Written by Erica Rose Jackson Ok, five things I would love to do before my time on this Earth is over include: a cage dive with Great White Sharks, swimming with orcas, taking my family to Ireland, meeting one of my favorite celebs, and writing a novel. None of these tasks seem too out of reach, unless you go by my husband’s protests. Here’s why each of these things matter to me enough to be a part of my bucket list (which I’ve never written) so these are it at the moment. Cage Diving with Great Whites - The sharks are the item my husband protests my involvement in because, you know, danger. When I was in high school, I saw a man named Andre Hartman on the Discovery Channel dive with these beautiful creatures. After that, I googled him and learned he does charters, I was even able to interview him for my high school paper. Getting closer to these animals that inspired my deep love for shark movies (thanks to Jaws) would be one of the best memories I could imagine. Swimming with Orcas - I am from the Free Willy generation when Jesse and Willy won our hearts as the boy and whale friendship duo. After that, I’ve always wanted to get in the water with an orca causing my earliest career dream to be a marine biologist and work at Sea World. Well, Sea World is out thanks to their mistreatment of these creatures which was wonderfully exposed by Blackfish. However, they aren’t known to attack so if I found them in the wild, I think I’d try to interact. Taking my family to Ireland - I was able to go to Ireland when I was a young girl on my parent’s honeymoon. Ireland was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and I still have so many happy memories from my time there with my Mom and Dad. I want to give my kids the same thing that I had because it will always be a chapter in my life that I can look back on and just smile. Meeting one of my favorite celebs - This one might sound a little off, if you know me, because I have met some of my most admired celebrities like William Shatner, for example. But there are others and meeting as many of them as I can would be amazing. Writing a novel - I have written blogs, articles, papers, and fanfiction but I’ve never created my own story. Maybe a short story but nothing comparing to the length of a novel. It is my goal to take one of the ideas I already have or come up with a new one and create a wholly original work, all my own. If I pursued publishing it that would be very cool but right now just writing it would be enough.
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Written by Erica Rose Jackson This list was easy to come up with: Robert Shaw, J R R Tolkien, CS Lewis, Tom Clancy, and Mindy Kaling. I assume this question applied to authors who were dead or alive, at least I hope so. So, let me share why I’d like to meet each of these five authors because that is why we’re both here. Robert Shaw - You are, undoubtedly, more familiar with him as an actor from his work in films like Jaws and The Sting, but he was actually quite the author as well. Shaw’s books are hard to track down, but if you can they are definitely worth the read. I’ve read A Card From Morocco, The Hiding Place, and The Man in the Glass Booth. I would like to meet him because Shaw seemed like a very down to Earth guy (mind you he had a temper) who you could have a couple beers with. He owned a pub in Ireland and he never shied away from who he was. J R R Tolkien - The man who crafted The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, how could I not wish for a chance to sit down with him. He crafted an entire world filled with darkness and light, writing one of my favorite characters in literature, Gandalf. I would love to hear him speak on how he came up with Elvish, the locations of Middle Earth, and his writing purpose. I love writing so getting a chance to hear from a great like Tolkien would be a dream come true. CS Lewis - Like Tolkien, Lewis created a beautiful world in The Chronicles of Narnia, a place that only required walking through a wardrobe to reach. Lewis was not only a fantastic writer though, he was a religious man, putting that symbolism into his works. Sitting with him would be a wealth of information in both writing and faith. Tom Clancy - Clancy has written some of the greatest spy novels to be published and I have loved each and every one. Sure his attention to detail can sometimes temporarily stall the story, but overall it adds to the picture he’s painting with his words. Clancy created Jack Ryan who’s been brought to life by Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, each with their own flare for the role. I would love to learn from him about detail in writing, like how much is too much. Mindy Kaling - Kaling has written multiple books, with the two I’ve read: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Why Not Me? Ok, I didn’t actually read them because I listened to the audio which allowed Kaling to read it to me, herself, but that made the experience that much better. She is hilarious and real, very much not what Hollywood wants people to be. Kaling set goals for herself and she worked extremely hard to achieve them. Meeting her would be a great time to learn but also for some laughs. Written by Erica Rose Jackson After taking my children to the store, again and again, each time