Prompt 42: First World Problems

The prompt asks for inhumane situations we've personally experienced. I've not really seen any injustices to that extent, so bear with me.

Living in the United States is indisputably great. This country is not ran by drug cartels, it is not confined to the whimbs of a dictator, nor can it be ignored in a humanitarian disaster. Plumbing, elections, free speech, Taco Bell, winning, in sum: America. Let me reacquaint to you some of this countries problems; Republicans and Democrats won't agree on how to count to three without shutting down the country, the middle class is gone, major companies are receiving mind-boggling bailouts, BP just announced their safest year to date, and education is not a priority.

Now let me reacquaint you to some of the problems that humanity faces, genocide, genocide, genocide, for God's sake we have groups labeling themselves "Anti-Genocide". We have nuclear weapons that are missing. Our ozone is disappearing, the rain forests are being destroyed and the NFL has yet to agree on a labor deal. Such injustice in the world.

Many in this first world country choose to acknowledge these facts, many of those many say will say "Oh, my God, that's horrible." And then they'll go on eating their dinners (Hotel Rwanda). Who's to blame them, us? We have a hard time remembering to take the trash out on a Thursday. Injustices to the average American are wonderful things. Many mornings, people wake up and realize that their showers are a bit too cold, or that the hot water fogs up their mirrors. Occasionally trouble is had when locating a missing sock, which to be fair is a terrible thing. Early this month, a fellow American was complaining that he received everything he asked for for Christmas and now doesn't have anything to ask for during his birthday.

Yes, America is a wonderful and exciting place that may or may not be evolving into "Idiocracy".

Prompt 42: Tired edition

Here's Trent, a seemingly innocent young adult. He is mild mannered and respects those around him. Like all of us, he has his little kinks. Trent is a smoker, a notoriously bad dresser and uses poor grammar on Facebook. Emily, on the the other hand, is quite the rambunctious young woman. She has the personality of a fluffy puppy and looks like she raided a closet from the 80's. These two have occasionally dated, though more for fun rather than true love. Today they choose to be friends, for today comic artist from New York are signing merchandise at JJ's Comics.

The crowd is full of Trents and Emilys. Some are tall, some are hilariously short, some are too old to be wearing a bikini in public. Comic book enthusiasts are a rare breed, yet so diverse that a single stereotype cannot cover them. While wondering the small store, some fans repel contact like two negatively charged magnets. Others, like Emily, create a spotlight and works the crowed store.

The tables set up for today house the creators of three different comics. One table looks crisp, the comics are stacked properly and the creators are wearing business suits, definitely doing so ironically. Another table is covered in pizza boxes and coffee mugs, somewhere in the mess is a stack of comic books. The writers for this table are proud owners of colorful tattoo sleeves and talk up storms even with those reclusive people. The last table is tame in comparison to the others. A few comics misplaced here and there, two sodas sitting on the end and the creators just seem like normal folk.

Sadly, the day concludes without any commotion. The crowd seemed rather sleepy after building themselves up for such an amazing day.

Peer Review

Alyssa: Denim Expert: Prompt 34 - Despite the prompt being about fabric in clothing, my face did not glaze over while reading, it was actually enjoyable. You introduced the subject, then allowed your neighbor to carry the story from there. The paragraphs of your personal thoughts on the matter tied everything in nicely. Your next story was very sweet and nicely done. The tone was very personal throughout the piece and casts your siblings in an extremely positive light. The last paragraph, about a bit of personal exploration, made a great impact creating a sense of individualism without negating any of your "idols".

Chelsee: "hard core wrapper" - I found this piece very entertaining, mostly because you are so committed to the perfect wrap while I normally put a gift in a bag and call it a day. The style was smooth and flowed well. I felt your voice came through with the excitement the piece conveyed. "The President" This was nicely done and, like our reading about Rudolph, managed to remain apolitical throughout the writing. Your voice and personality come through with this prompt and really adds to the prompt.

Leena: Did not complete assignments.

