Yet another Youth In Revolt post...(inspired by molly's post about characters: http://epiceyebrows.blogspot.com/2010/12/looking-into-mirror.html)

Have you ever seen someone in a crowd, and wanted to get to know them? Well that happens to me all the time, but now that I am reading Youth In Revolt I start thinking of everyone I don't know fully as a dirty, horrible liar. This assumption is totally unfair to those who are actually sweet and honestly nice. This makes me wonder if its better to know someone fully, with their flaws and all, or to barely know someone.

I think it totally depends on the person you get to know. Knowing someone you admire or enjoy spending time with very well, is great. Then you can talk deeply, and have inside jokes etc. Knowing someone very well and caring for them go hand and hand. But knowing someone you despise or hate very well, can be the worst thing possible. You will probably end up hating them, and quite possibly hating yourself.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten very far in Youth In Revolt. Something always repulsed me about Nick Twisp, maybe its because the story gets TOO deep into his head. Since I dislike Nick Twisp, I don't want to know EVERYTHING that goes through his head.

This is what makes or breaks a story; the characters. If you really like a character, then reading will be a pleasure. But if you dislike a character, you will probably dislike reading just as much.

I often want to meet actors or musicians that seem super awesome. But you never know if you would get along with them. Sometimes ones expectations about a person, are not at all what that person is like.

Have you ever had this experience? Explain

When Should We Stop Watching, And Start Living?

I know this is sinful, but I haven't read at all this week! The largeness of Youth In Revolt by C.D.Payne intimidates me, and causes me to run away from the book instead of reading it. But this weekend I was thinking about it while my family and I were driving to see my cousins. I have come up with a question; When Should We Stop Watching, And Start Living? My question breaks down into these other questions: How does one view and interact with the world? What is considered 'living'?

I come from a family of watchers. My mom is a photographer and has a certain view of the world and shes not afraid to express how much she likes or dislikes something. She often shows me what a great photograph would look like, and describes why. I have odd memories of my mom and I moving slowing into the shadow covered park, taking in each and every small blade of grass and making it a pretend photograph and framing it in between our fingers. I still do that now, except I do it in my head. I look at the world through a specific lens; one that automatically creates a story, composition, contrast, and beauty in the world around me. This does not nessicarily make me a "good" artist, instead an avid viewer of this world. This also causes me to think too much, and psychoanalyze things. If I am brought up with an opportunity, I am likely to think too much, and then the moment passes when I have reached a decision.

Nick Twisp, the narrator of the story, is also a watcher. He never really speaks back, or does anything daring, or hangs out with new people. But when he meets Sheeni, he suddenly changes. She dares Nick to be "bad", and start living. But what is considered living? I would say doing what you love. So if he doesn't enjoy being bad, why should he? Why should we change for someone else? Should we stop being ourselves, and become the person our significant other wants us to be? I believe not. We are who we are, and I'm not sure if Nick Twisp is doing the right thing. If someone doesn't like you for who you are, you shouldn't change.

What if watching is your form of living, like me and Nick?

Then I would say keep watching.

Weekly Music Artist: SUMMER CAMP

So, SUMMER CAMP is just one of those awesome/super-duper/kick-butt/epic/so good/life changing bands that is not as known as they should be. They are an independent band based in the UK.
They are known for Ghost Train, Round the Moon, and Christmas Wrapping(waitress cover). But my favorite is Why Don't You Stay. All music found on their Myspace page. Fortunetly, they are now on iTunes!! I'm pretty excited about this, considering that they were not on till quite recently.
Here they are:

They are also known for their use of photographs from the 70s. Like this one:

"Every Revolution Needs A Leader"

I am currently enjoying the extremely dirty thoughts and words of Nick Twisp, the narrator of Youth In Revolt by C.D.Payne. Nick Twisp is a 14 year old boy, living in California, trying to loose his virginity and impress his girl. To impress, he must act as devilishly rebellious as possible. He burns cars and scares his parents, he lies uncontrollably and scares his friend's parents, he runs away and occasionally does drugs. While reading this story, I started questioning what is rebellion and is rebelling the only way to truly live?

According to Google, rebellion is "refusal to accept some authority or code or convention". According to the Canadian band, Arcade Fire's song Rebellion(Lies) being rebellious is doing things that aren't good, then lying and keeping it from others. According to BBC, rebellion is " often symbolic. They want to look grown up and impress their friends." To further explain, BBC explains taking risks: " teenagers have well-developed emotions and feelings but have still not acquired the ability to think things through."

