Politics vs. Friendships

Hey everyone! It's Tuesday again! This time around, my post is gonna be a bit more serious. 

Yesterday at the dinner table, my mother brought up something very troubling that we've been seeing on Facebook. We all know that Election Day is almost upon us and that we'll be deciding who will run this nation for the next four years. Facebook has become a battleground of political propaganda photos and ranting status updates about why the opposing side needs to fall off the face of the earth. To be honest, it's all ridiculous to me. But my mom brought up something a lot worse than these things. 

"What pisses me off is how people, who've been friends for years, are now attacking each other because they are voting for different people."

She's right. I've seen friends attack one another because one supports Obama while the other supports Romney. But if you look back a few months before, they were friendly with one another.

The biggest issue here is: nothing changed in anyone simply because they are openly supporting a candidate. They are still good people who work hard, treated others with decency and respect, and enjoy the same things. They are still great students, parents, bosses, artists and workers. But now, these people belittle one another for their political opinions and think it's okay. It isn't. In any other situation, you'd be decent to one another. Political opinion should not change that. 

We live in the United States of America. We have the freedom to choose. We have the right to think freely and not feel persecuted for it. 

When this election is over, I suspect that many people will find they've lost friends over their political spam. Either they argued their way into losing friends, or they've annoyed those who are indifferent to politics, resulting in a loss. I feel bad for those who've put politics over friendship in such a way. 

I hope we can all continue on toward Election Day with a mindfulness of how to treat those with differing opinions. Show respect. Don't get angry. Remember that their opinions didn't change them. And for crying out loud, fact check!!!

Until next time, 

DFTBA

Shelby W.

Hey everyone! It's almost Wednesday and I almost forgot to write my post for today! I decided to work my way to finishing Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 on my own since my fiancé isn't really into the game anymore. And lets just say I got a little annoyed with it. =P

Nothing has really happened this past week besides my fiancé and deciding on the possible month of our wedding. October 2013. While this is exciting, and Lord knows I've been getting ideas from Pinterest and other websites, we still have to sit down and discuss the financial side of the planning with our parents. Like most folks, our families aren't rich. So planning this will certainly come down to a lot of DIY and creativity. But hey, that makes the ceremony and reception even more personal, memorable and fun! 

I hope all is well with y'all and that I'll be able to read something from you soon! 

DFTBA!

Shelby W.

Video Games and Mini-Vacation Planning

Hey everyone! It's Tuesday!

Today is basically very uneventful. Watched Midnight In Paris, which I find to be a brilliant movie and made my day to watch all the way through once more. And while watching, I remembered that I had to post on the blog today. I realize that all of you rarely post these days, and there's two possible reasons for that: 1) You're impossibly busy or 2) Your life is incredibly boring. Either way, I hope to see more of your posts. I am in the second category, so I enjoy reading posts from people who might be impossibly busy and have actual things to do every day. 

Apart from the movie watching and boredom, I've been sort-of planning a mini-vacation to Disneyland with my fiancé. 

I love Disneyland. My fiancé thinks that I am addicted to looking up Disney related things. I think it's healthy. I've always loved Disney, and Disneyland is one of my favorite places to visit. The problem with such a trip is how expensive the parks are year-around. Planning is tricky, and takes a lot of work. But, we do plan on going soon. And I can promise that my post following the trip will be full of photos from the trip! At least then my posts will be entertaining. :P 

Today, Resident Evil 6 came out. My fiancé is obsessed with those games, so as soon as he gets home from work, we'll be playing that all night! I played Resident Evil 5 with him and I was surprisingly good at it. So, hopefully I'll do well with this game.  

  

Well, I hope to see posts from the rest of you soon... I'd hate to discover that I'm the only one posting now... :(

Hope the rest of the week is full of awesomeness for y'all! 

DFTBA

Shelby W.

9/11

Hey guys! Today is Tuesday...

*sigh*

Today is 9/11 and I'm not the sort of person to write/talk about it. I find it hard to express my opinions on this subject. I think it's important to remember those who have been lost and those who lost loved ones, but there's a point where I have to draw the line. 

I don't want to see the old news footage from that day. I don't want to see photos of the towers falling all over the Internet with the caption, "Remember 9/11." I want to remember the individuals, not the whole ordeal overall. I think many people focus on the act and get angry, forgetting that the people who are left in the wake of such an event are the ones who need to be cared for and supported on this anniversary. 

