How queer.

Flash to the past; Little nine year old Lea is driving with her dad. She is discussing something older Lea can no longer remember, but knowing her past self, it was probably something weird. During the course of the conversation, she uses the word 'queer.' To use it in a sentence 'yes, the situation was quiet queer.' She meant to use it to say something was weird, or odd. Her father tells her she should be careful using the word; it doesn't mean weird, it means gay. It's derogatory.

Now, fast forward back to 2016. When asked what I identify as, and don't want to go into specifics, I can simply use the word 'queer.' It's a word I'm comfortable with, and hearing it doesn't make me cringe. Transformed from an insult into something that has been claimed by the LBGT+ community, queer has a strange history. It's a word that has changed over time, and gained popularity.

People have done research to try and figure out where it first appeared, and to figure out what it really means. It is best explained by this article: http://www.autostraddle.com/more-than-words-queer-part-1-the-early-years-153356/

"No one can even agree on where “queer” was born, or its parents. The predominant theory holds that it’s a descendant of the Proto-Indo-European morpheme “*twerk,” which means “to twist, turn, wind, or cut,” and is also likely the root of several other vocabulary staples, including “thwart” and “sarcasm.” “Twerk” led to Old High German’s “twerh,” which means “oblique,” and then to German, where it morphed to “quer” and picked up associations of strangeness and eccentricity. By 1500, it had stretched out to “queer” and could be heard around Scotland." (Cara)

It did not start out as something negative, but was used as a derogative in 1894, in a letter between father and son. After this, queer becomes something terribly negative, and this moves into our time. It's meant as an insult, and delivered as such.

However, this is where things become interesting. Instead of letting this get to them, the community took the word back. It's something people can call themselves with pride (pardon this pun, I think I'm kind of funny.) That's one of the great things about language; meanings can change. Not only does this word mean something new, it's something people can identify with and embrace.

People are the ones who decide what words mean. It's up to us to identify and understand language, and make it our own. Something bad can become something good; How queer is that?

White girls and rap.

Allow me to preface this; I am a small white girl with little knowledge on the world of rap. I grew up in the whitest state in the US, and don't think I could bust a rhyme if my life depended on it. That being said, I do have a certain appreciation for the rhythm of it.

Writing rap requires a lot of skill, and word smithing ability. The words need to flow in order to sound good when sung. It's not just a matter of speaking fast, it's also about making sense and getting your point across.

When done well, rap can be done brilliantly, and can sound amazing. Take, for instance, this lyric taken from Hamilton: An American Musical.

I’m past patiently waitin’. 
I’m passionately Smashin’ every expectation.
Every action’s an act of creation!

While simple, when spoken out loud it's little complexities that make it so brilliant shine. It's written so precisely, and the word choice is incredibly clever. It hits all the right notes when spoken out loud, and leaves me smiling. Simply put; it has amazing rhythm.

However, some rap songs are less than stellar. For this, we look to Iggy Azalea.

Peach four a point, better pass me joint 
Gotta twist this beat, gonna sprain my joint 
Straight crack rap! PAP PAP POOM going to Rack City!

Not only is this poorly written, but it sounds terrible when spoken out loud. It does not have the thought that was put into the Hamilton lyric, and has absolutely no flow. It's not clever, and it makes my ears sad.

Rap can be great, but it requires skill. Skill that neither I nor Iggy posses, evidently.

Metaphor and ambiguity.

The power of words never ceases to amaze me. The fact that we as a species communicate by making a series of vocal chord vibrations, and gave symbols to those sounds so we could universally understand them is mind boggling. And sometimes, people can be very clever with their wording. Take, for instance, metaphor in microstyle. It's a clever way to get across an idea without having to use long, unending paragraphs.

A great example of this is Tropicana's old slogan "Your Daily Ray of Sunshine." It's understood that the consumer isn't actually drinking a glass of sunshine (because that would probably burn a little bit), and that the slogan is instead using what we understand in our cultural space as being a metaphor. Sunshine is equated with happiness, and drinking Tropicana will light up your life! It's a smart use of the slogan; simple and understandable by a large majority.

And then, of course, there is ambiguity in mircostyle. When done intentionally, it's very clever, but when it's not, it's downright hilarious. For instance, the news headline "FARMER BILL DIES IN HOUSE." When first reading this, is looks as if poor old Farmer Bill has died in his home. However, what it means to say is that a farmer bill, or law, died in the House of Representatives. This shows how strange, yet entertaining language can be, if you don't say the right thing.

