Monday, September 23, 2013

Taking the Good out of Goodreads

             So last year, I think it was last year? Maybe it was two years ago? I am not entirely sure on the exact amount of time, I joined Goodreads. I loved this website, it was there for me to be able to read books and express how I felt about them and talk to others about these books that I had fallen for, or not so much, or whatever the case maybe. Even better, if helped me find all these amazing books! I never really had problem with it really, and I had meet some really amazing people - one of which who I e-mail "pen-pal" with.
             So color me suspicious when I started talking to my now very close, very good friend who I will not named told me she rarely used Goodreads. And I was shocked because she is an author - indie - after all I would think she would be stalking the place like no one else's business. So when we started talking about her lack of using Goodreads I asked why? And she simply told me: Bullying.

             To say I was shocked was an understatement. Yeah all ages of people use this website, but I mean come on most of the people I had talked to were at least over 17 years old, I would think at that this point we would be done with this. And I know bullying exist even in adulthood. But I never thought that the small community I was part of would never do that. Until it happened. A book that I enjoyed I gave it a 4 stars - a really good rating and all this, well the Author started popping up in my newsfeed. So I wanted to see what was up. The author was being bullied, and I realized how bad of a problem it could be. 
              Now Goodreads is putting in a new policy, which I respect because in some cases it is truly needed, like I have heard rumors of bookshelves talking about doing horrible things to the authors. Sometimes there are bookshelves called author's behaving badly, which I find hard to disagree with having because even if some authors are being bullied, authors are bullying reviewers. In the end there really is no end in sight for this battle, and some people are going to end up beyond pissed, and some people are going to be totally alright with this. I am in the middle. I have seen both ends, an author being bullied - who I ended up contacting privately and found out she was an absolute mess, and other times when an author called her readers something not so nice. What I have learned from all this mess is that while we should focus our attention on eliminating bullying from schools, so the younger generation never grows up with it, we need to step back as adults and do it ourselves.  

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Daring Life of a College Kid

         So I chose not to write yesterday as I try to wait until the end of the day to write my post. And yesterday I finally went to go see a movie, which I hadn't done for a couple months. Oh I know I shouldn't even complain being that some people haven't been to the theaters in years, but well it is a big deal because I use to go almost every weekend. So recap of Saturday was trying to get a whole lot done, and ending up not getting a whole lot done at all. Did finally get to see that movie I was dying to see because I have an odd obsession with all things British.

           Today I decided things needed to get done, and I was going to get them done. And it started off not so well. Oddly for a college kid - for anyone near or around my age - I am an earlier riser, I wouldn't say I was a morning person being as most people think then I wake up at ungodly hours like 5 or 6 am, and no, I don't believe those times actually exist (kidding, sort of). Either way I woke up later than I normally would, I woke up at 9:30ish closer to 10, and of course still like the "college kid" stereotype I needed my coffee, but I don't like coffee, mostly I just wanted a blueberry muffin from Tim Hortons, and an Ice Cap even though it getting to "cold" for that to be normal. But I did it anyways.
           Getting home from taking the dogs, and a friend I was determined to get started on homework. And yet it still didn't happen. My house, is a full one. On the verge of sounding like a hermit who never wants to leave home, yes I still live at home, yes I am 22 years old, no you don't get the right to tell me I should have moved out by now. If my parents don't mind me being here, I am going to save my money and stay here. I mean eventually I will move out, but when I am not working part-time at a small business with strange turtle-saving old ladies, and customers with personal space issues. So that being all said, so I got trapped into doing other things. And so after those were finished, I sat down and said, homework time. Which of course means Facebook time.

           So homework got set back a little by my duties as a reviewer for a blog that I am running by myself at the moment. It may not seem like a lot of work, but suddenly I have new post that need to go up, e-mails to answer, finding other bloggers to take on books that I don't have time to read for. In all honestly it just more Facebook. It is a problem so a friend of mine broke me from my Facebook addiction for a moment and left me alone while she actually went and worked. So that is when I decided homework time. Only because my computer is dead set against me doing anything productive (I am convinced it hates me), a random button was pushed and while working on homework in Moodle (my universities website for homework, courses, etc) refreshed. All that hard work I had done...gone. In an instant. And I realized then how dependent people have become on computers. And how dangerous this is. Not only my addiction to doing next to nothing on Facebook where I lose half my day doing that, I could lose hard work within seconds, even on word documents. It is a lot harder to have a hand-written assignment suddenly disappear in seconds flat because of a misplaced hand. Unless of course you have one of the following: a horribly placed shredder, a notoriously bad puppy who likes paper, or possible you have a cup of water right next to your homework assignment. 
           Now I know that in a TED talk video I watched it says that the internet, e-mailing, facebooking, etc, has made us less of liars. Well I think its a little less what the internet, but more of the written word. Writing brings out the honesty in us. How could it not? I have publicly wrote twice now on this blog, how I have totally ignored the fact that my professors are reading this that I told them how I skip classes, or have procrastinated all day Saturday and mostly all day Sunday. 
          So in conclusion for today's learned lesson: Do homework first in Word, and save after every sentence. Do not send so much time doing nothing on Facebook and do something productive. 
          Lessons to be ignored today: Saving after every sentence.  Do not send some much time on Facebook and actually do something productive. 
          So in the daring life of a college kid, nothing happened this weekend, no wild parties, no crazy drinking, or stuff like that. No it was a weekend full of work on Friday, Facebook on Saturday and actually getting out of my house for another reason than school, and Sunday more Facebook and homework. Tune in tomorrow I hear that the forecast might be sadly about the same. 


