Epic Love Affairs (of the One-Sided Variety)

I'm in love. Again.

Don't give me that look! For all your judging eyes and snide comments, I know that you have at least one poster stashed somewhere, embodying a long-time-yet-ultimately-doomed-and-unrequited love. We all know.

I tend to be more vocal about mine. This may surprise you, but I am very occasionally in touch with reality, and I know exactly what chance these love affairs have.

That said, I can't help but still have them, hold them, and cherish them. The love affiars, not the object of them. Naturally.

Many of you know of my little crushes. Most of them are fictional characters, such as Dean from Supernatural, Sam Seaborn from The West Wing, and Mat Cauthon from The Wheel of Time. A very few of them are actors. Matthew Gray Gubler comes to mind, as does Seth Green.

One is a speech writer.

A real one, not of Aaron Sorkin's creation.

Let me fill you in a little.

Jonathan Favreau is President Obama's Director of Speechwriting. He is 28, and has worked on two presidential campaigns, one of which was (obviously) successful. He is also very attractive and is incredible talented.

Take the State of the Union, for example. Holy hell. Did you see that thing?? Hear it?? Read it?? The man is a writing god! Whether you approve of the Obama Administration's policies or not, whether you like Democrats or not, whether you want to kill him or not, there is no denying that the man has genius. Just take a gander at the following snippets from the State of the Union.






"For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They've done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility, and they've done so in the midst of war and depression, at moments of great strife and great struggle."

"For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't, or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems." (Do you SEE that parallelism???)

"And if there's one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans -- and everybody in between -- it's that we all hated the bank bailout. I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal."

"In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education."

"We have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of dollars right now. We face a deficit of trust, deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years.

To close that credibility gap, we have to take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, to end the outsized influence of lobbyists, to do our work openly, to give our people the government they deserve."

Let it be noted that I am not endorsing or refuting any of the policies. I am merely providing examples of rousing and eloquent speech writing.

Literary music like this would sway the heart of anyone.

Adventures in Nerdom

You all know I'm a nerd. I delight in my nerdiness to an annoying extent. I think about half of my blog posts have been about poetry or literature, and all of the drafts that I've refrained from publishing are. (Everyone should employ a filtering system on their blogs. I'm talking to you, emo kids.)

Yes, I am a Lord of the Rings loving, History Channel watching, video game playing, sci fi viewing, alien believing, flashlight under the blanket reading, art . . . something . . . nerd.

So, naturally, I want to publish something. What self respecting nerd doesn't want to inflict her nerdiness on an unsuspecting world? I bet you have some unfinished manuscript stashed under the bathroom sink. Okay, maybe it's just in some long forgotten computer file you haven't opened since high school, but it's there.

(Random side note: I just displayed my weirdness to my 1st period student by fashioning a screwdriver from a paper clip and tape. She is now staring at me like I may be a robot. On the bright side, my desk doesn't wobble. I am worthy of an 80s action TV show.)

I gave up on the pipe dream of writing a book long ago. I don't have that kind of concentration. I can barely write an email anymore, so to write a novel without previous monetary incentive is a little unfathomable.

Poetry I can do. It's easy and eager like that girl that sits half way back in your Survey of Philosophy class. You know the one. And who would have thought there would be so many? Poetry contests, not easy and eager 18-year-olds.

So here I go. I'm submitting. Yay! It's an adventure in nerdom, and expedition into the world outside of my own head and my own gigs of black text. Tie up the string, drop the bread crumbs, and point the compass north. After all, I do want to make it home safe.