Week Thirty-Four: Wibbly-Wobbly-Posty-Wosty

Greetings and salutations.

As I did last year, I'm putting together one more blog post than I think I'll need, simply because I get home from the conference completely worn out and very, very happy.

So here we are.

At the time you're reading this, it's August 28th. There are just 4 days left until BEDA is over. This month just flew by.

I'm going in for my first read-through tomorrow for Leading Ladies. It'll be interesting to see who else is in the cast, and to get a better idea of my line load and who Aunt Florence is as a character.

At the time I'm writing this, I have to pack up EVERYTHING for the conference that, at the time YOU'RE reading this, I've just gotten home from, far to tired to actually post a blog that makes an ounce of sense.

Now, as I'm writing this, I have roughly five zillion things to do and no time to do them in.

I must run, and I will write to you all tomorrow (for you) and in four days (for me).

I feel a bit like a Time Lord, actually. You think my posts are all linear, but really they're more like wibbly-wobbly posty-wosty...stuff.

Until we meet again,
Whimsy

Tragic Characters: a post I'd like you to read.

A friend of mine, Sarah (@NotReallyDaria) just tweeted and asked why we're drawn to tragic characters.

I just might have an answer for her.

The reason why I, personally like tragic characters is because I feel sorry for them. That's not the only reason, but I think it helps a lot. It puts your sympathies with that character, and from that point on, you're on "their side", as it were.

We feel bad for the character, and the more crap that gets dumped on them, the more we feel bad for them, and the more we like them. That's why we always root for the underdog. It's not interesting to have a character for whom everything goes right.

Let's take Snape, for instance. He's a tragic character if there EVER was one. Our hearts go out to this poor man for what he's suffered through, and we start to forgive him for the bad decisions he's made. We allow him leniency, because of what happened to him.

I, personally actively dislike characters who are perfect. People aren't perfect, and shouldn't expect them to be. Show the flaws, the not-quite-so-pretty parts. Show that there's more to your character than ingrained goodness, and allow us to feel like she's real. Don't make him a person I can't relate to, give him something that makes me say, "yes. I believe that you exist, if only for a moment, and only on this page".

Characters with tragedy give us even more to sympathize with, and we find them fascinating because of that. We wonder what we'd be like in that situation, if only subconsciously, and we spend our time hoping that they'll be able to get themselves out of whatever pit they're in.

Either that, or we watch as they fall further and further, unable to help and pull the character that we've become attached to out from the horrible mess that they've gotten themselves into. Either way, we can't look away, because we've gotten emotionally invested from the all this crap that was dumped on the poor character in the beginning.

So I think that's why. It's partly that we get drawn to the in the first place, out of pity, or something like it, and then it becomes that we're drawn in. We remain attached.

I hope that answered your question, Sarah.

~Whimsy

P.S. If there's anything that you'd like to hear my thoughts on/topics to blog about, by all means, please leave them in the comments!

Writing accidents.

My online identity has really became a part of me. You know how I know this? Well, the a few weeks ago, I had a celebration* at my house, and we ask everyone to mark their cups.

So I pick up the sharpie, uncap it and write Whimsy with a florish. And when I say I wrote Whimsy, I mean I wrote it instead of my name. Yes, I have officially become Whimsy, even in my offline life.

I only did it once, but I did it with such confidence, that was what was funny. I did go back, after I noticed and write my given name in front of Whimsy.

Have any of you done that, or something like that?

Still at the unschooler's conference, playing guitar with friends and staying up until 3am playing card games...

~Whimsy



* This was for Lughnassadh, one of the 8 Sabbats on the pagan wheel of the year.

Whimsy Speaks!

Hello! While you're reading this, I will be off at my annual unschooler's conference.

There's something so affirming about being with people who don't challenge your life, who just support you for who you are, and the conference is one of those places.

This year, for the first time, I will be speaking in front of a whole TON of people. This is both terrifying and amazing. I'm terrified because talking without a script, out in front of a bunch of people is scary.

The panel I'm speaking on is called "Ask a Grown Unschooler", where people can ask me (and some other amazing people as well) questions about what our plans are for the future, what we liked about being unschooled, and anything else they can think of.

Now, as much as I love being onstage (oh, and I do...SO MUCH), it's nervous-making to go up there and be myself. Just Whimsy, no hiding behind a script. I'm sure that says something about me, but I'm just more comfortable with pre-determined words.

So, wish me luck, my friends! I'll be sure to tell you all about the conference when I get back!

~Whimsy

Ready!

Hello, hello, hello!

