Skip to main content

Book Covers and Feminis...um???

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently joined the speech team at my school. Now, I know what you're thinking, non-existent readers, She's a choir nerd, an academic geek, an AV nerd, and now a speech geek, too??? Yes, yes I am. On a similar note, I think I'm switching back to glasses. Anyway, I competed for the first time this past weekend and learned a lot. Whoopee. I just thought I'd share some of my knowledge with you:

1. Don't judge the kid who wears a backpack, a bow tie, and square glasses. He's REALLY GOOD. He will make semifinals. He will beat you and then tell you how awesome you are. And then you will feel awesome and cheer him on when he beats you. Weird, huh?

2. Just like the weird kid who doesn't talk may be really nice, the kid who is nice in the beginning may be really competitive. He will stare at you and try to throw you off!! And it might work!!! Then he'll beat you...badly...and you will be angry.

3. Karma may or may not be real, but it is something fun to look for...like for instance, if someone is nice and throws you off and he beats you and you are angry and then he has a clumsy mishap (not that that happened or anything)...

4. Take the compliment...just take it....I was told by a competitor that my blue and gold suit matched my skin tone this weekend...umm???? I was a bit confuzzled (that's confused and puzzled mixed together), but I said thank you and it made the fact that I had blisters and dripping makeup less frustrating.

5. Finally, stand up for what you believe in. HOOORAAAAAYYYY, CHEEEESSSEEEE!!!! But seriously. I am a budding feminist who did a feminist piece. I was punished for it by a male judge and did not advance maybe like I should have. But life goes on. Even if you come across SEXIST PIIIGGGSSS, don't give up on the issue you stand for. Next time you come across one of those guys, change his mind.

Abby, Absolute Wannabe

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Talking to Myself in the Mirror

I think it's a pretty safe bet that a lot of aspiring actors/writers/directors/filmy people practice their future Oscar speech in the mirror as kids. I did. Who am I kidding? I still do. It comes with the territory. My mirror talks go, ahem, went (who am I kidding? go) further. Sometimes, I do my makeup while talking to Barbara Walters. Other days, brushing my hair turns into a podcast interview. Most of the time, though, I rehearse what I'm going to say to my heroes. These hypothetical moments are incredibly important, and I can't afford to say anything stupid, so car rides, showers, and mornings getting ready are devoted to preparation. This probably makes me sound crazy. The word "narcissist" may also come to mind. I think one of my heroes would have appreciated both the crazy and the narcissism in this bit of oversharing, though, but we lost her this morning. One of my first posts on this blog was a tribute to Carrie Fisher. I read it over this afternoo

Cameron Crowe Ruined My Life

Believe me when I say that it pained me to type out the title to this post. Cameron Crowe is one of my very favorite filmmakers. To me, a guy who can write teenagers who are real people, really capture the full spectrum of human emotion, and incorporate a great soundtrack into his work is a real genius. Though it initially made me feel warm, fuzzy, and hopeful, a recent late night viewing of 2005's Elizabethtown  ended up making me a little nervous. I realized that Crowe was just like everybody else. Now, this probably doesn't make sense to those of you who admire his work. As a writer and filmmaker, Crowe definitely has a unique voice and vision that helps his work connect with all kinds of audiences. That's precisely the problem. Last week I wrote a post about how movies are only a reflection of life and not actually true to life itself. In the post, I mentioned that filmmakers are just one person with one perspective, and that is absolutely true of Crowe. In Crow

The Film List Project #2: MASH

Did you know MASH was a movie before it was a TV show? I didn't. Maybe that's a well-known fact. Maybe I'm very out of the loop. Anyway, I watched MASH this week. I'm just discovering Robert Altman, the director of the film. He made a movie in 1975 called Nashville , which I sort of felt obligated to watch since that's my hometown. I loved the film, especially because it had so many interesting characters mashed together. MASH  charmed me for the same reason. I've never been one for war films (this is set during the Korean War), but I was fascinated by the band of arrogant, witty surgeons in the film. It really didn't feel like a war film, to be honest. It felt like the Korean War was just where they happened to be. That feeling makes sense when you realize that these men and women are just trying to feel that way themselves. I don't have any personal experience with war, but I have read a few books about the subject, fiction and nonfiction, and