In my high school Mythology class, we just finished reading Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In a nutshell, this play is an ancient Greek tragedy about a guy who accidentally kills his father and marries his mother, to absolutely nobody's knowledge until late in the play. I had an assignment to write five half-page diary entries from Oedipus's point of view, from whatever points in the play I so chose. I'm pretty proud of them, so I wanted to post them. (For the full scoop on Oedipus, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus )
Today I became king of Thebes. And also I got married. An oddly AWESOME end to a year that started with me becoming a killer…but hey, it was in self-defense! So anyway, I accidentally murdered this guy, but he was trying to run me off the road. I didn’t mean to! So then I rolled into Thebes and saved them from this sphinx. Just so happens their king had mysteriously disappeared, so they decided to show me their gratitude by giving me the throne and their queen’s hand in marriage. She’s a TOTAL cougar, and totally hot. So yeah, I’m not exactly complaining about this set up here. And all because I could answer the sphinx’s riddle, which, HELLO, a four-year-old could have. Thebans are a few olives short of an olive tree, if you know what I mean. So now I am their ruler, and husband of Jocasta. She’s definitely a MILF, if I hadn’t mentioned that before.
Today some crackpot “prophet” Tiresias told me that I can’t look for the killer of the previous king, Laius, and then tried to accuse ME of murdering him (As if!). See, apparently when Laius went missing, nobody had time to investigate, because the sphinx was terrorizing the city – you know, until I swooped in and saved the day. Now the city’s women and crops have stopped producing children and food, respectively, and apparently it’s because Apollo is mad that nobody looked into King Laius’s death. So it was proclaimed that his killer must be killed or exiled, and Apollo won’t lift the curse until this happens. So I sent Creon, my brother-in-law (who reminds me of an uncle I was fond of back in Corinth, my birthplace) to get Tiresias, and this is how it turns out? Utter cow dung, I say. Wow, Creon. Way to be, way to be. I allowed him to share power with me (I mean, I TOTALLY could have had him killed or exiled years ago) and he turns on me so quickly? ---------------------- (I censored some words to protect your innocence, scroll.)
Prophecies suck. A long time ago, when I was at some required banquet thingamabob in Corinth, this guy came up to me and told me (COMPLETELY unsolicited, by the way) that I would someday kill my dad and marry my mom. Excuse me, but EWWWW! No freakin’ way. It’s just too impossible! I thought I was safe once I left home. I figured as long as I stayed in Thebes and never saw my parents again, I could escape fate. I’m kind of a few olives short of an olive tree myself, sometimes. (You can’t tell, scroll, but I’m shaking my head at my own stupidity.) This messenger from Corinth came gallivanting into Thebes today and brought some news. King Polybus of Corinth died in his sleep, leaving me, his son, to be the ruler of Corinth. So now I’m technically a king of two cities, I guess. Hey, cool! And I didn’t kill him, so that part of the prophecy didn’t come true! Today’s turning out to be actually pretty great! Now I just have to avoid ever seeing my mother again (so I suppose I’ll have to turn the Corinthian throne over to somebody…drat.) Hopefully tomorrow will be as great as today!
Today was DEFINITELY not as great as yesterday. My whole life has been a lie! So, turns, out, SURPRISE, I’M ADOPTED! Thanks Mom, thanks Dad, for TELLING me that. And GUESS who my REAL parents are! Just GUESS, scroll! MY WIFE AND HER EX-HUSBAND!!! YES! I AM AN UNWILLING PERPETRATOR OF INCEST! I can hardly bear the shame!!! My mother/wife and father heard the same prophecy as I did, so they decided to get rid of me. Again, THANKS. So that traveler I killed? Mhmm, that was my ACTUAL FATHER. Score one for die Prophezeiung! And Jocasta, my MILF-wife? Yeah, MILF is WAY too literal in this scenario! EW EW EW EW!!! Score two for die Prophezeiung! I’d really like to just go die in a hole right now. I mean really, that seems like the most beneficial course of action.