I have very big and exciting news. My mum has had a scare, recently, regarding her throat and neck, just received the news that all tests are good, and wonderful, and there is no cancer. It's been worrying all of us, and I am so beyond happy that everything turned out well. It's been pretty stressful.

Tomorrow, I am leaving for a conference. Frankly, I'm so excited that I can't stand it, but also a little nervous. I know it's a bit silly that I'm nervous, but firstly, social situations always make me a bit uneasy, and secondly, I haven't seen many of these people in a year, so I get worried about whether I'll reconnect with them.

I'm actually going to be speaking on a panel at the conference this time around, called "Ask A Grown Unschooler". That's also a bit nervous making, but I'm excited too.

Most of all, I'm just happy to be going back. Ready to spend time with my old friends and make new ones. Ready to play cards, Werewolf, Bananagrams, and pick-up-sticks. Ready to stay up late, dance to music, dress up in costumes. Ready to not be judged for my educational choices and background.

I am SO ready for this conference.

~Whimsy

The results of auditions, plus what I look like now.

So I auditioned today (and yesterday), and I got a call tonight.

Annndddddd...I'm in the show, playing a old auntie-type lady. Her name is Florence, and the first read-through is Monday. HUZZAH!

This is going to be BEYOND hilarious!

Must go, tons to do, sleep to be had, blogs to queue up in preperation for leaving for the unschooler's conference on Thursday.

SO FREAKING EXCITED, CANNOT SIT STILL.

Because this post is a bit small, I'll leave you with a photo of me, taken today.


Talk to you tomorrow, tootle pip,

~Whimsy

Week Thirty-Three: Chain Letters

You know those chain photos/comments that go around? The ones that say “reblog/repost this to save yourself/your best friend/your mother from a horrible death/bad luck/a disease”? I want to know something.

How did they realize that reblogging/reposting made them safe? Did the spirit tell them? My god, I’d hate to be on the trial and error tests for that.

“Well, turning around in 17 counter-clockwise circles didn’t work. Too bad about Jim…he was a good one, too. Looks like we’ll try 18 counter-clockwise circles on the next one, poor guy.”

“Nathan, we just got another one dead over here. I think it’s been 146 minutes since he said he didn’t want that peanut butter sandwich, so chalk that on the possible theories list.”

“Angie’s staying strong, and all she’s doing is Tumbling. She just reblogged four things, so we’ll have to look into the correlations between not getting struck dead and cat videos, Karen Gillian photos, Queen lyrics and this one really creepy-ass photo of some face in a closet behind two kids.”

Windsurfing and ice cream trucks!

Yesterday, I went windsurfing, and let me tell you, it is a LOT harder than it looks. I am sore in about 3 million places now, but it was FUN.

Pulling the sail up is probably the most painful part, but gliding along on top of the water, propelled by nothing but the wind is just so COOL.

Getting to the point where you're actually gilding decently, though...that's where the difficulty comes in. It's a lot of breaking your back pulling up a sail and then getting unbalanced and dropping the sail, and then pulling it up, and then the wind catches the sail and you lose control of the board, and you go falling in.

We sailed for about 2 hours, but it felt like an entire day. I'm not saying that I regret doing it, because I don't, not at all, but I was ready for a nap afterwards, I'll say that.

Also, for the first time in living memory, I had ice cream from an ice cream truck. I live in a very rural area, so the ice cream truck never came down my road when I was little, and although Mum says that I had ice cream truck ice cream when we went to a pond a few times, but I have no memory of that.

Regardless, I had an ice cream cookie sandwich, and it was GOOD. That could be because I was starving hungry after windsurfing, or it could be because it was actually GOOD.

Now I must go, I have songs to play, people to hug, auditions to practice for, and books to read.

~Whimsy

100th post and thoughts about the end of summer.

I can safely say that it's the end-ish of the summer, and my huge list of summer projects that I attempted are all firmly unfinished. That's really okay, though, because I feel like I gained something much better than the experience of watching all the x-men movies.

I think that every time in your life can bring some new things that you learn, and some things that you re-learn. This summer, what I gained can't really be measured in anything quantifiable, but rather a series of smaller things.

Most importantly, I think I learned that sometimes, the most important thing is to just throw your hands in the air and just DO IT.

That's more important than anything I could have looked for at the beginning of this summer, anyway.

And you know what? This is my 100th post, and I just recently hit 25 followers. Thank you. All of you. Thank you for reading, for commenting, for following , for everything.

Auditions

So, I decided to audition for my first show since last September! The last time I was onstage in a show that I didn't do with the kids that I teach was back in April 2010, and my god do I miss it...

