Recently, I got bored with my workouts. (I get bored with everything!) So I decided to start dancing for exercise. (This decision was greatly influenced by the 4 Bring It On -yes 4!!!- movies and pretty much every other English language dance movie which I've been watching over and over for the last month. With a few musicals sprinkled in for good measure.)
And when you decide you're going to dance, while drowning yourself in dance movies. It's only a matter of time before you end up on youtube. And if it's awesome dance vids you're craving, you'll eventually end up on Janet Jackson.
The woman is 3 and a half decades of dance awesome!
The Pleasure Principle in 1986 pretty much set the bar for all female dance vids to come.
And then she took it up again with Rhtym Nation in 1989
Together Again 1997
All for you- from 2000
Also, what many people might not realise is that Janet starred in 3 films which debuted at #1: Poetic Justice (which I rewatched last week), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and Why Did I get Married? Pretty good, for someone who doesn't profess to be an actress!
"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!" Mary Poppins.
I'd like to say thank you to each and everyone of my 51 followers.
You guys know I try not to put too much stock in the number of people that follow me. A blog's worth is not measured by the number of people who follow it. Just like a book's worth isn't measured by the number of people who buy it. Nor is a person's worth measured by the number of people in his or her crowd on Saturday nights.
These things are easier to say than to believe. To really believe.
You can know with all your heart that having 1 follower or having 100 doesn't change the quality of your blog. Still that doesn't stop you from drooling enviously when you see other blogs with 600 followers. For writers, we all aspire to be bestsellers- or at least most of us do. But I think I'd rather sell 500 books to people who absolutely love my book, and quote it every day, than be one of a million bestsellers.
Of course I say that now...
Why is it so much harder to take your own advice, swallow your own medicine, if you will?
What things do you say, that you have a hard time listening to?
It's near impossible to keep up with contests these days. There's so much out there for reader/writers to win! Amy Holder is giving away SWOON AT YOUR OWN RISK by Sydney Salter. And Michelle Hodkin is giving out some cool ARCs over on her blog.
All you need is your favourite first line.
The first line that stands out most in my mind, and the only one I can quote offhand is:
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother, Jem, got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
I actually almost forgot to write that this is from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. That book is such a literary influence, I forget the possibility that people haven't read it.
Two new favourites:
"Baby," groaned the guy- Ted? Tad? -something like that - and crushed his lips against the side of her neck, shoving her face against the wall of the toilet stall.
from Jennifer Weiner's IN HER SHOES and
Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days up-river from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte.
I'd think this line would be even more obvious that the TKAM opener, but just in case you don't know, it's from Alex Haley's ROOTS.
Here's my review of INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER by Julie Halpern.
We've got a new Prime Minister in Japan, Naoto Kan (which would be Kan Naoto if you said it in Japanese). I've lived in Japan for 22 months. This is my 4th!!! Prime Minister! Crazy, huh? I'm kind of sorry what went down with Hatoyama, because I thought he was so cool! At least the DPJ is still in power.
Still, I find it very ironic. The land where everything else takes so long to change, and the Prime Ministers change like seasons.
Meanwhile, on the local scene, my schools have been having their sports for the last three weeks. At JHS, it's calle Taiikusai- Physical Fitness Festival (why is everything so much longer in English?) and at elementary it's Undoukai (Movement Meet). Here are a few pics!
JHS 1st years demonstrating kendo.
White team doing Thriller
Red team dance
Presentation of prizes. I think you got trophies for the dance and the kendo demos, and you got the purple flag for winning the sports overall.
At the end of sports both teams hand over the flags to the Principal. The two team captains happened to be the two class clowns when I first came. (They were first years back then.) I was shocked to see the one on the right cry. It's their last JHS sports, and it's always emotional.
The Taiikusai is officially over, but the 3rd years lead the school in a song. Every year, the whole 3rd year bawls at this point.
My Japanese Teacher or English (JTE) was the head of the White team. Guess which team won!
I lurve the White team's flag. My kiddies make me so proud!
The opening parade at my tiny elementary. Note the Heil Hitler salute!!!