Please pardon my handwriting, as I can no longer see. I decided that my incestuous, patricidal self needed to suffer, so I stabbed my eyes out. With my wife/mother’s cloak pins. Oh yeah, by the way, she’s…dead. She couldn’t stand it, so she committed suicide. MY. LIFE. SUCKS. SO. MUCH. She hung herself, and upon seeing this, I seized her golden cloak pins and gouged my eyes. I deserve to suffer. I don’t want to die, I want to die a thousand deaths in life before I die at last. (Wow, I’ve turned way emo since I found out I’ve been sleeping with my mother. Funny how incest does that to you.) I had a very grave talk with my dear daughter/sisters that they will never have happy lives because their father is a murderer. A bloody murderer! My son/brothers will get along fine. But Antigone and Ismene cannot claim this unblemished life for themselves. It’s all my fault. Tomorrow I shall ask Creon, who is now sole ruler of Thebes (which is what that git wanted all along, I’m sure), to exile me. I shall die my thousand deaths in anguished solitude.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
A Lonely Afternoon
So, if you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I was supposed to have Color Guard practice last Wednesday, but nobody showed up. Unbeknownst to me, it was cancelled. Here is something I wrote while waiting - it's all nonfiction and exactly as it happened to me.
"I sit here alone. Have they forgotten about me? Color guard practice was supposed to start half an hour ago. There’s no one in the commons. I am utterly alone. It’s a strange feeling in this room that’s normally so full of people. Occasionally a soccer player or member of the track team will walk across the dully shining white speckled tile, and I can feel their gazes: somewhat curious as to why I’m sitting here alone, reading Phantom of the Opera, but I’m so far out of their realm of existence that they don’t really care to know who I am or why I’m here. My feet hurt, but I don’t dare take my shoes off and reveal my Winnie the Pooh socks. I already look like a ten-year-old, I’m sure. My shorts are eight or ten inches longer than those of ninety percent of the girls at my school, I know this shirt makes me look younger than barely-fifteen, and I am make-up-less and ponytailed. I look every bit the part of Little Girl Lost. And don’t forget pathetic. Even though the other Color Guard girls are nice (all whopping three of them), I can’t help but to wonder if this wasn’t a set-up, like in those cheesy cliché chick flicks. Although is embarrassment is what they’re going for, they could do lots worse.
A faculty member, vaguely familiar, walks along the perimeter of the commons and out the glass-and-metal double doors, not even noticing me. She wears a black coat with silver buttons down the front – like Miss Mary Mack, only not. This is a little odd seeing as how it’s sixty-five degrees outside. She also wheels an older-model vacuum behind her.
The grossest guy in school offers to buy me a soda, calling from the vending machine across the room. I had actually considered buying one myself earlier, but I shake my head no, a single harsh movement. I am so not in the mood to take charity from this creep.
The school secretary starts setting up tables. This concerns me. Is it possible practice is cancelled and I don’t know, because I forgot my phone at home? Fat lot of good it would do me, anyway. Only one girl, the other freshman, has my number, and her presence is questionable. It’s forty-five minutes past when practice supposedly started, and none of the other girls have shown up.
Track members start streaming in, in groups of two and three. Last week practice was four-thirty to five-thirty, and if it turns out to be those times again this week, then there’s only fifteen minutes left of waiting. But I was told three-thirty to four-thirty. I’m really starting to get actually kind of mad now. I’ve been sitting here while my sister had to walk home alone, and I actually have things to get done. I go to Mom’s tomorrow, which means I have to pack. I also have Fahrenheit 451 reading for English, but I’m putting that off. I probably should be utilizing this time by reading that instead of Phantom of the Opera, but there’s a written study guide to go along with the reading. Otherwise I wouldn’t have a problem with reading.
And now it is four-forty, ten minutes past when it might have started. So I give myself permission to go home.
"I sit here alone. Have they forgotten about me? Color guard practice was supposed to start half an hour ago. There’s no one in the commons. I am utterly alone. It’s a strange feeling in this room that’s normally so full of people. Occasionally a soccer player or member of the track team will walk across the dully shining white speckled tile, and I can feel their gazes: somewhat curious as to why I’m sitting here alone, reading Phantom of the Opera, but I’m so far out of their realm of existence that they don’t really care to know who I am or why I’m here. My feet hurt, but I don’t dare take my shoes off and reveal my Winnie the Pooh socks. I already look like a ten-year-old, I’m sure. My shorts are eight or ten inches longer than those of ninety percent of the girls at my school, I know this shirt makes me look younger than barely-fifteen, and I am make-up-less and ponytailed. I look every bit the part of Little Girl Lost. And don’t forget pathetic. Even though the other Color Guard girls are nice (all whopping three of them), I can’t help but to wonder if this wasn’t a set-up, like in those cheesy cliché chick flicks. Although is embarrassment is what they’re going for, they could do lots worse.
A faculty member, vaguely familiar, walks along the perimeter of the commons and out the glass-and-metal double doors, not even noticing me. She wears a black coat with silver buttons down the front – like Miss Mary Mack, only not. This is a little odd seeing as how it’s sixty-five degrees outside. She also wheels an older-model vacuum behind her.