I'm sitting here, pouring over audition materials, doing research on Marlon Brando's voice and trying to figure out when is a good time in auditions to tell my prospective director that my bright green dramatically angled haircut can be swapped out for a more normal hairdo.

I also have to update my theatre resume, the contents of which will finally spill over onto a second page (and I will give three cheers).

Auditions are nervewracking. I think it's mostly because you're getting up in front of a bunch of people and saying "go on, judge me". I want to get up there and blow my prospective director away, make her know that I will work my ass of, make her know that I will be easy to work with, that I can and will do whatever she wants me to do without complaint, and that I will pour myself into whatever character I am cast as.

It's very much like asking somebody to take a chance on you, to trust that what you can bring to the table is wonderful and worth it.

Madam director, I'll see you on Monday, primed and ready. I'll be bringing everything I've got.

~Whimsy

Horcruxes and "writing what you know".

I've talked before about how much I love stories, so it should come as no surprise that (since NaNoWriMo is coming up), I'm thinking about stories again.

"They" always say to write what you know. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's just a little bit rubbish.

If we only wrote what we know, we'd be cut of from whole genres of stories. There simply wouldn't be any fantasy or sci-fi. It wouldn't exist. Harry Potter never would have been written* if Jo just wrote "what she knew".

Jumping off from that, what about all the people who write characters who's gender differs from the author? They aren't writing "what they know". How about authors who differ from their characters in political belief, personal history, location, personality, sexual orientation, age, culture, family history, or interests? Just a guess, but I'd have to say that most authors differ from their characters in one of those ways or more.

And you know what? I'm profoundly glad that people don't write "what they know". What a boring selection of literature we would have, if they did.

Drawing on your own personal experiences while writing, however, is wonderful tool. Jo may not have been a a wizard herself, but there are traits she shares with Harry, and that brings a realisim to him. I think you can put some of yourself into whoever you're writing without making the character a Mary Sue.

In a way, writing is like making a Horcrux. Every time you do it, you tuck a little piece of your soul into what you've created. But instead of it making you weaker and less human, it does the opposite.

If I had to write just what I knew, I could only write one story. The story of my life. I want to tell other stories, stories that I may not have lived, but are still important.

So go on. Get a pen, a pencil, a blank white sheet of paper, a keyboard, a word document and join me.

Let's write what we don't know, so we can understand ourselves and the world better.

After all, NaNoWriMo starts in just 74 days!

~Whimsy

* This does discount the theory that Jo is actually a member of the wizarding world, something that I would not be totally surprised about, to be honest.

School

I want to start out by saying that I know that I'm really behind with replying to comments. I litterally have had no time at all.

But enough excuses, let's have a proper blog post.

Since it's getting to be that time again, shall we talk about school? I think we shall.

When I was really young, I didn't really pay attention to the fact that school was starting up again. It was simply something that was keeping me from seeing my schooled friends, something that meant that I couldn't see my friends in the middle of a weekday.

As I grew older and began to pay more attention, back to school time became weirder and weirder. I distinctly remember one day, while grocery shopping with my mom, I looked around the store and saw that there was nobody my own age in the store. You don't know how weird it is to suddenly look up and realize that you're living in a world without any children. It's unnerving.

As the years went by, the annoyance with the fact that my friend's school was cutting into my social life combined with the fact that (once you hit a certain age), people sort of look at you funny when you say that you're not in school.

They begin to think that it's okay to ask you some really rude questions. Yes, I know that most of this is from being misinformed, but yikes. I've had people ask me what was wrong with me, if I was stupid, or more often than not, just sort of nod and go "well, how 'bout that".

Now, I don't mind being asked questions, but it's when people start to blatently judge me is when I can't handle it.

As I grew older, there was one thing and one thing only that made me jealous of my schooled peers. School/office supply shopping. I know that sounds silly, but it's true.

I could spend hours in office supply stores and be perfectly happy.

This would not be weird if I liked shopping, which I most certainly do not.

Anyway, it's strange.

I'm off to eat soup, talk again tomorrow!

~Whimsy

Someone is eating my August.

I have no idea what's happening, but someone is eating my August.

Today alone, I went with Mum to a followup for her surgery yesterday, swung by a beauty supply store for hair dye for my sister, went back to the house for lunch, stopped by a theatre to pick up audition materials for me, headed to the library for a few hours (appt for sister), and to wrap it up, ended up live broadcasting the town hall's selectman's meeting.

After that, we headed back home for supper and then watched Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog with the fambly. Inbetween all that, somehow I have managed to re-read the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy.

