Why Anne Shirley is the Queen of Nerd- and Fangirls

I've noticed that people seem to think being a super-fan started in the 1950's and 60's, when both comics and The Beatles were all the rage, and when kids suddenly had free time and when they also stopped listening to their parents. As amazing as early comics were (you know, the pre-war stuff that's utterly impossible to find), and as awesome the rise of Rock and Roll must have been to teens at the time.... the super-fan had already been around for quite a while. To prove my point, we're going to look at the ultimate Nerd and Fangirl: Anne Shirley, or Lady Cordelia, or Queen Anne (a nickname given by her friends because she is fabulous). 

You can see the intense fangirl stare from here. 

Do you doubt me? Let's examine the evidence.

1. Anne spends a huge portion of her books quoting from other books. You cannot tell me that fangirls don't just walk around making references to things CONSTANTLY. 

"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes. That's a sentence I read in a book once, and  Isay it over to comfort myself whenever I'm disappointed in anything." - Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 5

2. Anne starts a "story club" (read: rich people fanfiction) with her friends, and then supplies most of the plots and characters.

If there is a group of fangirls who all belong in the same fandom, one comes up with the fanfiction/headcanons, and the rest approve or disapprove. Also, in the book, Anne cries not only when they read the stories in the Story Club, but Anne actually cries when she writes. She's got fandom feels if anyone does. 

Ruby Gillis just wants lovemaking in all the stories [Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 26]

3. Anne does not take books or book adaptations lightly. 

Anne comes downstairs multiple times in tears because of something in a book. Fandom Feels. In that same vein, she wants to live the story through adaptations, but... 

"But it's so ridiculous to have a red-headed Elaine [a heroine of Camelot]... I'm not afraid to float down [a river] and I'd love to be Elaine. But its ridiculous just the same." - Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 28

Still, Anne let acting win over looks, which is always the preferred fandom way. After she nearly dies reenacting a funeral, she says flat-out that the only romance is in stories. Boom. Fangirl quote right there. 

4. Diana Berry is her best friend. 

Diana gets a subcategory because she is the ultimate best friend/fangirl sidekick. 

Why? 

• Diana's stories have too many murders because she doesn't know what to do with side characters. I am vaguely reminded of Moffatt here. 
• Diana is a shipper. She's been Team #blythecarrots from the beginning. 
• Diana went to Matthew's school of critics. Translation: Anne wrote it, it must be brilliant. 
• Diana is going to get her own blog post one of these days.
• One of Anne's favorite things about Diana is that she has a cool name. Look it up, it's in the book. 

5. Anne calls herself Cordelia for YEARS, because Anne is a "commonplace name." 

This was such a big deal to her that Diana actually named her daughter Anne Cordelia. I'm definitely revisiting Diana in her own post.  

6. Anne KNOWS life is a stage, and takes tragedy accordingly.

See: carrots incident, the hair dye incident, the Mrs. Lynde incident, the drunk incident, the Haunted Wood incident, and basically the entire first book. 

7. Anne is head of her class. 

Even with all that reading she does, Anne has time to be the best in school in most subjects, and constantly in... guess what subject... English. Except sometimes she indulges in light reading (Like Ben-Freaking-Hur) instead of her history homework. #myactualhighschoolexperience

8. Anne just wants to read about romance. 

I'm convinced Anne would love romantic TV shows as well, but what's important is that Anne doesn't want actual boy drama. She just wants to read about it. And obsess about it. But only the fictional kind. Gossip drives her crazy. 

9. Anne stubbornly refuses to let go of her romantic ideal for OVER TEN YEARS....

Sherlock. Winchester brothers. The Doctor. Need I say more? Romantic ideals are the life of a fangirl. All nerds and Fangirls know that feel.

"Tall and handsome and distinguished-looking -- dark, melancholy, inscrutable eyes -- melting, musical, sympathetic voice -- yes, the very hero of her dreams stood before her in the flesh." Anne of the Island, chapter 25

... Then she marries her hot nerd friend with a sense of humor. 