The grossest guy in school offers to buy me a soda, calling from the vending machine across the room. I had actually considered buying one myself earlier, but I shake my head no, a single harsh movement. I am so not in the mood to take charity from this creep.
The school secretary starts setting up tables. This concerns me. Is it possible practice is cancelled and I don’t know, because I forgot my phone at home? Fat lot of good it would do me, anyway. Only one girl, the other freshman, has my number, and her presence is questionable. It’s forty-five minutes past when practice supposedly started, and none of the other girls have shown up.
Track members start streaming in, in groups of two and three. Last week practice was four-thirty to five-thirty, and if it turns out to be those times again this week, then there’s only fifteen minutes left of waiting. But I was told three-thirty to four-thirty. I’m really starting to get actually kind of mad now. I’ve been sitting here while my sister had to walk home alone, and I actually have things to get done. I go to Mom’s tomorrow, which means I have to pack. I also have Fahrenheit 451 reading for English, but I’m putting that off. I probably should be utilizing this time by reading that instead of Phantom of the Opera, but there’s a written study guide to go along with the reading. Otherwise I wouldn’t have a problem with reading.
And now it is four-forty, ten minutes past when it might have started. So I give myself permission to go home.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Hunger Games Nerdgasm
So I made this blog and I haven't posted in a while. I had spring break and then birthday stuff...more on that later! In short, I am now fifteen whereas before I was fourteen. Because fifteen is the age that comes after fourteen, strangely enough.
Anyway, the main point of this blog post is that I am a nerd. Namely, while making flashcards for Government finals, I wondered what kind of government Panem (the future North American post-apocalyptic country in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) has. (SPOILERS for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire from this point on.)
I figured it had either a unitary system of government or a federal system.
In a unitary system the central government holds all the power. Local goverment has no power & just carries out decisions made by the central government. Like HENCHMEN. Italy, France, Sweden, and many other countries across the world have this type of government. (For a full list, see this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state .)
In a federal system, national, local, and state governments share power. Each level makes their own laws, elects their own officials and makes their own decisions. The United States has this type of government.
In Panem the central government would be the Capitol. The districts would be the state/local governments depending on the district. Some districts may need a state government while others may not be large enough for anything but a town government. From what I can tell, the Districts we have seen so far (basically, 12) don't really have individual, distinct towns. Not once is a singular city mentioned, apart from the Capitol.
The Hunger Games is set in future, post-apocalyptic North America, presumably in the same region as the United States, which no longer exists. District 12 is in the Appalachians - they are coal miners just as people in the Appalachians are today. The Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Collins has said that the districts are not placed in numerical order within Panem, and much of North America's landmass has been depleted due to natural disasters. And the districts are not all the same size, either. Also according to Wikipedia, "The districts are shown to be of varied sizes, with District 12 only having a population of 8000. Other districts like District 11 stretch on for miles and have enormous populations." So it makes sense that District 12 is shown as being generally one town, with the poorer part of town being the Seam.
From what I can tell, the Capitol acts differently on different districts. Katniss says that as long as District 12 produces its coal quotients, the Capitol leaves them alone. (Of course, this was said at the beginning of The Hunger Games - their relationship changed radically by Catching Fire, and I can only imagine the state it's in now, as of the end of Catching Fire). District 12 displays several characteristics of a unitary government here: their Peacekeepers are chosen by the Capitol, all decisions are made for them, and most aspects of their lives are controlled directly by the Capitol - like the Hunger Games, which is mostly to keep the districts in check (but also provides sadistic entertainment for the Capitol). However the Peacemakers are easily swayed by the citizens because they are all living in the same poverty. This control over local government by citizens is more like a federal system of government.
Like I said earlier, we haven't really gotten to see any other Districts in much detail, so I can't speak for the rest of the districts. But based on District 12, I would say that Panem has a unitary system of government, with some districts leaning farther towards a federal system of government.
Wow, I feel like I just had a podcast in my head. My thoughts were very much like an episode of MuggleCast, only about the Hunger Games.
Thoughts?
Anyway, the main point of this blog post is that I am a nerd. Namely, while making flashcards for Government finals, I wondered what kind of government Panem (the future North American post-apocalyptic country in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) has. (SPOILERS for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire from this point on.)
I figured it had either a unitary system of government or a federal system.
In a unitary system the central government holds all the power. Local goverment has no power & just carries out decisions made by the central government. Like HENCHMEN. Italy, France, Sweden, and many other countries across the world have this type of government. (For a full list, see this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state .)