Last semester, I read a novel for my contemporary literature course called The Falling Man. It's about a family after the 9/11 attacks and how the event impacted each person. The father survived the attacks, escaping one of the towers before it fell. The mother became even more disconnected from their already crumbling relationship. The son made up explanations for what had happened that day. The emotional impact of the attacks was felt nationwide, but those of us who didn't experience it firsthand can't really understand the feelings of those who did. This novel, while a difficult book to get through (I'll admit, it was slightly boring), was very insightful and helped me understand the emotional aftermath of the attacks more. But most of all, it validated my feelings about the way we remember 9/11.

Covering the Internet, television networks and newspapers with photos/footage of the towers doesn't help those who are trying to move on and live life in the long-term aftermath of the attacks. I can't imagine having lost someone, or surviving when others you knew perished... but I'd assume it can't be easy to see the footage or photos, even after all these years. Why make this anniversary (and all of them to come) more painful than it already must be?

The most amazing thing I've seen in order to remember those lost was a memorial at a local funeral park a few years back. On one empty lawn, hundreds of flags were raised, along with little notes about the person it was honoring, and the family that was left behind. Driving by, it's instills a powerful feeling of sadness and awe. There were no photos of the attacks. No videos playing on a loop. No "patriotic" songs playing. Just flags standing and flowing in the breeze. It was silent, simple, and beautiful. 

If only more people could remember those lost in such a quiet, personal way... without devastating images and overly patriotic proclamations. But not many people share my feelings. Which is why I don't typically discuss 9/11...

I hope all of you enjoyed your Tuesdays... 
DFTBA
Shelby W.

College Student with an Empty Semester

Hey guys! I almost forgot to post today! 

Really, there's not much to report on. As a college student with an empty semester, my days are horribly boring. I plan on brushing up on some math during this free semester, as well as transferring to another school (yay!). So far, the only things that have filled my days have been drawing, reading and playing video games. Oh, and my fiance and I began watching Breaking Bad. And I am now totally obsessed with the show. *sigh*

With all this free time, my drawing has become a sort of obsession. I'm currently working on a Doctor Who fan art in honor of this week's season seven premiere (I AM SO EXCITED!). It looks pretty awesome so far! 

I hope all of your semesters are great. Don't stress too much! Enjoy learning more! And for those of you not in school, I hope the rest of your year is just as great and stress-free! And to all of you: Don't forget to have fun no matter what you're doing!

See y'all next Tuesday! 

DFTBA

Shelby W.

Stormy Weather

Hey everyone! It's Tuesday again! 

Lately, Las Vegas has been home to loads of storm clouds and rain. While I love rain, I wish it would travel east to all the central-American states that are in desperate need of precipitation. However, I can't say that I'm not enjoying the rain and clouds (despite the horrid amount of humidity). My Instagram is full of cloud photos (both storm clouds and white, puffy clouds) such as this one:

But I'm not complaining at all. It's nice to have some rain in the desert...

Other than the storm clouds moving in, I have an update regarding my fiance's job. He, officially, began working last week and is really enjoying it. I'm very proud of him! <3

I'm longing to push out of this terrible rut I've been in with regards to writing. My brainstorming is coming along nicely, but I always seem to hit a snag in certain areas of the story. Quite frustrating... 

Well, that's all I feel like sharing today... 

See ya next Tuesday!

DFTBA!

Shelby W. 

 

Bandit and Teddy: The Ultimate Bromance

Hey everyone! It's Tuesday! And have I got a story for you.

We have two dogs... Teddy, who is about 5 or 6. He's an adorably timid, brown Border Collie. Next up is the overprotective, 4 year old Rottweiler/Australian Shepherd mix Bandit (I posted a picture of him during our photo week). 

They're inseparable. Ever since we got Bandit, they've been buddies. It's basically a bromance. They fight like brothers. They take care of one another. It's cute.

So this morning, my mom was awoken by Bandit at 5am. He was freaking out, trying to get her attention about something. He led her to the back door and out into the backyard. Not understanding what he wanted her to see, my mom just stood out there for a while. He kept running over to the side of the yard toward one of our side gates. When she went over, she didn't see anything... All this time, Teddy isn't around. So Bandit leads my mom back into the house to the front door. Teddy normally sleeps against the front door on the rug, but he wasn't there. My mom opens the door to find nothing, but Bandit's still going nuts. He leads her back outside and to the gate. This time, she sees Teddy out in our driveway, begging to be let inside. 