I guess that's why I'm not sure that I'm going to audition for the show that's coming up. I mean, I love theatre, more than almost anything else. I love getting onstage, learning lines, getting fitted for costumes, hearing the audience's laughter, the camraderie of the actors, the applause*, and more than anything, making something happen that wasn't there before.

I'd love to audition. I'd love to get cast. I'd love to pour my heart and soul into a character, to spend every waking moment thinking about the show, to attend rehearsals 2, 3, 4 times a week.

However, I do have a job. A job that very possibly can end up conflicting with my ability to put everything I have into this show. A job that I love. A job that I want to do, that makes me happy, that I would hate to have to skive out of to go to rehearsals.

I suppose I'll continue on thinking about this, and maybe I'll have something figured out by the time auditions start.

Ever yours in my perpetual state of confusion,
~Whimsy

P.S. Happy halfway through the month!

*I know it sounds cliche, and kind of like an snobby sort of thing to say, but I really do. I'm an actor. What can I say?

So, today was a thing.

This'll have to be a very quick post.

My mum had surgery today, so that was a very long and tense sort of day, filled with bad hospital cafeteria food.

High points of today included finding out that they actually run commercials for bananas on daytime telly, seeing the prequel for "Let's Kill Hitler", the upcoming episode of Doctor Who, and realizing that Pottermore invites are going out to people already, including people who got in on the third day, like I did. IT WON'T BE LONG NOW.

...right. Directly after I typed that, I closed out of my blogger tab, scanned my email and every other website I'm on, and then remembered I was doing something. >____<

I think that means something.

I must go. My people need me.

Week Thirty-Two: Movies and suchlike!

Last night, my family decided to go out and see a double feature at the drive-in. Mum cooked up a delicious meal, we gathered blankets and pillows, chairs and chocolate (for dessert) and packed up the car.

As we did so, the sky got darker and darker, until it got to the point where we went back and checked the weather AGAIN (after seeing that there was not a drop of rain forecast until the next night), and sure enough, there it was. A %20 chance of rain.

As anyone who has gone to a drive-in knows, going in the rain is absolutely no fun at ALL, so we decided to play it safe and stay at home. Since we had planned to see a double feature of "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" and "Captain America", we settled on a double feature of our own. "Pricilla, Queen Of The Desert" and "Fall From Grace", a documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church.

Both films were really good, and as Pricilla went along, I grew to like it more and more. "Fall From Grace" was both facinating, educational and like watching a train wreck.

As much as I'd like to go into what I thought about the movies some more (and I might, with Pricilla), I have to run.

There are proposals to make up for the family theatre business, and the day is marching onward.

But before I go, a few questions:
Have you seen any of the movies that I mentioned?
What's your favorite film?
What's the best film you've seen lately? (Mine would have to be a documentary on crossdressing in film/on stage, I think. Too many options to choose from!)

Until tomorrow,
~Whimsy

NaNoWriMo Is Coming!

Hello bloggians!

You know what's exciting? Getting books in the mail. A few days ago, I got online and ordered myself some items off of amazon. As you would expect, they were very Whimsy-like items. Two books and a jar of brilliantly green hair dye.

The books are the first and third in Mercedes Lackey's "Last Herald-Mage of Valdemar" series. I bought the second book in that series at a brick-and-mortar store, but they didn't have the other two, for some incredibly weird reason. The hair dye is for re-dying my hair...obviously.

Even though my hair is slowing fading from electric celery to that weird highlighter yellow-green and you can see a halo of dark brown hair close to my scalp, I still haven't gone and re-dyed.

And now, to divert suddenly from what we were talking about, and to neatly segueway into the fact that NaNoWriMo is coming. Dear lord, is it coming.

This time last year, I had come up with a few plot options, settled on one, created two great MC's, a HUGE supporting cast, pages on pages of plot outline, a fully fleshed out backstory, maps, character outlines, hand-drawn pictures of my MC's at ages 10 and 17, ten pages of timeline, everything was shoved into my Big Leather Folder Of Noveling Stuff and everything was looking fantastic.

This year, I have a nearly empty BLFONT, save for a few sheets of lined paper, some chords for a handful of songs, three different pens with three different uses, a temporary tatoo and a scrap of paper with a couple drawings on it (a good luck token from a friend).

I have no clue what I'm going to write about. The problem isn't not having any ideas, the problem is that there are TOO MANY options. How can you pick between genres (Historical fiction? Sci-Fi? Literary Fiction?) let alone sub-genres? (Sword and sorcery? Urban Fantasy? Steampunk?) And once you've figured that out, what about plot? There's too many ideas, and I can't pick between them.

