A memoir is an interesting piece of work. A glimpse, often rather detailed, into another person's life. Often, we accidentally write our own memoirs in our minds, and yet when one sets out to do so, nothing will come to mind. Funny thing, memoirs.
Reading one is fun, particularly when the subject matter is interesting, but even when not. If we look at books such as "The Catcher in the Rye," we see a fictional memoir, still in the same style. What really goes on in the book? Nothing of import, just another few days in the life of some kid we've never met. Still, the idea holds us, and we read through. We love reading about the lives of other people, especially when their struggles are our own. If we see that someone has gone through something before that we face now, are we not interested in seeing what happened at the end?
Anyway, I'm reading a particular memoir now, that I won't really mention, as the struggle which is detailed is probably too easily related back to my own life, and that is then too personal for me to openly talk about on a blog post meant for ~150 possible readers. But the effect it has is profound, I often have to stop reading simply to reflect on what the author is stating, or something said is so similar to my life that I can't continue on without feeling slightly overpowered by the author's situation. There truly is a powerful part of memoirs, that I doubt any human can truly resist, without a cold, calculating mind, or a pure analytical, possibly academic reading process. That is not mine.
While reading, I find myself gaining a deep attachment with characters, and in a memoir, or similar first person perspective, it becomes so easy to simply insert myself into the role of that character. To feel, see, hear as they do. Then, when the detailed portion of life becomes so similar to my own, I can't help but feel more affected by it than anything else. It becomes almost too real. It is real, for me and the author, and, as all books, it offers a common bond, secret and exciting, between the reader and author.
Finding a memoir therapeutic is hopefully quite common, or else I'm a little weird(probably both), but in either case, it is certainly an experience offered, and happily accepted by me, from another person, far away, perhaps in time and in space. Memoirs certainly are funny little things.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Via Latina(A Short, Sweet Vent)
All I see in my Latin course, repeated in such a way as to be an obsession, is the phrase: "Build your Via Latina". It's how they want us to think of it. Paving a road. I can't think of it that way. I've never been helped so simply by an analogy like that.
What I can do, though, is think of it as a puzzle. It's certainly been puzzling. But when translating, I've found the best way I can do it is to find words I know, and arrange them as context fits, till they make sense.
Then my teacher sends it back with a poor score because it wasn't exactly what she imagined. But my own disdain for her isn't that important in this post...maybe a different post. It's worth covering. Or spewing, as it is. Anyways, under this system of teaching they have for online courses in Florida, the grasp of even the simplest concepts has been a mental claw game, where the claw is too big and pointed and it severs the arm off the teddy bear that is my understanding.
It's also worth mentioning that I have a deep distaste for non-traditional learning systems. What a failure of innovation, they are.
Back on topic, I'm almost finished with the course. 16 assignments left. Including tests and phone calls. I'm about to have both of those things, soon enough, followed up by another one or two of each. It seems the closer I get to being done, the more they want to try and keep me in. It's a frustrating business, dealing with this class.
After this, I'll be taking Latin 2. I can only hope that I have a different teacher than the forgetful, impersonal one I have now. But at least I'm taking a moment to vent. That's always going to be very important
Right, must get moving again; Keep working.
Hoping for the best, as always.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
On Fanfiction(Inspired by Meghan McCarthy)
A while ago, I saw a Twitter post by Meghan McCarthy asking about fanfiction, because she had never been on a show which actually gained a fandom which wrote stories based on the show(https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/372960233640833024).
Upon seeing that tweet, I started thinking about it, for a while. I came up with some thoughts, and since I have a blog, now, I can put them down, the way I'd like to:
One question posed was "If something is canon but [the readers/writers] aren't crazy about it" is the fanfiction looked down on, if it goes against the established canon. It's a question requiring context, and can go case by case, I think. On one hand, a person can break canon in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic(the show that Meghan is talking about in that tweet) simply by writing a work in which Twilight Sparkle does not have wings. Since that's current canon, it would be a break from the story. That probably won't be looked down upon, as the wings were controversial in the first place, and by this point, no one should care whether or not she has them, probably.
