Character (not the fictional person, but what makes you, you)

I was reading a philosophy paper written by a college student that asked whether character is the responsibility of the individual alone or is it heavily influenced by the outside world. Can we change who we are fundamentally or are we stuck with what we have?

As I go through world news, read more fiction, and just plain be aware, I see instances of an Individual honing their character and never relenting from their course. In the same media, I see how environment and the work around us affects us and shapes us everyday.

A neuroscientist stated that who you are with is more important than all the other decisions you make. Moran Cerf at Northwestern University has come to the conclusion that you have to spend time with people whose traits are attractive to you. Then as you enjoy their time, your brain-waves sync and look similar.

What is Family?

My question is: What about those people you have to be with? That boss that is constantly critical or that brother with deep depression or an alcoholic mother? You can't just drop those people, can you?

Allowing people bring you "down" or make you feel awful about yourself is certainly both a product of your choice to spend time with them and their choice to be assholes. We may not have a choice in the people we have to work with or the family we are born into. I often say that if a relative or someone you have to converse treats you so badly then even if they are "blood", you should stay away from them.

Conversely, if a friend is close to you as if they were a brother, sister, mother or father, then they are family. You know, that family that hangs out with you, loves you, accepts you, etc. Those are the people we choose to be with and we are lucky to have them in our lives. Isn't that what the true meaning of family should be?

-AG

 

Clipart Library

What I learned from Evil Dead (1981)

 What is a romance novelist doing writing about a classic horror film? There can be no wider separation between them. And yet...

http://wickedhorror.thunderroadinc.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/evil-dead-2-groovy-2.jpg

Evil Dead is the quintessential B-movie horror flick that strives to be gory but maybe not so much scary. If you read Bruce Campbell's biography If Chins Could Talk, you'll find out how the movie that made Bruce, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert famous was actually made in practically their own backyard with next to no budget and huge amounts of creativity.

If you haven't seen this amazing gem and can remember that this was made in 1981 with NO budget and NO digital animation, you'll have a fun time quoting again and again some of the classic lines.

Now: What I Learned from Evil Dead

Improvise When You Don't have the Right Tool

All the special effects were done by actually DOING them. There weren't any stunt men to take the risks for the actors. If you needed a guy to fly through the air, according to Bruce Campbell, you get strapped to a pole in front of a huge 70's car. Then it is driven into a window or you are pulled through a window or whatever the scene calls for. And frankly the stunts work because they are fun to watch. It looks like Bruce expressions aren't acting but actual emotions like fear, surprise and alarm.

Make Your Characters Drive the Plot

There are some things certain characters won't do. Evil Dead is not a subtle film and because of that, the characterization isn't either. But for this it works! We have a clear idea of who Ash is and what he probably will or will not do. Instead of destroying the pace, Ash drags you kicking and screaming happily from scene to scene.

Make Sure There is a Plot

and while it bogs down a little in the middle, Evil Dead moves with speed from the cabin in the woods, to the fields to back in time (Do you want to see this movie yet?). We all know that most of the characters won't make it. They show the gore and make sure we know things are really really bad. Maybe that's why I stand behind Ash and scream at the screen to "get away!" or "don't back up in a cemetery". Someone has to survive!  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is similar but Evil Dead still retains the top spot for the ideal mix of camp and horror / gore

Creativity - Super Creativity

Above all else, Evil Dead is creative. If necessity is the mother of invention, there still needs to be a spark of creativity to be able to come up with the necessary solution to a problem. If you have only one car to film, and it is your parents' car, you use it whenever the story calls for THE CAR. You cut off a hand - stick a chain saw on it. And remind Ash to remember the magic words!

Evil Dead the only horror movie that I will watch over and over. Actually I'll watch Slither and Tucker and Dale over and over too but Evil Dead and it's sequels are admirable for what they did with so little.

And this is from a romance novelist!

