Now, we all have a certain order we use our computers in. I know you have. Otherwise, it's just me who's a bit weird. Please say you have an order, even if you don't.

I think my list is kind of long, but I think either this blog or Twitter is first. Then mail and youtube. From tomorrow off it's probably Script Frenzy before a lot of other things. I've actually thought of cutting off the internet the entire month, but then I thought, that it would be stupid, if I needed research, which I probably will need.

Where was I?

Right, orders. Others than reading and writing I don't think I have anything else. I have to write about something else now, otherwise I'd have to stop here, and make it the Official Shortest Blogpost.

Does anyone else but me check Teefury, Riptapparel, Shirt.woot and Qwertee every single day, even though you know they don't accept your card type?

Oh, it sucks. I was reading on their FAQ's and it was like this:

Allright prices.. Oooh, worldwide shipping! Very handy! .... WHAT?! Visa, Mastercard, and everything-but-my-card?! WHAT? Whyyyyy?!

That is so unthoughtful of them.

Or maybe they're just saving me money. Otherwise I'd buy every shirt with Harry Potter or Doctor Who things. If they did a mash between those two, I'd might scream.

And for this, I'm probably the worst Harry Potter fan ever. I just can't, physically sit down and just watch A Very Potter Musical. Everyone says it's awesome and really funny, and I want to understand the Zefron thing, but I just can't watch it without getting annoyed with the actors. I've watched the two first parts of the first act or something.

I wish I could, though.

Oh, and you must (or well, you can) wish me congratulations on my new job and 'feel better' because of my cold ):

Well, I've got 20 hours of freedom left, before Script Frenzy starts (in my timezone) and I still need to make some details and an awesome title.

I can't come up with a recommendation, other than Don't Unplug Me by ALL CAPS is a song worth listening to a couple of hundreds time in a row.

DFTBA till next thursday (:

My Obsessions

I guess, like all Nerdfighters, I have some sort of obsession with the Internet. My obsessions probably aren't as intellectual as others.

One of my obsessions is with YouTube (which is pretty common, I'm guessing). I personally don't make videos, but I think it's incredible that we're able to create things about our lives or interests and share it with others. YouTube helps spread ideas, art, and creativity. I also think that it's awesome that people can make money doing what they love, which is making people laugh or think, using their videos. I worship the person who thought of YouTube. My favorite YouTubers are the Vlogbrothers (obviously), WheezyWaiter,Charles Trippy and Alli, Toby Turner/Tobuscus, Charlie McDonnell, and Alex Day. I also love listening to music on YouTube.

I'm also an obsessive online shopper. I'm currently banned (by my mother) from buying anymore clothes. It's the best thing to do when you're bored during class. :) I have a Facebook, but I really don't spend that much time on it.

Part 2:

I really like learning, but it has to be from a good teacher. For example, last year I had an amazing history teacher. I really like history and learning about cultures, so it was awesome. Have you ever had a teacher that would let you bring up something totally off topic and you'd talk about it for the rest of the class? My teacher was like this, and I loved it. This year, however, my teacher is kind of awful. She's really not good. I don't think she's knows anything about the subject. Anyway, the point is, I like learning. (I kind of ranted there for a minute, sorry about that.)

I also like literature, but I have problems understanding it sometimes. In my British Literature class, we're talking about Macbeth, but I can never follow what they're saying. I envy the people who think Shakespeare is easy. I think math and science are really important, and I like how it's always a right or wrong answer, not something that can be interpreted differently. The creative aspect of literature is amazing, though.

I can't think of a recommendation. :( Sorry!

P.S. Did you watch A Very Potter Musical?

DFTBA :)

The Parts of the Whole

So, I've been driving for about nine hours from Ohio to Pennsylvania all day, and I'm extremely alert because I took two midday naps (as I'm writing it's nearly eleven PM here). We should have been driving for closer to eight hours, but my mom got lost about five times trying to find the hotel. Tomorrow morning we're visiting Swarthmore, which I'm looking forward to, and sometime before we leave PA we're visiting the Poe museum (which I am ridiculously and nerdily excited about).

Anyway, what I actually wanted to talk about today was TV tropes (well, actually, tropes in general, but probably literature more often, but I'll probably reference tvtropes.org a lot throughout the post) and analyzing literature.

Sometime in the past couple of weeks I started frequenting TV Tropes, which essentially means I was completely sucked into it with my eyes constantly glued to my computer screen and my brain constantly fixated on learning. New. Tropes. It wouldn't really surprise me if you guys have heard about TV Tropes, or just what a trope is period, but for those who don't know. A trope is a device used in various forms of media (television, film, literature) that play on ideas, impressions and assumptions already present in the audience's mind.  On the whole, tropes are tools to be used and manipulated, and are generally not clichés (though they certainly can be). TV Tropes is a wiki dedicated to pointing out these tropes and providing examples present in various forms in literature. It has a tendency to be sarcastic, witty, and incredibly informal (which is what makes it really interesting to read).  It is like Wikipedia in that you'll start off on one page, but three hours later you'll be on a completely different and likely unrelated page, possibly with ten other tabs open to look at later. Or at least this is always what happens to me.

What I find most interesting about tropes is that one trope applies to so many things, but often appears in so many different ways. Sometimes tropes are blatantly obvious, but sometimes they are used and manipulated so brilliantly that it almost becomes something entirely different. One of my favorite things to do is analyze literature, and knowing the tropes (albeit, knowing them by names that lack any sort of seriousness) helps to draw connections between different books, movies and shows.  It also helps me understand how few new ideas exist, and how I'm influenced by them.

