Just saw this...

[sapphire]

I never said soccer wasn't great! I enjoyed it very much. But the buddy-buddy, everyone-loves-each-other stuff of the movies is just not true. At least, not for my team. We did have that heartwarming moment of triumph at the end, though, when we won our conference for the first time in history. That was cool.

Oh, hey! I read the first Ranger's Apprentice book... Never got around to the others, but I loved the first one. Guess I've just added to my list. Pendragon, too, actually. I think I got through the seventh book there, but then I started college and suddenly had no time to read anything but what's assigned for class.

It's true that some people can learn outside of school much better than in it. The problem is, for that to work, everyone would have to be extremely self-motivated. Left to themselves, the majority of people would probably play video games all day.

We should campaign to make LNRS a recognized thing. Support groups would be extremely helpful - we could all sit around and talk about the books we've read! Of course, they'd probably run late into the night...

Yeah, the Small Demons thing was extremely repetitive... But I was actually reading quotes from the books and picking out that stuff, so it's not like I was just looking at the food and such. I did several books, but Infinite Jest was by far the biggest.

[Deleted]

I agree with the whole wikidefinition thing, Zoom. It'd make things so much easier. Then again, though, some words and phrases don't have a single definition short enough to fit in a hover-box-thing.

Well, yeah, I guess you never did say soccer wasn't fun, Sapphire. I just felt you were still portraying it a bit too poorly. That or it's just my undying love for the sport, whichever. Congratulations on the conference thing, though! ...Even though I'm a few years late....

I love The Ranger's Apprentice! Haha they're probably my favorite book series, even though I've only read the first two. I need to get the others but they always seem to slip my mind. Maybe I'll get 'em on my Kindle... but that just doesn't compare to being able to hold a book in your hands, leafing through the pages.

Operation LNRS is a go!

[Zoom]

"It's true that some people can learn outside of school much better than in it. The problem is, for that to work, everyone would have to be extremely self-motivated. Left to themselves, the majority of people would probably play video games all day."

Maybe we could redo the ed system so kids spent the first 10 years of schooling playing, telling stories, having fun, learning to share and get along and love each other and themselves. Then the next two years learning the three Rs - that's all you really need to get them started. Then in their last year, you take their cell phone and ipod away, put them in a room alone with nothing but a window overlooking a park, a pencil and a notebook, and a computer that can only access Wikipedia and Quora. They'll figure it out. Everything = solved.
...I would be so good at school if I could start grade 10 with the maturity / self-control I have now! I could probably even enjoy it!


I love being LNRS Somebody should make a T shirt! I'd buy it.

The support group w=could be advertised as "Book club, meets at 2 AM." If you show up, you get diagnosed on the spot.

Hey - Kindle - xkcd.com/548/
Please tell me this is true.

[sapphire]

Ah, if only. And I actually had the self-motivation to make that work, in high school. Now? Eh. Maybe. I've got senioritis like you wouldn't believe. Senior year of high school was nothing compared to this.

If we had that support group, we'd probably infecting sane people. But then... What's wrong with a world full of fanatic readers?


You know... I actually don't know if that's true. I have a Kindle, but I rarely use it. Paper books are just so much nicer. Kindles are a pain to page through, and they don't smell good. I usually just hook it up to my computer when I'm putting stuff on it, though. I think I've used the wireless all of twice, and both times I was connected to the campus internet.

[Deleted]

Actually, in Sweden, kids don't go to school until they're like 7 or something and get out at the same age as those in the US. Their school system is more laid back, too, with less stress and such. Sweden is one of the world's most intelligent nations with extremely advanced technology and an economy which far surpasses that of the 'States. (Their work week is shorter, too - their culture revolves around the family, rather than wealth, fame, and power.)

Haha I'd be diagnosed pretty quick. I was up til 5:30 Wednesday night, just not able to get to sleep. I had to wake up for school at 6:30. Needless to say, even with only two days this school week because of snow... it was a long week.

