Veterans' Day and Facebook Chain Posts; Write Every Day Challenge, Day #39

Okay, this is where I might lose a few followers.  But I'm in such an irritated mood right now, I don't really care.  (No, wait.  I care.  Please don't stop following me.  Please still be my friend.  I'm just irritated and I have to vent.  I do not mean anything against any of my followers, because as far as I know, none of you have participated in these Chain Posts.  I have my opinions; everyone has their own.  And I truly apologize to my friends if the following statements make you mad.  I am not trying to be mean.  I am just venting.  We're still friends, right? ;) )


Today is Veterans' Day.  And I am all about honoring the Veterans, as well as all of our current troops here in the US or abroad.  But I have to get on my soap box.


I am a huge Facebook fanatic.  I spend a lot of time every day looking at my News Feed.  Pathetic, maybe, but that's not the point here.  The point is that I always see people posting these statements about supposed "taboo" subjects that they want people to re-post.  You've all seen them.  They're like, "Babies are a miracle.  Re-post this if you have ever had a baby, lost a baby, had to give a baby up" blah blah blah.  Okay, I've had a baby.  I've never had to give one up and I have never had to have an abortion but I think I still fall under this category.  So you've got me interested in your post.  Then it says something like "Most people won't post this because losing a baby is still a taboo subject."  Uh, really?  I know abortion is a taboo subject, and some people might not agree with putting a baby up for adoption, but are miscarriages considered taboo?  Well, maybe, but that's still not my point.  My point is that whoever (whomever? I'm not sure about this grammatical rule) wrote this post originally had the audacity to claim that they were better than others because they wrote this post, and that the tiny percentage of people who re-posted this are better than the others who chose NOT to re-post.  Well, first of all, when you exclude people in your regulations as to who is to re-post ("Re-post if you have ever had a baby, lost a baby, etc." - this particular example did not include people who have never had children to the list of those who should re-post), that means that a LOT of people won't re-post.  Then to say that "most people won't re-post this because it's such a taboo subject" is like saying "Hey, you there, reading my post.  If you don't re-post this, you're an ass and you have no feelings."  


Excuse me, but I find this ridiculous.  First of all, the audacity of this statement makes me absolutely not want to re-post.  Also, I've never liked Chain Letters.  And that's what these are.  Facebook Chain Posts.  They've simply changed "Mail this to 10 friends or you'll have bad luck" to "Re-post this or everyone will know what a heartless asshole you are."  


Okay, with that off my chest (sigh), I move on to the posts about Veterans and our troops.  Often these are also Chain Posts, but a little different.  This is one that I saw today:

"A Combat Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life.  Regardless of personal political views, that is an honor and a sacrifice.  There are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.  In honor of Veterans' Day, re-post this if you know and/or love a Veteran!"

Alright.  So this one is a bit different than the "taboo subject" ones.  But it still has that "You're an asshole if you don't re-post this" vibe about it.  I like the first sentence.  It's well-written and poignant.  But then we get to the next sentence.  "Regardless of personal political views, that is an honor and a sacrifice."  Yes, this is true.  But why do politics need to be mentioned here?  What they're trying to say here is that we all should support the troops, regardless of our political affiliation.  My point is that we all DO support the troops, regardless of our political affiliation.  Politics have nothing to do with it.  We all recognize that these men and women risk their lives for our freedoms every day.  That many lose their lives for it.  I am perfectly aware that thousands and thousands of soldiers have lost their lives so that I am free to sit here and write this little post.  I am not trying to dishonor them, or their fellow troops that are still alive, or their families.  I support them 100%.  I could not do what they do, and I have the highest respect for them.  And this is my point.  EVERYONE does.  Have you ever met an American in your life that didn't support the troops?  Sure, you may have met someone who didn't support the current war, but they always support the troops.  Every single one of them supports the troops.  