Tropes also reflect (though they often magnify) patterns present in reality, and stereotypes that a lot of people hold. Basically, tropes are cool. Although, they can be overused and tired, or used with little to no finesse. There are also "bad" tropes, because authors and creators of different media often make the same mistakes.

Recommendation: A Great And Terible Beauty by Libba Bray. Seriously, she's a genius.

PS: A theme that this post could fit into is obsessive internet habits, or favorite academic interests, or something...

The Not-So-Distant Future

I'm a senior in high school, so the whole college and future thing is coming at me pretty fast. Most of my friends are starting to get letters from their top choice colleges, which is incredibly exciting. As for me, I've already been accepted to my favorite school, Harvey Mudd College, which is also incredibly exciting.

The whole college application process is intense and stressful, and I'm so glad to be done with it all. There was the college searching, the standardized test taking, the essay writing, the waiting. And I had to go through it a bit earlier than most of my friends because I applied early decision (which means I apply earlier and find out earlier, but it's a binding decision if I get in) to Harvey Mudd. I received my acceptance letter at the beginning of my winter break, so I've been able to chill and relax since then, which is such a nice change.

Applying early decision was a pretty big choice for me to make because it is binding if you get accepted, but it was definitely the right choice for me. There are so many things I love about the school. When I wrote an essay for the application about why I wanted to attend there, I had a lot of trouble keeping it down to 500 words or fewer. I think what I'm most excited about is the community there. The school is full of people who are absolutely brilliant, creative, quirky, and as passionate about math and science as I am. It's also an amazing math/science/engineering school, which is great for someone like me who loves all of those subjects. And I love the core curriculum there. And the honor code. And the beautiful California sun.

The school is known for being insanely tough, but I'm okay with that. I want to be challenged and pushed to my intellectual limits. I love learning, so I might as well go somewhere I'll be able to do that as much as I can. Perhaps I'll regret this in a few months when I'm drowning in homework, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

For this week, I recommend a band called The Format. They're pretty much one of my favorite bands ever. I don't think I could ever get sick of their music. If you check them out and find that you like them, I suggest looking up fun., which is a band the lead singer of The Format formed after The Format broke up.

DFTBA

Future! .. And stuff

Allright, since everyone else has been writing about their future (and my school system being so different, it's not been easy following up..) anyway, I'll tell you a bit about the Danish school system.

When you're 5-6 you start in your first class. It's after kindergarden but before real school kicks in. Then there's grades until 9th grade. There's 6 exams - danish, english, maths, physics, biology/geography and history/social studies/verbal german/written english (those with options are those where the ministry decides which each class are going to exams in.)

When you finish you're about 15-16, and then there are some decisions to be made. Either the danish 'gymnasium' which is a bit like high school, as far as I understand. It's a three year long course, and when you've graduated, you're supposed to read at University to finish your education off. That is where I start next year.

Tenth grade is where I am now. It's a little different from 9th grade, it's voluntarily, but good if you want better grades or just need a year to grow up a bit.

And then there's the practical courses. There are a lot of lines - cooking, mechanics, etc.

They're shorter, most of them are like 2-3 years.

My own future is at the high school like thingy, and then I want to study either something with movies - directing, scriptwriting, you name it. I'd love to write - scripts, books - but it's not an easy world to work in, and maybe I should have something else if the writing doesn't work out..

And I've used a week to find out my Script Frenzy characters' personalities. Hopefully I'll get started being serious soon - I've got 8 days now.

Has anyone got Twitter? I'm Djacruks - follow me if you'd like. (:

Oh, and I think we should settle on - or find a way to settle on some themes, otherwise it'll always be Rebecca or Susie to come up with themes..

My recommendation this week is go to Youtube and find Nevermind The Buzzcocks with David Tennant. I've watched it so many times, and it never fails to make me laugh. Loudly.

'Till next week. DFTBA :D

To Infinity and Beyond!

So I dont really have the time to think up a different topic to write about, so I guess the future it is. I'm a Junior at high school, and right now the only thing I think about is universities (or rather, all my parents want me to think about). i've already taken the SAT once, and I'm debating taking it again or trying the ACT (or both).

So far, my plan is that i'm going to try to get in to the bigshot universities in the states. i want to either be an engineer, or pursue a career in academia, so my big american schools are places like Harvard, MIT, Princeton and whatnot. Now obviously the chances of me getting in are pretty low, but I still feel like I want to make the effort and try, if only to be able to say that i did what i could. I'm not really interested in any middle tier USA schools because the cost of studying in America is only really going to be worth it if I get a better education than anywhere I'd get in my country, or if I can get a degree from some place with a great reputation.

If i dont get into any of those schools though I'm probably just going to go to a canadian university. The University of Western Ontario is a popular choice for a lot of people in my family's circle of friends, but i have personally got my eye on McGill University, in Montreal. I could also go to the University of Toronto, but I don't know whether i want to go to university in the same place I grew up. I sort of think that University is a great time to branch out and see more of the world, and so I think staying in my city might be a waste of that potential.

Anyways, thats my future in a nutshell. If anyone wants a tv show to watch, try community. Its really funny, but also very meta, in the sense that it references a lot of outside things. This is especially good if you can get all of the references, which you probably will be seeing as you guys are nerds like me :p

anyways, hope your week is good, and your future is even better. DFTBA

Into the Future! :)

Well, since I can't think of anything else to write about, talking about the future sounds great!

