Education

   I've been reflecting, as I round the bend on that final 200m length of the track, the part where you see your family in the crowd, and feel the desperate breath of the only kid behind you and think to yourself, I cannot be the last person to finish this- "this" being my last two months of my undergraduate degree. I feel the steamy breath of all the quitters and late twenty-somethings who succumbed to their hangovers and I think, "you guys got it right".

   I know it's not a new thing but, like, man what did I learn? When I started school at 17 I was fairly real about it, like, I knew a BA in Creative Writing was a bad idea but it really feels like 4 years ago me just sent a steaming bag of poop to present day me. Or she set an alarm, only loud enough for me to hear, that goes off periodically and says, "Knock, knock, who's there, opportunity, just kidding he saw the certificate from the window and skipped your house."

   I don't necessarily think it's just my degree choice, although it would have helped to look into something marginally more profitable. Honestly, what I've learned is that I can get an A+ without ever going to class (not because I'm special, but because the course is nothing special), that a class of 1000 people can be adequately conducted by a racist, and to give the widest smiles to the oldest men because that is how you make connections. Again, this is not a new thing but I somehow thought I'd be able to avoid it. 

   So people are now asking me if I'm going to grad school and calling me brave for going out into the real world to face true suffering but for real, the thought of three more years in this institution (at least right now) makes me want to hurl. Every semester is like three hours aboard the teacups. If anything, I guess I've got a stronger stomach now. Maybe that's how I'll make money after I graduate: by placing bets with small children re. who can ride the tilt-a-whirl the longest. I've got tens of thousands of dollars worth of training in holding on tight while I get jerked about mechanically by a system designed to make people ill.  

  

Sacrelidge

Is it legal to put music on a mix tape that you discovered through a mix tape?

Things I Want To Like More Than I Actually Do

Some shit is just not for you.

- Orange is the New Black
- circle skirts
- the music of Lorde

Blog Horse

   It has been brought to my attention via my fan base of my parents other regular one follower (and true love, in an alternate universe where I am a homosexual man) that I suck at blogging this year. To these claims I respond, "I know. I'm sorry. And I will surely pay for it in the afterlife".
   Additionally, I meet these claims with a promise to get back on the blog horse. "Blog horse" is a hilarious term on it's own, while also adequately representing the endless mediocrity and pointless criticism that I impose on the world in my blog. Although I guess to be imposing you need to really be forceful, and I am nothing if not limp in my online presence.
   So to you three to five (if anyone else from my family has been looking to see how disappointing the younger generation is) readers, I swear I will write more. I am mounted on my blog steed, with my blog hat on, ready to observe and deliver the completely useless, and predominantly uninteresting nuances of my everyday life!

Paris On Scraps

   No year in Europe is complete without a visit to Paris. The city of love, lights and pretty much everything else you could hope for is at the top of countless bucket lists and for good reason. No one ever seems to tire of Paris; everyone who has been wants to go back again. Perhaps due to its blatant romantic reputation, but more so for its notorious price tag, Paris can be perceived as a predominantly mature tourists haven. 

   I was worried, embarking for a long weekend in Paris this year, that I simply wouldn’t have the funds to appreciate the city in the way its renowned for. I discovered that that is essentially a load of hogwash. Paris is known for its museums, but less known for the sweet deals for students (especially within the EU) such as free entry to the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Orangerie etc. Not to mention that if you have the stamina to walk everywhere you can save big time on transportation. Paris is a great city to get lost in too - there are so many fantastic cafés, bistros and curiosity shops off the beaten path that are exclusive to travelers who are open to wandering on foot. 

   You can even get a taste (pun totally intended) of that French dining experience on a student budget. Café culture is designed so that you can sit in a cute window seat, order a pastry and a coffee and sit there all day people watching. Or order yourself a glass (or bottle, hey, you’re on vacation)of cheap wine. “Cheap wine” in Paris is leaps above cheap wine anywhere else in the world because it is still French wine. There are even places where you can have a full meal, enough to keep you going all day, for a reasonable price if you’re willing to look out for them and do your research ahead of time. 