There's also the question of whether or not I want to write in the same genre that I've written in before (YA realistic in 2009 and Fantasy in 2010). There are advantages to both options, so that's another problem.

With NaNoWriMo, as is with life, there can just be too many options to choose from.

Well, I'm off to create things, eat lunch, and do something spectacular with my day. What that spectacular thing is, I don't know.

See you tomorrow!
~Whimsy

At the ballet.

Do you ever have one of those moments when it strikes you just how surreal your life is?

That happens to me a lot, actually. For instance, last night, I went to my second ever ballet. Beautiful dancing, the costumes were (very pink and sexist, but) pretty, and the strength and grace of the dancers is fantastic. Keep in mind, this is coming from the girl who regularly trips over her own feet.

So here I am, enjoying myself, and having a lovely night, when suddenly it hits me how surreal this is. I'm sitting in the front row at a ballet, and the ballet's music of choice?

Rick Astley.

Yes, you did read that right. Rick Astley, the singer of "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever". Actually, the dance to "Never Gonna Give You Up" was really cool.

It's moments like those where I look around and just smile.

Life is weird, and I would never want it to change.

Life Lessons: A List

A short list of life lessons in no particular order.

* If you leave bleach in your hair for too long, yes, it WILL burn your scalp.

* Smiling at other people means that you're a lot more likely to get a smile back.

* It's far to easy to say "No" to new things because you're nervous.

* I am too delicate to handle intense books, and I don't need to be filling my head with frightening things...

* If you have a hard time fitting your hand into the opening of a jar, it will be twice as difficult getting your hand back out again.

* Spending your time wondering if other people think you're weird is a waste of time.

* Sometimes, people can't tell that you're being sarcastic. It's usually not a good idea to heap MORE sarcastic comments on top of that.

* If you have enough determination, an assortment of weird supplies and the ability to google instructions, it is impossible to be bored.

And on THAT note, have a charming day, you lot!

~Whimsy

Thoughts on Star Wars

After finally finishing the great epic known as Star Wars, I have decided to sit down and write up my thoughts about it.

First and foremost, I want to say that I did, in fact, like it.

And now, I will go on to tell you my thoughts in detail. Star Wars fans who take offense at anyone disliking a shred of the movies, you should stop reading this now. No, really. Stop here.

Also, people who don't like/don't care about Star Wars, you can stop here as well.

*ahem*

The amount of worldbuilding that went into those films is mindblowing. Leaving any other aspect out of it, the starships, space stations and other aircraft alone were just... O__O No words, just emoticons. That's not counting the actual different planets, the government, and the variety of species. Hats off for that one, I have to say.

I was pleasantly surprised with the special effects. They were better than I expected, and I have admittedly high standards. Technically, I found the films really quite enjoyable.

Now of course, there are things that I did not love. The lack of females, for one. Yes, I did see that there were some female Jedi, and females on the senate, but I'd have liked to have seen some more female main characters.

I did feel like the amount of OMG LET'S BLOW SHIT UP really overpowered any hope of really getting to know the characters. What I really look for when I immerse myself in a story is a connection with the characters, and when I don't get that, that really bothers me. I feel like I'm missing something, like the characters are still strangers, and I have to say, I still feel like most of the characters in Star Wars really remained strangers.

The exception would have to be Anakin. Despite the fact that I still feel like I could have known him better, I do feel like I knew him well enough.

I can see the massive popularity of Star Wars, for certain. The way that everything is wound up together is really quite amazing. There are MANY stories that don't wrap up their loose ends as well as Star Wars does.

The use of the Imperial March whenever Anakin does anything Dark Side-ish was very, very cool. The dun dun dun, dun da dun, dun da dun is CREEPY AS HELL when you're watching a decent into madness. (And it's also really sad, too. Poor Anakin, you're so mentally broken.)

Also, there was a lot of politics that I think I missed, so I look forward to re-watching them and really understanding the intricacies of what's going on politically in the Star Wars-verse. There's just so much going ON that I think it would take a good three watch-throughs to really catch it all.

I still come back to what I said before, I really missed to really be able to get to know the characters. I want to really delve into the characters, and I feel like that took a backseat to "ASPLODE ALL THE THINGS", "PUT IN ALL THE POLITICS" and "WE MUST HAVE THE BEST STARSHIPS EVAR".

Despite my critical commentary, I did very much enjoy them, and I can't believe that I went 19 years without seeing them.

