Good afternoon,my dear readers.
It's Aoife here again for my first blog of the school year.
Back to School;
This weeks theme is back to school, which I'm sure everyone has something to say about, so here's my piece.
I love learning and being challenged to approach things for different perspectives but that doesn't mean I love school. In fact, sometimes I thinks it exactly the opposite. In school we learn to beat the exam and how to pass tests by cramming as much knowledge into our heads in the five minutes before the exam as possible. But that is not what school should be about, school should be a place where learning is encouraged and curiosity is rewarded rather than a place where you are punished for not having the correct jacket or forgetting to bring in a piece of homework which you did complete. In my opinion schools are too focused on results and so actually learning for learning's sake gets pushed to the wayside.
Exams and test all focus on accessing your ability to parrot what others have said without actually accessing your understanding and ability to apply that knowledge to the world around you. The exam system teaches us not to think for ourselves but to simple reiterate the same old spiel of why we think that Romeo is our favourite character in Romeo and Juliet, when really we think Romeo is a self-obsessed fool who wouldn't know what sense is if it smacked him in the face with his own story.
Sorry but sometimes school just feels like a cage meant to strangle all creativity and imagination until all that's left is a hollow husk of half understood theories and phrases. Sometimes I wonder what it is that the Education System is trying to teach us but as far I can see, it certainly isn't independent thought and the dive to gain a better understanding of the world.
Also I think the whole idea of school is too set in it's way of teaching and accessing potential. There are so many gifted people in this world who struggle with school simple because they see things in a different light. Some people struggle with all the learning involved in school and feel foolish for it but it is just that they excel in area's that aren't measured by tests. For instance, a kid who is totally gifted with technology of any kind, who could explain the mechanics of a V8 engine by the time he was eight gets letters home because his grades in English, Spanish and Irish are terrible. It doesn't mean that he is a fool or that he doesn't work hard, it's just that he can't parrot back what the teacher tells him. For me, this is one of the biggest failings of the Education system- in that it can't understand or except those who can not follow it's rules.
I could go on all day about this but I'm pretty busy doing all this pointless homework so I better wrap this up.
For all it's faults and failings, there are some things I like about school. I love to learn and understand new things, I love meeting with my friends, I love the teachers that love to teach and are very good at it and lastly I love the fact that I have access to education and the possibilities that it brings.
I think that about wraps things up.
I'll see you next week unless I die of Education overdose before then,
See ya,
Aoife
P.S: I'll go the punishment tonight once I buy some eggs. I tell you how it goes in next weeks post.
It should be......interesting( definitely), memorable (probably) and tasty (hopefully)
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Mission 005: Return to the Cage
Punishments: So Aoife is eating blenderized salad and egg (cooked) and I guess it's fair that she doesn't have to eat a whole glass or whatever of it, so maybe a spoonful? By the end of the week. What does everyone else think?
Orla still needs a punishment. How about she has to speak in an Australian accent for a day? Or any accent?
Today was our first full day back in school and it was weird. It reminded me of when I was back in first year and I'd walk by a senior class with the door open and no matter what they were doing it would look really difficult. I presumed that by the time I got to that age I'd be well prepared for that work, but everything still feels really advanced. It's like I missed a step in the education ladder somewhere and I've gotten too high too quickly.
I'm really excited for 5th year, all the same. I'm excited to learn things and do subjects I've only touched on before.
Danielle is right about the education system and the work ethic it enforces in students. It teaches learning how to answer questions and gain points rather than teaching knowledge. That's why I think it's really important that students decide themselves what they want out of the system. If they simply want the points to get into their course it's easy enough to fall in with the system and follow it religiously. However if they want to learn their topics the best they can this is still possible. It isn't necessary to obey the system the way it's made, it may take more time and effort but one can still learn knowledge rather than manipulation. It just means ignoring some of what your teacher will tell you about the exams and focusing on the facts of the course instead.
I try to focus more on actually learning than on the grades I get in tests but it is hard when you're constantly surrounded by people who care only for their grades. It's a contagious attitude and one that is hard to resist in our society.
But yeah, on that note, I should probably go do some homework
Until next week, your Wednesday correspondent,
Kate.
MISSION...............................................................COMPLETE
Orla still needs a punishment. How about she has to speak in an Australian accent for a day? Or any accent?
Today was our first full day back in school and it was weird. It reminded me of when I was back in first year and I'd walk by a senior class with the door open and no matter what they were doing it would look really difficult. I presumed that by the time I got to that age I'd be well prepared for that work, but everything still feels really advanced. It's like I missed a step in the education ladder somewhere and I've gotten too high too quickly.
I'm really excited for 5th year, all the same. I'm excited to learn things and do subjects I've only touched on before.
Danielle is right about the education system and the work ethic it enforces in students. It teaches learning how to answer questions and gain points rather than teaching knowledge. That's why I think it's really important that students decide themselves what they want out of the system. If they simply want the points to get into their course it's easy enough to fall in with the system and follow it religiously. However if they want to learn their topics the best they can this is still possible. It isn't necessary to obey the system the way it's made, it may take more time and effort but one can still learn knowledge rather than manipulation. It just means ignoring some of what your teacher will tell you about the exams and focusing on the facts of the course instead.
I try to focus more on actually learning than on the grades I get in tests but it is hard when you're constantly surrounded by people who care only for their grades. It's a contagious attitude and one that is hard to resist in our society.
But yeah, on that note, I should probably go do some homework
Until next week, your Wednesday correspondent,
Kate.
MISSION...............................................................COMPLETE
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Too Cool For School
Hello dearest bosomed bloggers! I hope you and your bosoms are happy today, and welcome to Danielle Tuesday! *cheesy 90s opening sequence*
Housekeeping
Punishments! I think we have decided that Aoife would eat blenderized salad with (not raw) egg. Aoife if you could do the punishment this week and then document it before Saturday, that would be A+, but I guess we could tone your punishment down a bit since it wasn't really your fault, so maybe we won't set a deadline for you? I don't know, is this okay with everyone? We could also let you drink just a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of blenderized salad and (not raw) egg, but still keep the deadline. What do other people think?
Orla, of course, does not get this privilege. Does anybody have any ideas for punishments? John Green once said that punishments are usually of these categories: eating something, embarassment, and pain. I propose that Orla would do an embarassing kind of punishment, but I'm not sure what.
Aoife: I'm sorry about the punishment! It would be super interesting though, so I'm not counting it out, but I guess we could give you a bit of a leeway, as I mentioned earlier? Anyway, what you and Kate said about the vlogbrothers made me think of just how many lives they've actually affected, in a good way. I wonder how it makes them feel, to know that so many people's lives have changed because of them and that so many people look up to them, who likes them because of their personality. Must be a bit strange.
Orla: I. LOVE. YOUR. MOM. She's so motherly she reminds me of Mrs. Weasley. I don't tell you that often enough, but yeah, your mom's pretty awesome.
Kate: Hi, I'm glad you didn't burn your hair.
Theme for the week: Back to School!!!!1
I have a love-hate relationship with school. I love learning about new things, and acquiring new skills, and getting high grades and SCHOOL SUPPLIES (seriously why are school supplies so shmexy.), but at the same time I have a couple of issues with the school system. Like, for, example, homework. I mean I get that it is designed to reinforce what the child has just learned from school, but at the same time, the teachers often give too much of it that is so overwhelming, and turns a person off actually learning, which is what a school is designed to do. It's like the love for knowledge has been replaced by the love for paperwork.
Also, the exam system. More often than not, people pass an exam not because of how much they know about the subject, but because of how well they can manipulate the system. This particularly irritated me when we were preparing for our Geography Junior Cert. Our teacher gave us this formula for answering questions: SEE. Statement, Explanation, Example. She said that the reason we weren't getting as much points as we could be getting was because we were not following this formula, although we were actually answering the questions correctly. The teachers know this, the correctors know this, the students know this. It all struck me as a bit of a joke. They weren't teaching us Geography. They were teaching us how to pass an exam.
There are so many flaws with not just our school system, but the school system of nearly the entire world, that it would take me about 76 years typing them all out in here. But it is not enough for me to loathe school completely. Sitting on a desk and learning new things give me such a rush, and, believe it or not, I am looking forward for another year of it.
-Danielle
Housekeeping
Punishments! I think we have decided that Aoife would eat blenderized salad with (not raw) egg. Aoife if you could do the punishment this week and then document it before Saturday, that would be A+, but I guess we could tone your punishment down a bit since it wasn't really your fault, so maybe we won't set a deadline for you? I don't know, is this okay with everyone? We could also let you drink just a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of blenderized salad and (not raw) egg, but still keep the deadline. What do other people think?
Orla, of course, does not get this privilege. Does anybody have any ideas for punishments? John Green once said that punishments are usually of these categories: eating something, embarassment, and pain. I propose that Orla would do an embarassing kind of punishment, but I'm not sure what.
