Juno

That article actually really put me off. I completely disagree with the entire thing, that boys are being attacked in literature and English class these days. Sure, it all depends on what books you are reading and how you are being taught to analyze them--and I will bet you my car that 95% of the public school teachers have no idea how to properly analyze literature. The best English teacher I had, hell, the best teacher I had period was a male teacher who really knew his shit. The English department in my high school is split evenly half and half with male-to-female ratios of teachers. As for the literature people are reading that are "bashing males," it all depends on what you are reading how you are interpretting it. With most of my reading list that I had from middle school through now was male dominated, although it had its share of female characters too. Both genders in the stories had their set of problems to overcome and distinct personality defects. Here's an overview of most of the books I've read over the years for school: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene: Actually one of my favorite books, and it has a male main character who is a Jesus-figure! The only prominant female character is a little girl who is affected by the whiskey priest... but many other characters, including male children, and mainly male adults are affected by him as well. The book is about free-will and standing up for your convictions--something anyone can do, gender non-withstanding. Life of Pi by Yann Matel: Male main character who is stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger. Pi, the main character, is great hero with amazing attributes most people should strive to have. The book is about the inter-connectedness of humanity through all of the major religions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Atheism. The only female character is Pi's mother, who is murdered. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Oh no, the main character is a male who is a tragic figure! Does that instantly make this book bad and an attack on males? Of course not! The book is about how we create these "great expectations" for ourselves and become overwhelmed by visions of greatness, when in fact we should be complacent with who we are, even if we are not "great" to most people's standards. The father figure of Pip, the main character, is Joe, who is a great paternal character and role model for anyone. Nearly all of the women characters are cast in a bad light-- Mrs. Haversham is a woman who wasted her life waiting for a man to come back to her who never really loved her in the first place, and would take the lives of young people and try to mold them into beings like herself; the love interest of Pip strings him along and then completely breaks his heart and in a sense, "making women look bad." The Once and Future King by T. H. White: This is a novel about an ideal society and explaining the glory of King Arthur. His wife Guenevere, is promiscuous and overall not a very appealing character. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: A horror-vision of the future, where everyone has become sheep to society, with no standing relationships, are born from test tubes in a predetermined caste system, take drugs to clear themselves of any deeper thought processes or problems or live in a primitive world where only violence and brute strength are understood. John, the main character, is again the christ-like figure. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: What happens to Humanity when morals and laws are stripped from civilization. There are no women characters in this novel and the main character, Ralph, is the only one not to "revert back to his savage stage or cater to the beast within." Other books include Shakespeare, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath which was an awful book, Beloved by Toni Morrison, All is Quiet on the Western Front, Heart of Darkness, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby and other such novels. I can discuss those texts too, if you really want me to. I guess before I denouce any more about the article I should ask you guys what books you read in school. And like I said before, it's all how you are taught to read and analyze the books. My English teacher last year was a woman who taught us how to read books with a feminist sort of view. The only problem is that she wouldn't admit that, and thought she was just teaching us how to analyze the books in general. She wasn't a good teacher at all, but that doesn't mean I'm going to disregard a feminist way of looking at books is completely bad, nor am I going to believe it's the only way to read books. My sophomore English teacher (a male) taught us to analyze books in a very nihilistic and fatist way; doesn't mean I should dump the view in the trash or act like it is the only way to read. Maybe it's not the books people are reading these days, but how the teachers are teaching us to analyze them.

I think this is a fear that most people have about their kids. If not, I at least have that fear too. There's also the chance that my kids would become extremely materialistic and starstruck, especially with shows like Hanna Montana, Dora the Explorer and all of that crap. The one thing I hate about little kids shows is the marketing aspect; if Bob the Builder's on that lunch box, little Billy simply must have that lunchbox. It's a risk that any parent takes, I suppose, and hopefully you're kids will grow out of it, but there's also the chance that they may not and will forever be interested in what Paris Hilton is doing with her life. Although my old English teacher, who's one of my biggest idols and good friend has talked to me a bit about these types of fears and it's really all about parenting. He even told me that he absolutely hated kids until he had one of his own--and I think he's been an excellent father, from the way he talks about how his kids have turned out to the way you can just feel the love eminating from him when he discusses his children. It's people like him that make me want have children in the future.

One thing that doesn't really turn me off or make me turn away from a story in disgust, but somewhat annoys me is when an author will say "flat tummy" when referring to a female's midsection in a sex scene. I mean, yeah, sure, I guess the author is trying to say the girl is skinny and attractive, but honestly, even skinny chicks have some sort of fat built up over their stomach. Biologically speaking, it's there to protect the uterus, so only anorexic girls would have a truly flat or concave stomach. I don't see why a natural curve seems so unappealing to people--it's there, whether you want it to be or not. Then again, I guess it does depend on how realistic the author wants their story to be.

I know exactly how you feel--it was essentially how my ex got rid of me, and it's a really nasty feeling. It's like you've been used and then tossed away. A disposable friend. Ugh. It's a sickening feeling. My "old friends" also did the same thing to me, and I no longer talk to them, really. I now have a few real friends, even though I haven't known them as long as my "old friends." I guess the hardest part is to stop acting like you are desparate for friendship, and take the attitude you are now. Stupid people aren't worth anyone's time.

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't know why people get bent out of shape about it--I'm single, and I'm fine with the holiday. It doesn't make me "feel like I'm being left out" at all! I've got great friends I hang out with, and my mom got me some sweets for the occasion, and I made her a homemade card. I also found it funny that there was a dramatic increase in personal lubricant commercials being shown... ha ha!

I get really annoyed when authors do this. It's juvenile, irksome and shows a great lack of expertise in writing. If the author has something to say, they can wait until the end of the chapter or talk about it at the beginning. I personally don't like it either when author's put notes at the bottom of the story--to me it disrupts the flow and ending feeling of a chapter. The best place I find to put notes is in the beginning of the chapter; the story has already been interrupted by the need to click the "next" link on the page and have a new page load. It seems logical to put a note there. But in the middle of a story? Just shut up and keep going with the story. Because to be honest, reader's don't give a shit what the author feels about that line; they're just in it for the story.

At first I was a little peeved that I was getting a fairly good number of hits for the original section of the site, and only got a few reviews, but now I've got more reviews than I've got ratings. To me, it shows me that even though I still only have 5 reviews, it's enough for people to actually write something to me rather than just click on a number. The lesson is to be grateful for what you get, I suppose. I also have the faith that if your story is good, people will read it and eventually it will gain reviews and regular readers which will boost its popularity.

Agreed. There is no such thing as the past or future; we only live in the present. The past only "exists" because we have memory of it, and the future is never a definitive possibility. Too many things can affect the future for you to set it in stone, and the past is only culminated in how it affects your present. If your past has affected and changed you, then it has. No one can say you are "wrong" being the way you are, essentially judging you because of your past. You are the precipice of your experiences. We are all defined by our past. How can you possibly judge someone on their cause of existence in the first place?

Ha ha! I understood it fine, and just thought it was hilarious.

A lot of my ideas come from either dreams or daydreams. My current story, Winthrop Manor, is loosely based on a strange dream I had. The link is at the bottom of the page. Sometimes the dreams I have are so streamlined and cognitive that I can just be stories that I just need to record while seeing it replay in my head. Others make no sense that I can only loosely base a story on them.

