Book to Movie

I have always been an avid reader, and as always I enjoy going to see movies based on books. Sometimes I have read the book and have been gravely disappointing with the movie (My Sister's Keeper), other times I have read the book and have walked away from the movie saying that is the best anyone could have ever wanted from a movie based on a book (The Road; The Time Traveler's Wife).
Recently Disney decided to make movies based on the Narnia Chronicles. That was cool with me. I had seen some BBC production years before and enjoyed it greatly. I had a few complaints, but nothing that I couldn't get past. Disney made "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", while not as good as the BBC version, it was still good. It was better for the graphics, I must admit. Then Disney went on to make "Prince Caspian", I was fine with this movie, until the last 10 minutes (I have noticed the last 10 minutes break or make a lot of movies). At which point I was almost got kicked out of the theater for the outrage that spewed forth.
Now Disney has gone and done it again, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is coming out. Already I know some plot points are ruined, because of how they treated "Prince Caspian", but to add insult to injury Susan and Peter are in this atrocity.
I loved the Narnia Chronicles, I read them multiple times as a kid, I know how "Prince Caspian" works and what it means to the rest of the books that certain characters are represented when they should not be.
~Spoilers~
Let me explain the plot of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Edmund and Lucy are staying at their aunt's house, they have an obnoxious cousin, Eustace. He continues to be obnoxious until he is carried off by a dragon at one point. The older siblings have stopped believing in Narnia. This became apparent at the beginning of "Prince Caspian", when only Lucy could see Aslan. Susan is especially annoying about Narnia saying things like "Oh that old game we used to play".
Now much later in the books Susan being a...brat, yes we'll go with that, means much more about all of the religious "under"tones within the series. ~MAJOR SPOILER DO NOT READ IF YOU CARE~ They all die and go to the world that has cast the shadow (which is the world we live in/Narnia/etc) except Susan who wasn't on the train and did not really believe all that non-sense. This means she didn't believe in Jesus and when everyone died she did not go to heaven, get it? Ok so hear is the problem, if she loves someone in the "pretend" world, how does she justify herself when she begins to stop believing? Is it a jealousy thing because Prince Caspian ends up with the star princess, and not with Susan. In fact Susan should be in her teens or possibly her 20's during "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and several years have past since "Prince Caspian" which means Prince Caspian aged quite a bit more than the rest of them. Try that one on for size, what was originally a match of proper ages is now gross.
~End Spoilers~
With all this rewriting of a classic, I can't handle it I am refusing to go see the movie. Feel free to do the same.

An observation from a JC Student Lounge

So right now, as I write this, I'm sitting in the JC's student lounge. Prior to this day I had started noticing small things that differentiated JC from a CSU, today was proof of that.

A group of kids, I mean that when I say that, they are fresh from high school they are kids, were playing toss back...or hacky sac with a balloon. This on its own does not bother me, in fact I almost joined in. They were having fun, that's cool some juvenility should happen. Then out of no where (maybe I wasn't paying that close attention) one of the other kids in the room comes over grabs the balloon and yells "I'm putting an end to this!" and popped the balloon. I hate the sound of balloons popping so I jumped a bit.

Let's put this room into perspective, 90% of the people (the ages vary so I'll use a more broad term now) are playing Magic: The Gathering, or something similar (Yu-gi-oh etc). Some are on their computers playing games and listening to music. Most conversations are ones I'm used to, about his anime or this comic book or the last game of Dungeons and Dragons. I can participate in a lot of these conversations. I probably couldn't with the card games (never got into them really), but it isn't the games or the conversations, or even that a group of people will step outside every half hour and smoke for ten minutes (I don't know how many of these people are over 18 (most probably though)). What is important about this group is how they deal with issues, it is how they act about a situation. That is what is different. At the CSU there was juvenility, I won't deny that. In fact I was juvenile at one point, and very good at it thank you very much. Here though there seems to be a disconnect to the fact that they are in college, it is a JC I know, but what they do here is important to their future. Instead is feels like high school has continued. For having been to a 4-year college and then coming to a JC I feel like I went back to high school. I'm glad that I did not start here. I don't think I would have matured the same way.

As a follow up to my "Late Night Thoughts" Post I'll say this. I didn't keep my promise. I made friends. That is part of the reason of why I am in the Student Lounge. One of the guys that I LARP with occasionally is in a class and hangs out here.