Prompt 37: Tear down this lie

American culture loves it's heroes; John Henry pulled an early victory out against machines, Benjamin Franklin damn near built this whole country while in France and Nicola Tesla made Thomas Edison famous! Though, America tends to twist historic identities through time. Take Christopher Columbus, in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue and discovered this great country. Except for the fact he never set foot in the future country and wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Another example is George Washington, remember learning about the cherry tree? He chopped it down, but young Washington was so virtuous he could not tell a lie. This is also a fabricated story, besides I'm not sure the inability to lie would be very resourceful while in war.

These examples are forgivable, after all, America was so young that the people needed icons to cling on to. Heading into the twentieth century, America had a strong base of heroes. One could say enough to fill a mountain. Surely today, with our Old Hickorys and Great Emancipators, America can finally stop constructing fake identities.

Enter Ronald Reagan. The man who, alongside Rocky IV, defeated the Evil Empire and was overall simply awesome. How could Ronald Reagan's history possibly be tampered with? The vast majority of the population could very well have had voted for the man, they would remember what they voted for. That's mostly true, though it seems FOX news is taking liberties with the 40th President.

To them, Ronald Reagan stands for every Conservative ideology. He beat the communists, he's anti-socialism, given the chance he could have taken Bin Laden out with nothing more than a stick of gum, a toothpick and a pair of wool socks. Seemingly every time a tax raise is mentioned today, it's mentioned how Reagan would never allow tax breaks to expire. However, it's just not possible to run this country without taxes, as Reagan found out. (CNN, not my cup of tea, either.) Reagan is becoming a mascot for FOX and is used to benefit their opinions.

I remain hopeful that Reagan will be remembered for what he was, not what a cable network station wants him to be. Come on, history, win one for the Gipper.

I'd love to post videos, but I only have 15 minutes to find one. So here's Zombie Reagan on The Onion


Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP

Prompt 34: Guest Staring, Richard!

I sat down with fellow college student and resident television expert Richard Sandoval in his family room where, through the vast majority of his life, he has compiled the expert mark of ten-thousand hours, watching television. "You know, I didn't really think I've spent that long watching television," He says, considering taking his eyes off the screen, "but I guess it all adds up." Indeed. Richard isn't a stumpy couch potato that most would accuse an expert of watching television of being. Instead, he is a lean young man with a metabolism that works overtime, all the time. "Probably what I've watched the most is stuff like Dragon Ball Z, or just playing video games."

Richard's questionable lifetime achievement is not without purpose, however. "It's probably a good thing I'm going to school to be in the movie making business. I consider my television watching," he says with an air of professionalism, "a lifetime of study to my art." I questioned his parents about his achievement; I was met with a swat on my head with a newspaper and an incoherent rambling with something to do about Republicans. I came to the conclusion that they were absolutely thrilled with the life he has chosen.

I asked how he came to be so proficient at his delicate art. "I'd say half the time is watching the channel because I've lost the remote. The other half was probably waiting for Goku to turn Supersayan." Most people would be afraid at the prospect of spending well over a year perfecting one task, time being the most precious commodity and all. They would argue that lives must be lived and laughter be shared. Richard agrees with his critics, though with an M. Night Shyamalan (Pre-Village) twist. "I lived my life in between episodes of Phineas and Ferb. Actually, life is something that just gets in the way. Kinda like someone who's obsessed with World of Warcraft." World of Warcraft is a MMORPG, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, that has spawned a cultural phenomenon in the last decade. Though, Richard wouldn't want to be associated with that group. "No, man. They're fat virgins who think it's cool to live in a digital world." I remind Richard that his vision of World of Warcraft players are the mold that other people see him in. "Yeah, but.. but," A delayed thought, and his head turns slightly upwards to the left, "Damn."

The discernible difference between Richard and the couch potato's of the world - or just the Western World, really - is that Richard believes he can harness his knowledge and use it to entertain the masses. "So that they too, may one day be an expert t.v. watcher like me!"

Peer Review: Group Four

Alyssa: I liked your first person prompt, it seems like this happened fairly recently because we weren't given a concrete conclusion. For your third person prompt, it wasn't written in the third person narrative. It was done literary in the third person which, I suppose, still counts. While the first person prompt was a bit withdrawn - exact to your character - the, um, third person prompt was more head strong. Prompt 33 had a feeling of chaos and disorganization. Just the feeling, however, structurally everything was sound. That may have been something interesting, using different sentence structure to convey a sense of disorientation. Though, your style of flowing chaos worked well.