First off, I am a sophomore in high school, so I haven't started seriously looking at colleges yet. I get a ton of university pamphlets and letters, but honestly, I don't know what I'm doing in the future. Well, I guess I know that I'm definitely going to college, obviously. I'm most likely going to go to a Jesuit college because my dad works at a Jesuit university (Creighton). I think I get some kind of discount on tuition if I go to a Jesuit school, and I need all the help I can get with that.

Even though I don't know where I'm going, I'm pretty sure that I don't want to stay in my hometown. Maybe I'll go to Chicago, Seattle, or Denver. Those cities all sound amazing.

As for a major, I'll probably do something involving math and science, like some kind of doctor. My dad thinks that math and science are really important, but I think that literature and English are really cool, as well. I'm really not that great at understanding literature, so math and science are probably better for me anyway. I also want to take French.

I thought of a good recommendation this time! You might have already seen this because it's amazing. It's the Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel on Youtube. It's a parody of Harry Potter and they put a lot of the story lines from different books into one play. It's hilarious! Even if you're not a HP fan, I would watch it. And if you watch Glee, Darren Criss (who plays Blaine) stars as Harry Potter. It's really good.

Coming Closer to the Future

So, there isn't really a planned theme this week, but if anyone wants to go along with the topic of my blog today, go ahead and maybe this week we can see about actually implementing a weekly theme.

I believe all of us are in high school (if I remember correctly), so I thought it'd make sense to talk about what we're planning on doing in the future (namely college or other post-graduation activity).

I'm a junior in high school, so I'm currently trying to pick out some colleges that I would like to go to.  Oberlin (which is actually where I live) is my top choice school, followed by Williams College in Massachusetts.  A few others I'm considering are Smith, Carleton, Kenyon, and Vanderbilt.  I've wanted to go to Oberlin since I was in third grade and had to learn about the town history, which is closely intertwined with that of the college's history.  I think what originally enamored me with the college, and made me want to go there since I was a kid, was the fact that it was the first college in the country to accept both females and African-American (The town itself was the 99th stop on the Underground Railroad -- the last stop in Ohio until you made it to Canada, if you were headed there).  But in general, Oberlin has an environment that I fit into very well, namely: liberal. And opinionated.  Oberlin very laid back (many students forgo the traditional cap-and-gown at graduation in favor of odd-ball outfits and such).  Williams, which is my second choice school, by comparison has always been described to me as somewhat conservative (or at least conservative by my standards).  Despite this it remains my top choice, and I am thoroughly excited to visit the campus to learn more about it.

This Spring Break my mom, my sisters and I are going on a college road trip of sorts.  I'm not entirely sure of all the schools we're visiting, but I know that my mom plans to take us to Swarthmore, Haverford, Princeton, Williams, Smith, and possibly Cornell. (She almost tried to suggest Yale, but...no).  I'm really looking forward to actually seeing other campuses besides Oberlin's, which I've grown up in and am ridiculously accustomed to (not that I can find my way confidently through any of the buildings -- except perhaps the Dean's office and the conservatory).  I know that if I don't get accepted to Williams or Oberlin, my next choice would be a school where I think I'd be able to get a good education, as well as fit into the social environment, so I'm hopin to gain a lot of insight from this trip.

This week I'm going to be trying to come up with questions and things I'm looking for at the colleges i visit. I think most importantly -- from an academics standpoint -- is that the college have a strong English and Writing program. I plan on being a writer (even if it happens to be freelance) when I "grow up" so I really want to go to a school with a good Creative Writing program (although, I did get accepted to a Kenyon Summer Writing Program run by the Kenyon Review).  Right now, all of my career aspirations are centered around reading, writing, or both. I would really like to go into journalism or publishing, or library science, and I intend to major in English wherever I go. That said, I really *love* learning (I mean, I'm a nerd, so I suppose that's a given), so I want to take a variety of courses across all fields. I'm really interested in taking Anthropology, Astronomy, Linguistics and Religion courses wherever I go, and I think that I might minor in French (J'aime la langue).

That's all for today! I believe I will be on the road, or else away from reliable internet next Monday, so I might post my next entry on Sunday, but I'm not sure yet.

Are we still going to do recommendations? I like them, so I'm going to recommend The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC (it's also available as a podcast on iTunes), because Rachel Maddow is intelligent, quick-witted, funny and all around a good TV personality. The show has a tendency (understatement) to sway towards the liberal side of things, but even if that's the lens she examines news from, she is insightful regardless.

Till next week:
DFTBA!

Also Traveling?

So I decided to join Susie in talking about traveling*. I've done a bit of traveling in my life. I've been to the UK and France, but that was when I was four or five years old and I hardly remember it. I've also been to several US states, Canada, Mexico, and Italy, and the most foreign place I've been to is Ghana.

I spent two weeks this past summer volunteering in Ghana with a bunch of other high school students, and it was an amazing experience. Most of my days were spent repainting some rooms in an elementary school that were really run down. There were also some days where we taught classes, played with kids in a pool, or spent time with kids at an orphanage.

Pretty much everything about life in Ghana is different from my life in the US. Ghana is always hot and humid, while my town is always cold and rainy. There are open sewers on the side of the road and, as far as I could tell, no enforced rules about driving on the roads. Chickens and goats roam the streets. The running water is not always running, and the drinking water comes in single-serving plastic bags. I had to sleep under a mosquito net and coat myself in bug spray that was so concentrated, it sometimes melted the plastic in my shoes.