Kindles... suck. Well, the original Kindles, at least. I can't speak for the Kindle Fire - it looks pretty awesome. But you can't read the book in the dark - there's no light on the Kindle. You can't browse the internet beyond shopping for books in the Kindle store and, even if you could, it would be in black and white. No, sorry, black and grey. It sucks. But I guess the books are cheaper as an ebook, so that's one point for Kindle and, uh, 50 for regular books.

[Zoom]

I'm afraid I won't be able to get on much in the next couple of weeks, guys. Life will be pretty hectic due to my moving to Sweden.

Haha I remember: "Shoot, I have to go to bed so I can wake up for school." Deciding to not even bother. Then that weird, slightly giddy feeling all day. Your friends making weird comments because they're certain you're high. Falling asleep on the drive home. Promising yourself Never Again. Again.

Kindles: There's something to be said, though, for having all your books in one device while travelling. What's the battery life like?

[sapphire]

Haha. I totally read that out of context, Zoom, and thought you were serious for a second.

If we spread awareness widely enough, maybe we could get retreat centers set up, so that people with LNRS would have a friendly place to escape to, without the stress of real-world demands.


I don't use my Kindle often enough to really think about the battery life, heh. I just have The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books on it, and one or two short books I had to read for school. The battery does annoy me in that it keeps running down when the Kindle is off... Not such an abnormal thing, but when I do try to use it, occasionally, I end up not, because the battery is dead.

[sapphire]

So I really need to stop wasting time on the internet and get things done, but:

This
and
this.

[Angelica]

Feb 11, 2013 17:02:36 GMT -6 sapphire said:

This

Too true.

[Endovia]

Oh my gosh, retreats. Have you ever been to one? I went to one once. (It'll probably be my last.) A whole bunch of middle-age to old ladies with the occasional guy (husband, brother) dragged in. It was cute and sad and funny all at the same time. (I guess it didn't help that I was the youngest.) I can so see a retreat center for LNRS. XD


Yes! One more chapter! I use that all the time.

Lol! Great assignment. I'd like to try finding my nemesis, just to see what magic's like.

[sapphire]

I go on a couple of retreats every year, actually.
But I go with people from my college chapel, so I have friends there. It is a lot of elderly people, though. The retreat center is just gorgeous. It's a chapel in the Catskills, and there's a waterfall, and we can just explore. It's wonderful. Nice to get out of the city, too. Every time I go, I think, "Oh, yeah. This is what trees smell like." Haha.

I think I'll master Kung Fu, personally. Or maybe use conditioner before shampoo. Either way.

[Zoom]

I CALL WORKING AT THE LNRS RETREAT
Oh and LNWS is totally what I have too. That and Chronic Procrastination Disease.

I've never been to a real retreat. I always thought they were more like Endovia's experience than Sapphire's.

Kung Fu could come in handy, but wearing a little Dali-stache could yield interesting results. And yeah, best class ever.

Oh and speaking of spending too much time online, not getting work done:
cvdazzle.com/

It doesn't have anything to do with Late Night Reading or cool schooling, but it sparked an idea for a character in an on-its-way-to-dystopian society.

[sapphire]

I suffer from sporadic LNWS. There are times when I just can't help writing late at night - usually after I've gotten into bed, and then I have this awesome idea that I have to get down really fast. Three hours later...

That was always my impression of retreats before I went on them, haha. I think you just have to find the right one, and make sure you go with people you can hang out with while you're there.

That project looks really cool! I wonder how babies would respond to that... They recognize faces by eyes and nose - they don't need to see a mouth - so I wonder how those designs/fashions would change their recognition.

[Zoom]

Ah, I know that feel. You're in your PJs, the light is off, you're finished your thinking for the night...BAM. Best idea ever.

Hmmmmm! I wonder. It's times like this that I wish I had a baby to do science with.

[sapphire]

Right? I'll be totally stuck on an assignment for one of my classes (they're pretty much all writing classes) and I'm just about to fall asleep... And inspiration strikes. And of course, I can't just write it the next day, because I might forget my awesome idea.