Happy Holidays!

Taking the next 2 weeks off because holidays, have a happy and healthy end of year! See you in 2017!

Neoliberalism and Language

I just finished up my seminar on neoliberalism, and what amazes me is its impact through language. Neoliberalism is a system of economic and political theory where the market is seen as the only site of truth and is left unchecked. This system often employs the language of democracy in order to appear as democratic, when in reality it is anything but that.

Language is critical to the human experience, its how we form our world and make sense of it. This is related to the idea of a speech act. A speech act is any utterance that performs an act, which connects the verbal and physical. This is how people express themselves to each other.

This is related to performative theories about politics. Essentially we are always performing an act that is rehearsed throughout our lives as we are told how to act. This can easily be seen in how politics parallels the theatre. There is the sense that people are playing roles, such as the role of senator or a theatrical role. This continued to the point where early Shakespearians called themselves Macchiavells.

Language is then used in a certain way by economic theories such as neoliberalism. Neoliberalism centers around the free market and leaving the economy unregulated. However, that is not the only purpose of neoliberalism out there. Margeret Thatcher once said “economics are the method, but the object is to change the soul” with regards to neoliberalism. The movement has loftier aims with regards to changing the citizens of the countries that it is implemented in, beyond changing the policies. Since the focus on the market is paramount, what starts to happen is that the people are removed from the political scene.

An example of this is the crisis or representation. It is usually assumed that from representation follows democracy in politics. However, there is no guarantee of this. Instead what happens is the people participate in a kind of a sham election as representatives are put into power and then either stick to their promises or turn their back on them. This isn’t democratic, this is oligarchic, there is now a small subset of the population exclusively in control.

Government is defined by the philosopher Jacques Ranciere to be dispute between people and their discourse as it creates an egalitarian act. It consists of discussion between different groups of people, especially between those heard in government and those not heard. Centering government around the economy removes this discourse, fundamentally altering what it is.

However language can also be used to rebel against the state. This can be done through constituent power, which is akin to protests. Constituent power is the power of the people to stand before the government and demand their rights, which is what we see everywhere today. However, what inevitably happens is a similar government is put into place, and we are all back where we started.

What needs to be utilized instead is destituent power, which is where the people voluntarily remove themselves from politics and go elsewhere. They give up their own legitimacy since the system is so broken beyond repair. I don’t know how this would work in practical terms, but I think that is where our society is headed. We need to start looking for alternative spaces to be political in order to escape this cycle. 

It’s Time to Love

This is going to be a bit of a strange post, but I’d like to talk about this anyways.

So I’ve been having odd dreams lately, a sure sign that I am stressed. (This is related to this article, check it out if you have time. http://garnetnews.com/2016/11/28/the-age-of-anxiety/) These dreams range from a really melodramatic rendition of an everyday event to the end of the world, but either way the stakes have been high when I close my eyes lately. So I was really glad when I found that article and realized that I’m not the only one!

But we are reaching a new age of anxiety so to speak in more ways than one. Sure we’re all freaked out about the future, but also mental health in general is coming to the forefront. More and more adolescents are being diagnosed with disorders all the time, which could be due to more awareness of these issues or teens being put in more stressful situations, it’s hard to tell. Either way, as a society mental health is becoming more prominent. Unfortunately though, mental health is still highly stigmatized. People suffering from it feel alienated and alone, and the lack of understanding out there isn’t helping anything.

Put the two together (stressful situation and mental health), and we are in for a really rough time. I know people who have had really terrible times with their brain recently, and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any better anytime soon.

I’m going to propose that to counter the age of anxiety upon us, we try to usher in an age of love. Love to look after each other. Love to counter all of the hate we see. Love so we can take all of this energy and indignation and put it to positive use. We can’t lose sight of what is important here, or we are just as bad as the people currently giving us anxiety.

So look out for each other, and take care of yourselves. Now more than ever, we need a little love.

“A Wizard of Mars” by Diane Duane

I was an incredibly intense fan of this series in middle school, aka the Young Wizards series. It has a very probable portrayal of magic and wizardry in the “real world” that relies on physics and makes sense spiritually. It’s a great mix of science fiction and fantasy, which is really cool. This book comes after “Wizards at War” in the series which I thought was the last one, BUT IT’S NOT I’M SO HAPPY!

As you can see from the title, it’s about Mars, our red neighbor, and what the wizards are doing up there. Nita and Kit are the wo main characters, and the teenage wizard partnership that continually gets into trouble and barely makes it out of adventures. Nita is trying to learn more about being a visionary and seeing the future, meanwhile Kit is obsessed with Mars and wants to learn more about it. Camela (Kit’s sister) is featured as she deciphers Mars text, and there’s more about Kit’s family as well since Helena comes home from college in the middle of everything, and she isn’t a fan of his wizardry talents. Nita’s family also has a side plot as Dairine starts learning about stars from Roshaun’s family in an attempt to find him. (Sorry this explanation is bad, but to explain Roshaun’s story would take all day, just read the earlier books.)

Some other characters from different books like Ronan, S’reee, and Darryl also make an appearance, which I always like when reading YA novels as some authors forget about other characters that they wrote about. Not Duane though, you can tell that she likes all of the people that she has created since they keep coming back and making appearances here and there.

Anyways so Nita and Kit’s relationship is the main focus here, they meet Martians that are very similar to them which makes Nita jealous and suspicious. You can probably guess where this is going…

The portrayal of Mars and how the planet is seen on Earth and how those affect the actual planet is interesting, wizardry in the books is about persuasion so what you think something is can be as important as what it actually is. It’s an interesting idea, open to ambiguity which science hardly ever is. It’s also very similar to theories within philosophy of language which says that the words we use for things kind of become the thing itself to us. You don’t need to know something concretely in in order to get a sense of it.

So this installment isn’t my favorite in the series since it is mostly about Nita and Kit’s relationship and I liked them as friends, and it’s mostly setting up for future installments but hey here we are. I guess takeaway here is to read the rest of the series because it’s really good!

“Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s pretty ok to me. There’s some people out there who are obsessed with him to a ridiculous level. But some of his stuff I like and other stuff I find to be a bit too much.

This story started off as a bit too much, it was the classic “oh send the narrator into a mysterious world with some pretty girl and he pines for home but then becomes a Warrior and doesn’t want to leave.”

But there were some redeeming qualities by the end. I don’t know, I’m just so sick of the archetypes in fantasy.

One example is the Marquis de Carabas, he is a wonderful character, and the version I had even gives a little story at the end about his coat. Others are also very unique, like Lear or Old Bailey.

Having said all that, it constantly annoys me how Gaiman’s women always need help from some guy. I thought that Hunter would be different but nope Richard has to help her in the end. Ugh.

Anyways it is a nice sort of Alice in Wonderland-esque story for adults, and the continual references to London, both past and present, are cool. But it still relies heavily on tropes and doesn’t really do much with them. Ugh.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

My friend and I took the time out of our really busy weekend to go see “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” starring Eddie Redmayne. The verdict: Redmayne is gorgeous and this movie really is fantastic!

It starts with a montage of newspaper headlines to situate the viewer in the environment, which is New York City in 1926. The movie itself is not super steeped in the time period, although there are references to Prohibition and the First World War. There’s also less overt racism and sexism than history would have had, but the xenophobia of the time finds another way of making itself present.

The main conflict involves the relationship between the Muggles and the wizarding world. The wizards have been persecuted and are now in hiding. This means that there is a ban on magical creatures, making things difficult for Newt Scamanda. However this also leads to small children with magical powers being nervous to show them and develop them. If children repress their magical abilities they create what is called an obscurus, which is essentially a ball of dark energy that lashes out and destroys anything in its path. There is one rampant in New York City, but Newt’s creatures are being blamed instead.

This is quite a clever conflict, as there is no definitive “bad guy.” The Muggles are just living their lives, and the wizards are trying to protect themselves. The “bad guy” here is our fear of anything different from us. There would not be an obscurus if people were accepting of others.