One thing that always sticks out to me was a conversation I had with another volunteer. He kept talking about how much he wanted a giant glass of Coca Cola. At first I was puzzled. There was plenty of Coke in Ghana. But then he pointed out that there were only 300 mL glasses of it, and he wanted 40 ounces. He said, "I want so much Coke that I don't know what to do with it all. I miss abundance."

I think one of the main things I took away from the experience was the understanding of how lucky I am to have what I have. I can drink water straight from the tap without worrying about my safety. I don't have to think about whether or not the water will be running or if I'll be able to take a real shower. If I want to buy a 72 oz. bag of chocolate chips, I can. There are so many things that I used to take for granted that I appreciate a lot more now.

And despite having so much less, the Ghanaians seemed to be much happier than most Americans I know. People always seemed to be singing, dancing, laughing, and having fun. They were some of the friendliest people I've ever met. It was inspirational to see so much joy and friendliness everywhere, and it also helped me to see that we don't really need material things to be happy.

I hope to travel more in the future. I loved learning about a completely different culture, so I want to do a lot more exploring of the world as I get older.

This is starting to get a bit long, but I would like to say that I also think themes would be a great idea! Not sure of how we would organize that, though...

And sorry about this picture. It's Friday. I can't not do it.


Happy Friday, and DFTBA (Doctor, Fight The Bad Aliens!)

School, Screnzy and Japan

So, now I've been sitting in front of my laptop for half an hour, and I have no idea what to blog about. I wanted to avoid sitting and staring at the screen, so I told myself on my way to school, at school and on my way home from school, that I should probably think about topics.

And I've got nothing. At all.

I have thought about adding time to my blogs, because timezones facsinates me on some level - and currently, it's 4.12 PM here (I'm not used to the 12-hour clock!). I think they fascinate me a bit, because it's weird thinking about, that persons on the other side of the planet is going to bed, or having breakfast, while I'm just sitting here and not doing homework.

I could tell you about my school. I started in a 10th grade two months ago, and I'm having a hard time fitting in, being a nerd and .. you know, reading for pleasure.

I mean, the students are nice enough, just not to me. Yesterday a girl in my class bumped into me, and didn't even make a fake excuse or notice at all. They're all very close, which makes it quite difficult to get inside the circle.

Normally, if the classes are good, you don't really notice or care that much, but since it's really bad, you notice.

The students aren't very good nor willing to learn. A girl said in class that, she wouldn't analyze a danish movie (Adam's Apples, if anyone's interested - it's a religious, comedy drama) because she wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie, if she analyzed it.

And I thought wow, that sounds.. ridicolous. I'm afraid to say, that I think I've used that excuse before, and I promise from now on, I'll never ever do it again - it's too.. pathetic. And not worth it.

BTW, this week's class, where everyone is gathered, one class had taken pictures of the other students backside, and we had to guess whose a** it was. So mature!

Now Script Frenzy is coming up as well, and I'm very excited. I've come up with this story, that I thought I'd use at NaNoWriMo, but it fits almost better as a movie. It's a sci-fi drama thing, and I need someone who can make me write and really do it. Like a motivator, 'cause I'm so bad at starting something, sitting with it for a while and then put it down, and then do something else. I need someone to tell me that I have to do this. Otherwise, 667 word a day is a lot.

Back to reading scripts and figure out my main characters personality.

And of course..

Thoughts and hopes go to Japan. They're having such a hard time at the moment and a lot of people are missing, and it's so, so sad. I wish I was able to do more, than I am.

DFTBA

(Oh, and my favourite substitute is Droids Fears To Be Abondoned (It's not very good. I just made it up)

Debating: (neoclassical existentialism and its effect on postmodern humanism)

Hiya guys, I know this is a bit late but whaaatever. So I know some of you guys wanna do a theme, and I'm cool with that, but until then I'm going to talk about whatever comes to mind

And this week, that happens to be debating. I'm in the debating club at my high school, and though at first I thought it was gonna be a snobby and strict sort of thing, it turns out to be quite the opposite.

So in case you guys dont do this, debating is pretty much teams of people arguing at each other over some sort of topic. Usually, it's in the form of a resolution (or a bill for you Americans) which states a belief or some sort of change in the status quo (ie. This house would ban minors from eating fast food), and one side argues for the proposal while the other argues against.

Now what's weird about my schools club is that we are one of the few public schools who debate. When I go to tournaments, be it in away or in the city, I always chuckle when I see all those private school kids who attend wearing full suits and whatnot while most of us wear a polo at best. These kids have coaches; that's right, there are people in this world who get paid to teach debating. They are drilled to memorize long strings of words in order to have a meticulously structured speech. By comparison, our teacher advisor doesn't do jack; we've been as a club to about 9 tournaments, and out of those only one had the necessary paperwork filled out.

And yet, even though it seems that we are at a huge disadvantage here, when our school competes we always seem to do really well. This surprised me at first, though as I stayed with the club and the hobby I soon realized why.

Debating has taught me a few really interesting things aside from simply speaking in public . It made think of both sides of the argument, which changed my perspective on a lot of things. It also taught me that rhetoric can make anything seem like a good point. You can debate pretty much anything convincingly by spewing bullshit about existentialism and other big words and as long as the audience isn't too bright, it'll be as convincing as a ligitimate argument.

