconds later he piles on another insult. "Do monkey bars, stretch, grow taller!" So I'm short too!
Fat and short. I'm never going to live this down...except I can't go in that direction any further, apparently. :)
I finished reading Fire From Heaven and The Persian Boy by Mary Renault. It was fun to note the different views she takes on her characters in the two books. Quite, quite enrapturing. I had such a good time I've decided to punish myself and am currently reading The End of Science by John Horgan. Surprisingly, this too is very interesting and I'm enjoying myself immensely.
It's sad when things don't turn out as planned, isn't it? Strangely, I don't mind in this case. :)
I'm done with Lucky by Jackie Collins. A quick summary - everyone sleeps with everyone else. One of the more pointless books ever written. I definitely need some serious castigation.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury...terminated! Finally!
"Burning Bright" allusions, metaphors (personal opinion, of course) -
1) City is compared to Babylon, the wanton, corrupt whore of the Earth in Revelations and is accordingly destroyed
2) City is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, which was also eradicated for wickedness (but they were milk-sop cousins to Babylon)
3) Montag cries in his mind for Faber, Mildred, and Clarisse to run - Abraham asking God if he will spare the city if there are fifty, ten, a few good men
4) Montag thinks of his wife left behind - Lot and his family fleeing, his wife is too attached to the doomed city --> turned to a pillar of salt (dies)
5) "Burning Bright" - city rears up in its final death throws like a New Jerusalem before its fall, the spirit of the "Bibliophile Group" (pet name) grows stronger, brighter, Montag's ties to his past are burnt away with the dead behind him and he is free to make his new identity
6) From the ashes of the city will rise the "Bibliophile Group" as a phoenix to new life
These are my extremely biased impressions.
1) The number of people who are JSA members is very impressive, and a large percentage of that must be credited to Jay's ingenuity and dedication. ^_-. No, that's not a vacuum cleaner sound, I'm very sincere about this.
But to be citizens, people are involved in politics. I'm assuming most if not all SH students are citizens and want their voices to be heard. Politicians make a difference, direct the wave of public opinion. That's a lot of power, and people, at least initially, want that power. How? Be involved with JSA. Show an interest in the government and be a part of the way it's run. Improve your public-speaking skills.
2) People flood the meetings of Key Club, an extremely active community service club. People must in their high school lives do something other than just academics - they must serve their community. Key Club provides the opportunity for them to fulfill those requirements and get acquainted with people who can help. Learn to adjust your schedule for time to help others. Looks good.
3) FBLA appeals to people who plan to be in a business in their futures. This is practically anybody. The Future Business LEADERS of America also fills in with JSA and Key Club that little check box with not being just a follower and only concerned with one's little life. Be a professional, involved person who contributes to society.
I could go on (in praises) of Youth Alive Christian Club. Especially in the constant blaring warnings that religion is under attack with the atheist weapons of stem cell research, abortion, gay marriage, etc., Christians seem to either be hating, wavering, or banding closer together. Religion is one of the most unifying bonds on earth.
The cabinet and members of these clubs are amazing, stupefying with all they've accomplished. But...
But I have a point to this, really. :) Just looking at a National Honors Society packet, I was wondering where Writeway could fit into this. A magazine, good. Could I get recognition each time I spend untold hours and effort on a story? Because that's obviously for myself. I'm not helping anybody else. I'm not getting credit for all the rough drafts, the ideas, the revisions. Nothing.
Whereas if I spent that time and effort on community service, every second would be recorded.
Writing doesn't demonstrate the "leadership" ability that NHS would like to see. The well-rounded student package of academics, athletics, community service (maybe job, arts) doesn't seem to care about the highly individual interest of writing.
All this being said, I personally don't care about benefits and little blank boxes to fill in. But I know other people do, and while I understand their reasons, I can't agree with them, so I'm lost as to getting their interest...and their work.
People will see actors, dancers, singers perform, businesspeople keep the economy running, politicians con--I meant, represent the people, but unless writers turn to nonfiction and textbooks, there is no stable source of income.
So there seems to be no future in it. For every success story (no pun intended) there are a million failures. :( Of course people don't and usually aren't interested solely in writing, but I'm pretty sure that people look at the name Writeway and think "One of those oddball hobby sort of club."
Quite a few good writers I know are embarrassed to show their work. Hidden talents like Freak-Dancing must be shoved into the limelight, but it's not cool to be a writer. What?
We are missing MASS APPEAL. :(
