3 Things I Loved this Weekend

1. Getting to see the English Majors! We went to a movie, kayaked down french creek, tried lots of different restaurants, went on a tour, played games, and conquered an angry mob. It was so great to see them before I left, and reassuring that we really are a family of friends that will stick together. As an added bonus, my aunt, uncle, and cousins from state college came to Franklin to see me. I cannot stress enough how much stress that relieved for me. I have a list of people I want to see, and I couldn't figure out a way to make that travel day fit in the schedule, so having them come to me made me a lot less fretful. So thanks to everyone that drove to Franklin to see me one last time.

2. Father's day! I will not say that I have the best father ever, because that's annoying. I will say that I have the best father for ME, and that some of the best parts of myself are the parts I got from my dad (I'm talking about my stubbornness, my ability to play devils advocate, and my intolerance towards passive aggression; not my stupid cowlick). I love my dad, both for his serious, batman side, and his goofy side. I always think of him like this:

3. Orange is the New Black-- I'm two episodes away from finishing, and while I still love the show, I'm a little disappointed in the characters this season. (spoilers) The episode where Piper gets her furlow, and the black women get loud and obnoxious just kind of grossed me out. Taystee especially bothers me, because they wrote her to be a smarter and more sensitive character than that. I love what they're doing with Poussey, but I don't understand why we've started unraveling some of these other women of color into generic versions of themselves.
I think part of my issue is that I'm almost finished with the book, and where Piper Kerman went out to create a memoir and reveal what actually happens, the show mostly just sensationalizes it to what the traditional prison story is. I'm not shocked, and I really don't have a problem with some of what they add just for the sake of story (ie, in the book Alex isn't in the same prison and there's no contact, both Larry and Piper's family are supportive and understanding, there is no lesbian activity at all in Danbury, etc) but it does kind of ruin the intent of the book.

Mary Oliver

“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.”

I don't want to argue gun control laws.

My newsfeed says that a high school in Oregon is (or was earlier this morning) under fire, that police are rushing to the scene, and that the news outlets don't really have an idea of what's going on. I tried doing some research, and it seems like that is the case in all of these.

What I found was this site that suggests that the mass shootings have not become more common, they're just more reported on. I didn't like the argument it took-- that somehow, the consistency makes it ok, and that alarmists are to blame for people getting so upset-- but it wasn't the first time I had read that perhaps what's on the rise is interested journalists, not shooting sprees. I don't think this makes it better; if anything, it's disappointing. There's a chart on the site worth looking at that lists how many killing sprees there have been every year, and if it was supposed to make me feel less upset, it failed. The only bright side to that is that this is an issue thats finally getting more recognition, even if it all is politicized.

There's also this site that claims Russians have fewer guns but far more homicides. I could talk all day about how interesting I think this is-- our right to bare arms is there so citizens can go against their government (ok, that's grossly oversimplified), but here is a country thats dictatorship has prevented their citizens from owning automatic or semi-automatic guns, require extensive background checks and licensing for handguns and shotguns, yet they still have a problem. I don't think the issue is gun control. I think the issue is murder control.

Gun laws have not gotten laxer over the years. While we aren't passing a lot of laws to make them stricter, it isn't any easier to get a gun. According to this site (which is what the first site I posted references) over three quarters of the killers in mass shootings since 1982 purchased their guns legally. I don't disagree that there is an issue in this, that these have been legally sanctioned weapons.

But I don't want to worry about gun control laws. I'm not saying we shouldn't; I'm saying that I, personally and selfishly on this day in this space of my personal blog, Paige, do not want to worry about gun control laws. I want to worry about people. If the websites about Russia are true, and the statistics of murder in other countries with stricter gun laws are true, then I want to worry about people. I think we get into a box of arguing politics, and how do we prevent this, and it feels like we're treating a lot of symptoms because it's easier than treating the illness.

There is something wrong with people. I don't know what it is. Claiming mental illness is over simplified, again; I have a mental illness, and I'm not going to shoot anyone. Promise. "Mental Illness" is about as vague as saying a person has allergies-- does that mean they can't be in a room with peanut butter, or that they get the sniffles in April?

