Last night featured eliminations and the announcement of the Sudden Death Write-Off: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1010125.html
The new Topic(s) and announcement of the first ever Blind Box! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1010245.html
and a Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1010511.html
***
Make sure to get your email in to me. The sooner you do, the sooner you can get your topic!
So far we have 36/46 who have their topics and should be able to start working.
There are definitely some combinations of topic and contestant that have me excited because I *think* I know where they are going to go, and it's going to be really good. And of course some where I went "Well, it will be interesting..." :)
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The litany against fear mentions in yesterday's Green Room reminded me that in high school I was really into the Dune books. Well, Frank Herbert in general, but I definitely loved them. I could have, at that point, recited the litany.
I *know* this is true (although I can't recall most of it these days) because I have a distinct memory of Grad Night for my high school, which was at the Magic Kingdom.
I am *terrified* of roller coasters. But there was a girl that I *really* liked (in retrospect it's pretty obvious she liked me as well - we literally ate lunch together every day and spent most of our time together. I later learned that she spent Prom Night home crying because I didn't ask her! I hadn't even considered going, much less figured out who I thought would say "yes" to be my date. But I digress). There was a girl I liked, and she wanted to ride Space Mountain. She wanted to ride it *with me*.
So I did.
I spent the entire ride with my eyes closed quietly reciting the Litany Against Fear.
It seemed to help.
The new Topic(s) and announcement of the first ever Blind Box! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1010245.html
and a Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1010511.html
***
Make sure to get your email in to me. The sooner you do, the sooner you can get your topic!
So far we have 36/46 who have their topics and should be able to start working.
There are definitely some combinations of topic and contestant that have me excited because I *think* I know where they are going to go, and it's going to be really good. And of course some where I went "Well, it will be interesting..." :)
***
The litany against fear mentions in yesterday's Green Room reminded me that in high school I was really into the Dune books. Well, Frank Herbert in general, but I definitely loved them. I could have, at that point, recited the litany.
I *know* this is true (although I can't recall most of it these days) because I have a distinct memory of Grad Night for my high school, which was at the Magic Kingdom.
I am *terrified* of roller coasters. But there was a girl that I *really* liked (in retrospect it's pretty obvious she liked me as well - we literally ate lunch together every day and spent most of our time together. I later learned that she spent Prom Night home crying because I didn't ask her! I hadn't even considered going, much less figured out who I thought would say "yes" to be my date. But I digress). There was a girl I liked, and she wanted to ride Space Mountain. She wanted to ride it *with me*.
So I did.
I spent the entire ride with my eyes closed quietly reciting the Litany Against Fear.
It seemed to help.
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therealljidol- LJ Idol: a writing rollercoaster with iffy brakes
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Btw I am terrified of roller coasters too..unless they are virtual ;) And that's a very cute story :D
Unfortunately, because of arthritis and neck fusion- I can't ride them anymore. :(
But the times I have been talked into it I survive roller coasters by keeping my eyes closed and convincing myself I'm just strapped inside a small box being shook around. It's surprisingly effective.
I read Dune as a young person because it was one of those books that older people give to younger people. Which is something I find fascinating. If anyone wants to discuss!
What books were you given as a young person by an older person with an agenda?
The Narnia Chronicles - school librarian when I was in the fourth grade and ill at home with Rheumatic Fever.
Where the Red Fern Grows - a 6th grade teacher who should have been teaching secondary grade literature.
Watership Down - a 7th grade teacher and his flagship book.
Jonathon Livingston Seagull - an 8th grade teacher who gave this to all her graduating students.
Dune - a nerdy highschool neighbor who worshipped at this altar.
Watermelon Sugar - highschool American Lit teacher who had fond memories of the 60's.
Wuthering Heights - highschool English Lit teacher who secretly recommended this title to me and said she wished she could teach it.
Of course, as an adult we recommend books to folks all of the time. But I'm particularly interested in those titles that are given to young, impressionable minds. As a young adult, I found myself in very, very hot water when I recommended some alternative literature to an impressionable 14 year old who frequented the record store I worked in. It became a hugely problematic bit of drama and that boy went on to become one of the most famous body modification performance artists on earth. Did I contribute to that....
Dune - snOOORe
Rendezvous With Rama - recommended by several people over time. Dull...
Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. LeGuin (minus "The Dispossessed"), and Douglas Adams really worked for me. I like stories about people and cultures (especially different cultures). Machines and weapons and war? Not so much.
There's a ton of newer stuff that I've enjoyed too, but it was a fairly dusty collection back in the Stone Age.
For books recommended by an adult,
The Earthsea Trilogy - 4th or 5th grade, by the librarian. I really don't think these are great books for younger kids. The main characters are incredibly unlikable for the most part, which does not sit well with young kids.
Where The Red Fern Grows - 5th grade. My aunt loved this book and thought I would too. She was a child in the 1920s, where hunting culture was more common. When it is not... OMG, much of the ideas in the book seem barbaric. Also (and I've ranted about this on my journal before), age 10 is clearly too young for that book. Someone dies tragically in it, which is awful, but moreover... most adults only remember the death of one of the dogs. The fact that the dog makes a lasting impression where the human doesn't is a bad sign, in my book.
Watership Down and Jonathan Livingston Seagull were both at the house, since they'd been recommended to my Dad, so I read those by choice and liked them-- around age 12 or 13, I think.
Other than I think Watchmen, which I still kind of chose caught it caught my eye and the producer of a film gifted it to me, I chose my books based on my brain. Not my parents, not teachers.
Then again I started with Roald Dahl, then Douglas Adams, then Robert Heinlein, then Carl Hiassen and steamroll city away. Yet none of it ever because of what teachers or friends read. Weird.
Which is why I loved your slice.
Jane Austen, the big three- Sense and Sensibility-Pride and Prejudice- Emma
And Dickens.
My Pop, seeing what I was reading, gave me White Fang -Jack London and Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte (and the 1944 movie, makes me bawl everytime)
My eigth grade teacher- Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice
And ninth grade, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton and Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, and Tolkien.
And after that I discovered Stephen King and Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game and was out on the streets, but read as much as I could get my hands on. :)
Edited at 2017-05-03 05:51 pm (UTC)
The one book I distinctly remember being recommended by an adult was my 9th grade lit teacher (at the end of the school year) suggesting Slaughterhouse-five. Starting with Vonnegut I made a fascinating slippery slide into adult fiction.
I was also one of those kids that haunted the library and just absorbed/read what looked interesting, I didn't really get books suggested to me until I was older
I do remember, I was given Outlander when I was 11 or 12. A step parent took me to the bookstore and asked the sales lady to recommend a book that would take me a long time to read. That one had some "adult themes" and nuance I understood better as I got older
As for impressionable, I read the VC Andrews Flowers in The Attic Seris at a very young age cause my mother had a small stack of paperbacks in her bedroom and I read those between the Danielle Steele and Mary Higgins Clark mysteries, might have made me drift into certain fandom circles later like eh, shipped Cathy and Christopher
Blindness by Jose Saramago was assigned in my 12th grade lit class and probably influenced my interest in post apocalyptic speculative fiction and possibly anarchy in general
Edited at 2017-05-03 07:43 pm (UTC)
You should share this list. LOL.
I second this ;)
Also, Gary, If I happen to be a contestant where you *think* you know where I'm going to go, could you tell me? It would help.
Edited at 2017-05-03 08:42 pm (UTC)