Writing everyday keeps the Clutter Away

 So writing about writing is a valid topic because we spoke about it in class! William Byrd would be so proud. The discussion in class did make me realize that if I truly want to improve in my writing, and if I ever want to be able to convey my thoughts more easily and readily, I should be writing every day. Writing has always been something that I enjoy, and for a while I did keep little journals, only to throw them all away because I was nervous that someone might read them. How crazy? My 7th grade worries were still my sophomore in college worries. Just like my journals, I did not care for anyone to read my blog posts, so much so that I erased my URL off of the blog post form that was posted earlier this semester. And I know I am not the only one; someone even spoke about having a password on their blog. So why are we so afraid to have people read what we write? Do our thoughts make us that vulnerable? I guess they do, but why? Part of me understands feeling vulnerable, especially online, where nothing is truly "gone forever," but another part of me thinks that maybe we just feel like our thoughts are not good enough, or powerful enough? Or that our thoughts have already been better articulated with someone of much higher prestige? So what?! If we have something to say, and I know we all do, we should say it. Too many things go unsaid in this world. What if Kate Chopin would not have written "Desiree's Baby?" What other piece of Southern Gothic literature would I still be obsessing over, and have referred to 20+ times in my blogs? Just think if Edgar Allan Poe would not have written his gothic pieces! I'm afraid gothic would not have had the face and the image and reputation it does without good 'ole Poe.

It’s just silly to think that we do not feel adequate enough to have our writing out there. I even passed up a spot writing for the Odyssey Online Blog this semester because I was too nervous to have people read my posts. I justified to myself that it was because I would embarrass myself later on, or that I would offend someone, or my writings would be too generic. So what? My TimeHop app never fails to show me all of the embarrassing posts I’ve put on Facebook. I should have taken the chance. My not venturing out is well in part of me not writing on a regular basis. I can’t expect to run a marathon without exercising, so why should I expect to be good and comfortable when writing if I don’t practice?

So to help myselllllf, I have started writing daily. I have a cool little journal that is pretty great and has inspirational sayings on it. *aww* It’s exciting, and I do plan to stick with it, so much so that if I start to miss days, I have already promised myself that I will set a daily alarm to remind myself. I’m also going to start reading daily, which I feel like will help me even more with my writing.

 

~ Thank you for teaching Southern Gothic, it was an incredible class. Not only did I learn about Southern Gothic, I learned about just every day, regular stuff- like my grades don’t define me, I need to write daily, and it exposed me to doing assignments out of the box, [blog posts]! *Also, I’m really happy that we learned about Gaines and visited his section of the library because I had no idea about any of that until this class* I really enjoyed this class and having you as my teacher. Thank you so much, Lucy! ~

Deathhhhhh

In Southern Gothic we have seen our faith share of deaths; some dramatic, some not quite as much. Like, "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "A Good Man is Hard To Find" had pretty dramatic deaths- a great old mansion falling, squashing two people, and serial killers taking out family members one at a time... but there were less dramatic deaths. Like that of "Desiree's Baby" and "Idols," those deaths were not physical, just the death of love and dreams... haha. But we can relate the death we seen in these stories to death in our everyday life! Not to go too dark and dramatic with this subject, I am referring to us inflicting death. How weird does that sound? Well, really we inflict death quiet often. I mean, how many times have we killed a bug, or better yet, squashed a bug? Or plucked a flower from its home in the soil? Or ripped a leaf off of its branch? I mean think about it… we are serial killers! Just because things are smaller than us, or we admire their beauty so much, it gives us the right to take its life away?

