Christmas In Canada

So I'm here in Canada, for a Christmas at my Grandma's house with relatives. The trip was nice, and we got here in the early afternoon. I love to come here for the holidays, but there is one little problem. The computer I am using right now runs along at a steady 50kps with a dialup connection. The computer still runs Windows XP. And the browser I'm using? An old version of Internet Explorer. I doubt it has been updated for a very long time. So I'm trying to write a blogpost without spellcheck. Awesome. I was locked out of Facebook after not answering the questions correctly, but I'll try again in half an hour. Hopefully it will work, but there is no guarantee there. Actually, there is a very real possibilty that I won't be able to get back on a computer while I'm here. Sure, the seperation will be hard at first, but I'll get used to it eventually.

But here's the deal: I know exactly what is going to happen. By the morning I'll have completely forgot the internet and I'll be completely adjusted to the style here. This is the only time a year I'm able to see my relatives and it is indeed precious. And then there's the whole deal of being in a different, yet more civilized country. Everything from the difference in accents to the snow on the ground: it's clear that I'm not in Iowa anymore (yeah, I know, I'm a genius). Honestly, it's really nice to be back.

Pride

I want to start off this post (or discourse, if you like) about pride, by blaming society. I really want to do so because it would be easy, and I could take a safe, third person perspective. But that wouldn't be right, because of all problems, one that almost everyone suffers with just a little bit is pride.

Although when you think of “Pride”, the first thing that comes to mind might be the fact that it is considered one of the “Seven Deadly Sins”. Now that being said, pride is not necessarily bad. For example, we can take pride in our allegiance to our nation (Canada for the win!), and we can take pride in doing good work. If I do something well, then I enjoy being acknowledged, and I am in return more than willing to acknowledge others. But this only goes to a point. To become too prideful ventures into the territory of being vain. Being humble means to go without praise or acknowledgment, and to do it willingly without any hesitation. Yet being humble is a very, very difficult thing to do because it relies more on one's attitude than one's words.

Part of the reason that rampant pride seen everywhere is that, since birth, we have been raised with the general notion that we can do what ever we put our minds to. Basically, the main thing holding us back is ourselves. Now this might be partly true, for as the saying goes "being a good programmer is 3% talent and 97% not being distracted by the internet". But at the same time, very often it is not mentally possible. Yes, mentally. The culture says that the mind has control over matter; basically, if we work really hard then something has to happen. But this leads us to having a false self-discipline. It's the same logic put to work in addictions; if one really wanted to stop, then they could. So we undertake tasks that are extremely difficult, and we fail. Usually it's our own fault, either we were not motivated or not disciplined enough. It's okay, the world moves on. But the false idea is in our head that we could have done it, if we had really tried. It just wasn't worth the effort. It can even become amusing to think about, actually. Failing again and again, but still not realizing the problem. Part of it might be that you just aren't cut out for it, but more likely than not a large portion of the problem is pride. If something doesn't come easy, then it isn't worth expending the energy to do it. Although we could, if we wanted. In our minds we have control, but yet really, we don't.

The following is an excerpt from C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters"

You must therefore conceal from the patient the true end of Humility. Let him think of it not as self-forgetfulness but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character. Some talents, I gather, he really has. Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be. No doubt they are in fact less valuable than he believes, but that is not the point. The great thing is to make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth, thus introducing an element of dishonesty and make-believe into the heart of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue. By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools.

If you were to ask me, I would say that it is the most prevalent form of false humility. It's not very often that you find someone so conceited that they openly boast about their many accomplishments all of the time. No, it is more likely that he would say it in a humble sort of way, not calling much attention to himself at all. But the thing is, though the outward appearance appears to be quite humble, inside that person is taking great pride in their humility. For they believe that they are in fact much better than what they described, but by not elaborating too much they have achieved humility. But the problem is in the mind. They still think that they are amazing at this sort of thing or that. By not talking about it all the time, the pride is only puffed up more and more. Take a personal example. Back in the day, when I was new to the Internet, I tried out some image-editing software, including the industry standard: Photoshop. I didn't actually do much with it, deeming it too complicated I settled for the simpler Paint.net. But you see, I still had it in my head that if I wanted to use Photoshop and do amazing things, I could. So when I saw other people edit images, I was a bit presumptuous. If all they did was raise one bar really high and call it good, then I was a bit arrogant when it came to my thoughts about that. Now this is silly because I was placing my skill above others just because I had the ability to use a program, even though I actually didn't use it. Now, it's true that since then I have done some rhotoscoping with some video-editing software, which is arguably more difficult and tedious. But the point is that I was arrogant in my mind about something I couldn't even do, though I wouldn't have actually said anything about it.

Except for a bit of a disclaimer at the beginning, I've portrayed pride as mostly a negative attribute. And at that, one that only effects one's attitude. But there is much more to pride than that. To have no pride in things can often be quite bad. Take for example peopling renting an apartment. Because they don't own it themselves, they are going to be a lot less responsible when it comes to taking care of things and making sure their animals don't make messes everywhere(assuming that the apartment allows, which some landlords found out too late can often be a bad idea). Or, think about government handouts. When money is given to you for essentially doing nothing, you are not going to be as responsible with it as you would be if you earned that money yourself.

Pride and Prejudice Is Finished

After having a week full of dress rehearsals and performances, Pride and and Prejudice is at last completely finished. And though I suffer with this every year, I would never think that I would find it so difficult to let it go. I was never extremely excited for the play. I knew that just being with friends would be fun, but I had the idea that the play itself would end being so....So.... Awesome. Out of all the Marion Homeschool plays I've been in, Pride and Prejudice comes out on top, by far.

Which is actually kind of weird, considering the process by which I got to this point. I detested the dancing, and my entire philosophical outlook on life is contrary to the entire point of the play. I didn't expect much of the play, and for most of the practices that's what I got. It was cool being with friends, sure, but not amazing. Then came the week of dress rehearsals. Suddenly, everything was made real. We were no longer just a bunch of kids coming together to make a play. No, we were exactly what Mrs. Flatland wanted us to be: a team. From the eighth graders to the twelfth graders, we came together as one sentient being.

We were determined and focused, yet at the same time still relaxed. Let me tell you what I have no doubt will become one of my favorite stories to tell about the play. Besides my two dances, my main scene is one in which I play the card game whist in the background (fancy, eh?). At the second performance I was sitting at my table behind the curtain, waiting for the curtain to pull back and for my scene to come. And a minute or two before the appointed time, what happened? Mrs. Flatland, the director of the play, sat down on an adjoining chair and played a game of Crazy Eights with me (I won of course, but she beat me the next night). This struck me as so (excuse me for overusing the word) amazing. Instead of pulling the normal director routine of walking around agitated and anxious, our director was relaxed enough to use that valuable time playing a card game. Pretty cool.

