Welcome to Folklore and Mythology: The Intro

As I've been pursuing the Internet over the past few weeks, I keep coming back to mythology and folklore. If there's one culturally universal "thing" that all humans seem to enjoy, it's a good story. From fairy tales to ghost stories, religious text and mythology to tall tales, everyone seems to have a story to tell.

Stories that are remembered and retold can say a lot about a culture. They often contain elements that are important to the culture that story was written in. Most of these stories have a lesson that the protagonist and reader learn together. Then again, these stories might not have any point at all and simply show how a culture tells a story.

I especially love the folklore and fairy tales that are about mysterious magical creatures that challenge the protagonist. I loved hearing about Baba Yaga, the Kappa, and the Jersey Devil and how the hero would escape encountering these creatures. They were fantastical and mesmerizing, but also frightening. These stories taught young me how to be brave and that there are different ways to fight an opponent that I'm no match for.

This is a type of Tengu (according to Google)

Ghost stories often encompass a culture's history. I first got into hearing ghost stories by watching Haunted History on the (used-to-be) History Channel. The show would pick a city or state and tell spooky stories about select locations. They'd include an explanation of the culture of the time and why someone would take the actions that they took in the context of the story. Young me enjoyed learning history with a slightly spooky edge. It made things interesting.

Mythology is everywhere in our modern culture. The third Thor movie just came out and there were a lot of (incorrect) references to Norse mythology. One of the top movies of this past summer, Wonder Woman, was (if you squinted) all about Greek and Roman mythology. Several TV shows incorporate mythology into their story lines such as Jackie Chan Adventures (Chinese), Xena Warrior Princess (Greek), Lucifer (Christian), and Supernatural (pretty much everything under the sun).

I couldn't conclude this post without mentioning the books that often introduce kids to these stories. Percy Jackson is probably the best known series right now, but I was introduced to these mythologies and folklore through Fruits Basket, Asterix, The Immortal Diaries of Nickolas Flamel, and Harry Potter.

So over the next few weeks, I'm going to be looking at different folklore and mythologies and how they have influenced, reflected back, and changed with modern culture (particularly American and western culture). I want to see if some stories are truly universal, such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast are often claimed to be.

Disney has created a whole franchise dedicated to fairy tales.

I am doing this because we are a people who love stories and how better to learn people than by listening to their stories.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Please let me know in the comments if there is a specific folklore or mythology you'd like me to look at.

Welcome to Movie Magic

It's been a movie marathon weekend for me. I started with treating myself by seeing "Thor" in theaters Friday night. I spent Saturday watching calming children's movies like "Song of the Sea" and "Muppet Treasure Island". Today, my friend, Krystle, and I have been enjoying our Halloween movie marathon part 2 (several weeks after Halloween, but hey I love watching Halloween movies any time of the year).

Picture from "Metropolis"

The movies have a magic all their own. They tell us stories about romance, fantasy, superheroes, historical events, and tragedy. There's action that gets our hearts racing. There's epic music that helps us empathize with the characters' emotions.

If books nourish our imagination, then movies allow us to see the imaginary as reality.

The first movie I remember seeing in theaters was "The Lion King". It was big and epic.  I remember how awesome it felt to see that movie on the big screen. My young mind was blown.  (I also might have fallen asleep right before the end.)

Movies, much like books, can teach us important lessons and influence how we see the world.

I finally understood what death was while watching "Little Women" with my mother when I was three or four years old. My mother loved "Little Women" and would take every opportunity to watch the movie whenever she could. She enjoyed having me watch it with her...until Beth died.  I experienced an epiphany.  I realized how permanent death was and that one day mommy and daddy would die. My poor mother spent the next few hours trying to console me and get me to stop hysterically crying. I remember my dad coming home completely confused.

I've never been able to watch "Little Women" ever since.

There's a great tradition of passing stories down from one generation to the next. Whether the story is told orally, is written down, or is up on the big screen doesn't matter. Parents and guardians love sharing their favorites with their children.