Not that it's awful if they do care.
But the point stands, that it's a break in canon that could be ignored. There are some things, however, a person typically will take heat for if they break. Self-insert fics take a lot of flak, as the writer of the story has broken established canon, and put himself into the story. In most circles of fanfiction writers, that's bad on principle. So that's a good example of what might be looked down on.
I'll admit that I've written a fanfiction or two, and one of them broke canon. This one simply took an "alternate universe" sort of turn, and was tagged as such. This is generally within an acceptable breach of canon, in most contexts. It's an exploration of "what if", and is even done in show for some television programs(see Futurama, for a good example, where they used a machine to answer their "what if" questions).
There are also stories that didn't break canon, but recently, canon broke their fanon, and haven't been edited. We can leave those out of the discussion, though. I just thought it worth mentioning, briefly.
Resuming this, after a long time of leaving it. I probably still hold most of the views portrayed earlier, and I'm not looking back over it, so this may be repetitive, sorry.
Anyways, canon and fanon are generally only separated finely, fanon being mostly made up of things that haven't been covered in show, and are therefore free for opinion from viewers, until the day something is cleared by the medium itself.
So the issue here is timing.
Fanon can vary from person to person, until canon brings everyone back together. Typically, once canon is introduced, fanfiction takes some time to catch up, and authors are given a grace period where their fictions aren't discriminated against for being "outdated".
The reason for the game of catch up is simply because it takes time to write a fic, and if one is put out within a week or so of the canon update, then it was probably in the works, before then, and doesn't deserve scrutiny over it. If one is published a month or two after a new canon element is introduced, it probably could have been corrected for the new element, or was put in motion afterwards. At that point, people might start second guessing the story.
Time means more than anything else, in this argument. Whether a fic is looked down on, or not, for breaching canon is up to time, and many other variables, as well as a reader's opinion. While speculation is fun, I think I'd better stop writing on it before I truly am caught up in circles.
Thanks for reading. Sorry I took such a long break, mid-way through this. The flow probably got choppy, because of it, but that's fine.
-Payne.
Upon seeing that tweet, I started thinking about it, for a while. I came up with some thoughts, and since I have a blog, now, I can put them down, the way I'd like to:
One question posed was "If something is canon but [the readers/writers] aren't crazy about it" is the fanfiction looked down on, if it goes against the established canon. It's a question requiring context, and can go case by case, I think. On one hand, a person can break canon in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic(the show that Meghan is talking about in that tweet) simply by writing a work in which Twilight Sparkle does not have wings. Since that's current canon, it would be a break from the story. That probably won't be looked down upon, as the wings were controversial in the first place, and by this point, no one should care whether or not she has them, probably.
Not that it's awful if they do care.
But the point stands, that it's a break in canon that could be ignored. There are some things, however, a person typically will take heat for if they break. Self-insert fics take a lot of flak, as the writer of the story has broken established canon, and put himself into the story. In most circles of fanfiction writers, that's bad on principle. So that's a good example of what might be looked down on.
I'll admit that I've written a fanfiction or two, and one of them broke canon. This one simply took an "alternate universe" sort of turn, and was tagged as such. This is generally within an acceptable breach of canon, in most contexts. It's an exploration of "what if", and is even done in show for some television programs(see Futurama, for a good example, where they used a machine to answer their "what if" questions).
There are also stories that didn't break canon, but recently, canon broke their fanon, and haven't been edited. We can leave those out of the discussion, though. I just thought it worth mentioning, briefly.
Resuming this, after a long time of leaving it. I probably still hold most of the views portrayed earlier, and I'm not looking back over it, so this may be repetitive, sorry.