In a federal system, national, local, and state governments share power. Each level makes their own laws, elects their own officials and makes their own decisions. The United States has this type of government.
In Panem the central government would be the Capitol. The districts would be the state/local governments depending on the district. Some districts may need a state government while others may not be large enough for anything but a town government. From what I can tell, the Districts we have seen so far (basically, 12) don't really have individual, distinct towns. Not once is a singular city mentioned, apart from the Capitol.
The Hunger Games is set in future, post-apocalyptic North America, presumably in the same region as the United States, which no longer exists. District 12 is in the Appalachians - they are coal miners just as people in the Appalachians are today. The Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Collins has said that the districts are not placed in numerical order within Panem, and much of North America's landmass has been depleted due to natural disasters. And the districts are not all the same size, either. Also according to Wikipedia, "The districts are shown to be of varied sizes, with District 12 only having a population of 8000. Other districts like District 11 stretch on for miles and have enormous populations." So it makes sense that District 12 is shown as being generally one town, with the poorer part of town being the Seam.
From what I can tell, the Capitol acts differently on different districts. Katniss says that as long as District 12 produces its coal quotients, the Capitol leaves them alone. (Of course, this was said at the beginning of The Hunger Games - their relationship changed radically by Catching Fire, and I can only imagine the state it's in now, as of the end of Catching Fire). District 12 displays several characteristics of a unitary government here: their Peacekeepers are chosen by the Capitol, all decisions are made for them, and most aspects of their lives are controlled directly by the Capitol - like the Hunger Games, which is mostly to keep the districts in check (but also provides sadistic entertainment for the Capitol). However the Peacemakers are easily swayed by the citizens because they are all living in the same poverty. This control over local government by citizens is more like a federal system of government.
Like I said earlier, we haven't really gotten to see any other Districts in much detail, so I can't speak for the rest of the districts. But based on District 12, I would say that Panem has a unitary system of government, with some districts leaning farther towards a federal system of government.
Wow, I feel like I just had a podcast in my head. My thoughts were very much like an episode of MuggleCast, only about the Hunger Games.
Thoughts?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Spring Has Sprung
Today was the loveliest weather we've had here in Missouri for a LONG time. We're talking seventy degrees, clear blue sky, gentle breeze...glorious. I did my homework out on the porch.
It got me thinking that weather actually has a lot of effect on my mood. Today the weather was amazing so I was in an amazing mood. This winter when the weather was horrible I was sad and disinterested all the time. It was awful, and I just chalked it up to adjusting to high school. But what if it really was, like, a vitamin D deficiency? Isn't that what you can get in winter when the sun isn't out as much?
And now I'm very excited for spring. My birthday is in a few weeks, and I'll be fifteen so I can get my learner's permit. I'm pretty sure my mom is planning on teaching me to drive this summer, and I'm glad. She's the most conscientious, careful driver I know.
(For future reference, my parents are divorced. My dad is remarried and I live with him the majority of the time. Also in this house are my stepmom, dad, younger stepbrother, and younger sister. Oh yeah, and two neurotic cats, two Roborovski hamsters, and a dog. My mom isn't remarried and lives about twenty minutes away.)
I'll be one of the last of my friends to get this privelege, though. All but one or two of my friends have their birthdays before me - one's birthday is late August. Another friend just had a birthday yesterday, and Friend 1 made her a black-bottom cheesecake, which is cheesecake with brownies on the bottom. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted, which is a high compliment considering how amazing my aunts' cooking is!
Hmm, I just had to break from typing to take the trash out and I'm considering wearing flipflops tomorrow...too early?
Edited to add: I have a choir competition this weekend. My choir director equated it to the football team going to state...so yeah, big deal. Think the fall finale of Glee, only we don't have Rachel Berry. So it could prove difficult to place or something, although I don't really know how these things work since I'm only a freshman. I'm in chamber choir, which is like AP Choir because you have to audition, but we're singing at competition with concert choir (which is the fancy name for plain old regular choir). We have a ton of really good singers in our chamber choir, but we just don't have the size of some choirs at larger schools. That's why we have to combine for competition, even though the concert choir people aren't nearly as serious about singing. Chamber choir has six people in each of four sections: alto, soprano, tenor, and bass. On the other hand, concert choir has forty.
24 + 40 = 64. 64 people sounds a lot better than 24 people when we're all singing the same thing, as for as dynamics is concerned. So, there you go.
