The Death of Art 8 + 9

I take it back... No Interview because I can't find my gosh dang files... Today is a typical Monday... Work was fun though... AND I have a rant for y'all... A fun little topic that my Facebook friends have seen on my status updates! Yes, Censorship! Mainly in books... Because that's my forte. I know a thing about that, trust me. I had a great mom... but she was a dictator when it came to what I could and couldn't read. I mean, I love her and all, but I wasn't even allowed to read Angels and Demons when it came out. I still can't read some books. With books like Wicked I can understand... I mean that's just SO wrong on SO many levels. But some books make no sense. I would bet money that if my mom actually read Brave New World or East of Eden that I'd be banned from reading them again. Actually, that makes me sad... Brave New World is my official all time favorite book, and East of Eden may be a close second. It's a GREAT book so far. I'm almost scared to review them... I mean, they're classics! Back on topic though. I mean, that's just within my own house. I haven't even started on the list of banned & challenged books put together by the ALA... Let's put it this way, I wouldn't have been talking to Nick and Meg about Brave New World or East of Eden at Warped if good ol' CA had gotten their way. They had BOTH of those books challenged... which is a stupid idea. If we can't even READ what we want, how the hell are we supposed to say what we want? Because a bunch of people listen to you if you aren't popular. Yes, that was sarcasm folks. I just think it's silly to ban books! If you don't want to read it, then DON'T! But just because YOU don't want to read Catcher in the Rye doesn't mean no one does! Be considerate... for once. People sometimes forget that others really do matter... Thank God for the people who are still kind. That's most of what I have to say about censorship... I'm all for free speech... so why doesn't it extend to written word?

OH BOOK BURNINGS! I almost forgot... What IDIOT came up with that? (If someone says Hitler I'm gonna scream....) 'Cause that's a great idea! More sarcasm! Sorry for all the sarcasm today folks; I'm in a bad mood. But yes, it's one thing to not like a book, but to destroy books? Of course, there are people who would say "Well, that's a thing of the past! No one burns books now!" And that's where they'd be wrong. I think it was 2002 we had the Lord of the Rings burning... right? 2002... I think. But really guys? You can't find a better way to express your... I don't even know... It can't be hatred, 'cause that would have required reading the book and seeing there's not much to hate about it to begin with... It is dull and long, I'll give you that. I fell asleep reading it my first time! But to actually burn the book? That seems... well, wrong! I mean, there are better words to describe it, but wrong just seems to fit. So that ends the Death of Art rant number 8!

Number 9! Yup I have TWO rants tonight! This one is different though. My other rant is almost a "Well, I'm gonna explain this here thing now" rant more then a "OMG ART" rant. I bring this up because after listening to Hug Me by Meg & Dia last night (Not live... Was SO looking forward to Brightside, but they didn't get to play it.. sad days) I re read Brave New World. Like, picked it up after warped, had Hugh Me Till You Drug Me blasting in my ears and just read. Finished it today again... third time through. I think it's only fitting that I made this blog and called it "The Death of Art" because of how I reacted to certain parts. I almost feel like I'm taking this outta Meg's review... but only 'cause I feel the same way! I mean... I'm LDS... Born and raised, BUT I'm not a... I'm LDS because I'M LDS, not because my mom and dad are, not because my friends are. I'm not a "Black Wedding" kinda person in that I'm not gonna do something if i don't see the point in it. Hell... If any of my friends are reading this, skip this next sentence, but... from like... 4th grade to 6th grade, I was a NIGHTMARE for my teachers, cause I considered myself atheist. I was like "Prove it. Science says this, so prove that" or something else... I was a nightmare... I'm surprised they put up with me! Haha! But anyway, because I was born and raised LDS, I have certain beliefs on certain things... and sex is one of them. And the family... and my goodness, my face when reading Brave New World is priceless. I make disgusted faces... Like, literally! And the sad thing? I was describing the book to my coworker, and I started thinking about it, and she made a comment about something, and I was like "Yeah... like that." Because I realized how... we are SO close guys... It's not even funny how some things are so commonplace now. You see sex everywhere, and my friend was telling me that she knows parents who don't give their kids the whole "don't have sex" thing.. they just kinda tell them to be safe, and to not do what they don't want to... What the hell? I mean, what happened there? And that's only one part of it. We are an impatient society. We expect pleasure now for something we did who knows when. We have our games, our books, our television... I mean, in a way, we have things that desensitize us, and we don't even know it! All we need now is Soma! If someone created something that had the effects of soma and called it something else, I'd seriously have to laugh and I'd never use that name. The sad thing about this is that it sounds so good until you realize how shallow it is... but even then, sometimes humanity just "wants a break." I must say though, this begs the question: A break from what? Humanity? HUMANS want a break from humanity? That's... sad, to be honest. Now, I say it's sad. I'm not saying it's uncommon. Anyone who saw my recent status would see that I actually sat there when I got home and found myself half wishing for even half a soma tablet... Even though I hate everything is stands for, and everything that society stands for. I would be the savage, because I wouldn't be able to function in a world like the one outlined in Brave New World. Or at VERY least, I'd be an Alpha Plus who was send to an island, because heaven knows I'd go nuts listening to people recite what they had heard. What was it? Sixty two thousand two hundred and four repetitions make a truth? Somewhere around there. I want to have that memorized, because in a way it's true. You see it today. I'd like to find one person who can't recite a jingle from TV and the radio. It's in the white noise now, so people don't even realize they are listening to it, but it's there. I don't know... it almost seems surreal, but... at the same time, I feel like we need to step back and figure out what's really important. Is the computer I'm typing this on more important then the coworker I hung with today? Hell no. But some people would have to hesitate before answering that... and that's the sad thing. I have friends online, true... but I'd have to say I'd give up my online friends if my real world friends were in trouble, and vice versa at times. Hell, I've done it. I took a friend to the movies just cause she needed it... even though I was supposed to meet up with a different friend on chat. And you know what? All my #Leverage chat friends understood, and my other friend did too. So there.

So that's pretty much it... I'm going to search for those files... I'm way pissed I lost them. I had them in their own file somewhere, and I must have moved it when I was moving picture files for Warped last night... dang. Warped was way fun, and I was surprised... I can honestly say I didn't expect Meg or Nick to be as nice as they were, and I'm giving a huge shout out to Jordan, Meg, Nick, and Dia! I hope I spelled your name right Jordan! HAND HUG :D Nick, thank you SO much for the drum sticks! They are awesome! Meg, thanks for putting up with the book talk... I get over excited about reading sometimes! Meg & Dia, thank you SO much for signing my book, and for the poster! My friend flipped out when she heard :) And Dia, thank you for helping me out with the whole "can I post it" thing! Even though y'all will probably never read this, if you guys want to see the stories I wrote using Here, here, and here as inspiration, feel free to either send me an email or a comment or something! To everyone else, yes I know I sound like a nerd... But hey, can I help it? I AM a nerd/geek/totallyawesomeperson! You know it! (For those of you who don't know me... yes this is my way of joking around... It'll probably become easier to tell as I joke around more often...)

Peace for now! Keep it safe ok? No hospital visits! Hand Hug for all, and a snowman for Jordan :)

Nicole Paoli