OMG Helium! The kids are breathing in the helium from balloons now. I can say I have done this. This may be juvenile behavior, but it is practiced by a lot of people...I don't know why I'm surprised by this roomful of people doing it.

Back on subject. Like I said I didn't keep the, "make no friends" promise. It had to be changed to "make little friends" I have friends in almost every class now. I'm taking 4 classes. My first class of the week is the one with the guy from LARP, after that I have a couple of study partners, one of them I'm friends with. Tuesday and Thursday my first class is the only one I've kept from talking to people in. The second one I have a study group with.

And a guy dressed like the Joker just walked in. Fairly good make-up job too. I know it's the week before Halloween, but isn't that a bit early? Sorry that this post is all over the place this is what happens when I write about a room that I'm currently sitting in *sigh*.
Now I've been told a joke "What's the difference between Heath Ledger and Heath Ledger jokes?...Heath Ledger jokes can get old" *face palm* Ok I'm going to edit this later when I'm not sitting in the room I'm talking about.

Mis-informed posts

I would just like to say, everyone sometimes gets there facts wrong. I can accept that. I cannot accept a website claiming college degrees getting their information wrong. I stumbled upon a posting, a rather cool one, 50 banned books everyone should read. I agree read Banned books and from the ones I know on this list read them all. My problem with this list is:

"Gulliver’s Travels" by Jonathan Swift. Underlying themes in this famous work include political corruption, anti-war sentiments, and the injustices of colonization. It’s no wonder this book has been banned in several countries and Swift had to publish it anonymously.

That little bit italicized there, see that. It is wrong. Swift did not have to publish anonymously, he chose to make the book stronger. Yes he got tons of flack, but it was also a huge success. He was a satirist his job was to make people feel something about anything. He poked fun at our flaws, and he was good at it. Most people, the intelligent ones, saw it for what it was, satire. The ones who didn't where the same ones scandalized by "A Modest Proposal". Swift published "Gulliver's Travels" under the name Lemuel Gulliver. Which if you notice is the same name as the narrator/main character of the book. Hmm I wonder what statement he's trying to make.

I would also like to note that he published this during a time when the Travel narratives were very popular. People wanted to hear about far away lands. Swift gave them that and a look at there world through the eyes of an intelligent Yahoo.

By the way if you want to read the original post I do recommend many of the books on the list. It is a good list even if it is incorrect about some facts. If anyone is wondering why I think I have the authority to write this blog let it be known that my Thesis for my English degree was based around "Gulliver's Travels" I spent months researching it and the political situation surrounding it. If you chose to go to the site you'll also find a shorter version of this rant.

Late Night Thoughts

I know it isn't that late right now, at least not my time, but that doesn't mean I can't have thoughts. Anyway, lately I've been thinking about changes. Mostly because I went through some major ones this year. I walked, meaning I crossed the stage from undergraduate to graduate. I got the folder for my degree, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I do not have my degree. I am now going to a JC. The sudden shift from a 4-year college to a JC has been rather harsh. I learned a few things. High School does not prepare you for a JC it prepares you for college. JC does not prepare you for college it prepares you for graduate college. I'm saying this because for some reason JC has some weird ideas about what college is like. I had a professor Thursday tell the class that a friend of hers (who happens to teach at the 4-year college I went to) said that the students that come from the JC ask questions that the High School kids don't. This professor was complaining about it. In 4 years at college I never once had a professor even hint that if we came to office hours they wouldn't give us the time of day. Every single one of my professors insisted we come to office hours. In fact a few classes it was required that we have at least one meeting with the professor. So the idea of a professor having problems with us asking questions blew my mind. I wanted to raise my hand and argue the point. In fact I still feel like emailing the professor and saying something about it. Problem is I don't think it would matter.

Another thing that JC's have is the old high school clicks. I admit that the 4-year college had some clicks, especially the Greeks, but when it comes to the JC I feel like I'm on a High School campus. There is no shifting of political ground a group has an area staked out all semester, not just for that hour between class one and class three (when class two is in process but they don't have that class hour filled). There is absolutely no parking. I thought the 4-year was bad for parking, this is nothing compared to the JC's parking problem.