Tomorrow is late-start Wednesday, which is where we start class 45 minutes late so the teachers can have meetings. This replaces early outs, but the buses still run at the same time so a lot of people complain about not really getting any time off like with early outs. I personally like them because Wednesday morning is when FCA is held. FCA stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is basically a prayer meeting. I wasn't raised in any religion but I'm exploring it. My best friend has recently accepted Christ and she's really happy, and she's been encouraging me to come to FCA. But ultimately it's my choice, and I choose to attend because I'm learning. I'm not ready to commit to anything, but you never know.
Wow, I've been typing for what seems like ages and it didn't amount to all that much... I'll try to post tomorrow, or soon!
=]
~Megan
It got me thinking that weather actually has a lot of effect on my mood. Today the weather was amazing so I was in an amazing mood. This winter when the weather was horrible I was sad and disinterested all the time. It was awful, and I just chalked it up to adjusting to high school. But what if it really was, like, a vitamin D deficiency? Isn't that what you can get in winter when the sun isn't out as much?
And now I'm very excited for spring. My birthday is in a few weeks, and I'll be fifteen so I can get my learner's permit. I'm pretty sure my mom is planning on teaching me to drive this summer, and I'm glad. She's the most conscientious, careful driver I know.
(For future reference, my parents are divorced. My dad is remarried and I live with him the majority of the time. Also in this house are my stepmom, dad, younger stepbrother, and younger sister. Oh yeah, and two neurotic cats, two Roborovski hamsters, and a dog. My mom isn't remarried and lives about twenty minutes away.)
I'll be one of the last of my friends to get this privelege, though. All but one or two of my friends have their birthdays before me - one's birthday is late August. Another friend just had a birthday yesterday, and Friend 1 made her a black-bottom cheesecake, which is cheesecake with brownies on the bottom. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted, which is a high compliment considering how amazing my aunts' cooking is!
Hmm, I just had to break from typing to take the trash out and I'm considering wearing flipflops tomorrow...too early?
Edited to add: I have a choir competition this weekend. My choir director equated it to the football team going to state...so yeah, big deal. Think the fall finale of Glee, only we don't have Rachel Berry. So it could prove difficult to place or something, although I don't really know how these things work since I'm only a freshman. I'm in chamber choir, which is like AP Choir because you have to audition, but we're singing at competition with concert choir (which is the fancy name for plain old regular choir). We have a ton of really good singers in our chamber choir, but we just don't have the size of some choirs at larger schools. That's why we have to combine for competition, even though the concert choir people aren't nearly as serious about singing. Chamber choir has six people in each of four sections: alto, soprano, tenor, and bass. On the other hand, concert choir has forty.
24 + 40 = 64. 64 people sounds a lot better than 24 people when we're all singing the same thing, as for as dynamics is concerned. So, there you go.
Tomorrow is late-start Wednesday, which is where we start class 45 minutes late so the teachers can have meetings. This replaces early outs, but the buses still run at the same time so a lot of people complain about not really getting any time off like with early outs. I personally like them because Wednesday morning is when FCA is held. FCA stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is basically a prayer meeting. I wasn't raised in any religion but I'm exploring it. My best friend has recently accepted Christ and she's really happy, and she's been encouraging me to come to FCA. But ultimately it's my choice, and I choose to attend because I'm learning. I'm not ready to commit to anything, but you never know.
Wow, I've been typing for what seems like ages and it didn't amount to all that much... I'll try to post tomorrow, or soon!
=]
~Megan
Monday, March 22, 2010
Hey there! I’m kinda new to this blogging thing even though I’m by no means a stranger to social networking. I joined because I’ve got a lot to say and nowhere to say it… so you lucky people (person?) get to be my noncaptive audience.
I rant and ramble and sometimes I'm incoherent. I'm passionate and a little insane.
I'm short and brunette. I have braces and glasses. Generally you can find me in jeans, a t-shirt, and Converse.
I write fanfiction and dabble in my own writing.
Anything is an excuse for me to spontaneously burst into song. I'm an alto in chamber choir at my high school.
Gah, I sound so boring! Stick around and I promise it'll get better.
~Megan
I rant and ramble and sometimes I'm incoherent. I'm passionate and a little insane.
I'm short and brunette. I have braces and glasses. Generally you can find me in jeans, a t-shirt, and Converse.
I write fanfiction and dabble in my own writing.
Anything is an excuse for me to spontaneously burst into song. I'm an alto in chamber choir at my high school.
Gah, I sound so boring! Stick around and I promise it'll get better.
~Megan
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