So, I was going to have a weekly wrap-up, but I’ve decided that starting next week, I will only be doing monthly wrap-ups.
I do have the schedule for February!
February 2:
February 9:
Ana @ Butterflies of the Imagination
Engie @ Musings From Neville’s Navel
February 16:
Bridget @ Stay and Watch the Stars
I will not be participating this month, sorry. I am just so busy with my new blog and everything.
[I’m so sorry I didn’t get this up yesterday like I was supposed to. I completely forgot. But here it is!]
This past month for MHM was a hero you just heard about.
Evi @ Where Books Never End did Emma Watson
Bridget @ Stay and Watch the Stars did Susan B. Anthony
Engie @ Musings From Neville did Tanith Low
Allthingswordy @ All Things Wordy did Irena Sendler
All the MHM’s were wonderful and informative. If you haven’t read them, click the linkies above because they’re awesome–and guess what? You’ll LEARN something. :) So. Click.
The theme for February is a woman who invented something. If you would like to participate, leave your name, blog URL, and any Monday’s that don’t work or that you’d prefer in the comments below.
Monday’s for this month:
2
9
16
As you can see, I have gotten rid of numbers. They kept getting mixed up and confusing. The schedule for other MHM’s will be at the end of this post.
Date of Birth: 1870
School(s): University of Rome
When Did I First Hear About Her: I have this book called Girls Who Grew Up Great: A Book of Encouragement for Girls About Amazing Women Who Dared to Dream by Gwendolyn Gray. I’ve had it since first grade, when it was given to me. It has all these short bios about women who changed the world in a way. I pulled it out for this MHM, and there, the first woman, was who I wanted to do.
What Makes Her One of my Heroes: Maria Montessori created this type of learning program called the Montessori method. It’s a way to learn that is used in many schools now. Children learn to be independent and have fun learning. It prepares them for the future and stuff.
But before she even created that, Montessori defied her parents and went to medical school. While she was working as a physician she developed an interest in how children learn. She worked with mentally disabled children, and then began to study how children learn. In the book it says, “…she developed a method of education in which adults direct a child’s self-learning process.”
This method is used in many schools to this day. And it was created by a woman in the early 1900’s!
Here is a video about the Montessori method:
Quotes: “The greatest sign of success for a teacher…is to be able to say, the children are now working as if I did not exist.”
“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.”
“Within the child lies the fate of the future.”
“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”
October 5:
Chloe @ Free As a Girl With Wings
October 12:
Bridget @ Stay and Watch the Stars
October 19:
Engie @ Musings From Neville’s Navel
October 26:
Wrap-up by Chloe
This is a new feature about feminism called Feminist Fridays. Since I deleted my second blog, A Girl’s Voice, which was about feminism, I decided to have feminism on this blog by introducing a new feature. FF will have topics ranging from what feminism is to my thoughts on LGBTQ+ things and beyond. It is not a linkup, but feel free to leave your own opinion on whatever I am discussing in the comment section below.
I’m going back to school next week. I have gotten so used to being on break! And when I go to school, I know that I am going to hear the word “gay” being used improperly. The most common form being, “That’s so gay.” I always cringe whenever I hear people say this, and most of the time I’ll say something. Unfortunately, this doens’t always help. The people saying this don’t necessarily know it’s wrong.
And I have a theory about their thoughts, and a solution to this.
When I was younger, I was taught that being gay or lesbian or queer or whatever you identify as is fine. It is normal, everyone is unique, and it is not something to shame someone for or be afraid of. We are all people. And one of the reasons I think I learned this and it has now become a part of me, is because when I was a kid, I met gay people. My parents have three gay friends who they have known for a long time and who are very dear to them. I grew up around them.
Some people didn’t have anyone who was gay in their life. Maybe they still don’t. I think it’s very important for others to learn that gay people are just people. But if someone does not know a gay person, they’re going to be even more easily sucked into the offensive culture people have created toward gay people.
That’s where parents need to step in. Even if a kid, or their parents, don’t know anyone who’s gay, they can tell their children that its fine to be gay. I think parenst need to do this more often, because if they don’t say anything, their kid is going to not learn, and be affected by their peers and the media.
Saying nothing is just as bad as saying something against gay people. It’s like being a bystander in a bullying situation. If you don’t stop the bullying, you are just as bad as the bully.
School is full of peer pressure, and there’s that pressure to fit in, of course. And fitting can be saying gay jokes or other hurtful comments and actions.
So far this post has been targeted toward new parents, which is not exactly the group of people who reads my blog. XD But now…
Standing up to people who make fun of gay people can be very difficult. I know I’d liek to say that I always stand up to someone who says “That’s so gay,” but that’s not true. Sometimes, I’ll hear it and “ignore” it. Why? Well, personally, I don’t want the people saying it to think I’m weird. I already have people who don’t like me for grammar reasons. And they think I only do bookish things. So I want to fit in, and to do this, sometimes I’ll ignore something I hear.
Don’t do that. Don’t do what I do. You should always stand up to people, no matter how difficult it may be. I think that it’s better to be a little ridiculed than let someone continue to stereotype gay people and make fun of them. I would have a guilty conscience.
