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Random thoughts
- Thread starter SeverinR
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DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
It's called home school.
^That.
I'm homeschooled and am about to graduate, but I've been homeschooled through my whole life pretty much. I can do my subjects in whatever order, at whatever time, and at whatever speed I wish. I can take a day off and work on the weekends if I want; I can spend all day doing one subject if I get behind in it. I do a lot of my subjects at home, but you can take academic classes, do online programs...There's an unlimited amount of flexibility.
Also I can do school in my pajamas while listening to electronic music and eating ice cream.
As long as I graduate, lol.
Thomas Laszlo
Mystagogue
My issue is I want to get into Naval Academy, and to do everything that I am doing currently, and make it there, I have to be public schooled. I couldn't do Band outside of school, I couldn't do tennis as a sport with a team, I wouldn't have any administrative or teacher connections for anything, and I'd graduate in about seven months if I really put my mind to it. I'd be off the mark by about a year XD
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TheCatholicCrow
Mystagogue
Depending on the state ... homeschooling with a charter is an option (at least it is in California). All the perks of a traditional school (teachers, state testing, clubs and activities etc.) + PJ's & ice cream.
My lovely young daughter (now in her mid 20's, how time fly's) was in a particularly regressive religious home school program during her early teen years. As best I could tell from the literature, the people behind that program believed a woman's place was in the home, and as such they needed ONLY basic literacy and math skills.
I put her in the public school system upon gaining custody. They wanted to drop her three grades below what the program claimed her grade level was. She did graduate on time - but it meant extra classes and summer school - part of that in the form of a summer job at a fast food joint. Her math skills are still subpar - she bombed a few college classes as a direct result of that, and eventually dropped out. (At which point the student loan debt kicked in. Add a baby, and...well, good thing I'm around.)
I put her in the public school system upon gaining custody. They wanted to drop her three grades below what the program claimed her grade level was. She did graduate on time - but it meant extra classes and summer school - part of that in the form of a summer job at a fast food joint. Her math skills are still subpar - she bombed a few college classes as a direct result of that, and eventually dropped out. (At which point the student loan debt kicked in. Add a baby, and...well, good thing I'm around.)
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Oh wow. O_O I'm not sure what you mean by "home school program" though. Elaborate?
I've heard my share of negative home schooling stories. Not been directly involved in any--mine and my home school friends' experiences have been extremely positive on the whole--but the "religious cult" kind ARE out there. I'm not going to deny that some are like that. I just seriously wish people didn't think we were ALL like that. Or that none of us have friends. All of us can't even count the number of times we've gotten, "how do you make friends?" "I couldn't do that, I would want friends!" and the like. I've been out with my FIVE friends and had people by chance learn we were homeschooled and assume we were all sisters...
It would be nice if homeschooling got to be more mainstream. The weird looks and questions we all get...
Thomas Laszlo
Mystagogue
I would love homeschool, I want to study faster than I am, and without all these annoying liferforms... (most of which are a lesser intellect) and I can focus on God more too because I'm not so absorbed in trying to get a friggin A in school because they take wayyyyyy too long. I've thought about just doing a full intensive academic schedule over the summer
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Ireth
Mythic Scribe
John Hurt passed away today. He'll be missed.
Futhark
Master
Now I have people (you guys and gals) that say more than "that sounds good", I'm finally motivated to start my first draft. Came to the realisation of how much work I have to do to become a half decent writer, then how much more to become a good writer, and it's like, why do I want be a writer again?
"The story of a 100,000 words begins with a single keystroke." Adapted from Lao Tzu.
"The story of a 100,000 words begins with a single keystroke." Adapted from Lao Tzu.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Good luck! You're gonna need it! Actually, you're just going to need gumption, stubbornness and elbow grease.
This your first novel? It's gonna be hard, but it'll be incredible to see how much you learn and what a better writer you are by the end. You learn a LOT every time you write one.
Futhark
Master
Well, I've got stubbornness in spades (which has exponentially increased in my 7 year old daughter, much to my delight), which is why I'm afraid to start because I know it will consume me until it's done. Actually thinking of doing some short stories in the Fantastical 7 Seas and try very hard not to overthink it, just have some fun. Read some fantasy, which I haven't been able to do because I get halfway through a book, start thinking about my story, and don't pick it up again. "Such is life" - probably fictional last quote of Ned Kelly.