Chelsee: First Person Prompt - I know that patient role very, very well, so I'm aware of the atmosphere you convey. I wanted to be amused, because I can find almost anything amusing, but as the story unfolded I found I was fearing the needle almost as much as you! Your voice seeped through well and the story was better for it. Third Person Prompt - I find it interesting how all of our third person stories are shorter and much less developed than the first person point of view. I'm not picking on you, we could all do a better job of creating depth in the story. Though for the shot prompts that have been submitted, yours is again done well.

Leena: Same as I commented with Chelsee, your first person post is much more insightful than your third person. The first person provides that sense of longing, that desire to be popular. The third person post takes the side of the "popular" kids. They view you as an outsider, someone who simply cannot fit in. I've seen in all of our third person posts, that we use the third person as a way to make sense of the first person perspective. Little reasons why the others react the way they do. In this case, you could not be popular because you were different. For prompt 33, your voice is established early is with clear disdain for changing in locker rooms. Another observation, which all of us commit, is that our writings are really too short to really clarify any of our ideas. Instead of writing these short stories that we've been doing in class, we have points of ideas we try to get across in a few paragraphs at most. But I digress, "Magic Moments" creates the uncomfortable vibe we all felt that first time changing in a locker room.

Uncomfortable Serenity.

Cold concrete walls. A jagged warped gate. Weeds grown higher than my waist. Cigarette buds littering the ground. Yes, yes this will do nicely. I have come to own this inhospitable landscape, and I have since called it - my backyard. Perhaps one day I will cleanse this land and those who pilgrim to my land will be joyous. Alas they claim to be content now, as the party pilgrims are nourished with liquid mana. Though I fear their love of the nectar has clouded their judgement. Still, look at them with their sparkling smiles and ecstatic eyes. Perhaps the landscape does not affect their affection, after all. Maybe the memories that have been composed in my backyard are what attracts them? Yes, the delighted atmosphere is indeed due to the jovial spirits, not my poorly maintained land.

Isn't it queer, then, that there seems to exist a hole of misery? Anyone who feels it becomes frightened that their happiness will be stolen, never to be felt again. Ah yes, we all know the perpetrator. Jamie. She has a habit of making things, uncomfortable. Let's just avoid her and see where it goes. Maybe I'll just look over here and - nope! I've been spotted! "Oh, hi Jamie" and an apprehensive hug to you, too. "Why isn't your boyfriend here?" My God, I engaged her in conversation. What have I done? "I don't know where My boyfriend is. He should be here." Oh, what's that? You're going to keep talking to me even though I've clearly zoned out? I understand, you're needy. No, no, no, keep going, I'm good at nodding. Hand motions are being used now, a point is clearly trying to be made across. Can somebody help me? Yeah, you with the glasses and pirate hair, say something witty so I can escape. Or keep smoking, it's cool.

Help. Me. Please. Oh thank god, it's boyfriend! Now I can go socialize with the - "Where have you been?" She's causing a scene. Has she no self respect? "I was just out with Danny. I'm here now don't worry." Don't you take that tone with her! If she gets upset we all suffer. "Well I want to leave, now!" Oh hallelujah. "I want to play a game first." Has Star Trek taught you nothing? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Don't you walk over to that table, boy! He did, we're done for. "I'm leaving, I want you to come with me." Everyone is watching you two. Stop it. "I want to hang out with my friends." It's cool, you can leave. "If you don't come with me now it's over." I saw past memories, and memories that have not yet come to pass, flash before my eyes. This was it. "Ok." What do we do? Let's just awkwardly stand here. Yes, that sounds ideal. "Ok?" You do not need to repeat it, just leave him here and we can be happy! Why are those tears? Go away and cry, just please not here. You'll find no sympathy with us. "Fine!" She's gone, she has been defeated! Let all exude out awkwardness, the time has passed!