But the most important thing I learned, the thing that sets us apart from the private schools, is that understanding trumps knowledge any day. A lot of the time, we have to talk about things we have no idea of, but it is the understanding of what the general themes are that allows us to pull through. Understanding the ideas and analysing the deep connections and fundamental principles behind resolutions allows us to give convincing, solid arguments far better than if we had memorized a dozen fact sheets or structure cards. And it is this critical understanding that allows us to get ahead.

I have taken this idea and try to apply it to every facet of my life. With things like maths and science, it is not enough to simply know formulas and equations; one has to truly understand what is going on. I think this is true wit other things too, including our social lives. We know where we fit in, and we know what we do and who we do it with and where we do it, but to truly be satisfied we need to understand why these things are like they are.

I play magic the gathering (not as much now, but I still do), and one of my favorite quotes from a card is one which pertains a lot to this idea. It says,

"knowledge is counting the drops in a waterfall, but true wisdom is understanding why the water seeks the earth".

Anyways yeah sorry for the long winded thing but there you go.

Jonathan

So, uhh... travelling?

I don't really know what to talk about, but I guess I'll talk about travelling today! (I looked on some other blogs and this is what they were talking about) Let me first say that I live in the middle of the U.S. and the closest thing I have reached to going out of the country is North Dakota. Most of my vacations are spent in Minnesota and South Dakota, which is were most of my family lives. I have been to Washington D.C., but I was really young and I can't remember it. I've also been to Disney World, the Black Hills, Las Vegas, and the Rocky Mountains, but other than that, my vacations haven't been very exciting.

Travelling has always been a dream of mine. My grandparents have been just about everywhere: Asia, all over Europe, Russia, South America (and they always bring back gifts :) ). They are currently spending two months in Hawaii. It's so cliche, but my dream trip is to Paris! I'm taking French at my school - probably in college, as well - and I really hope to become good enough to actually talk to people. I also really want to travel all around Europe, especially London, Ireland, and Italy.

My favorite place that I have visited was Sanibel Island in Florida. We left in early March, when it was gray and cloudy everyday in Nebraska. Florida was so green compared to where I live. We had to fly to Dallas and then hop on another plane to Tampa. I really don't like flying, my ears plug and I become half deaf for several days. After we arrived in Tampa, my family rented a car and drove up to Sanibel.

Anyway, we rented a little condo that was right on the water. The beach was gorgeous, with soft, white sand and tons of shells. My family and I collected so many shells, that we had to start going through them everyday to put some of them back. We found a little starfish and picked it up. You're not supposed to pick up living things off the beach, but, I swear, we thought it was dead! I sat in the sun everyday and came back without the slightest of tans (like always). Sanibel is really cute and there were plenty of places to eat and we biked to some really nice beaches. The only bad thing was that I missed a week of school and it took forever to make up all the work. :(

If you want to continue talking about travelling, you can, but you can write whatever you want. I just thought if you can't think of anything to write, you can write about this! Do you guys think we should establish a theme for each week? I think that would probably be easier - at least for me - and that's what my sister's blog is doing, and it seems to be working fine.

DFTBA (by the way, what's your favorite substitute for Don't Forget To Be Awesome? Mine is, Darling, Fetch The Battle Axe) :)

Becoming (and Procrastinating)

I've been thinking a lot lately about who I am as a person. In the context of the larger communities I was born into (e.g. who I am as a woman, who I am as an African American citizen), The larger communities I choose to participate in (most notably Nerdfighteria, but mostly fandoms in general), the smaller groups/organizations I'm a part of (e.g. A member of: Academic Challenge Team, Drama Club, and Marching Band), and myself as an individual and how my participation in all of this various groups have influenced the person I am, and how (I hope) I influence these groups in turn.

It seems like a really cheesy cliché to point out that these years of our lives (when we're in high school and college and such), are the years in which we are changing the most and "discovering who we are" (especially since I believe that people of all ages never fully stop feeling this way, though this sentiment could be presumptive), and yet it is incredibly true that I have gone through so much change and self-reflection in the past three years, that I am a notably different person from my thirteen-year-old persona.

The most notable change that I've gone through in the past few years is my spirituality.  I was raised in a Christian household, both of my parents are very devout (my father is a minister, actually) and when i was a little kid I considered myself a "believer" as well.  My upbringing as a Christian certainly influences how I think and act and view society to some extent, though not necessarily in an explicitly religious way.  Somewhere in the past few years I became disillusioned with this 'God' persona I had spent so much of my childhood learning and hearing about (and worshiping).  At first it was simply a disbelief that any being such as this could exist.  I couldn't tell you why that is, because I don't find it especially difficult to believe in the "supernatural".  Perhaps it stemmed from an inability to understand how such a seemingly loving and forgiving being could also be so harsh and exacting.  But no matter how it came about that I stopped believing in "him/her/it", (and it took me a very long and confusing time to come to this conclusion), after I did I realized that even if I did believe in this "higher power" I don't know how much I like it.  Religion often teaches that (wo)men are infallible and not to be trusted.  This is true, but as a solution I have rarely heard it suggested in sermons that people should try to rely on their peers, elders and themselves to accomplish their goals or subdue their anxiety, and instead they should rest all of their troubles on some nebulous beings shoulders.  But maybe this comes from an inability on my part to comprehend what religious leaders, the Bible and "God" are trying to say.

