The rest is still unwritten...

I'm still working on the books for next week, so I've decided to do a TV post. Everyone likes TV, right? Plus, I've recently seen the preview for season 5 (!) of The Hills, that "reality show" shown on MTV.

I’ll admit it—I’m addicted to reality TV. I’m not entirely proud of this fact, but I can’t deny it. When watching reality shows, I sometimes question the actual “reality” being portrayed. How real are these shows? Are they scripted? And who are the “stars” of the shows?

The Hills, a prime staple of MTV’s primetime offerings, is called a “reality show,” but there has been a great deal of speculation over how “real” it actually is. It’s hard to believe that the conversations always take place in front of the camera, and with the perfect amount of lighting, no less. And some of the dramatic “confrontations” seem too staged, and the “stars” seem all too well to know the characters they are supposed to be playing.

The show follows the lives of Lauren Conrad and her friends as they live, work, and play in Hollywood. It is actually a spin-off of the show Laguna Beach, which chronicled Lauren’s high school experience in ritzy Orange County. The “villains” are Heidi and Spencer, a pair who used to be on friendly terms with Lauren but are currently her sworn enemies.

Nevertheless, The Hills is one of MTV’s highest rated shows, and it has even spawned a spin-off of its own, The City. I think teens and preteens like it because it depicts the glamorous LA life that they would like to lead, complete with swanky clubs, beautiful clothes and accessories, and trendy jobs. What the show doesn’t make clear is that Lauren gets all these lucky breaks because she is on a popular reality show. Additionally, she can afford to buy these clothes because she is getting paid to be on the show. Also, the stars of the show are constant tabloid fodder, which I think is another draw for kids. They see gossip from magazines concerning Lauren and Co., so they tune into the show to learn more.

There is a fair share of subtle drinking and partying on the show, but it is never the main focus and it is known that Lauren and her friends are of the drinking age. I might even go as far to say that Lauren is actually a sort of role model, as she holds down a good job and also goes to school for fashion design. While at times the show is bogged down by petty arguments and partying, I’d say the overall message is a positive one: support your friends, find a significant other that respects you, and stay true to yourself in the process of making your way in the world. Whether or not the show is an accurate description of real life is a different story.

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yan

Graphic novels are extremely popular with young people today, and I have to admit that I love reading them too.  This particular graphic novel combines three seemingly diverse story lines that merge together in the end in a way that I didn't really expect.  You can really flip through this book quickly (I started and finished it during lunch at Subway), but it doesn't disappoint.  It's hilarious and poignant, and I would definitely recommend it, for adults and teens.    

"But Paul, we're having your favorite, breakfast for dinner!"

This week's "theme" is teenage pregnancy, which meant that we had to watch the contemporary classic Juno, a movie about adoption, orange Tic Tacs, and tiny yellow running shorts.  I thought in honor of the movie, I'd post some of favorite quotes (I know, I know, my last post was about quotes, but they're easy and I'm feeling lazy.)

Juno's Dad: Liberty Bell, if you put one more Baco on that potato, I'm gonna kick your little monkey butt.

Juno: Who's ready for some chromo magnificence?

Girl lab partner: Yeah, I have a menstrual headache.  So I can't really look at bright lights today.

Guy lab partner: Amanda, I told you to go to the infirmary and lie down.  You never listen!

Girl: No, Josh.  Because I don't take orders.  Not from you and not from any man.

Guy: You know you've been acting like this ever since I got back from visiting my brother in Mankato...I already told you nothing happened.

Paulie: Well I'm going to set up the apparatus.  Um, Juno would you like to plug in the Bunsen burner?

Juno: It's my pleasure.

Girl: I'm going to the infirmary.

Guy: Good.  Call me when you get off the rag!

Girl: Fine!  Call me when you learn how to love someone instead of cheat at your brother's college.  Just because you had four Smirnoff ices and a bottle of snow peak peach flavored Boones.

Guy: Good, Amanda.  I'll be sure to do that.  I'll make a note of it!

Juno's Dad: What's that thing?

Vanessa: It's a Pilates machine.

Dad: What do you make with it?

Vanessa: Oh you don't make anything with it, its for exercise.

Dad: Oh.  My wife ordered one of those Tony Little Gazelles off the television...I don't know about that guy.  He doesn't look right.

Juno: I could so go for a huge cookie right now, with like, a lamb kabob simultaneously.

Juno: He said her house smells like soup.

Leah: Oh my god it does!  I was there like four years ago for her birthday party.  It's like Lipton landing!

Juno's Dad: Are you having boy troubles?  Because I gotta be honest with you; I don't much approve of dating in your condition, 'cause well... that's kind of messed up.

Juno: Dad, no!

Dad: Well, it's kind of skanky.  Isn't that what you girls call it?  Skanky?  Skeevy?

Juno: Please stop.

Dad: Tore up from the floor up?

Juno: That's not what it's about.  I just need to know that it's possible that two people can stay happy together forever.

