If you're coming to this entry still laughing from the Magicyop thing, let me warn you right now that this post is definitely intended to be taken seriously. It's also lengthy and hard-hitting, so hold onto your seats. I realize that it may be hard to switch gears quickly, but I think what I'm going to say here is important, and I don't have a better place to put it.
Some years ago, I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird (quite a thought-provoking book in general), when I ran across a passage that caught my attention. The protagonist, Scout, is telling her father, Atticus, about an incident that happened at school. In recounting what happened, she quotes another child who used a racial slur. Here is her father's response:
"Don't say n*****, Scout. It's common."
What an interesting word choice, I thought. When thinking of an adjective to describe profanity, common doesn't usually come to mind. Then again, I reflected, that word probably was common back then (it's a historical novel). But was there something more behind all this?
As you may know, I am quite fond of words--so of course, I went to the dictionary and looked up a bunch of words that might be connected with the topic of profanity. See what you think:
Profane: unholy, obscene. Original meaning: literally, "outside the temple", referring to common or everyday things or people
Vulgar: indecent, obscene, crude. Original meaning: common
Mean: nasty, spiteful, rude. Original meaning: average, common
See the common thread? I thought about this for a while and realized that it says some really unpleasant things about normal people. By definition, the average person is mean, vulgar, and profane!
With this thought bouncing around in my head, I was in the Wands and Worlds chat room when one of the other members (I don't remember exactly who) used a "minor" curse word. I was disappointed in this person, and though I was pretty sure she wouldn't understand what I meant, I said, "Don't be common." The reaction surprised me: She was quite offended! Apparently, "common" for this person was a major insult.
But let's think about this. Profanity really is common in our society, isn't it? You hear it at middle schools, high schools, and colleges; on late-night shows and prime-time shows; at sporting events, on the bus, on the street. A lot of us use it without even thinking twice. Other nasty things are common too. Common criminals are common. Common vices are common--gambling, drug addiction, cutting people off in traffic... Commonness is not only rampant, it includes a lot of the things we dislike in other people.
And yet, a lot of us don't aspire to be anything but common. We even want to be common. It's called being Cool, Popular, In. We like being "normal". If you don't do what everyone else does, you're Uncool or Weird (or a bunch of other names I'm not willing to mention). Going to the mall, playing video games, and the like are considered good, not because they have any inherent value, but just because they're common. In a society that does its best to tell us we're all special, we spend a lot of time trying to prove that we're not.
At the same time, though, if someone calls us common to our face, we have quite a different reaction. While the general concept has been turned into a kind of status symbol, the word itself still has a negative connotation. Why is that? Is it because our language just hasn't caught up with the times yet? Or is it because there's still some nagging feeling, when we hear that word, that commonness isn't all it's cracked up to be? If you think for a moment about a hypothetical person who works a dead-end job (at a fast-food store, for instance), goes home, plays video games all evening, goes to bed, wakes up, and does the same thing all over again, does that appeal to you? Is this a good way to spend the rest of your life? Most people would say NO, and they'd be right. But I'll tell you what I think this scenario is: It's common. A common life is boring, unfulfilling, repetitive busy-work. That's where being common will get you. That's why my friend got insulted when I implied that she fell into this category.
So let's think about the opposite of commonness for a moment. After considering all the negative things that being common entails, being exceptional is certainly worth a look. But being exceptional isn't easy. If you want to be exceptional, you're going to have to put up with all those uncomplimentary labels I mentioned earlier. There's something else involved too, something that a lot of us have spent our entire lives trying to avoid as much as possible: Work.
Let's take a look at someone we've all heard a lot about recently: Barack Obama. I know some of us (including me) don't agree with all his policies, but let's lay that aside for the moment. Our new president is a man whom a lot of us can admire. (If you don't admire him, pick some other president you admire--Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt. This goes for all of them.) He's accomplished a lot of great things, he's got excellent leadership skills, and he's managed to attain the office of President (no small feat there). How do you think he did this? By being normal, playing video games, and avoiding work at all costs? Rather the opposite, wouldn't you say? You don't gratuate magna cum laude from Harvard Law School without putting in any effort. Being a community organizer is not easy or normal. You can't serve in the Senate and run for President while at the same time posting record scores on Guitar Hero. In fact, I would suggest that you can't do much of anything great, amazing, or worthwhile if you spend hours playing Guitar Hero (or Wii, or whatever).