Yes, I agree that our brothers and sisters in the service deserve a better life while serving and when they return.  I saw Oprah.  I know that thousands of our female (and male) veterans are homeless.  This is ridiculous.  They deserve to be paid as well as many of the celebrities and athletes out there.  But my point is that these posts, while trying to honor the men and women in our armed services, simply make you feel like an asshole if you don't re-post.  Oh, and don't think that I don't know that when they say "Regardless of personal political views, that is an honor and a sacrifice.  There are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact" they are talking about Democrats.  Many Republicans seem to think that, because many Democrats do not support the war in Iraq or the War on Terrorism that they have forgotten about our troops and that they don't support them.  My point is that this is simply NOT TRUE.  We all support our troops, Republicans and Democrats.  Therefore the Chain Post's implication that we SHOULD all support the troops, "regardless of personal political views," is unnecessary.  You don't need to say that we "should" do something when we all do it already.  And I simply do not agree with the statement that "there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact."  This is absurd.  Like I said above, how many people have you met in your lifetime that outwardly say that they do not support the troops?  (Remember, I'm talking about the troops, not the war.)


Okay, so obviously I'm not going to re-post this because 1) it's a Chain Post, 2) it gets its kicks making others seem like heartless asses, and 3) it's simply incorrect.


The posts I've seen today that I do like, however:

• "Thank you to all that are/have served our country."  See.  Short and sweet, no blame or derision.  Just a simple thank you.
• "Remembering those who have served."  Again, short and sweet and to the point.
• "Thankful for all the veterans..."  Again.  Thankful.
• "Happy Veterans' Day.  Thank you so much to all those who serve and have served our country."  See a pattern?
• "[Person's name] is so thankful to every man and woman who has served our country.  Happy Veterans' Day to you! :)"
• "Thank you to all who have served and are serving in the military.  God bless you and your families!"

These people, some of which are Republican, some of which are Democrat, have got it right.  They thank the men and women who have served their country, and they did not feel the need to re-post a Chain Post, nor did they feel the need to make others feel wrong or heartless because they supposedly don't support the troops.  Once again, this is wrong.  Everyone supports the troops.  Just because someone doesn't support the war doesn't mean they don't support the troops.

And, in conclusion, I just want to say something to the troops.  Thank you.  Thank each and every one of you for what you have done, what you are doing, what you will do.  You are all braver than I will ever be.  You are more selfless than I will ever be.  It is because of you that I am able to make this ridiculous post.  It is because of you that I am able to have these crazy opinions and spout them off whenever I want to.  It is because of you that we have things like Facebook.  It is because of you that I have friends who, regardless if they agree with me or not, will still be my friends because they realize that I have my opinions and that I mean no disrespect towards anyone.  Um, maybe that's a stretch.  But in all honesty, please believe me, troops.  I support you.  And I really believe that everyone in the US is behind you, even if they do not support the war.

And truly, friends, I am simply venting.  I do not hate Republicans or even people who re-post Chain Posts.  I do not hate anyone.  I just don't like those Chain Posts.  And I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Write Every Day Challenge, Day #36

It's been over a week since my last blog post, but that does NOT mean that I haven't been writing!  NaNoWriMo is in full swing, and I've been writing every day for that.  But my friend, Courtney, has expressed how much she enjoys reading my blogs on a regular basis, so I thought I'd go ahead and blog today.  Too bad this blog doesn't count towards my NaNo word count!  (Hmm, that gives me an idea...) ;)


The main problem I have with this blog is that I have so little to write about.  I come up with some topic ideas, but I quickly throw them out because they just don't seem interesting.  Some random topic ideas I've had recently:

• How track #6 on a compact disc is often the best song.  (Track #7 and #2 are often quite good as well.)
• My take on a completely ridiculous video I saw today.  (I won't get into this one because it's so completely asinine, and the horrible fact is that some people in the world actually BELIEVE it.)
• Comments on children's television.  (This is actually not too bad of an idea - I could review television shows aimed at children, rate them and rank them based on entertainment and educational value.)  I think I might actually do this!  But not today - I'll have to figure out my rating system, and then start watching some shows!

Anyway, aside from the fact that I just came up with a pretty good blog topic, it is actually pretty hard for me to come up with new topics all the time.  So maybe this review of children's shows will give my blog the kick in the pants it needs!

So, sorry for the lame excuse for a blog post today, but I want to get back to my NaNo novel!

"I Want" Wednesday; Write Every Day Challenge, Day #28

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.  I am horribly failing at this personal challenge to write every day.  I think I'll stick with it, though, because with NaNoWriMo quickly approaching, I will be writing A LOT.


