So I have started Offering Freelancing Jobs

Yes, I have finally decided to open up and accept freelancing jobs. More details can be found here: https://www.fiverr.com/jemononokay/write-up-to-500-words-of-original-content-for-your-blog-book-etc?arrived_from_manage_gigs=true&display_share=true

Fifty Shades of Gr-ape

Hello everyone! Yes, I know that I mentioned that my next post will be about the TEA, but I need some more time to complete my qualms against them. I also wanted to do another post that isn't really...well...political, and I thought that since I considered my current novel-in-progress a "sex-free" (and probably more realistic) 50 Shades of Grey, I might as well expand on my opinions about the book.

When the first book came out in 2011, it didn't seem quite interesting to me (just a weird book with kinky sex). I soon heard that the series was based off a Twilight fanfiction though, which compelled me to stay away, since Twilight (at the time) was the most boring book I've ever read. Time passed, though, and something compelled me to not read the book, but look up some important details of it like what the hell the kinky sex was and the actual plot (the little there was) of it.

Now, I've never read the entire book, but I do have friends who have and filled me in on a few of the details (I also read a couple of excerpts online). From what I have read, the book in general is just awful. Even without the major problem I have with it (which I'll get to in a second), 50 Shades of Grey is pretty weak, with poorly-written characters (the protagonist can even be considered a Mary Sue*!), a plot thinner than a wafer, and still enough influence from Twilight to border plagiarism ("shy and awkward" girl meets "handsome and mysterious" man with a dark secret that will change our precious innocent little girl forever).

My main problem with the book, however, is not with the kinky sex (if you're into BDSM, that's okay. Though I wouldn't consider this book "BDSM erotica"), it's with Christian Grey. Christian Grey is the definition of an abusive partner. Now, he may not be VIOLENT (OK, he was actually a bit violent, please regard that 50 Shades fans), but he does seem to want to control every aspect of Anastasia's life (Seriously, how could that contract he tries to get her to sign NOT be controlling?), and be with Anastasia wherever she goes... even if its back at her mother's house for a single weekend. He just really seemed to want to

Don't believe me? Here's some posters (from this site) that prove my point (with actual quotes from the book):

See what I mean?

* What is a Mary Sue? She is an unrealistic character that is assumed to have been created to live out an author's fantasies.

NOTICE: I'll be Removing Aka from Smashwords...

...but only temporarily, and let me tell you why:

I've had the past few days off, and I've had plenty of time to do other things. I spent most of it trying to finish Bela and talk to some old friends, but I thought quite a bit about the only book on my Smashwords account, Aka.

During a majority of the time I was writing Aka, I was going through some tough times. I won't go into specifics about exactly what happened, but let's just say I was, in a way, betrayed. A lot of the work that went into Aka was either old writings I refurbished and writing I did to recover from this time I was in, along with a bit of new material (like Prom Night).

I published the book on my account in the midst of recovering without much input from anyone I knew, and now I realize how stupid of a decision that was. Around 60% of the material in that book was written during my recovery, and a lot of it is basically "Why did you do this to me?" Which is quite an immature recurring theme in someone's book, isn't it? Too bad it took me two months after publishing the book to realize it.

So, I'll be removing the book and refurbishing it a bit. Consider it as someone's very fatty steak, and I'm the chef that's cutting away all the bad parts, as well as adding some garnishes and delicious sides to make the whole meal better.

You can download it all you want, but by this Sunday at the most, it'll be gone for some time. I hope I can get it back out within a month or two, but due to other work I have and my goal to finish Bela by the beginning of summer, I can't guarantee that.

Enjoy the book for now, and I hope I can make it better! :D

The Common Core Argument

Hello again, everyone! Did you tune in to the Republican debates? I wasn't able to view all of it, but I was able to see the candidates' opinions on one little education program known as Common Core.

Now, what is Common Core? From what I know, Common Core is basically an initiative laying out what kids in the country should know in English and math by their senior year of high school, and tries to develop similar standards in the states so everyone is ready to enter college or the workforce (whichever they choose) at the right time.

