Views on humor

There was a video linked on Saturday that I was reluctant to watch. I've been having rotten luck this week, finding things that make me cry (and not in a good way). But I took a chance anyway. I cracked up. The video is a German quartet of female musicians who use humor in their acts.

This made me look at some other things. I'm a fairly serious person. I have a sense of humor, but it's not very noticeable if you know me. I just don't find things funny all that often. Himself tries to get me to laugh by having me watch movies he thinks are funny. By about halfway through I want to put my earbuds in and listen to my favorite podcast or music.

My favorite podcast KUEC (here's my review of Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap) is funny to me. The jokes are off color and can be crude at times. But the odd thing is what I find amusing with them I hate in other comedians and movies.

Here's the full definition of humor. Humor is different for everyone. The things one person finds funny others don't. Some people can find something to laugh about in everything. Others pick and choose what they find amusing. Then there are the people who laugh at inappropriate times. It all depends on a person's point of view.

What makes you laugh? How do you feel about humor?

A school somewhat bans a book again

On Friday, yet another school official managed to attempt to openly ban a book. Cory Doctorow's book Little Brother was removed from a summer reading program because of its “positive view of questioning authority, lauding 'hacker culture', and sex and sexuality in passing.” This was the act of the principal of the Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, FL. In the end, the entire summer reading program was ended. The book is on the optional list for students in 11^th grade now but it's sad that one man could nix a reading program that might have proved to be educational for students.

Cory Doctorow and his publisher Tor are sending 200 copies of the book to the school for free. He has a great response here. I think it's brilliant. I also think the principal was an idiot for stopping the summer program.

I will admit I haven't read the book, but what I've read about it I can't see anything wrong with it. I'm not a school administrator, but from what I understand the book was already approved before the principal decided to yank it.

I have a problem with schools trying to stop students from reading what they think might be controversial books. In Idaho, a book that parents and administrators felt was too much for the teenagers, The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, was banned because of some parts the adults didn't think the children should read – including discussions of profanity and masturbation. 10^Th graders already know about that for the most part. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be allowed to read it. A student got some free copies and was passing them out in a park to kids who wanted to read them. Parents called the police on her because they didn't approve of it.

I know I posted about the thought of trigger warnings on books. I could see both sides of the argument. I rescind my view in that post. Trigger warnings should not be put on books. Banning books because of content should not be allowed. People should read books that challenge their views on the world, that are disturbing to them, to get them to think.

TV comments

I don't have a TV. I don't have TV service (for obvious reasons). My main source of entertainment is Netflix and the rest of the internet, though I can't put Netflix on my laptop. Ubuntu is great for many things. Netflix and Sims 3 are not among them. But when Himself is gone, I can watch Netflix all I want on his computer.

There are things on TV that I want to see. Specifically shows on Food Network. I have an admission to make: I'm a Food Network junkie. I've got to their site and there are very few episodes of things there. I don't know if Hulu Plus has the episodes, but I'm already paying for Netflix and Himself doesn't want to change it out for Hulu Plus. So I'm stuck without it.

I also used to love watching the true crime programs like Forensic Files, Cold Cases, and other things like that. Investigation Discovery was one of my go to channels because it almost always had those types of programs. I really only watched two channels back when I had TV: Food Network, Investigation Discovery.

I wasn't fond of watching the basic channels. I got my news from other channels, I got my weather from the Weather Channel, I got my entertainment from the two channels I primarily watched. Himself and I used to fight over what we'd watch since he was not into the same programming I was.

Then we got into a position where we lost our TV. We ended up losing it when we became homeless. When we moved in with our friends out in Kuna, we were able to share one with some of our roommates. When those roommates moved out, we got their TV. Himself used it for video games. I stuck with the computer. Then we moved into Boise and brought the borrowed TV with us. We still stuck to Netflix and didn't bother putting regular programming onto it. We simply couldn't afford it. When we moved out from Crazy's place, we left the TV behind because it was her husband who'd loaned it to us.

I find, other than my occasional desire to watch Food Network and Investigation Discovery, I don't miss TV. Neither does Himself. He doesn't even miss having one since almost all the games he wants to play he can find online. He's said multiple times there's four games he wants to play across all consoles, and it's not worth it to buy the consoles for so few games. He's even made friends playing games with an online aspect (not MMOs, but things like Minecraft), or hung out with long distance friends while playing video games.

I guess the two of us really don't care about having TV service again. That doesn't mean we don't want a TV. Himself wants one to put Netflix on instead of his computer. He jokes about getting a 50”+ TV just for Netflix, and then use it as a computer monitor to play his games. I just shake my head and let him dream. I'm happy with what we have now.

Dissecting books and movies

I read a lot. When I read, I tend to pick apart things in the books. I find the plot holes, the poor characterization, the tiny editing errors that were missed. (I read a lot of ebooks that have been self published.) One of my favorite writers completely screwed up her own timeline. I still read her books because I love the stories, but now I have to read them with a more open mind because of that. If the characters are too flat, the story showing a poor build up within the first five chapters, I'll put the book down and not pick it up again. I'm very picky with my books. I have over 200 Kindle books. I don't necessarily have time to read all 200. (All but four of them were free, and I already knew I'd like the four I actually paid for.)

Himself does this with movies. It doesn't matter if it's his first time or his tenth. He will pick it apart. He's been known to walk out of movies that have plot holes and bad characterization because they were so terrible he didn't want to watch it anymore. He's as bad with movies as I am with books. Occasionally I can get him to sit through the whole thing because I like the story, but he grouses about it when we leave. If there's a sequel it gets worse because he's comparing it to the first movie. If there's a remake of a movie, he tends to compare it to the original. Character development is something he focuses on, as well as moving along a storyline. Just like I do in a book series.

