I got an email earlier then expected, from Writer's Digest. I am not in the top 25 stories.
I gotta go eat to take away the despair... cuse' me.
Jan 8, 2008
Jan 5, 2008
Quick Update and Hello
Hello peeps.
In a real quick update, as suggested by the post name, I have only one thing to confer: I entered the writing contest and will know my position (1-25) by Feb 11#.
Yay!
Laterz,
In a real quick update, as suggested by the post name, I have only one thing to confer: I entered the writing contest and will know my position (1-25) by Feb 11#.
Yay!
Laterz,
Dec 1, 2007
Giving Up The... Faux Pas?
"Bah! What is wrong with this?"
It is a question I ask myself many times. Even more so when a story isn't going my way... I've been working on the "Faux Pas" story, which I was going to be story one for my little compilation, that I've been working on. For some reason it won't work. But I'll make it work. I hope. I don't get why I was able to write "For This Reason of Vice" in a way that I enjoyed, but "Faux Pas" won't go my way. It's annoying.
I think story three is going to be good though. Maybe I'll move onto that for now. Mainly though, I've diverted more of my time to scholastic activities. Like, as I mentioned last post, getting the GED. Once high school is no longer an issue I can easily divert my time to other things. That makes me a happy panda.
Writer's Digest is having another contest in the Spring. It allows a little more elbow room with the word count. I'm defintely sending something in for that. Post-GED, I'll have the time to get a few submissions in.
It is a question I ask myself many times. Even more so when a story isn't going my way... I've been working on the "Faux Pas" story, which I was going to be story one for my little compilation, that I've been working on. For some reason it won't work. But I'll make it work. I hope. I don't get why I was able to write "For This Reason of Vice" in a way that I enjoyed, but "Faux Pas" won't go my way. It's annoying.
I think story three is going to be good though. Maybe I'll move onto that for now. Mainly though, I've diverted more of my time to scholastic activities. Like, as I mentioned last post, getting the GED. Once high school is no longer an issue I can easily divert my time to other things. That makes me a happy panda.
Writer's Digest is having another contest in the Spring. It allows a little more elbow room with the word count. I'm defintely sending something in for that. Post-GED, I'll have the time to get a few submissions in.
GED-"OWNAGE"!
General Equivalency Diploma. Those three words create a certain uncertainity in me. A slight itching on the back of my neck... my toes rapidly get cold (if I'm not wearing socks). And I start to smell 80's cologne as I imagine a room filled with a lot of so-called losers trying to make up for past failures in the realm of high school education. And I don't know if you've ever come across 80's cologne... but it smells much different then the modern stuff. In a bad way. Oh yes... a very bad way...
But then a shining light lifts away it all... the losers, the itching... the cologne... yes, even my toes grow comfortable... and warm. As if I'm snuggled up close to a fire which warms my very soul. This light... it is called... GED-"OWNAGE"!
In the days preceeding Thanksgiving I cracked open a tome titled "GED-2007" or somethign like that. I took the practice test. It's got five parts. There is... Writing, Writing (essay), Social Studies, Science, and Math. I scored 80% on both writing and social studies. Can't grade the essay, cause it is precisely that, an essay. and I got 76% on science. I hit math and a Trig problem brought me to my knees. However... this is good news. Trig is looking the hardest of the math, and armed with the allowed calculater and a feverish study of the subject, I feel much better about it. The wonderful book also has a section on the required knowledge of the math section. So I've got my resources just waiting to be tapped.
But the good thing is, around 55% is passing grade. So i've got everything but math covered. That makes me happy. They say science is the hardest subject, and boy, was I relieved when I checked my answers and got 38 out of 50 questions right. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement. But, there is something so comforting about having a firm grip on my graduation. If nothing but basic trig stands in my way, then victory is near.
So I've been studying and soon I'm going to take the math portion. Wowzers, God is good.
But then a shining light lifts away it all... the losers, the itching... the cologne... yes, even my toes grow comfortable... and warm. As if I'm snuggled up close to a fire which warms my very soul. This light... it is called... GED-"OWNAGE"!
In the days preceeding Thanksgiving I cracked open a tome titled "GED-2007" or somethign like that. I took the practice test. It's got five parts. There is... Writing, Writing (essay), Social Studies, Science, and Math. I scored 80% on both writing and social studies. Can't grade the essay, cause it is precisely that, an essay. and I got 76% on science. I hit math and a Trig problem brought me to my knees. However... this is good news. Trig is looking the hardest of the math, and armed with the allowed calculater and a feverish study of the subject, I feel much better about it. The wonderful book also has a section on the required knowledge of the math section. So I've got my resources just waiting to be tapped.
