everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour.

[two_grey_rooms]

i love this weather so much i want to have sex with it.

i am also rather in love with the choice of john c. reilly as haymitch in the forthcoming hunger games movie. it is perfect in every way (JUST LIKE THIS MFING WEATHER) and almost makes up for the horrendous casting of gale. almost.

i'm not quite in love with the idea that i am already excited about a movie that isn't coming out for another eleven months, but hey, you know what they say in therapy. that looking forward to things serves a pretty important function in that it, you know, keeps you looking forward. which is, i hear, the antithesis of suicide.

who here has read the hunger games? who here has dismissed them as another shit-lit fad a la twilight? if you are in the latter camp, you better re-think that shit pronto and haul your ass to your local library or bookstore. i mean it. imagine the most dangerous game meets brave new world, and then throw in a kickass chick with a bow and arrow who you can't quite classify as either a heroine or an anti-heroine.

i am also looking forward to NOT BEING IN HIGH SCHOOL EVER A-FUCKING-GAIN in a matter of weeks. i've still got over a month of time to serve, but shit, son. i will never have to set foot in a fucking high school EVER AGAIN if i don't want to (unless shit gets apocalyptic and someone decides to convert it into a bomb shelter or something). i will never ever ever ever have to take another bullshit standardized test, or be a part of a system where scoring points is valued over actual thinking, and the vast majority of the people in charge have this strange and vaguely authoritarian idea that it's more important to be punished for fucking up (a vital part of exploring and learning) than to figure out how to fix it. probably, i'll be disillusioned again in a matter of months, but for right now? the idea of being thisclose to getting the fuck out is sexy as hell. at any rate, i'm about to spend four years in a place where learning is actually fucking encouraged and facilitated. that's pretty exciting.

a less disjointed, more substantive entry is coming (eventually...maybe sometime around the hunger games's release date :P), but for now i think ima go back to basking in the sunlight like a lizard. catch y'all on the flip side.

Comments

[coniferous_you]

I've read Hunger Games, upon the recommendation of a professor I was doing teaching assistant work for (the class was "Teaching Language Arts" and one of the groups did a lit circle on the book, so it wasn't entirely unrelated either) and I loved it. It definitely left me unsettled because of the last 10 pages or so, for various reasons, but it is high on my list.

I am disinterested in the movie; I feel neither for nor against it. As much as I read YA fiction (which could be argued as being "work-related", however much I enjoy it), I have no interest at all in books based on YA movies.

I think Katniss is a heroine, just not a traditional one. She does the right thing when it comes down to it, and none of her victims were blameless themselves (I think she'd be more of a grey character if she decided not to feed her family, but then saved Rue or vice versa). Also, I would add Lord of the Flies to the list of "books I've read that resemble this book."

to take another bullshit standardized test, or be a part of a system where scoring points is valued over actual thinking, and the vast majority of the people in charge have this strange and vaguely authoritarian idea that it's more important to be punished for fucking up

This is why I'm glad I came from a "have not" school (too small for the government to care about us), and part of why I am currently working in the field of Education. This stuff needs to change. Congratulations on not getting ruined by a broken system (this is one way I cannot say, sadly, that we Canadians are any better; we've fallen for the "business model for education" trap too).

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

why did it leave you unsettled, if i may ask?

As much as I read YA fiction (which could be argued as being "work-related", however much I enjoy it), I have no interest at all in books based on YA movies.

respectable. my default reaction to the announcement of a new release is, "ungh, another one?" and then to carry on with whatever it was i was doing (except for harry potter, of course). i think my excitement mostly stems from my thirty-seven-year-old cousin ruthlessly enabling me; SHE got me hooked on YA in the first place. harumph. what a terrible influence.

i think you're right about katniss's characterization and--yes, lord of the flies, definitely! why didn't i think of that right away? she's a heroine, just one that's more morally gray than most. i think it's high time i re-read the series so i can discuss this more intelligently. heh.