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DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Sounds like your story really wants to be written. Write it!
Thomas Laszlo
Mystagogue
Hey, so I just posted about this on The Dragon Writes Again, but has anyone ever considered, or realized, that Science Fiction is essentially fantasy from a different perspective???? Like... if we were two hundred years in the future, present day would be a great fantasy setting... but two hundred years ago, we were living by the current definition of Science Fiction! Abstract theories are my babies XD
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TheCatholicCrow
Mystagogue
That's why Star Wars is a hard one to classify ... you have things like Midichlorians on one hand , and space travel/ aliens on the other.
Thomas Laszlo
Mystagogue
Yeah but who REALLY even talks about midichlorians? Except of course the creator and the actors XD
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DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
It's my theory that they're really no different, or at least are on a spectrum.
Futhark
Master
Yeah, genre boundaries can be be very fluid, or porous. Personally I think of Star Wars as science fantasy, but that's because I like hard sci fi, so that's what I think of when when it comes to science fiction. That's just my 2 cents (which is rounded down to zero now we don't have 1 or 2 cents coins, ha ha).
Tom
Istari
Star Wars does have its own genre! It's called space opera, and it's usually differentiated from traditional sci fi by a mythic/epic-type plot (seriously, Star Wars would work amazingly well as a Norse saga), less focus on hard science, and a somewhat romanticized approach to worldbuilding. Another great example of space opera is Jupiter Ascending. (It really gets me when people mock it without realizing that a lot of its more ridiculous premises also show up in Star Wars.)
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Ireth
Mythic Scribe
Just saw Moana tonight, and I wish I could afford to see it again. It is SUCH a good movie! <3
Many years ago, I was into Space Stories very much.
I had this huge epic story in my mind, which was all about a mighty and ultra-powerful civilization that had spread their fleet of warships and stellar bases to nothing less than thirty seven different galaxies. They had nearly a million ships, and their weaponry and military prowess were so great that very few opponents could stand in their way.
In general, their science (or at least, what I imagined to be science back then) had granted them godlike powers and their weapons were so dreadful that anything from the Star Wars universe would be a joke in comparison.
I was like: Wow, this is so great! Wonderful! This is going to be the greatest Science Fiction ever!
Well, guess what? Imaginary physics do not count as Science Fiction. I could imagine and define in great detail all of those science-flavored concepts and warships and powers and weapons, and still they were never Sci Fi. That story and everything in it were always Fantasy, or what now I like to call Science Fantasy.
I think that we need to place a clearer barrier between Fantasy and Science Fiction.
To me there is no such thing as soft science fiction. The so-called Soft Sci Fi is nothing but science-flavored Fantasy, all dressed up with starships and other similar things. Authentic Science Fiction is a very, very different creature... and it attracts me very much, but I doubt that I would ever be able to produce a good Sci Fi story.
Anyway, I do not want to start yet another argument about this stuff like it has happened in this site before. I know you will disagree with me, no worries. I just wanted to post these thoughts here.
And yeah, I like Science Fantasy very much =)
I had this huge epic story in my mind, which was all about a mighty and ultra-powerful civilization that had spread their fleet of warships and stellar bases to nothing less than thirty seven different galaxies. They had nearly a million ships, and their weaponry and military prowess were so great that very few opponents could stand in their way.
In general, their science (or at least, what I imagined to be science back then) had granted them godlike powers and their weapons were so dreadful that anything from the Star Wars universe would be a joke in comparison.
I was like: Wow, this is so great! Wonderful! This is going to be the greatest Science Fiction ever!
Well, guess what? Imaginary physics do not count as Science Fiction. I could imagine and define in great detail all of those science-flavored concepts and warships and powers and weapons, and still they were never Sci Fi. That story and everything in it were always Fantasy, or what now I like to call Science Fantasy.
I think that we need to place a clearer barrier between Fantasy and Science Fiction.
To me there is no such thing as soft science fiction. The so-called Soft Sci Fi is nothing but science-flavored Fantasy, all dressed up with starships and other similar things. Authentic Science Fiction is a very, very different creature... and it attracts me very much, but I doubt that I would ever be able to produce a good Sci Fi story.
Anyway, I do not want to start yet another argument about this stuff like it has happened in this site before. I know you will disagree with me, no worries. I just wanted to post these thoughts here.
And yeah, I like Science Fantasy very much =)