Leap Day

I felt the need to make a post today, simply because I won't be able to make one on this date for another four years.

So, bam! Leap Day! I read a book with that title a few years ago... it was good, I think.

That's about it for this post. Tomorrow is March, which means I have a little over three months until I graduate high school, after which I will go to college and study fun things like literature, or history, or women's studies. Who knows?! Once I decide I may tell this blog. We shall see.

I feel like if I weren't somewhat sick and tired, I'd be able to make more of an interesting post, but hey, I posted on February 29th! Which makes me feel accomplished. I've decided that I may make a small list of three to five things that I want to accomplish each day, things such as "smile to seven people you don't know", "post on leap day", "include a reference to Dollhouse in your in class English essay". Things like that. Then I will be able to feel as though I have done something each and every day.

There you go.

Nancy Drew and Me

When I was twelve, oddly and ironically amidst my Twilight phase (which I now regret immensely), I announced to my parents that I no longer liked the Nancy Drew book series. This expression of distaste was not because the books were below my reading level (they had already been for at least two to three years at that point), but because I said they were "anti-feminist".

I continue to think of the inherent irony in my campaign against Nancy, because during the years that I refused to read her books, I bought clothing from stores such as American Eagle and Aéropostale, stores I now refuse to enter because of the sexism that they seem to encourage. I also watched 'Hannah Montana' and read the Twilight series. I glommed onto these and other trends (though I did start Twilight before the major influx of twilighters/hards, back in 2006...) and yet I denounced Nancy, whom I had loved just a year or so before.

I put the mysteries in the back of my over-flowing bookshelves, and moved onto other things, things I now regret. I suppose it what a "phase" of mine, one that has taught me well.

However, just over a week ago, I pulled out a Nancy Drew mystery from the back of my bookshelves at my mom's house. I decided that I would read them again.

I've come to the conclusion that I was a naïve twelve-year-old. I now believe the mysteries to actually be feminist, rather than anti-feminist as I adamantly claimed six years ago. Yes, Nancy does get trapped and sometimes has to be rescued by her "special friend" Ned (the books rarely call him her "boyfriend", though he was) at points, but she's a smart and an independent eighteen-year-old living in the thirties. The fact that she's out driving her fancy convertible and solving crime is pretty impressive. Also, both her father (a semi-famous and fairly intelligent lawyer) and the Police Chief of her town always ask her for help. They never seem to be able to solve a mystery without her.

The time period in which many of the Nancy Drew books were written is very important to consider as well. In the 1930s, women did not have the same rights as they do in 2012. Things were far more male-oriented then (though with all the recent GOP stuff...), and women simply did not have the rights that they do now. Nancy was an icon, one could say. She proved that women could do more than cook and clean. Heck, they could fight crime!! They could outsmart men (many of her adversaries seem to be male) and they could drive slick cars. They could do all that while still being feminine. Nancy is often described in the books as something along the lines of "an attractive titian blonde", and the illustrations show her wearing nice dresses or skirts. Nancy manages to wear good clothing and manage to run around, climb trees/ladders, and do whatever it takes for her to solve a crime. And she will always solve it, whatever it takes.

She's also compassionate and caring. She genuinely wants to help those who are in trouble. She wants those around her to be happy and to have better lives.

So while Nancy isn't perfect, she's much more than my twelve-year-old self gave her credit for. (Plus, she's far more feminist than Bella Swan, a girl living in the twenty-first century).

Sorry Nancy.

The Addams Family Musical

On Friday evening, my dad and I went to see The Addams Family.

It was fabulous and wonderful.

I really, really enjoyed it. I mean, was it perfect? No, but few things are (see: tea and good literature).

I also bought myself the CD of the original cast, which is quite lovely to have. I can listen to strange music whenever I please!

The one thing that makes me sad about seeing shows not in NYC is that they don't do "stage door" so I cannot meet the cast and tell them all how wonderful they are/ get their autographs. Because I wanted to meet the actress who played Wednesday, because I love Wednesday and I was her for Halloween! (Apparently I make a good Wednesday, but that's not the point).

I was very pleased with the musical. It could have gone badly, but it went very well. I almost wore my Halloween costume, but that dress is quite literally from 20 + years ago (probably more) and it keeps on tearing, so I couldn't. If there had been stage door, and I had known there would be, I would have worn my costume. But there was not, and so I did not.

