A Shout Out to Obscure Superheroes

A lot of the people I know are in an uproar because Ben Affleck is going to be the next silver screen Batman. I'm not overly appalled by the news, but some people might think that Mr. Affleck might be better suited to play the role of one of the following obscure superheroes.

• Matter-Eat Lad. He can eat anything. Yes, anything. He might come in handy if you ever attend a dinner party where all the food is burnt. 
• Arm Fall Off Boy. This super fella can detach his own limbs. Super useful if he ever gets worried about making his weight for the wrestling team. But honestly, you'd think DC could have come up with a name that we can say with a straight face. This makes me think of the Where the Wild Things Are, when one of the characters loses an arm and exclaims, "That was my favorite arm!" Hehe. 
• The Color Kid. Okay, I adore this one. He can change the color of things. He could save the world from rose-colored glasses because, well, he could make everything actually rose-colored. I want his power. 
• Normalman. Yep, he's normal all around. No superpowers. But he does live in a world where everyone else has superpowers. That makes him special, right? His buddy Captain Everything is less special--he does have superpowers. 
• Squirrel Girl. She can control squirrels. Okay, definitely not a role for Ben Affleck. 
• The Creeper. A heroic Joker with powers who is completely off his rocker. 
• Machine Man. A sentient robot whose human cover is as an insurance investigator. 

Do you have any favorite superheroes that no one has ever heard of--or superheroes that no one should ever hear of? Ooh, or great ideas for superpowers? 

Sources:

http://www.weirdworm.com/10-weird-superheroes-you-might-not-have-heard-about/

http://www.chacha.com/gallery/2119/what-are-some-obscure-superheroes/17004

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2013/01/top-10-obscure-superheroes-who-deserve-their-own-movies/

The First Draft of Anything is Poo

In kindergarten, I was beyond excited when I learned that we would get to write books! Imagine my disappointment when I learned that everyone in the class had to write the same book and draw the same pictures. Lame! I wanted to write my own story. Grr...I never quite got over that one. When it happened, though, I decided that one day I would become a bestselling author. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm still slightly obsessed with writing stories. 

My problem is that I write and write and write--and I don't like to revise or edit. And really, writing quality prose is mostly about rewriting. But I don't even like to read what I've written, let alone bother fixing it. I really should, though, because I invest countless hours laboring on these stories and I ought to make them good enough for other people to read. 

Right now I'm working on a series of novels, and I'm almost done with the rough draft of the first installment in the series (I already finished the rough draft of the fourth book in the series. I know, it wasn't the smartest thing to start near the end). I'm already dreading the revising and editing process. 

To give myself some motivation and remind myself that I really do want to finish my current project, I found some nifty go-getter quotes. 

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." Mark Twain

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." Robert Frost

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." Anton Chekhov 

'The first draft of anything is poo.' Ernest Hemingway. Okay, that's not an exact quote, Guess which word I changed? See, I'm practicing editing already. 

"Always be a poet, even in prose." Charles Baudelaire 

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Jack London

"Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open." Stephen King, On Writing. I think that means I should consider getting some beta readers. Eek! 

That's about all of my writerly brooding musings for today. I promise that not everything I post will be about writing or words or English. 

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/writing

9 Things You Didn't Know About the English Language

The English language is notorious for its convoluted nature and snooty attitude. Really, we don’t need all 600,000 words or all those silly rules that everyone ignores anyway. If I want to end a sentence with a preposition, I will end a sentence with.

Yes, English is silly, but I love it and all its endearing (and oftentimes annoying) quirks. Take a look at some of those quirks and get better acquainted with your mother tongue.

•   The ampersand was the 27^th letter of the alphabet. The symbol itself is more than a thousand years old, but it only received its modern name in the 1800s. When children recited the alphabet, they ended it with “and per say and,” which over time became “ampersand.”
• The word “checkmate” owes its existence to the Persian phrase “shah mat,” which means, “the king is helpless."
•   The fun little dot over “I” and “j” is called a “superscript dot” or a “tittle.”
•  “Bookkeeper” and “bookkeeping” are the only unhyphenated words in English with 3 consecutive sets of double letters.
• We pronounce “ough” in 9 different ways.
• Want a challenge? Write a lipogram, a piece of work that does not contain the letter “e.”
•   The longest word in which all the letters are in alphabetical order is “almost.”
• Estimates vary about just how many words dear old Bill Shakespeare invented (depending on how you define “a new word”), but it was bucketfuls. We owe words like “champion,” “courtship,” “assassination,” and “hint” to the Bard.
• “Enormity” and “ironic” are both commonly misused words. Enormity refers to something evil or outrageous. Ironic describes something that is the opposite of what was expected, not just a funny coincidence.

The above are just a sample of the fascinating truths about English. Can you think of other little things that make us love and hate our language?

Sources:

http://www.englishclub.com/interesting-facts/

http://hotword.dictionary.com/ampersand/

http://voxy.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/10-interesting-facts-about-the-english-language/

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Infographic_10_most_commonly_misused_English_words_43074.aspx

An Introduction to Joy Joy's Jabber

How does one start a blog? I have no idea. Let's dive in!

First, about me. Here are the cliff notes:

• I am so shy it's almost become a talent. 
• I work as a freelance writer but my goal is to publish a novel. 
• I'm struggling to learn Mandarin Chinese. 
• I find it very difficult to establish healthy habits.  
• My religion is a big part of my life, and I spent quite a bit of time volunteering. 
• I'm still in love with the Backstreet Boys. Honestly, how could anyone not be? 

My aim is to use this blog as a tool to get my name out there as a writer--and to have a little fun in the process! Hence, I'll endeavor to provide quality content that doesn't put anyone to sleep (no worries--I'll try to keep my BSB adoration fairly quiet). Well, I think that's sufficient for an introductory post. Brevity is a blessing when there really isn't much to say, right? 

Now the real fun can begin!