And finally there was the cast party. After being super hyper most of Saturday afternoon, in the evening I got to settle down and become even more hyper. The cast party is yet one more place that I found evidence that we were indeed a team, even after the play was finished. In previous years people who knew each other well would hang out in groups and plays games, while the other people would just stand around a bit more awkwardly. Not so this year. There was a good fifty people at that cast party, and yet I could not find anyone not having a good time. That was just the kind of cast we were.

"Kind of cast we were". I guess I'm starting to acknowledge that the play is done. It certainly doesn't feel like that way. I wouldn't feel odd at all to show up next Tuesday for play practice as if nothing happened. But yet it has. So much has happened. If just a few little things had went wrong, the play would not be the amazing experience that I will forever remember it as. What if there had been no Rumpus Butterfly? What if I hadn't decided to go to the cast party? WHAT IF I HAD LOST MY CLAVICLE AND DIED? But those things didn't happen, and Pride and Prejudice will forever be awesome. In fact, I'm not even sure if next year's play (Shakespeare), will be able to hold up to the standard which Pride and Prejudice set. I dearly hope so. Also, a lot of the people who were in the play are also in Mock Trial. I can assure you that I can't wait for that :)

Halloween Must DIE

Last year when I had only begun blogging I made a post about Halloween. Basically the gist of it is that I think Halloween is a stupid holiday and that entertainment centered around fear is kind of dumb. Now I must admit it was a bit rough; I hardly ever, EVER use the words dumb and stupid. I think that there are usually much better words to convey my thoughts. But as you can see, I had made an exception in that case because I felt so strongly about the subject. I figure this post will be very similar to the one I wrote last year, though perhaps with a more amiable tongue.

When you first think of Halloween, what comes to your head? Trick or treat? Pumpkins? Gore, blood, and grotesque things of all shapes and sizes? No matter how much we might want for Halloween to be simply the time of year where strangers give out free candy, I'm sure you are familiar enough with the history of Halloween to know that it cannot stay restrained to putting on costumes and getting candy. I mean seriously, around this time I dread going into stores because I know that there will be tons of downright disgusting displays absolutely everywhere. I don't know about you, but disembodied body body parts really aren't appealing to me. Neither are skeletons, skulls, ghosts, witches, werewolves, etc. Do we really need a holiday glorifying such things?

I'm not saying that dressing up and going around town to get candy is bad (in fact, I bet it would be more fun as a teenager with friends than as a little kid). I just think that the entire holiday is flawed, and I am sensing no change towards the better. To the contrary, it seems to get drearier and drearier every year. Of course, it is possible that things are staying the same and I and as I get older I only began to see how wrong it is, but I digress. The entire "fear as entertainment thing" must be the first to go. Perhaps if I saw a shift away from the grotesqueness that so fills Halloween these days I might suppose that it is possible that there is a shred of hope for the holiday.

But, even if Halloween is indeed as flawed as I believe it is, would getting rid of it even help at this point? After all, even if Halloween is a partial root for all of this creepy nonsense at this time of year, it is ridiculous to assume that those things would wither away if Halloween was to die. And in the process, the only innocent part of Halloween (the candy) would also be gone. Many children live perfectly good lives without ever going trick or treating, but I must say that I'm sure that many families have pleasant memories of such things. But if it was likely that the atmosphere would change as a result, then I would be all for the removal of the holiday. However, as I have previously stated, it is not. Halloween, though I might like to shovel blame on it, is not the problem. It is what we make of it. Although the title of this post is "Halloween must DIE", the DIE part is mostly because I couldn't resist inserting it into the title. What Halloween really needs is a new direction. I hear that as some people begin to get the foolish impression that they have outgrown getting candy. Such thinking is of course preposterous, but the point is that when people get older I (think) that as a replacement Halloween centers more around costume parties than trick or treating. I of course have no idea if that is the right sort of direction that holiday should go or not, but I'm just mentioning it. Because I can. And no one can stop me. Ever. So to sum up, not everything is bad about Halloween, but some parts are beyond repair. Will I continue to boycott it anyway? Sure. But that's because I'm not a very logical fellow.

My Life

I was thinking about life again. I don't know about you, but as a teenager when I think about life, I think about the future. What college I will go to. What job I will get. If I can manage to move back to Canada before the U.S. economy completely explodes. All important things to be sure, but I realized that it isn't often that I think about my early childhood. Except for the occasional wave of nostalgia, I never really try to remember it that often. That is why I am taking this opportunity to write a bit of a record of my life before I moved to Iowa. The real reason for this post is actually not for me to remember right now, though that is nice. No, it's for for the future. I remember many aspects of my childhood fairly clearly now, but will that always be the case? After all, many others are beginning to get fuzzy. I would hate to lose those memories.

I was born in Quito, Ecuador, where my parents were missionaries. We left when I was two years old, so sadly I have no memory of the trip at all. We moved to Pinawa, Manitoba, my dad's hometown. We lived there for a couple of years, and because I was still pretty young I remember very little. Then we moved to Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. Actually, it is more complicated than that. Technically we lived just outside the Osgoode Township, which (somehow) was part of the city of Ottawa, though we were technically a thirty minute drive away. I still don't really understand all of it though; it was kind of confusing.

As a young child I was actually kind of normal. I enjoyed sports, and I was decent in them. I only played competitively once (little league baseball), but I liked playing pick-up sports with friends. It wasn't until I was 8 years old or so that I started playing video games: a shiny Gameboy Advance. I was a very social person back then, playing with friends whenever possible. Now the thing is that it wasn't always possible, so I didn't actually hang out with friends as often as I would have liked. I wasn't involved in many activities except AWANA and Church, so I was at home a lot. My father had constructed what we called "the play structure" in our back yard. It was a two-story playhouse surrounded by a giant sandbox. The first floor consisted of a counter and a bench. To reach the second floor you had to climb a wooden ladder. At the top there was a deck surrounding an inner room which had shingles and a steering wheel, effectively making the entire structure a giant imaginary ship. To exit the play structure there was a fireman's pole, a yellow slide, and a zip line. The zip line was a later addition, and I can tell you right now it was awesome.

