Chain Letter Demons

Fwd:Fwd:Fwd.

Don't you just hate that? Long ago, I started to detest things about the Internet. Now I grew up with all this "new-age" techno jargon, devices, and so forth, so I always thought I'd be the type to cherish every aspect of the Internet. If I were to compile a list of what I hate about the 'Net, chain letters would probably be near the top.

Why? It's simple-- they're annoying, pointless, and often stupid. YES, I have gotten some very nice, inspirational messages before-- the last one I read (from someone I don't know at all) was about the dangers of drinking and driving. But it was forwarded about fifteen times-- the message size started out as 10 some-odd KB, and by the time I got to the real message, it was only 3.77 MB! How ridiculous! Not to mention unsafe. Now, I'm no big expert on email and internet privacy, but it is annoying to sift through fourteen forwarded, blank messages to get to a chain letter (which you HAVE to send to the number of others that is the month of your birth or you'll get bad luck in love for eighty-million years!) that is shorter than your middle finger. You're just looking at an endless amount of people's emails. So-and-so forwarded the message to so-and-so, who sent it... well, you get the picture.

The most annoying kinds are the ones that insist you're going to "ruin it for everyone" or have "eternal bad luck in ____" If not those, then the ones with [Image] instead of some picture, or "when you send it to 10 pplz, a window pops up; it's hella funny!" I don;t get why people don't understand that that's all bull#&%^! Seriously... I mean, maybe some of the weird window-pop-ups do say something weird-- but only if you use a certain kind of internet service provider (probably AOL). Not to mention the messages about doom-- who's going to punish me, huh? If you forward a message to twenty friends and the chain "is broken" then how can you pinpoint it on one person? Not to mention the fact that plenty of people get the EXACT SAME EMAIL twice or more. GRRR! So, in reply to all the wonderful chain letters I shall get from now on, the following response:

1. Quit it or I'll block you.
2. *click* This email is now blocked.
3. Who's going to punish me if I DO break your idiotic chain, the email gods?
4. Are you a hacker? Are you trying to send me a virus? It's not working.
5. Hahahahaa...
6. Do I know you? How the hell did you get my email address.
7. I didn't see a pop-up window. You lied to me. You'll be hearing from my lawyer.
8. Don't send chain letters-- they're bad for your eyes.

P.S. On a side note, you remember the SirCam virus that was going around a while back? With the whole "Hello! How are you? I send you this file in order to have your advice" spiel? Yeah, how do I know that some doofus hasn't embedded the SirCam virus onto those tacky, cheesy, corny, long, and hard-drive-space-wasting emails? I don't. So just click and delete-- make the world a better place. ^^

Apparently I'm a selfish bitch

Sometimes constructive criticism isn't. You know, when people go overboard, and aren't just "constructive" to the point where they're helping you out, they're berating you for the littlest thing. Now, I consider myself a writer-- I'm not a fantastic one, and I know I don't have any kind of established fanbase (#$%&, look at my notes-- the last one is from December 01!) . But I'd like to think that I can make people think, or feel a certain way when they read what I write. Of course, they choose what they feel and what they think-- I just give them a starting point.

For writers, there's only two words that can open up an entirely new world to them-- "what if...?" The problem is, when someone writes about an established fanbase (such as an anime or manga) then someone who interprets a character differently will not like the way you've portrayed said character.

And now on to the title of this entry-- I recently posted a relatively old, incomplete story on fanfiction.net, just to get some reader's reaction. I should give you a basic outline-- I like this anime known as Ranma 1/2. It would take forever for me to get into all the details, but generally speaking, it's a slapstick comedy with several love polygons thrown in between. Typical Japanese anime with a twist every here and there.

So this person named Jhoannes or something said that I was a selfish bitch! That I portrayed Akane (the lead female character) as a coward, and that she was far too forgiving for someone who betrayed her (read: Ryoga). I honestly believe that if you don't like someone's writing, then shut the hell up, and walk away.
Now I guess I'm being harsh, but still-- what's the old adage? If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. I think this rings true for someone's work-- constructive criticism is one thing; outright name-calling as Jhoannes or whatever his name is is totally another. I'm ranting here only because I will not sink to his level-- his review was anonymous anyway, and sadly, was the first review for the fic, and the first review that has upset me so much that I deleted it.

*sigh* Forget it...

Death by a Cheeseburger

Perhaps a year from now this won't be true, but as I slept (on the couch) last night, I had an inspiration. I was reading the book "Death by a Cheeseburger: High school journalism in the 1990s and beyond," whose title came from an article of fiction describing how someone died by a cafeteria cheeseburger. I was reading the statistics, trying to imagine how I could improve the staff I'm on now. My mom told me earlier today that my sister had been on the beginning journalism staff in 1991 and 1992, and I was amazed. I wish she was still around so I could talk to her about how it was back then.

So now, I'm looking at how some states require journalism teachers to have certification-- California doesn't. It's sad really, because California is so wide and diverse. The teacher we have is a good teacher, but horrible with teaching journalism. He doesn't inspire, edit, or anything, I don't know what the word is, but he doesn't motivate. So I've decided that I want to get a Master Journalism Educator degree, and return to my high school after college to teach Journalism there.

Good method of reforming from the inside out, ne? That's my goal, my motivation from now on. I want to be the kind of teacher kids look forward to seeing every day, the kind that motivates, inspires, and teaches.
Since the passing of the teacher that I didn't know, and the memorial ceremony (see "Teachers Bash Fight" entry) I wanted to be one of those people "changing the world, one kid at a time." Of course, I would be horrible in social services, so what better than to deal with journalism (my favorite subject) with high-schoolers (and right after college, assuming I stick to this goal and get a MJE degree, I would get along best with them, being only 8 or so years older than senior students)!? It's a great idea, and I'm really going to push for it.

That inspiration I had lost so long ago I have again. ^^ And I'm happier than I've ever been.