My eyes! My eyes!

I have to say that I am so over this week's unofficial blog topic.  

I am so done with the Miley Cyrus/Robin Thicke talk. 

I get it.  Their award show performance was distasteful, alarming and offensive.  The twerking (is that really a thing...?  Like, really?!) was too much.  Robin Thicke certainly came out looking like a dirty old man; Miley a skank sad, damaged girl, possibly headed toward some sort of a breakdown with her fuck-the-world-I'm-no-role-model attitude.

But let's move on, shall we?

Overall it was a lame attempt at entertainment, with poor dancing, poor singing, and really terrible wardrobes, that jacked people up and got them talking.  People like YOU.  And ME. And damnit, it's nearly a week later and we're still discussing it.  Hats off, then, Miley and Robin. Obviously, that is what you wanted.  

But I have read blog posts in the form of letters to daughters - Let Miley Cyrus Be A Lesson to You, and letters to sons - Don't Let Robin Thicke Be A Lesson to You.  

And while I understand the senitments, how about "Don't let Hollywood "Entertainment" be a Lesson to You"?  How about don't worry about what those morons on TV are doing?  You know if it's inappropriate behaviour to follow, right?

Your kids will only act that way if YOU show them that it's ok. Those lessons come from home, people, they need to learn to differentiate between reality and entertainment.  By writing our kids these types of letters and getting outraged over this, are we not showing them that this behaviour draws attention?  Are we not telling them that music and performances are there to teach us something?  That there are lessons to be learned by watching on-stage performances, music videos, and listening to the lyrics of songs?

Give your children some credit!  Teach them that TV  and radio messages are not always real! Teach them that real life lessons come from real people in real life, not songs and award shows. 

Miley and Thicke want you talking about this. I feel like I'm standing alone when I say I don't think it's a big deal.  I am not afraid to admit that I like the song Blurred Lines.  Don't judge me, I sing along and enjoy the upbeat song, but maybe because I don't take it too seriously.  I never even paid much attention to the lyrics, that are not that different from a lot of other songs out there right now, until I read an article about how it was the "Rape Anthem of 2013".   Really?  Is that really a label that you want to affix to anything?  

Come on now. 

Just by calling it a rape anthem, you are putting rape in the spotlight, but insinuating that a catchy tune on the radio sums it up.  Is that not counter productive?  The mind has a way of strongly associating memories with song.  So this tune that kids think is fun and catchy, that gets you bopping in your seat, now has a mental tie to a terrible human act.  

This is a song that all the kids are singing.

And you want to label it the rape anthem.

And you don't see anything wrong with that? 

It makes these same kids that are innocently singing along with a catchy tune on the radio, stop and really start to think about that song.  For God sakes, don't analyze the lyrics!  Are you kidding me?!  More music today has a negative message in it than a positive message, so for heavens sake, so don't open up that flood gate of analyzing and labeling every catchy new tune that comes out on the radio.  You are drawing more attention to a song that would be quickly over and forgotten about.

By over-analyzing lyrics and the behaviour of their singers,  you are telling your kids that songs are there to be analyzed.  That the messages in the songs are legit.  It gives the song a new meaning, and therefore a stronger presence in their mind.

Let it just be a catchy tune on the radio that you listen to and ignore at the same time. Indifference speaks louder than words. Don't dwell, don't talk about the lyrics of their songs, (both equally terrible when you read them), and don't let your kids feel that this is normal behaviour.  This is Hollywood staging.  No different than watching a movie; you know that it's not real life.  

Mainly, relax.  While it's true that a parents blatant dislike for something tends to make it more appealing for their children, it is also true that values and morals are instilled in them from their parents leading by subtle example and not focusing on the negative things in this life that will stick with them.  The greater the attention given to something, whether it be a good influence or bad, creates a greater memory in their minds.  If you pay too much attention to something outrageous, they may not always remember your point of view on the subject, but I can promise you that they will always remember the subject.

The itch to write

Ok, I'm not going to go on about being back from my hiatus, because this might last a day, and it might last a month.  So, I'll pretend like I hadn't checked out of my blog for all this time, and I will carry on as if I was normal.