Anyways, canon and fanon are generally only separated finely, fanon being mostly made up of things that haven't been covered in show, and are therefore free for opinion from viewers, until the day something is cleared by the medium itself.
So the issue here is timing.
Fanon can vary from person to person, until canon brings everyone back together. Typically, once canon is introduced, fanfiction takes some time to catch up, and authors are given a grace period where their fictions aren't discriminated against for being "outdated".
The reason for the game of catch up is simply because it takes time to write a fic, and if one is put out within a week or so of the canon update, then it was probably in the works, before then, and doesn't deserve scrutiny over it. If one is published a month or two after a new canon element is introduced, it probably could have been corrected for the new element, or was put in motion afterwards. At that point, people might start second guessing the story.
Time means more than anything else, in this argument. Whether a fic is looked down on, or not, for breaching canon is up to time, and many other variables, as well as a reader's opinion. While speculation is fun, I think I'd better stop writing on it before I truly am caught up in circles.
Thanks for reading. Sorry I took such a long break, mid-way through this. The flow probably got choppy, because of it, but that's fine.
-Payne.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The Year Ahead...
Ok, so, starting off with my first serious post, I think I'll be talking about this upcoming year.
The next 9 months are going to be a test, for me. I have to maintain all my current friendships, and make new ones, while only seeing them during band, during both marching and concert seasons. The rest of my time, I'll be spending at the college, in Leesburg. There is where the challenge of new friends comes in. I'll need someone to talk to while I'm up there, and while my friendship with Stephen(@dietstephen1552 on Twitter) is enough to get me through economics, I hope, there's still a wide gap of me being alone at the college for hours on end.
But a question that nags at me is, do I want to be spending my off-time up there talking to people every day, or by enjoying my solace, which may be hard to come by in the next few months. It would make sense to mix both, but that's not how people work.
It's probable that the more friends I make on-campus, the more time I'll be spending up there trying to solidify friendships, or maintain them. So, it may seem selfish, but I'm thinking I'll probably be keeping to myself most of my time at college. That means I have to somehow make time to spend with my friends at high school, despite my schedule being crowded with work(which may require its own post, as it's caused a lot of trouble lately). At least with my current friends, I know around how much time I'll be spending with each of them.
But friendships aren't the only things one should focus on in a year, and I'm sure I got off track, even within the subject. I also need to focus on band, itself. We had our first officer meeting today, which, apparently, included every section leader and pseudo-section leader in the band. So, I obviously don't take it as seriously as I will some of the later, more private ones. It's looking like the year might take some good turns, with this year's set of officers. Even I've been a bit of a "commandy-pants", which is a good thing. Band is more than just a group of people trying to play music, though(we also march).
Band is also a group of friends, almost like a whole separate family, for some. We don't always like each other, but we get along because we have to. We're family. So, I've got to have time for that, in the upcoming year. I've already successfully bought a soda for someone feeling down, so I'm doing my job right, I think.
I wonder what else I need to mention.
I apologize for the delay in posting. I've been adapting to the schedule. I should have some time to do these more often, as I get better at adapting. The same goes for my tweeting schedule. I'll get more tweety as time goes on, I promise.
I hope this isn't a disappointing length. The more of these I do, the better I'll be at gauging the length of a post to how small this little scroll bar gets. For now, posts will be of some very strange and varying lengths.
Not to mention how much digression goes on in these things, its a wonder I'm as good at essay writing as I am. That said, this is the end of this particular post. I hope it was decent by reader standards, as it doesn't quite fit what I'm going for, yet, but as I've already repeated way too many times, it'll improve.
Good bye, and enjoy the rest of your days/nights.
The next 9 months are going to be a test, for me. I have to maintain all my current friendships, and make new ones, while only seeing them during band, during both marching and concert seasons. The rest of my time, I'll be spending at the college, in Leesburg. There is where the challenge of new friends comes in. I'll need someone to talk to while I'm up there, and while my friendship with Stephen(@dietstephen1552 on Twitter) is enough to get me through economics, I hope, there's still a wide gap of me being alone at the college for hours on end.