If you never act out, and never do anything against the rules for all of your life, are you wasting your life?

I believe that wasting your life, has nothing to do with your level of rebelliousness, but your level of happiness.

Are you happy doing what you are doing?

Weekly Music Artist: DION AND THE BELMONTS

I'm sorry I have not been keeping up with posting a new artist every week, but here goes.

This week, I'm digging into music from my favorite time: the 50's.

Dion and The Belmont's are a band made famous for their great doo-wop sound. Dion had grown up in the streets of the Bronx and started singing with great influence from R&B, blues, doo-wop, and rock n' roll. They were famous in the late 50's early 60's. Their hits include I Wonder Why, Teenager in Love, and The Wanderer. Dion was adapted into the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

My personal female icons

As you all know I recently cut my hair very short. Devon asked what inspired me to do such a thing, and I thought it would be a great topic for a blog post. My main reason for cutting my hair off, was in search of adventure. I am reading Paper Towns by John Green. It has to be the most life changing/view changing book I have read so far this year. It is an adventure/mystery story about the most wonderful, adventurous girl named Margo. She has become my favorite female icon because of her great adventurous side. She inspired me to be as adventurous as possible and to create a top five countdown kind of thing of female icons that I look up to.

Isabelle's Top Five Female Icons Countdown!
5)Coco Chanel-Because she stood up for girls when all we had to wear was poof dresses and corsets. She's brave.
4)Myrna Loy-Because she was always graceful and all for equal human rights. She's perfect.
3)Becky from the 1993 movie Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?-Because she was my adventuring queen and she's so accepting and real. She is effortless.
2)The girl in the song 'Dreaming of Another World' by Mystery Jet's-Because this girl seems to be a rule follower... then she is told to 'scrape the sky, and do something that would make her mother cry' She's adventurous. lyrics here
1)Margo Roth Spiegelman-Because she's human.

So to sum up my feelings about really awesome girls that I aspire to be like, read the book Paper Towns by John Green. Through all my adventure-longing encounters in books, music and popular culture, I realize what makes a great person is summed up in a quote from Paper Towns:
"And all at once I knew how Margo Roth Spiegelman felt when she wasn't being Margo Roth Spiegelman: she felt empty.She felt the unscalable wall surrounding her. I thought of her asleep on the carpet with only that jagged sliver of sky above her. Maybe Margo felt comfortable there because Margo the person lived like that all the time: in an abandoned room with blocked-out windows, the only light pouring in through holes in the roof. Yes. The fundamental mistake I had always made--and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make--was this:Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."
--John Green(Paper Towns)
(She has to be real.)

To sum up my feelings about this new adventure seeking part of me, listen to the Mystery Jets, because they will tell you life without adventure is kind of boring.
"They don't teach these things at school
They just lay down the rules which are there for you to break"
--Mystery Jets(Flakes)
(Links to the songs: Flakes
Dreaming of Another World)

Okay so i
need
need
need
need your feedback!
please comment with the following things:
1.top 5 countdown with your female icons(if your a guy, you can do male icon if you want)
2.what inspires you to do what you do/be who you are/believe what you do?

thanks

the world kind of sucks...

I am a huge fan of graphic novels, so reading Persepolis and Persepolis 2 was a great joy. This story is a memoir of the author Marjane Satrapi. The story takes place in Iran during the '80s, while the revolution took place. It was a religious movement, where the religious fundamentalist's took over the government and enforced rules upon the population. These rules were religiously based, and I think, are unfair. These rules affected the lives of everyone, everywhere. Woman had started to wear head scarfs, woman and men were forever separated, you couldnt be seen on a date with a man unless you were married, you couldn't wear any formfitting clothing, you couldnt drink or wear makeup, and so much more. In Iran, people could be severly punished for breaking these rules. You could be put in jail, tortured or killed for such a small thing as wearing make-up.

The book is basically documenting one woman's view of all of these changes, and how her family deals with it. With all the sad discrimination and sexism, Marjane Satrapi is the reason I kept reading. She is such a sweet and innocent character, just trying to be free and get her rights back.

So if you were in Majane's shoes, how would you feel about not being able to walk around wearing makeup without fear of death?