Just Sayin'

Agreed So, I don't know how many of you read the Song of Ice and Fire Saga (aka Game of Thrones) but I finally got around to reading the fifth book ( A Dance with Dragons ) and I have some things to say about it. I read the previous four books pretty quickly, but I had a little trouble getting into this one and I've finally figured out why: the characters are too good . I mean, I don't know what it is, but everyone is hiking up their moral socks in this book: Jon invites the Wildlings to come south even though it would solve like five different problems for the Night's Watch just to let them die, Dany marries what's-his-face because she can't abandon Meeren even though practicality dictates that she climb on her dragons and cross the Narrow Sea, not to mention that Arya can't even kill people in good conscious anymore. Now, to most readers, I'm sure this seems like a good thing and, if this was real life, I would agree with you. But, fiction i...

So, as I'm sure you've all noticed, Facebook has recently taken it upon itself to ask, vapid, silly little questions in an attempt to encourage people to update their statuses more often. Facebook, as a person who updates their status about three times a year, I refute you. Your seemingly well intentioned "what's happening, Maria?" is just a clever ploy to gather more demographic information that you can sell to your advertisers. I see past your sleek, new format, and entertaining pirate lingo setting, and what I see are vapid, insidious little questions. Facebook, you're all "How are you feeling, Maria?" and I'm all "I'm on to you, Facebook, I'm on to you". Perhaps, I would be more apt to update my status if you actually asked me an interesting,  thought provoking question like: "what's your favorite play by Shakespeare?" or, "how do you feel about the new rainbow mentos?" (FYI: Richard III and I have ...

I am conflicted.  So, today is the anniversary of Joe Paterno's death and I have some stuff to say about him. Well, not him per say, but the way he is remembered. I'm not going to lie; it's sort of disturbing to see what is basically the modern day version of the "hero cult" develop around him. As a native of State College, I feel I am qualified to speak on this. Sure, he was a positive figure in the community and did a lot for Penn State, but I think what we need to remember is that Joe Paterno was fundamentally a human being and therefore, inherently flawed. Let's be clear here, I know that he did a lot for this university and for this community and I thank him for it, but there are other people in Penn State's history who have done equally as much for this university and receive not one tenth of the credit that he receives. Going hand in hand with that, I don't think there has been proper recognition of his humanity. There was a darker side to P...

So, I've been in college for about four semesters now (if you count the Summer Session) and I've taken about six English classes so I think that I'm qualified to assert that no one talks in English class! Now, when I say English class I'm talking about the awkward five to ten minutes when everyone is just sitting in the classroom waiting for the professor to get there. And, in English classes, in that time, from anywhere from five to fifteen minutes, no one says a word. The weird thing is that, I've taken a decent number of non-English classes, and, in those classes, no one can shut up. Take bio for instance, everyone's always making plans for the weekend or talking about last weekend or complaining about their teachers/tests/girlfriends/the price of weed. Even after the professor gets there, they're still talking. In math, I've heard tales of drunken mistakes, recaps of Family Guy episodes, and homework answers being swapped, all while the lecture is...