Author: Jay the Ent-Larch

nonbinary they/them mystical forest cryptid & merwrangler with Orange Cat Energy INGREDIENTS: coffee, books, music, podcasts, NPR, cats, movies, the Oxford comma, and comfort shows - - - WARNING: may contain nuts

The Expansion Pack: Summer 2014

background-8.pngNow Playing At  A Blog Near You

Take a careful look at the page you’re on. If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed some changes!

Background – I finally took advantage of Suburbia’s custom background. It’s a word cloud of my topics and categories. It took some work to color-match the background text with the site text, but I think it works.

cropped-head-logo-3.jpgLogo – Since I started blogging last year I’ve wanted a unique logo. I also needed one that didn’t infringe on copyright issues (sorry for the last year, UnderArmour). Five days of semi-intense brainstorming resulted in the logo you see now.

For the record, both were made using Tagul‘s word cloud generator and edited in Adobe Photoshop 9.

Address – Look carefully at the url in you address bar; especially if you’ve bookmarked this page or otherwise come here on autopilot. That’s right – you’re now reading this blog at www.runninginmyhead.com!

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you’ll notice some new widgets.

widget gearsOther Reading will take you to my recent likes on WordPress. Check them out and discover something new!

On The Bookshelf lists the books I’m currently reading. Of course, you can always follow me on Goodreads to see all my lists and reviews.

Life In Motion will show you my two recent Instagram photos. Follow me there if you don’t want to miss a moment!

There’s also been some changes to the sidebar:

A new search feature for the archives

Copyright information (get one for free at Creative Commons)

Revised Images

Over the next few weeks I’ll be rolling out some bonus features and content!

Facebook: I already have a Facebook page, but right now it only publicizes my posts. This will change to provide more random thoughts and links to things I find interesting. Flash Fiction Fridays, anyone?

Twitter: If you already follow me on Twitter, note this change! I’ve set up a new Twitter specifically for my blog. I’m doing this for two reasons: (1) to separate my personal feed from my public feed and (2) to provide you with even more thought provoking ideas! See my thoughts in 140 characters or less (brevity is the soul of wit, after all). Of course, you can always follow both!

Tumblr: I’ve set up a Tumblr to share inspirational thoughts and pictures. Expect quotes from my current reading list!

facebooktwittertumblr

Worried about clutter? Remember that this blog is not my business. At most I will only post something on these sites once (maybe twice) a day. In reality, it will probably only be a few times a week.

Coming Soon

Podcast: I’d like to produce a monthly (bimonthly?) podcast about various ideas. I plan to release a test podcast towards the end of July. Stay tuned for details!

Comments, concerns, or complaints about these changes? Let me know!

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Thank you for your response. ✨

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on the World Cup

World Cup 2014 LogoDear US Men’s National Team “Soccer Fans” on my Facebook feed,

Everything was fine until you showed up. Really, it was. I could cheer on my team in relative peace and quiet, free from threats and trolling. Absolutely nobody cared.

But now you are here, and all of that is gone. Now, you think you own me.

Let’s get one thing straight: I owe you neither an explanation nor an apology. In fact, I don’t owe you anything. But you seem to think I do.

Fact: I’ve been cheering for my team since 1994.

Fact: You’ve been cheering for your team since June 16.

Now, if this were any other sport, you’d have some very pointed remarks if I suddenly switched teams just because one of them was doing better than expected. You’d say that I was a bandwagoner or a fair-weather fan. Profanity might be involved at some point.

There’s only one American team I cheer for in any capacity: the UConn basketball team. I’ve cheered for them since I was old enough to know that college basketball was a thing. I can only imagine what you’d say to me if I started cheering for Duke or UNC or Kansas or Kentucky just because UConn was having a bad year.

In the same way, there’s only one team I cheer for in the World Cup: Deutschland. That’s Germany for those of you new to the game. Oh wait, that’d be all of you. And that was never a problem. At least, it wasn’t ‘til you came along.

You see, for years you didn’t care about soccer. I would argue that you still don’t care, but that’s not the point. You didn’t care because America sucked. And you didn’t care about America’s suckiness because soccer wasn’t an “American Sport.” You didn’t care about soccer because you couldn’t gloat. America wins the so-called “World Series” and “Super Bowl” simply because other countries don’t show up. Oh, all right, I know Canada may be involved in the World Series. I honestly don’t care for either baseball or football. At least now you might know the difference between football and futbol.

But now you care. So when you post a status update on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter, you get dozens – maybe even hundreds – of likes and retweets and support.

When I post the same in support of my team, I get things like

Turn in your America card.

You’re being unpatriotic. You know that, right?

You’re dumb.

You’re a moron.

You’re out of control.

You should be deported.

You’re a Nazi.

If you support another country the government should give you a one way ticket to live in that country since you love it so much.

USA! USA! USA!

And these are just the ones I can repeat.

I could counter your arguments with logical, thought out responses. However, that would imply they are worthy of debate. Suffice it to say your comments prove you know nothing of the sport or of history.

