A few weeks ago while looking for something else, I found a box full of really old photo albums in the tiny storage area behind my parents’ bed. Being one who loves to look at old pictures, I took the box downstairs and began going through it. In one of the albums, there were a lot of pictures of farm animals and the like, and my parents were quick to point out that those pictures were from the last time they went to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show – back in 1977. Having grown up on a farm, my mom always enjoys this kind of stuff, so she decided she wanted to go this year to…. relive the good old days? I have no idea. Continue reading
Seems About Right…
So Sarah Palin is joining Fox News. The down side is that she’ll have this platform to make ridiculous statements. The up side is that I don’t think she can run for president this way, so maybe that means she won’t. This is obviously my opinion only, and I’m not going to tell you that I have loved everything Obama has done because I certainly haven’t. I’m not quite sure where my current political loyalties lie because I’m so sick of all of it, but I’m certain that I’m not a Republican. Even if I were, I think I’d still have a problem with Sarah Palin. I tried to stay unbiased about her at first, but the whole “abuse of power” thing really made me think that she’s completely fake (along with many, many other politicians, I’m aware). I have a hard time taking people seriously when they tell me how they worship her because she’s “just like them.” That’s a tactic. She’s not just like you at all. I have a hard time taking her seriously because I think she’s stupid in a dangerous way and I’m concerned that a lot of people would be stupid enough to vote for her for reasons similar to those they gave when voting for George W. Bush. I feel like it’s an elementary school election where everyone says stuff like “She has pretty hair, so I voted for her” or “She likes hockey and I like hockey, so I voted for her.” That’s really irresponsible voting. Obviously this is, again, my opinion. I have no interest in arguing politics whatsoever, and I’m not going to. I just thought I’d put that out there because I thought it was interesting.
Love Story: An English Major’s Nightmare
I’ve spent a lot of time reading in my life. In elementary school, I pretty much ignored peers and teachers alike because my nose was always stuck in a book that I kept just inside my desk for when I finished my work before everyone else. I started reading chapter books in first grade, and by third grade, I was already reading on an eighth or ninth grade level (according to those awesome CTBS tests). I love books. I love the look of them, the smell, the atmosphere they bring, the escape, and the knowledge. I just love them.
And that is why I hate when people screw up classic stories.
Okay, yes. I’m going to write my first real post on how the song “Love Story” by Taylor Swift drives me absolutely insane. Now, I’ve recently grown fond of Taylor. I tried really hard not to, but then I finally just had to admit that I really like some of her stuff. She’s talented and funny and she’s so darn cute. And people who say they don’t like “You Belong With Me” or at least that it’s never been stuck in their heads are obviously liars. I’ll leave the song “Fifteen” for another time (it might be one of the corniest songs I’ve ever heard, but maybe that’s because I’m 27 and being 15 was nothing like that for me). Right now I just really want to focus on “Love Story.” Let’s break it down with some lyrics (all words belong to Taylor Swift) so that I can explain to you how irritated I get when I hear it. Continue reading
Blogging for the New Year
I’ve had any number of blogs in the past. I’ve had several eBlogs. Those never took. I used the blog feature on MySpace to review books or, on my “school MySpace,” to tell my students about homework assignments. The problem there was that MySpace drove me crazy. It’s so 2006, anyway. So last decade. I’ve had WordPress blogs before, but they too went the way of the caribou. Too personal, too whiney, perhaps. This was most evident in my most faithful blog: LiveJournal. I created that account shortly before leaving for college in 2001 and then rediscovered it my sophomore year. I’m glad that I did because I can go back now and read about a lot of fun memories from college that I’d forgotten about. This also affords me the opportunity to excessively roll my eyes at myself, but what are you gonna do? I quit the old el-jay cold turkey on my 25th birthday. It was the end of an era. I was, after all, a quarter of a century old (or young) by that point.
Since then, no other blogging venture has really stuck for me. By and large, the reason for this is because it’s so easy to vent frustrations, to whine and complain online, and instead of doing anything productive with those blogs, I was merely chronicling a depressing existence with banal details. There was no thought behind my previous blogs. I wasn’t creating or analyzing. I wasn’t thinking. I was documenting. That’s okay for some, but I wanted something more. Thus, Frankasaurus. This is my attempt to start over. I need to get back into writing. Unemployment has made me feel like I’m rotting away from the inside out, and I need to do something to keep my brain from atrophying. Super Mario Bros. on the Wii just isn’t cutting it (it’s surprising how easily that controller slips back into my hand and I remember all the warp zones and extra lives just like fifteen years haven’t even gone by…).
I have no intentions of making this into a “This is what I did today…” kind of blog. I have every intention of using this as an outlet for some of my thoughts and opinions, and possibly for some reviews. I welcome discussion, but I won’t discuss with anyone who is irate and screaming at me. If, by chance, I happen to do something really cool in my personal life (like the time I wrote a book in November), it might get a mention, but it is my hope that those will be details mentioned in passing. If you know me, you know my sense of humor, and I sincerely hope that translates here. I guess we shall see.
Frankasaurus. 