high school – yadadarcyyada

In the dusty sanctuaries of erudition (cooler word than knowledge, which is sooo five centuries ago)… black and white, truth and lies live comfortably, side by side, lined up…we, elbow to elbow, heads bent, allow worlds to cascade around us. ‘Take us home,’ they whisper seductively, promising to reveal all their secrets.
Within the walls of a bookstore or library it’s clear what’s fiction and what’s non-fiction.
In the real world, not so much.

Some of you, dear readers might be aware it’s Autism Awareness Month. You may have Autism; know those who live with it; love those who live with it who you can’t live without; or know those you don’t even know are on the Autism Spectrum. Still with me? Good. Reading Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy (Simon Pulse) – we’ll get to the title in a minute – had me thinking of Autism’s infinite variety, as well as the still surprising amount of intolerance in the world.

12 things I thought about while reading this novel:

1. It’s all lists. I like lists.

2. The title is too long…oops, I’m one to talk.

3. The main character, a teen named Darren seems to be on the Autism Spectrum.

4. Part way through the book, I realized I had read other works by this author and felt a ‘doh’ moment. It passed.

5. The writing was accessible, appealing, and made me want to read more, yet around page 400 I found it was dragging and even I was growing tired of lists (is that even possible?).

6. Made me remember high school…Actually, I might be thinking of Glee, I don’t remember my high school having that much singing (luckily, this book doesn’t either).
7. Parents should care about themselves by caring for their children.

8. I wanted to buy Darren some ice cream and tell him, ‘O-o-h child things are gonna get easier. O-o-h child things’ll get brighter.’ I have this Five Stairsteps song in my head, I blame Guardians of the Galaxy.

9. You can’t escape the world, it follows you everywhere.

10. Different can be bad or good, so much depends on intention and perception.

11. It might be comforting to tell someone things will get easier, brighter, or better, but it’s not always true. One of the best things to say is, ‘things are ok right now’. If that’s not true either, then, yes, by all means, say things are going to get easier, brighter, or better.12. I love books. I love free books in a different way. Refer to #10 and in this case, different is good.

I guess you could read all sorts of profound messages into The Breakfast Club, such as:

If people from various cliques were forced to spend time with each other they’d see what they have in common and empathize with each other or they’ll get along for that day without their respective peers around, but when they’re back with their cliques, things would be the same.
Teens from various groups can bond over their mutual contempt for parents, authoritarian figures, really, most adults. So I guess for that moment in time they get each other and see they’re not that different, at least in this. It would be interesting to see The Breakfast Club 20 years later when they are the adults they disdained.

How teens feel pressure from adults as well as peers and the subsequent forms of rebellion.
Vernon doesn’t really enjoy being an authoritarian. He clearly doesn’t have the resources to properly work with the students on a productive level. He resorts to bullying which is what educational professionals are trying to stop.
One day can change your life.
Or you could see The Breakfast Club as a bunch of kids bored in detention, smoking marijuana who talked the nerd into doing their essays for them.

This film did change the way teens were marketed. It’s also one of the movies that makes some people believe they’d like their life to be an 80s movie.

Mostly it just gave us great lines like:

Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

Mess with the bull, young man. You get the horns!

And my personal fav, Screws fall out all the time, the world’s an imperfect place.

Of course this movie wouldn’t exist today. The Athlete, The Basket Case, The Princess, The Criminal and The Brain would all be on the cell phones all day and would never be bored enough to interact.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Tag: high school

O-o-h Child Things Are Gonna Get Easier…

12 things I thought about while reading this novel:

1. It’s all lists. I like lists.

2. The title is too long…oops, I’m one to talk.

3. The main character, a teen named Darren seems to be on the Autism Spectrum.

4. Part way through the book, I realized I had read other works by this author and felt a ‘doh’ moment. It passed.

5. The writing was accessible, appealing, and made me want to read more, yet around page 400 I found it was dragging and even I was growing tired of lists (is that even possible?).

