My Thoughts on Twilight

Chani's back!

So I'll try to make this post a bit shorter than the previous one, but NeeNee's response to my angst post made me think about Twilight as well.

First, my ultimate coming off of Twilight thoughts are: It is entertaining, but will never be great literature. In other words, I liked it. I enjoyed reading it. But I don't understand wacko fangirls. And as a person with some experience in English and Creative writing (not as much as NeeNee, though) I will be the first to admit that the books are not really written well. Now, unlike NeeNee, I actually like books 3 & 4 better than 1 & 2, but not because of Bella and Edward. In fact, aside from Rosalie (who I also like to call the "Queen Bitch of the Universe") and Emmett (I find him to be an obnoxious jock), Bella and Edward are probably my least favorite characters in the story. I much prefer Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Jacob, and Renesmee. And the Volturi are pretty cool in their own freaky way (I like Aro and Marcus, not so much Caius). But anyway, I like Bella and Edward so little mostly, as NeeNee said, because of their angst. And here are three specific things I don't like about them: :-P

1. Bella's incessant description of Edward's voice as "velvet". Also, honey (for his eyes and maybe his voice sometimes too? I don't remember). I mean, the girl NEVER stops swooning over him. And frankly he can't be that perfect. I mean I'm all for keeping the romance alive but COME ON. Does she have to swoon EVERY TIME he comes near her? Get over it! Especially once you've been together for awhile, the novelty should wear off. I don't care if he's a super-hot vampire, the novelty should wear off! At least a little bit! And enough about his velvet voice already!!!

2. Edward's angst: (note sarcasm in my imitation of him). "Oh, I'm so evil and horrible and I don't have a soul and I'm a monster and why does Bella love me and she should be afraid of me and she shouldn't want to be a vampire and I have to keep her as a human and I'm so terrible and why does she want to stay with me oh how evil and horrible and worthless I am!" *Eye roll* First, he ought to respect Bella and not be so condescending to her all the time. She's grown up enough to make her own decisions. Second, seriously dude, get over yourself! You're not a monster, you hold back, you care, you don't kill people, if she loves you just accept it and let it go, especially if she makes you happy. Your biggest problem is that you put yourself down too much for no good reason. The rest of his family doesn't do that! The author seems to imply it's because he's been alone for so long, but it also seems to imply that he's been alone by choice. So is his alone-ness causing his attitude, or vice-versa? Just a thought.

3. Bella's angst: (note more sarcasm). "Oh look at poor little me I'm so weird and I'm awkward and clumsy and unusual and obviously not pretty or glamorous why does he love me I'm not so great oh I am so unworthy of his love because he's so glorious and I'm plain and ordinary and so not-special and not pretty and oh I am unworthy I am unworthy why does he love me?" Again: GET OVER YOURSELF!!! Geez these two and their lack of confidence in themselves and Bella's self-esteem issues! They say you can't be loved by another person if you don't love yourself first. Makes me wonder how these two ever got together! Nobody wants to be with somebody who's always depressed and down on him/herself. At least I personally am turned off by people with no self-esteem. But whatever.

Ok, I'm done now. :)

3. Bella's angst

Emo/Angst in EVERY Culture

But really, Chani has a point about emo and angst. They are very popular and well, as the great Charles Baxter puts it, "Hell sells." Why? Unfortunately, people lose interest in things if they are plain ol' happily ever after stories. Truthfully, conflict is needed. However, anime and manga in general do have a tendency to have some of the worst qualities of American soap operas. Basically meaning that a couple must go through every trial possible (which gets ridiculous after a certain point) just in order to be together. Please, family disapproval, enemies attacking from all sides (literary AND figuratively) is too much and the odds are actually against that many obstacles appearing (simultaneously AND in succession).

But it is not just in anime and manga. It is there in Asian drama, American soap operas and even prime time television now. It's getting worse, not better which makes television even more annoying. Charter calls continuosly and I can honestly say that I just don't watch that much tv because there is really too much crap out there.

