Bombastic.
America is supposed to be given over to ugliness. There are a good many ugly things there and the ugliest are the most pretentious.
-Goldwin Smith
And this quote too because I love Pete Townshend (The man shares my birthday, is left handed, he has a big nose and he's made of win.)
I just could not believe that 30 years later we're still looking at people who are supposed to write little 2-minute pop that when they actually try to do something that's a little bit more they regard it as pretentious.
-PT
I believe it is fair to say that you, gentle reader*, know those people who know more, perform better, or look handsomer in a suit than you. That is according to them, anyway. I believe everyone would agree such behavior is annoying at best and deadly at worst- people who are short of temper and own guns come to mind- and such behavior should be avoided. Unless you like annoying your ex-marine neighbor with the arsenal in his basement. But that is your prerogative.
I try to evade pretentious people and keep from behaving that way myself. Rassilon** knows I have very little to feel superior about. I was born in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona to two displace Midwesterners. My father, the seventh child of ten, grew up on a little farm out in the booneys. He is a clean man despite the beard he has had ever since the Beatles broke up. When we moved back to Iowa he started working as a janitor at a local school district, and 19 years later he still goes in every day. He's the kind of guy to use words like "vermits" and "animules" to refer to our 'livestock': two horses, fifty chickens, innumerable barn cats, and one Labrador mix. He is actually a lot of fun and very quotable, you'll probably read entries about him.
My mother on the other hand comes from an extended family that as a whole can be described as 'dysfunctional.' My grandfather, one of eight children himself, was an interesting fellow. My memories involve a soft-spoken, mild-mannered racist who disliked everyone. My mother assures me that he wasn't always like that, but I haven't yet shuck the image of him calling my niece, who is 1/16th African American (basically enough to have a really nice tan, which I am kind of jealous of) his 'Little N-word Baby'.
From this chaos I was born. I went to a public school where my father, my cousins, my brothers, my aunts, my uncle, and even my mother (for one semester) graduated from. It was small and literally situated in the middle of a corn field, except for the years when it was planted with soybeans. I've only left the States once, and we are still paying for that 3-week adventure, five years later. My first vehicle was a 1985 Ford Ranger (lovingly called Ranger Gord after one of my favorite characters ever) and I remember getting into intense arguments with the boy down the road about Ford verses Chevrolet. (Ford, absolutely, and if you think otherwise you are silly.)
Clearly I have nothing to set me apart and above the teeming masses. Admittedly, I am of the top 5% of the world population, but if you are reading this you are too. That does make us richer, better off than our relatives in developing countries, but it does not make us any better. The woman who lives in Africa loves her children as much as the one who lives in New York.
Basically, besides this having gotten away from me incredibly, all I am trying to say is I am just an average girl- adult woman according to my driver's license- living an average life. I dream of leaving Iowa, but most everyone does. I love to read and write ('clearly', you are thinking) but I get confused about the use of was/were and affect/effect. I am however, Time lord Vulcan Awesome human, and do have my moments. Like when talking to a friend of my mother's and she thought I had an otherworldly grasp of geography since I knew Texas was South and Chicago was East of here. But in my defense, I can barely stand that woman anyway.
There really is no reason for it though, is there? You do have to play yourself up when applying for work, for university, for scholarships, for online dating, for getting out of speeding tickets... but amongst friends, there shouldn't be attitudes, should there? With my influx of friends lately (yes, I can fairly say that I have pimpled myself out on community.livejournal.com/friends_i_want/) that I try to be a calm citizen of the United States. I know there are people in the wider world who think we think are more important than everyone else. To be honest, I know many people with that outlook. I hope that you would read my ramblings (maybe my fanfic? ) and realise that yeah, I'm a bit odd, I named my phone "Tom Baker's Face" and I enjoy listening to Disturbed on occasion.
I read science fiction novels and have been on a weird-classic works kick (depends on your definition of 'classic' I suppose.
I listen to music that I think sounds good, or at least interesting (currently listening to a song I have on my computer by a band callled "Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band- if you are familiar with them then you know it is definitely stretching the definition of 'good'.)
I watch little of television outside of British comedies that are shown on PBS, since the conversion to digital last summer left us with that sole channel.
Movies exceed my attention span by a good half hour, usually.
My relationship with Manga is tentative, but growing slowly.
I hate reading fanfiction where the Doctor sleeps with a companion. But I love to write him in domestic situations. And I come up with my personal favorites while I am in the shower.
I live in constant fear that my work will be disliked or, worse yet, flat-out ignored.
Basically, I'm human. And I ask that you accept me as so.
*When I wrote a journal I named it Walter or something like that. I like to occasionally address things I write specifically to an audience. But not my fanfiction.
** an unfortunate quirk my friend and I have picked up lately, using the name of Rassilon, the first Time Lord, in vain. 'Cause we cool like dat.