~Whimsy

P.S. Here's a thank you to my mums for not only buying me the films for my birthday, but also watching them with me, even though Star Wars is not really your "thing". Really, this is more of a thank you for Mum on the watching end, since Nay slept through the whole set of 6 movies. A double thank you to you, Mum, for stifling your running commentary during the fight montages. "oh god...NO R2D2, NO! Run, run, run! He's RIGHT THERE. This is so intense. He's going to die. Don't die!"

Getting over myself.

Only after I finished my post, I realized that the blog I wrote yesterday was rather long. I think that's fine, though. There are some things that just need to be said, no matter how many words it takes.

As is my established pattern, since yesterday's post was long, this one will be shorter.

The unschooler's conference that I go to every year is coming up, and I've been hiding myself away, practicing my guitar so that maybe I'll actually get up the guts to enter the talent show and play in front of a room of people.

The idea is both terrifying and exciting, so I can't quite decide which feeling is going to win out, although I kind of really want to do it. It's just a matter of convincing myself that I'll do fine, and getting over myself.

In other news, I will be reaching my 100th post on this blog this month! That's a HUGE milestone, one that I never really thought I'd reach. So that's a cool thing.

Anyway, my day is calling me, and I have things to create, books to read, and songs to sing!

Have a splendid day,
~Whimsy

On haters, opinions and Rebecca Black: an important post.

You know what I find absurd? People apologizing for what they like, or being embarrassed that they like something.

In my humblest of opinions, if you like something, you should like it. Revel in the fact that you have found something that brings you happiness, and don't hide.

Think about it. I'm sure you've seen somebody say "Well, I actually like Miley Cyrus/boxed mac 'n cheese-like-product/planking/Twilight/reading books meant for people younger than I am/studying/cheesy horror films/you name it" with a really sheepish expression, like they're about to lose all the "cool points" that they had accumulated, or like suddenly, all their friends will decide that all connection to this Loser-with-a-capital-L must be ceased immediately.

Take a look at that list. Liking ANYTHING on that list isn't causing any harm to anyone.

What really gets me is when people decide that just because they don't like something, EVERYONE in the world is therefore required not to like it. Seriously, what is WITH that?

I may not like Twilight, for example, and I may think that it's a horrible example of a healthy relationship*, but that don't give me the right yo look at someone else and go "Ugh. You like TWILIGHT. You can't like that, it's horrible, and therefore if you like it, you must be stupid!"

I see no problem with having a discussion about why we like certain things, and if you like something that I dislike, I have no right to make you feel like an idiot for liking it.

That respect should go both ways. If I like to listen to Miley Cyrus and dance around like a madwoman, or just listen to Party in the USA while I blog**, then you don't get to look at me with disappointment in your eyes and then make me feel like an idiot because I actually enjoy doing something.

And now we've reached something that really bothers me. People who hate people who like certain pop singers, or people who hate the pop singers themselves for no other reason than that they think that the singer is a "bad singer". I'm going to use two examples. One is Rebecca Black, and the other are the Bieber fans.

Starting with Rebecca, you have a 13 year old girl who made a music video because she wanted to, and because of it's admittedly non-amazing lyrics and the days of the week and having a party, it's fantastically catchy beat, a music video that doesn't rival one that could be created by a pop superstar like Lady GaGa, and the fact that she's young, she gets some of the most horrible hate comments. Just take a moment to scroll through some of the comments on "Friday".

Actually, I'll do that for you.

"which seat can you take? the electric one."

"i cant wait until she stands up in a car on the highway at night....... then i'll drive up and push her.... lololol ;D"

"Sounds like someones strangling a cat."

and the kicker, this little gem that is worse than all the rest put together.

"If you are seriously supporting what this girl is doing, there is something seriously wrong with you. It's like supporting AIDS injections for newborns. Nothing is right or ok about this. And some of you say "oh, but she's trying to make her dreams come true, don't hate." Fuck that! You know who else was just trying to make their dreams come true? Hitler. And look how that turned out. "

Nice, huh? Let's try a Bieber video. How about the official music video for "Baby"?

Okay, I'm scrolling through the comments, and a LOT of the hate that people are spewing is stuff that is so vile, I don't feel okay with having it on my blog, even for illustrative purposes.*** But, I can find a few that I feel I can post.

"Dislike everyone. Lets give this faggot 2,000,000 dislikes. "

"Hey you guys are so mean to Justin, leave HER alone"

"Justin Bieber is standing on the edge of a tower.
95% of all teenager are screaming and hoping that he wont jump.
If you belong to the 5% who eat chips and drink coke and scream BACKFLIP, BACKFLIP then press LIKE!!!!!"

Do me a favor, and take a look at that for a moment. This is what we do to people. We hide behind our screens and our handles, and we say horrible things.