And you want emo and angst? Check out Stephanie Myers Twilight series. OMG, talk about emo and angst. The first book was fine, the second book saw a dramatic increase and books 3 and 4? Fuh-gettaboutit. It is seriously ridiculous. So, I guess you can say there is no entertainment venue safe from emo and angst and I believe that this is totally different than Baxter implies with his quote. Sure, hell sells, but we're not talking about climbing through the seven circles while everyone is against you.

Too much is too much. Moderation is key. We need moderation in the anime and manga and literature and movies today. Melodrama will always be present (unfortunately, my much loved Escaflowne can be emo and angsty as well - but not quite to the evil extent of today), so how bout we tone it down just a little?

Wacko Poem and ranting about anime and angst

Hello Bloggers! My name is Chani and I am the "C" of "CNS Speak". Sooooooo, I've never blogged before but hopefully I can start off with a bang. NeeNee, also known as Leighton Nickols, the "N" of "CNS Speak" has requested that I post an original poem I composed last night completely randomly. Five of us were hanging out together and we each picked one word. The words were:

Picture
Sarcophagus
Cocain
Why
What

Clearly some of us were more creative than others :-P, however my assignment should I choose to accept it, was to compose a poem using all five of those words. Now fiction writing is more my forte than poetry, and I am not ashamed to admit it, so I didn't take too much time in writing this poem. Note that my observations of a lot of art (not all of it, just a large amount) have made me notice (unfortunately) that apparently the more angsty and emo your art, the better it is (anime as well, but I'll get to that later). So I pulled that in a little bit, kind of as a joke, but also kind of expressing my frustration. However, nothing really deep went into this poem. I wrote it in like literally two minutes anyhow so don't think too much about it and just enjoy! :-P


Why sarcophagus?
Picture cocaine - filling me with angst
What image conjures
Through the darkness
Of Death
And buttons
Through the wind and rain I see pictures of life
Of death
Of sarcophagi
And phagus means eat
Like food
And phytophagus
Knowing words and their roots and meanings
And yet wishing for art
And balance
But not angst
Do not make me emo
I love life
And yet
How
Why
What
Where
When
Will I find
Something like cocaine
To keep me away from angst
And towards the light?
But not drugs
And never
Never
Never
Give up
Keep going
For better or worse
And still
Go

Yeah, sooooo.... very random! But what do you expect in two minutes? lol. Anyway now I want to rant about the terms "angsty" and "emo". It seems that these days things are considered "cool" if they are angsty or emo. ESPECIALLY anime. I was talking to a guy at work over the summer and somehow the subject turned to anime and why he doesn't like it and I do. Now, I took some offense to him saying that I "like anime". And why is this? Well, I guess if you want to be technical I do like anime. What I have a PROBLEM with is people who say they "like anime" just because it's anime. Like anything: crime shows, sitcoms, dramas, movies, cartoons, whatever, there are many varieties of anime. I used to, when I was younger, and before I went to Japan (going to Japan, as you will see later, is a big factor in all of this), like pretty much every anime out there, partly because there wasn't much available in the US at the time. Anime fans these days are spoiled, I tell you! But now I realize that some anime are just dumb. Some shows are better than others, like anything. Yes, I like the animation style, but some drawings are better than others, and I also like Disney animation, Pixar computer-animated stuff, you name it. Really to classify all anime as the same is terribly annoying. So I tell my co-worker, no I do not "like anime just because it's anime". I like certain shows because they are interesting, and have good plots and characters. So I object to people telling me that I just "like anime". I prefer more detail than that in my explanation. In addition, I went on to tell him that most of the more modern anime (Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note) I'm not into. I like older stuff (Sailor Moon, Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, Urusei Yatsura, Evangelion, Escaflowne, Ranma 1/2, to name a few). Partly because at this point in my life I don't have the money to get into any long, new shows (I like buying the DVDs), but also because too much of the current popular anime is angsty and emo. This led us to discuss Death Note in particular. Now, granted, please take my comments about Death Note with a grain of salt and don't get offended. I have not actually watched or read Death Note, I'm just making observations based on what I've heard and read about it. And I don't know for sure how much of that is accurate, but the impression I get is that it's VERY angsty and emo and people like it just for that reason. Now I ask, what's so good about being depressed? I mean, I understand that for a story to be interesting there has to be conflict, people can't be happy all the time, and that's fine, but really to just have characters be angsty and emo because it's "cool", I mean , come on! At any rate, another thing that annoys me about death note is that the main character's name is Light and his archenemy (I think, from what I read) is named L. Now what the heck is up with this!? First off, the word "light" starts with an "L" and it's almost like it's just Light's initials. Thats' weird! I mean when I first read stuff online about the show I didn't even know the difference between Light and L, and assumed they might be the same person. Which leads me to my next rant. The name "Light". Who the hell in Japan names their kid "Light?" It's an English name (I wouldn't even call it a name really, either, as I doubt any native english speaking person would name their kid "Light" either). Japanese people don't name English names! At least it would be ridiculously uncommon I would assume. Ok they used the name for symbolism purposes. I get that, but it would make more sense to call him "Hikaru", a male (or female) Japanese name meaning "Light". But Light? Really? Come on!