This is not something that just came to mind, I have always been full-heartedly against killing animals, of all kinds. I do not necessarily love bugs; I do not care for flies or enjoy a spider’s company, so when I’m around one I either leave, or move it elsewhere. Some people argue that there are too many bugs in the world, and they carry disease, and we should kill them and this and that, but frankly that sounds like self-justification to me.  And personally, I can no longer justify killing an animal. Not that I have ever directly killed anything larger than a cockroach, maybe a frog while driving, but I have indirectly killed animals. Every meat-eater has. We pay for our chicken nuggets at the expense of a baby chick being cut out of her mother, injected with steroids, and held in captivity until she is just barely large enough to be thrown down a conveyor belt where she is smashed into bits, later to be processed into chicken nuggets. This, this is something I can no longer justify to myself. I refuse to take part in the lifestyle that takes a breath away from another living thing. So yes, I am vegan. And I am sticking with it (no animal meat, and no animal products). It is a lot easier than I expected, and I really do not feel restricted. I love, love, loooove it. Especially learning about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle- it triumphs over a meat-eater’s 100% of the time.

The same goes for flowers, leaves, blades of grass, and Christmas trees. We bring flowers to dying people, or even people we are trying to swoon, but what good what a bunch of dying flowers do for a dying person, or a person you are interested in? Why is it not a thing to bring someone a potted flower, or help them to build a garden at their house, or a spice garden in their kitchen? A potted plant will surely last a lot longer than ones taken from their soil. And is it not gothic that we just destroy nature because we are bored? Why not plant a new seed and watch a new living thing grow into something beautiful? I mean, I would be a lot more impressed if someone were to give me a potted plant, rather than a $12 bunch of flowers from Target. And grass- everyone has plucked blades of grass whilst their sitting in grass, it happens. But why? There is no purpose. The only person excited about plucking grass from the ground is my baby Godchild, and even then what are you to do with it? Ahh, and Christmas trees. I’m no Scrooge, I love a big, beautiful Christmas tree, but is that not gothic, as well? We farm the trees each year so that they can be chopped down and decorated in our house. Isn’t that odd? I’ll be honest and say that my aunt did buy a real tree this year, and I am still having a difficult time deciding whether or not I’m okay with it. I feel like if we do something honorable with it afterwards, it will be slightly more justifiable; for instance, I know that Christmas trees are placed along our coastline to help slow down the erosion, so if we can donate our tree, then perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Christmas Trees for the Coastline

So I guess the cat’s out of the bag. We are such a gothic society because we don’t view the little things that we do as gothic. Perhaps if we put more of an emphasis on preserving animals’ lives, and creating plant life, we would not look at human life as insufficiently as we do. Maybe there would be less murder among humans, our society would become less gothic, and lives would be richer in love… Southern Gothic would be at a run for its money! 

Self-Help for William Byrd

We all need a little help sometimes, which is why there are organizations and associations dedicated to helping you change your life in 12 steps 

(for almost anything you could possibly need help for) 

For William Byrd, however, I am not quite sure he lived so long as to see how a 12 step plan could really change his life, but if he were here, these would be his steps: 

#1 - Do not "roger" anyone but your wife - and do not think of it as "refreshing her" - think of it as physically showing your love for her, but only if it is clearly reciprocated by your wife 

#2 -  Never refer to your lustful/evil actions as actions carried out by your "Dark Angel," take full responsibility for each of your evil acts 

#3 - Do not boast about yourself, your "colonial greatness" does not endow you to have "zipper issues" 

#4 - You are not above anyone else - you, as well as everyone else, are under God. They are not your slaves, they are your employees - treat them as such, with better housing, food, respectable hours, and proper medical assistance 

#5 - Never see an employee as an admirer, never admire an employee - you have a wife 

#6 - You own a farm, get your hands dirty. Be less of a gentleman farmer and more of an actual farmer - be a hard-working man - "Idle hands are the devil's tools"

#7 - Inflict no harm onto your employees, your wife, your friends, your business partners, your friends, etc 

#8 - Continue with your exercises 

#9 - Replace boiled beef with fruit and vegetables - it is healthier for your body and your mind 

#10 - Personal hygiene is a must - body and teeth 

#11 - Get a full night's rest to prepare for your next day - no naps during the daylight 

#12 - Say your prayers - individualize your prayers each night - saying the same one each night dampers its importance to you 

#Congratulations 

Casting List

"Good Country People"

CAST:

Joy/Hulga as : 

 

Amanda Bynes 

Reasoning: Because Bynes, as well as Hugla, does not mind being ugly to anyone and everyone. 