filling me with more frustration, I’ve decided to try out Walmart's grocery pickup service. I took the time to make my shopping list as usual, then I logged on to Walmart’s grocery site and added each of my items to my ‘bag’. This part of the process was, actually, very easy and pain free. It’s very user friendly, and I was able to remove items or add on more with no trouble at all. Once I chose everything I needed, I moved onto the checkout process. The pick up days and times appear, and for my first use there was no pick up yesterday so I chose a time for today. I didn’t need any of these items so urgently that a day would hurt, but if I had been in a bind on, say milk, then this would have been a negative tick for my experience. Today I drove to Walmart to park in their special pickup parking spaces and await my groceries. Before this could happen, I had to receive my notification that my order was ready, which came fifteen minutes prior to my pickup window. Walmart for the win, being earlier then expected. I checked in on their app as I left for the store. I allowed the app to track my location so when I pulled in, my message read, ‘You’re here! An associate is on the way out with your groceries.” An employee loaded the items into my trunk and let me know that a few of the items were out of stock (I chose not to allow substitutions), and then I went home. Walmart’s grocery pickup service is free as long as your order meets the $30 minimum, and if you’re getting groceries that’s an easy task. I found the entire process easy and annoyance free which means I will be using it again. Anything to prevent little fingers from grabbing everything off the shelves while I try to complete my shopping list. This isn’t for those quick items like bread and milk, but for the whole grocery trip. It saves you money too because you don’t wander around the store finding things you want, but don’t need. Written by Erica Rose Jackson A little pause from my weekly challenge posts because I want to share my most recent fanfiction revolving around Henry Winkler's character in Barry on HBO and my OC. I'm going to post the first chapter here, but you'll have to go to Ao3 to read the rest, if you choose to. I hope you enjoy because this one just flowed naturally, one of my best and easiest writings. I own nothing, I'm merely of fan of this great show and its characters. Chapter 1 Prologue Gene mourned Janice for the remainder of the summer, unsure if he’d ever find someone else to give his affections to, ever again. The conventions kept him busy, distracted, allowing him to take on the role of Arthur Fonzarelli instead of himself. It didn’t always last as long as he hoped, but it was the best thing he would have until his acting class resumed in the Fall. Barry and Sally continued their relationship through the summer, getting engaged as the last days of August snuck by. Barry hadn’t killed since Janice (the last tie to his murders in LA that could put him away) and he was finally happy, getting ready to get back to acting class. Sally was signed by the agent at their Shakespeare show, and she was going to audition after audition. She hadn’t landed her big role yet, but it was only a matter of time, and until then acting class was her happy place. Alyona Moore left her life on the East coast behind, her job as a dental tech and the snow, for LA. She had done some research and found out that Gene Cousineau, who played her biggest TV crush the Fonz, taught an acting class. Her goal was to find freelance work, live off her savings, and get into that class. Meeting Gene and working with him was one of her biggest dreams. Alyona read his book for the (she’d lost count) time on her plane ride to her new home. Present Day Alyona arrived in LA with only days to spare before Gene’s class would resume for the Fall. She found a studio loft, moved in, and found a job within two days. It always amazed her how much she could get accomplished when truly motivated. On her fourth day in the City of Angels, she drove to the location of Gene Cousineau’s acting class and parked, waiting to go in as he nerves had finally caught up with her. Alyona took a deep breath, turned off her car’s engine, opened the door and walked up to the door, opening it in hopes to start her new future. She walked into the classroom to find a group laughing, no sign of Gene. “Excuse me?” Alyona interrupted a blond girl in the front row, grabbing her attention. The girl turned and looked at her, “Can I help you?” her smile brighter then any Alyona could remember seeing. “Is this Gene Cousineau’s class? I’m hoping to join,” she replied, asking her question while sharing her intentions. She nodded enthusiastically, “It is. I’m Sally,” she gestured to the man next to her, “And, this is my fiance Barry,” before she introduced the rest of the class leaving Alyona to share her name last. “It’s nice to meet all of you,” she smiled, modestly, “I hope to get to work with all of you. I’m Alyona Moore,” she shared, silence taking over the room as Gene entered, standing on the stage in all his greatness. “Welcome back,” Gene greeted his students, truly happy to be back with them, “Do we have any new faces joining us?” he asked, dramatically searching the room. Alyona stood, “Yes sir, my name is Alyona Moore and I came here in hopes to join this elite class, if you’ll have me,” she began, smiling and trying to keep her cool in front of her first big crush. Gene moved off the stage, straight to her, stopping mere inches away from her. “If you want to become a member of this very exclusive class then you must perform a monologue to prove your worth,” he explained, “Do you have one prepared or would you prefer waiting until the next class and just observing today?” his voice grew softer as he spoke to her, leaving the theatrics alone for the moment. Alyona swallowed, nervously, “I have one ready,” she replied, “I can do it today. No reason to get my hopes up and wait if you hate it and kick me out,” she added, attempting light humor but knowing it was exactly how she felt. “What do you have in store for us?” he asked, his giddiness visible as he moved to a seat in the front row near Barry and Sally. Alyona moved to the stage before she began speaking, “I haven’t acted since high school but I performed an Anne Frank monologue then, and I’ll be doing it for you all today.” The students sat back, waiting on her to begin. Alyona took a deep breath before pulling a chair next to her, to play the part of Peter. Then she began, hoping her German accent was still semi acceptable. “Look Peter, the sky,” Alyona looked up. “What a lovely, lovely day? Aren’t the clouds beautiful? You know what I do when it seems as if I couldn’t stand being cooped up for one more minute? I think myself out. I think myself out on a walk in the park where I used to with Pim. Where the jonquils and the crocus and the violets grow down the slopes. You know the most wonderful part about thinking yourself out? You can have it any way you like. You can have roses and violets and chrysanthemums all blooming at the same time? It’s funny. I used to take it all for granted. And now, I’ve gone crazy about everything to do with nature. Haven’t you?” she threw herself to her knees at the chair. “I wish you had a religion, Peter. Oh, I don’t mean you have to be Orthodox, or believe in heaven and hell and purgatory and all the things. I just mean some religion. It doesn’t matter what. Just to believe in something! When I think of all that’s out there. The trees. And flowers. And seagulls. When I think of the dearness of you, Peter. And the goodness of the people we know, all risking their lives for us every day. When I think of those good things, I’m not afraid anymore. I find myself, and God, and I… We’re not the only people who’ve had to suffer. There’ve always been people that have had to. Sometimes one race, sometimes another, and yet… I know it’s terrible, trying to have any faith when people are doing such horrible things, you know what I sometimes think? I think the world may be going through a phase, the way I was with Mother. It’ll pass, maybe not for hundreds of years, but someday I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart. Peter, if you’d only look at it as part of a great pattern. That we’re just a little minute in the life?” she paused and looked away from the chair. “Look at us, going at each other like a couple of grownups! Look at the sky now. Isn’t it lovely?” Alyona finished and waited for Gene’s reaction, as well as the that of the other students in the class. Written by Erica Rose Jackson I am an avid reader so asking me to choose a single text that made an impact on my life is challenging. There have been many books that inspired me in some way or another, but the one that made the biggest impact was The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. This was my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes and it opened a window to so many more stories and novels. What Sherlock Holmes did, in this story, that influenced me was his ability to always be ahead of everyone around you. I love a good mystery, and this book was just what I needed, not to mention causing my first literary crush on Mr. Holmes. After inhaling the works of Doyle on Sherlock Holmes, it took me a while to realize what an impact he had on my life. I finally had that ‘ah ha’ moment in college when I was trying to figure out where to go with my life. I chose Public Relations because I enjoyed the idea of doing research and planning to such a deep degree that I would always be the one with the answer, like Holmes. Sherlock Holmes formed my future career as early as the fourth grade, even though I didn’t realize it at that time. His ability to interject some piece of information that no one else could think of so quickly, was appealing and, it turns out, exactly the type of person I wanted to be. His influence goes back to every job I’ve held. I am the employee who goes further within the programs and knowledge so that people come to me. Thanks Sherlock! Hopefully no one finds me as pretentious and annoying. I never found Holmes annoying, but in the books some certainly did. Yes, I did do a little photo editing to get William Shatner in my Sherlock collage. I had to because he was actually in the TV movie of The Hound of the Baskervilles, my first Holmes exposure, and later became a huge crush of mine. It was a sign. Written by Erica Rose Jackson I’m taking a step away from my weekly blog challenge for this post. I’ve read a lot of Snape hate online lately and I felt like it was time to speak up. I, like many of you, was