"It's very beautiful over there." (Thomas Edison)

Looking For Alaska by John Green

"...We are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be.  When adults say, 'Teenagers think they are invincible' with that that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are.  We need never be hopeless, because we can never never be irreparably broken.  We think that we are invincible because we are.  We cannot be born, and we cannot die.  Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations.  They forget that when they get old.  They get scared of losing and failing.  But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail." (220-221)

I love that quote.  And since Miles, the main character in the book, was obsessed with the last words of famous people, I also love these last words I found after a little digging:

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): "Take away those pillows.  I shall need them no more."  

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904): "It's been a long time since I've had champagne."

E.E. Cummings (1894-1963): "I'm going to sharpen the axe before I put it up, dear."  

And Abraham Lincoln?  He was laughing at a line that was ad-libbed in the play he was watching right before he was shot. 

Drama at Pfeiffer Middle School

Surfing the web for information on my current book, Gender Blender by Blake Nelson, I found this little jewel: 

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/genderblender/ 

All you have you do is enter your own information in the blanks, and it creates a personalized Gender Blender story based on your own experiences--kind of like Mad Libs with a middle school twist  I tried to put myself in a middle school frame of mind as I attempted to pick out the cutest guy in school, the most annoying, etc, etc.  Here's my story:

Here is your personal Gender Blender experience...

It's the big night of Joel's birthday party, the event of the school year.  You're excited since everyone will be there, especially Brian, the cutest guy in your English class.  You think about what to wear until you notice your reflection in the full-length mirror.  You take a second, third, ok, maybe even a fourth glance in the mirror.  Frantically, you run towards the mirror.  At a closer view, you are even more shocked by what you're finding or, in this case, what you are no longer finding anymore.  You are trapped in a boy's body--not to mention Brian's body.  You oogle over your new body until a new thought hits you.  Does this mean you can't marry Hugh Jackman anymore?  You are determined to switch back.  

Before you can even think of a plan, you hear someone's voice calling out for you.  "Sweetie, are you ready yet?  Stephen is waiting for you in the living room."  That must be Brian's mother.  You scurry to your closet and throw on your jeans and leave the room.  Before you manage to get down the stairs, Stephen laughs, "Hey butt-nugget, nice outfit.  Joe will be sure to look at you now!"  You ignore his crude remark and quickly leave for the party.

As you two head towards Joel's house, you manage to pick up a few boys along the way.  At the party, Stephen rambles, "Dawg, did you see me torch that guy in the hundred-meter?  He runs like a girl!"  All the boys laugh except you.  You certainly didn't want to be caught torching anyone, let alone a guy.  You look across the room to see Katie, yourself.  You wonder if Brian was in your body thinking the same thing.  You try to catch your own eye until Katherine shows up right in front of you.  She says, "Hey Brian, they're playing apples to apples upstairs--want to go?"  She then winks at you and you immediately feel like throwing up--you're totally grossed out.  You manage to kindly turn her down by telling her that you're waiting for Katie, your real body.

"Katie, that dweeb in English class?  Was she even invited to this party?!"  Offended by Katherine's remark, you defiantly bark back, "Yes, she is here and personally I'd rather spend my time with a dweeb than with a thief like you."  She laughs out load, turns away, and joins the other girls.  Stephen smacks you on the head and screams, "What are you crazy?  This could of been your chance to touch her ear."  You shake your head and walk away...this was sure to be a long and weird experience indeed...

"So, like, how do you guys know each other?"

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

"My heartbeat accelerates.  I am in the here, in the now.  I am also in the future.  I am holding her and wanting and knowing and hoping all at once.  We are the ones who take this thing called music and line it up with this thing called time.  We are the ticking, we are the pulsing, we are underneath every part of this moment.  And by making the moment our own, we are rendering it timeless.  There is no audience.  There are no instruments.  There are only bodies and thoughts and murmurs and looks.  It's the concert rush to end all concert rushes, because this is what matters.  When the heart races, this is what it's racing toward." (174)

In honor of this book, here's my own personal playlist, sorted randomly by iTunes party shuffle.  Think of it as the soundtrack to this blog (however odd it turns out to be).  Enjoy!

1.  Billy Joel--"A Room of Our Own"

2.  Red Hot Chili Peppers--"C'mon Girl"

3.  Dashboard Confessional--"The Rush"

4.  Barenaked Ladies--"Eraser"

5.  Cornbread Red--"If I Had a Million Dollars"

6.  The Cure--"(I Don't Know What's Going) On"

7.  Mute Math--"Typical"

8.  Jason Mraz--"Please Don't Tell Her"

9.  The White Stripes--"St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)"

10.  Barenaked Ladies--"Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank"

11.  Spoon--"Vittorio E"

12.  The Shins--"Australia" 

Okay, I admit it...I cried

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

"But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last.  They'd be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.  Then everybody could end their life on their momma or daddy's stomach in a warm room, waiting for the soft morning light." (pg. 4)