PDA (Practice Diction Analysis. . . What did you think I was talking about?)

The harsh and blunt language, along with a hint of rebellion, helps to convey the dismal attitude that the narrator of Catcher in the Rye holds against society, and by extension, the entire world. Not a particularly personable or talkative soul, the narrator simply states up front that he doesn't, "feel like going into it." Furthermore, the narrator's crude and denotative language emphasizes the narrator's persona as a teenager, and serves to immerse the reader in the character of the narrator. Overall, the narrator's distinct voice, which creates an equally unique tone that is rude yet realistic, sets the novel apart from other novels of its time.

The Rage

(An original poem by Ty Thomas)

slowly washing over me
filling me with hatred
for what, I can not say
For I don't truly know

My mind, torn asunder
ripped between personas
voices lapsing into silence,
as the darkness settles in. . .

It urges me forward, quietly
directing my life from shadows
without, I am shattered, lost
but with it, my soul is trapped. . .

Midnight Rain

(An original poem by Ty Thomas)


Shuffling out of bed to stare
into the gaping maw of night
Provoked, it sends a flash
across the window pane
and roars in great defiance of all

then. . .

a change of direction, of fate. . .

Soothing to the ear, it calms
and settles softly
across the canvas of the earth
lulling its humble subjects into sleep
What a noble saint, the storms!

The power to tear apart lives
and power to bring lives together
All packed tightly among the droplets

but. . .

The stirring winds, malevolent in nature,
end up pulling the strings

This Week in Reading #9

Like a Splinter in your Mind by Matt Lawrence
Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard

This Week: 145 pages
Last Week: 175 pages
Total: 1,641 pages

Favorite Maps of Style (In no particular order):

1. Less Than Three

2. Look Up... (Now!)

3. InsideOut

The Melee Within. . .

Despite what an earlier post declared, I am once again at odds with myself. . . Oh, it's nothing life-threatening. Just still trying to figure out which one of my ideas will be "the one". Ask any writer, and they'll say when they knew that their big idea was the idea that would put them on the literary map.

Just waiting for that one idea to slap me in the face, and yell, "WAKE UP!"

Style Mapping

Voice is what imbues a novel with the feeling that it communicates. And no two novels ever share the exact same voice. For example, The Gunslinger, by Stephen King, communicates a feeling of wanderlust and adventure through a rather uncharacteristic character. With highly elevated language that is strangely easy to understand, the blunt, direct voice helps draw the reader in to the epic story of the gunslinger. Similarly, Geist, by Philippa Ballantine, uses sophisticated language to convey her professional voice. However, her forays into language have rendered her writing slightly more difficult to understand, but not too difficult that even a well-read individual can’t make sense of a paragraph. Ballantine also uses direct language that isn’t necessarily poetic, but instead has its own tone of pleasantry. Lastly, Kissed by an Angel, by Elizabeth Chandler, differs from the previous two novels. While she shares the usage of sophisticated word choice, her voice lends a rather poetic tone to itself, and the writing seems to flow from the pages like the strewn pebbles in a stream.

Philosophy and the Questions not Asked. . .

I've come to term with the facts. I can try to hide it all I want, but in the end, I will fail. No matter how hard I try to deny that I am different from my father in every way possible. . .

I will always love philosophy, just like he does.

Most people see philosophy as confusing, and as such, don't want anything to do with it. They don't hate it, but they don't like it either. They are, more or less, neutral. Some people, though, view philosophy as unnecessary and the trivial questions that philosophers ask serve no real purpose in advancing society or the economy.

Those kind of people are as deceived as the people that are plugged into the Matrix itself, blind to the fact that "the world has been pulled over their eyes."

If we don't ask questions, even about the most trivial matters, we really don't know anything at all. Remember the age-old phrase, "No question is a stupid question." And if we don't question the very things that our world is based on, such as belief of free will, reality vs. dreams, degrees of perception, etc., how will we come to grow intellectually and spiritually?

For me, philosophy is more than just a plethora of questions being asked for no other reason than to be asked. Philosophy is a way of growing in your understanding of the very things that we take for granted in this world of ours, the very things that we never even take the time to acknowledge. Like the technology that made this very blog possible. All those zeros and ones, working hard to translate keystrokes to letters and numbers on a screen. . .