Friday, September 20, 2013

Deep In Thought and Random Turtles

       
         At work today I had to work a longer than normal shift. I am big enough to say that I should not complain. I have a very good job, I have a very nice boss, and its just really nice. But I work by myself most of the time with a cat named Cheyenne. So since I had time I thought I would work on homework but every time I moved to pull out my laptop again to start reading or just doing anything, aka Facebook - because I am convinced its the next most addictive thing compared to nicotine. It's a personal feeling but there it is. While talking to some amazing people. No names sorry. We were discussing though (again no names sorry) an indie author who a blogging friend of mine tried to help and the author ignored her amazing advice, that she took a lot of time to do. There is a point to this story I swear!

           So the point I am making with that little story is that it got me wondering. Indie authors sometimes get a bad rap, and some people go as far to say they are not real authors. Being that I am a firm believer, and supporter I have to highly disagree. If anything Indie authors are more dedicated to what they do then regular published authors. And I do truly mean that. Indie authors have to work twice, if not more than that, as hard. They have be to willing to do all the work that a "regularly" published author has to do and more. And I admire these women and men. I do completely, they work incredibly hard for their success and I am not trying to say that "regularly" published authors don't work hard too, but they have people to do somethings for them.
           As these powerful thoughts are overwhelming me with admiration and the need to feel as if I need to work harder for them as well I was interrupted. Did I mention that I work at a small, locally owned pet store? Well as these thoughts are plaguing me, I have someone come in looking for a new dog food. Normally I don't mind doing this, in fact I enjoy it. Only the customer had a bit of personal space issues. Namely my personal space. Finally after playing the fun game of I step back, she steps forward in my direction, we got her squared away and checked out. I was back to thinking about all the hard work these authors put in.
          Of course before I could get too far back into any work for blogging, or other homework. I am interrupted again! This time the lady has a black plastic crate. She announces to me: "I have a new friend."

So this about my reaction:

         And I am hoping, so, so hoping that there isn't a squirrel or something like that in the crate that was injured. We are not a vet clinic, nor do we take strays. So getting closer, I breathe a breath of relief. It was only a painted turtle. But still painted turtles are wild animals - yes that image doesn't do well with me either but there it is. And she asked if we had food for it. So she paid for pet turtle food and was on her way. So as I am about to sit down and really get into work, what happens but the doorbell again. And so continues the day. 
         

          The biggest thing I learned today from personal spaced impaired customers, turtle saving old ladies, and an incident with Cheyenne. I have even more respect for these Indie authors. Most of the ones I know are mothers, workers, wives/husbands, and so much more. They manage to not only promote themselves, getting their books out there, but writing, editing, and all the small workings of publishing/writing one probably doesn't even think about. 
         In the end, writing is a passion of mine. I love it. And of course with writing - I don't care what anyone else says I firmly believe this - that writing and reading go hand in hand. And while even blogging can become very time consuming, one doesn't even realize how much until they do it. It's worth it. It's worth helping these amazing people out and being part of such an amazing community. I don't think I would trade anything for this. 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Tragedy Of Thursday

            Today I came to the overwhelming conclusion that I have become completely lazy - this week. I know school has started - we are what in our third week now. And I find myself even falling behind in my other activities as well. Outside of school I am an avid reader of Indie books, and run a blog with a friend. On top of school work I am receiving books that need to be read as well but I find myself doing absolutely nothing really then coming away from the day thinking...wow I was so busy.  All I know is that I am deluding myself into believing that what I am doing is okay. I am tempted to say as Lana Del Rey sings: "I got the summertime sadness" but I don't particularly care for summer all that much.  In the end today was probably the worst case yet.
           