I don't have a solution. I'm not even sure I have a point, other than I'm tired of people talking about gun laws. I don't think the issue is people that want to have guns, it's people that want take lives. When we start discussing that, and how to fix it, I'll be more interested in the discussion.

This Weekend

My last weekend in Ohio! I got to visit Ryan and go to Melt (which is delicious-- a gourmet grilled Cheese place that is the pride and joy of the area), stay in Berea and see some Zetas, go to a wedding, and stay with Kayse in Kent. 

I forget what Ryan got, but it was much fancier that mine-- I just had grilled cheese with fried egg in it. Still awesome. 

Little lives in a house in Berea now, and it was nice to see her and have no plans. Usually when I come up I have to be running around to do things, so having time to just sit on her porch and walk around the mall was so nice. 

Just being in Berea felt awesome too-- I went on a walk around campus since I didn't really have time to before I left. It was bittersweet. 

Liesl got married! I also have a really cute photo strip from everyone that graduated with us going into the photo booth, so I'll have to post that later once I unpack. The ceremony was beautiful, and we managed to have it outside and squeeze right between the storm. 

I stayed with Kayse before going home, and it was everything I wanted it to be. Kent is so cute and college-y, and I got to watch GoT with her family and finally start Orange is the New Black. It was nice to be reunited with her. 

I also revealed to her that my family members are pancake connoisseurs, and somewhere in that conversation realized that she had never tasted Nate the Great Pancakes, although she did know who Nate the Great was. So when the English majors visit this weekend, that will be handled. 

She also took me to an awesome toy store that had all sorts of nerdy adult toys too-- and everything bacon flavored you could ever not want. 

I can't remember what the book was called, but it was a collection of sections from famous books before the editor got to them. There was also a scene from the Girl with The Dragon tattoo where the tattoo artists asks if she's sure she wants a dragon, and she says no and walks out. The "editor" circled it in red and mentioned that maybe the title needed changed, if this was the case. It was al very silly. 

I DID IT!

Why I Love YA

One of my sisters (who is the reason I went Zeta, but that's another story for another day) blogged about her love of YA, and it resonates so fully with me and is articulated in a way that I never really found for myself. Her post was on TFiOS and my favorite author, John Green.

There is an ugly part of me that wants to play the hipster and remind all these tweens how I loved John Green before they knew who he was, and that I have loved him since Looking for Alaska. But that comes from years of being defensive that my favorite author was YA, and now I don't have to defend it, I have to share it. And Gina, in her perfect way, has helped me find peace without even knowing how much I needed to hear what she had to say:

First and foremost, John Green is my favorite author. If you know anything about me, you know that this is a huge assertion, considering I have hidden behind answers like Jane Austen and Fanny Fern and even Kurt Vonnegut my whole life. I’ve given the answers that will make me sound well-read and sophisticated, the answers that tell a certain story about me. But they’re not real. I do love Jane Austen and Fanny Fern and Kurt Vonnegut, but when I’m home alone and all I want to do is soak into a book, I don’t go for classics. No. I go for Young Adult. I go for stories written for an audience that loves stories. I go for John Green. 

And seeing this movie today justified my love of YA fiction. It made me proud of all the times I found the courage to admit that I read YA fiction in a room full of Literature majors and received that you-don’t-read-real-fiction scowl in return. Today, I sat in a movie theater full of people who unabashedly cried. During those two hours, we were a community.

I believe that novels should create community.

Tom Jones

Because that man was a fox. Seriously, I implore you to watch this video. Everyone knows the song, but have you watched his TV show? Because it is entertainment gold.

City of Heavenly Fire

"Because that which was new was almost always temporary. And that which was temporary broke your heart."

"Awe is well and good, but it’s poison to love. Love has to be between equals.”

“I think they’ll probably put that on my gravestone. ‘He Was Heterosexual and Had Low Expectations.'”


I realized why I love this series; it's the nerdiest, wittiest banter I've found since Buffy. None of it would make sense without context, which is why I didn't include it, but that's what makes it so fun.