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss my 4-year college. At the 4-year college I couldn't cross the quad without running into someone I knew. At the JC I can spend an entire day wandering and not see a single person I know. My first day at the JC I had to go out of my way to see someone I knew (a friend's mom works in the counseling office). After that I met a few other people I knew by happenstance. Every time since then that I've seen them has been on purpose. I have to go out of my way to see friends. I miss the random encounters (pun intended) of the 4-year college. Even still I was at the 4-year for paperwork I was there barely 20 minutes and saw people I knew. Hours on JC campus and no one. No classes with friends (I almost did, but was wait listed, there wasn't enough room for me).

I started this semester with a goal of not making any new friends. It's surprisingly hard. I'm not counting the one person I was introduced to, we only say hi in the hall anyway. I've gone out of my way to not speak to anyone I don't already know, for those of you that know me IRL you know how difficult this actually is for me. I walked past a group of people talking about the Zelda cartoon and had to resist the urge to say "Excuse me Princess". I wonder how well my promise to myself would have held up if I had said it. I went to the game room, it was closed (thankfully or knowing me, new friends for me!).

What am I getting at? I'm learning, that's what. I am teaching myself how to deal with a new environment. I have plans to move to the other side of the country for my career, if I can't handle a change in scenery here, what makes me think I can handle moving to the East coast? I've never even been to the East coast. There it is, I'm afraid of not knowing someone. Me not knowing someone...anyone. I can't go anywhere without knowing someone. I've been in Hawaii and ran into people I knew, not just one person, but multiple people I knew. What if the East coast refuses me that? Sure I know a few people thanks to the Internet scattered around, Georgia, NC, Boston, and even DC. That isn't the same though. I will have to start over. Sure I'll have my boy friend (hopefully) with me, but other than that I'll have to find a new D&D group. Or a book club or Anime group. Do they even watch Anime over on the East coast like here in Cali? I have an odd sense of humor, will they get my jokes? I don't want to start over, I really don't. I will though, and now at least I know what I will have to face. I know how hard it will be at first to not know a single face in a crowd of people.
Goodnight...or whatever it is really when you read this.

Observations from Slience

I participated in "National day of Silence" on the 16 of April and learned something interesting. People take your choice to be silence oddly, the most popular way was people started whispering to me after I showed them the note explaining why I was choosing to be silent. One guy actually thanked me (he isn't gay either). I was questioned on my motives by another, and one guy seem actually annoyed that I was refusing to speak he said essentially that verbal communication was hard to talk without. I agree that yes verbal communication is key to having a conversation, unless you know sign language, but 95% (yes that's the actually percent I'm not making that one up) of communication is non-verbal. Part of that is inflection but a lot of it is body movements and facial expressions. At points I felt like I was doing an interpretive dance, I did have a notebook to convey important ideas across and luckily I didn't have class or work, but I had to go to the bank. They teller thought I was crazy (my sister was my interrupter for this exchange). He didn't say anything, didn't even ask why I wasn't talking, just took it. He made a face though, one of "are you really just being annoying or are you mute?" he still didn't ask. I thought maybe I should give him the note, I didn't for some reason and I wish I had because I think of everyone who whispered at me I might have made the biggest impression with him.
Verbal communication is important but so is empathy. Without empathy all nuances of conversation are lost and your social understanding is extremely stunted. People with Autism don't have what is called mirror neurons so they lack the ability to empathize with people. I'm not sure where I'm going with that or any of this other than the thought that whispering to people who are being silent for a cause seems like an odd, but common, reaction. If I hadn't have known about it and someone gave me the note I would have immediately shut up and pulled out a notebook and joined the cause...not whispered to them, because whispering is a show of support (<---sarcasm).

Trick or Treating: A life long lesson

I know it is December, not the time to be thinking about Halloween, but I am. I'm not thinking about Halloween itself but what it teaches us. I realized the other day that trick or treating is actually a life lesson disguised behind tradition and a mask. When we are young we go around knocking on strangers doors asking them for candy. We bounce on the balls of our feet while our parents make sure there isn't a needle or anything in our candy, which always seemed like a random acts of violence that never made much sense. If you are going to hurt someone, don't you want to see them in pain? Not the point though. After we get the all clear and binge on that sugary goodness we get sick. Our stomachs get very angry with us and we spend the next day rather sad. We still going tick or treating the next year though, but maybe this year we don't eat as much candy. Each year we get better and better about it until we eat a few pieces and then forget about the rest of the candy for most of the year.