*sigh* i...don't know, to be entirely truthful, whether i've been ruined by a broken system. that last paragraph was more of a pep talk to myself than anything; i'm...not quite allowing myself to get excited about college yet, in truth. i'm immensely relieved and grateful i got in, and i will probably be relieved to the point of tears when i finally finally graduate, but it...sort of feels like something inside me died, if you'll excuse the cliche. and i recently (only recently! i'm slow) figured out that high school actually triggered my depression in the first place. i don't know if i'll ever really be able to get back whatever it is i lost (hope? drive? at one point it was the will to live, but i did get that one back), but i'll be damned if i'm not going to try. /only-slightly-warranted personal rant

[coniferous_you]

I just don't watch a lot of movies in general, so I don't normally get excited about them.

unsettled

Out came the wolves...I could handle kids fighting to the death, but I could not handle possibly zombie wolf kids.

If it means anything, my undergraduate degree was the least stressful time in my school life. I can only hope that it will be similar for you. At least you won't be in direct competition with anyone now (people will still be competitive, but it means less if you plan on going to graduate school than it does to do to an undergraduate degree).

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

oh dude, the zombie wolf kids freaked me out to NO END. suzanne collins is one twisted sister.

whew. that's a definite relief to hear.

[coniferous_you]

She has something to say, though. I chose to read Hunger Games as a critique of the educational system (do adolescents not metaphorically slaughter each other for the pithy leavings of the State?)

The people who say that high-school comprises the best years of your life are lying, or just wrong. I can think of very little fault to find with my own undergrad - just don't do a double-overload of courses, okay? (;

[cool-rain-kiss.livejournal.com]

IS EVERYTHING SEXUAL TO YOU, HORNY????????????????????????????????

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

WELL YOU KNOW WHAT. spring is the season of fecundity, all right. WHY DON'T YOU ASK THE BIRDS AND THE BEES THE SAME GODDAMN QUESTION. (in case you were curious, the answer is "yes.")

[lawlzify.livejournal.com]

ELLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE SIT ON MY FACE AND LET ME LOVE YOU.

also hi. i miss you.

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

DUDE. holy shit. what're you doin' 'round these hurr parts?

although i'm afraid i'm going to have to decline to face-sit for you. that sounds like i am supervising your face. well, SOMEONE should probably supervise your face, because you could totes asphyxiate from that shit, okay, yeeeesh. YKIO, bro.

[descartes-rock.livejournal.com]

I've been out of high school for a long time, and I remember that last walk out the ugly brown double doors to freedom. The very last walk. However...

I still go back to high school sometimes in my dreams. It is usually one of a few scenarios... I have forgotten to get fully dressed before going... I can't remember where my locker is or where my next class is or which classes I am actually taking... I realize I haven't been going to most of my classes all year out of some sort of bizarre forgetfullness and now finals are coming up and I'm screwed. So that last walk wasn't truly a last walk at all, it was just a migration of high school from the conscious world to the unconscious. It's no better down there. Might even be worse.

Also, craziness of craziness, my younger daughter considered going to the same high school I went to, and so I went for an info/orientation night last year. Now that was strange. I kept waiting for this little snap of familiarity, as though all the intervening years were substanceless, as though something in my DNA would recognize this place as home. But it never happened. My biggest surprise was that this place was no place I belonged to at all, and perhaps had never visited before. The auditorium was almost the only place that felt remotely familiar. And the desks. The desks were EXACTLY the same (I wish I had carved something back then cuz it would still be there today). But I had no idea where to go and the classrooms all felt smaller and were shaped differently and the caf was way smaller and more thrown together -- a big room with a random arrangement of furniture.

So I walked out again through the ugly brown double doors feeling nothing. And then later a sense of disappointment. No matter how unsavoury, my high school years had been mine -- but I owned them no more. They were phantoms. Less than phantoms even. Just an idea I might have once had that I had forgotten long ago.

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

that sounds kind of beyond surreal. dude, you couldn't get me to go back to my high school after i graduate if you paid me. it's comforting to know, though, that one day high school will retreat to a bad dream. ungh. is it over yet?

[summerkins.livejournal.com]

No lie, The Hunger Games series is my 2nd favorite YA series. I just. It's so vividly written that I get lost in it and it's amazing.