Some of you may be saying, "I can play video games if I want to! I'm a teenager [most of you are], and I'm going to have to go to work soon enough. Why can't I have fun now while I have the chance?" Let's analyze this thinking a bit. When exactly are you planning to quit? I doubt that it'll be on the exact day you turn 20. "I'm not a teenager anymore, so I'm going to sell my Wii, XBox 360, and all my other equipment and start devoting myself to hard work." I don't think so. You'll say, "Well, I'm still in college. I can have fun while I'm in college." Then you'll get some sort of job while you're in college, just some part-time employment to help pay for stuff, and you'll discover that you still have time for some fun after work. Then you're out of college, but you've still got the same job, and now you have even more time for fun! Isn't it grand? But what you haven't noticed is that you've slipped right into that aforementioned dead-end life. It's like pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock. If you never decide to do something now, it'll never get done.
So what are we going to do about this? I don't want you to get the impression that I'm preaching at you here. I have an entrenched work-avoiding mindset too. I spent several years of my life playing computer games for hours each day. Commonness isn't just attractive because it's popular--it's attractive because it's easy. In order to be exceptional, we're going to have to put in some serious effort. But I hope I've at least started to convince you that it's worth it. I believe that there's an innate human desire to accomplish something--and if you've paid any attention to the world lately, there are a huge number of things that need to be accomplished. (If you can't think of anything exceptional to do, I can give you some ideas!) The hard part is following through, but that shouldn't stop us. If we've never tried to do anything hard, then we don't know just how much we're capable of. Let's find out.
Don't be common...
... Be exceptional!
~Runningflame
P.S. A lot of what I wrote here was influenced (consciously or subconsciously) by the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. If this post awoke any exceptional feelings in you, I heartily recommend you find and read the book. Just so you know, it is written from a Christian perspective. For some of you, that should make it all the more meaningful; for others, that shouldn't stop you from reading it.
The following is a list of... well, read the title. If you are a Wands and Worlds member, a recent ex-member, or a diligent W&W lurker, you will very likely appreciate this; if you are not, I suggest you either become one before reading this or run away from it as fast as you can. I am in the last of the three categories, in case anyone was wondering, which is how I found out about the Yop '08 campaign. NOTE: Most of the following material should NOT be taken seriously. Some of it should be, but I'm not going to tell you which parts.
Sadly, our good and toadly friend was trounced in the general election by Barack Obama, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, and very likely by numerous write-in candidates not listed on Wikipedia. I have not yet had the opportunity to offer him my condolances, and I was wondering what, exactly, I should say to him. So, with insincere apologies to David Letterman, here is my list of the top ten things I have considered saying to Magicyop regarding his 2008 presidential campaign:
10. Why didn't you appear on Saturday Night Live? It is common knowledge that every successful candidate must appear on SNL at least once during the campaign.
9. I'm not sure if you already knew this, but the U.S. constitution explicitly bars a six-year-old from becoming president.
8. You might have done better if you had spent more time campaigning and less time running your Chaotic Physics Adventure Game.
7. You seem to have worse media issues than Sarah Palin.
6. Unfortunately, the vast majority of your supporters--namely, amphibians and science-fiction/fantasy lovers under the age of 18--were deemed ineligible to vote when they tried to register.
5. While your selection of a female running mate was an admirable move, her unfortunate choice of a nickname almost seemed calculated to alienate a large percentage of the population.
4. You should have come up with a campaign slogan--perhaps "Toad We Can Believe In" or "Yoppy First".
3. I would have voted for you if only you had made a campaign stop in Nebraska...
2. Correction: I would not have voted for you even if you had made a campaign stop in Nebraska, because I am in the science-fiction-and-fantasy-lovers-under-18 demographic.
1. Sadly, it appears that America is simply not ready to elect its first toad president.
While I would like to say all of these things to Magicyop, I have decided that it is probably not a good idea. After all, to quote the candidate himself, "I'm cruel, evil, and have a flaming butt, thusforth am very grumpy for it." Getting on such a toad's blacklist would, I am sure, be a very unpleasant experience. So please, nobody tell Magicyop about this! Things might not be pretty if he found out.