My parents love watching movies with me. 

My dad would watch "Star Wars", "The Goonies", and every Disney movie available with me while he worked on his trains in our basement. I don't know if I would have ever seen half the movies I have without him. Whenever I go to visit him, we watch movies. Our favorites are usually old war movies like "The Dirty Dozen" and "Kelly's Heroes".

My dad was also responsible for me becoming afraid of spiders after talking me into watching "Arachnophobia" when I was five. I had really liked spiders up until that point in my life. The movie pretty much killed my interest in them.

My mom introduced me to a lot of black and white movies like "Some Like it Hot", "The Thin Man", and pretty much every Carry Grant and Betty Davis movie ever made. She got me into fast-talking comedies with strong women characters like in "His Girl Friday" and "A Philadelphia Story". It did take me a lot longer to warm up to these movies (young me thought that only movies in color were worth watching for a long time), but once I did, I fell in love with film noir.

I'm not saying that movies are a better medium than books or audio or stage plays. Just that movies have a special place in my heart and tell entertaining stories. They aren't always good, but then some books aren't good.

While typing up this blog post, Krystle and I have been watching "Psycho". Krystle has never seen "Psycho" and might be one of the few people who had no idea what the twist ending was. I enjoyed listening to her theorize and speculate on what would happen next and who the psycho was. Her reactions to the dramatic moments were priceless and I got a real kick out of her gasping at the sudden changes in music when a murder was occurring.

We're moving on to the 1939 version of "Dracula". This should be fun (insert evil cackle).

The magic movies possess is wondrous and unique. We feel so many emotions while watching the story play out. We root for our favorite characters and sometimes hope the ones we hate die horribly (especially the annoying teenagers in slasher movies). We bond over our favorite movies and laugh at the bad ones.

One of my favorite quotes about movies comes from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Phantom of the Megaplex". Mickey Rooney's character tells the two main children that movies are a magical experience, even after children grow up and learn that there's very little that's truly magical in our world. It's a quote that has always stuck with me and thinking back on it makes me smile.

"When we arrive in this world, magic is all around us. You simply have to see a baby discover a butterfly or a toddler splash in the bath for the first time. Yet, as the years pass, simple pleasures aren't quite so simple to find. Myths and legends fall away. Santa's secrets are revealed. Card tricks lose their fascination. True wonder is hard to come by. But there's always... magic at the movies. Pirate ships, bicycles that fly, angels earn their wings, beautiful women marry handsome men and we all learn there's no place like home. To destroy that magic, to shatter those moments to me is a sin so grave it would almost be incomprehensible! If there truly is a phantom, my friends, I assure you it most definitely is not me"

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Many Different Cultures of the United States

So I wasn’t able to post anything last week. I was kind of in the middle of nowhere Oregon without an Internet connection to be found. It was kind of nice being so disconnected from the rest of the world while I was exploring the Pacific Northwest US. I’d never been there before and it was very different from anywhere else I’d ever been, especially in the United States.

I feel a bit silly admitting this, but I tend to forget that the United States isn’t one uniform cultural identity. When it comes down to it, each state is really it’s own country with its own culture and identity. The federal government is just a glue that holds all 50 states (plus several territories) in place on an international scale.

When I see the US portrayed on TV or in movies, it sometimes feels like the US has one umbrella culture with smaller cultures that branch out. As I’ve traveled in the US more and more, I’m finding this isn’t the case at all.

Sunset on the beach

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia. I will always love my home state and be extremely biased towards it. I love every inch of the state, from the hustle and bustle of DC, to the quiet tranquility of the Shenandoah, from the tidewater basin in Norfolk to the western mountains. Virginia is awesome!

And it’s definitely not New Jersey.

I might have experienced a little culture shock when moving from Maryland to New Jersey. Yeah, Maryland is it’s own state, but it’s not too different from Virginia and they share a lot of similarities (though Baltimore is still one of the most fun cities I have ever been to while DC is decidedly not). New Jersey is its own entity.