Aside from religion I believe I've grown in how I think and approach the issue of gender. I've been thinking about this a lot lately (in part, because I'm currently reading a book about how the 2008 election affected women), especially how stereotypes negatively affect both genders.  I mean, I find it terribly demeaning to consign all women to the kitchen (*ahem* I will not make you a sandwich. Make your own goddamn sandwich ;-) ), on the part of people unwilling to allow women into other areas of society, but I find it equally demeaning for women to bully other women about making the *choice* to stay at home.  I also find the prevailing idea that feminine = weak, and masculine = strong disturbing.  This confines two vastly diverse groups of people (not to mention all outside and in between them: androgyny, bigendered, etc.) into tight compartments that are ultimately detrimental to everyone. These aren't really new ideas or concepts to anyone, not even to me, but I have been thinking about this a lot, and in general I try to be very conscious about how all of the groups everyone finds themselves a part of influences how they experiance life (even if i don't understand it).

I feel like the one of the aspects of my identity that I have had the most consistent difficulty trying to reconcile is being Black.  The problem I've found is that the prevailing stereotypes in America about black people are commonly accepted and reflected in members within the community.  All of these stereotypes make up this sort of image of what a black person (in America) is, and if a person who happens to look black doesn't think or act the way society expects them to, then that person isn't really black, they're actually white. Prompting a lot of rude comments I've found directed my way (most often and notably "oreo", but I vaguely remember someone calling me a "burnt marshmallow" before...).  I've always gotten the impression that these comments were directed at me because I was well-spoken, wasn't afraid to hide the fact I was intelligent, I used "long" words and I (apparently) can't dance.  It's always deeply insulted me that just because I acted smart I didn't get to include myself in part of the community I have always considered myself a part of.  It's also extremely counter-productive to stereotypes to kick people out of a group and denounce them when they don't fit them.  It's terribly confusing, and it often leaves me feeling like I'm sort of hanging on the periphery. I mean, I'm obviously not white, and the experiences I've had because I am (and look) black mean that it's not always easy to feel as though I can explain myself and my feelings in regards to race to anyone, because a person who hasn't experienced (something akin to) what I have, can't fully understand how I feel, and oftentimes people in my own community won't listen to me because they don't see me as a part of it (I am specifically referring to my own classmates).

My feelings on all of these issues could be further enumerated upon, but that would result in an even longer post than I'm sure this one already is, and I also have an English paper that I need to write (it is due tomorrow, but I wanted to finish this blog post first: procrastination). I'm sorry if this post is kind of all over the place -- I wrote off the top of my head and I'm tired.  If you have any questions about anything I said, please ask. I really intended to write a lot more about how I've changed in the past few years than I did, but I guess my thoughts wanted to go in a different direction than my plans (my thoughts are all over the place).

Recommendation: The band Athlete. I've been listening to them a lot over the past couple of days and I really enjoy their music. (For Doctor Who fans, their song "Chances" was played at the end of the episode "Vincent and the Doctor", when Amy and the Doctor bring Vincent to the L'œuvre )

[P.S. - Simone: I'm considering doing Script Frenzy, but if I don't do it, I might just spend the month attempting to finish my failed (first) attempt attempt at Nanowrimo. Here's hoping? :) ]

[P.P.S. If I have glaring grammatical errors, don't hesitate to correct them, I probably won't reread this until much later, and I'm sure I've missed something completely and obviously wrong]

Anywho...I'm gone now!

DFTBA

TGIF

Hello, everyone! I'm Emily (or effyeahemily in Your Pants). I'm 17 years old, and I'm from Washington state. I'm in my last year of high school, which is pretty exciting.

First of all, I'm a bit of a science and math nerd. Math and science have the ability to accurately explain everything in my world, and these elegant explanations never cease to fascinate me. And tomorrow I'm heading off to a Science Olympiad competition, where teams of 15 compete in 20-something events that are all somehow related to science. It will involve a lot of fun, and hopefully a lot of winning. I'm actually really excited about it.

I'm also a violinist. I've been playing since I was 10, and I still love it. I've never taken private lessons; I just learn through orchestra classes at my school. I prefer playing in groups. It's a lot more fun that way.

I'm not really a big Harry Potter fan. I've tried reading the series several times, but I just haven't been able to get into them. The movies are good, though. However, I've definitely become a fan of Doctor Who. I started watching over the summer because I had heard that it was good and had found a link to watch it online, and I was hooked instantly. I can't wait for the new season to start!

There are several other shows that I love. There's Mythbusters, Community, The Big Bang Theory, Glee (although it's been getting worse over time), Raising Hope, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show with John Stewart. And then there are the shows I loved that aren't on the air anymore: Lost, Heroes, and Scrubs are the major ones. And then there are my guilty pleasures, like Degrassi and America's Next Top Model. I think I watch too much television...

I'm also a knitter. I learned how to knit over winter break. I found out that I had been accepted to my top choice college on the first day of break, so instead of stressing and struggling with college applications, I decided to learn how to knit. I'm still a beginner, but I've learned a lot so far. I'm always finding tons of cool, free patterns online. Hopefully I'll be able to make them. I'm currently working on a pair of mittens for my sister, and they're turning out quite well.

My recommendation: Listening to the song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! Lately, I've been in the mood for ridiculously peppy songs, and this always seems to work. No matter how sad you are, blasting this song in your car and dancing along to it will make you feel like this:

Anyway, that's probably enough about me for now. You guys all seem like awesome people, I can't wait to get to know you better through this blog!