Because we lived in a very rural area, there was a large wood behind our house; a place which I enjoyed exploring. Each of the children in my family: me, my older sister, younger brother found a small section of the wood which we could safely claim as "ours". Mine was a small clearing, perhaps a 12x12 (in feet) square . There was a nice large boulder in my section, which I rested my sticks on. Oh, my sticks. I had two primary ones, I believe. A long thin one (I recall it resembling a spear), and one that was nice and sturdy; yet not too bulky. I loved that stick.

We had dial-up internet, and for some reason we were limited to only using 20 hours a month. This time was usually used to quickly find a game we could download and play offline. Of course, there was one game I played on the internet. It's a little thing called Neopets, an online virtual word where you can take care of virtual pets. The silly thing? It's pretty awesome. It has a fully functional economy with a stock market, various trading centers, an ingenious full-fledged battling system, thousands upon thousands of items, hundreds of games (most of the games were short flash ones, but they do have two RPGs that are each a good 25 hours long). When I had a chance I would sometimes play on library computers. I actually didn't play much when I was young, but I did end up playing that game a lot later in jr. high and early highschool, so it does have significance.

We had relatives, though we hardly ever visited them. The family on my Dad's side lived in the general surrounding area of Pinawa, Manitoba, which if you have good memory skills is where I lived for a few years when I was three and four. This was a three-day drive from where I lived, so I think we only ended up visiting them three or four times (though ironically, after moving to Iowa, we are now only a 1.5 days away, so we visit them every Christmas) . The family on my mom's side live in Oregon, and the last time I visited them was when I was two years old.

Although it wasn't for a few years that I picked a favorite hockey team, when I decided to choose the Toronto Maple Leafs (who are still my favorite team, by the way) it was solely because when I first watched them playing on television, they were wearing white. So I figured that they were the good guys. Now this put me in quite a spot with everyone else I knew. You see, the cities Toronto and Ottawa have always had a bit of a rivalry. For while Ottawa is the capital of Canada, Toronto is the capital of Ontario, the province which both reside in. This rivalry eventually found its way to sports. While Ottawa has the Ottawa Senators, Toronto has the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thus it was quite uncommon for people living in Ottawa (kind of) to be supporting Toronto's hockey team.

I've been homeschooled all my life, but we didn't have much in the way of homeschool assistance programs in Canada. For one year there was a thing called CHEER, but I have almost no memory of it because it was soon discontinued. All I remember is that it was at held at our church for some reason, and that I did some sort of French thing. But I was maybe six years old, so not much was really taught. A few years later a few families would get together once a week and I think we played chess, or something? And I vaguely remember there being some sort of science part of it as well.... But I never really had any real classes ; it was mostly just a few people hanging out.

To come to a climax of this story, when I was 10 we moved to Iowa, and from there I became the boring and pessimistic teenager I am today. So I looked through this post again after the rough draft (hehe, I have time for those now that I'm not in a competition), and I noticed that though the rough draft was filled with some pretty cool stuff, while in the completed version there is tons of boring things added in. Oh well. Also, I found that my writing style was really, really repetitive. But I'm too lazy to correct that.

If I Die Young

A song that I have found particularly haunting and thought provoking is "If I Die Young", by The Band Perry.


If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh, uh oh

Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I've had, just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life well
I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white when I come into Your Kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger,
I've never known the loving of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand
there's a boy here in town says that he'll love me forever
Whoever thought forever could be severed by

The sharp knife of a short life oh Well,
I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
what I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts,
Oh no,
I'll sell em' for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
and maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singing
funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)

The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

Press "Read more" to read my thoughts on the song (I didn't want to mess up the home page with a super lengthy post)

The Pear Dilemma

Between the towns of Lisbon and Mount Vernon, there is a bike path on the shoulder of the road connecting the two towns. Finding that route most convenient, I've biked down this path several times in the last few days when I had things to attend to in Mount Vernon. But you see, there is a nice large pear tree hanging over the head of anyone who might pass by. And as one would expect, a few pears have fallen onto the path. One pear in particular sits right side up in the middle of the path, daring any passerby to eat just a bite.

Now I'll admit, you probably have no idea why I'm referring to this as a "dilemma".  After all, who considers eating a pear off of the ground, especially when there are plenty of other ones right above it still on the tree? (We won't get into the ethical ramifications of stealing pairs off of trees) But sadly, I have no concept of "germs". So this wayward pear looked, quite frankly, quite tasty. Remember that ever time I come across this pear I've usually been biking for awhile, so if not tired I'm at least a little hungry. What better way to satisfy this most basic of human needs than by eating a conveniently placed pear?

After I pass the pear, I notice another one just a few feet past it, with a chunk missing (probably from animals) and inside it was all rotten. Do I gamble on the hope that the other pear is perfectly fine to eat, or do I take heedence from the rotten pear, and just leave it alone. To tell you the truth, I would like nothing more than to take just a small bite of that pear. Just a tiny one. If underneath the skin it was perfectly fine, I would continue to eat the entire pear, for surely no one else would want it. And if it was indeed rotten, I would spit out what I had eaten, and throw the pear away.

Yet each and every time I ride my bike past this pear, and I don't even look back. Now the not looking back part might be for safety reasons (Safety? What?),  but the pear stays in my mind. It takes hold of it, in fact. My mind urges my body to turn around my bike and try the pear. After all, the worst thing that could happen is it that I have a bad taste in my mouth for a moment or two. I know that I would quickly forget the possibly awful taste, and I know that surely allowing my curiosity to be sated would be worth it. Or would it? Or is that the point of the Dilemma of the Pear? To see if I can allow myself to act on my curiosity?

Well, this is kind of random. But you know what? That's okay. AND IT COUNTS ABBY. Oh wait, what? We aren't in the competition anymore and I don't have to be worried about the size or quality of my posts? Cool.

Highschool Yearbooks And Me

I was in the eye doctors office recently, and I saw that as reading material in the waiting area there were several Mount Vernon High School yearbooks. I had read some of them before, because my sister, who graduated form Mount Vernon, had of course received several. But this time the experience was slightly different. It was a portal to a different time. People I know that are know about to graduate from college, I now see them when they were the same age of me. It's weird. Yet I know that I will never have the same experience, because I won't have a highschool yearbook. Instead, I will be forced to make my memories be the substitute for a hardcover book filled with pictures. Or is it the other way around? Are those books actually a substitute for memories, in case they are forgotten?

But then this got me thinking about highschool. I am, as you surely know, a junior. In two years I will be in college. By all accounts I should have this "teenage" thing down. And yet, I'm so unteenager like. Now I am not so proud that I don't recognize that this is actually quite common. There are thousands upon thousands of teenagers that are very similar to me. But what about the teenagers kept inside the pages of these yearbooks? How do I compare to them?