              Certainly though I found reasons to justify my need to skip classes today, and have a "Becca" day. The night before I got scolded - yes scolded for a private matter, that ended in tears. Rather horrible for me being that I don't normally cry all that much. I woke up at 5 am with a splitting headache - took some Advil and waited an hour for it to work. (Was this the best reason to excuse myself from classes? No it wasn't. Would I have called into work because of this, no, I would have grinned and bared it like a normal person.) So I reasoned with myself and said well I will got to my night class because I was still feeling rather horrible in the morning, and work on other stuff. Instead I got next to nothing done ... again.
             So the time was getting closer for me to get ready for my night class - that isn't really a night class. And again I was finding excuses not to go. I have to commute 45 minutes out of my way. I don't have the book yet - still hasn't come in the mail, do I really want to be that student who keeps using her neighbors? More excuses, more reasons just to be blah today. I find it totally unfair of me while others actually got off their bums and did what they needed to do today. Will this stop me in the future from skipping classes? No. I am feeling guilty because I did nothing to make up for it. I did nothing for my blog, I did no reading for the authors I have been promising reviews for, and I have done no writing of my own...besides this.
             After watching the TED talk video I knew that honesty is probably "the best policy". Hence why I am being brutally honest now to a professor, and my peers on how on their hard-worked day I decided to do next to nothing. Also I am being brutally honest with myself, the pizza pinwheels I made for lunch was not worth saying home from school.
         


            I should have gone or at the very least pushed myself to do more homework, or blog stuff - as I feel as if I am falling behind in that as well. So total brutal honesty? This has been the Tragedy of Thursday. I just couldn't wait for Friday (which will be filled with work anyways) to take a break like a normal person. Doesn't seem fair to me.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Private Writing

Shh...its a secret. But not really.
Writing is an expression of the inner most thoughts right? In the article Writing as a Self-Revelation, it seems that the author feels that way though. A subconscious act that pours out from our minds to the page to write what we dare not say. I find this fascinating and unable to find a reason to disagree. Part of me - I think the part that loves to write says this cannot be true, its something that I have carefully formed in my mind, and allowed to grow on its own. But where would it have learned to have grown other than in my head? Its something I think is slightly hard to accept because in the end its agreeing to the idea that our minds aren't as infinitely limitless. Its through experience of our own, and fears of our own, or whatever it maybe fueling us at the moment.
If writing is an expression of our inner most thoughts, and the author of this article also believes in the basic human concept of wanting to understand and be understood is true, then the subconscious working out our feelings in the forms of poetry, fiction, blogging even is a form of this. Then right now I suppose I am trying to get you to understand that while I see the logic in what the author says I still hope to believe in the unbelievable. Writing gives me a piece of that, to believe in the unbelievable.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Goody-Two Shoes Article

In the article Goody-Two Shoes, the author of the article says that writing isn't a chore and people shouldn't force themselves to sit down and write for an hour a day just to do it. While mostly I agree with this statement, I have to also disagree. Yes forcing one's self to write for an hour could turn your passion into this much hated chore. Not writing at all for long extended periods of time can be dangerous as well in my opinion. In my own experience when taking workshops I am writing most of all the time, even if its little stories that won't ever become anything other than that, a little story. I found this to be helpful to get even something down for one day because it kept me thinking about the idea of writing. It kept me focused on wanting to get the larger project done. It also gave me an outlet, if I am feeling rather cheery at the time, but the part I need to write is not, then take that happy feeling write a fun short story, and the next day hopefully you will be in a better setting to write "darker" themed things.
The idea of for at least a couple minutes a day is the same as telling an athlete that they have to practice their sport for at least a half an hour a day as well. They might not like the idea of running around in circles for a half an hour but in the end it makes them better in shape, and better prepared than the person who sat around all summer doing other things. The concept for a writer should be the same, while I am not saying send a complete hour forcing yourself to write, you should sit down for 10 minutes write a little bit, walk away come back to it and do this 5 times a day, or rather cut down the amount of time you are practicing and do it for 15 minutes twice a day and you will be getting 30 minutes of practice without making yourself feel completely forced.
I do agree that the article Goody-Two Shoes does bring up a valid point that one doesn't want to make writing a chore, and make it unpleasant then what the person in question should do is to find a way to make writing a more entertaining for the day. Make a game out of it again using the sport's metaphor, athlete's don't always just run around in circles, or do drills practice after practice. Once in awhile, or at least once a week if not every practice get to do scrimmages. While I understand doing a scrimmage for writing is not quite the same thing, it is all about finding new techniques to keep up with your writing even on those days you would prefer to do nothing at all. Writing is as much as a muscle to be used as legs are for soccer, or any other sport. Up-keep is an important part of it all.