wednes: (Default)
wednes ([personal profile] wednes) wrote2004-05-15 12:46 am

Why they call 'em Harry Potheads:


What Harry Potter character is your best friend?
Name / Username 
You are best friends with Harry Potter
You first met while prowling around the Forbidden Forest
The biggest secret they have told you is that He smokes a lot of weed
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People are irritating me today. Work was slow and stupid. And no matter how many dishes I wash, my kitchen is still full of dirty ones. It's very irritating.

TV doesn't have anything good on it tonight. I feel personally offended by that since we pay so damn much for cable. I mean, it's over $100 a month with the internet. Highway freakin robbery I say. Stupid Comcast!


Some of our members tongiht were talking to me about being in a writing group. These are local older types, all published and totally motivated who get together and read each others stuff, and comment. I was quite flattered that they found me to be the sort of person they'd want to include; and was quite terified at the prospect of being around REAL writers. I mean like, the kind people pay to read. I haven't actually been one of those ever, and am afraid of looking like the ignorant red neck next to people who grew up around culture and smartitude.

For those of you who don't know, I come from ignorant white trash. I was the second person on one side of my family to go to college, and the first on the other side to finish high school on the first try. My family is rascist, ignorant, violent and most of them drink too much. When I used to read books as a kid I was made fun of for my "fancy book learnin'" and when I graduated from college I was asked if I thought I was "better than the rest of us". Funnily enough, I'd felt that way since junior high...Of course my "family" has nice stuff, and lives in a nice part of town. But if you use racial slurs towards your own kids, you're trash pure and simple.

My point is that its a very odd thing for me to be around intelligent people whose parents are doctors and teachers and lawyers. My mom is a secretary who married a guy who worked in an auto plant. So the idea of trying to hold up my end of the conversation, or pass around my latest freaky sexy murder story to sophisticated Ann Arbor types is probably the scariest thing I can think of. And if i go for it and fail, it will feel like I was wrong to try to bust out of the white trash ghetto in the first place.

I realize intellectually that I should get past all that. What other people think isn't that important, neither is ones past. But I'll tell you it makes me damn made to think about how I might have turned out had I had encouragement instead of violence. But at this point, that's just so much whining and excuse making...

On the other hand:
thoth
You seem older than your years, like a wise sage.
Your head always either buried in a book, or
discussing what you have learned with others,
you are Thoth. The creator of writting, and
language, you are full of wisdom. When you
talk, people listen, knowing they will learn
something new.


Which Ancient Egyptian Diety are you?
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Have a good day, all!

[identity profile] ex-jenniepan481.livejournal.com 2004-05-14 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Wednes, no matter what your upbringing, you are a wonderful person...never let anyone make you doubt that. You are full of wisdom and mirth regardless of "where you came from" Richness isnt how much money one has, it is how one savors and choses to live ones life as far as I am concerned and you do that well! I am proud that you got past the racism and went to be a better person aint nothing wrong with 'fancy booklearning' and I am glad you werent deterred by ignorance. Yay, Wednes!

[identity profile] wednes.livejournal.com 2004-05-14 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn, thanks.

I guess one gets used to feeling judged by the rich and educated, especially being in retail for so long. People talk to you like you don't have the right to an opinion.

[identity profile] ex-jenniepan481.livejournal.com 2004-05-15 08:32 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe they think we "cant afford an opinion" but it is us that needs to be heard from more than anyone!

[identity profile] absinthofheart.livejournal.com 2004-05-14 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Good for you Wednes! I am so jealous! If you do well, put in a good word for me. This is cool too.

Isis
You are the most worshipped godess in all of Egypt.
You are a great protector, a mother type.
People appeal to you for guidance and
direction. You fight for what you love, and
rarely take no for an answer. You are Isis.


Which Ancient Egyptian Diety are you?
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[identity profile] fflo.livejournal.com 2004-05-15 09:00 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, W. I'm with the folks advocating that you not judge yourself by the same unfair and snooty standards you both see and imagine other, more privileged people judging you by. I mean, that's not in keeping with YOUR value system, right? And it's not, I daresay, in keeping with that of the people I choose to be friends with. Not that we don't have to deal with that kind of shit; just that we have to keep from internalizing it, you know?