I agree with Demongoddess; bad writing can happen anywhere, be it in yaoi or in heterosexual writing. In that case, it's more of the fault of the writer's style and experience than the "pairing" of the couple. One thing that bothers me was a comment I saw on another thread talking about why people like yaoi. The person said they liked yaoi better than heterosexual couples because the male/male pairing showed "much deeper relationships" than those of heterosexual couples. That in itself is a generalization, because I think a deep relationship can happen in any pairing, no matter what the gender of the two people. I agree that the vast flood of yaoi written by young women who have no concept of what they are writing about isn't exactly enjoyable, but that's no reason to just delete yaoi entirely. I personally don't like yaoi, but I do recognize its value to others.

I disagree. Whoever said you can only fall in love once in your lifetime? I believe that we fall in love over and over again with different people--even if you may have already married someone. I'm not advocating divorcing your middle-aged wife for a 20-something secretary bimbo, but I believe that you CAN fall in other types of love with people even while keeping a safe and happy marriage. It all just depends on how you act in those situations. My ideal "mate"? I don't really care at this point in my life. I will meet them when they come; setting up boundaries and expectations will only eliminate the possibility of a great love.

There really isn't much that I DON'T like. I love all kinds of foods: Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, American Barbaque, French cuisine, Scandanavian, Scottish dishes, Seafood... etc. The only thing I don't like are thick slabs of raw tomato. There's something about raw tomato that I just don't like too much. I can deal with it in little pieces in salsa and in salads, and cooked it's perfectly fine! But a big ol' piece in a BLT... yuck. I also like to cook, though, so I love getting weird recipes and just messing around in the kitchen. I'm not the best cook in the world, but I think its fun to try out new recipes.

Chapter Three: The First Meal is up.

I only have two, but I'm trying to make a bunch more for a scholarship competition in to college I'm attending next year. Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! Poem 1 A mournful morning to wake to; grey sunshine and hollow clouds, the faint clandestine face of the moon. A morning all my own, yet your memory still haunts me. Life a mere shadow, then. Life a grand starlight, now. I know of your claws and fangs, of your own dark moonface. So why does this longing ache in my bones? Why is this apparent now? A mirror I urged you to hold A mirror I so desperately desired. These hands that held it slowly gone, slowly fade away. A mirror shattered and broken A mirror of a reflective cage. Silence has fallen upon it. Shards of starlight can be pieced together, but they will never again make the same star. This mirror glues together by my hand. My hand. A that will never fade away. What thanks have I of you? Of you who forgets the taste of glass? Poem 2 What marks this moment as insincere with withered hands itching at the broken, cracked ground, desperately digging in the brown, dry crumbs for some semblance of a seed. Blue roots, blue veins spider-webbing through a blue-toned body with dainty hands and dainty wrists smeared across the caked brown earth. What makes an instant as effervescent as plastic smiles with red, red lips and a fleeting meeting between the sheets? A small wooden hut with an earthen floor and an earthen smell huddled close to the edge of dark green pines and inky black trails, waiting quietly, eternally, hopefully... for a glimpse of a shadow of Man to spread his heart and body and blood upon the dry mud bed to cultivate nothing more than a single, budding seed. When can we ever hope to return to Walden?