One of the sections which highlights several "trendy" things, such as shoes and scarves,  said "Trendiness is something of a priotey in today's world, especially in highschool.". If you know me at all, I am not at all trendy. I cannot tell you a single instance where I cared how I looked or smelled. Now this MIGHT be a reason that most people can only bare to socially interact with me over the internet, but I can't say for certain. I don't know, I see "trendy" things as kind of a waste of time. Style? I have none. This is partly because I'm a guy, but also partially because of my personalty.

And then there is the subject of money. Another section said "It's as though ever high school student has the same problem no matter who they are. They just don't have enough money to do the things that should be done in highschool". The section goes on to show pictures of students with 500 dollar guitars and 100 dollar shoes. I found this particularly humorous because in the same trip that we went to the eye doctor, we also went to the bank, And that morning I had decided to deposit 200 dollars in my college fund not because I was some super saver, but because the money was just lying around my room. My dresser, my desk, on top of some books, just lying around. Money from my birthday, various allowances from previous months, and dog sitting money. I could have used it on stuff if I wanted, but I could not think of anything that I especially wanted at the moment. Or anything I needed, anyway. Now this is not because I'm some self disciplined person (very far from that, actually) but because I'm so unteeneager like. As I thought about it, even though the section presented quite a few things that teens spend their money on, I had personally never spent money on any of the things. Not school lunches, pop, gas, make up (I hope not, anyway), cell phones athletic equipment, I just didn't use any of that stuff (except school lunches, but because they are usually leftovers I don't have to pay for them. And I guess I would have to pay for gas once I can drive). Now it is true that the reason for this is that I don't do a lot of *normal* teenager activities. Instead I stay home on the computer. It might be looked down upon by others, but it's cheap.

There was yet another section about things that a teen could not live without. I am pleased to say that I proved this incorrect, for I am still breathing. One line that particularly caught my section went like this "Not many students would be able to live without cell phones". In previous posts I've already vented about why I don't like cell phones, but as I kept on reading through quotes from students I became more and more depressed. Almost every quote about what a student needed to survive included cell phones. Really? Are they THAT important to you? Of course, if you asked me the same question regarding the internet, I would most likely do something incredibly violent. Good stuff.

And then there's prom. Now if you know me at all, you probably know that I refuse to abandon the thinking that girls have cooties. Yeah, typical homeschooler. Sorry about that. But because of that thinking, unless my values radically change in the two years I have left in highschool, I will never go to a prom, homecoming, or any other sort of "dance" thing. Not that I couldn't if I wanted to. The Marion Homeschool has several alternatives, and if I wished I could go to a school one if I went with someone I know who goes there. Now I'm not going to go into my anti-romance speech, but proms kind of seem childish to me. Eh. Besides, I hear that the only reason that most teenagers go anyway is for post prom. But still, I cannot stand the thought of dancing with a (gasp!) girl. I much prefer my broom. Some might think that I am joking, but anyone in the play knows otherwise. Seriously, it seems torturous,

So I've pretty accurately described why and how I am different from the average public schooled teenager. Now what is the point of all of this? Well, I'm beginning to wonder if there is one. This is kind of self centered, yes, I know. And I realize that very few people are the stereotypical teenager presented in those yearbooks. Also, many homeschoolers which are the people I hang out with the most, usually aren't stereotypical either. But, I wonder what sort of memories my highschool experiences will hold? Now that I have thoroughly presented how I am so radically different from the teenagers in those yearbooks, how can I know what the yearbook which will be my memories will be like? Life is weird. Also, this has nothing to do with anything, but as a side note I had to mention this. In some of the yearbooks whoever did the image editing did not know how to get rid of the background correctly for individual photos of people. 'Nuff said.

Principle of the Path

Recently I borrowed Principle of the Path, a book by Andy Stanley, from Abby. You might recall that she once blogged about this book, available here. When I first had a chance to look at the book, and read a few things from the jacket, I must admit that I was a bit hesitant. Although I already returned the book, and thus I am not able to directly quote it, the book was saying things along the lines that reading the book was a sure-fire way to help my children become obedient and for my marriage to be better. Oh. Okay. Despite it's claims to the other, it was looking like it would be a self help book. Despite this, I dug in anyway.

The Principle of the Path is defined as "Direction - not intention - determines your destination". What this means is that no matter how much you intend for your life to end up one way, say to live the American dream, if you don't make good decisions your intentions will do nothing for you. Now this might seem as common sense, and in fact Andy wondered if it was so obvious that there was no need for him to write about it. But the thing about common sense is that it actually isn't that common.

And it is this concept that Andy explores throughout the book. The thought that we are all on a path, a path that has a destination. But these paths, though they are numerous, have been trodden on by many others before us. And no matter how different these people are, they all reach the same destination. The point of the book is that we need to learn from others who have already traveled down their path. Andy refers to this as the "road maps" of others. Those who are wiser than us and have more experience. Now this, yet again, seems to be common sense. After all, who doesn't attempt to learn from others? Well, we do. Or, as Andy pointed out, we do the same thing as Rehoboam, who disregarded the wise advice of his royal advisers and instead followed the advice of young men who were no farther on the path than he. Now, this is a point that I slightly dispute. I believe that there is much we can learn from our peers. But still, it is the nature of teenagers to think such. After all, I think pretty much everyone can attest to the foolish arrogance that we are prone to posses.

So was I eternally changed as a result of this book? Not especially. Would I recommend this book? Of course. We all need to learn how to be intentional in what we do. To recognize that we are on a path, whether we like it or not. And that path has a definitive destination, whether we like it or not. Just because I want to be a hermit doesn't mean I automatically become one. I need to take the necessary steps, such as shun society and find a nice cave somewhere. Preferably with cake.

I did promise cake, didn't I?

The Competition Is Over

On April 19th, a blogging competition began between myself and Abby. There were a few rules and guidelines, such as that every day a post must be made, if you knew ahead of time that you could not be on the computer you could do posts ahead of time to make up, and the post actually had be about something, not "I BLOGGED HA!!!!". It has been almost four months since then, over ONE HUNDRED DAYS, and we have kept up more or less diligently. I must admit, there were three days where I did not blog, but the competition went on anyway. Sadly, my opponent has now thrown in the towel. It's all over. I am not forced to write a post every single day anymore. Kind of feels nice.