Girl wrote the book on denying true love for years. And the book of Sass. 

And finally... 

10. Anne leads her life like she's a heroine of a story. HER STORY. 

She's the Queen of the Fangirls because Anne is always Anne, will always be Anne. She loves her books, loves her friends, and gets the fandom feels. She is supportive of her friends' interests, bravely pursues her own when no one else is following, and is all-around the heroine and Queen of Nerds, the ultimate Fangirl. And the best part is, she doesn't even know it. She just thinks she's a nerd. 

Getting Blamed: My Response

As human beings, we blame each other. The first two people who ever sinned immediately blamed someone, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Snake. That reality has dogged human history ever since.

We also build classes, ways that we could discredit people and devalue them (a sort of blaming). These classes exploit each other and attack each other, justifying their own actions by devaluing tose they take advantage of. And, when injustice is done to a people group in a certain historical period, the victims blame the perpetrators until either justice comes or the situation is rectified. This blaming continues for generations, perhaps. Often, people don't blame the long-dead, active perpetrators, but the still-living descendants who benefit from the sins of their class (I say class instead of race because race is arbitrary. All white people are the same? Tell that to the Irish immigrants of the mid-1800's).

I am not here to say we should stop people from blaming. In fact, I would like to say the opposite.

I'm not here to present some woe-is-me victim mentality, and I am not saying everyone uses sweeping generalizations when they talk about a people group. I just want to present a different perspective. If you are actively blamed for something you had no part in, I would ask if you actively or passively disassociate from that event.

Let me explain.

If you see a systemic injustice -- one put in place by the actual perpetrators -- are you doing anything at all to tear it down? There is systemic racism and sexism built into our economic and justice system. I am on the benefitting side on one of these issues, and the losing side on the other. The fact is, there are people who categorize my entire race, who blame me for things that I had no part in, and that my family had no part in. When that happens and I see it, I can get on a high horse and say that I didn't do those things, or I can join them in their fight for justice. As a white person, I benefit at the higher levels from certain types of racism. As a woman, there is a glass ceiling that will make it very difficult for me to get to those upper levels. It is my duty to fight for the victims, to show compassion, to see from the perspective of those who have been wounded. That is what it means to love justice.

Justice anywhere is the beginning of justice everywhere.

I am in a unique position to fight for justice for those that want to blame me. If someone puts the responsibility of a few people's crazy actions on my shoulders, I can yell and fuss and say it's not my fault, or I can accept the position I was born into, and use it to perpetuate change. That's happened at a small level in my life. In Hawaii, I've seen people blame the entire white population for the overthrow, for new hotels, for fancy houses and irresponsible water use, for everything. Fact is, I can say I have nothing to do with it, or I can get involved. Instead of saying I am not to blame, I can make myself blameless by being one of the people that fights for the right thing.

If I do that, I am speaking not only to my character, but to the character of my people, my family, and my God.

Speaking of my God: 
Jesus took the sins of the world on his shoulders. He became sin. I am pretty sure that is a clear instruction/example for me, as a Christ-follower, to take the sin I am assigned by blamers in stride. By accepting the group's sins as belonging to me (just as they belong to everyone in the group) I have a uniquely strong platform for change. Think about it. That's how revolution works best: the people who are told they are wrong accept it and change.

Just like everyone else,  I was assigned a class at birth, based on my gender and ethnicity, and issues that will dog me for my entire life. I can run, deny, or blame, or I can accept and be a force for change.

I choose change.

Giving Thanks

I heard a fantastic quote about human beings the other day:

we are clever, but we forget. 

That's exactly what we do. As a species, we figured out how the planets move around the sun, but I still ask for the date in class. As Americans, we live in a country with plenty of available food and shelter, plus resources for the sick. And yet, we need a day to remember that we are fortunate. 

We need a day to remember that things were not always like this.

To remember that tomorrow is never promised to anyone. 

To remember that many don't live like we do even now. 

