Postponed. Oh no, Christmas is canceled!

I am postponing today's Top Tuesdays until tomorrow because I have something important to talk about that I have been thinking about for a few months now.

Fandoms.

Wikipedia says that a Fandom is....
Fandom (consisting of fan [fanatic] plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom).

So basically, a fandom is a community of fanatics.... Some examples of different fandoms would be: Sherlock, Doctor Who, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.... it goes on and on. Anything geeky and popular will probably have a fandom.

Those who know about fandoms and BBC are probably aware of this phrase:

 

I have mostly seen this phrase in correlation to Sherlock... And Doctor Who whenever someone dies. "Right in the feels" pretty much means that something angsty (anxiety, pain, fear) happens (usually a character dies) and because the person behind the screen was so attached to the characters or the storyline that they feel pain at whatever happened.

Now, this post is going to take a random turn... But remember "the feels."

In "A Scandal in Belgravia" (Sherlock season 2, episode 1) Irene Adler says, "Brainy is the new sexy" and I think she's right (despite my dislike of the S word. And of Irene herself). A few years ago you were popular if you loved makeup and Justin Bieber and Twilight and frilly, girly things. And boys and Disney Channel and stuff like that. Now, however, the tables are turning. With shows like Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory becoming so popular all over the world, the tides are turning towards geekiness. More girls are now becoming obsessed with BBC shows and sci-fi and fantasy are replacing Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place - the Highschool Musical that every little girl dreamed of. Now girls dream of The Doctor coming to pick them up in the TARDIS.
I look at people's blogs (mostly random people) and I see people's Pinterest's (again, mostly random people) and I feel sad. They obsess over these BBC shows and these BBC guys and really, I see no difference between girls obsessing over Zac Efron and David Tennant. I see true geekery as knowing everything about the shows... For example, knowing how to talk in Klingon, or knowing the history of Gallifry, or knowing how to write in Elvish. Knowing the little things. Simply obsessing over something, doesn't really give much depth.... The depth comes in knowing the little things.
Anyway, that's not my point.
I feel SO sad for the people that only obsess over TV shows, geeky or not. For me, it's great to be known as the "Trekkie" at church. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel unique. For other girls, I think it feels good to be "geeky." They want to fit in (and hey, if hot, time travelling aliens are involved, it's just an added bonus!). It's fun to post funny pictures and "get the reference." (Did you guys get the one in the title??? It's from Sherlock!!)
I know I enjoy looking at funny pictures. But... is that all?
It that all there is to life?
No.
Of course not.
But do all the fangirls know that? I don't know. I don't know what they think.
But it makes me very very sad to see people obsessing over TV shows. Things that don't matter. Life should be spent doing better things. Getting a good education.... Working.... Family.
GOD. Getting to know God.
In youth group we just started a new series where we're talking about being a follower, verses being a fan. A fan sticks around the sidelines while a follower... Actually, we haven't talked about what a follower is yet. I believe that is next week (that or I wasn't paying attention).
Similarly, our pastor is always stressing the point that being in the Word of God is very important. We should spend time daily in the Bible, getting to know God.
I think, how much time do people spend watching Doctor Who?
Then I think, how much time do Christians spend watching TV shows. Time that could better be spent getting to know God better.
I know that I spend waaaay too much time watching TV or surfing the wide web. I don't spend nearly enough time with God.
Some say that their teen years are for partying. They use their teen years as an excuse. I am finding that I am using my teen years as an excuse for watching TV. I keep thinking, "I don't want my kids to grow up watching too much TV - ruining their imaginations. I want them to read books. Maybe I won't even HAVE a TV when I get married and have kids! I want them to be closer to God." Then I think, ashamedly, what about me? I could stop watching TV right now. But I'm a teen, I can goof off if I want. I'm a teenager!
I'm using it as an excuse. I realise that. And I really am trying to change. It's hard, though.
Anyway, these are my own personal convictions I've been going through lately... I don't mean to change any of your minds.