It was still lovely to go to the theater and it really felt like a start to a good vacation.

A Collection of Thoughts

I have a lot of books.

I have so many in my "to read" pile, yet I continue to buy more. I always come up with one more book  I want, and I either borrow or buy it, and into the pile it goes!

I cannot wait for college. I need it soon. I just want to be in a environment of intellectual young adults. Sorry High School, but you don't really supply that.

I like baking/making sweet foods, but I don't really have much desire to eat them.

I want to be vegan. Maybe.

Why do I like Lana Del Ray's music? It's strange, yet addictive.

I'm in a constant state of mind when it feels an hour or more later than it actually is. I don't know why this is, but it's strange.

I love tea. It's one of the best things in the universe.

I think I may want to minor/double major in Gender or Women's Studies in college. It would be fun, and goes along well with what my majors may be.

I'm going to see The Addams Family Musical tomorrow. (!!!)

I get to watch Dollhouse, read, and do homework over vacation! Read! I get free time to read as much of whatever I want to read!

I want to take more time to reflect on the world. Because I love the little things in the world, and I don't spend enough time thinking about the world around me. At least not as much as I'd like to.

Emily discusses Dystopia

So today I decided that I want to write a paper on the representation of dystopian worlds in literature and on TV. It's funny that I want to analyze TV so very much (Dollhouse, Buffy...) because I really don't like/watch that much TV. Who knows?

The idea of dystopian worlds scares and intrigues me. I want to compare Brave New World to Dollhouse, and I want to go beyond that and analyze the implications that each, and other dystopian works, have on our society and the way in which we perceive things.

We strive for equality, yet we simultaneously attempt to control those around us. We want equality so much that we end up harming other people. What if we took it a step further? These dystopian worlds are not entirely impossible. While they are obviously Science Fiction, they don't usually have aliens. The real villains are humans themselves. We will cause our own destruction because of the advances we make in technology and how we scoff at socialism and yet integrate bits of it into society. By this I mean we make all these advances far too quickly, and to sound cliché, if the machinery ends up in the wrong (though intelligent) hands, we're all doomed. Happy thoughts, huh?

Socialism, in theory, is brilliant, but in practice, it has never truly worked out.

Oh, today was Valentine's Day, wasn't it? :)

Nothing much happened, I had an early release from school, I took a nap, I did homework and read.

Now I need to go to sleep, because it's late and I like sleep. Plus, I'm re-reading Nancy Drew!

A Random list of Things I Like

I wanted to post something here, and I thought: "Hey! I'll just post a list of my favorite things!" Because people care about that, right? (maybe)

Freshly washed strawberries, fuzzy (old) sweaters, warm tea with sugar, the color teal, roses and poppies, used book stores, (baby) otters, libraries, colorful candles, interesting music, reading, the feel of ukulele strings, pears, plums, and cantaloupe (oh my!), wonderland, wintergreen lifesavers, strawberry lotion, vintage dresses, literature, converse shoes, walking in the evening, photography, cityscapes, traveling to new places, cancelled/ended tv shows, VHSs, yoga, pretty/fun necklaces, rainbow sherbet, tights, european history, sylvia plath, vegetarian Vietnamese spring rolls, and watermelon gum.

Football

Currently the Superbowl is going on. I'm not watching it.

I just don't really like sports all that much. Except for the purpose of examining them from a sociological perspective.

My dad and I went out to eat at about 6, and almost no one was outside. Normally, at 6 on a Sunday night there would be many people outside, and yet there were very few. It's almost eerie the effect that a simple sport can have on us. People go out and they buy fried food and chips and they have beer and soda, all in celebration of men who run around with a ball. As a culture, we seem to worship these men. Yes, I do understand that playing football is not easy (flashbacks to gym classes), but still. They get paid so much more (SO much more) than social workers or teachers. We dub sports players "heroes" of sorts.

Why? Why do we pay them millions of dollars for running around...?

(Side note: All I know of the game is coming from my news feed. Which is certainly another sociological experiment for another time... but it does amuse me to see what people are saying!)

 I much prefer to use my time to read, study interesting things about the world, and analyze Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

And wish I could catch up on Downton Abbey... which will happen at some point. (By catch up I mean actually watch it).

On another note, Happy February!