The Hounds of the Mórrígan is a book which I read some years ago and liked. Recently, I decided to add it to my book club list. Since I felt I could not remember it well enough to be sure about what rating I should give it, I got it from the library again and read it in a day and a half. I was so captivated that I decided to write a book review, something which I believe I've only done once before in my life. I hope that perhaps this will encourage some of you to check it out--and if it doesn't, perhaps I can sweeten the deal by swapping it for one of your books at the Book Exchange Club?
Genre: Fantasy/Celtic mythology
If it were a movie, it would be: Either PG or PG-13, depending on how they shot it... but I think PG would be more likely
LSVD rating: PG, G, PG-10, G
Overall rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: When 10-year-old Irish boy Pidge finds an old book in a second-hand bookstore, strange things start happening. He soon discovers that the book contains an ancient and powerful creature that is trying to escape. The forces of good and evil converge to do battle over the artifact, and Pidge and his 5-year-old sister Brigit are thrust into a quest to find a special pebble that can destroy it. They are pursued by the hounds of the Mórrígan, the Celtic goddess of war and death. The hounds have only one limitation: they may not attack their quarry until they see it run. But sooner or later, something is sure to break this ban, and so Pidge and Brigit must try to find what they are searching for quickly... before the hounds give chase.
Evaluation: The Hounds of the Mórrígan is a book full of memorable events and memorable characters. At times, it's reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, though with considerably more menace and danger; maybe a better comparison would be The Wizard of Oz. Its plot hinges on an unlikely quest to destroy an evil artifact, much like The Lord of the Rings, and the rambling journey through a strange, magical landscape brings to mind Bryan Davis' Circles of Seven. But what separates this book from all those to which it is similar are the currents of Celtic folklore and mythology that run through every aspect of it. Even if one doesn't agree with every aspect of the worldview, it is still a fascinating glimpse at a fascinating culture.
The setting of most of the book is Faery, the Otherworld, where nearly every law of physics is broken at some time or another and magical help arrives in the nick of time whenever the characters need it. Pidge is given a bag of hazelnuts, which crack open at opportune times to reveal timely gifts--a cat who distracts the hounds at a sensitive moment, for example, or a pair of coats in a sudden snowstorm. Boats sail themselves in the right direction; a barrier of smoke constructs itself between the children and the hounds; a trail of flowers guides them along and vanishes behind their feet. The Mórrígan, however, can use magic too: she snaps two edges of a chasm together to smooth the hounds' passage; she creates illusions and traps; she makes warriors out of dust motes. In a sense, the children are pawns, at the mercy of both Good and Evil--but, as in The Lord of the Rings, it is the pawns who may win the day in the end.
The inhabitants of Faery are varied and quirky. We meet a cocky frog; an army of earwigs and their charismatic General, Napoleon, who is fond of making egotistical comments in fractured French; a clairvoyant spider; and a metal weather-vane man who cries ball bearings, among many others. All work to help the children along and to protect them from the hounds.
The villains are hilarious and threatening by turns. The Mórrígan usually appears as three women, all of whom possess malicious senses of humor. They have quite a bit of fun at the expense of a local police sergeant, who is investigating a (true) report of some furniture stolen from a department store by magic. They interfere with events in Faery by placing items on a map (although sometimes this technique backfires). One teaches rats how to smoke cigars and cheat at poker. But when the stone is nearly found and the stakes are raised, they become the terrible goddess of war and death once again.
The hounds are a menacing presence throughout the journey, always trailing the children, sometimes losing them, only to be prodded in the right direction by their mistresses. For all that, they are not mindless slaves, either--and by the tale's end, one is driven to an act of mutiny that probably saves the children's lives.
The Hounds of the Mórrígan is a tale of ordinary heroism, told against a backdrop of magic, fantasy, and legend. It is another one of those books so well-written that one is astonished, upon reaching the back cover, to learn that it is the author's first novel. The world that O'Shea creates is believable and consistent--perhaps because it is so impossible and irrational that one comes to expect just about anything. I've read it twice now, and although certain bits of the worldview grate on me a bit more now that I'm older, I still recommend it heartily.