There's a lot to address in your post, so my own post might be a little jumbled and in a strange order, but here it goes. First off, I can't say that I can fully relate with you. When I was in middle school and for the past three years of high school, I have come to the conclusion that I was depressed. Now, I never saw any doctors for it, although I did try, and I was never diagnosed. I just remember being horribly miserably and sad all of the time, and even though I believe I was depressed, I don't think I had it to the severity of anything near where you say you do. I do know what you mean when you say you just can't "turn your emotions on and off;" during that time I knew I was sad and angry, but I didn't know why and I felt like I couldn't change it. It was just the way I was. You can't force yourself to feel happy--or any other emotion, for that matter. The feeling was more like a fleeting thought, just beyond your reach. However, even though I thought about suicide probably almost daily back then, I never ever did anything to hurt myself. I came close to cutting once, but the idea of having any blade or sharp object near my wrists or ankles scares me. Sharp objects in general scare me a bit. I guess I never had it that bad, nor could I ever bring myself to self-inflict pain. I know it is a control issue, from what I heard from others, but I still do not fully understand it, just because I have never personally felt it. During my middle school years, there was a "cutting fad" that passed through my town--a small suburban community outside of Milwaukee, mainly consisting of snotty white rich kids. Most of the people that began to cut during that time were doing it for attention, and that was the evironment I grew up in that mindset; "Oh. Cutters only do it for attention." Thankfully I've become a little bit smarter (at least I hope!) and have realized that yes, most of the people in my school cut for attention, but there were those that did it for a much deeper reason. Coincidentally, a lot of those people are now my close friends. I have a friend who only stopped cutting himself 3 months ago--and I never knew he did until he actually told me about a week ago. He was on anti-depressants for a while, and I would say they helped, but I can't know for sure; he is one of the best-natured and happiest people I know, at least on the surface. I have never once heard him complain about how bad his life is, and he is constantly making people laugh around him. Another one of my friends actually attempted suicide around 2 weeks ago because his girlfriend dumped him in a very messy way. Thankfully he thought better on it about halfway through, and he is still here. Now that I'm learning these things about my friends, I'm doing all I can to make sure that I really care for them and would do anything for them. From personal experience of being depressed, I was essentially abandoned by many of those who I believe to be my friends. When I tried asking my parents about seeing a psychiatrist or a psychologist, they blew me off and didn't take me seriously. There happens to be a distinct belief that no one in my family suffers from any mental disorder and never will; most of my family members believe that mental disorders are "made up" disorders people only create to get attention or use for ulterior motives. I love my family dearly, but that is one thing that really bothers me. Anyway, even after my attempts at finding help, a lot of my friends slowly started drifting away from me. I had a few even tell me on more than one occasion that I "just wasn't fun to hang around with anymore" and that "I needed to get over myself and stop being so sad all of the time." Eventually I was left all alone. I could have tried ending it then, but I didn't. I suppose I have a type of "tough love" attitude on this sort of thing because I essentially had to pull myself up out of that dark hole with no other help. I know better than to expect everyone else to be able to do that, especially since I probably only had a mild form of depression or something close to it, but I suppose it gets hard for me to empathize with people who claim they are depressed and want you to do all of the work for them. However, I've also learned that being dumped by your friends sucks and I could never, ever do that to anyone who called on me for help. I have been there for my friend who tried committing suicide whenever he has needed it--even if its at 2:30 in the morning. I think people only alienate others because of "cutting issues" or depression because they are close-minded and don't understand. People tend to stay away from things they don't understand. I have a weird view on the matter, because while I can't just abandon my friends who need help, I also have the "you need to help yourself before anyone else can" attitude from personal experience. It's hard to define the line between the two. Thank you for making this post, Lost_Soul. It must have taken you so much courage to talk about something so personal; I congradulate you on being so brave. Sometimes it's good to bring these things out in the open. So thank you.

This post is more or less directed to EveKnight, and their talk of Martin Mystery. I would just like to point out that the show is an UNOFFICIAL rip-off of the superb webcomic Zap! Now, nothing has ever been proven and everything is just speculation, but the webcomic was up a few years before the show came out, and the similarities between characters are uncanny. I'm not attacking you or your liking of the show--I'm just letting you know an opinion of mine. If you want to call me a crazy quack, by all means, go for it! I just get a little passionate about seemingly unethical things like that. Anyways, enough of being off-topic! I think character-bashing is a little ridiculous, but I suppose the stories are called "fanfictions" for a reason. The fan can create whatever fiction they like because it's their story, not the real thing. When I was into the Inuyasha fandom, I actually started my interest with fanfictions. I had only seen one episode, and wasn't able to see the show very often, so I gathered most of my information about the characters from fanfictions. In as such, I remember, very distinctly, a LOT of Kikyo bashing, or at least making her character a complete witch. However, since I didn't know much about the fandom, I went with it. It wasn't until later that I learned her character was completely different than what most girls were portraying her. As for the Harry Potter fandom... I've lost interest. In the series itself, and the fanfictions. I stopped liking the HP books after the fourth one--the fifth one is the absolute worst, in my opinion. I just felt like all of the characters were very dry, and Harry became whiny. I no longer felt any connection with the characters, but I finished the series just to finish it. I personally don't like the Harry/Ginny pairing, but in my eyes, I don't really see Harry with anyone. I believe Harry should have died at the end because he was christ-like figure in the series--a symbol of hope and rebirth to everyone in that world, which meant he was a figure sort of... "unfit" for the physical world. Of course, that's my own interpretation of the series, so I could be completely wrong. My point being: I think character-bashing is a little childish, but that's why they are called "fan fictions" after all.