Aoife: I'm sorry about the punishment! It would be super interesting though, so I'm not counting it out, but I guess we could give you a bit of a leeway, as I mentioned earlier? Anyway, what you and Kate said about the vlogbrothers made me think of just how many lives they've actually affected, in a good way. I wonder how it makes them feel, to know that so many people's lives have changed because of them and that so many people look up to them, who likes them because of their personality. Must be a bit strange.
Orla: I. LOVE. YOUR. MOM. She's so motherly she reminds me of Mrs. Weasley. I don't tell you that often enough, but yeah, your mom's pretty awesome.
Kate: Hi, I'm glad you didn't burn your hair.
Theme for the week: Back to School!!!!1
I have a love-hate relationship with school. I love learning about new things, and acquiring new skills, and getting high grades and SCHOOL SUPPLIES (seriously why are school supplies so shmexy.), but at the same time I have a couple of issues with the school system. Like, for, example, homework. I mean I get that it is designed to reinforce what the child has just learned from school, but at the same time, the teachers often give too much of it that is so overwhelming, and turns a person off actually learning, which is what a school is designed to do. It's like the love for knowledge has been replaced by the love for paperwork.
Also, the exam system. More often than not, people pass an exam not because of how much they know about the subject, but because of how well they can manipulate the system. This particularly irritated me when we were preparing for our Geography Junior Cert. Our teacher gave us this formula for answering questions: SEE. Statement, Explanation, Example. She said that the reason we weren't getting as much points as we could be getting was because we were not following this formula, although we were actually answering the questions correctly. The teachers know this, the correctors know this, the students know this. It all struck me as a bit of a joke. They weren't teaching us Geography. They were teaching us how to pass an exam.
There are so many flaws with not just our school system, but the school system of nearly the entire world, that it would take me about 76 years typing them all out in here. But it is not enough for me to loathe school completely. Sitting on a desk and learning new things give me such a rush, and, believe it or not, I am looking forward for another year of it.
-Danielle
Monday, 26 August 2013
Role Models and Apologies
As I'm sure everyone present is aware, I have committed a heinous crime. I have failed to produce a post at the allotted time and for this I will have to pay the price.
I'd like to say I have as good a reason as Aoife (who maybe sorts kinda didn't deserve a punishment...?), but I don't. I just forgot. I was so happy thinking about meeting some friends of mine today that I forgot all about it. It's not like I didn't have it planned in my head or anything. Terrible business.
So anyway, my apologies to all our myriad fans, and mine in particular, who were doubtless distraught when my post failed to appear yesterday. I will try, in repentance, to make this a particularly good one.
Role Models
I don't think I've ever been terribly into role models. I've had rivalry with my sister. I've had ambition. I've wanted to achieve something because I saw someone do it and wanted to do it too. But for most of my life, I don't think I've ever looked at someone and thought "I want to be like them," not even in a small way. For most of my fairly short life people have told me I'm just grand the way I am and it's only recently, I think, that I've started to see my shortcomings clearly.
For starters, I am not a very nice person. Many people would tell you that it's not very important to be nice. I don't mean I'm not generous or giving or selfless, I like to think I can be all of those at times, I mean I am not nice. It does not come easily to me. People exasperate me, even when I feel sympathy for them, even when I am helping them at cost to myself. I am particularly unkind to my friends.
In niceness, I have a role model. My mother. She is unfailingly nice. She is a pleasant person almost all the time. Only once or twice have I seen her be anything less that extremely nice, the most recent of which was when she was gearing up for working four night shifts in a row (which she hates because she never sleeps) and she was taking me to buy school books and I made a weary sigh. She told me in no uncertain terms to cop on to myself, and she was right. She is a nurse. She spends every day helping people and enjoys it.
She is a better person than me and I try to be more like her in this regard.
I worry too much. I stress about little things, and it's not good.
In this, I have a wonderful role model. My brother is spectacularly laid back. When I say he's my role model in laid-backety, I don't mean to say I'd like to be exactly like him, more that I'd like to be more like him. I don't think his degree of laid-backety is completely wise or helpful. Still, a bit more would probably be good for me.
I'm not sure either of these are strictly role models though.
I think, perhaps, that the idea of role models appeals particularly to children. A person to look up to, a goal to be reached, someone to whom you do not currently stand up.
Little snot that I was, full of my own importance and ability, I don't think that idea ever appealed to me particularly. I was too sure of my own worth and abilities.
And now, now that I can see my flaws, I don't think I need the goal of another person to know how I want to improve myself. I feel like the window of role models has passed for me.
By this I don't mean to say any of the other girls are childish. I think what they're talking about is an admiration for a person and a trait that that person has, but maybe not, strictly, role models in the sense I am thinking of them.
Role models have never really been a thing for me, and it doesn't look like they ever will be.
Yours in apology,
Orla.
I'd like to say I have as good a reason as Aoife (who maybe sorts kinda didn't deserve a punishment...?), but I don't. I just forgot. I was so happy thinking about meeting some friends of mine today that I forgot all about it. It's not like I didn't have it planned in my head or anything. Terrible business.
So anyway, my apologies to all our myriad fans, and mine in particular, who were doubtless distraught when my post failed to appear yesterday. I will try, in repentance, to make this a particularly good one.
Role Models
I don't think I've ever been terribly into role models. I've had rivalry with my sister. I've had ambition. I've wanted to achieve something because I saw someone do it and wanted to do it too. But for most of my life, I don't think I've ever looked at someone and thought "I want to be like them," not even in a small way. For most of my fairly short life people have told me I'm just grand the way I am and it's only recently, I think, that I've started to see my shortcomings clearly.
For starters, I am not a very nice person. Many people would tell you that it's not very important to be nice. I don't mean I'm not generous or giving or selfless, I like to think I can be all of those at times, I mean I am not nice. It does not come easily to me. People exasperate me, even when I feel sympathy for them, even when I am helping them at cost to myself. I am particularly unkind to my friends.
In niceness, I have a role model. My mother. She is unfailingly nice. She is a pleasant person almost all the time. Only once or twice have I seen her be anything less that extremely nice, the most recent of which was when she was gearing up for working four night shifts in a row (which she hates because she never sleeps) and she was taking me to buy school books and I made a weary sigh. She told me in no uncertain terms to cop on to myself, and she was right. She is a nurse. She spends every day helping people and enjoys it.
She is a better person than me and I try to be more like her in this regard.
I worry too much. I stress about little things, and it's not good.
In this, I have a wonderful role model. My brother is spectacularly laid back. When I say he's my role model in laid-backety, I don't mean to say I'd like to be exactly like him, more that I'd like to be more like him. I don't think his degree of laid-backety is completely wise or helpful. Still, a bit more would probably be good for me.
I'm not sure either of these are strictly role models though.
I think, perhaps, that the idea of role models appeals particularly to children. A person to look up to, a goal to be reached, someone to whom you do not currently stand up.
Little snot that I was, full of my own importance and ability, I don't think that idea ever appealed to me particularly. I was too sure of my own worth and abilities.
And now, now that I can see my flaws, I don't think I need the goal of another person to know how I want to improve myself. I feel like the window of role models has passed for me.
By this I don't mean to say any of the other girls are childish. I think what they're talking about is an admiration for a person and a trait that that person has, but maybe not, strictly, role models in the sense I am thinking of them.
Role models have never really been a thing for me, and it doesn't look like they ever will be.
Yours in apology,
Orla.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Mirror Models
Hi all,
It's Aoife, who is seriously depressed to find out that she has to do a punishment :( *sigh*
Anyway, my laptop decided to say "sayonara" to the land of the living, which means I have had to resort to stealing my brother's in order to post this blog.
Hopeful it can be resurrected but we'll just have to see.
Anyway, this week theme is" Role Models" which for me is a toughie.
To be honest I've never really thought about who I would consider my role models.
But since people mirror in other what they wish to see in themselves, I suppose I do have quite a few.
For me as a kid while I looked up to plenty of people, I never really wanted to be like them. I thought that my older cousins were some of the wisest coolest people on planet but I didn't want to be them.My friend had a new doll but you could never part five year old me from the battered Barbie I had. I think I just wanted to be me, only problem was that I didn't know who "me" was yet and I'm still working on it.
The people who most drastically changed the way I view life and others has to be the Vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green. Those two made me really look at what I had and value it. They made be feel like it was okay to be different, to chose a path other than the one most well worn. They made me realise that you must imagine people complexly and that empathy is a gift that is too often neglected. They changed my world view and I can never thank them enough for that. It seems incredible that they have managed to touch so many people's lives especially those they have never met but it seems that they have become the role models for many people who just want to be themselves. I won't go on about them for too long seeing as Danielle already explained about them so well.