Yay for graduating!! High school seriously blows, but college is amazing. Or at least that's how it's been for me. Though for as much as I disliked high school, i almost wish i could go back and visit more. But i think all my favorite teachers (which would be the only reason I'd have for going back) are gone now. :(

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

haha, what's your first?

man. isn't it surreal to think about your teachers getting old? aren't they just supposed to stay where there are, sleep under their desk, and never ever age? i can't get my head 'round the idea that one day my heart-throb english teacher from last year is gonna be an old lady. (i bet she'll still be a cougar.)

[summerkins.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter of course! I seriously doubt I'd have made it through High school without HP.

I don't see it more as them getting old as they just....leave. Like, my favorite teacher ever, Mr. O, had to leave the school cause some stupid bitch accused him of inappropriateness because she was failing his class. And my drama teacher, Mr. P, was having some SERIOUS health issues, in addition to family issues (i think his wife was having someone else's baby) the last time I saw him (like, 2007?) so i dunno if he's still there, and then my art teacher Ms. M was just too cool to stay there. Because I'm sure someone somewhere would come up with something to force her to leave.

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

aha, of course. i sort of separate harry potter from other YA books in my head, even though i know it's silly. it played such a pivotal role in my life that i sort of ridiculously think of it in its own category.

oh. man. that's...really quite sad. growing up is just...bizarre.

[summerkins.livejournal.com]

Yeah i kinda do that with HP too. Cause especially the later ones seem to me at least, more geared toward adults? Or maybe it's just that awesome, idk Though now that I'm thinking about it, there are quite a few semi-adult themes in The Hunger Games...soo.... IDK, i love YA, it's one of the few genres that consistently appeals to me. Plus, my fav authors write YA, and even though I'm not technically a YA myself, it's just the best for me atm, i think.

I mean, Mr. P and Mrs. M might still be there for all i know. But I'm not sure how to find out, short of showing up, and then if they're not there....then it's weird.

[escherzo.livejournal.com]

I... kind of want to read Hunger Games, but my dad loves it and fanboys at me about it a lot. The other series he does that with? Twilight. So I have doubts by association.

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

IGNORE YOUR DAD LISTEN TO MEEEEEEE I AM FAR CUTER AND PROBABLY OCCASIONALLY MORE CREDIBLE

[summerkins.livejournal.com]

My dad totally fanboys Twilight too. It's creepy.

But the Hunger Games is AMAZING, and totally worth it.

[archy-the-roach.livejournal.com]

Okay, I don't know how I missed this, but.

I STILL NEED TO READ THOSE BOOKS. I would ask you to loan them to me, but I think that would just be ludicrous at this point.

And we've totally talked the high school sucks thing into the ground, so I just wanna give you this editorial that pissed me off. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01bausell.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[two-grey-rooms.livejournal.com]

Studies show that over time, test scores do not provide a consistent means of separating good from bad instructors.

LOL MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE TEST SCORES DON'T SHOW ANYTHING OTHER THAN HOW WELL YOU CAN AMASS AND MEMORIZE ARBITRARY PIECES OF INFORMATION

Such insight is relevant to almost all the difficulties facing reformers trying to translate test results into useful policies.

THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING RETARDED

A focus on relevant instructional time also implies several further reforms: Lengthening the school day, week and year; adopting a near-zero-tolerance policy for disruptive behavior, which classroom cameras would help police; increasing efforts to reduce tardiness and absenteeism; and providing as much supplementary and remedial tutoring (the most effective instructional model known) as possible.

DEAR PIC:
MAKING THE CLASSROOM SETTING MORE ORWELLIAN THAN IT ALREADY IS AIN'T GONNA IMPROVE NUFFINK

UM YEAH this comment really isn't even masquerading as anything remotely intelligent, but i've had it UPTOHERE right now. just. UNGH. it's shit like this that makes me want to go into education so i can go into educational reform.

GET THEM FROM YOUR GODDAMN LIBRARY THEY ARE NEVER LEAVING MY HOUSE AGAIN