....of a bad situation. (The following is just a kind of long thing that I felt like getting out there.) So today was the field trip. The field trip. The Field Trip, capital letters included. It was the day the 8th graders at my school go to Valleyfair, our local version of Six Flags, for seven hours of non-educational, totally free rides and waterparks and rollercoasters and funnel cakes and magicians and fun. It's the one that every kid in Apple Valley waits for from kindergarten to eighth grade. It is one that every kid has put nine years of anticipation in for. Today was the day. It got cancelled. It was actually pretty understandable- today, this huge thunderstorm rolled into southern Minnesota, and hey, would you like to be at the top of a giant metal rollercoaster when the lightning visits? But needless to say, everyone in my grade is pissed. Except me and my friends. It was my friend's birthday today, and we were going to throw her a surprise party at Valleyfair. When they gave us the news that it was cancelled, she was crushed. But then the adults sent the kids outside of school to mill around the front entrance for a bit (it wasn't raining yet), and we decided to give her the party anyway. We got out a beach towel (a boy had been planning to use it at the waterpark) and spread it out on the grass so we could all sit down. Then we got out her presents, sang the birthday song (and some others, cuz we're all loud and crazy) and just had a lot of fun. When someone pointed out that we didn't have any cake, the birthday girl realized she had a pack of granola bars in her backpack, and we all ate peanut-butter-chocolate-chip granola bars for a birthday treat. (My favorite flavor, coincidentally.) It was just the best thing I have done all year. All around us, the popular kids were yelling on their cell phones, sulking, moping, groaning- and we're sitting on the ground, opening presents, laughing, and eating and just having a great time. I don't think I've ever been happier in school than right then and there, and it really helped cheer us all up just when we needed it. Later, kids decided to just go home. Now I have the house to myself, and I plan to watch a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon and possibly get some ice cream. Maybe this afternoon I'll go out and hang with my friends. I think later, when I look back on my life, I'll say: Screw the field trip. This is how I'd like my life to be.
So yeah, I have decided to put this blog on a weekly basis. On Thursdays. Because I like Thursdays, that's why. So what would happen if everyone who went to school and participated in the daily labyrinth of social rules that is the modern education system...just stopped caring? If girls gave up their gossiping and what shade of blue to paint their nails, and guys got rid of the macho posturing and constant need to center the universe around themselves? Argument 1: If we stopped this, then school would be a boring place where everyone just acted bland and nice to each other. Argument 2: If we stopped this, then everyone would be allowed to pursue their own styles, making school a much more wide and varied place. Argument 3: If we stopped this, we'd get rid of all the petty bickering, gossiping, rumors, teasing, etc. School would be changed for the better. Argument 4: If we stopped this, kids would feel free to tell other kids exactly what they thought of each other, as opposed to keeping quiet because they were too shy or afraid. It would be a nightmare- arguments and explosive conflicts everywhere. School would turn into one long fight. Argument 5: If we stopped this, the fashion industry would no longer exist. The world economy would plummet. It would be an international Great Depression. We would resort to cannibalism to survive. Only the cockroaches will endure. These are the things I think about during 5th period math class. It is my gift. It is my curse. I am Spider-man! (Or something.) Life note: My computer, previously imploded, has now been fixed again. Thanks to the grace of God (Or, if you are polytheistic, The God Of Hitting A Computer Till It Works Again, or if you are agnostic, a *mumblemumblemumble*, and that's as politically correct as I'm getting right now), all my files have been retrieved, including the story I was almost done with and certainly wouldn't have had the drive to start all over again. So, remember, kids: Back your files up! Or wind up like me (Seriously, that's a threat). Spoiler THE OPINION CORNER, EPISODE 3 Read this: Anything and everything by Terry Pratchett. Seriously. Listen to this: The Beatles. Because some of you haven't yet. (Their 1 CD is a good place to start.) See this: And Now For Something Completely Different.
So New Year's resolutions are a load of bullhooey. (Bullhooey: The bowdlerizin' sensation that's sweepin' the nation!) Pretty much everyone who's ever read Garfield knows that. But seeing as I have about 355 days left before I can entertain myself with presents again, I might as well pick out something to do between now and then. And that something might as well be writing. So, I guess I need to get my endless piles of ideas in order. Which, of course, calls for me to go hand-in-hand with the enemy which all teenagers dread: Priorities. Eek. So let's (and by 'let's' I mean 'me' because blogs are very selfish things) examine my New Year's Bullhooeys... 1. An as-of-yet untitled story that's, honest to God, 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' meets Mother Goose. It's awesome. There are explosions. I just need to write the climax, and I'll be done. 2. Oh, no- this one here is a project! So I've got this series. And it's awesome. And there are characters and plots and I've put in an amount of time on this I've never given to anything before just to plot it out. So then I set about writing it, and I'm already three stories in and I realize I have everything good except for really sucky dialog. Oh boo hoo, you'll get over it, right? Wrong. I've been hung up on that for a month. More on that later, maybe. 3. Even worse than the project, it's time for- a novel! A few chapters of it have been posted up here to good reviews, and I have a thousand ideas on where to go with it, but I don't know how to put them all in order. My brain appears to be actively slacking on the topic. Because with a brain like mine, that makes sense. Scarily enough. 4. An assortment of other stories, novels, scripts, and side projects which I don't want to detail here because unless I keep my blog as short as possible, I'll have to face the fact that no one cares. (Dang. There it is.) *flees* Spoiler THE OPINION CORNER, EPISODE 2 Read this: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Listen to this: Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation, by The B-52s. See this: Little Miss Sunshine.
Whoa, I'm back. So yeah, I used to post here on a very daily basis, but dropped off a while ago, believing that a) my internet-me was very whiny and unpleasant, & b) I could actually get more writing done if I took all the time I spent on this forum and actually spent it writing. It was a mostly successful attempt, but it might have been too successful, and now I have a pile-up of things that want to be finished. (Well, I always have a pile-up of things that want to be finished, but now it's like a Live-Free-or-Die-Hard-fire-and-explosions pile up, as opposed to a side-of-the-interstate, everyday pile-up.) Inspired by the posts of other people at this forum, I've decided to use this spot to catalog my priorities in the writing world, and also do what any blogger should- have opinions! (Although I'll keep them safely sandwiched out of the way, as evidenced below. I hope to be back! Spoiler THE OPINION CORNER, EPISODE 1 Read this: Anything by Robert Rankin (Start with The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse) Listen to this: Everything by KT Tunstall (Start with Eye of the Telescope See this: Across the Universe