   In short, Paris is an observer's paradise and observing is a cheapskate's dream pastime. If you're willing to do a bit of homework, find out how you can cheat the system (or cheap the system) and be active and walk, walk and after that keep walking some more while you're actually there you can have just as magical a time in Paris as any seasoned globetrotter. 

Finding the Balance Between Writing and Studenting

   So I haven't been doing much blogging lately. My identity has as a blogger been shouldered out of the arena by being a writer and being a student, which have been vying for the centre ring all year. I feel a bit weird identifying myself as a writer. I've had a handful of pieces published but I still feel like I'm not allowed to call myself a writer. I'm not a professional by any stretch, however I realized that if I don't address myself as the thing which I identify most then how can I expect anyone else to see me as such?
   Aaaanyways, in my travels I've been doing a bit of everything-- except blogging. Last weekend I went to Kendal, on the edge of the Lake District in England. I've been running around this month, and really haven't been doing much to justify calling myself a writer, unless you call writing an exam "creative". But in Kendal I blew the beta dust off a word document and sat down to a big piece I've been working on. It's not finished by any means BUT having just over 10,000 words has made me more prepared to go back to being a student.
 

On Netflix Serieses

   I don't quite know how to feel about the original series' that Netflix produces. On one hand, I commend them on exploring "bold" or "fringe" themes and bringing them to a popular audience. I root for them, really. I haven't watched every Netflix series known to man, however, after bingeing on Orange is the New Black last summer, and following a similar pattern as I now watch Life Unexpected I see a pattern in my reactions as a viewer.
   I usually end up getting sucked into a program, at first because I want to like it more than I do, and then just because I want to see it through to the end of the season. I suppose Netflix doesn't care why I'm watching, as long as I keep tuning in but I care. I love that both of these shows have more than the average number of female characters - can I get an amen from all the female actors out there? - and that the stories are ambitious in the setting and plots they attempt.
   Where I run into trouble is believability and interest in the characters. I have found every character in both of these shows to be distinctly apathy inducing. I will tune into the shittest shit out there if I care about the characters, and its a shame that neither of these shows - in my opinion - have any real likable characters. Sure, I sympathize with their unfortunate circumstances but as an unemployed writer I would tell the Netflix writers that thats just not enough.
   I found myself relentlessly watching "Orange is the New Black" and finishing the series with increasing disenchantment. I won't watch the second season. Unless I'm desperately procrastinating maybe, even then I would probably re-watch old seasons of "The Bachelor" before I turn to Netflix. Sorry.
   Thats part of my issue too: I genuinely want to like these programs. But lately I have been asking myself what I like about them. I could go on forever but here are my most straightforward answers for both shows:

- "Orange is the New Black": I like that it portrays female same sex characters and relationships and has a predominantly female cast, since that is rarer than Mew Two in popular broadcasting.
- "Life Unexpected": I like that it explores the imperfections of parenthood and.. daughtership? in ways that are relatable; the roles that each parent and child assumes in a family and how people can become locked into those roles without meaning to.

   These things are real things, and I enjoy seeing real things. Although I was never given up at birth and then adopted by my own parents 16 years later, I can really relate to some of the sentiments in "Life Unexpected" and my parents probably could too. That being said it - as well as "Orange is the New Black" - fall into a giant sloppy puddle of saccharinity every damn time. If I demanded doom and gloom all the time I'd be watching Breaking Bad. I get that this is not what these Netflix dramas are trying to be. But surely there is a balance between the depressing mundanity of real life (which we sit ourselves in front of a computer screen to forget in the first place) and the upbeat soundtrack as the main character walks down the hall at the end of an episode with a knowing "its all going to be alright after all" smile on her face at the end of an episode. I do not watch an hour's worth of conflict for that shit to happen. I do not invest in the reality of the good parts of these shows for that knowing smile to undercut it all so. very. often.

   I don't have a solution. Maybe I'm wrong too. Lots of people love these shows. But I think about the aforementioned nuggets of good stuff that I praise in these shows and ask if it's good enough or are we all just settling for writing that would be significantly less to blog about were it not for the "groundbreaking" plots they narrate. Is it too much to ask to have those simple things that I like about Netflix original series' but just... better?