The movie does reference the Harry Potter series a little, Dumbledore comes up, and Grindelwald is mentioned as terrorizing Europe. There is also a necklace briefly shown with the Deathly Hallows symbol on it. For the most part, it is its own series which is really nice.

So I’m really excited for where this movie series is going to go next! Drop “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, this is the follow-up that we’ve really been waiting for!

FUCK YOU TRUMP

Not a real post this week because I am upset and pissed and stressed out by the recent American election. So I'm just going to say this:

Trump, if you think that you are going to change who or what I am, you have got another thing coming. You can try to get me down and have me lose faith in democracy or in myself, but you will not get a single inch with me. I refuse to go back into the closet and I refuse to be anything other than what I am.

You can try to come after me or my friends, but rest assured that I will personally make the next four years hell for you, and if you want to get to anyone I love you are going to have to get through me first. I love and care about them so much that I would do anything for them, a feeling that I am sure you have never felt. I am sure that love will come out on top again, since love is indeed all you need.

"Career of Evil" by Robert Galbraith

This is the sequel to “The Silkworm” and continues following Cormoran Strike and Robin on their adventures solving mysteries and all that. It picks up right where the last one left off, with Robin getting ready for her wedding and taking on a bigger role in the office.

This all changes when she gets sent a human leg in the mail. Cue their next case!

What I thought was cool was how the quotes connecting the chapters were all lyrics from the band Blue Oyster Cult. Chapters that are written from the killer’s point of view (an addition for this book, wasn’t in the rest of the series) don’t have quotes but share titles with some of their songs. Which is an unusual way of linking the whole book together, but the band and its lyrics are kind of important to the story so it works. (The connection here is that Strike’s mom was pretty obsessed with that band, so it’s a way for the killer to get at Strike and into his head really.)

Aspects of both Strike and Robin’s pasts come to light, mostly about Strike’s family and Robin’s reasons for dropping out of university (which is alluded to in previous books but never totally explained).

Topics like rape and mental illness are discussed but I think that the author handled them really well. Having the opposing views of Strike and Robin definitely helps, and I would guess that the book overall is more sympathetic to Robin’s point of view since she understands mental illness more I think.

The plot can be confusing as there are initially like four suspects and keeping them straight is a little difficult, but it’s not that important since there’s only one in the end haha. This also made the ending more interesting since you think that the story is pointing to one solution but then it completely changes course and goes for another.

This was a really great book as well, it is turning into such a nice series.

"The Bone People" by Keri Hulme

This book has been on my reading list for a while. There’s a lot of really unusual things about it, which is probably why it was rejected by many (many) publishers before it finally was printed.

The first thing that struck me was that the narration style is very unique. Sections are written from the perspective of one of three people, so first you have to figure out who is narrating. Then it will alternate between their narration, and an internal monologue that is their thoughts and associations. Sometimes the narration and the internal monologue could be about two completely different things. Sometimes the person narrating will flip flop around a little. Sometimes the situation they are narrating with jump around temporally. It takes a little getting used to, but to be honest I enjoyed it because it was different. It makes you work initially, but eventually you get used to it.

To move on to the story, it focuses on three characters and their relationship. The first character you meet is a recluse painter named Kerewin. One day she finds a small boy in her Tower. The boy’s name is Simon, and he’s mute. So an interesting layer to their relationship is how they communicate despite him not being able to talk. Then Simon’s dad, Joe, enters the scene. The three of them become close, as Simon takes a liking to Kerewin (despite not liking many other people) and Kerewin finds herself opening up for the first time in years.

Honestly there is not a whole ton to the plot, but then about halfway through everything starts falling apart. And that’s where the title comes in. The Bone People can be interpreted in two main ways. First of all, each of the characters is more or less stripped to the bone. The ending section devotes a chapter to each one of them, as they try to cope with their shortcomings alone. They each fall apart, and need to figure out how to get themselves together again. The other way to interpret it has to do with Maori culture. Both Joe and Kerewin have an interest in Maori culture (despite the fact that Kerewin is not Maori). Bones play a large part in Maori beliefs, so the title could be referring to that as well.

While we are on the subject, Hulme includes a blend of Western and Maori cultures in this book. It does not come out exclusively for one over the other, but advocates a mixture. This can be seen most clearly with Kerewin, as she has cobbled together a small book with texts from many religions that she reads from. This resonated pretty strongly with me, since I’m interested in religion and feel like my beliefs are somewhat cobbled together from many cultures.

In addition to all that, I finally remembered why this was on my reading list for a while. While never explicitly states, Kerewin is probably asexual and aromantic. When asked (by a few characters) if she is marrying Joe, Kerewin usually says something along the lines of her not being the marrying kind. She states this more explicitly when talking to Joe about it, she says that she never had any interest in sex or being intimate with anyone. No one hurt her, that’s just who she is. Which is such a refreshing portrayal! Too often asexuality is seen as someone who was “broken” or needed “fixing” or something like that, it’s nice to see someone where it is simply who they are, no need to alter it. And additionally, her relationship with Joe and Simon is a great portrayal of friendship and love, without it being romantic in any sense. Because they all clearly care about each other.

That is what this book is really about, how caring for others can change you and transform into something greater than yourself. You can be tempted to give up on it, but in the end it is worth it. What’s nice about this is that the book puts the emphasis on someone coming to this conclusion on their own, so this is a choice you must make independently. But in the end you need other people around.

“The Silkworm” by Robert Galbraith

(This book was written by J.K. Rowling if you didn’t know, but I’ll refer to her as Galbraith because that’s what she wants to be called so there.)

This one is a literary mystery! Sure to make readers happy (that’s why there’s so many books about reading). There are some references to the first book in this series (The Cuckoo’s Calling) but it also stands well on its own.

I really enjoyed not how Strike solved the case but how he went about proving it. Which is what makes up the bulk of the book anyways. It involves some old friends that are very amusing and I quite liked. I hope they appear in other books.

Strike’s relationship with Robin is very important here, she wants to get training as a detective and is frustrated by Strike trying to protect her. On top of everything else, Robin’s fiancée thinks that there’s some hanky panky going on. Of course.

Anyways, the victim is a writer, and many of the characters are involved in the literary business, in particular gruesome tragedies. The quotes that appear with each chapter are also from tragedies which is quite interesting. (It adds an element of surreal-ness when you realize that the book in the story that reflects the murder is similar to the quotes on the chapters, sort of reminds you that this story is also a book with an author, adding a layer to the experience. I don’t know, it just seemed really meta to me.)

I quite liked it, maybe not as good as the original book in the series, but no sequel ever outshines the first in a series.

"I Me Mine" by George Harrison

Yeah the Beatles fan is back at it, I finally hunted down this book with the intention of devouring it.

So the first part of this book is like an edited memoir of George with edits and contributions from Derek Taylor (good friend of his, more of a writer than George which is why he’s in charge of this). It’s not very long or elaborate, and kind of jumps around a bit as George just goes and talks. Plenty of amusing insights though.

Then there’s a section of pictures. (Some jerk ripped out a few from the copy I got at the library, the nerve of some people.) Surprisingly enough there were some that I hadn’t seen before, which made me very happy.

Then there’s a section where George stuck handwritten copies of the papers he wrote songs on, which is really cool! It’s similar to that other book I read like a year ago, "The Beatles Lyrics" but also includes some of his solo songs. There’s also a blurb from George about each one, which is nice.

Not a long or elaborate read, but contains some nice quirks that show his personality, and a whole bunch of handwritten lyrics, my goodness.

"Blue Jean Buddha: Voices of Young Buddhists" edited by Sumi Loundon

This is a book that I’ve been meaning to check out for a while. It was published in 2001, so it’s a little bit dated, but the messages inside still hold. Essentially it is a collection of stories from young Buddhists about their experiences with and relating to Buddhism.

What makes this book great is that Buddhism is so often seen as part of the “older” generation of hippies, something that is no longer relevant to life. But stories of young Buddhists like these show how Buddhism continues to be relevant and to some people essential in this day and age.

