Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Said the writer


I’m starting on my new year’s resolution early. I’m a writer. I love writing. I have a degree in writing. So why don’t I write? For no good reason, that’s why. Therefore, I’m setting the goal to update my blog once a week.

Writing has always been therapeutic for me, and I have a lot to say, although I often keep it to myself for a number of different reasons. Even when I was a kid, I used writing as a means of expressing myself. I remember one time in particular when my older brother did something that infuriated me. I don’t recall what; I think I was easily provoked as a child, and perhaps I still am in some ways. All I remember is getting out my little pink diary—the kind with the lock and the tiny keys that no girl under the age of ten could possibly keep track of—and writing, I hate Stuart! I hate Stuart! I hate Stuart! What a little brat I was! Of course, I never hated Stuart, as often as I allowed my emotions to get the better of me. My point is that even then, I used writing as a means of venting my thoughts and feelings. I suppose some things are better written than vocalized.


Aside from venting, I also find that writing helps me unscramble my thoughts. There is so much going on in my head all at once, that I don’t know what to do with it all. And then there are times when I can’t figure out the next sentence. I think this mostly happens when I have been thinking so much—usually about life—that I get overwhelmed, and my brain just shuts down altogether before it overheats or explodes. Call it a defense mechanism.

Speaking of life, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, as I am wont to do, and I have determined a few things. One is that I am no longer twenty-five. It didn’t take long to determine that. However, I still hope to make something of myself, so I think the original twenty-five spirit of this blog can continue into my twenty-sixth year and beyond.


Actually, my age is pretty much all that is certain right now, so maybe I haven’t determined that much after all.

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Help = Meh.

The HelpThe Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Spoiler alert! Not major spoilers, tiny, in fact, but still...


I must admit I have a grudge against really long books. What happens too often is that all the action is saved for the last third of the book. This book fits the mold. And I can't figure out why certain things are included. I don't know what they add to the story. They might be interesting or shocking, but they don't seem to add to the theme. For example, why does Skeeter's mom get cancer, leading you to believe she'll die, only to miraculously recover with no treatment? Why does the naked man trespass in Celia's yard? It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the racial theme of the book because he's tormenting the white woman the same as the black woman. He's just crazy as far as I can tell. I'm probably just slow and not not picking up on some hidden message.

I'm also somewhat prejudiced against writers who write about writing. This book made it seem so easy too. Some big wig editor receives a resume from an unqualified girl from Mississippi and just gives her the opportunity to write this book? Very unlikely. I doubt Skeeter would have been the only unqualified applicant, so is Mrs. Stein writing to every single wannabe writer to help them follow their dreams? She doesn't seem like that nice of a person. It's almost as bad as David Bowie emailing what's-his-face on the movie Band Slam to tell him he saw his band on YouTube and wants them to sign to his label.

I do like that all three women are freed in one way or another in the end.

I normally like stories where people with different backgrounds are able to come together, but this one just didn't do it for me, probably because of my prejudices (Oh, the irony!) against long books and writers who write about writing.

View all my reviews

Friday, January 14, 2011

This one goes out to supporters of athletics

Marysville School District is facing some pretty detrimental mid-year budget cuts, so the school board is postponing varsity and JV sports at the new high school until 2012.

Many people are displeased.

For my nifty reporting job, I went to a public forum last night where the superintendent answered a lot of budget questions. A lot of people wanted to talk about the sports issue, and things started getting a little rambunctious when some lady said a school's main job was to offer education, not sports.

Hoping to quell the impending riot, the superintendent switched topics, saying, "I'll be happy to stay after the meeting and talk with those of you who are athletic supporters."

People quickly quieted down. I wonder if they were being respectful, or if they were picturing in their minds the same thing I was: