Okay, so...
I looked back on what I wrote about TLJ Saga and realized that I was quite harsh. And I got a fact wrong. It was never announced that Dreamfall Chapters would be released in 2013. My bad.
I have a different opinion on the matter now. And it is due to only one thing. The Red Thread Games forums.
I now believe that releasing the game in episodes is a really good way to do things. Yes, we have to wait even longer for the rest of the game, but this way, we get to see some of the game on the intended release date and, in the meantime, we get to talk about what we've seen and what has been revealed in the forums.
This is amazing.
I just joined the forums yesterday and have already engaged in deep, amazing discussion with many members. I realize now that releasing the games in episodes allows us to eat up every single detail and discuss it before moving on in the game. If the game had been released as a whole, we'd lose some of those details in the grand scheme of it all. We also wouldn't get to come up with theories about what is going on and what will happen in the game.
[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR DREAMFALL CHAPTERS: DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST UNLESS YOU HAVE PLAYED THE BOOK ONE: REBORN, WATCHED A LET'S PLAY, OR ALREADY KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO KEEP READING, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.]
For instance, we get to speculate about Saga, who she is and why she is important. She wouldn't be in the game at all if she wasn't important. We get to talk about Queenie and whether or not she is one of the Draic Kin. We get to debate on whether The path that once was or The path that will be is better, worse, or the same as each other, or which one we prefer. We get to talk about Reza, whether we think he is who he says he is or if he's been tampered with in some way. Whether he is a completely different person just wearing Reza's skin or not.
We get to talk about everything. And it is amazing.
SO, THANK YOU, RED THREAD GAMES, FOR GIVING US AN AMAZING, WONDERFUL, ALL-CONSUMING, BEST-STORY-EVER GAME THAT WE CAN ENJOY FOR YEARS TO COME. THANK YOU FOR MAKING A FORUM SECTION ON YOUR WEBSITE SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS THINGS. THANK YOU FOR NEVER WAVERING IN YOUR QUEST TO CONTINUE TO MAKE OUR FAVORITE GAME EVER. THANK YOU FOR PLANNING ON AND TRYING TO MAKE THE NEXT GAME AFTER DREAMFALL CHAPTERS BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO APRIL RYAN AFTER THE LONGEST JOURNEY. I PUT THIS IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT ALL OF THIS MEANS A LOT TO ME.
AND LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST, I ABSOLUTELY, 100%, FOR NOW AND FOREVER LOVE YOU FOR MAKING THE BESTEST GAME EVER!! <3
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Dreamfall Chapters and TLJ: Love and Hate
I was only 7 years old when I found my favorite game EVER. Well, technically, I didn't find it myself, my mother found it.
From what I remember, it was the box that first caught my attention. Now, I'd like you to keep in mind that I am not much of a gamer and never have been. I'd played a few games on my older brother's Nintendo 64, but I stuck to computer games back then, things like Freddy Fish and Putt-Putt. You know, kid games. And those games usually had brightly colored boxes with fun lettering on them.
The box that The Longest Journey came in was way different from what I was used to, but it drew me in. I know it wasn't the fact that it was an adult game that caught my attention; my mom had tons of adult computer games that I found incredibly boring. When I think back on it, I just remember thinking how cool that woman on the box looked. Boy, if only I had known...
I'm not going to spill anything about the plot in this post. This is pretty much for those who are already fans of the game and the series it has spawned. And, honestly, I don't think anything I can say to try to explain what this game is about would do it justice. If you haven't played this game, you must. It is...just amazing. I fell in love with it instantly.
I loved the main character, April Ryan. She was so real. She sounded like someone I could meet on the street. There are two worlds and both were fantastic. Like, seriously, fantasies. Yes, both had their down parts, like everything does, but the joys of the worlds outweighed the bad. And the plot was superb. An all-around great game.
The only problem I had with it was the ending...and that was because I didn't want it to end!
So imagine my surprise, 6 years later, when I found Dreamfall: The Longest Journey at Walmart. I hadn't even known that a sequel was coming out, wasn't even looking for it. And I came across it out of the blue. It had to be fate. I didn't even have to beg my mom for it; her jaw dropped just as far as mine had to the ground when she saw it.
As I started the game, I was bouncing with excitement. I was a little confused at first, because the game was so different from the first, but I had high hopes for it. And those hopes crushed to the ground about halfway through the game.
April Ryan, my favorite character and part of the game, had a minor part. Some might say she had a major role, considering you get to play a few chapters as her, but that definitely wasn't enough for me. Especially because the main character of the second one - Zoe Castillo - was awful. And boring. Incredibly, absolutely boring. She had no motivation and not one ounce of awe in her body, the complete opposite of April Ryan. The two have their similarities as well, don't get me wrong. They both had to do things that they didn't want to, but there were giant differences in the way they went about things. April didn't want to go on this journey, she questioned it every step of the way, but she put on her big girl panties and did everything she had to do with conviction. Zoe, on the other hand, simply shrugged and did what she was told. She didn't care.
So I didn't care about her or her story.
I did a little digging after finishing Dreamfall and found that the maker of the game - his name is so hard for me to type on my really old keyboard at the moment, so I will just refer to him as maker - don't worry, it is really easy to look him up on Google - did intend to finish April's story...after he finished Zoe's. *Sigh*
So now we have Dreamfall Chapters. This is the game that I want to talk about the most in this post.
TLJ fans have been anticipating this game for a long time now. Almost ten years. This is the first issue I want to address. We were told that it would be released in 2013 and that it would be released in chapters, hence the name. I - and a lot of other fans of the game - had a huge problem with this: TLJ series isn't a game that you play in chapters. We didn't play the first two games that way and we don't want to play this one in chapters. It actually takes away from the story. And considering the fact that we've been waiting almost a decade for this, we don't want to have to wait even longer in between chapters to continue playing.
We cried. A lot. And I think it did some good. I don't know the exact reason why they decided to change it, but they did. The makers decided to release the game as a whole, just as they did with the first two games. Fans rejoiced, including me. Finally, no more waiting. Once we reach the release date, we can have at it. (And, on a personal note, I can get through Zoe's boring story and finally continue April's.)
I left Dreamfall Chapters on the backburner for a while, since the release date was still a ways off. And, then, one day after the release date, I remembered. I immediately grabbed my computer, went to Steam, and looked for it. But it wasn't there. Had they decided not to put it on Steam? I thought they'd said they were...
I did more digging and found that they'd pushed the release date...an entire year. Seriously? I could only imagine how the fans who had donated through Kickstarter felt if I was furious. So Chapters went on the backburner once again.
Luckily, one of my favorite video game YouTubers - Cryaotic; look him up, it's worth it, I promise - decided to play Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, so I had something to keep me preoccupied for a bit. Watching someone else play a game you enjoy - even if it is simply because it is a part of a series you enjoy - for the first time is quite fun.
I say this because, after a while, I got burned out on waiting. I was tired. And I knew that I'd have even more waiting to do after Chapters in order to get to what I really wanted: April's story. So I gave up.
Then 3 days ago, I logged into YouTube and checked out Cry's feed...to find "Cry Plays Dreamfall Chapters: Book One [P1]".
OMG!!!
I watched and...enjoyed. They'd made so many improvements! Everything was crystal clear and no longer looked like a cartoon. Zoe looked real and so did everything else. They used a different voice actor - or the original voice actor's voice changed over time - for Zoe, which pleased me immensely because I didn't like how Zoe sounded in the first Dreamfall. Things were so much better...but still no April Ryan. I suppose I will just give up on her.
I watched all of the parts Cry had uploaded...which were only 6. That was odd, considering each video is about 40 minutes long and the game should be much longer. Then I get to the end of the video and find credits. Cry was obviously frustrated, stating that he'd forgotten the game was in chapters.
Oh. No.
Yup, you guessed it. I found out that they turned Dreamfall Chapters back into a chapter-by-chapter game because, ahem, the game still wasn't finished by the release date and they wanted to give fans something. Again: SERIOUSLY?!
Okay, listen. I completely understand that things come up and happen. I completely understand that they are only human and go only do so much. But people have donated a lot of money to see this happen and they were still complaining about money. I understand they have to buy programs and equipment in order to even make the game, but didn't they do that in the beginning? Shouldn't that be the very first thing you do? And they've had YEARS to work on this game. More than a year ago, I was watching the maker play a little of the game in a video online. And let me tell you, he was playing a part way beyond the first book, from what it looked like.
So here is my message to the maker and developers: First of all, I am not the only person who feels this way. I have seen so many different comments from different people talking about all of the things I've mentioned, from how the original Dreamfall was a bust, to how disappointing Dreamfall Chapters has already turned out simply because of the wait. It doesn't have to be perfect. Release the damn game already. And then snap to getting the next - hopefully about April Ryan - game going. I, and other fans of TLJ, are tired of waiting for April's story to continue. We don't care about Zoe. She's boring. This may seem a little harsh, but hell, I have been waiting since I was 7 to continue April's story and I am now 21. I wouldn't be so mad if you had simply continued with April's story and then tell Zoe's story.
Rant over.
From what I remember, it was the box that first caught my attention. Now, I'd like you to keep in mind that I am not much of a gamer and never have been. I'd played a few games on my older brother's Nintendo 64, but I stuck to computer games back then, things like Freddy Fish and Putt-Putt. You know, kid games. And those games usually had brightly colored boxes with fun lettering on them.
The box that The Longest Journey came in was way different from what I was used to, but it drew me in. I know it wasn't the fact that it was an adult game that caught my attention; my mom had tons of adult computer games that I found incredibly boring. When I think back on it, I just remember thinking how cool that woman on the box looked. Boy, if only I had known...
I'm not going to spill anything about the plot in this post. This is pretty much for those who are already fans of the game and the series it has spawned. And, honestly, I don't think anything I can say to try to explain what this game is about would do it justice. If you haven't played this game, you must. It is...just amazing. I fell in love with it instantly.
I loved the main character, April Ryan. She was so real. She sounded like someone I could meet on the street. There are two worlds and both were fantastic. Like, seriously, fantasies. Yes, both had their down parts, like everything does, but the joys of the worlds outweighed the bad. And the plot was superb. An all-around great game.
The only problem I had with it was the ending...and that was because I didn't want it to end!
So imagine my surprise, 6 years later, when I found Dreamfall: The Longest Journey at Walmart. I hadn't even known that a sequel was coming out, wasn't even looking for it. And I came across it out of the blue. It had to be fate. I didn't even have to beg my mom for it; her jaw dropped just as far as mine had to the ground when she saw it.
As I started the game, I was bouncing with excitement. I was a little confused at first, because the game was so different from the first, but I had high hopes for it. And those hopes crushed to the ground about halfway through the game.
April Ryan, my favorite character and part of the game, had a minor part. Some might say she had a major role, considering you get to play a few chapters as her, but that definitely wasn't enough for me. Especially because the main character of the second one - Zoe Castillo - was awful. And boring. Incredibly, absolutely boring. She had no motivation and not one ounce of awe in her body, the complete opposite of April Ryan. The two have their similarities as well, don't get me wrong. They both had to do things that they didn't want to, but there were giant differences in the way they went about things. April didn't want to go on this journey, she questioned it every step of the way, but she put on her big girl panties and did everything she had to do with conviction. Zoe, on the other hand, simply shrugged and did what she was told. She didn't care.
So I didn't care about her or her story.
I did a little digging after finishing Dreamfall and found that the maker of the game - his name is so hard for me to type on my really old keyboard at the moment, so I will just refer to him as maker - don't worry, it is really easy to look him up on Google - did intend to finish April's story...after he finished Zoe's. *Sigh*
So now we have Dreamfall Chapters. This is the game that I want to talk about the most in this post.
TLJ fans have been anticipating this game for a long time now. Almost ten years. This is the first issue I want to address. We were told that it would be released in 2013 and that it would be released in chapters, hence the name. I - and a lot of other fans of the game - had a huge problem with this: TLJ series isn't a game that you play in chapters. We didn't play the first two games that way and we don't want to play this one in chapters. It actually takes away from the story. And considering the fact that we've been waiting almost a decade for this, we don't want to have to wait even longer in between chapters to continue playing.
We cried. A lot. And I think it did some good. I don't know the exact reason why they decided to change it, but they did. The makers decided to release the game as a whole, just as they did with the first two games. Fans rejoiced, including me. Finally, no more waiting. Once we reach the release date, we can have at it. (And, on a personal note, I can get through Zoe's boring story and finally continue April's.)
I left Dreamfall Chapters on the backburner for a while, since the release date was still a ways off. And, then, one day after the release date, I remembered. I immediately grabbed my computer, went to Steam, and looked for it. But it wasn't there. Had they decided not to put it on Steam? I thought they'd said they were...
I did more digging and found that they'd pushed the release date...an entire year. Seriously? I could only imagine how the fans who had donated through Kickstarter felt if I was furious. So Chapters went on the backburner once again.
Luckily, one of my favorite video game YouTubers - Cryaotic; look him up, it's worth it, I promise - decided to play Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, so I had something to keep me preoccupied for a bit. Watching someone else play a game you enjoy - even if it is simply because it is a part of a series you enjoy - for the first time is quite fun.
I say this because, after a while, I got burned out on waiting. I was tired. And I knew that I'd have even more waiting to do after Chapters in order to get to what I really wanted: April's story. So I gave up.
Then 3 days ago, I logged into YouTube and checked out Cry's feed...to find "Cry Plays Dreamfall Chapters: Book One [P1]".
OMG!!!
I watched and...enjoyed. They'd made so many improvements! Everything was crystal clear and no longer looked like a cartoon. Zoe looked real and so did everything else. They used a different voice actor - or the original voice actor's voice changed over time - for Zoe, which pleased me immensely because I didn't like how Zoe sounded in the first Dreamfall. Things were so much better...but still no April Ryan. I suppose I will just give up on her.