The elemetaries and kindergartens hang strings of flags at their sports. The second from the left is Brazil, as is the second from the right. lol!
The red and white things that are hanging are called teruterubozu, and you hang them to wish for good weather when it looks like it's going to rain.
The White team in the Cheer-off
Red team had cool red gloves
There's only one first year. They made him run a race holding hands with the principal! :)
Then they made all the guests race with bicycle rims. From left to right: Tiny School Principal, The Superintendent of the Board of Education (the BIG boss), and the JHS Principal.
In the Kumitaisou,
kids show off their (ridiculous amount of) strength and flexibility
Kids in their yukata, getting ready to beat the taiko drums
The PTA had a mukade (centipede) relay. Look carefully, their feet are tied together.
The majority of the teaching staff.
And in this weeks instalment of Iwate Swan, it's Halloween!
This has been a round for a little while, but I'm posting it cuz I love it and some of you writer types may not have seen it.
Jackson Pearce's novel, SISTERS RED is out in June.
The foreigner population of my town (i.e. 4 people, well really the English-speakers, because there are mountains of Chinese) got to talking last night. All 4 of us are religious and have deep morals, and lots of thoughts about society. So from time to time, we discuss things in a way that would make Socrates sit up and smile.
Last night on the table, the moral responsibility og the author. It started, as many a recent literary argument, with Twilight.
W, the social worker of the group, said Edward was a poster child for spousal abuse. Twilight, she believed, extols the wrong values in a man and in a relationship, and puts this caricature on display for pre-teens as the ideal man.
S, the ABSOLUTE moralist, said it was the responsibility of the author to present truth in their words and to consider all the repercussions of their work.
P, ever the libertarian and the sole male, thought that while some of the responsibility of raising children was the parent's; that society was too quick to let others off the hook. It should be everyone's duty to consider the things they directed towards children and teens.
As an artist, I argued that it was unreasonable to expect an artist to be responsible for every reaction his or her work invoked.
Back to the Twilight example. Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon. From what little I know about Mormon life, there is nothing wrong with a woman educating herself and then staying home to take care of the children, while the huzzers brings home the moolah. The flip side of the coin is that there is also nothing wrong with the husband being responsible for everything that does not concern the home, and the wife being submissive to him.
In fact, not only is this not wrong. It's an ideal. And not just for a couple Mormon women. For many women of many religions. And once upon a time, that ideal was widely believed, even in the secular Westen culture. Back then supporting your husband didn't mean you had the personality of a canteloupe's toe. Nor did it equate to him being an abuser waiting to happen.
So if as a writer, I write something that reflects my ideals - ideals which are NOT OUTRAGEOUS, and were once revered in this very society- and someone takes something else from it, is that my fault?
It's a thin line for me. I don't believe I'm responsible for every reaction my words cause. But on the other hand, I do believe I have a responsibility to use my writing to open people's minds. I've travelled a lot, seen a lot, lived in 3 very different countries, met oodles of people. My strength IS these experiences and I mean to share them. I'm not just trying to convince anyone of my views with my writing either. I've less respect for someone who "believes" the same thing I do for no reason at all, than for someone who has carefully considered all the information and come to a different conclusion. So that's what I do with my writing, present the options. Hopefully in a creative way you've never seen, which makes you consider things you've never considered.
BUT
That's MY writing. I don't think that it's everybody's responsibility to open your mind. Some people were meant to write books which make you laugh so hard, you think you're having an aneurism. Some were meant to write books that would take your mind off your problems. Some were meant to write plots so convoluted that you feel like you could tackle LAPD's unsolved case file when you're done. And every writer should strive to ensure that a reader comes away from their reading with a net positive. They're not in a worse position than where they started for having read the book.
And what about you? What's your social moral responsibility as a writer? Consider the possibilty effects of what you're writing, think about what you want people to come away with, let your true colours shine and above all,
Check out this contest for readers and writers. Win books or a critique!
I usually post a musical blast from the past on Tuesdays. But it's called time travel and I figured, whatever, as long as it's not now, that fits the bill. So in continuation of yesterday's post, I give you Secondary School Me.
Here I am with two of my best friends. Can you guess which one is me?