What do you say when you stand up to someone making fun of gay people? I know I usually say something like, “That’s not very kind to gay people” or something along the lines of that. But I don’t think that’s very effective. If you’re funny, it will stick in people’s minds more. I saw this in an article on feminist.com: If someone calls a broken pencil sharpener gay when they’re frustrated, you can say, “I didn’t now the pencil sharpener had sexual orientation.” Sure, it isn’t hilarious, but it’s witty, and might stick in their minds longer than just reprimanding them.
Here are some other ideas:
I’ve actually said the last one before, and it kind of backfired. This boy said something negative about gay people, so I asked him if he knew anyoen who was gay, and he did. I then asked him if this gay person was mean, or whatever he had said, and that person happened to be. This made him think that all gay people were like that. I wish I had said, “I know someone who is straight and they’re mean. Does that make all straight people mean?” but, sadly, I missed that opportunity.
It’s very important not to stereotype and make fun of people. We are all human.
This month the theme is a hero you might have heard about or know a little about. It’s a hero you don’t know much about, because NEW YEAR. Get it? Get it?
You can see the MHM page here to learn more.
Anyway, put your name, blog URL, and any Mondays that don’t work in the comments below. I will post the schedule with my MHM on the first Monday, so nobody gets that one.
I added a NEW page to this blog titled “Simple Words Dictionary.” It is full of words used every day with crazy meanings for authors. I was inspired by Erin @ The Upstairs Archives. She has her own awesome dictionary of super cool words she made up herself. You can find Erin’s dictionary here.
Along with words like “blot bunnies” (they are the reasoning behind plot twists) and “goblins” (which cause computer problems like shut downs and memory loss), Erin has a few silly quotes by herself. Here they are:
Broad is the road that leads to destruction, an narrow the path that leads to salvation. (And sometimes it’s purple.)
A plot is something I use to get back at the people living inside me head.
All authors are high-functioning sociopaths. We just confine our murders to fictional people.
I love the last one; it’s so true!
Last night, as I was thinking about what to post today, for some unknown reason I started thinking about the difference between highlighters and markers. I mean, can’t you just highlight something with a bright marker? So I scoured the web and came up with two useful Wikipedia pages, which I will quote.
Google Search #1: What is the difference between a highlighter and a marker?
Wikipedia says…
Being fluorescent, highlighter ink glows under black light.
Google Search #2: What is black light?
Wikipedia says…
A black light, also referred to as a UV-A light, Wood’s lamp, or simply ultraviolet light, is a lamp which emits long wave (UVA) ultraviolet light and not much visible light. The lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separate glass filter in the lamp housing, which blocks most visible light and allows through UV, so the lamp has a dim violet glow when operating. Black light bulbs which have this filter have a lighting industry designation that includes the letters “BLB”.
Examples of Black Light:
Isn’t that cool? Now you learned something new!
I read a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird this morning, and I am LOVING it. The courtroom scene is do far my favorite; I love it. I’m hoping to finish the book by Wednesday, at the very latest.
Also: Today marks the first day of the September My Hero Monday linkup! I’m kicking it off with a young girl in recent news, so head on over to TIMV to check it out. Keep checking each Monday for the links to other bloggers’ posts. And if you didn’t get the chance to sign up this time, go to the last post of the month, done by me, on the 29th, and sign up in that commenting area.
What did you think of the quotes from Erin? Tell me in the comments below.
I just had to post today. [And don’t worry, I will do MHM and write afterwards.] I downloaded Scrivener last night, and I’m so happy! After I start using it and get to know it, I’ll probably do a “how to” guide about it on here, so stay tuned! But that could take a month or so…Don’t sit here, staring at your computer screen. Please. Go do stuff! But, yeah, I found that to be pretty great.
A little update on what I’m reading… Yes, I’m still on City of Heavenly Fire. It’s a long book! I’m on about page 400. It’s soooo good. Can’t wait to review it! After CoHF, I’ll read If I Stay. I’m so excited about this! I’ve been wanting to read this book since the beginning of summer; and I can’t wait to see the movie. Here’s the trailer:
I felt connected to the characters just in the trailer! This has got to be an awesome movie.
Then I’ll read a biography of a legally blind sled dog racer, and from there–who knows? [Actually, I will probably read The Infernal Devices series.] I’ll take book recommendations!
I’d like to acknowledge Nevillegirl (aka Engie), who just started following both of my blogs. Head on over to hers here.
And now, I promise you, I’m leaving and heading over to TIMV for MHM. Tomorrow, be prepared for a super cool TTT. [I don’t know what about yet, though. Maybe I’ll check The broke and the Bookish.] AND a video from Kat (aka Katytastic) about writing and how to improve. So you’ll be busy for some time.
See you tomorrow!
Au revoir,
Chloe
My life has gotten so busy and tiring, I can barely put it into words. I haven’t had much time, nor the inspiration, to write Nakoma, so I will probably not get to 3,000 words by the end of this week.
On another note, go to TIMV to link up for My Hero Monday, if you haven’t already. [And I know you haven’t.] I think it’s really fun, so at least give it a try. I just need 3-4 people! Minimum! So pop on over by clicking this link and comment on the post to sign up.
I guess that’s all… Random GIF time!
I remember Sesame Street… Cue the nostalgia.
Ta,
Chloe
read. write. art.
ramblings of a teenage writer, choir nerd, and queer
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