Bynes grew up as a child actress, a role model to many, and then crashed and burned into her adult life. It began when Bynes started getting into motor accidents, often fleeing the scene and not paying fines. Things continued to get worse for Bynes once it was uncovered that she was a drug addict, and then pled that she had a mental illness. 

Hulga was born as Joy Hopewell, only to change her name once she was farther than arm's length from her mother, Mrs. Hopewell. As a child Hulga was involved in an accident that caused her leg to be completely blown off- from then on she was forced to wear a fake leg. Because of this Hulga became a bully to everyone around her. To escape her family Hulga chose to be an avid student and continued to go to school until she completed the highest level of PHD. 

**Bynes would need to wear a fat suit, wear a wooden leg, and wear a wig that was bad color of orange-y/yellow***

Both Bynes and Hulga had a good running start until their accidents changed their paths.

Manley Pointer as:

Macaulay Culkin

Reasoning: Culkin can pose as a scum bag really well. 

However, he'd have to shave his long locks to match the picture above. He would also be banned from doing drugs, so there is no promise. His soft eyes and light hair may work well for playing Pointer because it would give the "good country" boy a more naive, genuine look. Also, for being a Bible salesman, his fair complexion would come in handy for a young man that was living a "straight and narrow" pathway to Heaven. His slender, non-muscle physique would also make his job title more believable. 

-OR-

Dave Franco 

Reasoning: He is really cute and can swoon anyone: perfect quality of a door to door "salesman."

Franco has sharp, dark eyes that would be perfect for the scene at the barn, right before Pointer swipes Hulga's leg. His eyebrows can be manipulated a tad to increase the look of him being evil, which would be useful in the last scene at the barn. His slender, yet toned physique complements that of a hardworking "good country" boy, that Pointer is assumed to have. Franco would also complement Bynes as a co-star.

-OR-

 Jerry Trainor 

Reasoning: Has played a comic role for most, if not all, of his career, therefore can convey an inviting look through his facial expressions without having to try too hard.

Trainor has played on Nickelodeon for years, and has mastered the funny persona. As pictured above, he can easily flash a wide smile that would be beneficial to a door to door "salesman" like Pointer. He's has softer eyes than Franco, yet more stern eyes than Culkin which would be a key point into seducing Hulga enough for her to take her leg off. In the last scene of the movie, his eyebrows can also be manipulated to look more aggressive and evil. Trainor's height, over 6', is also a huge selling point, along with the dark hair that can be manipulated to be/or seem darker to add mystique to the character. His lanky, tall physique and dark hair would go along well with the cartoons that are often drawn in reference to "Good Country People." 

Culkin, Franco, and Trainor would be excellent as Pointer; each has their own selling points. However, alongside Bynes, Franco might make the most sense. Also, Franco would pull in more of an audience than Culkin and Trainor would. 

Mrs. Hopewell as:

Juliet Stevenson 

Reasoning: Her looks; she seems nice, but she looks to have an underlying layer of judgement 

In finding an actress to play Mrs. Hopewell I google searched "famous middle aged actresses" and she stuck out the most. I have never seen her in a movie, or heard of her name before, but she looks intriguing. Stevenson's physical appearance matches the more modern-day character of Mrs. Hopewell. Her dimples on the sides of her face and her blue eyes make for a sweet woman, but the half smile and blonde hair with large earrings scream "I'm judging you!" She would perform as is. 

-OR- 

Susan Sarandon 

Reasoning: Her eyes could kill

Sarandon is a woman whose eyes are sharp and judgemental from the start. If she were to be more soft-spoken in the movie with killer looks, she would match Mrs. Hopewell. Also, in the illustrations and cartoons of 'Good Country People" Hulga is drawn with red hair, if Sarandon were to play her mother the color of her hair (as pictured above) would be "biologically" accurate. 

Both actresses would be a good choice, Stevenson exemplifying more of the "hope" in Hopewell- whilst Sarandon would exemplify more of the double standard of "good country people."

I'm a bastard, too

“Nothing will ever hit you this hard”

This was said to Ruth right after Lyle’s accident, and it makes so much sense. And I think that by telling this to Ruth face to face, right after it happened somehow made it okay. As if it were easier for her to accept that that instant, that day, and that departure would be the hardest thing she would ever encounter. I think this helped Ruth to get along better in the long run because it was acknowledgement- acknowledgment clearly took her farther than being in denial would have.

Bastard Out of Carolina hit me like a sack of bricks. I empathize with Ruth, of course. But personally I can empathize with Bone even more. I didn’t grow up with my either of my parents, which allows me to really dig deep into the meaning of her character, her mindset, and to also understand her positionality a little better. In the second chapter Bone starts to reveal her feelings toward her father a little more clearly- she says that there aren’t any pictures of her real dad and that her mama won’t talk about him. Her grandma goes on to explain to her that her father is now married with six “LEGAL” children, a steady, good job, and had never been to jail. First of all, it is heartbreaking for me to hear that, let alone how she must have felt knowing that her father was doing well without her and has other children. It makes me really mad that the grandma would even tell her that, reading the story it sounded like the grandma was more so telling Bone all of this out of spite rather than out of good intentions- almost like the grandma is still mad at him for knocking up her daughter at such a young age and she somehow feeling like she is “getting back” at him by telling all of this to his daughter? (sidequestion: why are all of the grandmas in these stories assholes). This instance has happened to me- where my aunt would tell me a whole bunch of bad things about my parents- but like why? Why couldn’t the grandma just not say anything at all? I know Bone is curious and she does ask questions throughout the story, but she is a child. I feel like the grandma should at least try and cushion the blow, maybe not come right out and say “oh, he’s doing fine with his wife and 6 LEGAL kids, and not you.”

To make matters worse, Bone goes on to compare herself and her appearance to her mom and her aunt’s, and that’s a level of frustration I can understand. I grew up with my aunt and uncle and their twin daughters- whom I look absolutely nothing alike. Luckily, Bone’s mama came through and insisted that she was going to grow up to show resemblance to her granddaddy. The sincerest thing Bone could have ever said in reply to her mama, “I smiled wide, not really believing them but wanting to.”

“People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead” 

The New Yorker

I think my classmate Melanie was spot on, Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” was rightfully published in the New Yorker. Sure, it may have a religious undertone and have grotesque twists and turns, but that’s just the kind of exposure The New Yorker needs. Educate and humor northerners with stories from or of the south, to give them another perspective of their nation and its many cultures. And if nothing else, at least those who read it can be thankful its fiction, have something else to poke fun at, and feel blessed that they do not live in the south.

Personally I haven’t had any real exposure to The New Yorker, all I can assume is that fancy-feeling, busy people who ride the subway to their super boring jobs read it. And hey, I feel like if Tim Gautreaux’s “Idols” can be there, so can “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Obviously the two stories are different, really different, but they basically cover the same major areas.

For one, O’Connor’s had evident, blatant evilness that was conveyed though the Misfit and his gang of murderers, and some would even argue that Grandma was evil.. haha! In Gautreaux’s it wasn’t so much of an outward evil, but an evil within Julian’s character and conveyed through his selfish demeanor. Different in that aspect, but the same in that both main characters shared a lack of community. The grandma and Julian were loners. Completely alone. The grandma could not connect with her family at all, and Julian could not connect with anyone. In the end each of them were a l o n e. Grandma died, and a part of Julian did when his house, his last future prospect, was destroyed.

Spearheaded by the lack of community for each character was the lack of understanding of each character. Not only were the readers blindsided by each character- (we were given no background for either character, therefore we could not properly understand their positionality)- the minor characters within the story just could not communicate with them. In class we straight up just said that Julian was one of those weirdos that is all alone because he cannot get along with anyone, and that’s really just it. He was never graceful with people, he always thought of himself as a god. The grandma on the other hand was a little different- she was from another generation, and we did see her engaging with the truck station employee/customer that was around her age, but she just could not along with her son and his family. But she too was someone who thought she was better than everyone around her.

Lastly, they are both set in the south. That’s the grandest likeness that binds the two short stories and it really does make them an even greater story to tell because I do not think that you could create the nature of the grandma and the weirdo in their proper lighting without it being set in the old, dark, south.

"...caught up in your own little world"

When people refer to the "south" I think of a very selective, very close bunch of neighboring states- Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. But technically I am missing a realm of states. Like what about Georgia, Florida, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Arkansas... New Mexico even?

Well, good 'ole Tim Gautreaux, Lucy, and the array of southern gothic material that we've read has made me reconsider my personal boundaries for the "south." I may not be a William Byrd dividing line specialist, but I have expanded my idea of which states are included in the south.

For starters, I have never pictured Georgia as being in the south. Even after I visited it this past summer I put it off as being an in-between state. I think this was mostly because it is so mountainous; however, the place I was staying was so so humid and did provide us with Tony's food seasoning... so that in itself is a clear indication of southern-ness.

In class we discussed the importance of the conversation between Obie’s wife and Julian, and since then it’s still echoing in my head. Their conversation was not only important for further development of the characters, but it’s a leading characteristic for all of the characters that we’ve read about.***

______________________________________________________

SO- Hate to admit it, but I was a little like Julian from Gautreaux’s story, “Idols.” I was pretty much in my own little world. But at the end of the day it’s not I who arranges the time zones, nor I who jurisdicts what is considered southern- and it isn’t Julian’s job, either.

When Julian called from Mississippi to Georgia, he didn’t realize there was a time difference, and me? I wouldn’t have realize it either, considering I’ve stayed put in Louisiana my whole life. So I get it, it’s human, but how he handled it was his defining moment. Julian never apologized for coming off as rude, even when Obie’s wife called him out on it being after midnight he didn’t pause and logically work through it- he even tried to correct her! Funny enough, Obie’s wife tried to put him in his place… “Mister, you caught up in your own little world so much you think the rest of God’s universe is in your time zone. It’s twelve-ten in Georgia.” I think if Julian’s head wasn’t stuck so far up his own but, maybe, just maybe his perspective of life would have changed. But from the ending of the story, we know that Julian still puts himself above everyone else. This makes me question where he comes from. Where’s his southern charm? His southern hospitality? I’d like to know where this fella came from, what his positionality is.  He’s so caught up in his own self, so much so that he divorced his wife rather than lay off the typewriters. I mean who in their right mind would trade human interaction, love, and affection for a dusty, metal typewriter? It’s so perplexing to know so little about a character’s background, and then have to watch them go through their life. It’s like, reading this story I really wanted to be able to explain or understand the way he was, but I couldn’t because there was nothing to go off of. As readers we all are curious to know why a character is how they are. Even as every day, ordinary humans we want to know people’s background- it helps us to justify and predict their actions. That’s one of the keys to building a relationship- knowing where exactly they come from… but I think this particular short story was just that- a short story. There was nothing to get emotionally attached to, considering we only know one (crappy) side to this main character, and there was a true ending… the house fell apart and he never changed his attitude. In all honesty, I’m more emotionally attached to Obie, at least I know a little bit about him and a more vulnerable side to him. So really, this was an appropriate story for The New Yorker. Was it maybe even a little chuckle toward all of the people who read it? I mean we did discuss how people read this on the subway and think they're so cool... and I think Julian would definitely be one of those people.