How is this a lesson? We learn moderation. We learn that sometimes being a glutton is probably a really bad idea. How does this translate into our adult lives making it a life long lesson? It doesn't translate perfectly, but we have learned our limits for sugar. Later in life we turn 21 and drink for the first time. Some people remember this lesson from candy and drink heavily one or two times learning our limit for alcohol and then we are good. Or we don't even try to find our limit, we just enjoy a light drink here and there and are happy with that.

Moderation in everything, including moderation. The Greeks were hedonists, but they knew when the time was right to be a hedonist. They enjoyed life. That's the whole point. Being upset all the time does not make a good life, you need to enjoy the little things (in the words of Tallahassee) because someday that's all you may have. Are those moments of shear abandonment of our inhibitions when we just enjoy what is going on around us in that very moment. "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why it's called the present"

So we enjoy those pieces of candy (or glasses of wine) because life isn't meant to be taken sitting down. Stand up and shout for joy! Play in the rain (even if you break out in hives *sweatdrop*) Because that moment may be your last of smiling. Life is a wheel and you never know when you'll be on the bottom.

Not over

Everyday I think to myself, "what next?" I am constantly asking myself what am I to do next, sometimes the question is not really voiced because I know before I even ask. Like when class is or what not, or work starts. But "what next" when I ask that every night before I fall asleep I think, now I'll go to sleep and if God doesn't take me before I wake (like the old prayer I prefer the old one over the new version) I'll get up and follow my schedule like last week.
In the morning when I wake when I ask "what next" the answer is way more simple, take my shower, get dressed go to school (I work at school) and do whatever is required of me that day there be it class or work or both.

It's the times when I am sitting in the dark in my room thinking, writing, reading or just wondering in my thoughts (the ones that aren't really thinking) and the question "what next" comes up that I panic the most.

What is next? Grad school...marriage...work...family...work....little bit of pleasure...family...work...pay bills and so on and so on and so on. It's never over, until there is a short paragraph about me in the newspaper. What does that little paragraph matter? Is that all we really leave? I don't actually want kids so no genetic imprint from me in the future unless for some freak reason I don't marry the love of my life and end up in some dead end relationship with a guy that I don't want to be with and just have kids to keep me sane and to give me an excuse on Friday nights to stay at home? I don't want that. I want to mean something, but I don't want it to be me that means something. I want something I say to stick and spread like wildfire. I don't want to be the "i like turtles" kid. I want there to be depth in what I say. I want some poor college student 50 years from now groan when the teacher says they'll be reading a book from Leslie Diamond that semester. I want the kid next to that kid hop up and shout "yes". Problem is I am no where good enough to write a story that causes someone to cry with joy and all the while tear apart my story down to the color of the car.

So what is next? I write my NaNoWriMo and disappear into obscurity? It isn't a story for schools. In fact since it has magic it'll be banned from some schools. That's something that makes me smile. It'll be controversial. No one will be watching their mail boxes for a letter on their 11th birthday because of my book. Maybe someone will go to my favorite restaurant (the characters in my book visit it a few times...actually a lot of plot is developed there just like my real life). It'd be nice if people went there, so far those who read my blog don't live close enough except for one person and I know he goes so I'm not going to bother putting the name of the restaurant here.

So what's next? I get published...maybe...probably not. I know the story isn't that good. I can try. I did once before. It's nigh impossible for a new writer to break into the scene though, so should I even try? Why do I keep writing if I don't try or plan on trying? I don't know I just do.

So what's next? I keep writing. I keep going about my boring routine and while I do I'll leave a few marks behind and someone in the future long after I'm gone will know the name Leslie Diamond (and maybe even my real name) and they'll say, "She was brilliant. I wonder what her inspiration was?" That person doesn't know but they are.

So here is to you future, it's not over yet! I'll see you soon and when we meet I'll have some ideas for you. Hope you're ready for me, because I'm ready for you.

Without a doubt

Without a doubt I have nothing to say.
I wish I did have something to say.
I wish that I could just get in a car and drive off into the sunset for a bit and find something to do, but I can't. Responsibilities keep me here and now. With a ridiculous amount of pages to read for a class and over 1000 words to type for NaNo tonight I can't. That all doesn't matter though because I'm doubting everything right now. When I say everything I mean almost everything. I wonder how much certain things are worth it right now. I wonder if I'm really happy. I wonder if I'm going in the right direction in life. Just because I've had it planned out perfectly for years doesn't mean it is what is actually good for me. Suddenly something feels very very wrong and I can't explain it.
Tonight I'm going to go out and eat, enjoy myself a bit and try just try to figure out what is wrong.