Friday, March 25, 2011

Where the Wilde Things Are

"The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists. Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize."
     The quote above, taken from a wonderful book I am reading (by the thought-provoking Mr. Oscar Wilde), suggests that people who are successful writers lead notably uninteresting lives because they have reserved excitement for their works. People who are “bad” writers, on the other hand, are “fascinating” because they live out their passions instead of applying them to their writing.

     I find this idea peculiar yet worth thinking about. Both ideas presented speak volumes for me on a personal level as I cannot quite decide which category I would fit into (or if I'd really like to identify with either). My life is, by no means, adventurous or “exciting” but it works for me. When things get dull, I do something to entertain myself. Admittedly, I'm a bit of an introvert, so I spend a good bit of time entertaining myself and only myself. However, when I write (and publicly share my writings), my aim is to entertain others.
If the ideas from the quote are true, a person certainly could not be both a good writer and an interesting person, right? If I had to choose, I'd probably go with being a bad writer.
 
Okay, let's play Would You Rather.
Would you rather be a world-renowned writer whose writing lasts for generation upon generation but lives a mediocre life or a mediocre writer whose writing is only read by his or her mother, if that, but lives an exciting and adventurous life? (post your answer! I'll take the answers I like the best and post them next time).
 
Peace, love, and flying pigs,
 
Dani

Monday, March 7, 2011

Crap My Mom Says #3

Crap My Mom Says #3:

Me: "Can't wait to try racquetball today."
Mom: "Heh.. you're gonna suck at it."

In her defense, I think she meant that because it was my first time playing racquetball, I was probably going to have a hard time getting the hang of it. But it came out in a moms-don't-usually-say-stuff-like-that kind of way.

In my defense, I didn't really suck at it. I thought I did pretty well considering I have next to no hand-eye coordination or sports ability whatsoever. I really like it, actually. This is an exciting fact because I need to be more active. I still get winded after walking up three flights of stairs to my English class. Very shameful, indeed.



That's all for now. Peace, love, and flying pigs :]