There are very few places that feel like the middle of nowhere in New Jersey. Everything feels like it’s on top of everything else. It’s a lot more aggressive than Virginia and there’s hardly any military presence to speak of.

Despite being an American, I have been to woefully few states in the US. I’ve been to almost every state on the eastern seaboard, but hardly any in the middle of the country (unless you count brief layovers in airports). All in all I’ve been to roughly 20 different states that I remember and actually explored. Oregon being the latest.

Oregon was laid back, big, full of nature, and adventure. For the record I wasn’t anywhere near Portland, so I can comment on the city life, but the rural areas felt remote and disconnected from the rest of the country. A lack of Internet access was both challenging and relieving (and it wasn’t because the CIA had set up a dead zone).

In the redwood forest!

I think the oddest thing I saw in Oregon was a sign demanding the return of a stolen cannon. Why the heck would someone steal a cannon? You can own a cannon? How does someone steal a cannon?

I think the only time I’ve seen a cannon is at the Colonial and Civil War re-enactment areas along the east coast.

Hawaii in particular is very different from the lower 48. I felt like I was going to a foreign country, I just didn’t need a passport to get there. I’d like to go back and experience more of Hawaiian culture and see the other islands.

The US is vast and is a mesh of many different cultures. There isn’t just one America. There are many. Parts have a high population density, while in some parts you might not see another human for hundreds of miles.

There are some areas where you need to talk fast and loud to be heard and other areas where people speak slowly, with a lot of thought behind their words. There are states where guns are a way of life and others where people might look at you funny for owning one. The military might be a big part of the economy and in others people might never see a tank going down the highway (yep I’ve seen that on 95).

The US is big and I haven’t seen or experienced nearly enough of it. Each state is unique and so are the people living there. We might present ourselves as one identity, but in reality we are many countries united despite our differences.

It's an amazing place to explore.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to Coming of Age

Before I begin this week's post, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be taking next week off from all of my writing projects (both blogs, webcomic, and other personal projects) as I will be going on a crazy adventure with my cousin. So I'll be dropping off the face of the Earth for a long weekend.

This past weekend I was invited to the Bat Mitzvah of a family friend's daughter. It was my first time going to a Bat Mitzvah and I thought it was a beautiful ceremony as well as a fun party. Our friends were extremely proud of their daughter and were thrilled to celebrate with family and friends.

A Bat Mitzvah is an important religious coming of age. Our friends' daughter had to attend Hebrew School and devote a lot of her free time to get ready for it. The closest I have ever experienced (and I don't feel it compares as much) was my confirmation. It was my religious coming of age in the church.

I think all kids both crave and fear adulthood. Adulthood is the freedom to do whatever you please (at least to a child it seems that way), but there are a lot of complicated feelings that come with growing up. There are many different religious and cultural events that indicate when a child has reached adulthood, but just because society deems someone an adult doesn't mean that that someone feels like one.

I know I sometimes still don't feel like an adult and I'm in my mid-twenties.

Someone please right a story based on this image...

Society has set the bar high when it comes to these events too. Shows like My Super Sweet 16 or the insane prom stories that pop up on Facebook in April and May have caused many teenagers to want big over-the-top parties and try to out do their friends. It can make a person envious.

Then there are the coming of age novels or movies that adults love to show teenagers. I remember having to watch Now and Then as well as Stand By Me when I was going through my confirmation classes and reading To Kill a Mockingbird  and House on Mango Street in school. These books and movies were meant to help us understand that there would be a point were you just couldn't be a child anymore. The loss of childhood innocence was inevitable.

What all of these stories, movies, and shows didn't mention was that coming of age wasn't necessarily one event in your life time.

Some days I look back and don't feel I ever went through a coming of age event. There wasn't one moment that I instantly knew I wasn't a kid anymore.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of moments where I lost that "childhood innocence" adults try to protect. But I didn't have that big adventure that spanned one amazing summer that was a popular narrative in these stories.