However, Common Core only lays out STANDARDS, especially since it's illegal for the federal government to intervene in curriculum in states (1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act). School districts generally adopt the standards and develop lessons around said standards, so it's not like a 10th grader in Kentucky is learning the same thing in their English class as a 10th grader in California, but they will be having lessons based on standards that common core lays out.

Now... what did the Republicans say about Common Core?

Well, both Trump and Rubio pledge to end it... but they don't understand that they can't quite do that, since Common Core wasn't created by the federal government (remember that act I mentioned in the above paragraph?), but actually voluntarily adopted by governors of almost every state in the country (Texas is one of the states that has not, if you were wondering). So, sorry, Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio, you can't repeal something that's not on a federal level. (Trump doesn't understand Common Core very well, either. He claimed that is was "education through Washington D.C"... but as you can see, that's clearly not the case.)

Mr. Trump has once again proved why he shouldn't be president of the United States

Now, you may be wondering... What do I think of Common Core?

Well, personally, I think it's a good idea. It helps set standards for kids all across the country to be prepared for college, the workforce, et cetera and to remain on the same level education-wise even if different states may be teaching different lessons under those standards. The main problem with it is just people being uneducated on what Common Core actually is and therefore misinterpreting its purpose, as shown by just listening to Mr. Trump tonight (as well as some of CC's pointless steps in math... considering that there are multiple ways to solve them, but that's a problem I have with the standards, not the idea itself).

If only I could actually see Common Core in action in Texas...

Instead, the TEA is trying to "raise the educational standards" of Texas students, and because of the new "standards" the TEA is laying out, I'm not quite fond of it right now, not at all...

...In fact, I think I know what my next blog post will be about.

EDIT (3/12/16): Wanted to show that I think CC is a good IDEA, even though I disagree with some of their standards

O' Texas, My Texas (Or: When You're Educated and Uneducated at the Same Time)

I know I've mentioned that I'll keep my identity a secret, but you are allowed to know that I currently reside in Texas. Go figure, right?

Well, considering that Texas is the second-most populous state in the country, you still have a long way to go before you know who I really am. I can be anyone, from a college student in San Antonio to a middle-aged woman in El Paso. So...yeah, you still can't really figure out who I am.

One thing I do know about living in Texas, however, is that we tend to make some weird choices every once in a while. Sure, we do get some decent ideas every now and then (like how public colleges now have to accept AP scores if they're a 3 or above)... but we also do some not-so-good ones (like continuously electing Rick Perry until 2014 when he finally decided to retire).

But hey, even though Texas may have some flaws, I have many friends here, and life's pretty good. However, this doesn't stop me from shaking my head at some of the cray people Texas is seriously considering to elect (not Donald Trump (for now)... Ted Cruz actually won the Republican vote for Super Tuesday here. It's not much better, but hey, Donald Trump is a worse option).

I'm talking about one of the women running for my state's educational board, Mary Lou Bruner.

Mary Lou Bruner isn't much of an outsider to education, in fact, according to some sources, she has a master's in special education and has taught for 36 years, along with some other stuff.

Oh! That sounds good, right?

Well.... no, not really.

Wait... she has 36 years of experience? Why isn't that good?

Well, that's not the main problem. I mean, having a lot of experience is great! But that's not the only reason you should hire or elect someone for anything. Let's look at some of her beliefs:

The lady herself on climate change

Well, she's right: the weather doesn't feel any hotter!

OK, you may not feel any change in temperature, but do you know what does? Plants! According to the Environmental Protection Agency, plants need a very specific climate to thrive, and any change to it could affect its growth, or not make it grow at all.

But that's an American source!

Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Scottish Natural Heritage, Royal Horticultural Society, and other international organizations say the same thing (most with evidence or research to back up their claims).

