The Trials of Katniss

Jennifer Lawrence

I am sure you're wondering why I have a random beautiful girl on the side of this post. Who is this person? Why is she on Amanda's blog? Where have I seen her before?

Well, I will satisfy your curiosity presently.

It's Katniss!

This is Jennifer Lawrence and she will be playing Katniss in the Hunger Games movie. She was nominated for an Oscar this year for Winter's Bone, and if she doesn't really look like the practical, ruthless, skillful, compassionate, faithful Katniss you imagined, just pull up some of the pictures from that movie.

Your faith will be restored.

I have really high hopes for the Hunger Games movie. My one big concern is that they'll do what they did to The Golden Compass and miss the entire point. I hope it doesn't look or feel like Twilight. There is going to be a pretty girl torn between two different and worthy guys, but Katniss is NOT Bella, and I hope that they don't portray her as some romantic damsel. She is NOT romantic. All of the romance in the books comes from Gale and Peeta, NOT Katniss. But Jennifer Lawrence can play it well, I think. I saw the clips from Winter's Bone, and she looked awesome. If she's tough like that, she'll make a good Katniss.

The actors for Gale and Peeta have been cast too, and I am pleased so far, although I have never seen the movies they're in. From their photos, I think they are a good foil for each other. The actor who plays Gale is kind of exotically beautiful, and the one who plays Peeta is kind of down-home beautiful. Gale and Peeta both have their strengths, and they are both good people. They have hard decisions to make, and they do the best they can, even when they make mistakes. I like the dichotomy of the two. In the books, I waver back and forth between favoring them just like Katniss does.

I am sure you have read The Hunger Games, but just to be safe:
SPOILER ALERT.

It's different for Katniss though. She is unromantic. She is practical. She has always been accustomed to putting survival first. I'm a lot luckier. I don't usually have to wonder whether I'm going to survive. Things that threaten my are usually beyond my control: the chance that an airplane I'm on might fall out of the sky, for example. No one can defend themselves against catastrophe.

But of course, I don't live in a post-apocalyptic version of the world. My strength is not continually tested. Sometimes I wish it were, and others, I'm just glad I live in a fairly stable world. On the one hand, I would like to prove to myself that I'm not completely useless. I would like to win a fight, scheme my way out of danger, be determined the fittest in a life or death crucible. On the other hand, I am just glad I don't have to.

One of the reasons I love the Hunger Games trilogy is that I can expound upon it like this. Another strong reason I love them is because it challenges my morals. It challenges what I find acceptable. Katniss is placed in a terrible situation, and she has to make some gut wrenching choices. For her, the choice is constantly between the lesser of two evils. Her position in her world is always precarious. She is balanced on knife's edge all the time. And yet she finds ways to be compassionate in her compassionless world.

In the arena, every person is a danger. No one can possibly be your ally, because every person must be your enemy. Katniss and Peeta solve this in the only way possible: A stalemate fueled by compassion. It was incredibly brave. And had a low chance of success. Most people wouldn't be strong enough to resist the temptation of a rules-devoid battle to the death, especially if you were among the last few. If you killed a few of your opponents, and began to have faith in yourself, if you thought, once, "I could win this. I could survive. I could beat all of the other people." You might be sucked into the glory of it all. A gladiatorial glory. A fight that previously filled you with terror now fills you with power. You feel like you could survive anybody. Bring em' on, and you'll lay them out. I am convinced that Katniss could have prevailed in the arena. But she chose not to.

Looking back with our 20/20 hindsight, and our detached, objective view, it seems obvious that this is the answer. But if we were experiencing it (as we do, from Katniss' eyes, in the present tense, while reading the book) how many of us would make the right decision?

Hard to know.

But I am glad none of us ever have to find out.

"I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to m mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare." - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Geology, Story, and Finding Something Worth Doing

Hey. I'm a little drunk and I want to talk. I know, I haven't spoken to you in a while. But hey. What the hey. I've said “hey” too much. But hey. What's life for:?!

