Unpopular Opinion Book Tag

1) A popular book or series you did not enjoy
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. This is what solidified my hatred of this man and all his work. I wanted to burn it once I was done. Why should I give a fuck about this relationship when the main character ends the story with “I’ll probably always be alone”?

2) A popular book or series everyone seems to hate that you love
I have nothing on this. I’m very particular about what I get excited about and I cannot think of anything that is widely disliked that I like. I even checked GoodReads. All my favorites are above 3 stars on average. The closest I get is liking horror shorts which aren’t super-popular.

3) A love triangle where the character ended up with the partner you didn’t want
This has not happened to me yet. I like protagonists who are trying to  get things done so not a ton of what I read has love triangle problems.

4) A popular genre you never reach for or read
Romance. I not only don’t read it, I almost actively avoid it. I don’t want to hear about how gorgeous he is. Let’s do something with this plot other than bone, OK? This is why I plan on finding a romance novel for my ‘genre I typically avoid’ part of the challenge.

5) A popular or beloved character you don’t like
Margo from Paper Towns by John Green. I fucking hated her. She was so self-absorbed that I didn’t understand what Q actually liked about her. It made me like Q less for being obsessed with such an immature jerk.

6) A popular author you just cannot get into
James Patterson. I’ve read exactly one book by him in my life. I really just don’t care.

7) A book trope you’re tired of seeing
Damaged girl falls for bad boy. Can we have more bad ass women please? I’ve seen what ‘bad boys’ are like IRL and most women have more important things to deal with than their bull.

8) A book series you have no interest in reading
Game of Thrones. I’ve read a tiny bit of GoT and Martin spent so much time on exposition I had no idea what the point of it all was. I got bored inside of 2 random pages. I’ll just watch the show.

9) What book to TV show/movie adaptation is better than the source material?
Practical Magic. The movie was dramatic, interesting, and had a fantastic cast. The book had no magic, very little happened and almost no point IMHO.

 

Putting the Red in the Conservative Party

First a PlannedParenthood Clinic in Colordao and now an office building that houses services for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino, California. How many more people have to die before the federal government starts taking action against domestic terrorists.

DHS saw the rise in rightwing extremism coming earlier this year. They released a report on it which is not that difficult to find. You hadn’t heard about it? That’s because a variety of Republicans tried to hush it up and get a retraction. They didn’t want it to be true so they did their best to make it go away.

What are they going to do now that it was right? Probably not a goddamn thing. What should they do?

This isn’t an isolated incident or a mental health problem gone unchecked. It happened twice in less than 7 days. They need to stop spouting ridiculous, meaningless prerehearsed soundbites and admit it’s fucking terrorism.

If this was done by someone brown instead of a white Christian man, it would be terrorism so let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? It’s time for the right to acknowledge there’s a problem and guess what, your constituents are part of it. That’s why the report was covered up.

The Republicans didn’t want to admit their party has a fuck ton of flaws and some of its voters are dangerous. Our current ‘gun control’ policies aren’t working. Republicans need to stop pretending they have nothing to do with the problem.

Trump, Carson, Fiorina, and all the other conservative morons need to stop spouting accusations and racist paranoia and anything that’s not a fucking fact. Guess who used donated fetal tissue? Ben Carson. Did you know it’s illegal to sell fetal tissue? Not from listening to any of the GOP you didn’t. Want to know how many refugees that entered this country since 9/11 turned out to be terrorists? 3. That’s 1 in every 250,000. How much domestic damage did they do? None!

At the rate we’re going, we won’t be able to offer such pleasant statistics about our own citizens. Right now, I’m more scared of a white man open-carrying to a school, movie theater, women’s health clinic, and just about anywhere. I’d rather ride a plane with a Sikh and a Muslim, take a train with a Syrian, or take a stroll with a young black man than go anywhere with a neo-con.

I hope every denial that was spewed to protect Republican interests and image was worth all the lives that have been laid down since February. Every GOP candidate or Republican who helped silence the DHS has contributed to every terrorist attack and massacres that have befallen us this year. Every one of them has blood on their hands. For Christmas this year, I want them to admit it. Ya got that, Santa?

Unpopular Opinion: Sweet People Need to STFU Sometimes

This was partially inspired by a reddit thread and a few actual events. I think the world needs kind people with sweet, sensitive souls. Life is hard and ugly and sometimes we need a reminder of its sweeter side. I especially respect these people if life has been hard on them and they are still this way. It’s remarkable.

That said, I have a hard time taking life advice from people to whom life has been kind. If nothing major has ever gone wrong for you or nobody has died on you, keep your life advice to yourself.

Both of your parents are alive, well, and happily married. Mazel tov.

We spent the Christmas I was 13 trying to figure out my father’s funeral.

Your grandparents are alive? That’s beautiful to have so many generations around to spread love and celebrate. One of them has hints of dementia? That’s terrible.

I spent most of my twenties helping my mother deal with my grandfather’s immobility, dementia, nursing homes that stole his cookies, his total disconnect with reality, and failing health. I got a lovely preview of coming attraction for when it eventually happens to her. Did you know people with dementia can be very ugly and spiteful? I do!

I’m really glad your extended family can come together, stays in touch, and just straight up loves each other.

My mom’s sister was 12 sorts of useless when it came to caring for my grandfather. She didn’t speak to my mother for several years while we got to deal with the fun times. Did you know my grandfather’s wife slowly stole money from him and wrote all his grandchildren out of his will? Or that the son she stole said money for didn’t do a goddamn thing when his mother was dying? That fell to my mom. And by golly was he horrible to my mom.

Your secure career with excellent pay and benefits is stressful. Please tell me more.

I’ve never had one of those so I don’t know what it’s like. It’s actually quite fun to guess if you’re going to have enough money for bills when they come due. Who doesn’t love going on interviews and not hearing back? How about that delightful moment when you realize how much cheaper your life would be if you had benefits like transit subsidy, healthcare, and the extra income you’re not making as a temp?

 

Of course I want to hear about the problems in your romantic life. I’m very single so I get to live vicariously through you.

We all want to find someone to love us but it’s really fucking hard, for some of us. Hey, it’s not like I’m the ugly friend and most guys only acknowledge me to get to you. Oh, wait… It’s really reassuring to hear you tell me I’m pretty. No one else seems to think so but I’ll keep being in denial about popular opinion and hope that doesn’t eventually seep in and destroy my confidence.

You think depression is like being sad and don’t want to deal with the negativity? That’s cute.

I’m going to be in the corner hoping my crippling despair subsides enough for me to do laundry. Hey, who doesn’t enjoy routinely contemplating the pointlessness of their existence? I would love to ‘choose happiness’ but my brain will not allow that to happen. It’s really great when nobody around you understands and doesn’t particularly want to know you’ve got these problems. Maybe I can make it through the weekend without acting on the urge to kill myself. We’ll find out.

Now I’m not in the ugly depressed place right now but that has been my reality before and may very well be my reality again. I’m also not single anymore but if I was out with my friends, I was the grenade the guy had to jump on to get to the hot chick. Forever alone folks, your pain is not alien to me.

When life has been a bitch to you, getting life advice from someone who hasn’t been there but thinks they know what they’re talking about is remarkably condescending. People with kids don’t want to hear advice to someone without them. Dog people don’t want to hear suggestions from people who have never owned dogs. Tourists don’t give directions.

I don’t want to offend the softies out there but I’m not the only one thinking this. If you want to be supportive, by all means do it. People in hard situations need all the support we can get. Just keep your audience in mind before you talk and respect that you don’t know their experience.