Natural Harmony

The mountain will not do
what the river does.
The river cannot,
what the mountain can.

And while the mountain can
poison the river,
The river is what gives
the mountain life.

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A random poem, written in the spur of the moment thought while walking in the woods.

Curiosity Has Gotten the Better of Me

This is old news to everybody, I'm sure. Curiosity, a NASA Rover, has landed on Mars. Yay! What I really want to focus on though is A Very Potter Musical, and how these two things are related.

Maybe you've heard of the musical, and maybe not. In this play, the audience is informed of a couple things that the Harry Potter series neglect to tell us, like:

Hogwarts has a hidden swimming pool, and
There is another school of wizardry called Pigfarts. (It's on Mars. You need a rocket-ship.)

In any case, it's a great 3 hours of your life that will provide you with amazing quotes to add to your arsenal.

So Curiosity has landed on Mars, and you like a musical. How do they relate? Well! Let me tell you- they are completely related.

Allow me to take you back to Harry Potter's first trip to Diagon Alley, at Olivander's Wand shop. Was it not curious that Harry's wand shared the same core as the one who was bent on killing him. (Well not really, because by the end of the series we all know that a little piece of Voldy-man was latched onto Harry's forehead.)

Any-who, the phrase to describe the acknowledgement of this coincidence was, "Curious." Now correct me if I am wrong, but the base word of Curiosity is in fact- Curious. (I know, that knowledge just completely blew your mind.)

Is it not curious that Curiosity has landed on Mars, the exact planet where Pigfarts is rumored to be located only a short period of time after the ending of the Harry Potter era? I say nay, it is the perfect timing to continue the story.

I, like many others, am now awaiting this rover to discover my acceptance letter from Rumbleroar (the talking Lion headmaster of Pigfarts), so to learn wizardry on Mars, which would be totally awesome.

Also! I would like to resurface the Fred isn't dead tag. At the end of the musical, Dumbledore is asked by Rumbleroar if he was going to tell Harry that he was, in fact, alive. To which Dumbledore said, no, and proceeded to ride Rumbleroar to Pigfarts. Dumbledore was dead! We all saw Snape kill Dumbledore. Which means... if Fred died... he must just have been transported to Pigfarts! (Celebrations!)

Basically, the massive NASA, science, space success story that Curiosity is, has become a new excuse for me to smirk and bring up Pigfarts in normal day conversation.

Thank you NASA. Thank you Starkid.
And goodnight.

Why I Can't Dislike Fan-fiction

I have read many different threads, articles and posts about fan-fiction, mostly negative:

Fan-fiction is stupid. (level 0 argument for those who know any TOK)  

You are using someone else's characters, and not using any of your own imagination, which is pathetic. You have no creativity!

It ruins something that was perfectly fine before hand, with bad writing.

Hater's Gonna Hate.

Now. I will agree that, sometimes fan-fiction can be written terribly, and the ideas behind it don't line up with anything from the actual book that they are writing about, aside from character names. And maybe you could become successful writing your own story with your own plot base and everything. There are debates from both sides about whether or not fan-fiction is worth it. This article discusses and supports fan-fiction beautifully.

In as much as it pains me to read certain fan-fictions, as a whole, it is a wonderful thing. Fangirling (PH-AN-GURL-ING) may be one of the funnest things there is to do on the internet. While I, personally, am not into that whole erotic side of Fandoms, I cannot disown a Fandom for what another person... enjoys?

I won't lie to you by saying: I am perfectly okay with reading a fan-fiction in public. Saying it out loud can be embarrassing, especially to people who do not know anything about fan-fiction but the erotic side. When I admit to reading fan-fiction, they just assume I'm reading a porno version of Harry Potter, when in fact I am not. Thank you very much.

Sure, there are plenty of those around if that is what suits your fancy. I prefer those that follow the plot of the actual novel up to a certain point and then take on a side of their own.