My next rant is about shounen-ai/yaoi. Now please don't read this as discriminatory. It is just the opposite. I have no problem with homosexuals. Some Japanese people, however, do. Girls in America gush and go on and on about the pretty boys, their "bishounen lovers" in shounen-ai/yaoi. I have even known people so obsessed with it that they insist on making shounen-ai pairs out of every male they like in every anime they see, even if there is NO REASONABLE BASIS for said characters to get together. It...drives...me... CRAZY! Now again I say don't assume I am discriminating because I happen to be a fan of some shounen-ai couples. Touya and Yukito from Cardcaptor Sakura are adorable. What I have a problem with is the insane fandom surrounding it and the complete lack of said fangirls to look deeper and realize that this depiction is actually BAD for real gay males in Japan. Remember anime-fans, Japan is a REAL country filled with REAL people! Real as in reality, life, not seen through a screen, and definitely not animated. I took a gender relations class when I spent my one-semester study abroad in Japan in 2006. It was one of the most interesting and insightful classes I have ever taken. And I learned so much. In Japan, there is still a real struggle for homosexual people to obtain their rights. I was so busy in Japan I did not get the opportunity to attend one of their actual rainbow parades but I wish I had been able to. We were, however, shown footage in class of some of these parades, and saw interviews with the real people participating in them. And we learned that the popular culture depictions of homosexuals, especially males, is considered offensive and degrading to some of the real homosexuals in the country. Homosexual males are not taken seriously. Their image is either of a silly crossdresser, or the stereotypical "shounen-ai" anime character. But they are REAL HUMAN BEINGS with jobs and with lives. Gay businessmen have an especially hard time, as other men have problems working with them. These are real people fighting for respect as human beings in a society that is still learning how to accept those that are different. I'm not saying you women out there can't be shounen-ai fans, but next time you want to go "squeeee!" about some bishounen-couple getting it on, I ask you to stop and think for a moment about the real people in a real society who want respect and understanding that their lifestyle choice when it comes to romantic relations has no bearing on their ability to work or think or be real successful contributors to society. Please think of these people. Think of reality. Respect others.

Finally I leave you with these thoughts. Anime is great. Anime is fun. Japan is a real country with real people. My thoughts when I were in Japan were that some things were better than in America, some things were not. In fact, it was about even, in my personal opinion. Both of our countries, like all countries on this Earth, have good and bad points, and the best way for any of our countries to improve is to learn from each other, communicate, and try to understand each other. The way homosexuals, women, day-to-day life, is depicted in anime is not always the way it is in the real country of Japan. Look around you. See people next to you in reality and realize that people just like that live in Japan too. Enjoy anime, but take it with a grain of salt. Remember that learning about another country is not only through pop-culture, but through history, cultural understanding, and communication.

Hopefully I haven't bogged you readers down too much with this, but I've had these thoughts for a long time after coming back from Japan and am really relieved to get them off of my chest!

By the way, if you get an opportunity to visit Japan, GO! It's great! And eat Takoyaki! I love it! :)

Till next time!

Chani out!

