A Little Bit of Moonshine

two spock

red spock

blue spock

glad spock

sad spock

old spock

new spock

hat spock

cat spock

head spock

dead spock

tie spock

high spock

alive spock

revived spock

all the spocks may come and go

but there’s one thing we’ll always know

no matter where or when you may be

spock is there

for you and me

live long and prosper

This is Bo Burnham’s “From God’s Perspective” song. I wrote this commentary on Facebook first and edited it on my phone, just to forewarn you. Also, I welcome any respectful comments either agreeing or disagreeing with anything I say.

“If you want love then the love has got to come from you”

–Bo Burnham

I agree with the above, and enjoyed this video to an extent. I say to an extent because I think Bo Burnham makes some wonderful and powerful statements in this parody (I mostly prefer the ones at the end), but I feel inspired to comment on my sentiments in which I dissent from what he says.

I agree that the institution of religion can definitely be problematic. There are many instances of this historically and currently. But, let’s also remember that people have done wonderful things in the name of religion. People do horrible things in the name of atheism too. That makes the person or people who did the deed, and those who helped that person or people believe that what they were doing was right the responsible party or parties, *not* the religion or non-religion.

At the end of this parody Bo Burnham also mentions that Heaven can be made on Earth. I don’t know his background, so I don’t know if he knows this (he very well may know this), but that is actually a teaching that long pre-existed him saying that. I know for a fact that Judaism and Christianity teaches that we as people should be spreading love, and not hate in order to create Heaven on Earth.

I’m 99.9% certain that other religions say this also. I don’t know how they exactly word it, as I only intimately know it was taught in the Church in which I grew up in those words. I have since studied other religions throughout college and since I graduated almost five years ago and have seen clear parallels, similarities and more that have only served to help me have even more respect for other religions than the respect that was initially taught to me as a child. I have seen that teaching to love one another pop up cross-culturally. I know in my heart that that teaching is why religion is important, and why it is so good for so many people. That also doesn’t mean that you can’t also be working towards that goal outside of religion. As Bo Burnham said, it’s a secular teaching also.

This teaching of loving each other (be a good neighbor, etc) is why religion is still important, and why it is so good for so many people. That also doesn’t mean that you can’t also be working towards that goal outside of religion. Secular shows like Mister Roger’s Neighborhood are perfect examples of ways you can learn to be a good person. Also the Harry Potter series, The Golden Compass series, other works of fiction and more are some other secular examples. Please don’t trash religion, but please also don’t trash non-religions. Please don’t trash other people, period. That’s the point, right? I hope we all can agree on that one…That is to say, love is love, right? This extends to all people, regardless of religion or as identifying as not having a religion.

From the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the story of the Good Samaritan is the one that feels most relevant to my words right now. I highly recommend not only looking up the story, but also doing some research on what it means in context – it is a valuable story that has been retold cross-culturally, and probably pre-existed the Bible also (I just currently can think of no specific evidence beyond my gut feeling for my statement that The Good Samaritan story pre-existed the Christian Bible. If you’re reading this and have evidence, I welcome you to add it to the comments here). And side note: the Old Testament of the Christian Bible is the Jewish Torah because Jesus was Jewish and wanted to add to the story, not take away from it. At least, that’s how it was explained to me growing up, which is just one small piece of evidence that we should respect religions or non-religions outside our own!!!! We’re far more connected than you may think!

Anyhow, here it is for those who don’t know it:

Luke 10:25-37New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-37&version=NIV&interface=amp

Thank you, again, for reading.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi (or someone else:

https://josephranseth.com/gandhi-didnt-say-be-the-change-you-want-to-see-in-the-world/ )

It’s about this dude Henry who’s an artist living in New York,

and he has to go back to his hometown in Montana to take care of his grandfather who just recently had a stroke and is wheelchair-bound.

Things are all fine and dandy until Henry finds out that his old best friend from high school, as well as object of his unrequited affections that he’s never really been able to let go of is also back in town. His name is Dean. He’s there with his two sons to recoup from a recent divorce from his wife. 

Henry is extremely frazzled by seeing his long-time crush after so many years, but they spend a lot of time together over the passing weeks and seem to fall into their old friendship very easily. Perhaps a little too easily….??? hmmm???

And with everything with Dean happening, Henry can’t be blamed that he’s entirely oblivious to Pike, the man who runs the local general goods store.

It’s obvious to us (and the whole damn town) that Pike’s been head over heels for Henry since high school, but is painfully shy. He can barely talk to Henry at all and it’s the cuTEST GODDAMN THING oh lord help me from this movie.

Throughout the movie, Pike can’t seem to help himself from wanting nothing more than to make Henry happy from afar. He’s supposed to be delivering food cooked by one of the older ladies in town to Henry and his grandfather’s house to eat every night, but Pike cooks his own, exceptionally better meals, and delivers those instead and tells no one.

Now, Henry does notice Pike, and something about him catches his attention. Even if he doesn’t understand why yet. He tries to invite him to stay for dinner almost every night in an attempt to get him to open up, but Pike only becomes more closed off when he notices what’s going on between Henry and Dean. 

I’ll stop there, as I don’t want to give the whole thing away, but I can’t leave this without talking about the town’s residents in this movie. This place is 100% one of those little towns where everyone knows each other as well as their business, you have nosy little old ladies, dudes who do nothing all day but sit on the porch of the corner store and smoke a pipe, and they all go to church on Sundays.

AND YET, not only is this movie void of any homophobia from any character, basically the whole freaking town is all up in this whole love triangle. They support Pike so much that there’s even scenes where they all play matchmaker with him and Henry. They root for them in the goofiest, most loveable way. 

