Results

Here are the results of the survey we took last week:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books?sc=fb&cc=fp

Theatrical

This is mostly for Cerasi and Ada, but Allya will definitely enjoy it. They are putting on a stage show for How to Train Your Dragon, which I think is cool, but I must ask why? I've been noticing lately that many films such as Legally Blonde, Shrek, The Little Mermaid, etc have been getting the stage treatment in NY. London has the Jerry Springer Opera (no joke). It may be just a way to show the new technology of the theater, or maybe just a quick way to cash in. What do you guys think?

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/preview-how-to-train-your-dragon-stage-show.html#comments

A Choosey Beggar

I got offered a job today through the temp agency and I didn't take it. Here was the job. I would be calling people to ask them to lower their insurance rates (so basically cold calling). The hours were weird. (5p.m.-8p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays) and it only paid $9. It was also a long term position, not a temp. job.

I don't know if I did the right thing or not. I mean, I'm pretty sure the temp agency can find me another job and the woman was really nice when I told her I didn't want it. (She said, "Not a problem.") Still, turning down a job offer makes me feel anxious.

It's just a number of factors that add up. The fact that it's only $9 an hour, the fact that it's only 12 hours a week and it's long term. Honestly, if this was a temp. job I would have taken it. If it wasn't cold calling, I would've taken it.

I've heard awful things about cold calling jobs. I don't think I would like to do it. And I have enough shitty jobs on my resume without adding more. So that's how I justify it to myself. At least if I was an administrative position or had a customer service job it would look good on a resume.

I realize my college degree isn't worth anything, but I think I can get a better job than that. At least I hope so. (Just not cold calling, god.)

Hopefully something else will pan out soon. I've been applying to other positions so we'll see.

Happier Post

This is a much happier post than whenever my last one was. I was looking up how to use a semi-colon, because I'm applying to this internship at a local arts magazine and I'm sending a cover letter, writing samples, etc. Also, I realized that I'm a graduated English major that has NO idea of how to use a semi-colon. Anyway, I find this awesome thing from The Oatmeal about how to use a semi-colon.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

In semi-colon related business, there's a quote I like by Kurt Vonnegut about the semi-colon. I do love him so.

Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college.

Bitter

I've been mad at my ex recently. It comes and goes in waves. One week, I'm fine about the breakup and the next I'll be murderously angry. Right now I'm on the tail end of being murderously angry, and to break off those bad feelings I thought I'd do this. Below is a list of things I would ever say to my ex if I saw him again to torture him.

Note, these are not below-the-belt emotional things. These are things related to pop culture and video games, etc. I would just tie him up in a chair and make him listen to me saying these things. He wouldn't be allowed to argue back. (There's the kicker.)

I don't really a lot of these things. All of them are to torture him. Here we go.

Ten Things I Could Say To Torture My Ex

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a terrible actor. Even for a B-movie, super dumb action star he is barely passable. The script of every single movie he is in with the exception of Terminator II is so badly written it cancels out any entertainment value one could possibly get from the action scenes.
2. Dave Mustaine was the least talented member of Metallica. He got kicked out because he was such a tool (a miracle, I must admit, given the general toolness of Metallica), and went on to form Megadeth, which is a much inferior band.
3. Rush is just not that good. Geddy Lee is not a good bassist, Neil Peart overcompensates his lack of drumming abilities with his ridiculously large drum kit, and the only audience for this band is emotionally retarded menboys who can't get over the 1980's.
4. While Christopher Noland is a good director with good comic timing, his female characters in every movie are flat and exist mostly to serve as a plot device. The same is true of many of the characters of James Cameron (especially in Avatar), and every other major director that you like.
5. No one cares about a band's bassist.
6. Scott Pilgrim and Hot Fuzz are both quaint, quirky comedies without a lot of depth that don't deserve a second thought.
7. Animation is an inferior art form, as is comedy.
8. Half-Life 2 is a better game than Mass Effect 2
9. Pop music is a fundamentally better genre than heavy metal.
10. You and your male friends like to get together and talk philosophy because you think it helps you understand the nature of the universe. Let me sum up the conclusion of every single philosophical conversation you will have from now until the end of your life. "We can't ever be sure about anything and it's entirely possibly that everything we know is wrong." You're welcome.

Nonsense

This has nothing to do with writing or life. It is only here, because I thought you guys would like to see a gallery of cats in costumes.

http://io9.com/5828166/fur-great-justice-the-awesomest-superhero-cats

Vote

NPR wants you to vote for the top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy titles of all time. Here is the survey:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894873/vote-for-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-titles?sc=fb&cc=fp

Ten I chose in no specific order are:

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell (All animals are equal, but some animals are MORE equal still gives me chills)
ENDERS GAME by Orson Scott Card
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keys
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley
I, ROBOT by Isaac Asimov (He also wrote giant books on Shakespeare criticism)
THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood
THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY by JRR Tolkien
NEUROMANCER by William Gibson
THE WATCHMEN by Alan Moore
SOLARIS by Stanislaw Lem