Now most likely this won't be the end for forever. Once we have a few months to recharge, It is very likely that we will resume a new competition. I probably will post every now and then between then, but not nearly as frequently. I think I'll enjoy my vacation as I do best, by goofing off :)

It was great everyone, see you later!

Writing Trash

I'm writing my story, and I've come to a point where I don't know what to do. So I need to write SOMETHING, quickly. I'm tempted to just wrote absolute trash with an extremely low amount of work put into it. Meaningless stuff, just to put the word count up. Filler where filler has never gone before. This competition is about quantity above quality, right? But for some reason, I can't forsake what I have done so far. Already the quality isn't very good, just doing so much of it every single day. But I know that other people will be reading this story, and even though I will preface it a thousand times that this is an experiment and the writing won't be very good, I can't just become a machine. My writing isn't very good to begin with, I can't make it worse. So will I be doomed to make every section reasonable to read? I guess. I would hate to waste time if it really was just misspelled word after misspelled word, run on sentences, and prolific use of commas (oh wait, I do that anyway).

I ran into the same problem with blogging. Some of my posts aren't very good, that is obvious. But I've tried to keep a standard, always have so much amount of content and make it worth reading. Remember back in June when I was writing seven posts on the weekends EVERY weekend? Well on the very last weekends that I had to do that, I only wrote five posts, thus I got behind in the competition two more posts. I only had a few minutes, and I could think of literally NOTHING to write about. So I conceded those two posts. Sure, I could have written short little things about junk, but I didn't. I don't want to waste the time of those reading my blog.

Chain Mail

It all began with chain mail as in actual mail; letters. But in todays culture that is uncommon, it is all over the internet. Like those annoying messages that some people (you know who I am talking about) always decide to forward to everyone they even remotely know. Although amusing (and often more so when you think how actual people actually fall for this stuff) chain emails are usually a waste of time. I hate to tell you this, but I kind of am aware that even if I don't forward this mail I'm not going to die a gruesome death like all of those examples you presented. And in any case, if it does happen it will all be for science, so I can be rest assured that my death would not be in vain.

But much more common is facebook chain messages. They feature some sort of message that assures you that only a small percentage of people will stand up for what they believe and re-post this message so that more and more people are infinitely annoyed. Although some present good points, I usually avoid them mostly because of the principle of it. But there is one that I saw recently that was rather depressing

We all have at least 100 friends on Facebook, but when it comes to needing a friend how many will actually be there? I can guarantee not even 15 friends will like this status. Like this status if you will be there for me. Set this as your status to see which friends will be there for you

By itself there is nothing depressing about it, just your run-of-the-mill chain status. I expected for there to be tons of people commenting "i love u (insert name here)" (notice how I have resigned myself to the belief that the rest of the youth population on this planet do not know how to spell?). But there was not a single like. Not a single one. I think I should probably do it now, if no one else will. But really, that's just sad.

And then there are some chain statuses that parody chain statuses. And usually, these are really, really funny. One I recently re-posted was

PLEASE post this as your status if you know someone who has been eaten by Penguins. Penguins are nearly unstoppable and, when hungry, also breathe fire. 71% of people won't copy this into their status because they have already been eaten by Penguins. Another 28% won't because they are hiding in their showers with fire extinguishers awaiting the coming Penguinapocalypse. The remaining 1% are awesome and will re-post.

Now that is the exact opposite of all the other chain statuses. Really, I can't help but laugh at this one.

But chain messages on facebook are not limited to statuses. One slightly more productive method is chain notes. You answer several questions about yourself and tag a few friends. A nice side effect of this is that people get to know you better. I of course have the belief that it would be best if they, oh, I don't know, got to know you in real life. But still, I don't especially find these annoying. It is a good way for me to practice my skills as a stalker. But really, these aren't that bad. Because of the way society is set up, we can learn more about a person by simply reading a quiz than having actual conversation. Still, I have never made a not, though I was close a few times. I guess it is the whole "principle of the thing". And also the fact that many quizzes focus on love lives, and I don't care about that sort of thing. Except my companion cube.

All The Time In The World

Remember the Humble Indie Bundle I talked about awhile back? Well I have actually refrained from buying it yet. And they've been adding even MORE indie games to it. So not counting the ones I already have, I would be getting seven new games. It ends tomorrow, so I should probably get on that. Why haven't I bought yet? I didn't want it to suck my time. As I'm sure you know, I've been on the computer an outrageous amount of time the last few weeks of this summer. I seriously haven't exercised or taken care of my personal hygiene for quite some time. Video editing, watching tutorials for video editing, watching amateur films to get a feel for video editing, 3d animation, surfing the internet, blogging, watching anime, the list goes on. But the most important thing I should be doing is writing for Camp NaNoWriMo. And of course, I am way behind schedule. So what would happen if I throw seven new games into that mix? I can tell you, the result most likely won't be pretty. But with all this free time I have it should be easy for me to allot a few hours for writing and then just goof off for the rest of the day. I guess because it is so early in the competition I have yet to feel the full terror of a deadline approaching.

I really need to gain more time management skills. One would think that it would merely be exercising discipline. But lo and behold, the minutes whiz by before I can even see them. You know the phrase "time flies when you are having fun"? My entire day is filled with constant "fun" entertainment, so it goes by really quickly.

The good news? The video editing is going swimmingly. Explosions of an epic magnitude, dust clouds, bullet holes, they are all there. But although I'm having fun with it, I know that I need to replace some of that with writing. Maybe I will force myself to do minimal special effects tomorrow? What a dreadful though....

My Writing Is Going Slow

You know how I mentioned Camp NaNoWriMo before? Well, we are a week into it and I am far behind the pace. I should be at 11k, and I am merely at 6k. Sad. Although I know that I am going to finish, not doing so is not an option. The only question is how much catching up, and how miserable it will be, I will have to do later. My particular story is about a young French boy in the early 18th century who's father is fighting in one of the Napoleonic wars. His mother then dies and he is forced to live in an orphanage. The simple seed of the idea was given to me by Ryan in exchange for me suggesting something for his novel. Actually, the original seed did not mention what war it was and where and when this took place. So at first I placed it in the civil war. But, it was not to long before I changed the scene to France. I think that part of the reason for this is because all of the last three novels of note I have read/have been reading took place in France (Les Miserable, The Stranger, The Count of Monte Christo). So perhaps I was more fit to take on their culture.

