In Which I Thank People for Ruining Stuff

Ironic title, but it serves its purpose. Sometimes things need to be ruined to ward off false impressions. For example, I thank the person who permanently ruined April Fool's for me. Not sarcastic. I thank my father for ruining Ayn Rand: I actually thought she was interesting until he made the analogy (another one, but not initially mine) of stop signs. If they were invented during Rand's life (were they? Doesn't matter, it's a theoretical example), she would say "This is a good invention, but what if we had stop signs every three inches? THAT wouldn't be good!" We do not have stop signs every three inches, and as far as I know nobody plans on it, so there's no need for a serious warning. In other words, she made outrageous scenarios by stretching thin basic concepts. and of course that is considered philosophy by some.

One thing I always change my mind about is The Chronicles of Narnia. I didn't like it at first because animals died (I was huge on animals), then I liked it when I saw the movie in 2005, then shortly after the Prince Caspian film, Pam (a friend) pointed out how predictable they are, what with Aslan always coming to the rescue. I am thankful to her for ruining it for me, although I'm now pretty OK with them because of the fantasy stuff. I do plan on finishing the books.

So while by no means is ruining always good, it can be, it seems.

Comment or whatever,
Lewis

Pet Peeves

It seems that writers often have pet peeves that come from no logical place, and I would like to discover my own. For example, Tom Monteleone is fine with the word "writer" but not "author." OK. Emily R does not like the phrase "thinking outside of the box," which is understandable as it is overused. My Creative Writing teacher Mr. Nantz does not like the word "flow" when describing writing. And check out The Spring Grinch here!

What I'm saying is, a lot of us seem to dislike things irrationally, and I wonder at that. I never lie, but I tell April Fool's jokes sometimes - THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. It's just like saying "Just kidding!" - as long as the joke hurts no one, there is no cause to get upset about it. She mentions in there some exceptions, but I do not do that. And I rather don't like being caught off guard when people dislike something and I have no way of knowing. Granted, I have many holidays I like better, but anything can be used badly. So why blame April 1?

Also, I finally got a guitar today. I cannot wait to learn how to play! It's been bloody long enough. I have a lot of stuff to do; my life is behind schedule.

Toodles!
Lewis