We have no clue how he got out, or how long he was out there, but Bandit saved the day, proving the seriousness of his bromance with Teddy. Teddy's fine, if you were wondering... he's acting like his normal self. Now I guess we're gonna have to figure out how he got out and fix that problem. 

We're lucky that Bandit is as overprotective of his family as he is, otherwise he might not have known that Teddy was gone. 

 Bandit and Teddy

Have a great week everyone! 

DFTBA!

Shelby W.

My Mind Is Blank...

Hey all... Today is Tuesday, and I've got nothing. My mind is blank. I think it's okay to mention that I don't want to write about the Aurora shooting. We've discussed it in the comments on Craig's post, and I'm sure we've kept ourselves updated with all the constant coverage of the tragedy. In the end, I don't feel it's necessary to give this shooter the satisfaction of discussing it further. 

But with this opinion comes an overwhelming lack of things to write about. My life is quite boring... Waiting for the building for the thrift store my mom and I are going to run to be built means no job to keep me occupied. I've decided to take the Fall semester off in order to evaluate my transfer options, which means no hours spent picking courses to take.  My writing is at a total standstill... *sigh* I wish I could come up with a creative way to motivate myself to write, but I don't have any ideas. Any of you got ideas? Have you been writing regularly, or am I not alone in my writer's block? 

Along with the lack of eventfulness in my life, my fiance has been unable to get a phlebotomy job. No hospitals are hiring, and the company he externed with hasn't offered him a job (even though people are still asking to get appointments with him because he did such a good job and all the people he worked with want him to work there). If any of you could include my fiance's search for a job in your prayers, it'd be much appreciated. If you don't pray, send good vibes his way or something. :P I don't like seeing him discouraged, and he definitely deserves his dream job.

I really enjoyed seeing the music y'all listen to... It's interesting to see the differences and similarities between all of us when it comes to music genres.  

Well, I don't think there's much else to say...

See ya next Tuesday! 
DFTBA!

Shelby W.

What makes a true fan?

First off, I need to answer some previously posed questions...

 I'd like to mention to the bloggers I'm writing with here that I enjoy critiquing stories, so if any of you would like me to critique or give feedback for a story/chapter you've written, I'd be happy to! So, that basically answers Linnea's question about sending one another our chapters or stories for editing/critique.

To answer the "what are you reading" question, I have to say that it's now quite difficult to answer. I am technically reading the 1,000 page World Without End by Ken Follett. I read his novel Pillars of the Earth a few years ago and loved it. This is Pillars' companion, set in the same priory town but two centuries later. I'm really enjoying, apart from the plot mimicking Pillars in almost every way. Which leads to the part that makes the question difficult to answer. After the epic finale of Game of Thrones (Yes, I mentioned GoT again), I realized that I really need to finish the third book in the series. I started it, but got terribly frustrated with one character's chapters, so I stopped. But with the hints dropped in the finale, I need to read it. So, my dilemma is: Finish World Without End, or start reading A Storm of Swords again...? *sigh*

Now on to the point of this post...

After seeing many fans posting rants about the differences in Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games television and film adaptations, it got me thinking: what makes a true fan? Obsessive fans spew their purist opinions about the screen adaptations and claim fans who liked them aren't true fans. They begin melodramatic rants about how fans shouldn't support the directors, screenwriters or showrunners because they are ruining the source material. Should these people be called true fans? Many GoT fans understand that George R. R. Martin trusts the showrunners of the HBO series with his baby, the novels. He knows they'll change things, but trusts that they'll make it work. Most Hunger Games fans understood why things were taken out or changed in the film to make everything work on screen, and even accepted strange casting decisions because of Suzanne Collins' support of those decisions. 

As fans, shouldn't we trust the author of the books if they have faith in those working on the screen adaptations? Are these so-called "true fans" really true fans if they can't even trust the authors? I don't like being told that I'm less of a fan because I enjoyed a film/TV adaptation of a beloved book. I like them because I can view the two formats differently and understand that the written source is only limited by the imagination of the author, while the film or show is limited by budgets, special effects and time. If all fans can see the two formats in this way, fan communities would be a lot better to be a part of.

Well, that was the post for Tuesday! See y'all next week...

DFTBA

Sun Burnt Ramblings

Hello everyone! 