Word Game Challange

At my sister's with some friends for the weekend, we came up with a game. Every person got to choose one word and then Chani and I would each write a poem using the 5 words chosen by each of the people present.  The words are as follows:

JonG - Cocaine
Sis - What
JonS - Why
Chani - Picture
Me - Sarcophagus

So here is my very brief poem, currently untitled:

 Why, what light through yonder cocaine haze shines

on the brilliant sarcophagus

in the black-and-white picture

of my mind's naked eye

Chani-chan shall be posting her attempt at the word game challenge shortly. And I must admit her attempt at the word game more than likely wins over my brief attempt at pithy brilliance. It is utterly innovatively funny and yet totally random.

Enjoy 

Quote of the Day

"Please, for the love of God, proofread. A typo we can understand, but a complete and utter lack of the basic tenets of grammar is an affront to human decency."

I stole this from Jersey Devil Press's submission guidelines <http://www.jerseydevilpress.com/submissions/>. It made me chuckle and nod my head in understanding. I have received sample reviews from potential reviewers so full of grammar mistakes and typos it was horrible. If I had been the author and was submitting something like that for publication and as proof of my ability, I would be ashamed.

Quote of the Day

"Some people don't want to be compassionate. They want to be right."
~Unknown

But really, you know people who want to be right, all the time whether they are or not. So, what does this mean exactly? What does compassion and being right have to do with one another? I am not exactly sure. Maybe that's why I thought the quote was cool, all the different interpretations a person could get out of it.

Po-tay-toh, Po-tah-toh

The add old adage "you say po-tay-toh, I say po-tah-toh" is interesting. I am not talking about the meaning we get from this saying, but rather the fact that it is one word said two different ways. This is basically regional and where you grew up determines which pronunciation you use. It works with tomato and aunt as well as many other words.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, I wish to talk about one word, namely a name. The name being that of Leigh. So, how do you pronounce it? I am willing to bet that 99.99% of people will say Leigh is pronounced Lee. There is no other way to say it. Is that true?

Answer being, uh, no. It isn't true. There is another pronunciation to this name. What is it? It is lay. People scoff and sneer and say that makes no sense. Really? Let's take a wander down vocabularly lane, shall we? Evidence that it can (and probably should be) pronounced lay:

1. Sleigh (how do we say this word? slay! with the long a sound)
2. Raleigh (ok, some people will say raw-lee vs. raw-lay)
3. Eight (last time I checked it was pronounced ate, again long a sound)
4. Freight (frayte)
5. Weight (wait)
   

Enough with the word games. I know they are probably not the most convincing, but I just thought it was nice to point out. In the English language, what does the vowels 'ei' put together sound like? Think about feint (pronounced "faint" not "feent"). It is the "ie" combination that is actually pronounced as the long e sound versus the long a sound. Now, I am not saying that everytime "ei" is together it will be pronounced this way (like agreeing), but I am willing to say that the majority of words with "ei" should be pronounced with the long a sound.

So why do so many people pronounce Leigh as Lee vs. Lay? And why did I spend a whole blog post on this particular topic? Well, look at my name: Leighton Nichols (pronounced lay-ton). Tis a nom de plume, but Leighton is derived from my middle name, which is? You guessed it, Leigh. And no, it is not pronounced Lee. My father, for whatever confounding reason, gave me one of the commonest middle names and decided that it will be Lay vs. Lee.

It is a pet peeve of mine when people get the pronounciation of my middle name wrong. Petty? Probably, but it just annoys me. Just like when people start adding extra letters to my first name.

Twitter, Facebook

Social networking; sharing your status; and updating, updating, updating. Seriously, I wonder.

I joined Facebook at the behest of a friend. Back then (2004), Facebook was nice and uncluttered. Mainly, I just liked it for keeping in touch with old friends who I had lost contact with. Now it is a crazy place with way too much going on. My response to the . . . commercialization? or whatever you want to call it . . . stop going to Facebook. Which, now that I have finally visited it again after a few months, means I had a stockpile of over 100 requests. Seriously way too many.

What happened to Facebook being a social networking platform to keep in touch with people (or to find like-minded people if you are a social butterfly)?

Now there is Twitter. I don't understand it. I don't think that I want to either. It seems pointless. Especially when you have people updating their Twitter accounts every few minutes with inane information that it is hard to believe anyone would actually care about.

What is good about these two sites now?