I watched all of the parts Cry had uploaded...which were only 6. That was odd, considering each video is about 40 minutes long and the game should be much longer. Then I get to the end of the video and find credits. Cry was obviously frustrated, stating that he'd forgotten the game was in chapters.
Oh. No.
Yup, you guessed it. I found out that they turned Dreamfall Chapters back into a chapter-by-chapter game because, ahem, the game still wasn't finished by the release date and they wanted to give fans something. Again: SERIOUSLY?!
Okay, listen. I completely understand that things come up and happen. I completely understand that they are only human and go only do so much. But people have donated a lot of money to see this happen and they were still complaining about money. I understand they have to buy programs and equipment in order to even make the game, but didn't they do that in the beginning? Shouldn't that be the very first thing you do? And they've had YEARS to work on this game. More than a year ago, I was watching the maker play a little of the game in a video online. And let me tell you, he was playing a part way beyond the first book, from what it looked like.
So here is my message to the maker and developers: First of all, I am not the only person who feels this way. I have seen so many different comments from different people talking about all of the things I've mentioned, from how the original Dreamfall was a bust, to how disappointing Dreamfall Chapters has already turned out simply because of the wait. It doesn't have to be perfect. Release the damn game already. And then snap to getting the next - hopefully about April Ryan - game going. I, and other fans of TLJ, are tired of waiting for April's story to continue. We don't care about Zoe. She's boring. This may seem a little harsh, but hell, I have been waiting since I was 7 to continue April's story and I am now 21. I wouldn't be so mad if you had simply continued with April's story and then tell Zoe's story.
Rant over.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Abortion and the Twisted Arguments of Pro-life and Pro-choice
I don't really remember the age that I first heard about abortion. I probably don't remember it because I didn't understand what it was at the time. I do, however, remember the time when I heard about abortion and learned what it is...
I was fourteen at the time, a high school freshman. Our English teacher decided that she was going to pair up the class in twos to have debates on highly controversial topics; topics that you are either for or against, as there are no gray areas. I wasn't given the topic of abortion(I was actually on the pro side of gay rights), but when the time came for us to present our arguments to the class, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the topic of abortion.
I didn't even need to think about it at the time; I already knew which side I was for... Pro-choice. As a woman, I thought, If I ever become pregnant before I'm ready, I will get an abortion... It seems pretty silly now, actually, even though I'm still pro-choice. How did I make up my mind so quickly, when I didn't even have all the facts laid out before me?
Apparently, it didn't matter if I had those facts or not, since I'm still on the same side. Anyway, as I continued through high school and onto college, I looked deeper and deeper into the topic of abortion, listening to both sides and making my own conclusions. I became a huge advocate for pro-choice, finding whatever ways I could to voice my opinion. With the internet, that's very easy to do...or so one would think...
About a year ago, I was sitting around the house, bored and surfing the internet. I got on YouTube and just started watching funny videos. Once I'd spent all the time I cared to on those videos, I decided to take a serious turn. I wonder what the abortion videos on YouTube look like... So, I simply typed in, "Abortion", in the search bar and went to work.
Most of the videos on YouTube that concern abortion are either news casts or pro-life videos. Neither of those were very interesting to me, but I found myself drawn more to the comments section of these videos than the videos themselves. SO many people had such strong opinions on this matter. I was amazed...and happy.
You see, because abortion is such a crucial topic for me, I like to discuss it. I like to go into a debate with an open-mind, genuinely listen to what others have to say about their position. But, in YouTube, it's completely different. I talked for about a month with only one person. How we managed not to get interrupted is beyond me. There were about five people who controlled the conversation on the video we chatted on and they were all very passionate about what they were discussing. I barely paid them any mind, though.
It wasn't until the first month was over that my happiness was shattered. One of the pro-life regulars to the video saw something I had posted that she did not agree with and went totally crazy. She started going through all of the comments on the video, finding mine and replying to all of them. In most, she would call me "baby killer" or "murderer". A lot of the time, she would say that she would be surprised if I was against slitting born babies' throats, which I was appalled at.
That was when I started paying attention to all the other conversations going on. Most of these comments people were writing back and forth to each other couldn't even be considered conversations. Someone would point out a flaw in an opponent's position, but the opponent never challenged them back... Instead, they would just call their adversary names and laugh at whatever side they were on.
I will admit that I got sucked into this for a really long time. About eleven months. I found myself liking the drama, checking my YouTube inbox for new comments every five minutes. I wanted a fight, not a debate anymore. Most of the time, it was just too easy to defeat my opponents, but the strange thing to me was that they never acted like they'd been defeated. For instance, a pro-life person once told me that nothing I said had any credibility because I never backed up my arguments with facts. This, of course, was false. I had many other people - including those who were on the opposite side as me - back me up, telling my opponent that I had backed up most - if not all - of my arguments with facts.
To my awe, this person just continued to insist that I was wrong and that I was only using opinions to prove my points. I called him a hypocrite in return because he was doing exactly what he said I was doing. None of what I said fazed him at all.
So, earlier today, I was on the same exact video site, doing my usual routine of replying to all the people who had commented on something I'd said. I don't know how this next part came to light... I had an epiphany.
None of the people in that video's comment section actually took this debate seriously. If they did, they wouldn't be calling each other: "gay", "homo", "bitch", "baby killer", "woman hater", etc. So I wondered if there was any other forum on the internet I could go to that had people who took the debate seriously. I found one...sort of.
I won't name the site that I found because I do not want to give myself away(I'm pretty sure that if any of the people who were on that site see this, they'll immediately know who I am. BUT...I don't think very many people see this anyway, so I'm alright with putting this out there). I went through a few of the abortion forums on the site and found that most of the people on the site took the debate seriously(a little too seriously sometimes). Then I hatched a plan.
I signed up for the site so I could start a new thread and went to work. In my thread, I told them that I was new to the abortion debate. I said that I had heard of it before, but never really found it interesting and honestly didn't care about it until then. Because so many states have been passing new laws concerning abortion lately, I told them that a new abortion law in my state piqued my interest.
I declared that I wanted each person who posted on the forum to name what side of the abortion debate they were on and their reasons for being on that side. I did not specify that they had to have facts because, a lot of the time, people make up their mind on abortion based on personal opinions, not facts. I told them that I would like it if they could site some sources and make compelling arguments for their side. The result...turning someone who is "on the fence" over to their side of the topic.
Now, if I were on the other side of a post like that, I'd have probably written out a five page paper on why I am pro-choice, if not to gain that person's support when the time to make changes to laws came about, then just to get my opinion out. Unfortunately, these people weren't so excited to talk about WHY they are what they are.
Most people either asked me if I was pregnant or if I was writing a paper for school. I didn't get why they would think that earlier, but now that I think back on it, it makes perfect sense. I am writing a blog about it right now, aren't I? So it was research of a sort.
After I established that I am not pregnant, nor am I writing a paper, most people proceeded to tell me that only I could make that decision, not anyone else. I agree with this, but...really? You have a chance to openly speak your mind about something that you are supposed to be passionate about! You're really going to pass this up?
But that's exactly what they did, each and every one of them.
I love the drama in the YouTube comments sections of abortion videos, but there is no serious debate going on, something that I desperately want. I have some pretty good reasons for why I am pro-choice(something I will probably go into detail about in a later post) and I would like to map those out. I think the only reason why I haven't done it here yet is because I have so few readers.
I love that people can be so open-minded in the forums...but they're a little too open-minded. Yeah, every now and then you'll see two people get in a spat over something one of them said, but that's rare. And, even so, they still don't seem like their very passionate about what they're talking about.
I suppose the best option for me to go with right now is the YouTube comments section. I would rather deal with idiots who are passionate about what they are talking about than a bunch of smarty-pants who, in the end, probably don't care about the end-situation of abortion.
I would just like to know why no one takes this debate seriously anymore. Yes, there are probably a lot more people who can make better debates in real life than on the computer, but I live in such a small town, it isn't even funny. I'd honestly be surprised if anyone outside of my family and my boyfriend's family were pro-choice.
I'd like to end with this little tidbit: if you're ever in the mood for a good spat with someone, just go to YouTube, type in "abortion" in the search bar, and filter the result for the most viewed videos. Those with 1 million or more views are where you will have a good fight, if you can pretend to be passionate about pro-choice or pro-life.
~Oblivious
I was fourteen at the time, a high school freshman. Our English teacher decided that she was going to pair up the class in twos to have debates on highly controversial topics; topics that you are either for or against, as there are no gray areas. I wasn't given the topic of abortion(I was actually on the pro side of gay rights), but when the time came for us to present our arguments to the class, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the topic of abortion.
I didn't even need to think about it at the time; I already knew which side I was for... Pro-choice. As a woman, I thought, If I ever become pregnant before I'm ready, I will get an abortion... It seems pretty silly now, actually, even though I'm still pro-choice. How did I make up my mind so quickly, when I didn't even have all the facts laid out before me?
Apparently, it didn't matter if I had those facts or not, since I'm still on the same side. Anyway, as I continued through high school and onto college, I looked deeper and deeper into the topic of abortion, listening to both sides and making my own conclusions. I became a huge advocate for pro-choice, finding whatever ways I could to voice my opinion. With the internet, that's very easy to do...or so one would think...
About a year ago, I was sitting around the house, bored and surfing the internet. I got on YouTube and just started watching funny videos. Once I'd spent all the time I cared to on those videos, I decided to take a serious turn. I wonder what the abortion videos on YouTube look like... So, I simply typed in, "Abortion", in the search bar and went to work.
Most of the videos on YouTube that concern abortion are either news casts or pro-life videos. Neither of those were very interesting to me, but I found myself drawn more to the comments section of these videos than the videos themselves. SO many people had such strong opinions on this matter. I was amazed...and happy.
You see, because abortion is such a crucial topic for me, I like to discuss it. I like to go into a debate with an open-mind, genuinely listen to what others have to say about their position. But, in YouTube, it's completely different. I talked for about a month with only one person. How we managed not to get interrupted is beyond me. There were about five people who controlled the conversation on the video we chatted on and they were all very passionate about what they were discussing. I barely paid them any mind, though.
It wasn't until the first month was over that my happiness was shattered. One of the pro-life regulars to the video saw something I had posted that she did not agree with and went totally crazy. She started going through all of the comments on the video, finding mine and replying to all of them. In most, she would call me "baby killer" or "murderer". A lot of the time, she would say that she would be surprised if I was against slitting born babies' throats, which I was appalled at.
That was when I started paying attention to all the other conversations going on. Most of these comments people were writing back and forth to each other couldn't even be considered conversations. Someone would point out a flaw in an opponent's position, but the opponent never challenged them back... Instead, they would just call their adversary names and laugh at whatever side they were on.
I will admit that I got sucked into this for a really long time. About eleven months. I found myself liking the drama, checking my YouTube inbox for new comments every five minutes. I wanted a fight, not a debate anymore. Most of the time, it was just too easy to defeat my opponents, but the strange thing to me was that they never acted like they'd been defeated. For instance, a pro-life person once told me that nothing I said had any credibility because I never backed up my arguments with facts. This, of course, was false. I had many other people - including those who were on the opposite side as me - back me up, telling my opponent that I had backed up most - if not all - of my arguments with facts.
To my awe, this person just continued to insist that I was wrong and that I was only using opinions to prove my points. I called him a hypocrite in return because he was doing exactly what he said I was doing. None of what I said fazed him at all.
So, earlier today, I was on the same exact video site, doing my usual routine of replying to all the people who had commented on something I'd said. I don't know how this next part came to light... I had an epiphany.
None of the people in that video's comment section actually took this debate seriously. If they did, they wouldn't be calling each other: "gay", "homo", "bitch", "baby killer", "woman hater", etc. So I wondered if there was any other forum on the internet I could go to that had people who took the debate seriously. I found one...sort of.
I won't name the site that I found because I do not want to give myself away(I'm pretty sure that if any of the people who were on that site see this, they'll immediately know who I am. BUT...I don't think very many people see this anyway, so I'm alright with putting this out there). I went through a few of the abortion forums on the site and found that most of the people on the site took the debate seriously(a little too seriously sometimes). Then I hatched a plan.
I signed up for the site so I could start a new thread and went to work. In my thread, I told them that I was new to the abortion debate. I said that I had heard of it before, but never really found it interesting and honestly didn't care about it until then. Because so many states have been passing new laws concerning abortion lately, I told them that a new abortion law in my state piqued my interest.
I declared that I wanted each person who posted on the forum to name what side of the abortion debate they were on and their reasons for being on that side. I did not specify that they had to have facts because, a lot of the time, people make up their mind on abortion based on personal opinions, not facts. I told them that I would like it if they could site some sources and make compelling arguments for their side. The result...turning someone who is "on the fence" over to their side of the topic.
Now, if I were on the other side of a post like that, I'd have probably written out a five page paper on why I am pro-choice, if not to gain that person's support when the time to make changes to laws came about, then just to get my opinion out. Unfortunately, these people weren't so excited to talk about WHY they are what they are.
Most people either asked me if I was pregnant or if I was writing a paper for school. I didn't get why they would think that earlier, but now that I think back on it, it makes perfect sense. I am writing a blog about it right now, aren't I? So it was research of a sort.
After I established that I am not pregnant, nor am I writing a paper, most people proceeded to tell me that only I could make that decision, not anyone else. I agree with this, but...really? You have a chance to openly speak your mind about something that you are supposed to be passionate about! You're really going to pass this up?
But that's exactly what they did, each and every one of them.
I love the drama in the YouTube comments sections of abortion videos, but there is no serious debate going on, something that I desperately want. I have some pretty good reasons for why I am pro-choice(something I will probably go into detail about in a later post) and I would like to map those out. I think the only reason why I haven't done it here yet is because I have so few readers.
I love that people can be so open-minded in the forums...but they're a little too open-minded. Yeah, every now and then you'll see two people get in a spat over something one of them said, but that's rare. And, even so, they still don't seem like their very passionate about what they're talking about.
I suppose the best option for me to go with right now is the YouTube comments section. I would rather deal with idiots who are passionate about what they are talking about than a bunch of smarty-pants who, in the end, probably don't care about the end-situation of abortion.
I would just like to know why no one takes this debate seriously anymore. Yes, there are probably a lot more people who can make better debates in real life than on the computer, but I live in such a small town, it isn't even funny. I'd honestly be surprised if anyone outside of my family and my boyfriend's family were pro-choice.
I'd like to end with this little tidbit: if you're ever in the mood for a good spat with someone, just go to YouTube, type in "abortion" in the search bar, and filter the result for the most viewed videos. Those with 1 million or more views are where you will have a good fight, if you can pretend to be passionate about pro-choice or pro-life.
~Oblivious
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
FUCKING YOUTUBE!!!!
Damn it!!! I am so pissed right now!!!
Sometimes, I really fucking hate YouTube. This is the second time this has happened to me and it seems like YouTube really doesn't care.
So, about a week ago, I got sent this really stupid video by "PodiatricRFA"(click on the name to go to his YouTube channel). I wasn't interested in it, so I simply deleted it and went on my way. The next day, he sends me the same video again. I don't know if he went to my channel and looked to see if I had watched it or not, saw that I didn't, and sent it to me again or what. I originally just thought: Hey, he probably sent it to me twice without realizing it. Happens all the time, right? Wrong.
I deleted the video again and went on my way. When I checked my inbox the next day and there was no video from him, I thought he either got the message or decided it wasn't worth sending a third time. I was wrong.
Two days ago, he sent the message again. This time, I wasn't willing to just let it go. I hate it when people on any site spam me, especially when I don't even know them. It's why I don't use Yahoo! messenger anymore. Every time I use Yahoo! messenger, some hooker(and I do mean hooker) send me an IM talking about, "Do you wanna send me some money so you can see me take my clothes off in a video??" No. Fuck no.
Anyway, I decided to send him a message, asking him to stop spamming me. I wasn't rude or anything, I just sent him a short message that got my point across. This is it, word for word:
Sometimes, I really fucking hate YouTube. This is the second time this has happened to me and it seems like YouTube really doesn't care.
So, about a week ago, I got sent this really stupid video by "PodiatricRFA"(click on the name to go to his YouTube channel). I wasn't interested in it, so I simply deleted it and went on my way. The next day, he sends me the same video again. I don't know if he went to my channel and looked to see if I had watched it or not, saw that I didn't, and sent it to me again or what. I originally just thought: Hey, he probably sent it to me twice without realizing it. Happens all the time, right? Wrong.
I deleted the video again and went on my way. When I checked my inbox the next day and there was no video from him, I thought he either got the message or decided it wasn't worth sending a third time. I was wrong.
Two days ago, he sent the message again. This time, I wasn't willing to just let it go. I hate it when people on any site spam me, especially when I don't even know them. It's why I don't use Yahoo! messenger anymore. Every time I use Yahoo! messenger, some hooker(and I do mean hooker) send me an IM talking about, "Do you wanna send me some money so you can see me take my clothes off in a video??" No. Fuck no.
Anyway, I decided to send him a message, asking him to stop spamming me. I wasn't rude or anything, I just sent him a short message that got my point across. This is it, word for word:
Subject: Spamming Me
Message: Please stop. It's annoying.
See? I wasn't rude, but I wasn't overly courteous either. And, honestly? Who would be courteous to someone who is spamming them? I did say please and didn't insult him or anything, so I figured that would be the end of it.
The next day - yesterday - he sent me back a message. Here it is:
Subject: Re: Spamming Me
Message: there is no spam on a video sharing website.
If you want to be antisocial you can block vids from being sent to you. Read the Terms of Service.
First of all, there is definitely such thing as spam on video sharing websites, but I won't get into that now. I address that in my next message, which I will post below. I didn't put my next point in my next message, but I am going to spell it out here. Yes, you can block videos from being sent to you, but I do not wish to do this. I've been sent multiple videos that I actually find interesting and I love it when that happens. I've actually been introduced to many different wonderful channels through someone sharing a video with me. So, I am not going to do that. Here is what I sent him back:
Subject: Re: Spamming Me
Message: Spam: to send the same message indiscriminately to recipients(generally of a large number) on the internet.
There is spam on anything on the internet that you can send messages through. YouTube allows users to send messages to each other on their site. Therefore, there is spam on this video sharing website.
You've sent me this video 3 times now. Please stop.
I honestly thought that that would finally end things. I wrote out the definition of "spam" and explained how that definition correlates to what he was doing to me, so that it would be obvious to him that he was indeed spamming me. In the end, I repeated that I wanted him to stop sending me that video and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, it backfired. This guy obviously took my correcting him as a shot to his ego or something, so he sent me this:
Subject: Re: Spamming Me
Message: damn hooker just so I don't have to see that big 'ol
fucking dicknose of yours again I'm gonna block you. fuckin ugly bitch
inside and out go get laid you ugly dirtbag bitch
I decided that, because he was both spamming me and now just plain insulting me, I was going to report him to YouTube. So, I go to his profile, click the "Report User" button and go through the form. Since he wasn't doing any of this in comments, I had no comment to report, although YouTube wanted me to. I skipped the comment part and went to the bottom of the page. I wrote a small paragraph about how he'd spammed me and then sent this ugly message to me, but when I clicked "Submit", it told me that I had to report one of his comments to even send the damn report.
I go through his feed to see if he'd commented on anything and...he hadn't. Not a single damn comment on any fucking video. So...that's where YouTube failed me. I wasn't able to send a report on him. This has happened before when I was trying to report a user who had more than one account. This user was using his alternate accounts to vote all of his comments up and vote all of mine down. I finally got sick of it and tried to block him. It ended the same as this time did. YouTube can really be a big piece of shit sometimes.
Also, there is no way to even just sent an email to the YouTube team. The only way you can send them an email is if you are press.
In conclusion, I have set up a link in PodiatricRFA's name up at the top of this post. If you think there is any type of justice in the world, you will click on the link and try to report him. If not, the least you can do is send him a message, letting him know just how much of a dick he is. Maybe we could even get together and let YouTube know that they're also being huge dicks with the stupid comment requirement when reporting a user. Thank you for your time and please help me get rid of this asshole once and for all.
Oh, and to PodiatricRFA, if you're reading this: you're a giant asshole and I hope you get herpes. Dick.
Friday, June 28, 2013
The Whore (A.K.A. Miley Cyrus)
Okay, I really hate admitting this, but when I was younger I did watch Hannah Montana. I bought Miley Cyrus's first two albums. In my defense, I was a preteen, so I still didn't know what good music sounded like and the music that she made fit my life at the time(we're the same age).
I haven't liked Miley Cyrus for a long time now. I wouldn't say that I hate her, really, just that I wasn't interested in her or her music anymore. I fell out of my Hannah Montana stage before the movie came out, so - you probably don't know this if you never watched the show - I wasn't into her stuff for very long.
It's been a while since I've even heard anything about Miley. The last thing I heard was that she and Liam Hemsworth - her (maybe?) ex-fiance(who knows about celebrity couples now?) - had broken their engagement because he was caught cheating on her. Now I see why he wanted to cheat on her.
Cyrus just released her new music video to her also new song, "We Can't Stop". It's...it's... I don't even have words for this garbage! Seriously, can someone please explain to me what is happening to the world and its music these days? I can't find any - and I do mean any - good new music anymore. Even Demi Lovato's new album - I've worshiped her from afar for a very long time now - was seriously disappointing.
Back to Miley... Her new song is about - you guessed it - partying, the new and only subject that anyone can write a hit song about these days. In it, Miley sings about drugs, sex, and doing whatever the f*ck you want to, when you want to. And it's horrible.
Before I get into the evaluation of the song and the music video, I just want to make a few things clear. I stumbled upon the music video when I was looking at the news on my computer and saw the article titled, "Top 8 Best Music Videos This Week". I guess I must have double-clicked Miley's video or something because it opened the video in a new tab on YouTube.
I watched it, wretched, and proceeded to speak my mind in the comments section. A war began after that. I'll come back to this after I talk about the song and the video.
Song first. Here's the lyrics: "We Can't Stop" lyrics
So, there's nothing really weird or offensive about the lyrics in the beginning. It's not until we get to the chorus that there is a problem, but I want to wait to talk about that because it has to do with the war the descended on me in the comments section of YouTube.
So some people would take offense to the strip club part, but it's whatever to me. I've booty shaken with the best of 'em. What I do have a problem with, however, is the part about, "Everyone in line in the bathroom; Trying to get a line in the bathroom". Okay, wait. She does know that they still air episodes of Hannah Montana on the Disney channel right? Right? Then why is she singing about doing drugs at a party when the kids who watch her show are at the age where they are mostly influenced by friends and celebrities?!
Let me make this perfectly clear: I am not saying that Miley has to be a babysitter. I'm saying that she a trashy little brat who doesn't care about anyone but herself. No, she can't help it that little kids look up to her, but does that mean she should dress the way she has been and sing about these things(drugs), trying to ignore the fact that these little kids look up to her? No f*cking way.
B*tch, you knew this was going to happen when you got your daddy to get you the part in Hannah Montana! You wanted this! Don't want it now? Don't want little kids looking up to you anymore? You want to just do whatever the f*ck you want, trying to be an adult(and failing) without caring about anyone else? Well too f*cking bad. You signed up for this, missy.
Back to her attempt at trying to be an adult and failing... A real adult steps up and takes responsibility. Miley isn't taking responsibility for anything! When people call her a sl*t for the way she dresses, she calls them an idiot and goes on her way. Everyone is telling her she's a sl*t for the way she's been dressing, but she hasn't heard a word of it. So, yeah, she's definitely not mature or an adult in any way.
Anyway, I don't know what to say about the video. Watch it yourself. I'm warning you, though, it's like 3 or 4 minutes of your life that you can't get back. It's - to say the least - pretty freakin' weird. Here: Miley's SUPER Weird New Music Video
So...yeah.
Okay, now to the comment war that ensued. I wrote a comment about how trashy Miley was in presenting herself in that music video. For Christ's sake, she almost pulled her f*cking panties off! In the comment, I talked about her references to drugs - she talked about two in the song, though the Miley fans will tell you that's not true. The cocaine reference was easy, but the other one was harder to catch.
Here is the REAL chorus. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Also, Miley can say what she wants about the song, but not all of it is true. If you have half a brain, you could easily figure this out:
I haven't liked Miley Cyrus for a long time now. I wouldn't say that I hate her, really, just that I wasn't interested in her or her music anymore. I fell out of my Hannah Montana stage before the movie came out, so - you probably don't know this if you never watched the show - I wasn't into her stuff for very long.
It's been a while since I've even heard anything about Miley. The last thing I heard was that she and Liam Hemsworth - her (maybe?) ex-fiance(who knows about celebrity couples now?) - had broken their engagement because he was caught cheating on her. Now I see why he wanted to cheat on her.
Cyrus just released her new music video to her also new song, "We Can't Stop". It's...it's... I don't even have words for this garbage! Seriously, can someone please explain to me what is happening to the world and its music these days? I can't find any - and I do mean any - good new music anymore. Even Demi Lovato's new album - I've worshiped her from afar for a very long time now - was seriously disappointing.
Back to Miley... Her new song is about - you guessed it - partying, the new and only subject that anyone can write a hit song about these days. In it, Miley sings about drugs, sex, and doing whatever the f*ck you want to, when you want to. And it's horrible.
Before I get into the evaluation of the song and the music video, I just want to make a few things clear. I stumbled upon the music video when I was looking at the news on my computer and saw the article titled, "Top 8 Best Music Videos This Week". I guess I must have double-clicked Miley's video or something because it opened the video in a new tab on YouTube.
I watched it, wretched, and proceeded to speak my mind in the comments section. A war began after that. I'll come back to this after I talk about the song and the video.
Song first. Here's the lyrics: "We Can't Stop" lyrics
So, there's nothing really weird or offensive about the lyrics in the beginning. It's not until we get to the chorus that there is a problem, but I want to wait to talk about that because it has to do with the war the descended on me in the comments section of YouTube.
So some people would take offense to the strip club part, but it's whatever to me. I've booty shaken with the best of 'em. What I do have a problem with, however, is the part about, "Everyone in line in the bathroom; Trying to get a line in the bathroom". Okay, wait. She does know that they still air episodes of Hannah Montana on the Disney channel right? Right? Then why is she singing about doing drugs at a party when the kids who watch her show are at the age where they are mostly influenced by friends and celebrities?!
Let me make this perfectly clear: I am not saying that Miley has to be a babysitter. I'm saying that she a trashy little brat who doesn't care about anyone but herself. No, she can't help it that little kids look up to her, but does that mean she should dress the way she has been and sing about these things(drugs), trying to ignore the fact that these little kids look up to her? No f*cking way.
B*tch, you knew this was going to happen when you got your daddy to get you the part in Hannah Montana! You wanted this! Don't want it now? Don't want little kids looking up to you anymore? You want to just do whatever the f*ck you want, trying to be an adult(and failing) without caring about anyone else? Well too f*cking bad. You signed up for this, missy.
Back to her attempt at trying to be an adult and failing... A real adult steps up and takes responsibility. Miley isn't taking responsibility for anything! When people call her a sl*t for the way she dresses, she calls them an idiot and goes on her way. Everyone is telling her she's a sl*t for the way she's been dressing, but she hasn't heard a word of it. So, yeah, she's definitely not mature or an adult in any way.
Anyway, I don't know what to say about the video. Watch it yourself. I'm warning you, though, it's like 3 or 4 minutes of your life that you can't get back. It's - to say the least - pretty freakin' weird. Here: Miley's SUPER Weird New Music Video
So...yeah.
Okay, now to the comment war that ensued. I wrote a comment about how trashy Miley was in presenting herself in that music video. For Christ's sake, she almost pulled her f*cking panties off! In the comment, I talked about her references to drugs - she talked about two in the song, though the Miley fans will tell you that's not true. The cocaine reference was easy, but the other one was harder to catch.
Here is the REAL chorus. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Also, Miley can say what she wants about the song, but not all of it is true. If you have half a brain, you could easily figure this out:
So la da di da di
We like to party
Dancing with Molly
Doing whatever we want
This is our house
This is our rules
I won't continue because that was the only part I needed you to see. "Molly" is slang for ecstasy, which is a very common drug at house parties(what the entire song is about). Miley and her fans insist that she is singing, "dancing with Miley," but she has an accent, so it sounds like Molly. Bullshit. Yes, Miley has a bit of a country twang, but it's not that bad. If she wanted to sing her own goddamn name, she could have very easily. For example(it took me forever to look this up): in one of her old songs, "See You Again," her name is in the lyrics as well. If you listen to it, it sound exactly like Miley, not Molly. Cyrus is talking about ecstasy in her song, she just doesn't want to admit it.
This is what caused the big comment war. People(Cyrus fans) kept replying to my comment, saying, "It's dancing with Miley, not dancing with Molly". *facepalm* Dumb asses. I did comment back to a few of them, but I never insisted that it was Molly because I knew they'd never listen to me. So I just wanted to write it down here so everyone would know: THAT B*TCH IS IS IS TALKING ABOUT ECSTASY IN HER SONG!!!
Let's get on with it. Slutty clothes, slutty grinding on the bed, slutty butt-smacking throughout the entire video... But, no, Miley isn't a slut at all(according to her fans)! Whatever. Go try and sell that obvious bullshit to someone who's more like you, someone who doesn't think about things before they open the hole in the middle of their face.
Whew. Sorry, got a little heated for a bit, didn't I?
Bottom line: Miley Cyrus is a self-centered, slutty little brat who should be shoved out of the entertainment industry and right on her little, bony, white as hell ass.
End rant.
For now >:D
For now >:D
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Books? What Are Those?
I am an avid reader. I absolutely love books. You can go anywhere - and I do mean anywhere - when you are reading a book. There have been times where I have been - as my mother likes to call it - "sticking toothpicks in my eyes" just so I can continue reading during the night. And it's not just the story that captivates me about a book; it's the smell of freshly printed paper and the feeling of being cozy.
But we have a problem when it comes to books. They are disappearing.
No, I don't mean they're vanishing out of thin air or that...I don't know, there are book-loving pirates out there stealing all our book booty. I'm talking about books becoming digital.
I have a Nook from Barnes & Noble. I got it when they first came out with it - should have waited to do that - and I liked it because it allowed me to carry all of my books with me when I left the house. It's come in handy when I walk all the way across campus to find out that my next class has been cancelled for the day. So books going digital isn't a bad thing.
The reason why it is not necessarily a good thing either is because... Well, it's hard to explain. Let me put it this way:
One of my absolute favorite games ever is The Longest Journey. I know, I know, a little outdated, but terribly fun. The game is set in the future, 3023 if I'm not mistaken. In that era, almost everything is digital and connected through what they call the "Wire".
You don't get a lot of information about the Wire until the second game, but I won't get into all of that right now. All you need to know is that the Wire acts a lot like our internet, just a little more advanced. I'll give you an example of how the Wire is used, the first one that popped in my head: everyone has cash cards instead of actual cash. They use these cards for everything. There is no alternative currency.
In between the first and second games, the Wire crashes, sending the economy into a mini-depression(not as big as the one in the '20's[the 1920's, I mean]) because no one could use their cash cards. Also, in the second game, they've changed their currency yet again. All of their money is on their cell phones. T_T
Anyway, books going digital is probably a really bad thing in a way. What if our Wire - the internet - were to crash? Yes, we'd still have our books that we've downloaded on our reading devices, but how do we get more? What about the people who prefer physical copies of books? How do we go about getting an actual copy that our favorite author can sign?
I started thinking about all of this a couple of months ago because the book shop that I'd been going to during my 3 hour break between classes closed down. You may have heard of the store: Hastings. They had a little cafe inside called "The Hard Back Cafe". Call me a nerd, but I loved the name for the place.
Hastings was a sanctuary for me. I didn't live in a dorm at the time, so I had to find something else to do during my breaks. It wasn't hard most of the time; I'd just go to the school's library and study for something that was coming up or go over all my notes again. However, there were times when I just couldn't bring myself to study(most of the time, this only happened when the pace in one or more of my classes was going a little slow).
I also didn't live in town. I live about 45 minutes away from my university. Anyway, when I didn't have anything better to do, I'd run into town, get lunch, and go to Hastings. Once I was there, I'd buy a coffee, grab a book that looked interesting, scope out a fluffy chair to relax in, and read.
But we have a problem when it comes to books. They are disappearing.
No, I don't mean they're vanishing out of thin air or that...I don't know, there are book-loving pirates out there stealing all our book booty. I'm talking about books becoming digital.
I have a Nook from Barnes & Noble. I got it when they first came out with it - should have waited to do that - and I liked it because it allowed me to carry all of my books with me when I left the house. It's come in handy when I walk all the way across campus to find out that my next class has been cancelled for the day. So books going digital isn't a bad thing.
The reason why it is not necessarily a good thing either is because... Well, it's hard to explain. Let me put it this way:
One of my absolute favorite games ever is The Longest Journey. I know, I know, a little outdated, but terribly fun. The game is set in the future, 3023 if I'm not mistaken. In that era, almost everything is digital and connected through what they call the "Wire".
You don't get a lot of information about the Wire until the second game, but I won't get into all of that right now. All you need to know is that the Wire acts a lot like our internet, just a little more advanced. I'll give you an example of how the Wire is used, the first one that popped in my head: everyone has cash cards instead of actual cash. They use these cards for everything. There is no alternative currency.
In between the first and second games, the Wire crashes, sending the economy into a mini-depression(not as big as the one in the '20's[the 1920's, I mean]) because no one could use their cash cards. Also, in the second game, they've changed their currency yet again. All of their money is on their cell phones. T_T
Anyway, books going digital is probably a really bad thing in a way. What if our Wire - the internet - were to crash? Yes, we'd still have our books that we've downloaded on our reading devices, but how do we get more? What about the people who prefer physical copies of books? How do we go about getting an actual copy that our favorite author can sign?
I started thinking about all of this a couple of months ago because the book shop that I'd been going to during my 3 hour break between classes closed down. You may have heard of the store: Hastings. They had a little cafe inside called "The Hard Back Cafe". Call me a nerd, but I loved the name for the place.