The protagonist of the novel is a nine year old boy by the name of Victor. Although in many ways I modeled him after myself (enjoys solitude, is considering being a hermit, like running around in the rain, has no artistic ability) one thing is clearly different; he's a philosopher. Yup, at the age of nine. See, I tried a style similar to in Les Miserable; instead of devoting every second to the story itself I am free to discuss philosophy whenever I want. It makes great filler material.

I have been having some difficulty with this novel because obviously, it's not going to be very exciting. The chance of an action scene is very, very low. Though this temporarily disheartened me, in reality this is a very good thing. It is forcing me to write differently than I normally do and thus expand on my ability.

Television

Television. One of the most common source of entertainment and, also one the largest time wasters that our culture has to offer. I watch TV every now and then, but not a real lot. I'm mostly on the internet, which is also a common source of entertainment and time wasting. But we won't get into that. Anyway, most of the time spent watching TV is wasted. Pure and simple. We might laugh or cry, but are we really being engaged? Not especially, our minds aren't given time to let our imaginations work. Honestly, what do you gain from watching a reality show? Not much, I can tell you that. Yet we are entertained. Instead of making our mind do the hard work of thinking, we give it a break and let a show do the thinking for us. We aren't even usually given the choice to share feedback, like we would while watching a youtube video or something. This doesn't mean that TV is bad, necessarily. Many documentaries are engaging, intriguing, and education in a way that the information will stick with us. And I can't help but crack a smile when watching old retro shows like "The A Team", "Knight Rider", and "Leave it to Beaver".

As you most likely know, I enjoy anime. Isn't that a cartoon? Well, yes it is. But it is on the computer, so I am able to pause the video when ever I like (which is usually extremely often, it can take me an hour and a half to watch a 30 minute video because I am bouncing back and forth so much). Not to mention that it is in Japanese with English subtitles. That is just cool. And because I plan on learning Japanese at some point it is educational. And did I mention that I can also experience Japanese history and culture? Yeah, I don't think time is being wasted here.

To clarify, I am not against film here. It is an art medium that many film makers feel is a why to express their creativity. After all, I quite enjoy doing special effects. What I'm against is the mindlessness that TV has evolved to represent. Many shows allow us to stop thinking. All the mental capacity is needed is to be able to operate a remote control. And sometimes, not even that is required. Just pressing the "on" button. I just wish that we would press it again a little sooner, instead of allowing it to steal our valuable time.

Garage Sales

Tomorrow I will be off at the local garage sales in my fair town. I have always enjoyed garage sales, despite never actually having one. But going to them, that's fun. Walking/driving around town, trying to find which of the sales are the best. Being a guy, I'm not particularly into "shopping", but garage sales are different. Their vary nature means that at any instant a wave on nostalgia will overcome me. Some old toy, game, or video, and BAM, instant memories. Truthfully, I can't help myself when looking through the newspaper with adds for garage sales. When I see the word "toy", I instantly zero in on that sale. Which is odd, because I rarely play with toys anymore. Still, it is a hot topic word when it comes to sales for me, I can't help but want to see what games and what toys. Still, I hardly ever buy anything. The memories are more than enough to give me satisfaction.

You know when you look over a post it seems to have a different feel than what you imagined while writing it? That happened with this post. In every day life, it is rare for me to buy things. Mostly because I hardly ever leave the house. But this post seems to portray me as if I really get into the "spirit" of shopping. Which I don't. It's garage sale specific.....

Being A Nerd

I'm a nerd. A big one. And yet at the same time, a dumb one. Like someone who spends all their time and energy on something and yet only excels on SOME things. After spending a day of playing MineCraft, reading several hundred webcomics, and laughing hysterically at abridged series after abridged series, I think yet again of how big a nerd I am. I seriously haven't exercised for forever. I'm a pile of bones that fly across a keyboard making my wants realities (figuratively speaking) on a virtual plane. Except going to an Anime Convention, which is basically as nerdy as you can get, I have had minimal hum contact in the last month. Hours and hours are invested in various nerdy activities, how could I go back now? I have reached and passed the point of no return. Less and less do I care about the opinions of other people. Seclusion and solitude are a solace.

Once I had a few young children (about 3rd and 4th grade) ask if I was a nerd. I replied in affirmation. Still, they wouldn't take my word for it. They discussed if I was a "nerd" or if I was "cool". I simply wondered why I couldn't be both. Finally they reached the conclusion that I was "cool", which I guess is good for me. But again, I think, why do we think that I can't be both? And I'm happy to say that I don't care if I'm the latter.

Characters Having Minds Of Their Own

Yet again my mind is being dominated by writing a story. The characters, though they have yet to be developed, are starting to have a mind of their own. Actions are not decided because I think it would be cool, but because the characters think it would be cool. The story is flowing, instead out of my mind to the page, like a river. Continually rushing, with no beginning and no foreseeable end. Don't you you love it when stories, plots, and characters are like that? As if they are writing the story themselves? I like to think of one Charles Schulz (the creator of the comic strip Peanuts) story. Although I can't remember the exact wording, Charles (or "Sparky") was having a conversion with a reporter about the lineup of the players on Charlie Brown's baseball team. It seemed there was often some discrepancy about which position each character would play, such as who was second base, because several players had been seen on it. Now I don't remember the exact words that Charles used to reply to the reporter, although I recall that it went something along the lines that he didn't know, they just picked positions themselves or something. Isn't that how writing is supposed to be like, letting the characters loose to wreck havoc on the world as we know it? Isn't more plausible that they are the one's in control, not us? Who are we that we think that we can tell them what to do? They have achieved sentience, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Laughing Over The Internet

There are many objects of interest on the internet that provide amusement. How do we express this emotion? By laughing. It is true that we could just giggle at the screen, but why not show our pleasure by telling the world about it?  There are a few ways of doing this, and I will cataloger them here for future referencing.

LOL: The infamous "Laughing Out Loud". Though very easy to type, and thus suited for beginners, this option is not recommended, because it is very likely that we will choose to eat you if you use this prolifically.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!! Still one of the more "simple" options, this is a step up from "LOL". This effect is achieved by alternating hitting "H" and "A" keys. If you wish to make it longer and therefore more annoying, feel free to use "Copy and Paste". "Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!" symbolizes loud, boisterous laughter.

Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!! Ooh, now were are getting more advanced! The addition "B" at the beginning throws off many people, but fear not! Simply try typing this one more slowly. If you messed up (such as "Bbbbwahahahahahaha!!!!!!" or "Bwabhabhabhabhabhabhab!!!!!!") simply delete it and try again. Remember, this can take practice. Even us professionals mess up occasionally.

Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!! Similar to "Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!", but achieving a different effect. This is the "evil" laugh that were are so fond of. But to be honest, it is more fun just trying to laugh this way in real life....

Although this is somewhat weird and useless, after I got this idea I could not help but use it. No matter what happens, at least I'll know that I amused myself :)

Anime Iowa: Day Three

Yesterday, Sunday, was the last day of the Anime Iowa convention. Sadface to the extreme.

I was cosplaying as the character Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist. I will excuse you if you have never heard of it. My particular costume included a jacket and shirt without sleeves. Which is weird because before this I had never worn a shirt without sleeves before in my life....

I loved the convention, and all the nice people that make it so enjoyable. For some reason, complete strangers seem on intent on giving other people hugs. As you probably know, I abhor hugs. So a few awkward situations were created when I refused. Oh well.

Anime Iowa: Day Two

Another day of Anime Iowa, and yet another day of awesomeness. I had seen the light, and most of the day was spent in the video game room, playing yet even more Super Smash Bros Brawl. In fact, I signed up for a Brawl tournament. It was doubly elimination, so after losing my first round I went into the losers bracket. My second round I won, and the my third I lost, putting me out of the tournament. Yet, it was a lot of fun. I was about an intermediate level player, so I couldn't keep up with the very best people, but I was on par with most of the players. But that is when a weird thing happened. Age became meaningless. Suddenly someone five or ten years older than me treated me with the same demeanor as they would someone their own age. That was kind of nice.

And today I went to the dealers room. It was a large room filled with venders offering all sorts of anime-related merchandise. Some things were way overpriced, some other not so much. Excuse me if I don't want to pay twenty dollars for a tee-shirt. Also excuse me if I don't want to buy an eighteen dollar wallet that is made of cheap material, even if It has graphics of Fullmetal Alchemist. The again, some of the manga was reasonably priced, 20% off of the cover price. I think I might buy some on Sunday....

Also, I seem to be somewhat stiff in pictures now. I don't know if my picture was taken too often on Friday, or what. I'll try to be slightly more acceptable to pictures today. Speaking of pictures, we haven't taken many. Apparently me and my sister are to shy to ask people if we can take their picture....

Anime Iowa: Day One

So the Anime Iowa convention yesterday was amazing. I had a great time, and I am excited to know that I have two more days of nerdyness. Upon the sight of seeing so many people dressed with purple wigs and large fake swords, I couldn't help but feel proud of my people. Of course, wherever there is cosplay, there is crossplay. When walking past a person and you have thoughts about whether they are male or female, seriously, don't think about it. Seriously.

After walking around the hallways for awhile having people take pictures of me and my sister, watching a panel about translating anime and manga from Japanese, and hanging out with some friends of my sister from college, I went to a program called "Basic Cosplay fighting". It was a three hour workshop consisting mostly of fake grappling. So me and a partner for three hours had to run around fake wrestling. Now my poor, pathetic body wasn't prepared for such an athletic event. I hadn't even remembered that it was three hours, I thought it was one or something. So it was fun, but I am most definitely sore now.

In addition to some food you could pay for, there was a good amount of free junk food. Now we were cautioned that the junk food was not a replacement for a real meal. But do you know what? They lie.

Then there was the 24/7 video game room. After walking in my mind was blown: everywhere there was televisions hooked up to all sorts of video game systems, and everywhere there was gamers mashing buttons like crazy. It was heaven. Even though when I got there there was no no extra spots for me, due to the atmosphere of the room where people constantly sit down, play a bit, and then leave, I was able to play after waiting a few minutes. I'll tell you, nothing else feels quite like sitting down and playing Super Smash Bros Brawl next to Mario. Ah...

Anime Iowa!

Today I'm off to Anime Iowa, an Anime convention in Corralville. It will be from July 19th to July 31st, so Friday-Sunday. Anime, if you haven't heard of it before (which is unlikely), is Japanese animation. It really is hard to get nerdier than this? Did I mention that I am going to cosplay, which means that I am going in costume? Good stuff. In addition to cosplaying at the convention there is; a 24/7 video game room (YES), tons of different programs and panels (things such as "Anime toys: Now and Then", "Cats in Japan", and "Basic Samurai Swordsmanship"), and... Actually that's it. Kind of lame, if you ask me. Actually, there is tons of stuff there. I am really excited to be in a building with hundreds of people who are just as, and possibly even more nerdy than I am.

Procrastination

Procrastination. Terrible thing. It is the reason that I have 15 minutes left to write up a post for today. Awesome. Not to mention that I SHOULD be getting my sleep, I'm going to an Anime convention tomorrow. But that will be the topic of tomorrows blog. Anyway, procrastination. Waiting to do a task, just because you lack the will power to gain the motivation to simply do it right away. We are all guilty of this, and much of our work suffers as a result. And often, procrastination means that great things never happen at all. Because we either stop part way through, or we never begin in the first place.

I'm looking around my room right now, looking at all the things that I never finished. A tiny nine centimeter volcano is on a shelf. It is white, some sort of plaster. I got it many, many years ago, but I never got around to painting it. I think it was a baking soda and vanilla volcanoes.  It stands as a stark reminder of what I have procrastinated with.

And in my closet, a board game called Elemento that I got for Christmas one year. I got it a few years back when I was really into chemistry. I still enjoy it, as a matter of a fact. Might end up being my profession one day. Anyway, I never got around to playing this game. Oh sure, I would open up the box and read the instructions. But actually open the plastic bags and play it? No.

Perhaps when I am older and hopefully more mature (haha), I will learn to gain the incentive to do things without loads of motivation. Perhaps I won't see things like that volcano or Elemento again. Is it possible that I will outgrow this? Maybe. Maybe I'm outgrowing it right now. After all, I've been blogging, right? But what about when that stops? I should probably wrap this up now, I only have one (!)  minute left...

The Humble Indie Bundle #3

The third Humble Indie Bundle is out, which means that I'm pretty happy. For those of you unfamiliar with it, The Humble Bundle is a pay-what-you-want package of digital copies of five different games made by independent developers. These games are DRM (Digital Rights Management) free, which means that there are no restrictions on backing them or playing them on different computers. You can choose how to split what you pay amongst the developers, a tip to the Humble Bundle website (to pay for bandwidth and advertising), and two charities (The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play). Although technically you could end up paying as little as one penny for all five games, most people end up paying a decent amount. Some (like MineCraft creator, Notch) choose to pay thousands of dollars.