Seems like a matrix to me. . .

Quarterly: This Week in Reading #8

Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

This Week: 175 pages
Last Week: 164 pages
Total: 1,496 pages

To be completely honest, I have been reading a lot more often since I started this experiment. I'll often find myself reading while in the car, waiting for my parents to finish up various errands (in between jamming to Rise Against and Sixx A.M.). However, this experiment has also helped me realize something--you can't make somebody read if that is just not what they want to do. After all, you read the most when you actually want to read in the first place. Would you be able to focus on reading if you had ten other things you were more worried about at the time? Would you be able to focus on reading if your favorite television show was on? This project was about making time to read, but to be honest, it's taught me something different--don't make time to read, let time make you read. If you feel the urge to sit down, and ensconce yourself under your covers for hours on end, devouring an entire book series, then do it. Don't try to force it. You'll only choke yourself on your own boundaries you set for yourself.

Man, I need to tone down the philosophy in this blog. Might turn away what few viewers I have. But yeah, overall, I plan to keep on reading the Dark Elf Trilogy (Homeland, Exile, and Sojurn) and eventually finish the Geist series (when book three, Wrayth, finally comes out). 

Oh! One last note. . . Check out this awesome picture I found! WIN!

Epiphany! (and a few new books)

A little bit of inspiration struck me a couple of days ago. I've always loved fantasy writing, in all of it's forms (science fiction included). But, yet, I have spent the least of my time writing what I like.

Call me stupid, I don't care. Call me a blind bat in the cave of literature.

But I am going to finally write what I like. Set aside the psychological stories for now, hide away the deep, provocative social commentary, and present a story that is their for one reason, and one reason only: to tell a story.

On a side note, I found a few new books that should help me along with this new idea. Their respective pictures are placed around this post. You see that book Magyk up there? My mom suggested it, actually. A very simple, yet lovable, fantasy tale about a young boy who becomes a wizard. Seems reminiscent of Harry Potter? It is anything but, from what I've been told. I'll have to read to find out.

Oh, and the other book, to the right over there? A book I actually tried reading a while back, but got bogged down by the sheer amount of detail that went into writing it. From what I read up, the author spent over ten years writing and developing his world. I may be a fantasy author, but I'm not that dedicated--yet.

Too Many English Classes?...

Me on a daily basis (when trying to write)

Novels with Mr. Clough
Etymology with Mr. Hill
Composition/W131 with Mrs. Christopherson
and Journalism with Mr. Kuhn

You know, in some way, I think I dug myself into is hole.

No doubt about it. I did. It's all my fault.

Well, not a fault, necessarily. I mean, I just like English--more so than most people. . .

I always have. It's my passion. Ever since elementary school, I delighted in the creative writing projects that were rarely handed out. The chance to express yourself outside of the constraints of a perceived box--a liking that seems to be dying out lately.

I wrote a poem about this once. The loss of creativity among teenagers my age. And you know what?

I'm done fighting it. I can't help the fact that they have adhered themselves to boxes and limits. Best to just move on and create what I want to create rather than trying to make someone into something they are not.

Besides, that's just wasting my time. Time that should be spent writing, rather than being spent on trifles. . .

Last Week in Reading #7

A little behind, but better late than never. . .

Geist by Philippa Ballantine (FINISHED)
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

This Week: 164 pages
Last Week: 150 pages
Total: 1,321 pages

Favorite Sentences and/or Passages (in no particular order):

1: "Zaknafein Do'Urden, I am called, yet a drow I am not, by choice or by deed. Let them discover this being that I am, then. Let them rain their wrath on these old shoulders already burdened by the hopelessness of Menzoberranzan." - Homeland

2: Ignoring the consequences, the weapons master rose to his feet and yelled, "Menzoberranzan, what the hell are you?" - Homeland

3: The Deacon could not abide the travesty any longer. "You know the words, child." Sorcha strode over and snatched up her Gauntlets. "But you should not meddle in the Order's affairs." - Geist

Not much to say about any of these quotes. Just starting into the Dark Elf Trilogy, the first book of which is Homeland. An amazing series that I had read a bit of way back in middle school. Figured I would delve back into the series again, and give it a good re-read. Should still count, right?

