What am I now?

Yesterday was my birthday and I’m officially no longer a teenager. This event made me think and I came to one conclusion: being 20 years old serves no purpose. I am utterly worthless in society at this age. A college student at this age the definition of in-between. I’m not a teenager anymore, but I still have to authority. I don’t pay bills or necessarily depend on a paycheck every week. It’s kind of pathetic. I can vote, but I could do that last year and the year before. I’m still covered by my parents medical insurance for three more years so I don’t have to worry about benefits from a job or anything like that yet. I’m still just a sophomore in college who still isn’t a real person yet. But what is it that makes me valuable in society, or anyone for that matter? What can a 20 year old bring to the table? Not much, or maybe that’s just how I see it.

 

Books

They say everything has a beginning and an end. In the beginning, there is excitement. It’s fresh and new. Almost like a birth. There is hope for a great life ahead, whatever it may be. Take a book for example. Lately I’m intrigued by books. By the pages between the covers. When a book is born, it has a distinct smell. Theres something about a new book that screams opportunity. Then, its opened. The pages of that book are loved for a little while, or even ask me. Its young and loved, at least once or twice. Then creases begin to develop. Words begin to fade, maybe. And before you know it, the book hits the bottom row of a shelf. Now what? It sits sanwiched between classics like Of Mice and Men, the owner just can’t part ways with it. So it sits, and sits, on a shelf, day after day. What’s it’s meaning or purpose to the world now? Where is it going? Maybe one day someone will give the book a chance. Let the pages breathe life once again. The tears in the pages represent the memories of the past. But the future? That’s unclear.

 

What Next?

So I received a new book in the mail today, it’s called Survivor by my favorite author Chuck Palahniuk. I love his writing style and he has always intrigued me as an author because he writes about such specific and generally fucked up topics. There’s a really interesting website focused around him and his work if anyone is interested, it’s chuckpalahniuk.net. I spent most of my day off in the F.A.Q. section so here’s some information if you’re still reading… After Fight Clubs film debut, Chuck was asked about making his own films instead of writing books. He was never really interested in it and he had little to do with the actual production of Fight Club. He actually sat with the director and producer during pre-production doodling in his notebook writing ideas for what eventually became Survivor. Anyways, after his latest movie Choke was released in theaters and after he gave the rights to Miramax to adapt Survivor into a film, he was approached again about writing films. He began working on a film titled: Ambition. Now, this website explains what happened with his “film” pretty well, he wrote it, adapted it into a stage play which he put on in Oregon. He then decided to begin writing his book which will be released in May, 2009 titled Pigmy. I think Chuck is currently stuck in-between his work. He is a brilliant author and really enjoys doing the research and writing stories, but his transition to film is more difficult than others imagined. Though his books are well adapted for the screen, I think he is stuck in between outlets.

 

Is College Real Life?

I was in the car over the weekend break and that stupid Brittany Spears song came on. That one, “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman”. I thought nothing of it until it was stuck in my head, now I can’t stop replaying it in my mind. As annoying as it is to have images of the movie Crossroads in my head, it makes me think. Where am I in those lyrics? When does that change take place? I’ll take a guess..

Colleges were created for people seeking higher education and blah blah but really, aren’t some people in college just to prolong their youth and avoid real responsibility? It’s easy to say that’s why we’re all here, to get an education. But when I think about it, if I had gone out into the real world after high school, there’s no way I could have made it on my own, regardless of the fact that I need a degree. I had no (and still have no) great knowledge of the world. Let’s be serious – I can’t do taxes, or understand things like medical insurance yet. College is life-practice. Home is still there. There’s probably a bedroom waiting for you whenever you need a break. Either way, you’re not a totally functional member of society yet. You can avoid jury duty, still get a full tax return, and discounts, all for being a student. I guess I’m hoping that one day I’ll wake up and miraculously be able to answer life’s questions and be an adult, before I graduate of course. I guess I have a lot to learn while I’m here. Good thing college is the new name for the time in-between adolescence and adulthood.

Let me know if you agree or disagree..

– Haley P.

 

Winter in February

 

February is that stage of winter that really sucks. It’s the same thing everyday. Everything is dead and people are waiting for a sign of spring. This month is the definition of in-between. It’s depressing when you think about the fact that there is no end in sight for winter. That stupid groundhog saw his shadow so we’re stuck in winter for at least 6 more weeks. We’re not in transition of seasons, were stuck in the worst one. We’re in the worst part of the in-between. When seasons change it’s awesome. Everyone’s excited when fall is coming and the leaves are changing. In the beginning of seasons, there’s hope of something new. The same thing works for winter. When the season changes, people want holidays, fireplaces, ski trips, and snow days. Until February rolls around. Then we’re just stuck in between the excitement of changing seasons.

As for the picture, I liked it because there are yellow flowers, a sign of life under the snow. Just have to be patient and wait for the change of seasons I guess.

Anyways, I found another blogger that’s sick of seeing the same snow piles day in and day out, here’s the link, her pictures are pretty awesome.

Haley P.

 

In-Between

I chose In-between because I’m sort of in-between. I consider myself in the mushy stuff that makes up college life. Usually when you, or at least I think about any kind of project or anything, you think about the two extremes, the beginning and the end. I wanted to challenge myself to consider what goes on in between the two because the in-between, or the mushy stuff, is kind of important. Or at least it is to me..

Solar Eclipse

After I chose in-between I had writers block. I don’t know how to put what I mean into text or images so I googled. I found an awesome picture of the moon during an eclipse. I thought about the fact that no one really pays attention to the steps after a full eclipse. They see the moon in front of the sun and everyone goes back inside to whatever they were doing before. But the actual movement of the moon away from the sun is pretty awesome to watch. I mean, that’s just my perspective.

Haley P.