One story that I liked was one person discussing how at an early age he was pronounced to be a reincarnation of a Tibetan monk, and how that affected his life. As a monk born into a Western family, he didn’t know how to merge the two aspects of his life into a cohesive whole that he was happy with. It’s such a great example of the challenges Buddhism faces in a world where you can get immediate gratification and worldly success relatively easily. In the face of all this, who wants to meditate?

Then there are other stories about how much Buddhism and mindfulness have helped other people, who may have been suffering from drugs or stress. It just continues to show that you can have everything that you ever wanted, but still be unhappy. For some, the solution to that is inwards, and rests on finding inner peace.

This book isn’t so much an introduction to Buddhism as a discussion about its effects on life. Which makes it an interesting read, but one that you may need some prior knowledge for. However if you are a young adult of teen interested in Buddhism, then this may be the perfect intro to it!

"The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff

The idea behind this book is that the author explains the basics of Taoism through the stories and characters of Winnie the Pooh and friends. It’s super cute.

The main idea of Taoism is that life is inherently good, and the badness that comes into it is from our efforts to turn our lives into something that they are not. Essentially, just go with the flow and life will be ok. (This is actually rather similar to Buddhism, except that Buddhists think that life is suffering and the best way to ease the suffering is to go with the flow.)

It’s such a charming little book, and the stories make the principles easy to understand. The style of writing is really endearing, there are plenty of elements from A. A. Milne’s stories, so you’ll really like it if you grew up with them. Often the anecdotes are presented as the narrator telling the story as though Pooh, Piglet, and the whole gang were in the room with him as he is writing.

Great read whether you are into Pooh, Chinese philosophy, or both!

"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky

So I haven’t read Russian literature since high school… I mostly picked up this book because it was huge and stood out to me. Wheee…

In case you did not pick up on this from the title, the story follows the 3 brothers Karamazov. Dimitri is the oldest, Ivan, and finally Alyosha is the youngest. Dimitri is motivated by worldly things like money and the women that he loves. Ivan is more philosophical but detached, he thinks a lot but doesn’t really implement. Ivan ends up rejecting God because of all this useless suffering in the world (but an interesting note is that he could only come to this conclusion because he loves people). There is a lot of inner turmoil with him. One of my favorite scenes was him conversing with the devil, it shows his psyche and how he knows that it is degrading but avoids it. I don’t know, that was just a fascinating scene since I had no idea what was happening most of the time. Then there’s Alyosha, who was a monk, and is motivated by his love for his brothers and the people around him. He largely reacts to events around him in a way that is influenced by his time spent as a monk.

You can probably see where this is going. But the resulting saga combines a courtroom mystery with an intense drama with musings about life, among other things. It encompasses many topics, and while it centers around Russia and Russian life, it by no means is exclusive to it.

The ending is ambiguous with regards to the fates of Ivan and Dimitri. But it seems optimistic that they both will be redeemed somehow. The book comes out strong for religious force and love in spite of skepticism and the hate that is rampant among us. One must continue to believe in spite of these things, otherwise your faith has no meaning.

I enjoyed reading this more than I thought I would. The characters are original and vivid, with distinct and endearing personalities. Even the minor characters stand out clearly. And while there are some parts that require you to think, you find yourself wanting to do it so that you understand the scenes better.

I’m not usually into classics, but this one turned out to be an enjoyable read, if heavy at times. I don’t know, maybe I secretly am into intense Russion novels. 

"The Invisible Orientation" by Julie Sondra Decker

So as you may or may not know, I identify as asexual, but I realized that my formal knowledge of asexuality was rather limited so picked up this book to fix that. It turned out to be a really interesting read, regardless of whether you’re ace or not.

There’s discussions of what asexuality is, which includes various sexualities and romantic identities that fall under the asexual umbrella. (A few examples: demisexual, lithoromantic, aromantic, etc…) Decker then continues to discuss what the asexual culture is like (there’s a lot of jokes about cake mostly), the hardships that asexuals face, how allies can help, and further resources for more information. It is very comprehensive, there’s a lot of information included here.

One section that I personally appreciated a lot was the discussion about how there is this myth that asexuals are not discriminated against. Decker systematically pulls this apart and examines all the various ways that asexuals are at a disadvantage in our society currently. There are more that you would expect!

There is also a really good section specifically for allies and how they can help! Being an ally is important people!

It can get a little repetitive regarding things that you should and should not say to an asexual, but having said that it is a good idea to pound that into people’s heads so it is not necessarily a bad thing.

A really informative book, I know that I will definitely be checking out some of those resources that Decker recommends.

"Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren

I picked up this book because it’s basically my future. My plan is to get a job in a lab and do science work forever, so I thought that this would be a nice sneak peek from someone who has done it.

She story involves a lot more struggling to get funding and live off of a professor’s paycheck, which I didn’t really expect. Somehow I thought that people like her would have an easier time with it. Especially if you read the back cover and realize how many awards the author has won, if she had a hard time the rest of us don’t stand a chance.

But throughout the entire thing she just seems so happy! I hope I find a great friend and lab partner like her, and get a dog. Honestly that’s all that I need. Her writings have a ton of unbelievable and hilarious anecdotes, she clearly has a sense of humor and knows how to convey it.

Chapters alternate between stories about her life and information about plants and how they work. The two parallel each other, so when she’s talking about plant sex she follows it with stories about when she was pregnant with her son. It makes for interesting and informational reading. The science portions are written for non-scientists, so anyone can understand the concepts and learn a little from the book.

Having said that, you would never know that she was not a full-time writer, the whole story is integrated very nicely and her voice is amicable and clear throughout the whole thing.

Of course the impact of being female and in the sciences is highlighted, that aspect is often ignored in my experience. Many communities, not just the scientific one, need more of a discussion about the gender biases present in it. I feel like the science community sweeps it under the rug since they have “more important science-y things to do” but this is really a conversation that needs to happen and needs to happen now.

But probably the best part of this book is that it highlights what makes being a scientist so great, which is what I really need some days.

The Complete Peanuts 1953-1954 by Charles Schultz

I get a kick out of reading those complete anthologies of early Peanuts comic strips. The characters looked so different in the early days (especially Snoopy). We often forget that things like comics that are published fairly frequently for a long time go through many developments in the process, and chocking out these old comics really throws you for a loop.

Some characters even disappear, like Shermy and Charlotte (she only appears at the end of this collection). I have no idea what happens to Shermy as he seems like a fairly main character who appears pretty frequently.

What’s interesting about this year is that it introduces Pigpen as a character, and Linus as a baby. You can tell that Linus is more philosophical already, his development into the character we know and love is well on its way.

Another interesting thing about old comic strips is how you can tell that the conventions around comic strips were very different. The first line of the Sunday comics is just a throw-away joke since it sometimes wasn’t published with the rest of the comic. The Sundays are also unique in that they can have a different plot from the dailies, since not all newspapers would print both.

So it’s probably not the best of the Peanuts; there’s still some growth to be done. What’s really nice about this though is getting to see where it started and where it’s going.

Dragons: Race to the Edge Season 3

So I finally got around to watching the latest season of the “How to Train Your Dragon” tv show on Netflix. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go look this up now because it’s amazing!) Sure the animation and the writing is nowhere near as good as the movies, but the animation’s not bad and it features the characters we know and love. It’s also so much funnier than the movies, and since the movies span a lot of time with not a lot of room, you get a more in depth look at the characters this way.

For instance, are you wondering how Gobber got his dragon that’s in the second film? Or for that matter, why he would pick such a lazy looking dragon? That’s shown this season. It’s a great glimpse into what everyone is up to in between the two films currently out.

There were some ups and downs this season. I thought that the Dagur storyline was really good and was going to go great places… Until they cut that short. I wasn’t very happy with the way that it was resolved, it just seemed a little too convenient for everyone involved.

