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- 03.05.03
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mood: mellow yellooowwww... (^^)
music: Bôa! (^-^)d
blurb: ok, i'm still dodging some homework, but it's only a paper. i mean, i'm the Procrastination Queen when it comes to writing papers, so no biggie, right?
anyways, i changed majors! pull out the noise-makers and let's celebrate! woohoo! from MIS (Management Information Systems) to Art History. oh yeah, baby. (^^) i mean, i aboslutely *hated* the pre-reqs for getting into the Business College (i.e. Financial Accounting). okay, something like that in order to deal with computers. c'mon, say it with me now: wtf?!
i kept saying to myself, "these classes are just a huge hurdle to get to what i like." but then i kept going in a vicious circle, which seemed to reach its climactic peek Spring semesters. last spring i was all in tears 'cause i had to withdraw from Fin. Accounting, therefore losing a scholarship 'cause of credit hour requirements i hadn't met. losing buku bucks for college, so wouldn't you cry too?
well, this huge weight was lifted, but not completely, off my shoulders. i was fine and took Fin. Accounting again--passed--and then here comes Spring 2003. i'm an a calc. & stat. class called Quant. Tools 1 (aka Higher Math Hell). what's the point of finding the derivative of a derivative of a derivative?
i felt that weight back on me, and this time, i could hardly breathe. i broke down again, losing direction, and turned to one of my best friends. she said something that really hits home: "if this is making you so unhappy, why are you doing it?"
so i was set back a semester, yet i still changed to Art History. i mean, i loved Humanities and have been a self-declared history buff ever since freshmen year in high school. so why not? i'm happy now, and maybe will get an internship at the Smithsonian later on. life is good. (^^)
okay, so today i check my email and get something from MSN (those news letter thingies). anyways, i open it and see a link to a nifty article: "Literature: Why Read Classics?" so i dove right in. the guy talks about popularity doesn't a classic make. 2 'n 2 make 4. so that's cool.
in the end he talks to this Sutton guy, head of Horn Books, and guy with obvious clout in the book world as far as classifying great children's books from mediocre ones. think Caldecot Medal. anyways, this guy starts talking about Harry Potter in a negative light. (º_º) i'm hooked and gotta read more.
okay, i gotta explain my harry hatred. well, not really hatred, just intense loathing. i mean, something about adults putting a *children's* book on the bestseller list b/c they're reading it themselves, really gets to me. especially when it's a plot that's already been DONE. back in the 80s, a movie called "The Worst Witch," a classic right up there with other totally fab flicks like "Labyrinth." the main female lead is a girl going to a witch's school to be schooled in magick, and is basically the underdog who has some misadventures, then ends up saving the day. sound familiar? a lá Harry maybe? there's even the friggin' devoted outcast friend w/ glasses that's always with her--sounds like Weasel, or We-something, that kid with the pet rat in Harry, doesn't it?
Note: if you've see "The Worst Witch" you should click on the pic to your left, and read that article. it's friggin' hilarious! end note.
i've seen the first movie, rented it for free actually, 'cause i wouldn't spend a dime on anything Harry. (i work at a video store and have to tell people about upcoming movies, so i have to see them before they come out to have some kind of opinion.) okay, i thought the paintings were cool, and i actually told peeps that yeah, it's kid-friendly even tho i'm a professed Harry Hater--maybe Harry Loather. i refuse to be pulled into the harry hype that's, to me, unwarranted. adults reading a children's book: can the world get any sadder? go read Crichton people, Timeline's great! or some Koontz at least--Watchers was good, the movie does it no justice! something OTHER than a kid's book, please! (¡_¡)
don't get me wrong, i like kid's books too. i have my favorites that still sit on my shelf, like "The Secret of the Ruby Ring" by Yvonne MacGrory. great irish story that won the Book of the Year Award from the Irish Children's Book Trust. but it's a children's book that i doubt middle-aged people should JUST be getting into. that's what Harry is: a kid's book that'll go right up there with Goosebumps and the Babysitter's Club, maybe even Animorphs. it should be remembered fondly by those who grew up with it, not by grown adults who read the whole series at the time of release. i mean, c'mon. it proves why the newspaper has to be written at a 5th grade reading level.
okay, back to the article---so i follow a link to a nice article that was in Horn Book Magazine in Oct. of '99 entitled: "Potter's Field." great stuff that helped me sort out my Harry Hatred/Loathing. a good read that touches on the fact that the Harry books are great at making children's books visible, and getting kids to read more. i might be a bookworm now, but i was hardpressed to read the Farley, Black Stallion series back in elementary. but that's where the whole Harry thing needs to stop, elementary school--okay, maybe middle school, but that's it people!
and then there's those born-again Christians with saying that "Harry Potter Lures Kids into Witchcraft." okay, of course kids emulate entertainment. i liked to roleplay as April O'Neil from Ninja Turltes on the playground when i was little. i even humored my little sister and had fun playing the Yellow Ranger to her Pink Ranger, jumping of furniture and stuff, "Hi-yah!" and all that.
i bet those same born-again Christians saying this stuff about Harry Potter played those games too: i.e. Cowboys and Indians anyone? we KNEW those were just fun games to play. sure we wished all that superhero stuff was true 'cause it would've been cool, but we KNOW it isn't. good, non-delluded little kids know the difference. then there's the troubled ones that really think they can jump off a building and fly--parents, this is where you come in and say, "Little Johnny, this is not real. It's all entertainment." don't blame Harry Potter or Charmed, or whatever, for the problem that kids have seperating fiction from reality. as parents, it's YOUR job to actually say, "Okay, this is real and this isn't."
okay, maybe i was defending Harry there for a moment, but only because it was wrongly accused of being something that it wasn't. luring kids into witchcraft--i mean, c'mon. only if the parents don't school their kids in Reality 101.
all right, that was my rant. i feel better now. (^.-)'''
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