As I metioned yesterday, my "clique" didn't fit the stereotypes. And neither did I. I was very oblivious to peer pressure. At 13, I got myself a bad reputation. I was walking on a public road with a 19 year old guy (who later became my boyfriend). It was the two of us, another girlfriend of mine and two of his male friends. Somehow that simple act of walking on a public road (maybe holding hands- I forget) turned into "OMG! She's sleeping with that old guy!" (I never did sleep with him- in case you wondered, but clearly that didn't matter.) I stopped caring what people were saying. Because obviously the truth had no role in it.
I lived for me.
In school I hung out with who I wanted to, people who made laugh and who I had fun with. I played the sport I wanted to- field hockey, not cool by any stretch of the imagination, but the one I enjoyed nonetheless. In Sixth form, I chose the subjects I wanted to do- Computer, Management and French- even though the teachers were like, "What are you going to do with that combination?" (teach English in Japan would not have been my reply.) I went to the movies I wanted to see. "But sixteen year olds don't watch animated Disney movies on the big screen!" Well, you know what? I do!
For a long time, I thought everyone was this way, just living for themselves. Apart from the people who were obvious examples. The "popular" kids. Because they had to live up to expectations to be popular.
This is who I am. And only after years of clashing with people over it, did I realise, people do have a lot of value for the opinions of others!
I care about whether or not I've done the right thing. Others worry about whether or not people know they haven't.
I care about being healthy. Others worry about looking good.
I care about enjoying my life. Others worry about pleasing those around them. (I know that sometimes this is a bad thing in me.)
I care about travelling the path I feel God intended for me to be on. Others worry about doing the sensible thing.
I keep myself happy. I watch the movies I like and read the books I like- even if they're intended for 12 year olds. I hang out where I feel like, do what I feel like with my free time, live where I want to, study what I want to...
And I've been that way since 13. I've been through a ton of changes, but I've come full circle and I could be twins with 13 year old me (except for 80 pounds gained- UGH).
This is a big part of the reason the two novels I've "completed" are YA. I don't feel like the person I was in school is well represented in YA. Seems like only fantasy novel MC's can be confident. I beg to differ! That was just not who I was. THIS is who I am. And who I was!
That's what's on my mind this Monday. (It's still Monday in California:) I just finished INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER by Julie Halpern. The book was very much about seeking out where you belong in high school. Are you one of the nerds? Should you roll with the punks? Or do you have what it takes to be one of the cool kids.
I see this a lot in books and on tv, but that's just not how it was for me and it's often difficult for me to relate. I did have my group of friends in school and most of us are still close now, ten years after secondary school. (For those of you not educated in the British system, secondary school is like Hogwarts. You start at 11, at 16 you have major regional exams, at 18 you have another set. But you can leave school at 16, and of the 22 government secondary schools on my island, only 4 go to 18 anyhow.)
In Barbados we don't go to secondary school by zone, but rather by the scores we get in an exam we take at 11. So students are all at around the same level and we're from all over the island. I went to the top high school, HC. So even the non-nerds were brilliant.
At first, I hung out with the people I knew. I came from a small school, and in my first year, there were only 3 people from my primary school at HC, and neither of them had been great friends of mine. I ended up sitting next to a girl I'd gone to lessons with, and being friends with her. And also with a boy who had gone to my primary school until about 7 and then changed schools. Then I became involved in Girl Guides (= British Girl Scouts) and my clique was the Guides and Boy Scouts. But we didn't have a "thing". When we hung out, what we talked about had nothing to do with Guides or Scouts and we were not identified with being Guides or Scouts- except that we hung out at the Scout Hut.
We just were. Is it that rare? For secondary/high school students to just be? Without a label? We just hung out? And over the years, we kind of became popular for it. We didn't have entrance requirements: you didn't need to be this pretty, or this smart, or this rich. You just needed to be!
What clique did you subscribe to? What was your "thing" in high school?
I am from the beautiful island of Barbados, but I currently live and work on the islands of Japan. I am a lover of languages; a creative writer in my native language, English, and a speaker to various degrees of fluency of 4 others.