(I'm going to skip her stance on dinosaurs because I don't want to start a huge fight on religion. She can keep her beliefs to herself and I'll keep mine to myself).

Her stance on school shootings

Well, what proof do you have against this?! You don't know the shooters personally!

- Seung-Hui Cho, the mastermind behind the Virginia Tech shootings, was described by his family as emotionally cold. Acquaintances also described him as having peculiar behavior and was also said to be mentally unstable. 

- One of the schools I went to was involved in a shooting-like incident during the 20th century due to some actions unrelated to religion. No more specifics will be brought up than this so you won't find out my identity,

But...wait...You said you live in Texas?! How many schools in Texas went through shootings during then?!

Just because I CURRENTLY live in Texas doesn't mean that I always went to school here. Get back on topic.

But what about the constitution one?!

None of the teachers I had that taught us about the U.S. consitution said a single word about it being corrupt... one of them even praised it.

But what about the teachers making fun of the poor?!

I've never seen that happen at the schools I went to... which were PUBLIC SCHOOLS! STUDENTS may make fun of these people... and that kind of bullying is a problem. But I've never seen a teacher make fun of a student's family's income.

But schools teaching kids there was no God...!

That also never happened. I've had teachers that aren't Christians, but none of my teachers taught us about religion AT ALL!

Moving on.

But kids shouldn't be learning about sex!!!!

While I do agree that some topics are too inappropriate for children, they should know what menstrual cycles are, and the anatomy of their own genitalia... while the actual sex talks should happen during middle school.

Wow... she's even a conspiracy theorist!

The subtitle is all I have to say about this... except that I've never heard that theory at all before and that the Democratic Party actually wanted Kennedy in office. Moving on.

But...but... Islam kills people!!!!

That is not one of Islam's ideologies. In fact, I'll just leave this here for your lovely self to see actual Qu'ran quotes about terrorism and murder.

Islam hates the Christians though!!!!

...You DO realize that Muslims believe in the Old Testament of the Bible, right? In fact, they even consider Jesus an important prophet (though not the son of God/Allah), and that Muhammad is the final prophet.

And finally...

But it IS a violation of freedom of religion!!!

NO. NO. NO. Preventing a group of people from marrying is NOT the same thing as freedom. Besides... did you know that LGBT people can be religious? Because those people are out there. 

But it's immoral!!! The Bible says so!

If you think the Bible should determine a law... we might was well do it for everything else, shall we? Here's a couple of Bible quotes we would have to live by:

Leviticus 19:19 “Neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.”

Leviticus 19:27 “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads.”

"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." (Psalm 137:9)

So... in general... I'm not very fond of this lady. There were several, several other things she said... but I don't want to make this blog post much longer. I'm going to conclude, however, with this:

Would you hire a highly qualified person if she believed things like this, especially if its on her Facebook?

This is what happens when you're both educated and uneducated at the same time.

Baby Bird

(This is a poem I wrote about a month ago... and I can't think of anything else to post right now, so enjoy this)

Hey, baby bird

Hey, baby bird

At first, your mama raised you well

She taught you how to someday fly

And taught you very well

But, baby bird

But, baby bird

What’s your mama doing to you?

Does she even want you to one day go

And start a life anew?

It seems, baby bird

It seems, baby bird

That your mama wants you forever

No mate, no eggs, no nest for you

Just you and your mama together

Fly, baby bird

Fly, baby bird

Fly from your mama’s nest

She can’t make you stay forever

And sometimes it’s for the best

Go, baby bird

Go, baby bird

And make yourself a home

You’re grown up now, and do you know what that means?

You can start a new life alone

Now, baby bird

Now, baby bird

I know you might be scared

But put your faith in how you were taught to fly

And soon it’ll be freedom that you’ll bear

Please, baby bird

Please, baby bird

Fly away and you’ll be free

Free from your mama’s nest

And full of opportunities

Fly, baby bird

Fly, baby bird

Fly from your mama’s nest

She can’t make you stay forever

And sometimes it’s for the best