Why are people drawn to fan-fiction? Why do I read fan-fiction even when it is so poorly written? Well, it starts with the author, who writes a story, that develops characters in such a way that when the story is done... you want more.

Maybe you are upset about who ended up with who because you ship something else (I SHIP IT ALL!). There is no shame in that. Maybe you want to write your own ending, or add yourself to the story. Maybe you are not a writer, but you love the characters. That is why fan-fiction is perfect. Fan-fiction allows the story to continue even when it is over. Fan-fiction is the legacy of a novel or series.

That is why I can't dislike it. Even when, sometimes, I want to.

Here are some of my ships for my favorite Fandoms:

Harry Potter: Dramione (sorry guys), Framione (Fred isn't dead.), Larry?  SeamusxAnyone!
Divergent: I ship what's cannon, because it's awesome.
Hunger Games: Buttermuts (Buttercupxmuttations?), KatCat (Because... Cato really had a big heart... and I like cats...)
Legend of Korra: I SHIP IT ALLLLLLL! (Meesami x14)
Maximum Ride: I don't want to talk about it, if I have to pick- TotalxAkila

SoulFest 2012

Well it's about time. For those of you who don't know, SoulFest is an annual four day concert celebrating all things Jesus. And it is great, although I received a few sentiments that indicated it to be quite expensive. As a college student, the prices are not something I can afford. Especially while paying off monthly interest on my college loans. There are plenty of ways to make the cost less, but I am never sure how much time I have during my summer, let alone whether or not I'll be in New England. I'm a procrastinator at heart.

Not only are there discounts offered to buy tickets, there is also a super secret way to get in for free. But fear not! This super secret is, in fact, on their website: Volunteering! Camping, volunteering with awesome people, music, and all things festival. It is all I could ask for.

The last time I volunteered was 4 years ago, and I went with my mother and older sister. I didn't have my driver's permit (though I definatley should have). I was working "Inside parking," in which I directed artists for the Revival Stage. Big coach buses would enter the area and I would have to pretend like I knew how to direct cars. I was terrified, but I did get to casually talk with random band members from Superchic[k], Kutless and Tenth Avenue North. In the off time, I was able to catch a few bands, and I met some awesome people who had a great impact on me, and made the experience all I could have asked for.

This year, I went back again to volunteer. Just me and my sister. (I've had my license for a while now, if you were wondering). This time we were placed in the Box Office, but we only had hours to work there on Thursday night and Friday. If you purchased or picked up tickets around either of those times you might have seen us. Hello again!

We still had some volunteer time we needed to fill, and we ended up in PARKING! Woooo! So hey, if you came on Wednesday or Thursday after 2p, we might have seen you there too!

You know. Volunteering is something you have to do from your heart. Especially. Especially, when you encounter people who feel like you are a suitable person to take all their anger out on. If it weren't for other supportive volunteers, super nice people who just seemed to love everything when I walked up to their car, and the knowledge that nothing rude was meant personally (I hope!), I might have broken down a couple of times.

Switchfoot. Can't you tell?

But I made it through: fought the super heat, the meanies, and the tenting on a slope that made you wake up at the end of your tent. And, I got to see a few band that I quite enjoyed: like Chasing Cooper (formerly known as Siloam), TobyMac, Switchfoot and Reilly. Oh and Paul Colman, who was hilarious, and had the crowd singing "In the Jungle."

Unfortunately we left a day early. So if you are a SoulFest Volunteer person: I'm so sorry!! I had no intentions of leaving early, we weren't scheduled for anything yet, we didn't sign in, and my sister was ready to leave after we packed up. No excuses.

I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. So if fate brings you here and you were someone I wanted to say goodbye to: It was good to meet you!

To the ENC tent: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for that T-Shirt. I had grossly sweat through all of the shirts I brought, and that one saved my life, and anyone who had to stand in my vicinity. I will wear that shirt proudly around campus next year. #ENClove!

Whew. That was a lot. But it was truly a great weekend.