I am an author, unpublished though I may be. I look at books that I read as research material. If I love the story, I want to figure out what it was that drew me into it. I want to find out why I'm so fascinated by the characters. What is it about the setting that appeals to me? What's the plot and how does the author have it progress? Everything gets analyzed and filed away in my mind to be used for my books.

Not every book I read to the end is a good book. Sometimes the plot is weak but the characters are so fascinating that I'll push through. If the plot and setting are good, I'll somewhat forgive weak characters. But there has to be something compelling about the story or I won't stick with it.

What do you look for in a book/movie? Is there something that will get you to put it down/walk out? What are some of your favorite authors?

Memories

The first clear memory I have that isn't fractured and vague, is of my 4^th birthday party. I remember the frosting was chocolate with blue roses. Written on the cake in blue was “Happy Birthday Alison Dear, You are 4!” I blew out the candles and everyone laughed. I was wearing a pale blue dress with giant dark blue roses all over it and my hair was in a French braid. I don't remember if I was wearing shoes or not, I don't remember what happened after the party. But I do remember the birthday cake.

At one point, before they vanished, my mom had a lot of photo albums. They were visible records of our lives, snapshots of something happy. On our walls were family photo albums where in each cutout there was another glimpse of a family that some of us didn't know. Black and white pictures of my mom and dad's families. People the younger generations didn't know but could see the resemblance to. In one picture my mother was a teenager and beside it was a picture of me. Except for me having glasses and more modern clothes, we looked identical.

There are other things that can symbolize something in our minds. For the longest time I had a pendant made of rose quartz that reminded me of rock hunting with my family when we went camping. Himself has a backgammon board that he was given that had belonged to the grandfather he never knew. Pictures on the wall were the only things he had besides the board that showed him what his grandfather was like. But his mother had memories of the board, the pictures, the pair of cowboy boots they'd kept.

What do you have that helps inspire your memories? Do you cling to things that remind you of the good times?

Little help for the poor

One thing I've noticed talking to a few friends is their lack of charity towards others less fortunate than themselves. We were driving into a grocery store and there were panhandlers at the entrances to the parking lot. My friends were poking fun at them and making comments like “get a job” and “all they're going to use it for is booze and drugs”. Seeing some of those desperate faces made me realize how lucky I am right now. I'm dirt poor, but not to the point where I have to panhandle to get by.

Before our financial situation got as desperate as it's been these past four years, I would give money to panhandlers. I would donate money to charities. I would take things to consignment shops and donate them when I found I had too much. I would buy food just to take to the local food bank so I could help those poorer than me.

Now I rely on those places I shared with while I could. I get food from time to time from a food bank. I buy my clothes and a few of my dishes from a consignment shop. I have no spare money. I have plenty of spare time though, and with that time I have long wanted to volunteer. It's only my lack of transportation that has kept me from doing it.

I'm on SNAP and Medicaid. The food benefits aren't enough to get me through a full month, which is why I sometimes go to food banks. But it's there for me to use. I paid taxes for 20 years just so the program would be there for people to use. Now I'm in the position of needing it. I don't know how many cruel remarks about being a baby factory, being lazy, being a drain on society and I should just kill myself I get. Yes, I've heard all of them.

I've seen the shift in religions, politics, and among the general public. Instead of wanting to help the poor, the homeless, the people who aren't in a position to help themselves, they ridicule and turn away from these people. Look at what's happening to veterans. No luck finding jobs, homeless, in need of medical care they're not getting. Look at my husband and his partners. Not able to find regular jobs because of how long they've been struggling with their own business, no way to get medical help even though they need it, his two business partners aren't even able to get on food stamps because the company makes just enough money for them that it's counted as “too much”, even though they can't live on it.

If you have the ability, do something for someone. Buy a few groceries and donate them to your local food bank. Donate to consignment shops. Take a few dollars and donate them to your favorite charity. If you don't have the ability to do something financially, take some time to volunteer.

RIP Jay Lake

I took myself off of Facebook yesterday for a simple reason: it was too sad for me to stay. Why was it too sad you may ask? Because of the passing of one of my favorite authors, Jay Lake.

Jay was diagnosed with colon cancer in April 2008. He documented his fight with it on his blog. His friends and fans watched each post on cancer with mixed feelings of hope and dread, knowing that the cancer could spread from just a single tumor. It did. It metastasized and progressed into other organs. Over the last few months, it got worse. He underwent some alternative treatments through the NIH to see if there was a way to stop it. The NIH treatments didn't work. Jay returned home and was put on hospice. He died less than a week later.

The days prior to his death, after the announcement about the hospice care, my Facebook feed was flooded with the sight of people commenting on Jay's Facebook feed. Since I am friends with him on there, many of those posting good wishes and prayers were visible to me. I posted my own comment on his page and then thought nothing of it. I expected he'd have a little more time and we could all deal with it. I never expected him to die so quickly, even though I know what being put on hospice care means.

Jay passed in the morning of June 1^st. I didn't get the message until the afternoon, when I finally got on Facebook after being off of it most of the day because of various things. I saw the outpouring of grief and prayers/thoughts for the family. I hunted down more information and saw that he'd passed. I posted my thoughts to his page and my own. And then I got off because it was too sad for me to stay.

If you're curious about him, go here. The first of his books I read was Green. I heard it on audiobook. I hunted it up in print format and then read the rest of the series. I was slowly making my way through the rest of the books I could find. I could find them sporadically. My library held a few, and managed to order in a couple more. I loved his way of telling a story.

The SFWA blog has posted a great memorial post here. They put the address there of a place that the family has asked donations be sent in Jay's name.

R.I.P. Jay Lake - you are going to be missed.