SO BASICALLY, this is a silly romantic comedy, except gay. It’s all super  lighthearted comedy with tiny bits of drama thrown in. No one dies!!!! No one is killed or commits suicide and has a 100% happy ending!!! The three main guys are just normal guys!!! There’s not a stereotype to be found here!! anD ONE OF THEM IS NATIVE AMERICAN. No seriously guys it hurts me that not everybody knows about this movie. I discovered it when I was in middle school in our video store’s tiny little LGBTQ section, and must have rented it 20 times throughout the years before I finally bought it. I know this movie almost frame by frame I’ve watched it so many times because it’s just so disgustingly cute and always makes me happy. NOW, this movie isn’t perfect. It’s got some clunky acting, weird.. I guess artsy moments that don’t make sense, and crosses into the line of cheesy quite a few times, BUT, that’s really not important. This is treated exactly as if it were a het romantic comedy. Their being gay has nothing to do with the overall story, and is never brought up save for a small plotline where Henry is guilty with himself for never coming out to his grandfather. But overall, more LGBTQ movies need to be like this, it’s just way too rare.

GO WATCH IT YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID. Sadly, the only way I know to get ahold of it is to just buy the DVD. But it’s fairly cheap on Amazon! And even cheaper if you buy it used on there, but either way I promise it’s worth it to own. Like I said, I think I kept our video store in business from my renting it so many times.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling

Chapter one: the boy who lived

From the get-go, it’s apparent that the Dursleys are more than a little prejudiced. In the first few pages we clearly see that Vernon Dursley hates anyone different than himself. Not only is this ignorant, but as the story develops we see that his heart and mind are both closed off to love outside of his own narcissism. It is not the same level of horror that we see in Death Eaters, but his level of hatred is something we might see in our daily lives.

Vernon could be your neighbor. His son may be Dudley. Think about it.

What would you do if you lived next door to Vernon Dursley?

Let’s start with the very first sentence:

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

Do you know someone determined to fit in with the status quo? Someone who fears so much being anything but normal that they shun difference? They shut out all the beautiful complexities and differences that make us who we are and that make our lives worth living.

His ostracizing language is despicable. Unfortunately people forget that language has a role in feeding hate or love. Vernon clearly thinks in terms of hate.

“He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn’t know why, but they made him uneasy.” (4)

‘They’ made him uneasy.

“Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn’t blame her — if he’d had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks …” (5)

'Those’ people, he says.

“Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … her crowd.” (7)

'Her’ crowd he says.

I don’t know when this question was asked, but I just hopped on Tumblr tonight for the first time in a really long time and saw this.

There is no strict formula for YA. That’s the beauty of writing fiction. First person, third person, second person or omniscient. You get to pick! We aren’t in English class anymore, so we get to do what we want.

We get to write for the future. We pave the way.

I’ve definitely see a lot of first person in YA. I feel that most likely that is the most common way it’s written (in my experience), and that is most likely because it’s the easiest way to relate to the main character. That’s how you can get inside the person’s head and know and relate to the inner them.

Third person limited works too. I just started reading Harry Potter to my husband because he (gasp!) has never read it before (blasphemy!). Anyhow, I’ve worn him down and tonight was the first time he let me read it to him (I won the battle because he liked it and is going to let me keep reading it to him)…

Anyhow, I brought that up because it’s fresh in my head as an example of a very successful utilization of third person limited. In later books it grazes 1st person a little bit, but I would say it is truly third person. Rowling also uses omniscient a bit in some chapters so that the reader has an opportunity to learn about relevant events outside of Harry. It’s hard to strictly keep to one effective point of view, if you would like to tell a story as powerful as Harry Potter. But, that in no way takes away from the value of books written in the first person.

Let’s take “Total Constant Order” by Crissa-Jean Chappell. It’s been a long time since I last read it, but I remember that it was at least mostly first person, and that was a necessary tool for the story. The main character has a diagnosis of having OCD, and in order to understand her story, the reader must be inside her head.

Anyhow, I’ll stop here for now. I hope that helped answer your question!

Facebook is currently sucking me in in the way Tumblr used to (one of the main reasons I left for a while). Anyhow, I'm happy to be back!!!

I'm going to try to rebuild Ultimate YA. I miss it....plus I never published the last issue I put together when I still had staff writers and an editor. I love and miss them all! They were such an amazing and talented team of writers, but we all sadly had to do some adulting and find jobs that paid money... :(

With everything that happened in my life in the last two years, I got stuck on my letter from the publisher. I asked myself: is this goodbye? Do I need to stop publishing?

Anyhow, here I am after much time as past. Since the last issue I met my best friend and got married to him (three weeks ago!). Talk about life changes, eh?

Plus, I'm pretty sure there's some stuff happening in the world right now.....(hahaha...except it's not actually funny).

“Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years.”

“Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years.”

*Singing* Bill Nye the Science guy! (Science rules)

Nayyirah Waheed (via wordsnquotes)

Whenever ducks fly south in the winter, they’re actually flying to a big city of ducks where they talk and have jobs and have traffic lights with pictures of ducks in them and every billboard and storefront is a bird pun.

A generic duck guy is a young adult who feels inadequate because his dad is a big broker in the bread stock exchange.

Is that

Is that a fucking

If you have ever had to write a resume for work or for an application, then you know the hardest part is figuring out what type of words to use that sound professional and and intelligent.

Example: If an application asks you if you have any relevant experience for a job at a day care center and you have experience, like you have babysat children. You would look at the words in the columns to see what words you should use that will help your resume stand out. You might put down “Have supervised and attended to children on a regular basis.”