"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." Holden Caulfield, protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
That is in honor of JD Salinger who passed away at the age of 91 yesterday. I love that book. More specifically, I love the character Holden Caulfield. (I'm one of those people that would get like two cats, or two fish, or two dogs, horses, ants, whatever, and name one Holden and the other Caulfield that's how much I love this book)
To me, it was very existential. I am an existentialist and anything that just explores being is fascinating to me. I guess the crux of what I liked is how he feels so isolated and he's understood, yet he just sees everything. He's an observer, and he may not know all of it, but the reason he observes is so he can understand it. Figure out how the world and people tick. He examines existence everyday. And I like writing like that because it forces me to step back and examine it too.
Anyways, just wanted to share my two cents on that book, and thank JD Salinger for giving it to us!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
What to be or not to be, that is the question...
I've always wanted to be a writer, like the next JK Rowling or Stephenie Meyer (I want people to go crazy for my writing, I don't really want to be uber rich). I just want to write something that someone else would find worth reading. Oddly enough (not really actually) I think the genre I would write for would be Young Adult. So much variance exists within that genre, it can be fantastical, fictional, non-fictional, serious, funny, sad, real, fake, unbelievable, believable, etc. etc. I just feel like there is so much room in that genre and I think my target audience for what I write right now would be young adults.
However, there is an issue getting in the way of me writing professionally, well several actually. Number 1, I have to spend more time writing. As it stands, I do not write a lot, and when I do write it's random and sporadic (I think that was redundant, oh well). I don't really go back to a story if it doesn't hold me right away, which tells me that nothing has grabbed me and shaken me and said "This is amazing! Tell me where they are going, what they are doing! I must find out what happens to this!" Nope, not-a-one has physically and mentally grasped me.
Now there are some things I write and re-write, but I think I do that for my own personal benefit. Two of my stories are about car accidents. One is about an accident I was in that heavily weighed on me for a few years, and another was an accident that I was a first responder to (and by first responder I mean the car was wrapped around the tree in my front lawn) both were scary and deeply emotionally damaging on many levels and I find myself writing about them from time-to-time.
There is one story that I've actually written about 70 or so pages on, though it is not a cohesive piece yet. It's mostly just different scenes and I have yet to figure out how to sew them together. And there in lies the issue, my friends. Writing seems easy, until you try to piece things together. It needs to make sense and it needs to fit. I don't just write from beginning to end, I write here and there when an idea comes into my head.
Back to my issues with writing professionally. Number 2, I'm deathly afraid of having anyone read my writing. I am extremely sensitive, and though I can handle constructive criticism and I understand it's necessity to writing, I am deeply deeply afraid of having someone rip my story to itty bitty shreds. I'm very self-conscience, if you will. Now if it is a paper I write for school, I'm fine, but something that I created, that I put the sweat, tears, and emotion into, that's something all-together different. It's a piece of me, part of me, and to have someone criticize it is like having someone criticize me. Now, I've had my mom and sister and other friends read my work, they like it, tell me it's great, but come on, they're supposed to. Their job is to care about my well-being, not one of them is going to say, "Yuck, terrible, it's toilet paper at best!"
Sometimes this insecurity makes me afraid to write, so I get stuck. In the end, I know I should (and I do) write for myself. So that is what I'm working on. And in the end, I'd rather try and get ripped up, then never try at all.
Maybe, to become more fearless in writing, I will use this blog as a forum for posting some of my writings. Hmm...now that's something to ponder. And until I'm a world famous JK Rowling/Stephenie Meyer type writer, I will be happy just teaching literature to young adults (because I really do like that too!).
However, there is an issue getting in the way of me writing professionally, well several actually. Number 1, I have to spend more time writing. As it stands, I do not write a lot, and when I do write it's random and sporadic (I think that was redundant, oh well). I don't really go back to a story if it doesn't hold me right away, which tells me that nothing has grabbed me and shaken me and said "This is amazing! Tell me where they are going, what they are doing! I must find out what happens to this!" Nope, not-a-one has physically and mentally grasped me.
Now there are some things I write and re-write, but I think I do that for my own personal benefit. Two of my stories are about car accidents. One is about an accident I was in that heavily weighed on me for a few years, and another was an accident that I was a first responder to (and by first responder I mean the car was wrapped around the tree in my front lawn) both were scary and deeply emotionally damaging on many levels and I find myself writing about them from time-to-time.
There is one story that I've actually written about 70 or so pages on, though it is not a cohesive piece yet. It's mostly just different scenes and I have yet to figure out how to sew them together. And there in lies the issue, my friends. Writing seems easy, until you try to piece things together. It needs to make sense and it needs to fit. I don't just write from beginning to end, I write here and there when an idea comes into my head.
