I know I already posted this week, but my class got canceled for the second time and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands this morning.
I wanted to deviate a little from what we usually do here to bring this to your attention: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/03/is-fan-fiction-ready-to-go-mainstream-thanks-to-fifty-shades-of-grey#more
I posted it on Sarah's FB wall, but having discussions on FB these days can kind of be a pain the ass. So I'm putting it here. And I wonder--what do you guys think of this business?
My initial reaction is to reject the idea entirely. I don't know if this is because of my mass media law influence or for some other reason, but things like this scream copyright issue to me. Of course, I know nothing about the book Fifty Shades of Grey, so this is definitely a knee-jerk reaction. (and looking it up on Amazon, I am assured it's not the kind of book I would want to read anyway).
According to Tor's article, I guess the book spawned from some Twilight fanfiction? Aside from what sounds like a bad relationship model based on the one in Twilight, I can't really tell how valid that claim is, though the article's author assures me its there or whatever. But my issue isn't so much with the book itself, but rather with what the article goes on to say about our generation and "sampling," and how our digitized age makes this even easier. I have to agree with the article on this point: it's definitely easier and more common for people to share their fanfiction online, in communities and forums and whatnot. I'm not a huge fan of the whole process (as a reader and as a writer), though even I'll admit I have had some fun playing around in other writers' backyards.
But to me, that's where that sort of writing belongs: in the backyard, free to read online, forever. Fanfiction is a great way to develop your own writing style and voice, a perfectly valid way to exercise your budding writing prowess. The websites and forums you find it on are fun places for fans of the universe created by another author. It crosses a line for me when money gets involved.
I'm not saying that this has happened already--again, from what I can tell from the plot blurb on Amazon, I can't quite see the Twilight connection aside from a super shitty idea of what a functional relationship is. But on the other hand, if what Tor's article says is true, then the work was borne from a Twilight fanfic and simply changed to cut all ties with Meyer's less-than-thrilling universe as created in Twilight. Does that make it okay? Maybe, but in all honesty I'm leaning a little towards "no." No, it does not make it okay. And not necessarily because of the whole copyright infringement thing.
I lean towards no because more and more often, I encounter novels and stories and TV shows that are all THE EXACT SAME THING AT THEIR CORE. Seriously. How many re-imaginings of the supernatural hunter/detective story are we going to see before we finally move on to something different? How many more authors are getting caught up in this trap? This sampling business, to me, is a potential catalyst for the continued destruction of original ideas. I know that having an "original idea" is fairly impossible--pick a novel, any novel, and you can trace an idea back to something else--but I feel people did and could still do a better job if perhaps they "sampled" less. Don't take a core idea--the detective story! with demons and banshees and bears oh my!--take something smaller, some tiny little fragment, and mix it up with something completely different. It might end up being disastrous--or it might end up super fricking awesome.
What do you guys think about all this business? My argument isn't exactly stellar, I know, but there it is.
Oh, and here, have a song:
Love me some Shinedown.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Ffffff...
When I was a freshman, I took a night class. It was Greek Philosophy, and it lasted from about 6 pm to 9 pm. The class was interesting, but I hated hated HATED the time slot like nobody's business, and was so relieved when that first semester finally ended. I swore from that moment on that I would never take another night class ever.
No such luck.
Because my school is known for being a science school, the science program is the biggest, and its majors tend to have more time slots. For the other majors, however, there is often only ONE slot available for any given Lit or Comm Arts class. I've managed to be lucky in this regard so far, but this coming Fall I will be saddled with not one, but TWO FRIGGIN NIGHT CLASSES.
Fffff.
Alright, enough complaining. Today marks my first Monday back from spring break and I can definitely feel myself in the home stretch. My break, while not exactly wondrous (though the Hunger Games premiere was great), gave me enough time to recuperate and get ready to close this semester out. And man am I ever ready for it to be over.
The Hunger Games-inspired album had some pretty good songs on it, this one included. Hope you enjoy as much as I have been, though I admit I'm not very familiar with this band.
No such luck.
Because my school is known for being a science school, the science program is the biggest, and its majors tend to have more time slots. For the other majors, however, there is often only ONE slot available for any given Lit or Comm Arts class. I've managed to be lucky in this regard so far, but this coming Fall I will be saddled with not one, but TWO FRIGGIN NIGHT CLASSES.
Fffff.
Alright, enough complaining. Today marks my first Monday back from spring break and I can definitely feel myself in the home stretch. My break, while not exactly wondrous (though the Hunger Games premiere was great), gave me enough time to recuperate and get ready to close this semester out. And man am I ever ready for it to be over.