My second group of role models are my basketball club members. They taught me that dedication and hard work lead to their own rewards and have shown me such kindness over the years. I think that I have always looked up to them and admired the way they treat new people as family. If I can ever achieve that level of kindness and openness with people I don't know then I consider myself content. Plus I always admired the fact that they are actually on time for things which is a skill I REALLY need to learn.
In the end, I think that we all model ourselves off everyone we see, after all that's how we learn as kid's. We take a little bit everyone we meet and add it to the jumbled mix of thoughts, emotions and experiences that make us who we are. In turn we become role models for others whether we realise it or not. So there's something to think about for the weekend!
'Til next time,
Aoife
It's Aoife, who is seriously depressed to find out that she has to do a punishment :( *sigh*
Anyway, my laptop decided to say "sayonara" to the land of the living, which means I have had to resort to stealing my brother's in order to post this blog.
Hopeful it can be resurrected but we'll just have to see.
Anyway, this week theme is" Role Models" which for me is a toughie.
To be honest I've never really thought about who I would consider my role models.
But since people mirror in other what they wish to see in themselves, I suppose I do have quite a few.
For me as a kid while I looked up to plenty of people, I never really wanted to be like them. I thought that my older cousins were some of the wisest coolest people on planet but I didn't want to be them.My friend had a new doll but you could never part five year old me from the battered Barbie I had. I think I just wanted to be me, only problem was that I didn't know who "me" was yet and I'm still working on it.
The people who most drastically changed the way I view life and others has to be the Vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green. Those two made me really look at what I had and value it. They made be feel like it was okay to be different, to chose a path other than the one most well worn. They made me realise that you must imagine people complexly and that empathy is a gift that is too often neglected. They changed my world view and I can never thank them enough for that. It seems incredible that they have managed to touch so many people's lives especially those they have never met but it seems that they have become the role models for many people who just want to be themselves. I won't go on about them for too long seeing as Danielle already explained about them so well.
My second group of role models are my basketball club members. They taught me that dedication and hard work lead to their own rewards and have shown me such kindness over the years. I think that I have always looked up to them and admired the way they treat new people as family. If I can ever achieve that level of kindness and openness with people I don't know then I consider myself content. Plus I always admired the fact that they are actually on time for things which is a skill I REALLY need to learn.
In the end, I think that we all model ourselves off everyone we see, after all that's how we learn as kid's. We take a little bit everyone we meet and add it to the jumbled mix of thoughts, emotions and experiences that make us who we are. In turn we become role models for others whether we realise it or not. So there's something to think about for the weekend!
'Til next time,
Aoife
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Mission 004: Choose Your God
My Dearest Bosomed Bloggers,
I hope you are all faring well on this disgusting day. I, myself, feel like kicking a child. Also burning my hair maybe? Yeah. Here's fair warning that I might be a dick in this post. Sorry not sorry.
Orla, in response to your question what is a bad book I completely agree that it is a subjective idea. But is the whole idea of good and bad not that they are subjective adjectives? I clearly depends on your point of view. For this reason it doesn't bother me that their are good and bad books. It's the same as there being good and bad haircuts, good and bad lives. To two different people the same haircut is both bad and good. In the words of Abraham Lincoln,
“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”
I read some of the Artemis Fowl books a long time ago but I never fully got into them. I hardly remember the story anymore. I have to agree with what you described in your post though about the way the story panned out. (I would call it a bad storyline/plot rather than the writing itself, because I reserve the term 'writing' to the actually organisation and creation of sentences and word placements but that is beside the point and I'm just being annoying now I know. Sorry for realz this time)
I think I want Aoife to eat something with egg in it. How about blending egg and ice-cream? That sounds interesting enough that I might try it myself. And course whatever we decide, yes, she has to document it as best she can. We don't actually know where Aoife is so should there be any exceptions for reasons that someone has not published a post?
I've had a complicated relationship with role models all my life. I've never liked the idea of them because in my experience most people take them to far. Like Danielle was saying they try to become that person and that's simply unhealthy behaviour. We are individual people and I accept that we sometimes need to take inspiration and guidance from others but becoming that person is something that I don't think should happen. Ever. But who am I to judge, right? That's just my opinion.
I have got role models though. I think at some point in our lives we all need them. At the moment I hate pretty much everything in existence. This happens from time to time, don't ask me what caused it. Just a build up of little things. Role-models help me to find purpose and remind me that there are always new challenges ready to be overcome.
When I was younger my role-models were mainly fictional characters and authors. I took inspiration from everyone I read about and each and every one of them helped to shape the person I am today.
In a way everyone I like and admire becomes a sort of role-model to me. I take on parts of their virtues and personalities and convert them into my own life, applying them to my own situations where I choose them to be appropriate. But we are also more than a collection of virtues borrowed from other people. After trying out various traits we decide within ourselves which of these we find most effective in different situations.
I'm going off topic as usual.
Alex Day has been a major role-model to me through his carefree attitude, minimalism, his fashion sense, his outspokenness and most of all, dedication to his dream. John and Hank Green taught me to stop giving a fuck because the little stuff just doesn't matter enough to get anxious over in the wider view of things. Luna Lovegood taught me that sometimes it's okay to live in your own world and forget everything else exists around you. Billie Joe Armstrong taught me not to judge people, to accept myself no matter what and to not suppress my opinion. Violet Baudelaire taught me that even in the most hopeless of cases, a solution is always possible. Atticus Finch taught me the importance of always, always trying. Charlie McDonnell taught me that being an introveert is not synonymous with being friendless. Linsey Williams taught me how to speak my mind and still make a joke. Aragorn son of Arathorn taught me the importance of loyalty. J.K. Rowling taught me, among many things, that without love there can never be happiness. Minerva McGonagall taught me that being an austere figure of authority does not mean being joyless and without a sense of humour.
Lex Croucher has taught me to find myself. To keep searching, to keep working towards a better me and to not give up until I'm fully satisfied with what I see in the mirror. But that doesn't mean loathing myself until I reach perfection. It means acceptance of my imperfections as the are within and realisation that they will always remain a part of me, if only in memory. It means belief that I can and will improve and continue to strive towards fierceness.
With all due respect,
Kate of Wednesday
MISSION...............................................COMPLETED
I hope you are all faring well on this disgusting day. I, myself, feel like kicking a child. Also burning my hair maybe? Yeah. Here's fair warning that I might be a dick in this post. Sorry not sorry.
Orla, in response to your question what is a bad book I completely agree that it is a subjective idea. But is the whole idea of good and bad not that they are subjective adjectives? I clearly depends on your point of view. For this reason it doesn't bother me that their are good and bad books. It's the same as there being good and bad haircuts, good and bad lives. To two different people the same haircut is both bad and good. In the words of Abraham Lincoln,
“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”
I read some of the Artemis Fowl books a long time ago but I never fully got into them. I hardly remember the story anymore. I have to agree with what you described in your post though about the way the story panned out. (I would call it a bad storyline/plot rather than the writing itself, because I reserve the term 'writing' to the actually organisation and creation of sentences and word placements but that is beside the point and I'm just being annoying now I know. Sorry for realz this time)
I think I want Aoife to eat something with egg in it. How about blending egg and ice-cream? That sounds interesting enough that I might try it myself. And course whatever we decide, yes, she has to document it as best she can. We don't actually know where Aoife is so should there be any exceptions for reasons that someone has not published a post?
I've had a complicated relationship with role models all my life. I've never liked the idea of them because in my experience most people take them to far. Like Danielle was saying they try to become that person and that's simply unhealthy behaviour. We are individual people and I accept that we sometimes need to take inspiration and guidance from others but becoming that person is something that I don't think should happen. Ever. But who am I to judge, right? That's just my opinion.
I have got role models though. I think at some point in our lives we all need them. At the moment I hate pretty much everything in existence. This happens from time to time, don't ask me what caused it. Just a build up of little things. Role-models help me to find purpose and remind me that there are always new challenges ready to be overcome.
When I was younger my role-models were mainly fictional characters and authors. I took inspiration from everyone I read about and each and every one of them helped to shape the person I am today.
In a way everyone I like and admire becomes a sort of role-model to me. I take on parts of their virtues and personalities and convert them into my own life, applying them to my own situations where I choose them to be appropriate. But we are also more than a collection of virtues borrowed from other people. After trying out various traits we decide within ourselves which of these we find most effective in different situations.
I'm going off topic as usual.
Alex Day has been a major role-model to me through his carefree attitude, minimalism, his fashion sense, his outspokenness and most of all, dedication to his dream. John and Hank Green taught me to stop giving a fuck because the little stuff just doesn't matter enough to get anxious over in the wider view of things. Luna Lovegood taught me that sometimes it's okay to live in your own world and forget everything else exists around you. Billie Joe Armstrong taught me not to judge people, to accept myself no matter what and to not suppress my opinion. Violet Baudelaire taught me that even in the most hopeless of cases, a solution is always possible. Atticus Finch taught me the importance of always, always trying. Charlie McDonnell taught me that being an introveert is not synonymous with being friendless. Linsey Williams taught me how to speak my mind and still make a joke. Aragorn son of Arathorn taught me the importance of loyalty. J.K. Rowling taught me, among many things, that without love there can never be happiness. Minerva McGonagall taught me that being an austere figure of authority does not mean being joyless and without a sense of humour.