My first thursday

This is my first entry for this blog (though I haven't had other blogs) - anyway, I'm Simone, I'm 16, I'm in Denmark (that small scandinavian country) and I'm in a danish 10th grade. It's not easy to explain and compare school systems, so I won't even try to attempt that.

I'm quite a Doctor Who nerd (and that is an understatement) I love it. My first and favourite Doctor is David Tennant's, but I - despite thought I wouldn't - quite like Matt Smith's as well, and I really like Amy.

I got into Doctor Who, after Charlie McDonnell's video about it (this one), and just thought "hey, that's weird, if I remember it, I could try to watch one" and conveniently it was aired in DK at the time, and my first episode was Fear Her. I watched all the following episodes until Journey's end, 'cause they didn't broadcast any of the Christmas specials, so this summer I purchased the new series 1-4 and it's so awesome.

Moving on...

I'm also a Harry Potter nerd. Just as much as Doctor Who. The day I realised that David Tennant was in Harry Potter, I literally screamed and went to watch Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire.

When the movie originally came out, I was about 10-11, and I had a huuge crush on Daniel Radcliffe, and just thought that David Tennant's role was a weirdo. If I could go back in time, I'd probably tell myself, that in 5 years, he'll be my hero.

Btw, I'm a proud Slytherclaw (having a bit of sorting trouble)

Other than that, my every day isn't like a day in the TARDIS. As I mentioned, I'm currently in a 10th grade, and it's not very challenging academically. So I've got a lot of spare time, which I use on .. you guessed it; the Internet. And reading. I write a bit as well, and this year will be my first Script Frenzy (any of you doing that?)

I love movies. I love watching them and I especially love Behind The Scenes features and all that, it makes me feel like I'm sort of there. My favourite movie is - as the book, (and yes, I know. What a wuss), but I love Stepmom. I also like victorian stuff. Like Pride And Prejudice and Wuthering Heights.

*must stop fandom*

I'm looking forward to get really started, and I hope that *clichée coming up* that there'll be many more posts.

Instead of recommending something, I'd rather make a Thursday Top 3:

1. I'm going with my mum to see The King's Speech tomorrow!

2. My iPod (saves my life everyday!)

3. In your pants jokes.

Don't Forget To Be Awesome (:

Hello World!

So I'm going to follow along with everyone else and introduce myself a bit. My name is Jonathan, I'm 17 and I hail from the frozen northern wonderland known as Canada (Toronto more specifically).

I like reading books, but I'm not the type of person to gush about harry potter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the books a ton (except the third and fifth), but they're just normal fantasy books to me. One of the things I liked most about the series was how it grew up as I did. I remember reading the second book with my dad when i was like 6, and I find it really cool how the tone of the books has changed along side me, getting darker and more mature with each installment. However, there are better fantasy series than this one.

Anyway, I tend to enjoy fantasy and sci-fi books. I like stuff by the heavy hitters, like Asimov and Goodkind, but I also tend to look at some lesser known works in the genre when I can. So far my favorite series is one called the Dresden Files; It's like a noir detective novel, but he's a wizard. Its one of those books that blends mystery, solid fantasy world-building (the kind of world that exists simultaneously with the normal world), action and a lot of other cool stuff. If anyone is looking for a good fantasy book, I definitely recommend it (though it might be a little dark at times).

I also like reading non-fiction science books. I find science really cool, and even though I don't actually know the specifics, I am still trying to learn the fundamental concepts of things like quantum mechanics and relativity. I've been reading stuff by Stephen Hawking, and the autobiography of Richard Feynman (which surprisingly has like almost nothing to do with physics; He was considered the rockstar of physicists, and he lived a really interesting life full of a lot of cool things). Both offer insight into science and I enjoy trying to get a picture of what we really know about the universe.

I also play hockey. It seems I've been doing this since I was a kid, and I've always stuck with it. I used to play competitively, but once I realized I didn't wanna put the ridiculous amount of time in to pursue it further I dropped down to a point where I play for fun, but at the same time its sorta competitive (hope that makes sense). I also have picked up curling lately, but you guys probably know even less about that so I'll leave it for now.

I don't really listen to music. I mean I like some songs, but I don't follow the music scene or actively listen to music at all. If something comes on, cool, but otherwise I couldn't care less.

The two big sections of culture I really love are movies and video games. I love both and follow both avidly, and really enjoy watching a good scene unfold or playing a fun game with friends.

I want to leave this with a recommendation much like Rebecca and Susie did, and since gaming is so varied and niche-centered that I couldn't possibly reccomend a game everyone will like (oh wait, yes I can, its called portal), I'm going to reccomend a movie. And not just any movie, oh no. This movie is my favorite of all time. Its called the shawshank redemption, and if you have not seen it already, I DEMAND that you pick it up and watch it this weekend (or even just megavideo it). It is a story of friendship, hope, freedom, and it offers simply the best that the medium of film has to offer.

anyways, I look forward to seeing your posts later.

DFTBA :D

My Introduction

Sorry, this might be a little late -
Hey everyone! I'm Susie, I'm 16, and but I'm wouldntchangeathing in Your Pants (hehe still laughing at that joke). I guess I tell about what I'm into and stuff like anomalous_bibliophagus did. By the way, this is going to be great! I'm so excited.

- I am also a HUGE HP nerd. I love all of the books, with The Deathly Hallows being my favorite. I also really liked the first part of the seventh movie. I can read the books over and over again without getting tired of them. Whenever my family travels, I always bring at least one Harry Potter book just in case I run out of things to do.