So, spending more time with God is my first point.
My second point is family.
Tonight I have been watching family videos from a family reunion on my Dad's side in 1998. The whole family was these - every child and every grandchild (except for my Favorite Cousin, who was not yet born). That is no easy task... My dad has quite a few siblings who each have a few children of their own.
Anyway, my dad was videotaping the whole event. He was asking everyone to tell a story that they remembered of Grandma and Grandpa (or Mom and Dad, for his siblings). He was also being teased for always videotaping. He said at one point, "It's all part of the memories!" and I couldn't help but think, "OHH! RIGHT IN THE FEELS!"
You see, my parental Grandpa passed away last July. For the last 10 years or so, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's, a heightened version of dementia (says Wikipedia). All I know, is that Grandpa didn't know anything when he passed away. His soul was gone and all that was left was an empty shell.

 

Near the end, all he would do was sit with his eyes closed. He would have to be fed and bathed and put to bed. Through it all, my Grandpa loved him and took care of him - everyone in the family did, really.
It was a blessing when God finally took him home. The memorial service was a really really good time. Stories were shared and it was a time of rejoicing in my Grandpa's life.
I never really had a close relationship with my Grandpa, because his Alzheimer's was already pretty bad when I was old enough to have any sort of relationship with him (though from what I hear, he was a pretty hard person to get to know). It was really good to hear stories about him. I kind of got to know him through hearing other people talk about him and I am so grateful for that. I really regret not being able to "get to know him" or even just to observe him. He was my Grandpa, after all.
Anyway, on this family video that I'm watching, he's there. He's not just there, he's there. As in, his mind hasn't gone yet. He was interviewed by some of the family. He was talking, telling stories, telling jokes... And all caught on camera! I was really happy to see that as well.
Tonight I was going to watch Star Wars but I popped this in instead since it was sitting there and I had been wanting to see what was on the tape.
I am SO glad I did.
I am enjoying watching this SO much more than watching Star Wars or Doctor Who or any other TV show.
Watching TV isn't bad. Watching movies isn't bad. But too much TV, to the point of not doing other things, is bad.
Someone said (people say it is Einstein, but I don't know) that "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."
I think that day has come. We are so caught up in our own little worlds.... We can talk over the internet but it is so impersonal. We watch TV shows and feel like the characters are our friends... Is that right? Shouldn't we be spending more time getting to know our friends, family, relatives, and God? than getting to know TV characters?
I'm not a fangirl. I try to make that known to people. I enjoy TV, and occasionally it becomes more important than other things... But I try really hard not to let it overtake my life. I don't want to be a fangirl. I don't want to spend my whole life talking about TV shows and characters because there is no substance to that sort of life. It is an escape, sure. But for how long? We all have to come back to reality sometime. And when we wake up, we'll find ourselves all alone because we've spent more time watching TV or cat videos than building relationships with people. I don't want that kind of life. There's nothing to that life! It's so dull and surface! There's no depth!
Watching these home videos, where everyone is laughing and talking has really opened my eyes, I think. (And when people weren't laughing or talking they were all sitting in the same room reading. Hee hee. How times have changed... Now we sit in the same room glued to our screens.)
Anyway, this is all my own opinion. It's just stuff I've been thinking about lately.

And seeing my Grandpa smiling and laughing may just be the best thing I will see this month.

A very long blog post (but worth it!)

My computer is broken.
And since I am lazy on the internet... I haven't logged out of my mother's blogger account and onto my own. But now I have. Because I feel the need to blog.
Also, because I'm tired of this whole "30 day challenge" thing (since it's not really a "30" day challenge anymore....)  but am determined to finish it, I am going to finish it right now! In one blog post!

Day 24: A movie in which no one would expect you to love.
I am going to do this day a bit differently.... I am going to do movies and TV shows no one would expect me to love.
No one would expect me to love "Thomas and the Magic Railroad."

Thomas the Tank Engine was my childhood. I spent hours playing with my train set. First I had to build and re-build the railroad... Then I would play with Thomas and Percy and Lady and all the other engines I had (I always wanted Edward and Henry but, sadly, never got them). Whenever we go to a certain store that I know has Thomas trains I go and look at them and memories come flooding back.

A few TV shows no one would expect me to love are...

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

Arthur

Leave It To Beaver

The Andy Griffith Show

Many of you are probably familiar with Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Arthur. They are both shows for younger audiences.... But I love little kid shows. They are usually soooo clean and teach you simple lessons that everyone should remember.

Leave it to Beaver is a story about the Cleaver family. June Cleaver, the mother, is often made fun of in today's society because she was so "perfect" which she was. It just made Leave it to Beaver better.

I love old black and white TV shows.