The Hunger Games-inspired album had some pretty good songs on it, this one included. Hope you enjoy as much as I have been, though I admit I'm not very familiar with this band.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Guys I'm So Tired
Guys
Guys
I am so tired.
I have just been doing a bunch of work all of the time
and when I should be sleeping, I just think "Man you know what would be fun? Dicking around with some people I know."
Sleep is for the weak.
I can sleep when I'm dead.
In other news, I think this video is absolutely hilarious.
I also really want an Alaskan Klee Kai.
Maybe his name will be Keanu.
Definitely he will wear a bandana
Probably he will wear some sweet sunglasses.
Is that the sleep deprivation talking? Most likely.
Finally, a song. I almost forgot how much I loved Eric Clapton, until my history of rock and roll class made me remember.
Ughhhyessssss like nobody listens to that bass but seriously listen to it. And this is actually Clapton fucking up. His solo is on the wrong beat. Still...
So good.
Guys
I am so tired.
I have just been doing a bunch of work all of the time
and when I should be sleeping, I just think "Man you know what would be fun? Dicking around with some people I know."
Sleep is for the weak.
I can sleep when I'm dead.
In other news, I think this video is absolutely hilarious.
I also really want an Alaskan Klee Kai.
Maybe his name will be Keanu.
Definitely he will wear a bandana
Probably he will wear some sweet sunglasses.
Is that the sleep deprivation talking? Most likely.
Finally, a song. I almost forgot how much I loved Eric Clapton, until my history of rock and roll class made me remember.
Ughhhyessssss like nobody listens to that bass but seriously listen to it. And this is actually Clapton fucking up. His solo is on the wrong beat. Still...
So good.
Spring-like Side-Effects
GOOD LORD it is gorgeous out today. I woke up at my usual early hour (is seven even early? seems fairly late to me, but I also might be crazy) and IT WAS ALREADY 55 DEGREES OUTSIDE. I love winter and all, don't get me wrong, but there's a certain place in my heart for ideal hoodie weather, too, and despite the insane amount of wind whipping around out there, today's weather was/is that kind of weather.
My iPod shuffled to this song as I made my way to Spanish:
and it just seemed perfect.
The weather also reminded me that Spring Break is almost upon us. Anyone got any plans? Coming home, maybe? I know we all have different breaks, so when are yours? Mine is like the week of March 20th or something.
My iPod shuffled to this song as I made my way to Spanish:
and it just seemed perfect.
The weather also reminded me that Spring Break is almost upon us. Anyone got any plans? Coming home, maybe? I know we all have different breaks, so when are yours? Mine is like the week of March 20th or something.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
So many Colors. So many Numbers.
When I first started my web design class, I was a little nervous about the color system. Colors, as some of you may know, are represented as hexadecimal numbers and oh my goodness there are a lot of them (16,777,216 according to my text book, and only SIXTEEN OF THEM are allowed to be called their own names). And of course, I want nothing to do with the named sixteen, because frankly they are all garish and horrible. Which means as I'm sitting here writing this post, I am also deliberating over the best shades of the colors I want to use for my first web project, due on Tuesday.
But despite my freakout over the colors, I must say that I am deeply in love with this class. If I ever doubted myself when I chose to be a Writing and Publishing major instead of just a lit major, this class is more than enough to convince me that I made a good decision. The combined degree lets me write and study lit theory as I would as a lit major (minus the need to take standard lit classes, like American Lit, Brit Lit, etc, though I am taking the former for fun this semester) and also lets me study media law, editing, layout design, and coding for web design. That's a win-win right there, especially since the world seems a bit eager to get ahold of young ladies and gents who know the languages needed for coding.
I'm also going to look into going beyond what my current class can teach me (we're learning XHTML at the moment, and we'll cover CSS and I want to say some Java), but I also want to learn HTML5 and Ajax. Learning how to write things like apps for the mobile technologies would be nice, too :D
Hopefully, if everything works out, I can make money doing web design things in order to support my career as a fledgling author. And if the author thing doesn't work out, I'll still have a good job regardless.
