Geektastic Review

As a person who enjoys things that many people have deemed "nerdy" or "geeky," I am naturally drawn to things that market themselves as part of this genre. When I came across a book called Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd by Holly Black, I felt obligated to read what was inside. After finishing the fifteen short stories that it contained, I have to say that it was a really great experience. It was also really cool to see some stories from authors that I recognized, such as M. T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld. Overall, I loved the book and thought a lot about what it means to be a geek or a nerd because of it, so I felt it easier to just sum up my ideas on these terms in one sentence: being a nerd or a geek (now interchangeable for the most part) shouldn't be an exclusive title and everyone should be excited for others to join the fandom because it means more people to be excited with! But the theme running through all the stories was about embracing your inner geek and enjoying your life because you are being true to you! So since there were so many great stories, I decided to just comment on a few.

Once You're a Jedi, You're a Jedi All the Way by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
This was the introduction anthology and it was a great choice. It was very engaging, written from both perspectives of the main characters (a male jedi that loves to do light saber routines and an aggressive (duh?) female Klingon), and got deep into the world of cosplay. I remember reading some parts of it with my mouth open because I couldn't believe what was happening. While it's hard to convey the entire culture of cosplay in a short story, I felt the authors did a great job throwing in little details to show how much dressing up like a Jedi or a Klingon can mean to the people that do this. A line that comes to mind: "When I met D'ghor in debate club, it was only a matter of time before I was attending a dipping party and having a life cast made so I could sculpt my first [Klingon] ridge." Another line was during the all out war between Star Wars and Star Trek cosplayers: "No one looks scared. Everyone looks happy."  The story was finely crafted and had me laughing throughout, especially at the end when I thought I wouldn't see a specific Star Wars trope until it snuck in with the last line. Great story!

One of Us by Tracy Lynn
Although I first saw this story as an obvious attempt to explain geekdom to the reader, I really loved the transformation from stereotyping cheerleader to someone who can see that people are people, not just their high school clique. The story had a few levels to it between the different members of Springfield High's Genre and Nonsense Club (or SPRIGGAN) such as helping the cheerleader realize her boyfriend doesn't want to work as hard as she does for the relationship, some people have worse problems, and being a geek doesn't make someone part of a lower class. The jokes in the book were pretty good, and while the characters walk the reader (and the cheerleader!) through some basic geek genres (e.g., sci-fi, comic books and manga, video games, high fantasy, and LAN parties), many of the jokes don't explain themselves and it adds to the reality of the story. Definitely a fun read.

I Never by Cassasndra Clare
This story had a pretty cute ending despite it being a little weird in the beginning. It starts off with a meeting of players from an online role playing game that allows people to become their favorite fictional character and interact with other characters. Some of the people at the get-together were Xena the Warrior Princess, Neo and Trinity, Luke Skywalker, and Dracula. Our main character identifies with Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights and meets her Heathcliff online, slowly building a relationship that culminates with them finally meeting at this party. There is a little bit of a twist in this story, and the party is pretty wacky, but I loved how it shows that geekery can pertain to people that love literature! So of course, this story spoke to me a little bit because of the main character felt like she doesn't fit in because she likes classic literature and advanced writing instead of more mainstream entertainment like movies, tv shows, or video games. This was pretty much a great PSA for inspiring diversity among geeks and nerds, with a dash of romance to keep the story together.

The Quiet Knight by Garth Nix
I love the invention of LARPing and reading this story made me eager to see the fighters at Comic Con! The quiet knight is a LARPer who is uncomfortable with speaking but has found a way to continue his love of fighting while never having to exercise his vocal chords. The adventure that the knight takes part in one night is then replicated in real life at his high school the next day and he is faced with the decision of saving the girl he has a crush on and revealing his interests and voice, or walking away and remaining on the fringe of society. The story is very internal, walking the reader through the knight's thoughts, but I felt like it was a great story because it gives insight into why people hide their geekiness from the world. Just goes to show why exercising your imagination can be lots of fun.

The Stars at the Finish Line by Wendy Mass
In case is wasn't obvious, I'm in love with space, physics, and anything having to do with science and technology, so this story really resonated with me because it was about passion for the cosmos and a little bit of healthy competition between students. There may be a slight infatuation between the main character and his competitor in high school, but that is what has helped both of theses students do their best and try to get into a good school like MIT. When an astronomy competition comes around, an opportunity for these two students to work together is created. The competition has a pretty rocky start, but who couldn't love a smart guy who knows how to find and label different galaxies, set up a telescope, and eats peanut butter and fluff sandwiches? A great story for anyone who wants an introduction to astronomy as well!

These were just a few of the stories I really liked, but there were several others I enjoyed just as much! The book is not super long or too short, and it's nice to be able to finish a story and come back to the rest later. The diversity in the stories was wonderful, and I really enjoyed the gender role reversals, trope breakers, grittiness, and nonchalant take on social issues that several of these stories pull into the forefront.  I highly recommend this book because there are just so many awesome morals, ideas, characters, lines, and of course, geeky moments that take the reader for a ride and you might even find yourself shedding a tear or two. Definitely take some time to learn about the other facets of geekdom with this collection of fun stories!

New Ideas for Scarlett's World

After finishing all of the major books in the Ender's Game universe (Enderverse), I think I have found the time in which my sci-fi story shall take place. The Enderverse has a new series that's partially finished (the second book is released June 4th!) and takes place before the events in Ender's Game. Two wars and around a hundred years before Ender's Game to be a little more precise (EG takes place in the 2220's). In Earth Unaware, we are introduced to many characters that make their home on mining ships way out in the Kuiper belt (where Pluto and other dwarf planets hang out). It wasn't the story line of this book that got me thinking about my story, it was just the fact that I realized I liked the idea of having the outer edge of my world be the Kuiper belt. That means it doesn't have to be set so far in the future! I can still discuss different methods of space transport, though, because they'd still be inventing new ways to travel faster, probably with the goal of finally leaving the solar system. I love discussing space travel techniques!

Anyway, Earth Unaware was mostly focused on mining from asteroids and the introduction of the first alien species in our galaxy, but there was also a small part about pirates out in the belt that made me think that Scarlett would be at home in a place like this (not much authority, life on the frontier, free-reign of territory). The book didn't have too much about space stations, but in my world, there would probably be many of them because none of the planets in the solar system have been terraformed and people mining so far from Earth would need a place to refuel and such. I'm thinking I'd probably have Mars be in the process of being terraformed since it takes a long time to change the surface of a planet, but we'd probably have a base on the Moon.

Basically, I feel like I'm rethinking the whole story because the setting is very different, but I'm liking this idea more and more. In the beginning, Scarlett will probably be known for the speediness of her ship and her attacks on, oh I don't know, maybe we'll stick to the corporate stereotype. The story still has heavy emphasis on Devon who is looking for anyone to help him escape from his old life. The problem is that he can't remember his own life because he's had so many other personalities loaded into his brain to help keep important knowledge locked away. Helping him ultimately leads Scarlett to the discovery of the technology that gives her wormholes and perhaps faster travel than what was previously possible. When I read a particular sentence in Earth Unaware, the final scene of my story flashed in my head. I pictured Scarlett engaging the wormhole drive for the first time and suddenly seeing a new solar system in a different part of the galaxy for the first time. She'd probably say something better than my original thought: "Now this is an adventure." I've got a whole story to write before I have to get her final words sorted out, so I think I'll be okay.

So here was just some proof that I'm still thinking about my story! I've just been caught up in my reading spree, recently. The book I'm reading now, Geektastic by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, which is actually a collection of short stories written by other geeky authors, is amazing and I'm thinking about writing a little something on it when I'm done. It's so good, I have to share why I like it so much!

Why Is It Weird for Girls to Like Game of Thrones?

I saw this article, Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones, not too long ago, but I refuse to think that it's written with any real convictions. This has to be one of those controversial articles written with the sole purpose of creating arguments on the 'net that consequently generate traffic for the site. The woman who wrote this is channeling the stereotypical popular kid from high school who can't stand the site of, dare I say it, NERDS. But that's not what really irks me about this article. I have to say, I don't really mind people calling me out for being a nerd and acting all disgusted because I know they're just missing out on all the fun I get to have with my nerdy friends (e. g., watching/reading/discussing Game of Thrones, playing video games, discussing astrophysics and technology, or entertaining ideas like the zombie apocalypse). It's the fact that people write articles that follow the theme of girls wanting to be nerds or enjoy nerdy things are somehow weird or not normal that I get me feeling a bit upset. In fact, after I read that article, I wondered if people like this really exist.

I think one of  the worst parts of this article is the fact that it isn't even that long but it still manages to sound amazingly sexist. All it contains is a picture of Tyrion from Season 3, two bulleted lists, and some text to fill up some more space. The author is writing from the point of view that all girls hate Game of Thrones for five reasons: it's "gross" and has incest, it's too hard to follow all the characters and plot lines, it is reminiscent of "kids that used to play magic cards in the cafeteria" and people that attend renaissance fairs, there's lots of naked girls to attract the guys, and people lose many body parts throughout the show. I only have two answers that I want to give to these points: a) the story takes place in a medieval setting so many of these types of things happened in real life just a couple hundred years ago, and b) not all girls are swooning damsels that feint at the sight of blood and can't remember key plot points. I think Ygritte has a little something to back that last point up.

It's thought processes like the one in this article that make people think it's alright to talk down to people that are called nerds or identify with the term. On a slightly different note, I'd like to ask how she expects someone to try to explain the different storylines of GoT by using Venn diagrams. I feel like there are much more useful ways to go about that. It also happens that I am a girl that loves the complications, overlaps, twists, and turns that are prevalent in Game of Thrones, but that's a personal example and if anyone else likes to discuss the theories in this book series, please talk to me-- I love the theory side of this series!

Anyway, the article goes on to be even more sexist with its second list of how to get girls to watch the show such as highlighting the "romantic crap," talking about the gay characters, and not discussing the incest. The last point specifically references a part of the show that the author even gets wrong (I'm pretty sure she means Podrick, but she is right about Tyrion in the first half of the sentence). Her parting advice is the idea that if you're girl that won't watch Game of Thrones, then Mad Men should work as a backup because all girls love Don Draper. I would just like to point out that Don is quite the womanizer and isn't exactly the kind of man most girls would call "good boyfriend material."

I guess all I'm trying to say is that gender shouldn't decide who can or cannot be a nerd (embrace the term, guys. I don't think it's a negative term anymore). Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't understand the intricacies of a book/TV series and therefore I don't like it. I've also heard people then go on to say this series is demeaning to all women and my only reaction is to laugh at them. So many of George R. R. Martins's characters are strong women such as Daenerys (everyone's fav), Arya, and Ygritte, just to name a few. The thing about GRRM's writing is that every character struggles with something in their lives that makes them choose to be who they are and therefore no one is truly good or evil. Jamie Lannister anyone? I'd would also point out this article that is an interview with Martin and how he upholds feminist ideals, but ultimately he treats men and women the same. My favorite quote he has about his female characters comes from an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos (yeah, what a name) who asked him, "There's one thing that is also very interesting about your books, I noticed, is that you write women very well. You write them very different... Where does that come from?" GRRM replied: "You know... I've always considered women to be people." Everyone laughs at the line, but hey, it's true. He elaborates on his answer a little more in the video at around 18:30.

So quit encapsulating girls (or anyone really) under one stereotype! In this post, I'm especially defending girls that enjoy activities associated with nerdiness, such as fictional literature/media, science, math, or technology since that's what I was thinking about as I wrote this. And at least take some time to learn what you're writing about because this author did a poor job describing anything remotely like Game of Thrones  and instead focused on small points in a vast world of other more enlightening topics to discuss. I mean, this series even makes politics interesting! So I say let's just get together and nerd out instead of bickering about who can join in on the conversation.

Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi Review

First off, I would like to thank my Daddy for getting me a new Kindle Paperwhite! Could not have been better timing, with the start of summer and finding out my Kindle was broken due to unknown reasons, I told my dad about my broken e-reader who, in turn, told me he was actually thinking about getting me a new Kindle! Twenty two hours after purchase, the Kindle was in my hands and I did not waste any time putting books on it and reading my first true novel of the summer. (Since the end of finals, I've read The Comic Book History of Comics and several other Ender's Game short stories, including the original Ender's Game short story.) I chose Ender in Exile and  was not disappointed in either the new Kindle or the book! So in just over one day of ownership, I've decided that this is the best e-book reader I've ever used. Thanks again, Daddy!

The other e-readers I've used were the Kindle Keyboard with Wi-Fi, my iPod Touch 4th gen, an older Sony e-reader, a Nook, an Asus netbook, my Photon Q cellphone (now with Jellybean!), and my Asus Transformer tablet. I feel like I'm kinda knowledgeable about books and novels and stories and such things that are used to read them, so I wanted to share my opinion since I'm super excited about this one. The Paperwhite was by far my favorite way to read a book because of all the features it had, as well as the way it was designed to be extremely helpful and make reading easy! I do have a few things that detract from its awesomeness, but as long as I can read books that I've already had on my computer and take notes on them, then I can accept them!

The first thing I love about this reader is the screen since it is now a touch screen and is back lit. Fear not complainers-of-screen-fatigue, the Paperwhite's screen is very natural on the eyes just like the past Kindles and does not make you feel like you've been staring at a computer screen all day. It's got some crazy nanotechnology with its fiber optic display and energy-saving LEDs (as advertised on their site) so it is easy to read and the battery still lasts for eight weeks. I have obviously not been able to test this advertised time, but I don't doubt it's length of life since I read several hours straight yesterday and today and the indicator for battery life has barely moved. The touch screen is also very nice because now the only button it has is the power/sleep button and I've just always loved touch screen capabilities. I'm thinking that's mostly because it feels super sci-fi-y to me, but hey, that's a positive thing. It also makes turning pages really easy because most of the screen (while reading) is designated to turn the page, while a small part is for turning back a page and the top of the screen brings up the menu. Good design for sure!

I also liked the interface that I was presented with because the tutorial it runs you through is quick and easy and gives you everything you need to know so nothing is a mystery and it's easy to find anything you need. There is even an option to turn off some of the advertising that takes up like a third of the page when you first turn it on. Beware though, it does not turn off ALL the advertising, just that bit. I honestly didn't care about the advertising, though, so it was just a cool little thing I found in the settings. The Paperwhite also makes creating collections of books and searching for books very easy and I was surprised at how much I liked the onscreen keyboard despite the fact that it doesn't have swype. It suits my purposes, so it's not really a positive or negative aspect. 

One of my favorite features is the new Time to Read which estimates how long it will take you to read the chapter you're in as well as how long to finish the book. It's an awesome way to view progression because I find myself trying to beat the time it says I'll take. It is useful though, because I was looking to see how much longer I'd be reading a chapter so I could pause and do something else. I know I can just put the book down, but I hate interrupting a scene! But it's way better than the strange Location progression that showed I had over five thousand locations in Ender in Exile! Time is a good measure of book reading and it also helps me read faster, so thumbs up on that update.

The other features I like include the highlighting, annotating, and sharing capabilities that are available when reading the actual book. It was really easy to simply select a word to look up in the dictionary, or select whole sentences for highlighting, writing a note on, or even sharing on Facebook or Twitter. With just a second-long finger touch, it is easy to select words and then drag it over longer passages. It's even pretty easy to highlight lines that extend over multiple pages, and this made me very happy. I love being able to highlight and make notes over anything I highlight! Annotating books is actually something I really enjoy and I'll have to try to help my future students learn how to have fun with it. Anyway, I haven't used the sharing feature yet, but I will once I find a line that really resonates with me. It's awesome to be able to easily share parts from books that you're reading with others! I also read somewhere that when reading you can see passages that have been highlighted by other readers, but I think that's only through Amazon-bought books. At least Amazon does have good features for books bought through them. An easy step to help making money in a pirating world! But that's a topic that could easily be a post in itself.

As far as what I don't like about it, the only things I really have to complain about come from the Kindle app I have on my phone, tablet, and desktop. It sucks that I unable to sync books that are in the app on my desktop to my other devices, but I can at least physically put them on my Kindle. Also, books bought through Amazon have more features on the Kindle, such as the X-ray view that allows you to see the "bare bones" of the book and read about specific characters and such. Cool feature, but I haven't gotten to test out a book that has it. I guess I could also complain that the casing on it gets smudge marks pretty easily, but they also rub off relatively easily and it's a aesthetic thing that doesn't bother me much. Oh, and I guess I could say that it doesn't come with an AC adapter when you buy it, but the USB cord is pretty long and could be hooked up to desktops as a charger since it doesn't need to be charged very often.

So overall,I say it's a great buy for someone who likes to read! I have a good number of books I would like to read this summer, and this will certainly help me organize and read at least a good number of them. I have about seventy five books on it already, but I don't know how many I'll actually get to read. All I know right now is that if anyone asks me what e-reader they should get or buy for someone else, the Kindle Paperwhite is definitely my answer! I'm already wishing I could get them in my classroom so students can read books and easily take notes while their at it. It has 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon, and I'm definitely giving it a 5, at least compared to the other readers I've tried. :)

Reboot

It's definitely about time that I started my blog up again! School's out, I have four of my six grades (all A's so far :D), and right now, the weather is beautiful in Kansas. I have much more time to think about what I want to write about and how I'm going to record it. As you can see, I've changed my blog up just a bit. I'm not fully focusing on my sci-fi story anymore, but instead I'm opening this up to all of my writings. Because why not? I want to work on all aspects of my writing and solely updating my original story just felt like a lot of pressure. Having a blog gives me the need to write because I know there are a few people that read my posts, but not having to post on one topic makes me feel better! I do still feel like I need to write more and update more often so I don't let others down, and this was the easiest way to fix that. It makes writing a worthy cause and how could that be bad? I also just want to thank you guys for reading my stuff!

So the blog's title is still the same, I mean, it's still my process of writing. I've moved all of my sci-fi stuff on to one page and I've created another page for links to things like future teaching ideas, cool things I feel like I should link to, and some of my own stuff like my old work and my GoodReads account so you can see all the books I've read. I'm sure I'll come up with other ideas for more pages, but I'm just starting up from this reboot and I'll add on as I need. I want to update this blog with stories and poetry, article reviews, teaching stuff, things that make me squeal in geeky pleasure, and whatever a blog is normally used for. Guess I'm just moving my blog from a specialization to a more general and personal blog. Looks like I needed less restrictive rules so I can look like I actually write stuff!

I also unearthed my DeviantArt account from high school (mostly because I was coerced into sharing it with my fellow future English teachers), brushed it up a bit and added some of my more recent stuff so it didn't look so sad. I think my last update had been two years previously. But now I'm going to throw some more stuff up there just so it can be public instead of sitting in my dusty harddrive; however there isn't much to be found on the site. It serves more as a museum to show me how far I've come in my writing. Most of what's on there is super cringe worthy and extremely over exaggerated in its angsty high school voice, but I feel like I've come much farther since then! There were some not so bad things in there, mostly a couple of lines in some of the poems, but I'm moving on, trying to work on new things and whatever catches my attention. It is a funny thing to look back years into the past and only having some words on an old website to help you remember what life was like. And then you laugh at how clueless you really were. This is part of my argument to always be a self learner!

Anyway, I feel like this post was a good start to actually doing something, and I'll end it here. Got to get back to reading the last few books from the Enderverse. The Kindle Paperwhite is amazing and I love using it to read. (Thanks Daddy!) Perhaps I'll write a review of it for next time?