I don’t go trolling you every time you post something about your team; why must you do it to me? Let the score speak for itself. After all, that kind of is the point.

You know, I don’t really care that you support the USA. That’s fine. My friends support England and France and Brazil and Chile. One or two of them might even support the USA.

What I do care about is the fact that you’re bringing the traditional American arrogance and superiority complex to a sport that you haven’t cared about in decades, if at all. I can only imagine the terror you will unleash upon the world should you actually win.

Now knock it off before you ruin it for everyone.

Sincerely,

Me

Author’s Note

I realize that not all American supporters act like this. Some have supported the team since day one. That’s great; it’s what the sport needs.

This letter is written from my personal experience and is directed at those on my Facebook feed (and those that act like them) and not necessarily to all American supporters in general.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 19: Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing, don’t stop. No self-editing and no second guessing: just go. Bonus points if you tackle an idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about.

Ask Me

front porchI know what they say about me. They say I’m too quiet, too observant, and too smart for my own good. They don’t ask me, so I don’t tell them. I learned that long ago.

And now, sitting here in the hot summer sun, I hear it all: the sirens fading in the distance, the crying behind closed doors, the statements given in hushed tones. I hear the excuses.

No, I never heard them argue.

No, I never saw her bruises.

They were such a quiet couple!

He seemed so nice, minding our house while we took vacation.

This is a peaceful neighborhood; nothing ever happens here!

Poor thing; do you think she’ll make it?

Who would’ve suspected?

Who would’ve known?

I suspected. I’m too quiet. I saw the signs. I’m too observant. I knew. I’m too smart for my own good.

They won’t ask me; they never do.

I’m the one who made the call, you know.

But people don’t want to know if they don’t ask.

So I won’t tell them.

It only causes problems.

I learned that long ago.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 18: Craft a story from the perspective of a twelve-year-old observing it all. Focus on specific character qualities, drawing from elements we’ve worked on in this course, like voice and dialogue. Think about more than simply writing in first-person point of view — build this twelve-year-old as a character. Reveal at least one personality quirk, for example, either through spoken dialogue or inner monologue.

A Note from the Author

I really don’t know why my fictional writing tends towards depressing subjects, but it’s what seems to come naturally. This account is semi-fictional: here was a case of abuse in our neighborhood several years ago, so I wrote it as if I lived in the house opposite.

 

Personality Check: Fear

 

Failure is Always an Option

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cake is a Failure

Failure Defeats and Inspires

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winston Churchill Quote

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 17: What are you scared of? Address one of your worst fears. Write this post in a style that’s different from your own.

Things in Glass Cases (Part 3): Memories

lostandfoundsign

Memories are the lost and found office:

What we wore and what we ate

Where we lived and who we loved

What we were like

Sometimes, those memories are found by others

A song

A yearbook

A photo album

A note

A letter

A card

So we share them.

We share the things in glass cases.

And we are better for it.

 This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 16: Continuing the serial, reflect on the theme of “lost and found.”

Part 1

Part 2

An Open Letter to . . .

Cholera Handbill
Hogwash & Codswallop

Dear Cholera,

I don’t know you personally, and for that I am extremely grateful. Obviously I’ve heard of you; after all, what historian worth their salt hasn’t devoted some time to studying the great plagues and epidemics of the past? I must confess, however, I had a dismal regard for your power to infiltrate, terrify, and decimate entire cities. I had considered you a distant cousin to y pesits; I now realize that you are brothers in arms.

What changed my mind, you ask? Author/historian Steven Johnson’s work The Ghost Map. Now, I must confess that Mr. Johnson’s writing leaves something to be desired. His redundancy reminds me of students padding a term paper. His asides and personal vendettas add little to the narrative. He berates historical ideas of science and medicine for not knowing better, only briefly pausing to consider they had no reason to know better. They were ignorant, not stupid. And yet, Mr. Johnson, while making the same claim, treats our forebears as stupid.

Nevertheless, once the chaff is removed the kernels of knowledge remain. In reading of the London plagues that led to understanding you, I have developed a new respect. No longer will I confuse you with dysentery. To call you dysentery would be akin to calling anaphylaxis “an allergy.” I had long known alcohol was safer than water for much of human civilization, now I know you were the reason why. You struck with apparent impunity and malignancy, infiltrating and poisoning seemingly healthy water. The master of disguise, many blamed bad air or meteorological catastrophes for your appearance. Despite our best efforts, you continued to plague our great cities well into the nineteenth century.

And still you remain. Africa and the East and South America – where sanitation and hygiene are poor or nonexistent – know you all too well. We see our politicians and entertainers “bring awareness” to AIDS and cancer and illiteracy and women’s rights. Where are the spokesmen for cholera? It baffles me that something so basic as “don’t drink where you crap” needs to be taught; and yet it must. Where is the outrage? Where are the PSAs? Where are the contribution campaigns?

I hope that one day the only way anyone will hear of you is in a history book.

The_Ghost_Map_cover
Yes, even this one.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 14: Pick up the nearest book and flip to page 29. What jumps out at you? Start there, and write in the form of a letter.

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