Madeline Turnipseed - Author

Clickbait title?  Riding the coattails of a hugely successful franchise? Yeah. So, Wonder Woman has been insanely successful.  It had some cool stuff going on but was not my favorite movie.  I had several problems with it, mostly happening after Diana leaves Themyscira.  But I'm going to put most of them aside to talk about why Wonder Woman was actually an anime, despite being live action, full of white people, and made by 'Merica. Anime style poster used to promote the Wonder Woman movie in Chinese Flickering Myth YEAH. I'm working on the assumption that you've seen anime before in a quantity sufficient to familiarize yourself with its tropes, so I'm not going to go into detail about why these are tropes and how long they've been around.  Also going to assume you've seen Wonder Woman and not going to worry about whether I'm spoiling anything for you. Blessed From Birth From birth Diana is special.  She's the only child on her island...

This week has been incredibly emotionally draining. Oh Icharus!  Is that the sun you fly towards? Our wings are strong.  I made them.   They have carried us this far. Lo,  your wax is melting, But the sun does not push you away; It consumes you. Over the course of this last year and a half, I have been thinking about the phrase "to work tirelessly."  On face value, you keep working when you get tired.  But in reality, it means there is no stopping point.  There is no giving up.  In the absence of a door, in the face of an unscaleable wall, you get out the sledgehammer and carry on. Violence like we've seen this week produces the kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach that makes me want to fall over the back of the chair to vomit to have done with it.  But the response I have seen reaffirms in me that if a few people can cause this much pain, every person that decides to value life, to hold out mercy, to expect and pray for the bes...

Happy Friday Friends!  It is so good to be back here with you guys. Odditorium, formerly EccentricTeatime It feels like forever since I last posted (November 1st!  Yikes!) so here's what's been going on.  I FINISHED SCHOOL!  And I am set to graduate next Friday.  I've been dreaming up new ideas for stories and working on writing workshops with a local writing group, BCS Writing .  I'm super excited to have a bit more time now to dedicate to my creative pursuits.  This week and next week I'll be going through my posts and making sure that links still work and images still display properly.  I've changed the mobile platform look and I'll probably be changing this layout also.  If you have opinions on any of those things, let me know. Since I'm graduating next Friday, there won't be a post next week, but look for one on the 27th.

Happy Friday, friends!  It's been forever!  Here's what I've been up to: 1) Adult Health I (6 hrs), Mental Health (4 hrs), and Evidence-Based Practice (3 hrs).  One A and two Bs! 2) That's Midna from Twilight Princess . She's a little over two feet tall! 3) Having my brain go crazy with new ideas for stories.  There is nothing like being busy to make your brain have plans for you to be doing anything other that what it is you are supposed to.  I've planned out several of the characters for my next novel.  The one that I won't be able to start until after May 2016.  The one that I shouldn't start until after I've edited Om Nom Nombies  and finished the drafts of The Neif  and Spitfire .  But it's so awesome!  Sigh. 4) I've been inspired by an incredible new storytelling format.  I say "new". New to me, really.  You might know it as the format uses for visual novels or choice-based games.  I can't say more ...

First off, this post is not an argument for or against the death penalty.  This post is not arguing that criminals are products of society.  This post is not making any sort of statement about the incarceration systems in this country.  This post is not holding up death-row inmates as martyrs.  This post is not denying or glossing over the heinous things that have been done to innocent victims.  I just want to make all of those things clear before I begin. If you have any inkling of current events you know that earlier this week a convicted felon, scheduled for execution, died in unintended circumstances.  These circumstances are currently under investigation, so I will not dwell on them.  Suffice it to say, witnesses to the execution report that it was uncomfortable and unsettling to watch, and that this felon was not sedated when he should have been, resulting in an inhumane death. That is still not what this post is about.  This post is a ...

The title is somewhat of a metaphor, since so few people now write anything with pens that will be read by anyone but themselves.  I believe in your powers of extrapolation. If you watched the Superbowl on Sunday, or at least the commercials, you probably saw the following ad: And if you have a social media account, you may have seen some of the responses to that video.  If not, you can take your pick of media coverage about the responses from  Fox , ABC ,  CNN , NPR , Huffington Post , or you can just read the comments on the video itself here .  Or use your favorite search engine.  Or talk to people at work.  The point is, you've probably heard or read someone talking about it by now.   Interestingly enough,  the United States has no official language .   Then yesterday, a truck in front of me had two bumper stickers, the tamer one reading "Islam Sucks," the other reading, "Kill a Muslim for Jesus."  Besides the obvi...

I was in the middle of writing a different blog post for this week when I got some disappointing news.  Those of you that know me personally may have been aware that I was applying for a nursing program to start in January.  Suffice it to say, I did not get in. This brought afresh some feelings I have been struggling with over this past year.  I'm 24, I graduated early with my Bachelor's in Biology from one of the nation's best schools, and I still haven't made it to where I want to be.  I've been rejected for med school twice already.  I feel like all the things I'm good at are things at which anyone can excel.  I feel like I'm treading water.  You don't need professional training to be a homemaker, or a good listener.  You don't need a degree to be an EMT.  You don't need any training at all to write. I am very proud of my accomplishments.  I know what kind of person I am.  And when I think of the areas in which I have fail...