As it is, I need to start taking a closer look at grad schools, too. I mentioned to my mother that I wanted to take a year off to dedicate to working to put a dent in my student loans before I pile on more money I owe the banks, and she about had a heart attack. So the year off thing seems unlikely, or I'll never hear the end of it. I'm hoping to find a program that will allow me to take a certain number of credit hours for a set price per semester that will allow me to work practically full time as well without me wanting to shoot myself in the foot. One school in Maryland seems to fit the bill in this respect, but I want to do more research before I decide to go for it. The program in question is dedicated solely to creative writing, which isn't an issue, but I'm hoping to find something similar to what I have now that also allows me to branch out into web design more.
I am a little bummed out that I can't travel abroad like all you other lucky folks. Changing my major halfway through sophomore year like I did means I can't take a semester off to do it, and my school's fees shoot up pretty insanely in the summer, so that's out. Blargh. That's alright. Once I get settled in Maryland and pay off a good chunk of my other debts, I can start saving to go to Ireland or England or something. In the meantime, the rest of you must take ALL THE PICTURES EVER.
That reminds me--I've only got my senior year left and then I'm heading to the East Coast. That's one more year with all of you--let's make it count, eh?
Music:
I've known this song for a while now, but I ran into it the other day and remembered that while sometimes I don't like it, other times I do. Just gotta be in the mood for it, I guess:
I've also been on a bit of a Borderlands kick, and to appreciate the next song I feel the first game's trailer should be watched:
Here's the song in full (I just really like the beat, haha):
But despite my freakout over the colors, I must say that I am deeply in love with this class. If I ever doubted myself when I chose to be a Writing and Publishing major instead of just a lit major, this class is more than enough to convince me that I made a good decision. The combined degree lets me write and study lit theory as I would as a lit major (minus the need to take standard lit classes, like American Lit, Brit Lit, etc, though I am taking the former for fun this semester) and also lets me study media law, editing, layout design, and coding for web design. That's a win-win right there, especially since the world seems a bit eager to get ahold of young ladies and gents who know the languages needed for coding.
I'm also going to look into going beyond what my current class can teach me (we're learning XHTML at the moment, and we'll cover CSS and I want to say some Java), but I also want to learn HTML5 and Ajax. Learning how to write things like apps for the mobile technologies would be nice, too :D
Hopefully, if everything works out, I can make money doing web design things in order to support my career as a fledgling author. And if the author thing doesn't work out, I'll still have a good job regardless.
As it is, I need to start taking a closer look at grad schools, too. I mentioned to my mother that I wanted to take a year off to dedicate to working to put a dent in my student loans before I pile on more money I owe the banks, and she about had a heart attack. So the year off thing seems unlikely, or I'll never hear the end of it. I'm hoping to find a program that will allow me to take a certain number of credit hours for a set price per semester that will allow me to work practically full time as well without me wanting to shoot myself in the foot. One school in Maryland seems to fit the bill in this respect, but I want to do more research before I decide to go for it. The program in question is dedicated solely to creative writing, which isn't an issue, but I'm hoping to find something similar to what I have now that also allows me to branch out into web design more.
I am a little bummed out that I can't travel abroad like all you other lucky folks. Changing my major halfway through sophomore year like I did means I can't take a semester off to do it, and my school's fees shoot up pretty insanely in the summer, so that's out. Blargh. That's alright. Once I get settled in Maryland and pay off a good chunk of my other debts, I can start saving to go to Ireland or England or something. In the meantime, the rest of you must take ALL THE PICTURES EVER.
That reminds me--I've only got my senior year left and then I'm heading to the East Coast. That's one more year with all of you--let's make it count, eh?
Music:
I've known this song for a while now, but I ran into it the other day and remembered that while sometimes I don't like it, other times I do. Just gotta be in the mood for it, I guess:
I've also been on a bit of a Borderlands kick, and to appreciate the next song I feel the first game's trailer should be watched:
Here's the song in full (I just really like the beat, haha):
Friday, February 10, 2012
My Heart is the Sea
Which is what is written on a shirt I just bought for, like, 5 bucks. There is a ship on it because of course there is. It's weirdly shaped because practically all of the shirts I buy are weirdly shaped, so I don't know what I'm going to wear with it just yet, but I have a feeling I'll find a nautical-looking jacket or an eye patch and my problem will be solved.
I don't even know what to say about my life and what it is doing at the moment. There are all these THINGS I'm gonna have to deal with soon. You know, big important questions to be answered, decisions to be made, and responsibilities to be fulfilled. I mean, they don't have to be dealt with absolutely immediately, right this second, but I can feel them approaching. Their shadows loom large across the horizon of my life and I've gotta say, I don't like them there and I'm definitely not looking forward to having to deal with them.
"Shouldn't you be looking at graduate programs, Morgan?" they ask. "How much money are you willing to owe to go abroad, Morgan?" they persist."What are your professional plans for the fuuuuture, Morgan?" they wonder. "I mean," they continue, "What are you even going to do with your life?"
My bluntly honest answers at the present time are, respectively, probably yes, I don't know, ummmm..., and oh God I have no idea anymore. But you can't say that, so lately I've taken to glaring at them and retorting, "Fuck you, I've won a BAFTA." A pause usually follows. "No, you have no-," they begin. "Wait. Are you on the internet again?"
Yes. Yes I am. Or reading Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta which is a book you should all read. All of you.
Life is pretty alright otherwise, though. On the one hand school is more intense than I expected, but on the other I got to handle a 12th century French manuscript of Lancelot Du Lac. Parchment is really weird - it's almost greasy and after you've touched it your hands smell a bit like it, which should be faintly disgusting since it's 700 year old cow/goat skin that's been treated with God only knows what, but it isn't. So that class is awesome and my gender studies class is full of wonderful people. French class is... French class.
College friends are nice and all, but I miss you guys like crazy. Until today the weather has been all balmy and mid-March-like, so my internal calendar has been all, "Oh, hey! The weather's getting nice, which means school's gonna finish up and you'll be able to hang out with those lovely people again." No, actually, it is still only early February. You are horribly misinformed, internal calendar.
I am rambling a bit now, I believe. Apologies for throwing my jumbled feelings at you. Now I'll throw some musics at you instead.
I found this one on Monday and just now watched the video. I don't know how I feel about the video, but I adore the song.
This one is beautiful and sad.
This last one is much happier and I couldn't find a good version on YouTube, so click the liiiink.
http://burdge.tumblr.com/post/17299280178/paris-in-the-morning-joe-purdy
I don't even know what to say about my life and what it is doing at the moment. There are all these THINGS I'm gonna have to deal with soon. You know, big important questions to be answered, decisions to be made, and responsibilities to be fulfilled. I mean, they don't have to be dealt with absolutely immediately, right this second, but I can feel them approaching. Their shadows loom large across the horizon of my life and I've gotta say, I don't like them there and I'm definitely not looking forward to having to deal with them.
"Shouldn't you be looking at graduate programs, Morgan?" they ask. "How much money are you willing to owe to go abroad, Morgan?" they persist."What are your professional plans for the fuuuuture, Morgan?" they wonder. "I mean," they continue, "What are you even going to do with your life?"
My bluntly honest answers at the present time are, respectively, probably yes, I don't know, ummmm..., and oh God I have no idea anymore. But you can't say that, so lately I've taken to glaring at them and retorting, "Fuck you, I've won a BAFTA." A pause usually follows. "No, you have no-," they begin. "Wait. Are you on the internet again?"
Yes. Yes I am. Or reading Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta which is a book you should all read. All of you.
Life is pretty alright otherwise, though. On the one hand school is more intense than I expected, but on the other I got to handle a 12th century French manuscript of Lancelot Du Lac. Parchment is really weird - it's almost greasy and after you've touched it your hands smell a bit like it, which should be faintly disgusting since it's 700 year old cow/goat skin that's been treated with God only knows what, but it isn't. So that class is awesome and my gender studies class is full of wonderful people. French class is... French class.
College friends are nice and all, but I miss you guys like crazy. Until today the weather has been all balmy and mid-March-like, so my internal calendar has been all, "Oh, hey! The weather's getting nice, which means school's gonna finish up and you'll be able to hang out with those lovely people again." No, actually, it is still only early February. You are horribly misinformed, internal calendar.
I am rambling a bit now, I believe. Apologies for throwing my jumbled feelings at you. Now I'll throw some musics at you instead.
I found this one on Monday and just now watched the video. I don't know how I feel about the video, but I adore the song.
This one is beautiful and sad.
This last one is much happier and I couldn't find a good version on YouTube, so click the liiiink.
http://burdge.tumblr.com/post/17299280178/paris-in-the-morning-joe-purdy
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
IT LIIIIIIVES
I feel as though that gif perfectly represents this blog atm, with Rachel's post being the guy on the left and the rest of us on the right. A++. Keep the stories and music coming.
This number here is a long-time favorite of mine. Broken Bells is a superb band that includes Danger Mouse (who produced the Demon Days album for the Gorillaz) and the singer from The Shins. Ugh. I love everything about both this song and the video. I've probably shoved it at a few of you before. GIVE IT ANOTHER LISTEN.
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