To remember that what we have is a gift.

To remember who to thank. 

This is a different sunset, same feeling.

I remember I was driving home from UHMC one day, and there was an absolutely stunning sunset. I mean, this was on Maui, so many sunsets are stunning. It's almost normal to see something postcard-worthy on your drive home, and then to complain about the traffic. But I have always been a huge fan of sunsets, and this one was impressive. I remember saying to myself, "I'm glad I have a God, because I have someone to thank for this." 

Another time, I was watching two little girls at sunset, so we watched all the clouds change colors. 

And there are countless sunsets I missed, that I wasn't grateful for. 

If you aren't religious, that's not the entire point of this post, and I do respect your position. Still, for me, I need to remember that I say I believe there is an actual Person listening to me and who wants to talk with me. If I say I believe in a God that wants to talk with me, who loves me, and who longs to be loved by me as well, and I say I do love Him, perhaps I should spend a little more time every day thanking Him. I mean, seriously. 

This also applies to my parents, to friends, to teachers, to everyone who has given to me in a way I can't pay back. 

I can't paint God a sunset. 

But... I can say "thank you." I can mean it, and I need to do so. That's what I believe in. 

And when I forget, and finals/final papers are looming, things aren't going the way I wish they were, I have a day to remember to say "Thank You."

10 of My Favorite Movie Quotes (and My All-Time Favorite)

THIS POST ABSOLUTELY CONTAINS SPOILERS AND IS NOT COMPREHENSIVE OF ALL MY FAVORITE MOVIE QUOTES. PART TWO WILL COME EVENTUALLY.

The title is pretty self-explanatory, but I want to mention that I'm not going to post the "Top Ten Quotes of All Time" list. Someone, somewhere, has written that list. These are just quotes from films that I can't get out of my head.
Stories that won't leave once you've heard them.
Moments we live in our real lives.
Most of them dangerously funny.

10. "And that's why papa says she'll never get married."
-Zipporah's sister, after she drops Moses (back) into the well (The Prince of Egypt).

The best part of this quote is that Zipporah and Moses get married. This quote gives me reassurance that I don't have to be the compliant quiet mousey girl to find someone to spend my life with. I can be Sassy Zipporah (that's just how I roll) and I will be all g. 

9. "I can see you managed to get your shirt off."

- Dr. Lazarus, as Captain Taggart is being chased by a giant rock monster (GalaxyQuest). 

On the one hand, we all have those friends who need to show off their bodies 100000% of the time. On the other hand, we have those friends who just can't let go of their personal problems with other people long enough to be helpful. Either way, this scene is perfect. 

8. "To despair is to turn your back on God." 

- Marilla, after telling Anne she cannot stay at Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables).

In context, this might be the worst thing Marilla could have said, but for me, that line is a short summary of my faith. Having despaired, I can say I had turned my back on God. Having kept my face to Him, I haven't despaired again. I'd say Marilla was right. Also, it's a beautiful contrast to Anne's moments of falling into "the depths of despair," and how as her faith grows -- and she matures -- that phrase disappears. She stops falling that low, even in her darkest hours. 

7. "Who said life is fair? Where is that written?"

- Grandpa, to grandson (The Princess Bride)

Grandpa is king of spoiling-without-spoiling. If you remember this scene, he tells his grandson all about the ending without giving it away. Also, life isn't fair. Sometimes, it's not fair against us, and sometimes, life being unfair is our greatest advantage.

6. "Fight! Win! And do come back soon; I enjoy our visits."

- Edna Mode, to Helen Parr (The Incredibles)

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! 

5. "What do you mean he don't eat no meat? Oh that's okay, that's okay, I make lamb."

- Aunt Voula, on finding out Toula's fiance Ian is a vegetarian. 

The dignity! 

This entire movie is one giant quotable mess, but this might be my favorite Voula line, just because it's so not okay. I have IBS, so whenever my it is flaring up really badly and I say I can't eat something, this scene re-enacts. Or someone forgets I'm lactose intolerant and I don't have lactase pills on me. I quote this and comfort myself. 