And then there’s the Heather arc that just keeps going. Personally, I don’t see why the characters like Heather, other than the fact that she’s another female who can relate to Astrid more. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but having a character hanging around that we aren’t given a reason to like is just plain weird. She just seems to be used whenever the writers want there to be another spy in the gang’s camp and then discarded and then they try to build her up again. Honestly, if you’re going to make her a big player in this series (which seems like where they’re going with this) then she deserves a better background and more convincing motivations! Granted, this season was better than others, no betrayal or anything, but I’ll be more confident that this is a character headed in a good direction if they keep it up next season.

In the past, the Netflix show has been a lot better about its portrayals of the female characters than the earlier Cartoon Network show, especially Astrid. Like I said, I’m not super into Heather, and Ruffnut mostly just plays off Tuffnut (I said “plays off” she hardly gets any of her own jokes). Astrid this season left a little to be desired. She is a major player in the gang, often second in command to Hiccup, but more often than not she’s just that. We don’t see any other side of her. There was that one episode where she sets up the auxiliary fighters back on Berk, but other than that it’s just Astrid doing work, or getting hurt and insisting that she’s fine. And then there was an episode where Astrid gets this rare disease (I’ll just let book fans know, it’s not cured by the vegetable that doesn’t exist aka the potato, I know I was disappointed too) and Hiccup has to save her. Alternatively, when any of the rest of the gang gets in trouble, they manage to think their way out of it. Humph.

Having said all that, Heather and Astrid together are often shown to be the strong, dependable backup for the rest of the crew, especially Fishlegs and Snotlout. They’re the ones who save Fishlegs and the twins at the dragon auction, so I’m hoping that with these two ladies together there will be more of a feminist slant to the show.

The rest of that aside, this show is hilarious. Tuffnut and Ruffnut (mostly Tuffnut) have some great lines, and the chicken is still here and very much present. While the writing plot-wise isn’t top notch, the humor is spot-on with plenty of puns and really clever recurring jokes. I’m kind of ok watching it just for that.

And then there’s the ending. Again, not the most well-written, but it’s such a cliffhanger, in more ways than one. And there is a good idea behind it. You barely see the villain in the final episode, but everything starts unraveling as the episode progresses, making it like a mystery novel in that regard. I can’t wait until next season!

“The Dante Club” by Matthew Pearl

This tale centers around a mystery set in Boston in 1865, and the heroes are a group of literary people such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and James T. Fields. They are a bunch of nerds doing the first translation of Dante Aligheri’s work “The Inferno” into English. Literally, this is a book about a book club.

While they are working on this, mysterious murders that seem to be inspired by the fates portrayed in “The Inferno” start appearing in the streets of Boston. Guess who gets involved.

Of course, since bookworms love to read about other bookworms going on adventures, this is a story bound to make readers happy. The fact that the characters are wonderfully portrayed doesn’t hurt either. Despite the fact that most of them lived over 100 years ago, they seem to pop off the page and are incredibly vivid. It really brings these old and dusty names to life.

The case itself is also very engaging, and comes to a tight conclusion that brings everything together. The plot is very intricate with a ton of side characters that are just as fleshed out as the main ones, which can be confusing but it works out well in this case. Having said that, there are times where there are too many pronouns and you can’t figure out who is doing what, but I have faith in you.

There was one storyline that was kind of dropped though. In the introduction it discusses this strange species of flies that then gets discussed more in the story. But from there it is just dropped and is never concretely resolved so I don’t know what’s going on there.

So this is a great read if you’re a poetry fan, a history fan, a Dante fan, or just a literary fan. And that seems to cover most people these days.

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith

This is a book about growing up in Brooklyn at the turn of the century. Other than that it doesn’t really have a plot to it.

What I really enjoyed was how all of the characters are described so well! They’re all believable and you can’t help but care about them. Francie I really liked since I could relate to her as a bookworm. Other characters who are clearly looked down on by the community in the book are also done well, like Papa and Sissy. From their portrayal, you like and care about them in a similar way to Francie, despite the fact that they are not beloved by the rest of the world in the book. Lee is also portrayed really well, Smith could have made him seem much nicer from the beginning, but you can kind of sense that he’s a scumbag from the start. Which makes his actions that much more terrible, since you could see it coming. An interesting tactic.

Since the story spans such a big chunk of time, you kind of grow up with Francie, and as details grow fuzzy to her the reader experiences the same phenomenon. Which is pretty cool. Probably doesn’t hold true on the second or third reading, but on the first one it definitely was the case.

The ending itself comes full circle to the beginning which is great, but it also seems like it’s wrapped up just a little too nicely. As though there should have been more to it than that.

Read for the characters, not the plot. But an enjoyable work to get through all the same.

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" based on a story by J.K. Rowling but written by Jack Thorne

Alright so this story has gotten a lot of press lately for being, well, another book about Harry Potter, but also many people are saying that it reads like fan-fiction.  And, I mean, duh of course it does. It’s the first book in the Harry Potter universe that’s a play, which is a huge difference just by itself.

Think about it: reading a book is really an experience. You get sucked into the place and feel like you’re with the characters on their adventures. Plays aren’t like that. They can be if you’re in the theatre, sure, but if you’re just reading them they definitely are not. And it’s hard to bridge that gap between the two, to write a play that feels like a novel. So the entire experience around reading this book is going to be entirely different than anything else in the Harry Potter universe.

And then there’s the fact that the characters we know and love have grown up. Now I consider J.K. Rowling to be a wonderful writer and an incredible creator of this universe. Since she is trying to make these characters believable, she made caused them to change slightly over the years. They are no longer the scruffy gang that we once knew, now Harry, Ron, and Hermione are parents and adults with actual jobs that don’t involve getting into tons of trouble all the time. They do not seem the same as their characters in the main series, nor would I want them to if I’m being honest.

But therein lies the rub, the whole reason why people loved the Harry Potter books so much was because of the characters and the world around them. Now that all of that has changed, there is not much left of the original story that we all know and love.

Don’t get me wrong, the writing leaves a little to be desired and the plot is somewhat cliché (although it does get better in part 2). I am pretty far from claiming that this is anywhere near as good as the original books.

But maybe we aren’t giving it enough of a chance, none of us has seen the play performed and the difference between seeing it live and reading it is huge. Within the theatre you can also get “sucked in” to the story and the characters, similar to reading a book.

So don’t completely give up on this play, you probably just aren’t experiencing it in the right way.

Peaceful Resolutions to Conflict

Ok so there are many stories out there in the world that involve protagonists finding peaceful solutions to the conflicts that they face. Usually they are also torn about finding this peaceful conflict because the others around them are encouraging them to try and use violence instead. The ones that I can think of off the top of my head include “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and “Steven Universe.”

Stories like these create quite a contrast from the rest of the violent and indulgent media that gets shoved down our throats on a regular basis (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn on the nearest TV). They teach peace and putting effort into creating a solution even though it may not be the easiest to carry out.

There’s one major factor that links all of these stories that I’ve mentioned together.

THEY’RE ALL MADE FOR CHILDREN.

Why are we only telling kids that peace is good? Why isn’t that message important for adults as well? Why is this considered more immature than stories that feature blood and violence? Messages that promote nonviolent solutions are important for people of all ages, especially in a world where it seems that everything around us is about to be torn apart by war.

Really the only reason that I can think of is capitalism. The reality of the situation is that violence sells. People are more interested in watching someone get ripped apart than they are in watching someone struggle to keep the peace. As a result, media with well thought out conflicts that are resolved peacefully and reasonably have been regulated to “family friendly” media and considered juvenile.

Over the centuries there have been several theories about how art and morality intersect (Plato comes to mind). There are even more contemporary examples such as how terrorist groups recruit members through the media. I’m not saying that we should ban violent media because it ruins our morals, on the contrary, I think that they have a right to be out in the world. But if you ask me, if we want to change the way that the world is, we should develop a greater interest in plot lines with peaceful resolution and stop considering it to be something that is only for children. Because it’s not just for kids, violence affects us all and we all have a role we can play in stopping it.

“Sharp Objects” by Gillian Flynn

So I found this book at a book swap (I love those so much) and figured I’d give it a shot since it’s the same author as Gone Girl and everyone seemed to like that. (Disclosure: I’ve never read Gone Girl so I don’t actually know how good it is.)

This book is a pretty quick read, and centers around two child murders in a small, Southern town. The main character is a reporter who is covering the murders, and in doing so needs to return to her hometown where they took place. This turns out to be an unhealthy decision as she doesn’t get on too well with her family.

This is compounded by the fact that she also recently got out of a psych hospital for cutting words into her skin, which makes for a unique narrative since she is constantly describing how different words are “burning” into her body at times. This words then translate how she’s feeling or what she is thinking about into something physical, which adds an interesting layer to her psyche.

Honestly though, besides the protagonist it is really hard to like any of the characters, the rest are just idiots that she’s stuck dealing with.

Since this is a mystery, the ending is not one that you would expect. But looking back on it, that is the direction that the plot was going in the whole time, so it makes sense and flows naturally from the story.

So this is a good mystery and/or thriller novel with an engaging and memorable narrator, the rest is pretty ehhhh.

"Life From an RNA World" by Michael Yarus

This was a very interesting read, especially as someone interested in genetics. It is very accessible, even to novices, and written very clearly. Sometimes the style is a little obnoxious as the author likes to throw in references to literary works which can get kind of irritating (this is a science book, you don’t need to show off your knowledge of great works of literature).

What is very helpful is that the reader can use this book as a jumping point into more science, if they so choose. At the end of every chapter is a list of works and sometimes a short description of them. This can be used to further your studies of RNA, if you want. Or it’s just fun to examine.

Yarus here primarily posits the existence of an RNA world, or a world where organisms evolved without DNA. This is an interesting concept, and one that I hadn’t heard before. To show how he came to this conclusion, he brings you step-by-step through his thought process, starting with the principles of evolution. Everything is very clear and easy to follow.

I thought it was a great read, and a rather quick one too. It is important to know what we have evolved from, and the origins of life itself. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about evolution, whether they are in the sciences or not!

The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins

Full disclosure: I was given this book for free when I started my job so I figured that I’d read it and give it a try. It’s about the first 90 days in a new job or new position and the changes that you should expect and tips for how to deal with them. Honestly, I don’t think it’s helpful at all.

Transitions are important, absolutely, and you want to get up to speed asap, but the ridiculously anal way that the author expects you to go about them I think would create more problems than it would solve. For example, you really shouldn’t irritate your co-workers by filling out a little chart of every conversation and the things that you accomplished. The result is that some things are really overcomplicated, and then others are simplified down to the point of annoyance. He also uses all of these various acronyms and mnemonic devices, but it seems like he made them up and they aren’t actually corporate jargon because I’ve never heard/seen of them outside of this book.

Sure these techniques are probably helpful, and it is good to know what to keep in mind when going to meetings and everything, but take it with a grain of salt please!

Then there’s the general structure. Each chapter is started with a story about some hypothetical person who switched jobs or was promoted and did everything wrong. I think maybe 1 out of the 10 chapters involved someone transitioning well, which is just disheartening. And it nearly always was obvious what they did wrong, which makes me question the purpose of these little anecdotes. If you can figure out what they’re doing wrong right away, then do you even need to read the chapter?

So this book has a nice concept behind it, but not implemented terribly well.

"How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury" by Cressida Cowell

I finally got my hands on the finale to the How to Train Your Dragon book series. (It involved sneaking around the kids section of the library trying not to look out of place when I’m about 3 times the size of the rest of the people in there.)

Disclaimer: not the same as the movie. The books and the movies have taken pretty different paths, even though I think they are going to end up in the same place in the end. To be perfectly honest, I love them both and usually I prefer the books but in this case the movies are so well done that I enjoy all of them. To me they’re essentially separate entities, the differences between them don’t detract from the fact that they’re amazing and have dragons!

In the final book of the series there are plenty of characters who come back, which is nice. Seeing as how the book series is 12 books long, there are several characters who come and go, and it is almost a requirement of children’s series that they all make an appearance towards the end. Which is good if you really like a character that appeared in say, Book 6, but haven’t seen them since.

One thing I will say about this book is that it has less sass than the other installments since this one is focused on the plot. The whole point of this book is how Hiccup deals with the upcoming war between dragons and humans, so it is understandable that humor would take a backseat here. But don’t worry, there’s still sassy moments and funny dialogue, it’s just less present than the other books in the series.

And of course it explains why there aren’t dragons around anymore, which is what the entire series has been leading up to. Which is so much more emotional than I thought it would be, the ending in general is really poetic and well written. It blew me away since I was not expecting something like that from this series. A wonderful, heart-felt conclusion, you can really tell that this whole work was a labor of love from Cowell.

Again, I’d like to publicly apologize for having this series take over my life, it means such a ridiculous amount to me. I’m so sad that it’s over, but there’s still another movie coming out!

"Will in the World" by Stephen Greenblatt

As a Shakespeare enthusiast, I was eager to read this kinda sorta biography of the Bard himself. It is vastly different from any other biography that I have read, in that it takes Willy Shakes’s life and also puts it in context with what he was writing at the time. So you have an explanation of what London was like at the time, and quotes from his plays with some guesswork as to where he got the inspiration for the scene or character. The result is that it is partially fictitious, sure, but it also makes for a new and different angle on the man.

The result of this is that the book ends up discussing much more than just Shakespeare’s life. It also talks about England at the time, and what the political and social conditions were. It is essentially new historicism taken to the next level. New historicism is the idea that we are all a product of our situation, literature and arts included, so to truly understand a work you have to first understand the conditions it was created in. This is most certainly an application of that line of thought.

However, that also means that it involves a lot of guesswork. Many of the points that Greenblatt brings up in his discussion are little more than just guesswork. Shakespeare might have been present at this event, he could have known this person, there is a possibility that… and so on. As such, this is not the best book if you want a just the facts account of Shakespeare’s life.

Having said that, I found it to be a wonderful new and different take on the life of the Bard. Bringing in his plays makes it much more personal, since part of the book is written in Shakespeare’s own voice. And the guesswork seems necessary, since we know so little about his life. Greenblatt clearly did his homework and researched the time period rather heavily, so I am inclined to trust his guesses as being reasonable and possibly accurate. There is so little that we know about this man, any possibilities out there can only lead us closer to one of the most influential authors out there.

Find That Dory!

Being the mature and worldly student that I am, my friend and I went to go see "Finding Dory" on Thursday when it came out. It was a bit like a return to our childhood, since we grew up loving "Finding Nemo" and it was finally getting a deserving sequel (enough with the "Cars" spin offs please).

Needless to say we loved it.

The cuteness started with the Pixar short, which admittedly are always cute. "Piper" is a short about a little baby piper on the beach trying to learn how to eat when waves keep coming. It's adorable. And the animation is incredible, the feathers on the bird look amazing! The music as well was stellar, which is crucial since there is very little talking in shorts.

The movie right off the bat was emotional, paraphrasing Dory's life before the events of "Finding Nemo" as she loses her parents and searches the ocean for them. This is made difficult by the fact that she can't remember what she was looking for. Eventually Dory remembers a little bit of where she comes from in the middle of Mr. Ray's class, and insists on dragging Marlin and an enthusiastic Nemo across the ocean to find her parents.

There are plenty of new and old characters in the film, Crush the sea turtle from "Finding Nemo" makes an appearance, and stick around after the film to get a glimpse of the tank gang from the dentist's and their adventures. Marlin takes a more backseat role this time and mostly functions as the voice of wisdom, but it's nice to see Nemo interact with him a little more during the adventure. The cast of new characters includes an octopus, a nearsighted whale shark, and a beluga that can't use echolocation. All of them are charming and quirky in their own way.

Other elements from the first movie are also used, such as the infamous "just keep swimming" song and the fact that Dory can speak whale. It's charming to see more of Dory's backstory and fun to spot the connections between the movies.