Lex Croucher has taught me to find myself. To keep searching, to keep working towards a better me and to not give up until I'm fully satisfied with what I see in the mirror. But that doesn't mean loathing myself until I reach perfection. It means acceptance of my imperfections as the are within and realisation that they will always remain a part of me, if only in memory. It means belief that I can and will improve and continue to strive towards fierceness.
With all due respect,
Kate of Wednesday
MISSION...............................................COMPLETED
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Role Models
Hello bosomed bloggers, and welcome to Danielle Tuesday! *cue cheesy 90s opening sequence*
Housekeeping
First of all, the subject of Aoife. As we all know she didn't post a blog on Saturday, her day, and, according to our rules this results to a punishment! Any suggestions on what the punishment should be? Personally I want to see Aoife eat a blenderized something. Blenderized salad? I don't know, what do you guys think? Punishments of her getting embarassed our good too, and of course she has to take pictures/a video and blog about it in here.
Okay so we're keeping COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY for the time being! I don't have any problem with this and everyone seems happy with that, so that's settled for now. Also, as you guys can tell, I'm loving bosomed bloggers quite a lot.
Kate: For me it depends a lot on how big the romance part of the novel is. I prefer books with less romantic elements than non-romantic elements, and I found I can stomach books where the romance part is a maximum of about 40% of the book, if that makes sense. Of course that's not saying that there is absolutely no good completely romantic novels out there, I probably just haven't found it yet. Also I didn't really have the same problems with Divergent as you did. I mean I (still) haven't finished the book but, it was going pretty well for me. I suggest you reread it, I'll give you your copy back.
Orla: I never got into Artemis Fowl. I read the first book when we were in first year and Artemis Fowl annoyed the hell out of me, so it was really hard to enjoy the book. Like, he annoyed me the way Sasuke from Naruto annoyed me. Like I-will-strangle-the-living-hell-out-of-you-if-you-weren't-fictional kind of annoyance. Seriously. So I finished that first book and never looked back. I also really like that you're sharing bits of writing knowledge to us! It's so cool to learn about it and maybe it could be a thing where you present a writing tip that you learned from the Royal Irish Academy School of Awesome every week in your posts?
Theme for the week: Role Models
I don't remember not looking up to anybody. When I was way younger it was my older cousins who served as the cool older sister for me, and then it became teachers and friends and of course, celebrities. I've always loved the idea of Role Models, although some people I know completely copies the person they admire, from the way that person talks, to their attitude, to the way they dress. Sometimes a part of themselves kind of disappears and is replaced by an imitation of an idea of a person, and that's not really what role modeling is for me. I think Role Models are there to help you better yourself, for motivation, to provide a challenge and to be an inspiration. They're not there to be copied.
But anyway, I will tell you guys about the people who I look up to. These people have all contributed a lot to the person that I am now and the person that I'm trying to be.
One of my role models are the Vlogbrothers. I discovered them in 2010 through the fiveawesomegirls, and it basically changed my life. It was through them that I discovered the many, many, many benefits of being a nerd, how awesome it is to be a part of a community, and also how putting stuff on your head helps you when suck levels are high. What I admire the most about the vlogbrothers is how enthusiastic they are about life. They do all sorts of different projects and they never really seem to be not doing anything. John Green is my favorite author and he wrote my favorite book ever, Paper Towns. His eloquence never fails to amaze me, and his ability to put the thoughts and feelings that you feel into words, when you yourself can't, is just marvelous. Hank Green's productivity is also incredibly impressive. Seriously, that man does so many things. Ecogeek, DFTBA Records, Vidcon, and lots of other cool stuff that I can't think of right now. They inspire me to participate in life.
Another role model of mine is Rosianna Rojas, or missxrojas on youtube. She's incredibly smart, funny and always seems to be motivated. She is one of the people who introduced me to feminism, which has rapidly become a huge part of my life over the past few of months. Her videos on the subject never fail to make me think and she motivates me to do even the littlest things to make the world a better place for women. She taught me to think a lot more critically about the things I read or see or hear. She's actually the one who inspired me to cut my hair off for the hair for hazel campaign. Gah just I look up to her so much and she seems like such an amazing person and I would really love to meet her someday.
So yeah, those are my role models. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about this topic, and I'll talk to you guys next week!
-Danielle.
Housekeeping
First of all, the subject of Aoife. As we all know she didn't post a blog on Saturday, her day, and, according to our rules this results to a punishment! Any suggestions on what the punishment should be? Personally I want to see Aoife eat a blenderized something. Blenderized salad? I don't know, what do you guys think? Punishments of her getting embarassed our good too, and of course she has to take pictures/a video and blog about it in here.
Okay so we're keeping COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY for the time being! I don't have any problem with this and everyone seems happy with that, so that's settled for now. Also, as you guys can tell, I'm loving bosomed bloggers quite a lot.
Kate: For me it depends a lot on how big the romance part of the novel is. I prefer books with less romantic elements than non-romantic elements, and I found I can stomach books where the romance part is a maximum of about 40% of the book, if that makes sense. Of course that's not saying that there is absolutely no good completely romantic novels out there, I probably just haven't found it yet. Also I didn't really have the same problems with Divergent as you did. I mean I (still) haven't finished the book but, it was going pretty well for me. I suggest you reread it, I'll give you your copy back.
Orla: I never got into Artemis Fowl. I read the first book when we were in first year and Artemis Fowl annoyed the hell out of me, so it was really hard to enjoy the book. Like, he annoyed me the way Sasuke from Naruto annoyed me. Like I-will-strangle-the-living-hell-out-of-you-if-you-weren't-fictional kind of annoyance. Seriously. So I finished that first book and never looked back. I also really like that you're sharing bits of writing knowledge to us! It's so cool to learn about it and maybe it could be a thing where you present a writing tip that you learned from the Royal Irish Academy School of Awesome every week in your posts?
Theme for the week: Role Models
I don't remember not looking up to anybody. When I was way younger it was my older cousins who served as the cool older sister for me, and then it became teachers and friends and of course, celebrities. I've always loved the idea of Role Models, although some people I know completely copies the person they admire, from the way that person talks, to their attitude, to the way they dress. Sometimes a part of themselves kind of disappears and is replaced by an imitation of an idea of a person, and that's not really what role modeling is for me. I think Role Models are there to help you better yourself, for motivation, to provide a challenge and to be an inspiration. They're not there to be copied.
But anyway, I will tell you guys about the people who I look up to. These people have all contributed a lot to the person that I am now and the person that I'm trying to be.
One of my role models are the Vlogbrothers. I discovered them in 2010 through the fiveawesomegirls, and it basically changed my life. It was through them that I discovered the many, many, many benefits of being a nerd, how awesome it is to be a part of a community, and also how putting stuff on your head helps you when suck levels are high. What I admire the most about the vlogbrothers is how enthusiastic they are about life. They do all sorts of different projects and they never really seem to be not doing anything. John Green is my favorite author and he wrote my favorite book ever, Paper Towns. His eloquence never fails to amaze me, and his ability to put the thoughts and feelings that you feel into words, when you yourself can't, is just marvelous. Hank Green's productivity is also incredibly impressive. Seriously, that man does so many things. Ecogeek, DFTBA Records, Vidcon, and lots of other cool stuff that I can't think of right now. They inspire me to participate in life.
Another role model of mine is Rosianna Rojas, or missxrojas on youtube. She's incredibly smart, funny and always seems to be motivated. She is one of the people who introduced me to feminism, which has rapidly become a huge part of my life over the past few of months. Her videos on the subject never fail to make me think and she motivates me to do even the littlest things to make the world a better place for women. She taught me to think a lot more critically about the things I read or see or hear. She's actually the one who inspired me to cut my hair off for the hair for hazel campaign. Gah just I look up to her so much and she seems like such an amazing person and I would really love to meet her someday.
So yeah, those are my role models. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about this topic, and I'll talk to you guys next week!
-Danielle.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
What is a Bad Book?
Okay, I have a number of things to address.
1. In answer the the question Danielle was actually asking:
I'm not sure about Dear Beatrice? I think I agree with Kate, I like Dear Bitches better, but I think I like our present name better than both of them. As for The Fellowship of the Blog, it's pretty okay. I think we should stick with Cool People of Every and Any Nationality unless something cooler and more relevant to us specifically comes to mind.