And that's what I wanted to talk about today:  NaNoWriMo.  For the past couple of days I have been plotting my story.  I am now currently on idea #3, and I am super, super excited about this one!  Unfortunately, I have to throw out my previous characters - or adapt them into these new characters, and I have to get to worldbuilding!  My new story is Science Fiction, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to set it in a future America, or build my own land.  No space travel, so I don't have to worry about creating planets, galaxies, universes!  Or do I?  Who knows which direction my novel will take me next month!  But even if I set my story simply in America in the year 2060 (for example), I need to figure out what the world is like then - the government, the environment, society, jobs, technology, transportation, hobbies, schools, etc.  I have a lot of work to do!  I've decided that my plotting exploits count towards my Write Every Day Challenge, so Monday was Day #26 and Tuesday was Day #27.  Maybe I'll actually write every day this week!  (I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but not daring to hold my breath!)


I realized that my story is like The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.  Which is SO me!  I think that I'm so excited about it because it's the type of story that I love to read, and so it should be a lot of fun to write!  I think I've finally found my niche, and I have no idea why it was so hard to find!  I think the adage should be not "Write what you know," but "Write what you like!"  


Oh, and it's "I Want" Wednesday again.  This time, I want something immaterial.  I simply want to continue to be this excited about my novel throughout the month of November.  Sure, there will be ups and downs, but I haven't been this excited about writing in a long time, and it's wonderful!


Back to plotting!

"I Want" Wednesday; Write Every Day Challenge, Day #25

I mentioned before that, since I don't have a major theme for this blog, I was going to try some mini-themes tied to specific days, like "Friday Five."  I still have no idea what these things are called.  I call them mini-themes, I've seen the word "meme" but that doesn't seem to be correct - I've Googled this countless ways and yet I haven't found the answer.  Anyway, so I'm starting one today that I found on thedailymeme.com:  "I Want" Wednesday.  Apparently you can write about anything you want, whether it be material or abstract.  [Edit:  thedailymeme.com lists "memes" for every day, and links to sites that use these "memes."  The site that they link to for "I Want" Wednesday is this one:  iwantwednesday.blogspot.com.]


Today, I'd like to talk about the new book that just came out yesterday that I really, really, really want.  It's called Harry Potter Film Wizardry.  It's all about the making of the Harry Potter movies, and it looks awesome!  I'm going to post some pictures on here, and hopefully I won't get in trouble for copyright infringement.  I found these photos at www.mugglenet.com, and I believe that they are copyrighted by Harper Collins.

This is the table of contents page.  Just looking at this alone makes me want it!!!

And this, of course, is a spread dedicated to the awesome Weasley family.




There are several more pictures on Mugglenet.


So it's Wednesday, and this is what I want.

Write Every Day Challenge, Day #24

Once again, I have missed some days.  I'm thinking this may have been a quite impossible challenge.  I haven't written in several days, but I have, however, been doing some research for an upcoming blog post.


I am a huge fan of The Hunger Games trilogy, and I see all these people online posting their "ideal" cast for the forthcoming movies.  I don't agree with most of them.  And recently I found Entertainment Weekly's picks.  Once again, I didn't agree with most of them.  So I decided I was going to make my ideal cast, using the characters that Entertainment Weekly used.  But this task is proving to be quite hard.  I'm not anywhere near finished with the list, but hopefully I'll be able to post it soon.


As for today, I have almost nothing to write about.  I simply wanted to share the fact that 9 new tv spots for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 have been released.  I have watched all of them, and they have some really funny and awesome new clips.  Go to Mugglenet to watch them!

Changing for the Better; Write Every Day Challenge, Day #23

Wow.  It's been over a week since I've posted.  I can explain, I promise!  My last blog post (Day #20 of my Write Every Day Challenge) was on October 4th.  I wrote on the side for the next two days (Day #21 and Day #22).  Then I got sick.  So I'm counting that seven days as a sick week.  People get sick weeks, why can't I?  ;)  So today will be Day #23.  I've realized over the week that I just don't have that much to blog about, since I don't have any type of theme except for my (obviously failing) Write Every Day Challenge.  I know that I will be writing (hopefully) almost every day during November for NaNoWriMo, but as far as this blog goes, I don't have much to write about.  So I think I'm going to introduce some types of mini-themes that I've seen other bloggers use, like "Friday Five," etc.  (I just found out the word for this is "meme" - at least, that's the closest thing I'm finding to answer my Google question "What do you call things like Friday Five?")  But I will start that on another day.  