4. "Harold, if you pause to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life being led. And, of course, the quality of the pancakes."

- Dr. Hilbert, explaining to Harold why someone might choose to eat nothing but pancakes instead of choosing to live. (Stranger than Fiction).

When I quote this in real life, I almost never get it right. However, it's a great point. How good is your life? How good are the pancakes? What are you willing to change? 

3. "Everybody's got dead people!" 

- Rocket, to Drax (Guardians of the Galaxy)

I scream this at my TV when characters blame their problems on their dead relatives. But, it's true. We've all got dead people. We all miss someone. Live a little kinder (which was absolutely not Rocket's point) and remember that, while we have a right and need to grieve, we can't justify destroying other people's lives just because we are in pain (which was Rocket's point). 

2. "No, that's a simile."

- Fellow students arguing over the finer points of grammar while Madeline experiences a medical emergency. 

That's how kids are. That's how we all get. We want to be right and we miss the important stuff. Also, this scene is a perfect three-part joke. 

1. "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

- Samwise Gamgee to Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

My mom once preached an entire sermon on how everybody needs a Sam, and she was right. We all need a Sam in our lives. 

BONUS: "He must have known was he was doing." 

- Susan to Lucy, when Aslan has been killed on the Stone Table (The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

This is my favorite scene in any movie. Susan is holding onto her only hope and comfort when all hope is gone: Aslan knew what he was doing. She, who has tried to be the parent figure for so long, has to step up and be the person Lucy has to depend on. And what does she say? Not that it will be alright. Not that it makes sense. Just that Aslan knew what he was doing. And he did... but Susan just had to trust that she was right, and that even when the world made no sense, Aslan was still the King. 

Learning to Love Little You

Inside all of us, we are everyone we used to be.

There's five-year-old Heidi who sits in a room in my Mind Palace with fifteen-year-old Heidi. And that's okay. 

I'm learning to love my young self.

Oh my gosh, but she did have good hair.

She wasn't happy, to be honest. My child-self suffered.
All of us have pain our child-self lived with, and lived through.

Sometimes, our child-self tries to grab the steering wheel when we start driving toward something that hurt us in the past. It does everything it can to avoid pain, even when the pain is important for our current self to go through.
Our child-self decided what to fear.
Our child-self decided what hurts.

I was a cabbage patch doll

It's important to respect and understand that self's decisions, and then to do what needs to be done anyway. I'm learning how important it is for me to gently take my child-self's hands off the steering wheel, hold her tight, and make sure she know that Current Self is going to do all she can to take care of all of us.
I need to acknowledge the little girl who is scared of the dark.

And...
I need to acknowledge the little girl that still wants to play. The one who has the imagination to find an adventure in every moment of every day. There's a child in there. She's innocent, she's naive, she just wants to be safe and loved. I can't go back in time and tell my parents, or pastors, or friends what to fix. I get to be the one who loves and protects those younger selves. And I need to be the adult. The version of me that knows the child-self will be okay gets to call the shots.

The fact of the matter is, I get to choose who drives. 

Maybe five-year-old self does understand the beauty of a butterfly more than I do. She should be the one who looks at beautiful things. There's not a chance in childhood to fill up your heart with enough beauty, so I'm going to show my child-self all the beautiful things I see. I might have the understanding of Fall leaves that a twenty-year-old has, but I can have the wonder of a five-year-old.

Early-teen-self is not allowed to talk when I'm sad. She's reckless, impulsive, destructive, and I don't need her anywhere near driving. However, she feels deeply and honestly. Let's be honest, twenty-year-old self has the mechanics, techniques, and language to write poetry and songs, but early-teen-self has the pain to inspire a song. 

I guess I'm learning that growing up isn't to just turn from one thing into another, it's to outgrow an old self and preserve their memory in my body and heart, knowing that I had a heart then, and that heart beats inside mine now. 