It's snowing like no other right now, but thankfully school's closed. It's a little weird, because there are a ton of citites in my area that have declared snow emergencies... I didn't think it was going to be that bad, but I guess it is...

I say you stake out one of the stores for a little while, and when they get in a new shipment of clothes, get to your size outfit right away. If it's cute but you don't like it, write a little note that says "Take a bath for once!" or something and pin in on the clothes. Of course, you have the chance of hurting the feelings of some innocent bystanders, but MAN it would be funny if the smelly bitch got the clothes next and just looked at the note in bewilderment. "...How did they know it was me???"

My favorite body part has got to be the back, shoulders and shoulder blades. I mean, I do just love the human figure in general and as an artist it's one of my favorite things to draw. But with the back, I love seeing how all of the muscles work together to make the body move, and how the shoulder blades move when the arms are lifted. I also really like legs, and to see how they move. The muscle structure on them is just so cool, especially the curves of the calf and quad muscles. Eyes and lips are a few of my favorites too, but I think I just like to see the body move.

My aunt has about 5 chihuahuas. They're freaking annoying as hell and all they do is shake and bark at you. It'd like to have a pet that you actually, you know, pet.

card Ha ha, I think I foiled your plans.

Man... you guys seem to be having the opposite problem than I do. Well, at least in the job aspect. I can't seem to find one! And all of the other jobs I had either went out of business or they just scheduled me for around 3 hours a month. I'm really desperate to get a job with lots of hours because I'm attending a really expensive private college this fall and even though my parents are helping out, the financial aspect is a real killer. It's an awesome literary college, though, and also has a good art program (the two subjects I'm majoring in). I did have a job lined up at a coffee shop, but the jerked me around for a month and a half before telling me they didn't need any more employees. That was aggravating. Hopefully I'll get a job at a local golf course where I can beer cart and bartend. Otherwise... I'm SOL.

Weather update: 9-14 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. Here's to hoping that school's closed!

I've never been too terribly excited about kids, either. A lot of my old girl friends used to babble on constantly how they love little babies and how kids are amazing and all of that crap. During drama rehearsal a couple of years back, the assistant director brought in her baby and every single girl except me went to go flock around him. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Everyone thought he was the cutest thing in the world and I just wish I had the guts then to say that he was one of the ugliest babies I've ever seen. But that was with the drama crowd and... well... there are reasons I don't hang out with them anymore. On a side note, I love little animals! My mom and I currently have 5 cats and a dog. The dog is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi named Raymie and 2 of the 5 cats aren't actually ours. We're technically "babysitting" them for a guy my mom works with, but we've been "babysitting" them for over a year and a half now, so I guess they've technically become ours. Good thing they're friendly, although they don't get along with our 3 other cats too well. The other 3 we rescued from the barn where my mom keeps her horses at. The first one, an eleven-year-old calico named Amelia would actually follow people around and jumped into my mom's car as she was getting ready to leave the barn. The other two we took in because they're mother abandoned them at around... 3 or 4 weeks old and we didn't want them to die. And that's Juno's story of why she is slowly becoming a cat lady.