Language is so strange, and yet I can't help but love it. Guess it's a good thing I'm an English major.

Post title here, read post below.

Five six word stories for you to all enjoy;

1.) It went from 'us' to 'me'.
2.) Death got the best of me.
3.) "I am okay," spoke the liar.
4.) Returned home; Never really came back.
5.) Love was everything, death meant nothing.

New or improved.

Advertising is a strange business, and isn't something I could ever get in to. However, I appreciate what good advertising can do, and understanding how microstyle works is not important for people in advertising, but writers across the board. Take, for instance, book titles or character names. There is so much importance in a name, and finding one for a character is one of the hardest things for me to do, personally.

Take for instance, the character Solas from Dragon Age: Inquisition. His name is dervied from Irish decent, and literally meaning "light", "flame", or "beacon". His role in the game is to guide the main protagonist, and as you learn more about him, the name becomes that much more fitting. Finding this out was mind blowing, because it added a whole new level to his personality.

However, not everything in mircostyle is as well thought out. I am speaking, of course, of my least favorite thing;

Nothing can be new and improved. They are either one or the other. The product is brand new, or it's been improved upon. It can't be both. However, we see it adverts all the time, because it sounds good. It's so common, people don't even think of it as an issue.

As I write this post, I'm discussing with my friends the phrase. They had never even thought about it, that's how engrained it is.

Sometimes, microstyle is super cool and smart. Sometimes it's not.

On the opposite page.

I remember learning all about Shakespeare in high school vividly. My English Lit teacher had never read Hamlet, and was about as excited as we were about learning it. She had to have another teacher come in and help out, because she simply didn't know what she was doing. It was so strange, seeing this woman, who I assumed knew all, floundering.

Shakespeare still kind of makes me feel that way. It's not that I don't appreciate his work, or can't possibly imagine tackling the challenge, but I picture Shakespeare much like I picture tackling a huge mountain if I hiked. It's daunting, and the fact that he had to explain what he meant on the opposite page is never a good start.

Take for instance, Hamlet's soliloquy:

HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-- No more--and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep-- To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprise of great pitch and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now, The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered. (Read more at http://www.monologuearchive.com/s/shakespeare_001.html#uuyeUXLZrrCob1sz.99) 

Trying to figure out what he was trying to say was difficult. I didn't want to be wrong in front of everyone for starters, and his language was intimidating. It can be partially blamed on the times, but Shakespeare isn't a walk in the park for anyone. 

If the language in his writing was only a bit more understandable for this current generation, then perhaps his work wouldn't be feared by high schoolers everywhere. I appreciate everything he did for language and english, like inventing words and gracing us with his stories, but his work is pretty hard to understand if you don't have a handle on it.

Why?

Sometimes you read something, and you're not sure what just happened to you. It is forever burned in your mind, and no matter how many years pass, it will never leave you. You could be sitting on your deathbed, and it crosses your mind one last time, for old times sake.  That is how would describe my feelings toward Fanfiction Jesus and Hitler: A Romance.

Yes, this is a real thing that exists, and it just as disturbing as one would think. I will provide the link at the end for the full text, just incase you feel like reading it for whatever reason, but the summary goes like this; Hitler goes back in time, and ends up meeting Jesus, who will, according to the author will "change his life forever."

This is a weird fanfic, for multiple reasons, and is also very bad. Why the author is so worried someone will steal their ideas and feels the need to claim copyright over this work, I do not know.
Take this paragraph, lifted straight from the text:

Lets look at what makes this terrible, shall we? First of all, it's weird. Really, really weird. I think everyone who reads this fanfiction is going to be offended in one way or another, for multiple reasons that are totally legitimate. The scenario doesn't make any sense. The fact that a whole bunch of things happen in one tiny little paragraph leaves the reader scratching their head. It's also clearly not proofread, if you want to be super nit-picky about this Jesus/Hitler mash up.

I really don't know what possessed this author to write this self described epic romance, but it does go to show just what weird things you can find on the internet if you look hard enough. Anyone can post anything, and share their very strange stories. I also think it important to encourage people to post their writing online. It's good to get feedback, and hey, push comes to shove, your writing it probably better than Jesus and Hitler: A Romance.

(Link to the full text: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6130321/2/Jesus-and-Hitler-A-Romance)