2. Apparently we're responding to each other's posts now? Well, I sure got the short straw didn't I?
Subsection A: I agree with Kate largely on the subject of romance, though, I'll admit, sometimes I just
want to read a stupid teenage romance, regardless of literary value. I haven't read The
Time Traveller's Wife, so I can't really give an opinion on that.
Subsection B: Dude, Kate, Divergent isn't that bad. I didn't find it overly predictable either. Maybe your
illness temporarily granted you super-human powers of deduction? To be honest though, I
mostly enjoyed the world-building in it, not so much the characters or story. Maybe I'm
of a DM than an author.
3. The main part, Bad Books.
Now, aspiring author and rampant reader that I am, the idea of a book that is "bad" is sort of unpleasant. I've actually had a discussion on this subject. If books are art, and art is subjective, is there such a thing as a "bad book"? Surely the goodness and badness of books is just as subjective as the goodness and badness of paintings and music?
Well, I'm not sure I can subscribe to the completely-subjective-art way of thinking about books. There is such a thing as bad writing, definitely.
Anyway, I'm going to talk about the decline of a series of books that I enjoyed when I was younger.
Artemis Fowl.
The premise of the Artemis Fowl books was, I think, really good. The idea of the child genius and the fairies and all. It was good. And the story was good. Artemis had something concrete he wanted to achieve and you followed him on that journey. But in the latter books that premise and that concise story structure sort of disappeared. Suddenly Artemis and co. were saving the world all over the shop and he had much less defined motivations.
That's not the worst of it though. Eoin Colfer became awfully fond of his deus ex machina (for those who don't know: god from the machine, or basically just any improbable plot point where a problem is solved by a previously unknown device, character, mechanism or skill).
In the earlier books the magic had very defined parameters and didn't go outside them. In the last book there's suddenly Black Magic. Woooooh, scary. Now Eoin can do whatever the hell he wants and just say, cuz Black Magic.
And that, boys and girls, is bad writing.
You can use basically any means to get your character into a tricky spot and your readers won't mind, chance, incompetence, the efforts of other characters, whatever, but as soon as you use anything other than the character's own skill or intelligence to get out of the situation, your readers will be annoyed.
1. In answer the the question Danielle was actually asking:
I'm not sure about Dear Beatrice? I think I agree with Kate, I like Dear Bitches better, but I think I like our present name better than both of them. As for The Fellowship of the Blog, it's pretty okay. I think we should stick with Cool People of Every and Any Nationality unless something cooler and more relevant to us specifically comes to mind.
2. Apparently we're responding to each other's posts now? Well, I sure got the short straw didn't I?
Subsection A: I agree with Kate largely on the subject of romance, though, I'll admit, sometimes I just
want to read a stupid teenage romance, regardless of literary value. I haven't read The
Time Traveller's Wife, so I can't really give an opinion on that.
Subsection B: Dude, Kate, Divergent isn't that bad. I didn't find it overly predictable either. Maybe your
illness temporarily granted you super-human powers of deduction? To be honest though, I
mostly enjoyed the world-building in it, not so much the characters or story. Maybe I'm
of a DM than an author.
3. The main part, Bad Books.
Now, aspiring author and rampant reader that I am, the idea of a book that is "bad" is sort of unpleasant. I've actually had a discussion on this subject. If books are art, and art is subjective, is there such a thing as a "bad book"? Surely the goodness and badness of books is just as subjective as the goodness and badness of paintings and music?
Well, I'm not sure I can subscribe to the completely-subjective-art way of thinking about books. There is such a thing as bad writing, definitely.
Anyway, I'm going to talk about the decline of a series of books that I enjoyed when I was younger.
Artemis Fowl.
The premise of the Artemis Fowl books was, I think, really good. The idea of the child genius and the fairies and all. It was good. And the story was good. Artemis had something concrete he wanted to achieve and you followed him on that journey. But in the latter books that premise and that concise story structure sort of disappeared. Suddenly Artemis and co. were saving the world all over the shop and he had much less defined motivations.
That's not the worst of it though. Eoin Colfer became awfully fond of his deus ex machina (for those who don't know: god from the machine, or basically just any improbable plot point where a problem is solved by a previously unknown device, character, mechanism or skill).
In the earlier books the magic had very defined parameters and didn't go outside them. In the last book there's suddenly Black Magic. Woooooh, scary. Now Eoin can do whatever the hell he wants and just say, cuz Black Magic.
And that, boys and girls, is bad writing.
You can use basically any means to get your character into a tricky spot and your readers won't mind, chance, incompetence, the efforts of other characters, whatever, but as soon as you use anything other than the character's own skill or intelligence to get out of the situation, your readers will be annoyed.
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Mission 003: Code Name: Don’t wake the Kraken aka The Daniellian Appeasement
Hi it's Wednesday which means this is Kate. Let's get straight down to business because something tells me this is going to be a long one.
Agenda 1: answer some questions already
I like dear beatrice a lot as a name for our blog. I’d probably like it better if we just came out and called it dear bitches but with dear beatrice it also acts as a series of unfortunate events reference. Which means we have a cover story if ever we need it. Always good to keep our options open.
I have to admit though COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY has really started to grow on me, loud and long as it is.
We previously discussed the possibility of ‘the fellowship of the blog’ before Orla returned from the land of wonders, aka nerd camp. I originally suggested this as a joke, just like I suggested COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY as a joke, that were both taken too seriously. I have to admit though, the fellowship of the blog does have a nice ring to it. (You see what I did there? ;) *nods smugly* You saw what I did there.)
I’ll also admit that the only reason I brought that name back up was so I could use that pun. I don’t suggest that we call ourselves that when we could probably be more original.
Danielle also asked a second question last week which was what we should call each other. Here are my suggestions do as you please with them:
1. Blog Bitches
2. Blog Buddies
3. Bonny Bloggers
4. Bosomed Bloggers
5. Bimbo Bloggers
As for the suggestion of blogging with strangers, I know we pretty much decided not to do that but if anyone does ever start a blog of that kind remember me and call it the Blind Bloggers. You can’t imagine how proud I am of that name.
Agenda 2: Remember what your mother taught you
This week’s theme is books that suck so before I get into my book I ought to respond to Danielle’s, as that is the polite thing to do.
I’ve heard before that The Time Traveler’s Wife is quite a disappointing read and it has received many mixed reviews but I have not read it myself. I’m not a fan of romance novels in general, I like a good romantic subplot but when the sole story is about a couple's love I find it really commonplace and boring. I don’t know if this is just me but I find it quite easy to write romantic stories and they’re never a challenge. So I think if you write a whole book on the topic it needs to have some other really important subplot, for example the Fault in our Stars is mainly focused on a young couple but there is a really important other half of the story that focuses on the illness they have both been living with.
If you already have an interesting story it’s easy to incorporate some romance into the characters’ lives and it adds another dimension to their personality. I think the mistake that a lot of romance novelists make is to focus too much on their characters’ love lives. Which sounds funny because they're romance novelist right? But let’s face it, there is nothing sadder than someone who goes on about their significant other constantly, whether in real life or a book. So many main characters in romance novels don’t seem to have a life outside of their lover and if they do it’s only touched upon by the author. That’s the main problem I have with this kind of book.
Agenda 3: Bad Bloody Books
Okay so now on to my most hated book. Divergent.
This is also a very popular novel and has a movie coming out soon(?). I had heard a good bit about this novel before reading it, nothing about the plot just that it was similar to the Hunger Games in that it was dystopian and it had received generally great reviews. I wouldn’t say that because of this I was expecting a really great read because I have a rule of reserving judgment until I’ve finished the book completely and I don’t really trust anyone’s judgement other than my own. But I was definitely let down somewhat by the reviews.
Disclaimer: I was sick at the time of reading and have not read it again because Danielle still has my copy (*cough* nearly a year *cough*) but I don’t think it would have altered my opinion had I been well.
I liked the idea of the factions and the whole storyline was interesting to begin with but what disappointed me was how the author played it out. There were a number of small plot twists (which I won’t go into detail about because I don’t know how many of us haven’t read it and plan to) and one slightly more major, all of which I could see coming from the beginning. It felt like reading a book that had been written for children in that clues and hints were scattered everywhere and there wasn’t even an attempt to make them appear natural. On the first read they were all clearly suspicious and out of place. It frustrated me hugely as I literally found myself waiting for the plot to play out and when it did I couldn’t even feel satisfied that I had figured it out previously. It was the sort of book I would have loved to read when I was a know-it-all little nine year old and and I would take such deep, smug, pleasure from figuring out any sudden change of events prior to their occurrence. It was as bad as reading a summary of a book and then reading the actual thing, or watching the film and then reading.
Maybe if I read it again I’ll appreciate it more because I’ll feel justified in knowing the whole plot but it remains the angriest a book has ever made me. I was literally shouting at the top of my voice at the stupid as fuck characters who couldn’t see the truth that was plainly in front of them. Ugh. Now I’m in a bad mood. I’m going to go make some ice-cream because it’s the healthier option than eating it.