I tend to think of educational privilege as a part of class privilege, and class privilege as the greater, more fundamental problem. Some people of modest beginnings manage to get book learnin' and all, and most people from means who want it get formal education, but it's not the formal education that makes someone an admirable thinker or writer. And only some people with advantages have insight---in fact, I really think that the MORE advantages you have, the HARDER it is to have some kinds of insight.

Clearly (and yeah, I don't really know you, but) you are a thoughtful woman with a spirited way and an interest in and ability to express herself in words. What does a writer need besides that? Well, practice. And confidence, or the ability to fake it or go on faith. And an audience. They say writers' groups can provide the audience and some pressure for deadlines that helps one get regular practice.

Oh, and I guess I want to add that, to me---and this has just become part of my take on things in recent years---a good writer is often also one who is willing to open herself up to risks and puttin' it out there, whatever her "it" may be. Looks to me like this post is an example of you doing that!

[identity profile] wednes.livejournal.com 2004-05-15 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I appreciate all that. It sort of reminds me of the "practical advice" George Carlin reccommeds:

So long, Dont' let self doubt interfere with your plans to improve your life. *waves*

Maybe I'm just making excuses to keep from having to risk too much. I need to get over that shit.

Anyway, thanks. We really do need to get together at some point for drinks etc.

[identity profile] fflo.livejournal.com 2004-05-16 09:39 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, we've got to get together. Thought I was going to get to over to the 'Stone last night, but yardwork kicked my ass. (Off to get it kicked more now.)

BTW, even if it might function like an excuse, that stuff you were writing about isn't just that. It's a legit part of your experience AND a significant force of oppression that keeps many people from trying even a fraction of what you've managed. I say, use it---and your awareness of it---as a reminder of how strong you are, and of what you've mustered the guts and courage to do already. I mean, give yourself a break!

[identity profile] wednes.livejournal.com 2004-05-17 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
It's a slow process. I judge myself less harshly than I did as a teenager...that was a self loathing time for me. While I want to develop my own standards to live by, I often fall intot he trap of thinking as my mother would think. Of course, I was under her influence for 25 years, so it may take 25 more just to "get over it".

[identity profile] zenithberwyn.livejournal.com 2004-05-15 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I am going to take this opportunity to highly recommend the book "Story," by Robert McKee (if you're concerned about your technique and want something to help you push yourself). It's oriented toward screenplays, but in terms of general storytelling principles, it's damn near everything I wish someone would have taught me 10-15 years ago. It also confirmed a lot of my instincts, but expressed them better than I ever could.

[identity profile] wednes.livejournal.com 2004-05-15 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey cool, thanks Magno-Eyes!

[identity profile] madush69.livejournal.com 2004-05-16 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Today I publish my most recent work:


I call it "Suburban Chevrolet :60"

It doesn’t matter if you have a Saturn or a Hummer…If you have a G.M.A.C. lease, you can be driving a brand new car, truck, or S.U.V. today! Get into Suburban Chevrolet now, and drive out with an awesome new ride!!
Don’t waste time – visit Suburban Chevrolet, the Newest Chevy dealer in town.
They’re willing to do what it takes to get your business.
At Suburban, you automatically get all G.M. dealer wholesale incentives! Some dealers keep the deals for themselves, or make you jump through hoops…NOT Ann Arbor’s SUBURBAN CHEVROLET!
Suburban has what you want, with great monthly payments YOU can afford.
Get a Malibu 4-door, right now just $173.
Cavalier, with room for five, as little as $133.
The Standard of pickups, Silverado, just $173.
Trailblazer 4-by-4, the full size SUV, only $287 a month.
Don’t forget the Corvettes and SSR’s for less than you’ve ever dreamed!
The New/Old kid on the block is Suburban Chevrolet…Jackson Rd at Wagner in Ann Arbor, with over 57 years of Michigan Experience. Suburban Chevrolet, exceeding your expectations!


What I'm saying here is Anything you write will be more enriching and inspiring than some Chevy commercial. Granted it's a good commercial, but as a writer, you offer far more to the world than I ever will.