The Andy Griffith Show was introduced to me by my grandparents. It is a show about Andy Griffith (last picture, the guy without a hat) and his fictional son Opie. Andy is sheriff of a small village. Barney Fife (guy with a hat) is his deputy. Aunt Bee (the lady) takes care of Opie. It's a great show with a great theme song! *goes off whistling*

Day 25: A recipe.

Boeterkoek

1 kop boeter

1 kop suiker

2 kop meel

1 ei

1 thee lepel almond

1 thee lepel baak poeder

Kneed alles met de hand of vork.

Schep het dreg in een pan. Plat maken.

Sprenkel met een beetje melk.

Stop in 350 oven, 30-35 minuten.

Eet smakkelijk!!

Boeterkoek is a Dutch recipe for butter cake. It's really good! ....If you can translate the recipe.

Day 26: A childhood memory.
Oh dear... I have been thinking a lot about my childhood lately. And I'm not even out of high school yet! I feel so old though....
Hmmmm.... A childhood memory. I can remember getting embarrassed an awful lot when I was small. I would say something and people would laugh and say, "Oh how cute" and I would be shamed and would think I was no good. I remember once being at a relatives house for Christmas and my little cousin received a gift and I said, "Is it what he always wanted?" and everyone laughed and I was soooo embarrassed. I hated being laughed at when I was little, even if I made a joke. I think it was because I was very shy. I always kept by my mom's side. I never wandered very far from her. As I got older, I hated putting myself out there and talking to people because I was afraid they would laugh at me or think I was stupid.
Then I took Shakespeare.
This wasn't any ordinary Shakespeare class, though. This Shakespeare class was more of a "Get-you-out-of-your-comfort-zone-by-silly-acting-games-with-Shakespeare-on-the-side" class. Boy did it help! Since then, I have been putting myself out there more and talking a lot more. I often think, "What does my youth group think of me now?" (in a laughing way) because my first year in youth group I barely talked. I was the shy girl who sat in the corner alone. Now, I don't care what my youth group thinks. If they think I'm a weirdo, crazy, nerdy, sci-fi lover, geek..... Well, all I can say is.... I AM! That's who I am. And if anyone has a problem with that, that's there problem. Because I am me. I'm not saying I'm perfect. In fact, I'm far from perfect. I'm still a work in progress. I'm still being molded into who God wants me to be. I've given up caring what people think about me. I only care about what God thinks of me. Because really, He's the only one that matters.

Day 27: A physical feature you love.
ACCENT!! No question about it. I absolutely love accents. Especially English accents. I could sit and listen to an English accent all day. Perhaps that's why I love Sherlock Holmes so much? And Jane Austin? Everyone in those books/movies has an accent. Even Tintin has an accent!
But enough about accents.... My mother wants the computer so she can do a blog post so I'd better finish this up.

Day 28: A scar you have and it's story.
Here is the scar-

No it's not the big brown thing. It's the little white thing next to it. I feel a few summers ago an scraped my knee while camping. Me and my friends were playing tag with some other kids in the campsite and I slipped and fell on gravel and skinned my knee. One of the other tag-players came over and asked if I was ok and I said yes and continued to play, even though my knee was burning. I tried running... Then I looked down at my knee. It was gross. It looked like this:

I am very glad that it has turned into a small scar.

Day 29: Hopes, dreams, and plans you have for the next 365 days.
I could go on and on with this one.... But I will narrow it down to just a few things.
1. Start taking singing lessons.
2. Read the following books:
    a. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
    b. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield
    c. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
    d. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
    e. The Young Sherlock Holmes by Darrell Pitt
    f. The Steampunk Detective by Andrew Lane
    g. The Tintin Novel based off of the movie by some whose name I don't know.
3. Finish editing my NaNoWriMo novel.
4. Plan this year's NaNoWriMo novel (I have an AMAZING plot line floating around in my brain!! It's full of detectives and secret weapons and trench coats..... But more on that in some other post.)

Day 30: A motto of philosophy.
I am going to do a quote instead. Whether it is philosophical... You can decide.
"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim for earth and you will get neither."
-C.S. Lewis.

On a closing note, I am thinking about changing the title of my blog to "Random Ramblings." What do you guys think?

Hopefully, I will get my computer fixed soon and then my posts will be much more frequent again.

Until then, have a blessed week!