Anyone who DARES to actually enjoy Rebecca or Justin's music is automatically pegged as a stupid fan with no taste. And you know what?

I actually like "My Moment", Rebecca's new song. I make no apologies**** for that. I especially the part where she's essentially saying "You know what, screw all you haters, I'm going to keep doing what I love and keep reaching for my dreams, no matter what you all say." Everyone knows her, she's on talk shows, and she's a household name, and it's all thanks to the people who leave her hate comments. I think that's beautiful poetic justice.

Essentially, what I'm saying is this.
Can we stop hating on people for liking things? Can we stop hiding the things that we like because we're afraid that our friends won't approve? Can we like things unabashedly? Can we enjoy music that might not be the best, technically, but still makes us happy? Can we think about the fact that there are actual people behind the screen names, music videos and pop stars? http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Please?

~Whimsy



* Hint: I do think that.

** Hint: I do, in fact do that.

*** Here is where I find a bunch of swastika graphics in a whole pile of youtube comments. I am genuinely confused.

**** Rachel, here's looking at you. I can't type no apologies without thinking of you.

Week Thirty-One: Reasoning.

Because of my general madness and the combined forces of two separate blogging challenges, I've decided that my Sunday posts in August will be both my BOW'11 post for that week, and my daily blogging challenge that BEDA presents.

Since I'm still working my way through watching all the Star Wars movies, I feel like I can't properly talk about that, as of yet.

Here we are, at the end of the first week of BEDA. Oh my flipping WOW did this week go by fast. Was that just me, or did August first just happen YESTERDAY?

I really haven't much time to write because of sign language lesson tonight and the fact that I still have MANY superheroes and -villains to create!

Have a charming day.

~Whimsy

Stuffed Superheroes

If there's one thing I really love, it's creating things.

There is really NOTHING nicer than deciding to create something that wasn't there before.

Now, I really don't care what you're creating, weather it's words on a page or music from an instrument, whether you are drawing, painting, dancing, sewing, editing together a video...you name it, if it's creating something, there's just nothing better. When you're at the end of your project and you say to yourself "I made that. There's something in this world that wasn't there before, and I made it happen"...I love that.

I'm in the middle of creating things right now, actually. This year, for the first time ever, I will be SELLING something at the Unschooler's conference that we go to.

My brainchild is this: I'm making a whole pantheon of superheros and a pantheon of supervillians, all of them with their own story, and each of them is made into a cuddly little stuffed plushie. There will be 20 in all, and I'm really proud of my little squishies. I'll post photos when I have one or two finished. ^__^

Question of the day: What do YOU love creating?

~Whimsy

Come Along, Rory.

I wrote this song for a friend of mine as a sort of a prize for guessing my name in a weirdly Rumplestiltskin challenge. ^__^

I'm (very) proud of how it came out, to the point that I want to share it with all of you. (Also, sharing music is nervousmaking.)

It's from Rory William's point of view, and it contains spoilers ALL THE WAY THROUGH Series 6.1 of Doctor Who.

I do hope you like it, and feel free to leave a comment or tell me what you think!

I'd really like you to read this. ^__^

Before I go any further, this moth I'm going to have some post that I really want you to read...some posts that I don't want to get lost in the flood of BEDA posts. If a post is one that I'd really like you to read, I'll make sure the title is letting you know that.

This post is one of those posts that I'd really appreciate it if you'd read.

I'll start with a question.

Have any of you read "The Gospel According To Larry"? It's a phenomenal book, one that's really thought provoking, raising some very interesting questions about anonymity.

If you haven't read it (and you should read it), it's by Janet Tashjian. Go find it.

In the meantime, I'll tell you the basic premise of the book. Josh Swensen, a teenaged blogger gains a HUGE following for his anti-consumerisim blog, thegospelaccordingtolarry.com, a website that actually exists. However, Josh is writing anonymously, under the pseudonym of "Larry". Eventually, there's a huge movement to find out who this "Larry" is, and things get very interesting from there...

I won't spoil it for you, don't worry.

The reason why I'm talking about Larry is because his story is part of why I've chosen not to give out my birth name on this blog. (The other reason is, of course, for personal protection. I don't want a knock on my door that leads to a phone call to the police. You all know how much I hate phones.)

I don't have delusions that my tiny blog will become a worldwide phenomenon, but the idea that Josh has people who read what he says and care about what he has to say just because of the power of his words, not because of who's saying them...that's the most interesting part of the book for me. If Larry had given anything away about who he was, his message would have been changed by nothing other than people's perception.

That's why my blog won't link to any other of my online haunts anymore. I'd like you to enjoy what I have to say purely because of what I'm saying, not because of who's speaking. Sort of like Larry.