It's a very empowering film for neuro-atypical people, since the gang involves Dory, who has short-term memory loss, as the leading lady and various others with some kind of disability. Of course it all works out adorably in the end, with plenty of giggles along the way.

It was a wonderful movie, and would highly recommend for both kids and adults. I wouldn't say that it was better than the first one, but it certainly does not fall far short of it either.

Orlando

tw: the events of Orlando over the weekend

I’ve been thinking for a while about what the best way to respond to the Orlando shooting would be. And as of now, I don’t have a good answer.

To be honest, I’m really tired and fed up with all of this. I’m tired of hearing about mass shootings like Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, and now Orlando. I’m tired of all the hate circulating because of it. I’m tired of having different groups of people being pit against each other on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. And how many innocent people need to die before anyone in our government decides to do anything about it?

But I also know that the only way to fight against this kind of hate is with love. Love for each other, love for the LGBTQA+ community, love for people the media will try to pin this on. Yes there is a time and a place for mourning and anger, but ultimately we must respond to this with love and only love, since to respond with hate would put us on the same level as the sicko who caused this in the first place.

I have no idea what will happen as a result of this tragedy, but I do know that everyone needs to help the victims (by donating blood, etc) and stay determined to not let the media cause them to give up on love and the dream of peace, as remote as it is.

“Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda

Not going to lie, the main reason why I picked up this book was because I know that George Harrison was a fan of it. So there’s that. Beatles obsession aside, I also am into spiritual books and books about spiritual people, so I figured that I would like this.

As the title suggests, it is the autobiography of a yogi, the first one written in English I think. Yogananda was also the first one to come to America and spread teachings here, as well as setting up a community in California that then spread. As you can imagine, he has lived a pretty interesting life, bringing together the Eastern and Western schools of thought.

Most of the book consists of descriptions of various other yogis and people that he has met on his travels, such as other yogis and yoginis (female yogis). There is precious little about his own life, the section on America is pretty short, and when he does discuss it he presents his life as leading to something else. For example, he set up a school for boys in India, he does not really say how just says that it happened when he needs to tell a story of a visitor there. Which is all very humble and everything, but I would have liked more insight into what he did, especially while in America. At one point he does not write anything but takes a passage from his companion’s travel journal!

There are sections when it gets heavy and slightly unbelievable, such as when his guru appears to him in a vision and describes the afterlife. Or the very many descriptions of miracles and visions that he or others have. It gets pretty unbelievable, but I also keep a policy where I will not argue with it until I am also an Indian yogi, these are people who devote their lives to God, so I bet that he pays special attention to them and gives them miracles more often.

In terms of the religions here, literally all of them are present. The Bible is often discussed, as well as Hindu teachings. Buddhism and Islam are also mentioned frequently. Literally no matter what your religious background is, you can find something to relate to here. I found that to be really nice, he takes the teachings from multiple religions and brings them all together in unity.

I will tell you right now that this book is not for everyone, it is pretty religious and a little bit out dated since it was originally published in the 40s. But as someone who is interested in religion, I found it to be a fascinating read, and one that I think was well worth having.

Recognizing the Fact that You are an Asshole

I think that probably the most important realization that I have had in my life is the fact that I am actually an asshole. Everyone goes through life thinking that they’re ok and aren’t actively hurting anyone; most people don’t sit there and contemplate how to ruin someone’s day. But as you carry on you realize all of these subconscious opinions or habits that you have, and while you did not form them with the intention of being hurtful, they still can cause pain in others. This can be sexism, racism, or anything really.

At some point everyone has to realize that this applies to them, there is no way to escape this. Literally everyone in the world has inherent biases, and no one is exempt. Coming to this realization is an important point in your development, because then you can commit to making yourself better. That does not mean that it is going to happen instantly, but even once you begin to set down that path you are already a better, more self-aware, person.

Everyone is going down this path together, so do not feel discouraged, you are not the only one struggling through. The important thing is to learn and grow together, because the truth is that this journey never actually ends, people do not just hit a point where they are perfect, it is a constant struggle to be more aware and more conscious of your thoughts and actions. And that is perfectly ok.

The Legacy of the Photographer

The study of photography has always focused on examining what is within the frame of the image and visible to the observer. However, this does not take what is outside of the frame into account, and therefore leaves off the most important aspect of the photo: the photographer. The photographer is the person actively causing the photo to exist, and therefore should have more recognition in the world of photographic inquiry. For the most part, photographers are largely ignored in the analysis of photos, and actively removed by editing techniques and specific framing of the image.

Photographs, as opposed to paintings, have an inherent claim to represent the truth since they are the product of a mechanical process. This aids the erasure of the photographer, since believing that photographs have not been altered by a human influence disregards the fact that it is indeed a human pressing the button on the camera. People have faith in photos to portray what is really happening without human mediation, and many problems result from this belief. This includes ignoring the photographer and their role in the process, since it is often assumed, and even emphasized, that a machine is doing the work in photography.

One instance where it is incredibly important to consider who took the photo is in the case of embedded reporting. These are reporters who are planted in specific places so that they only report from a certain point of view, one that is already established by the authorities. Clearly, this is problematic, especially when taking the photograph’s claim to truth into account. As a result, people examining these photos will believe that they contain the truth of the situation when in reality they are only a small piece of it. However, there is no viable alternative because the concept of free reporting is flawed as well. There is already an established iconography of suffering that reporters consistently fall back upon, so there is no way to tell if they are reporting what is happening or merely what they perceive to be happening through these established norms of photography. War has a tendency to become generic, with generic victims that are unrelatable to most people not involved. Photographers are influenced by these practices when taking photos, which is an important aspect to consider.

Photography has become central to our lives in the present day, with photos becoming ubiquitous in our society. However, the way we treat photos as independent entities is incorrect, and forces us to ignore the person behind the camera. There is a long history of either denying the existence of the photographer or ignoring them. Photographers are central to creating a photo, and they show their perspective through their lens. The photographer’s influence should be a part of how we interpret photos, and not just a side note in a history of images.

The Importance of Being Single

I am getting pretty sick of all of this pressure on people to be in relationships. It is something that no one ever discusses either, it just goes unnoticed in society. Granted it’s not that big of a deal compared to the much larger problems out there, but a little bit of recognition would be good.

You see it everywhere, images of happy heterosexual couples on all of the ads and everything, basically flaunted in front of your eyes. And then there are all of these portrayals of sad single people, especially in tv or in books. With this message of “don’t be like us, get yourself into a relationship and be happy already.”

Which is fine if you’re in a relationship, but if you’re not you get the message pounded into your head that “you aren’t allowed to be happy unless you’re in a relationship.” And that’s really shitty. There have been studies done, and loneliness is usually linked to shame these days. We are ASHAMED of being single, as though we have done something wrong in order to end up there.

Here’s the reality though: you don’t need to be in a relationship in order to be happy. Heck, you probably will be happier if you take time to yourself to just be single. Which no one ever talks about, of course. You learn more about yourself and how to be happy with yourself when you’re on your own. And most importantly, you learn how to accept yourself as a single lady, which is so important. When you are happy being single, you will have an easier time being kind to yourself and have more self-love. That’s what I have found in my experience at least.

Just remember: you are a strong, independent person who does not need anyone else. You are plenty enough on your own. <3

My Impending Doom

Recently I was elected the president of a club that is very near and dear to my heart (ok it’s the circus club).

I never actually expected that to happen.

If we skip back to freshman year when I first joined, I knew literally nothing about the circus and could do nothing. Now I’m the main leviwander and know the basics of most other props. I’ve learned a lot in the past three years, probably as much as I have in classes. But that’s really not the bulk of what I learned.

I had never really taken on a strong leadership role before now. I mean I was a leader in high school, about as much as you could be, but in high school you’re always under a teacher who has final say. Now in college everything is completely student driven and it’s all on you.

Starting my first semester here I became a leader, I probably could not even tell you know why I jumped in so quickly, it was just something that I felt I wanted to do. And so it began.

I learned a lot through this process of becoming a leader in the group, not just how to handle a group of people (which I’m still not great at) but also how to put on a good production and how to communicate effectively with people to create a success.

And the best part of being in a semi-theatre group is that you get a production at the end of it, you can visibly see how far you have come and what you have accomplished. It is wonderful for getting photos and for seeing how much everyone has improved.

Despite all of this, even at the start of the semester no one really expected me to become the president. I did not even expect it. I knew I was going to run, so that I could say that I tried, but I didn’t think that I would actually get it. What ended up happening was a strange mix of people not wanting to commit to such a big role in the group, and then somehow it ended up being me getting elected.

It’s strange because I always looked up to the president as this almost perfect leader of the group, and now that person is me and I’m just a hot mess. A problematic fave, if you will. I feel like there is a lot of pressure to do well, but at the same time, I know from previous leadership experiences that you really make the role your own. You can do whatever you want with it because it is a personal job and can morph into whatever you want.

I’m excited. And terrified. Which is probably a good thing. I really want to do well for everyone in the club and everyone watching the group across the years. But most of all I want to do well for myself, because I know that I won’t be happy unless I have given this job my all. And that’s really all that I can ask from myself in the end, because it’s my journey that has brought me here and it’s my choices that will carry me through. It’s all on me, which is comforting and scary. But I wouldn’t choose to have it any other way.

How to Start Leviwanding

Using a leviwand is so much fun! You get to be a magical wizard and make a stick float around you (while people ask if it is powered by static electricity or magnets). It’s a little tricky in the beginning, but it gets much easier once you get the hang of it.

First of all, you’re going to need a wand! I am a fan of the flowtoys practice wands, which come in an assortment of colors, for beginners. Other options include if you want a finger loop or a swivel on it. I would go for the finger loop, although you can easily DIY with a fishing swivel and some extra string if you want.

Once you have your wand, the first step is how to hold it. Put the string over the middle finger of your dominant hand. Hold the wand vertically in your other hand (make sure that the right side is up!). When you’re ready to go, release the wand and slowly spin it in a circle. Make sure that the circle is big enough that you aren’t hitting the string with the wand. And make sure that it isn’t so big that you’re hitting yourself with it either.

When you get the hang of the circle, try stalling the wand out to either side and then bringing it back into the circle. Ideally you should get it continuous, so that you have a circle stall circle stall type of pattern. Get comfortable with that, that’s the foundation of most moves.

Now that you have the moves, pay attention to what your non-dominant hand is doing. It’s probably just hanging there. Try to get it involved and complete the illusion by following the wand. Play with “pushing” the wand around or following it at different levels. It is much more interesting and helps with the illusion if your other hand is involved.

And that’s how to leviwand! The rest is specific tricks and things. Try to watch a ton of videos to help you, when I was starting out people like Erlich Firechill were really helpful (see links below). Happy wanding!

More Circus Props!

My personal favorite prop right now is the leviwand! It is essentially a stick on a string that is weighted to stay vertical as you wave it around. It is so much fun to dance around with, and it is very easy to find your own style as you experiment. There are two kinds: short and long string. Short string is what most people do, the string is about as long as the stick itself and it makes it easy to do tricks. Long strings can be super long, but can be incredible to watch as well.

Video is here.

There’s also fans. Sounds self-explanatory and simple, but since this prop is flat there are some really cool visual tricks you can do with them. You can also adapt a bunch of poi moves for this prop. (It's literally a pair of fans, not much more than that.)

Another prop is rope dart. It is basically a poi with a really long rope attached to it. You can wrap this around yourself and fling it out far. (It isn’t too different from long string leviwand really.)

Contact juggling is a strange one. Since it is juggling, you would expect it to involve throwing things or something. Nope, the point here is that the ball stays in contact with you most of the time. It creates plenty of opportunities for illusions.

Have a video.

Double hoops is a mix of hoop and poi. It is what it sounds like, you get two hoops and do tricks with them. I think it’s fun, makes a nice change from hoop and poi.

Double staves is similar to double hoops, except you have two staffs instead of two hoops. Again, pretty similar to poi, but since it is sticks instead of rope you can make different patterns.

Diabolo is also a circus prop, also known as Chinese yoyo. This is one of those toys where the majority of people doing this are really good 10-year-olds. I find it really hard, but you can judge for yourself.

Devil sticks is another one that people usually try when they’re younger. But there are a bunch of cool tricks you can do with these! The more sticks the merrier, and here we have three!

That's most of the obscure ones that I can think of, maybe if more pop up I'll make another post. I might go more in depth with leviwand since that's what I've been most interested in lately, and it is a relatively new prop as far as circus props go.

Introduction to the Circus: Common Props Used

Having been a member of a circus club for the past few years, I have noticed that there are a lot of misconceptions as to what it is that a circus group does. It is a lot more similar to a theatre troupe than people usually think. But there are also a whole bunch of different props that people use that your average person does not think of. There is much more than acrobatics to the circus!

The most popular prop is probably poi. Poi are essentially two balls with strings attached to them that you swing around. (Picture right there.)

Seems simple, but there are so many things that you can do with them! You can grab a fellow poi friend and do some partner poi, or grab two or more poi in one hand to create different patterns. The possibilities are endless with this prop, but it is definitely one of the harder and more nit-picky ones.

Here's a cool video as an example: here.

Next up is staff. Fairly self-explanatory, you swing around a giant stick. But you can also get more into contact staff, which is when you do not use your hands at all, makes it much harder.

Contact staff video: here.

Hoop is also very popular. Most people have probably heard of this, and played around with one as a kid. But circus hoopers are really next level, they do some amazing things.

Yup it's a hoop video.

And of course juggling! Everyone knows juggling, here’s just a fun video.

Jugglinggggg

All of these props can also be a fire prop! Poi and staff become fire toys in a pretty obvious way, with hoop you have to attach individual wicks around the end. Most people use 3 or 4. And with juggling you only ever see clubs with wicks on the end being tossed around.

There are many more props than this out there! There’s leviwand, fans, diabolo, you name it. I’ll pick up later with some more obscure ones.

The Struggles of Getting a Science Summer Internship

So here’s the deal, I’ve been trying since January to get a summer job in a science related field, and have had zero luck. Now I’m not positive, but I think my struggles are due to a few factors.

First of all, most lab positions require a mentor, someone who runs the lab and is willing to take you on. You have to match to this person, they have to want to hire you, and you have to want to work with them. As a result, you could be incredibly qualified for this position, but if there isn’t a lab you would work well in you aren’t going to get anywhere. It is really frustrating to hear back from so many people “you were very qualified, but unfortunately our final decisions were based on a match with various mentors.” Wonderful, thanks gents.

Another reason is that so much of society is based on results, while in research if you get results you got really lucky. That is why so many people take forever to get a PhD, they have to put in hundreds of hours throwing stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks before they start seeing results. So on a resume, it will definitely look good if you published a paper or did a poster presentation or anything like that, but the opportunity to do that is based entirely on luck and whether you found anything of scientific value.

Finally, applying for anything is a really tough process. You write a cover letter, but that never truly shows your potential and work ethic. I grant that it is probably the best these universities can do, but applications can’t and never will totally show the entire student applying. I am willing to bet that incredibly capable students (similar to me) get rejected all the time simply because of the applicant pool. It’s disgustingly similar to applying to college.

Moral of the story I guess is to just not take it personally and keep trying. Don’t give up, many people have been in this position and many more will be here as well!

Are Humans Naturally Warlike?

There’s this argument that you often see that essentially argues that the pacifist’s quest for peace is futile. It essentially goes along the lines of: humanity has been mostly at war, therefore it is our natural state. However, I think that it is taking a simplistic view of the matter and that the conclusion that war is our natural state doesn’t actual follow from that observation.

