'in the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. in the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless [...]. do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads.
do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved but have never been able to reach. check your road and the nature of your battle.
the world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible... it's yours.'
ayn rand, atlas shrugged
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A Girl Who..
"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
— Rosemary Urquico
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
— Rosemary Urquico
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Fairy tales.
What about them?
They say they’re overrated, and they’re nothing but lies. This and that, and in a five worded summary, just plain ridiculous at times. But in reality, they really aren’t that far from the truth. Because however different the circumstances, by in large, the subtext applies to every aspect of our lives. Whether it be taken from a real life incident and tweaked for the minds of the young with unicorns and pixie dust or if it was just a subconscious thing. Simply, all fairytales are nothing but analogies to far greater simple tragedies in life.
But of course, we knew as much, because after all, we write what we know.
Take any Disney movie, strip it down to a basic idea, and there’s the spark that started it all. For example, Aladdin; a story about a girl and a boy, both wanting more out of life, both trapped by social status, and controlled by money- or lack thereof, and both outcasts on opposite sides of the social spectrum. On one hand, you have society questioning the worth of the poor, and on the other, we have them questioning why money would make anyone miserable. Because from their perspective, money is everything, and if you have it, why are you complaining. But it wasn’t that Jasmine wanted more, it was just that she wanted something different, and she was condemned for that. As is the case for Aladdin: when you don’t have the money, you spend your entire life striving to be noticed, as both a human being and a respectable young man.
A not so Disney reference to elaborate on this would be Wuthering Heights. If you’ve ever read it then kudos, but if you haven’t, then basically the character of Heathcliff was taken in by a rich family, he was treated poorly by the older brother and everyone ridiculed him and blah blah blah. But after a few years, he runs away, only to return later on as a successful yet mysterious business man with money coming out of his hands, feet and kisses. And suddenly, he was accepted by society. Moral of the story, money money money.
Another example is Beauty and the Beast, and this specifically applies to the female youth of Saudi Arabia. Stripped down, this is a story about a beautiful girl being ridiculed for wanting an education instead of a marriage. “Why would you want knowledge when you can easily seduce any suitor you please and have him give you the world?” said the poor ignorant soul. That’s what they whisper when a girl is lucky enough to get what she wants; when she’s lucky enough to leave this place. Moral of this story, beauty is a substitute for education. And if you’re one of those few who look past that, and if you’re in the even fewer who are denied that, then I’m sorry for your life.
Ignorance is what binds us to our shiny strappy heals and away from any window, razor, or prescription pill bottle, and anything else just shows you how strong you really are.
Rapunzel, also in Saudi Arabia. Basically, she’s a girl trapped in her house, given everything she wants and whatever she needs, told it was all done for her protection. The world cannot be trusted, they say. You’re constantly being told that you’re special, and then on one fine April morning, you realize that it’s nothing but a lie; a lie to keep you sedated and away from thought, because thought is always suspect, thought is not to be trusted, and thought leads to things like the truth, which is bad, very very bad.
So, it begs the question, where exactly is the lies, the fiction, and the silliness? People only see what they see. There isn't more to any story, there is no other side.
They say they’re overrated, and they’re nothing but lies. This and that, and in a five worded summary, just plain ridiculous at times. But in reality, they really aren’t that far from the truth. Because however different the circumstances, by in large, the subtext applies to every aspect of our lives. Whether it be taken from a real life incident and tweaked for the minds of the young with unicorns and pixie dust or if it was just a subconscious thing. Simply, all fairytales are nothing but analogies to far greater simple tragedies in life.
But of course, we knew as much, because after all, we write what we know.
Take any Disney movie, strip it down to a basic idea, and there’s the spark that started it all. For example, Aladdin; a story about a girl and a boy, both wanting more out of life, both trapped by social status, and controlled by money- or lack thereof, and both outcasts on opposite sides of the social spectrum. On one hand, you have society questioning the worth of the poor, and on the other, we have them questioning why money would make anyone miserable. Because from their perspective, money is everything, and if you have it, why are you complaining. But it wasn’t that Jasmine wanted more, it was just that she wanted something different, and she was condemned for that. As is the case for Aladdin: when you don’t have the money, you spend your entire life striving to be noticed, as both a human being and a respectable young man.
A not so Disney reference to elaborate on this would be Wuthering Heights. If you’ve ever read it then kudos, but if you haven’t, then basically the character of Heathcliff was taken in by a rich family, he was treated poorly by the older brother and everyone ridiculed him and blah blah blah. But after a few years, he runs away, only to return later on as a successful yet mysterious business man with money coming out of his hands, feet and kisses. And suddenly, he was accepted by society. Moral of the story, money money money.
Another example is Beauty and the Beast, and this specifically applies to the female youth of Saudi Arabia. Stripped down, this is a story about a beautiful girl being ridiculed for wanting an education instead of a marriage. “Why would you want knowledge when you can easily seduce any suitor you please and have him give you the world?” said the poor ignorant soul. That’s what they whisper when a girl is lucky enough to get what she wants; when she’s lucky enough to leave this place. Moral of this story, beauty is a substitute for education. And if you’re one of those few who look past that, and if you’re in the even fewer who are denied that, then I’m sorry for your life.
Ignorance is what binds us to our shiny strappy heals and away from any window, razor, or prescription pill bottle, and anything else just shows you how strong you really are.
Rapunzel, also in Saudi Arabia. Basically, she’s a girl trapped in her house, given everything she wants and whatever she needs, told it was all done for her protection. The world cannot be trusted, they say. You’re constantly being told that you’re special, and then on one fine April morning, you realize that it’s nothing but a lie; a lie to keep you sedated and away from thought, because thought is always suspect, thought is not to be trusted, and thought leads to things like the truth, which is bad, very very bad.
So, it begs the question, where exactly is the lies, the fiction, and the silliness? People only see what they see. There isn't more to any story, there is no other side.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
No Happy Ending.
I read washington square by henry james, again. the first time i hated the book. it was dull and hard to get through even though it was short.
this time, i appreciated the ending a lot more. it's a sad, sad book only because it highlights how cruel people can be when they have power over someone. in this case, this woman loved once, and truly, despite her father's disapproval, and you feel pity.
love is just another form of power-struggle- subjection to pain and degradation that is somehow made right for a lucky few whose love is reciprocated wholly.
love is a biological weapon of destruction, equivalent to radiation, poison, and bombs. except it never kills, but maims, leaving you with an empty shell of who you used to be.
those are the morals of this story. either/or. i can't choose because they're both just such lovely prospects -_-
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