Back to my issues with writing professionally. Number 2, I'm deathly afraid of having anyone read my writing. I am extremely sensitive, and though I can handle constructive criticism and I understand it's necessity to writing, I am deeply deeply afraid of having someone rip my story to itty bitty shreds. I'm very self-conscience, if you will. Now if it is a paper I write for school, I'm fine, but something that I created, that I put the sweat, tears, and emotion into, that's something all-together different. It's a piece of me, part of me, and to have someone criticize it is like having someone criticize me. Now, I've had my mom and sister and other friends read my work, they like it, tell me it's great, but come on, they're supposed to. Their job is to care about my well-being, not one of them is going to say, "Yuck, terrible, it's toilet paper at best!"
Sometimes this insecurity makes me afraid to write, so I get stuck. In the end, I know I should (and I do) write for myself. So that is what I'm working on. And in the end, I'd rather try and get ripped up, then never try at all.
Maybe, to become more fearless in writing, I will use this blog as a forum for posting some of my writings. Hmm...now that's something to ponder. And until I'm a world famous JK Rowling/Stephenie Meyer type writer, I will be happy just teaching literature to young adults (because I really do like that too!).
Friday, January 22, 2010
What I'm Reading
I received lots of books as presents this past Christmas. Actually, I get lots of books for all holidays because that's what I ask for (I'm running out of shelf space). The only problem is that I have so much to read for classes that sometimes leisurely reading is put on the back burner.
Luckily, reading is something I can do anytime, anywhere, and something that I will never get bored of doing. Summer is usually a good reading time. The only other problem with reading (and this is my own personal problem) is the fact that when I get a book that I like (and that's pretty much every book) I get so engrossed that I will spend hours and hours reading it until I am finished. This usually means that whole weekends are lost because I am faraway at Hogwarts or wrinkling time or following symbols through Vatican City and Washington D.C. It's an addiction for me, though I believe it's quite a healthy one!
As I mentioned, I ask for books as presents all the time. This past holiday season I received some wonderful books that I've already started diving into, but unfortunately haven't had too much time to read them.
Here is my list of those books that I hope to read this upcoming year (hopefully sooner rather than later):
As you can see, I get lots of books, and finding time to read those is going to be tough.
Luckily, reading is something I can do anytime, anywhere, and something that I will never get bored of doing. Summer is usually a good reading time. The only other problem with reading (and this is my own personal problem) is the fact that when I get a book that I like (and that's pretty much every book) I get so engrossed that I will spend hours and hours reading it until I am finished. This usually means that whole weekends are lost because I am faraway at Hogwarts or wrinkling time or following symbols through Vatican City and Washington D.C. It's an addiction for me, though I believe it's quite a healthy one!
As I mentioned, I ask for books as presents all the time. This past holiday season I received some wonderful books that I've already started diving into, but unfortunately haven't had too much time to read them.
Here is my list of those books that I hope to read this upcoming year (hopefully sooner rather than later):
- A Wrinkle in Time boxed set (it includes A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time) I have of course read all of these before, but it's been a few years and Madeleine L'Engle is one of my favorite authors so I thought I should have them for my own personal library.
- Alex and Me: How a Scientist and Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene Pepperberg
- The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
- Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
- Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Animals Are Being Rescued from the Brink by Jane Goodall
- Next of Kin: My Conversation with Chimpanzees by Roger Fouts and Stephen Tukel Mills
As you can see, I get lots of books, and finding time to read those is going to be tough.
A Little Poem to Start the Blog!
Bocca-Wacca-Wattamus by Barbara Schmidt
They took Ryan O'Brien to breakfast
and asked what he wanted to eat.
His mother looked very nervous
as he wiggled around in his seat.
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabagas, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then for my dessert,
a dish of looney lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"We're all out," said the waiter.
They took Ryan O'Brien to lunch
at the best restaurant in the town.
His mother looked very nervous
as the family began to sit down.
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabagas, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then, for my dessert,
a dish of loony lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"Not in season," said the waitress.
They took Ryan O'Brien to dinner
"And what will you have today?"
His mother looked very nervous
as Ryan began to say:
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabags, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then, for my dessert,
a dish of loony lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"Medium or rare?" asked the waiter.
They took Ryan O'Brien to breakfast
and asked what he wanted to eat.
His mother looked very nervous
as he wiggled around in his seat.
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabagas, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then for my dessert,
a dish of looney lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"We're all out," said the waiter.
They took Ryan O'Brien to lunch
at the best restaurant in the town.
His mother looked very nervous
as the family began to sit down.
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabagas, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then, for my dessert,
a dish of loony lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"Not in season," said the waitress.
They took Ryan O'Brien to dinner
"And what will you have today?"
His mother looked very nervous
as Ryan began to say:
"I want bocca-wacca-wattamus and salamander stew,
Riggle-raggle ragamuffins, rutabags, too.
I want diffy-daffy dandelions and then, for my dessert,
a dish of loony lingaberries smothered with fresh dirt."
"Ryan!" squealed his mother.
"Wow!" said his sister.
"Yuck!" said his brother.
"Medium or rare?" asked the waiter.
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