But the good thing is, around 55% is passing grade. So i've got everything but math covered. That makes me happy. They say science is the hardest subject, and boy, was I relieved when I checked my answers and got 38 out of 50 questions right. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement. But, there is something so comforting about having a firm grip on my graduation. If nothing but basic trig stands in my way, then victory is near.
So I've been studying and soon I'm going to take the math portion. Wowzers, God is good.
Writer's Digest Stole My Soul
Only for a few night though. In which time I was writing for one of fore-mentioned company's contests. The deadline is Dec. 3. And I'm putting finishing touches on my "maybe" submission as I write this. Well... not "right" when I'm writing this, but you know, in general...
The thing is, the contest is a short, short, story contest. 1,500 words or less. That's really small. About three pages or less, small. My would-be submission clocks in at 3,000 unedited. That's really (relatively!) big. I got to cut it in half. I hate it when I have to cut stuff to size. Each sentence you kick out is like a little piece of time being put to the fires of uselessness. Oh well...
The main problem though is that... well, I have to write something good. I am pretty happy with the story as a whole, but not if I have to cut half of it out. And I don't really know how else to do it.
Wish me luck if you would, good reader. I got a few ideas... hopefully I can pull it out by Monday.
On the up side though... I bought some Flyleaf songs last night. And they're pretty cool. I've been meaning to get some of their stuff for a long time, so that's cool. It's a strange thing, in that their vocalist isn't great, and the musicianship is okay... but they possess an energy and... sincerity? That is quite appealing.
Laterz, reader.
The thing is, the contest is a short, short, story contest. 1,500 words or less. That's really small. About three pages or less, small. My would-be submission clocks in at 3,000 unedited. That's really (relatively!) big. I got to cut it in half. I hate it when I have to cut stuff to size. Each sentence you kick out is like a little piece of time being put to the fires of uselessness. Oh well...
The main problem though is that... well, I have to write something good. I am pretty happy with the story as a whole, but not if I have to cut half of it out. And I don't really know how else to do it.
Wish me luck if you would, good reader. I got a few ideas... hopefully I can pull it out by Monday.
On the up side though... I bought some Flyleaf songs last night. And they're pretty cool. I've been meaning to get some of their stuff for a long time, so that's cool. It's a strange thing, in that their vocalist isn't great, and the musicianship is okay... but they possess an energy and... sincerity? That is quite appealing.
Laterz, reader.
Nov 13, 2007
iTunes Plus
"Bum, Bum, Da', Da', Du', Du'!"
Are you ready to listen to some jams? If so, iTunes has it all! From, "Finnish Fiddle Folk Rock", to, "The Ultimate Disney Animated Movies Music Compilation".
Actually, it doesn't, don't believe the lies. iTunes is useful for us peeps who don't wish to *questionably* download our music from Limewire or other sites. But sadly, it doesn't rival the sheer mass of tracks available to those using fore-mentioned client programs. However... quality, if your willing to spend a few bucks, can be the winning factor in one's choice to hassle with clients, or paying cash. Thus comes, iTunes plus! Some music, an odd selection due to licensing issues, is available in 256 kbps quality, but... is it worth the 30 cents extra it costs for the "plussed" music?
Kinda. If it's offered, and you want the music, might as well, because if you ever want to purchase plus material you have to upgrade your entire library, that is "eligble" for "Plus". So yeah, when I wanted to upgrade my Sonata Arctica albums, I had to feel the pain as I DLed enhanced "Celtic Woman" albums. Now, if you have a brother that doesn't listen to Celitc Woman, then I guess your fine, but if you ever purchased an album that you found out you didn't care for, and it is now in iTunes plus, you have to upgrade it too. And it cost 30c for each song for the upgrade. I spent 20$ for about five albums and a handful of single songs. It was pricey indeed, but it sounds better. Still...
"Reckoning Night" the fourth studio effort from Sonata Arctica, was always a bit... muted? Thus it was my least favorite of all their albums. Strange thing too, considering the mixing quality on SonArc albums is usually so good. Well, I updated it with iTunes Plus, and I gotta say, it sounds much better. It all does. So if you got the extra buck, it's pretty cool feature from Apple.
By the way, it seems all songs in iTunes Plus are now the normal one buck at purchase time. You still have to pay the upgrade cost though. Oh well...