One of those Songs

You know those songs that set off that little part of your brain that makes you actually think about what you are listening to? The songs that open your eyes to a world you've previously been blind to? Well, I believe I've found one of those songs. 

My dad pulled up this song to show to me yesterday:

Not only did this song give me inspiration for my story I've been gradually progressing on, it visualized the constant battle of teens wanting and needing attention, and ultimately, showed me how well I truly have life. I may complain about unfair punishments, or cruel and harsh dicta, but in the end, I have parents that listen, even if it doesn't feel like it most of the time. 

And I'm glad to be blessed with that.  

Looking Back

Can a person under the age of 18 really be nostalgic about something? Can a person under 18 truly look back into his/her past and say, "Man, those were the days."? Most parents would disagree, stating that young children are unable to truly appreciate their past. However, I offer a counter-argument; What constitutes the ability to look back and revel in the wonderful reveries of the past? Do you have to be a certain age? Do you have to have graying hair? Do you have to be able to remember life before the War on Terror?

The fact remains, ANYONE has the right and the responsibility to remember their past and appreciate the little things in life.

Enough philosophy for today. You may not have guessed it, but this was inspired by two of my favorite games from the PS2 era, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus

For those of you have not heard of these games, let me give you the basics.

In Ico, you play as a young boy, Ico, who is being sacrificed due to the fact that he was born with crude horns. However, he breaks out of his small cell, and is tasked with escaping the huge imposing castle that is captors imprisoned him within.

Early in the game, Ico runs into a beautiful princess, whom he had dreamed about the night before. He breaks her out of her suspended cage, and together, they attempt to escape the castle.

However, complications arise, when dark spirits begin to appear and try to capture the princess. Ico must defend the princess against these manifestations, and along the way, he discovers a dark secret behind the castle and the princess's true identity.

In Shadow of the Colossus, made by the same team that made Ico, you play as Wander, a young boy who has ventured long and far to reach a region known as the Forbidden Land. When he arrives, he feels an unearthly voice speaking to him. The voice introduces itself as the demi-god Dormin, and inquires as to what Wander's purpose is in this land.

Wander announces that he wishes to raise the soul of a young woman back from the dead. The voice chortles, and taunts Wander, saying, "Death is final. Is that not the law of mortals?" However, he presents Wander with a mission: Slay the sixteen colossi that are scattered around the land, and he will bring the young woman back from the dead.

But Gods are fickle beings, as mythology commonly states. Is there a wicked twist waiting for Wander at the end of his journey?

For me, these games represent a call back to the reality of gaming, and ultimately, a call to true imagination. Released, respectively, in 2001 and 2005, neither of the games have mind-blowing graphics. The game-play in some areas is awkward and annoying, and neither of the games have the length of some mega-series of today.

However, where these games prevail over all other games I've ever played is in the storytelling and the imagination that the gamer can incorporate into the storyline.

Imagination, on the gamer's part, anyway, is seldom used in gaming anymore. All the character development and back-story is done for you, and you can jump right into the action, no thought required. But don't we live for the chance to make something our own? In both above titles, the gamer is not given every minute detail that occurred before we met the character. Instead, we are dropped in medias res, and we are almost forced to invent a background for the character. We are forced to lay the cement in which the rest of the plot will be built.

That is exactly what most games today lack: the imagination on the part of the gamer. I understand most people would rather play a game and not have to think, but when you get the chance to make anything your own, it immediately creates a bond that cannot be shattered by core game-play mechanics. It makes you attached to the game on a personal level, which makes the game ten times better than it already was.

Once a gamer, always a gamer. Games will always hold a special place for me, a place where you can escape and enjoy a story well told.

Maybe I play games a little too much. . . but why would I give up that one part of me that makes me who I am? Am I bad person because I play games more than advised? Am I any worse of a person? No. I still have friends, I still achieve good grades in school. I don't know about you, but I think I'm pretty well off.

And now I'm getting philosophical again. My apologies. If you actually read this far, thank you for biding your time with me. See you next time...