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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Part Of The Reason I Am Considered Weird

There are many ways in which I differ greatly from my peers, most of which have labelled me "weird." I don't watch TV, I don't go out on the weekends (walking two doors down the road doesn't really cut it as a social life at high school when you're competing with your partying cohort), I listen to "fake" bands and I actually enjoy the subject of English.

First term of English, our assignment was to write a descriptive prose. I was very excited to get that assignment because I knew I'd end up with a good mark for something I do anyway. A lot of people aren't overly keen on writing, and barely anyone- around here, anyway- would actually do it voluntarily. I guess it was similar to English last year as well, when we were told we were going to be studying Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

There was a collective groan from all the lethargic, bored fourteen year olds who would much rather be kicking around a football or discussing the colours of hair dye in an exclusive cluster in a carefully chosen stairwell as opposed to reading some love story written way back when by some ancient, bald guy. 

I, on the other hand, broke into a grin. Though I never read a Shakespearean play, I was well up for the challenge. Although I personally don't find Romeo and Juliet all that romantic at all, the tragedy of the story intrigued me somehow. I may be a hopeless romantic, but the same "happily ever after" ending time after time doesn't really wash well with me. But it wasn't only that, it was the language! "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou, her maid, art far more fair than she." Language like that is not used every day- most people I know don't exactly appreciate me using vocabulary exceeding eight letters in length! To read language creating imagery so vivid and beautiful is remarkably refreshing...to me, anyway.

And so, with this term's assessment in which we had to choose one novel to read from a list of twenty-something, I chose Jane Eyre. That book, to put it simply, is absolutely beautiful. Even Charlotte Bronte's commentary on the lives of women in the Victorian era, and the way she gave a voice to the oppressed sex of the times through the narration of the headstrong Jane is incredible. Back in the 1800s, it was radical to speak out this way due to the given role of a woman as a loyal and dutiful wife. To all of a sudden have Jane- plain and simple, orphaned and brutally honest- as a protagonist, speaking out against social norms and refusing to conform to the demands of a class based society is incredible.

And again, it's the language. The way in which sentences are constructed- it's not just the same words over and over. And the quotes I can draw from it! One which I relate to is this:

“I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.” 

--Mr. Rochester to Jane, Chapter 19

Either way, this is quickly becoming an analysis essay, and if that were to be so, it may ruin the book for anyone who may read it, which I definitely recommend, if you are a reader like me. And so, dear reader, I shall leave you to believe what you will.

Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Watty Awards 2012

Hey guys!

Usually I'm not into posting to make other people do your bidding, but today I'm going to be a hypocrite. So, without further ado, just a quick little note to ask a huge favour!



As some of you may know- well, I'm guessing everyone as it's rather obvious- I'm a writer, and I really like writing stories. This year, I've decided to try something new and enter a writing competition. 

There's a site called Wattpad where writers can post their work and receive feedback from a whole bunch of different people and gain a bit of an underground following, if you will. You also have the chance to submit one or two stories into their annual "Watty Awards." Basically, you can post a story of any genre on their site, list it under the Watty Awards category and try and get as many votes as you can, and you can win stuff!

What I would love you guys to do is go onto Wattpad and vote for my story! It's called The Last Beautiful Thing and I'm pretty proud of it...I'd like to think it's some of my best work! So if you can PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES AND SUGAR AND ICE CREAM read my short story- it's not long!- and click the vote button in the top left hand corner, I will absolutely love you forever and I will bake you cookies. 

It would be absolutely awesome if you guys could help me out!

Also, if you're awesome at editing and such, please note that I am not so handy and I'd love a hand with the book cover...if you think you're up for it, please help me out if you can!!

Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Somewhere I Want To Visit Or Move To

Hello world!

This is actually a cool topic that I actually forgot about for some reason...but no matter.

Travel is a really big interest of mine. I love languages and culture and being somewhere different. There's not anything wrong with Australia really, aside from the fact that we have six of the top ten deadliest snakes in the world here. But y'know, that's life.

Still, there's something thrilling about the prospect of going somewhere new and exciting; of seeing something other than your little corner of the world- for me, that's here in a pretty quiet little area where a party popper in a bin- thought, at the time, to be a bomb- was the most exciting thing to happen in pretty much forever.

After the exchange last year, I've got an itch to just get out of here and see more of the big blue ball we live on. There's so much to see- five other completely mysterious continents I've never even been to.