I think that's true for a lot of people, especially people my age.

We're stuck in a weird limbo where we still feel like kids and wish we didn't have to face the cold world of adulthood. Childhood was fun and carefree, even if our parents and teachers had final say on everything. Adulthood is a mess of never ending responsibilities, so many uncertainties, and mixed emotions.

Childhood was full of possibility. Adulthood just feels overwhelming.

However, I couple of weeks ago, I was at a guest lecture event for one of my writing groups. While the author was describing the book he had written (The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl), he said that it was sort of a coming of age story for adults and that anyone can go through a coming of age story no matter how old they are.

It was a message that I think I needed to hear.

There are a lot of different adventures that I can go on throughout my life and I can learn and grow during each of them. Coming of age stories aren't just for children becoming adults, they're for everyone.

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. Get dressed up, eat a ton of candy, and act like a little kid. I have several costumes picked out for the next couple of days.

Until next time!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Standing Before a Crowd

This past week, I challenged myself to do something that I find terrifying. I read in front of a crowd of strangers two of my original poems at open mic night. To some people this might not be a huge deal. The coffee shop is small, the people very nice, and it can be fun to preform before a crowd.

To someone like me, especially with my anxiety, it can be a nightmare made real.

I don't know if I could ever address a crowd this size.
(March on Washington)

Thankfully, everyone there was really nice and encouraging. (Big shout out to everyone who liked my Facebook post - you guys are awesome). The man who hosts the event told me that I would eventually get used to preforming. A few people took the time to tell me afterwards how much they liked my poems.

I'm looking forward to going back and preforming again...even if I'm still a little anxious about it.

It can be really hard standing up in front of a crowd. When everyone is focused on me, I feel like I'm suddenly under a microscope. I start breathing too fast, my muscles tighten up, and my mind blanks out. I start to worry too much about what people will think and doubt myself.

Are my poems good enough?

Do I look silly up here?

Is anyone taking me seriously?

But I hope they aren't taking me too seriously?

Oh, no, do I look alright? Should I have worn a different outfit? Does my hair look okay?

I feel a bit like this poor guy melting.
(Street art in Iceland)

Stage fright isn't an uncommon fear. I think most people feel this at some point or another. I know I have every single time I've had to address a large crowd of people. Even back in high school, I hated taking center stage. 

However, that fear doesn't stop me from craving the spotlight on occasion. 

I have a lot to say and I want to get my message out there (through poetry or by blogging - it's very similar). Just because I'm afraid or uncomfortable, doesn't mean I shouldn't try to speak up. It means I need to practice and again experience. 

There will always be people who don't like what I have to say. Less than a year after I started blogging, I had someone send me nasty messages about how what I was doing was stupid and no one even cared. They weren't critiquing or disagreeing with me. They were trying to bully me into silence. 

And that wasn't okay.

Instead of taking what they wrote to me to heart, I didn't engage and simply blocked them. It's one way to deal with a bully you can't reason with. 

These types of people will always exist. They'll tell you to "sit down and shut up" or tell you that what you have to say is stupid or insignificant ("there are things you should talk about").

Don't listen. 

Then there's the worst critic of them all: yourself.

It's true. I am my own worst critic. I'm always thinking that what I've written isn't good enough and needs to be improved. 

The problem is, if I never show anyone my work, I'll never hear an opinion that isn't my own. I'll never get my work out there. 

I might always have to battle the voice of doubt at the back of my mind, but I won't let it hold me back. I'll never get used to speaking in front of a crowd without practicing.

But it's still okay if I'm afraid.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week. 

Welcome to Pumpkin Overload

It's the dead center of October! The leaves are changing colors, everything smells wonderful, and no one can escape the excess number of products with the words "pumpkin spice" in sparkly orange font on the packaging.

I love it all!

Yes I am one of those pumpkin crazy nuts who loves all things pumpkin (well, within reason) and may or may not be sipping a fresh made pumpkin juice drink while writing this post (please see foodblog at the end of the month for details). Okay, I might have a slight problem.