You know, I miss writing. I miss school. I miss people expecting things from me. Now, if I even go one step out of the way to do something at work, Erin, my sales rep, praises me to no end. “Thank you so much for doing that!” Hey, I say. Just doing my job. Job. Damn. I hate that. I hate that I'm the lowest person in the company. I'm worth more than that, dammit!

And that's why the decision has been made. It was made under my covers, with tears of frustration running down my face. Sobbing. “I want to be a geologist!” And it seemed like the world rolled out a red carpet before me.

It dawned on me. Literally. Like the sun coming up in the east, and flashing in my eyes so I had to squint. Why the hell not? If I could go back to school to teach, why couldn't I go to school to study rocks? School is school! And this time, I wouldn't go just for fun, like I did at Columbia. I would go with an aim to work in the field. If I could work with rocks, with the earth, and write when I got home, and marry the man I love and have children... the world would be a perfect place. I could do two of those things now—I could marry Gordon and write. And kids, I'm sure, would not be far behind. But I have missed geology ever since my class ended. And I love it. I mean, I'm so curious. Science intrigues me like no other. Especially about the earth.

My god! I love the earth! It's a fabulous, fantastic place, with interesting things at every turn! Maybe its because I live in Michigan, and my whole life has been shaped by the geology of the place. The lakes. The dunes. The inherent nature. I live in a mid-sized city that has not dominated the land, but thrived with it. Coming down the East Beltline northward as it turns into Northland Dr., I can see the lay of the land. It grieves me to see Lake Versluis, which is man-made, the evidence of a gravel pit that is now perhaps a quarter mile north. But other than that, I can see the hills! And looking out my front yard, I see a mass of greenery and trees, which hides a hill. I know that if I take Jupiter up to Post and drive up there, I'll be on top of the hill, but I have an urge to walk it. I want to dig into it, see what it's made of, and why it's there. I want to feel the land beneath my feet. One thing I love about geology is that you don't have to a far to experience it. It's at your feet, wherever you are. It is the science of the earth. And it affects you every single day. It tells the story of our tumultuous planet.

Another reason I love geology is because I love creativity. And perhaps I, personally, did not create the earth. But it was created. And I love reading the story of that creation. And all things are affected by the land. Land creates stories. It's a melding of things I love. I have been writing a story for a while now, than in my head I simply call, “Torin's Story.” He is on a quest. He is not a person of any renown. He is in fact, someone like me. He's studying, and working nothing-jobs. It's his friend, Amycus, who leads him to adventure. Torin experiences each of the seven hells, and in consequence, spends his life searching for the seven heavens. It is not like Dante at all, especially since I haven't referenced Dante to see what seven hells would be like. It is my own imagining. But during Torin's quest, he travells across his world. And the geology of his world influences the decisions he makes. It's like the actual shape of the ground beneath him leads to his story and conducts it. It is because Torin was born in a thriving harbor city that the chance to board a ship was available. And other reasons.

I was watching Naked Science today about a 114 degree Farenheit degree cave of enormous gypsum crystals. Perhaps Torin goes to a place like this. Who knows? I am still writing. I have recently read a book written by a cartographer and I learned that I must be careful not to let my love of geology weigh my stories down. The geology should enhance them.

And I should seek my bed.

To bed!Show all

Sweet dreams world. I surrender my waking self to thee. Goodnight!

Melissa's Tribute to Neville Longbottom

It's kind of like Neville is now Chuck Norris or something.

I adore this. And I adore that people understand Neville's absolute goodness. Man, it's the little things in life, and oftentimes, it's the little characters in stories that make it all worth it.

I'll accumulate some examples of these some day. How the little guy affects the outcome of the hero. The sidekick. Except Neville isn't even a side kick. He's not Ron or Hermione. He's not Robin, or Little John or or or, (insert expansive lists of side kicks here.) He's like, one under that. He's not in the Trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione,) he's in the Quartet (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville.)

More on this later.

No seriously, I mean it.