But a question that nags at me is, do I want to be spending my off-time up there talking to people every day, or by enjoying my solace, which may be hard to come by in the next few months. It would make sense to mix both, but that's not how people work.
It's probable that the more friends I make on-campus, the more time I'll be spending up there trying to solidify friendships, or maintain them. So, it may seem selfish, but I'm thinking I'll probably be keeping to myself most of my time at college. That means I have to somehow make time to spend with my friends at high school, despite my schedule being crowded with work(which may require its own post, as it's caused a lot of trouble lately). At least with my current friends, I know around how much time I'll be spending with each of them.
But friendships aren't the only things one should focus on in a year, and I'm sure I got off track, even within the subject. I also need to focus on band, itself. We had our first officer meeting today, which, apparently, included every section leader and pseudo-section leader in the band. So, I obviously don't take it as seriously as I will some of the later, more private ones. It's looking like the year might take some good turns, with this year's set of officers. Even I've been a bit of a "commandy-pants", which is a good thing. Band is more than just a group of people trying to play music, though(we also march).
Band is also a group of friends, almost like a whole separate family, for some. We don't always like each other, but we get along because we have to. We're family. So, I've got to have time for that, in the upcoming year. I've already successfully bought a soda for someone feeling down, so I'm doing my job right, I think.
I wonder what else I need to mention.
I apologize for the delay in posting. I've been adapting to the schedule. I should have some time to do these more often, as I get better at adapting. The same goes for my tweeting schedule. I'll get more tweety as time goes on, I promise.
I hope this isn't a disappointing length. The more of these I do, the better I'll be at gauging the length of a post to how small this little scroll bar gets. For now, posts will be of some very strange and varying lengths.
Not to mention how much digression goes on in these things, its a wonder I'm as good at essay writing as I am. That said, this is the end of this particular post. I hope it was decent by reader standards, as it doesn't quite fit what I'm going for, yet, but as I've already repeated way too many times, it'll improve.
Good bye, and enjoy the rest of your days/nights.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Start
I'm starting this blog as a method of venting, and also, out of curiosity. It's the first blog I've ever run, and I'm not sure how I'll handle, or even manage it. We'll just have to see.
This post is going to be really short(hopefully in comparison with later posts), and is just something to introduce what this blog will be about.
I'm a brony, and a student, working on getting his AA degree within the next two or three terms. So, you can expect a lot of pony- or education-related things on this blog. On top of that, you can expect my opinions on various things, such as movies, current events(unlikely, as I try to remain opinionless on things like that), or games, as I play a lot of games, almost daily.
If you want to know more about me, you can refer to the About the Author section(soon to be ready for viewing), or you can view my Twitter page(https://twitter.com/lastsight123), which I've made pretty good use of, for only being up for a year and a month. Hope to see a few readers pop up. If you read this, then I hope you might keep it up.
-Payne.
P.S. While I probably won't get a more proper first post up, you can count on lengthier posts whenever I have something that I really want to talk about. I hope not to disappoint.
This post is going to be really short(hopefully in comparison with later posts), and is just something to introduce what this blog will be about.
I'm a brony, and a student, working on getting his AA degree within the next two or three terms. So, you can expect a lot of pony- or education-related things on this blog. On top of that, you can expect my opinions on various things, such as movies, current events(unlikely, as I try to remain opinionless on things like that), or games, as I play a lot of games, almost daily.
If you want to know more about me, you can refer to the About the Author section(soon to be ready for viewing), or you can view my Twitter page(https://twitter.com/lastsight123), which I've made pretty good use of, for only being up for a year and a month. Hope to see a few readers pop up. If you read this, then I hope you might keep it up.
-Payne.
P.S. While I probably won't get a more proper first post up, you can count on lengthier posts whenever I have something that I really want to talk about. I hope not to disappoint.
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