 Curiosity

Central New York is in brown but often the Finger Lakes are included. From: http://www.visitnewyorkstate.net/regions/

Good morning ! It's cloudy here in Central New York and I find myself hunting for a bit of sun. It's there, I know it. If you get the chance, check out the "The Seven Stages of Being a Writer". As in life, writing is a journey and this blog put sinto words what I have been discovering about myself as a writer since I picked up my laptop and started writing again. I believe it all has to do with wanting to learn. And that means to be curious about all that is around you.

If you aren't curious, stop and think, have I learned everything I want to? Have I experienced everything I set out to do? If you answer YES then you are very lucky to reach that pinnacle. But if you are honest, you could probably find something that makes you say, Mmmmm .... Come on isn't there? In case you can't come up with any yourself, here are just a very few of the things I still need to learn:

• How do I learn to be more outgoing ? 
• How much weight can a cloud carry? 
• What will the next cars look like?
• What did Shakespeare like to eat?
• What are billboards made of?
• How can I get that guy/girl/other to notice me?
• How long would this list be if I wrote down everything I wanted to know?

And that is just the few I thought of while looking out the window! Curiosity is one of the greatest feeling/thought processes you can hone and encourage. Watch a two year old child look at the world. What does he/she see? What can they understand? Young children have an irrepressible need to find out about the world. I want to keep that childlike wonder to know more. 

What about you?

AG

Last night I watched as 100 high school students were inducted into the National Honor Society. It was interesting to listen to all the speakers talk about the four elements of NHS: Leadership, Character, Service and Scholarship. It is no longer just a high grades club but much more.  I don't know if the students truly understood what it means to be all of these traits.

The standout guest speaker asked a simple question: Who are you? There is no simple answer is there? You can describe yourself in terms of your role in life, mother, daughter, father, son, sister, brother, writer, engineer, lover, etc. but I found that unsatisfying. Much of how we describe ourselves comes from how others see us. Who are you to yourself? Who do you want to become? I am finding that my answers are all at once very difficult to put into words and very simple. I am what I want others to see: generous, kind, friendly. But in my heart who am I? Inside I am more scared, more petty and more selfish than I want people to know about. Does that negate the kind friendly and generous person I try to be? I don't think so because it means I am trying to be those things in spite of the internal struggles I do have.

I am a little older than a high school student and listening to others discuss those four NHS traits made me realize that the meaning of those words have changed for me over time. Leadership is no longer the more concrete idea that you pull people along with you but it is where you chose to help others reach a common goal. Service is not so much working just a soup kitchen once a week (even though this is a great help) but a constant surveillance of how you think and act everyday.

The guest speaker did speak of being USEFUL. She asked whether it was more important to be happy or to be useful? She made the argument that being useful leads to happiness. Being useful provides fulfillment and rewards without recognition, but grows a feeling inside that you made a difference.

Once it was snowing heavily, like it does in Syracuse, and I had to leave work early. Knowing I had a few minutes I brushed off the cars around me, even though they probably would be covered again before anyone saw. I figured, no one likes to brush off their car or scrape so if I do just this one thing, maybe it will help someone else. Like a Snow Ninja. I mention this, not for recognition because it isn't a tremendous feat of courage or sacrifice but to remind people of the feeling you get, even now after so long, of having helped someone. Was I useful? Maybe a little. Did it make me feel happy? Sure.

This useful idea is an addiction. Once you start to do these little things, you start to look for more. It is all the more poignant when no one knows.

So the question is Who are you? Who do you want to be? And does that include being useful?

AG

Welcome!
I have joined Camp NaNoWriMo  and will be working on my goal of 120 hours of writing and editing. Mostly editing. Camp NaNoWriMo is an offshoot of the National Novel Writing Month which happens in November. I have written my first novel in November. In fact that is the one I am working on right now.

Camp NaNoWriMo allows writers to join a "cabin" and connect with others of the same genre or style or whatever you have in common. Starting on April 1st, I will be "camping" for the first time. Already there are nice people that I have met via my cabin. Take a look and see if this is something that will inspire you!