I hope those who celebrated the Memorial Day weekend had fun and did not get as sun burnt as I did. My fiance's father decided he wanted to take a random trip to our neighboring state, California, to spend the day at the beach. The trip was filled with Indian food, "that's what she said" jokes, a French woman not knowing that it's inappropriate to go topless on Cali beaches, sand and terrible hotel beds.  But since my fiance's family is full of tan people, only me and my fiance's brother-in-law got painful red burns. Today, my ankles are swollen from the massive burn, and it's horribly uncomfortable to walk... well, it's uncomfortable to do anything at this point.

Anyways, today will be written in parts. Part one was up there... an introduction and explanation of my Memorial Day trip (which was fun, until the burn set in).

Part Two: Blackwater FTW!

 As soon as I got home last night, I watched episode 9 of Game of Thrones, "Blackwater." This was the most anticipated episode of the whole season for two reasons: 1) George R. R. Martin wrote it himself and 2) All of their budget pretty much went into it (epic battle episodes = lots of money). Did it live up to the hype? YES! 

The part everyone was waiting for was the wildfire, and it exceeded my expectations in every regard. And, the flames were green like they were in the book, which was a plus. The dialogue exchanges were pretty much straight from the book... not so surprising since the author wrote the episode, but still. It was great to see recognizable dialogue and scenes from the book. And lets just say the the characters who stole the show were Sansa, Tyrion and The Hound! It was fantastic to see The Hound kicking ass and being the character I loved from the books. So really, this was definitely the best episode of the season, even if lots of characters were left out in order to focus on the happenings in King's Landing. But all of that will be settled in the finale on Sunday!

Part Three: Question Tuesday (anyone get the reference?)

 On Monday, Craig posed an interesting question to all of us:

• What do you think would help you most in terms of getting work done and motivate you to actually write? 

While I think this might be a difficult question to answer, I'll still try. 

 For me, the difficulty with writing comes from the ideas I have. They are complex, which makes me over-think how to proceed with them. The idea I am working on now is a dystopian story about a man and woman. I have those two characters figured out. I have the challenge they'll face figured out, but all the political and scientific aspects of the story have yet to be decided on, leaving me with a feeling that I shouldn't start writing yet. And it's this way with everything I write. I tend to be a perfectionist with my writing, and I worry about the quality of everything I've typed up. I feel that this story isn't the one to let be mediocre. I want it to be something special...


I don't know if there's a way to get me out of this rut... I guess the only way out is to write. But, like most young college students, there are many distractions. Also, I love procrastinating. I promise to make an effort to write over the summer, and all of my fellow bloggers should see if I'm actually trying. I'd appreciate being held accountable for what I've just said. Keeping a promise is always good motivation, especially when many people have seen/heard/read you make that promise.


Part Four: Conclusion
 Once again, I am so happy to be a part of An Abundance of Blogging. Having read everyone's posts, I can tell that I'm working with some awesome people nerdfighters that I'm sure to get along with. I hope my sun burnt ramblings weren't annoying...

DFTBA y'all! 





 

Hey y'all, it's the Tuesday Writer!

I'm that girl who'll be writing on Tuesdays, otherwise known as Shelby W. 

I'm not one of those girls who likes to talk about herself, and I often feel weird when I have to describe/introduce myself to other people or on a profile. So, since this is that sort of situation, I feel kinda weird...  Oh well!

To start....

I'm an aspiring author (seems to be a trend on this blog!). While I've written lots of things, I've yet to finish a novel. It's no lie when authors say writing novels is hard work. It definitely is. All of my manuscripts have been left untouched for many reasons: plots didn't work, got stuck (that dreadful writer's block!), the idea needed to be expanded...etc. I think I need to work on this... just a tad. 

My life is nothing out of the ordinary. I'm engaged to an awesome guy. I'm a college student majoring in English. I like to read. I'm a Doctor Who and Game of Thrones (among other shows)  junkie. The only interesting thing about me is that I'm a trap shooter (shotguns and flying clay targets). Really though, I'm quite a boring person. But I guess that's not exactly a bad thing. Sometimes, the most satisfying thing is living a normal life and being happy it's normal...

From me, I suppose you can expect a whole bunch of random rants about my inability to write, posts about TV shows and other entertainment (reviews galore!), and posts about everyday life. I can't wait to see what the other writers bring to this blog, and I hope that it can be enjoyable for us to write and for you to read, whoever you might be.

I think that's all that needs to be said. I don't wanna seem self-absorbed or anything (not that I am... I'm totally not!).  

DFTBA

(Don't Forget To Be Awesome)

-Shelby W.