After my recent exodus from xanga, I realized how much I missed my personal writing outlet. Distracted by that wonderful evil, facebook, I have neglected my first love: xanga. Well, I'm back and ready to go. Several ideas ideas for xanga articles came to me in the car yesterday, and I had to put them down before I forgot. I plan on developing them and posting them here. Not quite yet, but maybe this weekend. :)

In the meantime, I intend on embracing this wonderful autumn season: my favorite time of the year. You should too. There are few things I enjoy more than Fall. So, here is my advice: take your favorite book, magazine, etc. outside with a blanket and a cup of [insert favorite hot beverage here] and just enjoy the colors, smells, and breezes of autumn. The best season of the year is also the shortest (here in the south, anyway). Make the most of it.

Melissa

See this movie. It's superb.

And that's all I'm gonna say 'bout dat.

Disclaimer: I am, in fact, an addicted gamer. My absolute favorite company is Nintendo, but I must say that I play lots of other games. I love them. I stink at them, but they're fun. I am in no way condemning gamers (at least, ones that have a life outside of gaming;as for the others, I say: get a life).

Now, to get on with it: this past Tuesday, Halo 3 came out. Now, I'm sure most of you are aware of this. Could anyone with male friends NOT be aware of it? For the last two or so weeks, Ben has been reminding me constantly how many days (and when we came down to it, hours) until Halo 3 came out. I'm not a big XBOX 360 fan, but it is a little exciting, as the conclusion of any trilogy is. The story's supposed have a tragic ending, but some good will come of it, of course, the playing experience is supposed to be tremendous, and the graphics (of course, with XBOX) are supposed to vivid and almost real.

And let's just say, folks, it is everything we expected. Hanging with the Grosses today, I was bumming on the couch and Ben was playing the quest. Nutty graphics, and pretty sweet guns and whatnot. Sweet plot, sweeter XBOX Live.

Here's my question...

When was the last time you picked up a book? Seriously...for fun, not school, not church, not under obligation to you friend or teacher (you get the picture). I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. More and more, I see my peers passing right over Austen, Poe, and Potok (just to name a few) with grunts of disgust or (even worse) ignorance. Instead, they head right for the racks which hold The Gossip Girls, Eragon, and Harry Potter--and sometimes, only the last page of that. Honestly, are they so easily entertained that those are all they need to be sufficiently entertained? I read Eragon (shortly followed by incessent vomiting) and I love Harry Potter. But that's not all I read. And, believe me, I'm not putting myself on a pedastal, because I am far from well-read. But, you get the point.

What are kids reading these days? 

A lot of my peers don't even reach for the aforementioned "literature"...instead they reach for the Wii remote, the XBOX controller, or the Gameboy DS. Don't they realize that (most of) the same themes are contained in  literature? Now, I'm not saying go pick up Les Miserables...but the Phantom Tollbooth or maybe a little Douglas Adams wouldn't hurt. (Actually, espcially Douglas Adams.)

Start small, then go big. That's all I ask. Some people I know pale in the shadow of the mountain of books within Barnes & Nobles. Instead of jumping right into Jane Eyre, why not start with some Colfer or Lowry?  I think if monolithic novels weren't pushed on my non-literature-loving peers, and instead easy (but provoking) and entertaining literature, perhaps with a small start a voluntary love for literature would evolve, and not be forced on them.

Eh, that's just my opinion.