Are you ready to listen to some jams? If so, iTunes has it all! From, "Finnish Fiddle Folk Rock", to, "The Ultimate Disney Animated Movies Music Compilation".
Actually, it doesn't, don't believe the lies. iTunes is useful for us peeps who don't wish to *questionably* download our music from Limewire or other sites. But sadly, it doesn't rival the sheer mass of tracks available to those using fore-mentioned client programs. However... quality, if your willing to spend a few bucks, can be the winning factor in one's choice to hassle with clients, or paying cash. Thus comes, iTunes plus! Some music, an odd selection due to licensing issues, is available in 256 kbps quality, but... is it worth the 30 cents extra it costs for the "plussed" music?
Kinda. If it's offered, and you want the music, might as well, because if you ever want to purchase plus material you have to upgrade your entire library, that is "eligble" for "Plus". So yeah, when I wanted to upgrade my Sonata Arctica albums, I had to feel the pain as I DLed enhanced "Celtic Woman" albums. Now, if you have a brother that doesn't listen to Celitc Woman, then I guess your fine, but if you ever purchased an album that you found out you didn't care for, and it is now in iTunes plus, you have to upgrade it too. And it cost 30c for each song for the upgrade. I spent 20$ for about five albums and a handful of single songs. It was pricey indeed, but it sounds better. Still...
"Reckoning Night" the fourth studio effort from Sonata Arctica, was always a bit... muted? Thus it was my least favorite of all their albums. Strange thing too, considering the mixing quality on SonArc albums is usually so good. Well, I updated it with iTunes Plus, and I gotta say, it sounds much better. It all does. So if you got the extra buck, it's pretty cool feature from Apple.
By the way, it seems all songs in iTunes Plus are now the normal one buck at purchase time. You still have to pay the upgrade cost though. Oh well...
Nov 6, 2007
"Pop" Culture
“Pop”, the word… what does it mean? Easy. Popular, we just abbreviate it for kicks. Which means? “In relation to the general public/appealing or appreciated by a wide range of people”.
Pop culture is the waves that beat the shore. Every person just another wave, and slowly, by the waves conforming and beating the same place, they reshape the shore. No one act can truly change what is pop; it’s a wide range of variables that can hardly be tracked.
This pattern has been followed for thousands of years, from the masses in Rome looking up to their emperors and the court of their administrations, to Hollywood and Wall Street. We adapt our dress code, musical taste, habits, styles, and morality from them. People we deem more wise then us, even if it’s not justified admiration.
It’s a soup of variables, just waiting to boil over, and recreate the culture. Except those boiling points are few, and only a few times can we safely say one event reinvented “pop” culture. Even fewer that reinvented the masses at large. In fact, there could possibly be none that accomplished that massive feat.
One of the largest recent events to change culture in America would be that of the Hippie revolution. But it didn’t completely change it. A majority of the population didn’t support it even, and the election of Nixon in its height is strong evidence for this fact. Not to mention the revolution just didn’t happen of course, but was the sum of variables which placed a “radical” community together in a small portion of San Francisco. But it can still be safely said that the soup of culture boiled over at that point.
But the events described definitely show how the culture can change and how it does. But in my personal observations, the changes are much more subtle. The change would be to radical, as it was with the Flower Child Revolution, if each time the culture changed, it did so in a buildup that tore down so many other aspects of the old culture.
Now that I’ve established my thoughts on a working of a culture, I’ll do my best to describe our own.
The cons are pretty evident. It’s evidently confused as a whole. The core of it is a cuddly non-threatening eternal “American Idol” show. It remains respectful of communities that it must and if needed, a jab at those that are free targets, if inclined or profit is gained by the action (or a punch line). The core culture is one crafted by media elite and celebrities. Charity and tolerance are preached as a church of faith, and respect and sacrifice is admired. Sounds pretty good.
But the outer core is a wee bit on the darker side, a more threatening presence that condemns those that don’t strictly fall in the standards of its norm. It’s restrictive. Brutally so. Un-progressively so. A stifling presence on the voices of creativity and genius. Debates are called on by talking heads instead of voices of reason. On who can talk the fastest and throw out the fastest jokes. This is probably something though all cultures suffer from.
Strictly speaking, the core isn’t hardcore and the outer core is mean. And of course, the music is terrible.
Pop music is like the rest of the culture, an aspect ruled and crafted by the same forces. From cheesy 80’s metal to Nirvana induced emotism’, it’s all down hill. Music has evolved into a show. The popular bands probably don’t belong there because many of the lesser-known bands or songs or the ones’ with the better musicianship. It’s a trap. It rewards exposure, not skill. A game of chance. Much like the publishing industry, sadly.