I forgot to do this last week.
MISSION...............................................COMPLETED
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Book I Didn't Like
Danielle Tuesday!!!
So, uh, literally nobody answered my question last week, and Orla, who at least attempted to answer the question answered the wrong question. So here it is again: WHAT DO WE CALL THE READERS OF THE BLOG, AND ALSO ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO STICK TO "COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY?" If y'all don't answer me, is2g I will eat all the food in your house.
Also great weird/interesting news everyone! I loved reading about it, and I think the only way it could've been better was if I read a post everyday, which brings me to my next point: WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF HAVING ROISIN, LAURA, AND BRONAGH JOIN THE COLLAB PROVIDING THEY ARE INTERESTED?
Anyway, the theme for this week is worst book we've ever read/book we hated/least favourite book! And mine is actually a bit of unpopular opinion, because I'm pretty sure that it's a bestseller and also a movie was made out of it, but it's The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffeneger.
Now maybe this is just because I don't really like romance novels in particular, over the years I've found myself more of a coming-of-age and adventure/fantasy kind of girl. But this book just creeped me out so much. Now the last time I read it was I guess a couple of years ago so I might not remember the specifics of it, but it's about this girl meeting a time traveler man and the romance that blossomed from that very first meet in the field outside of her house. Good premise, right? You'd be expecting lots of adventures and exciting and thrilling things. Oh man, was I disappointed.
Because the man doesn't really have control over his powers, so he could just disappear from the present time and then reappear again (completely naked) sometime in his or the girl's past/future, with no idea when in his life's timeline he is. The two people's lives are very intertwined in the story and that's what's in part made me really frustrated about it. The man has some variety in his story though. He has some independence from the girl. We know about his backstory, about his family, his childhood at some point I think was talked about in the book. Meanwhile the girl's story is completely wrapped around this guy's life that you can't really describe her without bringing in the story of the man. We know nothing or, like, a ridiculously low amount of information from her un-romantic life. From when she was six (the time she met the guy) until literally the day she died, it's all wrapped around this guy who is, coincidentally, also a jerk. It reminded me a lot of twilight, only it's actually way creepier in some parts of the book.
I didn't really enjoy the book a lot because of that, and also I guess because of the expectation that I had about a thrilling adventurous read. It wasn't really for me, I guess. Maybe it's just because I read it when I was younger and couldn't really relate to their love very much, or maybe it's because I just don't like reading romance stories in general. I mean, I like my story. Uh, that's about it. Excluding my ships, of course. I like my ships... but. Does that mean that I do actually like romance stories? I don't know okay I just didn't like this book.
Now I'm confused.
Maybe I do like romance stories, but I just thought this one was a rubbish romance story. Yeah I'll go with that one.
See you guys next week!
-Danielle.
So, uh, literally nobody answered my question last week, and Orla, who at least attempted to answer the question answered the wrong question. So here it is again: WHAT DO WE CALL THE READERS OF THE BLOG, AND ALSO ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO STICK TO "COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY?" If y'all don't answer me, is2g I will eat all the food in your house.
Also great weird/interesting news everyone! I loved reading about it, and I think the only way it could've been better was if I read a post everyday, which brings me to my next point: WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF HAVING ROISIN, LAURA, AND BRONAGH JOIN THE COLLAB PROVIDING THEY ARE INTERESTED?
Anyway, the theme for this week is worst book we've ever read/book we hated/least favourite book! And mine is actually a bit of unpopular opinion, because I'm pretty sure that it's a bestseller and also a movie was made out of it, but it's The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffeneger.
Now maybe this is just because I don't really like romance novels in particular, over the years I've found myself more of a coming-of-age and adventure/fantasy kind of girl. But this book just creeped me out so much. Now the last time I read it was I guess a couple of years ago so I might not remember the specifics of it, but it's about this girl meeting a time traveler man and the romance that blossomed from that very first meet in the field outside of her house. Good premise, right? You'd be expecting lots of adventures and exciting and thrilling things. Oh man, was I disappointed.
Because the man doesn't really have control over his powers, so he could just disappear from the present time and then reappear again (completely naked) sometime in his or the girl's past/future, with no idea when in his life's timeline he is. The two people's lives are very intertwined in the story and that's what's in part made me really frustrated about it. The man has some variety in his story though. He has some independence from the girl. We know about his backstory, about his family, his childhood at some point I think was talked about in the book. Meanwhile the girl's story is completely wrapped around this guy's life that you can't really describe her without bringing in the story of the man. We know nothing or, like, a ridiculously low amount of information from her un-romantic life. From when she was six (the time she met the guy) until literally the day she died, it's all wrapped around this guy who is, coincidentally, also a jerk. It reminded me a lot of twilight, only it's actually way creepier in some parts of the book.
I didn't really enjoy the book a lot because of that, and also I guess because of the expectation that I had about a thrilling adventurous read. It wasn't really for me, I guess. Maybe it's just because I read it when I was younger and couldn't really relate to their love very much, or maybe it's because I just don't like reading romance stories in general. I mean, I like my story. Uh, that's about it. Excluding my ships, of course. I like my ships... but. Does that mean that I do actually like romance stories? I don't know okay I just didn't like this book.
Now I'm confused.
Maybe I do like romance stories, but I just thought this one was a rubbish romance story. Yeah I'll go with that one.
See you guys next week!
-Danielle.
Sunday, 11 August 2013
In answer to the question posed on Danielle Tuesday, I think I could commit to something for seventy-four years. It's easy to get into the habit of things, I think. Some things sort of become part of the fabric of your life after a while, and then it's easy to continue them.
I have a penpal, and, no kidding, I could write letters to that guy for seventy-four years. 'Bout 90% sure he has no way of finding this.
Alright. Weird happenings.
I was going to talk about this story I read on the interwebs about a family who just went missing. Poof. They found their car with new toys in it. No one in sight, and no evidence for where they might have gone.
But, internet citizens that you are, I'm sure that you can all find plenty of strange and inexplicable occurrences if that's what you're into. So, instead, I'm going to discuss some celestial oddities I've seen with my own eyes.
I'm no UFO fanatic, lets just make that clear, I'm quite sure there's a reasonable explanation, but what made this fun to see was that I didn't know what that reasonable explanation was. And neither did any one I was with either.
I spent the last week in the back arse of nowhere, which made for some enjoyable stargazing. You could see the Milky Way right across the sky, and when you can see it like that, it's easy to understand why people thought it was a river in the sky.
One night, my sister and I were lying on a lounger outside the little farmhouse we were staying in and we were looking at the stars. We saw plenty of shooting stars streaking across the night, gone almost before you realised they were there. We saw the few constellations that we can recognise between us, Orion, the Plough, The Little Bear. We saw planes, strangely ostentatious as they flashed brightly. We saw satellites moving slowly from horizon to horizon.
And that's where the strangeness happened. For those of you who have never stargazed, a satellite looks largely like just another star, except that it moves. It's an disconcerting sensation to look up into the sky and see to almost identical specks of light, separated only by the fact that one moves and the other doesn't, when you know the vast differences between the realities of what causes those lights. One, a man-made machine of metal orbiting a couple of thousand meters above my head, reflecting the suns light into my eyes, the other a huge ball of reacting gasses light years away producing inconceivable amounts of light and heat, only a tiny amount of which is reaching me.
It was in this rarefied frame of mind that we noticed what we had presumed was a satellite. It had been maybe a little brighter than your average star when we first spotted it. It wasn't very long before we realised that it's brightness wasn't constant. One minute it would be quite bright and very visible, the next it would fade until we could barely see it. We were perplexed. We had never seen anything like it.
Perhaps it was a satellite and was rotating in such a way that it was reflecting an inconsistent amount of light.
Perhaps small wisps of cloud were veiling it from our sight.
Perhaps it was a plane with un-regulation lights on it.
And...perhaps it was something stranger still.
- Orla
I have a penpal, and, no kidding, I could write letters to that guy for seventy-four years. 'Bout 90% sure he has no way of finding this.
Alright. Weird happenings.
I was going to talk about this story I read on the interwebs about a family who just went missing. Poof. They found their car with new toys in it. No one in sight, and no evidence for where they might have gone.
But, internet citizens that you are, I'm sure that you can all find plenty of strange and inexplicable occurrences if that's what you're into. So, instead, I'm going to discuss some celestial oddities I've seen with my own eyes.
I'm no UFO fanatic, lets just make that clear, I'm quite sure there's a reasonable explanation, but what made this fun to see was that I didn't know what that reasonable explanation was. And neither did any one I was with either.