Think about it: not everyone involved in a war is supporting violence. In fact, most people are probably against it. They are just supporting the cause. The people actually in favor of violence are those in control, the leaders of the countries at war. They are the ones actually making the decision to go to war. The people fighting would probably prefer peace, as no one really enjoys killing and risking getting killed (there are some psychological objections, but I’m going to ignore them since they are largely a product of living in a society constantly at war, I don’t think that they are born that way).

So it is the leaders of a country that are making the decision to fight. So how do they end up in a position of power? Mostly by being violent, aggressive, and rather Donald Trump-like. They push out quieter candidates with their yelling and gain the support of the people.

So the fact that humanity has mostly been at war is because of our tendency to have aggressive people in power, rather than a universal inclination to violence. Which is an entirely different problem to be dealing with.

“Chant and Be Happy” based on the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swarmi Prabhupada

I was given this little book as a gift, mostly because it includes an interview with George Harrison, and a shorter one with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It’s a pretty complete book though, regardless of its size. It even gives you instructions on how to chant at the end, and how to make your own chanting beads. I have read a lot about meditation techniques, but this is the first that I have seen focusing so intensely on Hare Krishna chanting. It’s a technique that I’d like to gain more experience with.

There’s also a brief biography on the Swami and his works, as well as a kind of random story about how another teacher reformed a prostitute. I’d say that it was included to show the parallel between him and Jesus, but I’m not sure.

Not going to lie, probably the only reason why anyone would be interested in this work is the interview with George Harrison. It is a very good one, it discusses spirituality and its effect on his work a lot, even pulling specific lyrics to show its influence. A great read even if you already have extensive knowledge about his career.

So this is a short read, but it is very illuminating, from multiple perspectives. Grab it if you get the chance!

"Slade House" by David Mitchell

As an avid David Mitchell reader, I snapped up this book as soon as I could. This tale is similar to his most recent one, The Bone Clocks, and manages to elaborate on that world and the forces at play there. Dr. Marinus makes an appearance, and aspects such as orisons and lacunas are explained a little bit more. The majority of the plot centers around the house itself, it appears on the last Saturday of October every nine years and the people who are lured there encounter something different every time.

From a small child to a grumbling policeman to a college student, spanning 1979-2015 the reader sees the progression of this phenomenon across time and personality as the narrator changes. What remains constant is Mitchell’s wit and incredible writing ability that keeps the reader hopelessly engaged even as we realize that there is no way for the characters to make it out. (The repeated mentions of foxes and hounds should probably have tipped you off to that already though.)

This book is probably his shortest one yet, it is only five chapters and a little over 200 pages. Despite how much I liked the technique of using the house as the center of the story, instead of a character, it did leave me a little bit unsatisfied. We only get a brief snapshot of Dr. Marinus, a character who I am immensely fond of, and the book ends with a really unsubtle allusion to a sequel. Great, I’d love to hear more about this world, but could we get a little more now?

So Slade House is a great book if you are already a Mitchell fan and need an extra dose of his writing, or if you want an intro to his works. Here’s to hoping that it’s not too long until that other sequel…

Analysis of My Beatles Ranking by Album

Here’s an album by album breakdown of what I posted two weeks ago.

Might as well start at the beginning with “Please Please Me.” The highest ranked song is “Baby It’s You” at #26 (which is a cover, funnily enough) and the lowest is “There’s a Place” at #187, so it’s pretty spread out over the rankings. Since it is their first album, of course it’s going to be a mixed bag in terms of quality. I have always had a soft spot for this album though, since again it is the Beatles which is still much better than most other bands.

Up next is “With the Beatles.” The highest ranked song here is “All My Loving” at #23 and the lowest is “Money” at #179. “Money” is a bit of an outlier though, most of the songs are higher ranked, around 100 or so. As an album, it’s not one that I usually think of listening to since it is easy to overlook it. Having said that, most of the songs on it are very good, and even the covers do a great job.

Then comes their first soundtrack “A Hard Day’s Night.” Highest song is “Can’t Buy Me Love” at #10 and the lowest is “I’ll Be Back” at #180. Most songs are between numbers 80-140 though. This is their first album with only original songs, and it has gone down in history as one of their best albums as a result.

After that there is “Beatles For Sale.” Top song here is “Eight Days a Week” at #30 and lowest song is “Baby’s in Black” at #195. This song does not come out as high as the others, in fact there is a bit of a divide with about half of the album coming out around #100 and the other half around #175. At this point, they are getting a little tired of the craze about them, so I guess that is to be expected.

Their second soundtrack is “Help!” Best song is “Yesterday” at #46 and worst is “You Like Me Too Much” at #181. The songs are spread pretty evenly between those two. This is not a super great album, probably a by-product of all the pot they were smoking and their general lack of enthusiasm for this film. Still, it’s a fun one to listen to.

Next up is “Rubber Soul.” This album marks a significant shift in their music, away from generic rock n roll and into more experimental sounds. Top song is “In My Life” at #13 and lowest is the incredibly problematic “Run For Your Life” at #169. The majority of the songs here are below the 100 mark, which is pretty indicative of where it stands with me.

After that is “Revolver” which could almost be a continuation of “Rubber Soul.” “Eleanor Rigby” is the highest at #4, and lowest is “She Said She Said” at #170. The songs are actually pretty well spread out between them, probably because “Revolver” in general has a darker tone than “Rubber Soul” (“Run For Your Life” is pretty upbeat and unique for that album anyways).

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is definitely my favorite album from the Beatles. “A Day in the Life” is the highest ranked at #6 and then “Good Morning Good Morning” is the lowest at #95, so they are all below the 100 mark which is exciting. Most of them are clustered around #50 or so. It is often said that this album summed up the 60s, but let’s be honest it sums up my life as well.

This is followed with “Magical Mystery Tour.” It’s a strange album, but it claimed the #1 spot with “All You Need is Love,” and then the lowest is “Your Mother Should Know” at #142. There is a pretty sharp divide here, with some songs below #70 and some above #110. This is clearly a very hit-or-miss album, with quite a few hits and some misses. As an album, it is not nearly as strange as the movie.

“White Album” is next. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is #14 but it also claims last place with “Wild Honey Pie” at #208. There are quite a few songs from this album clustered at the end, but also some towards the beginning as well. With an album this big, it is hard to avoid that.

The last soundtrack album is “Yellow Submarine.” Top song is “Hey Bulldog” at #78 and lowest is “Only a Northern Song” at 191. The rest are spread pretty evenly between them, but since I didn’t include the George Martin (*tear*) orchestral things there are only like 5 songs included here.

The next recorded album is “Let It Be.” The title track is #3, and #196 is the lowest with “Dig a Pony.” The songs are spread out below #100, but then there is also a cluster around #180. Overall it is a pretty good album, but there are some duds in it. It happens when a band is in the middle of breaking up.

The last recorded album is “Abbey Road.” Highest is “Come Together” at #8, lowest is “You Never Give Me Your Money” at #203. The songs are spread evenly between them, which is what happens when you break up the medley I guess. This album probably would have been ranked higher if I counted it as one, but I could not really think of a good way to do that.

George Martin

Alright well George Martin died on Tuesday and I was pretty underwhelmed with the statement that Brian Wilson wrote for Time magazine about him, so I'm just going to say a few words here.

George Martin was an incredible man, producer, and artist. The Beatles had gone to many labels looking for someone to record them, and even though Martin had largely done comedy groups before, he decided to take them on. He saw their potential and took a gamble on them.

If anyone deserved the title of "the fifth Beatle," Martin would definitely have a solid argument for it. The reason why so many of their songs sound the way that they do is because of his expertise in the mixing room. Good examples of this go from the strings on "Yesterday" to the explosion of sound at the end of "A Day in the Life."

Martin continued producing beautiful music up until the early 2000s, with projects such as the Beatles "Love" in Vegas and working independently with individual Beatles. His legacy will probably be as the man who made the Beatles, but he was so much more than that. Without him, the world would sound a little bit different. So thank you, George Martin. You will be missed, but not forgotten.