raised with Harry Potter, Snape being my favorite character from Prisoner of Azkaban on. He’s not a hero or a villain, he’s a man. All of us have flaws but they don’t necessarily make us a monster. We should work to fix them, of course, but no one in that book series is perfect. Dumbledore is actually a manipulative man who could have given Harry more from day one, probably saving many of the lives that were lost. I don’t see the internet filling up with Dumbledore hate posts. From book three, I could feel that Snape wasn’t the monster the book was making him out to be. When I read Order of the Phoenix, I actually thought Snape would die for Harry once we reached the end. I can’t explain what caused my instincts to feel this with Snape, but I did. As a character, he’s complex only revealing his truth in his death. He loved Harry’s mother, Lily and when she rejected him, he went toward the darkness. I don’t see this as depiction of Snape’s evil but evidence of Lily’s light. In what better way could J.K. Rowling show how pure Lily Potter was then writing her as the one ray of brightness in Snape’s life, once gone he faded to total darkness. He rejoined the light when her life was in danger, yes if it had been Neville he would have stayed a death eater, but that was evidence once again of Lily’s light. How could Harry Potter be the boy who lived and go on to defeat Voldemort if he didn’t have that same brightness within him? Snape devoted the remainder of his life, even though Lily wasn’t saved, to being a double agent and protecting Harry. Snape was disgusted with Dumbledore when he learned the truth, that he was protecting Harry only so he could die at the right moment. That is not evidence of a monster. Snape should not have bullied children in the school, he took intimidation too far, and this can’t be discounted by his lack of love as a child. His youth was awful but he could have chosen to rise above his background, people have done it. I think he was really mean to the students because he didn’t want to be a teacher, but he’d promised Dumbledore. We can’t brush away his actions for this reason either, but I believe Rowling wrote Snape the way she did to show that ally's can come in even the strangest, unexpected forms. All of this is to say, you can’t judge Snape by any one action, but his character as a whole. If you hate him, that’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. But I imagine if you take a deeper look at the symbolism that follows his story, you’ll see him as just a man who tried. We can all try to do greater things with our lives but still fail in other areas. Snape is just a man, neither good nor bad. Written by Erica Rose Jackson This week’s topic is tough because I don’t consider myself a writer. I write all the time, whether it’s fanfiction, articles for PopWrapped, LinkedIn articles, and my occasional attempt at an original work, but I don’t do it for a living. I suppose I can answer this prompt a little differently to cater to my perspective of myself attached to the title of writer. I do consider writing my hobby because I enjoy it, it takes away stress, and it’s a great outlet for the more fantastical part of my brain. So the question becomes, what hobby would I have if I couldn’t write? It’s hard to even imagine filling my time without writing. I enjoy singing but you can’t belt out Christina Aguilera songs at one in the morning, it just doesn’t have the same staying power that writing does. I enjoy reading and often wished I would devote more time to that passion in my life. I think I would devote my time to reading if I couldn’t write, though it would spur my writing imagination even more, but I would also involve myself in book clubs to turn my solo hobby into something I can do with new people. Written by Erica Rose Jackson This question really has two answers because putting myself in my writing doesn’t always apply. If I’m writing school work or an article then very little of me gets through to the final draft, but when it comes to fan fiction and, even, some articles for PopWrapped my personality shows through. In fan fiction, it’s hard not to allow myself to enter my writing since most of my original characters are based, sometimes loosely, but most times very much on me. Often times, the version of me that comes through in my writing is a best version of myself, or someone I hope to be either like or become. When you’re writing an original character based on yourself, it becomes very easy to create the traits in her that you wish you strengthened in yourself. Writing yourself into different fandoms can actually be a very personal journey that, if applied correctly, can lead to growth. If you want to be stronger or more independent and find you’re writing yourself that way in stories, then perhaps it’s time to work on that within yourself instead of just writing you that way. It’s amazing how many things you can find as you write, when you’re included, that you want to improve. You can even see qualities you don’t love seeping into your character and if you’re aware that it’s happening, you can fix it on the page but also remember to work on it in the world, as well. Writing is always a learning process no matter what type of piece you’re working on. |
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