It's okay that sometimes I feel like I'm ten. 

It's okay to be a grown-up. 

Long live the child in me.

The Difference Between Good Grades and Being Well-Educated

(according to me, who is completely underqualified to make this assessment, except as a student).

My ideas that sound contradictory, and won't by the end of this blog post:

1. The most well-educated student in a class may not have the best grades. 

2. The most rebellious (think, questions authority) might be asking for the best education. 

3. The person with the best piece of paper might not be as well educated as the people with inferior paper. 

I think grades are important for societal things, like getting into college and finding jobs out of high school.

I understand the need for standards. They make things easier for assessors, and a grade is a decent indicator of how someone is doing compared to the ideal circumstance.

Here's the problem: Good grades do not equal a good education.

I KNOW. I'm talking crazy talk.

Let me explain:
Grades are a marker of your progress against the standards your school has established. Completing the standard set of informational memorization and mastery of your school's prescribed skill set is called "graduating." So far, I have successfully done that twice.

However, once I got a job, I started seeing a lot of people who were... hmm.... less than well-educated. Adults. People who had successfully graduated. 

I personally think I got a great education at my tiny school, and here's why: 

I can think. 

That's it. That's the difference. Good grades are not an indicator of someone's ability to think

There is no measure for someone's critical/creative thinking ability in standardized testing, or at least, I haven't seen one. There's something great about telling kids, "there's no wrong answer, just go for it," and meaning it. 

I was talking to a friend from junior high/high school, and we realized we are good at learning. As in, I feel comfortable talking about a subject I know very little about, because I know I'll learn. I feel comfortable relating a new subject to one I know. 

So this is a non-comprehensive list of things I think well-educated people should be able to do/qualities of well educated people (disclaimer: this is an opinion piece by a college student. I am sure I will come back to this topic in ten years and wonder what I was thinking).

1. Well-educated people know the difference between their tastes and what is good/bad. 

I don't like certain shows. I just don't get the appeal of certain books/movies/bands/subjects/shows/art pieces, etc. However, I do know that my taste is not the be-all/end-all taste. If I tell you a book is good, I mean it was well-written overall. That might not mean I like it. Hence, I think The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a fantastic piece of American literature and you would have to pay me to ever read it again. 

2. Well-educated people can relate A to B. 

What? I think it is a mark of a well-educated person to be able to take new knowledge and contextualize it by using knowledge they already have. For example: A student learning about A Midsummer Night's Dream might do well to pull in their historical knowledge about Athens and Grek Mythology, and just let it set up shop in the back of their mind. 

3. Well-educated people know they don't know a lot. 

I'm not an expert in any field. Period. I had the same job for three years and constantly learned about the inner workings of my job, more effective sales techniques, etc. I still don't know anything about anything. 

4. Well-educated people aren't scared of educators. 

I've started to think of teachers as teachers. As in, people who are present in my life for the sole purpose of helping me gain knowledge. As in: they don't hate me. They probably want me to pass and do well. They want me to master the subject they have spent their lives mastering, to the extent that the class is taught, and then beyond that. I used to be afraid of teachers in real life, like they wanted to be superior to me. That's not how that works. 

Look! A teacher! I touched one! 

5. Well-educated people want to be taught more than they want to be right.

I think it is a mark of a well-educated person to jump into situations where they know they will be the least knowledgable person. They would rather make mistakes that lead to mastery, then be perfect and mediocre. My youth pastor on Maui is fluent in 7 languages. I've been listening to him be bad at a language my entire life. Sure, it's a different language every few years, but the point is, he sits there and does badly until he gets it.

So in conclusion: good grades show you learned some thing. Being well-educated means you learned to love learning. 

Five of My Personal Legend-Level Songwriters

I take my music lyrics pretty seriously. I'm all about hooks and catchy melodies and great beats (by the way, most people are talking about great rhythms when they say they like a song for the beat. It would be weird if people liked songs about beating women because 72 BPM gets them turnt). 