The pros are that the main culture is breaching, and the smaller cultures are getting larger. The pop culture’s tolerance creed thankfully extends itself to all cultures in the best of circumstances and if your tired of Linkin Park, you can listen to Sonata Arctica. So the pros are indeed, that unlike in the 90’s, the world isn’t totally controlled by the million dollar starlets and talk-show hosts. At least, back then it seemed it was…
Being of the pop culture is following the crowd, conformism, and not thinking for yourself. Fooling yourself into thinking that you can’t decide important decisions for yourself. Maybe you can’t. But the talking heads can’t either.
I’m talking about the “hardcore” pop culture, that isn’t hardcore. That is touchy feely, instead of compassionate, and the harbingers of shallowness.
The pop culture is the oxymoron of praising individuality in a thousand Disney movies and destroying it at the same time with the peer pressure mechanic.
Just a little guy's opinion.
Pop culture is the waves that beat the shore. Every person just another wave, and slowly, by the waves conforming and beating the same place, they reshape the shore. No one act can truly change what is pop; it’s a wide range of variables that can hardly be tracked.
This pattern has been followed for thousands of years, from the masses in Rome looking up to their emperors and the court of their administrations, to Hollywood and Wall Street. We adapt our dress code, musical taste, habits, styles, and morality from them. People we deem more wise then us, even if it’s not justified admiration.
It’s a soup of variables, just waiting to boil over, and recreate the culture. Except those boiling points are few, and only a few times can we safely say one event reinvented “pop” culture. Even fewer that reinvented the masses at large. In fact, there could possibly be none that accomplished that massive feat.
One of the largest recent events to change culture in America would be that of the Hippie revolution. But it didn’t completely change it. A majority of the population didn’t support it even, and the election of Nixon in its height is strong evidence for this fact. Not to mention the revolution just didn’t happen of course, but was the sum of variables which placed a “radical” community together in a small portion of San Francisco. But it can still be safely said that the soup of culture boiled over at that point.
But the events described definitely show how the culture can change and how it does. But in my personal observations, the changes are much more subtle. The change would be to radical, as it was with the Flower Child Revolution, if each time the culture changed, it did so in a buildup that tore down so many other aspects of the old culture.
Now that I’ve established my thoughts on a working of a culture, I’ll do my best to describe our own.
The cons are pretty evident. It’s evidently confused as a whole. The core of it is a cuddly non-threatening eternal “American Idol” show. It remains respectful of communities that it must and if needed, a jab at those that are free targets, if inclined or profit is gained by the action (or a punch line). The core culture is one crafted by media elite and celebrities. Charity and tolerance are preached as a church of faith, and respect and sacrifice is admired. Sounds pretty good.
But the outer core is a wee bit on the darker side, a more threatening presence that condemns those that don’t strictly fall in the standards of its norm. It’s restrictive. Brutally so. Un-progressively so. A stifling presence on the voices of creativity and genius. Debates are called on by talking heads instead of voices of reason. On who can talk the fastest and throw out the fastest jokes. This is probably something though all cultures suffer from.
Strictly speaking, the core isn’t hardcore and the outer core is mean. And of course, the music is terrible.
Pop music is like the rest of the culture, an aspect ruled and crafted by the same forces. From cheesy 80’s metal to Nirvana induced emotism’, it’s all down hill. Music has evolved into a show. The popular bands probably don’t belong there because many of the lesser-known bands or songs or the ones’ with the better musicianship. It’s a trap. It rewards exposure, not skill. A game of chance. Much like the publishing industry, sadly.
The pros are that the main culture is breaching, and the smaller cultures are getting larger. The pop culture’s tolerance creed thankfully extends itself to all cultures in the best of circumstances and if your tired of Linkin Park, you can listen to Sonata Arctica. So the pros are indeed, that unlike in the 90’s, the world isn’t totally controlled by the million dollar starlets and talk-show hosts. At least, back then it seemed it was…
Being of the pop culture is following the crowd, conformism, and not thinking for yourself. Fooling yourself into thinking that you can’t decide important decisions for yourself. Maybe you can’t. But the talking heads can’t either.
I’m talking about the “hardcore” pop culture, that isn’t hardcore. That is touchy feely, instead of compassionate, and the harbingers of shallowness.
The pop culture is the oxymoron of praising individuality in a thousand Disney movies and destroying it at the same time with the peer pressure mechanic.
Just a little guy's opinion.
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