Bring on the Fall!

Fall is here. This means the leaves are changing, temperatures are falling, people are getting back to work and of course TV has returned. Oh yes the fall line up begins; my time will be lost, work will not get done and my DVR just may overload this year. I have more TV than ever!

Sun - Brothers & Sisters
Mon - Heroes
Tues - House MD
Wed - Private Practice
Thurs - The Office, CSI, Grey's Anatomy

Unfortunately DVR from iO can only DVR two shows at a time, so if I work Thursdays CSI is not going to be watched.

Wow, it has been a while!

So I have not posted since January, which is a very long time. A lot has happened since then, which would account for the lack of posts. February I made my friends, friends that I am so happy that I met. I have become so close with them in such a short amount of time. After making my new best friends I finally came out. I'm gay, and ever since I have made many odd choices, some good and some bad. But nonetheless I am happy now.
I started college a few weeks ago, art major. I had some pretty sweet classes. Unfortunately my bill was late and they were all dropped. Now I have class six days a week, but it's still going well.
So I returned to my blog... hopefully I will continue to post more often.

The New "English"

As we all know our English classes, or past English classes, they are filled with short stories, books and poems. Today's students do not know as much literature and poetry as the generations before us, or do they?


Each and every form of English is different to this generation.


Books Video Games


Not many children read book these days. Their time is spent in front of television screens controlling their main characters. I ask, what is the problem? I read books and I play video games. Is it really mind depleting to play a video game? I think not, depending on the games that are played. I could spend one week reading the tales of Sherlock Holmes, or I could spend and hour or two a day control Tidus through his journey in the future. Final Fantasy X is an outstanding video game, with a story worthy of a New Times Best Seller. I am not here to bash books, do not think that is my notion; Catcher in the Rye could be told no other way. But the experience of Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, The Legend of Zelda and, yes, even Grand Theft Auto express stories worthy of the Silver Screen or a hard cover. Of course a literary experience is not seen by all. Some play The Legend of Zelda only to butcher evil monster, rather than hear the tale of the hero of time. Similar events occur in many video games.





But where is the damage, wasted time? How many students have read The Lord of the Flies only to forget the entire plot? I see the goodness of these games. I see a mafia story in Grand Theft Auto, not a murder simulator. Video games get many horrible critiques. They "melt children's brains" or "make them murderers." I find this all untrue. John Lenon was murdered because of a man's interpretation of The Catcher in the Rye; I see no fight to stop children from reading.





Many fail to see the essence of greatness some games possess. The outstanding stories many will miss. Kingdom Hearts challenges gamers to trust friendship and the power of the heart. How evil are friendship and love? I believe video game are a new form of English, a story that is experienced rather than heard or seen.





Poetry Music

How many students have a favorite poet? How many actually know a poet other than Emily Dickinson? All of them actually do, they just do not know it. This generation is actually very poetic. Step on a school bus, you will see 75% of the kids wearing head phones, listening to their favorite artists. Poetry has never died, it has evolved. Emily Dickinson has been replaced with Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jack's Mannequin, Tupac, Kanye West and so many others. I am 100% sure each and every student can tell you their favorite "line of poetry." My favorite is , "Let's get drunk/You can drive us to the harbor/Wish upon a star but/Do you know what stars are?/Balls of fire, burning up the black space/Falling from the landscape/Exploding in the face of God." It is all the same, only to a beat with harmony. Poetry lives on, evolved.

"Little Boxes"

Recently I have been on a Weeds kick. In a nut shell, Weeds is about a young widow who sells marijuana in order to raise her children. The theme song of Weeds is called "Little Boxes." The original version and lyrics are by Malvina Reynolds. Each episode, after season one, features different musician's renditions of "Little Boxes."

These are the lyrics to "Little Boxes":
"Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they are put in boxes and they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same."

Reynolds, in 1962, writes about the development of the suburbia. The "cookie cutter homes" are all the same; there is no self-expression. Each person is basically the same, well-off and rich. Life becomes nothing but an endless cycle. Like at the end of the song, the same life is repeated in the children. Weeds uses this song because of its basis in suburbia. The irony of it is, no one in suburbia is the same. Perhaps to the rest of the world they are, but behind closed doors they cheat, get high and sell drugs. Everyone has problems and makes mistakes, they might not be visible to the entire world, but they are there. That is life, the truthful life.

Tis' the Season

Charity is an amazing thing, people helping people. Of course, charity can span from any number, whether it be a dollar donation or a million dollar donation. With Christmas upon us charities are seen more publicly than ever, 'Tis the Season, right? But to many holiday shoppers, money is tight, and donation sometimes seem to be lacking.

I am currently working at a CVS/pharmacy as a cashier, and occasionally I do stock and what not. For a while now, ending the eighth, we have been collecting one dollar donations for St. Jude Children's Hospital. The work at St. Jude is amazing, no child is turned away, and they never ever plan to. So, every time a customer make a purchase I ask if they would donate one dollar to St. Jude. There are many customers, for whom I appreciate, that say yes and spare one single. Even some customers who donate multiple times.

The following are answers I have received from customers who deny donating their coveted one dollar bill:

"I did it yesterday." What is one more dollar?

"I wish some one would donate to me." Keep in mind, this woman buys ten dollars worth of items with a one hundred dollar bill, removed from her coach wallet, which was removed from its matching bag.

"......" Being ignored is always fun.

"My sister donated, where are the butterfingers?" So what? You are not your sister!

"I'm poor too." This one is the one that angers me most. Why make a comment if you don't even know what the charity is for. It is not for poor people, it is for children with cancer. Plus, she too was flaunting Coach products; they are not cheap.

I honestly would not be annoyed if a person said flat out, "No." or even, "No, thank you." But why make excuse. It seems as if they are trying to hide from donating.

Where I go to school, we participate in an annual toy drive. I find it amazing to see the teenagers of my generation be so charitable. Many have, and continue to go out of their ways to purchase at least one item for a child this holiday season.



A good thing to do with a toy drive, as I did yesterday, is to go to your local dollar store; mine is Dollar Tree. Head to the toy section and grab the highest quality toys they have. I found products made by Disney and Fisher Price. It is not cheap, it gives you a span of more to buy more at the same quality of every where else.

It is good to be charitable, and I say to all of those out there who have donated this season.
Keep it up! You have made a big difference, whether you know it or not.

Tim O'Brien

Writer of The Things They Carried,
Tim O'Brien (left), wrote two pieces in
The Things They Carried that inspired me.

"That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."
from Spin,The Things They Carried




"By telling stories, you objectify you own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others."
from Notes, The Things They Carried

Writing is something I want to base my life on. And what O'Brien says here speaks to me. Writing can be so powerful.