Every since my first day of grade...9, yes, grade 9, I've known I wanted to be a writer.  On my very first day of Grade 9, our homeroom teacher, who was also vice principal of the school, was also our English teacher.  He asked us on that first day to write out a little index card of information about ourselves so that he could learn about us.

Now, this teacher, for whatever reason, was one of those people that a lot of people were a little intimidated by.  Everyone else disliked him.

We had no idea that we were going to be somehow judged by how those index cards were written.  I have no idea what I wrote.  Who knows.  Probably some boring dribble about my cat or something...

What I do remember, is when this teacher went on to announce, to the entire class, that my index card was the only card in the entire class that had no errors on it.  Not one.

From that moment on, I was in his good books.  And believe me when I say that even though I was not always the best behaved, and like any pre-teen girl I had a little, slight attitude.  (Shush, mom, it was only a little attitude).  But I could do no wrong in his class.  If I was talking to someone, it was the other students fault.  If my homework wasn't done, it was probably because I was doing something important like writing a thesis.

Ok, maybe not quite that extreme, but I was pretty awesome in Mr. Street's eyes.

I mean, finally  someone had recognized that.

And that is what peaked my interest towards writing.  I have always known that someday I would write something, even if it was a book that no one else would ever read.  I love to write, and if the opportunity presented itself to write for a living, then hells yah, I'd be all over that.

Well said, right?

So, about a year ago, I was thinking about the Harry Potter series.  I have not yet read the books, Chase and I are going to read them together, and we've started a couple of times, but that first book is so slow starting off.  But eventually we'll read them.

So I was thinking about the series, and how bloody brilliant that series is.  Appealing to a massive audience of both girls and boys, children that grew up along with Daniel Radcliff's character....ummm...what's his name again?  Henry..?  Harold?  Oh, right, Harry.

Brilliant.  But it is a great idea, bring in the boys with the action, magic, wizards and monsters or whatever it's all about.  Then bring in the girls by introducing a few other female characters into the mix, and of course appealing to their own sense of adventure with the magic, wizards and monsters.  Or whatever.

So I started thinking about writing a story idea that appeals primarily to girls in a way that is not so Disney-Princess (and for the record, I have no problem with Disney Princesses, I loved Ariel and Belle, and now my daughter loves that shit).  But girls should have a series like this, with an adventurer that is female, strong, brave and smart.  A good adventure series that of course is not "for girls" because I don't believe in that, but maybe aimed to include typical girlie-girls (like my own girlie-girl) while being appealing to all audiences.  Seems to me that stories that include princesses seem to be about falling in love and finding prince charming.  I wanted to write something that was not about that stuff, but more about adventure and exploring, and friendships.  More like Lord of the Rings for kids.  But less, like, evil.

So I sat down one night and I started writing this book.  I worked for about a week on his beautiful book, and it was turning into exactly what I was looking for.  It was a beautiful story of these little nymph's living in a field.  I won't give away too much, but there was going to be a big beautiful adventure and since nymph's are tiny (you knew that, of course, right?) it was going to be really cool with like, giant strawberries and mushroom toadstools, and fireflies, etc.

So I took a break from my book one night, and we went off to a movie with the kids.  I was feeling really good about my writing and I was excited to get back at it.  I forget the movie we were going to see.  Doesn't matter.  During the previews, I saw something that made me literally sick to my stomach in dread.

Honestly, I nearly cried in the theater.

It was heart wrenching.

This.

It was a preview for the movie Epic.

I thought I might vomit on the theater floor.

Darren very carefully (wisely) looked over at me to see me with my jaw set, my eyes dead, and probably a tear or two.

I couldn't believe it.  It was so much like my story, except mine was better!!!

Damn you, movie-making-big-shot-company-jerks.

Anyways.....I'll get back to my book eventually.  I'll change it from nymphs in a meadow to astronauts in the milkyway or something.  It won't be the same, but I'll make it work.

But I have not been able to watch Epic yet.  I can'y bring myself to, not even for research.

And Really?!  Who names a movie Epic.

Come on, Man.