The world is a big place and I've barely seen my own country. I've been to all the Eastern Australian capital cities, and as far south in Tassie as you can possibly go without a lab coat, but there's still two states and a territory that I've never been to. Either way, I would love to go everywhere. I want to see the way other people live; learn other languages; immerse myself in another culture.

New Zealand was a great place to start- for a fourteen year old girl who'd never been away from home for more than a week on school camp, it was the best possible chance I could have to see something new. I loved it immediately- if you've never been, you should go. The scenery is just...well, wow. Three months was barely enough time for me to truly get a handle on just how breathtakingly beautiful that country really is. I also met some amazing people there, and for those reasons, I would want to go and move there for a bit- maybe work over there on a gap year after year twelve.

And then of course- of course- I want to go to Indonesia. Six years I've spent in a classroom learning about their culture and their language and just life on the islands in general- seeing photos of their traditional long houses (lamin) and hearing an abbreviated version of the Ramayana (it's an ancient Hindu epic which, in its full form, consists of 24000 verses in 7 books- so yes, I heard a very abridged version!) has made me long to be there and experience it for myself.

I suppose that much is obvious though, given that it is a big part of what I actually want to do with my life. I want to get involved in international law, particularly relations with Indonesia. I've seen so many media horror stories about all the drug smuggling cases- Schapelle Corby is pretty much a household name now- and the feature on the news about a 14 year old Indonesian boy being kept in a maximum security prison intended, clearly, for grown men. Add to that the fact that he was by no means given a fair trial- he spoke no English and the trial went ahead without a translator....ugh, they call this the justice system...

Well, that was a tangent and a half. I also really want to go to Italy- it may not be anything like the movies but to me it sounds like the most romantic place on earth. Plus lasagna is from there- and who doesn't love lasagna?!

Also on my list is China- I started reading a the Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Chan last year and it got me really interested in the mythology. It's not made up- the author did her research and made up a fictional story based on the real Taoist beliefs- plus I researched it myself after. Yes I am that big a nerd. Don't judge me.

Japan- I still remember bits and pieces from the days of sitting in Kindergarten. All the kids would sit and moan about how much they hated Japanese, while I took to it with a fascination that no one else really understood. Well, it can't really be blamed given that we were between the ages of four and six back then. But I still remember little bits...I can still sing a little song we learnt in I think grade three. Plus, that's where the ninjas are from- you couldn't forget that, now could you?!

And Spain- the flamenco guitar sound is incredible; and the tiny bit of language I learned and forgot in New Zealand made me want to learn properly.

And of course Czech Republic- I would very much like to go there. I met and became friends with a girl from there while I was in New Zealand as she was on exchange at the school as well. She was lovely and even taught me how to say hello in their language- "ahoy!" I wondered what it was like their so I Googled- the pictures were just beautiful.

Anyhow, I'm just prattling on. Basically put, I want to travel the world.

Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Five Words/Phrases That Make Me Laugh

Considering that today hasn't been all that grand, this is not a bad post to write today...and just a note, they're probably all going to be from movies. Predominantly chick flicks.

1. "Live every day like you're Glen Coco."
If you've ever seen Mean Girls, you'll understand. The kid that gets four candy canes in class? Yeah, him. That's Glen Coco. No face, but is just generally associated with being awesome. Basically, the quote is the world's best way of saying just be an all-round knockout, awesome, amazing, bad-ass human every day. Its meaning, obviously, is kinda sappy and all, but the way it's put is brilliant and definitely entertaining.

2. "That's so fetch!!" - Gretchen Weiners, Mean Girls.
Again, another Mean Girls reference. One which is quoted to the extreme by me and PJ, particularly on the bus on the way home from school, or walking home from the bus stop. Either way, it's overused, which makes it perfect.

3. "What are you doing today, Napoleon?" "Whatever I wanna do, gosh!!"
It's not exactly a chick flick, but God I love this movie; I really do. I watched it with PJ and ever since I have loved it. Napoleon says a lot of stupid, strange and wonderful things, which are fantastically quotable.

4. "I'm not as random as you think I salad."
I don't actually know where it is that I heard and/or read this one, but it entertained me nevertheless. It describes me and my excitable personality pretty much in a nutshell.

5. "You will use the quadratic formula in later life."
This quote is just so ridiculous that I cannot help but laugh whenever I hear it. How many people who aren't maths teachers or some kind of big-shot, super-fancy engineer person will actually ever use that horrible memory drain in their daily lives aside from senior Maths B?

Anyhow, that was brief, stupid, and long overdue. Sorry guys!

Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo