1143 Rage Quit

by

A storm knocked the power out for a couple of hours after sunset, which nearly sent the teen into convulsions. She is terrified of the dark. Luckily I thought to charger her phone in the truck and always keep my handhelds charged in case of boring emergencies. We played Mario Kart DS until the power came back online. (She also texted between rounds, which is boring.)

I got a nice, cheap, set of Community season 1 and talked the Teen into watching it with me. She then requested that we watch more of it the following evening, so it’s as near a hit as it gets with her. We also watched Are You Afraid Of The Dark and Awkward at various points because mom enabled her Amazon Prime account on the Teen’s PS3.

I took the Teen to a local used book store a while back. We’d never been in, but they had a lot of very cheap books. About a dollar an item in fact, so we left with a very tall stack of reading material for her. I don’t read much anymore. I prefer to have books read to me. To that end I have dipped my toes back into the works of Terry Pratchet by way of my friend Amber. She sent me the audiobooks for, like, 7 Discworld books. (Some of which I’ve already read, but long forgotten.)

The Teen is reading The Giver for school and reporting her findings to me as well. It sounds like a fucking downer to me, but it seems to be making her think, so that’s good. I’d just as soon not read heavy message books anymore. I got that shit out of my system already and have no desire to delve into imaginary suffering beyond what webcomics bring me. (And movies to a lesser degree.)

That said, Thomas gets a little emo for a while here, but I think the drama is worth it to make the characters even more real. Maybe a little too real. I’ll let you guys make the call on that one. If nothing else he’s realistically flawed, and in a way I’ve never seen in fiction, so maybe this will be a new thing for you all. I hope you can at least enjoy the character development if not the actual actions that lead to it.

25 Comments

I can’t freaking wait for monday. I love your writing, and this is really, really gripping. I want to read more!

this was an agonizing place to leave off for the weekend….Luckily, X and Y will distract me.

I’m with you on that. I tent to switch the type of starter I use every generation. This time I’m going with water and seeing how that works for me.

They give you two.
One Gen 6 starter (Fennekin, Froakie, or Chespin) and one Gen 1 starter (Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur).
For me, it’s going to be Froakie and Charmander. A frog and a salamander- AMPHIBIOUS HIGHER BEINGS!

Gonna go for Fennekin and Charmander. Fire type FTW!

I’ve got both games, on one I’m doing a type challenge. Going to try and beat the entire region with only fire-types (dual typing allowed, but has to start with fire, can’t gain it later, which I don’t think any evolutionary lines ever gain fire anyways). I’m too sentimental for a hardmode/nuzlocke challenge, so my friends and I decided type challenges were more fair.

I’m kind of pokemon obsessed, so in coming days, and with the reveal of the friend safari thing, it may be time for me to start scouting for friend codes again.

first off, love The Giver. I read it myself and… I guess it’s kind of a downer? But only in how The Matrix is a downer. I think anyone who’s read the book gets what I mean.

Second, I notice Carol’s hair is messed up here. A result of the hat she took off? Or is it she’s been dating Thomas long enough that she’s now beginning to look like him, and is subconsciously copying his hairstyle?

Hmmmm…

Aghhhh Discworld! I need to find me some of those books again… The Giver is a bit of a depressing book, but… oddly uplifting as well. Probably the only book that made me actually think in school. If Thomas, or any other character of yours, for that matter, was any more real, they would literally pop out of the page. As it is, I expect to run into him on the streets…

Oddly enough, this “reading in school” thing seemed to not be a thing I had to do. Maybe it’s just because I gaffed off the assignments. I don’t know. I just don’t remember reading much of the same stuff other people read.

I do remember parts of The Once and Future King (T.H. White), as well as some of The Scarlet Letter (I don’t remember, or care). Most of what I remember are the short stories. The Scarlet Ibis, this one story about a lottery, and another story about a guy being hanged off of a bridge.

However, the short story I remember the best was something I read in middle school. I only learned this past year that it was an excerpt from a series called the Dragon Riders of Pern. (Or something along those lines.) My tastes have changed a bit over the years, so I am not certain I’ll enjoy it as much as I would have if I had read it back then. Still, I think I’ll track down that series once I’m done with college.

Then, there’s the Harry Potter series. Apparently there’s a 15-year anniversary collection coming out. I might end up with that if I can’t find someone to lend me the books. I only saw the first 2 movies, and haven’t yet read any of the books.

The Twilight saga may or may not get read. I read the first book, so there’s some curiosity. I haven’t had a girlfriend for some time, and that was really the only reason I read the first book, so we’ll see.

Hunger games? Meh. We’ll see. I think I’m more interested in catching up with other, older books that I have heard so much about. A Brave New World being one of those.

*Raises arms for victory*. Yes! You’re both watching Community! The more people who watch it the better.

Ugh, now I gotta wait till Mon. Curses. I guess I’ll play that Fables game that just came out. I read reviews saying that its amazing.

Huh.
No autobiography there, hmm? I went through the same stage, too. I have to admit, I was a jerk for a while — High School was not kind to smart, overweight kids with glasses and allergies (no contact lenses and Claritin wasn’t around in the early 1970s), and one tends to overcompensate. I spent years pretending to have no emotions, and years more getting over that.

You nailed it, @Crave.

Ah, High School. The place where you spend SO MUCH time trying to create a persona and then – afterward – trying SO HARD to figure out why you did that and find out how much it has hurt you as a whole. It really is a world in itself.

Crave, let me recommend a book for you.
“Ready Player One”
I lived with my friends last year, and as a house event we took turns reading this book aloud. It was amazing. I have a couple of critiques of the book, but the book is so vastly and overwhelmingly awesome fun, that I will refrain from tainting your perception. I am not sure if the teen will get the gratuitous pop, game, movie, and geek culture references, but I think the book is still awesome even if you don’t get them all.

Seriously. Read this book. You will be in glory.

When I was in my early twenties I came to the conclusion that chicks dig confidence. I was later astounded when the impression I gave people was one of arrogance. Mission successful, but the cost was too high. Now people think I am out-going by nature, which is true and untrue. It took years of difficult, sloppy, embarrassing work to figure the whole social thing out.

I didn’t have to read The Giver for school, which might be part of why I liked it. Never really got into the sequel, though.

If you’re looking for good books, especially good fantasy, try Wheel of Time. The audiobooks will take you a freaking month to get through. No hyperbole, either…I have all but the last book in audiobook form, and iTunes tells me it adds up to over 17 days of audio.

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