Today I had planned on writing a whole rant about the MTV show Teen Mom, the spin off of MTV's 16 and Pregnant.  I was initially drawn to 16 and Pregnant because at the time of the initial airing of it's first episode, I was almost 7 months pregnant myself.  I wasn't anywhere close to being a teen, but I thought that it would be interesting to see these girls' stories and how they compared to my own.  Around the same time, the show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant was showing it's first episodes, and I watched a couple of those, but they ended up kind of freaking me out more than anything.  (As any pregnant woman will tell you, the impending labor and delivery is the most nerve-wracking part of being pregnant - or at least that was my experience.)  So 16 and Pregnant it was.  

I saw so many things in those shows that made me cringe, made me almost cry, made me laugh.  When the spin off, Teen Mom, aired, I was excited to see the continuation of the stories of Maci, Catelynn, Amber, and Farrah, but mostly, I was excited to watch as those adorable children grew!  When the first episode aired, my son was just 3 months old, and the children on the show were several months older, but I was still interested to see their milestones, triumphs, and cute little failures.  I knew that it was the drama surrounding the young moms and dads that drove the show, but I continued to watch.  Then I started getting angry at the people on the show.  I started judging them left and right, finding faults in their parenting styles, and using not-so-nice adjectives to describe them to my husband, who does not watch the show.

With the impending season 2 finale, I found myself thinking, "I finally have an idea for a blog post!  I can voice my opinions of these people!"  I was planning on talking about each mother in turn, and rant about the things that made me crazy about each one.  In all fairness, I was going to commend each of them on certain things as well, but the main gist of my post was going to be pretty negative.  

And then I realized, this is not the point of my blogs.  Many of my previous blog posts have been about love, about equality, and, most importantly to me, about kindness.  These are the things that I believe in more deeply than anything.  And for me to write a blog, pointing out the faults and errors of others, is simply wrong.  It's not this blog, and it's not me.  But I know I'm not perfect.  I've judged a lot of people.  I've said unkind things about a lot of people in the past.  And I also know that, in the future, I'm sure I will say more unkind things.  But I will definitely try not to.  I am constantly trying to better myself - trying to be a better person.  And I will continue to try to be kind to everyone.


It's funny, because I thought about writing the ranting post a couple of days ago, thinking that I would write it after the finale.  Then, before I had even watched the finale I realized my mistake.  Then, today, I was planning on writing this blog post.  This morning I watched yesterday's episode of Ellen.  Perez Hilton had asked to be able to come on her show (she was not a fan of his - she thinks of kindness as one of the highest virtues, too) so that he could let everyone know that he is in the process of changing his blog.  He realized, in the wake of all the teen suicides, that he is a bully, and that his blog was wrong.  He admitted his errors and pledged to change, not only himself, but his blog as well, for the better.  And it made me realize how right I was to not write a blog post full of rude comments and harsh criticisms.  And I wish Perez Hilton and his blog all the luck in the world.  Maybe more people will come to realize how hateful and harmful they are being, and try to change for the better.

Reading Away: Write Every Day Challenge, Day #20

I missed a couple of days of writing (surprise, surprise), but I made up for them yesterday, which therefore became Day #19, and today is Day #20.  I should be on Day #40 by now, if I hadn't miss so many days!


I finally finished Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood.  I don't think I have enough to say about it to write a full-blown review, but I'll mention a few things.  It took me a long time to finish this book.  Of course, I had other things to do:  take care of my son, spend time with my husband, watch all the new fall television shows, write, and read Mark Reads Harry Potter (I'm so addicted to that blog!).  But, I think my slow reading also had to do with the fact that I wasn't quite into this book until I was more than halfway done.  I was interested in it, sure, but it didn't really hook me until then.  I also think it was a bit confusing.  Not only is this set in the future, after an apocalypse, but the main character, Snowman, has flashbacks to his childhood and early adulthood, which is also later than our present-day.  It is kind of interesting though, because I just read Mockingjay, where there was a type of apocalypse years before the storyline, and the present-day in those stories is a dystopia, whereas in Oryx and Crake, Snowman's childhood is a dystopia, and his present-day story is after an apocalypse.  Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I thought the end was a bit blunt.  I wanted a little bit more closure, I guess.  But I definitely enjoyed the way Atwood unraveled the events that led up to the apocalypse.


So now I'm going to start my book club's book for this month:  The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown.  I liked The Da Vinci Code, and really enjoyed Angels and Demons, so I look forward to seeing what Robert Langdon gets up to this time.