Hastings was a sanctuary for me. I didn't live in a dorm at the time, so I had to find something else to do during my breaks. It wasn't hard most of the time; I'd just go to the school's library and study for something that was coming up or go over all my notes again. However, there were times when I just couldn't bring myself to study(most of the time, this only happened when the pace in one or more of my classes was going a little slow).
I also didn't live in town. I live about 45 minutes away from my university. Anyway, when I didn't have anything better to do, I'd run into town, get lunch, and go to Hastings. Once I was there, I'd buy a coffee, grab a book that looked interesting, scope out a fluffy chair to relax in, and read.
For the record: I was not in any way breaking any rules. I can't claim to know every Hastings store's rules, but the Hastings I went to allowed you to pick out a book and read it in the store without buying it.
That's actually how I read most of the books I like. As a college student who has to commute an hour and a half each day, I didn't have a lot of spending money. I also had to buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day(I'm hypoglycemic so I have to eat on a regular basis).
And then the place announced that it would be shutting down. I was devastated, mostly because I had just begun reading a book I'd been looking forward to reading. I still haven't managed to finish it.
I started to wonder why Hastings would shut down. It was a very popular place, not just with college students, but also with the town's people as well. They had books, movies, music, novelty toys, t-shirts, all sorts of stuff that people loved. So why would it shut down?
The answer smacked me in the middle of my forehead. More than half of the store was dedicated to books. Society has tablets that are specifically meant for reading and smartphones that you can download books to, which is a lot easier than going to a book store. With one click(or a few), you have the book right in front of you in digital form. On top of everything else, buying a book digitally is a hell of a lot cheaper than getting the physical book.
Think of it like this: you really, really want the new book in this series you've been reading. It just came out and you're scoping different places to buy it so you can get it cheap. Every bookstore you've researched is selling it for $16.99, but there is a little bookstore two cities away that is selling it for $10.99. You only have...let's say $15.00 you can afford to spend on a book this month and you can't wait until next month to get it.
So all of the places selling it for $16.99 is out of the question. You could go to the little bookstore two cities away and get it in your price range, but the gas money you'd have to spend to get there will actually make it more expensive. So you go online on your tablet and find the digital book selling for $6.99 as it is on sale. What do you do?
You go for the digital copy, of course. You won't have to drive anywhere to get it and you'll spend less money on it. It's a win-win, right? Totally. On top of everything else, you can even read this book in the dark!
I don't know. I guess I have this irrational fear that something will happen to the internet and the books that I want to read will no longer be available. No, that isn't quite right. It's more like I'm afraid that the book will be destroyed, that there will no longer be an existing copy for me to read.
And, damn it, I really liked curling up with a book and a coffee in a fluffy chair in Hastings!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Not a Rant - Just an Observation
I'm only writing this down because I wanted to make sure I remember it. Even though I am writing it down, there is still a good chance that I will forget about it and the fact that I've written it down.
When I started college, I was pretty sure that I wanted to study psychology and get a degree in it. My mother also got her degree in psychology and she actually advised me not to major in it. So, as of right now, I still don't know what I will major in, but that doesn't mean I'm no longer interested in psych.
So I made an observation a couple of days ago that made me giddy - in a nerdy kind of way.
I was watching a movie early in the morning. No one else was awake, so when the event I am about to tell you about happened, I had no one to tell at that precise moment. I have also been watching the show Bones, which I think I've mentioned on this blog before.
Now, I'd seen the movie I was watching before, Cold Mountain, but I have only seen it once before. A scene played where Jude Law was in an infirmary. A nurse was reading him a letter from Nicole Kidman. Now, when I said that I was watching this movie earlier, I might have exaggerated a little. I was actually on my computer, looking at my Facebook account, so I was just tuning into the movie every now and then. It has also been years since I watched the movie all the way through because I don't like it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, great even. The problem I have with it, however, is that it is depressing. Unlike young women and girls who love stories about star-crossed lovers who end up in tragedy(mostly Nicholas Sparks movies), I do not like to be sad, so I tend to stay away from movies that make me feel like crying.
Back to the infirmary scene... The movie is set during the Civil War, so they didn't have electricity. They were using candles for light, so I couldn't see Jude Law or the nurse very well. However, when I glanced up to my TV screen and saw the profile of the nurse, I automatically had a thought: I think I'll watch an episode of Bones after this...
After the thought popped into my head, I wondered why exactly that had happened. The movie really had nothing in common with the show Bones, so why had that occurred to me? I decided to watch most of the scene to try and figure it out. When they panned in a little on the nurse - and the lighting was a bit better - I solved my problem. The actress who was playing the nurse also played Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones. Her name is Emily Deschanel, sister of the well-known Zooey Deschanel(who played in Elf and 100 Days of Summer; she is now currently playing the main character in the show New Girl).
This just made me think of how amazing the human mind is. I'd recognized the nurse as the same woman who plays the main character in the show I've been watching without even realizing it!
How cool is that?!
When I started college, I was pretty sure that I wanted to study psychology and get a degree in it. My mother also got her degree in psychology and she actually advised me not to major in it. So, as of right now, I still don't know what I will major in, but that doesn't mean I'm no longer interested in psych.
So I made an observation a couple of days ago that made me giddy - in a nerdy kind of way.
I was watching a movie early in the morning. No one else was awake, so when the event I am about to tell you about happened, I had no one to tell at that precise moment. I have also been watching the show Bones, which I think I've mentioned on this blog before.
Now, I'd seen the movie I was watching before, Cold Mountain, but I have only seen it once before. A scene played where Jude Law was in an infirmary. A nurse was reading him a letter from Nicole Kidman. Now, when I said that I was watching this movie earlier, I might have exaggerated a little. I was actually on my computer, looking at my Facebook account, so I was just tuning into the movie every now and then. It has also been years since I watched the movie all the way through because I don't like it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, great even. The problem I have with it, however, is that it is depressing. Unlike young women and girls who love stories about star-crossed lovers who end up in tragedy(mostly Nicholas Sparks movies), I do not like to be sad, so I tend to stay away from movies that make me feel like crying.
Back to the infirmary scene... The movie is set during the Civil War, so they didn't have electricity. They were using candles for light, so I couldn't see Jude Law or the nurse very well. However, when I glanced up to my TV screen and saw the profile of the nurse, I automatically had a thought: I think I'll watch an episode of Bones after this...
After the thought popped into my head, I wondered why exactly that had happened. The movie really had nothing in common with the show Bones, so why had that occurred to me? I decided to watch most of the scene to try and figure it out. When they panned in a little on the nurse - and the lighting was a bit better - I solved my problem. The actress who was playing the nurse also played Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones. Her name is Emily Deschanel, sister of the well-known Zooey Deschanel(who played in Elf and 100 Days of Summer; she is now currently playing the main character in the show New Girl).
This just made me think of how amazing the human mind is. I'd recognized the nurse as the same woman who plays the main character in the show I've been watching without even realizing it!
How cool is that?!
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