I spent the last week in the back arse of nowhere, which made for some enjoyable stargazing. You could see the Milky Way right across the sky, and when you can see it like that, it's easy to understand why people thought it was a river in the sky.
One night, my sister and I were lying on a lounger outside the little farmhouse we were staying in and we were looking at the stars. We saw plenty of shooting stars streaking across the night, gone almost before you realised they were there. We saw the few constellations that we can recognise between us, Orion, the Plough, The Little Bear. We saw planes, strangely ostentatious as they flashed brightly. We saw satellites moving slowly from horizon to horizon.
And that's where the strangeness happened. For those of you who have never stargazed, a satellite looks largely like just another star, except that it moves. It's an disconcerting sensation to look up into the sky and see to almost identical specks of light, separated only by the fact that one moves and the other doesn't, when you know the vast differences between the realities of what causes those lights. One, a man-made machine of metal orbiting a couple of thousand meters above my head, reflecting the suns light into my eyes, the other a huge ball of reacting gasses light years away producing inconceivable amounts of light and heat, only a tiny amount of which is reaching me.
It was in this rarefied frame of mind that we noticed what we had presumed was a satellite. It had been maybe a little brighter than your average star when we first spotted it. It wasn't very long before we realised that it's brightness wasn't constant. One minute it would be quite bright and very visible, the next it would fade until we could barely see it. We were perplexed. We had never seen anything like it.
Perhaps it was a satellite and was rotating in such a way that it was reflecting an inconsistent amount of light.
Perhaps small wisps of cloud were veiling it from our sight.
Perhaps it was a plane with un-regulation lights on it.
And...perhaps it was something stranger still.
- Orla
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Dentist Disaster
Hello again, our rabid readers!
Aoife here with Saturday's weird news story.
This is a story I heard about on the radio and just thought it was wonderful proof that a woman scorned is a very dangerous thing. Plus dentists are super scary.
In Poland, a man awoke after have dental surgery done by his ex-girlfriend, whom he had just broken with, only to find that in a fit of vengeful fury she had removed all his teeth. Ann Mackowiak was facing three years in prison over the incident.
That's all for now Folks,
See you whenever the wind blows you back in my direction,
Aoife
Aoife here with Saturday's weird news story.
This is a story I heard about on the radio and just thought it was wonderful proof that a woman scorned is a very dangerous thing. Plus dentists are super scary.
In Poland, a man awoke after have dental surgery done by his ex-girlfriend, whom he had just broken with, only to find that in a fit of vengeful fury she had removed all his teeth. Ann Mackowiak was facing three years in prison over the incident.
"I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions," Anna Mackowiak, 34, told the Austrian Times. "But when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a bastard' and decided to take all his teeth out."
Marek Olszewski, 45, reportedly showed up at Mackowiak's dental office complaining of toothache just days after he broke up with her. She then allegedly gave him a "heavy dose" of anesthetic, locked the door and began removing all of his teeth one at a time.
"I knew something was wrong because when I woke up I couldn't feel any teeth and my jaw was strapped up with bandages," Olszewski said.
"She told me my mouth was numb and I wouldn't be able to feel anything for a while and that the bandage was there to protect the gums, but that I would need to see a specialist," he said.
"I didn't have any reason to doubt her, I mean I thought she was a professional."
Adding to his trauma, Olszewski said his new girlfriend has already left him over his now toothless appearance.
"And I'm going to have to pay a fortune on getting indents or something," he said.
And so now you know- never, never go to a dentist who has something against you. Oh, and beware vengeful ex's.That's all for now Folks,
See you whenever the wind blows you back in my direction,
Aoife
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Mission 002: Dig Up Some Dirt
Greetings fellow readers! It is I, Kate, your fun loving Wednesday correspondent!
This week we're talking about weird news stories. I found so many that I really wanted to write about that I'm going to do another on my personal blog which is on tumblr and blogspot now. Blogspot is more likely to be up to date though.
Fifty-something year old Joseph Corlett wrote a journal as part of a university assignment which he handed up to his professor. Students were encouraged to be creative and write about whatever they wanted in this journal. So naturally, being a human being, Corlett decided to write about how sexy his professor was, her "stacked" body, and her "sexy little mole on her upper lip." He also makes repeated reference to the fact that he was drinking while writing. His entire journal can be seen here.
His professor then reported his behaviour as harassment and Corbett was suspended from school. But the story doesn't end there. Outraged, Corbett sued the school, claiming his First Amendment right to freedom of speech was being infringed upon. The judge however ruled that telling your college professor in writing that she is "stacked" and gives you a boner is not speech legally protected by the First Amendment.
Clearly there were much better ways for Corbett to go about expressing his attraction to his teacher but when you tell your students they can write about whatever they want, you need to be prepared for some weird stuff. However I do think Corbett deserved the repercussions the university gave him. He asked in his journal for his teacher's confidence in the things he was writing to her which was completely unfair and must have made the professor really uncomfortable. I mean he may not have taken it any further once she made it clear she wasn't interested in him but she was still right in reporting him, of course.
Now some more uplifting news involving a millionaire stripper. Yep.
33 year old, Tara Mishra, started her career as an exotic dancer when she was just 18 years young. Her dream to open a New Jersey nightclub encouraged her to start saving and just 15 years later she felt she had gotten enough money together. In March 2012 she was stopped for speeding and police were given permission to search the car. Over one million dollars were found stored in $10,000 bundles in plastic bags.
Understandably, the police assumed it was drug money and Mishra and her friends were arrested.
In July 2013 a judge ruled that her million dollars worth of life savings be paid back to her with interest.
Excuse my french, but how the fuck do you earn 1 million dollars (!) from dancing. Like seriously, why is stripping a job that is so frowned upon? Some people are smart, so they use their brain to get a good paying job. Some people are beautiful so why is it a big deal that they use their body to get a job that pays better than so many qualification jobs. (And clearly neither of these are necessarily independant of the other.) Society guys. It's fucked up. I'm starting to think maybe I should give up on school and go get some dance lessons.
That's all from me, folks! See you same time, same place next Wednesday!
Kate
This week we're talking about weird news stories. I found so many that I really wanted to write about that I'm going to do another on my personal blog which is on tumblr and blogspot now. Blogspot is more likely to be up to date though.
Fifty-something year old Joseph Corlett wrote a journal as part of a university assignment which he handed up to his professor. Students were encouraged to be creative and write about whatever they wanted in this journal. So naturally, being a human being, Corlett decided to write about how sexy his professor was, her "stacked" body, and her "sexy little mole on her upper lip." He also makes repeated reference to the fact that he was drinking while writing. His entire journal can be seen here.
His professor then reported his behaviour as harassment and Corbett was suspended from school. But the story doesn't end there. Outraged, Corbett sued the school, claiming his First Amendment right to freedom of speech was being infringed upon. The judge however ruled that telling your college professor in writing that she is "stacked" and gives you a boner is not speech legally protected by the First Amendment.
Clearly there were much better ways for Corbett to go about expressing his attraction to his teacher but when you tell your students they can write about whatever they want, you need to be prepared for some weird stuff. However I do think Corbett deserved the repercussions the university gave him. He asked in his journal for his teacher's confidence in the things he was writing to her which was completely unfair and must have made the professor really uncomfortable. I mean he may not have taken it any further once she made it clear she wasn't interested in him but she was still right in reporting him, of course.
Now some more uplifting news involving a millionaire stripper. Yep.
33 year old, Tara Mishra, started her career as an exotic dancer when she was just 18 years young. Her dream to open a New Jersey nightclub encouraged her to start saving and just 15 years later she felt she had gotten enough money together. In March 2012 she was stopped for speeding and police were given permission to search the car. Over one million dollars were found stored in $10,000 bundles in plastic bags.
Understandably, the police assumed it was drug money and Mishra and her friends were arrested.
In July 2013 a judge ruled that her million dollars worth of life savings be paid back to her with interest.
Excuse my french, but how the fuck do you earn 1 million dollars (!) from dancing. Like seriously, why is stripping a job that is so frowned upon? Some people are smart, so they use their brain to get a good paying job. Some people are beautiful so why is it a big deal that they use their body to get a job that pays better than so many qualification jobs. (And clearly neither of these are necessarily independant of the other.) Society guys. It's fucked up. I'm starting to think maybe I should give up on school and go get some dance lessons.
That's all from me, folks! See you same time, same place next Wednesday!
Kate
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Can you commit to doing anything for seventy-four years?
Hello everyone, it is Danielle Tuesday, which is what I'm going to call my day from now on. First things first, we need a thing to call the people who read this blog, i.e. ourselves. Does anybody have any suggestions? Speaking of names, I would just like to remind everybody that our blog name is still "COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY." I think it's a, you know, endurable name, but it just doesn't look good in the front cover of Time magazine when we inevitably become rich and famous.
I would also just like to congratulation everyone for getting through the first week of the collab!!! To celebrate, here is a bottle of champagne...