6. Made me remember high school…Actually, I might be thinking of Glee, I don’t remember my high school having that much singing (luckily, this book doesn’t either).
7. Parents should care about themselves by caring for their children.

8. I wanted to buy Darren some ice cream and tell him, ‘O-o-h child things are gonna get easier. O-o-h child things’ll get brighter.’ I have this Five Stairsteps song in my head, I blame Guardians of the Galaxy.

9. You can’t escape the world, it follows you everywhere.

10. Different can be bad or good, so much depends on intention and perception.

The Breakfast Club

I guess you could read all sorts of profound messages into The Breakfast Club, such as:

If people from various cliques were forced to spend time with each other they’d see what they have in common and empathize with each other or they’ll get along for that day without their respective peers around, but when they’re back with their cliques, things would be the same.

How teens feel pressure from adults as well as peers and the subsequent forms of rebellion.

Vernon doesn’t really enjoy being an authoritarian. He clearly doesn’t have the resources to properly work with the students on a productive level. He resorts to bullying which is what educational professionals are trying to stop.

One day can change your life.

Or you could see The Breakfast Club as a bunch of kids bored in detention, smoking marijuana who talked the nerd into doing their essays for them.

This film did change the way teens were marketed. It’s also one of the movies that makes some people believe they’d like their life to be an 80s movie.

Mostly it just gave us great lines like:

Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

Mess with the bull, young man. You get the horns!

And my personal fav, Screws fall out all the time, the world’s an imperfect place.

Of course this movie wouldn’t exist today. The Athlete, The Basket Case, The Princess, The Criminal and The Brain would all be on the cell phones all day and would never be bored enough to interact.

12 things I thought about while reading this novel:

1. It’s all lists. I like lists.

2. The title is too long…oops, I’m one to talk.

3. The main character, a teen named Darren seems to be on the Autism Spectrum.

4. Part way through the book, I realized I had read other works by this author and felt a ‘doh’ moment. It passed.

5. The writing was accessible, appealing, and made me want to read more, yet around page 400 I found it was dragging and even I was growing tired of lists (is that even possible?).

6. Made me remember high school…Actually, I might be thinking of Glee, I don’t remember my high school having that much singing (luckily, this book doesn’t either). 7. Parents should care about themselves by caring for their children.

8. I wanted to buy Darren some ice cream and tell him, ‘O-o-h child things are gonna get easier. O-o-h child things’ll get brighter.’ I have this Five Stairsteps song in my head, I blame Guardians of the Galaxy.

9. You can’t escape the world, it follows you everywhere.

10. Different can be bad or good, so much depends on intention and perception.

Pull up a chair and please share!

Like this:

I guess you could read all sorts of profound messages into The Breakfast Club, such as:

If people from various cliques were forced to spend time with each other they’d see what they have in common and empathize with each other or they’ll get along for that day without their respective peers around, but when they’re back with their cliques, things would be the same.

How teens feel pressure from adults as well as peers and the subsequent forms of rebellion.

Vernon doesn’t really enjoy being an authoritarian. He clearly doesn’t have the resources to properly work with the students on a productive level. He resorts to bullying which is what educational professionals are trying to stop.

One day can change your life.

Or you could see The Breakfast Club as a bunch of kids bored in detention, smoking marijuana who talked the nerd into doing their essays for them.

This film did change the way teens were marketed. It’s also one of the movies that makes some people believe they’d like their life to be an 80s movie.

Mostly it just gave us great lines like:

Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

Mess with the bull, young man. You get the horns!

And my personal fav, Screws fall out all the time, the world’s an imperfect place.

Of course this movie wouldn’t exist today. The Athlete, The Basket Case, The Princess, The Criminal and The Brain would all be on the cell phones all day and would never be bored enough to interact.

Pull up a chair and please share!

Like this:

6. Made me remember high school…Actually, I might be thinking of Glee, I don’t remember my high school having that much singing (luckily, this book doesn’t either).
7. Parents should care about themselves by caring for their children.