But the point remains: I really, really like good lyrics. And great music.

A great songwriter, in my opinion, is one who writes great lyrics while using the song structure to give additional meaning to what is said, and who is interesting to listen to. You've got to have both great musicality and great lyricism, otherwise you're a composer (no lyrics) or a poet (no music). 

About the legend part: I think of things in lists. Normally. However, there are some artists I can't rank. There are stories I can't rank. I can't say Lord of the Rings is BETTER or WORSE than The Chronicles of Narnia. I might like one better one day or another, but I think they belong on a list without rank. Basically, a list of all my number-one-favorites. 

So, to recap: 

LEGEND: the tied-for-first items on the list. 

SONGWRITING: poetry with music

That being said, here's a list of five songwriters that cycle between being my favorite all the time. 

I've also put in five songs from each of them and which project they did it with, so you can find the darn thing. 

*Disclaimer* This list is not comprehensive (read: I will revisit this topic the next time I have a difficult week, or whenever I feel like it). Also, I am sure I'm going to do one of these lists with bands instead of songwriters. Just not this week. 

LEGEND: EMMA POLLOCK 

BANDS: The Delgados, The Burns Unit, Emma Pollock

Paper and Glue - Emma Pollock - Watch the Fireworks

Emma is fabulous in every way. I was introduced to her when she was a part of The Delgados (who are also legends in my mind -- the first song I heard from them is here.). 

It takes a rare artist to really confuse me with their lyrics, without confusing me. 

Let me explain. I like it when I get every line (things make sense and aren't in gibberish) but I also like it when the meaning of the song escapes me the first few times I listen to the song. 

Also. Emma Pollock is Scottish. Done son. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. The Light Before We Land - The Delgados

2. House on the Hill - Emma Pollock

3. I Could Be A Saint - Emma Pollock

4. Paper and Glue - Emma Pollock

5. The City Consumes Us - The Delgados

Baby Emma! So cute. 

LEGEND: MATTHEW THIESSEN

BANDS: Relient K, Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes

Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down

Oh goodness. I don't know how he does it, but I always feel a deep personal connection to Relient K albums. For your reading pleasure, I've included some favorite RK lines, all penned by Thiessen:

"I'd rather forget and not slow down than gather regrets for what I can't change now."

"Been convincing myself that I'm worthwhile, because I'm worth what I'll convince myself to be."

"I feel like I was born for devastation and reform."

Dat internal rhyme tho. 

Plus, he wrote the most epic 10 minute song I've ever cried to. It's here.

FIVE LOVELY SONGS (all from Relient K):

1. Forget and Not Slow Down 

2. Deathbed 

3. Boomerang 

4. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

5. Therapy  

LEGEND: BEN GIBBARD

BANDS: The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed

The magic of Ben Gibbard is not his voice or his lyrics. It's the combination of the two that makes his songs so memorable. He puts a hundred pounds of weight in every simple line. The layers of meaning are just INSANE and I can't get over it. #sorrynotsorry

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

2. Your New Twin Sized Bed - Death Cab for Cutie

3. We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service

4. Brand New Colony - The Postal Service

5. Talking Bird - Death Cab for Cutie

LEGEND: MAT KEARNEY

BANDS: Mat Kearney

Mat Kearney - Can't Break Her Fall

This guy though. He's all like, oh, I'll learn to play guitar. I guess I'll play covers. Oh. I suck at covers. I guess I'LL JUST WRITE FREAKING BOSS SONGS FOR FUN. 

Not every white guy can rap and play guitar at the same time. But Mat Kearney can.

