HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAILEY!!!

Everyone at Pen, Paper, Priorities would like to wish our very own Bailey a Happy 17th Birthday! Congratulations on finally being able to get your apparition license and use magic outside of Hogwarts! Hope your day is absolutely magical!

Real or Not Real?

So I have been having trouble lately with deciding who is lying through their teeth and who is telling the golden truth. So many tabloids and so many stories. So many friends and wanna-be's. This troubling issue will be my topic for the day. But as confused and angry as I am I will take the high road and put my famous optimistic spin on it.

Don't listen to 100% of what people say. No matter how much the gold from the honey dipped words gleams, take your daily dose of salt with it. And vis-versa (as Train says) "when words keep you from feeling good use them as firewood and let them burn." People will tell you they love your work just to make you happy or to make you go away. People will also tell you how horrible your work is to hurt you intentionally or to make themselves feel better. Very few people will give you the real talk on your work and those are the ones you must sort out from the others. I have my gurrrls in that spot for sure. But you can take the glass half full approach with the other people too.

For the ones who just love love love your work with their pitiful smiles: listen closely to what they say. In my experience people will try to prove themselves worthy by pointing out their favorite parts. I have actually taken this approach and used it myself. But I use it because of the lesson I have learned from it. Usually the parts people remember are your best bits. Maybe try to focus on where to take those or maybe elaborate on them. You can also see how they were written and put that technique into other parts of your writing.

For the ones who think you have no potential: listen closely to what they say. They will point out parts to you that need to be fixed. Go back and work on them. Period.

Finally, the last lesson from both of these situations is don't let your pride get in your way. Don't let people puff your pride up to where you think you are Lord Voldemort and think you are invincible. But also don't let people knock you down so much that you feel worthless and give up. Too much pride and your work will become stale. Too little and you work may end.

Summary: take what people say and twist it to be constructive. It can always be constructive. You have to really look for those rainbows on a rainy day (and that was kind of cheesy so I apologize).

And for Bailey: I have been reading my microbiology book lately! Yay for school. But Siriusly the last book I read that I had a hard time putting down was the Hunger Games. I read the first book in a week, the second in two days, and the third in 12 hours. And my fiance was rushing me so he could read them. But I know you have read that one. So how about Narnia? I know it's a classic and it's been out forever but it's not a bad read. I am reading it now. Between my micro chapters of course :)

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Great Books

I am on time! Soooo... yeah :P haha I made sure that I was going to be on time, just so I wouldn't get criticized. (Love you gurrrls! <3:Dx) Now what to write about...

I suppose I'll write about reading. Oh how creative of me, right? Last night, I started reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (I know Sydney has read this book, I don't know if any of the other Tripppy gurrrls have), and the book had me crying and laughing simultaneously, and that was by page 25. And though it was late, I had to keep reading. After I got past chapter five, I decided I'd put it down so I could get a decent night's sleep. But I wanted to stay up ALL night to finish it. And it hit me how I hadn't read a book like that in a long time, where I didn't care how crabby I was the next day, or if I fell asleep in clas, that I just wanted to keep reading. And so now that is one of my goals in my own writing, is to make those kinds of books. The ones that everyone anticipates, and devours in a few hours. I doubt if I'll ever have the skill to do that, but a girl can dream, right?

So I have a question to my gurrrls. What book(s) have you read recently that have had you hooked on them? Because I'm always looking to expand my reading arsenal, and I'm sure others are too. Also, I am incredibly jealous that Mandy got to go to a book launch :P

My Author: Ray Bradbury

Awesome Book Launch

Yesterday, I had the amazing pleasure of attending the book launch of Everneath by Brodi Ashton. I thought I'd share some of the fun experience I had.

To start off, I'll just say that that parking was completely impossible to find and we ended up parking half a block away and walking. We arrived only a couple of minutes late, but we decided to buy the book from King's English, the local bookstore who was hosting the launch. When we got into the launch at the 15th Street Gallery, it was packed with an insane amount of people. We couldn't really see much, but it was fun to hear about publishing experience.

After that, we made our way to the line for the book signing, which was out the door. It took us about ten minutes to get into the small bookstore, where it was extremely claustrophobic. As we waited, we had some awesome conversations and even began to read the book.

There were some awesome treats for us as we waited in line, including a cake that had the cover of the book on it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of it, but you can imagine. Once we got up to the front of the line, we met a very amazing author. My favorite signings are always the local authors because it's so surreal to know that authors don't live in some mythical world.

The picture above is a picture of my friend Brittany (left) and Brodi (right).

She was such an amazing person to meet and her book is brilliant. I'm only two chapters in so far thanks to work and other commitments, but I'm totally hooked. When I finish the book, I'll post a review and let you know my thoughts.

Check out Everneath by Brodi Ashton!

Until next time!

My Censor Soapbox

Well this week I really have nothing of my own to talk about. So I will simply talk about Mandy's censorship challenge. My views on censorship are best explained in the same way the Miss Oklahoma answered her question in the Miss America pageant this year. Her question was about what she thought about the government stepping in to control our diets. Her answer was that she did not agree with it. It begins with the parents. If the parents can instill good morals and decision making abilities in their children then the government shouldn't have to step in at all.

I believe it is the same with internet censorship, as well as any other type. The way a child is brought up will dictate how that child will act for the rest of their lives. For instance, I believe I am a good example of this theory. My parents brought me up in church (Southern Baptist). They taught me about the beliefs I have now. Not only in religion, but in tolerance, in etiquette, in basically everything. My parents never censored me, but I know my limits. One specific example is Rugrats. When I was a kid, some of my friends were not allowed to watch the Rugrats cartoon. Their parents were afraid that they would end up like Angelica. That was (and still is) my favorite cartoon. I knew better than to take on her attitude. I was raised better than that.

In conclusion, I don't really believe in censorship. I believe that people have their own minds and choices. It is their problem if they don't know how to control it. People should know their own limitations and should know what is in the world so that they are not blindsided.

Author: Ray Bradbury

This post has NOT been censored

I know, I know. I promised that my post would be on time this week. And then Friday came around, and I had school, and homework, and a school dance at night. So I'm sorry that I wasn't on time. Now I thought that today I would talk about my viewpoint on censorship, like Mandy. I have always had a viewpoint on censorship, for almost as long as I can remember. My mom, never a huge reader herself, never bothers to "check" what I'm reading. So I've been allowed to read anything I want, from vampire books to wizard books, books about succubi and sex, to books about teenagers and hard drugs. And I think that's made me believe that parents shouldn't censor what their children read. My opinion is that if a child is willing to read, you shouldn't stop them. Because what if, in stopping them, you take away their desire to read? As it is, plenty of kids these days would much rather do anything thats not reading, so its rare, at least from what I've seen, when a kid wants to read. When I started up my school's book club this year, the ASB President said "Who reads for fun?!" I was shocked. But I suppose I shouldn't have been. Anyways, I think censorship, of anything, is wrong. People should be allowed to make their own opinions on anything, instead of being forced to not read or do something because its the law.

In other news [caution, possible rant ahead], as I sat down to write this, my mom came over to the computer and said "What are you doing?", in that tone that means "You're probably doing something that I wouldn't approve of." So she starts reading the screen, and I say "Oh, I'm just blogging," which I know is something she probably wouldn't approve of (she's evil, and crazy overprotective), and she replies "And did I ever say you could have a blog? Oh, no, I didn't. But you don't care, do you? Of course you don't. I just answered my own question." I wanted to say something, but was so angry that I couldn't get anything to come out. It's not like I should have to ask her about everything I do, is it? I mean, I made my email account when I was seven, and she never got mad about that. I don't know. Sometimes (A.K.A. every day) I just wish that I was already in college, living far, FAR away from California, with no one to answer to but myself. Le sigh. Oh well, one day soon. Much love.

My author: Ray Bradbury

Censorship is *****

As you noticed, there was no post yesterday on the blog. No, this wasn't me being an airhead and forgetting to post. Again. It was decided that I wouldn't post as part of the strike against the Protection IP Act and SOPA. Not only will these laws destroy the internet, but they also violate America's First Amendment of Freedom Of Speech.

Going on that same topic, Censorship *****.

Plain and simple. We know that censorship is part of being an author and life in general. You have to censor yourself with everything you do. Growing up in a very conservative area, I have had to censor myself all my life. It's really a difficult thing to do, but censorship is different from disagreeing.

As a writer, I write about very controversial topics. Knowing I'll have my books challenged and possibly banned is fine by me. The only issue I have with it is that it's forcing your own opinion on someone else. Taking books out of a library means that children can't read a work of classic literacy like Catcher In the Rye or authors from JK Rowling to Laurie Halse Anderson. It's like saying I can't have an opinion.



America is not the only place affected by PIPA. Every social media site like Facebook, Tumblr, sites like Blogger and Wikipedia are threatened. The entire world will suffer if this vote passes. Please, go onto http://americancensorship.org/ and sign the petition. Even if you're not from America, your voice can still matter just by scrolling down a little further and submitting your e-mail.

Alright, my rant is over. Sorry, but this is a sensitive topic for me and I know it is for everyone else as well. For my gurrrls, what's your opinion on censorship?

Author: None for today because Mandy's running late and should already be out of the house while she's writing this.

EDIT: SOPA and PIPA have been stopped thanks to Obama saying that he wouldn't support the bills.