Actually, just like last year, I have never heard about the games being offered. I just trust that they are going to be amazing and I'm going to have a lot of fun. The Bundle is a good way to expand my library on Steam without exhausting all of my already ridiculously low funds. Now that I think about it, of those that read my blog most would either not care about video games, or have already heard about the Bundle. So this is probably not going to help anyone. Well, that's okay. Who cares about my readers, anyway?

Camp NaNoWriMo Plot Ideas

As I already mentioned before, the camp version of NaNoWriMo is coming up in a few days. Sadly, I am without a plot. I've tried to reserve time to think about it, hoping inspiration would strike,  but alas nothing of the sort has happened. At this point I wish to organize my thoughts, and try to decide the best one.

First of all, I know that I'm not going to going to do a fantasy novel. I'm currently co-authoring one with Ryan (as I have repeatedly mentioned in the past), and I wish for a change of pace, so to speak. To go into unfamiliar territory. You see, even though Camp NaNoWriMo requires the same amount of verbage as normal NaNoWriMo, I will always think of it as "practice". Thus, I am free to explore new ideas and fresh ways to write without being worried about quality too much.

I then asked myself if I should write a mystery novel. I do enjoy reading them, and the descriptions of people, places, and things could be fun. Not to mention having an intense plot. But, I'm leaning away from that now. First of all, I'm not going to plan for the novel. As I always do, I just write and hope that something somewhat literate comes out. Not to mention, I would have diffdifficulty accurately describing how a crime scene would be handled, because if I did a mystery I would want it to be of that sort of nature.

Next, how about a survival novel? Two of my favorite books are "Gary's Winter" and "My Side of the Mountain". Both of them describe living out in the wild. One being a tale of survival, and one of solitude and appreciating nature. But, what do I know of subjects like that? I could research, sure, but it wouldn't feel real to the reader. And I have a feeling that it would end up being pretty boring.

Now what about a silly story, with no plot? Mostly consisting of fancy words strung together in long and quite humorous sentences. Well, that too most likely wouldn't turn out great. That sort of thing makes a short story fantastic, but I think that longer novels are much better suited for more serious plots.

Ah, this is quite the arduous process. I still have no idea whatsoever what I am going to end up doing. Oh well....

With Great Internets Comes Great Responsibility

Sometimes I wonder why some people are allowed on the internet. For example, take a person you know who is intelligent and witty in real life, and have a conversation with them over the internet. What happens? They transform into a monster. Suddenly, all their sentences are run-on, fragmented, or (gasp!) not properly capitalized. "You" becomes "u", "are" becomes "r", and every sentence has a "LOL" attached at the end. Or maybe they become troll bait, giving trolls a hearty meal with their opinionated ideals that they cannot back up with any evidence. Or perhaps they will believe everything they hear.  No, that person with the username "hannamontanaforever1413" is not really Miley Cyrus. And no, you actually do not get a free pair of shoes if you like that Facebook page. Oh, and that program you just downloaded? That was spyware.

Who gave these people the internet? Didn't they know that they couldn't handle the responsibility? There should have been some sort of test, to ensure that they knew how to properly conduct themselves over the vast interwebs. Or perhaps a trap would work: if they try to use Internet Explorer, their computer automatically blocks the internet.

So to those who this post is directed to, I have some advice: put down the mouse, and step away from the computer, slowly. Go back to real life, you are better suited for it. Be a good person who contributes to society. That's better than what we who live on the internet can say, anyway.

The Comic Book Green Lanterns

In my previous post I gave a review for the movie Green Lantern. Overall, I was disappointed that the comic book Green Lantern was not given justice. Thus, I thought I would give myself the pleasure of writing about the real Green Lanterns, from the comic books. Now there has actually been multiple human comic book heroes that wield an emerald power ring and go by the name "Green Lantern". Thus, it can be quite confusing for some. So here, I wish to separate them out. Please excuse me for any errors I might make here.  Also, sorry that the information is presented a bit messily :(

Alan Scott

In 1940, in the Golden Age of comics, Alan Scott was the Green Lantern. His ring had the same powers as other power rings in addition to several magical abilities powered by the Starheart. One of these abilities slowed his aging drastically. But the ring has one weakness: it cannot effect wood. It was later revealed that Alan existed on Earth - 2, an alternate dimension to the Earth - 1 we know and love. In Crisis on Infinity Earth the remaining multiverse is merged together, thus Alan Scott now exists in the same reality as the other Lanterns. His ring is powered by a mystical, sentient being known as Starheart. Alan was never actually part of the Green Lantern Corps, as made apparent by his costume. However, the Guardian of the Universe did make him an honorary member.

Hal Jordan

The Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was given a power ring by a dieing alien named Abin Sur, and went on to become one of the most famous, respected, and powerful Green Lanterns in the Corps (He's the guy who starred in the movie). Due to "necessary impurities" in his ring, it cannot effect anything that is the colour yellow. After the entire destruction of his home, Coastal City, Jordan went insane. He was effected by the alien parasite Parralax (you know, the one from the movie) and committed cosmic genocide: Destroying the Central Power Battery on Oa and killing most of the Green Lanterns and all but one Guardian. He was partially redeemed when he gave his life saving Earth from the Sun-Eater. He later became the next incarnation of the Spectre, and finally he became a (thankfully good) Green Lantern again.

Guy Gardner

Of all the human Lanterns, Guy Gardner is by far the biggest jerk. The sort of guy that you wouldn't give a power ring. Actually, when he first became Hal's backup he was a fairly decent guy. But then some brain damage caused him to be unstable guy (hehe) he is today. After quitting the corps and renouncing his green power ring, he found a new power source: Sinestro's yellow power ring. It was later destroyed in a battle with Parallax. Again in need of a new powers, with the help of alien DNA Gardner became Warrior.

John Stewart

While Guy Gardner was seriously injured, John Stewart took over as Hal Jordan's backup. He will probably be familiar to many, as he was the Green Lantern in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons. Just like Hal, his ring cannot effect anything that is the colour yellow. Although apparently he was supposed to make a cameo appearance in the new Green Lantern movie, I was disappointed to notice nothing of the sort.

Kyle Rayner

Ah, the infamous crab-mask Lantern. After Hal Jordan as Parralax destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, the last Guardian of the universe, Ganthet, gave a human named Kyle Rayner a power ring. This ring had no weaknesses, either to the colour yellow or wood. Kyle ended up stopping Hal, and has since been known to clean up after his messes. There was quite a bit of debate by the fans on whether or not it was a good decision to replace Hal with Kyle, especially considering that Hal's sendoff was not that of a hero's, but a crazed maniac.