Unlike Larry, I've told you things about me. You know details of my life, my past, my future, and you even can see a fairly clear photograph of me.

For me, when I'm writing these posts, I want you to get to know me. I want to get to know all of you. But I want to do that without having those weird stumbling blocks of awkwardness that happens so often (for me, at least).

This is pure, unadulterated ME, behind these words. Clearer than I could be in person.

That leaves me with a few questions for you all:
What are your thoughts about pseudonyms?
Would/do you use one?
Have you read The Gospel According To Larry?


Lastly, thank you for taking the time to get to know an odd girl with a computer. Every one of you makes my day, whether you comment, subscribe to my posts, or just READ what I have to say.

~Whimsy

Postscript:
I realize that I didn't mention the people who read this blog who are my friends and family members. You know who I am, but I hope that reading my blog lets you get to know me a little better, or that you enjoy my quirky writing blurbs. Thank you all, as well.

Ewok-in' the dance floor.

Today is going to be a post pertaining to August.

Firstly, in case you DON'T know what BEDA is, I shall explain. BEDA is a project, created by the wonderful @Maureenjohnson in which the goal is to blog every day in a month beginning with A. This project started out in April (I do believe), but has since moved to August. I've done BEDA last year, and despite the madness that ensued, it was amazing, and I made some incredible friends.

So that's that. BEDA. BAM.

Secondly, some people have been talking about their August plans, and I will be joining those ranks today.

Among other things, this month my mom has surgery, we've got scads of proposals to get out for our theatre business, and at the end of the month, we're going to the Unschooler's conference! All that, and there are summer projects to do, home improvements to have done, and books to read!

Also, I'm starting sewing up little stuffed superheroes and supervillians to sell at the unschooler's conference, so that's really exciting!

As you may be able to tell, this BEDA is going in rather the same way as the past year. It's after midnight, and despite my plans to write a blog post before now, nothing has gone up.

Like last year, I'm calling this "blog once a day before you go to bed August".

Anyway, I think I can get let off easy because the reason I am late posting is because I was watching Return Of The Jedi...for the FIRST TIME.

While my thoughts on Star Wars will undoubtedly crop up in this coming month, I will simply say this:

Ewok dance party at the end. 'Nuff said.


~Whimsy

Pitching myself off the cliff into oblivion!

Do you ever have one of those decisions where either option could potentially end up being something you'll regret?

It's one of those "lesser of two evils" situations. You weigh both options, and try to find the one that you'll regret LEAST, and pick that one. ...or at least I do.

It can be hard to choose what option will be the one you'll regret, especially if you don't have all the information. Perhaps there's some rouge element in the future? Something you can't count on in your careful planning and weighing? That's when it gets really tricky.

Then it becomes not just a matter of having everything fit in the neat little "pro" and "con" lists that you've drawn up, but also a sort of future-guessing.

If you can't tell, when I'm making a decision, I like to have ALL the information right in front of me, and not having that information can send me into a tailspin. Yes, you read that right. Trying to work out what I should choose can send me into a minor stage of panic. Not pretty, not helpful.

So, back to the lesser of two evils, leaving my panic mode behind.

There you are, analyzing every possible outcome to death, under a time restraint (because since when did a really tricky decision come WITHOUT a time restriction?) and all you can think about is what you're going to do about your really tricky and potentially life-threatening question, what NEXT?

Wait, shhh. Of COURSE it's life threatening! Geez, you people. Your answer will not only threaten your life, but it could CHANGE THE WORLD.

Raised stakes never hurt anyone, am I right?

.

.

.

Hang on. What the hell were we talking about? Life threats, world changing, evils, future-guessing, and a mild mode of panic...

There was a point, I swear.

RIGHT! So, in the line of all great life-changing decisions, I have decided to take a flying leap and pitch myself off the cliff into the oblivion that is BEDA. God knows what I've gotten myself into, but we'll see.

I've got madness coming, this August, so let's see what happens.

Here with you for the ride, for better, for worse, and for late posts,
~Whimsy

P.S. Role call! Who's doing BEDA?

Pondering BEDA

I'm seriously contemplating BEDA, but I can't decide whether or not to actually DO IT.

In the meantime, I am fiddling with my blog's layout, and pondering this.

Happy BEDA to those participating, happy VEDA to those who are doing that project, and Happy August to EVERYONE!

~Whimsy

Under construction!

Pardon the way Whimsyville looks while I fiddle about with the theme. Strange colors and odd coding may abound as I attempt to update this blog from the CRAZYLEMON of last year.