Not everyone can write an epic ballad about their dad. Mat Kearney can. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. Can't Break Her Fall 

2. City of Black and White

3. Closer to Love

4. Hey Mama

5. Fire and Rain

LEGEND: JON FOREMAN

BANDS: Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, Fiction Family

Jon Foreman - Somebody's Baby

Out of everyone on this list, I think Jon and Emma are the most versatile writers, but Jon has a style all his own. Beyond that, it is rare that you hear an artist in three simultaneous projects, where every song is clearly identifiable as belonging to one project or another. I figured more of you know Switchfoot, since they've been around since the late 1990's/early 2000's, but since not everyone in the entire world knows Fiction Family, here's a link to a great song. Seriously. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. Souvenirs - Switchfoot

2. Betrayal - Fiction Family

3. Give Me Back My Girl - Fiction Family

4. Somebody's Baby - Jon Foreman

5. I Am Still Running - Jon Foreman

There you have it: Five of my legendary list songwriters. 

Let me know what you think about it! 

I found all of my photos by searching for the artist's name in google image and none of them belong to me. 

All of the songs belong to their respective artists. 

Procrastination Is Not Cute

Occasionally, I go on a rant about how annoyed I get at underclassmen.
Or newbies.
Or students of mine.

I'd like to apologize, because I realized I don't mind inexperienced people. I don't mind people who don't know where something is, or what something is called, or don't know that, if you want to look good while being lifted, you have to do a lot of work.

Throwback Noah Clark and I. Thanks Aida for the awesome shot.

I don't mind any of that.

I don't like procrastination. I just don't. 

I don't like the attitude that it's "fine." 

I don't like it when people play the "let's see how long I can avoid an assignment" game. 

I hate it when the procrastinator acts like it's "cute" to do it. 

You know why? 

Because it's not. 

It is not cute when you stayed up all night to finish an assignment... after spending the entire weekend watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Or Doctor Who. 

It is not cute when you act as though you couldn't have produced better work, because you didn't have the time. We're in the same class. We both had a month to write the paper. 

It is not cute when you take ten years of piano, yet you still read music like a second or third year because you continuously put off practicing. Continuously. For TEN YEARS. I know that, because I did that, and I wish I hadn't. 

(by the way, this is my public apology to Mrs. Jerome)

PROCRASTINATION ISN'T CUTE. 

I'm not saying I didn't do it. I'm saying that I can see how infectious and bad it is for me, and I think I should have gotten my act together a long time before I did. 

The reality is, if you want to make something of your life, there will always be more, not less work. 

There will always be math. 

There will always be taxes.

There will always be papers. 

There will always be reports. 

There will always be research.

And you will always be the one to determine how good you are.

Now, before someone says that I'm being unfair, I'm throwing two things out there: 

1. I am a high-functioning procrastinator, meaning that I can get away with it, and used that for years (unless, of course, it was for Mrs. Jerome, who always knew. Always. She's like Snape that way).

2. I am not saying that you have to drive yourself crazy with work. I'm saying you need to manage your time. Some assignments take an hour. Some take twenty. Be honest and figure out how much time you need to do an AMAZING job and give yourself that much time. 

God gave us all a day off. On the same list as "Do Not Murder" and "Do Not Steal" and "Do Not Bear False Witness" there's a rule about "Take A Day Off Once A Week."

And I do. Oh, I do. I take my Sabbath, and work my butt off the rest of the week. And I don't do it so much that I stress myself out. 

But here's the thing: FIGURE YOU OUT. 

• When you need to take a break, take one. Just work for longer than you break. 
• Do you work better in the morning? Evening? I work better near the beginning and near the end of my day, so I usually start doing some required thing as soon as I wake up, take a break around lunch -- and relax for a couple of hours -- then resume work. 
• Make a schedule and work long term, multiple part tasks into your routine. Read a chapter a day. Do a journal entry. Practice your musical instrument. 
• Start a project, and then stop. I mean it. Start your paper, write for twenty minutes, and go back to it in a couple hours, if it's due that week, or days, if it's due in a couple weeks or more. Your brain is an amazing thing, and will be processing your work in the back of your head as you go about other tasks. 
• Make a list. All the time. Check stuff off. I actually put my breaks on my list, so I manage how much time I'm not working. I even have an app, Wunderlist, to help keep me on task. 
• Do you work better with music playing? In silence? I've been typing with headphones in and no music playing; I'm conditioned to work better with headphones in, whether or not there's music. 
• Speaking of music, see if music without words or in a language you don't understand helps you work. I do a lot of writing to instrumental music; if it has lyrics, they can't be in English or easily distinguishable. 