...that I just popped...
...and poured for each of us! I own the fourth glass.
This kind of celebration reminds me of this amazing story I read from Rookie Mag yesterday.
Okay so these two ladies, Norma Frati from Porland, Oregon, USA and Audrey Sims from Australia, ages 87 and 83 respectively, had been penpals for SEVENTY-FOUR YEARS before meeting for the first time last week! They started writing to each other when Norma Frati needed a penpal for a school project when she was just thirteen years of age, and when Audrey Sims was nine. They've written letters all these years through boyfriends, marriages, divorces, and giving birth to their children, even World War Two, but have never met in real life. SEVENTY FOUR YEARS YOU GUYS. SEVENTY. FOUR. YEARS. That's the kind of dedication that I need to have! I ship their friendship. I mean I could just imagine the amount of letters that they must have collected from each other over the years!
That was supposed to be the only story that I have for this week but since I woke up today with mind-numbing menstrual cramp pains (we have reached that level, yes), I need to show you this video:
That is all.
Rookie Mag was a huge help for me for this post, you can check out the article where I got this story and that video from here.
-Danielle.
I would also just like to congratulation everyone for getting through the first week of the collab!!! To celebrate, here is a bottle of champagne...
 |
| puestoviejoestancia.com.ar |
 |
| forgetburgundy.com |
 |
| www.champagne.fr |
Okay so these two ladies, Norma Frati from Porland, Oregon, USA and Audrey Sims from Australia, ages 87 and 83 respectively, had been penpals for SEVENTY-FOUR YEARS before meeting for the first time last week! They started writing to each other when Norma Frati needed a penpal for a school project when she was just thirteen years of age, and when Audrey Sims was nine. They've written letters all these years through boyfriends, marriages, divorces, and giving birth to their children, even World War Two, but have never met in real life. SEVENTY FOUR YEARS YOU GUYS. SEVENTY. FOUR. YEARS. That's the kind of dedication that I need to have! I ship their friendship. I mean I could just imagine the amount of letters that they must have collected from each other over the years!
 |
| http://www.ibtimes.com/audrey-sims-norma-frati-pen-pals-74-years-meet-person-after-exchanging-3000-letters-1368647 |
That is all.
Rookie Mag was a huge help for me for this post, you can check out the article where I got this story and that video from here.
-Danielle.
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Paranoidly Posted
Greetings intrepid readers,
My name is Orla and I will be the narrator of Sundays. Sundays are good because I'll have the whole week to worry about how my post is terrible compared to everyone else's!
I write poetry and I just finished a three week writing course, so now I have some ridiculously high standards. There were some very talented prose writers in that class.
I am fifteen, so I'll probably be the youngest contributor to this collab blog. People tell me I come across older than that, most likely due to a reasonable vocabulary and general sensibleness. I am generally not silly about important things. Projects, however, are the bane of my life.
I like to write. I write poetry mostly but I have a couple of short stories in my head and, as they say, everyone has a novel in them. My poetry is apparently quite dark. It just seems honest to me, mostly. I guess I could be accurately described as an angsty teenage poet.
I also like to read. I don't read exclusively in one genre, but I do tend to read a lot of fantasy, and, more specifically, a lot of high fantasy. I'm sort-of-not-really reading James Joyce's Ulysses at the moment. It's...an experience.
I am currently teaching myself Chinese. 我 不 是 很 好
I like music a lot, but, unusually, I'm very easy going about what kind of music I listen to. I can enjoy basically any music a lot.
I play video games. Not too much at the moment because I am inexplicably busy. I find that I don't have enough time for them even though I don't have a lot of other things going on. It's the summer holidays goddammit, when am I going to have time?
I have a horrible habit of over-thinking things, which I am doing right now. It usually takes me a while to get to the stage in a friendship where I'm not analysing everything I say. And everything they say. And general body language. And all sorts of other completely irrelevant information.
Making new friends is a tiring experience.
Hopefully it won't take me too long to get comfortable writing this blog.
- Orla
My name is Orla and I will be the narrator of Sundays. Sundays are good because I'll have the whole week to worry about how my post is terrible compared to everyone else's!
I write poetry and I just finished a three week writing course, so now I have some ridiculously high standards. There were some very talented prose writers in that class.
I am fifteen, so I'll probably be the youngest contributor to this collab blog. People tell me I come across older than that, most likely due to a reasonable vocabulary and general sensibleness. I am generally not silly about important things. Projects, however, are the bane of my life.
I like to write. I write poetry mostly but I have a couple of short stories in my head and, as they say, everyone has a novel in them. My poetry is apparently quite dark. It just seems honest to me, mostly. I guess I could be accurately described as an angsty teenage poet.
I also like to read. I don't read exclusively in one genre, but I do tend to read a lot of fantasy, and, more specifically, a lot of high fantasy. I'm sort-of-not-really reading James Joyce's Ulysses at the moment. It's...an experience.
I am currently teaching myself Chinese. 我 不 是 很 好
I like music a lot, but, unusually, I'm very easy going about what kind of music I listen to. I can enjoy basically any music a lot.
I play video games. Not too much at the moment because I am inexplicably busy. I find that I don't have enough time for them even though I don't have a lot of other things going on. It's the summer holidays goddammit, when am I going to have time?
I have a horrible habit of over-thinking things, which I am doing right now. It usually takes me a while to get to the stage in a friendship where I'm not analysing everything I say. And everything they say. And general body language. And all sorts of other completely irrelevant information.
Making new friends is a tiring experience.
Hopefully it won't take me too long to get comfortable writing this blog.
- Orla
Saturday, 3 August 2013
Ramblings
Hi Everyone,
I'm Aoife, Host of this Saturday's Ramblings.
Please forgive me if my post is an unmitigated disaster.
I'm new to the wonderful world of blogging and haven't got a clue what I am doing.
Anyway, here goes nothing...
I'm sixteen years old. I'm short(ish) and seem to be shrinking by the year.
My favourite thing to do is either to curl up with a good book or doing something crazy like climbing,kayaking or exploring new places.
I'm not a big fan of crowded places but I love meeting new people.
I'm a country girl at heart and can't stand being away from it for too long, although I could do without the cows, which I'm terrified of ever since one chased me across a field.
I love writing and seem to spend most of my time lost inside my own head, inventing stories.
Most of the time people who don't know me very well think I am fairly quiet but most of my friends know that I am nothing of the sort. In fact most of them would gladly say that I am totally insane.
I tend to came up with crazy ideas and stories. Most of the time they just pop into my head and I just blurt them out to whoever is unfortunate enough to be standing nearby.
What else should you know about me?
Hmmm
Well, I love sports. I've done a lot of adventure sports; sailing, surfing, abseiling and a few others over the years. However my all time favourite is basketball, which I am reassuringly mediocre at. I probably will never make the national team but I just enjoy playing it regardless.
I tend to either drastically over think thing or do the exact opposite and run headlong into things with thinking at all. Take this blog for example; yesterday I spent ages worrying about what I would say but today I decided to simply go wherever my mind takes me.
Hence the reasons this post is the "Ramblings"
So cheers,
Hope you didn't die of boredom when you read this,
- Aoife
P.S:
This sums me up pretty nicely,
Thanks Google!
I'm Aoife, Host of this Saturday's Ramblings.
Please forgive me if my post is an unmitigated disaster.
I'm new to the wonderful world of blogging and haven't got a clue what I am doing.
Anyway, here goes nothing...
I'm sixteen years old. I'm short(ish) and seem to be shrinking by the year.
My favourite thing to do is either to curl up with a good book or doing something crazy like climbing,kayaking or exploring new places.
I'm not a big fan of crowded places but I love meeting new people.
I'm a country girl at heart and can't stand being away from it for too long, although I could do without the cows, which I'm terrified of ever since one chased me across a field.
I love writing and seem to spend most of my time lost inside my own head, inventing stories.
Most of the time people who don't know me very well think I am fairly quiet but most of my friends know that I am nothing of the sort. In fact most of them would gladly say that I am totally insane.
I tend to came up with crazy ideas and stories. Most of the time they just pop into my head and I just blurt them out to whoever is unfortunate enough to be standing nearby.
What else should you know about me?
Hmmm
Well, I love sports. I've done a lot of adventure sports; sailing, surfing, abseiling and a few others over the years. However my all time favourite is basketball, which I am reassuringly mediocre at. I probably will never make the national team but I just enjoy playing it regardless.
I tend to either drastically over think thing or do the exact opposite and run headlong into things with thinking at all. Take this blog for example; yesterday I spent ages worrying about what I would say but today I decided to simply go wherever my mind takes me.
Hence the reasons this post is the "Ramblings"
So cheers,
Hope you didn't die of boredom when you read this,
- Aoife
P.S:
This sums me up pretty nicely,
Thanks Google!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)