And even I can see that things are getting way out of hand. Every company and their brother seems to come out with a new pumpkin flavored [insert product here] to their fall line up. All of the coffee places offer a pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin spice chocolates are in the candy aisle, and pumpkin spice candles are proudly displayed. Heck, I can even smell like my favorite combination of spices with different lotions, lip chaps, and even deodorant.

It's like the marketing industry has decided we must ooze the aroma of fresh baked pumpkin pie.

This over-hype doesn't stop me from loving it. I know it makes me "basic" (see Buzzfeed for details) and I don't care. Fall is my favorite time of year and I will celebrate it.

Some people might look down on me for my love of pumpkin. A few people tease me for buying that pumpkin spice bagel. I might even be seen as stereotyping myself for loving this pumpkin obsessed season.

I will own my love of pumpkin spice. I will shout it from the top of every Starbucks in New York City...all 361 (according to Quora 2017)! I will drink my pumpkin spice latte, while eating a pumpkin spice muffin, slathering on some pumpkin spice lotion, and walking down the street with a pumpkin hat on my head.

Because it's okay for me to love pumpkins.

Everyone has their one thing that they love to the point of die hard obsession and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some people have their sports team, others won't hear anything against their favorite fandom, and a few are always first in line to buy the latest Apple tech. There's nothing wrong with loving something, even if people look down on you because you like it.

 So if you're someone who loves trying every microbrewery they come across, or has a passion for raising alpacas, or are a Dallas Stars fan (I've heard you guys exist) don't listen to the naysayers. Enjoy your passion and don't let anyone take it away from you.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Inktober

There are a lot of great things about October. The leaves begin to change, Halloween is right around the corner, and pumpkin mania is at its highest peak (I regret nothing). I recently learned about another great reason to celebrate the month of October - Inktober!

Inktober is a month long celebration of ink drawings. This can include sketches, comics, webcomics, etc. People post them on [insert social media platform here] with the hashtag #inktober or #inktober2017.

#inktober #prompt8 #crooked

I love this idea. 

See I'm a big comic book, manga, and graphic novel reader. My first comic books were Asterix comics from the 1960s that belonged to my dad. And no, these books aren't just for kids. There are a lot of amazing stories to be read that include war, horror, romance, and mystery (to name a few genres). I am always surprised when someone writes off these stories as just being for kids (same thing can be said for animation).

There are a lot of great webcomics that I can recommend. Since it's October, the season of all things scary, check out Helsirvente. It's perfect for this time of year since it's all about ghost hunting. I even draw my own webcomic (not that I'm trying to plug it or anything - it updates on Thursdays at 6:00pm) and would love to one day have a published graphic novel.

That isn't to say that comics, manga, and graphic novels are the only things to celebrate during Inktober. There's a lot of art that is created using nothing but pen and paper. Some of it is super realistic that it's almost like looking at a photograph. Others are beautifully abstract and really stimulate the imagination. 

And don't forget about animation. A fair number of early animation shorts (when film was still in it's infancy) was created by cartoonists hand drawing each cel of animation. Out of the Inkwell was a series of shorts in the 1920s that shows a cartoon character coming to life from pen ink. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck also references the ink animation technique in the classic Duck Amuck.

So what do you need to participate in Inktober if you haven't started already?

Nothing fancy. A piece of paper and a pen are all that you really need to get started. Maybe draw a sketch everyday day, or start a comic book/webcomic, or create your next/first tattoo.

Inktober also has a list of prompts for each day of the month. You can click here to learn more!

And don't get discouraged if you're not happy with the first drawings that you do. When I compare the latest pages of my webcomic to the very first that I posted (or even my high school sketchbook to the one I'm currently working in), I can visibly see how much I've improved. What matters is having fun and enjoying the art that's being created!

Happy Inktober everyone. I hope to see more sketches as the month goes on.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. And if you guys have any webcomic/manga/graphic novel suggestions, please send them my way!