 

In case you thought I was joking.

• I pile up all the books and binders I'll need for my homework on the kitchen table and put them away as I get through that class's work and assignments. It helps me visualize all my work. 
• Calendar alerts are a beautiful thing. 
• Arrange your tasks so very different tasks are back to back: laundry, then writing, then cleaning the bathroom, then math, then going to the post office, etc. It keeps your brain from imploding. 
• FOR THEATRE: I learn my lines best after the scene is blocked, so I have to work extra hard if I want my lines memorized before that happens (read: if I don't want to give the director a heart attack, my script is on me at all times until the show opens). 

But seriously, figure it out. 

Because procrastination isn't cute. 

It's just not. 

Thoughts? Opinions? Let me know!

Procrastination is for babies! 

First Time's the Charm (Shh... there's a list in this post).

As you can see from the list of blog posts, I just started this whole blogging thing. I had a few excellent reasons for doing this:

1. it was on my list of "Things to Do Before I Start College."
2. See above. 

Basically, I've wanted to get to blogging for a long, long time, and a few very flattering people have told me I would be good at it. So, here goes. My list of "Things I've Done for the First Time (in the Last Ten Days)."

1. My very first album became available online.

(isn't it cute? I know. It's I'm adorable). 

2. Started a CS Lewis book I haven't already read -- yes, that is still possible. It's called The Abolition of Man and I highly recommend it. It's about modern education, only it was written in 1947, so the next time someone talks about the "good old days," they're probably lying. They weren't born. 

3. Moved out of my house on my own. Specifically, I moved off Maui entirely and now I'm living in Azusa, CA for college. 

Yeah. I willingly don't live here. 

4. I moved into an apartment with not-related-to-me roommates. And I think I just woke one of them up. Hashtag: it's not a typewriter, I just type like a beast. 

5. Speaking of the apartment, I'm attending a brand-new college, Azusa Pacific University. Go Cougars! Yay transfers! That also means: new campus, new state, new bills, new grocery store, new friends, new food, new classes, and new bedding. And a clip fan that attaches to my bunk bed. 

6. Bought clothing related to a college of any kind. For those of you who have ever been to Wal-Mart in Hawai'i, you know it's next to impossible to miss all the University of Hawai'i swag. The Maui College Campus is just as bad. Want a pen? UHMC. Want a folder? UHMC. The worst part is, we all still call it MCC. As in, "I go to MCC... I mean UHMC. University of Hawai'i Maui College. Yep, its a real college now!" *Cries* So that I bought THREE WHOLE APU PRODUCTS is as close to selling my soul as I'll ever get. 

7. Ditched an orientation event. Yes. That means I attended every. single. event. in high school. All of em. All the events? I was there. 

8. Left a long-term job. I said goodbye to my Lahaina Music peeps (at least till Christmas), but this is the first time since I graduated high school (at 16, holla at me!) that I've been unemployed. 

9. Put even marginal effort into decorating a room as soon as I moved in. 

YES. I did that. $3 for the wrapping paper, scissors, and scotch tape. 

And finally, number ten, on the "Things I've Done for The First Time (in the Last Ten Days)" list: 

10. Start a blog. As in, start a blog and post an actual blog post, instead of setting up a profile and forgetting the password (did you know I have a Tumblr? I barely know I have a Tumblr. Which means if you follow me there, that's cool. But since I never post there, it's basically like stalking someone by staking out their house, only they don't live there, leaving you to drink cold coffee and wonder if they're dead. Clearly, I'm not dead. I just rarely statistically never use Tumblr.) 

Once you go Full Tallulah, you can't die ever. 

So that's that. I'm sure I'll have posts about everything and nothing, but for now, much love and goodnight!