- I am also really into music, I really couldn't live without it. The thing is, when I hear a new band or song that I love, I get really obsessed with them. Unfortunately, after listening to it for about a month on repeat, I find a new obsession or get tired of it. It's really sad. Currently, I'm infatuated with a band called Angels and Airwaves. I recently bought Phoenix's album called Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and I've been listening to Anberlin, blink-182, Box Car Racer, and Paramore.

- I really love reading. There's just something about being able to create a movie in your mind. It might just be me, but I get kind of annoyed when books are made into movies and they don't follow the book and the people look nothing like the characters you picture in your own head. I really like books like Pride and Prejudice, The Tale of Two Cities, and Jane Eyre, but I also love modern, teen books, as well.

- Art is also something I love to do, there are just so many things you can try. I recently took a digital photography class and I really liked it. I also love 3D art like sculpting and using the pottery wheel (even though I'm not that great with clay). I generally like making 3D things more than just painting or drawing.

In school, I really love my British Literature class this year. We have an amazing teacher and we read some really good books (I really disliked the Iliad, though). I like history too, but I do not have a good teacher this year. Last year I had a great one. I take French, and I really hope I become good enough to actually speak it well. I play soccer for my school, and we just started our season - I'm on JV. My coach is from France, so maybe I can use my (not so great) French skills!

My Recommendation:
If you like British Literature, like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, I would recommend The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (Charlotte Bronte's sister). It's about a lady who has kind of a mysterious past. I'm not done with it yet, but it's been really good so far. There was a British mini-series about it, and it was good (and there's a really cute guy in it).

Talk to you all later!

Commencement!

Hi! I am really excited to be starting this blogging expenditure! My name is Rebecca, but in Your Pants I go by the username anomalous_bibliophagus, which is mostly an unwieldy way of saying that I am pretty strange and I love reading.

So, I figure to start off you should know the basics. I think that before we dive into this, I should warn everyone that I am a massive Harry Potter nerd. Of course, I could probably be more obsessed than I currently am, but I think I drive my family and friends crazy enough as is :). I have a tendency to turn anything (and I really do mean *anything*, although some connections might take more time to make) into a Harry Potter reference (because Harry Potter relates to everything, of course), and I also get ridiculously excited when Harry Potter crops up outside of the Potter-nerdiverse sphere. Aside from Harry Potter, my obsessions include:

1) Doctor Who: By which I mean 'New Who' because I have not yet attempted to undertake the feat which is Old/Original Who, except for a few William Hartnell episodes (which, unfortunately, completely bored me, largely because Hartnell and Carol Ann Ford were slightly annoying :/). I started watching Doctor Who because I was getting sick of not understand the Who references in Charlie (McDonnell) and Alex (Day)'s videos, and once my family got a Wii and I could watch on instant play which made it easy to speed through five seasons in the space of maybe two (summer) months (maybe less). But once I was finished I was still not satiated with my new want for Doctor Who, so I would constantly re-watch episodes. It got to the point where my mom limited me to one episode per day. Natch.

2) Learning About Tudor England: Seriously, the English monarchy is one of the most fascinating things to learn about. I think this obsession started after I read 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. But I had found Tudor England fascinating before that point as well. That time period had it all: scandal, love, gossip, religious upheavals, corruption, death. Not to say that the majority of these things were *good* they're just really interesting.

3) Reading: I rarely go anywhere without book, and whenever I volunteer at my public library, I find it nearly impossible to leave without at least one book (Which quickly pile up, as I volunteer at least once a week). Reading for me has always been a sort of escape that TV and the computer can't fully satisfy (although Doctor Who comes close). I don't think there is one genre I'm partial to. I enjoy sci-fi/fantasy (probably fantasy a bit more than sci-fi), and I generally read YA novels, but honestly, I'm just a sucker for a good story. Or for an engaging non-fiction book. I also really like analyzing literature, which seems to be the bane of most high school students' existence, but I find it intriguing.

4) Writing: Although I am so self-conscious about my writing that I rarely finish the things I start, and I'm also very busy with school (and procrastinating), writing is one of my favorite things to do. The actual process of writing can be tedious sometimes, to be completely honest (which is why I don't generally write when I'm procrastinating), but when I'm on a roll its good. I've started a short story about  Gussie Manlove, so hopefully publishing this information somewhere aside from Your Pants will hold me to that.

5) Crocheting/Knitting: I don't do it often, but I'm an obsessive person, so when I get into a project I generally finish it pretty quickly.

In general I really love learning about things. There are few topics that just completely bore me. English is really my passion though, followed by history, which I think is largely because the stories and learning about certain events social impact (social studies in general are really fugging cool).

These are just a few things about me, but throughout this entire (year-long?) project hopefully these types of things will just come out naturally. (Especially the ones that I'll just completely forget I like to do). But feel free to ask if there's anything specific you want to know about me!

Is it just me, or does this post seem ridiculously long?

P.S. So, I don't know if any of you have listened to the podcast Smart Mouths, but at the end of each episode each of the hosts would give one recommendation. I think this would be a cool way to end posts, so...

My Recommendation: The book Mindblind by Jennifer Roy. It's about a 14-year-old boy named Nathaniel who has Asperger's Syndrome and an IQ of 182, attempting to become a genius (~a person who uses their intellect to accomplish something and make an impact on the world). It's a *really* good book, and it portrays Nathaniel in a really relate-able way. (My summary probably has not done the book justice).